A Complete Turnaround

Rated; M
Pairing; HiccupXAstrid
Disclaimer; I do not own anything HTTYD related. Everything belongs to its original creator.

Halfway

=Normal POV=

{Saturday, April 30, 2022-10 am}

(Berk; Haddock Manor)

Getting back to Hiccup's house on Friday night had been interesting. Hiccup wasn't in the mood to talk about how things went; he just sighed and went to take a bath because his nub was bothering him. Later on, Hiccup still allowed the sleepover to take place as it was a Friday night, and he wasn't going to shut out his friends over the visit to the office. Yeah, it was the first appointment trying a basic prosthetic, but Hiccup had wished it went better. At the very least; he was able to use the fake leg to practice more by standing up, balancing, and walking. Hiccup could wear pants over the leg, and a shoe, so he would look semi-normal again even being that he had to use the crutches to get around on his own. The bonus part of the simple prosthetic is that there was a wooden carved foot at the base of the object, this is what made it easier to wear a sock and shoe. The next appointment was on Tuesday, and again; there would be practice walking with the parallel bars.

The friends stayed up gaming, snacking, and talking until about 1 am, then they began to drift off one by one. By 2:30 am; everyone was sleeping. Now, it was Saturday. Breakfast and the first review for dragon training were over. Stoick, Valka, Gobber and all of us were relaxing in the Great Room; just chatting about whatever came to mind. After school graduation plans came up, but Hiccup didn't really talk on that matter. And no one could blame him either; they all knew why Hiccup didn't want to discuss his after high school plans.

"How are you kids doing in dragon training?" Stoick asked.

"We're almost all caught up; Hiccup's a fantastic teacher," Nadia complimented with a smile.

"Top of his class for training, riding, and even racing," Gobber chuckled.

"And only because I don't ride Toothless; I fly him," Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Eret asked.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, because all you guys have to do is sit and do a little nudging to get your dragons to fly where you want them. I have to control a tail fin in sync with Toothless for us to fly," Hiccup explained.

"Speaking of…When are you going to work on the rig?" Astrid inquired. "I really wanna how you do it all," Hiccup checked his watch.

"I guess I can work on some before lunch," Hiccup shrugged. "Come on," he invited.

"Can we watch too, son?" Valka wondered.

"I wanna see the skills I taught ya in action!" Gobber jumped up. Hiccup laughed a bit and shook his head.

"Hey, you didn't teach me everything. But yes, you can all watch," Hiccup informed as he grabbed his crutches and headed out the back door towards the stables.

. . .

{10:10 am}

(Hiccup's Forge)

Reaching behind the stables after Hiccup got Toothless out and following him; they reached another wooden structure with a tall chimney made of stone. Hiccup balanced himself as he pulled a key from around his neck and inserted into the door, turning it until there was a click. Seconds after, a small square panel pushed out and Hiccup pushed the wood to the side as it revealed a number pad. Hiccup put in a six-digit sequence, then replaced the wood as the panel returned to the wall. Hiccup smiled as he stepped back and the door moved upward as a garage door did.

"Wow, that's very convincing that it's just a tool shed," Fishlegs blinked.

"I secure all my best things," Hiccup informed. "Welcome to the forge," he invited as he flipped on the lights to reveal the workspace and even a spot for Toothless. "Find a spot and get comfortable, but be warned; it does get a bit warm in here once the forge is lit," he advised.

"We'll move outside if it gets too hot," Stoick smiled. Hiccup nodded as he moved to his desk and grabbed a piece of paper, then a pencil.

"So, what do you think Toothless? Should we shoot for the original or maybe modernize it a bit?" Hiccup asked his Night Fury, who warbled. Yeah, stupid question. I remember what you did the other tail I made for you," he rolled his eyes.

"The automatic one that he destroyed Snoggletog morning?" Gobber wondered.

"Yes, that one…" Hiccup mumbled. "But somebody prefers me doing most of the work I guess," he hinted to his dragon, who gave a throaty laugh of his own but snuggled against Hiccup's face. "Yeah, yeah; I love you too," he smiled. "Well, I guess I have to design this to use the left fin with the right foot…" Hiccup tapped the pencil against his chin, thinking for a moment before he put the tip to paper. "Got it," he began sketching something out.

"This is going to be fun," Valka clapped her hands. "I never watched the construction of the first rig,"

"No one did, Val. Hiccup hid that he had a Night Fury for an entire month," Stoick chuckled.

"He did?" Astrid asked.

"I wasn't sure how people would react to knowing I had a Night Fury. So I did keep him a secret for a long time. My parents only found out because they came home during the final test of the old rig. I told my friends and family…But otherwise; we've kept Toothless a secret from the world. Very few outsiders knew before the fight with Red Death," Hiccup explained while drawing. Toothless grabbed a remove off another table and brought it to Hiccup, who shook his head a bit, but pressed the power button at the top and soon music was playing from the around the forge.

"You should get the forge lit, laddie; you know it takes a while to heat up," Gobber suggested.

"Maybe the way you do it…" Hiccup said as he finished the drawing and pinned it up on a cork board before moving to the forge and laying a bed of charcoal down with paper them a stack of wood. "Light it up, bud," Toothless charged a blast and fired into the place Hiccup pointed. Second later; there was a burst of flames, and it was lit. "Good work," Hiccup rubbed his head a bit.

"You know what, I'm not even going to ask this time," Gobber remarked.

"Standard forge burns at 3,500 degrees, but Toothless's fire burns at 6,500. It's more than enough; I just give it a bit of time to cool before putting metal in there," Hiccup explained while gathering materials and taking measurements on Toothless's body, then marking them down in a notebook next to individually drawn pieces of the rig. The process was definitely something else, but everyone was drawn into watching it intently. However, Hiccup was much more focused, never straying from the work before him.

There was a brief break for lunch, but upon returning; Hiccup got right back into things. By 2:15 pm; Hiccup finished assembling everything, including a new saddle that he would sit on. "And done, finally," he sighed with a smile.

"It looks more complex than the other one," Snotlout blinked.

"Only because you don't know how to work it," Hiccup replied. "Come here, Toothless. Let's give it a shot," the Night Fury bounded over as Hiccup began positioning everything in place. After a few minutes, Hiccup let Toothless get used to having the rig on before Hiccup climbed on his back and sat down carefully. "How's it feel, bud?" the dragon warbled contently. Hiccup pulled a small lever on the left to open the tail; then he used his right foot on the pedal there to test that the fin was moving properly. "All looks good on the ground…But the test is up there. What do you say, Toothless?"

"Hiccup, don't you think you should give it a little time, son?" Valka tried.

"Just a quick run, Mom," Hiccup assured.

"And if you fall again?" Astrid asked.

"Toothless will catch me; he always does," Hiccup said.

"Well, can he leave your right leg intact?" Stoick remarked.

"Dad, come on…That was an accident, and it saved my life…So give him a break, would you?" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Fine…" Stoick huffed. Toothless walked outside with Hiccup on his back.

"Let's hit it!" Hiccup called. Toothless launched into the sky fast as everyone watched from below.

"Think it'll work?" Tuffnut asked.

"It's Hiccup…" Ruffnut replied.

"True," the rest said. Hiccup sat on Toothless's back, so far everything was fine, and they were leveled out on breeze where Toothless didn't need to flap his wings much to stay lifted.

"Okay, pal…Nice and slow," Hiccup patted his friends' neck. "Let's try a few of the basics," he advised. Toothless snorted a bit but obeyed as Hiccup and Toothless began working on a few things from three years ago when the first rig was tested. For ten minutes; things went smoothly. Toothless got excited it was all working and climbed higher, forgetting that Hiccup wasn't latched to him with the riding harness. Hiccup slipped off, falling to the ground.

"Oh, no!" Astrid brought her hands to her mouth in fear.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup called. The Night Fury dove, a mirror image from the battle with Red Death minus the inferno below. Toothless closed his wings more, getting ahead of Hiccup. The teenager grabbed hold of the saddle and pulled himself back on. Hiccup position his right foot, then pulled out of the dive fast as they circled back up and came around to land. "Good boy…" Hiccup panted a bit.

"Hiccup, are you alright?" Minden asked.

"Yeah, just gotta figure something out for the left side…It's too much movement in a tight spot for me to pull the lever that opens the tail. The right pedal only controls the angle, for turns and what not…" Hiccup said as he looked at his left leg where the prosthetic was. "Sorry, bud…I guess it's not perfected yet," Toothless warbled a bit, nudging him sadly because he could feel his rider growing upset. "I gotta figure out how to use this leg with the left side. But it'll take weeks, months even before a final prosthetic to be built," Hiccup stopped fast, his eyes widening.

"What is it, Hiccup?" Astrid questioned.

"Th-That's it…" Hiccup breathed out as pulled the prosthetic off and looked over it, then the left side of the rig. "Why didn't I think of it before…" he asked himself.

"Hiccup, for the love of Odin, what are you talking about?" Stoick inquired.

"I can build Toothless an entire rig that allows him to fly with my help," Hiccup looked at the others. "So why can't I build my own prosthetic leg?!" he smiled broadly now.

Everyone blinked. "Hiccup…That takes years of medical training and other things to build artificial limbs," Gobber stated.

"Not seeing your point," Hiccup remarked.

"How could you possibly make your own leg; you know nothing about the process…" Heather mentioned.

"I knew nothing of a Night Fury at fifteen. Nobody knew much about them because of how rare they are, but I managed to bond with him, and now, he's the best friend I've ever had," Hiccup began.

"Hey!" Astrid crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, best dragon friend," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "But still; I didn't know anything about bonding with a Night Fury; one hasn't been seen in almost one hundred and fifty years. I also knew nothing of dragon anatomy, flight, prosthetics…But I made it so Toothless can fly with help from me or on his own. So who is to say I can't make something that works for me? All I know is that I have to try," he remarked as Toothless brought over the crutches and Hiccup moved back into the forge. After twenty minutes, Hiccup hadn't had a single idea of what to do; he knew what he wanted, but not how to craft it into something he use daily to walk or fly Toothless.

"Hiccup, give yourself a small break…" Dagur suggested.

"You've got plenty of time to come up with something," Camicazi offered.

"You are a man of many talents son, but you have to accept your limits," Stoick reminded gently.

Hiccup sighed as he turned around and muttered something. "Maybe I wouldn't have limits if someone had listened to me about there being a huge dragon he couldn't just take on without a plan…" However, something caught Hiccup's eyes; the jack-knife Gobber was fiddling with. One tool with many uses. That's when it hit Hiccup hard, and he immediately faced his desk and started drawing something on the paper.

"Uh, weren't you just about to take a break?" Snotlout wondered.

"Yep, and then I thought of something, so ssh for a sec," Hiccup stated while still drawing. Ten minutes went by before he put the pencil down and sat back to take a breath. Hiccup started gathering some material, reheated the forge; then got to work. Of course, Hiccup didn't hang his design, so the others had no clue what he was doing. It appeared to be metal, gears, and a little wood.

. . .

{4:00 pm}

Hours of work went into this, but less than it took to do Toothless's rig. Hiccup was so ridiculously focused on his project, and to be honest; everyone was anxiously awaiting to see the product Hiccup came up with. Hiccup was sweating a lot, and at some point had taken his shirt off in an attempt to stay cool. Astrid's eyes were glued to Hiccup's figure; he was bigger than he looked with clothes on. Nicely sculpted upper body, a six-pack of abs, and vividly defined muscles coated with a layer of sweat. Astrid didn't know what was wrong with her, but Hiccup was sexy as shit in her eyes like this.

Hiccup locked a few more things in place and stepped back. "Finally…I think I got it…"

"Yeah, can we see?" Astrid inquired.

"In a sec," Hiccup informed. "Need to cool off," he got on Toothless's back who lead Hiccup out of the forge; then to the front of the stables. The others followed curiously as Hiccup got off Toothless and balanced himself near the edge of the pool. Hiccup removed his shoe and socks but kept on the simple prosthetic from the office. After that, Hiccup removed his phone, wallet, and keys; handing them to Astrid with a smile. "Hold those a for me?"

Astrid nodded, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks at seeing Hiccup so up close with no shirt on. Seconds later, Hiccup held on to Toothless while moving towards the pool again. A moment later, Hiccup jumped in.

"Hiccup!? Stoick…What if he can't swim…" Valka panicked.

"Val, Hiccup's been swimming since he was about two and a half-years-old. I think, leg or not; he'll be fine. And Toothless is right there. Relax a little," Stoick sighed a bit. Valka nodded, still worried a bit. Hiccup resurfaced and shook his hair a bit. Astrid loved that it stayed wild no matter what; the one time it was tamed was the night of Stoick's Mayorship party and Valka's 47th birthday. And even then; it held a bit of a crazed factor.

"What's the temp?" Gobber questioned.

"I don't know…Seventy-five at least," Hiccup shrugged before dunking under again. Hiccup got to the edge and pulled himself up and out of the water, entirely drenched. One of the staff members hurried over with a towel for him. "Thanks," Hiccup smiled. "The pool is the best after working in the forge," he added while drying off his hair and body, though, the shorts and boxers would be wet for a bit longer.

"So, we get to see that new leg now?" Tuffnut asked.

"Oh, I suppose. Not sure if it's gonna work, but I gave it my best with the abilities I possess in forging and inventing," Hiccup reminded while Toothless helped Hiccup back towards the forge, sitting on his desk under a red cloth was what Hiccup had been working on for hours. Hiccup took a deep breath as he pulled the sheet off. "I give you the swiss-army knife of prosthetics," he introduced. Before them was a very interesting looking prosthetic built from wood and metal. The wooden bit appeared to be flat on the top and thinner going down, then it was metal with a piece with a rounded end.

"And uh, why do ya call it that, son?" Stoick questioned.

"Because the inspiration came from Gobber's multi-tool. I couldn't figure out how to make a prosthetic like the simple one, but use it to ride Toothless. I would have to redo the whole rig to make another pedal on the left as I only have the small lever now that opens and closes the tail fin. So, I made this bit you see for walking…And then this," Hiccup rotate the wooden part as the first metal piece folded back, and another one popped out with a slightly open circle piece. "for riding Toothless,"

"I don't see how it works…" Ruffnut said.

"It has a few gears in it and slots for the ends to rotate while being swapped. The leg is able to change ends when turned, with one end designed for when Hiccup is flying with Toothless and the other used for when Hiccup is walking, able to switch between the two settings with ease," Astrid explained as she remembered the gears Hiccup was working with.

"That's right, Ast," Hiccup nodded.

"The piece out now allows you to hook it to that lever to open and close the tail with the left foot and use your right to control the angles for turning and stuff, right?" Astrid wondered, looking in admiration of Hiccup's work.

"There's even a third piece for walking on ice," Hiccup rotated the leg once more to show the piece that resembled the first only with the serrated bottom to keep him from slipping.

"Hiccup, this is genius!" Heather squealed excitedly.

"Well, looks aren't everything…There's still the test…" Hiccup said nervously as he sat down in the chair and began to get the prosthetic on for use. It appears Hiccup had it being held in place by some clips to a harness around the nub with a soft piece of fabric between the skin and wood. Hiccup turned the gear to bring out the piece for walking and took a breath. "Astrid, will you…give me a hand?" he asked.

"Of course," Astrid nodded as she offered hers to Hiccup; he took it, and Astrid carefully helped Hiccup up until he was balanced. "How's it feel?" she inquired.

"Still a bit painful, but bearable," Hiccup admitted. "Okay…You can let go now; just don't go too far…" he looked at her.

"I'll never be more than an arm's distance away from you; I promise," Astrid vowed, which brought a smile to Hiccup's lips. "Nice and slow now…" she reminded. Hiccup nodded as he tried to step with the left, then bring forward his right. Hiccup's leg gave out as it did the day before in the office. Astrid caught his arms and held him so he wouldn't fall. "Maybe take a few with me here?"

"Okay," Hiccup agreed. Hiccup tried again; his leg still buckled with each step, but he was getting better every one he took. Astrid slowly began to move back more, but not breaking contact in case Hiccup fell again. However, with a bit of work in ten minutes; Hiccup was managing to walk on his own. It was slow, and with a limp, but he could do it.

"Now see? A little practice and help go a long way," Astrid giggled some, then hugged him. "I'm so proud of you, Hiccup," she blushed a bit.

"Don't think I could have gotten this far without you. Thank you, Astrid," Hiccup smiled as he gave her a hug back.

"And now we take a break, so you don't over-do it, Hiccup," Valka insisted.

"Fine, fine…" Hiccup agreed. "We'll test this with your rig tomorrow, bud, okay?" he looked at Toothless, who warbled his response happily. Hiccup held onto Astrid after he put out the forge and locked everything up once it was cleaned. By this time; it was about 4:45 pm. Once inside the house, Hiccup flopped on the couch, entirely exhausted from his day. However, he could look up and smile knowing that he was halfway done with all of this. All little more practice walking and a test flight on Toothless, and it would be like things never changed.