Author's Note: Hello, everyone and welcome back to "Sticks and Stones!" =D I can't believe how close this one-shot collection is to being complete, but until then, I hope you enjoy "Soul of a Dragon!" I had a lot of fun writing this one. X)

Summary: They all knew that Hiccup had a way with dragons; he was connected to them. But what they weren't expecting was for him to act like one after taking a mace to the head. (RTTE.)

Soul of a Dragon

They all knew he was connected to dragons. What they weren't expecting was for him to act like one after a blow to the head.

It was a normal, calm day on Dragon's Edge. Or as calm as calm could get. The twins were out in their boar pit, Snotlout was tending to Hookfang in the dragon stables, Fishlegs and Meatlug were spending time in their garden, and Hiccup and Astrid were happily spending some time together, taking a walk around the entire base of Dragon's Edge. Toothless and Stormfly followed loyally behind them, crooning and chirping amiably to each other as if they were having their own conversation.

Astrid glanced at Hiccup and reached for his hand, and the Haddock gently took hers in his, flashing her a small smile. Now that Hiccup and Astrid were an official couple, they weren't afraid to show their affection for each other anymore. Astrid smiled and leaned her head on Hiccup's shoulder and sighed.

"It's been a while since things have been quiet around here," she remarked. "I wonder how long it'll be until something goes wrong."

"Hopefully not too soon," said Hiccup. "Although we've handled crazy situations pretty well even when they're sudden and unexpected."

"Yeah," agreed Astrid. "But I hope the Edge will stay peaceful for the time being—"

Suddenly, an explosion erupted from the dragon stables, and a large, billowing cloud of smoke arose from the roof. Snotlout's high pitched screams could be heard all the way from the Clubhouse where Hiccup and Astrid were currently standing. Hookfang's agitated roars were laced in with Snotlout's screaming, which wasn't a pleasant sound. Hiccup sighed and Astrid shook her head.

"I guess peace on the Edge will have to wait," said Hiccup. He and Astrid mounted their dragons and flew to the Dragon Stables. Hiccup and Astrid landed on the deck, slipped off their dragons, and swiftly walked toward the burning stables. Hiccup was the first to reach the closed door, and he banged against it with his fist.

"Snotlout, what's going on in there?" asked Hiccup loudly.

"Nothing!" replied Snotlout quickly. Hiccup could hear things falling over from inside, and Hookfang's threatening growls. "Hookfang's just being difficult!"

"I thought Hookfang liked his daily grooming," said Astrid as she arrived at Hiccup's side, staring at the closed door curiously. The sounds of items crashing and Hookfang's agitated roars were more than unsettling to Hiccup and Astrid. Toothless and Stormfly tentatively walked up to the stables, inquisitive expressions rested in their eyes.

"He does!" yelled Snotlout. "But I accidentally mistook a mace for a brush!"

"What the—How do you mistake a mace for a brush?!" exclaimed Hiccup.

"It's dark in here!" Snotlout shouted back. At that moment, metal objects clanged to the ground, and the sounds of large footsteps began to make their way toward the door. Toothless and Stormfly started to back away from the door, and both Astrid and Hiccup had the feeling that they should do the same.

"Uh…Hiccup? I think we should get out of the way," Astrid said as she started to back up.

"I'm right with you." said Hiccup. He and Astrid leapt out the way just in time before Hookfang burst through the stable doors, dressed in flames. The Monstrous Nightmare screeched loudly, and Hiccup attempted to calm the large dragon down.

"H-Hey, Hookfang," said Hiccup slowly. He approached the enraged dragon tentatively, his hand outstretched. "I know you're kind of tense right now, but if you just calm down for a moment, we can—"

"Get away from my dragon, Hiccup!" Snotlout shouted suddenly from the open stable doors. A mace was clutched in one hand, and his expression was irritated. "Hookfang is my dragon. I can handle this myself!"

"People who mistake maces for brushes probably need a little help once in a while," Astrid said with a roll of her eyes. Snotlout glared at her.

"Shut up, Astrid!" he snapped. Hookfang snapped his head around, facing Snotlout. The Monstrous Nightmare growled, and vengeance flickered in his yellow eyes. Sotlout gulped and held up his mace.

"W-Whoa, Hooky, it's me, Snotlout! I'm sorry for poking you with a mace, but we can work this out—AHHH!"

Hookfang swiped his large tail at Snotlout, narrowly missing the Jorgeson and instead batting the mace out of his hands. The silver weapon flew through the air, almost in slow motion as it neared Astrid, who didn't have much time to react. She was about to duck when she felt something slam into her side, she heard a loud, sickening THUNK of metal hitting against bone when she hit the wood ground. Astrid quickly recollected herself and stood up, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked around and gasped when she saw who shoved her out of the way. Astrid felt like yelling at him, but she couldn't because he was unconscious.

"Hiccup, you idiot!" she shouted as she looked down at the unconscious young viking before her feet. Astrid crouched down, worrying flickering in her blue eyes as she examined Hiccup. A large welt was swelling on the back of his head, and red was running through his auburn-hair. Astrid looked up to see Snotlout, who was trying to calm Hookfang down. He looked over to Astrid and saw Hiccup lying on the ground, and Astrid was surprised to see concern flash across his face.

"What happened?" asked Snotlout.

"Hiccup took a mace to the head," answered Astrid. She hoisted the young viking into her arms, chewing her lower lip as he moaned quietly. "Calm Hookfang down and then meet us at Hiccup's hut. Grab the others too."

Snotlout nodded obediently and Astrid lifted Hiccup onto Stormfly. Toothless followed them, crooning anxiously.

"It's okay, Toothless," reassured Astrid. "You can run to Hiccup's hut."

The Night Fury nodded, and Astrid and Stormfly soon took off. Astrid kept her focus on keeping Hiccup balanced in her arms while Stormfly steadily flew them to Hiccup's hut.

…

After arriving at Hiccup's hut, Astrid had pulled out all the medical supplies she could find. Toothless watched over her shoulder as she worked swiftly, using a wet cloth to clean Hiccup's head and then wrapping a white, clean roll of gauze around it to stop the bleeding. Astrid had laid Hiccup in his bed and covered him with a blanket, watching him carefully.

The other Dragon Riders had come almost immediately after Astrid had finished tending to Hiccup. Snotlout had explained that it only took him a bucket of fish to placate Hookfang, and while Astrid was glad to hear that the Monstrous Nightmare was no longer out of control, she was more worried about Hiccup, who was laying in his bed, completely unaware of the world around him. There were times the young viking's face would contort in pain, and Astrid did her very best to comfort him whenever she could. The twins asked what had happened and Astrid retold the entire episode. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were amazed.

"Hiccup took a mace to the head?" Tuffnut said in awe. "Thor, he must have a head of steel."

Ruffnut nodded. "I'm pretty sure the average human head would break upon being hit by a metal mace."

Tuffnut shook his head. "Well, thank the gods that he wasn't hit by Macey. Hiccup would have been dead for sure."

"Ah, I don't think that's really helping, guys," poked in Fishlegs. He gestured to Astrid, who was clutching Hiccup's hand in hers. "We want Hiccup to be okay."

"He'll be fine," said Snotlout, although it sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself than the others in the room. "Hiccup's always fine. He's going to wake up and be his annoying little self and things will go back to normal."

The twins and Fishlegs nodded, but Astrid wasn't paying any attention to them. Her focus was on her boyfriend, who was breathing slowly before her. Astrid squeezed Hiccup's hand.

"Wake up soon, Dragon Boy," she whispered. "Please."

…

About two hours after the incident at the dragon stables had occurred, Astrid had left Hiccup's hut to fetch lunch for both her and Hiccup. Even though he wasn't awake just yet, Astrid was hoping that Hiccup would wake up at least some time after lunch. The Hofferson had left Toothless in charge of watching Hiccup knowing that the other Dragon Riders had their own things to do, whether they were actually important or not.

Astrid carried a tray with two plates of fish, bread, and warm bowls of soup. She didn't feel all that hungry, but she knew that it was best if she ate. Astrid sighed as she opened the door to Hiccup's hut and stepped inside. Maybe it would have been best to wait until Hiccup woke up before grabbing him food; Astrid wasn't sure if he would wake up right away.

Astrid arrived at the foot of the stairs when she heard a groan come from upstairs. She froze. Had Hiccup woken up?

Another groan came from Hiccup's room and Astrid ran up the stairs, not paying any mind to the soup that spilled out of the bowls on her tray. Astrid reached the top and saw Hiccup stirring in bed. Toothless looked up at her, anticipation in his acid green eyes. Astrid set the tray aside, promptly sitting in the chair that she had pulled up next to Hiccup's bed side.

"Hiccup?" called Astrid. "Are you awake?"

Hiccup rolled over, flat on his back, and his bright green eyes slowly fluttered open. Toothless crooned happily and Astrid smiled.

"Hey, Dragon Boy," she said softly. Hiccup looked up at her slowly. "How are you feeling?"

Hiccup didn't respond. Instead, he tried to sit up, grunting as he did so. Astrid stared at him quizzically, but she knew that he had taken a hit to the head and just woke up from unconsciousness, so she guessed that he was still a little tired and half-asleep.

Astrid pushed Hiccup back into bed. "Hiccup, you need to rest. You can't get out of bed."

Hiccup frowned and let out a sound that vaguely sounded like a low growl. Astrid blinked in surprise.

"Hiccup? Are you okay?" she asked. Hiccup sat up again and sniffed the air. He turned around and spotted Toothless, who had his head cocked at him curiously. Hiccup smiled and he nuzzled—nuzzled—his dragon, cooing softly. Toothless blinked, but he didn't hesitate to lick his rider across the face.

Astrid was completely bemused. What was going on? Hiccup wasn't acting like himself at all. Growling, crooning, and nuzzling? Those were all things that—

Astrid's eyes widened. "Ohhhh, Thor. Oh Thor, no."

Toothless looked up at Astrid, sending a questioning warble her way as Hiccup continued to rub his head against him. Astrid stood up slowly and touched Hiccup's shoulder. The auburn-haired viking turned toward her, cocking his head and letting out a sound that sounded almost exactly like a warble.

"Hiccup?" said Astrid. The young viking only blinked up at her, as if he didn't even recognize his own name. Astrid reached out toward him, but Hiccup growled and snapped at her hand. Astrid jerked it away, and she sighed.

"You're acting…like a dragon," Astrid said. "This is unbelievable."

…

"Okay, I know Hiccup is the dragon guy around here, but this…"

The Dragon Riders were all gathered in Hiccup's room, watching as their leader crawled around on the floor, batting at Toothless playfully. The Night Fury happily joined in the little game, poking at Hiccup lightly, but a look of complete bewilderment was clearly visible in his green eyes. Tuffnut shook his head.

"This is insane," remarked Tuffnut.

Ruffnut watched as Hiccup attempted to tackle Toothless. "I agree, Tuff."

Astrid turned to Fishlegs, who was more knowledgeable in medical and healing that she was due to his love for reading. "Is there any way we can snap him out of this?" asked Astrid. "He won't let me get a foot near him!"

Snotlout laughed as Hiccup rolled into the sunlight streaming through his window. "What's wrong with keeping him like this?"

The other Dragon Riders stared at the Jorgeson with deadpan expressions. Snotlot crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, we can get him back to normal," said Snotlout. "But seeing as we have no idea how to do that—"

"Actually," Fishlegs interceded. "I know something that can help Hiccup. I just have to grab the ingredients from my garden, and it'll take me about an hour to prepare."

"It doesn't matter how long it takes to make it as long as it helps Hiccup," said Astrid.

Fishlegs nodded and he began to make his way toward the stairs. "I'll be back with an elixir in about an hour or two. In the meantime, make sure Hiccup doesn't hurt himself."

"We will," said Ruffnut. She watched as Fishlegs left. Once the door shut, she turned around toward the others, grinning impishly.

"So, what should we make Hiccup the Dragon do first?" she asked.

Tuffnut rubbed his hands together. "I was thinking we could try giving him dragon nip."

Snotlout grinned. "That sounds like an amazing idea."

"No, no!" Astrid said emphatically. The twins and Snotlout looked at her. Astrid couldn't believe them; they wanted to mess with Hiccup instead of taking care of him. "We're not doing anything to Hiccup. That means no dragon nip, no eels, and nothing that could make Hiccup hurt himself."

"Awwww, come on!" whined Ruffnut.

Tuffnut rolled his eyes. "Astrid the fun-killer…"

Snotlout crossed his arms. "Uncool Astrid. So uncool."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You guys go and see if Fishlegs needs a hand. I'll stay and watch Hiccup."

Snotlout and the twins left Hiccup's hut, and with them gone, Astrid didn't need to worry about them trying to play their little games on Hiccup. The Hofferson sighed and turned around to see Hiccup crouched in front of Toothless, watching as the Night Fury groomed himself. Hiccup cocked his head and brought his clothed arm up to his face, and he was just about to lick it when Astrid stopped him.

"Whoa, whoa. You're not licking your clothes, Hiccup," said Astrid as she walked up to him and pulled his arm away. Hiccup growled at Astrid and whacked her hand away, but the blonde wasn't swayed.

"Look, Hiccup. I know you're not in your right mindset right now, but I need you to work with me here, alright?" she said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm trying to help."

Hiccup was still for a few moments, but he eventually curled up against Astrid, smiling softly. Astrid smiled and she ran her hand through Hiccup's auburn hair.

"That's my Dragon Boy," she whispered.

…

Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout eventually came with the plant blend that Fishlegs had claimed would return Hiccup back to his normal self; Astrid immediately gave it to Hiccup after managing to get him into bed. While Hiccup acting as a dragon wasn't entirely bad, she wanted the real Hiccup back. Her Hiccup.

The sun was beginning to set, and the other Dragon Riders had left to start closing down the Edge while Astrid stayed by Hiccup's bedside, watching him as he slept on, and she hoped that whatever Fishlegs had given him would work.

Astrid looked down just as Hiccup began to stir. The young viking eventually peeled his eyes open and looked up at Astrid, cracking a small smile. "Hey there, milady."

"Hey yourself," said Astrid. "How are you feeling?"

Hiccup rubbed his head. "The back of my head is still throbbing…but other than that, I feel pretty okay."

Astrid nodded, but she looked Hiccup over just in case. After she was done, Toothless came up to Hiccup's side, giving him an affectionate lick across the face. Hiccup made a noise of disgust, but Astrid could tell that he was happy to see his dragon.

The Hofferson tapped her knees. "So…do you remember anything?"

Hiccup scratched Toothless' head and he looked up at Astrid. "Remember what?"

"So you don't remember anything?" asked Astrid.

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be asking if I did," said Hiccup, a look of bemusement in his eyes. "What happened?"

Astrid tucked a strand of hair behind her head. "Well…" the Hofferson shook her head. "I'll tell you tomorrow. It's getting late."

Hiccup blinked, but he didn't prod for answers. Astrid let out a small sigh of relief. She would tell Hiccup about his dragon episode later. Right now, she was just glad to see that he was okay.

Author's Note: Well, this is definately one of my favorite one-shots in this collection. X) I hope you guys enjoyed this one-shot, and I'll see you in the next one! =D

Until the next chapter!

-BeyondTheMoon1203