Unintentional Hero

Author: Nightstar Fury of Nightstar Productions

Rated: M for a variety of things that will happen

Pairing: Hiccup/Astrid

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD

4; Family Day

No one moved, and tried to breathe as silently as possibly as they saw this black dragon with some lighter spots emerge from the forest and protect Hayden from the squad leader of C barrack. They knew about dragons so it wasn't unheard of one to come out of the forest to be curious and people were trained to handle wild dragons, and even some learned how to train dragons and ride them. However, a Night Fury was an elite dragon class. Strike class to be exact and this dragon was rumored to never let it's victims live, never miss a target, also so far it wasn't a dragon who had been trainable. No one had ever gotten close enough try and it was also a dragon who kept to itself, and hadn't been seen in years. The last sighting was ten years ago but here one was standing protectively near Hayden and snarling at anyone who made a try to get at the young sixteen year old boy.

"Haddock...Don't move." DS Amunsav stated.

"Yeah...I got that, Drill Sergeant..."Hayden responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm now. He knew he could get into a lot of trouble for it but there was Night Fury protecting him for a reason he didn't understand. He knew not to move. The Night Fury crooned at Hayden now, calmer but teeth still bore. It moved it's head in an up fashion as Hayden tried to understand what it wanted, for him to get up? Was that it. "You...want me to get up?" He asked the dragon.

"Haddock, I said don't move." DS Amunsav said again.

"Hey! You aren't the one being cornered by a Night Fury right now. No offense sir, but if the dragon tells me to do something...I'm listening to it." Hayden retorted, the dragon nodded to Hayden as it moved back some and Hayden got to his feet brushing off the sand from the beach. "Um...Thanks for the save, I think?" Hayden told it, the dragon retracted it's teeth now and gave a gummy smile to him. The Night Fury sniffed him a few times, circling him then it stopped at it's arm and growled a bit. Hayden took off his coat and showed the dragon the wound, then the Night Fury let out a loud screech roar and Hayden began to understand. "You...thought I was in trouble, didn't you? When I scared the Changewing off...That roar...It was the call of the Night Fury, wasn't it?" The dragon nodded again.

"So it followed you and saw you in danger when that guy attacked you, it saved you." Theo gasped.

"Thank you...I would...of been okay though." Hayden offered a smile to the dragon reaching his hand over to pet it but it growled at him. "Okay...No go on the touching. Got it." Hayden sighed, the dragon crooned at him now, his eyes falling to Hayden's gun. Getting the picture now, Hayden took his gun off his shoulder and tossed it aside, as well his two hidden daggers. The dragon sat back on his hind legs while Hayden tried again. It growled still, Hayden pulled his hand back slightly then put his head down, eyes closed with the palm out. The dragons eyes dilated calmer as the growling stopped and the Night Fury placed it's snout in Hayden's palm with it's own eyes closed.

"I can't...believe it." The DS's said. Hayden opened his eyes as the dragon licked his cheek.

"Alright...The Night Fury could be a good addition to the aerial team." Said the DS from F barrack. Hayden's eyes snapped open.

"No...You can't take him from me." Hayden said quickly, the dragon jumped to position as it wrapped it's tail around Hayden and snarled again.

"You're just a private, Haddock. You aren't qualified to own your own dragon...It's a whole other class of training and you have to be eighteen." DS Ramirez stated.

"No. That's to take on having a dragon, to train and ride it by human's pick. When a dragon bonds...it chooses its trainer and rider. The Night Fury picked me, that's why he's protecting me...By military law...You can't take him from his bonded human." Hayden stated firmly. The DS's looked at one another before sighing, it was true. If the dragon picked the human, there was no breaking the bond the two had formed.

"Very well, Haddock. He's yours but you're going to have to miss your seventy-two hour pass to train him, saddle fitting, flying, and care..." Ds Ramirez told him.

"That's fine with me. I can miss four days at home to strengthen the bond with him...You're gonna need a name." Hayden smiled as he saw the dragon croon happily and nudge his face, that's when Hayden saw the teeth retracted and he looked toothless. That was it, his name. "Toothless." Hayden wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck and hugged him. He had a bonded dragon! It was an incredible feeling too.

(Four Days Later)

While his squad was either on or off base getting to get out of training for a while, Hayden was hard at work learning about his dragon which was hard given there wasn't much known about Night Furies seeing how little of them were seen to study. But Hayden learned his dragon's wing span, statistics, speed which was amazing, and so much more. He learned care for him, and even made his own saddle since none of the others would work with Toothless's body. Hayden learned dragon calls which he had nailed from the day with the Changewing, also hand signals and the best part. Learning how to fly him. He learned formations in the sky, he loved having his own dragon. Maybe this is why his Mom was always so happy with Cloud Jumper. Due to Toothless being a Night Fury, it was kept on the down low of him having one. Also, Hayden never told Cami, his friends, or his father about bonding with a Night Fury but they'd find out at graduation. How did you hide a big black dragon that was 27 feet long and weighed over 1,000 pounds? You didn't.

Toothless couldn't live in the barracks but there was a small tent like stable set up right beside the D barrack so Toothless could stay close to Hayden since they all learned the hard way not to try and separate the two. The last day of the ninth week of Basic Training was them beginning to practice their graduation drills and they'd been informed all parents had been sent an invitation to drive out and watch the ceremony themselves. Hayden knew for sure his father and sister would be there, it'd be nice to see Camille again. Hayden missed her so much, also by next week they'd have their station assignments. Hayden couldn't wait to find out his.

(Berk-Three Days Later)

Camille had just gotten to their temporary home from after school school, tired from the fact they ended the day with gym class. Gerald and Camille were staying with her father's brother, his wife, and Seth. Avery, Rachel, Seth, TJ, and Felix were with her seeing as it was Friday and they were all hanging out until 8pm or so. Camille saw her father's car sitting in the driveway of the Jorgenson household and got curious as to why he'd be home so early, it was only just 3pm and normally he worked until 5. She shrugged it off and entered the house seeing them all sitting around the living room.

"Welcome home, Seth, Camille." Said Camille's aunt/Seth's mother.

"Hi auntie Mel. What's going on, Daddy?...Why are you home so early?" Camille asked.

"This came in the mail today when I stopped by the house to check on repairs. Its from Camp Dreki..." Gerald said. Camille rushed over and grabbed it from him, her eyes scanned the words.

"To friends and family of the 2nd Berk Infantry Division, Armourwing Company. Your sons or daughters are graduating from Basic Training on December the 11th at 2:00pm. Please come out to join us in celebrating civilians becoming official soldiers of the Barbaric Archipelago Army! We hope to see you there!" Camille read off. She squealed with excitement, she'd get to see Hayden again!

"That's great, Cami!" Avery and Rachel hugged her.

"I can't wait to see him, we are going, right, Daddy?" Camille asked.

"Of course we are. That's what I was discussing with your aunt and uncle. We'll leave Sunday at 12:30pm and get there thirty minutes before the ceremony starts." Gerald nodded.

Cami jumped around happily with her friends, she'd get to see Hayden again! She couldn't wait, she wanted it to be Sunday already. 'I'll see you soon big brother...' She thought.

(Graduation Day)

The day before graduation families got to come up and see their soldiers before the ceremony which Hayden had been unaware of so while friends and squad were with their families, he was just laying on his bed with his arms behind and eyes closed. Thinking about what his DS said to him just a while back that he was leading all barrack out and commanding them to proper formation for graduation. An honor fore sure but nerve-wracking. His family wasn't here, he didn't think they'd come for family day anyway. Letting out a sigh he relaxed on his bed. Meanwhile in the parking lot, Cami was happily fidgeting. Gerald had taken the day off so they could come up early and in the cars were himself, his sister, and friends.

"I told you we were late, everyone is already here...How are we gonna find Hayden in this?" Avery mumbled.

"We'll ask someone..." Camille grumbled as they parked and she got out as a soldier was sitting with his family. "Excuse me?" Camille asked softly.

"Yes ma'am?" Said the soldier.

"Could you possibly tell where to find Hayden Haddock?" Camille said softly.

"Sure can lil lady. See across this way here, there's a bunch of metal dome barracks. You're gonna wanna find D and that's where Haddock will be." The soldier smiled.

"Thank you so much." Camille smiled back as she and her friends along with Gerald following towards the barracks all lined up across the way. After a eight or so minute walk they'd made it and began looking for D barrack and once they got in they didn't see Hayden at all.

"Who ya lookin for?" A man approached the group now.

"Umm...Hayden Haddock?" Hayden shot up in bed looking over to see his father, Camille, and friends there.

"Well shit, didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow." Hayden smiled. As soon as Camille saw him she rushed him and tackled him in a hug, they both fell back and Hayden on his back with a grunt.

"God damn it, Cami!..." Hayden mumbled but still he smiled and hugged her back. "Missed you too lil sis." Hayden then got to his feet and pulled her up with him.

"Looking pretty sharp there cuz." Seth grinned as Hayden shook their hands, although Avery hugged him.

"Part of the uniform, Seth. Didn't know you were all coming." Hayden chuckled.

"Dad took the day off so we could come up and get good seats for tomorrow." Cami giggled not letting go of him at all, it was like she was glued to him. "So these guys are your squad?"

"Well we're a squad yes, but no they aren't mine. Were under DS Ramirez. I was only squad leader for that mission in the forest." Hayden chuckled.

"Oh for fucks sake, Haddock. You're unofficial squad leader for the Fury Squadron of D barrack, you been leading every exercise we've done since we got stuck together. Take some pride in your position..." Said one of the men.

"Oh come off it, Palmer." Hayden rolled his eyes.

"Damn it, Hayden...You trained and bonded with a NIGHT FURY! You're way above the rest of us." Said another one of the men now as Camille, and the others glanced Hayden's way.

"A...Night Fury?" Gerald questioned arching a brow.

"Yeah its...kind of a long story that I will tell you later. I didn't just do BCT, I also did the training for dragons both trainer and rider." Hayden rubbed the back of his head.

"Private Haddock. Come in Private Haddock. Over." Came his radio , Hayden pulled it out and pressed the button on the side as the room was loud and noisy.

"Fury squad! Atten—tion!" Hayden called out, instantly all the men in the room stopped what they were doing and stood in position falling quiet. "DS on walkie, hold for further instructions." Hayden said.

"Yes squad leader, Haddock!" They boys replied to him.

"Private Haddock here. Go ahead, over." Hayden said.

"Got a bit of a dragon situation on the parade grounds. Can you assist? Over." Drill Sergeant Ramirez asked.

"Type of dragon and status. Over." Hayden replied pulling free of his sister's grip and slipping on his boots and coat.

"Nightmares. Engaged and hostile. All DS's present. Need back up and no one else is trained for this besides you. Over." DS Amunsav said now.

"Stay down behind the fire walls. Coming now on Strike Air1. ETA; Thirty seconds. Haddock out. Over." Hayden said firmly as he tucked his radio back on his belt.

"Wait, where are you going!?" Avery asked quickly.

"You heard my DS. Hostile Nightmares, they need back up and I'm the only private trained for dragon encounters. Stay here, I'll be back soon. Squad! As you were." Hayden said as he walked out the door, he gave a whistle and they saw a black dragon come out front, Hayden jumped on his back and headed towards the parade grounds.

"He's the only private trained for dragon encounters?" Gerald asked.

"Yes sir. No other private can take the dragon training courses unless they've bonded and by military law...Privates can't go through dragon bonding and training until after serving one year. Unless the dragon picks the trainer. Toothless picked Hayden and as such he keeps him, rides, trains him. He excelled in dragon training in only a week while the rest of the Fury squad was on a seventy two hour off base pass. He stayed back to train more so that qualifies him to handle any dragon encounters." Said Theo.

"And you are?" Camille smiled.

"Private Theodore Holgerson. Theo for short, Been Haddock's bunk buddy since first day of BCT." Theo said proudly.

"And I'm Private Flinvor. First name Oivind. Haddock and Holgerson squad member. There's twenty-five of us in here and the E barrack makes up the rest of our platoon." Oivind smiled.

"Barracks, platoons, squads...Makes no sense to me." TJ said now. Suddenly the door opened revealing a rather burnt looking Hayden and DS Ramirez. Hayden wasn't burnt, but parts of his air were ashy and his clothes were a little singed, blackened or gray in some spots.

"No offense but you seriously look like you came out of a random LMF dude..." Private Palmer chuckled.

"Haha. Nightmare was a little harder to wrangle." Hayden smirked.

"But ya did fine son. Now go catch a shower before comin back to yer family." DS Ramirez said with a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes Drill Sergeant." Hayden nodded grabbing a towel from his and Theo's closet then heading behind another door where the showers and bathrooms were. After maybe

"Uh...What's with all the abbreviations?" Seth asked.

"LMF stands for Land Mine Field." DS Ramirez informed.

"And what are...squads, platoons, and all that?" Felix questioned. Hayden came out dressed in a lighter green tee shirt with khaki pants on and wearing his boots although unlaced and his shirt was tucked in.

"Different sized units in the military." Theo said.

"Well seems like a chance to test your first two week skills boys. Haddock as squad leader, lets see if you remember them all. Break down the terms and how the camp works." DS Ramirez stated.

"Yes, Drill Sergeant." Hayden replied as he stood legs shoulder width apart, arms placed behind his lower back with the right hand holding the left hand. DS Ramirez stood back as the others listened. "Fort Dreki itself is a Company. A group of soldiers ranging between eighty to one hundred and fifty men. This particular group has been split up into three platoons and six squads, separated by these barracks you are standing in." Hayden began.

"I don't get it...are you a platoon or a squad?" Seth asked curiously.

"Allow me to finish if you would, Seth." Hayden stated, Seth nodded. "Each barrack is a squad. Two barracks make up a platoon. These barracks are lettered A through F and paired as follows. Barracks A and C are the Tracker platoon. Barracks B and F are the Stoker platoon. Barracks D and E are the Strike platoon. A platoon consists of sixteen to fifty men, a squad consists of eight to twenty-four men. This company has one hundred and fifty soldiers. One fifty divided by six is twenty-five. One hundred and fifty men split six ways, six barracks, makes six squads. And two squads make a platoon." Hayden finished.

"So earlier you referred to this squad as...Fury squad. Do they all have names?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. A barrack is the Spike squad. B the Fire, C the Spear, D being this one is Fury, E is Spark, and F is Rock." Hayden explained.

"Did you pick them yourselves?" Camille questioned.

"Group vote mainly." Theo shrugged.

"So...this story on bonding with a Night Fury?" Avery asked quickly with a smile.

"It was right after we made it out of the forest for the mission. Our team was our first, then twenty minutes later the Spear squad made it out. The original reward for making it out first was that the squad of that barrack would get a seventy-two pass off base. After the Spear squad was out, the others weren't far behind. The Spear squad leader didn't like that my team was out first, got jealous and attacked me. Then my dragon jumped out of the trees and protected me, he kept everyone back and let me get up. Took a few minutes but we just bonded, I named him Toothless because of his retractable teeth then while my squad was enjoying their seventy-two hour pass off base, I was in dragon training. Earned my wings, basically the dragon training/flier pin means I'm qualified to fly with aerial teams." Hayden stated.

"You mean like...if you went to war?..." Camille said a little worried. Hayden pulled her in for a hug then lifted her chin and stared into her eyes.

"Hey, relax okay. Don't think like that." Hayden smiled, Camille nodded to him. "But yes, that's what it would mean. But enough about that, do you want to meet Toothless?" Hayden asked her, she nodded her head.

"Squad leader exiting! Attention!" DS Ramirez announced.

"Oh my Thor, knock the shit off. I was squad leader for the mission. We're all privates in here, cept you Drill Sergeant." Hayden rolled his eyes.

"Just messin with ya kid." DS Ramiez chuckled. Hayden led his family and friends out around back where Toothless sat up instantly.

"Easy boy...Just family and friends." Hayden told Toothless who pressed his nose to Hayden's hand before giving a smile to the rest.

"Still can't believe you have a Night Fury." TJ smiled.

"Yep, military name is Strike Air 1. Because he's the only dragon for the Strike platoon and he's a dragon so air. But We go by Toothless." Hayden said rubbing the top of Toothless's head making him warble.

"You've...done well here, Hayden." Gerald said.

"Thanks..." Hayden replied with a nod. He wasn't sure what else to say but he took it as some kind of compliment. The rest of the night until 8pm was families hanging with with soldiers, and got to eat dinner with them too. It was a peaceful night all over, Hayden covered their stay in a hotel for the night so they wouldn't have to sleep in cars or drive back an hour home. They couldn't believe how different he looked from how he dressed, carried himself, any of it. He didn't even seem to be the same boy they saw get on a bus ten weeks ago. This Hayden was stronger, smarter, head shaved, and cleaned up real good. Avery and Rachel couldn't their eyes off his arms, chest, and stomach when he was wearing the tee-shirt. Gerald and the boys shared a room while the girls had their own at the hotel, around 9:30pm, it was lights out and Hayden was asleep. Tomorrow would be a big day, graduation from Basic Training and he was leading the entire company by himself. He was incredibly nervous but he knew he could do it, he had too.