Hi everyone. Please reply with comments and if anyone has any critiques please let me know. I'm getting a little more free time now so I'll be updating this one and my others more regularly.

CHAPTER ONE

*Hiccup's POV*

It was really quiet up on the cliff edge. I could see the fires from the raid down below as is slowly came to an end.

Above me, the Night Fury let out the telltale banshee call and I swung the machine wildly. "Come on." I muttered under my breath. "Give me something to shoot at."

"Hiccup," Liv hissed in my ear, and spun around to see her standing there, eyes blazing. "What are you doing? They need us at the stall and your still trying to shoot down a dragon that you can't even see?"

I kept scanning the skies, alert for any movement. "How else am I supposed to get everyone to like me?"

"By being yerself, Ren. Yer not a dragon killer."

"But I will be!" I snapped. "I will be like them. I will kill my first dragon."

Instead of getting angry, like usual, she just shook her head sadly. "Why do ya feel like ya need to fit in so badly?"

"I'm a viking!" My eyes burned. "I'm supposed to be like that!"

"But why do ya feel like ya need to change yerself for them? They've done nothing fer ya." The redhead frowned. "They don't deserve that, 'Iccup."

My mouth opened, but I never had the chance to reply. There was a flicker of movement in the sky, and I locked the machine on the dragon and fired. With a loud snap, the bola went flying, wrapping around the dragon.

I hit it. I actually hit it! "Did you see that!" I cheered at my friend. "Did anyone see that? I actually hit it!" I spun around to smile at Liv, and saw the large Monstrous Nightmare behind her. "Except you."

"Oh, Loki's balls, Hiccup!" Liv shoved me to the side, towards the village. "You always have to drag me into these situations. Now run, before you don't have the legs to do so." She reach behind her back and unsheathed her sword. The black metal blended in with the night, and the red gem she had snagged from a trading ship gleamed on the pommel. "'Ey, Scaley! Heap of shit. This way, you whining maggot."

Good gods, did she have a mouth.

The dragon lept at my friend, long claws swiping at her head. Each strike was blocked by her blade. Once the dragon realized his attacks were going nowhere, he roared and charged at her, teeth snapping. Liv was barely able to dance sideways before the dragon tried again.

Her eyes glanced over at me, still frozen by the cliff edge. "What are ya waiting fer? Run!" The Nightmare's body glowed for a heartbeat, then lit on fire. "Yak dung. Odin, just skin me now." She rolled under the dragon's teeth and smacked him in the side of the face with the flat of her sword.

He let out a scathing shriek and his scales burned hotter.

I did as I was told – I ran.

"Hiccup! What are you doing out?" My dad grabbed me like a rag doll. "Get to the house."

"But Dad, Liv –" I gasped for air. My chest were taunt with worry for my friend. "She's up on the cliff. Nightmare."

My father's eyes widened. "Gobber!" He snapped. "Take Hiccup home. I'll deal with him when I get back."

And there it was. The look of disappointment. But somehow, with Liv in danger, I couldn't bring myself to mention the Night Fury.

*Liv's POV*

I was going to skin the boy alive.

Under my armor, I was soaked in sweat, both from exertion and the heat from the flames. My sword was heavy in my hand, and I had a gash on my upper arm from where one of the claws had grazed me. The skin around it had bubbled up and turned red from the temperature. Luckily, my leather armor protected my side from receiving anything more than a bad bruise.

The Nightmare snapped his jaws at me again, and I left over his muzzle, tucked into a roll, and stood up with my sword between us once again.

"Devil," I heard the chief say from behind me. "Leave." The behemoth of a viking smacked the dragon across the face with his hammer, quenching the flames.

In one swift tackle, the dragon was on the ground, coughing up sparks. "Yer all out."

The dragon shook itself off the best it could and flew away. His flapping was uneven, and I noticed the spot where his wing met his back was sliced from where I had gotten a lucky shot in.

I knew I should have felt good. Even injuring a nightmare was an accomplishment. But my chest was heavy.

Hiccup's dad looked down at me in disgust. "What were ya doing, girl?"

"I was trying to help my friend." Getting in trouble was nothing new to me. My amber matched his blue, and I set my face. "He had a plan and I volunteered to watch his back."

"Go home, and stay there, lassie. Leave Hiccup be, or else he will never learn." Before I could say anything else, the chief had walked away towards the villagers, barking out orders for rebuilding and cleaning up.

"Liv." My mother said, as she and father walked over to me. "You're hair." She sounded appalled. "Pull it back, child."

"No, Mother, I will not." I flicked a piece over my shoulder, and winced softly at the use of the injured arm. I was going to be sore tomorrow.

Dad stared down at me, face expressionless. "We'll be staying in the Great Hall tonight. Look presentable before you come home."

The Nightmare's flames licked back up my throat, and I pursed my lips. If I opened my mouth, I didn't know if I would cry or yell.

My mother looked down at me, her hazel eyes unwavering. I knew they were wondering what else they could do with me. Where else they could send me to make me into the 'perfect viking'. "Next time you go after a dragon, pick one you can actually handle."

You want me to be you, but then you say I can't be. Which one is it?

Mom was tall, with tanned skin and long auburn hair braided back into a tail. She was lean, and no less fit than any of the other vikings. Rune, Father, was as tall as the chief, with just as much stubbornness. Unlike many vikings in Berk, he was stocky and broad, but not overweight. His blonde hair was cut short and spiky, and his green eyes were hard.

I never did understand how the chief received the name Stoick over my father. It would have fit him better.

Swallowing, my throat jerking with the force of holding back my cries, I nodded. I won't. I refuse. I will never be you.

The pair walked off, patting my older brother on the shoulder as they passed him. Pride shined in their eyes as they congratulated my older sister for taking down her first nadder. But when they looked at me, all I saw was disdain. Regret.

I will never be you.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to quench the anger burning in my stomach. I placed my sword back in its sheath and strode towards the forest.

No one stopped me. Or even looked at me.

Without thinking, my feet led me towards the mountain by the North Sea. The path there was worn from my many trips. The mountain was a sheer rock face on the seaward side, and a sharp incline overgrown with trees, vines, and plants on the other.

One Evergreen tree, taller than the others around it by a few feet, was the perfect way to climb within reach of the vines that hung from the caves. My fingers felt for the ledges and grips that I knew like the back of my hand. In five minutes, I was on the top of the mountain.

The sun was just peaking above the water when I sat on the ledge, bathing the mountain top in gold. The snow that had settled here throughout the night was soft and undisturbed.

I will never be a dragon killer.

My parents always took pride in claiming that our family was better than an average viking. They flaunted that we could fight like the few gladiators who had graced our shores. That we were as smart as the Roman professors whose books we found on trade ships.

But underneath all the claims, they had the mentality of every other viking here – to be a viking, to bring pride to your family, you had to kill a dragon.

And I couldn't.

*Hiccup's POV*

"The gods hate me," I declared, snapping my notebook shut. "Some people lose their knife, or their mug, but not me!" The rising sun flickered through the trees. "No, I manage to lose an entire dragon!"

I smacked a low hanging branch in frustration, and it swung back in my face. "Ow!" Worried it might be bleeding, I wiped a hand over my cheek to see, before something out the corner of my eye caught my attention.

It was black scales.

I crept up on the trench quietly, hiding behind the mound of dirt. The dragon was smaller than I thought, and all black. Unlike a nadder, it appeared to walk on all fours, and had two massive wings that were currently pressed up against its back. Its body was slender, but not skinny, probably built for speed.

"Woah…" I muttered, nervous the dragon would wake up. When it didn't move, I went closer. "I did it. This… This fixes everything." My face split in a large grin and I laughed, planting a foot on the downed Night Fury in a sudden burst of confidence. "I have brought down this mighty beast!"

The dragon moved under my foot.

"Whoa!" I jumped backwards and pointed my knife at the black beast, then chided myself on my horrible thinking. It's a dragon and you essentially brought a toothpick. Come on, Hiccup, what were you thinking?

Strangely enough, my consciousness sounded an awful lot like Liv.

My eyes slowly crept over to meet the Fury's own green gaze. It sent a tingle down my spine, and I tried to look away, but the dragon's eyes kept me captive. The slitted, cat like orbs regarded me coldly – and were filled with intelligence.

What are you doing Hiccup?

I shook that thought off. I'm making my dad proud. I'm making Berk proud. My knife raised, I crept back up closer to the dragon. "I'm going to kill you, Dragon." I struggled to keep my voice from shaking. "I'm going to cut out your heart and take it to my father." Even as I said it, my stomach churned.

"I am a viking." My chest heaved as I struggled to get in enough air. I couldn't tell if was fear of the dragon, or fear of killing it. The knife was lifted, ready for the killing blow.

I would bring back his heart for my father, and we would feast. He would accept me, and I would be one of them, finally. I would have friends, and a family.

But Gobber, and Liv.

My breaths were shallow. "I am a VIKING!"

Hands shaking, I gripped the blade and moved to bring it down as I looked in the dragon's eyes. His eyes filled with acceptance, and his head rolled back on the ground. I found myself feeling bad for the beast, and I lowered my knife.

I couldn't.

My resolve hardened and I did the one thing in my life I might regret the most – I started sawing at the ropes.

I couldn't.

The last rope snapped, and he lunged, pinning me to the boulder. Staring into his eyes, I still couldn't decide if I had made the right choice.

I couldn't.

Mouth open, the Night Fury charged a blast. I could smell the gas – feel it burning my face. This was it. I wouldn't be back for dinner. I would never see Gobber or Liv or Astrid again.

I couldn't.

With a piercing shriek, the dragon disappeared, running away into the forest. My ears were ringing, and only one thought passed through my head before I passed out.

I wouldn't kill a dragon.

You'll never know how far

you can go until you

step into the unknown.

Unknown