So, um, this got more attention than I anticipated it would, so I thought it would only be fair if I gave you the next chapter early as a thank you :))) It's short, yes, but I decided it would be better to keep chapters shorter, but more frequent. And yes, for now I decided I shall continue this, because the more I think about this, the more excited I get :')) I'm not sure whether this is what you expected, but there will be a certain explanation regarding a point in this story and this chapter at the end, so before you start yelling at me for not making sense or something (I am very paranoid and I am very sorry for that :')), read that :'). And thank you for those who followed, favorited, and especially reviewed! It really made my day :))

Chapter I

As Hiccup stared into the darkness of his room, he tried to calm his wildly beating heart and control his panting. A heavy ache pounded into his head, and the boy instinctively gripped the side of it, a quiet hiss of pain escaping his parted lips. He was rather certain that even if his room wouldn't had been enveloped in the night's cloak, he would nevertheless see darkness. His hold on the rough blanket tightened as he began taking deep breaths.

What... was that?

Hiccup was certain he had a dream. A wild dream at that. Perhaps even a nightmare. However, no matter how hard he tried, no clear images came to his mind. Everything was a complete blur, including that blinding light at the end. But even if it was just a dream, why were there such consequences? Why was his heart pounding at such a rate as if he had just ran a marathon, why did it seem as if his head would split at any moment? Sure, nightmares could give you quite the fright, but usually you would remember it, and it wasn't as if Hiccup had a lot of those.

After awhile he decided it was useless dwelling on this strange phenomenon. It was a mere dream, with no real meaning. What concerned Hiccup more what that awful headache. Perhaps he should try sleeping it off, though after that night's experience the boy doubted he could drift off again. And besides, it seemed that dawn was finally breaking, the Sun's first gentle orange rays beginning to reach Berk. It wouldn't be long before the village would once again come alive, so there was no point in attempting to rest more.

Perhaps a walk in the morning's fresh air would chase away that pain.

With that thought, Hiccup pushed the blanket away and lowered his legs to the ground. However, he didn't manage to take a single step before he suddenly stumbled and only due to his quick reaction did he not hit the ground painfully but instead caught himself on the counter's side. Well that was strange. Could he perhaps be sick or something? While he wasn't the strongest of Vikings, quite the opposite actually, he could at least stand on his feet. Maybe this had something to do with his strange state this morning? That was a very likely possibility, though the exact reason was still completely unclear.

But still... The boy lifted his left leg slightly and trampled the ground a couple of times. Good as ever, functioning normally. He furrowed his brows. So why...

Shaking his head, Hiccup decided to not ponder about this anymore. It was no use, after all. He only needed to walk this odd feeling off. So what if this wasn't the best of mornings? He couldn't let that hinder his whole day.

And what a day it proved to be.

*.*.*

Dragons, dragons, dragons.

They just couldn't give them a break, could they?

No.

What?

Hiccup once again almost stumbled on his feet in surprise and nearly ran into a burning pillar. Alright, now was certainly not the best time to allow his thoughts to drift. However, it seemed that as this accursed day progressed, the more his mind jumbled and twisted strangely. At times he could hardly understand what exactly he was feeling or thinking for that matter. As if some sort of veil had landed upon his mind, depraving the boy of his ability to comprehend what exactly was going on inside of him. Not to mention that forsaken headache that refused to leave no matter what. At one point Hiccup pondered if he should visit Gothi regarding this strange pain, but in the end decided against it. What would he tell her? Everything was completely fine with his body apart from that pounding aching. Besides, with time it slightly dulled, so Hiccup convinced himself it would fade away by itself eventually.

But alas, again, now was certainly not the time to muse about such petty matters. The village was, once again, under a raid, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Both sarcastically and not. Hiccup's current goal was to safely, or at least gravely unharmed, make his way to the forge. Easier said than done with all those crazy vikings running around and all those marvelous dragons spewing fire and grabbing everything worthy they laid their eyes upon. Luckily, Hiccup was, well, a hiccup, so he didn't appear too appetizing, which gave him an advantage in this sort of field. And soon enough the wonderful structure of the forge entered his view and Hiccup almost sighed in relief. In the midst of battle, the clinking of hot metal, the sweet sound of an axe or a sword in the process of sharpening and the warmth of burning coal seemed almost soothing.

Soothing, but strangely... unfamiliar. Foreign.

There he goes again, he had to get his mind out of the clouds.

Long story short, after several sarcastic remarks from both Gobber and himself to each other, yet another argument regarding his inventions – which somehow led him to getting a nagging feeling there was a mild calibration issue with his newest creation, good thing he decided to check before accidentally hurting someone – and one in many speeches regarding what a terrible Viking he was (yes, thank you, Gobber, you manage to uplift my spirits as marvelously as ever), the blacksmith decided he should join the wild party to help his fellow Vikings in taming those main guests, or in other words, pop a few dragons' heads off. But honestly, did Gobber truly believe Hiccup would listen to his orders and not venture out in the hopes of finally making the correct mark? Perhaps he merely hoped for once the problematic boy would stay out of trouble and give them all a break. Maybe such a day would indeed at some point come (what a joyous occasion that would be for Dad), but today was not that day. And so, the young inventor, as quickly as possible, grabbed his proud creation that lent him greater strength than any Viking held, and set off to find a safe spot to try and shoot down a dragon, mainly the one that would bring him the most glory. Because oh boy did he lack that.

Fortunately, Hiccup managed to reach a quiet secluded area unharmed. There were a few close calls, but in the end the boy could safely set up his invention. However, he had to hurry. It wouldn't take long for someone – mainly Gobber or his father – to notice his absence. Then they would either run searching for him or make the assumption he had become a toothpick for some wild dragon. The villagers held great confidence in Hiccup, after all.

Well, not for long. Once he killed his first dragon, everything would change. He would no longer be Hiccup the Useless, no, he would prove to everyone that he was worthy enough to stand with them as an equal, that he could make his father proud at least once in his lifetime and that he could conquer dragons just as greatly as any other Viking-

Hiccup's hands suddenly froze in the midst of setting up his Mangler cannon. And he couldn't understand why exactly. Such a strange feeling abruptly washed over him as the thought of conquering – killing in other words – dragons entered his mind, something heavy and thick filled his pores, almost suffocating, something akin to... aversion. For a brief moment, for a single beat of his heart, Hiccup felt resentment towards the very idea, towards his wish to present a dragon's heart to his father and finally earn appreciation from his fellow Vikings as a result of his courageous act, towards the desire to be one of them- Towards everything Berk stood for.

However, quickly Hiccup shook such a ridiculous thought – or perhaps it was better to describe it as a feeling – out of his head. Of course this was what he wanted. Of course this was his greatest wish, to finally earn his rightful place as his father's heir, to at last make him proud and not regard him as a screw up, as a talking fish bone as Hiccup liked to put it. And if slaying a dragon was the way to accomplish that goal, then so be it.

Now all he needed was something to shoot at.

The sky that night was a true beauty. Not a single cloud covered the thousands of glistening stars, as if Thor himself had hammered hundreds of silver nails into the gorgeous black dome. And with all that fiery fight taking place far from Hiccup, the atmosphere was almost tranquil. He was sure that if this had been any other night, he would be resting at some cliff away from his village and simply gazing into the wonderful sky, enjoying the peace and losing himself in its beauty, allowing the gentle, albeit slightly chilly breeze to wash away his worries and troubles, leaving him with nothing but himself and the night. However, it was not such a day. No, Hiccup had a specific goal and he couldn't allow his mind to waver to such at the moment trivial thoughts. He was not alone this terribly early morning. The King of night was soaring through its dome, and only an occasional spot of absence of light was an indicator of its position. Hiccup was praying to all gods his luck would not fail him this time. He had been living a harsh live, could they at least cut him some slack this one single time?

And there it went again. Just as he had hoped, the infamous Night Fury hit the wooden structure near him and his black body flashed across the sky. Hiccup wouldn't get this sort of chance again. Instinctively, he shut his eyes and fired in the general direction the dragon flew to.

To hit a Night Fury... What an accomplishment that would be. No Viking before had ever slayed one. And if Hiccup became the first... No one would dare to call him useless or unworthy ever again. To shoot down the most notorious dragon they had ever seen, to remove the most vicious threat they faced, to conquer the one beast even the Book of Dragons held no information about, to kill... to kill... to kill Too-

Just for a single blink of an eye Hiccup hesitated, just for a mere beat his hand wavered on the trigger, just a centimeter his body moved to the side as if on instinct. The shot fired, yes, and Hiccup heard the terrible screech of the creature it had it. With wide, unbelieving eyes the boy watched as a black figure sank through the sky and disappeared into the thick woods, a distant crash sound reaching his ears. He had hit his target.

Hiccup should have been overjoyed. He should have been leaping from accomplishment with a grin on his lips. He should have been racing back to the village – to his father – to tell them all about his success. He had done an unimaginable thing, after all. He should have been happy.

And yet, Hiccup's eyes never left the spot the creature crashed to, his whole body frozen. He had accomplished his task, yes, and yet, he felt no delight. The night wasn't quiet. Distant screeches, almost inaudible from such a distance, filled with agony and fright? reached him, and it made his blood run cold, his throat to dry out, his heart to skip beats.

And as horrible dread filled him, Hiccup held no desire to retreat back to his people – instead, he felt the strangest pull towards the woods.

I should mention that I'm in love with the whole concept of the Butterfly Effect. And that's basically what this story will revolve around. In other chapters I will change the point of view to various of different characters, so we won't only see the situation from past Hiccup's perspective. We'll also get to see how the changing of past will effect the future, so ya.

Okay, so for the explanation. I'll try to to give away too much with it, just to make some points clear. I hope you understood what happened here, right?.. If not, I'm sorry, it's my fault for being too unclear. Anyway, I'll explain it nonetheless. Basically, future Hiccup's consciousness (in other Time Travel AUs future Hiccup gets transported to the past physically, which is not the concept I was looking for as I've mentioned in the previous chapter's note) gets "shoved in" next to past Hiccup's consciousness, so you kinda get two people inside one body (similar to DID, which I'm also very interested in :')) ). However, at the moment, past Hiccup is, obviously, the utterly dominant one, so no clear thought from future Hiccup (god, I dread the day I will need to come up with better names for these two...) can reach him. NOTE THE 'AT THE MOMENT' PART. Nevertheless, there are things stronger than rational thoughts: feelings! (surprise surprise). And so, they can affect past Hiccup, thus we get this chapter and its ending. Don't worry, this won't be the case for long, both Hiccups are very strong, after all, so no way can one be completely shoved to the side :)) And oh boy can't I wait to write from his perspective...

So yeah, Butterfly Effect! Expect a lot of that! One mere second can change more than you think :)))