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DJ Rodriguez

Chapter 1: Thank you.

Chapter 2: To answer your assumptions, yes, yes and as for the spear, he may have encountered a Viking ship who thought it was a good idea to attack him. And you are right.

LORD DESTRYUK: You would be correct. As for Hiccup being a Samurai, well I don't want to give any spoilers. And for Godzilla, this is the Godzillasaurus from "Godzilla Minus One."

Now on with the story.

Inspired by a HTTYD reaction fic on Archive Of Our Own.

Chapter 3: Hiccup vs Astrid

One week. He had one week until the final test. Plenty of time to learn about his and Toothless' new friend. A friend who stood about fifty feet tall and was sixty-five feet long.

Based on his own conclusions, the creature wasn't a dragon. He didn't have wings whatsoever. Even sea dragons still had their wing appendages, a sign that they were once flying creatures or were part of the same family.

If anything, he seemed to be just a big theropod lizard with giant dorsal fins. But, as Hiccup found out when the creature came to his defense when Hiccup came face to face with a very large and angry wild boar, he can breath blue fire. Hiccup didn't see the whole thing himself because he was running away when it looked like a forest fire was going to break out.

So not really a dragon but part of the same family that shares the ability to breath fire. He kind of wishes to see it more closely but apparently the creature did not give into his curiosity.

He was a adept swimmer, obviously. And not from the Archipelago, obvious since he had never heard of anything like this creature. But with the spear, the creature recently had an encounter with Vikings. Probably must have been just minding his own business, swimming in the ocean before Vikings attacked him, thinking he was a dragon. And at one point a Viking managed to throw a spear into his mouth.

And Toothless didn't seem to know what to make out of the creature as well, meaning it's not part of the Dragons' Nest that Vikings have looked for since coming to the Archipelago 300 years ago.

Another thing he learned was that he was a fast healer. About four days after they met, Hiccup brought some medicine to the cove, thinking that the creature needed to have his mouth looked at. But when he looked inside the mouth, Hiccup did not see any signs of the gums being infected or the wound for that matter. He realized that the creature healed on its own.

But then came the one thing that had Hiccup stumped.

Giving the creature a name, both as a species and as an individual. He spent the fifth day trying to come up with names for the great beast. He even asked the creature of what his thoughts were on the names, same as Toothless who was feasting on some fish.

Dragonsaurus Rex? No.

Dragon Rex? Nope.

Grimlock? No. No.

Gigantis? No, that didn't sound right.

Yongary? Definitely not.

Tyrannosaurus Rex? Nah, that sounded like it was taken anyway.

"How about Zilla?" Hiccup asked. Looking up, he sees the creature giving him a blank expression before his large tail swung into view and then he was sent flying through the air with the wind knocked out of him.

"WOOO-AAAAHHH!" Hiccup screamed before he splashed into the pond. Something told him that was a definite 'Hel No.'

He rose to the surface and saw Toothless and the creature laughing in their own draconic ways. Hiccup rolled his eyes and swam back to the shore. He deadpans at the creature whose lips curl up in a smile. Unlike his Night Fury companion who smiles as well, the creature did not have retractable teeth.

The smile drove away his annoyance and he ended up laughing out loud, holding his sides. Toothless and the creature join in on the laughter, the sounds echoing through the cove.

But then that night he had a strange dream. Hiccup was standing in attendance of some ceremony at a village that he did not recognize along with the people. He didn't recognize anyone in the village. And they spoke in a language that he didn't understand.

The only thing he recognized was one word the strange people were saying more than once.

Gojira.

He didn't understand it completely not until he was talking to himself and said it out loud when he was in the Cove.

The creature had lifted his head up when Hiccup said that. He tilted his head as if confused or surprised that Hiccup knew the word (This made Hiccup make a note that it was smart as Toothless to understand his language.) before he became pleased. It was then that the word was a name that the creature was familiar with. With the name not sounding like a Viking name combined with the vision, Hiccup was more convinced that Gojira was not from around the Archipelago.

But nonetheless, the Saurian creature was now a friend to him and Toothless.

The Gronckle buzzes around the Ring, searching. The only participants in this exercise are Hiccup and Astrid, most of Berk gathered to watch. The former is hiding behind one of the barriers, watching the Gronckle's movements above him before Astrid slides to hide behind the same barrier as he is. He scoots away slightly and offer a friendly smile, but upon noticing him, Astrid shoves his shield down, a scowl on her face.

"Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing." she growled to him.

Surprised, Hiccup watches her walk away before shrugging. "Good. Please, by all means." he called out sarcastically. It's not like he wanted to be here in the first place.

Hiccup spots Stoick sitting in the crowd. He adjusts his helmet and gives a smile up to his father as if to ask on how he looks, but it falls flat almost immediately. He is so done with this yak shit.

Astrid peeks over a barrier as the Gronckle flies overhead, leaping from shelter to shelter, tracking the dragon. She presses up against one more structure, clutching her axe.

Vikings from the Hofferson Clan call out to cheer for her. "You got it, Astrid!"

Astrid whispers to herself, "This time. This time, for sure." And the girl breaks into a run, screaming a war cry, weapon raised. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

But she pauses, shocked, at the scene before her: the Gronckle dozing on the ground before Hiccup, his shield, helmet, and axe discarded. Hiccup seems to realize what he's done at the same time as Astrid, cringing back and waving his arms as though in explanation.

Astrid stares before shouting. "NO! NO!" She presses the handle of her axe against her head. "SON OF HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING MUNGE BUCKET!

Hiccup looks over at Astrid, swinging her axe in violent anger.

People have begun to stand, begun to realize that the Gronckle is lying before Hiccup.

Slowly, the world seems to slow down. The sounds fade out, growing muffled, the cheering of Vikings turning distant. It is as though they have been dunked beneath water, the sea in their ears.

Hiccup watches the crowd stand. He watches them cheer, but does not hear it. He looks down upon the Gronckle, dozing happily. Next, he looks to his right, where Astrid is swinging her axe in a rage.

"The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

Hiccup looks up, and finds Gobber in the stands, grinning from ear to ear.

Suddenly, different memories play through his mind as if he is seeing them while blinking rapidly.

Hiccup, approaching the downed Night Fury.

Hiccup, taking in the damage of his bola.

Hiccup, raising the dagger.

Dropping it. Trying again.

And again. And again.

And then he met Gojira. The giant creature had asked him, a Viking teen for help. He doesn't fully know where he comes from but he had been offering friendship to Hiccup and Toothless. He remembers how the creature's lips curled up in a smile in amusement.

He remembers Stoick's smile in the forge.

"You really had me going there, son! All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen!"

Lastly, Hiccup finds Stoick in the crowd. The smile growing on the Chief's face is large, his fists rising in excitement, his eyes full of pride.

Stoick is starting to clap, to cheer.

Hiccup is staring up at the Chief as the next words echo.

"We finally have something to talk about."

And Hiccup sighs, just once, softly. In the odd, quiet world, it is the only sound.

Then, Hiccup punches the Gronckle in the nose.

No one noticed, no one saw, except– In the stands, Gothi's eyes widen.

Fishbone or no, runt or no, the punch has an effect.

The Gronckle's pupils turn to slits and it leaps up from the floor, roaring in pain. The Vikings in the stands gasp, and their cheers die away. The fight is not over.

Hiccup stumbles back as the Gronckle snarls, opening its jaws in an eerie callback to the first training session. Fire glow builds in the dragon's jaws, and Hiccup searches the stone floor for his shield, but the fire is already chasing the shadows from his face. In the stands, Stoick grabs the iron bars.

Hiccup yelps as he is suddenly tackled out of the way, crashing to the floor under Astrid as a great fireball flies over their heads.

The two teens bounce once on the stone, rolling to a stop as the Gronckle tries to turn, barreling after them. Hiccup opens his eyes in shock. Above him is Astrid, staring down in surprise, her axe in hand. Hiccup blinks and Astrid breathes hard, before the Gronckle growls again and she leaps up. This time, Hiccup does not move, and there is no tangle of limbs.

Astrid snatches Hiccup's shield from the floor and begins to bang it against her axe, screaming as she runs to the right, away from Hiccup. The Gronckle follows, enraged, but as it closes in, Astrid slides beneath it, avoiding a second fireball. She continues to smash her axe and shield together, and the Gronckle's rage begins to die as the creature shakes its head.

The Gronckle fires at Astrid, but she takes the shot with her shield, yelping at the blast. Vikings in the stands gasp, but Astrid gets up, tossing away her blackened and broken shield.

On the ground, Hiccup starts to inch back, away from the fight.

Up in the stands, Stoick watches Hiccup. "Get back in there, son." he says encouragingly. But Hiccup doesn't move.

Still disoriented, the Gronckle gives chase as Astrid runs, leaping over barriers. In the dragon's vision, Astrid is a shaky, blonde blur that darts behind a barrier. Suddenly, the Arena floor is devoid of motion. The Gronckle spins in a circle, but Astrid is nowhere to be seen. The dragon sees Hiccup, instead, peeking over a barricade, pretending to check over his axe as Vikings call for him to fight.

The Gronckle makes for the boy. Slowly, Hiccup lifts a hand, staring at it. He can't see Astrid, and now, he'll have to bring down the Gronckle. He had tried, he really tried, but–

Astrid's yell echoes through the arena as she falls before Hiccup, just before the Gronckle can bite him in two– or before Hiccup can scratch its scales. Astrid falls from above, and a look up reveals the great tree trunks used to lock the dragon pens, which Astrid had scaled, climbing high out of the Gronckle's eyeline. She falls with her axe before her, and swings it hard into the Gronckle's skull, flat-end first. When the two connect, Astrid loses her grip on her weapon and rolls off the dragon...but it makes no matter. The Gronckle moans, shaking once, and then drops to the floor, dizzy and down for the count.

Vikings go wild in the stands, but it is again drowned out, muffled, as Astrid lifts her head, staring at the unconscious Gronckle. She stumbles to her feet, tossing her bangs from her eyes, and turns around– to Hiccup.

Hiccup's hand is still outstretched, and he is staring at the Gronckle, at Astrid. Quickly, he lets his hand fall, leaning back and gripping the barricade behind him for support. His face is one of utter shock and awe, brought on by both the impressive victory and the presence of Astrid herself.

"Are you okay?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup blinks again. He appears a little dazed. "You– you won."

Vikings are raising the gate, starting to flood into the Arena, cheering Astrid's name. Stoick sits in his throne, clapping good-naturedly. "It's alright son! Well done, Astrid! Well done!"

But neither of the teens seem to hear Stoick. They are only seeing each other.

Astrid pauses as she replays Hiccup's words in her head. "Yeah, I–I guess I did." she said.

Hiccup nods, then smiles, just a little. "Congratulations."

Astrid frowns. "Hiccup–" She yelps in surprise as she is swept suddenly off her feet, swept up onto shoulders as the crowd finally converges on them. The cheering of Vikings comes back to full sound with a deafening crescendo, and for a moment, the only thing to be seen are jumping bodies and waving fists. Astrid sits on her father's shoulders, one hand on his helmet for balance, momentarily dizzy.

Gobber appears in the mass. "Congratulations, Astrid! The Nightmare is yours!" The blacksmith declares jovially.

Astrid nods at him, grinning wide, but looks away, searching. Others shout for her attention, and Snotlout reaches up, grabbing her arm and professing that 'he always knew she would win'. Obligingly, her father turns to all these calls, but even with her ever-moving vantage point and darting eyes, Astrid cannot find Hiccup.

He is gone.

So there's a change to the timeline. Hiccup throughs the match against Astrid.

Will he still plan to leave Berk like in Cannon or not?

Until then.

May the Force be with you.