Originally posted: Sept. 17, 2016

Chapter edited: Jan. 3, 2019

Good Lord, I've been at this for a long while.

Okay so to rehash my prior A/N: "So I was messing around on here reading HTTYD fics when I stumbled across a realization. There are so many fics out there exploring what it would be like if Hiccup was raised by dragons. What if he was taken along with Valka by Cloudjumper? What if he was picked up by Toothless? What if he was a completely wild child? Etc. Etc.

As much fun as those fics tend to be, I couldn't help but wonder: What about Toothless? What if it was him being raised by the other species?"

So something something it snowballed from there, something something, LET'S GET TO THE FIC!

Read and Relax!

Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. If I did, then (spoiler!) Stoick wouldn't have been killed off in the second movie, and Hiccup would be fluent in Dragonese by now. So there. That's the only disclaimer you're getting. Thank you.

Hiccup

Before we begin, my name's Hiccup (in case my name on the top of the page didn't tip you off). It's a scrappy name, I know, but…my dad picked it. …Yeah…

But talking about my family's poor taste in names is not the point of this document. You're here to hear a story about a boy and a dragon, and I only hope that you'll believe it.

I think that the people of my village have this misconception about me. They think that every morning, I wake up, do a few stretches, and think to myself What kind of chaos can I start on this dandiest of ol' days?

Well guess what?: I don't do that. Ever.

In fact, on the morning my unbelievable story began, I rolled out of bed and slunk to my door, and the first coherent thought that slammed my brain cells back to the land of the living was, ODIN'S GHOST, IT'S A RAID!

See, the minute I nudged the door open, lo and behold, I was greeted by the roar of a Monstrous Nightmare barreling a stream of blazing fire my way. I slammed the door shut and pressed my body against it as the fire pounded into the door. It was a miracle that I was able to hold it closed. I could feel the heat seeping through and the thick mass of wood that was separating me from a toasty death.

I internally cursed. "Dragons…"

I don't go looking for chaos and mayhem, you see. They come hunting for me.

As soon as I was certain that I wouldn't be stepping out into the mouth of a hungry, oversized lizard, I took in a deep breath and screamed, "TOOTHLESS! WAKE UP!"

Instantly, there was a loud thunk from the loft followed by a series of crashes. I rolled my eyes. That guy could sleep through anything if he put his mind to it.

Finally, I heard a muffled reply. "Is it a raid!?"

"No, we're having a party! Dad wants you to come for the mead!"

Something big and wooden splintered apart outside followed by a cacophony of massive flapping wings.

Incoherent mumbling came from up in the loft before I finally saw my brother run down the stairs. The disheveled kid with a bed head is Toothless, my brother. For the record, he's adopted, if his darker palette wouldn't tip you off.

Mom found him on some "unplanned trip" to a ghost town island while I was still a baby. Apparently, his entire village had been wiped out, but from what, exactly, I couldn't say. A raid, I'd always reasoned. Anyway, Mom's nature wouldn't let her leave him alone, so instead, she took him home and raised her with me. And thus began our beautifully wacky friendship.

Mom's also the one who picked his name. "Even though his people had fought hard," she would say, "only the toothless one survived."

Personally, I think she just called him as she saw him.

The screeching dragons outside made the house rumble. Suddenly a nearby building crumbled as something powerful slammed into it.

"Fantastic," I muttered. The burning wood wafted through from the windows, and the smoke was already stinking up our house.

"C'mon!" Toothless said as he grabbed my hand and ran out the door.

The minute we stepped outside, it was mayhem. Dragons were everywhere, shooting fire and stealing livestock left and right. The animals were bleating and howling as their pursuers closed in on them. Vikings were fighting off the invaders with mighty war cries and big axes, as was expected from them all. Some were passing weapons out to every man, woman, and child they passed while others tried to redirect the herds, so they wouldn't trample our warriors in stampedes.

Welcome to Berk, folks.

We'd barely left the house when we were both knocked down on our backs by a stray ram.

Toothless groaned. "You okay?" he asked. He dragged himself to his feet before offering me his hand which was wrapped in strips of white cloth.

"Kinda."

After he pulled me up, we looked at one another as we stood in the midst of Berk's organized chaos.

Toothless eventually asked, "Did I forget to say good morning to you, by the way?"

I gave him a dry look before it dissolved into a grin. He returned it with his own toothy smile.

We ran through the village and dodged flying weapons and rushing Vikings. Toothless had always been much faster than I was, so I nearly lost him several times. Dragons swooped down on us, and more than once, Toothless pushed me under him. I finally protested after the fifth time, and he let up. Eventually, we ran through a particularly rowdy group of Vikings who were less than pleased to see us.

"What are you two doing out here?" one cried.

"Get inside!"

"Go back inside!" two others demanded.

We ignored them and moved on. Toothless moved nimbly through the crowds while I stumbled and tripped over myself. I was grateful he would never leave me behind.

We'd pressed through a band of warriors who were taking on some Nadders when I was suddenly grabbed by the back of my collar.

"HICCUP!" boomed a familiar voice.

Toothless

You know, I'd been having a really off day. I'd gotten woken up by Hiccup's screaming, I was nearly trampled by men and yaks alike, I nearly lost Hiccup twice to charging bands of blood-thirsty dragon killers, and the sun hadn't even had the guts to show its stupid face yet. I hated the day, and I hated the dragons for having the audacity to wake me up at this unholy hour.

Someone needs to tell them to pick a different time for this raiding crap.

If Hiccup were a mind reader, I imagine he probably would have teased me for my skewered priorities.

The minute our father snagged me by the collar, I just knew this morning was a grand gesture from Loki himself.

"What is he doing out here agai—What are you doing out here!?" he asked a meek Hiccup.

My brother looked anything but pleased to be held by his vest's collar as easily as a coin purse of grain. Without waiting for an answer, Dad let Hiccup down and shoved him into my unsuspecting arms.

"Take your brother, and make sure he stays inside. Both of you," he instructed sternly.

I gave a curt nod and dragged Hiccup by the wrist all the way to the smithy.

It's a little hard to tell with all that beard obscuring his face, but I swear, that hulking bear of a man was definitely our dad. Well, Hiccup's more than mine, despite the deceiving twig vs mountain ratio, but that's beside the point. Genealogy had never been worth a troll's toe in this family anyway.

During these raids, Dad has always put me in charge of keeping watch over Hiccup. As chief of the tribe, his focus needed to stay on the entire village. He couldn't stop for a minute just to keep both eyes on us, and Hic has always had a bad track record of getting into trouble.

Considering the fact that Hiccup has survived all these years under my watch, I've been doing a pretty good job, right?

…Right?

The torches were set alight. The heat and smoke from the flames warmed my exposed skin, and my nose wrinkled as the cloudy smell joined the cluster of sweat and blood from a thousand bodies contained within our sparse space.

We were nearly at the smithy when we had the displeasure of running into less-than-pleased parent number two!

"Hiccup!? Toothless!?"

I screeched to a halt, and Hiccup slammed into my back. I stumbled but kept my balance while Hiccup, from behind me, muttered, "Oh great" under his breath.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

"Boys!"

We turned in freakishly perfect unison to face our mom.

"What are you two doing out here!?" she cried as she herded us into the smithy.

"Moooooom!" Hiccup moaned.

"No, I won't hear it!" she said curtly. "Inside with you, now!"

I followed without complaint. Mom had always despised dragon raids because it brought out the worst in everyone, and she's always hated the idea of us running around during a raid even more. Considering the fact that dragons seemed to go out of their way to fry us, I couldn't even blame her.

She dragged us into the forge and hastily dusted off any dirt she saw on our clothes. We protested loudly when she tried straightening our shirts, but she gave us the eye and we shut up quickly.

"Stay inside," she instructed, "and stay out of trouble. Understood?"

Hiccup snorted. "Don't worry, Mom." He swung an arm over my shoulder. "Since when have we ever caused trouble?"

I gave him a wicked smirk before offering Mom my most innocent smile. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"I keep a list for both of ye," Gobber replied from behind us.

Gobber is a squat man with interchangeable hands and a peg leg. He's the blacksmith of Berk, and he had been Hiccup's mentor ever since my brother was small. Well…smaller.

Gobber dumped a pile of swords into Hiccup's unsuspecting arms. My poor brother nearly toppled over from the weight. "Sharpen these, would ye?"

"Keep them out of trouble," Mom said as Hiccup lugged his burden over to the table.

Gobber chuckled. "Don't ye worry, Val." He patted my head. "Your boys are in safe hands—er…hand."

As I resisted the urge to immaturely bite at the offending hand, Hiccup snorted at Gobber's comment. He tried to muffle it by pressing his apron over his mouth while my lips visibly twitched upwards. He returned the smile with a smaller one of his own.

I crossed my arms and interrupted Mom and Gobber. "You know I still have fire brigade work, right?"

Mom frowned, but to my surprise, she didn't immediately protest. She'd had little enthusiasm for the job when I'd first signed up, but as the chief's son, everyone had expected me to volunteer with the other clans' children—especially after Hiccup, Dad's legitimate heir, had been practically banned from joining.

"Have you checked on your hands today?" she finally asked.

I sighed and grumbled as I unwrapped my left hand. The baked skin underneath was as cracked as it had been yesterday…and the day before that. It wasn't necessarily dry, but the cracks left a pattern over the darkening skin that had already spread halfway down my elbow.

I absently ran my fingers over the surface. The afflicted skin wasn't smooth, but it didn't have its natural texture either. It was more like worn down sandpaper.

"Now I have," I finally said as I re-wrapped my hand. Mom looked skeptical, and I rolled my eyes. "It's not gonna change just because I'm near some fire."

Eventually, Mom sighed and nodded. "Just…be careful."

"Yes, ma'am." With that, I ran out of the forge and back into the battleground.

"Stay with your group!"

"GOODBYE, MOM! LATER, HICCUP!"

"Go get 'em, bud!" Hiccup shouted in return.

I pumped a fist into the air to let him know I heard him.

Two near-tramplings later, and I'd arrived at the village's central well where the other members of the fire brigade were gathered. Snotlout, my cousin, was trying to flirt with Astrid Hofferson as, per usual, until she punched him in the gut for his patronizing stupidity. Fishlegs Ingerman, a hulking boy with the disposition of a dandelion, smiled and waved me over. The Thorston twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were fighting over who got to carry which one of their two buckets.

They're practically identical buckets, for Thor's sake!

Ruffnut nearly swung one of the buckets into my head, so I ducked and plucked it out of her hands. I then snatched away the other bucket before either twin could protest.

"You get this one," I said as I shoved one into Ruffnut's hands, "and you take this one." I wedged the other bucket over Tuffnut's head.

That should keep him occupied for a while.

While Ruffnut sniggered at her brother's expense, Snotlout sauntered up to me with his obnoxious greeting on his tongue. "Morning, Toothy."

I scowled while my tongue rolled over my canines. My parents must have been part wolf for me to have been born with fangs for canines.

"It's Toothless," I deadpanned.

I missed Hiccup already.

Everyone filled their buckets before we scattered to our assigned sections of the village. Soon the air was filled with snake-like sizzling from the dying flames. I lingered by the smithy—the only building reinforced with fireproofing—while I did my job.

Every now and then, I could see Hiccup running to and fro inside, and I felt a pang of loneliness. If Hiccup could carry a full bucket and banish his bad luck long enough, he could have been with me on this otherwise dreary job. Or maybe, if I'd had the option, I could be inside the smithy sharpening blades and arming warriors to the teeth with Hiccup.

As I ran about under the guidance of my muscle memory, I tallied every house I got under control. I hadn't noticed Astrid behind me when I later nearly swung my full bucket into her head. Only her reflexes saved her from getting a nasty goose egg.

"Oh, shi-!"

"Watch it, muttonhead!" she growled.

I narrowed my eyes. "You watch where you put your big head!"

"I beg your pardon."

"Oh so you can beg," I said snarkily.

If looks could kill, she would have slain me in a heartbeat. Growling, she swung a fist at me, but I was fast enough to dodge. I gave her my biggest grin and turned on my heel.

"Later, blondie!" I said with a salute.

With that, I ran off in the other direction, her shouts reaching me even when I was too far for her to catch me.

I let myself look back just in time to catch Hiccup giving me the evil eye. Having seen the whole thing, he crossed his arms and tapped his fingers impatiently as he glared. Ugh. He looked just like mom.

Dragons flew overhead, blanketing the village with their fire and terror. They swooped down and out of their droves as they attempted to make off with as much food as possible. Livestock shrieked as they were swept up into the dragons' talons. The flying beasts were calling out to one another and letting out glass-shattering battle cries that would frighten lesser men.

My fingers dug into the heels of my palms.

I hated the dragons. Mom would have gotten on my case for saying that, but it's true. They hunted us for no reason, and they stole resources that they could easily catch on their own in the wild. They ruined villages and endangered both innocent families and their own kind. They were selfish, and I couldn't wait until I could learn to fight them off myself.

I spotted my father and his band of warriors who were fighting off a hoard of Monstrous Nightmares. The beasts were trying to make off with baskets of fish! I watched, proud, as Dad wrestled with one of them while he kept his men out of harm's way.

He was the kind of warrior I wanted to become.

He took his opponent down with his bare hands while one of the other men pinned its neck. I had to look away before they could chop off its head. As much as I didn't like the dragons, the sight of their blood disturbed me.

I blame Mom.

Speaking of…

I scanned the crowd until I could see my mom's slight form. She was being reckless again. While trying to stop a Viking from slaying a copper Nadder, she had exposed herself for the monster to strike. My heart leapt as it snapped for her head, but she wrenched the axe out of her fellow Viking's hands before spinning around to defend herself.

She dealt out harmless feints that kept her safe without wounding her attacker, but they served their purpose well.

See? Great woman; real spitfire.

Then I heard a loud blast not far from me. I was ready to investigate, but I didn't need to look far to lay eyes on the source.

Oh no.

Hiccup

Mom was being reckless again…

It killed me to just hang around in the forge while the rest of my family was out there doing things that were actually important. Even Gobber had left to join the brawl about an hour before, so now it was just little old me…as usual…

Gods, I hated this.

I was sure that there was something I could do to help out there. But…

I sighed.

It wasn't like anyone would let me try. They'd probably say I'd cause more harm than good. I couldn't even blame them. Even on days when there were no raids, I always ran into some kind of trouble; trouble that Toothless was stuck digging me out of. And every time, villagers would just shake their heads, wiggle a scolding finger, and chalk up my trouble to unnameable bad luck that perpetually haunted me.

As I mused over my crappy lot in life, I'd heard the explosion.

"What the-!?"

I dropped my pile of weapons and leaned out the window just in time to see Toothless roll away from the source. He and I locked eyes before he made the snipping motion with his hands. My stomach turned to stone dropped to my feet.

Oh no.

The Stormcutter.

Lo and behold, the Stormcutter plowed through the sea of fire and smoke, bursting out in all its scaly glory. It's hulking, four-winged form and bright red crown was a regular sight for Berk. Toothless and I have had to run from this beast since we were children; once around early spring and once before the first freeze, every year.

I gritted my teeth and kicked aside my pile. Not today, dragon.

And so would begin the extraordinary tale of Toothless and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

Gods help us all.

And so it begins...

— Tenchiko