A/n: So I've noticed that anthro-Toothless stories tend to start with Toothless all dragony and then POP! Suddenly he's anthropomorphic! Because a wizard did it. ¬_¬

I've never actually seen a story wherein his only form was anthropomorphic, from the beginning. So, as they say, if you want something done, do it yourself. :P Enjoy!

Hiccup's hands trembled. Pressed between them, his tiny hunter's knife glinted harmlessly from his unsteady grasp at the winged beast before him. The monstrosity lay ensnared in a bola sling – in Hiccup's bola sling. He was too small and graceless to throw one, as the warriors of his village might, so the young blacksmith had built a contraption to launch the sling for him. That morning, the machine had found its mark.

The boy crept towards the downed dragon, half-expecting it to break from its bonds within an eye-blink and douse him in flame. But the obscured black bulk lay still and tangled. Hiccup started to smile, and remembered to breathe again. At last, he had done it. No longer would he be the mark of every trick and taunt in his village. It no longer mattered how scrawny he may be, or how far his thoughts wandered, or how strange and wry was his wit. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III had killed his first dragon, and his father could finally be proud.

It was unlike any dragon Hiccup had ever seen. No one had downed a Night Fury before, and the creature only attacked in darkness, when no eyes could discern more than a vague black shape in the gloomy heavens. Its exact features were unknown to the Vikings, and from where Hiccup stood, he could not make out much more than a smallish form beneath the massive wings.

Hiccup lowered the knife and approached his kill with easy strides, too excited to practice care. "This fixes everything!" he could not help exclaiming aloud, pushing back a handful of auburn bangs from his face.

Then the bound beast stirred.

The boy started and scurried back as the monster shifted against the ropes. Gasping back panic, Hiccup redrew the knife, directing it at the head emerging from underneath the devil-like wings. His wide myrtle eyes met a piercing yellow gaze, and the weapon slid from his fingers.

A man's face stared into his – not a man, not all man. It was littered with tiny black scales, so small and numerous they could almost pass for flesh, except for the way they glistened in the light. The nose was almost flat, small reptilian slits for nostrils, and in the midst of vivid yellow were narrow, cat-like pupils.

Above short tufts of dark hair, two small horns protruded, and on either side of them long ears flattened back against the dragon-man's skull. A slight roundness in the curve of its cheeks suggested youth. It was so human and also so not and it made Hiccup's head spin.

The bewildered human fumbled to recover his knife. It made no difference what form evil chose. A demon lay before him, and it was his time to strike. He breathed, and clenched the knife. "I'm going to kill you, dragon," he promised. "I'll tear your heart out and bring it to my father."

Hiccup lifted his weapon. He breathed again, eyes closing. "I'm a Viking," he whispered to himself. "I am a Viking!" he repeated, glaring at the creature. It stared back motionlessly. The boy pried his eyes away and positioned his knife to deliver the blow, but he could not keep his gaze from returning to the demon's frozen expression.

Its un-scaled lips were tight, the entire face still. But the eyes, those deep yellow eyes widened. Rushing into them and filling every inch, past the brim, was... fear. The creature released a small, sad groan, and then the abomination of land and sky closed its strange eyes and turned its face away from the Viking's blade. It— he was just as terrified as Hiccup.

The boy's hands fell to his sides. He stumbled back from the powerless being, eyeing the thick twine wound tightly against the dark body. "I did this," he whispered.

In his village, every Viking child eagerly awaited the day they spilled the guts of their first kill. Adulthood only came with the anointment of dragon blood, dripping from spears, splashed against shields, and smeared onto hard, hot faces. Hiccup dreamed the ritual would prove his worth to the Vikings, show his father that he too was a warrior to be feared by evil. But he had always been too mild, too unsure and too curious to follow the warrior's path, and he could not help but see himself in his enemy's pale eyes.

Hiccup sighed. His insides twisted. He couldn't take a defenseless creature's life, but he couldn't leave it in his trap either. The boy's brows gathered and he set his jaw. Crouching beside the beast, he brandished his weapon and began to saw at the dragon's bonds.

The creature's eyes shot open.

When the last rope broke free, cold fingers suddenly seized Hiccup's throat. Faster than the bat of an eyelid, the monster slammed the boy back into the ground with inhuman might. Hiccup gasped for air under its clawed grasp as the lean creature loomed over his smaller body. It peered fiercely down at the little human prey pinned beneath it, suspicion and incomprehension shifting in the lines of that strange face. The boy flinched under its glare, eyes round and bulging with dread.

The Night Fury's lips pulled back and bared its jagged teeth in a horrible smile. Its head drew back as though preparing to strike, gigantic wings unfurling behind. Hiccup cringed. It dove forward and released an ear-splitting cry unlike the call of any other creature known to Hiccup. Then the fingers at Hiccup's throat loosened, and the monster sprang off of the boy and into the air, flying haphazardly away.

Hiccup pushed himself to his elbows and watched the dragon depart, stunned. Then, with a groan, he fell back against the ground, clutching at his heaving chest. He almost thought his heart might pound right through the flesh and bone. After a moment, he shakily rose to his feet and began the walk back to his village, but his vision grayed and his legs failed to keep him upright. The boy collapsed, and darkness overcame him.

A/n: Hm, came out a little gorier than I intended... ._.

No, this story is not finished. I'll try to get it rolling at an acceptable pace. Review! Flame! Anything, I don't care! :B