Hello!

So this is a new story... Yes, it is a gender swap. I know how some people feel about those. I tired to make this one different, keep to the story line yet make it my own. Plus, it won't just be the movie. Two more stories are to follow...

Basically, this is just Hiccup as a girl and Astrid as a Boy. I made 'Astird''s name 'Ari', which is a Viking boy name meaning 'Great Eagle', which I thought was ironic and fitting.

This started out as just an exercise, seeing if I can still capture the general character while at the same time making them my own, but quickly evolved into a full length story because I liked it so much. I'm trying to make Hiccup adorable and just plain cute (although boy Hiccup is cute too...). Ari (Astrid) I wanted to be this more demanding sort of presence. Tall, blond, handsome, and no nonsense. Trying to see how the gender swap would change the feel without changing the storyline. Idk, we'll just see how this goes. Hopefully you guys like it as much as I do. :)

Enjoy!

-a sexy line-

Bang.

Hiccup's eyes flew open.

Bang. "They're headed to the fields!" "Put that fire out!"

With a gasp, she shot straight up. She knew these sounds all too well. They were being raided.

She threw off the furs on the bed and dressed as quickly as humanly possible, walking toward the door to her room as she did so. She tripped, trying to put her boots on while hopping, and muttered a few colorful words, but scrambled to her feet and continued forward. It was times like these that she especially did not appreciate her clumsy tendencies.

She made it downstairs, heart pounding already due to a mix of fear and excitement, and ran to the door. She heaved the colossal thing open, only to shut it again almost immediately as fire narrowly missed her eyebrows.

Hiccup leaned against the door. "Dragons" she gasped to no one in particular. They were there again, burning their homes and taking their food. They tried their best to fight them off, and were pretty successful. But they always came back, taking more of our livestock, and killing more of them.

So why didn't they leave this miserable, freezing little island called Berk? The answer was simple. They're Vikings. Vikings have stubbornness issues. They were not going to leave just because a few flying, fire breathing beasts came around every few nights and terrorized them, killed them, and ate them out of house and home. No. That would go against all Viking logic.

Hiccup peeked out the door, making sure the coast was somewhat clear, meaning, no dragons in the immediate vicinity, before she made a run for it.

Her long hair flew behind her, along with her too-big fur vest. The green tunic she was wearing slapped against her thighs, and her boots stomped into the ground. She had to get to the forge. I can make it, she reassured herself. I can make it. I can make it. I can-

Just as she rounded a corner, she ran into the chest of none other than Ari.

"Ow," she groaned, rubbing her face.

"Hiccup," he panted. A deep blush formed on her cheeks, either from had what just happened or the sound of her name on his lips. Probably both. He didn't seem to notice, thankfully. "What are you doing out here? The last thing we need is and angry Stoick. Get to the forge."

She didn't get the chance to remind him that the Chief was always angry, because he quickly ran off toward a flaming house. He was right, though. Other Vikings shouted similar things at her as they ran by. Stoick the Vast would be furious if he found her outside during an attack. He always was. Hiccup tended to get in the way and mess things up. Who knew what he would do this time? She feared the man. They said that before he could walk he tore the head off a full grown dragon. Did she believe this?

Yes. Yes she did.

Speak of the devil, she could see him ahead. Just when she thought she had managed to slip by him, he grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her up, dangling in the air in front of him.

"Hiccup!" her father shouted. Hiccup cringed. "What are you-" he looked around and points at the struggling girl in his grasp, asking surrounding Vikings as if they were responsible. "What is she doing out?" He set her down and pushed her forward. "Get inside!"

She does as he says, running, finally, into her destination.

"Nice of you to join us," Gobber, the blacksmith, and her mentor, greeted. "I thought you got carried off."

"Please," Hiccup responded sarcastically, "I doubt they'd take me. They couldn't handle all this." She gestured to her tiny frame. It was an ongoing joke among all the people of Berk, how small she was. It bothered Hiccup, but she didn't let it show as she contributed to the laughs with sarcasm.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?"

They worked quickly, sharpening, heating, sorting. Vikings tossed their weapons on the counter and Hiccup returned them minutes later. She took a glance outside in the rare moment that no one needed something done and saw the other teens her age putting out that fire Ari had been running toward. Their job was so much cooler. Of course, Hiccup was to remain inside. She wasn't trusted to dump a bucket of water on flames, let alone virtually anything else that involved actually helping or anything to do with dragons at all.

She looked around quickly in search of Gobber and, not seeing him in sight, tried to climb over the counter. But, out of nowhere Gobber appeared and, for the second time that night, Hiccup was grabbed by the back of my collar.

"Oh no you don't," Gobber scolded.

"Oh, come on, let me out!" HIccup pleaded as he set her down within the shop. "Just give me a couple of minutes out there. I'll kill a dragon and my life will get instantly better. My dad will accept me, people won't hate me anymore, and some of the other teens my age will-"

He cut her off. People did that a lot. She had a tendency to ramble. SHe couldn't really help it. Thoughts spilled out of her continuously and she felt it important to voice them. Maybe if she kept talking, someone would actually listen.

"Lass," Gobber sighed, "you and I both know you can't go out there. You wouldn't make it!"

"I made it just fine running here!" she pointed out.

"You can't run forever lass, and runnin' won't kill no dragon. Weapons do that." He started listing things off on his fingers. "You can't lift a hammer, you can't throw an axe, you can't even swing a sword!"

"Alright, I get it!" Hiccup shouted, tired of being reminded of how weak everyone knew her to be. Her eyes lit up, however, as she gestured over to her newest invention. Hiccup was always inventing things. Some successful, most not, but only when it came to weapons. Everything else she had made proved to be useful, though few took note of it.

She moved toward the contraption. "But I don't need those things. This will fight for me!" Right as she touched it, of course, the weapon fired and hit someone in the head, knocking them out.

"See, that right there is what I'm talkin' about." Gobber pointed at her accusingly.

"Mild calibration issue..." she tried to explain.

He continued, "If you want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop all..." Both his real and fake hand waved in front of her. "This."

Hiccup frowned. "You just gestured to all of me."

Gobber smiled. "Right. Stop being all of you." He hands her a sword twice her height. "Sword. Sharpen. Now."

She groaned loudly, but did as she was told. One day, Hiccup thought to herself. One day she'll get out there. She'll make her mark and kill her first dragon, because that's everything on the island of Berk. Everyone called her a screw-up. A walking disaster. A Hiccup. But not for long.

Gobber pat her hair as he walked past and secured a hammer on his fake hand before turning to walk outside. "I'm going out to help." He turned to her as he reached the door. "Stay. Put. Here. You know what I mean." He let out a battle cry and charged into the night.

Hiccup rolled her eyes and smiled. Right. As if that was going to happen.

Hiccup had always been somewhat mischievous, always up to something, but only out of the sheer determination to be the greatest Viking ever. To help her tribe, to kill a dragon, and to make her father proud. Regardless of her reasons, people shouted in protest as she burst out of the forge, pushing her slingshot device in front of her. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be right back!" she shouted over her shoulder. Yeah. Right after she killed a dragon.

She reached the top of the hill and readied the weapon. "Come on," she muttered, "give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at..." A Nadder, a Gronkle, a Hideous Zippleback, a Monstrous Nightmare, anything. Something to get her noticed. Something to stop all the abuse. Something to make her dad proud.

Just then, a screech of a Night Fury pierced the air. The dragon no one had ever seen, the ultimate prize. It happened so fast, Hiccup didn't have time to blink. It fired at a lookout. She aimed. She fired.

She hit it. She had just hit a Night Fury.

She watched it fall down into the forest. "I hit it," she breathed in disbelief. She laughed in glee and jumped around, pumping her fists in the air. "Yes! Yes, I hit it! Guys! Guys! Did anyone see-" she froze as she turned around, coming face-to-face with a Monstrous Nightmare. "Accept for you..." Crap.

With no other choice, she screamed and ran, narrowly escaping his jaws. She heard someone shouting her name in the distance and headed that way. Gobber was right, Hiccup realized in fearful bitterness. She couldn't run forever, and there was no way she could kill the dragon alone, or even at all really.

"Help! Someone!" Though she hated asking, or rather, shouting and begging for it, she need it. She dodged behind a post and held her breath, praying it wouldn't find her, that it would move on. I guess even Odin himself has given up on me, she thought as she felt the hot breath of the Nightmare right before it's lava-like fire exploded around her. Hiccup yelped and covered her head, but was unharmed. As soon as it stopped, a hand grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her into a chest, dragging her to the ground, covering her body completely with his.

Hiccup's face reddened once again as she saw who it is. "Stay down!" Ari hissed. He covered her face with his arm just as she catch a glimpse of her father charging the Nightmare. There was a lot of commotion around them; a dragon roar, some fighting. But she was much too distracted by the ridiculously gorgeous Viking pressing her body to the ground as more fire blew around the two of them. Eventually, he must have decided it was safe enough, and pulled Hiccup to her feet. She opened her mouth to utter something thankful or apologetic and most likely sarcastic, but the words were lost as she watched a bunch of dragons fly off with a sizable amount of the tribe's sheep herd. This, Hiccup guessed, was her fault.

Stoick turned to her, striking fear into her very soul.

"Okay but I hit a Night Fury," Hiccup said quickly. He grabbed her and started pulling her forward. "Ah! Dad please, it's not like the last couple of times. I swear! I really actually hit it! It went down just off Raven Point. Lets get a search party out there and-"

"No Hiccup," he stopped her, "thats enough." He stopped walking and turned to face the small girl. "This has to stop! I cannot keep worrying about you messing things up during every raid. Winter is coming and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Well, between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding..." People around them grasped their middle, obviously offended.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup! People can die! I need you inside where it is safe!"

"You can't just lock me up for the rest of my life, Dad! I'm a viking! It's an occupational hazard!"

"No Hiccup, not for you." He turned away then, signaling their conversation was over, and looked to Ari. "Take her home. I have her mess to clean up."

Hiccup turned away as well, fuming, and started walking briskly toward her house, not even waiting for Ari. He quickly caught up, however, and stayed just two steps behind her.

As usual, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut shot a few words of ridicule her way, congratulating her on her latest mistake. Fishlegs, the only somewhat decent one, said nothing and avoided her gaze. Ari, per usual, grabbed her arm and steered her away from them, his expression as hard as stone. He was pretty much the same as Fishlegs. He didn't openly make fun of Hiccup, but he didn't stand up for her either. She didn't blame them. She wouldn't stand up for her, either.

She shrugged him off once they got far enough away. "I don't need your help, you know," she said sharply, anger still boiling within her chest. "I'm pretty sure I can make it to my house without burning down the whole village."

He didn't respond, but continued walking with her, also as usual. This happened often, him escorting her home. Her father had to clean everything up while Gobber had to attend to all the weaponry. Most the other teens would probably beat her up, and Fishlegs wouldn't know what to do and probably wouldn't stop her if she ran off. Everyone else was assigned to rebuild of some sort. That left Ari.

He was silent almost the whole way, even when Hiccup started rambling, venting her frustration. That was one of the things she liked most about him. Ari was serious, determined, stubborn, and no-nonsense. But he was also very respectful. He didn't put up with her screw ups any more than the rest of them, but he let her talk, while everyone else would just tell her to shut up. He was patient with her. He listened, even if Hiccup got the feeling that he didn't actually listen.

He surprised her this time, however, by speaking once she had expressed her frustration on how everyone, including her father, treated her like the a mistake, which, actually, could have been argued that she was.

"Believe it or not, Hiccup, people actually care about you."

Quickly getting over the fact that he had spoken, and fighting the blush that threatened to crawl on her cheeks, she scoffed. "Yeah, I'm going to go with the 'not'."

He shot her a look. "Why do you think Stoick wants you inside?"

"So I don't 'Hiccup' everything. Thats why he stuck me in that stupid forge, so the only thing I can hurt is myself."

"I thought you liked the forge," he said softly, thoughtfully. Almost as if he were saying it to himself.

Hiccup sighed. "The forge is fine. But I want to be someone important."

"Everyone is important, Hiccup. As is the forge," he said matter-of-factly.

She groaned in frustration. "I meant someone that my dad can be proud of. But no, instead he got a skinny, weak little screw up."

They had reached her house by this point, and she moved to go inside until he spoke again. "It's not really what you look like that he doesn't like. It's..." he struggled, which also shocked her. This was Ari. The perfect, young, good-looking, fierce, stubborn Viking. He always knew what to say, or most of the time, when to say nothing at all. He scratched the back of his head as he searched for the words. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong ones. "It's what's inside. It's you, Hiccup."

She just stared at him. "Wow, thanks Ari, " she said flatly. He opened his mouth quickly to object, but she didn't let him. "I just, I want to be a fierce, deadly, dragon-killing Viking. Is that too much to ask?"

He just looked at her for a moment, that same stone-like expression on his face. "Maybe you should stop trying to be something you're not," he said finally.

Ouch. That one stung. Hiccup could feel tears springing up in her eyes. Her voice failed her. "I just want to be one of you guys." With that, she entered the house and shut the door firmly behind her.

She leaned against the dark wood, willing the tears to go away. After a few deep breaths, she gained back her composure and pushed herself off the door, busying herself with some random chore. She knew Ari would stick around for a few minutes, because her father would want him to, to make sure that she didn't run off. So she waited, tidying up the place until she was sure he was gone, then beelined it to the back door.

Now to find that Night Fury.

Feel free to review! I accept all comments, good or bad.

~StoriesOfAnInsomniac

BTW, updates will be every monday and friday.