Hello, welcome to this fan fiction of HTTYD. In this version, Hiccup and Astrid are gender bent as well as Hiccup being a vegan/vegetarian. I wanted to create a more meaningful bond between Toothless and Hiccup and felt this change could do so nicely. This fiction will include deleted scenes from the film as well as references to the television series. Being as this is my first fan fiction, I am open to suggestions and comments. Rating may be subject to change in the future. Posting this fan fiction 4-21-2014. Without further ado, please enjoy and thank you for your time.

...

Sleeping soundly on her furs is the smallest girl in Berk, a small island in the Archipelago populated by stubborn Vikings. Her name, Hiccup. Short brunette hair framing her slim pale freckle covered face. Petite yet curvy physique, she's not your standard Viking.

Hiccup shivers awake, Today's the day, she thought lifting herself up and hastily puts on her long-sleeved green tunic, dark tights, fur vest and matching fur boots. Slowly making her way to the staircase, careful not to make a sound as she stepped down. At the front door, she quietly opens it and exits to the cool night air.

Running across the plaza she makes it to the forge where she is the blacksmith's apprentice, making war machines and fixing dull or broken weapons/tools for the town. This is where she makes herself useful when there's a...

"DRAGON ATTACK!"

The sounds of doors smashing open and people shouting soon covers the air of the village as torches are lit. Coming down the stairs is Gobber, the blacksmith," Nice of you to join the party so early, Hiccup. I was afraid the beast'd carried you off."

"Me? And have you short a worker, no I'm too 'muscular' for their taste," she smirked sarcastically as she readied the fire pit and lit the candles.

"Ha, well, they might need a toothpick," he laughed throwing a worn sword over the hot coals and hammering away.

Hiccup opens the window where several men toss their twisted weapons on the counter with so little as a 'Mornin'. She hugs the pile together and drops them over the pit, Gobber moving to a metal table to work. Within minutes she has them reshaped, sharpened, balanced and sent out only to have more customers at the ready.

"Hiccup!" a loud voice in the crowd called. Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe. Some say he popped a dragon's head before he could crawl and like most others, she believed that. He's the big strong guy who defends the village from the raids and has mounted more dragons than you can count, and he was heading straight for the window.

"What are you doing here? What is she doing here?" he questioned looking around.

"Don't worry Stoick, she's with me," Gobber reassured. "Just worry about those pest at yer back," he calmly replied referring to the Zippleback behind him. And with a punch to its two heads, he was off.

Hiccup kept at her job, sharpening, shaping and sending off weapons while the others fought the great beast outside. To say she felt left out was an understatement. Killing a dragon is everything on Berk. Yet here she is, inside making the tools made to kill them. Not her ideal spot, but it's what she had to work with.

With the last customers gone, she had a chance to look outside. Fire eats at the new houses and sheep run amok. Villagers are shouting, chasing off Gronckles and Nadders. The fire patrol running with buckets of water, trying to die out the flames. Those in the patrol are the other teenagers her age: Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Aarne. They all douse a house clear of fire before a giant fireball crashes down on it again. What she would give to be like them.

With them off to clear more fires, Hiccup felt a tug at her shoulder, "Look lass, I know you want to be out there, but here you're safe. It's fer yer own good."

"Yeah I know, but maybe if I have two minutes I could make my mark and..." he cut her off before she could finish.

"And that's exactly why yer father won't let you out. You might get a mark or a limb blown off and what then?" Concern filled in his eyes as he noticed her expression sink, "You can't fight like us; the best you get is to help make the fight easier with yer smith skill."

She knew it was true, her skills in the forge being the best she could give. She just wanted to give more. Gobber gave her a pat on the head, "If you want to help out there you need to stop," he lifted his broad arms towards her flimsy form. "...All of this."

She shot him a confused look. "But you just gestured to all of me."

"Exactly, stop being all of you."

"Thank you, for summing that up," she stated dryly.

"And if Stoick ever found out I let you out..." Gobber reached out for a sword waiting at the window.

"I know..." she drowned before imitating Stoick's brute voice, "'There will be consequences'."

"You get the idea." He handed her the sword, "Sword. Sharpen. Now." With that, she was off to work once more, the thought of killing a dragon and being out there still fresh on her mind.

A loud siren could be heard, increasing in volume as it got closer. "Night Fury!" someone shouted. No sooner did one of the catapults burst into embers. She watched as her machines fell to the ground in burning chunks.

"Oh come on, it took me a week to make that one!" her arms extended towards the carnage in pure animosity.

Gobber reached for his battle axed hand and headed towards the door. "Man the fort, Hiccup, they need me out there." She watched as he limped outside before flailing his arms around like a mad man.

She huffed and continued sharpening the sword before turning around. A lone sheep had managed to enter the forge. Out of fear, it knocked over her bola shooter. With the supports freed, it started racing down the door and to the village streets.

Witnessing its escape, she dropped the sword at hand and bolted after it like a wild animal. Outside everything was a mess. Houses burning to the ground, sheep in the air, dragons and Vikings just causing so much destruction. She had no time to react to any of it as she raced towards the runaway shooter. It bumped into objects and people, swaying this way and that, increasing in speed as it rolled down the slope. All around people were yelling at her to go back inside with her nervously crying out, "Sorry."

From the corner of his eyes, Aarne saw a flash of something fly by him and soon a small girl run after it. His eyes narrowed in disbelief before he released the pail of water from his grasp. "Hiccup?" Before he could stop her from whatever she was up to, a Naddar came from behind. He swiftly dodged its spine attack before landing a powerful fist to its scaly face.

"Bring it," he mocked, fist at the ready.

...

The machine made it to a clearing where Hiccup managed to finally grab on to its handles and stopping it in its tracks. Breathing heavily she looked around her. She traveled a fair distance from the village. She looked at the sky then back to the village. This is my chance, she thought, looking to the starry sky for guidance. With that, she set up the shooter and aimed it to the darkness. "Come on, give me something to shoot at," she prayed.

Out of the darkness and starlight, a winged shadow came within her range and not holding back, she took aim and fired. The bola flew through the air before entangling itself on the shadowy figure. A loud cry rang as the figure flew from the heavens and crashed to the earth at fast speeds. Hiccup could hardly breathe.

She had done it, she had downed a dragon. Finally she had made her mark.

"Yes, I got it!" She turned to the village, "Did anybody see that?!"

No reply.

Her heart sank, her first win and no one cared or ever bothered to notice. Heavy breaths were felt behind her. Turning she stood face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare, who apparently was the only eye-witness to her glory. "Except you, of course," she dryly groaned before bolting back to the village, the Nightmare trailing not too far behind.

With the dragons nearly driven away, Stoick helps round-up the few remaining sheep till he hears the bellow of a Nightmare chasing a small figure. He huffs, "Get these sheep to a safe place. I've got something I need to do."

She zig-zagged around the plaza trying to lose it, but fails horribly when she reaches a torch pole. With the Nightmare preparing to ignited, Hiccup cowers behind the pole fast enough before blast of flame burn the wood dark. It snakes its head over the side, spotting her in a fetal position. Before anything else can happen, Stoick runs in and delivers a heavy blow to the dragons jaw. Both are dead locked eye to eye. The Nightmare breathes out to toast the man, but his fire is gone.

"Yer all out," Stoick marches forward and beats at the monster yet again, till he had enough and flies off with the rest of the dragon flock.

Turning over to see the damage, the pole that once was snapped in two, revealing the tiny girl behind it eyes down in shame. As the torch rolls down the side of the hill, the hidden sheep are exposed and taken by the remaining dragons. All eye Hiccup as she slowly lifts hers to Stoick, only responding with, "Sorry, Dad."

Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe, was the father of such a small, weak halving of a Viking.

A pause sets in as the smoke clears. "Let me explain," she began before being grabbed by the collar and is carried away. "No, Dad listen, I was in the forge and my shooter rolled off, but I think I might of hi..." she rambled in the air before she was cut off.

"STOP!" Stoick shouted in frustration setting her down. Hiccup's eyes were wide open. He calmed down, ''Stop, I can't keep worrying about you every time there's a raid. I need you inside where it's safe because whenever you're out, disaster strikes." He gestures an arm out to the village, "Winter is coming and I have an entire village to feed."

"Well, between you and me, the village can go with a little less feeding, don't you think," she sarcastically stated. "You don't need meat to survive, Dad."

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup. Why can't you follow the simplest orders?" he sighed.

"It wasn't my fault, it was an accident. I'm just trying to be a dragon killer like you, Dad," she tried to hold back tears as she speaks, her voice failing her.

Stoick took a deep breath gathering himself, "You're many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer, isn't one of them."

He motioned to Gobber, "Take her home, make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble."

"Actually Stoick, with all the weapons now in need for repair again, I'm gonna need a hand to get it all done before noon," he stepped forward, placing a protective hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

With a reluctant groan Stoick answers, "Fine, but as soon as it's done, she goes home," he looked straight at Gobber. "Understood."

"Aye. Come on Hiccup, back to work with us." She followed as she and Gobber make their way back to the forge.

The twins laugh mockingly at Hiccup whose hands are wrapped tightly around her forearms. "Quite the performance, Hiccup," Tuffnut snickered as she passed by.

"I've never seen anybody mess up that badly, that helped, right Aarne?" Snotlout stated laughingly, shoving Aarne's shoulder in an impish manner which earned him a punch to the face.

"Thank you, thank you I was trying so..." she replied emotionless. Snotlout continued to laugh, his face bruised until Gobber pushed him out of his way, knocking him to the ground.

Aarne just stared as Hiccup walked off defeated, the image of her running after the machine in his mind. She always seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It managed to get her into trouble more often than not.

"Aarne!" He turned to Stoick who placed his hand over his shoulder, "I saw what you did back there, son. That's one heck of a left hook you've got. Good job." To hear the chief give him such praise gave him great pride.

"Thank you, sir."

With that, Stoick went off to carry out his business. Aarne turned back to the direction Hiccup and Gobber left to. Hiccup witnessing her father and him converse like father and son. She didn't hate Aarne, more so resented him because he was everything she wasn't and everything her father wanted for an heir. She turned away, Gobber looking back at Aarne whose eyes were fixated on Hiccup.

He knew that look all too well and gave a slight grin.

...

Apron still on, Hiccup leaned by the window for a while before villagers arrived with weapons in need of new repair. None said anything as she took their swords and axes, repairing them to their former glory. She worked silently, a sad expression on her face, before Gobber finally spoke, "Don't take it to heart, lass. It's his job to be tough on everyone."

"I'm not everyone, but it doesn't matter," she sighed dunking a heated sword into cool water, "the guy's impossible to please."

"He just doesn't want to appear to be playin' favorites."

"He's covered in that department, believe me," she began hammering dents away." If I didn't live in the same house as him I wouldn't even know he was my father."

Gobber looked over to her, "Have you told him that?"

"Well of course not. We barely even make eye contact," she finished and placed the sword with the rest of the repaired blades on the wall. "And when we do, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like he's been cheated or like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich."

She puffed her chest as she began to imitate said chief in her best low voice, "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered and extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts an' glory on the side. This here, this is a talking grass feed fish bone." Her shoulders fell in defeat.

"Now yer thinkin' about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand," he gestured to her as she faced him.

"Thank you for summing that up," she groaned bitingly.

"No, I mean there's the Viking way and then there's your way. And your way makes grown men uncomfortable."

"Speaking of uncomfortable, I'd like a new conversation, please," Hiccup remarked, clearly irritated.

"Alright, how's it going with the gentlemen?" he asked suavely.

"Oh yeah, way to get the mood back on track."

"Ah come on, I've seen the way Aarne looks at you."

She crossed her arms giving him a firm stare, "Please, Aarne wouldn't come near me if he was on fire and I had the only bucket of water in town."

"Hey," out of the corner of the room stood Aarne, axe over his shoulders. "Can I get this sharpened?"

"Aarne, welcome, what can we do..." she started before he cut her off, flinging his axe to the table near her and Gobber. The usual look of indifference on his icy face.

"Ah, my single apprentice here will service all of your needs." Gobber pushed Hiccup towards Aarne, closing the gap between them. "I have to go get...some? I'm just going here for a second," and with that, Gobber ran off, chuckling as he went.

"Gobber," Hiccup coldly hissed between her teeth at the man's retreat. She faced Aarne with so little as a grin, "Okay razor-sharp battle-axe, coming right up." She extends her hand for it before he retrieved it back from the table. He resists, finally allowing her access to his irreplaceable possession.

"Careful," he instructed, noticing her struggle to carry its weight. "That's my mother's."

She cautiously lifted the heavy axe to the sharpening stone, grinding the edge to perfection, "So I saw you guys on fire patrol last night." She repeated the process to the other side, "It looked like a good time."

"Yeah, I didn't get burned though, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," he said as he browsed the wall of polished and razor-sharp blades.

"Yeah, no kidding, right. Pain, love it," she sarcastically stated as she examined the handle and leather work. Ripped and torn out from years of use, the handle was in no better condition. She grabbed the handle end and removed it from the heavy metal axe piece.

For the longest time no one said anything. Hiccup too focused on her work and Aarne not really wanting to say anything. Gobber usually sharpened his axe, but with him gone, all that was left was Hiccup. He trusted her to do a good job, he could tell she had skill by his browsing of the various weapons cleaned and displayed like trophies. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted her fiddling with some leather pieces, her back to him. She looked so small and defenseless like always, but here she walked with purpose and a sense of pride.

He stumbled upon a fabric covered doorway and pulled the sheet back. Hiccup noticed his actions off in the distance, "Uh, no you're not actually supposed to, ugh."

"What is all of this?" he looked around a tiny room full of blueprints and books of various sizes. This was Hiccup's private study where she came up with most of her weapon and tool designs not just for the village but for trade when Trader Johann came to port. Drawings of deadly machines covered the walls and desk.

"Um, those, nothing just some stuff I'm working on to just... Confidential upper level development, I can't really talk about it, so..." she was nervous, not even Gobber had seen some of those crazy designs, most were made on the spot for fun. Still, they were her personal things and Aarne had no right to barge in without permission.

Aarne glanced over the pages of weapon designs, each more deadly than the last. Her skills with weapons made her a priceless asset to the village, but he never imagined to this extent. One drawing caught his attention as he lifted it off the table. "The Mutilator?"

"Yes, yes uh basically two in weighted counter levers to launch crossing blades in four different directions," she rambled as she fit a larger handle onto the axe blade, fresh leather work on the end.

"How do you hold it?"

"Well you don't. You shoot it," Hiccup replied tightening the handle in place.

"Oh..." he blandly stated. Uninterested, he dropped the design back on the table, "I'm more of an old-fashioned take it down with an axe and then lop its head off kind of guy." He stood behind her, his thumbs under his belt, "It's kind of the Viking way, right?" His tall frame towering over her as she worked.

"Go Vikings," she dryly stated.

"Can't wait to get started tomorrow. We finally get a chance to show them what we've got," he continued on a tangent walking off to a shelf of weapons.

"Y-yeah, I'm so excited for you?" she looked at him confusingly.

He turned to her, "What you didn't hear?"

Hiccup merely shrugged.

"They're pulling men to crew the ships," he explained fiddling with a small dagger on the wall.

"And you're happy because you like to wave goodbye?" she was confused.

"No, they need replacements to defend the town. We start training in the morning. We'll be fighting dragons."

"That's good news, for you and the others who actually get to defend the town."

With that, she hands him over his new battle-axe. The blade sharp and looked nothing remotely like the one he's known for years. The handle and leather binding new and accommodated his growing hands perfectly, "This feels...different."

"Oh, I rebalanced it, gave it a new handle and leather work, tightened it up. We're a full service outfit here," she said plainly. She knew her skills and if he and the others were to become the next dragon killers of the furture, she'd make sure they were fitted with the best weapons she could provide.

"Huh, thanks," he grinned as he tested the blade by tossing it to the wooden beam, clean jab.

"You're welcome, Aarne," she smiled, not used to hearing a praise after finishing a weapon for others.

Aarne saw her sweet smile, a dusting of pink on his cheeks. His heartbeat sped and he felt a shiver run down his back. She looked so adorable, even more with a smile. Being congratulated by Stoick was something he was used to, but Hiccup saying his name so kindly was the greatest honor to him. She normally was so aloof to his presence; although he was to her at times he secretly admired her and her work.

If he wasn't so hard-shelled, he would have liked to talk to her more, maybe become someone special in her eyes. But he first had to prove it to her.

...

With the work done, Hiccup began arranging tools back on their shelves and dying down the fire pit. Aarne retrieved his axe before taking a swift breath, "You know I saw you run off after that thing last night. You're pretty fast."

She turned to face him, "Oh, thank you, I guess."

He mentally palmed himself, Way to set the mood, wise guy. "I mean, with speed like that it must be easy running away from dragons." Really, great choice of words.

She stayed silent, a clear look of irritation on her face.

He was quickly becoming irritated with himself, "Look, what I'm trying to say..." Is that I'm trying to ask you out!

"Aarne! Bud, there you are," out of the corner came Snotlout. "I was looking everywhere for ya." He walked into the forge and tapped Aarne's shoulder blade. "I was wondering if you'd want to do some training for tomorrow, you know," he stopped and looked over to Hiccup shooting her a sly wink and grin, "Sup, Hiccup."

Hiccup rolled her eyes in disgust. She didn't have time for any of his shenanigans and went back to cleaning up the forge. Grabbing the nearby broom she began sweeping away the soot and dirt collected over the course of the day.

Aarne gripped Snotlout's hand from his shoulder and gave a slight twist, causing him to cringe in pain, "Actually, I'm kind of busy here..."

"With what? Whoa," Snotlout glanced over at Aarne's new axe, a slight groan in his voice, "Gobber treats you good huh? Nothing but the best for the chief's favorite." Aarne tightened his grip and twisted a bit more, earning his a yelp in anguish.

The remark caused Hiccup's head to shoot up and stopped sweeping. She tossed the broom back to the corner, causing a small noise. Both Vikings looked over at her as she began to remove her apron, tossing it to the ground, replace it with her vest and storm out of the forge, bitterness on her face.

Almost on cue, Gobber returned hoping the two got a chance to form some kind of bond, only to see Hiccup march out in a huff. Quickly, he reached the two young men, turning to Aarne, "What happened!?"

Aarne proceeded to release Snotlout's hand, causing him to fall flat on his face. Gobber pretty much got the message and sighed, "Better luck next time, lad."

"Hiccup, slow down!"

...

He turned toward the door and left the forge, clearly aggravated Snotlout managed to cock block him, although it wasn't the first time. Recovering quickly Snotlout began following his "friend", "So training..."

"I train alone."

"Right, lone wolf approach. I dig it! Better go off and do that myself, can't have you being the chief's favorite forever," with that Snotlout went off to his own devices.

Aarne tried to clear his head, thinking back to before his chance to ask her out was ruined. His cheeks began to burn remembering her sweet smile. Tomorrow he'd being training to defend Berk, and soon he would earn the heart of his favorite, Hiccup.