So, yeah, I told you all I was going to do this! :D And so here it is! :D Enjoy! :D

Hiccup woke up the next morning, a pounding headache throbbing his skull as if it were being constantly hit with a forge hammer (in which he speaks, unfortunately, from experience in forges). Sitting up and putting his hand to his head to ward off the dizziness, he finally managed to look around. Toothless was already awake (as usual), sitting next to the bed with perfect posture.

He had been overprotective ever since the lightning, and Hiccup was partially grateful for it. Sometimes, he would collapse randomly while doing something as simple as walking, and Toothless would catch him before he even hit the ground.

However, it was a bit annoying. After Hiccup tripped for the fifth time the previous day, Toothless refused to let him leave the house, much to Hiccup's dismay. He had tried to convince the dragon that it was fine, but Toothless didn't hear it. It got to the point where he had to lay his head on Hiccup's chest to keep him from getting up.

Eventually, after realizing that it was fight he was never going to win, Hiccup fell asleep, waking up now with Toothless next to the bedside again.

It was just yesterday that Hiccup had woken up after being struck by lightning. No one had left him alone that day. It started with Stoick, mingled with Astrid, and finished with Toothless.

"Morning," Hiccup muttered, straddling the bed, his right foot grazing the floorboards while he strapped his prosthetic on. What was left of his leg had been incredibly sore since he was struck by the lightning bolt, which was one of the reasons he was stumbling besides headaches and dizzy spells. So, when Toothless had taken him home the previous day, Hiccup had taken off his prosthetic, just temporarily.

In all honesty, he would have much rather slept in that morning, but as leader of the Dragon Training Academy, he was supposed to teach his friends and class, and set a good example to them by being there on time. The twins and Snotlout already had a bad habit of arriving late. For Hiccup to do so would just be an excuse for them in their minds. They would use it against him, and he knew it.

Hiccup's left hand shook as he strapped on his prosthetic. Since the lightning, Hiccup had developed an annoying twitch in his left hand, which both aggravated and disappointed Hiccup all at once. Despite the fact that he had been holding the trident in his right hand, it was his left one that suffered the consequences, for a reason that was left unknown (pun intended).

It made him upset, though. Being left-handed, he always used that specific hand when he drew, hammered, or did pretty much everything. Now, though, it was a bit tricker to use. He managed it, though. He didn't have a choice.

Toothless warbled his "good morning" back to his rider just as Hiccup got to his feet. Just before Hiccup headed downstairs, he noticed something on his arm. Lifting up his sleeve slightly, he caught sight of a pinkish, branch-like mark.

Oh, please no, he thought, rolling up his sleeve the rest of the way. Sure enough, though, he had Lichtenberg figures on his arm, starting from the back of his wrist, and traveling up to his shoulder, like the branches of a thick tree.

"You're kidding…" he muttered, double-blinking to assure himself of what he was looking at.

Lightning scars were the last thing he wanted to deal with. So, naturally, that's exactly what happened. He glanced at Toothless, smiling nervously.

"It doesn't look too bad, does it?" he asked, showing his dragon his newly developed problem.

Toothless sniffed his rider's arm, and then cooed.

"Oh, good," Hiccup said, his voice dropping. "Dragon pity."

He didn't want his friends seeing it, and getting worried about it afterwards. The pink scaring against Hiccup's pale skin stood out almost painfully. Even though he always wore long-sleeved shirts, he was able to catch it out of the corner of his eye. It stood to reason that his friends would be able to, too.

So, Hiccup grabbed some gauze from his desk drawer, and wrapped his arm. Toothless watched him curiously, cocking his head sideways in confusion. If pink was blatant, than how much more blatant would bunches of white gauze be?

Once Hiccup finished, he turned to his dragon, rolling down his sleeve and making sure the gauze was as invisible as possible.
"Okay, bud," he said, looking at the Night Fury, clapping his hands together, "ready to go to the academy?"

In answer, Toothless roared happily, bounding around the room, and then bouncing downstairs. Hiccup shook his head, laughing, before he followed as well.

On his way over to the academy, he bumped into Astrid. She rubbed her head for a moment, and then smiled at him.

"Good morning," she said, walking alongside him as he continued towards the academy. Stormfly and Toothless walked behind them, side by side, cooing at each other, partaking in an unknown conversation.

"Good morning to you, too," Hiccup returned the friendly gesture. He glanced down at his arm, making sure his sleeve was covering the gauze. He didn't need Astrid worrying.

Astrid nodded in recognition, and then refocused her gaze to the area in front of her. It was longer walking to the academy then going dragonback, but for some reason, neither of them mounted their dragons.

"So, sleep well?" Astrid offered.

"As well as can be expected," Hiccup replied.

"That bad, huh?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed. "That just about describes it."

"I'm sorry," said Astrid.

"Nah, don't be," said Hiccup. "I should be honored. I got struck by lightning and lived!"

"I tell you, Hiccup, you have a death wish!" Astrid exclaimed, halting to turn to him.

Hiccup shrugged. "You have to admit, though," he said. "I do do a good job of avoiding it."

Astrid whacked his forearm. Hiccup winced, hoping she hadn't felt the bandages from underneath his sleeve. Thankfully, she didn't. "Narrowly avoiding it, Hiccup," she corrected. "There has never been once where you avoid death without it being unbelievably narrow."

"Maybe," Hiccup agreed, thinking it over slightly before he nodded. "Yeah, I'd say definitely, actually."

Astrid smiled slightly, and then slugged his forearm a second time. This time, though, she recoiled. Hiccup looked at her, and then noticed that she had seen the bandages.

"Hiccup!" she said, grabbing his arm. "What is this!?"

"That is my arm, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Which...you are holding very tightly, I might add-"

"No, I mean, this!" She rolled up his sleeve, eying his bandages. "I told you countless times, Hiccup. You need to wear gloves while working in the forge!"

"Yes yes, I got it, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Can I please have my arm back?"

She let go abruptly, and he pulled away, rubbing his wrist with his right hand.

"Wait a minute," said Astrid, stepping forward. Hiccup stepped backwards, still holding his arm. "Those bandages weren't there yesterday, and you didn't work in the forge since the lightning."

"Uh…"

"What happened?" she asked.

"It-it's nothing," Hiccup managed, glancing down at his bandaged arm.

"I knew it!" said Astrid triumphantly. "You stutter when you lie, Hiccup!"

"I'm n-not stuttering!" Hiccup stuttered, and then groaned.

"See!?" said Astrid. "Now, are you going to tell me what happened, or am I going to have to figure it out for myself?"

"How would you figure it out for yourself?" Hiccup asked.

He really wished that he hadn't.

Instantly, Astrid started undoing the bandages.

"ASTRID!" Hiccup yelped. "Cut it out!"

"Nope!" said Astrid. She tossed the discarded bandages to the ground, and gasped. Hiccup winced, closing his eyes to avoid seeing her reaction.

"Lightning scars," Astrid said. Hiccup nodded. "How long did you know you had it?"

"Just figured out this morning," Hiccup answered. "I know, it looks weird-"

"It doesn't, actually," said Astrid. "I think it looks cool."

"Well, you can have your opinion," said Hiccup, pulling his arm away. "I'll have mine."

"Think of it as a battlescar, Hiccup," said Astrid. "You survived a lightning bolt to the head, and have proof now. Don't you think it's cool?"

"I don't know…" Hiccup turned away. "I don't know, Astrid. I have a battlescar from fighting the Red Death, but I don't feel very...battlescar-ish about it."

"Battlescar-ish?" said Astrid.

"I didn't have a better word," Hiccup said.

"Well...you don't have to put a bandage on it," said Astrid. "There's nothing to be selfconscious about or anything."

"Well...um...I guess not," said Hiccup. "I mean...it's only fun if you get a scar out of it, right?"

Astrid smiled. Somehow, she knew those words were going to find their way back to her.

"You want to go train?" she offered.

"Sounds great," said Hiccup. "Shall we go?"

And so they did.

Author's Notes:

So, I found some REALLY REALLY COOL pictures of Lichtenberg figures, and thought, "Well, Hiccup was struck by lightning in episode 13 (When Lightning Strikes), so why wouldn't he have a lightning scar?" And he always wears long-sleeved shirts, so it would be apparent why we wouldn't see them.

It's just a theory of mine, so this one-shot was created. :)

Can I rant for a minute, guys? Do any of you mind? Well, I was just thinking about something, and I want to know if you all agree with me. If you don't like rants about fictional characters, then you don't have to worry about reading this. For those of you that do, read on!

Valka is an interesting character, but, as much as I don't want to admit it, I really don't like her very much. I used to, but after watching HTTYD2 for the fourth time, I got to thinking:

What kind of mother abandons their husband, and only son (who, by the way, is still in a cradle and too young to walk)? Seriously. What kind of mother chooses dragons over her family? That's what she did. She replaced her son and husband with dragons.

Now, I understand the whole "I thought you would be safer if I left" gizmo and all, but seriously? She couldn't have gone back and showed them all the truth about dragons? Imagine if she had flown back to Berk on dragonback. Not only is she alive, but she is riding dragons. Even if Berk didn't believe her at first, they would believe her eventually.

She didn't though, instead spending twenty years away from the family she abandoned, and with the dragons who had stolen her from it. She could have gone back, but she didn't. She made her choice, and it wasn't a good one, either.

I'm not trying to hate on Valka, or anything. I think she is an interesting character, and I also think she has a chance of making it up to Hiccup. But all in all, I don't really like her very much.

Sorry about that rant. I really needed to get that out there. :) Until next time! :D

-BeyondTheClouds777