Chapter 1

Hiccup Haddock used to be anything but rude or bitter when he was growing up. He used to be one of the kindest and most genuine people someone could meet. Even when someone would make fun of him, he used to be the type of person to just put it behind him and be a forgiving person. He used to be someone who wouldn't show how he felt or even care if people pushed him around and made fun of him. He used to be that type of person.

Key phrase: used to be.

Hiccup used to be that type of person. But now as he sat on the bleachers, overlooking the track and the students, he scowled at both. He watched as the cross-country team warmed up before they began to take a few laps around the track. Hiccup sighed and looked down at his phone, checking the time before looking back up. He saw someone–a freshman to be exact–looking at him with a weird look, and he sent them a menacing glare causing them to yelp and turn away.

He didn't mean to be the way he was, it was just simply how he was now. If he was being honest with himself, he loathed the way he turned out to be the last few years. Whether he admitted it to himself or not, the old Hiccup seemed better in his mind. He'd rather be able to blame it all on the accident that happened two years prior to his Junior year in high school, but part of him blamed himself for his attitude.

But again, he'd rather stick to blaming the accident.

The green-eyed boy checked his phone again and breathed a sigh of relief as he got up and walked down the bleachers, away from the track and students. He slung his black Jansport backpack over one shoulder as he made his way down the concrete path towards the parking lot, but not before stopping by the gym. He peered inside the massive building and saw that the volleyball team was practicing. His eyes scanned the room before they landed on one certain player. Her golden hair was pulled back into a perfect ponytail, her hands resting on her knees as she was bent over, waiting for the next serve.

He had heard a lot about Astrid Hofferson in the hallways at school and in his classes–it seemed as if that's all anyone could talk about, which was her. According to sources and loud mouths, she was the captain of the varsity volleyball team, and the star player of the varsity basketball team. She had transferred to Berk High School during sophomore year and just on her first day got in with the popular crowd. If being popular were a sport, she'd be the captain by now because by school social standards, no one was above Astrid Hofferson. No one.

Hiccup didn't exactly like Astrid, but somehow when he saw her, he couldn't take his eyes off her. He probably thought it was because he admired her beauty, because she was stunning, then again, her personality made her less attractive. He'd seen the way she was with people, one minute she was nice and sweet, then the next she'd be pinning someone to a locker and threatening them. Though, she had never done anything to him, then again, they never associated with each other. Although, no one exactly associated with Hiccup not so much because they thought of him, but because he had an attitude not to be reckoned with.

Some people had joked about having the two date each other because of their attitudes and short tempers, but that was all it was: a joke. He would chuckle at the thought of that ever happening, but it made him uneasy about that ever becoming a possibility. Then again, the chances of him dating Astrid Hofferson were unlikely times infinite.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard something collide sharply against the wall next to him. Hiccup flinched a bit and widened his eyes before his eyes found their way to the floor where the blue and white volleyball was. He picked it up and glared at the players in front of him before he threw the ball up and served it with his palm open, causing it to fly across the room, only to hit one of them on the head.

And it was none other than Astrid Hofferson.

"What the hell?" she snapped angrily, holding the top of her head as she glared at him in the most menacing way possible.

While most students would run, Hiccup only smirked. "Whoops."

Astrid frowned at him before placing her hands on her hips. "Aren't you going to apologize?"

Hiccup shook his head, still smirking. "I'm going to go get my dog instead," he said and pointed to her head. "But you should go put some ice on that." Before Astrid could respond, he saluted her and turned around and walked out of the gym.

Along with having an attitude, he had also developed a douchebag side to him. As much as it was fun to talk back to others, he did hate the way he was, but he couldn't find a good reason to really...stop all of it. It was just the way he presented himself now.

Hiccup shook his head from his thoughts and made his way to his black Camaro and got in. He threw his backpack in the passenger seat next to him and put on his seatbelt before looking down at his foot.

Foot.

Not feet.

Foot.

He sighed as he rested his forehead against the wheel, his eyes glued to the prosthetic that replaced his left foot. As much as he never admitted it or showed it, losing his foot had been the worst thing that ever happened to him. In other words, it ruined his life and most importantly, himself. He lifted his head from the wheel and looked out towards the track again, watching students run around it, and he felt his legs begin to ache. Everything he had been working so hard for all stopped because of his foot. Because he lost his foot. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

Hiccup pulled into the parking lot in front of the animal clinic and stepped out. He made his way up the small steps and walked through the double doors, making his way to the front desk. He chatted with the woman seated behind and she pointed behind her to a hallway. He thanked her before walking into the hallway and towards the room where his best friend was.

"Hiccup!"

He turned around at the sound of the familiar voice and smiled when he saw who it was. "Hey Heather!"

Heather smiled and gave him a quick hug. "Looking for Toothless?"

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, he's just down here," she said and lead him down the hallway to a room in the middle. Right when she opened the door, a giant, furry dog ran past her and pounced on Hiccup, pressing his two front legs onto his chest, and balancing on his single back leg.

"Toothless!" the green-eyed boy laughed and hugged the dog. "How's my best friend feeling?"

Toothless licked his face and wagged his tail, as if saying he was feeling fine. Hiccup smiled and turned to Heather. "How'd it go?"

"Well," she began and squatted down to pet the mix-breed. "We just managed to get it out of his stomach on Sunday and he's been healing pretty quickly for the past few days."

Hiccup smiled and looked at the dog's brown eyes. "That's good. I'm still trying to comprehend that he swallowed a chew toy."

Heather chuckled. "He is a wolf hybrid."

"Along with a border collie and blue heeler mixed into his gene pool," he added, making them laugh.

From afar, Toothless looked like a regular border collie, but upon further examination, his mixed traits were visible. He sported a thicker coat of hair than a border collie or blue heeler would have, big pointed ears, a long snout, and sharp teeth. Along with that, came his sheer size and build like that from his wolf side. Feature wise, he was a simple black and white border collie, but being a blue heeler mix as well, and besides the gene making his ears more upright and pointy, the right side of his face was all white, dotted with black spots, mostly around his eye. His left side was just a plain black as were his other patches, but the front of his body was also covered with black spots as well. All in all, Toothless was probably the most gorgeous dog one could lay their eyes on, and his bright brown eyes just added on to it. The only problem that someone could really notice was his missing left back leg.

Hiccup had rescued Toothless from an animal shelter during the summer before his freshman year. At the time, Toothless was somewhat untrainable and constantly trying to bite people, but everyone in the shelter thought it was because of his wolf side. But it was all from their judgment about wolves and their nature that they decided to put him down the following week–and that's where Hiccup came in. He had walked into the shelter with his father in hopes of looking for a dog who could be his best friend–the first real best friend he'd ever have. When he first walked in, the first thing he saw was a giant dog running around the shelter, skidding around the tiles on only three legs. The dog had looked at him and Hiccup instantly felt drawn to the dog, right then and there. It had leapt onto him and licked his face, making him laugh and hug the dog, but that all ended when he felt him being pulled away.

"Wait, where are you taking him?"

"Sorry kid, this guy has different plans."

"What do you mean different plans?"

"Well, can't you see? He's part wolf and wolves aren't trainable."

It only took Hiccup a moment to realize what he had meant. "Y-You're putting him down? Because he's a wolf?!"

"That's not–"

"That's exactly what you meant! So you're saying that if I had some Adolf Hitler blood or genetics in me, you would put me down? Because you assume that I'm going kill people and be savage. And because of your stupid belief that wolf hybrids are automatically not trainable and the same, you're going to put them down for the same thing?" When the man didn't answer, he continued. "That's bullshit."

"Hiccup," his father, Stoick, had said sternly.

"What? It's true! And you know what, you can't put him down either way."

"Why not? We already made the arrangement."

Hiccup took one good look at the dog and smiled. "Because I want to adopt him. And if you want a good review and happy customers, you won't deny my request."

It had taken a good half hour to get everything set, and it seemed like a relief to the shelter's employees to finally, in a sense, get rid of Toothless. In their minds, it seemed harsh, but the dog had caused such a ruckus, he became unbearable to them. But there went Toothless with his new friend and family, and shockingly, he never bit Hiccup.

"See? He's toothless, at least when it comes to me," he joked before he frowned and smiled. "You know what? That's what I'll call you: Toothless."

Two years later, the two were closer than ever, not being able to bear the thought of ever separating. That along with Hiccup's other pet, Sharpshot.

Heather explained that Toothless needed to be more careful around the house and to not consume anything other than dog food–not that he wouldn't either way. Hiccup nodded and thanked her as he hugged her and left the clinic. He turned to Toothless who was following closely behind him with his red leash bundled up in his mouth, causing Hiccup to chuckle. He opened the car and Toothless hopped in and made his way to the back seat of the car and laid down as Hiccup stepped into the driver's seat. He looked at the mix-breed in his rearview mirror and smiled.

"Ready to go home, bud?" he asked with a raised brow and Toothless barked, wagging his tail. "Alright, let's go home."

Hiccup unlocked the door to his apartment loft and set his keys down on his coffee table before plopping down onto his normal couch.

The thing most people didn't know about Hiccup was the fact that he actually lived in his own place and not with his father. After his mother left when he was just a baby, it had just been him and his father, Stoick who was the CEO of Berk's Industry. Because of his father's high position in the industry, he constantly had formal parties or gatherings with the board with other managers and employees. After a while, Hiccup had grown tired of having to put up with the loud guests and having to lock himself in his room to avoid any confrontation with any of them. When he first approached Stoick with the idea of having his own place, he refused it, still being his father and not wanting him to leave so soon. But after some weeks of convincing, the man finally gave in and spent his free time trying to find a good place for his son to stay until he found an apartment loft right by the forest with a great view of the mountains–which was quite expensive–and he even helped Hiccup arrange and design the place.

Now it looked like the place a CEO's son would live in. The first thing that came into view when stepping into the apartment was a short hallway, the walls painted black with some closets along the way. After, the hallway opened up into a wide space, which was the living room, covered with marble floors. To the right was a black wooden stage with steps with one medium-sized table, and black wooden stairs with railings, going up into the loft and also Hiccup's bedroom. To the left was a huge open space with a hung up basketball hoop with a basketball rack filled with basketballs. Straight ahead, was the main living room with a big plasma screen television hung up on the wall with black cabinets around it. In front of the television was a giant movie pit–it was made out of polished wood that created an angled shape with a gray sofa and colored pillows in the center of it. Behind the movie pit to its right side were other large couches made for lounging and the big kitchen to its left with lights above it.

The ceiling above the living room was just the loft above it. Above everything below was the loft and Hiccup's bedroom. When reaching the top of the stairs, the first thing one would see was a big king-sized bed, placed in the center of the room in front of the big window that stretched across the room. It had a charming view of the forest and even the sunset. A little over to the wall was a big desk with pencils and pens and papers scattered all over it; above it was a big bulletin board with multiple drawings pinned to it and other designs, and a trash bin was set off to the side, next to the work space. To the right was a door that lead into the giant bathroom. Unlike most showers, it was big in comparison and Hiccup's shower head was actually a shower ceiling with sliding glass doors. Unlike the loft that was white instead of black like downstairs, his entire bathroom was a polished dark brown wood color with black marble tiled floors. To the left was a big mirror as well and all in all, it was probably the fanciest bathroom one could have.

To the left was Hiccup's walk-in closet that was closed with double wooden and glass doors. Upon walking in there was a simple smooth white carpet and a big mirror to the right. To the left were shelves accompanied with lights under them for his shoes. Straight ahead were multiple shelves and hangers with clothes on them. It was pretty much what a rich boy would have by the recommendation of his CEO father. No one would really believe that Hiccup lived alone or that he even owned this type of place, considering that he was usually isolated and preferred to be alone at school.

But Hiccup's favorite place was right outside of his apartment loft on his balcony-like space. In the center was a big sofa pit in a square shape, surrounding a fire place in the center. The sofas were a soft cream color with different colored and patterned pillows, blankets hanging around every one. The view was Hiccup's favorite though–there was a forest stretching on for miles and there were mountains in the distance. Looking carefully, he could make out a large lake in the center of the forest and there was a view of the sunset ahead. It was his favorite past time when he was stressed or needed a well-deserved break from everything, including school and work.

Hiccup worked as a mechanic with his father's friend, Gobber. They mostly fixed cars and anything in that category, but sometimes Hiccup would go off and try to invent something that came into mind. He was currently applying to multiple colleges and universities with great engineering programs, but it wasn't the same when he was applying and looking for something different before the accident.

He felt Toothless jump up and curl up next to him and then he felt something moving on his head. His green eyes widened for a brief second before he relaxed when he heard the little squeaks come from his hair.

"Hey Sharpshot," Hiccup said with an amused smile and the said pet came crawling down onto his shoulder, revealing a black and white rat. He rubbed the rat's head softly and let him curl up onto his shoulder.

Unlike Toothless, Sharpshot wasn't arranged to be put down, though he did come from the same shelter as Toothless did. He had only been three months old when Hiccup adopted him, and he found out that Sharpshot had been left in a tank by himself when he was just a few weeks since he had been the runt of the litter. It was only when a new family moved in that they discovered him, weak and alone without the proper care. The shelter had nursed him back to health and now he was turning one in two months.

After relaxing on the couch for a few minutes, Hiccup stood–Sharpshot still curled up on his shoulder–and made his way towards the kitchen. He pulled out a knife from the drawer and began to slice an apple until he accidentally nicked his index finger, causing blood to slowly make its way out. He hissed and put his finger in his mouth before turning to look at the rat on his shoulder.

"Hey Sharpshot, can you go get me a bandaid?" he asked, holding up his finger to show the rat.

Sharpshot stood on his hind legs to look at Hiccup's finger before he hopped off his shoulder and onto the counter. He climbed up the little ladder that Hiccup had made for him and crawled into the little tubes used for rodent cages. Hiccup had rearranged them so that they went around the whole apartment, up to the loft in all sorts of directions. The little rodent made his way through the tubes before climbing out of one of the holes of a tube and ran over towards the little first aid kit that was customized for him to access. Hiccup had basically miniaturized everything for Sharpshot when he began teaching him tricks, and it made easy access for the rat himself. He pushed down on the little pin causing the little box to open before he stuck his head in and grabbed a small bandaid. He left the box open, knowing he needed to get back to his owner quickly to cease the bleeding, and that Hiccup would close it later like he usually did. He zoomed through the tubes and then down the ladder before finally making it back to Hiccup and he stood up on his hind legs again with the bandaid in his mouth.

Hiccup made a single click noise with his tongue and handed the rat a little treat, smiling at him. "Thanks Sharpshot."

The rodent nibbled on his treat and Hiccup couldn't help but grin at how cute the little guy was. He loved the rat to death along with Toothless, who could also do the same tricks as Sharpshot could. He put on the bandaid and rubbed Sharpshot's head before he felt two little hands grab his bandaged finger. He looked down and saw the rat holding his finger and give it a small lick before letting it go.

Hiccup chuckled. "I'm okay now, thanks to you. Now c'mon, let's go play with Toothless." At that, Sharpshot leapt from the counter and onto Hiccup's shoulder in seconds, causing the teenager to laugh as he walked back over to the living room.

Toothless lifted his head from his spot on the couch before going back to sleep with a low grumble. Hiccup rolled his eyes before he walked up the stairs and to the loft where his bedroom was. He walked over to his bed and placed his arm down on the white and light beige duvet so that Sharpshot could climb down. He watched as the rat bounded across the bed and over to the small desk where his little plastic blue igloo sat with bedding and some small pillows and blankets. Hiccup knew he pampered Sharpshot and Toothless too much, but he couldn't help the love he had for him. And besides, the little-sized items for the rodent were extremely cute, and he seemed to enjoy it. He watched him enter his plastic igloo and cozy up underneath the blankets and pillows. Hiccup smiled and he made his way over to his closet where he changed into some red pajama pants and a plain black shirt. He sighed and flopped down onto his bed before he whistled loudly and seconds later, he heard the sound of nails scrapping against the wooden stairs. Toothless trotted over to the bed and hopped up next to Hiccup and curled into his side, resting his head on his best friend's chest. Hiccup smoothed his hand over Toothless's head and felt himself dozing off.

Soon, all three of them had fallen asleep.

A/N: So there's the first chapter to my first AU story. I've had this story in mind for a while, and I know where I want to go with it, it's just the matter of actually getting there. I know it might seem strange to choose a dog like a border collie, blue heeler, wolf mix, but I wanted to change it up a bit from a black dog, even though black is Toothless's signature look. I actually based the dog from a photo I saw and I automatically wanted that dog to portray Toothless because it seemed like it would fit. As for Sharpshot, I just wanted to see how adding a rat would feel to this type of universe. I know some of the things that Sharpshot did like the bandaid thing seemed unrealistic, but it is actually possible for a rat to learn how to do tricks like that, since they are intelligent. Did anyone catch any hints about Hiccup's life before the accident? There were plenty in the first parts. (;

I'll hopefully be updating ROTML soon, so keep an eye out for that. In the mean time, reviews and feedback are always helpful!