Small Update! Anyone who's already read this chapter on 6/4/2018 and 6/5/2018 before 7:06 PM Eastern Standard Time (Florida time) I've made a slight adjustment, nothing huge is changed, I just added a small detail that comes up later regarding Toothless' arrows.

For as long as anyone could remember, Berk had been in a constant struggle for survival. They combated the cold, sickness, shortage in food, and battle injuries. However the most common cause of death, was the constant dragon raids that plagued the island. The battles waged resulted in major injuries and heavy losses, and their food sources dwindled with each raid as the dragons escaped with fish and sheep in their claws.

Instead of leaving, the Hairy Hooligan tribe stubbornly stayed on Berk. Not once did the thought of leaving cross their minds, even after seven generations of constant battle. They were Vikings, they would not run in fear or cower. Berk was their home and it would stay that way, dragons and bitter cold be damned.

I was awake before the first ax was thrown. Waking up to shouting and roaring and fire wasn't a shock to anyone on Berk unless you were a child. I simply threw my covers off, pulled on my clothes, and grabbed my bow and quiver.

My earliest memory was a dragon raid. It was fuzzy, but I could recall the heat, the brightness of the fire against the dark sky. I could remember a slender, dark haired woman, her arms warm and comforting around me, and a larger, dark haired man who felt safe and sheltering as he protected us.

I rushed out of the house, narrowly dodging a blast of fire. I kept to the shadows as I made my way through the streets, easily avoiding the battling Vikings and dragons. One Viking happened to see me, his axe raised and bellowing fiercely, only to smile and brightly say "Morning!" before he passed me.

I should probably introduce myself. I'm Toothless. Not actually, I assure you I have all my teeth and they are perfection, if I do say so myself, best in the village. Names like mine are given to scare away gnomes and trolls. I'd think our charming Viking demeanor would do that, and if not the dragons would.

I jumped over a ledge, not bothering with the stairs, and passing Vikings yelped and shouted as I narrowly dodged each of them. Exasperation colored each of their voices as they called "Watch where you're going!" and "Get out of the way!" after me.

I was almost to my destination when a thick hand shot out in front of me, slamming into my chest and pulling me to stand next to a large Viking with a shaggy red beard.

"Toothless! What are ye doing here? Get to your place!" He ordered, shoving me back into the street and not sparing me a second glance as he hefted up an over turned cart and chucked it at a nearby dragon, downing it easily.

That's Skullcrusher the Dense, Chief of Berk. He's the best of the best. They say that when he was a baby, he ripped the head of a dragon clear off it's shoulders. Do I believe it? Eh, no, not really, but I do believe he could do such a thing now. He definitely lives up to his name.

I paused for a moment, listening as the Chief asked one of the Vikings about the dragons. There were Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. A Monstrous Nightmare. The usual.

No Night Furies, though. There hadn't been a Night Fury attack in a long, long time.

Finally I reached my destination, a building easily spotted due to the line of Vikings waiting impatiently at the window and the heat that emenated like dragon fire. The Forge.

The hulking figure of the blacksmith glanced up as I slipped passed the line and into the Forge, a grin spreading across his face. "Ah, I was wonderin' when ye'd get here, was worried ye were carried off."

"Tch, me? Please, I'm way too tough for their taste." I scoffed, stocking my quiver with arrows and slinging it in it's place on my back. "They wouldn't be able to handle all this." I pretended to flex my muscles.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don' they?" The older man teased, switching out his hammer for another tool.

The meathead with logs for arms and boulders for hands is Grump the Laze, Berk's blacksmith. When I was younger I took time off of weapons and fighting classes to work as his apprentice and still occasionally come by to help out. Also, despite what he and others might tell you, I'm not that skinny, just compact. Not everyone can have the bulging muscles most of Berk's population sported.

My quiver now full and a few bolas attatched to my belt, I threw a quick goodbye to Grump before sprinting back out into the fray, once more keeping to the shadows.

Only minutes after leaving the Forge, I came across five teens, all carrying buckets of water and working on putting out whatever fires they could.

That's the Fire Brigade. Every young Viking dreams of having that job, to be in the middle of battle, even if they couldn't fight. It's made up of five teens, all around my age.

There's Magnhild, who was thickly muscled and tall for a girl her age. She's fierce, but also such a softy it's ridiculous. She could pull her weight, was handy in a fight and smart too, but give her something small and fuzzy and she'd melt. I tolerated her the most.

Then there's Hookfang, he's brash, quick to act, competitive, and more likely to set a fire then put one out. Some joke that he was born to the wrong species, and should have been a Monstrous Nightmare instead. Those who say that are usually found the next day sporting new burns that were not gained from a raid. Hookfang and I have had a sort of rivalry ever since we were kids, him trying to one up me on everything, and me ignoring him or showing him up in return.

Next were the twins, Barf and Belch. They were tall and lanky. They were never separate, and no one could figure out if they loved or hated each other, switching from vicious fights to perfect synchrony.

Last was Storm. She was also on the slimmer side, but she was a force to be reckoned with. Agile, strong, determined, smart, quick, an over-achiever, subtly vain. That was Storm. She was in love with fighting, it was plain to see, she wanted to be the best and had no patience for anything but winning. We couldn't stand each other, but there was respect, kinda.

I made my way to the outskirts of the village, running up a small path and onto a ledge that overlooked the village. I stuck to the shadows provided by the trees and observed the ongoing battle as I readied an arrow.

Like the Fire Brigade, I had a job as well, and it was much cooler than hauling buckets of water. I took out approaching dragons, ensuring my fellow Vikings didn't get overwhelmed, and I helped get them out of the air for an easier capture.

The job was mine and mine alone. I had come up with it, and it had taken much convincing, but I'm now able to help much better then simply putting out fires. I made my mark.

I pulled back the string of my bow, took aim, and let the arrow fly. It hit close to the wing of a Nadder, bringing it down into the waiting nets with a shriek, the mild paralytic I tipped my arrows with taking quick affect. I payed no other thought to the dragon, turning away and taking aim again.

I've never killed a dragon directly. All I do is bring them down for the other Vikings to deal with. That and my weapon and tactic of choice is what makes me somewhat of an outcast, along with my thinner frame and quieter, solitary nature.

I got my tactics from the Night Fury. A dragon no one has ever seen. Night Furies never steal food, never show themselves, and never miss. They target the lookout towers and catapults while the other dragons go in directly. So I do the same, take out dragons in the air, giving the Vikings a better advantage.

I had noticed that certain Vikings would fight certain dragons. Gronckles are for tough, sturdy Vikings. Nadders and Zipplebacks are for quicker, smarter Vikings. Monstrous Nightmares are saved for the best Vikings, who can stand up to it's raw strength and nasty habit of setting itself on fire.

So why not have a Viking to parallel the elusive Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself? A Night Fury tipped the scales in the dragons' favor, I just balanced it out.

I was about to let loose another arrow when an ear piercing shriek tore through the air, followed by a brilliant flash as a blast of blue fire streaked out of the darkness, striking the supports of one of the watchtowers. Startled screams and shouts of "Night Fury! Get down!" rang through the air.

A Night Fury? Now? It's been years since a Night Fury joined a raid! We had thought they had gone extinct, or at least that the one that attacked us, as there only seemed to ever be one, had died. But now it's back!

I watched the sky, crouching slightly as I readied to bolt into the trees for cover. Another shriek rang out and the blue fireball struck a catapult. Without thinking I aimed an arrow into the sky, eyes narrowed as I searched for even a hint of-

SSSSHHRRRIIIIIIII-BANG!

There! A brief shadow passing over the faint starlight before another catapult went down in a blaze, a glimpse of wings and a tail as it passed the fire and I followed it, letting the arrow go, despite there being little chance of actually hitting anything.

However, the Gods seemed to smile down on me, because there was a roar of pain in the direction it had flown, and a shadow fell through the sky, disappearing into the trees.

"I hit a Night Fury.." I muttered, staring wide eyed in shock at where it had landed. "I hit... I hit a Night Fury!" A wide grin stretched across my face and I let out a shout of joy, doing a small victory dance that would have been very embarrassing had anyone been there to see it. I had a reputation of aloofness and dignity to upkeep, after all.

The grin was still on my face when I turned around to look back over the village, only to slowly slip off as I came face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare, no doubt attracted to my shouts of triumph. My heart seemed to be attempting to escape my chest, but I didn't let the fear get to me, instead staring straight at the dragon as it slowly stalked closer. I shifted back, tense and ready to run, my hands clenched my bow till my knuckles went white, but there was no way I'd be able to ready an arrow and shoot at such a close distance. I was quick, but not that quick.

The Nightmare reared it's head up with a low growl and then lunged with a snarl, but I was ready and deftly sprinted away. My legs and lungs burned as I pushed them, but I was fast and I had stamina, enough to keep ahead of the beast.

I ran back into the Village, knowing I couldn't beat the Nightmare, so I'd bring it to someone who could. The streets were quieter and emptier, now that the raid was dying down, and that meant less people in the way and more people gathered in one place, all with weapons and still feeling the rush of battle.

Sure enough, a large crowd was gathered around netted dragons, weapons still gripped tightly and eyes still wild and alert. They all shouted out in alarm and hefted their weapons when I suddenly rounded the corner, an angry Nightmare after me. Once I was in the safety of the crowd, I turned to face the dragon, only to scramble away as it spit fire.

Oh, woops. There went the captured dragons.

The stream of fire stopped and the dragon opened it's jaw to snap, only to suddenly be thrown to the side by a harsh kick to the snout. It's attacker tumbled into a roll and straightened, revealing themselves to be Chief Skullcrusher, who stood his ground as the dragon stood, opening it's mouth to let loose more flames. Only nothing but a small spurt came, and the dragon suddenly looked... well, it looked concerned.

"You're all out." The Chief grunted, advancing on the Nightmare and delivering a few crushing blows before the dragon found it's wings and took off. We all watched it and the freed dragons for a few short moments before Skullcrusher turned, eyes meeting mine and narrowing, a frown clear on his face even from behind his thick beard.

I winced, glancing at the net the dragons had been in. It had been a few Gronkles and Nadders, but now only one of each remained, struggling and shrieking as they were further restrained.

"Sorry, Father."

Yeah, you heard right. That early memory of mine? The man and woman, my parents, hadn't survived passed that memory. However, Chief Skullcrusher had been close to my parents, and was kind enough to take me in as his son, and as a result future Chief, as he had no wife or children.

Skullcrusher sighed gruffly, resting a firm hand on my shoulder. "You did good, Toothless, you'll be a great Viking someday. However when we agreed to let you help, one of the arrangements was for you to stay out of sight and out of the way. And this is why!"

"Yes, I know, father. It was just that I was distracted by the Night Fury, I had a clear shot of it and I even managed to hit it-"

"A Night Fury!?" He exclaimed in disbelief. "Toothless, no Viking has ever even seen a Night Fury, much less hit it!"

I scowled at him, drawing myself up with as much confidence as I could muster, which was a lot, thank you. "But I did! It fell down just off of Raven's Point, if we can gather a search party then-"

"Enough!" He commanded, the hand he had on my shoulder gripping harder as he spun to face me more directly. "You are just a teenager, Toothless, no matter how skilled. No Viking has ever been close to wounding a Night Fury. It's impossible for a teenager, who hasn't even been to dragon training, to do what Vikings with years of experience haven't succeeded in. I have a whole village to feed and winter is on it's way, yet you're here spinning tales!"

My fists clenched, but I refused to look like a cowed little child being reprimended by their parent. "The village could do with a little less feeding, if you asked me..." I muttered, looking away.

He scowled. "This is no joke, Toothless! You will stop with these stories, do you understand? Chasing after imaginary beasts will not make you a dragon killer, it makes you a fool." When I didn't say anything in return he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Go home, I have things to do. Make sure he gets there." The last sentence was aimed at Grump, who had walked up behind me.

Grump cuffed me lightly on the head in a gesture to move forward, so I did with a reluctant grumble. As we made our way, we happened to pass the Fire Brigade, who of course chose to throw in their own unwanted comments.

"Quite the performance." the twins cackled elbowing each other, which then turned into a brawl.

"Wow, looks like Mister Perfect Viking isn't so perfect anymore." Hookfang sneered. I glared at him but didn't respond, though I did smirk when Grump put a hand to his helmet and pushed him to the ground.

Storm and Magnhild hadn't said anything. Magnhild because, while she followed the others, she wasn't really one for insults and anything mean in general, and Storm because she also wasn't one for petty insults, but I could tell by the look on her face that she was judging me, and there was a smugness to her now that my Perfect Viking image was in danger.

"I hit the Night Fury, Grump." I muttered as we made our was uphill to the my house. "I know I did."

Grump chuckled, patting my shoulder. "Ye know tha', even if ye did hit th' Night Fury, it's very hard t' believe it, Toothless. Skullcrusher has a point, no one has ever seen one, much less gotten close to even grazing it."

"But I saw it! Right after it hit the catapult I saw it in the light of the blast!" I said, clenching my fists until my knuckles turned white. "I heard it roar in pain after I let loose my arrow and it fell into the trees!" I hit the front door of my house in frustration. "What do I have to do to prove myself? I train and train and train, and it was only recently that he let me leave the Fire Brigade! I work so hard to be the warrior he wants me to be and he won't even humor me!"

"Ah, Toothless, he does listen to ye." Grump said. "Yer story's just... a wee bit fantastical to believe."

I gave him a deadpan stare. "Gee, thanks." Sighing, I opened the door. "Shoulda seen it coming. I'm not his real son, why would he have faith in some recluse taking up his space and time?" I waved off Grump's assurances. "Night, Grump." And shut the door before he could say more.

I waited till I was sure he was gone before sprinting to the back door. I'd prove I wasn't crazy, then maybe I'd finally be taken more seriously.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Been wanting to see more species swap AUs.

Question: Should I go with Hiccup loosing a tail fin and Toothless a foot, or should I do something different? I had an idea on something different, but I wanna know what others think.

There are some name changes, Stormfly is now just Storm, and Magnhild is Meatlug. If the name sites I got the name on are right, Magnhild means mighty, strong, powerful in battle. There will be other name changes, especially if I do the sequel, but right now, Stormfly and Meatlug are the only ones.

And no, there's no Toothless/Stormfly romance