Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon nor any of the characters in it.

How To Train Your Dragon:

Hiccup's Fate

Chp.1

Nightmare

Astrid tossed and turned in her bed. Her woolly covers had completely fallen to the floor. From an outsider's point of view, it would be obvious that she was having a nightmare. However, no one could possibly predict the realistic, brutal nightmare she was having. Astrid gasped, shuddering on her bed. Now, let's see what exactly she is seeing.

Berk was on fire. Not just the whole village, the whole island. Flames reached what seemed like miles into the sky. Astrid was lost and afraid. All around her the houses burned, and there wasn't a soul in sight, not even a dragon. The only sound to reach her ears besides her own frantic breathing was the crackling of the flames. She ran about, shouting for her family and friends.

"Astrid," a voice faintly whispered. She barely heard over the roar of the numerous fires, but she still knew to whom the voice belonged.

"Hiccup!" She shouted, "Hiccup, where are you? Answer me!"

"Astrid!" the voice was slightly louder this time, loud enough for her to discern from where it was coming. Astrid turned, looking into the night sky. There, lit by the sea of flames, Astrid could make up a dark shape heading toward her. It was the shape of a dragon.

"Hiccup, Toothless! I'm here!" Astrid shouted as she ran towards the oncoming shape. However, with her eyes fixed on the sky, she failed to notice something on the ground in front of her. She tripped over the object, face sliding in the dirt. She got up and turned to look at what she had tripped over.

It was a body, that much she could tell. The burning straw and wood houses on either side were casting shadows on it, so she couldn't identify it. She took a step forward and noticed something odd about it; half of one leg was missing. A terrible, fleeting thought crossed her mind, but she crushed immediately. Tentatively, she approached the body; a weird, tightening feeling beginning to increase in her chest.

Suddenly, the house to her left collapsed. The flames shot higher as the wooden house fell in on itself. The sudden movement startled Astrid, and she found herself staring at the building as it's remains continued to burn. Then, something caught her eye. An object laying a few feet from the building was glinting in the firelight. Astrid approached it, and stood as still as a statue when she saw what it was. The object was a uniquely designed prosthetic leg. It was mangled, as if something really big had stepped on it. Her mind totally frozen, her body trembling, Astrid slowly turned around.

The new position of the fire cast a dim glow on the body, but it was enough. Astrid stood in total shock, her mind completely blank as she stared at Hiccup's lifeless body. This couldn't be true, it wasn't possible, and her mind simply wouldn't comprehend it. Then, she heard a terrible roar.

Astrid turned around to look at the black shape soaring through the sky toward her. She could now see its terrible, glowing red eyes. It definitely wasn't toothless, she now noticed it was much larger than him. This dragon had to be at least three times the size of a Monstrous Nightmare. She began to notice a white glow from what she assumed was the beast's mouth. She could hear her name being called, but Astrid found herself paralyzed by fear. She screamed as white flames streamed from the black dragon's mouth, heading right for her.

The blonde Viking sat straight up as she finished screaming. As the adrenaline began to fade, she noticed her mother's worried face looking over her. Grunting and squawking sounds drew her attention over to her father and Prince, her Deadly Nadder. Judging by the splinters and the hole where her door should have been, Astrid guessed that Prince had busted down her door in his attempt to rescue her from the terrible nightmare. Now, her father was attempting to wrestle the overly excited dragon to the ground. You had to give it to the dragons, once they became attached to someone; they were the most loyal and protective creatures on the planet.

"Astrid, are you alright?" Fear and concern were etched across her mother's face.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine mom," Astrid replied.

"We heard you call Hiccup's name," her father grunted by the doorway as he came to sit on the Nadder's head, "if you're going to start having nightmares over him, maybe we shouldn't let you marry him." At this, both Astrid and her mother gasped and gave him reproachful looks. Prince, who had grown fond of Hiccup and had at least an idea what Astrid's father had implied, promptly threw the Viking from his head.

*

The sky was unusually clear, and the temperature oddly warm for the island of Berk, but none of that bothered a certain young man. In fact, it was doubtful if anything could bother Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, he was in such a good mood. The young Viking practically strutted through the village, humming to himself. And, since news spread like wild fire in this village, everyone thought he had a perfectly good reason to be unusually happy. He had just gotten engaged to a one Astrid Hofferson after all.

It had been two years since Hiccup had shown the village into a new era. Two years since he lost half of his left leg, two years since he and Astrid had become a couple. He was still extremely skinny and small for a Viking, but he had gained quite a bit of muscle in the past two years, mostly in thanks to Astrid. He was also now an excellent fighter, also thanks to Astrid. However, he was still the island's top dragon expert and reigning champion of dragon riding. Together, he and the Night Fury, Toothless, formed and undefeatable team.

Hiccup waved to Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs as he passed by. Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs yelled back, congratulating him on his engagement to Astrid. Snotlout just scowled at him, jealous that Astrid had chosen Hiccup over him.

"Where're you going?" Tuffnut asked.

"I'm going to ride Toothless for a little bit, then Astrid and I have some… things to discuss," Hiccup replied with a grin. He then continued on his way to his house, the largest home on the island.

Hiccup opened the door and was flattened by Toothless. The dragon had been waiting for his rider to return home so that they could go flying. The dragon got off of Hiccup and moved to the side, looking at the young Viking expectantly.

"Ok buddy," Hiccup said as he hooked himself to the dragon. "Let's get started, shall we?"

The dragon roared, and took off. Screams of "Night Fury!" erupted from below as the black dragon and his rider whistled overhead. The dragon suddenly began performing all sorts of tricks for the village. Toothless had an unusual habit of showing off himself and Hiccup in front of other Vikings. Then the two sped off into the sky.

Down by the docks, Astrid smiled as she watched the two. She heard Hiccup whoop before disappearing into the clouds, which earned a content sigh from her. She was going to marry that boy someday in the near future, and she loved the idea of it. Then, for whatever reason, she turned to look down at the docks.

Especially since the end of the war, trade between the Vikings of Berk and other tribes had sky rocketed. Ships came in several times a month carrying foreign goods. Berk had also become quite the tourist attraction, with its newer residents and all. She recognized most of the ships that had come in today, but one in particular caught her attention.

Astrid had never seen this ship before. It was painted black; the black sail had a blood red picture of the sun being pierced by two swords. The dragon on the front was highly detailed, different from the other ships, and menacing. The men on the boat didn't look all that vikingish either. They were smaller, and less muscular than normal Vikings, but looked deadly all the same. She watched one man in particular come off the boat and begin walking in her direction. Astrid didn't know why, but this man sent shivers down her spine. He wore a fine, velvety, black cloak. A sword in an elaborately decorated scabbard hung from his black belt. Even his hands were covered by black leather gloves. It wasn't until he spoke that Astrid realized he had reached her.

"Excuse me miss, but could you tell me where I can find the home of Stoic the Vast?" The man's voice seemed innocent enough, but it sent shivers down her spine again all the same.

"Uh, um, y-yeah," Astrid stuttered. C'mon Astrid, get a hold of yourself. "It's up there, on top of the hill. The highest point in the village."

The man thanked her and proceeded to head for the Chief's house. She had a really bad feeling about that man. All thoughts of this were dispersed, however, when she heard what was in her opinion the most beautiful voice in the whole world call out, "Hey, Astrid!" The blonde Viking then turned and ran happily into her fiancée's arms.

***

So, what do you think? If I'm going to keep updating this, I'm going to need reviews to tell me it's worth it. I'm going to get this story rolling next chapter, if this one succeeds.

Darkguymelef