Yes, Yes. I'm starting yet another WIP. Like I don't have enough of them already on top of school work, but the plot bunny will not leave me alone.

Disclaimer – I do not own How to Train Your Dragon

Prologue

Hiccup the Useless had struck again. He had built a device that would throw a net and effectively trap a dragon within it and had tested it during a raid early that morning, despite many of the villagers that had seen him out in the chaos to yell at him to get back inside. He had been so sure that this time the device would work, that he would capture a dragon and his life would get tremendously better. And it had worked, just not the way that it was supposed to. Instead of catching one of the attacking dragons as they went after the sheep, it had instead taken down several Vikings and had allowed the sheep to be stolen, one of them being his father.

The relationship with his father was strained to say the least. Being the son of the chief was never an easy thing, add in the fact that he wasn't even close to being anything like his father and that just made life tougher. Hiccup wanted so bad to be out there fighting dragons, to prove himself to the villagers and make his father proud. He longed for his father to look at him with pride, but instead all he got was looks of disappointment and frustration.

"Why can't I do anything right?" Hiccup asked himself, kicking a rock out of his way as he walked through the forests. After that mornings fiasco he didn't want to wait for his father to come home and for the awkwardness to ensue. So, like he had done many times after something went wrong with one of his inventions, he left the house and simply walked around the forest for hours. Try as he might, he just could not be the son that his father wanted. He couldn't seem to fit in with everyone else no matter how hard he tried. He was too small, too skinny, too weak. He was just…different, and he didn't want to be.

All he had to do was take down one dragon and he would be set. He would be a Viking. His father wouldn't look at him with disappointment, maybe Astrid would finally give him a chance. At least she didn't make fun of him when he messed up like the others did, though she did nothing to defend him either. But he had to keep positive. She wasn't joining in. That had to be a good thing. If he could just take down a dragon maybe he could get a date with her.

He climbed over a small boulder and plopped to the ground on the other side. He started forward to continue on but stopped when his green eyes spotted something a few yards away from him. Something was lying near the bushes. Hiccup pulled out his knife, just in case. He approached it with caution, frowning slightly as he studied the figure. It was a person, laying face down in the dirt. They wore strange blue leggings, black boots made of something Hiccup had never seen before, and a pale blue short sleeved tunic, clothes unlike any Hiccup had seen before.

He crouched down beside the figure and slowly reached out, prodding their right shoulder. The figure didn't respond. Dark brown hair was a mess of tangles, full of leaves and dirt. Hiccup gently pushed the head to the side and let out a gasp. It was a girl, maybe only a few years older than him. The oldest she could possibly be was seventeen. How had she gotten here? Her hair stuck to her forehead and looked sticky. Blood. She had hit her head on something and looked to have a nasty gash on her forehead.

Her mouth was open slightly and Hiccup reached down and placed his hand before it, to see if she was still alive. Warm breath hit his fingertips. She was alive, though injured. Hiccup stood and put his knife away. Whoever she was and however she got here would have to wait. She was injured and needed help.

Hiccup turned and ran back the way he had come, heading back to the village. He ran as fast as his feet would carry him, heading for home. His father should be there. If not, he would get Gobber from the stall. They needed to get that girl to Halla. When he finally reached the house of the chief and his family upon the tallest hill that let the house overlook the village, Hiccup ran into the house to find his father sitting before the fire, struggling for breath.

"Dad! There's a girl, in the forest," he said as he fought to catch his breath, bending over and putting his hands on his knees as he looked towards his father. "She's alive, but it looks like she hit her head."

The only sound that filled the house for a few moments was the sound of the fire popping. "Who is she?"

Hiccup shook his head. "I don't know."