A "What if Hiccup left before the Monstrous Nightmare in the ring?" I know several others have done this, but none the way I have. I think.

-ON THE BACKS OF DRAGONS-

-Departure-

"It all makes sense now, those are the workers and that's their queen. It's like a giant beehive." Astrid exclaimed as she jumped off the Night Fury, "Come on, we need to warn your dad."

"No Astrid we, we can't tell my father," Hiccup stopped her, "We can't tell him, about any of this."

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's nest," Astrid reasoned, "Something we've been looking since Vikings first landed here and you want to keep it a secret? Just to protect your pet dragon?"

Toothless turned his head to glare at her, offended the way she called him a pet. He and Hiccup were far more then that.

"No," Hiccup replied, "To stop my dad from leading an attack on the queen, it could eat the entire village in a few bites!"

"Oh," Astrid responded, silently agreeing. Berk would never stand a chance against the queen as is. It was simply too big for any army to attack, Viking or not.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Astrid asked, knowing that if anyone had an answer, it was Hiccup and Toothless.

"I don't know yet," The Rider admitted, "My first thought was to show the truth about dragons, and maybe get some tribes to live alongside them. But knowing my Dad I'd need to start somewhere else, somewhere more open minded then Berk."

"Where are you gonna go?" Astrid asked again, although she didn't want to admit it, she was already missing him.

"I was gonna go south, towards the mainland." Hiccup explained as he loaded the saddlebag, "There are a lot of small isolated countries on the coast, probably a good place to start."

"Alright," Astrid sighed, "Just take care of yourself, you're still a Hiccup."

"Who rides the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself," Hiccup countered as he ripped some of his notes out and gave them to her, "I'll be fine."

Astrid accepted the notes and put them away before punching the boy in the arm.

"That's for kidnapping me," She stated causing Hiccup to look at his dragon who simply shrugged.

Next Astrid pulled the hair back from over her eye and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek, "That's for, everything else." She finished before running out of the cove.

As the young shield maiden made her way back to the village she looked back over her shoulder, struggling with the unknown emotions inside her. Why? Why did she suddenly care for the village runt? She should have been glad he was leavening but now, she regretted it.

It was the dragons, before Astrid believed it was simple, man or dragon, black or white, but after that flight with Toothless, her view of the entire world changed. Hiccup no longer brought the words scrawny and useless to mind, instead the word Astrid would use to describe him would be adaptable and brave.

As she finally got home she looked back one final time, catching a glimpse of the Night Fury as the duo took off.

Closing the door behind her, Astrid ignored her little brother and mother as she made her way to her room, closing that door too. Finally alone Astrid set her axe down and grabbed a candle, sitting on the bed to read Hiccup's notes.

The pages were full of what Hiccup had discovered, from dragon nip and shiny reflections to eels and the fact dragons weren't fireproof on the inside. Everything Hiccup learned he passed onto her, in a way she felt honored, in another she felt ashamed.

Hiding Hiccup's notes and getting ready for the night Astrid let her mind wander about what would happen now that Hiccup's gone.

Stoick would probably take it lightly, considering that he and his son we're never really close. Most of the Village would throw a party to celebrate Hiccup's disappearance and Snoutlout would become heir. None were a pleasant thought especially the last one.

"Why didn't I go with him?" Astrid thought out loud, Hiccup was going to explore the world, something she had secretly dreamed of. Sure she was proud of being a Viking but still, seeing new places, meeting new people, it was a childhood dream long forgotten.

Praying to Odin to keep Hiccup and Toothless safe Astrid rolled over in bed, vowing that when Hiccup returned, she'd be the first on Berk to welcome him home.

-ON THE BACK OF DRAGONS—

The next morning on Berk, the Chief rose with the sun, a fierce hearty pride following every step.

"Rise and shine son!" Stoick called upstairs to his son's room. "Today ya get to kill you're first dragon! Time to become a Viking Son!"

No answer.

"Hiccup?"

Still no reply.

The hulking chief scaled up the stairs and found Hiccup's room to be surprisingly empty with all the usual clutter on the walls gone.

"Eh, see he's making room for a few dragon heads I see." Stoick told himself picking up his son's helmet from the bedpost. Sometimes Hiccup got so busy in the Blacksmith's he'd just sleep in his little room over there, so an empty bed wasn't all that of a strange sight.

Grabbing his hammer Stoick opened the door with a proud posture, both as the chief of the village and a father with a son soon to kill their first dragon. Many a Viking noticed their chief's unusual cheery mood as he walked through the village, some complemented him, saying that Odin was proud of his son while others, like Spikelout simply stayed out of his way.

Gobber was already busy, sharpening an axe for the killing later today in the ring against a grindstone, failing to hear his old friend approach over the sound of metal grinding on stone.

"Gobber, Is Hiccup in there?" The chief asked as he examined a nearby shield.

"Strangest thing Stoick," The Blacksmith explained, "Wake up this mornin' and find all of Hiccup's projects taken apart and broken, as if he'd not want them anymore. That, and Hiccup's tools are missing."

Stoick dropped the shield letting it clatter on the ground, face paled. "There're what?"

The door to Hiccup's little room busted open as the Chief charged inside looking for his son.

Just like his room, Empty.

No drawings, no unfinished projects, no nothing. The room was picked clean. The Chief's eyes started to water, First Valka is stolen from him by a four winged dragon and then his son goes missing the day he'd become a Viking? Why did the Gods hate him?

A single piece of Parchment was all that remained, with trembling hands Stoick opened it an read.

Dad,

I knew you would never believe me in person or you'd try and stop me but there is something I need to tell you. Dragons are not what we, as Vikings, thought they are, we don't have to kill them. I am close to discovering something so big, so important, that I needed to leave Berk behind. Do not try to come after me, because were I'm going Vikings can't fallow. But I promise that I will come back a changed man to Berk someday, armed with the answer to the threat of dragons. The right answer.

Your son,

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

The Chief marched out of the Blacksmith's, anger replacing all the previous joy that morning.

"Search the island! Check the docks and scour the forest!" The Chief yelled as the tribe scrambled, "Gobber, check our food storage, armory, everything!" Stoick continued to order as he held his son's helmet.

"I don't care what he's thinking; I'm not letting the last of my family go. . ."

So? How'd I start off? Review and let me know!