PREFACE:

I saw How to Train you Dragon recently, and was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. For some reason it really got my creative juices flowing. Which happens rarely enough these days that I decided to take advantage of it and write this story! It's been a very long time since I've written anything of note, so I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty.

In any case, this story takes place in a slightly different setting. I though the end of the movie was a bit too trite. Hiccup couldn't have been out for more than a few days, and yet suddenly dragons and Vikings are getting along as if they hadn't been fighting what amounted to a centuries long war? That seems a bit too convenient to me.

So try to picture an ending where Hiccup awakens to find that the people of Berk are living alongside the dragons, but are still quite leery of their new neighbors. After all, trust takes time to build.

And with that, on to the story.

SLOW TRANSITIONS

Astrid sighed and stared at the mostly blue scaled Deadly Nadder standing in front of her. It stared right back at her, head tilted to one side so that it could focus its large yellow eye on her. She was finding it surprisingly difficult to just stand there. Or perhaps it wasn't THAT surprising. People don't change overnight. Nor do civilizations. And seven generations of Viking history, a lifetime of stories and watching battles from the sidelines, and several weeks of practical training were all SCREAMING at her to step to the side. Step into the Nadder's blind spot and grab her axe and…

Astrid sighed again and forced herself to relaxe and unclench her hands. She was feeling nervous and uncomfortable and she would feel MUCH better with her axe in her hands. But the Nadder was nervous enough around her when she was unarmed. If she approached it with even a butter-knife, she suspected the dragon would bolt. Mind you, Viking butter-knives could be quite intimidating…

And so the two stood facing each other, each one nervous and trying not to show it. And generally failing miserably. The Nadder kept swishing its head from side to side, checking her out with one eye, then the other, as if to make sure BOTH eyes agreed that she wasn't about to attack. Every time the large beaked head swung back and forth Astrid twitched and had to resist the urge to stay in its blind spot, her fists clenching. And her body language was only making the dragon even more nervous...

Another sigh escaped Astrid's mouth. "How on earth does Hiccup do this?" The dragon responded to her voice by jinxing its head yet again and hopping back a bit before making a curious growling sound.

Rubbing her face with her hands, Astrid tried to decide what to do. The dragon was clearly somewhat scared of her. Which was fair enough since she was... not SCARED of it. Merely... wary. It was the same Deadly Nadder from dragon training. The same Deadly Nadder that she and Hiccup rode to save the Viking assault force from the enormous Red Death. The same Deadly Nadder that had dropped her in that battle. But under the circumstances she couldn't really blame the dragon for that. And she had thought it would be easiest to get along with the dragon having met it before and ridden it. It had seemed so easy at the time.

But she was beginning to suspect that it was so easy because Hiccup was there. He just seemed to have a way with the creatures. That, and the heat of the moment pushed a lot of old, ingrained fears and instincts out of her head for that desperate battle. But paradoxically, now that things were calmer, they were also more difficult. Dragons and Vikings were no longer fighting. But for the moment they were doing little more than... Coexisting. Nervously. Both sides were more than a little skittish around each other for obvious reasons. Trying to bridge the gap between 'not killing each other' and 'working together' was proving stressful. At least to Astrid.

"I wonder if it's really worth it." She muttered to herself under her breath. She didn't have to wait long for an answer.

The whistling sound immediately pulled her eyes to the sky as the back of her mind howled 'Night Fury! Danger!' at her. An instant later her conscious mind followed up with a name: Toothless. It was a distinctive sound that instinctively drew the attention of the people of Berk, who were only slowly getting used to that sound heralding something OTHER than fiery destruction.

In this case, it heralded long loud laughter and whoops of joy as a black blur with a red tailfin dove out of the sky, blazed past the village at rooftop level, then shot back upwards, almost seeming to hover for a moment before ascending back into the clouds with a flap of wings.

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" Hiccup's voice overlapped with the low rumbling laugher of Toothless, both sounds ringing with unbridled joy and enthusiasm as Viking and dragon worked together in harmony, playing tag with the clouds.

Every eye in the village was on the sky as the pair disappeared into the clouds once again. Every eye, both human and dragon. A smile split Astrid's lips as both she and the Nadder lowered their heads to look at each other in tandem. Slowly, nervously, Astrid raised her hand up to reach towards the dragon. And, after a moment's hesitation, the Nadder turned its head again, leaving Astrid in it's blind spot before slowly pressing it's beak forward against her hand. Just for a moment. Then it hopped backwards and, with one leap with its powerful legs, leapt onto the roof of her house, looking down at her nervously again... but perhaps not quite as nervously as before.

Slowly lowering her hand, the young Viking looked up at the dragon. "Maybe it IS worth it." She said aloud this time. And maybe it was time to speak to Hiccup and ask for a bit of advice.

Yes. Advice. That was what she would go to see him for. No other reason.

Really!

Astrid took her time walking towards Hiccup's home. She was in no hurry. And she didn't even know if the young Viking hero would even be home. He hadn't been at the forge with Gobber when she passed it, which meant he was likely either home, or still riding Toothless. Despite his newfound celebrity, first as a dragon slayer trainee, now as a dragon trainer, Hiccup was rarely seen mingling in town or enjoying the perks of his heroic status. Which Astrid didn't quite understand. Even SHE knew that all Hiccup had ever wanted was some recognition. Now that he had that and more, he seemed disinterested in it. Of course, that could be because he was preoccupied with a certain 'useless reptile.'

In any case, Astrid was just reaching the top of the hill where the village chief's house rested when a black shadow passed overhead. She was rather proud of herself when she barely cringed at the sound of flapping wings above her. She looked up just in time to see Toothless dive towards the ground to the side of the house, landing gently and gracefully.

Neither dragon nor rider seem to have noticed her as they came in for their landing, so Astrid quietly strolled in closer, but remained silent, coming up behind them. It's wasn't that she was trying to eavesdrop or anything. She just wanted to watch Hiccup. Toothless. She wanted to watch Toothless. And Hiccup. And see how they interacted. That was all.

She was just… researching. Yes, that was it. Researching.

Hiccup sighed and patted Toothless' neck as they landed.

"Sorry buddy, I think that's all the flying I can manage today." He grimaced a bit as he unclamped his prosthetic foot from the dragon's harness.

Flying was a lot easier on his leg than walking; the two actions used different muscles, and caused his metal limb to rub against his remaining flesh in different ways. So while riding Toothless wasn't as painful as walking, and could even be a relief from standing on the chunk of metal and wood… he still couldn't manage handling it for hours on end like he used to.

Toothless just nodded his head, looking back at his rider, big green eyes filled with concern. As Hiccup slid off his friend, he couldn't help but cringe in pain and let out a little yelp as his prosthetic foot touched the ground. Toothless instantly extended a wing to help keep his partner balanced, and Hiccup accepted the help gratefully, using his hands and his good leg to lower himself into a sitting position, his back against the dragon's scales.

"Thanks buddy. I think I'll just take a load off for a few minutes before we get you some lunch, if it's all the same to you." Hiccup patted Toothless' neck and grinned. Grinning was better than grimacing in pain.

Toothless just snorted and rolled his eyes, giving Hiccup a narrow eyed reproachful look that quite clearly conveyed opinion of the matter. It seemed to say 'Don't be stupid. Your leg is more important to me than lunch any day.' After making sure his friend knew where he stood on meal time, the dragon butted his head against the young Viking's side a few times, before nosing down to his missing limb and letting out a mournful whimper.

"Don't worry about it Toothless." Hiccup admonished his friend gently, scratching his scaly neck. "It wasn't your fault. You saved my life. Anyway, I'll get used to it in no time, I'm sure. Then we can go flying all day if you like."

Toothless just turned his head to look at Hiccup, giving a small snort and staring at him with big, sorrowful eyes, ear fins drooping sadly.

And then his ears abruptly shot back upright. A moment later he snapped his head around, growling lowly and menacingly behind them, a wing shooting out to cover Hiccup. And just as suddenly the growling ended as he recognized who was sneaking up behind them. Lowering his head, he gave a short bark in greeting.

"Hello Toothless. Hello Hiccup."

Hiccup sputtered a bit, pushing Toothless' wing out of his way as he tried to turn and see what caused his friend to jump. Hearing a familiar voice, he jumped himself, literally leaping to his feet. Or foot, rather. He shuddered for a moment in pain, biting back a yelp as he suddenly put far too much weight on his stump. After taking a second to collect himself and return his smile to his face, he turned around to face the golden haired Viking girl, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

"Astrid! Hi Astrid!"

Astrid winced internally when Hiccup leapt to his feet at the sound of her voice. She hadn't been SPYING or anything really. She just hadn't made herself known at first. And she'd seen enough to know that Hiccup's leg was obviously paining him. A lot. She cringed at the thought that her presence was causing the young man more pain. On the other hand, a part of her warmed at the fact that he reacted so strongly to her arrival.

Then he turned around to face her. And surely his leg couldn't be hurting him that badly, considering the big smile he had on his face. The smile drew her attention, drawing her eyes upwards to his. She couldn't help but stare into them for a moment or two, a light flush appearing on her cheeks as he greeted her enthusiastically, thoughts of his leg flying out of her mind.

"Astrid! Are you okay?"

The concern in his voice brought her back to the real world, and she flushed a bit more as she realized she'd lost focus for a few moments there. Now two sets of green eyes were staring at her with curososity and concern, one set human, the other dragon.

"Ah, it's nothing, I'm fine." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Ah, okay. S… Soooo.. What can I do for you Astrid?"

Astrid smiled a bit at Hiccup's obvious nervousness. Toothless stood behind him, seeming amused as Hiccup rubbed the back of his head with his hand, looking flustered.

"Well… I was hoping you could give me some tips on dragon training."

Hiccup brightened up immediately. Here was something he could do right!

"Sure Astrid! Sure! Ah, just give me a second to get Toothless here his lunch!" He stood up straight and tall, or as straight and tall as a he could, and started walking around the house. "I'll be back in a second!"

Astrid watched him walk back around the house, his prosthetic foot tapping against the ground confidently with each step. It had only been a few days since he woke from his injuries, but he seemed to be adapting fine to his new appendage. Still, she was sure she'd seen him in pain before. And it didn't escape her notice the way Toothless followed right behind him, growling lowly and worriedly at each step his partner took, always ready to lend a claw or a wing.

"Soooo.. What did you want to know, exactly?"

Hiccup did his best to hide his sigh of relief as he sat down on the bench beside Astrid. It hadn't taken him long to hobble around the back of the house and get Toothless his lunch. And hobble he did, once he was out of sight of Astrid. He was scrawny. He was clumsy. He was weak. There was no way he'd let anyone see him looking so… crippled. ESPECIALLY Astrid. He was a pitiful enough excuse for a Viking as it was. Falling flat on his face would just lower people's opinions of him. If that were even possible.

"Well, I'm trying to tame the Deadly Nadder we rode to the dragons nest. But…" Astrid faltered. She didn't like admitting failure, or asking for help. Like all Vikings, she hated showing weakness.

'Well, like MOST Vikings.' She stared at Hiccup for a moment. He had no problems showing weakness. Well, in truth it was more like he had no hope of hiding his. But still, he never stopped trying. Or hesitated to ask questions. Even stupid ones. Even when people rarely had an answer to give the odd, scrawny boy.

Hiccup just smiled at her, waiting for her to continue. Surely HE of all people wouldn't look down on her for asking questions. And somehow admitting a little weakness to the boy in front of her didn't weigh at her quite so heavily as doing so in front of just about anyone else she could think of.

"But… I'm not doing very well at it. I can't even seem to get that close to her, let alone ride her. And I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong." Astrid allowed her head to droop a little, glancing down at the rough-hewn table in embarrassment.

"Well, okay." Hiccup rubbed his chin, a bit surprised at how down Astrid seemed over her failure. 'Not a failure. Not Astrid. She never fails at anything.' He thought to himself. 'It's just a minor setback for a girl like her.'

"You leave you axe at home when you talk to her, right?"

Astrid nodded, giving him a look that seemed to shout 'Duh!' Hiccup raised his hands defensively warding off her glare with a grin.

"Well.. why don't you tell me exactly what does happen?"

Astrid nodded and after a moment's thought began.

"Well, usually she hangs out on the roof of the house. Mom isn't too thrilled with that, let me tell you." She rolled her eyes, blowing an errant piece of hair out of her face. "She comes down when I put food out for her. Or when I call to her. Sometimes. But then… We just end up staring at each other. And she hops back when I get too close. She… she let me touch her beak today after… Well, it doesn't matter. It's just frustrating. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, or how I'm supposed to train her when I can't even get close to her…" she sighed and looked hopefully at Hiccup for guidance.

Hiccup rubbed his chin for a few moments, thinking.

"I guess you haven't named her yet then, huh?" H asked with surprising seriousness.

"I… Well, no. I don't know what to call her. I mean, I'm not sure she'll even let me ride her again and if she'll stay around. I don't know enough about her to name her."

"Well, I think all of those things are problems. But mostly it sounds to me like you two don't trust each other."

Hiccup stared at her, an unusually serious look remaining on his face. In the dimly lit house sunlight from a window behind the young Viking seemed to surround him with a glowing aura, and Astrid felt her chest grow tight at the image.

"I trust her! I suppose. Mostly. I mean, I want to trust her. It's just… She's… I don't…." she found herself unable to express her feelings properly and sighed. "How do you and Toothless do it?" she mumbled.

Hiccup took a few moments to consider the question before opening his mouth.

"I… I guess it was different for us. When I found Toothless… I could have killed him. Should have really. But I just… couldn't do it. He was helpless and I was supposed to be a Viking and… I just couldn't. So I cut him free instead." He paused again, glancing at the back wall of the house.

He knew Toothless was on the other side of that wall, likely close to finishing his lunch. When he was finished, he might bound into the room filled with energy and excitement. Or he might decide to wait outside the door and relax while guarding it from anyone with ill intent. Either way, he'd be trying to protect Hiccup, both from outside forces and from his own clumsiness and over-exuberance. That's just the way the dragon was.

"When I cut him free, he jumped at me. Pinned me down. He could have killed me easily. But…." Now Hiccup's voice took on a slightly awed tone. "But he didn't. He probably should have… But he let me go and ran off instead." The young man shrugged.

"After that… Well, it was still scary the next time I met him. But we had both had a chance to kill the other. And neither of us took it. It took some doing before he trusted me enough to let me touch him. Let alone ride him. But I suppose that's where it started."

"And now?" Astrid asked, her voice unusually low and quiet, staring at Hiccup with a bit of wonder.

"Now?" Hiccup turned back to face her, smiling. "Saying I trust him with my life is a bit stupid I guess. I do that every time we go flying. And I know he trusts me just as much. I don't really have anything valuable besides my life. But if I did, I'd trust him with it." He glanced at the back wall again as if he could see his friend through the wooden planks. "I'd trust him with everything I have, or could ever have."

Astrid let out a small sigh. "I don't know. I don't know if I can ever really manage that. Or ever manage to train my Nadder as well as Toothless." She shook her head.

Hiccup gave her an odd, considering look.

"You know, I think maybe dragon training is the wrong thing to call it. I mean, I never TRAINED Toothless to do anything. Or if I did, HE was training me at the same time." He paused. "I think that's another important thing. Toothless… He's not my pet dragon Astrid. Not really. He's his own dragon. He doesn't… Belong to me. At least not like a sheep or a bird." He gestured with his hands as if trying to physically find the shape of the words he wanted to use while Astrid watched on, enthralled by the growing passion in his voice.

This was a side of Hiccup she'd only seen hinted at before. When he insisted they hold off telling his father about the dragon's nest in order to protect Toothless was one such time. Another was when he faced down the Monstrous Nightmare in the ring, throwing his sword and shield aside. It was as if he held a raging river deep inside his soul, hidden by his placid surface with nary a ripple showing through. But on rare occasions that strength would come bubbling up for all to see... She focused on his words, as he continued speaking.

"Toothless is mine, but only as much as I'm his. He's a person Astrid. One who just happens to be a dragon too. He's… He's my friend. My best friend. My only friend." Hiccup blinked a bit as that last bit came out, hurrying on and trying to ignore his slip. "I think we get along so well because I know he's a person just like me. Only different. He's smart. And not smart like a dog that can learn tricks. Smart in the same way you and I are." His eyes grew a bit distant, as if looking at something far away. Or perhaps deep inside himself.

"He can't say words, but he can talk to you all the same, if you listen right. Some of the stuff he does is weird, or crazy, but I guess maybe that's why we get along so well." He laughed a bit and smiled at the thought. "Maybe that's why we get along. We're both alike." He paused again, scratching his head thoughtfully.

"No, that's not right. It's not that we're alike. It's more like we're both the same. Not that we look the same or anything. I mean we're the same in that we're both people. I guess I just never think of Toothless as being less than me. We're the same. Just… different. If that makes any sense."

Hiccup seemed to run out of words, hands ceasing their gesturing. Looking over at Astrid's face, he saw her shock, and misinterpreted its cause. With a groan he settled his head onto his arms atop the table.

"Ugh… and that must have sounded incredibly stupid."

He kept his head down for a few moments, embarrassed by his rambling speech, before feeling the surprising warmth of another hand atop one of his. Lifting his gaze, he found Astrid smiling at him warmly.

"I think that was anything but stupid, Hiccup. I think everyone in the village could do with hearing you tell them that." She said softly, her hand still atop one of his.

Hiccup of course went pale, or rather, MORE pale, at the thought of standing in front of all of Berk repeating his impromptu speech. The thought must have been written all over his face, because Astrid suddenly began to laugh. Lowly at first, but slowly growing louder.

Hiccup just stared at her smiling, laughing face for a moment, unable to think of anything but how beautiful her laugh sounded. Almost as beautiful as she looked, the light reflecting off her golden hair. The embarrassment he'd normally feel at being laughed at evaporated before the sound of her voice. After a few moments he joined in himself with a nervous chuckle. But he soon found Astrid's mirth contagious.

Toothless choose that moment to push open the door with his snout and look upon the two laughing teens, one ear poking up and a confused, curious look on his face. For some reason that just set the two of them off again, and both Vikings roared louder with laughter, Hiccup pointing at his friend, unable to actually say anything in between laughs.

Toothless stared at them in confusion, both ears lifting up. After another few seconds of laughter, he snorted and rolled his eyes, stalking past the two and curling up on the floor in the center of the room. He had no idea what they were laughing at, but the expression on his face clearly said 'Humans are crazy' before he covered himself with his wing, ignoring the two.

The laughter died down eventually, and the two Vikings stared at each other, smiling. Then Astrid finally lifted her hand up off of Hiccup's and punched his shoulder, lightly, as she began to stand up.

"Ouch!" Hiccup made a great show of rubbing his 'bruised' arm. "What was that for?"

"That was for saying you don't have any other friends." She said seriously. Hiccup cringed a bit at that, not having meant to let that slip.

He didn't cringe at what happened next of course. As he half expected Astrid leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

"And that's for…" She began, but Hiccup surprised her by cutting her off.

"Everything else?" he finished for her with a grin. And Astrid grinned right back.

"Smart boy! Maybe dragon can't be trained, but there might be home for YOU." She surprised him by reaching out to tousled his red hair a bit, glancing over at Toothless, who's head was perked up, watching the proceedings with clear amusement.

"Though I'm sure Toothless and I will both have our work cut out for us training you." Toothless nodded his head up and down vigorously, making that low rumbling laugh of his as Astrid winked at him before heading for the door.

"Traitor." Was all Hiccup said in response, eyeing the black scaled lump while he struggled to keep his cheeks from becoming any redder.

Astrid paused in the doorway, looking back at the one legged Viking.

"But seriously Hiccup…. Thanks for the advice." She smiled once more, light from outside seeming to halo her… and then she was gone.

Leaving behind a besotted looking Hiccup, who just stared at the closed door. His hand drifted from his lips to his head where Astrid had kissed him and touched him. He would almost swear he could feel some residual warmth there.

Eventually Toothless wandered over to his partner and plopped his head on his lap, glancing up at him and making a curious churing sound.

"No buddy, I don't understand girls either." He mumbled, absently scratching the night fury's neck.

Toothless just rolled his eyes again. 'Humans are DEFINITELY crazy.' He seemed to say. Then he closed his eyes and purred happily at the attention he was receiving.

At least HIS human knew just where he liked to be scratched.

Astrid stalked purposely towards the back of her house, her axe in hand. It didn't take long for her Deadly Nadder to notice her. And to leap back, making a hissing sound, darting it's head back and forth rapidly, Eyes shifting back and forth between her and the double edged weapon in her hands.

Astir ignored the dragon, instead choosing to stare down at her battle axe as she spoke.

"I've always carried an axe. Ever since I was a little girl. My grandmother was known for her skill with an axe, and I wanted to be the same way. I always feel better with an axe in my hands. Like I can take on anything."

She paused for a moment before suddenly lifting her axe high over her head. She could hear the Nadder's frightened, angry hiss, but she ignored it. Instead she brought her axe down with all of her considerable strength on a large wooden log. With a loud THUNK the double bladed weapon bit surprisingly deep into the wood, burying a full half of its rounded head into the log.

Pulling it out again would not be trivial. At least not for Astrid.

The Deadly Nadder stopped hissing, tilting its head at her curiously as the young Viking finally looked up at her.

"I like always having an axe at my side. But…" she took a deep breath. "If I have to choose between an axe and you… I guess… I guess I'd choose you."

The dragon made another curious growling sound, staring at her with one large yellow eye, unmoving.

"Look, the two of us have problems. I know we tried to kill each other in training. You tried to roast me, and I tried to stab you. I know you probably only let me ride you last time because Hiccup was there. I know he doesn't look like much, but somehow when you're around him for a while, there's… something about him that makes you want to trust him." She blushed a bit at her words, but pushed on.

"The point is, in spite of that, I think.. I think we did okay together that time. I know you're scared of me. And I'm…" She swallowed a bit, not wanting to say it aloud. Vikings didn't admit to things like fear. But Vikings also pushed straight forward through obstacles.

"And I'm a bit scared of you." She admitted, lowering her eyes. But she quickly raised them back up, giving the dragon a steely gaze. "But by Odin, I want this to work. So I'll promise to try not to hurt you, if you'll do the same." She glanced around, quickly spotting the basket she had placed outside earlier. She stalked over to it, she pulled out a fish and began walking towards the dragon again, holding it out in front of her.

"So. Deal?" She asked the surprisingly silent and still dragon, suddenly a bit hesitant.

The Nadder remained silent for another few seconds before finally tilting its head, slowly, to stare at her with each eye. Then, equally slowly, it turned its head again. This time leaving her in its blind spot before it began leaning forward. Eventually its beak gently bumped the fish in Astrid's hands. And with great care it opened its mouth and captured the fish.

Then it quickly pulled back, turning its head to focus an eye on her before tossing the fish in the air and snapping it up. It continued to stare at her for what seemed like an eternity before pushing its head forward to rub her side, making a pleasant growling sound.

Astrid closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, then began to carefully scratch the dragon's scales around its head the way she'd seen Hiccup do to Toothless. The Nadder bumped its head against her side happily at the attention, its rumbling growl of happiness growing as it half closed its eyes.

"Well now that we're past that, I guess I have to think of name for you."

The Deadly Nadder opened it's eyes fully again, taking a quick step back to stare at her for a moment, then hopped over to where she's buried her axe in a log. It glanced at her, then down at the axe.

"That's my axe. What about it?"

At the Vikings confused look, the dragon poked the axe handle with a claw, then made another chirping sound.

"Are you saying you want to be called Axe?"

The dragon nodded and hopped back over to her, butting her lightly with its head and Astrid couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I always said I liked to keep my Axe close by…." She laughed as she rubbed the head of HER dragon, trying to find out where she most liked to be scratched.

She had a lot to learn about her new pet…

No, THEY had a lot to learn about each OTHER. She and her new FRIEND.

Author's Notes:

And that's the end of that. A bit of a slower transition from enemies to friends. I think perhaps my writing ended up a bit too wordy with too little dialogue. But on the other hand, there were long stretches of the movie where not many words are exchanged.

In any case, I might end up continuing this with a bit more activity between Hiccup and Astrid. I have a few ideas, but the tone is a bit different. I'm not sure if I can work my other idea together with this one without making some of the characters act oddly or seem schizophrenic compared to this first part. I'll have to see what I can do, and if I run out of steam or not.

In any case, I hope you've enjoyed what's written thus far!