A/N: Gah! This is like the umpteenth time I trie to upload this. My laptop is such a bitch sometimes D: *sigh* Anyway... This is about Hiccup coming of age. That's all I can say for now and although it may seem weird right now, it didn't seem such a bad idea yesterday at midnight. You guys guessed right, another random midnight idea. Okay, I'm done now. Enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even HTTYD, I know, it's a sad case.

Time to Grow Up

A HTTYD Fanfic by Avatard n-n

Chapter 1: Didn't See It Coming

Time had passed ever since the epic battle between the Great Green Death and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, with his ever loyal companion Toothless, the Night Fury. Yes, those times were full of disaster and change. After all, it was the receiving of a new era; the era of peace between dragons and Vikings. Now, whenever Hiccup recalled the events, it made him chuckle or in the least lose his train of thought. His favorite memories to remember were the first time he fed Toothless, his first time riding him, the first time Astrid kissed him… So many delightful memories that, effectively but slowly were being left behind in the past. However, in days like these, it was more than noticeable that those memories were being faded away…

"Happy birthday, Hiccup!" The people exclaimed when Hiccup entered the mess hall with Toothless by his side; that was now larger. Toothless had grown, too this last couple years. Hiccup sighed, Thor knows he's made for a lot of things, but public events are not one of them, and almost all the village was here.

"Are you ready, bud?" Hiccup whispered to his dragon, he nodded. Hiccup breathed deeply and then walked inside, waving with an uneasy smile on his face as the crowd surrounded him with heavy pats on his back, handshakes, congratulations, and such praise. It took them longer than it normally would to get to Hiccup's usual eating table, but they got there. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut sat there, smiling at him joyfully. His dad, Stoic the Vast, was there too. He sat on the chief's chair, at the back of the hall above the level of the ground so everybody can see him. Hiccup spotted also Gobber the Belch, who stood right next to his father, he waved at Hiccup and Hiccup waved back. Then, he saw his father give him an approving and proud look. Hiccup slightly bent and then proceeded to sit with his friends and Toothless by the side of the table. Stoic made haste for silence by banging his cup against the arm of his chair. The crowd ceased the growing sea of murmurs.

"Thank you all for coming here. It is with great joy that I welcome you to the celebration of my son's eighteenth birthday!" The crowd cheered for Hiccup and then Stoic signaled them to stop. "It was in a day like this when Odin blessed us with such a gifted man as I proudly am to call my son. He brought problems and disaster to us…" This caused some chuckles among the people, and for Hiccup to blush. "He brought change, challenges and disputes…" Hiccup looked around himself and they were all looking at him with the same funny look. He sighed and vainly tried to hide himself by hunching down.

"Ugh… Dad…" He muttered covering his face with his right hand. This made Stoic laugh.

"And now look at him! He knows all this is true, by Odin's sake!" Stoic said in between laughter. "But we all know…" he continued, adding a more solemn tone. This made Hiccup look up. "He also taught us very important things; loyalty, friendship, bravery… and most of all, the truly meaning of being a Viking. We all know he contributed to shape our present, our Berk. And of course, he has all taught us how to rightfully train our dragons, hasn't he?" This caused some people to laugh, some people to cheer, but all of the present dragons to purr delighted; including Toothless.

"So, it is with the highest honor, that I lift my cup up to you my son; Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the third!"

"He had to say my whole name, didn't he?" Hiccup muttered, wondering when the painful time at the spotlight would end.

"For today you become of age. Long life to him, the man who I proudly call my son and will soon be the new chief of Berk!" Many things happened at the same time after Stoic stated this. The crowd lifted their drinks to toast in Hiccup's name, Toothless looked at Hiccup to see his reaction and Hiccup, with his jaw downright dropped, made an unbelievable effort not to pass out from utter shock. Chief of Berk; Hiccup was becoming chief of Berk. That has to be positively the worst idea ever, Hiccup thought.

After the crowd toasted for Hiccup and cheered for him, Stoic said:

"Now let him speak a few words for us!" Everyone clapped, cheered and the ones close enough to Hiccup, encouraged him to go up to where his dad sat.

"Oh, no, no, no…" He tried to deny.

"Come on, Hiccup!"

"You go on, Hiccup!" These and other things were the only he could here. He tried to hook off the compromise, but he knew there was no turning back when the crowd started cheering his name.

"HIC-CUP, HIC-CUP!" He sighed, he knew he would have to give the speech, like it or not. Even Toothless knew, because he was beginning to pull him by his shirt in order for him to stand up. Were Hiccup fifteen years old, like when they first met, Toothless would've delivered him onto the stage himself, but lifting him with his snout was becoming harder with each birthday. Hiccup still was the slender toothpick Toothless met, only taller, stronger, with a deep voice that in Toothless taste was too much for Hiccup's friendly personality, but most important of all; Hiccup was heavier.

"Alright, alright…" He sheepishly said. When he stood the crowd clapped pleased. "Come on, Toothless. There is no way on this earth I am standing up there by myself. I have stage fright, remember?" With Toothless by his side, Hiccup walked towards his dad's platform. Toothless and he climbed up, and that's when Hiccup became aware of how many people really were there. He felt his stomach stir; the nerves made him want to throw out the last thing he ate. Toothless nudged him, and he shook his head, he was frozen apparently, and there was silence in the hall. Hiccup cleared his throat.

"Um…" He really didn't know what to say. His knees trembled and his prosthetic clanked. "Er…nice weather, right?" No one spoke. Toothless rolled his eyes while poor, nervous Hiccup could feel the stabbing stare of his father penetrating the back of his neck.

"I just want to thank you guys for coming here today, as my dad said, to celebrate my birthday with me. A party of two isn't really a party, just ask Toothless." Silence was still there. Hiccup mentally slapped himself, the only one who ever got his sarcasm was Toothless!

"Anyway… as you know, I'm not one for the speeches but I want to say I'm honored that you want me as your new chief. But given that my dad here has made such a great job, I think I'm not really ready for it." This statement provoked some exclamations of surprise, which made Hiccup more afraid –and dizzy for that matter. "I want to do this job right, because you guys deserve it. That's why I can't be chief of Berk yet." He could spot the expressions of shock among the people. He turned to see his dad and Gobber's face. There wasn't much to work with either; his dad had an expression mixed in between shock, disbelief and anger. Gobber on the other hand had his jaw dropped almost to the ground. It was taking him all his effort to not throw out. Why did his dad force him up here to speak? He knew public speaking made Hiccup sick to his stomach. This was the worst birthday ever, maybe it was a nightmare. That would explain the awful torture. Hiccup felt his stomach twist and turn, the floor felt like it was trying to knock him off his feet. He leaned on Toothless for support, the dragon read his mind; he couldn't take it anymore.

"Well, um… thank you very much for coming. I appreciate it, now if you excuse me I have to… I have to… I have to go!" Toothless bent so he could climb up and then Toothless charged for the doors, being careful not to destroy them in their withdrawal. After all these years he had learned well, the one who never learned how not to cause a scene when he had the attention to himself was Hiccup. He left the village, and his dad, astonished with his last words. Stoic couldn't believe his ears. 'I'm not ready for it.' That was definitely the most embarrassing and stupid thing Hiccup had ever done in his entire life, and we all know how Hiccup can be from time to time; so much for Berk to rest from Hiccup's scandals.

"See the chief's face? Oh, Hiccup is so dead." Fishlegs commented worried about his friend.

"Tell me about it," Tuffnut said.

"Me too." Ruffnut seconded.

"What was he thinking? Look at the chief, torture is nothing compared to what he's gonna do to Hiccup." Snotlout added.

"There has to be a reason. Hiccup wouldn't run away just for nothing." Astrid reasoned. "I need to talk to him." She said standing up from the table.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ruffnut scolded her.

"I'm gonna see what happened. This is not Hiccup; he wouldn't run away just because he's afraid. I know him. Something's up." With that she left for the stables. Hiccup's not an idiot. He was going to hide in his favorite place; the roof.

"Hiccup passed crazy onto her." Ruffnut said disapprovingly.

"But she's got a point. There has to be a reason, hasn't it?" Fishlegs said.

"You guys just forget about it, Hiccup's Hiccup. No one can really figure out how his weird mind works. He always manages to top his weirdness up, you know that." Snotlout said not worrying a bit about Berk's soon-to-be chief's whereabouts. He'd come around it sooner or later, Hiccup always finds a solution to everything, he has to. It's Hiccup, the Dragon Tamer we're talking about after all, right?

a/n: Okie doke, that's all for this chapter. Hope you liked it! Please review :)