Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon and get no financial rewards from writing this.

Please feel free to point out mistakes.

The talented LunnaValley23 drew the cover for this fanfic.

Happy reading!

First Impressions Suck

When Henry 'Hiccup' Horrendous Haddock got the call that a Gray Wolf had somehow escaped its enclosure and was running rampant throughout the park, he'd fallen back onto his pillow and groaned. The walkie talkie by his bed continued to spew worried static, the other rangers not daring to go anywhere near the 'ferocious' beast.

"It's near the rhino paddock – no, it's heading towards the lion pen!"

Hiccup grudgingly threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed, his metal stud clanking on the hardwood floor. He'd fallen asleep with his metal prosthetic on again – he could practically hear his physiotherapist lecture him at the lack of care. A crooning started up somewhere to his right, and he grinned into the darkness at the sound.

"Coming, bud?"

A flurry of black yowled and tackled him from the side; a set of teeth dragging lovingly over his hair in mock fight before a wet tongue lapped at his face. The pungent saliva had him leaning away from the adoring panther, pushing at its strong limbs as it continued clambering over him.

"Toothless, you know that doesn't wash out."

The panther chirped at Hiccup as he pulled on his shoes. An ordinary boot for his right, and a faux shoe look-a-like that clicked around his metal stud to complete the pretend foot. The on-site ranger hut that served as his second home clicked on automatic lights as he clanked over to door to punch in the entry code. The stuttered voices from his belt were growing louder in pitch as more rangers sighted the escaped wolf, making Hiccup sigh.

"Let's go, bud. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?"

Astrid stood in the reception of the National Exotic Park, or NEP for short. She'd swept into the park with a confident attitude radiating from her person, determined to ace her second impression. The first one she gave to the man who interviewed her – a behemoth of a specimen called Snotlout (no joke, it said so on his name tag) was of an overzealous animal lover with plenty of experience of weird and wonderful animals. His eyes had been glued to her chest the entire time, and he'd ticked all of the boxes and scribbled in the keywords attractive and blonde into her file. She hoped it wasn't him who was the Head Ranger.

So she strode in, ready for battle (so to speak) but the harried receptionist had told her to wait in a shrill voice before locking the sliding front entrance windows and hurrying through a Staff Only door.

And now she was alone, all of that determined energy diffusing out of her like a balloon.

Man, this sucked. First day and already she was being ignored, slotted into the forgotten mechanics of the park. The fan in the corner of the room turned sluggishly round, not really helping the air circulation as much as wasting electricity. She pursed her lips at the silence, hoping the receptionist would appear soon and offer her a tour.

She needed this. After lying through her teeth at the interview and on the questionnaire, she hoped they hadn't noticed how tattered her rucksack had been, or how she'd snatched several of their complimentary cans of juice. The money to her name plunged from barely affording rent and food to starving herself in the evenings after begging free lunches off her university cafe. As humiliating as it had been to call her landlord and beg an extended rent deadline, her inner steel prevented her from calling her father for money. She had left a couple years ago with her middle finger in the air, yelling how she'd make it on her own. That wasn't a phone call she was willing to have; and this close to getting her Business degree as well.

A cackling snapped Astrid's attention to a walkie talkie left forgotten on the counter. Worried voices came through, and she recognised Snotlout insisting on a 'sleeper'.

"I vote we use a sleeper; I've got one on me!"

"Snotlout, no." A slightly nasal, higher pitched voice commanded. "You'll scare her!"

A gruff female voice piped up. "Scare the feral wolf wandering the park? Sure, boss."

"How did you guys become rangers, again?" The 'boss' sounded frustrated.

He wasn't alone. Astrid was beginning to feel like she'd blundered into a farce, and the lack of sleep reading countless wiki articles on wildlife wasn't helping the growing irritation. What had it said on their website? Best park in Europe, it boasted. Well, she had had enough of listening to them argue.

Going behind the counter felt wrong, but she still took the walkie talkie with her through the Staff Only door in search of the receptionist. The office area she entered to was empty with the exit door wide open at the other end, showing greenery beyond. The device she held guilty in her fingers cackled again – according to Snotlout, the 'gray bastard' was near the petting section.

"Cut her off before she gets to reception!" Boss man sounded breathless, probably running. Still unsure of what animal was running through the park, Astrid stepped outside and let the door swing closed behind her, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. The large greeting area boasted of a colourful flower arrangement in the centre surrounded by benches, along with signs and paths leading off to various parts of the park. Her eyes landed on the bright Petting Section sign with a jolt, the arrow underneath pointing to a shed like structure to her right. Her earlier irritation gone, Astrid's spine tingled with apprehension at the now silent walkie talkie in her hand. Distant wildlife noises echoed through the plentiful trees as she wandered towards the centre, craning her neck to look over the bridge that led off to her left.

A crunching and clattering of gravel had Astrid spinning round, the apology dying on her lips when she saw her visitor.

Oh shit.

The wolf skidded to a stop in front of her; instantly crouching down with a snarl. Astrid's shaking hands stayed splayed out in front of her as she eyed the yellowish teeth bared in her direction. It was smaller than she thought – not the terrifying visage she thought a feral wolf would be. If she stayed still, it would leave, right?

The wolf's barking snarl gave way to warning grumbles the longer Astrid stayed frozen. Her arms were beginning to ache with the effort to hold them upright, and with one eye on the animal she lowered them almost unbearably slowly towards the walkie talkie. Amber eyes followed every twitch of her limbs as she breathed through the effort. If she could just get in touch with another ranger...

So distracted where they by the other, neither heard the man approach Astrid from behind and shoulder his rifle, only giving away his position with the off click of the safety. Startled, the wolf exhaled a warning snarl at the bigger threat; two front paws spread wide on the dirt.

Astrid twisted her neck to see Snotlout aiming a black weapon directly at her with a scrunched expression, hesitating the final shot. A sudden panic closed her throat at the sight of the rifle, and her hands shot out to block his view.

"Don't shoot!"

Her half horrified whisper made the wolf yip and skitter sideways towards the reception door, giving Snotlout a clearer shot. Astrid edged along the same line between both parties, keeping an eye on the increasingly distressed wolf.

"Lady, what's your deal?!"

"Don't kill her!"

Snotlout's face pulled back into a stupefied expression. "It's a tranquilliser."

The wolf whined and backed up against the wall, holding one paw high against her chest. Astrid held out her hand at Snotlout and another at the wolf, trying to remember the brief wiki article she'd read around 2am.

"Hey, hey, there." She forced the sounds in her throat to lower in tone, despite her urge to scream. "You're alright...you're fine..."

She heard slow, measured footsteps behind her which could only be Snotlout advancing. A clanking accompanied the pace and she almost snarled herself – really? Hitting your weapon off the ground when closing in on a panicked animal? She lowered herself down, feeling the burn in her thighs.

"Ignore the idiot behind me." Her voice sounded strangled despite her best efforts to keep the panic out of it. "He's making too much noise, eh?"

The wolf was calming down, to her utter disbelief. Astrid kept talking as she heard Snotlout stand and lower himself beside her, where she whispered through frigid lips; "You're being an utter moron. If you're going to tranq her, do it now."

The presence beside her paused, and then an amused, sarcastic lilt answered her order. "Right away, milady."

Before she could turn to see the owner of that infuriating voice, a shot rang out loud and clear by her ear, sending the wolf rearing up with a pained bark. It leapt out towards her with open jaws, and she only managed a second of an inhaled scream before a tanned hand came out and deflected the snout to the side. The momentum knocked her and the unknown saviour onto the gravel with mirrored exclamations of pain and surprise, and his body landed with an oomph on her chest like some unfortunate rom com hero.

"Mmph!" She managed to mumble into his neck, feeling an angry blush of humiliation wash over her pale cheeks. "Get off!"

She caught a glimpse of brown, shaggy hair curled over a long, corded neck before he was off her and roaring angrily at Snotlout, even as he crouched over the now prone body of the wolf.

"What did I say? I said no sleepers, but no, apparently you decided to try and tranq her anyway!"

"I didn't have the time to talk nicely!" Snotlout was already packing away his weapon, shoving it roughly behind his back. "My way was quicker. Besides, blondie over here decided to get in the damn way!"

Astrid rolled and pushed herself into her feet, fury burning in her veins. "Don't you dare-"

"Snotlout, take Stormfly to the Med Centre." The stranger interrupted Astrid's comeback, wobbling a little as he stood on both feet. Snotlout carried out the order with sullen intent, but lifted the wolf - Stormfly? - with care.

As soon as Snotlout's footsteps faded, Astrid spun and punched the man's arm. "Idiot! Why did you let a wolf run about the park? What if I was a customer? Or a health inspectorate?!"

"W-what?"

He finally turned. Wide green eyes were narrowed over a rounded, freckled nose, with a mouth stretched into an uneasy grin. "You…you mean you're not any of those things?"

"No." Astrid's hands found her hips, with a tapping foot to match. "I was meant to start work here this morning. As soon as I arrived, the wolf had gotten out, so I tried to help."

"Yeah….sorry for that." His hand lifted to rub the back of his head as he laughed sheepishly. He had the gall to laugh. Astrid's fury bubbled up again.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" Her fingers tightened around the buckles of her skirt. His laughter cut off instantly.

"No, ma'am." He answered solemnly. "It's a serious health and safety matter. A full investigation will take place."

Astrid eyed him at the sarcastic lilt to his tone, unsure if he was taking the mick or not. His eyes darted between her and the reception area, unable to hold her gaze. A small part of her felt bad for snapping. The other, hungrier part felt like demanding a free meal in return for the hassle.

"I'm Astrid." She thrust her hand out at the boy, her mood improving at the thought of free food.

"What...? Oh, yeah, huh, hi, Astrid, hi." He took her hand gingerly, like she was away to snap his wrist. Astrid's eyes rolled internally. Dear grief.

"Hiccup."

"I beg your pardon?"

Hiccup snorted and let go of her hand. "That's my name. Hiccup."

"It's..." Don't be insulting, don't be insulting. "...Different?"

He leaned in, his face lit up with an easy grin. "It scares away trolls." He whispered conspiratorially.

Astrid felt like screaming and slapping his face with her stolen walkie talkie. She indulged herself in the fantasy, adding rivulets of blood for good measure, before addressing the ridiculously named boy.

"You know where the boss is? He was meant to give me my induction."

Hiccup's snort caught her off guard. She eyeballed him again, feeling defensive, when he unexpectedly swept himself low to the ground in a mockery of a bow.

"Henry 'Hiccup' Horrendous Haddock at your service, milday."

Astrid couldn't stop her horrified expression. "You're the boss?"

His grin, if possible, stretched even wider.

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