A/N: Hey guys! I know, I need to stop publishing so many new stories. Sorry, but I just had to write this. I've had the idea in my mind for a little while, and I really wanted to make it come to life. So, I present to you: Time of Dying. Enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTE (PLEASE READ!)

This story has it where Hiccup never gained the respect of the village. Instead of using tricks in the arena, he just doesn't do anything at all. Ok, carry on!

XXX

Time of Dying — Chapter One

Hiccup has run away from Berk. He's been gone for eight years, with barely any signs proving he is alive. But when Stoick grows extremely ill, the only person left to the position of Chief is Snotlout. The tribe is going into chaos, and they only have one person to turn to: Hiccup. They must contact him as soon as possible, and convince him to return to Berk. But he's not the same little boy he was before….

XXX

Warm, forest-green eyes stared into an emerald-colored pair of eyes. Those florescent green hues stared right back at him, with hints of fear and worry. The boy hesitated, knife still hovering above his head. His arms were growing tired from holding it up for so long. He had been staring at the beast for over half a minute, trying to decipher what was in its eyes. And now, he figured it out.

Fear was in its eyes. Hiccup, the boy, sighed, dropping the knife onto his head. It eventually slid down, until it rested at his side in a clenched fist. The auburn-haired teenager inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"I did this," he muttered shamefully.

He turned to walk off, before glancing back. He hated what he saw. A creature, just as scared as he was, bound and tied to the ground. Even if he didn't kill it, someone else would. His eyes shut tightly, while he sighed quietly. There was no other option.

As Hiccup once again approached the dragon, his hands were trembling. He knew the faster he cut the ropes, the faster he'd be out of this mess. So he glanced around anxiously, before kneeling down beside the dragon.

He sighed tiredly, before suddenly reaching a hand out to grab the first rope. The beast's green eyes snapped right open, its pupils thin.

Hiccup gulped, before quickly slashing the blade across the rope. He did it over and over, until the first rope snapped. Then he moved to the second, and the third. But as the third one was cut, the Night Fury sprung up from his painful position, and pinned the boy to the forest ground.

Hiccup gasped, trying to press himself as far as he could into the ground. The black-scaled dragon parted its jaws, preparing to blast him into oblivion.

'This is it,' Hiccup thought fearfully. 'I'll die by a dragon.'

But as he stared into its emerald-green eyes, he saw something intriguing. He couldn't make out the emotions in its eyes, but he knew it wasn't hatred or a predatory feeling. His eyes widened drastically as he tried to keep eye contact.

Before he knew it, the Night Fury bared its sharp teeth at him, and roared as loudly as it could. It was nearly ear-shattering. The high pitched shrieking sound didn't last long, because the dragon had already turned and sped off. Hiccup watched, body trembling, as the dragon attempted to fly away. Instead, it seemed to crash into several different trees and boulders.

Hiccup shakily got to his feet, and turned to exit the forest. As he was doing so, his legs gave out, and he collapsed with a fearful groan.

XXX

Hiccup wasn't surprised his father got his way again. Turns out Stoick, Hiccup's father, had managed to force the boy into dragon training. Due to this, he found himself angrier than ever. He tried telling his dad he couldn't kill a dragon, but he didn't listen. He just seemed to laugh it off. It was a very one-sided conversation.

The boy sighed as he entered the arena. He was not surprised to hear the others complain about his presence. Gobber tried comforting him, but it just made him feel worse. Gobber had a terrible way with words.

As the first dragon training lesson waged on, Hiccup found himself hiding behind a crate in the arena. He watched through the wooden planks as the other teenagers fled from the Gronckle. It was a tough dragon, with small wings and a large body.

"Get in there, Hiccup!" Gobber called.

But as the auburn-haired Viking tried to get past the crate, a blast erupted from the Gronckle's mouth. Hiccup yelped, ducking back just in time to avoid the blow.

"One shot left!" Gobber announced.

The Gronckle growled, heading straight for Hiccup. Said male gulped, finding himself cornered against the wall. He heard Gobber calling to him fearfully, while the other teens were panting from running around. They would probably be happy with him gone.

"Go back to bed ya overgrown sausage!" Gobber exclaimed suddenly, knocking Hiccup from his thoughts.

He realized Gobber had torn the Gronckle away from him just on time, where the blast had struck the wall instead of him. The wall was made of stone, which seemed to keep it from getting holes in the walls. Smoke rose into the air from the blast, while there was a black pattern on the wall.

"Remember," Gobber growled sternly, examining the worn out teenagers. "A dragon will always, always," he drew the word out while turning to Hiccup, "go for the kill."

But all Hiccup felt was confusion.

XXX

"So why didn't you?"

That was the only question Hiccup could ask. He had found himself wandering right back to the forest, at Raven's Point, where he had originally shot down the Night Fury. He sighed, ambling away from the scene. He headed in the direction where he thought he saw the dragon fly to.

As he headed deeper into the forest, he saw a couple black scales. He found himself walking towards an opening in a few boulders, and was surprised to see a beautiful cove. There was a little lake, with many fish. Lush grass was planted on the ground, and it was an overall gorgeous hiding spot.

Hiccup frowned, crouching down when he saw a few more black scales. He picked one up, running his fingers across the strange surface.

"Well this was stupid," he muttered.

Abruptly, he was knocked back out of fear. A familiar black figure launched itself at the wall of the cove, as if trying to escape. Hiccup watched with wide eyes, and a relieved smile. He had found it.

The Night Fury growled, retreating back to the ground. Hiccup hastily climbed down to a boulder closer to the ground of the cove, while pulling out his journal and charcoal stick. He watched intently as the dragon became frustrated, trying to hunt for itself and failing at flying away.

He quickly sketched out the form of the dragon, with clean lines and even proportions. He was very talented with artwork.

"Why don't you just… fly away?" he asked himself quietly.

And then, he spotted something interesting. On the tip of the dragon's tail, a certain piece was missing. A tailfin. There was one on the right side, but not on the left. Had he done that? Was that why it couldn't fly?

Hiccup felt a strange twinge of guilt, frowning in thought. He rubbed away the charcoal on the paper that marked the missing tailfin, realizing that was the problem.

And then, as the dragon spotted him, he gulped and fled from the scene.

XXX

Their words stung him badly. Whether it be them insulting him, or simply telling the truth. He was scrawny, he was weak, and he was nothing. Or at least in their eyes, that is.

Hiccup found himself sighing quietly as the other teens insulted him with such ease. Their effortlessly remarks came so quickly, and it hurt. How was it that easy to hurt someone?

And as the teenagers left to go do something more interesting, Hiccup found himself sitting at the table and reading the Book of Dragons. He used the candlelight to skim through the pages, reading with interest. He couldn't help but wonder what they had on the page for Night Fury.

"Kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight," he sighed, flipping through the pages. He had gotten bored seeing the same thing over and over again.

And finally, a nearly-blank page came up. Hiccup frowned in wonder, examining the page thoroughly.

"Speed, unknown. Size, unknown," he murmured, repeating what he read. "Do not engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hope and pray it does not find you."

Hiccup's frown deepened as he stared at the vacant space where the illustration should be. He whipped out his journal, opening it to his latest page, and then tossing it into the book.

XXX

Hiccup found himself entering the cove. He had brought a shield, but it had gotten stuck in between two boulders. And being Hiccup, he could not get it free.

The boy also brought a fish. He was hoping maybe he could test out his theory on this mysterious dragon. The beast hadn't killed him, and it couldn't seem to hunt for itself. He wanted to see what would happen if he helped out.

He gasped as he turned to see the midnight-black dragon crouched on the outcrop of a boulder. The winged reptile stepped off of it, and ambled towards Hiccup slowly. It stared at the fish hungrily, pupils dilating and mouth opening slightly to grab the fish.

And then, it snarled.

Hiccup frowned, glancing down to see it staring at the dagger in his vest. He hesitated, not wanting to give up his only line of self-defense. But finally, he sighed and slowly pulled the dagger out, causing the dragon to growl loudly.

He dropped it onto the ground with a clunk. The Night Fury still wasn't satisfied, so he cautiously balanced the knife on his foot, and then tossed it into the little lake.

The dragon watched it go, and then returned its gaze to Hiccup. The beast quickly sat back, pupils enlarging once more and ear twitching curiously. Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows, wondering how such a vicious and feared creature could look… cute.

He slowly held the fish out, watching wonderingly as it crawled forward and lifted its head to grab onto the fish.

"Huh," he hummed. "Toothless…." He stared at the mouth of the dragon, noticing how there were no teeth. But when he had roared a couple days before, they were definitely there. "I could have sworn you had—"

Abruptly, razor-sharp teeth appeared from its gums, and it snatched up the fish in one go. It almost seemed as though it swallowed it whole. It must have been quite hungry.

Suddenly, it continued towards Hiccup, who backed away with a frightened expression.

"Uh," he panicked. "No, no. I don't—I don't have any more."

The dragon corned him to a boulder. Hiccup gulped fearfully, when the dragon's emerald-green eyes began to roll back into its head. A disgusting regurgitating sound came from its throat, and out came half of the fish he had fed it.

Hiccup stared in disgust as it landed right into his lap. He wrinkled his nose, trying to swallow back his breakfast that was trying to make a reappearance.

He awkwardly glanced away, while the dragon continued watching him expectantly. He turned back to stare at the reptile, before it looked down to the regurgitated fish. Hiccup looked down as well, sighing in defeat.

The scrawny Viking slowly lifted the fish to his mouth, before biting into it reluctantly. He hummed, trying to feign his gratefulness.

"Mmm," he lied. "Mm-hmm." The Night Fury just snorted, lifting its muzzle and then bringing it back down. It was as if it were nodding, encouraging the boy to swallow the fish. "Mmph!" he complained. He slowly pushed it down his throat, but it went back into his mouth. Finally, he got to swallow it.

He shuddered grossly, trying to rid himself of the taste. He turned back to the dragon, and got the message. It was just trying to share with him.

Hiccup gave a wary smile. Finally, something amazing happened.

The Night Fury narrowed its eyes at the grin. Suddenly, it sat back up and lifted its upper lip. The upper lip curled up, revealing toothless gums. The corner of its mouth tilted up, forming into an awkward smile.

Hiccup watched in awe, before reaching out a hand to pet it. The dragon's grin vanished, and he snarled. It flew off, only to land sloppily on the other side of the cove.

XXX

As the sun was setting, Hiccup found himself drawing in the dirt. He sighed in content, glancing over to see the dragon hovering over him curiously. His eyes widened, but then he continued to draw. He didn't want to scare him off.

He heard a loud snap, and the rustling of leaves. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking over his shoulder to see the Night Fury breaking a sapling out of the soil. It began sketching in the dirt as well, gazing back to Hiccup every now and then.

It finally finished its masterpiece. When Hiccup stood, he was stunned to just see a bunch of random curved lines. He frowned in thought, absentmindedly stepping onto one of the lines. A growl emitted from the dragon, making him lift his foot off of the line. The dragon immediately stopped growling, and did a purr-like sound.

Eventually, Hiccup got the message. He stepped over each and every line, managing to find himself out of the maze-like activity. But as he finished, he felt the dragon breathing on the back of his head, ruffling his hair.

He glanced back, turning to face the dragon. They were less than two feet apart from one another.

Hiccup nervously reached a hand out, trying to touch it once more. The black reptile growled, upper lip curling back to reveal teeth. Hiccup winced, stepping back one step.

He tried a different method. He shut his eyes, and turned his head away from the Night Fury. He held his hand out once more, waiting to hopefully touch the dragon.

And then, he felt the warm scales against his palm.

The boy tensed, eyes screwing tightly closed, before he realized the dragon wasn't going to hurt him. Once he looked back to face it, the dragon pulled back from his hand and snorted, before it fled.

XXX

An eventful two weeks passed. It was filled with dragon training and Hiccup bonding with Toothless. He had named his dragon companion Toothless, due to his retractable teeth. He also found out that the Night Fury wasn't an "it." It was a "he."

They had bonded very closely to one another. After Hiccup heard Gobber talking about "a downed dragon's a dead dragon", he had been determined to help Toothless fly again.

So he crafted with his best effort. He created a leather tailfin, which worked as a prosthetic. He was still working out a couple errors in the contraption, but otherwise, it was going smoothly. They had just been on their first flight, where they both were almost killed. They weren't, though, which is what matters. Hiccup had managed to get himself back into the saddle, and steer Toothless away from the sea stacks.

The pair sat on the shores of the ocean, sighing in content. Toothless was gobbling down his dinner: a pile of fish. Hiccup sat by a fire, with a fish wrapped onto a stick. When Toothless regurgitated half of a fish, Hiccup just shuddered and shook his head.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good," he murmured, holding up his cooked fish on a stick.

Toothless just nodded, and returned to his stack of fish. As they were eating, though, a group of Terrible Terrors flew over. They were small dragons, with not much firepower. They lacked the ability to be great at combat, too.

They started cawing at Toothless' fish, while said Night Fury just growled warningly. As he was guarding his fish, though, he saw one of them being pulled back from the pile. He grumbled, spotting one of the Terrible Terrors sneakily stealing a piece of fish.

He quickly stole it back, gobbling it up in one bite. His throat vibrated into a mocking laugh, making Hiccup smile. The Terrible Terror huffed, scratching his claws against the ground. He crouched down, preparing to blow a fireball at Toothless.

As he was opening his mouth, though, the Night Fury effortlessly blew out a tiny ball of fire, which hit the Terrible Terror inside. The small dragon grumbled, going wobbly as he tried to walk away.

Hiccup smiled with an amused expression. He sat up, holding out a fish to the little guy. "Not so fireproof on the inside, are ya?" he asked with another grin.

The dragon perked up, quickly devouring the fish. His amber eyes watched Hiccup intently, before it carefully crept over, and snuggled into his side.

Hiccup watched with shock and disbelief. He couldn't believe his eyes. Yet another dragon was warming up to him. All it took was one fish, and the Terrible Terror was already cuddling him.

The boy scratched his head, while it purred.

"Everything we know about you guys… is wrong."

XXX

It was week three of dragon training. Hiccup was still failing miserably at the course, but he wasn't really one to care. He couldn't bear to harm another dragon. They were nothing but innocent, intelligent creatures. Everything they knew about them was wrong.

He knew for sure Astrid would place first. But even then, his life was not going well. The teens still harassed him. Snotlout threw a punch every now and then, while the others (excluding Astrid and Fishlegs) verbally hurt him. Their insults hurt quite a lot, actually.

Hiccup couldn't deny what was bound to happen soon. The Vikings would discover Toothless, and he'd be killed. Then Hiccup would either be executed or banished. He couldn't let that happen. He knew he had to do something, and fast.

He didn't want to stick around long enough to see Astrid slaughter the Monstrous Nightmare. He knew he should somehow help it, but he wasn't sure how. There was no way the Vikings would believe him about the good in dragons. They'd call him crazy, a betrayer, and a sorry excuse for a Viking. Not that he wanted to be one, though.

So that night, before the final exam, Hiccup snuck out. He told Toothless to guard the arena, and to be on the lookout for any guards. He trusted the Night Fury with his life.

He found himself sneaking into the arena, and heading right for the cells that contained the dragons. He first let out a Deadly Nadder, who growled at him. But he did the same thing he did with Toothless. He shut his eyes, turned his head, and held his hand out. Once the blue and yellow scaled dragon met his hand halfway, he managed to tell her to get out of there. She did.

Next, he freed the Hideous Zippleback. One head released the green gas at him, but Hiccup gestured to the open gates of the arena. They quickly abandoned hurting him, and fled the caged area.

He then released the Gronckle. It was a tough, burly dragon. It was smart, though. So she took quick notice of her surroundings, and headed out the arena.

As Hiccup was freeing the Monstrous Nightmare, he heard panicked voices coming from outside the arena. He gulped, quickly whispering to the red and black dragon to calm him.

"Shhh, shhh!" he shushed him. "It's ok, just follow me. I'm getting you out of here."

The Monstrous Nightmare had heard the other dragons being freed, and obeyed. He narrowed his eyes, and cautiously followed Hiccup out of the arena.

Suddenly, Toothless came into the entrance of the arena, and looked anxious. Hiccup got the message. Guards were here.

He gulped, and then quickly climbed aboard the Night Fury. The Monstrous Nightmare watched with interest, before flying off as Hiccup ordered him to. The boy shifted his foot in the stirrup, and Toothless kicked off of the ground.

They shot away from the arena, with the other dragons heading straight away from Berk. Hiccup sighed in relief, trying to block out all the angry shouts coming from the village.

Hiccup guided Toothless to the cove, where they landed as quietly as possible. There, resting against two boulders, were two backpacks. In one of them was food and water, while the other contained clothes, paper, charcoal sticks, and a few supplies in case Toothless' prosthetic were to be destroyed.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

"Alright," he sighed. "Here goes nothing."

He grabbed one of the pieces of paper, and began writing with the charcoal stick. A little over halfway through, he heard the voices of Vikings. He cursed to himself, trying to finish up the letter. His charcoal stick flew across the paper, writing the last notes he needed.

Finally, he finished. He quickly stashed away the paper, hiding part of it under a small boulder.

He knew why he hid it. Part of him wanted Berk to find the letter, where he explained everything. But the other part of him wanted them to NOT find the letter, and simply assume he was killed. If they thought he was dead, they wouldn't know about Toothless, his troubles, his running away scheme, and they wouldn't bother looking for him. However, if they found the letter, maybe they'd believe him.

No, they wouldn't. They'd never believe him.

So he hopped onto Toothless' shoulders, and patted his head. "Alright, let's go." The Night Fury crooned, before soaring into the sky. Away from Berk, away from his home, and away from his troubles. But what he didn't know was that you can't always run from everything. Fate had a strange way of working.