A/N~ Hello All! This Is Another How To Train Your Dragon Fic! … Clearly. It's A 'Hiccup Leaves Berk' Fic, & I Hope You Like It! I Know I Have A Few Other Stories Going On, But I've Been Writing This For A Long Time & I Was Going To Wait Until It Was Complete To Post It, But I Thought 'What The Hell' & So I'm Posting It. Probably Not My Best Idea From Past Experiences, But You Never Know! I Have This All Planned Out, It'll Probably Be About 10-15 Chapters Long At The Most… At Least I'm Hoping, By ME Story Was Only Supposed to Be Like 20 & We've Already Past 30 Chapters. So Who Know, Maybe This'll Reach 20? *Shrugs*
Anyway, This Takes Place Just Before Hiccup & Astrid Complete For The Chance To Kill The Monstrous Nightmare. Enjoy & Please Tell Me What You Think Of This Story. This Is Just The Prologue, So Please Bare With Me. XD
Warning: Nothing In This Chapter But Some Heart Breaking Sadness, But Not Too Much. XD
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own HTTYD, Or Make Money From This... I Wish I Did Though.
Ch.1
Prologue: Escaping To Freedom
~2,848~
The sun was high in the sky, nearly starting to set as Hiccup tossed a heavy bag over Toothless's saddle, tying it off so it wouldn't fall during flight. Hiccup hopped on afterwards, patting Toothless on the side of the head.
"Ready to go Bud?" Hiccup asked, sitting up and grabbing the grip on the saddle.
Toothless growled deep in his throat in response turning his head slightly so he could see his rider from the corner of his eye. He was happy, he'd never liked it here on Berk, even if it was Hiccup's home. He was a downed dragon on an island full of dragon killers, it was only a matter of time before one of them found his and Hiccup's little cove. So he was glad to finally be leaving here, especially since Hiccup was coming with him. He didn't like that his rider wasn't happy here either.
"Then lets get going. There's nothing left for me here..." Hiccup said sadly. "And there was never anything for you."
Yes, Toothless was very happy they were leaving, he didn't like it when his rider was sad. Toothless growled again and Hiccup rubbed the top of his head in reassurance.
"It's okay Bud, I'll be fine." Hiccup looked up at the dark cloudy sky. "Lets get going before the rain hits."
There was a storm coming, it would be one of the last rainfalls before the freeze hit. His father, no, Stoic,had just come back from another failed Nest Hunt. Thank Odin the man had come back at all, considering they'd lost more than a third of their fleet. Not that Hiccup would have missed him much. He wasn't much of a father, hence, now thinking of his as Stoic, instead of father. Honestly, Hiccup never felt like the son of Stoic the Vast, he had always felt more like an orphan, and he was finally fed up with it. The village never looked at him like the Chief's son, only a burden; something useless and unwanted. Something that should've died the day his mother was taken. It wasn't until he had used the tricks he'd learned from Toothless and did well in Dragon Training that the people of Berk started even regarded him with something wasn't contempt or hatred, but it was all based on tricks. Tricks he'd learned from a dragon.
Toothless jumped into the air, effectively jerking Hiccup out of his depressing thoughts. Clicking his foot into place as they climbed higher, Hiccup held his breath until they reached the cloud bank and breached through to the sunlight. Hiccup inhaled the fresh air. He would never tire of this, flying was his true calling. Sure he wished he could have avoided harming Toothless to eventually have the free feeling of flying, but he had made his first friend and learned the truth, and to both of them, it was worth it.
Hiccup pulled out his map of the neighboring islands. He's done his research on where vikings went, what routs they took to where, it seemed there were perks to being Berks' Heir after all. He'd decided to go to one of the far away, supposedly deserted islands to the South West. It would normally take 13-14 days on boat, but it wouldn't be much more than half a day by flight if they stayed above the storm clouds. Hiccup had decided to pack light, only the essentials. A little food, clothes, some tools, some rope, a picture of his mother, his favorite pillow, a blanket, some sketching materials, all the money he'd saved up over the years, though, admittedly not much, and some spare parts for Toothless's tail.
They flew all day, and well into the night, Hiccup's mind eventually came down from the high of flying and drifted back to the island of Berk and the people he had left behind. He had decided that he should probably leave once he had befriended Toothless and realized he'd NEVER be able to kill a dragon aimlessly like the vikings of Berk did. He could never do it for sport, but it hadn't been clinched until Astrid had told him to choose a side. He chose alright, and he chose the dragons. Sure he didn't know why they attacked the vikings, but maybe that's just all they knew, like the vikings attacking back. But Hiccup knew things could change, after all, Toothless had never taken food, only provided back up for the other dragons, that in itself proved they were more than violent killing machines and could learn. Everything they knew about dragons was wrong. All the hate Stoic spewed was a lie.
Hiccup dreaded the idea of Stoic finding out, practically paling at just the thought, but he had waited until his Chief had gotten back, to see if he would even get back, from the death mission. Even then, he was a bit hesitant about leaving, thinking that Stoic would find him sneaking out to go see Toothless, and then find Toothless. But when Stoic gave him that breast-plate helmet of his mothers, Hiccup knew it was time to go. It was the first present the man had ever given him, besides some pocket money here and there on holidays or his birthday, if he remembered, he usually didn't and it was given by Gobber in Stoic's stead. He'd already packed his stuff and taken it down to the quarry, all Hiccup had to do was write a note explaining everything... well, not everything, but the main reason he was leaving and saying goodbye. He hoped Stoic wouldn't find it for a few days, giving him and Toothless a few days head start, not that they really needed it.
The only person Hiccup could truthfully say he would miss was Gobber. The man was the only person on the island that he considered family. Stoic was the Chief who didn't want him around, thought of his as a menace and a disappointment to his name, his cousin hated him, and was always jealous of him because he wasn't next in line as chief, with Hiccup gone, he would become Chief when Stoic stepped down after he came of age. His uncle was like the rest of the village, didn't like or care for him, thought of him as useless and unnecessary. Hiccup could honestly say he would miss the one legged, one armed man. He had taught him everything he knew about being himself and not listening to what others said, had helped him relieve his stress by letting him work in the forge, staying at his place when him and Stoic argued, and giving him books to write and draw in. In fact, Gobber was the only one to support his artistic talents, which he had gotten from his mother(according to Gobber), even Stoic sneered at his drawings when he was younger, even though other young vikings around his age would draw.
But all of that was behind him now. He'd left everything else behind, all his artwork, sans the drawings of Toothless and the schematics for his tail fin of course, all his trinkets and inventions that sat in the forge, and all of his journals that were hidden away in his desk. They were his past now, and he didn't have to worry about them. The island he was going to would be one the vikings of Berk would never think to look on, not that he thought they would look for him in the first place though.
- Back on Berk: the next morning -
"HICCUP!" Stoic the Vast yelled up the stairs to his only son. "Come on Hiccup! Get down here!"
Stoic waited a moment, and when he heard nothing he figured Hiccup was still asleep.
"That boy could sleep through a dragon raid." Stoic grumbled under his breath before making his way up the stairs to Hiccup's room and knocking on the door. "Hiccup, it's time to get up! You're going to be late for Dragon Training."
Not getting answer again, Stoic huffed in frustration and opened the door. If that boy is ignoring me, I'll string him up for the dragons. Stoic thought as he entered his son's room.
"It's the big day Hiccup!" Stoic bellowed as he entered the room. "The elder will choose the one to kill the-"
Stoic stopped as he noticed the room was void of his son. He stepped farther into the room and looked around confused. The bed didn't look like it had been slept in, so Hiccup wasn't just in the bathroom. The closet door was open and empty of any clothing. The picture of his wife that he'd given hiccup so he could remember his mother was missing from the top of his desk, which was, for once, clean. All in all, the room looked like no body lived in it.
"When did he become such a clean freak." Stoic murmured to himself.
He turned to leave when he spotted something poking out from underneath the pillow on the bed. He walked back over and pulled out what seemed to be a note. He sat on the bed, it groaning in protest at the massive viking's weight. Curious about what it was, Stoic flipped the note over and his eyes widened when he saw his name on it. He hesitantly opened the note, getting a bad feeling. His bad feeling only grew into horror and dread as he read the note.
Dear Stoic the Vast, Chief of the Hairy Hooligans Tribe,
The fact that it didn't say 'father' hurt Stoic a little, but he continued reading, maybe it was something formal which needed the title.
If you are reading this, then I've already left the island of Berk. I apologize for not telling you in person, but I couldn't take the disappointment I know would be in your eyes. And I feared you wouldn't allow me leave.
I do not want you to think I was taken and forced to write this, so I will give you plenty of reasons behind my leaving.
You may not have known, doubtful, but possible, but I was ridiculed, mocked, and made fun of constantly since before I could remember. The villagers insulted me and threw things at me, some even going so far as to physically hurt me by pushing me down and kicking me.
Only in the last month, during dragon training, have they even begun to be even remotely nice to me. Though they still talk about me hind my back, they don't think I can hear them, but I can. Even doing well in that horridring of torture, I'm still the outcast. They're all just happy I won't be completelyuseless against the dragon scum. But, please, don't blame them(please note the sarcasm since I doubt you'd see it that way), they were only following your lead. I don't want to point fingers(actually, I do, and I'm pointing all ten of mine at you), but you single handedly made me feel like an outcast more than anyone else on this island ever could have.
I know you take your Chieftain duties seriously, and wish to take care of and treat everyone equally, but I feel that in that regard, you have failed. You never treated me like the others, you treated me like a disappointment, which, I guess I was. You never treated me like your son, which, I guess I wasn't. I'm sorry I survived and my mother was taken, if I could change the past, I would have a long time ago to allow her to survive, or both of us be taken.
I'm digressing(do you even know what that means?), the point is, the people of Berk didn't know any better, and honestly, don't blame yourself for me leaving, there was nothing you could have done to stop me. Even if you suddenly treated me like a person, rather than a talking fishbone, I doubt I would have stayed much longer anyway. Beside, I never felt like a viking, so fitting in with an island of vikings was impossible from the start. I've felt that I didn't belong for a long time, and me leaving was a long time coming and inevitable.
Please don't search for me, I do not want to be found. Not that you could ever find me where I'm staying. By the time you find and read this letter, I will be islands away, possible days away and on another island far, far away.
Please tell Gobber I'm sorry I left the forge a mess, but there is a present underneath his spare goblet hand attachment. And tell him I will miss him, but I was never meant to be a viking, I don't have the constitutiontokilldragons aimlessly like vikings do, and wouldn't be able to. Please tell him that this island is a disease and it's slowlykilling me, so I must leave to get better. I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye, but I didn't want you to try and stop me. Gobber, you were the fatherI never had growing up, and you taughtme everything I know and I valueyouropinion above all else. Please don't worry, I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing and I hope to see you again.
And to you Stoic, you may do whatever you want with my stuff I left behind. I don't plan to retrieve it at any point. I took all my important stuff, so you can burn anything and everything if you wish it. I don't care anymore what you do, just don't look for me.
I do not plan to ever come back, seeing as I am not welcome in this place I deem as a strange land, after all, I have lived on Berk my whole life, but I've been treated as nothing but an outsider. Maybe one day, we will meet again.
Goodbye and Farewell,
Hiccup The Free
Stoic dropped the note as he read Hiccup's signature, barely noticing that Hiccup didn't sign his real full name but rather something else. He ignored the fallen note, and the tears that made their way from his eyes into his beard, and ran from the room.
"HICCUP! HICCUP!" Stoic yelled as he ran from room to room in his hut, throwing doors open and when he didn't see his son, he left to the next room.
When he ran out of rooms, he moved outside, he threw open the door only to realize he had no idea where his son could be. He didn't know where his son hung out, or whom he hung out with. The only place he could think of looking was the Forge. He bolted to the Forge and made it there in record time. Gobber was making something he couldn't identify, his mechanical hand a hammer as he hit the misshapen piece of hot metal on the anvil.
"GOBBER!" Stoic yelled as he burst into the room.
"AHH!" Gobber yelled back, throwing the hot metal over his head and out of the open window.
"OW!" Someone outside yelled.
"GOBBER!" Stoic yelled again.
"STOIC! What gives!" Gobber said, placing his real hand over his heart as he glanced out the window, grimacing as the chunk of metal was thrown back through the window. "Sorry!"
"Gobber, Hiccup's gone!" Stoic said, calming, but only slightly.
Gobber stared at Stoic for a long moment before huffing and turning around to grab the ruined piece of metal off the ground.
"Yeeesss, and I told you that when you came back." Gobber says exasperated. "He disappears often. Leaves to places unknown. Some of the youngsters have tried following him, but he's surprisingly sneaky for someone so clumsy."
"No, Gobber, you don't understand." Stoic begins, feeing tears threaten to overcome his eyes. "Hiccup he-"
"Stoic, honestly, you treat that boy like a fragile piece of glass and it does nothing to help him." Gobber said sighing sadly. "He's a teenager, they will do what they please. You can't sto-"
"GOBBER!" Stoic yelled, cutting Gobber off. "He left a note! He said he's leaving Berk! AND NEVER COMING BACK!"
Gobber's eyes widened and his skin paled. The sound of metal hitting the ground sounding throughout the forge as he dropped the disfigured piece of metal to the ground.
"W-what?" Gobber stuttered, not believing his long time friend.
"He-he..." Stoic looked down at his hand. "He left a note. He said he couldn't take living here any more... Something about being treated unfairly and being hated... But that's not true! I could NEVER hate him!"
Stoic looked up pleadingly at his best friend, hoping this was all a dream. But there was a painful understanding that filled Gobber's eyes and Stoic knew this was no dream, but a waking nightmare. When Gobber spoke, it was clear he was distraught, but it also held a hint of proudness and understanding that Stoic himself could never hope to understand.
"Show me this note Stoic."
E/N~ So? What'd You Think? Good? Bad? Worth Continuing… Well, I'll Continue It Anyway, But It Would Be Nice To Know There Were People Who Enjoyed It. XD
The Next Chapter Will Be Hiccup Arriving At His New Home, And Gobber Reading Hiccup's Note: Here's A Sneak Peak:
"There it is!" Hiccup yelled in joy. "Toothless, go up higher, I wanna get a dragon's-eye view of our new home."
.
"This place is amazing." Hiccup told Toothless, whom wasn't listen, as he was sniffing the diamonds and other rocks.
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"Toothless! This is awesome!" Hiccup waved his arms in the air. "That cave has an escape route!"
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"… Hiccup doesn't know much, he always skipped lessons to go troll hunting or something equally ridiculous."
"Hey! Trolls are real!"
.
"But that's just it Gobber, the Freeze is coming! Hiccup can't survive the Freeze by himself!" Stoic yelled, waving his hands frantically in the air. "He'll die out there!"
"No Stoic, he wont!"
.
"Stoic," Gobber said firmly. "Not everything can be fixed right away, give this some time."
"But... how long?" Stoic asked, he was at a loss.
.
"Fine, have it your way." Stoic grumbled.
"No Stoic, it's not my way." Gobber told him seriously. "It's Hiccups'."
There You Are! A Sneak Peak, The Next Chapter Is About Twice As Long As This One, Most Of Them Will Be Over 5k, So Look Forward To Them! XD
