Chapter 1: This is Berk

"DRAGOOOOONS!"

Screams erupted in the light of dawn from outside the house Ingrid currently resided in. Which her roof had just caught on fire. She gasped at the fire and quickly abandoned her bedroom, taking the bow she had been fixing the string of with her and the quiver which was ready with arrows. Her blue eyes glanced about the house in search of specific people before she scoffed in slight annoyance and pulled the door open. Of course, they had already taken a head start in the "exciting" act of dragon slaying. Outside was more chaotic than it sounded, flames engulfing buildings that would just be rebuilt by the next day, different variety of the beasts flying around violently, and fellow Berkians arming themselves to drive the dragons away.

Just the usual life of a Viking.

Ingrid's eyes darted around for fear of her life—her hands trembling around her wooden bow that she had proudly crafted. She took a deep breath. "Come on, Ingrid. This is nothing new. You're gonna live through this like always." Ingrid nodded once in determination and ran off to possibly assist a Viking at long range. Although, finding a Viking that would even look like they needed help would be extremely rare.

There were fiery Monstrous Nightmares, speedy Deadly Nadders, strong Gronckles, and two headed Zipperbacks that scattered the skies. Thank the Gods there weren't any Night Furies today—or as far as she knew, anyway.

When she hadn't found someone in need of assistance, Ingrid found the other teenagers of the village dumping water over houses engulfed by fire. It was better and safer than dealing with dragons.

Ingrid hurried toward them until she fell backwards onto the grass with a grunt when one of the female Vikings and Ingrid's neighbor literally pulled down a Deadly Nadder by the wing in front of her.

"Oh hey, Ingrid! How's your mornin' been so far?" Ms. Aminoff shouted over the shouts of Vikings and roars of dragons. She wrestled the creature as she asked this and Ingrid only nervously laughed and sprang up to her feet.

"Pretty good, Miss Aminoff! Thanks for asking," Ingrid replied, hurrying around the pinned down dragon. Her black, half braided, half loose hair whipped behind her as she ran to the large water barrels with extra buckets in place. Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and lastly Astrid each took a bucket filled with water—except for the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were fighting over one. Ingrid took a bucket that was ready with water and followed Astrid to help put out the flames over a wooden house.

When Astrid dumped the bit of water from her bucket over a patch of flaming grass, Ingrid noticed a Monstrous Nightmare passing by and its eyes glued to her fellow classmate. She gasped and threw aside the bucket to run at the blonde before she was engulfed in the dragon's fire blast. As Ingrid had thrown herself and tackled Astrid, she realized the dragon seemingly missed as an explosion of fire hit just behind them.

"Are you okay? That dragon almost got you!" Ingrid asked worriedly as she quickly stood from being over the girl who she didn't know very well.

Astrid scoffed while rubbing the side of her head and sat up. "Yeah, I'm fine! How about giving a warning next time instead of tackling me down?" she replied bitterly. Astrid ignored Ingrid's hand and stood by herself. "Why don't you go kill some more dragons like the mighty dragon slayer you are?" Astrid furiously stated then ran after the other teenagers.

Ingrid frowned slightly as she was taken aback by her statement. Astrid was known for her short temper and dedication to being a Viking but never had she shown such hostility toward Ingrid. It was clear Astrid's anger toward Ingrid was because of what a "mighty dragon slayer" Ingrid was.

Ingrid also headed in the direction the other teenagers went to but slowed as she found Gobber—the chieftain's adviser—scolding Hiccup—the chieftain's son—in the smith. She didn't stick around very long though when Hiccup glanced around Gobber through the open window to where Ingrid walked passed. She forcibly smiled briefly at him then hurried along.

Hiccup was quite scrawny for the chieftain's son. Although, Ingrid didn't know him just like the others, but he was known as the shame of the great Stoick the Vast. Ingrid always felt pity for the boy yet never attempted to have a proper conversation with him—even though he showed a lot of intellect when it came to lessons compared to the rest of the kids. He also kept to himself a lot so Ingrid didn't see him often. Not that she was any better—always sneaking off to train with her archery.

Ingrid would be in the same boat as him if it weren't for Astrid's reason of being furious with her. Ingrid Petersen was known as the youngest dragon slayer in Berk. Not by choice, anyway.

Snotlout Jorgenson held his axe bravely in the air as he shouted at the top of his lungs toward a Gronckle that was slowly hovering through the air. He shouted threats at it to bring it closer and Ingrid pulled an arrow back on the string of her bow, knowing he would need help with the fierce creature. Snotlout was her least favorite person in Berk, being very flirtatious yet rude. In the beginning, Ingrid would constantly blush at his comments until she slowly became unfazed and annoyed by his bullying manner. He was mostly flirtatious when it came to Ingrid or Astrid, which made the girl uncomfortable in every way. Snotlout was still a fellow student and Berkian so that didn't mean she shouldn't help the bonehead.

Her arrows would prove useless on the Gronckle, however. Its tough exterior matched its diet of rocks.

As the Gronckle approached Snotlout, Ingrid was knocked out the balance and out of aim as she heard the familiar sound of an incoming blast from the most terrifying dragon.

"Get down! Night Fury!" a Viking screamed and Ingrid immediately followed the sound to one of the watch towers. A purple glow emitted from the blast in a split second as fire spread the tower. The impact of the blast made the ground tremble. Ingrid's keen eyes caught a glimpse of the fearsome creature's silhouette pass by the lit watch tower. It was known for never being seen because of how fast it is. As pieces of the watch tower crumbled, the Night Fury wasn't satisfied yet and came back with another plasma blast, the rest of the watch tower turning to ruins.

Ingrid's breath was taken away at the sight. Vikings around her were in awe at the dragon that no one had ever succeeded in killing. Slaying a Night Fury would surpass even the chieftain in glory.

"Yo, Ingrid! Mind helping?!" Snotlout brought Ingrid out of her trance and she turned to see the brute attempting to headlock the large Gronckle. The dragon itself was simply stood there—chewing over a pile of stones—disregarding the boy.

Ingrid pursed her lips to keep from laughing but snorted at the sight.

"Never mind! This is obviously a job for a strong guy like myself," he grunted as he squeezed the dragon. Ingrid thought of simply walking away in that moment and let him figure it out but it might be the best option, considering her arrows would not work in the slightest against a Gronckle.

Suddenly the twins stood with her between them and began laughing. "Watch it throw up lava all over Snotlout." They laughed in unison at the mental image and Ingrid shook her head with a slight smile on her face.

The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, amused her endlessly even though they were even more boneheaded than Snotlout. At least they weren't as arrogant as him, however. Ingrid didn't have much problem with them unless they asked about her "title" in Berk and that would always end up being difficult conversations where Ingrid would bring up excuses to dismiss herself.

Ingrid decided to leave Snotlout in the twins' "trusting" hands and watched as another watch tower was blown to bits—by the Night Fury, no less. Stoick the Vast stood beside captured Deadly Nadders with a murderous scowl until he turned at what sounded like a small child screaming. Ingrid's eyes followed his gaze and saw... Hiccup?! Being chased by a Monstrous Nightmare!

"Do not let them escape!" Stoick shouted behind him as he sprinted to help his son.

"Ingrid!" Fishlegs screamed from a distance behind the girl. She turned to see him hiding behind a lit building that was in ruins. "There! Use your bow!" He pointed above the chieftain and Ingrid gasped at what he pointed to.

A Deadly Nadder was chasing him, dive bombing at him from the skies. Ingrid's heart raced as she realized that no one else had either noticed or wouldn't be able to shoot from a distance in time. She swallowed over the lump in her throat and quickly nocked her bow, ready to be fired. Now it all depended on her aim...

Ingrid aimed to where she predicted the Deadly Nadder would pass in the skies and took a deep breath to steady her hands. Then, she released her arrow, watching as it flew through the skies like a dragon itself. As the Deadly Nadder continued diving, the arrow continued in its commanded course, until it whooshed right passed the dragon's snout. Ingrid had shot too early.

Fortunately yet unfortunately, the Nadder's attention was brought away from Stoick and—in rage—took a sharp stop in the sky to look directly at Ingrid. It gave a vicious roar and threw its tail in her direction, a set of venomous spikes flying toward Ingrid.

The girl's eyes widened and she threw herself out of the way just in the nick of time. The spikes were lodged into the grass beside her and she quickly stood as the creature started dive bombing toward her, blasting hot fires along the way. Ingrid ran in a random direction to avoid the blasts, each of them hitting the grass just inches behind her. She internally prayed to Thor and Odin that she would make it out alive.

"You aren't hurting no one, demon!" a recognizable voice screamed. Ingrid looked over her shoulder and the corners of her lips stretched into a smile as she slowed to a stop.

Her mother, Freya Petersen had stood in the way of the Deadly Nadder, a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. The large ginger woman began fighting the dragon, whipping her spear at the creature and occasionally rolling out of the way of its hot fire balls.

Behind the dragon came a group with a net to capture the Nadder. Ingrid's mother was just the distraction. The Deadly Nadder squawked in alarm as the net engulfed it and it attempted to fly away, but to no avail. It had shot its spikes but the Vikings were aware of the creature's spines and stepped out of the way in time.

The whole scene was incredible as the Vikings worked together to stop the dangerous dragon. Ingrid glanced around the smoke filled village to find that the remaining dragons had flown away. The fleeing group were a small size, meaning the others had captured or slain most.

The village finally became quiet again, only the sounds of the crackling fire over all the buildings were present but the worst had passed. Freya rolled her shoulders as she approached Ingrid with a smile. "Hello, girly. Hope you had your fair share of dragon slaying." She winked at her then walked around the girl. Ingrid laughed nervously but didn't reply to her as she followed her mom.

There was a crowd surrounding the tall brazier tower that had fallen over the bridge. It wasn't a surprise to find Chieftain Stoick yelling at Hiccup, which was the reason why there was such a crowd. Ingrid frowned as she unfortunately had to watch this display. It felt like every time she saw the boy, it was when he was being lectured.

Freya shook her head beside Ingrid and said, "That boy is more trouble than he's worth. Poor Stoick."

Ingrid glanced at her mother with a disappointed gaze. Sure Ingrid didn't know Hiccup that well but still, this must be so embarrassing to him having all of Berk watch as he was lectured like a small child.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick angrily shouted at Hiccup, leaning in to emphasize his point. He sighed and continued, "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

When Stoick claimed Hiccup wasn't a dragon killer, it made Ingrid feel worse for Hiccup. Suddenly she felt a large hand encase her shoulder and Ingrid had to jump. She looked up to find her father, Bjarke, staring at her with a proud smile. She felt as if Stoick just told Hiccup why he couldn't be more like her—even though he clearly wasn't. Ingrid turned from her father's gaze to Stoick and Hiccup. Gobber came up to the pair and smacked Hiccup over the head then took a dejected Hiccup home.

As the boy and Gobber walked passed the other teenagers, he was shunned by them. Gobber even pushed Snotlout away when he spat a sarcastic insult. Ingrid only hung her head as her parents stared him down as if they were his parents. He had glanced toward her for a second but she didn't want to return the gaze, assuming it would be a hateful look, like Astrid's.

"Alright everyone! Children put out the fires. Everyone else, follow Gobber to help with the rubble or follow me to put the dragons away!" Stoick immediately began directing everyone, pointing towards Ingrid and the other teens first, then pointing to Gobber and himself. Everyone started spreading out, making themselves busy in beginning with the cleaning up on Berk.

"Well, girly, we'll see you when we see you. Don't let the other kids beat you around the bush," Freya told Ingrid, patting her back and nearly knocking Ingrid forward. She smiled to her none the less.

Bjarke gave a hearty laugh and ruffled Ingrid's head causing the girl to immediately stepped away in fear that her braids would become messy and tangled. "See you later, kiddo." Ingrid's parents bid their goodbyes to her and caught up with Stoick to help with the dragons. "Oh and put on your helmet more, Ingrid! Show some of that dragon slayer pride!" Bjarke turned to yell then waved goodbye at her.

Ingrid smiled weakly and waved back. She rarely put on her Viking helmet. It wasn't because she didn't like it, but she felt like she didn't deserve wearing it as silly as she must have sounded. Ingrid glanced toward the group of other teens who headed to the same water barrel as before to begin putting out the remaining fires. She took a deep breath and joined them.

"I bet Hiccup's curled up in his bed crying his eyes out right now," Snotlout said with a smirk as he filled his bucket to the brim with water.

"Yeah! Crying so much his eye balls are just falling out. What a loser," Tuffnut commented in between tugging the bucket away from his sister.

Ruffnut tugged the bucket back toward her with a grunt and finally succeeding in overpowering her brother. "Ha! That's what you get for not paying attention!"

Tuffnut huffed angrily at her and took a spare bucket that he could have easily taken instead of wrestling for one. Ingrid also took a bucket of her own and waited behind the twins to fill her bucket. Fishlegs came up behind her with a bucket against his chest.

"Maybe you should teach him a thing or two about killing dragons, Ingrid," Snotlout smoothly said, squeezing in front of her with his empty bucket over his shoulder. Ingrid gasped in surprise and stumbled backward, accidentally smacking into Fishlegs.

Tuffnut scoffed and pushed Snotlout out of the line since he had pushed him against his sister. "Back of the line, mister!" His sister was pushed forward when Tuffnut was pushed into her, knocking the bucket down and wetting herself under the pouring water of the water barrel.

"Hey! Watch it, moron!" Ruffnut shouted, turning to push Tuffnut into Snotlout again. Ingrid's eyes widened and she quickly stepped out of the line to allow the three to start fighting.

Fishlegs had also stepped aside, afraid to get caught up in the fight as well. "Why do they always do this?" he hopelessly asked himself.

Astrid came along with a bored expression toward the twins and Snotlout fighting. "You guys." She attempted to catch their attention but they continued fighting as if she didn't say anything. She rolled her eyes then screamed, "PAY ATTENTION!"

All three jumped and the twins stood upright, saluting as if they were soldiers. Snotlout shot glares at them and straightened his vest. Astrid rolled her eyes and pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "Chief wants everyone to head to the Great Hall for a meeting."

"What if we have unfinished business?" Tuffnut asked, scowling toward Snotlout and slamming his fist to his palm as if threatening him. Snotlout growled at him with fists at his sides.

"Do what you want— I'm just letting you know," Astrid informed, placing her bucket down to leave to the Great Hall. Fishlegs did the same and Ingrid figured she should go ahead as well. Snotlout and the twins finally gave up in terms of wrestling each other, however, and started racing to the Great Hall.

The trip to the Great Hall with Ingrid, Fishlegs, and Astrid was quite awkward, only adding occasional comments about how ridiculous Snotlout and the twins were being. Fishlegs glanced between the two girls with nervous looks and hesitantly said, "So, what do you ladies think of the situation with Hiccup?"

Astrid scoffed and looked the other way. "Other than the fact that I feel bad for his dad?" she bitterly said. Fishlegs and Ingrid gave a knowing look to each other. When the teenagers had arrived at the Great Hall, it seemed that the meeting had already started and Stoick the Vast was giving a speech on the dragon raid and their succession in capturing and driving the monsters away. The group stood at the back behind all the other adults who stood around the table with the chief at the end.

"Either we finish them or they'll finish us!" voices of agreements echoed the hall. "It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave." Stoick took the dagger at the table and continued, "They'll find another home!" He slammed the sharp dagger into the figure of a dragon that was on the large map spread onto the table. "One more search before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never come back!" one Viking proclaimed from the other side of the long table. Ruffnut and Tuffnut beside Ingrid kept nudging one another with their elbows to their sides. Besides the twins, the other teens watched with a focused expression at the Viking meeting.

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard. Now, who's with me?!" Stoick leaned onto the table, glancing about the room. The adults shook their head or said excuses on why they couldn't get involved.

"I swear if I were in their shoes..." Astrid muttered, arms crossed over her chest with a frustrated face. Anyone would say she was bluffing but Ingrid believed her a hundred percent that the girl would volunteer in a heartbeat if she were allowed.

It was only after the chieftain decided to make them babysitters for Hiccup if they chose to stay that literally every Viking beside the teenagers rose their hands in unison and suddenly very eager. It was quite an amazing sight really, almost like the scene when they all worked together to capture dragons earlier.

The twins rose their hands as if they counted. "Good luck babysitting, Hiccup, losers," Tuffnut said, smirking as if he had come up with an amazing plan. Ruffnut laughed at his comment as the others simply ignored them.

After the decision that all the adults would leave, everyone made their way out of the Great Hall to rest for the next day that they would embark on their mission.

"Oh man, the adults are all leaving tomorrow, can you believe that?" Snotlout happily said as they made their way into the village square.

"You know, there will still be some adults here. They're not gonna leave Berk defenseless," Ingrid said after much thought.

"Don't be such a downer. Besides, that just means there's more room for us being alone." Snotlout smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Ingrid groaned, subtly rolling her eyes at the boy.

"Don't forget that we still have training lessons tomorrow. Even though we won't have an instructor." Astrid furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation. Ingrid mentally frowned at this, finding that the training lessons sounded rather interesting and fun, besides the times when they would actually be put against a dragon.

Everyone soon went their separate ways and Ingrid left to go home. Her parents were possibly leaving with the others too, knowing they love dragon action just as much as any Viking would. Her suspicions were correct when she entered their house with a makeshift wooden ceiling in place of the burnt one. Ingrid's parents were rapidly moving around, collecting weapons and clothing for the trip as if they were going on some kind of vacation.

"You guys going with the chief?" Ingrid asked. Freya and Bjarke stopped what they were doing when they realized Ingrid was present. Freya frowned slightly and went up to her daughter to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, girly, we'll be home quick," Freya assured gently. "We're doing this for the good of Berk and-" she raised Ingrid's chin with her finger to meet her blue eyes, "to protect you."

Ingrid smiled lightly and nodded. Freya stepped away to continue packing. "Will there still be training lessons tomorrow?" Bjarke asked as he stuffed his spare eye patches for his right eye in his makeshift suit case.

"We don't know. We might not even have a teacher, either," Ingrid shrugged.

"Well hopefully you will or it would get awfully boring without us here," Bjarke smirked slightly at the girl.

Ingrid chuckled softly and nodded in agreement. "It truly would." Then she said after a moment, "Just be careful, please?"

Freya and Bjarke glanced at each other for a moment before they both took Ingrid into their arms as a group hug. "Petersens are always careful," Bjarke muttered.

"Technically, Petersens are more reckless than careful," Ingrid corrected him. Bjarke laughed and ruffled her hair again which she stepped away from. Ingrid laughed softly with him and attempted to pat the braids of her long hair down. Freya grinned and headed into the kitchen.

"Who wants salmon?!" Freya shouted to which Bjarke and Ingrid yelled "I do!" in unison.