Table of Kings
First Draft
Scene One
Author's Note: I'm back! Things are finally back on track for me, after a few years of figuring out how to balance the various aspects of my life, and now I feel comfortable enough to begin uploading again. Woot woot!
About this "fic"- I've been working on this Brave/How to Train Your Dragon crossover for the better part of a year, and had gotten about two thirds of the thing completely plotted out. Being more of a "pantser" than a "planner", I started writing, and got about fifty pages in when I realized that my plot as I had planned it out was not going to work: left as it was, it made both my villain and Hiccup look like complete idiots. This could not stand, and so now I am in the process of completely reworking the plot to fix these errors. Of course, this means that the fifty or so pages I've written so far are now useless, but instead of deleting it outright, I've collected my favorite scenes to share with y'all. This is entirely hubristic on my part, but I figured, what the heck?
This vignette is from the first chapter, and introduces my OC Asdis Astridardottir Haddock, Hiccup's four year old daughter. I work with kids this age IRL, and I find them endlessly entertaining.
High Chief Hiccup Haddock rubbed the back of his neck as he studied the maps on the table in front of him. Over the past several weeks, Riders first from Uglythug, then Bashem, and finally Hysteria, had arrived to tell him that an entire fleet of Viking ships had been spotted to the west, sailing due south at an incredible speed. Now a fleet of ships weren't an odd sight, considering that the Dragon Tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago lived in, obviously, an archipelago, but what had caught the Riders' attentions was that one, the fleet was made up entirely of Dragonships, and two, there were a lot of them—at least twenty at last count. A simple trading expedition wouldn't have nearly as many ships, and they'd be cargo ships instead of warships.
And what had set the Terrible Terror among the cod was the fact that what was obviously a raiding party didn't have any accompanying dragons. That was what had really caused the Riders to think something was up, and they had gone straight to Berk to alert the High Chief to the anomaly.
Hiccup couldn't think of any tribe in the Dragon Confederation of Viking Tribes that would send out a raiding party without dragons- they provided a distinct tactical advantage in many areas, the least of which was their ability to scare the pants off of their enemies. With the Dragon Peace now spread through the majority of the Archipelago, it was a rare Viking that didn't have at least one dragon companion. Hel, their Gothi was famous for being the first "crazy Terror lady", with a flock of Terrors nearly a dozen strong living in her hut with her. It didn't make any sense at all to go on a raid without dragons, and Hiccup couldn't think of a single tribe in the Confederation that would.
He dimly heard the front door of his hall open, and little pattering feet raced toward him as a small body collided with his legs.
"Daddy!" Piped the high pitched voice of his daughter. "Daddy, look what me and Dart found! Look look look!"
Hiccup blinked and looked down at his offspring, wrapped around his right leg with her hatchling Terrible Terror perched on her honey blonde head. Big blue eyes stared pleadingly up into his, and Hiccup smiled and lifted the little girl up onto the table next to his maps.
"What'd you find, Princess?" He asked.
"Asdis!" A teenage girl rushed into the hall, her straw-colored braids disheveled and her clothes splattered with mud and grass stains. She blanched when she saw Hiccup, who raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, Chief, I'm so sorry; she got away from me!" The girl exclaimed, wringing her hands.
Hiccup glanced at Asdis, who gazed back at him innocently. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the frazzled babysitter.
"It's okay, Helga, I need a break anyway," he said with a shrug. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day. Disa and I'll spend the afternoon with Gobber at the forge. Thanks for the help, we'll see you tomorrow."
Helga visibly relaxed and nodded happily. "Yes, Chief," she said with a wide smile. "Have a good afternoon, Asdis, see you tomorrow!"
"Bye bye, Sissy!" Disa called, waving. Dart squawked happily from the little girl's shoulders.
Helga fled, and Hiccup turned back to his offspring, who was giggling with her dragon.
"Asdis Astridardottir Haddock," he growled, "did you make poor Helga chase you through the woods again?"
"Maaaaybe?" Disa sing songed quietly, peeking up at him through her shaggy fringe. In her arms, Dart chirruped in echo of his human.
Hiccup sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Disa, honey, I need you to be nice to Helga, okay? It's her job to take care of you when Amma Valka, Amma Ingrid, Gobber, and I are busy."
"But Daddy, I wanted to show you what me and Dart found!" Disa protested. She plopped Dart on the table beside her and rooted through her vest. She pulled out a purple shard and held it up triumphantly. "Look look look, Daddy, isn't it pretty? Dart thinks it's part of a Terror egg! Can I keep it, Daddy? I wanna put it in Mama's treasure box. Please, Daddy?"
Hiccup fought down the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and nodded. "Yeah, sweetie, you can put it in Mama's box. Then how 'bout we go see what Gobber's up to at the forge, huh?"
"Yay!" Disa squealed, jumping down from the table and racing off to the loft where she and Hiccup slept, Dart at her heels. Hiccup followed, watching anxiously as the four-year-old and dragon scrambled up the stairs. A few seconds later, she scooted back down again on her rump, giggling as she landed on each step. Dart, who was just starting to learn to fly, jumped down a few steps at a time with his wings held open to slow the fall. Hiccup waited until her feet touched the floor before asking, "Ready to go?"
"Yup!" Disa chirped, standing up with a proud flourish. Dart took his final leap, flapped a couple of times, and landed in a heap on his human's head, where he hung onto her hair for dear life as she raced past Hiccup and out the door. Her father shook his head with a wry smile as he jogged after her.
Gobber's forge was bustling as he and his three apprentices fitted saddles, repaired weapons, and fixed dragon teeth. There was a large crowd of Vikings and dragons gathered outside, chatting, laughing, squawking, and screeching as they waited for their orders to be taken and filled. Hiccup scooped Disa up into his arms and settled her on his hip as he moved through the crowd. They reached the front, and stepped into the shade of the open air workshop.
"Gobber?" Hiccup called out, tightening his grip on Disa as she tried to squirm away.
"Hiccup!" Gobber hollered back. "Thenk Volundr yer here! Ah need ye tae run th' front fer me, we're swamped!"
"Got it!" Hiccup replied, moving to the service window. "You wanna work on your numbers, Princess?"
"Yeah yeah yeah!" Disa cheered. Hiccup set her down on the counter and took out a portable number sign. Glancing at the number display on the wall, he arranged the portable display to match, and showed it to Disa.
"What's that number, Disa?" He asked.
Disa studied the display and whispered, "Twenty six?"
"That's right, now yell it out really loud," Hiccup told her.
Disa scowled in concentration and took a deep breath.
"TWEN-TY SIX!" She bellowed shrilly, her voice rising high over the clamor of the assembled horde. The horde, as well as the rest of the village, went silent, staring at the little girl in shock.
Disa and Dart blinked innocently back at them, surprised by the sudden quiet. The little girl turned to Hiccup.
"Was I loud enough, Daddy?" She whispered.
"You sure were, Princess," Hiccup chuckled, ruffling her hair with one hand and fiddling with his ear with the other. "I think you burst a few eardrums, kiddo."
Disa lit up at the sarcastic praise. "Cool!"
The surrounding crowd chuckled, and a burly Viking elbowed his way to the front with a bright red Scuttleclaw at his shoulder.
"Tha's a pair o' lungs yer 'atchlin's got, Chief," he rumbled cheerfully. "Ain't been tha' deafen'd since th' las' time Elsie tore inta me fer lettin' Bloodstreak 'ere play fetch wi' 'er spear."
Hiccup laughed. "She got it from her mom," he said, dropping a quick kiss on top of Disa's head. "So what can we get you, Gnarr?"
The afternoon passed quickly as the crowd slowly shrank, and it wasn't until Disa started fussing that Hiccup realized he needed to get her home and feed her. Gobber waved them off gratefully, tickling Disa under the chin and cooing at her, and the two Haddocks wandered their way back up the hill to their hall.
Hiccup pushed open the door to find Valka standing before the firepit, stoking the flames under a large pot. Toothless was sprawled out on the floor, looking exhausted. He glanced up when the two humans entered, but other than a low, tired croon of greeting, didn't react.
"Amma Val!" Disa shrieked happily, leaping out of Hiccup's arms and racing over to the older woman. Valka intercepted her before she reached the firepit, scooping the little girl up and planting kisses all over her giggling face.
"Hey Mom," Hiccup greeted, grabbing a fur from the pile beside the firepit and tossing it over Toothless. The Night Fury purred as his human slumped down beside him, lounging against his fur-draped side.
"Evening, son," Valka replied, settling Disa on her hip as she tended the pot. "How was your day?"
"Frustrating, and then too busy to think." Hiccup rolled up his left trouser leg and began unfastening his prosthetic. "I took another look at the info about that unknown raiding party the Uglythugs, Bashems, and Hysterics spotted, but they couldn't get close enough to identify the tribe it belongs to. The prevailing theory is that the fleet came from somewhere in the north, but the lack of dragons throws the whole thing into question. I just can't think of any tribe that would go on a raid without dragons. It's really weird."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Hiccup," Valka soothed. She settled Disa into her feeding chair and handed her a piece of bread to gnaw on, then grabbed a bowl and started ladling out stew. She stuck a spoon into it and handed the bowl to Hiccup, who eyed it with trepidation.
"Oh hush, Ingrid sent it over while you and the hatchlings were out," Valka scolded, although a corner of her mouth curved up. Hiccup laughed half in relief as he tasted the stew.
"Hey, can't blame a guy for being cautious," he retorted, holding the bowl away from an eagerly sniffing Toothless. "The last time you cooked, the whole house smelled like rotting fish and burned dragon grass for a month!"
Valka dismissed that with a snort and a wave of her hand as she placed a shallow basket heaped with fish in front of Toothless, who buried his head in it and growled happily. "It was only two weeks, don't exaggerate," she said blithely. "Besides, we got to rack with the dragons at night while the hall aired out; Disa loved it. And so did you, almighty Chief."
Hiccup chuckled as he ate, remembering the period of time the five of them had slept in Cloudjumper's nest. The poor Stormcutter had been very confused and a bit irritated to find himself sharing his sleeping quarters with three humans and two extra dragons, even if one of those dragons was his Alpha.
He watched indulgently as Valka cajoled a fussy Disa into eating, cheering each time the four year old successfully fed herself with the spoon Hiccup had carved just for her. When Disa declared herself full, Valka cleaned up her stew-smeared face and then began their night-time ritual of pajama donning, teeth cleaning, and hair combing and braiding.
Hiccup placed his empty bowl aside and settled back against Toothless to watch sleepily. Valka hummed quietly as she gently combed the day's dirt and dust out of her granddaughter's long honey-blonde hair until it shone, cascading glossy and smooth down her back.
"One braid or two, sweeting?" She asked.
"Jus' one, Amma," Disa replied around a yawn.
"Okay, hold still." Valka's long, nimble fingers quickly weaved Disa's hair into a long thick braid, tying it off with a strip of soft suede. "All done, my good girl. Go say goodnight to Daddy and Toothless, now."
Disa stumbled sleepily over to her father and his dragon. "Night night Daddy," she mumbled, hugging Hiccup around the neck.
"Good night, Princess," Hiccup whispered, kissing her forehead and hugging her tight. When they let go, Disa toddled over to Toothless.
"Night night Tooth'ess," she mumbled, wrapping her little arms around the dragon's broad head. Toothless purred adoringly, nuzzling his little hatchling and breathing into her hair. When she sighed deeply, Toothless crooned and nudged her back towards Valka, who scooped her up and took her upstairs.
Hiccup sighed gustily, stretching out against Toothless's side and relaxing completely. "Another day done, bud," he murmured, his dragon sighing in agreement. "Disa gave Helga the slip again, made the poor girl chase her all over the island. I know she's smart for her age, and fast, but is it really that hard to keep track of a little girl? It's not like she's dangerous or anything- she's four. What's she gonna do, tie Helga up and blindfold her?"
Toothless snorted derisively.
"Man, I wish Dad or Astrid was here," Hiccup mumbled. "They'd know what to do. I feel like I'm flying blind, Toothless. She's only going to get smarter and sneakier, how can I make her understand that she has to listen to Helga, because Helga's supposed to keep her safe?"
Toothless purred supportively, curling around and resting his head in Hiccup's lap. His human smiled and stroked the ridge of spines bisecting his forehead.
"Enough of my whining, bud," he declared. "What'd you do all day, O Great Alpha of Berk? I haven't seen you since breakfast."
The Night Fury growled in mock irritation, then cheeped like a hatchling.
"Younglings giving you trouble too?" Hiccup guessed. Toothless snorted affirmatively and rolled his eyes.
"Seems to be a running theme," Hiccup mused.
The pair sat in relaxed, companionable silence, watching the flames dance in the firepit.
