Hi. There's 2 things I want to let you know before going into the real story.
First, this story is very gory. Those who do not want to read thus should turn back. You have been warned.
Second, don't get uninterested just because the names you will find right after this message do not seem to relate to HTTYD whatsoever (or if you're already turning back at the name "Haston"). This story uses the same characters from HTTYD, but with their names changed in order to keep the suspense up throughout the whole story. For starters, Haston is Hiccup, which should be obvious as you will see shortly. You should be able to make out the other characters from their descriptions as well.
Enjoy!
A mother would never leave her children to die in vain.
Never.
Haston
This is it. We've all been waiting for this day.
Today is the day that we finally hunt down our own dragons. After so many years of training and waiting, we're going to find our very own dragon.
We're going to kill it and show it to our fathers, and they'll all be happy. We'll all be happy.
Well, except me. I don't see the point in killing dragons. They don't look like they're all that bad, aren't they? They just want to survive in this world, just like us. They take what they need and leave; they don't actually kill people. But that's just me, of course.
My name's Haston. And I'm the son of the chief of Berk, where we fend off (and kill) dragons whenever they decide to raid our village for food.
If we slay dragons, are we any better than them?
My friends seem to think otherwise. Well, most of them.
"Aesis, are you sure we're going to just find a dragon in the woods?" I ask the no-nonsense, commanding, and very rough blonde-haired girl in front of me. Her hair swings in ridiculous directions as she leads the path through the woods, jumping over logs and ducking under branches like she's Miss Berk, the Viking Girl.
Stuck up idiot. Still, I like her, and... well, what am I supposed to say to that? When you like someone, you tend to only see their good sides. Their bad sides are all mysteriously gone.
"Shut up and get your rear over here already, Useless," her determined voice says.
I sigh. I'm not going to convince her any time soon. "Are we really going to do this?"
"Hey, on the bright side," Valla's cheerful voice pipes up. "If we kill this dragon, we can't call you Useless anymore." Her flamboyant shirt and skirts make her look more like a sporting girl than a viking. She even has locks in her hair that bounce madly wherever she goes. Valla is like the opposite of Aesis in every way; famous, funny, playful, and absolutely happy-go-lucky.
But, like I said, I like Astrid. Valla, with her light blue hair, yellowish shirt, and blue shorts just seems... dull to me because of that.
"Yeah, Useless," Erik's rough voice says. "But you'll still be useless to me."
I roll my eyes. Erik, the dark-haired and dim-witted bully of the group, always seems to have a reason to pick on me. It doesn't hurt to mention that he's my cousin as well... so he has a lot of rights to hate me.
Call me a coward, but I'm not fighting that muscular nuisance anytime soon.
So I keep my mouth shut as we hike through the woods. They say the deeper parts of the forest holds wounded dragons that aren't healthy enough to fly back to their nests, and that's what we're aiming for. A kill on a creature that can't defend itself.
"Hey, Dean... are you sure this is going to work out?" I ask my friend quietly. My only friend, actually. We live right next to each other, and he's been... orphaned at birth. My father has always taken care of him like a second son, so we're pretty close.
He flips his messy jet-black hair back, his black tunic doing a really good job in hiding all the stains that he's getting as he hikes. He's skillful, but he doesn't show it to not intimidate me, the latter being unskilled at mostly everything. Well, that's what I think. He cares a lot about me, but... I'm not that important to him, no? It's my father that he needs to thank, not me. I'm just glad that I have a friend.
"Um..." He murmurs. Dean's eyes are aimed forward in bliss, thinking about something.
"Dean," I say, but when he doesn't turn, I just shrug. He's secretly looking at Valla, his love interest and possibly girlfriend. They're pretty close, if you ask me. So it's a pretty big thing for him to hang out back here with me instead (though I think he's forgotten that I exist at the moment).
Up ahead, Larka and Hodor, the famous lovers of Berk, trudge on slowly, hand-in-hand. Larka was a victim of a burn accident in her younger years, and her face is absolutely horrible. No one bothered with her for years (including me, unfortunately) until Hodor, the aggressive but tender redhead, with his muscular body that rivals only Erik's, reached out and became her friend. No one thought that someone as strong as Hodor could be so... kind towards Larka. Or anyone, actually.
"Here, let me help you," Hodor says from up front, holding out a hand to help her cross over a large log.
"Thanks," Larka replies, taking his hand and smiling happily.
We all would've have made fun of this cheeky moment, but of course, Hodor isn't willing to let anyone pick on her with all that she's gone through.
The interesting thing is that no one's ever considered that when it comes to me.
The sun is midway through the sky. The sky is clear, the wind is blowing, and-
"There!" the dimwitted but powerful Trigon yells all of a sudden, pointing to a line of smoke rising into the air off to the west. "They've got one!"
He, with his long blonde hair and metal helmet, takes off instantly towards the fire, leaving us to follow from behind. The teens of the village are split into two groups, one covering the huge east side, and the other the disproportionately small and disconnected west. We're all supposed to signal the other group if we've found a dragon, so we can all see 'how to kill a dragon' in full detail. Disgusting. The village even has a Book of Dragons describing how to kill each and every, specifically.
It's embarrassing how we even call ourselves humans. If there was a Book of Humans, for dragons, Berk would be on top of their list, with huge, red words "KILL PAINFULLY AND MERCILESSLY" on top, splattered with human blood and all.
But, of course, dragons don't kill unless they absolutely need to. we just force them to do that a lot.
I take off running along with the others, Dean the only one falling behind and letting me catch up. Several times does he slow down and let me catch up, my slim body doing nothing to help me evade the obstacles of the forest. At a tediously high ledge, where the rest are already done climbing, Dean crouches down and holds his hands out in front of him.
"Jump," He says urgently. "Quick, before we lose them."
Having no time to express my gratitude, I place my left foot on his hand. He lifts my leg up, raising my body high enough that I can grab the ledge above. I pull myself up, struggling to climb over on the ledge, when I see another boy holding out his hand to help me up.
"C'mon," his chirpy voice vocalises. "Get a move on."
It's Fyrver, the Outcast of the village. His small and hyperactive traits made him even an outcast to the Outcasts, and we found him not long ago on the shores of Berk along with Fortylle, his guardian and escapee. He's been nice to all of us since, but he's still a troublemaker and absolutely refuses to share his past with the others. He's not exactly my friend, as he likes to stick to Fortylle more, but we can talk. We often do, when Dean is out looking for Valla.
"Thanks," I say, my other hand grabbing his and pulling myself up. He looks at my thoughtfully and leans down to help Dean up as well. Together, we get up and continue after the source of flames that have attracted our group like moths to a bonfire.
"We're late," Dean says, his hair flying madly as we dash through the forestation, the sounds we make loud enough to wake up any stray dragons in the vicinity. Hopefully, there aren't any.
"Not really," Fyrver pipes. "I saw them running towards the fire, but it was put out before they got far. They've slowed down considerably."
Dean raises an eyebrow. Fyrver ruffles his green hair, smiling happily.
Another thing about Fyrver; he likes to roam around a lot, which makes him unreliable, but he always has important (if not juicy) news for us to hear. He likes appearing at random moments and disappearing as he goes. In fact, the longest time that he's ever stayed still with me was when he was sitting down and telling me how he found this giant fish in the sea, which was about 30 minutes straight. I told him that I didn't believe it, but he just smiled.
After a while, Dean stops, causing us all to cease our running and catches our breaths, and cups one of his ears.
"It's them," he declares casually, having not shed a single sweat at all. "We're nearly there."
Dean's nearly unbounded stamina and powerful sense of hearing has always been a secret to the others, having shown very little physical exertion to the others, often holding back and letting Hordor and Erik to do the more laborious work done, but he's always used it to help me. He says that he 'owes me a lot', but that's a lie. He wants to repay my father's debt onto me- something that I have been more than once appreciated and several more times felt guilty for. He doesn't need to hold himself down for me, and I certainly don't want him to, but that's what he wants. He could have been another legend of the village with his enormous amounts of energy but yet lean body, but no, he's decided to help the hiccup of the village.
Sometimes I wonder if my father put him up to it. I would never forgive him if that's true.
After pausing for another few minutes, we resume walking towards our party. We reach them after a considerable amount of time- Fyrver having once again disappeared into the woods.
I sigh. Apart from Dean, he's one of the only few people who enjoy talking to me. If he wasn't just so full of wanderlust and secrecy, we would've been good friends.
"Hey, it's Useless!" Trigon says, being at the back of the group. Absolutely only one person bothers to look back, and that's Larka. She looks genuinely concerned for me, but like everyone else, says nothing to me.
Or it isn't concern. Maybe it was pity, or maybe even spite. She has Hordor; what else does she need? Why would she care for someone like me? I see nothing logical for an answer.
Aesis, leading the front, calls to tell us (except for me) that she's found the group. We begin walking faster, eager to see the dragon and how it's going to die.
Except for me, of course. And maybe Dean, but he's always kept his opinions a secret. I strongly suspect that he's been training just to get better and not kill. He could snap anyone's neck whenever he wanted, but his unpopularity with the group (for siding with me) doesn't seem to be enough to tick him off. Most just ignore him, like he does to them.
You don't talk to someone you don't have anything to talk about with.
"Hey, guys!" Sethi waves at us as we approach her and her group. "We found a dragon hiding in a cave down there, and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere soon."
Her group, consisting of 3 females and only one male, is no laughing joke. Playful and colorfully green as she is, she is a deadly viking- and a leader. She can even wrestle with Erik, but you know, the males and the females of the village dislike unfair play. But, of course, this doesn't apply to them when it comes to me.
Naral, Trigon's equally blonde cousin and Spraak, the bookworm of the village, sides either side of her. Naral, the lighter of the fire, hastily explains to us that she accidentally put in too much wood, causing the flames to die down. Spraak holds out the Book of Dragons in his hands, his overgrown size matching only his overgrown knowledge of reading and the burning passion that comes with it.
"There you are, Fyrver!" Fortylle's voice rings out, running up to the much smaller boy as he appears from the bushes nearby. They hug for a second, and when they pull out, Fryver does not leave her side. Fortylle is the like a big sister to him, the two being inseparable in all aspects. Her brown hair contrasting deeply with Fryver's green, her cunning with his playfulness, it seems hard that the two would ever fit. But they do.
Spraak opens the Book of Dragons and flips to the bookmarked page, everyone else leaning in for a closer look.
"The dragon's a Nadder," he says. "The best way to kill it is to hide in its blind spot, which is in front of its eyes, and then blind it from there on."
I stumble backwards from the semicircle, retching loudly in disgust. Surprisingly, I'm not the only one. Fyrver is sprawled out on the ground, eyes wide in horror.
"Excuse me? We blind the thing first?" he says, Fortylle immediately by his side and helping him up. "Isn't killing the dragon bad enough?"
"How else are we supposed to get close enough to kill it, then?" Aesis snaps, rounding on the smaller boy. Erik and Hodor nod in agreement, while the others look at each other with uncertainty. They do not want to cross Aesis.
"You could shoot it from a distance," Fortylle suggests, standing up defiantly. I get up and dust myself off quietly, watching the events unfold.
"We don't have bows. Besides, those are for cowards," she says coolly.
She glares at me directly at this.
"We can do the blinding and you can help us with the killing, alright?" Sethi says, stepping in between the two. Dean is already behind Aesis in case she decides to pick a fight. "You won't have to see the Nadder before it's blinded that way."
I look between the two girls, one my crush and one not my crush. Their eyes slowly meet after several seconds of silence, and they nod at the same time, reaching an unspoken agreement. I'm never going to understand girls.
Aesis is the first to break eye contact. "Alright, then," She says. "You sit back and we'll do the Viking stuff, and you can help us when it comes to killing."
The rest of the group nods. They begin towards the cave accordingly to Spraak's instructions.
I stand back, and Dean does not move either. We sit next to Fyrver and Fortylle, their eyes locking onto mine and nodding in recognition.
"It's horrible," Fortylle says. "I thought Outcast Island was bad, but this is..."
"...Crazy," Fyrver finishes, tears in his eyes. "They actually enjoy killing dragons."
I nod. "If we don't do it," I explain, "My father will send us away from the isle. We have to do this, whether we like it or not."
Dean looks at my comprehendingly. "Larka doesn't like it either, but she's going because Hodor is," he adds.
We sit down and wait for them to finish their act of evil, the wind blowing softly towards their direction, as if to taunt us. "Do it, cowards," it calls. "Be a Viking."
"...Haston?" Fyrver says, looking at me. "Why is your father like that?"
I pause, not really knowing why either. It is Dean who answers the question for me.
"Dragons have raided this place for eons," he says. "The people think that dragons are evil."
I feel yet another rush of gratitude towards Dean and his most recent statement.
"They just take what they need, right?" Fortylle asks. We nod.
"Why can't we just lay food for them so won't have to raid us?" Fyrver asks.
We all look at each other silently, thinking about what had not been thought before.
"Hey! That sounds like a good idea!" I say, getting up.
"That is," Dean says, following suit. "We should go tell the Chief now so they can call of the killing. If we're quick, we might not have to kill!"
"Yeah," Fyrver says, getting up as well. Fortylle looks at us anxiously.
"Go," she says. "I'll tell them where you guys went."
We're all about to take off for the village when we hear a loud voice from behind me.
"OI! Guys! We blinded it!" Trigon calls, appearing from the distance. "Come here and kill it!"
I look at Dean, disappointment filled in both of our eyes. There is no way we're going to tell Father now, especially with the dragon in custody and that Trigon knows.
We turn around, following him silently. I hear Fyrver and Fortylle walking behind us.
"Shoot," I mutter. "We were so close." Dean nods.
R
We're in the cave, all of us. The dragon lays at mercy at our feet, its eye sockets empty its toothed mouth bounded heavily. It has no clear traces of blood except for the ones running out of its sockets. I hear it groan quietly in pain. Its wings have gaping holes in them, which is the reason why it could not leave this cave. Both legs are locked to the ground behind it, signs of struggle evident on the cave's ground. I resist the urge to run outside.
"Here it is," Erik says proudly. "Took us awhile to keep get its big mouth shut."
I hear Fortylle whimpering behind me. Dean sides her and whispers something to her.
"Alright, guys, here's what we do," Aesis says, handing us a knife each. It takes several moments for the pale-faced Fyrver to accept his, but he does without comment. "We all stab at some part of it, but Valla is going to stab its heart."
The group nods, taking positions around the downed Nadder. Fyrver and Fortylle move in front of the wings, where it will probably hurt the least. I hear the dragon whimper, as if it knows what will happen next.
"Such a colorful thing..." Hodor taunts. "Red will be a good addition to your hues."
"Finally, after all this time..." Naral says. "We're going to kill our first dragon."
Aesis raises her knife high up, viciousness glinting madly in her eyes.
"Alright... on the count of three, we stab it, alright?" She says.
"Yeah," we all say, Dean's being the quietest.
"Three..." We raise our knives.
"Two..." Some of us hesitate, some of us look eager.
"ONE!" We all bring our knives down with incredible force.
Splurch.
Blood courses from all parts of the dragon where the knives entered, its screech of pain clearly hearable throughout the whole cave like the sound of nails rubbing against slate, despite being so fully bound and silenced. As the last of the sound dies down, the blood stops coursing. I quickly remove my knife from its leg, chucking the killing away from me and the killed. It ends on the floor with a clang, and I soon follow, my hands on the ground, my stomach fighting to not release its contents. Dean kneels next to me silently, his knife nowhere to be seen, his face nonchalant.
"Hah!" Trigon says, pulling his knife out with a soft sliiick. Naral mutters something happy.
"We... did it," Sethi says, looking at her work, face expressionless. Hodor hoots in delight.
"I... I killed a dragon..." Fyver moans, also discarding his killing weapon, looking for a place to wipe his hands. "I... killed..." Fortylle's face is grave.
Valla removes the knife from its heart quietly. No. Her heart. This Nadder had a gender... had freedom... had life. We killed something that was unable to fight back, someone that never did anything to harm us. This thing may have had a family. She might have had someone she loved dearly. She was just waiting for its wings to heal, and we took that away... we took her eyesight away... we killed her.
"Alright!" Aesis says, looking at us all with a sense of victory. Why do I like this girl, again? "Now, Useless, go call on your father and tell him that you slayed a dragon with all of us."
I get up shakily, Dean looking at me grimly. "O-OK," I say, walking towards the cave's entrance.
Suddenly, the cave begins shaking violently, as if an earthquake had struck the isle. Rocks begin falling from above, Erik losing his balance and falling to the ground. Larka screams.
"Everyone! Get out of the cave!" Sethi's commanding voice rings out. We all start for the entrance, but as we do, the floor below us cracks, the roof caving in.
We're going down. I look for Fyrver and Dean, and see them falling into the abyss below already. Only Aesis and I have not fallen, and for a second, I see fear registered on her face as she looks for the dead dragon.
It's not there.
Only the chains and massive cloth that silenced it remains.
And that's the last thing I see before I fall into the darkness below, everything blacking out.
A/N: If you've figured out who most of the characters are, good for you.
A/N: For those who hate me now because of this story, be assured that you will hate me even more as you commence through the story.
If you guys are REALLY fed up with who is who, because I'm not descriptive enough, here's a cheatsheet for SOME of the characters:
Haston- Hiccup
Dean- Toothless (as a human, NOT anthro)
Aesis- Astrid
Fyrver- a dragon you saw in Riders of Berk. If you didn't see that show, here's a reason to.