The Island of Berk. Home to a tribe of Vikings known as the Hairy Hooligan tribe. This tribe was led by a man whose hatred for dragons knows no bounds, Stoick the Vast. At least, that's what we heard. Let me explain. My name's Adin. Adin Harkson. And I'm not from Berk. I lived in a country called Norath. It was considered the very first to understand how helpful dragons can be. We raise them. We train them. Heck, we even think of them as family. With their help, our empire was able to trade with other countries, which in turn, became prosperous. Now, I know I said lived. The reason for that is the reason I started talking about Berk in the first place, and that is that I left my home behind. I bet a lot of you people are wondering, why I would leave a place that sounded so perfect. Well, it's for two reasons. The first is because I wanted to see every type of dragon. The second is one you'll find out about later. Now, back to the reason I came to Berk. You see, I have seen every type of dragon you could possibly think of. I mean you got your Monstrous Nightmares, your Deadly Nadders, Gronkles, and the list goes on and on. Long story short, I swore to myself that I wouldn't return home until I've seen them all. And trust me, I've seen all except one. The most dangerous of them all, the Night Fury.
Now, where I come from, there are no Night Furies. Those are strictly northern dragons. The closest thing we got to a Night Fury in Norath is a dragon we like to call a Wraith Dragon. Wraith Dragons share attributes with two separate dragons, the Night Fury, which is the dragon that could be considered a direct cousin due to its speed, flexibility, and appearance, and a dragon more commonly known as the Bone Napper. The reason I mention the Bone Napper is because of the fact that the Wraith Dragon has bones covering certain spots of its body like armor. However, unlike the Bone Napper, who gathers the bones for its armor, the bones on the Wraith Dragon grow out of its body. There is one main difference between the Wraith Dragon and other dragons. That is the fact that the Wraith Dragon cannot breathe fire. They were not born with a way to ignite the gas they can expel. Though, that doesn't leave them totally defenseless. Given their inability to produce fire, they can use their speed, combined with their claws, tail, and wings, which are covered in bone plating, to deliver a very powerful attack. Although, they do have a secret attack. Wraith Dragons have two separate bone-like flaps on their skull, which act as covers for their eyes. Being such a unique dragon, they do not need their eyes to be able to see. They have what is called psychic abilities. When the flaps are open, revealing the dragon's brilliant violet eyes, the Wraith Dragon can use its psychic abilities to control anyone, or anything, that is unfortunate to gaze into them. And by now you're probably wondering how I know so much about them. Well, that's all because my mount and best friend, a dragon I named Shadow Faux, is one of them.
As we grew closer to where I thought Berk was, I pulled out the map of the Northern Sea, and began to try and find the land marks that were supposed to say that we were heading the right way. All the while Shadow Faux flew straight north, hoping we could find the island before sunset. "I know that island is around here somewhere." I said to Shadow. "I feel it in my gut."
"Are you sure it is directly north from Thelgar?" Shadow's inner voice spoke inside my head, as he mentioned the northern most city of Norath.
"I'm positive." I replied out loud. I hadn't learned how to talk to him with my mind.
"Then we should be on the right course." He continued. "Just keep your eyes peeled." I gave a small laugh at the irony in his word, but did as told. Minutes of silence passed with me trying to match up landmarks with the map and Shadow reaching out to see if he could find anything that wasn't fish. When suddenly, Shadow spotted something. "I see the island." Putting away my world map into one of our many saddle bags, I began to fish around for the map of Berk.
"How far off?" I asked as I pulled out the map I was looking for.
"Not far," he replied. "Two, maybe three minutes off." As I scanned the map, I had spotted the perfect landing site.
"Okay," I explained my plan. "About two miles east of the village, close to the center of the island, there is a clearing that looks like it has a small lake in it." Shadow's expression lightened as I said the magic words. "We can hide out there until nightfall. After which, we can begin our hunt." Without another word, we reached Berk under two minute. Probably because Shadow wanted to reach the lake so he could take a bath. I swear, Shadow is the weirdest dragon I have ever met. As soon as we landed, I hopped off of Shadow's back, and began to undo the saddle straps. As I'm removing the bag, I could feel Shadow's anxiousness to swim in fresh water. When I finally got the saddle off, he shot into the water, disappearing under its reflective surface. Chuckling softly to myself, I laid the saddle next to my bags. Soon after, my stomach gave of that tell-tale sound that said I was hungry. Getting into my bags, I pull out three things. A loaf of honey-wheat bread, made especially from the Norathian bakers, a slice of honey-roasted, salted pork, and a fine cut of cheese. Taking out my knife, I cut off a slice of the bread, smeared some cheese on it, and laid the slice of pork on it. As I was just about to take a bite, I heard someone scream in terror. Fearing the worst, I dropped my meal, and ran towards the screams. Sure enough, I saw Shadow, sitting on the edge of the lake, holding a rather large Viking in his mouth, by his pants. Around him, were five other Vikings, who appeared to be trying to talk to Shadow. Not wasting a second, I ran over to the group. "Shadow!" I yelled, waving my arms. The Vikings looked at me as I ran up to him. "Put him down now!" I demanded.
Putting him gently on the ground, Shadow looked at me. "He looked as if her were drowning." Shadow said with a whine. "I was only trying to help."
"I know, Shadow," I replied. "I know." Turning to look at the Vikings that surrounded us, I began to get all nervous. "Sorry about Shadow Faux." I apologized, and at the same time, introduced Shadow. "He thought your friend was drowning and wanted to help." I waited for them to strike, but was caught completely off guard when the scrawny guy in the group spoke.
"It's okay," he said, "we were just caught off guard by your dragon. Though, we've never seen a dragon like him before." As he said that he rubbed his chin and took a good look at Shadow. "Anyway, no harm no foul. I'm Hiccup, by the way. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III." He extended his hand out towards me.
"That's a mouthful." Shadow said.
"That's a mouthful." I found myself repeating.
"Yeah," Hiccup continued, "but most people just call me Hiccup." Smiling, I took his hand and gave it a shake.
"I'm Adin." I replied. "Adin Harkson."
"Nice to meet you Adin and Shadow." Hiccup smile before introducing the rest of his gang. "These are my friends. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut." He pointed to the boy and the girl in the back who looked to be fighting amongst themselves. "You've already met Fishlegs." He pointed towards the large guy who was inching away from Shadow. "That guy over there is Snotlout." He pointed towards a guy that looked to be flexing his muscles into the reflection of the lake. "And finally," he said with a sigh, "this is my beautiful wife, Astrid."
"How do you do?" She said, holding out her hand.
"Not bad," I said as I gave it a little shake, "just a little confused."
"About what?" Astrid asked.
"About two things actually." I replied. "First," I bent in close to whisper, "how, in the Holy Fields of Sarus, do you tell those two apart?" I pointed toward the twins, who had just broken out into an all-out brawl. One which Fishlegs tried to pull the girl away from.
"That's easy," Astrid explained, "Ruffnut is the girl, Tuffnut is the boy."
"Thanks," I smiled as I backed away.
"Any time. Now," Astrid crossed her arms over her chest, "what's the other thing you were confused about."
Trying to figure out how to word it delicately, I Said what confused me the most. "I thought that the Vikings of Berk hated dragons." With a smile, Astrid looked at Hiccup.
"You wanna take this one?" She asked. "Because I need to stop this fight before Ruffnut turns her fury towards her own husband." She said, referring towards Fishlegs, who held Ruffnut by the arms, trying to calm her down.
"Yeah," Hiccup said as Astrid left, "you could thank me for that. I mean, if it wasn't for me, that would still be the case."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm the one who showed them that dragons weren't as bad as we thought." Soon Hiccup began to explain the events that had unfolded over the past seven years. As I listened, he began to talk about his dragon, Toothless, to which my jaw literally dropped.
"Hold on," I said, Interrupting the story. "Are you telling me that you ride a Night Fury?" Hiccup replied with a slight nod, before continuing his story. As he came to the battle between him and Drago Bludvist, I began to feel uncomfortable. "Wow," I said when his story was finished, "I can't believe that happened."
"What?" Hiccup said with a bit of humor in his voice. "The fact that my dragon was able to take on an Alpha?"
"That," I replied, "and the fact that your best friend was forced to kill you own father." I took a moment before continuing. "I don't really know the pain that comes with that sort of loss, but I do know the pain all too well. You see, I lost my mother to a plague that ravaged Norath five years ago. It hurt me, but my father got the worst of it."
"What happened?" Hiccup said when the rest of the group gathered to hear my story.
"After my mother's death," I continued, "my father became detached. Leaving me to look after my sister." I wiped a tear from my eye, one brought on by such a sad memory, hoping no one saw it. "As soon as I had enough, I made plans to travel the world to see every dragon. But I promised myself that I wouldn't leave until I was sure my sister was old enough to take care of herself."
"What I don't understand," Astrid said after a moment of silence, "is why you left in the first place?" I looked at her. "I mean, sure your dad became detached, but that's not all, isn't it?" I knew one of them might ask this question, I just wasn't prepared with an answer. With a deep sigh, I decided to tell the truth.
"You're right," I said. "It wasn't my father being detached that made me leave. It's what he said when he started talking to me again." As I looked at their confused faces, I felt Shadow nudge me, urging me to continue. "Listen," I explained, hoping that I can convince them to keep my secret, "what I'm about to tell you must stay in this group, okay?" As they all gave a nod, I took a deep breath. "As I said, my name is Adin Harkson. But what I didn't tell you is my official title." Breathing in, I stood proud. "I am Adin Harkson, Imperial Prince of the Norathian Empire."
