Chapter 1
Hiccup Kaida
This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. Our village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests.
A sheep bleated loudly as it was ripped from the ground. The sheep next to it took its place and chomped on the grass as if nothing had happened.
You see most places only get mice, or mosquitoes, we have...
Hiccup and Kaida jumped before slamming their door shut as a fireball was launched at it. "Dragons…"
Berk was a war zone with so many dragons overrunning it.
Most people would leave. Not us. We're vikings. We have stubbornness issues.
The kids pushed their door open once again and ran out the house.
My name's Hiccup. And I'm Kaida. Great names, we know. But they're not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will ward off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanour wouldn't do that.
They continued running through the village, trying not to bump into people. They sill got shouted at.
"What are you doin' here?"
"Get inside!"
"What are you doin' out?"
"Get back inside!"
They ignored all these commands and continued running through the village. They moved left and right, trying to doge fireballs and other Vikings.
"HICCUP! KAIDA!"
Suddenly a hand grab them both by their collars and hoist them up off the ground before getting roasted by a Nadder.
"What are they doin' out agai- What are you both doin' out? Get inside!"
They was roughly tossed forward and they continued running.
That's Stoick the Vast, Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragons' head clean off of its shoulders. Do we believe it? …Yes we do.
"What have we got?" He asked. A nearby Viking responded with " Gronkle's, Nadder's, Zippleback's, oh and a Monstrous Nightmare."
"Any Night Fury's?"
"None so far."
"Good."
As soon as they entered a forge, Hiccup took off his brown fur vest and replaced it with his apron, while Kaida just kept hers on.
"Oh, nice of you both tah join the party. I thought you'd been carried off."
"Wha-Who? Us? Nah, come on, We are way too muscular for their taste," Hiccup said as he and Kaida both lifted a heavy hammer up together and put it on some nails on the wall. "I mean, they wouldn't know what to do with all…this!"
Hiccup struck a muscular pose, exposing the 'muscles' in my arms. The blacksmith rolled his eyes while Kaida just laughed.
"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?"
Kaida stuck her tongue out Gobber playfully before opening the small doors. Vikings came up at once with a few swords, urging for them to hurry and fix them.
The meathead with the attitude and the interchangeable hands is Gobber. We've been his apprentice ever since we were little. Well…littler.
As they continued to work Hiccup managed to lean his head to the side so he could peak outside. Still chaos, all around.
He looked over to the side and he saw a house suddenly burst into flames.
See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.
"FIRE!"
"Alright, let's go!"
Hiccup and Kaida whipped their heads round and leaned out the window to look outside. They could see a large barrel being pulled by a crate, and around it they saw five figures, all of them carrying buckets of water. They all were the only other teens in the village.
Oh that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and…Astrid. Ohh…their job is so much cooler.
Hiccup leaning more out the window but was suddenly hooked up under his collar and yank him up so his feet were off the ground, by Gobber. Kaida just walked back.
"Aww, Gobber!" Hiccup wined. "Come on! Let me out please! I need to make my mark!"
"Oh, you've made plenty of marks all in the wrong places!" he said, and he poked Hiccup's stomach with his hook.
"Please, just give us two minutes!" Kaida begged coming over. "We'll kill a dragon, our life will get infinitely better, hell, Hiccup might even get a date."
Hiccup looked at her with an annoyed look.
"You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these."
Gobber held up a large bola in his hand. A second later it was snatched away by another Viking who used it to take down a Gronkle. Ignoring Gobber, Hiccup pushed passed him and walked back towards his bola-launcher.
"Okay, fine, but this will throw it for me."
Kaida walked over and patted the surface of her brother's invention, which somehow accidentally triggered it, sending the bola flying. Gobber dodged it and it flew out the window, hitting another Viking in the face. Kaida hissed as he hit the ground with a loud thud.
"Sorry!" She called out.
"See, now this right here is what I'm talkin' about!" Gobber said sternly, marching up to me.
Hiccup shook my head. "Mild calibration issue…"
"Guys. If you ever want tah get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all…this."
Gobber gestured his arms all over them both. They frowned.
"But, you just pointed to all of us!"
"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you."
"Oohh…"
"Oohh, yes," he mimicked.
"You, sir, are playing a very dangerous game," Hiccup said, trying to sound threatening. "Keeping this much, raw…Viking-ness contained. There will be consequences!"
"I'll take my chances," Gobber tossed a sword into Hiccup's and Kaida's arms. "Swords. Sharpen. Now."
"Ugh, w-whatever," Kaida grunted.
They lift the sword in their arms and laid it on the grinding wheel. It start to sharpen it, concentrating carefully.
One day we'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get us at least noticed. Gronkles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend. A Zippleback? Exotic; two heads, twice the status. And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire. But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the-
"Night Fury!"
"Get down!"
BOOM! The sound of the catapult exploding filled the air. They stopped sharpening the sword and leaned out the window, staring up at the sky.
This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and…never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury, that's why we're gonna be the first.
Hiccup and Kaida turned around and went back inside the stall. They saw Gobber trade his hammer for a large axe.
"Man the fort, guys, they need me out there!" he headed for the door, then stopped and turned to face them.
"Stay…Put…There… Yah know what I mean!"
They stared at him as he gave a loud yell and ran into the fray. They smirked at each other.
Kaida quickly grabbed her brothers launcher, while Hiccup put his vest back on and pushed it outside through the cluster of Vikings. They swerved it through the mayhem, just narrowly avoiding other people.
"Kids, where are you goin'?"
"Come back here!"
"I know, be right back!" Hiccup called out.
They continued running until they came to the top of a large cliff. they brought the launcher to the edge and dropped the handles on the ground. They unfolded it, cranking several levers and bowed the arms. Kaida dropped a bola into a chamber and then pointed the weapon up towards the sky. Hiccup stood there, waiting for something to present itself.
"C'mon," Hiccup muttered. "Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at…"
They stared up at the sky, listening carefully for something, anything. Then there was a loud whistling sound that started echoing, slowly growing louder and louder. They thought I could see a black shape against the dark blue sky. There was a loud swooshing sound and another tower was blasted at and burst into flames. Taking careful aim Hiccup quickly pulled the trigger. The force pushed him back and he fell flat on his back bring Kiada with him. They sat up as quick as they could and looked up as a loud screech filled the air. They saw the dragon fly down, crashing down just off Raven Point. Two seconds of shocked silence followed as they stared in amazement.
"You hit it?" Kaida said in surprise.
Hiccup smiled as he realized that he did. He hit it. Hiccup jumped up, yelling in triumph.
"Yes, I hit it! Did anybody else see that?"
But their victory was not to last. Behind them there was a loud crashing sound mixed with the sound of splintering wood. They flinched, then slowly turned around to see a large Monstrous Nightmare, its large foot on top of what was left of Hiccup's launcher.
"Except for you," Hiccup said bluntly.
The Nightmare reared its head back, a low grow building in its throat, and small flames flaring from its nostrils. TheyI knew exactly what that meant. Without hesitating they turned and started sprinting as fast as they could, the Nightmare behind them, trying to snap at them.
They ran back into the village, dodging fire being blasts at them. Thinking where they could just hide, Hiccup dragged his sister behind a brazier pole and waited. A blast of fire hit it, surrounding the whole thing and just barley missing them. Hiccup turned around, avoiding the flames, and tried to see if the Nightmare was still there. The Nightmare came round the other side ready to finish them off. Suddenly the Chief seemed to jump out of nowhere and tackled the dragon. They had a small stare-off, and the dragon tried to blast more of its fire, but only a ended up spitting it out. The dragon gave a look that said 'uh-oh' as the chief smirked.
"You're all out."
He marched forward, raising his beefy fists. He punched and kicked the Nightmare before it backed up and flew away. Suddenly the pole Hiccup and Kaida was standing behind broke due to the base being on fire. It fell to the side, exposing them; just standing there there knowing they were in for it.
Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know…
The iron basket that was once on top of the pole bounced down the hill, destroying everything in its path, and scattering all the Vikings. They hissed, winced, and made a couple of facial expressions as they watched the destruction.
"Sorry, dad…" Hiccup and Kaida said, not looking at Stoick's angry face.
They looked up at the sky to see all the dragons carrying most of their surplices. They bit their lips nervously, turning slowly to look at their dad. He had a unreadable glare all over his face. They just shrugged and pointed outward.
"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."
Hiccup yelped as his dad grabbed him by his collar and started dragging me away, Kaida running after him.
"No, its not like last times dad. I mean Hiccup really actually hit it this time! You guys were busy and Hiccup had a very clear shot." Kaida started to explain.
"I saw it go down just off Raven Point. We need to get a search party out there before-" Hiccup was cut off.
"STOP!"
Hiccup quickly shut his mouth, wincing a little bit at the loudness.
"Just…stop. Every time you both step outside, disaster follows! Can you guys not see that I got bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village tah feed!"
"…Well, between you and me the village could do with a little less feeding, don't yah think?" Kaida said with a little giggle.
"This isn't a joke!" Stoick snapped. "Ugh, why can't yah both follow the simplest orders?"
"I-I can't stop myself!" Hiccup defended. "I see a dragon and I have to just… kill it, yah know? It's who I am, dad."
Stoick rubbed his forehead, looking stressed.
"Oh, you are many things kids, but dragon killers are not one of them. Get back to the house. Make sure they gets there," he said to Gobber, who smacked the back of their heads. "I have this mess to clean up."
They passed up all the other Vikings, who were looking down at them in a disappointed way. Then as we passed up the other teens they laughed and pointed at them.
"Quite the performance," said Tuffnut, smirking before Ruffnut pushed him.
"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snotlout said, starting to get into Hiccup's face.
"Thank you, thank you, at least I was trying. So..."
The kids and Gobber continued to walk to their house, neither of them saying a word. An till Kaida did.
"I swear, Gobber, Hiccup really hit one."
"Sure, Kaida."
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Dad never listens."
"Well, it runs in the family."
"And whenever he dose it's always with this…disappointed scowl like someone skimped on meat in his sandwich," Hiccup then turned around and started to mock his dad's voice. "'Excuse me, barmaid, I'm afraid yah brough' me the wrong offspring. I ordered and extra large boy, one with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talkin' fishbone!'" Kaida couldn't contain the laughter that stared to boil up in her stomach.
"Now you're thinks about this all wrong. It's not so much what yah look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."
Kaida stopped laughing and stared at him, Hiccup's jaw open and his brows furrowed.
"Thank you for summing that up," Kaida said sarcastically, as she walked over to her brother of was grabbing the door handle.
"Look, the point is, you both need to stop trying so hard to be something you're not."
"We just wanna be one of you guys," Hiccup said hopelessly.
Gobber let out a sigh and left, while Hiccup and Kaida went out the back door and into the forest.
