Author's Note:

Hello all and welcome to yet another story spawned by a plot bunny I could not get rid of. This is an AU set during Riders/Defenders of Berk and, as always with me, it's Snotlout centric. This fic does borrow heavily from the Final Fantasy games but the aspects I'm using originally came from mythology anyway, I'm not using any main characters or plotlines from the games at all. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter.

I do not own any aspect of How to Train Your Dragon or what I use from Final Fantasy.

Chapter 1

Snotlout carefully removed his bracers, then paused when he saw the pattern on his right arm.

It had been there for as long as he could remember, a tattoo that had never been inked, and it had puzzled him for so long. His mother had told him it was special, an indication of a rare gift that he had, however, she also told him to keep it hidden, even from his father. She never gave him a reason why, never explained why it was special, but he still kept it secret. His mother had been wise and if she said it was best to be kept hidden then he would obey, despite the fact she was dead.

He lightly traced the pattern with his finger, as he often had before, wondering what it was, what it meant. As always, he found no answers and he soon gave up, continuing with preparing for bed.

It had been a long day at dragon training and Hookfang had been particularly stubborn. The Nightmare seemed to go out of his way to make things difficult for him that day and he'd lost track of the number of times the dragon had smacked him about. His father hadn't made things any better and had been far pushier than normal, trying to convince him to challenge Hiccup for leadership of the Dragon Riders. The man had seemingly become obsessed with making him be the best ever since Thawfest. Okay, he'd almost lost but he'd managed to pull it back in the end (even though he was sure Hiccup threw the race), wasn't that good enough?

He sighed.

Of course it wasn't, his father expected nothing but perfection, even if his idea of perfection was radically different from everyone else's. It was as if his dad wanted him to somehow achieve everything he hadn't in his youth, magically become head and shoulders above the entirety of Berk and outshine everyone.

Did he care that it was basically impossible? Not at all. Did he think about whether it was what Snotlout himself wanted or not? Of course not!

The teen moodily tossed his bracers aside.

Uphold the Jorgenson name, that was everything he was to strive for, never mind that the things the clan held in high esteem were not so favoured by the village. They were Jorgensons, why should they care?

All in all, he found it rather…hollow.

Regardless, he still pressed on, still strived to do everything he was asked. Be the best, be a Jorgenson, a son worthy of the burden placed upon him by his clan, a paragon of everything Jorgensons were and make his father proud!

He glanced at the pattern on his arm again.

But would it make his mother proud?

With another sigh, he flopped into bed and turned onto his side, abandoning his bed cover. It had been strangely warm recently, reaching temperatures they didn't get even in the height of summer, and he'd long since stopped needing his bedsheets.

Pushing his musings aside he closed his eyes. Tomorrow was another day and Hiccup had already declared an early start (he was sure his cousin was doing this on purpose), he'd need all the sleep he could get. He drifted off into slumber, the name his mother had given for the pattern on his arm echoing round his mind.

Shiva.

Behind Berk, in the depths of one of its caves, a bright glow illuminated a vast cavern.

The cavern was a recent creation, carved out by the bubbling lava that had sprung into being. An intense heat permeated the entire space, spilling out of the cave and heating Berk, creating its unnatural warmth. Not even dragons could withstand the heat in the cavern and a human would be roasted in seconds.

However, something still resided there.

In a ring of rock, surrounded by lava, an immense column of flame burst forth. A mighty hand sprung from within and clenched into a massive fist as a pair of horns protruded briefly from the flames.

The hand retreated and a bellowing roar shook the cavern. If anyone had been there to hear it, they might've realised that it wasn't a roar of anger or triumph, but one of pain. The flames subsided and the cavern settled once more.

Waiting.

PS-As you may all have guessed, I'm taking the summon creatures from Final Fantasy and placing them in the HTTYD verse. See if you can guess which one is lurking in the cave? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.