Chapter 1: The Fall of Birkwood

It was a quiet day in the village of Birkwood. The birds were singing, the people chattering, and a young couple laugther as their young child ran after her mother's dragon, Skycrusher. Five years ago, the father and chief of the village would have killed said dragon in a heartbeat if it weren't for his wife, Valka, for showing him and Birkwood that dragons weren't the beast their ancestors had led them to believe. Now the two species lived together as dragon and rider.

Stoick bellowed as his five year old daughter, Hiccup, fell into a tumbling ball after tripping on a small twig and hitting her head on Skycrusher's large legs. Hiccup shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the dizziness the fall had left her in, only to pout when it got worse. It stayed on her face for three seconds before being replaced by a squeal of delight as she realized her favorite playmate stood before her. She quickly stood up and latched herself onto the dragon's leg.

"I caught you!"

The young child laughed as she snuggled her face into her playmate's leg, giggling all the more as she saw the dragon roll it's eyes in mock annoyance before picking her up and racing around the field. Her Father and mother smiled at their child's joy while relaxing on a small hill a few feet away from where the two played together. The happy moment did not last as the sound of one of the survey squads blowing a particular tune that made the two adults (and dragon) freeze.

"Skycrusher… take Hiccup home… now,"

Valka spoke in a strained yet urgent voice as Stoick grabbed his weapons and made his way towards the shore. The dragon did as told and picked the child up in its mouth before running to their house.

Black smoke covered the sky of Birkwood as dense fire burned the houses below. Screams of pain and battle cries rang out as blood splattered across the land. The once beautiful village now a place of death, fire, and horror. Though the horrid sounds of screams of agony, a small cry was barely audible in the war zone as a child tried to get her friend to get up.

" Sky… Sky come on… get up, I'm… I'm scared."

The young child cried as she shook the dragon's body, only to become chocked sobs as the creature didn't move. Soon, rustling could be heard not far from where she stood, the child trembled in fright, whimpering and scooting closer to the dragon as the sound of footsteps drew closer. She closed her eyes and waited for whatever it was to come out, only to gasp and give a cry in relief when she realized it was her uncle, Gobber. She ran into the man's arms, tears of relief flooding her vision as he pulled her up and held her close. Slowly, her eyes began to flutter shut as the adrenaline and fear began to leave her body.

Gobber watched as Hiccup fell into a restless sleep in his arms, relief quickly flooding his eyes at the sight of his niece safe, only to turn to anguish at the sight of the dragon before him. Tears slowly clouded his vision as sorrow filled his heart, the dying words of his best friend still ringing clear in his head.

"Go my friend-" a coughing fit followed by blood pooling out of the chief's mouth and abdomen from a deep gash given to him by a Skrill.

"F-find… Hiccup…. Please find…. Please find and protect her."

The warrior begged his best friend, his eyes holding a pleading gleam of which Gobber had never seen on his face before. Taking his friends hand within his own, Gobber promised him, his face full of conviction as he spoke," Don't worry my friend, I'll find and protect Hiccup with my life." As soon as the words left his lips, Stoick gave him one last, grateful smile, before his eyes began to cloud as he fell into an eternal slumber.

Gobber shook his head to dispel the horrid image before quickly making his way towards the fallen dragons body, carefully picking up a small satchel filled with some of the child's belonging that were meant for an emergency such as this. He quickly made his way deep towards the forest of Birkwood where he had told his dragon to hide and wait for his return.

Once he had gotten both the child and himself onto the dragon, he began to walk towards the mountains towards one of his old hideouts from his youth. He soon came to a stop however, when the sound of something crashing into trees and hitting the ground with a loud thud caused him to freeze. Before he could even blink, a searing hot pain shot through his head as a strange voice echoed throughout his subconscious.

"Please…..help…child…fall….hands….must protect…chosen…save… all" The voice wheezed, its speech broken and sluggish, but Gobber could tell that it belonged to a woman and sounded desperate. He quickly searched for where the voice came from, only to fall on the fallen mass before him. Slowly, cautiously, he began to inch his way towards the black form- eyes widening the closer he got to the thing.

"By Odin's beard,"

he whispered in awe as his eyes met with the fiery violet orbs of a Nightfury, tensing as it moved it's right wing into the air, only to once again stare in awe as a young Nightfury lay near the dragon. Before he even had a chance to question what was happening, a loud yell pierced through the quiet woods as it came closer and closer.

Once again the searing pain entered his mind as the dragon spoke before it shot two large fireballs from its mouth, slowly morphing into a large ring and showing him an image of what looked like a small cottage. His eyes locked with the dragons pleading ones once more before he shook his head and grabbed the nightfury and moved his dragon into the portal just as a large man with a scar came into view. The last thing he heard was a scream of fury and the dragon's voice saying thank you as he was enveloped in a blinding light.