Hi all. So, this is a plot bunny that has superglued itself to my brain for the longest of times after reading hundreds of HTTYD fanfictions. Before this bunny decides to gnaw its way out of my head, I thought, what the heck, I'll just start writing it down. Currently, the bunny, whom I named Zombie because (s)he likes to chew on my brain, is still rampaging. Also, I'll like to add the fact that this is my first HTTYD fanfic ever. That's right, begin the sympathizing party :D! Cause, you know, I heard those were cool...
All jokes aside though, I hope you guys and gals will enjoy this story and chapter. The timeline is after HTTYD, but before Riders of Berk.
Under the bright sun, everything is silent and still as a girl perched on top of an Deadly Nadder scans her surroundings with glacier colored eyes. While the girl surveys the sky, the Nadder cocks her head ever so slightly as she gazes downward into the ocean, immersed in her own vanity. Really, who could blame her? She's truly a beautiful creature with scales the same hue as her rider's eyes. Under the sunlight, they shimmer like sapphires, descending into sharp spikes jutting out of the Nadder's swaying tail. Along her flapping wings lay patches of yellow mixing with blue as they adjust to the changing dynamics of the wind. Above, a rogue breeze shifts the girl's choppy, blonde bangs as the teen spots the tip of a horned helmet disappearing behind a sea stack. The blonde smirks to herself and pats the Nadder on top of the head. Said dragon pulls herself away from her reflection and redirects her attention to the girl.
"C'mon Stormfly. Looks like we found our first victim." Stormfly's rider points to the sea stack ahead and the Nadder complies obediently. The sooner Stormfly gets this done, the sooner she can get back to her reflection.
Behind the rock, a rather chubby boy shifts his eyes nervously as he bites his lower lip. Underneath, his Gronckle, a bulbous dragon dyed the color of the Earth, smiles happily with a pink tongue drooping out.
"Boo!"
"Wahh!" The boy screams, instinctively backing away from his right side. Seeing that the girl was laughing, he puts on a poorly made glare with hurt, and a tinge of fright, in his eyes.
"Don't do that Astrid! You know how much Meatlug and I don't appreciate it! Do we, girl?" Meatlug replies with a lick to the boy's face as she hovers out of hiding.
Astrid huffs out two more laughs before replying. "Sorry Fishlegs, but I couldn't help it. It was just so perfect."
She gives him an apologetic smile. "Look on the bright side, Fishlegs. Now you get to help me hunt down, Snotlout, the twins, and Hiccup."
Fishlegs perks up at the prospect of hunting down Snotlout and the twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut. At the mention of Hiccup, however, he presses his index finger to his lips in contemplation.
"Hmm, Snotlout and the twins will be easy to find. Hiccup will be tricky though. He does ride a Night Fury after all."
Astrid nods in agreement. "Don't worry, we'll find him. Let's focus on Snotlout and the twins for now."
"Hookfang!"
Speak of Hel and she'll come, thought Astrid with a roll of her eyes. Astrid and Fishlegs turns to the direction of the voice. Instead of seeing the muscular boy they expected, a lone Monstrous Nightmare, alight in flames, stares back at them aloofly.
"Guys? A little help here?!" This time the voice came from the ocean itself. Readjusting their gazes, the two teens spots a figure drifting in the waters.
"Nah, you look good wet Snotlout." replies Astrid.
"Guys, come on!" Sure, it's an unusually warm day, as warm as it could get on Berk anyway, but the icy water is still unforgiving in temperature.
Astrid raises an amused brow. Was that a look of pleading in his blue eyes? With one last savoring look at the helpless form of the usually arrogant teen, Astrid reluctantly flies Stormfly down. She extends a hand, to which Snotlout gladly takes, and pulls him up behind her. Brushing his wet and matted down black hair from his eyes, Snotlout grins at Astrid.
"So, beautiful, you here often?"
Astrid fake gags to Fishlegs, whom stifles a laugh, as Snotlout remounts back onto the now flameless Hookfang.
"So, how did you end up in the ocean anyway?" ask Fishlegs.
Snotlout makes an exasperated expression. "Well, duh, obviously because I wanted to go for a swim."
"Really, 'cuz I thought Hookfang set you on fire and then threw you off?"
The trio turns around, meeting with the blond Thorston twins riding their Hideous Zippleback, a green spotted dragon with two heads. Snotlout splutters indignantly.
"What? No! Hookfang didn't throw me off, I jumped off!"
Astrid chuckles, noticing how Snotlout just contradicted himself in going for a swim.
"Oh," replies Tuffnut, "That makes sense."
"Still lit you on fire though." Ruffnut adds. The twins exchange snickers and a high five as Snotlout huffs and glares at them.
"Um, aren't you two supposed to be hiding?" comments Fishlegs.
Tuffnut gives Fishlegs a confused look. "We were? I thought we were watching Hookfang throw Snotlout into the ocean?" Ruffnut nods her head in agreement.
"I jumped off!"
Astrid sighs, slightly irritated at the twins lack of ability to follow directions. After all, this is hide-and-annihilate; hide is in the name for Thor's sake. "Well, less work for me I guess. Now there's only Hiccup left."
Where could he be hiding? They're currently flying in the middle of the ocean, the nearest land miles away, excluding Berk which is off limits. Sure, there are sea stacks big enough to hide a person and dragon, but she had already checked them, the last one housing Fishlegs and Meatlug. Could they be beneath the water? Don't think so. There's no way Hiccup could hold his breath that long even if Toothless could. That leaves only one place left.
Astrid shakes her head with a smile. "Oh, Hiccup, so predictable."
With that said, Stormfly flies towards the clouds. Just as she disappears behind them, a dark blur exits and stops beside the other teens. The new comer, a scrawny brunet with olive green eyes, mimics Astrid and shakes his head.
"Astrid, so predictable."
"Or am I?"
Hiccup turns around and comes face to face with Astrid. He gives her a sheepish grin.
"Well, hello there Astrid." Hiccup replies, grateful that he didn't stutter. As the friendship between the two blossomed, Hiccup grew more comfortable around her to the point where his stuttering gradually became tamed. Albeit, butterflies still flutter in his stomach sometimes when she talks to or smiles at him. Hiccup still wouldn't dare call their relationship as the girlfriend-boyfriend type though, even if, technically, she had already kissed him. On the lips. That's a thought for another day.
Astrid grins in victory. Truth be told, it was complete luck that she spotted the fading crimson of Toothless's artificial tail at the last second. Of course, she's not going to tell Hiccup that.
Hiccup clears his throat. "So, everyone, how was the first official game of hide-and-annihilate on drag-" His eyes land on Snotlout and blinks once. "Snotlout. Why are you wet?"
"He wanted to go for a swim and Hookfang helped him." Astrid replies sarcastically.
"...Right."
"Ugh, can we just go back already?" complains Snotlout, barely containing his shivers. Ice cold water plus a windy breeze equals a very freezing Snotlout. Hiccup, noticing this, nods an affirmative. Snotlout may not be his favorite person in the Archipelago, but he isn't about to let his cousin, who battled alongside him against the Red Death, freeze to death.
Hiccup pats Toothless's scaly head to which the Night Fury acknowledges with a hum.
"Come on, bud. Let's go home."
Toothless gurgles in agreement and flaps his wings to pick up more air. Just as the riders start to head back towards Berk, Hiccup shivers as he feels a gaze behind him. Instinctively, he turns his head only to be met with the vast emptiness of the sea. Hiccup rubs his nape with his left hand subconsciously.
"Hiccup? What's wrong?" Astrid asks with a worried tone when she noticed that he was lagging behind. He stares for another second before shaking his head.
"It's nothing." Probably just my imagination, thought Hiccup.
"Hey Hiccup."
"Welcome back Hiccup!"
"Hello Hiccup!"
It's weird how one can change from the runt of the litter to the hero of the tribe in just one day. Well, at least it's weird to Hiccup. He's used to disappointed stares and nasty scowls, not pats on the back and happy greetings. Yup. Life on Berk sure has changed for one Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.
"Ah, son!"
Speaking of changes, walking away from the port, a large redhead makes his way up to Hiccup. If there is one word to describe Stoick the Vast, it'll be, well, vast. Literally; from his gigantic stature to his enormous braided beard, nothing about this man, not even his personality, screams small.
"Hey dad."
Despite being father and son, however, the only physical similarity Stoick and Hiccup share would be their jaded eyes. This very lack of bodily alikeness was the main cause of the drift in their relationship pre-Red Death. The sarcasm and the invention mishaps came later.
Stopping in front of Hiccup, Stoick stares at the Night Fury beside his son and gives an nod of acknowledgement.
"Toothless."
Said dragon grunts in reply. Hiccup directs his attention to the two. Honestly, the boy has no idea what happened between the elusive dragon and the ex-dragon slayer while he was in his coma, but, when he woke up, they had already shared a sense of understanding. On what grounds though, who knows?
"So," Stoick shifts nervously, "How was your day?"
Hiccup would have smiled fondly at his dad's attempt to get to know him better, as compared to previous attempts, which was zero, if it wasn't so painfully awkward.
Hiccup unconsciously rubs his upper arm. "Oh, you know, good."
Stoick nods a little too rapidly. "Good, good."
A silence ensues. The Night Fury between the two huffs in annoyance as he lays down onto his paws. Toothless has been with them long enough to know that this is going to be long and painful process.
"...We played hide-and-annihilate today?" comments Hiccup, more of an unsure question rather than a statement.
"Oh yes, good ol' hide-and-annihilate."
"..."
"..."
"Stoick!"
Hiccup exclaims inside. Oh thank Odin!
Stoick, seemingly relieved as well, turns to the approaching Vikings. In the lead is a man similar to Fishlegs in figure, but he's much older with brown hair and eyes. Behind him, a tall, robust blond with a bucket on his head stumbles along.
"What is it Mulch, Bucket?"
The shorter of the two, Mulch, replies instantly.
"Well, me and Bucket here were out fishing as usual when we spotted ships in the distance."
"Three ships! Three ships!"
Mulch nods. "Right, three ships and they're definitely bigger than any fishing boat I've ever seen."
"Three bad ships near Berk!"
"Bad ships?" Stoick's face contorts into confusion before turning into that of seriousness. "Are they enemy ships?"
Mulch scratches his head. "Well, no, I don't think so. They're more like worn out ships, but I guess they can also be call bad ships."
"Worn out? As in abandoned? Are there people on board?" Hiccup inquires.
Mulch turns to Hiccup. "I don't know. We weren't close enough to check, but it looks like the ships are heading straight for Berk."
"Hmm," contemplates Stoick before his sight lands on Toothless, "Hiccup, can you hide the dragons?"
Hiccup splutters, eyes widening comically.
"W-What?! Why?"
Stock sighs. He knew it was going to be like this.
"Hiccup, son, I know how you feel about this since we've just made peace with the dragons, but think of the bigger picture. If there are people on board of those ships, they're either going to be friendly or aggressive."
Hiccup slumps, knowing where his father is going with this.
"If they're aggressive, then having dragons would only incite their anger and put the dragons themselves in danger. If they're friendly, they might not be after seeing the dragons. They could either turn defensive or aggressive, and both could lead to battle."
Hiccup gazes back at Stoick with determined eyes that are steadily losing in resolve.
"This is for the good of Berk Hiccup, and, believe it or not, for the good of the dragons too."
Hiccup looks away with his arms folded against his chest. He sees his father's point, sure. That doesn't mean he has to like it.
"Fine." He gets out before walking away, Toothless following faithfully beside him.
"It'll only be temporary!" Stoick yells to the disappearing figure. He then runs a hand across his face.
Stoick hates to be the one who puts such a devastated look on his son's face, but he isn't just a father, he's also a chief. He has to do what's good for the village, which includes his son and now the dragons, even if it means making the hard decisions. Stoick hopes that Hiccup will understand.
This concludes chapter one! How was it, good, bad, meh?
As I said (or written, whatever) before, this is my first HTTYD fanfic, so I'm sort of insecure about the characters personalities. You'll do me a big favor if you can give me some feedback about whether or not I'm on track for their responses and behaviors. Feedback on the story itself would be wonderful too.
So, review, favorite, follow, and all of those things I'm sure you've heard a million times before. Also, I accept flames as long as their constructive and within a safe perimeter. We need to contain forest fires.
Onward to chapter two, Zombie!