ANI am having the story under go major major edits after having seen the second movie. The premise is the same but Hiccups motivation changed. SO here we go. This is still going to be Mericcup. This is three years after Brave and she was 15 during her movie. Hiccup was 14 and its been 4 years since the first movie and only a few months since the second. For Hiccups Armor think of HTTYD2. Astrid and Hiccup failed at dating and are only friends and were so at the start of the second movie. TV show is disregarded. Now on with the show.

Of Bows and Dragons

Chapter 1 Beginnings

A lone armored man sped along on a large black beast. The rider leaned forward and gripped the handles on the saddles tighter. The dragon grinned as they performed various aerial stunts. While usually it would only be the rider excited by this. This Night Fury however had an artificial tailfin that could only be operated by a rider. This dragon and rider were named Toothless and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, respectively. Their home, Berk, would be described by its inhabitants as twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death.

This young rider could not take time for fun. Not while the Vikings of Berk, his people were counting on them.

Flashback

Hiccup wiped the soot and sweat he acquired while working in the forge. He kept his job as a smith because he enjoyed the creativity it provided despite his duty as chief. He only had a brief time don his blackened armor before the meeting at the village mead hall. He shut and locked the old smithy and looked to where the setting sun should have been.

'Damn.' He thought. Running late to your own meeting was just bad form. He ran as fast as he could across the rocky and hilly ground with a metal leg. Opening the doors, Hiccup was greeted by the sight of most of the village adults.

"Hiccup! Glad you finally showed up!" shouted Gobbler, "They were gettin a bit antsy."

Hiccup just shrugged and stood next to his large friend and mentor at the far end of the large round table. He held up his hand sto call for silence. "So, uh, I called you all here to talk about our current, um ah, living situation." Hiccup paused and watched as his kin shared sad and uncomfortable looks. "As you are all aware the attack by Drago left us devastated. We all lost som-somone…" He trailed off.

His Mother reached out and put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "…someone during the attack. But other than the human cost, our home has been decimated. Our forests and few crops have been turned to ash and we have no way to regrow them. And the ancient dragon Drago had scared away or ate most of the fish. I believe this may be the end of our time on Berk."

The outrage was instant villagers were yelling weapons went flying.

"Alright!" shouted Gobber, "Alright. Now, hold on now. The lad has a point. This isn't like the war we had with the other tribes a couple of years back."

"But Gobber this is our Home! Our ancesters, they lived and died here." Cried the voice of a villager in the back of the room.

"And if we stay here every one of us will die here. Our Childern are are starving, the trader is still at least three months away, and winter is still fast approaching." Hiccup paused as mummers of agreement spread though the group. "I'm proposing a rider go and search for a new home."

Flashback end

That was three weeks ago. They spent the first two weeks settlement hopping among the Vikings. At all of the mead halls he visited he just wanted to be accepted by his kinsmen and find a place to call home. Unfortunately, he was chased out of every single one. Evidently they felt as most other tribes: Vikings should not make peace with the dragons. Not to mention the rumors of the Black Rider and his acts in the tribal wars.

Hiccup and Toothless spent the last week of their exile living in the local forests of whatever land they had arrived in. "This is great," said Hiccup with sarcasm dripping from his voice, "we can just live out here forever, eh, buddy?" Toothless slapped him with the flaps on the side of his head. "Yeah, yeah. Not enough fish and meat."

They glided over the beautiful lush forests with a crystal blue river running through it. As the sun went down Hiccup directed his dragon towards a clearing in the forest. As they landed the young Viking unhooked himself from the saddle and slide off. After regaining his land legs he approached his only friend and removed the saddle and hung it in a nearby tree. These lands would be perfect if they could find someone to ally themselves with.

They then set to work on their new nightly routine. Toothless prepared a fire to cook his human's food, while Hiccup removed the food stuff from the saddlebags. After dinner the two of them curled up to sleep.

The Next Morning….

Castle DunBroch was already bustling with activity at eight in the morning. Shop owners bustled to open their shops and tradesmen work at their trades. A single maid was to awaken the princess. Such was life in northern Scotland.

"Princess Merida! Mornin' is 'ere!" called the maid as she tore open the curtains.

The lump in the bed moaned and twisted. "I don't want too."

"Breakfast is almost severed, lass." The maid said casually as she picked up a green dress.

The promise of food made the princess leap out of bed. She quickly grabbed the dress, put it on, and grabbed her bow and quiver. Merida rushed down the hall and made it to the main hall just as the servants brought large bowls of bacon, sausage, and eggs. "I made it!"

After a healthy dose of breakfast she went to bolt.

"Be back by lunch!" her mother called after her.

With Merida

Merida decided not to ride Angus during this crisp morn. Suddenly the blue of a Wil-o-wisp appeared in front of her as she was walking deeper into the forest.

She sprinted after the tail for another minute until her foot caught on a root and she tumbled into small stream, which wouldn't have been a problem had she not hit her head on a rock. She was about to drown. Coincidently, and thankfully, she wasn't alone in the forest.

With Hiccup

Hiccup and Toothless woke up and started to make their breakfast once the sun started filtering in through the trees. Suddenly, Toothless stood up on his hind legs with his ears perked up. He growled and bolted in the direction of the stream they had seen the night before. Without thinking the still armored Hiccup grabbed his helmet and rushed after his best friend. The pair quickly came to the stream. "Toothless!" Hiccup shouted as he rushed towards the mass of red hair connected to the vibrant green dress.

He turned her over and put his ear to her chest. Nothing. He began to do compressions on the young girls chest. A moment later she coughed up a bunch of water. He checked again. Ba-bum, ba-bum. "She'll make it, buddy." He looked her over, "But it looks like she hit her head pretty bad. Let's get her back to camp." 'Damn she's pretty.'

At the camp Hiccup laid the ginger down with her head leaning on a rock. In a short time he had her small cut cleaned and bandaged. Once he was satisfied with his work and he was sure there were no other injuries, Hiccup sat on a boulder near the fire and his dragon.

Toothless was curious about this new human Hiccup found. Her aura was pleasant to feel. It was similar to that of his human. Or at least his human before the war, now it was a bit darker. He stood up on his hind legs and waddled over to the sleeping girl.

"Toothless?" called Hiccup as he saw the approach. The Night Fury sniffed her again and laid down beside her. "Oh sure. It takes me weeks to even get close to you. It takes her ten minutes."

Toothless' ears perked up and he gave his signature grin to his friend. The dragon's thoughts returned to the unconscious fire headed human beside him. Her aura was kind and it smelled of forests. He nestled in close to the flame head girl for a nap.

Hiccup smiled at the two being to his left. He took out his journal from his bag and he grabbed a piece of charcoal out of the pit. Hiccup began a pass time he hadn't had time or the inclination to do since he had become chief. He began to draw more than just a map.

AN: That is the end of CH1. Review should you like. Let me know what you think of the edits.