A/N: Greetings, my faithful readers… or new readers… or not-so-faithful readers… welcome anyway. This is my first non-OC-centric story, so if you feel someone is acting OOC, let me know, and if I agree I will try to fix it. Also, I've posted both the prologue and the first chapter in the same chapter because it bugs me when the chapter number on the website doesn't line up with the actual number… yep, that's pretty much it.
Prologue
"Hookfang, help! The whole flock is after me!"
Hiccup looked up as Snotlout ran past him on the path, pursued by five or six angry Terrible Terrors. He glanced at Toothless beside him, who shrugged, and at Hookfang, who was sunning himself a few feet from the path and eyeing his rider lazily before deciding to ignore it.
"What happened this time, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked his cousin as he ran in circles chased by small dragons.
"I took something they were playing with and now they're all going to get me!"
Toothless snorted, and Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Sorry, I think you've brought that on yourself."
Snotlout sprinted into the village while Hiccup and his dragon followed at a more reasonable pace. Hiccup winced when he heard a crashing sound- he wanted nothing more than to walk the other way, but as Chief of Berk he should probably try to fix the problem before property got destroyed and a fight broke out. He jogged the rest of the short distance to the village center to find Snotlout on his back with a pile of empty buckets scattered around him and the Terrors flapping around his head, squawking angrily. Toothless gave a short roar and they scattered.
"Did the Terrors take it?" Hiccup asked.
"Take what?" Snotlout groaned, sitting up.
"Whatever object they were chasing you for."
"Nah. You can have it. It's just a rock." the young Viking tossed him a thin stone, and Hiccup grabbed at it.
"Ouch!" he cried when the object cut his hand. He saw that it was a thin stone disk, with sharpened edges. It was circular, made of smooth grey stone, but with a jagged white line running from the top to the middle. He could tell it was the top because there was a small hole bored there.
"It's probably jewelry, part of a necklace… Sharpened to be a weapon in an emergency, I guess," Hiccup said. "I'll ask around and see if anyone's lost it."
Toothless rumbled to get his attention, and Hiccup looked up at the sky. "But first let's get to the Mead Hall before it rains."
Thunder rumbled in the distance as Hiccup got onto his dragon's back and they flew to the Hall, followed by Snotlout on Hookfang, who was no longer sunning himself due to the lack of sunlight.
Hiccup heard the rain come down a few seconds after he closed the door behind them. "That was close… Good thing we didn't get caught in that, huh bud?"
Toothless warbled in agreement. He was a bit more weather-proof than his rider, but he didn't particularly enjoy getting soaked in the cold pre-winter storms.
"There you are!" Hiccup turned to see a blonde Viking and her Nadder approaching him. Hiccup grinned and gave her a quick kiss in greeting before going through his dragon's saddlebag to find a bandage for his hand.
"Anything interesting happen that I missed?" Astrid asked as she scratched Toothless' head.
"No, just the usual. Pacified a grouchy Gronckle, solved an argument over a broken fence, saved Snotlout from being mauled by Terrible Terrors, sliced my hand open on a sharp rock. You?"
"Nothing major. I got the dragon race all organized for tomorrow with Fishlegs… I think he's updating the dragon manual with your mother."
Hiccup nodded. "That reminds me… Do you recognize this as anyone's? Snotlout stole it from the Terrors who might have stolen it from someone else." He passed the stone pendant to her.
"No, but your mother might know."
The two of them walked to a table at the back of the hall, Hiccup raising a hand in acknowledgement when a few men raised their tankards and called "Chief!" in greeting.
"Hiccup! Your mom knows so much about dragons!" Fishlegs said as Hiccup approached the table where his mother and his friend were jotting notes down and making sketches, watched over by a curious Stormcutter and a mildly interested Gronckle.
"I know, you've mentioned it a few times," Hiccup replied, amused, as he sat down, and Astrid sat beside him, laying her axe on the table. "Which dragon are you writing about this time?"
"Snow wraiths. We had a couple in the Bewilderbeast's nest," Valka answered.
"Where are Ruffnut and Tuffnut?" Fishlegs wondered.
Astrid shrugged. "Last I saw, near one of the farms. They're probably sheltering from the store somewhere."
Hiccup hoped that wherever they were, they weren't going to cause any trouble he'd have to deal with tomorrow.
"Do any of you know who this belongs to?" Astid checked, holding out the stone disk.
"No, I don't recognize it," Valka replied, and Fishlegs shrugged.
"I'll figure it out. Maybe it's been lost for a while," Hiccup said, taking the stone.
"Would you say snow wraiths prefer icy areas or areas with deep snow?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup listened to their discussion for a few minutes before Snotlout came over. "I don't think I have a fish diet but I'm hungry!" the Viking interrupted.
"Let's eat," Astrid agreed. Fishlegs closed the book of dragons and Hiccup left the stone on it while they went to get dinner.
Outside, lightning flashed.
Chapter 1
Thunder boomed as Hiccup closed the door to the mostly empty Mead Hall.
"Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked as Hiccup walked to the table.
"I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble," the Viking teen answered unhappily.
"Yeah, we noticed," Ruffnut replied, her eye roll almost audible in her voice.
"No, no, you were great, that was so 'Astrid'," Snotlout protested, gesturing.
"She's right. You have to be tough on yourselves," Gobber replied. "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"
Hiccup winced as the other teens clamored to speak.
"Uh, he showed up?" Ruffnut began.
"He didn't get eaten," her twin added.
"He's never where he should be," Astrid said firmly.
"Thank you, Astrid. You need to live and breathe the stuff. The dragon manual." Gobber dropped a leather-bound book on the table. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of," he said, making eye contact with each of them and tapping the book for emphasis. Hiccup noted there were varying levels of interest in his statement- Fishlegs looked about to burst from excitement, while the twins leaned on their elbows, trying to balance their forks on the table. Hiccup eyed the book with hope and curiosity. Maybe it would have some answers about that Night Fury he had shot down.
And let go, he reminded himself.
Gobber looked up as thunder rumbled again. "No attacks tonight."
The twins sat up in horror. "Wait, you mean read?" Tuffnut realized.
"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut added.
"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout agreed incredulously.
"Oh, I've read it, like, seven times," Fishlegs said eagerly. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face, and- and there's this other one that buries itself for like a week, and-"
"Yeah, that sounds great. See, there was a chance I was going to read that," Tuffnut interrupted.
"But, now…" Ruffnut continued, looking a little repulsed.
"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff," Snotlout announced, pushing the bench back from the table. The twins followed, and Fishlegs, who was still spouting dragon facts.
Hiccup's heart leapt when he saw who was left. "So, I guess we'll share-"
"Read it," Astrid said, looking away and shoving the book towards him.
"All mine, then. Wow, okay, so I'll see you… uh…" he realized he was babbling as the door closed with a thud. "...tomorrow."
Hiccup sighed as he fiddled with the cover. Maybe it was better this way- no one would tease him when they came to the part about Night Furies. Or Gronckles. Or Monstrous Nightmares… Hiccup shook his head. The torches would probably be put out soon, so he found two candles and lit them to read by their light. He sat down and made to open the book when he saw a thin, round stone, about half the size of his palm, with a white jagged line running through it and a hole bored at the top.
Maybe Astrid or Ruffnut left it here… he could return it in the morning. He put it off to the side and opened the book.
"Dragon classifications…" he muttered to himself, feeling very alone in the huge dark room. "Strike class, fear class, mystery class… Thunder drum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." That wasn't what he was looking for- he had to survive basic dragon training before he even stood a chance against a sea dragon like that. "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." He continued to flip through the book. "Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside out…" Hiccup's heart beat faster with each page turned. Why, oh why had he thought it was a good idea to read this at night with only two candles for light? "Extremely dangerous… kill on sight, kill on sight, kill on sight-"
Hiccup stopped short when he flipped to a page that was almost completely empty but for a title at the top and a few words at the bottom.
"Night Fury," he read, a sense of dread starting to build in him. "Speed: unknown. Size: unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance- Hide and pray it does not find you."
With trembling yet certain hands, Hiccup pulled out his notebook and laid his sketch of the Night Fury on top of the blank pages.
After staring at it for a moment, curiosity burning, he put his own notebook away, closed the dragon manual, and grabbed the stone pendant, yelping when he cut himself on the sharp edge. He glared at the stone sitting innocently there for a moment before carefully picking it up and blowing out the candles. He walked through the darkness to the door, which had come open again in the storm, and once the rain and wind died down a little, he stumbled through the shadow of the night to his house.
He got inside and shivered as he lit a fire, then grabbed a few furs and wrapped them around himself to warm up. After a few minutes, he was feeling warmer and more secure, back to reality.
Hiccup found a thin cord and threaded it through the hole of the stone that had been left in the Hall as he sat back down. He tied the knot and let it hang from his fingers, examining it as it slowly turned, reflecting the firelight on its smooth, polished surface.
It was probably Ruffnut's, Hiccup realized. Astrid didn't seem the type to wear much jewelry, but Ruffnut did seem the type to sharpen hers into weapons.
Hiccup smiled mirthlessly to himself. Maybe he should wear jewelry in dragon training. If he couldn't use a real weapon on a dragon, he certainly couldn't use a fake one, but it might confuse them long enough for him to escape. Or not. What did dragons know about who was supposed to wear necklaces and bracelets?
The jagged stripe of white caught his eye. It looked a bit like lightning… like the storm that was going on… The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself…
Hiccup shook himself. He was being ridiculous. There was a reason the Night Fury page was blank. There was no use pursuing it further. It would probably get out of that cove soon if it hadn't already, and it would be gone forever. Even if it stayed, who was he to take it on? He was the worst Viking Berk had ever seen. And if anyone found out he had caught it and let it go, the mocking would only increase.
No, it was best to keep his head down and try not to mess up anything too badly. Maybe he could check to see if the Night Fury was still there one more time. Maybe he could figure out how to become a proper Viking and make his father proud of him for once…
Hiccup's eyes drifted closed. He should probably get to bed, but why bother? It was already warm on the floor, and nobody else was home anyway…
Hiccup slowly woke up, noting blearily that the sun was pretty bright for early in the morning… He must have slept a little late… and this was definitely not his house!
Hiccup sat up suddenly, eyes darting around his surroundings. He was in a cave… One of the caves that let out onto the beach closest to the village. The ceiling was still several feet above his head as he stood, checking himself for injury. So far, so good, not counting the cut from the stone which he was somehow still holding and the bumps and scrapes he had acquired courtesy of dragon training…
Dragon training! If he was where he thought he was, based upon the sun it would have already started if not finished. He had to find Gobber and explain… but explain what, exactly? He had no idea how he had gotten here. Maybe the twins had carried him off in the night and left him? It was the only explanation he could think of. Unless he had actually been kidnapped… But he thought he recognized the cave…
Hiccup stepped outside and looked around, breathing a sigh of relief. It was definitely Berk's beach. A few Hooligan fishing vessels were even grounded here.
Hiccup jumped as he heard a great horn blown, deep and long. It sounded like it came from the island and not too far away! He jogged up the beach and reached the grassy strip of land between the pebbles and the forest, and saw Gobber also running towards the village.
"Gobber! I'm so sorry I missed training this morning!" Hiccup gasped. The blacksmith spun and reached for his weapon before spotting Hiccup and staring at him suspiciously, eyes narrowed.
"I swear, I went to sleep at the house last night, and I just woke up in a cave down on the beach. Maybe the twins knocked me out with something and dragged me there in the middle of the night… Or maybe not. It's the only thing I can think of. But I don't think it'll happen again!"
Gobber stared at him for another moment, looking for some reason at his legs, then at his face, then at his clothing, then at his feet and his face again. A confused and very odd expression was on his face. Was it just Hiccup's imagination, or did his mentor look a little different today?
"Eh, lad, I don't know what to tell ye… You should probably just come back with me to the village for now."
Hiccup blinked, now also confused. "Uh, okay. I guess I was heading there anyway." He followed the other man as they approached the dragon ring. As they grew closer, Hiccup heard cheers and shouting.
"Whoever chose to stay back from the voyage sure can make a lot of noise," he muttered. Then he yelped and dove to the ground, covering his head as he saw a Monstrous Nightmare, swooping down from the sky. "Dragon raid! In the middle of the day? Whose idea was this?"
Gobber didn't answer, only running up the hill that overlooked the ring, and Hiccup followed. But Hiccup stopped, baffled, when he reached the top of the hill. The stands around the ring were filled with Vikings, all yelling and applauding. Hiccup knew that there weren't that many people who had stayed in the village during the current search for the dragon nest. In fact, he even recognized a few people who he knew had gone on the voyage!
"How long was I asleep in that cave?" Hiccup wondered to himself. He hurried after Gobber before the man could get lost in the crowd.
"Gobber-"
"Has anyone seen the Chief?" the blacksmith cried, pushing his way to the top of the ring, where Hiccup's father's chair sat. "Where is the Chief?"
Hiccup struggled to keep up with him, and when he reached the chief's stage, he stopped, bending over, putting his hands and his knees, and panting. "Gobber- explain- how long was I asleep in that cave?"
"The Chief is over there, I just saw him with Toothless," a Viking called to Gobber. Hiccup wondered who Toothless was- he had never met a Viking with that name. It seemed a rather unfortunate name, but not as bad as 'Hiccup.'
The smith nodded in thanks, and Hiccup looked at the ring while he waited for his father to show up. He saw that the bars and chains over the ring that kept the dragons in was gone. There was a large wooden structure in the middle of the ring, painted different colors and with baskets attached that seemed to hold sheep.
The crowd's cheering increased as a Hideous Zippleback sped towards the ring. Hiccup's eyes widened. Was the wooden platform some elaborate trap, with the sheep as the bait? It was good workmanship, Hiccup couldn't visibly see any way it could catch a dragon, but the Vikings around him all seemed excited for the doomed dragon to get closer.
Hiccup started to look away so he wouldn't have to see the dragon's bloody demise, but he stopped when he realized the dragon's two heads were much larger than they should be. A sheep dropped from one of the heads and fell into one of the baskets, and the cheering increased.
Hiccup's jaw dropped when he realized there were people sitting on the dragon's necks. He only caught a quick glimpse, but it told him enough.
"How did Ruffnut and Tuffnut get on the necks of a dragon? Whose idea was this? They'll destroy the entire village and then kill themselves!" Hiccup cried, grabbing Gobber's good arm. "You have to get them off and get the dragon!"
Gobber looked at him with a puzzled but grim expression. "I'm sure this is very confusing, lad, believe me, I have no idea how you got here either. But the dragons won't harm em. Probably."
"What… Gobber, do you know who I am?" Hiccup tried desperately.
The smith put a hand on his shoulder. "As far as I can tell, you're Hiccup. That leaves us with a bit of a problem. Hopefully the chief will show up and can straighten this out… Ah, what's the last thing ye remember, aside from going to sleep and waking up in tha' cave?"
"We just started dragon training, we were in the Mead Hall and you told us to read the dragon manual…" Hiccup trailed off as he saw a black shape approaching. His eyes widened- were all the dragons attacking in daylight now? But Hiccup knew he was the only one who had ever seen this kind of dragon. "Gobber, that's a Night Fury, I know what they look like, get down!"
"Tha's not a Night Fury. That's the Night Fury," Gobber said, before shouting, "Make way for the Chief!"
Hiccup suddenly had a realization and relaxed. "This is all a weird dream. It all makes sense now." Reading the dragon manual must have affected him even more than he had thought.
"I don't know if yer dreams are normally this real. Mine aren't," Gobber replied, but Hiccup barely heard him as he was once again confronted by a big, black dragon, with glowing green eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Hey… I'd appreciate if you didn't kill me…" Hiccup said shakily, stepping back.
"Don't scare him, bud. Let's see what this is about first." A new voice spoke. Both the dragon and Hiccup stepped back, and Hiccup saw a young man swinging to the ground off the back of the dragon.
The man was taller than Hiccup, and was muscular but thin by Viking standards. He wore leather and strange black armor with different straps and buckles, and his lower left leg had been replaced with a fancy metal prosthetic. Hiccup looked up at the man's face and took in his stance- intelligent, flashing green eyes beneath short but messy hair, and he radiated cool confidence and authority, despite his un-Vikinglike stature. The people nearby looked to him with trust and respect. Hiccup found himself impressed and a little in awe of the somehow familiar yet totally alien man.
Then the man looked back at Hiccup, and his eyes widened in shock, as he looked at the smaller Viking's face, then his feet, then taking in his clothing, then looking back at his face again, as if he was seeing a ghost.
"Gobber… My mother or father would have told me if I had a brother, right?... It's the only thing that makes sense right now," the man said uncertainly.
Hiccup realized that the other man did look similar enough to him to possibly be his older sibling, but shook his head. "You can't be my brother, my dad would have definitely mentioned it if he had a more impressively Vikinglike son. And my mother is dead."
"Are you forfeiting or something? Yes, we might have a chance of winning!"
Hiccup spun around to see that Ruffnut and her brother were circling the platform on the Zippleback, gleeful looks on their faces under the colorful warpaint.
"Wait!" Tuffnut suddenly yelled. "Kid, what is that you're holding?"
"Uh… this stone I found in the Mead Hall. Is it yours?" Hiccup replied uncertainly as he held up the stone on the string. Didn't Tuffnut recognize him?
Tuffnut jumped off the dragon's neck while his sister protested. Now that they were on the same level, Hiccup could see that the other Viking was taller than he remembered, and maybe some other things had changed but it was hard to tell with the warpaint. Tuffnut stepped toward Hiccup, taking the stone by the string and looking at it thoughtfully, eyes narrowed and a hand on his chin. Hiccup looked back to Gobber, the strange man, and the Night Fury, who exchanged glances that seemed to say here we go again. That, Hiccup could understand. But was the dragon agreeing with them?
"I've got it!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "This is the Lightning Bolt of Lognog the Lost!"
The Night-Fury riding man decided to humor him. "Ah, what is it, and who is Lognog?"
"Legend says it was found by a Viking named… Lognog. He picked it up and cut his hand on it, and he left it on a beach. And then a few years before, when Lognog was on that beach during a thunderstorm, he found the stone and ended up cutting his hand. He woke up in a cave on a different beach during the same time period as the first, older Lognog, and he only got back to his own time and universe when he cut his hand again and went back to the cave."
"Wait, what? That is ridiculous, the chances of something like that happening are… Nevermind." A new voice joined the conversation, a person who seemed to be Fishlegs wearing warpaint, and there was a painted Gronckle standing behind him.
"No, see, like this." Tuffnut went through a saddlebag on the Night Fury's bag and pulled out a charcoal pencil and a notebook. He flipped to an open page and drew a line. "This is the line of time. I call it the timeline. Right here," he made a mark on the line, "Is where Lognog found the Lightning Bolt. Back here," he made another marking earlier in the line, "Is where it went, and his earlier self picked it up. But when it got there, the past was changed, so it split the timeline into two different universes." He drew a line branching off of the 'earlier point'. "Lognog the earlier went forward to see Lognog the later, and then went back to the past except it was now a different universe so anything that changed didn't affect Lognog the older."
"No wonder he was called Lognog the Lost. I'm lost just hearing ye explain it," Gobber said.
"No, no, this makes sense," the Night Fury rider said, looking back and forth between the drawing, the stone, and Hiccup.
"Yeah. See, I told you- Wait, you're actually agreeing with me?" Tuffnut said, shocked.
The Night Fury rider nodded. "There's nothing else that makes sense at this point. How else would he have gotten here?" He gestured to Hiccup, making Tuffnut and Fishlegs notice him for the first time.
"Whoa. Creepy. But cool," Tuffnut said, eyeing the stone again. Fishlegs quickly took it from him before he could cut himself with it.
"Alright, what's going on? We're going to lose the race!" Ruffnut finally lost her patience and landed the Zippleback on the platform.
"They found the Lightning Bolt of Lognog the Lost."
"Awesome. Don't get cut with it. I don't really want a smaller version of you running around."
"We already have a small person here."
"Look, I don't want to cause any more trouble," Hiccup said, now more and less confused. "I got cut with it, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one who was brought here because I'm totally lost. What's with all the dragons?"
"We made peace with them," the Night Fury rider said. "They were only raiding us because back at their nest, there was a giant dragon who ate them if they didn't bring back enough food. We took care of the giant dragon, and we're all friends now."
"You mean you and Toothless took down the gigantic dragon," Fishlegs corrected.
The man shrugged modestly. "It was a group effort."
Fishlegs shook his head, and turned to Hiccup. "He's the first one who befriended a dragon, and the one who figured it all out in the first place."
Hiccup nodded. "Okay… So where is my supposed future self who cut himself with the fancy rock to bring me here? Let me guess… He obviously wasn't killed in dragon training or by anything else because I'm here… But I don't see him in the crowd, so he's probably injured and back at Gobber's, or maybe he got in another fight with Dad and ran off… and he has a Terrible Terror as a dragon friend."
Ruffnut and Tuffnut burst out laughing, while Fishlegs looked a little disturbed, the Night Fury rider ducked his head sheepishly, and Gobber had a look of anticipation on his face.
"Ah, well, first, lad, yer father's gone to Valhalla. He died protecting his people and his son."
Hiccup blinked in shock- his father, dead? Protecting him, or some future version of him? Did he really care that much? If Tuffnut was right… maybe things could change when he went back.
"But I guess ye haven't been introduced to the new chief," Gobber continued. Hiccup assumed he meant the Night Fury rider, and found himself relieved that it was this stranger… maybe his cousin or something, because they looked so similar… and not Snotlout.
Gobber turned to the strange young man who was presumably the chief. "Chief, this is Hiccup from the past, as I'm sure yeh've figured out." Gobber turned back to the younger Viking. "Hiccup… this is the bringer of peace to dragons and Hairy Hooligans, rider of Toothless the Night Fury and Alpha, dragon master, slayer of the Red Death, Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, hope and pride of Berk."
A/N: Thanks for reading so far! Questions, comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism are welcome. Also, I soon won't have the laptop I am currently writing this from anymore, so I may have to write from my phone. And I'm going on vacation. Neither of which are things you want to hear after the first chapter of a promising story… unless you don't like it, in which case it wouldn't matter. But I have most of the second chapter written, and will try to update with a week or two between each at the most.
Now I will do a bit of shameless self-recommendation: I know that most people are more willing to click on a main-character-centric story than an OC-based story, including me. But I have posted eleven chapters of this other story already, which is canon-friendly with a few of my own ideas twisted to fit, and with a bit more twisting it could eventually fit in this universe too… So go ahead and check it out if you like my writing or have nothing else to do :)