DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT NOR AM IN ANY WAY AFFILIATED WITH HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON; BOTH BOOK AND MOVIE ARE NOT OWNED BY ME NOR DO I CLAIM ANY OWNERSHIP TO THEM! Narration is underlined, italicized, & bold. If anyone doesn't look at Time Lady Of Gallifrey's profile & read the bio, please do so first.
This is Berk. It's twelve days North of Hopeless, & a few degrees South of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word: sturdy & it's been here for seven generations but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, & a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitos. We have…
A scrawny teenage girl opened a door to see sheep fleeing as a dragon appeared; the dragon saw the girl & blasted fire in her direction before she quickly closed & leaned against the door, illuminated by the fire shooting through the slats of wood.
"Dragons." She hissed; raiding dragons arrived as Vikings began to defend their territory & livestock.
Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.
She rushed outside, a small smile on her face as she took in the large masses of Vikings attacking the dragons all over the village; the house she left behind continued to burn.
My name's Hiccup.
A man fell on his face in front of her; the girl avoided the man as he grabbed an ax & ran back into battle. Hiccup ran through the village, darting through alleys & avoiding attacks while making her way through the raging battle.
Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes & trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.
A large blast of fire knocked her to the ground; a Viking jumped to her, looking down at her.
"Arggghhhhh! Mornin'!" After he raced off to fight more dragons, Hiccup quickly got to her feet & raced away; she ran through the docks.
"What are you doing here!?" A Viking asked.
"Get inside!" Another Viking ordered.
"What are you doing out!?" A third asked.
"Get back inside!" A Viking woman ordered; Hiccup brushed off these warnings & was about to cross a narrow road when a dragon sent a blast of fire to the ground, right in front of her.
"Hiccup!?" A large hand grabbed her by the back of her brown fur vest & pulled her away; she closed her eyes as she hung in the air.
"What is she doing out again?!" Hiccup soon found herself staring at a burly face with a long red beard & drawn brows,
"What are you doing out?! Get inside!" The owner of the face then threw the girl out of harm's way; his muscled form moved about angrily while his eyes searched for his next victim.
That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders.
Stoick picked up an empty, overturned cart & threw it at a dragon, catching it by surprise as it dropped the sheep it was holding.
Do I believe it? Yes I do.
"What have we got?" Stoick asked, turning around.
"Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, & Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare." The Viking that answered covered his head with his shield as an explosion occurred near them but Stoick stayed like a statue.
"Any Night Furies?" The Viking stood upright again,
"None so far." The chief brushed a bit of burning debris off his shoulder guard,
"Good." Hiccup raced through the rest of the battle as she heard another Viking call out,
"Hoist the torches!" Hiccup then entered a forge & took off her vest.
"Ah! Nice of you to join the party. I thought you'd been carried off." The smithy commented while hammering on a sword; Hiccup put on an apron.
"Who me? Nah, come on! I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this." She joked while putting something on a wall & performing a body builder pose.
"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" He laughed as he switched his hand before continuing with the sword he was working on; Hiccup went over & opened the front window. Vikings hurried over & dumped their weapons on the table; Hiccup grabbed the weapons & went to work with them while the Vikings went back to the fight.
The meathead with attitude & interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well...littler.
Stoick then watched as many Vikings carried as much sheep as they could before he spoke,
"We move to the lower defenses. We'll counter-attack with the catapults." They rushed off as a Monstrous Nightmare blasted fire at a rooftop.
See? Old village. Lots & lots of new houses.
"FIRE!" Hiccup looked out the window.
Oh & that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins: Ruffnut & Tuffnut, & Astrid.
She watched as they all hurried by, putting out fires as much as they could; a fireball created a huge wall of fire behind them, setting a heroic feel to the scene.
Fishlegs's big, like bigger than most of the adult Vikings on the island but he is really harmless & sort of a wimp; however, what he lacked in fighting ability he made up for in smarts, he had read the dragon handbook cover to cover twenty-seven times in the last year. That's more times than most Vikings read it in their entire lives; he could list facts about any dragon off the top of his head making him handy in a battle as well as for planning strategies. With a huge body, small head set into large shoulders, & rounded face, he looked a bit like a true Viking crossed with a toddler.
Snotlout's rude, loud, & unfortunately my cousin. He was under the impression that he was the best fighter of our age & while he had a pretty good bulk, he was impatient & lacked skills as well as brains. He boasted an awful lot about everything he had done but was never taken seriously, always acting like a stereotypical grade A jerk. He had short black hair, a block like figure, & unfortunately for him, facial features that made him look like a prize pig.
Ruffnut's the female half of the Thorsten twins; she's more mature than her brother but a lot more mischievous. She's also a good fighter & loved battle; she's a bit braver than her brother, who freaked out when things became stressed. Tuffnut's the male half of the Thorsten twins; he's immature, annoying, & the tiniest bit of a coward when things became hard.
While his sister went for the more mischievous route, he preferred that of the annoying variety. He could make the most patient person lose their wits & attack. He's as good a fighter as his sister; however, this is also coupled with a male ego that made him a bit sexist, luckily, his sister is always there to sort him out.
While the twins fought a lot, they were each other's targets & no one else's so they had been known to get revenge on people who hurt their other half: Ruffnut's favorite way of going about this was to pull prank after prank until their life was crumbling around them while Tuffnut preferred the good old fashioned way of a sound beating so his fighting for his sister's dignity & respect often ended with the receiving party under care of Gothi for a while to be treated for severe injuries. The twins are almost exactly alike if not for Tuffnut's lack of a chest, more masculine features, & molten silver eyes while his sister's are ocean blue. People would be unable to tell them apart if they dressed the same & let their hair down.
Finally is Astrid, she's all around the best in our age group: best fighter, best strategist, best speaker, & best looking. She's one of the most sought after girls in the village both for her looks & skills. It's almost certain that in dragon training, she will be the one to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. Her golden hair, sky-like eyes, mature figure, & sharp features made her look like a regal elf from legends; her battle prowess only furthering this rumor.
Their job is so much cooler.
She attempted to vault over the counter only to be pulled back by Gobber at the last second.
"Ah, come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark." Gobber then set her down with a smile,
"Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places." Hiccup backed away while begging,
"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date." Gobber began to list the flaws of her plan,
"You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an ax…" he then picked up a set of bolos,
"…you can't even throw one of these." A Viking grabbed the bolos & spun it deftly around his head before letting go; the bolos bound a Gronkle by its legs, sending it plummeting to the ground.
"Okay fine, but…" she then moved to a strange contraption & patted it gently,
"…this will throw it for me." The contraption suddenly sprung out, sending out something that missed Gobber as he dodged; it hit a waiting Viking in the face, knocking him heavily to the ground.
"See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about!"
"Mild calibration issue…" she trailed off, gesturing towards the floor.
"Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all…" Gobber gestured in her general direction while explaining about what she needed to stop.
"…this." Hiccup drawled, swiping her hands back & forth before looking up puzzled,
"But… you just pointed to all of me."
"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you." Gobber instructed with a smile.
"Ohhhh…" Hiccup mused as if understanding.
"Ohhhhh, yes." Gobber mimicked before Hiccup started again,
"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw…Vikingness contained. There will be consequences!" Gobber didn't look scared at all,
"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now." He then gently tossed her a sword & walked off to get back to work; Hiccup sighed as she took the sword to a grinding wheel, sharpening it.
One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed. Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a boyfriend. A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status.
"They found the sheep!" A man reported, watching as the dragons came nearer to one of their food sources; Stoick kept focus,
"Concentrate fire over the lower bank!" He was already turning the catapult so it faced their target.
"Fire!" The catapult launched a large boulder, which hit a Nadder & caused it to drop the sheep it was carrying; Stoick looked over the edge to see a blazing dragon glaring at him.
And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.
"Reload! I'll take care of this." He grabbed a hammer & began delivering blows to the dragon's head before a shrill cry was heard, causing Stoick to look at the sky & the dragon to escape; Hiccup looked up from her sharpening upon hearing it.
But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the…
"Night Fury!" Someone shouted, recognizing the shrill cry; someone else shouted,
"Get down!" Everyone quickly ducked as a purple blast hit the catapult, destroying it upon impact & sending pieces of it flying everywhere; a black shape zoomed overhead, temporarily illuminated by the light of the explosion.
"JUMP!" Stoick called before everyone aboard the catapult jumped to safety.
This thing never steals food, never shows itself, &…
Hiccup watched as another blast hit the catapult.
…never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first.
She wiped her hands on her apron & walked away from the windowed counter to see Gobber fastening an ax prosthetic to his left wrist.
"Man the fort, Hiccup, they need me out there!" He headed for the door before stopping & turning to her,
"Stay. Put. There." She gave him a look.
"You know what I mean." He rushed out.
Hiccup then rushed through a group of Vikings while pushing her contraption.
"Hiccup, where are you going!?"
"Come back here!" But she ignored them as she kept running as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Be right back!" She called over her shoulder; Stoick & a group of Vikings managed to trap some Nadders with a net but one had managed to rip its head out & blasted fire into the air.
"Mind yourselves! The devils still have some juice in them." Stoick yelled as he leapt into the air & landed on the snout, effectively closing the jaws & halting the flames. He wrestled the head down, pinning it to the ground beneath his large hands; Hiccup reached the top of a cliff before she opened up her weapon. She then focused on the sky with her weapon,
"Come on. Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at." She then saw the catapult tower in front of him getting destroyed by a purple blast; she fired her weapon upon seeing a black shape speed past. The force sent her backwards to the ground; she quickly got to her feet as she heard a shrieking noise.
"Oh I hit it! Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?" She asked, looking around; she suddenly heard a crunch from behind her.
"Except for you." She knowingly muttered, turning to an angry Monstrous Nightmare; Stoick turned from his task of holding down the Nadders as he heard a terrified shriek to see Hiccup running away from the dragon. He sighed before getting up,
"DO NOT let them escape!" He then raced off; Hiccup ran away as the Nightmare blasted fire at her. She then hid behind a pole only for it to burst into flames; Tuffnut raced over, his footsteps drawing the attention of the dragon.
"The Dragon Whisperer!" The dragon snarled in a masculine voice; Tuffnut's eyes went wide with shock & confusion.
"We're all doomed to this fate." He slowly backed away as the dragon advanced towards him; Stoick suddenly arrived, knocking the dragon away from the male twin. The chief rolled out of his leap & faced the dragon; the Monstrous Nightmare snarled & opened its jaws but when a small stream of liquid fire gushed out before it stopped, the dragon whimpered.
"You're all out." Stoick whispered before he bravely delivered a flurry of punches & kicks at the dragon, causing him to fly away; Stoick then grunted as the dragon flew away before he walked over & rested a hand on Tuffnut's shoulder, calming the teen down.
Oh, & there's one more thing you need to know…
They both then turned their attention to the pole as it collapsed, revealing Hiccup. The still-burning top then began to roll through the village; Hiccup began to cringe & Tuffnut looked on in sympathy while shrieks & crashes are heard.
"Sorry, Dad." Everyone watched as dragons flew away with a net full of sheep; Ruffnut noticed that her brother didn't seem a bit angry as Hiccup turned & pointed off somewhere,
"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury." Stoick grabbed her by the back of her vest & began to drag her away.
"It's not like the last few times, Dad. I mean I really actually hit it. You guys were busy & I had a very clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, before it…" Stoick released her & turned to her,
"STOP! Just…stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows & you almost got Tuffnut killed this time. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here & I have an entire village to feed!" Hiccup's eyes shifted around,
"Between you & me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"
"This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"
"I can't stop myself. I see a dragon & I have to just… kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad." Stoick sighed,
"You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house." He looked over to Gobber,
"Make sure she gets there." Gobber walked over & softly whacked her upside the back of her head; she half-heartedly glared at him.
"I have her mess to clean up." He muttered as he walked in the opposite direction; Hiccup noticed that Tuffnut was giving her an apologetic look, his eyes showing guilt, confusion, & shock.
"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snotlout condescendingly stated.
"Thank you, thank you. I was trying, so…" she muttered in sarcasm. She felt marginally better when she caught sight of Gobber pushing him to the ground by his helmet; the smithy was more of a father to her than her own father had ever been.
"I really did hit one." She moaned as they climbed to a house on the top of a hill.
"Sure, Hiccup." Gobber placated, following the young girl up the hill.
"He never listens." She complained.
"Well, it runs in the family." Gobber commented; Hiccup wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or insult. She shook her head as she continued to the door with the smithy close behind.
"And when he does, it's always with this… disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." She then stopped at the door, turned to the side, & began to perfectly impersonate her father,
"Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts & glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish bone." She then let her arms drop to her sides; she always knew that her dad resented her being a girl instead of a boy.
"You're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand." Hiccup made a face before moaning,
"Thank you, for summing that up." She then turned to the door & rested a hand on it.
"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not."
"I just want to be one of you guys." She moaned in defeat before walking into the house; once Gobber left, she snuck out the back door.