Author's Note: This is my first HTTYD, so if you enjoy, let me know and I may release further chapters if I grab enough people's interest! :)
It was a seemingly normal day, on the seemingly normal island of Berk, where the seemingly normal village folk carried out their seemingly normal routines. A day like any other, to the normal observer. Except when a certain group of six would come together to embark on an adventure that would lead to the most unexpected of circumstances.
It all started with an argument between two twins and an impatient dragon trainer with a headache.
"THEY LIKE ATLANTIC COD BETTER!"
"NOOOO, THEY LIKE ICELANDIC TROUT BETTER!"
"NUH-UH, COD!"
"NO, YOU'RE WRONG. TROUT!"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were once again having another family feud, when they were supposed to be paying attention to dragon training information, while Hiccup was halfway through an explanation about why to never approach a dragon from behind. To Hiccup, it seemed that their constant quibbling never ended. When it eventually did, it was resolved by one of the twins clubbing the other with the nearest weapon at hand (if no weapons were present, the fists sufficed).
The fact that Ruffnut and Tuffnut were arguing about their dragon Barf and Belch's liking to certain fish didn't really improve the quality of their conversation.
"THEY MOST DEFINITELY LIKE COD, AND I'M GONNA PROVE IT!" Tuffnut shouted.
"OH YEAH, HOW YOU GONNA DO THAT?" replied Ruffnut, still shouting.
Trying to put a quick end to their bickering, Hiccup halted his explanation and turned to the twins.
"Well, maybe you could lay out a pile of cod and a pile of trout and see which pile is eaten the quickest," Hiccup suggested, feigning a helpful smile.
"Hehe, nah," Tuffnut continued. "I was thinking of us hitting each other in the face with fish, and seeing who passes out first. The person who goes out cold, is clearly wrong!" Tuffnut began to chortle, excited to carry out his 'ingenious' plan.
"Ugh, you guys are completely impossible sometimes!" Hiccup groaned and threw his arms up into the air with exasperation.
Astrid watched Hiccup from slightly further across the academy, pitying his mostly futile efforts to prevent the twins from arguing and/or hitting each other with fish.
She walked over next to where Hiccup was standing, ready to try and grab the attention of Ruffnut and Tuffnut.
"Hey guys, have you heard that story about…" Astrid tailed off near the end of the sentence, as a deliberate ploy. She knew that Ruffnut and Tuffnut couldn't resist a good story. The twins almost immediately stopped their quarrel and turned to face Astrid.
"Ooh ooh ooh! About what?" the twins squealed in excitement, almost in unison. Astrid smirked to herself slightly. "Child's play," she thought.
"Yeah… The one about the dragon that's supposed to appear in the deepest, darkest, most dangerous depths of the Berk forest, in the dead of night!" Astrid finished, with a devious grin on her face. Snotlout, who was pouting at his reflection in a rusted mirror, and Fishlegs, who was thumbing through a copy of The Book of Dragons, began to pay attention to the sudden beginnings of Astrid's story.
"Actually, I think I've heard of this one," said Hiccup, mentally deciding to abandon his lesson for the day. "It's supposed to appear on Skrekkur Nótt, right?"
"Skrekkur what…?" Snotlout looked puzzled.
"It's the traditional name for the one day of the year that evil spirits and ghastly ghouls flock to Berk for the ultimate gathering of the beings of the underworld," Fishlegs piped up, excitement creeping into his speech. "Scare Night!"
"Psh… lame!" Tuffnut cried, "That's just supposed to be some stupid story to scare little kids, so they don't go running around at night. Even I know that, and um… I'm not exactly, well… y'know."
"Intelligent?" Astrid giggled.
"Shut up, it's totally real!" Fishlegs retorted, shaking his fists angrily at Tuffnut. "There's too many people that claim to have seen it for it not to be!"
"Anyway…" Astrid was tapping her foot impatiently against the ground. "Shall I continue my story?"
"Well, of course you may, m'lady," Snotlout purred, batting his eyelashes at Astrid in a pathetic attempt at flirtation. Hiccup and Astrid both glared at Snotlout, who quickly resumed a normal facial expression.
"The dragon is supposed to be cloaked in a veil of mystery; no mortal has ever seen the beast in its true form. Only brief glimpses of its shadow have been seen by Berkians. It dwells in the deepest, darkest, most dangerous depths of the Berk forest, and those who may choose to seek it out must not be faint-hearted."
"Ooh, this next part gives me goose bumps!" Fishlegs interrupted, hopping from foot to foot, his hands clasped together.
"If the beast detects even a shred of weakness in your spirit…" Astrid paused for dramatic effect. "It will drag you to the fieriest pits of Hel, never to be seen again!"
Fishlegs gasped. Snotlout looked at Fishlegs with slight derision. The twins sat staring into space, their eyes glazed over, captivated by Astrid's storytelling. Hiccup gave a small round of applause and Astrid did a mock courtesy in response.
"Well, that pretty much wraps up today's session," Hiccup smiled at Astrid, not minding at all that she changed the topic of conversation. "Any questions?" Not that anyone would have any, but he thought he might as well ask.
"CAN WE GO LOOKING FOR THE MYSTERY DRAGON ON SCARE NIGHT?! THAT STORY WAS AWESOME, YEAH!" Tuffnut punched the air above him in a joyous leap.
"I thought you were the one that said Scare Night was just for big babies!" Ruffnut taunted. Tuffnut glowered and turned to face his sister for yet another argument. Even though Astrid has successfully averted one familial argument, she had led them straight into another one. To Hiccup and Astrid, it seemed that Ruffnut and Tuffnut would always be Ruffnut and Tuffnut.
"Y'know, going after this mystery dragon doesn't actually seem like a bad idea," Astrid began to mull over the story she had told in her head. "I mean, the story's probably not true or anything, but it could be fun just hanging out with the group. We could make an event out of it!" Astrid had a childlike gleam in her big blue eyes.
"Sure, why not?" Hiccup jumped in, ready to support Astrid's case. "After all, Scare Fest is only a few days away, and things have been pretty calm in Berk lately. We might actually have some free time for once."
"Well, I am definitely in!" Fishlegs planted his foot on the ground, affirming his decision.
"Wherever Tuffnut goes I usually go too, so I'm in," Ruffnut nudged her brother. Tuffnut merely grunted.
Everyone at the academy turned expectantly towards Snotlout, who had resumed his one man pouting contest into his mirror.
"Huh?" Snotlout looked at the group, dumbfounded for a moment. "Oh right yeah, whatever. Finding the mysterious dragon and stuff, the whole group hanging out, sure." Snotlout finished, in an uncaring tone.
"It's settled then," Hiccup made sure the group were all listening (particularly the twins). "We meet back here, three days from now, at sunset. Bring your dragons an-"
"Wait, Hiccup," Fishlegs looked as if he remembered something that he'd previously forgotten. "If we're doing this according to the legend, we won't be able to bring our dragons."
"Why's that?" Hiccup furrowed his brow in unease.
"The legend dictates that if a group seeks out the mystery dragon, the group can only contain a maximum of 'six mortal beings'," Fishlegs explained glumly.
"So if all six of us show up, then none of our dragons can come with us?" Astrid grimaced. The idea of wandering Berk forest in search of a potentially very dangerous creature without their reptilian companions was rather daunting.
"Okay, well how about we arm ourselves, enter the forest as planned, but if there's any signs of danger, we retreat back to the village. We just want to get a quick look at the dragon and move out. Does that sound good?"
The rest of the group mumbled a reluctant approval for Hiccup's final decision. Toothless nuzzled his face softly against Hiccup's cheek, making a sad cooing sound.
"I know bud; I dislike it just as much as you do, but if we're following the legend by the book we don't have any other choice," Hiccup patted Toothless' head gently. "You can have some extra fish when we get back, so smile, okay?" Hiccup smiled, looking directly at Toothless, and the dragon returned the gesture with his signature goofy grin.
"It'll be fine, as long as we're sensible and cautious," Hiccup said, directing his speech to the group again.
Hiccup and the others slowly filed out of the academy, the conversation in the group slowly dissolving into small talk.
"I bet the mystery dragon likes cod more than trout," Tuffnut grumbled as the academy's gate slowly closed behind them.
Author's Note: Skrekkur Nótt in Icelandic literally translates to Scare Night (according to Google Translate, at least!) hehe :L