Prologue
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III always said that he had been a, well, a Hiccup, until he found Toothless. He had always said that he felt useless, ignored, and not cared about before that fateful night. If that's true, then I was definitely a pretty big Hiccup.
But, I digress. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Brandon, an esteemed dragon rider of Berk, sworn to protect the innocent. The story that you are reading is how I went from being a complete and utter Hiccup to having the best job in the world, training dragons. I also got the best friends here, not like the ones back in Arkansas that would run at the first sign of trouble. Oh wait, I had no friends whatsoever. These guys here at Berk are real friends. So, you ready to adventure into my story? No? Too bad, we're going anyways!
I was having quite the bad day. By lunch, I had already been beaten twice by the jocks, and was already on my guard again as they began to circle me once more. 'Oh well,' I thought, 'it's not like it's anything different from home.'
I was mostly raised by my dad, since my parents had divorced when I was only 2, and my mother had decided that leaving me with my father was better than living with her. Oh God, was she wrong. My father had fallen into alcoholism just after he divorced, and was now almost always drunk, usually to the point that he couldn't stand up. He then naturally became abusive towards almost anyone, but usually me, blaming me for his divorce in his drunken rages. I usually went to sleep with my tanned face bleeding and bruised, as well as my sapphire blue eyes leaking tears.
Yes, I was usually crying. For the loss of anything that remained of our family.
But, right now, that didn't matter. I was too preoccupied with the circle of teenagers that was quickly taking shape all around me. A hulk of a boy, about 6'2 and brimming with over 200 pounds of sheer muscle stood a few inches from me. "What'cha doin', squirt?" I tried as hard as I could to not punch him. He was the football team's star linebacker, Evan, and also just happened to be one of the school's biggest jerks, picking on kids way smaller than him. He always liked to target me because of my particularly weak physical state.
I ignored his comment and and replied with a meek "Nothing."
"Doesn't seem like it."
"Why do you care?" I shot back.
Evan leaned in close. "I don't care about you, runt." He sneered and spat in my face. That comment sounded out the thought that I had thought came from my parents' brains. 'He sounded just like the voices in my head, like... like he had been there all along! No! My family do care about me!' I raged inside of my head. In my heart, however, I knew that it was a lie. A complete and utter lie. My emotions finally exploded, all of the rage, anger, frustration, and hurt I had ever felt: at my family, at my friends, even at myself, for everything that had ever gone wrong in my life, my parent's divorce, my father, everything.
My tears would not go in vain tonight.
I responded to Evan by pulling a stunt no one else had ever done before: I clocked him in the jaw, then kneed him in the nutsack. Even with my terrible physical state, it still probably hurt him quite a bit. I immediately broke through the circle and ran for my life, with Evan soon sprinting after me, bloodlust in his eyes.
I hauled as fast as I could, but to Evan I was taking a leisurely stroll through the park. He began to gain on me quickly as I began to do anything I could to keep him at bay. I was shoving people, throwing books down to trip him, anything I could think of, but this only seemed to further intensify his rage.
I rounded a corner, and took off like a jet, trying to shake him. I looked behind me and saw nothing. For a second, I thought that I was safe. But, it's when you're least prepared that you make the most mistakes. Without even looking ahead of me, I continued to run down the hallway. I ran straight into someone with the force of a train. As we both fell to the floor groaning, I looked to see who it was, and felt my heart drop like a stone. It was the one person I didn't want to see. Principal Clark.
My eyes dilated to the size of dinner plates when I saw him, and I quickly tried to explain to him, stuttering terribly.
"H-He-Hello Mr. Cl-Clar-Clark..."
Principal Clark didnt say anything, he just grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and began dragging me to his office. I quickly began to panic, managing to say "It-It wasn't my fault..." before he basically threw me into his office.
"Mr. Clark, I didn't..."
"Quiet!" He bellowed. "For starting a fight with another student, you're being suspended for a week!"
"What?" I said in confusion. "He was bullying me, and you're telling me it's my fault?!"
"Yes, Evan's friends told me what happened, and I must say, I'm very disappointed with you. Now get out of school. You're suspended for a week."
"What! You think that it's my fault! That's crap!" I yelled in protest.
"Enough! Can't you see that all you do here is mess up the system! This is your third suspension this year, and its February! Can't you see that you're useless around here!" Clark argued.
"But..."
"No! Get out! Go!" Clark nearly ordered.
Feeling defeated, I slinked my way back out towards the front doors. Right before I pushed them open, I saw Evan with his friends. He had a snicker all over his face. Angry, I shoved the doors open and then slammed them shut, determined to never come back again.
'Oh well, might as well go to work early,' I mused in my mind. 'I could get paid overtime for it!'
After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at the Little Rock Commercial Airfield, and walked over to one of the hangars. You see, there's not that many job opportunities that will take a 15 year old in Little Rock, at least besides McDonald's, which wouldn't pay well enough to support both me and a deadbeat father, and combine that with the fact that the only thing that I could do well is flying, I took up a job as a tourist flier, giving people an aerial tour of the oldest mountain range in North America, the Ozarks. It paid well enough, and it was the only job where I could use my flying license.
My boss, Jack, saw me coming and walked over towards me, whistling a carefree tune. "So, Brandon, are you ready to look at that new route we came up with?"
Jack was 23, but still looked like a teenager, with his ruffled black hair never falling the way he wanted it to, and his grin always letting me know things were alright. He was a pretty successful young entrepreneur, and tried to teach me whatever he could about running a successful business, in the hope that I would get a better life for myself.
As I thought about this, however, Jack stared at me as I continued to tune out from him. "Yoohoo, you alive?" Jack leaned into my face, snapping me out of thought. "You ready to test out this new route or what?"
I quickly smiled as I replied, "As much as I'll ever be!" He said, "Ok then, get over here to the plane and get ready for takeoff, you can leave soon."
I strolled over to our biplane, which served as our tour vehicle for scenic flights. People are so easily lured to antiquity as a rat is to cheese, to the point that they would pass up all of the other tour companies simply because our plane, which I had nicknamed Lightning, looked older, and therefore cooler than the typical bush planes that all of the other companies used. I ran around the edge to the side where you were supposed to get in and checked that it was fully fueled.
Jack's phone suddenly buzzed, and he flipped it open and held it up to his ear, sometimes replying to whoever was on the phone with a "Yes" and an "Of course I can". After a few minutes, the call was over and Jack closed his phone again.
"Brandon, I gotta scram. I just got a call from a guy who's got a big deal for me on another biplane, and I gotta get it now." Jack explained. "Check out that route for me, ok?"
"Yeah, I'm on it. Just gotta check up on my survival kit supplies in Lightning, and then I'll be going." I responded. Before I could continue with my work, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Jack. "And relax, ok? Have some fun," he said, with compassion and feelings in both his voice and his mahogany brown eyes. "Ok sir, I'll try - but only if I get paid for it," I replied sarcastically, as a sly smile grew on my face.
Jack laughed. "Now that's what I like to hear. I'll see you later." He then jogged over to his black Dodge truck and drove down the airstrip. I then resumed my mental checklist of the supplies in the survival kit that was required in all planes. Bandages - check. Antiseptic cream - check. Handgun - not check. I then remember I had put in the backseat of Lightning, and reached out and grabbed it, checking to make sure it was in working order.
It was a 9 millimeter Smith and Wesson, and it had the capability of firing both regular bullets, but more often it was used in accordance with tranquilizer darts, since real bullets were only used in a kill or be killed-type situation, like a wild animal attack. I put in a tranq clip and cocked it, keeping the safety on, just in case. I put the gun in a specially-built holster next to my right hand, within easy reach. I was finally ready.
I walked up to the cockpit, fired the ignition, and then ran around to the propeller and spun it as hard as I could. The engine clanked to life (tourists always said that this was the "authentic" part of the trip, manual starting) and I jumped into the cockpit, ready for takeoff. "Lightning 1, you are clear for takeoff, over." The control tower informed me over the small radio. "Thank you, Control, over and out." I simply replied as I let out the brakes and slowly pushed up on the throttle.
Lightning began to "bolt" down the runway as I picked up speed. Finally, I began to pull back on the stick, and the plane began to slowly ascend. I was finally airborne, finally peaceful, finally free.
I began to angle the plane in the direction of the Ozarks and the new route Jack and I had plotted. Lightning began to sail peacefully over Little Rock, and I admired the view of the city.
Finally, Lightning began to float over the Ozarks, and I was breathtaken by what I saw. The new route we had plotted had the perfect view of the forests and waterfalls, creating a seamless tapestry of beauty right in front of me. "Damn, Jack and I were right," I said aloud.
However, once again, it's when you're not paying attention that things happen to you. I had already learned that once today, and fate seemed intent on making me relearn it.
During my sightseeing, I noticed some small waves in the sky, like the kind you see coming off of the asphalt when it's hot outside. I decided to check them out by flying towards them, which, remarkably, was my path anyways. As I flew straight at them, I began to feel something in my chest, pulling me towards the waves like it was my destiny.
Finally, I closed the distance between Lightning and the waves. Then, the most terrifying moment I have ever experienced happened. The waves suddenly parted to reveal a sea, shrouded in the darkness of nighttime. I was shocked stupid when I first saw this, but quickly realized that I was heading straight for the "portal". I tried to veer up, but it was too late.
Me and Lightning bolted, screaming, through the portal, never to be seen by Earth again.
Free to forge our own destiny.
