Born of Fire
On an island twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death, a child was born.
Brought into Midgard surrounded by fire and smoke, he was a hiccup in the world. Born weeks before his time, to a mother already consumed by the flames that surrounded him, he should not have lived. But he was a Viking, sired by Stoick the Vast, and no matter how weak he would be later in life, he survived.
His torso scarred and crippled, he grew up different from other Vikings. Weak of body and not prone to the brash and violent behavior of his brethren, he was an outcast, ostracized by those who he could have called friends, even family.
Ashamed of his son's frailty and unique mannerisms, Stoick raised his son harshly, with frequent scoldings and a lack of consideration for his flame-marked torso. This treatment, while Stoick meant the best, did nothing to strengthen the weak boy, but rather kept him sickly and weak.
If not for the inventions he was constantly building, the he would have gone through life sickly, weak, and Useless.
Fortunately for him, one of his dangerous and unpredictable machines finally worked on a dark, cloudless night. That night, everything in this boy's life would change forever.