How To Train Your Dragon: Twin Edition
Do I really need to explain?
I
Dark waters lapped at each other, a dense fog gliding silently above them.
'This is Berk.'
Jagged mountains rose high into the star-specked sky, dusted with patches of green.
'It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death.'
Two stone sentries, both braving the roiling waves, guarded the little gathering of lights, fire flickering brightly in their wide mouths.
'It's located solidly in the meridian of misery.'
The village was quiet, darkness gathering in fields of livestock.
'Our village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new.'
Wooden houses erupted out of the grass. Bridges connected the multiple levels, bound together by thick rope. Wooden posts with small candles positioned on top sprouted out of the darkness.
'We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests.'
Sheep wandered about in their pens, nibbling on the grass. In less than a heartbeat, a sheep was grasped in a pair of thick, dangerous talons.
'You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have...'
Sheep were herded into the main square of the village by a sudden swarm of dragons and men and women already swarming out of their houses. A boy with a mop of auburn hair opened his door wide to view a burly man dashing by and a hovering Monstrous Nightmare. The Nightmare noticed the sudden movement in the corner of its eye and turned its head towards the boy and roared. The boy stumbled backwards and a girl suddenly sprinted forwards, her auburn braid flying behind her as she slammed the door closed and burning fire slipping through the cracks.
'...dragons.'
"Hiccup!" The girl hissed, her green eyes narrowing at said boy. "Were you born without any self-preservation instincts?" She planted her hands on her hips, which were decorated by arm guards. She was clothed in a dress that was made from the same green material Hiccup's shirt was. Black leggings covered her legs and brown boots hid her feet from view.
Hiccup picked himself up from the stairs he had stumbled onto and shrugged. "Considering our record, likely, sis."
'Most people would leave. Not us.'
Dragons swarmed around the village, diving downwards and lighting fires to distract the Vikings or nicking the panicking sheep from the ground.
A Deadly Nadder plucked a sheep from the ground and a Viking determined followed after, jumping off a ledge and grasping onto the sheep as the Deadly Nadder flew into the night. Another Viking was clutching onto a Gronckle, a stone hammer clasped onto his hand and hitting the Gronckle in the face repeatedly.
'We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.'
The auburn-haired twins stumbled away from the front of the burning house. They had missed a stray spark that lit their household on fire.
'Our names are Hiccup and Ashildr.'
Hiccup and Ashildr weaved their way through the burly Vikings, ducking away from the sharpened weapons.
'Great names, we know. Hiccup, you're thinking probably isn't, but it's not the worst.'
Hiccup was suddenly distracted by a Viking running straight into a wooden pole, immediately being knocked unconscious.
'Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls.'
Hiccup backed away when a Gronckle suddenly aimed a ball of fire at a nearby house, knocking him to the ground.
'Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.'
A blonde Viking instantaneously pounced on Hiccup, letting loose a drunken roar. "Morning!" He hollered after he was finished and jumped off Hiccup and into the ensuing battle.
"Hiccup!" He heard Ashildr shriek and she was suddenly over him, her auburn braid dangling over her shoulder and her green eyes roving over him in concern.
"I'm fine, Ash." Was all he said and Ashildr lent out a hand and hauling him to his feet.
Hiccup and Ashildr ducked behind a house and jumped onto the wooden bridge before racing up it, meeting multiple Vikings along the way.
"What are you two doing here?!" He hollered, holding a barrel over his head.
"Get inside!" The second called over his shoulder.
"Get back inside!" The third, a woman, shrieked at the two.
They both passed a blonde Viking on their way, looking at him curiously as he stared at the sky, his shield at a ready. Ashildr stumbled backwards, not noticing the bright flash heading towards her. She was suddenly grabbed by the collar of her dress and was lifted up and away to safety. The ensuing, "Ashildr!" just made her wince.
She was lifted as if she was a ragdoll and was put on display for the village. She closed her eyes in annoyance when she recognised who was holding her. Hiccup stood meekly by his man's side.
"What is she d- no, what are they doing..." The large man glared at both of them before commanding, "What are doing out? Get inside!" With that, he shoved Ashildr onto her feet and pushed Hiccup after her.
'That's Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe.'
Stoick glanced at the two before moving towards the blonde Viking, his eyes drawing in his village.
'They say when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders.'
Stoick spied a Deadly Nadder in the sky and whipped around to find an overturned wagon and picked it up as if it was paper and flung it at the dragon. His aim was true, and the wagon was destroyed on impact, but injured the dragon on impact. Stoick squared his shoulders as he saw the result.
'Do we believe it? Yes, we do.'
"What have we got?" He asked firmly, turning towards the blonde Viking.
"Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks," The Viking listed when a loud explosion went off. The Viking glanced at it before turning his attention back to his chief. "Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare." The Viking ducked behind his shield when a large ball of fire collided with a house. A stray spark landed on one of the metal plates that protected Stoick's shoulders.
"Any Night Furies?" He questioned.
"None so far." The Viking answered, still hidden behind his shield.
Stoick flicked the flame off his shoulder guard as if it was a fly. "Good."
-xXx-
Huge torches made of wood that had burning flames at the top were lifted into the sky. "Hoist the torches!" A Viking called to encourage to get the torches up faster. Dragons suddenly flew higher into the sky to avoid the flames and Hiccup and Ashildr glanced at the display before dashing away.
The twins sprinted into the forge to be greeted by the blacksmith. "Oh! Nice of you two to join the party!" He raised the stone hammer. "I thought you'd been carried off!" He slammed the hammer down repeatedly on the curved sword.
"Who, us?" Hiccup called out jokingly, tying his apron tight.
"We're way to muscular for their taste." Ashildr finished and grabbed a stone hammer and struggling to put it on the wooden rack.
"They wouldn't know what to do with all this." Hiccup gestured at his body before Ashildr whacked him on the back of his head. He cried out before turning to his sister, glaring at her as she rolled her eyes.
"They need toothpicks, don't they?" The blacksmith called back, removing the hammer from the replacement of his hand and replacing it with another tool. Hiccup flung open the wooden windows, Ashildr on his heels. A surge of Vikings flung their weapons onto the counter and Hiccup and Ashildr carried them near to the furnace.
'The meathead with the attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. We've been his apprentices since we were little. Well, littler.'
-xXx-
"Move to the lower defences. We'll counterattack with the catapults." Stoick ordered and a group of Vikings sprinted down a bridge, some of them carrying sheep. A Monstrous Nightmare suddenly swooped downwards and set a house on fire and the lave dripped downwards and onto the bridge, and the Vikings barely managed to dodge it. Many called to the others to watch out for it.
'See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.'
-xXx-
"Fire!" The twins heard a Viking call and the two looked up for only a moment to notice the 'fire brigade'.
A chubby blonde boy dressed in brown fur, held a bucket in his hands, the water threatening to tip over the edge as he ran.
'That's Fishlegs,'
A shorter boy with Viking helmet covering his black hair ran forward, clutching a bucker of water in his hand.
'Snotlout.'
Another pair of twins rushed forward, both owning blonde hair, grasping a bucket between them as they fought over it.
'The other pair of resident twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut...and...'
Ashildr had lost interest in that point and had delved deeper into the forge, so Hiccup was the only one to view a girl with her blonde hair in a braid throw a bucket of water onto a burning house. She spun around to reveal her electric-blue eyes.
'...Astrid.'
A dragon shot a ball of fire behind Astrid, effectively destroying the house, but framing her and only feeding Hiccup's infatuation. Hiccup continued staring at Astrid for another few moments, his eyes glazing over. Ashildr skipped over at that moment and noticed where Hiccup's focus had gone. With a grin on her face, she whacked her brother on the back of his head again, effectively shocking him out of his fantasy - painfully.
'Oh, their job is so much cooler.'
The auburn twins watched eagerly as the teens raced by, before they were dragged back into the forge by Gobber.
"Oh, come on. Please let us out." Hiccup whined.
"We need to make our mark." Ashildr begged.
"You've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places." Gobber said, nudging the two in their chests, knocking Ashildr to the floor.
"Please, two minutes. I'l- OW! We'll, sorry, kill a dragon." Hiccup said as he helped his sister up and getting whacked on the head to correct him.
"Yeah, come on, Gobber, our lives will get infinitely better and you never know, Hiccup might get a date with Astrid." At the last part, Ashildr threw her brother a teasing grin and in return, he elbowed her in the ribs.
"You cant lift a hammer. You cant swing an axe." Gobber listed before bringing up a pair of rocks tied together with a string in front of him. "You cant even throw one of these!" A Viking suddenly snatched the weapon out of Gobber's remaining hand and swung it a passing Gronckle, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Okay, fine, but this will throw it for us." The twins, with Gobber in tow, walked into the back of the forge to show him what they had been building those past few days. Hiccup placed a hand on the 'Mangler', which sent into action, letting loose a rock which knocked a Viking out cold.
"See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about!" Gobber moved towards the two, his wooden peg leg dragging against the stone floor. The twins stumbled backwards, the difference in height was intimidating.
"Well, there was a mild calibration issue..." Ashildr protested.
"Ashildr! Hiccup!" Gobber shouted, cutting off whatever the twins had to say. "If you two ever want to get out there to fight dragons...you need to stop all this." Gobber was never really a master of words, partially why he stuck to being a blacksmith, so he gestured to all of the twins, trying to get his point across.
"But you just pointed to all of us!" Hiccup exclaimed, disbelieving.
"Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you two." Gobber said triumphantly, thankful that his point had gotten across, if just worded differently.
"Ohh..." Ashildr suddenly murmured, her eyes narrowing in challenge.
"Oh, yes." Gobber retorted.
"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game." Hiccup started, his finger pointed at Gobber.
"Keeping this much raw Vikingness contained? There will be consequences!" Ashildr finished, though a bit sarcastically.
"I'll take my chances." Gobber said, before grabbing a sword and shoving it into Hiccup's arms. "Sword. Sharpen. Now." He turned Ashildr. "You. Weapons. Sort. Now." He ordered before pushing the girl to a stack of weapons in the corners.
Hiccup grunted as he sharpened the sword and as Ashildr sorted through the mashed and not-so-destroyed weapons, their eyes connected, a silent promise held in each pair.
'One day, we'll get out there. Because killing a dragon...is everything around here.'
-xXx-
Nadders swarmed Berk in multiple packs, communicating in growls and chirps as they raided houses and fields.
'A Nadder head is sure to get us at least noticed.'
-xXx-
A Gronckle bit into a pole that held a multitude of fish, before flying into the sky.
'Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely improve our love life.'
-xXx-
A Zippleback dug its claws into a house, before spraying its deadly gas into the house and sparking it to life, destroying the house from the inside out.
'A Zippleback? Exoctic. Two heads, twice the status.'
-xXx-
"They found the sheep!" A Viking shouted at his chief as the man clambered onto the watch tower.
"Concentrate fire over the lower bank." Stoick ordered.
The catapult was aimed. "Hurry up!" The Viking shouted.
A Nadder was pummelled to the ground by the circular stone.
'And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those.'
A faint growling caught Stoick's attention and he whipped his head up to the sky, his eyes drifting from cloud to cloud. A sudden flare of light caught his attention and his head snapped to the ground as he realised what it was. He looked over the edge to see fire crawling up the tower.
'They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.'
A Monstrous Nightmare burst through the level below, snarling menacingly at the chief.
"Reload! I'll take care of this." Stoick commanded, gripping his hammer tight. With that, he slammed the hammer into the Nightmare's jaw and it reared back in shock and pain. Stoick took his chance and swung his hammer on the opposite side and he met his target. The Nightmare, expecting the pain, whipped his head forward and Stoick dodged, countless years of dragon slaying paying off.
'But the ultimate prizes are the dragons no one's ever seen.'
Stoick whipped his head to the sky and Nightmare flew away. The deadly whistle was loud and clear in the sound of war.
'We call them...'
"Night Fury!"
"Get down!"
A purple blast collided with the catapult, sending the broken pieces to the ground and bringing the tower with it.
"Jump!" Stoick shouted, as he himself jumped down to the ground.
Not a moment after, another whistle was heard and everyone stayed hidden behind their shields as a silver-white blast hit the next catapult, destroying another defence.
'These things never steal food, never shows themselves, and...'
This time, two whistles were heard and they both increased in volume and before any of the Vikings knew it, the catapults were shot to pieces without any chance of them being repaired.
'...never miss. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why we're going to be the first.'
"Man the fort, you two. They need me out there." Gobber told the two, securing the axe. He hobbled out of the forge, but stopped at the doorway and whipped around, pointing a threatening finger at both of them. "Stay. Put. There...you know what I mean."
Fooling himself into believing they'll stay, Gobber ran into the raid, unleashing a battle cry.
-xXx-
"Where are you going?" A Viking shrieked as Hiccup and Ashildr ran past, their next disaster in tow.
"Yeah, we know!" Ashildr called back.
"Be right back!" Hiccup shouted over his shoulder, barely dodging a Viking.
"Don't worry! We'll be back in time for breakfast!" Ashildr threw back at the Vikings before scampering after her brother.
-xXx-
Sheep were cornered by three Deadly Nadders, all braying in fear.
Stoick suddenly sprinted in, managing to net the three Nadders. A purple-and-orange Nadder let loose a burst of flame, but Stoick pounced on its maw, keeping it shut with his weight. "Mind yourselves!" He called to his warriors. "The devils still have some juice in them!"
-xXx-
Hiccup and Ashildr ran through the darkened village till they found a cliff face they could set their weapon up.
"Hurry, Hiccup!" Ashildr hissed, trying to keep quiet in case their targets heard, you never knew how sensitive a dragon's hearing was.
"I'm hurrying." He hissed back as he opened the two wooden planks and let the weapon free.
A second after the weapon was ready, the twins heard a faint roar that was followed by another roar, though this one more high-pitched.
"Come on, give me something to shoot at." Hiccup murmured, his green eyes zipping over the sky.
The roars came again and Hiccup gripped the weapon more tightly as Ashildr tried to pinpoint where the roars had come from. A light whistle was heard and Hiccup furrowed his brows in concentration. "Tell me when to shoot, Ash."
He saw his sister nod slightly and silently move behind him. They both saw some of the stars going out and when the dragon was close enough and then heard the whistle. They both tensed in anticipation. The Night Fury let loose a purple blast and they both the silhouette of the Night in the light. Ashildr screamed, "NOW!"
Hiccup let the weapon fire and the twins were knocked to the ground. They both froze as they heard another whistle and a roar, but all they saw was the Night Fury getting tangled up in the net, but not before a black blur collided with the Night Fury, also getting captured by the net. Two high-pitched roars signalled Hiccup and Ashildr's achievement and they both stared as the Night Fury fell into the forest.
"Hiccup...you hit it," Ashildr murmured, still looking at the forest, but then looked at her brother in wonder. "You did it, Hiccup, you did it!" She shrieked in joy.
"Yeah, I did! Tell me somebody saw that."
They both froze in horror when they heard a growl in front of them and they looked up to see a Monstrous Nightmare crushing their weapon with its foot. "Except for you." Hiccup whispered before both siblings scrambled to their feet and sprinted through the village, both screaming.
-xXx-
Stoick turned his head around when he heard the screams. He saw two small figures that he estimated was Hiccup and Ashildr and a Monstrous Nightmare following. He sighed in annoyance before turning to one of his warriors. "Do not let them escape!"
The Viking nodded and Stoick ran up a bridge, hoping that he would be able to get there in time.
-xXx-
A sudden burst of fire had Hiccup ducking and his sister pulling him further away from the Nightmare, screams coming loose from their mouths as they ran. Another blast of fire had Ashildr running after he brother after she had helped him off the ground, dragon slayer or not, she was absolutely terrified. Hiccup grabbed his sister's hand and dragged her behind a torch and they both tried to get their breath back. All of a sudden, they were surrounded by burning fire that singed their clothes as they curled into each other for protection.
Ashildr turned to look behind the torch in hopes of pinpointing the Nightmare when the fire had stopped. When Hiccup noticed the Nightmare next to him, he opened his mouth to scream when the Nightmare was suddenly knocked away by Stoick, drawing its attention to the chief.
The dragon growled threateningly as it eyed Stoick, who stood in a defensive position. The dragon opened its maw and let loose a small burst of fire that fell to the ground. The Nightmare tried again, but nothing erupted from its throat except for a small spark. The dragon looked at the small puddle of fire and then Stoick worriedly.
"You're all out." Stoick murmured menacingly before charging at the Nightmare and punching it on its face, then its jaw then once again its face. By that time, he had collected enough bruises and flew off into the lightening sky.
'Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know.'
Stoick turned back to the collapsing torch, a annoyed expression plastered on his face. The torch broke right off and fell onto its right, the top breaking off and setting the rest of Berk on fire.
Both Ashildr and Hiccup winced as they heard the Vikings shouts of displeasure and the frightened bleats of the livestock.
"Sorry, Dad."
Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragons, only the OC's and the changes I make to the plot.
NOT EDITED!
Hey, guys! I know this isn't the best piece of work out there, but hey, at least I tried.
This idea has been rolling around in my head for months, but I've been hesitant to put it up here and when I saw Skylight369 who had a few works about the Haddock Twins, I thought what the hell? If they can do it, why can't I?
See ya next chap!
P.S do you guys like Ashildr?
Pronunciation
Ashildr = Ash-ill-dur
If any of you watch Doctor Who, you know where I got her name from ;D.