This is a story idea I might eventually write down. If anyone wants to write this idea, let me know so I don't bite at you for stealing my idea.
So, 14-year-old Varian has been thrown into prison for nearly killing Queen Arianna and threatening the Kingdom of Corona. The last he heard of the princess was that she and her friends were heading on a journey to discover the source of the black rocks. Six months later an attack on the Kingdom has Varian seeing freedom as a side effect. Knowing that nowhere in the kingdom is safe for him, Varian leaves Corona all together, unsure that he would ever find a cure to free his father. With only a bag he grabbed from home on his way out and his best friend, Rudgier, Varian becomes an exile and a fugitive on the run.
Varian manages to get onto a ship in order to get further away, but his plans get halted when the ship gets shipwrecked and he and Rudgier are stranded out at sea. Little food and even less water, Varian and Rudgier are on the verge of starvation and dehydration. Suddenly, the two are saved by two strange individuals. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk, and his dragon Toothless, Alpha of all dragons.
Brought back to Berk, how will Varian and Rudgier live in this new environment?
This is a story idea I might eventually write down. If anyone wants to write this idea, let me know so I don't bite at you for stealing my idea.
This is not yet a story, but the basic outline of the story. If I don't write it, someone else has permission to write it-
-ON THE CONDITIONS-
-that I am both asked first, as this IS my idea/creativity juice, that you credit me when you write the story AND that you don't completely deviate from the story's plot line.
Some things to note when reading this story:
Hiccup is about 21-23, so he's been chief for a while.
This story ignores everything Rapunzel finds out on her journey about the black rocks, as well as the ending of HTTYD 3.
Some aspects of HTTYD 3 MIGHT appear
Many things from 'Riders of Berk' and 'Dragons: Race to the Edge' will be mentioned or appear like Dagur being a good guy and married and Heather being his sister
Trader Johann WILL NOT be a villian, I like Johann thank you very much!
Toothless is NOT the only Night Fury, but the Light Fury WILL be a thing.
The story would start in Corona with Varian, as he is the main character. He would reflect on everything he's done, from kidnapping the queen to his attempt to free his father, to nearly crushing Cassandra, to his overall threatening of the Kingdom of Corona. He admits that there's no chance he would ever find a way to free his father, if he was even still alive (because really? I'm having a hard time that he didn't suffocate in there. Yeah, he'll be alive when he's freed in this story, but still, Quirin could have very well suffocated and the amber was the only thing keeping him from decomposing).
The last Varian had heard of Rapunzel was she, Eugene, Cassandra, Maximus, and a few of her thug friends had gone on a journey to discover the source of the black rocks. That was about six months ago (I'm not sure of the timeline of Tangled: the Series so I'm just putting out a random number) and Varian is still in prison. He gets occasional visits from the queen, whose reasons for visiting are unknown to Varian. He knows that she and Rapunzel were the reasons why Rudiger was allowed to stay with him, but that's it. One day, the kingdom gets attacked by some thugs whose reasons for attacking are unknown to Varian, who is freed along with many of the other criminals in the dungeons.
In the chaos of everything, Varian is able to sneak out and get on a horse and takes a roundabout way back to Old Corona. Since he knows that area is unsafe, he stays only long enough to grab the essentials of what he needs (his notes on alchemy, some food and water, spare chemical potions, money, a map, spare notebooks, a cloak, writing utensils, and a photo of his family). He gets back on the horse and leaves the kingdom of Corona. He ditches the horse after a while and masks his scent by rubbing a strong smelling plant. Not sparing a moment, he and Rudiger move as far away from Corona as they can before the aftermath of the attack allows for the discovery of his escape. He hitchhikes on traveling carts, hiding his face until he's sure he's far enough away for people to not know of him and his treachery towards his kingdom. By nightfall, Varian has a twelve hour head start from not only the time from the attack but from the guards losing his trail due to loss of scent.
Varian travels for a few weeks, intent on getting as far from the borders of Corona as he can, and eventually gets on a boat that will take him miles and miles from his prison. The ship hits a storm and Varian is thrown overboard, with only a lifeboat as his salvation. With the little food and water he has, and from splitting it with Rudiger, the two of them only make it a little over a week before they run out and slowly become dehydrated and hungry. Just as Varian was sure he and his friend were going to die, they are saved by an unusual sight. An adult man riding a creature that was thought to be myth.
Hiccup and Toothless find Varian out at sea while on their weekly free flight. With Hiccup being chief and having to run the village, he can't fly for pleasure as much as he likes to anymore. However, the villagers agree that Hiccup needs at least one free flight a week to prevent him and Toothless from going stir crazy as well as a way for them to de-stress themselves. It is during their flight that they spot a small lifeboat out on the water, with a human teen and a raccoon within. After pulling the boat quickly to a nearby island, Hiccup is able to check the boy and animal over to find them both severally dehydrated and starving. He can tell the raccoon is not food from the way the boy holds onto it like a close companion, so Hiccup takes the both of them (and Varian's bag) back to Berk. He takes them to Gothi, and she helps heal the two. Varian is asleep for at least a day before he comes to, Rudiger still asleep. Hiccup talks to Varian and all Varian tells him is that he ran away from a place that was bad for him. He admits to doing something very bad, and that worries Hiccup a bit. So, with a deal for Varian to tell him what he did one day, Hiccup lets Varian stay on Berk.
After a week, Varian and Rudiger are able to leave Gothi's and they end up staying in Hiccup's house. A little uncomfortable with nothing to do, he asks for something to do from Hiccup, and the chief asks him if he's be comfortable with working near dragons. Varian gives an unsure answer as he had never been around dragons before. Hiccup takes him to Gobber and has Varian help him out with dragons for the day until they can find something more comfortable for him to do. For the next few months, Varian learns a lot about herbs as he works with Gobber as a dragon doctor of sorts. He states that he doesn't have the drive to work in a forge, so Gobber mainly has him working with the dragons, but occasionally he has him sharpen or shine a sword or dagger. Varian's a little nervous about trying to work on his alchemy when he's a) surrounded by wood, b) has no safe work space, c) still hasn't told Hiccup his story yet.
Varian starts to feel cooped up on the island after a while and wants to explore the area around him, see if there's anything he could use for alchemy. Seeing him so antsy, Hiccup takes Varian out on a ride to another island during his weekly ride as a way to introduce him to the environment. Varian has told him that he never really left his old home country before, so everything is rather new to him, especially the longer winter times. Hiccup, Toothless, Varian, and Rudiger get trapped in a cave, and a bear in with them as well. Toothless keeps the bear back with his growling, but runs out of fire shots to keep it back. Taking a chance, Varian flings one of his chemical traps, the one he created to keep Rudiger out at first, and traps the bear in it's tracks. He uses another to melt away the rocks that keep them trapped in the cave and once everyone is free of the cave he frees the bear. Once they're far enough away from the cave, Hiccup questions Varian as to what he had done. Here is where Varian thinks about telling Hiccup about his past as a villain when the group hears a wail of pain. Recognizing it as a dragon, Hiccup immediately seeks it out.
They come across a new breed of dragon (think ATLA dragon, but the adults are MUCH smaller). While Hiccup tries to get close to help the dragon, which is trapped and injured, Varian digs through his bag for the stuff necessary to help the creature. When the dragon does not let them get close, Varian takes a small dagger from his boot and makes a cut on his arm. Hiccup is shocked and wonders what he's doing, while the dragon is watching Varian closely. Varian uses the herbs to treat his cut, showing the dragon that he means the dragon no harm. Hiccup is surprised when the dragon allows for Varian to both approach the dragon and free as well as treat him.
Once Varian finishes treating the dragon, he tries to leave so he and Hiccup can go, but the dragon gets up and follows them. Toothless converses with the dragon, and after a 'conversation' with Hiccup, the chief realizes that the dragon wants to be with Varian. Since the injury is not in the wings, Hiccup lets the dragon come with them, knowing a dragon bond in the making when he sees one. When they get back to the village, many are shocked with the new species, especially Fishlegs and Valka. Varian helps the dragon, who he names Copper for his copper and brown color scheme, get used to people.
One of the first things he gets straight with the dragon is that Rudiger is NOT food, and soon the raccoon can run all over Copper and the dragon won't care. It seems that by spending time with the Berk dragons Copper understands how things work, and by the time his bandages get removed he is dragging Varian over to get a saddle. Hiccup personally works on the saddle for Varian and Copper, making sure to include a spot for Rudiger to ride in. After the saddle was finished, Hiccup helps Varian put it on and Varian goes on his first dragon ride on his very own dragon. During the making of the saddle Hiccup explains to Varian what it means for Copper to want to stay with Varian, and the teen is happy to call Copper his own dragon. After his ride, Varian goes to Hiccup and tells him that he can't keep what he did a secret anymore and that he wants to tell him about his previous life.
With only Hiccup, Toothless, and Copper listening, Varian talks about his life in Corona. His interest in alchemy, his lack of a mother, a father who was always too busy, how the people in Old Corona didn't like him because he destroyed everything. He talks about Rapunzel being the lost princess, everything that happened since she returned, the black rocks, how they were destroying his home, his father's friendship with the king, what happened during the blizzard, his father's entrapment in the amber, Rapunzel's broken promise. With a heavy heart he tells him his retaliation against Corona, what he almost did to the queen, how he almost crushed a good friend in his anger, and how he threatened his old home. Without looking at Hiccup, he promises that he'll leave in the morning and never come back, but before he can leave, Hiccup gives him a tight hug. Hiccup admits that he's a little concerned about his stunt against his old home, but he also admits that the two of them were very similar.
Hiccup talks about his childhood and Varian realizes that they are similar. Despite everything Varian told him, Hiccup does not hold it against him. He even goes as far as to say that the king was partially at fault for what happened since he was ignoring his people. Yes, Varian was responsible for the amber and trapping his father, but if the king had done something sensible, like evacuate the people, Varian wouldn't have had tried getting rid of the rocks himself. Varian was a problem of the king's creation due to his ignorance.
Hiccup tells Varian he can stay, but encourages him to tell more people, that they would understand just like he did. He also encourages Varian to work on his alchemy more, as it is both something he loves and something that can actually help people. This is when Hiccup would have the village start constructing a place where Varian can work on his alchemy in safe conditions. He also takes Varian to other villages to get stuff for his lab. Trader Johann also has plenty of things Varian finds uses for when he comes to visit the island. Varian also talks to Hiccup about studying in healing as well, as he felt it would not only be useful, but it would also help in his alchemy research. Hiccup sets Varian up to apprentice with Gothi, since she has the best experience with tending to sicknesses and wounds. Varian eventually learns how to read her chicken scratch writing and does really well in his healing studies, to the point where Gothi lets him tend to an injury all by himself while only watching him.
It would be at this point where Rapunzel would return home to Corona with new things to discover, only to find out from her father that Varian was gone. They found out that there was a moon flower created from the moon opal, but the flower had been plucked years ago and was now within a human being just like the sundrop was within Rapunzel. The location where the moon flower used to be was guarded by an old woman who told Rapunzel that the black rocks were active on their own because they were trying to guide the sundrop to where they last felt the moon flower. With that lead dead, the black rocks became dormant, only responding to whomever held the power of the moondrop. When asked for the location of the moondrop, the old lady told Rapunzel that she's met the moondrop before, and that she hurt him. The only person that came to mind for Rapunzel was Varian. So they head back to Corona to see Varian, only to find out he's long gone. Due to how the laws work, the king can't send his guards into other countries to find Varian, so unless he walked into Corona land, he was untouchable. The king declared Varian exiled from Corona, and if he was found by the guards, he was to be brought back for another trial where he would face a much longer sentence then what he originally had. Rapunzel only hopes that Varian is happy where he is, and promises to herself that she will find out how to free Quirin.
At this point, Varian would be 15, turning 16 soon. Since he was 14 when he was imprisoned, and he had his 15 birthday during his weeks of escaping from Corona, he was 15 when he came to Berk. At this point Varian is coming a long way in his alchemy as well as his healer apprenticeship with Gothi. He even dabbles in woodworking when he needs a new piece of furniture or is just bored and needs to clear his head. Every now and then Fishlegs comes by for a lesson in alchemy, while the twins are absolutely are forbidden from touching Varian's alchemy.
The village quickly learned how terrifying Varian can be if you messed with his work, especially when he's in the middle of mixing a new formula or medicine. Even the twins and Snotlout know not to mess with Varian's alchemy stuff or medicinal stuff. Most of Berk likes Varian, the rest adore him since he reminds them a lot of Hiccup, especially once he starts talking about something he likes. The children especially like Rudiger. Many people of Berk like to get him random presents they think would help him with his work. Along with working on his apprenticeship and alchemy, Varian learned the Norse alphabet (I'm ignoring the verbal language barrier obviously). So when people get him books, he's able to read them fairly well. It takes a lot of practice at first until it finally becomes Varian's second language. In return, Varian teaches Hiccup, Fishlegs, and some other vikings how to read his own alphabet.
In passing conversation, Varian mentions his birthday and soon all of Berk is planning him a party. During this time, Hiccup is also working on reviving the treaties between Berk and the other tribes. Such as the Berserkers (of which Heather leads), Bog-Burglars, Meatheads, Wingmaidens, and the Defenders of the Wing (of which Dagur is king of), to name a few. During this time, Hiccup introduces Varian to the leaders of his allies, Dagur reminded a lot of young Hiccup. Varian gets interested when they all tell their tales of how Hiccup turned the viking villages into dragon loving villages like he did with Berk, how he gained the loyalty of the Wingmaidens and the Defenders of the Wing.
Hiccup even pulls Varian aside with Dagur and Heather and asks Varian to talk to them about his past in Corona since they went through a similar time in their lives. Varian tells the two siblings about his life in Corona and what he eventually did to the kingdom and the queen. Dagur tells Varian about how he used to be Hiccup's least favorite person, and how horrible he used to be. He even tells Varian about how he hunted down Toothless because he was a Night Fury.
He tried to kill Hiccup and Toothless countless times, yet now he was allies, best friends even, with Hiccup and had two dragon friends of his own, hell he even married a dragon rider and is king of the Defenders of the Wing. And, unlike Varian, Dagur has killed people and dragons before, so the people he wronged had a lot more reason to hate him, but here he was, a trusted member of his people and the people of Berk.
This encourages Varian who wants to tell more people about his past. As the village works both on the birthday celebrations, keeping Varian distracted, as well as the treaty signing celebrations. The other tribes even pitch in some of their own help to help with the birthday bits. Especially Dagur and Heather, who have found they adore Varian. The two of them find themselves interested in his alchemy, and wonder if they can have it brought to their own tribes. The treaty signing goes off without a hitch, but Varian gets the biggest surprise in his entire 16 years of existence so far when the entire Great Halls switches gears so fast it makes his neck hurt. The entire hall is suddenly celebrating his birthday and it makes him happy. After the cake is had and the presents are given, Varian asks Hiccup if he could speak. Realizing what he was doing, Hiccup got the attention of the entire hall.
Once all the attention was on him, Varian goes into a speech of how his time on Berk has been the best time of his entire life, especially the time he spent in a dungeon. That gathers some concern, which was Varian's plan. He talks about his life in Corona, how he lived, how everyone treated him, and what happened when the long lost princess returned home. Many of the vikings from Berk realized the parallels between the boy and their chief and grew angry at the treatment Varian had gone through. When he came to talking about what he had done with the black rocks and the trapping of his father, he had a harder time talking about it, but a look from Hiccup had Varian pushing forward.
He talked about the amber incident, Rapunzel breaking her word as a princess, the lies Nigel had spread throughout the castle, and what he had done in retaliation against Corona. He talked about his imprisonment in the dungeons and how Rudiger was his only friend. He talked about the attack that lead to his escape and how he fled from the kingdom. He talked about his trip that lead him to getting onto the ship that got shipwrecked and allowed for his chief to find and save them. Everyone notices that he specifically referred to Hiccup as his chief, which meant that he was renouncing his ties to Corona and calling himself a member of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.
Varian starts to think telling everyone at once was a bad idea, but Hiccup stands next to him, showing his support. Dagur and Heather also stand next to him, silently reminding everyone of their own history of villainy. Mala stands next to her husband, showing she had no objections to Varian. Eventually, more and more people start voicing their acceptance, as compared to many people in the room, what Varian did was a minor thing since he never actually hurt anybody except for their pride. Dagur and Mala approach Varian and tell him that he's welcome to visit them on Defender of the Wing island anytime. Heather does the same regarding the Beserkers.
Things progress as normal, Varian improving more and more in regards to his alchemy and apprenticeship with Gothi. In fact, he is good enough to be considered a genius, not that many others could tell a genius from an amateur. Many of his concoctions are used frequently by the villagers, and Hiccup has even gotten requests from their allies to have some. Varian refuses, only on the grounds that he wants to improve more before he starts mass producing. He also mentions to his chief that he's worried about materials for his formulas in order to make his creations.
After talking with Hiccup, Varian heads to Defenders of the Wing in order to see if they have any useful materials on their island. During that time, he meets a girl who is visiting Mala from Wingmaiden island (this would be an OC as there are no young girls named from that island as far as I know). The two start meeting more and more often, and for the next year, the two get closer to each other. After Varian's 17 th birthday, he would formally ask the girl to date him, which she would say yes to. As a surprise, she reveals that she's moving to Berk as working with the Wingmaidens is not meant for her.
Between Varian's 18 th and 20 th birthday, life is overall good for him. Hiccup asked Astrid to marry him during Varian's 18 th year and they married a year later, Varian being one of the groomsmen. He graduated from his apprenticeship when he was 19, and has found ways to have alchemy help with medicinal needs. When he turns 20, he actually tells Hiccup about accepting apprentices himself for alchemy to further spread the art. Hiccup sends letters to their allies and ask if they have anyone willing to learn alchemy there on Berk. Varian and his girlfriend would work together to set up how the apprenticeships would work, so they would be ready to launch once the future students got there.
In the end, at least twenty teens came, many wanting to see if it interested them, a few simply bored with anything else in their home, and the remaining few determined to learn the art Varian brought to the archipelago. Varian kept them for three weeks, which he used to weed out those who found the art not suiting them, those that weren't serious about learning, and those who had potential. All his apprentices lived on Berk for easier teaching, they were allowed to visit home on holidays or of something serious happened back home. Out of the original twenty that arrived, only 9 actually became apprentices.
At age 20, Varian asked his girlfriend (we'll call her Kierra for the sake of using a name) to marry him, and she says yes. For the next year their lives are balanced between Kierra's job of teaching kids to properly handle dragon hatchlings, Varian teaching his apprentices, and them planning for their wedding. A month after Varian turns 21, he and Kierra get married (I can't help but imagine them singing a reprise of "Ready as I'll Ever Be" as they get married), with Hiccup marrying them together as their chief, and Varian can't see himself being any happier. A few months later, Kierra says she's pregnant. Varian's first child, who he helps deliver, is a son, who he names Stoick in honor of Hiccup's father, and he makes Hiccup and his wife the godparents.
Two years later, Varian is 23 and is graduating all of his alchemy apprentices from their apprenticeships. Three of his apprentices are from Berk, so he has more help in working on his concoctions. Here he starts and realizes that with Gothi getting older each year, the village will need more people on hand to learn healing, so he starts up a healer apprenticeship along side his alchemy one. He asks all his graduated students if any of them would like to help him teach the next batch of apprentices, and only five said they could help. Two which came from Berk (the third was traveling in search of more rich materials to experiment with), one from Defender of the Wing, and one from the Berserkers. In preparation for more students, the five graduates help expand the alchemy building to accommodate more people. When he's not working with alchemy, Varian is working on finding students for the healers apprenticeship.
He only gets 6 students for this apprenticeship, but that doesn't stop him and he keeps moving. At age 25, Varian gets Kierra pregnant again with twins, a girl and boy. She names them Runa and Vali. At this point, part of his apprenticeships involves Varian taking his students out to locations to show them where to find herbs or materials for alchemy. So far, Hiccup and Astrid have one child, a little girl named Valka, who is only a year older then Stoick the Second. Ruffnut married Fishlegs, but they have yet to try for kids. Snotlout found a wife in the Meadhead Tribe, and his wife is currently pregnant. Tuffnut is courting a girl from the Beserkers, and it's going rather well.
It is at this age when Varian first activates the black rocks in protection of his home. Enemies attack Berk in hopes of doing some damage, but Varian some how activates the black rocks and they defend the people of Berk, while also trapping the attackers. At first Varian is terrified, but after multitude of reassurances from the people of Berk that they won't get rid of him, he heads home. That night he gets a dream in which he sees Rapunzel for the first time in eleven years. He sees her talking to an old lady about a 'moondrop'. Basically it's the conversation Rapunzel had with the old lady who guarded the last location of the moon flower. Varian discovers he's the moondrop and tells Hiccup. Since they have no intention of going to Corona, since they would most definitely take Varian away, they decide to take this whole 'moondrop' and 'power over black rocks' step by step.
When Varian is 26, Hiccup and Toothless actually find a hidden nest of Night Furies, or Furies as he starts calling them when he sees that not all of them come in black. To keep the Furies safe, Hiccup has Toothless transition the dragons into his own flock, since he's alpha, the dragons would both listen to him, and feel safe with him. Varian actually manages to control the black rocks and creates an alcove on the side of Berk for the Furies to make a nest in. While learning to control the rocks, Varian discovers he can control how they look, so he's able to change the whole 'black pointy rocks' look he originally knew them for. He even uses the rocks to stabilize weaker parts of Berk to keep it standing for several more centuries. In this year, Rudiger actually finds a girlfriend and has a few litters of baby raccoons with her.
In Corona, Rapunzel is worried since they've never heard any word of Varian. During the year Varian was 23, the princess finally found a way to free Quirin from the amber. Her only regret was that Varian wasn't the one to do it. When Quirin was freed, and fully coherent a week later, he asked the princess where his son was. Here, Rapunzel starts crying and Eugene informs Quirin how long he's been in the amber. Cassandra is the one who tells him what happened with Varian while he was trapped. King Fredric is the one who tells him that Varian has been missing for 9 years.
Quirin is angry, but also upset that his only family is gone. Adira comes to comfort her old friend, and promises that she's been keeping an ear out for any word of Varian. Unable to even speak to the king, his old friend, Quirin sets out, journey after journey, searching for his son. He always comes back because the house reminds him of Varian and because it's the only place Adira will agree to meet as she wants to keep checking up on the sundrop that is Rapunzel. She also tells him her suspicions of Varian being the moondrop, so she wants to stay in the loop for when they find him.
Most of Varian's life continues as a teacher of healing and alchemy, along with the occasional woodworking. Thanks to him, many of their allies have competent healers and great alchemists. The defenses for all the islands have increased with the addition of alchemic compounds added as weapons for the dragon riders. In his free time that isn't used up by his three children, Varian and Copper go out on flights in search of new materials to use for alchemy and more herb locations for medicines. One of the lessons that Varian stressed to his students was to never pick a new spot clean of herbs, only take a few and remember to mark down where they found it for future uses. During these years, Hiccup and Astrid have their second child, a little boy named Sky.
TIME SKIP
By the time Varian is 30, almost 31, he is famous among all the dragon rider islands as the famous alchemist and he made the history books. While Hiccup went down as the one to end the war between vikings and humans, Varian went down as the man who utilized alchemy as a tool to be used in both defense as well as healing. He also has amazing control over the black rocks, his hair doesn't even glow anymore when he controls them. Kierra is also pregnant again, so Varian has a fourth child on the way and is happy. He and Copper go out on a few days trip to one of the outer islands in the archipelago gather a valuable compound he had been looking for for a few months now, and he gets a nasty surprise.
While Copper is off looking for his lunch, Varian is alone when he is jumped by Corona men. Cursing himself for leaving his weapon on Copper's saddle, Varian is taken captive by the men, who start to head back to the ship they arrived on. The king had heard rumors about an 'alchemist' and wondered if it was the Varian boy. He sent out some of his best men, they weren't part of the guard, but they were still his men.
While he valued his friendship with Quirin, Varian was still a criminal that escaped prison. He also nearly killed his wife, and he will never forget that. Rudiger sees Varian being carried away and follows them until they stop. Seeing his friend before he men can see him, Varian tells Rudiger to get Copper and to head back to Berk for help. He carefully loosens a handkerchief from his sleeve and gives it to Rudiger for a scent tracker. The raccoon understands and heads off to find the dragon.
Of course, finding out that his human was taken by the bad humans who want to lock him up did not a happy Copper make. He wants to go after his human, but listens to Rudiger once he realizes that he has a scent marker of his precious human. With his human in danger, Copper flies for days, barely resting, in order to get back to Berk as soon as possible. It scares the hell out of Kierra when Copper crashes on the ground with Rudiger, but no Varian in sight. It just so happened that this was the day that Heather and Dagur were visiting Hiccup, so when they found out that Varian was missing, they immediately demanded to come.
With Rudiger riding with Hiccup and Toothless, Dagur comes on Sleuther and Heather on Windshear the group set out to find Varian. In the time it takes for Copper to make it back to Berk, Varian is on a boat headed straight for Corona. Varian is bored beyond belief as he hasn't traveled by boat since he shipwrecked and got stranded out at sea at fourteen. Riding a dragon ruins all other transportation for a person as they're all slow. After about three days on a boat, they finally arrive to port where they load Varian into a carriage for a two day trip to Corona. When they finally make it to the kingdom, Varian can't find himself missing the place, especially when the townsfolk realize who he is and start pelting him with rotten fruits. The men take pity on Varian and stop the fruit throwing, but the man is still splattered with fruit.
He's taken into the palace where he is confronted with Cassandra for the first time in 16 years. She sees his appearance and takes pity and has the men take him to be cleaned for his trial. Eugene is with Rapunzel trying to calm her down since she is nervous about seeing Varian for the first time in years. Once Varian is cleaned of fruit, and all the court members are in place, Varian is brought in. It's a surprise to everyone at how much Varian has changed.
He's a few inches taller then Eugene, but is still only a few centimeters shorter then Hiccup. He also has a beard, which makes him look his age. He certainly did not wimp out during his time on Berk, as he has very well defined muscles. Eugene isn't even sure if he could beat this man in an arm wrestling match anymore. Cassandra is unsure if she could take him in a match, but since she doubts he had sword training, she isn't too worried.
The trial starts, and the king begins by stating Varian's original crimes against Corona. At the end he adds on the crime of escaping imprisonment and running from the law. The king tries asking where Varian has been all these years, but Varian snidely remarks that it's none of his business. More questions get asked, and everything is pinned up against Varian in ways that aren't even funny. The princess stands and adds her two pence in that, under the suspicion of being the moondrop, Varian is to stay within Corona to be monitored to see if he is a danger to others. Varian, of course, is a stubborn sarcastic little shit and makes every inch of the whole trial a chore for everyone else.
When it is declared that Varian shall face imprisonment until the time he reaches the age of 60, Varian is worrying deep inside. But before the trial can officially end, the room is bombarded by Hiccup, Dagur, Heather, and their dragons, and Rudiger of course. Hiccup declares that the king has no right to punish a member of his tribe, whom he illegally took.
Since Varian wasn't in Corona, the king had no right to send men to capture Varian. Also taking in the fact that Varian had renounced his Corona heritage and citizenship and has been a member of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe since he was 16, Hiccup had legal reason to declare war upon Corona for kidnapping a member of his tribe. Dagur and Heather put in their two gold coins and say that if they go up against Berk, the Beserkers and the Defenders of the Wing would be right beside them. Not to mention all the other allied viking tribes.
Some of the 'judges' try and declare that since they were vikings their laws did not matter in the land of Corona. And vikings had no business here. Heather rebounds by saying that by their logic, the kingdom of Corona has no business with Varian since he's been a viking of Berk for 14 years. The king tries telling them what Varian had done to their kingdom, and they announce that they already know.
Everyone of Berk has known for years. And the only thing the vikings and dragon riders think is that it was a problem of their own making. Before Fredric can defend himself, Heather goes into a rant stating that Varian only started messing with the black rocks when the king refused to do anything about them even after Old Corona begged him to do something. He acted as if they didn't exist so the consequences were his fault as much as they were Varian's.
She also points out something Varian had told her in a past conversation. She asks if Varian's father was the vassal of Old Corona, and he says yes. She asks if he had appointed another after the man was trapped in amber, and he says no. She then states that by Corona's own laws, Varian was in the right to lash out as he did. When his father was 'indisposed' and couldn't fulfill his role as vassal, without the king to properly announce the new vassal of Old Corona, the title passed to Varian. His age didn't matter, since the title of vassal automatically went to the first born child unless the king formally declares someone else the new vassal, which he didn't.
In accordance with Corona's own laws, Varian was acting in his role as vassal in defense of Old Corona. He begged for help, not only with his father, but with the problem of the black rocks as well, only to be ignored. King Fredric ignored the cries for help from his vassal, so the consequences were of his own making. If they punished Varian, the king needed to be equally punished for his part in Varian's actions.
They state quite clearly that if the king had done his damn job, Varian wouldn't have been able to do what he did. Even evacuating the citizens of Old Corona would have done more good than simply ignoring their problems. Hiccup makes his stand quite clear. If they don't release Varian, Corona will find themselves a war with Berk and all their allies, and there were certain people back home who wouldn't be happy with Varian being kept from his home. Not to mention the apprentices that he had back on Berk. With Toothless, Windshear, and Sleuther all skulking around, growling, and glaring at the people in the room, many knew that a war with them was not something they wanted to face.
Everyone in the room quickly realized that this was not a battle they could win, but the king was not ready to release the man who had nearly taken his wife from him. He states that as a criminal who committed crimes in Corona, the kingdom had the right to punish him. He is rebuffed by Dagur who comments that he only got his hands on Varian by sending men out beyond Corona's borders to find him. Something that they cannot do without consequences.
Not wanting this to turn into a war or a bloodbath, Rapunzel suggests that they send a small group of people to see where Varian was living. If the good he has committed in Berk since his escape outweighs the bad he committed in Corona, the kingdom will consider his time on Berk as 'community service' and leave him in peace. Here, a judge interjects and brings back the suspicion of Varian being the moondrop and his possible control over the black rocks. Sharing a look with his chief, Varian shrugs and admits that, yes, he is the moondrop and he can control the black rocks flawlessly. Here, many people start to chatter in fear.
But Rapunzel quickly jumps onto the opportunity granted, and suggests that one act of goodwill Varian can do is help remove the black rocks from all over Corona. This action would show that he means no ill will towards his old home. Many people in the room agree, as many of their lives have suffered from the black rocks destroying their homes.
After the princess had returned from her trip, the rocks stopped growing, but they were still unbreakable, and Adira could only do so much with her sword. Not seeing a reason why he shouldn't, Varian agrees to remove the black rocks from Corona, as long as he had the word of the royal family that he could go home. He had no intention of returning to the dungeons, thank you very much.
It was decided that, after Varian removed the black rocks, a group consisting of the princess, Eugene, Cassandra, some of her snuggly duckling friends, as well as the queen would accompany the group. The king would visit after he received a message from his wife and daughter about their discoveries in Berk. Varian is escorted by Hiccup and the others, as protection from the guards, and is taken to all the places that have the worst black rock problem. By the end of the day, pretty much all the rocks are gone. The place Varian asked to be last was his old home. He can't bear to even step inside, so he deals with the rocks from the outside. Rapunzel realizes that Varian doesn't realize his father is free and wonders how she should tell him.
The next day Heather heads back to Berk to notify the people of what's happening while Dagur and Hiccup stay with Varian, seeing as the king won't let the man out of his sight. As a safety precaution for Varian, he sleeps next to Toothless for the duration of the trip to Berk, which lasts for a week. It's pure torture for the dragon riders, as they hate the slow travel. They managed to cut down the time from a week and a half by having the dragons pull the boat for a few hours a day in the correct direction.
When they finally reach Berk, the people of Corona are shocked by the sight that meets them. People riding on the backs of creatures thought to be myths. Dragons that look vastly different then the picture books recollected. When they reach the docks, Kierra and the kids immediately tackle Varian into a hug. Shocking the Coronians when they discover that they are Varian's wife and children. When they reach the village, they get another surprise in the form of Copper, who wraps his body around Varian and cuddles his face into his rider's hair.
Rapunzel feels hurt when many of the people glare at the Coronians, as none of them are liked for trying to take Varian away. It's especially evident when Varian's own children glare at her in pure hatred for attempting to steal their father. When Varian is distracted, Kierra makes her threat to the princess and crew that if they think they can lock up her husband, then they've got another thing coming! She refuses to let them take the father of her children, their past with him be damned!
Over the next few days, they watch Varian as he works around Berk, how he works with his apprentices, and how far he's come in his alchemy. They're surprised to find out that he's a certified healer. They're amazed with how he works with people and dragons. Cassandra is surprised to discover that Varian isn't worried about them in the least, nor is he afraid of them. In fact, he doesn't particularly care about them. While Varian doesn't trust Rapunzel with her lack of keeping her promises to him, he doesn't care about her in general.
During their stay, Hiccup introduces the Coronians to dragon training, so that Cass will stop drawing her sword on the poor creatures. A few Terrible Terrors almost lost a wing or a horn because she was too swing happy. Of course, Rapunzel was one of the first to try the training, as she wanted to experience what Varian did with Copper. She makes friends with a rare golden razorwhip that she finds while Hiccup takes them on a visit to the Wingmaidens. Later, Eugene makes nice with a brown colored Nadder, which fit perfectly as both were pretty vain. Rapunzel's snuggly duckling friends had a big variety of dragons. Cass was the most hilarious one; however. She wound up with a monstrous nightmare that was as stubborn, if not more so, than her. She made nice, yes, but the dragon was giving her the hardest time compared to the others.
Rapunzel didn't have that much issue with her dragon, who she named Sunstone, other then the dragon wanted to constantly rub against her long hair. Eugene was kept busy enough with trying to satisfy his vainful dragon, who he named Beautiful as she was a female. Cass's nightmare (how fitting) went without a name for awhile, as she initially didn't want him. But after an incident where she needed to call her dragon in order to reach someone who was going to get hurt, she finally named him Justice. And in watching her, Snotlout finally understood the humor his friends saw in him and Hookfang during their teenage years.
The queen was a whole different story. She didn't want anything to do with taming dragons, as she felt no real need to. Dragons didn't live near Corona, so why would she take one away from all it knew and loved? She did, however, enjoy flying. She didn't mind the wind blowing through her hair, or seeing the wonderful views from above. One day, during a flight with Rapunzel, she falls off and lands in the ocean. Rapunzel loses sight of her, and the queen winds up on a small island where a Seashocker of all things is washed up. She doesn't quite remember what the dragon was called, but she didnt' know they were electric.
She didn't want to leave the poor thing as it was injured, it's entire body trapped in old netting, both suffocating it and rubbing raw against some limbs. It took her the better part of an hour, but Arianna eventually freed the Seashocker, who was grateful to her. The dragon was young enough not to be too dangerous like an adult, but it wasn't too old to imprint on Arianna in a way similar to a sibling bond. When Hiccup and Rapunzel find her, Rapunzel is relieved while Hiccup is amazed. While Sunstone and Toothless are horrified.
Arianna eventually named the dragon Lovely, once Hiccup explains that the dragon won't be leaving her anytime soon. Especially not after she saved his life. While they're talking Toothless has a strict conversation with Lovely explaining the situation on Berk, and how many dragons will be afraid of him. Arianna flies back to Berk on Toothless, as riding without a saddle is painful. By now three weeks have past, and the group have sent many letters filled with wonderful things to say about Berk. Yes, Eugene is a little annoyed at the lack of a 'proper' bathroom, but he is still amazed by everything else. Even Arianna says nothing but wonderful things about the place, including Varian's contributions. The king sends a letter saying that he will be by for a three day visit.
It was rather obvious to the Coronians that Varian was well loved, by pretty much everyone. Not to mention he was helpful in so many ways. They were impressed when he dealt with a sick little girl, an elderly man's scratched up arm, and even helped with caring for the dragons as well. When it came to his alchemy, boy were they surprised. As he healed, they noticed some of his alchemy tricks involved, and were impressed with the results. Hiccup even took a chance and showed them some of their defenses that were made with Varian's alchemy.
Rapunzel asks Hiccup why he is so protective over Varian, and he turns to her as says because he reminds him of himself. Hiccup tells them about his childhood, and how he grew up. He tells them about when he revealed to his village that he trained Toothless and how at the time it was like the biggest betrayal to his people. He tells them about how he fought back against what he was feeling and fought the Red Death, at the price of his left foot.
The group begins to understand his protective nature over Varian. They also realize how similar the two were. The moment Hiccup had been disowned from his father was the same instance when Rapunzel broke her promise and Varian had to be escorted from the castle. The only difference was that Varian didn't have a 'Toothless' to fight for. It was different when it was his father, who could have been dead. Hiccup didn't really know if his father loved him, while Varian did.
When Hiccup fought for Toothless, he was fighting for the only person who, up till then, cared for who he was rather then who he COULD be. He never really had friends, acquaintances maybe, but never friends. Making friends with Toothless and losing his father's 'love' was not his fault, it lied with his father for not having an open mind. Meanwhile, Varian knew his father loved him, even though he was often disappointed in him with his alchemy. Getting his father trapped in the amber, that WAS Varian's fault, and guilt overtook him. While Hiccup had Astrid to encourage him to fight for his best friend, Varian didn't really have that, and Rudiger can only do so much when he can only speak squeak.
On the day that king Fredrick came by, everyone was in a fuss. Rapunzel and her group were worried about what would happen if her father had deemed that Varian still needed to be punished? She knew that he held a firm grudge against Varian for what he almost did to her mother and she was worried he wouldn't be able to see past that. Even Arianna was worried. The Hooligans were not worried, because they knew that no matter what, they would always stand by Varian, who always had the chief's backing in all things. It wasn't really a secret that Hiccup saw him as a little brother.
King Fredrick was a little apprehensive when he arrived at Berk, like any royal would be when coming into a town as different as Berk. Hiccup gave him the tour of the village, drawing special attention to their dragon spots and the healer's hut and Varian's alchemy work space. He didn't let up and commented on Varian's accomplishments as an alchemist and healer teacher. He also talked about his success as a father, mentioning that his and Varian's kids like to play together.
While walking to the space where alchemist apprentices stay, Hiccup, the king and his guards run into Varian, who has Copper behind him. Upon seeing the symbol on the guard's armor, Copper starts growling and coiling around Varian. The alchemist calms down his dragon, saying that there wasn't anything to worry about. The king was surprised to see Varian acting this way, as he had a hard time seeing Varian as anything but the vengeful child he was the last time he saw him years ago.
He was even more surprised when three children run up to Varian and tackle his legs. Varian, not at all embarrassed, introduces his children, Stoick, Runa, and Vali. The king feels a little ashamed when the kids give him vicious glares, as if they know what he intended to do with their father. A woman comes up next to Varian and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Varian introduces his wife, and the king wants to step back and the pure acid he sees in her face. She is nothing but polite, but her face says she would rather be anything but.
The first day goes rather well, Hiccup showing Fredrick how things run on Berk, how they deal with certain dragon problems. He even gets a big surprise to see his daughter and wife riding dragons of their own! He wants to be angry, because it would be harder on him to punish Varian if both the women in his life loved the place where he lived. He goes to sleep on the ship, wary of what the next day could bring.
The next day, it goes pretty smoothly, until about midday. Rapunzel and her group are showing her father what they learned about dragons, and is eager to show off her bond with Sunstone. While they're flying, Arianna is flying around watching from above. Suddenly, a rogue dragon comes out and starts firing at things. The dragons of the new riders get spooked, but because they're close to the ground, the Berkians are able to help calm them down.
But for Arianna, her dragon is freaking out thousands of feet above the ground. One of the rogue's attacks nearly hits them, but she falls off the saddle. The rogue continues to fire at Lovely, so the dragon is unable to aid her. Fredrick sees his wife plummeting to the ground and calls out to her in fear for her fate. His call alerts Varian, who had been nearby to watch the Coronians, into action. Without a second thought, he jumps onto Copper and the two shoot into the sky.
Varian has them follow the queen in her descent, allowing for him to grab onto her without jerking her body at all. He pulls her onto his saddle to sit behind him as he and Copper work to land. Holding tightly to her savior, Arianna doesn't question what happened. Hiccup and his dragon riders manage to calm the rogue dragon and everyone gets the rest of the flock relaxed.
The king rushes to Copper as the dragon lands and takes his wife into his arms, holding her tightly. Their daughter joins the hug, tears falling from all their eyes. Varian, however, is a little uncomfortable as this is right next to him sitting on his dragon. He goes to dismount on the other side of the saddle when he is stopped by the king. The king thanks him for saving his wife, and apologizes for everything he did to him when he was a child. Varian is quite shocked, as is Rapunzel and the queen.
Dinner that night is joyful as for the first time, there is peace between the Hooligans and the Coronians. They have a toast, and everything is wonderful. After everyone starts going to bed, Fredrick pulls Varian aside and says he has to tell him something. This is where the king tells him about how they managed to free his father, and how he was looking for him. Varian would be in shock and wondering if it was true. Here, Rapunzel would come and say that it was true.
She would tell him that Quirin was worried about him, and hasn't stopped looking for him since he got free. The king tells Varian that the only reason he even returns to Corona is because his home is the only place he has to remind him of his son. Rapunzel tells Varian about Adira, who is a good friend of his fathers, and is also another reason why he keeps returning to Corona. Arianna asks Varian if he wants to see his father, as he is due to return around the time, give or take a few weeks, they head back to Corona. Varian tells them he needs to think on it and heads home.
The next day, the whole of Berk works to make Fredrick's last day enjoyable in hopes that he will not punish Varian. Sometime after lunch, a scream echos the village, and Varian starts running. The Coronians are a bit confused, but start running after him when Fishlegs tells them Varian's wife just went into labor. The queen, Rapunzel, and Cass run in after him in hopes of helping in some manner. The queen, because labors make her nervous since her own with Rapunzel and she doesn't want any mother to experience any version of the loss she did. Rapunzel, because she was worried about Varian and his wife. And Cass because she wanted to be there for Varian as a friend.
It was a shock to them to find out that Varian was assisting in the labor as a doctor. He and some of his healer apprentices were all assisting in the birth. The three women decided to help Kierra through the birth by comforting her and making sure she was doing her breathing. The men, of course, stayed outside while the birth was happening. Hiccup was there to comfort Stoick, Runa, and Vali while the birth was going on.
Finally, after several hours, a little baby girl is born. The new family of six all gather around the bed to look at their newest member. The three elder children carefully poke and prod their new sibling, smiling all the while. Varian takes his new daughter, letting his wife rest, and shows her off to his chief. Hiccup guides the new father and his child outside to show the crowd which had gathered outside of his house. The vikings all cheer for the newest member of their tribe.
Everyone goes and returns to their duties while Varian heads back in to check on his wife. Looking in to see her asleep, he walks back downstairs with his daughter wrapped up in a soft blanket. He notices that the Coronians are still there, and instead of ejecting them, he invites them to see his daughter. He lets Rapunzel hold her first, the princess awing and cooing over her. Then the queen, who just says that she is beautiful. Eugene feels a little weird holding a baby, but after seeing her his heart melts. Even Cass holds her, even though she feels more awkward then Eugene did. Varian tells them that he named her Lumina, after his mother.
Finally, Varian lets the king hold her, to the surprise of everybody, including the king. Fredrick gently hold the newborn like it was the more fragile thing in the world. As the king rocks the little baby, Varian tells the king he wants to see his dad. He had talked with Hiccup earlier and asked his opinion on the issue. The only thing Hiccup had to say was that if it were him in Varian's position, he would take the chance to see his father and apologize for everything.
Varian tells them that he won't return with them, as his family needs him right now. Rapunzel promises to send him a letter the moment Quirin returns to Corona. For the first time since she broke her last promise to him, Varian found himself believing in the words 'I promise'.
The king announces to all of Berk that Varian will be cleared and his time as part of the Hooligan tribe will be considered 'community service' and will be welcomed in Corona from that moment forward. The royal family and friends leave back to Corona, with Varian watching them as they sail away. When it came to the dragons, Hiccup told them that it was up to them as they were their dragons now. The group decide to take their new dragon friends back with them to Corona, and that they will be a sign of peace between their homes.
Three weeks after the royal family gets back, Quirin returns. As she had promised, Rapunzel writes a letter to Varian via a Terrible Terror that got sent back with them. The king has Quirin stay with them at the castle, as there was much that they needed to discuss. They needed to keep him there for at least two days to allow time for the letter to reach Varian. They also get Adira in on the scheme because she knows how to work Quirin into staying longer as much as Fredrick does. Plus, she really wants to meet the son of her best friend.
The next day is when Varian arrives, to the surprise of Corona who is used to slow travel. What surprises them even more is that he brought his entire family with him. The twins ride with him while his eldest rides with their mother, the newborn baby swaddled in protective cloth and strapped to Kierra's chest. Varian is immediately taken to his father, who is beginning to loose his patience with being kept in the castle.
His anger is immediately lost when Fredrick brings Varian into the room. There is silence while the two men take in each other. For Varian, it was seeing the face of a man who he loved very much, and hadn't changed that much since the last time he saw him. For Quirin, it was like seeing someone entirely different, yet completely the same. Finally, Varian runs to his dad and wraps his arms around him. Shocked for a moment that his son reaches his own height, Quirin hugs back, tighter then anything.
The two of them are left alone where they reminiscence and talk about what they were doing for the past 16 years. Varian talks about his life on Berk, his success, his failures, and the wonderful life he made for himself. He talks about how far his alchemy has come, and about the apprentices he's had in both alchemy and healing. He talks about his dragon friend, who has made his new life more amazing and wonderful. When it comes to the point for him to mention his wife and kids, he pulls his dad along to where he last left them.
Varian leads his dad into a room where his wife is feeding his newest daughter. She sets the baby down in a basket left aside for her and walks over to meet the father of her husband. Quirin is surprised to find that his son is married, and is startled by the dragons in the room. He is introduced to Copper and Kierra's dragon, who is a yellow Changewing named Citrine. He even more shocked to find he has grandkids. The kids are ecstatic to meet their grandpa and immediately start jabbing his ear off about their lives on Berk. Varian pauses them and tells them that there's still one more family member he has to meet.
Varian walks over to the basket and picks his daughter up, bringing her over to his father. He introduces her as Lumina, which shocks his father. Varian admits that he named her after his mother. He gently hands his daughter over to his father, who takes great care in holding the infant. The little one opens her bright blue eyes and smiles at Quirin, causing the man to start to cry. The little family spends the rest of the day together.
Quirin is a little disappointed when Varian tells him he has no intention of returning to Corona, because despite growing up there, it was never really a home. Berk was his home now, but Varian promised that he would visit whenever he could. Quirin expresses some interest in visiting Varian's new home, and the man couldn't be more happy. He gets excited and starts talking about all the wonderful people there, as previously he had only talked about things and places. Quirin noticed that Varian was always misty eyed when he talks about a person named Hiccup. When Varian goes to put Lumina down for a nap, he asks his daughter-in-law, to which she replies that if Hiccup hadn't found him when he did, Varian would have died out at sea. Quirin vows that when he meets this Hiccup, he will give his sincerest thanks in saving his son.
In the end, Corona becomes allies with Berk and their allies, eventually extending dragon training to the citizens of the kingdom, as long as the guards learned how to train dragons first. Cass lead the training on that front, though she herself still had problems with Justice every now and then. Quirin spends his time either in old Corona or in Berk with his son and his family. Adira joins him on occasion to check on Varian, and she is constantly surprised by his control of the black rocks, and his uses of them.
Eventually an official treaty is created between the dragon riders and Corona. Even Trader Johann starts a route with the sun kingdom. Relations go well, to the point where the king asks Varian if he's willing to take students from Corona as alchemy apprentices. He originally refuses, but later accepts. During one of Varian's visits to his dad in old Corona, he meets some of the people who he grew up with who had moved back into their black rock free homes. His old bullies are shocked at how much Varian has changed, the adults who said he was no good were stunned at how well his alchemy works. The grown women try flirting, but Varian makes it quite clear he is married and perfectly happy with his wife and kids.
Relations between the two countries goes well, to where Varian is invited along side Hiccup to Corona when the kingdom is hosting visitors from the kingdom of Arendelle and the Clan of DunBroch.
But that's a plot line for another time?
AUTHOR'S NOTES
YES, I double posted this from my ao3 account RainoftheForest. I also posted it on my Wattpad account, WeisMine.
I might add more to this, who knows.
But like I said, this is NOT an official story. More like a really really really really REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY long plot line script outline. It's basically the whole of the story without the dialogue.
But like I also said, I MIGHT write this as an official story, with dialogue and everything, but there is no guarantee on that. I'm mainly focused on Fractured Avatar (my story on ao3), even though it's not quite popular yet. And if you want to write this story yourself, conditions for adoption still stand in the beginning note.
And if anyone dares to steal this story line without my permission, I have proof that it's mine, and an eye witness who has read this script before I published it. So try it.
I dare you.