A/N: This is set a few days before the movie takes place. Hiccup is fifteen years old like he is in the first movie and this is a unique and different twist on "Hiccup runs away." I suddenly got an idea of Eret going to Berk and offering his services as a dragon trapper and taking on Hiccup as his apprentice. Please note that they are merely trainer and apprentice. At the most they will be friends at the least, teacher and student. There will be absolutely no slash in this story! There may be Hicstrid later on but I'll see how this goes. For now Hiccup will learn how to grow up and get a backbone. He'll learn how to fight and make tough decisions. There will be some scenes, characters, and settings from the movies but it won't be copy and paste. I apologize for not updating my other works but I'll get to those eventually as soon as this plot-bunny dies down. So now without any further ado, allow me to present my latest fanfiction – The Unlikely Apprentice!
CHAPTER 1: A New Purpose
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third wandered aimlessly through the seaside market. It was Trading Day and all the merchants and traders from the Archipelago had come from far and wide to barter their goods with the famous dragon-slaying Vikings. It was late fall and with winter fast approaching there were a lot of goods and supplies that the village of Berk would need to hold out the bitter Norse winter.
Currently, Trader Johan was getting the most business being a long-time favorite with the locals. The whole gang was there – Gobber, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins and…Astrid. The shield maiden was so beautiful that it made Hiccup's heart skip a beat for a moment. But she shot him a furious glare warning him to keep his distance so he hastily backed away and pretended like he wasn't looking.
Keeping his head down he let his feet carry him where they would daydreaming of being the village hero and of Astrid falling in love with him. She was his crush since he discovered girls and no matter how many times she ignored him or got frustrated and annoyed with him, he still had feelings for her. In fact, her resistance to his infatuation only made his longing for her greater still.
Of course, Hiccup wasn't an idiot and knew that Astrid was way out of his league. He tried to think of things that would get her attention but the only thing that would work in their Viking-oriented society was dragon slaying. Unfortunately, that was one of the main things that Hiccup was the worst at. He was generally very clumsy and chaotic – always getting into trouble and being more of a hindrance then a help when the dragons came a raiding. It was quite ironic actually since the Vikings were, by nature, supposed to be on the offensive and be pillaging and raiding and thieving. But so far there was an uneasy temporary peace between the Viking clans of the Archipelago because of their common threat of the dragons.
All of a sudden, Hiccup's train of thought was interrupted by a loud fierce debate that was going on a few feet away from him. He skidded to a halt nearly knocking over some barrels and merchandise ducking to avoid a merchant yelling curses and shaking a fist threateningly at him. He ignored the old man growing used to the abuse after being the village clown for years.
He watched the scene with interest. There was a medium-sized ship that looked rather normal and like all the other Viking ships. There was about a dozen or so sailors on board all armed to the teeth with weapons. Traps of all kinds were scattered about the ship and some sort of canon-like device was attached to the draconic-looking prow. A lone flag flapped in the breeze atop the tall mast in the middle of the vessel and the sails were currently sagging down unused. On the flag was an odd emblem of a dragon that looked similar to a Monstrous Nightmare but very small and had a sword and axe crossed in an "X" below it.
On the wooden pier was a man wearing fur and leather armor. He had dark hair tied up in a ponytail and his face was clean-shaven. Nonetheless he was rather powerfully-built and had a rugged batter look from a life on the sea. He had two short-swords hung onto his back and was currently engaged in an earnest-sounding debate with Hiccup's father, Stoick the Vast. The Chieftain of Berk looked unimpressed, arching an eyebrow and had his arms folded across his chest. He would shake his head disbelievingly or roll his eyes in distain.
"Sell-swords!" He scoffed. "There is no honor in selling your blade for a few hours. What's to say you do not turn on us after you rid us of the dragons and help our enemy clans?"
"I thought all Vikings were at peace now because of the dragons," The man protested.
"Aye, that we are!" Stoick agreed. "For now! But as soon as the dragons have disappeared they will leap at the chance to pick up the pieces and a battered weakened Berk would be ripe pickings as any. We are an easy target having fended off both dragons and Vikings for many years. I don't trust sell-swords especially ones with no proof of your trade. You say you trap dragons but you don't have any evidence!"
"But I give you my word! Isn't that good enough?" The man pled. "My men are growing restless and I am fast running out of coin to get more supplies and fix our traps. This year has been especially hard to trap dragons since they are all coming here for some reason. I don't know why but this place seems to be a favorite of theirs."
"Don't remind me!" Stoick grimaced.
"As a matter of fact I only found this place because I was tracking a dragon the other day, a Night Fury I believe it was, who was scouting out this terrain," The man continued. "I believe he is the leader of these raids, a commander of sorts among the dragons. I think you will have a big raid in a few days."
"Commander? Scouting? Are you even hearing yourself?" Stoick sneered. "These are dragons! Not intelligent beings. They certainly aren't smart enough to have a leader or utilize strategy."
"I beg to differ!" The man insisted. "Don't you pay attention during their attacks? The Night Fury always strikes first and seems to point the other dragons in the right direction. He hangs back and lets the others do his dirty work for him. When he thinks it's time to go he gives a warning shriek and leaves. The others follow shortly afterwards."
"Since when have you become so learned of their ways?" Stoick scoffed. "I thought you just trapped them not studied them?"
"I have been hired by other clans in the past," The man shrugged. "One of the best ways of finding out an enemy's weak spot is by learning how they act and what their tactics are. That is a key method of undermining their authority and defeating them."
The man paused to let his words sink in and my father frowned thoughtfully as he considered them. Despite his gruff exterior he was worried and protective about his clan and knew they needed help with the dragons.
"I don't know," Stoick sighed, rubbing his temples. "You are correct in one thing. The raids are bad and I simply don't have the coin or means to accommodate you and your crew for the amount of time it would take to discourage the dragons from attacking us. How about this? Prove your worth by capturing a dragon, this Night Fury even, and bring its head back to Berk. If you are capable of this and do so swiftly then I will be assured of your usefulness. If not then maybe you aren't as good as you claim to be."
"Fair enough," The man sighed wearily. "One quick trapping and we will be back. You have a deal!"
He held out his hand and my father shook it thoughtfully.
"I am Stoick the Vast, Chieftain of Berk," He revealed and the man's eyes widened in surprise clearly thinking him to be someone else.
"An honor, sir!" The man stammered. "I have heard all about you and your victories against the dragons. My name is Eret, son of Eret."
"Well, Eret, son of Eret," Stoick muttered. "Don't you have some business to be about?"
"Aye that we do," The dragon trapper replied. "Could we wait out the night here and leave at first light? My men are weary and need rest. You have my word that we shall not set foot on Berkian soil until we bring back the head of a Night Fury."
"That I can allow," Stoick nodded. "Now if that is all I must be off. I have many duties to attend to. And I will speak to my scouts about this upcoming raid you believe will take place."
Eret nodded seemingly grateful for the conversation to end and I ducked back behind the barrels to avoid my father from spotting me. Thankfully he didn't and I hastily scampered to the ship just as the dragon trapper turned around to go back to his men.
"Um, excuse me!" Hiccup said.
Eret turned around warily and smiled, half in relief and half in amusement, to see that it was just a skinny awkward-looking boy standing before him.
"Greetings, lad," The sailor said. "Have you been eavesdropping on us?"
Hiccup flushed in embarrassment at being caught red-handed by his peers.
"Sorry," He mumbled. "I was checking out the various merchants here at the market and couldn't help but overhear you two talking about dragons. You see, I really want to kill a dragon but I am super clumsy and weak. I always manage to cause trouble when I just want to help my clan and be a hero. I was wondering if maybe you could help train me to trap and hunt dragons, um, sir."
Hiccup finally stopped for air and took several big gulps. Eret froze his eyebrows arched in surprise and his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He wasn't expecting this sudden outburst from the scrawny, innocent-looking boy who suddenly turned bright red as all the other sailors burst out laughing at him. But then the boy's face hardened stonily and he straightened his posture and squared his shoulders as if used to being made fun of.
Something called out to Eret at that moment, reminding him of earlier days when he was but a wee lad in his teens trying to make a name for himself and impress his peers. He wasn't always a warrior or hunter. In fact, he was once like this bumbling lad in more ways than not. But in order to impress his village he ran away one night and joined a traveling trading ship to make his fortune and return to impress his kin.
However, fate had different ideas for a few months afterwards his vessel got set upon by pirates who captured his ship and stole all his goods. They put all of his crew to the sword but he alone was granted mercy because the captain had taken him under his wing and had been training him to fight and learn the ways of the sea. The captain pled for Eret's life before he died and gave away the location of his safe in exchange for it.
Thus Eret was allowed to live by the pirates and they offered him the chance to join their crew. At first Eret didn't want to because he hated the pirate captain for killing his friends and shipmates. But he didn't have anywhere else to go and was miles away from home. With nothing to lose he reluctantly joined the pirates and eventually became a favorite among the crew for his devious ways and cunning strategies.
After several years of pirating on the high seas, he was quite rich and had a ship of his own. However, he grew bored of preying on trading ships and the seas were getting smaller and smaller as the authorities cracked down on pirates and sea crime. Then the dragons appeared and started raiding and pillaging wreaking havoc on the Archipelago. One dark and stormy night, a Night Fury led a surprise attack on his ship and sunk his beloved vessel.
As his luck would have it, everyone died except for him. Whether it was by luck or by fate he survived and washed ashore a Viking island that took him in and gave him food and supplies. He worked for them for a long time as a carpenter mending their ships and fixing their homes. But the sea called to him and one day a ship came ashore with a crew that claimed to be dragon trappers. Their captain had been mortally wounded during a fierce dragon attack.
They took him to the village healer but it was too late and the old man passed away. Just as the crew was about to nominate a new captain Eret offered his services as their leader. He had become rather famous, and infamous, as a sailor and later a pirate. The crew had luckily heard tales about his skills. Fortunately the first mate, Duncan, didn't want to be a leader. He loved trapping dragons and was happy with his role. Being a leader meant the risk of mutiny and backstabbing that he did not want for himself. Plus the men didn't respect him enough to consider leading him. He had only gotten the job as First Mate because he was the former captain's best friend and the former captain was much loved and revered by his men.
Eventually the crew agreed to take Eret, son of Eret, as the captain of their ship and the well-traveled man had a newfound purpose. He would get revenge on the Night Fury that killed his previous crewmates and bring peace to the world by ending the dragon threat and trapping the dragons. He bid fairwell to the village that had so kindly taken him in, vowing to return if they ever needed help with dragons or just in general from other raiders. After many tearful goodbyes and one last feast in his honor Eret set sail on the open seas.
At first, fortune favored them and they trapped a great many dragons but as the year went on something changed. The dragons became more organized and more cunning. They attacked better targets than before and seemed to strike on command not on will. Their attacks were far from haphazard and Eret was growing more wary by the day as he got new reports from each new island that he stopped at along his journey.
One day he heard rumors of a Night Fury in the nearby premises and started tracking it determined to finally get revenge. He never saw the actual dragon but its tracks led him here to this lonely island in the middle of nowhere filled with warlike savage Vikings of all people. They didn't have much in the way of material goods mainly a few sheep, wheat, and mountain vegetables. But they seemed constantly under threat by dragons and Eret wanted to help like he did the other clans and villages.
However, their Chieftain wasn't the friendliest of Chieftains and was putting up quite a fight until they finally settled on this deal. Then this bumbling lad approached him and he sensed an air of fate and destiny about him. He saw in this lad something of himself at a young age. He owed fate a huge favor for sparing him all these years and it was only right to pay it back by teaching this young lad how to fight dragons. He might not be able to make his own village proud but he could make this village proud by enabling one of its own to defeat the dragons.
"Silence, men!" Eret said in a stern and commanding tone.
Instantly his crew went still as they read between the lines and sensed the dangerous firm tone that their captain would use when barking out orders during a fierce raid or dragon attack. This was not time to mess around and he clearly meant business.
"It looks like we have a new member of our team," The dragon trapper said softly with a welcoming smile. "Allow me to introduce myself as Eret, son of Eret. This is my crew and this is my vessel, the Slumbering Titan. And you are?"
"My name is Hi…Henry!" Hiccup corrected, changing his mind at the last minute. It never hurt to be on the safe side in case his father caught wind of this. "Henry the Horrible!"
All of the men cracked a grin at the obviously made up name but they liked it nonetheless. It was indeed rather swashbuckling and adventurous promising great things of its owner.
"Well then, Master Henry," Eret chuckled, determined to find out his real name sooner rather than later. "Welcome aboard the Slumbering Titan!"
"Thank you, captain sir!" Hiccup stammered. "I will just pack my things and let my folks know about my departure. They will be very pleased that I got apprenticed to an adventurer like yourself!"
With that Hiccup hastily scuttled away to pack his things and write a goodbye note to his father that he would leave in the morning. Fortune was finally favoring him and things would be very different soon. No more of Hiccup the "Useless!" He would finally get to prove his worth as the Viking he was and kill dragons. Little did he know, however, just how different things would actually be!
To Be Continued…