Title: The Dragon Lord's Empire
Author: bachiari
Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD no matter how much I want it to be mine ;-;
Summary: Hiccup didn't mean to start an empire, really. All he ever wanted to do was to protect the dragons. AU in which Hiccup accidentally achieves world domination after leaving Berk.
Part I: The Making of a Dragon Lord
Leaving Berk was difficult. Not the actual leaving; since he had Toothless, it ensured that an escape would be virtually impossible to notice or stop. But the emotional aspect was hard for Hiccup to swallow. To leave everything he had ever known behind?
But killing a dragon was not on his to do list, and there was no way Hiccup was going to risk Toothless by trying to convince the Vikings of the good in dragons. So, in the end, Hiccup gathered all his most precious possessions as well as some necessary provisions, and left Berk on the back of Toothless.
The first time they landed was to get provisions. Living the nomadic life was fun, but finding food in the woods was not Hiccup's ideal way of life. Toothless did his best to teach Hiccup how to hunt, but Hiccup preferred to let the night fury do most of the hunting. They found a place to camp near the river, and although his insides were in turmoil over the fact that he had just left everything he had ever known behind, Hiccup fell asleep in the matter of minutes.
Hiccup and Toothless kept to themselves most of the time. Although Hiccup and Toothless couldn't use speech to communicate, body language was more than enough. Hiccup never felt lonely, even without holding conversation, and as such, quite enjoyed being a solitary figure after living all his life as the outcast in Berk. No one expected anything of you when you were alone in the wilderness after all.
Social constraints had fallen away, and here, with just Toothless as company, Hiccup was no longer Hiccup the Useless.
They traveled most of the time. Toothless never seemed to get tired, and Hiccup could never stop enjoying the exhilaration of flying. He had gotten used to falling asleep on the dragon's back, and waking up leagues away from the surroundings he had last seen. Hiccup trusted Toothless to lead them away from any dangerous situations, and Toothless never disappointed.
The two of them never stayed in the same place often. Hiccup did wind up going into town every now and then; he had to find some way to ensure Toothless' prosthetic remained intact, after all. The humans he did come into contact with were more than willing to be helpful, and while Hiccup did enjoy their company, he knew it would be too risky to stay any longer than a few days. After all, people would start asking questions that he couldn't answer.
A year of this nomadic lifestyle passed before they came across something that drew their attention. Hiccup had been flitting in and out of most towns they traveled through, and had been astonished by the many differences between each one he had visited. Different languages was the first obstacle, but body language went a long way in getting his point across. But the food and the weather conditions were what really impressed him. He had never tried such exotic flavors before, and to experience warm temperatures made not only him more cheerful, but also made Toothless ecstatic.
They had traveled almost across the whole world, and had been closer than ever to Berk when Hiccup witnessed something spectacular. A human speaking to a dragon! He didn't understand the language, but that was enough for him to slow Toothless down and catch a glimpse of the spectacle. It was only moments later that he was shocked again. The dragon actually responded!
It was there that he learned about Dragonese.
The Wanderers were a hard bunch to convince at first. Luckily they spoke Norse, but just like other Norse-speaking individuals, they were a hard-headed village and refused to listen to him. However, as soon as they caught sight of Toothless, their whole attitude changed. He was assigned a tutor right away, and after a month of studying diligently and using Toothless as a study guide, Hiccup was holding longer and longer conversations with his best friend.
But although the wanderers were amazing, the great unknown called to the pair, and after one more month of studying, Hiccup realized that they had to leave. The whole village gathered to say good-bye (Hiccup highly speculated that they were actually sadder to see Toothless go than him, but wisely refrained from making that remark) and he was gifted a Dragonese dictionary as a good-bye present. After promising he would visit soon, the pair was off.
Conversing with Toothless was always a treat. The dragon always looked at things with a fresh new perspective, and even helped Hiccup to design more and more fascinating things when he had a forge at his disposal. The prosthetic was looking better than ever, and Hiccup had more and more tools at his disposal. Tools that could be both used to augment his offense, which he had been studying more and more of in an attempt to prove to Toothless that he was not a weak little human, and tools that helped in everyday things, like fishing, flying, and cooking.
It was a month after they left the Wanderers that Hiccup found himself in another extraordinary situation. He had fallen asleep on Toothless like countless other times, and had awoken to a flock of dragons around them. This had happened before, but this time, Hiccup knew Dragonese. And he was startled to find that the dragons were in a right panic. They pleaded and begged Toothless for help, marveling at the human that was on top of the night fury's back. Toothless had been hostile at first, but after being assured that Hiccup would come to no harm, had quieted down and had listened attentively to the tales the dragons told.
It wasn't long before the whole picture was painted. Their alpha was sick, and the dragon nest was in dire need of a savior. It didn't take much convincing for the pair to decide they wanted to help; after all, not only was this something they hadn't experienced before, but they also wanted to help the dragons.
Hiccup was worried that he wouldn't be able to help the alpha, but after catching glimpse of the problem that ailed him, Hiccup was filled with relief. Just like Toothless, the alpha needed a prosthetic in order to move around. He had lost a tailfin, and Hiccup had an easy solution to that problem.
Long ago, he had designed a prosthetic that would allow the night fury to fly by himself. He had presented it to Toothless, only to be growled at and within seconds, the contraption was ripped to shreds. He had been furious then, angered that his month's work had all went down the drain. But after realizing Toothless only wanted to fly with him, he had been moved to tears.
He still had the design, and after reassuring the dragons that their alpha would be right as rain in a few weeks' time, the dragons were overjoyed. They pounced on him and bounced around him, showing their thanks and happiness in a way they only knew how. He surprised them then, laughing and enlightening them to the fact that he spoke Dragonese. They had been startled, but after a while, enveloped him and Toothless into a community that was structured just like the humans'.
It was three days before Hiccup found the time to go find a forge. The dragons were too excited over the fact that Hiccup could speak Dragonese, and had insisted on giving the pair of them a grand tour. Hiccup was amazed; there were so many types of dragons that he had never seen and he was given a glimpse of how the nest operated. The dragons operated under a caste system, and just like humans, they also had something like the royal family. There were 'nobles', except this was filtered out by fighting and hunting prowess rather than separated by birth. Each dragon had their own niche in the society, and Hiccup was strongly reminded of his own hometown.
The village was situated at the bottom of the mountain, dangerously close to the opening of the dragon nest. It was small, but their fields were plentiful, full of ripe crops for the picking. When Hiccup arrived, he was startled to find that his entrance preceded him, and the whole village was there waiting for him.
He had slipped in without Toothless, thinking that the dragon would startle the villagers, and was shocked to still see a grand welcoming. The reason why became apparent almost immediately when as one, the whole village bowed to him. He was too astounded to speak, and could do nothing but stand there as the villagers pushed different kinds of gifts into his hands. Most of them were freshly harvested crops, but the rare trinket was pushed into his hands as well.
Luckily, the nest was in a Norse-speaking area, and as such, he was able to question them on their intentions. Apparently, throughout the grand tour the dragons gave him, they had passed by many of the villagers again and again, and it soon dawned on them that this man was not only riding one of the dragons, he was actually conversing with them. While this village wasn't at war with the dragons, the dragons still sometimes raided them for the fresh treat of the different kinds of crops they grew. They were a village focused on farming, and as such, had no way to fight back against the dragons. Hiccup's heart went out to them; he knew just how hard it was to keep a village going.
He gave them back their tributes, shaking his head and saying the only tribute he demanded was free access to their forge. He promised them that he would talk to the dragons, and ensure that there would no longer be any dragon raids. They had fallen to the ground once again, bowing and calling him the Dragon Lord. Hiccup was startled, but after a moment's consideration, thought he rather liked the moniker.
It took a month, but with the village helping him every step of the way, Hiccup was able to finish the prosthetic with ease. The alpha was overjoyed at being able to fly again, and extended a permanent welcome to the pair.
Toothless and Hiccup accepted without hesitation; they loved the nomadic lifestyle, and always will, but it was time for them to settle down. The dragons rejoiced in their decision, and threw them a celebration that lasted a week.
After the celebration finally died down, Hiccup visited the village to tell them the good news. There, he learned about the pirates that would occasionally come by and terrorize them, demanding a sacrifice of girls each them as they did. Hiccup hated bullies, and after bonding to some of the villagers quite closely, didn't hesitate to assure them that he would take care of the problem.
He had only told Toothless about it, but the day they were going to set off to show the pirates a lesson, a dozen other dragons were there with him. The other dragons were a young, energetic bunch, drunk on the idea of glory, adventure, and fun. It didn't take much convincing on Toothless' part to convince Hiccup of the merits of letting them tag along.
It only took a day to find the pirates, and less than an hour to exact retribution on them. The pirates surrendered quickly, and the girls that were sacrificed were rescued. He was lucky Toothless convinced him to let the other dragons come along, because otherwise, there was no way he was going to be able to take the girls back to the village. The dragons at first balked at the idea of letting someone ride them, but when Toothless reminded them of the many merits of Hiccup as his rider, they seemed excited to receive the girls. It took longer to assure the girls that the dragons wouldn't eat them, but in the end, each dragon had a girl on their back.
When they had taken off, the pirates had asked him who he was. Hiccup didn't want to give them his real name, and in the end, decided to give them the name his village had given him. The Dragon Lord. He also didn't hesitate to remind them that the village was under his protection, and he would exact punishment on those who dared attack them.
After returning the girls to the village, Hiccup came up with the idea of setting up a treaty with the village, acting as translator so the two different communities could meet. With the dragons offering protection and possibly companionship and the villagers promising Hiccup free access to the forge and the occasional offering of the different crops they grew, the treaty was signed with ease.
And with that, the Dragon Lord's Empire had begun.
A/N: I have always loved HTTYD with a fierce passion, but never really thought of contributing to the fandom itself until reading the Antic Repartee's Hitch-Ups. After reading the whole thing in one sitting, I found myself obsessed once again with HTTYD. So I wrote this as a response to a prompt on the HTTYD kink meme -"Where Hiccup and Toothless fly off on an adventure and return to Berk having achieved world domination completely by accident."