NFF- the fury riders.
Starts off after Toothless is shot down. Breaks off the main storyline after a while
This has been updated once to be more detailed, also I'll be cutting down on powers if I can. As of the end of the first update there has been no powers removed but it will happen.
"Dragon speech (bold)"
'Dragon thoughts (telekinesis)(bold)'
Vocab/grammar comments, no matter how small or apparently insignificant, are appreciated.
Chapter 1 Tattoo of fate.
Hiccup wandered through the forest looking for the night fury that he had shot down. He mourned his embarrassing mistake. The sun's slow progress across the cloudy sky telling him just how long he had spent scouring the forest with no success.
"Oh, the gods hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug … not me, I lose an entire dragon!"
He smacked a branch in frustration, only to have it hit him back in the face. Wincing, he looked up to see that the treetop had been cut off, jagged splinters pointing to the sky. Hurriedly he set off in the direction of more destruction.
He came closer and closer until the dirt scrape of the downed dragon lead over a mound, glittering slightly with shed scales from the crash. Sensing that this was the one that the dragon was on the other side of, Hiccup prepared to peek over the top.
He looked over and was frightened by a night fury. He looked over again to realise that the nightfury was bound and unconscious. He timidly walked up to the downed dragon, before gathering his courage to plant his foot on the unconscious beast.
"I Hiccup horrendous haddock the third have slain the mighty beast."
The dragon just merely shifts in his slumber, unconsciously irritated by his actions. Hiccup was surprised by this shift and fell back, a cloud of loose dirt enveloping him for a brief moment.
While he was on the ground he saw the night furies eyes open wide and stare at him, a calculating gaze evaluating its would-be predator, not distracted by the scrawny muscles but seeing the razor sharp blade gleaming in the dim light.
He hurriedly stands, instincts screaming to kill the dangerous beast while he still could. He attempts to stab the night fury with shaky hands, but suddenly his birth mark burns with vicious intensity until Hiccup aborts the attack, feeling a phantom pain erupting from his skin.
He looks at his hand in bewilderment to notice his birth mark is glowing amber but becoming bluer by the second. Hiccup is also surprised that the forge tattoo that he used to cover up the birth mark has shrunk, revealing his strange birthmark's unique shape.
The crossed swords and fire insignia had become incorporated into the mark. He looked carefully at the mark, scrutinizing the oddly familiar shape and saw that the birthmark had, in fact, been a symbol of a night fury; The awkward posture of his downed victim matching the symbol.
He looked at the night fury again and suddenly felt a huge sense of guilt that he had brought down a creature connected to him, somehow, through birth. However, it had happened, and he was impatient to fix the damage.
The gods would smile upon him for reading this supernatural sign. He would leave, of course, when it was all over. He knew that remaining with a predator, even one related to the mysterious gods, would mean his end.
He walked up to the dragon again and started to cut the ropes.
The night fury was instantly aware of the sudden change in actions and looked to where Hiccup was cutting his bindings. Waiting until the last binding was cut he pounced on the Viking, determined to use his opponent's stupidity to gain the upper hand.
The Viking reacted by putting up his hands to cover his face. and when Toothless saw the markings on his hand he was surprised.
The marks glowed a warning amber as Toothless' s prepared shot reached it's crescendo before being dispersed quickly by the panicked dragon, angry specks of liquid spread either side of Toothless' head.
Toothless, recovering from the unusual recoil of an aborted shot, sat shocked, as the mark on the boy's hand indicated he was a rider, and, by the way that Toothless felt a heat on his own mark, they were connected.
He was too surprised to deal with the situation immediately and flew off; flight impaired by his damaged tail, causing him to crash into a cove.
Hiccup recovered from the shock of the Dragon's pounce. His mind initially told him to leave the area before being quietened by a voice that Hiccup hadn't heard before.
This new, foreign voice urged him to follow the night fury and become friends with it. Although Hiccup had never had such thoughts of friendship with the dragons before he followed this strong voice in his mind. Curious of the consequences.
He came across the night fury in the cove as it was trying to escape. His initial surprise died down when the Night fury turned around to perform a ragged landing. Hiccup was confused that the dragon was stuck in the cove, couldn't it fly?
Hiccup's vision then added a glowing outline to a missing tailfin on the tail of Toothless, inducing a phantom feeling of pity. Hiccup was surprised that this detail had been added to his normal vision, but the 'voice' distracted him by telling him to get to know the dragon better, adding he could finally get to know someone to overcome his instinctual hesitation.
Hiccup did what naturally came to mind and started sketching the dragon in his notebook. his internal voice sighed at his ignorance but allowed him to do so. When he had finished his sketch, he decided to follow the directions of his internal voice, creeping down to meet the night fury.
As he stalked closer he watched as the dragon tried, in vain, to catch some fish. His mind noted it down as a point of interest and he continued.
he came within striking distance, but Hiccup became too distracted with the shape of the beast. His eyes traced the form of the night fury as his hand started to reach out to feel the texture of the dragon's skin.
Before he could stop himself his hand touched the hindquarters of the dragon and felt the texture.
The Night fury whipped around in embarrassed surprise only to sigh in relief once he saw it was only the rider, to whom he already had an almost familial relationship. Hiccup was very confused at such a passive expression of ignorant bliss from the dragon, while also being slightly embarrassed at his own strange introduction. Hiccup then shook away his embarrassment in order to give a rhetorical question to himself.
"why are you so friendly with me?"
Surprisingly the dragon understood his question and gave the inside of his hand a nudge with his head. Hiccup turned this part of his hand towards him and he saw the birthmark again. The night fury then used his eyes to motion towards the top of his head.
Hiccup looked at the top of the dragon's head and saw a mark which now glowed green, as opposed to Hiccup's blue glowing mark. Hiccup was startled and wanted to know if this meant what he thought it did.
He brought his mark closer to the dragon's and they both glowed brighter. This confirmed to Hiccup that the two of them were somehow connected, the explanations would have to come later to the shocked duo.
Noticing the time by the sun Hiccup awkwardly ran back to the Village with a quick call of goodbye to the dragon as a show of courtesy. He didn't know why he was trying to be nice to the dragon, but it felt right to do so. Toothless watched his new close friend as he ran off to some meeting back at the village
Hiccup sneaked back to the house and attempted to get past Stoick. When Stoick noticed him Hiccup quickly closed his marked hand (with the glowing symbol) and attempted to converse casually with Stoick.
It worked as well as could be expected from Hiccup's 'casual' conversation, Stoick brushed the poorly thought conversation to one side and told Hiccup how he was to make Berk proud. Hiccup desperately disagreed, citing his previous, horrendous, experiences in fighting dragons.
After Hiccup told Stoick how he couldn't and wouldn't kill a dragon, Stoick merely laughed it off, he was sure Hiccup would learn how Berk worked; dragon fighting was the only truly honourable job.
Stoick then replied by telling Hiccup that he was going to Dragon training the next day. He then handed over an axe to Hiccup while giving a speech to boost Hiccup's morale.
The next day Hiccup was inducted into dragon training. He made the long journey to the dragon ring island, through the boggy soil and prepared to meet the other dragon fighters (trainees although they were too prideful to admit it personally).
His mood darkened as he saw that they were ex- Berk fire brigade. All those teens were much more professional than him and used to working together, Hiccup was a nobody to them. Hiccup walked into the ring as Astrid was responding, sarcastically to the masochistic (pain loving) comments of the twins.
"…Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it"
Hiccup offered his own, also sarcastic, take on that look
"yeah, pain, love it"
The teens turned around in disgust when they heard Hiccup's voice. They gave him a few insults about being the runt of the village but shifted their attention when they heard Gobber.
Snotlout "Hiccup already killed a night fury, so does that disqualify him?"
Great, Hiccup thought, the events last night were being treated like a joke. There was Laughter from the other teens
Gobber reassured Hiccup "don't worry your smart an' weak that will make you less if target they will see you as sick or sane and go after the more Viking like teens instead. Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you learn to fight. The deadly Nadder"
Fishlegs spoke in excitement
"speed 8 armour 16"
Gobber continued the explanations over Fishlegs stats.
"the hideous Zippleback"
"plus 11 stealth times 2"
"the monstrous nightmare"
"firepower 15"
"the terrible terror"
"attack 8 venom 12"
" can you please stop that! and the Gronckle"
Fishlegs whispered quietly to Hiccup
" jaw strength 8"
Snotlout voices his shock
"aren't you going to teach us first?"
Gobber smiles before replying
"I believe in learning on the job" [then he pulls down the lever]
Hiccup stands shocked in the middle of the arena while the other teens spread out in terror. The Gronckle locks onto Hiccup first, being right in front of himself. Hiccup screams and raises his hand to shield himself from the Gronckle, having not picked up a shield in the short amount of time.
The Gronckle looks in shock at Hiccup's hand, which has the rider symbol on it, that all dragons must honour (apart from alphas). The Gronckle becomes protective of this rider with all the other Viking's about and chases another teen.
Hiccup only looks on in surprise as the Gronckle breaks off his pursuit of him and chases the rest of the Vikings. Confused he watches while the Gronckle attacks the other teens. a recommendation, by Gobber, to pick up a shield makes Hiccup hastily pick up one and hide behind it as he contemplates what just happened.
The Gronckle easily defeats the other teens before casually flying back into its cage. Hiccup, unhurt and confused, is noted with disbelief and jealousy from the others. Hiccup notices the sour looks and is quick to escape the arena.
As he Jogs back to the Village Hiccup wonders how he could escape before this situation escalates. He decides finding a way to fix the night furies tail is the best solution. He heads to the forge to craft a new tail. After a few minutes of Jogging with breaks, he reaches the forge.
Upon entering he realises he has no idea how to craft the tail and he facepalms. While he is pulling his face away the crossed hammers of his birthmark illuminate in response for his need to craft. Hiccup experiences the mental picture of the glowing outline of Toothless' s missing tail fin again. This time however, the vision moves on to bring up a diagram of how Toothless' s crafted tail would be made.
As Hiccup watched all the parts connect, in his beautiful hallucination, he understands what he needs to do. Walking over to the forge fire he gathers some metal and prepares to smelt it into the shape required for the rods; the structural part of the tailfin.
When he reaches the forge fire he feels disappointed that it is too weak to forge on currently (Gobber was too busy at the ring to tend to it). In reaction to his disappointment the fire part of his mark ignites and so does the forge's fire. Quickly reaching an optimum temperature the forge fire is now burning brightly and ready for Hiccup's work. Hiccup gives a small gasp in surprise, first that the fire intensified so quickly, secondly that he wasn't affected by the forge's increased heat.
Disregarding his speculation to work on his project Hiccup placed the metal in the fire to heat up. Once it had gotten to the right temperature Hiccup reached in and plucked one of the pieces from the fire. He brought it out onto the anvil and pummelled it into the right shape. Once the piece was in the shape he needed he dropped it into the water to cool.
Not bothering to pick up the cooled metal he quickly moved on to the next piece and worked it. Continuing the cycle until he had every part he needed. He then creeped out of the forge and fetched some leather to stretch over the skeleton of the frame.
Satisfied with his work he decided to leave it in his private room in his forge; He was tired, it was hard to carry, and it was close to midnight. He himself went back to his abode to sleep.
Early the next morning; as the dawn rays pierced the skies with vengeance, he got up and prepared to pick up the tailfin before anyone noticed. He was charging down the steps when he saw the teens standing outside. In his panicked state he didn't have time to stop, only accelerate.
He felt his speed increase as a force pushed hard from his midsection. He crashed into the Viking's at the door and, thanks to whatever Viking god was watching over him at the time, managed to push past. Stoick was standing next to the door listening to the complaints as Hiccup came barrelling past.
Stoick watched in confusion as Hiccup managed to knock over the teens before running off. The last aspect he saw, as Hiccup sprinted away, was that Hiccup's lower tunic was burning, He reasoned that Hiccup had set himself on fire and was rushing to put it out.
Hiccup's view was blurred at the sudden speed he was experiencing, although his vision was slowly adapting to the change. He slowed down briefly at the forge to pick up the tailfin before blazing off to meet the night fury. After a few minutes of high speed running he reached the cove.
The night fury was disgruntled to see the rider back in the middle of the day but started worrying when he saw the look of terror on his rider's face. Hiccup shouted a warning.
"Come on we've got to get off the ground before the village finds out, I have your tail ready to fit to you."
The fury was confused how His rider had made a tail but got ready to fly as Hiccup went around his hindquarters towards his tail. Afterwards he felt something being attached to his tail and then Hiccup came back around from his hindquarters with a saddle.
Hiccup attached the saddle while scanning the forest above for any signs of the other Vikings. Seeing none he finished attaching the saddle before attempting to climb on. As he stumbled onto the saddle Hiccup's marked hand touched the night fury's mark; as soon as it happened both night fury and rider learnt a lot about each other, and importantly, their different names.
Toothless turned around to ask Hiccup something.
"Hiccup? What kind of name is that for a Viking?"
Hiccup mirrored his gestures in his own confusion.
"Toothless? What kind of name is that for a dragon?"
Toothless and Hiccup both stared at each other before laughing at their mimicry. After the laughs had faded, Hiccup slowly mounted the saddle and put his leg into the mechanical stirrup. Toothless was a bit confused at how the human expected the fin to work.
"do you know how to fly me with your artificial fin?"
Hiccup laughed nervously before replying.
"I don't know, I hope so."
Taking this statement as Hiccup being ready for flight, for knowing otherwise would just impede their escape, Toothless powered off the ground.
As he gained altitude he was suddenly mentally aware that both his marking's and Hiccup's dragon one had illuminated. He was proven right when Hiccup showed he somehow knew perfectly well how to use his fin, reacting quickly to every subconscious movement Toothless made.
Toothless smiled at his regained ability to fly but was interrupted when he felt a strong urge to change course. The mental voice inside of him insisted it was his destiny
Hiccup wasn't too surprised at Toothless' s sudden change in direction as it still led away from Berk. However, He became a little confused as they passed multiple Islands where Hiccup thought they might rest. He conveyed his unease to Toothless.
"where are you taking me Toothless?"
Toothless didn't bother to deviate his head to answer in verbal form, instead he addressed Hiccup mentally.
'towards where our destiny lies.'
Hiccup was unsure of what this meant but thought that the dragon meant well. Hiccup kept on scanning the distance as they travelled.
Eventually they made it to an island which was unique from the rest. High black walls surrounding the island and low built houses, also in black, dotted the island. As both Toothless and Hiccup patrolled around this Island, another night fury came down beside Toothless from the thick clouds overhead.
Hiccup whipped his head around to see an elder man riding a battle hardened night fury. The old man had scars on his face and his night fury had lost an eye. Hiccup silently gauged whether this rider was friend or foe before the man spoke.
"hello fury rider! I assume you, like all of our riders, have come here to join our group. Welcome to shadow island where all the night fury riders reside. Once you land we can give you a wing rider and you will be assigned to a squadron. While here you should enjoy the peaceful attributes of our island away from the ferocious Vikings."
Hiccup contemplated the idea. Being able to rest and recuperate in the area was a huge positive for Hiccup. Also, although he didn't hate the Vikings, he didn't want to remain around them for long. With his mind made up he questioned the elder rider.
"I think I will join you. Where on this island can me and Toothless land?"
The old man laughed for a while.
"what kind of name is that for a dragon?"
He was confronted by two pairs of angry eyes from the dragon and rider. Hiccup replied firmly.
"Or we can leave and never come back, of course."
The elder sobered up and gave a sincere apology.
"I am sorry for having insulted your dragon…"
He gestured for Hiccup to fill in the rest, Hiccup did so
"Hiccup."
The other rider continued.
"So, Hiccup, the place to land is over there. The newest building with a white drape over it is the house for the newest riders. Once you have settled in we remove the drape and start another house."
Hiccup spotted the white and glided down on Toothless until he reached his new home. He discovered to his happiness there was a spot for him and Toothless as well as a space for storage. Satisfied with his quick observation he came out again to await the elder. The elder glided down haphazardly and landed heavily next to the duo. He then announced his purpose.
"now that you have seen your house I would like to introduce you to your wing rider. The rider is called midnight and she is called midnight. she also has a female night fury named eclipse. Both live next to you two and you can visit them any time. But before that you will need to meet them in the dining room, so I can announce the pairing."
Hiccup followed the man into the dining room where they could see about a dozen riders. The night furies were eating from a hopper nearby. Toothless bounded over to join them and, after a quick look from the other night furies, was accepted. Hiccup watched this interaction and hoped 'let this be the same for me'
Toothless mentally responded
'I hope so too Hiccup, but firstly I need to eat some fish. These night furies are nice.'
Hiccup mentally facepalmed at Toothless' s inappropriately joyful response before waiting for the man to pick out his partner. His partner came off the bench she had been sitting on and came to meet Hiccup. She said her welcome to Hiccup
"Hello Hiccup! I'm glad to have a partner after all this time. The others should stop bullying me after they found out I finally have a battle brother."
Hiccup winced at her Language.
"can you please just refer to me as wing man or Hiccup? Battle brother and partner make us sound like we're about to be married."
Midnight blushed at her mistake but heard some giggling in the background. One voice became apparent.
"she's always making mistakes like that!"
She was about to give them a violent comeback, but Hiccup soothed her.
"come on it's nothing to get annoyed about. Let's get back to our houses before we get too worked up about it."
Midnight was happy that Hiccup had calmed her down before she lost herself. She really hated those bullies. After one quick last glance at them she followed Hiccup out the door.
Hiccup and Midnight wandered back through the, currently empty, rows of houses for the dragon riders and their dragons. Toothless and Eclipse came out behind them while checking each other out. Hiccup said goodbye to Midnight as she had to go to her own house. Toothless equally gave his goodbyes to eclipse as he followed Hiccup.
Hiccup curled lay down in his very comfortable bed as he anticipated the events of tomorrow. Toothless followed him with a blast onto his slab before curling up.