BOLD &ITALICS = MONOLOUGE/NARRATING OVER THE TOP. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT NOR AM IN ANY WAY AFFILIATED WITH HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, BOTH BOOK AND MOVIE ARE NOT OWNED BY ME NOR DO I CLAIM ANY OWNERSHIP TO THEM!
This is Berk. Its twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village in a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have…
"Dragons" a young girl hissed, hurriedly slamming the door closed behind her as a huge fireball made its way directly towards her. She leaned against it, breathing heavily at the effort of holding the door closed against the fiery force.
Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.She rushed outside, a small smile on her face as she took in the large masses of Vikings attacking the dragons all over the village. My name is Hicca. A large man dropped down in front of her that she recognised as Orsk, he picked up his axe and she neatly sidestepped him continuing to run through the village.
Great name I know. But, it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanour wouldn't do that. A huge blast of fire knocked her off her feet and sent her to the ground with a thud as her face screwed up in pain. The same Viking that just killed the dragon creating the blasts jumped on top of her, roaring loudly in her face before offering her a cheery good morning.
She jumped back up as he left and kept running, making it to the docks along the cliffs that lead to the boats and village centre, the place of action. "What are you doing here?" a lady called, a barrel hoisted over her shoulder. "Get inside," another Viking called, seeing her in the middle of the battleground. A barrage of calls greeted her, "What are you doing out?!" "Get back inside!" the usual warnings and orders during a raid for the young girl.
She was about to cross a narrow road when a dragon soared past, a blast of fire escaped from its jaws and she narrowly missed it as a large hand grabbed the back of her vest and hoisted her into the air, dangling her thin frame away from the fiery breath. "Hicca! What is she doing…?" the voice trailed off only to increase in strength as she was waved about like a rag doll, a face thrust in front of her own, all long red beard and drawn brows "What are you doing out? Get inside!" he yelled then threw her to the side out of harm's way.
The man's muscled form moved about angrily and his beady eyes searched for his next victim. That's Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders. The burly redhead picked up a nearby overturned cart, hoisting it over his head and flung it skywards, knocking a dragon from the skies as it hit its target. Do I believe it? Yes, I do. "What have we got?" he asked gruffly, turning to the nearest Viking. "Gronckles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare." He asked swiftly, standing straighter as a sign of respect to his chief.
The Viking that answered cowered under his shield as a fire blast hit nearby. "Any night furies?" the chief asked, still upright as he scanned the sky, "None so far," the Viking said promptly. "Good," the chief sighed relieved. "Hoist the torches!" a Viking shouted, the large pillars rising into the air in a blaze of fire. Hicca meanwhile had escaped from the area in which she had been thrown and made her way through the battle to the edge of the town, entering the forge in a dead run. "Nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!" the smithy shouted, happily hammering away at sword to bend it into shape for the next Viking who came along.
"Who, me? No, come on, I'm way to muscular for their taste," she replied teasingly, tightly tying the leather apron around her waist and hurrying to place a piece of an invention back on its place on the wall. "They wouldn't know what to do with all this," she crowed, flexing her non-existent muscles jokingly. "Well… they need toothpicks, don't they?" the smithy laughed, missing her scathing look as he turned and threw open the front window. A group of Vikings hurried up to the forge and dumped their damaged and blunt weapons on the table, going back to join the fight even though they didn't have their weapons. The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well, littler.
Stoick was standing in front of a group of Vikings, he saw a blast of fire light up the air near them and turned to his nearest comrade, "We move to the lower defences. We'll counterattack with the catapults." He ordered, watching as they agreed and ran downward, several yelling hurry to the others following, Stoick turned on his heel and raced after them, his eyes worriedly scanning the sky. A dragon flew overhead as they ran and a gush of flames spewed from his jaw, setting the thatched roof of a house alight, the fire quickly consuming the entire house.
See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses. "Fire!" a Viking yelled, turning and glaring back, his eyes crazy with the bloodlust of a fight. Hicca watched as a group of teenagers around her age rushed past, "Alright lets go," a decisively female voice ordered from the front of the group, carrying buckets haphazardly in their hands. Hicca propped herself forward on her hands to see the group over the counter, hurriedly filling their buckets with water, the twins of course fighting over their shared one. That's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Astrid. She watched as they all hurried by, throwing the water onto the fires to put them out as much as they could. A stray fireball created a huge wall of fire behind them, setting a dramatic feel to the scene.
Fishlegs was big, like bigger than most of the adult Vikings on the island but he was pretty harmless and sort of a wimp, however what he lacked in fighting ability he made up for in smarts, he had read the dragon handbook cover to cover 27 times in the last year that was more times than most Vikings read it in their entire lives, he could list facts about any dragon off the top of his head making him handy in a battle as well as for planning strategies. With a huge body, small head set into large shoulders and rounded face he looked a bit like a true Viking crossed with a toddler.
Snotlout was rude, loud and unfortunately my cousin. He was under the impression that he was the best fighter of our age and while he had a pretty good bulk he was impatient and lacked skills as well as brains. He boasted an awful lot about everything he had done but was never taken seriously, always acting like a stereotypical grade A jerk. He had short black hair, a block like figure and unfortunately for him facial features that made him look like a prize pig.
Ruffnut was the female half of the Thorsten twins; she was more mature than her brother but a lot more mischievous. She was also a good fighter and loved battle; she was a bit braver than her brother who freaked out when things became stressed.
Tuffnut was the male half of the Thorsten twins; he was immature, annoying and a the tiniest bit of a coward when things became hard. While his sister went for the more mischievous route he preferred that of the annoying variety. He could make the most patient person lose their wits and attack. He was as good a fighter as his sister however this was also coupled with a male ego that made him a bit sexist, luckily his sister was always there to sort him out.
While the twins fought a lot they were each other's targets, no one else's so they had been known to get revenge on people who hurt their other half, Ruffnut's favourite way of going about this was to pull prank after prank until their life was crumbling around them. Tuffnut preferred the good old fashioned way of a sound beating, his fighting for his sister's dignity and respect often ended with the receiving party under care of the elder for a while to be treated for severe injuries.
The twins were almost exactly alike if not for Tuffnut's lack of a chest, more masculine features and molten silver eyes while his sisters were an ocean blue. People would be unable to tell them apart if they dressed the same and let their hair down.
Finally was Astrid, she was all around the best in our age group: best fighter, best strategist, best speaker and best looking. She was one of the most sought after girls in the village both for her looks and skills. It was almost certain that in dragon training this year she would be the one to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. Her golden hair, sky like eyes, mature figure and sharp features made her look like a regal elf from the legends, her battle prowess only furthering this rumour.
Their job is so much cooler. She attempted to vault over the counter only to be pulled back by Gobber at the last second. "Oh come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark." She moaned, looking down dejectedly as he held her aloft with his hooked hand. "Oh you've made plenty of marks all in the wrong places." He remarked, poking her roughly in the chest with his hook, "Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date," she begged, slumping pitifully.
Gobber almost laughed but lifted his hook to tick things off his fingers, "You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" he said exasperated, lifting up the bolas to show her the three metal balls on the end of the wire only to have it ripped out of his hand by a passing Viking who spun it deftly around his head and let go, capturing a Gronkle in its trap, sending it plummeting to the ground. "Ok, fine, but this will throw it for me." She responded, moving back and gesturing to her latest invention, patting it gently only to have it release the bolas and hit a Viking passing by outside in the face, knocking him heavily to the ground.
"See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about!" he remarked, lifting his prosthetic arm and moving forward angrily, "Mild calibration issue…" Hicca trailed off, gesturing towards the floor, "Hicca!" Gobber yelled finally at wits end, "If you ever want to get out there and fight dragons you need to stop all… this," he finished, moving his hands to showcase Hicca's frame. "But you just pointed to all of me," Hicca drawled, swiping her hands back and forth then looking up puzzled. "Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you," Gobber instructed. "Ohhhh," Hicca mused as if he had made any sense. "Oh yes," Gobber copied his sound.
"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much raw Vikingness contained. There will be consequences!" she announced, standing on her tiptoes to get in front of Gobber's face. "I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now," he ordered turning and grabbing a sword before tossing it into Hicca's arms and walking away. Hicca took it without complaint and moved to the wheel, setting it rolling and placed the blade on it, carefully sharpening each edge to a near finesse.
One day, I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed. Gronckles are tough; taking down one of those would definitely get me a boyfriend. A zipplebacks? Exotic. Two heads. Twice the status.
"They found the sheep!" a man called, watching as the dragons came nearer to one of their food sources. "Concentrate fire over the lower bank," Stoick ordered, already turning the gear for the catapults moving mechanism. "Hurry up!" "Fire!" a voice shrieked, sending a Viking from the catapults through the air to hit a flying dragon, dragging it back towards the earth.
And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.
"Reload! I'll take care of this." Stoick ordered, turning back towards the flaming beast that was slowly climbing up the catapult towards him. He grabbed his war hammer from his belt, delivering a swift hit to the dragons head then another two in quick succession, successfully tossing the dragons head from side to side with the blows.
But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one's ever seen. We call it the…
"Night fury!" someone cried, Hicca looked up from her sharpening at the tell-tale whistling of a night fury about to strike. "Get down!" the Viking next to him called, everyone quickly huddling under their shields as the purple flame hit a nearby catapult, burning the wooden structure and blowing it apart upon impact, sending pieces of it flying haywire. A call of "Jump!" came from the direction and she could see darkened shadows leaping from the wreckage, clear against the bright background.
This thing never steals food, never shows itself and… never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first.
She walked quickly away from the window through which she was watching the action, emerging to see Gobber fastening an axe prosthetic to his left wrist. "Man the fort, Hicca. They need me out there," he ordered, quickly limping out of the forge on his peg leg. He turned at the last second and pointed an accusing finger in her direction, "Stay. Put. There," he told her, slowly moving backwards. "You know what I mean," he added, spinning on his real foot and rushing into the battle, screaming loudly and waving his axe over his head.
Hicca took her chance and grabbed her bola launcher, assembling a new bola into the slot and hurried outside ignoring the calls of "Where are you going?" and "Come back here," practically skipping through the town in her excitement of finally being outside during a raid. "Hicca!" a woman yelled, spotting her retreating form.
Four Deadly Nadders stood crowded around a flock of sheep, the woollen creatures huddling closer together in fear at the huge beasts. Stoick spotted them just in time and threw a large net over the group, trapping the dragons inside without their power of flight due to the constricting space. "Let's get them!" several Vikings yelled, rushing forwards, axes and swords in hand. One of the heads nearly escaped, the jaws opening to spew fire through the air, "Mind yourself! The devils still have some juice in them" Stoick yelled, leaping into the air and landing on the snout, effectively closing the jaws and halting the flames. He wrestled the head down, pinning it to the floor beneath his large hands.
Hicca dashed down the hill, her bola launcher in front of her as she halted suddenly at the bottom of the hill, setting the back down and unpacking the aiming and firing compartments in a rush. The night was silent, the sounds of the battle had faded into the background and Hicca could hear the calls of the birds echoing across the night. "Come on. Give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at," she muttered, her eyes scanning the starry sky for any sign of the Night Fury. She spotted a dark shape black out a patch of stars before the whistling began and a ball of fire hit a nearby catapult, as the glow increased Hicca could make out a dragon shape flying quickly away.
She swung her launcher around and fired, the force sending her back to the ground. She could see the outline of the bola for several seconds before it faded into the darkness, a keening wail of anger was heard and a large smile spread across her face, she had hit it, she had hit a night fury. "I hit it? Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?" she cheered, turning and flinging out her arms. A loud growl came from behind her and she turned her eyes widening, "Except for you," she muttered, coming face to face with a monstrous nightmare.
Stoick turned from his task holding down the Nadders as he heard a terrified shriek, he turned to see a small silhouette running from the huge shape of a monstrous nightmare, he could tell almost straight away who the figure was and hurried forward only stopping to order the Vikings to no allow the Nadders to escape before he raced away, hurrying towards who he was sure was his child. The nightmare chased Hicca through the village; she hid behind a pole only for it to burst into flames, the heat nearly singeing her hair.
The head slowly peeked around the corner as Hicca looked the other way for the dragon; it opened its jaws and prepared to strike only to have its head jumped on by Stoick, knocking it to the side and away from Hicca who was an inch from death. The force of the push knocked the Monstrous Nightmare away from Hicca and Stoick safely rolled out from his leap, landing so he was faced towards the dragon. The monstrous nightmare snarled, opening its jaws only for a small stream of liquid fire to gush out then stop. "You're all out," Stoick whispered, squaring his shoulders and stalking forwards, landing a heavy hit against the dragon's jaw that forced it backwards.
He moved forward as the nightmare was driven back, hitting the huge beast again and again with all of his strength, a final kick to the face sent the monstrous nightmare reeling, it turned and launched itself into the air, Stoick watched it go with an air of disappointment that it was still alive, he slowly spun so he was facing Hicca, his face set in a harsh scowl.
Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know
The post Hicca was hiding behind fell, almost in slow motion; the top was still burning brightly and thudded into the wooden pathways. "Sorry, Dad," Hicca muttered, wincing as several shrieks and loud crashes came from the direction in which the large ball of wood set alight had rolled. It crashed past people, heading straight for the net where the Nadders were captured, the Vikings holding them down yelled and scattered, allowing them to escape in their desperate attempts to get away from the burning wood.
"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury," Hicca said turning away from the sight of the dragons flying away, a net of sheep held in several of the dragons' claws. Stoick frowned and grabbed the back of Hicca's vest, dragging her along behind him, "It's not like the last few times, Dad! I really, actually hit it!" she yelped, just allowing her father to pull her along. "You guys were busy. I had a very clear shot. It went off Raven Point. Let's get a search party…" she trailed off as her father turned to her, his eyes steaming. "Stop!" he yelled, "Just stop," he sounded so weary and honestly with the amount of times this had happened the village really couldn't blame him.
"Every time you step outside disaster follows," he continued, "Can you not see I have bigger problems. Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!" he gestured to the crowd and rolled his eyes, returning them to stare at Hicca. Hicca barely managed to hold in a laugh, "Well between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding don't you think," she commented light-heartedly. Most of the villagers looked around and held their hands self-consciously over their stomachs, most flushed embarrassed.
"This isn't a joke, Hicca!" Stoick yelled, sensing his daughters teasing manner, "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?" he asked exasperated with this whole thing. "I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just kill it, it's who I am Dad" she responded, trying to sound brave. "You are many things, Hicca. But a dragon killer is not one of them," Stoick muttered, running a hand over his face. "Get back to the house, make sure she gets there" he ordered, nodding to Gobber to take her. The smithy whacked her over the back of the head, ignoring her half-hearted glare, "I have her mess to clean up," he finished, already striding away to start the reconstruction of the village. On the way they passed the group of teenagers, "Quite the performance," Tuffnut sneered, leaning over to nudge his twin inconspicuously, Hicca kept her head down, missing the way Tuffnut's eyes continued to follow her.
"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped," Snotlout said condescendingly, "Thank you, thank you, I was trying." she muttered sarcastically, she felt marginally better when she caught Gobber pushing him to the ground by his helmet as he passed, Gobber was more of a father to her than her own father had ever been.
"I really did hit one," she said as they climbed the final steps to the Chief's house, "Sure Hicca," Gobber placated, following the young girl up the hill. "He never listens," she complained, turning back to try and make her point, "Runs in the family," Gobber commented brightly and Hicca wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or insult. "And when he does, it's with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich," she muttered, turning and pretending to impersonate her father.
"Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you've brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered and extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone" she finished, letting her arms drop to her sides; she always knew that her dad resented her being a girl instead of a boy. "Now you're thinking about this all wrong It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand," he stressed the inside part as if that was helping and Hicca made a face at him, was this supposed to be helping? "Thank you for summing that up," she said finally, turning to go back into the house.
"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not," Gobber finished kindly, gesturing slowly, "I just want to be one of you guys," she whispered finally, defeat evident in her tone. She closed the door behind her and Gobber sighed sadly, when would she learn that she wasn't like them, she was different and that was okay.
