Fantasy Writing 2.5

HTTYD

The Adventures of Calder Cooper Part 1

Hello everyone. This is my first ever story and I hope you all like it. I do not own the How to Train your Dragon. HTTYD belongs to DreamWorks Studios and the author, Cressida Cowell. Calder and all other characters NOT part of the HTTYD series belongs to me. Enjoy.

Chapter 1

RIIIING, RIIING, RIIING. Along with the bell was the sound of binders being put away and zippers of bags being closed. I grab my bag and quickly sling it over my shoulder and hurry out of my history class, hurrying to my locker to store my binders and get home. I hurry down the stone steps, feeling the warm air all around, and then it turned cold as I went back into the marble mass of school. There, locker number 239, I fiddled with the lock and it swung open and I was greeted by a package, I pick it up curious, wondering who could have sent me this. My eyes drifted to the picture on my locker and I instantly knew who it was from; I ripped it open and found an envelope with my name on it, something heavy was inside. I quickly opened the envelope and a ring fell into my outstretched hand, it was a gold ring, rather thick and sturdy with a ruby as the jewel. Engraved on the inside of the band was my name in cursive "Calder Cooper" I checked the envelope and there was a letter but all it said was "Goodbye" and my sisters name at the bottom. I realized what this was, it was a kind of going-away present, but rather my sister was forced to stay away from me because my foster parents hated her. I suppress the sudden flood of emotions and the memories and left the school.

I shifted the weight of my bag form one shoulder to another as I walked along the Floridian road. Alone, but I was used to it, I didn't want to attract too much attention, sorry let me introduce myself. My name is Calder Cooper, that's my real name; my other name is Calder Flagging's, well according to my adopted parents. I hate it though so that's why I go with Cooper, but at school I am known as nobody, because nobody notices me but I like that to an extent. Nobody bullies me but nobody notices me as well, the only one who gets bullied is Jason who is a really nice guy but I try not to hang around him much because that would get me noticed. I approach my house and see Jason standing by my door, looking uncomfortable and so do I. We were paired up secretly by the teacher in my history class for some Nordic project. I approach him quickly not wanting to be seen,

"H-hey Calder," he stutters, he isn't used to conversations where people are genuinely interested.

"What is it Jason?" I ask, wanting to get this done.

"W-W-Well I n-need you to research N-N-Norwegian folklore and about their culture ov-v-er the b-b-break." He says, wincing as he mentions break and rightly so.

"WHAT?! but there is nothing going on and I just want to relax, I took three tests in one day." I reply, stunned that this guy wanted to work when the project wasn't due till two weeks from now. Jason looked at me with an apologetic look before walking away, I shout some mean stuff at him and he winced each time but he still seemed firm. Frustrated I walk into my house and slam the door shut,

"CALDER, DON'T SLAM THE DOOR," I hear Henry Flaggings, my foster parent, shout. He was standing in front of me, clutching a beer bottle.

Groaning, I walk past him and grab a soda from the fridge before dragging my stuff upstairs, quickly hiding the soda from Henry, who was now sitting at his desk, he peers up at me as I walk by. He bought the ruse and went back to his work, which was managing files for something; I head into my room and shut the door. Dropping my bag I flop onto the bed and begin to get ready for some boring work, I grab my laptop from under my bed. I flip it open only to shut it because the battery of the laptop was missing, "HENRY," I shout, "WHERES MY BATTERY?"

"YOUR MOTHER WAS USING IT FOR HER COMPUTER AND THE THING BROKE BECAUSE IT DIDN'T FIT, NOW SHE IS OUT BUYING TWO MORE FOR YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!" he shouted back. Now I was officially mad, how dare Diana Flagging's use this without my permission, with a shout of rage I slammed the door shut as I left my room, heading outside.

"CALDER, FOR THE LAST DAMN TIME, DON'T SLAM THE F-" he never finished as I slam the door again, this time, racing outside to an old wooded area not far from here. As a child I was always wondering around, so I stumbled upon a broken fence that was behind an old house that had plants springing up everywhere and vines creeping up the side of the house. From there it became a sanctuary from the world, I went there if I needed to lose myself or escape from the world.

It was peaceful when I got to my area, there was a small river in the middle of the clearing and the trees grew all around, shielding me from the elements. It sounded like a rainforest when the wind howled, it was more than a sanctuary to me, it was a home. I lay my back against a tree and began to twist the ring on my finger, feeling my eyes begin to droop and soon I was off into a peaceful slumber with all of nature around me.

I dreamed about nothing in particular just random stuff but then it changed, I was in a dark room and there was a ring, the same ring from Meghan on a black pedestal. I reached for it and managed to grab it but the floor moved from under me and I was falling down into a vast sea. I wasn't worried about it, I would wake up from this realistic dream, I felt the wind rippling on my clothes. But as I neared the water I was getting nervous, why I wasn't waking up, then I realized, "I'm not dreaming," just as I crashed into the water.

I sink down, into the depths, the crash making me lose my breath. I look up and see the sun shining brightly and I swim to the light, my lungs burning from the lack of air and my arms from the hard strokes. Then I breach the surface, gasping for air, looking around I spot a beach and I began to swim toward it. My feet touch the sandy floor and I began to wad my way toward the slope, only to lurch as I manage to get on the beach and fall down, pain erupts in my leg. I clasp it and roll over as a gasp of pain makes its way from my throat; I look and don't see my familiar dark jeans. Instead I see dark brown… leggings? I had on a red long-sleeved shirt with a black vest over it, fur lined black boots were on my feet and they were slightly covered with blood. I tried to get up but my leg gave way, as humiliating as it was I crawled on the beach, heading for some trees where the beach ended. It was a slow process since I had to use mainly my arms to move but I managed to get there, I grabbed a tree and leaned against it for support, quickly I ripped off a thick branch and used it as a staff. I began to make my way through the forest, leaning heavily against the stick; the process was slow since I had to climb over old, fallen trees. The pain in my leg was becoming increasingly more excruciating, I faintly heard the thundering of a storm but kept moving though, muttering to myself "Keep moving Calder, focus, just keep moving," and then I heard a noise. Freezing I turn to the place where the sound emanated from, a nearby bush rustled and I see a boy emerge from there. He had a green long-sleeved shirt with a brow fur vest, he had brown leggings and fur lined brown boots, he stared at me until I fell down.

"Whoa, are you o.k.?" I hear, I couldn't respond, not because I didn't want to but because even though I understood him, I couldn't reply. I didn't know how to speak back, the language he spoke wasn't English but I did recognize it. I shake my head at him, he immediately puts my arm around him and together we hobble through the forest. We approach a village completely made of wood, I mean the houses were wood, like it was back in the Dark Ages. But then my vision begins to blur and I pass out, but not before I see the boy from before looking quite scared.

It seemed as though I was asleep for hours, I had a nightmare about a black liquid seeping from my leg and morphing into a black monster that lunged at me with its sharp teeth. I heard vaguely heard "Will he ever wake up?"

"Dude, he looks like an ugly bird,"

"You would know Troll-Face,"

"He's lucky he didn't die."

Groaning I opened my eyes, I was lying on a bed covered with pelts. My body was damp with sweat; I ran my fingers through my black hair, having it stick up in everywhere, feeling the ring on my head. I threw back the pelts wanting to be cool and not so hot and saw that my shirt was off, revealing not much muscle, the vest and shirt I was wearing were hanging by a hearth in the center of the room. Timbers had dragon faces carved at the edges, the room was small, but I could see the outline of feet at a door close to where my shirt was. I hop out of the bed and look at my leg, it was patched up, with white cloth was wrapped around the calf. I walk slowly due to the limp in my leg but it strengthened as I moved toward the door. Once I reached it I threw on my shirt and vest before pulling at the door only to find it didn't budge, this time with all my strength I heaved the door open, stumbling back slightly. Outside there were three boys and a girl, the tallest boy had a large brown coat on with a tiny helmet over his blond hair that had tiny horns emerging from the sides. A pair of twins stood at the side, they both had similar helmets but while the boy's hair was straight and long, the girls were tied up in spheres going down her head. Another boy had straw-like black hair under his ram horned helmet, he had on all black and a mace dangled at his side.

"Well look who decided to wake up," the kid in black says.

"Well I don't blame him Snotlout, he has been injured badly," the kid with the small helmet. Snotlout mutters something about fish legs, but then the twins started to talk.

"Well how did he get hurt, fell down a hill?" asked the boy twin.

"You got hurt like that one time from tripping on a rock, weakling," said the girl twin. The boy twin snarled and attacked his sister and they went rolling on the ground. I must have had the weirdest look on my face, this place was so strange and why was the kid in black named 'Snotlout'? Anyway then a large man with a hook for one hand and a peg leg came up and said "All right, give the lad some air he probably has quite a number of questions." He peered down smiling at me, "So lad, what's your name?" I opened my mouth but then closed it, not sure on how to reply; I pointed at my throat and shook my head. The man's eyebrows knitted together, (Or were they already?) and asked "What's wrong, cant ye speak?" I shook my head in response.

He cocked his head and said "For now, we'll call ya Stormleg," I nodded my head, a smile coming on my face. "Ah, so you like it huh, well Stormleg my names Gobber, I'm the blacksmith 'ere, let me show you around." He said before draping his hand around my neck, gesturing wildly around with his hook. As we walked I tried to repeat his name, it didn't go very well but I paid attention to his words, trying to see if I could repeat them.

He showed me the Great Hall, the… um… Mead Hall I believe, a number of houses that were nicely built, and pointed out the forest I was found in. Then he told me about the blacksmith they had, "I work there, repairing and crafting with my apprentice," he said as we approached the building. It was a bit homely, windows were set near a walkway, inside was an anvil next grindstone and a very familiar boy was at the forge. He was pushing down on some bellows to stoke the fire at a fire pit, he looked up pushing the auburn bangs away from his sweaty forehead and he sees me.

"Stormleg, I would like to introduce you to my apprentice, Hiccup," he says. The boy had switched his fur vest for a workers apron that was smudged with black soot; he smiled nervously, "Hi there…um…Stormleg, are you feeling better?" he a nervous voice, like he was bracing himself for a verbal attack. He continued to look nervous until I said one word, "Hiccup," Gobber looked at me stunned, I said two more words I had learned when he talked to some guy at a stall and snagged a roll, "Thank…you."

Hiccup blinked in surprise, at that but then he said "Uh… no problem uh… Stormleg," Gobber was promptly excited, "You can speak now? How did you get hurt? How did you get here? Why haven't you spoken before?" It was all too much; I clamped both my hands over the big man's mouth.

"Whoa…there…Gobber," I say slowly. "Hard… to… speak… need…" I faltered, I wasn't sure on how to say time but Gobber got the point. "O.K. lad, well I'll leave ya with Hiccup, I have important business with trolls, they stole my socks again, but why do they always take the left ones?" Then he walks off, limping because of his peg leg, I look at Hiccup quizzically. He just shrugs his shoulders and continues to work on a kind of launcher.

"What's…that?" I ask, Hiccup looks up confused, he seemed hesitant but says "It's a um… bolas launcher, since…well," he holds up his arms as if to say, "I'm trying to look macho but I'm really just weak." I nod my head, understanding quite well since I was like that back in middle school.

"Anyway, I'm using to capture and deal with some…pests we have," Hiccup continued. I cock an eyebrow at him, how big were these pests, he was about to explain until a tomato flew through an open window and smacked me right in the face. I wince, the juice of the fruit went everywhere, I wipe the stuff on my face and flick my hands to try to get the juice off my hands. Laughter erupts from outside, I see the twins there rolling on the ground, pointing at my face. I turn to Hiccup who is frozen, trying to determine what I would do next; I glance at the bolas launcher and get a huge grin on my face. I push Hiccup aside and he begins to stammer "No, i-it not ready yet, it still need some calibration." I touch the launcher and it opens up, the bolas flying through the air, I look outside and see the twins start to get up, but they are soon trapped by the bolas, stuck together at face to face. People outside begin to laugh as they try desperately to get out.

"This is all your fault Troll-brain," the girl shouts.

"No, it's yours Butt-Elf, you're the one who wanted to throw the tomato at Hiccup," the boy shouts back.

"Well if you had taken the time to see that Stormleg was there instead of Hiccup then we wouldn't be trapped here, Numbskull."

The twins began to roll around, since they couldn't exactly move while tied up. Everyone laughs harder at the sight; I glance at the sun and see it gone, torches were being lit and Hiccup begins to pack it up. Taking off the work apron he reaches around a red curtain to reveal his fur vest from a hook on the inside of the room. "Well um… I'll see you later Stormleg," he said before beginning to walk away. I follow him, I was still curious about where I was, he headed up a hill toward a large house with elegant carvings all over the house. Before Hiccup went inside, he turned around confused, "Why are you following me?" he asked.

"Want…answers…you…didn't…give." I say

"Well, oh what the heck, come inside," he says, holding the door a little wider. I walk inside and am amazed at what I see. A hearth was set in the center of the building with benches arranged around it; a makeshift stove was set up on the hearth as well. Stairs were on the left leading up to a loft, probably where Hiccup slept.

"Well what do you want to know?" Hiccup asked.

"Where…am…I?" I ask "Why…are you…called…Hiccup?"

"Well first my full name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and it's not the worst name, Vikings believe that a scary name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. As if our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that." He says, "As to where you are, this is Berk, its twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's solidly located on the Meridian of Misery," he explains.

"Cheery," I thought, "What next, more depressing stuff?"

"You already know about the village but to sum it all up in one word, I'd say it was sturdy. This village has been here for seven generations but every single building is new. We have fishing hunting and a charming few of the sunsets; the only problems are the pests." He continues rather sarcastically, I didn't understand why Berk seemed like a nice place to live.

"See most places have mice or mosquitos, we have…" he was cut off by a commotion outside. Hiccup ran to the door and I looked curiously at the door. When Hiccup opened it, a monstrous thing came out and looked at him. I ran over to the door and with Hiccup we shut it just as fire blasted the wooden frame. I looked at him wide-eyed, but did I really just see what I saw, he answered with a single word.

"Dragons," he said.

*Well, this is perfect. Great cliffhanger at the start of the movie, next chapter will be all about the dragon attack at the start of HTTYD. I got the idea of the forest scene when my friend Ian and I went looking for an area where Ian wanted to practice paintball; anyway I scratched my leg on some barb wire so that's when I thought of Stormleg. Peace, have a great day or night depending on the time and God BLess you all.

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