So this is my first fanfic. Please read it and comment. I aim to do long chapters, so I most likely won't update very often. But make no mistake, I will do my best. In the next chapter, I will start to use POVs and a line break will indicate that. This chapter is not that special, sorry. Also, just as a Disclaimer, I do not own anything HTTYD related. that belongs to Cressida Cowell and the company of Dreamworks. The OCs, however, are mine. so please read and enjoy!
This is a story that began long, long ago, on a dark, moonless night. The air was still and cool. All of the Vikings on the island of Berk were asleep. All, that was, except for the chief, his wife, the blacksmith, and the village elder. The wife of the chief, Valka, had only just gone into labor. The village elder, Gothi, had insisted that Chief Stoick the Vast, and the blacksmith, Gobber the Belch, who was a close family friend, wait outside of the hut during the delivery process. Stoick was anxiously pacing back and forth in front of the small home. Gobber had sat down heavily on the front step and had taken to trying to calm his worried, pacing friend. But he was, as of yet, very unsuccessful.
"Not to worry, old friend." Gobber soothed. "Gothi knows what she's doing. You know that she's delivered every baby in the last forty-five years. She delivered Valka, you, and me, and you know it. Every baby that she delivered and the mothers under her care have survived. They'll both be fine."
Stoick stopped his pacing and turned to look at Gobber. He let his head hang down and sighed. He lifted his head again so that he could address Gobber, while looking him in the eye. "You're probably right, Gobber. It's just that this is our first child AND my heir as chief, provided that it's a boy, of course. I can't help but worry." This time, when Stoick hung his head, he shook it, as though doing so could remove all of the fear and worry from his troubled mind. He walked over to sit next to Gobber, sighing heavily as he sat down next to his good friend. And there they sat in an awkward silence, neither one knowing what to say next, and neither one daring to try to say anything at all.
Just then, the still, cool, silence of the night was broken suddenly by the sharp, piercing, high-pitched cry of an infant coming from the hut behind the two respected warriors. Stoick practically leaped to his feet, with Gobber hobbling slowly up beside him. Stoick turned right around and fumbled madly to get a grip on himself and the door so that he could go inside. After managing to get the door opened and his nerves somewhat under control, he turned to Gobber and asked him to wait outside for more news. All though Gobber was a close as family, only true family and the chief can see an infant in its first day of life. Gobber agreed and clapped his friend on the back to say "good luck". Stoick then turned and walked quietly and nervously into his own home. In a small room off to the right hand side of the doorway, Valka could be seen lying in the center of a great bed, and there, resting peacefully in her arms, was a small newborn child.
Stoick let out a soft breath that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. It was a happy, content noise, and a smile as broad and wide as the mighty ocean itself spread across Stoick's usually stern face, lighting it up with a glow brighter than ten thousand suns. He walked tenderly over to his wife and new child, afraid that the moment could be shattered at the slightest sound.
Valka was looking down at her child in wonder and amazement. She only knew to look up when she heard the wooden floorboards of the room creak under Stoick's steps. When she locked eyes with her husband, she smiled warmly at him. It was at this point that Gothi finished and walked out to give the proud parents some time alone with their new family member.
When Stoick reached Valka's side, he bent down and hugged her firmly. "Oh Stoick," Valka cooed "it's a boy! Oh, won't you say hello to our little son?" Valka turned her head to gaze once again at the little babe sleeping quietly in her arms as he yawned a big yawn for such a small child. Valka cooed an "aw" before turning her attention back to the Viking chief. "Would you like to hold him?" Valka asked as she held out the small child, wrapped up warmly in a dark green blanket.
The mighty chieftain smiled and took his new infant heir with a soft gentleness that most would have thought it impossible for him to have. The child was so small that his father could hold him in one giant, strong hand. The warrior smiled down at his son as the small child awoke with another large yawn. "Hello there, son." Stoick whispered to the little infant in his arms. "Welcome to our wonderful family." The baby cooed and smiled up at Stoick, causing the mighty man to chuckle softly.
Valka smiled at her husband and son. "His name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. But we can just call him Hiccup. I'm just so worried about him!" As she said this, Valka trained her eyes on the little boy. "He came so early, and I don't know if he'll be alright! He's such a wee, tiny, fragile thing." Valka was starting to gush her worries out to Stoick. "I don't want to lose him! Gothi said that he would be fine, but what do we do if he's not? If he were to get sick, it would only be a short matter of time before he would-"
"Valka, Love, calm down. He'll be just fine." Stoick shushed his hyperventilating wife in a reassuring manner. "As long as we have Gothi in our village, he will never get that sick. Besides, I'm sure that he's only small for now. He'll probably grow up to be the biggest and strongest of all of them one day." Stoick gazed down intently into Valka's worried eyes and very fearful face. He gave her a warm, comforting smile and a reassuring nod of the head before he bent down and kissed her strongly. He expected that he would have to say more to calm her down, because she was so easily worked up, but to his surprise, she sighed and was happy again.
"Maybe you're right, Stoick." She whispered. "But until he gets to that point in his life, just imagine how much he's going to be teased and picked on, and just because he'll be smaller than the others. I just don't want him to suffer like that." Valka fretted to Stoick. Stoick handed little Hiccup back to his mother and proceeded to sit down next to her on the bed. He pulled her close to him and rubbed her back soothingly.
"Don't worry. We'll both be there to help get him through all those rough patches." Stoick soothed. He turned and kissed Valka lightly on the head before continuing on. "I'll make sure that he knows how to defend himself adequately if anyone ever tries to beat on him. He won't be defenseless. I'll even have Gobber make him a tiny axe, one that is so small that Hiccup will have no problem holding it. I want him to start training right away. He'll be the biggest, strongest and best in all of Berk, someday."
"Oh, I truly do hope so." Valka said. Then she and Hiccup let out large, simultaneous yawns. Stoick Chuckled slightly at this occurrence when he saw it happen. He smiled happily at them.
"Alright, alright, come on. It's the middle of the night. You both need some sleep. I'll make the announcement in the morning. Till then, you just get some sleep, Love." And Stoick took the tiny child in one strong, protecting arm and gently pulled the blankets over Valka as she settled down and fell fast asleep. Stoick bent over one last time and kissed Valka's head then whispered "Goodnight, Love." The Viking chief then straitened up and walked over to the right side of the bed, where the wooden baby cradle that he had carved himself sat. He softly laid down his infant son and tucked the blankets carefully around little Hiccup, making extra sure that the tiny child would stay nice and warm in the dark coldness of this harsh world. The proud new father then turned around and walked out of the room. Gothi had been waiting for him, sitting in front of the small fire that was set up to keep them all warm. Stoick smiled and walked over to thank Gothi for her services and help. Then he walked outside and found Gobber waiting on the front step for him. He smiled at Gobber and wrapped his arm around his friend, leading the both of them away to the forge.
Meanwhile, as the chief of Berk became a father, in a small cliff cave on the other side of the small island, a rare occurrence was taking place. A lone dragon's egg was hatching. But it was not as alone as it would seem. For the family of this dragon hatchling was very nearby. The father was out fishing, for the new hatchling would be hungry. The mother was there in the cave, waiting, and trying to wrangle the two overly excited young hatchlings awaiting their new sibling. But something was different about these dragons that were waiting for this egg to hatch. These were dragons so indescribably rare that only ten clans remained throughout the world, most of them no stronger than twenty-five dragons. The only clan near was a fifteen day fly from the outer edges of the Barbaric Archipelago. They were all as black as a starless, moonless night. They were a nocturnal species, unable to be seen in the skies because of their coloration. They were the feared Night Furies. The egg that was about to hatch was the last of the three-egg clutch. The mother, and the two sister hatchlings were waiting around the edge.
"Look, Mama!" One of the hatchlings exclaimed. You could tell that the one that spoke was the younger of the two because her scales were still matted and soft, as though they had only just grown in. The other hatchling had shiny, hard scales, as she was truly more of a fledgling. She was just starting to learn to fly. "Our little brother is about to hatch!" She squealed in delighted excitement, staring intently at the egg.
"How do you know that it's going to be a boy, though?" The older of the two hatchlings inquired with a nasty sneer. "It could just as easily be a girl, you know."
"Now, now, now, girls, settle down." Their mother said.
"Mama, tell Amiirad that he's going to be a boy, not a girl!" exclaimed the younger of the two.
"No, tell Ankizy that we don't know, that how can we know!" Amiirad yelled.
"Ankizy, darling, your sister is right. We just can't be sure if it's a boy or a girl when it's still in the egg. And there is no possible way to know until the end of the Hatching."
Just then, a large, dark blue Night Fury flew into the cave with a mouth full of all different types of fish. There were haddocks, and cods, salmons, and mackerels. The dragon landed and padded over to the small egg. He opened his mouth and dropped the fish in front of the egg. Then he turned around to face the others. "Your mother is right, girls." He stated as he walked over to join the other three. "So for right now, all we can do is sit back and have the patience needed to wait for the Hatching."
"Can I name him, Pita? PLEASE?" Ankizy asked, unable to contain her excitement.
"Well? What do you think, Àmanu?"
"I think that that is a grand idea, Fear-cèile!" Àmanu responded.
"Okay, Ank. If the hatchling is a boy, you will get to choose the name." He then turned to face his older daughter, Amiirad. "And if the hatchling is a girl, you may choose the name, Amii." Fear-cèile explained with great patience to his children.
"Okay!" Both of the young dragons chorused happily.
Suddenly there was a loud, sharp sound (to the dragons, because their hearing is so acute. We humans would never have heard the sound) that was a mix between a bang and a pop. The sound reverberated throughout the cave. All Four dragons froze in place when they heard the noise. Then, they all turned ever so slowly around to look at the egg, or, rather, to look for the egg. But the egg was gone. In place of the small egg sat an equally small, very- hungry-looking, newly-hatched baby dragon. The other four dragons crept ever so slightly closer in order to get a better look. This tiny dragon had soft, tiny scales that were far blacker than the blackest pitch can ever be black during a black night with no moon and no stars. The last egg had finally, FINALLY hatched. Once they realized what this little tiny creature was, the two other hatchlings raced forward to examine their newest family member, their little sibling. Ankizy squealed upon realizing that this little baby dragon was, in fact, a boy. She let out a loud exclamation that she and her sister had a little brother. This sound was so loud that the little baby sitting only inches away from his sister winced sharply in agony at the noise. This little hatchling was, by far, the smallest dragon that even the parents had seen. He was only about a foot and a quarter in length, from nose to tail tip. He, like all other Night Fury hatchlings, had no teeth whatsoever, not even the faintest glimmer of a tooth starting to poke through the pink gums. His darker-than-night scales still had some clear, sticky goo left on them from his time in the egg. He had the normal huge, slitted eyes of all hatchlings, not just Night Furies. But there was something unusual about him. Something was off, it wasn't quite right. And that not-quite-right thing was his eyes. The Night Fury dragons have always had eyes that were a very dark brown, so that at a glance, they appeared to be black. But this little hatchling had different eyes. His eyes were a very bright shade of GREEN, nearly as green as the grass on a sunny hill in the middle of a bright, clear, summers day.
"What's wrong with his eyes, Mama?" Amiirad inquired.
"I don't exactly know, actually." Àmanu answered the oldest hatching. "I have heard that there are some among us that have odd features."
"How are they odd?" Ankizy padded over to stand beside her sister, facing their mother. Fear-cèile took his daughters' distraction as an opportunity to feed his newly hatched son, who was rolling on his back, moaning with hunger.
"Well, some have unusually small tails. The ones like that are mostly earth-bound, as the tail is too small to be used for flying. Others have extra sets of wings. I once had an uncle who was mute, and he couldn't even use his fire. And there was one time that I meet a dragon without even a hint of her tail, and she had told me that she had hatched that way." Àmanu said. "All of us are different, sometimes in ways that we might never even suspect. You need to remember this fact, girls, and stick up for your brother."
"OH! I almost forgot!" Ankizy suddenly cried out. "We still need to give him a name. And I," she said in a tone of self-importance, "I get to choose the name!" she bellowed out. "His name is going to be..." Ankizy paused for a dramatic effect, "Deartháir!"
Both adult dragons and hatchlings liked the name. They smiled the smile of a dragon and said in perfect unison, as if all four were one beast, "Welcome, Deartháir!" as the little dragon was finally given a moment of peace and started to eat his first meal.
Ok, so I am a total grammer nazi, so I went back to fix the mistakes. If anyone notices any mistakes, please tell me so that I can fix them. Also, that will make it take longer for me to get chapters out.