Hiccup groaned as Toothless nudged him almost desperately and proceeded to push him out of the bed.
"Okay okay, what is it, Toothless?" he asked following Toothless as they crept down the stairs and Toothless nudged open the door.
"Geez, Toothless, what could possibly make you get me up at this time?" he asked walking to the porch when he stopped; open-mouthed. His green eyes went wide and he looked around before kneeling to pick up the white bundle inside the basket.
"Go wake up dad" he told Toothless who raced upstairs, Hiccup sat in a chair to look at the baby inside the white cloth. The baby had a tuft of black hair and a cute face, he opened the blanket for a sec to check and found that it was boy.
"What in the name of Odin" his father's harsh voice sounded grumpy.
"Shh" Hiccup put a finger to his lips.
"We found this little guy on the porch, Toothless came and got me" Hiccup whispered to him.
Stoic the vast frowned "there are no pregnant women in my village, there's only one woman who is and she's hardly 2 months started" he explained.
"So someone came to the village and dropped him off at the chief's door? Why?" Hiccup asked then he went to grab the basket that the baby was in. He found a flap in the basket that carried a scroll; he opened it up and started to read it.
"Believe or do not believe in the words written in this letter but whatever the case may be, please take care of this child. He is a child like no other and is destined for greatness; he is a child of the God Thor but only half god and half human. It is proven by the marks on his back, there are seven of them all representing the same but when the time comes they change.
I bring him to the great island of Berk because I have heard that dragons inhabit it. If the people of the island can handle fire-breathing beasts then I pray that they can help this child control the fire inside this child. On the day of his 13 year of living, he will learn of this power and at first it may hurt him greatly.
I beg of the chief, Stoic the vast and the one of legend they call 'Dragon Conqueror' you do not tell the child before this time comes. Perhaps prepare him, teach him, and make him ready but do not tell him until the right moment. The child's name is Aden, please take care of him" Hiccup finished read.
The two remained silent and Hiccup looked at the child in his arms who was stirring and he opened his eyes slowly. Hiccup gasped, this boy's eyes were like embers of flame but blue and vibrant.
The baby giggled seeing Hiccup and reached out to him with his tiny fingers; Hiccup pulled the blanket back to glance at the boy's back. There were seven strike emblems; one was the biggest and in the middle and the others all the same size. Hiccup had no idea how Bork the bold had gotten the idea for the emblems but it couldn't be a coincidence.
Aden had it on his back "we're keeping him, right?" Hiccup asked his father while smiling when Aden smiled with his gums almost like Toothless.
"Hiccup" Stoic started to say when he looked at Aden and his face softened.
"There are gonna be questions" Stoic reminded his son.
"I know we'll hold a meeting and tell the villagers" Hiccup replied.
"Hiccup, a baby is huge responsibility" Stoic told him. "I think I'll do A LOT better than you ever did" Hiccup told him glaring.
Stoic frowned sadly "I know Hiccup and I'll never make that mistake again, I should've accepted you for you instead of wanting you to be someone else" he told him.
Hiccup dropped his glare "please, dad, we can't just pass Aden on to someone who won't understand" he pleaded.
Stoic sighed "fine, but this means you're his guardian, full responsibility" he told him, Hiccup nodded and gestured for Toothless to approach. Hiccup expected Aden to look scared or cry but Aden just laugh and touched Toothless snout lightly. Toothless stood perfectly still and tame tempered as the baby rubbed his snout.
"Good job, buddy" Hiccup told Toothless who curled around the chair feeling a bond already with the baby. Aden soon fell asleep again and Hiccup attempted to stay awake until he finally the laid against Toothless with Aden safe in his arms.
The three-year old Aden walked outside the house then leaped off the porch and started to walk to Gobber's when something pulled him up by his shirt. "Toothless, down" Aden complained as the dragon rolled its eyes and carried him back to Hiccup who seemed shocked.
"Aden, when did you-" Hiccup stopped then sighed "never mind, thanks Toothless, what did you think you were doin?" Hiccup asked.
Aden rocked on the back of his heels, his big blue eyes looking Hiccup and Astrid "I wanted to go Gobber's, please?" he pleaded.
"Fine, next time: ask and don't go anywhere without Toothless" he reminded him.
Aden smiled with glee "okay, come on Toothless" he said climbing on Toothless back and Toothless carried him off.
Hiccup chuckled leaning back "you just let him go off like that?" Astrid asked.
"Why not? Toothless makes an excellent babysitter, if Aden's misbehaving then Toothless just nudges him to stop or brings him back here if he doesn't cooperate" Hiccup explained.
"You're lucky he's such a good mother" Astrid commented smirking.
"Ha Ha, hilarious" Hiccup droned sarcastically.
Astrid leans back smiling "ignoring that tone, it's also a good thing Aden's such a cutie otherwise he wouldn't be tolerated for his trouble making tendencies."
"It that all it takes in this place? Be cute and get away with murder? Well, Astrid, now I get it completely" he teased her and she punched his arm.
"That better be a compliment" she threatened and he leaned in to meet her eyes close up.
"It sort of was" he admitted and she shook her head and kissed him.
"What are you doing Hiccup?" Astrid and Hiccup separated blushing and faced Aden who stood with Toothless who had a knowing look on.
"Uh… uh, nothing Aden, Toothless" he pointed to the house and Aden was carried reluctantly into the house.
"Well, that was embarrassing" Astrid muttered and Hiccup laughed with his face still burning.
Aden launched himself off the rock toward Hiccup, his sword brought down but Hiccup was ready and blocked it. He then turned to swipe at him, Aden jumped back and they circled each other until he made a move to go at him.
Hiccup somersaulted backward, kicking Aden's sword out of his hands before he could roll past him to retrieve it. The sword was at Aden's throat, he breathed hard "do you know what you did?" Hiccup asked as he lowered the sword.
"No" he admitted.
"You focused too much on your sword and not the opponent, not everyone will fight fair in duel. There may be people attacking from all sides, arrows flinging at you, and you can't be bothered by fancy sword tricks" Hiccup explained.
"But when am I ever gonna use this in real life? I'm only 7 and none of the other kids have to do this" Aden asked, his small body plopping on the grass to rest.
Hiccup sat next to him "well, then, none of the other kids will ever be as ready as you if something does happen" Hiccup told him.
"But you grew up in the dragon age, where dragons would attack and steal food and it would be handy to know sword fighting but that doesn't happen anymore" Aden replied.
Hiccup sighed "I know Aden and we changed that but I just have a feeling that teaching you these things. Knowing about different plants, knowing how to iron work and some other things will help you" Hiccup elaborated.
"And you know-"
"We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard" Aden recited and Hiccup laughed ruffling Aden's messy black hair.
"Hiccup" Aden mentioned and Hiccup turned, he hesitated a moment then lowered his shirt to show the marks on his back. "Why do I have these?" he asked him.
Hiccup sighed shaking his head "we don't know, they were there before, birth marks" he explained.
Aden looked disappointed "the kids at school think it's weird" he muttered.
Hiccup grinned at him "nah, they're just jealous because they don't have cool marks like those" he pointed out.
Aden's frown turned into a smile, "thanks Hiccup."
"Aden!" Astrid's yell made Aden roll over groaning and curl up in his bed with blankets "I mean it, Aden, if you don't get down here now then you aren't eating breakfast!" Astrid added. With that, he sprang out of the bed and ran down the stairs.
Aden sat at the table and then starting putting the food on his plate "hungry, are we?" Hiccup asked; he shrugged while chewing food.
"I don't see why not, he already grew out of his boots" Astrid replied.
Aden smiled sheepishly, he had grown pretty well since he was 10 and now that he was nearly 13 he was starting to fill in with muscle. He was about medium size for his age but the exercise, iron working, and sword fighting everyday made him lean. It definitely wasn't long until he'd get some muscle too.
"Well, you better eat all your food because you're gonna need all the energy you can get for where Hiccup's training is going" Astrid told him.
"Yes Astrid" over the years Aden hadn't ever adapted to call them what they truly were but 'Astrid and Hiccup' were the same equivalent as 'mom and dad.'
Stoic was like his grandfather as well and had always been Stoic to him so he didn't think the names mattered. The kids when he was younger always asked why he didn't call Hiccup 'dad' even though he'd been raised by him. He didn't know why but he'd always called Hiccup just Hiccup, it didn't mean that he wasn't close to him.
Astrid had married Hiccup when he was 5 and Aden's life changed a little but he knew Astrid and had already loved her since he was a baby so it didn't mean much difference. Now, Astrid was his keeper as well as Hiccup was, Astrid was stricter but made a great fighting coach too.
No one made the mistake of thinking that Astrid was ever a housewife as everyone in the house did the cleaning. Hiccup was more the one who cooked because Astrid wasn't trusted with a fire and chicken (don't tell her that, though).
"Okay" Aden agreed and then finished his food and ran upstairs to get ready, he put on his boots and put on his black pants. He then put the belts that he wore around his waist that carried pouches that Hiccup had made for him out of the leather. He made them because he said that Aden could carry medicine and dry food.
Aden agreed but he thought that Hiccup was too careful with the belt that held three knives inside, one for throwing, one for cutting food and plants, and one for multipurpose. He'd grown attached to them however because each had come in handy before. He then slipped on his white shirt and then his strap that held his sword and sheath.
He walked downstairs and found that Hiccup was ready too and so was Toothless, Toothless had been around since he was a baby and still hadn't gotten old. Dragons could live for a very long time, some even a hundred years or more.
Toothless was still the fastest dragon on the island and they hadn't found any other night fury's. Aden stroked Toothless' chin and accidentally found his soft spot and he went down in bliss. Hiccup laughed "come on Toothless, we've gotta get to the mountain" Toothless got up and they both headed outside.
Aden climbed on Toothless after Hiccup and they took off at breakneck speed, they took time to dodge the cliffs and do the fancy flying. He held on tight as Hiccup always seemed to forget he was there when on Toothless. "We're gonna land soon, aright?" Hiccup asked and Aden nodded his head and gripped the strap for his sword.
They soared around their destination once for him to get a look at his environment before he was dropped. Hiccup flew close enough for Aden to jump off and he did, he took the fall by bending his legs and rolling to his feet. Hiccup was also on the small cliff before anyone could say Night Fury. He was ready though and kept an eye on everything at once, using his sword as an extension of himself just like he was taught.
Hiccup no longer went at a slow pace like when Aden was 7, he was at his best now and he was close to matching him. Hiccup was the best sword fighter on the island though many would call him small and scrawny he was scary when given a sword.
He was a dangerous opponent because he was resourceful, tricky, unpredictable, and always seemed to have a trick or two in his green vest. There was a reason that Hiccup brought him to different places on Berk, he'd explained it to Aden once.
"I want you to be able to fight no matter what, to use your environment to your advantage, if you're fighting in snow then use it to trip your opponent, if you're on a boat than use the edge to knock him into the water. You need to feel the environment; it's just like what Gobber once explained about battling dragons. Find a weak spot and hide in it, if you find an advantage point then go for it."
Aden was a good match for Hiccup too though because he was quick and knew Hiccup's weak points as well. Hiccup had a prosthetic leg and that would get stuck in sand, snow, and if he was off-balance it was easy to knock him off his feet.
The only problem was that Hiccup knew it too; he was incredible at using seemingly disadvantages to do the exact opposite. Aden had Hiccup against the cliff edge and pressed hard with sword against sword. He then kept at it until he drove past Aden and Aden's strength threw him off the cliff.
He gasped as he gripped the edge, his heart pounded as he looked at the ground; he swung his legs and finally got back on a flat spot. "Good job, Aden" Hiccup told him as he sat down, Aden breathed heavily, height was his biggest weakness. He didn't particularly like heights and that was why Hiccup was bringing him to fight in up high places.
On the back of Toothless it felt like nothing could touch him and he didn't mind a 360 degree dive because Toothless wouldn't drop them. When he was on the face of a cliff with the only thing between his life and certain death was how good of a grip he had on the edge. He closed his eyes and let his heart slow down to a mild pounding.
"Sorry Aden, I know I scared you there" Hiccup told him and Aden nodded.
"I know, it's just really scary" he replied.
"I know Aden, are you okay, I forget that you're still a kid" Hiccup said ruffling his hair.
"I'm turning 13 tomorrow" Aden argued.
"You're still young" Hiccup chuckled then went back into the cave of the cliff to grab Toothless who seemed to sense Aden's slight distress.
Toothless whimpered and nudged Aden who smiled and stroked Toothless' snout as the Night fury purred "ready to go?" Hiccup asked.
"Yep" Aden replied as he got up and Hiccup climbed on Toothless and he got on after him. It was about dinner time when they got back and Astrid seemed to be sleeping on the table with the axe in her hand.
"I'm not sure if that's cute or scary" Aden commented and Hiccup laughed and Aden's grandfather walked up with two plates of chicken and potatoes and other fixings. He took the plate and sat at the table and started to eat.
"Thanks Stoic" Aden said then started to eat quickly, they hadn't had any time for lunch so he was starving.
Hiccup also ate but not as fast as him "Aden, I just want to tell you that tomorrow something's going to happen. I'm not allowed to tell you till tomorrow but it might not be the best day tomorrow" Hiccup explained.
Aden knew the voice that Hiccup was using, it sounded sad and worried "you can't tell me anything?" he asked.
"No, I can't, even if I could I wouldn't know much about it anyway" Hiccup explained.
"Well, whatever happens, we'll help you Aden" Stoic told him.
Aden was starting to get worried, that night it took him a while to get to sleep. Whatever the thing they couldn't tell him must to important otherwise they wouldn't have acted like that. Hiccup has always been very smart and careful if there's something he's not sure about.
If Hiccup didn't know about something than it made Aden very anxious, he eventually got to bed with no idea what would await him in the morning.
Someone gave me a tip so I fixed it, I don't think i'll be able to fix EVERY grammar mistake but as long as you can read it well then it's okay.