Thank you all so much for the many wonderful ideas! I have no clue how many I will work out in the end, but at least I have a few things to work with and keep me busy for a while.
The first idea I decided to work out is from Criminalminds01453. It's about Hiccup's very first dragon raid, at least the first he can remember. He's about three, four years old in this story. I don't really have experience with writing chidren this young, so I hope I did okay. Also, the computer I'm writing on doesn't like me very much, so I apologize for any mistakes I made because this keyboard is just... well... weird.
Enjoy!
Terrors in the Dark
Stoick shot up when he heard a shriek come from outside and silently cursed under his breath. Another dragon raid. As quickly as he could he got dressed and he was about to leave the house,his axe in his hand, when he heard a small voice behind him and he turned around. His three-year-old son Hiccup was standing behind him, holding his blanket, his face wet from tears.
"Daddy, I'm scared."
Stoick sighed and set the axe aside for a moment while he picked Hiccup from the ground, the child screaming when a dragon roared just outside the house. He buried his face in his fathers beard, crying even harder. Stoick gently rocked him, trying to hush him and keep the dragons from finding him.
"Be still Hiccup, it will be alright, I promise. Listen, I need you to stay inside the house okay? Stay inside and keep quiet. I will be back, I promise."
He didn't want to leave his fathers strong and comforting arms, but the man set him down and took the axe again. When the door opened, he caught a glimpse of fire coming down from the sky, and a large black shape shot through the night. Something cried out so loudly that he stumbled back, his small hands covering his ears, then the door closed and he was alone.
Fear gripped his heart and he sobbed even harder. He knew of dragons, he had heard tales from the day he was born, his father aways telling him how they were dangerous creatures that always killed the people they saw. He had also been told that the dragons would come to Berk frequently, but this was the first raid he could remember.
Something shook the house and dust from the beams above him rained down and stung in his eyes. It mingled with the tears on his cheeks and clung to his clothes. He ran towards his room, stumbling on the stairs when his little legs couldn't keep up with him. He hid under the desk, his blanket all around him, the little nadder his mother had made for him before she was taken in his hands.
He nearly screamed when the head of a dragon suddenly appeared in front of his window, it's yellow eyes glowing in the light of the rising sun. The dragon hissed, a forked tongue tasting the air, and Hiccup sat frozen under his desk, wrapped in his blanket. The dragon set a claw on the window sill and tore at the wall, trying to get inside.
He had smelled the child.
Hiccup screamed when the dragon tore the lower bit of the wall away and opened it's mouth. He slipped past the dragon, one of the beasts claws snagging on his blanket, but he didn't even realize he lost it. In a blind panic he ran downstairs, falling the last few steps when he tripped. The dragon roared angrily and he heard the beast scratch at the walls, trying to break through the wood. Hiccup ran to the door, but he was too small to reach the doorknob, so he hid under the table again, tears streaming down his face as he held the little nadder with all his strength. He was so scared while he heard the dragon growling outside, still trying to bring down the walls. He could see red and orange flashes through the creaks in the wood, sometimes blocked out by the black shadow of the dragon.
The dragon forced it's way into the house through the door, the hinges bending and the wood shattering when the might of the beast crushed it. Hiccup screamed as the dragon, a small Monstrous Nightmare, clawed at the table, trying to push it's way into the house.
Somehow Hiccup managed to slip past the dragon and out of the house. He was crying so hard he didn't even see where he was going, so he blindy ran in the direction of the forge. He didn't even check to see if the dragon was following him or not, he could hear the howling of the beast and he was terrified, so he just ran.
Fire exploded next to him, and he screamed as he crawled under a cart, sobbing into the nadder he was still clenching in his hands. He could see the vikings run around, waving axes and swords as the dragons tried their best to take the lifestock.
Even though he was still scared and the fight was still raging on around him, he felt relatively safe under the cart. It was laying in the shadows, hidden from sight and it also hid him from sight. His sobs died a little as he watched the men fight the beasts, and somewhere he found the dragons mighty interesting. They were so big and fierce. Of course, they were deadly and scary too, but he admired them for their strength.
He heard a soft croon behind him and turned around as fast as he could. He was staring straight into two green eyes, set in a black face, hardly visible in the dark. His eyes grew wide with fear as he realized what he was face to face with.
It was a dragon.
A small, all black dragon hidden by the night. The creature was pressed low on the ground, staring at him with big round eyes. All he could do was stare back, frozen. The dragon crooned again and inched closer, his nose wrinkling as he sniffed the human child on the ground before him.
Hiccup covered his head with his arms, deadly afraid that he was going to die now, that he would feel the dragon's sharp teeth tear him apart, but none of that happened. He heard that croon again and peeked at the dragon before him. The dragon was eyeing him with curiousity and he sat up a little. The movement spoked the black creature and he hissed, crawling backwards. Hiccup froze and so did the dragon.
The intense stare between dragon and child seemed to last for hours, while in truth it was mere minutes, then a loud roar filled the air an the dragon perked up. It spread it wings and flew away without looking at the child again. Hiccup crawled up, watching the dragons go. He was no longer afraid of them, not tonight.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Stoick sighed as he ran a hand through his beard. The dragons had left, with half of the lifestock and leaving almost every house in the village in flames. He slowly walked up the steps towards his own house, the ae slung over his shoulder. He was so tired he didn't see the broken door and the clawmarks all over the wood until he was already inside and walked into the table. He froze when he saw the damage the dragon had done in his search for the child, the table and chairs thrown all over the place, clawmarks covering the walls. His eyes shot up to the loft, to Hiccup's room.
"Hiccup..." he whispered before he ran up the stairs, terror lighting up in his heart, "Hiccup!"
The first thing he saw when he opened the door, was the torn up blanket on the floor. Then his eyes drifted to the window and the hole the dragon had torn in the wall to get in.
"No... Hiccup..."
He stumbled forward, taking the blanket from the ground. The dragon's claws had ripped the fabric to shreds. If Hiccup had been in here...
No. If Hiccup had been injured, there would be blood. He didn't see any. That didn't mean the worry and fear he felt were gone. He still had no idea where his son was.
He ran downstairs again, still holding the torn up blanket. He rushed outside, staring at the village for a second. The flames shone orange against the brightening sky, and he could hear the shouts of the vikings running around with buckets of water, trying to get the fire under control.
The first place he went to was the forge. If Hiccup had fled the house, there was a very good chance that he would have gone to the forge. He always likes hanging around "uncle Gobber", and he had practically claimed the back room as his play room, so he might have gone there.
But the back room as empty and there was no sign of a small 3-year-old. He ran out of the forge, running into Gobber who was carrying arms full of weapons that needed to be repaired.
"Gobber! Have you seen Hiccup?"
"No I haven't. Why, something wrong?"
But Stoick wasn't listening anymore. There was only one thing on his mind at the moment, and that was to find Hiccup. Anything could have happened to a toddler in a dragon raid, and none of those things were things he wanted to think of.
"Hiccup? Hiccup! Son! Where are you?!"
Frabtically, he searched the city. But no matter where he looked, he couldn't find Hiccup. He was very close to a nervous breakdown, when he hear a small voice.
"Daddy?"
He spun around, his heart jumping up when he saw Hiccup standing behind him. The child was dirty, covered in ash and dust, but he appeared to be unharmed. He breathed a sigh of relief and bent down to lift his son from the ground, cradling the boy in his arms.
"Hiccup, where were you! I was afraid you had been hurt!"
"I'm sorry daddy. But the dragon scared me."
"I know Hiccup, I know. But he's gone now, you're all save."
"I saw a dragon! He was staring at me."
Stoick took a deep breath. Hiccup seemed to take a lot of pride in seeing a dragon stare at him, but it made his fatherly heart feel uneasy. Knowing that his son had been that close to a dragon had him scared for the life of the child.
While the other vikings continued to put out the fire, Stoick caried Hiccup back to the house, the child talking non-stop about the dragon that he had seen. His father hardly registered his words as he heated up some water to clean the dirt from his face and get him in some clean clothes. He was happy to see his son alive.
Since the outer wall of Hiccup's room was pretty much destroyed, he put him to sleep in his own bed, gently tucking him in. Hiccup was protesting, but he was so worn out from the events of the night that he fell asleep within minutes. Stoick stayed a little longer, just to be sure that Hiccup was really asleep before he left to help with rebuilding the village, putting out the last few flames, getting the remaining lifestock back in the pens... it would be a long day.
At the door he looked back. Hiccup would sleep for a while, he knew he didn't need to worry about that. He was just glad that Hiccup was alright. He may be three, he still found trouble everywhere. Only tonight trouble had found him. In the form of a dragon. A Monstrous Nightmare if he read the clawmarks correctly.
He took a deep breath as soon as he stepped outside. Even though the village was in ruins, most of the houses burned, or at least charred, but at the moment, the day was calm. The sun was slowly rising, there was not a cloud in the sky and birds were singing in the trees.
Smiling he walked down the steps of the house and picked a bucket from the ground on his way to the plaza. Terrors hunted in the night, but the day was free of fear and bright.