6 years later...
Little Hiccup woke up earlier than the earliest Viking today. And for a reason. Today his dad was going to start teaching him how to be a chief. Hiccup had been waiting for this day since he was a little baby Viking. He eagerly got out of bed, dressed himself in his usual clothes, and ran downstairs and to his parents' bedroom. There, he opened the door and called out,
"Dad! Daad! Come on, Dad, we gotta go. Wake up!" He got no response. Impatient, Hiccup pulled back the sheets of the bed and started bouncing on the bed. As he bounced, he kept calling, "Dad! Daad! Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad..." While Hiccup was bouncing noisily, Valhallarama groaned to her husband,
"Your son...is awake." Stoick did nothing, except to groan back, "Before sunr'se, he's your son." Hiccup, seeing that his father was now awake, jumped off the bed and started pulling on Stoick's beefy right arm to try and drag him out of bed. "Dad? Daad! Come on, Dad!" Seeing as how the arm-pulling had no effect, Hiccup tried to drag Stoick's ear. "Daa...WHOA!" he cried as he accidentally let go from pulling Stoick's ear and fell onto the ground. Stoick lifted his head and rubbed his ear. The child was small, but he sure was strong. Hiccup got off the floor and, seeing that Stoick has at least lifted his head, whined at him, "You promised." Seeing his son's impatience, Stoick sighed and replied, "All r'ght, all r'ght. I'm up, I'm up." Hiccup celebrated with a "Woohoo!" and dashed out of the room, his groggy parents dragging behind him.
After breakfast, Stoick and little Hiccup left the house, while Valhallarama looked on with a loving look before turning back to her duties. Soon, Stoick and his son were standing on one of the highest mountains that vikings could climb (and still live to tell the tale). This mountain, known as Thor's Fjell, was a majestic mountain, and because of its majesty, it was named after their great god Thor. Stoick said to his son, in a teaching kind of manner,
"Look Hiccup. Everyth'ng that Sól's Chariot touches is Berk." Hiccup, amazed, only replied with an awed, "Wow." Stoick only smiled at his son's awe and continued, "A Chief's time as rul'r rises and falls like the great Goddess' chariot. One day, Hiccup, the sun will set on my t'me here, and will rise with you as the new Chief." Hiccup only turned away from his awe for a moment as he looked up to his father (literally!) and asked, "And this will all be mine?" Stoick nodded and replied, "Everyth'ng." Hiccup mouthed the words that Stoick had said as he turned back to his awe,
"Everything Sól's Chariot touches." Then, his awe completely disappears as he asks, "What about that shadowy place?" Indeed, off the northern horizon, there was a place that seemed to shy away from the sun's powerful light. Stoick suddenly became firm and told his son, "That's beyond our bord'rs. You must nev'r go there, Hiccup." Hiccup looked dissapointed as he whined, "But I thought a Chief could do whatever he wants." Stoick only replied, "Oh, there's more to being Chief than...gett'ng your way all the time." Then, he started to walk back down the mountain. Hiccup stared after his father and asked in awe, "There's more?" Hiccup caught up to Stoick as Stoick chuckled and replied, "Hiccup..."
After they were down from the mountain, Stoick explained, "Everyth'ng you see lives together in a frag'le balance. As Chief, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures...from the tiny ants to the mighty dragons." Hiccup, confused, asked his father, "But, Dad, don't we kill dragons?" Stoick smiled. The child was not only strong, but bright. He replied, "Yes, Hiccup, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies eventually become food for the dragons. And the dragons eat the food. And so we are all connected in the gift that is Life." Hiccup, now understanding, heard a scuttling noise behind him and looked. It was Gobber the Belch. Gobber caught up to the Chief and son and said,
"Morn'ng, Stoick." Stoick nodded and replied, "Good morn'ng Gobber." Gobber straightened up, belched, and said, "Check'ng in with the morn'ng report." Stoick replied, "Fire away." Gobber again belched and said, "Yes, well, a little Blood Eagle told me that some torturous thieves are mysteriously kidnapping, torturing, and killing Vikings..." As Gobber continued his report, Stoick was uninterested and noticed that his son was trying to kill a little grasshopper. He asked Hiccup, "What are you do'ng, son?" Hiccup, dissapointed that he didn't get the grasshopper, replied, "Hunting." Stoick replied in a whisper, "Let a pro show you how it's done." Gobber, not noticing any of this, is still continuing his report, "The Berserkers are go'ng berserk over this. I told the Berserkers to forget about it, but of course..." Stoick quickly interrupted by asking, "Gobber, would you turn around?" Gobber, being the dutiful Viking, immediately replied, "Yes, sir." He turned around and then kept going. "The other Vikings are, of course, very stubborn about it, but as I always said..." Stoick whispered to his son, "Stay low to the ground." Gobber finally finished his report when he said, "We are either Vikings or pawns of men."* Hiccup, getting excited, whispered back, "Okay, low to the ground, right...yeah..." Gobber finally noticed that something wasn't quite right and asked, "What's go'ng on?" Stoick simply replied, "A hunt'ng lesson." Gobber nodded and replied, "Oh very good. Hunt'ng." Finally, Gobber realized what was going on and cried, "Hunt'ng? Oh no, sir, you can't be serious..." Stoick only motioned for Gobber to turn back around. Gobber sighed and commented, "This is so embarass'ng." Stoick, now back to Hiccup, whispered to him, "Try not to make a sound." Gobber, now worried, asked, "What are you telling 'im, Stoick?" He looked back around to see that both Vikings have seemingly dissappeared. "Stoick? Hiccup?"
It wasn't long before Hiccup did a full pounce from behind Gobber and letting out a full Viking child's roar, giving Gobber a good stun before falling to the ground. Stoick stood up from his hiding place and laughed. "Ha ha ha ha ha. Very good. Ha ha ha..." Gobber, finally getting over his stun, sat up as a Viking ran up to him. "Gobber," said the Viking. Exasperated, Gobber stood up and asked, "Yes?" The Viking only claimed, "Sir. News from the village."
Meanwhile, Stoick was helping Hiccup with his hunting skills. "Now, this time..." Stoick began, but then he was cut off by Gobber. "Stoick!" Both turned to see Gobber, looking pretty panicky. "Dragons! On the ports!" Immediately, Stoick responded, "Gobber, take Hiccup home." Hiccup, pleading, ran up to Stoick and asked, "Oh, Dad, can't I come?" Stoick shook his head and only said, "No, son," before running off into the direction of the ports. Dissapointed, Hiccup kicked a small rock and complained, "I never get to go anywhere." Gobber only put his arm around Hiccup and, while guiding him home, answered, "Oh little Hiccup. One day you will be Chief; then you can chase those slobber'ng, mangy, and stupid poachers from Sól's rise to Sól's set."
A/N:
Okay, I can so imagine Hiccup waking up his parents like that when Valhallarama was alive, and of course that changed when she died (in the movie, not in this story!)...anyway, in case you don't know, that quote with the asterisk: "We are either kings or pawns of men," is a quote by Napoleon Bonaparte. Part 3 will be coming up soon! Until then!
~storyteller221 :)