Disclaimer, see chapter 1.
He never walked. This made his father proud. Where other kids crawled then walked and finally ran, he simple went from crawling to running. Now at the age of six he knew that nothing on the island of Berk was faster than he, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, or as most called him Hiccup the Quick. At the age of four he could already out run the other kids, at four and half, the boars on the island. Reaching age six he played tag with the wolves, them all being it trying to tag him with their teeth. All of these he considered slow though, and it didn't help that if he found himself trapped he could think his way out.
With his speed, Hiccup was taught the use of a light sword by his mother at the age of three. At first he had been sluggish and absolutely awful. His arm just wouldn't coordinate with how he wanted it to go. It wasn't until he was four and working also has a blacksmith apprentice, his father thought it would toughen him up, that Gobber told him the reason. Valhallarma was having him train during his break at the forge and when Gobber noticed that Hiccup would do all his work with his left arm but then use the sword with his right. For everybody knew that it is called the right hand because it was the 'right' hand to use. He stopped the training and had Hiccup try with his left hand. At first it didn't look like much of an improvement but when thought of in terms of practice it was grand. Hiccup continued to train with his right arm but now used his left as his main.
Now Gobber's apprenticeship was another grand thing for Hiccup. Gobber was more of a father even now the Stoick was. Sure Stoick praised the boy and obviously cared for Hiccup, but he never went past just stuff that could seem like he was talking to any other Viking. Gobber cared for Hiccup and encouraged the boy's skills. Like that of metal-crafting. Two weeks into Hiccup's apprenticeship he had made his own sword. A thing of pure beauty for somebody just starting. Gobber wouldn't have believed it was Hiccup who made it if he wasn't standing right there. After Hiccup made his sword he crafted an axe, mace, and hammer. What really showed the boy's ability at crafting was his making of two bows with matching quivers. Gobber and Val were stunned as both knew Hiccup had no bow-making or leather-working training.
As he made them all them based off his size, they went to kids around his age. None of said kids knew who made the weapons but each one was happy to be handed dangerous pointy objects. It made Hiccup sad that they wouldn't thank him for the weapons. Then he saw Astrid give thanks to Gobber and run off, Gobber explained to him that the kids just didn't know Hiccup made them but where all really thankful. The only thing that threw off his life was he would sometimes be running and feel as if a second presence would be following him. Not as fast as him but able to keep up, but when he would turn around there would be nothing. He also randomly got envious of the twins, and he didn't understand why. Besides that Hiccup was happy and his life was great.
It sounds as if we are going to start on a good point, but that is only to show how bad what has passed really is. For as fast and cunning as Hiccup was, he could not outrun grief. His mother's passing had been a sad one for the six-year-old. She had not fallen in battle, her last battle wasn't even one where she welded a weapon, but a verbal lashing a the village soothsayer, but to despair and worry that nobody understood. It was this that caused the boy who would only ever run, to walk. At first when he was told his mother has dead, the assembly of Vikings thought Hiccup would run out of the room crying. It almost scared them to see him walk, tears falling freely from his face but no sound being made. This was the year Hiccup's life turned upside down.
Even with all Hiccup's swordplay and his speed, he felt completely useless in the face of his mother's death. This held true for Stoick's strength. There was nowhere he could turn to and put his brute strength to cure Valhallarma. Neither did much in the month after her death. Stoick slowly threw himself back into his work and with that missed the decline of his son. Gobber had to force Hiccup back to the forge where the sounds of hammer against metal would drive any thoughts from Hiccup's head. He fixed weapons, made new ones, and invented new contraptions, like the lift and lock up fire towers. Grief and neglect made his father miss such wonders Hiccup made except for their usefulness.
And the inventions that failed where the ones that held Hiccup's name. This made the one thing he wanted really difficult. The love of his father, in more than just a family setting. He was making no headway at it and was even losing ground as his father was becoming more distant even in private settings. Hiccup still practiced in secret with his swordplay, though as he got older he did make a new sword for himself. He also still ran, about the forest around Berk, but it wasn't the same as when he was younger. He would run to escape himself, but never succeeded in doing so. Out running one's self he decide is next to impossible.
With all that goes wrong around him, and all the trouble that followed him. Hiccup came to one conclusion on how to fix it all. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third must kill a dragon. Not just any dragon but one of the deadliest of all. The offspring of Death and Lightning itself, a Nightfury.