I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. I only own my characters( Isabella, Darmion, Slither) and the plot changes. Anything with this ' ' and is in italics means it's that character's POV thoughts.
Chapter 2 The Dragon Raid; Isabella Finds The First Piece To The Puzzle
Hiccup's POV
'This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have..'
Recap: I opened the door to see what the noise was all about. I saw a red Monstrous Nightmare, flying and ready to fire. I slammed the door shut, keeping most of the flames out. I stared at Isabella and said one word:" Dragons."
'Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues. My name's Hiccup.' My house accidentally got caught on fire for a little bit. I ran outside, dragging Isabella along with me. Luckily, we got out without a scratch. I seemed a bit too happy about the dragon attack, so she looked at me like I was a bit crazy. We kept running when a Viking fell off a dragon and in front of us. We ducked under a piece of wood being carried by some Vikings. I turned around to look at the chaos when I got shoved around. Some Vikings were running from a fire breathing Gronkle.
'Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Parents believe that a hideous name would frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.'
I got pushed down and opened my eyes to a screaming Viking. He said, "Morning!" He jumped off me and Isabella helped me up. I led her down some stairs to a small wooden bridge. We raced up the bridge when I heard some hurtful comments. " What are you doing here?" a male Viking yelled while carrying a barrel. Another, carrying a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right, screamed," Get inside!" "What are you doing out?!" A female Viking yelled, "Get back inside!" I ignored them, grabbed Isabella's arm, and kept running. I pulled her through the crowd and stopped when I saw a Hideous Zippleback, letting its flames out. A big, burly man with a red beard grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me up. I looked down and saw Isabella, staring up at the man and me. Slither was also surprised and looked up.
The man looked at me and yelled in my face," Hiccup! What is he doing...? What are you doing out?! Get inside!" He pushed me away and stared to the sky, searching for any dragons with our livestock. 'That's Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe. They say when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do.'
Third Person's POV
The burly chief saw a Deadly Nadder making off with a sheep, so he threw a wooden cart at the dragon's head, causing it to fall and drop the sheep. He turned to another Viking and asked, "What have we got?"
The Viking replied,"Gronkles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare." A nearby explosion caused the Viking to duck for cover, but Stoick stayed still, even as a flaming piece of wood landed on his right shoulder.
Stoick asked as he cooly brushed the fire away" Any Night Furies?" "None so far," the Viking replied, getting up from the ground."Good," Stoick said. "Hoist the torches," a Viking yelled and tall poles made of wood and wooden bowls with metal cages on the top were set aflame and raised to the sky, keeping the dragons at bay.
Hiccup's POV
I ran into the forge, or blacksmith's shop, with Isabella walking behind me. I took off my fur vest as a Viking with a dirty blonde, braided mustache, who was fixing a heated sword with a hammer attached where his left hand was supposed to be, said," Nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd be carried off." He wiped his sweaty unibrow and in the corner of his eye, noticed Isabella. He invited her in and asked," Who's this young lady?"
I answered while tying a blacksmith's apron around my waist," That's Isabella. And who, me? Be carried off? No, come on. I'm way too muscular for their taste." I lifted a hammer way too big for me onto a shelf with other weapons. "They wouldn't know what to do with all this," I said, gesturing my scrawny arms and body as if I was actually strong. Isabella laughed at my silly joke.
The man changed his hammer hand into a pair of pliers and countered by saying," Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" I opened the counter doors and a Viking handed me some mangled up weapons.
'The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well, littler.'
Isabella tapped my shoulder and asked," Anything I can do to help?" I asked,"Yeah, could you start pumping the fire?" She nodded and found the giant bellow used to heat the fire. I noticed that she had a scrawny body like mine, so she had a hard time. She eventually did it by putting her entire weight on the end. I put the weapons on the heated fire and helped Isabella.
She asked,"Is everyday like this around here?" I answered,"Basically, yes."
Third Person's POV
Stoick was leading the men and when and where to attack. He instructed,"Move to the lower defenses. We'll counterattack with the catapults." The men carried any sheep left and one yelled,"Hurry!" A Monstrous Nightmare set a nearby house on fire and the men quickly avoided it.
Hiccup's POV
'See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.' The Vikings yelled that there was a fire(really, took them that long to figure it out.) This caused the other more Viking-like teens to bring a giant tub of water. "Let's go!" one of them yelled. Every one of them took a bucket, filled it up, and splashed it on the fire.
'Oh, and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Darmion, and...' A dragon set the just doused house aflame and it exploded just as a beautiful blonde girl turned and flipped her hair.'Astrid.' I stared at her as she walked with the other kids. Astrid had blonde hair in a braid and her long bangs held by a bandana. Fishlegs was a bulky boy with blonde hair, and although he seemed intimidating, he was more of a bookworm than a fighter. Snotlout is my cousin and he has black hair, an oversized ego, and always tried to flirt with girls( even though he never actually got one). Tuffnut and Ruffnut were brother and sister and both of them had long,blonde hair, but in different styles. Ruffnut's hair was in a braid that was let down her back and two little braids, one on each side of her head. Tuffnut's was just let down. They really liked destruction and pain. Darmion was a redhead( naturally, he claims) who was rather mysterious, but considered handsome and cool to girls. I didn't trust him, but he was Isabella's nephew, so I trusted him as much as I could. I stared at the group as they walked away.'Oh, their job is so much cooler.' Isabella noticed what I was looking at and waved a hand in front of my face to see whether I'd notice. I didn't, so she smirked and asked," Hey Hiccup, are you staring at your crush again? I thought you learned your lesson from this afternoon." I still didn't hear her and finally came back to reality when Gobber's plier hands picked me up from the back of my shirt(again).
I tried to persuaded him into letting me leave."Oh, come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark," I said with a glint of excitement in my eyes. Gobber ignored it and said while tapping my chest with his fake hand,"Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places." I turned to Isabella and she sheepishly agreed," That sounds like something you'd do." I sarcastically said,"Thanks. I appreciate your support." I looked back to Gobber and pleaded," Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date." Isabella smirked again and asked," Hoping it's with you know who?" I blushed at the thought of me dating Astrid, but Gobber broke that thought by listing the reasons why I couldn't kill a dragon."You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" he said, holding a pair of bolas up, but then having a Viking rip them out of his hands to take down a nearby flying Gronkle.
Isabella's POV
I watched as the Viking threw the bolas and noticed Hiccup heading towards his contraption in the back. I knew what was going to happen next and realized something else. I was standing right in front of its line of fire. I prepared to dodge. "Ok, fine. But, this will throw it for me." Hiccup said while proudly patting the machine. This caused it to open up and accidently fire. I dodged the mislplaned projectile and so did Gobber, but the Viking behind him wasn't as lucky and got bit in the head. Gobber angrily turned to Hiccup and said," See? Now, this right here is what I'm talking about!" Hiccup stuttered and tried to explain,"M-minor calibration issue..." Gobber stopped him from continuing "Don't cha...no, Hiccup! If you ever want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop with all...this," Gobber said, waving his hands all around Hiccup. Hiccup looked at himself and said,"But you just pointed to all of me." I face-palmed myself and asked," So, what you're basically saying is that Hiccup needs to stop being all of himself?" Gobber tapped Hiccup's chest again and said,"See? The lass gets it. Yes, stop being all of you."
Realizing what Gobber really meant, Hiccup went,"Ohhh." Gobber mocked him," Ohh, yeah." "You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much raw Vikingness contained. There will be consequences!" Hiccup said while pointing to the sky, trying to prove a point.'Huh, I remember doing something like that. It was about my chores and before my...death.' I hugged myself a little to comfort me. Unimpressed, Gobber in a monotrone voice answered," I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now." He handed Hiccup a dull sword and Hiccup carried to the rotating grindstone. I just watched as they both worked in silence.
Hiccup's POV
'One day, I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon... is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed. Gronkles are tough. Taking down one of those would defiantly get me a girlfriend. A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status.'
Third Person's POV
The Vikings on top of a giant shed informed their chief," They found the sheep!" Stoick commanded, "Concentrate fire over the lower bank!" The Vikings turned the catapult to aim the dragons. A Viking yelled,"Hurry up! Fire!" They launched a rock and there was an explosion.
Hiccup's POV
'And then, there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.'
Third Person's POV
Stoick was face-to-face with a flaming Monstrous Nightmare. He yelled to the men, "Reload! I'll take care of this." He hit the dragon with his hammer, only causing it to get a little disoriented and even angrier.
Hiccup's POV
The entire village stopped for a while as they heard a strange shriek.'But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one's ever seen. We call it the-' "Night Fury!" Somone cried out, "Get down!" Everyone shielded themselves as a purple fireball hit the watchtower Stoick was on and setting it aflame. "Jump!" Stoick yelled, listening to his own advice. I headed to the counter window and looked at the sky.' This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and...never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first.' I stood up and headed to Gobber. He was busy changing his hand into a battle axe. "Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there. Isabella, watch him." He was about to leave when he turned around and said," Stay. Put. There." I looked at him, as if I was too innocent to do anything wrong. "You know what I mean," he said before letting out a battle call and racing to the chaos.
Isabella's POV
I watched as Gobber left and turned to Hiccup, who was trying to sneak away with his machine. I grabbed his shoulder and asked," And where do you think you're going?" Hiccup answered with sarcasm," Why, I'm just going to get a dragon to kill me. Why?" I smirked and knew what he was really doing. "You're going to try to kill the Night Fury, aren't you? To prove you can be a true Viking. By doing something no one else has done before: killing the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." Hiccup looked at me in awe and asked," How do you know that? I never told you what a Night Fury was." I realized my mistake and covered it by saying," W-well, you don't exactly fit in with the rest of the village, so I guessed that since dragon-killing is a big deal, you'd go for the hardest dragon. Besides, I already knew about the Night Fury. It's pretty well known where I live." It wasn't a complete lie: people from my town love Toothless from the movie. "Okay, well, you want to come with me?" Hiccup asked, seeming a bit suspicious. I answered,"I am supposed to be watching you, so sure. Why not?"We ran through the crowd: Hiccup in front, pushing his machine and me, trying to catch up the too eager Hiccup. Some people saw us and one asked, "Where are you going? Come back here! Hiccup!" Hiccup yelled back as the contraption swerved a bit," Yeah, I know! Be right back!"
Third Person's POV
Some Nadders were terrorizing the sheep in a circle. Stoick threw a net over them and kept their mouths from releasing their fire breath. He yelled," Mind yourselves! The devils still have some juice left in them!"
Isabella's POV
We ran to a grassy cliff where Hiccup set the machine up and there was a moment of silence where we just searched the sky. I heard Hiccup mutter," Come on, give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at." I looked up and hardly noticed something dark moving through the night sky. I said while tapping Hiccup's shoulder," Look over there!" He saw and aimed. The Night Fury(a.k.a Toothless) fired at the watchtower in front of us and Hiccup fired the bolas. Hiccup got thrown back, but I helped him up. We both watched as a figure dived to a dense forest. Hiccup cried," I hit it. Yes, I hit it!" He turned to me and asked," You think anyone else saw that?" I saw a Monstrous Nightmare creep up behind him and pointed," How about him?" Hiccup turned and his shoulders drooped. Hiccup said to the dragon,"Except for you." The Nightmare stared at us. I suggested," This is probably a good time to run and hide." Hiccup agreed," Yeah, probably."
Third Person's POV
Stoick saw as two silhouettes ran down the hill, with a dragon following them. He sighed and yelled back to the men,"Do not let them escape!", before going to save the two screaming kids.
Hiccup's POV
The dragon was still firing at us and we barely dodged them. When we finally got to the torches, Isabella hid near some barrels while I decided to hide behind a torch's base. Big mistake. The dragon shot the torch's base, setting the sides on fire. I was lucky I didn't get hit. I nervously looked to the right to see whether he was there. Isabella yelled," Hiccup! Watch out!" I was about to be eaten when the chief hit the dragon back and they stared at one another. The Nightmare tried shooting him, but realized that he couldn't. Stoick said,"You're all out." The Nightmare instantly became afraid of the man. Stoick let out a scream and started punching the terrified nightmare. The dragon flew away and Stoick turned to the flaming, burned torch.' Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know.' The torch collapsed on a wooden dock, revealing me on the other side. I watched as the wheel of fire rolled away.
I said to the chief," Sorry, dad." I saw the fire burning the net the Nadders were in, letting them escape with our sheep. I watched as multiple dragons were flying away with fish and sheep. I didn't know what to say, other than "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury." This got me a hand dragging me by my shirt. I tried to explain. "It's not like the last few times, dad! I mean, I really, actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there before it..."
Stoick yelled,"Stop!", causing me to shut my mouth. "Just stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!" I tried to make a joke by saying," Uhh, between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" I noticed Isabella, nodding it agreement and some Vikings checking their bellies.
Stoick stated," This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Why can't you follow the simplest of orders?" I said," I can't stop myself, dad. I see a dragon and I have to just kill it, you know? It's who I am, dad." My dad just rubbed his head and said," You're many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house." He went to Gobber and told him, "Make sure he gets there. Take Isabella, too. I have his mess to clean up." Gobber smacked the back of my head and Isabella just followed behind, not knowing what to say. We walked past the other kids. Ruffnut laughed as Tuffnut said," Quite the peformance." Snotlout said,"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped." Isabella told the three of them," Oh, just stop. I've never seen one of you guys try to kill a dragon, or be brave." I said," It's alright, Isabella." I sarcastically said to the other kids,"Thank you, thank you. I was trying." I walked to my house in shame.
Isabella's POV
After Hiccup told me it was fine, I calmed down a bit and just quietly followed him. Snotlout tried to get my attention, but I just scoffed as Slither( yeah, you were probably wondering throughout this chapter where she was) hissed at him. He just cowarded away. I noticed Astrid looking a bit sad, and I knew she has pity for Hiccup. Darmion looked over and I gave him a signal that we would talk tonight in a code we made up. He gave one back saying okay. I caught up to Gobber and Hiccup, and heard Hiccup say," I really did hit one." Gobber said, not believing him," Sure, Hiccup." "Gobber, I was there. He did hit one," I said, trying to help Hiccup convince Gobber. Gobber still didn't believe it.
Hiccup said,"He never listens." Gobber replied," It runs in the family." Hiccup said," And, when he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." He stopped in front of the door and did his best to imitate his dad's Scottish accent. I have to admit: it was pretty good. "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side. This, here, this is a talking fishbone." Gobber tried to cheer him up by saying," Now, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like; it's what's inside that he can't stand." We both just stared at him. I looked at him and asked,"Was that supposed to help him?" Hiccup just sarcastically answered," Thank you for summing that up." He was about to head inside when Gobber explained," Look, the point is stop trying so hard to be something you're not." Hiccup opened the door, let me in, and stepped inside. "I just want to be one of you guys," he said before shutting the door on Gobber. When we were alone inside, I noticed a family portrait hanging. It was of Hiccup and his parents. I told him,"You guys look so happy. What happened to all that?" Hiccup stared at the portrait and said," Me, I became Myself and now my dad hates me." I knew it was a touchy subject, but I still asked," What happened to your mom?" He just said, "I don't really know. I just woke up one morning and she was gone." "It's okay, I understand how hard it is to lose a mom. My mom died awhile ago, too," I said, placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and looked at the picture. I noticed that Hiccup's mom had a snake-like creature on her neck. The only difference was that it had wings.I pointed out the animal and asked,"What's that?"
Hiccup said," Oh, my mom's pet. She found it while hiking and found out there was only one of its kind. So, she took care of it, but it disappeared along with her. Why?" I looked at Slither and said,"No reason.", as looked at the picture again. We then left the house to search for the dragon by going through the back door. I ran with so many questions in my head: 'how come Slither looked exactly like Hiccup's mom's pet? It must be a coincidence. Right?'
Third Person's POV
If only Isabella realized someone watched her. The figure, hidden in the treetops, grinned an evil smile. 'So, the young one is actually thinking about her reason here. How interesting, but by the time she completes the puzzle, it'll be too late.'
Author's Note
I know this was a long chapter, but I wanted to get the details right. Please review and find out in the next chapter what happens to Isabella.
