This chapter will be told in the firs person by Gen, explaining what had happened to her village, to Hiccup.
Chapter IV
Haumour was once a beautiful, thriving kingdom. Everyone knew each other. The birth of each child was like a holiday. There was a castle, with a king that all the Haumourians loved and looked up too. He even had a little princess about my age. She roam our village, and play with us children, despite her father's wishes. She really was a great friend, to us all. My father was a soldier of the king's army. He would come home at night with the most amazing stories about his day at the castle. He would take Ruth and I every night after supper, and teach us everything he knew about combat. Once saved me from the school bully. My mother was a teacher. A respectable one too. She loved the children as much as she did Ruth and I. She had the most beautiful voice. She would sing all the time. When I was mad, when I cried, when I was scared, before I'd go to bed.
It happened when I was eight-years old, which made Ruth fourteen. I remember I was lying in bed waiting for Papa, who had been working late at the castle. There was a terrible explosion outside of the house, causing the house to tremble. At first I thought it was dragons attacking. Ruth and I jumped out of our beds and had taken refuge under the table together. Outside, we heard people screaming, crying. The explosions grew louder. Mama came in from outside. She was covered in dirt and soot, and had a large gash on her cheek. "Mama!" Ruth said. "What's happening?!"
"We're under attack!" Mama had answered. "By Vikings! We're leaving, we need to get out of here!" She had grabbed me from under the table, and ran outside. Ruth followed. It was a horrible sight, something you would only expect to see in a nightmare. The night was alit by fire, burn my neighbors' houses, people were running in every direction. "Where's Papa?!" Ruth asked as we ran. "Papa's gone!" Mama replied. "The Vikings have infiltrated the castle! The King is dead!" I was terrified. Behind us, I saw a group of men running through the village, cutting down everyone in their path. As we came to the forest, Mama set me down. "Now." She said. "I want you girls to stay in here. Run without looking back. Don't come back for anything!" She hugged us both. She had tears in her eyes. "Ruth? I want you to look after your sister, she is your responsibility. Do you understand"
"Yes, Mama." Said Ruth, her eyes filled with tears too. "But, Mama!" I said. "What about you?" Mama smiled. "I will come for you when this is over." She said. "But I don't want you to step one TOE out of this forest until I do! You understand? I will come for you!" The screaming was getting louder. The Vikings were getting closer. "Go! GO!" Mama ran away, leading the invaders in the opposite direction. "Come on, Gen!" Said Ruth, taking my hand. We ran through the trees together, pushing branches out of out path, not daring to look back. The further we ran in through the forest, the darker it got, the quieter it became. "Ruth! Slow down!" Said after a long time, pulling my hand out of Ruth's. "I can't run anymore!"
"It's not safe to stop yet, Gen!" Said Ruth. "We need to keep-" But she fell silent when she heard a rustle in the trees. At first, we thought it was the Vikings, but, out of the trees, a Nightfury came into view. We both shrieked, causing the dragon to snarl at us. Ruth used herself to shield me from him. He watched us for a moment, waiting for he right moment to attack. I started crying. The Nightfury came closer, sniffing curiously, realizing that we were harmless, he stuck out his tongue, and liked Ruth. "Ugh!" She said, wiping her face. I stood up. The dragon and I exchanged looks for a moment, then I slowly walked forward. "Gen, don't!" Said Ruth in a sharp whisper. I ignored her. I Extended my hand to the Nightfury. He snarled again. "Over here!" Came a voice from behind. "I think I heard something!" I saw a light, which revealed three of the Vikings. "Well well well." Said one of them when they saw Ruth and I. "Looks like we got ourselves a couple of run-aways!" He had pulled out a knife, preparing to kill us, when the Nightfury gave a roar of rage and ran at the Vikings. Ruth and I dropped to the ground and covered our were shouts of pain, terrifying sounds from the Nightfury, then it was quiet again. When Ruth and I finally had the courage to look up, We saw all three Vikings dead and blood-splattered, and the Nightfury watching us. "He- he saved us." I said quietly, getting to my feet. "Yeah right." Said Ruth. "He was just defending he territory. "Pff! Then why didn't he kill us too?" I argued. I then extended my hand out to him again. This time, he allowed me to pet his nose. I smiled. "The whole village is being destroyed, and you're making friends with a dragon?" Said Ruth.
After that, the three of remained in the forest for three weeks, waiting for Mama. The Night fury would check on us every few days, bring us food. "Thank you, Titan." I said one day, excepting some fish from him. He smiled toothlessly at me. "Titan." Said Ruth with Raised eyebrows, cooking he own fish in ther fire that Titan had made for us. "Well, yeah." I said, scratching Titan on the checks. Ruth rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's all we need right now." She said. "Look, Gen, I've been meaning to talk to you."
"About what?" I said. Ruth took a deep breath. "I think it's time we go back."
"Go back?" I repeated. "But, Mama said that she'd"
"I know what Mama said! It's been three weeks. I'm sure the danger has passed by now. We're going back."
But when we got there, the village was completely destroyed, and we found the other villagers dead. We never did find Mama's body. We still don't know to this day what happened to her. Though I insisted that we leave, Rut wanted to stay in the village, leaving it exactly as is, in remembrance. We took the bodies and burned them. I kept Titan with me over the years against Ruth's wishes, but only a couple of years ago, we found Razor caught in one of my snares that I had set for food. Ruth released him, nursed him back to health, and has kept him as a hunting dragon. Since then, it has been the way that you had found it.
I am sorry. I am not good at telling stories in the first-person. Neither at origin stories. But I hope some questions are answered. See ya soon!