Not A Proper Viking Chapter 1, a how to train your dragon fanfic

The Runaway Berkian

One Adventure Will Change Two Worlds

Chapter 1: Not a Proper Viking

"…leaving. We're leaving."

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was not a proper Viking. He was skinny, downright scrawny as the village liked to point out. He wasn't strong, he had no bulging muscles to speak of and based on his stature doubted that he ever would. The other kids his age didn't quite have any either but at least their bodies showed signs of promised muscular growth. He was also short, shorter than any of the other kids his age and even a few of those younger than him.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was a sorry excuse of a Viking and not worthy of the title he held as Heir of Berk.

"Let's pack up."

Hiccup made mistakes. Big mistakes that usually ended in the total destruction of his entire village. Good intentions turned into inventions turned into disaster. Vikings were meant to destroy things, it's what they trained for, what they lived for. But when other Vikings destroyed things, it was with a purpose. They channeled their destructional force into a single motive and put all their energy into completing their task. They destroyed dragons, opposing Viking armies, lifelong enemies, and anything else they felt the need too.

Vikings did not destroy their own home. Or their neighbors' homes. Or the city square. Or the Great Hall. Or anything else Hiccup had ever managed to set on fire.

"Looks like you and me are going on a little vacation…"

But all these things paled in comparison to the most unviking like thing he had ever managed to do.

Hiccup, scrawny little untalented Hiccup, had managed to befriend a dragon. The sworn enemy of all Vikings everywhere, and he managed to make one his best friend. And to top it all off this wasn't just any dragon. No this was the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. The Nightfury.

Three hundred years of war and no one had ever seen a Nightfury and lived to tell the tale. Hiccup was the first and only to ever shoot one out of the sky. The first to lay his eyes on one. The first to injure one. The first to cut one loose and set it free into the woods. The first to touch one's snout, to feel the scales against his palm. The first to sit on a dragon back and fly through the open blue skies.

Of course, none of this would matter to his village. In their eyes he'd just be the first Viking in history who couldn't kill a dragon. In his father's eyes he'd be nothing but a traitor.

"…forever."

So, Hiccup decided it was time to go.

It was ironic really. He finally had everything he'd ever wanted.

Respect from the village – because he was a liar.

Friends his own age – because he was a cheater.

Pride from his father – because he was a traitor.

Everything he ever wanted was right in front of him and all he had to do was reach out and take it. All he had to do was go into the Killing Arena and complete the final test. All he had to do was kill the Monstrous Nightmare. It was simple really, go into the ring use all the tricks he'd picked up, and when the beast was incapacitated, finish it off.

Any proper Viking would have done it, but Hiccup was not a proper Viking. By using the knowledge he'd gained about dragons to kill one would be a betrayal to his best friend. Everything he knew about dragons he'd learned from Toothless. Not killing the dragon would be a betrayal to his village, his father. Hiccup had to make a choice, his best friend who gave him the courage to be himself, or his village who hated him until he stared this little charade.

Really it wasn't a choice at all.

So, Hiccup did the one thing he was good at, he ran. He'd been running all his life. Running away from bully's and dragons, from his father disappointed stare. He ran towards trouble even though he thought he'd turned the other way. When it came to running Hiccup would consider himself the best. He had always been the fastest, not because he liked it but out of necessity. When they were younger the other kids would chase him around the island and if they ever caught him…well it didn't end well. So, he ran faster, and he kept running until they eventually gave up.

Of course, if running didn't work, he could hide as well. Tuck himself into a hidden corner or up a tree. Someplace the other kids were too big to fit or wouldn't ever think to look. He was nearly as good at hiding as he was at running. He could hide for hours and hours, until the sky had gone dark, and he could slip out of his hiding spot under the cover of night without anyone noticing.

That's how he knew to wait. To camp out in the little backroom in Gobber's forge with his wicker basket filled with everything he'd dared to take with him. When he was certain the night was dark enough and everyone in the village would be asleep in their beds, he left. Sneaking through the forest and down into the cove where Toothless was waiting for him.

"Time to go bud!" He examined the saddle as he spoke, making sure every strap was tight and the tail fin was functional.

"They want me to kill the dragon," now if he could just find a place to strap on this basket so he didn't have to carry it on his back the whole flight, "Gothi picked me! Hiccup the Useless! Hiccup the Scrawny! Hiccup the Screw-up!"

Maybe if he used some rope, he could strap the basket to the back of the saddle behind him. It wouldn't interfere with Toothless's flight pattern, but he'd need to add an extra latch to tie the rope to…

"I mean why not pick Astrid!? She actually wanted to be in those classes!" Maybe he could tie the rope under the saddle instead of adding on a new latch. "If dad had just listened to me, but noooo, 'you will kill dragons, you're my son, the heir of Berk you carry the whole tribe with you, even if your nothing but a walking fish bone.'"

Rope under the saddle out the other side and tied to the basket handle. "Why does he never listen!?" He gave it a shake to test the stability. It would hold for the next few hours. "None of this would've ever happened if he had just listened to me!" Just a temporary fix but he could adjust that later. He pulled the rope tighter. "If he'd just listened, I never would've been in that class to begin with!" He tied the lid closed but it was still looser than he would've liked it. He could make adjustments to it later. "Gothi never would've pick me!" Saddle bags, that's what he needed for this thing. A permanent fix, later. "And everything would've stayed exactly…ex-exactly the same…" he paused handheld fast against the rope, "the same as it was before. Everything would've stayed exactly the same as it was before."

Hiccup dropped to his knees next to Toothless, his forehead coming to rest against the scales on his side. "If my dad had listened to me everything would've stayed exactly the same as it was before." Toothless made a rumbling noise, maybe it was concern, maybe irritation, maybe he was just hungry Hiccup wasn't sure he didn't know him very well yet.

"If he'd listened to me that search part would've gone out looking for you. They would've found you and killed you. Maybe I would've been the village hero than too," he removed his face from the dragon's side and threw his hands in the air, "the hero who shot down the great Nightfury!" He dropped his head back against Toothless's side, "but I still would've been alone, wouldn't I?" Toothless nudged his nose against the side of Hiccup's head, so he was concerned than.

"Astrid's jealous of me now, how would she have reacted if they all knew I had really shot you down? Can you imagine that!? She'd hate me! Hate me even more than she already does," Toothless wriggled around until he had Hiccup turned around laying against his side with Toothless's head in his lap. "The others would idolize me like they do right now, but they wouldn't really wanna be my friends. They'd just want the fanfare that comes with following me around the village now a days."

Hiccup ran his fingers along the top of Toothless's head scratching behind his ear fins. Toothless let out a pleased grumble rubbing his head against Hiccup's hand. "I mean think about it Bud! If he'd listened to me, none of this ever would've happened! I wouldn't have met you; I would've been a hero but still an outcast! It would've been exactly the same, only I wouldn't have you."

Toothless raised his head and licked Hiccup from chin to hair, "oh that's disgusting!" He wiped at his face with the sleeve of his shirt, "that's so not gonna wash out."

Toothless let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh as he pushed himself to his feet. The dragon gave a full body shake before turning to Hiccup and nudging him up with his nose.

"Alright alright I'm up," Hiccup stumbled as he got up, "you're right enough moping. We've gotta get out of here before the village starts to wake up."

The night was still dark, but the moon was beginning to dip down towards the trees and Hiccup knew if they didn't leave soon, they'd lose they're chance, and he'd have to go home or risk someone noticing something. That wasn't an option, if he went home now there would be no other time to sneak away. There would be no way he could avoid killing that Monstrous Nightmare.

For a fleeting moment he thought that maybe he could show the others what the dragons truly were. He could go into that ring, throw his weapon away and show the dragon that he wasn't like the other Vikings. While simultaneously turning his back on his people and betraying them for their sworn enemies. At best he'd be disowned and banished from Berk, at worst he'd be executed in the town square by his father's hand. No, running away was his only choice.

The village would wonder what happened to him. His father would send out search parties. They'd search the forest, maybe they'd find the cove, the dragon scales, the human footprints. They'd probably assume he was carried off just like his mother. He hoped that they would have a funeral for him, a proper Viking funeral for an improper Viking. There was something hellishly ironic about the idea, it made him laugh although there was no humor behind it.

Sure, his father would be sad; Gobber probably would be too. But they'd get over it eventually, move on with their lives. His dad would find a new heir, his older cousin Snotlout was probably better fit for the job as it was. Gobber could find a new apprentice; little Gustav Larson was just about the right age. They'd all be able to move on with their lives, just as Hiccup was moving on with his.

"Alright Bud," he pat Toothless's side before pulling himself onto the saddle, "let's get out of here."

Together they took to the sky. Toothless cut through the night at incredible speeds, and soon Berk was nothing but a speck in the distance. Hiccup didn't look back, only forward at the new islands, new worlds, new dragons, and new adventures that lie before them. He was ready for this, a fresh start. Just him and his dragon and the world.

So no, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was not a proper Viking. He would never be a proper Viking, and he never wanted to be.