Special Thanks to my Beta Reader Fantasia Komix For rewriting and expanding on the scenes within this prologue and making of words flow much better. I do appreciate you making it chapter much better than it was. Thank you again.

-Prologue-

On an island far from here, both literally and in memory, a Dragon Hunter outpost thrived, the faction their renown for the capture and transfer of scaled beasts for hundreds of miles around.

Cages surrounded the main camp, the hunters bombarded with the anguished screams of dragons. They usually brushed this off, for the beasts always quieted down in the end, then the men would get paid for having someone else take the smelly things off their hands.

For many of them, this was a way of life that had been passed down in their lines, from generations of normal Norse folk trying to scrap enough of an income together to feed their families. Others thought of it as a sport or game...most tried to avoid these people as much as possible, but they were the most successful.

On one particular day, the hunters gathered on the docks, their week's catch fearfully quiet as one lone ship drifted menacingly into the harbor. Upon landing, figures on board scrambled to lower the plank. The slam of wood on wood startled some of the trainees, but it was routine.

As was getting paid, of course, but that only happened after the transaction was made. The captain on board the ship turned to his men.

"Alright, we've got a new shipment of dragons!" he impatiently called out. "Transfer them to our cages and prepare to set sail!"

Other than a little grumbling, no one complained about the lack of a break. After all, the Warlord had increased his quota, again. But the pay was good and they had a decent doctor at a reasonable price, so none of the men would even think of leaving the trade before retirement. Well...if it was possible, but they never thought about that too hard.

...A few hours later...

Two Hunters were sent down into the depths of the ship's cargo hold, the seemingly cavernous space lit only by the flickering flames of the torches clutched in their hands. Sweat dripped down their faces, which they would have claimed to have stemmed from the heat hanging in the stifling air, or from the nauseous fumes of the refuse collecting in the cages.

The new recruit clutched his torch tightly, his eyes flitting from side to side nervously. The other relaxed, leaning on of the cages in order to benefit from the relieving cold of the lime-green metal. There was no idle chatter, for neither had anything to say to the other.

Finally, the recruit cleared his throat. "Sir, are you sure it's a wise idea to keep these dragons on a flammable boat in the middle of the ocean?" Upon hearing this, the senior Hunter cracked up. Snorting, he pushed off from the door of the cage and clapped the young man on the back. "Calm down, boy, I know that you're new at this, but by the gods, you can't be that unaware!"

"The devils know they can't breathe fire on this boat while they're in their cages; they'd drown. Asides, they're muzzled. Our job is to get these dragons to the warlord and have them ready for war."

"But why dragons?" The recruit asked angrily, "For generations, we waged war without dragons! Why start now?!"

The other only rolled his eyes. "That was before we knew they could be tamed and used as weapons, kid," he sneered.

"Imagine, just sitting back and letting dragons do the work for us for once. All we'd have to do is 'accept' the gold of the richest nations and impress every woman in the archipelago! Ha, it will be marvelous!"

"But sir, we don't know how to tame them and-Agh!" The recruit yelped, staring at the cage before him in horror. "Sir, this Dragon doesn't have a muzzle! it's not even tied up!" 'Sir' glanced over at the object in question and cracked up. "Oh, that purple one? Leave it be, it's not as aggressive as the other monsters on this ship. Believe it or not, that one came with nary a fuss or fight. In fact, it walked into that cage."

The younger man was stunned, his eyes big as saucers. "Really?!"

"I believe it lost the will to fight," continued the senior officer as though the recruit hadn't interrupted. "So, when we get to the base, we'll give it a reason to fight. If it doesn't want to by then, well…" he trailed off, his dark smile flickering in the torchlight.

Oblivious to the other's change in mood, the other ventured, "Well what, sir?" A fist clobbered his ear in reply. "Ow!" "You are an idiot, you know that, right?" The senior officer started to walk away, silently motioning for the recruit to move around and check the cages.

After a few minutes of patrolling the cages, the two sat down where they started. The recruit hesitated, then remarked to the senior Hunter, "Oh, sir, I never did finish asking you how we'll actually tame the dragons."

"Well, that's a very good question compared to your other ones," he replied. "We're planning a raid on a village on an island called Berk. There are two prizes there that will help our cause. One of them is Hiccup, the chief's son…" He paused and lowered his voice. "And the other his beast, a Night Fury that can control other dragons. If we get at least one of these targets back alive, our plans for world domination will be…well, let's just say that they will be much easier."

"But sir, do you think the rumors are true that the boy's-I'm sorry, the Chief's father-is dead?"

"If that's true, then that makes our job a whole lot easier. And we have the perfect group ready to work with known as the Bog…" The man's voice drifted off as his eyes caught on an irregular shadow that moved right at the edge of the torchlight.

Right behind the pair, a voice called out, confident yet only just loud enough for the Hunters to hear, "Well, this makes things a tad more interesting."

"Who said that?" 'Sir' whipped around, barely missing the recruit as he waved the torch in the voice's general direction. "Who goes there? Show yourself!"

The voice was silent, and a figure stirred in the darkness, the air tense…as though a dragon were on the prowl. Goosebumps crept along the Hunter's arms as he clenched the dark wood of the handle, not any the more confident in its presence. After all, if it were a dragon, he thought to himself despite his training, the torch would be useless.

The voice chuckled as though it-no, he, definitely a he-heard his thoughts right then. Finally, a foot stepped into the light, then another. Human feet.

The figure standing before them was somewhat teenage size and dark as night, his dark eyes gleaming in the flickering flame of the torchlight. The being smirked, his teeth sharp and pearly white. "Oh, just a random person in the background."

As he said this, 'Sir' grabbed the crossbow from the recruit's trembling hands and shot at the stranger. "Bad move, kid!" he growled when the arrow stopped, seemingly embedded in the being's breast.

But he had done so prematurely, for the 'kid' silently moved his hand up as though showcasing it, the arrow poised between his index and middle finger. The fabric over his heart was unblemished.

The recruit yelped. "He caught it?!"

'Sir' began to reload the crossbow to get in another shot, but the being threw the arrow like a dart, splitting the mechanism in two, his smirk ever the more prominent.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he playfully scolded the stunned Hunter.

But then his face grew serious. "I'm in a very good mood; the last thing you want to do is tick me off, mongrel. Because, well, if you do…" he snapped his fingers.

Dragons descended from the darkness and surrounded the Hunters, mouths blazing as hot as the fury in their eyes. But they did not attack, for they were watching the figure intently…as though they were waiting for something.

Again the recruit broke the silence. "But-How?! These Dragons were in their cages, tied up, and dosed with Dragon Root, and he didn't trip the alarm?!"

But the boy shushed him, finger hovering over his mouth condescendingly as though he were talking to a small child. The recruit fell silent. The boy smiled. "Now, they won't…harm you unless you provoke them…or if I give the order. Whichever you choose is all the same to me, but I recommend staying silent, capisce?"

'Sir' only glared at the boy. "You're one of the Dragon Riders, aren't you?"

But the boy furrowed his brow for a moment, then said, "'Dragon Riders'? Now that's an interesting name. So, I assume what you say is true about this place called…Berk, was it?" He sauntered towards them and stopped in front of the senior officer, coldly staring into his eyes.

"If you tell me what I need to know, no harm will come to you or your crew. However, if you don't…" He pointed at the recruit and a Monstrous Nightmare that was eyeing the target lit itself on fire and growled viciously, leaning as far as it could towards him without moving from its spot. The boy did not look away from the Hunter, though the corner of his mouth did twitch. "Well, I'm pretty sure you get the message."

"Now, tell me everything you know about Berk down to its people and its dragons. And give me EXACT coordinates, if you please."