Welcome to the story.
This is the second story posted on this account. I used a different method to write this story. It still followed the same method of writing as the first one; plan first, add details and then write the work based on that. However, some restructuring was made, which makes it easier for me to plan them out in detail.
This story is structured as follows: Legend; Story; Excerpt; Author Note; End Note. They are written in that order.
The Legend contains metadata about this story. It has common information, such as speech indicators, chapter timestamp and others. Legend will always be in every chapter as a reminder for readers.
The Story contains the story. This is self-explanatory.
Excerpt has extras and snippets of things that was not in the story, such as news clippings, full letters and whatnot. This helps to remove the clutter from the actual story; where the summary of said excerpts might be explained. It might also be scenes to foreshadow what would happen next. You are free to skip these if you don't want them.
Author Note is self-explanatory. It will be written at the end of the chapter. This will be the only Author Note you see at the top of the page, as this explains to you the structure of the story.
End Note contains the next chapter schedule, and a thanks for reading the chapter. If you took your time reading this Author Note, thank you!
This story is a multi-book story series, posted both in FFN and AO3. In FFN, this story will be in one big, published story. In AO3, it will be separated, and it will be part of the "Charcoal and Toothless" series. This is done like this because both websites have different sets of features available, when it comes to having a series for books.
I'm still trying to figure things out with this, and it's not like there's such thing as CI/CD in fanfiction work anyway. I had to completely poof the whole "starting from Chapter 0" because it messed up with the built-in ones that these story archive websites has. It looked ugly on the first story I ever published. I'm trying a new way to organise the chapters. Hopefully, it's more organised than before.
After one book is finished writing, I will begin to plan and write on the next one. If it wasn't done before then, the story should be considered in hiatus or "finished" until then.
Chapter Number: 1 / 9
Book Number: 1 (Lycanwing)
Planned at: 26 March 2022
Book Summary:
History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes with present. This rang true for inhabitants in Meridian of Misery. Stoick learned that keeping secrets would only hurt himself. Furious learned that future could never be set in stone. Wodensfang desperately grasping their long-forgotten past. Hiccup and Toothless came at the right time in the wrong place. It was not surprising that they played with their fate, as destiny claimed the very dragons they were meant to protect.
Pairing:
- Hiccup (Lycanwing Night Fury) x Toothless (Female)
Warnings:
- AU and OOC book and franchise characters.
- Contains some movie/show canon aspects.
- Book HTTYD aspects and characters.
- Possible psychological horror.
- Female Toothless.
"What is this?" – Normal Speech
'What is this?' – Thought
"What is this?" – Telepathy / Reading / Flashback (Depends on context)
"What is this?" – Dragonese (Dragon speaking)
"What is this?" – Voiceover
Lycanwing – Forbidden Friendship
According to many people, forest was described as a place where there were a lot of trees around. In the forest, they would find various flora and fauna. Trees and other plants were obvious flora that people would find. Birds, rabbits, grasshoppers and various other critters were examples of fauna that they would find in the forest.
It was not peaceful by any means. Contrary to what many people believed, forest was a wild place, where predators eat prey, herbivores eat plants, and other sorts of animals killing other animals to survive. However, it was also where animals breed, grow their children, teach them how to hunt and survive in the wild.
It was how nature works.
It had been like that since the birth of the world itself.
Each and every forest that exist in the world had their own ecosystem – characteristics, animals that lived there, and other assortments that made them unique to each other. Granted, some forests were identical to one another, but one thing they have in common was the fact that there were a lot of trees in it.
In this scene, the forest was somewhat unique to most common forests that people usually encountered. The forest was in the Isle of Berk. The Isle of Berk, as the name suggests, was an island. It was located at the Barbaric Archipelago, which was at the Meridian of Misery. The island had very few sea stacks, but with a lot of interesting landforms, such as rocky arches, cliffs, beaches, waterfalls, large forests and others.
This was where this peculiar forest was located. This was where we set the scene.
What made this forest unique was something common in Barbaric Archipelago. There were various common creatures that exist around the world, such as wolves, deer and other livestock. What made this one unique was something that their inhabitants would consider pests.
These so-called pests were dragons.
They were flying, fire-breathing lizards. These creatures came in various shapes and sizes, with various abilities and capabilities. From the smallest to the most gigantic dragons, fastest to slowest, they were all considered dangers to the inhabitants in the whole region.
In other places outside Meridian of Misery, they were rare and hard to find. In the region, however, they were very much common. It had gotten their name by the fact that only islands existed in the meridian; the rest were open, vast ocean.
The human inhabitants at Meridian of Misery were called Vikings. Various Viking tribes scattered all around the place, living their lives through hunting, fishing and farming. Sometimes, battle and war would break out amongst them. They would clash their swords and axes as they shout their battle-cry for glory and victory, defending their home or pillaging others.
This was considered normal for them.
Occasionally, dragons would come to their village, raiding their food and livestock. As expected, Vikings would fight and kill dragons to defend their land; dragons swoop in to take food and kill Vikings that dared to attack them while raiding.
This was, also, considered normal for them.
Focusing back on the scene, in the large forest called Raven Point at Isle of Berk. There were two humans walking down the forest path. Both these humans were Vikings.
The first human was a 40-year-old male adult. As the name suggested, he was a large man, with stocky frame. He had bright red, messy and tangled beard, white skin and green eyes. He was wearing dark green sleeveless tunic that went from shoulder to knee, metal shoulder pads, chainmail tunics with striped pants and fur boots. On his arms were rounded-spiked braces. On his head was a large horned helmet – a typical signature of a Viking.
This man was known as Stoick the Vast – Chief of Hairy Hooligan tribe.
The second human was a 10-year-old scrawny boy. He was thin, without much strength on his body. He had bell-shaped auburn hair, white skin and dull, green eyes. Notably, he had a small, white scar just under his bottom lip on his chin. The boy was wearing long-sleeve, light-green tunic, pants and fur boots.
This boy was known as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third – son of Stoick the Vast.
The two figures were walking down the forest path. They were simply enjoying their moment together in silence, basking in the green nature of the forest. It may not seem much, however, it was one of the moments where they finally spent their time together.
Stoick the Vast rarely had any free time to spent with his son. As the chief of Hairy Hooligan Tribe – a Viking tribe, he rarely had any free time to spend for himself. There were plenty of things to do, things to manage, Vikings to lead, and others. The village did not manage by itself, after all.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was apprenticed to the village's blacksmith. Unlike most Vikings, who were big and large, Hiccup was short and scrawny. He could not carry axes or swords, as his body did not have the physical strength to do so. However, instead of physical strength, most of his strength comes in his mind. He was able to solve many things that typically took other years to solve. He could remember things simply with a glimpse of his eyes.
Unfortunately, these sets of characteristics were not welcome in his tribe. In the Viking village called Berk, physical strength and brawn were preferred over intelligence. As a result, he was socially outcasted by the village, with occasional bullies harassing him. Thankfully, his father was one to acknowledge his intellect. Unfortunately, his father did not seem to do much about it.
"Hah!" Hiccup exclaimed. The boy was holding a small wooden sword, swinging them erratically. "Hiyah!"
His swings hit the small branches and twigs. His father watched him from behind. He was happy to see his son enjoying himself. Those moments were something that they cherished together, as they did not often have the time to spend together.
Hiccup was about to swing his wooden sword again when he saw something. At the grassy area near the path, there was a small bird. The bird was walking, seemingly limping on the ground. It looked to be injured.
Hiccup brought himself down to see more of the bird. It looked hurt. "Uh…" The boy looked back to his father. "What's wrong with him, dad?"
Stoick stopped right next to his son. He bent down to see what he was looking at. "… he fell from his nest and broke his wings." The man let out a sigh. "Very sad."
The father looked at his son. "But these things happen, son." He firmly spoke. "The only right thing to do is to end its suffering."
Hiccup's eyes widened, scared. Stoick hardened his expression. He did not want his son to see it. "Head down the path." He gestured.
"No dad!" the boy exclaimed. His eyes began to tear. "No!"
Stoick grimaced. "Hiccup…"
"Can't we help him?" Hiccup pleaded, saddened. "He's… little like me." He sniffed. "Can't we help him get better?"
Stoick softened his eyes. Hiccup was crying. His eyes were filled with tears, and he was snivelling. It broke his heart to see his son like that.
Looking down at the bird, Stoick was not sure what to do. It would be easier for them to end its suffering. It looked very young, given how small it was. It was clearly in pain. He did not want to be the one to take care of the bird. It could be something that Hiccup could learn.
Stoick had decided. The man looked at his son. "Fetch me a twig."
"Okay." Hiccup replied as he moved to reach a tree branch.
He grabbed and snapped a small twig with his hand, before going back to his father. Stoick had picked up the bird from the ground. He grabbed the twig from his son and offered the bird to him. "Now hold him."
Hiccup slowly took the bird from him. "Very carefully." Stoick encouraged.
After having the bird on his hand, he looked down at the bird. It was a very small, white bird. The bird was so small, it fit on his palm. He could not bring himself to harm the bird. It was the smallest creature he had ever seen – ignoring bugs, of course.
Stoick pulled a band from his braided hair. He moved to the small bird Hiccup was holding and made a makeshift splint for the bird's broken wing. When that was done, the bird looked at the splint, before resting on the boy's hand. It did not look in pain anymore.
When that was done, the man looked to his son. "It's your responsibility now, son."
"You must feed him, and care for him." Stoick firmly spoke. "Until he's able to fly free and return to the wild."
Hiccup looked down to the injured bird on his hand. He never had any responsibility before – outside of taking care of himself. He had gone and helped Gobber at the forge, but things he did there was never truly his responsibility. Gobber was there to help him. It would be the first time he ever had responsibility for someone.
"Okay dad." Hiccup spoke, not sure what else to say.
Suddenly, something came out from the bush. It was a male Berkian Viking, wearing casual tunic attire and an axe on his back. He saw them there and greeted them. "Chief."
Stoick looked at him. "Yes?"
"Something came up." The Viking briefly looked at Hiccup, before looking at Stoick. "It's important."
The chief grimaced. His duty never truly ends, even when he was at his free time. The man looked at Hiccup. "Head down the path now." He softly spoke.
"Okay." Hiccup muttered, before heading down the path, alone with the injured bird on his hand.
Hiccup aimlessly wandered around the forest. The road had ended in a small clearing, but Hiccup decided to kept walking. The boy was distracted with nursing the bird. It had taken comfort on his hand, as Hiccup took extra care to not disturb the fragile splint.
The boy wandered down to an unfamiliar place. There was a path down there, leading to a place that he was somewhat unfamiliar with. The path was going down, meaning that whatever it was, the place must be lower than the surface. Hiccup was curious to know where it would lead him to. He carefully walked down the path, moving to dodge the rocks that was closing in. There, he saw a beautiful sight.
It was a large area that looked like a small, isolated place. The place was surrounded by tall cliffs, meaning that the only way in was through the path he had come in from. There was a pond there, large and deep enough to swim. There were trees there as well, providing comfort for anyone who wished to protect themselves from the sun.
Hiccup recognised the structure from one of the lessons his father taught him; it was a cove.
However, what was noticeable for the boy was something at the centre of the cove. There was something large, trapped in a net. Hiccup recognised it as a black dragon. Hiccup did not recognise the dragon. It was looking up to him, staring at him with its bright, acidic green eyes.
Hiccup froze on his track. His forest green eyes went wide, staring at the trapped dragon. He had never seen a dragon up close before. Typically, when a dragon raid happened, he were to run to the Great Hall until everything calmed down. It would be the first time he ever come close to a dragon.
The boy walked closer to the trapped dragon. He noted that the bird had snuggled close to him, clearly not comfortable with his decision. He stared up close to the dragon. The acidic green eyes met the forest ones. They were curious as to what to do at that situation.
Hiccup was not sure, but he could see the emotion in its- no, her eyes. She was lonely, scared and afraid. The dragon was not small by any means, but Hiccup could not help but relate to her. Loneliness was something that he was quite familiar with. Fear was also something he was familiar with.
The experience was quite unlike something he had ever seen before.
Staring at the dragon, he saw himself staring back at him.
The boy looked down at the bird on his hand. It was looking up to him, as if asking him what he wanted to do next. Then, he remembered.
"It's your responsibility now."
It was his responsibility. The dragon he found was his responsibility. As much as he wanted to turn back and run, he could not. It was his responsibility. He had begged his father to help the bird, and his father gave him the responsibility to take care of the bird. His father would most likely give him the responsibility to take care of the dragon.
All his life, he was encouraged to kill a dragon when he grew up.
He could not bring himself to harm this one.
Just like how he begged his father to spare the bird.
The boy inspected the net. It was an old dragon trap; designed for simple capture when dragons were flying around the trees. At least, that was what Gobber told him. It was a simple net with four bolas tangled at the end. The design was not used anymore, as it was rare for dragons to fly that low. It was also easy to release.
Hiccup decided. He grabbed one of the ropes near the bola and pulled. The moment he did it, the bolas popped off. The dragon quickly shook out from the net, easily tearing it to shreds.
The sudden movement scared the boy. He took couple step back and stumbled, falling to his bum. "Ah!" He clutched the bird on his chest, protecting it. His other hand was stretched to the dragon, as he looked away and waited for the inevitable. He had seen how aggressive dragons could be. He did not know how to handle this one.
The boy was simply frozen there. He clenched his eyes closed, unwilling to look at the dragon.
He felt something sniffing his hand.
Then, he felt soft scales pressing onto his palm.
The boy slowly opened his eyes. He slowly moved his head to look in front of him. The dragon had her snout pressed onto his outstretched hand. Her eyes were closed. Hiccup could only stare at the dragon, not sure what to make of it.
After some time, the dragon opened her eyes, revealing the green acidic eyes that seem to reflect his own. She backed away from him, revealing the towering figure of dragoness on all her glory.
The dragon was a quadruped creature. Unlike most dragons he had ever seen, this one did not have any notable sharp features, like horns. She had jet black scales on her body, barely reflecting any light from the sky. the dragon had a large pair of wings that resembled a bat, and a long tail. The most notable thing about this dragon was the fact that she had a large, acidic green cat-like eyes.
"Umm…" Hiccup was nervous. This was the first time he had seen a dragon up close before, let alone touching one. "Nice dragon…"
The dragon gave him a half eye lid expression and snorted. She began walking around, as if inspecting the boy that was sitting there. It gave him more view of her notable appearance. There were ear-like appendages on her head, with some shorter appendages that resembled nubs. On her tail were two sets of tail fins – one at the base of her tail and another at the end.
She was a dragon that he had never seen before. Upon seeing more of her appearance, he slowly felt less fearful than before. He was curious about this one. Maybe this one was different than other dragons?
After some time, the dragon stopped right in front of him. She sat down in front of him, as if waiting for him to do something. The dragon looked at him like he was a puzzle to solve.
The boy slowly stood from the ground. He heard a chirp and looked down at the bird in his clutch. The bird was curious to see the docile dangerous predator. It had never seen anything like that before.
"Hrrrr…" The dragon let out a croon and leaned close to him. Her eyes were wide, staring down at the bird on his hand. The tiny bird snuggled close to Hiccup, afraid of the dragon. She sniffed the bird, before slowly moving her head up to look straight to Hiccup.
Hiccup stared at the green acidic eyes. It was hypnotizing. He did not know what the dragon wanted by staring at him like that. It was so strange to be so close to the dragon.
Hiccup blinked.
The dragon blinked.
Hiccup tilted his head.
The dragon copied the movement.
Hiccup blinked once more.
The dragon blinked as well.
Hiccup smiled at her.
At this gesture, the dragon drew back, confused by the expression. That made Hiccup confused as well. Did he do something wrong?
The dragon tilted her head, before spreading her lips, resembling a smile. The boy could only stare as he saw the gummy smile of the dragon. She had no teeth. "Toothless?" Hiccup muttered. "I could've sworn you had…"
The dragon suddenly looked offended. Teeth suddenly appeared and she bared it to him. "-teeth!" Hiccup drew back as he took a step back, afraid of the dragon. That reminded him of the creature in front of him.
As if to showcase what she did, she closed her mouth and opened it again. The teeth was gone.
Hiccup blinked. "H- Huh." His fear dissipated.
Then, the dragon sat in front of him, as if waiting for him to do something.
The boy blinked once more. The dragon had showed him that she had retractable teeth. She had seen the bird on his clutch. It was as if they were showing each other what they could do. Was it something that she wanted from him? What could he show to her?
Suddenly, an idea sprung up in his mind. He looked around and noticed a branch stick not far from there. The boy ran there – careful with the bird – before picking it up. He ran back to the dragon and showed it to her.
The dragon simply blinked.
The boy began drawing something on the sand. He had memorized the appearance of the dragon, thanks to his natural ability to remember things by looking at them once. Hiccup began moving around, drawing the dragon in front of him.
Drawing was a hobby that he had picked up since he was a child. Not many Vikings liked drawing. Bucket the fisherman was the other Viking that could draw, at least, one that he know of. He had learned it from him years ago, when his father left him with Bucket from time to time.
Hiccup added some extra detail of the dragon, before finishing it on the ground. The drawing was accurate, ignoring certain detail about her appearance to make them easier to draw. The boy looked up to the dragon with a smile, happy to know that he had done a great job.
"Hrr?" The dragon was surprised. She stood and circled the drawing, fascinated by it. After some time, she jumped and glide across the cove. The dragon grabbed a tree branch and snapped it off from the tree. Then, the dragon began dragging it, creating trails on the ground.
Hiccup watched as the dragon dragged the tree branch around. She circled around the cove, creating a shape of something. The boy wondered what the dragon was doing. He was still alive so far, not that he was complaining.
Suddenly, Hiccup realised what the dragon was doing.
'She's copying me…' He thought.
After some time, the dragon stopped at the corner. She dropped the tree branch, looking pleased to herself. Hiccup looked around, trying to make sense of the drawing. It was difficult to see it from the ground. It looked like a crude drawing of him.
After some time, Hiccup tried to reach her. He froze when he suddenly heard a growl. She looked angry. "Karr…"
The boy looked down. He noticed that he had almost stepped onto her drawing. He drew back his feet, and that expression was gone from her. That one was easy to guess for him.
Snotlout – his cousin of his age – often destroyed his sand drawing if he ever found him drawing.
It hurt whenever he did it.
Hiccup moved over the drawing. The dragon looked pleased to see him do that. Hiccup looked around, thinking. How could he move around without touching the lines? It was a puzzle for him to solve. The boy moved over one lines and another. His hesitation was soon replaced with confidence, as he finally figured out how to get out from the drawing.
It was like Maces and Talons that he often played with his father.
It took him only few minutes to get out of the drawing. Right after he did, however, he bumped to something behind him. The boy turned around and saw black scales in front of him. He felt hot air blew onto him. Hiccup looked up, staring at the green acidic eyes once more.
The dragon was staring down at him, curious.
Hiccup wondered what kind of dragon she was. He had never seen anything like her before. The dragon was friendly, unlike many other dragons that he had ever seen before. There was also something that made him drawn to her. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before.
"Hi…" Hiccup started. The dragon perked up a bit.
"I'm- I mean, uh-" He was nervous. He was not sure that the dragon could understand him. His father often said that dragons were mindless beasts. Maybe this one was different?
"M- My name is Hiccup." The boy nervously spoke.
The dragon tilted her head. Then, she started warbling, as if laughing at him. "Krrr, hrrr, hrryu…"
The boy stared at her with deadpan expression. Dragon or human, he knew when he was being laughed at. It hurt to know that even dragons laughed at his name.
"M- My dad told me it scares off gnomes and trolls…" Hiccup trailed off, realising something important. It confirmed something that he had suspected.
The dragon understood him.
"What's your name?" Hiccup asked, finally relaxed.
That snapped the dragon from whatever she was doing. She stood from the ground and began walking around, exaggerating her movement while doing so. After some time, she sat down on the ground and gave him a gummy smile.
"… Toothless?" Hiccup tilted her head.
The dragon stared at him for some time, before walking towards him. She stood right in front of him and sat there, staring at him. She looked somewhat annoyed.
"Uh…" Hiccup was not sure what to say. "So… Toothless?"
The dragon stared at him, before rolling her eyes. Then, she nodded her head.
Hiccup could not believe it. The dragon understood him!
"Toothless it is, then." The boy finally concluded.
The dragon – now named Toothless – came really close to his face. Hiccup flinched at the sudden movement. He was not sure what the dragon wanted from him.
That reminded him of something.
Why had he not tried running away before?
"Uh…" Hiccup started, nervous at how close he was with her.
Suddenly, the dragon licked him.
"EW!" Hiccup exclaimed. He very nearly dropped the bird on his hand. It was wet and sudden, and that drenched his body with thick saliva fluid.
"Hrr, krr, hrr!" He heard the same laugh from Toothless. He stared at the dragon with deadpan expression. The boy heard the injured bird chirp, as if amused by the reaction.
Suddenly, Toothless stopped and perked up. She raised her head and looked at the direction of the cove entrance. Seeing her attention there, Hiccup turned around to see who it was. There was nobody there. "What are you-"
He heard Toothless ran away, before flying out from the cove. Hiccup had just turned back to see her leave. He was a bit saddened that Toothless left. He wondered what caused it.
"Hiccup?"
The boy turned around once more. At the cove entrance, there was his father. It was then he realised what had happened.
'Toothless sensed him coming.'
"Hey dad." Hiccup greeted her.
Stoick stretched his body as he looked around. There were a lot of dirt marks on the ground, and an old, torn dragon trap somewhere at the corner. The chief simply assumed that it was left there a long time ago. Ignoring the ropes, he looked around the cove.
"You found a cove." He commented.
"Yeah." Hiccup replied, a bit disappointed about something else. "I guess."
"Hmm." The chief hummed. He approached Hiccup and inspected him. He looked wet with an unknown fluid – presumably water. The bird on his hand was fine, meaning that it was probably water.
"Let's go back." Stoick softly spoke. "You can bring the bird to Gothi."
"Okay."
Deciding that was it, the chief stood from the ground. "Come." Then, he began walking towards the entrance.
Hiccup moved to follow his father. However, he could not help but to look back at where Toothless had flown off to. He wondered if he would ever meet that dragon again. She was friendly to him, so far.
He thought about telling his father about it but decided against it.
It was his responsibility, after all.
Days had passed.
The boy had been taking care of the bird. His father had left the bird to his care. It took most of his time, as he had to take care of the bird on his own. Thankfully, Gobber – the village blacksmith and his surrogate father – had been understanding with the whole situation. He let him have more free time to take care of the bird.
Unfortunately, his father were often busy again at the village. Fortunately, Gothi the village elder was there to help him. She taught him how to take care of the injured bird. While it may not be the most amazing skill a Viking could learn, it was nice to know how to take care of his small, little bird. It helped that the bird seem to be calmer around them.
A loud trill snapped him from his thoughts. Hiccup absentmindedly caressed the small bird on his palm. He was waiting for Gothi to return with medicine.
The boy was inside Gothi's cottage. As expected, most of the place were made of wood. There were shelves on the wall, filled with all assortments of books and decorations. Some furniture, such as tables and chairs were there as well, but nothing was notable about them. The place reminded him of Haddock house, but more pleasant and comfortable.
The bird he cared for was getting stronger. It did not need the splint any longer, but it still could not fly. Not yet. Gothi had told him that its wings were still recovering. It should only take a few days before it could fly into the sky once more.
While Hiccup was looking forward to it, he could not stop thinking about Toothless. It took him a while to realise that she was playing with him. He wondered if it meant that he was friend with the dragon.
Hiccup suddenly heard footsteps. He looked up, staring at the source of the sound. From a doorway came an elderly woman. She looked like she was in her 80s. The woman had a short, scrawny figure with an obvious hunch. She had a thick, wavy grey hair. Her outfit consisted of leather vest with an old belt strapped around it.
"Gothi!" Hiccup greeted her.
The elderly woman – now known as Gothi – smiled at him. She was holding a small bowl of rice. The old woman came to Hiccup and offered the bowl to him.
Hiccup slowly picked up the bowl. The boy moved it closer to the bird. The small white bird tilted its head. It hopped over and perched onto the bowl. Then, it began pecking the rice, eating them.
The boy smiled as he watched the bird eat. The creature looked so peaceful. It was getting stronger as day passed. Hiccup could not wait for the time when it could finally fly once more.
The thought of flying reminded Hiccup of Toothless. He wondered what kind of dragon she was. She had been friendly to him, which was very much different than many other dragons that he had ever seen. Hiccup wondered if he would ever meet her again.
Suddenly, he heard a tap. Hiccup snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the elder. He did not notice her picking up her simple bone staff, and she had tapped her staff onto the ground to get his attention. She gave him a soft smile, before looking down to the floor. The boy looked down to where she was looking at.
On the ground was a writing, written on the dusty wooden floor. Specifically, Gothi's writing.
ARE YOU WELL?
"I'm fine." Hiccup replied. Other than Gobber, Gothi had been the one that often took care of him. The woman was technically his grandmother from his mother side, but Hiccup saw her more as a kind, caring grandmother of his own. She was the one who taught him literacy and many other things.
Ever since the Old Wrinkly – his grandfather from his mother side, and Gothi's husband – died, Gothi had taken over the task as the village elder. Hiccup was too young to know Old Wrinkly, but considering how everyone spoke highly of him, he must've been a great elder. It was said that his death caused her to swear the vow of silence.
The old woman hummed at his answer. She looked down before drawing more text for Hiccup to read. The boy looked down to where she was writing.
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
Hiccup silently sighed. Gothi somehow often knew when he was thinking about something. There were times when he did something wrong and could not ask anyone for help. Gothi was there to listen to him. It helped that Gothi never told anyone about it.
Hiccup wondered if it was a good idea to tell Gothi about Toothless. The black dragon had played with him for some time – something that he realised hours after going back to the village days ago. She never harmed him, not even once. It made her very different than other dragons.
"… it's nothing." Hiccup finally spoke. He did not want to worry Gothi about it.
Toothless was his responsibility, after all.
The elderly woman slowly nodded. She looked at the bowl he was holding. Hiccup turned to look there as well. The bird had emptied the bowl of rice. It was resting on his hand, not making any noise. It seemed content with where it was.
Gothi took the empty bowl from him. Hiccup stood from the chair, careful with the bird on his hand. "Thank you, elder."
The elder nodded. Hiccup approached the exit, before going out from the cottage. Gothi simply watched as he closed the door behind him.
The village of Berk were peaceful.
Mostly. The village was the place where Hairy Hooligan tribe lived. Most of the constructions there were made of wood, with some made of stones, such as the Great Hall or the forge. There were ships at the docks and food at the storehouse. Majority of these structures were built on the rocks. There was a farm for both animals and vegetation, located at the grassy area of the village.
Strange enough, most of the houses were newly made.
That was to be expected, considering the common pests that existed at the archipelago.
Hiccup was walking down the street at Berk. There were Vikings walking around, most of which were ignoring his presence. There were some unhappy glances directed at him, but Hiccup kept on walking. He was used to it.
Gobber was waiting for him. He had to get to the forge.
"Hey, is that…"
Hiccup paused. He looked to the side and saw the least group that he wanted to see.
The group consisted of five people. Those people were roughly of his age. The first one was a petite girl, with mid-back length blonde hair and white skin. She wore a sleeveless shirt in varying shades of steel blue, dark brown skirt and dark blue leggings. Like Hiccup, she wore fur boots. This girl was named Astrid Hofferson.
The second person in the group was a white, burly boy. The most notable feature of this boy was his large-than-average nose. He wore green tunic, grey pants and fur boots. Notably, his tunic was tucked inside his pants, with black leather belt wrapped around him. This boy was named Snotlout Jorgenson.
The third and fourth were twins. They were at least one year younger than the rest. The first twin was male, wearing light pale green tunic, light grey-blue pants and dark brown fur boots. The second twin was female, wearing dark blue tunic, grey-brown mini-skirt and dark blue fur boots. The two individuals looked identical, which was expected, considering they were both twins. They were Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorson.
The last was a large, shy boy named Fishlegs Ingerman. This boy was one year younger than the rest. He was large and husky in appearance, wearing brown furred overall outfit and furred boots. It was strange for the boy to be shy, as he was the largest one in the group.
Seeing the group approach made Hiccup nervous. The boy firmly held the bird, unwilling to let it come to harm.
Upon approaching him, the male twin – Tuffnut – was the first one to speak. "What are you holding?"
"Nothing." Hiccup replied.
"If you're holding nothing, why do you hide your hands?" The female twin – Ruffnut – questioned.
"It's my hand." The scrawny boy responded, unwilling to budge under pressure.
"Come on, cousin." The burly boy – known as Snotlout – spoke. He was affronted. "We can see you holding something."
Hiccup stayed silent. The others never really bothered him much, but there were times where they would approach and took something from him. He did not want them to take the bird from him.
Taking care of the bird was his responsibility, after all.
The scrawny boy felt the bird shift on his hand. It pushed his thumbs and poked its head out. The bird was curious what the ruckus was all about. The small, white bird took one glance at the teens, before quickly burying itself back into his hands.
"That's a bird!" The large boy – Fishlegs – exclaimed.
"Oooh! I've never seen a bird up close before!" Tuffnut loudly whispered to his sister, enthusiastic.
The petite girl – known as Astrid – was curious. "Where did you get the bird?"
"I found him in the woods." Hiccup meekly replied, hiding the bird from them.
"Let me see." Snotlout started, reaching for the bird on his hand.
"No!" Hiccup exclaimed, moving out of his reach.
"Aren't you going to share it with me?" The burly boy looked offended. "I'm your cousin!"
"He's my responsibility."
"Responsibility?" Snotlout repeated, confused. He did not know what it meant.
"That means it's his." Tuffnut supplied.
"Why don't you want to share it with us?" Snotlout affronted. "I'm your cousin! You always share things with us."
Snotlout and his group often took his things for themselves. Hiccup hated them for that.
The only individual that he could tolerate amongst them were Astrid and Fishlegs. This was mainly because they did not bully him like that. At least, not directly. They simply ignored him, which was better than what Snotlout and others were doing.
"You take things from me."
"Because you didn't share it with us."
"I don't want to." Hiccup replied, nervous. "You never returned my stuff."
Suddenly, pair of hands went and grabbed his arms. Looking to the sides, he found the Thorson twins holding him. He was so focused on Snotlout that he did not notice them sneaking behind him.
"Hey!" Hiccup exclaimed, struggling for release. "Let go of me!"
"Snotlout, take the bird!" Tuffnut exclaimed, holding him back. It did not take that much effort for the twins to hold him back, since Hiccup was not exactly physically strong.
The burly boy moved to grab the hands that were holding and protecting the bird. Hiccup did not budge as he tightly covered the bird, protecting it from harm. "Let go!"
"No!" Hiccup shouted.
"Give me the bird!" Snotlout shouted back.
"I'm not giving you the bird!" The scrawny boy shouted back. His eyes started to tear up.
The burly boy raised his fist. He swung and punched Hiccup in the face. "Ah!" That disoriented him, making him open his palms.
Snotlout roughly gripped the bird. "Got it!" He triumphantly exclaimed, holding the bird up with his fist.
The bird let out distressed call. It looked down to see Hiccup collapsed on the ground. The boy had hit the ground hard. It would take some time for Hiccup to recover.
The burly boy smirked at the downed boy. He turned around to face the others. "Come on. Let's play with it."
Snotlout began jogging down to the forest. The other teens followed him. Hiccup could only stare at the leaving form of the group.
"No…" Hiccup whispered. His father had put the bird as his responsibility. He could not fail his responsibility!
He struggled to get up, but eventually mustered enough willpower to do so. The boy stumbled as he walked to follow them. After some time, he ran after them.
Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Astrid and Fishlegs stopped at a forest clearing. It was somewhat close to the village. The five teens moved to a circle, before moving to look at the terrified bird.
"So, what do we do with it?" Tuffnut questioned.
Snotlout opened his hands, releasing the bird. "Come on. Fly!"
However, the bird did not budge. Its wings were still injured, not that they knew about it.
"Uh…" Tuffnut raised his eyebrows, somewhat disappointed. "It's not flying."
"Oh!" Fishlegs started, getting their attention. "It looks young. Maybe it doesn't know how to fly!"
"How do we teach it?"
"Umm…" The large boy fidgeted on his feet. "… I remember parent birds throwing their children to force them learn how to fly."
Tuffnut and Ruffnut looked at each other with sinister expression. "Ohoho, we're throwing things now."
"I knew Hiccup have the best stuff." Ruffnut snickered.
Snotlout grinned. He reared his hands, before throwing the bird up to the sky. "Fly!"
The bird frantically flapped its wings. It flew up, glide around for some time, before crashing down to the ground. Its wings had yet fully recovered and forcing it to fly again had broken its wing. That attempt had destroyed days of effort on recovery. It let out a distressed trill as it crash.
The teens were confused to see it crash. "Why can't it fly?"
"Hmm…" Astrid walked close to it. She bent down to inspect the terrified bird. "… it's injured."
Snotlout scowled. He stormed to the downed bird and screamed at it. "Come on! Fly!"
The bird could only stare at him with fearful expression. The burly boy kept screaming at it. "Fly, you useless bird!"
"Hiccup as a bird." Tuffnut piped in. Ruffnut snickered next to him.
Snotlout growled. "Useless!" He shouted as he reared his leg. With one swing, he kicked the bird. Because of its small body, it was flung across the clearing, before crashing onto a tree. The bird bounced and fell to the ground.
"NO!"
The teen turned around to see Hiccup standing there. He was horrified. The scrawny boy ran to the unmoving bird. "No…"
The teen simply watched as Hiccup crouched on the bird. The small bird was not moving. It looked injured, and there was blood on its feathers. Hiccup could only stare in horror at the sight in front of him. He had arrived on the last second. He saw what happened, and this was the result. There was no other explanation.
The bird was dead.
He had failed his responsibility.
While Hiccup was mourning, the teens simply watched. Astrid watched impassively. Snotlout simply pouted at the sight. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were smirking. Fishlegs were the only one that looked sad.
"Eh…" The burly boy started. "Let's go."
The teens moved to walk away from the place, following Snotlout behind.
Hiccup could only stare at the dead bird. Tears leaked from his eyes. The bird was his responsibility. The bird was meant to survive and live back into the wild. Its wings were about to recover in two days. He was meant to see it fly away, free from everything and out in the wild.
It was his fruits of labour – to see it alive and well once more.
Instead, it was dead.
'No.' Hiccup thought. 'He was killed.'
The thought of Snotlout and the others angered him. How could they be so cruel? He could not understand why they were so cruel to him. He could not understand why they always took away his things from him. Everything was going so well for him. They had to ruin everything for him.
Hiccup heard flaps of wings behind him. He slowly picked up the bird, before turning around to face the newcomer. In front of him was Toothless. The black dragon had come to him. She was curious and distressed to see him crying.
"Toothless…" Hiccup whispered her name.
"Prryu…" Toothless came to him and crooned. She moved to nudge his head, trying to cheer her friend. The dragon suddenly froze. She smelt blood on his hand. She looked down to see what it was, and her eyes widened.
She had only seen the bird once, and she knew that the bird was important to him. She wondered what happened to it.
Seeing her expression, Hiccup shuddered his breath. "He…" He started. "… he was killed."
"Karrr…" Toothless let out a growl.
Hiccup let a tear fell from his eyes. "I couldn't protect him." He whispered. "They took him and ran to the forest and…"
"Prryu, hrrr…" The black dragon warbled, before dry licking his tears. She did not want to see him sad. Hiccup sniffed. He wiped the rest with his sleeve. Looking up to the dragon, he stared at the concerned and saddened expression on her face. The dragon was the only one that ever comforted him like that.
His father sometimes comforted him, but it was rare for him to do so. Gothi had comforted him before, but she simply listened to him and provide advice. Gobber had only ever comforted him with words. From all three of them, they typically left him alone with his woes.
Toothless wanted him to stop crying. She was the first one to show concern over something like this.
For the first time in his life, he felt warmth being so close to the dragon.
The boy sniffed. He came close to her and pressed his head onto her chest. Toothless stilled at the gesture. Then, she slowly wrapped her wings around him. Hiccup could faintly smell fish and smoke. It reminded him of hearth and campfire.
They stayed like that as Hiccup calmed himself down. After he was calmer, he thought about what to do next.
Burying the bird was the next thing to do. However, he did not know the ritual to bury the dead. He had seen funerals before, but he typically watched from afar. Typically, there was a speech involved, and there were audience to watch.
The other type of funeral he knew was Viking in nature. Ship burial was simple to do. It was a tradition for someone of high regard. A lot of people usually watched Viking funeral, but he had seen one where only one person attended the funeral.
It was decided.
Hiccup straightened himself. Toothless folded her wings. She stared at him with curious, but sad expression. The boy took a deep breath. "I… we need to find a place for him."
"Hrr?" Toothless tilted her head. Hiccup looked away, before walking down to the other side of the forest clearing. The black dragon followed him close behind, curious as to what he was going to do. The boy saw a fallen, hollow tree trunk. It was conveniently small, fitting for the dead bird on his hand.
Hiccup slowly picked up the hollow trunk. He carefully placed the bird into it. Looking around, he saw stacks of fallen tree branches near the tree. He grabbed them and used them to plug the sides of the trunk. Once that was done, he looked at the makeshift coffin.
It was light. That was expected.
"Karr." Toothless chirped as she came close to the coffin. She sniffed it, before moving to look at Hiccup.
Seeing the unspoken question, Hiccup answered. "It's a coffin. It's…" He shuddered his breath. "It's where we keep the dead to bury them."
"Kryuu…" The black dragon crooned as her pupils fully dilated. She moved and rubbed her head against his body. "Hrr…"
Hiccup smiled at her display of affection. She was trying to comfort him. "Thank you," He whispered.
Toothless backed up. Hiccup looked down to the makeshift coffin on his hand. "I'm going back to the village." He whispered. "I'm going to get… something that can float."
Hiccup began walking into the forest, heading back where he came from. Toothless stayed there. Once he disappeared into the forest, the black dragon flew up into the air, heading to follow him in the sky from afar.
Hiccup arrived at the forge.
The place was mostly made of stone and concrete, with some wooden walls and rooftops. There was a large window facing the street, with a counter table placed in front of it. The place was strategically placed right in the rocks. Inside the forge, there were various tools and contraptions to create weapons, such as the furnace and anvil.
There was a man inside the forge. This man was named Gobber the Belch. He was a large man, wearing yellow tunic with fur shoulders, striped, grey pants and fur boots. Notably, his left hand was a stump, having a hammer attached to it instead. His leg was also a stump, with a wooden leg to help him walk.
It was already evening when Hiccup arrived. Gobber was busy hammering a sword on the anvil. The man idly noted that Hiccup was there. "Hiccup."
The boy did not respond. That was unusual for him. The man paused his work, before looking back to look at the boy. Hiccup looked sad. He was holding a small tree trunk, walking to the back of the forge. It looked to have something inside. "Ye okay?"
"No." Hiccup softly spoke, before disappearing through the draped doorway.
The man frowned. Hiccup was cheerful this morning. He wondered what happened to ruin his mood.
Moments later, Hiccup came out from the hallway holding a small boat, with the tree trunk inside the boat. He had a bow and an arrow on his back. It was then Gobber realised what might be happening.
"Hiccup." Gobber called out, approaching him.
The boy stopped. Gobber bent and reached for the boy. He looked at him at eye level. "What's wrong?"
"The bird…" Hiccup sniffed. He looked down to the small boat. "Snotlout killed him."
The blacksmith grimaced. That boy had caused a lot of trouble for Hiccup in the past; taking and breaking things that he owned. There was nothing that he could do, seeing that Spitelout was the father of Snotlout. That man was the chief's second-in-command.
Looking down to the objects he was carrying, Gobber wondered what he was going to do with it. However, it was best to leave him be. "… just do what ye need to do."
Hiccup numbly nodded. He turned around and began walking out from the forge.
The man slowly stood from the ground. He watched the boy he had grown fond of with sad expression. After Hiccup left, he looked back to the sword he was working on. It was still on the anvil, waiting for more hammering.
Gobber shrugged. He walked back to the anvil and continued working on the sword.
He would have to tell Stoick about it later.
Hiccup stayed at the beach later that night, somewhat far from the village. The boy was resting on the sandy beach. The small ship was near the shore, with the coffin already inside. They were waiting for the time to start the funeral.
The boy stared at the small fireplace on the ground. He was sitting close to it. It gave him warmth in the chilly night. There was a bow and arrow next to it. The arrowhead was covered with wet cloth. The funeral was starting soon. Yet, Hiccup was too stricken to do so.
"Prryu."
Hiccup smiled as he looked to the side. The black dragon was resting there; her body curled up around him, giving him sense of protection simply because he had her at his back. Toothless was watching him with sad expression, not wanting to see her human so sad like that.
Hiccup reached for her and gave her a scratch. "Hrrr…" Toothless purred.
"I wish they treated me like how you did."
"Hrrm?"
"I mean, being friends with me." Hiccup continued speaking. His eyes were watering. "I want my dad to help. He was small and helpless, like me. I- I want to care of him, so he can fly again. But then…"
Hiccup sniffed. Toothless let out a sad croon. "Hrrryu…" She nudged the boy and gave him a dry lick, trying to wipe the tears from his eyes.
Hiccup sniffed again, before wiping the tears with his sleeves. "… thanks, Toothless." He whispered. "You're the only friend that I ever have."
"Prr…" Toothless purred with sad tone. Her pupils dilated even more, saddened by that phrase.
Hiccup leaned his body onto Toothless. He looked up into the sky. "I don't know why they're so mean." He muttered. "Why me? Why all of them? What have I ever done to them?"
"Krr." Toothless growled a bit, getting his attention. The black dragon wrapped her wings around him, covering him from the cold. Given her expression, it meant something more. It was a gesture that Hiccup understood. I will protect you.
"… thanks, Toothless." Hiccup whispered, snuggling closer to her. "I don't think you can help. I live in a village that kill dragons. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Hrr…" Toothless moved her wings some more, enveloping most of his body under it.
Hiccup touched the smooth scale on her wings. The smell of fish and smoke made him feel like home. It was comforting, because he felt safe and protected under it. It was strange that he felt that way, considering he had just met Toothless few days ago.
Hiccup then remembered what he needed to do. The boy pushed the wing away and stood from the ground. "It's time."
Toothless sat up. Hiccup approached the boat and pushed it into the water. The wave on the shore took care of the rest by pulling it into the ocean. The boy walked back to the black dragon. Both simply watched as the small boat was sailing away, further into the ocean.
After some time, Hiccup looked away. He rubbed his shoulder. "… My dad told me that Vikings are big." He muttered as he picked up the bow and arrow from the ground. "I'm a Viking, but I'm small. Am I a Viking if I'm not big?"
Hiccup lit up the arrowhead with the fireplace. He looked ahead to the floating boat. It was further than expected. It was most likely that the wind in the ocean was stronger than the one at the beach shore. That was unexpected.
"I've never shot an arrow this far before…" Hiccup muttered as he prepared himself to shoot the bow. He internally cursed for not bringing additional arrow, in case he missed the shot.
He hesitated, afraid of missing. Hiccup lowered the bow. "I-"
Huff. Hiccup felt hot breath blew from his head. The boy looked up to see Toothless standing right behind him, staring down to him. The dragon had moved to sit right behind him. She held reassuring look, as if encouraging him to pull the shot.
With her encouragement, Hiccup focused back to the floating boat. It was getting further and further away. He pulled the arrow, raised the bow and calculated where it might go. Believing in his questionable archery skill, he let go of the string.
The arrow went sailing up high, far into the sky. The wind blew and slightly shifted the direction. However, that did not matter. The arrow struck true to the floating boat. Hiccup watched with relief, as the boat started burning with fire.
"I guess it's something I'm good at." Hiccup commented with sad expression.
"Hrr?"
"When I was littler, my dad taught me archery." The boy explained to the dragon. He did not take his eyes off from the burning boat. "He told me I'm talented. I never missed my shot."
Hiccup could hear the confusion in her voice. "Prr?"
"It's… weird." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down to the bow on his hand. "I just knew where it will hit. I never know why, and my dad…"
"Kra." Toothless suddenly perked up. Few seconds later, the black dragon stood up, looked somewhere at the forest and flew away from the place.
Hiccup knew what it meant. Someone was coming. The boy looked at the direction where they might come from. He did not want to be disturbed, as he wanted to be left alone for now. Thankfully, it was not someone that he did not want to see. His father, Stoick the Vast, had come out from the forest.
Stoick looked at the boy in front of him. "Hiccup."
"Dad." Hiccup cautiously greeted back. "What are you doing here?"
The chief slowly approached him. He noticed the fireplace on the ground. "I was looking for you."
Hiccup did not say anything. Stoick continued speaking. "Gobber told me what happened. I uh… came to see if you're okay."
"I'm fine." Hiccup muttered, looking back to the burning boat. "… I just need to think."
Stoick came next to him. He placed his hand onto his shoulder. They both watched the burning boat sailing away. It was starting to sink, meaning that it was almost done. The chief grimaced at the sight. It brought certain terrible memories for him.
"Did I do it right?" Hiccup's question snapped Stoick from his thoughts. The man looked down to his son. He was staring at him with expectant expression.
"… I saw the arrow fly." Stoick muttered, looking down to the bow Hiccup was holding. "You did it right."
"But…" The chief looked at his son in the eyes. "Who was the bird to you? Ship burial was meant for someone with highest honour."
Hiccup looked away. "He was important to me." He quietly answered. "He was meant to fly again."
Stoick softened his eyes. He crouched and stared at his son. "You have done your best." He quietly spoke.
"But he died-"
"Then learn from it."
Hiccup looked up to his father. He had firm expression in his eyes. "You are not strong." He firmly spoke. "But you can change that. If you want to protect." he grabbed his hand that held the bow. "You must do more. Be strong."
Hiccup stared at his father. Be strong. It echoed in his mind. Hiccup needed to be strong if he wanted to prevent something like this from happening again. But how could he be strong? He was small and other Vikings were big and large. Even children of his age had some bulk in them.
Then, Hiccup remembered Toothless. That black dragon was someone that really care for him. She had comforted him, despite being a dragon. She was different. If he ever wanted to protect Toothless, he needed to be strong. Strong enough to protect her against things that would kill her.
It was his responsibility, after all.
"Okay, dad." Hiccup muttered.
While his expression was sad, Stoick could see the fire in his eyes. Hiccup had reached his own conclusion. Stoick could only give him a sad smile. It was the best he could do.
The father and son turned to look at the sinking, burning boat in the ocean. Stoick thought it was symbolic.
'The loss of your son's innocence.'
Stoick couldn't agree more to his own thought.
Days passed since that day.
Hiccup had been wandering around the forest more than usual. It was a place where he could gather his own thoughts. The boy often spent his time at the cove where he found Toothless. He hoped to see her again. She was a friend that was willing to listen to him.
This time, however, Toothless did not arrive. Hiccup had been spending his time at the cove, waiting for her. He wondered why she did not come to the cove yet.
"Hiccup."
That might be why.
Hiccup turned around to see his father standing at the entrance. "Dad?" He quietly asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I uh…" Stoick shuffled nervously. "I was looking for you."
The father and son simply stared at each other. They did not know what to say to each other.
After some time, Hiccup decided to speak. "Okay."
The chief approached his son. Stoick bent down to see him at eye level. "Hiccup, what's troubling you?"
"I don't know how I can be strong." Hiccup muttered, looking away. He rubbed his shoulder. "Other kids hurt me. I'm not strong."
Stoick was saddened. It was no secret that the village did not like Hiccup very much. He wanted to do something about it, but he thought it was necessary to make him stronger. He could not coddle his son.
'But who would provide him comfort?'
Stoick ignored his thoughts and focused to his son. "You don't have to be strong in body." He lectured. "You can be strong in here." He moved to touch his forehead. "And in here." He touched his heart.
Hiccup looked up to his father, confused. Stoick continued speaking. "You are smart." He firmly spoke. "You like to think. That's where you can be strong."
"But how can it stop them from hurting me?"
Stoick did not know how to answer that.
"… It's something you need to think about." He finally spoke.
Hiccup simply looked away. Stoick stood from the ground and offered his hand. "Come. It's time to go home."
"Okay, dad."
Hiccup held his hand. Then, the two Vikings walked out from the cove.
There was no forest path around the cove. That was expected. The place was far and isolated from the village. Strange enough, it was where Hiccup always spent his time whenever he went to the forest. It was where Stoick would always find him whenever he went off wandering in the forest.
The forest was quiet. It was evening. Stoick was a bit suspicious at the environment. Usually, there would be birds flying around, or animals wandering somewhere. However, it was quiet. Too quiet. Typically, it meant that there was a dangerous predator around.
"Stay close, Hiccup." Stoick muttered, pulling out his axe.
Hiccup was about to answer when something suddenly grabbed him. "AH!" He screamed when he was suddenly pulled away from his father. "DAD!"
Stoick whipped his head around to see a dragon flying away with his son. "HICCUP!"
The chief sprinted after it. He jumped over trees and obstacles on the way, rushing to catch the dragon that had taken his son. From the looks of it, the dragon was a Monstrous Nightmare – a large red dragon with two legs, horns on its head, and spikes on its back.
Stoick sensed something. He ducked right before flame charred his head. Glancing to the side, he saw another Monstrous Nightmare. He ignored it and kept running after his son.
Another Monstrous Nightmare appeared in front of him. Stoick simply dodged its fire and swiped his axe. It instantly decapitated its head. The chief did not lose his momentum and kept on running after the dragon, who were getting further and further away from him.
"HICCUP!"
Hiccup whimpered. The Monstrous Nightmare had him in its clutch. They had been flying low, close to the forest. It terrified him, because he smelt blood coming from the dragon.
After some time, the dragon landed on a clearing. It pinned the boy down on the ground. It looked down to him with sinister expression on its face.
"W- What do you want from me?" Hiccup whimpered.
The Monstrous Nightmare released him. Just as it did, it lunged and chomped the boy right on his stomach and chest. The sharp dragon teeth easily tore through his flesh and bones, tearing him apart.
"AAAAH!" Hiccup screamed.
An axe flew and struck the dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare screeched and let go of the boy. Hiccup collapsed onto the ground, whimpering in pain. Stoick came out to the clearing and pulled out his sword. He had his shield on his other hand.
"HAA!" Stoick screamed as he charged after the dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare sent a blast of fire, in which the chief blocked with his shield. The man swung his sword, giving the dragon a large gash onto its head.
"GROAAAA!" The dragon roared up into the sky. It was calling for its friends. Stoick took the opportunity to move and swung his sword, decapitating the dragon. Its head fell to the ground, as its body went limp.
Stoick looked at his son. Hiccup was dragging himself away from the dragon. The man was about to reach for him when more Monstrous Nightmares came in. They landed between them, and some wanted to eat his son.
'No.' Stoick thought. He was angry, irate at the thought of his son eaten by the dragon.
Suddenly, there was a loud, piercing shriek. "ka-ka-KA-KA-KA!" BOOM!
A large, powerful explosion hit the crowd of Monstrous Nightmares. Something black flew fast in the sky. It turned around, before diving once more. There was the familiar piercing shriek. "KRAAAA!" BOOM!
A purple ball of plasma flew from above, and Monstrous Nightmare close to Hiccup was blown away. The black dragon swooped in and landed right on top of Hiccup. Stoick widened his eyes as he realised what it was. "Night Fury."
Hiccup looked up. He recognised the dragon. "Toothless…"
Toothless looked down. Her eyes softened as she saw the condition that her human was in. "Kryuu…" She looked back to the offending Monstrous Nightmares, who had all their attention to them. Her pupils became slit, as she bared her teeth at them. "KRAAAAOOOO!"
"GROAA!" The Monstrous Nightmares roared back at her.
Hiccup could only stare at the interaction. He was losing consciousness. The last thing he saw was Monstrous Nightmares lunging towards them, and his father's terrified expression.
Hiccup groaned. His whole body felt painful. The boy tried to move, only for someone to hold him down. "Don't move. You're going to make it worse."
Hiccup paused. He slowly opened his eyes. He noticed that he was laying down on a bed inside Gothi's house. Looking around, he saw Gothi and Stoick there. His father was sitting next to his bed. Gothi was tending something behind him.
"Dad…" Hiccup whispered.
Stoick had tears in his eyes. He leaned forward and held his hand. "How do you feel?"
"… pain?" Hiccup squeaked. There was discomfort on his stomach, back and chest.
Gothi turned around and came to his bed. She offered him a cup of water. Hiccup slowly sat up, drink the water, and lay back down. When that was done, she placed the cup away. She wrote something on the ground, which Hiccup could not see.
Stoick looked down, before looking up to the elder. "Thank you."
Gothi nodded. Then, she walked away through the door, heading off to another room. That left Hiccup and Stoick alone.
The father and son stared at each other. Hiccup looked down to see under his blanket. His body was covered in bandages. They were thick bandages, implying that his injuries were severe. The boy relaxed himself, happy that he survived the encounter.
Hiccup could not remember much about the encounter. Then, he remembered Toothless. "Dad." He started. "What happened to-"
"The black dragon?" Stoick dryly finished his sentence. Hiccup slowly nodded.
Stoick shuddered his breath. He steeled himself. "The dragon blasted those Nightmares." He quietly explained to him. "'killed a lot of them before they flew away. It chased them off."
"Oh." Hiccup looked down. He was glad that Toothless had come to save him.
"Hiccup." Stoick spoke, getting his attention. "How did you meet that Night Fury?'
Hiccup widened his eyes. "Toothless is a Night Fury?"
"Toothless." Stoick hummed. He had sad expression on his face. "That's its name?"
Hiccup slowly nodded. Stoick closed his eyes and pursed his lips. The boy did not know what his father was thinking. The chief let out a deep sigh, before opening his eyes. Hiccup could see great sadness and reminiscent in his eyes. It was a strange expression; something that he often see when his father was crying at the fireplace.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Stoick quietly asked.
However, Hiccup was hesitant. "Are you going to hurt Toothless?"
"… No." Stoick whispered.
Hiccup mulled over for some time. His father was not angry, which was strange. Whenever something happened to him involving a dragon, his father would be angry at him.
"I met Toothless at the cove." Hiccup muttered. "She was trapped inside a dragon trap. I let go of her."
"Why?"
"She looked so… helpless." The boy confessed to his father. "I looked at her, and I saw myself."
Hiccup saw his father softened his expression. His eyes were watering. The boy did not know why it caused such reaction.
"When was the last time you met Toothless?"
"She was there at the Viking funeral for the bird." Hiccup muttered, not looking to his father. "She's my only friend."
Stoick inhaled a shuddering breath. "… I see."
The man rightened his hold on his hand. "Hiccup. Look at me."
The boy looked at his father. He looked firm. "You saw that Nightmare tried to eat you." He started. "Do you still trust Toothless?"
Hiccup did not answer for some time. Toothless had saved him from those Monstrous Nightmares. Then, with determined expression, he replied. "Yes."
"Do you think all dragons are like her?"
Hiccup did not have the answer to that. The boy nervously shifted on his bed. "I don't know."
Stoick gave him a sad smile. "Hiccup." He started. "Night Fury is different. They are the smartest dragon that anyone have ever seen. Treat her right, and they would be the most loyal dragon that you would ever find. But not all dragons are like her."
The man came closer to him. "Promise me not to befriend other dragon." He firmly spoke. "Tell someone when you found a dragon but keep Toothless a secret. Do not tell anyone about her."
Hiccup felt relief. At least his father accepted Toothless as his friend. "Okay, dad. I promise."
"Good." Stoick nodded. He let go of him and stood from the seat. "I uh… I should be going to do… chiefly stuff."
"Okay dad."
Stoick nodded at his son. He turned around and exited the hut, heading off into the village.
The chief of Hairy Hooligan Tribe was walking down the street. He had a destination to go to. The forge was quiet that day; not surprising, considering everyone was away at the docks. That did not mean the forge was empty, however. Gobber, his best friend, was inside.
Gobber was busy hammering a sword when Stoick came to the window. The blacksmith saw him and greeted the man. "Chief."
"Gobber." Stoick whispered. "Hiccup woke up."
Gobber paused. He dumped the sword he was working on into a bucket of water. It sizzled as heat dissipated from the sword. The man left the sword there and went to approach the window. "Did Hiccup really-"
"Yes." Stoick interrupted him.
The blacksmith widened his eyes. "How?"
"He released her from a trap."
"Wait, so it's like-!"
"Gobber." Stoick interrupted, gesturing to his head. "Ears."
Realising they were in public, Gobber apologised. "Sorry." Then, the man leaned forward to him. "How's Hiccup?"
"Gothi said he'll be fine in a few days." Stoick muttered.
"Oh, good." Gobber shrugged, looking back to the forge. "It's been two weeks without him. Thank Thor there's no dragon raid. The forge could've been more of a mess without him in a dragon raid."
Stoick let out a sigh. "What should I do with him, Gobber?"
Gobber glanced back at him. He grimaced. "You can tell him everything."
Stoick paused at what Gobber had said. The man frowned, staring at his friend with strange expression. "… maybe when he's older."
"Aye." Gobber muttered. "Probably the best. Maybe after his Dragon Training."
"Tell me when Hiccup talked to you about it."
"Aye, Stoick. I will."
Few days later, Gothi allowed Hiccup to leave. The boy had just gotten out of the house. He was walking down the path, heading towards the forge. He needed to check on with Gobber to make sure that his absence did not cause any trouble.
After that incident, Hiccup felt something different. He felt like something was released inside him, conflicting with something. He could not describe that feeling. Gothi did not seem to know what was causing it, but since it was not causing any discomfort, they assumed it was probably fine.
Going down the rocky path, Hiccup saw a certain group of children walking around the corner. Those were Vikings that he did not want to see. The boy ignored them and continued his path to the forge.
Hiccup had reached outside the forge when he heard them calling for him. "Hey Hiccup!"
The boy slowly turned around. The group of children approached him. Those were Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Ruffnut. Those Vikings were the ones he did not want to see or interact with.
"What do you want?" Hiccup meekly asked.
"We heard you got injured by a dragon." Astrid nonchalantly spoke.
"Oooh, did you get any scars?" Ruffnut asked, eager to see.
"Did you get any mark?" Tuffnut followed.
Hiccup was uncomfortable with those lines of questioning. He took a step back. "Erm…"
Snotlout lunged forward and grabbed him. "Hey!" He pulled up his shirt, revealing rows of bite marks across his stomach and chest.
"Oooh…" The children looked amazed.
"Quit it!" Hiccup exclaimed as he pushed himself away from Snotlout. He straightened and adjusted his clothes. "Leave me alone."
"Good marks." Ruffnut sagely nodded.
"Almost eaten by a dragon." Snotlout scoffed. "You can't even run right!"
"You should've not been there." Astrid spoke with narrowed eyes.
"Monstrous Nightmare have 15 attack and 16 speed." Fishlegs quoted, remembering what he read in Dragon Manual. "You're lucky to survive!"
Hiccup shuddered his breath. "Leave me alone."
"Maybe if you're strong, you won't get eaten by a dragon." The burly teen taunted him.
"Are you going to get more scars?" Ruffnut eagerly asked.
"He'll die if he get another one." Tuffnut dismissed her.
"Oh."
"Leave me alone." Hiccup nearly shouted.
"Why should I leave you alone?" Snotlout asked, confused. "You're my cousin! I'm just seeing if my cousin is fine, right Astrid?"
Everyone looked at Astrid. Hiccup was close in tears. They were silent for some time. Then, the petite girl looked straight at the boy. "You should've died back there."
Those words struck Hiccup. He did not know what to think. Hiccup were used to their presence of taunting him like that. However, he was almost eaten by a dragon. They seem to relish with the fact that he had nearly died. Astrid seem to wish him dead.
"What's going on here?"
Everyone looked at the forge. Gobber was leaning onto the window, glaring at the group. "Yer upsetting the Vikings! Get off the line if ye don't have business here!"
The group shuffled on their feet. They gave Hiccup one last look, before turning around, leaving the area. Gobber glared at their retreating figure. After they disappeared around the corner, he looked at the boy. "Come on, Hiccup! More things to do here."
Hiccup looked down. He turned around and entered the forge.
Gobber watched as Hiccup entered the forge. The boy moved to grab the apron and wore them. Just as he did, Gobber decided to speak. "Ye know, there's nothing wrong with those wounds."
Hiccup paused. He did not reply. The older blacksmith continued speaking. "'lost my hand and leg. Ye uh… still have them." It was clear that Gobber did not know how to comfort him. "The point is; wounds are just reminder. Like how I lost my limbs, it reminds me to be careful next time."
Hiccup exhaled his breath. He wore the apron and looked at Gobber. "Thanks, Gobber."
The man gave him a salute. Hiccup walked to the pile of broken weapons. He needed to get them smelted.
Gobber watched Hiccup lifting a bucket of weapons. Just as he did, someone called his name. "Gobber."
The man looked outside through the window. Stoick was standing right to it. "Chief."
Stoick leaned to the side. He saw Hiccup working on melting weapons at the forge. After some time, he looked at Gobber. "How's Hiccup?'
"He just came." Gobber gruffly responded. "'might not be in mood to talk. Other kids didn't like how he almost got eaten by a dragon."
Stoick grimaced. Gobber leaned forward to him. "It's getting bad, chief." He whispered, trying not to be overheard. "The kids' been doing this for years. It might break him instead of helping him."
The chief let out shuddered breath. "At least he's safe." He muttered.
The situation reminded him of himself; the first time he was ambushed by a pack of dragons. It was the time he learned the notorious grudge between Haddocks and Monstrous Nightmares. There was no explanation to it, but he simply assumed it had something to do with his reputation.
"Aye, but how long are ye going to keep it like this?" Gobber quietly asked, concerned.
Stoick had no answer to that. He took one glance at Hiccup – who was busy throwing weapons into the smelter – before walking away to somewhere else.
"I'm sorry, Valka."
It was middle of the night inside Hiccup's room. The room was large, but mostly empty. There was a bed near the closed window, a table and a chair at the opposite corner. There was a wardrobe near the bed.
Notably, almost everything there was made of wood. That was not surprising, considering Haddock house was mostly made of wood, except for the fireplace downstairs. those were made of stone. It would not do well if their fireplace somehow burned down their house.
"Ngh…" Hiccup quietly moaned. The boy was restless in his sleep.
The young boy had fallen asleep right after he hit the bed. However, something inside him began to stir. He shifted his position and moved away his blanket. He felt heat coming from his body. He was not aware of this going on, as he was asleep the whole time.
Hiccup showed discomfort as he tried to do something to cool himself down. His breathing became heavy, as his body began convulsing. Something had awakened inside him, and it yearned for release. There was barely any resistance, as the boy was asleep.
Suddenly, the boy snapped his eyes open, revealing a forest green sclera, with slitted black pupil in his eyes. It was the eyes of a Night Fury.
Hiccup groaned as he stirred from his sleep. He let out a wide yawn, before slowly standing up from the ground. Looking around, he noticed that he was inside a huge mountain that was very dark and red, and a huge pit in front of him. For some reason, he did not feel scared of it. He wondered how he got there.
'Strange.' Hiccup thought.
He started walking to see what was under the pit. Just as he did, he paused. He realised that he was walking on four legs instead of two. Looking at himself, he was surprised to see that he was not a human.
Hiccup saw paws under him. His paw was covered in jet black scales. Looking at his sides, he saw a pair of black wings, tail and body. He recognised the shape of this body. It was a body of a Night Fury. Hiccup realised that he was a Night Fury.
'I must be dreaming.' He thought. It felt right for him to be a Night Fury, somehow.
Hiccup tried to remember how he got there. He remembered going to sleep, and then waking up as a dragon. He tried to think about how he came to be; only to blink when he remembered that he had been a dragon his whole life.
'Yep. Definitely dreaming.'
"Hiccup." The dragon heard a familiar masculine voice in his head. "I didn't realise you came back here."
Hiccup tried to remember why that voice sounded familiar. The dragon recognised the form of communication as telepathy. The voice was Furious, the Greater Alpha that ruled over dragons in Barbaric Archipelago. Furious had raised him since he was a hatchling.
"Dad?" Hiccup tried speaking. It came out as a warble to him, but he understood the language.
"Son, welcome home." The telepathic voice – now known to have come from Furious – softly spoke. "I'm sorry that I'm not there to welcome you yesterday. I thought you'd arrive tomorrow. How's Greater Archipelago?"
Hiccup thought about the context. When he was 3 years old fledgeling, he had gone off to travel with a flock of dragons to Greater Archipelago. He wanted to train there with Merciless, the ruling Greater Alpha of Greater Archipelago, because his father didn't let him fight and raid human villages in his nest. Fighting dragon hunters and dragon trappers were the common thing for him under Merciless. There was the threat of Drago Bludvist and his dragon army, in which they were fighting against as well.
He stayed there for 7 years, and he had just come back to Dragon Island, Barbaric Archipelago, where his father resided. He had served his time and he gained a lot of experience on fighting; both against dragons and humans.
"It's warmer there. We were fighting Dragon Hunters." Hiccup mused, remembering his time there.
"Did you have fun there?"
"Uh… kind of." The dragon shrugged. He walked forward and looked down into the pit. There was nothing there but lava. "I'm not sure serving as a soldier is considered fun."
"I see." Furious hummed. "Well, this region is much tamer. I'm sure you still remember how things works?"
Hiccup tilted his head. He sat on his hindlegs and thought about it. Dragons in Meridian of Misery were at the state of war. They called it Dragon Rebellion, where dragons revolted against humans for their place in the world. It had been going on for roughly 700 years now. Normally, Furious got his dragons to steal Viking food. The intention was to starve them to death.
Hiccup did not remember ever participating in dragon raid at Barbaric Archipelago. However, he had done plenty in Greater Archipelago. He was often assigned to support dragons raiding the place; never reveal himself to anyone.
"I think?" Hiccup frowned.
"Merciless told me you had done well with your duty." Furious sounded pleased. "Your duty should not be different here. Dragon raid will start in 5 minutes."
Hiccup felt something placed into his mind. He thought about it and realised that Furious had somehow placed information into his head. It contained information about his role in the dragon raid, where it would be, how many dragons participating, and other information. He was ordered to support the dragons raiding the village.
The Night Fury straightened himself. He could not wait for his first dragon raid in Barbaric Archipelago. Furious never let him join his dragon raid, which was the reason why he moved to serve Merciless at Greater Archipelago, despite Furious' protests. "Yes, Alpha!"
"And Hiccup?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember to look after yourself." Furious soothed. "You are irreplaceable to me. Don't think too much about others."
"Okay, dad." Hiccup nodded. Looking up, he saw the night sky outside. The dragon spread his wings and took off into the air.
'What a strange dream.'
Every time Hiccup went off to fly, it was always an exhilarating experience for him.
It was a feeling that he did not feel often. Freedom was something he never experienced at his village. The way he soared in the sky, above everything that he could ever imagine. The night sky was beautiful, as he could see the stars above the clouds. The moonlight illuminated the clouds, which were mostly translucent, despite being made of water.
It was the most realistic dream that Hiccup ever had. He did not want it to end, because he felt so free from everything. The sight was beautiful, even if they were there to march for a fight. The feeling of strength and power thrilled him, and he loved every single of it.
"Everyone ready?!"
Hiccup snapped from his thoughts. The target was getting closer. Looking around, there were dragons around him. Most of those dragons were Monstrous Nightmares; Deadly Nadders – bird-like dragon with crown of spikes on its head, and tail with poisonous spines; Gronckles – boulder-like dragon with four legs, mace-like tail and body, and small pair of wings; and Hideous Zippleback – a two-headed dragon with four legs and two tails.
Those dragons were the raiding party. Hiccup was flying on top of them. Given the briefing from before, he needed to be the one to start the first shot. With that in mind, he flew higher and accelerated towards the village.
The village was located at a large island. As expected, the village was large. Most of the structures were built on dirt, and there was a dirt path that went along the village. He recognised it as a Viking village. There were several weapon structures as well, such as catapults and ballista.
Hiccup thought about which one to take out first. The catapult was the most threatening for incoming dragons. With that in mind, he pulled up, stalled himself and dove down to the catapult. With a loud screech coming from his tail, he charged a plasma blast.
"KA-KA-KA!" BOOM!
Blue plasma blast went and struck the catapults. Hiccup flew fast and went past the village. He used the night sky as camouflage. Dragons began pouring into the village, causing havoc and stealing their food. Vikings poured out from their homes, axes and swords on hand. The sound of battle filled the air. The dragon raid had begun.
Hiccup climbed up high once more. There was several other catapults that he needed to take out. He thought about which one to shoot. The one near the houses were manned, and it was taking out their dragons. Deciding on the target, he snapped his wings and dove straight to the catapult.
The loud screech alerted the Vikings of his presence. "NIGHT FURY!"
"GET DOWN!"
"KRAAA!" BOOM!
Plasma blast struck the catapult and destroyed them into smithereens. The explosion also caught the Vikings, which were flung away from the place. Hiccup flew past and flew by the ocean, before climbing up once more.
The Night Fury roamed high above the village. The rest of the catapults were unmanned, meaning he did not need to waste his plasma blast on them. He had eight shots remaining out of ten. It felt exhilarating to blow up those structures. The thill alone made him feel giddy about everything. It was the best feeling he had ever felt.
Hiccup looked down and noticed that most Vikings were crowding around a rather large structure. He recognised it as the forge. It seemed that the blacksmith was having trouble serving the demand. It would be a shame if something happened to it.
Deciding what he needed to do, the black dragon adjusted his direction and snapped his wings. He dove down as he charged a full power plasma blast towards them. The loud screech alerted the Vikings, as they scrambled away from the forge.
"NIGHT FURY!"
"RUN!"
"KRAAAAA!" BOOM!
The explosion obliterated the structure. Wood, stone and other various debris scattered all over the place, hitting Vikings that were unfortunate enough to be there. The explosion knocked everyone on their feet, and some that was unfortunate was caught in the explosion. Those Vikings did not survive.
Hiccup was still flying fast when he saw torches being hoisted. It illuminated the sky and revealed the dragons above. That one was simple for him to deal with. The Night Fury flew over and fired a plasma blast to the structure. "KRAAA!"
BOOM! The torch exploded in fiery explosion. It flung burning charcoal and oil everywhere, torching rooftops and houses that was unfortunate enough to be there. Hiccup thought that was satisfactory. The dragons should be able to roam freely above the village.
'Is this what it feels like to be a Night Fury?' Hiccup wondered.
It was an amazing feeling. He was untouchable. Nobody dared to look up to see him, and nobody could even see him in the night sky. They were all at his mercy, and he could blow them up without fearing anything. He was the fastest and most powerful dragon in the whole archipelago.
Hiccup looked down to see a group of Vikings crowding together. They looked to be talking amongst each other; most likely organising themselves. The dragon raid was still going on, and he needed to provide support for the raiding dragons. Seeing his chance to kill more Vikings, he dove down with bloodthirsty expression.
The loud shriek alerted the Vikings, but it was too late. Their fate was sealed. "NIGHT-"
"KRAAA!" BOOM!
The explosion obliterated the group. Blood and limbs splattered all over the place, painting the area red with blood. Other Vikings noticed this and began to panic. They began shouting to each other, as they themselves began running to somewhere else.
While flying through the forest, he heard them shouting. "Everyone get to the cave!"
'Big mistake.' Hiccup darkly thought. He had five shots left. He did saw some cave entrances while flying over the island. If his assumption was correct, they would enter the nearest one. It would be his chance to destroy the village.
Hiccup saw Vikings evacuating everyone into a cave. They had abandoned their fights with dragons to defend their food. They evacuated everyone, including pets, livestock and others, into the cave. Once the village was empty of Vikings, Hiccup snapped his wings and dove right to the cave entrance.
"KRA!" BOOM!
The explosion blew the entrance, collapsing them. Hiccup flew around the place and watched other cave entrances. The black dragon saw a Viking peeking out from one of them. He flew over, turned around and charged a plasma blast.
"KRAAA!" BOOM!
The attack blew that entrance. It collapsed the cave. Hiccup did not bother climbing back up. He was still moving fast, and he still had three shots left. Another glimpse of a Viking on a cave entrance, and Hiccup immediately went to blew it up.
"KRAAAA!" BOOM!
Flying by, he saw a Viking hiding inside a cave-
"KRAAAAAA!" BOOM!
'One shot left.' Hiccup thought. 'Not that I need to use it, anyway.'
He climbed up high into the sky. The Night Fury roamed around the deserted village. With no open cave entrance remaining, the Vikings were trapped and sealed shut inside the cave. That effectively destroyed the whole village, as it meant that the Vikings could never get out from it. He had done his objective.
Hiccup felt the call from Furious. He was not sure how he knew, but everything was possible in a dream. The black dragon looked around and noticed that the raiding dragons were flying back. They had done their job of taking away food from the Vikings.
Feeling satisfied, Hiccup went flying back to Dragon island.
Hiccup returned to Dragon Island. He flew into the place through the top and went flying down into the rocky platforms. He stretched his wings as he jogged to the corner. He laid down his body, feeling satisfied for his work.
"HICCUP!"
The Night Fury cringed. Furious did not sound pleased. He quickly stood up and straightened himself. "Yes, Alpha!"
"By the skies, Hiccup!" Furious shouted into his head. "I told you to support the raiding dragons by defending them!"
"I have done what you asked me to."
"Yes, but you took more risk by attacking them like that!" Furious mentally roared at him. Hiccup cringed.
There was a pause. Then, he heard Furious speaking again. He sounded exasperated. "Son, you have to understand that this is not Greater Archipelago."
"While things here are tamer, that did not mean you could be so reckless like that." Furious lectured the dragon, clearly concerned of his wellbeing. "What if they captured you? You could've been killed!"
Hiccup felt guilty. "I'm sorry, dad."
"Just… don't do that again." Furious replied, concern in his voice. "You must restrain yourself from doing more than you need to. It's for everyone and your own safety. If you keep doing that, they will bring people from Greater Archipelago to hunt you down. That will put everyone in danger."
Hiccup realised that it made sense. "I'm sorry."
"Just don't do it again."
"I won't."
"Good." Furious seemed to approve. "You're free to go."
Hiccup nodded. With that note, he ran and jumped into the pit, before spreading his wings and fly out from the volcano. He wanted to fly around some more.
Hiccup slowly opened his eyes. He was in his room at Berk. He looked around and noticed that it was daytime. Looking down, he was covered in blanket. He slowly uncovered himself to see human hands, legs and body.
'It was all just a dream.' Hiccup thought.
The boy let out a sigh. For some reason, he felt relaxed than before. He felt like losing an unknown weight on his shoulder. It was a nice dream; him being a Night Fury, raiding villages for dragons and blowing things up. The flight was beautiful and exhilarating. He wanted to feel it again someday.
He thought about what it felt like in his dream. It felt right to be a dragon, somehow. He felt like he had been a dragon all his life. It did reinforce his thought that it was simply a dream. He was a human, not a dragon. He did wonder, however, what it felt like if he was a dragon.
'Probably just like the dream.' He thought.
Deciding it was enough for him to think about it, the boy jumped out from the bed and opened the window. The village was bustling with activities; Vikings walking around, carrying things and doing their own duties. It was morning and the sky looked beautiful.
Hiccup remembered that he was most likely needed at the forge. The boy went off running out from his room. He went down the stairs and rushed out from the house. He was eager to continue his work at the forge, now that he was feeling much better than before.
The boy did not notice his father at the fireplace. He watched his son running with a smile. It reminded him of his olden days, where he was much fitter and more energetic.
Hiccup was smiling as he walked towards the forge. He had gotten himself a good night sleep, and he was feeling much better than before. Some villagers stared at him with distrustful look, but he did not care. He felt better than ever.
"Hey, Hiccup!"
The cheerfulness dimmed for a moment. The boy stopped walking and turned around. Snotlout and the others were walking towards him. Hiccup wondered what they wanted from him this time.
They stopped in front of him. "Why are you smiling like that?"
Hiccup quickly wiped it off his face. "It's nothing."
"Oooh!" Tuffnut eagerly started. "Did you get another scar?"
"What? No!" The scrawny boy exclaimed. "I just have a nice sleep. That's all."
"He's definitely looking for another scar." Ruffnut elbowed her brother.
Astrid sighed. "He's going to get eaten again."
"Why do you want me to get eaten by a dragon so much?" Hiccup asked with small voice.
"Why are you smiling then?" Snotlout challenged.
"I just had a good sleep today." The scrawny boy responded, not sure what they wanted from him.
"And that made you smile?" Astrid asked, incredulous.
"It was a good sleep."
"How useless can you be if sleeping made you smile?" The petite girl demanded, making Hiccup flinch away from them.
"He is useless, isn't he?" Ruffnut smirked. Tuffnut snickered behind her.
"Hiccup the Useless." Snotlout realised. "That rhymes."
The rest of the children laughed, but Astrid simply stared at him with a frown. "Do you even know what 'rhymes' mean?"
Snotlout looked offended. "Hey! I'm not that stupid!"
"You are." Tuffnut spoke, agreeing with Astrid.
Hiccup took it as his chance. He turned around and began walking again. He needed to reach the forge. It was his safe place from them.
"Oi, Hiccup the Useless!" Snotlout jeered at him.
"Leave me alone!" Hiccup shouted as he took off into a sprint.
The children simply watched as Hiccup ran down the street. He turned around the corner and disappeared from their sight.
Gobber jumped when the back door at the forge was slammed open. Looking back, he saw Hiccup standing there. The boy was in tears. He wondered what happened this time.
The adult rushed to him. "Are ye okay, Hiccup?"
"No." Hiccup muttered. He sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Well, at least yer honest about it." Gobber muttered, frowning. "Was it the kids again?"
"Snotlout called me Hiccup the Useless." Hiccup confessed to him. The boy sniffed again, wiping the tears with his sleeves.
Gobber hummed. "Well, I wouldn't say you're useless." He commented. The man turned around to go back to his work. "Others just didn't see what ye do. They thought you did nothin'."
"But I'm a blacksmith."
The man paused. "… aye, you are." He replied. "Not many folks appreciate our work. We just make weapons for them."
Hiccup exhaled his breath. He moved to grab an apron from the wall. Just as he did, Gobber continued speaking. "If I were to title ye, you'd be… Hiccup the Dreamer."
The boy paused. "Dreamer?"
"Aye." Gobber nodded as he moved to lift stone floor cover at the corner, revealing rows of iron ingots underneath. "Yer different, Hiccup. Ye made those contraptions and think first instead of jumping in."
The man began moving some iron ingots out from the floor storage. "Ye sometimes spaced out when working. Ye always think about something; daydreaming about those contraptions of yours."
After getting some ingots out, the man closed the stone floor. Gobber grabbed the ingots and threw them into the furnace. It clattered inside and began to melt. The blacksmith looked at Hiccup, who were still staring at him. "Yeh. Hiccup the Dreamer. That's what I'd come up with."
Hiccup did not know why, but it seemed to fit. "Thanks, Gobber."
Gobber nodded. "Now get to work. I added more metal for ye."
The boy enthusiastically nodded. He moved to the furnace and looked to the side. There was a bucket of broken weapons there. Hiccup grabbed the bucket and threw the contents into the furnace.
Dragon Island was an island filled with mystery. As the name implied, it was a place where most dragons lived in Barbaric Archipelago. Despite its grim and dark environment, it was the safest place dragons could have against humans. This was because of a very thick fog that blanketed the island and its surroundings.
Vikings would have great difficulty navigating to Dragon Island. This was mostly because of what was surrounding the Dragon Island. Helheim's Gate was the name that Vikings used to describe the fogs and obstacles that made it difficult to find their way into the island. It was the thing that protected the island from Vikings.
The island was also the house of the Greater Alpha dragon of Barbaric Archipelago. This dragon had a name. His name was Furious.
As a Greater Alpha dragon, Furious had a higher hierarchy than normal alpha dragons. While typical alpha dragons would lead their nests or flocks, Furious would lead every dragon in Barbaric Archipelago. That was the power of alpha dragons, and it comes with its own hierarchy.
Most dragons never see Furious. Even if they did, all they would see was a giant eye the size of the pit. Furious was so massive, he hid underground. Nobody had ever seen him. Furious never went out of his sanctuary underground, and nobody dared to enter his lair. Those that tried were instantly incinerated with lightning strike.
Focusing on Furious, the alpha dragon was busy thinking about his latest addition in the nest: Hiccup. That dragon came about when he noticed the presence of a Night Fury at a Viking village out of nowhere. It was a symptom that he recognised; Lycanwing. Furious feared for the safety of that dragon. As a result, he took control of him and fly him back to Dragon Island.
Lycanwing was a disease that transform human into a dragon every night, once every few days. He often thought that it was a mockery of what dragons meant to be. There was a cure for Lycanwing, but it would require some effort to obtain them from Vikings. Typically, those who had the disease lived up to ten years, before succumbing to its death. For most of them, anyway.
The disease had a different effect to humans that was meant to be a dragon. When Furious noticed that the dragon was a Night Fury, he wondered if there was a Lycanwing Night Fury somewhere in Barbaric Archipelago. Lycanwing was rare, and Night Fury was even more so. The chance of encountering an actual Lycanwing Night Fury was so small, he might as well call it impossible.
When Furious assessed the situation, it was a surprise when he read his mind. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Hiccup was a first-born Haddock. It reminded Furious of his late blood brother; Hiccup the Second. Their backstory was also equally harrowing. Furious was not pleased at what Hairy Hooligan Tribe had done to another Hiccup. It did explain why Hiccup the Third was a Lycanwing Night Fury.
Initially, Furious wanted to shed his humanity; turn him into who he truly was, adopt him and make him powerful. He had something that could turn him into a full-blooded Night Fury. Furious knew who Hiccup was; what Hiccup really was. His late blood brother was one, after all. Hiccup the Third, however, while his case was like Hiccup the Second, he was far, far more powerful and pure than his late blood brother.
That was the plan, initially. Turn Hiccup into a full dragon instead of the mockery that was Lycanwing, adopt him to protect him from other dragons, and then send him off to Northwest, where he would live safe and happily forever after at the ancestral home of all dragons: Caldera. Humans called them Hidden World. He knew some dragons would be happy to raise him there. Hiccup would not have to endure the Dragon Rebellion, and maybe find a mate, or a lot of mates. After all, who wouldn't want to mate with a powerful dragon like him?
But then, Furious had to peek into the future. He was shocked at what Hiccup could become. He was destined to become something more. Furious decided to disregard all the plans for him and began plotting for something else. Hiccup the Third had suddenly become very valuable to him. With the right decisions, he could make that future come true. He was patient. There was a reason he was the Greater Alpha dragon of Barbaric Archipelago, after all.
'Yes…' Furious purred at that thought. 'Humans will burn…'
Despite all this, Furious felt guilty. Once he put the plan in motion, there was no stopping it. He would be condemning that boy into the deepest depths of Hel, in which there would be no point of return. It gave him a bad taste in his heart, because he felt like condemning his own brother.
He felt like condemning his own son.
'It was for greater good.' Furious justified himself.
Furious thought it was necessary. Humans had done so many terrible things against them. Furious would show him what humans had done to dragon-kind. He would show him the atrocities that they had done to his kind. Hiccup would hate; loathe the mere presence of humans. Once he grew powerful enough, the world will burn on his paws.
'After all.' Furious darkly thought. 'What better way than to turn him against them?'
It was decided. He would be the one to take care of Hiccup. He would adopt him. With a bit of magic, he would be his son from before. However, there was one problem that did not sit well with Furious. There was no more Night Furies in Barbaric Archipelago.
He needed to find a mate for Hiccup. The thought of mate made him shudder; Female Night Fury were normally nasty and hostile to male Night Fury. Even if there was one, Hiccup would have a hard time courting her. It was not surprising that female Night Furies were hostile, considering most males were not exactly nice to them.
Furious thought it should not be a problem. Hiccup was strong. If there was anyone that could catch a mate and breed her, it would be him. The thought of more Night Furies roaming in Barbaric Archipelago comforted him. He would be the grandfather for his children. Furious would bid his time. Patience was virtue.
'… maybe not.' Furious thought, a bit distressed by that thought. 'I need to start asking others if they have female Night Fury in their flock; tell the others that we have a male here. I wonder if Merciless have one…'
Hidden World, or Caldera as surface dragons called the entrance point, was a place extremely far away and hidden from everything. As the name implied, the place was not an island, or a floating island, or anything like that. The place was a completely different world, hidden underground. The entrance to the Hidden World was a giant hole in the middle of the ocean, with some ridges preventing too much water flooding them.
In the sky above the entrance of the Hidden World, Toothless the Night Fury was flying. She had been travelling far from Barbaric Archipelago back to her birthplace. It was a long flight, and it took her weeks to reach it. However, she had done what she needed to do. It was time for her to return.
The dragon carefully dove down into the Hidden World. She tilted her upper tailfin, as so not to sound her signature diving screech. Going into the Hidden World through the entrance, she levelled herself.
Hidden World, as the name implied, was the world underneath the surface. It was a massive, endless maze of chambers and volcanic tubes. This subterranean world had glowing fungi, corals and scintillating crystals that adorned the huge, cavernous caves and antechambers. There were waters at the place as well, in which they came through cracks from the ocean surface and formed waterfalls.
The environment overall was tropical. This was because the Hidden World was underneath the surface. There was bound to be magma on the caldera's floor, which in turn heats water and turned them into steam. It made everything warm and liveable for dragons.
Toothless flew through parts of the Hidden World. The place only had water as its surface, and there were pillars of giant mushrooms. Going deeper, there was a sandy shore. It had giant mushrooms as well, but in addition to that, there were plants and corals decorating the place. The place was beautiful, as lights shined down to it and illuminated the place.
The Night Fury landed there. She let out a wide yawn, before smacking her lips. She was exhausted from the long flight. Barbaric Archipelago was not a good place to stuck around with. She did not want to get herself caught into the Dragon Rebellion. She hated to see needless conflicts like that.
"Kirin!"
Toothless perked up. A white dragon swooped in and landed in front of her. The dragon looked like her, except the fact that this one was white scaled instead of black. Unlike Night Fury, this dragon did not have large scales covering her. Instead, there were small scales covering her body. This dragon had fewer, shorter and rounder head appendages than her, long single spine running down her back instead of spikes, and no sharp features at all on her body.
This dragon was Toothless' best friend and blood sisters. Unlike Toothless, who was a Night Fury, this dragon was a Light Fury.
"Amber." Toothless greeted.
The Light Fury – now known as Amber – looked excited to see her. "You're back!"
"I did."
"Did you get your adult name?" Amber questioned, curious.
Toothless stared at her wide, blue eyes. The main reason why Toothless went out was because of an old tradition of getting a new name once they went out of fledgeling age. It was a rite that they had grown up and ready to break their bonds from their parents. While dragons could simply keep their name, most were encouraged to get a new name.
In case of Toothless – or also known as Kirin – she explored the world to find her new, adult name.
"… No." Kirin responded.
"No?" Amber tilted her head. She sat on her hindlegs. "You said you're not coming back unless you get a new name."
"W- Well…" Kirin looked nervous. "I kind of did get a new name, but…"
"But?"
The Night Fury grew embarrassed. "It was given by a human."
The Light Fury reared, shocked at that statement. "A human?!"
Kirin nodded. Amber leaned forward, looking serious. "Tell me everything."
The black dragon decided to explain her everything. "It started when I was sleep flying." She began the tale. "I, uh, wasn't really paying that much attention and got myself captured in a trap."
"Uh-uh."
"Then, there's this human fledgeling." Kirin paused, formulating words to tell the tale. "He was so small. He found me in the woods and… let go of me."
That confused Amber. "A human let you go?"
"Yeah." Kirin nodded. "He didn't run away to tell anyone about it. He just let me go."
"And what did you do?"
That made Kirin nervous. "I… made friend with him."
The Light Fury paused. Then, she nodded. "Okay. And then he named you?"
"Yes."
"What's the name?"
"… Toothless."
"HAH!" Amber shrieked, before collapsing in laughing fit. "AHAHAHAH! TOOTHLESS! YOU'RE TOOTHLESS!"
"Krrr…" Kirin growled at the laughing Light Fury. "That's not my name!"
"HAHAH- hahah- Yes it is!" Amber teased as she calmed herself down. "That does it! From now on, your name is Toothless!"
"What is it with you and ugly names?" Kirin – now known as Toothless – protested. "I don't want that name!"
"No, no, no!" The Light Fury started as she stood from the ground. "That's not why I want to call you that. Your name is Toothless because a human gave it to you."
"Is it not because it's an ugly name?"
"Nope!"
"Then why do you look like you're about to laugh again?" Toothless challenged.
True to her words, Amber looked like she was holding back another hysteric laugh. The Light Fury swallowed her thoughts, before replying. "I'm not laughing again."
Toothless narrowed her eyes, before sitting back on her hindlegs. "Good."
"But you have to tell me about this human." Amber eagerly asked. "What does he look like? What does he want? Tell me the details."
"Okay, okay, okay." Toothless rolled her eyes. The dragon paused as she tried to remember about that human she met.
"… His name is Hiccup." Toothless started. She glared when Amber snorted. "Laugh at his name and I'll bite you."
"Pfft…" The Light Fury snorted once more. "… Hiccup."
"KRAA!" Toothless snarled and lunged towards the Light Fury. Amber laughed as the black dragon pinned her onto the ground. The two dragons began rolling around the sand, fighting for dominance. Eventually, Toothless won the wrestle. She had Amber on her paws. The dragon was snarling angrily at her.
Amber quickly submitted. "OKAY! OKAY!" She exclaimed, not wanting to start a fight with her sister of all but blood. "I give up! I'm not laughing anymore!"
Toothless was still growling at her. The Light Fury slowly calmed herself down. It took her a while to realise what might be happening. "… Who is that human to you?" She quietly asked.
The Night Fury calmed herself down. She lay down on top of her, before replying. "That human…" She muttered. "He was so different than others."
"How so?"
"Most humans that I saw there were Vikings." Toothless muttered.
Amber choked on her breath. "Vikings?!"
Toothless ignored her interruption. "But Hiccup… while he said he's a Viking, he's not big like the rest of them." She muttered, reminiscing her time back there. "When we became friends, he just kept talking about things that he went through back at the village."
Amber was not sure what to say. The story was a strange one.
"I saw what they did to him." Toothless hardened her expression. "He had this bird that he begged his father to spare. His father made him take care of the bird."
"The bird was his Precious Thing." The Light Fury realised.
"Yes." Toothless nodded. "And then there's fledgling of his age. You know what they did? They took that bird from him and killed it."
Amber gasped. "They killed his Precious Thing?"
"Yes."
"And what did he do?"
"Nothing."
"NOTHING?!"
"There's five of them. He's just one small human."
"But…" Amber looked conflicted. "That doesn't make any sense at all! Vikings would kill if they lost their Precious Thing!"
"And what was he supposed to do, Amber?" Toothless asked. "He's so small, he might as well be a fishbone!"
Amber had no answer to that.
"There's also something else." Toothless muttered as she rested her head onto her neck. "Something… different about him."
Amber snorted. "You befriended a human. That sounds like something that happened 1500 years ago."
"No, no, no." Toothless corrected herself. "I'm talking about Hiccup. He smell like a dragon…"
"And now you're telling me he's a dragon." The Light Fury was sarcastic.
Toothless did not answer. Amber looked down to her best friend, who were staring at her with strange expression. "… he's a human, is he?"
"… I don't know." Toothless whispered, feeling confused. "He doesn't smell human at all. He smell like kin to me."
"A human that smells like a Night Fury." Amber commented, looking up to the bright ceiling. "That's something I've never seen before."
"And after I saved him from that Monstrous Nightmare…" Toothless muttered. "His father is just… there, staring at me."
"He was attacked?"
"That dragon tried to eat him."
"I hope you killed them."
"Oh yes." The Night Fury darkly whispered. "Nothing I couldn't handle."
Toothless and Amber stayed silent. The Light Fury relaxed herself as Toothless lay down on top of her. The white dragon began to speak. "What about his father?"
"After I chased off those dragons, I was focused on healing Hiccup." Toothless told the tale. "My saliva worked fast on him, somehow. It closed the wound, and he was safe. I couldn't leave Hiccup there, but then I realised that his father is just there, staring at me."
"What's his father like?"
Toothless snorted. "Your typical average Viking; big, beardy and large. It makes me wonder how Hiccup was his sire, but his scent checks out. He smells human, but… not quite."
"Can you describe it?"
"There's this tiny bit of scent that smell like kin to me. It's not like Hiccup that smell like a whole dragon." Toothless shrugged. "I can't put my claws on it. It's like I just stumbled upon a whole family mystery, and I have no idea what to make of it."
"What did you do next?"
"… I guess I just flew away." The Night Fury replied, remembering his tale. "His father probably took him back to… wherever he lives. I didn't bother looking back."
"Hmm…" Amber began tapping her paw on the ground. "You should probably bring this up to Arch Alpha. He probably knows what's going on."
Toothless paused. "… Let's not involve my father into this."
"Why not?"
"It doesn't really matter at the end." Toothless spoke as she got off her. "I'm back here, alive and well. I'm not coming back there."
"Wait, wait, wait." Amber stopped her. She quickly stood from the ground. "Toothless, you have to solve this mystery. This is your chance!"
Toothless groaned. "I'm not going back out! It's hard enough hiding from warmongering alpha dragons. I'm not going to have myself dragged into this sky-forsaken war! My dad's gonna kill me!"
"Doesn't that make it thrilling?" The Light Fury encouraged. "Toothless, you befriended a human! Did you know the last time someone befriended a human? 1500 years ago!"
Toothless was uncomfortable. "I know how long ago that was."
"And did you know that Arch Alpha was the first one to befriend a human 1500 years ago?" The white dragon rapidly spoke. "It was said that they made history together."
The black dragon groaned. "By the skies, please no." She had enough with her father preaching about it long time ago.
"They were the ones to brought peace between humans and dragons!" Amber exclaimed, excited at telling the tale. "Humans and dragons sing praise of their legends. It was the most peaceful time for us!"
"And how did we end up like this?" Toothless dryly asked.
"Well…" The Light Fury looked nervous. "Something happened and relationship just went down from there. I didn't pay that much attention to history."
Toothless shook her head as she began walking away. "Whatever."
"Hold on there, we're not done yet." Amber called her out, following her behind. "Just think of the legends! You'll be a legend just like your dad!"
Toothless whirled to face her, angry. "I'm not my dad!" She snarled. "Stop comparing me with him!"
"Okay, geez." Amber finally backed off, surprised by that reaction. "… you're unusually ticked today. Are you… okay?"
Toothless calmed herself. "I just have a lot to think about." She muttered, looking away from her. "That's all."
"Hmm…" The Light Fury frowned.
"Don't bring this up to anyone." Toothless paused. "Ever. Especially my dad. Don't tell my dad."
Amber nodded. "Okay. I won't."
"Good." Toothless nodded. She turned around and began walking down the sand path.
"… I'll bring up your dragon boy in private with you from time to time." Amber helpfully added.
"By the moon, stars and everything above! Would you please, SHUT UP!"
End Note
Thank you for reading my story. Thank you for leaving reviews and comments.
Next chapter will be posted around 1-2 June 2022, depending on the time zone.
