The next seven months passed in a blur, as did Hiccup's next birthday. The twelfth birthday was a milestone in Berkian culture. It meant that you were old enough to train with a weapon. It was customary for parents to take their children to Gobber's shop, where he would craft a blade from the first weapon of the parents. Stoick did this for his son's birthday, gifting him his grandfather's refurbished sword. The problem was that it was too big for Hiccup to even think about using. As soon as Stoick placed it in his hands, it dragged the small boy to the ground. One of the first times the man had seen a weapon defeat a person by itself. Squidface the Terrible would be ashamed.

This did nothing to curve Stoick's growing anxiety over his child's future as well as the future of Berk. As Hiccup started to transition from a child to a pre-teen, Stoick noticed that his child was even more different than he originally thought. He thought he would train Hiccup to fight with a sword, but Stoick had seen his plans on their dining table of taking a sword, ripping it apart, and creating an apparatus to shoot out different parts of the sword. Hiccup also didn't like to spend his free time like the other kids his age did, even with his dragon transformation ability, Hiccup and the Ingerman boy wanted to read and draw and make more plans for even more ridiculous contraptions that Stoick just didn't understand. Not to mention how he wasn't making any progress with his Soul Domain and they still didn't know what triggered it.

Luckily, Hiccup hadn't transformed into any new dragons. Stoick had forbidden Gobber from giving the boy any other dragon scales and based on the man's tone, Gobber was sure to keep his promise. But, while the man was still anxious, he still hoped Hiccup would grow to like the Viking way, even if it would take a few years to settle in.

"What if I could make explosives with Zippleback gas and launch it in a dragon's mouth?" Stoick heard Hiccup ask himself one night while going up to his bedroom. The chief could only stare up the stairs at the ludicrous statement. The things Hiccup had going on in that head of his were terrifying and something had to be done to quell them. Something that would occupy Hiccup's time so that he wouldn't have time to stray as far away from the Viking way, while still giving him time to build up his skills as a blacksmith. And Stoick had the perfect solution to his problems, as well as the mouse problem in his bedroom. An animal. And Johann had just docked at the Harbour earlier today.

Stoick had made it down to the Harbor after most of the villagers had departed from the trader's ship. As he boarded, he noticed that Johann was cleaning up a seemingly expensive plate that had been broken by one of his tribesmen, and Stoick had the suspicion that his nephew was the culprit. Especially with the mutterings of the words, "I'll strangle that rock-moving lummox," coming from Johann's mouth. Turning his head after collecting the last of the plate, he straightened up and turned to Stoick who was boarding from the gangplank.

"If it isn't Chief Stoick the Vast!"

"Johann." He nodded.

"What can I help you with? More like what couldn't I help you with," Johann started, likely going on a tangent about his misadventures, most of which seemed fictional for a man of this stature, and when he got started, he wasn't going to stop, "I once faced down a group of cannibalistic natives in order to procure-"

"JOHANN!"

The trader was blown back from the shout that the large redhead had produced. Shaking out of his stupor, Johann calmed down and stood up straight as if he was a child that knew he was going to get lashings from his mother.

"Do you have any animals?"

"Animals?" He asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Well, there are a couple of stowaway cats that have joined my ship over the years. Come this way," Johann had walked over to the stairs that lead bellow deck and beckoned Stoick to follow him. Making their way down, they passed some of Johann's shiphands doing various chores around the ship. There was plenty more cargo at the bottom of the boat, as the traders usually brought fruit, vegetables, livestock, medicinal ingredients, and weapons to the top deck when they traveled to Berk. But there were still boxes upon boxes of loot underneath. Taking out a bag, Johann started to sprinkle what looked like rat and mouse bones.

What the- Stoick mouthed as he watched the man work. But, the scattering of bones worked. Five cats walked out from the corners and crevices of the cargo. They were all brown with splotches of white over their bodies, each with a sickly, yellow eye color. They started to meow as they looked for the food that the sound of falling bones promised.

"Will these do?" Johann asked.

Stoick had begun surveying each of the cats at his feet. Some of them were starting to get bored and walk away. None of them seemed to be the type that Hiccup would like. They were all very conventional, and Hiccup was incredibly unconventional. This gift would hopefully be a slice of unconventional in Hiccup's life when he finally grew into the Viking way. Looking at the man next to him, he asked, "Anything… abnormal?"

"Abnormal you say?"

"A cat?" Hiccup asked.

Johann had given Stoick a small, white-furred, black-eyed cat that Johann seemed to be ecstatic to give Stoick. He had promised that it was a weird cat, but to Stoick, it looked like it was completely normal. Although it was a different color than the others. While Stoick could've waited for Johann to return with something, he decided to take the cat anyway. He did have a mice problem in his bedroom that needed to be resolved.

"Yes, a cat," Stoick replied. "It's a good way to teach you responsibility. Cleaning up its poops, collecting its hair to make coats."

"I like to think that I'm very responsible already." He whispered under his breath as the small cat jumped into his hands.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Good," Stoick says with his brows furred. He began to walk out of the door, helmet placed back onto his head, "Now I've got to go settle a dispute between your Uncle and Arvid Hofferson over whose chicken is whose." Jorgensons and Hoffersons would forever be at one another's throats.

So Hiccup and his new cat were left alone.

"Hi," Hiccup said awkwardly. He cringed at himself and rolled his eyes, "I can't even talk to a cat without sounding like I'm gonna be executed."

*Meow!* He looked down to see the cat jump from his hands to his lap. It looked him in the eyes and licked its lips. Hiccup stared at the creature currently perched on him. Despite his dragon power, animals didn't necessarily like Hiccup and he wasn't a fan of them either. Every once and a while on Berk, children and teens alike were shown all of the different trades. No one ever knew when someone would meet their end and someone else would have to take their place for the benefit of the village, so everyone had to learn how to help with the basics. Basic animal care was at the top of that list due to the food, fur, and milk they provided to them. When Hiccup's age group was learning to shear sheep, Phil, Gobber's sheep, bucked Hiccup off and flung him into a nearby well. Yakkity Jorgenson had been frightened once before when he had seen Hiccup transform into his Halfling-Terror form for Fishlegs to observe and nearly ran him over. Mildew's dog chased Hiccup every time he saw him, although Mildew more than likely trained him to do that.

Hiccup picked the kitten up, "What should I name you? You've got white hair, so Snowball?"

*Meow!* The cat blinked and its eyes changed color from black to green and its white hair started to change from pure white to a reddish brown. The young boy's mouth hung open after the cat finished his transformation. The kitten had matched him, "Woah!"

*Meow!*
"You're like me!" Hiccup's eyes turned to slits and his ears became pointed and the cat's eyes widened as if it was surprised as well, "What did my Dad give to Johann to get you?"

*Meow!*

The cat placed his front paws on Hiccup's shoulder and began to observe Hiccup as if he was the cat's new pet. Hiccup gave a small laugh as the cat licked his cheek.

"You're cool," He said smiling. Now, this was an animal he could get behind owning. Not an animal that could gore him if it caught him on a bad day, or a pet that could kick him in the face with a hoof if it touched him the wrong way, but a small cat that can change color? That was something that Hiccup thought he could handle. Even if the cat decided that it doesn't like me, I can just grow a cluster of scales over my body before it scratches me.

*Squeak, Squeak, Squeak*

Both the kitten's and Hiccup's ears shifted towards the door to Stoick's room. The mice were out. The dragon shifter looked to the door and then to his new cat, "Well, you are a cat. Let's see what kind of hunting skills you've got."

He picked up the now auburn cat and went to his father's bedroom door. Creaking the door open, he put the kitten on the floor and looked from behind. It'll be cute to watch. Hope he doesn't feel too bad if he doesn't get 'em.

The kitten walked to the middle of the room and sat down in front of the big Viking-sized bed that took up most of the space. There was a group of ten mice, mostly likely females that were foraging for leftover food that Stoick normally left in his room. There were three sniffing on the table near his bed, three leaving droppings around the bedframe, two searching on the bed and the last two guarding the mouse hole in the wall. The kitten sniffed in the air and then it began.

Hiccup's smile turned into a look of confusion.

*Hiss*

A large, barb-like tongue with two heads shot from the kitten's mouth, quickly bouncing around the room's walls and off of the furniture. The kitten turned around with all ten of the mice, dead in its mouth, each with its head chopped off.

"Oh…. my gods," Hiccup says.

The cat opened its mouth to a large size and swallowed all the mice. The cat blinked at him. He blinked back, "I don't know how to react."

*Meow!* The cat jumped back into Hiccup's arms and began to lick his cheek again, despite the new look of shock on Hiccup's face,

"Why did Johann get rid of you?"

*Meow!*

Being twelve also meant you were old enough to help during the dragon raids. Either with the fire patrol, gathering and watching the children, helping tend to the injured, or working in the forge. Hiccup was getting ready for the oncoming raid. A scout dragon had been seen and tried to make off with a sheep from the Northern Pasture and the horn had been sounded.

He and Gobber had started to sharpen the spare axes, spears, and swords, repair broken shields and make bolas for dragon capture.

Even though they were about to face the heat of battle, Hiccup was happy to be doing something that he was apparently good at. Gobber was constantly giving Hiccup ways to improve and could out-blacksmith his apprentice any day of the week, but even the crazy, old man would admit that Hiccup had a talent for the trade.

Hiccup hoped it made up for all of his shortcomings.

He had yet to access his Domain, even with training with Gothi. Although it really wasn't training to access his Domain, it was more so training in the art of meditation. All information on Soul Domains from Berk came from Hamish II, who had died long ago, and three books, which were being used as guides. Hiccup was halfway through the second book on methods to access his own Domain and nothing seemed to be working. Stoick also didn't want Hiccup to use any resources from anywhere on Earth that didn't come directly from Johann.

*Meow!*

Hiccup looked away from tying a pair of bolas together and saw that his cat, the newly dubbed Fiddlesticks, was looking out of the window of the forge. He probably should be in the Great Hall, but based on what Hiccup had seen a week ago when he had first procured the cat, he figured that the beast could look after himself. Fiddlesticks started to growl at the sky. Scurrying to the window, Hiccup saw what his companion was looking at. Loud blurbs in the air, each becoming bigger and bigger by the second, some of them lighting their bodies on fire.

*Rah*

*Trumpet*
The next battle in the three-hundred-year-long war was about to begin. Out of anxiety for his safety, Hiccup dawned his Halfling-Terror form, without the wings and tail to protect himself from flames. He then grabbed Fiddlesticks from the window and placed him in his back room in the forge. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Up in the middle of the village, the place where the dragons were sure to attack, the Chief stood directly in front of the Great Hall, waiting for the dragons to get here. He had a new adversary, a dragon that seemed to come for him and him only. A large, black Monstrous Nightmare, whose personal mission seemed to be to fight Stoick. The thing had been picking a fight with Stoick for the past five months, but whenever Stoikc got the upper hand, the beast would turn tail and run away. The dragon didn't steal food, and always looked back at Stoick when it was retreating to lick its wounds. You're mine today, dragon.

*Burkawk*

The Chief of Berk looked into the sky. A barrage of Nadders was on the way to start the burning buildings. All of the Vikings in the village readied their weapons and shields. A green and yellow Nadder shot the first fireball of the later waves, blasting a house and turning tail. An orange Nadder with blue-scaled feet shot a cluster of venomous spines at the Vikings that were in a defensive position that was surrounding one of the sheep pens.

Stinger dragons landed on the west and east side of the village and began to run through the houses and maneuver past the warriors, as Scuttleclaws began to rain fire down on them. The Vikings ducked behind their shields and began to cut the dragons down. War cries and squawks started to sound out around the village.

A pair of Nadders descended on the sheep and a trio of Vikings ran toward the reptiles. As one of the Nadders took a sheep in its talons, a sword was unsheathed and cut at one of the dragon's legs, shocking it into dropping the fluffy animal back on the ground. Blood gushed from the Nadder's purple leg and it roared at the pain. A magnesium blast shot from the dragon's mouth, and all the Vikings had to tuck under their shields. The other Nadder got away, but the injured dragon was going to make the Vikings that harmed it pay for their actions. Its spines extended and with a mighty whip of the tail, venomous barbs shot out at the men defending the livestock. The three jumped out of the way, dodging behind the barn and rocks.

"Oi!" The dragon snarled and looked in the direction of the noise. Spitelout, dawning his metal fists was rushing to the scene, ready to spill even more blood. The dragon sent another barrage of spines at the mad Jorgenson. He was able to deflect them with his shield and his fists. The dragon kept sending attack after attack, but the large, surprisingly agile man continued to evade them. The dragon jumped in the air when Spitelout had finally closed the distance between them, but not before Spitelout was able to shift the metal casing on his hand into the form of an axe and completely cut off the dragon's leg. A dreadful howl escaped its mouth and the Nadder came crashing to the ground. Spitelout shifted his metal hand again into the form of a mace, and came down on the dragon's neck, killing it in a single blow. Blood splashed on Spitelout's face in a horrifying scene, and it was only the beginning of the night.

*Rawk Click-Click*

A Stinger Dragon was moving its way through the huts on Berk, attempting to reach the markets. There was beef, fish, and other meat that was hanging on wooden drying racks that people didn't have time to place away. The dragon allowed its nose to guide the way to the meat. It had been on a Berk raid before and it had learned not to fly directly down to the village. The dragon had seen other dragons be wrapped up in strings and fall out of the sky, entering the afterlife as a spear was jammed into their stomachs. The orange and red dragon made a left turn and finally came upon the marketplace. The Stinger quickly seized this opportunity to take a chunk from a leg of boar meat. It was gulped down in a matter of seconds before the dragon grabbed the majority of the boar and tried to take off. The dragon tried to flap into the sky, but the boar was still tied to the rack that was buried deep in the ground. The Stinger wrapped its barbed tail around the boar and pulled as hard as it could, flapping with more tenacity.

"I'll kill you!"

Startled, the dragon saw five Vikings leap from behind the buildings that were placed around the market. A large net was thrown in the air and the dragon was brought down to the ground, dropping the pig as it fell. The warriors surrounded the dragon and a large Viking punched it in the face, while the others tried to tie its legs and wings together.

*Kwawk*

The Stinger thrashed, trying to escape its fate. The dragon's venomous barb began to wild out, stabbing one of the men that were trying to tie it up. Stinger venom made human beings sick, but not deathly sick, but the infected would be bedridden for a week and the effect was almost immediate. The Viking fell to the floor, a large heat breaking over his body.

"Get him out of here!" The lead Viking called. One of the men cut off the Stinger's tail and the other started to take the infected Viking to the healers in the Great Hall.

*Boom!*

A Gronckle's lava blast had charred a hut and a fire had started to break out among the line of houses, "Fire!" A Viking called.

"Come on you guys! Let's go!" Astrid called to her friends. Snotlout and Fishlegs were carrying the wheeled water barrel to the section of the village it was needed. Astrid had taken a barrel that was filled with holes and had begun to shower the affected homes with her powers. Snotlout and Fishlegs dowsing the flames that were spreading to the bushes and the twins were putting out the fires on a nearby gate.

*Hiss*

A Zippleback had begun to release its green, noxious gas inside of someone's house. A large explosion sounded afterward and the fire brigade was off once more.

The forge had been kicked into overdrive. Both blacksmith and apprentice sweated buckets as they sharpened and repaired. Vikings were running to the shop with weapons curved as they bent against the dragon's natural defenses. Hiccup took them in and Gobber gave the Vikings that were waiting a spare weapon that had already been prepared.

*Grawk*

*Hiss*

*Burkawk*

Hiccup was mesmerized by the difference between being out here, in the action, compared to listening to the carnage from inside the Great Hall. The wails of dragons as they stole food, the war cries of the Vikings as they cut the dragons down. Sounds that would haunt Hiccup for the rest of his days.

The battle had been going on for the past hour. There had been several injuries on the Viking side, but no deaths, whereas there were plenty of dragons that had been slain.

*Burkawk*

It was here, the black Monstrous Nightmare with red markings that had been trying to fight Stoick. As the man cut both the heads off a Zippleback that had just blown up the inside of a hut, the horrid creature let out a grizzly growl. Drawing attention to itself by lighting its body on fire in the middle of the sky, letting out huffs of fire all over. The carnage of the battle, the deaths of its brethren, the food that it was known to steal. Nothing was deterring this dragon from making a scene so that it could fight with the Chief, so the Chief was going to do what he had to do.

"Hey! You!"

The Monstrous Nightmare looked down to where the sound had come from, recognizing the voice from their previous battles. The Nightmare gave a horrible smirk, the slits of its eyes creating a terrible sight as it tucked its black wings into its body and started to dive toward the Chief. Stoick grimaced as the dragon began to chase him. He had to lead it out of the village. His power combined with the Monstrous Nightmare's fire would set more houses on fire, something the Berkians couldn't afford. Stoick started to rush past his warriors who were fighting for their livelihood. His large, muscular legs propelled his body at a terrifying speed. Stoick the Vast moved like he was a cannonball that had grown feet.

The Monstrous Nightmare continued to dive after the man that it was sure it would defeat. It dowsed the flames on its body to save its firepower for the battle that was going to occur. The man had always led it to a clearing near the forest. The Nightmare contemplated meeting him there and waiting for the other dragons to leave, but the human probably wouldn't come to the clearing alone and the dragon would probably be killed in a way it didn't want. Exiting the dive, the Nightmare had to dodge and weave past other dragons that were being brought down by nets, slashed by swords, and hit with boulders shot out of catapults. The dragon barrel rolled past a Gronckle with its hind legs cut off and flew over an adolescent Timberjack that had a Viking hitting its face with one of their stone hammers.

Stoick looked back to make sure the dragon was still following him. He would soon be at the clearing, it was only another ten seconds away. Passing by the last of the houses, Stoick came upon a man that was able to get a Scuttleclaw on the ground and was choking it to death. His weapon had been thrown in the battle and the Scuttleclaw wasn't going to give up without a fight. So as he ran past, Stoick unsheathed his sword and cut the dragon's belly open, its intestines and stomach falling out as it screeched in pain. Stoick continued running out of the village, his feet finally touching the dirt of the clearing.

The Monstrous Nightmare flew past the Viking and the now-dead Scuttleclaw. He was catching up to the Viking Chief, but the Chief had finally led the dragon to the place where they usually battled, a clearing with no trees, grass, or homes to burn. The Nightmare lit itself on fire again as Stoick turned around to face him.

*Gwawk* The Nightmare shouted.

"You want to play dragon? Let's play." Stoick readied his shield and his sword. Ready to finally put an end to this dragon.

A stream of sticky fire shot out of the dragon's mouth, headed for the Chief. Stoick raised his shield and dodged to the right. The dragon turned its head and the oily fire followed. Rolling on the ground, Stoick look up to see the dragon jump into the air, trying to grab him in its talons. Stoick jumped out of the way once more, now the houses were behind him. The Nightmare, still aflame, shot another stream of fire.

Stoick, now knowing he wouldn't cause more fire to spread to the village, was finally able to use his power. Sonic Boom. Whenever he screamed, he could control the volume. According to his father, when his power had first started to activate, he had shaken the foundation of his house and it almost came crashing down on his family. He could raise the volume to a thunderous shout that could be heard for miles. However, pushing an entire Monstrous Nightmare would probably make the foundation of the houses behind him break. He had learned not to make this mistake when he had placed first in dragon training and fought against a different Monstrous Nightmare and a crack in the arena had been formed.

Stoick screamed and the sticky fire of the Monstrous Nightmare was repelled back to the dragon. It raised a wing to protect itself from the shot that was fired back at it.

The Nightmare fired again.

"Rah!" A sonic wave left Stoick's mouth again, and the Nightmare's fire cascaded off the side of the clearing. Stoick rushed the Monstrous Nightmare with his sword, attempting to gut the dragon, but it jumped back before he could close the distance between them. More fire came from the dragon's mouth and Stoick and the dragon kept going back and forth. The Monstrous Nightmare jumped in the air and started to fly up and Stoick had been fighting this dragon long enough to know that this was not a retreat. It was too quick and they had been fighting for far less than they usually would.

The black dragon lit itself aflame, high in the sky. It blew fire out of its mouth and began to fly in a circle around it, collecting the energy in an orange orb.

Stoick raised his eyebrows in surprise. The beast had never done this before.

Finishing the fireball, the dragon flapped its large wings, and the fireball was fired at Stoick.

"Ah!"

The sound waves and the fireball crashed against one another in midair. A large sound was heard throughout Berk, with dragons, and Vikings being spooked. The fire was pushed back by the waves and a beautiful light show appeared as the fire dissipated.

*Burkawk!*

Stoick readied his sword and shield. The dragon had used every ounce of firepower that it had. Hitting the ground, the dragon jumped to Stoick again, who was once more able to dodge. Stoick gave a mighty shout in the dragon's ear and its body was pushed into the ground. The dragon's body rolled to the side of the clearing, breaking a fence that was there to stop children from falling off the cliff. Stoick rushed to the side of the clearing, and the dragon failed to catch itself as it crashed into the sea below.

It was still alive, but the fight was over.

The dragon thrashed out of the water and started to go back to wherever it came from. It seemed to glare at him as it left. Stoick watched the dragon go away until an explosion shook him out of his stupor. A pair of young Gronckles were trying to escape with one of the largest yaks.

The Chief rushed them, joining in on the fighting once more.

The battle was officially over about an hour and a half later. There were seven sheep, three yaks, and five catches of fish that were lost in the battle. Nine of the huts on Berk had been destroyed by the dragons, meaning there were going to be families sleeping in the Great Hall for the next few weeks. No life on the Berkian side was lost in the battle, but a Scuttleclaw had made away with a Viking's foot, a Nadder spine had sliced through someone's eye, and a slew of other injuries had put a dent into Berk's military force. However, there was plenty of dragon meat that people could feast on in the coming months, as well as scales, teeth, and spines that people could trade and sell for money.

The forge had been lit once more, having to fix even more weapons after the battle. Hiccup's hand had been wrapped in leather gloves to make sure he didn't touch any new dragon body parts, his father's orders. He had to clean the blood off of the weapons while Gobber worked on repairs. Hiccup hadn't seen dragons up that close and personal for years, the exception being when he had to get to the Great Hall from far away. His dragon senses had activated on command and they wouldn't deactivate. So the smell of blood and sweat was incredibly pungent and Hiccup was sure that he would through up later tonight.

*Meow* Fiddlesticks had walked out of the back room and started to lick the blood off of the weapons.

"Ew," Hiccup said. Gobber also made a face as started to pound a sword back into place.

*Meow* Fiddlesticks continued to lick the blood off of all the weapons. His owner looked up to the village. It looked awful, but not the worst the Berkians had ever seen. There was a raid three years ago that was so detrimental that half the village had to sleep in the Great Hall. Vikings were already going into the forest to chop down trees for the new houses that had to be assembled. This life wasn't easy, but these people persisted.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm gonna start to try and upload a new chapter once every two weeks, but don't hold me to that, because life be happenin'.

Urbantor- I thought something was cool, and I needed a way to do it. So I made them up. I of course used inspiration from different pieces of media for the name, but I did kind of just pull this out of my ass.

willman001- Thank you.