Chapter 1 - Flying
He breathed in deeply. The cold air quickly filled his lungs and circulated, filling his body with oxygen before exhaling carbon dioxide. His heart pounded in his chest as he clutched onto the straps of his backpack. He nodded to his companion before stepping up to the edge of the plane. He peeked out, his hair batting against his forehead and flickered in the rushing wind.
He took in the glorious landscape a thousand miles beneath him. They were flying over mountaintops now, but a few hundred yards away there were open grass fields. It was the perfect setting for a dive.
"You ready, Hiccup?!" His companion shouted as he adjusted his parachute bag´s straps tighter against his body.
Hiccup gave him his infamous crooked grin before shooting the thumbs up. He braced himself against the threshold as he took a last chance to view the sights before him, watching the water of a stream glimmer in the warm sun and some wanderers hike through the green forests. He drew in another breath, pulling on his helmet and tightening the chin strap before leaping out of the plane.
His body sliced through the air as he dove through. His eyes watering slightly as his ears plugged themselves due to the sudden onslaught of pressure. He maneuvered his body with trained agility, enjoying the adrenaline rush that sky diving gave before pulling the parachute´s strap. His chute shot out of his bag and quickly caught on to the wind.
After that it was smooth sailing.
He laughed gleefully as he maneuvered his body towards the fields. Breathing deeply as the rush caught up to him. His mind was spinning, but he couldn´t have cared less.
There in the air he was free. Free from his demanding father and being the weird outcast, free from the pressure of school and the strain of being a teenager. He was simply free from everything life entailed for him. Isolated as he floated through the air, slowly catching up with the ground.
All too quickly, his feet were running along the ground as he quickly tried to stabilize himself, but he wasn´t as acrobatic on land as he was in the air and tripped over his chute, sliding along the ground and filling his mouth with the very grass he had been admiring.
"Every time, man!" His friend, Tuffnut, laughed as he landed. He was slightly out of breath, but was more athletic than Hiccup was.
Tuffnut was a tall, lanky, blonde boy who was Hiccup´s secret friend. At school they acted like they didn´t know each other, but when they do this, sky diving, they were the best of friends. This odd friendship was born when they had both assigned for sky diving classes, his twin sister had thought it was boring and stuck with horseback riding. Being the only 2 of the same age in their classes had made them bond over their favorite sport.
But Tuffnut was one of the popular guys in school while Hiccup was, well, not.
"Yeah, but you know, I figured the ground just needed a little love. I keep leaving it." Hiccup replied in his snarky tone after having spat out the mouthful of dirt and grass, he smirked up at his friend as he stumbled onto his feet.
"Dude, if you had the choice you´d be a bird… an ugly bird…" Tuffnut replied as he froze, his chute clutched in his hands as his eyes glazed over with dazed wonder. "With these thin tiny wings and a huge head…" his shoulders shook as he chuckled.
He wasn´t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed either, which at times can amuse Hiccup or frustrate him.
Hiccup rolled his eyes as he grabbed onto his own chute, spreading the large fabric out in order to fold it. "What, with all this?" He replied as he gestured to his significantly scrawny body. "No female bird would resist all of this masculinity."
Tuffnut cocked his head to the side, his long blonde hair swaying as his brow furrowed. "Why would you want a girl bird?"
"Never mind, Tuffnut." He waved the comment off before turning back to rolling up his own chute.
"Oh, ha-ha, cool." Another moment passed. "Oh, I get it!
Hiccup couldn´t stop his eyes from rolling.
Hiccup sighed as he ran his hand through his shaggy hair. He walked with heavy footsteps away from his bus stop towards his home. He couldn´t help but dread the predicted attack from his father as he drew closer to his house on the outskirts of town.
He had already entered his neighborhood where all the people were either obese or stacked with muscle; his father was included in the latter category. His quaint little neighborhood was renowned for their Viking heritage and was infamous for their rough inhabitants who were often seen fighting, shouting or plainly drinking with each other. It was a loud and tough neighborhood by the name of Berk, where the people name their children according to myths and legends.
A good example would be Tuffnut and his sister, Ruffnut, who were name after these heroic twins who use to ride on a two headed dragon. It was said that one head spewed a stream of toxic gas while the other ignited it and the twins were the only ones able to take that power and train it to do as they pleased. Their synchronization and team work was admired by many, kind of hard to believe when you look at the twins today.
Hiccup was named after a great man in history, the first to tame a dragon and ride it. He was a mighty man who wielded a flaming sword and a shield of silver. He was the one who brought peace to the lands as both dragon and man united together. He had tamed the mightiest and most deadly of all dragons and used its power to protect his village and people, but after his death the lands were overtaken by other Vikings. The village had been plundered, the women raped and the dragons slaughtered.
Hiccup shivered as he thought of that story. He had always thought it was unfair to the dragons and the poor people who had tried to protect them. They were animals, creatures with feelings just like any other but they were all killed, every last one of them.
"I named ye after the greatest man in our history! Ye have a lot to live up to, son! Stop being a talking fishbone and shape those toothpicks ya call arms!" Hiccup muttered, imitating his father's Scottish accent wildly gesturing with his hands towards his own body. "Sorry to disappoint you, dad."
There was a rustle nearby, causing Hiccup to halt in his steps. He glanced around in confusion, the surroundings were darkened by the cover of night, a few house windows were lit with shadows moving and shifting. Odd, he lived on the other side of the neighborhood, what was he doing here?
Another rustle sounded towards his right followed by a crash of metal causing him to yelp as he whirled around. His mind scanned the alleyway between 2 of the houses and noticed that there was a clothesline hanging between their windows and a metallic lid of a trash can rolled out from the shadows, falling onto its back with a crash shaking until it stilled. Perhaps it was just a bird or alley cat?
Hiccup chuckled to himself while muttering under his breathe. "Stupid, paranoid idiot." Before turning on his heel and coming face to face with a pair of large green eyes.
Nope, not a bird or cat.
He couldn't stop the girlish scream that escaped his lips as he jumped back a meter, his face paling dramatically while his heart thundered louder than when he dives head first out of a moving airplane.
He stared at the green eyed stranger as he tried to calm his breathing. He clutched at his chest while pulling his bag higher on his back with caution. "Who the hell are you and why, in Thor's mighty name, are you sneaking around like some kind of stalker?!"
Hiccup couldn't stop his words. He was already beating himself up over the girly scream, now, he was planning suicide.
The stranger did not move from where he stood, slightly hunched over with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his black hoody. Now looking at the stranger Hiccup saw that their hair was the darkest shade of black he had ever seen which strongly contrasted against the emerald green of his eyes. He could tell that the stranger wasn´t as muscled as his father, but neither was he lean and lanky like Tuffnut or a fishbone like himself. It was hard to really describe his appearance with him being hunched over and all.
Hiccup shook his head, knowing he was starring. His cheeks were quickly regaining their color, and he needed to stop them from overflowing. "Well, what´s with you? Are you a mute or something?" He near snarled. He knew that one day, one day soon his mouth would be his demise.
The stranger still refused to speak, merely cocking his head to the side as he studied him. The tense atmosphere was rapidly turning into awkward as they continued to stare each other down. Hiccup didn´t dare move his eyes away from the stranger, but strained to see his surroundings through his pararell vision, unfortunately the sky and sun were not on his side this time as the area was already darkened, illuminated by street and house lights.
That´s right... there were people in those houses. Living, breathing people were creating those shadows casted by the lights in their home. If he were to scream...
"What´s your name?" The deep voice of the stranger startled him out of his musing.
"Wha-what did you say?" Hicccup asked, his eyes comically wide as he stepped back.
"Your name. What. Is. It?" The stranger growled as he took a step forward, his back straightening slowly as he took on his full length, a very intimidating length at that. Okay, not a fishbone... Still not like Hiccup´s father though, he may have a chance if he cooperated until help arrived.
"Wh-Why do you want to know?" Hiccuup questioned, his eyes growing wide as he took another step back.
"You look like someone... I need to know your name. I need to confirm."
"Confirm what?! That you´re a full-fledged stalker?!" So much for cooperation.
The stranger growled, a dark sound from the base of his throat. Never had he heard any man sound so animalistic as that, and remeber, he lived with people who may as well have been vikings. Hiccup was sure that his sas was about to get him mauled.
"Are you Hiccup, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third?!" He snarled, his voice rising in volume as he took another step back.
Hiccup was stunned. His body shook as he slowly nodded. "I-I am, but not the third. Just Hiccup Horrendous Haddock." He replied, his tongue darting out to wet his dry lips. "I know it´s an odd name, but it´s really not my fault. What do you want from me?"
It took only a second for those vicious green eyes to soften and widen into that similar to a child, his entire being suddenly brightened as a small smile took over his face. "Hiccup..." He whispered as he staggered forward. "Hiccup..."
Suddenly he pounced. The stranger´s lean arms wrapped themselves around Hiccup and pushed him against his strong chest. Hiccup´s panic reached an all time high as he struggled against the meaty restraints. He tried to scream but the stranger was burying Hiccup´s face into his chest as he sniffed at his hair. The stranger was sighing in delight as he nearly crushed Hiccup - who was scrawny enough as is.
"Hiccup... You´re back... Finally."
It took all of Hiccups strength to break out of the stranger´s hold and ran. He didn´t care about his abandoned bag or if the stranger was chasing him - he needed to get home. He wasn´t athletic so it was only a matter of time until his foot got caught on a stray root which caused him to slide against the ground a second time that day.
He groaned loudly as he tried to crawl forward, he could see his house, just a few feet away. The lights were on and he could see the large silhoutte of his father pacing. He must be worried for his weak son being out so late at night.
"Hiccup..." A voice gasped breathlessly as he felt large hands lightly grasp at his ancle.
Hiccup reacted violently. He kicked his leg away and rolled onto his back, tears seeping from his eyes as he glared at the intruder. "Leave me alo-"
"Oi, hold still! Ya´ll only make it worse!" Gobber scolded as he grabbed at Hiccup´s ancle again, prodding the bone with his meaty fingers as Hiccup hissed through the pain. Some ways away he heard a door opening, slamming againt the wall as his moutain of a father poked his large head through the threshold.
"Hiccup! Gobber?" Stoic the Vast, named after a mighty viking rumoured to have crushed the skull of a man as soon as he was pushed out of the womb, cried out as he rushed forward. He stoped beside his old friend Gobber, who was also named after a viking who had crafted the best weapons known to viking-kind.
Does Hiccup believe any of these tales? Yes, yes he does. One glance at his father and friend and you´ll see why. They were both large, biffy men with arms the size of trunks and legs twice of that, they continuosly sprouted hair, so much so that Stoic gave up on shaving and simply let it grow out, Hiccup could sometimes hear him talking to it while he groomed it.
"Hiccup, my boy, what happened?"
"Nothing, da-d." Hiccup said as monotonous as he could, ignoring the slight quiver his voice made and the break towards the end. He didn´t need another reason for his father to see him as weak. "I was just being my clumsy self."
Stoic sighed heavily as he leaned back on his heels. "Well, it doen´t seem to be broken." He stated as he scooped his son up into his arms. "Gobber, would ye like to come in an´ throw back a few cold uns?" He asked as he turned to his long time friend.
Gobber smiled widely as he hopped onto his feet, patting at his jeans. "Ye´ve read mi mind, ol´ friend."
Stoic chuckled as he walked towards the house, exchanging playful banter with Gobber as they went. Stoic effortlessly carried his boy up the stairs and laid him down on his lumpy mattress while Gobber waited downstairs, probably helping himself to his father´s stash already.
"How was diving?" Stoic asked as he settled into the chair that stood beside Hiccup´s bed.
"Oh, you know, same old same old. Dove through the clouds and then landed on my face." Hiccup replied as he gave his father a watery grin. He wanted to be alone. He couldn´t handle looking into his father´s eyes without thinking about that forceful stranger. He wanted more than anything to just curl into a ball and forget the entire incident had happened.
His father on the other hand didn´t really get the memo. "We should have enrolled you in ballet." He said jokingly, knowing that no son of his would ever dance in such an unmanly way. "Might´ve helped with your balance problems."
"But then the ground would miss me too much."
Stoic chuckled as he stood up from his perch, stretching out his massive muscles as he raised his arms above his head. "I should take you to the gym someday." He commented as he heard a satisfying crack before resting his giant palm on Hiccup´s thin shoulder. "Maybe add a little more weight on... all that." He said as he gestured with his hand.
Hiccup didn´t reply this time, just stared down at this sheets as his fists tightened against the soft fabric. The atmosphere turned awkward, breaking from Stoic cough as he turned towards the door. "Very well, goodnight, son."
"Night, dad."
As soon as the door shut behind his father, Hiccup curled onto his side, pressed his face against his pillow and released his pent up anger and fear. He bit into his fist to stop his sobs. What the hell happened?! How could this have happened? Who, on Oden´s mighty earth, was that? And how did he know Hiccup´s name?
Once his sobbing ceased and his mind calmed he sat up and grabbed his sketchbook and a charcoal pen, having always preferred charcoal over ink or lead but it was a pain at times to use.
Everyone had their outlets, some would run, some would scream, other would beat something into powder to quench their anger and depression. Hiccup would draw, that or dive, but there were no air forces or high mountains in his immediate environment. A pen and paper would do then.
He rubbed at his stinging tired eyes as he skillfully dragged his pen across the paper, his fingerstips blackened from the material as did everything else he touched. One lined turned to two and more followed, a sharp curve here, a harsh line there another, yet softer connected to the first. And on and on the pattern went as he thoughtlessly created his art with blurry eyes.
A silent sob escaped him as he finished and gazed at his creation only to see a detailed drawing of the stranger that nearly crushed him. Black instead of green stared up at him and he stared back. Eventually he reached a hesitant hand furrowed and allowed his finger to hover over the picture´s right eyebrow, noting how it sloped slightly inward and crinckled the skin. He looked closer in the strangers eyes and noticed something he had seen but denied to acknowledge before.
Sad.
There was a heavy tone of sadness within those black orbs, hidden by furrowed eyebrows and thick black hair. It was a look he often held when he was young and saw young children being lifted by their mothers. The depression of a person who had lost someone precious and was longing to find them again.
He thought back to the sudden light within the strangers eyes when he found out Hiccup´s name. It was a look he had never seen before, never having seen such happiness in any person before, but why he did not know... unless...
Hiccup pushed away from his desk and leapt onto his bed, burying his face into his pillow as he tried to silence his thoughts. What he needed now was to sleep away his frustration and fear. Tomorrow that stranger would be forgotten and all will go back to normal.
I hope.
"Toothless!" A hand yanked the tall man out of bewilderment and spun him around until his eyes clashed with an angry yellow. "Toothless, what´s wrong?"
"Stormfly." He acknowledge as he shook his head, he ran a hand through his fringe and pushed that inky strands back. "Stormfly, I found him." He near shouted as he grasped onto the tall woman´s shoulders. His eyes glowing with emotion that she hadn´t seen in him for a very long time. "The others may be here too. Stormfly, Meatlug was right!"
The blue-haired woman gasped as she stepped back from the taller man. Her eyes filled with hope as her bottom lip quivered. "Really? Yo-you´ve found him? Them?"
Toothless sucked in a quick breath and bit his bottom lip before slowly shaking his head side to side. "Just him." He said as he ducked his head to avoid seeing the disappointment in her eyes. "But I´m sure the others are here. I can feel it."
Stormfly nodded as a watery smile spread. "It´s alright, we´ve waited ´til now, what´s a little more gonna do? Not like we can die."
"Damn right, we can´t. Eternal life, my friends. Eternal life." Hookfang, a burly man with long flaming red hair tied to a pony tail at the back of his head, snarled as he stepped out of the shadows. His upper lip pulled back in a snarl as he slammed a fist on a wall to a nearby house, the bricks cracked with the force. "In these weaker forms."
"Oh, hush." A small hand slapped the back of the man´s head as a petite plump girl suddenly leaped out of the darkness as well, followed by a pair of quite twins. "Don´t be such a downer, you big dummy." She scolded as she slapped his arms this time. "Your rider could be in this life, and once you find him you´ll be just as excited as Toothless."
Hookfang´s cheeks reddened slightly as he looked away from the plump woman. His hand reached out and grabbed hers as he grumbled under his breathe. "Don´t be such a smartass all the time, Meatlug."
The woman huffed, but held onto his large hand with a slight blush.
Toothless smiled at his closest friends then noticed out of the corner of his eye the twins slip back in the shadows. A smirk spread across his face as he anticipated an attack.
His musings were cut off by a hand on his forearm. "Toothless, does he remember?" Stormfly questioned.
That question brought an onslaught a heavy tension in the atmosphere. Toothless moved his gaze away from his friends and glared into the darkness. His brow furrowed in frustration. "No, he does not." He stated. "He doesn´t remember a thing."
A moment passed with tension until Meatlug slowly slipped out of Hookfang´s hold and gently stroked Toothless´ lean back. "We are not in our original form." She said slowly, her words were carefully chosen as she leaned her head back as far as she could to look into Toothless´ eyes. Her blonde locks, pushed back by a hairband, swayed gently in the soft breeze. "And he is human. To him, if any memories resurfaced, it would just be a dream. We are creatures of myth and legends, Toothless. We´ve known that they wouldn´t remember for centuries."
He sucked a deep breath before turning to look into the plump woman´s gentle brown eyes. "I know..." He whispered as he ran his hand through his hair again. "I know... but he ran from me, Meatlug. He was terrified of me." He leaned his head back as he closed his eyes. "I was so happy to see him, but he looked at me like... like he did the first time he saw me."
All the former dragons flinched as they understood what had occurred, knowing that the fear and desperation on their former riders face would crush them given that they witnessed it themselves again, after so long a separation.
Meatlug´s soft hand rubbed circles on the black-haired man´s back, her bottom lip quivering as she thought of something to say to the hurting man. Stormfly clenched her hands into fists as she fought not to think of the fearful expression on her own riders face while Hookfang angrily glared at the ground.
Suddenly a squealing rat was flung into the red-head´s hair causing the man to shriek as he fell back onto his bottom.
The other 3 companions jumped as they stared at their struggling comrade try to pull off the frightened rat from his face, a line of profanities left his mouth as the rat hooked its claws into his skin.
"They are afraid now." One twin said as he giggling stepped out of the shadows from behind Stormfly, admiring his work on their foul-mouth friend.
"But they won´t be for long." The other continued as he stepped out from Stormfly´s smirking at the female´s vicious glare.
"We´ll just have to remind them who we are without actually reminding them." They finished together and nodded happily.
Breathlessly Hookfang managed to pry the squealing rat away from his face and throw the bloodthirsty creature away from him, satisfied once he heard the killing crack as the wall met with the beast´s spine. "You. Two. Are. Demons." He snarled as he got onto his feet and began stomping towards the giggling green-haired twins with twinkling black eyes.
Meatlug sighed as she marched over and stopped the rampaging Hookfang by placing a hand on his chest and pulling on his collar to make him bend over and meet her eyes. "We really don´t need a brawl right now." She stated as she daringly met his glowering eyes.
"Not a brawl, sweetheart, I´m just gonna tear a few limbs out of their sockets." He snarled as he switched his glare towards the smirking twins instead who were puffing out their chests and sticking their tongues at him.
Toothless turned away from them and stared down the street Hiccup had ran through. Remind them without actually reminding them.
He smirked.