The Terrible Terror was one of the smallest dragons, but a fighter at heart. It squirmed around in his hands, little legs kicking up in the air wildly as it struggled against him. Hiccup held its weight down with his body - being six years old and small as he was, it wasn't too hard for him to straddle the Terror's stomach, hunting knife in the hand that wasn't clamped around the little dragon's mouth.
He'd killed rats before. Big ones that crawled out of the rocky walls of the mead hall in search of food. Rats were easy to kill. They bit sometimes but it was easier to avoid than dragon fire. Smoke filtered out of the sides of the Terror's mouth, flames extinguished with nowhere to go but be inhaled back into the dragon's lungs.
The tip of Hiccup's hunting knife struck the center of the Terror's neck and it struggled wildly, bucking in an attempt to throw the boy off it but Hiccup was more stubborn, clamping his legs around the small body. The hunting knife dug into the scales, flesh tearing as the thin layer of protective armor gave way under persistent digging. Blood squirted up and Hiccup winced as it hit his cheek under his eye, claws catching at the arm connected to the hand holding its mouth shut. The Terror lashed around underneath him, before the body stopped moving and the claws dropped from his arm, leaving deep gashes underneath the torn cloth of his long sleeved shirt.
Hiccup sucked in a breath as he realized the tiny dragon had stopped moving, hand hesitating before he pulled it away. Smoke puffed up from its mouth once, but that was all. Staring down at the Terror, he giggled a little to himself. "I-I did it...yes, I did it!" Throwing his hands up into the air with a joyful whoop, Hiccup lowered his hand to wipe the blood on his face off, only succeeding in smearing it across his cheek the harder he tried. Eventually he gave up, instead focusing on snapping the spine in the neck and hacking off the last bit of sinew and flesh keeping the head attached to the body.
He felt exhilarated, his chest bursting with excitement and the heady rush of the hunt. His first kill. Well, his first dragon kill, but it was more important than the rats. Wiping his hunting knife along his tunic, Hiccup stood and picked up the head with one hand, picking up the body by a leg and slinging it over his shoulder before he began to run back to the stronghold, scrambling over rocks and sliding down small hills. It was starting to get dark, storm clouds hanging overhead. There would be no raid tonight, but there was always wild dragons hanging around the rocks and the skies. He had to scamper back before one mistook him for a mouse or something.
A few warriors greeted him along the way on his way back to the mead hall, spotting the dragon corpse slung over his shoulder and blood smeared across his face and nudged at each other with grins on their faces. Hiccup had only started his training last year - they all remembered the disaster in the kill ring when he'd almost gotten killed. To see him with a corpse meant that it was beginning to sink in.
Alvin was standing by the hearth discussing things with Savage when the door to the mead hall opened, casting a glance out the corner of his eye as the weedy boy tumbled into the room, spinning a little before he caught himself and straightened up. He looked excited about something, and when Alvin caught sight of the blood covering one of the boy's cheeks, he raised an eyebrow, placing his hands on his hips. "What've you got there, boy?"
Hiccup came to a stop in front of him, gasping for breath before he beamed up at him, showing him the head of the Terror that he'd killed and pulled the body off from around his shoulder, holding it up as well, looking hopeful. "I...I did it, father. I killed one! I mean I know it's a Terrible Terror and they're not really all that dangerous..."
His rambling was cut off as the Outcast chief laughed, leaning down to ruffle his son's hair before he took the body to inspect the cut at the neck. "A bit messy, but we can work on that." Hiccup's smile couldn't grow wider at the praise, wide green eyes gleaming as Alvin looked back down at him, handing the corpse off to Savage before lifting the six year old into the air easily. "My boy's already growing into a killer. Those beasts won't stand a chance once yer fully grown." Hiccup giggled, the head clutched between his hands as he was set back down on the floor of the mead hall, nudged with a large hand. "Go wash up. Ya got dragon blood all over yer face, kiddo." Taking the head from his tiny fists, Alvin handed it off to Savage as well before taking the corpse back. "See this mounted. Kid needs to start his trophy wall."
"Yes, sir."
"Yes, father."
Watching Hiccup drag Savage off in the direction of his room, babbling happily, Alvin grinned to himself as he weighed the Terror's body in his hands, eyes dark as he looked at it. Yes, they could work on it. Soon, Hiccup would be ready to start killing bigger things.
Like people.