Author's Note: This fan-fiction is consistent with How to Train Your Dragon, Gift of the Night Fury, Race to the Edge, How to Train Your Dragon 2, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and Homecoming. Any information outside of these pieces of content (i.e games) is not taken into account for this story.
Zephyr ran down the stairs to the first floor of her family's small hut. It was supposed to be bigger than all the other huts, but it was still just a hut. She didn't understand why they couldn't just live at the Great Hall. After all, that was where her father spent his day. Their hut was far away from the center of town, making it a difficult walk to the hall.
She burst through the back door of the hut, surprising her brother Nuffink and her mom. Nuffink fumbled the dagger he was clenching shakily with both hands. Her brother was way too timid with a weapon. She would have trained with a dagger too but…she had much more important things to spend her time doing.
Zephyr's mom turned to face her. "What do you need, Zephyr?"
"Is it okay if I go into town?" she asked.
"Sure… If you run into any trouble your father should be in the Great Hall." Her mom turned back to Nuffink.
Zephyr sprinted to the other side of their hut and onto the path that led to the town. The smell of the last few days of sunshine lingered in the air. Friendly villagers waved as she passed by. Vikings and loose sheep were all enjoying the warm weather.
This was New Berk, or well, a small part of it. The weather consisted of mainly wind and snow, with a rare week of sun shoved in between. As legend told, New Berk sat almost at the end of the world. Tales said that fishermen sometimes fell off the edge of the world. None were true though.
The only tales Zephyr knew about Berk were about Old Berk, where her parents had come from. One of her father's favorite tales was about when he became friends with his dragon, Toothless. He had shot Toothless down planning to kill him, but became friends with him instead. Her father had learned to fly Toothless and defeated the Red Death alongside him (which admittedly did result in the loss of his leg). Nowadays, anyone who had known about the dragons in the past wasn't even allowed to mention them.
Zephyr strode along the path towards the center of town where all the stores and the Great Hall stood. The wind blew and she crossed her arms, covering herself against the cold. The path to the town wasn't that long, but still pebbly and shadowed with trees that blocked out the warming light of the sun.
Finally, Zephyr reached the end of the path. New Berk's center was the lifeblood of the town that gave the village its lively touch of joy. There were as many market stalls as there were huts in the huge village she called home. In the middle of the town was the Great Hall, where every meeting was held, and a meeting was held every day. Down the south hill were the cliff sides, where ships were prepared to embark, for exploration, fishing, or seeing friends.
Someone walked over to Zephyr stopping her in her path. He had messy blond hair and stood about as tall as her. "Zephyr," he asked, "want to join us in a game of dragon ball?" He pointed over to a younger girl with long black hair tied back in ponytails. She was practicing throwing a ball against a dragon statue in the street, the one that could light itself on fire. What was it called? A Monstrous Nightmare, right. Whatever it was, smacking it with a ball like that was vandalism, Zephyr thought.
"Not now, Fourlegs," Zephyr said. "Go tell Spearhead to stop practicing on that statue." Zephyr started to walk away.
"But…" Fourlegs stammered. "I can't… You tell her to stop. Zephyr, you know how stubborn she is…"
But Zephyr was already running south down to the marketplace. She passed a boy with red hair, green eyes, and lots of scars, who was picking up something next to a market stall he had probably dropped. The stall owner was watering some dying flowers in pots beside the stall, but accidentally dropped the water bucket on the boy's head, soaking him in water.
"Sorry," the stall owner said. "Are you okay Booboo?"
"I'm fine," Booboo responded. "My list of chores today is ruined but I think I memorized it."
Poor Booboo. He wasn't a trouble maker, more the person who got into trouble. Always in the wrong place at the exact wrong time. But Zephyr didn't hang around to help clean up; she headed to the cliffside tunnels that led to the docks down below.
When she reached the docks, Zephyr placed a wooden ladder against the side of her family's boat to climb up. Once she was in the boat, she lifted the ladder into the boat. Zephyr walked over to the sail, unfurling it to catch the wind, then she sat at the back of the boat and gripped the steering oar, beginning to direct the boat out of the harbor.
"Zephyr!" Nuffink was standing on the dock. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Did mom send you?" Zephyr asked.
"She was right," Nuffink said. "You were up to something."
Zephyr stopped directing the boat out of the dock and sighed.
"Zephyr!" Nuffink yelled. "You're going to be in so much trouble."
Zephyr resumed directing the boat out of the dock. She wasn't going to listen to her little brother, no matter how much trouble she got in.
Zephyr leaned over the side of the boat, feeling the refreshing breeze. Waves splashed and rolled over each other. Sea trout swam through the rough waters, leaping out of the water on occasion.
New Berk was fading into the distance, though she was confident she could find her way on her own. Zephyr and her family had made this journey many times, but not often enough… not for her. She was taking matters into her own hands.
Time passed and Zephyr became bored of watching the folding waves and fish. Her parents had said that mighty sea dragons once lurked in the water, ones that spat boiling water or electrified the water around them. Some made great and dangerous whirlpools that destroyed every boat that crossed their paths.
Zephyr sat down next to the side of the boat. Her mom was probably coming to get her right now. She was going to be in so much trouble. So much trouble. Nuffink was right, she should have stayed home. But playing dragon ball wasn't the same as—
Zephyr turned her head to the sound of roaring waterfalls. A gaping hole appeared ahead, water tumbling down into its depths. She directed the boat towards a little dock where she pulled up and got out, using the ladder she had put in the boat earlier.
Zephyr walked over to a rope tied to the dock and stared down into the waterfall's foggy depths. It looked like a bottomless pit, where all the water in the world fell into the unknown. The rope descended into the abyss.
Zephyr took hold of the rope with both hands. She let out a deep breath, then jumped off the dock, flinging herself into what laid beyond.
