Berk, 1071 AD
The Cove
Legend had it that Berk was not the only realm out there—that there were other realms that could only be accessed by certain magical creatures. Some even said that the dragons were the only creatures who could ferry between the realms. Yet no Berkian had ever seen a dragon cross over. Many believed that the legends of dragon crossovers were simply that—legends. But all that changed the day that a mysterious portal opened in the sky, and a young pup with dragon's wings fell through it.
At first, Kijo didn't know what to think about what had happened. Then as he realized that land was still rushing toward him, he shrieked in fear. To make matters worse, he was headed straight for a pond full of water. And Kijo couldn't swim!
SPLASH! Into the pond he went, with barely enough time to hold his breath. Then something completely unexpected—and terrible—happened. The moment he hit the water, a huge shockwave erupted. He got caught in its wake and found himself being pushed to shore. The cold, wet, dripping Korean lapsuli pup somehow managed to pull himself onto dry land before collapsing in exhaustion and fright—not realizing that his presence had caused a disturbance in the fabric between realms.
High above the Cove, something else was ensuing. Hiccup, an outcast-turned-leader with a prosthetic leg, and Toothless, a Night Fury and the realm's own alpha dragon, were taking their daily flight over the land of Berk. The two were fully expecting that they would wind up having to battle this band of dragon trappers or discover this new species of dragon—after all, with Vikings on the backs of dragons, the world had gotten a lot bigger. But neither one was prepared for what happened next.
"Whoa, whoa, easy, bud." Hiccup exclaimed. "I know, it's been a while. But you do know that being the chief is not easy. It's a lot more responsibility than I thought." Then he sighed. "You know something, bud?"
Toothless let out a confused growl.
"Sometimes, I…I really wish my father were here. Sometimes it seems like he was a better leader than I will ever be."
Toothless gave a sorrowful moan. Getting controlled by Drago's alpha and killing Stoick with a plasmablast was not on his list of fond memories. Especially when Hiccup had rejected him for it. But what was done was done, and there was really no need to think about bad memories.
Suddenly, Toothless's ears perked up, and his eyes widened. There was something in the air—something not right. Hiccup recognized Toothless's behavior right away—he was sensing something.
"What's going on, bud?" Hiccup asked—just before Toothless dove downward at a frightening speed. "Toothless, what are you doing?!" Hiccup exclaimed in panic. Then it happened. Hiccup started to lose his grip on the saddle. His prosthetic started to slip out of its specially designed stirrup. He clawed desperately at the saddle horn, trying to not fall off. But his efforts were in vain. His prosthetic slipped out of the stirrup completely, and he screamed, "Toothless!" as he fell off of his dragon's back.
Without Hiccup to help him fly, Toothless too plunged downward. In the back of Hiccup's mind, he thought, Well, maybe we can just do what we did when I lost my cheat sheet. But then something weird happened. Just above him, Toothless's wings glowed a strange blue-and-purple color, and then he disappeared into thin air.
"NO! Toothless!" Hiccup cried out. Then he looked down and realized he was headed straight for the Cove. Thinking quickly, he whipped out his glide suit and gently glided down to the Cove.
His landing was less than perfect, but he wasn't badly injured, and he had missed the pond by a few inches. He lay on the ground for a minute, trying to catch his breath. Then he heard a soft moan, just a few feet away from where he lay. He looked up and saw a small white form lying on the ground. It looked an awful lot like a small white wolf, but the ears were floppy, not pointed. And for some inexplicable reason, this white-wolf-like creature had…dragon wings?!
He had to get a closer look. Staying close to the ground, he inched his way towards the creature, being cautious not to startle it. When he got close enough to reach out and touch it, he carefully raised himself to his knees and, slowly and carefully, grabbed one wing and moved it out of the way so he could see the creature's face. He suddenly recognized what this creature was. It was a pup—a creature he had only heard stories about. But he had never heard of a pup with dragon wings before!
Suddenly, the pup stirred and moaned again. Hiccup realized that this pup must have somehow fallen out of the sky and crash-landed in the Cove. The pup slowly opened his eyes and looked at Hiccup. At first, the pup just stared dumbfoundedly at the young Viking. Then he screamed and tried to back away from Hiccup.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, pup. It's okay." Hiccup comforted. "I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe with me."
"Where…where am I?" the pup asked, clearly scared and confused.
"You're in Berk. Specifically, the Cove."
"Who…who are you?" the pup asked in reply.
"My name's Hiccup." At that, the pup gave Hiccup a funny look. "Yeah, great name, I know. But it's not the worst. What's your name?"
"My name…is Kijo."
