I do not own How to Train Your Dragon, Vikingskool, or anything. Dreamworks and Cartoon Saloon respectively own them.
Viking Skool had proven to be as tough as the classes back in Berk, but not as deadly. There was not as much avoiding danger as there was learning, something Hiccup enjoyed as he took notes, even with Hammerson lectured with a guttural tone. A small break was next, allowing the boy a venture into the library, where an untold amount of scrolls were stored.
Each rolled up parchment held historical accounts of clans, tales, and documentation of Viking culture that had been strained along the distance between the archipelago and the main lands. From the twelve kingdoms to new legends of the Æsir and Vanir he never heard of. Life had been busy outside the archipelago.
"What on Midgard made Berkians leave this place?" Hiccup spoke softly as he went over the question repeatedly as he went through another scroll. The contents seemed to fly away as he tried to answer his self-appointed pop quiz.
"I don't think you'll find the answer there," came the voice of Arni. The boy was quiet as he took a seat next to Hiccup, startling the latter into yelling as his guest joined in surprise.
And Arni was not the only guest as Erik and Alva appeared, taking spots nearby as they huddled around the newest student. Erik had joined in, wanting to ask questyions but Ylva cut him to the chase. With her nose. The redheaded girl leaned in, inquizically sniffing at Hiccup, specifically his brown hair.
Why she kept doing that was anyone's guess, but it was weird, even by Viking standards. And that was a low bar to the Berkian. A weirded out stare managed to gret the attention of Arni and Erik, who pried Ylva away to whisper something Hiccup did not have any interest in.
The Berkian boy went back to his scroll, trying to focus on the runes as he studied up on its contents, house building. To his surprise, this differed from his culture as well. In Berk, it was find a spot and build, contrasting instructions he was reading on respecting land spirits. This was the first time the young Viking ever read the word "Do Not Fight!" on anything related to his culture.
For all the blood and battles ensured in the occupational hazard, there was something filling, Hiccup wanted to say, about seeing all this culture that was lost to Berk. Like a pit having dirt shoveled inside.
That is, until Hammerson's voice cracked down like Mjolnir.
"Haddock! On the field! We'll begin your axe throwing test!" Mr. Hammerson yelled as he came in into the library. He was as imposing as he had been all day, almost calming, in a Viking way, if not for the fact he always sounded ready for battle. Or punish his students, whichever came first.
"I thought you said he'd take it tomorrow," Arni interjected, regretting his words as he earned a glare from the homeroom teacher.
"That was before I realized we already had axes available. Now, let's go!" The hulking teacher leaned into the table, making Arni and Erik smile nervously as they sunk slowly into their seats.
Hiccup groaned at his luck, putting away the scroll. The walk to the training yard seemed longer as he and his new classmates were gathered by a tree. Like last time, Urg held a shield in front of him. The husky boy could barely protect himself with such a small cover. Still, Hammerson would lecture about how to move the shield for protection, not hide behind it.
Erik and Arni watched as Hiccup walked forward as Hammerson gave the boy an axe. The Berkian was now being forced to practice as Hammerson told him to throw it at the tree before testing it for real at Urg, who was falling asleep from boredom.
The burly teacher yelled at proper throwing stance, lecturing about the arms working in tandem with the body.
"Yeah...this is gonna like old times," Hiccup groaned with his sheepish smile.
He could feel Doomhilde staring at him. The girl was just waiting for him to mess up as she leaned on the nearby stonewall. It was instantly recognized this was for her amusement.
Hiccup did not stop groaning as he followed the class clan to the mess hall. Hammerson's lesson would be called brutal in any other culture besides Norse, yet it did not break anything, spiritual or physical, in the boy.
But that did not stop Hiccup from feeling like his body was punched everywhere as walked with the class to the mess hall. Last in line, he grabbed one of the wooden bowls and spoons as he waited, listening to the chorus of disappointment as something was served out of a large cauldron.
Holding his bowl forward, lumpy mush once again landed with a wet slop. With a sore hum, Hiccup took his meal to the nearest table. The same table where Erik, Arni, and Ylva were seated. From what he saw, they did not laugh at him.
It was not even a good five seconds until the girl started sniffing at the new boy. With a blank stare, Hiccup minded himself, eating away at the lumps he could have sworn were swerved earlier.
"He still has that funny smell." Ylva, still sniffing, hunched over, nose first, as she studied the scent.
"You know, if you don't want people to learn you were raised by wolves, you probably might want to stand up, at least," Arni whispered dryly, placing a hand between him and their new table guest.
Ylva smiled nervously, going back to her food. She seemed to be the only one to eat with energy. It almost reminded Hiccup of someone.
"Just what do you mean by funny smell? Is it like the Forkbeard funk?" Erik raised his arms, making his friend drop his pad and gag. The latter waved his hands, gesturing for the limbs to go down.
Ylva leaned over and took a big sniff. A small hum later and she shook her head with a gag.
"No, it doesn't have that mix of...whatever it's supposed to be. To be honest, it's nothing I've ever smelled before, and I've smelled a lot."
"That's the Forkbeard funk." Erik beamed with pride.
"Then can you please put your arms down?!" Arni held his nose, gesturing to the rest of the class, all doing the same as they stared.
Hiccup was heard choking, pounding his chest with one hand as the other pinched his nose. He soon felt Erik rush over, hitting him in the back as a gruel lump was coughed out.
"Be careful! If your axe throwing is anything, you'd probably choke on lunch. Although it seems Erik might actually kill you with his revolting stench," Doomhilde taunted with a haughty laugh. She turned to Urg, glaring at him to join her in a laugh, almost making the majority of the class a guffawing choir as they stifled their giggles.
These sounds were nothing new to Hiccup. The boy sighed, going back to his meal. These jeers and laughs were soon drowned out in his mind. They knew nothing of the boy and he was certain it was not necessary to correct them. Yet.
"I just gotta endure this till I get back," he muttered to himself.
"If you meal the meal, then good luck." Arni chuckled as he dipped his spoon. As soon at the wooden utensil entered the gruel, it stuck, apparently gluing itself into the meal like Loki's trickery.
It took the combined effort of Arni, Erik, and Ylva to pull the spoon out. And that still took a good half minute.
"Gods. How does Ladler expect us to eat this stuff everyday?" Arni questioned. He soon felt the dangerous glare of the chef at his back.
Ladler was a large, barrel-chested man with a mean glare. The only hair on his head were of his beard and eyebrows that covered his eyes. Or he was always squinting. Hiccup did not give the man a second glace.
With sweated palms, Arni picked up the spoon and went back to eating.
"Taste normal to me." Hiccup put his spoon down for a moment as a small smile formed. "Kinda reminds me of home."
That got everyone's attention. However, Ladler was the only one not wearing confusion as he smiled. It actually seemed genuine.
"Dude, what do you guys eat? Rocks?" One of the Viking students asked. Hiccup recognized him as Sven.
Sven would be describe as a more traditionally built boy, though top heavy in design, with the body a Viking warrior should be born with. His face, specifically his eyes, was covered by his golden, untamable locks of hair herded by his helmet. The only distinct feature seen was his round nose.
Hiccup groaned with a roll of his eyes.
"Hey, relax. It's just Vikes being Vikes." Sven held his hands up.
"Vikes being vikes?" Hiccup arched a brow at the comment. "That's...something I've definitely never heard of before. As for food, anything we can grow on Berk is tough and tasteless. The people, even more so."
"Like you?" Doomhilde chimed in.
Hiccup stared at Doomhilde. For a moment, his eyes stared at her blonde braid, blinking while going back to his meal before things felt weird. Honestly, the girl would say anything as long as she made fun of someone. Was she bored or something?
Arni, Erik, and Ylva stared at the girl silently, hoping she would back off. Only this seemed to entice her more as she flipped her braid and puffed her chest. She went on about how she was royalty, a princess. This was something Hiccup was having trouble understanding. For all he knew, the highest authority for Vikings, besides the gods, were the chieftains.
He would have given it some thought, but he really did not want to hear the princess go on.
"So, if you're a princess, and we're trash, does this mean you're going to be the queen of trash?"
Hiccup was never one for trash talk, but he was reaching his limit after everything. Very few ever appreciated his dry sense of humor, but that never bothered the scrawny boy— especially when he managed to silence Doomhilde. Even more so when some of the class joined in with a laugh. Urg chuckled, but a glare from Doomhilde silenced him.
"Ah~" Hammerson sighed with a smile. For once, he did not look like he was ready to kill. "Nothing like a small bit of barb trading to bring the clan together."
From the faculty table, Headmistress Eira stood up. Like a signal torch, the clan attention was on her. "While I admire the bonding, classes are now over. And since Mr. Haddock has yet to end his first day here, there are matters I need to discuss with him."
Hiccup nodded, now wearing a solemn face as the two walked out the dining hall. He could swear some of the Vikings, or Vikes, as the others said, wanted to ask more questions. It was almost nostalgic.
Hammerson stroked his beard with a hum. The burly man arched a brow, leaving his food be.
"Well, this is odd," came the voice of Ms. Sinew. Her tone sounded like silk, which made Hammerson hum lower. "I don't think you'd show interest in such a scrawny Viking."
"I have...questions." Hammerson turned his face towards Sinew. "And if I have them, so do you."
"You think?" Sinew leaned in with a warm smile. "Then again, we never did see much eye to eye."
"That's because I'm taller than you!" Hammerson slammed the table, standing up to emphasize his point.
As the teachers talked, the students went out to enjoy the rest of the day. The troubles of the faculty were nothing of interest to most of them. However, Erik, Arni, and Ylva kept staring at the Headmistress and their new classmate. Despite the bonding, there was still so much to learn about Hiccup.
More than they realized.
Headmistress Eira lead Hiccup into the school building. It was a tall structure, built only for a handful of students to board in for all manner of Viking studies. The gigantic doors groaned as they opened.
The main was empty, with only stairs and balconies to be seen.
"You look like you're having a good time," Headmistress Eira said as she walked. With her highly statuesque figure and long legs, she lead Hiccup a good few feet as the boy kept up as briskly as possible.
"You could say that," Hiccup said, scratching the back of his head. "Gonna be honest, I was kinda expecting the whole 'laugh at the puny, scrawny, boy supposed to be a Viking as he fails to throw an axe' act."
"It was rather pathetic," Eira giggled. "But I'm sure you'll get it past your shadow next time."
"Well thanks for the vote of confidence," Hiccup snarked.
The two walked up a couple flights of stairs, making their way to the fourth floor. Only the Headmistress ever had to walk these halls, being the only one to have any purpose here.
Till now.
"So...are we gonna talk about the dragon in the room?" Hiccup asked after a moment of silence.
"Depends." Eira stopped at a door, placing her hand and gently pushing. "Are you ready to explain to everyone yourself?"
Before Hiccup could reply, the door swung open as a flash of black rushed the boy. Pinned to the ground, a wet assault bathed his face as he pushed back to breathe.
"Toothless! I missed you too bud!" Hiccup exclaimed as he broke free to see his best friend.
Toothless sat upright as he gave a toothless grin, a signature expression he showed very few. The dragon calmed himself, his wings folded.
Eira watched as the two caught up. From how they understood each other, it was clear how much of a hind they shared. But part of her could not believe that she had met a dragon flying Viking on a ride out in her six legged magical horse.
Studying the black scales of Toothless, she noted how his saddle was still on. The leather material ran from the back of the reptile's neck all the way to the tip of his tail, where there was a red prosthetic flap.
A small frown came to the Valkyrie's face as she wondered about the story behind it. But that was for another time.
"Ahem." Eira coughed, gesturing to the stable on the other side. She watched the young boy draw a sheepish smile as he and the dragon walked in. With a careful eye at the ends of the hallway, she followed behind, closing the door.
"As much as I am happy to bring back this reunion, I just remind you to—"
"I'm not ready to tell anyone about Toothless." Hiccup had a somber tone. "At least, not yet."
He turned to Headmistress Eira, who nodded. However, he could see the storm in her eyes. It was almost as if Thor was battling her demons inside.
"A clan of dragon riders," Eira said to herself.
"We're still working on that part," Hiccup retorted.
"Still. Not many dragons have been seen in Twelve Kingdoms." The headmistress walked to her horse, Snowdrop. The might steed was calm, showing no alarm at having to share its space with a dragon.
The two mounts shared eye contact. Toothless gurgled a noise as Snowdrop neighed. It seemed the animals had some kind of agreement. Not that their riders would ask them about it.
"And given that my clan only stopped fighting them about...a year ago, I have a feeling it would just made things—"
"Difficult?" Eira's tone dropped. "Given there's a clan that can command the very sky, a plane that only the gods could travel through...sigh...the fact is, your ways could very well change ours. For better or worse."
Hiccup gulped. He already knew too well what this could mean. There was only one question.
"Then, why did you help me and Toothless?"
New chapter of Viking Skool up. Sadly, it's been a year and worse, I've lost my notes, so I have to rewrite the entire first arc structure, most of it. Anyway, I'll be going over the show again for details here and there, and there is some stuff for the second arc, which is still in shop.
As of last month, I've got a Pa tre on. So if you like my work, you can support me directly, or use it for alerts to new chapters. For a link, go to the story on Ao3. The end note at the chapter will have it.
And if you like this story: fav, follow, and/or leave a review.
And thanks to all the reviewers of this fic:
RonaldM40196867: Definitely more comedic moments. I wouldn't say a lot, but I do have some sources that will help.
DARKPHANTOM13: Yep
Guest 1: Glad you like
Tatsurian: I won't say. Don't want to spoil half the fun.
Guest 2: how's this?