How to Train Your Dragon
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#01: Hermit of Berk
(Two months prior movie)
After an especially embarrassing debacle that results in high collateral damage in the forms of the docks being demolished, several ships sunk, three houses destroyed, and half of their sheep herd getting stolen, Stoick is pressured to banish Hiccup by the others of the village. Leaving the village, Hiccup finds the cove and turns it into his new home. There he becomes the first hermit of Berk. During one of the fall dragon raids, Hiccup works up his courage to return to the village and tries to help. He does manage to shoot down a Night Fury, but no one believes him. Because it was his first time returning after his banishment and without stealing anything since, he's given a strict warning to not return and is forced to leave again.
Looking for the downed Night Fury, Hiccup hesitates before killing it, ultimately releasing it. He's very disgruntled to find that not only could it not fly, but it had fallen into his cove. After several hours, it finally calms down enough for him to tempt entering the cove. Because of his latest fiasco in Berk, Hiccup was feeling especially depressed and somewhat more suicidal, enough for him to not care if the dragon attacked him. But he did bring a fish as means of placating it. He names the dragon Toothless and they spend the next couple of hours getting used to one another's presence, becoming fast friends.
When he decides to build Toothless a new tailfin, Hiccup realizes he doesn't have any of the proper tools. He decides to try trading with Gobber and several other smiths to get the materials. He tries to trade furs and meat, precut wood, and several precious gems he found as he was exploring Berk's little touched lands. Though Gobber is reluctant to trade some of his tools, he does give Hiccup some of his older and broken ones (just chipped or need new handles). The tanner, after seeing the gems, happily agrees because now he can barter something for something he's always wanted. Hiccup builds his own small forge and gets to work.
After several weeks of trial and error, he finally succeeds and makes a working model for Toothless' tailfin and a saddle. With Toothless, Hiccup is able to become a very adept fisherman and they constantly take long flights around Berk. Hiccup even starts building a secondary home for them on one of the larger and steeper rock pillars that jut out of the ocean around the island.
Meanwhile, things in Berk have gotten very quiet and almost peaceful (excluding the raids). Though no one misses the wreckage, everyone does slowly start to feel guilty about forcing Stoick to exile his only child. Chief among those guilty are Snotlout and (privately) Astrid. But where Snotlout loudly tries to keep Hiccup out of his mind, Astrid finally decides to go and look for him, to make sure The Useless hadn't gotten himself killed. During a break from Dragon Training, she goes searching by herself. She stumbles upon his cove while he and Toothless are out on one of their fishing trips. She is actually somewhat surprised by the good quality of his camp and what he'd apparently been up to. But as she's leaving, they return.
Astrid's first response to Toothless was to hide. But when that proved futile, she tried to attack. Toothless held her down as Hiccup tried to calm them both down. Astrid is furious with Hiccup for apparently betraying the village and no amount talking could sway her opinion. Hiccup is forced to keep her tied up for the night while he tries to think of a way of changing her mind. Eventually, he decides to take her flying on Toothless in the morning.
As dawn as approaching, Astrid finally managed to break free and fled the cove without being noticed. Sadly, she didn't get far before Toothless did notice and brought her back. Waking up, Hiccup got her onto Toothless with the promise of taking her home after just one flight on the dragon. After a rough start because Toothless wanted to scare her into submission, Astrid finally began to understand Hiccup's reasoning for befriending Toothless and she understood now that dragons weren't just thieving beasts. Just as he promised, after taking her for a flight through the dawning day, he and Toothless dropped her off on the outskirts of Berk Village and quickly returned to their cove.
After her final session in Dragon Training before the class' graduation, Astrid ran off to talk with Hiccup and hopefully get another ride with Toothless. Again, when she arrived there, she found the place deserted. With nothing better to do, she poked around some of Hiccup's things. In her search, she came across a couple of interesting things. The first was a collection of gems that were still buried in the rough; they would've made excellent trading pieces back in Berk. The second was a wonderfully crafted ring with a large ruby inlaid. Strangely it fit her finger perfectly. The final thing was a hand drawn picture of her that was hidden in a large, water-proof leather pouch. Each of these discoveries caused her to slowly change her already shifting viewpoint in Hiccup. By the time Hiccup returns with Toothless after a long day of fishing and flying, she had already replaced everything she'd touched and seen. During her talk with Hiccup, she learned how he and Toothless had become friends and she shared that she had been chosen as the Champion of Dragon Training, which Hiccup knew meant she'd have to fight a Nightmare alone. After a quick flight, they again brought her home.
The next day, Astrid faces off with the Nightmare.
TBC...