MDM's Version of How to Train Your Dragon
A/N: Since I'm a HUGE fan of HTTYD, my first fanfiction story will be about it. I'll start with one chapter at a time until the whole story is complete, and that goes with all the fanfictions I plan to show, so no new stories until the first is complete. I'll try to post a new chapter whenever possible, but that might become harder with time, so don't get mad with me if it takes forever.
And now, let's begin the story!
Chapter 1
This is Berk
An island that was shrouded by the night sky and the cold spray of mighty waves and thick mist slowly comes into view. A pretty quaint and quiet Viking village was nestled peacefully on the slopes of the seemingly sleepy isle that is famously called Berk.
This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word: sturdy. It's been here for about seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests.
A flock of sheep were grazing calmly, until one was suddenly snatched up by a giant shadow with long claws.
You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have...
A scrawny Viking teenage boy opened the door of his house to see what was going on this early in the morning, only to quickly shut it again, pressing it against his back as fire bursts out from behind it, its source coming from a famous creature of legend.
"Dragons." He breathed out.
He could quickly tell that this was a very fine way to begin the day: a dragon raid. Already, livestock were all fleeing in terror and the older Vikings were quickly engaging in battle with the fire-breathing reptiles.
Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.
The boy rushed out of the melting inferno of the building, dodging fire blasts and charging Vikings.
My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But, it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name would frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was definitely not what others would picture as a "typical" Viking, like the first thing that one imagine of when they think of the stereotypical image of Vikings. Hiccup was small, short, and skinny. He wore a light green tunic, dark green leggings, and a matching brown fur vest and boots. He had short floppy auburn hair, soulful forest green eyes, fair skin, and an army of tiny freckles across his nose and upper cheeks. Though at first glance, you can't see it, but there's a fine little white scar on his lower chin.
A nearby blast of fire made Hiccup jump back and land flat on his back. A Viking then came up to him, shouting a loud war cry.
"Morning!" He said to him with a smile, and then he ran off again. Hiccup quickly got back on his feet and rushed past other Vikings, ignoring their shouts to him, telling him to get back inside.
Suddenly, a strong hand belonging to a giant of a man pulled him away from what couldn't be a fiery death from another dragon's fire. "Hiccup! What is he doing out- What are you doing out here? Get inside!" He said before pushing Hiccup away from the battle zone.
That's Stoick the Vast, Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do.
The Chief of Berk was almost seven feet tall, and with his bulging muscles, made him look like a miniature mountain. He then threw a cart up at an incoming dragon.
"What have we got?" He asked a nearby Viking.
"Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks." The Viking reported to him. "And someone saw a Monstrous Nightmare."
Both of them then dodged another fireball, or it was like the Viking scout dodged and Stoick just brushed it off when a large ember fell onto his armored shoulder pad. Literally.
"Any Night Furies?" Stoick asked.
"None so far."
"Good."
Hiccup continued his run towards the village armory. All around him, Vikings were lighting lanterns and bringing out their weapons. Once he entered the blacksmith's, he took off his fur vest.
"How nice of you to join the party." The blacksmith said to him, who was a scruffy man with a long blond braided moustache, tight-fitting shirt and pants, and a prosthetic left arm and right peg leg. The prosthetic arm was in use of a hammer, pounding at a sword.
"I thought you'd be carried off." He joked. The man's name was Gobber, and he was mostly in charge that Hiccup stays out of trouble.
"Who, me?" Hiccup asked after he finished tying a work apron around him. "Nah, I'm waaaay too tough for their taste." He said, barely lifting up a hammer. "They wouldn't know what to do with all this." he says, gesturing to his non-existent muscles.
"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" Another voice said.
A boy about Hiccup's age came into the armory from the back room carrying a fair-sized bundle of swords in his arms. He had auburn hair like Hiccup's, but a bit more red, and it was a little more wild than shaggy. His eyes are a dark blue, a strange color for Vikings, and his skin was light like Hiccup's, but having no freckles. He was pretty thin as well, but not as thin as Hiccup. He wore a black, long-sleeved tunic, navy blue leggings, brown fur boots, metal leg guards, and a short sword strapped onto his belt.
"Ha, ha, very funny, Ragnar." Hiccup said sarcastically. Ragnar Iverson was the only son of two of Berk's best warriors, who had died in a dragon raid when he was a baby. So he was raised alongside Hiccup like a brother.
"Hey, what would you do without us?" A different voice asked him, this one sounding feminine.
The boys turned and saw a girl their age fixing some arrows. She had dark brown hair tied into twin low pigtails that reached down to her shoulders, with short bangs swept down to the left side of her face. Her skin was a pretty olive shade, showing off the firelight coming from the hearth, and her chocolate brown eyes seem to enhance her beauty. She wore a dark blue shirt with semi-long sleeves, a brown leather skirt to her knees, black leggings, brown leather ankle boots, and a silver dragon pendant around her neck. She looks very pretty and a little petite, but she's much tougher than she looks.
"You're right about that, Juno. What would he do without us?" Ragnar repeated her question sarcastically, looking at Hiccup, who just rolled his eyes playfully.
Juno Solheim is the daughter of an escaped Roman captive, which resulted in the not-so-Viking first name. Soon after they arrived on Berk, her mother had married a Viking, who became her stepfather, hence Juno taking on her stepfather's name after their marriage.
Like Ragnar, her parents, her mother and her stepfather, died in a dragon hunt when she was six years old, so she was raised alongside him and Hiccup. The three of them had been best friends since they were small, and they were inseparable. But due to their relationships with each other, and that each of them share an unliked reputation among the village, they were given the group name "The Misfit Trio".
The meathead with interchangeable hands is Gobber. And those two snark-cases over there are Ragnar and Juno, my best friends. And pretty much also my only friends. The three of us had been Gobber's apprentices ever since we were little. Well, littler.
Hiccup took a couple of the swords that Ragnar was carrying and started to reheat the blunt blades. Albeit with a little extra effort to reheat the coals.
Stoick was still outside, ordering other Vikings. "Move down to the lower banks! We'll counter attack with the catapults." He said as a dragon burned down another roof.
See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.
That sure explains it.
"Fire!" One of the Vikings cried out.
"All right, let's go!" A female voice ordered in the distance that got Hiccup's attention. He looked out the window and saw the Fire Brigade, a group of teenage Vikings all looking about his age.
Oh, that's Fishlegs...
Fishlegs Ingermen was a big chubby blond Viking boy with small legs and a mouth that can fill a textbook. He wore a large fur shirt, pants, boots and a tiny helmet.
Snotlout...
Snotlout Jorgenson was Hiccup's second cousin and everything a Viking should be, including a large ego to fill an ocean. He had black straggly hair, a shirt with a grey fur vest, pants, fur boots, a helmet with ram horns, and decent arm muscles that he was always so eager to show off.
The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and...
The Thorston twins, though they share a birth date and looks, the only thing they have in common is their love for violence and mischief. Ruffnut is the girl and she wore her long blonde hair in three thick braids, two over her shoulders and the other one down on her back. She also wore a tan colored vest under a dark tunic and skirt, leggings, cloth and boots. Her helmet has two long horns on both sides and spikes down the middle.
Tuffnut wore his own long hair down, and he wears a dark fur vest with a grey tunic, dark leggings and boots. His helmet was similar to his sister's, except the main horns are different and at a different angle.
The last Viking is the one whose voice caught Hiccup off guard. She had just put out a patch of fire with her bucket of water when another fireball exploded behind her, highlighting her graceful yet powerful figure, which in his eyes, all happened in slow-motion.
Astrid.
Astrid Hofferson; the perfect example of a Viking shield maiden. Not only in looks, but in battle as well. She had blue eyes, blonde hair braided down her back, long bangs covering her left eye, a leather headband around her head, a light blue shirt, cloth bracers on her arms, a leather skirt decorated with skulls and spikes, dark leggings, and brown fur boots.
Ragnar and Juno saw Hiccup staring dreamily over at Astrid. Both of them just rolled their eyes; Ragnar with a teasing glint in his eyes, Juno in annoyance.
Ragnar snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face. "Berk to Hiccup." He said.
"Wh-what?" Hiccup asked, quickly getting out of his trance.
"Forget it, Hiccup." Juno said with a light scoff as she continued sharpening an axe. "She wouldn't get too close to you, even if she was on fire and you had the last bucket of water in town."
Ragnar gave her a harsh glare, but Hiccup stopped him from saying anything. "She's right, you know that." He mumbled.
"But that shouldn't stop you from trying." The Iverson boy insisted.
Suddenly, Gobber pulled Hiccup away from the window, making the Haddock boy groan. "Come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark!"
"Oh, you made plenty of marks." Gobber retorted. "All in the wrong places."
"Please, two minutes." Hiccup pleaded. "I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date." At that last statement, both Juno and Ragnar just rolled their eyes again.
Gobber started counting his fingers. "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" He said, lifting up a pair of bolas before a Viking snatched them from his hand and hurled it towards a dragon.
"I know, I know." Hiccup said before gesturing to a contraption. "But this will throw it for me."
The machine was something he, Ragnar, and Juno built in their spare time. He patted it, and it suddenly launched a bola at lightning speed at a nearby Viking. Juno, Ragnar, and Gobber all flinched.
"Now that right there, that's what I am talking about!" Gobber shouted.
"Mild calibration issue..." Hiccup started.
"Mild?" Juno questioned him, while Ragnar merely lifted an unconvinced eyebrow. Hiccup really has a talent for sugarcoating.
"Look, Hiccup." Gobber said. "If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all...this."
Hiccup looked at what Gobber pointed out. "You just gestured to all of me."
"That's right. Stop being all of you."
"Not helping, Gobber." Ragnar said to him.
"You sir, are playing a dangerous game." Hiccup replied crossly. "Keeping all this raw Viking-ness contained, there will be consequences!"
"I'll take my chances." Gobber deadpanned and picked a sword and handed to Hiccup. "Sword, sharpen, now."
Hiccup gave his mentor a glare before beginning to sharpen the blunt blade, with his friends giving him sympathetic looks. Then they each went back to their individual assignments.
One day, I'll get out there, 'cause killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get at least noticed.
The Deadly Nadder is a large bird-like dragon with large spikes on the crown of its head and poisonous spikes that can be unleashed from its tail at will. They come in all colors, and they can shoot white-hot fire; hot enough to melt rock in seconds.
Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those dragons will definitely get me a girlfriend.
The Gronckle is a short, lumpy dragon with super small wings for a dragon of its weight. They also be any color, with bumpy skin, a bludgeon-like tail, and can fire both lava and plain dragon fire.
A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status.
The Hideous Zippleback is a tall, two-headed dragon with long necks. One head breathes out flammable gas, the other one ignites it, causing powerful explosions.
A Zippleback blew up a storehouse, and the animals all scurried away. "They found the sheep!" A Viking cried out.
"Concentrate fire over the lower bank!" Stoick ordered to him.
And then, there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.
A Monstrous Nightmare came up on one of the catapults, its skin already alight with flames. It was snarling viciously, with fangs sticking out of its jaw like a crocodile, and crawling around like a bat, its wings folded to be able to climb.
"Reload!" Stoick said. "I'll take care of this." He began slapping the dragon across the face with his hammer.
But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one's ever seen. We call it the...
"NIGHT FURY!"
"Get down!"
A large white and purple blast of light suddenly illuminated the night sky as a shadow quickly flew by the tower, destroying the catapult with one blast. "Jump!" Stoick ordered, and everyone on the tower immediately did so to escape the collapsing building.
Hiccup, Ragnar and Juno all looked out the window of the armory, trying to get another glimpse of it.
This thing never steals food, never shows up, and...
Another white and purple blast blew up another catapult perched on a watch tower.
Never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm gonna be the first.
Gobber came up the three of them, putting on his axe prosthetic. "Man the fort, you three. They need me out there."
He started to leave, but then turned around. "Stay. Put. There."
The Misfit Trio just gave him a questioning look. "You know what I mean." He said to them before he headed out, emitting a war cry.
Hiccup then turned away, threw off his apron, put back on his vest, and started to wheel out his bola launcher. But Ragnar and Juno quickly stopped him, also taking off their own aprons.
"Where are you going?" Ragnar asked him.
"Look, this is the chance I've been waiting for." Hiccup said. "Might as well jump on it."
"Not without us, you're not." Juno replied as she grabbed a nearby dagger.
Hiccup gave his friends a smile. "Okay. Rag, help me roll this out."
Ragnar began wheeling out the bola launcher alongside Hiccup while Juno trailed behind them, while all of them dodging and ignoring Vikings ordering them to get back indoors. They eventually made it over to a cliff on the outskirts of the village, and while Ragnar and Juno stood watch, Hiccup readied the launcher.
"Come on. Give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at." Hiccup said under his breath.
Suddenly, a shadow caught his eye, barely seen in the night sky. Soon, a familiar blast of white and purple light destroyed another catapult. Hiccup quickly fired the launcher, which threw off him of it due to the recoil. A sharp screech was suddenly emitted. Hiccup looked over at where he heard the terrifying sound and saw the shadow going down into the forest.
"Oh, I hit it. Yes, I hit it!" Hiccup cheered.
"You really hit it?" Juno asked him as she and Ragnar came over.
"Great job, Hiccup." Ragnar said, giving his friend a light punch on the shoulder.
"Did anybody else see that?" Hiccup asked aloud, looking around.
Suddenly, a loud snapping and crunching was heard. The three friends all turned around and saw that a Monstrous Nightmare had just crushed the bola launcher under its giant foot, its eyes narrowed at them.
"Except for you." Hiccup deadpanned.
"RUN!" Juno screamed as the Nightmare began chasing after them. Luckily for them, their cries weren't unheard from within the village.
Juno threw her dagger at the dragon, which left a small slash into its wing, but it didn't stop the Nightmare. The three friends each hid behind a pillar when they got back into the plaza, which was relief for Hiccup, who barely dodged a stream of fire.
Ragnar was about to draw out his sword to try and attack the dragon and keep it away from Hiccup when Stoick suddenly came and punched the Nightmare away from them. The dragon attempted to shoot another fire blast at the Chief, but what came out was just a weak little fireball.
"You're all out." Stoick said before he punched the dragon again, sending to flee with the other dragons that were still alive. The sky had begun to turn light purple, signifying the coming dawn.
Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know.
Ragnar and Juno slowly came out of hiding when the pillar that Hiccup was behind collapsed, and tumbled down. Sounds of surprised Vikings from afar, who were dodging the debris, caused the three of them to wince, knowing that they were trouble.
"Sorry, Dad." Hiccup said, not looking up to see Stoick's harsh glare.
That's right. Hiccup is Stoick's son and only child by blood, which makes him the heir to the throne of Berk. Lucky him.
EDITED CHAPTER: 6/28/24.