1 Chapter 1

- ?? POV

"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. And it's been here for 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. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes, we have…dragons."

I monologued while opening the door to my home. I, however, had to quickly shut it again as the head of a red dragon came into view and started to blast fire in my direction.

"Most people would leave. But not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues."

I kept up with the internal monologue as I opened the door again and ran outside to the village. All around, you could see dragons in all shapes and sizes grabbing sheep while the people was attacking them in hope of avoiding losing their livestock.

I had to stop my running momentarily as a man was dropped in front of me. His axe landed in front of his face before he quickly got up, grabbed his axe again and ran off with a battle cry.

"My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But, it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking Demeanor wouldn't do that."

I crouched under a log that was carried by two men, causing a man to smack his head into it as he looked in my direction. I ran a bit further, seeing a man being shot at by one of the gronckles. He landed on top of me, his axe still raised and a few burns in his beard. He screamed before looking at me and smiled.

"Mornin!" He said and ran off again with a battlecry.

I ran between a few houses, reaching the wooden walkway where people were running with barrels of supplies. Passing them while running, they kept commenting.

"What are you doing here!?"

"Get inside!"

"What are you doing out!?"

"Get back inside!"

Those were some of the comments that were passed in my direction as I ran past a man rinsing his ear while looking nonchelant about the whole dragon attack.

As I attempted to pass a street, a dragon swooped down while firing a fireblast. I was grabbed by my collar and dragged back by a big man. He had green eyes and long red hair. He had a very large and muscular figure with barely visible freckles. His hair was in a thick braid in the back. The trend of braiding carried on his beard which was intricate in its many strands. His clothes consisted of a large fur cloak draped over his shoulder, a dark green tunic from shoulder to knee, metal shoulder pads, a chainmail skirt with striped pantaloons, and fur boots. On his head he wears a large horned helmet. He also wore rounded-spiked braces around his wrists.

He held me up while pointing at me.

"What is HE doing out here aga-?" He gave up on that question as he asked me this time.

"What are you doing out!? Get inside!"

He dropped me and shoved me in a certain direction.

"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 of its shoulders."

You could see Stoick grabbing a wooden cart before throwing it at the head of a Deadly nadder. It whimpered and flied away again.

"Do I believe it? Yes, I do."

Another boy in the distance could be seen arriving next to Stoick. He stood at a height of 7ft. making him taller than stoick by a couple inches. But still, he was covered in muscles. He had long red hair that was put into a single large braid down his back, almost reaching his waist. He had started to grow a small beard, but nothing compared to Stoick.

This was Ragnar, the first born son of the chief. While he seemed to be an adult, he was barely any older than me. He was born two years before me. He was, however, almost as legendary as the chief. They say he started to walk within months after his birth, speaking around the same time, and killed his first dragon by throwing a small rock into its eye so hard it came out of the back of it`s head. And that was just as a small kid. Once again, do I believe it? Absolutely. He is a beast at killing dragons, earning him the name `Dragons bane´. The first dragon he killed, was after all, a monstrous nightmare.

The chief turned to him, but Ragnar managed to speak first.

"What have we got?" He asked as he threw a battleaxe at the head of a gronckle.

"Gronckles, nadders, zipplebacks. Hork also saw a monstrous nightmare around here..." Stoick replied. An explosion was seen in the background and a small piece of burning wood landed on stoicks shoulder-pauldron. He just swiped it off casually while Ragnar replied.

"Any nightfuries?" Ragnar asked.

"None so far."

"Good."

Stoick had always been proud of Ragnar. This also came from the fact that he seemed to have inherited the strength he himself was known for.

I just kept running by as they raised the giant torches to light the sky, making it easier to spot the dragons flying about. I ran into the smithy where I was met with a man hammering away at some weapon. He wiped his brow and spoke to me.

"Oh, so nice of yer to join the party. I thought yer had been carried off."

I turned around while putting on the brown leather apron.

"Who? Me? Nah come on, Im way too muscular for their taste." I said while struggling to hang a hammer onto the wall behind me.

"They wouldnt even know what to do with all this." I said while striking a pose.

"Well, they need toothpicks, dont they?" The man said while changing his detachable hammer-arm with tongs.

I ran over and opened the window hatch. I received a bunch of broken weapons almost immediatly and had to carry them back to the forge with a small bit of difficulty.

"The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well, little-er." I started to fan the flames of the forge.

Outside stood stoick, barking orders.

"We move to the lore defences, we`ll carry on the attack with the catapults." He said and started running with the other vikings. However, in front of them a dragon came flying in, presumeably aiming at them, but ended up hitting a house situated above them. They kept running however.

"See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses."

A man yelled out.

"Fire!"

Nearby, a group of teens was seen near a giant barrel. They filled buckets with water before running towards the burning house.

First came a very large and husky boy. He wore a brown fur tunic, with a tiny horned helmet.

"Oh and that's Fishlegs....."

Next came a boy wearing a helmet with spiral sheep horns, his tunic tucked in his pants with open-stitching at the chest and a black vest over it, dark gray bracers on his arms, and matching fur boots.

"Snotlout..."

Next was a pair of twins, they were fighting over a bucket. First was the sister. She wore a light brown, animal skin-like mini vest and a dark blue tunic that reaches just past her hips and ends in tatters. She wears a grayish-brown mini-skirt that also ends in tatters. Around her waist, she wears a metal-leather belt with a crest in the center. helmet is studded with four horns, similar to her brother's, albeit the horns being longer and more slender: the top two are thinner bull-like horns while the two bottom horns are longer and curved. Her hair is evenly divided in slightly to the side and short bangs across the left side of her face. She has two small braids above her ears and three long braids that reach to her waist. Around her neck, she wears a necklace with the pendant of a dragon tooth or claw. She's slim for a Viking and has tan skin, just like her brother, along with a pair of pale-blue eyes.

"The twins, Ruffnut, and....."

Then came her twin brother. He wore a dark brown, long, fur animal vest with a very light pale green tunic that goes past his hip. Around his waist, there's a brown sash. He also wears light grey-blue pants and dark brown furry boots. On his arms, he wears a long brown arm cloth armband that starts at his elbows and ends at his wrists. His helmet is studded and has four horns: the top two are bull-like, and the bottom two resemble ox horns. His long blond hair is unevenly divided in the middle and appears to in dreadlocks. He's relatively slim for a Viking and has tan skin with dark-blue eyes. His necklace's pendant is a large dragon claw or tooth.

"Tuffnut...."

And then came the final person. She is quite petite for a Viking, with mid-back length blonde hair that is styled in a braid down her back with fringes that slightly cover the left side of her face. She has a metal-studded kransen encircling her head and light-blue eyes. She wears a sleeveless nalbinded shirt in varying shades of steel-blue, tan cloth bracers on her arms with a bit of cloth laced between her first and second fingers, bicep wrappings, a brownish red leather Gladiator skirt with metal spikes, a dark brown skirt underneath the spiked one, and dark blue leggings. She wears a belt decorated with silver skulls with a pouch tied to it. She also wears metal shoulder guards which are attached to two silver skulls.

"and…Astrid."

They had pored their water over the fire and was walking away. An explosion happened in the background, which only made them look cooler.

"Aw, their job is so much cooler." I leaned slightly over the counter, but was grabbed by the back of my neck. I was lifted into the air as Gobber brought me back inside.

"Aw, come on. Let me out please? I need to make my mark." I pleaded.

"Oh, yer made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places." He said while poking my chest with his tong hand.

"Please two minutes, I`ll kill a dragon, my life will get infinetily better." I sighed and raised my arm to the side.

"I might even get a date.." Gobber scoffed lightheartedly.

"Yer cant lift a hammer. Yer cant swing an axe. Yer cant even swing one of these."

He listed off, ending with holding up ropes with rocks tied to the end of them. While he wasnt looking, Ragnar came and grabbed the bola from him. He ran out and threw it, hitting a gronckle that crashed to the ground with a grunt.

"Okay fine, but this will throw it for me." I said while walking backwards to a contraption. I patted it lightly, causing it to misfire, hitting a man who came to the window hatch. He fell backwards, unconscious.

"See, now that right here, what I am talking about." Gobber said as he walked towards me.

"M-mild calibration issue." I tried defending. Gobber however, cut me off.

"Hiccup! If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all.... this" He said while waving his arms at me.

"What? You just pointed to all of me." I responded. He poked me in the chest.

"Yes, that`s it. Stop being all of you." I narrowed my eyes at him and he responded in kind.

"Ohhh...."

"Ohhhh...." I started to shake my finger at him, while he too waved his finger and nodding.

"You sir are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much... raw viking-ness contained, there will be consequenses!" I exaggerated.

"I`ll take my chances." Gobber said and turned his back to me. Turning around, he had a sword in his arms.

"Sword, sharpen, now." He said and lightly dropped it in my arms, which still almost managed to make me lose my balance.

I walked over to the grindstone and started to sharpen the sword I was given.

"One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here."

Outside, a group of deadly nadders could be seen. They were blue with spike on their tails and the head.

"A Nadderhead is sure to get me at least noticed."

Next to the nadders, a couple of smaller brown dragons that resembles rocks were grabbing stuff.

"Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend."

Not far away, outside a house, a green dragon with two long necks with its own heads was seen. One head spewed green gas inside where the other created a spark, causing an explosion.

"A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status."

On the opposite side of a bridge was one of the towers. On the top of the tower stood Ragnar and another viking.

"Theyre finding the sheep!" The viking called out.

"Concentrate the fire over the lore bank!" Ragnar called out. They turned the tower around, showing a catapult on the top of the tower. They fired the catapult, hitting a couple dragons in the process. Ragnar stood on the top, looking out over the village and keeping an eye on the dragons.

"Then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire." Ragnar looked down to see a flaming red dragon with black horns crawling up the tower towards him. He grabbed a hammer attached to his waist while staring down the beast.

He smacked it in the head with the hammer a couple of times. Hearing a sound in the air, both Ragnar and the monstrous nightmare stopped their fighting and looked up. The dragon quickly ran away.

"But the ultimate prize is the one dragon no one's ever seen. We call it the…"

"Night Fury! Get down!" A couple of vikings called out. Everyone took cover behind their shields.

A blast of plasma shot out of the dark, hitting the catapult where Ragnar stood. He jumped off the tower as it went up in flames.

"This thing never steals food, never shows itself and…never misses." A second blast was fired at the tower.

"No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first."

I resolutely walked inside the workshop. I saw Gobber changing his arm from the tongs to an axe.

"Mind the forge Hiccup. They need ME out there." He said and hobbled his way outside. However, when he reached the doorway, he turned around and pointed at me.

"Stay, er, put, there. You know what I mean. RAAAGGHHH!" He said before raising his axe and calling out a battlecry while running off.

I quickly grabbed my throwing mechanism and ran outside. I had to run by a few groups of vikings.

"Hey watch it! Shouldn`t you be at home!?" A few of them called out.

"Right. I know, I know. Be right back!" I called back. I just continued running however.

Stoick and Ragnar came upon a few nadder preying on their sheep and threw a couple of nets over them, effectively taking them out of the fight. One of them managed to get its head through the net and spewed a few flames. Ragnar just jumped up and grabbed it by its maw. He punched it a couple of times, subduing him.

"It seems they still have some juice in them." He managed to lay it on the ground, making some smoke come from it`s nostrils.

I however managed to run to the top of a hill. There I put up my contraption and started to aim into the dark night sky.

"Come on... give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at."

I kept aiming in the dark. I heard a dragon cry and started to look more around. I finally heard the iconic sound that was associated with the night fury and aimed at it as it appeared to shoot down another tower.

I accidentally fired the launcher and was thrown back onto the ground myself. I however, saw that the nightfury went down somewhere in the woods. I scrambled to my feet. With disbelief I said.

"Oh oh oh, I hit it? Yes I hit it." I cheered with my hands above my head. I turned around, not seeing the dragon that crawled behind me.

"Did anybody see that?" I asked in astonishment. I heard a growl and flinched as I turned around. I slumped my shoulders, seeing the dragon.

"Except for you....." It prepared to fire at me, but I ran away, making it chase me across the rooftops. Ragnar seeing this couldnt help but sigh.

"Same old Hiccup." He started to run off but looked back to the vikings that were helping him hold down the nadders.

"Do not let them escape!" He called back.

I ran and evaded a blast of fire that hit a stone wall on the side of the road. I quickly ran and hid behind a wooden pillar that held up the pyre.

The monstrous nightmare fired off a blast that surrounded the base of the pillar while I curled into myself protectively. As the fire subsided, I decided to look around the pillar to see the dragons next moves, but never noticed that the dragon did the same on the opposite side. It was about to bite into me when Ragnar arrived and hit it away.

He rolled back to his feet and stared down the dragon. He just tipped his horned helmet that had become crooked when he hit it away. The monstrous nightmare attempted to fire another blast at Ragnar, but nothing more than a small stream came out.

"Yer all out..." He said as he walked forward. He threw a punch at the dragons maw that connected. The dragon recoiled and Ragnar followed up with an uppercut and a right haymaker. He finished it off by kicking the dragon, making it finally realize that it couldnt do as it wanted, and flew away.

"Oh and theres one more thing you need to know."

Ragnar walked up to the pillar and stood before its base. The wooden pillar had been burned so badly that it started to collapse. It fell over and let the pyre fall down the wooden walkway. Once it fell over, it showed Hiccup on the other side of it.

"Sorry.... brother..."

The pyre finally reached the bottom of the cliff and landed amongst the nadders that had been captured earlier, causing the men to flee and the nadders to be released.

When the sun slowly started to show on the horizon, dragons could be seen carrying off the sheep and other goods.

I stood there surrounded by multiple vikings. They all started to grumble at the fact that I had caused so much damage, and Im not even a dragon. Ragnar just looked at him with disappointment. I just quickly pointed loosely.

"Okay, but I hit a nightfury..." I was grabbed by my brothers large hand and dragged off. As I was being carried off I tried to explain myself.

"No no no, it not like the last few times. Brother, I mean I actually managed to hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down just behind Raven point. Lets get a search party out there and I-" I never managed to finish before I was put down in front of an angry Stoick.

"Stop!" He shouted at me. "Just.. stop..." He said in a lower tone.

"Every time you step outside, disaster falls. Can you not see I have bigger problems?" I swallowed.

"Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed." I became a bit cheeky.

"Well between you and me, the village could do with a bit less feeding dont you think.." I could hear murmurs behind me.

"This isnt a joke Hiccup! Why cant you follow the simplest orders?" He sighed.

"I-I-I cant help myself. I see a dragon, and I have to just kill it you know? Its, you know, its who I am dad."

Ragnar just shook his head while holding an arm around Astrids shoulder. Astrid leaned closer.

"Dont you think you should help your brother Ragnar?" She asked.

"Normally I would, but this time we lost a lot. Just this one time, he needs to listen to dad."

Stoick rubbed his face.

"Yer many things Hiccup..... But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house." He said. He looked to Gobber.

"Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up....." Gobber smacked me over the back of my head. As we walked by the other youth, some of them laughed.

"Quite the performance." Tuffnut commented while giving two sarcastic thumbs up.

"I`ve never seen anyone mess up that badly." Snotlout commented.

"Thank you, thank you I was trying so..." Gobber pushed away his face after I had passed him. I looked up to see my brother standing there with his arms around his girlfriend, Astrid, who I coincidentally also had a crush on.

"I know that you can be a proper viking one day Hiccup." Ragnar said. "But think about how you will achieve that first." I could only nod at my brothers words as I left back to the chieftains hut.