Space. Time. Reality.
It's not a linear equation, but a prism of infinite realities. Where a single choice can branch out and create whole worlds, different than the ones you know.
I am the Watcher. I am your guide to these strange new worlds. Follow me and ponder. . .
What if?
"-Leaving! We are so leaving!" Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III declared as he walked into a rocky cove with a basket of supplies. "Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. . . Forever."
With the cove appearing to be empty, if anyone saw Hiccup now, they would think that he had lost his mind. But the cove was not empty. And if they saw who or what Hiccup was talking to, they'd still think him mad regardless.
See, Hiccup is a Viking. Not your average Viking due to the lack of muscles that wasn't between his ears and a lack of bloodlust, but a Viking nonetheless. A son of a chief no less! In which the chief must be stronger than the rest. Tougher than his village and violent if need be. Hiccup was not that Viking.
I bet your asking, what does his status of Viking have anything to do with this? Well, his friend, his best friend, his . . . only friend on the island, was a dragon, one of the species that his people just happen to be at war with for survival.
Yay.
But it wasn't just any dragon. It wasn't a Deadly Nadder with the hottest fire of any dragon. It wasn't a Gronckle with the toughest hide. It wasn't an exotic two headed Hideous Zippleback. It wasn't a Monstrous Nightmare, the dragon the best Vikings go after. Or even a small Terrible Terror.
Nope. Hiccup just has to make a statement when it comes to choices in life. This dragon was the deadliest, the most feared, the dreaded and respected dragon known to Vikings in the Barbaric Archipelago. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. The Night Fury.
Now, you're probably wondering the same thing. How? How did he. the runt, do it? How did he befriend the deadliest creature known to Vikings? Well, it goes like this: During a Dragon Raid, he was so desperate to prove himself, so he took one of his inventions and shot down this Night Fury with the desire to kill him.
Talk about first impressions, am I right?
But you have to understand. Doing so would have caused the village to finally treat him right, like an equal and not an outcast. They'd through a feast in his honor. The adults would sing him praises. Most of the teens would drop at his feet, begging for his forgiveness. For all the pain they brought him. Both physical and emotional. Astrid Hofferson, a Shield Maiden to be, and arguably the best warrior in his generation would be impressed and see him as a friend at the most.
Killing the dragon would immediately earn him the village's love, something he had been striving for years. Finally, he would no longer suffer in loneliness. Finally, he would be accepted. FINALLY, HIS OWN FATHER WOULD TRULY LOVE HIM!
But, when the young Viking heir found his prey, tied up and helpless and accepting death, Hiccup found himself lacking the will to go through with it. Wouldn't go through with it. Instead of killing him, he see the dragon free.
"A dragon always go for the kill." That was a moto of the Vikings that had been drilled into their heads from generation to generation. Hiccup had been sure that was going to come true once the beast had pounced on the boy, but all it did was roar in his face before flying off. Sparing the human just as the human had for him seconds before. The Night Fury had plenty of opportunities after that, the means and the motive to kill Hiccup, but he didn't. If the Night Fury didn't go for the kill like the adults had said, what else was wrong about the dragons?
Vikings and Dragons have been at odds for three centuries. Three centuries of bloodshed on both sides. Families ripped away. Mothers and fathers slaughtered. Children taken before their time. Hiccup's own mother was taken by a dragon when he was a babe. Being brought up to hate the dragons as much as his parents and their parents before them and then go against their beliefs would surely have Hiccup be cast out at best or even outright killed at worst.
Why was Hiccup so willing to trust this dragon rather than what the other Vikings believed in? Because he was treated better by a "mindless and bloodthirsty beast" then by his own people.
Day in and day out for six years, Hiccup was sentenced to torment by the kids his age. Namely his own cousin, Snotlout Jorgenson and the Thorston twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut. The three had bullied him physically and verbally.
The other teen, Fishlegs Ingerman did not bully Hiccup once. He just stood to the side and did nothing. Despite his larger size, the blonde boy was too timid and shy to do anything. What made this sting was that the two used to be friends when they were younger. Hiccup wagered that he would rather stick with the cool kids than hang out with the Village runt and outcast.
Astrid Hofferson had never bullied the Viking heir but she also never stood up for him. When I said that she was the best warrior in his generation, I meant it. She had built up the reputation of a fierce warrior and had trained hard to get where she was. Reputation means everything to her, especially since her family name and clan was disgraced by the death of her uncle and she wasn't going to have it be tarnished by being associated by the village runt.
The only upside was the Village Blacksmith, Gobber the Belch. Hiccup had been his apprentice since was smaller than he was now. The meathead with interchangeable hands and an attitude had been more of a father to Hiccup than compared to the Village chief. Oh, and there was Gothi, the village's mute medicine woman. The woman was closest person Hiccup had to a grandmother figure. And there was Bucket and Mulch. Despite the former's faulty memory, the interactions Hiccup had with them were mostly positive.
Now what else had driven Hiccup to the decision of leaving? After he found himself without the will to kill a dragon, Hiccup's father had him enrolled to Dragon Training. The class that trains the young generation to fight dragons. This was something of Hiccup's fault because of all the times he had tried to become a Dragon Killer to fit in society. By befriending the Night Fury, he had learned what other Vikings haven't, including Fishlegs. Dragons don't like eels. They act like felines that found catnip in tall grass fields, chase the lights from shiny objects and have a sensitive spot under their chins and like being scratched. He had used this knowledge to pass Dragon Training like a prodigy. He has a suspicion that Astrid would find this as cheating but unlike the other teens, Hiccup had no training to be a warrior. That wasn't entirely true. He was trained by the heiress to the Bog Burglars to be a swordsman, but he chose to show that brain was better over brawn. He was apprentice to the Blacksmith and he used his knowledge of dragon weaknesses to subdue them rather than try to hurt them.
But weeks had gone by, his friendship with the Night Fury, Toothless, had grown strong. And Hiccup had been focused on spending the days with him, that he had forgotten that the recruit that did best in Dragon Training would win the honor of killing a dragon before the entire village including his father, Stoick the Vast. And he had won the final test.
So, he had packed most of his belongings and came here to the cove, intent to leave Berk and the Barbaric Archipelago altogether with his best friend.
A gentle warble brought him out of his thoughts. Looking up, Hiccup saw Toothless bounding to him as he set the large basket down. "Hey, bud." he greeted. "I'm hope you're well rested and fed because we're flying far from here."
Toothless titled his head in response, his expression one of mild confusion. "We're leaving, bud. Both Berk and the Archipelago." Hiccup stated sternly. The Night Fury stared for a moment before shrugging and nuzzling Hiccup. The boy chuckled warmly before opening his basket. His small smile faltered at the object at the top of his basket. His helmet.
The night before, Stoick had given the helmet to him. For as strained and distant the relationship between father son had been, it was a nice gift. Until now. That and that the helmet was half of his mother's breast plate. Other than that, Hiccup now saw the helmet as a symbol that he was a Dragon Killer and he wasn't. So could he really wear it? No. No, he couldn't.
He picked up the helmet and threw it as hard as he could. He got on Toothless' back, hooked himself to the saddle and paused. He glanced up to the top of the cove. Out to the direction of where the Village was. He stared silently in the direction of the village. Briefly, he thought about how the village would react to his disappearance.
On one hand, he was the son of the chief. Stoick would most likely order search parties for him, Gobber would be leading them for many hours or maybe even days before giving up. Would he be declared dead? Mostly likely if he left no trace of himself at Berk or anywhere in the Archipelago. After that, Stoick would have to name someone else as heir. Probably Snotlout since he was family and that the village seemed to value warriors over all else. Personally, Hiccup hoped that it wouldn't be Snotlout, his cousin had an ego big as a mountain and usually used his weapons or fists to solve problems. If he is chosen as heir, then maybe Stoick's training and expectations would finally humble the Jorgenson boy.
On the other though, people had saw him as the village screw up because of many of his inventions failing. (Though he had a suspicion that was because the Thorston twins had sabotaged most of them.) There would probably be some Vikings throwing a party after he was declared dead. Mainly Snotlout and Mildew the Unpleasant. The former was certainly not a friend of Hiccup and the latter just hated everyone. The Thorston twins would most likely have no reaction other than the knowledge that they had one less victim to prank. Fishlegs would probably the only one to really grieve over his "death" out of their past friendship. Astrid, well he couldn't be certain based on how little they had interacted their whole lives and even then, it wasn't enough for any reaction. But Hiccup had hoped she would feel something. Just to show that she was human.
Then he realized something. The dragons in the Arena. Sure he had only interacted with Toothless but could he really let intelligent creatures like them be left in cages? Especially the Monstrous Nightmare. With him leaving, that would mean that runner up of the Dragon Training Class would be the one to kill the Nightmare. He flicked the pedal and the Night Fury's tailfin flicked. "Let's go, Bud." he said before they took off.
He'll drop off his stuff at a sea stack far from Berk and come back at night and release the dragons.
Roughly six hours later, the Dragon Rider duo quietly circled around the island and landed on the bridge that led to the Arena. Dismounting slowly to avoid jangling the metal pieces of the ring and raising a racket, Hiccup raced for the Arena and levered the doors open. Thank goodness they'd built in some sort of levers for these things. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to open them on his own.
Once both doors to the Arena were open, Hiccup took a deep breath and headed to the cage containing the Terrible Terror. He pushed the handle to the door of its cage and the little dragon shot out of its cat flap.
Slowly, Hiccup knelt down and held his hand out, holding some pieces of yak jerky to the small animal. Cautiously, the green dragon approached him and caught the jerky in its mouth. It looked up at him and slowly settled its snout under his outstretched palm. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hiccup scratched the back of the Terror's neck and moved under the jaw, hitting the dragon's sweet spot. Once it fainted, Hiccup carried the little Terror out of the Arena and placed it on the ground.
One down, four to go.
Next, he released the Gronckle. The dragon charged out, looking for shields to target. When she found none, she dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks. Confusion filled her being. Where were the shields or the Viking younglings? And why was she was out of her cage at night? She looked around and saw a Viking youngling against the wall. She walked forward with a tilted head. Why was he against the wall and where was his shield? Then she recognized his scent. That of dragon scales, charcoal and that wonderful grass. When they first encountered, she had assumed that he had recently killed a dragon but she now knew that he didn't have a scent of dragon blood on him. Knowing that, she fell asleep next to him earlier in the day.
Hiccup took her approach as a good sign and walked forward with his hand out. He gently placed it on her snout. The Gronckle's eyes widened at the gentle touch on her sensitive nostrils and purred. Hiccup began to slowly walk to the right, turning the Gronckle with him before he paused in front of the door. He removed his hand and gestured to the door.
But she did not fly for freedom immediately like Hiccup had expected her too. Instead she just gave him a quizzical expression as if asking what to do. Hiccup gestured to the open door again. She looked back and forth between him and the door before she slowly began to fly away, giving him a brief smile as she did so.
Two down, three to go.
He ran to the Deadly Nadder's cage. He pressed himself against the wall and opened the cage. The brilliant blue dragon stepped out into the open. She took one look around and saw the open doors to the Arena. She squawked and ran out the Arena without a second thought. Hiccup relaxed but felt a little disappointed. While he didn't have to convince a dragon to not eat him, he wished he had gotten a better look at her. The Nadder was really beautiful. He shrugged.
Three down, two to go.
Hiccup a deep breath as he opened the Zippleback's cage. Luckily, it didn't fill the Arena with its gas. He didn't look forward to waiting for the gas to clear or meet the dragon in the gas cloud. Much like the Nadder, the two headed dragon flew out of the Arena without a second thought. Unlike the Nadder, Hiccup wasn't that upset to see it leave. That thing was worse as the twins to deal with.
Four gone and one left. The Monstrous Nightmare.
He walked over to the crank and opened the door. However, the Nightmare didn't come out. Confused, Hiccup slowly peaked in and saw the red dragon. . . just lying in the middle of the cage and looking bored.
Slowly, Hiccup approached the Nightmare who had now noticed the Viking boy and rose its head up just slightly. He raised his hand and held it over the dragon's snout. He briefly held his breath. This was the second most dangerous dragon known to Vikings and he had jaws big enough to eat him whole. The Nightmare moved close to the boy's hand and Hiccup began to walk backwards and the Nightmare followed after him. Once they were out of the Arena, Hiccup gently placed his hand on the Nightmare's nostrils and the red and black dragon purred like a regal cat. Smiling, Hiccup began to lead the dragon towards the Arena's exit.
Once they were both outside, Hiccup gestured to the sky. The Nightmare took off, silent as a shadow. Now all five dragons were free. Turning back to Toothless, Hiccup saw that the Terror had taken residence, sitting on the Fury's back. He chuckled lightly before climbing on the saddle, pushing the Terror back a little. "Okay, Bud. Let's go now." he said.
Toothless warbled and took off.
____________
They flew far from Berk, enjoying the view of the night sky, dipping in and out of the clouds like a playful dolphin. Hiccup looked up at the starry sky, Berk far from his mind now. Who wanted a a grounded, downtrodden life when all of the sky was at your fingertips?
Faintly, there was a humming growl. Toothless' eyes became slit before he abruptly dived into the fog below. Hiccup cried out in surprise. "Toothless, what's happening?" he asked.
"W-What is it?" He asked nervously before a Monstrous Nightmare appeared next to them. Instinctively, Hiccup ducked down, pressing himself against Toothless' back. Then a Deadly Nadder appeared on the left. Soon more and more Dragons of different species appeared in the fog. What was going on, Hiccup didn't know.
"Toothless, you have to get us out of here, Bud." he whispered but the dragon shook his head and snarled. He recoiled slightly. The Night Fury had never snarled after they established a friendship. He looked back and saw the Terror was flying on its own with its own pupils now narrow slits. He looked around and saw one thing in common. They appeared to be hauling in their kill.
What does that make me? Hiccup thought before the sarcastic part of his mind answered. The uninvited dinner guest. Hopefully.
He saw a Zippleback with a missing front leg glaring at him and a Gronckle the color of sandstone. Then he saw the same dragons from the Arena flying above him. Then, the Dragons all dived down in unison, stopping when they were just a few meters above the water. They all moved in sync. Right then left and under a rocky formation before Hiccup saw a large island with a glowing red mountain. The dragons then entered a cave. Soon they entered a large cavern with red fog at the bottom and hundreds of dragons.
He and Toothless had just found the Dragons' Nest.
"What Dad wouldn't give to find this," Hiccup said to himself, knowing that Stoick had spent many years of his life searching for the Dragons' Nest.
Toothless flew around and landed on a ledge that had a small rock wall to hide behind. "Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food is dumped down a hole," Hiccup remarked sarcastically but was confused. Why fight the Vikings tooth and claw to steal their food only to dump it all into a big hole? They weren't eating it or even offering it to the hatchlings. He looks up and sees the sandstone Gronckle from earlier flying over the pit. It hovered and regurgitated a small fish into the pit. As it dropped, the Gronckle scratched at its ear like a dog before a growl was heard. The Gronckle looked down and tried to fly away with a fearful expression.
And suddenly a massive dragon's head rose out of the fog and ate it as if it was a fly.
Hiccup's eyes widened as he leaned back and heard the other dragons whimpering and hiding in fear as the massive dragon's head lowered back down into the fog. That thing was bigger than the biggest Monstrous Nightmare he had seen in his life.
His heartrate quickened when it rose back up, just barely and began to sniff the air. Then it clicked. He was human and humans smell different than Dragons. He leaned down to Toothless' head. "Okay, Bud. We have to get out of here." he whispered urgently. "Now!"
Toothless shook his head and took off just as the Red Death snapped her jaws where they just were. The action caused the other dragons to fly up towards the exit in the mountain's ceiling. Hiccup looked back and saw that it was crawling up after them and that it had six eyes. Then he saw its jaws open wide. However, they closed down on the three legged Zippleback Hiccup saw earlier.
The Red Death did not seem to care and lowered back down but not before glaring at Hiccup with its six eyes.
Toothless flew far from the Nest and rested on a sea stack. He and the Terror warbled in concern at the human he now saw as a brother. Encountering the Red Death wasn't something that humans did every day.
Hiccup sat down panting. "Oh man, that was intense." he muttered fearfully. He grabbed a twig and began to drag it across the ground. His mind concentrated on what he had saw.
The dragons were being controlled by that. . . Queen in the Nest. They had to bring food to feed it and themselves. Dragons were capable of finding enough fish for themselves, Toothless was proof of that. So the only reason they raided the Vikings was to get extra food to feed that gigantic dragon or they would be eaten themselves.
Things just got complicated. And on the night he planned to leave the Barbaric Archipelago.
So what do you think? Off to a good start?
Now let's explain this world, shall we? Berk, and the Archipelago does exist in Remnant but has little contact with the outside world. I would say the Vikings are like the Jabari Tribe from Black Panther. They isolated themselves before the Great War and live in a place that doesn't have abundance of Dust but has a lot of Dragons. Grimm do appear now and then but the Dragons keep them at bay. The Vikings are not aware of Aura or Semblances. If some are, they see it as witchcraft and sorcery. Plus they're Vikings. They'd believe that they would do fine without any of that.
As for Dragons in the outside world, a vast majority have went to the Hidden World, especially after the Great War. The only ones who would know about them are Ozma and his Inner Circle and they have gone to great lengths to ensure that Salem has not found out about their existence.
And yes, this is a "Hiccup leaves Berk" fanfic. I first drafted this to be a modern AU where Hiccup is a crime fighting vigilante like Batman in a world where Superheroes are illegal, like the world of The Incredibles but I ended up changing it to a crossover with RWBY. (Something that I noticed is rarely done.)