North Sea - Berk
(We skim above a dark, wild ocean. The camera turns toward alone island, Berk. It is a gigantic shard of rock jutting straight out of the water)
Hicca: "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."
(The camera drifts over rolling hills to reveal a small village nestled on an outcropping of sea mounts)
Hicca: "My village. In a word, sturdy. And it's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new."
(The camera drifts closer, circling)
Hicca: "We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitos. We have..."
(Sheep graze peacefully on a hillside. Suddenly one is snatched)
Stoick's House
(A door is pulled open... as a Dragon swoops directly toward it, blasting fire. The door is slammed. The fire shoots through the slats of wood, illuminating Hicca, a gangly teenage Viking)
Hicca: ...dragons.
(She reopens the sizzling door, as leaps off of the front porch. She weaves through the erupting mayhem as Vikings pour out of the buildings, ready for a fight. More dragons swarm in, setting rooftops alight and hauling off sheep)
Hicca: "Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues."
(Vikings sound the alarm. Viking men and women pour out into the streets, axes in hand. Hicca is darting through alleys, staying under eaves, making her way through the battle)
Hicca: "My name's Hicca. 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."
(Dragons sweep back and forth, dodging axes and blasting the Vikings who throw them. A burly warrior gets tossed in an explosion, knocking Hicca to the ground)
Viking: Arggghhhhh!
(His expression changes to a cheery one)
Viking: Mornin'!
(Hicca gets to her feet and continues to rush past gigantic men and women)
Viking 2: What are you doing out!?
Viking 3: Get inside!
Viking 4: Get back inside!
(Enter Stoick, the biggest Viking of all. He yanks Hicca from the path of a strafing dragon and holds aloft to the crowd)
Stoick: Hicca!?
(Stoick points at the crowd accusingly)
Stoick: What is she doing out again?!
(He looks down at Hicca)
Stoick: What are you doing out?! Get inside!
(The flames light up his scowling face and matted red beard. He sets Hicca down and turns to the sky, searching)
Hicca: "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. Do I believe it?"
(Stoick grabs a wooden cart and hurls it, knocking the strafing dragon out of the sky)
Hicca: "Yes I do."
(An explosion forces Vikings to duck. Stoick stands firm, brushing flaming debris off of his shoulder)
Stoick: What have we got?
Viking 5: Gronkles. Nadders. Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare.
Stoick: Any Night Furies?
Viking 5: None so far.
Stoick: Good.
Viking 6: Hoist the torches!
(Massive flaming braziers are raised on poles, lighting up thenight sky... and revealing swirling dragons of all types. Below, Hicca crosses an open plaza and ducks into an open building with a tall chimney)
Blacksmith Stall
(She crosses behind a counter, where a peg-legged, one-armed hulk of a Blacksmith reshapes blades with a hammer and tongs appendage)
Gobber: Ah! Nice of you to join the party. I thought you'd been carried off.
(Hicca dons a leather apron and starts to put away Gobber's scattered appendages)
Hicca: Who me? Nah, come on! I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this.
(Hicca strikes a body builder pose)
Gobber: They need toothpicks, don't they?
(Hicca gets to work, transferring bent and chipped weapons to the forge as Vikings crowd the counter for replacements)
Hicca: "The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well... littler."
Stoick: We move to the lower defenses. We'll counter-attack with the catapults.
(Armed men rush past, flanking others who carry sheep to safety. Stoick follows up the rear as, overhead, a dragon strafes the rooftops with Napalm-like fire)
Hicca: "See? Old village. Lots and lots of new houses."
Viking 7: FIRE!
(In response, the fire brigade charges through the plaza, four teens, tugging a large wooden cask on wheels. From it, they fill buckets of water to douse the flames. One among them is a cute, energetic Viking girl. Hicca leans out of the stall to watch her)
Hicca: "Oh and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout. The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut. And Astrid."
(A explosion happens behind Astrid, she turns around and sees a Gronckle flying out of the fire. She's about to jump away but another teen jumps out of the explosion holding a sword, he lands ontop of the Gronckle and stabs his sword into its neck. Astrid and Hicca look at the teen love struck as he's being framed by the explosion)
Hicca: "And that's Y/n... the coolest and strongest Vikings around, and he's my only friend."
(Y/n pulls his sword out of the Gronckle and wipes the blood out of the blade)
Stoick: Y/n! Come!
(Y/n starts to run off but not before waving at Hicca who nervously returns the wave)
Hicca: "Their job is so much cooler."
(Hicca tries to join them as they pass, but she's hooked by Gobber and hoisted back inside)
Hicca: Ah, come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark.
Gobber: Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places.
Hicca: Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date.
Gobber: You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an axe...
(Gobber grabs a bola a weapon with iron balls connected by rope)
Gobber: ... you can't even throw one of these.
(A Viking runs by and nabs it out of Gobber's hand, hurling it at a dive-bombing Gronkle. The bola binds its legs, sending it into a heavy crash)
Hicca: Okay fine, but...
(She rushes to the back corner of the stall and presents a bizarre, wheel barrow-like contraption)
Hicca: ... this will throw it for me.
(Hicca opens the hinged lid of the device. An arm springs up, equipped with twin bows. They prematurely launch a bola, narrowly missing Gobber... and taking out a Viking at the counter)
Viking 8: Arggh!
Gobber: See, now this right here is what I'm talking about.
Hicca: Mild calibration issue.
Gobber: Hicca. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all...
(Gobber gestures in Hicca's general direction)
Gobber: ... this.
Hicca: But... you just pointed to all of me.
Gobber: Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you.
Hicca: Ohhhh...
Gobber: Ohhhhh, yes.
Hicca: You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw... Vikingness contained. There will be consequences!
(Gobber tosses her a sword)
Gobber: I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now.
(Hicca takes it begrudgingly and lobs it onto the grinding wheel. She stews... fantasizing...)
Hicca: "One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here."
Village
(Nadders land, gathering like seagulls around a seemingly vacant house)
Hicca: "A Nadder head is sure to get me atleast noticed."
(The Nadders clamber onto the building, tearing the roof and walls apart. Sheep pour out and scatter. Elsewhere, hippo-like Gronckles pick drying racks clean of fish and fly off like loaded pelicans)
Hicca: "Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a boyfriend... Y/n."
(A stealthy, snake-like dragon head peeks over a rooftop, breathing gas into a chimney)
Hicca: "A Zippelback? Exotic, exciting. Two heads, twice the status. One of the many reasons why Y/n became so famous and respected."
(A second head pokes through the door and lights it. KABLAM! The two heads fly through the explosion, their necks zipping together to reveal a single body. It flies past Y/n and Stoick as they climb to the top of a catapult tower)
Y/n: They found the sheep!
Stoick: Concentrate fire over the lower bank!
Catapult Operator: Fire!
(Boulders are catapulted at the corralling Nadders... Just as a huge red dragon whips past, spraying the base of the catapult with sticky fire)
Hicca: "And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire."
(It emerges from the flames, climbing the catapult with a leering, toothy grin)
Stoick: Reload! I'll take care of this.
Y/n: Stoick!
(Y/n throws Stoick a huge hammer. Stoick takes on the Nightmare, face to hammer. Suddenly, a loud ballistic moaning streaks overhead. The catapult crew ducks. Hicca looks up from her work, reacting to the same sound)
Hicca: "But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the--"
Y/n: Night Fury!
Viking 9: Get down!
(Vikings everywhere take shelter. The moaning sound builds. The Monstrous Nightmare suddenly stops fighting and takes flight. Y/n and Stoick look skyward)
Stoick: JUMP!
(KABOOM! The Catapult explodes as though hit by an artillery shell... sending Y/n, Stoick and the crew leaping for their lives)
Hicca: "This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and..."
(The sound recedes, leaving the crippled catapult in flames)
Hicca: "...never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first."
Blacksmith Stall
(Gobber trades his hammer for an axe)
Gobber: Man the fort, Hicca, they need me out there!
(Gobber pauses. Turns with a threatening glare)
Gobber: Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean.
(Gobber charges into the fray, hollering. A smirk crosses Hicca's face)
Village
(WHAM! Hicca pushes her wheeled contraption through a wall of clustered Vikings. She weaves through the ongoing mayhem, as fast as her legs can carry her)
Viking 10: Hicca, where are you going!
Viking 11: Come back here!
Hicca: I know. Be right back!
(Y/n sees Hicca running away with her contraption)
Y/n: Where are you going Hicca!
(Y/n goes running after Hicca but from the corner of his eye he sees that the Nadders have cornered the house-full of sheep. They close in, ready to spring upon them. Y/n suddenly appears, hurling fishing nets over them.
The surprised Nadders are caught. Stoick and his men rush in to help Y/n. A Nadder blasts a hole through its net. Stoick leaps onto it, clamping his thick arms around its head, forcing its jaws shut)
Stoick: Mind yourselves! The devils still have some juice in them.
(Hicca reaches a cliff over looking the smoking catapult and drops the handles to the ground. She cranks several levers, unfolding and then cocking the bowed arms of her contraption. She drops a bola onto a chamber and then pivots the weapon ona gimbal head toward the dark sky. She listens, with her eye pressed to the scope, hand poised on the trigger. She hears the Night Fury approaching... and turns her aim to the defense tower. It closes in for the final strike, completely camouflaged in the night)
Hicca: Come on. Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at.
(KABLAM! The tower topples. The blast of fire illuminates the dragon for a split second. Hicca pulls the trigger. KERTHUNK! The flexed arms snap forward, springing the weapon off the ground. The bola disappears into the sky, followed bya WHACK and a SCREECH. Hicca looks surprised but quickly becomes elated)
Hicca: Oh I hit it! Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?
(Hicca's victory is short-lived. A Monstrous Nightmare appears, slithering up over the lip of the cliff)
Hicca: Except for you.
(Y/n and Stoick are holding down the netted Nadders. They hear a familiar holler and look up to see... Hicca running through the plaza, screaming, with the Nightmare fast on her heels)
Y/n: HICCA!!
(Y/n lets go of the net and runs towards Hicca and the Nightmare. Stoick also abandons the Nadders and runs off after Y/n)
Stoick: DO NOT let them escape!
(Vikings scatter as Hicca dodges a near fatal blast. The Nightmare's sticky, Napalm-like fire splashes up onto buildings, setting them alight. Hicca ducks behind the last standing brazier, the only shelter available. The Nightmare blasts it, spraying fire all around her. Hicca peers around the smoldering post.
No sign of the Nightmare. She turns back to find it leering at her, blocking her escape. It takes a deep breath. Hicca is finished. Suddenly, Y/n leaps between them, tackling the Nightmare to the ground. The Nightmare smacks Y/n away and he quickly gets up and takes out his sword as he stands in front of Hicca protectively, Hicca taking the chance grabs Y/n.
Y/n and the Nightmare stare at each other, the Nightmare roars at Y/n who lets out his bloodlust causing the Nightmare to take a step back. Then, Stoick jumps on the Nightmare and they begin to tumble and wrestle, resuming their earlier fight. The Nightmare tries to toast him, but only coughs up smoke)
Stoick: You're all out.
(He smashes the Nightmare repeatedly in the face, driving it away. It takes to the air and disappears. Winded, Stoick turns to Y/n who steps to the side revealing a nervous Hicca)
Hicca: "Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know..."
(The burnt brazier pole collapses, sending the massive iron basket crashing. It bounces down the hill, destroying as it goes and scattering the Vikings who were holding down the netted Nadders. The freed dragons escape... with several sheep in tow)
Hicca: Sorry, dad.
Y/n: By the Gods Hicca...
(The escaped Nadders fly past with sheep in their clutches. The raid is over. The dragons have clearly won. The murmuring crowd eyes Stoick, awaiting his response)
Hicca: Okay, but I hit a Night Fury.
(Y/n raises an eye brow at Hicca. Stoick grabs Hicca by the back scruff of her collar and hauls her away, fuming with embarrassment)
Hicca: It's not like the last few times, Dad. I mean I really actually hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, before it--
Stoick: STOP! Just... stop.
(He releases Hicca. Everyone goes silent, staring expectantly)
Stoick: Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!
(Hicca looks around. All eyes are upon her)
Hicca: Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?
(A few rotund Vikings stir self-consciously)
Stoick: This isn't a joke, Hicca! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?
Hicca: I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just... kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad.
Stoick: You are many things, Hicca. But a dragon killer is not one of them.
(Sting. Hicca looks around to see many nods of agreement)
Stoick: Get back to the house.
(He looks at Y/n and Gobber)
Stoick: You two make sure she gets there. I have her mess to clean up.
Y/n: Yes Stoick.
(Stoick lumbers off in the opposite direction. Y/n and Gobber lead Hicca through the walk of shame. They pass the teen fire brigade as they snicker)
Tuffnut: Quite the performance.
Snotlout: I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!
Y/n: Shut it Snotpocket.
(The twins burst out laughing while Astrid giggles a little)
Snotlout: Shut up Y/n...
(Hicca chuckles quietly but stops to avoid Astrid's glare, Y/n, Gobber and Hicca head up toward a large house, standing prominently on the hill above the others)
Stoick's House
Hicca: I really did hit one.
Gobber: Sure, Hicca.
Hicca: He never listens.
Y/n: Well, it seems like it runs in the family.
Hicca: And when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich.
(Hicca starts to mimic Stoick)
Hicca: Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra tall girl with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here. This is a talking fish bone.
Y/n: You're thinking about this all wrong.
Gobber: Yeah. It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand.
Y/n: Gobber that's not what-
Hicca: Thank you, for summing that up.
(They reach the doorway)
Gobber: Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not.
(Hicca sighs heavily)
Hicca: I just want to be one of you guys.
(Y/n eyes her sympathetically. Hicca turns and goes through the front door. And straight out the back door. She hurries off into the woods, determined not knowing what she'll discover in there)
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M1, CHAPTER 1 IS DONE :)
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Word Count: 2688