First day of autumn in the strange land of Dun'Broch.
I started this journal because there is no way I could possibly speak my mind without having the whole clan listening to me. The cause of that may be, for one thing, that I'm the chief. My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and about a year ago I became chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe of Berk. Well, everyone calls me chief anyway, but we all know the real leader is Astrid, alongside my mother, Valka.
Those two seem to get along perfectly fine, and once again I start to feel as a talking fishbone. My only real friend, actually, happens to be Toothless, the Night Fury. We were the only two creatures in Berk who didn't want to go to war, in the first place.
Since the war with the dragons ended long ago, and every dragon hunter in the archipelago has faced an awful destiny, us Vikings had, for the first time, the chance to live peacefully and use our days to explore new lands. That, of course, set the clan off, because my people are physically unable to stay out of a fight for more than five minutes: if they aren't fighting dragons, they're fighting enemies, or each other. That is why my mother had the marvellous idea of sending them off to fight the Celts of the South, Scots, to be more precise. Now that wouldn't have been a problem, had there been any further explanation as to why, but the idea seemed to come out of nowhere and it was engrained in everyone's mind.
I'm going to give you a brief explanation; before the war against the dragons begun, the Hairy Hooligan tribe was submerged in a very violent quarrel against Clan Dun'Broch. This clan joined forces with three others, the McGuffins, the McIntosh and the Dingwall, forming an extraordinary alliance and pushing my father and his troops back into the north. That was the end of it, because we were far too busy fighting dragons anyway.
Now that the hatred among dragons and Vikings is over for good, mum brought back the memory of this once sublime fight against the scots, and everyone -- being the hot-blooded mess of a tribe that they are—thought of continuing the fight as a stupendous idea. Did they even ask the chief? No, the decision was taken far before the chief (me) even found out. Were they, then, leadless and messy? Now, again, of course not, since Astrid is such good of a leader.
So by the first morning of spring of this very year, all the fleets and ships were loaded, every Viking was armoured and bearing their weapons, and every dragon was being fed and saddled, just when I found out what was the matter. My 'friend' Astrid, surely, tried to set peace to my mind, explaining everything and begging me to go with them, for I was, or I think I am, the chief.
That is how we got into this disastrous chain of events, because after sailing for exactly one month and a day, we found ourselves in the most unwelcoming land of all: The Kingdom of Dun'Broch. We fought and killed, and died and fought again for three days and three nights, until we finally settled among the wood. The natives are far more than sure that these woods are bewitched and stuffed with spirits, my fellow Vikings, although believing in dragons alright, deny the existence of any other creature that might haunt us amongst the forest. So here we are, all divided in tents, camping in the wood by night and fighting the scots by day.
To sum everything up, the war is going alright. Both sides have lost a great number of warriors, and although we are outnumbered, we have dragons. If you are anything like me, you must know how absolutely beastly it is to make the dragons fight human wars, for it is unfair and abusive. That, clearly, no one thought of, or no one cared enough to think, for here they are, our valiant creatures, fighting alongside us.
They not only have more people, weapons and resources, but they also happen to have what everyone here seems to call 'The greatest warrior in the land', also known for being the bravest and the strongest, the most clever, the swiftest, or any other threat that might end with 'Est'. I know three things about this warrior: He never shows his face, he never kills, and he never misses an arrowshot. For the sake of saving space in the journal, I've decided to name him TGWITL.
TGWITL is very fast, knows his way with every weapon known to mankind and is never seen without his helmet and his hood. I once found myself fighting face to face with TGWITL, and instead of killing me the moment I fell off of Toothless, he helped me up, gave me a sword he found in the floor, being grasped by a dead foe, and then started to attack me. Now, it is not only pretty obvious that this warrior was an extraordinary swordsman, but the fact that I'm extraordinarily terrible with swords that are not raging with fire, this warrior put me back in the ground pretty easily. I tried to use the many tricks hidden in my armour, but no blade and no zippleback gas bomb was of any use against TGWITL, so I retreated slowly, without taking my gaze off of him, and rode Toothless far from the battle.
During this encounter I found out two more things about TGWITL: his eyes are dazzlingly blue with green aureoles, and he is a man of honor, because instead of straight off killing me cold-blooded when he had the chance, he gave me a weapon and made sure it was a fair match. He was more of a neutral warrior, considering he never helped the injured scots, he never dared to attack dragons and he always ran straight into the forest after a battle was done.
If anything mayor happens here, I'll be sure to write it.
Hiccup.
The brown-haired chief closed the small notebook and sat in the cold blanket that he had laid in the floor of his tent. He looked around the brown circle marked by the fabric of his tent. There were all kinds of stuff around the grass floor: zippleback gas bombs, his fire sword that had been of no use during his last battle for he had forgotten it, his set of armour, about three replacements for Toothless' tail and other three prosthetic legs, and in one corner, above an uneven circle of burnt grass, laid asleep Toothless the dragon himself. Everything looked off through the dim light of the torch that Hiccup had been using to see in the dark.
It was late in the night, almost heading to be early in the morning, and every Viking was asleep in their own tents, scattered throughout the trees and bushes. Hiccup walked out of his own tent and through the layout of the others, needing some fresh air to clear his chaotic mind. He was the only one that didn't share a tent, being the chief, but the real decision-making always happened in the tent that Astrid, Eret and Valka shared. The young man walked for less than a minute when he found himself immobilized and with his mouth being cruelly grasped with a cold, white hand. His hands were tied and the stranger that had gotten him dragged him through the darkest part of the woods, making the Viking feel especially weak, for he had no chance to fight nor defend himself.
When they reached a clearing in the forest, surrounded by big, heavy rocks arranged in a circle, the stranger let Hiccup's mouth open and he took a deep, desperate breath. Soon after that, the other man untied his hands and sat him down in the middle of the circle. The Viking looked around and noticed that one of the gigantic rocks had fallen down, and underneath it, there was a pitch black paw, he supposed, of a bear.
The dark figure then sat down right in front of Hiccup, letting him understand that it was more of a meeting than a kidnap. The moon shone right atop of the rock circle and the silhouette of the man became clearer, so that Hiccup could recognize TGWITL sitting in front of him, his hood covering most of his head and body, but letting his blue greenish eyes sparkling in the dead of night. Hicc stared at him long enough until he realized the warrior had no intention of talking until the Viking had said something first, so he asked the first question that came to his mind.
"Are you The Greatest Warrior in the Land?"
The hooded man nodded, so that Haddock noticed this time he was not wearing his helmet, and that the only thing that prevented him from looking at the face of his enemy was the bare darkness and nothing else.
"Do you want to kill me?" Asked Haddock innocently, almost knowing that the answer was no. The man in front of him moved his head one side to the other twice, indicating a negative answer.
The next question the Viking chief asked "What do you want from me?", Earning a long, cold silence from his companion.
The mysterious man looked down, hiding his face entirely from Hiccup, and moving his hands nervously. That let Hiccup notice that the man's hands were in fact very thin and long, with soft looking skin, instead of the big, strong hands that he had expected to see.
TGWITL cleared his throat and spoke, almost in a whisper, with a voice that sounded way too forced, instead of his own voice.
"You will teach me how to train dragons," said the hooded man, then adding with a high-pitched whisper "Please."
This caught the Viking off guard, and after asking if he was sure, and after TGWTL had given a positive nod, Hiccup decided that he could not possibly teach a stranger to train dragons. With a glimpse of bravery that he had been stroke with, he grabbed the black hood and pushed it back, letting TGWITL's face bare. Since the stranger was, as well, caught off guard, both foes froze for a few minutes, without moving a finger.
A nasty, heavy feeling settled in Hiccup's stomach when he noticed that this man was, in reality, a woman. She had thick brows and lips, and her nose pointed delicately upward, like the beak of a hummingbird. Her eyes, that were twisted in a strange look of pure terror, shone with their blueish green presence, and were surrounded by red eyelashes. Her white, round face was framed by a stupendous amount of reddish orange locks and curls, wildly pointing to every direction. She let out a dead gasp, breaking the awkward silence between the two enemies.
The brunet drew back and sat in the same position they were at the beginning, letting go of the hood and staring at her, horridly scared.
Her blood ran boiling hot and very quick towards her face, and before Hiccup could notice her skin turning a rather crimson pink, she put her hood back on.
"What was tha' for?" She asked with a thick Scottish accent. Her voice sounded not scared, but embarrassed and rather angry. She had a very high pitched voice, and when she asked that question, Hiccup almost wanted to laugh for thinking she was a Big Strong Man.
"I can't just teach anyone to train dragons" he excused himself, "you were far too mysterious for me to trust you."
"Well, 'tis not like aye trust you either", snapped the red-haired lass.
"See", explained Hiccup, feeling much more comfortable around her now that he had seen her face. "We know nothing about the other."
"Talk for ya'self, aye know you're the chief, rumours run through all Dun'Broch about you being a great dragon tamer, master of the Night Fury" She started, interrupting herself with a whisper that said more or less 'whatever that is'. "And I know it was your dragon, tha' big black thing, who killed my father."
Hiccup's blood froze, his face growing pale and him feeling colder and colder with every word the girl had spoken. When she finished by accusing Toothless of murder, his fists were all tense, his brows pursed together as his pupils became smaller. It couldn't've possibly been true, for Toothless hadn't shot anyone during the whole war, and Hiccup himself hadn't done hardly any attacks, since he was better in a defensive line during the battles. Plenty of his men had asked him to actually use Toothless to attack, him being the alpha and the swiftest dragon, but neither had he accepted nor did he recall anyone else riding Toothless.
"Nay" denied Hiccup, very nervously. "My dragon hasn't killed anyone during this whole affair, and neither have I"
"Then swear by whatever gods you believe in, that it wasn't your dragon that flew lone through the sky and shot plasma blasts at evr'y one with no mercy" Cried the girl, standing up to feel less feeble "My, it even killed your men."
Hiccup had almost wanted to smile at the sudden realisation that it hadn't been Toothless, for the poor dragon was unable to fly without a rider (even though Hiccup had done indeed many prosthetic tails that allowed him to do so, the dragon preferred to have his rider all the time).
"Now, I swear, it's impossible it was Toothless, because he can't fly without his rider." Promised Hiccup, raising his right hand.
The girl took her hood off once more and looked at him eye to eye, trying to find lies in his gaze, but all she found were his honest eyes staring right back at her. She pulled herself back and sat in a looser way, legs crossed and arms leaning in the grass, revealing she was less graceful than what Hiccup had originally thought.
"Al'rit" She scoffed, meaning 'alright'. "Then I have to suppose the beast I shot down after it killed my father wasn't yours."
She tried to sound rough and scary, but each time she mentioned her father, her voice broke and her eyes looked down, making her look very miserable and vulnerable.
"It wasn't." Reassured the Viking, telling her that his dragon was asleep in his own tent at the moment. "But do tell me, what kind of dragon was it?"
"It looked pretty much like yours, but perhaps a bit smaller" Started the lass, looking at the dark sky. "It is hard to tell, really, because when I looked at it, the sun was in me eye, the only thing aye pulled out was a single arrow, I'm not even sure it's injured"
Hiccup's spirit rose. All those years he wanted to know if there was another Night Fury, besides his own, out there, and if the girl's story was true, there was a big chance to find it.
"So you want to train it?" Asked the boy.
She nodded and explained him that she thought it had no owner, and if she trained it, the war would be more even, and in any case the dragon could not be trained, she thought it fair to avenge her father.
"Who was your father?" He asked, carefully and slowly.
"Cannot tell" She said, furiously.
"Why?"
"It would reveal my identity." Answered the lass. "You might know my reputation and now my face, but no other thing. I want to keep it that way."
"At least tell me your name" he demanded.
"Nay"
"And why not?"
"It is very known far and wide, it would spoil my disguise."
"But I'm going to need to call you something." He said, maybe jokingly.
"Name me ye'self" answered TGWITL sharply, unknowing that Hiccup had already given her a provisional name.
He tried to repeat the words out loud, but when he finished, both agreed that such name was absolutely ridiculous.
"Fine" said the hooded girl, rolling her eyes, amused at her foe's clumsiness. "I'll tell you my name if you teach me how'ta train a dragon."
The boy denied, for he thought such thing as a name was pretty much worthless compared to the ability to befriend dragons.
"Then I'll keep yee here until you teach me" She threatened.
"I'll run" Thought Hiccup, out loud. "I'll escape, I'll scream, I'll call my dragon"
"I'll out-run ya," Answered the lass, very much sure her enemy was helpless. "I'm faster and stronger, and aye know these woods better than you. Your voice won't be heard outside these rocks, and ye said your dragon can't fly without you."
"And why is it that my voice won't be heard?" He asked, a stroke of fear climbing up his spine.
"I cast a spell on this circle" She mumbled, audibly enough.
"Are you... Are you a witch?" Inquired the lad, almost too terrified to actually say a word.
"A witch's apprentice." Muttered her.
Both stood up after that. The lass, to make herself look proud of such statement, when in fact she was rather ashamed. The lad stood up to get ready to fight, for he had heard a distant screech.
"Follow me" whispered Hiccup, and the girl, whom, without giving it too much thought, walked behind the brunet out of the circle.
After a few minutes of walking, both stopped out of a sudden when they saw, right in front of them, a blue light. This light was a small ball of blue fire, it spoke with a spectral voice and called both of them towards it.
The red-head stepped forward and followed the blue light. Soon, a full path of wisps had appeared and both, Hiccup and TGWITL followed them.
They kept walking, neither of them knowing where they were being led, but feeling it was absolutely necessary to follow the wisps. When the trail of blue fire finally stopped, they found themselves staring at a majestic beast, with white, iridescent scales. The beast, Hiccup soon recognized, was a dragon, and just before the red-head tried to approach it, Haddock stopped her with his arm.
"Don't wake it up" he scolded.
The girl looked at him with guilt in her eyes, thinking she had done something awfully wrong by shooting such a beautiful creature.
"Fine" she said, both to him and to herself, "You are no longer my hostage... and I'll lead you back with your people."
Hiccup was too surprised about the girl changing her mind so quickly, but before he made his mind up about it, she was already walking and he did not want to get lost in the forest. They walked until they reached the tents and then the girl changed directions, towards the kingdom. Hiccup entered back into his tent and tried to sleep, but all the events of the night kept going on and on inside his head. The girl's face, the strength of her voice, the spirits and spells, and above all, the dragon they found.
It was not any sort of dragon he had ever seen, except, perhaps, of his own dragon, that looked alike the other. Toothless was black and the wild dragon was white, besides that, they were pretty much the same.
His mind kept going, one thought over the other, until the break of dawn. After that, he put on his armour, woke Toothless up, and both walked outside the tent, Hiccup pretending nothing had happened during the night.