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 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 gasped loudly. Pushing my back up against the front door I felt the heat of a monstrous nightmare’s flame though the thick wood.
Most people would leave, but not us. We’re Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.
Yanking the door open, I swiftly run past the burning entrance way and start to make my way towards the forge. Dodging bodies of both Vikings and Dragons alike.
My name is 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.
As I ran though Berk villagers would call out things like “What are you doing out here?!” or “Get inside!” Why they’re yelling this at me you ask? Well… Because Berk is currently being raided by our reptilian enemies and compared to everyone on this island, I’m the runt of the entire litter.
Just as I was about to be blasted by a dragon, a large and beefy hand grabbed the back of my brown fur vest that was one of the few things that helped keep my warm with our harsh climate. “Hiccup!” my savior shouted, “What is he doing…? What are you doing out?!” the bearded man commanded still holding my small body in the air with little to no- Actually he exerted no effort as I was held a good two feet of the ground, “Get inside!” Looking back at the tall man I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. His wild flame like hair was accommodated by hulking mass of muscles and a strong head. And when I say that I mean quite literally he has a strong head.
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.
Taking one last glance at Stoick the Vast I saw him grab one of Berk’s large and heavy wagons that was damaged by the dragons and heaved it into the sky. The wagon made contact with a Deadly Nadder causing to struggle with its goal of flying.
When I snapped out of my in awe daze I quickly shook my head and continued on my way towards my station. “Nice of you to join the party!” Gobber, my mentor greeted sardonically, “I thought you’d been carried off!”
“Who, me?” I asked as I grabbed my leather apron and tied it around my twig like waist. “No, come on, I’m way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn’t know what to do with all this.” Gesturing to myself I flexed my arms. That by the way did nothing to change the size of my arms. I was lucky that I had enough strength to pick up the various weapons littered around the forge.
“Well they need toothpicks, don’t they?” Gobber joked.
The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I’ve been his apprentice since I was little. Well, littler.
Gobber was always joking with me about my size and stature. I was one of the smallest people living on Berk and everyone knew it. But instead of putting me down about it, Gobber would try to lift my spirits in his usual sarcastic but loving way.
Taking an armful of dented and or broken weapons from the village people I rush them over to a hot bed of coals and pump air into the bed to heat the metal enough so they’ll be pliable enough to fix.
Outside of the forge all the other Berkians were fighting with tooth and nail against the dragons. From the window I could see Dragons using up their shots as they set our wooden houses ablaze with wild fury.
See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.
From my view from the forge window I saw a group of teens my age filling buckets with water to stop the spread of the scaled creatures burning allies. There were five of them, all much more Viking like than I’ll ever be.
Anyway, that’s Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut… And… Astrid.
Fighting a dreamy sigh as the blond haired Viking warrior walked away from a dragon explosion like it was nothing; I could only stare mesmerized at the sight that was displayed before me. As the group walked past me I felt another wave of jealousy wash over me. It wasn’t like I wanted to be exactly like the young Viking group. No. I was jealous of the responsibility they were given - and the trust placed in them, that they weren’t going to screw up and let the whole village burn to the ground was what got to me.
Their job is so much cooler.
Hefting my body up a little on the window ledge I tried to watch the start Viking teens for as long as possible. Unfortunately for me it didn’t last long, for Gobber used his hook hand to pick me up and bring me away from my perch.
“Come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark.” I tried to reason with Gobber. But of course I was to be left here. Inside, where I couldn’t get in the way of everyone else.
“You’ve made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places” Gobber set me down on the ground and nudged me farther inside.
“Please,” I begged the one handed man, “two minutes. I’ll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date.”
Gobber rolled his eyes at me and told me the logic that I keep in the back of my mind when it comes to be being a Viking. “You can’t lift a hammer. You can’t swing an axe. You can’t even throw one of these!” Gobber lifted a Bola and a Viking came and grabbed it from his one real hand before chucking it and snagging a Gronckle out of the sky.
“Ok, fine,” I agreed with Gobber’s statement but I walked backwards and gestured towards my invention, “But his will throw it for me.” I rested my hand against the top of the contraption, and the light pressure I placed on it made it snap open and whip a bola out the forge window, hitting a man Viking in the forehead.
“See?” Gobber looked about done with me, “Now this right here is what I’m talking about!”
“M-mild calibration issue…” I stuttered
“Hiccup! If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons… You need to stop all of this.”
“But you just pointed to all of me!” I pointed out
“Yes, that’s it! Stop being all of you.”
“Ohhh” I furrowed my brows and bobbed my head up and down at the larger man
“Oh yes” Gobber mimicked me ever so slightly
Pointing at gobber I tried to make myself seem more threatening, “Oh you, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much raw Vikingness contained? There will be consequences!”
“I’ll take my chances.” The dirty blond once again rolled his dark eyes at me like I wa an idiot, “Sword. Sharpen. Now.”
Grunting as a large heavy sword was dropped into my arms I brought it over to the sharpening rock, a firm frown on my face.
One day I’ll get out there. Because killing a dragon... Is everything around here.
A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed.
Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend.
A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status.
And then there’s the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.
But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one’s ever seen. We call it the…
“Night Fury!” I look up from the sword I’m sharpening at the indescribable sound that rang throughout the village. Just as the citizens of Berk recognized the sound one of our catapult towers was engulfed in fading ring of purpleish blue after blast and hot lava like flames.
This thing never steals food, never shows itself and… never misses.
The Night Fury rammed into the same tower again causing it to collapse where it stood.
No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That’s why I’m going to be the first.
As soon as the cry reached my ears I knew what I had to do. This was my chance to kill a dragon- no, kill and night fury and then I’ll finally be respected by everyone. But when I tried to leave I saw Gobber changing his hand into an axe as he informed me of what’s going on.
“Man the fort, Hiccup.” He instructed, “They need me out there.” Before Gobber left the forge to join the raging battle he turned around and commanded me to stay like a dog. “Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean.”
Now this is what gets me down about myself and Berk. Gobber lost one arm and one leg, but the villagers turn Gobber more on the battlefield than a perfectly healthy- if not underweight teenager who was just dying to get some action on the field.
Maybe that’s why people were so apprehensive about having me outside when there’s dragons around. They realized I’d probably die before I could touch a dragon’s hide.
So me being the rebellious teenager that I (obviously) am; I ignored Gobber’s instructions of staying put, I reloaded my bola throwing machine and left the forge unattended while I left to hunt down a Night Fury. Running through the village, once again the villagers ordered me to get back inside. I ignored them too and instead went towards one of the many cliffs on Berk to hopefully get a clear shot of the Night Fury.
When I arrived I began to set the Bola thrower up to have it ready to fire. “Come on.” I muttered staring up at the dark night sky, hoping to find the unseen devil so I could shoot it down. “Give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at.” I squinted, trying to see better whilst I blocked out the dragon screeches and Viking roars that came from behind. I’m not entirely sure if my mind was playing tricks on me, but I thought I saw some stars disappear than reappear like it was magic.
Taking a leap of faith I began to line up the shot when the Night Fury attacked another tower. This once in perfect view and range. As it’s fires illuminated the dragon’s shape, I shot the bola and was thrown back from the force of my invention. With wide eyes I saw as a large mass came tumbling down onto the Island and I felt pride swell into my heart.
I actually did it! I shot down a Night Fury! I couldn’t wait to tell dad and see the gaze of disappointment fade away like it wasn’t his natural face whenever he was around me for all these years.
“I hit it. Yes, I hit it!” I cried out victoriously as I jumped for joy. “Did anybody see that?” I shouted, hoping that I had some sort of eyewitness to what had just occurred. While my back was turned to the cliff I heard a feril snarl and the crunching of wood. Turning back towards my now broken bola thrower I was face to face with a Monstorous Nightmare. “Except you…”
The dark red scaled Dragon roared ferociously at me and began to charge forward. I scrambled backwards screaming my lungs out as I tried to avoid becoming Dragon chow. Cursing my luck I raced back towards the village where someone could save me, if they wanted to waste the energy to do so that is.
As I avoided the Nightmare’s fiery throw up, I ran behind a mast that held up a bowl of fire that helped light Berk at night. I tried to make myself as small as possible as more Lava breath flew in my direction. I tried to look around the now flaming mast to see the nightmare, but once again my luck went sour because the fire happy dragon wrapped around the way I wasn’t looking.
Well maybe the Gods didn’t totally hate my existence, because right as the nightmare was going to eat my alive. Stoick the Vast came out of nowhere and tackled the beast to the ground and manhandled it into fleeing
Oh, and there’s one more thing you need to know.
The thick mask split into two and the fiery bowl on top. Well it toppled down the hilly village, nearly hitting people and setting more things on fire.
“Sorry, Dad.” I mumbled in defeat, wincing at every thud the bowl made. I could only watch at my screw up let a small pack of Nadders go free with some of our sheep. Looking between the dragons and my Father I once again tried to make myself as small as possible. “Ok, but I hit a Night Fury.” I spoke trying to make the situation a wee bit better. Unfortunately I was not blessed with the ability to keep my mouth shut. I groaned as my dad roughly picked me up with no effort and dragged me through the village, “It’s not like the last few times, Dad!” I tried to explain, “I really, actually hit it! You guys were busy. I had a very clear shot. It went down off Raven Point. Let’s get a search party out there before-”
“Stop!” Stoick roared as we stood in front of the entire village, stunning me into silence, “Just stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!”
I stood there silently for a few seconds before quietly inputting my opinion, “Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding. Don’t you think?”
“this isn’t a joke, Hiccup!” Stoick was not pleased by my sass. He sighed heavily before berating me even further, “Why can’t you follow the simplest orders?”
Ignoring the arrow that got shot into my chest from the harsh words, my motor mouth kept going despite my wanting it to stop. “I can’t stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just kill it. You know? It’s who I am, Dad.”
Dad sighed once again and fixed his horned helmet as what I could only believe to be an exhausted tick, “You’re many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house.”
There was the disappointed stare again. Thor, why couldn’t I do anything right? I really hit that Night Fury and Dad thinks that I’m crazier than a completely sober Gobber.
“Someone make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up.”
Keeping my head low I walked past the many disappointed villagers and the Viking teens I was jealous of.
“Quite the performance.” Tuffnut the male twin congratulated me mockingly.
My cousin, Snotlout sent me a smug smrik, “I’ve never seen anyone mess up that badly.” He laughed to himself, “That helped!”
“Thank you, thank you. I was trying.” I muttered keeping my eyes down while the group just stared at me with smirks on their very Viking like faces. “I really did hit one.” I told Gobber as we neared my house
“Sure Hiccup” Gobber nodded, but his voice was just tierd
“He never listens” I tried to continue but I was cut off
“It runs in the family.”
“And when he does it’s with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich.” As I stood right in front of my door I turn to Gobber and do an impression of my father, my wild hand gestures imitating the ones Stoick makes on a daily basis. “Excuse me, barmaid. I’m afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-larger boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone.”
“Now you’re thinking about this all wrong. It’s not so much what you look like; it’s what’s on the inside that he can’t stand.”
I stared at Gobber, gob smacked. “Thank you for summing that up”
“Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you’re not.”
“I just want to be one of you guys.” I sighed, opening the front door and climbing up into my room. I swear I’m going to find that dragon tomorrow. I’ll kill it and make my father see that I’m not a screw up. That I’m a Viking. That I’m not just a Hiccup.