Me: Walks into the room with a megaphone. Adjusts the volume and takes a deep breath.

Me: IT'S FINALLY HERE, PEOPLE! ENJOY!

NOTE: I OWN NOTHING IN HERE EXCEPT FOR MY OCS.

Chapter 1: This Is Berk

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…

A scrawny 15-year old brunet quickly slammed his house's door as a Monstrous Nightmare shot a tremendous jet of flame at it. "… dragons," he breathed out. Once he no longer felt that the door was being seared, he headed out into the murky pre-dawn chill of Berk.

Good thing the dragons were there to warm things up.

Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have… stubbornness issues.

All around the boy were Vikings battling dragons. Houses were being torched, nets were thrown at the dragons that were trying to steal food, and Vikings were yelling out war cries.

Typical morning on Berk.

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.

Hiccup managed to dodge a few warriors before tripping and landing on his back. Ack, a Berkian who loved to start the morning with a drink and rousing battle cry, just so happened to be near him and he roared in Hiccup's face.

"Mornin'!" he greeted Hiccup cheerfully before going on his merry way.

Hiccup quickly stood up and began running, ignoring the shouts of villagers for him to get back inside so he wouldn't cause trouble. He always ignored them. He was used to it. As he ran, Hiccup spotted a dark-haired girl with two battle sticks strapped to her back running through the battlefield. She glanced in his direction and grinned, joining him.

"Hey Hicc!" the girl chirped, keeping pace with him now. Her violet eyes glinted like amethysts in the firelight.

This is Zenna. She's pretty much my only friend on Berk. Those sticks of hers may look harmless, but they can crack open a man's skull like an egg with one good swing. Sweet and fierce, that's Zen for you.

"Morning, Zen!" Hiccup high-fived Zenna and they sprinted across the terrain. They skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding another dragon's fire, before Hiccup was suddenly picked up off the ground by the chief.

The Chief's red beard bristled as he held the boy up with one hand. "Hiccup?! What is he doing out aga-?! What are you doing out?! Get inside!" he shouted, dropping Hiccup and surveying the area. While he was distracted, Hiccup and Zenna ran off.

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? Yes, I do.

Stoick spotted a dragon trying to escape with its catch. He picked up a large wagon and threw it at the beast, knocking it out of the sky. "What have we got?" he asked Starkard, one of his soldiers.

"Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare," Starkard replied. A dragon swooped by and blasted a house to bits, sending embers into the air.

"Any Night Furies?" Stoick inquired. Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, and Monstrous Nightmares they could handle. But a Night Fury was the deadliest and most elusive. Any Viking who dared to try and face one was asking for an early funeral.

"None so far," Starkard said, eyeing the embers that had fallen onto Stoick's shoulder.

"Good," Stoick said gruffly, casually brushing the embers off.

Hiccup and Zenna ran past Vikings hoisting the grand torches, inventions of Hiccup's design, and sprinted towards the forge, which was manned by a one-armed and one-legged Viking with a blond mustache that looked like a furry corn-colored caterpillar.

"Ah! Nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!" the blacksmith said cheerfully as Hiccup rushed into the forge and put on an apron.

"What, who, me? Nah, come on! I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to with all… this…" Hiccup struck a pose, flexing his skinny arm, trying and failing to look buff. Zenna giggled and shook her head fondly at the adorable dork that was her best friend.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" the blacksmith asked jokingly, replacing his hook hand with a hammer.

The meat-head with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well... littler.

The two had just begun working, with Zenna guarding the forge, when a tall, dark-haired, 17-year old boy with pale skin strolled over to the forge, looking as if for all the world he was taking a leisurely early morning walk.

"Fine day for a raid, huh?" he drawled, bumping shoulders with Zenna, and presented two daggers. "They could use a good sharpening." He smiled at Hiccup.

"On it," Hiccup said, grinning, and took the man's blades to be sharpened. All the while, his customer looked up at the sky intently.

Oh, and that's Erland. He's new. Two weeks ago, Zenna and I found him passed out on Thor's Beach and we rescued him. He's been occasionally hanging out with us ever since. Zen and I both see Erland as our friend, even though he tries to deny it. I like to think he's got a soft spot for the both of us. He may be aloof but he's good company, especially around in these parts where it's kill or be killed.

Hiccup handed Erland his newly-sharpened daggers just as a dragon swooped down and set another house on fire.

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

"FIRE!"

A blonde girl came running, shouting, "Alright, let's go!" followed by a short, pug-nosed boy, a husky blond one wearing a furry outfit, and two twins with long hair. All five of them carried buckets and took turns hauling a cart with a large drum of water.

Oh, and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and…

The girl Viking leading the group threw a bucket of water at the flaming house and turned around, just as a fireball exploded nearby, illuminating her and the other members of the group.

Erland rolled his eyes. 'So dramatic,' he thought, watching the teens rush off to fight more fires.

Astrid…

"Oh boy…" sighed Zenna, nudging Erland. Both of them saw the dreamy-eyed look on Hiccup's face. Whenever Astrid Hofferson was around, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III became an even more awkward stuttering mess than he already was on a daily basis.

Hiccup leaned out of the workshop's window to get a better look. 'Oh, their job is so much cooler…' he thought in awe. Gobber grabbed him and pulled him back in before he could climb out.

"Oh, come on. Let me out, please? I need to make my mark!" Hiccup protested, looking at his mentor.

Gobber shook his head. "Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places!" he pointed out, putting his wooden leg down.

"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will infinitely get better. I might even get a date," pleaded Hiccup, not willing to give up.

"You can't lift a hammer," Gobber began to count the reasons why his apprentice needed to stay put.

"Wrong!" Erland piped up. He'd seen Hiccup lift hammers while he was working. Maybe not lifting them high above his head like Thor, but he could handle their weight.

"You can't swing an axe," Gobber continued.

"He can! Just not that well," added Zenna.

Ignoring the two, Gobber held up a bola. "You can't even throw one of these!"

As if the gods wished to emphasize Gobber's point, a Viking came running to the shop. He grabbed the bola and threw it into the air, knocking a Gronckle out of the sky.

Undeterred, Hiccup took a few steps back. "Okay, fine, but this will throw it for me," he announced, uncovering his latest invention – the Mangler.

With a crosshairs and automatic launch system, the Mangler was capable of launching a bola quicker than a man can wield it. Of course, the contraption had a few minor kinks. Case in point, just the lightest touch from Hiccup was enough to send a bola flying out towards Erland and Zenna, who both ducked. An unlucky bystander got hit instead.

"You all right there, sir?" Zenna asked, concerned.

"Well at least we know it works," Erland said optimistically.

Gobber was not impressed. "See, now this right here is what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed.

Hiccup's ears went red. "Mild calibration issue…" he managed to say before Gobber cut him off.

"Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all…" Gobber gestured with both hands to Hiccup's entire skinny frame. "… this."

"But you just pointed to all of me!" Hiccup said, indignant.

"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you!" Gobber said emphatically.

"Like that's going to happen," Zenna said, smiling to herself. Hiccup would always be Hiccup, which was just fine for her. She loved that dork just the way he was like her own flesh and blood.

"And so begins the battle of wills," remarked Erland, watching the blacksmith and his apprentice banter.

Hiccup and Gobber both exchanged steely looks. "You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw… Viking-ness… contained? There will be consequences!" the former yelled at the latter who was unfazed.

"I'll take my chances," Gobber deadpanned, dropping a sword into Hiccup's arms. "Sword. Sharpen. Now."

"You'll get your chance," Erland reassured Hiccup, looking over his shoulder. The raid showed no signs of stopping. The roars and shrieks of dragons filled the air. Some even tried to attack the forge only to be beaten back by him and Zenna.

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

Zenna swung her sticks at a Deadly Nadder, a wyvern-like creature with colorful spikes adorning its head like a frill, additional spikes on its tail as a defense mechanism. "Away, spiky pest!" Zenna cried out, hitting the dragon in the chest. It flew away, squawking like a chicken.

A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed.

Erland tangled with a bulky dragon that looked like a pile of rocks come to life and had gotten a bad case of acne. Hiccup watched, awestruck, as Erland did nothing but stare the dragon down - a Gronckle - until the beast fled.

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

A house exploded in the distance, a two-headed dragon flying out of the smoke.

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

"Oh dear," Erland set his eyes on a distant watchtower. "I see the chief's in a bit of a pickle."

Following their friend's eye, Hiccup and Zenna saw Stoick facing against an enormous dragon cloaked entirely in flame.

And then, there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have a nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.

"No, wait… Ah, he's punching it with his bare hands… And there it goes…" Erland commented, watching the whole scene with interest.

But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the…

A high-pitched whistle filled the air, making Hiccup's bones vibrate, causing the hairs on the back of Erland's neck to stand up, and Zenna's eyes widened at the sound.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Erland and Zenna hit the ground just as the tower Stoick was standing on was torn apart. The Night Fury, as usual, had found its mark.

This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and…

Erland got up then was yanked back down by Zenna when another catapult burst into flames.

…never misses.

A few seconds passed. Once they were sure the Night Fury wasn't going to strike again, the three teens stood up. Zenna's grip tightened around her sticks as she, along with Erland, gazed up at the night sky in search of the elusive dragon. Hiccup was also looking up at the sky, face set in determination.

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

Gobber sighed, replacing his prosthetic with an axe blade. "Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there!" he declared, turning to his apprentice.

"Stay. Put. There."

At Hiccup's confused look, Gobber sighed, "You know what I mean."

"And you two," Gobber said, turning to Erland and Zenna. "make sure he does," He instructed them before rushing out into the open with a war cry.

Once the blacksmith was out of sight and out of earshot, Erland glanced at Hiccup and Zenna. "Okay, he's gone. Where are we testing that contraption of yours?" he asked, pointing to the Mangler with a devious smirk on his face.

Zenna and Hiccup traded excited grins. Tonight was the night that they were going to capture a Night Fury.

Edgar and Henna were in the thick of the battle in the plaza. Swinging his sword, Edgar wounded a Nadder in the leg while Henna shot a Zippleback out of the sky with her crossbow.

"They're getting more daring, love! Mind your flank!" grunted Edgar, swinging his sword.

"Oh contraire, darling, I think you should watch yours," Henna loaded her crossbow and fired another bolt, taking down a Nadder that was sneaking up on her husband, in less than five seconds. Edgar looked at the downed dragon then at his wife, and chuckled.

Then to their surprise, Hiccup came running through the plaza, pushing a cart with another one of his eccentric contraptions on it, with their daughter and Erland right behind him.

"Zenna, why aren't you with Astrid on fire brigade duty?!" Edgar hollered.

"They can handle it, Dad!" Zenna hollered back.

"Zenna Arrowhead Fiersome, come back here this instant!" Henna shouted only for her daughter to disappear into the crowd.

Looking at each other, Edgar and Henna shook their heads. When it came to Hiccup, their daughter was not the kind of person to take orders from anybody else.

"This should be a good spot," Erland said, stopping at an empty hill that had a picturesque view of the night sky. Hiccup set up the catapult with Zenna's help and, once the Mangler was in position, they waited.

"Question, how are we supposed to spot a dragon that can blend in with the night sky?" asked Erland, narrowing his eyes.

"Keep your eyes open and pray to the gods we get lucky, Erland." Zenna turned her head from left to right, eyes focused on the sky above them.

Hiccup readied his thumb on the Mangler's trigger. "Come on. Gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at," he whispered to himself. He needed to get lucky this time. If he took down the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, he would be a hero at long last.

And his father would finally see him, like actually see him…

A minute, then two, then three minutes passed without anything. Then they saw it. A shadow blotting out the stars.

BOOM!

Another explosion. And this time, they could see the Night Fury's form, illuminated by the blaze.

"There!" Erland shouted, pointing at the black mass.

"Hicc, shoot it now! Shoot it now!" Zenna yelled frantically.

Taking aim, Hiccup pulled the trigger. A bola launched out, the force sending Hiccup flying backward. Erland and Zenna saw the bola connect with its target.

Suddenly Erland cried out and covered his ears as an unearthly shriek filled the air.

"Holy Shields, are you okay?" Zenna asked, concerned, only for Erland to wave her off. The boy's face had turned white as milk and his lips were twisted into a grimace.

Hiccup stood up and watched a dark shape plummet down, disappearing somewhere off Raven Point. He blinked, stunned, then began to celebrate. "Oh, I hit it! YES! I HIT IT! Did anybody see that?!"

Erland and Zenna were about to say that they did when a Monstrous Nightmare appeared over the hill. It growled, its whole body covered in fire, and a massive claw crushed the Mangler to bits.

"Except for you," Hiccup deadpanned, his joy quickly doused by fear.

The Nightmare growled and Erland was the first to react.

"…Run."

Stoick was just about done securing a couple of Nadders that had tried to steal the last of the island's sheep with nets when he heard a shrill scream cut through the air. Looking up, Stoick growled when he saw a Monstrous Nightmare chasing his son, Edgar and Henna's daughter, and Gothi's young ward down a hill.

"Do not let them escape!" he ordered Spitelout before running to their aid.

"Can't you chase some other Vikings instead?!" Erland looked over his shoulder, yelping when the Nightmare's jaws came close to snapping him up. "Seriously, what did we ever do to you?!" He knew that there was no use in reasoning with the dragon, even though it could understand him. He tried to calm his mind, listen in case the dragon had something to say, only to get nothing. The beast was too enraged. The only option he, Hiccup, and Zenna had was to run like hell.

The trio ran all the way to the plaza, where they took refuge behind a torch pole just as the Nightmare breathed fire. Zenna yelped, inching closer to Hiccup who inched closer to Erland who, in turn, wrapped his long arms around the two protectively. The Nightmare snarled, just on the other side, reaching for the smaller boy when, all of a sudden, Stoick came running and punched it in the face.

The Nightmare roared, jumping back and tried to fire a blast but only coughed out a few drops of its special napalm.

"You're all out," Stoick declared, punching the beast a few more times before it flew away in defeat.

Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know…

The torch pole groaned and shuddered. The dragon's flame had greatly compromised its structural integrity. Stoick turned, eyes blazing with fury, just as the pole snapped and collapsed on its side. Hiccup, Zenna, and Erland watched, each of them cringing, as the pole rolled and tumbled down the village, leaving ruins in its wake.

"Sorry, Dad," Hiccup mumbled, looking up at his father then looking around at the villagers assembled around them. He had messed up… again.

For a moment, nobody said anything. They were all too busy glaring at their useless heir while the dragons left Berk, sheep and smoked fish clutched in their talons, as the sun rose. Then…

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

Stoick had heard enough. He grabbed Hiccup by the back of his tunic and began hauling him towards the house.

Hiccup flailed and twisted about. "I-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…" he protested.

"STOP!"

Hiccup cringed and looked up at his father. The look of utter disappointment was already familiar to him, but it never failed to make whatever hope he had in his heart of his father being proud of him shrivel like grass in a drought.

"Just… stop," Stoick sighed then proceeded to give his son a lecture in front of the entire village. "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!" he ranted.

Covering up his pain with his trademark humor, Hiccup said, somewhat sarcastically, "Well, between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"

Erland didn't even bother to cover his mouth as a laugh escaped from his lips. Even Zenna giggled when she saw one tubby Viking at the back rub his stomach in embarrassment.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick sent a glare in his son's friends' direction. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I-I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just… kill it, you know?" He balled up his fist and ground it down onto his palm. "It's who I am, Dad."

"You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them." Stoick shook his head in exasperation. "Get back to the house" he ordered, giving his son one last disappointed glare, then turned to Gobber who awkwardly stood by.

"Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up," he said, turning away.

At Hiccup's crestfallen look, Erland and Zenna both felt their blood boil.

"He did shoot down a Night Fury, Chief!"

"We were there. We saw him do it."

Stoick turned around to see Erland and Zenna walking over to Hiccup, standing on either side of him.

"Why not send a search party?" Zenna stood confidently, one hand on her hip and the other twirling one of her battle sticks.

"And how can you say that this," Erland gestured to the carnage around them. "is your son's doing? If you ask me, the dragons did a lot more damage than him," he pointed out, glaring coolly at the chief.

'How dare they pin all the blame on one boy? Oh, if I had my magic, I would show Stoick every mistake he's made as a father,' Loki muttered to himself in his head. The Chief was now beginning to remind him of Odin, and he didn't like the parallels between the All-Father and the chief of Berk. Not one bit.

Stoick crossed his arms and drew himself up to his full height. "I don't expect a newcomer to my village to understand how dire the situation is." He gave Erland a hard look. "But Zenna?" he raised an eyebrow at the Fiersome girl. "I thought you knew better."

"Dad…" Hiccup tried to defend his best friend.

That's when Edgar and Henna stepped forward, both of them looking at their daughter with disappointment.

"Sorry about all of this, Stoick," Edgar mumbled before looking at his daughter sternly. "Zenna, your mother and I told you to stay with the fire brigade tonight. Why didn't you listen?" he asked.

Zenna bit her lip and looked down at her boots. While her parents never raised their voices at her, getting scolded was something she really didn't like. The disappointment and quiet anger in her parents' eyes were enough to make her want the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"I… I thought that they could handle fire duty without me…" she mumbled.

"Regardless of what you think, love, you had a duty to fulfill and you abandoned it," Henna sighed, frowning. Zenna nodded meekly, accepting her parents' judgement.

"We'll discuss this later. For now, go back to the house," Edgar said, his blue eyes softening just a bit.

With a heavy sigh, Zenna trudged off in the direction of her house, which just so happened to be where Hiccup was going with Gobber gently pushing him along. They passed by the fire brigade, which consisted of Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut.

"Quite the performance," Tuffnut snickered as Hiccup passed by. Then his face went red when Zenna glared at him. "Not you, Zen! You were awesome as always!" he said hastily, only to get a silent glare from Zenna who huffed and flicked her bangs in anger.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snotlout jeered.

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying, so…" Hiccup sighed, out of motivation to continue his comeback, and walked away. Fishlegs and Astrid merely looked on.

"Honestly, I don't get why and how Zenna puts up with you and your failures!" Snotlout hollered, only to scream as an insanely hard 28-inch long stick knocked his helmet off of his head.

"Good throw, lass!" Gobber chuckled, picking up the stick Zenna had thrown at Snotlout and tossing it back to her.

Zenna glared at Snotlout, amethyst eyes blazing, then glanced at Hiccup. She smiled slightly, as if to reassure him, and Hiccup returned the smile, albeit a little glumly. Their houses were just a few feet away from each other, with Hiccup's being the one closest to the Great Hall.

Zenna waved to Hiccup and Gobber, who waved back, and went inside her house. Once she was in her room, Zenna groaned and, with her back against the door, slid down until she was sitting on the floor. She looked up at the shield painting that she hung over her desk near the window. Her mother and father, eight years younger, smiled at her.

Standing in front of their parents in the painting were a young Zenna, smiling her gap-toothed grin, and a young boy with tousled black hair and icy blue eyes like Edgar's.

"Well, Eli, Hiccup finally shot down a Night Fury," Zenna spoke to the painting, her eyes focused on her brother. "Of course, no one saw him except for me and the new guy…"

Standing up, Zenna crossed her room until she was at her desk. Standing up on it, she removed the painting from the wall and gently rubbed her finger against Elias's painted cheek. "If only you were here, bro. I bet everyone would take us seriously if you were around," she sighed.

While Zenna was having a conversation with her family's portrait, Hiccup was having his own self-deprecating talk with Gobber.

"I really did hit one," he muttered, climbing up the uneven steps to the house.

"Sure, Hiccup," Gobber replied, not convinced.

"He never listens."

"Well, it runs in the family."

"And when he does, it's always with this… disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich," Hiccup said then turned to do one of his famous, pitch-perfect imitations of his father. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish bone!"

As good as it felt to do that, Hiccup felt weighed down with the knowledge that, no matter how hard he tried, he would always never be enough. He had already gotten used to that a long time ago. But it didn't mean it didn't hurt any less every time his father looked at him.

"Now, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand," Gobber said helpfully, only making things worse.

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup said sarcastically. If there was one thing his mentor sucked at, it was giving pep talks.

"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not," Gobber sighed, looking at his apprentice with a slight bit of pity and exasperation.

"I just want to be one of you guys," Hiccup told him, heading inside.

At the same time this whole exchange between apprentice and blacksmith was happening, Erland was doing his best to talk some sense into Stoick. "He really did shoot down a Night Fury. And would he lie to you? His own father?" he asked.

Stoick faced the newcomer, his eyes steely.

"Look, chief," Erland ran a hand through his hair, feeling as if he were talking to a glacier. "All I'm saying is that you should give Hiccup a chance. How do you expect him to be the next chief when you don't include him in things?" he questioned Stoick, just as Gothi came out of the Great Hall, leading the children back to their homes.

Stoick gave the elder a respectful nod then turned his attention back to Erland. "Gothi needs help bringing the kids home," he said then entered the Great Hall.

"Unbelievable." Erland raised his gaze to the heavens. "It's like he didn't hear a word I said," he hissed under his breath. Gothi gave him a sympathetic look, patting him on the back, and motioned to the children to follow her and her young ward.

Erland prepared to help the elder in corralling the children home when he saw Hiccup run out the back door of his house; followed by Zenna climbing out of a window and going after him. He then felt a light tap on his shoulder and he glanced at Gothi. The elder smiled, knowing what the young man had on his mind, and gestured to the woods as if saying, "Go ahead. Follow them if you must."

Smiling gratefully, Erland turned around and hurried after Hiccup and Zenna.

Read and review! These two things make me happy like a Night Fury given a basket of fresh fish!

Feedback is greatly appreciated!

-GuardianDragon98