Set sail

There was noise everywhere that fateful day. Men and women tumbled all over the docks filling one large ship with weapons and supplies. The tiny island surrounded by cold ocean bustled with activity, everyone excited for the send off.

Stoick, chief of the small village paced the dock, wondering if they'd ever come. This was the first time he'd be taking his son off the island, and it'd be the first time in years that they'd be visiting the homelands in years. Stoick's brother, Spitelout had gone just a few weeks before to scout the land. Stoick scanned the island once more, searching for his toothpick of a son.

He jumped when a hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"It's alright, I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Stoick looked over to see his wife, Vahallarama trying to comfort him. She was smaller in stature than the other women in the village, which explained the minuscule son of his, but he still loved her more than anyone. Despite her petite size, she was strong in words and attitude.

The stressed chief gave a heavy sigh. "I sure hope so."

Soon, the word was given for the ships to set off in a couple minutes. Vahallarama boarded the largest ship, but just before Stoick was about to join her, two images came running down to the docks.

"WAIT!" the larger one screamed. Gobber, the blacksmith dragged a young, small boy to the ships, where he was set in front of his father.

Stoick just stood there with a scowl look on his face, his son purposefully trying to avoid meeting his eyes.

"Sorry, dad." the boy said quietly.

"Where were you?" asked Stoick, expecting a good answer.

The boy looked up a Gobber, who turned away and left to board the ship. He sighed, "I was out looking for a troll."

"A troll?" Stoick raised his eyebrows.

"Well, a couple of the other kids were talking about a troll in the woods, and I just thought I'd try to look for it, ya'know?"

Stoick raised his massive hands to his face, trying to convince himself that this was a good excuse for almost missing such an occasion.

"Well, there's no point in trying to lecture him out there." Vahallarama said, leaning over the side of the large ship, "Everyone get on board so we can get a move on."

Stoick nodded, then looked over to his distraught son. "Let's go, Hiccup."

Out at Sea

Hiccup could barely contain his excitement as soon as the tiny island of Berk was out of sight beyond the horizon. He ran up to the edge of the bow, trying to see if he could find where they were going before anyone else. Suddenly a thought came to his mind.

"Hey mom!" he called out behind him.

Vahallarama walked over to the bow where Hiccup was after she was done talking with the captain. "What is it?"

"Won't the mean dragons attack while we're gone?"

She smiled. "No dear. You see, every year the dragons don't come to our island for a couple weeks. It is that time this year now, so the dragons won't come."

"Why not?"

Vahallarama gave a puzzled look. "I'm not quite sure." She looked into her son's eyes. They seemed to be pleading with her to tell him. Hiccup was always more interested in learning things of the world rather than just going with them.

"Maybe one day you'll find out for us." she said giving him a comforting smile.

Hiccup beamed. He always enjoyed the encouragement of his mother. She was just about the only one in the village who would give it to him.

"Vahallarama..." called a deep, concerned voice.

Both she and Hiccup turned. Stoick was standing there in the midst of the men working. His head gave a slight movement backward, indicating he wished to speak with her in private. She simply nodded, and left with him below deck. Hiccup stayed at the bow, thinking of the new things he might see off the island.

Below deck, Gobber sat waiting for the chief and his wife. When they arrived, he brought out two small stools for them to sit.

"What's all this about?" Vahallarama said as she sat down.

Stoick sighed as he looked at Gobber, who simply nodded. After giving another sigh, he looked to Vahallarama. "It's about Hiccup."

"What about Hiccup?"

"Well, you know ever since he was born, he's been...different."

"And what's wrong with different?"

Stoick was a bit surprised to hear her say this. "Well, how can I trust the village to him if I don't know what he'll do with it? I don't even know what he's doing half the time."

"Well, he told you what he was doing this afternoon didn't he?"

"Yes, he did, but did you hear what he said?"

"Hiccup may have strange ideas, but he has ambition. Plus, he's still just a child, Stoick. Give him some time. Just wait, you'll wake up one day and find out he's turned into the best chief Berk has ever seen, different or not. And don't worry," she said, standing up, "I'll help to keep him on the right path."

She kissed his forehead and left. After she was back on the main deck, Stoick turned back to Gobber.

Gobber just shrugged his shoulders. "She basically summed it all up. You can't count your chickens before they're hatched. Just give the boy a bit of time."

Stoick sighed again, but as he opened his mouth to talk, one of the men opened the door to the main deck.

"Chief! You may want to get up here and see this!"

Attack

Hiccup started to get bored just sitting alone, but as he looked around, all he could see was sweaty men running around the deck. He once again looked out to the clear, open sea in front of him. His mind drifted to the dragons living near Berk. Perhaps they'd sail to where they lived. Hiccup shook his head. He remembered hearing his father say they lived in a never-ending mist surrounded by tall rocks.

As his innocent, childish mind wandered, he began to notice a small speck on the horizon. He focused in on the tiny silhouette, trying to figure out what it was. Perhaps it was land? Have they gotten to their destination already? He squinted his eyes harder. Soon he made out a sail...flags...

"Mom!" he called out, realizing she was back from below deck, "Look, a ship!"

She briskly walked up next to him as he pointed his finger to the other vessel sailing in the water. She squinted her eyes as Hiccup did before, and as it came closer, her eyes widened, recognizing the Celtic symbols on the flags.

She called to one of the men, and whispered in his ear. Afterward, he ran to below deck where the chief was, disbelief in his eyes. Soon, Stoick was where Hiccup and Vahallarama stood, and he stared at the strange ship.

"Gobber!" Stoick called, knowing his friend had followed him upstairs, "Get the men ready for battle."

"Wait," started Vahallarama, "We don't know if they're hostile. We haven't had much dealing with the Scotts in decades."

"Well, better safe than sorry." said Stoick, and he himself went to get ready.

Vahallarama turned to Hiccup, "You best get below deck, son."

Hiccup nodded, and jumped down the stairs, keeping the hatch slightly open so he could still see everything.

The ship slowly got closer, and as soon as they were parallel with their ship, Stoick began to speak very loudly.

"Heil*! What brings you across these waters?"

The entire deck was silent. Stoick's eyebrows furrowed, noticing something was wrong.

Suddenly the entire crew on the Scott's ship yelled a battle cry, and jumped onto Hiccup's boat. Everyone drew their swords, and a great battle commenced. The vikings tried to push the celts back as much as possible, but they were soon flooded with Scotts. Hiccups eyes widened to the amount of bloodshed. He'd seen the villagers fight dragons back on Berk, but to see them fighting other people was almost unbelievable. He could see his tiny, little mother in the battle, fighting alongside his massive father. The both the them almost in harmony as they fought.

The strength and skill of the vikings were enough to finally push them back to their own ship, and it became a two-ship battle. Eventually it was enough to send the Scotts off on their own ship. Everyone cheered, yelling at them, accepting victory. Hiccup, realizing it was over, came from below deck, and ran to his mother. He bent down and hugged him, knowing he'd never seen such violence before.

Unfortunately as the Scotts sailed away, the people of Berk could see them take out bows, and shoot arrows toward them. The cheers of the vikings quickly stopped at arrows rained down on them.

"Take cover!" yelled the chief, and everyone lifted their shields.

Screams of pain were heard as a few arrows fell to where a shield could not protect their large bodies.

"Cowards!" Stoick screamed at them as they sailed farther once the arrows had finished falling.

"Mom!" screamed a choked voice amiss the shouts of scorn. Stoick recognized it, and ran to where it came from.

Vahallarama lay on the deck, blood pouring out of her back where an arrow had hit her. Hiccup was cradling her head, not knowing what to do. She had used her heavy shield to protect Hiccup when the arrows fell, leaving her body exposed.

"Vahallarama..." Stoick whispered, taking her fragile body in his arms.

She looked up into his eyes, and placed a hand on his tear-dripping cheek. All she could do was mouth the words: Take care of Hiccup...

The entire ship was silent as the chief's wife slowly fell away into darkness.

Return

After the death of Vahallarama, the ship decided to go back to Berk to bury her body. They never did get to the homelands.

*An old Norse greeting to a group of men and women.