My Version of How to Train Your Dragon

A/N: Since I'm a HUGE fan of HTTYD, my first fanfiction story will be about it. I'll start with one chapter at a time until the whole story is complete, and that goes with all the fanfictions I plan to show, so no new stories until the first is complete. I'll try to post a new chapter whenever possible, but that might become harder with time, so don't get mad with me if it takes forever.

And now, let's begin the story!

Chapter 1

This is Berk

This is Berk.

An island that's shrouded by the night sky and the spray of waves slowly comes into view.

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.

A pretty quaint and quiet Viking village nestles peacefully on the slopes of the isle of Berk.

My village. In a word: sturdy. It's been here for about 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.

A flock of sheep were grazing calmly, until one is snatched up by a shadow with claws.

You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have...

A scrawny Viking teenage boy opens the door to see what was going on this early, only to quickly shut it again, pressing it against his back as fire bursts out from behind it.

"Dragons." He breathed out.

He could tell that this is a very fine way to begin the day: a dragon raid. Already, animals were fleeing in terror and the older Vikings were battling fire-breathing reptiles.

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

The boy rushed out of the melting inferno of the building, dodging fire blasts and charging Vikings.

My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But, it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name would frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was definitely not what others would picture as a "typical" Viking, like the first thing that you imagine of when you think of Vikings. Hiccup was small, short, and skinny. He wore a light green tunic, dark green leggings, and a matching brown fur vest and boots. He had short floppy auburn hair, soulful forest green eyes, fair skin, and an army of tiny freckles across his nose and upper cheeks. Though at first glance, you can't see it, but there's a fine little white scar on his lower chin.

A nearby blast of fire made Hiccup jump back and land flat on his back. A Viking then came to him, shouting a war cry, before saying, "Morning!", then running off again. Hiccup got back on his feet and rushed past other Vikings, ignoring their shouts to him, telling him to get back inside.

Suddenly, a strong hand belonging to a giant of a man pulled him away from what couldn't be a fiery death from another dragon's fire.

"Hiccup! What is he doing out- What are you doing out here? Get inside!" he said before pushing Hiccup away.

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.

The Chief of Berk was almost seven feet tall, and with his bulging muscles, made him look like a miniature mountain. He then threw a cart at an incoming dragon.

"What have we got?" He asked a nearby Viking.

"Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks." Reported the Viking. "And someone saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

Both of them then dodged another fireball, or it was like the Viking scout dodged and Stoick just brushed it off, literally.

"Any Night Furies?" Asked Stoick.

"None so far."

"Good."

Hiccup continued his run towards the village armory. All around him, Vikings were lighting lanterns and bringing out their weapons. Once he entered the blacksmith's, he took off his fur vest.

"How nice of you to join the party." said the blacksmith, who was a scruffy man with a long blond braided moustache, tight-fitting shirt and pants, and a prosthetic left arm and right peg leg. The prosthetic arm was in use of a hammer, pounding at a sword. "I thought you'd be carried off." he joked. The man's name was Gobber, and he was mostly in charge that Hiccup stays out of trouble.

"Who, me?" Hiccup asked after he finished tying a work apron around him. "Nah, I'm waaaay too tough for their taste." he said, barely lifting up a hammer. "They wouldn't know what to do with all this." he says, gesturing to his non-existent muscles.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" said another voice.

A boy Hiccup's age came into the armory from the back room carrying a bundle of swords in his arms. He had auburn hair like Hiccup's, but a bit more red, and more wild than shaggy. His eyes are dark blue, a strange color for Vikings, and his skin was light like Hiccup's. He was pretty thin as well, but not as thin as Hiccup. He wore a black tunic, navy blue leggings, brown fur boots, metal leg guards, and a short sword strapped onto his belt.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Ragnar." Hiccup said sarcastically.

Ragnar Iverson is the son of two of Berk's best warriors, who died in a dragon raid when he was a baby. So, he was raised with Hiccup like a brother.

"Hey, what would you do without us?" asked a different voice, this one sounding feminine.

The boys turned and saw a girl their age fixing some arrows. She had dark brown hair in two short pigtails reaching to the nape of her neck, with long sweeping bangs curled down her left cheek. Her skin was an olive tan, showing off the firelight coming from the hearth, and her chocolate brown eyes seem to enhance it. She wore a dark blue shirt with semi-long sleeves, a brown leather skirt to her knees, black leggings, brown leather ankle boots, and a silver dragon pendant around her neck. She looks pretty and petite, but she's tougher than she looks.

"You're right about that, Cosette. What would he do?" said Ragnar, looking at Hiccup, who just rolled his eyes playfully.

Cosette Henderson is the daughter of a Viking and a Roman captive, which resulted in the not-so-Viking name. Like Ragnar, her parents died in a dragon hunt, so she was raised alongside him and Hiccup. The three had been best friends since they were small, and they were inseparable.

The meathead with interchangeable hands is Gobber. And those two are Ragnar and Cosette, my best and only friends. The three of us had been his apprentices ever since we were little. Well, littler.

Hiccup took a couple of the swords that Ragnar was carrying and started to reheat the blunt blades.

Stoick was still outside, ordering other Vikings. "Move down to the lower banks! We'll counter attack with the catapults." he said as a dragon burned down a roof.

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

That sure explains it.

"Fire!" cried out an attack cry.

"All right, let's go!" came a voice that got Hiccup's attention. He looked out the window and saw the Fire Brigade, a group of teenage Vikings his age.

Oh, that's Fishlegs,...

Fishlegs Ingermen was a big chubby blond Viking boy with small legs and a mouth that can fill a textbook. He wore a large fur shirt, pants, boots and a tiny helmet.

Snotlout,...

Snotlout Jorgenson was Hiccup's cousin and everything a Viking should be, including a large ego to fill an ocean. He had black straggly hair, a shirt with a grey fur vest, pants, fur boots, a helmet with ram horns, and decent muscles that he's so eager to show off.

The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and...

The Thorston twins, though they share a birth date and looks, the only thing they have in common is their love for violence and mischief.

Ruffnut is the girl and she wears her long blonde in three thick braids, two over her shoulders and the other one on her back. She also wears a tan vest under a dark tunic and skirt, leggings, cloth and boots. Her helmet has two long horns on both sides and spikes down the middle.

Tuffnut wears his hair down, and he wears a dark fur vest with a grey tunic, dark leggings and boots. His helmet is similar to his sister's, except the main horns are different and at a different angle.

The last Viking is the one whose voice got Hiccup off guard. She just put out a fire with her bucket of water, and then a fireball exploded behind her, highlighting her figure, which in his eyes, happened in slow-motion.

Astrid.

Astrid Hofferson; the perfect example of a Viking. Not only in looks, but in battle as well. She had blue eyes, blonde hair braided down her back, long bangs covering her left eye, a leather headband around her head, a light blue shirt, cloth bracers on her arms, a leather skirt decorated with skulls and spikes, dark leggings, and brown fur boots.

Ragnar and Cosette saw Hiccup staring dreamily over at Astrid. Both of them rolled their eyes; Ragnar with a teasing glint in his eyes, Cosette in annoyance.

Ragnar snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face. "Berk to Hiccup."

"Wh-what?" asked Hiccup, getting out of his trance.

"Forget it, Hiccup." said Cosette as she continued sharpening an axe. "She wouldn't get too close to you, even if she was on fire and you had the last bucket of water in town."

Ragnar gave her a harsh glare, but Hiccup stopped him from saying anything. "She's right, you know that."

"But that shouldn't stop you from trying." The Iverson boy insisted.

Suddenly, Gobber pulled Hiccup away from the window. He groaned. "Come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark!"

"Oh, you made plenty of marks." Gobber retorted. "All in the wrong places."

"Please, two minutes." Hiccup pleaded. "I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date." At that last statement, Cosette and Ragnar rolled their eyes again.

Gobber started counting his fingers. "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" he said, lifting up a pair of bolas before a Viking snatched them from his hand and hurled it towards a dragon.

"I know, I know." Hiccup said before gesturing to a contraption. "But this will throw it for me."

The machine was something he, Ragnar, and Cosette built in their spare time. He patted it, and it launched a bola at lightning speed at a nearby Viking. Cosette, Ragnar, and Gobber all flinched.

"Now that right there, that's what I am talking about!" Gobber shouted.

"Mild calibration issue..." Hiccup started.

"Mild?" questioned Cosette, while Ragnar merely lifted an eyebrow. Hiccup really has a talent for sugarcoating.

"Look, Hiccup." said Gobber. "If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all...this."

Hiccup looked at what Gobber pointed out. "You just gestured to all of me."

"That's right. Stop being all of you."

"Not helping, Gobber." said Ragnar.

"You sir, are playing a dangerous game." Hiccup replied crossly. "Keeping all this raw Viking-ness contained, there will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances." Gobber deadpanned and picked a sword and handed to Hiccup. "Sword, sharpen, now." Hiccup gave his mentor a glare before beginning to sharpen the blunt blade, with his friends giving him sympathetic looks.

One day, I'll get out there, 'cause killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get at least noticed.

The Deadly Nadder is a large bird-like dragon with spikes on its crown, poisonous spikes that can be unleashed from its tail at will, comes in all colors, and can shoot white-hot fire.

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

The Gronckle is a short, lumpy dragon with super small wings for a dragon of its weight. They also be any color, with bumpy skin, a bludgeon-like tail, and can shoot lava and fire.

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

The Hideous Zippleback is a tall, two-headed dragon; one head breathes gas, the other one ignites it.

A Zippleback blew up a storehouse, and the animals all scurried away.

"They found the sheep!" cried a Viking.

"Concentrate fire over the lower bank!" ordered Stoick.

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

A Monstrous Nightmare came up one of the catapults, scales alight with flames, snarling with fangs sticking out of its jaw, and crawling like a lizard.

"Reload!" said Stoick. "I'll take care of this." He began slapping the dragon across the face with his hammer.

But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one's ever seen. We call it the...

"NIGHT FURY!"

"Get down!"

A large white and purple blast of light illuminated the sky as a shadow quickly flew by, destroying the catapult. Hiccup, Ragnar and Cosette all looked out the window, trying to get another glimpse of it.

This thing never steals food, never shows up, and...

Another white and purple blast blew up another catapult.

Never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm gonna be the first.

Gobber came up the three of them, putting on his axe prosthetic. "Man the fort, you three. They need me out there." He started to leave, but then turned around. "Stay. Put. There."

The three friends just gave him a questioning look. "You know what I mean." he said before he headed out.

Hiccup then turned away, threw off his apron, put back on his vest, and started to wheel out his bola launcher. But, Ragnar and Cosette stopped him, also taking off their aprons.

"Where are you going?" asked Ragnar.

"Look, this is the chance I've been waiting for." said Hiccup. "Might as well jump on it."

"Not without us, you're not." said Cosette as she grabbed a dagger.

Hiccup gave his friends a smile. "Okay. Rag, help me roll this out."

Ragnar began wheeling out the bola launcher alongside Hiccup while Cosette trailed behind them, while all of them dodging and ignoring Vikings. They made it to a cliff, and while Ragnar and Cosette stood watch, Hiccup readied the launcher.

"Come on. Give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at." said Hiccup under his breath.

Suddenly, a shadow caught his eye, barely seen in the night sky. A familiar blast of white and purple light destroyed another catapult. Hiccup fire the launcher, which threw off him. A sharp screech emitted as the shadow began descending towards the forest.

"Oh, I hit it. Yes, I hit it!" cheered Hiccup.

"You really hit it?" asked Cosette as she and Ragnar came over.

"Great job, Hic." said Ragnar, giving his friend a light punch on the shoulder.

"Did anybody else see that?" asked Hiccup, looking around.

Suddenly, a snap and crunch was heard. The three friends turned around and saw a Monstrous Nightmare that had just crushed the bola launcher.

"Except for you." Hiccup deadpanned.

"RUN!" cried Cosette as the Nightmare began chasing after them. Luckily, their cries weren't unheard.

Cosette threw her dagger at the dragon, which left a slash into its wing, but it didn't stop the Nightmare. The three friends each hid behind a pillar, which was relief for Hiccup, who barely dodged a stream of fire.

Ragnar was about to withdraw his sword to attack the dragon and keep it away from Hiccup when Stoick came and punched the Nightmare away from them. The dragon attempted to shoot another fire blast, but out came a weak little fireball.

"You're all out." said Stoick before he punched the dragon again, sending to flee with the other dragons that were still alive. The sky had begun to turn light purple, signifying the coming dawn.

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

Ragnar and Cosette came out of hiding when the pillar that Hiccup was behind collapsed, and tumbled down. Sounds of Vikings from afar caused the three of them to cringe.

"Sorry, Dad." Hiccup said, not looking up to see Stoick's harsh glare.

That's right. Hiccup is Stoick's son, and the heir to the throne of Berk. Lucky him.