The Dragon Master

Part 1~Toothless

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 problem are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have... dragons.

Explosions echoed around the town, waking up Hiccup Haddock the Third. Even though Hiccup was useless, the town's fishbone and outcast still wanted to get out and help. It was his duty to help. He ran out, ignoring everyone's calls for him to stop and go back inside as he rushed to the forge.

He wanted to get the mangler. If he could shoot down a dragon, he could gain their respect. He could get all their respect. That is what he wanted more than anything. The second he saw his chance, he was out of that forge, aiming into the night sky. He was going to take down the king of the night. He was going to take down the Nightfury.

Screeching sang out in the air, telling Hiccup it was coming. A purple blast was the last thing he needed to see the beast. Pulling the trigger, Hiccup sent the bolar through the air. The screeching became distressed as the beast came tumbling to the ground.

Cheering, Hiccup jumped up. He had done it! He had actually done it! And now there was a monstrous nightmare attacking him.

~~~

Hiccup couldn't believe this. Of course, his dad didn't believe him! All Stoic cared about was killing these creatures. He didn't care about his son. Or about anything he was trying to do. He could make this whole place a thousand times better if he just listened to him.

Storming into the forest, Hiccup swatted away the nearest branch. Apparently, the tree fought back, slapping into Hiccup's eye. 'Ow!' Rubbing the sore spot, Hiccup looked at the tree. It was broken in half, along with the trees in this area. A sizable dent was in the path. Something had crash-landed here.

Jumping down the rocks, Hiccup followed the broken ground, looking for the beast that did this. His eyes widened as they landed on the black-scaled dragon. The night fury! This was the night fury he shot down! Oh, this solved everything! They would start listening to him if he could kill it and bring it back!

Pulling out his knife, Hiccup held it over the dragon's heart. This was going to solve everything! Plunging the blade into the dragon's flesh, Hiccup woke the beast up. It roared, flailing about wildly. The ropes snapped, its tail swishing around and hitting Hiccup across the clearing and into the nearby boulder. It growled lowly, prowling forward. Hiccup backed up, cowering away from the dragon.

Stoic shot up in his bed, hearing the scream. 'Hiccup!'

~~~

Hiccup ran his fingers across the blistering scar. He was lucky to be alive. When Stoick arrived, the dragon was gone. Hiccup had been on bed rest for weeks. The worst part was that Stoic wasn't even there when he woke. He had taken the villagers off for another fool's errand to the dragon's nest. Even when at death's door, his father still didn't care.

Dragon training had started, which meant Hiccup had to do all the work in the forge. He wasn't even meant to be out of bed, but he wasn't going to sit still. Pulling the shirt over his head, he walked back to the forge. He pulled out the dagger he had been working on; Hiccup started to balance it with the handle.

The sun was setting in the distance. He could pack down the second Gobber returned. 'Evening Hiccup. How's the forge been?'

'Quiet as usual.' Putting the dagger away, Hiccup took off his apron and placed it in the back room. 'Proudloud wants his axe sharpened, and Buffnut wants a new mace, but I can do them tomorrow. Other than those two, we haven't had any new ones. Oh, wait. Gothi wants a new staff. I thought it would be better for you to do it.'