How To Train A Ninja

Chapter 1: Berk

Hiccup's POV:

This is New Berk. A large island in the middle of nowhere, but it's home. It's our home. And we've protected our own for many years from the biggest and baddest people we have ever seen. And this is where we'll stay for many years to come.

There were dragons when I was a boy. There were Great Grimm sky dragons that nested on the cliff tops like gigantic scary birds. Little brown scuttling dragons that hunted down the mice and rats in well organized packs. Preposterously huge sea dragons that were twenty times as big as the big blue whale.

Some say that they crawled back into the sea leaving not a bone nor a fang for men to remember them by. Others say that they were nothing but folktales to begin with. Legends says that when the ground quakes or lava spews from the earth, it's the dragons letting us know they're still here. Waiting for us to figure out how to get along. Yes, the world believes that dragons are gone, if they ever existed at all. But we Berkians, we know otherwise. And we'll guard this secret til the time comes when dragons can return in peace.

And as I had once told my children, there is someone living amongst those reptilian creatures. Someone very dear to me. One who was born a human but holds the powers of every dragon ever known to humankind. They used to go back and forth between New Berk and The Hidden World to spend time with both species, yet after one fateful day... they stopped coming.

That person is my sister. Tabitha Haddock. She was once the crown jewel of our community. But after her disappearance, the people of our village began to forget about my gifted sibling. Thinking that I was the only one that my mother, Valka, gave birth to, when in fact she gave birth to twins. Fraternal twins.

We were separated at birth because of a dragon attack — when we used to be enemies — and when we were reunited, I found out that we were twins and that she was blessed by the gods with her abilities. A first I was very weirded out but I grew to like her strange powers the more I got to hangout with her.

I'm now the chief of New Berk with my wife Astrid as chieftess. I watch as our two children are playing in the grass below our balcony, pretending to be dragons themselves. My daughter, Zephyr, and her younger brother, Nuffink, notice me watching them and rush over to me. Astrid comes out of our house and grabs hold of Nuffink, placing him over her shoulders.

"Hey dad, when's Aunt Tabitha coming back? I really want to see her." Zephyr asks me. "Wouldn't it be awesome if she came to my birthday tomorrow!"

This caught me off guard. I've told the children stories of their aunt, and have shown them pictures of her, but it's been many years since she stopped coming to Berk. When my daughter was born Tabitha was supposed to arrive, yet she didn't. The same thing happened with Nuffink birth. Or any other occasion. Although, Tabitha did come to our wedding, before we ever thought of having children.

That was ten years ago.

As I looked to my kids, I tried to think of something to soften the blow of telling them the truth. Astrid gazes at me, waiting to see how I might tell them that their aunt isn't around anymore.

"Umm, well I-I don't know, honey. But that would be something special." I stammer, leaning against the balcony's handlebar. "You see... your aunt, well — she uh — you know how...," I look to my partner for help.

"Sweetie, I'm afraid that Tabitha isn't going to be coming to Berk for a long time." Astrid tells the little girl calmly. "She hasn't been seen for many years. We think that she might not be around anymore."

"So you mean she's dead?" Zephyr looked terribly heartbroken. "I'm never gonna see her, or talk to her about dragons, or even fly with her?"

The two of us guiltily glance at each other and then to her. But before we could even say anything, the sounds of screaming could be heard from the sky. Something high above came hurtling towards the town and loudly crashed into something large. Many noises followed afterwards, like the screams from the inhabitants and an explosion.