Dragons | A HTTYD Story

00. The Beginning

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The constant sounds of axes clanging together, and the drunken laughter of the many men on the boat would be loud to others, but to someone who has spent nearly their whole life around it, it was simply an annoyance. Grunting quietly at the strain in her arms with each pull-up done, a young woman with long ginger hair doesn't stop her exercise as her name is called out, "Anna, get down here." With a silent huff she lets go of one of the many stepping pegs attached to the mast, dropping down and she landing in front of her father.

    The men in front of her, were all decently muscular, aside from the man standing directly beside her father, "Vito, this is my daughter," her father speaks up introducing her to the near bald man, "Anna, this is the great Vito the Vicious and his grandsons, they will be joining us on our trip to The Inferno."

    Anna didn't bother to respond, simply nodding her head as a show of respect. She had heard of Vito, the man in charge of the Dragon Hunters, though she had never met him, her father and him were well acquaintanced. They had many meetings in the past about 'The Inferno', it is said to be the mating grounds of the Monstrous Nightmare. Her father had been trying to get to it since their hunt began, but had never had enough ships nor people to be able to get there and do what he wanted to do, kill every Monstrous Nightmare who dares roam the Earth.

    Her mother died to the flame of a Monstrous Nightmare when she was young, driving her father mad, leading him to start his mission of killing the entire species. He, along with a couple of warriors started their group of bandits when she was twelve, only three months after the death of her mother.

Currently seventeen, she has grown to only remember the ways of hunting, her body a clear statement of that, though that wasn't the first thing Ryker noticed when she landed in front of them. It was the teeth, both around her neck and on her shoulder pads, Thunder Drum teeth to be specific. In clans across the archipelago, a Vikings first kill is shown as a trophy in different ways, jewelry and weapons are the most common, though they are usually smaller teeth, usually from a young dragon apart of the village raids, hers though, they were giant, a sign that the dragon was well in its years. The carving of a number, the age she had been when the kill occurred, and the fact that she seemed to be around his age had him gaining some respect for her.

Feeling constant eyes on her she moved her eyes towards one of the boys behind her father and Vito, he looked to be the younger of the two, with a height taller than her, though only by a couple of inches. Even when she looked at him he did not look away, simply holding her stare, no emotion shown on his face though she could read his eyes, and noticed the way they looked up from her neck. She couldn't help the slight smirk that formed on her lips, she knew he had to have been looking at her necklace. The teeth had been from her first kill when she was fourteen, it had been an older Thunder Drum, clearly well in its years, though it had lots of fight in it as she worked to stick her ax in its neck.

"We will be going to my quarters to discuss our plan, show these two to their rooms," he demanded, not bothering to wait for her to respond as he guides Vito, along with a few unnamed hunters to his quarters.

Anna didn't bother to stop her sigh of annoyance from escaping her, her father out of earshot. She didn't have time to act as a guide for anyone, but she knew that her father gave her this role as a sign of respect to Vito, as having his own blood personally escort his heirs rather than a random warrior was a show of trust.

"Come on then, we better be on our way," In similar fashion to her father, she didn't wait for a response as she turned and started to walk, though she only got a few steps before they were even walking with her, one on either side.

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Only a year into the journey towards The Inferno, they had made many stops, mainly to trade and sell the dragons that had been trapped and hunted by the group. They had nearly thirty ships, all home to nearly twenty men each. The group of ships, as well as the crew inside had gained the name, The Unforgiving, as word of what the crew were doing was discovered by the world. Hunters across the oceans came to join they're voyage, hoping to help in achieving glory.

It didn't take long for Ryker and Anna to become well acquainted, they had discovered quickly that they had lots in common, their love for their weapons a major similarity. Ryker was impressed by the giant ax she carried on her back, as well as the others attached to different parts of her outfit, all similar but significantly smaller than her main. While Anna admired his sword, never before had she seen one like his, the sword forged to have a blade that resembled a wave, the dents in it show of how well it had been used.

They had joined in hunts together, both proving to be worthy companions that worked incredibly well together, moving in perfect sync, as though it had been practiced. The fact that they had worked so well together had not gone unnoticed, Vito and Caine, Anna's father, had seen how well they had connected. They both knew that she would be a valued warrior to the Dragon Hunters, and planned to have her join them once this voyage was over. The way that both Ryker and Anna would disappear at the same time and come back only minutes apart only cemented this plan.

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The voyage ended in failure, they had located the island, when Monstrous Nightmare mate, they set their body ablaze, the marks scuffed across the ground all over the island proof. When they had got to the island, they had been prepared, nets and arrows ready to fire, cages open, ready to stuff the dragons inside, only to be met with disappointment. It was like all of the dragons had just up and left, leaving the island inhabited. A further search of the island proved this to be true, the only thing that seemed to be left of the dragons were shedded scales and the bones left from their meals.

A whistle caught the attention of the hunters, all looking towards the source. Anna was standing next to a massive tree, a single Deadly Natter spike stuck in it, the purple of it sticking out against the brown of the tree. "What was a Natter doing here?" She questioned, looking over her shoulder at her father who was approaching the tree, brows furrowed.

"Hey!" The gruff voice of a random hunter called out, looking at another Natter spike the same size as the other, likely from the same dragon. Caine growled in anger, "Why would they all just leave? It doesn't make any sense." A sudden memory struck him, an image of a purple Deadly Natter, the same purple as the spike in the tree, the women riding it had a grin of victory on her face, a pack of wild dragons flying away from them with their newfound freedoms. "Dragon riders." He yelled out in anger, ripping the spike out of the tree and throwing it to the ground.

Gathering back onto the ships they knew they had a new mission, kill the pesky dragon riders.

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The dragon hunters and Caines group separated with promise to return and help eliminate the family when they had been found. Not even a month after Anna had joined the hunters and sailed their ships with them it had become obvious how close her and Ryker had become, the hunters learning quickly to avoid their rooms when they were together. Their closeness hadn't just been on a personal level, their efficiency and ruthlessness when capturing and killing dragons had been the best seen in years.

It took nearly eight years to be able to find the family, figuring out which direction they would fly after messing with their business, and following the wild dragons that seemed to migrate towards their island. By then Vito had long passed, nearly 6 years before, he was eaten by a titan typhoomerang during one of their many adventures to locate an object that was rumoured to have the secrets of every dragon the earth has known, all revealed by the flame of a dragon.  The dragon met its end by his sword shortly after, though it was wielded by Viggo, fulfilling his duty as the new leader of the Dragon Hunters.

They had been on a random island inhabited mainly by Gronckles killing the old and capturing the young, they would be helpful with making gronckle iron back at home base, when a terror had flown towards Anna, who had gained even more muscle, and Ryker, who had also gotten bigger and shaved his head. Anna grabbed the letter that was tied to the dragon's leg.

The island had been found.