Dragons | A HTTYD Story

01.

Dragons— Such interesting creatures, smarter than most give them credit for— though I suppose they couldn't get a proper opinion on them when they're either fleeing from them, or fighting to protect their village from them. Out here though, in their natural habitat, they are so interesting to watch, to see them grow up, have families, and provide for that family. Not so different from Vikings.

The island, 'Hiem' is home to many dragons, most wild, friendly—to a point, but wild. Far away from the harm of humans they are peaceful, alongside only three humans, the Brun family. They claimed the island as their own nearly 9 years ago, it took not even a year to gain the dragons' trust and develop good relations with them. The family hadn't changed much to the island, aside from a house and farm to feed them, living life much better than they had before living as drifters—people who lived on boats, living off of stolen food and wearing clothes that resembled rags more than a full outfit.

Living so far from the rest of civilization could drive any Viking mad, though the Bruns had more than just each other, they had their dragons. Blair Brun, the daughter had befriended a young female Monstrous Nightmare after only four months on the island—the couple was surprised to say the least, to see their only thirteen year old daughter exploring the island on the back of the purple beast. It took almost two years for Ella to befriend her dragon, the thirty-seven year old women had been collecting berries when a group of massive boar charged at her only to be scared away by the spines from a Deadly Natters tail, starting a strong friendship. John had been wary of the dragons, having fought in wars against them, but gained a friend in a lone Snafflefang after helping it to fend off a group of Changewing trying to find their next meal.

They had thought that they had been far enough away from anybody to be able to avoid any conflict, though they had not accounted for people in boats to come to the island for one thing, the dragons.

They had their first encounter with the hunters when they had been looking for an island, as they had no proper weapons nor dragons, there was only so much two Vikings could do while making sure that their 12 year old daughter was safe. They were only able to save a single dragon, one in a cage separated from the rest. Inside was a young green Monstrous Nightmare who's screeches of freedom caught the dragon hunters attention, making it impossible for them to save any other dragons, having barely made it out alive with the one dragon alone.

That day had started a never ending battle between the hunters and the dragon riders. While they had remained off of the hunters radar for a while, merely seen as a small nuisance, they proved to be a worthy foe. Taking down small operations with measly weapons created by hand, they targeted lone ships— typically ones that drifted a distance away from the rest of the fleet, and small voyages sent to scout the islands and trap the few dragons scattered through out them.

Freeing dragons guarded by a tens of guards separated throughout the island may have been easy, but those missions, those few dragoons they had freed are nothing compared to the wide scale of hunters across the globe. The big groups that the family could do nothing but watch as they took tens, sometimes hundreds of dragons at a time, the distress the dragons were in as young were separated from their parents, mates separated from each other.

As long as the family could remember the leaders of the big groups had always been two people, a man and a women, though when they had first encountered them they had not even been full adults, only in there late teen years. Anna Slora and Ryker Grimborn had been their names, the General and Second Command of the Dragon Hunters. Both competing with each other in height and muscle, they were forces to be reckoned with.

At first glance you would assume that they were the leaders of the Hunters, the way that they carried themselves and the power they had over the hunters would make your believe so, but the Brun's had discovered the truth. All it took was a knife to the throat before a captured hunter blabbed all he knew, the main trading export, the next island they would sail to, their leader.