Heart of a Dragon (A Hiccup x Astrid HTTYD AU Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Where It All Starts

Vikings are the most stubborn, hardheaded, and hit first talk later kind of people and us, their descendants are still much more so. 

As our ancestors enjoyed and conducted battles, rage wars, and fight tooth to nail, we do so too but with less weapons, less beheading, and much less blood, in the form of sports. Sports made our blood flow and our competitive spirits satisfied, that's why the greater the athlete you are, the greater your standing is, in this modern Viking society.

My name is Henry Haddock III, thankfully my mother was able to convince my dad to remove my supposedly first name of 'Horrendous' since in Viking culture having a unconventional and horrifying name are a means of protection. 

But I was still known with my peers as 'Hiccup' since I was a late bloomer, I was tiny compared to the other children of the same age.

But thankfully, on my last year of middle school, puberty did its thing and I grew, I'm a bit still skinny but I'm not so little anymore but the nickname stuck so I go Hiccup most of the time now.

My father is Stephen Haddock, widely known as Stoick the Vast, one of the greatest American Football player to ever lived. With his height of 6'8" and weighing around 300 pounds, he was a force to be reckoned with on and off the field.  

While my mother is Valka Haddock, known as Valka the Valkyrie, the pride of our hometown Berk. She put the Berk's women's basketball on the map and that's the reason why she is called the greatest women's basketball player in Berk.

And then there's little old me, since my dad is Stoick the Vast everyone assumed that I will follow his footsteps and be 'Henry the Vast' or 'Hiccup the Vast' or 'Hiccup the Destroyer' but... I sucked at American Football. 

It's not an issue of me not practicing or doing my best because I did, I really tried. I played all of my elementary and most of my middle school but it was not really for me. 

My dad didn't show it but I knew he was disappointed and for the last year of my middle school he let me pick a different sport and I immediately chose basketball.

When I was training football with my dad, I was also training basketball with my mom, she told me it was a supplementary training for my endurance, agility, and vision on the field. 

I never saw my mom play but the way she was telling me stories about her playing and teaching me moves, I saw and felt how much she loved basketball. Maybe that's why I began to fall in love with it too. 

I remember the day I told my mom I signed for the basketball try-outs, she was over the moon, she even took me shopping immediately for new shoes and basketball gears. My mom trained me everyday until the day of the try-outs, my dad was with us supporting, helping, and also giving me a few pointers. 

The try-outs were... easy. I scored on every lay up, I got past my defenders, I blocked shots, and I think I even scored 50 points in the final scrimmage of the try-outs which was supposed to simulate a 10-minute quarter for 4 quarters. 

I made the team which made my mom so happy and even my dad told me to do my best in every game which I did.

In the area where we lived in, all the middle schools participate in an inter-school basketball tournament. Ten schools, Nine games, single round knockouts if your school's team lost once they are out of the tournament. 

When I heard this, I was excited and a little nervous since it was my first time but I always loved the challenge, the Viking blood in my veins always seek for the thrill of the battle. 

I also found out that our school never reached the finals, the highest they got was three wins. It was my last year and I wanted to leave my mark, I was determined to leave with the championship so I treated every game as the finals. 

Our first five games was smooth sailing we won by 20 to 30 points, the sixth and seventh games was a bit harder but we still won by 10 to 20 points, the eighth game was what I wanted, a challenging and hard-fought game and we won by only 5 points. 

The ninth and final game, we never got the lead all throughout the three quarters and half of the fourth quarter. I was firing in all cylinders, doing what I can to keep my team in the game. In the last two minutes of the game, they were still up by four but I got fouled on a three point attempt, I made the shot and the free throw. 

The game was tied, we were on the defensive end, they were wasting the clock. I was guarding their best player, he made a move I tried to steal the ball and I nicked his hand, the referee called a foul. 

We were on penalty which means two shots, he made the first and missed the second but they got the rebound, the ball returned to him and he made a floater in the paint. They were up by three with only 30 seconds left in the game, I knew we needed to score fast to make sure we still have time if ever they manage to score again so as soon as I got the ball I sprinted and took a quick three, tying the ball game once again. 

I immediately went back on defense, twenty seconds left I was manning their best player again when I felt a screen and my teammate was late on the switch and he made a jumper just inside the three point line. Our coach called our last timeout, "There's still eight seconds on the clock and we have to cover the whole length of the court so screen for Hiccup. Make sure to open a path for him. Hiccup, take the shot." he told us and I smiled as we went back in, "I have no plans of losing this game." I told myself.

The defense was a full court man to man just as expected, I dribbled through the screens and when I was inside the half court, I shot the ball as soon as the ball left my fingertips, the buzzer went off but the noise disappeared. 

My eyes were glued on the ball as I still held the follow through. Then I saw it swished in, the crackle of the net echoed in the venue exploded with the loud roar of the crowd. I looked in the crowd for my mom and dad and I saw them smiling at me, I smiled back. I turned around and saw my teammates all heading towards me, "WE WO-" I was tackled to the ground before I could finish.

Who would ever thought that my last year in middle school would be the greatest and the worst year of my life. 

It was also the year I lost my mom unexpectedly. A drunk driver hit her car on her way home, me and my dad hurried to the hospital upon hearing the news about the accidents. I saw her before she was wheeled in for surgery. She had cuts everywhere, her clothes were covered in blood but when she saw she smiled and told me everything was going to be okay.  

It was a lie. She died a few day later due to complications of her injuries. My whole world turned upside down in a blink of an eye and I stopped playing basketball after that, it reminded me of what I lost. I knew dad was hurting much more than me, she didn't just lost her wife, he lost her best friend and his soulmate. 

It was never the same. I avoided people and stayed in my room all day and the days I went to school I sat at the far back so that no one would notice me. My dad turned to alcohol to ease his pain. 

It just got worse for me when it reached to the point, of me thinking of ending everything, I was holding the blade to my wrist when I got a glimpse of a picture frame in my room, it was me and my mom when she first bought me a basketball. 

I knew she would like me to live a happy life and to continue to do what I love, that night I went to my dad and told him everything. 

We both cried and we both decided to live for mom. He stopped drinking and he returned to his work as a coach while I started training again because I wanted to make her proud.

In my school, there is a tradition of a basketball game between the graduating class and all other classes. It was like a farewell game. No one knew I was going to attend so I didn't know how would they react but when I walked inside the gym, I was surprised by the overwhelming cheers and support. I choked up and almost cried, "Good to see you again, Hiccup." my coach said, "It's good to be back." I told him as he embraced me and I felt my teammates and classmates did too. 

The game was fun and full of laughs, my team, the graduating class won. I missed it; the feeling of the ball in my hands, the cheers from the crowd, and the memories of mom and I playing against each other. 

After graduation from middle school, my dad and I talked about wanting a change in scenery. He wanted to go back home, to where his memories of mom was abundant. So we are moving again but not to somewhere unfamiliar; we were moving back to our hometown, back to Berk.