Chapter One: The Blacksmith, the Bully, and the Axe

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Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is around fifteen, and he isn't the biggest or the strongest viking. Yet that was what his father wanted. The great Stoick the Vast was the Chief of Berk, a village at war with dragons. In this land, it was kill or be killed. Yet while Stoick was great, and mighty, and powerful, his son was almost the opposite. Hiccup was sarcastic, skinny, and weak. He was brave, yes, but his father only saw the son he wanted, not the son he had.

As such, it followed that Hiccup tried his best to improve, hoping to impress his father. Yet he didn't become strong and bulky, and his weapons skills were abysmal. He slowly became a laughingstock for the other teens his age. Snotlout Jorgensen, his cousin, was the biggest bully of the bunch. He always teased Hiccup about how he was stronger, faster, and overall better. The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston helped Snotlout from the beginning, assisting him in all his schemes. Fishlegs Ingerman used to be Hiccup's only friend, but when given a choice by Snotlout, he chose the easy way out and abandoned Hiccup.

Then there was Astrid "Fearless" Hofferson, Hiccup's crush. She lived alone, as her parents had died in a dragon raid when she was around 7 years old. She never took place in the bullying, she just never stopped it. Hiccup didn't blame her, in her place he would have done the same thing. However, Hiccup was not in her place. As he walked back to the forge where he worked with his mentor, Gobber, a hand on his shoulder jerked him out of his thoughts.

"Where d'you think you're going, Useless?" Snotlout sneered.

"On my way to the forge, Snotlout. I've got work to do," Hiccup sighed out, he already knew where this was going and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

"What makes you think you can help, Fishbone? I bet you can't even lift the hammer." Snotlout began to push Hiccup around, and eventually he shoved Hiccup between Ruff and Tuff, where they grabbed onto him.

"Watch where you're going, Useless!" They sneered as they clamped down hard on his arms. Hiccup did his best not to resist so that the beating would end quickly. However, Snotlout was feeling cruel today and decided to give Hiccup the worst beating he'd had yet. He quickly had the twins drag Hiccup behind the nearest house, and then punched him in the stomach, hard. Hiccup wheezed as the air was driven straight out of his lungs.

"That the best you got? I thought you were stronger!" The auburn-haired blacksmith shot a quick quip at Snotlout, causing him to go over the top. Snotlout punched him again, in the face. Hiccup almost screamed at the agony, but managed to stay standing without the twins having to hold him up. He braced himself as he saw Snotlout pull his leg back, and winced as the boot tore open his leg, finally falling from the pain. The twins let him go, realising he wasn't going to run away.

"Not so funny now, Useless. What happened? I thought everything was funny!" Snotlout brutally kicked him again, then walked away with the twins, grinning with twisted satisfaction at bringing his cousin low.

Hiccup groaned and rolled to his feet before wobbling over to the forge. There he saw Gobber resting as all the work was done by Hiccup, Gobber just took orders for his apprentice to fulfill. Hiccup tied on his apron and got to work fixing the weapons. As he was sharpening and polishing weapons, he winced whenever he overstretched and felt like his head was split in two. Eventually, Astrid came out of the forest from her training session and dropped her ax off for sharpening. Hiccup immediately tended to his crush's prized possession, treating it as his child. He polished it after putting a battle-ready edge on, and he checked the handle to make sure it didn't need refitting. After all this was done, he excused himself and went to Astrid's house to deliver the ax.

When he knocked on the door, Astrid opened and stood there waiting for Hiccup to say something. Flustered at her speed, he managed to stammer out a response.

"H-hi Astrid, I-I just finished sharpening your ax and I thought you might want it..." He trailed off, still holding the ax. When he realised that fact, he started and quickly thrust the axe out at her. Surprised, Astrid jumped back at the sudden movement before cautiously reaching out and accepting her ax. She inspected the edge, although she knew it would be perfect, like always.

"Thanks Hiccup." She said right before going inside and slamming the door in his face. Berating himself, Hiccup limped back to the forge.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! What were you expecting? You did knock on her door! Oh, you're such an idiot, Haddock..." He returned to the forge and finished the rest of the work around noon, so he had time to invent. He had come up with something he liked to call "The Bola Cannon". Great name, sure, but he was proud. It worked well, just needed a little calibration, that's all.

He continued to work on his inventions, wincing slightly when he moved the wrong way. He was still sore from his beating, and didn't get much done. When nightfall came around, he trotted up to the Great Hall to get something to eat, before coming back home to go to sleep. Hopefully there won't be a raid tonight, He thought to himself. Thor knows I could use the rest.

Yet apparently Thor didn't know, as there was a dragon raid coming with a rare, powerful dragon, one of the legendary Night Furies, maybe the last in existence. Hiccup's night was about to get loud

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