Chapter Text
The wind was cold and freezing with snow in any direction you looked. It was as if Devastating Winter was upon them even though the winds were not as harsh. At least not as harsh as they had been earlier. Their boats were long behind the men as they trudged their way through the deep snow. The men were robust and tall wearing leathers and furs that would keep them warm in the harsh climate. Upon their heads sat helmets with varying different horns for each man. It was what signified them all as Vikings. But what were they doing this far north far from their homes? Many had never been this far north before, but they had a job to do. For the small group of men were scouting. As rumors about the north kept growing more and more with taller and wilder tales and stories it was to the point that the parts of the world close to the north could no longer ignore it. Better to know there’s nothing but harsh colds than something lurking in the snow beyond the unknown lands they have set sail to. Every new land they stopped to check had been uninhabitable other than for them being teeming with dragons of different species. The stories on the lands so far north no man would dare to travel there lest the goddess of death herself come to drag them out of the world of the living. It was a land full of snow and ice where dragons have started to appear and inhabit. It’s said to be filled to the brim with magic so thick you choke on it with each breath. A land so wild and deadly that it will swallow you whole without any chance of a proper send off to ensure you can make it to the halls of Valhalla. But yet even with those stories are the ones that the moon shines brightest upon these lands and what’s more that there have been sightings of people. Yet no one has lived to confirm or deny if that’s true or not. Every person that ventures these lands seemingly goes missing so they’ve been presumed dead. How can one go missing in harsh lands with winters longer than anywhere else in the world and survive?
"Orm! We should go find shelter! It is getting late and the sun will go down soon. If we stay out here past sundown we will all freeze to death!” A voice cut through the winds to the man in the front.
Orm was a brunette man with dark hair in braids and a long beard and mustache. He was tall, strong, and robust like any Viking man was. He was clothed in dark thick furs and leather to help abate the cold winds and weather. At the moment he knew the man that called to him was right. They needed to search for shelter otherwise they would be done for in these lands.
“We search for shelter then! But we stay together! If any of us get lost in this we’re as good as dead!” Orm ordered to the others.
No one would die in these gales on his watch. Not if he could help it. As the party continued on through the snow they looked for any place they could rest for the night. A cave would be preferable, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath on that. When Orm went to take another step in the snow he heard rustling as if something was dragging its body through the snow. He froze, scanning the area for where the sound came from. He held up a hand to signal the rest of the party to stop in their tracks as the snow crunched under their boots. As his eyes scanned looking for anything in the wintry lands they stopped when they found movement in the snow. Behind a large snow bank raised a massive white scaled head that was blending in with the snow. The dragon’s blue eyes were trained on the group watching them with narrowed eyes before it came to its full height and let out a deafening roar.
“Snow Wraith!”
Came a yell from behind as the Vikings tried to spread out without being separated as they turned to take cover from the snow colored wild dragon. It was large with spikes that looked like ice protruding from its back and long tail. As it made a swipe, Orm ducked below and kept running. Better to run and try to defend themselves where they have more visibility rather than trying to kill it like they did back in the old days.
“Back to the ships! Try to lose the dragon!” He yelled at his men.
As they ran a couple of the men were nearly trampled, but the group kept pressing forward ducking and weaving around trees, boulders , and snow banks. The dragon was agitated and kept the chase. It was not until they were close to shore that the dragon pounced pinning Orm to the cold snow covered ground. The dragon opened it’s great maw as if to take a bite out of Orm. His men turned to help when a low whistle sounded. The dragon froze and shut its mouth while still staring at the viking it had pinned to the ground. When it didn’t move another whistle followed after a few minutes. The dragon growled before hurriedly letting Orm go and zipping away. When Orm finally got up his eyes trained to where the Snow Wraith disappeared. Not too far above was a dragon gliding in the air. It was pure white with long, thin ridges running down its spine. It had triangular tail flukes, four nubs protruding from its head, and long thin ridges on its legs. Its wings were massive as it flapped them. Its eyes are catlike and glacial blue. It looked just like a Night Fury but white. Upon its back was a rider cloaked in blues and whites with brown boots lined with white fur on their feet. They had a slender build, but that didn’t take away from their powerful presence. The hood of a brown with white fur lined cloak was up covering the person’s face. They held what appeared to be a shepherd’s staff. They were small so they must have been young.
“I advise you to turn back, you're too close to a Snow Wraith nest. Besides, outsiders are not welcome here. I’ll only say this politely once otherwise I’ll let the dragons at you.” A young distinctly male voice warned.
Orm shook off the pure shock he felt at seeing a boy riding a white Night Fury. He signaled for his men to keep on back towards the ships. They came for what they needed to know anyways. He nodded to the strange cloaked young man.
“I apologize if our arrival caused a disturbance. We were not aware we were close to a dragon nest. I thank you for your assistance and we will depart since we are not welcome here.” Orm spoke to the young man before turning to follow his men.
The cloaked figure on the dragon nodded once before flying off and disappearing completely behind the coverage of clouds. Well, Orm supposed coming there was not a complete waste. After all he got to confirm that people do inhabit these lands. That and he knew his chief, Stoick and particularly his son would be interested to know about the white Night Fury and its rider. As he climbed back onto the deck of the ship after trudging through the ice and snow again he watched as the land grew distant as they sailed away and back home to Berk.
The wind whipped past a massive body as both a man and a dragon zipped through the sky. They twisted, turned, and spiraled through the air. Now to anyone that was not a resident of Berk this sight would be shocking. Not to mention baffling. Why would a viking ride a dragon? But that’s what it was. The man’s freckled face and auburn hair was covered and obscured by a metal spiked helmet. His deep emerald eyes the only part visible through a slot in the helmet. The man was dressed clad in green clothing that was covered by brown leather and furs that kept his armor in place. The dragon he was riding was a night fury with scales as dark as night, catlike vivid forest green eyes, and a missing tail fin that was replaced with a red prosthetic tail fin. In the sky the man was free with no worries or problems. He adjusted the tail fin with his metal prosthetic that extended from leg to foot that was hooked to the foot pedal as the both of them swerved around rocky structures.
“What do you think Toothless? One more time around the island?” The rider asked, patting the dragon’s head.
Toothless warbled in agreement. His rider let out a chuckle as he adjusted the tail fin and the both dived down. Toothless tucked in his wings before leveling back out and swooping up a bit higher.
“Hiccup!”
The man in question turned his emerald gaze behind him to see another dragon rider. The dragon was a Deadly Nadder with blue and yellow scales, golden eyes, and a spiked tail. The nose of the dragon ended in a sharp point like a horn. It had a beak like jaw ending into an overbite with its mouth. From its head was a spiky crown. Its rider was a young woman with blonde hair worn in a single braid that draped over her shoulder and crystal blue eyes. She like the young man was dressed in leather, furs, and armor. Her armor consisted of armored shoulder pads and an armored pleated skirt. Her clothing consisting of reds and browns.
“Hey, Astrid.” The man addressed as Hiccup greeted the woman.
“Stormfly and I have been looking for you.” Astrid said, patting her dragon’s head. “Stoick has something important to discuss with everyone.”
Hiccup sighed. “Wonder what it’s about. Well, you heard her bud. Time to head back.”
The night fury let out a soft trill of dissatisfaction as both dragons turned around carrying their riders back to Berk. The dragons made quick time zipping through the air at high speeds. They landed in the town square. Both riders dismounted from their dragons and Hiccup removed his helmet. They started on their path to the Grand Hall.
“So any idea what this is going to be about?” Hiccup inquired.
“Probably has to do with the scouts that just returned.” Astrid said, thoughtfully.
“Is that supposed to be a bad thing?”
“It is when they were attacked by dragons from what I heard. I don’t know all the details so I can only tell you what I’ve heard. We’ll hear it all once we get to the Grand Hall I’m sure. It’s got to be big if your dad is calling a meeting with everyone.” The blonde explained with the knowledge she held on the subject.
Hiccup nodded in agreement as they stood before the massive doors. Pushing through the doors the first to greet them was another fellow rider.
“It’s about time you got here!”
The man that spoke had black hair with a metal helmet that had ram horns protruding from the top resting on his head. Like most viking men he was tall with a strong muscular build. He has a bit of facial hair growing into a dark mustache. His posture was confident and arrogant as he gazed at the two with green eyes.
“Nice to see you too, Snotlout.” Hiccup drawled sarcastically.
“Hiccup! There ya are. Nice ta see ya decided ta join us. Come now. Ya best join Stoic.”
The man that spoke was larger than Snotlout and older than all three young adults. He had a long blonde mustache that hung in braids down his face and blue eyes. He had a hook for one of his hands and a peg leg.
“Okay. Got it Gobber.” Hiccup said to the large man. “ I’ll see you later guys.”
With that said the auburn haired man continued to the large table where his father stood at the head of it. Stoick the Vast was an easy man to spot. As the chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe Stoick was a tall and large built man. He was very strong. The man in question standing at the head of the long table had red hair with a braided beard and mustache. On his head like many other vikings rested a metal helmet with horns protruding from each side.
“Hey, dad.” Hiccup greeted as he stopped next to his father.
“Hiccup! Good you're here. Now we can begin.” Stoick said with satisfaction. “Listen up everyone! As you all know we sent scouts to the north to confirm if there was in fact a village of magic users. There have been stories of an island filled with hostile magic users. We've all heard the stories. The scouts were able to confirm there are people in those ice infested lands before being attacked by a wild dragon. From what I was told by one of the men there was a young man riding a dragon and not just any dragon a white Night Fury.”
Hiccup froze upon hearing that at the same time there was an uproar as people clamored for answers. A white Night Fury? Could there really be others like Toothless after all? Could they have not been able to find them because they were just all the way up north away from Berk? As Hiccup lost himself in thought he came out when voices blended together as words were shouted.
“What do we do?!”
“What if they attack Berk?!”
“We best destroy them before they destroy us!”
“SILENCE!” Stoic bellowed silencing everyone in the building. “We've been at peace for too long. If another war breaks out we will not be the cause of it! We haven't even confirmed if that land is filled with magic users or if there’s a village of them. Orm only saw the young man he encountered that saved him from the Snow Wraith before warning them to leave and threatening to let the nest of Snow Wraiths on his team if they did not.”
“Aye. That may be well and good, but we've no idea what these people are capable of. We should be prepared if it comes ta a fight.”
The man that spoke bore a great resemblance to Snotlout except older, taller, and had more facial hair.
“Spitelout! It's too dangerous to send someone on a boat to investigate further. Those lands are much too volatile to send people not familiar with that kind of land.” Stoic said firmly.
“What about a dragon?” Hiccup interjected.
“Absolutely not!”
“Dad think about it! The riders and I can go and check it out. We'll be safe with the dragons and we'll be able to stay out of sight. Afterwards we'll come right back. We could be wrong about them being hostile. Besides, we've travelled to lands like that before and more.”
“Aye. The boy is right Stoick.” Gobber agreed.
Stoick looked at Hiccup as if debating before he finally spoke. “Alright. But you get out of there if it gets too dangerous. We are not risking you or the others on a hunch.”
“We're vikings. It's an occupational hazard.”
“That's my boy! Alright! It's decided! Hiccup will lead a team to these northern islands and return with what they find.”
There was talking among the crowd as it began to slowly disperse. Hiccup quickly shuffled out of the Grand Hall. As soon as he exited the building he was rejoined by Toothless.
“Hey, bud. Let's get to the academy . ” He said as both man and dragon started the trek to the Dragon Academy.
The emerald eyed man was curious though. He wondered what kind of dragons they would find. Maybe even be able to track down that Night Fury and its rider. That would be great for Toothless if he wasn't the last of his kind. He also wondered what the people would be like. Would they be peace faring people or would they be bloodthirsty like Dagur and the Berserkers had once been? With that thought the man and dragon entered the academy.
“Look out!”
Hiccup quickly ducked and rolled out of the way as a fireball hit the wall above where Hiccup had just been. Toothless growled annoyed as Hiccup got back up to his foot and prosthetic, dusting himself off.
“Hiccup are you okay?”
“Yeah, I'm fine Fishlegs.”
Fishlegs was a tall young man with a larger build than the others in their group. He had blonde hair mostly covered by a helmet and bright green eyes. He had facial hair growing into a mustache and beard. Not too far behind Fishlegs was his dragon Meatlug. Meatlug was a Gronkle with brown and beige scales. Like most dragons she had yellow tinted eyes. Her build was large and robust with a round head and blunt nasal horn. She had sharp canines and a clubbed tail.. As Hiccup lifted his gaze he saw that not far from him was Astrid and Stormfly. A bit away from her was Snotlout and his Monsterous Nightmare, Hookfang. Hookfang was large, towering over many of the other dragons with scales varying shades of red and black with black horns sitting atop the dragon's head. He had double clawed wings and sharp spines. The dragon has a snake-like neck and tail with frills. Some paces away were the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. The two always dressed similar to each other. Tuffnut, unlike his twin sister, wore his blonde hair in multiple braids. Ruffnut, in contrast to her twin, wore her hair in two braids hanging down each side of her face. Behind the twins was their dragon, Barf and Belch. Barf and Belch was a Hideous Zippleback. Unlike other dragons this one had two heads with long necks. It had a horn above its snout on each head and green scales that faded into yellow in one areas. It had a split tail and lobs along its neck, back, and body.
“Wasn't us.” The twins said immediately.
“Of course it wasn't.” Hiccup drawled sarcastically. “Alright as I'm sure all of you know by now we're going on a mission. It's a stealth mission. We're to head north to check and see if these people are hostile or not. And maybe hopefully see what else we can find.”
“Like a white Night Fury?” Astrid teased with a knowing smile. “But should we really bring Snotlout and the twins for a stealth mission?” Astrid questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Hey!” Snotlout exclaimed.
“We can totally be stealthy!” Ruffnut defended.
“You won’t even know we’re there!” Tuffnut added.
“Well, we'll need them in case things don't go as planned.”
“I've got a better idea! I say Hookfang and I teach them what happens when they mess with Berk!” Snotlout said with a smirk causing Hiccup to puff out a sigh.
“Snotlout we can't do that. If there's going to be a fight we're not going to be the ones to start it.” Hiccup said pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
Fishlegs nodded in agreement. “This is a bit exciting! There are unknown species of dragons there I’m sure! Just think what we can find!”
“Can we cause an avalanche there?” Tuffnut asked.
“No.” Astrid said immediately.
“Aww.” The twins sighed with a frown.
“Alright gang. We'll be leaving tomorrow so make sure to be packed and rested. We leave in the morning.” Hiccup said as the others went back to what they had been doing earlier.
“What do you think we'll find there?” Astrid asked inquisitively.
“Well, we'll find a lot of snow and hopefully that Night Fury along with its rider. So that's the obvious. Hopefully the people are not hostile.”
“I guess we'll find out. Even if they are at least we'll be prepared if they ever set their sights on Berk. Do you think the rider could be a dragon trapper?”
“I hope not, but the chances of the rider not being a trapper are slim. If the rider is a trapper then we save the dragon. I just hope it doesn’t come to a fight. It would be nice to go somewhere where people aren’t pointing axes and torches among other weapons at us.”
“Don't worry about it. You'll figure it out. I'll see you later. Gotta go pack for tomorrow.” The blonde said, placing a quick kiss to Hiccup’s cheek before leaving with Stormfly following her.
Hiccup smiled as he turned his gaze towards Toothless. “Come on, bud. Let's go home.”
With that said they left the arena and started on the path home.
“What do you think we'll find bud? We'll be finding something that's for sure. It'll be something if we're able to track down that night fury.” Hiccup spoke to the dragon getting a few excited warbles in reply causing him to chuckle.
He entered his house to see his father placing some food on the table.
“Hey, dad.” Hiccup greeted.
“Hiccup.” Stoick greeted in return.
Hiccup walked over and pulled out a basket of raw fish setting it in front of Toothless. The night fury immediately dug in taking mouthfuls of the fish and gulping it down. The emerald eyed man sat at the table with his father. He cut a piece of the cod of his plate and placed it in his mouth.
“How long do you think it'll take ya?” Stoick asked taking a drink of mead .
“With any luck when we get there it will only take a few days. At max a week.”
Stoick nodded. “Aye, but you be careful. If they do have magic I don't want you or the others engaging them until we know what they can do.”
“I know, but hopefully it won't come to that.” Hiccup said taking a drink of mead before taking a few more bites of food. “Besides if anything happens we've got the dragons. Well, dad I'm going to pack for tomorrow.”
“Alright son.”
Hiccup went upstairs followed by Toothless. Once he made it to his room he removed Toothless’s saddle and prosthetic tail fin. The night fury bounded off to the stone slab that functioned as his bed. Toothless used a small amount of his fire breath to warm up the stone slab before laying on it. Hiccup grabbed a brown satchel and he started packing the necessities he'd need. He packed some water, two spare prosthetics, and fish for Toothless among other things. He removed his inferno blade followed by his armor piece by piece until he was left in his long sleeved green shirt and brown trousers. He sighed as he stripped out of his clothes and into a pair of comfortable cotton pants and a shirt. The auburn haired man removed his prosthetic setting it aside. He crawled under the furs on his bed blowing out the single candle on his bedside.
“Good night Toothless.”
He received a soft purr in reply as he drifted off to unconsciousness. The week ahead was going to be exciting. This was just the beginning of a new journey.