Chapter Text
For as long as Hiccup can remember, he's been able to conjure flames.
Because of this his father hid him away in their house. When he was old enough to understand, his father forbid him from using his abilities. Hiccup had been upset until he realized that he could just used his power behind his back.
Hiccup usually overheated every few weeks when he didn't conjure his flames. When he did he would sneak out at night and go to the other side of their small island and expel as much fire as he could. Hiccup found that he enjoyed being outside.
He was ten when he made his first friend.
It was a small dragon that glowed orange. A fireworm. Before it had landed on him he thought that only the fire he conjured wouldn't hurt him. He was understandably scared at first, then he became confused. His confusion morphed into excitement. He had a friend that had powers as well! Before he could get to excited though he heard a loud voice shout at him.
"HICCUP!"
He quickly turned around and met the furious eyes of his equally furious father. The small boy quickly ran up to him, his excitement getting in the way of logic.
"Dad, look! It's just like me!" he said joyfully, holding out the small creature to his father.
He realized his mistake far too late as his father slapped it out of his tiny hands and quickly stepped on it before it could fly away. He stared in horror as his father stomped his friend into a pile of bloody mush. His father dragged him away and back to their large house and locked him in his room.
He was ten when his eyes became dull. He was ten when he learned what sadness and grief were.
Time skip, six years later.
Hiccup despised his father. He despised his village and it's people.
His father had finally gave up and let him out when he was eleven after many escape attempts and successes. Hiccup quickly learned what it was like to live in Berk outside of his house. He hated it. He was an outcast, everyone called him names and bullied him.
He was skinny, pale and wore black ink around his eyes like eyeliner. He also had a slit shaved in his eyebrow and wore black clothing, nothing like a viking boy should be. No one knew since he wore baggy clothing, but he had muscle. He was lean and had a six pack, he wasn't built for strength and brute force like his father wanted. He learned to ignore the insults though. Gobber was who he wished was his father sometimes. He laughed with him, lightly teased him, helped patch him up when he got hurt. He was like a father in many ways, except when Hiccup tried to talk about dragons as if they weren't devils wearing lizard skins. Gobber called him crazy, just like everyone else in the village. When Gobber had his back turned Hiccup let out some smoke from his nose in irritation.
No one ever wanted to listen to him.
A few minutes later both men heard the horn sounding. A Dragon Raid.
Hiccup sighed and decided to leave the forge for the day. He walked around with a bored and tired expression. He ducked and weaved through the village trying to get to the forest. He always went to the forest when there was a dragon raid. He hated seeing the fire breathing beings slaughtered. To him they were the same, everyone hated them. Fearing what they didn't understand. It was night by the time he was able to get to the forest. It was sunset when the dragon raid began, he briefly wondered if it was over before shaking his head and walking in the direction of his hideout.
His little getaway was just a small hut he built in a small cove hidden by moss covered boulders from everyone else. It was like a sanctuary to him. It was quiet and peaceful.
Upon entering his cove he spotted a big black lump near the water. He quietly and carefully walked over to it, only to find out that it was a dragon trapped in a net. The dragon growled at him in warning but he ignored it. Hiccup took out his knife that he always carried on him and knelt down next to the beast. It crooned sadly before closing it's eyes and laying down in defeat. He looked at the dragon in sad realization.
It thought he was going to kill it.
Hiccup pet it gently. He began cutting the ropes quickly, trying not to hurt it more than it already was. When the last rope was cut the dragon sprung up and loomed over him, trying to look intimidating. Hiccup just sighed and got to his feet. He proceeded to walk over to his small hut and went inside.
He stayed inside for a good few hours. Mostly just reading and occasionally observing the Night Fury that was outside. He wrote down his observations in a little notebook he kept in his hut.
He got tired after a bit and decided to go back home, though it wasn't really a home to him. He took a basket of fish he had in his tiny pantry and left the hut. He saw that the Night Fury was laying down on a burnt patch of grass when he stepped outside. Hiccup went over to the dragon.
"You're probably hungry. Here, you can have my basket of fish. I don't eat much anyway and they'll probably get old and rot if someone doesn't eat them." he told the beast as he set the basket down. He yawned and walked away. He walked back through the forest and towards his house. When he opened the door he met his father's eyes. He looked... happy.
It was never a good thing when his father was happy.
"Son, I have some news to tell you!" he began. His eyes sparkled, as if he had an idea. Hiccup motioned for him to continue even though he was really tired. He just wanted to go to bed, so the faster this was over with the faster he could go to sleep.
"You are going to be learning how to fight dragons at the arena tomorrow." he announced. Hiccup's eyes widened.
"I don't want to fight dragons though..." he told the man. Stoick scoffed.
"Of course you do lad, everyone wants to fight dragons." he said turning to grab his axe.
"I really don't." he stressed, smoke flowing out of his mouth.
"You will though! You are the heir and therefore you have to learn how to protect this village." the chief growled.
"But-"
"Hiccup! You will do as you are told and that is final!" he boomed, looming over and glaring at him.
Hiccup sighed and nodded before heading up to his room. He laid on his bed and wished that his father would change. He knew the man never would though. He shut his eyes and listened to the quiet sounds of the night as sleep quickly overtook him.
Hiccup woke up that morning to the sound of his father pounding on the door.
"Hiccup, it's time to wake up. Today is the big day!" Stoick called joyfully. Hiccup groaned as he heard his father walk away. His footsteps were loud. The brunette begrudgingly got up and started getting ready for the day. He changed into a grey tunic, black pants and a black fur vest before slipping on his boots and applying black ink around his eyes. When he left his room Gobber was waiting for him downstairs. Hiccup huffed in irritation, a small cloud of smoke escaping. Luckily Gobber wasn't looking when it did.
Before Hiccup could get away Gobber grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him off to the arena. Gobber talked the entire way there. It was annoying. When they got to the arena Gobber let go of him after he closed the gate. He saw that there were five other people there.
There was his obnoxious cousin, Snotlout. A blonde girl that was covered in armor, Astrid. A large but shy boy named Fishlegs, and then there were the twins, Ruffnut and her brother Tuffnut. Most people couldn't really tell them apart, but Hiccup could. Tuffnut had a slightly deeper voice and his jawline was sharper than his sister. Ruffnut had a softer looking face and she always had her hair tied whereas Tuffnut had dreads.
He didn't really mind Fishlegs. The boy was a total geek when it came to dragons though he's expressed he didn't want to get close to one. Snotlout was always bragging and picking on Hiccup, though he was just annoyed and tired of him. If he really wanted the throne to Berk, Hiccup would gladly let him have it. Astrid was... okay. She was serious about almost everything and mostly stayed out of his way. He sort of liked the twins, they were open minded to just about anything. It also helped that they pranked his father as well. But to be fair they pranked almost everybody.
"Why is useless here? He's only gonna get in the way." Snotlout said, sneering at Hiccup.
"Can we be put in a class with cooler vikings?" Ruffnut complained. Tuffnut nodded and voiced his agreement with her. Astrid just stayed silent and Fishlegs mumbled something about stats.
Gobber just chuckled and walked over to a lever next to a gate. Hiccup immediately knew what he was going to do. Gobber loved to train on the go.
"From this day on, all six of you are a team. Which means you need to have each others backs during battle. Now get ready because I'm releasing the dragon." he announced. Everyone started protesting and panicking as Gobber pulled the lever.
Hiccup waited and watched, wondering which person the dragon would attack first.
A Monstrous Nightmare immediately ran out of the cage and went straight for Fishlegs. Of course the dragon would go after the one who looked like the biggest threat.
Hiccup reacted with a sigh and ran to the bigger boy. He shoved the boy to the side and quickly wrapped his arms around the beasts snout. The Nightmare tried to shake him off to no avail. Hiccup looked out the corner of his eye to see Astrid charging towards them with her axe raised, ready to kill.
His eyes widened and he let go. He dropped and landed between Astrid and the dragon. She stopped and looked at him with wide, angry eyes.
"What are you doing?!" she yelled. That only seemed to make the dragon madder. He shook his head at her and quickly went over to the upset, overgrown lizard. The dragon looked down at him and prepared to spew fire from it's mouth. Hiccup just sat down, crossed his legs and closed his eyes.
Everyone stared at him like he was insane. Maybe he was, but he didn't want to fight a creature that was so much like him. After a few silent moments he opened his eyes and found himself staring into the gaze of the dragon. The creature huffed in confusion and crept a little closer, close enough that Hiccup could touch it. He slowly held out his hand towards the Monstrous Nightmare and waited. The creature closed it's eyes after a few tense moments and nudged his hand with it's snout. He smiled gently and pet the beast.
Everyone looked at him in bewilderment and confusion.
"I've been trying to tell everyone for years..." he began softly, "Dragons aren't the evil beasts that we think they are. They're just trying to survive, just like us. We don't need to fight them..." he said. The dragon purred and nuzzled him gently as if to further prove his point.
Off to the side he could hear Gobber sigh in irritation.
For the next few hours up until noon Gobber had him sit out and watch while scolding him for, quote 'trying to fill their heads with nonsense'.
At noon he was able to leave the arena to get some food. Fishlegs went with him.
"Um... thanks, for saving me back there..." he told the brunet shyly. Hiccup just hummed in an affirmative tone as he headed for the beach.
"Hey guys! Wait for us!" Snotlout shouted, chasing after them. Hiccup groaned in annoyance internally.
"Gobber said that we're a team, which means we need to stick together." Astrid voiced angrily as she stomped after them. The twins jogged over as well. Hiccup just ignored them, though he could feel his frustration rising. He stopped by his house for a few fruits to eat before leaving again.
The five teens behind him seemed to love talking, seeing as that's what they did the entire walk to the beach. He tuned them out more and more the closer they got to the cliff that overlooked the sandy shore. Maybe he could give them a bit of a scare and just jump off. He knew of the handholds and roots sticking out of the cliff side that he could easily grab onto to slow his descent. He didn't really have to do that though since there was a staircase he built behind a few bushes on the cliff. He had built it as well as several other hidden hideouts and contraptions on Berk over the years since he was ten.
Hiccup watched the group out of the corner of his eye for a minute, making sure they weren't paying much attention to him before quickly but quietly taking off towards the bushes. He carefully went down the steps and waited in case they had seen him take off. After a minute or so there were some confused shouts until he saw Ruffnut's head peek over the edge of the cliff. She looked around for a minute before spotting him and called out to the others. He sighed and continued down the stairs.
Why couldn't they leave him alone?
He didn't mind if Tuffnut or Fishlegs badgered him. The two boys were kinda cute. He liked how dramatic and funny Tuffnut was. He liked it when Fishlegs showed off how smart he was, his excited rambles and muttering were adorable and kind of calming.
It was everyone else he had a problem with. Snotlout was always bragging and being a huge jerk, the shorter brunette was his cousin though so he couldn't stay mad at him for long, Astrid had always acted like she was the boss of everyone and ordered them around like they were beneath her. He didn't like Ruffnut because she was always speaking for her brother. She never let him get a word in and acted like she was the alpha twin because she was only a few minutes older than Tuffnut. Hiccup knew that it was Tuffnut that had the ideas for the pranks, he had always been the brains of the two.
Hiccup had always known that he has a type. He has always appreciated smart men.
Hiccup knew that everyone thought of Tuffnut as the dumb quieter twin. Hiccup had seen that he was the opposite when his sister wasn't around. He had seen how happy and creative and smart he could be when he thought no one was around. It was beautiful. His real smile was the sunshine that lit up Hiccup's day. The brunette would always try to see the blond boy when he was alone. It was the only time he was being himself.
Hiccup waited for his semi-unwanted group at the bottom of the stairs before taking off his boots and leaving them at the bottom step. He then took off his vest and hung it on a protruding nail he had hammered into one of the support beams of the stairs. After that he strode over to the water's edge and rolled up his pant legs to his knees then stepped into the water until it was half way up his calf. He closed his eyes and stood there.
He loved it, he could feel the heat from the sun on his face. He loved the heat. Sometimes it was too much though. With his ability he was almost always overheating. It was only when he was alone that he could release the flames that were contained within him. If Gobber was forcing the six of them to be a team then Hiccup would need someone he could tell everything to.
He needed to tell someone that was in his family, someone that wasn't his father or Gobber or his uncle. That only left his cousin. Hiccup didn't want to, but he needed someone to help him get away from the group when he needed to cool down.
Hiccup opened his eyes and looked over at the others a few feet away. The twins were running around chasing Snotlout, Astrid was leaning against the wall of the cliff and Fishlegs was currently muttering and drawing in the sand with a stick.
If the group Gobber had put him with warmed up to him then maybe he could trust all of them enough to tell them his secret. For now though, he would just observe.
They stayed there for a few more hours. When the sun started to set Hiccup got out of the water and put his boots and vest back on.
"Time to go home guys. It's gonna get dark soon and I don't have torches on the stairs." He called out to them and began climbing the steps to go back to his dark room in the chief's house. They group grumbled but climbed the stairs after him. Everyone went to their homes, except Snotlout. He followed Hiccup back to the chief's house. It made sense, he had been eavesdropping on his father and uncle so he could plan out his walking paths for the week. Good news, they were going on a hunt for the dragons nest for a few weeks. Bad news, Snotlout had to stay with him. It wasn't all bad though. Sometimes when his cousin was in a good mood they would just sit and talk or mess around.
Hopefully tonight was one of those days. He had to tell Snotlout about his powers.
When they stepped inside Hiccup immediately started for the stairs to his room. Snotlout yelled for him to wait for him before closing the door and quickly following the taller teen. Hiccup rolled his eyes and went upstairs. He opened the door to his room and went in, taking off his boots and vest first before laying down on his bed in the unlit space. After spending years in the small space he had gotten good at seeing in the dark. He didn't need to, but it was good practice for when he couldn't conjure his flames. He couldn't light on fire when he was in the water, but he could heat it up to boiling temperatures.
Snotlout came in after him and started rummaging around his room with a torch he had grabbed from somewhere in the house.
"Don't you have anything interesting in here? It's so dull." his cousin complained.
Hiccup sighed behind him on the bed, letting out a puff of smoke while the other boy had his back turned.
"Hey Snotlout, I need to tell you something. But you have to swear that you won't tell anyone else." he said pushing himself into a sitting position. The shorter boy turns to look at him curiously.
"Okay. What do you need to tell me?" he asked getting up and sitting on the bed next to him. His face was serious. Hiccup grew a bit nervous.
"I mean it, you are the only other person who will know. For now. So I need you to promise me, swear that you won't tell anyone else. The chief will kill me if he knows that I told someone." Hiccup pleaded.
Snotlout straightened up quickly and nodded.
Hiccup relaxed a little.
"Okay, just don't freak out okay?" He said, standing up. Snotlout nodded, his head tilted in confusion.
Hiccup grabbed a torch that wasn't lit and breathed out. A bright flame spewed from his mouth. He put his hand out and conjured a small flame and formed it into a tiny dragon. He looked at his cousin who was staring at him in shock and panic.
"Please don't freak out... I just really needed to tell someone. The chief won't let me use my ability, but if I don't use it I overheat. The last time that happened I almost died." he pleaded with the other boy.
Snotlout calmed down a little and stayed silent for a moment. He looked conflicted for a few minutes before he sighed.
"Fine, I'll keep your secret. But I want to see what else you can do. Okay?" he demanded. Hiccup nodded and let out a sigh of relief, a little bit of smoke escaping when he did.
Now there were two people who knew his secret. Maybe he could tell the rest of the group one day, when he was more comfortable around them. For now though he would just stay silent and observe.
Good thing he had Snotlout.