Chapter Text
In the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean is an island called Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery.
On high hills of the island there's a small village. The Hooligan Village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new.
The people of Berk have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests.
You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes, but there are..
-Dragons!- someone shouted as one of these frightening reptiles took a sheep that tried to escape.
Some strong Vikings were screaming while fighting them, the others were trying their best to save the livestock.
And then there was Lo'ak. Unnoticeable boy with a slight built and no physical strength at all. Just a useless blacksmith in Vikings' eyes. He was standing in a forge in a leather apron, watching the attack from a small window. The air in the smithy got hotter as the boy stroke up the fire to reforge some broken axes and few swords.
-Hurry up, boy! These horrid beasts won't wait for you to finish!- called a man with an interchangeable arm. He's Norm, one of Lo'ak's mentors. The teen started hammering red-hot weapons before dipping them into cold water in a bucket beside. It took him forever to get it all done.
-Finally,- the boy murmured to himself as he gave all of the axes and swords back to their owners.- Am I free to go now?- Lo'ak said to Norm and ran out of the forge after a quick nod.
The village was on fire - the fight wasn't over yet. Lo'ak heard loud dragon roars and he felt how his heartbeat got faster. But he wanted, no, he needed to kill one so badly. He inhaled deeply, took his new invention and ran to a peaceful rock near the village. Lo'ak opened it and started to wait.
If he killed a dragon, he wouldn't be such disappointment to people and wouldn't need to prove himself anymore.
Lo'ak stopped breathing for a moment as he noticed a dark shadow flying in the starry night. Then his breath got quicker. His hands started shaking too. Suddenly, the boy understood that he can’t wait any longer so he pulled the lever down and heard a loud pained wail after.
-I hit it. Yes, I hit it!- Lo'ak screamed in disbelief.- Did anybody see that?!- he said in a self-proud voice.- Except for you,- the next second his shoulder lowered and smile faded. A playful monstrous nightmare popped up right next to the champion's face.
And.. Lo'ak ran again. As fast as he could, but it was not enough to fully escape the dragon. It's massive legs with razor-sharp claws were almost having him a few times, but every try ended up being failure.
-Isn't that your son, Jake?- asked a well built Viking, the chief's right hand - Tonowari. They were standing in the main square of the village, defending sheep.
-I hope n- yeah. It is,- said the other man as he closed his eyes. Why couldn't Lo'ak stay still just for a moment and not get into trouble?!
-Lo'ak!- Jake shouted, trying to get the boy’s attention. He left Tonowari behind and rushed to the teen.- Lo'ak!
As Jake reached the boy and the reptile, he stared at the dragon for a second and then started beating and cursing it. The creature wasn't as strong as the chief of the tribe expected it to be, but it repelled all of the attacks, breathing fire into its enemy. After a few rounds Jake hit it with his mighty left hand and this final juicy punch forced it to leave.
The boy was standing at the side all the time and watching Jake beating the creature to near death, while still doing anything to stay unnoticed. As it left, Jake turned to Lo'ak and looked into his eyes :
-What were you thinking, boy?! You could've got killed!- he said, trying to catch his breath. Even if the dragon wasn't as strong as it could've been, fighting it was still exhausting.
So, there was one more little problem. Lo'ak was Jake’s son.
-Norm, take him home,- the chief said in disappointment after being left without an answer. The dragon attack ended soon after, so the villagers were cleaning the mess and putting out the fire. - Until he,- Jake pointed to Lo'ak,- caused more troubles.
-But dad! This time I really hit a dragon! It's somewhere in the woods!- protested the boy, not wanting to leave the battlefield.
-Yeah, and I have two normal arms,- Norm rolled his eyes and grabbed his protege by the collar of a greenish tunic.
-Look, the freak hit a dragon!- Lo'ak heard one of the village boys voices. It belonged to Ao’nung, a “cool” boy who also happened to be Tonowari’s firstborn.
-It looks more like he hit his head,- played along another teen - Rotxo. These two were inseparable even though they argued almost all the time.- Good night, freak!
Lo'ak and Norm finally got to the chief’s house.
-He doesn't even care for me!- resented the young man, still in shock after all of the events and still mad at the boys and his dad.- Maybe he wants a normal son and not me! Look at me!
-Now, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand,- tried to make it better Norm.
-Well, thank you for summing that up,- a bitter tired smile appeared on the young’s face.
-Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not,- the older Viking shook his head, knowing that Jake isn't as strict and cold as he seems to be.
-I just want to be one of you guys,- the teen whispered, trying not to look hurt. He opened the door and came in, leaving Norm outside.
The man sighted and turned around to make his way back to the damaged part of the village to help others.
Lo'ak stayed inside for another moment and after that he rushed to the other exit. He ran to the pine forest, trying to find the place of the dragon's fall. He took his sketchbook and a piece of charcoal out and quickly sketched the woods area.
A few hours of searching passed until the boy finally noticed a fallen tree. It didn't look normal to him, so he felt a growing interest inside, so he got nearer just to see..
-What's that?- Lo'ak hid behind a rock and whispered as quietly as he could. His heart was nearly jumping out of his chest, but he couldn't move away.