FSE

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READ BEFORE READING: In this story, the Vikings had never encountered dragons before and had never fought a war with them. Please keep this in mind when reading. Characters are copyright their respective owners.

Sunlight broke through the holes in the worn, cotton shades put up on the windows. Rays of light hit the wooden wall and gradually worked their way to the floor. Dust particles danced visibly as the early morning wind blew against the shop's frame. As the light shifted itself, it had shown onto the face of a red-headed boy, asleep sitting at his workshop desk, drool dripping out of his open mouth.

Something slammed somewhere in the shop, startling the boy into consciousness. He jumped up and sat up straight, but immediately slouched and closed his eyes half way, not ready to open them fully. He rubbed his crusted eyes, laid his head back down on the desk, and started to doze again. Another slam woke him up for good this time. Mumbling and grumbling to himself, he lazily stood up, trying not to wobble, and went to investigate. He slowly dragged his furred boots on the ground as he stretched his scrawny, thin body with a giant yawn and opened up the blinds. His eyes were momentarily blinded by the bright sun as they adjusted. He walked through the cloth covering over the doorway, trying to see if anyone was there. Looking around, he didn't find a person but instead an open window.

"Oops..." he said sheepishly, "Must've left it unlocked last night." He closed the doors to the window and chain linked them together. The wind howled, trying to get in, but to no avail, the doors stayed closed. As he slowly slithered out of sleep mode, he was trying to remember what he was doing sleeping at the blacksmith shop anyway. He returned to his desk only to see a jumble of papers and a few sketches, some smeared from where he slept. At least today was a Saturday, no need to actually be here.

The boy gathered up his sketches, stacked them in a neat pile on the desk and left the shop. He stepped outside into the well-known, cool air of Berk. The sun blinded him a little less this time, but he still looked at the ground and squinted his eyes. Within a few seconds, he regained composure and started the trek back home.

"Mornin' Hiccup," was overheard a few times as he passed by other villagers. At each he waved and said hello back. Hiccup was well known throughout the village for his higher status. His father, Stoick, was the village chief and seemed to be the exact opposite of Hiccup. Stoick was significantly more built that his son and had the attitude of a brute. But it was because of this attitude that he became chief in the first place.

Hiccup finally reached his house, his hair a mess from the morning wind. Thankfully he was wearing his fur vest and a green, long sleeved shirt to keep him warm. The hut he lived in was one of the largest on the small island, overlooking all the others from a higher place on the mountainous terrain. As he stepped inside, he noticed the curtains already open and a big, woven basket sitting near the fire in the middle of the room. He went over to it after fixing up his hair to investigate.

"Hey, dad?!" Hiccup asked loudly, "Where are you going?" The basket contained plenty of fish and other supplies needed for a long trip on the water.

"Some men found a new island the other week when they got lost fishing in the big storm. I'm going with a couple of others to see if it's inhabited or not. Shouldn't be gone for too long, maybe a week or so." He said from upstairs.

It wasn't normal for such an event to happen. Hiccup had thought Berk was the only island within at least several hundred miles. Stories have been told around the village that no one had ever visited them from the outer world because they were so far away.

"Oh cool! Can I come?"

"And do what? Mess things up? I wouldn't want to risk anything on a new island. You'll have to stay here." Hiccup felt a little sinking feeling in his throat at the words. He was good at certain things but a little clumsy when it came to most others. It was also another reason why the other villagers had known him so well.

"Oh. Alright..." He muttered dismally. Stoick came down the stairs with a bag in hand, went over to the basket on the ground and lifted it with ease.

"Well son, I'll see you when I come back. Don't go running off now and stay out of trouble," His voice emphasized the last four words, followed by a stern look.

"No problem dad," Hiccup couldn't look into his father's eyes but instead away at the floor. Stoick patted his son the head and left the house. Hiccup sighed and walked over to the fire, stoking it a little with a wooden log.

He never lets me do anything... Hiccup thought in his slouched position on the wooden bench. I never get to go anywhere, not even fishing.

The boy got up and went outside to find out what his friends were up to for the day.

***

Two weeks had gone by and Hiccup was beginning to feel like his father was never going to return. Though he doesn't really enjoy the feeling of Stoick constantly putting him down, he's still his father and he misses him. During the past couple of weeks, Hiccup went about his normal schedule of working with Gobber at the blacksmith's, hanging out with a crowd that doesn't particularly enjoy his company, and sketching new inventions.

Finally, a horn was blown into the chilly, afternoon air. It cried throughout the entire village, letting everyone know there was a successful journey home. Vikings rushed out of their houses and put down their outside chores to come see what the outcome was. Hiccup and Gobber both took a break from work to run down to greet Stoick and the others. Only this time, there were a few others with them.

"Back! Everyone needs to back away! We have prisoners!" shouted Stoick at the growing crowd. Villagers slowly backed away from the boats with their mouths agape. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. The prisoners were human-like, but obviously weren't. All of them had bags over their heads, hands were bound behind their backs, small wings tied together, and ankles tied together by a short rope - enough for walking. Whatever they were, they surely did not have the skin of a human, but rather on more reptilian with small spikes protruding from their bodies in some areas. Their scales were different colors ranging from red to blue to black and were about the same height as humans. Their hands and feet had claws at the ends of their fingers and each of the three monsters was wearing loin cloths.

"What are those?" "Where did they come from?" "What monsters," came in low whispers from the massive crowd now gathered on the docks. Everyone was trying to get a look over everyone else's heads, including a pressing Hiccup and Gobber.

"I said back! These monsters are dangerous!" Stoick was now trying to press through the crowd, who were now encircling him and the others while making his was up to the village center. He guided the black monster in front of him, holding it by the tied hands, careful to not step on its tail. Its head pointed to the ground in surrender as it walked.

"Dad, what's going on? What are those?" Hiccup frantically asked his father as they were passing him on the ramp up to the village.

"I'll explain in a moment, just follow me but don't stay too close. Move it, devil." He shoved the beast a little, causing it to stumble a little. A low growl escaped the bag over its head.

Stoick and the others finally reached the center where a platform was built for village announcements. Everyone gathered in front to try to get the closest look possible. Gasps and silent questions were still being passed around the antsy Vikings. Hiccup and Gobber shoved their way through the crowd to get to the front. Stoick and two other beefy looking Vikings stood atop the platform in a line with their prizes next to them. He raised his hand to shush the crowd.

"What lies on that island is something we have never seen before. Creatures such as these," he gestured towards the ones next to him, "fly around, in and out of caves carved into the side of a mountain. As we approached the island, we did not notice anything - our eyes were set upon the welcoming shore. We docked our boats on the rocks and hopped out, not knowing what to expect, if anything. Nothing was heard from where we were and our only direction was to head into the woods in front of us. We must've walked for a while before we stumbled upon their colony. They were everywhere, flying around. The woods hid us from their sight.

"We marched a while back and set up camp for the night. No fires were lit that night. In the middle of the night, we managed to go back and capture these three monsters who were playing around near the edge of the woods. We dragged them back to our camp, trying to hold their snouts closed so they couldn't yell. The red one managed to break free from the grasp on its snout and shot a goopy fire at us. It missed us but landed on the ground and started a small fire. We immediately closed its mouth and snuffed out the fire, knowing the dangers now. At the camp, we bound them together and tried to interrogate them, loosening the rope enough so they could talk but all they did was growl. They seemed to understand our language and either can't speak it or just don't want to. The next day, we left for home. Now, I bring you the monsters that we captured."

Stoick ripped off the bag over the black monster's head. The two other Vikings follow suit with the blue and red ones. Everyone gasped in shock and horror at what they saw. Dragons, the monsters of myth and lore, stood before everyone. All three had the muzzles bound with rope as to prevent them from shooting fire. The dragons squinted as their eyes met the sunlight and humans. They growled and strained against their bindings but couldn't free themselves.

The blue dragon's head was a bit rounder and had a sort of beak shape for a mouth. A single horn protruded from above its nose and had several longer spike sticking out of the back of its head. From under its chin, across the belly, and ending on its tail was a dirty white color. Many spikes protruded from the base of the tail all the way down to the tip. The spikes and wings were a mixture of mainly yellow with spots of red and blue. It had longer claws protruding from its feet, which were connected to the round base of the footpad.

Next to it was the red dragon. It had more of a traditional style, longer head with a mouth extending all the way back to its eyes. All of the spikes on it had more of a wave in the shape and were located all the way down its neck to the base of its tail and had a single on about its nose. Its eyes were a more oval shape, located near the back of its head, and had four large horns sticking out from behind them. The same white scales as the blue stretched down the same areas, along with the same kind of footpads. The only difference being this dragon was a bit taller than the rest of them and seemed a bit ganglier.

Finally, the black dragon seemed a bit different than the other two. For starters, it had only black scales that shone in the sunlight. Its yellow eyes were bigger and had large slits for pupils, like a cat. Instead of large spikes on the back of its oval-shaped head, it had multiple pads protruding: two on the side, two larger ones on top, and two smaller ones in between the larger ones. It had a few very small spikes running back in a row from just behind its eyes to the front of the pads. Its tail had two sets of small wings protruding from the base and the tip. The claws on its hand pads and footpads were much smaller than the other's. Instead, they were short, but were a little wider and were attached to the base of the round footpad. Small spikes protruded from the middle of its back all the way to about half way down its tail. A few inches back, ones on either side finished the rest of the tail.

All three dragons looked frightened and angry and frantically tried to get away from their ropes. Stoick and the two captors held them tight, ensuring their capture. People started becoming more frightened as well and were backing up. Hiccup stayed where he was, mesmerized by the creatures.

"Don't you try to get away from me, devil. Since you're not going to talk, you're going to have to work for me. You will not escape," Stoick said into one of the larger pads on its head. It turned its head to meet up with Stoick's eyes. The big, yellow eyes stared at him. The dragon snarled, showing its teeth, and then let its head hang in defeat.

The villagers cheered at the sight and a wave of empowerment rushed through them. Hiccup seemed to be the only one who felt bad for the creatures. Though they were strange to him, he couldn't help but feel sort of sympathetic for them. As he was looking at the black one, it turned its head a little and their eyes met. Hiccup felt a strange presence fall over him, and a shiver ran down his spine, as if some sort of connection was made. The dragon looked back at the ground and away from Hiccup.

Stoick raised his hand again to calm down the now wound up crowd before him.

"We will not return to the island where they come from until these three have spoken, or until they will no longer cooperate. I want to see what they're capable of and if they have anything hidden up their sleeves. The devil next to me will become my slave while the other two will be the slaves of their new owners standing next to them. Just remember, they are highly dangerous and will be kept in cages when not serving us. For the time being, they will not see the outside world after today. Now, go back to what you were doing. Gobber, build us three cages to keep them in. We will take our leaves."

The three Vikings led their slaves off the platform and towards their respective houses. Hiccup caught up to his dad and away from the dispersing crowd, who were now talking amongst themselves about the dragons.

"Dad, how could you do something like this?! Are you insane? What if the others come looking for them? Why did you even have to capture them?" Hiccup frantically fired away each question at his father, who maintained his stern posture and look on his face.

"Because, Hiccup, I had to. We are Vikings and only we may survive. All others must be brought down. Once this one talks, their land is ours," he replied without skipping a beat. The black dragon immediately stopped walking and tried to stand in place.

"Move it, devil!" was shouted at it, but just stood its ground, "Fine. Looks like we're doing this the hard way," Stoick picked up the dragon with one arm and carried it the rest of the way. It struggled underneath the strong grasp of the large Viking but couldn't get away with its restraints.

"Dad, stop it! You're hurting it!" Hiccup was becoming frantic and tried pulling on Stoick arm.

"Hiccup, stop it or else I'll ship you off to their island so you can explain what happened. See how you like it then. I can't have you messing this up like you do everything else. These monsters attacked and struggled against us."

Hiccup released his grip and stood defeated by his father. Just as defeated as the dragon underneath Stoick's arm. They finally reached the house and went inside.