Chapter Text
There were moments when Hiccup really hated his life, and this was one of them.
He was currently running through the forest trying to get away from his younger brother and cousin. The two of them had already cornered him and beat him quite soundly before he managed to break away, racing into the forest as it was his only chance to lose them.
Normally he could manage to outrun them, something born from a multitude of practice, but with his current injuries, he was not as fast as normal. He did know the forest much better than they did, though, and could fit through smaller spaces, being built on a smaller scale. He leaped over rocks and squeezed through gaps between trees, all while ignoring the stitch in his side, his aching ribs, and the pain in his shin where his cousin had kicked him. Hard.
He stumbled to the edge of a cove and began to climb down, being as quiet as possible so as not to give his location away. He was about two-thirds of the way down when his hand slipped. Hiccup desperately clawed at the rock as he fell, unable to find another grip and landing in a heap on the ground. He tried not to whimper as he crawled closer to the wall, hoping that if his brother or cousin happened to look over the edge they wouldn’t find him. After curling in a ball in a slight recess, he remained still and listened, eventually hearing the tromping footsteps of his tormentors.
“Where did he go,” Snotlout growled. “We can’t have lost him already.”
“You know my brother can run like a deer,” Stoick Jr commented offhandedly. “He could be long gone by now. We should head back.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Snotlout reluctantly agreed. “After all, we can just pick up where we left off tomorrow.”
Hiccup listened to the raucous laughter as the two boys walked away and finally let go of the breath he had been holding. He had managed to make it through another day, but was it really worth it?
He and Stoick Jr were born only a year apart and they were about as similar as night and day. Hiccup was born small and early, with his mother’s slight frame, while Stoick Jr was a carbon copy of their father, built on a much larger scale and already bigger than his brother at only seven years of age. Even when they were little…well, littler, Stoick Jr had used that to his advantage. Their mom had tried to keep the peace between the two boys, but it was hard when their father was of the opinion that his namesake could do no wrong.
Thus, Stoick Jr had been heckling and tormenting Hiccup for as long as he could remember, eventually teaming up with their cousin, Snotlout, as the two boys were the same age and had the same violent tendencies. They were careful to only go after Hiccup when no adults were around and took to hurting him in ways that would not easily be visible to others. For all that they were not that smart, they had managed to figure that out, Hiccup thought wryly as he gingerly got to his feet and limped over to the small pond, intent on cleaning up at least some of his injuries.
He sat down and stuck his hands in the frigid water, hissing as he tried to wash all his scrapes from his disastrous fall. He should probably take a look at his other injuries as well, but he was pretty sure they would be nothing more than bruises, albeit bad ones, but there was not much he could do about those.
Hiccup let himself fall back and stared up at the sky, noting that sunset was not far away and he would need to start heading home soon or his mother would worry…well, more than she normally did, anyway.
He lay there for a few more minutes and was about to finally sit up and start the long trek back to the village when a dragon leaned over him, its owl-like head turning curiously as it took a better look at him.
Maybe dragons were picky eaters and wouldn’t eat just anyone… After all, he was all bones, no meat on him at all… Who was he kidding? He was a goner. No weapons, no training, and out here all alone.
It wouldn’t be much of a loss to the village, he thought. His dad already favored Stoick Jr and there was talk of making him the heir as he was ‘what a true Viking should be.’ And no one really cared for him outside of his mom. Well, her and Gobber…and Gothi never hit him with her staff, so that had to count for something, right? But he didn’t have any friends close to his own age, Fishlegs having abandoned him once his brother and Snotlout started targeting him more. Hiccup couldn’t exactly blame the other boy, but at the same time, it would have been nice to know that someone else had his back. All the other children were either much older than him and looked at him like the yak dung on their boots or a couple of years younger and wary of crossing his chief tormentors. So, truthfully, only a few people would miss him… What a sad thought…
He sighed in resignation and closed his eyes, muttering, “Just get it over with and eat me already.”
He heard the dragon shuffle slightly, but it wasn’t attacking. He wasn’t on fire and all his limbs were still attached… What was the dragon waiting for? He’d spent enough time with Gobber to know that a dragon ALWAYS goes for the-
He was startled when the dragon nudged him and he warily opened his eyes, noticing how the dragon’s expression did not seem fearsome, but rather…concerned?
Thinking that maybe he might not become this dragon’s dinner, he slowly sat up and reached his hand out, hoping to keep the dragon from getting any closer, but the dragon did something he did not expect. It began sniffing him.
“What are you-” He broke off mid-sentence as the dragon started to lick his hand. “Huh?”
Was it trying to see what he would taste like or… His thought process was halted as the dragon nudged his other arm. Hiccup slowly raised it and the dragon began licking his right hand, too. It was only then that he noticed the pain in his left hand was gone. He looked closer at it as the dragon continued its ministrations and realized that though the scrapes were still visible, they were not as red.
His jaw dropped as he realized that this dragon was treating his injuries. But why?
“Why are you being so nice to me,” he mumbled. “I don’t understand…”
The dragon tilted its head again and started nudging his ribs, clearly realizing that not all his injuries were visible.
“Uh, yeah, I’m hurt there too, but-”
The dragon crooned, an expression that he could only describe as worried crossing its face.
“It’s not that bad,” he shrugged. “I mean it is, but I’m used to it…kind of,” he trailed off, feeling weird accepting pity from a dragon.
The dragon stared at him for a moment before glancing at its back and then gazing at him imploringly.
“Uh…you want me to go with you,” Hiccup guessed. At the dragon’s eager expression, he shook his head. “I can’t,” he explained. “This is my home…” He paused as he thought about that statement. Was it really his home? It was where he lived, and his family was here, but he didn’t feel safe. He would almost rather face the unknown than struggle through another day dealing with his brother and his dad’s blatant favoritism. Even his name doomed him. Who would ever think a hiccup could amount to anything?
As he was pondering whether or not he wanted to stay on Berk, another thought popped into his head and he looked up at the dragon in bewilderment. “Wait, do you understand me,” he asked incredulously.
It took a moment, but the dragon bobbed its head.
Hiccup didn’t know what to think anymore. Maybe he was hallucinating or something, but when he reached out to touch the dragon, it was real. He could feel the texture of its scales and the vibrations as it purred. It purred! There was clearly so much more to dragons than he had ever realized…which left him seriously pondering the offer the dragon made to him.
It seemed like it meant to care for him and protect him, and while he knew that it was probably foolish to trust a creature he just met, he felt safe. And that was a feeling that was becoming increasingly hard for him to find.
He would hate to leave his mom, but at the same time, he knew that she would want what was best for him. He was sure things between him and his brother would only get worse as he got older and leaving honestly did seem like the best option right now.
He glanced up at the dragon who was patiently waiting for his answer. “I-I need to get a few things from the village first,” he stammered, half questioning his decision, but pushing forward anyway, “but I’ll come back tonight, once it’s dark.”
The dragon seemed to accept his answer, though it followed him most of the way back, finally stopping in a clearing that was fairly close to the village.
“Oh, so, I’m meeting you here then,” he inquired, watching the dragon nod and make itself comfortable. “Okay, I guess that works,” he remarked, making the rest of the journey on his own.
He walked inside, just as his mom was setting the table for dinner, though from the looks of things, it was just going to be the two of them, which meant Dad probably took Stoick Jr with him to the Great Hall.
After the day Hiccup had, he wasn’t particularly hungry, though he did his best to eat, but his mom must have realized something was wrong as she asked, “You alright, son?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“You know you can always talk to me, right?”
“I know,” he smiled at her softly, already feeling guilty about what he was going to do, but he couldn’t help but feel that it would be for the best.
After dinner, he stayed at the table, drawing in his journal as he waited for his father and brother to come home. He had long made it a habit to go to bed after his brother was asleep and to be up before he awoke, as it was the surest way to avoid a stray kick or punch as Stoick Jr passed by his bed in their shared room.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before they returned and after shooting his brother a smug grin, Stoick Jr headed upstairs. Hiccup waited until he could hear his brother’s snores before bidding his parents goodnight and heading up the stairs himself.
He lay there in silence, listening to the noises as his parents moved around on the main floor until finally, all was quiet. He waited a bit longer, wanting to ensure that everyone was asleep before he crept over to his wardrobe and began packing the largest satchel he could find with his old journals as well as a few spares, all of which had been carefully hidden away. He also added a few of his treasured possessions, like the dragon toy his mom had made for him when he was little. He pulled the fur from his bed and bundled up a few changes of clothes and his spare boots before tip-toeing down the stairs, never more relieved that his brother was such a heavy sleeper.
He crept over to the kitchen and grabbed a few things before leaving the note he had written for his mother in the pot she used every morning, knowing that she would be up before the rest of the house. It wasn’t much, just letting her know that he’d be okay and that he loved her, but he hoped it would assuage some of her worries.
With that taken care of, he snuck out of the house and to the forge, collecting his few tools in the hopes he may still be able to use them and shoving everything into a basket he had been using for storage in the back room. He hefted it on his back, staggering a bit under the weight, and headed toward the clearing he had left the dragon in, hoping that it was still there.
He had hardly entered the forest, though, when a dragon head popped out of the trees in front of him and he had to stifle a scream. “You scared me,” he exclaimed, shaking his finger at the dragon who had apparently been too impatient to wait. “It’s too dangerous for you to be this close to the village,” he warned, leading them further into the forest as he was afraid they would be caught.
Reaching the clearing where had been supposed to meet, he turned to face the dragon and declared, “I’m ready if you are.”
The dragon leaned down as much as it was able to and used its wing to give him a boost, waiting to make sure he was settled before taking to the air.
Hiccup glanced back at Berk, taking one last look at it as he flew away to what he hoped would be a new beginning.