Not my usual brand but httyd au. Au where Cloudjumper had taken Valka sooner, as in, before Hiccup had been born. In one night, Stoick loses not only his wife but his unborn child as well! A few months later Valka gives birth to a tiny baby boy, only the dragon's around her to assist. The child is so small, and remembering something her husband once told her, she chooses to name the little guy Hiccup in hopes that it could bring good luck. Afterall, the first King of Vikings had been named Hiccup.
Raising Hiccup alone was... difficult. Hiccup was initially a quiet baby, so small, early. She feared for his life and even went so far as to beg Cloudjumper to take her to a village so a healer might see Hiccup, he was so quiet. They ended up in the Northern Markets where they came across an auction. A Trapper Auction. The prize was a small black egg, stolen from it's nest. Valka had been disgusted by the sight, but with Hiccup there wasn't anything she could do. At least she'd thought that way until Cloudjumper spotted the egg. Despite how precarious their position was, despite the sensitive condition of his charges were, Cloudjumper ended up falling into a rage at the sight of the egg. Valka was lucky to be wearing a hooded cloak she had made from a few sparse dragon sheds, for her friend refused to listen to her when it attacked.
In the chaos it soon became clear Clousjumper was trying to save the egg and would not leave without it. With lottle.other option, Valka took advantage of the distraction to free several dragons, adding to the chaos, and then steal the egg. The moment she had it safely in her grasp, Cloudjumper grabbed her, Hiccup, and the egg and flew off, mission accomplished.
Later that day, Valka learned why dragons pushed their eggs into water or lava upon hatching, and as the first scaly black paw of a tiny night fury peaked out, a loud cry emanates from the makeshift nest she made to act as a cradle. Hiccup's first cry.
Hiccup and the hatching were quick to bond and Valka would often find the two curled up together in sleep. It was rare fhe young fury would ever leave her child's side and she came to the conclusion that with the two being mere days apart, the Norns had to have been involved. Her boy and tbe dragon were connected somehow, though she knew not how yet. For now, however, she had to care for her sons, both of them.
Let it be known, raising a boy and a dragon with only other dragons to act as fellow caretakers is not easy, especially in tne following years. Toothless, named for the dragon's penchant for retracting his teeth and giving gummy smiles to make anyone who sees him laugh, was a rambunctious little scamp and Hiccup, with his insatiable curiousity and creativity, was often right beside his draconian brother, getting into all sorts of trouble. Valka had come to quickly learn thay there is always someone looking after the two within the nest, if not herself or Cloudjumper, the Alpha or one of their dragon subjects always have an eye or two on the pair. This came to be useful when, at the age of five, Toothless began to do what she could only describe as branching, hopping from one branch or cliff to a other in anticipation for hus developing wings to one day allow him to soar.
An otherwise lovely milestone to a yung deagons life that would have little to no problems if not for the fact the human sibling of the pair wanted to join in. The first time she took an eye off of Hiccup only to he her son jumping headlong off a cliff very nearly sent her to Nifleheim had the Alpha not seen and acted, using one of his greatest tusks to push the young viking back and ensure he did not fall.
A week later the two decided to do it with Hiccup sat upon Toothless back. The both of them had been grounded for weeks. True flight, however, was achieved a year later.
Sadly for the pair, however, that would be all torn away a scant 4 years later. Ever since the rescue to Toothless' egg, Valka had found herself unable to stand by when dragons were being killed and enslaved all over. Valka had fashioned a mask and set of armor for herself, making herself look like the Alpha whom had graciously sheltered her and her children, and when the children were out to bed at the end of the day she and Cloudjumper to sneak out, finding and rescuing dragons from trappers and hunters alike. When they were younger, and more easily tired out, she hadn't had to worry as they would have simply slept through the night. However she had made a mistake and neglected to keep one small detail in mind: Night Furies are nocturnal. Toothless may have been easy to tire out and incapable of following before he could fly, but with the freedom of flight and the night sky to camouflage him he could now sneak after his human mother and dragon caretaker whenever they want on their secret missions that all the older dragons refused to tell him and Hiccup about!
Valka had never killed a living creature in her life before, had even thought the night she had met Cloudjumper she was incapable of such a thing, but that night she learned what it meant to kill someone with her bare hands and then burn a ship and it's entire crew. She flew off of thay burning ship, a trembling dragon fledgling curled up in her arms despite the favt he was now most certainly getting too big for her to carry, crying at the pain of a missing tailfin taken by the cruelty of a hunter who thought using a bola to bring hwo one of her boys and the mutilatinc him was a smart idea in front of a mother dragon.
Ever since that night Toothless was grounded, incapable of flight. Hiccup had been heartbroken to discover his brother had loat his ability to fly. Of course, with Hiccup being Hiccup, when faced with a problem her human son wouldn't rest until he fixed it. She hadn't known what he was cooking up or thay he had actually snuck into her forge, but one moment Toothless was flightless and the next he had what looked to be a fin made of leather attached to his tail.
As she marveled at the design of the fin, she wasn't sure if she should be proud or pissed that her son had deliberately ignored to rule to stay out of the forge unless herself or Cloudjumper were present to supervise to help his brother. The fin wasn't perfect of course, it needed adjustments, reworks. Her boy had the right idea buf simply putting a leather tail won't be enough by itself. Luckily her little genius had her present. Afterall, Gibber may have been the current Master Smith of Berk when she was taken, but the Smith before him had had two apprentices! And Hiccup certainly didnt get his inventiveness and creativity from his father! With some trial and error, the two of them built off of Hiccup's design to build a proper prosthetic that would let Toothless fly all on his own. And just to be safe she also added a saddle, jsut bevasue she ran and danced along the dragons' backs with not a single safety harness doesn't meant her admittedly clumsy son can after all. And of course, the first thing thaow two do is ignore her explicit orders not to use the still untested tailfin without herself or Cloudjumper to go in a dragon backed joyride thay almost ended in disaster! Well, at least the saddle and safety harness work and ahe has confirmation everything will hold up so thay when the two are finally no longer grounded after that stunt they'll be free to fly.
And so life went on in the nest, with Valka and Cloudjumper and her two troublesome boys. Everything was near perfect, if not for one small detail. Hiccup was a blessedly kindhearted soul, one who took after herself and held and optimism Valka wishes she still had. After the disaster that led to Toothless losing his tailfin, Valka made a promise to never keep secrets. Such things led to only pain for her dear children. So when Hiccup reached the age to begin questioning things, she believes it was around two however he only popped this particular question shortly after tbe incident with tbe hunters, she was ready. When asked why he anx her were the only humans in the nest, why the other humans hurt his brother, and who his dad was, Valka answered. It wasn't the full truth, she wasn't ready for tell him everything yet, but she was honest.
"When you were still an egg in my belly, I was taken here by Cloudjumper. Our homeland was a land of kill or be killed and Cloudjumper believed we'd be safer here. Those men who hurt your brothers were dragon hunters, they kidnap and hurt dragons for a living because most people in the outside world believe they're monsters, my little fledgling."
Yes, questions about the circumstances of their arrival and why they stayed were easy to her. It's the questions about her husband that were difficult. Stoick was still a painful subject to her. "Your father was a great warrior, one Vikings will sing songs of."
"Why isn't he here?"
"I'm afraid its too dangerous. You're father was a great man, the love of my life, but I fear that might not have been enough. He was a dragon killer, the whole village was."
Hiccup would press for more information but Valka would give little else, not even a name. It was enough for him to know she had loved his father but their ideology would never have worked out. Unfortunately the more the boy learned about the outside world the more curious he got, begging to go with his mother on trips to the markets and such. She helped him to fashion his own armor to go with the flight harness, something to keep his identity hidden while they flew. She had shown him some of the horrible things that would happen, the dragon auctions, the hunts, all noting each and every instance for her to revisit later. She also showed him the good as well, however. Though they rarely interacted with humans, she had managed to find a few allies amongst them. The Wing Maidens and Caldera Cay for example.
In spite of her attempts to appease her sons need to expire with trips and flights, however, it appeared it wasn't enough. Night Furies are nocturnal, masters of the night, and she had thought both Hiccup and Toothless had learned their lesson. But one day she came home from a raid to find tbe cave empty, none of the other dragons not even the Alpha knowing where the by then 14 year old adolescent boy and dragon were, and a note saying they were going to be back after changing everyone's mind. Hiccup, her innocent dreamer of a son had run away.
yes yes yes yes I love the lore and world you build :3
Hiccup being raised in a Tarzan-but-with-dragons situation with his mother. Seeing the orphaned Night Fury his mom saved as his brother. And giving poor Cloudjumper two curious pups to worry about! XD
The first Httyd film happens because Hiccup wanted to Do Good by the dragons seemingly enthralled by an unknown source - but Valka had put her foot down and ordered him under any circumstances NOT to leave the Nest without her or Cloudjumper's supervision.
Hiccup, of course, decides to try and help anyway. His nestmate Toothless coming along for the ride.
Hiccup is captured by Vikings. Specifically the dragon-slayer Stoick the Vast.
Stoick is more interested in figuring out what makes this mysterious dragon rider tick, than hurting him. The Berk chieftain has suffered so many losses in his life due to dragons. He just wishes to understand why and how a boy, seemingly no thicker than his arm, can command dragons like a wolf pack? Something he hasn't seen since the like of Draco Bludvist. (the boy shivers when he mentions the name offhand, suggesting that they've encountered one another before).
Stoick has an island to feed, flocks of sheep growing scarcer and scarcer, and he isn't sure how much longer his people (or his heart) can take it. Maybe this semi-feral boy holds the key to solving this crisis?
As soon as the boy stops trying to escape the island of course.
Hiccup is NOT Happy to be caged like a wild animal, as you can imagine. But he also knows four things;
This could be the perfect time for him to finally be among humans like himself, and maybe even convince them to stop killing dragons.
His brother Toothless is on the island with a damaged tail prothetic (he got nicked in the chaos) and will need help to repair it.
There really seems to be something wrong with the dragons raiding Berk. They only seem interested in gathering food. Far too much food to feed only themselves.
His mother is going to Kill him once he gets back to the Nest.
Neither father nor son know their connection to each other. At first.
You see, part of Viking courtship ritual involves gifting your spouse with a token of your intention (Think of the Amulet of Mara in Skyrim). As a young man fumbling over his words, Stoick had presented Valka with an amulet made from the leather and scales of the first dragon he ever slayed in battle. This very amulet was on Valka when she was taken to the Nest.
After some time, Valka found the amulet too emotionally painful to wear, and instead passed it onto Hiccup. She gave it a new meaning; a symbol of protection for her danger-seeking child. Something as durable and fireproof as her love for her pup.
Stoick only finds this amulet, forged and shaped by his own hands (with Gobber's help), on the boy's person long after the fateful battle with the Red Death.
Stoick doesn't even hesitate to carry the injured boy home in arms, as if he were the baby he thought lost all those years ago.
And carry his son's adoptive brother too - the Night Fury clearly means the world to him, and vice versa.
Emotions and tensions are high, and neither the Viking Chief nor the Dragon Rider know what comes next.
Except of course: that Hiccup and Toothless are SO GROUNDED once they get back to Valka and Cloudjumper.
