Chapter 1: Framed for murder
(Normal pov)
THWAK!!
"Such a weakling!"
"Why didn't the chief throw him off the cliffs as a baby?"
"He's such a loser."
"Maybe he's just the Chiefs bastard son."
"Get up Useless!"
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III got back on his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood. To be greeted by a fist connecting to his gut and a knee connecting to his face, causing Hiccup to fall on back in agony.
His cousin Snotlout and his lackeys: Magnus, Helga, Brenna, and Stefnir were the Hooligan princes biggest haters and bullies. Snotlout yanked Hiccup by the hair and he yelped in pain, he closed his eyes waiting for another hit, but no blow was landed.
At least not on him.
"If you lay one more hand on Hiccup Snotlout, I'll chop off your balls and shove them down your throat!!"
Hiccup smiled at the sight of Astrid Hofferson. She's his biggest crush and secretly, his girlfriend. She then punched Snotlout in the throat, knees him in the gut and throws him into a nearby shack; causing the stocky bully's weight to break the wood. Snotlout's lackeys are about to attack Astrid, but she draws her battle axe and points it at them, stopping the bullies in their tracks.
"Now get out of here and leave Hiccup alone before I kill you all myself." Snotlout got up from the shack and groaned in pain, it made his blood boil with rage to see Astrid defending his sickly and pathetic excuse of a cousin. But, Snotlout just scoffed and grabbed his lackeys attention. "Let's go." They grumbled yet followed their ring leader.
Astrid attaches her axe to her back and turns around to a bloodied and dirt stained Hiccup, she kneels before him and examines his injuries. "Thanks, for coming to my aid Astrid." She smiles at him and kisses him, he returns the kiss, but they break it before anyone sees. "C'mon babe, lets get you to Gothi." She helps him up and the couple make their way to Gothi's hut.
Upon entering elders hut, Gothi frowned at the sight of the Hooligan heir bloodied and dirty, she hand signaled Astrid to place him on the bed, she nodded and placed her boyfriend on the bed, he groaned in pain but tried relaxing. Astrid helped Gothi apply healing paste to the bruises on Hiccup's body. "Astrid, why do they hate me so much?" Hiccup asked through gritted teeth, the pain spread throughout his body and it hurt him. Astrid caressed Hiccup's cheek lovingly and he leaned into her touch. "I don't know babe, perhaps they're jealous of your position and royal blood claim to the throne of Berk." Hiccup nodded and sat up slightly and thanked Gothi, the elder nodded and walked off to her desk.
"Ever since we've been kids, Snotlout and his lapdogs have always beat me down, humiliated me or shown me nothing but hatred. All I have in this village is my father, Gothi, Gobber, Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff and you Milady." Astrid smiled sadly at Hiccup, he's always been there for her, even helped her when her Uncle Finn was killed by the Flightmare. She was extremely fortunate to have a boyfriend like Hiccup, not only did he respect her, but he was interested in more than her beauty, but fiery personality and she absolutely loved that about him.
"I won't let those idiots hurt you Hiccup, you've been trained by myself and your father in weapons for years, why don't you bring out the pain on them?" Astrid asked, ever since they dated, Hiccup asked her to help whip him into shape and to train in weapons, though Hiccup could wield weapons in the smithy, he didn't know how to fight. And over the years they've been dating, Hiccup's skills were greatly improved.
Hiccup sighed and sat on the beds edge and answered his girlfriends question. "Because I'm hoping to make peace with him, he's still family." Astrid nodded in understanding but didn't like the idea, Snotlout and the Jorgensons have always been jealous of Hiccup and Stoicks position of power and blood claim to the throne and the Jorgensons believed they should be the rightful rulers of Berk, not the Haddocks.
Regardless, Astrid accepted Hiccup's answer and caressed his cheek lovingly and kissed his lips. "If he continues to torment you, don't be afraid to defend yourself babe, I don't want to see get hurt anymore. I love you." Hiccup smiled and nodded, the two shared a sweet kiss and he caresses her hand.
"I love you too Astrid."
(Later that day)
Hiccup opened the door to his house to find his father Stoick eating chicken legs and had a mug of ale by his side, the Hooligan chief was a mountain of a man, and many respected his leadership and authority, the Haddocks in general have ruled over Berk for generations and there were those who'd seek to undermine Stoick's rule and kill his heir to ensure they'd have no competition for the throne.
"Ah! Hiccup! Come join me! You look starving." Stoick said, he made his way to the fire and there was a pan of chicken soup with potato and carrot slices in it, Stoick poured a bowl for Hiccup and handed it to his son. "Thanks dad." Stoick smiled and nodded, the two ate their food in comfortable silence, that is until the Hooligan chief saw Hiccup's bruised face and cracked bottom lip. "Son, has Snotlout and his pack of dogs been beating you?" Hiccup sighed and nodded. "Why don't you defend yourself son? You know the Jorgensons would seek to undermine us and claim the throne, you cannot show weakness." Hiccup nodded in understanding, Snotlout and his lackeys have been very cruel to him since they could walk.
They've dumped him in the icy waters last winter just because Snotlout thought Hiccup smelled bad and said he could use a bath, they've set Silent Svens sheep pen on fire and blamed the crime on Hiccup, even trashed Mildews cabbage garden, the old man was out for blood and whined about it for weeks.
Needless to say, Hiccup was tired of being wrongfully accused of crimes and vandalism he didn't commit, but his Uncle Spitelout and Aunt Hertha were very persuasive to take the heat off their son Snotlout.
Hiccup answered his father. "Yes I know dad, but I'd like nothing more than to make amends with Snotlout, as much as it pains me, the Jorgensons are our family." Stoick grunted and took as swig of ale and countered. "Hiccup, before you were born, and before I met Valka, my brother Spitelout and I were fiercely competitive, and he was very close to becoming chief, but my father wanted his older son to lead, and ever since then, Spitelout and Hertha have poured their hatred into Snotlout and hope that one day their son will become future chief. That's why I'm glad myself and Astrid have been training you, I don't trust your cousin our his family, their wolves among us and I'd love to banish them, but until I have proof, I cannot touch them." Stoick huffed in frustration.
Hiccup couldn't imagine the kind of stress his father was in, not only were they dealing with the three century war with the dragons, but also keeping a watchful eye on the Jorgensons; ensuring that no treachery would unleash, Stoick had members of the Berk Guard patrol the night and take sure everyone was in their homes; mandatory curfew. Hiccup nodded and took another spoonful of soup in his mouth before speaking. "Well dad, if someone is bold enough to commit treason, I'll protect you with my life, I already lost mom, I can't lose you too." Stoick smiled and went over to hug his son.
"As will I son, you remind me of your mother in so many ways, if she were still with us she'd be so proud of the man you're becoming." Stoick said with pride, the relationship between the Haddock males was strong, as any relationship with father and son should be, Stoick groomed his son in all aspects of being chief: negotiations, war, tactics, show compassion, leading warriors on the battlefield, earning the respect of the people and learning that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of few.
Hiccup smiled at his dads words and thanked him. "Thanks dad, for everything, I love you." Stoicl broke the hug and ruffled his sons hair, causing the two to laugh. "I love you too son." The two cleaned up their dishes and finished their duties for the day.
As the early evening fell upon Berk, the war horns blew; telling the village that dragons were raiding the village. Vikings poured out of their homes, grabbing their weapons and went to defend their livestock from the devils that have plagued them for three centuries.
Stoick and Hiccup ran out of their home to see dragons everywhere, swooping down and collecting livestock in their talons and torching houses and buildings. "Hiccup, go to the smithy and help Gobber!" Hiccup knew Gobber was the villages best blacksmith, the second being him, but Hiccup really wanted to help his father. "But dad I can--"
"No buts! Please son, the last thing I need is for a dragon to carry you off just like your mother, now go to the smithy and help Gobber!!" Stoick said firmly before running off and joining Fishlegs, Astrid's, Ruff and Tuffnuts parents: Asger and Alfhid Ingerman, Horik and Frida Hofferon, Buffnut and Tori Thorsten, the group of adults rushed into battle while Hiccup sprinted to the smithy and dodged a volley of Nadder spines with a nearby shield, the Nadder charged and Hiccup summersaulted our of the way and kicked dirt in the Nadders eyes, causing it to roar and squawk in discomfort.
The Vikings raised the torches high in the sky to see their enemies clearer, and dragons of all shapes and sizes were flying around; providing air support, camicazi bombing or snatching anything or anyone in their sight. Once Hiccup reaches the smithy, he wiped a splatter of body that got on his chin, he reached for his work apron and got to work.
"Ah! Evening Hiccup! Glad you can join the party." Gobber said in a cheerful and playful tone. Gobber the Belch, the man was like a second father to Hiccup, he treated Hiccup well and payed him well for his services in the smithy, even though Hiccup tried to turn down the amount of coin Gobber was paying him, the older blacksmith insisted, saying he's the best apprentice he's ever had.
"Hey Gobber, this isn't my exact idea of a party though." Hiccup said as he handed out swords and axes to his tribesman, the young heir soon went to work on a sword, placing the blade on the grindstone and watched the sparks fly.
Hiccup laid eyes on his gorgeous girlfriend, Astrid led the younger preteens and the rest his friends: Fishlegs, Ruff and Tuff to put out fires, while Snotlout, Magnus, Helga, Brenna, and Stefnir were fighting dragons with the rest of the tribe. His cousin may be as smart as a rock, but he's one hell of a warrior, Helga and Brenna were more of the brains and Stefnir and Magnus were Snotlout's muscle; doing his dirty work when Snotlout couldn't beat Hiccup down himself.
Astrid put out a fire and fireball made contact with a nearby house and the explosion sent a wave of fire her way, she merely flips her braid over the side and locked eyes on her boyfriend, she gives a seductive look while parting her lips and giving him s coy smile. Hiccup's mouth goes dry at the sight of his goddess of a girlfriend. Odin has blessed him even in these difficult times.
Astrid then makes her way to the smithy and leans in the window to Hiccup's station. "Hey handsome." Hiccup smiled and the two shared a quick peck on the lips and smiled warmly at each other. "Hey gorgeous. How's firefighting?" Astrid shrugs and gestures to the mayhem. "I suppose it's better than fighting dragons, but I do plan on defending Berk soon." Hiccup nodded.
"Oi! Hiccup! I need axes over here!" Gobber barked over the explosions nearby, Hiccup nodded and kissed Astrid's knuckles, causing her to smile at him. "I'll see you later Milady." Astrid winked at him and rejoined Fishlegs and the Thorston twins, Hiccup soon got to work on the axes, and suffered Gobbers teasing, but it was all in good fun of course.
As the night went on, the dragons left Berk with sizable bounty of cattle and livestock, the Vikings rallied to Stoick who stood at the center of the village.
"My brothers and sisters! Winter will soon be upon us, and the dragons aren't making things easier. So, I purpose we set sail tomorrow morning in one more search for the dragons nest! If we find it and destroy it, the dragons will leave! Whose with me?"
The Vikings roared in agreement, except a handful, Stoick then saw Hiccup leaning on a pillar with his arms crossed and smiling in approval at his dad, the Hooligan Chieftain smiled at his son and nodded to his people. "Excellent. Now everyone go home, and rest, we've got a big day tomorrow." Everyone nodded and went back to their homes and those who'd have to rebuild their homes went to the Hall.
As the chief and his son returned to their home, Spitelout had gathered those who despised the Haddock family into a shack near the harbor, once the coup members were accounted for, Spitelout began the meeting.
"As most of you already know, my father made Stoick chief of Berk, and since then, I've been treated like dirt by my father! He denied me the position of chief, he always favored Stoick, now Stoick's scrawny son will ascend to the throne within five winters from now, I will not let Berk fall to ruin because of that sickly little weakling. So tonight, as the Haddocks sleep, we kill Stoick and frame Hiccup for the murder."
The coup members all had evil smiles plastered on their faces, they've seen how the chief and his son would argue and yell at each other when they had differences, they could use this to their advantage and kill two birds with one stone. Mildew chuckled and held his staff in one hand and his disgusting sheep Fungus in the other. "Who do you task with assassinating the Chief Spitelout? The streets will be patrolled by the Berk Guard." Spitelout grinned evilly and nodded.
"Aye. That's why I'm sending my son, Magnus and Stefnir to do the deed. Snotlout will kill Stoick while the other boys keep watch. They managed to dig a path under the Chiefs home, so the Berk Guard will be no problem at all."
Another coup member stepped up and asked a question. "Should we not just kill Useless? What if he returns and claims vengeance?" Spitelout scoffed and waved the question aside. "C'mon! This is Hiccup we're talking about! The runt will be framed for his fathers murder and he'll be banished to Outcast Island, they'll kill him for us." The coup member nodded, Spitelout waved his son and two fiends over to him.
Snotlout, Magnus and Stefnir approached Spitelout, the elder Jorgenson placed a hand on his sons shoulder. "See this to completion and you be chief of Berk." Snotlout smiled widely and nodded.
"I will be done father."
(Haddock household)
As the moon was at its highest peak, Stoick was fast asleep, however, Hiccup was wide awake, he couldn't sleep for some reason. He had a bad feeling in his gut, his bad feeling intensified tenfold when he heard sounds of struggling and then silence. Hiccup's heart beat picked up as he rose from his bed and went to check on his father.
What he saw made him scream in horror.
His father had a sword in his heart.
"NO!!!" Hiccup screamed, he rushed to his fathers side and began weeping, that's when Hiccup heard—
"Murderer! GUARDS!! Hiccup has assassinated the chief!!"
What?!! NO!!!
Hiccup turned to see Snotlout, Magnus, Stefnir standing at the entrance of his fathers room with looks of horror. No, they-they had to have killed his father. Hiccup could react fast enough to be seized by Berk Guards. "No!! I didn't kill my father!! They did! You're being deceived!!" The Guards didn't listen as Hiccup's roars of sorrow woke the whole village.
The word that Stoick was assassinated by Hiccup's hand spread like a plague, everyone gathered at the Great Hall to discuss the fate of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.
Spitelout, Mildew, Gothi, and many other elders had Hiccup stand before the throne room to be sentenced. Astrid was in total shock, she knew Hiccup would never do something like this, she pushed through the crowd to see her boyfriend, he need all the support he could get. Fishlegs and the Thorston twins stood by Astrid too.
"Astrid! Is it true? Hiccup killed Stoick?" Fishlegs asked in total disbelief, Astrid rubbed her arm and sniffled slightly; tears starting to swell. "I-I don't know Fishlegs. I don't know." The Thorston twins looked at each other in shock then spotted Snotlout and the rest of his lackeys, the twins nodded at each other and went to eavesdrop their conversation.
Snotlout snickered at his cousins horrified face. "Say goodbye to Useless guys. With me killing Stoick, my father will pave the way for me to take the throne! And Berk will be remade in my own image." The arrogant Jorgenson boy's lackeys snickered with him and patted their leader on the back.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were shocked, they made their way back to Astrid and Fishlegs. "Guys! Snotlout killed Stoick!" Tuffnut whispered yelled, both Astrid and Fishlegs eyes were wide. "What?!!" They whispered yelled at the twins, Ruffnut shushed them and told them what she and her brother heard. "Snotlout killed Stoick and now they've framed Hiccup for the crime." Astrid placed a hand over her mouth and began crying. This can't be happening.
"Order!! Order! This trial is beginning." Spitelout said, the whole Hall went silent and Spitelout began. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! You're guilty for the murder of your own father Stoick the Vast. What do you have to say for yourself?" Hiccup snarled but was held back by Berk Guards.
"You sent your lazy, arrogant and idiotic son to murder my father you piece of shit!! You're the cause of my fathers murder! I would never hurt my father, not that I ever could. You ordered my fathers death!!"
Spitelout scoffed and countered. "Really? Because my son and his friends found, you over the body of my dear brother with a sword in his chest. Perhaps your ambitions and thirst for power were too much for you to control and you needed to remove your father from power to secure your own." Hiccup scoffed at his uncles poisonous tongue.
"Believe whatever the hell you want dearest uncle, but I am innocent." Hiccup spat out, Spitelout turned to Mildew and the other coup members who were part of the council to banish Hiccup, Mildew grinned evilly at Hiccup and hit his staff on the ground. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, for the crime of our chief Stoick the Vast, we hereby banish you to Outcast Island." Hiccup inhaled sharply, closed his eyes and let tears run down his cheeks.
"Take this pathetic boy to Outcast Island." Spitelout said, the Berk Guards seized him by the arms and took him to the harbor, upon reaching the harbor, one of the Guards readied a dinghy for sail.
"Hiccup!!"
He turned around to see Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut sprinted toward him, one of the Guards held them back. "Please, let us say goodbye to him! Please!" Astrid begged the Guard, he looked to his comrade on the dinghy, he nodded. The Guard turned to the group of teens. "Be quick." Astrid nodded and pulled Hiccup into a deep and passionate kiss, he immediately returned it and hugged her close, when they broke apart, they nuzzed into each other and mumbled words of love to each other.
"Astrid. I'm innocent." Astrid shushed him and nodded. "I know, me and the others are going to ensure we clear your name and ensure the Jorgensons and the other traitors who had a hand in this treachery suffer." They hugged each other tightly and shared another passionate kiss, when they broke apart, they rested their foreheads together.
"I love you Hiccup."
"I love you too Astrid. May we meet again."
Astrid wiped away tears and let the others say goodbye, the trio hugged Hiccup. "Hiccup we promise we'll prove to them you're innocent." Hiccup smiled at his friends promise through puffy and tear stained eyes. "I know you will guys, thank you. May we meet again." They smiled and nodded at him, while wiping away their own tears.
"Time to go." The Guard said, Hiccup entered the dinghy and watched with sadness as his friends and girlfriend waved him goodbye, he waved back, he would return and he would avenge his fathers murder.
(One hour later)
The voyage to Outcast Island put Hiccup in a state of hurt, anger and revenge. His own family murdered his father, they should've killed him too, now they'll reap what they sow.
When he was in trial, Hiccup saw that many of the people didn't believe Hiccup was the murderer, even when the Guards escorted him out of the Hall, the villagers weren't convinced at all, they've seen how close the Haddocks relationship as father and son was. But Spitelout and Hertha had powerful friends on the council, and they could twist truth.
Hiccup clenched his fists so tightly, his knuckles turned white and his nails dig into his palm and the nail imprints left blood. He didn't even feel the pain in his palms, the pain of losing both his mother and father hit Hiccup like a tidal wave, he was now alone.
"We're here." One of the Guards said as they docked in the Outcast harbor and pushed Hiccup out of the dinghy, the boy grunted in pain and was then greeted by a mountain of a man with a mane of beard and a massive sword strapped to his side.
"Alvin, we have a new Outcast to join your ranks." One of the Guards said, Alvin the Treacherous grunted in acknowledgment and grabbed Hiccup's arm and yanked him up to his feet and wiped the dust off his vest.
"Welcome to Outcast Island boy! We'll make an Outcast out of you."
A/N: New story, let me know what y'all think. I want to thank all of you you've messaged me privately with positive feedback, I love you guys and appreciate your kind words. Hope you enjoy the beginning of the Dragon Conquer.
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