This is Berk, but it isn’t precisely the Berk that you may know. While that one might be a place where the Vikings here took one path, it is but one of many in the grand scheme of things in the multiverse.
One simple change can lead to vast differences. Take, for instance, the introduction of magic to this world. What would change? Less than you think, but more than you could imagine.
Take Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, 18 years old, with two feet and no note of fame. Despite this seemingly innocuous change, things will take a similar yet different path.
Despite how much more pathetic he seems, our Hiccup follows a similar path to another you may be familiar with, to the point where his accomplishments in dragon slaying training earn him the ire of his peers.
—-
Astrid Hofferson has joined her fellow trainees in learning the ways of dragon slaying. After all, it is their birthright.
When Hiccup subdues many a foul beast with seemingly a wave of his hand, the fury burns deep in Astrid’s breast, and she resolves to find precisely what the young man’s secret is.
So, she goes to the forest, following him with as much subterfuge as she can muster, clinging to the trees, and using the hunting techniques she had to learn to survive in these times of famine. She soon finds herself in a hidden valley, a bowl with a gentle pond.
“There you go, Toothless,” rings out Hiccup’s voice. “This new harness should do just the trick.”
The Viking woman peers from behind a rock, looking at the scene before her and gasping. Before her is Hiccup, and he’s communicating with… what is that? It’s not like any dragon she’s ever seen before. Could it be…?”
“Nightfury…?” she breathes, returning to face the scene before them.
“Come on, Toothless,” the young man says, patting the dragon on the head and giving him the scratches he loves. Little does the Viking male know that while he gives his newfound friend some comforting pets, something peeks out between the creature’s rear legs. It is long red, and it throbs.
Astrid clasps her mouth and brings her axe flat against her chest. Tears burn in her eyes as hateful bile rises up, fighting against the urge to vomit right then and there. She turns and runs, leaving the two alone.
Hiccup blinks and looks towards the edge of the rocky valley, stepping over towards the edge. “Hello?”
Toothless groans and flaps off to its own, curling up with its engorged dragonhood, grumbling.
“Hey, Toothless, what’s the matter?” asks Hiccup, running back towards his draconic companion.
—
“I don’t know what it is I saw, w-what he was doing, I just… I can’t…” Astrid sighs, placing the book of dragons in front of Gothi. “It’s not in the book. I’ve looked everywhere! A-and that thing… it had… it was a cock, and Hiccup was petting it and, ugh!”
Gothi listens to Astrid’s woes and turns the book's pages, her eyes narrowing before she slides it back toward Astrid.
“A… nightfury? That’s… that’s even more dangerous than I could imagine.”
Gothi shakes her head and hobbles over toward one of her many books. She pulls one from the shelf and hands it to Astrid, turning to a particular page.
Astrid scand over it, her eyes widening. “This potion… this is magic—dark magic. Do you mean to tell me this is real? But why would we know how to do this? Why are you showing this to me?”
Gothi turns the page again and taps the words written there in a fresher yet still faded ink.
Reading from the text, Astrid speaks, “The medicine woman has to bear this secret and forbidden knowledge, for the time might come for when it is necessary.”
Astrid slams the book closed. “I wish to be a dragon slayer, not a medicine woman, but I will do what I must for the good of my people.”
Gothi smiles and hobbles beside Astrid, examining the materials and recipes before her.
“And if I can get this spell to work,” Astrid whispers to herself, her fingers running along the ancient runes, “then I can become the greatest dragon slayer in all of Berk and finally rid our tribe of that useless Hiccup once and for all!”
“But what of the chief?”
Gothi pats her shoulder and hands her a small bottle. Astrid closes her fingers around it. “You’re right. I shouldn’t worry about that. What I need to worry about is getting this potion ready. The moon is full, and I have mushrooms to collect.
As Astrid leaves the room, Gothi smiles, for as we’ve said earlier, magic changes so much, even if it looks so similar to what we already know. Soon, Astrid has her potion brewed, and she clasps it gently in her hand as she and her fellow trainees celebrate another successful day of Hiccup and his ridiculous dragon-pacifying ways.
“So, Gobber, are you sure no one’s tried that before?” Hiccup asks.
“No, lad. It would be a waste of yer time! Focus on the fundamentals, and you should be golden!”
Everyone is so busy they don’t notice Astrid pouring the potion into Hiccup’s mug. The chieftain’s son swigs his drink down and smacks his lips, stretching and hopping. “Well, everyone, gotta go! See you all tomorrow!”
With a resounding cheer from his fellows, Hiccup leaves, and Astrid sinks back into the obscurity of this story, her part played, and Hiccup’s only just beginning…
Hiccup rushes past the outskirts of Berk, finding his way to the fish market, where he gathers up as much of the unprocessed catch as he can to feed Toothless but also not to be any suspicious. As he carries his bucket into the wilderness, the man sniffs the air around him. “Hm… wonder what that is?” he wonders before shrugging and heading to his hidden valley.