Prologue

Its a cold Leap day and an island is lowing with more lights than it usually ever is, on account of the dragons and that

This is Berk.

It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. And at present two women are giving birth

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" a woman screamed, her name was Valka and she screamed like the devil on a crucifix while the impossibly large man beside knelt by her bed, holding her hand

"It's going to be okay" he whispered, possible to her and possibly to himself "just push"

"Oh shut up Stoick! You were the one who did this to me anywa-Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" she was once again ceased by contractions as the baby finally crowned, bringing forth a small head of brown hair, from their Valka, continued to push, swearing and screaming like the Viking she truly was, her normally stoic husband, the chief of the village of Burk never leaving her side throughout the process. Stoick the vast was a huge man, sporting a ginger beard and hair that would put a lion to shame, he was a man so strong it was believed he popped a dragons head off its shoulders when he was just an infant, but right now he was reduced to moral support

And finally, after all her labor Valka was able to hold onto her freshly bathed child, one Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III the child of the chief and who would one day take his place. However, it was to be noted that the child appeared extremely small in his mother's hands

"Will he be alright?" Valka asked her husband, worried over how small her child was, especially the dangers he would face due to both berks climate and pests

"He'll be the strongest Viking ever," Stoick told his wife as he kissed her on the forehead

***

On the other side of the village, however, things were not quite as "romantic"

One woman sat in a room, surrounded by a few midwives, no husband by her side, the man likely didn't even know he had a child in the first place, however, her sister, Aasa Hofferson filled his place, whispering words of encouragement to her as she pushed

"I won't make it Aasa" the woman, Hilde Hofferson cried softly as she pushed, panicking in a way that would normally be considered dishonorable if not for the circumstances, after all, Hofferson's must be fearless

"Don't say that Hilde!" the also heavily pregnant woman responded, sounding both worried and annoyed by her sister's pessimistic attitude "are you really going to let your baby die now!?"

"Not the baby, *sniff* never the baby," the woman said, resolve showing in her eyes before suddenly dulling as Hilde clearly lost track of her thoughts "I just miss him! I miss him so much!" she responded tears in her eyes before her next contraction hit her

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"That's it!" Aasa egged her on, excitedly waving her hands "come on! Final push! We want Astrid to have a cousin don't we!"

Giving a final push with a warcry Hilde finally pushed, giving birth to her son with a true warrior spirit and bringing forth her son, one who sported his father's black hair and looked both calm and angry enough to conquer the world

"Delvin, Delvin Son of none" his mother crooned, not mockingly as many would later in his life but instead filled with affection "my little conqueror"

"You won't let him take his name?" Aasa questioned surprised, normally even in circumstances such as this the child would at least have taken his mother's name, Hofferson "not even the clans?"

"No" Hilde replied, her voice filled with conviction as she spoke, "he must know that he has a father. And one day he will meet him and take his name for himself," she said before deflating slightly "besides, the Hoffersons already have a prodigy on the way," she told Aasa as she looked at her sister's large stomach

"That they do… that they do"

That night Berk celebrated the births of not one but two children, each to a house, sort of, and partied to their heart's content. While Hilde's decision to leave her child with no name was not entirely well received by many one look at the plethora of Hofferson men and women standing beside her supportively was enough to keep them quiet, at least until they drank two much and a few bar fights erupted across the village

Of course, eventually, dragons came to visit, seeing the lights and smelling the food before attempting to make away with both. The whole island erupted into a crazy brawl between the people and dragons

But at least no one died, a rare and promising sign of better coming times

And so were born the two of the most important figures in the history of Berk and its archipelago that day was the day Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was born, the man who would become the greatest chief of Berk and the first dragon rider. And also born was Delvin the son of none, although he would later take his father's name, he would become the Halberd of Burk and while he might not become the first dragon rider he would become the strongest

And so begins the era of dragons