THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING EVIL

CHAPTER 1

{[EVIL]}

A man cloaked in dark blue limped along the trail through the dark woods. Everything on him hurt from the encounter with Hiccup no longer than three days ago.

A small smile engraved itself onto the man's broken face. Hiccup probably thinks he is so clever and so strong. After all, Hiccup did win the battle.

A battle. One. One battle.

The war hadn't even begun yet.

The man reached his destination. A small shabby wooden hut built for someone who could only be four feet tall. The man had to bend down to knock on the door with his burnt and mutated hand.

An old women opened the door. Her face and hair were as dirty as the dirt the man was standing on. The woman looked up at him with dark and unfeeling eyes. The man was beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea, but he didn't leave.

"Yes?" she drawled.

"Your the witch?" the man asked.

"No. I'm a babysitter."

The man shivered. He knew it was sarcasm, but the thought that anyone would put their children into the hands of this... animal... was horrifying. He was evil, but not that evil.

"Quit with the sarcasm," the man spat. "I need you to use your black magic for me."

The old woman cocked her head. "Black magic is a dangerous thing. Why do you need it?"

The man bent down, looking her right in the eyes, although his cloak hid his eyes from the woman.

"Someone wronged me, you old hag. I need to teach them what happens when I don't get what I want," the man said, spittle flying onto the old witch.

{[EVIL]}

The old woman led him to the back of her shack. A little pot with red bubbling ooze sat on a patch of dead grass. It was a good 3 yards in all directions until anything green and healthy grew.

"Do you have the spirit?" the woman asked. The man looked down at her, his back slightly hunched. The man reached into his cloak and pulled out a black mask covered in scales. The woman took it, studied it, and threw it in the pot when she found it acceptable.

She began to chant, her hand hovering over the pot. All of a sudden a storm moved in and the pot began to boil. Thunder and lightning clashed and the red ooze splashed over the sides. The man took a step back, but the woman kept chanting. Her eyes had rolled back into her head as she summoned a being from the spirit world. A being so horrible and filled with so much hatred for anyone who dared cross him.

A hand shot out of the pot! It made the man jump. The hand was all bones, no skin, no nothing. But then the blood veins muscle tissue and skin slowly crawled up and around the boney arm. Like a snake climbing a tree.

And then another arm shot out of the pot, this one already wearing its skin. The arms grabbed the sides of the pot and pushed. A head appeared, but there was too much smoke seeping from the pot now to see anything but the outline of the body. The woman had stopped her chanting and took several steps back.

Slowly, the being emerged from the pot. He was easily eight-feet tall and muscular. He didn't have the big barrel arms that some of the men on Berk had, but his muscles were more defined. The man knew he would easily be three-times stronger than even Stoick the Vast.

The man stretched his muscles and looked around. He had pitch black hair and dark maroon eyes that calmly swept the terrain. Unfortunately it didn't seem like people wore clothing in the spirit world.

The man in the cloak walked up to him. "What is your name?" he asked slowly.

The man looked down at him and gave a mischievous smile, showing a row of perfect white teeth. The man was handsome, the cloaked man had to give him that.

"I am known to Berk only as-" he paused, seemingly for dramatic affect. Like his name was a name never to be spoken by any mouth. "-Scale."

The cloaked man wasn't convinced. "And what, Scale, do you want to do to Hiccup Haddock?"

Scale's smile vanished and turned into a sneer. "I want to ram a sword right through his dragon-loving heart!"

The cloaked man smiled and pulled back his cloak with burnt hands. One side of his face was bandaged, including his eye. The other half was badly burnt. His nose was all but completely gone and his lips were torn, showing his gums.

"Well then, Scale, let me introduce myself-" the man held out his hand. "-I'm Dane Haddock, adoptive son of Hiccup Haddock."

Scales face turned into confusion, and then to anger. He shot out his hand and grabbed Dane's throat, squeezing it hard. He picked him up with one hand with ease until he was at eye level. But Dane was still smiling, showing broken and missing teeth. "And I want to kill Hiccup Haddock!"

Scale cocked his head and set him back down. "What?"

"Scale, do you hate Hiccup?" Dane asked. Scale nodded. "Then I offer a friendship. One solely based on... getting rid of our... common enemy."

Scale looked down at Dane's waiting hand. He smiled at him and shook it. "It would be my pleasure."

"Scale-" Dane said, "-this is the start of something very, very evil."

{[2 Years Later]}

Toothless jumped up and down on the Haddocks' new household. Dust falling onto its sleeping occupants.

“Hiccup,” Astrid moaned. “You need to teach your dragon patients.”

Hiccup put his pillow onto his head to try and block the noise. He moaned. “I've tried, he doesn't listen to me anymore.” His voice muffled by the pillow.

“Some king you are.”

Hiccup drew a deep breath. “Tell me about it.”

Toothless kept up his antics, adding his low warbles to the mix. Hiccup shot up in their bed with saggy eyes, unable to take it any longer. His dragon was a very effective alarm. “Alright, Toothless!”

{[EVIL]}

Hiccup and Toothless shot up through the clouds. The cool breeze whipping them in the face. They sped in and around the nimbus clouds, enjoying the crisp morning. The sun was almost up over the ocean, splashing its colorful orange rays across the sky.

Hiccup couldn't describe how it felt to fly freely above Berk without fear of being ridiculed or shot down. The island had changed quite a bit over the two years. The beginning was rocky, but that was to be expected. Hiccup ended up having to spend three months in jail for that little stunt Scale pulled, but he happily accepted that. The punishment could have been more severe and he knew it.

Of course Astrid wasn't to pleased with the idea of him spending some time behind bars. Even Snotlout and the others stood behind Hiccup. But Hiccup was still imprisoned. He knew that him having some kind of punishment would help him make things right with the other villagers.

Berk had changed a fair bit since the last time Hiccup lived there. Most dragons stayed around Berk, but a lot made their nests on some neighboring islands. A lot of the vikings took up dragon riding after some persuasion and demonstrations. It helped that Stoick and Gobber were on his side.

Hiccup had only a few hours to fly until he was needed at the academy. He was giving another lesson on dragons. He was teaching the younger generation all about dragons and how to communicate with them.

{[EVIL]}

The academy was already full when Hiccup walked through the opened gate. Children were sitting on the ground, waiting patiently. There were about two dozen kids from ages six to ten. They were surprisingly calm during class, but Hiccup had heard a rumor about the parents telling their kids the dragons would eat them if they misbehaved. He hoped that wasn't the case.

Hiccup opened the lesson on the timberjack. Some of the parents were in the stands, watching. Everything was going as normal, until Hiccup's wife flew through the gate.

“Hiccup,” Astrid called. “There's someone here to see you.”

Hiccup cocked his head. “Well, can you tell them I'm busy? I'm in the middle-”

“Hiccup Haddock!” A voice shouted from the bleachers. Hiccup turned to look at him. He had pitch black hair and dark purple or maroon eyes. He wore light, black, sleeveless leather armor and a large, one-sided ax that looked like it weighed more than Hiccup on his back.

The man slipped under the academy bars and fell ten feet to the ground. A huge smile on his face. “Man! It is you.”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. “Yeah...”

The man looked around the academy and nodded. It looked like he was judging it. The man turned his attention to the the chalkboard behind Hiccup.

“Ah.” the man said. “The timberjack. Quite an impressive species if I do say so myself.”

“Uh, yeah. There wingspan is something else,” Hiccup said, still eying the stranger. The stranger didn't say anything else and continued to study the chalkboard.

Hiccup cleared his throat, gaining his attention. “Does the chief know you're here?”

The man raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were. Or is the whole 'Dragon King' thing already your full time job?”

“It definitely takes up most of my time.”

“Uh huh. And yet you're playing teacher?” the man smiled at him. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

“Yes. I'm playing teacher. And I would really like to get back to it, so if you could just...” Hiccup nodded towards the exit shyly. The man laughed.

“Not even going to ask my name?” he said. Hiccup rolled his eyes both at the stranger and at his own rudeness.

“Sorry. And who might you be?” Hiccup's tone was a little insulting, but the man only smiled wider.

“Well, I don't have a name per-say... but people call me Scale.” his voice was soft so only Hiccup could hear. His eyes widen.

“And why do they call you that?” Hiccup asked. Scale shrugged.

“Well, I guess it's because of the one time I killed a dragon using only one of his scales.”

Hiccup took a step back. “You're a dragon killer?”

Scale shook his head. “Not anymore. Well, not when I heard about this place from a friend of mine. If people can ride dragons then what's the point of killing them? Riding seems to be much more enjoyable.”

One of Hiccup's students walked up to him. She was a girl no older than eight. “Hiccup?” she asked. “When are we going to learn about the timberjack?”

Hiccup patted her on the head and bent down to her level. “Right now. Go take your seat.” The girl nodded skipped back to her place.

Hiccup turned back to Scale. “Scale, I would love to chat with you later, but I got a lesson to teach. The chief is in the Great Hall. It's-”

“I know where it is. See ya, Hiccup,” Scale said. Half way out of the academy, he turned around and shouted, “I expect to see you after your lesson.” He looked up at Astrid on top of her nadder. He whistled at her. The nadder squawked in disapproval and swiped her tail at him. Scale ducked under it and jogged out of the academy laughing. Astrid rolled her eyes.

Hiccup didn't like Scale from the moment he saw him. But he had to assume it was because of his name because other then that, he hadn't done anything wrong. Well, other than whistling at his wife like a prize.

He shook his head, trying to clear his head. “Okay, where were we?” he said to his class.

{[EVIL]}

Hiccup ended his class a little early, but only because that Scale guy kept invading his mind.

“I don't like Scale,” Hiccup told Astrid as they walked out of the academy.

“You don't say?” she said sarcastically.

“Whatever.” Hiccup mounted Toothless and Astrid climbed on top of Stormfly.

“Maybe it is just a coincidence. Who knows.”

“Doesn't his name bother you too?”

Astrid nodded. “Yeah, it does. But your Scale isn't a real person. It's impossible that it's not a coincidence.”

“Yeah. But I'm keeping an eye on him. I've dragged you and this island into enough trouble already.”

They took off towards the Great Hall.

The two and their dragons entered the Hall. A few vikings lumbered around with food and drinks. Hiccup found his father and Gobber laughing merrily at a table in the center of the Great Hall with someone. The giant ax on the strangers back, with its red markings, gave it away. Scale seemed to be having a grand old time with his father.

Stoick saw his son enter the Hall and waved them over. Hiccup and Astrid sat beside him, Gobber and Scale on the other side of the table.

“Hiccup,” Stoick said. “You've met Scale.”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at his father. Did he not care about the man's name? Perhaps it really was just an eerie coincidence. After all, Astrid was right. The Scale that raged war on Berk was a personality, not a real human being.

“Yeah, of course I have,” Hiccup said, eying Scale. He smiled back at him.

“He wants you to teach him how to ride dragons,” Gobber announced. Hiccup and Astrid looked at him.

“What!? Oh I don't know,” Hiccup said. “I mean I have a lot to do and all that.”

Stoick raised an eyebrow at his son. “Oh it'll be easy. Scale here knows all about dragons, just show him the basics and he'll take it from there.”

“Oh yeah? And how much do you know about dragons?” Astrid asked Scale. He took a sip of his beverage.

“Oh I know all about them. Yep, chop there heads off for a couple years and you pick up a few things,” he said. Toothless and Stormfly growled at him. But the table ignored the comment, but Astrid and Hiccup were bothered.

“Listen, I would love to show you, but I got a lot of other stuff going on. You came at a bad time,” Hiccup said. Scale shrugged.

“Whatever,” he said. “But maybe the pretty blond can teach me.” Scale nodded at Astrid with a smirk.

“I'll teach you!” Hiccup said almost instantly, but also a little to loud. The table laughed, save for Hiccup and Astrid. Astrid shot him a glare. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath.

“And heck, Hiccup, I can even show you a few fighting moves in return,” Scale said. “You have no clue what I can do.”

“HAHA! Hear that Hiccup? Maybe I haven't lost hope on that strong boy I always wanted,” Stoick laughed. Hiccup ignored the comment. Who knows how much Stoick had to drink.

“No need for that, Scale. I can teach him plenty of fighting,” Astrid said. Scale's face grew serious as he eyed her up and down. And then he broke into a fit of laughter as he stood up from the table. Astrid stood up too, but Hiccup pulled her back down.

“Let him be,” he whispered to her.

“Yeah, sure,” Scale said. “Oh, Stoick, what about those living arrangements you were talking about?”

Living arrangements? Hiccup thought. Stoick stood up, as did the rest of the table.

“Hiccup and Astrid have the most room, I'm sure they'd be happy to house you until we built you a place of your own,” Stoick said.

“Stoick!” Astrid said.

“What?”

“PERFECT!” Scale shouted. “I look forward to learning from the king,” he said to Hiccup. “Now if you will excuse me, I think I'm going to go explore the island. It looked lovely from my boat.” Scale began to walk towards the exit. He was twirling his ax in circles for fun. When he was out of hearing range, Hiccup snapped at his father.

“What'd you say that for?” he said. Stoick looked at him.

“He needed a place to stay,” Gobber said for Stoick.

“Did you guys even hear what his name was?” Astrid asked.

“Yes. I was a little shaken when he said “Scale”, but it's just a coincidence. Hiccup's Scale was just a grouchy side of himself. This is a real person,” Stoick said. Hiccup shook his head and pinched the bridge of his noes.

“Well thanks for inviting him to stay at my house,” Hiccup said.

“Oh relax. You guys by far have the biggest house,” Gobber said.

“No we don't.”

Gobber crossed his arms at Hiccup.

“OKAY! So I went a little... overboard... on the designs for the house,” he said.

“But that still doesn't mean you can just tell someone they can live with us,” Astrid said. Stoick scoffed.

“You two sound like children,” he said. “This Scale is wonderful company. And I expect you two to be the same for him.”

Gobber walked over to Stoick. “Now, Stoick,” he said. “Maybe we were in the wrong to tell Scale that he could stay with Hiccup and Astrid. After all, they've only been married for two years and I'm sure there are other things they would want to do in their home.” He bounced his eyebrows at the couple. Astrid rolled her eyes and Hiccup barred his face into his hands and groaned, his cheeks getting warmer.

“Gee, thanks Gobber,” Hiccup said into his hands.

{[EVIL]}

Hiccup opened the door to their house. The Haddock home was built deeper into the woods, as requested by Hiccup. Their wasn't enough room in the village for all of his plans. His house was two stories with a basement. The house also had a nice rap-around porch requested by Astrid. There was a balcony on the second floor. The house was made out of nice wood with a brick chimney, plus a nicely sized yard with short, dark green grass. They're house was the first to use glass made from gronckel lava. Smooth cobblestone began from the large front doors and ran into the village. Many on the island envied them, but could complain seeing as Hiccup had built most of it by himself.

A stone path also led a little bit farther into the woods where Hiccup had a smaller forge.

“Well, here's home sweet home,” Hiccup said. Scale squeezed past Hiccup and Astrid and into the main living area complete with a slightly more advanced kitchen and a table with two chairs on top a wool carpet. The roof was high; high enough for an eight-foot man. And the second floor had a balcony allowing you to peer down into the living area.

“Nice place you got here,” Scale said. “But don't you think it's a little big for two people?” Just then, Toothless and Stormfly climbed in from a latch-door in the roof, taking up quite a bit of space in the living room.

“Oh, that's why,” Scale muttered.

“Well make yourself at home... I guess,” Astrid said. Scale smiled at her.

“Don't need to tell me twice,” he said. “Where's the guest room?”

Hiccup motioned him to follow. He took Scale to a smaller room at the back of the first floor. It wasn't much compared to the room they were just in, but it wasn't anything to shy on. It had a fairly large bed and shelves and a mirror alongside the walls. Not to mention it's own private bathroom. Hiccup had even come up with his only little indoor pluming solution. Underneath the bathroom, Hiccup created a man-made stream that led to the sea. So when you “go” it will get swept out into the sea.

“Dang, dude,” Scale said, looking around the room. “You're loaded.” Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle.

All of a sudden Hiccup got a sickening feeling. He eyed Scale wearily, still not liking having him around. Something was telling him to get him out of the house.

Scale set his large ax against the wall as he began to shuffle through the drawers, which Hiccup knew to be empty. His gaze fell onto the ax. A shiver went through his spine. That ax wasn't... he didn't know. It was just something about it that Hiccup didn't like. It looked and -even though he hadn't touched it- felt evil.

Hiccup couldn't take it. There was something eating away at him aver since he saw him. Perhaps if he knew more about the guy he would feel more comfortable. After all, he seemed like a nice enough guy. When Hiccup looked back to earlier in the day, he guessed he hadn't really given Scale -he had a hard time saying, or even thinking, that name- a fare chance.

“So,” Hiccup said, taking a step into the room. Scale looked up from what he was doing. “Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?” Scale thought for a second.

“Yeah, alright. Over dinner, though,” he said. Hiccup gave a fake smile and nodded. He glanced back over the ax.

All of a sudden his head began to throb and he quickly got a headache. He put his hands on his head and stumbled backwards. Scale looked at him with concern.

“Hiccup?” he said. The moment Scale spoke he felt a sharp jab in his brain. The pain caused him to grunt and to lean against the door frame. Scale said his name again, a little louder this time. Hiccup screamed out in pain and dropped to the floor. Scale rushed to his side and soon so were Astrid and Toothless.

Toothless growled at Scale, thinking that this was his doing. The nightfury pounced and tackled him, pinning him. Scale shouted, startled.

Astrid had Hiccup on her lap, rocking back and forth, not sure what to do.

“Hiccup!” she yelled frantically. “What's...”

“STOP!” Scale yelled, trying to get Toothless off of himself. And just like that, the pain in Hiccup's head stopped. He gasped for breath, still holding his head. Astrid hugged him close her. It was rare, but Hiccup could have sworn he heard a few shaky breaths come from her.

“You alright?” she asked. Hiccup sat up and nodded.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Help!” Scale shouted. Toothless still had him pinned under his paws.

“Toothless, get off him,” Hiccup commanded. The dragon looked back at him with an uncertain gaze, but did as he was told.

“What. The heck. Was that?” Scale said, sitting up and breathing heavily.

“I don't know, but we're going to the healers,” Astrid said, pulling Hiccup up. But he pulled away.

“No. No, I'm fine,” he said. He looked at the three in the room, still breathing heavily. “Let's... go have dinner.”