A fanfic
made by Finmonster, a Fusion Fic between Brave and How to Train Your Dragon.
Gobber the Belch has been given a chance to do something he's always dreamed about, visit his mother's homeland and be welcome with open arms. But while Gobber settles in for what should be a pleasant winter, trouble stirs in the Northern Highlands. Can he prove himself to his mother's people or is being the hero a little out of his depth?
Takes place after Heaven's Light and The Dragon and the Bow and during the events of When the Cold Wind is a Callin'.
This fanfiction series contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Maudie, in contrast to her Hysterical Woman canon counterpart. Also Ansei, the Vendal girl.
- Adaptation Species Change: In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Skullcrusher is a Rumblehorn. Here, Will Mackintosh gives the name to his own dragon, a Boneknapper.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Duncan, the big warrior from Dingwall who showed an interest in Maudie at the end of the film, is a lot more callous and rude here, largely because he doesn't like Gobber.
- Adaptational Sexuality: The writers of How To Train Your Dragon eventually confirmed that Gobber is gay, which is why he never married. Here, he develops a relationship with Maudie, the Dunbroch royal family's maid.
- Alliterative Name: Sort of. The big Conan-type warrior from Clan Dingwall is called Duncan.
- Amazon Chaser: Will Macintosh mentions that the reason why he likes Ruffnut is because unlike most Highlander girls - who are usually meek and dainty - Ruffnut is abrasive, in-your-face and is capable of kicking his ass. When Gobber points out that this also sounds like Merida, Will says that this is true with the exception of not being like a sister to him.
- Analogy Backfire: When Balfour accuses Gobber of sending the Boneknapper to attack Macintosh lands, Gobber points out that if that were the case, why would he set the dragon on a small unimportant village instead of Castle Macintosh itself?
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Gobber admits that Hiccup's position as heir was questionable, considering Vikings value strength and Hiccup did not have much at the time.
- Bad Boss: Balfour the blacksmith is abusive to his apprentice, Seamus.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Gobber and Maudie, considering he has never actually had anyone who was interested in him.
- Benevolent Boss: Gobber ultimately asks Seamus to return to Berk with him so he can serve as Gobber's new apprentice, hoping he can bring out the boy's potential more than Balfour ever could.
- Berserk Button: Gobber was already losing his temper with Balfour when he caught the blacksmith abusing his apprentice Seamus, but then Balfour called his mother a whore. At that point, Gobber decides to beat Balfour up, and he would've succeeded if not for one of Balfour's friends knocking him out from behind.
- The Blacksmith: Apart from Gobber, there's also Balfour, the Jerkass Mackintosh blacksmith, and his put-upon apprentice Seamus.
- Cassandra Truth: Gobber tries warning the Vendal that the Boneknapper is going to attack their village for the missing bone to fit in its armor, but they're in no mood to hear him out. Shortly afterwards, guess what happens?
- Child of Two Worlds: Gobber basically qualifies as this, due to being the son of a Viking father and a Highlander mother. Which is why he ultimately decides to return to Berk in the finale.
- Cunning Linguist: Andra MacGuffin is... not exactly cunning, but he knows the Vendal language, and uses it to communicate with the small tribe that captures him and his friends. Too bad the Vendal aren't in the mood for chatting.
- Cutting the Knot: When faced with the large assortment of bones decorating the Vendal shaman's staff, Will Macintosh doesn't have time to pick one, so he just grabs the staff and runs after the Boneknapper with it.
- Darker and Edgier: The Boneknapper attack is a lot more serious than in HTTYD canon; it doesn't appear to be searching for anything as trivial as Gobber's belt buckle to complete its armour. And Gobber himself faces tons of Half-Breed Discrimination.
- The Dog Bites Back: After Gobber decides to go after the Boneknapper and Seamus volunteers to go with him, Balfour refuses, and starts abusing his apprentice again, much to Gobber's anger. But Seamus doesn't need Gobber to defend him by this point, and finally stands up to Balfour, laying his master out with one punch. And then he defiantly tells Balfour "Oi quit."
- Dragon Rider: By the end of the story, Gobber has acquired his canonical dragon, Grump the Hotburple. And Will Mackintosh has his own dragon, the Boneknapper.
- Funetik Aksent: The majority of characters in this story are Scottish or half-Scottish. And the one character who's not is Irish. Bring subtitles in your head.
- Gone Horribly Right: From Will's perspective: after he soothes the Boneknapper's anger and gives it back the missing bone piece, he finds he's now befriended the dragon. Gobber cites that it's better than the dragon still attacking him.
- Loophole Abuse: Will Mackintosh exploits this when Duncan of Clan Dingwall objects to him bringing the Boneknapper and the Vendal tribe back to Castle Mackintosh for the winter: since he's from Clan Dingwall, Duncan has no say on who Lord Mackintosh allows into his own lands, so if he tries to kill Will for it, the clan lords will track him down and kill him for revenge. Additionally, if Duncan lets the Vendal into Castle Mackintosh unscathed, Will shall keep silent about Duncan abandoning Lord Dingwall's son Boyd when the Boneknapper attacked.
- Mistaken for Misogynist: When Gobber tells Maudie she can’t join their dragon hunting exhibition, she thinks he says that because she is a girl. He points out that he only wants her not to come because she has no battle-experience, especially in dragon-fighting. Especially poignant considering he points out that the "because she's a woman" argument would make no sense since most of the women back on Berk could rip him in half if aggravated. She comes along anyway, considering she can ride a horse and he cannot.
- Mythology Gag: When Maudie gives him a Motivational Kiss before he confronts the Boneknapper, he says that if she keeps doing this, he could get used to it. These are the same words Hiccup said to Astrid in canon after waking up from his lost leg and getting a kiss from her.
- Named by the Adaptation: The big Dingwall warrior who looks like Conan is named Duncan.
- Additionally, Will Mackintosh names his Boneknapper Skullcrusher by the end of the story.
- Never My Fault: After getting Gobber knocked unconscious for attacking him in a bar, Balfour has him locked in the jail just before the Boneknapper attacks and acts innocent of any wrongdoing: the whole reason Gobber attacked was because Balfour had started abusing Seamus in front of him. The fact that he insulted Gobber's mother doesn't help.
- Official Couple: Gobber and Maudie, by the end of the story.
- Oireland: Seamus the blacksmith's apprentice is from the Emerald Isle, and talks like it.
- Origins Episode: Apart from adapting The Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, this fic also provides an account for where Gobber found Grump, his dragon by the time of How to Train Your Dragon 2.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: When Gobber learns about a dragon attack on the Macintosh lands, he finds that the only description the natives can give him is that it was big, had wings, and blew fire. Gobber explicitly notes that there are countless types of dragon which fit that description, so that doesn't narrow it down much.
- Papa Wolf: Gobber towards Seamus, once he learns of his abusive master.
- The Remnant: Gobber runs into a couple of Vendal- an old man and a girl- while searching for Grump in the forest, and he lets them escape, determining that they're no danger. Later, he runs into them again, letting them capture him and his friends so that he can try reasoning with their leader. Thankfully, the Vendal are less dangerous now that Mor'du is no longer leading them.
- Ship Tease: It's heavily implied that Andra MacGuffin is becoming drawn to Ansei the Vendal girl in the finale.
- Shout-Out: A dragon attack in Duloc gets mentioned.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Deconstructed with the Vendal shaman, who carries bones on his staff. The deconstruction is that the Boneknapper wants one of those bones to complete its armor, and it's willing to set fire to the Vendal settlement until it gets them.
- Squick: In-Universe, Will's reaction to seeing Grump the Hotburple vomit up a ton of liquid iron. Thankfully, it hardens really fast, enabling Gobber to snap a piece off and break out of their cage with it.
- Won the War, Lost the Peace: While the treaty between Berk and the Kingdom of DunBroch have been solidified and confirmed during the events of The Dragon and the Bow, it is still going to take a while for all of the Highlands to warm up to it, as cued by their less than welcoming behavior towards Gobber.
- You No Take Candle: Ansei the Vendal girl speaks haltingly and slowly when speaking English to Will Macintosh. She learned his language by listening, so it makes sense.
