#Only for Snotlout to never get a chance to actually use them

[eaterofdust]

SoD is much undiscovered (but very shaky/dubious) lore but honestly I can both accept the implications that Snotlout eats eggs whole (feel free to correct me I could've read that wrong but did he not just swallow the three raw eggs straight up?) and completely attempt to disregard how often he must be getting food poisoning from that

[sarnai4]

Archipelago Academy

Here are some modern headcanons I have for the younger Dragons characters (including the Defenders because they're fun. I don't actually they are young enough to be in high school with the others. Looking at you, Mala👀)

Hiccup: He's the geek for a while. He's still not athletic and gets picked on for that and absolutely hating gym. As a student, he's pretty good. Lots of As and maybe a few high Bs depending on the subject. (He'd do better if he didn't daydream so much and he's not acing any music class. Might be get a pity D). When he finds out he's really good with exotic animals, he starts getting popular and that's when more people realize that he's also a lot of fun, a nice type of sarcastic, and gutsy. He's probably in a chess club before he starts his own that's about unique creatures.

Astrid: She's popular, but she's a little bit of the mean popular type. It's not that she actually is bullying anyone, but everyone knows she's tough and most think she's unapproachable. She's one of the top athletes and is captain on just about every team for the girls. If she's on the team, she's the captain. She doesn't have time for clubs since she's at practice a lot. She's a strong student who gets mad if there's ever a B in her report card, so she works really hard to balance physical and mental sides of school. Afterschool, she'll take some time to hang out with her friends.

Fishlegs: The nerd. We all knew this was coming. He's getting A+ every time (respectable) except in gym. He has the skills, but he's too scared to really have the aggression he needs unless he's just pushed to the edge. Then, maybe he finally wins dodge ball. Aside from that, he's part of the mathletes, is in charge of a book club, is in the chess club too, and enjoys volunteering in his spare time. He sits with Hiccup the most often at lunch.

Snotlout: The jock of course. He's basically the boy Astrid in how he's the captain for all the other sports teams. He'll talk badly about the girls until they had an unofficial game and they wipe the floor with his group. Then, he'll give Astrid the credit she deserves. When his dad gets in his head, he acts like the school bully. When he's able to just be himself, he isn't afraid to not sit with the popular crowd and will actually just eat with his buddies. Still, he values his status in school and doesn't want to ever lose a real game since he takes that to heart. His grades are pretty bad, but it's due to him spending so much time at practice and training. He has no clubs and basically no life outside of this because of Spitelout being an overbearing and sucky dad.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut: They're the class clowns. Their grades are constantly as low as possible without actually flunking because they secretly could do great, but they want to annoy teachers. They're the epitome of using their energy in the wrong ways. Undercover geniuses who'd rather find the best method for making stink bombs. Every chance they get, they're pranking some student or teacher. You'll find them at the front of the class just so they can irritate the poor instructor more with questions they already know the answer to. They're not in sports because no one will let them involve boars, so they're not interested. They're only in clubs started by their friends. They also have a YouTube channel where they do dangerous stunts.

Throk: He's another jock, but I think he'd become a coach's assistant. He takes his studies very seriously and offers tutoring, but he intimidates most of the younger kids, so he never gets many pupils. Snotlout might alternate between getting tutored by him and Fishy, but that's about it. Teachers love him because he's great with authority figures and is always trying to get the others back in line. This leads to him getting verbally picked on a bit by those in his grade since they think he's a teacher's pet. No one invites him to parties, but his friends make sure he never feels excluded in things they do.

Heather: She's in some of the teams with Astrid, but she doesn't do as many. She does soccer and more of the graceful activities like ballet and gymnastics. She's a pretty good student and also does some tutoring, but not for Snotlout since he wouldn't stop flirting last time (even though he apologized). She's known as the sweet girl in school and is pretty popular because of that. Her fiery side comes out on the soccer field. She can get obsessed with projects and will normally be asked to help set up events for the school, which she takes very seriously. She's not one for parties, but sometimes, her friends talk her into them and she has a fun time solely because of them.

Mala: She's the class president and basically right under the principal. Because of that, some students are terrified of her. She's a no-nonsense person, but she's more fair than most give her credit for being. She tries to help the students who are struggling and keeps an eye out for anyone who looks like they're being mistreated. She's an excellent student and cannot fathom receiving less than 100% on assignments. She wants to join some teams, but she has too much time that she spends caring for injured and sick animals. She also volunteers at soup kitchens, but only her friends know this. Other people think she's a bit cold, but her friends help her reputation change.

Dagur: He's the one most of the students really try to avoid. They are horrified with the idea of being alone with him. Somehow, he's always getting into trouble. He isn't always trying to cause trouble, but it keeps happening. Despite what everyone thinks, he's actually a really good student because he thinks good grades will give his family something to be proud of him for. So, he's the only A student who's always in detention. He's normally in a fight and is the person bullies are scared of since he doesn't tolerate that being directed towards his friends. This put Snotlout in his line of fire for a while, but they're cool now. They were very not cool when Snotlout flirted with Heather, but a few death glares later and they're buds again. He's in no sports teams because he got banned after tackling someone in basketball and not stopping when his wrestling opponent tried to tap out (he misunderstood the rules). He's in his friends' clubs and winds up starting one of his own for the other troubled kids.

[dragonmasterhiccup]

“Well um, she coulda just passed by and not said anything, but no, she decided to come up and talk to you. I think you’re being pretty stupid about not thinking that she likes you, ‘cause she does.”

She frowned. “No one said anything about betrothals or marriage yet,” she stated, throwing an emphasis on the last word. “Give it like, two months, and I’m sure those thoughts will change.”

She visibly tensed, her frown ever still present. “Yeah, please don’t do that, okay? I want you to be happy, and if being…whatever you want to be to Astrid makes you happy? Then um, do that…” It sounded like the words hurt her to say, and they kind of did.

The young girl couldn’t help but snicker, even in her downturned mood. “Could’ve fooled me,” she stated, resting her head in her hand. “I think I see gray in your hair. And you limp, like old people do— hey, maybe I should get you a cane?”

Danny gasped in mock surprise, lifting her head up and mustering up some genuine laughter. “So I’ve been lied to for over three years?! I thought, I thought you knew everything, that you were the dragon master and the master of knowledge! Lying like that is a new low, Hiccup. I am very disappointed.”

Hm… That was a decent point, she’d give him that. Hiccup was awesome, but he was a guy. But still, Astrid? She seemed to be much more interested in Hiccup than her.

Though again, she did want Hiccup to like it here, so… “Fine, I’ll give it a chance, but don’t expect us to be all buddy buddy…”

"Not stupid, just... cautious." He still didn't know how long they'd be staying for, and he wasn't ready to get attached to anyone in particular...

He also wasn't going to allow himself to hope, only for it to get crushed.

Scoffing, he asked, "Two months? Come on, give me some credit, here! That's, that's way too fast!"

Lowering his head to meet her gaze, he told her, "Hey. I want you to be happy, too. Believe it or not, having you around actually does make me happy. It's really only frustrating some of the time...I'm kidding," he quickly added, putting his hands up in case she swung a punch at him, "Only kidding! But really...I'm glad you let me get you off that ship, Danny."

At the mention of gray hair, he lifted a hand to touch his head, glancing up at it with slight worry. The limp being pointed out had him retorting, "Hey! I have a prosthetic leg! Of course I'm going to limp!"

"Actually, you might be onto something, there," His hand was now on his chin in thought, "A cane could come in handy on the days my leg acts up..."

It had been awhile since he heard her laugh, and it felt good to see her happy again. Laughing with her, he responded, "Whoa, hey, I never lied! It's not my fault you simply believed I knew everything about anything!"

His whole face brightened up. "Really? You will?" A warm smile spread across his face, and tension released in his shoulders. "Thank you!"

---------

The building of the hut was quickly underway. Between the three of them, and the two dragons, it was up faster than Hiccup initially estimated.

Astrid wasn't there every day, but she came and helped when she could. She worked hard, and was friendly to both Hiccup and Danny, catching them up on what's been going on in Berk the past seven years.

She even offered to teach Danny archery, and axe throwing as well.

Hiccup grew closer to Astrid, and she was finding herself looking forward to seeing him more and more. She had actually grown pretty fond of Danny, too, though she could see the girl held reservations about her.

As the days went by, Hiccup ran into the Thorston twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. They were fairly happy to see him, with the exception of Snotlout. The twins seemed even more chaotic than they used to be, and Fishlegs had begun an apprenticeship with Gothi.

Snotlout, he was determined to avoid.

He and Danny did meet with Stoick and Gobber regularly, having dinner together as the father and son attempted to mend their strained relationship.

Now, Hiccup was with Danny in the cove, and he was finishing up building her bed.

Taking a step back, he placed his hands on his hips. "Well, what do you think? Once we cover it with some furs, I think you'll find it very comfortable."

[saltynsassy31]

Oh my god so true

I mean, I can't speak for the second movie because I am a huge cry baby and cannot handle it lmao (love it, just sad). But I have recently rewatched the first movie, watched riders of berk twice, and finished watching rtte after putting it on hold for....years- and all because my dad wanted to finally watch the third movie with us and it sprung us back into httyd

But oh my GODS! No, like, seriously.

For context, I hadn't touched any httyd content for about 4 years till last month, when my dad asked if we wanted to finally watch the third movie together. By then, I had never watched it before cuz, well, life. So I agreed! Cuz I was curious, even tho I didn't hear stellar things. My opinion before I watched was "it's not good, but not bad either."

Then I watched it, and despite having very little memory of the franchise, it just felt wrong. Actually, my dad didn't remember jack shit. He never watched any of the series and even forgot about the second movie existing and thought the third one was the second despite having watched it with us in theaters lmao. And, despite it all, even he thought it was bad saying "didn't they fight for dragon rights or something? Why did they send them away?"

And when I got to watching all the other content for it, I have never wanted to cry more in anger. The need to just claw at the third movie with how it just ruined these perfectly good characters! Snotlout and Ruffnut have become my favourite characters of the main cast (sorry hiccup and toothless), I love them so, so much and it pains me so much to see how much they RUINED them!

Watching rtte has really opened my eye. I found snotlout annoying at first, the twins entertaining but they didn't have as much screen time before (especially in rob), mostly there for the jokes. But in rtte we got to see them grow from the 15 year old kids they were to the 18 year old adults we know and love! The third movie almost resets them back to the first movie and yet somehow makes it worse, too. Its infuriating!

It hurts so much too because I see these characters become strong and compelling and lovable only to get that stripped away in a matter of seconds!

Ruffnut and Tuffnut play off of each other well. I especially loved the episode where their cousin showed up and you can see how much Ruffnut is protective of Tuffnut, how much she cares for him. Or how when Ruffnut was having a "crush", after realising he was coming between her and a potentially good future, Tuffnut decided to take himself off of the picture to give her that chance because he does love and care for his sister's well being too, only to then be shown how much she loves him and would rather anything else than to not have Tuffnut in her life. Another favourite was the Lycanwing. When Snotlout said "I'd hate to have a sister like you" she jumps and says "no, you'd love to have a sister like me because who else would be going around trying to get all bite marks to possible to help her brother?!" (Paraphrasing cuz I don't fully remember what she said). And all these moments just hit me cuz it reminded me a lot of me and my own twin sister! There's just something different about twin relationships and they pictured that bond well!

Speaking of snotlout.

He truly is a softie on the inside while being tough on the outside. And the more you watch the series, not only do you understand why, but you also get to see him change!

You see how Hiccup and Snotlout's dad fight so much, so many points in the series shows how similar their dynamics are and also how different.

Their parents shows them what their relationship can become, and they actively (if subconsciously) fight against it. Hiccup let's snotlout take the win when he finally had the chance to make him loose because he saw how his father acted towards him, and how he needed that more than Hiccup did because Hiccup has a father who he knows will love him unconditionally while Snotlout doesn't (Riders of Berk, S01 EP12). You see also in rtte how much they have grown closer and how Hiccup starts to respect Snotlout more with time and help him embrace his good parts, he isn't above giving Snotlout genuine compliments and you can see how much Snotlout appreciates them, very deeply, almost like it means more than his father's approval. And in turn, we see how Snotlout worries for Hiccup a LOT in rtte, even of he denies it, and is one of the firsts to search for help when he's in trouble. Snotlout respects Hiccup, or learns to anyway. He complains, a lot, but at the end of the day he trusts him, he trusts his friends and he ends up embracing a lot of things his father would shame him for.

Gods, there was so much the third movie could have done with them. I can't emphasise enough how much watching them get ruined so abhorrently right infront of my eyes hurt me.

The way Tuffnut just, idk, was so rude to Hiccup about his leg? I mean, I get what they were going for, friends often joke with each other about injuries and stuff, they do it in rtte! But the difference is that, one is light hearted, and the other is full on disrespect.

Tuffnut would never say those things to him! He's not THAT dumb or dense.

Ruffnut isn't the smartest, but she wouldn't be dumb enough to have let them follow her! When she got captured in rtte (**I can't remember the exact episode unfortunately, and I'm aware it has happaned more than once lol), she never gave up the information, she stalled and stalled and was smart enough to keep them on the edge of their toes. Sometimes by being annoying? Yes, but as soon as she was let free she was in action and she KNEW how bad the situation was.

She's playful, she likes the chaos, but she is not dumb. A little dense at times, but not dumb.

Rtte managed to show how their "idiocy" actually comes into play a lot in being able to help and outsmart their enemies. They're literally the reason the phrase "expect the unexpected" exist! XD (joking, of course, but I wouldn't be surprised that the in universe explanation of this phrase is because of them lol)

There was literally an episode where Astrid underestimated them and didn't want to work with them because they're "dumb" and have "dumb ideas", but its thanks to their "dumb ideas" that they managed to stall the enemy enough for backup! (As I write this it is now clicking to me that this is the same episode I mentioned above to I'll put a little ** there too).

All in all, they're great characters that could have done so much more than to just be comedic relief. Snotlout wouldn't be dismissing Hiccup so much and he'd have the sense not to flirt with his best friend's MOTHER who just LOST HER HUSBAND NOT EVEN A YEAR AGO! And they could have done so much more, like showed how he's good at taking charge but not as a leader. Again, there was a whole episode about that! How he felt useless but was showed how he's a valued member of the team. If you want jokes, he's got plenty that doesn't involve being a flirty jerk! Like how he complains about Hiccup's plan always involving an impossibly dangerous solution, but goes with it anyway. His relationship with his dragon, ya know, the WHOLE POINT OF THE MOVIES!?!? THE DRAGONS!?!?! They all honestly felt way too sidelined, the dragons have personalities too! They're dynamic is such a fun one, a dragon who doesn't listen to his master and a master who's always nagging at him, but when one or the other is in trouble, they go on full on meltdowns until they know for a fact the other is safe. Both would run to Hiccup and yell and scold at him for help until the other got saved, could have been fun to see in the movie! (Tho I guess it would emphasise how DUMB the dragons leaving was even more than before)

Or Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Ruffnut being captured could have actually helped! She probably would have known she was being followed and would have led them into a confusing loop until she found a way to call up Hiccup and warned him, or if you're going for the sometimes dumb accidents, she does go back knowing she's being followed, but she trusts Hiccup enough that he'll fix everything, like always XD.

We could still have Tuffnut trying to help Hiccup propose to Astrid in dumb ways, just without the ableist jokes....and maybe like, not forgetting their whole history together? Like, the series aside, he acts as if him and Astrid only started to date like, a couple of months ago and not for like, for 3-6 years now XD.

But this is just me spitbawlimg ideas! There's probably 100 other better ideas people have already suggested. But man is it still disappointing.

...

Okay

This got SUPER long I'm so sorry. I just love these characters so much I get a little passionate, feel free to ignore 😭✋

No characters have ever been mischaracterised more than Ruffnut and Snotlout in their own piece of media

[me-myself-and-my-fos]

Snotlout’s developing crush

Tagging @hyperionshipping and @fangedwife cause y’all encouraged this

long rant under cut

I don’t think Snotlout ever really had a crush for a few years. All the flirting with Astrid and eventually Ruffnut (and even Mala) was out of infatuation. He didn’t truly have feelings for them, but he didn’t realize this for a long time.

It probably doesn’t even occur to him that he has a crush on me when he develops the feelings. They’d probably be gradual, developing over time while we’re all on Dragon’s Edge. At first he just sort gets a little nervous whenever near, and then eventually it starts to get harder for him to talk to me without stuttering or fumbling over his words. It gets to the point where he genuinely thinks he’s sick, and it’s Astrid who finally says “maybe you have a crush on Nic?” He initially denies it, but when he comes to realize that he actually does have a crush on me, he’s conflicted.

Instead of doing anything he just tries to push his feelings away because of a multitude of reasons (from his own insecurities to just thinking I don’t reciprocate). But if anything the feelings get worse, stronger. I’m naturally an affectionate person, so no matter how annoyed by him I get I still consider him a friend and am affectionate with him. So that just makes it worse for him

It would probably all come to a head sometime during the second movie, maybe post. We’re both arguably more mature, we’re older. Yes he spends the whole movie trying to “woo” Ruffnut, but again it’s just a distraction from his feelings. He realizes he can’t keep running from them, though. He can’t avoid them forever, especially because they haven’t gone away, only gotten stronger. Maybe I nearly die during the fight at the nest, or he just can’t keep up the act forever. Whatever the case, he decides to embrace his feelings and tell me, which is easier said than done.

He tries to impress me, poor attempts at genuine flirting because he forgets the line or mixes up the words. He makes any attempt possible to get close to me, but the worst part is there’s never a time when I’m alone, and when I am alone I usually am busy doing something. And for a while he’s afraid he lost his chance, but Snotlout is stubborn. He was going to keep trying to get me alone so he can confess. (At one point he absolutely considered a public confession and making a big announcement out of it, but after consulting Astrid she made it very clear I would be humiliated and never talk to him again if he did.)

The confession itself is sloppy and a jumble of words, and neither of us really expected it to happen in the dragon stables when I was in the middle of cleaning between Cece’s claws. But it happened and we’re happier for it. Especially him.

[seagreen-meets-grey]

When Lightning Strikes Ch. 16

When your life is nothing but a cloudless sky, lightning can come and strike you so unexpectedly, you won’t even know what hit you.

Or: When Hiccup and Astrid meet, it is as if lightning strikes.

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] [Chapter 17] [Chapter 18] [Chapter 19] [Chapter 20]

Crossposted on ao3 and ff.net

_______________

Hiccup regretted not going back for a jacket the minute the wind started blowing sideways. His hand hurt from gripping the handle of his umbrella, preventing it from succumbing to the forces of nature and escaping him like a gas-filled balloon. When it turned inside-out for the third time, he gave up and closed it, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to keep the rain from disappearing down his back. It only semi-worked. He could count the goosebumps on his skin. Soon, his t-shirt was clinging to his torso and he started rubbing his arms to stop shivering.

This had been a very stupid idea. Why had he not thought this through? Where was he even going? And why on earth had he not taken his car?! But turning around and walking back to his house sounded worse than to keep walking, because the way back was the direction the rain and wind were coming from. He started jogging to warm up and get out of this weather as fast as possible, taking the route to the nearest person he could think of.

With a trembling finger, he rang the doorbell, waiting for the familiar static. The first voice he could hear was that of a barking dog, then some swearing and yelling at the dog to shut up, then finally, someone addressed him. “Hello?”

“Hey man, it’s me. Can you let me in? I’m cold and wet.”

“That’s not what- Shut up, Hookfang! Sit! That’s not what your mom said last night.”

Hiccup let his forehead fall against the front door. “Just let me in, please.”

The sound that came out of the buzzer reminded him of a dying cow, but he was able to open the door anyway. At the top of the stairs, Snotlout was standing in the open apartment door, holding his excited dog by the collar. When it spotted Hiccup, it wagged its tail against its owner’s legs and barked happily.

“Come in before he barks up the whole stairwell again. Mr. Browner’s been sticking his head out the door every time we came back from a walk to complain if Hookfang made even the tiniest of sounds. And you know he’ll make the sound if he sees people.” Before he closed the door, he yelled down the stairs, “Yes, Mr. Browner, I’m talking about you, you massive dick!”

Hiccup scratched the happy dog, trying to escape its tongue. “Wouldn’t massive dick be a compliment in your book?”

“What?”

“Nothing. Do you have a jacket for me?”

“What do you need a jacket for?”

Hiccup wordlessly pointed first at his clothes, then out the next window. “Oh, come on…” Of course, in the few minutes he’d spent inside, the rain had let up. A small patch of cloud was even lighting up a little, as if about to expose a bit of sunshine.

“You walked through a car wash or what?”

“Why- why would I ever- No, it’s been raining for the past few hours, have you not looked outside lately?”

Snotlout flopped into his armchair where a set of headphones and a half-empty bag of chips were resting on each arm. “Nah, I was busy.”

Gently shoving Hookfang away from him so that he could move, Hiccup peaked at the TV screen. “Obviously.” He was looking at the pause menu of a Harry Potter Lego game. Snotlout quickly grabbed the remote and the screen went dark.

“This is Call of Duty. Shut up, Hiccup.”

“Clearly. I could still use a jacket, though.” Oh, he would use this newfound knowledge on a later occasion. When he had the right mind for it and wasn’t still feeling like a wet towel in winter.

With a groan, his friend got up and left to his bedroom. As soon as he was gone, Hookfang jumped onto the chair and stuck his nose into the bag of chips, licking the inside. Hiccup grimaced. Snotlout loved his dog, but he still had trouble making it listen to him. Or follow any rules at all. Lucky for him, Hiccup now knew an expert in all things dog training and– Oh, right. Said expert had also just kissed him, more or less, and then bolted.

She’d said she needed to go home. Maybe she’d meant her parents’ place? Maybe she hadn’t even been talking about anything regarding her relationship with her husband? Was he overthinking this again? Maybe… Maybe she’d forgotten she needed to meet her family, the equivalent of remembering the oven was still on. Or something. He sighed. It was a place to start.

He was hit in the head by a hoodie, followed by a yell from Snotlout. “Catch! Pff, loser.” Hiccup decided not to say anything when his friend reached into the bag of chips and ate a few, before inspecting his hand and scrunching up his face in disgust. “Ew, dog slobber! Hookfang, you shit dog!” The shit dog wasn’t impressed by its owner’s disgust, staying on the armchair without a care in the world. “Now get off my chair!”

When the dog didn’t move, Hiccup sharply whistled and pointed down at his feet with a stern face. “Hookfang, come here!” After a few moments of intense eye contact, Hookfang actually gave in and followed the command, lying down at Hiccup’s feet, much to Snotlout’s dismay.

“Hey! Why are you listening to him?! You betrayed me, you son of a bitch dog!”

“You know, technically, he is the son of a bitch.”

“Shut up, Hiccup. I need that jacket back by tonight.”

Hiccup took in the chipped flame print on the sleeves. The jacket itself was too wide for him, but the sleeves were way too short. He probably looked like an idiot. “What for?”

“I want to wear it to work tomorrow. There’s this girl that likes that stuff.”

“You mean oversized clothes for kids? Didn’t you wear this back in school?”

“It’s retro! Whatever, she digs it. So give it back later, okay? I really need it.”

He shrugged. “Sure. Thanks anyway. I bet you didn’t have any other jacket you could lend me.”

“I’m not gonna give you my fine stuff. You wouldn’t be able to handle the swag, anyway.”

“What swag, Snotlout?” Before his friend could dive into that age-old discussion again, Hiccup held up his hands to stop him. “Save it, I gotta go.”

“Where?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Bye, Snot. Hookfang, listen to Snotlout. Whatever. Thanks again for the help!”

He had grabbed his umbrella and was out the door before the dog could follow him or Snotlout could dig for more details. He didn’t have time for that right now. There was a place he needed to go and there was no time to waste. Realizing he could have asked for a ride, or at least for a short ride to his own car, he slapped his hand against his forehead, breaking into a jog.

Every few minutes, a short drizzle broke out of the clouds, and Hiccup felt taken back in time to a certain rainy November day. Time was of importance just like it had been then, but today, he was determined to catch her in time and not let go. Unless she wanted him to, which he hoped she didn’t, but now that he thought about it, maybe she needed to be away from him and concentrate on the relationship she wanted to keep. Winded, he slowed to a stop and leaned against a traffic light at an intersection. The next bus stop was just down the road.

Checking the schedule on the wall of the bus shelter, he sat down on the narrow bench underneath and waited. With a sigh of relief, he found his city ticket in his wallet. The hoodie and exercise had warmed him up enough and he made sure no water would drip out of his hair and run down his neck.

What if the roles were reversed this time? What if she – and he tried to not get his hopes up – had plunged deeper into this connection between them and now needed to sever all ties to him in order to not lose her mind? That he could relate to.

He got to his feet the moment the bus rounded the corner. If her decision really ended up to break contact, he would still find her and talk to her first. For his own attempt at closure, at least. He’d know he at least tried this time, and didn’t give up at the last minute because the mountains in his way were too steep to climb.

He had to change busses twice until he got out two streets over from her parents’ place. Using the short pause between drizzles, he made it to the driveway, eyes darting around in search for her car. It wasn’t there. His stomach dropped and he felt his heart beat in his throat as he walked to the front door and rang the bell. He would leave no stone unturned; he was all in.

The door opened and Wilma Hofferson curiously raised her eyebrows at the sight of him, disheveled and wet from the rain, wearing an unfitting hoodie.

“Hi,” he nervously greeted. “Is Astrid here, by any chance?”

Wilma shook her head. “Last I saw her she was leaving to meet someone for lunch earlier, I assumed it was you.”

“Oh.”

“Seems like I assumed wrong. Have you tried her phone?”

He could have slapped himself. Her phone. He could just call her, for fuck’s sake! “No- no, you were right, she was with me. But then she left and now I’m trying to find her, but seems like she went home home, so never mind. Sorry for bothering you!”

Mind already recalling her phone number, he left a bewildered Wilma behind and jogged back to the bus stop. He scanned the schedule, but he had no clue where he should go. He didn’t even know her address. Tapping his right foot on the ground in a quick pace, he tried to get his racing thoughts in order.

“Alright, Hiccup,” he mumbled to himself, “what’s the plan here? How can you solve this?”

Call her and ask for her address? No, that was stupid, and also inconvenient. He could just ask her to meet him somewhere.

Call her and talk on the phone? Also no. This was a conversation to have face to face.

Call Heather to ask Dagur for Eret’s number or address? Yeah. Great idea, Hiccup. Call your ex to ask her brother for your almost-lover’s husband’s number. Just call her yourself, you idiot.

But when he pulled out his phone and stared at her contact info, the knot in his stomach grew tighter. It all came down to this phone call. It was easy, actually. He just had to press call, wait for her to pick up, then convince her to meet him for a very important conversation.

He was frozen where he stood, the steady sound of rain on the bus shelter’s roof like white noise in his ears. His heart was pounding, growing bigger and bigger in his chest, pushing against his lungs until he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Ripping his gaze away from his phone, he took a few deep breaths and started walking, absentmindedly opening his umbrella.

His hand was clenched around his phone, the chipped corner of the screen digging the reminder into his skin that he was avoiding his task. It was just a call. A call he needed to make. But when he imagined her answering, his mind went blank. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to make sure he didn’t screw this up?

Confront your fear, he heard Dr. Mala’s voice inside his head. Examine it, analyze it, confront it. What’s the worst that could happen?

Well, for starters, he could stutter around for so long that she hung up on him. She could tell him she didn’t want to talk to him. She could ignore his call altogether.

He clenched his jaw in determination. Well, then he would try again! He would find a way to reach her, he would even make an ass of himself by showing up on her parents’ doorstep every day until she either talked to him or told him to fuck off. No more avoiding, no more hiding behind fears of rejection and hurt. That wouldn’t get him anywhere.

The phone was already pressed against his ear and signaling an outgoing call before he could drive himself mad by going over what exactly he would say. Sometimes, he just had to approach the dragon without the axe. Maybe it was friendly.

After twenty eternal seconds, he realized she wasn’t going to pick up. Before his mind could start making up ridiculous reasons for that, he firmly told himself to try again in exactly fifteen minutes. In the meantime, he would just walk around Berk in the rain in his friend’s hideous jacket, definitely failing at not preparing what exactly he would say when he tried her again. But if he already didn’t give a shit about his appearance, there was no way he would avoid the call anymore, either. And hey, if she told him she wouldn’t be friends with him anymore, for whatever reason, then at least he knew where he stood.

That didn’t stop him from drumming his fingers against his leg at every red traffic light, though, or keeping up a quick walking pace because he needed to dump his nervous energy somewhere. By the time his phone signaled him the fifteen minutes were up, he had to orient himself for a minute because he’d walked to a part of town he didn’t immediately recognize. But he decided it wasn’t important where he was right now, and pulled up Astrid’s number again.

His mind conjured up an image of Cam with that Shia LaBeouf video he liked to play in every situation. Just do it! Yeah, Heather’s boyfriend was truly something.

“Just do it,” he mumbled, repeating the sentence seven times in a row before he finally pressed the call button.

It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Twenty seconds later, it was still ringing, but he didn’t give up this time. Either she picked up or he reached her voicemail.

When the signal suddenly disappeared, his breath caught in his throat. But the voice that appeared was automatic, asking him to leave a message. So he did.

“Hey… It’s me. Hiccup. I- I don’t- I’m just calling because…” He took a deep breath. “I need to talk to you. We need to talk. About… About everything. Like, earlier, when you, you know, left – I probably don’t need to remind you. You said you needed to go home, and I know you meant home to Eret because I was at your parents’ house and you weren’t there, so. Um.” He sighed and ran a hand over his face. He should have just texted her. Then he could have carefully constructed a coherent message instead of this all-over-the-place rambling.

“Like I said, I really have to talk to you. There is something I need to tell you, something I should have told you a long time ago, but I can’t do this over the phone, that would be… Can- can you just call me back? I don’t know where you live and you didn’t say when you would be back or what you were up to, and you’re not answering your phone, obviously, so.” His legs were moving on autopilot, crossing streets, rounding corners. The motion was like water that kept the mill running, namely his sanity. If he stopped walking, he would stop talking.

“You know, maybe I should just get to the point. We- we need to talk about us. I- I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like there’s something between us and… And maybe I’m way off here and misinterpreting– No. No, I actually don’t think that it’s just me, because today, you almost kissed me. I almost kissed you. And I need to know why, I need to know where we stand with each other, because… Because…” His lips kept moving, but no sound came out. A truck drove by him and honked. Hiccup winced and a switch went off in his brain.

“I’m in love with you,” he blurted out and his heart stopped for a few beats. “I’ve been in love with you since I met you and- and there’s nothing I can do about it. Believe me, I tried. Remember when I showed up at your wedding and told you we shouldn’t be friends? Yeah, that worked out well.” An awkward laugh escaped him. “I don’t know what you want, either from me or- or from yourself, or your- your husband… But I want to get out of this limbo of trying to forget you and falling back under your spell every time you so much as look at me. It’s like… It’s like you dropped an anchor in me and the tide buried it deeper and deeper in the sand – if that even makes any sense, I just– I can’t go on like this. If there is any chance you feel the same, please call me back. If not, if you’re going to take my advice and resolve things with Eret, then I’m happy for you. But I can’t be your friend anymore. I… I need a clear answer from you.”

Abruptly, his feet grinded to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk. Tires screeched behind him and a biker angrily cursed at him, but he didn’t even register it. “I guess… With you going home so fast, you probably decided to patch things up with your husband, and I guess that’s my answer. Or maybe not, what do I know, my judgement can’t be trusted, I once thought I’d be able to get over you. Anyway, when you hear this– Oh fuck, do you even check your voicemails? Well, if you do, just… Call. Or text. Um… Yeah. Bye.”

He ended the call and sunk to the ground underneath a lamp post, ignoring the unpleasant feeling of rain and dirt dampening his butt. Only when something cold ran down his back, did he notice it was still raining. He’d been so absorbed in his message that he hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding the umbrella askew, and now his left arm was soaked, the hand holding his phone cold and stiff. When he got back to his feet, he accidentally knocked it against the post and the device went flying, landing in a nearby puddle.

“Fuck.” Before the next pedestrian could step on it, he scrambled to get it back, infinitely glad he’d bought the waterproof version. But when he wiped it on Snotlout’s jacket and took a closer look, he groaned. There was a large crack zigzagging over the screen, and on first inspection, it looked like it went deeper than the protection glass. He tried to unlock it, but it didn’t react to his touch anymore. “Fuck!”

Great, now he had to find a repair store that was still open in Berk on a Sunday evening. Hopefully, he would be able to still accept incoming calls… He cursed his clumsiness with vigor. This was so typical. When – if – she tried to reach him now, she wouldn’t be able to. Maybe she’d leave him a voicemail asking him to call her back and they would find themselves stuck in an endless, vicious cycle.

Where the hell had he ended up, anyway? It looked like he was in a suburb, but none of the streets looked familiar to him, and when he pulled out his phone to check his location, he groaned. Right, smartphone not available. But if he could find a bus stop, he could make his way back into the city. Or he could go back to the Hoffersons and ask for a ride. That wouldn’t be awkward at all.

After a while of walking around and finally asking a passing dog-walker for directions, he found a bus stop and quickly scanned the schedule. He’d made it to the end of the route of the only bus line that even came out here. And it being Sunday, he was just lucky that the next bus would be here in no less than 52 minutes, because he had, of course, just missed the previous one. He could walk back, but that would take just as long, and also his feet hurt. These shoes weren’t made for long walks through puddles. At least it had stopped raining.

So he waited. And waited. And played around with his stupid phone for a while, but it just wouldn’t magically work again, no matter how much he begged it to. After 50 minutes of waiting, it suddenly started buzzing – and his heart climbed into his throat when he saw the caller ID. He tapped the screen frantically, but it was to no avail. His last resort was to try the lock button and hope it would accept the call, but instead, it did the exact opposite. Absolutely fucking awesome, now she probably thought he’d declined her call on purpose. And where was the damn bus?!

The calls kept coming in, but there was nothing he could do except stare at his phone in resignation and jiggle his legs nervously because the bus wasn’t coming. Fifteen minutes and four awkward short conversations with passing strangers later, he embraced the fact that no one would lend him their phone for a very quick call, or a text, anything. There was no way he would wait around for another hour.

Grabbing his umbrella and starting the journey in the direction he hoped would lead him back home, he glanced suspiciously at the dark line of clouds on the horizon. The sunset was beautiful, though. If only he could enjoy it.

Soon enough, it was pouring again. And the calls stopped.

[hicp]

Suffocation

i wrote this while drunk and will probably never finish it.

—

He lands hard on his back, all the air exploding from his lungs and head smacking the hard ground beneath him. His vision blacks out for several good seconds, and when he comes back all he can feel is pain.

He blinks back to consciousness slowly, becoming quickly aware of his dragon’s desperate cries mixed with the pattering of falling pebbles. It’s oppressively dark, and he doesn’t understand what the fuck just happened for a long moment.

He blinks and tastes blood on his tongue, but figures he’s not in enough pain for the blood to be too bad. He runs his tongue across all his teeth and is pleased to find that they’re all there, and all his limbs are moveable.

He stares upward at the small hole he’s apparently fallen through, and the bright sky that lingers beyond.

Oh. He fell down the Hunter’s mine.

That’s bad.

He risks pushing himself up, and nausea washes over him so violently that he lies back down to keep from vomiting right there.

Toothless screams above him.

“Ugh.” He grunts. His voice is scratchy and dust settles in his mouth. There are faint flickering lights nearby, and he realizes that this part of the mine isn’t just run by dragon hunters, but is apparently active and currently operating.

If he’s found here, he’s fucked.

Toothless lets out a piercing screech, and Hiccup winces.

“Toothless!” He croaks, half shouting and half whispering, not eager to find out how close any Hunters are. “Shhhh! Stop!”

He risks sitting up again. His stomach rushes into his throat, but he manages not to be sick by will power alone. He cracks his jaw and rolls his shoulders, each bone aching and bruises already forming. He can’t tell how far he’s fallen, but the hole above him is tiny compared to his dragon, and it becomes immediately clear that Toothless isn’t going to be able to rescue him this time.

A light blooms on the corner of his vision a long way down one of the wide tunnels surrounding him. Light means people, and that’s the last thing he needs.

Moving makes his muscles ache and his body feels heavier than normal, but he can’t risk getting caught on the ground. He makes it to a low crouch before he tastes blood on his tongue again and has to steady himself.

He’s so fucked.

Apparently he’s been too quiet for too long, because Toothless lets out an impatient whine.

Hiccup swallows several times and takes a deep breath before turning his head towards the small glowing hole. “Toothless! Go get Astrid! Go! Go get Astrid!” He risks raising his voice in order to be heard by his dragon.

Another light flickers to light down the same tunnel, and dread drops in Hiccup’s stomach. “Go!” He says finally before finally pushing himself to his feet and using his momentum to start in an unsteady jog away from the threat.

——

He doesn’t make it very far. He’s definitely concussed and his back is so bruised that even breathing makes him ache. Running is agony and as each minute passes it becomes abundantly clear that his only escape this time will be in the form of rescue. He doesn’t want to run too far— Toothless knew where he was, and the further he gets from that hole the harder it will be to find him.

But there are voices and lights that direction, and he really doesn’t want to be discovered.

So he keeps moving.

It works for a little bit, right up to the minute when he runs face first into two Hunters on patrol.

He blames the concussion for his lack of awareness and can only hope that he doesn’t survive these morons just for Astrid to kill him for his idiocy.

He’s surprised them, and he tries to use it to his advance by breaking into a dead sprint towards the closest escape. He doesn’t dare bother to look back— just puts his head down and /runs/.

It doesn’t work.

A massive hand clamps around his arm and uses his own momentum to throw him against the stone wall. The force of the impact knocks him silly and he thinks he actually feels his brain slam into his own skull.

Suddenly he’s aware that he’s on the ground and being pressed into the dirt, rocks digging into his scalp and spine and one of the massive hunters kneeling on his shoulders.

He thrashes in the dirt, bucking and trying to throw off the massive man above him. The two hunters are shouting over each other, and it becomes very clear that one of them wants to murder him and the other doesn’t.

“Let me go!” He spits up at the hunter, blood roaring in his ears and pain forgotten in favour of panic. The man punches him once in the face, stunning Hiccup stupid and whiting out his vision for a second. Another punch follows, and blood explodes in his mouth and drains down the back of his throat.

“/Help!/“ He screeches at the top of his lungs in a last ditch attempt to save himself. There’s no chance any of the riders are back yet, but instinct has him shouting. He writhes under the hunter and desperately fights to yank his limbs free, but the man is three times his size and easily keeps him pinned while he argues with his companion.

Suddenly the man sitting on him suddenly bares his ax, and Hiccup realizes he’s going to die.

Instead of splitting his skull, the hunter presses the long handle of the ax against Hiccup’s throat and bares his weight on it, instantly cutting off his airway.

Hiccup bucks, feet bashing against the stone and fingers digging against the packed dirt path. It’s agony— the effort of trying to fill his chest and being unable to— his throat burns and his lungs fill with fire quickly, and the panic that floods his mind quickly slips into hysteria.

His brain is a frenzied cacophony of terror, incoherent fragments of dread and death consuming him. He desperately tries to breath despite the weight on his throat, and throws his head side to side violently in an effort to dislodge the ax. It only makes the hunter press down harder, and the the fire in his chest becomes boiling acid that quickly spreads through his limbs and into his face.

His brain fills with burning wool, cluttering any thoughts left and smoking out his brain. He vaguely feels tears slip from his eyes, and his hands and foot tingle furiously. He thinks his prosthetic gets stuck in the dirt, but he can’t feel his stump well enough to know.

The blood roaring in his ears blocks out all other sounds, and the irritated face of a nameless dragon hunter turns foggy above him. His body has been reduced to molten magma, and he lets his eyes close, not so weary of death anymore with the relief it promises him.

He falls unconscious.

——

“/Hiccup!”/ Astrid shouts, her voice echoing off the mine’s walls. Snotlout uses the flat side of his ax to knock out the last Hunter to have dared ambush them.

“This would be /so/much easier with the dragons!” He growls, shaking out his arms and running his tongue across his teeth. While he enjoyed bashing the hell out of some Dragon Hunters on any day, the mines feel unstable and threatening, and years of soaring the skies with Hookfang have him loathing confined tunnels in a vicious way.

They’d managed to blast a hole large enough for the dragons in the main cavern, but the side tunnels were far too small for anyone larger than a burly man to pass through.

“Shut /up/,” Astrid hisses, trying to listen closely to any sounds of Hiccup responding to her. Any Hunters they came across while they search will be collateral damage.

“There!” Snotlout shouts, pointing at the faint light in a small side tunnel. Each time they’d found light they’d found people, and for now it’s as good as they can get.

Together they go running towards it, weapons branded and eyes strained in the dark to see what they were coming up on. Astrid finds herself wishing for Toothless’s protection, but even their sleekest dragon hadn’t fit in the narrow tunnels.

They come sprinting up on two Hunters too busy shouting at each other to hear them running— they’re red in the face and one clutches a small body by the scruff of their armor—

She recognizes Hiccup immediately, and charges at the Hunter so violently that he doesn’t have time to react or protect his face. She buries her ax in his neck how her father taught her, and kicks him square in the chest. She lets go of her ax in favour of lunging to catch Hiccup’s motionless body.

She can hear Snotlout downing the other Hunter and spares a glance to make sure that she’d successfully killed Hiccup’s attacker— she has, and she quickly turns Hiccup over in her arms.

“Hiccup?” She asks, voice cracking as fear makes voice shake. There’s a heavy ball of lead in her stomach and stomach acid in her throat.

Hiccup’s skin is gray and horribly dark bruises wrap in a thick line across his thin neck. Blood pools under his skin and dribbles from his slack lips, contrasting against their purple hue. A vivid black eye blossoms across the entirety of the left side of his face, and dust covers him from his eyelashes to his slacks.

He doesn’t move.

She digs her fingers under his jaw and presses her ear to his chest, eyes squeezing shut with dread. She holds her own breath, and kicks out at Snotlout who huffs with excretion next to her— he instantly goes silent, shuffling in place with anxiety.

The mine is silent, and something in Astrid’s chest begins to collapse. She doesn’t dare breathe, the pain in her chest from the lack of air or from grief, she can’t tell.

“Please,” She begs whatever entity is listening, begs for the life of a boy she’s been in love with for years. “/Please—“/

She feels him suck in a breath.

It’s thin and whistles through his nose, and his chest barely rises, but it’s /there./

She feels giddy with relief, the head rush knocking her off guard and making her eyes water heavily.

“He’s alive.” She whispers, feeling stronger now. Snotlout deflates next to her, and she hears him take a relieved breath and shuck off his helmet to run his hand over his hair.

“We have to get him back to Berk.” She says, sitting up and pressing the back of her fingers under his nose. He’s barely breathing, and it would be so easy for him to stop without her notice—

Snotlout glances down each end of the tunnel and nods, replacing his helmet and hiking up his ax into his hand.

She spares him a glance, and the transformation is obvious— whereas before he’d been grumpy and annoyed to come rescue his cousin because of his crazy night fury, now he was practically vibrating with rage, ready to leave and maybe kill some hunters on the way.

And while it somewhat grates on her instincts, she trusts him to protect them while they escape going by the dark look in his eye and how he avoids looking at the black bruises marring Hiccup’s pale skin.

So she kicks her ax over to him with her foot and gives him a faint nod before turning to her betrothed and carefully gathering him into her arms. While he’s finally grown taller than her, he still weighs less than a baby yak, and getting to her feet is easy even with his gangly weight.

She settles him against her chest and after double checking again that he’s still in fact breathing, she and Snotlout quickly make for the exit.

——

He first becomes aware of the pain in his neck and chest— it starts the way ice freezes— slow and stretching across his nerves and consuming his throat.

It fucking /hurts/. Each breath that slips through his lungs feels like it’s shredding his esophagus and pressing against the bone deep bruises there.

The agony of breath actually shocks his brain into retreating back into semi-consciousness, time slipping by in strange batches that are occasionally accompanied with the distinct flapping of wings and familiar smell of weapon’s polish. If he weren’t too busy trying not to die, he’d probably guess Astrid is nearby, but none of that actually registers in his busy head.

He wishes he were unconscious again actually, because at least that hadn’t been painful, but unfortunately the pain keeps him on the verge of awake, body slowly beginning to shake with chill and pain.

“Hiccup?” Definitely Astrid. He doesn’t dare attempt to make any noise— but he does accidentally swallow, and the agony that chases it has tears slipping from the corner of his eyes and leaves him desperate to never ever swallow again.

“Hiccup, can you hear me?” She asks, and he lets his hand vaguely bump against her thigh in confirmation. When he dares to open his eyes the sun is too bright to see anything other than the silhouetted figure of his betrothed leaning over him. Her hair falls and tickles his cheeks, and she uses a calloused thumb to gently brush away the tears that are running into his hair.

“You’re gonna be okay.” She says, and he manages to blink back up at her. She tries to smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

Her face slowly begins to spin, and vertigo consumes his head. The edges of his vision darken as the image twists, and he closes his eyes as stomach acid rushes into his throat.

Vomiting might just actually kill him, so when the threat of unconsciousness becomes all too real, he lets it engulf him and fades back into the darkness.

[ashleybenlove]

All the boys love me. Except Eret, who totally lost his chance. That ship has sailed, boy, sorry. And Hiccup is practically married to that round head, Astrid. But Snotlout and Fishlegs, they're basically in my harem. I just can't choose, you know? Snotlout's a beefcake but almost too pretty, you know. Sometimes I think he's more in love with himself than me. There's only room for one beauty in this relationship. Fishlegs would keep me alive longer if I had to eat one of them, stranded on some glacier somewhere. But he never shuts up about dragons. Do you hate it when people never stop talking?

(I pulled the quote from the Fandom Wiki transcript but corrected a couple of mistakes after consulting the actual scene using Amazon Prime Video's subtitles.)

First: "All the boys love me. Except Eret, who totally lost his chance." would definitely stay in.

Second: She'd probably add a thing about girls, specifically Astrid.

Third: She would definitely describe the other Riders as basically her harem.

Fourth: "I just can't choose, you know." (maybe changed to "couldn't) gets an added line of: "So, I chose all of them."

And then I guess... just chaotic stuff about the other four.

Thinkin about how Ruffnut might have talked about the gang when she was locked up by Grimmel if the OT6 was a thing.

It'd definitely be a little different lol.

[strawberry-skies-xx]

line

summary:  At the end of One by One, the Riders don’t get to kill Viggo. Instead, months later, they capture him, and Astrid should’ve seen the anger seething in Hiccup the entire time.

word count: 3461

tags: hiccup/viggo (mentioned), hiccup/tuffnut/ruffnut/snotlout/fishlegs/astrid, implied/referenced rape/non-con, past rape/non-con, angry hiccup, burning, torture, angst, angst + hurt/comfort, hiccup & astrid, hiccup/astrid

author’s note: inspired by evilwriter37′s fic One by One

main masterlist | story on ao3

They could feel the anger radiating off of Hiccup. Even Toothless is quiet, flying well in front of the other Riders, keeping his human away from them, and the other Riders fly well behind him. Hiccup is silent, sitting up in the saddle. Astrid would’ve felt comfortable if he was tense, would’ve at least known that this is something she could talk him down from, but no. His shoulders are loose, he stares straight out at the sky, and he’s entirely still and silent, like a stone.

Astrid hates it. Snotlout and the twins are quiet, a little scared by Hiccup’s silence. Fishlegs is unsettled; if there are any words he’d use to describe Hiccup, it would be warm. The warmth of his smile and his kindness, the fire of his anger, the flame of his passion for dragons and for peace, the spark of his interest in knowledge and dragons and when he and Fishlegs go back and forth on an invention or a philosophy or some kind of question for hours.

But this? This is cold. This is like ice, like stone, and Fishlegs rubs Meatlug’s scales when she whines quietly, sensing the tension among the Riders. Even Dagur is silent, glancing at the Riders, who give shrugs of their shoulders and similar worried glances at Hiccup.

They get back to the Edge and Hiccup lands first, dismounting quickly from Toothless and ignoring even his concerned whine as he stalks into the clubhouse. The twins and Snotlout stick close together, still shaken from what Viggo had done. Astrid and Dagur stand near the doorway, and Fishlegs on the other side of the doorway.

Hiccup leans with his hands against the table, facing away from them, head down.

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout are whispering to each other, conversing quietly for once, and Dagur takes some hesitant steps forward behind Hiccup. “Brother-“

“Don’t call me that,” Hiccup interrupts, voice low.

Dagur nods. “Okay. Hiccup.” He pauses, unsure, and then his hand reaches out to touch Hiccup’s shoulder. His shoulders tense up, hand twitching and tightening on the table.

Astrid’s eyes flick to it and she coughs. Dagur’s head turns to her; she looks pointedly at his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder and then jerks her eyes away.

Dagur’s mouth opens in a silent ‘o’ and he takes his hand away. Hiccup’s shoulders don’t relax, and Astrid winces. Even she is scared of Hiccup’s anger now, wonders what Viggo did to him that made him like this.

Dagur looks back at Hiccup, mouth opening, and he doesn’t get any further. Hiccup pushes himself away from the table and walks away from Dagur, stopping a few feet away.

“Hiccup,” Ruffnut says, her voice cracking, a sob working its way into it. Astrid glances over to see tears going down Ruffnut’s face, Tuffnut sitting beside her with his arms around her and his face hidden in her shoulder, presumably crying as well. Snotlout kneels next to them, staring blankly at the ground, and Fishlegs is standing nearby, looking just scared, his eyes darting around and his face a worrying shade of white.

Hiccup turns, eyes landing on Ruffnut, and suddenly the anger vanishes. His face clears, eyebrows tilting down in concern as he walks over to Ruffnut, but his body is still tense even as he starts talking in a quiet voice to her, calming her down.

Astrid and Dagur glance at each other; did you see that?

They each look back at Hiccup, who is nothing but warmth and concern and kindness now, and both of them know this isn’t over.

They settle back into their routine, though with a few changes. Now, it’s not only Hiccup that wakes up screaming from nightmares; all six of them do, and after one week of everyone waking up to someone’s screams resonating through the Edge, they start sleeping in the clubhouse. Tuffnut and Snotlout sleep together, almost always waking up curled around the other, with Ruffnut close nearby. Fishlegs sleeps close to Astrid, who would very much like to wake up curled around Hiccup, if he ever slept.

For the first month, Hiccup is even more of a light sleeper than he usually is, and he goes for nightly flights on Toothless almost every night. He also wakes up whenever one of the Riders cries out in their sleep, whenever one of them sits up with a sharp gasp and a wide-eyed, panicked scramble away from whoever’s touching them. Most of the time, he’s the one holding them as they shake and cry, and neither of them talk about it when Hiccup smiles and nods, getting a weak, shaky smile in return, and both go back to uneasy sleep.

He’s agitated, angry, frustrated; Astrid watches him pace, and then watches the shape of Toothless disappear on the horizon and not return for hours, with Toothless tired - he never gets tired, not for fun flights with Hiccup - and Hiccup doesn’t say anything. He rubs Toothless’s scales in reassurance, dismounts and smiles at Astrid before going to his hut.

Even Toothless goes up to her one night, nuzzling at her leg and whining, and when Astrid follows him to Hiccup’s hut, she finds him lit by candlelight, still reading maps of the Dragon Eye’s markings. She can barely talk him into sleeping, and there’s a dark light in Hiccup’s eyes even as he smiles at her and nods, blowing out the candle and following her demands.

Three months pass, and the nightmares happen a little less often, and his anger fades. He smiles more, he plays with Toothless and he even rolls his eyes at the twins’ antics, a small smile twitching on his lips, instead of simply raising his eyebrow at them in cold silence.

Astrid and Dagur are still worried, but they eventually forget about the anger, caught up in Hiccup’s new kindness and warmth and his bright smile and laugh, the slow recovery of all of them together as they start smiling and laughing too.

They don’t see the cold distance still in his eyes when they turn away, or the way his hands tighten when he’s left alone to think for too long.

He disguises it as a capture mission.

All the Riders feel relief at Viggo’s capture, and anger at him. They all want vengeance, especially Astrid, but he got the Dragon Eye in the months they couldn’t catch him and they need the information of where it is.

Astrid should have been worried when Hiccup offered himself for first guard duty and dismissed Toothless to sleep in her hut. She should’ve known that something was off, should’ve seen the flat fire in his eyes. Not blazing, not warm, but calculating. The fire was dying, being covered by ice, and Astrid should’ve seen it.

Hiccup sits on a stool in front of Viggo’s cell, staring at him with his hands folded underneath his chin and elbows resting on his thighs. The other Riders left a few minutes ago, closing the stable doors, and Viggo smirks at Hiccup.

“My dear Hiccup,” he starts.

“I’m not your dear,” Hiccup replies, and there’s a cold flatness to his voice. No emotion, just quiet calm, and his face is equally as unreadable.

“How’s that scar on your chest? Healing well, I hope? Wouldn’t want my work to be ruined, after all,” Viggo continues.

Hiccup smiles. “I had that burned off, actually,” he says. “Astrid did it.”

The first hint of surprise enters Viggo’s eyes. “You did? I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Hiccup smirks and stands up. “You know exactly what I had in me, Viggo.”

Viggo laughs. Hiccup only smiles flatly as he turns away, and then it fades, replaced by the same ice he’s had for months, like his emotions have been frozen over. He’s a little scared of it, but not enough to stop. Not enough to put down the metal rod from the bucket, not enough to keep it away from the pan of hot coals.

He turns around with the tip of the rod glowing red-hot in his hands, seeing Viggo’s eyes flick to it as he walks towards the cell. “You have something I want, Viggo,” he says. “The location of the Dragon Eye.”

Viggo looks up at him. “And what makes you think I hid it? It could be right there in my tent, sitting in plain sight.”

Hiccup laughs as he enters the cell and crouches down in front of Viggo, who’s tied up kneeling with his hands behind his back. “Oh, no, I know this game. This is your game- or, it was. Now, it’s my game. And I want to know where you hid the Dragon Eye. Three chances, my dear,” he hisses the last words mockingly, a cold smile twisting his mouth.

Viggo smiles smugly back. “You can’t torture me. You can’t even kill my Hunters. You Riders are too soft, too pure.”

“Aren’t we?” Hiccup asks, in the same calm, cold tone of voice, and sees the first icy slither of fear enter Viggo’s eyes. The darkest part of him relishes it. “Because, you know, Viggo,” he starts conversationally, and for once, the man is silent, finally sensing the amount of danger he’s in. “Even the best people snap sometimes. I know from experience, and I-“ he gives a short laugh, “-oh, I have been angry at you for a long time. You crossed a line I didn’t know I had.”

Hiccup swings the poker around. “That’s two chances.”

Viggo swallows, and there’s more fear in his eyes now. “You can’t do it. Come now, Hiccup. I wouldn’t give up the information even if you did torture me with what limited knowledge you have of it.”

Hiccup smiles slowly and nods. “Limited knowledge?” he asks, and stares up at the ceiling as if thinking. “The thing that comes with having so many of your enemies be interested in you is that you actually learn a lot about torture. Firsthand experience is the best experience, after all, and even if I don’t get the information, making you hurt can only be a good thing.”

“Your friends wouldn’t agree with you,” Viggo says, as a desperate attempt to save himself from the ice in Hiccup’s eyes and voice. “And what happened to being better than people like me?”

Hiccup laughs. “That’s how you’re appealing to me? You fucked that up, Viggo. When you captured me and my friends on that ship and then broke them all.” The first real emotion enters Hiccup’s eyes, but it only stokes the fire. “Do you know how many nights I held them when they woke up screaming? The crack in Ruffnut’s voice, how Tuffnut even ignored that chicken of his?”

“Ridiculous,” Viggo cuts in, and Hiccup doesn’t think. His vision flashes red, and suddenly the poker is stabbing into Viggo’s shoulder and he’s screaming. Hiccup glances at the poker, something cracking inside him, then at Viggo, whose eyes are wide as he yells and cries out and grits his teeth against the pain.

Hiccup pulls the poker away, leaving Viggo gasping, and he stares at the hot tip of it. Something’s wrong inside him, this feels wrong, he shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t relish in Viggo’s screams, shouldn’t want to do it again and make a matching burn mark on Viggo’s shoulder.

The wrongness is quickly covered by ice, though, the cracks filled in, and Hiccup’s eyes snap to Viggo’s. “It’s not ridiculous,” he says sharply. “It makes Tuffnut happy, and if he wants to talk to a chicken, he can talk to a damn chicken.”

He stands up, leaving the cell and going to put the poker back. “What if I carved my initial into your chest, Viggo?” he asks, voice calm and cold again. “Or I could use Berk’s seal. I was put in charge of making a brand of Berk’s seal, just to burn into crates and other things.”

“You would brand me?” Viggo asks, a hint of surprise and nervousness in his voice

Hiccup shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ve never been like this before, so cold and unfeeling. Is this what it’s like for you?”

Viggo doesn’t respond. Hiccup picks up the poker again and sticks it in the coals, walking over to Viggo’s cell. “Astrid changed, too,” he says idly. “She flinches at every touch now, can’t stand having anything anywhere near her ass even more than before. None of us can fuck her from behind. Ruffnut is the same way.”

Hiccup presses the poker to Viggo’s other shoulder, and he grits his teeth for a long moment, until he breaks and yells. The yell builds into a scream the longer Hiccup holds it there, and he finally pulls it away.

He meets Viggo’s eyes, the emerald green blazing with heat. “You’re getting one for each of them. One for each of my friends who you weren’t supposed to touch.”

Astrid wakes to screaming.

At first, she thinks it’s one of the Riders, but she leaves her hut and they’re all coming out as well, looking around frantically.

All except for Hiccup, who’s on-

Guard duty. For Viggo.

Fuck.

They all rush to the stables, hearing Viggo’s screams echoing inside, pushing the doors open. The screams cut off as Hiccup looks up from where he’s crouched beside Viggo, a glowing red poker in his hand.

Astrid and Dagur glance at each other, remembering when they’d gotten back months ago from the incident. Hiccup had been angry, and then he hadn’t. She should’ve known.

She did know, and she ignored it.

She walks closer to Hiccup, almost inside the cell, glancing at the five burn marks on Viggo’s chest, and for the first time, she’s a little scared of Hiccup and the flat look in his eyes when he looks up at her.

“Hiccup, what are you doing?” she asks tentatively.

He looks at the poker, brow creasing and a small frown forming. Some lucidity enters his eyes. “I…” he trails off, horror slowly building on his face.

“I told you, Hiccup,” Viggo rasps, voice rough from screaming, and Hiccup’s face shuts down, going flat again. His head snaps up to look at Viggo, meeting his eyes, and he stabs the poker hard into his stomach until Viggo’s head bows in his screams.

“Hiccup!” Astrid says sharply. Hiccup flinches and drops the poker, standing up and stumbling backwards, his eyes wide and a wild look in them.

He looks at Astrid, who’s as horrified as he is. “I’m sorry,” he blurts quietly, and he feels the ice crack, revealing all the other cracks that had been made during his talk, when he recounted how each of his friends had changed.

He feels tears sting at his eyes and a few trail down his cheek. “I didn’t- it just-“ he cuts off, words stilted and voice cracking. There’s fear in his eyes, along with horror. Horror at what he did, fear at what his friends will do.

Astrid glances back at the Riders, who look as shocked as she is, and then back at Hiccup. “Why don’t you- go outside,” she says, her mind racing as she’s thoroughly disoriented with the entire situation.

Hiccup nods jerkily and walks outside, not looking at the Riders. Astrid watches him leave and then looks back at Viggo, who is groaning in pain and is very close to dying with the poker still stabbed in his stomach. “Okay, uh- Tuffnut, go get cold water. Ruffnut, go with him, get bandages. Fishlegs, get the medical book you have and whatever salves you’ve made for burns. Snotlout-“

She stops, not having a job for Snotlout, and looks up at him, eyes wide. He nods wordlessly, walking forward, standing beside her.

Viggo is quiet, head down as he breathes through the pain. “Gods,” Astrid whispers. “What happened?”

Snotlout shakes his head a little, and for once, Astrid takes comfort in his presence. His not being an idiot helps. “Viggo must’ve done something to Hiccup,” he replies.

“What could he have possibly done other than what he did when- on that day? He hasn’t been able to move!”

“Before, then,” Snotlout says, and Astrid’s eyes flick up to him in horror. “Viggo did something to Hiccup before. No one has that kind of reaction for only one occasion.”

Astrid turns to see the rest of the Riders walking in with the supplies, and she looks at Snotlout. He nods again, turning to the rest of the Riders to give them instructions, and she meets Dagur’s eyes, hearing him follow as she walks out of the stables.

She looks around, finding Hiccup sitting against the wall off to her right, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He’s staring off into the distance, and when her and Dagur come closer he looks at them and his eyes are red with tears, cheeks streaked with them.

“I’m sorry,” he says when they get close enough and crouch down, still giving him a little space even as they do. “I don’t know what happened- I just, I couldn’t feel anything, and- I- I liked it, I think? Hearing Viggo scream. It- it was satisfying, in some- some weird, cruel way-“

Astrid shushes him and he cuts off abruptly, glancing down at his knees. “I just want to know why, Hiccup,” she says, as softly as she can. “Why are you so angry at him? What made you do this, of all things?”

He’s silent for a long moment, and Astrid almost thinks he isn’t going to respond, but then his voice comes, quiet and barely audible. “He wasn’t supposed to touch you all,” he starts. Astrid feels a cold sense of horror rise inside her. “He wanted me, and he had me. That- that wasn’t the first time, on that ship. Not for me. He- he told me- he told me that he didn’t care about any of you, as long as he had me. So I gave him me.”

Hiccup’s voice cracks, and Astrid feels her own rage rising inside of her, at Viggo. “He promised he wouldn’t touch any of you. I- I let him- I let him do things to me, if only to keep him away from the rest of you.”

Hiccup’s trembling slightly now, hands curling into fists, and Astrid and Dagur share a worried glance. “He broke his promise,” he says in a low voice.

Astrid puts one arm around him, and he tenses before leaning into it, his trembling breaking with a full-body slump into her. He starts shaking, burying his face into her shirt, crying freely now. Astrid rubs one hand on his back, wondering just how much she’d been missing and how much Hiccup had been holding back. Of all the nightmares she’s comforted him from, he hasn’t cried like this from any of them, and this feels like an accumulation of things, a wave breaking.

Astrid looks up at Dagur. “You get the others,” she mouths silently. “Kill Viggo.”

He frowns, raising an eyebrow in question. She glares and looks pointedly down at Hiccup - she’s done trying to get information from Viggo. She’d rather he be dead and them have to launch a full attack to get the Dragon Eye than already know where it is and risk having to torture him, or have him escape.

Dagur nods, glancing worriedly at Hiccup before standing and walking into the stables, shutting the door and leaving them alone in the darkness.

Astrid pulls Hiccup up slightly. “Let’s go to my hut,” she whispers.

Hiccup’s sobs are silent, his body still shaking, and he nods. His breaths even out after a while, Astrid still rubbing his back, and she slowly guides him into standing up, letting him lean on her as they walk back, one arm around his waist.

Toothless follows them, a quiet shadow, sensing that Hiccup needs the comfort of Astrid and only Astrid right now. He curls up in the corner when they get back to her hut, green eyes glowing as he watches Hiccup worriedly.

Hiccup curls into her when she wraps her arms around him and pulls him close, burying his face into her shirt and tangling her legs with his. She feels him relax, feels his breathing even out slowly, but she still stares with wide eyes at the wall, in shock from this whole night.

“Astrid,” Hiccup mumbles quietly a few moments later.

“Yeah?”

“Promise me you won’t let me do that again.”

She closes her eyes and feels a few stray tears fall, rubbing his back. “I won’t, Hiccup. I won’t let you do that again.”

[whathappenedtomyweekend]

It’s Just A Spark Ch.15 - Two Minutes

The streets of Berk were never really empty. Something was always going on somewhere. This particular morning, a fireman was being dragged over the cobblestones by his barking dog.

"Hookfang!"

Hookfang came to an abrupt halt in front of a small cafè, panting, wagging his tail. Snotlout stumbled to a halt, following his dog's gaze -

He gasped and ducked behind one of the flower pots outside of the building, heat crawling up his face as he realised exactly whose cafè this was. A heartbeat later he realised what had just happened and he spit out a curse through gritted teeth, angry at his reaction and stepped back into the open.

"Scott, hi!"

Fishlegs waved and grinned at him, and Snotlout wished he a) wasn't there and b) couldn't feel his heart race up to his throat at the sight of his cousin's friend.

'Shit.'

"Hey, wha- what are you doing? I mean, I uh, saw you closed up the shop like a week ago, was everything okay?"

Fishlegs sharply sucked in air through his teeth and sheepishly looked to the side. "Yeah, I probably should've told you guys. Don't worry though, nothing bad happened."

"Oh … okay."

"It was actually - hang on, I'd like you to meet somebody!"

Scott smiled and nodded but the only thought running through his head was 'Please don't be a girlfriend 'cause that would be actually worse than if you had a boyfriend which would at least mean you're gay, please don't be a girlfriend, please don't be a girlfriend.'

Fishlegs reappeared, and for a second, Snotlout stopped because he didn't see anybody accompanying him - then Hookfang started to pull on his leash and the fireman's gaze fell down. There, next to Fishlegs, cowered a small brown basset breed, timidly shying back from the larger dog.

Snotlout's first thought was, 'Oh, thank God.' And then, 'That's a really cute dog.'

So he knelt down, pulling Hookfang back.

"I got her from a death row animal shelter," Fishlegs said softly and watched Snotlout's head snap up, smiling hesitantly.

"It was love at first sight, really. The rescuers said she was really anxious and didn't let anybody near her, but when I walked up to her, she started wagging her tail at me and even let me feed her. I just had to take her with me - but well, now she's really anxious when I'm not there, so I had to close up for a few days until she got a bit used to my flat."

Snotlout nodded, slowly offering the dog his hand - she shyed back. He threw Fishlegs a quick glance, who smiled at him, and then got back up.

"So why'd you open the shop back up now?" he asked and Fishlegs shrugged.

"I missed work. And until she eases up a bit I'll just take her to work with me. You know, chill out a bit. She can get used to seeing people, all in a non-threatening environment."

"Good idea. Hey, if you need help with anything, just tell me, yeah? Hooky and I are always glad to help," Snotlout mumbled, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

Fishlegs grinned. "That'd be nice, thanks."

They stood in awkward silence for a while - 'or maybe it isn't awkward and I'm just thinking it is, ugh, why did I even come by here-'

"So, uh, can I get you anything? You know, since you're here?" Fishlegs asked and Snotlout stopped, surprised. Maybe it wasn't awkward after all.

So he shrugged and said, "I mean, I could go for some afternoon waffles before work."

Astrid inhaled deeply and opened up her laptop, determination written on her face.

'Alright,' she thought, staring at her screen. 'Time to finish this. It's just you and me now, buddy.'

Her finished CV stared back.

Astrid cracked her fingers. It was almost perfect. Emphasis on almost. Which meant it wasn't perfect. Which meant-

Astrid screwed her eyes shut, forcing her train of thought to stop.

"You know you're good, you know you're good," she ground out through gritted teeth, knocking her fists against her forehead as if physically willing the mantra into her head. "A resumé alone isn't going to make them hire you. That's on you," she repeated Hiccup's words and rubbed her eyes, exhaling slowly.

Then she yanked her hands away from her face and set them down on the table, opened her emails and typed in the address of the school office.

Snotlout had followed Fishlegs back inside and was now pretending to greatly care about where he would sit, when in reality he just wanted to spend a bit more time watching Fishlegs work.

"You sure you don't wanna sit outside? It's a beautiful-"

"No, it's really hot, in here's better," Snotlout said too quickly, his voice maybe a little too loud. Fishlegs hesitated but then shrugged and pointed him towards an unoccupied table.

"Hey, isn't that Hiccup's date from a couple weeks ago?"

Snotlout hissed and pulled Fishlegs behind a flower pot. The other man let out a low yelp.

"What-"

"She's his girlfriend now," Snotlout explained and stole a quick glance at the young woman, who was typing something on her laptop. "They got together like three days ago - which he didn't tell me until yesterday, so I'm a bit bitter about that - but they had their first kiss like yesterday and - God their children are gonna be beautiful, what the fuck- he is so head over heels, it's disgusting, but I'm really happy for him, so it's okay."

Snotlout stopped, realising this was all maybe something Hiccup should have told his friend in person and when he was ready, so he quickly added, "But you didn't hear this from me."

Fishlegs turned to look at him. "Hear what?" he grinned, nudged his shoulder shortly and then made his way to Astrid's table.

For a few moments all Snotlout could do was look after him, having stopped functioning.

_______________________________________________________

"Good afternoon, what can I get for you?"

Astrid looked up at the sound of a familiar man's voice and smiled when she recognised him.

"Hi! A latte would be brilliant - and you know what, while I'm here, some of your chocolate ice cream because it's to kill for."

Fishlegs laughed. "Good choice. And thank you, I'm glad you like it."

Astrid shrugged and grinned. "We should both thank Hiccup for that one, he introduced me to your cafè. We haven't had the chance to come by again though, and he'd mentioned you were out of town for a few days."

"So you guys are still going out?" Fishlegs - Christopher - asked and Astrid couldn't help but remember the first time her and Hiccup had come to The Cone Cove

"Let's see if I can manage to properly eat ice cream this time," Astrid commented lightly and pushed the door open.

It was a small, light-flooded place with plants over plants hanging from the ceiling and placed around the corners.

"Hiccup!" a voice called out and Astrid noticed a large kind-faced man emerge from behind the counter. Quickly she let go of Hiccup's hand, only now registering that they had still been holding hands.

She watched Hiccup grin and be engulfed in a large hug by the blond man who seemed to be about their age, maybe a bit older.

"It's so good to see you! You never stop by these days."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been a bit busy these days."

He tried stealing a quick glance at Astrid without either of them noticing - neither of which failed to see.

His friend's face lit up in a smiliar manner to Tuff's, Astrid realised and remembered Hiccup had been as hopeless as her.

She extended her hand to him. "Nice to meet you. I'm Astrid, Hiccup's …" She stopped, suddenly uncertain. What exactly were they? Was she his date? Did that imply that he was also dating other people? They were exclusive, weren't they? They were romantically involved, even though that sounded a lot like something that happened only shortly in a passionate affair. Girlfriend also did not apply.

"Date," she finished, shooting Hiccup a look who only shrugged helplessly and looked as though the only thing he wanted right now was for the ground to swallow him immediately.

The other man didn't seem to notice her pause and embarassment and shook her hand. "Likewise. I'm Christopher - or Chris, however you want."

He clapped his hands. "So. I'd recommend you this beautiful little table over here, the oleander is blooming just nicely this year."

Hiccup smiled and followed his guide. "Thanks, Fish."

"Hang on, I'll get you the specials card, too."

Christopher disappeared, a cheery smile on his face. Astrid took a seat and smoothed her hands over her skirt.

"Fish?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Fishlegs, actually. Another weird nickname. We met while fishing when we were young. Both of us got forced by our parents to go fishing with them, and, well, let's just say we spent the day more with hunting trolls and learning about the forest than fishing. But it stuck with us."

She hummed, resting her chin on her hand. "Are you close?"

"We're still really good friends, but not as close as we used to be. Work's sort of getting in the way. But we still meet up sometimes."

His voice sounded rough, almost, a bit hoarse she noticed then. He sounded exhausted.

"Ruff and me are the same, honestly. I don't know just when we got so busy. And I don't want any friendship to feel like a chore."

"Right. That's understandable."

He locked his eyes on her again over the menu. Astrid pretended not to notice.

"Is the coffee as good as his ice cream?" she asked, quickly scanning her options.

"I don't know, I don't drink coffee."

Astrid gasped, mockingly in shock. "How do you survive?"

"On water and tea, usually."

Hiccup had leaned forward, leaning on his forearms, grinning his lopsided grin at her and suddenly she wasn't so keen on focusing her attention on the menu in her hands anymore.

In the end she decided to just get a chocolate sundae and set the menu down, letting her eyes wander over his face again

"Yeah, we, uh, we're actually a couple now," she heard herself say.

"Congratulations," Christopher smiled. "I'm not surprised though, from the way he looked at you. Anyways, I'll be right back with your order, it was nice to see you again!"

"Likewise," Astrid replied smiling and then returned her attention to the email she was writing - well, at least she was looking at it. The rest of her was still caught up in another sun-flooded memory.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Hiccup grinned at the sight of Snotlout entering the fire department in his usual state - fifteen minutes late, a to-go coffee cup in his hand.

His cousin sat down, setting the cup on the table.

"Okay, so, first of all, before you judge me, Mr 'I got an entire day off so I could get laid'-"

he ducked away from the rubber that came flying at him and continued completely unfazed, "guess who's back in town and has a dog."

Hiccup gasped. "You're kidding! He got a dog?"

"Yes," Snotlout confirmed, grimly staring at him over the rim of his coffee. "Which makes me, like, seventyone percent more attracted to him, which I hate."

Hiccup looked at him and could already tell Snotlout was going to despise his next question.

"Why don't you just tell him?"

Snotlout gawked at him. "And ruin my carefully crafted reputation in this city? Are you insane?"

"Have you ever considered that maybe he … feels the same way?"

"Wait- did he say something to you?"

"No. I'm just saying you could be missing your chance and it might be too late in a couple-"

"Okay, okay, calm down Romeo, just 'cause you got a girlfriend now doesn't mean you can start giving me actually helpful dating advice, okay?"

Snotlout interrupted him but grinned and nudged his cousin's shoulder, leaning back while taking another sip of his coffee.

"Appreciating it, though."

Hiccup snorted and leaned back.

"Hey, just 'cause I got a girlfriend doesn't actually mean I know how I did that."

Hiccup sighed, rubbed his burning eyes and threw his arms over his head, stretching until he heard his back crack.

'That sounds very unhealthy,' he thought, slowly rotating his neck and letting it hang backwards until some of the tension subsided. His gaze fell on Snotlout next to him, who had curled up on the couch and was snoring loudly. Hiccup grinned and carefully got up, trying not to disturb his sleeping cousin and tiptoed to the door of the common room, up the steps to the headquarters.

He started when his phone in his pocket rang, checked the screen and grinned at Astrid's face on the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Astrid's voice greeted him and he felt a wave of warmth wash over him at the sound of it.

"Hey," he answered softly and sat down on his chair.

"What're you up to?"

"Work, as usual," he leaned back. "I'm on call response."

She let out a small chuckle. "So you had to pick up?"

"Of course, I'm just doing my job here, it's not like Snotlout's been asleep for the past hour and nothing is happening and I'm bored out of my mind and have been wanting to talk to you the whole day."

Astrid hummed, grinning audibly. "Of course."

She paused for a second and then asked, "So would it be okay if I came over for a bit? It's - basically too late for me to be asking this, I already got the tea and am literally two minutes away."

Hiccup sat there, stunned for a second, the only thought occupying his mind right now, 'God, I love you.' but he bit his tongue, and instead said, "That'd be great! Text me when you're at the gates, I'll come down. Don't wanna wake Snotlout."

Astrid nodded, biting down a grin. "Okay, see you in two minutes," she whispered.

Hiccup closed his eyes, his heart fluttering.

Two minutes.

[rosesnvines]

Scary Stories

It was a lovely autumn night around a fire, the group, a blend of Vikings and Scots, were swapping scary stories. Gobber was particularly engaging in his story about the Boneknapper dragon. 

“So there I was, all alone, stranded on an island full of bones. I had heard of the Boneknapper, but had never seen one before. Was I to be next in its hunt for the perfect bone to finish its armor? But I couldn’t hide forever, I had to get off that island. So, with only a torch and my broom, I set out to find some means of escape. Little did I know I was being watched.” His audience gasped. 

Eret leaned towards Hiccup. “This is way better than the stories he told us about the Boneknapper.” 

Astrid snorted. “Guess reality is stranger than fiction.” 

“Sh,” said Hiccup. “Let him finish. If they like it, all the better.” He nodded at the Scots. One Scot in particular, the princess no less, seemed really intent on the story, listening with interest. She had been interested in hearing all about the dragons, asking a lot of questions. Her curiosity impressed, and interested, Hiccup. He hadn’t met someone so eager to learn, not since Fishlegs, nor someone so eager to get her own dragon. Her fiery red curls cascaded past her shoulders, looking wild and free, while her blue eyes reminded Hiccup of the big blue sky. He wished she would look his way, just once. He was feeling a little lonely with Eret and Astrid getting all cuddly next to him. But her attention was on Gobber. 

“So I searched all night long, hoping to find some way of escape, but all I could find were bones. Can’t put to sea in a boat of bones, trust me, I actually tried it.” 

“Of course you did,” mumbled Snotlout. 

“Sh!” said Hiccup and Valka at the same time. Snotlout put up his hands and grinned nervously. 

“So I had to come up with a different plan, I decided to try and use the Boneknapper itself to fly me off the island. But, how could I do that without becoming another bone on its armor?” The youngest members of the Scottish group, the triplet brothers of Merida, gasped and leaned in, excited to hear what came next. “So I went and found myself the largest pile of bones I could and waited. The Boneknapper finally came, all skeletal and silent.” He paused, wriggling his fingers. His audience gasped. “He didn’t notice me as he went digging through the bones, so I took my chance and found a spot to hang on to.” Gobber chuckled. “Guess I should have worried too too much, that Boneknapper had a couple of blind spots, and I had found one of them.” 

“But, how did you know it was its blind spot?” asked a Scotsman. Hiccup knows it was one of the three young lords who was seeking the princess’s hand, but he couldn’t remember which one. Their names all began with young, Young MacIntosh, Young McGuffin, and, oh yeah, it was actually Wee Dingwall. Ruffnut was flirting with Young MacIntosh, who was enjoying the attention. 

“Well, for one thing, I was able to ride it off the island without it noticing me. And for another, I saw the remains of a guy who apparently tried the same tactic, and failed.” The group gasped. 

“Well,” said Chief Fergus, rising from his seat. “No offence, but that wasn’t quite scary.” 

Gobber huffed. “Then care to share something that’s scarier than a Boneknapper?” 

“Oh, yes, my children will know this story by heart. The story of the demon bear, Mordu.” The triplets gasped and dashed behind Merida and their mother, but they peeked out from behind Merida’s and Elinor’s backs with huge grins. “The legend goes that Mordu wanted to rule over all of Scotland, and went to war with his brothers and the other clan chiefs. But Mordu became rather blood-thirsty. If anyone so much as dared to say anything against him, even as a joke, he would have them killed. His own men began to turn on him. He hid to bide his time. A witch gave him a potion as a way to put a stop to his blood-lust, and he turned into a bear. I mean, you would think that since a bear eats honey, fish, and berries that would work, right? But no, the plan backfired, and Mordu used his bear strength to kill many of his men. His brothers managed to banish him, to never be allowed back in the castle. Now Mordu roams the woods at night, seeking for another victim to kill in his maddening desire to rule all of Scotland.” 

“Th-these w-woods?” asked Fishlegs, a squeak coming out at the end of his sentence. 

“Aye,” said Fergus with a nod. He walked around the circle. “And there’s a way to call for him too, should you ever want to meet him. Just simply call out, ‘Mordu, Mordu, I’ve found a traitor for you’. And then Mordu will come up behind you and RAWR!” Fergus let out a loud roar right behind Fishlegs. Everyone jumped and screamed. Fergus burst out laughing, followed by the other clan chiefs. Merida was giggling. 

“Ok, Ok, that was pretty good,” said Hiccup, chuckling nervously. 

The triplets nearly fell over laughing while Merida pointed at them. “You should have seen your faces!” 

“Yeah, Ok, ha ha, yeah,” said Hiccup. 

“How do you guys come up with stories like this?” asked Valka. The Scots stopped laughing and became dead serious. 

“Oh lass, Mordu’s real.” Fergus propped his peg leg on one of the logs. “It’s how I got this beauty. I fought Mordu myself. I barely made it out with my life!” 

Merida bobbed her head. “It was pretty scary.” 

“It was, and I’d rather you not try something so foolish again,” said Elinor. 

“What? I was only protecting you and Merida, my dear.” 

“W-wait, M-Mordu’s r-real?” whimpered Fishlegs. 

“As real as your own dragons,” said Fergus. 

Hiccup stood up and chuckled nervously. “Well, since we do have our dragons, we should be perfectly safe. And it looks like that fire needs some more wood. I’m going to go get some.” 

“But, Hiccup! Mordu’s out there!” said Fishlegs. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll have Toothless with me.” Hiccup turned to his dragon. “Right bud?” Toothless nodded. 

Fergus chuckled. “I think getting lost should be your biggest worry rather than Mordu. We haven’t seen him in years.” He turned to his daughter. “Merida, why don’t you go with the lad?” 

“Oh no, there’s no need to . . .”

Merida bounced up, chuckling softly. “Oh, you wee lamb, you’ll definitely get lost. Come on.” She walked past the stuttering Hiccup. 

Hiccup sighed. “Oh fine.” Even though, deep down, he was glad it was her. The three walked deep into the forest. There was a thick silence, Hiccup thought it was so thick that it would suffocate him. They began picking up a few sticks before Hiccup decided to try and break the silence. “So, um, ah, Mordu is real, huh? You and your mother saw him?” 

“As clear as I see you and your dragon right now,” replied Merida. 

“You really think your dad scared him off?” 

“I certainly hope so, I mean, we haven’t seen him in years. Dad’s the Bear King now because of it.” 

“Right, all the bears on your flags and whatnot.” 

“And you’re the Dragon Master, hence why all the dragons on your flags and whatnot,” said Merida with a smirk. 

Hiccup chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right.” A moment of silence. “So, um, have you, have you decided on which of the clan heirs you’re going to marry?” 

“Well, I don’t think it’s going to be Young MacIntosh, you can thank your friend for that.” 

Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh, sorry about that.” 

“Don’t be, I really want you to thank her.” 

“Oh, oh!” said Hiccup, suddenly realizing what Merida was getting at. She didn’t quite like the Young MacIntosh. “So, what about Young McGuffin and Wee Dingwall?” 

“Hmm,” said Merida, wrinkling her nose, “if I really had to choose, I guess Young McGuffin. Wee Dingwall’s really not my type. He’s a nice lad, but I don’t love him.” 

“But you don’t exactly love Young McGuffin either.” 

“Mm, no, not really.” Merida huffed. “But I could I guess.” 

“What would happen if someone else came in?” 

Merida glanced at Hiccup, blinking in confusion. “Someone else?” 

“Yeah, you know, what if, um, someone else presented himself as a suitor?” 

“Well, it would depend on who that is, there’s really no one else around our age.” 

Him squeezed his eyes shut. “Me, Merida, I’m talking about me.” He opened his eyes, Merida had turned to look at him in shock. 

“Y-you’re presenting yourself as a suitor?” 

“Y-yeah, why not? I’m a chief’s son, well, I am the chief now, but I’m just as good as any of the others. W-well, I mean, I’m not as good-looking as Young MacIntosh, or as Scottish as Wee Dingwall, or, or as interesting as Young McGuffin . . .” 

“Yes!” 

Hiccup blinked. “Wait, what?” 

“I said yes, you silly Viking! Yes!” 

“W-wait, really?” 

“I’m not going to repeat myself, Hiccup.” 

Hiccup chuckled nervously. “Sorry, I was just so worried that you were going to say no that . . . um, what’s that?” Merida turned as Toothless edged closer towards them, a soft growling emanating from his throat. A little blue light had appeared, it looked like a face was in it. 

Merida gasped. “Why, that’s a will o’ wisp! Legends say they can lead you to your destiny!” 

“Oh, Ok, this really seems like a spooky night now. Tales of skeleton dragons and demon bears, and now ghostly lights? Is there anything else that’s scary you Scots are hiding from us?” Merida shot him a look before walking closer towards the will o’ wisp. As soon as she got close enough to touch it, it disappeared with a soft sigh before a whole line of them appeared. Hiccup grabbed Merida’s arm before she took another step. “You’re sure you want to follow them?” he asked. 

“Why not? There must be something we need to find,” said Merida with a shrug. 

“But we really should be heading back to the camp. Can’t we follow them another time?” The closest wisp seemed to urge them forward. The others behind it frantically echoed its movements. 

“No, we should follow, I think something’s wrong.” 

“Yeah, we’re following a bunch of ghost lights,” muttered Hiccup. 

Merida groaned and grabbed his hand. “Come on.” They followed the will o’ wisps for a few feet before they stopped. 

“Ok, now what?” asked Hiccup. They were standing in a small clearing between the trees. Merida stepped closer, noticing something on a branch. 

“Ach, what is this? I can barely . . .” She jumped as something ignited behind her and a warm glow filled the grove. She turned, Hiccup had ignited his sword. He grinned sheepishly at her. “Oh, uh, thanks.” 

“No problem.” 

She turned back to the thing on the branch and plucked it off. She scrutinized it in the light of Hiccup’s sword. She gasped. “This is bear fur.” 

Hiccup peered at the dark fur. “How can you tell?” 

“I’ve played enough with my dad’s fur coat to know how bear fur feels and looks.” 

Hiccup blinked. “Ok, so we’ve found what used to be a resting spot for a bear.” 

“But why isn’t it here? Bears sleep at night too. Unless . . . unless it’s Mordu!” 

Hiccup flailed his left hand, the one not holding the flaming sword. “Hold on, hold on, you can’t just expect me to believe that you find some bear fur and think it’s this demon bear?” 

“But the will o’ wisps? They had to have brought us here, to warn us!” Merida grabbed Hiccup’s hand and began pulling him towards the camp. “Come one, we have to warn the others!” 

“But how can you be so sure that, that . . .” Hiccup gulped as a large form rose from the shadows, right in front of them. “That’s him, isn’t it?” The bear had broken arrows and weapon hilts sticking out of its fur and scars all over its body. One eye was white. It certainly looked like a demon bear. 

“Y-yup,” said Merida. The bear roared. The two screamed. “Run!” Merida pulled Hiccup through the woods, the two dashing back towards the camp. The bear was hot on their heels.

“Aah! Toothless!” Toothless let out a roar and rammed into Mordu. Merida and Hiccup kept on running. 

“What took you so long? And where’s the firewood?” asked Fergus when the two burst into the camp. 

“Mordu! We saw . . . Mordu!” Merida said between gasps of air. 

“What?” the group cried out. 

Fergus quickly picked up his sword. “Where is he?” 

“Toothless is fighting him!” said Hiccup. At that moment, Toothless crashed into the camp, snarling. He quickly righted himself. Mordu stepped into the fire’s glow, the light danced maniacally on his face as he roared, his one good eye turned red. Toothless roared in reply, staying between Mordu and the group. 

“Everybody, back to the castle!” shouted Fergus. Everyone ran pell mell out of the clearing, screaming, towards the castle. Fergus pushed Merida and Hiccup towards that way when they didn’t move. “You heard me, move!” 

“I’m not leaving Toothless!” shouted Hiccup. 

“He stands a better chance against that bear than the rest of us!”

“He stands a better chance if he’s not alone!” retorted Hiccup. He swung his fiery sword. “And no offence, Chief Fergus, but Mordu hasn’t dealt with a fiery sword yet.” 

“I’d rather you not try your luck, lad.”  

“It hasn’t failed me yet,” said Hiccup, walking towards Toothless. 

“Hiccup!” called out Merida. Mordu glanced at Merida and Fergus before glancing at Hiccup. 

Hiccup blinked. “Uh, what’s with that look?” Mordu growled before charging at Hiccup. 

“Hiccup!” screamed Merida. Hiccup yelled and swung his sword, the flames singeing the bear’s fur. The bear took a step back then charged again, this time Toothless jumped him. The two rolled around the clearing, snarling at each other all while clawing and biting at each other. Mordu swung at Toothless, sending him rolling on the ground. Mordu turned towards Hiccup and charged again. Fergus shouted a war cry before charging Mordu. Merida let loose a couple of arrows, but the bear didn’t seem to notice. Fergus’s sword broke upon impact. 

“Is there nothing that can take him down?” asked Hiccup. 

“Well your sword didn’t seem to have a problem,” said Merida, dashing to stand by Hiccup before letting loose a couple more arrows. 

“But he didn’t have a problem with it either!” said Hiccup as Fergus joined them while Toothless and Mordu locked in fierce battle again. 

“Why don’t you have your dragon shoot him with a fireball?” asked Fergus. 

“And risk burning down the whole forest?” 

“Oh, right,” mumbled Fergus, glancing around at the wildfire just waiting to happen. 

“Well we need to do something soon!” said Merida. A roar answered. 

Hiccup glanced up and whooped. “Mom! Cloudjumper!” Valka and her large dragon descended on the dueling animals. Cloudjumpeer picked up Mordu. Toothless untangled himself from the bear’s claws and fell to the ground. He quickly righted himself. “Actually, I think now is a good time. Toothless, fire!” Toothless opened his mouth and shot a fireball straight into Mordu’s chest. The bear seemed to shiver and went limp. There was a moment of anxious silence as they waited to see if the bear would move again. He didn’t. “Mom, drop him!” Toothless quickly moved out of the way as Cloudjumper let go of the bear. It hit the ground with a huge thump. Hiccup stepped cautiously towards the mound of fur. 

“Careful, lad,” warned Fergus. Merida raised her bow. Hiccup touched the bear, but a blue light left the form. 

“Why, that’s a will o’ wisp!” whispered Merida. The light revealed the face of a man. He nodded before it faded away. 

“I, I think that was Mordu when he was a man,” said Hiccup, turning to Fergus and Merida. 

“I think so too,” said Fergus. “But you do know what this means, right?” 

“What?” asked Hiccup slowly. 

“A party! You and your dragon defeated the demon bear!” shouted Fergus, picking up Hiccup and swinging him around. He put Hiccup down and began walking back to the castle. “This is going to be one awesome alliance!” 

“Good to know!” shouted Valka with a chuckle before following on Cloudjumper.

Hiccup shook his head. “Whoa, wow, glad we made such a good impression.” 

 “Well, there’s only been one other person who faced Mordu and survived, and that was my dad. You’re quite the hero.” 

Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair. “Uh, yeah, great, um . . .” 

Merida chuckled before kissing his cheek. “It will certainly give you quite the leg up on the other suitors.” 

Hiccup blushed. “Well, that’s good to know.” Toothless chortled. “Oh be quiet, you useless reptile.” 

Merida laughed as she wrapped her arm around Hiccup’s. “Come on. Can’t have the hero’s party without the hero. And you can announce your intention to be one of my suitors then too. Best time to do it.” 

“Oh good to know,” said Hiccup as they walked back to the castle, Toothless walking behind them, feeling quite proud of himself.

[skyeknight-hyperfixations]

Written in the Wings

"C'mon Aster, I promise! I'll try not to freeze your tail this time by accident."

The rabbit scowled, "That ain't a promise, ya twit, especially if ya pair it off with a 'try.'"

"But I'm so bored!" Jack groaned, falling back mid air, his wings fluttering to keep him from hitting the ground. "And I've already bothered Ryder with his Animal training with the newer fairies."

Aster raised a brow, paws on his sides and foot thumping on the ground repeatedly. "Now ya decided to bother me?" He huffed, "How 'bout workin' on your Frosting instead? 'm sure there are a bunch of windows, plants and frozen lakes that are gonna need that."

"Please, I'm the best Frost fairy around. I don't need the practice." Jack snorted, "Just let me ride you to the border and see the mainland animals from the Autumn woods cross over!"

"And why the bloody hell can't ya just fly over yourself?"

"I'm running low on Pixie dust and restock isn't till next week. But I have enough to spare if I just fly going back."

"How about walking then?"

"C'mon bunny! You owe me!"

Aster scrunched up his nose, "Aye?" He snorted, "How do you figure?"

"Okay, you're going to owe me." Jack corrected himself, "Because if you don't let me come along, I'm not going to tell you about a particular someone's very particular prank."

Aster groaned. "Ugh, I hate it when I have to visit winter woods to monitor the animals crossing over." He said. "you're a pain in the arse always. All right, all right, I'll take ya."

"All right!"

"But ya ain't coming anywhere near the border line itself. They're bad for your wings." The bunny warned.

"Aw bunny, you do care."

Aster rolled his eyes, "And no need getting them Spring Fairies into any of your trouble."

Jack made a mock-offended gasp, "When have I ever been in any sorts of trouble?"

"If ya want me to answer that, it's gonna take a while."

Jack shrugged, conceding to that and flying over to rest on the rabbit's back as he hopped along.

Back at Spring valley of Pixie Hollow, the fairies were taking their time preparing for their season since Winter was just about to start in a few weeks. Over at the Tinker fairy village, the Tinker fairies were preparing baskets to be sent to the winter woods.

One of these fairies, Hiccup, was riding a lizard. A carriage made of twigs and leaves were loaded with thinner strands of leaves.

"Look sharp, everyone!" Gobber hollered, "The Snowy owls will be arriving to take the snowflake baskets to the Winter woods." he smiled before scanning the area, and his eyes fell on a fairy lounging about. "Milo, stop reading all day and start tinkering."

Jim looked up from where he was weaving a basket with Ben, an anxious squirrel who's a bit more nutty than the ones he eats. "Funny how they're called snowflake baskets," The Fast flying fairy hummed, "when they're not made of it."

"Don't you start now, Jimmy."

"It's Jim, Gobber!"

"That's head tinker fairy Gobber to you, kid!"

"And a mouthful." Jim rolled his eyes, "you should be glad I'm using my free hours helping the tinker fairies out."

"Actually, he should be glad you lost a bet against me and had to help us." Hiccup quipped, and with a mechanism resembling a fishing pole, he reeled another batch of leaf strands from a lizard. "Is that the last load, Toothless?"

The lizard grunted, giving him a gummy smile.

"Thanks, bud. Again, wouldn't hurt if you used your words once in a while."

The freckled fairy hummed, before flying over to Jim and Ben.

"Am I doing this right, Hiccup?" Ben asked, "I can only see in shades of gray, so was all the strands I got the color a leaf should be?"

Hiccup smiled at the Squirrel fondly, "It's fine, Ben." He said. "I think Merida was looking for you, something about baby squirrel training."

The special animals of Pixie Hollow help the animal fairies nurture regular animals brought from the mainland. Usually, in seasonal rounds to the mainland, Animal fairies encounter abandoned baby animals. Not all infant animals end up abandoned, but those that do, they bring to Pixie Hollow to care for. Some of them, once grown independent enough, are brought back to the mainland. Those that aren't, they keep in Pixie Hollow.

"All right, I'll see you around then." Ben nodded, "See you, Jimmy."

The Fast flying fairy waved the animal off, before sighing. "I'm never getting rid of that nickname now, am I?"

"Morning Jim," Hiccup smirked, before settling the thin leaf strands, "this should be enough to finish my batch of snowflake baskets."

Jim looked over, "If you say so; you know about this crafting stuff more than me."

"I still can't believe we make these things but don't get to take them to the winter fairies."

Jim mimicked his tone, "I still can't believe you guys are calling them snowflake baskets."

"Dang it, Jimmy, if ya got a problem with the way I name things, just say so!"

"I am saying so!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, before nudging his friend and giving the older fairy a placating wave. "Go easy on Gobber. He's a more easy going head fairy than yours, after all."

"I guess that's true," Jim conceded, "Don't let Gogo hear you say that though, or tell her I agreed with you. She already doesn't like me very much."

Hiccup chuckled, "Not that you care about what she thinks of you much," he quipped. Jim shrugged, "Seriously though, wouldn't you want to go into the winter woods?"

"Between you and me, I rather keep my wings since I enjoy flying with them than on Dragon flies." Jim deadpanned.

Hiccup grinned cockily, "Which is why you lost that bet with me." He teased.

Jim snorted, shoving his friend. "Anyway, you know they wouldn't last a day in that cold, never mind us." he said, "So don't you start getting any ideas."

Hiccup made a look of mock indignant, "I assure you, I don't know what you're talking about." He said innocently.

"Yeah, don't even try," Jim rolled his eyes, "your ideas are trouble. Remember when you almost delayed Spring?"

Hiccup scowled, pointing at the fast flying fairy crossly. "Hey, that was as much the fault of Snotlout poking on my self-esteem as it was mine." He said.

"Funny how you didn't deny having a fault on it too."

The two fairy friends continued to tousle each other more, till Gobber yelled at them to quit fooling around.

"Anyway," Hiccup rolled his eyes, starting to weave a new basket. "Since when were you afraid of a little risk?"

"Since it's more than just a little, and I believe I mentioned flying." Jim hummed as he finished up the one he was doing, until a familiar voice was heard calling out his name. "Ack, although, if not flying meant getting him off my back..."

'Him' was referencing a certain dust keeper fairy, who was just flying towards Tinker fairy village with stock delivery of pixie dust.

Hiccup snickered, "Just go out on that date with him already." he said. "What's the harm?"

"He's annoying."

"Yes, yes, that's why you always end up sitting beside Dimitri instead of your own fairy group, or me, whenever Queen Anna has an announcement or during any of our events." Hiccup drawled, earning him another nudge from Jim.

Jim glared at his friend, "Well, that just means they're more annoying than him." He said, "You know, fast flying fairies are very competitive and can be jerks at those times."

"Don't I know it." Hiccup mumbled.

Dimitri flew over to the two, grinning widely... Mostly since Jim was there. "Hey Hiccup, here's your batch," he handed over a leaf pouch to the tinker fairy, before turning to Jim. "And here's yours..." Then, he lowered his voice and puckered his lips a bit. "But you know what to do to get an extra batch."

"You know that's against the rules." Jim deadpanned.

Hiccup grinned, "No, last I check, kissing wasn't against the rules."

Jim hits him in response to that.

"And you know I have my ways," Dimitri said, as if Hiccup hadn't spoken, "and accept them anyway... Every. Time." he smirked, sending Jim a wink.

Hiccup raised a brow, giving his friend his own smirk. "Every time, huh? But if this happens often..." He then feigns a gasp, "So you had gone out with him already!"

"Ack, I told you to keep that between us, you dimwit. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Is that reputation pretending you don't like me? Because I got news for you, it's not well maintained," Dimitri smirked, "Jimmy."

Jim scowled, "Oh for the love of... Give me that." He huffed, grabbing both pouches and hiding the extra one in his jacket made out of butterscotch daisy petals. It didn't really work with the Fast flying fairy purple color ensemble, but Dimitri had given it to him and that was the color of the Dust keeper fairies.

Honestly, Hiccup was still at a lost why Jim pretended nothing was going on with him and Dimitri when clearly, everybody and their Head fairies could tell there was.

Then, a horn sounded, announcing the incoming arrival of the Snowy owls. The three fairy friends looked up in wonder, and see the aforementioned creatures coming in. Gobber's voice is hollering something along the lines of activating the pulley.

Another tinker fairy did as told, and the baskets were brought up by a conveyer system developed by Hiccup. The mechanism brought the baskets in time for each owls to grab each one in their talons. A frozen tablet floats over as well, and Gobber flies over to check the message of remaining orders needed.

"That's it for the first shipment," The large fairy called out, "But according to this, they still need a lot for tomorrow's. So don't start dawdling now! Milo, put those books down already and help!"

Hiccup grinned, using Gobber's distraction as a chance to fly higher to see where the owls were going after taking a basket; off back to the winter fairy territory. Despite his earlier arguments, Jim flew after him to get a good look as well followed by Dimitri.

"It's like a whole 'nother mainland," Hiccup sighed, "I'd give up all the lost things I've collected to see what they've got over there."

Jim raised a brow, "Does that include all your tools made from lost things?"

"Okay, maybe the ones that are only for display so far." Hiccup conceded.

Dimitri shrugged, crossing his arms. "Not that you'd have to, either way." He said, "I'm not one you'd say is by the book..."

"Really?" Jim drawled sarcastically.

The Dust keeper fairy continued, ignoring the sass. "But the 'No crossing the border' rule is there for very good reason." He said. "Bad things happen to those who disobey it."

"But if no one's ever done it, how bad can it be?"

Jim sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, do you have a death wish, Hic?"

"And what makes you think death's the 'bad thing that happens', hm?"

This time, both Jim and Dimitri groaned.

"No, no, come back here you naughty kit!"

Startled by the urgent cry, the three looked down to see Ben chase after a younger squirrel, that started going through the quad of Tinker fairy village, disrupting the work in progress.

"Oh Ben," Jim shook his head, noticing Hiccup's invention and thought of an idea. He hurried back down, taking the device to help Ben, literally, reel in the frenzied kit. "Gotcha!"

The squirrel lets out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Jimmy. Always a life saver."

"It's Jim." The fast flying groaned, handing the device to Hiccup. "At this rate I'm going to forget the real name."

Dimitri laughed, "Well, I like both." He said.

"Yeah, you would."

Hiccup started to unbind the kit from the string around it, as Ben placated the kit, patting its head.

"Now c'mon, little guy, Merida will be waiting for us already with your brothers and sisters at the border." The older squirrel said. "We have to hurry if you're going to join them."

"Oh, you're taking them across the border today?" Hiccup grinned.

Ben sighed, "Trying to, and it's a long way still," he huffed, "Feels even longer since this guy's such a handful."

"Need some help?"

Jim and Dimitri grimaced, exchanging looks with one another.

"It should not feel like such a chore being someone's friend," Jim shook his head, "Fine, if Hiccup's going I'm coming along too."

Read it here

Hoping to get more readers this way. Hehe.

Edits done by Jasmin Abarca (@jasmin_abarca) Thank you again for it!!

[p-artsypants]

She folded her arms over the rim of the basin. “‘Can’t’ maybe isn’t the right word. But I haven’t gone swimming since I was little. I told you I used to pretend to be a mermaid, remember? I only swam with my legs together, even when my dad tried to teach me to swim ‘properly’. You could scarcely get me out of the ocean when the weather was warm.”

A sad smile pulled on her lips, not eager to share her tragic story, but knowing it was important.

“One day, we kids were gathered in the Great Hall for a ceremony. We’d completed our basic schooling, doing reading, writing, and arithmetic. We were supposed to share to everyone our favorite thing we learned, and what we wanted to be when we grew up.”

“Snotlout of course told everyone he was going to be chief, while picking his nose. Most of the other boys said they were going to be strong warriors. Me? I told everyone I was going to be a mermaid princess.” She gnaw on her lip. “Most of the adults just laughed. I was maybe six years old. But…there’s this old man in the village named Mildew. He’s always been…a party pooper, to put it nicely. He stood and yelled, ‘by the time you encounter a mermaid, you’ll be dead! The beasts will drown you and feast on your flesh!’”

She took Hiccup’s hand, assuring him she didn’t think he would do that. “I burst into tears in front of everyone. It was actually Gobber who stood up for me and said that mermaids saved people from drowning and a kiss from them was good luck. I was so little, I didn’t know who to believe. It kind of tainted the dream.”

She stared deeply into his eyes, admiring the sad green that mirrored her own gaze. “I was scared of swimming in the ocean for many years, and even swimming in the lakes lost their appeal. As I got older, I found peace in sitting in the shallows. Surely I’d be safe there.”

“Then I saw you. You were so peacefully sunning yourself. I knew it was my chance to find out the truth.” She intertwined their fingers. “Am I ever glad I did. Mildew’s notorious for finding joy in people’s misery, especially children’s. He probably made that all up on purpose.”

“So yeah…it’s been years since I really swam. I don’t know if it’s a trick you never forget or after all this time, I’d be starting from scratch. But maybe you’ll help me relearn?”

Astrid’s stomach rumbled loudly. “Oh geez…sorry about that. Guess since we skipped lunch, I’m a little hungry. You must be too! How do you feel? Shall I get the cart and see if dinner’s ready? Or did you need more time?”

After a long training session, all Astrid wanted to do was cool off on the beach. Maybe a tiny swim, even though the ocean was so cold at this time of year. She pushed through the brush and staggered down to the shore.

Only to find a boy lounging in the shallows.

“Oh!” She dropped her axe in the sand. From his bare torso, she assumed he was naked. “Sorry! I didn’t know someone else would be…here…” as the apologies flowed, she realized from the waist down, he had green scales and a pair of fins.

No wonder she hadn’t recognized him.

“No way…” she inched closer. “A real mermaid! In the flesh! Are the stories true?” She stamped down her overwhelming curiosity for a moment to give him a stern point. “Don’t try anything fishy, mermaid. I’m very capable of protecting myself, got it?”

((I saw the prompt and went feral, hope you don’t mind))

[X]

Hiccup started, the water around him splashing as he sat up straight in surprise, before he moved a little further back, his cheeks flushed.

"No, sorry, I, I shouldn't--" Ducking his head, the merman awkwardly held up a hand, "Usually no one comes here..."

But his movements only caused his tail to briefly break the surface, emerald scales glittering in the sun for a moment before dipping below the water again.

Firmly, he responded, "Merman. I am a merman. And no, don't worry, I, I wasn't going to try anything...I know you'd probably kill me if I did..."

Clearing his throat, he ran a hand through his hair, which had partially dried in his time sitting in the shallow water. "What, what stories are you referring to?"

He knew, or at least had a gut feeling about what she was asking, but he wanted to hear it from her. She appeared wary, but not fearful. Maybe these humans didn't have the same fears of his kind like the others?

[mericcuplooks]

mericcup month day 30 – free | the end

[previous]

LAST CHAPTER!!!

Hiccup drops Merida off in the woods outside of Dunbroch. They say a short goodbye, and she watches him as he and Toothless flies away, towards Berk. Once they have disappeared from view, she takes a deep breath, and goes home.

She barely takes a step inside the gates before her mother his hugging her, and they’re crying in each other’s arms. Her brothers come soon after, she hates how much they’ve grown while she’s been gone. Last to join the hug is her father, he’s sobbing even more than Elinor.

She ends up getting quite the lecture, but that is expected, and it’s softened by the fact that her brothers haven’t let go of her since she returned. In the evening she goes to visit Angus in the stable. It feels good to be home.

When Hiccup lands on Berk he’s immediately tackled by Snotlout, who apparently missed him even more than Astrid let on. It’s a little unnerving, but appreciated. The rest of the riders come next, all hugging him with excitement he’s rarely seen them have. They all start telling stories and joking, and it’s almost as if he never left at all.

That is, until Stoick shows up.

Hiccup fears the worst, and starts apologizing as soon as he sees his father. But he is caught of guard when Stoick’s eyes well up, and he’s pulled into one of the fiercest hugs he’s ever gotten. All his worries are washed away when Stoick tells him that he would had done the same thing for Hiccup’s mother.

At the end of the day, practically all of Berk is huddled inside the great hall listening to Hiccup as he tells them about his adventures out in the world. He can’t stop smiling.

 Two weeks later a meeting is held between all the clan leaders and Viking chiefs, discussing peace. It’s the first time Merida and Hiccup see each other since he dropped them off, and as soon as he lands with Toothless she is by his side. Together they advocate for peace, giving arguments for how it’s achievable and being living proof that it’s possible.

In the end, everyone agrees. But on the condition that the Princess and Chief-to-be continue to be the example, and get married. Hiccup and Merida are both happy to say yes.

Two ceremonies are held; one in Dunbroch and one on Berk. They are as officially married as they can get. A lot of time is spent debating which of their weddings was better. Merida keeps saying it was the one on Berk, only because she got a dragon of her own as a wedding gift from her new husband.

 It’s only shortly after they’re married that they discover the trappers, and Drago. It’s a difficult ordeal, but at least they’ve got each other. Merida follows Hiccup when he leaves to find Drago. She stays by his side when he finds his mother, and when he loses his father. She watches with pride as he’s officially made Chief.

 They figure out how to lead Berk together. It’s not easy, but they’ve got a lot of help. Valka is always there to support them, and Astrid and the rest of the riders are a big help too. Even Eret becomes a valued part of their council once he’s gotten used to the Berk way of living. It’s good to have them all, especially when they take trips to Dunbroch. They can always be sure that Berk is in good hands.

 Merida finds a good friend in Astrid at this time. Once everything has calmed down, and they are working closely together in overseeing Berk. She has to admit that the first time they met she wasn’t convinced she would ever like this girl, but as soon as they got a chance to spend time together, they were best friends within a matter of hours. Hiccup is ecstatic at first, but then they start snarking off at him together, and he realizes his mistake. Still, seeing his wife and best friend getting along always manages to make him smile.

 As good as things are though, there are still threats on the horizon. They spend a lot of time rescuing dragons from trappers, and Berk ends up being widely overpopulated. But it takes Gobber actually pointing it out for them to find a solution. And the one they find should have been obvious from the start.

Dragons start being moved to Dunbroch. Fergus could not be happier, neither could the triplets. More and more Scots adopt dragons, especially the warriors, and once they found out about Grimmel and the other warlords, they don’t stand a chance.

 Time passes. Elinor and Fergus decide to retire early, they say it’s time for new ideas and traditions to take the throne. Merida and Hiccup are crowned Queen and King, and take their new positions with grace. They’re suddenly in charge of a much larger area than before, but they’re never in over their heads. With Hamish, Hubert and Harris and the young lords in Scotland, and the council led by Astrid on Berk, there’s always someone competent around to handle things even when they’re not there.

It’s a good thing too, Merida decides as she watches Hiccup cooing at their newborn baby. They’re going to need a lot of help, now more than ever.

[coneygoil]

The Home We Built Together, part 38

Two young Vikings. An arranged marriage. Hiccup always wanted to win the girl of his dreams, but not like this. Now he and Astrid must learn to live together and maybe one day, learn to love…

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9| Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Interlude | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37

“Hiccup.”

Hiccup peered down from his perch on Toothless’ back at the tiny figure on the land far below waving furiously at him. The figure called again, distant at first until the sound drifted up to meet him. Hiccup’s brow furrowed. Sound had never echoed like that up into the air before. What felt like a hand clamped down on his shoulder, dragging him off Toothless. Hiccup yelped Toothless’ name, arms reaching for his dragon as he watched helplessly as Toothless tumbled down along with him.

“HICCUP!”

He jerked out of sleep, eyes popping open and wildly flicking about. Blonde hair and bright blues eyes filled his frame of vision. He paused, staring into those eyes.

“Hey,” Astrid said, softly. The caress of her knuckles soothed across his cheek. “Where were you?”

He turned his head, nuzzling her knuckles, thankful for her presence. “In a really crazy dream.”

“Are you okay?” Astrid asked, her hand retreating into her lap.

“Yeah.”

Hiccup sat up, rubbing the sleep from his face. They’d spent the past three late nights training the other teens to become dragon riders. Hiccup wanted to ease into the training, and Fishlegs seemed to be the least likely to cause chaos. Aside from Fishlegs’ barely restrained shrieks, he did remarkably well. Hiccup had crafted a simple saddle for each rider to start off with. Fishlegs had white-knuckled the saddle so hard, he left imprints of his fingernails in the leather. He’d finally eased after several minutes of his Gronckle – which Fishlegs named Meatlug -- hovering and gently buzzing over the boundaries of the cove.

The following nights weren’t as uneventful. As soon as the twins’ rear ends planted in their saddles, they spurred their Hideous Zippleback to zoom off. Astrid and Hiccup found them zig-zagging through the sky, hooting and hollering – Hiccup’s fear hitting Fahrenheit at the thought of all the attention they were most likely attracting. They barely got the twins attention to follow them toward the cove so Hiccup could pick up Toothless. After the wild training session and one tree blown to fiery bits on a neighboring island, the twins dubbed their dragon heads Barf and Belch.

Snotlout walked into the training session as if he was the greatest dragon expert known to the Archipelago. He sauntered up to his Monstrous Nightmare and commanded the Nightmare to bow for him to mount. The Nightmare eyed Snotlout as if he was the dumbest sack of rocks on Berk. He snatched Snotlout in his pointy teeth – in which Snotlout yelped so loud it felt it echoed through the entire island (another fear-cringing moment for Hiccup) – and tossed Snotlout onto his neck. The Nightmare blew a puff of hot breath at him before following Stormfly through the tunnel. The only other incident that night was the Nightmare heating Snotlout’s butt when he got too cocky. Hiccup was right. The Nightmare would definitely keep his cousin’s ego in check. Snotlout dubbed his Nightmare – Hookfang – because his dragon needed a “kicka** name”.

Other than the few attention-drawing incidents that thankfully didn’t draw attention as far as they were aware, the training sessions went well. Every teen had bonded with their dragon and Hiccup could see the friendships growing. Slowly, very slowly, the knots in Hiccup’s stomach began to unwind.

Hiccup scanned Astrid. She wore her daily clothes. Her skin glistened from a light sweat from most likely a morning jog. “Sorry I overslept and didn’t have breakfast waiting for you.”

“It’s not like you don’t have a good excuse.”

“You were out as late as I was.”

Astrid rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a competition, Hiccup.” She grabbed his hand, giving him a hearty yank. “Now, get up. We have dragon training with Gobber.”

“Why isn’t that over with yet?” Hiccup whined as he let Astrid drag him to his feet.

“It’s over when the Chief declares it over,” she tossed a green tunic his way and a pair of pants that slapped Hiccup in the face, “and since the Chief has returned—"

Hiccup froze, clothes hanging haphazardly on his arms. His stomach bottomed out at the realization that hadn’t hit him yet. “My dad will be watching today.”

Astrid immediately appeared in front of him and cupped his shoulders. She caught his line of sight. “Focus on me, Hiccup.” His distant stare finally snapped to her. “We’ll get through this, and when your dad sees how well the training has been going, he’ll declare it over and we can move on.”

She took the clothes from him, laying them on the bed. Before Hiccup noticed what she was doing, a shiver ran over his skin as Astrid hauled his nightshirt over his head – leaving Hiccup in only his undershorts. She reached over for his tunic and offered it to him. “Get dressed.”

***

Today, they would battle the Monstrous Nightmare. The group had barely trained with the Nightmare in the ring. Their first session with him led to Snotlout flailing around the arena franticly searching for water to put out his flaming rear end. But, that was before he’d made friends with the Nightmare that he called Hookfang.

Hiccup and Astrid had trained Hookfang in a choreographed fight as they had all the other arena dragons. He knew cues that they would give him to perform certain attack moves. They’d informed the other teens of these moves. They knew what to look for, and hopefully they wouldn’t do anything dumb to counteract those silent commands.

The helmet his father bestowed to him perched heavy atop Hiccup’s head. He’d grudgingly brought it with him. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the gift, but it had been given to him under false pretenses. It felt like a beacon on top of his head of the blatant lie he carried – a lie that could easily be spilled out at any given moment.

“We’ll get through this,” Astrid reassured as they paused in the tunnel of the arena. The other teens had gone on into the ring. She tucked her fingertips under his chin for him to look her in the eyes. “We have so far.” She left a quick peck of encouragement on his lips before gliding confidently into the arena as if she owned it.

Hiccup watched his wife – his strong, courageous wife – and breathed in from the bottom of his lungs. He walked in, a great deal slower and uncertain as if the burden on his shoulder was weighting him down. He scanned the viewing area where a small crowd of Berkians were gathering. His gaze caught on the massive figure of his father. Even from the height above, Stoick was a pillar that could not be ignored. His eyes followed Hiccup, and Hiccup awkwardly waved to his father, who nodded back in firm greeting. Hiccup tore away from the viewing stand to peer around at his comrades -- their various weapons ready in hand.

Gobber hobbled to the crank and within a few revolutions, the cage door burst open. Hiccup jumped back not expecting such an outburst. Hookfang towered over them, fire licking upon his gelled skin. A dark cloud of smoke huffed from his nostrils, wafting through the arena. His glowing yellow eyes blazed as bright as his fire.

Hiccup’s mouth unhinged in slow motion. Hookfang resembled nothing of the dragon that melted into a chin scratch just the other day. The teens slammed their palms over their ears at the roar that reverberated off the stone walls. Hiccup nearly jumped out of his skin at the pull of his elbow.

“Hiccup,” Snotlout hissed through gritted teeth, “what’s wrong with my dragon? This isn’t part of the plan!”

Both cousins leapt out of the way as Hookfang barreled right at them -- Snotlout’s screechy yelp embarrassingly loud.

“I don’t know,” Hiccup kept his voice hushed enough that it didn’t carry, “maybe the crowd is spooking him, or maybe us holding weapons?”

It was obvious that Hookfang was extremely agitated, but he hadn’t in the past minute tried to attack any of them with flames or gnashing of teeth. He simply rushed around the arena circle, squawking and panicked.

“Hiccup, what’ll we do?” Astrid asked, having made an appearance on his other side. “If he keeps going like this, we may have to actually fight him.”

Astrid’s resolve to the problem hit like a stone in Hiccup’s stomach. Fighting Hookfang was the last resort and he wanted to give the dragon every chance before it came down to that.

“Let me try.”

Hiccup set his narrow shoulders. His chest contracted deeply as he sucked in and moved forward. Hookfang was slowing his gyration around the arena. Hiccup threw up his hands in a non-threatening fashion, catching Hookfang’s attention. The Nightmare slid to a halt, his pupils narrowed to slits.

“Hey, big guy,” Hiccup ventured, trying to keep his voice low and calm. “You know me. Hiccup. What’s wrong?”

Hookfang’s heated breath huffed over Hiccup causing an instant sweat. Hiccup chanced a step forward. He knew this whole scene was drawing attention to his ‘method of madness’ as Gobber referred to it, but he’d risk it to steer Hookfang back where they needed him to be to play out the choreographed fight.

Hiccup slid another step forward. Hookfang whined, remaining still as Hiccup reached his hand out toward him. As soon as Hiccup touched his jaw, Hookfang snarled out. Before Hiccup even knew what was going on, his back slammed to the floor, knocking the breath out of him. His helmet clattered some distance away.

“Hiccup!” he heard Astrid cry from somewhere around him. His whole view was Hookfang’s glowing eyes and pointy teeth and--

“Stay back!” Hiccup commanded. The sound of feet shuffled toward him stopped in their tracks. “Hookfang, you’re gonna have to trust me. Okay, big guy? Please don’t bite my arm off. I’d hate to lose a limb.”

Hiccup shoved his arm into Hookfang’s mouth, trying his best to not get snagged by the long, protruding teeth. He grabbed hold the loose tooth stabbing into Hookfang’s lower gums and jerked it out in one fluid motion. Hookfang reared backwards, yelping, and then suddenly stopped. He stared at Hiccup, the black slits of his eyes widening. He looked himself again. He wiggled his bottom jaw testing if the pain, he now obviously was in, was gone.

Hiccup knew they couldn’t afford any time to regroup. They had to keep up the charade or get caught. He gave the signal to Hookfang and the dragon proceeded right away into the actions he’d been taught to pretend his way through a fight. Hiccup met Astrid eyes and she knew exactly what to do. The rest of the teens – in their own ragtag way -- followed her lead. In a matter of a couple minutes, Hookfang was being cornered back into his cage. Gobber throw the crank and the cage door shut with a loud bang.

“Yeah! We did it!” Snotlout yelled in Hiccup’s ear as he came barreling against him.

Hiccup nearly lost his footing from his cousin’s impact. He elbowed Snotlout and nodded down to his hand to reveal a tooth as long as his hand and then some. “Looks like a dropped tooth was the culprit. Since he’s your dragon, this belongs to you.”

Snotlout grinned from ear to ear. He gripped the tooth as if it were the greatest prize ever bestowed on the earth. “This is totally going around my neck!” he proclaimed, and Hiccup guessed his cousin meant as a necklace.

Hiccup pitched forward at the breath knocked out of him. He glared at the smirk his wife carried on her lips. He accepted his helmet back from her that just assaulted his stomach. “Best dragon trainer in the Archipelago,” she said, proudly.

Hiccup couldn’t help but smile at her acclaim. His gaze dared to seek his father. Stoick remained planted in his seat, bent over his lap and stroking his beard --appearing more in the manner of a Norse god in contemplative thought than a mortal man of Midgard. Gobber gabbled on at him. Hiccup wondered what the blacksmith was ringing in his father’s ear. Stoick was absorbing it with the utmost seriousness.

Hiccup swallowed hard and his stomach churned uncomfortably at what criticism to expect from his father.

Tags:  @martabm90​ @chiefhiccstrid @drchee5e

[howtodrawyourdragon]

A Warm Snoggletog Heart

Summary: Set during RttE. The Riders decided that one of the best things about having Dragon's Edge was the excuse to celebrate everything twice.

A birthday? They would have a party on both Berk and the Edge. A holiday? A celebration on Berk and the Edge. Snoggletog? That absolutely needed to be celebrated twice!

And this year, they have something particularly special in mind for Hiccup.  

Rating: General

Words: 1 481

Author’s Notes: Wrote this in a day because someone from a whump Discord server I'm a part of gave me the motivation for it. Usually, I wait with posting fics until the weekends, so there's a little bit of time between finishing and revising it one last time before I post it. But I wanted it out before tomorrow and since I'll probably be gone tomorrow, I decided to do it all today.

Constructive criticism is appreciated!

Enjoy!

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The Riders decided that one of the best things about having Dragon's Edge was the excuse to celebrate everything twice.

A birthday? They would have a party on both Berk and the Edge. A holiday? Again, a celebration on Berk and the Edge. Snoggletog? That absolutely needed to be celebrated twice!

So when Snoggletog came around, Hiccup and the Dragon Riders returned home to share this time with their families only to then go back to their base away from home to share it with just each other.

It wasn't as crazy as their parents probably thought it was going to be.

Astrid used her iron fist to make sure the decorations put up were perfect and up to her standards as she and Tuffnut worked together on that. Snotlout and Ruffnut were put in charge of gathering the favorite meals of the dragons so they would have something of a feast as well. And Fishlegs was made to help Hiccup get dinner ready.

All in all, it wasn't supposed to be a big celebration. It was rather small and intimate, held in the clubhouse.

That was where they were. They'd just eaten dinner, it was time for presents.

Snotlout may have actually squealed in excitement. Astrid already promised him she would never let him live that down.

"An axe! Yes!" Astrid shouted excitedly, holding the double-headed weapon. It was much like Heather's, except more her style. Less rough and more elegant. With complimentary skulls. Her cheeks and eyes lit up.

"Oh yay! Another one!" Snotlout rolled his eyes next to her.

"Thank you, Hiccup!" She told him, though her smile was more than enough of a gift for him.

"Uh, how do you know it didn't come from us?" Ruffnut asked.

"Because it's an axe, Ruff. Do you know how to make one?" She asked, though she wasn't particularly annoyed. Her day was made.

"Heather and I actually collaborated on that one. She mentioned to me how you really wanted one like hers, so we worked on it together. We each did one half and we exchanged some secrets. Blacksmith to blacksmith. It's like a Snoggletog gift and a "thank you for letting me stay in your hut" gift combined." Hiccup explained. As Astrid took a closer look, she did see some marks she didn't recognize as made by Hiccup's hand.

So this was Heather's signature. She would remember them too.

"So... What did I get?" Fishlegs could hardly wait. He was having a hard time sitting still on his chair.

It was Snotlout who gave him his present.

"From me to you." He told him and gave it to him in the most dramatic Snotlout-esque way possible.

"Awww, thank you, Snotlout!" Fishlegs responded as he accepted the gift. It appeared to be a book. Opening it up, he found detailed sketches of plants inside and he gasped.

"Is this what I think it is?!"

"The Beauty of Botany Volume Three? That's exactly what you're looking at!" Snotlout exclaimed. It was hidden behind a smirk, but he was just as excited as Fishlegs was. Snoggletog was one of the few times a year he let his generosity shine. This side to him was exclusively for Snoggletog and birthdays only.

Fishlegs grinned from ear to ear as he skimmed through its pages. He was as happy as a Nadder at a Chicken buffet.

"So everyone's got their presents, only one victim remains." Ruffnut was particularly menacing as she spoke up, leaning on her knees with her elbows.

Snotlout's gift had been a bludgeon similar to his very first, which he had lost again. The twins had absolutely nothing to do with its disappearance, they had assured Snotlout of this.

What Tuffnut was given was something made for Chicken. It was a little custom-made bed for her because Tuff had complained about it being unfair that he got a bed, but not Chicken.

As for Ruff's gift, it was a handmade lotion of fish oil for her hair created out of rare and exotic ingredients that were quite expensive on the market. She had immediately slathered her hair with it.

Hiccup was the person she was talking about, but for once, he wasn't particularly worried. The Riders watched as Tuffnut got up to grab it.

He quickly returned with something obscured by cloth and he handed it over to Hiccup, who took it.

He stared at the gift his friends decided to give him. He was certainly curious, that was for sure. It was the only one wrapped up.

He didn't quite notice it, all of his attention was on the object held in his hands, but anticipation amongst the Riders grew. They were all sitting on the edge of their seats as they watched Hiccup unwrap it.

It turned out to be a plush toy. Of Toothless! Well, he was pretty sure it was a stuffed animal version of his Night Fury, it looked quite odd.

"It's Toothless!" He was puzzled, but he was smiling nonetheless. The Night Fury himself came over from his corner to sit closer to look at the toy when he heard his name leave Hiccup's lips. He was intrigued.

But Hiccup's smile slowly faltered as he took a closer look at Toy Toothless' oddities.

He had tiny, tiny skulls for eyes. The kind he knew only one person to wear, except they were even smaller. He recognized Snotlout's stitching. The "hide" was knitted patches of black wool. Toothless' "nubs" were braided in a very specific way. And if he had to guess, the stuffing must be chicken feathers.

That's when it hit him.

His friends had made this for him. All of them had left their marks on it. This was something they worked on together. For him!

He was speechless.

"Take another look at the skulls." Hiccup didn't know when his friends decided to move in behind him, but he noticed when Astrid spoke up and pointed towards the plush's eyes. He did as he was told and saw that they were painted a dark green. Forest green.

"Do you think he realizes we made it for him?" Tuffnut asked his sister in whispers loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Oh yeah, I think he does." Ruffnut replied, proud of herself. Her arms were crossed in fulfillment.

As Hiccup looked at its eyes, there was one more detail on the doll left for him to find out.

Turning it slightly, he noticed that his emblem had been stitched onto it.

They had all put little bits and pieces of themselves in the toy and they made sure a little bit of Hiccup was in there as well.

"We saw that you brought the toy your mom made you to the Edge and thought "Hey! You like that one! Why not make another one?" So we did!" Snotlout explained. It looked like he'd been waiting to do so.

The Riders had expected many different reactions from Hiccup. Long ago, when the idea had first struck them, they even decided to take a bet and see who could nail their leader's reaction.

They hadn't expected him to cry.

Tears spilled from his eyes and he sniffed. His smile was the biggest they'd ever seen on his face.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, hands on his shoulders. Hiccup let his head hang as a single sob escaped.

"Oh no, we broke him!" Tuffnut loudly exclaimed with his hands on his helmet. Ruffnut smacked him hard.

"Look what you've done to him!" She accused him of an utmost heinous crime. Snotlout came and banged their helmets together.

"Ugh, muttonheads!"

Maybe it was all the stress getting to him or maybe he truly was that touched by their gesture, but Hiccup couldn't help himself.

"Hiccup?"

"I'm-I'm fine, guys. I'm fine." The level of control in his voice backed it up.

"I'm just... I'm just really touched, I..." He tried wiping his cheeks dry with his sleeves, but it was useless.

Smiling sympathetically, Astrid bend down to wrap her arms around his shoulders to pull him into a hug. The waterworks were going with her too, albeit slightly less than they were with Hiccup.

"So sensitive!" Snotlout complained with a shake of his head, even though he jumped on the chance to share a group hug with the rest of the Riders. He grabbed both Astrid and Hiccup into a hold that was more of a headlock than an actual hug. They laughed.

"Ah-ha! A way to fix this!" Tuffnut joked and embraced the three of them. Huffing, Ruffnut joined in.

"Oh, you guys!" Fishlegs spoke and completed the hug by wrapping his arms around the entire group.

All of them smiled, nobody let go. The toy dragon his mother made for him so long ago now had a friend. And Hiccup, he found this to be the warmest Snoggletog yet.