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p-artsypants · 1 year

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No, You Go First (8)

Ao3 | FF.net

“Mom, Astrid. Astrid, Mom.”

“M-Mom? You found your mom?!” Astrid stuttered.

“Crazy, right?” Hiccup shrugged.

“Oh honey, she’s beautiful!” Valka cooed, approaching Astrid like she was a wild animal. She delicately touched her hair. “Oh lass, I remember breastfeeding you as a babe!”

Astrid’s face contorted in a grimace, not sure how to feel about that.

“You’ll have to excuse her, lass. My wife has been alone among the dragons for the last fifteen years.”

“What? What did I say?”

Stoick spoke softly in her ear.

“It’s perfectly natural!” Valka responded, louder. “Phlegma was ill, so I breastfed her for two weeks. Who fed Hiccup after I was taken?”

Stoick sighed. “Phlegma.”

“Hear that, Astrid?” Hiccup droned. “We’re bosom buddies.”

She kicked him. “Don’t make it weird!”

Hiccup hopped on one foot as he held his throbbing shin. “Yeah, I deserved that.” When the pain started to subside, he resumed his normal stance. “So, what made you come out here to escape?”

Astrid groaned. “I was on a…’date’ with Snotlout. If you could call it that. I swear, he is the most tone-deaf, egotistical, annoying sack of crap!” She looked ready to break something. “And you know the worst part? He has these moments, these little nuggets of decency, where he seems like he’d be a really good friend to have, and then it’s like he becomes self aware of it and switches into Snotlout the pig-faced creep!” She smacked her face and dragged her hands down her cheeks, stretching her eyelids. “It has to be his dad. If he could get away from Spitelout for a week. He might be able to become…an eighth of the man you are.”

“Aw,” Hiccup said with a smile.

“But enough about me! You have a mom!”

“I have a mom!”

“Mom!”

“Yes, yes, dear, I’m here.” Valka wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek on his head. “And here I was afraid that leaving you with your father would turn you into a boorish meathead.”

“Thank you for that, darling.” Stoick said, sarcastically.

“Hey!” Hiccup chirped. “You used sarcasm! I must be rubbing off on you!”

“Son, I flew out and back into this cove on a dragon, you don’t think you’re influencing me?”

“I’m dying here, Hiccup,” Astrid pried. “How did this happen? I assume you two didn’t find the nest.”

“We found a nest.” Hiccup then explained how they had traveled too far north and Toothless and Stormfly heard the call of the alpha. He described the island, the caverns, and his introduction to his mother.

“And then he goes, ‘you’re as beautiful as the day I lost you’ and, I’ll admit, I almost cried.”

“Aww!” Astrid sang, looking at Stoick. “I didn’t know you were such a romantic!”

“Well lass, didn’t have a reason to be so before.”

Astrid’s heart broke a little.

“It’s alright my love, I’m back now. Even if it takes years to find peace with the dragons, I’m still here on Berk. You can see me every day.”

Stoick raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “What I wouldn’t give to wake up with you each day.”

“Damn, your dad is so smooth.” Astrid whispered.

“Kinda like me, ah?”

“No.”

Hiccup then explained what else he had learned. That the dragons all had an alpha that controlled them, and likely, there was a queen nearby that was causing the raids. Things took a serious turn then, as they discussed what this meant.

“How are we supposed to stop a dragon the size of a mountain?” Astrid asked.

“Well…train it?” Hiccup suggested.

Valka scoffed. “Train an alpha? No, darling.”

“But you were so friendly with the Bewilderbeast–”

“Because he was friendly to me first. That alpha is benevolent in nature, and isn’t threatened by anything. Certainly not little ole me. But also, and more importantly, he only eats fish. If he had an appetite for red meat, I wouldn’t be here.”

“So, you think Berk’s queen likes red meat?” Astrid clarified.

“That’s my working theory, based on what I’ve seen.” Valka’s mouth pulled into a frown. “I’d like to be more helpful, but the behavior of the alpha up north is so different from what I remember of Berk’s raids. Dragons, no matter how kind and intelligent, are still animals. They will be motivated by food. However, these raids may be for control, or something else. We won’t know until we observe.”

“We can’t observe it until we find it,” Hiccup added.

Stoick hummed. “My love, didn’t you say the alpha up north has a call and all the dragons in a certain distance come to worship it?”

“Yes!” Valka chirped. “If we get close enough to the queen, our dragons should be able to find it!”

“True,” Stoick amended. “But what is stopping our dragons from doing whatever that dragon wants? It’s making all these others raid us. Why wouldn’t it work on these three?” He gestured to Toothless, Stormfly, and Cloudjumper.

Hiccup and Valka exchanged a look, both hoping the other had the answer. Neither did.

“I suppose, I will go make some more observations with the north alpha,” suggested Valka.

“But–” Stoick took her hand.

“In a few days,” she clarified. “I’ll stay here a bit longer. And then I’ll go back. Just for a little while. Now that I’m with you, it’s going to be hard to stay away.”

Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who had her face turned toward the ground, a sour frown on her lips.

“Yeah,” he whispered bitterly. “Hard to stay away.”

—-

Hiccup was hard at work. Despite what Stoick had said about not having to work hard on Astrid and Snotlout’s house, Hiccup spent much of his day there. It got him out of normal work in the forge, which would have been making weapons for raids.

The shell of the house had been completed. Soon, he and the other men would get to work building furniture. Though Hiccup had already built the bed. It had kind of been his own personal joke to see just how big he could make it. He stopped when it could comfortably fit a Monstrous Nightmare.

But now, he was working on the shingles. Each one had been cut with a curve, so they looked like dragon scales. Once upon a time, the houses had been decorated to represent dragons, in an effort to protect them from destruction. It hadn’t worked, but the designs had remained. Astrid and Snotlout’s house would have a gable decoration carved to represent a nadder, though he hadn’t finished it yet.

It was a warm spring day. The sky was blue with big billowing clouds. The wolfsbane and saxifrage were in full bloom. Children played in the streets, and men and women alike bustled about.

Hiccup tried not to think about all of it, and instead, just work while his mind ruminated on the dragon problem.

Perhaps giant earmuffs would work? How else would he get Toothless to block out the alpha’s call?

He hadn’t heard from his mother in a week. She was still gone up north, on her newest journey. And all he could do was hope she found something.

“Hey!”

Hiccup stopped his hammer for a moment to look down to the ground. Snotlout stood there, looking awkward as ever.

“Hey,” he offered back.

“Need help?”

Hiccup blinked a few times in surprise. “Uh, sure, if you want. There’s another hammer down in that bucket.” He pointed.

Snotlout climbed the ladder to the roof and got to work, building his own house.

It’s about time, Hiccup thought, bitterly.

They worked silently for a little while, while Snotlout sighed. He sighed again. And then louder and more exaggerated.

“Can I help you?” Hiccup bit.

“Well…” Snotlout mused. “I was just thinking…you and Astrid are close, right?”

“I’d say so.”

“Well, since she and I are getting married, I figured, I should probably…you know…get along with her?”

“Things aren’t going so well, huh?” Hiccup held back a smirk.

“It’s weird. She’ll come and find me, and she’s pleasant enough, and then she’ll get this look on her face like she got a whiff of yak dung, then she storms off. I don’t know what to do about it. I chalked it up to girls being weird, but I figured I’d at least ask someone who figured her weirdness out.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Well, there’s your first problem. Astrid isn’t weird. She’s very level-headed. She just doesn’t like people who boast. So if you want her to stick around you, try being humble.”

“Hum-ball? What’s that?”

“Gods above…okay, you know that thing you do when you talk about how awesome you are?”

“My favorite thing.”

“Don’t do that.”

Snotlout scoffed. “Then how will she see how awesome I am?”

“She has eyes and ears. She can notice for herself.”

“Astrid’s eyes and ears obviously don’t work if she’s hanging out with you.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes and felt the weight of the hammer in his hand a little too keenly. One expertly placed thwack would make Snotlout shut up. Yes… “Look, you asked me for advice, and I’m giving it to you. You don’t want to get along with your wife? Fine.”

Snotlout ‘hmph’ed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t even want to get married. This is all my stupid dad’s fault.”

Hiccup set his hammer down, now intrigued. “You didn’t want to get married?”

“I mean, one day! And yeah, I figured it would be Astrid, because she’s the hottest and the best warrior…but then you guys had to get all buddy-buddy and made my dad panic.” He pouted. “If anything, it’s your fault!”

“My–! Snotlout, I didn’t have any friends until Astrid came along! I still don’t really have friends! You, Fishlegs, and the Twins are acquaintances at best!” He crossed his own arms. “The Hoffersons are the ones that suggested Astrid be nice to me.”

“Oh, so are you saying it’s their fault?”

“Your dad is the one that made the bet, so it’s all on him!”

“Yeah, but Astrid lost the fight!”

Hiccup wiped his hands down his face. “I get it now, Astrid.” He muttered to himself.

“What was that?”

“Here’s another tip. Astrid is always right. Even when she’s wrong, she’s right.”

“That’s dumb advice.”

“Once you get close to her and better understand her, she’ll concede to being wrong on occasion. But right now, you have to treat her like everything she says is correct.”

“But–”

“Just, trust me.”

“I wouldn’t trust you with a plate of food.”

“You want me to booby trap your house?”

Snotlout frowned, and then giggled. “You said booby.”

“How am I related to you…?” Hiccup shook his head, and then got back to work shingling. “Love takes time and effort. If you really want her to like you, then you need to try.”

“I am trying!”

“I don’t mean you need to tell her all the reasons that she should like you. I mean, you should attempt to love her.”

“I like her plenty!”

“Even if she wasn’t beautiful? Even if she can't fight anymore?”

Snotlout was quiet then, the rug pulled out underneath him.

“What else do you like about Astrid?” Hiccup tried.

Snotlout didn’t answer.

“Try to find an answer to that question, and perhaps that will help.”

Snotlout turned it around on him. “Okay, well, what do you like about Astrid?”

“Me? Why does that matter?”

“I need a hint, Hiccup! Give me something to look for in her! Throw me a bone!”

“Okay okay!” Hiccup gnawed on his lip, trying to find an answer that wouldn’t get him punched. “Astrid is very confident. She takes what she wants and doesn’t apologize for it, but that doesn’t mean she does it without thinking. In fact, she does what she thinks will help the people around her the best. She’s determined and passionate. She’s hardworking, and doesn’t back down from a challenge. She’s…very smart and clever. She’s kind, and can be very gentle.”

“Oh I’m going to barf.”

Hiccup frowned. “Just answering your question.”

“Is she a good kisser?”

Hiccup’s face went bright red. “W-w-what makes you think I would know a thing like that?”

Snotlout gave him the most knowing smirk he’d ever seen. “Oh come on, Hiccup.”

“No really! We’re just good friends!”

Snotlout chuckled. “Unless you don’t know about that...”

“Know about what?”

“That you were walking around with a hickey on your neck after that blizzard last winter. It’s all anyone could talk about for a week!”

“What?!” He clapped a hand over his neck, where Astrid had sucked on his throat. “I NEVER! I WOULDN’T–YOU’RE CRAZY!”

“Wow, I forgot how terrible of a liar you are. So spit it out. Is she a good kisser? How far did you guys get? Give me all the juicy details!”

Hiccup scrunched his nose up. “You’re worse than the ladies that gossip at the well.”

“Mom makes me fetch the water. SPILL!”

Now this was a place of power Hiccup had never been in before. He had dirt that Snotlout wanted. Dare he dangle it like a carrot? Barter?

“She’s a terrible kisser,” he finally said.

“And that’s how you got a hickey?” Snotlout drawled.

“Look at me, Snotlout. You think I could have thrown her off? We had gotten cold in the blizzard, and were cold. I suggested huddling for warmth, and she…took what she wanted, and didn’t apologize.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. She bites. Hard. And she has sharp nails. And she’s really into hearing sounds of pain, so she ground her knee into my groin.”

Snotlout grew paler and paler with every word.

“There was also talk about her getting rope and a whip, but I talked her out of that.”

“Okay okay, I get it. Astrid is…a fighter through and through.”

Hiccup shrugged. “I guess all I can do now is wish you luck. You’ll need it.”

“Right.” Snotlout gave a defeated sigh. “Oh, almost forgot.” He tossed a bag of gold coins to Hiccup.

“What’s this for?”

“Her wedding ring. Dad said you’d know how to make one.”

“Oh…yep. S-sure do…”

“Cool. Thanks!” And he started back down the ladder.

“That’s it? You’re not going to keep helping?!”

“You’re doing great, Cuz. I wouldn’t want to get in the way. Ciao!”

Hiccup yeeted the hammer into the distance.

—-

Later that week, when he had finally built up the nerve, Hiccup went over to the Hofferson house and knocked.

“Well hello Hiccup,” Phlegma said, with a slightly sad smile on her face. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but Hiccup was astute.

“Hello Mrs. Hofferson. Is Astrid available?”

“Yes!” She practically shouted. She hurried over, and Hiccup was startled by her appearance. She wasn’t wearing any armor, but a cream colored dress with a blue apron over it. The neckline of the dress gave him a funny feeling in the stomach. “Please tell me you have a huge errand you need my help with.”

“Astrid,” Phlegma reprimanded. “You’ve got to stop procrastinating on your dress!” She gestured to the pile of dainty blue fabric on the table.

“I’ve pricked my finger so many times that once more, I’ll start a fountain and ruin the dress!”

Phlegma scoffed. “Fine fine, just don’t stay out too late.”

“Thanks!” And she left with him. “So, what’s up? I hope I’m not actually in the way of whatever you’re doing.”

“You won’t be in the way,” he assured, as he started walking towards the forge. “I just need to get your measurement for…your ring.”

“Oh.” She deflated. “They’ve got you doing that now?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, if you make it, it’ll be all the more special.”

“I can’t promise it’ll be fancy. I can do fine detail work, but it’s been for other things, not jewelry.”

“You know I’m not a fancy girl. Whatever you come up with, I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“Well, that makes me all fuzzy inside. Thank you, Astrid.” He smirked. “Now, while I appreciate the total freedom, I would like some direction. What metal do you want? Gold or silver?”

“Just those options? I want something strong, but not crazy expensive on my finger that I’d feel guilty about.”

He chuckled. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. I think I’ll experiment.”

“Careful with that word around me, Haddock.”

Hiccup sputtered. “I didn’t mean–!”

Astrid patted his back. “I’m just messing with you!” Gods, it was so nice to be around him again. He was so much nicer to talk to than Snotlout. Of course, she knew that, but knowing and experiencing were two different things.

When they arrived at the forge, Gobber was putting things away, though the fires were still up. “There ya are, boy. Here to work on the ring?”

“Yep. Or at least try.”

“You know you just needed a bit of string, right? You didn’t need to bring Astrid here.”

Astrid groaned. “Oh but Gobber, you don’t understand! I’m dying at home! I just needed to get away from my mother!”

“You will in a few months, lass. I thought you’d be eager to stay with her.”

“I’m eager to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“I get it. I know when I’m not wanted!” He dramatically put his hand to his head. Then he gave Hiccup a poke in the chest. “Be good.”

“As if I would do anything!”

Gobber cackled as he meandered away.

Gobber’s comment infused the air with a bit of awkwards as the two teens stood next to each other. “You…needed my measurements?” Astrid prompted.

“Oh…right. Go ahead and take a seat.”

Astrid hopped up on a counter, as she always did when she visited the forge. Hiccup left and returned quickly with a ball of twine and a piece of charcoal.

“It’s really very simple. I just have to wrap this around your finger, and mark it where it overlaps. Then you’re free to relax.”

“Sounds simple enough.” She held up her left hand.

He took hold of her fingers. “Astrid! Your hands are freezing!”

“My hands are always cold.” She shrugged.

“Well, they have to be warm for me to measure, or it will be off.” He wrapped both of his hands around hers, and breathed on her hand.

“Uh huh, sure.”

“I’m serious! Your fingers shrink when you’re cold. Something about blood flow.”

“Huh. I did not know that.” So she allowed him to hold her hand, pretending that she wasn’t enjoying his touch as much as she was.

Then, when he deemed her hands warm enough, he wrapped the string around her finger. “Is this tight or loose enough?”

“I think you’re pulling on it.”

He relaxed the line a little.

“That feels right.”

“Good…good…” he marked the twine and let go of her hand. “And there we go!” He looked up to smile at her, noticing that he was too close. Her face was right there, her eyes drinking him in, that magnetic connection taking hold. He grew closer, his eyelids growing heavy.

If he wasn’t imagining it, her eyes were on his lips, and she was leaning in.

She was too beautiful. Her hair was braided perfectly, and the forge illuminated with a haunting orange glow. Without her pauldrons, her slim and feminine shoulders were all on display. As she leaned forward, her neckline dipped, exposing her perfect collarbone and the tantalizing swell of her breasts.

Someone had to sacrifice. Someone had to stop this before it turned into something that would only bring them pain. More than it already was.

Hiccup reached his hand up and pressed his thumb to her lips. “I…”

“Thank you.” Astrid mumbled against his thumb, before pressing a little kiss to it and pulling away. “You always were the more level-headed one.”

“Astrid,” he swallowed, moisture collecting in his eyes. “I don’t want you to marry Snotlout.”

“Surprisingly, I don’t want to marry him either.” She smirked.

“I just wanted to say it, in case…”

“In case I thought you were okay with it? No, Hiccup. I didn’t think you were.”

“If you need anything–”

“You’re my number one man.” She confirmed with a nod. “Spitelout said hanging out with you wasn’t proper, but Snotlout said he didn’t care.”

Hiccup sighed then. If Snotlout was allowing their friendship, then perhaps things would be okay. “That’s good.” Now all he had to do was get over this crush he had on her.

Who was he kidding? Crush? No. He was undeniably in love with her, and would continue to be for years.

Hiccup finally pulled away from her and went to the workbench.

“You sure I can stay here? I won’t be a distraction?”

“You’re always welcome here, Astrid.” He said earnestly. She would be a distraction, but one he didn’t mind.

—-

After 24 hours of work, Hiccup finished Astrid’s ring. It was one of his best works, and he was hesitant to give it to Snotlout early. So he kept it in his backroom, in the box, on his desk. Sort of as a reminder that he had to get over her.

But it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Especially when she was becoming more and more beautiful everyday. The lack of axe and armor did nothing to soften her edge. She appeared as brutal as always, but when they would end up alone together, she would relax, and almost appear delicate. Where everything else on this island threatened to hurt him if he wasn’t careful, Astrid always made herself a safe place.

He couldn’t indulge. But he was ever so grateful for her consideration.

It was mid-afternoon. Valka was back and Hiccup and Stoick had taken respective breaks from work to go eat lunch with her in the woods.

“Oh, Ingerman’s chicken soup! I haven’t had that in years!” Valka gushed, as she recognized the dish from just the smell.

“Did you eat anything that wasn’t regurgitated fish?” Hiccup asked, with a chuckle.

“Of course! There was fresh fish, and regurgitated chicken! And lots of wild fruit.”

“Okay okay, not while we’re eating.” Stoick reprimanded. “Or I’ll regurgitate this soup.”

Hiccup elected to change the subject. “So…any new thoughts on the alpha?”

“I am afraid not, my love.” Valka sighed. “I spent much time observing my alpha, but he never sent any commands. The other dragons seem to come and go as they please. What's more, I haven’t seen another Nightfury. Not in all the years I spent there. Deadly Nadders and Storm Cutters, yes, but no Nightfuries. I don’t know how they react to alphas.”

“We’ve been catching eels again,” said Hiccup. “They’ve been working well since Spring. That should give us some time.”

“Hiccup…” Stoick began to reprimand.

“Dad, I know what you’re going to say. But this is all I have right now! We have to find a way to stop that Alpha, wherever it is, or else the raids will just keep happening.” He stirred his soup around in thought. “Maybe Toothless and I should go out looking for this thing. If the northern alpha is peaceful, we might never get the information we need from it.”

“Absolutely not! I’m not letting you get anywhere near that nest by yourself, let alone without a solid plan. No, we will take another fleet by ship.”

“That’s a worse idea!” Valka and Hiccup said at the same time.

“Is…this a bad time?” Astrid piped up from the entrance of the cove.

Stoick relaxed. “No lass, come and join us.”

Hiccup scooted over to make room for her on the log he was sitting on. She had brought her own lunch to eat with them, as well as some chicken for Stormfly. “Here girl,” she tossed the leg to her dragon.

Stormfly swallowed it with a gulp and sang a happy song.

“And this is for you, Mrs. Haddock,” she handed her a triangle wrapped in wax paper.

“Mrs. Haddock, that’s a name I haven’t heard in forever!” She laughed as she took the gift and unwrapped it. “Oh dear, is this your mother’s kringle cake?”

“Yep! She off handly mentioned that you used to love it. So I stole a slice for you.”

Valka tore into it messily, the way she ate most days. “Better than I remember!” She sang.

“That was very kind of you, lass.” Stoick smiled at her with a gleam in his eye.

“It was no trouble! Actually…I came asking for a favor.”

“Whatever you need,” Hiccup assured.

“So, I’ve been eating dinner with the Jorgenson’s a lot. Spitelout can be…a bit daunting.”

“What did he do?” Valka asked lowly.

“Well, nothing too bad. He’s just been going on and on about how our wedding is going to be the event of the year and that everything is going to be perfect…” She frowned. “He gave me this look a few times that seemed to indicate if I messed anything up, I’d regret it. So I was hoping you could lead me through the ceremony a few times until I have it down?” She looked at Hiccup.

“Me? Why me?”

“Son…you’re the one officiating, remember?” Stoick reminded.

“Oh! Oh no! I totally forgot!” He stood quickly, startling Toothless, who laid at his feet. “Dad! I haven’t practiced or prepared at all! The wedding is in a month! Spitelout is going to kill me!”

Valka chuckled to herself.

“Now son, don’t panic. You have a month.” Stoick sighed. “I don’t blame you for getting distracted. Your uncle has had you doing almost everything for this wedding.” Then he muttered something that sounded like, “the asshole,” under his breath. “Why don’t you and Astrid go up to Gothi’s and rehearse up there?”

Hiccup was about to ask why his father couldn’t just teach them, but figured he was fishing for an excuse to spend some alone time with his wife.

“She taught me, afterall.”

“Okay. Yeah, that’s a great idea, dad.”

“Don’t forget to have Gobber or Fishlegs go with you to interpret her writing. I heard Fishlegs has a real knack for it.”

“Then while he’s there, he can teach me too.” Hiccup chuckled. “Can you get away for a little while?” He asked Astrid.

“Oh please, you know I’m always looking for an excuse to get out of housework. Besides, it’s wedding practice. Mom can’t argue with it.”

“Then let’s go find Fishlegs.”

#httyd #how to train your dragon #fanfiction #no you go first #hiccup haddock #astrid hofferson #hiccstrid

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one-strugling-bean · 2 years

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Random Thoughts on HTTYD RttE S2 (Ep1-7)

(This one is a lot bigger so gonna divide it by episodes)

Ep1 - why do the twins get so many pets

Snotlout's sadness over not being able to train his dad, that was funny

"What did he do?" "He's Snotlout's dad" "Enough said" - there is more than one way to interpret this and i think im gonna take the protective! Astrid one

Ep2&3- Okay, im gonna make a wild guess and start assuming this show is gonna be hurting Astrid a lot

How strong is Toothless?? He's just able to carry a Mostrous Nightmare like that

Hm, gotta say I'm disappointed Heather betrayed them already - like, with Dagur being her brother and all, one immediately expects a betrayal to happen eventually, but this was really fast and too sudden I'd say

Im gonna make another guess before i move on with the episode, and that is Heather is either double-crossing Dagur or she'll regret going on to his side and goes back to helping the Riders

Also, not sure how to feel about Ryker yet - he seems too competent and too much of a real threat for this show. Then again the show does seem to building itself up to a more serious plot

Ruffnut pickpocketed the guard omg yessssssssss

Ep4 - aww, it's nice to see the twins caring about eachother

Aaaand Ruffnut got really pissed at Snotlout for his stunt, wow

Fishlegs is such a cute nerd ahhh

Omg Snotlout's been bitten so much, Ruff has 0 chill

I swear this scene on the cliff with the twins is just, so weird. Its supposed to be kinda emotional but its so so silly and bizarre i can't pay total attention to the actual emotional part - guess that's just the twins for you

Snolout should've died like, 3 hours ago pretty sure

He caught a wolf in that state???

This episode was so so weird but so so enjoyable

Ep5 - Heyy it's Spitelout time - cant wait

First few lines of the two 'louts interacting and they're already giving me Draco&Lucius vibes

"Hope you're at least smart enough to figure that one out" - eh excuse me, le what. He just called his son stupid in front of all his friends and threatened him at the same time. Okay yeah, im starting to understand why no one likes this guy

God that axe is so getting destroyed

Fishlegs and Ruffnut got married, poor Fishlegs

Meatlug!! Ruff, don't throw the lady out!

Astrid is once again so so done with Snotlout - can't blame her honestly, the guy has butter fingers

Okay, that beach scene went a whole lot better than what many made me expect, but then again, it seems Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout were expecting worse too

The scene was scary until Spitelout talked - the music, the dark of the night, the clear fear of Snotlout confronting his dad and the apprehension in both Hiccup and Astrid's faces

Not as afraid of the man anymore, but still not a fan - also he's voiced by David Tennant so he's gotta get a pass

"We're the model of a modern viking family" this made me laugh a lot, my humor might be broken i know

Ep6 - Hookster? That's a new one. Another extremely original nickname to add to the list of Hookfang's nicknames given by Snotlout, right next to Hooky and Fangster

"He's really become a tyrant, huh?" "Power'll do that to ya" Twins, don't ever change

Aw Barf&Belch are gratefuuuul, that's cute, i rarely see anything about them anywhere, this is nice to watch

"Ah, no Toothless, don't laugh! You're better than that!" Ha poor Hiccup

Nooo don't ditch the double-headed baby, he's gonna get caught by hunters!!

Hiccup is just giving me tired dad vibes this ep and I'm loving it

Ahhh Barf&Belch are sho cute, how come I've never noticed this??

"I guess we're gonna have to put you in some real danger" yeahhhhh don't ever ask that of the Thorston twins

The look of pure happiness and giddy excitement on Tuff's face as they saw the tree trunks roll down towards Hiccup is everything

What is "Bjorn Boars"

"I can only think of one man that souless" Of course it's fucking Snotlout, how did i knowww

"WHAT. IS. WRONG WITH YOU??"

Okay, what did the twins do to make Snotlout go along with this, i gotta know

"Unfortunately, we weren't expecting Thor's mighty hammer to meet Snotlout's paper jaw" I swear this kid delivers the best one liners

I love how the ending is just mass destruction of the ship

"Will someone tell this lunatic it's over?!" Hiccup deserves so many breaks

Ep7 - "Heather won't be a problem, okay?" Hmmmm i had wondered how Astrid had been able to escape so easily from Heather on ep3 without us seeing their fight - im guessing Heather revealed to Astrid that she's playing double spy

Aw cute Thorston sandwich, but damn does Snotlout look annoyed. Good for him

Yeahhhh i saw that alliance coming

"You can't just run off on your own. I rely on you, Astrid" Oof, that hurt

"Dagur was right, you don't look like much" Astrid was right, you look like a psycho" "Not exactly the compliment I would've led with" These lines are fun

Ha, sassy, taunting Hiccup is fun Hiccup

"I saw it! You did that on purpose!" Uhm, excuse me sir, how did you see that? Your back was turned!

So, Ryker is indeed smart. Like, he's intelligent and an actual threat. Me likey the high-ing of stakes

"Maybe if you didn't move and kept your mouth shut!" Fishlegs sassying the others brings me endless joy

"Feels like they're going left. No, right. Left. Which one's which??" Mood. That's me everytime someone asks where's left and right

"Heather's not evil? There goes that dream" What does that mean? Im confused

Aw, Fishlegs, you're nice

Yeah, i hope she knows what she's doing too Hiccup

This is getting too long, so gonna stop this here

Im really excited to see where this is going now, and apparently people like to read my dumb commentary so the 2nd part of season 2 should be coming soon

#httyd #race to the edge #opinions and commentary #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #astrid hofferson #fishlegs ingerman #snotlout jorgenson #tuffnut thorston #ruffnut thorston #Toothless #hookfang #Stormfly #barf and belch #httyd rtte commentary #Gonna start using this tag to mark these posts

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evilwriter37 · 5 years

Text

Day 22: Hallucination

Rated: teen

Warnings: verbal parental abuse

Pairings: none

Word Count: 415

Snotlout was trying to sleep, but his dad stood in the doorway. Well, not really. He wasn’t actually there, but it felt like he was, and when he opened his eyes he could see him too.

“Dad, go away.” Snotlout rolled onto his side, back turned to him.

Spitelout didn’t go away. His heavy footsteps neared the bed.

“Lazy,” he told him. “Good-for-nothing. Trying to sleep when there are things you could be doing.”

“Yeah? What things?” Snotlout asked snidely. “I trained today. Tried running a drill, went out on patrol. I did plenty of things.”

He could feel his father’s disapproval hitting his back. “But Hiccup still doesn’t trust you. He won’t make you leader of the Dragon Riders once he’s chief. He won’t make you anything. You’ll be nothing, just like you are now.”

Snotlout curled in on himself, covered his ears, the words stinging. Self-loathing curled in his gut.

“Go away, go away!”

Except, his dad didn’t go away, and he could still hear his awful words even with his ears covered.

“You’re useless. You’re not even a good son.”

“Shut up!”

“Is that why you spend all this time on this island? To get away from your dad? You’re scared of me, aren’t you? Scared and weak. A coward.”

“Shut up!” Snotlout sat bolt upright in bed as he said it. He looked around, and Spitelout was gone.

The pain of his words wasn’t though. Snotlout knew they weren’t his words really: they were his own. They were the things he thought at night when he was all alone, the feelings of worthlessness and self hatred coming up to consume him.

Well… maybe those words were technically his father’s. He was just repeating all that he’d told him when he had his low moments. His father had told him a lot of horrible things throughout his 18 years of life. He’d told him he was useless and nothing, that he’d never get anywhere or be anyone important. Sometimes Snotlout believed him. He surely believed him right now.

He was nothing and would continue to be nothing unless he somehow did something about it. He had to change Hiccup’s mind about him, show him that he could be useful and trusted.

But, that would sadly have to wait till morning.

Snotlout laid back down, unsure if he was going to be able to sleep. Tears stung in his eyes and his throat ached. Hatred for himself continued to shovel out his gut.

#whumptober2019 #no.22 #hallucination #verbal parental abuse #whump #snotlout!whump #snotlout jorgenson #spitelout jorgenson #httyd #how to train your dragon #rtte #race to the edge #writing #fanfiction

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itsasumbrella · 5 years

Text

West Wind | Post-HTTYD 3 One-Shot

This is the first one-shot I translate from Spanish to English, so I apologize in advance for the possible mistakes. I wrote his one-shot to fill the gap it was left in my heart after watching How to train your dragon: The Hidden World. It’s been a roller coaster, mostly it was like writing it twice. Never experienced translating my own work before and it was great.

Summary: [Post-HTTYD3] The dragons are gone and the vikings of New Berk have to start from scratch. Hiccup Haddock not only has to bear with his best friend's loss, but also with the responsibility of guiding his people to a new life without dragons on a foreign land, even if he's not sure if he's someone without his dragon. How did Hiccup manage ten years without Toothless?

Everything was going to be fine.

That phrase became Hiccup’s mantra after the dragons left. Everything was fine. It was okay, he repeated to himself. They were vikings. They would move forward, as always.

Everything was going to be fine.

But, damn it, it was so difficult.

The dragons’ departure supposed a blow to everyone. The first days were awful and Hiccup realised that both he and his people had depended too much on the dragons and now, back to being self-sufficient again, was a calamity for the whole village. The atmosphere was depressing and full of anger, to the point of almost organising a riot against Hiccup.

Many blame him of dragons’ leaving, or that they were now on an island surrounded by cliffs with an almost impossible access to open sea. The phrase ‘you are nothing without your dragon’ came out more than once during the Council meetings, awakening Astrid’s and his friends’ rage. Hiccup would remember those days as the worst he lived as a Chief: he was devastated by Toothless’ absence and he wasn’t dragging out his loss, but also the whole village’s. He was constantly questioned by every step, decision or proposal he made and the security and self-esteem he’d gained through years were now at rock bottom. Hiccup couldn’t remember feeling like this since he was fifteen, before meeting Toothless.

He couldn’t have managed without Astrid.

She was always there for him. Even when Hiccup was certain that he was too annoying with his depression and his anxieties caused by Berk’s situation and the dragons, she was still by his side. Cheering him up. Comforting him. Supporting him. At the beginning, he made a great effort by not showing his desolation, but he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was. He cried every night in the loneliness of his tent and later on his hut. He never denied his weakness. Why? Toothless deserved every single tear he could drop for him.

As soon as she knew, Astrid started sleeping with him.

Hiccup insisted he was fine, that he could stay on his own. He couldn't stand the idea of Astrid’s reputation being questioned by his fault, on top of knowing that she had no intention of marrying him for the moment. But Astrid was stubborn and she insisted:

“Cry as much as you need and remember that you have every right to feel sad, you more than anyone. But every morning get up with your head held high. You are not a worthless viking. You are Hiccup Haddock, Chief of New Berk. Show them that you are more than the kid who trained and rode a Night Fury, because you have always been so much more than that, Hiccup.”

Astrid had always been his right hand and Hiccup surprised himself by finding in her the authority he needed to stabilize Berk’s situation. Houses and ships were built, sources of freshwater and new hunting places were found, secret accesses were made to get to the beaches… Hiccup attended every demand his people ask for while they were building the village that Berk was dreaming for generations. New Berk had more resources than its former location, its climate was warmer, but windier, and its location was strategic and advantageous against any attack.

That place became soon their new home. The best one anyone could ever wish for.

People moved from being furious with him to being delighted and grateful to him.

Your dad would be proud, they repeated over and over again.

Hiccup just smile with sadness and carried on with his job, without an ounce of resentment against the people who doubt him a while before.

But, at least now, everything was fine.

New Berk was a large island. Maybe too much in comparison with their former home. It took months till Hiccup could draw a decent map. A task that could have taken days if he could have flown over the island with Toothless. He tried not to think about it, convincing himself that if there were cartographers who could do their job without dragons, he could do the same.

Astrid joined him to his expeditions when she wasn’t training, along with Spitelout, the New Berk’s guard. Their home was almost impregnable, but they were vikings: they should be ready in case they were attacked. However, it was a necessity to get back in touch with the old allies, as a simple matter of exchanging resources or strengthening ancient alliances. Astrid volunteered to sail till their old territory before Hiccup would ask for a volunteer. He wanted to oppose, but who better than Astrid for the task? She was his right hand, his general and his fiancé. It would have been a nonsense denying it.

“What am I going to do without you?”, he asked her desperate the night before her departure.

“You will be fine, Hiccup”

“I can’t do this alone”

“You are not”, she insisted holding a hand against his chest, “You have so much vision and bravery in you that is amazing. Whatever you choose to do, Hiccup, you’ll be great.”

Astrid left with a party formed by Eret and other viking and, during her absence, Hiccup finished his last invention. It was a propeller system installed throughout the whole village. It used the force of the wind and water to do tasks that would have taken days in hours, like milling cereals or improving the running of the forge. He called it “Milling system of wind and tide”, but at the end everyone just called them “mills”. Thanks to his invention, along with the boost of fishing and the amazing amount of flora and fauna of the island, the Berkians were thrilled that they wouldn’t have to be exposed to a possible famine in a near future.

Despite all the work which needed to be done and his great effort to move on, Hiccup couldn’t avoid feeling empty. Astrid’s absence increased that feeling. Yes, he was fine in that place. He knew his dad would have been pleased too and his people, even the gang, looked that they had already got over the dragons. But was he happy? Everyday, he ended in the cliff where he saw Toothless for the last time, wandering if his friend was okay, if his tail was working properly, if he was happy in the Hidden World with the Light Fury, if he had already forgotten him… In those occasions, his mum always came by his side. Valka understood him more than anyone and he knew how awful it was for her to be separated from Cloudjumper after being more than twenty years together. He felt stupid for being the one who was being consoled and not being able to do the same for her. But Valka was a strong woman, she’d always been.

“You know it was the best for them, son, even if we don’t like it”, she reminded him warmly while she was stroking his hair.

“I know, but I would have loved to spend a little more time with them. Just a little”

“Holding to that idea will never help you to move on, Hiccup”, she said with sadness, “The fact that you move forward, doesn’t mean you have to forget him.”

It took time for him to process her words until one night he accidentally broke his prosthesis. Hiccup only had two when they came to New Berk: the one he lost when he fought against Grimmel and the one he was wearing now. Both had three functions: metal leg, ice leg and… the leg he used for Toothless’ tail. He considered to recreate an exact replica, but he stopped himself.

For what?

That night, after making his new prosthesis, he took everything that belonged to Toothless: his saddle, his tails, the old sketches full of designs and drawings of his friend, and he kept them in a trunk. He didn’t hide it, just left it in a corner, accessible when he considered necessary to comfort himself with those memories. He swore by himself that he would never forget him, although he knew it was impossible. But it was time to move on and he had to do it for himself. He kept the Night Fury symbol on his shoulder pad, because Toothless would always be part of him and, while he wouldn’t know, the Night Fury would be New Berk’s Chieftain’s crest for many generations after him.

Astrid came back from her trip with a dislocated shoulder, a slashed lip and a black eye. Hiccup freaked out when he saw her so badly injured, but she smiled tired and said:

“You should have seen how we left them after kicking their asses.”

The trip went as it was expected and soon they would restart the trade relationships with other tribes. The dragon trappers were just an exception within a profitable trip, but nothing they couldn’t fight against, and without dragons to manipulate, they were weak. His fiancé looked happy to be back and she was thrilled with the changes Hiccup applied to the island. She didn’t overlook either that he had a new prosthetic. Nevertheless, Hiccup realised that something was odd in her. Her mind was somewhere else and she was constantly distracted.

“What’s wrong, Astrid?”, he asked.

She always answered with excuses. Everything was fine, she repeated, everything was going to be fine, but Hiccup knew she was lying. He didn’t pressure her, he waited till she was ready, as he did many times in the past. A week after her arrival, she exploded:

“I think we should marry.”

It was evening and they were alone in the forge. It was bucketing down and the village was deserted. Astrid was soaked and she was shaking like a leaf, but her eyes were full of determination. Hiccup was bewildered by her sudden proposal. They haven’t talked about marriage since before the dragons departure, even Tuffnut didn’t bring him up the subject again. Hiccup’s heart pounded strong against his chest, full of happiness because she finally made her mind up. But the ghost of his insecurities appeared in the back of his mind.

“Are you sure you want this, Astrid?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve made my choice”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

“Weren’t you the one who told me that we weren’t nearly ready to marry?”

Astrid sighed.

“I didn’t want to tell you this because I know you had too much on your shoulders, but after your dad’s death, the reconstruction of Old Berk, your new role as a Chief, the trappers, the exodus to New Berk and… their leaving, I wasn’t sure you were ready to assume a new burden, no matter how many times you repeated you wanted to marry me.”

“Burden?”, ask Hiccup troubled, “Astrid, you are very far from being a burden for me. Nothing in this world could make me happier than being your husband, not even…”

His voice faded. Unable to pronounce aloud that fleeting thought. Astrid smile with sadness and hold his hand tightly.

“This trip was a nightmare without Stormfly. She was the best companion. There is no day I don’t think about her or I don’t look at the sky and wonder if she’s okay, or if… if she has already forgotten me.”

She burst into tears for the first time in months. Hiccup’s heart broke seeing her so inconsolable, but he realised that it wasn’t until then that Astrid dared to talk about how awful she was feeling since the dragons left. She cried. And did the same.

“Would you marry me then?”, she asked among tears.

“Gods Astrid! You don’t need to ask!”

They got married in February, a time after the first anniversary of their departure. The Berkians couldn’t understand why they should marry in the middle of the winter, but they felt it was the right moment to do it. Before the wedding, Hiccup submit a proposal to the Council that surprised everyone:

“I want Astrid to become the Chieftess of New Berk and not just my consort.”

Both talk about it and Hiccup insisted it should be in that way. A equal marriage. She was his right hand, his general. She couldn’t be in a position below him. Many wanted to discuss such a barbarism —”a woman as a lider of our tribe? are we crazy?”—, but Hiccup gave such hard punch against the Council table that everyone instantly shut up. That day everyone saw the fierce sparkle of Stoick Haddock in their Chief’s eyes.

The decision was made.

And no one dared to argue.

The wedding was simple, without many flourish in spite of being a Chief’s nuptials, but they didn’t need more. Before the ceremony, Hiccup spotted Gobber in the first line among the public and got close to him to ask:

“Why aren’t you beside my mum?”

The blacksmith blinked surprised and he was drawn into Valka’s side by his former apprentice. Gobber couldn’t hold his tears during the wedding, knowing that the fact that Hiccup allowed him being in the stairs along with Valka, taking up the place Stoick should have been, was the best way from Hiccup to tell him that he considered him a father.

The celebrations last at least a week, but Hiccup and Astrid only had eyes for each other. For the first time in months, Toothless was a secondary thought in his mind. Astrid and New Berk were his world now and, although there still was a feeling of emptiness inside him, he learned to live with that.

The first years of marriage were an eternal honeymoon. When they weren’t ruling the village, they perfected the art of sailing, studied the stars and seeked new corners of the island were they could spend time together alone. Their friends moved forward too: Ruffnut married Fishlegs and they had triplets six months after the wedding while Tuffnut established a chicken farm which was surprisingly efficient. Snotlout took Astrid’s place in New Berk’s guard with his father. Eret moved discreetly to Gobber’s forge, but no one ask why. If the Chief wasn’t complaining, why would they? Valka took the responsibility of exportations and she explored the surrounding islands. At least her new job relieved part of her wild spirit.

Everything was fine. At least, that was what Hiccup thought.

And then, Zephyr came.

And everything changed forever.

They took their time until they decided to have children, basing on both were too busy to think about babies. Moreover, they liked to have time for themselves, enjoying the company of each other and focusing their energy on the improvement of the village. They were twenty six when Astrid got pregnant. It was a remarkably easy pregnancy, although Astrid got horrible cravings that only Valka knew how to cook and Hiccup had to make a great effort for not throwing up everytime he smelled his wife’s food.

The delivery was slow and agonizing for Astrid and she demanded Hiccup’s presence during the whole birth, wrecking his hand terrified. Zephyr came to this world screaming and both parents were convinced that her weepings should be how the valkyries sounded when they sang.

Holding his daughter for the first time was the best moment of his life.

Better than his wedding.

Better than meeting his mother again.

Better than kissing Astrid for the first time.

Better than the first time he flew with Toothless.

It was painful the thought of Zephyr not knowing the dragons, but he didn’t doubt of telling her stories of Toothless, Stormfly and every dragon which lived one day with them. The eyes of the child, blue as her mother’s, had the same irrepressible passion her dad always had. Hiccup was devoted to her daughter, always taking her anywhere he went, even to the Council’s meetings. As they were both Chiefs, Hiccup and Astrid share their responsibilities as parents, so it wasn't weird to see Zephyr in her parent’s arms or giving her first steps through the village. Shortly before her second birthday, someone had the folly to ask Hiccup:

“When are you having a heir?”

Although years softed Astrid’s temperamental nature, she still was the one who brought order to the chaos and no one dared to question her because she was always right, while Hiccup was the more opened to discuss any matter. However, there was an unspoken rule in the village: don’t piss off the Chief. He had an appearance of being so serious with his hair combed and his short beard perfectly cut and clean, representing a very different image of what his dad was one day. However, Hiccup was a dork, even more with his daughter and other children of New Berk. He was easygoing and very nice to deal with. He was a wise and clever leader, supported by an amazing woman as Astrid was, who was constantly watching over the Berkians. The young and flighty viking who one day rode a Night Fury would have been forgotten if it wasn’t for the dragon which remained in his shoulder pad. But no one in New Berk —and it should be remarked: no one— was stupid enough to dare to awake the Chief’s rage, because his anger could be that great that even the hunkiest men trembled in his presence. For that reason, when he was asked about the Chieftain inheritance, Hiccup turned slowly to the poor guy and, with a tone colder than ice, ask:

“What heir? We already have one if she wants to one day.”

No one talked about it again and it wasn’t necessary to announce that Zephyr was Hiccup’s heir. However, not long after that incident, Astrid’s new pregnancy was announced.

Unlike Zephyr’s, Nuffink’s pregnancy was so difficult that, although the child bornt healthy, his mum almost died. Hiccup couldn’t remember having such a hard time in his life, not even when his father was killed or when Toothless was kidnapped by Grimmel. Astrid was dying in their bed and there was no way Hiccup could be separated from her side. He cleaned her, changed her, medicated her and hugged her when she was crying because she was cold.

“I would have loved to fly one last time before dying”, she whispered one night while she was with high fever.

“I can take you there, we can sail to the Hidden World with the children to see them again.”

“They won’t remember us.”, she grumbled with her eyes filling with tears.

“Of course they will. I’m sure that they always have us in mind, as well as we keep them in ours.”, Hiccup said with broken voice while he was cleaning his sweaty cheeks with his fingers.

“The kids would love them. I’d love to see them together with Stormfly and Toothless.”

“A dream come true.”, he agreed.

He could guess she was delirious when she touch his face with feverish eyes. Her hand was burning against his skin.

“Don’t leave me Astrid, please.”, he begged resting his forehead against hers, “I can’t live without you. I can’t stay alone, I’m nothing without you.”

“You have the kids”, she muttered resting her hand in his chest, “You have a spark on you that have guided us all. You will be fine.”

Astrid Haddock didn’t die that night. Neither the next one. Or the ones which came later. Against all odds, Astrid recovered thanks to Gothi’s cares, Hiccup’s support and her viking stubbornness. Three months after giving birth, Astrid was as great as always and full of energy, carrying Nuffink in her back and holding hands with her daughter.

The Haddock children grew up in an environment full of love and marvellous stories. Hiccup never forgot the words his father told him once when he was a boy:

Son, there is not greater gift than love.

Zephyr, in spite of having her mum’s serious and strong personality, she had inherited the dry sarcasm of her dad, love for books and the inability of staying still in just once place. Astrid burst out of laughing every time Hiccup complained that their daughter had sloped off again.

“For Gods’ sake, Hiccup! You’ve just sounded like your dad!”

Nuffink was more introverted than his sister, but he was curious, constantly laughing and he had inherited his mum’s fascination for weapons to such an extent that, although he was just a child, he ran every time to the forge to see Gobber and Eret working. His only problem —if that could be called ‘a problem’, because his parents persevered it wasn’t— was his stuttering. Because he was so shy with strangers, Nuffink stuttered that much that sometimes it was difficult to understand him, especially for a toddler like him. He was very attached to his mum of whom never separated from in any social event.

Both siblings got incredibly on well, even though Zephyr was too overprotective with his brother. It wasn’t strange that the Chief’s daughter got into a fight with other kids who dared to pick on her brother, even more if it was because of his stammering. Hiccup scolded her that violence wasn’t the solution, although he was secretly proud of her daughter’s sass. What it was more, he was grateful that Zephyr had the bravery and the cheek to tell her mum and grandmother off that their cooking was terrible.

Everything was fine in New Berk.

But Hiccup couldn’t stop thinking about the promise he made to Astrid.

So one night, shortly before Nuffink’s third birthday, Hiccup found his courage to bring up the subject to her.

“Are you sure, Hiccup? It’s almost certain that they won’t remember us.”, she reluctantly said, “We don’t even know if we are going to be able to find the entrance to the Hidden World.”

“Let’s try, Astrid.”, he begged, “The children are dying to see Toothless and Stormfly and it’s been years since we’ve been dreaming to sail to the Hidden World. Also, what if his tail isn’t working? I cannot stand the idea of him being unable to fly for himself.”

Astrid hold his gaze and, then, she sighed.

“Fine.”, she gave in, “But if something happens to the children…”

“It won’t.”

“Hiccup…”

“It won’t.”, he repeated convinced.

They left days later, guided by the west wind. They sailed during days, insecure if they were taking the right route, but the kids were excited with the trip, the first one of their lives. During the voyage, the children learned to sail and fish, arts that their parents learned not so long ago.

And then, they found the entrance to the Hidden World.

Hiccup didn’t remember being that nervous since Astrid got sick after Nuffink’s birth. What if Toothless didn’t recognize him? What if his tail was broken? He saw among the mist the Light Fury first and three small dragons by her side. Then, he saw him. Even before he could react, the Night Fury flew to them and landed in the poop of the ship. The dragon didn’t seem to recognise him.

“Hey Bud, it’s me”, he greeted anxiously.

The Night Fury narrowed his eyes with suspicion and looked to Astrid and the kids, who seem terrified of him. Hiccup looked away, closed his eyes and extended his hand to him, hoping he would recognised him by his smell. Before he could react, he felt the sticky lick on his face and Toothless pushed him against the floor jumping excited while he was licking him.

Hiccup laughed while Astrid smiled relieved, assuring to their kids that his dad wasn’t going to be eaten by a dragon. Hiccup petted his friend, unable to believe that he was finally seeing his friend after all those years separated.

But something was missing.

Hiccup called to his children who approached them afraid of the Night Fury. Toothless observed them curious and, then, he understood what Hiccup wanted. He bent his head while Hiccup took Zephyr’s and Nuffink’s hands and explained them how they should introduce themselves. Astrid kneeled behind them, excited to see the recreation of the moment her husband sealed his friendship with Toothless many years ago.

When Zephyr and Nuffink touched Toothless’ nose and they smiled, Hiccup finally felt that the emptiness in his heart, which had accompanied him for many years, was finally filled. The dragon licked the children exultant, aware that those little humans were his offsprings. Zephyr and Nuffink complained with disgust while Toothless surprised Astrid by licking her too. The woman welcomed him with a laugh and then the dragon jumped to the poop of the ship again and roared. Three small figures appeared from the waterfall mist and Hiccup’s heart skipped a beat. Toothless, like him, was a dad too. The Night Lights were extroverted creatures which showed a great curiosity on them. Encouraged by their dad, they played with them till the Light Fury came with another dragon.

“Stormfly!”, Astrid shouted.

The Nadder recognised Astrid’s voice and she landed so enthusiastically on the ship, swinging it wildly. The kids ran to the blue dragon fascinated as she observed them with curiosity. Astrid introduced them and Stormfly bent her nose to smell her friend’s offsprings.

“S-she’s be-eautiful”, Nuffink stammered amazed.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and they had to contain the excitement that almost made them cry. This was happening. The dream they were cherishing for years it was finally becoming true.

They were giving their most special legacy to their children.

That day the whole Haddock family ploughed throughout the sky on Toothless and Stormfly. They spent a day that none of them would ever forget; not even Nuffink, who was just a toddler.

But every beginning had its end.

When the sun started to hide on the horizon, the children were trying to hide the exhaustion, but Hiccup decided it was time to return to the ship. There were complains, even from the dragons, but Toothless agreed with his friend.

It was time to say goodbye.

That farewell was less painful that the last one. Although Hiccup burst into tears again, he left in peace knowing that his best friend was happy. And, selfishly speaking, Hiccup was happy with his current life. More than happy. His children, wife and village were his whole world now.

He’d finally moved on.

Those reunions happened over the years. New Berk continued to flourish and it became one of the richest and safest islands of the Archipelago. Hiccup and Astrid agreed that only the Haddocks would keep on secret the location of the Hidden World. There were complains and arguments on the subject, but both Chiefs knew it was the best for all, convinced that Toothless wouldn’t like the approach of humans to his kingdom.

Valka accompanied them in the rest of their trips until she passed away many years later. She went to the Hidden World after the insistences of Cloudjumper to Toothless for letting her enter at least once to the paradise that Valka always wanted to meet. A time after her passing, Hiccup found out that Cloudjumper died from age and sorrow. Twenty years together had been many, even for a dragon, but the relationship between Valka and Cloudjumper was so special as Hiccup had with Toothless.

Hiccup and Astrid travelled to the Hidden World until Hiccup couldn’t make it anymore. Actually, it wasn’t shortly before his death that Hiccup accepted he couldn’t return. By that time, Zephyr was the Chief of New Berk and Nuffink was her right hand man, although he was working in the forge after having it inherited from Gobber and Eret after their passings. Despite her advanced age, Astrid was in great health, although her hair was white now and her face was marked by wrinkles and time.

Hiccup had it more difficult to walk with his prosthesis due to his rheumatism and when he got sick with pneumonia everyone knew that their former Chief, the longest and greatest ruler that Berk had ever had, wouldn’t survive.

It was late and Hiccup found it hard to keep his eyes open. His chest was whistling, a sign that showed that it was more and more difficult to breath on his own. Astrid was by his side, holding his hand and stroking his hair. She was smiling to her husband with tenderness, not allowing herself to break down in front of him. He deserved her best face until the end, later she would afford to cry for him. Hiccup thanked her effort by squeezing her hand with the little strength he had. Nuffink was seated on the floor, resting against the foot of his parents’ bed, tired of crying, while Zephyr was on the other side of the bed, weeping in silence and with bags under her eyes. His grandkids left a short while ago and Hiccup made a huge effort to tell them their favorite tale for one last time:

“There were dragons when I was boy…”

Now, they were just waiting till Hiccup fell sleep for not awakening again. Every now and then, he whispered words of love to his wife and he caressed her daughter’s hands with his fingers. They stayed like this until a gale hit against the windows and then Hiccup murmured:

“West wind.”

Suddenly, they heard a heavy knock on the roof, startling everyone in the room except for Hiccup. A weak smile creased in his lips and Astrid understood what was going on.

“Nuffink, open the door.”

“B-but m-mum…”, his son tried to argue.

“Do as I say and open it.”

Nuffink obeyed her and he held his breath when he found Toothless on the other side of the door. The Night Fury entered in the house without asking for permission and he approached to the bed with a sad look on his face, like if he perfectly knew what was going about to happen. Zephyr moved away to make way for the dragon and she placed next to her mother and brother on the other side of the bed.

“Hey Bud.”, Hiccup greeted in a thin voice, but smirking, “You must forgive me for not having gone this year to see you all, but I’m afraid I won’t be back.”, he turned to his family, “Don’t worry, the secret of the Hidden World will be safe. I couldn’t leave it in better hands.”

Toothless growled sadly and Hiccup put his hand on his nose, as he had done so many times before.

“Thank you for everything, Bud. I can leave this world knowing that I had the best friend I would have never dreamed of and a wonderful family that the Gods could give me.”, he coughed and a grin of pain drawn in his face, “My Dad wasn’t wrong when he said that there is no greater gift than love and all of you are the most precious treasure I’m taking with me to Valhalla. I love you all.”

Hiccup closed his eyes, holding his family by one hand and feeling the scaly skin of his best friend on the other one. He sighed his last breath with a smile on his lips, leaving this world with an encouraging thought:

Everything went well.

Xx.

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curiouser-and-curiouser-fics · 6 years

Text

Dating Snotlout Would Include…

Dating Snotlout Jorgenson would include…

~the other Riders being weirded out at how you're actually attracted to Snotlout

~they actually believed for a while that he used hypnotism to get you to fall in love with him

~taking his helmet off so you can run your fingers through his hair

~and to fix his awful helmet hair

~bringing out the soft, truly affectionate side of Snotlout

~going to the Meade Hall to eat with friends and family

~(speaking of family, Snotlout's dad obviously wouldn't like you; he's already so hard on his son, and he's told him to settle for nothing less than the best, so once Snotlout's heard that his dad said he could do better, he blew up)

~Spitelout eventually seeing you in a better light, and accepting you as part of the (future) family

~Snotlout always telling you that you're perfect and more than enough

~admiring his biceps

~him being embarrassed and shy when you compliment him

~him calling you 'babe' a lot, but eventually picking up on your pet names and becoming more creative

~him actually doing more of the household chores like cleaning, washing laundry, and cooking

~Snotlout liking PDA, which isn't a surprise, but it's not over the top; it's mainly hand holding and cheek kissing

~you telling him to behave when he pokes fun at the twins or Fishlegs

~the team being weirded out yet again because Snotlout actually listens to you and does what you tell him to

~Snotlout coming to you in tears when his dad is being too hard on him

~you being there for him and telling him that it's okay to cry

~Hookfang taking a liking to you very early on; he was actually one of the main reasons you even noticed Snotlout in the first place

~you cheering for him at the dragon races

~going out for a drink to celebrate the times he does win

~going out for a drink when he loses

~him being adorable when you're sick and he takes care of you

#httyd #httyd 2 #how to train your dragon #how to train your dragon fanfiction #httyd fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #fanfiction #snotlout #snotlout jorgenson #snotlout x reader #would include

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maedarakat · 5 years

Text

Just Lout

—-

“GAHHHH, this is so stupid!” Snotlout swore, tossing his helmet across the field.

Twice now, the carefully mounded sacks of garbage had fallen down, nearly flattening Snotlout - who of course was on garbage duty again - all because of those darn Terrors rolling in it.

Honestly? Terrible Terrors were disgusting little beasts and Snotlout honestly didn’t know what it was about the Twins’ trash that attracted them. Probably some kind of weird food . . . or wait, maybe not food at all; Tuff did have a whole flock of chickens in his care now. Ugh, Fishlegs was a gardener, couldn’t he deal with their leavings instead?

He swore and shooed the Terrors he could reach with a broom, before starting to haul the bags he’d collected off the wagon. He was almost done reconstructing the wall of garbage when a familiar voice hailed him.

“Hey, Snotrag! Having trouble?”

He scowled at Dagur, not appreciating being snuck up on - or the fact the Berserker had got his name wrong again.

“No. I’m fine. I can handle it —“

And the mountain of trash came down yet again, this time succeeding in burying him up to his waist in . . . well, waste. Three Terrors rolled down the side of it in a quarreling ball of rage, fighting over a burlap bag of something.

Snotlout seized the bag and wrestled it away, furious. He didn’t particularly care what was in the bag, he just didn’t want the Terrors getting to enjoy it after making such a mess.

“Bad dragons! No! You can’t have it!” He yelled, shaking the bag at them. They followed every motion the hand with the bag made, intently focused. When he paused in confusion, they pounced on him, knocking him over into the muck and nearly divesting him of several fingers in their attempts to win back the bag.

Wisely, he threw it far away and by the time he got back on his feet, Dagur was still laughing. The jerk.

“Wow, thanks, Snotman - I needed that.” Dagur wiped his eyes and came somewhat to the rescue, starting to haul the bags that weren’t broken back to what was left of the pile. “So who did you tick off to be given this chore? Did you mock my brother’s frail physique again?”

Snotlout rolled his eyes, not answering - which was as good as saying yes.

Dagur shrugged. “You could be doing this an easier way. Why not do a pyramid instead of a wall? That way it can’t keep falling over on you. You just need to have a good foundation.”

He started doing it without waiting for a reply and begrudgingly, Snotlout went with it. It wasn’t like he had a better idea or any real argument against Dagur helping him.

“If it weren’t for the stupid Twins, there wouldn’t be as much trash,” he grumbled.

“Hey, now. Way I hear it, all of you have saved the Edge - and each other - multiple times. So if it weren’t for the Twins, you might not be here to do trash duty.”

Snotlout opened and then closed his mouth, again having no argument.

It rankled him, honestly. Where did Dagur get off being so wholesome?

‘The way he’d heard it’, Dagur had come back from Vanaheim with Fishlegs and Hiccup, having found Oswald’s remains instead of Oswald. Shouldn’t he be upset and moping somewhere, rather than . . . helping him?

Snotlout bit the corner of his lip, wondering if he should say something. It must have been rough for Dagur finding his dad like that, even if they hadn’t gotten along.

Especially if they hadn’t gotten along.

“Yeah, maybe so. Doesn’t mean I enjoy the fact that their garbage attracts all manner of pests - Hey! Stop digging in that!”

A Terror righted itself, carrying off yet another small bag with a triumphant chirp. Several others chased after in hot pursuit.

“What is in those bags?”

“Huh. Probably dragon nip resin,” Dagur shrugged.

Snotlout looked at him incredulously. “I didn’t know you smoked nip.” Well, it would certainly explain Dagur’s calmness, all things considered.

“Who doesn’t? Gives me kind of a headache, but at times like this? It’s nice to be able to just relax with some friends.”

Meaning the Twins. Well, Snotlout couldn’t blame him, really. And it was nice of the Twins to try and give him a slight reprieve from the awfulness of reality. Snotlout knew his own dad would skin him alive if he was ever caught partaking in anything but mead (a man’s drink, according to Spitelout, rather than smoking some inferior herb) but he’d joined the Twins more than a few times behind the stables, after a long hard week.

“Hey. Dagur. Uh . . . I don’t know how to say I’m sorry without sounding like an idiot. But . . . if you ever want to talk about it -“

Snotlout trailed off awkwardly. Dagur was looking at him the same quizzical way he’d looked at the Twins during one of their ridiculous arguments. The Berserker blinked but then smiled genuinely.

“Thanks, Snotsnout. I may take you up on that. Heather . . . needs some time to herself, apparently. Boynut advised me to just let her be, and since he’s been a brother for longer than I have . . .”

He looked hurt by that, and Snotlout could understand; Heather was the only family he had left. And she’d already hated him once.

“Family can be a real pain in the ass sometimes,” the Jorgensen sighed. “But Tuff’s probably right - just let her cool off and she’ll be fine. She’s got Astrid, Fishlegs and Hiccup to console her. You . . . You have us. So you know, if you get lonely, you can always hang out at my hut. And the Twins usually invite themselves over too, so -“

The words he said were equally genuine, nevertheless he yelled in surprise when Dagur scooped him up and hugged him tight enough to make his spine crackle alarmingly.

“Aaiiigh - DAGUR!” Snotlout screamed, kicking his legs.

“Sorry, sorry.” Dagur put him down immediately. “I thought you didn’t like me!”

“What?” Snotlout stared at him in confusion. “I mean, why? I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I told you, you’re fun to mess with.” At Snotlout’s frown, Dagur hastened to explain. “If it makes you feel any better, sometimes I call Tuff ‘Laverne-nut’ just to see him make that deadpan face. It’s hilarious. His sister thinks so too.”

“ . . . so the whole messing with my name thing is just something you do to everyone?”

“Everyone I feel comfortable around, yeah,” Dagur shrugged.

“Fine. Then I’m calling you Dagster.”

“No, you are not,” came the deadly serious answer.

Snotlout rolled his eyes, but held up his hands in a gesture of goodwill. “Fine, fine, I won’t then. But just in case you run out of ideas for my name, friends call me Lout.”

Dagur regarded him for a moment and grinned again. “Okay. Thanks, Lout. Now come on, this pyramid of garbage isn’t going to assemble itself.”

He bent to grab more trash bags, still intent on helping Snotlout - unasked - with his chore. Which suddenly didn’t seem quite so daunting or impossible as it had before.

Ducking his head to hide a grin, Snotlout joined him.

—-

@daglout

#rtte #daglout #snotlout #dagur #happy belated v day!

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snotloutadmirer · 6 years

Text

Father Troubles (prompt #55)

This made me UwU so it typed it up 😁 @httyd-fic-prompts

Pain. That was all that was creeping over Snotlouts bruised skin like a nightmare igniting it's flame. He groaned as yet another kick was delivered into his gut, winding him.

His attacker leered over him, marred face pulled into a ferocious scowl, teeth bared as he hollered down onto his quarry.

"How dare yae lose another race boy! You're a disgrace to the Jorgenson name!" Spitelout yanked up his frightened son by the collar and shook him roughly, murky green eyes piercing into Snotlouts own. "Step up or that beasts' head will go on a spike!"

"D-dad," Snotlout croaked, daring to try and reason with with his father's fury. "I-argh!" Snotlout yelped as a fist was thrown forcefully into his cheek and he tumbled backwards against the wall. He barely had time to register what happened before he was seized around the neck and smashed into any unfortunate peice of furniture within range.

Amongst the ruckus of the fight, the pleading screams of Snotlouts mother were but an irritable background noise as she cowered behind the wall that structured the hut. For Snotlout, all he could hear was various crashing sounds as he was dragged from here to there, pain spiking in each area that bared the brunt of the blow.

He felt the floor vanish for a split second as he was thrown into the corner, pitifully flailing his arms in a last attempt to defend himself - only they were grabbed and twisted horribly behind his back, a sudden explosion of pain searing down his left forearm as he heard a sickening pop and crack.

His dislocated arm hung limp when suddenly an overpowering whining suddenly overcame Snotlouts ears as everything began to fade out, vision blurring. A bright burst of light struck his dilated pupils as he collided into the stout oak doorway of his home, tumbling down the stairs and slumping out in the middle of the road.

Villagers stared as they passed, the odd person even stopping to watch as Spitelout loomed in the doorway, eyes locked onto his son like predator to prey. Snotlouts eyes fluttered open as his consciousness returned, baby blues wide with fear as he sat himself up and tried uselessly to crawl back with his only good arm.

The scarred leader of the Jorgenson clan descended down the stairs, arm reaching back to seize his son once again. Snotlout screwed his eyes shut and curled into a protective ball, preparing to face the next bought of pain.

Yet it never came.

He warily opened his eyes to see Hiccup, arm wrapped firmly around his father's wrist and shoving him backwards. His stance was firm and rigid

He was pissed.

His emerald green eyes were glazed with anger as he spoke with the sharpness of a knife blade. "What is going on here!" Hiccup barked, fists clenched. Spitelout seemed to stiffen, but then smirk at the idea of another challenge. He stepped forward, slowly and forcefully - a threat.

"I am educating my son on the rights and wrongs of what it is to be a Jorgenson, boy. And you're interfereing. Move." His voice was fierce and cold.

But Hiccup stood firm, acting as a shield for his friend. A crowd had begun to gather, each of the villagers talking quietly to themselves. What would happen next?

"Spitelout this is abuse. I will not allow it to continue." At this, Snotlout felt the slightest bit of relief despite the singing pain that knawed at him. He was not only aware of Hiccups defence, but Toothless, standing back growling subtly, watching and ready if there was a fight. And Spitelout was refusing to back down.

"This is my family business Haddock, not yours. Don't make me get ugly."

"A bit late for that," Hiccup retorted. A surprisingly strong rage had grown in him as the events had unfolded. He had only been in town purchasing some bread when he noticed his fellow dragon rider come tumbling into the street, looking thouroughly terrified. Hiccup had been aware that Snotlouts father was no stranger to bossing his son around, but this had gone too far. He knee a fight with Spitelout wouldn't work. The man was a brute. Just then Spitelout cracked his knuckles.

"How dare yae. I'll smash the pair of your skulls together. Don't think that dragon of yours scares me boyo."

Hiccup glanced back at Snotlout who daren't seem to move - he was frozen in terror. The haunted look on his friends face caused something to snap. Hiccup felt himself shake as his muscles clenched tighter. The fury bubbled to the surface when suddenly it was too much to hold back.

He stared up to Spitelout, eyes baring into his very soul. The look, so unnatural on the scrawny vikings face made the man pause.

"I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Son of Stoick the Vast and heir to chief of the Hooligan Tribe of Berk. You will not disrespect me or my people! Do you understand!"

There was silence. The crowd had hushed over Toothless had stopped growling, and everyone gawped at Hiccup with a mixture of awe, surprise and a touch of fear. Kind, helpful, dragon-loving Hiccup never used his title.

Spitelout shifted back slightly, irritance lining his features. He knew he couldn't defy Hiccup - that would be treason and putting his life on the line. He glared back at his son staring in shock at him before reverting back to Hiccup. "As you wish cheif," he spat before pivoting and storming back inside his home.

Hiccup felt a sense of relief, his anger now slightly diminished and he exhaled deeply. The crowd had dispersed a little, but some members still watched on as the young heir crouched by his injured friend.

"Are you okay Snotlout?" He asked gently, resting a hand accidentally on the dislocated shoulder. Snotlout hissed as a jolt of pain shot down the arm. Hiccup quickly withdrew his hand.

"I'm fine," Snotlout breathed through gritted teeth, the tears building up from earlier dangerously close to spilling.

"No you're not," Hiccup said, moving to his other side to help him to his slightly shaky feet. "You need Gothi."

Snotlout laughed it off very loudly (and very forcefully) he was well aware of the crowd still watching them. "I'm fine Hiccup. It's funny, I've never heard you use your title before. Are you my new father now?" He teased, but he couldn't keep the small break out of his voice.

"Very funny Snotlout," Hiccup replied, rubbing his arm as a form of comfort.

*****

Gothi's was wholefully unpleasant, Snotlout wailing as the old healer popped his shoulder back in and placed it in a sling. The various bruises Snotlout had obtained were going darker by the second and he had to hold a block of ice on the back of his head from where it had been whacked on so many hard objects.

Hiccup had stayed with him - somewhat out of pity but he was also genuinely concerned. He didn't like to leave the injured viking alone after such an ordeal. Once Gothi had finally finished announcing Snotlouts long list of problems including bruised ribs, a mild concussion and of course a dislocated shoulder, he was dismissed with three medicines to help him heal.

The riders journeyed slowly back to the village and are their way to the The Haddock House - Snotlout didn't dare try and go home.

"Here, sit down," Hiccup offered up a stool. "I'll get you something to eat."

Snotlout sat quietly and petted Toothless whilst Hiccup hunted through some cupboards to find some yak jerky. He finally pulled some out wrapped in brown paper and brought them back to the sitting area. He paused when he saw his friend hunched over shuddering slightly with Toothless crooning softly to him.

"Snotlout?" Hiccup quizzed.

Despite the evident pain he was in, the burly viking got to his feet and threw himself around his friends shoulders in a crushing hug, finally letting a sob escape him. Hiccup staggered at the sudden weight, but it was more out of surprise. He lightly wrapped his arms around the shorter viking, highly confused. "Snotlout?" He spoke, more a question that a statement.

"T-thankyou," Snotlout choked as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Thankyou Hiccup."

Hiccups eyes widened. This was a side of Snotlout he certainly wasn't used to. The vulnerable side. He felt pitiful for the outgoing, challenging man he knew who in fact was bullied by his own family. He felt a small smile spread on his cheeks as he returned the embrace with more warmth.

"You have no need to thank me Snotlout," he said gently. " It wasn't right and any decent person would have put a stop to it. I'm sorry for what you have to go through at home, I truly am." Hiccup almost surprised himself with those words considering what he had to face as a kid, not only from his father but his peers aswell, including Snotlout. But he was not one to carry a grudge. Evidently Snotlout had been on a similar wavelength to Hiccups train of thought.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you before, I was young and I just wanted to impress him," he whimpered, clutching his friend tighter. "Thankyou for helping me." Hiccup lightly pushed him back so they faced one another, taking up his hand and holding it up in a fist.

"Look Snotlout, at the end of the day we're brothers. More to that, we're friends. I'll always look out for you ok?" The heir of Berk smiled warmly, his green eyes sparkling. Snotlout stared back, sniffling and wiping away a few stray tears.

"Thanks Hiccup. I guess we are kinda like brothers," he chucked. But suddenly his face changed to serious.

"By the way if you tell anyone about this," he motioned to the two of them. "I will deny it." Hiccup smirked.

"I thought you would say that."

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athingofvikings · 7 years

Text

Chapter 18: Leavetakings

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Chapter 18: Leavetakings

On the topic of Snotlout Jorgenson, Astrid Haddock's journals frequently refer to the man in epithets, at turns variously angry, vulgar, or frustrated, rather than by name. However, given their own tangled history, this is hardly unsurprising. Jorgenson had a long history of clumsy attempts at seducing her in their youth, despite her repeated efforts at emphasizing that such interest was both unwanted and unrequited. These culminated in a confrontation at the court of Magnus the Good—an event that Jorgenson himself later wrote as being one of the definitional moments of his life. This shared history and established dynamic became the foundation for their infamous interactions as adults.

Interestingly, until her attention was brought to the significance of the moment years later, Astrid's own journals gave little mention of the incident that prompted Jorgenson's departure, beyond a few notations on having to explain matters to Spitelout Jorgenson, Snotlout's father and the marshal of Berk at that time. Once the significance became clear, however, her journal entries on the topic essentially summarized to the points that she was not responsible for his choices or desires, that it was his own responsibility to control himself, and that her only regret was that she hadn't hit him harder that day. This is, of course, excluding a significant portion of extremely creative vulgarity in regards to Jorgenson, to the point where it is suspected by historians that her friend and lifelong associate Ruffnut Fairhair I had some input into the layered kennings in the later journal entries, built upon earlier epithets (Fairhair having had her own negative adolescent experiences with Jorgenson and his attentions).

—The Dragon Millennium, Manna-hata University Press, Ltd.

After having had both a heavy lunch and a chance to stop and think for a bit… a very long bit, Hiccup walked down the hallway to the rooms where the rest of the Hooligans were quartered.

Bracing himself, he knocked on Snotlout's door.

"Go away!" his cousin's voice came through the door.

Sharing a look with Toothless, he sighed, and then spoke. "Snotlout! I need to talk to you."

The door burst open a moment later, and Snotlout, breathing heavily, stood in the threshold. "What do you want, Hiccup!? An apology? Are you here to try to get me to behave? Or is this just for gloating?"

Hiccup folded his arms and shook his head. "No… I'm… look, Snotlout. We're kin. And I'd love it if we could be friends. But… I don't see that happening. Do you?"

Snotlout snorted and walked back to the saddlebags he was packing. "No," he said sullenly.

"Yeah. So… instead, I'm going to do three things and then I'll leave you to your choices… whatever you want to make of them," Hiccup said, staying in the doorway.

"Three things. How traditional," Snotlout said with a sneer. "Alright, I guess I owe you that much. What's number one?"

Hiccup sighed. "One… can you write a letter or something to your dad? He'll worry about you."

Snotlout's fists clenched and then released. "My dad. Worry. Yeah, I guess. Sure. I'll have it for you by the time I leave. What's two?"

"Two is this," he said, holding out a small leather purse.

His cousin stalked back over and snatched it, and it gave the tinkle of coins. Opening the drawstrings, Snotlout poured some of it into his hands, revealing copper, silver, and even a pair of gold coins.

"It's not much," Hiccup said apologetically as Snotlout stared at him, shocked, "But…" he sighed. "But it should be enough for you to buy passage and supplies for you and Hookfang for the trip there."

"Why?" Snotlout poured the coins back into the purse and looked at him, suspicion on his face.

"Because three," Hiccup said, and extended his hand. "We're kin, cousin. And… maybe we haven't gotten along as well as we could have… but… well, kin help each other. They look out for one another. And, when one starts a new path in life, kin wish each other well and the blessings of the Norns."

Snotlout looked at him, and then looked away.

Hiccup tried not to hear the sniffle.

And then his cousin looked back at him and took his hand and shook it. "Kin."

"Kin."

"I'm not changing my mind," Snotlout said resolutely. "There's nothing left for me in Berk." He looked at Hiccup with an undecipherable expression on his face. "Nothing."

"I understand," Hiccup said. "So I'll wish you a safe journey and many blessings for you for when you get there."

Snotlout sniffed and then, for the first time in a long time… he hugged his cousin, thumping Hiccup on the back, making him gasp from pain as his cut and rib were crushed and thumped. But Hiccup returned the embrace as best he could, and then they pulled apart.

One last look, filled with everything that they could have said to each other… and couldn't, and Snotlout turned away to continue packing.

And Hiccup walked away.

###

The net wriggled as the fish within it twitched and jumped, but the four dragons carrying it by the corners had no issues with carting it through the air. A few fish managed to jump free, but before they hit the water below, other dragons caught them in midair with relish.

Thornado gave a self-satisfied belch below Stoick as the four-foot-long cod vanished down his gullet.

Stoick gave his dragon a sidelong look. "Aye, and here I thought that you didn't like cod."

Thornado shrugged, a mid-air ripple of his back that jostled Stoick in his saddle.

"It was there?"

Another deeply satisfied belch issued from the Thunderdrum, and Stoick snorted. He turned to Mulch and Bucket, who were supervising the fishing team, and called out, "Get this batch over to the salting crew! We're going to start laying down provisions for winter!"

"Aye, Stoick!" Mulch called out from the back of his dragon, and they flew on. The work never ended. Aye, the dragons made it easier in some ways, like the fishing, woodcutting, or even some basic gardening, but they had to be fed and handled too.

A motion below caught his eye; turning, he saw Gobber waving to him and motioning him to land by the smithy.

In a rush of wings and air, he and Thornado touched down in front of the growing assembly of dragon dummies in the yard. A few half-finished saddles were placed on them, and the village leatherworkers were busy cutting and shaping, including the new one, Una. She caught him looking and reflexively looked away.

With a sigh, Stoick held up a hand to Gobber. "One moment."

"Aye, Stoick," his friend said.

Stoick turned and walked over to the freewoman. "Una."

"Aye, milord?" she asked nervously. "I didn't mean nothin—"

"Una!" Stoick said, exasperated. "Yeh're a freewoman. Not a thrall. I understand that it's hard, and it's only been a handful of days, but yeh needn't apologize to me for looking." He held out a hand. "Promise me that yeh'll try to remember that."

She glanced down. "I'll… I'll try. Milord."

"Aye. And it's Stoick. Save the 'milords' and the like for when it's appropriate." He held out a hand. "Agreed?"

She looked slightly awed and nervous, but managed to extend her hand and shook his. "All right," she said in a small voice.

Stoick smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. "Aye. So, how's it working with dragon leather?"

"I'm still learning what it can do," she said, "but give me time. I'll do it."

"No worries there," Stoick said, and turned to leave. Just before he walked back to Gobber, he turned his head and, giving Una a smile and a nod, said, "Remember! Freewomen bow their heads to nothing on Berk!"

She smiled slightly, and got back to work trimming the leather for the girth of the saddle she was working on.

Gobber was smiling at him as he strode back. "Ah, Stoick. Give them time. They'll adjust."

Stoick cocked his head and gave his friend a sidelong look.

"Then again, yeh never have been one to just leave well enough alone," Gobber said, quirking an eyebrow. "Come on." He gave a motion to follow, turned and went into the smithy.

Following, Stoick found Spitelout and Fishlegs already inside. "Ah. On that, eh?"

"Aye. The lad had a good thought." Gobber turned to Fishlegs. "Tell 'im."

Fishlegs swallowed nervously and said, "Um… so, the thought I had was that we might want to look at things from the point of view of 'What if Berk kept thralls?'—"

Stoick instantly felt his mood darken at the thought.

"—for determining who the spy might be…" He trailed off, looking worried, and Stoick realized that his own face had turned stony. Composing himself, he motioned for the lad to continue.

"So… um… yeah. So they wouldn't know that they'd be freedmen here, so…" He looked down, bridging his fingertips together and bouncing them back and forth.

Stoick sighed. "I see yer point, lad. Any more thoughts?"

Fishlegs nodded. "Well, um… I think the most likely ones would be the ones that would have the ability to go around the village freely, or be in close contact with the dragons."

Stoick chewed that over for a moment, looking up at the ceiling in thought.

As he thought, Fishlegs said, "While it wouldn't let us eliminate anybody from the list, it would let us figure out who is more likely?"

"And who is more likely?" Stoick asked.

"Well, I… um…" Fishlegs hesitated.

Stoick looked at the lad and rolled his eyes. "Fishlegs. I know that yeh have a first rate mind and that yeh've already thought on this. So, who are yeh thinking are most likely?"

Fishlegs looked down at the floor and said, "I think Oisin and Seamus, followed by Murchadh and Una." He looked up and raised a fist, and then extended his index finger. "As people working on buildings, the first two would have the ability to wander around without too much issue," he raised a second finger, "and the second two have crafts that could be—will be—helpful with the dragons."

Spitelout cocked his head to the side in thought. "Aye, that makes sense."

Gobber rumbled. "Aye, lad, but you're forgetting something."

"What?" Fishlegs asked.

"If we're talking about them as still thralls, then what about the lass?" Gobber stepped forward and patted his hammer-hand against his flesh-and-blood hand. "She'd be right with yeh."

Fishlegs flushed and muttered something to the floor.

Spitelout smirked and said in a false-considering tone, "Aye, but she'd be a touch… busy to be a proper sp—"

He cut off as Stoick glared at him and interrupted. "Spitelout! That's enough!"

"What? Why?"

"This isn't a joke, Spitelout! We have an entire village to protect here, and your sense of humor isn't helping any—"

There was a hard knock at the door, which swung open after a moment too brief to be given the label of 'pause.'

Stoick suppressed a groan as he saw one of the visitors that had been flocking to Berk standing in the doorway. The visitor, a noble Francian, was only a few years older than Hiccup, and had perhaps half the sense of his son—on one of his son's bad days.

"Jarl Stoick! There you are!" the finely dressed man said, a slightly wild look in his eyes. He'd been pestering Stoick since he'd gotten to Berk yesterday morning; Stoick had offered the man hospitality when he'd arrived, and was already coming to regret it.

"Yes, Sir Henry?"

"Well, my good Jarl, I would very much like it if we could discuss my petition!" the Francian man said, stepping deeper into the smithy.

Stoick looked at the man with narrowed eyes and a set jaw. "No."

"Jarl Stoick, I feel that I've been quite reasonable! So why are you being so difficult?!"

Stoick marched up to the man and loomed over him. "For the last time, no. I will not sell or trade dragons to you, or your father!"

"Five purebred head of cattle per dragon, from my own herds!" Henry said intently.

"No."

"Ten!"

"No."

"Fifty!"

"No."

"You drive a hard bargain, my good lord. But what do you say to one hundred head of cattle, the finest that Brittany has to offer, for a single measly dragon?" He spread his arms wide. "It's not as if you'll miss it, you have so many!"

Stoick glared at the man. "No! And do not pester me about it again!"

Henry reached out and grabbed at Stoick's wrist guards, his demeanor near-frantic. "Milord, please—"

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Of. Me," Stoick bit out.

Henry jerked his hands off of Stoick as if they'd been burned, and said plaintively, "But, milord, if you'd just consider…"

Stoick turned to his marshal. "Spitelout. I am rescinding hospitality for Sir Henry of Brittany here. Escort him to his ship and send him on his way."

Spitelout looked saddened at the loss of the free entertainment, and sauntered over. "Come on, now. Let's go!"

Henry, his eyes wide with disbelief, said, "No wait, milord! Listen, you don't understand—"

Spitelout, irritated, grabbed the smaller man by the arm and started to pull him towards the door. Henry struggled as best he could, and his tone and bearings becoming increasingly unhinged.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have! I apologize for my disrespect! Please!" He grabbed hold of the doorframe posts as Spitelout grunted with effort. "Listen, listen! Five hundred head of cattle for a single dragon! Just one, please—"

"No!" Stoick said, exasperated. "Now go!"

"Milord, it is a matter of honor! Please!"

Stoick sighed again. "Spitelout, hold."

With a sigh of disappointment, his marshal stopped hauling on the annoying young visitor, but didn't let go.

"Milord, I swore a wager—an ill-thought wager!—on my honor, and now you are my only hope!"

Stoick sighed. "What was the nature of the wager?"

"With my brother, milord, my younger brother! If I don't come back with a dragon, I'll lose my inheritance!"

With an appalled look at the young churl, Stoick asked, his voice a little strangled, "And what did your brother wager?"

"His betrothed, Lady Joan, one of the greatest beauties—"

Stoick cut him off. "So whoever wins this… bet gets both the inheritance and the lady?"

"Aye, milord! So you see the stakes for which I am indebted to you! Please, aid me!"

"And what does the lady think of this?" Stoick asked softly, keeping a tight lid on his growing fury.

Sir Henry gave him a blank look, as if he couldn't understand what Stoick was asking.

"Aye… that's what I thought. Spitelout? Get rid of him."

Spitelout heaved, and Henry's hands came loose from the door, in a manner that left Stoick surprised that there weren't divots carved in the wood.

As the man's screams of protest echoed and diminished as Spitelout manhandled him down to the docks, Gobber ambled over to the door and closed it.

"Do yeh think he even has five hundred head of cattle?" Stoick asked idly.

"Him? Maybe," Gobber said. "His lord? Almost certainly, if he wanted to go into debt."

"Oh, Odin, who is he going to crawl over to and rile up at us?"

"Well, he said that his lord was…" Gobber looked up in thought. "Count Geoffrey Martel of Anjou. From what I've been told, a nasty fellow." He shrugged.

Fishlegs made a quiet noise. When Stoick and Gobber looked at him, he asked, "Why didn't you say yes, then?"

Stoick sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "Because, lad, do you think a man who acts with such disrespect would be capable of respecting a dragon? No, he and his lord would treat it like a horse with wings, and I've seen enough of the dragons to know that they are close enough to men that selling one into such slavery is not something I'm going to say yes to!"

Before Fishlegs could say anything to that, there was a much more hesitant knock at the door. After a moment's shared glance, Stoick opened it, to reveal Una and Heather standing there, Heather holding a mead hall tray in her hands.

Una peeked in. "So… what was that?"

Stoick growled. "An outsider who thought that I'd put profits over my principles."

Gobber scoffed lightly, and Una and Heather looked thoughtful. The younger girl stepped forward and, holding out the tray, said, "Magnhild said that I could bring you this, since you skipped lunch."

Stoick smiled at her and took the tray. "Thank you."

She bowed politely, and left.

Stoick glanced at Fishlegs as she walked out the door. The lad was obviously trying not to ogle her, which spoke well of him. Honestly, she could do far worse, in Stoick's opinion. He scoffed. Like his glory-brained nephew. If he started harassing the freedwomen when he got back…

Stoick took a plate of food from the tray—some small cherry tarts, drizzled in honey—and started to snack on them as he thought. Aye, if Snotlout treated any of the women who had just arrived like he treated Astrid, he was going to have words with the young man on how to behave himself.

Oh, yes.

He turned back to Fishlegs and Gobber. "Should we wait on Spitelout, or continue?"

Gobber snorted. "I say we go on. At least then the lad here can get a thought out without Spitelout trying to embarrass him."

Fishlegs blushed slightly, and Stoick snorted. "Aye, truth there. So, lad, what other thoughts do yeh have?"

"Well… I was also trying to figure out what a spy would look like. I mean, obviously, we don't have any books on the subject—I think; maybe Auntie Bladewit has some in the clan library that I don't know about—but that just meant that I had to think about it from first principles."

"And what have you figured out?" Stoick asked.

Fishlegs shrugged helplessly. "Not much. I just… I just don't know enough. I keep building models in my head and thinking 'oh, that's got to be it!' and then I check them for assumptions, and the whole thing comes crumbling down. Like, if I wanted to train a spy to send to Vedrarfjord to find out stuff on their king, who would I send? How would I prepare them? And I'm not sure!"

Stoick sighed. Great. The most agile mind that he had available was having confidence issues.

"Lad. What do yeh know?"

Fishlegs sighed. "Like I said, not much." He spread his arms out helplessly. "I'm guessing that whoever is the spy is older, though."

"Why?" Stoick asked.

"Training time… and maturity," Fishlegs said wryly. "Could you imagine someone like Snotlout—or even me—as a spy? We'd get caught on the first day! And Hiccup?" He shuddered dramatically, making both Stoick and Gobber laugh. "But someone older… someone that's had time to get some experience… I think that they'd be more likely. Which takes Oisin and Seamus down on my list."

"What about Heather?" Gobber asked.

Fishlegs sagged. "She's my age, Gobber. Can you imagine Astrid or Ruffnut being able to pull off an act of being 'just a thrall'?" He shook his head. "And she doesn't fit the sneaky part of the pattern. I mean, if she'd been stuck as a thrall… with me…" he said this last bit hesitantly, "then she wouldn't be part of the larger group of thralls that would belong to you. She'd be a single household servant—and that wouldn't give her the time to go off and spy on things."

Stoick pondered that for a moment. There seemed to be something off with that line of thinking, but he couldn't figure out what that something was. "Aye, lad," he said. "Good reasoning. Keep up the good work."

Fishlegs nodded and smiled. "Thanks, chief."

###

Astrid hissed in pain as the fur cloak settled on her shoulders. Instantly, Hiccup lifted it back up, but she motioned for him to put it back down. With the tailors still working on their replacement clothes, and not wanting to go back out in the motley of borrowed clothes, she was back in her formal clothes for dinner, and so was he.

A knock at their door sounded, and Wulfhild's voice came through the wood. "You two ready?"

"Just finished!" Hiccup called back, straightening her brooches and necklaces. She gave him an indulgent smile and, holding hands, they left the room.

Magnus and Ruffnut were also waiting out in the hallway, holding hands. Ruffnut was bedecked in necklaces and gems atop her own formal outfit, which hadn't been the case before. Astrid suspected that the source for the sudden array of jewelry had been Wulfhild's own jewel-boxes.

Looking at her fellow tribeswoman, Astrid said with a smirk, "So… I heard that Magnus here threw caution to the wind?"

Ruffnut blushed wonderfully and Wulfhild, standing off to the side, gave an amused quirk of her eyebrows.

"I always knew that the poetry and rhymes he liked so much would get him into trouble one day," the princess deadpanned.

Magnus shot his sister a hurt look, and she laughed. "Sorry, brother, but declaiming a maiden-song in front of the entire great hall for a woman that you haven't even known for a week… I'm not taking it back."

The young king shrugged and gave Ruffnut a grin, before saying, "Well, I'll take that over the usual courtship for a king."

Wulfhild shrugged and nodded. "Point." She made a dramatic bow towards the staircase. "Shall we? They're expecting us."

"Yep. We have to get out at least once today," Astrid said. Not that it hadn't be a wonderfully indolent day. She had basically spent nearly all of it naked in bed under the covers, letting her wounds heal. While a large bit of her had chafed at the inactivity, as she always did when convalescing, the fact that Hiccup had been with her for the majority of the day, and in a similar state of undress, had made the time much more enjoyable—even if their wounds had kept them from doing anything terribly athletic.

They made their way to the great hall, talking lightly about Magnus' proposal. As they walked, Hiccup thankfully knew better than to try to treat her as too fragile. Holding hands, though, was acceptable.

Reaching the doors, Magnus and Ruffnut entered first, also holding hands, and a flurry of applause came from within. Before stepping over the threshold, Wulfhild took a deep breath and seemed to… diminish before Astrid's eyes; instead of the excited young woman that she'd come to know as a friend over the last few intense days, she suddenly seemed as lively as a rag-doll.

She tried to catch Wulfhild's eyes before the other woman walked into the mead hall, but failed.

Then it was her and Hiccup's turn. They entered and were seated at Magnus's left hand, while Ruffnut was now on his right, with Sigvatr next to her. Meanwhile, Wulfhild was next to Astrid, and Einar the regent beyond the princess.

The priest stood and blessed the meal, which was then served; a line of servants emerged from the kitchens, carrying plates of roasted meat, stewed fowl, and baked vegetables. The serving dishes were placed on the tables, and the smell wafted over to where Astrid was sitting, making her mouth water.

Before anyone started to eat, though, Einar stood and spoke. "Today is a blessed day! Our king, whose skill with words is exceeded only by his reputation for goodness, has made a choice that brings us closer to our new allies, the Dragon Riders of Berk!"

The room applauded. Tuffnut was clapping enthusiastically between Fritjof and Horsefeathers, and she noticed that Snotlout was absent.

Good.

"Now, let us feast!"

With that, people dug in.

Using her left arm, Astrid awkwardly grabbed as many tasty-looking things as she could manage—there was some chicken or other fowl marinating in some kind of fruit that looked interesting. Her plate loaded, she watched Ruff and Magnus trade stanzas back and forth, which made her have to stifle a laugh.

Sigvatr, watching the whole thing in deep amusement, leaned over to catch her and Hiccup's attention. "So, young sir and lady, as you're the heads of this delegation, do you think there will be any… objections to this back in your home?"

She and Hiccup shared a glance and they both burst out laughing.

"Let's go with a 'no,'" Astrid said, imagining the Thorston clan's reaction to the idea.

"Emphatically so," Hiccup said.

The regent, Einar, toying with the slice of boiled and roasted ox on his plate, said in a practical tone of voice, "Sigvatr is right, however. We'll have to start negotiations in earnest shortly, but as I understand it, you two are in no condition for extended travel regardless. But matters are complicated by the fact that her only kin here is her brother… and you, Master Haddock, are the official leader of this expedition. So matters are somewhat complex on the question of who we should be negotiating with."

Hiccup quirked an eyebrow. "We'll talk, but I think you're making this way more complicated than it needs to be, sir."

"Perhaps," he said, and got back to his roast meat.

A group of thanes and other members of the household approached the high table, carrying musical instruments—drums, flutes, and some kind of weird wooden object that Astrid couldn't identify—and bowed to the king.

"Milord," the leader began, carrying the wooden… thing; it looked like a half-covered bowl with a long handle, with strings stretched across the handle and the bowl, "we wish to petition you for the honor of providing joyous music to you, your intended, your guests, and your household on this most blessed of days."

Ruffnut's jaw was hanging open; if Astrid had to make a guess, she wasn't used to being the center of attention in a positive way. Astrid smirked at the thought; as pranks on the prankster went, this was pretty good.

Meanwhile, Magnus grinned at his thane and said, "Please, Ketil, my good man! Lift our spirits even higher than they are now!"

With a whirl, the thanes grabbed seating and began to play.

Astrid blinked as a sort of music she had never heard began to echo through the great hall. The thane was using a bow to play the bowl-instrument, and it echoed grandly, and the others, having clearly played with him before, struck up a jaunty tune that set her feet to unconsciously tapping against the flagstones. People started to clap their hands and pound the table, even as they ate. As the meal went on, singers joined in for single songs between courses, and other people went and got their own instruments to join in.

During a moment of silence when the musicians were quenching their thirst with beer and revitalizing themselves with something to eat, Astrid leaned over to Magnus and Wulfhild and asked, "What instrument is that?" mimicking the side-to-side stroking motion that the thane used with his bow.

Magnus grinned. "It's a Roman lyra; he brought it back from Constantinople when he returned from Varangian service two years ago, and a number of other instruments. I personally love the music, but he won't let any of the craftsmen look at them to try to replicate them. So I offered him a position as thane so that I could hear him play them."

Wulfhild leaned in and looked at Hiccup. "Do you think that you could make a copy of it, Sir Hiccup?" she asked quietly; her eyes darted to the side for some reason as she asked.

Hiccup took a long look at the instrument, which the thane was holding like it was a young babe in swaddling blankets, and nodded. "I can try, when I get back home and have access to my workshop again. But I work mostly with metal and leather; I'm not a carpenter, although I know the basics."

"Caveat noted," Wulfhild said with an acknowledging nod. "But that would be amazing. I like Ketil," she nodded her head in his direction, "but," she leaned in close, "he's so selfish with his instruments."

"Sister dearest," Magnus said with a chiding—and half-agreeing—tone, "It's still his lyra. I won't be a tyrant and demand that he play it." He sighed and closed his eyes as Ketil began to play again. "Besides, this way, I can appreciate it for the gift that it is."

Wulfhild rolled her eyes and closed them in the same manner, as did Ruffnut after another moment.

Astrid just shook her head and focused on eating her food one-handed. It was beautiful music, but she wasn't as hedonistic as the others were being about it.

Then again, her sense of honesty nagging at her, given what she and Hiccup had been doing repeatedly over the last few days and nights, to her own deep enjoyment, she was the last person who had any right to snub what other people found enjoyable, or their own focus on that indulgence.

Her cheeks flushed a bit, and she took a quaff of sweet ale to hide it.

Yep. Not a hypocrite over here, nope.

And then there was her own focus on martial prowess, and on flying.

Yeah… she was just going to appreciate what she could out of the music, and accept that they liked it on a deeper level than she could.

Wulfhild was unconsciously drumming her spoon in time with the music after she finished her roasted fowl, which brought a smile to Astrid's face. Clearly, whatever was wrong with her friend was getting better.

Then Einar leaned over from his seat and muttered something to Wulfhild. She paled, and jerkily placed the spoon down on the table.

Oh.

Astrid suddenly understood something there. What it was exactly, she didn't know, but a jumble of facts suddenly came together.

This place was Einar's holding, not Magnus's.

Until yesterday, it seemed like Magnus had to consult with his advisers on every decision he made.

And now Wulfhild was cringing back like a scolded hound—or worse—around Einar… and the fort's staff.

And the saga that Sigvatr had recited on their first night here had been the sum total of Wulfhild's mother's courtship—she hadn't even met the old king before they'd been wed.

With that in mind, she could see why Magnus was willing to take a risk on Ruffnut, despite having only known her for a few days… And Wulfhild was still unwed.

She was going to have to talk with her new friend as soon as she could get her alone. And maybe bring Ruffnut in on the conversation as well.

For the moment, with her wounded arm, she found Hiccup's hand and squeezed it tightly, and he squeezed back. That didn't requiring moving her upper arm that much, thankfully, and she'd drunk another one of those foul brews from Healer Jørgen that helped with the pain. Hopefully the effects would last through the rest of dinner.

An idea sparked through her head, and, after a moment, it caught the tinder of a plan and started to flicker.

Smiling at the idea, she stood up; Hiccup gave her a look of concern, which she dismissed with a wave of her hand. The work of a few moments let her corner one of the recovering flutists off to the side for a quick talk, which grew as they bounced ideas off of each other; explanations from her were met with him nodding in emphatic agreement, and then he offered a few suggestions of his own.

Returning to her seat, she tucked back into her meal as best she could with one and a half working arms as the musicians continued to play. It was peaceful, lively, and beautiful, with an air of celebration.

Plus there was the hilarity in watching Ruffnut's reactions to being the center of celebrated attention. People kept coming up and offering their blessings to her and Magnus, or dedicating a piece of music to them, or, Astrid's personal favorite, Ruffnut's utter bewilderment at the cooks coming from the kitchens bearing a honey-, cheese- and nut-filled cake that the head cook proudly called a plakountas tetyromenous, apparently made from some Greek recipe.

Astrid got a slice of the pastry, and enjoyed the tangy, crunchy sweetness of it every bit as much as she enjoyed the look of utter perplexity on Ruffnut's face of What, for me?

Meanwhile, next to her, Hiccup was eating his own slice, but a frown crossed his face as he chewed and swallowed, and he sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"I… uh… Astrid… I was just thinking about Snotlout, that's all."

"Oh." She looked down at her plate, with the sticky doughy crust in pieces. "Right." Forcing a smile to her face, she said airily, "Well, if they eat like this where he's going, then he's not missing anything tonight, is he?"

Hiccup snorted. "I guess not."

As they ate, the music continued to build around them. As the meal had progressed, more people had brought in drums, flutes, tambourines, lyres and a few other oddities that she didn't recognize. The strangest one looked like a goatskin bladder with a flute attached to it; the musician had a wooden pipe in his mouth, which he was using to keep the bladder inflated, which seemed to be excessively complicated as a way of playing a flute to her.

As the meal wrapped up, someone started calling out for her and Hiccup to continue their story from the night before.

Magnus just gave her and Hiccup a hopeful look. Hiccup gave a wide grin in response. "Of course!" he said, and stood up. "We were just getting to the really good parts, after all!" He bowed with a flourish to the room, and she was pretty sure that only she and Magnus heard his hiss of pain as his rib and wound protested at the motion.

But his face was smiling as he came out of it and addressed the room. "So, to remind people, let's see… I was hiding in the smithy, desperately trying to fix the bent hook on the saddle before someone noticed that I had a freaking dragon in the village, when suddenly…" He bent towards her.

She grinned and called out, "'Hiccup, are you in there?'"

The audience laughed.

"So I'm panicking, because, hey, it's Astrid. And I think that that's pretty much exactly what I babbled out, after I darted out through the stall shutters and slammed them shut behind me.

She nodded in confirmation. "Yep. And then I said that he'd been acting weird. Well, weirder." She snorted. "As soon as I said that, I think Toothless saw something interesting, and then suddenly, Hiccup gets pulled up against the shutters… and then pulled through. Oh, and the hinges went the wrong way."

A couple of people hissed and winced in sympathy.

"So I fling open the shutters… and no Hiccup."

He waved his arms about. "Toothless had spotted a sheep and wanted to investigate. So off we went—whether I wanted to or not!"

As her boyfriend described his father's return, and Gobber's revelation of Hiccup's skill at 'dragon fighting' to Stoick, which made people laugh and smirk, she caught the eye of the flutist and made a motion for him to get ready.

And then, as Hiccup started to speak about his first full test flight with Toothless, she motioned to the flutist, who began to play, gently. He'd apparently talked with the others as well, as they began to play along with his story, which she'd outlined during her chat.

Hiccup looked surprised, but continued on gamely, and the flutists kept working with him, describing their early fumblings through the sea stacks, and the dropping of the cheat sheet.

The entire room held their breath as he described the thousands-feet plunge down the side of Berk, the flutists joining in in full melodious glory of the moment. Then he recounted, his arms waving about for emphasis, the high-speed flight through the maze of sea stacks, he and Toothless working as one, and emerging from the sea mists and shore rocks victorious.

The room burst into applause and the flutists trailed off.

As people clapped, he looked at her and gave her a wink, which she returned.

Calm returning slowly to the room, Hiccup narrated the wonderfully awkward talk his father had had with him in his workroom. It was fun to watch the realization cross people's faces as he talked, and his imitation of his father's accent was roundly received with amusement.

Then, wrapping up with his acceptance of the 'breast hat', a description that sent a good two thirds of the room into howls of laughter, he handed the next part over to her.

She stood and, with a bow, described her frustration at the semi-final exam against the Gronckle, how she was going to win this moment and be the one to fight the Nightmare… only for Hiccup to drop Meatlug like a sack of wet meal in the time it took to say it.

Her own stealthy pursuit of him as he fled to the cove, she described in some detail, noting that Hiccup… lacked the sort of woodsman skills that might have helped him evade pursuit.

"…and, going for as much surprise as I could muster, I hopped up on top of the boulder that he had knelt down in front of, talking about how he was going to be leaving—forever," she managed to resist a pained look at him, "and just set myself to sharpening my ax… casually." People tittered.

"Then I started asking him how he had gotten so good. I maaaay have been a bit too aggressive about the whole thing," and her sense of honesty chimed in with an affirmative, but she whacked it back down; they'd talked about that and put it to bed already, "and he's a terrible liar. His excuse? Making outfits." She snorted dramatically. "Well, I didn't buy it… and proceeded to give him a little ass-kicking for the lies and everything else." There was applause and laughter.

"Then, well, I had the shock of my life when suddenly I'm face to face with an angry Night Fury, oh, and Hiccup here disarmed me."

He shrugged humorously as people laughed.

"My eyes must have been this big. Here I am, no ax, no knife, staring at an angry black dragon hissing at me, and what does Hiccup here do?" she tousled his hair, "Introduces us. 'Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid.'" She huffed dramatically, deliberately aiming her breath to send her bangs fluttering. "Since he'd clearly lost his mind, I bolted for the village… only to get snatched and dropped into the high boles of a pine tree while Hiccup here tried to convince me that the dragon was his friend."

More laughter. Toothless was standing behind her, doing his lovable fool routine, eyes wide and tongue hanging out, and he bent down and gave her hair a lick as she said it.

Looking up at him, she rolled her eyes and flattened her hair back down from the spikes that the Night Fury's tongue had pulled them into, and continued. "So I'm looking down at the ground fifty feet below, demanding that they put me down, and Hiccup here demands—"

"Asks! I asked you, and said please!" Hiccup interjected with a grin.

"Demands that he be allowed to show me that this big lug," she reached up and poked Toothless under the chin—away from the pressure point, the last thing her wounded arm needed was a limp dragon landing on her, "was friendly."

Toothless just gave his draconic chortle, with a decidedly humorously sadistic tone to it.

"So I climb on, and rather than going down as I had asked…" She flipped her working arm up into the air, describing a high arc, terminating with another poke to Toothless's chin, "he proceeds to take me for a ride. High in the air, drop into the water, high up again, spinning, whirling…" She held her arm up in the air as a sort of hopeless gesture, a wry grin on her face. "So here I am, on the back of a lunatic dragon, holding on to another lunatic," she patted Hiccup on the head again, "for dear life, certain that I'm about to fall to my death and go splat, and I do the only thing I can think of. I said I was sorry."

Toothless huffed and gave her another slobbery lick as everyone laughed.

"After that, well, I got to see my home from the air, fly through the clouds… yeah. It turns out that a dragon who likes you can show you some amazing things… and open your eyes to other possibilities." Her insides seemed to flutter for a moment in sheer happy remembrance of the moment… and the happy moments since. But as much as she wanted to dwell on them, she had a story to tell, so she continued.

"Of course, then we had other problems—like realizing that Hiccup was going to have to fight Hookfang in the morning, and then, just as we're dealing with that, he," she pointed to Toothless, who had sat back down behind the high table, "hears the Green Death's homing call. We ended up being the first people on Midgard to see the inside of a dragon nest and tell the tale."

Her smirk turned bleak. "So we're inside the Nest, hiding up in the top shelves of this giant cave inside the mountain on Toothless's back, dragons on every side, eggs stuck to every wall. The flock comes in with us, and we're watching them drop food down into the foggy pit below… and then this little Gronckle, with only a single fish to drop, just gets eaten in one bite by this set of jaws that would fill most of this room."

People hushed.

"So we manage to get out of there in a big hurry and fly back, arguing the whole way; Hiccup is thinking that they're all thralls, and I'm arguing that it's like a beehive, and the big dragon is the queen bee." She shrugged. "We're still trying to figure that part out. But he convinces me to not tell his father, and, well, we'd just almost gotten eaten, and I'd just had my eyes opened up to this bigger world, so," she punched Hiccup on the arm, prompting a yelp of surprise from him, "that was for kidnapping me," she said, and the room laughed.

Then she bent down and gave him a much more chaste kiss than they'd been sharing lately on the cheek, "and that was for everything else."

The entire hall cheered and applauded.

As Magnus's court expressed their approval of the story, she looked around. Being honest with herself, she was exhausted, from the pain and the sheer effort involved in telling a long story with the wounds she bore.

But it felt like a cheat to end it here for the night… and then an idea came to mind.

Once everyone quieted down, she said, "From there, well," she looked at Ruffnut from her spot a few seats down on the table, who had been listening and clearly taking notes to give to her uncle, "I think someone else in here can tell that part."

Ruffnut looked back at her, eyes wide, and then a slow smile crossed her face. She stood as Astrid sat, and, in a clear voice, started to recite Chestnut's saga from where Astrid had left off; Chestnut had glossed over most of the parts that she and Hiccup had just told over the last few days, but he'd been there for the exam, Toothless's capture, and the fight at the Nest, and had gotten the details down more or less accurately.

The room was stomping its feet in time as Ruffnut gave her uncle's saga to the room. Astrid just leaned up against Hiccup, who had an amusing stuffed expression on his face. Unlike last time he'd heard it, here he couldn't sit in the back and let his mind wander off unattended.

Contented, she enjoyed listening to the saga, her lover next to her, him occasionally cringing in embarrassment, but not as bad as it had been previously.

Life was good.

###

Snotlout checked the straps on the saddlebags again and loosened them a notch. "How's that?"

Hookfang made a satisfied rustle.

"You sure now? It'll be hard to fix in midair."

Another approving rumble.

"All right then!" Snotlout beamed at his best friend. "I think we're just about ready!"

Hookfang nuzzled against him and purred, and Snotlout patted his head.

Off to the side, Fritjof was leaning against one of the palisades, watching, and keeping his thoughts to himself.

He and the old thane had argued about this yesterday.

It hadn't gone well.

Fritjof was his father's best friend… and he was more worried about how Spitelout would take this than what Snotlout wanted.

And Snotlout had made it very clear that the only way that Fritjof was going to get him to come back to Berk was by knocking him out and throwing him on Nott and Delling's back.

Then the smarmy old bastard had tried!

He'd forgotten, though, that he'd taught Snotlout how to fight, and fight dirty.

They'd both ended up wheezing on the floor, crying in pain, and then laughing together.

It had felt like a goodbye.

A voice came from behind him. "So, young sir, here's my nephew, as promised."

Snotlout turned to see Oddmund and another young man about his age, tall, thin and blond, with a scraggly beard, looking at Hookfang slack-jawed in awe and fear, a leather rucksack dangling from one hand and another hanging from a shoulder.

"Sir rider, this is my nephew, Karl. He was already planning on joining the Varangians; he knows the way to Uppsala, and my thoughts were that he could trade swift passage there against that knowledge. What do you say?"

Snotlout came over and extended his hand. "Sounds great to me! And here I was planning on just flying around until I bumped into the right spot!"

Oddmund snorted, and Karl seemed to jump out of his haze. "Right. Um… wow. I brought some supplies, but we'll have to get more on the journey. I can help barter for them, and we'll have to be careful when passing through the waters of the Danes—"

"Huh?" Snotlout said, and then realized. With a smirking grin, he said sharply, "Karl." The other man jumped, blinked, turned and focused on him.

"Yes?"

"We're not going by ship." He pointed a thumb at Hookfang. "How far is it over the mountains to Uppsala?"

Karl's eyes grew wide. Well, wider. They'd already been near circles. "Uh… I don't know. Nine or ten mil?"

"We can make that in a day, maybe two," Snotlout said dismissively, and preened when Karl seemed to grow faint. Nonchalantly, he held out his hands. "Well, give me your stuff. We'll pack it in here, no problem."

Numbly, Karl handed over his bags. It was the work of a few minutes to get them squared away in the saddlebags.

As he worked, Snotlout said diffidently to Oddmund, "So, you promised some letters of introduction?"

"Aye, I did. And here they are," Oddmund said with a smile. "I even got Steward Mark to stamp them. Present them to Lord Harald when you get there, and you should have no problems whatsoever."

Smiling, Snotlout took the parchments from Oddmund and stowed them into his saddlebags after wrapping them in a small length of oilskin.

Everything settled, Snotlout put his hands on his hips and looked around. "I think we're ready." He looked up, and saw that the sun was at its zenith… more or less. It was a little hard to tell, this far north, as Sunna didn't exactly drive her chariot high above the horizon, the lazybones. But the morning was definitely past.

A few minutes later he and Karl, buckled in with his spare safety harness, were on Hookfang's back, climbing up the side of the great hall. Reaching the roof, Snotlout looked out over the city below, and the fjord beyond, and took a deep breath of the salty air.

A gentle nudge of his friend's horns and Hookfang spread his wings. Behind him, Karl gasped.

A downbeat and a rush of wind, and they were in the air. Hookfang flew west, downhill, building speed and altitude, and then banked around to head east and towards Uppsala.

They overflew the fort one last time. Snotlout looked below, seeing how open it was, how vulnerable… how easy it would have been to take.

And, standing on the roof of one of the buildings, was a Night Fury and a single human, watching him go.

There was suddenly a lump in his throat, and, impulsively, he took one hand off of Hookfang's horns and waved.

The figure waved back.

Fighting a tear, Snotlout turned his eyes back towards the horizon.

And glory.

###

Hiccup, hopping from leg to peg, walked quickly and carefully to the latrine closet with all possible speed; he and Magnus were still hammering out some of their negotiations, specifically on the expedition to Berk for him and others of his court to get dragons, and, well, he'd had too much sweet ale to drink.

He sighed in relief as he managed to get to the latrine before he couldn't hold it any longer. Once he finished with his business, he took a moment to appreciate the nice basin of rosewater kept at the side, and scrubbed his hands in it. That done, he then stepped back out of the closet—to find Einar standing there, his arms folded across his chest and looking stern.

"Oh, sorry—" he started to say, only for Einar to look at him flatly, with narrowed eyes and his lips set in a thin line, and say, "We need to speak frankly, young dragon rider."

"About…? And why not do it in the negotiations?" Hiccup asked back.

Einar looked at him for a moment in a way that felt so very familiar to Hiccup; like he was a too-clever walking disaster. "Boy. Do you truly think that an eleven-year-old child would have been able to seize a throne for himself? I know that you have a working brain, so use it."

Hiccup crossed his arms and gave a flat look of his own at the elder. "So what? He's king now."

"Aye, and I've spent a great deal of effort making sure that he is king. But he listens to me, because I put him there. Am I clear?"

After a long moment, Hiccup gave a short nod. "Yes. You are." And it explained a great deal of why Magnus had to keep listening to his 'advisers'. "So why are you telling me this?"

"For a few reasons. One, I first wanted to emphasize that I did not order the attack on you. I want you alive, boy, and I want your dragons, either in my possession or as allies, and I know which is more likely. Call me cynical, but you seem to be far too idealistic to attack an ally, and I'd rather have you in that category than have your father demanding my head on a plate for your death."

"So who ordered it?" Hiccup asked, ignoring the rest of his comments; he'd think on that later. Also, Einar was old, and Magnus wasn't; his friend would be around much longer than this crafty and cynical elder.

"That, I don't know, and assuming that Magnus's ham-handed efforts at investigation haven't driven them all underground, I will be looking. Think of me what you will, but I will control my own house." He quirked an eyebrow at Hiccup. "And that's two. Magnus may wear the crown, as a descendant of King Fairhair, but I rule here. Don't forget that. Give the boy a dragon for him to ride, and some for the rest of his court, and I'll make sure that we fulfill our side of this alliance. Is that satisfactory to you?"

Hiccup gave a brief blunt nod, his own face as set as he could make it. "I guess it'll have to be, won't it?"

"I just wished to make certain that you are satisfied. You are the stronger one here. I have no doubt of that. So you are the one that gets to set terms of satisfaction."

Mouth hanging open, Hiccup just stared at the older man. "What in the names of the gods are you talking about?"

"Well, boy, what else do you want?" Einar asked. "Coin? Land? Warriors? You've got a woman already—and, yes, I know that you two are plowing furrows in the mattress out of wedlock, naughty, naughty—but if you want more, I could arrange it."

"What kind of person do you think I am?" Hiccup shot back, offended.

"A person. A mortal, fallible, sinful person, despite what some at this court are coming to think—impressive work on that, by the way. But, boy, I was raised in the old ways. Even the All-Father made mistakes and acted out of greed, lust, and fear. And you aren't better than your gods." He gave a satisfied smirk. "The sooner you realize that, for all of their loftier claims, people are only really interested in coin, power, revenge, and sex," he quirked an eyebrow at Hiccup at that last one, "the better a lord you'll be when you come into your own titles."

Hiccup ground his teeth together, and then bit out, "I see. Thank you for summing that all up. Anything else?"

"Not much. You've already managed to get rid of the one thorn in your side that I'm aware of—bravo, by the way, that was well done—and sent him into exile thinking that it was his idea all along."

Appalled, Hiccup gaped at the elder. Did the man really think that he'd managed to somehow trick Snotlout into leaving? And did he really think that that was a good thing?

Not noticing Hiccup's reaction, or not caring, Einar kept going, "But I do have to ask what else you might be interested in. An alliance is all well and good, but, as you've pointed out, we're getting more from you than you're getting from us, and I feel that that's… unwise, from my perspective." He shrugged those vast shoulders. "Being completely honest, I'd rather be in your debt than the other way around, given how much power you have."

Hiccup shrugged angrily and started to walk away. "There's nothing that you can offer me that I'm interested in. I'm here for an alliance and making friends, nothing more."

As he left, Einar said from behind him, "Oh, you little virgin boy. You may have known a woman, but you don't know what it is to rule. I vaguely remember being that innocent once. Well, offer's still open for when you want it."

Hiccup walked away, feeling somehow unclean in a way that soap and rosewater wouldn't touch, and filled with shame from Einar's approval. Returning to the council chamber, he continued to negotiate with his friend… but now it felt… off. He could see the puppet strings.

And wondered how he could help Magnus cut them.

###

With a rush of wings, Snotlout, Karl and Hookfang descended towards Uppsala. It had taken them three days to get here; they'd hit the coast of the Swedes by nightfall the first day, but they'd ended up far north of the port. Flying south, they'd managed to find their way by following the coast and asking at various little villages as they went. That had brought back memories of the trip to Alba. Thankfully, Snotlout hadn't had to set anyone's house on fire to make a point; at a few places, they'd even been given free food and directions as a bribe to go away. It had happened twice before he'd even had to make vague threats!

But that wouldn't work at Uppsala. It was a big city, larger than Nidaros, and many longboats were visible in the harbor, which was deep inside a fjord's winding channels, miles away from the coast.

From their height a moment ago, though, Snotlout could see all the way to the waters of the Baltic Sea.

Below them, people were pointing in awe and fear. Not wanting to start a riot—or an angry mob like they had at one of the first villages—Snotlout directed his friend to land at the outskirts of the city.

By the time the first warriors had reached them, he and Karl were nonchalantly waiting. Waving to the men, he called, "Hello the folk!"

The leading men slowed for a moment, and one of them called back, "Hello the dragon! What business do you have here!?"

"We're just passing through!" Snotlout called. "We're on our way to Greece to take service with the Varangians!"

"And… and the dragon!?"

"Oh, he's with me!" Snotlout called. "Don't worry!" Hookfang was curled up nearby like a giant scaly dog, and he scratched his friend around the base of his horns, just as he liked it. "He's well behaved! We heard that an expedition to Greece was being gathered! Does it leave soon?"

The oncoming men had paused, and were conferring. After a minute or so, one of them stepped forward, his dress rich and his weapons fine. "Aye, it leaves soon. You want to take passage?"

"We do! I promise that Hookfang here will behave himself, no worries!"

"…Aye. We'll see. You'll have to leave your dragon outside the city, but we can escort you to the docks."

"Can I take Hookfang to the docks?"

"He can't enter the city!"

"So we'll go around!" He crossed his arms. "Tell you what. I'll stay with Hookfang, so that he doesn't get nervous without me, and you go tell everybody that we're peaceful, and we'll fly down to the docks. That way, we don't have to enter your city. Does that work?"

"…Aye."

As the men left, he turned to Karl. "And you were worried."

Karl shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Aye, a strong face made them turn back. Well done. But we're only getting started here."

Snotlout nodded. "Yes. Yes we are." His saga was starting out strong; he'd wanted to bring Tuffnut along to be his skald, but his friend had said no. Well, his loss. He wouldn't be remembered as the skald who witnessed glorious moments and composed the saga to commemorate them for eternity.

So it was up to Snotlout to record those moments until he could get them into the hands of someone worthy. He'd even written some of it down on precious parchment, so that the auspicious details wouldn't be lost. Thus far, even just starting out, he'd had many people bow and scrape the ground in recognition of his power and prowess—with the grand city of the Norse in the distance being the latest.

He smiled, imagining himself being greeted at the gates to this great city that Oddmund and the others had spoken of, with a thousand-thousand people all pointing in awe and recognition of the glory that had come to them.

Yes… yes that was a great image.

And if this moment was any indication—he looked towards the city, and to the people who were watching and talking with the warriors, warriors who were still casting amazed glances at the three of them—that moment might well become true. He basked in the thought, and in the moment; his feeling of self-worth, battered and bruised after the last several months, soaked in the deference and regard, like a farmer taking a hot bath after a week of working the fields. Men, skilled martial men, who stood a head or more taller than him, were looking at him with respect.

And that was just here, in this grand city of the Norse. What would happen at this great city to the south, where they were so weak and fractious that they needed the aid of the Norse to hold together?

He would have to find out.

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A/N: A big thank you to @animatedamerican for her beta reading, and to @gameofthrawns for joining the team of betas.

Meanwhile, my wedding is in two weeks, but I’m pretty sure that I can get enough of a buffer proofed before then in order to not need a hiatus. I hope that everyone is enjoying the story!

#httyd #httyd fanfiction #httyd fandom #a thing of vikings #how to train your dragon #hiccstrid

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