#a warm snoggletog heart

[luvendiary]

3 times hiccup asked you to marry him + the time you realized he meant it

hello! this was an early draft for this request: Hello!!! Imagine hiccup telling reader "I'm in love with you" / "Marry me" out of blue after a stare down (can be established relationship or not muahahaha) I like how this turned out, except for the ending. it's sort of shitty in my opinion. also, this isn't proofread. and sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language. feel free to point them out. also, there’s a slight corpse bride reference with the vows!! as always, thank you for reading. let me know what you think and if you'd like more of this. requests are always open!

1.

Snoggletog was one of your favorite festivities. The beautiful coat of snow that hugged the soil, and the way the sunlight softly reflected on it was perfect to you. You loved to see how vikings busied themselves by hanging up ornaments and mistletoe on the doors. You loved hearing the out-of-tune carols that echoed across Berk. And you loved the late cold nights as you and the dragon riders sat around a warm fire and talked about the day’s happenings.

One thing you did not love though, was the Snoggletog play, specially because it had been assigned to you all this year. It was the dragon riders’ responsibility to plan, organize and act it out the day of Snoggletog.

“What about the start of dragon races?” Snoutlout suggested.

“They did that two years ago,” Astrid replied as she sharpened her axe.

“We could do Loki-”

“We’re not doing Loki day Tuffnut,” Hiccup interrupted him.

A moment of silence passed amongst all of you.

“What if, we make a reenactment of Odin and Freya’s marriage? How they stopped the Aesir and Vanir war,” you said while nibbling on your thumb.

“That could work,” Fishlegs said.

“I like it, we could even get the dragons in on this,” Astrid suggested.

“Of course, brilliant idea (Y/N),” Snotlout said as he stood up with a cocky attitude. “Specially because I would make the perfect Odin.” He flexed his muscles and stroke a victorious pose.

You chuckled and pushed him away, “Sit down Snotlout. I was actually thinking that Astrid and Fishlegs could be Freya and Odin.”

“Oh no,” Astrid said immediately. “I’m not good at performing. Plus, you gave the idea, you should be Freya.”

“Alright,” you said. “If no one else is up for it, I’ll be Freya. Fishlegs, are you ok with being Odin?”

“Ye-” his reply was interrupted by Astrid elbowing him. “I mean, I wish I could but…I-I don’t like performing.”

“What but you love perfor-?”

“Hiccup! Why aren’t you Odin?!” Astrid chimed in as she placed her arm around your shoulder while the other went around the brunette-boy’s shoulders.

“Uh…I-I guess,” Hiccup said.

Astrid grinned while looking at you, “Great! It’s settled then!”

“Why would you do that?!” you shrieked as you pressed the palm of your hands to your eyes.

Astrid, who sat next to you overlooking Berk from a nearby cliff, shrugged, “Oh I don’t know. Maybe because I’m tired of you two beating around the bush. Why don’t you kiss already? It’s obvious you want to.”

“Shut up Astrid,” you said while sitting up. You rubbed your hands together to provide some heat to your body. “I’m not even sure if he likes me.”

“You’re as blind as Gothi is mute,” she replied.

“How can you be so sure? Has he said anything about me?”

“You’re hopeless Y/N.”

The days went by, and Snoggletog drew closer and closer. Right after training, you went to rehearsals, and while most of it went by in fits of laughter and jokes, you all managed to build a production. You often tended to practice with Hiccup, since you had the most line together, and it gave you an excuse to spend more time with him. During this period, you had managed to gain some small victories in the love department, holding his hand, dancing with him, and hearing him laugh while you acted out some of your scenes being some. However, there was something you both had been avoiding: the marriage kiss. It made your heart flutter and your stomach swarm with butterflies every time you though about the possibility of kissing him; on the other hand, it also felt like Gronkle iron swishing around your intestines. What if he didn’t want to kiss you? What if he just did it out of pity?

Your mind was plagued with questions up until the big day.

“Good luck,” Astrid said while she gave you a knowing look. She was looking forward to the kiss, and if what she had told you was true, all of the dragon riders were too.

The play started out good, Snotlout and Tuffnut played the Aesir family, while Ruffnut and Fishlegs played the Vanir.

The scene changed and the Aesir were complaining with Hiccup about how Freya’s magic and her help towards the Vanir was the reason for their shortcomings.

I was then your time to appear. After several attempts from the Aesir to try to kill Freya, you and Odin came to an agreement: you were to marry each other.

“Marry me,” said Hiccup. And as you looked into his eyes your breath hitched. He had a smile plastered on his face, and his eyes gleamed.

“I will marry you,” you replied as you offered him your hand and he put the ring on your nuptial finger.

The scene was supposed to end there, you were about to take a step backwards so that the actual marriage scene could take place, however you felt a hand wrap around your wrist, and before you knew it you were being kissed. You were being kissed by Hiccup Haddock.

Your shock was palpable, however you dissolved into the kiss once the initial incredulity had passed. Once Hiccup felt the kiss was reciprocal, he wrapped his arms around your waist and drew you closer.

2 .

Dragon racing was a hefty sport. Ever since it was created, it became a fan favorite amongst Berkians. Once every full moon, a match was held that was sure to be the talk of the town for at least a week. On summer and winter solstice, you held the dragon riding tournament, that usually lasted for about a week; except for that one time when the black sheep had wondered deep into the woods, and you weren’t able to find it for two days.

Point of the matter is, dragon racing was a serious issue for vikings. And that’s why victories where celebrated so grandly. You never particularly cared for the celebrations, however wining was important to you; your usually carefree nature was irrecognizable when it came to the sport as you became a furiously competitive rider. This change, spared no one. Not even your boyfriend.

“Incoming!” you called out before snatching the black sheep from Hiccup’s arms, as you held on with your legs to (Y/D)’s saddle while she flew in an upside down position.

“Hey!” he shouted in response with a light chuckle.

“I wish I could say I’m sorry, but I’m not!” you replied with a shit-eating grin directed his way. With the black sheep secure in your arms, you flew away, not a hint of remorse visible on your face.

You returned to your upright position and quickly flew up to your basket and threw in the black sheep. As soon as you do so, you hear the crowds cheers and applause mixed with the blow of the horn, signaling that the match has ended.

Astrid joined you on the platform, followed by Ruff, as they cheered you on and celebrated your team victory.

Hiccup watched you, still mounted on Toothless with a lovesick smile present in his features, “I’m going to marry her,” he said as he took in your beautiful smile.

“I don’t think you’re her type,” said a voice next to him. Tuffnutt flew next to him with a pissed expression -probably because of their defeat- “but go for it. I’m sure my sister would be flattered.”

3 .

“Do you think there are other people out there?” you asked as you stared blankly at the stars. “I mean, besides us dragon riders and dragon hunters. Do you think that maybe there’s another civilization that has been familiar with dragons long before us?”

You heard Hiccup chuckle, “Possibly, maybe they even know of species we have yet to discover.”

“I wonder if they maybe think the same of us. Maybe we’re some strange advanced civilization to them”, you said with a light giggle as your thoughts went wild with the idea of the unknown. “Or maybe, we’re cavemen in comparison to their civilization. Maybe…they know about our existence, and they have just decided to leave us alone because we’re not worth their time.”

“That’s a bit depressing isn’t it?” Hiccup asked, humored by your rambling.

“I don’t think so. I think it’s exciting…” you said slightly breathless as you stared at the vast abyss of twinkling lights that spread above you and beyond. “Just imagine everything we’ve yet to discover.”

You faintly heard the huffs and growls of your dragons, who were entertained by Hiccup’s prosthetic leg as they fought each other for it.

Hiccup allowed himself to steal a glance at you for a fraction of a second. He thought that the view in front of you was beautiful, but to him, the real wonder was sitting right next to him. You looked breathtaking with the starry abyss reflected in your eyes. Yet, you were so unaware of it.

“Marry me.”

He didn’t mean to actually say it. But he just couldn’t control himself when he was with you.

Your trance was broken and you stared at him wide eyed, in disbelief at what he had just said. However as soon as you saw his expression mirroring yours, you burst out laughing. You couldn’t say truthfully that you had never though about marriage, especially with Hiccup.

Hiccup’s startled expression morphed into confusion.”W-What? Why are you laughing?”

“Are you sure you want to marry me?” you asked in between giggles. “You don’t seem very sure.”

“What? Y-Yes! Of course I’m sure! Why wouldn’t I want to marry you?” his eyebrows furrowed in the way you loved. The way that told you you had successfully managed to get in his head. He had turned his body so that it was now mirroring yours, and his shoulders were raising up and down as they usually did when he was trying to explain something or defend a point.

“Fine then. I’ll marry you.”

His rambling stopped immediately. “What? Y-You will?”

You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly. “Sure. Why not?”

You stood up then as you walked around the small island you had stumbled upon earlier that day. Leaving a very flustered and confused Hiccup behind.

“Wait! Where are you going?” he called after you as he struggled to get up. He rambled on as he chased you, asking about arrangements and other things.

“Aha!” you said victoriously as you crouched down over a patch of grass with some wildflowers sprouting out.

Hiccup peered over your shoulder, trying to see what you were doing.

Eventually you stood up and extended your hand towards him. He stared at you blankly for a moment, and muttered to himself, tryin to understand your actions. Still, an amused smile was present on his face.

“Well?” you said after a bit. “Give me your hand.”

He did as you instructed, and then you took out your other hand from behind, which gently held a blade of grass along with some small wildflowers intertwined with each other, forming a ring.

“I know it’s not the best craftsmanship, but I figured we couldn’t get married without rings,” you explained with a soft giggle.

Hiccup grinned down at you, and laughed incredulously. He wondered how he ever got you to agree to be his. “I’m afraid to tell you dearest, but I don’t have a ring for you.”

You sighed mockingly and rolled your eyes. “I know that. I assumed you would be too in your head about your future duty as chief and the dragons to think about me.”

“Hey!” he protested immediately. “I’m always thinking about you-”

“But worry not!” you said as you giggled playfully. “Since I know you well enough to be married, I know you well enough to be prepared for our wedding.” You reached into one of your pockets and puled out and identical ring, which he gently grabbed.

He stared down at you, with a skeptical expression.

“Well, go on with it. Do you want to marry me or not?” you asked as you tilted your head slightly to the side.

Hiccup sighed and then locked his eyes with yours. “I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the Third, make this oath. With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine."

Once the traditional vows were finished he gently took your hand and slid the delicate ring onto your nuptial finger.

You watched with a smile as he carefully placed it, and once he was done, you repeated the vows and slid his ring onto his own finger.

With your ceremony done, your lips met in a gentle and warm dance. You felt as his hands slid down your back and rested on your hips, holding your body closer to his.

“This is the second time we’ve been married now,” he whispered as he broke apart form the kiss,

“How scandalous,” you whispered back with a soft laugh, as you remembered the Snoggletog performance and how it ended up with your first kiss.

“Maybe the next time we get to do it, you’ll actually be wearing white.”

You stared up at him with a raised eyebrow. “Is that so? Does that mean you’d like to bed me next time?” you teased.

“I’d love to bed you now,” he said with a slight chuckle. “But I’m aware you’d rather follow the traditional path.”

You laughed and patted his chest. “Well, you’ll better get me that white dress quickly then.”

4.

Hiccup had been acting weird all day. Evading you and whenever you managed to track him down he responded any question you had in a dismissive manner. You had figured you should let him alone for a while, at least until he was ready to talk about whatever was bothering him.

He did tend to get too into his own head whenever he was worried, and it took you telling him about it for him to realize he could share his burden with you. But this time it was different.

When you had asked what was bothering him he dismissed you as soon as he could and continued what he was doing.

It had hurt you. It made you think if you had done anything wrong, but you couldn’t think of anything. It was scary thinking about what this could mean for the both of you.

“And you’re sure he hasn’t ever acted like this before?” Astrid asked as she tried to make sense of the situation with you.

You where both sat in the Great Hall, as the rest of the vikings ate their dinner. You however, couldn’t seem to make anything go down past your throat, as worry consumed you.

“Yes Astrid, I am sure,” you replied rather harshly. “I don’t even know where the hell he is right now. For all I know he’s probably off in another girl’s house. Maybe he got tired of waiting for me. Maybe he realized he doesn’t want this sort of commitment…”

You knew that this was irrational thinking. Hiccup had never given you signs that he didn’t want to be with you anymore, on the contrary, he was always very reassuring on how much he liked being with you. Up until now you had never had any reason to doubt your relationship; but up until now, Hiccup had never behaved like this either.

“Don’t say that! That boy is crazy for you. He has been since we where thirteen.”

You sighed and buried your hands in your hair. “Then why is he acting like this?!”

“I think you should ask him yourself,” Astrid said as she placed a comforting hand on her friend’s back.

“I’ve already tried that…” you groaned out. Your voice muffled by your arms, on which you were resting your head.

“Give it one more try. Maybe he’ll snap out of it.”

Reluctantly, you agreed and made your way up to the watch tower. It was Hiccup’s turn to keep watch tonight, so you knew he wouldn’t be able to escape this time.

You felt the heat of the fire before you saw it, and you knew he was there.

“You need to cut the crap Haddock,” you started as you saw the faint outline of his shadow as you were nearing the end of the stairs. “If I did something wrong, just tell me right now because I can’t keep doing this. We’re not teenagers anymo-”

Your throat closed up as soon as you saw him. A gasp escaped your mouth and your hands flew to your face.

In front of you, Hiccup was down on one knee and a small wooden box sat comfortably on the palm of his hand.

“You bastard,” you whispered just to yourself.

He chuckled at that and smiled as he saw your reaction. He then opened the box to reveal a small silver ring in the shape of some intricate patterns.

“My dearest Y/N…” he started, but the lump in his throat wouldn’t let him go any further.

“Oh Hiccup…” you breathed out as you approached him slowly.

“Please marry me,” he said finally.

You crouched in front of him with tears in your eyes and held his face in your hands.

“Of course I will marry you,” you replied as a teary laugh escaped your throat.

To him, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

He laughed then, as he slid the ring in, and looked up at you. He cupped your cheeks with the palm of his hand and pulled you closer until your lips met. He tasted tears and relief in that kiss.

You eventually separated and you hit his chest lightly.

“Don’t ever do that to me again you bastard!” you said as the tears flowed, and you whipped them off as nervous laughter escaped your lips.

“I swear this is the last time love,” he chuckled as he crouched his head slightly to help you whipe your tears.

“Not that! Don’t ever avoid me like that again Hiccup! I was starting to think that maybe you didn’t want me anymore…”

Hiccup grabbed your chin gently and made you look up at him. “Theres no one else I’d rather want.”

You laughed nervously once again and offered him a teary smile.

“I’m sorry I scarred you love. I just…I was so nervous.”

“It’s ok…” you reassured him. “I understand.”

He smiled down at you and whipped another tear. You didn’t mean to keep doing it, but you had been so worried all day long that it was finally coming out. You didn’t want to ruin your moment like this. It was supposed to be a moment for celebration and happiness. You tried to make it stop.

“You can cry. I will lift your sorrows,” Hiccup said with a soft laugh as he whipped another tear.

You smiled then, tears still flowing out. But you knew it would be alright. He would make you feel alright. He always did.

[fanaticdragonrider]

chapter 3 of “Snoggletog”

Chapter 3: Berk

Summary:

After the dragons left- grimmel took over berk. Hiccup died- and berk died with him (**TRIGGER WARNING: DEAD INFANT MENTIONED** Set 3 years after the hidden world)

Snotlout stared at the dead infant beside the great hall doors with tears in his eyes.. when did berk become like this? It’s children were it’s pride and joy but now they’re quiet- dead or alive.

He wanted to cry to Hiccup about everything but knew his old chief was gone, replaced by an old man named grimmel who was operating behind the scenes quietly, probably for his own benefit. Snotlout couldn’t muster a sliver of hope.

despite it being Snoggletog, Everyone didn’t think about decorating the tree with shields, too scared to even come out and show their berkian pride.

The snow was falling and the great hall was dark and certainly not as warm as Snotlout remembers it. once he stepped inside. He felt his arms shiver- but maybe it wasn’t from the cold.

Berk was destroyed and he was only 24.

––————————————

Eret drank his distasteful sour mead to distract himself from the state of the village.

He didn’t know if it was Snoggletog yet or not, since it sure didn’t feel very happy or festive.

Snotlout wasn’t around either.. not that he wanted Snotlout to be near him, it still felt lonely without that short viking.

His voice reminded Eret that he still had some sort of human contact.

But there’s one thing for sure- Eret wasn’t going to lose himself here.

He exited the great hall and prepared a boat.. got his stash that would last him a long time and spare clothes and goods to start a fire later on and get himself some meat, he would start a new life.

But he felt like Something was missing.

Eret let out a sigh, he wanted to get out of berk yet there was a nagging feeling stopping him from untying that stupid sailors knot and boarding the ship and leaving his old hut to whoever needs it.

The snow crunched behind the taller man.

Snotlout cried to Eret about the baby and berk.. Eret couldn’t call him whiny, because lout was really just saying everything Eret wanted to say.

“I don’t know what happened!” He choked out through his stream of sobs as he tried to tell Eret was he was feeling, but he never knew how to. He wanted to weave this feeling into words so bad, but he couldn’t, he never could.

“I dont know either..” Eret replied.

“I wanna leave” Snotlout whispered with a faint shake of anger to the tall sailor.

“If you wanna get off berk I’m the man for the job, I know every good area to get to, my only question is, do you.. do you want me to come with you?”

Eret begged with his heart for Snotlout to say yes, despite not feeling worried if he says no.

He will give him the boat to leave anyway.

“Want you to come with me?”

“Yes lad- don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me, I’ll protect you”

Snotlout blinked at the mention of protection and nodded.. he couldn’t bring himself to say he didn’t need protection, he was too tired. Eret gave him his hand to board the boat.

Eret felt that nagging feeling fade away. Snotlout made the stash of food and supplies complete.

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Lightly shaking her head, she glanced in his direction once more. "No, no, it's okay. I've grown to..enjoy it now...Ayla freaked out when she noticed you started calling me that too..!"

------------

Proudly lifting her chin, Ayla spoke with confidence: "Chamomile and a dash of cinnamon! It sounds pretty weird at first, but you guys like it! So.." She shrugged, taking a large gulp of her tea.

Her eyes seemed to practically glitter in excitement, trying her best to contain it so she wouldn't knock something over. "I've seen him dance a few times before! I've always wanted to try and join him but...I never really talked to him a lot..but now I can!"

Attempting to make her heart more at ease, Freya nodded and kept her focus on the fire as he stoked it. "Mhm, yup. Definitely needed more...thank you.." She set her cup down in front of her, not wanting to accidentally spill it. 'Just calm down, snap out of it..what's wrong with me..!? All it is, is a little lighting and--'

Oh.

He grabbed her hand.

'Okay, now he's holding my hand..!' She despised how quickly her face could get red, which it was most likely doing now, and she made herself sound casual - at least, to the best of her abilities. "Oh? I did, huh..? I mean, I wasn't -- I was, uh, y'know, heh..yeah..." That was certainly not what she was aiming for..but it was too late to turn back.

'It's okay, it's okay...just appear calm..he'll probably think I'm weird if I keep this up--'

And now he kissed her cheek. Great.

'Beautiful..?' Freya remained frozen in her spot, blinking dumbfounded. The last time he said that, it was before they were even a fake couple, and she didn't know what to do with herself - which is what was happening yet again. She was sure her face was evidently showing her flustered state by revealing a scarlet tint across her cheeks, leaving her unable to speak for a couple of seconds.

After a moment of being speechless, her mind was jumbled up in so many things she could've said, she mumbled a response that she wasn't even expecting: "You are too.."

.. 'Wait, what did I say..?'

Unfortunately, the slight creaking of the stairs told her Ayla was coming back, making her hastily turn to look at the fire again with widened eyes. 'Did I call him beautiful?' "Sorry, guys! The blanket wasn't in my room like I thought it was...it was actually in Fey's..!" Her little sister grumbled, grunting as she threw the cover over them.

Huddling herself beside Hiccup again, her attentive gaze observed the two, questioningly raising a brow. "Uh...you guys okay..?"

Almost immediately, Freya answered: "Yup! Yeah, yeah..we're perfectly fine." Deciding to change the topic, she quickly asked, "So, have you figured out what kind of dragon you'll want to start riding? You'll be of age soon, once Snoggletog is passed..!" Thankfully, that caught Ayla's attention as she sat taller.

"Oh, yeah! I've really been thinking about it..and I'm leaning towards a Sand Wraith..!" Hearing her response, Blaze perked up and grinned, huffing triumphantly. "But it's like...a little different from Blaze...Fishlegs told me the name of the specific one I wanna find but..I forgot.."

She began to ask Hiccup of the many different types of dragons from the tidal and strike class, drinking her tea as she listened to every single detail. While doing so, her older sister took the time to make herself relax, the timidness that was clouding her starting to leave. The faint crackling of the fire and distantly listening to the other two talk brought her a warming comfort, one she discovered that couldn't be replaced.

Freya would pitch in every now and then, giving her opinion on certain dragons while stating she obviously would still choose a Sand Wraith. Eventually, however, the warmth surrounding her lulled her into a peaceful doze, slowly leaning her head on Hiccup's shoulder in the process. She couldn't physically describe how thankful she was that her younger sister could have someone like him to have these simple conversations with.

She wouldn't have it any other way.

--

As Freya quietly slept, Ayla couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sister being comfortable enough to fall asleep right there next to the future Chief, her heart gladdened by the realization she truly did trust him. As he spoke, she closed her eyes as well, although not actually sleeping. She stayed like that even as she felt him stand at one point. Being too curious, though, her eye peeked opened to see...him picking her up? 'Wait, what is he doing..?'

She held back from gasping once her mind registered what was happening: He was carrying her. 'Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness, he's carrying her!' Suppressing a squeal, she desperately forced herself not to grin, especially when Freya seemed to unconsciously shift herself closer in his arms. 'Oh, I am so telling her she did that..!'

Apparently, Ayla must unknowingly have good acting skills..because she felt him pick her up too after a couple of minutes, choosing to appear as if she were actually sleeping the whole time. Upon being placed in her bed and hearing the door shut, she immediately beamed, quietly giggling to herself. 'I got carried too!'

--------------------

"Fey, wake up. Wake up. Wake up!" Ayla sang the last word dramatically, causing her older sister to throw her blanket over her ruffled hair with a groan. "C'mon, I have something to tell you!"

"Can't it wait? I'm barely--"

Not being able to contain it anymore, the younger girl squealed and giggled, jumping in place. "Hiccup carried you upstairs so you can sleep! Isn't that so sweet!?"

Hearing that, Freya quickly threw the covers off her, swiftly sitting straighter as she blinked her widened eyes. "What!?" Her frantic gaze scanned the room, realizing she wasn't originally in there last night, also coming to terms that she was underneath her blanket. Her face wasted no time in becoming a close relative to a pure red apple.

"H-he, what!? You're telling me this now!? I-I, I was--you, I--"

"Freya! Quiet down! It's the morning!" Ragnar shouted.

It was safe to say she remained flustered for the whole day.

---

Hearing that, the future chief grinned. "It--it was a good kind of freak out, right? Because I'd hate to make Ayla upset...but, at the same time, I can't seem to imagine her upset..."

------------

His brows raised in surprise mid-sip. Swallowing, he shook his head, a lopsided grin on his face. "You both really like cinnamon, don't you?" It was a good thing he liked it, too. Otherwise, there'd be no escape from the spice.

Nodding, he told Ayla, "Look, if you danced with Gobber... just be prepared to not sit for a while. I'll tell you this, it will brighten his Snoggletog. I think he's started to think of you like he thinks of me...like an honorary kid of his own."

Freya seemed a little...tense. He'd hoped his actions might have helped her a bit, but it only seemed to get worse.

But now that she was staring at him, wide eyed, his own eyes showed uncertainty. Had he done something wrong?

Let's see...he didn't mention anything she would see as serious, so that was good...and he did what he was sure any boyfriend would do: hold her hand, give her a kiss, compliment her.

Oh.

Oh...

It was starting to make sense.

Hiccup knew how he'd feel if she did the same to him. Which would essentially be a stuttering, red mess...

Seeing the shade of Freya's face, he knew he might've done too much at one time.

He was about to express his apologies, when he was the one now stricken speechless.

Did she...wait. Did she just tell me I'm beautiful?

Gaping like a fish, he turned his attention to the fire as well, his eyes wide as Ayla returned.

He barely registered that he was now sitting between the two sisters, but managed a nod at Ayla's question.

Shaking himself out of the daze, he focused on what Ayla was saying. "I'll have to ask Fishlegs, see where we can find one for you in the archipelago."

As he and Ayla discussed dragons, which Hiccup would never tire speaking of, he felt Freya relax beside him. When she leaned her head on his shoulder, he couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he continued telling Ayla about some of the rarer dragons he's come across.

--------

It must have been getting late, because now both Leif girls were sound asleep.

Hiccup looked between them, a lopsided grin on his face as he shook his head. What am I going to do with you two? He thought joyfully. Alright, I should probably make sure they get to bed...

Freya had fallen asleep first, and she was leaning on him, so he knew he should carry her to her room first. He already had one arm around her shoulder, so he shifted just enough to slip his other arm under her knees, lifting her up as he stood.

He froze when she shifted, afraid he'd woken her up. Finding that she was still asleep, and had essentially snuggled in closer, a warm smile grew on his features as he turned and brought her to her room.

Setting her down, he realized she probably didn't want to wear her boots in her bed. After all, she had removed Ayla's anytime he had carried the sleeping girl to her own room.

It was tricky work, but he managed to remove them and set them nearly to the side. Covering her with a blanket so she'd stay warm, he whispered, "Good night, Milady, see you tomorrow, hopefully." With one last look, he closed her door, heading downstairs to get Ayla.

Sure enough, Ayla was still sound asleep. Bending down, he scooped her up, making sure not to wake her as he carried her upstairs to her room.

Thankfully she had already taken her boots off, so he laid her down in bed and covered her with a blanket before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Outside Freya's door, he paused. Should he leave a note? Would she be disoriented when she woke up? No, she wasn't drunk, but...it might be nice to leave her a note.

Pulling out his notebook, he scrawled a quick note, sliding it under her door before heading home.

It said:

Freya,

You fell asleep, so I brought you to your room before I headed home. Ayla, too. I hope that's alright with you.

I had a great time with you today, looking forward to seeing you again.

Hiccup

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It was Snoggletog Eve, and Hiccup was finishing up a gift for a certain someone, now that all Snoggletog related orders had been finished and paid for.

It was a dagger, perfectly balanced. The handle resembled Blaze, and even had some of the dragons smaller, shedded scales pressed into the finish. The blade itself was made of Gronckle iron. Lightweight and strong.

Holding the finished weapon up, he nodded in satisfaction. "She's going to love this..." Wrapping the blade in a cloth, he tucked it into the leather holster he'd made, making it so she could wear the dagger on her hip or strap it to her leg.

Hearing someone enter the forge, he called out, "Be right with you!" Hastily, he set the gift inside his satchel, buttoning it closed and throwing the strap over his shoulder.

Moving to the front, a wide smile grew on his face. "Freya! I was just thinking about you. What brings you here? Need a last minute Snoggletog gift?" He was teasing her, of course. "I hate to tell you, but we're just about cleaned out." Sighing dramatically, he added, "Well, I guess that goes to show, always better to plan ahead, am I right?"

Giving her a grin, he crossed his arms. "You know I'm kidding. I didn't lose track of time, did I? There should still be time before the Snoggletog dance..."

[queenofthearchipelago]

Happy Snoggletog Eve to all my fellow dragon riders

I hope you guys are safe and at peace tonight. The ones surrounded by friends and family and the ones who are alone. The ones who love the holidays and the ones who want to get tomorrow over with.

I hope you guys are okay. You're in my thoughts, just as you are every year.

As Hiccup says in gotnf, "The only shield against the cold is those you hold against your heart." And with that in mind, I hope that even if you don't feel that way today or tomorrow, that you guys all find yourselves being warm again.

[bi-bi-want-dragon]

Hello my lovely readers! This post is for @camelottree638 who actually requested some descriptions of the Haddock kids as I write them in Wingless and Warbound on my Discord server. I loved the idea so I am more than happy to do so! Sorry it’s so late Camelot!

Obviously we have visuals of Zephyr and Nuffink, and my physical descriptions of them follow what we see in THW and the Snoggletog specials, so for them I’ll focus more on their personalities. I’ll try to include as much physical description for the rest as I can since they’re all original characters. Because these are general descriptions of physical attributes and personalities, there will not be any spoilers for Wingless and Warbound, but the ages listed are their ages in this story. So here we go!

Zephyr Haddock - 14 years old

Hair reminiscent of Stoick’s, typically worn in a single tight braid. Sometimes she will roll up her braid into a low bun above the nape of her neck to keep it out of the way

Green eyes very much like Hiccup’s

Her personality is a mix of both of her parents. She has a combination of Hiccup’s and Astrid’s stubbornness (most unfortunate for all of New Berk). She has Hiccup’s hunger for knowledge, but Astrid’s strength of will. She has Astrid’s outward confidence, but Hiccup’s inner insecurities. She has Hiccup’s analytical brain, but Astrid’s quick temper

She is a true blend of both of her parents, which blooms out of her desire to emulate the images her parents had built for themselves as leaders of New Berk

She refuses to acknowledge her age or gender as limitations, nor does she like to acknowledge her weakness. Which has, ironically, become her greatest weakness

Nuffink Haddock - 10 years old

Sandy blond hair like his mother

Bright green eyes like his father

He very much held the appearance of a wild child at all times through his young years

As he grew, his appearance remained an oddly perfect balance of wildly unkempt and appropriate for civilization

If Hiccup has the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon, he forgot to hand the chief bit down to his eldest son. Nuff is purely dragon trapped in a human’s body

True to his dragon nature, he is deeply loyal and deeply loves his family and anyone he considers family

He follows orders from his parents and Zephyr without questions and will support and stand up for them at every opportunity

He loves his younger siblings and watching them grow. He happily snuggles them, plays with them, teaches them, and loves on them like Zephyr and his parents did with him

His love of adventure has given Zephyr the idea of appointing him the traveling ambassador of New Berk when she fully takes over

Spero Haddock - 6 years old

Very dark hair, but the tints of browns and reds are very evident in the sunlight. His hair tends to lighten a bit in the summer months which also makes those warm tones more evident

He has very deep blue eyes, nearly grey at times

He is very lanky, much like young Hiccup was, but he is a bit tall for his age

In his first year of life he was sick multiples times, once bad enough that Hiccup and Astrid seriously worried for his life, but he recovered each time

However, he is the palest of the Haddock kids, which can be attributed to his recurring illnesses

During active colds or bouts of sickness, his eyes appear sunken and his skin pales to the point of being nearly translucent

He is always a very quiet child, but whenever he does speak, his intelligence is obvious

He loves to be hands-on with anything and everything he can, and loves working in the forge with Hiccup and Gobber

Gobber and Hiccup especially love having a young child interested in the forge, so they have no issues letting Spero get his hands dirty however they can

Because he isn’t ever very vocal, it’s hard to tell what he thinks of any particular situation

There isn’t much he honestly does not enjoy though, which is mostly due to the fact that as long as he can sit back and quietly observe, he’s happy

This is obviously different from the rest of the Haddock family, which worries Hiccup and Astrid that they’re forcing him into situations that he is uncomfortable in; this very rarely is the case

That being said, if he is uncomfortable, he speaks up to someone he trusts

He is very shy outside of his home, especially since his socialization was limited due to his illnesses early on

He is much more likely to socialize if he is accompanied by someone he is very close to, which is pretty much his family, grandparents, and aunt/uncles

Willow Haddock - 3 years old

Born with extremely light blond hair that gradually darkened as she grew to a deep strawberry blond

Her eyes are light green and at times will appear more blue, especially directly around her pupils

She was a pretty plump baby, and one of Astrid’s more difficult labors because of it. She slowly thinned out as she grew but is by far the healthiest looking baby Hiccup and Astrid produced

To match her very healthy weight, she has a very healthy attitude. She can be quite sassy, but quiets when she is truly upset. This is also when the rest of the Haddocks will quickly jump to figure out what’s wrong (yes, Spero too)

That being said, she does not show this attitude outside of the Haddock household, probably due to the fact that the entire Haddock family dotes on her and protects her fiercely

Because of this, the rest of the tribe sees her as “New Berk’s sweetheart” that can do no wrong as she knows no enemies and behaves very well out and about the island

She consistently is attached to someone, though the subject of her attachment varies. There generally doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to her attachments, though whenever Hiccup leaves for an extended amount of time it’s pretty much a guarantee that she’ll be attached to him for a while once he comes back

Nutmeg Ingerman - 9 years old

Bright green eyes and dirty blond hair like both Ruffnut and Fishlegs

Her body build very much takes after Ruffnut: very thin and pretty tall

However she tends to have Fishlegs’ clumsiness

Unlike the Haddock kids, more often than not she walks around wearing a helmet Fishlegs designed for her and carrying a child-sized mace that Tuffnut gave her

Her best friend is Nuffink, and she often participates in his pranks with him. She also tends to be his voice of reason when things get a bit out of hand. Not surprisingly, all of Nuffink’s worst pranks are some of the ones Nutmeg was not around for

She very much admires Zephyr and her confident, outgoing nature, especially since her personality tends to mirror Fishlegs

Because she’s so shy and struggles with insecurities, she sometimes worries that Ruffnut wishes she was more like Zephyr and Nuffink

This is also what compels her to participate in Nuffink’s shenanigans

She pushes herself to be outgoing and “act first ask questions later.” But if she feels like she caused harm to someone or something, she is extremely remorseful

Eirson - 17 years old

Tall and fairly muscular build, though he tends to try to make himself small (he doesn’t carry himself with confidence at all)

Very dark, pretty much black hair like Alvin the Treacherous (his father) that reaches past his shoulders

Alvin gave him an old hairbrush that used to belong to Eirson’s late mother. Eirson uses it daily so he is much better groomed than Alvin and it shows the natural waves in his hair

He always wears his hair in two loose braids that start at about his temples and meet at the back of his head. He ties them there with a simple strip of leather. Rarely he pulls all of his hair to the same spot and tie it in a messy bun

Warm, brown eyes always full of emotion

In many ways he is the exact opposite of Alvin

Very quiet, wears his heart on his sleeve, feels every emotion very strongly, often confused about his place in his tribe, lacks confidence in himself in most situations

Struggles to see himself in really any position within his tribe due to the tribe mostly questioning whether or not he belongs, which leads to him questioning just about everything new in his life

Also means he hates change in general, he is very much a man of habit

Despite having so many negative attitudes towards him, he responds very quickly to anyone who interacts positively with him

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

High Fever

Summary: Hiccup whump. Knowing that one of their friends was born too early means that they know he's bound to get sick more easily. Even if he's less frequently ill than he used to be. But then he suffers from a high fever and something happens to him that none of the Riders have ever seen before.

Rating: General

Characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Hookfang, Barf and Belch

Pairing: Hiccstrid

Words: 3 449

Author’s Notes: Wrote this because I was reminded by someone that seizures can also be caused by high fevers. I thought it would be especially fun in a Viking setting since they probably wouldn't have known what it was.

Constructive criticism is appreciated!

Enjoy!

Ao3

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Knowing that one of their friends was born too early means that they can at least understand some of Hiccup's struggles now and during his childhood growing up. They may not know everything that coming prematurely into the world can cause, but when Hiccup falls terribly ill every Winter and Devastating Winter, the Dragon Riders know that it may have something to do with that.

Though the earliest testament to his innate ability to survive the unsurvivable, they know it caused Hiccup's frequent illnesses as a child.

Someone fell ill, Hiccup was sure to get it. An epidemic came to Berk, Hiccup got it. Sometimes he seemed to catch something from Johann or one of the many seafaring travelers visiting their island even when they weren't sick themselves or even shared the boy's personal space. They don't quite know how that one works, but it happened much too often for it to be coincidental.

It is part of why Stoick kept him mostly indoors with someone to watch him or at Gobber's forge while he was growing up. It's also part of how the boy got roped into an apprenticeship as a blacksmith in the first place.

But then he grows older and those sicknesses appeared to stay away more often. His body is getting stronger every year as he gets closer to adulthood. That is, until the even colder months on Berk come around or the occasional eelpox epidemic.

With dragons, it's easier for him to separate himself from the sick. Eelpox comes to Berk? Then perhaps it is time for Hiccup to take some time away from home. Or at least away from the village. After some time, he started calling it "self-isolation".

But despite the attempts at keeping him safe, despite the strengthening his body has done over time, he still tends to fall ill. And when that happens, he doesn't just get the sniffles or a cough. He's bedridden for days. Occasionally, for longer than a week. It only took Toothless weeks after the Red Death's end to find out how susceptible his Rider is to this silent and faceless attacker.

When the Dragon Riders come to live on the Edge for a year, this is no different. It may be just a tad bit warmer here than it is on Berk, but still, an illness has made its move and forced the Lead Rider to not just confine himself to his hut for his own well-being, but has made him unable to even leave his bed.

It started with a simple cough just two days earlier and slight light-headedness. It rightfully garnered everybody's immediate attention right then. Since yesterday morning he's been stuck in bed, curling up under several layers of furs in an attempt to stay warm while a fever runs rampant throughout his system.

Fishlegs has warned him against doing that as he's risking a rise in his temperature, but he's just so cold.

Snotlout and the twins have taken over most of the patrols around Dragon's Edge. In the meantime, Fishlegs and Astrid have been staying by Hiccup's side to help him get through this illness. Toothless is there as well, but unlike the two of them, there isn't much he can do besides providing his Rider with much-needed support.

Hiccup watches his dragon as he sits by him, head on the bed in between his front paws. Toothless' gaze meets his and he purrs. He hates seeing his Rider like this, the pain in his eyes tells it all, and Hiccup can't even tell him that he's fine. That is how horrendous he feels.

Something rattles as he breathes, his head feels heavy on top of the headache he's suffering from, his throat is dry and aches so much with every swallow that he almost can't anymore. Water gives him little relief. And besides his fever, the other symptom he's suffering from the most is a heavy cough that plagues him almost constantly.

At this point, his ribs are already hurting every time the urge comes. That's how much he's been coughing. That seems to be a common occurrence. He can't just cough like normal people, he has to do it so much that he's already hurting two days later.

Fishlegs has told him before about Vikings having such coughing fits that they manage to break a rib. That is honestly the last thing he needs right now. That and the pneumonia that could come as a result.

He holds his sides as another fit tears through him and Astrid is quick to pull him upright, grabbing him by his upper arms. She hopes that will help him ease it.

Sitting up as he coughs helps a little. Astrid sits next to him and he can feel one of her hands on his upper back as she rubs it in support. Her expression can only be summed up by a combination of worry and a cringe. She shares it with both Toothless and Fishlegs, who stands ready with a jug of water and a cup.

It takes only seconds and yet it feels so much longer than that. When it finally ceases, he somehow feels even worse.

"Sorry." He apologizes as he gasps for the air he couldn't get during his coughing fit. He doesn't mean to lean onto Astrid like that, but he feels like falling over. The lack of oxygen has made his dizziness return.

"It's fine, Hiccup. Stop apologizing." Astrid tells him and Toothless rumbles in agreement with her. He's been doing that almost nonstop for the past two days.

"Here," Fishlegs offers him a cup of water, which he gratefully takes with shaky hands.

"So I was thinking," He starts and takes a seat on the edge of the bed as well. He's mindful of Hiccup's prosthetic as it lies on the floor near his feet.

"What, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asks after taking a painful gulp, grimacing after swallowing. His voice is hoarse and just barely above a whisper.

"Are you sure you want to wait until tomorrow to send a message to Berk?" He asks the query on his mind. It's been bugging him. He knows why Hiccup doesn't want to send one yet, or he has an assumption rather, but he doesn't feel comfortable with this decision.

"Yes." Hiccup sighs, not feeling up for an explanation as to why he thinks so.

"Are you? Because you were also sure that your cough two days ago "was just a little cough" and now look at you!" Sick or not, Astrid still lectures him.

"I know, I know..." Hiccup responds without much fire, immediately admitting defeat.

He has to close his eyes for a moment. All that coughing has made the pounding in his head even worse.

Really, all he wants is to sleep this sickness away.

He is tired enough. The problem is staying asleep with all those coughing fits and the headaches.

When he and the Dragon Riders first left for the Edge, what was bound to happen come Winter had completely evaded his mind. Up until the moment his first symptoms showed themselves, that is.

He doesn't like the Riders' insistence that they should alert his father, which is why he's been putting it off. It almost feels like a defeat to him. Like, his susceptibility to illnesses means he's forever independent on his father when he should be fully capable of taking care of himself.

And now he's bothering his friends with this.

Toothless already knew. He was there some weeks after the Red Death's defeat, a little while after Snoggletog, when he was bedridden for a week. What a shock that was for him. To have such an energetic Rider reduced to nothing because of the sniffles.

That was also when Stoick decided to allow Toothless to sleep inside from then on. It was a reassurance to have an extra set of eyes watching over Hiccup when he couldn't be there. Either as a Chief or when he, as a tired and troubled father, needed some shut-eye himself.

The rest of his friends were already aware that he got very sick annually, but this is the first time they're witnessing it for themselves. And since Astrid and Fishlegs have barely left his side and Snotlout and the twins willingly volunteered to organize and take care of the patrols and other chores speaks volumes of how this experience has shaken them all up.

Gods, he gazes at Astrid and feels bad for stepping in a relationship with her now.

Is this what she gets to look forward to every year? A boyfriend that falls so terribly ill that she has to drop everything just to help him through it?

Why did he have to be so selfish?

"Stop it!" Astrid scolds him and lightly smacks him with the wet cloth they're using in an attempt to cool him.

"What?" He whispers.

"You were thinking something that I don't like. I can see it on your face." She says and then proceeds to wring the cloth out over the bowl of water.

Apparently she's been wetting it again. He's so out of it that he hadn't even noticed. Fishlegs is no longer sitting on the bed either. Where has he gone? The cup, too, is missing.

"He's downstairs," Astrid answers as if she could read his mind.

"Hmm?"

"He went downstairs for more water and some willow bark." She repeats and this time with more information.

Hiccup sighs and closes his eyes for another moment. He feels so out of it all of a sudden. Different from what he's been feeling before.

And his heart is starting to pound. As if he's nervous about something. But what? And why?

Toothless croons in worry, able to tell that something different is off about his human.

"Hmm?"

The door to his hut opens just as Hiccup gives his dragon his attention and the three remaining Riders walk in. Hookfang and Barf and Belch poke their heads in to give the lead Rider their well wishes before they leave. Looking over, Hiccup raises a hand and weakly smiles.

"So how-how was it? No Hunters? Any Flyers?" He then asks the three new presences in the hut as they follow Fishlegs up the stairs.

"There's nothing to see for miles. So don't worry about that." Snotlout assures him in a surprisingly soft tone. He doesn't like to see him like this either. He's too pale and the lack of energy is unnerving.

He's so used to seeing him one way and that is the complete opposite of who he is now.

"Yeah, we got everything covered." Ruffnut backs Snotlout's answer up and Tuffnut nods.

"Hmm. Good." Bringing his right knee up, Hiccup rests his arm on it and then his head on that.

He's so tired. Tired, warm, cold, and in pain.

Moving a little bit closer, Toothless moans and nudges Hiccup's hands.

"Toothless?" He breathes, suddenly confused as to why his dragon is here.

Has he always been here?

His right hand moves to settles on his forehead. So warm. So, so warm.

"Hiccup?" Astrid lays a hand on his shoulder. The Riders have begun to talk about something, he's not a part of that conversation, when she realizes something is a little amiss.

Or rather, she didn't so much as realize as Toothless started nudging her to get her attention when his Rider seems to fall into an odd state of mind.

Slowly, too slowly, Hiccup gazes back at her and just stares. He wants to ask what's wrong, why she's staring at him like that, what all the Riders are doing here, but the ability to speak is lost to him.

Before he can regain it, he blacks out.

For the Riders and Toothless, it isn't quite as peaceful.

The dragon's effort to draw Astrid's attention draws all of their attention. They all take sudden notice of Hiccup's rather confused state of mind. He's just staring.

"Hiccup?" She calls his name and places a hand on his shoulder. And while he does glance at her, it's clear to all of them that Hiccup isn't quite in there anymore.

Is he becoming delirious? Has the fever finally taken his mind?

When he blacks out, his eyes roll into the back of his skull as he falls limp.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's quick reflexes are all that keep him from falling over. The rest of the Riders and Toothless try to as well.

She lowers him gently down on the bed and that's when something happens that none of them have ever seen or experienced before.

He just starts to convulse. Body rigid, fists and jaw clenched, somehow uncontrollable jerky movements suddenly plague him and nobody is quite sure what they're looking at.

"Hiccup!"

"What's that?! What's happening?!" Tuffnut shouts while the rest steps back in fright. They just freeze and stand there, unable to comprehend just what this is.

"Oh Thor, oh Thor!" Fishlegs yelps in a panic, staring at the scene, as they all are. Snotlout pushes him forward, wanting him to do something about it.

It's Astrid who makes a move, jumping into action and doing the only thing that comes to mind and that is to try and restrain him.

Toothless rears back in alarm, up on his hind legs. His head snaps from one direction to the next as he stares at his Rider from his head to his toes and back.

He lets out a terrible cry, looking for help with the other humans present.

"I-I don't know either, Toothless!" Astrid shouts, still pinning him down. Snotlout then attempts to dive into the fray to help her out, but is stopped by Fishlegs.

"What're you doing?!" He shouts.

"I don't think that'll help," Fishlegs says, sharing what he thinks might help.

"So we're just going to let him hurt himself?!" Snotlout loudly protests. He finds the other's words an outrage.

"Fishlegs!" Even Astrid seems to disagree, struggling to hold Hiccup still.

"Well, we have to do something!" Ruffnut cries out and Toothless, too, lets his protest be known.

They can't just sit there and watch Hiccup suffer!

"Trust me, please!" Fishlegs pulls Astrid away, to which he receives an elbow to a breast. She tends to communicate her feelings through violence and so she makes it quite clear that she doesn't appreciate his interrupting. She is going to help her boyfriend! Thor be damned!

So he lets her restrain Hiccup again, her grip bruising. Toothless has resorted to pacing around the loft while he pants quickly and shallowly. He's restless and in a frenzy.

He hates this. He hates being unable to help his Rider. He hates whatever it is that he's doing and whatever that's causing it.

It takes a full minute filled with fear, panic, terror, but eventually, the overly exaggerated tremors stop and all that are left are twitches and his shaky breathing.

The Riders and Toothless wait in tense silence. Either expecting a new fit of these terrible tremors or to find that they have ended for the time being.

Another minute passes and then another and gradually Astrid feels safe enough to carefully let go. Her fingertips have left bruises on his wrists, but she will feel bad about them later. What matters now is what just happened. She wipes at his mouth. She doesn't know why these convulsions got him to foam at the mouth, but it did.

"Fishlegs, what was that?!" She turns to ask him, her anger over his interruption has faded, but he doesn't know what to tell her.

He vaguely remembers Gothi telling him something about these convulsions happening during high fevers, but he also remembers her not knowing what causes them. Sometimes people get them after a head injury and sometimes they just... have them. Often. For seemingly no reason!

"I don't know." So that is the only answer Fishlegs can give her and Astrid turns her confused and worried expression back down at Hiccup.

Whimpering, Toothless carefully dares himself to come closer and sniffs Hiccup's face, which grimaces as he comes to.

"Hiccup?!" Everyone present who's capable of speech calls him by his name.

When he opens his eyes, blinking and sighing deeply, Hiccup finds the Riders kneeling in a circle around him, all looking down at him.

"What's... What happened to my wrists?" He wants to ask what's wrong, why everyone is staring at him like that, but then the bruises around his wrists catch his attention when he wants to bring his hands up to rub in his face.

"That's my doing," Astrid admits guiltily. She grabs them, her thumbs caressing them kindly.

"Wha- Why?" He asks, completely confused and rightfully so.

The Dragon Riders present look amongst themselves. They quickly figure out that, since he passed out right before the fit, he probably has no memory of the event.

"Doesn't matter right now. How're you feeling?" So Snotlout asks. They can explain everything to him later.

"Somehow even worse than I did before I blacked out. Or... I think I blacked out? I don't remember lying down." Though he wants answers, Hiccup lets it slide for now.

The Riders take another look at each other. So that proves the theory that he has no memory of what happened.

Hiccup takes a deep breath, blinking slowly. Seemingly out of the blue, he's also so much more tired than he was just minutes earlier. What happened after he blacked out?

"Tired?" Astrid asks and scoots closer. Hiccup nods, close to falling asleep. His eyes are already closing again. Perhaps for the last time tonight.

"Than you should sleep. That'll-that'll be good for you." Fishlegs states, stuttering a little as if something has shaken him up. Ruffnut and Tuffnut are suspiciously quietly as well, standing off to the side and watching.

Hiccup only hums in response and Toothless tells him good night with a purr. There is a slight curl on the corners of his lips, but they quickly leave as he falls into a deep, dreamless slumber. He dozes off quite a bit faster, too.

His breathing evens out and the six others sit back, suddenly exhausted as well.

It's silent for a good few minutes as all of them simply try to comprehend what they'd just witnessed.

"He's asleep," Fishlegs states the obvious, Toothless rumbles in response. It is a good thing. Sleep is good. Sleep is healing.

"So what do we do now?" Snotlou tasks, wondering if this means a sudden change to how Hiccup originally wanted to deal with the situation.

"We have to send a message to Berk. Tell Stoick what happened to his son and to bring Gothi here." Astrid says and Snotlout is already getting back up on his feet. Doesn't matter how weak his legs feel, he has to find a Terrible Terror willing to help. Sharpshot should be around here somewhere, he'll probably hurry for his human friend.

Meanwhile, the twins follow him down the stairs to find paper and something to write with.

"Hey, Astrid-"

"I'm sorry, Fishlegs." Astrid suddenly says, causing the young man to glance at her in confusion.

"You were just trying to help and I reacted very poorly. I was so panicked, I-... I shouldn't have reacted like that." She apologizes, feeling terrible for the way she has treated her friend.

"Uhm, it's okay... But I actually wanted to say that we should ask Stoick if Hiccup has had these fits before." Fishlegs reacts, to which Astrid nods.

"Yeah, that-that sounds like a good idea." She says and comes to sit on the floor, her back against the bed. Fishlegs' hands land on Toothless' head, who croons appreciatively.

The Night Fury could probably answer their question on whether they've happened in the past three years or not, but not before Hiccup's fifteenth birthday.

But by his reaction alone, Fishlegs can at least determine that Toothless has never seen Hiccup like this before either. Not in the three years they've known each other.

Snotlout and the twins return quickly and while Astrid gets back to cooling Hiccup's forehead, Fishlegs writes a letter to Berk.

This is an experience that will not be leaving their consciousness for a long while to come and for the rest of Hiccup's recovery, they fear another fit such as this.

But it doesn't happen again. And come next Winter, it doesn't happen. And then the next. The cause remains unknown and that provides them with no comfort. Every time Hiccup falls sick, that awful night comes back to the front of their minds and they can only hope that it doesn't happen again.

[howtodrawyourdragon]

A Warm Snoggletog Heart

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

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

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

Rating: General

Words: 1 481

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

Constructive criticism is appreciated!

Enjoy!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was Snotlout who gave him his present.

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

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

"Is this what I think it is?!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's when it hit him.

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

He was speechless.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They hadn't expected him to cry.

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

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

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

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

"Ugh, muttonheads!"

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

"Hiccup?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[generalhofferson360]

Hi! I saw/read your story with the Twins you posted recently (the Rufflout one) and I was wondering if I could pester you with a request? If not that's okay... but if so, would you be able to write something with Hiccup and Snotlout having to work together (Without the rest of the gang), possibly? I'm a sucker for Hiccup and Snotlout working together, honestly! Thank you, either way!

Hey anon! Sorry it took so long to answer this, but I hope it was worth the wait! Without further adieu, here’s a bit of Hiccup and Snotlout trapped on Snoggletog.

Trapped.

Hiccup breathed out a sigh as he stood at the mouth of the large cave they were currently stealing shelter in. The snow seemed to create a wall between them and the outside world, completely isolating them from the storm that raged beyond the depths of the cavern. He squinted as he gazed out into the distance, barely seeing a few trees scattered what couldn’t be more than a few meters away. “Looks like we’re not getting back to the Edge tonight.” He groaned. There was no way they could risk flying in this weather, they’d freeze before they even got out to open water, not to mention harming the dragons.

He took a step further into the cave, rubbing his arms to warm them, his thin tunic doing little to barricade the cold. He glanced over at Snotlout, who was currently digging through Hookfang’s saddle bag. “Snotlout! Could you maybe do something useful for once?” Hiccup said, the annoyance evident in his voice.

Of all the ways Hiccup had expected this holiday to go, huddled up in cave, practically freezing to death with his muttonheaded cousin was not one of them. They should be back at the Edge with their friends, who were probably laughing around a warm fire right around now, but most of all, he should be with Astrid. They had been making plans for the holiday for months, it being the only time they could relax for a change, any threat from the hunters temporarily on hold. And now he wouldn’t even get to enjoy the time off.

“What do you want me to do, Hiccup? Force it to stop snowing?” Snotlout bit, sarcasm dropping from his voice. He plopped down onto a large rock in the centre of the large cavern, crossing his arms indignantly.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, “Y'know, that’s really helpful Snotlout. May I remind you that this is your fault?” He snapped, resigned to the fact that they were trapped there, and would likely remain so for the next day, at least.

“My fault? You’re the one who wanted to fly all the way back to Berk! We should’ve just gone to the Northen Markets, they’re way closer!” Snotlout retorted, rubbing his hands together from the cold.

“Those are way too dangerous, Snotlout! You know that! The twins almost got killed the last time they went! Besides, we should’ve left Berk by noon, but no! Nothing’s ever easy with you, is it? You just had to stay another three hours messing around in the forge, didn’t you?” Hiccup practically shouted, pacing angrily as he spoke.

If they had just left when Hiccup said, they would’ve beat the storm, and be back in the clubhouse with their friends, instead of trapped on an island in the middle of who knows where for who knows how long. Honestly, of all the selfish, irresponsible…

“Sorry.” Snotlout mumbled, so quietly it was a wonder his voice carried over the howling screams of the harsh arctic wind whipping through the cave.

Hiccup stared at Snotlout as if he had just grown another head, “What?” He asked in disbelief. He had known Snotlout since before they could walk, and he could probably count the times he had apologized for… well, anything on one hand.

“I said sorry, geez. Not like I wanna be stuck with you either.” Snotlout mumbled defeatedly, placing something Hiccup couldn’t see into the front of his tunic.

Hiccup sighed, crossing the large cavern to sit next to Snotlout. He ran his hand through his hair as he spoke, “It was my fault too, we could’ve waited till after Snoggletog to get the metal.” He paused, twirling one of the small iron rods he had gotten from Gobber in between his fingers. The metal was cool against his skin, as if it was absorbing the freezing storm continuously raging around them. “Why were you in the forge all day?”

Snotlout sucked in a sharp breath, “Nothing.” He spat halfheartedly, not seeing the value in creating a convincing lie. “Doesn’t matter anymore.” Snotlout said dejectedly, angrily tossing a pebble towards the ground. It bounced a few times before landing against the wall, unmoving, much like the two riders.

“Does it have something to do with this?” Hiccup asked, poking his chest where the outline of what look like a metal ring was visible through his leather tunic.

Snotlout shoved his hand away, “Do you ever give up?” He breathed, pulling the object out into view. It was a metal ring, a bit larger than the size of Snotlout’s hand. The silver ring had several intricately carved designs intertwining with each other around the smooth metal ring. Snotlout ran his fingers over the carvings, tears glistening in his eyes. He let out a breathy laugh, “It was for Ruffnut.” He said, passing the ring to Hiccup.

He took it carefully into his hands, impressed by the amount of effort his cousin had put into it. There were two dragon heads intertwined dancing across the iron, much like the dragon Ruffnut shared with her twin brother. They ended towards the centre, where a small heart could be seen, the letter R resting just above it. “It’s beautiful.” He said, now understanding why it had taken Snotlout so long to finish.

Snotlout let out a hum of agreement, “Astrid seemed to like the necklace you gave her for your betrothal gift so I just thought…”

“You mean you were gonna…” Hiccup trailed off, passing the ring back to Snotlout. “She’s gonna love it.” He said, his anger long forgotten. It looked like he wasn’t the only one who’d rather be somewhere else.

“Doesn’t really matter, Snoggletog’s practically over and, well…” he said, dejectedly gesturing to the roaring mouth of the cavern.

Hiccup sighed, resting his head in his hands, both riders feeling the isolation, the snow creating a wall between them and the outside world, and the storm keeping them from those they love. “Well this is perfect, of all the days we could’ve gotten trapped in a snow storm, it just had to be on Snoggletog.” He said through and empty laugh. He no longer blamed Snotlout for their situation, heck, he would’ve, and has, done the same for Astrid. No, he was just… trapped.

It wasn’t often Hiccup felt helpless anymore, not since he met Toothless. But in this situation… he hadn’t missed this feeling, that’s the one thing he was sure of.

“Well, if we’re gonna be stuck here all night, we should probably make a fire before we freeze to death.” He said, pulling himself to his feet. He shivered as he did so from the movement of the frozen air, once more proving his point.

Snotlout gestured behind him, “Crazy idea, we could just… I dunno… use our dragons?” He remarked sarcastically, though his eyes were empty, not filled with his usual snarky humour.

“We need wood, Snotlout. Hookfang can’t keep his flame going all night.” He said, crossing the cave towards Toothless. He scratched the black dragon behind his ears before opening his worn leather saddle bag. He pulled out a canteen, opening it to reveal it was, in fact, empty. “I’ll go get…” Hiccup trailed off, coughing as the freezing air scorched his lungs, “The wood.” He finished, tossing the canteen to Snotlout.

“You search the cave for fresh water.” He said, looking towards the depths of the cave, unexplored and forebodingly dark.

Snotlout clumsily caught the canteen, motioning for Hookfang to follow him as he turned deeper into the cavern. “Hiccup… be careful out there.” He said, not turning back as he spoke. He faded from view, the darkness shrouding him like a blanket as he continued onward.

Hiccup smiled slightly, shaking his head. His cousin was loud and obnoxious at, well, almost all times, but he was a good person, it just took some work to see it.

He sighed as he turned towards the jagged mouth of the cave, wincing as the harsh northern air bit at his skin, leaving a red imprint on his cheeks. Toothless nudged worriedly at Hiccup’s arm, as if pleading with him not to go. “I’ll be okay bud, you wait here, okay?” He said, smiling in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. He took a deep breath before stepping out into the unforgiving storm.

Snotlout’s footsteps echoed throughout the narrow passage of cave he was currently passing through. The smooth stone walls towered high above him, his fingers tracing the compacted layers of rock and mineral. It was warmer this deep in the cavern, which was a relief, since he had stupidly decided to forgo his winter furs for this trip.

He bit his lip, save for the steady scraping of Hookfang’s claws on the ground behind him, he was entirely alone with his thoughts. Was this whole thing a terrible idea? He pressed a hand against his tunic, where he could feel the shape of the metal armband.

He and Ruff had been… something more than friends, for around three years at this point… but they had never talked about their future. Together, or separate. Even as dragon riders, they never knew what the next battle would bring, where they would travel next, who the twins would prank… but it was that unpredictability that he loved, that they all did, really.

But not this time. He had no clue what she would say when… if, he did ask her to marry him. There was no question in his mind, whatever the future held, he wanted her to be a part of it. And if she rejected him…

Snotlout shook his head, telling Hookfang to flame up. The cave had become almost entirely dark, and he could no longer see even his boots dragging along the rough ground of the cave.

The narrow path he had been following gave way to large cavern, much bigger than the one he and Hiccup had set up camp in. His eyes traced the room, turning all of his thoughts to the task at hand. To his left, there was a thin trail of water seeping down the rock.

He ran his fingers over the notch its’ steady fall had carved into the rock surrounding it. Determination, maybe that was all it took. He glanced up, another layer of the cavern resting above this one. “Hookfang, can you give me a boost?” He called, urging the ever stubborn dragon to reluctantly cross the room to help him.

He boots landed near the edge of the platform, the surface made slick with water. He steadied himself on one of the walls, before taking the time to gaze around his surroundings. There was a decently sized pool of fresh water sunk not more than a metre into the depths of the cavern. He detached the canteen from his belt, submerging it into the icy water.

Hiccup pushed himself onwards, his frozen limbs weighing heavily as the incessant arctic winds threatened to toss him aside. He tugged his leg out of the snow, it engulfing the wood almost entirely.

The metal was frosted over, and Hiccup could feel the metal becoming more brittle the longer he was out here. His eyes burned, tears clouding what little he could see, urging him to turn his back to the wind.

The snow whirled around him, making each direction indecipherable as his surroundings were cut off by and almost solid white blanket.

He shivered violently, the leather of his tunic retaining almost no body heat. His skin felt as though it were being impaled by needles as the freezing temperatures slowly began to overtake him.

His arms felt as though they were turning to ice themselves, barely able to hold the few bits of wood he had managed to collect. He spared a glance down at his fingers, all of them white and almost unmoving.

He had to get back to the cavern. He would never make it out here. Hiccup grit his teeth as he glanced around again, each direction looking exactly the same. He let out a groan of frustration, what had he been thinking coming out here alone?

He took a step forwards, hoping in vain that he would see something, anything familiar. As he did, the metal of his leg hooked against an invisible piece of ice hidden deep beneath the snow, causing him to slip, landing on his back as the unforgiving storm continued around him.

He found no energy in his body left to get up, his heart rate slowing as he lay there, urging himself to move to no avail. His eyelids became heavier, until the weight of them became too much to resist, the cold around him little more now than an aching numbness.

Snotlout tapped his foot anxiously, the steady thrum of his boot connecting with the stone echoing throughout the cavern.

He took a swig from the recently filled canteen as he stared out into the storm. Though, he thought, it was rather pointless, as his vision was limited to a mere few metres. Shouldn’t Hiccup be back by now? He didn’t know exactly how long it had been, but he guessed around an hour, him having waited for around half that time.

There was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he continued to peer into the unchanging storm which continued to rave in the distance. Snotlout sighed, unable to bear waiting around listlessly any longer. He tossed the canteen against the ground as he made his way out into the storm.

The wind immediately struck against him, its’ full force seemingly insistent on holding him back. It seemed to bite his skin as it violently burned him over and over. He took a few steps forward, already feeling out of breath, though it had been less than a minute since he left the shelter of the cavern.

How had Hiccup survived out here? Snotlout was undoubtedly the stronger viking, at least physically, and even he felt like he was losing this ongoing battle against the elements. The earlier question seemed to make his heart stop. Could Hiccup have survived out here? And if he did, would he be able to find him in time?

Snotlout frantically called out for his cousin as he pushed forwards, in as close to a run as the endlessly piling up snow would allow. He held a hand in front of his face, it blocking his skin from a mere portion of the icy crystals which slammed against him.

This was useless, he couldn’t see anything out here, and the howling if the winds overtook all of his other senses, the sound building up within his ears. He should give up, return to the cave, just let… no. Giving up would mean resigning Hiccup to a fate of… Snotlout let out something akin to a yell, forcing himself to fight harder, pushing persistently against the elements, despite the protest from his frozen limbs.

Not more than a few minutes later, he spotted a glimpse of red in the vast field of white before him. He felt his heart speed up in relief as he rushed over to where his cousin lay.

The feeling of relief didn’t last long, however, as he saw the sight painted before him. Hiccup’s skin was as cold as ice, and near the colour of it too. Snotlout rested a hand against Hiccup’s chest, feeling a weak, yet persistent best below his tunic.

Snotlout couldn’t help but smile, “You always were a fighter.” Snotlout mumbled, picking him up carefully before heading back towards the cavern.

They would make it through this Snoggletog, make it back to the edge to see their friends, to be with those they cared about, but at least right now, they had each other.

“Happy Snoggletog, cuz.”.

[chiefhiccstrid]

A Thoughtful Gesture

@fulltimeviking this is for you! I hope you like it and that it does your sweet headcanon justice. 

Nothing but pure father/daughter fluff below!

Her father had a bad day. It was so bad that he didn’t smile that usual goofy grin or laugh his usual dorky laugh that Zephyr always looked forward to each and every day. And it was so bad that she could tell by the dark circles under her father’s usual bright eyes the next morning that he hadn’t slept a wink the previous night.

And when he left the house without saying anything but the usual kiss on her and her mother’s cheek and a ruffle of her brother’s hair, Zephyr knew exactly what she was going to do that day.

Whenever she’d had a bad day, her dad either came home with a brand new leather notebook that had a dragon emblem on it or her name carved in the bottom. He’d wipe the tears away with his thumb, place her in his lap, and teach her how to draw something new.

He did anything he could to get her mind off the bad day and it always worked.

And ever since their trip to the Hidden World, she’d been learning and practicing how to draw the different dragons - especially Toothless and Stormfly. So, she walked into her father’s study after he left for the day so she could use her father’s many sketchbooks from the times when dragons roamed the archipelago as a reference because she’d never drawn a dragon without her dad’s help before.

But today was going to be that day and she was going to make sure of it.

By the time the afternoon rolled around, she had a pile of crunched up sheets of paper by her feet. Only because faces were…hard. She was getting better at drawing the body and the legs and the feet, but faces always made her frustrated.

Zephyr was always amazed and in awe by the way that her father could draw the different emotions. It always seemed so easy for him and each and every time you could tell the exact emotion the dragon or Viking was feeling just with one single look.

And she kept going back to that day on the boat when she saw the look on Toothless’ face when he finally recognized who it was standing in front of him. It was that look of pure…joy - wide playful eyes and a gummy grin so cute it still made her giggle every time she envisioned it.

Her tiny hand was covered in charcoal and was shaking from having kept it in the same position all day, but she finally finished it by the time she heard her mom and brother walk in the house and prepare dinner.

Zephyr strolled into the kitchen to meet them - her sketchbook with the drawing tucked underneath her arm - and sat at the table while swinging her legs in the air and eagerly waiting for her dad to walk through the front door.

When he did, she noticed that the dark circles and furrowed brows still hadn’t gone away.

She scurried out of her seat and over to his awaiting strong and warm arms that opened the second he saw her dashing towards him. She noticed the little smile that tugged at the corners of his lips the second she wrapped her arms around his neck - her sketchbook still held tightly in her hands.

“How was your day, daddy?” Zephyr asked him as she loosened the grip around his neck and looked him the eyes.

Hiccup sighed, “Tiring…”

“I’m sorry.” She spoke and frowned for only a moment. She looked down at her book and opened to the page that the drawing was safely tucked away in, “But I made you something today to help make you feel better.”

“You did?” Hiccup asked her, fully curious at what his young daughter was pulling out of the sketchbook he’d given her for Snoggletog.

Zephyr nodded and pulled it out. She held the drawing out in front of his eyes, “I hope you like it.” She spoke, her voice shaking from the slight nerves of showing her father something she’d drawn all on her own.

Hiccup’s eyes slowly filled with thick tears at the rims as he grabbed the paper from his daughter with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her tiny waist. He recognized the drawing as the moment not too long ago when even after ten years, his best friend still recognized who he was and looked at him with that same drooling grin. And to make it even better, his own daughter had drawn it just for him because she’d known he’d had a stressful day that made him want to pull his hair out.

But the bad days were far behind him as he looked at the drawing - realizing just how skilled his daughter had become at the craft over the years - and then as he glanced over at her and looked into her bright blue eyes that were exactly like her mother’s.

“Do you like it?” She asked him, a tad worried and wringing her small hands.

“I love it.” He told her and brought her closer to his chest, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to the top of her head, “This, right here,” Hiccup shook the photo still in his hand, “is by far my favorite drawing of Toothless. And you know why?”

Zephyr shook her head.

“Because you drew it for me.”

And his daughter smiled that wide grin that showed all her tiny teeth and made his heart feel like it was flying up in the clouds. It was the same smile that he’d do anything for.

After he’d set her down so she could show her mom and younger brother the drawing she was so proud of, he took it and pinned it up on the wall in front of his desk with all the other drawings she’s made in the past. He did that so that each and every time he started to get stressed over a speech or plans or whatever it was, he could look up from his work, see that drawing, and be reminded of not only this day but of the sweet gesture made by his thoughtful daughter.

[coneygoil]

Of Snowstorms and Snoggletog

Hiccup and Astrid’s first Snoggletog together doesn’t go as planned, but sometimes the most unexpected things turn out to be the most memorable.

Writer’s note: A (belated) Snoggletog collaboration fic between me and @chiefhiccstrid! What a fun time we had writing it together! Thank you Stef for being such an awesome writing partner and friend <3 

“Took you long enough, son!” Stoick gave a hearty laugh and a generous slap on the back when Hiccup informed his father of his decision to take Astrid to be his wife. His father was over the moon with the decision and the joy radiating from him gave Hiccup the courage to ask if he could give Astrid his mother’s betrothal gift.  

“I know it’ll be in good hands,” Stoick said as he pressed the medallion into Hiccup’s palm.

The corners of Hiccup’s mouth curved up as warmth rose in his chest. “Thanks, dad.”

“I’ll take care of the marriage contract with the Hoffersons. Now get back to the Edge! The faster you get back, the faster Astrid becomes my future daughter-in-law!”

A current of relief flowed over Hiccup at the weight in his hand. The medallion was finally in his possession; the same medallion his father presented to his mother all those years ago. Now he would present it to Astrid.

Tucking the betrothal gift safely in his saddle bag, Hiccup hopped on Toothless, his eagerness reflecting in his voice. “Let’s go, bud!”

***

Hiccup and Toothless had flown through many treacherous weather conditions, especially snowstorms which were not uncommon in the Archipelago. This storm was proving to be quite the challenge.

Toothless had spotted the thick gray clouds before Hiccup and tried convincing his rider to fly another route.

“C’mon, Toothless,” Hiccup chided, pulling on the handlebars to straight his dragon’s course. “We’ve flown through this type of weather before. Besides, if we fly around it, we’d be late for our first Snoggletog feast on the Edge!”

Toothless groaned his discontentment, but followed Hiccup’s lead.

Snow flurries rushed by as they approached the darkening sky. A shiver raced through Hiccup as the icy wind disregarded his clothing. His eyes stung to the point of tears at the cold blasts that quickly became unbearable. Hiccup leaned forward on Toothless, the dragon’s heated scales not penetrating the frigidness.

Several minutes into the snowstorm, Hiccup knew he should have heeded his dragon’s instinct. The snow became a thick wall of white the deeper they flew inside and Hiccup feared they’d crash into a sea stack or mountain if they continued on this blind course.

“Hey, bud!” Hiccup yelled into Toothless’ ear, “Find a place to land! We can’t go on in this storm!” Toothless rumbled smugly. “Yeah, yeah! You were right!”

Releasing several echo blasts that reverberated across landscape, Toothless perked up at the sign of something below. The dragon dived down, Hiccup tightening his grip on the handlebars at the sudden descent. It was no use with eyes open, the visibility being zero to none, and Hiccup shut out the icy darts that pelted him as they dove.

Toothless released one last echo blast and soon, Hiccup felt the bounce of his dragon landing. He rubbed away the gathered snow from his face and blinked away the blurriness that had set in during the blinded descent. A dense canopy of trees greeted them, making the visibility further, though they still seemed to be surrounded by a curtain of thick flurries.

Hiccup grabbed hold of Toothless’ harness for stability in the gathering carpet of snow and to not risk being separated. “C’mon, bud, let’s find shelter to wait this out. Looks like we’ll be late for the Snoggletog Feast after all.”

***

Worry flooded over Astrid the longer she stood outside of the clubhouse with her arms crossed and looking to the cloudy sky, waiting to spot a certain black dragon and his rider.

But they never came.

They were expected hours ago. Hours before the sun set and definitely hours before the snow started to fall and cover every inch of the ground.

It was Snoggletog and the first time spending the beloved holiday away from Berk. They were all supposed to spend it together after Hiccup returned from helping his dad with something he couldn’t...or wouldn’t...tell her about. But the later it got, the hungrier and grouchier everyone became so they just ended up eating without him. All except Astrid who was still standing outside and looking up at the sky that was now pouring thick and heavy snow.

Hiccup was usually only late for two reasons: he either got sidetracked by something or something was wrong.

Astrid’s gut told her it was the latter, and she usually trusted her gut. It had been right more than it had been wrong.

So, that’s why she filled a satchel with the essentials, leftover food, water, and a blanket, hopped on Stormfly and took off into the dark skies in search of her really reckless boyfriend.

The further south she flew the worse the snowstorm grew. It was coming down so hard and so fast now she couldn’t see Stormfly’s head in front of her anymore. She only knew her dragon was still there by the saddle in between her legs and the winds off the quick and constant flapping of her large wings.

Astrid was used to flying in the cold but this wasn’t cold...this was frigid. The more feeling she lost in her face and hands meant she was going to have to land if they didn’t find Hiccup soon.

But Stormfly’s sudden squawk threw that thought right out of her mind because Astrid knew that squawk. It meant whatever they were tracking was close, “Did you find them, girl?” she asked the determined dragon while scratching the side of her neck.

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief as they gradually flew lower and an island came into view. The girl and her dragon did one lap around the island and tried to spot them from above but the heavy snow and tree-covered forest made it too difficult to see. Figuring it would be easier on foot, the two landed in a small clearing.

Astrid hopped off and sunk into the thick snow that covered her feet and went up past her ankles. They began trudging through the forest, the snow crunching under their feet, and looking for any sign of the missing boy and his dragon.

***

The cave was shallow, but rider and dragon were sheltered from the driving storm. A small fire crackled to life thanks to Toothless and the spare branches Hiccup managed to collect.

Hiccup pressed his back into the heated belly of his dragon. As he gazed at the small flickering flames, his mind wandered to a roaring fire, a warm cup of mead, and beautiful blonde he longed to hold in his arms. He imagined, like he had many times before, asking her the question that had been on his mind even before he and Astrid were officially together. He’d loved her for so many years, but that love had grown and matured and it meant more now. So much more.

Hiccup sighed through his nose. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, bud. I guess it’s just you and me spending Snoggletog together.”

Toothless crooned in empathy, already forgiving his rider for the mistake. Hiccup smiled at his best friend and reached out to scratch at his dragon’s jawline.

They’d both settled in comfortably. Toothless wrapped around Hiccup as the rider watched the furious snow blow across the entrance of the cave. Hiccup’s eyelids began to drift closed, the long journey and the warmth of the fire and his dragon lulling him to sleep. But he was jarred awake by Toothless’ sudden movement.

Hiccup sat up, rubbing away the drowsiness from his eyes. Toothless’ ears stood straight on end, eyes wide and staring out the entrance. “What is it, bud?”

The dragon’s ears twitched once, twice. Toothless jumped up and bounded from the cave. “Toothless, where are you going?!” Hiccup cried after him. Without a thought for his own safety, Hiccup dashed after him.

***

This wasn’t how Astrid expected to spend her Snoggletog. She expected a warm fire, a nice meal, and her crazy friends.

She wasn’t expecting over a foot of snow, a dark forest, or frostbite threatening to set in.

Yet here she was walking through the snow storm, arms wrapped around herself to try and keep some of her body heat contained while trying to stay alert looking for any sign of Toothless and Hiccup, who better have a real good explanation for making her spend her favorite holiday this way.

But the longer she walked and the deeper into the forest they trekked, the more the worry grew in the pit of her stomach. She was uneasy as the screaming winds picked up and the snow grew stronger, making it hard to see and hear if anything...or anyone...was going to sneak up on her.

Astrid kept a close eye on Stormfly walking beside her, knowing that the very second something was to go amiss she would be the first to realize it.  Stormfly would stop and squawk and then turn her head in the direction of the sound or the smell...just like she was doing now.

“Stormfly…” Astrid trailed off looking around her for any sign of what caught the attention of her dragon.

Then her trusty companion just flew off.

“Where are you going?” She chased after her for a moment, but the heavy snow made it hard to see and even harder to run.

Astrid stopped and took her ax off the secure spot on her back. She squinted as she turned in a circle, hoping it would help see in the dark and through the blizzard.

Even through the screaming winds she still managed to hear the crunching of snow and the snap of a frozen stick behind her. Her heart pounding in her chest, Astrid adjusted the ax in her palm and whipped around, ready to strike at whatever decided to try and sneak up on her.

Her ax was raised and the next step was release but that part, thankfully, never happened.

“Astrid! It’s me!” Hiccup cried out, raising his arms to protect himself for the blow that never came.

She lowered her weapon and breathed a heavy sigh of relief that he seemed to be safe from both the storm and the damage her ax has been known to bring, “Gods, Hiccup, you know better than to sneak up on me.”

“I know, I know,” he took a few steps towards her and she could see his flushed face better now, “I just wasn’t expecting to find you out here walking around.”

Astrid crossed her arms and slyly smirked at the boy, “Is that really how you talk to the girl who flew and walked through a blizzard on Snoggletog just to make sure you hadn’t gotten yourself killed?”

He spotted the humor in her tone and played along, “No, probably not. What could I do to make it up to you?”

“Get us out of this snow and somewhere warm.” She shivered.

Hiccup held out his hand, which Astrid happily took and intertwined their cold fingers, “Right this way, milady.”

The two trudged back to the small cave Hiccup had emerged from earlier, hand-in-hand, and thankful that even if this wasn’t exactly how they imagined to spend their holiday, they were at least getting to spend the rest of it together.

***

“Toothless found this cave and we’ve been hunkered down in here ever since,” Hiccup explained as he broke a few more branches to feed the embers that were left of the fire.

The disappointment of missing Snoggletog and the special chance of proposing the question had completely slipped away now that Astrid was with him. Hiccup could hardly believe his eyes and the happiness of her presence sent sparks through him. This wasn’t exactly the ideal place to spend Snoggletog, but at least they were together now.

Astrid was standing across from him by the growing fire with her hands out in front of her and soaking up all the warmth that she could.

“How did the feast go back on the Edge?” Hiccup asked.

“Everyone seemed to enjoy it,” she smiled, “They left you plenty of Yaknog too.”

Hiccup chuckled nervously and tried his best to sound excited over having plenty of Astrid’s holiday drink concoction waiting for him when he returned, “Oh, great-”

Heavy footsteps tromped through the snow up to the cave entrance. Hiccup flicked his eyes up from stoking the fire, and just as he expected, his wayward dragon had returned with a friend.

He stood. “Nice of you two to join us.” Toothless warbled as he circled around the fire and gave his rider an affectionate nudge with his nose.

“You had me worried, girl!” Astrid hugged Stormfly, the Nadder gently nuzzling her rider’s cheek. Astrid smiled across the cave catching Hiccup’s affectionate gaze. “At least we’re all together now.”

“All we need is food,” Hiccup remarked. He reached for the saddlebag hanging from Toothless, but before he could reach it, Astrid’s echoing gasp halted his action.

“Oh!” Astrid suddenly remembered and began digging in the satchel she filled before she left, “I brought leftovers.” She took out the contents, showing them to Hiccup.

He peered over at the food she was unwrapping. She laid out slices of bread and cheese and then pork. Hiccup’s stomach growled when he got a whiff of his favorite type of meat. He looked back up at Astrid, grinning when the two made eye contact, “You’re amazing.”

She returned the smile and felt heat rise to her cheeks that wasn’t just a cause of the fire next to them, “And don’t you forget it.” Astrid pushed his shoulder playfully.

They ate, both so hungry that the only sounds were them scarfing down the food and the cracking of the fire around them.

Not long after they finished eating the leftovers they found themselves wrapped in each others arms. They were resting against a sleeping Toothless, Hiccup’s arms draped over Astrid’s shoulder and her head tucked perfectly in the crook of his neck.

Both soon found their eyes growing heavy from being full, safe, comfortable, and warm. Astrid was thinking about how this Snoggletog turned out to be pretty great, even if it had started out rough. Hiccup was thinking about how he looked forward to more Snoggletogs just like this one. Just him and Astrid and their dragons…and maybe little ones one day.

Hiccup sighed contently. Astrid’s head, having slipped lower in the lull of their comfort, rose and fell upon his breast. The cozy setting nearly welcomed them to sleep when his green eyes shot open, remembering the gift tucked safely away in the pocket of his flight suit.

Suddenly Hiccup was very much awake. His breath caught in his throat as his entire frame seemed as if he’d been shocked by a Skrill. His heart began to thud rapidly against his ribcage, and he was surprised the pounding didn’t disturb Astrid from her dozing.

“Hey, Astrid,” Hiccup spoke softly, gently nudging the dozing girl next to him, “Snoggletog is almost over and we haven’t exchanged gifts.”

With a sharp intake of breath as she was drawn from her drowsy state, Astrid sat back up, her eyes widening as she turned to face the boy next to him, “But Hiccup, I didn’t bring your gift.”

Hiccup smiled that gap-toothed grin that always makes her heart flutter and a smile pulled at the corner of her lips, “That’s okay. I think your gift will be enough for both of us…” he swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, “if you accept it.”

Astrid’s brow furrowed at his puzzling statement as she watched him dig in his pocket and pulled out an intricately carved medallion tied to a silver chain.

Hiccup placed it in his palm and showed it to the girl next to him, “My father gave this to my mother as a gift upon their betrothal,” he explained, his voice shaky and full of nerves, “And I went to Berk to ask him for it, so that I could give it to you.”

Astrid looked down at the meaningful and life-changing gift and then back up to the young man who, with this medallion, was telling her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Her eyes wide and mouth hung open slightly as she took in the moment she didn’t quite see coming.

And she knew what was next as he reached for her. Even through the pounding of her heart and the shock of the moment, she knew exactly what her answer would be to the question he was about to ask her.

Taking both her hands in his, Hiccup poured his heart to her, “I love you, Astrid Hofferson. You’re apart of me, and always will be.” The rosy stains on her cheeks weren’t due to the cold. A warmth radiated from her, and Hiccup couldn’t help but press a lingering kiss to her knuckles. “Will you accept my offer of betrothal to become my wife?”

“I accept.” She answered without hesitation.  

Hiccup’s heart soared and every bit of nervousness and uncertainty he once felt immediately diminished the second he heard her declare those words. He took a deep breath and continued, “I will take you as my wife.”

Astrid squeezed his hand, “And I will take you as my husband.” She declared, looking into the eyes of the boy she just agreed to spend the rest of her life with and realized she’d never been so certain about something in her entire life.

Hiccup raised the medallion as Astrid bowed her head for him to place it around her neck. The weight was unfamiliar but Astrid already savored the feel of it hanging there. This gift represented their betrothal vows to one another, vows that would one day soon become those of pledging their lives to one another.

Astrid smiled down at the medallion. “I love it, Hiccup.” Meeting his gaze that sent a spark up her spine, she smiled, “And I love you.”

Everything fading around them. The cave, the snowstorm, and being stranded was all forgotten as they exchange the betrothal vows. They both leaned in, the need to touch each other, to meld together as one overflowing and pouring out as their lips met.

Hiccup curled an arm around Astrid’s waist, longing for her to be closer. Astrid happily complied as she deepened the kiss. Her fingers raked through his hair and settled at the base of his neck, the pleasant pressure of her calloused fingertips spurring him on.

They parted to catch their breath. The lingering wetness of the kiss chilled their lips. They did not wish to part as they rested their foreheads together, holding each other and never wishing to let go.

Without letting go, the two breathed a content sigh, leaned back up against Toothless, and fell asleep by the warm fire, wrapped in one another's arms, while both thinking about their future and dreaming about all the Snoggletog’s they knew they’d be spending together.

[asianpower5]

Ok so its been 24 hours since I saw the movie and I wanted to write down my thoughts, most of it is for me so I can go back and read how I felt about it years from now, its going to be very long and wordy but im just writing as the thoughts come and now worrying about grammar or anything, that includes timeline, so my thoughts may come to me out of order . I’m going to put it all under read more so i dont spoil it for any of you lovely people

So I got to the theater like 40 minutes early because I just couldnt contain myself and I wanted to get my perfect seat. Wore my new HTTYD shirt and brought my toothless plushie from build a bear (another little girl had the same idea she was so cute)

but now onto the movie

they threw me for a loop I was totally expecting a “this is berk’” speech as the very opening, not the raid, but honestly this movie is about change so I liked the change. But I still got my fix, because as they flew back to Berk my only thought was “this is berk”, AND THEN HE SAID THE THING YES.

Loved the scene in the great forge, it just really showed how big Berk is and how many vikings there are, and seeing them all happy and enjoying a meal together just warmed my heart, plus Gobber teasing Astrid and Hiccup about marriage and Valka beating Spitelout at arm wrestling haha.

Tuffnut was comedic gold, talking about his “beard” and giving hiccup bro pep talks. And when he said the earth was round? and the stars? I almost died laughing. 

Grimmel  being a complete jerk and drugging those poor dragons with their own venom.

Fetch with Hiccup’s leg?? and him dropping it in Astrid’s lap and then being over protective of the leg when Stormfly came near it? Then Hiccup tickling Astrid, what did we do to deserve such a cute Hiccstrid scene?

Toothless meeting the light fury was even better than I thought, he was such a dork and had no idea what to do, then looking to Hiccup for advice about how to flirt oh gosh silly boy.

Im calling Hiccup out on his saying Astrid isnt a romantic, I mean Hiccup is totally the hopeless romantic, but Astrid in my mind is totally a secret romantic, at least when it comes to her own relationship.

Also Toothless practicing his mating dancing by watching his shadow and studying the naddars as they danced was so adorable.

Ok ngl I actually thought Grimmel had shot Toothless in the house, and I was so happy to see that is was part of their plan and that he had back up (sorry Fishlegs I love you and you took one for the team so good on you!). Why I was surprised by this idk, I know these characters enough to know that they would pull something like that. BUT HICCUP TELLING GRIMMEL OFF AND CALLING HE OUT FOR SITTING IN STOICKS CHAIR, YES BOY. That just made the feeling of Berk being attacked and flames burning everywhere hurt so much more.

The meeting with all of Berk? Just wow, I mean first off I love that Hiccup had his whole gang up there with him, just goes to show that he really trusts them and values them as being part of the team. Astrid sticking up for my boy and Tuff just going “IM WITH HIM WHO ELSE” A plus team work, I loved the support. Not to mention the fact that Hiccup was able to convince them all to pack up what little they could carry and leave. I mean we know from the first movie that vikings are stubborn, but they are also capable of change. The fact that they left their home of 7 generations and probably left some import things they couldnt carry with them was such an amazing gesture. And Berk really is where ever the vikings are, it is not just a single island. It really hurt to see them leave the island, the place where it all started, but the fact that they all stuck together really shows how strong of a bond they have as a people. 

Light fury knocking Hiccup off Toothless, such a sassy girl I love her. I mean come on Toothless was obviously gunna save him. Also the sheeps wanting to be dragons is something I never new I needed, especially after seeing how afraid of dragons they used to be (I mean the dragons did hunt them, but im all here for them cosplaying as their favorite dragons) 

I JUST REMEMBERED I NEVER TALKED ABOUT FLASHBACKS SO LETS DO THAT NOW. First of little toddler Hiccup??? THE FRICKIN CUTEST THING EVER OK. I know there was a line in the trailer that wasnt in the movie the one where Stoick says something like “I believe its your destiny to find the hidden world so dragons and vikings no longer need to fight” but I wasnt sad that they didnt keep this line. I think it makes more sense to have what they did, Stoick talking about finding the hidden world so they could protect Berk from it. I mean this took place when they were still fighting dragons, so yea the line about destiny could mean he thinks Hiccup would destroy the hidden world, but the tone of the scene was so calm and relaxing that to me it gave off the vibe that Stock was implying that Hiccup would unite their worlds, which doenst make sense since again they were still at war with the dragons at this point. So I liked what they had in the movie, I think what they kept fit the tone and it still showed how Berk was at war with the dragons.

NEXT FLASHBACK. Little Hiccup just sneaking down the stairs and then his little face like “oh shit” when he saw his dad was up and trying to sneak back up. The way he said he wanted water, I JUST IT WAS SO CUTE, whoever voiced tiny hiccup good job because omg it was so cute. How happy he was to go over to his dad and sit on his lap.  When he asked Stoick if he would get them a new mom, my heart just broke I mean Hiccup was so young that he didn’t fully grasp the situation, and I mean before Hiccup got caught sneaking downstairs we saw Stoick crying. That was so important to me I mean Stoick the Vast, he is massive, and remember the first movie the fact about him ripping a dragons head off as a baby? Yea this character who basically screams masculinity has yet another vulnerable scene, showing yet again that crying is ok (I mean back in the first movie when he told Hiccup he wasnt his son, and when he met Valka again?? yes please keeping showing people that being masculine doenst mean you cant cry!). Stoick teaching Hiccup about love, yes dad points for you, I adore the scenes like these, that show how much Stock loves his family, he would be so proud of Hiccup and who he has become. OH YEA SIDE NOTE HOW I FORGET HICCUPS STUFFED DRAGON? THROWBACK TO THE TV SERIES THANK YOU.

New Berk, cuz thats the best I got to call it right now, love how everyone basically immediately goes to claiming their areas ahha.

Ok Snotlout my boy did you really just say “who died and made yout Chief” because too soon, I still love you

Low key thought they were gunna make Snotlout and Eret a thing, despite the weird flirting Snotlout had with Valka. I mean he was trying to be taller than Eret, and Eret was like hah no, yall id ship it ngl eret and snotlout 

Toothless meeting up with the light fury again, but this time trusting his instincts is another reminder that toothless is in fact an animal, a very intelligent animal, but an animal who has instincts and a desire to be with his own kind, I mean can you blame him? Its been at least 6 years since hes seen another dragon that was like him, maybe even longer depending on how long he was alone before he met hiccup. 

The throw back to the forbidden friendship scene? With toothless drawing in the sand, and oh God I never thought I would get so emotional about sand but dang that sand animation just was so realistic that I wanted to touch it. Hiccup being like “wow now you can draw”, Toothless growling at the light fury like he did to Hiccup back in the first for stepping on his art, come on guys Toothless worked hard on his art! The light fury flying away but toothless not being able to follow her, another throwback to when he couldnt fly with the dragons during the snoggletog special.

Hiccup making toothless a tail to fly alone, and Im glad they added the part when Astrid said they tried it before, again throwback to snoggletog, and that he didnt want the tail, and Hiccup clarifying that it was because he had no need to fly alone before. Now my only worry here is that the casual fan will just think that the exchange is a copout, I mean unless you remember the special you wouldnt know that they tired making him a tail fin and he didnt want it, so to the casual fan it might seem like they only added the comment to answer the question “If hiccup could make a tail fin why did he never do it before?”. Seeing the special where toothless destroys the tail really adds a layer of depth to the scene, because those of us who saw it remember that it was a statement that even though Hiccup had the ability to create a tail so toothless could fly alone, toothless wanted to fly with his best friend and didnt care for the tail. 

now the actual scene with toothless flying alone finding the light fury, first off it was so cute how he showed her his new tail! He was so proud of it, and no doubt proud of his best friend for making it. The scene itself though reminded me so much of the romantic flight, the way they flew together above the clouds and how it gave a sense of flight because we couldnt see the ground, ugg it was so beautiful. I was honestly blown away by the animation, the clouds and the color, they were all so beautiful. Toothless and the light fury flying together and really bonding, similar to Astrid and Hiccup on their first flight together, ugg all the throwbacks to the first movie really killed me. Also Toothless trying to copy the light fury and how she goes invisible was so cute, he was like “ah yes I got this, wait no shit again, no shit again again!” then he basically summons thors power of lighting and finds his new power, so proud of my baby. 

Now I fully believe that Toothless was going to go back to Hiccup after he spent time with the light fury in the hidden world, no way my boy would leave my other boy without a goodbye. But the other started to freak Hiccup out, I mean Hiccup knew his best friend would come back, but the others made him doubt it and seeing him freak out was heart breaking.

Astrid being like boy hop on we gonna get yo dragon, yes girl. Honestly them going into the hidden world on Stormfly? I mean need i say anything about the animation in this scene? The visuals were just breath taking, I cannot put it into words. Tootheless being the alpha is always a win, also Astrid calling him a king and Hiccup realizing that this beautiful place of dragons, is not place for humans, because Valka said it best, greedy humans ruin everything.

Hiccup and Astrid getting caught by a dragon and then going on a fun slide ride, and of course toothless comes through as the alpha to protect his humans, ALSO STORMFLY DONT THINK I FORGOT ABOUT HER, CUZ YES. I mean just like toothless Stormyfly will protect her human best friend, and I love her. 

How did I forget the next raid scene? I mean dang again the visuals and the lighting were just so spot on. Them all getting trapped? Valka being a badass and working with Cloudjumper to save them? Hiccup jumping and just escaping the clutches of Grimmels dragon? RUFFNUT

Ruffnut my girl dont think I forgot about you, I just I dont even know what to do with you. She was amazing, I mean shes just does not care, not scared that shes a prisoner, she fricking just talks about how ‘hot’ she is and just other random stuff about her life, like girl give me that confidence. But when she talked about the island i was like girl no dont do that, but her flying back and saying she doenst look back in response to being asked about being followed was pretty darn funny.

Bro the scene of the light fury and toothless getting captured? Toothless protecting her and telling the other dragons to stand down, at least until they can escape. Just heart breaking, help is so close, but I guess thats the downside of being the alpha, having that power can be used against you.

Astrid my girl, pep talking my boy Hiccup JUST LIKE THE FIRST MOVIE. And yes parallels again, just like in the first one Astrid said things to hiccup, she was very honest with him pointing out the things that had done wrong, the first pointing out how messy the situation got because of the lies, and in this movie pointing out how he constantly doubts himself, and in both Hiccup has a sassy comment regarding her pep talks, but Astrid always follows up with the good, like how he was the first viking to ride a dragon or how he was always brave, even without toothless, showing how she would always be by his side to support him and help him, especially when hes about to do something stupid. I just ugg they are couple goals, they dont even need to say I love you because they SHOW IT in their actions, in their support for eachother, their cute banters, and I am here for it. ALSO I MEAN HE KISSED HER HAIR EARLY AND THEN HER FOREHEAD THOSE ARE SO CUTE TO ME AND JUST SO NATURAL FOR THEM AHHH. Also “so what are you gunna do about it” “probably something stupid” YES YES YES I AM HERE FOR THAT SHIT

Everyone jumping off the island so they can ‘fly’ on their own, just first off so visually amazing, and second off so symbolic to me of each of them spreading their own wings and growing up into amazing people. 

Fishlegs and his baby dragon, I mean come on lets be real that shit is adorable, and baby dragon had his big dragon (does that dragon have a class name? because I dont remember it) friend and Fishlegs be like dont mess with baby dragon. 

Yooo I knew it, from the trailer I was like “Tuffnut is probs pissed that this dude cut off his hair beard” and boom it happned, but rip hair beard (until the end of the movie that is when it comes back)

Yall that unspoken scene where Hiccup and Astrid are just frickin shit up WHILE THEY JUST LOOK AT EACHOTHER, I MEAN HICCUP JUST CASUALLY THROWS SHIT TO START A FIRE AND THE ENTIRE TIME THEY ARE STARING AT EACHOTHER HAVE A CONVERSATION COMPLETELY WITH THEIR EYES LIKE THAT IS SOME NEXT LEVEL SHIT AND COUPLE GOALS.

I got such satisfaction out of Toothless destroying grimmels arrow shoter thing and watching as Grimmel started to get afraid, I mean this dude was so confident in his abilites, and up until now he has had the upper hand, but then you can see the “oh shit moment” as he realizes he is starting to lose and heck yea im here for it. Speaking of oh shit moments, when hiccup was riding toothless and they wer getting attacked? and then toothless is like “I SUMMON YOU THOR AND YOUR LIGHTING” and hiccup was like WTH?!!??!?!?

Ok yall that scene when toothless got shot, and hiccup is hanging from the light fury with grimmel on his leg? I mean Grimmel really thought that he had won, he underestimated the love Hiccup has for Toothless, and the moment that Hiccup told the light fury to save Toothless and he let go? the hesitation she had trying to pick who to save? her new mate, or his best friend that she now seems to understand has a great important meaning to toothless? The image of Hiccup falling, and the camera angle? I mean seeing him fall from above, seeing it in his face that he was content, content knowing that his best friend would be alive and safe and that Grimmel would no longer be able to hurt the dragons or his people? Such a self sacrifice, a true Chief just like his father. 

Then the light fury to the rescue! Hiccup being like LOL BYE GRIMMLE YOU DEAD. Also reminded me of when he started to ride toothless back in the first movie and they fell and hiccup got back on his back and in control just in time, because dang she saved him his butt just before he hit the water. But seriously I loved this scene, she went back for hiccup, she saw the interactions Toothless had with him, how Toothless protected him and Astrid in the hidden world, how Toothless CHOSE HICCUP when he saw him in danger in the hidden world, she came to realize that this boy is important to Toothless, and she saw that Hiccup was willing to die for Toothless, and she went back and saved him, and God I got emotional.

Also Hiccup leaning on Astrid because he has lost his prostectic leg, yessss im here for it

NOW TO THE REAL TEAR JERKER I mean gosh you could just see the realization again in Hiccup that the dragons didnt belong with them on Berk, that even though they love the dragons and the dragons love them, even though they have worked together for years and they want to live together in peace they just cant do it safely.There are too many people out in the world who would attack berk, and we have seen that both in the movies and the show, and that puts both the people and the dragons at risk. 

It was safest for everyone if the dragons went to the hidden world, where no one could find them, well expect Hiccup and Astrid who have been there once. I just cant though, that scene was just so amazing and heart crushing. I mean you can see it that Toothless doesnt want to leave his best friend, and Hiccup doenst want him to leave, but he reassures him that its ok that its best for everyone and that its time to say good bye for now, not forever though. Then oh God how Astrid follows him, because she knows hes right too, she knows that they can no longer live with their dragons safely, and she takes off Stormflys saddle and says good bye to her best friend. THEN VALKA who has lived with the dragons for 20 years, she knows too and she doenst hesitate to let Cloudjumper go free, and it made so much sense to me that she was so willing to do so even after being together for 20 years, she has protected them for 20 years so there is no doubt in my mind that Valka would do this without a second though if it meant that was the best thing for her friend. THEN OMG EVERYONE ELSE FOLLOWS THAT JUST HURT SO MUCH. I mean ever single Berkian seens what Hiccup did, and everyone knows they have a special bond, I mean they all have a special bond with their dragons, but Hiccup and Toothless are different, they were the only pair that we know of that needed each other to fly, I mean sure the other vikings needed their dragons to fly but their dragons didnt need them to fly, toothless relied on hiccup to control his tail and that bond is so special. Anyway, I just thought that all the others saw Hiccup doing this, and hes their Chief the man who started the whole riding dragons for them, so I have no doubt in my mind that they would follow his lead, and again to me they see Hiccup and Toothless doing this letting go, so they must think “If these two can do it so can I”. I just really think it shows how much the vikings truly care for their dragon friends, when you love someone you want the best for them, you want them to be happy, even if that means you need to say goodbye. And thats what happened here the vikings loved their dragons so much that they were willing to say goodbye to their friends if it meant that they would be save, and the same goes in the other direction, the dragons are not dumb and I believe they knew that leaving is what was best too, that leaving meant that their viking friends would be safer. The love they all have for each other is so amazing. I only wish that the goodbye was long, I am so bad at goodbyes and omg I just wish they had a longer time to say goodbye, not only to their dragons but to the others as well, I mean toothless saying goodbye to Astrid and Stormfly too Hiccup? uG I SUCK AT GOOD BYWS OK I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE ABLE TO SAY GOOD BYE TO ALL THE DRAGONS.

But man i said to myself ‘you can do it dont cry’ didnt work, I sobbed, legit sobbed, and it wasnt my normal movie cry were its just tears, it was the kind where you can feel the pain in your chest from your heart beating to hard, from trying to hold back the chocked sobs so no one else would  get annoyed, although lets be real they are did the same thing so we all cried.  Seeing them all fly off, AND THE REVERSE HAND TOUCH I CANNOT, THAT REALLY HURT I JUST COULDNT TAKE IT THE PARALLELS REALLY KILLED ME THE ENTIR MOVIE. Then Toothlesses look back at Hiccup, and then the long shot and seeing the massive wave of dragons, and then seening toothless following from the back as he is the last to leave, the vikings looking on with sadness and fondness for their dragons, really did come for my heart.

NOW ONTO HAPPY TIMES. the Wedding, oh my god, how lucky can a girl be? I got to see the mother of all my OTPs get married, and dang they were beautiful, and they looked so happy, it just warmed my heart to know that these two dorks who truly have a special relationship finally got married. Then Gobber called them Chief and Chiefstriss and wow really hit me hard that these two were going to lead Berk together, because they are always there to support each other. THEN that kiss so cute, and how Hiccup goes to gently cup her face with his hands, just wow my otp is the best.

Then we again have love master Tuffnut who will take Snotlout as his new student, and FISHLEGS HAS A LITTLE BABY GRUNKLE STUFFED ANIMAL IN HIS BAG. aND RUFF being like “you win i love sensitive guys” Then we have Hiccup and Astrid looking out to the sea as their friends and family come together with them, and Astrid lays her head on his shoulder so great.

Now dang my boy HICCUP WITH A BEARD??? BEARDCUP IS REAL, and he is wearing his fur cap, and Astrid looking like a frickin QUEEN, and AGAIN HOW LUCKY CAN A GIRL BE I SEE A WEDDING AND I GET CHILDREN????? MY OTP HAS TWO CHILDREN???? AND THEY ARE GORGEOUS.

buT DANG when they saw Toothless through the fog and then the light fury and then the little baby heads pop up, and you can see how happy Hiccup is. But Toothless doenst immediatly recognize him, which makes sense because I mean 10 year for humans can change the looks drastically, and hiccup has a beard now so he doenst look like what toothless remembered, plus hes the alpha and must protect his family. Astrid protecting her children like a frickin badass mom, and Zephry hidding behind her mom and Nuffink going into her chest? Ug love it, they trust their mom to protec them, and I love this to because it really shows that they are children, I mean I have no doubt that Astrid and Hiccup are going to raise them to be brave, I mean its Hiccup and Astrid, but they are still children and well they have grown in a world without dragons, different than their parents, we know at that age Astrid was fearless, I mean she wanted to fight a flightmare, but now the world has changed and they arent at war and they can raise their kids as kids, and I love that they showed that fear in the children it just gave a sense of realism to me. 

Then HIccup DID THE THING with the hand and Toothless finally was like “WAIT THIS IS MY HUMAN” and his eyes went big and omg how he attacked him with kisses and licks. Then Astrids laugh to see them reunite, and them urging their kids that it was ok, and remember before when I said they would raise brave kids? Well this little cuties were afraid, but they still listened and trusted their parents, and omg Zephry was so stiff from fear and her face, and Nuffink was hiding his face, but Hiccup came and showed them how to approach Toothless, and wow here we go again with the hand touch and HIccup telling them to let him come to them, and Toothless did the thing AND OMG THEIR REACTION WAS SO CUTE. The way Zephry cocked her head and smiled, and how Nuffink dropped his hand from his face and his mouth widened in awe of his dragon. 

THEN I GET TO SEE HICCUP WITH HIS SON RIDING TOOHTLESS? AND HIS SOON IS JUST MAKING THE CUTEST LITTLE WAVING MOTIONS WITH HIS HANDS. And hiccup throwing his kid in the air as he giggles in delight, and I swear I heard him say “Dada” and it killed me. Then Astrid being Astrid flys right passed them ON STORMFLY, like thank you for not forgetting about my girl, because she loves Stormfly and Stormfly loves her and seeing Astrid ride her with her daughter just made the scene even better. They could have easily forgotten about my girl, but they didnt, they didnt do her dirty, I may not have gotten to see the moment when she and Stormfly met again, BUT I SAW THEY RIDING TOGETHER AND THATS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.

Oh yea bonus points for seeing the light fury and the babies flying with them. Then Hiccup just flys upside down dropping Nuffink on Astrids head, and ug the way he just casually clings to his mother, then I was like wow I hope Zephry gets to ride Toothless with he father, AND THEN HE PULLED UP NEXT TO THEM AND HELD OUT HIS HAND TO DO JUST THAT, dreamworks you really came through for me, thank you so much for allowing Dead and all the other hard workers of this franchise make this amazing world for us. It tore my heart apart, but I loved every second of it, and I have no regrets, it was honestly a great ending,no matter how badly it hurt and how badly I wanted them to live together forever, it was just the perfect ending with a great lesson about letting go and moving on, becoming your own person, and being happy with the memories you had, because being able to say you loved something or someone and letting them go is better than never loving them at all, thats what happend to the vikings and dragons, and thats what happened to me personally at the end of it all. I cant wait to relive the magic and watch all the movies again. 

oh how could I forget? The end credits, you thought the pain ended with the end of the movie nope the credits are going to give you every major scene from each movie, reminding us where we started and where we have come to, and that was just the cherry on top of it all. 

Also side note a girl sat behind me and she goes “is that a toothless plushie?” and yes it was so she asked to see it so i handed him to her and we started talking about the movie, she was able to see it during an early release boo i had work. Anyway she asks me how old i was when the first came out, and I said 16, she seemed shook and i asked her the same, she said she was 5, so if math does me right she would be about 14/15. I was older than she is currently is when the first movie came out, thats wild. Then i laughed off the age difference saying “you would never know ill be 25 in a week”, and her (i assume) mom said I looked young haha. But because of the age difference I gave her some good life advice, I told her not to care about what others think of you, Im almost 25 crying over a dragon movie that means the world to me as i sit with my dragon plushie, and her mom just agreed with me and told her to listen to me because I knew what I was saying haha. Shout out to this girl too because shes the one who told me that Hiccup and Astrids’s kids had cannon names, I had been avoiding everything I could about this movie so I was glad to be up to date on that.

Wow this took me like 2 hours to write i think? I mean yea it was mostly for me to read later in life so I can remember this day, all the photos i took before hand, and all the excitement I had, wow Hi future me! Sorry about all the grammar mistakes but Im just typing as the thoughts come, hope I didnt break your heart again as you read all this. Until next time

[senashenta]

🌹🌹🌹🌹 can these be from your drabbles? I’m curious! :o

Oh, Jack had pulled the occasional prank on him before, small stuff like swapping the sugar for salt, harmless really, but as soon as they were living together he seemed to decide it was open season on Hiccups and all bets were off. Buckets of water on his head, buckets of flour on his head, pink hair dye in his shampoo-- which would not wash out-- and the day Hiccup woke up to Toothless dyed head-to-toe the same pink as his hair was the day he decided enough was enough.

~*~

It was coming around to Snoggletog and Hiccup was busy with all the preparations. There were a lot more now than there had been when he was a kid, gifts to procure and wrap, a play to write, cast and produce, a feast to coordinate, not to mention the ever-present dragon wrangling. And of course, for him at least, the Jack wrangling, too.

~*~

They had been in Cintra for three days, and each night Geralt had sat in the back of the inn, drinking ale and watching Jaskier perform for the crowd. The bard's reputation meant the tavern was full to capacity, which was what Jaskier thrived on, though the press of bodies on all sides made Geralt uncomfortable.

~*~

Burning to death was a terrible way to go, but the agony of the flames was nothing compared to the wrenching pain in his chest, in his soul, in his heart-- the emptiness where Kalira had once been, full and warm and loving, embracing everything he was and ever would be. And his flames burned hot-- it didn't take long for him to succumb to them, collapsed over Kalira's prone form, broken inside and out.

YOUUUUUUUU~ *wags finger* Are just checking up on me to make sure I'm actually still working on these! I see what you did there! XD I'm about half done all the ones featured here, and there are two others I haven't started yet but I'll get to them soon. <3

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Freya nodded to let him know he could continue, feeling as though her heart was softened even more once he was done, her head tilting in the slightest while she gazed at him, full of affection and love. "And we're lucky to have you with us too, Hiccup." Gently reaching out to hold his hand for a moment, she attentively kept her focus on him. "Ayla loves you like you're the brother she never had...and you've helped me out with her, more than you could possibly think. So, I appreciate you being here..for both of us."

Folding her arms, she listened to the back and forth debate on how many times Hiccup had gotten injured, her eyes widening once she learned that he did get hurt quite frequently in the past. Her brows were lowered, standing tall as he turned back to look at her. "Hm. A lot when you were younger plus four in the last seven years. You just gave away the fact that you have gotten some form of an injury on more than one occasion..."

------------------

Blaze's embarrassed demeanour brightened when Toothless declared they now had two trees to play tug of war with. He mirrored the Night Fury's grin with his own, hurriedly running to the other end of the tree with a confident lift of his chin. ‘I bet I'll win!’

Almost choking on the piece of apple she was eating, Freya cleared her throat and pretended to find the scenery more interesting. "Oh, uh, just the...uhm, decorations. Yeah, the decorations, that are...everywhere..yeah." Of course, she was too mousy to admit that Hiccup was on her mind most of the day, of everything they'd gone through the previous day and currently as a new couple.

Blaze slowly backed up to a tree behind him as he continued to tug, securing his tail around it as the few spikes littered across his scales helped him stay in place with the help of the stump. He growled playfully, squinting at Toothless; ‘I got you now..!’

"That's exactly how I like it!" She tapped his shoulder as she finished, "And to make it better, I got to put a lot of lights up this year! I've always enjoyed those, sometimes a little more than the snow and other things that happen during Snoggletog, but I love seeing them brighten the island when it's dark out and it's not the boring old torches--" Realizing she was starting to ramble a bit, her eyes locked onto her boots. "Sorry. I like the lights, if it's not obvious.."

Hearing him say he'd be willing to watch with her, a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. "Yeah, if you're up for it."

Lightly sighing in content, her fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the grass. "Maybe you should try being around Toothless and Blaze; he's got pretty warm scales..sometimes it feels a little too warm.."

Basking in the feather-like breeze that swept by, Freya nodded as his arm came to rest on her shoulder. "Yes, actually. I mean, I don't really mind the weather in general...but if it's too hot, then we got a problem." Turning her head slightly so she could become close enough to nearly hear his heartbeat, she closed her eyes in the settling peace that draped over her. "But if you get colder more quickly, then I'll definitely have to make sure you don't overwork yourself in the forge."

After a moment of silence, the reality dawned upon her yet again that she was there, leaning on the future Chief, in a real relationship with him. How many times that had happened today, she didn't know, but it hit her as if it barely came to mind for the first time. "...I'm so glad I don't have to hold back from doing this anymore.." She paused, specifying what she meant, "I can be this close to you now..and.. I can even do things like--"

Freya quickly straightened herself up, placing a short peck to his cheek. "..That." As though coming to terms with what she did, however, her face reddened and she brought her knees towards her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs as she tried to hide her flustered behavior. "Sorry, that was..uncalled for. Did not expect for it to happen.."

Finally lifting her eyes to meet his, she held a sincere weight in her gaze. "In all seriousness, I stand by what I said. It felt as if I was constantly being..restrained from showing you how much I.." Another pause. The meaning of the next word she was going to say flooding her heart in a way she couldn't describe, but still welcomed, "..how much I love you.."

Abruptly, the sound of a tree breaking made her flinch and glance in the direction of where the two dragons were, seeing Blaze stare down at the large piece of wood snapped in half. They broke another one.

The Sand Wraith sadly looked at the tree as he mournfully grumbled an apology: ‘My bad...again..’ He perked up shortly after, beckoning towards the other one they were also going to use. ‘Let's do the next!’

Freya shook her head, snorting as she turned back around and stared at her boots. "Sorry...I shouldn't have gotten so...serious all of a sudden."

He raised his brows in surprise. "Really? She...she does?" Well, it shouldn't surprise him...he was courting her sister, so it would make sense that Ayla would see him as a brother. Did that mean he could see Ayla as a sister as well?

Looking at Freya, he replied softly, "I'll always be there, for you and Ayla. You won't get rid of me easily."

Rolling his eyes playfully, he clarified, "When I was younger! I was still learning, and a little clumsy--"

"More than a little!"

"Gobber! You're not helping!"

"Sorry!"

Sighing, Hiccup shook his head, pressing his palm to his face. "Look, all things considered, it is a rare enough occurrence that it doesn't warrant the need to worry about me."

-----------------------

Toothless gave a confident grumble of his own. 'We'll see about that!'

Hiccup raised a brow, a smile tugging at his lips. "The decorations? So, uh, is that why I caught your eye a few times, passing by the forge?" Now fully grinning, he chuckled lightly. "It's okay, I was hoping to see you pass by... I uh, I kept looking for you..." It was good to know that they both seemed to not want to be without the other.

Toothless was dragged forward a little, before he doubled down on his grip, his paws making marks in the dirt as he slid forward.

The future chief couldn't help but smile as he listened to Freya, his expression softening. At her apology, he shook his head, not wanting her to stop. "No, no, don't be sorry. I agree, actually. It's nice, having the lights. But, if they were up all year long, I think they'd lose that feeling they give."

Nodding, he answered, "Sure. I don't think I'll participate either. Gobber, on the other hand...I don't know if you've noticed, but...he loves to dance."

"Next time I can't shake the cold, I'll have to take you up on that."

"Ah, yeah. I've found that after being inside an active volcano, the summer heat doesn't seem to bother me." He shrugged casually. "You know, maybe during one of those days, we should head to the cove, take a swim to cool off."

Tilting his head, he asked, "What do you mean?" Why would working in the forge be a problem? It was warm in there!

He wasn't sure what she meant, but as she kissed his cheek, he could feel warmth spread up his neck to his face. Looking back at her, he smiled brightly. How many times did she hold herself back from that, he wondered, and why was she acting so bashful about it now?

As she explained, he looked at her with such fondness, moving a little closer to her. "I feel the same way," he breathed, "you have no idea, how long I had to keep things bottled up...how many times I held myself back from doing the very same thing..." Leaning forward, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as well. "There were a few times when I considered just...telling you how I felt. It felt like it was just going to burst out of me at one point." Averting her gaze, he said, "The...the day we met mom. That was the day that I really had to hold myself back. I wanted to tell you, but...you had already gone through so much, and...I was just...grateful that you were still with me."

Hiccup turned towards the dragons as well. Toothless had frozen in place in surprise, also staring at the broken wood between them. Giving a light roar, he followed Blaze to the other log they had.

Shaking his head, Hiccup replied, "It's alright. We should have some serious conversations once in awhile, right?"

Taking a bite of his apple, he swallowed before speaking up again. "You know, I have to say, it is nice, not having to lie to everyone about what we are. I know that was all my idea, but...it did start to weigh on me. All I feel now, is, well, joy." Smiling at her, he said, "I am so happy to be with you, Fey. To know that you feel the same way."

[tysonrunningfox]

Feret Fluff

Kind of.  I don’t know.  It has angst too.  I hurt the girl.  I...am really struggling.  My epilogue is increasingly feeling like the beginning of a story I don’t get to write.  But here is feret.  Because. 

 00000

Fuse knew Eret through what had to be the most complicated year of his life, but that doesn’t mean she knows everything about him.  It’s not that she presumed to, even, but she learns a lot in the first three weeks after what illogically feels like his resurrection.

He’s more stubborn than she understands, especially because it makes things more difficult for him a majority of the time.  He’s determined to be upright, no matter how much it hurts and no matter how much everyone wants him to lay down.  Before he jumped, Fuse always knew him as someone who collapsed to sit at the last possible instant, but she never realized how exaggerated it was until he insisted on staying awake as much as possible, even though he’s so hurt it hurts to look at him.  Fuse doesn’t understand that either but when his mom pulled the healed stitches out of his shoulder and temple, her stomach hurt like she was the one who’d been sliced open.  

Most of all though, he’s clingy.  Clingy in a sweet, unavoidable, flattering way. And every time she enters the room that Eret is in, it’s obvious and immediate in a way she doesn’t know how to deal with.  He’s all drunk, gentle hugs and big blue eyes and beseeching requests that she stay and get closer and she gets used to sleeping on the edge of the bed, his hand intertwined with hers and his head tilted into her shoulder.

But it’s Eret, and he’s strong and stubborn and insistent and before three weeks have passed he’s on his feet and answering the door when Fuse knocks.  She blinks at him and then at his chest, because instead of the crisp, white bandages she’s gotten so used to, the fireworm shaped scars across his ribs are exposed and his bandaged arm is hanging in a loose sling that looks way more comfortable than what he had before.

“Thank Thor you’re here,” he grabs her hand and starts dragging her inside, the lone fireworm scar on his arm flexing when his elbow bends.   They’re red but definitely healed, the edges of them crisp against pale skin that’s losing its freckles the longer he’s stuck inside.  “I’m so bored.”

“You got your bandages off,” Fuse states the obvious, looking down at his chest again and trying to get used to it.  Of course pulling a shirt over his broken arm is too much effort, considering it’s summer and he’s not going anywhere.  He was shy about it at first and until yesterday, bandaged enough that there wasn’t really anything exposed except collarbones and pale, ointment covered stomach.

Even with his arm in a sling, there’s more to look at now.

“Yes, and he’s obsessed with his new scars,” Aurelia says out of nowhere, startling Fuse enough that she looks away from Eret.  “I’ve got to go check on Stoick, apparently he was being a show off at dragon training yesterday.  You got him?”  She points at Eret, who rests his forehead on Fuse’s shoulder, his hair tickling her jaw.

“You could tell him to bring Bang back,” his breath still has an edge of mead to it but he seems clearer than he has.

“Why?”  Aurelia pauses in the doorway, “you aren’t flying until your ribs are healed.  Healer’s orders.”

“Mom paid them off to say that,” he huffs, standing back up straight and glaring outside.

“They still said it.”  Aurelia shrugs, “see you guys later.”  She shuts the door and Eret groans, staring up at the ceiling for a second before looking back at Fuse.

“I’m not obsessed with my scars,” he clarifies, like that matters, and all it does is make Fuse look back down at them.  She reaches out and touches one without thinking, her thumb tracing the warm edge, against his rib and he hisses.

“Sorry--” She jerks her hand back and he catches her wrist.

“No, it’s fine, it just--they kind of feel funny, I guess, and I think the ointment made my skin sensitive or something.”  He laughs, shifting his sling to the side and looking down at himself.  “They are kind of cool though, right?”

She looks up at the crescent of barely healed dragon tooth marks around his shoulder, each ringed with a yellowing bruise, and at the line across his collarbone and its twin on his temple.

“I don’t like you being hurt.”  Her voice seems too small under the high ceiling and Eret takes her hand, gently placing it flat against the scars and pressing it to his skin.

“They don’t hurt anymore.”  He’s smiling at her and she keeps waiting to get used to the warmth in her chest and the way her heart stutters, but maybe it’s not something she can get used to because she feels herself flush.  “Turns out whatever Rolf said about Fireworm mucus or whatever is actually probably true, they healed faster than my other burns.”  He frowns and moves his hand from the back of hers to her upper arm, rubbing lightly.  “Not that I’m happy about mucus, because that’s weird.”

She can feel his heartbeat in her palm and the unscarred skin under her fingertips is smooth and warm over his ribs.  It takes self control she hasn’t been using much lately to pull her hand away, especially because Eret starts playing with the end of her braid, his finally focused eyes drifting over her face.

“If it helped you heal faster, I’m happy about it.”

“But it’s mucus,” he shudders, rolling his shoulder and wincing when it nudges his ribs. He blinks against the pain and shuffles closer to her, bare foot nudging the toe of her boot.  The lack of boundaries that was endearing when he was nearly incoherent is different now that he’s upright and making sense.  “Which I’m still talking about for some reason.  Mucus.  Blech.  I’m going crazy in here,” he tucksher hair behind her ear and looking out the window, fingertips lingering against the side of her neck.  “And it’s such a nice day,” he pouts, jutting his lower lip out and looking at her meaningfully, his hand sliding down to her shoulder.

“What?”  She swallows, glancing at his lips.  He’s still hurt, even if he’s doing better.  And he’s stubborn and in pain and refusing to admit it.  And the idea of kissing it better is absurd, and not based in logic, and he just keeps asking because he wants to kiss her.  It wouldn’t actually make him feel better.

“Can we go outside?”  He sighs like she missed something obvious and his lips quirk into that uneven smile he got in the habit of when the bruise on his jaw was still black and blue instead of the nearly faded yellow it is now.  “Please?  It’s not like I’ll explode if I set foot across the threshold,” he gestures at the door and she misses his hand on her shoulder as the guilt she can’t seem to shake swirls in her stomach.  She crosses her arms and takes a step back.

“You’re just asking me because you think I’ll let you.”

“I’m asking you because you’re logical,” he reaches for her waist and pulls her back closer to him.  He bats his eyelashes like it’s a joke and Fuse can’t figure out what part of this is supposed to be funny.  “And pretty.”

None of it is funny.  Not the way he’s looking at her or the fact that he can bring up blowing up so casually.  Or his bare chest covered in scars reminding her that he came so close to not being here at all.  Or his gentle hand on her waist and the way that he keeps touching her while looking a lot less hurt than she knows he actually is.

Everything about him makes her want to act before thinking about it.

“Who told you that you couldn’t go outside?”  She forces her full attention back to his face and that doesn’t really help anything.  Oddly, he’s better rested while healing and there are no dark circles under his eyes to distract from that focused blue.  It’s darker around his pupil and maybe that’s why he can seem so intense even while he’s goofing off.

“That’s the thing,” he lowers his voice like it’s a secret, “no one has explicitly told me not to go outside, they’re all just very adamant that I stay right here.  So, to go outside and get some sun on my pasty, pasty face is only violating the spirit of the thing.”

Fuse purses her lips and swallows, glancing down at his sling and the scattered deep red scars and the way that they almost match the strip of red hair leading down from his belly-button.  And it’s quiet and the weight of her vest doesn’t remind her to move slowly or carefully, because the roof isn’t going anywhere.

So maybe they should.

“Fine.”  She steps away with a full chest exhale and opens the door, squinting at the suddenly harsh light.

“That was easier than I thought,” Eret walks past her, holding his good hand up to block the light.  The bruises on his back stand out against the pale glow of his skin and that sends another pang through Fuse’s chest, because those have to still hurt.  Either he’s pretending they don’t or everything has hurt so bad it warped his perspective. “And see?”  He turns and grins at her, looking down at his arm, “no spontaneous combustion.”  

“That’s not funny.”  It comes out more harshly than she intended but she doesn’t want to take it back either, even when Eret’s smile fades and he cocks his head at her, corners of his mouth downturned.  

It was hard to be mad at him after Snoggletog.  It’s harder now, because he’s hurt and she was more scared than she was mad, anyway, but the fear is fading faster than the anger.  

“Fuse,” he says her name gently, like he’s the one comforting her, and she feels as bad for bringing it up as he should for making her.  

“No, it’s not funny.  You shouldn’t make jokes about blowing up.”  She clears her throat because seeing all those scars in the sunlight makes them look like they’re still burning.  “Because you almost did.”

“But I didn’t,” he reaches for her hand and folds their fingers together, because his first instinct when either of them is upset is to touch her and she wouldn’t have known that if he’d…blown up.

“You did your best.”  She pulls her hand away and crosses her arms, like he won’t read her quite as well if he’s not touching her.  That doesn’t make sense, but he started answering questions she hadn’t asked yet right around the time he started touching her at every opportunity.  And it is Eret.  Logic and science haven’t ever applied to him the same as they do to everyone else.

“Look, I get—that was bad phrasing,” his hand flails by his hip for a second like he’s not sure what to do with it if she’s not letting him hold hers, and that piles onto the guilt in her stomach like a glaze that’s meant to set and hold.  “I won’t say it again,” he snorts to himself, that little half laugh that means he thought of something funny at an unexpected moment.  Usually, she wants to hear what it is, but when he opens his mouth to keep talking, her stomach drops again, “Odin knows if I actually wanted to get blown up, all I’d have to do is piss you off.  Which I’ve done,” he blanches, reaching halfway for her hand before stopping himself, “I’m sorry.”

She knows he’s not being literal.  She knows that.

But she also knows she hasn’t been able to think about lighting anything up without imagining him in the way of it.  She hasn’t thought about getting a new knife in case it leads him to something else as dangerous as the first one did.

And somehow, he’s going to be ok.  In spite of her, not because of her.  She came to terms with the fact that accidents don’t matter with explosives years ago, the first time she took off an eyebrow because her hands were shaking.  But until Eret was dumb and brave and determined enough to jump straight into the path of her biggest explosion yet, it was only ever her risk.

And her risk was always calculated and rewarded and worth it.  His wasn’t.  Isn’t.  

How could he ever trust someone who blew him up?  Why does that feel like something she can’t ask him?  

Part of her thinks it’s the first time since he was clueless about the chief that she’s ahead of him on something.  She’s thought of an angle that he hasn’t and she really doesn’t want him to catch up.  

“You really scared us,” she clears her throat, looking back up at him and sighing at the way he’s standing, like it’s difficult for him to give her space but he’s trying.  It makes her giddy and furious and guilty and she feels like one of the bombs she isn’t making right now, all powerful feelings mixed in unknown proportions, liable to explode.  “You really scared me.  I thought...I thought you were gone.”  

“I guess I wasn’t there for that part,” he frowns, looking at his feet, and she puts two fingers under his chin, lifting it until he looks at her, eyes sheepish.  She’s happy that he’s listening and guilty that she brought it up and the two mix with the anxious flutter in her chest when he bites his lip and exhales.  Something about Eret makes it impossible to keep things separate.  It’s like all the walls inside of her turn to mesh and the space in her own head without boundaries almost scares her.  “I...my family used to think I was so fragile that they wouldn’t tell me the truth about anything.  I didn’t--I mean, I still don’t want them to start thinking that again.  I can’t...I don’t think I can convince them again, you know, it was really painful the first time and...” he waves his hand around like it can speak for him and she takes her fingers off of his chin, catching his flailing fingers in hers.  

He squeezes her hand and looks relieved and it makes her want to say something.  She doesn’t understand it yet, but the more he talks to her just for the sake of talking, the more she feels like she should say things to him.  She doesn’t know what she’d say, honestly, because everything in her head is dark and sad and muddled but he’s looking at her like he wants her to say something encouraging.  Or do something, maybe.  

And he’s hurt.  But he’s vertical.  And mapped out with scars and ribs and muscles as landmarks and looking at him is almost as confusing as touching him.  

“You’re not fragile,” she tries and his eyes light up like he’s been waiting to hear it.  And he expects her to keep talking, because that’s the only reason he wouldn’t start talking himself.  

A silent Eret isn’t really something she should waste, especially when he’s also upright and mostly sober, so she leans up onto her toes and kisses him.  He makes a surprised, muffled sound against her lips and she leans into him, placing the hand he isn’t holding on his chest, her thumb against one of those new smooth scars.  

They’re warmer than the skin around them, almost as warm as Eret’s lips moving sweetly against hers and he’s so alive and himself that she can’t stop worrying about him.  She’s scared he’s going to go do something like that again and she wants to give him a reason to stay.  He’s got enough scars, he doesn’t need any more of them.  She slips her tongue into his mouth and must lean against his arm too much because he grunts, pulling back slightly.  

“Sorry,” she drops her hand from his chest too quickly and jostles his sling.  He winces again and her palm tingles where it’s not touching him anymore.  

“No, don’t be.  What was that for?”  He tries and fails not to smile, his joking tone warmer than usual.  “Because I want to be sure to repeat whatever I did to make you kiss me like that.”  

Her heart thuds and she shakes her head.  

“You don’t have to do anything.”  Especially not repeat anything that makes her remember how miraculous it is that he’s still here with her.  “Just keep getting better.”  

He grins and raises an eyebrow, “is it the scars?”  

“No,” she frowns, her face heating up when he narrows his eyes at her like he’s got her all figured out.  She looks down at his chest again and shrugs, shoving the urge to touch him again down and pressing her free palm against the side of her leg.  “I’m just glad you got the bandages off.”  

“Me too,” he’s authentic and then nervous, his hand stiffening in hers, “oh.  I--I mean, I don’t know how I’d get on a shirt over my arm, so I just didn’t.”  He shrugs and winces, the motion pulling on his ribs.  

“It’s fine,” Fuse looks at his shoulders, the pale freckles asserting themselves already after only a few minutes in the sun.  

“Gods, Eret,” Arvid appears out of seemingly nowhere, Wingspark walking behind him with her scaly head hung low.  “There should be a warning, I tried to fly over and your pasty chest practically blinded Wing.”  

“No, it didn’t,” Eret drops Fuse’s hand and tries to cover himself, squirming for a moment before giving up and slouching.  

“She’s traumatized.”  Arvid scratches Wingspark’s chin and gives Fuse a lukewarm nod in greeting.  

“What are you doing here?  Aren’t you supposed to be working with Dad?”  Eret shuffles halfway behind Fuse, like he’s hiding, but he rests his chin on her shoulder and wraps his arm around her waist too, like he’s enjoying it.  Fuse blushes and Arvid either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.  She bets it’s the second, given how many times he’s caught them close to each other in the last few weeks.  

She’s not sure why she still cares, honestly.  But she does, and as with everything Eret influences, she’s learning to accept it as it is.  

“Looking for Aurelia.”  Arvid shrugs.  “Fish ran dry, all the dragons are really hungry, apparently.”  

“She went to pick up Stoick, I think.”  Eret sighs, “you want to wait for her?”  

“Sure,” Arvid points Wing to the barn.  

“If that’s ok,” Eret mumbles nearly in Fuse’s ear and she jumps, her hand landing on the arm around her waist.  

“It’s fine,” she shrugs, twisting gently out of his grip.  He checked with her because he wants to be alone and he’d ask Arvid to leave if she asked him to.  She knows that.  

And she wants him to, almost, except she’s not sure what she’d do and she doesn’t like that feeling.  As much as she’s fine with Eret overwhelming her, she hasn’t really accepted the idea that she’ll end up overwhelmed.  

[animalsarepeople2]

Could you make a master post of all your fics? You're awesome Ani!

Sure! And thanks, you’re awesome, too!! XD

…

HICCSTRID

Axestrid: One day on Berk, Astrid comes to the forge to get her axe fixed. Hiccup, to bashful to speak to her, watches and notices how much she loves her weapon. So he creates a nickname for her. But what will happen when Hiccup slips up and Astrid finds out what exactly he’s been calling her? One-shot.

Sincerely, Alone: Modern AU. Neglected ‘Hiccup’ Haddock finds comfort in a distant penpal- cool girl Astrid Hofferson. Hiccstrid. One-shot.

You’re Not Alone: Set before Shell Shocked: Part 1. The night before the big battle, Hiccup can’t sleep and goes outside to clear his mind. Little does he know that Astrid has the same dilemma.

Right Here If You Need Me: Set in RoB. Hiccup is still getting used to his prosthetic while balancing the academy and sudden changes in between. Astrid catches him at his weakest moment.

Don’t You Dare Die On Me: When Hiccup is injured in battle, Astrid frets for his life.

For the Dancing and the Dreaming: To celebrate their betrothal, Hiccup asks Astrid to perform a dance his own parents did, many years ago…

Three’s A Crowd: Everyone, it seems, knows about Hiccstrid. Everyone, that is, except Toothless. Every time Astrid and Hiccup try to share a moment, an unaware Toothless intervenes. Set shortly after RttE S4.

So… Do You Like Him?: Astrid and Heather have a girl talk about the Hiccstrid relationship. Meanwhile, a certain someone just happens to be walking by and hears the entire conversation…

Strategic Battle Planning: “Um… I think they need to discuss some final strategy. Alone.“ In the middle of Shell-Shocked Part 2, Astrid and Hiccup try and review the plan for the battle, but are obviously just enjoying the alone time together.

I’ve Got You- A Hiccstrid poem.

I’ll Take Care of You: Four times Hiccup got hurt and Astrid took care of him, and one time Hiccup got hurt and Astrid didn’t take care of him.

It’s Okay to Cry: Post HTTYD 2. Astrid walks in on Hiccup mourning the loss of his father, and comforts him with gentle and loving words only Hiccup can bring out of her.

The New Thing: What if, at the end of Shell Shocked Part 2, the Riders hadn’t seen the Hiccstrid kiss? Each find out separately and react in different ways, some better than others… 

Home Is Where the Heart Is: A homesick Astrid goes back to Berk for a visit with her parents, but she soon realizes that home isn’t where you live- it’s who you’re with. And that’s with a certain brunette.

The Only One For Me: Astrid tries to help Hiccup with one of his inventions in the forge but they can’t focus. Hiccup has a more pressing matter… one involved with suitors, Stoick, and a birthday.

Warm Toes, Warmer Hearts: When Hiccup and Astrid are (once again) trapped in the remains of an avalanche, they must do the unthinkable to survive. Set in RTTE S3.

Bruises: When Hiccup accidentally agrees to an ice-skating competition with Snotlout, he finds himself in a tough spot. How can he skate with only one leg? But when Astrid offers to help him out, maybe things won’t go too badly after all.

Stay: After the events of Blindsided, Astrid is left with a fear of lightning due to her temporary blindness. When another storm strikes the Edge, Hiccup has his suspicions.

It Starts With Friendship: Every day, Astrid goes to train with her axe in the woods - but when Hiccup starts coming, too, she’s annoyed. However, with their new times together, she slowly finds out that Hiccup may not be as useless and odd as the village says.

Fear and Hope: An encounter with a secret phobia reveals that “Fearless” Astrid Hofferson may not be so unflinching. But years later, when the phobia endangers the life of Hiccup, the boy who’s now so much more than a friend, Astrid must face it to save him, because she now realizes she has a new worst fear...

All I Want for Snoggletog (Is You): Spending Snoggletog Eve snowed in the forge with Astrid definitely isn’t the holiday Hiccup was expecting, but maybe this could be an opportunity to connect with his crush. Maybe.

Reckless: After Astrid blows up to a comment Hiccup makes, her overreaction has unexpected consequences.

FATHER/SON

I’’ll Keep You Safe: Father’s Day special. “Hiccup… I’ll keep you safe… I won’t let anything happen to you… Promise. I will never leave you…” Since the moment Hiccup was born, Stoick promises that he will protect his little Hiccup with everything in him. Each Father’s Day since, he remembers. One-shot.

Stoick the Soprano: When one year-old Hiccup demands a lullaby, his father is not so sure that he can comply. One-shot.

The Haddock Family: Set a few months after HTTYD 2. Hiccup misses his father, but he finds out that even in death, Stoick is still there. And he’s left a legacy for his son. One-shot.

To Dance Alone: When there’s a town dance in Berk between the children and their moms, Hiccup doesn’t know what to do. But Stoick will always be there for his son. One-shot.

Vikings Don’t Cry: “I’ll be back… Probably.” Hiccup has heard these words before. Most times they are spoken by his father. He shouldn’t take much mind to them. But this time, it’s different. “Please, Daddy…” “Vikings, don’t cry.” And so that’s what Hiccup tells himself. Every trying time, he recites those words to himself, trying to find strength within… until he can’t. Angsty one-shot.  *NEW*

HICCTOOTH

Tailfin: Toothless is still a growing boy. When he hits a large growth spurt, his tailfin doesn’t fit him anymore. However, the new alpha dragon doesn’t want to throw away the only connection he has to the happy past, so he refuses a new prosthetic. In consequence, his rider pays the price. Set shortly after HTTYD 2. One-shot.

The Last Flight: ‘Hiccup pressed his palm against Toothless’s forehead and allowed a tired smile. I’ll see you in Valhalla, buddy.”’ Hiccup is old and very sick… he’s losing hope. Toothless has a plan… but will it save his rider in the end? One-shot.

MULTI-CHAPTER FICS

A Day Without Dragons: After Hiccup realizes how dependent the Riders are on their dragons, he suggests the two groups separate for a day. Who knew how much the Riders actually relied on their ferocious friends?

Camp Dragons: Camp/Modern AU. When Hiccup is sent to summer camp, he can’t expect life to get much worse. He’s picked on for being the weakest and practically forgotten by his father. However, things change when Hiccup shoots down a mysterious black creature in the woods. Meanwhile, a beast nicknamed the “Red Death” lurks in the cliffs of Camp Dragons, threatening the camp’s very survival…

Eye of the Storm: Hiccup wasn’t joking when he said that rain tormented Berk nine months of the year. A hurricane rolls in just as Snoggletog is approaching and the Riders have returned to Berk for the holidays. And things spiral down when Stoick’s life is threatened and Hiccup sets off to save him, putting himself in danger in the process. Set in RTTE S2.

Always: After falling into a mild depression, Chief Hiccup decides he needs to get away from Berk for a bit to have time to accept Stoick’s death, and he and Toothless leave for a week-long trip. But when an injured Toothless returns to Berk without his rider, Hiccup’s friends must race to find their beloved chief before he is lost forever. Hiccstrid. Hiccup!whump.

Voltage: What-if for RTTE S6: Guardians of Vanaheim. After being struck by lightning, an injured Hiccup is left trapped with Astrid and Snotlout, who struggle to fight off attacking Dragon Flyers. Meanwhile, Johann and Krogan just need the last Dragon Eye lens to complete their puzzle... and an incapacitated Hiccup just might be the answer to that dilemma.

COUSIN BONDING

Cousin to Cousin: When Hiccup falls ill on a flight back to Berk with Snotlout, his cousin must put aside his rivalry and take care of the Dragon Conqueror. But can Snotlout really forget his everlasting feud and save Hiccup in time? Or will his obstinate pride get in the way?

Hero: *Dedicated to the brave soldiers who gave their lives for what they believed in. Thank you.* Post HTTYD 2. Drago Bludvist returns with a threat that could hurt all of Berk… a promise to kill Chief Hiccup. Snotlout wants to save them all from destruction. One-shot.

HUMOR/OTHER

Guy Talk: Astrid and Heather have frequent girl talks about Hiccup and Fishlegs… Meanwhile, Hiccup and Fishlegs have a guy talk… about Astrid and Heather. One-shot.

The Quest to Find Hiccup’s Leg: When Hiccup's prosthetic goes missing, everyone on Berk pitches in to help look for it. EVERYONE. Crazy one-shot. RoB time-zone.

Eternity: In Valhalla, Hiccup waits. He waits for his family. He waits for his friends. He waits for his dragon. One-shot.

My FF.net profile link…

animalsarepeopletoo

Phew, done! Hope you guys like ‘em. :-)

[talkingfiishbone-blog]

Attached to brand new leather saddle for Toothless and a poorly sewn red and white scarf for Hiccup (she tried!) was a letter that read; "Dear Hiccup, while the days ahead may seem more bitter than usual, I hope it warms your heart to know that I'm always looking out for you, no matter how far apart we are. Happy Holidays Hiccup, see you soon. Love, Anna"

The scarf initially made him chuckle at the craftsmanship, not mean-spiritedly but how hard she worked on it. It was endearing. And the way Toothless looked excited to see the new leather was a good sign. The letter did make him think though. It was the holiday season for him as well with Snoggletog coming soon, and the fact they would have to prepare for deadly winter. He was basically swamped with work, and his own thoughts did stray back to that certain princess that he had feelings for. Looking at his own personal forge he sighed through his nose. It was only right to respond to such a present and letter with something in kind.

“C’mon bud, our day isn’t over yet.”

Getting up from his bed he placed the letter down carefully. He just hoped that the time he sent this gift out that it’d make it to her safely.