#its the deadly nadder actually

[mildeleaf]

Got distracted, drew some dragons, idk

[saturnniidae]

Who knows maybe nadders eat small rocks to aid in digestion like some birds are known to do

How to train your dragon fandom, I come to you with Stormfly headcanon.

when Stormfly was just a tinny, little, hatchling, she saw some Gronkles eating rocks.

And in her tinny, little, baby, brain she thought.

"Hay... I want to do that too!"

and thats the story on how Stormfly ate rocks as a hatchling.

[dragoniac]

We were robbed, and I won't be silenced about it. She had orca potential in the best way, possible. Her original concept having a darker top and white underbelly making blending in from above and hunting from above perfect. She also actually looks like a dragon and not one of those types of cartoons where, for some reason, the female character has to look different to the rest of its species. I don't understand why they did it either cause like, they didn't with any other species, for example, Stormfly was beautiful but she doesn't look different to any of the other deadly nadders, deadly nadders are a beautiful species and they all look relatively the same despite sex (no, that underbite of that one deadly nadder does not mean males have underbites, go look up Kingstail). I wish they kept more loyal to this design. It's amazing and fits the feel of httyd more

[reallyprofoundkryptonite]

The reason why I don’t make Dragon related Krogan designs based on Singetails

Singetails do not match his vibes AT ALL.

Krogan did not choose Singetails because of the way they looked but because he knew they were a dragon that most would not know how to handle or be able to fight back against because there is very little information on them.

The shape language between Krogan’s character design and Singetail Creature Design DOES NOT FUCKING WORK TOGETHER.

Combining singetail anatomy with human anatomy also really does not work at all. You can do it of course, but it definitely doesn’t work right at ALL unless you remove major parts of Krogan himself or throw in another dragon in there to balance out the singetail and its goofy ass anatomy.

They have two different aesthetics that also, again, DO NOT WORK TOGETHER. AT ALL.

I have been asked too many times as to why “I didn’t base Krogan on a singetail” like it is the most obvious and clear as day answer as to what dragon he SHOULD be. (It’s not. Making him a singetail is not even in like. The top 100 of dragons that would be a good fit for him aesthetic wise.)

With Krogan, slapping the “rider looking like their dragon” trope on him is stupidly overrated and overused because I really do not fucking like it because it’s annoying and there is like a million other canon species that would work MUCH BETTER for him. (Red Death, Furies as a whole, Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, and Deathgrippers are all species that would one hundred percent do him more justice than a goddamn Singetail.)

Thanks for coming to my discussion. I do like singetails from a design standpoint. They are just literally way too stupid and goofy looking to be a good fit for Krogan for any designs to actually work.

[bokettochild]

If dragon warriors was in a dragon class from httyd, which class would he be in?

I hate to be cliche, but I have to say the Strike Class.

Each classification of dragons is rather specific, and while, yes, Strike Class dragons are the ULTIMATE dragons and thus the ones that EVERYONE wants, the fact remains that Warriors wouldn't fit anywhere else.

Stoker class is marked by dragons with particularly strong flames or flame based skill-sets. Granted, Warriors' fire is blue and thus Extremely Hot (just like him lol) it's just one facet of his skillset, and hey, technically the hottest fire in the dragon world actually belongs to the Deadly Nadder, which is a Tracker Class dragon! (Originally classified as Sharp Class but they updated that with the creation of Tracking Class because Nadders have one of the strongest noses as well).

Granted, Dragon!Warriors also has a keen nose and is decent at tracking (he literally found the camp again because he could sniff out Legend, Time, and Wind in the OG fic) but its not super strong, just stronger than a Hylian.

Clearly he's not a Boulder Class, I mean.... Boudler Class is fantastic and all, but they're the durable and strong ones, but also usually characterized as bulky and not the swiftest fliers. He lacks the stealth of a Mystery Class dragon (be it smoke, invisibility or camouflage as are all common in that class), the spiky-ness of Sharp Class dragons (he has spikes and horns, but not any more than the average dragon, and they're not particularly sharp or dangerous) and he just isn't anything remotely RELATED to Tidal Class dragons! Or really Fear Class.... He's sort of tame in comparison.

Strike Class Dragons though are known to be: highly intelligent, fast, agile, powerful, and tend to be more mystical than the average dragon in the HTTYD universe. Warriors is certainly bigger than most Strike Class dragons (nightfurys, skrills, howls, triple strikes, snow-wraiths, ect.) but the criteria rather suit him all the same. I've also noticed that Strike Class dragons tend to be less flock reliant and more likely to either be loners or choose one specific individual whom they resonate with, forming a bond that is utterly and completely unbreakable no matter the circumstances.

Granted, all the dragons in HTTYD are depicted as loyal and loving, but it's most prominent in Strike Class dragons who will choose that One Person over ANYTHING else (we don't talk about HTTYD 3 here, so we're ignoring that mess), which also is definitely something Warriors would also do. Like, yeah, they look out for others as well, but when given the choice between anyone and Their Person, they will choose Their Person if they can and are allowed. Additionally, if anything prevents them from being with Their Person, they go a little nuts and/or become highly distressed if it's by Their Person's doing.

So yeah, much as I hate to just e predictable like this, Warriors is a Strike Class Dragon at heart :)

[storm-flyer]

Continuing my rewatch of Dragons: Riders of Berk, with episode 7, "How to pick your dragon"

Hmmm... I think it's stoick picking a dragon? I kinda thought he got his dragon later but idk

- spOoky destroyed ship

- 'As chief of berk, I do things the viking way, not the dragon way.' 'Well, the viking way is costing us a lot of fish.' see, hiccup is capable of caring about the state of the food stores. So long as it helps his argument.

- 'Gobbers right, I should learn to fly. When do we start the lessons?' 'I don't know, shouldn't we ask gobber?' hiccups feeling petty today I see

- 'Before you get on a dragon, you've got to show him he can trust you.' 'He already trusts me. I'm his chief!' like father like son, overestimating how much human stuff dragons understand

- 'I didn't come here to hold hands hiccup' this is going to go well, isn't it.

- 'You feel that?' 'Yeah, still dry and scaly'

- 'Dragons fault.' 'You gonna blame that on the dragon too, dad?' 'Yep.' at least he's honest

- 'Im done with this hiccup, I've got a village to look after' local man hasn't struggled at a task for 30 years, and now doesn't know how

- 'I want every one of those yaks back on its feet!'

- 'Look at them. Every one of my people. They're all safe. It's a good feeling' that's sweet

- 'Was that...' 'Unexpected, disturbing?' 'Yep.'

- 'At least you got your dad on a dragon.' 'Yeah, now I just need to figure out how to get him off one.'

- 'Why don't you just give him the old honey and the hatchet? You know, you tell him something he wants to hear, that's the honey part, before you hit him in the head with something he doesn't. You know, the hatchet' Astrid, I feel you're overestimating how well hiccup and stoick can communicate

- 'Why does your advice always involve weapons?' that's what you're signing up for hiccup

- 'Alright, you've given me the honey, now just give me the hatchet.' I find this unreasonably funny

- 'The monstrous nightmare is the only one with the brawn and prestige for men of our stature.'

- 'Sorry son. But I'm looking for a dragon, not a mother.'

- I feel like stormfly was done dirty here. I can understand stoick not wanting a gronkle or any dragon with more than one head, but he'd do pretty well with a deadly nadder. Fast, agile and a lot of firepower. Perfect for a chief flying around the island a million times a day.

- how did they even know the boat was being attacked? Yelling really, really loudly?

- it's him!!! Thornado!

- 'This is the one, hiccup! I found my dragon! Now all you have to do is train him for me!' careful what you wish for hiccup

- 'Friend, huh? Like me and gobber.' 'Yeah, perfect! What did you do when you two met?' 'Grr, that's my wife you're talking to!' maybe not the best approach for thornado

- 'Would you stop it dad, this is not bonding!' for stoick, I'm sure it is

- 'Well, your friends are an odd bunch, but they sure know what they're doing on those dragons.' 'Thank you, I think.'

- 'Ah, they smell the blood of your wounded friend.' never have boars been more terrifying

- 'Aw, look at us, we're bonding!'

- 'Dad still does things the viking way. Fortunately, me and toothless showed him that the viking way can also be the dragon way.'

In a pleasant surprise, hiccup and stoick actually communicated a little in this episode! And thornado is always a treasure

Onwards!

[dragonmasterhiccup]

Danny didn't reply, she just quickly exited the Great Hall, making sure to nudge Hiccup roughly as she passed him.

Hiccup didn't see Danny much for about a week, the only times she was actually in the villiage was for food and water, even then she didn't eat in the Great Hall, she just took a few things and went back to wherever she was staying, presumably the cove.

That did eventually change though when a villiager had come up to Hiccup and explained that their dragon, a Deadly Nadder, had gotten out of its stable had gone missing earlier that day. The villager also explained that the dragons wing was injured meaning that it couldn't have flown off the island...

He didn't react to the nudge, just let her pass, letting out a sigh after she had left and went back to working on repairing the village.

Things went back to normal quickly, the Vikings were really rallying together to repair all the damage that was done, and the dragons assisting with the heavy lifting was a huge help. Naturally, those dragons got extra fish for their trouble.

Hiccup and Toothless were up in the air as soon as he had all the information he needed to find that Nadder. They soared over the trees, looking for any signs of it, when he finally spotted it. "Quick! Down there, bud." They landed softly, close by but not right next to it, as he didn't want to spook her.

He slowly approached, arm extended, palm up. He spoke in a low, calm voice. "Hey, there. You alright? Your wing's bothering you, isn't it?" The nadder cocked its head, letting him place his hand on its snout. He looked quickly to see if she had any other injuries, but thankfully she seemed alright, aside from her wing being bent at an odd angle. The Nadder leaned into his touch, grateful to have found a friend. He made eye contact with the dragon. "Will you let me set your wing so it can heal?" The Nadder chirped, agreeing. "Alright. Toothless? I'm going to need some branches. I have some rope we can use to tie it together."

Toothless got to work plasma blasting a few branches that were the perfect size, as Hiccup continued to talk to the Nadder, giving her some fish he had brought, knowing she'd be hungry. "Don't worry, girl, we'll get you fixed up and back home in no time."

[howtodrawyourdragon]

A Strangulator was a gigantic Monster genetically related to dragons, octopuses and snakes. It had tiny withered dragon wings and tiny crippled dragon legs that were basically useless, as it heaved its great body through underground tunnels like a serpent, leaving a trail of gooey slime.

Genetically related to dragons, octopuses and snakes? What? Is it somehow a common ancestor? The narration mentions before that Hiccup only heard about it in legends.

It had never seen daylight and was the color of nothing. Its tentacles had obviously found a way up through the upper caves of the Wild Dragon Cliffs, for it was transparent, and you could actually see the forms of unfortunate dragons it had eaten moving through its digestive system. Some, further down the Strangulator's great length, were lying quite still. Others that he had eaten more recently were jerking about, and one was trying to fly, trapped in the Monster's great throat.

Remember that thing I said about how certain things should be left up for the imagination? This is another one of those things! But then again, my brain is now also cursed with the knowledge that Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus can convince their meals that they like to be digested, so it's pretty in line with Cressida's work.

The naturalist in Hiccup automatically identified the species - Monstrous Nightmare, Deadly Nadder, Common or Garden times three - making their slow progress through the Serpent's alimentary canal.

Hiccup, I love you, but I did not need to know that and therefore, you should not have written it down.

So mall was the Creature's brain in proportion to its size that it had difficulty in keeping sensory track of all of its squirming tentacles, and they wandered about as if they had independent lives of their own. The Creature had to concentrate hard to make the tentacle that was holding Alvin move very slowly up to its head so it could have a look at him, unsure of what to make this weird new animal.

Small brain? Somehow related to three very different animals? Confused by a human? So old it's supposed to be a myth? I'm telling you, this thing is prehistoric somehow!

Unsure how Grimbeard got it there, though. Or did Grimbeard just find it, leave his treasure there, and build the door in the only way to the rest of the cavern?

[dizzybevvie]

whag is YOUR FAVOURITE DRAGON from the tv shows!!!!!!!!!!

thank you so much :( /pos

Meta-wise, Ive talked before on one of my old accounts (@i-hate-spitelout-jorgenson) about how much I find Snaptrappers really really interesting. As a kid who spent most of my time watching riders/defenders of berk, and watched the 3 short films just as frequently, I was very used to seeing dragons appear on Riders Of Berk and recognising them from the Book Of Dragons short. Whispering Death, the Skrill, Changewing, Thunderdrum, scauldron, etc all appeared first in BoD and then in RoB which I LOVED. I felt so in the loop. The 2 exceptions to this are the Timberjack, which had its design recycled into the Typhoomerang and also appeared in httyd2's "Where No One Goes" scene (and potentially in The hidden world?), and the Snaptrapper, which never appeared in the film franchise again. Its in the mobile game, its in School of Dragons, its even in the comics. But never in the film franchise, which I always found really interesting.

Actual self-indulgent wise though???

Im going to disqualify the dragons that appeared in httyd1 (not including those in the Dragon Book Scene) so Night fury, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, Hideous Zippleback, Gronckle, red death and Terrible Terror cant compete.

I mean, for pure fear factor the first two to come to mind are the Skrill and Screaming Death.

I was TERRIFIED OF THE SKRILL. Especially because as a kid i was terrified of Dagur. Who is essential to any Skrill based plot line. But the way it was frozen in ice, the way hiccup staggered back when he realised what it was, the realisation it could still be alive, was so fucking haunting. It being able to counter most/all of toothless' attacks was so terrifying as a kid man. It being sealed back in the jce at the end of the episode felt genius to me at the time but I love that they released it in rtte. thats character development.

The screaming death's set up was also, terrifying. Its worth noting that I caught RoB/DoB mostly on reruns so I probably didnt watch it in order, but I saw each episode LOADS of times and probably pieced it together. The whole episode with the whispering death where it has a weakness to light was such good set up for the screaming death because when it didnt have the same weakness i was SHOCKED AND DUMBFOUNDED. Also the screaming death fire out the back of the head effect is awesome?? AND THE FIRST SHOT WHERE YOU JUST SEE THE TUNNEL IT CREATED... YEAH. NIGHTMARE MATERIAL FOR 5 YEAR OLD ME, 10/10 NO NOTES.

[lilliths-httyd-blog]

the nonspecies thing really annoys me when the 12 year olds on youtube/insta try to claim that her design isn't sexist because the other light furies we see look identical to her so the male light furies must look like exact clones of her too therefore not sexist.

like, a) yes they do look identical because the light fury was designed first under sexist design principles and then they just copy pasted her design into the background a couple times because the other light furies aren't plot-important i guess???? even thought they fuckign should've been???? literally they were just copy and pasted her. there was no thought put into her species. only her. she's sexist.

b) but actually wait no they don't look identical because look here. look how beefy that one on the right is compared to the one on the left. look at how gender coded they are. and whats worse is that there literally have been no examples of sexual dimorphism in dragons like that except for that one mutated deadly nadder in gotnf (which at this point doesn't count because we've seen so many other male deadly nadders that its hard to look at that thing except anything other than a mutation). boom sexist. like you can come up with all the theories in the world about how maybe the beefy one is a girl and the petite one is a boy but we don't know that. all we know is that what we're being presented with is classic cartoon sexual dimorphism happy-feet-style, in a movie which disrespects the intelligence of its audience. i'm pretty sure we can safely assume that what we're seeing here is just blatant sexism.

there's also this one here that bugs me a lot because its wings look identical to toothless' which. you know. we could make a case for this one being a male and the two ones above being females which. uh. okay i mean maybe. because boys gotta be sharp and agile and have very distinctly arrowhead-shaped tailfins and girls gotta be round and smooth and have heart shapes tailfins. at least one girl got jacked (it's a fucking boy. look at it, it's a fucking boy. this movie doesn't respect its audience. it's a boy).

you know whats worse than the fact that what we're being presented with here is assumedly quite sexist?

the fact that we don't know.

we never met any other light furies. we dont know what males look like or if all females look like the light fury we met. they are a nonspecies. for all intents and purposes, they don't exist outside of our light fury. and our light fury IS the result of sexist design. the other dragons? doesn't matter their genders, they're an afterthought. they don't count.

i’ve got a lot of beef with dreamworks because of their obsession with needing toothless to be the most special unique god king dragon ever because it’s ruined a lot of things including his character, but i’m kind of petty so the thing that makes me the most upset about them needing toothless to be special is the sand wraiths.

explanation: sand wraiths are my favorite fury species but i found out earlier this year that they were originally supposed to be called sand furies, and were only renamed to sand wraiths because they didn’t want them...to compete with toothless.

nevermind the fact that we light furies now and i know people like to point out the individual light furies that show up in blink or you’ll miss it moments but the light furies are a non-species of dragon if i have ever seen one. they made the light fury first and all the other individuals might as well be plausibly deniable animation errors because across all of httyd canon you will start to realize that they should’ve just made her the last of her kind like toothless instead of going through the trouble of saying she’s a species of dragon.

[pulse-art]

httyd ninjago au

im just putting ninjago characters in the movie lol. first things first,,,

Lloyd and Inkblot

lloyd takes the place of hiccup, so hes the one to take down and befriend a night fury. his uncle is the chieftain after lloyds father was taken by a dragon. its only because of him that the dragon raids ever ended, he went from orphan chiefling to dragon master! if he didnt have such a terrible case of main character syndrome then i wouldve given him a changewing.

Kai and Flare

kai has a monstrous nightmare he names flare! (i was gonna use his first dragons name but the fire dragons name is just "flame" which is stupid) kai is the one lloyd takes on that wonderful flight, and hes the first one to defend the dragons with lloyd.

Nya and Sharpshot

i was going to give kai and nya a hideous zippleback, but a monstrous nightmare and a deadly nadder just fit those two so much better dont you think? nya was top in her dragon killing class, but now that shes got one of her own shes on top of the dragon training classes.

Jay and Wisp

i knew i couldnt use all the main dragons as they wouldnt fit everyone, so i looked around and found this fun dragon, the shockjaw! its a good thing that wisp is so helpful and protective, bc poor jay has bad enough anxiety that he has to focus on something in order to actually do anything. he was raised by the tribes oddballs, but everyone can agree that the whole family has big hearts

Zane and Boreal

i found nothing more appropriate for zane then a woolly howl, with its ice blast instead of fire. people are unsure if boreal know his own name, as almost everyone uses cute snow based nicknames instead. zane was found in a raid the vikings did as a baby, and was taken in by the ships doctor, dr julien. hes always known that he was a foundling, but never really cared. the doctor and the whole tribe is his family, and now he has boreal to add to it.

Cole and Rocky

everyone makes fun of coles terrible naming ability, but no one can deny that cole and rocky are practically made for each other. while usually its kinda hard to see the relationship between dragon and human, its very clear that rocky is a wonderful big brother to cole.

[spearxwind]

One thing I’ve noticed about the nine realms (and also maybe httyd3 I don’t remember it that well) is the seeming unwillingness to give the dragons weird names. I mean, sure, the first httyd has Night Furies and Stormfly and etc etc but it also has a Gronkle named Meatlug. Monstrous Nightmare. Deadly Nadder.

Now we’ve got Mist Twister and Featherhide and Gembreaker. It feels a bit like they’re trying to make it more marketable by getting rid of the funky names, which is a real shame because the funky names are so fun. The protagonist is named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third for gods sake. I had to go and check what the dragons were called again in the middle of writing this because I forgot. Mist Twister will never be as memorable as Hideous Zippleback.

Anyway I’m mostly just here to say that gembreakers should be named like Shronkles or something

YOU ARE LITERALLY SO CORRECT there is so much charm that's been like... lost? In the name department. Definitely starting from the third movie but not for the reasons i thought. I was gonna look up what the evil dragons were called in that one (theyre deathgrippers, which sounds metal as fuck) and like. I fucking love those dragons so much but they were so underutilized. they were done so dirty

and like, there ARE weirdly named dragon species but they do NOT, i repeat do NOT get mentioned by species OR name in the movie. Not that I remember, anyway. Here's the wiki list for species in that movie

Sadly yeah there is definitely a downtrend in the naming charisma but i guess thats what happens when u run out of adjectives to slap at the start huh?? I think a majority of the problem is that, for a movie thats supposed to be about dragons they dont actually focus on the dragons, at all. In the first movie you get introduced to all of them and you get their personalities and you see them interact and act like real animals. Toothless included. In the second one you get some more of that too, but its less... charming imo. And then in the third one, the dragons get no protagonism at all. They are vehicles and flamethrowers. There is no personality to them other than 'funny/cool set piece' it retroactively goes against everything else that has been established previously. Toothless is reduced to a lobotimized cat squirrel.

And it's going to be the same case for the new show I bet (i've yet to hatewatch it) but yeah like. Theyve definitely lost all the charisma they had. Something I enjoyed about the OG movies were that the takes on the dragons were super super unique and they let them be ugly in a charming kinda way and were still, recognizeably, dragons. With what youd consider normal colorations for animals and such. And then.... they just kept devolving them movie after movie show after show. Theyre just caricatures now, not really recognizeable, not really colored in a believable way or gifted with personalities befitting intelligent animals. Its so sad

Man. remembering the movie is making me so fucking mad. Legit top ten most infuriating movies i have EVER seen, actually. it's still so mind fucking numbing that they decided to greenlight all of it. like, someone at dreamworks (many people, repeatedly) agreed to go forth with all those decisions. it is so disgraceful

[kitten-ly]

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

~ ~ ~

Chapter Seven

~ ~ ~

By now, nobody reacted surprised when Astrid sat with Hiccup again during lunchtime, as she had been doing so almost all week long.

Ruffnut might have glanced at her a couple of times, but they were funny, little smiles as if to encourage any intimate interactions between the two of them.

Not that Astrid cared even the slightest bit, she still found it odd enough to see an absent seat where Cato usually resided, glaring daggers across the room at the two of them, or pouting over his food like a spoiled child.

He could have slept in, or perhaps, he couldn’t possibly stand the sight of Astrid with anyone but himself anymore and finally decided he had enough.

Astrid sat beside Hiccup today, not across from him, so that their legs could be up against one another, their elbows could touch, so she could just be close to him.

Sometimes, if she was lucky, when he turned his head and talked to her she could feel a slight ghost of his warm breath on her cheek, or her neck, or the ivory strands of hair that tickled her ear.

Hiccup didn’t seem nearly as nervous as she had anticipated he would be during lunchtime, right before training with her at Berk’s public combat arena. She suspected his lack of anxiety was due to Cato’s current absence and hoped this blessing would apply to the following event.

She leaned her head close to Hiccup’s, dying to just rest it on his shoulder.

“This dragon is probably my favorite,” Astrid pointed at the Deadly Nadder illustration above its fierce description. “It would definitely put up a difficult fight.”

“I feel like it would be a lot more fun to try to ride the dragon, don’t you think?” Hiccup suggested avidly, a bit of charm in his eyes, “Like imagine what it would be like to fly.”

“I didn’t even think about that,” Astrid pondered the concept. “How would you even tame a dragon up to a point for it to actually allow you onto its back?”

She always had imagined these creatures as being quite viscous and merciless, never giving any thought to other possibilities until now.

“Beats me,” Hiccup shrugged his tiny shoulders, “just sounds pretty cool. Like, this one specifically is so fast. Theoretically.”

“I believe in them,” Astrid said heartily. “I believe they exist or existed.”

She truly should, she told herself. She wasn’t just saying that because it would gain Hiccup’s approval, right? Anything was possible, she decided on.

“I just know they still exist,” his green eyes flickered off the page to hers, “I mean there’s been tons of sightings.”

“Yeah, there’s no way these things aren’t flying around somewhere,” she agreed, unable to rip her eyes away from his, her stomach feeling the full fluttering effect under his pleasant gaze, “Just think about all the uninhabited islands I pass by while sailing to visit my distant relatives.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup paused dreamily for a moment, blinking his bright eyes with wonder, “they’ve gotta be out there. It’s a big world.”

His words had a sentimental touch to them for some odd reason and the warmth of his leg against hers was so comforting.

“So, what’s your favorite dragon?” Astrid questioned further, just wanting to hear him talk some more.

She enjoyed learning things about him, but if she were to be honest with herself, it truly did not matter what he spoke of, as long as she could hear the mellow sound of his voice.

“I would probably have to say the Night Fury,” he answered without having to think about it.

“That one isn’t in this book,” she flipped through the pages of the alphabetically-organized dragons. “Oh wait, here it is.”

A subtle smile played on his freckled face, creating the faintest of dimples at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s only a vague description, no picture or anything,” Astrid stared down at the page, perplexed.

“I know,” his smile deepened.

“I don’t get it. What’s so great about it?”

“It’s one of the rarest dragons there is, again, only in theory. It’s also the only dragon that doesn’t have a drawing to go with it,” he explained.

How could something in a questionably existent collection be rare or not? Clearly, he had done his homework.

“There’s only a small bit of information on it. Well, in this book, at least,” Hiccup explained, speaking quickly with enthusiasm, “There are tons of other books I found in the library about the legends and folklore of the Night Fury but there has said to only be a few sightings of it from far away distances. I guess no one has been able to get close enough to get a good look at it without getting eaten.”

“Oh, I like this dragon, it sounds frightening. What does it look like according to the distant sightings anyway?”

“It’s described as dark and kinda lanky and it darts around so quickly and gracefully through the sky you would miss it if you blinked.”

“Not faster than the Nadder though, right?”

“Definitely faster,” he disagreed to her surprise.

“Wow, that’s incredible,” after a thoughtful pause she beamed at him admiringly, “I didn’t think there was anyone who knew so much about dragons.”

A hint of smugness bled through him for one of the few, rare times she had detected, when he smirked at her in a bit of a haughty manner, “Well, I did spend about half my life teaching myself everything there is to know about them.”

She threw him a brilliant smile and then to give him more than what he wanted, she said, “Wow, that is some impressive dedication, Hiccup,” she fawned over him, “I love how scholarly you are.”

It was amusing to see all the coolness drain from him, replaced by a hot, uneasy blush. She wondered at what point her sweetness would fuel his smug rather than fluster him.

“Well, thank you. I-I actually have a sketch of one…if you want to see,” he shifted against her leg, heavy reluctance suggesting his tone.

“Yes, I would love to,” she said, more than delighted to see one of his drawings. She hoped she wasn’t forcing him out of his boundaries. He had been the one to suggest showing off his private, little drawings first, after all.

Hiccup pulled a leather-bound sketchbook out of his bag and held it very close to him, without opening it all the way so she could not see its contents unless he wanted her to. He was very careful while turning through each page, yet skipping a couple at a time, and it raised a spark of curiosity within her. It seemed as if he had something to hide in that book.

He stopped on a page and held it open to show her, a few charcoal sketches smudged over the yellowing parchment. It was an ominous drawing of a slender, feline-like dragon; there were serval different angles and some depictions of its sharp wings stretched out. She was blown away by the skill in his art. She had no idea he possessed such a talent.

“Woah,” Astrid breathed, “that’s some beautiful work, Hiccup, you truly have a gift.”

“It took a long time to get decent,” he said simply.

“Decent? This is a masterpiece!” She insisted, “You’ll have to show me more sometime.”

A bashful smile captured his face. It was obvious he wasn’t used to the overload of compliments.

“Yeah, of course.”

As lunch drew to an end, she picked up on his subtle uneasiness, but he was doing his best to hide it and so she did him the favor of not addressing it.

The sky held a bit of an overcast this afternoon, gray clouds mudding up the pale, lukewarm sun to a tin ambiance.

She prayed the gods would be kind and that the dreary weather was not foreshadowing the luck for today.

While they walked the trail to the arena, Astrid advised more detailed tips on offensive and defensive stances. She could tell Hiccup’s head was somewhere else, because while he was usually curious and full of questions, most of his responses were “uh-huh,” and “okay.”

When they entered the arena Hiccup drifted behind her quietly, perhaps hoping to remain undetected by the other kids their age, however, Astrid was a flashy sight wherever she went and this would not work in his skittish favor. She noticed a few heads turn their way, but there was no more drama than that.

Without much effort, Astrid sought out Fishleg’s hefty figure practicing by himself, off in the far west corner of the moderately occupied stadium, with a flail, which is basically just a mace and chain. He was swinging it with weak, hesitant force against a wooden and straw target, missing almost every other turn.

Like Hiccup, Fishlegs was one of the few boys Astrid felt she could talk to without feeling like some object of attraction. She felt as if he treated her as an equal, like two Vikings having a conversation, rather than her having to stomach whatever flirtatious or sexual remarks she endured from the other boys. She never sensed that constant predatory undertone within him that a lot of the others seemed to radiate.

Astrid approached Fishlegs with Hiccup following close behind, like a silent pup, while she navigated them across the watchful arena.

When they reached his proximity, he was still turned away swinging his flail, which she could now truly see, appeared much too small for his massive size.

There was no doubt in her mind this wouldn’t go smoothly. Fishlegs had one of the biggest hearts she knew of. She once saw him shed tears over a deceased butterfly after he accidentally landed on it and crushed it.

“Hey, Fishlegs,” she greeted the back of his blonde head.

The bigger boy turned around and a friendly smile crossed his face when he looked down at his much smaller addresser.

“Good afternoon, Astrid,” he chimed politely, then trained his harmless eyes on the other boy, his smile remaining bright, “and Hiccup.”

She was relieved to hear Fishlegs greet him by name.

“Hello,” Hiccup answered gently, still partially tucked behind her.

“How have you been?” Fishlegs asked fixing back on Astrid.

“Never been better,” she replied honestly. The recent, uphill days had been so refreshing. “And you?”

“That’s great to hear, Astrid,” he said as he swung the chain of his weapon around in a mediocre circle, then launched it at the target, missing again. He sighed before answering her small talk, “and I’m doing just fine. You know, same old, same old.”

“We haven’t caught up in ages,” she fussed, “and you’re such an old friend, let’s please all train together.”

“Of course,” he agreed to her relief, tossing the flail off to the ground carelessly, “I could always use the company. And definitely a change of weapon choice.”

“Lovely! This will be so much fun!” Astrid could hardly contain her excitement as she looped her arm through quiet Hiccup’s, to yank him to the front, beside her.

“The past couple of days, I’ve been training with Hiccup all the melee basics,” she filled him in while his friendly gaze floated down to the smaller boy.

“Oh, that is my absolute worst branch of combat,” Fishlegs groaned in lighthearted complaint.

“That makes two of us,” Hiccup contributed minimal words, yet a witty remark still managed to fall out of his mouth, causing Fishlegs to snort in amusement.

“What is with all that swinging and stabbing nonsense anyway?” The larger boy bantered with him, “I would much rather tactically aim my crossbow between my enemies’ eyes from a safe distance.”

“I would definitely rather do it that way too, it’s much more strategic,” Hiccup was quick to agree. He started talking finally and Astrid resisted the urge to congratulate him.

There was a pause of silence.

“Hiccup likes to read,” Astrid blurted out, feeling as if it were her responsibility to pull the two together.

Fishlegs lit up at this gift of information.

“I love to read,” He exclaimed, looking to Hiccup, “I respect someone who can appreciate literature. What are you reading, right now?”

Hiccup hesitated. “Um, well, I’ve already read it before, I’m just reading it again.”

“It’s good enough to read it twice? Now I’m intrigued, I’ve got to check it out, what is it?”

“It’s not really a novel or anything,” said Hiccup timidly, “it’s uh, The Book of Dragons.”

Fishlegs jaw dropped open and his eyes widened in the most amusing, dramatic manner.

“The Book of Dragons?” He echoed in a girlish gasp, “I’ve never read that one before, but I’ve always wanted to get my hands on a copy! I absolutely love dragons! They’re my all-time favorite mystery, right next to the sea monsters, of course.”

Perfect. Astrid was more than satisfied with the nerd party she had started. They would get along just fine now, without much further effort. Though clearly her work here was done, a little more influence couldn’t hurt.

“What’s your favorite dragon, Fishlegs? Mine is the Deady Nadder,” she specified. Her ego couldn’t help but ensure that he was aware she harbored knowledge for dragons as well as the two of them.

“That makes perfect sense!” He concluded, continuing to explode into detail, “It shares some of your characteristics—it’s incredibly swift and agile and has the deadliest aim,” he observed keenly, using plenty of his hands.

How had someone pieced this bit together before she could?

“And as for my favorite dragon? Well, I’m not so sure. I like the Hideous Zipplebacks, however, the Gronckles might be my favorite overall.”

Astrid never thought she would discover someone who was just as infatuated with dragons as Hiccup was.

“Wow, you sure know a lot about dragons,” Hiccup stated her thoughts exactly.

“Well, recently I’ve been reading more so for retaining information and deepening my knowledge bank, not so much entertainment purposes, though who doesn’t love a good romance novel once and while?” He suddenly appeared as if he said a smidge too much, flushing like a beet.

Hiccup laughed, though, not admitting to such things, then suggested, “We could all go to the library tomorrow if you both want to.”

Astrid had set foot in Berk’s library very few times in her life, strictly for any instructional guides to refine her fighting skills and almost always under the order of a professor. She never once had considered actually going in there during her free time for enjoyment.

However, given the circumstances, it seemed like it could be some fun—Hiccup would be there. He was fishing a side out of her she had no idea she even reserved.

Fishlegs looked emotionally softened, as he was deeply moved by being invited to the library. His reaction suggested that this could be a rare occasion, or might have never happened before at all.

“I would be delighted to go with you guys!” His voice jumped with glee as he could hardly contain his excitement.

“Great,” said Hiccup, “we can all go tomorrow in the afternoon.”

“Sounds good!” Fishlegs beamed appreciatively.

It seemed as though he had been in need of a friend more so than Hiccup. Astrid couldn’t help but feel pleased with herself and the way she had brought two loners together.

Although, she wouldn’t exactly specify Fishlegs as a loner, because he was easily able to fit in with the other kids, though it was obvious he wasn’t actually pursuing his true interests.

Nonetheless, in the overall picture, neither of these boys really had friends. Now that she was about to inspect each vein of the social system, she was the odd one out in this particular trio of Vikings, her nervous thoughts whispered to her, promised her.

She worried for an unrealistic moment if the two would form a union against her because of her social status and the assholes she used to hang out with.

She would make a point to rebrand herself.

“Do you want to sit with Hiccup and I at lunch tomorrow?” Astrid blurted out, absolutely loving the way ‘Hiccup and I’ sounded coming out of her mouth.

“Sure,” Fishlegs agreed without hesitation.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught how Hiccup glanced to her, giving her some kind of look, though she couldn’t exactly pinpoint his thoughts. Maybe she should have run the blatant invitation through him first.

“I’ll bring my books of mythical beasts and folklore,” suggested Fishlegs.

“Oh, yeah, I kinda wanna look through that,” Hiccup said.

“Just wait till you see all the monsters inside,” Fishlegs continued to fuel this, now, one-sided bonfire of excitement.

“Monsters?” Hiccup echoed, appearing slightly alarmed.

“Don’t worry, I know it sounds scary,” Fishlegs gave the other boy unnecessary reassurance, “I’m terrified of pretty much everything, so trust me, when I tell you they’re more fascinating than frightening!”

“Let’s get to fighting already,” Astrid broke in with a groan, although she sounded impatient, it wasn’t sincere.

She was ecstatic the two of them had hit it off but she could see this conversation lasting for hours.

They trained for a while until the overcast grew heavy and dark. When they finally departed the arena for the day, the wind had picked up immensely, blowing feverish gusts through the rattling branches, promising a storm was up ahead.

The three of them walked the trail together hastily, in order to beat the weather and when they reached a fork in the way, Fishlegs had to split off and take a separate road in order to get home.

At the dawn of his absence, Astrid was not proud to admit to herself how relieved she felt to be alone with Hiccup again.

“You’ll walk me home?” She beckoned.

“Yes, of course,” he was quick to answer, eager to please.

“See I told you, the two of you would get along just fine,” Astrid gave him an insightful side-smile as they began to walk.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize that we share some of the same interests,” admitted Hiccup, glancing to her.

She met his refreshing eyes for a thoughtful moment.

“You don’t mind that I invited him to sit with us tomorrow, do you?” Astrid worried.

“No, of course not,” Hiccup discouraged this assumption quickly, “he’s a nice guy. It could be fun, the three of us.”

The three of us. His words had an offbeat ring. She knew he wouldn’t disclose his true feelings to her, right now, at least. Good thing he didn’t have to—she was already remarkable at reading him all on her own.

“Don’t get me wrong, Hiccup,” her tone jumped teasingly as they walked, “I prefer when it’s just the two of us, as well.”

“You do?” He considered thickly, flustered by her subtle allegation.

She felt mildly rewarded by the production of blush over his freckled cheeks and then this curious desire to kiss him hotly pricked her like a sewing needle, however she made no such move to do so yet.

“Well, of course. I always prefer when I’m only with you,” Astrid insisted clinically.

It surprised her when she heard herself and how sweet it sounded coming out of her mouth—she would have cringed if this decree was directed towards anyone else. He had dug out a raw spot in her heart she wasn’t keen on admitting was there.

“I feel the same way,” his voice was soft.

Hiccup looked over to smile at her when she felt the dancing electric of his hand nudge hers by accident. Or perhaps it wasn’t a mistake? She wondered if maybe he wanted to hold her hand, but was still too shy to do so, even after being kissed by her twice.

Fastening onto this idea, she dauntlessly snared his small hand in her own, knitting their fingers together.

His reaction was subtle, but she adored how his eyes jumped down to their intertwined hands, then fixed back to her own eyes, twinkling in marvel, even under the ever-darkening cloud masses moving in over Berk.

She had been wanting to get a hold on him, another chance to touch him, since earlier when she was blessed by the warm physical contact of his leg against hers when they sat next to one another at lunch.

They walked hand in hand around the overgrown bend that followed her yard. Once they reached the old, brawny juniper tree, she stopped him beneath the shade of its gnarled branches and kissed him.

With good grace, he kissed her back. His lips moved against hers softly and she sensed less hesitation in him this time.

Her ready fingers trailed up, to coax the soft flips of copper hair falling at the back of his neck when she suddenly felt the gentle touch of his docile hands on her waist and it put her under some kind of spell.

She pleaded his mouth open, so her lovesick tongue could play in the hot rapture, and out of nowhere, he gently pulled her in closer against him, fueled by this random miracle of desire.

Up until this very second, he had always been so submissive to her, especially during the more intimate moments they had shared. And though she completely preferred it that way, to be in charge, she couldn’t help but feel impressed by his tiny speck of wayward behavior, to say the least.

But as quickly as his tiny dominance had surfaced, it sank, when his grip loosened, and the feeling of his nervous, racing heart against her chest was a dream come true once more.

As her tongue moved over his in a playful, little spar, she felt the first cold drop of rain land on her head.

She ignored it, not wanting this dream to end, kissing him deeper in hopes he would ignore it too. To her delight, he paid no mind to it, even when the second and third and dozen droplets of rain followed that initial one, soaking her hair and drenching her clothes when she finally retired from his mouth and began to laugh in the pouring rainfall.

“I want you to come inside the house, just til it stops raining,” she met his glowing eyes, his lashes dappled with droplets and his gleaming face slick with sky water.

The invitation felt fast, as her mother would say, but it would certainly be rude to have him walk home in such horrible weather.

Right on time, a growl of thunder rumbled through the glooming sky.

“Well, only if y-you insist,” Hiccup retorted politely, though quite timidly.

She knew neither of her parents would be there to reprimand her for bringing a boy home, but she was confident that even her stern mother would see that Hiccup was hardly a threat.

While familiar adults in the village hardly treated her as a child, her parents were strict with their rules and kept her sheltered for most of her life.

They prescribed her a perfect schedule and stern force to train hard without faults to become the most flawless warrior anyone could possibly raise.

Her father was a retired war veteran who worked on his own farm nowadays and she knew that’s where he would be now.

Whenever it rained, he had no choice but to move the cattle inside from the storming pasture as well as the metal farm equipment that was promised to rust.

The quaint, cobblestone shop outside the farm, antique and overgrown with ivy, was run by her mother who sold freshly baked bread, cow and goat milk, raw hen eggs, and various fruits and vegetables.

Earlier this morning, when Astrid first woke up, her mother was just leaving to open the shop and she was willing to bet that’s where she would still be, especially at this time of the day, or due to the weather she would certainly helping her father with the farm.

For a guilty second, Astrid wondered if maybe she should be helping her tired, old parents with the physical chores, instead of impishly sneaking a boy into her house.

No, it wasn’t like that! It was innocent, she promised herself. They would just wait out the weather over a board game or something.

As they drew up to her front door, she felt unrelenting waves of fear, for she was about to be inside this quiet, vacant place, sealed off from the rest of the world, with no one else but Hiccup.

If her parents were to come home they would be trapped, she worried with dread. Or even worse, what if they didn’t come home—the panic gripped her—all the lewd, endless possibilities crept up into her mind, making her stomach turn with apprehension.

Suddenly she felt entirely young as she grabbed Hiccup’s hand and pulled him inside the warm dry shelter with her. It felt as if, for a wavering moment, her true, child soul finally caught up with her mature façade.

She laughed at herself, laughed at that silly half-second of actually feeling intimidated by being alone with Hiccup.

He was as harmless and innocent as a lamb. She knew damn well that if there was any hot kissing or heavy petting, it would only be because she started it.

But it wouldn’t get to that point, she mentally planned. Although there was no doubt that she wanted to take things a step further with Hiccup, further than first-base for sure, she would not deny to anyone, even herself, that he was not ready for that. At least, from what she could gather, judging by most of his reactions to her spirited affection.

She did not want to force him out of his comfort zone. Some folk don’t take into consideration the underlying trauma that even subtle sexual advancements could cause on the developing mind, and she would not contribute to that destruction. She would only be just as bad as Cato if she succumbed to such.

They would play board games and drink hot cocoa and read books and if Hiccup wanted to do any more than that, she decided she would just let him take the lead and make the first move if he could handle that.

More like if she could handle that, she worried realistically. She had a hard time stopping herself from kissing him abruptly whenever she felt that unwavering ache to do so.

As Astrid heard the door close behind them, isolating them from the rest of the world, she felt her heart skip a beat. Remember, she told herself, board games and hot cocoa.

[kinnersonne]

If the Avengers had HTTYD Dragons

It’s old, and I haven’t seen pretty much any Avengers movie more recent than Endgame because I’m a rube, but this is going on my tumblr dangit I have put *way* too much thought and energy into this you’re heckin welcome:

Hawkeye’s dragon is Barney. He is a purple (like Hawkeye’s costume from the comics! and yes like his brother!!) Night Fury with orange eyes, and due to a genetic disorder actually has no teeth. They met in Budapest: apparently Barney loves to fetch arrows, because he kept finding Hawkeye’s arrows and bringing them back to him. He’s is the sweetest, goofiest, friendliest dragon on the planet. With that kind of temperament it was a cinch for Clint to train him for his missions, both stealthy and not-so-stealthy. Their synchronicity on the field was what finally convinced SHIELD to start their own dragon-training program. He was named by Lilah, who was a toddler at the time and thought that, when Hawkeye brought him home for the first time, he was Barney the Dinosaur.

Black Widow’s dragon is Butterfly. She is a beautiful multicolored Monstrous Nightmare (blue, green, pink, yellow) with blood red eyes. She was a ‘student’ of the Red Room as well; due to torturous genetic experimentation, her scales become darker or brighter depending on the light shining on them, meaning that in perfect darkness she can melt into the shadows. But in the process she was made too unstable for use in the field, and so instead she was locked in the cellar, used as an instrument of terror to keep the children in line. As a child, Natasha was fed to Butterfly as punishment for poor behavior, but the dragon inexplicably spared her. Years later, when she started working for SHIELD, Black Widow came back to the now-abandoned Red Room to rescue Butterfly, who had been left for dead. Because of her abusive past, she is a highly volatile dragon who can only be trained by Black Widow. Anyone who gets too close to her or to Natasha suffers a fast and brutal death. Thus far the only exceptions are Clint, Barney, and Clint’s family. She is patient, cruel, and deadly, the stuff of nightmares.

Hulk’s dragon is Mr. Cuddles. He’s a green Terrible Terror with deep purple eyes, and is a huge jerk to Banner. Yowling at 2 AM to be fed, scratching and hissing when Bruce tries to pick him up, looking Bruce dead in the eye and knocking over vases, you name it. Allegedly he’s a stress animal; what actually happened was Mr. Cuddles just followed him home one night and made himself at home. To the Hulk, however, he’s a perfectly-behaved angel. Somehow he knows how to guide the Hulk’s rampages, getting the Hulk to follow him and then directing him at whatever needs to be destroyed. Far too clever for a dragon, strangely intimidating for his size, too sassy even to be endearing, and bossy as the worst of your in-laws.

Thor’s dragon is Odin’s Omnipotent Fist, or Oomf for short. On Asgard, where every dragon is a Titan Wing, there is a coming-of-age rite involving dragons: a young warrior must go off into the wilderness by themselves and fight a dragon, thereby earning its respect and claiming it as their own. Thor picked a massive black Skrill with electric-blue highlights and green, raging eyes. If you ask Oomf, their legendary battle has never ended. He is twice as headstrong and trigger-happy as Thor, and as such will rush headfirst into battle with or without his ‘rider.’ Thor disciplines him for his poor behavior, Oomf fights back, and the result is inevitably a pitched battle. Thor calls it ‘training,’ says that’s the way his fathers have done it for generations. When they can work together, their capability for destruction is breathtaking.

Captain America’s dragon is Liberty. Liberty is a red-white-and-blue Deadly Nadder with sky-blue eyes. She was the best and brightest of SHIELD’s dragon training program; she was with the team who excavated Steve, and it was her who found him and convinced them that he was still alive. It was a bit of a learning curve for ol’ Cap to train a dragon—dragons weren’t tame in his day, so it was quite the culture shock—but now they work beautifully as a team. She kind of thinks of him as her hatchling, and will try to preen him. Bossy and gutsy, not afraid of anything, and obedient to the letter.

Iron Man’s dragon is Sparkplug. He’s a barf-colored Armorwing with golden eyes. Obedient, energetic, and very sweet, but also a complete moron in Tony’s terms. Tony met him when he was captured by terrorists, they were using Sparkplug as a high-power welding torch and general beast of burden. They escaped together; Sparkplug saved his life in the desert, flying him back to civilization and then insisting he go home with his new person. Tony built a suit of armor not only for himself but for his scaleless dragon, and yes, Sparkplug gets lasers and rockets, too. He tends to botch the complicated instructions that Tony gives him, but he’s getting better.

Hmm, what else, I know Loki ‘has’ (belongs to, if you ask them) a pack of Changewings, Scarlet Witch had a pinkish-red Zippleback named Viktorya and Dominika, Vision probably had a Dramillion, Falcon had a Razorwhip, etc, etc. I also think I had it that the Snap killed dragons and not people, and that Loki’s Mind Stone staff way back in the first Avengers movie worked on dragons, like he took Butterfly and Natasha was torn up about it. Frankly my MCU game isn’t what it used to be so IDK if I could go through the entire MCU cast and think up their dragons

[ickaimp]

[HTTYD] Break your heart, steal your crown

Sometimes ya just gotta write angst. Lotta people liked Coming Down is the Hardest Thing, my version of the ‘Hiccup runs away and becomes the “Dragon Master”, Astrid’s offered up as a Sacrifice years later’ tropes without Hiccup being a dick, and there were requests for sequels, which I didn’t do because this was all I had. Two years post Coming Down is the Hardest Thing, 4220 words, angst and some fluff.

"Berk is dying."

The words sat heavily in the air of the smithy, lingering like a spectre between Stoick and Gobber.

Stoick almost wished he could take the words back, but that wouldn't change the accuracy of his words. Berk was dying.

Gobber closed his eyes and sighed, giving him a weary nod of agreement. So he had seen it too. Or more likely, he had seen it in Gothi's last roll of the bones, before she had gone to bed and passed away in her sleep, leaving the fortune out for Gobber to read when he found her body this morning.

He hadn't actually told Stoick what the bones had said, giving him the same world-weary look he was currently wearing instead.

Even without the soothsayer's predictions, Stoick could see it. The twins had left years ago, declaring that the isle was too boring for their pranks, setting sail with only a chicken as their companion. It had seemed like a blessing at the time, less things exploding in their wake, leaving Berk a much quieter place than it had been.

Then came Spitelout's stupidity with Astrid, offering her to the savage Dragon Master. They'd gotten her back, only for her to disappear a week later. She'd left a note that this time was by her choice, but it'd been little comfort.

This left Berk's next generation without any women old enough to be wives. To become mothers to bear future generations. 

With the Jorgenson clan name soiled by Spitelout's actions, Snotlout was no longer able to be Stoick's heir. The other clans would never treaty with someone whose family had literally brought the Dragon Master down on their heads during a meeting of the chiefs. Except for maybe Dagur, and that was not a glowing recommendation, given the Berserker's... instability.

Which left Fishlegs as the only remaining of Berk's next generation to lead. The lad was smart, there was no doubt about it, and he would be fantastic as a second in command, the next Chief's Gobber, he was too quiet and soft to be a leader. The politics would eat him alive. And worse, Fishlegs was aware of this.

There were other children, Gustav and his ilk, but they were too young to start training as the next Chief of Berk. Stoick ran a hand down his beard, more grey than red from the stress and sorrow. He didn't have long enough to train one of them up.

And Berk's numbers were dwindling in other ways. Many had not been able to adapt to life without dragons to fight, finding a peaceful life did not sit well with their warrior blood. They'd left, being adopted into other clans. They'd just lost another family that way today. Stoick wished them no ill will, but if this continued, then they'd find their numbers too small to maintain the community.

Even Gobber was growing bored, not having enough work to keep the blacksmith busy. Without the dragons, there was no need for weapons, and the simple farming tools they had didn't need as much maintenance.  Stoick looked around the smithy, his eyes falling on the curtain leading to a small room that Gobber wouldn't allow anyone into, his own private shrine to his missing godson.

And then there was the loss of Hiccup, the first of Berk's children to leave. The Dragon Master's words, that Hiccup was happy and healthy where he was, was little comfort without being able to verify this. There was little Stoick wouldn't do in order to be able to see his boy again, for even just a moment. Sometimes he wondered if this wasn’t his fault. The path had seemed clear when they were constantly being raided by dragons. But without the raids, he was floundering. His people were looking to him for direction, and he had no experience with peace to know what to do. More and more they seemed to realise this, and left. Seven generations of vikings had lived on this isle, going all the way back to the first chieftain, his many times great-grandfather, and it was starting to look like he’d be Berk’s last chief.

"I wish I had some words of wisdom for ye, my friend." Gobber said softly. "I-"

Stoick jumped as something flew in through the window and landed on Gobber's face.

It was a green and brown Terrible Terror, who was making a high pitched growling sound as he crawled all over Gobber's head. "Don't move." Stoick rumbled, reaching for his sword.

"Ach." Gobber made a sound of annoyance, reaching up and grabbing the Terrible Terror by the scruff of its neck, pulling it off his head. "What're you-"

He trailed off, eyes drifting upwards and Stoick realised that it was the sound of a larger dragon's wings flapping. A Deadly Nadder, unless he missed his guess. Stoick gritted his teeth, feeling fire in his veins again, eager to have something to fight again, to take this rage and frustration out on.

"Oh no." Gobber said, a look of horror crossing his face as he glanced at Stoick. That was all the warning Stoick found himself being spun, his arms being bound behind his back with a pair of iron manacles, and he was flung through the curtain into Hiccup's old room. He landed against something softer than he expected, falling to the ground.

"GRUMP!" Gobber commanded, sticking his head through the curtain and pointing to Stoick. "Sit."

With a complaining groan, something large and heavy pressed down on Stoick. He grunted, trying to push himself up with his shoulders, but the weight was too much for him to get leverage.

"I didnae want you to find out like this." Gobber said, sounding apologetic, the Terrible Terror riding on his shoulder as if this was a common occurrence. "But if you value yer son's life at all, do not make a sound."

Stoick opened his mouth to bellow, only to find a rag shoved unceremoniously into his mouth. He growled, ire filling his veins as Gobber turned away, pulling the curtain shut. The torn fabric didn't go all the way to the ground, leaving Stoick with a clear view of the smithy.

When he got free, and got his hands on Gobber...

A blue and gold Deadly Nadder head stuck it's head into the doorway of the smithy, then carefully stepped in, taking care not to bump into anything in the small building. A crowned pale spectre rode on it's back, white and grey wisps obscuring the figure.

"Gobber!" The spectre greeted the smith with a cheerful voice. The spectre raised an arm, throwing what looked like a bridal veil over their crown, revealing inhuman features covered in glittering blue scales.

"Is good to see you, lassie." Gobber returned the greeting, his voice rolling with affection. The spectre laughed, reaching up for their head and pulling it off-

-Revealing Astrid's smiling face.

Stoick stopped fighting, going lax in surprise. It had been almost two years since he'd last seen Astrid, grim faced and bitter before she disappeared. She seemed to practically glow with happiness now, as she slid off the Deadly Nadder's back, giving a little hop before leaping into Gobber's outstretched arms, giving him a tight hug.

"Good to see you too." Astrid declared, holding him out at arm's length. Stoick could see that she was wearing armour now, covered in scales that matched the Nadder she rode. She wore a skirt, cape, and veil made out of ragged strips of a thin sheer white fabric that seemed to dance in the air when she moved.

The Undead Bride of the Demon was Astrid. Stoick recognised the Nadder now, it was the same one that she'd flown when the Dragon Master had kidnapped Stoick from the Althing.

"What brings ye here?" Gobber asked jovially, the merriment sounding slightly forced. "Not that I'm complaining, but was nae expecting t’see you for another week or two."

A stab of betrayal felt like a knife between his ribs.

"We have news." Astrid bounced and gave a little hip wiggle of delight. It was a gleeful carefree movement that Stoick didn't think he'd ever seen from the usually tacturn lass.

"Hey, wait. No fair." A shadow at the doorway protested, and Stoick found himself growling as he recognized the outline of the Dragon Master and his demonic Night Fury. The Dragon Master swung a leg over his so-called brother's neck, standing upright on his cloven foot and moving towards them. "I wanted to see Gobber's face when you tell."

"Not my fault that you're being slow, my sweet husband." Astrid grinned, giving another skip-hop to give a little kiss to the side of the Dragon Master's scaled helm and Stoick growled, wiggling as he trying to get free, but the weight on top of him didn’t budge.

"Wait a moment." Gobber breathed. "Astrid... Your belly... You cannot mean..." He trailed off, too choked up to speak.

Looking at her in silhouette, he could see what Gobber meant. Astrid's previously flat stomach was curved out in a very distinctive solid roundness.

Astrid was pregnant. And from the casual arm around her shoulders that the Dragon master had around her waist, the babe in her belly was that demon's.

Stoick would kill him. He'd kill him for touching Astrid. He'd rip the foul creature limb from limb, and then he'd get rid of that Night Fury who was sniffing around the room-

All thoughts faded from his mind as the Dragon Master took off his helmet, revealing his face for the first time, and Stoick's breath caught in his throat.

It couldn't be.

The messy brown hair, almost reddish in the candlelight. Green eyes. The fond crooked grin on his narrow face, having finally grown into his ears.

"Hiccup." Gobber said, his voice thick with tears. "Astrid. You've got a wee bairn on the way."

His son. That was his son standing there with an arm around Astrid, the two of them shining with happiness.

His son, the Dragon Master.

"I'm about five months along." Astrid beamed at Gobber, resting comfortably against Hiccup, the two fitting together like matching puzzle pieces.

"We were hoping you'd agree to be the Godfather." Hiccup said, and Stoick didn't know how he hadn't heard it before, in the Dragon Master's dry sarcasm. It was his son's voice, a little deeper than as a teenager, but the nasally tones could only be him. 

"Godfather-?" Gobber echoed in awe.

"It's not dependent on if you take up our offer to live with us." Astrid was quick to assure him. "But we'd like you to be. We wouldn't be having a kid if it wasn't for you."

"You got Astrid out of Berk, and you saved my life by taking me under your wing here." Hiccup said sincerely. "We're also open to them calling you 'Grandpa', if that's okay with you."

Grandpa.

Stoick was a Grandfather.

He felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. He'd never thought he'd have that chance, not after his son went missing. And here his son was, was, healthy, happy, and with a wee one on the way.

"Och." Gobber shook his head. "I couldn't."

"You can." Astrid grinned, reaching out and taking Gobber's hand in hers, scales and claws curling delicately around calloused scarred skin. "We talked to Valka about it. She laughed and said she's fine with it. Someone else to share the responsibility of dirty diapers."

The tears spilled over his cheeks. Valka, his dear sweet Valka was alive as well.

He remembered now, the Dragon Master saying that he had his mother's eyes, and he did. Skies above, he did. Hiccup had always had Valka's clear eyes that seemed to penetrate and see more than anyone else.

"I mean, you did more to raise me than my own father did. It's only fair." Hiccup added without any trace of bitterness as he gestured around the smithy. "All of my fondest memories of Berk are here."

Stoick's breath caught, feeling as if a sword had just been thrust through his chest.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you." Gobber shook his head dismissively. "Otherwise some dragon would have flown away with your toothpick self."

The Night Fury, who had been circling around in the background, stuck it's muzzle under the curtain. The beast sniffed the air for a moment before poking its head all the way into the small room, it's acid green eyes narrowed into slits as it stared at him, a low warning rumble coming from its throat, lips curling back to show a giant maw full of razor sharp teeth.

Stoick stared back, uncomfortably aware of how vulnerable he currently was. The creature could bite off his head in one bite, and there was no way for Stoick to protect himself.

"Oh nooooo. How terrible." Hiccup deadpanned in the background as Astrid laughed. "Carried away by draaagons."

The great weight on top of Stoick shifted and grunted, and he realised that it was a giant heavy dragon that was currently sitting on his back. The Night Fury crooned what sounded like a question to the creature pinning him down, getting a snore-like rumble in return.

The Night Fury glanced back down at Stoick, giving him a look that could only be described as 'scornful' before turning away with a smug expression and trotting back over to his son. Stoick watched as the beast gave an amused warbling at his son, casually headbutting Hiccup, sending him into Astrid, who took a half step to keep them all upright.

"Oh!" She gasped, then took Gobber's hand that she was still holding and pressing it against her belly.

"They're moving!" Gobber gasped. "Oh, they're a fighter, just like their parents."

Stoick's breath caught again. His grandchild. His grandchild was moving.

"The only thing that really settles them down is when the dragons sing to them." Astrid looked amused. "Even if the dragons are confused as to why I haven't laid an egg yet."

The Night Fury gave Stoick a pointed look, then nudged Astrid's belly with it's broad flat nose, giving a soft affection croon, as if to point out that the creature could touch the babe in Astrid’s belly, but Stoick could not. Stoick choked on the gag in his mouth, silently swearing vengeance.

"Which is part of the reason why we stopped by early." Astrid said gravely, and Stoick wondered how much more news he could take tonight. 

"Valka says I'm probably fine for flying up until I give birth." Astrid said, wrapping a protective arm around her belly. "But we decided that fighting is out until afterwards. So it may be awhile before I'm back in the area."

"Trapper tried to kick her in the stomach." Hiccup growled, and all three dragons in the room echoed the sound, even the Terrible Terror on Gobber's shoulder. The sound covered up Stoick's own noise of outrage at such an act. "Stormfly stopped them, but it gave us all a bit of a scare."

Astrid nodded, leaning against Hiccup, who looked a little anxious, rubbing his hand up and down the blue scales of her arm. "I can still do air support, but the pregnancy is making me exhausted lately. Which is probably only going to get worse." Astrid looked annoyed. "So we're all going to be staying with Valka at least until I give birth."

"It's not like the Hidden World really needs Toothless and I to guard it." Hiccup said with wiry humour. Stoick blinked, finding he had no more room for shock. Of course Hiccup found the home of the dragons. Of course he had. "But if you did decide to accept our offer to live with us, we didn't want you looking in the wrong place and thinking the worst."

"And Valka promises not to cook in your honour when you do show up." Astrid smirked. And Stoick nearly choked on muffled laughter, aware he was crying again. Valka had never been the best cook, but she tried. And it'd been worth every burnt and raw bite he'd choked down.

"Thank you." Gobber's voice was thick. "But I cannae leave just yet. Your Father needs..."

"I know." Hiccup hastened to assure. He stepped forward, wrapping a clawed hand around the back of Gobber's head, resting his forehead against the blacksmith's. "When you're ready, we'll be there. Even if you're never ready, we just want to make sure you know that there is a place for you."

"You just don't want to be the only one with experience making protestetics." Gobber grumbled, and Hiccup laughed, tapping his cloven foot on the ground, making a ringing sound.

Hiccup's prosthetic foot, Stoick realised, watching the spring inside the metal contraption flex. His son was missing a foot.

And Stoick had no idea when or how it happened.

"You caught me." Hiccup didn't sound angry about it as he released Gobber, more jovial than anything. "But it doesn't make it less true."

"I'll think about it." Gobber promised with the air of having said the same thing many times before, taking the Terrible Terror off his shoulder and transferring it to Hiccup's.

"And I'll teach you how to make Dragon Iron when you do." Hiccup said with a grin, his voice both teasing and cajoling.

Dragon Iron, which the Dragon Master was the only one who knew how to make. Because Hiccup had been a smith since he was six years old, put under Gobber's eye to keep him out of trouble.

"Stop trying to bribe me, you brat." Gobber cuffed him upside the back of his head with a grin. Both Hiccup and Astrid laughed, even if the Night Fury gave Gobber a glare. "Now g'wan. Get out of here before you're seen."

"Yeah, yeah." Astrid rolled her eyes and stood up on her toes to give Gobber a quick fond kiss on the cheek. "We'll see you later, one way or another." She informed him matter of factly before putting her helmet back on and climbing on top of her dragon, settling the veil around her shoulders.

"Take care of yourself." Hiccup clasped Gobber's hand, then pulled the larger smith in for a back thumping hug before releasing him. "And say ‘hi’ to Grump for me, wherever he's snoozing at."

"Will do." Gobber agreed blithely. "Stay safe, all of you."

The Night Fury let out a warble as if to say that it was his job to keep them all safe as Hiccup fastened the helmet back on his head, transforming back to the Dragon Master. The beast gave Stoick one last pointed look as Hiccup climbed in it's back, before turning and heading out of the smithy, both the dragons and their riders losing their relaxed easy going postures.

Astrid followed a few heartbeats later, following Hiccup's soft whistle. There was the sound of wingbeats, and then they were gone.

Leaving the smithy empty aside from Gobber and Stoick. It was with a sinking realisation that he realised he probably wouldn’t get another chance to ever see Hiccup again.

The Dragon Master was essentially Chieftain to the dragons, a role that clearly kept him busy and constantly travelling all over the archipelago and beyond. Stoick knew first hand how busy having a newborn kept one as well. It would be months, if not another year before Hiccup would free to visit Berk. And there would be no way for Stoick to know where or when.

Gobber gave a great big heaving sigh before turning back towards Stoick, his peg leg sounding loud against the ground. Gobber moved the curtain aside, and then knelt down, removing the gag from Stoick's mouth.

"I'm sorry y'had to find out this way." Gobber said softly, and the thing that hurt the most is that he could feel how sincerely his oldest friend meant it.

"How long?" Stoick asked, ignoring the way his voice broke.

Gobber gave a thoughtful hum, reaching up and petting the dragon on top of him. "Almost two years now." He finally said. "I recognized Hiccup's work on the blade the Dragon Master gave Astrid when he returned ya both here. Astrid had suspected as much, it just confirmed it for her."

He'd travelled with his son for an entire day, and Stoick hadn't a clue it was him.

Stoick, who had sworn that he'd be able to recognize his son anywhere, any time, in any place.

Horror went down his spine as he remembered the accusations he'd hurled at the Dragon Master after the dragon had crashed into their camp. Threatening to kill the Dragon Master in order to find his son.

His son, who had been right there. Who had told him while hidden behind a mask, that Hiccup was alive, healthy and happy where he was, far away from Berk.

Away from Stoick.

"About a month after Astrid left, she stopped by for a visit, ta let me know she was fine." Gobber continued, nudging the dragon off of Stoick. The giant creature grumbled as it slowly obeyed, leaving Stoick still shackled and on the ground. "The next visit, she brought Hiccup, and we cried together for nearly an hour."

Gobber paused, checking his pockets for his keys, then started to work on the manacles around Stoick's arms. Stoick had broken through stronger bonds before, but he didn't have the energy in him now.

"They stop by every every other month or so to check in on me, let me know how they're doing, or send a Terrible Terror with a letter." Gobber continued quietly. "Valka's been by once as well, weren't real comfortable here and left just as quick. Too many memories of blood shed."

The manacles released with a click, and Stoick slowly moved his arms, his shoulders protesting having been twisted in such a position. He carefully sat up, turning to face the monster that had been on his back.

And found himself looking at the least dangerous dragon he'd ever set eyes upon, for all its enormous size. It was large enough that it had probably only been it's head that had been resting on Stoick's back, and looked like it was already asleep with its eyes half open.

And it looked like a giant turd. Large, brown, and lumpy.

"This magnificent fellow is Grump." Gobber motioned to the sleepy dragon, with a fond expression. "They left him with me for back up, and so I have a way to meet up with them some time. He's been running the forge fires for me. Never realised how helpful having a dragon in the smithy could be before Hiccup mentioned it, even if the great lump sleeps most of the time."

Grump slowly turned an eye in Gobber's direction, thick club of a tail bouncing a few times as if realising that they were talking about him. He briefly wondered how many months the dragon had been sleeping here and no one had even suspected.

Stoick felt as if everything he had believed in had suddenly been turned upside down and shaken about. Dragons possibly weren't evil. His son was alive. He had a grandchild on the way. Hiccup was the Dragon Master.

"Is he happy?" Stoick asked, mindful of the tears still on his cheeks. "Hiccup?"

Gobber thought it over. "Aye." He finally said, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. "The lad weren't never made for being a Viking. Living amongst the dragons brings him not only comfort, but joy. Astrid and Valka too. Once you've earned a dragon's loyalty, there ain't much that can break it. And the three of them fit among them like they were born for it."

Stoick nodded. "And you?"

"Me?" Gobber looked surprised at the question.

"Will you be joining them?" He had the invitation and the dragon.

Gobber hesitated, looking at the slumbering dragon. "I'd like to." He finally admitted. "Some day. But not any time soon."

Because he was staying here, for Stoick's sake. He'd told Hiccup that clearly enough.

Gobber was his oldest and dearest friend, loyal to a fault, and Stoick couldn't blame him for keeping HIccup's secrets. Not when Stoick's reaction to meeting the Dragon Master hadn’t been nearly so generous, even as he realised that the Dragon Master was only trying to help in his own way.

"You should join them." Stoick said, rising to his feet. Gobber looked like he wanted to protest, and Stoick stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "When you're ready."

Gobber closed his mouth and nodded. Stoick nodded back, then walked out of the smithy. The cold air hit the tear tracks on his cheeks, and he ignored it, trudging up the hill to his cold empty hut.

He had gotten his wish, to know that his son was not only alive, but thriving. Astrid too. And Valka as well, his wife living amongst dragons for nearly two decades now. He was so elated to know that they weren’t dead. 

Stoick wouldn't trade that knowledge for anything, not even with the understanding that the reason for their happiness was that they were living their lives far away from him.

-fin- (no, there are no plans for anything further in this au, but if it sparks something in you, feel free to play.)

[storm-flyer]

Continuing my rewatch of Dragons: Riders of Berk, with episode 2, "Viking for Hire"

I don't remember anything about this one either, but I think that's gonna be a running theme. I'm also very bad with episode titles as a rule, so they're no help even if I do remember things that happen in the episode.

Anyway.

- 'Everybody needs a place to call home. Some people are born into there's. Others find theirs. And some people make a place for their own. But then the world changes around them, and the place they made is gone.' ouch

- 'Which dragon makes the best welding torch?' 'Oh, deadly nadder!' 'Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun!' nerds

- 'Looks likes it's about three.' 'Told you were could count that high.' bless them

- 'Also good for getting rid of unwanted tables' oh gobber... Buddy...

- 'Its okay bertha... We'll find a place for you...' 🥺

- I actually do remember this episode now! It's a miracle

- 'There are two of you!' 'Is that another crack about my weight?' how many times has that happened??

- 'You know, that's actually not such a bad idea.' ah, chief, I fear that it actually is

- 'Remember, some of these situations are delicate. They require diplomacy.' Gobber is many things. A diplomat is not one of them

- 'I know the conventional thinking when it comes to repairing a ship is wood. But if you ask me, there's nothing like a good old slab of iron'

- 'We have to help him.' 'We don't have to do anything' Stoick, that's your best friend!

- 'Thats because you have a saddle!' 'Saddles!!'

- 'These saddles are different. They're like my children. That is, if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rode it.'

- 'Is that was I think-' 'Yep, flamethrower!' gobber... That's the thing they already have...

- 'Thats it, someones trading with me!' any future version of snotlout would be horrified

- 'Changes! Way ahead of you, I've so many ideas!' hiccup's resigned expression egjyenyemey

- 'Well, you know gobber. He means well, but he doesn't always do well.'

- 'Why do I have to say something to him? You didn't, you just passed him off to me!' exactly!

- '...What about him?' 'Leave him, he's going for a record' yeah that sounds like snotlout

- 'Im not sure things are working out.' 'Well, get back to me when you're sure' you did walk into that one hiccup

- 'Im really sorry gobber.' well I'm crying again

- 'I don't know what happened, I was just rubbing his head! He usually loves that! Then he just went crazy!'

- 'They do say a pet starts to take on characteristics of it's owner!' damn fishlegs, aren't there enough burns going around?

- 'You don't use that stuff to butter toast.' 'Well I mean, we would. But you guys dont' the twins are great

- 'Hes a good dragon!! 😥'

- 'We can't just get rid of him cause he's having a bad day!' you tell em hiccup

- 'Uh, I don't know where that came from!' we all know youre a big softie snotlout, give it up

- 'When the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it. And gobber is one of the best' 🥹

- so I guess they still don't have saddles huh

Anyway that was a really sweet episode. Onwards!