#so astrid trained two dragons early on

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Got reminded of the fact that it's canon that Nadders can be trained by appealing to their vanity, which means that Astrid had to train Stormfly by giving her compliments.

Which makes sense, because Astrid grows more and more supportive as the franchise goes on. She doesn't give just about anyone a compliment either, (she gives them the most in RttE) but when she does, they're big compliments, too.

[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.

[oncewhenalongtimeago]

May I request a rtte or post-hhtyd 2 hiccup x reader where the reader is a dragon rider who got injured somehow, made a stop at Berk, and had to stay to recover? And Hiccup takes it upon himself to make the visitor feel at home/show them around? :)) thank you

Versipellis pt 2

Pairing: Lycanwing!Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Lycanwing!Reader

Words: 2,895

Hiccup makes it back to camp with you in tow. You both garner some unwanted attention.

Tags: the Hidden World, thw, httyd 3, AU, no light fury, gender neutral reader, flashback

<Previous -

It was very rare that something had a smell all of its own. Most things had mixes and balances of everything, animals especially. 

Even the smell of the earth didn’t solely belong to it. It was decidedly borrowed, usually thickest where there lay the most bugs nestled below the ground.

It wasn’t something Hiccup could always tell, more of a differentiation that only came to him sometimes.

Today, the forest smelt like nothing but earth. Earth and rain and all sorts of furs.

“So… Why are you out here so early in the morning?” You asked, your eyes decidedly trained on the floor as the two of you shambled through the woods.

A thick canopy of pine leaves rustled with the wind, cool air blowing against the face of Hiccup’s leathers. 

He couldn’t feel it much against his chest. He’d always run a bit hot and his leathers were thick, not to mention the build-up of heat in his underarms and the prickling threat of nervous sweat that threatened to break past skin. His cheeks stung though, chill picking at rosy, freckled skin with a million different, razor-thin teeth.

His knees creaked in protest, something in them pulling painfully even as he bent downwards.

“I wouldn’t call it early…” Hiccup started. He stopped for a moment before he caught your gaze and felt that he should continue, “But, well-”

He wasn’t completely sure what to say. He couldn’t- not about his leg, or his back. 

Pains weren’t the kinds of things one talked about- not in the company of anyone who wasn’t your battle buddy, not without a jug of mead, not using words belaying anything but joking.

He paused for a second, grimacing at the thin log blocking his path before forcing himself over, hand pressed hard against the bark. 

You paused for a moment too, squinting at him.

“...Aches?” You spoke just as a set of birds flew past, wings beating hollowly and fluttering against the wind and twittering and chirring to one another.

Hiccup paused, shoulders stiff. He looked back after a moment, the movement feeling jerky.

You were still behind the log, your expression just as guarded- just as weary. You spoke testily, “I’ve got some, myself.”

He relaxed some.

“They only get worse with age, don’t they?” Hiccup asked sardonically, feeling back with one hand.

Looking around, he leaned against ribbed bark, hearing it crunch against his leathers and feeling it dig into the meat of his back.

He’d… walked for a while, so there was still a while before the two of you would reach camp. Honestly, he wasn’t looking forward to it. 

He was tired.

Unfortunately for him, there was always more- there was always something pushing the limits of what he could do, and now, with everything, he found that he really couldn’t satisfy them all. He couldn’t satisfy even half, not really, and no one listened, but that wasn’t new.

He’d wanted the approval of his peers, but he’d never intended to become their figurehead.  Gobber he’d always had and his mother he’d only just gotten to know. Astrid- He loved his father, but very often, talking to him, It was as if he had found some flaw deep in his son’s make and decided that the only way to rectify it was to tell him what-for. 

The point of coming out was just as much for the purpose of getting away from everyone as it was for the purpose of finding a nice, quiet place to nurse all his wounds. Both the ones sticking at his bones and the ones that felt like they’d been born in a place much deeper, festering.

Though he was much taller and he’d filled in some, even if he was still slim and lanky, sometimes it felt as if he’d never really grown when he should have, and all the strains and pains were the angry parts of him that were just aching to burst through.

Those same parts of him twinged now, bowing slightly under the weight of grief and heartache. 

He hadn’t thought about it. Not for a while.

“They’re supposed to get better,” You said, looking down and clutching at his blanket roughly with your own hands. 

So there was some history there. Hiccup got it- all his problems had only ever gotten worse. Really, he had nothing if not history.

He needed something to hold on to.

He watched as you took one slightly-shaky step over ailing wood, his cloth catching against it as you moved forwards.

He let you go ahead, watching.

Where the cloth dipped against your back, looking more like stone than fabric, there were two sets of long gashes. What almost resembled scar tissue looked raised and raw.

“...Dragon attack?” Hiccup asked more to himself than to you.

You paused for a long moment before looking back over your shoulder with a wince, expression lax, confused. “What?”

He let out a breath.

Hiccup felt at scratchy stubble with his free hand, fingertips running over small, pimpled lumps and ingrown hairs. He didn’t flinch or cringe- he’d long grown used to the blemishes. It seemed that even as his cousin and the others grew out of their own teenage trappings, Hiccup remained somewhat stuck in the past in both body and mind.

 You followed his eyes before coming to an easy realization, speaking, “No, nothing like that.”

“Your dragon?” He asked hesitantly.

It made sense, though if you’d ever gotten a dragon- well, he still might not have known. You didn’t cross paths often, if at all.

Even after most of the raiding stopped, the dragons played rough. Still, though, the Vikings were hardy, and one or two scars and the occasional amputated limb was eternities better than the bloodlust and death from the world prior.

“Uhm,” You started, something half like a hum resonating from deep within your throat. He could have called it mesmerizing, but he was a tad biased. “...Close enough.”

“I haven’t- on the ride over, I was occupied, so I haven’t had the opportunity to… Get to know much,” You mumbled under your breath.

You’d finished the rest of your walk in silence, which wasn’t too unusual for the sort of ways things had been going for Hiccup, recently.

As you’d come closer to camp, stepping over rocks and kicking up small plants, the morning’s chill seemed to dissipate, the sun making its presence known through the forest’s leaves.

The sound of conversation had also grown louder. It was nearly a constant murmur now, offset by the occasional cheer.

“Right, well,” He started, hand pushing away the scratchy face of a long fern’s front, revealing the bulk of the open camp, but still shielding most of you from view. “There’s not much to know- there’s the outhouse by the edge of camp a ways away- no one really wanted to set up near it, for, you know, a reason, then there's where everyone’s sleeping, and there’s the table-”

Already, there were a few hastily built tables laying across the main clearing. Most Vikings had set up shop there, clearing tall weeds and grasses and chopping down trees, setting with what few belongings they had.

As Hiccup peered around, the sound of shuffling boots grew louder. This was the main part of camp, of course, so there were going to be people, which probably wasn’t very good, considering the fact that you were naked.

Hiccup paused, grimacing. “I, ah- I was wondering- do you want to go around…? Or…”

Before you could answer he felt the grip of something warm on his shoulder. It was a hand, maybe.

He watched your eyes grow slightly wider, the blanket over your shoulders dropping slightly just before he was wrenched around and pulled back under the growing light of day.

He felt a rush of- a rush of something as he was met by the sound of roaring cheers, eyes blinking rapidly against the sudden shock of bright light.

He couldn’t be sure whether the feeling was good or bad. 

He recognized it- it was the thing that had kept him going all these years, that pushed him to work and build and try again when he’d had the favor of no one and the thing that kept him going when he had, to grasp at the next Astrid’s-smile and his Father’s clap-on-the-back.

He had to ask himself if he really needed it- if he liked the feeling at all.

He jerked forwards, feeling the rough clap of a meaty palm against his back. Pain radiated from it like waves rippling on the top of a still pond.

One foot in front of the other.

“Agh, Hiccup!”

“Gobber!” Hiccup said, looking around, meeting eyes with a crooked jaw, the hand that had patted him on the back coming up to wipe a trail of mead from the corner of his jaw.

Gobber knocked his mug against the body of a tree, the liquid inside sloshing, foam meeting bark. “Where’ve ye been, lad?”

Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but was drawn away by another calling voice.

“Hiccup!” It belonged to Astrid, her diamond-patterned leather coat blowing back with the force of her walk. She seemed… happy. 

His mother was following him close behind, looking much more reserved, expression peaceful, eyes narrowed. She probably meant to get on him about the new sanctuary, again.

Astrid called to him again, “Hiccup! Where have you been?!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gobber hobbling his way towards another large gaggle of Vikings, dead set on nosing his way into the group. He was quite obviously drunk and as such, easily distracted, head dipping like a ram ready to butt. 

Sighing deeply, Hiccup settled, the ends of forest plants tickling at his ankles, not quite in the clearing enough to have been tended to yet not close enough to the forest to be wild enough to leave be. 

“Hey Astrid…!” Hiccup tried.

Hair swinging behind her, tied up into an easy tail, she easily approached him, though the closer she got, the more cautious she became.

Of course, between them, there was something there that had never quite left. 

It was something that he’d left starved as he’d gone running off into the open skies with Toothless, seeking new lands- seeking something else, making himself scarce, even as she tracked and tried to urge him back to Berk under the orders of his father… And sometimes of her own volition.

She’d never quite found him. He’d never let her. He’d never… he’d never quite let her as close as he should have; never as close as he would have a long time ago, during what he was now able to call his youth.

From the looks of it, whatever it was seemed especially agitated now. Really, it was in times like this that he needed a buffer.

 Usually that was Toothless, but now, he was missing. He had been acting sort of odd recently- standoffish and touchy, as if he too was beginning to break under the stresses of being Chief, except he hadn’t done much, because Hiccup had been the one doing all the work, and now neither of them could escape into the skies- not with everything else tying them to Berk.

As a result, they hadn’t had each other to confide in.

With a pang of something that almost felt like loneliness and what was definitely a bit of despair, he knew that whatever they had, Hiccup felt like they were losing it.

Astrid stopped in front of him, head tilting to the side as a set of Terrors tumbled their way through the clearing. “This isn’t the time to go missing.”

Hiccup stepped back, gritting his teeth as some sharp pain traveled up his leg, “I told Gobber where I was going.”

“And I had to talk to Gobber to find out where you were! Hiccup, everyone was looking for you!” Astrid said, frowning, large axe hefted over her shoulder. The metal studs on her kransen glinted in the growing sunlight.

“I- Is there a problem? I can-” Hiccup looked back at you to where you were standing uncomfortably by the treeline. There was a staunchness to his voice, something stiff he hoped she didn’t notice. “I- hold on, can I get back to you?” 

Still, his voice didn’t carry any of the confidence he would have hoped.

He was supposed to have a presence, to enforce the law, lead, and maybe he wasn’t supposed to be exactly like his dad, but he was supposed to be something.

He resisted the urge to grimace as he felt the weight of multiple eyes fall on him, heads turning and merriment stilling as they all took notice of him.

“Son-” His mother started, before stopping, allowing Astrid to continue. She was waiting, but really, he knew that when her time came, she’d have her say of things.

His mother, now, had a way she wanted for the dragons and she really, really wouldn’t take no for an answer, nor any compromise. Deep down, he knew she was… here, but he missed her just as much as he sometimes wished she’d never come back.

“Really- No, really, I’ll get back to you” Hiccup said, cutting her off.

“You know-”

Hiccup pulled back, nodding to the beginning of the treeline.

You were not paying attention, relatively unattached to the crowds, having managed to draw some unwanted attention of your own, squabbling with a tall, blonde-looking woman, her pretty, round face framed by hefty shoulders.

Oddly enough, he appreciated it.

“-Attention-showing-” She barked. He hardly caught it, his attention wavering as words spilt from her open mouth, “-bare skin!”

“If you’re jealous, then get naked!” You easily, your tone wavering as if you’d meant it to be joking but irritated as if it had really sticken a nerve.

You curled in on yourself slightly, hands tightening over dirty cloth and pulling it higher up your shoulders.

He thought of the raised scars along your back and the way you looked under the blanket, fingers and toes digging into the sand.

He wondered if you’d seen Gothi about it, yet. She probably had some sort of ointment. 

He nodded towards you, his grimace deepening some. “I’ve... I’m busy.”

Glancing back, with the way Astrid was staring, she seemed almost... off-put. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever noticed the way he searched and bent and spun in circles whenever he thought you might have been around.

“Oh.” She said. Her voice was blank. 

His mother stood still behind her.

Hiccup reeled back slightly, wincing.

The fauna was rustling just as violently as it would during a rainstorm, the only real sound besides them that could be heard for what was probably miles. 

Miles excluding the village, way off and out of the forest, past rushing seawater and a split craig, over a bridge much larger than any Viking, but the village carried dangers of its own.

“That's for kidnapping me.” Astrid said as Hiccup eyed his dragon, who was nearly invisible in the darkness, the darkest blues and blacks in odd spotted and looped patterns playing tricks on the eye.

The large dragon snorted at him, nose twitching. It was an awfully dismissive thing, a purely animal motion, beastly but not in the violent way, even if it was a tad aggressive. 

Then Astrid grabbed him. 

It wasn’t as if anything seemed to slow- in the moment, it was really as if, for him, things seemed to grow just ever-so-slightly faster.

As Astrid -beautiful, brave, mean Astrid- grabbed his arm, her fingers closing around his shoulder tugging him closer, he saw.

The squeal of a dragon felled, the feel of meat and blood soaking his wrists and staining hard-worked machinery, to know what it felt to be a Viking- what it felt to be a man… With her, he used to crave it.

He used to want for the smell of metals, the one he carried from the forge, to mix with the metallic smell of dragons blood and the splash of ashes, the kind that often littered the ends of her hair, but now that he knew what it meant -what it really meant- to kill a dragon and to be a Viking, he found he wasn’t really all that interested anymore.

No. He thought, and didn't have the will to take it back. 

Hiccup leaned back. It was a slight thing, though the action was no less conscious for it. 

It was hardly felt, and really, in that moment, he thought she might not have noticed. He thought that she might still do... Whatever it was she meant to do after she’d punched him, looking at him with eyes of promise, past whatever thing it was they’d just loved through and through whatever trouble he’d been meant to dig himself out of grayish-blues made to look darker under the cover of night. 

But then she paused, too.

Oddly enough, though, he couldn’t find it within himself to regret.

“Well… Wow. Okay.” She said after a moment looking at him with furrowed brows.

With his shoulders squared, Hiccup felt his lips pull themselves into a confident if not apologetic grimace. Sorry.

“...Right.” Astrid said, nodding to him hesitantly, sounding slightly surprised even as she glanced back. She was already moving again by the time their eyes met. “I guess… It’s getting late. I have to go.”

Toothless was oddly silent as what had once been a good moment and a close one became slightly awkward.

“Right.” Hiccup mumbled under his breath as she ran, feeling himself as if he wanted to flee, some burgeoning embarrassment making itself known somewhere in his lower middle.

He let out a sigh of relief as she disappeared into the night, the sound of her footsteps light and fading.

[aevyk-ing]

DreamWorks4Me

If you've seen the news, DreamWorks as a studio is going through a huge change. They're going to start outsourcing every movie from now on and laying off almost 50% of their staff.

This makes me really sad for them and their legacy, so I wanted to share with you my fondest memories of their movies. Feel free to do the same!:

I didn't have a The Road to el Dorado copy while growing up. My best friend and neighbor had one and we would have an afternoon snack in her home, watch The Road... and then play. This was one of the two movies we rewatched the most.

I've always loved Chicken Run. I had this huge poster of it, but threw it away when I had a nightmare where the chickens started jumping from it. I still think it's Aardman's best movie and the one with the best soundtrack (which was also my introduction to both Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell!).

I sort of remember how Shrek knocked it out the park. There was a before and an after in animated movies.

While a lot of people say it's a bad movie, I kinda like Sinbad. The adventure, the character design, the places and Eris, of course.

I like Puss since his first appearance in Shrek 2.

I really like Over the Hedge. The music is great and the concept interesting. I remember reading the actual comic strips in the Sunday newspaper and I still have some of them.

While Shrek the Third is not that good, I really liked Artie for some reason. That's why one of the characters from my book Gotxinka is called Artii!

I wasn't much interested in Kung Fu Panda at the beginning, but it grew on me. One afternoon, the second and third movies were on TV, so I watched the first one and then put the other two on TV, binge watching the three!

How to train your dragon was the movie that helped me out of my depression and got me into cosplaying, drawing fancomics and writing fanfiction. And also got me into watching almost everything in English.

I love Megamind and will be forever mad I couldn't watch in on cinemas.

I know people don't like it much, but I find the Puss in Boots movie enjoyable.

I really liked Rise of the Guardians and it's a pity they didn't make more stuff with those characters. I almost cosplayed Toothiana, but did a casual version of her instead.

I couldn't watch The Croods in cinemas either, but I watched it in English a while after and fell in love with it! It's so creative and the relationship of Guy and Eep is so sweet.

I did my hair like Astrid to watch HTTYD2. That version of her outfit is my favorite cosplay of her.

And, of course, Riders of Berk were the first series I watched in full English. I didn't have Netflix when Race to the Edge aired, so I would get up early to watch someone streaming it and I had a blast. I didn't know if I should watch Trollhunters, but I saw a video with Kelsey Grammer and I'm so glad I gave it a try! The show helped me in one of my lowest moments (like HTTYD had done years before).

[p-artsypants]

No, You Go First (12)

The Fight

Ao3 | FF.net

Two days before the fight, Hiccup and Astrid returned home to see a note tacked to their door. It had been a long day between flying with the dragons and training to fight. The last thing Hiccup wanted was to see a note. 

Hiccup, come to the forge. 

Astrid, go see your mother. 

-Stoick

“That can’t be good.” Hiccup began to lament. 

“It’s probably fine,” Astrid tried to placate. “We’re home at the same time we usually are. And we’re still technically on our honeymoon. What would he be reprimanding you about?”

“That’s why I’m worried!” He chuckled humorlessly. “I suppose I should go. But I might need boob therapy when I get back.”

“You are a boob.”

“Touché.” 

Astrid kissed his cheek. “It’ll be fine. I won’t wait up.”

So Hiccup made the short trek to the forge, dragging his feet all the way. It was past sunset at this point, but the sky was still visible. The houses were tinged in blue and orange from torchlight. 

The forge was brightly shining on the hill. Laughter echoed from it, so that had to be a good sign. 

As he appeared in the doorway, he found several men from the village sitting around the cleared worktable. There was a keg, some steins, and several bottles of ale sitting and waiting. 

Stoick, Gobber, Axel Hofferson, Bucket and Mulch, and Astrid’s other uncle Leif all looked to him as he entered, and cheered. 

“There ya are, lad!” Stoick said boisterously.

“What’s going on?” Asked Hiccup.

“It’s a bit backwards, but we never went through the sword ceremony!”

Hiccup was puzzled for a moment before he clarified, “you mean…breaking into the old tomb to retrieve a sword?”

“That’s the one!”

Hiccup groaned. “Do I have to? I’m already married!” 

“Correct! So, we thought we’d mix it up a bit!” Said Gobber. “Since you two said you’ll have an official wedding in the fall, we’ll do the sword ceremony closer to that.” 

“So…what’s tonight?”

“The fun part!” Said Axel. “We drink and tell ya how to please a woman!”

Hiccup stood silently as they all laughed. He could smell the alcohol in the air. They’d started drinking without him. “Can we do the sword thing instead?”

“Nonsense!” Stoick swept him off his feet and plopped him onto a stool. Then a stein of mead was placed in front of him. 

Being so young meant that Hiccup hadn’t partaken in a lot of drinking. That was usually something a boy his age would do in secret with his friends…but he didn’t really have any. 

The mead was mostly sweet, a flavor that he found he could tolerate easier compared to the ale. 

The first mug disappeared before too long, and was refilled. 

“Wait,” Hiccup belatedly realized. “You guys are the ones that are supposed to be teaching me about pleasing a woman? You guys have never been married,” he pointed at Gobber, Mulch, and Bucket. “You're my father-in-law, so I don’t really want to have this conversation with you,” he said to Axel. “You’ve been widowed for 16 years, and you're my dad.” He pointed to Stoick. “That means Leif is the only one qualified. And even then, he’s still Astrid’s family.”

Leif cheered and chugged his drink. 

“Aye lad, but we’ve all lived around women. We know what it takes to live in harmony with them. And so we’ll pass that information on to you,” said Mulch.

“And we’ll never pass up a chance to drink!” Sang Bucket.

“Aye, that too.”

Did you know that the more fat and muscle a person has, the easier it is for them to hold their drink? In contrast, the smaller and leaner, the less alcohol is needed to get drunk. 

Another mug was emptied and refilled. 

Part of it was the general thirst of talking and laughing with friends, and part of it was hoping that the alcohol would make the situation less awkward. 

It started out simple enough. ‘Treat her with dignity and humbleness.’ ‘Don’t demand work from her, but agree on expectations early.’ ‘Discuss it with her if something is bothering you, don’t hold on to resentment.’ These were things that Hiccup knew, and they seemed rather obvious. Perhaps someone more like Snotlout would need more elaboration. 

Hiccup quickly asked for a refill when Gobber uttered the phrase ‘when you want some lovin’, you gotta prime her, and not just thrust it in.’ 

Hiccup realized that the drinks they had were a little stronger than he expected, and that he could not hold his liquor as well as his father. His face felt warm, and he felt like he was floating. Words came out of his mouth before he could consider them.

Before he knew it, he was waking up in his home with a splitting headache, dry mouth, and nausea. “Oh no…” he lamented, trying to sit up, but flopped back down as his stomach protested. 

His joints were all sore, well, more sore than he had been the rest of the week. There was also an itchiness on his chest, but that was rather minor in the grand scheme of things. 

As he laid in bed, he could hear his wife talking to someone downstairs in hushed tones. He gave it a minute, and concluded it was either his father or Axel. Neither great options when he remembered what he could from last night. 

Slowly, he pulled himself out of bed, still in his clothes from the night before. 

So he changed, hoping the fresh clothes would rid him of the stale and dingy feeling. When he removed his shirt, he went to scratch at the itchy spot, though quickly realized what had happened. 

An echo of his own voice returned from last night, slurred and far too enthusiastic for his own good. “That’s a great idea!” 

He was never drinking again. 

Now dressed in clean clothes, he felt slightly better and sauntered downstairs. 

It was his dad. He and Astrid sat at a little table with a pair of chairs. 

“Morning.” Hiccup mumbled. 

“Afternoon,” Astrid greeted, with some amusement. She got up from her seat and beckoned him to take it. “Your dad brought over this set this morning. Seems like even when drunk or hungover, these men know how to build furniture.” 

Stoick laughed. “You know Gobber has a full pint of ale first thing in the morning, right? Something about loosening up the joints.” 

“I don’t doubt it.” Hiccup chuckled. 

Astrid placed a large mug before him. “Don’t worry, it’s just water.” 

“Oh sweet release!” He started to chug. 

“Your first hangover treating you well, son?” Stoick smirked. 

“No. It’s kicking my ass. I’ve never felt this horrible in my life.” 

“Well, the fight isn’t until tomorrow evening. Plenty of time to rest. It is partially my fault for making you drink so much. You have my blessing to take it easy.” 

“Great. Man, I can’t remember anything that happened last night.” 

“That’s probably for the best…” Stoick said with a little smirk on his lips. 

“Why?” Hiccup asked, with horror. “What happened?” He turned to Astrid. “What did I do?” 

She shrugged. “I don’t know. When your dad brought you home, you were out cold over his shoulder. You slept hard all night.” 

So they both turned and looked at Stoick. 

“Well, as the night went on, you got a little more loose-lipped. Most of it was unintelligible, but you did tell everyone about Toothless.” 

Hiccup paled considerably. “No…” 

“But I doubt anyone will remember, or understood you were talking about a Dragon. Mostly, they’ll just think you were talking about a toothless friend you made in the woods.” 

“Definitely never drinking again.” 

“How do you remember all this?” Asked Astrid. 

“Lass, look at me. It takes a lot to get me drunk. And I’ve been drinking a long time. I know how to handle my liquor. And I worried Hiccup might say something, so I took it easy.” 

“And this little souvenir?” Hiccup tapped his chest. 

“That was Gobber’s idea. You loved it.” 

“What?” Astrid pried. 

“I’m too embarrassed to tell you right now,” Hiccup admitted ruefully. 

“Don’t worry Lass. You’ll know soon enough…especially if that skinny dipping story is true.” 

“No! No no!” Hiccup protested. Then he groaned, “ugh, can’t anything good happen to me without the whole village knowing?” 

“Again, everyone was drunk. And what happens in the forge, stays in the forge. Don’t worry, son. We’ve all had our drunken confessions.” 

After a brunch of eggs, Hiccup went back up to nap. The window was open slightly, allowing the cool sea breeze to keep the room fresh. Distant gulls called out among the waves. 

Despite the nausea and headache, Hiccup was easily pulled back to sleep. He slept most of the day, in fact, and only roused slightly when Astrid called out to him. 

“Hiccup? I’m going to make sure Toothless is fed, okay? You just rest.” 

“Mmhhhmmm.” 

Evening turned to night, and Hiccup never even noticed when Astrid joined him in bed. 

On the morning of the fight, Hiccup arose early. He was slightly disoriented and dehydrated, but overall, much better from the day before. 

Astrid still laid sleeping beside him, her soft snores quickly becoming a sound of comfort. 

Today was the day. By the end of it, he’d be back in bed, and probably bedridden for at least a week with broken bones and open wounds. 

His nose already hurt just thinking about an incoming punch. 

He got up and dressed quietly, doing his best not to disturb Astrid, then he left the house in search of an early breakfast. 

The sun was behind the trees in the east. The sky alight with an orange gradient. The air was cool, and dew still wetted the grass. 

Only a few people were up at this hour. The baker was one of them, and Hiccup followed the scent of fresh baked bread to his shop. His window was open, and the baker smiled as he approached. 

“Oh, morning Hiccup! Not the Haddock I usually see this time of day,” said the baker. 

“Yeah, I’m…up early.” 

“I remember my stag night,” said the baker, good natured. “Took me a week to fix my sleep schedule.” 

Hiccup sighed. “Of course the whole town knows about the stag night.” 

“Sure, what with everyone hootin’ and hollerin’! Your father at least had the decency to let everyone know to get some wool for their ears. Now, what can I do for you?” 

Hiccup gave him a little smile, “I smelled your bread and wondered if you had anything prepared for breakfast.” 

“Got just the thing! Fresh from the oven rolls, and strawberry jam from the madam.” 

Hiccup’s very empty stomach growled at the words. “Sounds perfect.” 

“I’ll get that right up.” 

“Make it three, my good man,” a voice interrupted from behind, startling Hiccup. 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut appeared on either side of Hiccup, resting their arms over his shoulders. 

The baker’s smile faded. “Hello you two.” 

“And a fine morning to you as well,” said Tuffnut. 

“Let it be known, our mother has had a word with us this morning, and we are here on our best behavior…and bring payment for our tab.” Ruffnut held up a bag of coins. 

The baker’s mood improved. “Well now, that’s more like it! I’ll prepare three rolls!” He took the money and got to work. 

“So…” Hiccup began, conversationally. “You two are up early.” 

Tuffnut scoffed. “Are you kidding? If the sun is up, we’re up.” 

“Really?” 

“Early mornings are the best times to be awake. Then you get to witness all the pranks you set the night before go off!” 

“Oh, now I get it.” Hiccup smiled. 

“Besides,” said Ruffnut. “It’s a fight day. Gotta start early if we want a nice sized book.” She held up a stack of paper.

“Why am I not surprised that you guys are setting up bets?” 

The baker returned with a sheet of rolls. “You guys are running bets on this fight? Really?” He chuckled. Then he added, “no offense Hiccup.” 

“Some taken.” 

“What are the odds?” 

“That’s the beauty of it, my good sir. While the odds of Hiccup winning a round are 0 to 3, we’ve taken some considerations for other odds.” 

“Gee, thanks.” Hiccup rolled his eyes. 

“There’s a 1 to 2 chance that Hiccup survives a round.” 

“The fight isn’t to the death!” Hiccup protested. 

“True, but it is until knock out, so by ‘surviving’ we mean unconscious.” 

“You two came up with these?” 

“The conditions. Fishlegs helped with the math.” 

The baker set the first plate in front of Hiccup. “Any other odds?” 

“2 to 1, Snotlout claims he’s won the fight before the ref actually declares it.” 

“Meaning he’ll at least be focused for the first round, and he’ll protest the other two…if Hiccup survives that long.” 

“Oh, and then there’s a 1 to 2 chance that Stoick will stop the fight early to save Hiccup’s life.” 

“Wow!” Hiccup called. 

“Interesting set,” said the baker with a smile.

“So…can we put you down for anything?” 

“Three gold pieces on Snotlout bragging.” 

“The easy win, but not much of a pay out.” 

“And then, one silver piece on Hiccup.” 

“Surviving?” 

“Winning.” 

Hiccup looked surprised, but then again, it was just a silver piece. 

“Very good!” Said Tuffnut, pocketing the change, while Ruff marked him in the books. 

“You know,” said Ruff. “You aren’t the first person to bet on Hiccup winning.” 

Hiccup sat up a little straighter. 

“Let me guess, the chief?” Asked the baker. 

“Hell no,” Tuff laughed. “He only bet on Snotlout bragging.” 

Hiccup deflated. 

“Gobber bet three gold pieces, and Axel Hofferson bet ten.” 

Though smiling, Hiccup said, “I need to talk to Axel about his gambling problem.”  

“Why would Axel bet a number like that?” Asked the baker. “Ah, no offense Hiccup.” 

“Still some taken.” 

“The scoop is that Hiccup’s been training with Astrid. And honestly, I believe it.” Tuff gave Hiccup a nice pat on the back. “If anyone’s going to take Snotlout down a few notches, it’s this guy.” 

“You think so?” Hiccup brightened. 

“Sure! I’m not going to bet on it, but yeah! Think about it. Fishlegs? Me or Ruff? Astrid certainly could have before she broke her arm. You have the element of surprise.” 

“Completely unsuspecting.” 

“Non threatening even. Like a baby deer!” 

“I’m less flattered the more you speak.”

“Tell you what, Chief Jr. We’ll give you a ten percent cut on the takings if you win.” 

“How generous.” 

“Merely a token of our esteem. Just make sure you win before Snotlout brags for the highest possible payout.” 

Hiccup sighed. “Noted.” 

—-

After breakfast, Hiccup went down to the cove. The fight was in the evening, and he had a lot of time to kill before then. And he would rather spend it away from the town. 

It could very well be his final hours. 

Valka was still asleep when he arrived, as was Toothless. But with some gentle poking and prodding, he got the dragon awake. 

After all, Toothless didn’t get to see Hiccup the day before, so he was rather excited to see him. 

Hiccup saddled him quietly, and they left for a long morning flight. 

“You have no idea what’s happening, huh bud?” 

Toothless gave a low whine. 

“I haven’t been very frank with you about it. I mean, you knew how I felt about Astrid, and I told you how close we were. Do dragons have a concept of marriage? Anyway, you knew that Astrid and Snotlout were supposed to get married.” 

A warble. 

“Right. I complained about it for months. Well…I don’t know how to explain this, but I accidentally married her first. You were there when I told my mom, remember?” 

Toothless made a noise that Hiccup swore was a laugh. 

“So while I got to marry her like I had been dreaming about since I was 13, I have to fight Snotlout to restore his honor. It’s happening tonight.” 

Toothless hummed, a low sound that was both comforting and telling. 

He knew exactly what Hiccup was dealing with. 

“So. Yeah. I wish you could help with this, but…ugh. I’ll get in bigger trouble for that. All that to say, I might not be able to come out here for a few days. Possibly. It all depends how hard I get my butt kicked. Astrid’s been training me, at least. I might be able to survive longer than I expect.” He shook his head slowly. “I’m not optimistic though.”

Toothless decided enough was enough of the moping, and tucked his wings in suddenly to drop from the sky. The sudden drop made Hiccup’s stomach float into his lungs as a scream ripped out of him. Just as quickly, Toothless unfurled his wings and caught them. 

Then Hiccup busted out laughing, the adrenaline starting to course through him. “You’re right bud. No use worrying about it right now. Let’s do that again, but higher!” 

—

Despite his valiant efforts, Hiccup found himself marching through town, towards the arena. The sun was a few hours from the horizon, and the rest of the village was finishing their dinners. 

Hiccup had no appetite. 

The squawks of birds combined with the hub-bub of the crowd sounded like a funeral dirge to his ears. It was time. 

Stoick was there when he arrived, as well as a few townsfolk eager to get the good seats. 

Stoick smiled at him and clapped a hand to his shoulder. “There you are! Didn’t see you all day! Surprised you showed up a little early. Thought I’d have to pull you out from under a bed somewhere.” 

“Like a scared cat? Come on, dad. Don’t you have any faith in me?” 

“Son, no offense, but everyday that you’re alive is a miracle.” 

“Can’t argue with that.” 

“Now, I can’t be in the ring with you, so I asked Gobber to take my place. I’m sure Astrid will be with you too.” 

“In the ring? What for?” 

“Technically, to pull the combatants apart at the end of rounds. But in this case, you’ll probably need someone to drag you over to get your wounds treated.” 

“Noted.” 

“I’m also not mediating the fight. I didn’t want anyone to assume I was being biased. So, I have to just be a quiet observer. Just wanted you to know so you weren’t sad I wasn’t being more supportive.” 

“Oh, I don’t think you could be more supportive if you tried,” Hiccup snarked.

Stoick gripped his shoulders, but not too firmly. “Hiccup. No matter how this turns out, remember, it’s not important.”

“That’s what I’m banking on at least.” 

“And, your mother wanted to give you her love and luck too.” 

“That’s sweet.” 

“She’s watching up there,” Stoick pointed to the cliff that looked over the arena. 

Both Valka and Toothless emerged from hiding in the foliage to wave at him. 

Hiccup screwed up his lips. “I’m worried that Toothless will come to my help.” 

“Your mother assured me she has him under control. But we’re all here for you son.” 

It was then that Astrid and Gobber arrived, with Spitelout and Snotlout not far behind them. 

“Ready to get beaten within an inch of your life?” Snotlout smirked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

As a group, they entered the arena. A wide circle was drawn on the stone floor in chalk. Two chairs sat in opposite corners. The Jorgenson’s took the left-most chair, leaving the other for Hiccup. 

Spitelout and Snotlout began having a hushed conversation, most likely last minute suggestions on how to brutally maim Hiccup. Snotlout removed his helmet, vest, and tunic. 

“You should take yours off too,” commented Astrid. “One less thing for him to grab.”

“And,” added Gobber, “they have to see you aren’t wearing any armor.” 

Hiccup grumbled, but conceded. 

Astrid had seen him naked, being shirtless wasn’t a problem. No, it was the new, permanent addition to his torso he thought she’d have an issue with. 

Hiccup slowly removed his tunic, before dropping it onto the chair, and then held his breath for the impending reactions. 

“Hiccup…” Astrid breathed, slightly in awe, and mostly amused. “Wh-what?”

Over his heart, in mostly neat lettering, was Astrid’s name. Tattooed for the rest of eternity. 

“I’m never drinking again,” he said simply, with a little shrug. 

“Oh…” Gobber gave a disappointed sigh. “That looked so much better last night. What did you do?” 

“Me?! You were drunk when you did it! You probably messed it up! I’m just happy it’s spelled right.” 

“There’s a first for everything.” Gobber grinned. 

“Are you serious?!” Snotlout shouted from across the arena. “You got her name tattooed?! You little maggot, she’s not even yours!” 

“She’s my wife, you idiot!” Hiccup snapped back, proudly. 

Snotlout squared his shoulders and began to stomp over, but Spitelout gripped his arm. 

“Keep that anger, but wait a few minutes.” 

Oh great. Now Hiccup was really going to get it. 

At this point, most of the village had arrived, and the rest were trickling in. 

Stoick stood. “Attention!” His voice echoed over the crowd. There was instant silence. 

He had to teach Hiccup how to do that someday. 

“I’d hate to welcome you all to tonight’s event, but what was promised is promised. My son, no matter how well intentioned or accidental, has caused a slight against the Jorgenson family. They have agreed to settle the matter with a fight. After said fight, no matter the outcome, I expect the rest of you to drop the matter entirely.” 

There were some mumbling from the crowd, and Hiccup distinctly heard someone say loud enough, “wouldn’t have been an issue if Spitelout hadn’t tricked poor Axel.” 

“I will now turn it over to Hackjaw, the reigning champion of the Mead Hall brawls, who will be mediating the fight as an unbiased eye.” He gestured to the man. 

“Aye, thank you Chief,” said Hackjaw. “Now, you boys listen up.” He called down to Snotlout and Hiccup. “As you may very well know, there are very few rules in an honor fight. No armor, no weapons but your fists. This fight is not to the death, and if one of the contestants dies, the surviving contestant will be treated as a murderer. And we don’t want that, do we Snotlout?” 

Snotlout scoffed as some of the audience chuckled. 

“There will be three rounds, each round lasting 3 minutes. After each round, we will judge who the winner is and if the other combatant is able to continue. There is no conceding, we will determine if you’ve had enough.” 

Hiccup sighed and hung his head. 

“If a combatant is knocked unconscious, the other will be declared the victor of the fight. In the off chance that there is no knock out, the winner of the majority of rounds wins. If there is a draw and the end result is a tie, we will add a quick one minute round at the end. Each round begins and ends with a horn.” He pointed to silent Sven, who held an hourglass and a horn. “Are there any questions?” 

“What’s the chalk circle for?” Asked Hiccup.

“Try to keep the fight in the circle to protect the others in the arena.”

“What’s the rule on broken bones?” Snotlout asked, while cracking his knuckles. 

“Legal.” 

Hiccup swore aloud. 

“If we are ready, combatants step into the ring.” 

“You got this,” Astrid promised. 

“Yeah right.” Hiccup chuckled darkly. 

When both Hiccup and Snotlout stood in the ring, Hiccup assumed his fighting stance, now muscle memory from all his training with Astrid. 

“I hope the marriage was worth it,” Snotlout sneered. “Because I’m about to break you so bad you’ll wish you were dead.” 

“Or, you could just rough me up a bit and we’ll say I owe you a favor?” 

“Can’t wait to break your jaw so you stop being such a smart ass.”

“I should have run when I had the chance.”

“Ready!” called Hackjaw. 

The horn sounded, and Hiccup clenched every muscle in his body, totally frozen in fear. 

Snotlout ran at him, full tilt, a primal roar ripping from his throat. He slammed into Hiccup, lifting him off his feet, then quickly threw him to the ground, knocking the wind from his lungs. 

Hiccup only had a second to contemplate how stupid that was before Snotlout’s knee dug into his sternum, and the punches came.

The first blow turned his vision white. It wasn’t the first time he’d been punched in the face, but this was the first time it was against the ground where his head couldn’t move. 

Right to the face, full strength, knuckles drilling into his bones. It was a flurry of blows, each one blending in with the last, all tenderizing his face. A few to his nose, a few to his upper cheek, a couple to his jaw. 

If he hadn’t clenched everything, it might have hurt a bit more, if possible. 

The horn blew, but Hiccup barely noticed, as Snotlout had yet to relent his assault.

It was suddenly over as Snotlout was forcibly pulled off of him by Spitelout and Gobber. 

“There’s no way that was three minutes!” Snotlout yelled up to Hackjaw.

“I can end the round early if I think someone has had enough!”

Astrid ran to Hiccup and knelt beside him. “Hiccup?”

“Don’t touch him!” Cried Hackjaw. “Hiccup, lad, are you awake? Can you hear me?”

Hiccup raised a weak thumbs up to Hackjaw. 

“No knock out! Snotlout wins the round! One minute break before the next round!” 

Gobber and Astrid each hooked an arm under Hiccup and dragged him over to sit in the chair. 

He already looked awful, and the bruising hadn’t even set in yet. Blood poured from his nose, split lip, and eyebrow. 

Astrid took a wet washcloth and tried to gently wipe the blood away, but without a bandage, it would be a problem again. 

“Water,” Hiccup huffed. 

She took the ladle provided and gave him a drink. 

He sipped it, swished the water around in his mouth, and spat it out on the ground. It was mostly blood. 

“Bucket,” he then said. 

Astrid gave him the whole bucket of water, about to question what he was doing when he dunked his whole head in. 

He flung his head out a moment later, his now wet hair flopping back. 

“Are you okay to go again?” Asked Gobber. “Because if you're at all disoriented, I can tell the judges, and this can be over.” 

Hiccup pushed his wet hair back and wiped the bloody water from his face. “I have to try again. Astrid worked so hard to train me, and I totally screwed it all up. I have to try again.” 

Astrid rested a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do this on my behalf. All the ‘louts want is to punch you around. They did that. You can be done.” 

“One more round.” 

Gobber didn’t look too sure, but nevertheless, helped him to his feet.

On his own, Hiccup went back into the ring. 

Snotlout faced him on the other side. Hiccup noticed with a strange hint of pride, that Snotlout’s knuckles were bleeding. 

“What? We’re going again? I think it’s pretty clear I’ve already won this thing.” 

That declaration sent up equal cheers and boos from the crowd. 

Hiccup smiled. Oh right, the bet. 

“Round 2!” Hackjaw announced, and Hiccup dropped into his fighting stance. His face throbbed, and his body trembled with adrenaline. 

The horn sounded, and Snotlout ran at him just like the last time. 

This time, Hiccup wasn’t frozen. He clenched his muscles, and as Snotlout collided with him, Hiccup dug his fingers into his back, brought his knee up, and drilled it right into Snotlout’s stomach. 

This made Snotlout release his grip slightly, and Hiccup got out of the grapple and scooted several feet away. 

The crowd cheered. 

“Why you little—!” Snotlout grit, running at him again. This time, he went for his neck, and Hiccup expertly weaved out of the hold. Snotlout got him into a headlock, and Hiccup used his elbow to dig into Snotlout’s ribs and get out, just like he and Astrid had practiced. 

Every grapple, Hiccup had an answer for. Every punch, he knew how to deflect or move with to avoid pain. 

Snotlout kicked Hiccup hard in the side of the knee, causing him to lose his balance, at which point, Snotlout gave him a hearty shove to knock him down. Hiccup fell, but braced himself with his arm so as not to hit his head, then he quickly rolled up onto his knee and got to his feet before Snotlout could hit him while he was down. 

The crowd went wild, chanting Hiccup’s name. It seemed like regardless of bets, the village was excited to see a good fight. Stoick’s cheers were the loudest.

“Stand still!” Snotlout shouted. 

Hiccup didn’t respond, remaining laser focused on avoiding the next attack. 

Snotlout threw a nasty haymaker towards Hiccup’s head, which he blocked with both of his arms. This left his stomach open, and Snotlout landed a heavy punch there. 

Hiccup crumbled forward, winded again. But before Snotlout could hit him again, the horn sounded. 

“Oh come on!” Snotlout shouted. 

“End of round!” Hackjaw declared. “A draw!” 

This made the crowd go crazy again, as Hiccup returned to his chair. 

Astrid shook his shoulder enthusiastically. “That was great! I knew that training would help!” 

Hiccup managed to smile. “I’m kind of impressed with myself, honestly.” 

Gobber crouched at his side. “You have one round left. Think you can do it?”

“I feel a little light headed,” Hiccup wiped the blood from his face that continued to pour from the first round. “But I can do it.” 

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I promise that no one is going to give you any grief for fighting dirty.”

“Fighting dirty?”

“Cheap shots.”

Hiccup nodded heavily. “Sure. And I’m sure no one saw how many times Snotlout pinched and bit me during that round.” He held out his arm that had a bite mark on it. He glanced over to where Snotlout was resting. He looked pissed, but Spitelout was worse, reaming him out and pointing out everything he had ever done wrong. 

“I get it!” Snotlout finally shouted back, loud enough for Hiccup to hear. “I didn’t even want to do this stupid fight! So just let me finish it!” 

Spitelout jutted out his jaw, but retreated, throwing a wet towel at the back of Snotlout's head. 

“Ready?” Astrid asked. 

“Let’s end this.” Hiccup stood, shaking out his limbs. 

Snotlout joined him in the circle, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. No doubt, Snotlout could see the graphic amount of blood pouring from Hiccup’s face. 

There had to be some satisfaction.

The horn sounded, signaling the last round. 

Neither moved. Hiccup, waiting to go on defense again, and Snotlout deciding what move he was going to make. 

“Take him down!” Spitelout hollered. 

Snotlout then smiled, looking slightly smug. “You know what? I’m going to let you have the first hit.” 

“What?” Hiccup asked, only slightly thrown off. 

“Yeah!” Snotlout laughed, widening his stance, and raising his arms out to his sides. “Give me your best shot.”

“What are you doing, you idiot?!” Spitelout raged. 

But Snotlout simply seemed to not care, and waited patiently for Hiccup to hit him. He even closed his eyes. 

Perhaps it was a trick? No, Snotlout really was too cocky for his own good sometimes. Hiccup moved closer, slowly, thinking. If he did this right, he could actually win. 

With all the strength his little body could muster, he kicked up, right between Snotlout’s legs and sent his balls inside his body. Snotlout crumbled forward, a satisfying wheeze slithering through his lips. 

Hiccup took the opportunity to grab Snotlout by the hair and bring his face down while Hiccup raised his knee. Bone against bone connected in an audible clack, Hiccup’s kneecap striking right between Snotlout’s eyes, and Hiccup dropped his opponent. 

Everyone stood still for a moment, just waiting for Snotlout to get back up. 

“Snotlout! Get up!” Spitelout yelled, his voice breaking. 

Snotlout didn’t move.

Gobber ran over to check, rested a hand on his back, and then on his neck. He smirked and called to Hackjaw, “Snotlout’s out cold.” 

“THAT’S MY SON!!” Stoick screamed, his voice echoing over the arena. 

A smile began to break out on Hiccup’s face as the cheers of the crowd were deafening.

But it was good he didn’t drop his guard, because Spitelout was livid and ran straight at Hiccup, his fists already swinging. 

Hiccup performed the same maneuver on Spitelout as he just had with Snotlout. He kicked the man clear in the nuts and bashed his face with his knee. 

The crowd went silent.

As Spitelout hit the ground, Hiccup backed up, actually terrified. “Oh gods! I didn’t mean too!” 

Fortunately, Spitelout seemed to take it better than Snotlout had, and wasn’t knocked out. He staggered to his feet, groaning. Then, as he held his head, he began chuckling to himself. “Alright, alright, I suppose I deserved that.”

Hiccup took a further step back. 

“What a wallop! Sure, it was no punch, but it certainly did the job!” Spitelout was still laughing. He shook his head. “Ah, this whole thing was a lot of nonsense wasn’t it? Sorry about that lad.” And he went over to Snotlout and poked him with his foot. “Alright boy, let’s go home and get you patched up.” 

Hiccup dropped his arms in shock. 

He felt light headed again, that cotton-in-the-ears, fuzziness in his brain. He stood awkwardly in the arena as the village erupted in a roar. People were throwing things, shaking the chains around the dome, and hitting each other. 

“You did it!” Astrid cheered as she collided with him. Hiccup went boneless as she picked him up and spun him around. “I’m so proud of you!” 

Hiccup grinned at her, despite his dizziness. He managed a sound of affirmation that sort of sounded like, ‘yuh’. 

Astrid then grabbed his face and kissed him full on the lips. 

It was then that Hiccup finally passed out.

[temporalbystander]

Okay, here's a new one,

When I first saw How to Train your Dragon my fanfic creating brain shut down. Why? Because my dumb depressed ass thought dark powers were the best and if my dragonrider OC wasn't getting an all powerful nightfury, or at least something unique? Then I didn't want anything to do with it.

Later the tv show comes out but I was too busy to watch it and what I did see didn't grab me enough to warrant binging it online. Then the second movie came out and Toothless became even more badass and I got even more annoyed at the whole "not able to have a Nightfury" thing.

More time passed and I finally get the time to watch the show. I miss some early ones but then the later seasons give me ideas. "Never before seen dragons? One of a kind dragons? This is perfect!" I'd thought of creating a dragon before but with the Nightfury topping speed, shooting lighting and (though I didn't know it at the time) able to turn invisible? It kind of had all the powers I'd want for an OC dragon so I scrapped the idea. Then there's the second problem.

There are two types of OC's in my mind. The kind that exist to change the story and fix things (i.e My main OC's for Harry Potter, Naruto and Doctor Who.), And then there are the types who exist solely to vibe in universe. The ones that are basically background characters, sure they can offer advice or get the spotlight in certain original scenarios, but for all the big canon events they tend to sit back and let the story run its course. Faybon, Arthur and my pony OC Dusk Note are all examples of this type of OC where the challenge becomes "how do I make them important, and meaningful to the main characters, while still writing them out of the major plot points?" Since I liked how canon went just fine the Dragon rider OC would need to be this second type.

With Faybon I relied on Bunnyx to keep him out of the way, Arthur had the feud with Sky that basically forced him out of the majority of the plot (much different from my first draft which involved him unlocking a magic of his own and studying with the girls... Guess which hormonal stage made that decision.) Dusk was the most difficult as he was created while I was at my lowest and had one of the darker backstories Ive written. This, unfortunately, resulted in him relying on the mane 6 too heavily and thus I needed to think up why he couldn't get involved in adventures as much as he otherwise should have.

So I was stuck. How do I keep a character that is Hiccup's age, in a society where dragons basically become pets, from being involved in dragon riding until they reach the point where new dragons become a possibility? As I am not that creative, but loathe the simple solutions, I had given up again. Then I caught the earlier episodes and one in particular gave me an idea that not only created the OC but the dragon AND gave a legitimate reason for why he wasn't involved.

The episode in question? The one where they argue who the best trainer is. It's Hiccup by the way, they argue that it's not fair because he has Toothless but that's just copium. Everything they know about training they learned from him, the reason they can ride is because of him, the reason Berk is in peace is because of him. Sure fishlegs may have the dragon book memorised but Hiccup rewrote the damn thing and added a sequel. Not to mention the fact he managed to catch a Nightfury in the first place puts him at the top of the dragon hunting class anyway. Hell the "weak spot" Astrid used on Stormfly when the dragons went wild from ticks? That she promised not to tell anyone about? Was discovered by Hiccup, on Toothless, and used by him on Stormfly in the first movie. The only edge any of them have is experience with their own dragon.

Anyway I got off topic. After the episode they all return to the dragon pens, still arguing about who the best trainer is, when OC enters, henceforth dubbed MistWheeze, and says what I just did. Then this whole scene plays out and... You know what? Maybe I'd be better of just writing it out for you... After I get a couple more hours sleep.

[sivyera]

Httyd characters falling in love with you

ft. hiccup, eret, tuffnut, snotlout, grimmel, astrid, ruffnut

A/N: Some characters (Hiccup, Tuff, Ruff and Astrid) in this headcanon are from httyd 1.

⤷ Hiccup

Hiccup would admiring you. He would admire every little thing about you and every little think you did. You were the only one who wasn't making fun of him for not being 'strong' enough, which made him fall in love with you. He would be blushing every time you touch him. And he would be shy around you. Everyone can saw how is he looking at you. Because he have so much love in his eyes. It's incredible. It took him a two days than he starts conversation with you by himself. But it was worth it! And don't worry soon he won't be able to hold his love for you anymore so he will tell you, soon.

⤷ Eret

Eret would be the one who would take it well. He knew he would fall in love someday. And he is glad it's you. But still he would be nervous and sometimes little flustered because I think he don't have any experience with dating. He was aimed on dragon hunting and with Drago's goal. But after the war with Drago, he could talk to you and support his feelings for you. He likes eating with you. Breakfast, lunch or dinner - doesn't matter, what matter is that he is with you. I don't think that Eret had some good food when he was hunting so that's why he likes eating with you. He would tell you his feeling after a month.

⤷ Tuffnut

After Tuff realized that he's in love with you, he would try to make you laugh, all day. And he would try impress you. Keyword 'try'. Because he failed multiple times, but he is still trying and he won't give up. One time he was trying to impress you about how intelligent he is, but he made himself look more dumb than he actually is. Ruffnut just laugh at him and she would tease him about it, like a LOT. Once she almost told you about Tuff's crush on you. Tuffnut beat her ass after that. He would try to flirt with you but it's similar with his 'impress try'. He would tell you after two or three months.

⤷ Grimmel

He would ignore you at first. He don't know how to love someone and he never thought he would fall in love. He didn't have a time for love, back then. And he will be frustrated about it. But he's just afraid, and he doesn't why which frustrates him. He would try talk to you and it would take him five tries to start talking to you. He maybe doesn't talk much bu he is definitely watching you. If he saw you getting uncomfortable he would help you. But discreetly, so no one knows. He would tell you his feeling after a year.

⤷ Snotlout

Constantly flirting and cocky comments. He would try to make good impression on you but Hookfang ruins it. Hookfang loves teasing him about it and ruins his flirting tries. But I think at some point he would be insecure because he would be stressed from his father. Playful fights. He loves to tease you when you lose. One time someone stole your dragon so you, Snotlout and Hookfang tried to find him/her. You sat behind Snotlout with your arms around his waist, which already made him feel nervous but you fall asleep on him. When he noticed you fall asleep on HIM - he felt amazing. Because you trust him to the point when you can fall asleep next to him. You trust him that hi will protect you. He would confess his feeling after a five months.

⤷ Astrid

Astrid would be... confused. She have to focus on her training and on becoming the strongest viking. She just don't have time for love. But she can't command love, so when she didn't focused on her feelings they just grow up and now they were bigger and more stronger. So she couldn't hold them anymore. She would try talk to you and try to find what you like. She would think about you a lot. At first she couldn't sleep because everything she had in mind was you, but she get use to it. And now you are the reason why she's going in bed early, so she can think about you. She would tell you her feeling after eight months.

⤷ Ruffnut

Ruffnut can fall in love pretty easily, but he crushes didn't last longer than few days. You prove her wrong tho, she had a crush on you for a six months but she still isn't ready to tell you. She loves spending her time with you. Most common things you two do are sleepovers and having lunch together. You two can talk for hours and don't get bored. Tuff would tease her about it which in most cases end up a fight. She would let you play with her hair. And she feel so calm when you are around. She would tell you her feelings when she is ready.

[sea-owl]

I need to get me a partner like the Haddock men.

Stoick the Vast, that man, that chief of vikings, sees his wife and mother of his child after 20 years of separation. He finds out that she isn't dead like he believed, eaten by a dragon, she has been living and rescuing dragons. Who keep in mind was his enemy and the bane of his existence until 5 years before this moment when their son changed his mind.

Stoick has been kinda through it too. He has been leading a village, raising Hiccup on his own, and lets be honest Hiccup was definitely not an easy kid to raise, and combating the constant dragon raids on their home. All the while he has mourned the loss of his wife who should have been one of, if not his biggest, supports.

Realistically Stoick should have remarried if nothing more than an agreed marriage of convenience, but no he's loyal to the memory of his wife. He even has part of her armor made into a helmet to keep her close.

And after 20 years, after tracking down his wayward son, she's standing before him. Stoick is stunned, because it's a memory come back to life.

Valka is the one shouting begging and fully expecting Stoick to be angry, and to a degree he has a right to be. If this was five years earlier, back when Stoick confronted Hiccup after the disaster with the Monstrous Nightmare he probably would have shouted, probably would have let his anger take over.

But it's been five years since that fight with Hiccup. Stoick has learned, has grown, he has ridden and trained two of his own dragons. He has done what Valka thought he never could.

And you know what the first thing Stoick says to her after 20 years? "You're as beautiful as the day I lost you."

Oh gods Hiccup got his romantic nature from Stoick!

Now onto the younger Haddock.

Hiccup and Astrid are a better version of Stoick and Valka because they leaned to do the one thing that separated the older Haddock couple.

They learned to communicate.

Now this wasn't an easy road as we've been shown to us throughout the series. They have kept secrets from one another that has blown up in their faces. Hell their first lesson in communicating happened because Hiccup kidnapped Astrid.

But they are so much better for learning this lesson early. They are each other's biggest supports, if one is down to do some shit the other ain't that far behind. They don't hold each other back, if one fails the other one is right there by their side.

Their love is a nartual thing that is as easy and hard as breathing.

It's all so beautiful! The Haddock men are such romantics!

[kitten-ly]

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

~ ~ ~

Chapter Two

AO3 link https://archiveofourown.org/works/37435906/chapters/93424978

~ ~ ~

Over the course of his whole life, Hiccup Haddock had never quite fit in. What a shocker. For Viking children of Berk, grade school consisted of mainly physical exertions such as sword fighting, axe swinging, and bow shooting, along with hunting, skinning, gutting, nauseating stuff like that, and you guessed it, Hiccup wasn’t good at any of those things.

It was instilled in the minds of the children at a young age that a fight for their life could always be right around the corner, therefore they were conditioned to be killing machines.

Their training would begin around the fresh age of five and would not end until the age of eighteen. By that time, a Viking should have finished out all of their training, and they would be honored as the true warrior that had been groomed to be all their life, complete with a live audience and award ceremony. Cringe.

Unfortunately for Hiccup, these warrior-required attributes, consisting of strength and combat, were not his expertise, in fact, they were quite literally the opposite, given his scrawny size and timid nature.

Hiccup sometimes imagined he was born into the wrong life, wondering if instead, he was supposed to have been raised by aristocrats in a peaceful setting, who read literature and appreciated art and would never even think of using violence as a way to sort out their problems.

Here in Berk, life proved to be more challenging for the young Viking.

There were very few lessons dedicated to reading and using actual books, which of course happened to be one of the very few things he actually enjoyed in his boring, lonely life.

If they were instructed to read anything at all, it usually just consisted of the so very fascinating construction and description different of weapons and offensive and defensive stances, but on some rare occasions, they would get to read the interesting details about the history of the Viking culture or Berk’s origins.

Once, on one of the rare occasions where they would attend an actual class, the instructor mentioned something briefly, that truly intrigued Hiccup.

Though it was only a legend, he talked about these great, scaley, winged beasts with sharp horns and teeth and fire breath—how extraordinary! This irrelevant topic had been glazed over so thinly, that Hiccup decided he wasn’t done learning about it, so he spent most of his time with his face buried in a book, trying to learn anything and everything he possibly could about this glorious, mythical creature called a ‘dragon.’

He spent a lot of his time attempting to draw too, copying illustrations of dragons from the books. Eventually, when his skills grew decent, he began using references drawn straight out of real life.

Mostly, he would sketch the things he would see during his walks through the forest, like some of the plants with pale blue flowers strung up with delicate chrysalises, or small, furry animals that other Vikings probably would have slain, not to mention the breathtaking, scenic views he couldn’t possibly allow himself to forget, and ultimately, Astrid.

The radiant, fierce girl of his dreams and fantasies had come to life, coincidentally in his very life, lucky him!

In the early years of childhood, before anything mattered, they had shared a few friendly quips here and there, prior to the age of ten. Maybe they had another couple exchanges sometime after that, nonetheless, much too soon, he decided and accepted somberly in his own little mind that his luck had run short and she would never give him the time of day, much less spit in his direction.

Despite, the miserable realization that she would never want to be his girl, that didn’t stop him from at least looking at her, or rather swooning over her, to say the least.

This fixation on Astrid first started off in the very early years of puberty, as a boyish attraction of admiring the physical things.

He would daydream of kissing the adorable pout to her cherry lips or imagine what it would be like to run his fingers through the soft lustrous shine that caught in her long blonde hair.

On a more shameful note, he remembered one hot summer day when Astrid wore shorts and a sleeveless top to train in, he and the dozen-and-a-half other teenage boys that lived in Berk hung out in the training arena that day, naturally.

Some boys were decent enough to least act like they were training. However, idiots like Hiccup hung out on the arena bleachers and literally just sat and watched, hypnotized—though Hiccup had a book in hand to distract himself and a sketchbook on the seat beside him in case he needed some extra distracting.

Regardless, he had caught himself surveying the length of her beautiful, toned legs, gawking at the slender curve of her developing hips and the way she would move them, but he mentally slapped himself, for being so raunchy, forcing himself to look away. The last thing he wanted to do was disrespect her in any way.

Over time, this little crush had gradually evolved into true desire, the longer he kept an eye on her, noticing and remembering things about her.

While she paid no mind to him, purely unaware of his existence, he watched in awe from a distance, amazed by the agile way she moved in battle, so practiced and quick, like a flexible, little cat.

He was dazed by how much strength and endurance she possessed, seemingly able to train for hours before getting too fatigued. How charmed he was by the way she carried herself, so confident and satisfied, smirking her pretty, little mouth or raising a sassy eyebrow in defiance. He was beginning to find a new appreciation for her internal characteristics rather than just her perfect outer shell.

Per usual, luck was never in Hiccup’s favor, when some of the other, bigger, stronger, boys also took notice of these irresistible qualities of Astrid’s and did not fail to move in for the catch hastily. What was he supposed to expect to happen to a beautiful girl in a small village with not very many options? Though he never saw her giving them any real affection—she was obviously much too clever for their foolish tactics, he was sure—it was still irritating to see these savages plague around her like hungry vultures.

He considered himself lucky enough if he got to hear her gorgeous, exciting laugh, though regrettably, the cost to hear it was putting himself in the same vicinity as some of the older guys that could actually manage to entertain her.

Way too old for her, Hiccup would always think to himself, seeing them tower over her, considering she, like himself, was only fifteen years old and these guys he sent glares at were at least eighteen and some even a little older.

Subsequently, when his infatuation got a hold on him, he began drawing her, never in person, he was way too choked up by the fear of someone catching him (he would be so mortified he would probably die), so he would mainly draw Astrid alone in his room. He would usually draw her by herself but sometimes with other women, well, actually fairies, goddesses, and angels, but mainly Astrid. Though, in his eyes, and he wouldn’t doubt other people’s too, she was one of these magical entities.

One of the luckiest days of his life didn’t start off so well. Little did he know, the day would take a turn for the far better.

It had rained the night before so the earth was damp and the leaves jingled with teardrops.

The kids had the day off from training, so taking advantage of this freedom, Hiccup did what he normally did in his spare time when he wasn't helping Gobber at the forge, and hung out on the outskirts of the village.

He sat criss-cross on a flat boulder, that had dried quickly in the morning sun, some of his books sprawled about a neighboring log, flipped open to pages of dragon illustrations he was revamping in his own sketchbook. He was no longer copying these dragons, only using them as inspiration for his own creations. Not to brag or anything, but Hiccup felt at this point, his ability to draw had surpassed the level of the illustrations in the book he once used as a learning reference. He no longer found enjoyment in copying others' art even just for learning purposes. Now he craved to fabricate his own visions onto paper.

This was the part where things got shitty for no reason. Hiccup was always minding his own business whenever these guys decided to muck up his mood.

He was sketching the detailed wing of what his version of the Night Fury would look like when the approaching sound of obnoxious laughter and yelling suddenly grew audible enough for Hiccup to lift his head out of the book in alarm.

Around the corner, came tumbling into view a few boys possibly older than him but definitely bigger than him. He recognized their faces from simply growing up locally in the same small village, but he could not pinpoint any of their names.

“Oh great, it’s the chief’s kid,” he heard one say.

When the approaching guys were only ten steps away they seemed a lot taller and definitely at least a year or two older than him.

“How’s it going Haddock?” hissed the one with almost white hair, his words were passive however there was a malicious undertone that promised Hiccup he was in for something good.

With an exaggerated sigh, Hiccup snapped his book shut, mentally preparing himself for the abuse about to come his way.

Uneasily, he got to his feet, attempting to stand his ground, but when they towered over him like this, their size differences truly began to sink in.

“What is this shit? A dragon? You know those things aren’t real,” scoffed one of the other ones, picking up a book by one of its pages.

“Hey, gimme that back!” Hiccup made a snatch for the book but the hulking idiot dropped it before Hiccup’s hand could close around it, merely catching thin air.

“Whoops.”

What were the chances it landed in a puddle of mud with a wet splatter? Hiccup glared down at it in disbelief before their skin-crawling voices were speaking again.

“Get out of here, kid, this is where we’re training,” said the one with sandy blonde hair wielding a two-handed battle axe.

Wondering what gave them the right to tell him what to do, he debated keeping his mouth shut, but never.

“I was here first,” Hiccup meant to sound intimidating, but his voice faltered and he sounded like a territorial child on the playground.

“Alright, then,” growled the one with black hair, his icy eyes piercing with impatience as he stopped in front of Hiccup, “You’ll just have to watch us train because Thor knows your puny arms can’t lift a weapon!”

They all shared a nasty laugh.

Hiccup’s chest felt heavy with embarrassment but his blood also boiled with hate. He wanted to cuss them out so badly, but he knew they would most definitely kick his ass, so he settled for rolling his eyes and, “I can find better things to do with my day than watch you sweaty guys roll around on the ground together.”

This seemed to piss them off more than he thought it would.

Hiccup did not have time to think before the white-haired guy had grabbed him by the shirt collar, nearly yanking him off his feet with a small yelp, drawing their faces only a couple of inches apart.

He was far too close for comfort, so close that Hiccup could smell the morning bacon still on his hot breath, and he struggled to lean his face away, screwing his eyes shut, but the other boy's grip was unrelenting.

He realized he would have been better off just cussing them out.

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, talking to us like that, or what the fuck you’re implying,” he snarled, sounding all tough at first but it withered away as he paused, trying to think of something to say in his big, stupid head.

“You oughta shut that mouth of yours before I shut it for you,” he decided on before stupidly adding, “with my fist!”

His friends' laughs for moral support were awkwardly delayed.

This guy really thought he was clever, huh? Hiccup wanted to laugh in his face or say something sarcastic and make him feel incompetent, but he figured his big mouth had already gotten him into enough trouble.

To his greatest relief, the bully released his collar, giving him a little shove of closure.

Hiccup nearly lost his balance in the unstable mushy earth, regained his footing right on time, and began working quickly to gather his things under their daunting smirks. He wouldn’t waste another second in their presence. They had won but he didn’t care.

With all his stuff, even the muddy book cluttered in his arms, he started on the trail that led out to the woods, but before he could make it a couple of steps, their apparent leader shoulder slammed past him for one last blow, nearly knocking everything out his arms again.

“It was fun playing together, this time, huh, Haddock?”

Hiccup ignored their scornful snickers as he distanced himself quickly, but not too quickly. He didn’t want to look frightened or anything.

He was headed to the forest, where he knew no one could bother him way out there.

Puddles collected in the dips of terrain, sloshing muddy sheets against his fur boots.

He felt like crying but he wouldn’t allow himself to—he was much too old for that, and decided those morons weren’t worth wasting tears over anyway. This still didn’t stop him from wallowing over how much he hated his dreadful, lonely life.

He had lost all hope for himself, deciding much too soon, that the gray clouds would never clear up, not in this lifetime, at least. It only took a couple of hours for fate to change that pitiful theory of his.

In hindsight, he was so glad those guys bullied him into the woods because he would have never stumbled across the very thing that gave him life.

What were the incredulous odds that his typically unsuccessful stream of luck brought him right to her?

He had been drawing for a good part of the rest of that day, sitting up in a tree on a thick, sturdy branch, when a glimpse of blonde, drifting below the branches caught his eye.

His first reaction was irritation, when it occurred to him there would never be a way to escape everyone. Someone would always find a way to harass or interrupt him in the middle of his—

His breath hitched, stomach lurched in his throat, as he realized who it was.

Astrid. He tried to remember how to breathe, as she wavered for a moment beneath his tree, then continued on.

Hiccup composed himself, then cautiously leaned over the branch, to see past some leaves where she was headed.

She was walking kind of fast, but Hiccup could tell she was only wandering and didn’t really seem to know where she was going. She clutched her axe in one hand every now and then swinging it absently.

She stopped to interrogate a tree, pointing her weapon at it as she threatened something inaudible.

Gods, she’s so cute, Hiccup couldn’t help but smile as she gave it a mighty hack complete with a high-pitched battle cry.

He silently thanked the gods for allowing him to see such a precious moment, how playful she was acting with no one around for her to aim to impress.

He debated hanging out up here and watching her undetected, to witness some more silly behavior.

It occurred to him that if she didn’t know anyone was watching her she might accidentally do something suggestive, like take off all her clothes? What! He mentally slapped himself. He was really going to give himself a nosebleed. Why in the hell would she take off all her clothes all of the sudden in the woods? As much as he hated to admit to himself, a shameful part of him would really enjoy to see that, but Hiccup reminded himself he was a gentleman, and his morals were stronger than his guilty desire.

The stronger, wiser part of him felt watching her was too wrong, like inappropriate, like he was no better than those other dumbass guys that lusted over her. Instead of sitting here, like a little sissy on the sidelines, he was going to take initiative for once in his life and go talk to the girl he has been so down bad for.

Without any further consideration, he tucked his books away in the small leather bag he had brought and began climbing down the tree trunk.

He would casually walk past her, like an ‘oh what are you doing here,’ type of thing. He had the whole sequence of events planned out carefully in his head, but as he drew closer to her moving figure, his certainty began to diminish.

This would be another one of the very few, very rare conversations they would ever have together, so he better not screw this up.

Still utterly unaware of his presence, she continued practicing military battle stances, never missing an opportunity to swing her axe when she could, as Hiccup approached hesitantly from far behind.

Astrid lunged forward, to slice the mangled trunk, but when she sprang back, she must have miscalculated her footing. It happened in a flash, so he couldn’t be sure, but it looked like she landed on her ankle or the side of her foot, only breaking the impact of her fall by throwing up her forearms in front of her.

Hiccup did not waste a second of time to assist her, seizing the opportunity the gods had so generously granted him. His luck had just begun to take a tremendous turnover.

There was a saying he had heard from grownups throughout his whole life, and after reading immeasurable amounts of literature, not even on purpose, he found out that it was Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who came up with this overlooked concept. However, Hiccup never really did see any truth behind it…until this very distinct moment. The phrase goes, ‘everything happens for a reason.’

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

Winter Whumperland Day 11: Vows

Summary: Written for Winter Whumperland Day 11. Set in a Modern AU, follows up on Day 10 'Ruin'. During the months after his son's disappearance, Stoick has trouble coping and finds himself lost in memories.

Warning: /

Rating: Teen and up

Characters: Stoick, Gobber, Valka, Hiccup, Fishlegs, Dagur, Astrid, Heather, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut

Pairing: Past-Hiccstrid

Words: 4 006

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Prompt: “Falling Through Ice”

Whumpee: Hiccup, Stoick, Gobber, Valka

Author’s Notes: Okay, so believe it or not, I did finish this one waaay back in December. But I didn't want to post it until I finished Day 12, which then turned out to be so long I needed to divide it into two parts. Day 12 part 2 still isn't finished yet, but after much too long, I did finally have the energy to get through proofreading this one.

So there you have it, here's Day 11 at long last!

Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Enjoy!

Ao3

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It’s through a call in the late morning that Stoick received the news. He was sleeping in for once, something he rarely does as he enjoys waking up early in the morning to get the most work out of a day.

That day, he slept in and it was the ringtone of the smartphone Hiccup made him get that woke him up. He grabbed it and sat up before he answered tiredly.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Haddock, sir?” He recognized the voice as belonging to that of Astrid Hofferson, his son’s girlfriend.

“Yes, lass?” He rubbed in his heavy eyes. How did sleeping in longer make him more than waking up with the sun did?

“We think something’s happened with Hiccup. We think he’s missing.”

It was news Stoick never thought he would ever get to hear and he would’ve thought it a prank, if it wasn’t for the tremble in the girl’s voice. Astrid has always seemed tough to him and a terrible liar, like Hiccup. That was genuine emotion in her tone.

That was how he found out his son was missing.

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In the beginning, there was a fire driving Stoick forwards.

When his son’s friends called to tell him that they hadn’t seen or heard from Hiccup in a worryingly amount of time when he should’ve been taking his dragon home, Stoick was quick to come over.

He met with the five and the dragon, the one Hiccup was supposed to return to the sanctuary he had escaped from just to see his human companion.

He’d gotten their stories in person, spent another couple of hours trying to reach Hiccup, then searched the places he could’ve possibly gone to, even visiting Gobber and calling Valka, neither of which had seen a sign of him either. After a whole night wasted on trying to reach him, Stoick finally went to the police.

The friends had to do their story again, they were taken seriously, Stoick provided with a description and a picture, it was on the news, posters were printed and posted, it was a whole process, but they were fired up and stubborn in bringing him home.

Then days passed with no real news, then weeks, and then months of nothing. Nothing but sick minds who get some sort of kick out prank calling a worried father and grieving friends and girlfriend.

Stoick went out there himself to search for his son. The coffee shop he worked at, his street, the neighboring streets, he searched the entire city for just a single sign of Hiccup. And if he thought the police wasn’t doing enough, he’d hound them into doing more.

In the beginning, there was no short supply of spirit in his desire to find Hiccup, but now it’s been months and he feels like he’s already running on fumes.

He’s not going to stop, he’s never going to stop, but there are days where he can only sit on the couch in a darkened room and nothing more.

It doesn’t help that the holidays are fast approaching and all they do now is add to his sour mood. If Hiccup isn’t found soon, this’ll be his first without his son and that does not sit well with Stoick at all.

But anyway, Gobber is here, too.

“You know, Stoick, you scowl any more, you’re going to scare even me away.” Gobber jokes with him, attempting to lighten the mood with a light joke. The two have been silently and mindlessly watching whatever crosses their way, hoping to chase away any and all thought as they bring them both nothing but pain.

Gobber is heartbroken, too, jokes and faith in their son’s stubbornness used to help him cling to the hope that they’ll see him again.

At first, it was the hope that they’ll see him again soon, nowadays it’s the hope that they’ll see him again someday, whether dead or alive. Because Gobber isn’t a fool, he knows the first few days are very crucial in a missing person’s case, especially the first 24 hours. Isn’t that what those cop shows always claim? Hiccup has already been gone for months.

He wasn’t able to do much in the beginning. When it came to searching for Hiccup out there on the street and surrounding forests, he was only able to come along for so much with a leg and an arm missing. But with jokes, by talking with Stoick, or just keeping him company, he can help the man be less alone in his suffering.

Stoick hasn’t left the house in days, has stopped returning Valka’s call, and Gobber thinks that’s an alarming thing. The last thing his friend needs is to cut himself off from his family and Hiccup’s friends.

Taking his glare off the tv, which he isn’t paying attention to, anyway, Stoick instead scowls at Gobber.

“Do you truly think that I am in the mood for jokes, Gobber?” He asks, not all that happy to deal with Gobber’s attempt at humor, to say the least.

“Only for tasteful ones!” Gobber replies, his cheer still very much intact. Or that’s what he wants Stoick and those friends of Hiccup’s to believe.

Wordlessly, Stoick looks back at the tv. Apparently, they’ve been watching a channel about DIYs, a chair is being constructed in the current program. He hadn’t even noticed before.

Gobber sighs and looks back at the tv, the living room bathing in darkness except for the light from the screen. Once upon a time, he could at least annoy Stoick into interacting with him, now he can’t even accomplish that anymore.

And if he can’t reach Stoick… Well, it does little good for his own mental health.

Though usually a man that likes a clean house, Stoick has really been letting the place go as there are dishes and cans and filth everywhere. Not that Gobber can fault him for that as his own housekeeping isn’t what it used to be, though it’s always been on the messy side.

Stoick hadn’t wanted to see him either, further backing up his worries that his friend is isolating himself from the outside world. It’s only because Gobber insisted by pushing right past him and forced his way into the home that he isn’t alone now.

Gazing at the silent man, he wonders what he’s thinking now.

Stoick is thinking of Hiccup, for sure, he always is these past months. He shuts himself off to avoid the media, to avoid people who will recognize him from the tireless interviews, to avoid being bothered, running into Astrid or any of her and Hiccup’s friends, or coming across any reminders of his son. Gobber guesses those are the reasons that Stoick no longer goes outside and he only wishes the other would let him in.

Gobber’s assumption couldn’t be more right. In his attempt to hide and stop his endless thoughts and worrying, all Stoick does is think and fret and tear himself apart for his failure.

As a father, he’s supposed to protect his child, that has been his duty from the day he and Valka decided to expand their family. He followed through on this while Valka was pregnant with their son, he held him as soon as he could after birth and promised him that he wouldn’t know a single day of strive, and he tried and tried every single day of the boy’s short lived life to make it come true.

Now look where his incompetence has left him, left Hiccup.

And before this, there were at least two more times when he felt, and was, absolutely useless.

The second time was when a dragon attacked his son, scarred his back, and mangled his leg so badly it had to be taken.

The very first, it was during a snowy winter when his son was 12-years-old and that is the particular moment he’s thinking of now.

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“Be careful!” He remembers warning his son that cold afternoon as his friends had come to ask him outside to play, which is slowly devolving into “hanging out” as they age. Not a bad idea, Valka had convinced him and she was still his wife at the time.

Hiccup was a young boy with plenty of friends, he should make use of his childhood while he still can before the inevitable responsibilities of life will whisk him away. He should enjoy himself, that is what Valka said to convince him to let Hiccup outside.

Back then, Oswald, a good friend of Stoick’s, was still alive. Back then, Dagur was still a good boy and Heather was a young girl full of life, who didn’t need to struggle to make ends meet following the loss of her father and her brother’s troubles.

But Stoick knew there was something off about the boy from the beginning. Dagur was too reckless for his tastes, always seeking trouble in some way, never listening to his father. That day, it was Hiccup he dragged down with him.

It was Fishlegs who suddenly stood on his front porch, twiddling his thumbs uncertainly and timidly staring at the ground. Apparently, Astrid had sent him, as Stoick would later find out. She’s always been a smart girl, a girl who doesn’t like to break rules and listens to her parents.

“Um, Mr. Haddock, sir? I think Hiccup’s about to get in a lot of trouble.” For any kid at any age, tattling on your friends never feels good and it doesn’t help that Stoick is so big and scary. The 11-year-old never understood how Hiccup was never scared of him. But Astrid had made him go while she stayed, believing she needed to keep an eye on what she thought was a situation about to get really out of hand.

Tearing their coats off the rack, he and Valka left quickly, the boy guiding them towards the local lake in a forest just outside of town.

They would find that Dagur was the biggest troublemaker in this situation. A much older boy, he’d followed his sister when she left with Astrid.

“Come on, Hiccup! You’re not scared like they are, are you? Get over here!” That was unmistakably young Dagur’s voice that they heard as they approached the lake. Whatever he was hounding their son to do, it couldn’t be anything good.

“Hiccup!” Stoick called out to him the second he spotted him, seeing his small frame on a frozen lake nobody has cleared for use yet and there he was.

Dagurr stood in the middle of it, arms crossed and an impatient look on his face. That is, until he saw the angry and mountainous dad of his target at the banks of the lake together with Hiccup’s mom. And suddenly, he felt like fleeing, having been caught red-handed.

“Mo-Mom? Dad?” Hiccup looked back at his parents, his face and posture betraying that his position isn’t one he put himself in as willingly as it first appeared.

Dagur had been bullying the younger kids, daring them into getting on the ice like he dared to. Kids don’t like to be challenged this way, they don’t like to be made to feel like they can’t do something, like they’re afraid and being afraid makes them a coward. Nobody wants to be seen as anything but brave. But Hiccup, he merely wanted to “prove himself” to end this charade and convince him to get off.

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Astrid, and Heather, too, looked uncomfortable with the situation. They knew it was bad, even the first three who are troublemakers themselves.

“Hiccup, come on! Come back!” Astrid shouted towards him, but he was too stubborn to leave, still waiting on Dagur to get off the ice first.

He wasn’t ready to give up on him yet, not even with his own well-being on the line. He cared too much about others, he has always cared too much. Three years in the future, it might contribute to Dagur’s future obsession with him. His mother has left him, his father would, too, then, but Hiccup hadn’t.

Looking away from his terrified parents to gaze back at Dagur again, he shuffles ever closer while trembling in fright. He can hear and feel the lake cracking in warning beneath his feet.

“Dagur, I’m-I’m-I’m here-I’m here now, can we-can we go back?” He asked with a tremble and tears of stress in his eyes. He wanted to go back so badly, but he refused to go alone.

“Um-” The older boy’s bravado from before was entirely gone, his gaze moved from Hiccup to his father nervously.

“Yes, you two can! And you better come back quickly! Dagur, your father will hear of this!” Stoick couldn’t hear the ice straining, but that didn’t make him any less urged to get those two boys on solid ground.

“Dagur!” Heather shouts, sniffing.

“Dagur, please, you’re only putting yourself in danger! Come back to shore and everything will be okay.” Valka took a less consequential stance, something Stoick looked at her in disagreement for.

“Oh-okay,” Dagur quietly replied, spooked by Hiccup’s parents, and shuffled his way cautious off the lake.

It was only then, when he saw Dagur safely on the banks, that Hiccup could breathe easy and return, too.

“And now you, my brave boy, come here!” Valka stretched her hands out, causing him to smile.

Stoick didn’t plan on being as encouraging as his wife was being, fuming. Their 12-year-old was recklessly risking his life and for what? If he wants to be a hero, he should do it without endangering himself as well.

“I’m-I’m coming!” Hiccup called back, happy that he no longer needed to be here.

But as his luck would have it, just like he will somehow attract the attention of two obsessed men in a span of only three years, he had to be the one to fall through the ice.

Slowly, he moved closer to his friends and parents, the thin layer of ice under his feet cracking beneath his feather-light weight. No matter how much he moved from the spot, the cracks followed him and they grew bigger and they multiplied quickly. He was so scared, dying to reunite with his parents again. They were right there and yet so far away.

And then it breaks and he sinks into the freezing water below with a shriek that is cut short.

“Hiccup!” Everyone shouted as they watched him disappear.

Stoick will remember this incident as one of the worst moments in his entire life. Nothing in any of his 45 years of life will ever come close, not until his son loses his leg and fights for his life in the hospital, not until some faceless stranger kidnapped him for reasons Stoick never wants to know.

He couldn’t traverse the ice to go get him, it would’ve never been able to hold his weight if it couldn’t hold Hiccup’s. All he was able to do, all any of them were able to do, was watch in fear as Hiccup cried and clawed and struggled to get out.

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Somehow that incident ended well. Somehow Hiccup managed to pull himself back up on slightly thicker ice than the parts that kept breaking on him. He got far enough away from the hole that someone could pull him the rest of the way. Once he was pulled back, Stoick and Valka enclosed him in their arms, his tiny and wet body cold in their embrace.

Neither of them have ever forgotten that day and it’s all Stoick can think about now. He can still hear Hiccup’s voice.

“Mom! Dad!” He’d cried for their help, something he has rarely ever done growing up. No matter how many problems may pile and pile, Hiccup has always wanted to solve things himself before he called in any sort of help. It’s probably why, after recovering from his amputation, he wanted to pull Toothless out of his guilt.

Stoick wonders if that was what had gotten him kidnapped. There are plenty of stories of people pretending to be hurt or in distress just to lure in unsuspecting good-natured people. If anybody could fall for such a scam, it would be Hiccup. Every part of his mind could be telling him that this person was up to no good and he would still act on that small, small “what if this person truly is in trouble?”

Is that what got him kidnapped? What got him... killed? Was Hiccup simply too pure of heart and did someone take advantage of that to snuff out his light?

After the lake incident, they drove him to the hospital as fast as they could and they found out he was okay. The doctor there told them he would be just fine and that they just needed to keep him warm and dry until his temperature was back up. After that, they could take him home with them.

He hadn’t lost consciousness, he didn’t seem to have swallowed or breathed in too much water, they could be almost certain that he was entirely okay.

As for his parents, however, they were never quite the same after that accident. Once Hiccup was dry, Stoick held his shivering son to him and vowed to him that he would never let anything happen to him ever again.

It’s a vow he broke twice.

Hiccup bounces back from pretty much anything thrown at him. After his fall, he would sneak out to play when his parents would much rather have him home with them. And though he wouldn’t go back on a frozen lake again, he’d still go out swimming with his friends.

During his divorce with Valka, though it was a painful time for all of them, he seemed to understand why it needed to happen and adjusted quickly. Even when asked if he thought badly of his parents months after it was finalized, he’d told them “no”, that it was better this way.

When a dragon went and bit his leg off, Hiccup went on to not only see the darn thing again, but he made friends with it and decided to fully dedicate his life to dragonkind. At 15, he wasn’t sure yet where he wanted his life to go, not until that accident.

Again and again, Stoick promised his son that nothing would ever happen to him after this. He held him in the hospital after his birth as he promised, then a second time after the lake, then a third time as he held his hand just before the surgery that would take his leg. Chances are, he will never get to promise him a fourth time.

Sitting on the couch, not paying attention to the tv and wasting away, there are tears in his eyes. Never much of an emotional man, Stoick doesn’t feel like he can stop them.

Strictly statistically speaking, the chances of a missing person ever being found alive, or even found at all, dwindles by the day and Hiccup has been gone since early June.

It’s December now.

The horrendous theories from the police don’t help either. Some even dare to put the blame on Hiccup, insinuating that his death, not his vanishing, but his death , might’ve been caused by a crime of passion. 19 years old, handsome, tall, capable, who isn’t to say he’s been cheating on his girlfriend and either she or the mistress found out? Naturally, that meant Astrid was a suspect at some point, too.

Stoick remembers seeing her after an interrogation once. Her parents came to pick her up at the same time he’d come to the station to demand an update.

She’d been distraught, face red and eyes bloodshot. Hiccup was her boyfriend of a year, her childhood friend, and they’d accused her of killing him over something like that. While cheating is no trivial matter, it’s not something she would kill over. Besides that, everyone who knew Hiccup also knows that he would’ve never done such a thing to her in the first place.

Then they settled for the most likely culprit, which was Dagur.

Stoick won’t lie, it felt good to finally hear from the police that they got him and that he would answer for his crimes, but that only lasted for… what? A day? Two days? A week at most? The relief ended quickly because the question of what happened to Hiccup remains unanswered to this day and Dagur stubbornly persists that he’s “getting better”, that he “would never hurt Hiccup”. And frankly, a part of Stoick seems to believe the young man.

Gods, why didn’t he just let him go live with Valka to study dragons? He wouldn’t have needed to move out and gotten an apartment deeper in their town. He would’ve already been living in the sanctuary if he did.

Or maybe the sanctuary was part of the problem. It’s not exactly a car ride away, you need to take the ferry there. So perhaps, part of the reason why he didn’t let Hiccup study dragons, he now realizes, is because he didn’t want him to go so far away.

How ironic, then, that someone decided to take him away anyway when he wasn’t looking. As if someone knew of Stoick’s inability to let go of his only child and thought that they should be the one to make him.

This never would’ve happened if he let Hiccup do as he wished. On the sanctuary, surrounded by dragons who know and love him, where Valka is, he would’ve been perfectly safe. Stoick may as well have asked someone to kidnap him.

It’s a painful thought and a tear falls, but Stoick doesn’t fight the guilt that he feels. This is all his fault. If he didn’t constantly break his vow to keep his child safe, Hiccup would still be here.

Gobber can read every self-deprecating thought on his old friend’s face, can see the tears, and sighs deeply before he looks back at the tv. On the channel they’re watching, they’re now installing some plumbing on a different program.

He wishes he could take the hurt away, wishes he could say something, but everything that can possibly be said he’s already said.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Stoick.”

“They’ll find him, Stoick.”

“Hiccup’s a strong and smart lad, Stoick”.

He’s sick of repeating himself. He doesn’t even believe his own words, so why should he continue to spout these lies? To a grieving father especially?

Hiccup is smart and he is strong, but does that mean he could still be alive today?

The will to comfort his friend quickly abates in the face of his own doubts and loss, Gobber feels like he may as well follow Stoick’s example and waste away alongside him. What else is left for him to do?

Just then, Stoick’s phone rings.

Snapping them both of their contemplation, Stoick picks it up and looks at the caller’s ID. It’s Astrid, the poor lass. He doesn’t feel like talking to her, but then, he also didn’t feel like letting Gobber in, so he answers the call.

“Astrid, lass?” He acknowledges her, hand rubbing in his eyes.

His eyes widen suddenly and he shoots up from the couch, startling Gobber in the process.

“Stoick?” He wonders what’s gotten him so riled up and so out of nowhere. What could Astrid possibly be telling him?

“Yes, I’m still here. Thank you for telling me, lass, I’m coming. Please, tell him that when he wakes up.” Eventually, after what felt like much too long of a call to Gobber, Stoick hangs up the phone and stares at him with that same wide-eyed look he can’t quite place. The tears are still there, they’re still falling, so what is that expression telling him?

“What is it, man?! Don’t keep me waiting, spit it out!” He demands, throwing his remaining hand up in growing frustration.

“They found him, Gobber. They found my son.”

Perhaps, Stoick can still make good on that vow.

[ephyla]

Warmth

HI guys! I’ve been in this fandom for ages, but never published anything, because I never thought my writing skills were the best. And I don’t really like writing either. However, this pandemic is a bitch and I felt bored and had an idea. So here it is! Hopefully you’ll enjoy it! 

Summary: (Set right after Buffalord Soldier.)  Astrid is still feeling the effects after barely surviving the Scourge of Odin and the only thing that's keeping her warm are her two favorite people. Well, one person and one dragon. 

Astrid/Stormfly friendship with a side of Hiccstrid.

The flight back to the Edge felt long for Astrid. Sure, she didn’t feel like she was being stabbed by thousands of needles all over her body; but after being so sick for the last two and a half moons, she barely had any energy to remain upright on Stormfly’s saddle. Her friends’ stares didn’t help either. She couldn’t fault them; they were probably just as scared as she was. Even the twins were quietly flying in formation behind Astrid, keeping a worried eye on her. 

As the gang lands in front of the clubhouse, everyone dismounts. Snotlout, being the closest, rushed to help Astrid down. Usually, she would have kicked his hand away before dismounting on her own, but this time, she appreciated his help. He hasn’t been his obnoxious self when he came to get her while the other were waiting with the Buffalord. She knew he meant well. Astrid, however, remains seated on Stormfly. She didn’t trust her legs to carry her weight just yet. She felt lightheaded and her grip turned almost white as it tightened on the saddle. 

“I-I’m fine. I think I’m just going to retire to my hut and get an early night sleep.” Concern was clearly shown in their eyes. 

“Alright, just please take it easy in the next few days. You really had us all worried.” Said Fishlegs. 

“I will.” Stormfly started turning around spreading her wings. “And guys? Thank you. I mean it.” The gang all smiled softly at her. 

“We’re just glad you’re safe.” 

Stormfly flies off towards her hut. 

_______________________________________________________________________

After landing, she walks through the open front door. While they were leaving for Buffalord island, Snotlout was too much in a rush to close behind him, since Astrid was clearly not going to hold on for much longer. 

Stormfly gently lies down on her front. She knew that her owner wasn’t in her best shape. She could hear her still struggling to breathe since they left that damned island. Astrid slowly swings her leg off of her dragon, but once her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled under the pressure. 

“Shit.” 

Stormfly croaks worriedly at her best friend. She brought her head closer to her, rubbing her snout against Astrid’s arm as reassurance.

 “I’m ok. I just need some rest.” Astrid weakly smiles, stroking her dragon’s beak. “I’m so sorry girl. You have been worried sick for so long. I just want you to know how much I am thankful for never leaving my side. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. Thank you Stormfly.” Her dragon purred and wrapped a protective wing around Astrid, providing her with comfort and warmth as a response to her confession. 

Familiar footsteps were heard behind the duo. 

“Astrid! Are you ok? I heard something fall.” Hiccup asks as he steps into the hut. He didn’t hide the worried expression etched on his face. “Astrid?”

 “In here.” Astrid call out from behind Stormfly’s wing. 

Hiccup walks towards the dragon and crouches in front of her. Stormfly retreats her wing a little, revealing her rider. She still looked paler than usual. There were bags under her eyes. Despite being bedridden for the last few moons; as well as drifting out into unconsciousness a lot, she was exhausted.

 “I just wanted to check up on you. You looked like you were going to fall off Stormfly earlier, and then I heard the crashing noise while I was walking here.” Said Hiccup.

“I’m fine, just tired. A deadly disease will do that to you.” Replied Astrid. Hiccup frowned at her response. They remained on the floor in silence. A couple of minutes passed and Astrid was starting to feel uncomfortable. Hiccup was avoiding her gaze. His fingers twitched. He looked unsure of himself. 

“Hiccup, I- “Astrid didn’t get to finish her sentence as his arms wrapped around her, leaving her stunned. Stormfly observed the couple, not making any sound. She knew the boy did everything in his power to help her rider. She trusted him to take care of her and find her the cure before it was too late. He fed her and reassured her when Astrid wasn’t able to take care of her. However, she didn’t let anyone ride her. Her wings ached so much, but she refused to leave her best friend’s side as she was fighting for her life. She could only offer her body heat to the shivering Viking, and Gods be damned if her wings remained numb forever. It was the least she could do to help. They may have gotten off the wrong foot due to misunderstandings and stubbornness. But Astrid offered her love and comfort. And lots of chicken. She put aside their differences and the moment she recognised her wrongs and trusted her to fly her into battle against the Red Death. Stormfly grew fond of the feisty girl, and knew she didn’t want anything to happen to her. Not if she can help it. She watched over her as she would a hatchling. 

“You scared us. You really scared me! I’ve never seen you so vulnerable before. Normally when you get hurt you just walk it off like nothing happened. So, when you didn’t get back up this time, I-I just thought for the worst.” Astrid swore she heard his voice crack as if he was trying not to break down in front of her. Astrid wrapped her trembling arms around him. Her weak grip made him tighten his. “You- You’re my rock Astrid. You were always by my side since that day with Toothless. You had everything to lose and yet you stayed by my side and trusted me. And just thinking that I was so so close to losing you today I- “He paused. “I’m sorry, I know it sounds really selfish. But I really meant what I said back then. I can’t imagine a world without you in it. I really can’t.”

 Astrid smiled. “I meant what I said too.” 

Hiccup releases her from his hug, his hands remaining on her shoulders. He examined her.

 “I’m sorry for keeping you up, I know you need some rest. Let me help you up the stairs.”

 “No.” 

“What?” Hiccup was confused.

“I think I’m going to stay down here with my girl tonight.” Knowing they were talking about her, Stormfly’s head peaked up. “I spent way too much time in that bed lately. I’d feel much safer sleeping in her wings. I know she was worried about me this whole time. I’m not going to lie; this is the closest feeling of a motherly comfort I can get. So, I want to stay her tonight.” 

Hiccup looked surprised, but then remembered Astrid telling him that she had lost her mother at age five in a dragon raid. Her father harshly trained her to be the strongest, and was forced to push her emotions back as they were seen as a weakness. That meant that she was never really given any physical or emotional affection.

Hiccup and Stormfly taught her that even the toughest warriors were allowed to feel and need the comfort of being loved. Her Nadder showed her what acceptance and patience was. She would protect her with her life, like a mother would a child. She didn’t want the others to know, but Astrid enjoyed being coddled by Stormfly; giving her what her parents never could. She felt the safest tucked under her large wings. More often than not, the dragon would poke her head in and preen her rider. It was her way of giving affection. 

Hiccup fondly looks at Astrid and Stormfly. They've come a long way together since training in the killing arena. While he and Toothless treated each other as brothers, the two girls had more of a mother-daughter relationship. A relationship that he found endearing as he never felt the love and warmth a mother would give to their child. He enjoyed watching how Astrid's expression would softens considerably when she was looking at her dragon. And that soft look was reciprocated by said dragon. He was observing Stormfly rearranging the girl’s braid while she gently stroked her beak.

 A small breeze found its way into the hut. Still not feeling at the top of her shape, Astrid shivered. Stormfly croaked in concern and wraps her tail around them, to provide more warmth. 

“You sure you want to stay down here?” Hiccup asks, as he rubs his hands across her arms, trying to provide his own warmth. The Nadder observes the boy, still protective of her best friend.

“Y-yeah, I’m sure.” Astrid leans her head against his chest. All shyness was thrown out of the window. “Actually, do you mind getting me a blanket from upstairs? Usually, Stormfly’s body heat is enough to make me sweat buckets, but I still don’t trust my body to function properly just yet.” Hiccup smiled. He felt happy that she was asking him for help instead of acting strong. He quickly climbed the stairs to grab the thickest blanket and stormed back down, nearly missing a step. He wrapped the blanket around his friend.

 “Thank you Hiccup, for everything.”  Understanding the meaning behind these words, the dragon rider’s smile widened. “It’s no big deal, you know I’ll always have your back right?”

 “And I’ll always have yours.” Astrid grins at him before she lets out a yawn. “I guess, that’s my body telling me I should go to sleep.” Hiccup chuckles. 

“I should also go, Toothless will take all the space on my bed if I leave him alone for too long. Just promise me that you’ll send Stormfly if you need anything or if you feel sick again.”

“I promise.”

He fidgets for a few seconds before leaning towards the sleepy warrior and kisses her cheek, whispering a ‘goodnight’ to which she mumbles a reply, too tired to register what just happened. She’ll have time to delve on it when she gets her strength back. 

Hiccup leaves the protective circle made by Stormfly and walks towards the exit. He shares one last glance and sees the Nadder fully wrapping her wings around Astrid, hiding her from his view. The boy smiles as the dragon looks at him. 

‘Take care of her’ 

She snorts.

 ‘Of course, I will.’ Stormfly’s head disappears behind her large wings and nuzzles her rider who smiles in her sleep. 

_______________________________________________________________________

I always loved the relationship that Astrid has with Stormfly, so I wanted to focus on it more. Because I’m still having a hard time understanding why in RTTE, Astrid is always falling off and her dragon suddenly goes MIA so often. I can write a whole essay about how RTTE did Astrid dirty, but I’m going to stop here. 

This was supposed to be mostly about the duo and a side of Hiccstrid, but I’m a sucker for those two dorks, so Hiccup had a slightly bigger role than expected hehe.

Please tell me your thoughts. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Hopefully I didn’t make too many mistakes. English isn’t my mother tongue.

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Going on a Trip

Summary: Set in a Modern AU. Ever since that pregnancy test came back positive, Astrid's been a little overprotective.

Warnings: Pregnancy

Rating: General

Dead Dove: No

Words: 1 002

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Characters: Hiccup, Astrid

Pairing: Hiccstrid

Author's Notes: So fun fact: in Dutch/Flemish we have the saying "zoals een kip zonder kop!" Which basically means doing something without thinking and often in a nonsensical way.

Posting something a little lighter after the Dead Dove fic I just posted. 😇

I got the inspiration for this fic because I went to a zoo last Monday and there are always without fail families with very small children (literally ages 0 to 10, I saw two mothers with literal 1 to 3 month olds in slings) or a pregnant partner. And since I was taking requests for this Pregcup series, I had to write it, of course.

Also wondering just how many people are going to click on this fic thinking it's a Pregstrid fic despite the tags and the series I'm putting this in.

Enjoy!

-XOXOX-

“And you’re sure you have everything you need?”

“Yep, 100%!”

“But you’re sure? You got a bottle of water? Bottle of coke to keep your sugar levels up? Made your sandwiches?”

“Well, no, you made them because you’re scared I’ll go hungry for an hour. But anyway, yes and yes and you stuffed my bag full with literally every sugary thing we have in the house. If our doctor knew, she would get a heart attack.”

“You got your pain killers for your leg? Your migraine meds? Are you sure we shouldn’t take an extra bottle of-”

“Astrid, please!”

Hiccup grabs her hands and puts a stop to her pacing. They’re in the kitchen and she’s holding onto the strap of his shoulder bag, running around with it like a headless chicken. They’re leaving for a trip today, a trip to the zoo because living amongst dragons doesn’t mean they don’t still appreciate or are even fascinated by the other countless of creatures they share their amazing planet with. The entire group is going, the dragons get a day off for once.

Much to Toothless’ dismay.

He would much rather come along, but zoos are going through the trouble of keeping dragons out. So if they were to bring one in, they wouldn’t exactly be welcome.

“We made a list yesterday, we got everything ready before bed and you woke up extra early to make sure I wouldn’t be going hungry today. We’re ready to leave,” he assures her and Astrid relieves herself with a sigh. Because he’s right, they’re ready.

She looks down at their joined hands and smiles, his thumbs stroking the back of her fingers. This is before her gaze falls further down and finds the reason why she’s so concerned. Her husband is about five months pregnant.

They knew from the start that they wanted to have kids and after some time spend talking about it in which they both agreed Hiccup would carry their first, they went ahead and found success rather quickly. But ever since that pregnancy test came back positive, she’s been a little bit overprotective. And Hiccup thought it was annoying at first, he has already spend his entire childhood with an overprotective father. But in his fifth month, he both understands it and even appreciates it.

Because while his morning sickness was at its worst, she, Toothless and Sharpshot made sure he didn’t need to leave the bed for anything other than to go to the bathroom. She muttered sweet nothings in his ear when his moodswings appeared. There is this one commercial about these doggy treats that are meant to be good for their dental hygiene and every single time he watches it, he cries without fail. Something about them having good dental hygiene just gets to him. This coming from a dragon and cat person.

The other side of this is that Snotlout is no longer allowed to eat at their place, Hiccup can no longer stand his eating habits. Then there were his cravings, which she gets up for in the middle of the night just to take care of. Astrid has been so understanding and supportive, he figured that the least he could do was return the favor.

“You’re right,” Astrid admits. “We’re ready.”

And if it turns out the five sandwiches she made for him aren’t enough, they can always buy an extra snack at the zoo.

-XOXOX-

They took a bus there and now they’re taking that same bus home. It’s from a private company with comfortable cushions, air conditioning and a bathroom. But that first one is the most important to Hiccup in particular, who sits next to Astrid and is just knocked out cold after the tiring day they’ve had. His seat leans back just enough for him without bothering Heather, who sits behind them along with her brother and reads a book.

As he sleeps, Astrid looks through the many pictures on her phone. Between her device and those of all her friends, they probably have hundreds of pictures. Of animals and monuments, some as a joke, of them as a group, split up in duos, selfies… or in her case; her pregnant partner.

Him looking at animals, reading a plaque, watching a family with small children, resting on a bench, taking a picture of something or someone else, in the souvenirship, she even has one of him eating. This man could do nothing without giving her some reason to take out her phone’s camera. Astrid is certain he has a picture of her taking one of him.

Because he’s tall and skinny, his bump isn’t all that big yet, which is a slight disappointment that Astrid will not share. Although it is probably better for his back, which already suffers from being a lower leg amputee. At the same time, he started showing a little earlier than normal, which she thought was a blessing. She loves his belly and she loves seeing it in pictures. He’s growing their first child!

Glancing at it now, she can’t help but smile and places a hand on it, her thumb stroking through the t-shirt he wears. He did end up eating all five of those sandwiches.

All of them are sunburned. Because while Astrid was so worried about Hiccup going hungry, she completely forgot about the dangers of the sun. They all did. From the corner of her eyes, she spots Ruffnut’s fight not to scratch the itchy redness of her skin, Snotlout looks as bright red as a tomato and the shape of Dagur’s sunglasses have been burned right into his face. Both of the redheads in their group are more sunburned than then rest.

When they finally get home in another hour or two, she is going to lotion hers up from head to toe. And they will probably both enjoy it.

But for the time being, Astrid puts on her music and closes her eyes, her hand still on her husband’s belly.

[serwynterwulf]

LFRP Braxis Wynterwulf

“The Savage Knight”

The Basics

Age: Late 30′s

Birthday: Unknown

Race: Highlander

Gender: Male

Sexuality:  Heterosexual

Marital Status:  Single

Server:  Balmung

Physical Appearance

Hair:  Light Brown

Eyes: Icy blue

Height: 6′8

Build: Muscular

Distinguishing Marks: Three scars on his face, prosthetic magitek left hand, various cuts, bite, burn and claw marks are scattered across his body. Tattoo’s on his shoulders/arms.

Common Accessories: Wolf and Dragon Claws/Fangs, Family Ring, Various rune marked bracers and charms.

Personal

Profession: Dragoon / Mercenary

Hobbies: Fighting, Feasting, Hunting, Training, Fighting, Drinking, Fighting

Languages: Common

Residence: The Pillars

Birthplace: Limsa

Religion: Ancestral Worship + The Twelve.

Patron Deity: Halone & Rhalgr

Fears: Failure, Being too weak, Being the one his family and clan dies with.

Relationships

Spouse: N/A

Children: Io Saarwulf (Adopted)

Parents: Ragnar Direwulf (Deceased) Beatrice Beatsong (Deceased)

Siblings: Quill Sureshot, Roric Eldar,  Venoiux Grinningwulf, Asmaria Soulmender and about 4 more he doesn’t list off often.

Distance Relatives: Asher Rukoth (Cousin), Aelin Stormwulf (Cousin), Kilaani Bloodwulf (Cousin, Deceased), Alexander Greywolf (Uncle, Deceased) Delvaani Songwulf (Aunt, Deceased), Astrid Redwulf (Cousin, MIA), Hunter Ironwulf (Cousin, MIA), Connor Wulf (Nephew, MIA) Siv Wulf (Niece, MIA) Jorgen Frostwulf (Grandfather….Frozen?)  Sigrid Bloodwulf (Grandmother, also frozen.) Hugo Boulderfist (Uncle, Father like figure from mother’s side.)

Pets: Snow, a Coerthas bred Ghost Wolf. A silent, grumpy canine. Along with Pup a Natalan War Wolf and Coerthas Ghost Wolf mutt. A more friendly, slightly smaller version of Snow

Additional Notes:

Bastard: Born out of wedlock to a traveling Ishgardian Knight and a daughter of an Ala Mhigan merchant. With his fathers early death it left him and his newly disowned mother in Limsa for many years.

Prosthetic Hand: Losing his left hand near the end of the Dragonsong War was a blow to the highlander both in mind and body. But after four prototype hands and thanks to Asher. The man now boasts a well made and “Braxis Proof” Prosthetic magitek hand. Allowing him to control his aether more efficiently, even recently covered in various runic markings.

Card: https://braxis.carrd.co

ART: https://imgur.com/a/YOGOS

Traits

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

RP Hooks

Including but not limited to..

Hooligan Years: Despite acting as if he has lived in Ishgard all his years. This Ishgardian bastard born spent his childhood in the streets and waters of Limsa Lominsa. You might recognize this hooligan street rat if you stared at him long enough.

Former Dragoon:  Serving in the Order of the Dragoon for six ~ eight years, being retired from the order shortly before the end of the Dragonsong War. Although temporarily brought back in when the battles climax rose to the heavens at the very gates of The Holy See. It would be easy for a fellow Dragoon to spot this war tested veteran.

Ishgardian Noble: A fact about himself he begrudgingly accepts. With the previous Lord of Wulves, Alexander Greywulf’s passing at the end of the Dragonsong War. Leadership of the Houses Warbands and the House Itself have fallen onto the shoulders of this Highlander. Any of Ishgards noble would have an easy time spotting this Savage Knight amongst a crowd of nobles.

White Wolf of Coerthas: Was a title earned in his years as a Dragoon. Leading small hunting parties or pairs with ruthless efficiency like a wolf hunting its prey. His most common partner was another dragoon of renown, Claude Duval the Bronze Dragoon. The two were well known for constantly one upping one another.

Mercenary Warband: Either it be earning coin and glory to keep their household a float. Dispatching The Holy See and her allies enemies, or plundering and raiding Garlean assets. It would not be uncommon to hear of his company’s boasting in local taverns or similar venues. ((FC Card: https://wm-rp.carrd.co/ )

Contact Information

Tumblr: @serwynterwulf or @braxis-ooc​

Twitter: @BraxisRp

Discord: Braxis#1996

OOC information

I work from 8am - 4pm EST and I am normally not on till roughly and hour or two after that pending on what is going on IRL.

I am over the age of 21 and do enjoy Dark/Mature Rp, etc, even more so if it serves a greater story arc. Although I do find casual RP even more so with this character highly enjoyable.  I am looking for all sorts of connections for this character. Ships and the such I am more then happy to discuss.

[iooiu]

Hey, so I've been thinking about this AU and I have a few questions. 1) how does exactly the haddock siblings happen? I mean, did Valka stayed longer? Are they adopted? 2) What's their interaction with Gobber? 3) How does Stoick manage them? 4)When Hiccup goes and ends the war with the dragons what's their reaction? 5) How do the haddock kids interact? Who's the leader and stuff like that 6) How do they interact with the main crew? (Astrid, Fishlegs, Snoutloud, the twins). Have a nice day!!

Hey hey hey! Fire those questions away!

(Tbh this au is super sporadic and half the time I end up changing what I’ve already planned, but hopefully some of these answers will stay the same lo)

Okay so;

1. From my (very limited, very sad, very uneducated) knowledge people would actually have kids a lot earlier in life (during their teenage years actually), and my best guess is that has something to do with the fact that they wouldn’t live nearly as long as we do now, but I know in many cultures and even in the last few generations couples had children very early in life, as it was a common practice (though please don’t take my full word for it, like I said, I’m no expert). 

Because of this, Valka would have had Dagur and Heather earlier, and would’ve been taken away around the same time as canon (when Hiccup was a wee little baby).

2. When they were little Dagur would poke Gobber with sticks and then run away because he’s a jerk, but Heather never really interacted with him much.

2.5? I like to match my au’s with canon events as I’m not a very creative person who can just recreate a whole series lmao. 

So basically when HIccup was around 4 (maybe like idk) Stoick gave Dagur and Heather to Oswald (who I decided would be Stoick’s relative, like a brother or smth) because of some political tensions (that I’ll leave to interpretation because I know shit about Viking politics) with outside tribes. It’s the main reason why Hiccup doesn’t remember a whole lot about his siblings and why Dagur seems to retain the most knowledge over it (and Heather to a certain extent too).

3. Before all of this happened, Stoick obviously had to raise them like the absolute single-father unit he is, but man, was it tough.

Between running a whole tribe, fighting a war with giant fire-breathing reptiles, losing his wife, and having to maintain peace with other tribes, that man had a lot on his plate. He would often give Dagur the responsibility of looking after the other two (he would have totally given the responsibility to Heather, but Dagur’s the oldest (8-10 years older than Hiccup, as reference)).

But he cared deeply for them, and would try to spend what free time he had with them.

That doesn’t mean Dagur wasn’t a little shit-eating menace though, because he totally was. He would set whole houses on fire and claim that he was training when really he just wanted to let the sheep roam free around the village. He would take Hiccup and Heather exploring in the forests (though it was more of carrying Hiccup around and holding Heather’s hand because they were too little lol).

Stoick always tried reprimanding him, but no one can tame the boy so why even try. 

Stoick also taught Heather how to braid her hair, because she had been too young to learn by the time Valka disappeared. 

4. As I said before, this au followed canon for the most part, so their reactions are much the same as in the show (though with a few more aggressive head ruffles and hugs because like, duh, their baby bro changed the world).

5. Oh boy, this is a long one.

Dagur is a demon, like literally. The Berserkers and Berkians are known to have had a strong alliance for decades, and because of this the two chieftains often met with each other for celebrations and trades. When Stoick gave the two to Oswald, the Berserker chief often brought them with him, so Hiccup remained familiar with his siblings.

Dagur tried to teach Hiccup how to swim, but almost drowned him. Heather liked roaming the forests and dragged the two with her. They bonded for years like this (until Oswald gave Heather away to a different tribe because of political tension and threat of war, which is partly the reason why Dagur destroyed them later in the series).

When Heather is given away, Hiccup is around 6-7, and doesn’t see her again until the time frame of Riders of Berk (is that what the show is called?? lol I forgot).

Dagur continued to accompany Oswald to Berk, and Hiccup with Stoick to Berseker Island, and because of the distance between them, Dagur didn’t really know how to be gentle with his brother. In his mind, he already lost his sister, and Hiccup was always so small and so he feared the worst for him as well. He tried to ‘toughen him up’ the best way he knew how, but he was kind of jagged in the head and always ended up giving off the wrong impression. Poor Hiccup became traumatized lol, but took it in stride later in the series (around RTTE).

I could go on forever and ever about how they interact afterwards (in Race to the Edge) but I know it’ll be super annoying for me to go on a tangent about it.

6. Basically the same way they interact with them in canon? Dagur never really liked any of them when he visited Berk, and the three of them didn’t even know them when they were all living with Stoick. Remember that they were all around Hiccup’s age, and that Dagur and Heather would both older (Dagur by 8-10 years and Heather by 2-3).

So yeah, their interactions are exactly the same as in canon RTTE.

Though when Dagur first broke the news to Hiccup about all three of them being siblings (poor baby had been young when they had left, and was fed the impression that they were nothing more than kids from neighbouring tribes, but he had his speculations), he wanted to keep it a secret from the gang. But this boy is shit at lying to people’s faces and when everyone found out it was like an exe.stopped-working moment.

After that they got used to the idea of the three of them being a family, and Heather never failed to complain about her brothers’ stupidity to Astrid and Dagur would constantly tell Snotlout (who was they cousin, but Dagur and Heather only found out after they all reconciled) embarrassing stories about how Hiccup used to cry when either Dagur to Heather left their shared room at night.

Again, I would love to rant about their interactions (and the sheer amount of teasing that Hiccup would receive over his little lovey-dovey crush on Astrid because come on, what kind of older sibling wouldn’t embarrass the hell out of you for something like that?), but it’ll be super long and annoying lol.

Thanks for giving me the chance to spill my guts on this au! I know I kind of went a bit overboard, but my love for these three never ceases to escape me haha.

[geekgirles]

Goodbye & Broppy

After the song was released, I felt the need of doing something I haven't done in a while for the Trolls fandom: an in-depth analysis.

The lyrics of the song were a real tearjerker; the separation, the longing, the sadness, the impression of giving up as the only option... And, considering it said Justin Timberlake was supposed to sing it, and the mentions of "My queen", "My love"; it totally sounds like a Broppy song.

Now, I know @georgebeard mentioned they'd talked to an animator who confirmed the scene was indeed deleted from the film. However, as a loyal and experienced member of the Miraculous fandom, I know better than to cross out the possibility of being misled in order to avoid spoilers (I'm looking at you guys, Chloé redemption, Félix , and Chat Blanc). So, there's that.

And even if the song did not make it in the end, we must not forget the first movie and its extra content.

If you purchased a DVD copy (like myself), or were obsessed enough to search for every possible Trolls-related video on YouTube (like myself), you must have surely found the deleted scenes from the film.

Poppy's dresses.

Poppy's storytelling.

"Bringing Back Happy."

And that's what I wanna talk about!

Bringing Back Happy was a, rather early (considering its storyboard stage), villain song that Chef was supposed to sing. So, even if Goodbye doesn't make it into Trolls World Tour, the chances of it appearing as extra content are pretty high, considering it was even mentioned before the release of the movie.

If that weren't enough for ya, there's more. Don't worry.

As I mentioned earlier, if you're familiar with the deleted scenes, you'll know 2/3 were in a very advanced stage of animation before being scrapped. Not to mention, the one major change we got no info about: turning Poppy's coronation party to the 20 year anniversary since they escaped the bergens. Again, a scene so advanced in its animation stage that even made it to the trailer!

Moreover, there's this detail in the very first trailer of Trolls World Tour that stuck with me: Branch's quote "This is a terrible idea that will blow up in your face!"

Which, if we compare it to his supportive attitude in the latest trailer ("I'm coming with you"), is completely different and even unexpected.

And that leads me to this: there are many reasons why a scene would be deleted; it gives a character a quality they didn't want, Chef didn't get to sing because it made her too funny, while Poppy didn't wear her dresses because it made her look spoiled; it becomes longer than they expected, another reason for the dresses and, I think, for the storytelling; or it changes the vibe of the movie greatly (if you guys knew the original script for How to train your dragon 2...).

On a side note, I remember a post from long ago that explained that one of the reasons its OP liked trolls so much was because, unlike the vast majority of films, Poppy and Branch never really had a fall out. They were always together.

What do I mean with this?

What if their fall out happens in this movie? What if Branch says that line out of frustration and Poppy and him, both devastated, are forced to go their separate ways?

That would be the perfect cue for a song as romantic and heartbreaking as Goodbye.

Not to mention, it would also explain how on Earth Poppy could be captured by Barb, alone. Because there's no way Branch wouldn't go down with her otherwise, and you know it.

Now that the song analysis and theorizing is out of the way, let's move on to the deeper part of the analysis: Broppy itself.

As someone who's been a hardcore Broppy shipper even before watching the movie, you can believe me when I say that it'll devastate me if they killed Broppy.

Even so, I also consider myself as someone both highly emotional and analytical, hence, why I create such analysis on the things I love. Trolls being no exception.

Something I want to talk about to make you all understand my point of view is the way Dreamworks works (as I see it). And for that, I'd like to compare Trolls, HTTYD, their tv shows, and their main ships, Broppy and Hiccstrid; respectively.

If there's something I've noticed about Dreamworks and Disney, that's that Disney movies have a much greater stand-alone value than Dreamworks'. That's why 95% of its films end with an extra-official couple or why their sequels are either shitty compared to the original (Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mulan...) or a fucking masterpiece. I mean, take Frozen, for instance. The film made a major point on criticising Disney's "I get together with someone I barely know and we live happily ever after" trope. And yet, even if it was much subtler and less intense than usual, that's exactly what happened with Anna and Kristoff. Maybe they weren't married, but they got officially together. And as for Frozen II... I haven't seen it, but I've been told it's very, very different than the first one, and very, very good.

So, yeah. Stand-alone value.

But Dreamworks... Dreamworks manages to reach beautiful conclusions that, at the same time, let the plot perfectly open for more stories to be told.

Seriously, just watch How to Train your Dragon!

Every film had its ending, but it also made you wonder what was gonna happen next. It made you understand that the saga wasn't over, just a part of it. And I think that's what they're trying to achieve with Trolls.

I mean, sure. The plot of the sequel wasn't what we expected at all and made many of us think about the astounding amount of fanfics that delved in the possible existence of different kinds of trolls... But it left us all with one question in our minds, "what now?" And, at the same time, the film had reached a beautiful conclusion.

See what I mean?

I wholeheartedly believe this is something Dreamworks aim to achieve with its pairings. They don't want them to be rushed, they want to develop them. Sure, they want us to see there are ships, but they strive to form deep, strong relationships with much more meaning behind than just sharing an adventure together.

And that, that is something I can clearly see with Hiccstrid and Broppy.

If we take HTTYD, the hints on the romantic relationship between Hiccup and Astrid were even greater than Poppy and Branch's. Heck, they even kissed. And you know what was their official description for Riders of Berk to half of Race to the Edge? Not-so-platonic best friends.

But that's because they took the time to naturally develop and strengthen their bond!

Which is what I think is supposed to happen to Poppy and Branch.

Sure, they are close. Sure, they were on a life-changing adventure together. Sure, they are countless hints on their romantic feelings.

But they still spent 20 years being practically strangers.

They still need to learn how to be a team together. They still need to learn how the other works. They still need some basic ground.

If we keep on comparing the two films, we must not forget that HTTYD 2, despite having Hiccup and Astrid as betrothed, wasn't as heavy on their romance as the first and third movie were.

Because the focus of the film was Hiccup becoming a leader. Not becoming Astrid's husband.

And, considering the plot of Trolls World Tour, it's still very possible that it won't be as heavy on Broppy as it was the prequel. After all, TWT is more about diversity and harmony than happiness, which is what made the contrast between the optimistic princess and the cynical survivalist so important for Trolls.

But, please, fear not. This does not necessarily mean that Broppy is dead. It just means we might have to be careful about letting our hopes up and, more importantly, in case nothing is conclusive about these two in Trolls World Tour, that we just have to be a little more patient.

After all, a good written ship never disappoints.

[p-artsypants]

I posted 921 times in 2022

168 posts created (18%)

753 posts reblogged (82%)

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I tagged 290 of my posts in 2022

#fanfiction - 42 posts

#miraculous ladybug - 26 posts

#partsing - 20 posts

#boy toy - 18 posts

#httyd - 16 posts

#ml - 15 posts

#how to train your dragon - 15 posts

#kingdom hearts - 12 posts

#adrien agreste - 10 posts

#marinette dupain cheng - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 119 characters

#they’ve gutted two apartments and remodeled them beautifully and only raised the price because they hadn’t in ten years

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

During a winter hiatus from the Edge, Hiccup goes off exploring the icy wastes. He finds more than he bargained for when a witch attempts to steal his soul. Now an emotionless husk, Hiccup must depend on Astrid and Gothi to delve deep within him and unlock the aspects of his personality he’d rather keep hidden.

Meanwhile, the rest of the riders test Hiccup on how emotionless he really is.

I guess I was really excited about this fic, considering I did a cover for it! It’s good to dip back into the How to Train Your Dragon fandom! 

You can read Down to the Soul here!

25 notes - Posted September 14, 2022

#4

You know what? Can we all just agree to stop pointing out spelling and grammar mistakes in fanfics unless the author asks for it? It’s so heartbreaking to see on the top of every fic “not beta read so please excuse the errors!” Like of course sis. Not everyone has time or resources to get a beta. Reading FanFiction is not going to the library, it’s opening the files on someone’s computer.

Keep your comments about the story and not the writing technique.

37 notes - Posted June 11, 2022

#3

Can we talk about Return to Neverland, the Peter Pan sequel made in the early 2000’s?

I love this movie, and I feel like it’s slept on. I don’t remember if it was in theaters, but it should have been. It’s got amazing animation, some good songs, and the story and story boarding are incredible.

It’s the story of Jane, Wendy’s daughter (yeah yeah sequel trope but hang with me it’s a really good reason). Remember what Time Period Wendy was growing up? Turn of the century? When do you think her children would be growing up? If you said World War II, good job!

The movie starts with Jane’s father being drafted into the war. He tells Jane she has to be a big girl and take care of her mother and little brother. It’s also established that Wendy tells her kids all about Peter Pan and they love it.

Two years later, dad’s still gone. Jane has put childhood behind her and is listening to the radio to find any way to help the soldiers. There’s a scene where she goes out to buy her little brother a birthday present, a pair of socks, and London is being bombed while she’s out. She’s wearing a helmet while she crawls through rumble and debris while sirens and bombs shake the landscape.

She gets in an argument with Wendy when she returns to the bomb shelter. Wendy is telling the little brother, Daniel, Peter Pan stories and Jane tells her to stop filling his head with nonsense. Wendy then drops her own bomb and tells Jane that her and her brother are being sent to the countryside in the morning, and she asks Jane to tell Daniel stories, because he needs it. Jane is upset because she promised she would help take care of her family.

That night, she falls asleep on her window seat. The same window to the same nursery as all those years ago.

Suddenly, there’s a ship on the roof, a pirate ship, that a certain fairy made fly in a previous film. Jane is kidnapped by Captain Hook and taken to Neverland as bait for Peter Pan. But this is no fun adventure for Jane. It’s a nuisance, a distraction, and nonsense. She needs to get home, by any way possible.

I’ll stop describing the plot there because I don’t want to spoil it. It’s genuinely a great movie and makes me cry every time I watch it. Disney went hard on it and I don’t think it gets the notoriety it deserves.

See the full post

80 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

#2

I can’t sleep so I’m going to rant.

The ending of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 makes me so mad. Yeah, someone had to take the place of Davy Jones and since Will dies, it makes sense that it’s him. I have no complaints there.

What pisses me off is how Will and Elizabeth follow the rules literally and are separated for ten years. So Will can only come on land one day every ten years…ELIZABETH CAN GO ON THE SHIP WHENEVER! Why stay away for ten years?? Why doesn’t she join the crew!? Will joined earlier in the movie and he was fine! Or, if he wanted her to have a normal life and intermingle with people, he could come to visit on the weekends, and she could row out to be with him on the ship. Or she could just go on short journeys with the Flying Dutchmen. The organ room on the boat looks like they’d have a nice captain’s quarters to sleep in so they don’t have to do it on the beach every time!!

Look for loopholes, people!!

If you can’t tell, I’ve thought about this a lot since that movie came out however long ago.

90 notes - Posted October 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Just dying over the httyd comic where Toothless wears giant earmuffs

He deserves it really

960 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

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