Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hiccup clutched his head with his hand and groaned. Why was his head pounding? He could feel something pressed against his back, and whatever he was leaning against was moving. He quickly opened his eyes and turned to look behind him only to sigh in relief; it was just Toothless. 

Due to the sudden movement, Toothless opened his bright green eyes and peered up at Hiccup. Hiccup smiled at Toothless and gave his head a quick rub. 

“Sorry bud, didn’t realize you were there,” he huffed. 

Toothless crooned and began to look around. When Hiccup followed his dragons line of sight he realized that he wasn't back home in his room. Instead, he was in a large empty room. Empty except for what seemed to be his entire village spread out on the ground in front of him. 

Hiccup immediately stood up, fearing what had happened to his village, his friends… his father?! Where was his father? Hiccup immediately began turning in circles to search the rows of Vikings, looking for his father.

There! A couple of people to his left. He took a step forward towards him and almost fell forward. Hiccup gave a grateful smile to Toothless as he helped him stand. He looked down at his metal leg and frowned, it was hard getting used to walking around with it.

“Alright bud, we have to get to my dad,” said Hiccup as he began to slowly make his way over; using the dragon to keep most of his weight off his metal leg. It felt like forever before they reached the chief.

Hiccup knelt down next to his father and put his ear to his chest. He left out a sigh of relief as he heard his heart beating and he could feel his chest rising and falling with each breath he took. 

Hiccup sat back and gave another look around the room. He let out another sigh of relief; when he concentrated he could tell that the other Vikings were also breathing.

Now that he knew his village wasn't his immediate danger, he took a few breaths and used Toothless to pull himself up. He glanced around the room to see if he could spot any indicators as to where they were. The walls and floor were all made of stone and seemed to be empty of any doors or windows. Hiccup looked towards the ceiling and noticed it was quite high, but again, there was no way of escape.

“What about you bud?” Asked Hiccup, “do you see anything?”

Toothless gave the grand hall a brief look before he settled on Hiccup himself.

“What? Nothing?” Asked Hiccup.

Toothless huffed and gave him a light head-but to his waist. Hiccup looked down at Toothless in surprise before his eyes landed on a small piece of parchment attached to his waist with a small strand of string. 

“What’s this?” Hiccup muttered to himself as he untied the small knot. “Good job Toothless.”

Toothless let lose a small snort, as if to say “duh” and turned around to inspect the rest of the room. His eyes settle on small pile of dragons in the corner of the room. He nudged Hiccups arm to gain his attention.

“Hang on bud,” said Hiccup as he brushed off his dragon and resumed reading the note.

Toothless huffed and began making his way over to his new dragon friends, maneuvering quite adequately around the rows of Vikings on the floor.

The rider groaned as he finished reading the letter, letting his arms fall to the side. “This isn't good bud,” he said as he looked to his side, expecting to see his dragon. “Toothless?” he wondered as he looked around.

Toothless let out a small wail to let his rider know where he was. Hiccup turned to see his dragon sitting next to the rest of the other riders dragons. Hiccup let out a sigh of relief as he saw his friends in a circle around their dragons. 

Hiccup turned and looked down at his father, “oh I always hate this part,” he said as he knelt and gave one of the Chief’s shoulders a little shake.

Stoick sprang up, reaching for an axe he no longer possessed until he saw the face of his son, “Dad! It's me don’t worry!”

“What happened?” Demanded Stoick as he looked around the room. “Son… Where in the world as we?”

“Just read this while I start waking up the others,” said Hiccup as he thrust the paper into his fathers' hand. Hiccup slowly began to make his way towards his dragon, but Toothless noticed his struggle and ran back to ensure he didn't hurt himself. 

Stoick looked at the parchment skeptically before sighing and deciding that maybe for once, he should listen to his son before he started yelling and demanding things be done.

‘Welcome Isle of Berk,
You have all been summoned because, while you have all made great progress, some of you are still wary about your new companions. You will now be shown a different perspective of what you have all just experienced.
It is our hope that this will allow the Vikings of Berk to have a greater appreciation for their Hero and all that he has, and will do for them. You are about to experience many things, some that have already taken place and some that have yet to occur. We believe that your heroes have faced too many hardships that one should have to face in such a short time in their lives. We hope that all of this will aid your village, and allow for a brighter future for all.
When the people of your village have all awoken and understands their reasoning for being here, you may begin.'

Stoick sighed crumpled the paper in his fist, what kind of ridiculous trick was this? The Chief asked himself. Suddenly his palm felt warm. He looked down to his fist and notice it was glowing a bright light. Stoick watched in shock as the light dimmed into nothingness. He unclenched his fist and began to straighten out the paper. Nothing on the front side was different, so he flipped the parchment over and gasped. There, on the back of the note was a symbol; three intertwined triangles, a Valknut, the symbol of Odin and the gods. 

Hiccup, having just reached his friends looked back to his father. "Dad?" He called out when he noticed the pale look of the Chiefs face, "what is it?"

Stoick immediately snapped out of his trance. He began to stalk over to his son, shoulders set firm.

Hiccup immediately tensed in fear, "whoa dad calm down,' he tried to reason, "look I don't know where that note came from or who sent it, I just found it." 

Toothless, sensing his riders fear, stood beside him protectively as he let out a small growl.

Stoick came to a stop in front of his son, realizing that his son was actually scared of him. "Son," he began calmly, "I am not angry with you."

"You're not...?" Asked Hiccup carefully, patting Toothless' head, letting him know that he was fine.

"Of course not! Something happened to the note after I finished reading it, look," said the Chief as he handed the note to Hiccup.

"I don't get it," said Hiccup as he looked it over, "it looks the same as it did before I gave it to you."

"Turn it over," said Stoick softly.

Hiccup gasped as he took in the symbol, "Is this real?" he asked his father in disbelief.

"Wasn't there when you first gave it to me but appeared after the paper shone like fire," said Stoick.

Hiccup gave a sigh and looked around the room, "I guess we start waking up the village." 

"Aye," confirmed Stoick, "tell those you wake up not to panic, that I shall explain everything once the whole village has awoken."

Hiccup nodded and turned to his friends, deciding he would start with them. 

Hiccup knelt down next to Astrid first. Figuring she would have a similar reaction to his father at being woken up, he simply gave her shoulder a quick shake and leaned back.

She quickly shot up, reaching for her axe in an eerie identical fashion as his father. 

"Astrid it's me!" Shouted Hiccup as he blocked his face from the presumed punch she would throw when she realized she was unarmed against an intruder. 

Her first stopped inches from his face and Hiccup left out a sigh of relief while Toothless gave a low warning growl.

"Don't worry bud," said Hiccup, "she was just defending herself."

Astrid gave a quick look around and turned to Hiccup, "where are we?" She asked him.

"My dad will explain when everyone else is awake," he began, "think you could help me wake everyone up? My dad is starting on the other side of the room," he said, pointing over his shoulder to where Stoick was waking up a drooling Gobber.

Astrid sighed, "yeah sure," as she got up and made her way over to Fishlegs.

Once the rest of the dragon riders had been awoken (the teens having a particularly hard time with Snoutlout; "Gods he is such a heavy sleeper!", "He would never be ready if he was attacked during the middle of the night", "Can we put his hand in some hot water?"), they woke their dragons and ensured they would remain with Toothless before they aided the rest of the roused villagers in waking the remaining sleeping Vikings.

Once the entire village had been awoken; they began murmuring amongst each other. They were wondering where they were and how they were going to get out without any weapons.

"Listen up folks!" Said Stoick, gaining the attention of the villagers. "I know most of you are probably wondering what has happened," he sighed. "While some of you may find this hard to believe, our small island has been brought here by none other than the Gods themselves!" A hush fell over the crowd before it erupted with noise. Shouts of excitement and disbelief could be clearly heard.

The Chief attempted to quiet the Vikings down but alas, he was not having much luck.

Hiccup sighed, "a little help bud?" He asked, looking back a Toothless.

The dragon gave a little shake before sitting back on his hind legs and releasing a thunderous roar. The effect was immediate as the villagers ceased their muttering.

"Thank you son," said Stoick as he gave his son a pat on the shoulders. "We have been blessed with a note which possessed the mark of Odin himself! We will respect this request and do as the Gods have demanded."

"But what have they demanded?" One of the Vikings shouted from the crowd and more shouts of questions followed.

"Silence!" Stoick boomed, "the Gods have brought us here because they wish to change the future of our village." Whispers of doubt washed over the crowd. "They believe we have a hero among us who deserves greater appreciation."

Snoutlout scoffed to his friends, "obviously they're talking about me."

The dragon riders rolled their eyes. "It would be more likely that the Gods were talking about one of Silent Svens sheep," said Ruffnut with a grin.

"Yeah," agreed her brother, "one time during a dragon raid, one of the sheep looked a dragon straight in the eye screamed until the dragon left."

"I highly doubt that," disagreed Fishlegs.

"Would you guys be quiet?!" Shushed Astrid, "the Chief is staring at us."

The teens all slowly turned to face Stoick who was giving them a deadly glare. He cleared his throat and continued.

"The Gods claim that our village suffers great loss in the future and they believe that these disasters could have been prevented and were not deserved." The Chief raised his hands above his head, "the Gods have granted us a great moment to reflect on our past and improve our future. So I invited my people to rejoice with me as we accept this extraordinary miracle!"

Suddenly thunder boomed overhead and everyone looked up at the ceiling. Even though they seemed to be inside, there was a flash of lightning. Then, without warning a giant white screen appeared on one of the walls while stacked tables and chairs manifested themselves in the far side of the room.

'Seat yourselves and you shall begin.' appeared on the screen and the Viking scambled themselves to set up the tables and chairs.

"C'mon guys," said Hiccup as he sat on Toothless' back, "let's give them a hand."

Hiccup took off towards the tables and chairs, the other riders following along on their dragons behind him. Each dragon descended to grab a table or a few chairs to bring them to some of the open space around the room. The Vikings began to arrange the seats to face the screen while the dragon riders decided to lay on the ground in front with their dragons. Once everyone had seated themselves, the screen faded to black as it began.

Chapter Text

The hush that falls over the village is immediate. The Vikings are captured by the moving pictures on the wall and the sound that seems to be coming from both everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"This... is Berk."

Hiccup groans - recognizing his voice and realizing the events will be told from his point of view - and slumps back against Toothless

Toothless gives his rider a look of confusion, wondering what has made him upset.

“Don’t worry bud,” said Hiccup, “this is just going to be a little embarrassing.”

"Oh, you've got to be kidding!" Exclaimed Snoutlout, "this is about fishbone over here?" He asked lazily jutting his thumb in Hiccups direction.

"Have you forgotten that Hiccup single-handly ended the war between Berk and the dragons?" Asked Fishlegs with a look of disbelief.

"Yeah," agreed Astrid, "he's the best dragon rider and the future of Berk is obviously going to involve dragons for a very long time. It makes sense that Hiccup would be the leader of many dragon-related adventures and mission."

At this point Hiccup was blushing, "c'mon Astrid," he began, "I doubt I'm going to be that influential."

"Son... you have changed the way Vikings will live for generations. One day you will be Chief of Berk. I have no doubt that you will do great things," said Stoick with a proud voice.

Hiccup gave a small smile, looking down at his hands to avoid any anticipated teasing for showing emotion.

"It's twelve [...]  Misery."

"Aye, show some respect boy!" Shouted Spitelout, "our ancestors worked mighty hard and long to find us an island where our people could thrive."

Mildrew was raging as he stood, "your son should really watch his mouth Stoick. If this is how he thinks of our forefathers than perhaps—"

"Oi shut yer trap Mildrew," shouted Gobber, "everything the lad is saying is true. We all love Berk, but sometimes its location can cause some issues."

Mildrew grumbled and sat back down, not before giving Gobber his best glare.

"My village. [...]  dragons."

'So this must be about me befriending Toothless,' thought Hiccup to himself, 'why would the Gods want to show that to the village?'

Toothless gave a soft growl as a result of seeing his rider in danger. Hiccup rubbed his head, "don't worry bud, I'm okay."

"Most people [...] issues."

The dragons looked visibly uncomfortable at seeing what their kind had been made to do because of the Red Death.

"My name's [...] do that."

"Yeah, your name has nothing to do with the tradition of calling the runt of the litter a 'hiccup'?" Asked Snoutlout with a smirk on his face.

"Or maybe," suggested Ruffnut, "you got that name because when you were a baby you constantly had the hiccups!"

"Excellent conclusion my dear sister," conceded Tuffnut. "We should perform some examinations to further test your theory."

"Woah, no one is doing any experiments on me," demanded Hiccup.

Astrid sighed, "can we just watch this please?"

"ARGGGHHHHH! [...]  doing here?!"

"Yes Hiccup," began Stoick, "what were you doing outside when I told you to stay put?"

"Did no one else notice that our house was on fire?" Asked Hiccup, "and Gobber needed me in the forge; everyone needs weapons and he can't do them all dad."

The Chief crossed his arms and huffed, glancing back at the screen.

"Get inside! [...] Yes, I do."

"Of course ya do lad," said Gobber, "yer father has always been a great warrior."

"What have [...] come on!"

"I've always wanted to ask this Hiccup," said Astrid as she turned to him. "How can you carry all the weapons in the forge just fine but the second you'd try to hold a sword or an axe in training you couldn't?"

"Uhh I don't know? Maybe it's got something to do with me being comfortable in the forge?" Assumed Hiccup, "I mean, I've been working with Gobber since I was younger but I never really got any battle training when I was younger cause I didn't have the muscles for it. I think my dad thought that if I worked in the forge long enough I would start to get stronger."

"Wait, so are you suggesting that if you had started battle training when you were younger, that you might be comfortable enough with a weapon right now to be able to use it properly in combat?" Inquired Fishlegs.

"I guess," said Hiccup with a bit of uncertainty, "I am pretty close in size to Ruff, Tuff and, Astrid so I don't see why not..."

"That's an interesting theory," agreed Fishlegs, "Cheif? Why didn't you start training Hiccup when he was younger?"

The Chief regarded the teens with a scowl, "he wasn't ready to train."

"But dad—"

"Enough! That is all we will be speaking on the matter."

"I'm waaaay [...] Gobber."

"Meat-hand?!"

"Oh come on Gobber," said Hiccup with a sheepish grin. "It's just a joke."

"I've been [...] new houses."

The dragons nuzzle their dragons as a form of apology for all the raid and damage they had done to their riders home. They all gave their dragons small hugs or pats on the head; showing them that there were no hard feelings and they understood that they didn't have a choice.

"FIRE! [...] Astrid."

Snoutlout let out a shriek of laughter as Hiccup hid his face in his hands. "You're such a loser Hiccup! Astrid would never want to go out with someone like you."

Hiccup smirked to himself, thinking of the two kisses Astrid had given him in the past week.

"Oh what Snoutlout, do you think I would want to go out with someone like you instead?" Asked Astrid.

"Obviously," he grinned, "who wouldn't want all of this awesomeness?" He lifted up his biceps and gave them each a kiss.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little," Astrid murmured to Hiccup as she glared at Snoutlout.

"Did no one tell him that she kissed Hiccup when he woke up?" Whispered Tuffnut to his sister.

"I guess not," she concluded, "I can't wait to see his face when it happens!"

"Oh, [...] cooler."

"Aye," shouted Gobber, "what's wrong with the job you've got now eh?"

Hiccup looked sheepish as he tried to explain to the blacksmith that he did in fact like working in the forge, it just wasn't what was expected of him as the chiefs' son.

"Oh, [...]  places!"

"Oh Gods where do we begin?" Hollered Spitelout, "the boy messes up everything he touches!"

"Yer son is more trouble than he's worth Stoick!" Shouted Mildew.

"Oh come on," groaned Hiccup, "have of the times I've gotten in trouble have been because of stuff other people have done."

"What about that time you dropped that barrel of fish of the dock and into the water?" Argued Spitelout.

Hiccup sighed, "Snoutlout tripped me as I was walking up the ramp."

"What about the time you set fire to the storehouse?"

"That was the twins, I was trying to get them to stop playing with the fire."

"That time you—" Spitelout was hit on the head by Gothi's staff.

Gothi began to write in the small pile of dirt that had congregated beneath her.

Gobber stood to stand behind her as she wrote, "She says, 'that while the boy has made some mistakes, it is clear that they are not all his fault.' She thinks we should all shut up and keep swinging!" 

Gothi sighed and swung her staff at Gobber, hitting him on the head.

"Ow!" He said, "Oh, she said we should keep watching."

Hiccup sighed as he glared at the floor, they would never understand.

"Please, two [...] date."

That boy is a disaster waiting to happen, thought Spitelout, if only that Red Death would've been able to finish him off. Then Snoutlout could take his rightful place as the true heir of Berk.

"Oh my Thor," shouted Tuffnut, "tell me you still have that thing!"

"And that we can use it sometime!" Added Ruffnut.

"Sorry," said Hiccup with a shrug, "it got destroyed in the raid."

"Thank the Gods," sighed Astrid with relief.

"See, now [...]  ...this."

Hiccup sighed, throwing an arm behind him and wrapping it around his dragons neck. He pulled Toothless in for a small hug, "I'm really glad I couldn't kill a dragon," he murmured.

Toothless crooned and gave his rider a small nudged with his nose.

"But, you [...] CONSEQUENCES!"

The twins laughed, "the worst damage you could ever do is to yourself," said Ruffnut.

"Yeah," agreed Tuff, "disasters just follow you where ever you go."

"Trust me," murmured Hiccup, "that is something that has become frustratingly clear to me."

"I'll take [...] here."

The dragons look at their riders curiously, wondering if any of them had killed a dragon before they realized the dragons never wanted any of this to happen. They never realized that their killings were so glorified.

The riders all flinched at Hiccups remark. They turned to their dragons and gave them comforting pats; an attempt to reassure them that things were different now.

"A Nadder [...] status."

The mentioned dragons all preen a little as they are described. Knowing the fear they could strike into enemies gave them back some of the confidence they had just lost.

"They found [...] fire."

"That's right boys," grinned Snoutlout, "only the best Viking can handle Hookfang here!"

He gave the dragon a heavy set of pats on the noise. Hookfang rolled his eyes at his rider, smoke coming out of his nose.

"Reload! [...] DOWN!"

Toothless let's lose a small sound of content. It's always good to know you're at the top of the list.

"JUMP! [...] first."

"If that was your mission," laughed Astrid, "you've accomplished the farthest thing from it."

"And I couldn't be happier that it turned out the way it did," responded Hiccup with a smile.

Toothless let out a small disapproving grumble.

"Of course I'm not happy that you lost your tailfin when I shot you down bud." Said Hiccup in order to correct himself, "but I am so thankful you've become my friend." Hiccup wrapped his arms around Toothless' neck to give him a big hug and the dragon gave a joyous rumble of content.

"Man the [...] mean."

"How could ya leave 'im there all by 'imself?" Asked Stoick, "of course he won't be staying!"

[Hiccup waits [...] launcher.]

Gobber looked sheepish, "ah sorry Chief."

"Hiccup, where [...] into a forest.]

Hiccup and Toothless both grimace, imagining the paint the dragon endured when the bola brought Toothless down and ripped off his tailfin. The dragon gave a small croon, rubbing his snout again Hiccups shoulder. Toothless had already accepted what had happened to him and he didn't like it when his rider felt guilty about it.

The Vikings of Berk watched the screen with looks of surprise. Sure they knew that Hiccup had captured and trained Toothless, but the Hier was always a little quiet about the details of the incident. It was hard to imagine Hiccup the Useless making something that could actually bring down a dragon.

"Oh, I hit [...] you."

'I'm really glad that dragon was the only one there,' thought Hiccup, 'or else we probably wouldn't be here right now. My dad probably would've sent a search party into the woods. Maybe even making my kill Toothless myself in order to create a son he could be proud of.'

"Do NOT [...] instead.]

The Berkians sighed, how was the boy always getting himself into so much trouble.

"You're all [...] know..."

Just as they did when the event occurred, the Vikings all grumbled and sent small glares towards the young Hier.

"Sorry, Dad… [...]  it—"

Stoick sighed, "I'm sorry son, I should've listened to you."

"It's alright dad, I'm glad that you didn't."

"STOP! Just... [...]  Dad."

The Dragon Riders gave a small huff, Hiccup couldn't even hurt a good dragon if he tried.

"You are [...]  up."

The Dragon Riders give small flinches as they watch themselves agonize Hiccup, or stand around without stopping the harassment.

"Quite the [...] talking fishbone!

Stoick flinched, was that really how his son thought he saw him?

"Now, you're [...] stand."

"Gobber!" Shouted Stoick, "I have always loved my son. Even when he didn't fit in, he was still my son, and I've always loved him."

Hiccup blushed and looked at the ground, he honestly never thought his dad felt that way towards him.

"Thank you [...] guys."

Astrid smiled to herself, now everyone wanted to be just like Hiccup.

[Hiccup goes [...] running off.]

"Of course you wouldn't stay put," teased Astrid.

"I had just shot down a Night Fury," countered Hiccup, "I wasn't just going to leave him there."

"Gods, I can't believe you went into the woods by yourself looking for a dragon that could've easily killed you if it wanted to," said Fishlegs.

"Good thing it didn't want to," smirked Snoutlout.

"Pretty sure he would have if he could have," said Hiccup. He looked back at his best friend with a grimace.

"You guys have a strong bond," said Tuffnut.

"Yeah," agreed Ruffnut, "his body wouldn't have let you be killed. It was against his instincts."

"Alright that's enough," interrupted Stoick, "let us continue watching."

Chapter Text

Hi guys, the next chapter is about 3/4 of the way done. I procrastinate a lot and I know it's been a while but I've just hit a bump.

I received an email saying that my story violated the Terms of Service because my work far exceeds the amount of copyrighted material allowed. This suck because now I am going to have to reformat the previous chapters, and the new one in the works to edit out more of the script.

Personally, I would really rather not edit out parts of the script because I have seen fanfictions where they use a lot of "..." in order to cut the script short and I find that it takes away from the story. Some people may not remember exactly what is happening when the story is being cut off. Also, one of the reasons it's been taking me so long to get the chapters out is because I've been trying to add a lot of detail to the script so the readers know exactly what the Vikings are seeing when they watch.

So there will be a few updates in the next few days on previous chapters while I edit out enough of the script in order to follow with copyright laws, it needs to be done by the 26th.

After that is done, a new chapter should be posted soonish.

Thank you for being patient.