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Hiccup groaned as he heard the loud banging echoing around his room. He considered for a moment ignoring it and simply drifting back off to sleep. This thought was quickly dashed as the banging returned full force, somehow even louder than before.
“Hiccup! Get your gods forsaken dragon off the roof! I’m trying to sleep here!” He heard the disgruntled roar of his father from downstairs. Hiccup sighed, finally rolling himself out of bed, and ensuring his prosthetic was securely attached before drowsily reaching for his helmet resting on his bedpost. It was almost Snoggletog after all, he should make an effort to be festive.
Hiccup trudged downstairs and out the door, hand covering his eyes to fight off the glare of the rising sun. An excited thump brought his attention to the roof, where a very eager Toothless was still bouncing up and down.
“Well, good morning, Mr. Bossy!” Hiccup called up to his other half.
“What took you so long?” Toothless whined in return, “The weather is perfect for flying today! We’ve been stuck inside for ages, we need to stretch our wings!”
“Oh, we need to stretch our wings, do we? I don’t remember being consulted on such a thing. Did you really have to wake me up so early?” Hiccup faux whined, eliciting a happy chortle from Toothless, who finally deigned to join him on the ground.
“You’re just as eager to fly as me, you can’t fool me, Half-of-Me.” Toothless retorted. Hiccup went to offer a rejoinder, but his prosthetic hit a patch of black ice sending him nearly tumbling to the ground. Thankfully, he had a night fury nearby that was well known for his overprotective tendencies. Toothless caught him, pushing his head underneath his torso and gently lifting him back to his feet. He crooned gently in question.
“Stupid leg. Oh, thanks, buddy, I'm okay. Yeah, we can go flying now.” Hiccup answered, giving him a grateful scratch beneath his ear flaps.
Hiccup wasted no time from that point, jumping right into the saddle and taking off. Hiccup was never going to admit it now, not after being called out by Toothless, but he was feeling pretty restless after having been stuck inside for days sheltering from winter storms. They enjoyed the lovely weather, racing to the top of Berk’s highest peak and dancing amongst the clouds. Hiccup and Toothless pushed themselves, pulling out very acrobatic trick in their book, spinning, diving, and swerving through the cloud cover above Berk. They reveled in the feeling of freedom only flight could bring them.
“Hey, Bud, wanna try out that new trick we’ve been working on?” Hiccup asked, leaning forward so Toothless could pick up speed. Instead of words, Toothless answered with a delighted whoop and pulled down and to the side where the cliffs met the sea. They approached their target, a sea stack connected to cliffs by a thin length of rock forming a rough arch.
“Ready?” Hiccup asked, and Toothless chirped in agreement bracing himself. Hiccup then disconnected his foot from the pedal attached to Toothless’ tail fin. The faux fin collapsed in on itself, and Hiccup gripped onto the saddle tightly to steady himself. As soon as Toothless leveled off Hiccup shakily got to his feet, standing astride Toothless’ back. Toothless doubled his speed, and just as they approached the arch he bucked hard, sending Hiccup flying through the air. He went soaring over the arch, clearing the rockface before landing heavily back onto Toothless. He whooped victoriously, and secured his foot back into the pedal, pulling it up and opening the fin just in time for Toothless to catch an updraft and push them above the cold sea.
“Yes, finally! We did it!” Hiccup cheered. Toothless sent a celebratory plasma blast into the sky, lighting up the clouds in a soft purple glow.
The pair arrived back in town, just in time to see a group of Vikings raising a wooden structure shaped into a tree. Toothless stared at the structure, that was now being covered with brightly painted shields, utterly baffled.
“Why would you build a tree out of wood? Trees are already….wood? What is the purpose of this?” Toothless asked. There was a cacophony of shouts, cheers, and the heavy thunk of wood hitting wood as a group of Nadders, Astrid and Stormfly amongst them, assisted with pinning the shields to the tree by shooting them with their tail spines.
“Oh, that’s right with all the excitement with nesting season I forgot to tell you. It’s Snoggletog!” Hiccup cheered, clapping with the crowd as more shields were secured to the trees. That did little to alleviate Toothless’ confusion.
“Snoggletog?” He asked, hoping for an actual explanation.
“Yeah, I know it’s a pretty dumb name, I don’t think anyone even remembers who came up with it or why. But it’s Berk’s biggest holiday, it’s to celebrate surviving another Devastating Winter! And this year we didn’t even lose anyone, thanks to the dragons!” Hiccup explained “With the dragons here the celebration will be even bigger!”
Hiccup watched with giddy cheer as a small child dressed in a gronkle costume approached Meatlug and playfully growled at the dragon. Meatlug grinned, wagging her tail, and playfully roared back sending the child into a mess of giggles. Hiccup waved as he saw his father and Gobber approach the plaza, deep in conversation.
“By Odin's beard, Gobber. Vikings spending the winter holiday with dragons. What would our fathers say?” Stoick exclaimed.
“They'd think we'd lost our minds!” Gobber chuckled, punching his friend’s arm jokingly sending eliciting chuckles from the Chief. Stoick stood in front of the Snoggletog tree and turned to address the crowd of cheery Vikings.
“Well done. Well done, all of you! I've never thought I'd live to see this day. Peace on the island of Berk. This will surely be the greatest holiday, we've ever seen!” Stoick praised, and the air filled with cheers and laughter, from both Viking and dragon, in response. The crowd milled about, everyone completing their tasks to prepare the town for the celebration in a few days’ time.
Toothless nudged Hiccup, catching his attention, “We should go check on the nests. The migration is coming soon, and we will want to get a headcount here before we need to leave.”
“Good idea, Bud. How many decided to nest on Berk?” Hiccup asked, jumping onto Toothless’ back.
“About ten or so, most of them gronkles, though I think Whirlwing may be nesting in the sea caves as well.”
“Let’s head to forest then, we can do a quick head count, grab some dinner and then be ready to head out with the rest of the flock after!” They soared over town, heading deep into the forest’s interior. Along the edges there were a series of shallow indents in the cliffs, each housing a single gronkle sitting on top of a nest of pebbles and small rocks. There were a series of pits dug nearby in a small cluster.
They visited each dragon, inquiring about their health. Hiccup had been absolutely fascinated as Meatlug provided him all of the details of their nesting behaviors. Not all of the gronkles were nesting on Berk this year, but he was proud that even one of their flock considered the island safe enough to do so. Gronkles, with their tiny wings, were not as well suited to long flights as the other species and thus many preferred not to lay their eggs on the Nesting Isle. As they did their check-ins they were met with enthusiastic responses, Hiccup was delighted to find the group of gronkles had all finally laid their eggs. Soon they would be able to leave the nests, allowing their eggs to cool and harden in preparation for hatching. This was a vital step for the gronkles, as the hardened egg shells would serve as the newborn gronkle’s first meal. The shells themselves were mineral dense and very nutritious, helping to kick start the baby dragon’s digestive system allowing them to more easily digest the rocks that would be their next meal.
After they had completed their check-in, finding that Whirlwing had indeed laid her own eggs though it would be several weeks until they would be ready to hatch, they returned home for a quick meal. They completely missed his father and Gobber who must still be in town organizing their preparations. Oh well, not a big deal, Hiccup jotted down a quick note “Gone on Dragon Business, Be Back Soon!” leaving it on the table, before heading out with Toothless. He made sure to swing by the Forge, picking up a cloth-wrapped package and securing it in Toothless’ saddle bag.
Toothless whipped his head back as he felt the weight added to his side. “What’s that?”
“Don’t worry about that, yet, Bud. It’s a surprise for when we arrive!” Hiccup responded cheerfully. Toothless shrugged, and settled himself down as Hiccup hopped onto his back adjusting his helmet as he did so. “Come on, We’ve got a flock to lead!” The pair leapt into the air, Toothless releasing a loud, high pitched roar. As one, nearly their entire flock rose into the air to join them and they headed South, eager to arrive at the Nesting Isle.
They had been flying for an hour or two when they were suddenly joined by a massive group of dragons. The other flock, flocks? There were an awful lot of dragons in the new group far too many to come from a single flock, sped above and over them jumbling their groups together. Toothless was forced to swerve left, right, then down as the mass of dragons collided with their flock. “Whoa! Aaaaahhh! Woah! Woah!” Hiccup shouted, as he was thrown side to side on the saddle. A particularly clumsy zippleback even collided with them, sending Hiccup’s helmet plummeting towards the sea.
“Oh, no! My helmet! Aaaaaaaahhhhhh...!” Hiccup shouted in dismay, his hand reaching out fruitlessly towards the fallen helmet. Toothless noticed his distress and pulled into a dive, eager to retrieve Hiccup’s belonging. Hiccup was touched at the gesture, but sadly they didn’t have time for it. “Toothless! No, no, no! Whoa... Wait!” He shouted pulling up on the saddle in an effort to get Toothless’ attention. “Toothless! Stop!” He screamed at his loudest volume. That finally got his dragon’s attention, and Toothless pulled up into a hover in response. “We'll get it later, bud. We need to get the flock to the Nesting Isle, first.” Toothless grumbled a half-hearted complaint that he could get the helmet in no time flat, but he acquiesced, putting their duty to the flock first.
They rejoined their flock, now intermingled with hundreds of other, unfamiliar dragons. Several spared surprised looks for Toothless, but they were soon distracted by their arrival at the Nesting Isle. The Isle itself was nearly a perfect circle of land, only broken by a small inlet to the sea which created a circular lagoon at its center, forming a crescent moon shape. The middle of the island was far thicker than its edges, and its peaks reached far higher into the air. Once they landed on the Isle, Hiccup could see that the rock formed dozens of long flat steps, perfect for accommodating the hundreds of nesting dragons that had arrived. Several of the steps were already filled with nesting dragons, in various stages, some nests filled with eggs, while others already boasted baby dragons! Hiccup and Toothless passed a nest of chirping baby nadders, their huge eyes filling their little faces, their pupils dilating as they passed. One even managed to clamber out of the nest and nuzzle its little spiny nose against Hiccup’s metal leg. Hiccup cooed, and gave the little baby a pat on the head, before herding it back to its nest.
“I will never understand your obsession with hatchlings.” Toothless harumphed grumpily, carefully avoiding contact with any hatchlings they passed.
“Awwww, come on Toothless, they’re such cute little babies! How can you not find them adorable?” Hiccup questioned, teasingly holding up a baby nadder to Toothless’ face. Toothless simply rolled his eyes and kept walking, refusing to indulge his other half any further. The pair circled the island ensuring each of their flock members was able to settle in and prepare a nest. A few other flockmates joined them, serving as guards for the nesting mothers, Hookfang amongst them. Once that was completed, Toothless and Hiccup found a secluded corner to bed down for the night. As Hiccup curled into the warmth of his other half, there was a slight niggle in the back of his head, as if he had forgotten something important. He dismissed the thought, they had made it to the Nesting Isle safely and everything was going according to plan, what could he have possibly forgotten?
It would be an understatement to say the people of Berk were taken aback by the sudden departure of their dragons. The moment the dragons took to the skies, the Vikings all burst into a panic.
“What in Thor’s name?” Gobber shouted as an enthusiastic nadder swept past him and into the air.
“What's the matter? Where are you going?” Mulch yelled as Whip&Lash abandoned them, while they were in the midst of hanging a garland no less!
“No no no no! Don't leave, Stormfly, don't go! Please?!” Astrid herself shrieked as Stormfly flew off, not even looking back at her Rider before joining the others in the sky.
“What is happening?” A confused Tuffnut questioned, after being unceremoniously dumped onto the ground with his twin by their excited zippleback. “Barf! Belch! Get back here!” Ruffnut screamed in response.
The plaza was soon filled with shocked Vikings all shouting their dismay at the departure of their dragons. Stoick forcefully shoved his way through the crowd to its center.
“What is going on? Where is Hiccup?” He bellowed, ensuring his voice would be heard over the din. Astrid shook herself from her astonished daze to turn towards the Chief. A quick scan of the crowd proved Hiccup was not amongst them.
“He’s not here, Chief!” Astrid responded, as the other Riders continued to panic around her.
“Well then, we best hunt him down. If anyone will know what’s going on here, it will be my son.” Astrid nodded, finding a sense of calm now that she had a job to complete.
“We should split up. Ruffnut, Tuffnut you guys head to the docks, Snotlout, you take the woods, I can check the Forge, and Chief you should check your home.” Astrid ordered, ending a bit sheepishly realizing she had just given an order to her Chief. Thankfully, the Chief seemed to take this with humor rather than offense.
“Aye, lass, we’ll regroup at the Great Hall in a few hours. Let’s hope that son of mine has some answers.”
Astrid paused for a moment feeling like she was missing something. “Wait. Where’s Fishlegs?”
Their search had yielded no Hiccup, and no answers, though oddly enough the twins had noted that one of the ships awaiting repairs had mysteriously gone missing. Stoick could only hope that “gone missing” did not mean the twins had taken it upon themselves to sink the vessel.
The only thing of worth they found was a less than helpful note from Hiccup. The note said “Gone on Dragon Business, Be Back Soon!”, Stoick growled upon reading the note. When Hiccup returned he would be getting a long, thorough lecture on not leaving home without providing proper information on where he was going. At the very least they now knew that Hiccup, and likely the dragons, would be coming back. However, Stoick had no idea if Hiccup’s definition of “soon” matched his own. Stoick braced himself to face the frustrated, confused mob of Vikings gathered in the Great Hall. What was supposed to be a joyous occasion had quickly devolved into angry sulking at the loss of their dragons.
The second he stood to address the crowd, he was bombarded with questions.
“Where'd they go?!”
“Where is my dragon?!?”
“Why’d they leave?”
“Where’s Hiccup?!”
“Snoggletog is ruined!”
Stoick slammed his hammer down on the table in front of him, silencing the crowd, and giving himself room to speak.
“Nothing is ruined! We're Vikings! We've been perfectly happy celebrating without dragons for generations! And there's no reason we can't do it again! Now we don't know where they've gone off to, though it’s almost certain my son is with them. But we have to have faith that they'll be back again soon. Am I right?” Stoick shouted to the crowd.
“You're RIGHT, We are Vikings! We are tough!” Gobber shouted his support. Though, Stoick supposed his statement may have come across more strongly had Gobber not been dressed up with shiny antlers attached to his helmet and his hammer arm replaced with a rod of bells.
At the very least his reassurance had the crowd dispersing, though there were still disgruntled and discontented grumbles. Amongst them were the Riders, abandoned by both their dragons and their leader.
The Riders left the Great Hall, a dark cloud hanging over them. “That was depressing...” Ruffnut muttered, kicking up some dirt as they shuffled off to their homes.
“I know! I was looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly.” Astrid despaired, crossing her arms in front of herself. Snoggletog was her favorite day of the year, and she wouldn’t even get to spend it with her best friend. “By the way have either of you seen Fishlegs anywhere, it’s odd that both he and Hiccup are missing. I know I saw him heading towards the forest when the dragons left.”
“I don’t know, but he’s been following his dragon around like a lost puppy for weeks now. I bet he’s hiding somewhere secluded so he can cry his eyes out alone.” Snotlout answered, his voice mocking, though it lacked his usual edge. Hookfang’s absence must have been getting to him as well.
“We should go find him! With Hiccup gone, he’s our only hope to figure this one out.” Astrid stated, a fire having been lit under her. With a goal in sight her determination returned to her. They spread out through town, checking all of Fishlegs usual haunts, his home, and even the Great Hall. When it became clear he wasn’t in town they left to comb the forest. To their surprise they found that not all of the dragons had left Berk. There was a small group of gronkles not far into the woods, they had gathered around a recent rockfall and were happily gorging themselves. “Whoa! Looks like there are some dragons on Berk after all! How much you wanna bet Meatlug is around here somewhere too!” Snotlout cheered, and began investigating deeper into the forest.
Eventually they came across a clearing, the back portion of which consisted of a series of indents in a cliff. Each indent was home to a massive pile of rocks, each carefully organized in a way that couldn’t be natural. The twins, of course, went right up to the first pile and proceeded to stick their faces in it.
“Whoa what is that?” Tuffnut exclaimed, pulling up an oddly shaped and textured rock. “Hey this rock is warm!” He displayed his find to the others and Astrid’s eyes widened.
“That’s not a rock, that’s an egg!” Astrid shouted, then came to a realization. “Hey, wait! I bet that's why the dragons left: To lay their eggs! That means they’re definitely coming back.”
“Yeah, but how long is that going to take? There’s no way they’re going to be back before Snoggletog’s over.” Snotlout griped, sitting down heavily on the edge of the nest, causing more eggs to be revealed. The sight of all those eggs just sitting right there, no dragon to tend to them, well, it gave her an idea. They may be missing their dragons, but…
“Hey! Everyone’s missing their dragons, right?”
“Oh, here it comes.” Ruffnut griped, joining Snotlout in sitting on the nest, toying with the eggs.
“I've got an idea!” Astrid cheered, a grin breaking out across her face. She pulled a length of red ribbon out of her pouch, one she had been planning to give to Stormfly. She cut it into several pieces, took one and tied it around the egg in a bow. “We can hide these eggs in every house, so on Snoggletog they’ll be greeted by baby dragons! It'll be another new Snoggletog tradition! Oh, this is gonna be so good!” The others shared a skeptical look, though none of them were willing to fight Astrid on it, not when she had gone nearly manic with joy. They folded, and in the end assisted her in distributing the gronkle eggs to every house on Berk.
Hiccup and Toothless awoke to the cheerful sound of chirping hatchlings and harried parents. Hiccup stretched out on the comfortably warm rock he was laying on, the warmth courtesy of Toothless who groaned at his movement. His partner grumbled in displeasure and tried to pin Hiccup back to his side with one of his wings.
“Toothless! Come on it’s morning, bud! And I’ve got something special for you!” Hiccup said, and Toothless cracked one eye open. His dragon took careful assessment of his words, weighing whether this mystery surprise was worth disrupting his comfortable rest. His dragon whined, and rolled over, exposing his saddle bag. Hiccup gave him a light pat, and dug out the cloth wrapped bundle he packed earlier. He carefully peeled away the outer layer, exposing a new, black tail fin. This one conspicuously lacking a connecting rod and wire to attach it to the saddle. Toothless eyed it, head tilted to the side, he approached cautiously sniffing it.
“What do you think of that?” Hiccup asked, eager to hear Toothless’ thoughts.
“A new tail? How does it work? it’s missing pieces.” Toothless asked, skeptical. Hiccup decided it would be easier to show rather than tell. Hiccup stripped off Toothless’ current tail and saddle, setting it aside carefully. Then he attached the new tail with deft fingers, carefully arranging the wires and tightening the belt. “There you go!”
Toothless wiggled his tail experimentally, the feeling of this new tail strange and oddly…. off putting. He began to whip his tail back and forth, trying to shed the unwelcome new appendage, he didn’t like this new tail, he wanted the comforting feeling of the old one back, now.
“Nonono... To-Toothless! Stop! Please, wait! Toothless, please!” Hiccup called out, holding his hands out and trying to calm his partner. However, Toothless continued whipping his tail, until his movements finally triggered the tailfin, allowing it to open on its own. Toothless stared at it, startled. Slowly, he attempted to recreate the motion, and watched shocked as the fin opened and closed on its own.
“Ah... There you go. See? Got it? I call it the auto-tail! I thought, well, it’s not fair that you can’t go flying without me. All those times I was injured, you were stuck being grounded too. This way you can fly on your own! Do you like it?” Hiccup asked, voice tentative, fearing a refusal or worse a reprisal.
Toothless stared at the tailfin then stared at Hiccup, at a loss for words.
“Toothless? Whoa!” Hiccup asked, then yelped, as Toothless took to the air without warning, shooting up with the force of a comet. Hiccup watched his ascent first fond, then worried as Toothless didn’t come back down, or even begin flipping in the air nearby to show off his new capabilities. Instead, Toothless flew off towards the sea.
Hiccup stared at the spot Toothless stood just moments before, utterly shocked at his other half’s speedy departure. Was Toothless truly that eager to fly without him? Had he really just been a burden to his partner this whole time? A pit of dread and self-hatred formed in Hiccup’s gut. He collapsed where he stood, unable to comprehend this turn of events. Of course he left you, that tail was the only thing keeping him around. A dark voice whispered in the back of his mind. Why would a night fury want to stick around with Hiccup the Useless?
Hiccup didn’t know how long he sat there, unresponsive, but at some point Hookfang had wandered up to him. The monstrous nightmare gently nudged him with his snout, and Hiccup startled having been pulled from his spiral of self-doubt.
“Oh. Hey, Hookfang. Didn’t see you there. How’s it going? Should I be in the look-out for any baby Hookfangs running around?” Hiccup attempted to joke, but the sentiment fell flat as the dragon simply looked down at him with concern in his eyes.
“No, I’ve got no interest in hatchlings. I think I should be the one asking you that, Little Queen. I saw your partner leave suddenly, and without you! I didn’t even know that was possible!”
“Yeah, that was my Snoggletog gift for Toothless. I made him a tail he doesn’t need me to fly with. Though, I guess I wasn’t expecting him to fly off without me the second it was on” Hiccup responded, downcast and perhaps even a bit bitter. “I guess he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
Hookfang huffed, a small trail of smoke leaving his nostrils. “I doubt that’s true. That dread-wing is many things, but he is utterly loyal to you. I bet the fish brain had some crazy idea to repay you for the gift and took off to get it without warning you. Probably wanted to surprise you, the idiot.” He scoffed, less than impressed with his Queen’s actions.
“Do you really think so? You don’t think he just got sick of me or something?” Hiccup asked tentatively, hope creeping into his expression.
“Of course not!” Holding guffawed, a spurt of flame exited his mouth as he laughed. “Have you met him? Every other word out of his mouth is about you! “Oh my other half did this! you wouldn’t believe what my other half built this time!” He never shuts up about you!” Hiccup met this statement with a fond smile, yeah, he was sure Hookfang was right. He was just being silly, letting that dark little voice in the back of his head take over.
“Besides, even if he did decide he didn’t want a rider anymore, you’ve got the pick of the flock. I’d be honored to be your dragon partner should you so choose. Though I’m sure My-Idiot would be lost without me.” Hookfang continued, voice carefully neutral, though Hiccup could hear the fond tone creeping in at the mention of Snotlout.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary, but thank you, really Hookfang. I’m glad you’re here. I’m sure Toothless just had some crazy idea pop into his head. He’ll be back, I just know it.” Hiccup concluded with a sense of confidence he wasn’t totally sure he felt. but well, fake it till you make it as Gobber liked to say. He’d just have to trust that Toothless would come back to him. They were two halves of a whole after all.
“Oh, hey look at that! The gronkle eggs are hatching!” Hiccup is delighted to see two little newborn gronkles, one pink and one green, emerge from a hot spring. “Aww. Wow! Hey, look over here, she missed one.” One egg is laying off to the side of the spring, balancing precariously on its edge. Hiccup moves forward to nudge it into the water, however, before he could do so the egg began to shake and then suddenly exploded, sending shards of eggshell scattering. “WHOA!” The newborn gronkle shook itself and chirped up at Hiccup, pulling a chuckle from him “Man, it's a good thing we set up the nests far from town! That’s quite the fire hazard.”
Astrid stood in the center of the plaza, feeling rather pleased with herself. They had managed to hide all of the eggs with plenty of time to spare. Just as she was about to give herself a pat on the back she noticed Fishlegs finally emerging from the woods, surprisingly without Meatlug.
“Fishlegs! Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you and Hiccup everywhere!” Astrid shouted, storming up to her comrade hands on her hips. Things would have been so much easier had he been around to answer her questions.
“Oh, Hi Astrid! Sorry, I was just taking care of Meatlug. The egg laying was pretty hard on her, and she needed some help getting to the hot springs. I had to make sure she got off her nest in time for the eggs to harden. After all, soft eggs can be dangerous, sometimes the hatchlings can get injured when they explode.” Fishlegs rambled cheerily, oblivious to horror creeping into Astrid’s expression.
“The eggs... Explode?” She asked, shocked. Fishlegs looked at her confused.
“Yes? Most dragon eggs do actually, it’s a fascinating process really—” Fishlegs began, but whatever he was going to say was cut off brutally by the series of explosions happening all around them. Every home on Berk suddenly was plagued with small fires, broken windows, or damaged walls. Each explosion was followed by the frantic flight of newly hatched gronkles desperately searching out their mother. People began flooding out of their houses, and a mad dash was made for the water troughs lining the streets. Thank Freya for Hiccup’s new fire suppression protocols.
“Astrid, what did you do?” Fishlegs squeaked. The pair of them were standing still in the stream of people rushing to put out fires throughout town. Astrid fell to her knees, embarrassment and shame drowning out all other thoughts. She just wanted a nice Snoggletog, was that too much to ask?
“I'M SORRY! SORRY!” She shouted, as the eggs she had just finished placing under the Snoggletog tree exploded setting the entire tree ablaze.
“Awesome!” Ruffnut whispers in awe at the chaos around them.
“Nice!” Tuffnut exclaimed, high fiving his twin.
Even Snotlout was reveling in the chaos. He turned to her with a grin. “This is your best idea yet!” Astrid wanted to crawl into her burning house and never leave. Her shame continued to peak as she watched the Chief storm out of the Great Hall, one of few places they hadn’t placed an egg. He stared up at the flaming tree in horror, before whipping around to face the Rider’s fury drawing his expression tight.
“WHAT IN THOR'S NAME IS GOING ON?!” Stoick thundered, his voice echoing across the plaza, loud and clear despite the chaos.
Astrid, resigned to her fate, merely looked up at him. Her expression forlorn and voice hollow as the empty homes her people were forced to flee because of her.
“The eggs explode.” She stated, and said no more.
Hiccup, oblivious to the chaos unfolding on Berk, continued his trip around the Nesting Isle. “Stormfly! How are you doing? How are the babies?” He greeted his flockmate, cooing at the newborn nadders. He giggled as the babies jumped out of their nest, crawling all over him and chirping their enthusiastic greetings.
“Oh, look at you guys! All happy, together. I should get back to my holiday, I’m sure my Dad’s probably wondering where I am. It wouldn’t do for me to miss Snoggletog.” Hiccup couldn’t deny he was saddened that Toothless had yet to return, and he was loathe to fly without him, but he had a deadline to meet. His father would not be happy if he missed Snoggletog, and that was one lecture Hiccup could still manage to avoid. Hiccup turned to Hookfang. “So what do you say there, Hookfang? Think, you could give me a ride back home?”
“It would be my honor. I am happy to pick up Night Queen’s slack.” Hookfang replied, his nose in the air, clearly relishing the fact he will be able to use this to tease Toothless later. Hiccup gave him a grateful pat and threw his leg over Hookfang’s neck situating himself there carefully. He was a bit put out he’d have to make the journey without a saddle, but well, there wasn’t much he’d able to do about it now. He’d taken the time to carefully stash Toothless’ old tail fin and saddle on the old decrepit ship he had… borrowed to assist with returning with the hatchlings. He was certain his flockmates would be able to handle all that without him.
Hiccup turned to face the rest of his flock, addressing the group. “I'll see you all back on Berk when you're good and ready, okay, gang?” With that Hookfang took to the air, hovering for a moment before turning to head back towards Berk. It wasn’t long before Hiccup realized something was wrong. They weren’t alone in the air, droves of other dragons had joined them, some even bearing hatchlings on their backs!
“Oh... Nono nonono... I think I just started the return migration. Is there any way to stop this? I didn’t mean to rush everyone.” Hiccup asked Hookfang dismayed.
“I think it’s a little late for that. The babies have all hatched anyway, might as well get a move on.” Hookfang chuckled. Hiccup watched as the hatchlings attempted, and failed, to join their parents in the sky. He laughed as one manages to get airborne, only to crash head first into their siblings mere moments later. He sighed fondly.
“Well, if you insist! Let’s get these babies all loaded up for the return trip!” Hiccup shouted, gesturing down at the Berkian longship, a brightly colored dragon carved into the prow.
Stoick watched as the townspeople finished dowsing the flames of the Snoggletog tree, his hand coming up to massage the bridge of his nose. “Ah, Gobber, this is a disaster.”
“Ah, it's not so bad. We’ve had worse.” Gobber attempted to shrug off the damage and chaos that had resulted from the half-baked plan of a group of saddened teenagers.
“Oh, not that bad? The village is destroyed. The dragons have gone and left us. My son is missing! Let's face it – this holiday is a complete—” Stoick was forced to break off mid-rant, as the crowd around him all stared into the distance excitedly murmuring. “What are these people looking at?”
Gobber simply pointed upwards, as glimmering shapes filled the sky. Slowly the shapes resolved into dragons, their dragons! And in their midst was something large and brown, that Stoick couldn’t quite make out. “What is that?” He asked, eyes straining to identify the unidentified flying object.
The shape soon became clear. There was a Viking longship, their missing ship! being carried by four large dragons. And standing at the prow was his son, several squirming baby dragons in his arms.
“It's Hiccup!” Stoick cheered, relieved to have his son returned in time for the holiday.
“And our dragons!” A delighted Astrid shrieked as Stormfly landed heavily next to her, stopping to preen her hair. The plaza was soon filled with the cheers of joyful Vikings, relieved at the return of their partners. After what felt like a lifetime, the dragons finally dropped the ship into the plaza, baby dragons spilling out of it the second they touched the ground. Hiccup followed not long after, surprisingly subdued for all that he had a chirping dragon hatchling in each arm. The crowd greeted him enthusiastically.
“Welcome back laddie!”
“Good Job!”
A relieved Snotlout even joined in the cheers as Hookfang landed in front of him “Yeah! Whoo-hoo!”
Astrid embraced Stormfly, gripping her dragon in a crushing hug. “Stormfly! You're back! Oh! And you have babies!” She cooed as several baby nadders crowded around her and Stormfly.
“Hahaha! Well done, son!” Stoick boomed, pulling his son into a hug of his own.
Hiccup gasping for air, before choking out his response. “Thanks, Dad!”
Stoick leaned down to whisper into his son’s ear, his words for him alone. “We will be talking about what constitutes a proper note. The next time you leave Berk, you WILL be providing me with a full itinerary and a justification for the trip.” Stoick smirked as his son paled at the chastisement. Stoick pulled away to give him an approving thump on the back. “But that will be after the holiday.” Stoick turned to address the crowd.
“Everyone! Grab your dragons! To the Great Hall! We finally have something to celebrate!” His words are greeted with deafening cheers and the delighted chirping of baby dragons.
Hiccup walked though the Great Hall, observing the reunions of dragon and rider. Phlegma was doting on Violet’s hatchlings while half-heartedly scolding her partner for the scare. Mulch and Bucket were wrapped up in the necks of Whip&Lash, Bucket openly weeping while he hugged his dragon. Even Helga was smiling serenely as she tended to her gronkle’s hatchlings carefully wiping down each with a cloth. He was overjoyed to see both Vikings and dragons celebrating the holiday, together. Astrid took a moment to break away from Stormfly’s hatchlings, walking up to speak with him.
“Hey Hiccup, it’s good to see you back. But, where’s Toothless? I haven’t seen him around anywhere.” Hiccup felt the warmth he had been feeling at the reunions slowly melt away, leaving him feeling empty. He sighed, not sure where to begin.
“Well, he went to the Nesting Isle with us. I actually had a surprise for him, a new tail so that he could fly on his own. But… the second I put it on him, he flew away and I haven’t seen him since.”
Astrid gasped pulling Hiccup into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Hiccup. But I’m sure he’ll be back.” Hiccup melted into the hug, soaking up the comfort. However, after a moment Astrid went stiff and pulled away, a sly smile forming on her face. Hiccup tilted his head in confusion, unconsciously mimicking Toothless,
“Wow, man, I wouldn't wanna be you right now! I mean you brought back everyone's dragon except yours!” Astrid announced in a dramatic, sing song voice. Hiccup scrunched his nose, annoyed. Why on Earth was she talking like that? Did she really need to twist the knife?
“Yeah, you know, this is not helping, at all.” Hiccup muttered acerbically, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. Astrid just grinned widely, grabbing his shoulders and flipping him around to face the doorway. Hiccup froze as he was greeted by the sight of a big black blur racing towards him
“TOOTHLESS! Hey, bud!” Hiccup shouted, overwhelmed by the joy and relief coursing through his veins. Toothless crashed into him, sending him sprawling onto the floor, Hiccup just laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around his other half’s neck, reluctant to let him go. To his embarrassment tears began to leak out of the corners of his eyes, and his chuckles came out wet.
“Bad dragon! Very bad dragon! You scared me to death. Don't ever stay away that long again, and what is in your mouth?” Hiccup looked up just in time for Toothless to drop whatever was in his mouth on his head. Hiccup is not the only one to groan in disgust at the action. His hands reached upwards, pulling whatever it was off his head to examine. “Is this my helmet?” He questioned, surprised. He turned to look Toothless in the eyes and was met with a pleased, almost smug, look of satisfaction. Like a cat delivering a dead bird to their owner.
“Bud, other half of mine, did you seriously fly off, with no warning, scaring me half to death, just so you could find my helmet?” Hiccup asked, completely deadpan.
Toothless at least had the grace to appear guilty. “Kind of, yes, yes I did.” He replied, sheepish. “But you gave me this amazing and super thoughtful gift. And I had nothing to give you! I had to rectify that immediately!!! And I know how much this means to you, that it’s one of the only things you have of your mother.” His partner defended himself.
“And you couldn’t, Oh I don’t know, give me a heads up on that. Or just let me know you’d be back? You just left without a word, what was I supposed to think?!?” Hiccup demanded, hysterically.
“Of course I was coming back!!! How could you ever doubt that?!!?! You’re my other half!” Toothless rebutted, indignant.
At that declaration Hiccup felt himself deflate, the righteous winds of anger finally leaving his sails. “Yeah, I am. Two halves of a whole, that’s what we are. Sorry for doubting you, Bud. Just next time, give me a heads up, will ya?”
Toothless nodded face serious, before a light creeped into his eyes. He had an idea and Hiccup wasn’t sure if he should be delighted or wary. Toothless turned to look at his tail fin appraising. With one swift movement he raised his tail as high as it could go and slammed the new tail fin into the ground forcefully. The delicate mechanism of the tail shattered on impact sending little iron gears flying all over the floor. Hiccup stared, gobsmacked.
“What did you do that for?!?!? Now you won’t be able to fly on your own!”
“As much as I appreciated this gift Half-of-me, I must decline. I never want to fly without you again. We belong together. You’re my tail fin and I’m your wings, remember? It’s not right for me to be in the air without you. “Toothless replied smug as a well-fed house cat.
“I don’t know Bud, that tail would have been really useful for emergencies. I don’t want you to be in danger just because I’m too selfish to let you fly on your own” Hiccup whispered, his hands wrapping back around Toothless’ neck, searching for comfort.
Toothless considered this a moment before responding. “Then you can build me another one, and this one will let you fly with me and on my own. Maybe you can make one of your little metal things that lets you switch between them.”
Hiccup laughed. “That’s a tall order, Bud. But you got it. Anything for my other half. You just might have to wait until NEXT Snoggletog for that gift.”