Chapter Text
Hiccup sat atop of the Great Hall, his legs dangling down and his gaze set on the Hooligan village below. In his peripheral he could catch a glimpse of the two giant Viking statues as they watched over Berk. There was a pleasant breeze flowing through his hair, the sun shining down alongside it for the first time in a few weeks. This would probably be the last sunny day for the rest of this year, considering winter would officially be arriving within a week.
Seeing as the winters on Berk were traditionally bone achingly cruel, the tribe below was eagerly stockpiling. Some Vikings were walking around with carts full of weapons, some had crates full of crops, others had live sheep stuffed in their grip. Of course, plenty were carrying barrels full of ale as well. A loud thump and the sound of wood rolling across stone could be heard as Hiccup spotted one rolling away, a desperate Viking running after it.
Occasionally, people bumped into each other, causing an argument to unfold, but it had otherwise been an organized endeavour. Well, as organized as it could be for hundreds of brash Vikings. Although, Hiccup had to give them some credit, if there was one thing they were good at, it was preparing for winter. And fighting. And drinking. Hiccup shuddered, he didn't quite enjoy the last one.
The distant sounds of something crashing down stirred him out of the memory. His eyes moved over to where the sound had come from and noticed a line of crates sprawled across the floor, a Deadly Nadder standing proudly atop one of them. Hiccup softly laughed, "Luckily we don't have to be down there, do we bud?" He said, turning towards Toothless, who had been sunbathing next to him on the stone outcrop they were sitting on.
Toothless looked up at him with a slight tilt of the head, he gave what seemed to be a disapproving stare towards the boy. His black scales caught some sunlight and shimmered with every movement.
"What?" Hiccup smiled slightly, sitting upright. He had been leaning on his hands, so he gave them a little stretch before petting the dragon's head. He purred lightly at the touch. "It's not like I don't want to help, but I'd just get in the way, really." He excused light-heartedly. As if there weren't also dozens of dragons roaming around, getting much more in the way than he would have. Speaking of which, the Nadder had gotten one of the crates open, allowing cured fish to spill out.
"There you are!" A voice yelled out from behind Hiccup. Toothless perked up before Hiccup did, as Stormfly landed to the left of them.
"Have you been lazing around here this entire time? Winter is just around the corner!" Astrid argued, jumping down from Stormfly. The blue dragon quickly hopped over to Toothless as they happily greeted each other with roars and playful bickering.
Hiccup decided he wouldn't meet Astrid's glare as she stood next to him, instead moving his gaze over to the cured fish spilled on the ground in the village below. "Well," He started, trying to come up with any good excuses as to why he hadn't been helping. "I mean.. it's.." He stammered slightly. In reality, he just wanted to go explore. It was finally the perfect day to fly out and find new islands, after weeks of rain.
He couldn't finish his sentence, not that he knew how to, before Astrid huffed and sat down. She must've been able to read his mind, "It's the perfect weather to go fly," She argued for him.
Hiccup smiled and turned his head to her slightly, looking at the side of her face, "You want to join me?" He asked, but she just tsked in reply.
"Some people don't get the privilege to just run off, Hiccup." She spat, looking back at him, but she quickly smiled as to let him know it was a playful remark. Hiccup knew, of course. If Astrid had actually been mad at him, she would've pushed him off the edge to splat onto the grand stone stairs below.
The two dragons next to them hopped around each other, nipping at one another’s tails and wings as they play fought. Luckily the Great Hall had been carved into a mountain, so the rock they were sitting on was powerful enough to withstand their weight.
"I gotta help my parents," she continued, looking back at the village. There was a slight disappointment in her voice, but only because she also knew it was the perfect day to explore, something which they usually did together.
"Of course, that's probably a good idea," Hiccup replied with a small nod and a shrug of the shoulders. His dad knew he'd rather be out and about, so he didn't quite expect him to help out. But Astrid would do anything for her parents, not that Hiccup wouldn't, of course, he was just a little more willing to have fun instead of following his duties.
Astrid moved to face him, pulling her legs up so they were no longer dangling off the edge. "So, where are you going?" She asked, curiosity in her voice, "Not too far I hope, since you're going by yourself." She raised a brow.
Hiccup grinned at her, "You almost sound worried."
Astrid scoffed, "Well, you tend to be rather stupid. I think worry is needed." She retorted with a sly smile.
Hiccup acted offended, "Woow, I see how it is." He raised his hands half-heartedly, "Fine, fine, just for you, I'll go south." He had already planned to go south, however. Going north was reserved for the non-winter months. And although it wasn't quite winter yet, he didn't want to risk it. "I have to pick up a new prosthetic from Gobber first though, this one is getting a little scraped up." He lifted up his leg, the prosthetic shifting slightly at the movement.
Astrid nodded, "Good idea, you'll need to be able to run as fast as you can if something chases you," She elbowed Hiccup in the side, who groaned painfully. She continued before he could say anything, "we haven't explored the south that much yet. Maybe you'll find some more Stoker class dragons." She said with a glint in her eye. She would definitely want to be there if Hiccup happened to be chased by a large spiky fire breathing dragon.
Hiccup shuddered, "Maybe a different class would be a little nicer, like another Mystery!" He perked up, "Ooh something we've Never seen before, wouldn't that be great?" As if on cue, Toothless hopped up next to him, eager to find this hypothetical new mystery dragon. 'How about another Night fury?' Hiccup thought, his head turning to look at the Night fury beside him with a smile.
Astrid grimaced, "Sure, Hiccup." She spoke, as Stormfly returned to her side. Astrid petted her beak-like snout, "I assume Gobber will know, but I'll tell Stoick you're out too when I come across him." Hiccup turned his head back to her. She leaned a little closer, "Don't get killed or it'll be my fault for not being there." She joked, but Hiccup could sense a small sliver of truth.
He smiled again, "I'll be fine, Astrid," Hiccup reassured her. "I'll have Toothless by my side, remember?" He said, before standing up with a huff. Toothless eagerly growled up at him.
Astrid followed and stood as well, "That's true," She nodded, looking past the boy towards the aforementioned dragon, "Take care of him, yeah?"
Toothless gave a small roar, of course he would take care of him, just as Hiccup had taken care of him in return.
Astrid's face softened, "Alright, well, off you go!" She said, patting Hiccup on the back harshly. He thought back on the stair splattering idea as he stumbled forward towards the edge, but Toothless quickly caught him with his head, immediately throwing him up onto his back in a neat little arch. Hiccup let out a gust of air as his lungs hit the saddle.
"Not funny, Astrid!" He stated as he managed to get up, right before Toothless excitedly darted off the ledge and towards the blacksmith.
"Woah-!" Hiccup yelled with wide eyes, before quickly grabbing onto the handles of his saddle. "You excited, bud?" He asked with a laugh, receiving a guttural laughter in return, "Yeah, me too." He replied, patting his friend on the side of his neck. He turned around and waved at Astrid, who waved back at him, before getting onto Stormfly and flying off into a different direction.
Toothless' wings threw up clouds of dust as they slowly descended onto the ground. Busy Vikings stepped out of the way and gave disgruntled greetings, trying to not inhale the dirt particles in the air. "Sorry, sorry," Hiccup said, sheepishly waving his hand.
As Toothless settled down, Hiccup quickly jumped off, his feet landing on the ground with a thump and a clink. He looked up at the building in front of him and met Gobber's eyes.
"Hiccuup!" The burly man yelled out, his arms in the air and a big smile on his face. Hiccup's face turned from a smile into confusion as his eyes travelled downward. Infront of Gobber a group of Berk's children were sitting in a circle on the ground, plus Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who waved at him. ‘This can't be good.’ He thought.
Gobber pointed at Hiccup with his hook as he limped over, "You're right on time!" He exclaimed, as he swung an arm around Hiccup’s neck. He stumbled at the contact, Toothless letting out a curious growl behind him.
"Uh-" he began, his eyes still on the group of kids, before looking up at Gobber, "Right on time for what?"
Gobber pulled him towards the blacksmith and walked over to the spot he had been standing. The inside of the semi-enclosed building was incredibly messy. Scrap metal, screws, tools and weapons were sprawled across the floor. The only tidy spot was around the fireplace, where the group sat. "I was just going to start telling these kids why we prepare so well for winter," Gobber replied. He was clearly excited, though Hiccup couldn't help but notice a hint of mischief in his voice.
Hiccup raised a brow at him before breaking free from his grasp. Toothless walked over and sat curiously behind the circle of children, who all excitedly greeted him. He enjoyed the attention with a gummy smile.
"Should I be worried?" Hiccup asked, before glancing over at the twins sitting on the ground next to each other.
"Nahh, Gobber's stories are great!" Ruffnut started, pushing up her helmet.
Tuffnut nodded eagerly, "Oh yeah, real nightmare fuel!" He added, with a gleeful smile on his face. As gleeful as Tuffnut could look.
Hiccup crossed his arms, "At least we can agree on that," he mumbled, "But I'm not here to listen, where's that prosthetic, Gobber?" He quickly asked, glancing around the blacksmith.
"Always in a rush, eh?" Gobber said with a smile, "It's on the table over there somewhere." He continued, absentmindedly swinging his arm into the vague direction of a big wooden table full of stuff, before quickly turning his attention back to the kids.
"So, the story started 300 years ago, when the Hooligans first settled here on the Isle of Berk," Gobber lowered his voice as he spoke, getting everyone in the mood.
Everyone except Hiccup, who walked over to the table and started searching. On it laid piles of paper, chunks of wood or leather and some unfinished tools. 'Can't Gobber keep this place a little tidier?' He thought with furrowed brows. Ever since he had stopped working there it was always a mess. Had he really been the only one cleaning up?
Behind him the story continued, "Our ancestors thought it would be a peaceful island, well, with dragons on it of course," he shrugged, "But peaceful!"
Hiccup kept searching, rummaging through the things, but trying to keep somewhat quiet.
"Until..." Gobber trailed off, "Winter arrived." He said, his voice getting louder, "Oh it was dreadful! There were blizzards, avalanches, and worst of all, it lasted 9 whole months!"
The children nodded, Toothless paying close attention behind them.
"But it wasn't the weather alone that scared our Hooligan ancestors," his voice lowered again, leaning in with his hand and hook stuck out in front of him.
"Oh, here we go," Hiccup chuckled, anticipating some wild made-up story, as Gobber usually did. He picked up some sheets of paper that laid haphazardly between scrap metal and tapped them against the table to create a neat pile. As he set them back down, he spotted the prosthetic peeking out from where one of the sheets had been before. "Ah, there you are." He said, quickly grabbing it.
Gobber continued, "They were scared," his voice low, "of Jokul Frosti."
The kids glanced between each other with a confused look, the twins seemingly even more ecstatic than before.
'Frosty what?' Hiccup thought, doubt drawn onto his face. He walked over to a big wooden stump on the floor. He sat down to change out his old prosthetic with the new one.
"He has been rumored to roam around these islands," his voice loudening again, "Causing all of the blizzards! The avalanches! Oh, he hated the Hooligans: he stole our children, froze our crops, broke the hinges on our doors!" He spoke, his arms raised up high.
Hiccup rolled his eyes as he clicked the new prosthetic into place. He set it down on the floor with a clink! It felt… a lot nicer. The wood and rope had been changed out for lightweight metal and leather, ensuring less chafing and more stability. He lifted it from the floor and pressed it down again, the complex mechanisms shifting at his movement. He felt a small smile growing on his face, these would be perfect for exploration.
He stood up and walked over to Toothless, who was still invested in the story, "C'mon let’s go, bud." Hiccup said, patting him on the neck. Toothless gave a little whine as he looked back at him. Hiccup shot him a puzzled look, "Really? You want to listen to this?" He whispered.
Gobber had continued to tell the story in the background, but Hiccup tuned it all out. He loved Gobber, but he really couldn't care less for tales about mythical beings. If he didn't see it with his own two eyes, he refused to believe in it.
He tugged on Toothless' saddle, "Come on Toothless, didn't you want to fly?" He said with a small groan.
Toothless' ears perked up at that, as he hopped around to turn to Hiccup, making sure his tail didn't hit any of the kids. He had a happy expression on his face, as if he forgot that that had been the original plan.
Hiccup laughed, "See? Much more exciting than some fake story," He said, petting Toothless' cheeks and face roughly.
"Oh, but it's not a fake story!" Gobber exclaimed, making Hiccup look up at him, "You just have to believe, and you will see him for yourself this winter!"
Hiccup's face twisted into doubt, "I have to believe in him before I'm able to see him?"
One of the twins immediately nodded, "Absolutely, I've seen him myself." Ruffnut said.
The twin beside him perked up, "Oh, no way, really?! What does he look like?" She asked excitedly, "How terrifying is he, does he have multiple arms and legs?"
Gobber laughed, "No, no," catching the twin's attention, "he looks just like one of us, but his skin pale, as if he had been frozen himself for decades..." He leaned in towards the middle of the circle, giving each kid a glance, "He looks like a walking, talking corpse." He said, receiving a gasp from the group. Except Hiccup, he just rolled his eyes again.
"Okay, let's go Toothless." He spoke deadpan, jumping onto the dragon's saddle. Toothless roared happily as Hiccup's new prosthetic clicked into place. He double checked his saddle bags to see if they were all there for the trip. Once confirmed, he turned back to the group.
"Bye everyone," He waved, but the group ignored him, too invested in the story Gobber had to tell. Hiccup sighed, and patted Toothless' neck, before backing out of the blacksmith and jumping up into the air with a strong flap of his wings.
The flight to find a new island had been a rather long one. Sure, they hadn't explored as much in the south as they had up north, but at least the ring around Berk had been explored thoroughly. To get into new territory, it would take at least a few hours.
Of course, Hiccup didn't mind, and Toothless certainly didn't either. Flying felt only natural to them. And with how clear the skies were that day, it felt amazing.
Hiccup lied down over Toothless' back, his hands behind his head, but his lower legs still locked in place in the saddle's stirrups, just in case anything would go wrong and they had to manoeuvre quick. He wasn't really worried, though. He looked up at the cloudless sky. The warmth of the sun beamed happily across his skin. They flew close to the ocean, so the soft waves could be heard splashing lazily below them. The smell of salty water was welcoming, it smelled like home.
A V-formation of what Hiccup assumed were Gronckles flew far above them, heading into the same direction as they were. 'Migrating to the south,' Hiccup noted in his mind. At least that meant they were going in the right direction. Even the dragons didn't like aggressive winters.
Hiccup hadn't realized he had dozed off, until a grumble from Toothless woke him up. He stirred, until he remembered what they were there for.
"Oh! An island?" He immediately sat upright, excitement in his voice. His vision blurred a little, but quickly cleared up again, revealing the silhouette of a mountain.
Hiccups excitement rose as he hunched forward and grabbed onto the saddle’s handles. "Let's get close!" He said, switching the position of Toothless' tailfin with his prosthetic. He returned the boy's excitement, as they zipped forward.
They flew high up and around the island to scout it out first. Nothing seemed special about the piece of land, much to Hiccup's disappointment. It was a small to medium sized island, with some mountains on the west side of it. A forest grew along the foot of the mountain, caressing a clear, circular pond on the edge of it. Some birds flew out of the trees on occasion, their sporadic movement shaking leaves towards the ground.
Hiccup spotted a clearing in the middle of the island, with a flat rock submerged into the ground. He patted Toothless on the neck, "Down, bud," He spoke, before Toothless dove down towards the flat stone.
When they landed, Hiccup took another look around. It seemed peaceful. He turned around on the saddle and opened up one of the bags. He rummaged through it, pushing aside a piece of bread wrapped in cloth to grab the notebook next to it. The item was thick, some of its pages sticking out slightly. He hopped off of the dragon with ease, "Go look around for me," He said to Toothless, who gleefully nodded and ran off to sniff anything he could find. He stayed within eyesight, though.
Hiccup opened the notebook to a specific page and crouched onto the floor. He took out a piece of paper and watched as a giant map unfolded from the books' pages. He laid it out flat on the rock, his hands resting on either side of the yellowed map.
He looked around, before squinting his eyes in realization. "Weird," He said. The grass danced gently in the wind, dots of colored flowers sprinkled in between the blades. Some rocks rose out of the ground towards the sky, but they had no claw marks. The trees in the distance looked unharmed, the pond beside them only showing life through the fish that swam beneath its surface.
"No dragons." He noted. Even though it was a perfect spot for some dragons to lounge around. Was there something on this island scaring them off? He thought back on their experience with the Screaming Death and frowned.
Either way, he took out his charcoal pencil from a pocket in his armor and hunched over. He traced a finger downwards from Berk to an empty spot in the sea. He thought about it for a second, comparing the time spent flying to the spot on the map. He nodded, and put the pencil to paper, drawing a vague silhouette of the island. He added the round pond and some trees around it. He supposed that was the most memorable spot here.
Once he finished, he placed the pencil back in his pocket. He straightened his posture and looked at his work with pride. Before he could admire it too much though, the wind picked up. Its invisible grasp lifted the paper slightly, as if it wanted to take a closer look. Hiccup's eyes widened and his hands darted forward to grab it. He let out a breath of air as the wind fell again, the map safely in his grasp. He took an edge and folded it inwards, repeating this motion until the map was a square shape again. He slid it back into the notebook, closing it shortly after.
He held his gaze on the book, "Toothless?" He then called out, standing up. But when he heard no response, he quickly looked around, his shoulders tense and his brow furrowed. He sighed a breath of relief when he saw the back of the dragon in the distance, alive and uninjured. He was staring at something intensely, not giving mind to Hiccup.
"Found something, bud?" He yelled out with a smile, but again no response. Before he could walk over, he heard a growl. Hiccup's smile faltered as he tried to focus on what Toothless had been staring at, but there was nothing there of note. The pond and the forest behind it seemed calm, the leaves rustling slowly with the wind. What was he growling at?
Then Hiccup felt something cold land on his nose, then on his cheek, on his forehead... he looked up. "Rain...?" He muttered hesitantly. There hadn't been any clouds in the sky earlier, where would it be coming from? The longer he looked up, the faster he realized that the vibrant blue sky was turning a dull white instead, as if a woollen blanket had been laid atop of the island.
Before he could question it, the air around him shifted and the temperature dropped rapidly. He realized it wasn't rain falling down onto him, but snow. Freezing cold flakes of snow. It seeped into his skin, the shock of the sudden temperature shift sending a shiver down his spine, 'This isn't normal,' his mind instinctively told him. He couldn't place a finger on why yet, but his gut told him to leave.
He snapped his head towards the black dragon in the distance, "Toothless!" He yelled out. The dragon quickly turned his head towards him, his green eyes peering at Hiccup with concern, "We have to get out of here!" He continued, his vision starting to obscure by the rapidly increasing flurry of snowflakes. His mind sprung to the story Gobber had told a few hours earlier, but he shook off the idea. That wasn't real. A magical being that could create blizzards? It must've been a dragon doing this, but why was it here? Where did it come from?
The wind around him started to become more aggressive, filling his mind with the sound of whistles. The air before him turned whiter with every gust, a thick fog flowing over the snowy grass like waves on the ocean, blending together with the snowflakes. It enveloped Toothless' figure, but luckily Hiccup could still hear his running footsteps approaching towards his direction. Before he disappeared fully, his dark body popped out from the fog. Hiccup let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding and hugged the dragon close.
He held up his head and looked into his eyes, they were full of worry, his pupils in thin slits and his ears flickering into different directions, as if the mysterious dragon was all around them. He felt Toothless' tail curling around him to protect him.
"It's going to be okay, bud," Hiccup tried to reassure him, trying to not let the fear reach his voice. If even Toothless was afraid...
The temperature kept dropping. Hiccup covered his eyes with his arm as snowflakes started cutting across his face like small blades. He tried to look forward, but all he could see was white fog, a white sky, and snow slowly piling up on the previously grassy floor. "What in Gods name is happening?" He spoke, his face holding concern, and his eyes squinting at the bright lack of color all around him. Could it really be a dragon creating a storm like this?
He tried to get onto Toothless, but moving was becoming too difficult. The wind was absurdly strong, carrying the snow flakes nearly horizontally past him. He felt warmth across his exposed fingers and face, and as he looked at his hands, dozens of red droplets formed across his skin. Was the snow actually cutting him?
"We can't- we can't fly out of this," He said with a struggle. The temperature had long dropped below 0. His eyelashes had gathered snow by this point.
He reached down to the sword that was stuck to his leg. He pulled it out of its holster and turned it on. The blade clicked out of its handle and immediately set ablaze. The warmth was welcoming, and Hiccup kept it close to him and Toothless.
"Okay, maybe- maybe we can find a cave of some kind?" He questioned, "But I don't, I don't know this island, we can't see anything, and-" his voice wavered as pain started setting in. His limbs trembled from the cold, before giving up on him entirely. Toothless caught him immediately, wrapping around him as close as he could. But he wasn't a Stoker dragon, it wouldn't help much.
Then, as if the situation hadn't been bad enough, Inferno's flames extinguished. "Shit," Hiccup muttered, Toothless giving him a whimpering growl. Inferno wasn't supposed to just go out like that, no normal weather could do that. But this wasn't normal weather, he supposed, as he processed the pain growing across his skin. The cuts were slowly multiplying. Was he really going to die from a thousand papercuts? After everything he had been through? All of the near death experiences, the dragons he encountered, the Vikings he fought, but this, a blizzard, was what would kill him.
His frozen fingers unwrapped from the now useless sword's handle. It didn't even make a sound as it disappeared into the thick layer of snow below him.
He curled into a fetal position, trying to preserve any body heat he had left. His teeth clattered, but he couldn't hear it over the loud whistling of the wind. He heard what he thought was ice shattering, but he couldn't be sure, as his senses where overrun by everything happening around them.
Until... everything stopped. The wind fell still, the snow stopped falling. The temperature was still cold but it... it was bearable now. Hiccup could finally feel his body shake, and the hot blood running down his skin. He heard his own staggered breathing, and Toothless' soft exhales.
"What..." he croaked out, his throat tied shut by his need to cry. He hesitantly lifted his head up from its position against his knees, and opened his eyes slowly. He could feel Toothless move as well, probably just as confused as he was.
His vision was blurry, but he could swear he still saw the wind. He blinked his eyes open and shut a few times, trying to clear his vision. But it was still there, the wind was still there, it just wasn't touching either of them. 'How?' He thought.
He looked around slowly, his muscles aching. There was some kind of… invisible force? Around them, that was the only thing Hiccup could describe it as. But that would, that would imply... He shook his head, as if to shake off a thought clinging to his brain. It, whatever it was, seemed to keep the blizzards and its effects out.
Hiccup's breath wavered, now that his senses weren't overwhelmed by the cold, he could feel the pain from all the cuts intruding on his mind instead. He let out an anguished groan, hunching back into the fetal position. Toothless squeezed closer around him, covering him with his wing. 'Thank the gods at least he's okay,' Hiccup thought, relaxing at the embrace as best as he could.
The gods... could they be doing this? If it really was an invisible force of some kind keeping out the blizzard, then it couldn't be anything else, could it? Had the gods ever even saved him before? Why start now?
His limbs felt frozen, and his muscles refused to work with him. His bones seemed like they could shatter from how cold they were, and his skin ached at every shiver, the small cuts across his skin threatening to rip open like a tear through fabric if he moved too much.
Somehow though, he felt safe. He felt like if he closed his eyes right now, it would be okay. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, maybe if he closed his eyes right now, he'd never wake up again. But Hiccup couldn't fight it, and let the darkness envelop him.