Chapter Text
Jack and Emily are out in the woods. She’d asked to go look for flowers, and he can’t say no to her. It’s a weakness
It's been a few hours now, so they’re on the way back “You can't be friends with the wind, Jack!” he hums, smiling down at her “I can, and I am! I swear!” she glares at him, crossing her arms
“Prove it.” She demands, making Jack laugh softly, and gesture for her to keep walking, but she plants her feet and pouts. He sighs, throwing his head back in exasperation, walking back over to her to crouch in front of her “Hey, Wind?” he calls out, her eyes brighten as she looks around
A gentle breeze blows some hair in her mouth and Jack laughs “See? Now c’mon! We need to get back” she whines but follows after him again “That’s not proof!”
He watches her walk, making sure she doesn’t fall before gently bumping their shoulders together, speaking softly, placating, just for now “You’re right, it’s not. But right now, we have to get back to mom, okay?”
She shoves him, making him laugh. She groans at him, but she’s smiling. He’ll take the win
They’re close to the cliffs. Honestly, he has no idea how they even got here, but this is where she’d led Jack, so he followed her here to make sure she stays safe
He’s helping her over a log when they hear shouting. Jack looks to Emily, who’s looking in the direction the sound came from, the village. He follows her gaze, and there’s fire
A few seconds pass, them staring at the flames, then a dragon screeches above their heads
Both of their eyes snap up, hoping to see…. something. Emily's voice is shaky when she quietly says “Jack?” He looks to her, glancing at the sky one last time before he puts on his best smile
“Hey, it’s okay! We’re gonna be fine.” he takes her hand, walking quickly, but not too fast for her, keeping his eyes on the sky
It’s taking longer than he’d like, and he can tell that it’s making Emily scared the longer they’re out here. His eyes dart around “Hey, Emily?” making sure they’re under cover, he crouches down, gently squeezing her shoulders, steadying, he hopes
She whispers “I’m scared” and he nods, smiling “I know, but you don’t have to be. We’re gonna make a game out of it, okay? It’ll be fun!” How do I make a game out of this?
She furrows her brow “But this isn't a game!” he rubs up and down her arms, standing back up. He backs away, keeping his eyes on her, gesturing for her to follow
“C’mon, Em. First one back doesn’t have to help mom tomorrow” he smirks, eyes flicking from her to the sky, starting to walk backwards as fast as he can “I’ll even go easy on you!” he teases, and she huffs, Got her, starting to run carefully through the woods. He starts running once she’s ahead of him, right on her heels, occasionally taping her back like a game of tag
She’s giggling, running decently fast. Good. They’re very exposed here. If he can just get her out of here-
His feet leave the ground, and he braces for a fall… but the ground is getting farther away
“Jack!” he looks around, starting to panic, “shit-” looking up he sees a goddamn Nightmare has him! He wiggles around and shouts, really hoping Emily can hear him “Keep running Emily!”
The dragon above him growls, and he gasps when he sees their face staring at him “uh-”
The dragon drops him, not what it was looking for, and oh gods he’s gonna fucking die
He screams as he plummets towards the ground, but instead of hitting rock or dirt, he’s under water, unable to breathe after screaming the whole way down. He thrashes around, tries to swim to the surface, but he can’t tell where the surface is
Fuck fuck fuck- he cant keep holding his breath, he tries desperately to get out but his vision is getting spotty, lungs tight. He lets out his breath involuntarily, breathing in the sea water
All he can think about is Emily and his mother, and that he’s so fucking sorry
Suddenly he can breathe, and he’s gasping for air, coughing so hard it burns
He’s dropped onto the beach, vision still spotty, trying to catch his breath
A weight on his stomach makes him throw up water, turning to lay on his side “ugh..” coughing a few more times, then lays on his back again
Green eyes are staring at him, and he stops breathing again. The dragon above him growls low, watching him. Why did a dragon pull him out of the ocean?
He glances around, maybe someone else is around, and this dragon just… decided Jack was theirs? But no, no one's around
The dragon sniffs him and he looks back at them. The eyes are beautiful…
Jack, without thinking, slowly reaches a hand up, but the dragon's eyes snap to it, growling a little louder. He holds his hand where it is, frozen as the growling stops, though the dragons still staring at his hand
He swallows, talking as softly and calm as he can “Hey buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you.. I couldn’t if I tried” He butters the last bit out, huffing a laugh at his own joke, and the eyes are back to his face. He moves his hand again
When it's barely close enough to touch, the dragon leans away, growling again. Again, as soft and calm as he can, “I just- just want to thank you?” Does he? Yeah…he does
The dragon keeps their eyes on his face, but sniffs at his hand
“Thank you, for getting me out of the ocean” he laughs in disbelief, puttering into a couple coughs, the dragon letting him gently touch the side of their neck, “I’m pretty sure I was about to drown, and I can’t leave my family alone, so.. Thank you”
The dragon's pupils dilate a little, and they let him scratch under their chin. Jack lets out another amazed laugh, staying quiet
The dragon decides they’re done, huffs a breath into his face, stepping away from him. When he can't see them anymore, he props himself with his arms, and watches as they fly off. Staring after them for a minute or so
He lays back down and mutters “Was that a Night Fury?” watching the stars
—-
Hiccup hears screams outside. He takes a couple deep breaths, then opens his front door. People run past, a Monstrous Nightmare close behind, that then spots and turns to him. It spits its gel at him, so he quickly shuts the door, leaning against it, sighing and muttering "Dragons ..."
He heaves the door back open after waiting a few seconds and runs outside, looking around. A scream comes from above him, making him stop right as someone hits the ground in front of him. The man simply gets back up, grabs his hatchet from the dirt and lets out a battle cry as he runs back into battle
Hiccup continues his run to the forge, ducking under a log being carried to who knows where. He hears a Thunk and turns around to see someone has ran head first into the log. He winces starting to turn back around when someone runs into him, making him stumble
An explosion behind him sends him to the ground
Hiccup gets back up, running to the docks, weaving through people carrying barrels and crates around. The usual yells of get out the way! or What’re you doin’ here? or Go back inside! follow him, but he ignores them and keeps going
He gets to a relatively clear area, keeping his pace, when a dragon breathing fire whips past, only missing him because his father has plucked him up by the scruff
He points at Hiccup, looking around, holding him off the ground, loudly asks “What is he doin out ag-” he brings Hiccup close to his face and asks “What are you doing out? Get inside!” Stoic tosses him back to his feet, shoving him vaguely towards indoors
Hiccup runs away from his dad, past people lighting and raising the torches and finally makes it to the forge. Gobber greets him while hammering out a hook “Ah, nice of ye to join the party! I thought you’d been carried off!”
Hiccup grabs his apron off it’s hook, tying it on and glancing to Gobber over his shoulder “What, who, me? Ah c’mon, I’m way too muscular for their tastes”
Hiccup lifts a very heavy hammer, putting it back to its spot on the wall, starting a lame attempt at showing the muscle he doesn’t have “They wouldn’t know what to do with all this!”
“Well, they need toothpicks, don’t they?” Gobber snarks as he swaps his hammer hand for his hook, moving about to grab his next project
Hiccup opens the shutters, and people place weapons in need of sharpening on the counter. He grabs a few, carrying them to the coals, heating them up. He goes to grab more, hearing a shout of Fire! and peaking out towards the call. Hiccup can see a few people his age running with buckets of water to start putting out fires
Hiccup tries to climb out the window and Gobber hooks the back of his shirt, much like his father a few minutes ago, making Hiccup whine “Aw c’mon, let me out, please? I need to make my mark!
Gobber sets him down, a brow raised “Oh you’ve made plenty o’marks” he jabs at hiccups shoulder with his hook “all in the wrong places!”
“Please, 2 minutes!” he pleads, “I’ll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better” he gestures vaguely outside “I might even even get a date!” gods, wouldn’t that be nice?
Gobber starts counting on his fingers “Ya can’t lift a hammer, ya can’t swing an axe” he picks up a bola, holding it up and shaking it around “Ya can’t even throw one o’these!” someone leans over the counter, through the window, and grabs it from his hand, making him glance back for a second before looking back to Hiccup
Hiccup groans softly and takes a few steps back “Okay, fine, but this” gesturing to his bola launcher “will throw it for me!” he gives it a couple pats, and it fires at someone who’d just come to the window, Gobber dodging just in time, sending Hiccup an unimpressed look
“See, now, this right here” he gestures to the launcher “is what I’m talkin’ about!”
Hiccup stutters over his words “That- That’s a minor calibration issue!”
“Hiccup, if you ever want ta get out there to fight dragons, you’ve got to stop with all… this.” he gestures vaguely at Hiccup
Hiccup sighs, muttering “You just pointed to all of me.”
Gobber pokes his chest “Yes, that’s it! Stop being all of you.”
Hiccup puffs out a breath and points at Gobber “You- You, sir, are playing a dangerous game” he gestures to himself “keeping all of this- this raw, viking-ness contained!” Hiccup moves his finger closer to Gobbers face “There will be consequences!"
Gobber gives a dead pan look, turning away to hand off freshly sharpened weapons “I’ll take my chances.” He grabs a sword and tosses it at Hiccup, who catches it in both arms “Sword, Sharpen. Now”
Hiccup sighs, long suffering and carries it to the grinder, grumbling while he gets to work
After sharpening the sword for only a few seconds, he hears the high pitched shriek of a Night Fury charging its blast, followed by a yell of Night Fury, get down! and an explosion
Some building somewhere is collapsing
Hiccup goes to the window and watches the sky, looking for signs of the dragon. It blasts a watch tower, and he instinctively ducks behind the counter a bit.
He watches again, leaning back out the window, trying to find it again. He takes a few steps back when he spots it, turning to Gobber to see him swapping his hook for an axe “Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there”
Gobber walks to the door, pausing to turn around and point to Hiccup “Stay. Put.” he starts walking again, turning one more time to point again “There.” Gobber heaves his axe up, battle ready “You know what I mean” he mutters, then lets out a battle cry and runs off
Hiccup gets his launcher and wheels it out to a cliff. Close to the watch tower the Night Fury blew up. Hiccup opens it up, takes aim with it and watches the sky muttering "C'mon, c’mon.. gimme something to shoot.”
The roar of a Night Fury comes from the direction he’s looking, a little too close for comfort, but he keeps waiting, watching
Another cry from the dragon, and Hiccup can barely see the dragon blotting out stars
He watches the shape as it starts charging another attack, so he gets his shot lined up
The dragon shoots at another tower, the explosion giving enough light for Hiccup to see the Night Fury clearly. He tracks it, and shoots, the recoil sending him falling back, but he quickly scrambles to his feet and hears the dragon cry out
He watches it fall towards the forest “Oh, I hit it.. Yes, I hit it!” he cheers “Did anybody see that?!” looking around, he finds that a Monstrous Nightmare did, in fact, see it
His shoulders slump and he mutters “Except for you” before running away as fast as he can, the dragon very close behind
It fires at him a couple times, narrowly missing him, getting the dirt around his fet, and he hides behind the pillar of one of the giant torches, panting. He waits a couple seconds, then the Nightmare is spitting its gel at the pole, quickly setting it on fire
Hiccup curls in on himself, covering his face a bit, and when the dragon stops he peaks around the pole. Breathing heavily Where’d it go?
His father jumps at the dragon, its shriek coming from rightbehind Hiccup's head. He gets it away from Hiccup, getting to his feet ann standing his ground. The dragon spits a pathetic splurt of fire, it’s out of gel, so his father punches it in the face with his bare hands, because of course he does. Stoic beats it till it cries one more time, flying away
Stoic turns to the burning pole Hiccup is behind as its melted through. It splits apart, thumping to the ground, falling over and sending the burning torch head rolling down the docks. Destroying a lot in its path.
Hiccup winces, waiting for the sounds of crashing to wait, and he mutters “Sorry dad”
They watch as dragons fly away with maybe 11 of their sheep, and Hiccup quickly gets “Okay, but I hit a Night Fury.” before his father starts his reprimand, pointing generally at the sky
His dad drags him through the village by the shoulder and Hiccup pleads “It’s not like the last few times dad! I really, actually hit it!” he gestures to the vikings around, stumbling over his feet, his fathers hand the only thing keeping him from falling
“You guys were busy, and I had a very clear shot!” he points towards the woods “It went down just off Raven Point. Let’s get a search party out there before-”
“Stop!” his father shouts, taking a breath, then continues Quieter “Just, stop. Every time you step outside, disaster falls! Can ya not see that I’ve got bigger problems?” he gestures vaguely to the village around them “Winter will be here soon enough, and I have an entire village to feed!”
Hiccup glances around, looking back to his dad he mutters “Ah, between you and me, the village could do with a little lessfeeding, Don’t you think?” aiming for a joke, a nervous smile on his face. Stoic lets out a short growl. Okay, so, the joke didn’t land. “This isn’t a joke, Hiccup!” he shouts, leaning closer to Hiccups face, making him wince
His father sighs, deflating a bit “Why can’t you follow the simplest orders?” Stoic asks quietly, disappointment dripping from the words. Ouch
Hiccup sputters out “I- I- I cant stop myself! I see a dragon and I have to just” he mimics snapping a neck “kill it, ya know?” he glances at his dad and shrugs “it's who I am, dad!”
It’s not very convincing even to himself
Stoic holds a hand to his temple, groaning “You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer” he waves a hand to him shaking his head “is not one of them. Get back to the house”
Stoic turns away from his son, finding Gobber in the crowd
He points to Gobber and orders “Make sure he gets there.”
Gobber gently whacks the back of Hiccups head, and they start walking, his father grumbling out “I have his mess to clean up”
When they go up the hill to his house, he turns to gobber “I really did hit one” he says quietly Gobber gestures to keep going, so he turns, continuing up the hill “sure, Hiccup” Gobber mutters
Hiccup sighs “He neverlistens, and- and when he does it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich!”
He stops at the door and turns back to Gobber when he starts speaking again. “Now, you’re thinkin’ about this all wrong. It’s not so much what you look like, it’s what’s inside that he can’t stand!” Hiccup gives a deadpan look “Thank you for summing that up.”
He turns to the door and starts opening it, Gobber stopping him to speak again “Look, the point is, stop trying to be something you’re not” Hiccup looks back sighing “I just wanna be one of you guys” he says small, dejected, then he turns back to the door going inside, closing it behind him
—--
Emily watches as Jack is taken by a Monstrous Nightmare. He’d told her to keep running, but her legs won’t move. He’s wriggling around, shouting, making dragon look at her brother, Smoke puffing out of it’s nose, it drops Jack, making her gasp
Her legs are faster than her brain, and she starts running to the beach at the bottom of the cliffs, fully prepared to try and go in the ocean to save her brother.
She’s taking too long, and she can feel tears go down her cheeks, but she ignores them and the burning in her legs and lungs. She has to get there.
When She’s finally down to the beach, Emily looks around, catching her breath
Walking towards the water, she sees Jack just- just laying on the beach “Jack!” she calls as she runs over, his head turning to look at her as she drops to her knees checking him over the best she can “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he shakes his head “I’m okay… I think” he says quietly
“How did you get to the shore?” he reaches a hand up to wipe her cheek and she takes it from her face, holding it tight in both of hers
He ignores her question, instead asking his own, always deflecting “Did you see what happened?” he asks, she shakes her head
“I saw you in the air and- and the dragon dropping you, then I ran here as fast as I could,” she explains. He nods and looks back at the sky, gently squeezing her hands “A Night Fury pulled me out of the water..” Jack mutters, making her angry
She punches his arm, knowing it doesn’t do much “This isn’t a time for your stories, Jack!” angry and worried, “We have to get you to Gothi” she tugs on his arm, standing herself and trying to pull him up to join her
Jack stands up slowly, groaning softly before coughing a few times. She watches, some water coming out of his mouth, but he gives her a small smile when the coughing fit is over. They start walking back, though she can still see fires burning in the village. Just get him to Gothi..
They hear a shriek from the sky and both turn to look for it, is the dragon that took him coming back? Is there another one? She doesn’t see anything, and she wants to leave before anything can seethem
Emily pulls Jacks arm “C’mon” he starts following her, though he’s still searching the sky
“Jack?” he looks at her finally “Hm?” he’s too out of it, that’s bad, right? Or is it okay because he’s awake and walking? “Let’s go, please” she begs him, pulling him along again. He nods and mumbles “Sorry, Em” as they walk back into the woods
—--
Hiccup leaves Gobber at the front door, and quickly runs right out the back
He heads into the forest, towards Raven Point, pulling out his journal and making a quick map.
The sun is high in the sky, he has about a dozen X’s on the map of failed guesses at where the Night Fury landed, and he sighs. He’s checking a different area, looking down at his map as he walks He squeezes his eyes shut, please please please- takes a deep breath, then opens them. He sighs, letting his arm fall, kicking a rock across the dirt
He starts walking, again, in a different direction, adding another X to the map. He groans softly and angrily scribbles out the whole map, stuffing his charcoal in the journal, snapping it closed.
He rolls his eyes as he stuffs the journal into his vest pocket “Oh the gods hate me” he mutters
“Some people lose their knife, or mug, no not me. I managed to lose an entire dragon!” he grumbles to himself, wandering aimlessly through the forest
He whacks a tree branch in his path, and it whips back and hits him in the face “Ow! Ugh..” he rubs the sting away, glaring at the branch, seeing it’s attached to a broken tree.
He follows the fallen log with his eyes and it leads to a deep groove in the dirt. Something landed here, hard. Hiccup carefully slides down the hill the groove is burrowed into, looking over the edge of a short drop and gasps, ducking back down when he spots a black mass.
He carefully peaks back over, climbing a little higher to get a better look when nothing jumps out to attack him. It's the Night Fury
He pats his chest and pants for his knife, quickly pulling it from the sheath with shaking hands. He takes a few breaths, then hops down the drop, towards the tied up dragon. He hides behind a boulder that’s between them and peaks around it to look at it again
Walking out carefully from behind the rock, he huffs a small breath “Oh, wow.” he breaths
“I- I- did it! Ohh, I did it!” walking closer as he exclaims, gesturing to the dragon then running a hand through his hair, so relieved “This fixes everything, yes!” he cheers
He steps closer, putting a boot to the dragon he’s slain “I have brought down this mighty beast!” His boot doesn’t last more than a second before the dragon groans and shoves it away best it can, making Hiccup jump back a few steps, stumbling to the boulder and gasping, staring at it with wide eyes
Hiccup walks back over, much more careful getting close this time, knife pointed at the beast again. It's breathing heavily, huffing large breaths. His eyes scan over the body, and when he gets to the head a green eye is staring at him.
He grimaces and quickly looks away, why does this feel so bad?
The defeated breaths from the dragon have him look back to its face. He takes a few deep breaths, forcing his eyes away “I’m gonna kill you dragon. I’m gonna- I’m gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father” he lifts his knife above his head, taking more deep breaths “I am a viking…” he leans closer to the dragons head, shouting “I am a viking!” like that will convince the beast and himself that that’s a fact
He closes his eyes and lifts his knife, and the dragon lets out a small noise, making Hiccup look back to its face. Still staring at him, pupils slit, breathing as hard as he is. Hiccup shakes his head and squeezes his eyes closed again Just- just do it!
The dragon whines softly and thumps its head to the ground, and hiccup groans, sighing and drops his hands to rests on his head, looking back at the beast “I did this…” he mutters
He runs a hand down his face, the one with the knife falling limp to his side. He looks at the knife in his hand then back to the dragon, shaking his head “I did this”
He turns to start walking away, but.. He can’t leave the dragon like this.He can’t.
He goes back over to it, kneeling by its stomach and starts cutting the ropes to free it. He checks around, in case anyone followed him, cutting faster if he’s caught letting it go-
He’s forced back, fast. Head whacking against the boulder, vision whiting out for a second, and claws around his throat. He gasps, breathing hard, staring with wide eyes at the dragon in his face. He turns his head slightly away, as if that will save him from the dragon melting his face off, but still watches as the dragon huffs its breaths at him, staring him down.
It pulls back, rearing up to- to charge a blast or lunge and rip his throat out, and Hiccup closes his eyes. A deafening roar comes right to his face, then the dragon jumps off of him, turns around, and flies off.
He watches in shock, it bumps into a cliff, holding his heart and trying to calm down, slowly getting up and putting his knife back in his belt. The dragon cries, flying through the trees, and Hiccup turns to walk home. He only gets a few steps before fainting.
Once he’s back in the village, one accidental nap and a long trek back through the woods later, walking home, he hears some muttering around about The Hofferson boy, Jack. Hiccup stops walking and listens to the conversation
“-drowned, his mum said”
“A shame that, they-”
Hiccup doesn’t stay to listen any more, and runs to the Hofferson bakery.
When he gets there, out of breath, he doesn’t see Jack. Usually, he’s at the counter, to get orders and give people their bread or pies or whatever. Jacks mother sees him from inside, visibly confused, so Hiccup goes over to her, standing in their doorway “Is- is Jack okay?”
She gives him a soft smile, “Oh, he’s fine. Had a close call during the raid, but he’ll be back up and causing trouble tomorrow” she brushes flour off her hands onto her apron, stepping outside carrying a plank with fresh bread on it. She places it on the rack with a fond smile “Gothi ordered a day of rest, and Jack is… well. He’s being Jack about it” she laughs softly
She turns back to Hiccup, walking to the counter while untying her apron to place it on a stool “He’s been telling Emily a Night Fury saved him.” she huffs a laugh, exasperated “Gothi thinks it’s the water makin’im see things, though Jack insists” her brow furrows a bit before she shakes her head, putting a smile back on “Can I help you with something, Hiccup?”
Hiccup just stares at her for a few seconds, her face growing visibly confused again. He clears his throat “Uh- no! Nope. All- all good, just uh- checking on Jack”
She hums softy “Well, thank you for that, you’re sweet to do so” he gives her a smile he really hopes is convincing, then turns quickly and walks away muttering to himself “fuck fuck fuck. shit”
When Hiccup goes in his house, he finds his father stoking the fire of their hearth
He tries to walk as quickly and quietly upstairs as possible, very much not wanting a conversation right now.
“Hiccup”
He sighs, about halfway up the stairs “Dad! Uh- I…I have to talk to you” Hiccup slowly walks back down a few steps. Stoic walks over to him and clasps his hands in front of himself “I need to speak with you too, son” his dad takes a big breath
“I think it’s time for you learned to fight dragons”
“I decided I don’t wanna fight dragons”
“What?”
They speak at the same time, then stare at each other for a few seconds. Stoic waves a hand at Hiccup “Uh- you go first”
Hiccup gets almost fully down the stairs “No, no. you go first”
Stoic claps his hands together with a sigh “Alright. You get your wish” he puts his hands on his hips, looking very not sure “Dragon training, you start in the moring”
“Ohh man, I shoulda gone first-” Hiccup mumbles, he crosses his arms, then uncrosses them and rubs the back of his neck “Uh- cause, I was thinking, you know”
He gestures with his hands in an attempt to help his argument, somehow “We have a- a surplus of dragon killing vikings, but, do we have enough” he pauses for a second and looks around the room, gods this is going bad
“..bread making vikings? Or- or small home repair vikings?”
Stoic hands him the family axe, ignoring his rambling “You’ll need this”
“I don’t wanna fight dragons” he says, his dad just laughs, “C.mon, yes you do” he turns away walking back to the hearth. Hiccup mutters “Rephrase” taking the last step down “Dad, I can’t kill dragons”
“Yes, but you will kill dragons” Stoic turns back smiling Why does he have to look so proud? “No, I- I’m really very extra sure sure that I won’t”
Stoic steps closer, putting a hand to Hiccups shoulder “It’s time, Hiccup”
“Can you not hear me?” he pleads
His fathers voice grows stern “This is serious, son” he grabs the axe from Hiccups arms, lifting it high and proud “When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you”
He shoves the axe back into Hiccups hands, using it to pull Hiccup taller from the axes handle “Which means, you walk like us,” he straightens his sons postures, grabbing his shoulders to square them for Hiccup, “you talk like us,” he points to his own temple, staring down with his hard gaze “you think like us”
“No more of… all this” he gestures vaguely to Hiccup
Hiccup rolls his eyes “You just gestured to all of me.” he deadpans
“Deal?”
Hiccup looks away muttering “this conversation is feeling very one sided”
Stoic leans closer, speaking louder “Deal?”
Hiccup sighs and weakly answers “deal”
Stoic hoists a basket over his shoulder “Good. Train hard” he walks to the front door, grabbing his helmet and putting it on, looking to Hiccup one last time from the door “I’ll be back, probably”
“And I’ll be here… maybe”