Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

257 days since Hiccup became chef of Berk.

257 days since Hiccup lost his Father.

257 days since Hiccup slept a full night's sleep.

The methodical thump of a hammer was the only noise breaking the silent night on Berk, Toothless' tail snapped for the fourth time that week and Hiccup couldn't figure out why for the life of him, he'd barely flown Toothless in the last few months, flight suit long forgotten in his closet, to busy figuring out how to lead a Village on his own.

Said dragon was currently curled up off to the side, following the swings of his rider's hammer with his eyes, swishing his tail on beat with the sound.

The time spent rebuilding the tail fin seemed to be the only time Hiccup had to himself now, well usually, he could feel eyes watching him from behind, with one last swing of his hammer he turned making eye contact with a frowning Gobber.

“You alright, Lad?” Gobber asked, crossing his arms. “I… uh yeah? Why?” Hiccup tilted his head, “Did something happen”

“Well, no.” The older man spoke, “But it's the middle of the night and you're here. Not at home. Asleep.”

Hiccup shrugged, badly faking disinterest “Wasn't tired is all. Go back to bed, Toothless is keeping me company.” he waved his hand towards the curled up Night Fury who looked between the two men before letting out a low noise and closing his eyes. “…See.” Hiccup's shoulders fell with a grimace.

“I know it's been hard since,” “No,” Hiccup interrupted the man, “No no. Don't. It's fine, I'm fine, I have everything under control.”

“If you need any help,” Gobber tried.

“I don't need help.” Hiccup replied sharply.

“Just know we are here for you, Hiccup.” the smith finished, placing a hand on the young chef's shoulder. “I'll leave you be, but please, get some sleep.”

Hiccup held the man's gaze for a few uncomfortable seconds before Gobber nodded and lifted his hand, shaking his head softly as he limped out of the forge. Hiccup stood, listening as the uneven steps of his former mentor got quarter and quarter, the man shook his head, feeling fifteen again. On nights like this he often asked himself how it would be if he never met the black dragon, even if he always came to the same conclusion, his cousin Snotlout would be the next chief of Berk and Stoick would live with the shame of an outcast son. It hurt, but it was true. His people only thought more of him since Toothless.

His gaze turned to the dragon, curled in on himself, looking like a living shadow. Would life be so much worse if he'd just flown off that night before his fight with the Monstrous Nightmare? Would it have mattered?

Hiccup shook himself, he was the chief of Berk, there was no time for those thoughts.

He turned back to his work, grumbling about having to reheat the metal, he had to get this done.

༄ ༄ ༄

Hiccup slipped the fabric over the newly finished frame and turned to Toothless with a tired smile, “It's done, bud.”

Toothless raised his head with a twitch of one of his nubs and held out his tail for Hiccup to reattach the red fin. Once replaced, Hiccup brushed himself off and sighed “Alright bud, let's go home.” The dragon huffed but walked out of the warm forge into the cold summer night, shaking his wings, Hiccup came to a stop beside him.

“Everything alright bud?” Hiccup frowned, Toothless looked at him for a long moment before grabbing the man by his fur lined vest and throwing him up into the air, catching him on his saddle in a practiced motion. Once realising his position, Hiccup let out a soft laugh, “I'm sorry bud, but I have a lot of work, I can't just fly off.”

Toothless turned his head to look at Hiccup, but his eyes weren't pleading like the man had expected, they were determined.

The fury turned on a dime and ran towards one of the many cliffs surrounding Berk, before Hiccup could truly react, the dragon jumped, plummeting the two towards the dark water.

Hiccup's foot clicked into place, Toothless' wings unfolded, the wind caught the duo and the flight direction switched sharply, the two shooting up before leveling out as they continued towards the sea stacks. Hiccup let out a breathy laugh as Toothless hummed softly.

The man placed his hand on Toothless’ warm scales, feeling the muscles work as he took a deep breath of the salty sea air, he missed this. “I guess I could make sum time.” he spoke, patting the dragon, who cooed happily in response. It may be a bad idea, but up there Hiccup couldn't bring himself to force the dragon to turn, he needed this.

The deep blue water below him mirrored the stars and bright moon above in wobbling patterns, he reached his hand into the wind, light spilling alone his fingers. The sky was completely vacant of clouds and Hiccup leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment.

Toothless kept flying, past the sea stack, past a small island group, over the dark water. Hiccup's nose and cheeks were red from the cold wind whipping through his hair. Free, lying on the back of this best friend, watching the stars pass he felt free.

But nothing good could last all that long, Hiccup was almost asleep when Toothless let out a startled coo and began circling something. Hiccup sat up and peered over the side of the Fury, a large boat floated on the dark water, cages illuminated by torches caught the duo's attention, judging by the blue shimmer they were dragon proof. This was a hunter ship.

“Let's get a better look bud.” Hiccup whispered to the Fury, in a slow spiral they began their descent towards the ship, landing in a dark corner with a soft thump. Hiccup slid off Toothless as quietly as his metal leg allowed and began looking around, hand on the sword he luckily had on his belt when Toothless decided they would fly.

The boat was carrying countless empty cages, occasionally a Terrible Terror or Monstrous Nightmare would catch his eye and he’d open the cage letting the dragons fly off. Toothless moved close to his Human, only occasionally slipping away to get rid of stray guards. It was strangely empty, the mast squeaking in the wind. Hiccup was on edge.

At the front of the vessel Hiccup kept glancing at the dark dragon by his side, Toothless’ nubs kept twitching as he looked around. Suddenly his gaze locked on something and he ran off, “Bud!” Hiccup let out as a startled yelp, he ran after the dragon desperately trying to shush him as he cooed, jumping between cages.

When Toothless suddenly stopped in front of a medium large cage, Hiccup slid into him, he stumbled back, rubbing his head with a groan that quickly went quiet as he took in the contents of the cage.

Huddled at the far end of the cage was a dragon not much smaller than Toothless, gray eyes darting between the dragon and his rider. Hiccup gasped at the dark outline of nubs on the dragon's head, the man quickly stumbled to the door of the cage and threw it open, not caring how loud he was anymore. The dragon stared at him for a moment before pouncing.

A large paw pressed him to the ground as the dragon opened its jaw, a low growl filling the air. Hiccup took in the form, large gray eyes, slitted pupils, a scar running along its left brow down its cheek towards the center of its chest. Hiccup lifted his hand to the leg on his chest and stopped when his fingertips made contact with the dark, warm, …fur? Hiccup blinked, in an instant the weight on his chest was gone, Toothless and the dragon rolling along the wood deck.

Toothless pinned the dragon similarly to how it had pinned Hiccup, purple light building at the back of his jaw. “Toothless!” Hiccup yelled out scrambling to his feet, the light went out and Toothless turned his attention to his rider. The smaller dragon used this to kick the Fury off with its hind legs and rolled upright, the dragon hissed before turning and flying off.

The two friends stood in silence looking after the quickly disappearing shape before turning to each other, Toothless let out a low whine and Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement.

“I think that was a Night Fury, bud.”

Chapter Text

Beautiful blue eyes watched Hiccup as he ran his hand through his hair for the twentieth time while recounting the story, when he was done he rubbed a hand over his face and looked across the table at Astrid. The sun rising through the window behind her made her open blonde hair shine gold and Hiccup's breath caught for a second, until the spell was broken by the woman herself.

“So you're going after a dragon you saw once that might be a Night Fury?” she asked softly.

Hiccup blinked at her for a moment before replying, “Toothless is my best friend. If there's a chance he isn't the last of his kind I have to at least try. We saw it…her? I'm not sure but it was smaller than him and- and had the same head and-”

“Most female dragons are bigger than the males.” Astrid cut his rant short. “Well yes but um,” Hiccup groans “It doesn't matter.” the two look at each other for a long moment. Hiccup let out a long sigh “I know I have a Village to lead but, I, yeah.”

Astrid frowns at Hiccup, “This is important to you. I'm sure Gobber or your mother can handle Berk for a while.” she said softly, Hiccup returned her smile, relaxing slightly.

“But, I'm joining you, and I'm sure the others won't want to be left out either.” Astrid said, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge Hiccup to try and dispute her words. But he just kept smiling at the beautiful woman in front of him, “Like old times.” the man almost whispered. Astrid leaned over the small table and kissed him.

༄༄༄

Astrid swung her and her lover's intertwined hands as they walked towards the great hall, planning on catching the other riders at breakfast. She'd been worried about Hiccup for a while now, he'd been withdrawn from their group, barely flying with Toothless and never up for anything that took him away from the village for long. She had a feeling this would be good for him. He was stressed, she understood that but he wasn't the Hiccup she knew for so long, he was barely the shell of that man, trying so hard to be his father and losing a bit of himself every time it wasn't perfect.

She looked over at Hiccup with a frown, deep eye bags hung under his usually bright green eyes, freckles dusted his face the same way as always, she once kissed every single one after too much mead, the memory made her smile. It took her a moment until she spotted the slightly darker freckle under his right eyebrow, it was her favorite.

Toothless and Stormfly were wandering after the pair at a short distance, the two chattering at each other happily, catching up, Astrid assumed. The warrior squeezed her partner's hand softly as he pulled her up the steps towards the great hall, the loud chatter of their fellow Hooligans welcoming them as he pushed the heavy doors open.

“Hiccup!” Tuffnut's loud call drew the couple's attention and a soft chuckle out of Hiccup making Astrid smile at him as she pulled him over to the table of dragon riders. “Haven't seen you in a while, H!” Tuffnut said, throwing an arm around the chief as he sat down on the uneven bench, the other dragon riders made noises of agreement and Hiccup bit his lip, “Been busy, sorry.” he replied quietly.

A few of the riders made uncertain eye contact with Astrid who shook her head softly, “How about you tell them about the mysterious girl dragon?” she said, tilting her head at Hiccup. The man straightened up at the question as Toothless cooed behind the two excitedly, but before he could say a word the riders erupted into chatter.

“Girl Dragon?”

“When?”

“Ooooo a new dragon?”

“Don't hold out on us, H!”

“Okay, Okay!” the man spoke up over the rambling of his friends smiling, holding his hands up like he was trying to calm a grumpy Zippleback, “Toothless and I found a dragon hunter ship last night and one of the cages held a dragon that looked, well, like it could have been a Night Fury.”

Astrid stifled a laugh as the table went dead silent for what felt like an eternity, “In the name of Odin…” Fishlegs squeaked, breaking the stillness, then the chatter returned.

“A Night fury?”

“Are you sure?”

“Who will train her?”

“Me obviously”

“No way! I want a Night Fury!”

“Wait! Just wait.” Hiccup interrupted, rubbing a hand over his eyes, “It looked like a Night Fury, I can't be sure. And no one said we'd train her.”

“You just want her to yourself too.” Ruffnut said leaning across her brother to look Hiccup in the eyes, “Yeah, like you don't let anyone else ride Toothless!” Snotlout agreed, crossing his arms. “Guys,” Fishlegs spoke up, “I don't think that's what he's trying to do.” but the plump man went mostly unheard and the twins and Snotlout continued their argument about training the Fury.

Hiccup let out an unimpressed sigh next to Astrid, while petting his dragon's head who had placed it on the man's lap not long ago, Astrid bumped her shoulder into his and the two shared a look full of mirth. “Our friends are idiots.” she whispered to Hiccup who let out a soft laugh.

“I was planning on telling Gobber and my mother the plan as soon as possible so Stormfly has a better chance at finding our Fury.” Hiccup said, mostly to her but the other riders nodded in agreement anyways. “We’ll meet at the dragon training arena, be ready.” and then he tried to get up.

Astrid grabbed his shoulder before he could even begin to get off the bence, “You're staying for breakfast.” the warrior said, giving him a very clear try me look, his shoulders slumped after a short staredown, she'd won.

The man grabbed something to eat as Astrid let out a satisfied hum.

༄༄༄

After Hiccup couldn't find Gobber his resolve was slowly slipping away. But still his uneven steps carried him through Berk towards Gothies hut, the place he knew he'd find his mother, ever since returning from the nest shed helped Gothie learn medicine for dragons so if any stray injured dragon showed up or Odin forbid one of Berks dragons got hurt the proper care could be guaranteed.

A soft growl made Hiccup turn, Toothless, wandering after him was grumbling at the clouds. As usual they were working up towards rain, something Berk was all but known for.

Camicazi had once told him Berk reminded her of a dead fish, with the constant gray skies, cold wind, air that always left one's clothes damp and the smell. He could only agree with her. Even with the now common pop of color the dragons that followed their bonded Hooligans or simply hung around provided, Cazi was still right.

“Don't worry bud.” Hiccup called to the dragon wandering after him, “We’ll leave before the rain hits. I left the vest at Astrids anyways, Stormfly will pick up the scent just fine.”

Toothless let out a soft coo in response, pushing Hiccup from behind as he rubbed his head into the man's back, drawing a chuckle out of him, “Yeah yeah, bud. I'm going.”

Hiccup broke into a jog, even if just to comfort the dragon, who followed suit behind the man. It didn't take long for the pair to make it to the long stairway up to Gothi’s, Hiccup always wondered how she made it up as he began the exhausting climb.

Toothless made quick work of it however, a few hops and wing beats and the dragon was looking down at Hiccup from the top step, “Wow bud, thank you so much, my best friend in all the world right here.” Hiccup mumbled to himself shaking his head while breathing heavily, only halfway up.

Once he'd finally made it to the top step, Toothless was busy dozing peacefully. “You wanted me to hurry up, might I add.” Hiccup told the useless reptile at his feet, who simply chattered at the man while getting up and shaking himself, Hiccup rolled his eyes.

The two followed the soft voice of Valka towards the door of the hut as a group of terrible terrors squeaked at them, promptly shutting up when Toothless growled at them.

Hiccup stood in front of the small door all resolved having left him about this mission, he was chief, he couldn't just leave, this was a bad idea, the door opened.

“Hiccup!” Valka smiled at her son, cupping his jaw with both hands, “Is everything alright?”

Gothie pushed past his Mother, giving Hiccup the stink eye before wandering off to calm her little murder of terrors.

“I'm alright, yeah.” Hiccup said slowly, “But we need to talk, it's important.”

“Alright…” Valka nodded.

It didn't take long for Hiccup to recount the events of last night, Valkas eye growing wider with every word and Toothless pacing behind his rider. Gothie had come back not long after he started speaking, as he finished she began scribbling words into the dust.

“Hiccup,” Valka began “if this is true you know what you have to- Gothie stop poking me!” the elderly woman only glared and motions to her words. Valka took a long look at the dust, “Yes Gothie, that was what I was going to say. Go, Hiccup. Berk will be taken care of.”

Hiccup stared at his mother for a moment, why had he ever thought she wouldn't be on board, it was his mother for Odins sake. “Thank you.” he breathed out and pulled his mother into a tight embrace. “I've already asked the council for a talk.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” the woman said, taking a step away from her son and waved her hand in the air. Only then did Hiccup notice Cloudjumper dozing on the roof of Gothies hut, the dragon let out a soft whine and climbed down to hang off the side of the small platform the vikings and Toothless were standing on. Valka patted Cloudjumper on the snout and pulled herself on his back, “I'll be back soon.” she said to Gothie who nodded and walked back into her hut, Valka then nodded at her son and the Stormcutter let go of the platform, catching himself on the wind, gliding towards the great hall.

“Toothless?” Hiccup turned to the dragon, Toothless cooed and wiggled his winds. Hiccup smiled and pulled himself up onto the dragon, clicked his foot and Toothless took off.

After a few unnecessary spins the duo landed in front of the large wooden doors, Hiccup took a deep breath and hopped off his comfort.

The eyes of the council turned to the man and his dragon as Hiccup pushed the door open, Valka must have briefed them. It was dead silent and Hiccup walked towards them, Toothless right on his heel. “What is it about you leaving, boyo?” Spitelout asked as Hiccup took his seat, his fathers seat.

“It's a simple mission with the other riders. I won't be long.” Hiccup said with more confidence then he felt.

“Ah alright, you're taking Berks' best defence for a simple mission?” Spitelout asked, raising both eyebrows in disapproval, a few others mumiling in agreement.

“Astrid has trained a competent Berk guard. As a member you should know that.” Hiccup shot back, “Or do you think your ability to protect this Village is lacking?” the chief asked, raising an eyebrow of his own. It had the desired effect as Spitlout leaned back and shut up.

Gobber seemed to have missed the invite, his mother was simply listening and Gothie was in her hut, relying on Valka. Hiccup had to convince a group of Hooligans to let him do this, he sucked in a breath.

“Why can’t the other riders go and you as chief stay?” a man piped up, almost Spitelouts age. Hiccup hid a scowl and opened his mouth to speak, but never managed.

“Chief Hiccup is the Dragon Master!” a second man yelped, “He has always taken care of dragon deuties, it would be safer if he went, right?” The blond man grew uncertain as the counsel turned their gaze from Hiccup to him. The silence stretched as the counsel sat in thought.

“My father visited the Edge longer than I will be away.” Hiccup stated, “My dragon riders and I won't be away long, I trust you all.” The last part was only a half truth, he had added it to stroke their egos, the proud puff of chests he witnessed next proved the effectiveness.

“Well.” Spitelout started, “I see this is important, we will see to Berk being cared for during your leave.” the other members nodded in agreement.

“If questions come up, look to Gobber. That is all, thank you.” Hiccup stood, Toothless chirping happily. The dragon rider and his dragon strode towards the doors, murmurs sounded behind them but neither turned around.

Hiccup was happy about the speed of the meeting, it may make him weak by Viking standards but he was unsure about his chief hood, he regretted not taking his father up on chiefing lessons, but the counsel knew the late chief and worked at his side. He could only trust them to know what Stoick would do, what was right.

The man's leg ached as the morning stretched, his limp more pronounced as he walked the long path up to his house, Toothless hopping up and down the hill as he waited on Hiccup.

“Give me a moment, okay bud?” Hiccup leaned on the door, Toothless cooed in response and Hiccup pushed the door open.

To many agonising steps up the stairs to his room later, Hiccup was holding his flight suit, everything was still there, map, knife, wings. Hiccup pulled the suit on, slipping his folded sword into its rightful place and hummed quietly as he closed belts and checked metal parts, improvement ideas popped into his mind, the days of flightless solitude falling away for the moment.

Toothless froze as Hiccup stepped back out of his hut, closing the door with a slam. “What? Forget I had this?” Hiccup asked the Fury with a laugh. Toothless chattered in response.

༄༄༄

“…she jumped off the ship and went north.” Hiccup finished his explanation of his earlier encounter, for the third time that day. The walls of the arena stretched around him and his friends, the dragon's geared up and antsy to fly.

“That's it? She could be anywhere by now.” Snotlout chimed in, crossing his arms.

“I'm never gonna tame my Night Fury.” Tuffnut whined, “You mean my Night Fury?” His sister hit him in the back of the head, “No mine!” Tuff responded.

Hiccup ignored the two as they began a two person brawl, “This vest,” Hiccup motioned to the brown fur vest in Astrid's hand, “Has the scent of the dragon on it, Stormfly will pick it up and lead us to her.”

“So we follow the Nadder and hope she's actually tracking the dragon?” Snotlout raised a brow.

“Any better ideas?” Astrid asked, rolling her eyes. “Uh…” Snotlaut looked uncomfortable all of a sudden, “Shut up, Astrid!”

“Okay, I know how it sounds, but I'm asking you to trust me.” Hiccup said, looking at Fishlegs first, the man looked just like he usually did, except the small Gronckle sitting in a pouch around his waist. Meatlug had her 4th clutch of eggs in her life, but for the first time only one egg had hatched, so now Fishlegs was carrying the baby everywhere saying it's to help socialize Fishmeat since he doesn't have siblings, but it's clearly out of worry. “Of course we trust you Hiccup.” the man nodded. “Yeah!” the twins agreed from their spot on the floor, bumping heads. “Ehhh” Snotlout started, promptly getting smacked by Hookfang, “Yeah, yeah, okay. We trust you.”

The man looked and acted just as obnoxious as usual, the depressing whispers of a beard still sitting on his top lip, at least Hiccup had the decency to shave his. He didn't need to embarrass his family name further.

“Astrid?” Hiccup asked, “What do you think?” she replied, placing a hand on her hip, “Let's go already.”

Chapter Text

What none of the riders noticed at the time was the two limed viking leaning on the arena entrance watching the colourful flock fly off, “That's it laddie.” Gobber smiled.

The man turned to walk into the belly of the arena, his uneven stride full of purpose headed to the ajar gate on the opposite wall, Gobber pulled it open to reveal the dozing lump of Grump. Poor thing didn't enjoy the cold of Berk as much, always trying to find the warmest spots to sleep and now that Hiccup interrupted his nights the Hotburple had decided the sunwarm arena was his best bet.

“Get up ye lazy beast!” Gobber shouted, Grump opened one eye to look at his viking and hummed, not moving. “Hiccups off, ye can have the forge back.” This made the dragon move. The big lump pushed himself up and shook out his big body, then proceeded to waddell a few steps to Gobber and lick his cheek. “Aw ye big baby!” Gobber laughed, patting the dragon's snout.

Grump let out a low coo and began his trek back to the forge. Gobber at his side.

“Ye know Grump? I'm worried about the lad.” Gobber started, Grump letting out a hum. “He's been all lonesome since chiefhood. I mean yeah he locked himself away before but to invent not sit in silence! It’s freaking me out is all.” Gobber patted his dragon softly.

“Ay, flying with his buddies will be good for the lad, it's all he wanted to do before.” Gobber hummed, before Gobber never mentioned before what but everyone on Berk knew, before he lost his best friend, before the lad he had watched take his first steps became chief too soon, too sudden. Hiccup didn't talk about it either, no one truly did around the new Chief. But Stoick the Vast wasn't forgotten. Statues, portraits, tapestries in his honor lined Berk, songs sung, stories told. But his death was a silent weight on Berks chest.

He died protecting the thing he loved most, his boy. Even if Hiccup wasn't sure of that fact. Even when Hiccup was a teen Gobber knew Stoick would move Asgard for the boy, Hiccup just didn't. Gobber also knew he would never listen if he had told the lad so he'd tried to help him learn the things he thought would impress his father.

No matter how bad his earlier fighting technique was, his craftsmanship was nothing to laugh at, better than men Gobbers age when he was only fifteen. Weapons he made as just a young Hooligan still lined the armory, sat in people's homes, on Astrid's belt.

Grump bumped him out of his head and grumbled at him, “Ah sorry. Ye hungry, boy?” Gobber patted the dragons rough scales. Grump growled excitedly in response, even wiggled a bit. Gobber took that as a yes.

༄༄༄

The gang was flying north as predicted, settled in a loose V formation behind the Nadder. The large blue dragon looked determined, eyes locked forward and barely chatting with the other dragons. Toothless and Hiccup were not far, the two dragons' wings almost brushing, Hiccup was watching the gray clouds turn yellow in the sun, Toothless seemed to do the same.

Snotlout and the twins were having a nonsensical conversation behind them and Fishlegs was hovering close to Hiccup, trying to find the best chance to talk to the man before eventually giving up and playing with Fishmeat.

Hiccup's eyes were looking everywhere and nowhere as he leaned back on his hands, Toothless warm body humming with energy beneath him.

The deep blue water stretched beneath the riders, the sun climbing higher, morning stretching into day. Hiccup turned his head to watch his friends for a long moment.

Snotlout looked moments from ripping his hair out as the twins continued to spew their frankly entertaining nonsense, the chief's cousin had stripped the fur cloak he'd taken to wearing and stowed it in one of many saddle bags, half of the soft fur sticking out, waving in the wind. A small braid was still settled behind his ear, the small man continuously refused to tell anyone who it was from, the gang had placed bets weeks ago.

Hookfang chattered at Toothless with a soft shake, and there went the prized fur coat. Hiccup looked up at Snotlout, who unsurprisingly, as he was still caught up in the twins' rambling, didn't notice the lost cargo.

“Alright bud.” Hiccup patted the dragon who looked at him with a slow blink, Hiccup pulled the saddle loop and shifted his foot. The two shifted their flight pattern and spun around, Fishlegs let out a yelp as the Night Fury flashed under the Gronckle. Hiccup reached out his hand, fingers gripping the brown fur and pulling it to his chest, Toothless turned wide and looped back towards his friends, slower than before.

Hiccup fumbled with the cloak for a moment, when he finally held a small piece of attached parchment he'd spotted badly written initials on a few days after Snotlout had shown up to counsel with the cloak on, a large jaw grabbed the soft thing from his hands, “Thanks, Hic!” Snotlout called from the back of Hookfang.

“So much for that.” Hiccup patted Toothless offmindly, the dark dragon cooed in response. The two flew around the group in a bend settling right by Astrid and Stormfly. “What was that about?” Astrid asked, facing her betrothed, “Oh just trying to figure something out.” Hiccup responded with a bright smile. Astrid furrowed her eyebrows but looked off with a shrug.

Hiccup didn't, smiling dopely as he took in the sight of his lover flying, blond hair braided in a half up half down way she was doing more often now, a sleeveless red shirt encompassing her frame, Hiccup had gifted it to her after visiting the Bog Burglars on chief business, Cazi had laughed at him after he called it that, but helped him find a nice collection of gifts anyways.

“Are you watching me?” Astrid's voice cut off his thoughts, Hiccup the poor sod jumped a bit before laughing, “Of course M’lady. Am I not permitted?” He asked, faking innocence, “Oh haha.” Astrid deadpanned, only the soft smile on her face and the warm pink of her cheeks gave her away.

Hiccup grinned in triumph, usually he was the one blushing like a lovestruck milkmaid about Astrid, it was nice to make her blush too, she looked beautiful like that.

༄༄༄

“Hiccup!” Fishlegs high pitched voice caught the man's attention, he looked up from where he was dozing on the Fury's back. Meatlug was flying next to the duo, wings flapping desperately. “Yeah?” Hiccup replied, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. “You brought back the flight suit!” Fishlegs stated, “Yeah.” Hiccup replied, dipping his head at how awkward the two sounded, but it was an opening so he took it. “I actually thought of some improvements but I'll have to wait to figure out the logistics.” that made Fishlegs perk up, “What kind of improvements?”

“Well,” Hiccup smiled, “first I wanted to swap the green for a darker colour. And you know all the scales these dragons lose?” Fishlegs nodded along, “If I take some of Toothless and grind it down so I can paint all this leather the same colour as him or peach them together to make it all fireproof.”

“So you want to make it blend in more?” Fishlegs asked, “Yeah exactly!” Hiccup replied.

“When you're done, maybe you could make some for us…?” Fishlegs hesitated, petting Fishmeat slowly. “That's not… a bad idea.” Hiccup smiled over at his friend.

“Stop being nerds!” Snotlout called from behind, “We need a break!”

Hiccup turned his head towards his cousin with a frown, “A little longer, we can't lose the scent!”

“A little longer!? We've been flying for half the day!” Snotlout threw up his hand in frustration. The twins yelled their agreement from the back of a slowly sinking Zippleback.

Only then did Hiccup feel the sun burning down on his neck, how the sweat clung to his skin under the suit. The chief sighed and patted Toothless' neck, leaning down by his head, “They need a break bud, we won't be long.” Toothless looked up at him a long moment then surveyed the other dragons. The Fury let out a small huff but cooed his agreement.

Hiccup patted him sympathetically and sat up, he called out to the rider of a very determined Nadder a few meters in front of him, “The dragons need a break, I see an island up ahead, let's stop for a moment?”

“I don't know if she'll let me!” Astrid called back, Toothless cooed up at Hiccup, “Yeah, bud.” Toothless dove under the Nadder and began pushing her right with his head, Stormfly let out a startled squawk but obliged after a few tired growls from Toothless. “Good job, bud.” Hiccup praised the Night Fury as the group ascended towards the island.

Barf and Belch dropped like a stone on landing, exhausted. The other dragons weren't better off, slumping into sitting or lying positions almost immediately. Except Stormfly, the Nadder was hopping around, nudging the other dragons in an attempt to get them going again, “Calm down, girl. They just need a rest, we'll be on our way again soon.” Astrid reassured the dragon as she slid out the saddle and hopped onto the earth.

Hiccup followed suit, Toothless curled up at the absence of weight on his back. Hiccup gave the dragon a nice scratch under his jaw until he heard a familiar gasp. Astrid was looking at the trees around them and as Hiccup followed her gaze he also noticed the purple fruit hanging in the trees.

“Wuhu!!” Tuffnut shouted, he had also noticed the fruit and was now barreling towards one of the trees before clambering up it like a crazed spidermonkey. Snotlout was lying limp on the back of Hookfang, Ruffnut was violently shaking the tree her brother was on and Fishlegs was wandering off to find good rocks for Meatlug and Fishmeat, it seemed so familiar to the Hooligan chief.

Hiccup let out an amused huff at his friend's antics, it was all so warm and familiar like sitting by a fire after a long day in the cold. The man stretched his body and glanced towards Astrid, she was eating one of the fruits with a satisfied smile. Hiccup nodded to himself and sat down beside the Fury, if they had to have a break he would take advantage of that fact, he needed a nap.

༄༄༄

A high pitched scream woke the viking much too soon, he pulled himself up on a now very alert Toothless and ran towards the sound, the other riders hot on his tail.

Hiccup almost tripped over himself at his sudden stop as he entered a clearing, Snotlout was sitting on the back of a mostly on fire Hookfang who to Hiccup's annoyance was holding a stout man with long blond hair and a beard to match in his jaw, the man was still screaming. “Snotlout. What did you do?” Hiccup asked, rubbing his eyes. “This guy just showed up and stole my fruit.” Snotlout replied, crossing his arms.

This turned out to be the worst thing Snotlout could have said as the man turned bright red and began yelling, “THIS IS MY ORCHARD! YE SHOW UP HERE AND STEAL MY HARVEST AND CALL ME A THIEF?! YOU NO GOOD- is that a Night Fury?” the man went pale before promptly passing out.

The twins started laughing behind Hiccup and he let out a sigh, “Put him down, Snotlout.”

“As you wish, chief. Hookfang drop.” The large dragon opened its jaw and the blond man crumpled to the floor. “Not like that you muttonhead!” Hiccup yelped and knelt at the man's side.

After two or three blinks the man opened his eyes again, “My name is Hiccup, what's yours?” Hiccup asked before that man could notice the Fury again. “Bo.” he replied, still dazed, “Was that really a Night Fury?” Bo asked, “Uh,” Hiccup looked to his friend then back to Bo, “Yes.”

“Oh sweet Oden, Grimmel said he'd got ‘em all!” Then Bo passed out again.

Chapter Text

Bo woke up with a headache, it took him about three blinks to figure out where he was, home? The man groaned, rubbing his neck, his entire upper body hurt. Someone stepped on the squeaky floorboard by the weapon rack, Bo's eye shot towards the noise.

A man stood, stick straight, in front of the rack, facing Bo. He was scrawny, a red brown mop of hair almost covered his eyes and wearing some sort of full body armor. “What are ye doing in my house?” Bo asked, standing up. The man lifted his hands, “I found you outside. You don't remember?”

Bo rubbed his eyes, “Hicks?”

“Hiccup.” The man corrected.

Before Bo could open his mouth again Hiccup kept talking, “Can you tell who Grimmel is?”

Bo watched the man for a long moment, he didn't look like a threat, asking not demanding, holding no weapons, but Bo noted the air of confidence, Hiccup looked about his son's age, shame he and his mother were out to the nearby island village. His son thought it was to visit his grandmother, his wife was on a mission to find the lad a woman. If Hiccup was even a little bit as honorable as his boy Bo could trust him.

“Grimmel the Grisly is the killer of Night Furys.” Hiccups breath hitched, Bo continued, “He offered my village protection from dragons if we gave ‘im shelter when necessary. Last I saw ‘im he told us the Furys were all dead. Then I moved out here with my wife and son to start my orchard, that was five years ago. But he lied. That was a Night Fury out there.”

“That's my best friend Toothless. He lets me fly.” Hiccup responded, Bo raised an eyebrow, “Friends with a beast?”

“Dragons only hurt vikings when vikings hurt them. My village has made peace with them, this Grimmel guy kills them for fun.”

“So ye're the dragon master? I thought ye were just a story.” Bo responded, crossing his arms. Hiccup rubbed his neck.

The two were at a standstill, watching each other, blinking.

“I protect and train dragons. And I am very real.” Hiccup huffed the last part, Bo ignored it “Ye take them with ye too?”

“Sometimes, yes. If their hurt-”

“Well there's pesky ones off the coast of my village, steal fish from nets. Take ‘em with ye when ye go.” With that Bo sat back down, looking between the door and Hiccup.

The man took the hint.

༄༄༄

Eleven pairs of eyes stared at Hiccup when he stepped out of the small farmer hut, his head was spinning with the information Bo had dropped on him. The reason Toothless was a lone Night Fury was a man named Grimmel the Grisly who had made it his mission to end the species, who thought he had achieved his mission. Or maybe not? If Bo knew of him Grimmel must know him too.

Hiccup pulled himself into Toothless’ saddle silently, a headache forming behind his eyes. “We need to keep going.” was all he said and turned to Stormfly and Astrid, the woman patted the dragon as she gave Hiccup a questioning look.

“Not here.” Hiccup replied, Astrid nodded and the blue dragon took off north, Hiccup and Toothless hot on her tail.

༄༄༄

The flap of wings was the only thing that broke the silence as the flock flew above the clouds,the sky turning a mix of oranges and pinks as the sun lowered.

Hiccup was hunched forward, fiddling with the leather of his armcuff, the rest of the gang watching him expectantly to finally clear up what had happened to get him this way.

Snotlaut broke first.

“Oh my gods Hiccup!” the man in question jumped. “We don't have all day!” The short man crossed his arms, staring daggers at his cousin.

“Grimmel the Grisly,” Hiccup spat the name like it was poison on his tongue, "apparently dedicated his life to killing Night Furys.”

The words hung in the air, Fishlegs gasped in horror, Astrid sucked in a breath, the dragons shifted nervously and the twins just stared at Hiccup. Snotlout mumbled something but Hiccup continued, “And he thinks he succeeded.” he patted Toothless on the head, “but he didn't.”

“Um Hiccup,” Fishlegs squeaked, “vikings know you now. Toothless too.”

Hiccup nodded sharply, “Bo thought I was just a story, Grimmel might think the same.”

“And if he doesn't?" Astrid asked, worry seeping into her voice as she turned to look at Hiccup.

“We kill him.” Hiccup replied, looking back at her, jaw tight.

“Yes, we will.” she nodded back, turning back to the sky in front of her.

“Im in!” Snotlout shouted from behind, throwing his arms up. Hookfang growled from underneath him, “Sorry, we’re in.”

The twins, who had regained their voice called out in agreement, Barf and Belch cooing along with their crazed riders. Fishlegs’ voice sounded from beside Hiccup after the hooting had worn, “We’re with you, chief.”

“Thank you.” Hiccup sighed, shoulders slumping.

༄༄༄

Hiccup felt heavy in the saddle, unknown forces weighing him down, the relief he had felt from the nap had slipped away at Bo's words, the familiar pressure in his chest. He remembered the time when flying had made him feel invincible, the dark blanketing the duo in shadows, an invisible force.

Tonight Hiccup felt like the stars themselves were watching them, if Grimmel had managed to kill most Night Furys it meant that Toothless wouldn't even be safe at night.

Hiccup couldn't fathom losing his best friend, especially not to the hands of an over confident dragon killer, scum of the earth.

His eyes found Astrid, her hair flowing in the wind. With her by his side he knows he can keep Toothless safe, with his riders Toothless will be alright, but gods he thought the same about his father. They had dragons surely nothing would happen to him except old age, he had been wrong, so wrong.

Hiccup traced circles along Toothless’ scales, the dragon humming underneath him. “You think we'll find her soon?” Hiccup whispers down to the dragon, Toothless coos warmly, “Yeah bud, me too. Just a gut feeling.”

As if the blue Nadder was listening, Stormfly let out a loud squawk, causing multiple dragon riders to jump, and dove through the blanket of clouds towards the dark water below them.

Toothless and the others were following her dutifully as she glided over top of the water towards a small, flat, overgrown with trees and shrubs island.

As the flock landed she began sniffing intently, her head darting around in jerky motions that always reminded Hiccup of a chicken. Toothless followed by her side, crouching low to the ground as not to be hit by a stray beak, tail or wing. Hiccup followed suit as he sat chest flush against Toothless’ warm neck. The others waiting behind them, Fishlegs patting Fishmeat with a giddy smile and bouncing legs.

The soothing sound of waves was split by a high pitched screech. It was a haunting mix of pain, anger, and fear. The riders turned to look at each other, wide eyes shining in the low flame Hookfang was keeping alight on his head.

Hiccup slid off the saddle, starting towards the sound as quietly as he could. The other riders as well as Toothless followed a few paces behind, he rather they didn't but he knew he wouldn't be able to convince them, at least not with such limited time.

The screech turned into a whine as the riders made it to the edge of a clearing, and there she was. She was huddled in the middle of the clearing looking smaller then Hiccup remembered.

“She does have fur!” Fishlegs gasped, Hiccup could only nod dumbly, she didn't look like any dragon he had ever seen other than Toothless, but in the moonlight it was clear she wasn’t a Night Fury. The dragon truly did have fur, dark gray fur spotted with even darker gray, her underbelly much lighter in colour. “Cool!” Ruff said much to loud and the dragon's head snapped in their direction, her pupils were slit as she let out a deep growl.

Fishlegs squeaked next to him, Hiccup was about to open his mouth to question why the dragon doesn't fly off when Toothless slips past him out onto the clearing, cooing at the frightened not fury.