Many thanks to my beta reader, Sailorstar165!
Chapter 1: A Perfect Day
"This is Berk," Hiccup muttered to himself, staring out his bedroom window as the sun crested over the mountains behind his home "It's about five miles past the end of civilisation, and three miles north of uninhabitable. Any sane person would leave at the first opportunity, but we're Vikings; we have stubbornness issues."
He looked away from the window and to the black dragon curled up beside his bed. "However," he continued, "living here does have its advantages."
Hobbling over to where Toothless lay, he poked the dragon in the side with his false leg. "Come on buddy, time to get up."
Toothless grumbled in his sleep, but otherwise remained stationary.
Hiccup poked Toothless again. "Ugh, you're worse than Stoick after a night at the mead hall," he complained.
Toothless grumbled again, but this time lifted his head from his paws, cracking open one large green eye and fixing Hiccup with a withering stare. An irritated growl rumbled in the dragon's throat.
"And good morning to you too, bud," Hiccup shot back sarcastically, reaching over to scratch the dragon's chin. Instantly the Night Fury's pupils snapped open, and he nuzzled against Hiccup, a pleasurable hum resonating within its chest.
Satisfied that he had compensated Toothless for disturbing his nap, Hiccup withdrew his hand and headed for the door, pausing to grab Toothless's saddle from its peg on the wall. "I'll see you outside, bud," Hiccup called over his shoulder as he left the room.
Toothless grunted in response and dived out the window, wings snapping open as soon as he cleared the building.
Hiccup didn't bother calling out to his father as he descended the stairs into the main room of their house. He knew that his father would have left at dawn to oversee the preparations for the celebrations that evening. Today was the day of the spring equinox, and the whole village was throwing a festival to celebrate the gods and ask them for a good harvest. Hiccup had seen the annual festival many times during his eighteen years of life; however this time it had special significance for him and his friends, as from that day onwards they would finally be considered full adults within the village.
Hiccup paused to grab a loaf of bread from the pantry as he headed past. It was dry and slightly stale but good enough to sate his hunger as he rushed out the door. No sooner had the door slammed shut behind him did Toothless bound up to him, emerald eyes brimming with excitement. Hiccup laughed and scratched his friend's head.
"You ready to go flying bud?" he asked, stepping around the dragon's head to secure the saddle.
Toothless nodded excitedly. With practiced ease, Hiccup swung himself up onto the Night Fury's back, securing his false leg into the stirrup. He paused and took a deep breath, feeling Toothless' muscles flexing beneath him. Hiccup had never been the most physically adept of Vikings, and his injury at the hands—or in this case, claws—of the Green Death had done him no favours in that regard. However, there was one domain where he and his dragon were undisputed masters: in the air, no dragon, tame nor wild, could hope to match him and Toothless.
He felt Toothless shift impatiently beneath him, shaking him from his thoughts. Taking another breath, he crouched low over Toothless' neck before shifting his foot and opening the tail.
Toothless responded instantly, leaping into the air, and surging upwards fast enough to take Hiccup's breath away. Finally, when they were level with the fluffy white clouds that floated through the spring sky, Toothless leveled out. Spreading his wings, he soared on thermals rising from the sun-warmed ground far below. Hiccup reached down and patted Toothless' neck,
"Well done, bud," he chuckled.
As was tradition on the island of Berk, Hiccup had been given the day of the spring equinox off from his chores and was free to do as he wished until the festival in the evening, and Hiccup intended to make the most of the last day of his childhood. Adjusting the tail, he and Toothless banked sideways, angling towards the eastern coast of the island.
With a series of powerful wing strokes, Toothless alighted on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the sea stacks rising from the dark waters below.
"Are you ready for this, bud?" Hiccup asked, relating a hand on his dragon's neck.
Toothless growled an affirmative.
Hiccup leaned forwards, taking a deep breath and readying himself for the jump, when he was interrupted by a draconic call of greeting, which echoed off the cliffs below him. Looking over his left shoulder, he spotted a sky blue Deadly Nadder coming in to land beside them.
On the Nadder's back was the other advantage of living on Berk for Hiccup: Astrid Hofferson.
"Even after all these years, the idea of 'Hiccup the thrill seeker' is still completely alien to me," she said.
"Just as alien as you giving me an actual compliment," Hiccup muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Hiccup?" she asked, a suspicious look in her eyes.
"Oh, nothing," Hiccup lied, "I was just saying how nice the weather was today."
"Right," she grumbled, crossing her arms in frustration.
Since the defeat of the Green Death three years ago, he and Astrid had become good friends, and of all the students at the Berk Dragon Academy, she and Stormfly were by far the most promising. However, that didn't mean that he and Astrid were above some friendly banter from time to time.
"You should join us. It'll be fun." Hiccup gestured to the sea stacks.
"No thanks," Astrid replied. "I don't think my mother would be too pleased if I flew into a cliff and fractured my skull on the morning of the Spring Equinox"
Their relationship wasn't the only thing that had changed over the last three years. The long days of dragon training and riding Toothless had had an effect on Hiccup, and now faint outlines of muscles were visible underneath his pale skin. He was by no means the model of physical fitness, but he had certainly come a long way from the stick insect he'd been before he met Toothless. And while she still had the same lithe, athletic form that he adored, Astrid had changed too. Hiccup couldn't help but notice how the womanly aspects of her figure had developed over the last few years, and the way in which her usual tight-fitting blue vest clung to her body, emphasizing her subtle curves.
"You should put more faith in Stormfly," Hiccup replied. "She's getting almost as good as Toothless."
Astrid raised an eyebrow at the unexpected compliment.
"I said 'almost'," he shot back.
Astrid's eyes narrowed, and Hiccup smiled. He knew that she could never resist a challenge.
"Fine," she growled. "It's a race." She pointed to the furthest stack from the cliff. "First person to that stack wins."
"You're on." Hiccup grinned and nudged Toothless' side with his good leg.
Toothless leapt off the cliff, spiralling headfirst towards the crashing waves. With a rush of wings, and a surprised shriek from her rider, Stormfly followed, hurtling towards the waiting sea, hot on the Night Fury's tail.
Three years ago, Hiccup would have felt a jolt of fear, performing such a dangerous move, but now all he felt was a rush of adrenaline and the thrill of the race. He glanced over his shoulder and locked eyes with Astrid. This was the first part of the challenge: whoever pulled out of their dive first would have less momentum and be at a disadvantage for the first leg of the race.
Hiccup tore his eyes away and focused on the sharp stones at the base of the cliff, rapidly rushing towards them. He pressed himself tight against Toothless' neck, and waited.
They were so close now that Hiccup could hear the crashing of the waves over the rushing of the wind in his ears. Hiccup's foot twitched, and he almost released the tail, but he held his nerve. At last, with a great rushing of air, he heard Stormfly open her wings and pull out of the dive. Immediately, Hiccup extended the tail, and Toothless' wings snapped open, straining to arrest their downwards velocity. At the last possible moment, they pulled out of the dive, shooting across the surface of the sea, leaving a cloud of spray in their wake.
He and Toothless didn't have time to celebrate. Immediately a towering column of rock rushed towards them. Acting purely on instinct, he angled the tail and threw his weight to one side. A heartbeat later, Toothless banked hard left, and the two skimmed past the stack, Toothless' wingtips passing within inches of the rock face. In moments they were faced with another stack. Hiccup felt a slight shift in the angle of Toothless' flight and responded, shifting his weight and adjusting the tail. The pair rolled to the right, narrowly missing another column.
Flying together like this was the time that Hiccup felt closest to his Night Fury. There was no time for verbal communication; both of them acted purely on instinct, rider and dragon in perfect harmony. The pair weaved between the stacks faster than Hiccup could think. Sometimes he would lead Toothless; other times Toothless would lead him. Eventually, they came to a small break in in the stacks, and Hiccup glanced over his shoulder, only to be blinded by a gust of wind as a blue streak shot past them. Somehow, Astrid and Stormfly had found a faster route through the stacks, and were speeding towards the finish line.
"Damnit," Hiccup growled. "We are not being beaten by her, not today. Faster Toothless!"
Hiccup spotted a small opening between two stacks, barely wide enough for Toothless to fit through with his wings folded. At the same time he felt Toothless angle towards the gap.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking bud?" he asked.
Toothless growled an affirmative, beating his wings as fast as he could to pick up speed.
Hiccup pressed himself tighter against Toothless' neck. "I do not want to end up in Valhalla today, you crazy reptile," he muttered.
The rock wall rapidly grew in size until it filled all of Hiccup's vision. At the last possible moment, close enough for Hiccup to make out the moss and lichen clinging to the rock, Toothless pulled in his wings. There was darkness for a moment, and an instant later, they cleared the gap and Toothless' wings shot back out, beating rapidly to regain lost speed. The manoeuvre had left them with a clear run to the final stack, and the pair shot past a rather surprised Astrid and Stormfly to claim victory.
Hiccup whooped and punched the air, while Toothless let out a triumphant bugle. After numerous singed eyebrows, Hiccup had finally managed to curtail his dragon's habit of launching celebratory fireballs, which had always ended up exploding in his face.
Banking lazily to one side, the two friends turned and slowly began to climb back up towards the cliff where they started. Astrid and Stormfly quickly fell in beside them.
"That was some good flying," Hiccup panted. "You nearly had us for a moment there."
"Thanks," Astrid replied, equally out of breath. "That was an insane move you pulled back there. I thought there was no way you could fit through that gap."
Hiccup eyed the long grey scrape marks that ran down Toothless' side. Luckily his contact with the rock walls hadn't pierced the Night Fury's tough hide. "I'm not sure what we did qualifies as 'fitting'."
Astrid laughed, a rare and glorious sound to Hiccup's ears. "These guys are looking pretty tired," she said, looking down at Stormfly. "We should probably let them rest after all that exercise."
"Good idea," Hiccup replied. "You headed to the meadow?"
Astrid nodded, and the two dragons turned and headed inland, towards the mountains at the centre of the island.
About a year after the defeat of the Green Death, Hiccup and Toothless had discovered the meadow, a small, roughly triangular patch of lush grasses and heather, nestled between two peaks. With steep mountainside on two sides, and a sheer cliff on the third, the meadow was completely inaccessible by any means other than dragon, and it was nicely sheltered from the harsh elements and even harsher inhabitants of Berk. In one corner of the meadow, a crystal clear mountain stream trickled down the rocks and formed a small pool, before continuing on its journey towards the sea. While these days most of Berk knew about the cove near Raven Point where Hiccup had hidden Toothless, the location of the meadow was a closely-guarded secret between Hiccup and Astrid.
Toothless landed smoothly at the edge of the meadow, taking a couple of steps to arrest his momentum, before folding his wings to allow Stormfly to land. Hiccup unhooked his prosthetic from the saddle and dismounted Toothless. He looked up to watch Astrid and Stormfly land, while Toothless wandered over to the pool in the corner to drink. Stormfly came in to land similarly to Toothless, touching down at the edge of the meadow. Astrid gracefully hopped down from Stormfly's neck and marched over to Hiccup as the Nadder headed off to join Toothless. Hiccup was absent-mindedly watching the dragons and wasn't prepared when Astrid's fist collided with his stomach.
"Ouch! What was that for?" he groaned.
"That was for attempting that stupid move," she growled. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"Thanks, I didn't know you cared."
"And this," she continued, leaning in close, "is for the most fun I've had in a long time."
Hiccup felt his heart skip a beat as her lips briefly made contact with his cheek, and then she pulled away. With that, she slapped him on the back - a little bit too hard to be entirely friendly - and walked off towards the edge of the cliff.
Hiccup looked back up at the dragons to find Toothless staring back at him, a strange expression on his face. He mouthed a silent 'what?' to his dragon, before turning to follow Astrid.
Hiccup shook his head. Even after eighteen years of living around her, he wasn't sure he'd ever understand what went on in Astrid's head.
Astrid was sitting on the edge of the cliff, staring out to sea, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"What's on your mind?" Hiccup asked, sitting down beside her, a respectful distance between them.
Astrid shifted closer to Hiccup, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"The future," she replied in a half-whisper.
Hiccup forced himself to resist the urge to pull away from the warm mass of nearly adult Viking that was suddenly pressed against him. While he and Astrid were close friends now, that was all that they were, and this was the most intimate they'd been since she kissed him after the battle with the Green Death three years ago.
"This is the last day of our childhood..." Astrid continued, trailing off into a wistful sigh.
Hiccup was silent for a long moment. He knew that the ceremony that night was just a formality, the conclusion of a gradual series of changes in his life that had begun even before he met Toothless. However, the ceremony still brought to mind just how drastic the sum of all those changes was. "And what a childhood it's been," he responded eventually.
"I know," Astrid replied, looking over Hiccup's shoulder at the dragons lounging behind them. "We've been lucky enough to be a part of," she glanced at Hiccup, "and in your case, the cause of, the biggest change in all seven generations of Berk's history."
"It hasn't exactly been the most sheltered upbringing..." Hiccup began, looking down at his false leg, the most prominent example of how he, his friends and his whole world had changed since that fateful night so long ago when he shot down Toothless.
"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard," Astrid replied. Hiccup smiled, recognising the old saying his father used to use. "Plus," Astrid continued, "You tend to grow up pretty fast when you're your village's only line of defence against Outcast and Dragon attacks."
Hiccup chuckled dryly. "You're right there, although, it hasn't always been always violence and misery." He paused for a moment. "Remember that first Snoggletog after the dragons moved in? When..."
"…When we first found out that dragon eggs explode when they hatch?" Astrid finished.
"Yup, that's the one," Hiccup confirmed, smiling at the shared memory.
"Yeah. To be honest, that wasn't one of my greatest ideas."
"No, no it wasn't." Hiccup Laughed.
"My turn," Astrid said. "Do you remember that time when Fishlegs made Meatlug eat all those rocks, and she started attracting metal towards her?"
"And I ended up dangling by my false leg from Meatlug's stomach, as she flew out over the ocean?"
"Yeah, that's the time," Astrid chuckled.
"I seem to recall being a lot less amused by my predicament at the time," Hiccup grouched.
"I dunno, it looked pretty funny from where I was flying," she shot back.
"Being in mortal peril does tend to dampen one's sense of humor," Hiccup replied. "Although, I have to admit, it was not a situation I expected to end up in when I got up that morning."
"I imagine that happened quite a lot, given some of the things we got up to."
"Yeah, at least once a week," Hiccup replied.
Astrid laughed.
The next few hours were spent enjoying close companionship, reminiscing and laughing about some of the absurd situations they got themselves into over the years.
"Looking back on it all now though," Hiccup paused, "I wouldn't change a thing."
"Even..." Astrid trailed off, looking down at his false leg.
"Even that," Hiccup replied, gesturing to his replacement limb. "It's a part of who I am now. Flying Toothless without it would just feel... wrong. And I know he feels the same way about his tail."
Hiccup felt Astrid move slightly against him. His attention had been so focused on their conversation that he'd almost forgotten that she was there. He looked up. The sun was inching towards the distant horizon, making the sea sparkle like burnished gold. The Spring Equinox festival was set to begin at sunset.
"Anyway," Hiccup continued, "Stoick will probably be looking for me soon. We'd better head back to the village and face our future." He reluctantly separated himself from Astrid and stood up. "Thank you Astrid," Hiccup said. "Today's been good."
"Likewise, Hiccup," she replied. "Whatever our future may bring, I know we'll make it through, we always do." To Hiccup's surprise, she pulled him into a tight embrace and planted another kiss on his cheek before turning away and mounting Stormfly.
"See you tonight, Hiccup!" she called. Stormfly took off, powerful wing beats carrying her and her rider into the Berkian sky.
Hiccup stood there, watching the pair recede into the distance. He was in love with Astrid; he'd known that for a while now. However, after so long being sneered at by her and every other Viking on Berk, he didn't want to risk their newfound friendship by attempting to court her. While she may have been impressed by Toothless three years ago, he knew that aside from being the son of the chief and riding the only Night Fury on Berk, he really didn't have much going for him in the romance department.
He felt Toothless nose him in the side, shaking him from his thoughts. Turning his attention to the Night Fury, he swung himself into the saddle.
"Let's go home, bud," he sighed
Author's Notes:
I'm back!
This has been a long time coming, as I wrote this chapter and the second (with my beta reader now, should be posted by this time next week), in one go, and then after finishing it, I was delayed for a few weeks by my search for a beta reader, which, thankfully, this time was successful.
Anyway, onto the story itself. For those of you familiar with my previous work, this will broadly follow the same style, a multi-chapter story focusing on the relationship between two characters, however, unlike previously, this story will be staying T-rated throughout and will NOT contain any lemons. (Although, I may write an M-rated sex scene as a spin-off from this story at a later date and post it separately if I ever get in the mood to write some smut).
Yeah, so a bit of a slow start here, with nothing much happening, just setting the scene and the relationships between the main characters. Please stay tuned for the second chapter next week, when the main plot starts to kick in.
And, as always, thank you for reading, and whether you liked the story or hated it, please leave a review!
~Superbun
P.S. Thumbs up to anyone who got the Star Trek: Into Darkness reference. (It's when Hiccup comments about 'fitting')