Blend In OUTTAKE: Hide

(rough draft)

A DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl

Summary: Hiccup brings home an abandoned dragon hatchling, whose extreme insecurity causes some humorous difficulties.

A/N: PLEASE READ THE STUFF IN BOLDFACE FIRST, OR YOU'LL BE REALLY CONFUSED!

I still haven't written Blend In yet, but these two scenes were writing themselves in my head so strongly that I wanted to write them for real. They're an outtake because Shadow (yet another FC, I'll explain more later) is supposed to be older when Hiccup finds him, but these scenes only work if he's still a baby. Because it's an outtake that never happens anyway, I'm just throwing in all the other elements that I like best rather than trying to make it fit the rest of my headcanon.

I'm using Storm & Finn as Hiccup's kids because strikeSJ & Lily's drama would be too distracting/strike I want this fic to have a lighter feel, and there are additional reasons why I'm setting this more in their alternate scenario. Hiccup is 21, he's been married to Astrid for six years, the twins are 5, Stoick's still alive, and this takes place after HTTYD2, so Valka has returned to Berk.

I left out my other FCs because they, too, would be distracting. And I don't think Hiccup knows dragon language yet, because it's kind of more fun to write when he doesn't. XD (And ftr, Shadow did not imprint on Hiccup. He hatched normally, whereas in Freefall's case, Hiccup was the first person she saw.)

Have I mentioned lately that I can be a super-confusing writer? ^^;;; I like to explore all sorts of interesting scenes and possibilities; it's less important to me whether the stories all match up in the details or not...

o.o.o

"Daddyyyyy you're back you're back you're back you're back~!"

"We thought you were dead, Daddy, you're late."

Hiccup had just enough time to shut the doors of the Great Hall before his children were close enough to fling themselves at him. He laughed and knelt down to hug them. "Heeeyy, kiddos, sorry...I would have been back in time, but we ran into something...unexpected..."

Astrid, following the twins at the more sedate pace, was now within kissing range, so Hiccup got back to his feet with some difficulty and gave her a smooch. Then, with a mischievous glance at their kids, the couple wrapped their arms around each other and pretended to be swept away by passion.

"Ew, Daddy, Mommy, ew, go home and shut the door, don't do that where everyone can see you!" Finn cried, backing away with his hands curled close to his eyes as if he wanted to cover them but was too horrifyingly riveted.

His sister was bouncing in place with excitement and cheering them on instead. "Go, Daddy, go! Mommy, grab his butt!"

Hiccup and Astrid broke it off with a gasp and stared at her. "What?!" "Who told you-?!"

In the meantime, Toothless and Valka were happily greeting each other. As soon as Stoick got a chance, he set a hand on Hiccup's heavy pack and started to lift it away, but Hiccup hurriedly backed out of reach. "Oh, hey, Dad, um, I'm gonna, uh, hang onto this for a while longer, okay?"

Stoick frowned in confusion, and Astrid asked what was going on.

Hiccup smiled around at everyone in a mysterious way. "I'll show you guys in a minute... But let me go sit down and get something to eat first, I'm starving."

The group made their way back to where the family had been eating dinner close to one of the fires, moving slowly because of how much they were talking. When they did finally reach the table, Hiccup greeted Gobber, removed the pack from his back with a relieved groan, then sat down with his legs positioned close to it in a protective way. Astrid set a plate of food in front of him, and Stoick started to pour him a mug of ale before Finn insisted on doing it.

"You gonna pour me a drink, Finn?" Hiccup chuckled.

"I can do it," Finn said. He handled the heavy pitcher very carefully, practically hugging it in an effort to keep it steady.

"DON'T SPILL IT, FINN!" Storm hollered in his ear. Finn's face twisted with annoyance; the stream of liquid wavered, but stayed within the confines of the mug. As soon as Finn had successfully finished pouring his father's drink, he whirled around and hurled the rest of the ale at his sister. Storm screeched with indignation as the rest of the adults burst into laughter - all but Hiccup, who leaned down to pat his pack and whisper soothingly to it. Astrid gave him a strange look.

For a while, there was some lively conversation as Hiccup ate and the others finished their after-dinner drinks. At last, Valka could wait no longer, and leaned over to say, "Hiccup, when are you going to show us what you brought home?" In answer to his surprised look, she smiled and said, "Cloudjumper can smell him, and Toothless told me what you two were up to while you were gone. I'd really like to see him, please."

"See who?" the kids clamored.

Hiccup smiled nervously. "Okay, guys, but, um, we have to be really careful, okay? You have to be quiet, and move slowly. And Storm, Finn? Don't jump at him. He's really, really shy, and you'll scare him if you're loud or if you get too close, okay? Can you please stay over there by your mom?"

"Is there a baby dragon in there?!" Finn asked in excitement.

Hiccup smiled again, then carefully lugged his pack farther away from the group and opened it. He made a face at the smell.

"Did it poop?! Did it poop in there, Daddy?!" Storm asked eagerly.

"He's a baby, Storm. He's been pooping and peeing in there all the way home." Then, at his mother's look, "I've been cleaning it out every time he does it, Mom! But it still smells, you know." The next remark was cooed at whatever was inside the pack. "Doesn't it, huh~? Mr. Smelly?"

Toothless came over to rejoin his partner. Stoick and Astrid had to keep firm hold of the excited children as Hiccup reached inside his pack. "Okay...okay, easy there, it's time to come out..." A sharp, frantic whimpering started up inside the pack, and Valka made a 'my heart is shredding' face. "Hey, hey, hey, ssshhh, Shadow, there's no one scary out here, all right? It's just me, little guy, me and Toothless, we're right here, it's okay...my family's really, really nice, they can be kind of noisy but they won't touch you, I promise, they just want to look-"

As Hiccup spoke, he had been trying to dig the hatchling out of his pack, and was apparently having trouble. Both arms were now in as far as they would go. Astrid came over to help, but just as she got close, there was one last cry from the baby dragon - then a sudden struggle, as Hiccup exclaimed in surprise and jerked away. Toothless went alert and frustrated with helpless concern.

"Hiccup, what's happening?" both his parents demanded, and Storm shrieked, "Is it EATING you, Daddy?!" and Finn yelled frantically, "Get away from it, Daddy, get away!"

"Everyone be quiet!" Hiccup yelled. The cornered hatchling had dived at his neckline and was now squirming mostly inside his tunic, its white-scaled legs kicking frantically to propel it deeper in, and its tail hitting him in the face. Hiccup lost his balance and would have fallen to the floor if Toothless hadn't hurried to support him. Astrid was yelling and pulling at his clothes and he was trying to stop her, and by the time he finally got everyone to shut up, he was sprawled against Toothless with his arms wrapped protectively around the lumpy bulge over his belly. The hatchling was shivering and whimpering with terror against his bare skin, the end of its white tail poking out from under his tunic.

The fins on that tail looked very familiar. "It's a NIGHT FURY!" Storm cried in excitement.

"No it's not, it's white, dummy," Finn said. "All Night Furies are dark."

Hiccup grinned at them. "You're both right. Yes, Storm, it's a baby Night Fury; and yes, Finn, all the Furies we've seen so far have been dark - this one is an exception." He peered down at the hatchling hiding in his tunic. "I think there's something wrong with him...his whole body is white, and we found him alone and starving, no one is taking care of him. And his eyes are completely red, like Snowflake's. I've never seen any other dragon with eyes like that; or who's completely white, for that matter."

"Whispering Deaths are supposed to be dark," Finn suddenly said. "Maybe there's something wrong with Snowflake, too."

"Snowflake's a Screaming Death, Finn, not a Whispering Death!" Storm insisted.

"Screaming Deaths are a subspecies of Whispering Death," Astrid said. "Hiccup, what in the world is going on? You brought home an orphaned defective Night Fury?"

"Uh...yeah, pretty much." Astrid lifted Hiccup's collar and peered into the gap. They both smiled at what they saw. Then Valka came over to look, followed quickly by the kids, and soon Hiccup was trying not to sigh as his entire family crowded around to take turns staring inside his tunic. The hatchling's eyes were hidden, since its face was jammed against Hiccup's hip and it was covering its head with a paw.

"Okay, so, yeah, I've had a pretty long day, and I'm kind of tired, and I'd like to get Shadow home and settled before he starts peeing in my tunic, sooooo, you think everyone could back off now...?"

Of course the whole family came along with him, chattering in excitement. Hiccup walked slowly, cradling the hatchling, feeling like it was getting heavier and heavier with every step.

"You want me to carry him, babe?" Astrid asked when he stumbled again.

"I think it's more a question of him letting anyone but me carry him, and I'm 99% sure the answer is no."

They tried anyway, but as soon as little Shadow started up his panicked cries, Astrid backed off and Hiccup cuddled him soothingly. "Hey, hey, little guy, it's all right, we just wanted to try, but if you don't like it then we don't have to, it's okay, I can keep carrying you...c'mon, ssshh..."

Storm set her hands on the tunic-covered hatchling. "It's okay, be quiet, you big baby! No one's hurting you!"

"Don't yell at him, Storm, you're scaring him," Finn said, pushing her away. Which started a tussle until Stoick hoisted Storm up onto his shoulders and Astrid pulled up Finn to carry him piggyback. Even then, the children continued arguing from their respective perches.

"Dad? Gobber?" Hiccup asked in between, "Do you think you guys could find a slab of rock we could use for Shadow's bed? Toothless isn't going to want to share his."

"I'll see what we can find."

"Thanks."

When they got to the house, Hiccup headed for his own bed, having a vague idea of wanting to be somewhere comfortable where he could try to extricate the terrified baby dragon. He was tired, and stumbled yet again when he got close to the bed, and was just barely able to catch himself.

Which was when he found himself in a predicament. Shadow was heavy enough and Hiccup was tired enough that if he gave in to gravity and let the hatchling rest on the bed, then Hiccup wouldn't be able to get up again. And with all of Shadow's weight centered at Hiccup's belly, he didn't have the strength to shift to the side, either, at least not without hurting himself.

"Uh...Astrid?" He felt ridiculous, bent over in an awkward and uncomfortable position, one hand supporting Shadow and the other hand braced against the bed. "This is going to sound kind of stupid, but can you kind of, like, push me over onto my back?"

"What?"

He could hear the confused amusement in her voice. "Yeah, I know, but just please push me over, okay? This is awkward, and I can't-"

She tried. He landed more on his side than his back, but his attempts to maneuver the hatchling simply made Shadow frantically latch onto him. "...O-kay."

"Are we trying to get him out of your tunic?" Astrid asked.

"Yes... Okay, um, here, let's get my belt off first, it's killing me-" They both struggled with it. Shadow's squirming had pulled half of Hiccup's tunic free of his belt, but the hatchling's weight was straining the portion of fabric that was still tucked in, pulling the belt taut and making it harder to unbuckle. They both grunted in relief when Astrid was finally able to pull it away and drop it on the floor.

"Okay...okay, so, I guess we'll try to pull him out from below-" He shifted a little to make room for Astrid as she climbed onto the bed. "Or, no, wait-"

The couple stared at each other for a minute. By this time, Hiccup was lying on his back with his knees bent, trying to prop himself up on his elbows, and Astrid had knelt between his legs, which was the best angle for her to reach up under his tunic. It looked so much like she was helping him give birth that they both burst into laughter. As did Valka, who'd been standing nearby with a blanket for a while but had been too busy being amused to actually hand it over. And the rest of the family, who were standing around grinning as they watched.

"Okay," Hiccup gasped, trying to get his exasperated amusement under control, "okay, Mom, hey, blanket please?"

"The hatchling might be more at ease if he's better hidden," Valka agreed, draping the blanket over Hiccup's stomach and legs, and Astrid's arms.

"We should try this again sometime, but without the dragon," Astrid murmured, running her hands along her husband's thighs now that no one could see.

Not that the adults couldn't guess, when Hiccup made a high-pitched yelp as she took gentle hold of him and squeezed. "Astrid! L-Let's focus here, okay, look, he's probably going to go nuts if you try to touch him, so, here, you push up my tunic, and I'll see if I can pull him out..."

Storm climbed up beside Hiccup's head and chanted encouragingly, "Push, Daddy, push! Puuuush!"

"I'm not giving birth, Storm!"

She giggled and continued mischievously, "Me and Finn are getting a new baby brother~?"

"Hush, you," Hiccup grumbled. Then he froze, at almost the same moment Astrid shrieked and jerked her hands out from under the blanket.

"What happened?!"

"What happened is I just got peed on," Hiccup sighed.

"Eeewww!" Storm exclaimed, and Finn wrinkled his nose.

Hiccup grinned at them. "You know, both of you used to pee on me when you were babies, too."

"Ew!"

"No we didn't!"

Valka offered to take Astrid's place, but the younger woman shook her head and smiled a little as she reached for Hiccup's tunic again. "This is ridiculous."

"This is beyond ridiculous!" Hiccup whined.

When it became obvious that Shadow absolutely refused to be relocated, Gobber playfully suggested doing a C-section.

"Very funny. But I guess we can cut up my tunic if we really have to, argh..."

He did end up having to sacrifice his tunic. Shadow cried the whole time, but didn't cling as tightly when the blanket continued to shield him from sight and no one was pulling at him. Hiccup was eventually able to maneuver himself free, leaving the hatchling behind as he rolled off the edge of the bed onto the floor. Everyone cheered.

"Ssshhh!" Valka ordered. "The little one's scared to death already, don't roar like that!"

Astrid helped her husband to his feet, and he stood wearily in his ruined tunic.

"A healthy baby boy," Gobber laughed, clapping him on the back. "Congratulations!"

"You did well bringing him into the world, I'm so proud of you," Stoick contributed with a twinkle in his eye.

"The pregnant joke is over," Hiccup groaned. "And we're not done yet, we need to get him off my bed."

Stoick leaned over to pick up the lump under the blanket, but paused when the little dragon immediately started making its yelping whimpers again.

"Seriously?!" Hiccup cried at the hatchling. "You can smell him even through the blanket?!"

"I'm afraid so, son," Valka said, patting him on the back.

"Aaarrrgghh, I'm too tired for this..." Hiccup stooped to put his arms around Shadow, took a breath, then heaved upward and struggled to carry the blanket-wrapped hatchling over to the smaller slab of rock that had been set beside Toothless's. The older Night Fury was curled up, seemingly asleep, until he cracked open one eye and glared suspiciously at the hatchling as it was laid down nearby.

Hiccup stood back up again and shook out his arms. "There. Wow. Okay. That was a lot more labor-intensive than I expected it to be-" He looked over at his wife when he heard her snigger. "What?"

"Labor," she repeated, and laughed when he facepalmed.

o.o.o.o.o

Hiccup almost felt like the parent of a newborn all over again. Shadow seemed to be all right being left alone for twenty or thirty minutes at a time, but after too long, he would start crying for Hiccup. He was terrified of all humans except for Hiccup and (eventually) Valka and (even more eventually) Finn, and spent most of his time hiding in whatever nooks and crannies would fit him. He seemed to favor dark, shadowed places where he stood out like a sore thumb, despite Finn's efforts to teach him to camouflage himself in lighter-colored environments.

"Why'd you name him 'Shadow,' Daddy? He's like the opposite of a shadow."

"I was going to name him 'Cloud,' but then figured it might get too confusing with him and Cloudjumper. Maybe a blending-in sort of name will help him to blend in for real?"

"That's silly, Daddy."

The problem was that Hiccup was Berk's chief now, and he couldn't keep hiking back to the house every half hour. It would be better if Shadow came along with him on his rounds, but when the timid little dragon would shriek or dash into hiding or cry or practically knock over Hiccup in his desperation to be comforted every time a human being got too close or too loud...

"We can't keep doing this, little guy," Hiccup sighed, petting the young Night Fury as Shadow tried to burrow into his chest. They were sitting under a pier, at the opposite end from the fishing boats Hiccup was supposed to be overseeing. "Does it reeeeaaallly have to be me all the time, huh? Can't you let Mom or Finn or any of the dragons baby-sit you for even a few hours? ...No? No, that is not acceptable?"

Shadow whimpered plaintively.

"Okay, well...I'm Hiccup the Awesome, I'm sure I'll think of something." Hiccup rested his chin on Shadow's head and wondered how in the world to fix this problem.

The solution turned out to be surprisingly simple. It started as a joke, but Hiccup later figured there wouldn't be any harm in trying it out.

He made a cloak for the little dragon out of heavy black fabric. Most of the hood, also black, was made of a different material, woven loosely enough for Shadow to be able to see through. When he was wearing the garment, the only parts of him that could be seen were the end of his tail, flashes of his paws as he walked, and (if you were willing to put your head very low to the ground) a bit of his neck and chest.

Hiccup, surprised by how easily Shadow allowed himself to be dressed for the first time (most dragons would have had to be bribed with lots and lots of fish, at the least), sat back and watched the little dragon's reaction. At first, there didn't seem to be any, which was encouraging. Shadow simply sat there for a while, looking like a sentient mound of cloth. Then he stood up and took a few steps, closing the gap between himself and Hiccup, and stretched out his neck to sniff at the man. He stepped into Hiccup's lap, clumsily because of the edges of the cloak his paws kept catching in, settled down, and started to purr for the first time.

"You like it, huh?" Hiccup said in relief, smiling as he petted the cloaked dragon. "You like it? It doesn't bother you?" Shadow rested his head on Hiccup's knee in contentment. "All right, well, so far so good. Let's see how you do with the scary people outside, huh?" Hiccup gently nudged Shadow out of his lap and stood up. He backed away toward the door, opened it, and kept backing until he was standing in sunlight.

Shadow followed him. The little Night Fury toddled right up to him, his stance more confident than Hiccup had ever seen it.

"It's not so bad out here, huh? Well then, let's see how you do when I *gasp* go over to the forge and talk to Gobber!" He turned and marched away, stealing glances over his shoulder as he went.

Shadow scrambled after him, though the difference was marked. Whereas before, he would have been shrilly barking his distress, and frantically slinking low to the ground, with his wings rigid in terror, now he was simply hurrying like any normal child who wanted to catch up to his daddy.

"Doing good, Shadow! Come on, keep it up!"

In the forge, Gobber had laid out several small engraved pieces on the counter and was telling something to the young twins, who were hanging onto his every word. At Hiccup's entrance, Gobber glanced over, raised his eyebrows, and exclaimed, "What is that?"

"It's Shadow!" Finn cried in delight, hopping to the floor and running over to the young dragon. He stopped a respectful distance away and crouched down to get a better look. Shadow hurriedly slipped behind Hiccup's legs, but peered out at Finn with more cautious curiosity than his usual stressed-out fear when forced to confront anyone outside the house.

"He got caught in a blanket!" Storm laughed, going to pull the cloak away.

Hiccup caught her in time. "Storm, no, that's his cloak. I made it for him so he'll feel better when he's outside - look how good he's been so far! All these people around, and he hasn't even started crying yet!"

"That's amazing," Finn breathed. He flattened himself completely to the ground, making himself as nonthreatening as possible, before squirming a little closer and stretching out his hand. "Hey, Shadow," he crooned. "Hey~ there. Can I say hello? Hello, Shadow?"

Shadow crept close and lowered his hooded head to sniff at Finn's fingers.

"He's not scared anymore, Daddy!" Storm exclaimed.

"That's right. He's got his own portable hiding place now - everywhere he goes, he'll think that no one can see him."

Storm burst into laughter. "Hey, Shadow!" she called, crouching down, "You silly dragon, everyone can see you!"

"Ssshh, Storm, don't tell him that!" Hiccup admonished. "He feels safe now. He thinks he's hiding. If he knew that people can see him, he'd get scared and clingy and start crying again. This way, I can actually do my job and take care of him at the same time."

"Ohhhh." Storm crouched down again. "Hey, Shadow! NOBODY CAN SEE YOU! We have nooooooooo idea where you are, ha ha!"

"Good boy, Shadow," Finn murmured, stroking the dragon's hood. "Good boy."

o.o.o

Author's Notes: Sorry for those two T-rated moments...I don't trust my own judgment, I don't know if either of them was going too far or not. (Ftr, Storm doesn't understand all the connotations of what she said. She's at the age where butts are funny, and has a vague idea that her parents are allowed to touch each other's.)

I should be writing this A/N for the real Blend In story, not this outtake, but whatever. Shadow is an FC I came up with when I saw yet another Night Fury Mary Sue on DeviantArt, scoffed at how so many Fury Sues are unrealistic colors, then wondered what it actually would be like for a white Night Fury in a realistic canon setting. He'd have to be an albino, and he would be at a big disadvantage because he can't blend into the night sky like he's supposed to. His hunting skills would probably suffer as a result, and it's possible that he might starve without human intervention. Cue Hiccup! ^^

In Norse culture, they would have several, usually related families sharing a household (three generation families were rare), but their houses were also designed differently than the houses on Berk. I'm compromising by having them add a room or two downstairs for Hiccup & Astrid, and the kids taking the loft room.

I know the term "C-section" is anachronistic, and that Viking women probably gave birth squatting rather than lying down, but you're not gonna call me out on it, are you...?

I went through about ten names for this albino Fury FC before finally settling on "Cloud" - then remembered, after writing about 75% of this fic, that it's too close to Cloudjumper's name. *facepalm* I don't like "Shadow" quite as much, but, again, it was the best I could come up with. :/

I'm pretty sure that I was influenced in some places by Robin McKinley's Dragonhaven. Which, when I think about it, is probably my favorite dragon book ever. The main character's narration style can be tiresome, but I'm willing to put up with it because I so much love the way McKinley portrays dragons and how they fit into modern life, and how thoroughly she explored the concept.

I was trying to figure out whether "had dove" or "had dived" is correct. I finally found out that both are correct (I think), it apparently depends on the region? *sweatdrop* English is a ridiculous language...

I have a new appreciation for human Hiccup, how dang cooperative and easy to write he is compared to hybrid Hiccup! X'D