Author's Note: Hello, readers! This is another fanfiction for…drumroll please! How to Train Your Dragon! And guess what? It's another oneshot that centers on our favorite father and son, Stoick and Hiccup in honor of Father's Day! I started writing this story a little bit after Father's Day before Riders of Berk came out and didn't get a chance to finish until I saw episode 8, which would explain the reference to episode 8 in this story and Thornado's appearance, but anyway, Happy belated Father's Day to all the dads out there!
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own How to Train Your Dragon or anything related to the franchise.
Father's Day in Berk
The sun set over Berk as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III sat at his desk at the stall, where he worked as Gobber the Belch's apprentice, aimlessly tapping his pencil in complete silence. The only thing the young boy was able to hear was his best friend, a Night Fury he named Toothless lightly snoring in the corner of the dark room. However, the boy didn't seem to pay attention to anything else but the pieces of paper that were laid out in front of him. He ran a hand through his auburn hair clearly becoming more and more frustrated. Who could blame him? This had to be the hardest project he had ever worked on…maybe harder than the project he worked on to build Toothless a new tailfin months ago. Hiccup was trying to think of a present to give to his father, Chief Stoick the Vast for Father's Day.
Throughout the years, Father's Day was a very…stressful day for both Hiccup and Stoick. From as long as he could remember, whenever Hiccup tried to give his father a gift on Father's Day, it was either interrupted because of a dragon raid or wasn't interrupted but was accepted with an awkward appreciation. As much as Hiccup hated to admit it, it was the latter that was more frequent on this day for the Viking dads. While most Viking kids in the village of Berk gave their fathers something they caught while hunting or for the older kids and adults a dragon they caught or killed…anything to show how they appreciated how well their fathers taught them and wanted their fathers to be happy. Of course, being the kind of child that he was, Hiccup was never able to give his father, the chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, such gifts. However, that only made Hiccup even more determined to make his father happy on this special day.
Hiccup leaned back in his chair and thought back to the gifts he had given his father over the years to see if he could think of anything. When he was little, he always drew pictures for his father to give to him, and as he grew older, he gave him weapons that he made. Although one could imagine how that scenario would turn out. He mostly thought about the end result that happened quite often. His father would always simply take the gift and just respond with a "Thank you, son" and that would be the end of it. However, what killed Hiccup the most was that his father was always busy with his chieftain duties, which gave them less time to be together, but now that he and his father were closer than ever, Hiccup wanted this Father's Day to be different. He wanted this gift to be special for Stoick the Vast. He groaned in exasperation as he stared up at the ceiling as if he was waiting for the answer to fall right his lap and placed his hands on either side of his head ready to pull his hair out, but he managed to calm himself down as he went back to looking at the papers in front of him. Although, he only found himself going back to staring at a few weapon designs he recently put together out of boredom to see which one could say "Happy Father's Day" and a few blank pieces of paper in case something new popped into his mind, but neither were helping him in any way, shape, or form. Hiccup only realized that he didn't want to give his father a weapon like he always did in the past. Looking back, Hiccup figured that the only reason he thought weapons he designed said "Happy Father's Day" was only because it was part of that long era, where he was still trying to please his father before Toothless came into his life. This only made Hiccup even more desperate to think of the perfect gift for his father.
Then out of nowhere, Hiccup looked up at the wall and saw the picture he drew of him, his friends and their respective dragons. That was when his father's words about him and his father posing for the portrait from a few weeks ago suddenly echoed into his mind.
"That is the only portrait of my father and me. It was a great day."
He gasped after overcoming the shock from the epiphany. "That's it!"
Hiccup slowly opened his eyes as the morning light seeped into his bedroom in the house he and his father lived in. He looked out the window that was right above the sleeping form of Toothless and saw that the sun was almost high in the sky. This was it! It was that day he had been waiting for. It was Father's Day! He smiled to himself as he thought about how his father would actually like the gift that Hiccup had for him this year. When he thought about the gift, Hiccup bent down and looked under his bed to see that it was still there hiding waiting for its receiver.
After a minute of admiring it, the boy took the wrapped gift from its spot to look at it some more. For the first time, he actually felt proud of the gift for his father. He looked up at Toothless, who had just woken up and was staring at his rider with big black eyes. Hiccup smiled at the Night Fury.
"Dad's sure going to love this present, bud," said Hiccup. "I just know it." Toothless brayed in agreement. Hiccup showed him the gift for Stoick, and Toothless immediately knew that Stoick would never turn that gift away. It was far too precious.
"Hiccup! You and Toothless awake yet?" Stoick suddenly shouted from the first floor of the house.
"Yeah, Dad, we'll be right down!" Hiccup shouted back. He quickly jumped out of bed as he spoke to Toothless. "Come on, bud. We can't keep Dad and Thornado waiting." As part of Stoick's gift for Father's Day, he, Hiccup, and their respective dragons were going to spend most of the day flying on their dragons together as a family. Stoick had set aside most of his chieftain duties until tomorrow, so that he could be with his son. With the way he and Hiccup had been getting along a lot better since the battle with the Green Death, it would only be natural to want to keep building on the slowly mending relationship between a father and a son on Father's Day after everything they went through.
Once both Hiccup and Toothless were ready for the day, Hiccup took the large gift and hid it behind his back. He then ran down the stairs with Toothless following close behind. Both boy and dragon came downstairs and saw Stoick drinking a quick mug of mead sitting at the table.
"Morning, boys," Stoick said as he stood up.
"Morning, Dad," said Hiccup. "H-Happy Father's Day!"
Stoick smiled at his son. "Thank you, son. You ready to go?"
"Uh, actually, Dad, I…I have a little something for you…" Hiccup held his gift behind his back a little tighter as his heart began to pound.
"Oh, what is it?" Stoick asked.
Hiccup looked down as if he was trying to find the confidence that all of a sudden left him as soon as he came downstairs. He suddenly felt a nudge on his arm and turned to see it was Toothless, who was looking up at him as if saying, "Just go for it. It's okay." He smiled at his dragon and turned back to his father with a huge smile on his face.
"It's a gift," the boy finally said as he revealed a large circular object wrapped in what seemed to be parchment. "For you, Dad. Happy Father's Day."
"Th-Thank you, Hiccup," he said as he took the wrapped object from Hiccup and slowly began to remove the paper that kept it concealed, "but, son, you didn't have to…" He stopped in mid-sentence when he fully unwrapped the gift.
It was an old wooden Viking shield, that Hiccup found lying around in Gobber's forge, but that wasn't what attracted Stoick's attention. On the shield was a painting…of him, Hiccup, Toothless, and Thornado. Hiccup and Stoick were in a pose similar to the one on their portrait in the Great Hall. Stoick had his right arm around Hiccup's tiny shoulders and his left arm on his hip beaming with pride at his son, while Hiccup gave his signature meek, yet confident smile as he held his Viking helmet loosely in his right arm. The dragons Toothless and Thornado were each standing next to their respective riders putting the father and son in the middle. Stoick managed to take his attention away from the painting and looked up at Hiccup, who had a nervous smile on his face.
"Y-You made this?" Stoick asked.
"Uh…yeah, I found the shield in Gobber's forge," said Hiccup. "I just, you know, remembered what you said about that portrait of you and your father being the only one out there in the Great Hall. I knew I couldn't recreate something as special as that, especially after how great it felt when we did ours, but I thought I could make you a portrait of the family you have now to keep here at home." There was silence as Stoick went back to staring at the painting thus making Hiccup more nervous. The boy began to feel that this Father's Day was going to turn out to be another repeat of the previous Father's Days. "So…do you…do you like it?"
Before Hiccup even had a chance to react, Stoick suddenly pulled him into a huge bear hug as joyful tears formed in the chief's eyes. He hugged his boy tightly while still being careful not to crush Hiccup's small frame. Hiccup quickly overcame the shock he was feeling at the moment and gratefully hugged his father back trying his best to wrap his small scrawny arms around his neck.
"I don't just like it," Stoick suddenly said. "I love it. Thank you, Hiccup."
"You're welcome, Dad," Hiccup replied. They finally released each other. "So, you really love it?" The boy suddenly asked as he watched his father look at the painting again.
"Yes, son, I do," the chief replied as he placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "This is the best gift you have ever given me."
Hiccup beamed from ear to ear. His father was actually enjoying the gift. Hiccup could have sworn he felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he and Stoick smiled at each other.
"But, you know what makes it even better?" Stoick suddenly asked.
Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows together. "No, what?"
"Spending another Father's Day with you."
Without any hesitation, Hiccup practically jumped onto his father and hugged him again. His heart lifted when he felt his father's large protective arms wrap around him again.
"I love you, son," Stoick said after a brief moment of silence.
"I love you, too, Dad," Hiccup replied. They finally released each other once again. Hiccup smiled at his father when he remembered that the day was still young and that they still had some plans that still had to get done. "So, how about we hit the skies already so that Toothless and I can kick you and Thornado's butts?"
Stoick laughed at his son's competitive attitude as he finally stood up and began to walk outside with Hiccup and Toothless in tow. "I'd say that you had better watch yourself, son," he said. "You never know what can happen, and besides, it's Father's Day. I believe I have some sort of advantage."
Hiccup inhaled sharply as they walked out the front door. "I don't know, Dad," he said sarcastically. "Toothless and I really like to win fair and square. I'm not sure if we can just let you and Thornado win."
"Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" Stoick said. "Come here, you!" Then he suddenly grabbed Hiccup pulling him into a headlock and dug his huge knuckles into Hiccup's auburn hair as they both laughed hysterically at their banter. So far, it really was turning out to be the best Father's Day for both father and son.
Well, there you have it! Hope you guys liked it! Don't forget to review! Thanks, guys!