Title: Despite it All

Summary: Snotlout had always been jealous of Hiccup, but he does have a heart beneath all that boasting and resentment.

Characters: Hiccup, Snotlout

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family

Rating: K+

NOTES: Okay, so a lot of you guys who read "That's My Cousin You're Talking About!" a few chapters previously were asking for some more Hiccup and Snotlout bonding (because I still think Snotlout is an awesome cousin despite his tendency to be arrogant and idiotic), and so here it is! :) This is set during Race to the Edge, probably in the middle of season 2. Nothing fancy, but I hope you all like it regardless. :) Enjoy! :)

It was all Hiccup's fault.

Well, okay, technically speaking, it wasn't all Hiccup's fault, but that was how Snotlout decided to put it for the time being.

Snotlout was stumbling through the forest, dragging a barely-conscious Hiccup beside him. Above them, the sky, as dark as night, hung, stars strung up in it. The moon was nowhere to be seen, which made it a bit hard to maneuver through the trees of the dark, winding forest.

"For the love of Thor, Hiccup," moaned Snotlout, pulling his cousin's arm further around his neck, "I didn't think you were this heavy."

"I'm not," said Hiccup breathlessly, limping alongside Snotlout. "You just like complaining."

"Well, maybe if I hadn't been dragging your lazy butt through the forest for the past three hours, I wouldn't have anything to complain about!" Snotlout retaliated, furious.

"It's not like I asked you to rescue me," muttered Hiccup. "I was doing fine on my own."

Snotlout gave him a skeptical look and rolled his eyes. "Right."

He probably would have believed Hiccup, too, if he wasn't limping from a twisted ankle, bleeding from what looked like a heavy blow to the head, and wincing every time he took a breath too deep - he must have bruised a rib or two.

"What did you to do make those dragon hunters hate you so much, huh?" demanded Snotlout, and now he was scanning their surroundings, searching for a clearing.

Hiccup laughed mirthlessly, but it died early in his throat.

"Okay, fine, that was a stupid question," said Snotlout, once again casting his eyes to the sky.

"Yeah, it rather was, Snotlout."

They finally made it to the clearing, where Snotlout had left his supplies before charging into the forest after the dragon hunters - and Hiccup, their captive. "Here," said Snotlout, sinking to the ground with Hiccup by a tree. "Wait here. Don't move."

Hiccup smiled, though it was more of a wince, and leaned back against the tree. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," said Snotlout, already turning away. He grabbed the nearest satchel and dug through it. As he did, he recounted the encounter with the dragon hunters and looked over his shoulder, wondering if a few of them had followed him and Hiccup after all.

Hiccup and Snotlout had taken a no-dragons-allowed expedition to Healer's Island in search of the blue oleander flower. Gothi had asked for it, planning to dissect the flower and study it to find whatever healing properties the flower possessed, and as dragons were deathly allergic to the flower, Hiccup and Snotlout had taken a ship, alone.

Snotlout took two pieces of flint from the satchel and knocked them together over an assembled pile of sticks. Once they'd arrived at their destination of Healer's Island, they had split up to cover more ground.

Big mistake.

The dragon hunters had cornered Snotlout and were planning to take him back to their base when Hiccup stepped in and offered himself in Snotlout's place with his trademark, "I'm your enemy, it's me you want!" speech.

The dragon hunters had, needless to say, taken him up on the offer, leaving Snotlout behind.

From then, everything was a bit fuzzy. Snotlout had followed the dragon hunters, manning his and Hiccup's ship on his own (a feat that even the best captains and sailors would have found impressive), and finally caught up with them on a stop they made just a few hours' sail away from their destination.

They'd made camp.

Snotlout had infiltrated it.

The hunters had retreated with a promise for revenge.

And that was how Snotlout came to be dragging Hiccup, whom he had freed from the hunters' custody, through the dark forest in the dead of night.

Snotlout threw the flint to the ground with a shout of fury and crossed his arms. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it to light. He took a piece of birch, set one end in the pile of sticks, and began twisting the other end between his hands, back and forth, trying to start the fire that way.

Hiccup watched him, dazed. "You might try old-growth pine," he said halfheartedly.

Snotlout stopped and took in a deep breath. Must not yell at him, must not yell at him. "What?" he said, irritated.

"You know...pine," said Hiccup again. "We passed some stumps on our way over. They're saturated with sap, should light really quick-"

"Thanks for the input, Princess," said Snotlout, "but I know what I'm doing."

Hiccup merely shrugged. Snotlout got back to work, trying time, time, and time again to light the fire...but each time garnered the same results. None.

Finally, he admitted defeat, stood, and turned towards Hiccup. "What did you say about pine?" he muttered.

Hiccup smirked at him. Snotlout's anger burned. He actually smirked… "Behind us," said Hiccup, jerking his head slightly in that direction. "Pine stump. It should smell like paint."

"Thanks," grumbled Snotlout halfheartedly, and he stormed back through the forest. He found what Hiccup was talking about without any difficulty, and as he pulled strips of sap-saturated pine wood off the tree, he mumbled to himself.

"Stupid know-it-all," Snotlout said under his breath, piling wood into his arms as he did. "I didn't need his help. I would've done it on my own eventually."

But even as he said it, he knew it wasn't true. Hiccup couldn't brag to save his life, and Snotlout definitely wouldn't have thought to use saturated pine for the fire. He would have sailed all the way back to Dragon's Edge and brought fire-breathing Hookfang back to start the campfire before he thought of it.

He headed back to the clearing, arms full of pine. But almost as soon as he did, he stopped.

"Hiccup!?" he said, dropping the wood carelessly and racing towards his cousin. Hiccup now appeared unconscious, eyes shut, leaning heavily against the back of the tree.

Snotlout may have not been the smartest Viking, but he certainly wasn't stupid. He knew Hiccup had a head injury, and he knew it wasn't one to be taken lightly.

"Hey, Hiccup," Snotlout tried, kneeling in front of him and poking his shoulder - nothing. Hiccup didn't move. "Come on, don't do this to me," said Snotlout, grabbing him by the shoulders now, shaking him. "Hiccup!"

Hiccup's eyes flew open, and he looked around dazedly for a moment. When his eyes found Snotlout, he groaned, "What?"

"No sleeping," said Snotlout, releasing Hiccup's shoulders. "You've got a head injury. You're not supposed to sleep."

"Right…" said Hiccup, blinking rapidly, reaching up to touch his head. "Sorry…"

Snotlout didn't respond. He got to his feet, gathered up the wood again, and went right back to making the campfire.

Hiccup was right - using the pine, it didn't take more than five minutes before Snotlout got a nice fire going. Embers fluttered upwards, into the sky, and Snotlout grabbed his second satchel - a make-shift medical bag full of supplies he had managed to snatch from the dragon hunters - and headed back over to Hiccup.

"I don't got much," said Snotlout, "but it should be enough to at least bandage your head…" He pulled a roll of gauze from the satchel and, as carefully as he could, began wrapping it around the still-bleeding wound. Hiccup watched him, blinking, clearly trying to keep himself awake.

"What'd you do to make them clobber you like that, huh?" Snotlout said, as he tied of the gauze and dug through the satchel again.

Hiccup sighed. "Ryker was trying to make a point," he said. "He jabbed me with his finger and told his men, 'there is a fool on the end of my arm.'"

"Yeah, so?"

"I asked him which end."

Snotlout snorted with laughter; he couldn't help it. Hiccup stared at him, confused, and Snotlout finally got ahold of himself. "Sheesh, Hiccup," he said. "You're either really brave, or really stupid."

"I like to think of it as a mix of both, thank you very much," said Hiccup.

Snotlout found another strip of bandages at the bottom of the satchel, and he grabbed two nearby sticks. When he turned back around, Hiccup had closed his eyes again.

"Hey," Snotlout said, snapping his fingers in Hiccup's face, and Hiccup jolted awake again. "Don't fall asleep on me. Keep talking, alright? Your ankle. You were limping earlier, right?"

Hiccup looked down at his foot for a moment. "Yeah," he said. "I don't think you have to worry about it. It's not broken."

"I'm still splinting it," said Snotlout, and he got to work before Hiccup could open his mouth. "Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Hiccup shrugged.

"But seriously, Hiccup," said Snotlout. Keep him talking, keep him talking, the voice in the back of his mind told him. Don't let him sleep or he might never wake up again. "What did they do to you?"

"The usual," said Hiccup, breathless. "They didn't like the fact I kept outsmarting them. I would have escaped, but Ryker kept catching me at the last second. By the time he decided to interrogate me he was in a bad mood...and I just added logs to the fire…"

"Well, I'm glad you're alive," said Snotlout, finishing the splint and sitting back to look over his work. "With a mouth like yours and a temper like Ryker's, I'm surprised he didn't make you walk the plank."

"Oh, believe me, he tried," said Hiccup, "but there were Scauldrons in the water. He's a lot of things, granted, but he's not an idiot. He must have known throwing a dragon trainer into an ocean of dragons is a bad idea."

"Yeah...must have…" muttered Snotlout.

For a few moments, there was silence, in which Snotlout used to contemplate, get his thoughts together. He supposed he had always been somewhat jealous of Hiccup. First of all, the boy had a birthright that could have very well been Snotlout's. If only Spitelout, Snotlout's father, had been borth eldest brother. If that were the case, Snotlout would be next in line for Chieftain.

But noooo, instead, Stoick had been born first, before Spitelout, and Stoick's firstborn son was a hiccup, a runt, someone not expected to survive their first winter, much less grow up.

And yet here they were.

Snotlout turned his thoughts over in his mind once, twice, and then a third time. And then - only then - did he realize that what he felt for Hiccup wasn't jealousy.

It was admiration.

Because Hiccup was brave. Hiccup was the one who had stood up to the hunters, given himself in Snotlout's place. It was Hiccup who led the charge against the Red Death, who had lost his leg defending a village who deserted him, against a foe bigger than anything the Berkians - or any other Viking for that matter - had ever encountered.

Snotlout didn't have the guts to do that.

Didn't possess the selflessness his stupidly courageous cousin seemed to be born with.

"...How do you do it, Hiccup?" he blurted, before he could stop himself.

Hiccup jerked and blinked. "Do...what?"

"Just...everything," said Snotlout, waving his hands, gesturing in Hiccup's general direction. "The whole deal. The 'take me instead of Snotlout' deal, the 'let's go fight against the Red Death' deal, the…"

He sighed heavily.

"You know what?" he said. "I've always admired you, Hiccup. Yeah, I said it. You're just...weird, okay? I don't know how else to put it. You're the worst viking in history and yet you're also the best...does that make sense?"

Hiccup frowned at him. "...No…?"

Snotlout sighed again. "...Thanks, I mean," he said. "Thanks for giving yourself up. Thanks for...you know...always being brave. For leading the charge against the Red Death, for training a dragon when no one else thought of it...I wouldn't have been able to do that. I admire that, Hiccup."

Hiccup blinked once, then twice, and then again, in a rapid session. Snotlout stared at him, waiting for a response.

"Hiccup?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Snotlout?"

Snotlout snorted and gave Hiccup a light shove. "Shut up, you," he muttered. "Caring isn't my strongest suit, so take it, okay? I'm not repeating myself."

Hiccup offered him a weak grin. "I know," he said. "Thanks, Snotlout…"

"Don't mention it," said Snotlout. Pause. "Seriously, don't mention it. Ever. Alright? Especially not to the other riders."

"I hear ya," said Hiccup. "They'd never believe me anyways."

"You little-"

"Jerk."

"Are you talking for me, or defining me?"

Hiccup shook his head, which could have meant anything. Snotlout sighed, leaning up against the tree, right beside Hiccup. "In all seriousness, though," said Snotlout. "Don't get hurt like this again, alright? You're making me care, and I don't like caring."

"You make it your duty to make sure I remember that."

"I swear, Hiccup, if you weren't already hurt..." Snotlout let his threat hang in the air for another few moments. Then he sighed once again, turning away from Hiccup. "Honestly, though," he said, shaking his head. "You're probably the bravest person I know, Hiccup. And don't make me say it again, because I won't. Okay?"

He waited for an answer, but one never came.

"Okay?" he repeated, this time turning his head back towards Hiccup.

Hiccup's eyes were shut again, and Snotlout's heart plummeted. "Hey, Hiccup." He grabbed Hiccup's shoulder and shook him. "Remember what I said? You can't fall asleep. Hiccup? Hiccup!"

Hiccup didn't wake up. Unconscious.

"Oh, great," Snotlout muttered furiously, "just great. Today is not my day…" He frowned and pressed his hand to Hiccup's bandaged forehead. He was burning up. "Oh, darn it, Hiccup…"

He reached over, grabbing his supply satchel and pulling it closer. He wrapped one arm around Hiccup's shoulders to keep him from falling over and, with his other hand, pulled another small roll of gauze from the satchel, as well as a small canteen of water.

He managed to soak the gauze with water, and he bunched it up and pressed it to Hiccup's forehead.

"If you go dying on me, Hiccup, you'll never hear the end of it," said Snotlout, holding the compress to his cousin's head, subconsciously letting Hiccup's head rest on his shoulder. "You're an idiot, I'll give you that, but you're a brave idiot."

He waited for a response.

None came.

"DARN IT, HICCUP!" Snotlout said furiously. "GET UP!"

Still no response. Just before Snotlout could start howling at his cousin again, loud shouts issued from above, followed by the sounds of large wings flapping.

"SNOTLOUT! HICCUP!" shouted the loud, booming, feminine voice that could only belong to one person.

"Astrid!" Snotlout shouted, waving a hand up at the approaching dragons - Fishlegs, the twins, and Astrid soared in. "We're over here! OVER HERE!"

"There they are!" yelled Fishlegs, pointing frantically. "Down there! I see them!"

Snotlout was so relieved he broke into giddy laughs. "We're saved, Hiccup," he said, squeezing his cousin's shoulder. "Saved!"

To his surprise, Hiccup half-opened blearily eyes and smiled weakly. "I know," he said. "And it's all thanks to you."

Snotlout grinned. "You owe me one, Dragon Boy. You so owe me one."

"I know."

Author's Notes

I told you guys I'd update this story soon! :D So, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! The next story in the line is going to be titled "Cold and Alone", and it was requested by BookWorm (guest), and I thought the idea was interesting, since I've never done something like it before.

Anyways, for those of you who care to know, I've just been dragged into the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom by my younger brother when he picked up volume one of the Manga at our library. I binge-read five volumes yesterday within three hours, so I'm kind of crazy right now, between that and watching the anime. So along with my How to Train Your Dragon stories, you might see a few Fullmetal Alchemist ones thrown in there. ;)

Anyways, I'll see you all soon! It won't be too long before this story gets another update. :) Love ya!

Cheers!

-BeyondTheClouds777