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The village of Berk, known for lovely sunsets, tasty mead and quite unusual pet affinity of the inhabitants was used to many weird things, mostly thanks to their resident future chief.
A stampede of geese? Sure thing. A Nadder stumbling its way down the street to the docks, drunk on mead someone had given it instead of water by accident? Happens every week. A sheep or a dozen baaing at passersby from the roof of the great hall? No big deal.
The Hooligans were usually quite laid back about things, just glad that the village wasn’t on fire for the best part of the week. Since the momentous end of the war with the dragons and the turbulent time of the tribe learning how to coexist with the reptiles, the Vikings of Berk became far less jumpy and no one batted an eye at most things, especially if they had something to do with Hiccup.
That was probably why no one even paused in their daily business when Hiccup ran past them chased by two Night Furies.
The various dragons from the flock of Berk gave the human leader curious looks, but since he wasn’t calling for help they decided to leave him to his antics, returning to sunning themselves in the above freezing temperature of Berk summer or munching on fish. After all, Toothless was there, so their human leader would be fine.
Normally, the one legged boy wouldn’t have a chance to outrun a Fury, the dragon far too fast even on the ground, but the two black dragons were too busy snapping at each other and bickering to catch up with the fleeing Pride of Berk. They easily dodged people and leaped over carts and barrels, paying no mind to anything that wasn’t the Haddock boy or each other. Growling and hissing, wings flaring, tails snapping, eyes flashing,they followed Hiccup across the village like a particularly vicious shadow.
“Ah, Hiccup, there you are!” Stoick called when he saw his son, he and Gobber walked from behind the corner of the forge, easy smiles on their faces. “”I want to…”
The chief trailed off because his son didn’t even slow down. He got a glimpse of an apologetic look on his freckled face and the boy was gone, his uneven footfalls fading into the distance.
“Have my ale, Stoick," Gobber uttered, detaching his mug hand to push it into Stoick’s grasp, both men staring at the two Night Furies. Toothless, the red tail was easy to see. inclined his head as he slank around the two Vikings. The other Night Fury leaped over them in a graceful arc, gliding on wide wings. Both hissed at each other as they turned the corner following Hiccup's trail “Ye gonna need that.”
“Aye,” Stoick nodded and downed the offered drink. Then he shook himself out like a bear woken from a lazy nap and started walking after his son.
Many Vikings prayed to receive blessings from Tyr or Thor, Odin or Freyr. His son, as was painfully apparent, garnered favor of Lok without even praying for that.
Ten minutes later Stoick found himself near the door of the great hall, closed shut, the dragonriders and their beasts standing next to him, alongside a handful of the other inhabitants of the village, some holding tankards of mead or plates of snacks.
Toothless stood at the closed door and mimicked the human gesture of knocking, making plaintive noises like a man that came home a wee time after he should have and a tiny bit drunk and was now asking the wife to please open the door. The other Fury sat on the edge of the roof and pawed at it anxiously, glancing at the villagers and at the doorway as if wishing for nothing more than to steal its way inside before anyone tried to approach her. It was making noises very much akin to those Toothless made.
“Wonder what he did to annoy them,” Snotlout ventured to say in a casual tone.
“I know! Toothless caught him and that other Fury and got jealous,” Tuffnutnot exclaimed. The dragon on the roof started to paw at the tiles harder, tail swishing from side to side, wings half opened. Toothless headbutted the doors.
“Ah, a secret affair,” Ruffnot nodded. “A tragic triangle.”
Astrid rubbed at her eyes and approached the doors, not acknowledging their idiocy.
“Hiccup, are you okay in there?” she called out hoping her voice could be heard through the thick door and the noises the dragons made.
“It wasn’t supposed to go like that!” yelled Hiccup, distressed. The shield maiden nodded, despite the fact her boyfriend couldn’t see that.
“Of course, honey,” she soothed. “And what exactly was ‘that’ supposed to go?”
Snotlout snickered and walked around Toothless to stand next to her. The Night Fury paid him no mind, still pawing at the door.
“Hey, I call dibs on the undamaged Night Fury,” he yelled. “A Viking like me deserves an upgrade!”
Hookfang growled from where he was sunning himself and pretending he wasn’t observing the event as it unfolded. Everyone present knew that the next time Snotlout tried to ride on his Nightmare his trousers would be torched, alongside with his leg hair.
“Son, can you ask the dragon not to tear down the roof of the great hall?” Stoick asked, watching how the beast paused in its destruction only to huff at Stormfly’s concerned chirps. The Nadder flicked her tail and tilted her head like an uncertain bird.
’s… What? Oh, Thor, no!” with a final tug and a nosy cascade of tiles the dragon made a hole in the roof big enough for her to pass/. She disappeared in it immediately, a happy warble drowned out in Toothless’ outraged shriek.
At the tone of panic in Hiccup’s voice all the gathered dragons jumped to attention and Toothless' blasted a shot at the door. It didn’t budge, but when he shot twice more the door gave up and just fell inwards, smoking. The black dragon jumped inside, followed closely by concerned Vikings and their companions.
Hiccup sat on the floor between the long tables. He was hiding his face in his hands, his hair styled with a generous amount of Night Fury saliva to stand on its end. The Night Fury sat next to him, her front paws pressing at his legs to keep him in place, tail circling around him, a smug expression on her face when she looked at the newly arrived crowd. Toothless lowered himself to the ground and growled menacingly. She opened her wing to wrap it around the thin Hooligan. Aside from holding Hiccup hostage she appeared non hostile, despite the fact that Astrid and Stoick held axes in their hands and the other dragons looked agitated.
“Son, what’s going on?” the chief asked.
Hiccup dared to lift his head and when he wasn’t immediately ambushed with a tongue bath he dared to turn towards the group. Immediately upon seeing his companion and other dragons he made a soothing noise that didn’t sound very reassuring, but caused them to relax some.
“I swear, dad, it wasn’t supposed to be like that,” he whimpered when he looked at his giant of a father. Stoick just nodded. If he got a piece of gold every time his son said something like that the roads in Berk would be coated in the stuff.
“From where do you have another Night Fury?” Fishlegs was practically vibrating with excited curiosity when he was assured the new dragon wasn’t going to dismember his friend.
“Um, yeah, it’s…” Hiccup took a deep breath, obviously still somewhat winded after his mad dash across the village. “This is Moonshine.”
“Good name,” Gobber praised and produced a flask from the inside of his vest to take a swing out of it. He winced at the taste and offered it to Stoick, who shook his head.
“So yeah, after I got rid of the rasp after the cold I had last week,” the heir of Berk continued when no one else said anything. “I thought I could train my Dragonese a bit, you know. I didn’t use it when I was sick, it hurt my throat.”
He got some nods and a few shrugs from his audience. Toothless scoffed, still glaring at the other Fury, who warbled smugly and nuzzled Hiccup’s hair, making him hiss in displeasure. Hiccup pushed her face away from his head.
“Yeah, so I went to the cove so I wouldn't disturb anyone,” he said. “Toothless was napping and looked so cute I had no heart to wake him up and just went alone.”
Toothless looked like he wasn’t sure if he was touched by his thoughtfulness or annoyed with his idiocy.
“I was halfway through my exercises when someone responded to my ‘I’m here’ call,” Hiccup said. “I was sure Toothless heard me from the village and was on his way. Turned out I was wrong.””
“It was another Night Fury,,” Astrid clarified. He nodded.
“Moonshine was as surprised to see a Viking speak in Night Fury dialect as I was to see her,” he made a small smile, reaching up to wipe at the drool coating his bangs and forehead. He cringed when he saw his sleeves wet with the substance. “And I thought that, yeah, maybe we could talk a bit and then I wanted to show her Berk and stuff. Introduce her to everyone.”
“You thought you found a lady friend for Toothless,” Tuffnutlifted a finger to point at the two black dragons. Hiccup sighed in affirmation.
“Yeah. It’s the first Night Fury we’ve ever seen aside from him,” he muttered. “I hoped they’d at least be friends… I know you’re not lonely, buddy, but I’m sure you miss interacting with others of your kind,,” he added, turning his big green eyes at his companion, who cooed at him before he looked up at the other Fury and scoffed at her. She huffed and tightened her hold on Hiccup.
“Alright, so what went wrong there?” Fishlegs asked fiddling with the hem of his tunic anxiously. There was no doubt that something had gone wrong according to Hiccup’s plans.
“Moonshine decided I’m her human now,” Hiccup sighed dejectedly while keeping a hand against the dragon’s nose to prevent her from nuzzling him again. Toothless hissed in outrage. “And it all was going so well, they were exchanging greetings and all and I was planning to introduce her to the village soon…”
Suddenly Snotlout snickered.
“Figures you got a dragon girlfriend,” he pointed a finger at his cousin.. “Now that you’re taken Astrid and I can… Aaargh!” He never managed to finish his sentence because Astrid’s fist collided with his stomach, folding the poor fool and making a few spectators wince at the view.
“That was pretty stupid,” Ruff said in a consoling tone of voice.
“Even for you,” added her brother, both standing on both sides of the bulky man. Astrid turned her attention to the Night Fury.
“Mine,” she said, pointing at Hiccup. Toothless grumbled from where he crouched nearby. “And Toothless'’, “ she allowed. She took a few steps forward, causing Moonshine to hiss and lower herself to the ground as if in anticipation of a fight. But all Astrid did was to glare at her, fists resting on her hips, her stance wide and expression stony. Stormfly shifted closer to her in case she needed backup and Toothless readied himself to pounce if he decided that was the best choice of action. Hiccup cast him a glance, wordlessly asking not to escalate things.
“Just let me go, Moonshine,” Hiccup pleaded with the dragon. “It’s fine, I promise.”
The Night Fury purred at him, her pupils big and dark as she peered at him adoringly. She didn’t move a muscle. That is, until she caught Astrid taking a decisive step forward. She glared at the blonde.
“Mine,” the Viking girl stated firmly/ One pair of green eyes narrowed in annoyance at her, the other overflowing with affection and amusement. Behind Astrid’s back more than one entertained glance was exchanged, but no one dared to comment on the possessive tone of her declaration of ownership. No one wanted to share in Snotlout’s fate.
“See? I’m hers,” Hiccup told the Night Fury. He patted her shoulder and turned to face his girlfriend, hope clear in his face when the female dragon didn’t immediately try to bathe him with her tongue.
It took a while but slowly Astrid managed to approach the whole way to where Hiccup sat, Moonshine backing away a meter or so, watching her help him stand up. Toothless sneaked his way to Hiccup’s other side, much more relaxed after his rider was no longer held by lethal claws.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Ruff noted when Hiccup sighed in relief.
“Does everything have to be high stress action for you?” Hiccup grumbled and she nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah,” her brother added. “I kinda expected a bit of tearing from limb to limb.”
Hiccup groaned, realizing that he probably meant Astrid and Moonshine pulling him towards themselves. He was mighty thankful he wasn’t in more pieces than he should be. He put a hand on Toothless’ head and smiled at the other Fury.
“Alright, see? Everyone is fine, no need to worry,” he soothed. She shifted and peered around at the gathering of Vikings and dragons,then twitched her wings, crooning at him. To his surprise and delight Toothless crooned back, much more friendly now that Hiccup was at his side. Astrid shot him a smirk and pulled at his arm.
“So, I take it she won’t be trying to dispute my claim now, hm?” she asked and Hiccup blushed a bit.
“I hope so,” he managed, casting his eyes to the side. Unluckily, his gaze fell on his father and Gobber, both looking mildly amused at him, before the chief looked up and frowned a bit.
“Son, I hope that since this dragon issue is mostly solved now that you plan to fix the roof,” he said and Hiccup sighed.
“Yeah, dad,” his shoulders slumped. “Will fix it before it rains,” he promised.
“Look at the time,” Snotlout inched towards the door. Then he waved a hand. “Have fun!”
And he was gone. Hiccup blinked when he saw that Fishlegs was already absent as well. He blinked and between the blinks the twins relocated beyond the threshold as well, their dragons walking after them. He turned to look at his father and Gobber, who shrugged.
“And ya know, the doors will need to be fixed too,” the blacksmith pointed out, his hook gesturing towards where the heavy door lay across the floor. The young man just sighed and started towards the forge to get some tools for the repairs.
He perked up marginally when he heard two Night Furies walking after him, a cautious glance back revealing them following him at a more calm pace and no longer hissing at each other
Maybe, just maybe, things would turn out to be alright after all.
That was when a sudden rumble of thunder rolled over the village and he glanced up just to see heavy rain clouds approaching the island from the East. With a groan he started to run again.