Chapter Text
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the hope and heir to the Hooligan Tribe, was not normal.
Such was obvious just by looking at him. He was small, frail, and utterly helpless with a weapon. What he lacked in use, he made up for with eagerness. Or at least tried to. Over-eagerness, really. It ended up making a mess more often than not.
But one day, he’d get out there and prove his worth. He’d catch the biggest fish of them all!
If his father would only allow him on a boat.
For now, he was the blacksmith’s apprentice. He repaired harpoons, reels, and nets, and occasionally weapons.
Yes, life was pretty mundane in the little fishing village of Berk. While other viking villages were raiders and pillagers and warriors, Hiccup was born on boring old fishing Berk.
Except, there was nothing boring about the fishing on Berk, at least, not for the inhabitants. Everyone ate, slept, and breathed fishing. It was everyone’s favorite pastime! There were annual festivals, contests, races, anything you could think of, it was fish themed.
Even the folks who weren’t physically out on the boats were still involved in the process somehow. There were those who cleaned the fish of course, and those that repaired boats and supplies.
Of course, to have a functional village, there were plenty of people that held other jobs, like Axel Hofferson. He worked at the saw mill and cut wood…which would be used to repair boats, yes, but also build houses and furniture. There were hunters that killed boars, because even the heartiest of vikings got tired of eating fish. There was a baker, a medicine woman, farmers, all upstanding citizens of Berk.
But each and everyone one of them knew how to swim, had been on a boat, and had helped haul in a catch in one way or another.
All except Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the chief’s son. He was 15, well past the age when children learned to swim. Well past the age when fathers took them out on their first fishing trip with a rod and reel. And now, his peers were starting training for their careers, and he was left behind.
All because of his alleged ‘sea water allergy’.
Maybe some vikings would be content working in the Forge. It was an honorable job, and necessary. Hiccup was fine with the actual work as well.
But because he hadn’t contributed a single scale to the island’s main export, the village had some unfavorable things to say about him.
“What am I even doing here, Gobber?” Hiccup asked his mentor one day.
“Fixin’ that net’s what yer doin’!” Gobber shot back, not putting up with Hiccup’s sulking.
“Not that!” Hiccup twined the rope around, showing Gobber he was doing his task correctly while still complaining. “Spitelout came to the forge today, and he asked me what tools I worked on. When I told him ‘most of them’ he scoffed and said ‘I don’t want no tools made by a bastard that can’t even fish’! And that man is my uncle!”
“Well, Spitelout can be rude to everyone, but I think it’s because he’s your uncle he thinks he can get away with it.”
“But it’s not just Spitelout. I’m sure if something happened to Dad tomorrow and the council elected me as the chief, the entire village would just go,” he gave a thumbs down and blew a raspberry.
“You’re still just a lad.”
“Exactly!” He pointed. “I’m 15, the perfect age to look at my career path and adjust.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, and I’ve concluded that I’m on a path to a dead end. I’d be better off getting on a boat and sailing to the Berserkers, or Outcast Isle. Then I could just be some regular joe-shmoe and no one will care that I’m allergic to saltwater. Maybe I can even get a little wife.”
“You’re giving up on Astrid?”
“You wanna say that a little louder? I don’t think they heard you in the Great Hall.” He rolled his eyes.
“Aye lad, you could certainly go somewhere else. But two problems.”
“Wait, don’t tell me.”
“One, you’d break your poor father’s heart, and two, you can’t get on a ship!”
Hiccup sighed massively. “Yeah, I already break my father’s heart on a daily basis, so I don’t really want to push it.”
“Lad, what I’m trying to say is that you’re still young, and you have time to find your niche.”
“Hey!” A young man called into the forge.
The two blacksmiths looked over to the three teens standing at the window.
“Your turn,” Gobber shoved him forward.
“Of course…” Hiccup rolled his eyes. He approached the counter and put his best customer service smile on. “Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, what can I do for you today?”
“We’re going to need a net, bola, three harpoons, and a sword,” said Snotlout. “Because my dad’s taking us out. You know, on his boat. To go fishing.”
“I figured,” Hiccup drawled. “Whatcha luring for?”
“Like you would know.” Snotlout snipped.
“I kinda have to. It’s part of my job.”
“Fine. Tuna, big ones. Bigger than your mom.”
“That was unnecessary.”
“And…mermaids.”
Hiccup raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You mean, an actual, live mermaid?”
“Lad,” Gobber interjected. “Only the toughest of the tough are able to reel in a mermaid. And you know Stoick isn’t going to let you keep her.”
“I don’t care what happens to the she-devil after, I just want the glory of catching one!”
Hiccup crinkled his nose. “Okay, well, good luck with that.” He went to retrieve the tools.
“I don’t need luck, Salt Boy. I have training!”
“Right, just make sure you don’t wad up the net when you bring it back.” Hiccup avoided looking at Snotlout, not allowing him the satisfaction of getting under his skin.
Snotlout and the twins took the equipment gleefully down to the docks.
“They would have been my friends,” said Hiccup to Gobber. “If I was allowed to go.”
“Oh you don’t want to be friends with those muttonheads! I’m sure they won’t catch anything but a few guppies.” He placed a paternal hand on his shoulder. “Just remember, the grass always seems greener on the other side.”
“I guess…”
—-
Hiccup typically didn’t see his father until later in the evening. He had dinner in the Great Hall. That was fairly common for him. With no mother at home to cook, and Stoick busy chiefing, Hiccup usually found something to eat among the shared food brought to the Hall.
But when the village returned home, Hiccup found himself returning to the hut on the hill.
For once, Stoick beat him home. “Hiccup,” he said by way of greeting.
“Dad.”
“We have to talk.”
Hiccup sighed. “What did I do this time? If it’s about Spitelout, know that he started it and I didn’t even charge him any extra!”
“You didn’t do anything, son,” he said, calmer. “What’s this about Spitelout?”
“Oh…uh, nothing.”
Stoick glared at him, prying the truth out of him.
“He just…called me a bastard and said he didn’t want any equipment I worked on.” He rubbed his arm.
Stoick shook his head. “Don’t listen to him. He’s always been a jerk.”
“Yeah, well…that’s what I thought you were going to talk to me about…I may have given him his stuff and told him, ‘here you go, asshole’. Not my proudest moment, I’ll admit.”
Stoick actually smirked at that. “Spitelout’s heard worse his time. And it sounds like he deserved it. Now, come and take a seat.”
Hiccup ran through the list of mistakes he had made through the day. None of them seemed monumental enough to catch Stoick’s attention. Unless Gobber had gotten fed up with him and wanted him fired. But Hiccup thought he was doing rather well.
Stoick sighed once again, but gave Hiccup a bit of a smile. “Alright son, you get your wish. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to teach you how to swim.”
Hiccup’s eyes blew wide. “Swim–! But—really!? You’re gonna!? Yeah!?”
Stoick chuckled. “Aye lad.”
“But…where? Not in the ocean.”
“Not in the ocean,” Stoick confirmed. “There’s a cove out by Raven’s Point. It has a small freshwater lake. Should be warm enough, and no saltwater.”
“So, I’m going to be able to take the swimming test and go out on the boats?!”
“No.”
Hiccup frowned.
“But I don’t see the harm in you learning how to swim. I know it’s important to you and something you’ve wanted for a long time. As long as you stick to freshwater, you’ll be fine.”
“Okay! Yes! Definitely!” He leapt from his seat and hugged his father. “Thank you thank you thank you!”
Stoick rubbed his head. “Better get to bed then. Early morning!”
—
The next morning, Stoick and Hiccup made the hike out to Raven’s point, Hiccup nearly bouncing the whole way there. Being able to swim would bring him one step closer to being like the rest of the village.
He just had to work on the whole ‘being allergic to seawater’ thing.
The cove was cool, the rocks shading the ground from the early morning sun. Thinking about it, that water was probably going to be frigid, but he couldn’t back out now!
He and Stoick undressed down to their skivvies, and Hiccup started towards the water.
“We’re waiting on one more, son.” Stoick commented, wading out to his waist.
“One more? Who?”
As if on cue, footfalls sent gravel skittering down the sloped entrance to the cove, and a young woman called out, “Chief Stoick?”
“We’re here, lass!”
Hiccup’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest as he recognized that voice. Oh gods, he was going to be swimming with Astrid Hofferson. The most beautiful, strong, confident girl in the village.
She arrived, wearing only her shirt, leggings, and boots. No armor. She had a towel with her.
Wow! Nearly one on one time with Astrid! Would this finally be the catalyst to bring them closer? Would he finally start a proper friendship with him?
Her eyes locked onto Hiccup’s and she growled, “what’s he doing here?”
His elation evaporated. He didn’t think Astrid hated him like everyone else, but that was obviously not the case. He hid his hurt behind sarcasm.
“Nice to see you too, Astrid.”
She cringed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Astrid,” Stoick began to explain. “Hiccup hasn’t had any swimming lessons yet. Being unable to be around the ocean, I didn’t see a point, but he finally twisted my arm enough to teach him.”
Wow. Thanks dad.
“Hiccup, Astrid’s here because she’s been having a hard time passing the swimming test to be allowed out on the boats. She needs further instruction.”
“Oh! Okay! Yeah! Sure!” Hiccup looked at Astrid, who was red in the face. Her hostility was embarrassment, not directed at him specifically. “You’re more practiced than I am. I’m sure you’re great! I mean, I can’t do anything! So don’t be intimidated or anything! It’s fine! It’s all fine!”
She scoffed. “Shut up.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Hiccup gave her some privacy as she stripped down to her briefs and breast bindings that women wore for swimming. Then she waded into the water with them.
“The first lesson is on floating,” Stoick explained. “Floating is the key to swimming. Making sure that even when you’re tired, you can reach the surface and breathe.”
Astrid groaned. Apparently, this was already a problem for her.
“The easiest way to float is to lean back in the water on your back and relax. Fat floats, so for me, it’s a little easier. But for you two, it’s all about keeping your muscles relaxed. When you tense up, you sink. Let’s start with you, Hiccup.”
“Oh-okay,” he stuttered, nervously.
Stoick rested a hand on his back and held him up as he reclined.
“Spread your arms out, make yourself as wide as possible.”
Hiccup did so, and rose to the surface. It was a little hard to hear, as his ears were underwater, but Stoick moved his hand away and Hiccup kept floating.
“There you go! Nicely done.”
Hiccup smiled as he righted himself.
“Why don’t you practice that without my hand while I work with Astrid?”
Hiccup nodded and scooted a little ways away, to give Astrid privacy.
Though, even with his hearing muffled by water, he could still tell that Astrid was beyond frustrated. Her cross yell was unintelligible, but the emotion was clear.
He righted himself again, only to listen, but kept his glance away to stay out of it.
“You just have to relax,” Stoick said again.
“I am relaxed!” She snapped back. “I can’t be any more relaxed!”
Ah. That made sense. Hiccup had very high opinions of Astrid, but she had definitely seemed the type to keep her guard up at all times.
Stoick taught him the basics, and reviewed them with Astrid. Hiccup picked it all up fairly quickly, feeling very at home in the water. Kicking was weird, and he sometimes felt like he was off, but the rest of it was a cinch.
Astrid on the other hand, was not taking it well. She couldn’t stay a float and she couldn’t move when she tried. As he watched, he began to realize what the problem was. She wasn’t using her body to move through the water, she was fighting the water, trying to get it to submit to her.
“Astrid, you know if you tried to—“ he began, but was cut off by her intense death glare.
“You just learned how to swim today. Don’t think that I’ll take any advice from you.”
“Oh yeah! No you’re totally right! I won’t…I wouldn’t take advice from me either.”
They spent the morning in the cove, and by the time Hiccup had to go to the forge, he felt pretty confident in the water.
“Now,” said Stoick. “I want you both to come here and practice as often as you can. That’s the key to honing any skill: practice.”
Astrid huffed.
“You don’t have to come together, of course. The water is shallow enough that I’m not worried, but be careful, and be smart.
Hiccup noticed most of this was being said to Astrid, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
He and Stoick left together, while Astrid remained in the cove, to practice a bit longer.
“So lad, how’d it feel?” Stoick asked him.
“Great! I…I didn’t think it’d be that easy, but I got it right away! It feels like I’ve been swimming my whole life!”
Stoick had a strange, sad smile on his face. “You did take to it quickly. Most do not. If you ever end up going to practice and see Astrid…”
“I will try to help, but I don’t think she’d listen to me.”
“Well, it’s the thought that counts. Now, you better get on going to work. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Right, thanks again dad!” Hiccup split off from his father and hurried to the forge. He’d have plenty of work to catch up on from this morning, but it would be easy work. Mindless work. That would give him time to think about the next step in village acceptance.
How to fish without breaking any of his father’s rules.
—
There was always a party going on. Someone celebrating something. Tonight, they were celebrating a big catch. He didn’t hear what was caught, just that it was a big fish and that it wasn’t Snotlout’s boat that caught it. That’s really as far as he cared anyways.
He sat at a table in the corner, poking at his food as he listened to people milling about.
“Is this seat taken?” A girl’s voice pierced through his self induced sulking.
Hiccup glanced up to Astrid, who was standing with a plate of food, looking impatient.
“No! No please, be my guest!”
“Thanks,” she offered a smirk.
“So…you taking the fishing course?”
She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “I can’t pass the swimming test, remember?”
His eyes widened. “Oh! Right! I’m so sorry, I can be really dumb sometimes.”
He thought she’d be angry, but she just laughed at him. “At least you’re aware of it, unlike Snotlout and the twins. I’m with the gutters for now. I thought I would hate it, and the smell isn’t pleasant, but it turned out to be really fun.”
“Yeah?” He asked, more bewildered that she was talking to him in the first place.
“Yep! Watch,” she took his plate away from him. He had a cooked, but fully intact fish on the plate, and he watched as she quickly and expertly fileted it, cutting off the head, tail, and separating the meat from the bones. “Ta-da! It’s easier on an uncooked fish though.” She pushed his plate back.
“Thanks,” he smiled. “So uh…didn’t want to sit with the others?”
“Nah,” she shrugged, tucking into the chicken on her plate. “They’re moping because they didn’t catch anything. And Snotlout said something stupid like I couldn’t imagine their pain because I’m not a real fisherman. Whatever.” She scoffed.
“Yeah, he says stuff like that to me all the time,” he rolled his eyes.
Her gaze was full of sympathy. “It sucks. And I’ve been out to fish before too. I’m just…not allowed to go out full time.” She muttered the last part under her breath. “So Mulch told me to come talk to you.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re the knife guy. Since I need sharp knives for my job, he suggested I get friendly with you.”
Oh. Now it made sense. And he thought she might actually be interested in him as a person. Maybe their little swim session had given them something to bond over. He should have known.
“I see,” he hummed.
“Not that I’m expecting a deal or anything, just that we should be on good terms, because we’ll be seeing each other a lot.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not allowed to even go to the docks, so if we do see each other during work, it’ll be you coming up to the forge.”
“Your allergy is that bad?”
He shrugged again. “I have no idea. Dad just wants me to avoid any risk. He even gets uncomfortable when I handle wet nets, which I have to use gloves for.”
“And you have no idea what reaction you have?”
“Not really. My dad said when I was a baby, I got splashed and my whole body broke out in a rash with blisters. I was crying in pain for days. It sounded pretty gruesome, so I’ve avoided it. Sometimes my skin gets kinda scaly if it gets wet though.”
“Like eczema?”
“Yeah, exactly! Fortunately mine goes away when I dry off.” He looked at his hands. “I don’t want to imagine what a full body outbreak looks like.”
“It really sucks you were born to a seafaring tribe then,” she offered a sad smile.
“Don’t I know it?”
“What about tears? Does your face break out when you cry?”
“Huh, I never thought about it. Tears are salty, aren’t they? But nah, I’m fine. It must be something else in the sea that does it. Or my body is okay with my tears.”
“And you can have salt in your food, right?”
“Yep. Even though we get our salt from boiling seawater, I’ve had no problem with it.”
“That’s so interesting,” She leaned in and scrutinized his face. “I think I understand you a little bit better now, Hiccup Haddock.”
A warm, fuzzy feeling settled in his chest then, as her words found a home in his heart. It felt like she was the first person that finally tried to understand him for him.
He didn’t really care what her motivation was anymore.
Music started to fill the hall, singing, a drum, and a lute. Hiccup and Astrid turned to look, just enjoying the entertainment.
“Well met, well met, my own true love
Well met, well met, cried he.”
“I love this song!” Sang Astrid.
“Me too,” Hiccup smiled. “It’s a good one.”
“I've just returned from the salt, salt sea
All for the love of thee.”
Hiccup began tapping his foot and nodding his head to the beat. He’d always liked music, and often found himself singing when he was alone. For some reason he still didn’t understand, his father was very paranoid about him singing. He had forbidden it in every situation. He technically wasn’t supposed to do it ever, but what was the harm when he was out in the woods? In fact, it almost felt like a compulsion. The longer he went without singing, the more boisterous he was when he was alone. There was one time he went a week before he had some time in the woods and he belted out some notes at the top of his lungs. Not even any song in particular either.
Right now, everyone was singing along with the band. Even Astrid was! He didn’t really want to be left out.
“Well I could have married the King's daughter, dear
She would have married me
But I have forsaken her crowns of gold
All for the love of thee.”
He sang just loud enough to hear himself. He closed his eyes and just got lost in the music. He hadn’t even noticed Astrid stopped singing and stared at him.
“Well, if you could have married the King's daughter, dear
I know you are to blame.
For I am married to a house carpenter
And I find him a nice young man.”
The music had faded out, and Hiccup peeled his eyes open. The song wasn’t over, but they had stopped playing.
Everyone was staring at him, slack-jawed and wide eyed.
Hiccup felt his face color several shades in embarrassment. Whenever he was in the limelight, it wasn’t good. “Uh…That bad?”
“Lad,” said Gobber, wobbling over in awe. “Your singing voice…it’s so beautiful!”
“Really?”
“Captivating!” Someone shouted.
“It really is nice,” said Astrid, smiling.
“Well, thanks!” He said breathlessly. He never got compliments!
Sigurd, the singer of the band called him up. “Come and finish the song, boy! Lead us home!”
“Go on!” Astrid encouraged, nudging him.
Awkwardly, he stood in front, with his ‘please be nice to me I’m fragile’ smile.
The lute began again, and he started singing.
“Oh, will you forsake your house carpenter
And go along with me?
I'll take you to where the grass grows green
To the banks of the salt, salt sea.”
Hiccup smiled as the crowd stared with rapt attention. Awe, adoration, and even euphoria. He’d never seen the village look at him like that. It was almost too good to be true.
“Well, if I should forsake my house carpenter
And go along with thee
What have you got to maintain me on
And keep me from poverty?”
Actually, it was too good to be true. At that moment, Stoick stepped into the hall.
“Six ships, six ships all out on the sea
Seven more upon dry land
One hundred and ten all brave sailor men
Will be at your command.”
Stoick’s face went pale, before he screamed over the hall. “Stop! Stop it now!”
Hiccup snapped his mouth shut and hunched his shoulders. Stoick ran at him and grabbed his arm. “You know you’re not allowed to sing!”
“But dad—!”
“We’ll talk about it at home,” he snapped.
Hiccup glanced over at Astrid, who was holding her head and shaking it in disappointment.
Likewise, everyone else in the room was murmuring to each other, displeasure scrawled all over their faces.
Hiccup felt his heart break.
Stoick dragged him out of the room while the band started playing a different tune.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Hiccup began. “I just—everyone else was singing! So I sang along and then they heard me and asked me to get up!”
“I don’t want to know how it happened, I want to know that it will never happen again! I told you not to, and you deliberately disobeyed me!”
“Because it doesn’t make any sense, dad! What is the big sin with me singing? It’s harmless! And apparently, I’m good at it! You should have seen the way everyone was looking at me! It was the first time I saw some of those people happy while looking in my direction!”
“Exactly!” Stoick barked, then he winced, and waved it away, like it could undo what he had just said.
“Dad, I can’t help it,” he pleaded. “It’s like…like I have to cough, and I just blurt it out. I know you hate it, so I just do it out in the woods but—”
“It is unlucky for the Haddock clan to sing,” Stoick said sternly.
“That’s stupid.”
“You’ll understand one day. But today, promise you won’t do it again?”
Hiccup scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. I won’t sing…ever again.”