Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hiccup never wanted it to end like this. He just wanted to fit in, wanted to be part of his village. Why couldn’t he just have killed Toothless when he found him that day in the forest? It would have been a lot easier for everyone if he had. Instead now Toothless has been captured and it was all his fault. He couldn’t just be like every other Viking in the village, like what his father wanted him to be. Three hundred years and he’s the first Viking who wouldn’t kill a dragon.

He should have been more careful, he should have realized that Astrid had been following him into the forest. It was too late now, Astrid had seen Toothless and had run back to the village to get the others and Hiccup hadn’t been fast enough, hadn’t been strong enough to stop the Vikings who attacked and captured him and Toothless. Even Hiccup had managed to fail his best friend.

The cold stone of the ground was rough against his cheek as Hiccup lay in the great hall having been thrown in there by his father. “You’re not a Viking, you're not my son” The words kept echoing through Hiccup's head each time the pain was like a physical blow. Hiccup knew that Stoick couldn’t stand him but hearing it said out loud was a blow that he was not prepared for.

His arms tremble as Hiccup forces himself to stand up, the pain of losing his father, his only family weighs heavily on top of his shoulder. Hiccups has to get Toothless out of here, he’s the only one that he has left. Each step sends a sharp pain across his side where he landed roughly against the stone floor.

“I have to get out of here” Hiccup mutters, needing to say something to fill the silence that has enveloped the Great Hall. He’s always hated silence.

His steps are weak and his arms tremble when he opens the giant wooden doors that serve as the entrance for the Great Hall. It’s just another reminder of how much Hiccup doesn’t fit in, most Vikings can open the door without a problem but not him, he is a talking fishbone. The sun hits his skin as he steps out into the chaos that has become his village. Preparations to attack the dragons nest are happening all around him.

Hiccup inwardly curses himself for revealing how to get to the dragon’s nest to Stoick. He hadn’t meant to but in his desperation to get Stoick to listen to him, to stop his father from leading their village to certain death, he had revealed the location and how only a dragon could locate the island the nest is on. Vikings rush past coming from all directions carrying weapons and supplies down to the port where the boats were being prepared for war against the dragons at the nest.

Pressing himself against the rough stone of the mountain where the Great Hall was carved into, Hiccup barely escapes being trampled by the large group of Vikings who run by not even noticing him. Of course they don’t, they never have. Especially now with Stoick having ordered everything to be ready by sunrise everyone’s too busy to notice as Hiccup begins to limp his way to the forge.

The forge is closed and empty, thank thor, as Hiccup arrives quietly entering through the back door which only he and Gobber have a key to ever since the twins tried to break in. The forge is quiet and empty in the way it always is before battles or raids, when all the weapons have been sharpened and finished. Most of the weapons Hiccup assumes are being distributed to all capable Vikings who are going with Stoick.

Heading to the small back door at the end that houses his small office Hiccup grabs some supplies, an empty journal as well as a backpack filled with extra clothes that Hiccup keeps at the forge for the long nights that he’s too tired or too focused to head back home. Opening the back room Hiccup heads for his supplies and several pages of designs that he made for Toothless and some that he made for himself.

Once Hiccup makes sure that he has packed everything into the small backpack he begins to make his way back into the town which has begun to quiet down as the day begins to end. The sun is beginning to deep down below the mountain that makes up the southern part of Berk.

Hiccup needs to find out where Toothless is being kept, his heart hurts at just the thought of his best friend being captured and scared. The night fury had not only spared him back in the forest but fought for him when Astrid came with the Vikings. Hiccup owns Toothless his life and right now Toothless needs him.

Sinking back into the shadows Hiccup steps closer to the teens who he had found gathered outside the forge. They’re talking quietly as if not wanting others to hear them but not one of them notices that Hiccup is watching them. Hiccup notes with slight confusion that Astrid does not seem to be among the group, probably off getting congratulated by everyone for capturing the Night Fury.

“I heard Stoick talking about putting the Night Fury in the arena,” Snotlout, Hiccup's cousin, says with a greedy expression on his face. “I heard that they’re going to use it instead of the Monstrous Nightmare for Astrid.”

Hiccup groans inwardly, of course with him gone then it would be Astrid who would win the “honor” of killing her first Viking in the ring. It was a tradition that had never sat well with Hiccup, even before meeting Toothless. Hiccup walks as quietly and as quickly as he can away from the group having gotten the information he needs. The arena is nestled in over the small harbor on the west part of the island and it isn’t long before hiccup is climbing down the steps to reach the arena.

The arena is a pit dug down into the stone with a web of chains serving as a ceiling. As usual Hiccup finds no guards at the entrance since the Berkians were too trusting in their reputation to think that anyone would dare steal from them. The chains above rattle with each gust of wind disguising any other sound.

The stone echoes across the arena as Hiccup walks in, the pain in his side has faded to a dull thrumming. There’s six cages for dragons inside the arena and Hiccup realizes that he doesn’t know which one Toothless is in.

“Toothless?” Hiccup calls out hoping that the dragon will be able to hear him through the wooden door that separated them.

A small warble comes from the door farthest to the right and Hiccup smiles recognizing that sound as clear as if it was his own voice. Pulling the level that sits next to the door Hiccup steps into the small cage.

A shadow moves to his left and Hiccup is knocked to the ground faster than he can react. A small laugh escapes him as Toothless begins to lick him with clear affection.

“I’m happy to see you too bud” Hiccup says, pushing the dragon off of him.

Toothless lets out a happy warble as he steps back from his rider. Hiccup stands up and hugs the dragon much to his confusion. Stepping back Hiccup scans Toothless making sure that the night fury doesn’t have any injuries.

“We have to get out of here” Hiccup declares once he confirms that both Toothless and his prosthetic tail are set for flight.

Leading Toothless out of the cage Hiccup begins to prepare to get on Toothless but the dragon looks back at the other cages which still have Dragons in them. Hiccup sighs knowing that he would never forgive himself if he left them behind.

“Ok bud but you have to help me” Hiccup agrees heading back to the cages.

A few minutes later, all the dragons have been let out and Hiccup and Toothless have worked together to make sure that all five dragons are nice and calm. The dragons consist of a Nadder, Gronkle, Zippleback, Monstrous Nightmare and a small Terrible Terror.

“We have to get to the nest before Berk does,” Hiccup says to the dragons who look at him in confusion. “As much as I hate this place I don’t want all of them to die.”

Toothless bumps his head under Hiccup's hand in a show of support and agreement. Though he might also just be seeking affection. Hiccup pats Toothless in thanks.

Turning to the other dragons Hiccup addresses them, “if any of you want to go far away from here, I’d understand” he says but none of the dragons make any move to go instead the Nadder comes closer and nudges Hiccup with her snout like Toothless did earlier.

A small smile spreads across Hiccup's face as he looks across at the dragons standing with the Nadder “ok,” he says, nodding warmth filling his chest as he realizes that he's not alone anymore. It’s a weird feeling after being alone for most of his life.

Opening the main door to the arena Hiccup winces at the loud clanging sound that follows the door opening. Damn it he needs to get out of here before the night guards come to investigate. While Berk was dumb enough not to have guards at the arena, there were always guards at night looking for any sign of raids. Hiccup is climbing onto the back of Toothless when he notices movement in the bridge coming to the arena.

“Ok time to go” Hiccup mutters “before we all become fish food.”

Toothless takes off into the sky and is quickly followed by the other dragons except for the Terror who decides that riding on the Nadder is better than flying himself. Hiccup chuckles slightly at the sight. Turning back to face the arena Toothless shoots his plasma blast at the metal chains holding the roof causing it to collapse making sure that it will be unusable for a while.

Screams and shouts are heard over on the bridge but Toothless shoots off into the night air with the small flock of dragons. Hiccup smiles at the wind rushing past as each flap of wing takes him away from what came before.

Chapter Text

The sun was just beginning to rise as Hiccup and the dragons began to approach the volcanic island that houses the dragon’s nest and the dragon that Hiccup has begun to call “The Red Death”, the queen of the nest. They had stopped to eat and rest halfway to the island but wanted to get to the island by sunrise since Hiccup knew the Vikings would leave as soon as the sun was up and he needed to finish all of this before Berk got here or they would be fighting a battle on two sides.

The dragons land on a small sea stack about a mile off the shore just close enough away to have a quick look at the land but far enough that any dragon peeking their head out could pass over them despite the dragon's colorful scales which the thick fog helps to hide. Toothless shakes himself as Hiccup climbs off his dragon to give him a small break and drops the small backpack on the ground.

“We need to find a way to call out the queen without having the other dragons attack” Hiccup mutters looking at the dragons as if they could help him plan the attack. After a second of looking at them Hiccup shakes his head

“Of course not, you're dragons” Hiccup turns back to the island and looks over the volcanic structure seeking any weakness or entrances.

Just on the bottom of the volcano about 25 meters off the ground there’s a small hole barely big enough for a dragon to fit through. A plan begins to form in Hiccup's head as he stares at the small hole then back at Toothless. A few plasma blasts could do the trick to draw out the dragons and their queen but Hiccup hasn’t exactly been testing how strong Night Fury’s blasts are, having been too focused on getting Toothless back in the air.

Climbing back onto Toothless, Hiccup looks back at the other dragons and nods before taking off and flying for the island. The sounds of dragons thrilling become louder and louder as they come closer to the island. Hiccup looks around for the source of the noise but finds no dragon in clear sight. Something moves up ahead but Hiccup only manages to catch the glimpse of a Monstrous Nightmare tail disappearing into the volcano.

Toothless touches down on the pebbles that make up the shore and the noise that had surrounded the island for the last couple of minutes disappears leaving a deafening silence in their wake. The dragons take a step back behind Hiccup, clearly agitated by being so close to the nest and the queen who’s enslaved the dragons. Toothless shifts next to him but doesn’t step back causing the two of them to stand between the nest and the small flock of dragons.

Hiccup doesn’t get off Toothless’s back just in case that his plan goes to shit and they need a quick escape. “Ok bud I want you to aim straight for that hole” Hiccup explains to the dragon who looks back at him over his shoulder and nods or at least attempts to. Hiccup chuckles at the awkward human-like movement of his dragon.

Toothless begins to inhale sharply and a green gas appears in his mouth as Toothless begins to prepare to blast. A flash of purple light shines as Toothless shots and Hiccup looks away closing his eyes to avoid the bright flash of light. A large booming sounds as the plasma blast hits its target. The rock trembles but doesn’t hogive way yet.

“Again” Hiccup commands

The blast sounds again and this time there’s several large booming sounds as the rocks give way and the hole expands to become the height of three dragons and the width of two. The hole reveals a tunnel heading deeper into the volcano. Hiccup nods at Nadder who in turn shoots out a Magnesium fire that lights up the tunnel which is lined with dragons clustered up against the wall.

Hiccup’s breath catches in his throat at the amount of dragons that are on the wall. It’s more dragons that Hiccup has seen even during raids and the short visit that happened when Toothless found the nest. His heart starts pounding in his chest as the dragons begin to shift inside the tunnel. One by one the dragons begin to take flight until the entire is filled with the flying lizards. The sound of flapping wings fills the air like thousands of pages fluttering in the wind.

Hiccup feels Toothless tense below him but the dragons flying out the hole ignore their small group. They fly low close enough that if Hiccup wanted he could reach out and touch their scales but none of the dragons are attacking. Instead they spread through the sea stacks surrounding the island. Yet even as the threat of the amount of dragons lessened Hiccup still couldn’t relax, not when he knew what the volcano truly hid.

The ground begins to shake as the last few stragglers and Hiccup feels how the hair on the back of his neck rises as the whole volcano shakes. The dragons behind Hiccup shift their wings getting ready to take flight but Hiccup stops them with hand. Cracks form underneath their feat as a great roar sounds from inside the mountain.

Hiccup's ears ring but none of the dragons or him dare to move a muscle when the mountain bursts open and the Red Death comes crashing out Hiccup lets toothless and the rest of the dragons hop into the sky in order to avoid the burst of fire that the red death shoots in their direction. The dragons scatter heading into the sea stacks. The Red Death turns its attention to the sky. It sniffs the air, searching for their scent.

Hiccup looks at the other dragons and nods. Heading into the sky hiccup motions for Toothless to blast. The shot hits its target and explodes against the back of the Red Death’s head, it turns in surprises as the Toothless flies through the flames followed closely by the rest of the dragons. They roll in unison capturing the attention of the Red death.

The giant dragon shakes off the blast and snaps its jaw in their direction. Hiccup quickly twists in his seat leading the small flock out of immediate danger. They fly higher, circling the dragon's head. Hiccup looks down at the dragon noticing how heavily armored its scales are and the tailHiccup yells seem to resemble a Morningstar mace that Hiccup has seen the Vikings in his village use. The dragon's small eyes stare at the group and hiccup notices it has three pairs of eyes.

”Ok, I need you guys to distract it while I come up with a plan” Hiccup says before peeling away from the flock. The rest of the dragons go and shoot small blasts of fire at the dragon just enough to distract it but not enough to actually harm it. The Red Death shoots out a spray of fire toward the zippleback who barely manages to dodge it.

Hiccup begins to form a plan in his head as he recalls a small incident that had happened directly after his first flight with Toothless. His thoughts however are cut short when he hears a roar coming from down below. The Nadder is being sucked in by the Red Death as it inhales getting ready to blast fire again.

Toothless and Hiccup begin a dive, the familiar whistling of the Night Fury cuts through the air and Hiccup allows it to wash over him and calm his racing heart. Once they’re close enough Toothless shoots out a plasma blast hitting the Red Death on the head and jolts it’s head sideways. The Nadder escapes as Hiccup and Toothless climb higher into the sky again.

Signalling to the dragons to retreat Hiccup waits until the dragons disappear around the island before he turns back to scan the Red Death bodies again and notices that it has wings, though they look to be too small for that monster.

“That thing has wings! Let’s see if it can use them!” Hiccup calls out over the wind to Toothless who instantly dives back into a dive.

Toothless shoots out several plasma blasts at the beast before climbing back into the sky. The ground trembles as the Red Death unfolds its wings and the unuse is clear as rocks tumbles off the wings. Hiccup looks back and his heart begins to race again as the Red Death takes flight.

”Well it can fly” Hiccup exclaims, voice steady despite the nerves rushing through his body.

As the Red Death begins chasing them Hiccup leans forward in his saddle stirring Toothless towards the sea stacks that line the shore of the volcanic island hoping to lose the dragon in the tight turns and tunnels. Hiccup's eyes widen as the sea stacks don’t even stop the Red Death who just flies straight into them sending a scatter of rocks into the ocean below.

Realizing that heading into the sea stacks isn’t going to work Hiccup switches tactics and begins to pull up on Toothless’s saddle making the dragon begin to move up. The Red Death follows them into the clouds above quickly closing the gap between them. It opens its mouth to begin to blast fire.

”Ok bud it’s time to disappear,” Hiccup warns as he twists in the saddle to avoid the blast of fire.

They speed forward into the cloud losing the monster who roars in irritation. From out of nowhere, Toothless dives at the Red Death shooting a plasma blast that punctures a hole in its wing. Toothless and Hiccup fly through the new opening before the Red Death can get a clear shot at them.

They repeat the song and dance a couple times until the Red Death roars in frustration and whirls around, unleashing fire blindly in all directions. Hiccup’s eyes widen as the fire comes closer to the duo.

“Watch out!” Hiccup warns trying to get himself and Toothless out of danger but he’s too late and the fire hits Toothless’s prosthetic tails heavily damaging it.

”Damn it, times up” Hiccup says, turning his attention back to the monster “Let’s see if this works.”

Hiccup pulls at the saddle turning Toothless into a turn. As Toothless begins to go into a dive he sends a final plasma blast at the Red Death, insulting it into giving chase. Toothless pumps his wings flying faster than he’s ever gone so that he and Hiccup can stay just added of the Red Death. Hiccup glances back to check on Toothless’s tail and sees that it’s quickly disintegrating.

“Hold on, bud. Just a bit longer” Hiccup says but despite his reassuring words, there’s an undertone of concern that damps it.

The Red Death opens his mouth and the familiar green gas and soft hiss that follows a blast of fire fills the air until it begins to trail the giant as it dives after the duo.

”Now Toothless!” Hiccup yells over the wind rushing past.

Toothless whirls around and shoots a plasma blast directly down the monster's throat, the gas that had been building up quickly sparks fire and the dragon begins to explode from within. It’s wings begin to dissolve and its eyes widen in fear and pain.

The ground quickly starts rushing forward and both dragons throw open their wings trying to slow their own descents. However because of the punctured and damaged wings the Red Death isn’t able to stop it’s descent in time and it crashes into the ground head-first. It explodes on impact causing the already big fire to expand.

Hiccup and Toothless fly towards the sky weaving through the spikes that rest on the Red Death’s back plates but even with Toothless flapping his wings as strongly as he can, his tail tears away and Hiccup’s pedal goes dead.

Without the prosthetic tail, Hiccup and Toothless are dead in the sky unable to maneuver at all. The giant Morningstar tail swings towards Toothless hitting him straight in the side knocking Hiccup off the saddle and unconscious.

Toothless struggles with all his might managing to twist his body to dive after Hiccup but the fireball moves faster than he can and he only manages to grab onto Hiccup by his leg having to use his teeth to secure Hiccup before pulling him towards himself and wrapping his wings around Hiccup.

Hiccup jolts awake with the impact of the fall but a sharp stinging pain spreads throughout his entire body starting from his leg and his vision begins to fade again and the last thing he remembers is the sensation of being lifted up and the flutter of wings before the world goes dark.

Chapter Text

Five years later…
Astrid pulls tightly against the chains that bind her to the wooden mast on her boat. The stupid dragon hunters had tied her to her boat and sent her off after she got captured. There’s a storm farther in the horizon which the boat is heading straight to. The dragon hunters couldn’t even be bothered to finish her themselves.

Stoick had sent her to one of Viggo’s hideouts after Viggo had sent an army of Singetails to Berk a few months ago as a warning. It had caught Berk completely off guard since they hadn’t had raids in five years. Stoick had ordered Astrid as a wing maiden to get information about their enemy so Astrid had left Berk .

Astrid looks up at the sky hearing wing beats in the sky. Great, that's exactly what she needs right now. She sees a figure in the sky but it passes over her boat, thank Thor. Astrid only manages to catch a glimpse of black scales.

Her breath catches in her throat at the sight. She shakes her head trying to clear those memories. She can still remember the black dragon that Hiccup had and the scene that they had found in the nest. The blood and the black scales scattered on the shore. They never even found a body.

Not many people had grieved for Hiccup, not after he had chosen to befriend a dragon. Clearly though it hadn’t lasted long… Stoick had been heartbroken though and is still refusing to name a new heir even now five years after his death. Astrid herself had just felt guilt, maybe if she had talked to Hiccup or been stronger she could have kept him alive.

The storm clouds were getting closer in the horizon and Astrid was getting more desperate as her boat began heading towards the storm. The information that Astrid had taken from Viggo hadn’t even been anything important, just some locations of the dragon hunters hideout, but Berk had already found over half of them and most of them had been deserted as if they knew they were coming.

Astrid looks up as the first raindrops begin to hit her skin. The clouds have turned into an angry black shade and flashes of lighting light up the sky every so often. Astrid struggles reaching her leg out trying to grab the dagger that lays just out of reach. It was another thing that the dragon hunters had done, just to taunt her.

Astrid sags against the mast, her body hurt from everything the dragon hunters did to her. Astrid had fought against them but even the best warrior can’t fight off hundreds at a time, especially when her axe was taken from her. She had grabbed and used another weapon but it hadn’t been as effective. That axe was made by Hiccup as a present from her parents for her 8th birthday and to start her training.

The axe had been kept by the dragon hunters, the thought of it sent a pang of hurt through Astrid since it had been her favorite weapon as well as her most familiar one. The rain begins to pour down more heavily than before and the water seeps into Astrid's clothes and hair. The soft material of her shirt while helpful in combat as it allows her to move free does very little in warming her up.

A lighting strikes way too close to the boat for Astrid’s comfort. It lights up the sky illuminating the boat and the endless ocean that means to surround it. Astrid’s heart pounds in her chest filling her ears with drumming. This can not be how she dies, not tied up and helpless. Astrid has contemplated her death before, it started after Hiccup died for it had been the first time that Astrid had faced death from someone her age. She had always thought she'd die fighting with either dragon or hunter.

The rain continues to get heavier with every moment and it’s gotten to the point where Astrid can’t see even 10 feet ahead of her from the rain. Astrid lets out a scream of frustration as she struggles against the still unmoving ropes that bind her. The lighting comes closer to her boat with each strike.

”Oh Thor please” Astrid prays, hoping that the god of thunder will be on her side despite Astrid not really going to the temple often enough for the god to care.

A piece of wood falls next to Astrid as a lighting strike hits the top of the boat. The boat shudders as the wind picks up. Astrid fights against her bindings, knowing she only has minutes before the wood gives in. The wind howls and the rain blurs her vision and still, she can’t get free. Astrid reaches out with her leg managing to catch the small sharp piece of wood with her leg.

Astrid smiles as she gets a better grip on the small piece of wood. Kicking it up she manages to catch it with her hand. She begins to saw the rope with the wood using its sharp point to her advantage. A sharp creaking sounds as the first thread of the rope gives way. Astrid’s efforts increase as more threads begin to break slowly freeing her.

The rope falls onto the ground and Astrid quickly gets up and rushes to the helm of the ship. Looking around Astrid searches for any sign of a break in the storm but all she sees is black clouds and endless ocean. Another lighting strike hits the boat and the sail bursts into flames. Astrid releases a string of curses as wood begins to creak and crack.

The mast breaks in half with a crack as loud as the thunder surrounding the boat. Astrid jumps back at the last second before the mast hits directly over the steering wheel. A loud boom sounds as the boat splits in half under the weight and impact of the mast. Astrid yells as the ground under her tilts along with the boat. The water rushes up to meet her and Astrid lets out a hiss as the cold water envelops her legs.

Clinging to a broken piece of wood Astrid desperately tries to pull herself up but a wave crashes over her pulling her back down into the icy depths. Coughing out water Astrid attempts to tread water but it’s hopeless. She begins to tire as the waves keep crashing over her. Clearly being held captive for days and being malnourished have its effects.

Astrid begins to sink under the water and her vision becomes cloudy as her body begins to give up. In a final attempt Astrid pushes up with all her strength but her arms fail sinking her like dead weight. As Astrid’s vision begins to blacken she fills herself and begins to rise and a weightless feeling comes over her. So this is what it must feel like to die.

Closing her eyes Astrid accepts her fate, maybe now the guilt of everything might finally go away. A flap of wings sound far away or maybe it’s close by, Astrid can’t tell the difference anymore. Her consciousness fades in and out but Astrid feels wind rushing past her every time she becomes awake enough to feel anything.

The weightless feeling returns but only for a split second before Astrid feels herself begin to fall, maybe the gods didn’t want her, maybe they saw how she killed Hiccup and decided that she wasn’t worth it. Her body stops in a crash and a blinding pain flashes across her head as it hits the ground. Her consciousness fades away completely but just before she hears a voice so familiar but so distant.