Leaves

This is a little story about Berk in the fall. In my mind, there are still four seasons in Berk, but summer, spring and fall are all cramed together. Meanwhile, winter lasts for, like, three quarters of the year. So, I'm writing about it being fall and Hiccup and Toothless are out to enjoy it while it lasts. So, what do you think will happen when Stoick makes them 'rake' the lawn?

Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or any of it's characters. However, I do own the DVD and The Legend of the Boneknapper thing. Enjoy!

"Yes!" Hiccup yells as he looks outside early one fall morning. Toothless, hearing his friend's yell, immediantly jumps awake, accidentally falling off his rafter perch. The crash caused by the fall makes Hiccup stumble, as he has yet to put on his prosthetic leg. Toothless, shaking his head dazedly, jumps up and rushes over to his friend, nosing about worriedly.

"It's alright, Toothless!" Hiccup laughs. "I'm okay! Stop it!" Toothless stops, sitting back to examine the young boy for a few minutes before running to the side of Hiccup's bed and grabbing his leg.

"Thanks, bud." Hiccup says as he pulls himself up. He then attaches the leg, slipping it about so that it feels at least partially comfterable. "But look, Toothless!" He exclaims suddenly, remembering the cause for his earlier excitement. "Look outside! The lawn's covered in leaves! You know what that means!"

Toothless nodded. It meant that it was time for the annual Leaf Pile Building. This was Hiccup's favorite time of year, because it meant that the dragons were needed. At the Building, as many leaves as possible were needed, and so, the dragons would fly them to the center of the village from their houses to create the biggest pile possible. Later, all the kids would jump in it and have a huge leaf fight. The dragons often participated and if you were looking down at the scene, you might think that Berk had been hit by a storm of leaves that covered the sky so thickly, you couldn't make out any distinguishable human or dragon figures.

"C'mon, let's go!" Hiccup says, racing off in the direction of the stairs. Toothless shook his head slowly before rushing off after the boy.

Stoick was in the kitchen as the duo ran past.

"Hi Dad! Bye, Dad!" Hiccup called, hurrying for the door. "No time to talk!" He had just reached his destination when he heard a powerful voice behind him.

"Hiccup."

Reluctently, the small boy turned to face his father. "Yeah?"

"I know what you're thinking, son. I admit, I was thinking about it too when I saw the ground." Stoick told him. "But I'm afraid that the Building is canceled for today."

":What? Why?" Hiccup exclaimed unhappily.

"Spitelout came in earlier. It appears that he went around to see if everybody's dragons were ready for today. Unfortunately, many dragons have a cold and cannot help. And those that are healthy are preparing for their immigration south." Hiccup nodded. Few dragons choose to migrate to the south for the winter season, but if there were a lot sick, the few leaving would impact today's expectations greatly. "We'll have to wait for the dragons to get healthy again. But, in the meantime, go and clear the lawn, will you? Spitelout almost fell because he couldn't see the steps."

"But -" Hiccup tried to protest.

"Now, Hiccup." Stoick ordered him sternly. Hiccup recognized that tone of voice. That was the tone that said, do what I say or else. Sighing, Hiccup and Toothless headed out front.

For a moment, they stood there, looking at all the leaves in front of them. Since they lived so close to the forest, the leaves from the trees would blow onto their lawn, giving them the most leaves out of any house in the village. Under regular circumstances, he'd be happy about this, but now he was just annoyed. Eventually, Hiccup sighed and turned to Toothless. "Go and play, bud. I'm gonna be a while."

And with that, Hiccup turned and began gathering the leaves in his arms and setting them down in one spot. Toothless regarded his human's behavior, wondering what he was doing. Finally, it dawned on Toothless that Hiccup was trying to make a pile of leaves, like the one they made in the center of the village every year. He'll be there for ages. Toothless thought disdainfully, surveying Hiccup as he filled his arms up with leaves again. Then Toothless realized that he could help. He spread his tail out across the lawn and swept it towards the pile, causing an onslaught of leaves to fly towards Hiccup. There was a slight confusion as the leaves swarmed about, but finally Toothless saw Hiccup. He was standing, shocked, in the middle of what seemed like thousands of leaves. He looked at Toothless, mouth gaping, and then at the leaves, a look of amusement appearing on his face.

"That's it." Hiccup told the innocent-looking dragon. "It's on."

Yeah! Now, who can guess what's gonna happen next? Leaf fight! I betcha Toothless would win. I got this idea a day or two ago when me and my brother were playing in the leaves. We made this HUGE pile, and then had a leaf fight, so I started thinking, what would happen if Toothless and Hiccup were having a leaf fight? It didn't turn out quite like what I thought it would be, but whatever. And by the way, does anyone know what the Whimsical Sonata contest is? Thanks.

Penelope, over and out!