AN: This is an idea I've been playing around with for a while- It takes place smack in the middle of the time skip between the 2 movies. I haven't finished writing the story yet so updates will be sporadic... I don't know much about Viking history- I'm just a fan of HTTYD, so please be kind. Other than that I own NOTHING! I made up Burp and the Bone Breaker Tribe so any similarities are purely coincidental. I do NOT own HTTYD!

*~*11*11*~*

Today was the day.

Hiccup groaned and sat up slowly, scratching his head and looking around his room.

In the corner, Toothless grunted in his sleep and Hiccup glared jealously at him.

"Lucky dragon."

Shoving off his blanket, Hiccup attached his prosthetic leg, stood up and stretched before making his way downstairs.

His father wasn't in the house so he grabbed a mug of yak milk and went outside to look for him.

Shivering from the cold, he found him standing by the docks looking out at the ocean.

"Uh… morning, dad."

"Hiccup."

"Are they… are they here yet?"

"Not yet. Any minute now."

"Oh… well, okay. I'm just gonna go ride with Toothless, then, uh, I'll be at the house."

"Just a moment now, I'd like to speak with you."

Stoick turned around and Hiccup cringed.

"Yeah?"

"Now, I know you and your cousin haven't been friendly in recent years, but this is the first time he's coming to Berk in years. Can you at least try to be polite?"

Hiccup sighed,

"Yeah, dad… Sure I will."

Stoick grinned,

"Good boy, now go make sure Toothless is prepared for a guest- don't want him taking a bite out of your cousin's leg, now do we?"

Stoick chuckled but Hiccup rolled his eyes,

"Toothless would never," he stopped and took a deep breath, "okay dad, sure. I'll go do that now."

*~*11*11*~*

Back at the house, Toothless was waiting outside, pacing the length of the front yard anxiously. When he saw Hiccup approaching he ran to greet him.

"Hey, buddy."

Toothless rubbed his nose against Hiccup's chest, purring.

"Good to see you too… hey, remember what I said the other day? About my cousin coming?"

Toothless stopped purring and blinked once.

"Well, he's coming today and I need you to be on your best behavior- okay?"

Toothless grunted.

"Good dragon… now let's go flying."

*~*11*11*~*

The sky was the only place Hiccup felt at ease.

Even after the battle with the Red Death when everyone started to accept him, there were times when Hiccup still felt like the odd man out.

It was times like that when he took to the sky.

Up there, it was just him, Toothless, and unlimited possibilities.

They spent an hour in the sky, doing flips, dives, and- Hiccup's personal favorite- free falls.

When they finally landed, Hiccup left Toothless with a bucket of fish and went to rejoin his father at the docks.

A large group of people had gathered around his father and Hiccup scowled.

Burp had a welcoming committee.

He tore his gaze away from the group and looked at the horizon, his stomach dropping at the sight of a ship.

He was here.

*~*11*11*~*

Hiccup stood beside his father as the boat got closer and closer to the dock.

At the bow, an intimidatingly tall figure was hidden in the shadow of the sails, his hands resting nonchalantly on his hips.

When the ship hit the dock, some sailors let the ramp down and the tall figure left the shadows of the sails to make his way to the dock, spreading his arms as his welcoming committee cried various greetings.

He waved to them but made a beeline to Stoick and Hiccup,

"Uncle Stoick! Well don't you look as vast as ever!"

"Burp!"

Stoick embraced the youth, encasing him in a rub-crunching hug.

Hiccup watched the exchange with a sour expression until they parted and the new arrival turned to face him.

He was tall and thin, yet his shoulders were broad and thick with muscles. His auburn hair was just visible under his helmet, and his green eyes were gleaming with excitement.

"Hiccup!"

Without warning, he was in a throttling hug, gasping for air.

"Why, you haven't changed a bit! Except for…"

The boy released him and took a step back as Hiccup rubbed his neck.

"What in Thor's name happened to your leg?"

Stoick clapped Hiccup on the back.

"That's a story for tonight! And Odin is it a good one! You just wait!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes,

"Yes I just can't wait to tell him."

Burp laughed loudly and obnoxiously.

"Aw, come now! You're not still mad about the last time I visited, are you?"

"You kidnapped me in the middle of the night, brought me to the beach, tied me up, and left me for dragon food."

Burp threw his head back and howled with laughter along with several members of his welcoming committee; even Stoick let out a chuckle.

"Oh I remember when we found you. Crying and screaming, you were!"

"What's this about Hiccup crying and screaming?"

Hiccup swirled around and, to his horror, saw Astrid approaching, pushing her way through the mob of Burp-admirers.

"Oh no, no, nothing! We were just-"

"And who is this?"

Burp's voice was too interested for Hiccup's liking, and he was about to respond when Stoick cut him off,

"This is Hiccup's lady friend, Astrid."

"Hiccup has a lady friend?"

Once again, he threw his head back and howled with laughter accompanied by some twitters from the crowd.

Hiccup turned to Astrid, bright red, and gestured to his cousin.

"Astrid, this is my cousin, Burp."

She eyed the laughing Viking with raised eyebrows, but made no comment.

When he finally calmed down, Burp brushed a tear from his eye and stood up,

"Well Astrid, it's a pleasure to meet you… Though I'm not quite sure what you're thinking- being with a boy like Hiccup, here."

He shook his head, chuckling while Hiccup turned even redder.

"So, uh, Burp, welcome to Berk and I will be going now."

He quickly stepped towards Astrid and, taking her wrist, began to tug her away when-

"Hiccup! You've forgotten: we need to introduce Burp to Toothless."

Hiccup stopped walking and dragged a hand down his face.

"Right, fine, fine… I forgot. Burp, Toothless- got it."

"That's my boy… now you hurry along. I'll get everything sorted out with Burp's ship."

After prying him away from his fans, Hiccup and Astrid led Burp to his house, where the barrel of fish was empty and Toothless was nowhere to be found.

Hiccup sighed and cupped his hands around his mouth,

"Toothless! C'mere, bud! I've got someone I want you to meet!"

Silence greeted him and Burp turned to Astrid,

"Who is he-?"

A creaking sound from above their heads caused everyone to look up. Toothless was sitting on the roof of Hiccup's house, looking down on the group with narrowed eyes.

Burp cursed and reached for a knife on his belt,

"Get back! Away, you nasty beast! Or I'll-"

"No! No, no!"

Hiccup grabbed his arm and wrenched the knife from his hand. Burp made a small sound of disbelief,

"Hiccup! What do you think you're doing?!"

He made a dive for his knife, but Hiccup passed it to Astrid, who caught it neatly and twirled it between her fingers.

"Burp, dragons here- dragons here are trained."

"Trained?! Hiccup have you gone mad?! You can't train these beasts!"

"Burp, listen…. No, on second thought… just watch."

He turned to Toothless and patted his knees,

"C'mere Toothless, come meet my cousin."

Toothless bared his teeth at them, growling.

"Now, now, is that any way to treat our guest? Come on, come down."

Toothless hesitated for a moment before gently crawling down the side of the house and walking to Hiccup's side.

"Burp, this is Toothless. Toothless, Burp."

Toothless growled at him and Hiccup sighed,

"He's not usually like this, you scared him"

Burp was silent, staring back and forth between Hiccup and Toothless before finally shaking his head.

"I don't believe it! You can actually control these beasts?"

Burp began circling Toothless, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped.

Hiccup made a hopeless gesture to Astrid behind Burp's back and she shook her head slowly before pulling him off to the side.

"This is the cousin who used to put dead rats in your boots and threaten to feed you to dragons?"

Hiccup sighed.

"The one and only… between him and Snotlout I'm seriously beginning to wonder if I was adopted."

Astrid rolled her eyes,

"Why is he here?"

Hiccup sighed again and glanced at Burp. He was now examining Toothless's tailfin and wearing an expression similar to that of a child on Snoggletog.

"His dad was my mom's brother. They used to visit us every summer- and as you can see he was very popular- but he stopped coming when my mom died. Burp turned eighteen a while ago and my dad said he's getting ready to become chief, and part of the preparations include traveling to neighboring islands and becoming familiar with the residents."

Hiccup stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked at a stray rock.

Approaching footsteps made them all turn around to see Stoick marching up to the house.

"Ah, good! I see you've met Toothless, then?"

Burp shook his head in amazement.

"You've outdone yourself this time, Uncle Stoick! How in the name of Thor did you train these beasts?"

Toothless growled and Stoick chuckled, but before he could speak Astrid cut him off.

"He didn't. Hiccup did."

It was silent for a moment, then Burp burst out laughing.

"Oh you're a funny lass you are! I like you!"

Astrid just stared at him until Stoick stepped up and rested a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"She's not kidding, Burp. Hiccup is the one who initiated peace with the dragons and ended the war."

Burp froze and looked back and forth between Stoick and Hiccup, as if he was expecting one of them to shout "just kidding!" When they didn't he only shook his head again and turned back to Toothless.

"Well then… I see he's missing a tailfin- how did that happen? And what does this contraption do? Does it help him fly?"

Burp directed the questions to Stoick but Hiccup cleared his throat,

"The tailfin helps him fly. Without it he can't keep himself in the air."

Burp looked at him incredulously.

"How did Gobber design such a tool?"

Hiccup curled his hands into fists and spoke through his teeth.

"He didn't. I did."

Burp smirked at him.

"Sure you did… Well then how does it work, Hiccup?"

Fighting the urge to smack his cousin in the face, Hiccup walked past him to mount Toothless.

He had just adjusted his prosthetic foot in the stirrup when he felt Burp grab his upper arm and wrench him away from Toothless.

"What in the name of Thor's hammer are you doing?!"

Toothless growled at abrupt way Burp handled Hiccup and he let go of his arm immediately.

"Burp- relax. You said you wanted to see how the tail worked and Toothless can only fly when I'm riding him."

Burp gawked.

"You actually ride these beasts?!"

"Yes- and will you stop calling them that?"

Burp just continued to gawk in amazement, mumbling "Odin's beard" under his breath as Hiccup heaved himself back onto the saddle and patted Toothless's head,

"Ready bud?"

Toothless grunted and spread his wings, causing Burp- who was standing too close- to stumble back and fall.

Despite himself, Hiccup grinned as he soared off into the air, the wind pushing his hair back off his forehead.

He'll admit that he showed off- but most of the acrobatics were Toothless's idea. After a while, the pair landed back in front of Burp, Stoick and Astrid, as well as a few other Vikings who had gathered to see the show, and get a chance to talk to Burp.

Astrid was wearing a smug expression as Burp babbled incoherently. As Hiccup dismounted he was able to make out a few things, such as "Thor" "Odin," along with a few other words he wouldn't dare repeat.

After a while he calmed down and stepped forward, running his hand along Toothless's saddle.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Hiccup ran a hand through his wind-tousled hair, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Well, it's really easy once you have your trust. All you have to do is-"

"Not you! The dragon!"

Hiccup's face fell and he shrugged,

"Yeah, Toothless is pretty amazing, that's for sure."

Burp turned back to them and put his hands on his hips.

"Right, then. When do I get a go?"

Hiccup burst out laughing.

"You- you can't be serious!"

"And why can't I?"

"Burp… you haven't been on Burp for an hour- you haven't even known Toothless for ten minutes!"

"And?"

"And it takes longer than that to earn a dragon's trust! Toothless doesn't let just anyone ride him."

Burp crossed his arms and glared at Hiccup,

"He lets you ride him- and you're a no one."

Silence followed his words and Hiccup felt blood rush to his face as a few of the gathered Vikings began whispering.

Astrid reached for her axe but Stoick stepped between them, efficiently putting an end to her action as well as the whispering.

"That's enough. Burp, let's go get you settled at the house. Hiccup was kind enough to give you his room for your stay."

Hiccup glared at him as he walked away with his father. When they were out of earshot he turned and rounded on Astrid.

"Can you believe him?! He hasn't even been on Berk for five minutes and he's already- UGH!"

Hiccup dragged his hands down his face and kicked at the grass.

Toothless whined and Astrid looked at him sadly,

"What he said was uncalled for and I would've slammed him with my axe if I could've… but don't you see, Hiccup? He's jealous."

Hiccup looked at her incredulously,

"Burp, the ever-muscular future chief of the Bone Breaker Tribe- jealous of me, a scrawny mess-up?"

Astrid lightly punched his shoulder,

"That scrawny mess-up has done more for a tribe that isn't his yet than the ever-muscular almost chief has done for his!"

"Yeah, but-"

"Not to mention everything he's done for Vikings in general."

Hiccup blushed slightly and looked down at the ground,

"Yeah but that doesn't mean he's jealous."

Astrid gave him an icy glare,

"Come on Hiccup! Last time he saw you all you were was a scrawny little mess-up. You couldn't walk out your front door without doing something wrong. And from what you've told me I can assume that even back then, Burp was a towering man with facial hair and had killed Thor only knows how many dragons! He felt superior to you."

Hiccup looked at her, his expression flat.

"Thank you, for summing that up.

"I'm not done, now listen… When he arrived here I bet he thought you were going to be the same as you were back then. Granted, you're still not as big- but you've done something! You've become someone! Someone who, if I might add, is much more appealing than he is."

Hiccup grinned at her and sighed.

"Okay, maybe I was being stupid… but I still can't believe he's staying here for a whole month."

"We'll just have to make the best of it… After all there is still one place you can go that he can't."

"Oh? And where might that be?"

Astrid smiled,

"The sky."