Author's Note:
Hello all and though this may look like another new story, it's more of a tester. It's an idea I had for a new AU and I wanted to see what people thought of it first. I'm still writing my other fics but I wanted to get this idea down while it was still fresh, its more Hiccup/Snotlout brotherly stuff but a different sort of AU from my other stories. For the purposes of this AU, Valka wasn't carried off by Cloudjumper to the Sanctuary, hence why she's around when she shouldn't be.
Please give me feedback on this as I'm curious to see what people think of the possibilities of this AU and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
I do not own any aspect of How to Train Your Dragon.
Chapter 1
Darkness was across Berk.
Night had fallen along with a sky of thick clouds, blocking out the moon and the stars and throwing a shadow over the island and the village that stubbornly held out upon its cliffs.
Within one of the huts, in the safety of its warm, homely glow, two boys laughed happily as they chased each other around the floor. A slender, dark-haired woman, sat in a chair nearby sewing peacefully, a gentle smile graced her lips as she listened to the boys playing.
"I'm gonna catch you Snotlout!"
"No way Hiccup!"
There was a clatter as the younger of the two accidently toppled a chair, the woman rolled her eyes and spoke with a sigh, "Snotlout, be careful in the house!"
The dark-haired boy shuffled guiltily, "Sorry Aunt Valka."
She easily stood and straightened the chair, "No harm done dear, just remember that you can't careen around inside the way you do outside. Thor knows that Hiccup topples enough furniture without you helping."
"I do not!"
The older of the boys folded his arms and pretended to pout as Snotlout giggled, Valka shook her head fondly, "You look just like your father when you do that."
Instantly, Hiccup grinned and stood straighter, trying hard to look taller, "Really Mama?"
A sudden crash startled them all and Valka had both boys behind her in a flash. In the doorway stood a tall, menacing man and it was obvious that he was not there for any good reason. Valka carefully took a sword from one of her husband's nearby storage barrels and levelled it at the intruder, "I will not give you another warning, leave now."
The stranger made a scoffing sound and stepped into the hut, Valka spoke urgently to the children, "Hiccup, Snotlout, stay back!"
The man charged and Valka swung her weapon, nicking the man's arm and yelling as she did so, "STOICK!"
The man snarled in pain and swung his fist at her, striking her solidly in the head. She staggered in a daze and collapsed right in front of a barrel where the two boys had taken cover, Hiccup's terrified eyes stared at her, "Mama?"
She looked him straight in the eye, "Hiccup, take Snotlout and find your dad, okay?" He hesitated and she repeated herself in a more commanding voice, "Okay!?"
The boy nodded and grabbed his cousin's hand, the man saw them bolting for the door and moved to grab them but Valka was up and slashed the sword down his back.
The man's scream ringing in their ears, the cousins ran.
Outside was chaos.
Roars and yells filled the air as dragons swooped overhead. A dragon raid had started in the last few moments and was already in full swing, blazing buildings were being swiftly put out by firefighting crews as others sprinted to and fro with weapons and traps to combat the beasts.
Hiccup was lost in the confusion, he couldn't understand anything of what was happening and he could hear Snotlout sobbing with fear as he gripped his older cousin's hand tightly. In Hiccup's case, his complete focus on finding his Papa overruled everything else, he had no idea what was going on but his papa could fix it, he always did. Pulling the younger boy along, Hiccup ran through the madness, yelling out with all his might, "PAPA! PAPA!"
His cries were lost in the clamour of battle and Vikings were too focused on defending their home to notice the two small boys, Hiccup spotted the all-important form of his Papa at one of the catapult towers and he ran that way still yelling, "PAPA!"
Suddenly, he was yanked upwards and he heard Snotlout screaming in terror, he looked upwards right into the face of the man who'd broken into the house and screamed as well. The man sneered and began running away towards the edge of the village, holding the boys tightly in his arms. Snotlout howled for his own papa and Hiccup kicked and struggled practically screeching, "PAPA, HELP!"
Their cries went unheard and the man took them further and further away from the village and away from their families into the darkness.
Hiccup woke with a jolt as he snapped out of his nightmarish memory.
He panicked for a few moments, not remembering where he was, then, he registered the low rumble of Toothless breathing beside him and the comfortingly familiar pressure on his back. Slowly, he returned his breathing to normal as he calmed down and he slowly sat up, he felt movement behind him and smiled.
As always, if he woke up, Snotlout woke up.
The younger cousin leaned back against Hiccup's back, "You had the dream again."
It was a statement of fact but Hiccup answered anyway, the way he had done so many times before, "Yeah."
"Me to."
Snotlout sighed and Hiccup placed his hand on the scarred back of his cousin's hand comfortingly, "We'll get back there Snotlout, one day."
He knew that the younger one was smiling, "I know."
Toothless pushed his face up to Hiccup's and rumbled in concern, the boy smiled and ran his hand over the Night Fury's heavily scarred snout, "It's okay bud, just some bad memories of when we were taken."
The dragon growled in understanding and Hiccup knew that a similar conversation was playing out behind him between Snotlout and Hookfang, a Monstrous Nightmare.
How he and Snotlout had formed such close bonds with these dragons when it had just been them on their own for years Hiccup had no idea. Years of him and Snotlout imprisoned together, bound together, worked together, beaten together, it had changed them. They knew everything about each other, how they worked, how they thought, even the distance between them on the rare occasions they were separated. When one woke up, the other woke up, when one had nightmares, so did the other, they had spent so long protecting and supporting each other they weren't sure what would happen if one of them died. It was how they'd survived ever since the night they'd been stolen from their home, the home they were trying to get back to now that they'd finally escaped their years of captivity.
Hiccup briefly rubbed his forehead against Toothless' snout and lay down to sleep once more, feeling Snotlout do the same thing behind him. At the same time, the two cousins closed their eyes and drifted into shallow sleep.
They slept back to back, the way they'd done for years.
PS-So there we go, one tester chapter for a new AU. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully see you soon.
