A/N: A few things I want to say before I start this story.

1. There may be a few controversial elements in here. Things that could be taken as "sending a message," either politically or otherwise. Let me just say, anything in this story is simply intended for good storytelling and plot development. No commentary on society or anything like that. It's better for me to say this now rather than later so that it doesn't off across as damage control if anyone makes any accusations as such.

2. Obligatory copyright stuff... I don't own HTTYD or anything related to it. That all belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell and whatnot. Also, the title of this first chapter is a reference to a book series which is owned by George R. R. Martin and not me. Finally, the story title belongs to a movie which, unfortunately, is owned by Christopher Nolan and not me.

3. I'll try and update this story every two weeks. If, for some reason, I can't make the deadline, I'll explain why.

So, everything that needs to be said, has been said. With no further adue, here is my story. Enjoy! :)

-AnOccupationalHazard

Berk winters were cold.

That was one of the first lessons that any inhabitant of Berk learned – that Berk's winters were as deadly and ferocious as any hostile dragon that they had ever encountered. The fact that they lived slightly south of Freezing-to-Death was only a small indicator of how cold Berk was. Going outside without a tunic? Suicide. If the cold didn't kill first, the ensuing fever would finish the job, especially since the cold choked the growth of any herbs that grew in Berk's rocky soil. Even going outside in one skin and a tunic was dangerous. One would need a minimum of two skins, plus a tunic and head-wrapping, to safely protect themselves from Berk's freezing weather. And even the husky Hooligans that walked outside had to fight a war to even stay on their feet in the face of the icy gales that whipped around the village. During blizzards, Berk became a world of white, coated with a thick blanket of snow. The sheer quantity of snow dumped during a blizzard often prevented the Vikings from walking easily or leaving their houses at all, trapping them inside.

And trapped inside is exactly where the Thorston family found themselves. Tuffnut sat cross-legged on the wooden floor next to the fire. Ruffnut lay unconscious next to him, her face battered with bruises inflicted by her twin brother only a few hours ago.

A weak coughing came from the other room. Tuffnut sighed.

Last winter had been so much better. They had celebrated their first Snoggletog in harmony with dragons; and the gods seemed to celebrate with them, giving Berk its warmest winter under Stoick the Vast's reign. Apparently, the gods felt the need to make up for that this winter. They had been snowed in for a week so far, and, of course, there was... He noticed a spark jumping from the burning logs in front of him. He smiled, watching the spark fly through the air and disappear back into the smoldering wood. Another spark came out. And then another one, this one landing on the floor between his legs.

A loud groan from next to him brought him back into reality.

"Well, look who's finally up," Tuffnut said, smirking.

"Shut up, dragon-breath," Ruffnut replied quietly. She rubbed her eyes and stood up.

"Hey. Not my fault you can't beat me in a fight."

"Pfft. I went easy on you, dung-for-brains; and you know it."

"Well, you were always easy." Tuffnut doubled over in laughter, holding his hands on his stomach. Ruffnut shot daggers at him. As he laughed, Ruffnut pulled him up by his hair and laid her fist into his face. He fell to the ground hard, clutching his nose.

"At least I can get laid without mead!" She screamed and shoved her boot into his stomach. Tuffnut grunted in response. She backed up, and Tuffnut rushed up to his feet.

"I'll make it a fair fight," Ruffnut snarled. "Unlike some people I know." The two ran at each other, threw each other to the ground, and started wrestling.

While they were fighting, Tuffnut Sr. walked into the room to watch them. He smiled, although a twinge of worry shone in his eyes. He had always liked the fact that his kids, no, his adults fought each other. It showed that they were true Vikings, that they were willing to fight, and that they enjoyed doing so. Ever since Berk made peace with dragons, however, their fights had become more and more violent. He always enjoyed their fighting, but he didn't want them to kill each other. He decided to watch them for a bit, anyway, letting his pride for them overcome his worries. They were Vikings, after all.

They didn't even notice him watching. Wow, they really did get into their fights.

"So, Ruffnut is finally up?"

Ruffnut looked up at Tuffnut Sr. and got off of her brother, who was whimpering in pain on the ground.

"Nope. I'm still unconscious," Ruffnut replied sarcastically. Tuffnut got up next to her, holding his nose.

"Okay. Good to hear." Tuffnut Sr. responded. "Now stop your bickering for a second. I need to tell you two something."

"Okay," Tuffnut mumbled. Ruffnut nodded.

"I'm going out to find some herbs for Reginleif."

The twins' eyes widened.

"I know, I know, we're snowed in, we're stuck in Berk's worst winter in a long time, and a blizzard is raging outside. But your mother's fever is getting worse; and we're out of herbs. If we don't get any more herbs soon, she'll die."

"How do you plan on actually getting outside?" Ruffnut asked softly. "We're snowed in, you know."

"Easy." Tuffnut Sr. shrugged. "Go through the smoke hole." The twins continued staring, speechless.

"Listen, I know that you're scared, especially considering that your mother may die. But the Elder's place isn't too far from here. It'll be easy. Run in, get the herbs, and run out." He walked back into the other room. "Tell me when the fire burns out." A coughing fit started from the other room.

"Will do," Ruffnut murmured. Tuffnut started stifling giggles. Ruffnut scowled and turned towards him.

"Laughing at our mother's sickness, are we?" She growled.

"Nope. I'm still unconscious," Tuffnut remarked in a girly voice. Ruffnut continued glaring at him.

"You sure are picking up from Berk's hottest scrawny blacksmith's apprentice." Tuffnut burst out into laughter, and Ruffnut's face turned a deep shade of red. She clenched her fist and punched Tuffnut in the stomach, a blow which forced him to fall to the ground and hold his stomach.

"Now look who's going easy."

Tuffnut again found himself staring into the fire. There was just something... nice about how the sparks leaped out of the fire and onto the floor or back into the fire. It reminded him of him, his sister, and his friends flying through the sky on their pet dragons. Oh, how he loved flying. The sensation of being off of the ground. The knowledge that one fall could result in grisly death. The risk in getting on the backs of the enemies that they had been fighting for the past three centuries. Surprisingly, it was more fun to fly dragons than actually killing them, although he certainly missed the latter.

And the fire itself was peaceful. The way it burned reminded him of waves rolling across the ocean. Even if the fire itself was chaotic and murderous – he and almost every Viking on Berk knew that first-hand –, the fire itself and the way it smoldered the logs in the fireplace was calming to him. That's something he had never noticed while fighting dragons. He found it interesting that such potentially destructive beasts as dragons were actually peaceful; and that their main weapon could be the same way.

Why Tuffnut stared into the fire, he had no idea. Maybe he was bored. Maybe he had gone crazy. Maybe it was both. The events of the past month could certainly be a reason for either to happen.

Their father had left for the herbs a few weeks ago. He said it would be simple – go outside, get herbs from the Elder, and come back. A one-day journey. But he still wasn't back. He was outside somewhere. Where outside, Tuffnut had no idea. All he knew was that Tuffnut Sr. was not in the Thorston household. To make matters worse, their mother had died only a week ago. The fever had claimed her life.

And to top it off, they were still snowed in.

Tuffnut turned towards Ruffnut. She sat at the table, staring into space. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was curled into a frown. She held a mug in her hand. She had been there all day. Tuffnut had half-expected her to throw things at him or maybe light the house on fire and get them both killed when she heard about their mother's death. But no. She simply sat there, chugging her mead in silence, day after day. And in a way, a silent Ruffnut was scarier than an angry Ruffnut.

"Hey, Ruff."

No response.

"Ruffnut?"

"Yeah?" Ruffnut replied quietly. She took a sip of her drink.

"You think that dad is..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, probably."

A long silence passed between them. They hadn't fought once since their mother's death. They had barely talked at all since then.

"What do you think happened to him?"

Ruffnut sighed. "He froze to death, idiot. What else do you think could have happened?"

"On the way to the Elder's house?" Tuffnut looked at her incredulously.

"Maybe. Maybe not." She took another sip from her mug.

"Well, he could have been attacked by a Jotun or something." Tuffnut responded.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Why are we even talking about this again?"

"Because I'm bored as Hel and I know you are, too, so I'm trying to make things interesting."

"Go stare at the fire or something," Ruffnut replied. She stood up. "I'm going to bed." She walked into the bedroom. With her gone, Tuffnut turned around and looked at the fire crackling in front of him.

He couldn't deny that staring at the fire was a good escape from reality.

"Give me my spear!" Tuffnut's scream rumbled throughout the house. Tuffnut was standing in front of the bedroom; and Ruffnut was standing near the fireplace, holding Tuffnut's beloved spear in her hand.

"Come and get it!" Ruffnut snarled. She loved it. If there was any way to get on Tuffnut's nerves, it was to touch his spear. It was just a spear. Double-sided, made in the local forge. Not like it was special or anything. And it wasn't like Tuffnut was any good with it. And yet, he still loved it like it was his only child. She internally giggled. Tuffnut. With a child. Wouldn't that be a sight to see? Tuffnut inched toward her, and he moved back just as slowly. And then, she had an idea. Her wicked smile grew larger, and she took the middle of the spear and place it against her knee, threatening to break it.

Tuffnut froze.

"I swear to Odin, Ruff," Tuffnut growled slowly, seething with anger. "If you do that, I will gut you." He stopped, and an evil smile grew on his face. Before he could think of something to say, he dashed into the bedroom and, ignoring the whoosh behind him, ran toward Ruffnut's trunk. He turned around. There was a spear in the wall. That was his spear right there. Damn, she was a good thrower. He quickly turned back to the trunk, opened it, and sifted through the contents. A tunic, a really nice sword, some girly hair-tye-thing, another tunic, and...

"TUFFNUT!" The shriek pierced his ears. But he didn't care. He turned around, wearing a triumphant smile on his face. He was met with the sight of Ruffnut standing at the door, her face purple, her fists clenched, and her eyes narrow. But almost immediately, her face turned white. In his hands was a mug.

"So now what?" Tuffnut sneered.

Ruffnut didn't say anything.

"Fair enough," Tuffnut remarked, his smile stretching from ear to ear. "Let's see what's in here." He looked inside the mug and saw flowers. He had forgotten what they were called, though. He remembered that he asked Fishlegs about it when he first saw the flowers in Ruffnut's trunk last autumn. Fishlegs had mentioned some really complicated name, and he seemed pretty embarrassed when he mentioned it. What was it, again? Aphrodisiacs, or something like that? But the name wasn't important. What mattered was their purpose, and he certainly remembered that.

"I'm sure Hiccup would like to..."

"DROP. THE. FLOWERS."

Tuffnut looked up and frowned. Ruffnut stood at the door of the bedroom, glaring and pointing his spear at him.

Knock knock.

They both turned toward the front door with wide eyes. They weren't snowed in anymore. After looking at the door for a split second and taking in the moment, Ruffnut turned back to Tuffnut; and her eyes narrowed again.

"You." Ruffnut growled, gesturing to Tuffnut with the spear. "Stay." She inched towards the front door slowly, staring at Tuffnut the entire time. Tuffnut grinned.

Knock knock.

"Hello? Is anyone alive in there?" It was Snotlout's voice that came from the other side of the door. It was unusually subdued.

Ruffnut finally reached the door. She turned around and opened it.

"Yeah, we're alive."

Snotlout and Spitelout were standing at the door, side by side. Snotlout was fiddling with his hands; Spitelout was staring at the ground sadly and holding his hands at his belly. Behind them, Berk was a beautiful shade of white, coated in a thin layer of snow.

"Um..." Snotlout started.

"Yeah?" She interrupted.

"Where's Tuffnut?"

"Inside, sleeping." Ruffnut always was a good liar, and she knew it.

"Okay." Snotlout and Spitelout looked at each other. "How do I, uh, put this?"

Ruffnut put her hands on her hips, and her eyes narrowed at them. "Put what?"

"Um..." Snotlout crossed his arms and turned to Spitelout. "You want to do the honors?" Spitelout nodded.

"Ruffnut, your father is dead." Ruffnut nodded slowly. She pretty much knew that already. "He was found in the forest, frozen to death." Ruffnut's jaw dropped, and her eyes shot open. Behind her, Tuffnut snuck up with a blank face. He still held the mug of flowers in his hand.

"In the forest?" Ruffnut could barely get the words out of her mouth with the lump forming in her throat.

"Hey, Tuffnut!" Snotlout started. "I thought you we're..." Spitelout glared at him, and he shut his mouth.

Spitelout turned back to Ruffnut. "We don't know. We think it may have been a suicide."

Ruffnut continued staring at the two Vikings at her front door. Tuffnut Sr.? Committing suicide? No. Tuffnut Sr. was one of the best Vikings in the village. Even if he was a little dumb, his fighting skills and his toughness earned the respect of the village. Especially his toughness. And didn't toughness include mental toughness? The fact that he had put up with herself and her idiot of a brother for so long surely meant he had at least some mental toughness! Maybe he knew that Reginleif would die no matter what he did, and he killed himself as a result?

Rage. Ruffnut could only feel rage. At her father. Here he goes, telling herself and her brother that he's going to get some herbs. And he goes off and kills himself. She should have seen it coming. No one just goes outside in a blizzard like that. Herself and Tuffnut excluded. But still. She felt rage at her mother. She goes off and gets sick. She's a gods-damned Viking. Vikings don't get sick. And now, because of that, both of her parents are dead. She and Tuff are orphans.

Orphans.

She felt sick.

The voice barely registered into her ears. "I'm sorry, you two."

Tuffnut couldn't believe that his father had killed himself. At first, the news hadn't completely registered to him. All he noticed was that Ruffnut was destroying the house entirely. Breaking the tables in half, tossing the chairs around, and generally wrecking everything she could get her hands on. But eventually, it dawned on him just what his father's death meant. His father was dead, but he had figured that out a while ago. It wasn't just a death, though. His father, one of the most respected Vikings in the village, supposedly killed himself. He apparently abandoned his own children... no, they could handle themselves. That wasn't the problem. The problem was, his father ran away from a life without his beloved wife. He ran away. No. His father wouldn't run away. Not a chance. Not the father that he knew. At least winter was finally over. Although he would much prefer a winter with his parents than a spring as an orphan.

He found himself partially staring at the fire and partially listening to Ruffnut destroy the bedroom even more, most likely tearing her trunk to pieces. It was comforting, staring at the fire. The sound of items being thrown against the wall only added to the ambiance.

"Ruff!" He shouted, turning to their room. No response. "Ruff!"

"What?" She shrieked, storming out of the bedroom. Her face was red, and her braids were completely messed up. Funny – her eyes weren't red. Even in all of her rage, she hadn't cried. Neither had Tuffnut, though. Crying was for the weak, and he and Ruff were strong.

"I got an idea."

"Tuffnut with an idea? Great." She rolled her eyes.

"Hiccup..." He whispered to himself and laughed. Ruffnut shot daggers at him.

"What was that, meathead?"

"I was just saying, how about we burn the house down?"

Ruffnut stared at him incredulously. "No, seriously."

Tuffnut met her look. "Yeah, seriously."

Ruffnut continued staring at him.

"I'm bored as Hel, and there's nothing to do except burn the house down."

Ruffnut tried to hold back a grin and narrow her eyes. Tuffnut smiled back at her, watching her attempts fail miserably.

"Oh, and one more thing. This is where we lived when we became orphans. And I don't like that at all."

Ruffnut's face brightened up.

"You know, you came up with a good idea for once," she began. "But how do you actually plan on starting it?"

"The fire?" Tuffnut scoffed. "Easy. Take a piece of wood, light it on fire from the fireplace, and toss it somewhere. That will light the whole place on fire. I had this all thought out before I called you over, dumbshit."

"Me, the dumbshit? You didn't even consider our dragon!"

"Zigzag? Yeah, I did. If I'm going to burn down the house, I'm going to do it myself. And anyway, Zigzag would just blow the place up. Now get out. I have a house to destroy."

Ruffnut put her hands on her hips. "Hah! Fat chance, Gronckle-brain! I'm helping you burn this place down whether you like it or not."

"As if I'm going to let you screw this up, Grendel!" Tuffnut stood up, crossed his arms, and glared at his sister.

"I'm going to screw this up? You can't even read!"

"Neither can you!"

She had no response to that.

Tuffnut gestured towards her. "See? You can't even make fun of people right! And you think I'll let you play with fire?"

Ruffnut screamed and tackled him into the ground. They hit the wooden floor with a thud, and Tuffnut grunted with pain as he hit the ground. Satisfied, Ruffnut stood up, wiped her shoulders, and smirked at Tuffnut.

"Well, at least I can fight, fishbone."

Tuffnut looked up at her with a smile. "Your love is a fishbone." He swiftly got a kick in the rib for that. Ruffnut watched with a grin as Tuffnut rolled groaned and held his side. Had she really kicked him that hard? Her grin grew wider as she relished the thought.

"Ready to go, butt elf?"

Tuffnut moaned again and pulled himself up from the ground, still holding his side. "Yeah, yeah."

"So," Ruffnut started, "You're going to let me burn down the house with you, right?" Her eyes narrowed, and her hand formed a fist. "Right?"

"Yeah, whatever." Tuffnut mumbled almost silently. Ruffnut's smile grow from ear to ear.

"I thought so," she said triumphantly. Almost immediately afterward, her smile turned into a frown. "So, you want to burn the place down?"

Tuffnut grinned. "Hel yes!" Rufnut grinned back at him. This was going to be fun.

"Get a piece of wood!" Tuffnut ordered.

Ruffnut scanned the room. Where would the best place to get a piece of wood be? Fireplace? No, she would burn her hands off. She could use one of the weapons. Those had wooden pieces on them. No, those were valuable… valuables.

"Tuff!" She shouted.

Tuffnut groaned, holding his ears. "I'm right next to you, you know."

"You'll live. But I'm not burning this place down until I take out what I want to keep."

Tuffnut froze. "Good point." Ruffnut burst into a fit of giggles. Tuffnut looked at her, confused. "What?"

"You said that–" Ruffnut stifled a giggle, holding a hand to her mouth. "You said that you – that you had everything thought out! I guess Tuffnut coming up with a good idea is too good to be true!" She burst into laughter again. Tuffnut punched her in the shoulder, but she laughed even harder. She barely heard Tuffnut's voice trying to tell her something. She made out "Whatever, wimp." She wasn't sure, though.

But really, she didn't care. All she cared about was how funny everything was. Here he is – a Viking who comes up with a good plan, and he didn't even think it through all the way. Idiot. She put her hands on her stomach. And then Tuffnut gets angry, and he can't even hurt her like a good Viking would. He claimed to be a Viking, and he could barely hurt his own sibling! And he couldn't even insult her afterward! Wimp? Is that really the best he could do? She felt a tear rolling down her eye.

Suddenly, she felt her world shaking and a tightness on her shoulder.

"Ruff!"

She came back to her senses, and Tuffnut was standing in front of her. He had a panicked look in his eyes.

"Ruffnut! Let's go!"

"What?" she mumbled, still regaining her senses.

"Ruff, I lit the house on fire! Let's get out of here!"

Her eyes shot open. "What?" But she didn't need him to confirm what she had heard, though. The smell of smoke and burning wood that assaulted her senses did that for him.

"Yeah. Now let's get out of here!" He ran toward the front door, holding her arm tightly in one hand and his spear in the other. She broke away from his grip.

"No! There's something I need to get."

Tuffnut turned around. His eyes were wide open. She narrowed her eyes and met his stare.

"Wait outside for me."

Tuff narrowed his own eyes, looked toward the ground, and shrugged. "Whatever. Feel free to burn if you want." With that, he dashed toward the front door, ran outside, and slammed the door behind him.

Ruffnut glanced around the house. She quickly noticed the fire. It had consumed the entire kitchen and was moving toward her in the main room. Good. At least he started the fire over there. She sprinted into her own room and looked at her trunk. She immediately noticed the mug – it was on the ground on top of her tunics, and the flowers that were supposed to be in it were spilled everywhere.

"Godsdamnit, Tuff!" she mumbled as she started running toward the trunk. As she reached it, she slid to her knees and picked up the flowers. They were still intact, at least. After looking at them, she threw them into her mug and turned around. No smoke yet. Good. She pursed her lips. She was hoping to get an adventure out of this, and it didn't look like it was going to happen. She turned to her right and reached under the bed. She felt around and scowled.

"Godsdamnit, Tuff!"

She glanced up toward the rafters and saw a shiny, metallic piece sticking out. Of course. He had decided to hide her spear in the rafters. And now, she had to get it from the rafters before the fire burned everything down. Right below the spear was the door, through which smoke was leaking. She grinned. Turns out she was going to get the adventure she wanted after all.

Ruffnut placed the mug on window sill, jumped onto her bed, and leaped up toward the rafter above the bed. Grunting, she climbed on top of the rafter and saw her spear. There it was – covered in smoke. Great. That was just dandy. After sighing, she navigated the rafters and reached her spear. She grabbed her arrow and coughed. Badly. She jumped from the rafters and hit the floor doubled over in a coughing fit. Her eyes burned, and her throat hurt from the ongoing coughing fit. She turned around. Through her barely open eyes, she could make out the wave of red and orange entering the room. Her eyes shot open, and she ran toward the window, still coughing. She moved a hand from her mouth, grabbed the mug, and leaped to the other side of the window. She fell to her knees and dropped her mug and spear.

She had done it.

She stared blankly at her hands through searing eyes. She didn't even pay attention to the mucus on them, though. She was too busy gasping for air. Her stomach hurt, and her throat felt dry.

"Thanks for laughing. I got to burn down the house myself."

Ruffnut rolled on her back and looked up. Above her stood Tuffnut. He was smirking and holding out a hand for her.

"Get up," he started. "You don't want to miss the show."

She stood up herself, grabbed her mug and spear, and looked at him.

"Not like I need help getting up or anything," she mumbled.

She looked at the house. It was a beautiful sight. The house itself was engulfed with fire, with reds and oranges entangled with various shades of brown. The reds and oranges of the fire stood out from the dark, cloudy sky and lit up the entire area. The occasional spark leapt out and fell harmlessly to the ground at their feet. The sound of crackling and falling wood penetrated the environment. Behind it, the blue ocean covered the horizon and revealed the just-rising sun. After a minute, the house collapsed, bring with it a shower of sparks and crashing sounds.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut smiled.

"I'm going to kill you, dirtface." Ruffnut muttered.

"For what?"

"Hiding my spear in the rafters."

Tuffnut burst into hysterical laughter.

Two weeks, everyone! R&R and all of that cool stuff, please. I would certainly appreciate it. :)