A/N: Here there be dragons! … and trolls, dwarves, Vikings, outlaws, a bit of historical context, not too much romance, a fair amount of Hiccup, lots of magic, and a host of wild things that walk Asgard, Midgard, Hel, and everything in between…

This takes place after the movie, when all the happy sunshine that we were left with has disappeared and been replaced by those nine months of snow Hiccup mentioned.

For fun, chapters are named after runes.

I disclaim.

Before We Fall

Ch.1: Algiz

"Up! Up, you lot! Time ta get movin! Come on, sleepyheads, are ye all alive?"

"If by 'sleepyheads' you mean 'still-sleepy-in-the-head-because-it's-too-cold-to-get-any-sleep-out-here', then yes, we've managed to survive another night without our blood freezing in our veins," grumbled Hiccup, dragging himself out from under his shelter. "Gobber, I thought you said we'd be warmer if we used spruce branches."

"What, you weren't warm?" Their teacher was poking at a small fire, looking way too cheery, given the weather, and the moods of his students.

"Warm?" groaned Ruffnut, pulling herself out from under her pile of spruce branches, dried leaves, and bark. "What's that?"

"I was warm," Fishlegs fairly chirped, as he tried to untangle himself from his den. "I think all those spruce branches made a difference."

"There, ya see?" said Gobber, gesturing to the young Viking. "Fishlegs used more than you lot. Ya can't just throw a few branches over yer shelter and expect to be nice and toasty. If you want ta be warm, ya have ta mean it. Plus, it helps havin' some extra layers of bodily insulation. Me an' Fishlegs know that. You all need ta eat more meat. 'Specially you, Hiccup, yer like a walkin'– "

"Toothpick, yes, I know. Thank you for reminding me." He joined Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Astrid as they all gathered around Gobber's little fire. This was their third morning out in the woods with Gobber; their third morning of rising from the individual makeshift shelters that were supposed to be keeping them warm at night.

"Alright. Third day; more about huntin'. After breakfast we'll continue our search for game. I'll teach ya how ta skin it, butcher it, smoke the meat, use the organs and bones, and how ta prepare the hide. Right? Sound exciting? Everyone grab your bows and arrows we made yesterday; let's get a move on," Gobber finished, and started to get up.

"Wait, what about breakfast?" asked Snotlout.

"Oh, right. Breakfast," said Gobber, pausing. "That's when you break your fast with food you've got saved up for just such an occasion. Anybody got any smoked grouse? Salted codfish? Oysters? Beaver tail? Moose tongue?"

Hiccup's stomach grumbled angrily. "Gobber, I'm pretty sure if I return from this trip skinnier than when I left, my father will not only kill you but he'll make me eat a slab of bear fat."

"Right, right. You don't really think I'd let ya starve, now?" Gobber sat back down and riffled through his bag. "I've got some jerky in here somewhere. But," he said, straightening up and eyeing them, "let this be a warning. This is why it's important to learn these things early on: self-sufficiency and resourcefulness will save ya when yer out in the woods alone. We Vikings like our community interdependency, but you've got ta be prepared. Huntin's a basic skill you've all got ta learn."

The jerky was tough and tasteless, but Hiccup hadn't expected anything more. They packed up their small amount of belongings and began to creep through the woods. This was harder than it sounded, because the first snowfall of the year, two days ago, had hardened, and now any step they took was accompanied by an obnoxious crunch. Somehow Astrid was managing to move relatively silently, her bow and arrow at the ready. Hiccup eyed her enviously; her balance was so precise. His metal foot was slippery on top of the icy crust; when it wasn't slipping, it was punching through and getting stuck. And this morning it was starting to squeak again.

"Hiccup," said Gobber, coming up behind him, "wait a tic. You lot, keep creepin', we'll catch up." Astrid threw a brief look of concern over her shoulder, gave Hiccup an encouraging grimace, and then continued, passing out of sight behind a bushy spruce.

"Hiccup my lad, you'll have a few more things ta worry about than the rest of them when yer stuck in the wilderness. For instance," he said, digging a little bag out of his pocket, "bear grease. Ya can't be squeakin' like that when yer tryin' ta hunt. Handy for cookin', protection against the wind, keepin' the bugs out of yer hair in the summer, and greasin' up them squeaky joints," he said, gesturing to his own left appendage. He handed the parcel to Hiccup, who pulled off his gloves. "You keep that one for now. Also, we should think of puttin' together more of a peg-like attachment for ya, so yer foot don't keep getting snagged under the crust."

"What about a snowshoe-ish thing?" Hiccup asked, carefully greasing the offending iron joints.

"Aye, a snowshoe-ish thing… I've tried that once or twice. Hard as Hel ta keep yer balance with a big clumsy circle strapped on, when ya don't have an ankle. But, you've got more of a knee than I do. Maybe ya could figure somethin' out, who knows."

"I heard more noises last night," said Hiccup, wiping his hands across his jacket.

"Oh, yer in the woods, what do ya expect ta hear?"

"Well, these were, like, roaring and bellowing."

"Could've been anythin'. Stags, wolves, bears, errant dragons, Tuffnut getting' attacked by a wild shrew…"

"Gobber!" Snotlout's voice cut through the woods.

"What?" Gobber called.

"We found a bear!"

"Hooo boy," said Gobber grimly. "Come on, Hiccup."

"Wait, didn't you tell us not to go after bears if we're alone?"

"Yep. This bear must be dead already, though, or we'd be hearin' screams."

The two of them hobbled towards Snotlout's voice, following the converging footsteps ahead of them. The twins, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Astrid all stood in a cluster, eyeing a dark hump that sat a few yards off.

"Well I'll be a barnacle," breathed Gobber, and stepped up to the animal. Hiccup followed, half behind his mentor. This was by far the biggest bear Hiccup had ever seen in his life, which wasn't saying all that much. But still – it was huge. Its paws were almost twice the size of Hiccup's head. Any of its claws could have skewered him through, and its teeth, shining from a death-snarl, made his blood run cold – colder than it already was. Even though it lay on its side, Hiccup couldn't see over its massive shoulder.

Gobber kicked at the snow around its head; chips of bloody ice skittered towards the other students.

"Wow," said Fishlegs, which was about the only thing Hiccup could think of to say too.

"Now this is a bit strange," murmured Gobber, prodding at the bear's neck with his right hand. He searched the bear's face, its chest, walked around the downed animal. "The only thing that could have killed a bear this size would be a bigger bear, a loner dragon, wolves, or a group of Vikings. If it were a dragon or wolves, the meat would have been eaten. If it were another bear, there'd be some mauling. And if Vikings had done this we would have heard about it."

"What if the Vikings weren't from Berk?" asked Tuffnut.

"Don't be silly. We're alone on this island. Apparently Berk hasn't seen any other humans since we landed seven generations ago. Besides, if people had done this they would have harvested everything they could have – meat, bones, grease, guts, tendons… and boy, what a hide! It's not everyday you come across a pelt like that! It'd keep a whole family warm!"

"Well maybe it just died of old age," said Tuffnut.

"No, stupid, there's blood," said Ruffnut.

"It's throat's been slit," announced Gobber, before the twins could get any further. "And it's been here since before the snow fell. No pawprints." Gobber appeared to be thinking, absently popping his stone tooth in and out of its socket. "Clean cut. Had to have been a blade. I have no idea who could have… or would have… done this. But! Mysteries aside, this job is too big for us to do with the time we've got. I told yer parents that I'd have ya back by tomorrow. If we did a proper job with this bear we'd be returnin' a day later – it's near impossible to deal with a frozen carcass. Can't have that. He'll keep. I'll come back out here with a group of men and we'll haul him in. But for us, right now, we want to start with something a bit smaller."

Though Hiccup had a bit of a hard time 'sneaking' through the woods, his aim with bow and arrow was surpassed only by Astrid's, and just barely. He managed to hit a wild pig three times before the charging animal stumbled and fell to the ground, not four yards from where he stood. He finished it off with his knife, which thankfully he'd kept sharp. Killing animals was something they'd all done before – fish, chicken, cattle, sheep. Hiccup had always felt bad doing it, but in the climate they lived, if they wanted food they had no other choice.

Upon returning to the village the next day, Gobber fairly dumped them in the town square before rounding up a bunch of men to fetch the bear.

"Can we come?" asked Fishlegs, with the twins and Snotlout behind him.

"Aahm, you'd best stay here," said Gobber, eyeing the group. "You all need to get some sleep. I've a feeling you're all a bit deprived. Now, you men: we need rope, lots of rope." Gobber and his bunch left on their search, and Fishlegs and the rest headed towards the houses. Hiccup sat down on a stone bench.

"Hiccup," said Astrid excitedly, "I'll bet if we asked, Gobber would let us go with!"

"Yeah… Why would you want to go with, again?"

"The experience! It's not every day you get to deal with a bear!" Astrid's hair was sticking out in a small amount of disarray, her eyes wide and kind of sunken from lack of sleep. Hiccup smiled. Of course she wanted to go with. She took every opportunity to learn that she could.

"Sounds like fun, Astrid. Gobber would probably be happy to…"

"You don't want to go?"

"Nah, I'm… I'm tired. And hungry. I need to grow a layer of fat for the winter. That takes time, you know. I shouldn't be frolicking around in the woods when I could be eating butter." She was eyeing him, and he wondered if she'd see through his excuse. She usually did.

"Your leg?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, hanging his head.

"Bad?"

"No, I just… it's still healing." He didn't like admitting his pain – Vikings were supposed to be tough – but Astrid was not one to judge. He hauled himself up, wanting to change the subject.

"I have a snowshoe to work on, anyways."

"Good. You do that." She grabbed the front of his jacket and gave him one of her usual quick kisses, more force than sweetness, and then she was running away, after Gobber. "Be back tomorrow!" she called.

After one of his favorite people disappeared down the path, he turned to go visit one of his other favorite people. (Dragons were people, too.) Lately, Toothless had been staying down in the dragon pens, where they used to keep the training dragons locked up. Hiccup had been worried that Toothless would be like other reptiles, and have to hibernate through the coldest months (which they were now entering), so he and Astrid had made up the pen with a few armloads of hay. Toothless liked it down there, and it kept Stoick happy – the dragon was too big to maneuver in the house. But, it quickly became apparent that Toothless's blood stayed hot, even as the temperatures dropped.

"Toothless?" Hiccup called cautiously, peering around the ring. Maybe Toothless was sleeping on the hay. "I'm back…" He fully expected Toothless to come winging out of some hiding place and ram into him. Toothless always did that after more than a day of being apart, and Hiccup always ended up falling over, and his leg was never ok with that. "Buddy? Toothless, are you in there?"

To his surprise, he heard a happy grumble before Toothless trotted out to meet him, hay still clinging to his scales. The dragon nuzzled him gently, tail thrashing, obviously trying hard to contain his excitement.

"I missed you too, buddy!" Toothless pulled away, and pranced in a circle around him, eyes sparkling, chirping and burbling. The dragon gestured to the leather saddle, hung on the door to his pen. Toothless was probably eager to take to the skies; it had been days, after all. Inwardly, Hiccup groaned; he was tired, a little hungry, and his leg wanted to rest. But Toothless looked too excited. Besides, he told himself, he had a responsibility. Dragons needed to fly, and this one couldn't do that without a rider. "Alright, alright. Come on."

Once in the air, Hiccup hugged Toothless's warm back. Flying was decidedly less pleasant in the winter, especially when the air was moist. Toothless must have known that, and kept to the less foggy areas above the forest. Still, even with the wind freezing the tears from his eyes, Hiccup felt himself drifting off. He sat up straighter, letting the wind pierce his jacket and drill through his ears. Sleeping while flying was particularly unsafe, for both of them.

"I'm falling asleep!" he called, taking a tight grip on the harness. "Do something exciting!" Toothless plunged towards the treetops and pulled up at the last second, Hiccup adjusting the tail piece. The wind froze his teeth when he grinned, and he tried in vain to keep his smile contained. Straight up now, and then a steep bank back towards the sea stacks, several loops that almost upset Hiccup's already-grumpy stomach, and then soaring above Berk. They swooshed low to the streets, past Stoick, who waved, and then back up and over the trees, hitting some last rays of sun before nightfall. The dragon was flying hard, burning energy, and Hiccup clung helplessly, face pressed to the black scales. He couldn't hear a thing past the harsh wind, but he imagined he could almost hear the dragon's heartbeat beneath his ear. He could definitely feel it.

The heartbeat changed, gave the slightest flutter, and Toothless suddenly whipped around, stalling in the air. The dragon stared into the woods.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked, peering through the spruce and spindly white fingers of birch. He couldn't see anything. Toothless soared slowly now, and Hiccup could hear the wind bending the trees underneath them, and—

Something howled. It was a sound Hiccup had never heard before. Something like what he'd been hearing in the woods those last few lonely nights, but louder, longer, more hollow and more wild. It made the hairs on his arms stand on end, and it was making Toothless's scales prickle and his ears flatten.

It didn't sound again, even though they scoured the ground from above. Briefly, Hiccup wondered if Astrid and the others had heard it, if they were safe. Then he remembered her back in dragon training, shrieking like a Valkyrie and swinging her axe. She would be fine.

Toothless glided back down to the training ring. Stiff and covered in a fine layer of ice crystals, Hiccup carefully unclipped the harness and lowered himself to the ground, taking the saddle and harness with him. He hung the gear on the wall and turned to the dragon. Toothless's ears were pricked suspiciously towards the woods.

"It was probably just a… a wolf or something, Toothless. Nothing harmful." He didn't believe what he was saying, though. Whatever had made that noise was most certainly not harmless. "Well, it'll stay in the woods, at least. Don't worry about it."

Toothless wasn't taking Hiccup's advice.

"Well… Let me know if the village is attacked by a bunch of trolls, ok? I really need to go sleep." He gave an unresponsive Toothless a skritch behind the ear and turned to walk out of the ring.

Behind him, Toothless grumbled, and his great black head was suddenly blocking Hiccup's path.

"Toothless – "

The dragon nudged him back into the ring, eyes narrow.

"Toothless, I said I'm tired, I don't want to – " His protests were cut off by a deep, insistent whine. Obviously Toothless wanted something, and wasn't going to stop until he got it. Hiccup stopped resisting and let Toothless nudge him along. In a moment it was apparent that the dragon was pushing Hiccup to his pen, and when they passed through the door, he curled up expectantly, now only a mass of black shadow with winking teal eyes.

"You want me to sleep here tonight."

The dragon burbled. Toothless wanted to keep him safe.

"If I get cold, I'm leaving."

Of course he wasn't going to get cold, though – he knew it the second he laid his head against the fur of his bundled jacket, back pressed against his friend's rough hide. The dragon was like a giant lump of charcoal, heated by the blacksmith furnace. The small amount of light that still leaked into the pen from the last moments of twilight disappeared as a massive black wing folded over him, and a deep, gentle rumbling from the beast behind him made him forget about whatever was in the woods.

Sleep was wrenched out from under him while it was still dark out. Toothless was snarling and bumping him awake, his anxious lantern eyes the only things Hiccup could see at first. He stood, and immediately saw something outside, the dome above the ring – it was flickering , reflecting a fire from something, and now he could hear shouts, screams, crashings. It was like a dragon attack, but instead of the furious roars of dragons and the bellows of the Viking warriors, he heard women screaming, the surprised shouts of men, and a chorus of those long, wild, nameless howls.

Hiccup fumbled for the harness.