Author's Note:
Hello everyone and welcome to another story set in my 'Differently Similar' AU. Unusually enough for this AU Snotlout is actually going to be doing very little even though he's one of the main characters for reasons that will be revealed in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
I do not own any aspect of How to Train Your Dragon.
Party
It was the anniversary of Stoick becoming Chief and the people of Berk marked the event in the way they liked best.
With a huge party.
Berkians took whatever excuse they could to have a good time and marking the number of years their chief had led them was one that could not be ignored. It was ignored even less when it came not long after Thawfest making it a merry gathering indeed. Gobber had been left in charge of most of the celebration and as usual the blacksmith pulled out all the stops with hall decorations, piles of food and vast amounts of mead.
Everything a good Viking party needed.
It was the beginning of the festivities and eager Vikings were already gathered around the tables in the Great Hall. Mead was being prepared to be poured out for all the adults ready for Stoick to open things with his traditional speech, after this a toast in his honour would be declared and everyone would take their first drink of the night and Snotlout sat excitedly waiting for this.
By Berkian law he, like the other teens, was not old enough to drink alcohol according to the laws put in place by Hamish the Second. However Stoick's household had a little tradition of their own which was that once they were thirteen Snotlout and Hiccup could take one sip of Stoick's drink just before he made his speech. The first time Hiccup had done this he'd found mead disgusting and didn't want to drink it again but Snotlout had found he quite liked the taste once he'd tried it and he always looked forward to his one sip which was pretty much all he got for a whole year.
He sat bouncing in his seat impatiently and beside him Hiccup shook his head at his younger cousin, "You get way too excited about that sip of mead."
"It's the only taste I get for an entire year. I can't wait for when I'm allowed to drink the stuff properly."
Hiccup grimaced slightly, "Why would you want to drink it? It tastes foul."
Behind him Toothless growled in agreement, the Night Fury had once sampled some mead out of curiosity and had the same opinion his rider did about it.
Snotlout grinned teasingly, "You just don't appreciate fine beverages."
The older boy rolled his eyes with a smile as Stoick appeared and sat down beside him. Immediately Gobber began pouring out his friend's drink and getting the signal others began doing the same around the tables. With his tankard full Stoick pushed it along to his nephew, jokingly making a show of doing it secretly. It wasn't that necessary since everyone knew about it. No one thought that one tiny sip would have any effect on a teenager so they ignored the slight bending of Hamish's rules, despite this Snotlout and Stoick still pretended to do it on the sly because it added to the fun.
Playing along Snotlout gave exaggerated furtive looks around before taking the tankard (he actually needed to hold the thing with both hands) and taking one small sip before passing it back with equal overdramatic secrecy. Not being used to it the alcohol had a burning feel to it but it soon gave way to the actual taste and the teen smacked his lips appreciatively. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him, "You enjoyed that then?"
Snotlout smiled, "Yep, you should try it again Hiccup. You might like it this time."
The older boy shook his head, "No thanks, I'm never having that horrific stuff ever again."
Snotlout shrugged but didn't respond as his uncle stood and began his opening speech, "Well, it looks like I managed to put up with you lot for another year."
There were laughs from around the hall and Snotlout rolled his eyes good naturedly, his uncle said the same opening line every year yet everyone still found it funny. Letting his attention wander he eyed the untouched food piled upon the tables, he hoped his uncle would hurry up so they could eat. He focused back on his uncle and then frowned as a small pain lanced through his stomach and vanished.
That was odd.
He dismissed it and continued listening to his uncle's words when another pain briefly flared and vanished again. He then felt a small bead of sweat trickle down his face…when had he begun to feel so warm?
He tried to focus again and found himself blinking at the firelight which was now really bright as the room became hazy. He was sweating more now but he barely noticed as he was wondering why his uncle's voice sounded so distant and unclear.
He then realised that everyone was standing for the toast and he quickly joined them but as he stood the room seemed to spin and he only just kept his balance. His uncle was still speaking and Snotlout lifted his mug of cordial ready to join the toast with the rest, the mug was shaking violently, nearly spilling its contents and it took a moment for him to realise that it was because his own body was shaking so much. His legs became weak and wobbly and sweat was running down as his vision became more and more blurred, he hadn't even noticed that his uncle had halted his speech right before the toast and was looking at him in concern along with the rest of the hall. His breath came in short bursts and the room swung back and forth like a pendulum as he wobbled unsteadily.
Then he found himself collapsing backwards, releasing his grip on his mug that fell down with a clatter sending its contents everywhere. He didn't hear the gasps and cries of alarm as he landed on the floor, he saw his uncle's face above him bearing an expression of fear and panic and Snotlout wondered what had happened.
Then darkness claimed him.
PS-So that's one party been ruined. Can anyone guess what's happened to Snotlout? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.