AN/ Welcome everyone to the newest HTTYD fic! After watching a bunch of Race to the Edge, I thought, Hmm, I have so many ideas. LET'S MAKE A FIC ABOUT IT! And thus this idea was born. The only thing you should know about this is that Hiccup and Snotlout will be much closer than depicted in literally every show and movie. Not Hicclout, I just personally think they could make an amazing team. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I want a part of it so badly. But if I had one, I wouldn't be sitting here, would I?
Snotlout honestly didn't how his day could get any worse. Not only was he stuck on dragon patrol, no, because that would be too easy. It had to be with Hiccup, and it had to be on the exact day Snotlout had planned out a perfect day. Go down to the beach below the Edge, and do absolutely nothing until he got to hungry to stay there. Snotlout knew that Hookfang needed a break, especially after the training Hiccup had put the gang through yesterday.
But no. Hiccup had insisted that the Changewings were going to migrate soon, so they needed to search the surrounding islands for any telltale signs of the invisible menaces. Why only Snotlout, when he had clearly been about to leave, and why right now, he didn't know. But the best way to get out of his job quickly was to grimace and bear it. Which was why Snotlout was currently ignoring Hiccup as he rambled on.
"-so they need to be taken care of quickly," the other Dragon Rider finished.
"Uh huh," Snotlout said, examining his nails. Hiccup let out an aggravated sigh, which seemed to be his favorite sound to make. Besides the orders he gives out, Snotlout thought with a smirk.
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"
"Not a one," Snotlout agreed, nudging Hookfang's side. The Monstrous Nightmare rumbled, then dove at the ocean. Snotlout let out a loud whoop as he soared between the sea stacks and island cliff, nudging Hookfang into a barrel roll as they came out. A second later, Toothless and Hiccup drifted down to them, but he leaned back, supremely uninterested.
"Snotlout, we need to-"
"Oh no," Snotlout interrupted, sitting up and giving the other Dragon Rider a smirk. "You are not giving me any speeches today, Hiccup. Today was supposed to be my day-off, but you have dragged me out here and I really don't want to be here. So, shut. It." Snotlout opened and closed his right hand to make his point. Hiccup sighed again, then said,
"Fine. Why don't you tell me what we are doing if I am not supposed to tell you."
"You know, I think what you just said was a speech," Snotlout mused. Toothless grumbled at him, but Hookfang snorted. Always a good sign. It was worse when Hookfang didn't say anything. Hiccup glared at him, opening his mouth. But a loud SNAP! cut him off before he could say anything. Snotlout rolled his eyes at Hiccup's many saddle attachments, then asked, "What just broke?"
"Er..." Hiccup had been examining his saddle, but he slowly lifted his head to look at Snotlout once he asked. "Nothing on my saddle just broke, Snotlout."
Snotlout frowned, a knot of concern starting to tying itself in his stomach. "But I just heard something snap."
"I thought that was you clicking your tongue."
Snotlout stared back at the lead Dragon Rider, completely confused. Then his gaze was caught by something behind Hiccup's head. It was a silver blur in the sunlight, heading right toward Hiccup and Toothless. Snotlout reacted without thinking, a panicked instinct igniting in his brain and sending his body into action.
"Hiccup, move!"
The one-legged boy did no such thing, choosing to do the opposite and stare at Snotlout, but Hiccup's stunned stillness gave him a fixed target. Snotlout dug his heel into Hookfang's side, and the Monstrous Nightmare shot toward Toothless. The Night Fury fought off Hookfang with an annoyed grumble, but Snotlout launched himself off his dragon and tackled Hiccup. They catapulted off Toothless' back, dropping towards the trees fast enough to rip the air out of Snotlout's lungs.
As they fell, Snotlout flipped onto his back, watching in horror as the net slammed into Toothless. The Night Fury roared, managed to wriggle a little before he plummeted towards the ground, disappearing from Snotlout's view. Just as Snotlout started to feel a little relief that Hookfang still remained in the air, another net whistled into view, wrapping itself around Hookfang and pulling him down.
"No!" Snotlout shouted, even thought no one could hear him over the wind. Then Snotlout was rolled a few times by the wind, and once he steadied, found himself hurtling down towards trees himself. Oh no, he thought before he hit the tree line and his mind too was occupied trying to keep him alive to think about anything else.
Snotlout bounced through the branches, grunted as each branch made its mark. When he finally hit the ground, he had several bleeding cuts scattered across his skin. Most of them weren't even worth mentioning, but they all stung like a Fireworm had sneezed on them. Snotlout dragged himself to his feet, groaning slightly as his legs, face and arms stung.
"Ow, ow, ow," Snotlout whimpered as he limped to the edge of the clearing he was in. He sat on a log, gently pressed a hand against as many of the bleeding cuts as he could. He scanned the clearing searching for a certain one-legged Dragon Rider, and was surprised when a bubble of worry started to climb his throat.
"Up here."
Snotlout's eyes flicked upward, and he quickly spotted Hiccup stuck in a tree a few feet away. Snotlout grunted and got to his feet, shambling toward the other Dragon Rider. Once underneath Hiccup, he reached up and yanked on the branch Hiccup was stuck on until it broke off, sending Hiccup tumbling to the floor.
"Ow!" Hiccup barked, clutching his leg. Snotlout frowned in concern, bending to examine the leg in question. Nothing looked out of place, but considering the way Hiccup's face was contorted in pain, something was definitely off.
Snotlout knew what he would normally do. Normally, he would have smirked down at the other Dragon Rider and made some snide comment. But for some reason, looking down at Hiccup with his leg injured and their dragons gone made Snotlout reach out and pull Hiccup to his feet.
Said rider of Toothless looked just as surprised as Snotlout felt, and with good reason, but he said nothing, only letting out a quiet hiss as he stood. Snotlout gave the lead Dragon Rider a quick once over for other injuries, but all could Snotlout could see were the small cuts and bruises he himself sported. Hiccup wobbled dangerously, and before Snotlout could decide if what he was thinking was a good idea, he slid an arm under the other Dragon Rider's arms, keeping him up.
"What happened to Toothless and Hookfang?" Hiccup demanded, seeming to ignore how out of character Snotlout was acting.
"Net got them," Snotlout said curtly. "Didn't see who shot it." Hiccup's eyes widened, and Snotlout wondered how he and Hiccup were managing to be on the same page. Never mind the fact he was actually holding the other Dragon Rider up.
"Did you see which way they went?" Hiccup asked, his usual tone of authority gone. Snotlout got the feeling he should spend about five minutes teasing the heck out of the other Dragon Rider if he wanted to be normal. But then again, this wasn't a normal situation by any standard. So he simply jerked his chin in the direction he had seen both Hookfang and Toothless fall. By unspoken agreement, Snotlout started walking slowly, letting Hiccup use him as a crutch.
What are you doing? Snotlout demanded of himself as he walked. You haven't mocked Hiccup once since we landed, and you are actually helping him walk. Did you hit your head on the way down, Jorgenson? But concussion or not, Snotlout kept his questions to himself, helping Hiccup through the brush. By the same token, the other Dragon Rider said nothing, letting Snotlout drag him through the tougher bits. Like a well-oiled machine, Snotlout thought dryly.
Finally, they reached a clearing and Snotlout carefully scanned the shadows nearest to them. When he saw no one, he gestured at a large rock in a few paces away. Hiccup nodded his understanding, letting Snotlout help him crouch as best he could. Snotlout peered over the stone he hid behind, vaguely noticing that Hiccup was watching his face intently.
In the middle of the clearing, Hookfang and Toothless were held captive in their nets, both snarling and wrestling with the tightly wound metal and rope. Snotlout scanned the edges of the clearing, searching for the Berserker warriors that were surely hidden in the shadows. But he saw nothing. He glanced at Hiccup, who was still staring at him, clearly waiting for a report.
There aren't any Berserkers, Snotlout mouthed in confusion. Hiccup frowned, and Snotlout nodded at the clearing. Hiccup crawled to Snotlout's side, peering over the rock himself. His frown deepened, but he whispered,
"You go for the dragons, I watch your back?" Snotlout was mildly surprised that Hiccup had phrased it as a question, but he found himself whispering back,
"Yeah."
Hiccup nodded, then raised three fingers. Snotlout interpreted the gesture to mean "Wait three seconds, then go in,", and he could only hope he'd understood correctly. Three seconds later, he and Hiccup erupted out of the bushes in perfect unison. Snotlout again wondered what on earth had brought on this unusual understanding, but he pushed the thought aside and raced to the two dragons. He wasted precious seconds looking back and forth between the two, then decided and started hacking at Toothless' bonds.
"What are you doing?" Hiccup's voice was a confused hiss, but Snotlout ignored him, hacking at the ropes a final Night Fury stood, shaking himself and letting out an annoyed roar when Hiccup struggled to get on his back. Apparently, he wasn't happy that Snotlout had returned his rider with a hurt leg.
"Get out of here," Snotlout hissed at Hiccup, cutting Hookfang's ropes as he spoke. Hiccup stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded.
"I'll go find whatever launched the nets at us, you get back to the Edge and tell everyone. We might be about to deal with a full-fledged attack." The Night Fury took off into the sky, Hiccup securely in the saddle.
Snotlout didn't even hesitate.
The bonds that held Hookfang in place snapped, and the Monstrous Nightmare roared, standing and flapping a few times. Snotlout launched himself onto Hookfang's back, said Monstrous Nightmare taking off as soon as he sat in the saddle. Hookfang started to head towards the Edge, but Snotlout dug a heel into Hookfang's side. The dragon grumbled in confusion.
"Oh no, Hookfang," Snotlout said. "Follow Toothless." Hookfang let out something that could have been the dragon equivalent of a laugh, then turned sharply, bolting after the quickly retreating figure of Toothless.
As Hookfang sprinted towards his fellow dragon, Snotlout spared a second to wonder what in the name of Thor he thought he was doing. He ran when he could, he hated it when Dagur the Deranged or any other villain he and the other Dragon Riders had royally annoyed came around, and he never went after Hiccup on a dangerous mission! But even as he mentally screamed the thoughts at himself, he didn't try to turn Hookfang around. He was committed now.
Toothless dove towards the ground, disappearing from sight. Hookfang overshot by several Gronkle lengths, and it took him a few seconds to get back to where the Night Fury had vanished. But once he did, the Monstrous Nightmare practically threw himself at the ground. As soon as Hookfang touched down, Snotlout jumped off his dragon's back and jogged to where Hiccup was kneeling with a pained expression.
"What is it?" he demanded. "Where are the Berserkers, the net throwers, Dagar dramatically backlit by the sun and laughing maniacally?" Hiccup looked up and his expression remained the same, like he wasn't surprised to see Snotlout standing before him in the least.
"Er..."
Snotlout raised an eyebrow. Hiccup sighed, then moved aside, revealing a Berk dragon net thrower. Snotlout stared at it for a minute, then moaned, putting his face in his hands. Of course. This was a Berk island. There were bound to be some old dragon traps they had missed the first time around.
"Yeah," Hiccup agreed, sounding uncharacteristically embarrassed. Snotlout rubbed his hands over his face a few times, then looked up at the other Dragon Rider, who had stood with some pain.
"Maybe we keep this to ourselves?" he asked. Hiccup nodded.
"I think that would be a good idea."
Snotlout couldn't help giving the other Dragon Rider a quick grin. Hiccup returned it, and Snotlout walked back to where Hookfang was waiting with a lingering smile. As he jumped onto the Monstrous Nightmare's back, he heard the screech of one of Toothless' plasma blasts. A second later, dragon and rider appeared at his side, and they launched into the sky.
"They're gonna want to know what took us so long though," Snotlout pointed out about halfway through the return journey. Hiccup was silent for a few seconds. Then a grin spread across his face and Snotlout was suddenly nervous.
"Then it's a good thing we're both stubborn people."
"I'm never stubborn," Snotlout muttered, and he was amazed to find not a shred of anger appear as Hiccup laughed gently. That confirmed it. He had definitely hit his head on his way down through the trees. He spent the rest of the return journey contemplating how to fix a concussion.
Astrid narrowed her eyes as she watched Hiccup and Snotlout soar towards the landing. Something was different. Even with how far out they were, she could just sense that something was different. Had Hiccup used a new saddle? No, she quickly picked out the lines that ran along the edges of his usual saddle. Was Hookfang flying oddly? No, the Monstrous Nightmare was flying alongside Toothless with a placid expression.
Okay, that was odd.
Astrid raised her eyebrow as her two fellow Dragon Riders landed. Nothing about their landing was different, but the second they slid off their dragons' backs, the change became clear.
Hiccup let out a pained yelp, and Snotlout shot to his side. Without a word, Hookfang's rider slid his arm under Hiccup's and hauled him to his feet. Astrid wasn't sure what was more odd about this situation. Snotlout helping Hiccup, or Hiccup being willing to trust Snotlout to keep him up. It clearly wasn't something the lead Dragon Rider had ordered, as Snotlout didn't look like he hated standing there and Hiccup didn't look concerned that Snotlout might push him off the cliff if he got a chance.
"What happened out there?" Astrid asked. She knew it was a stupid question, as they went to go on a patrol for Changewings, but at this point, she wouldn't be surprised if they said Thor himself had talked to them. Hiccup and Snotlout glanced at each other, something Astrid had never seen even on the best days of their lives, then said,
"Nothing."
The fact that they said the same thing was odd enough. The fact that they said it in perfect unison was downright creepy. Astrid was torn between punching Snotlout in the face to get him to snap out of whatever coma he was in and just getting the heck out of there.
The two boys shifted nervously under her gaze. Then Snotlout began hobbling towards the rooms, shouting over his shoulder,
"I'll be helping Hiccup with his leg if anyone needs us!" Hiccup said nothing to contradict the statement, and they disappeared around the stables faster than seemed possible for a Dragon Rider with one good leg that was currently injured and his crutch.
Astrid stared after them. She was tempted follow them out of sheer curiosity, then decided against it. She clicked her tongue, gesturing for Toothless and Hookfang to enter the stable. Both dragons grumbled their acknowledgement, lumbering towards the stable side by side. Astrid blinked.
Now that was scary.
And end the first chapter! Well? Thoughts, ideas, let me have them all! Reviews make my days better and help you guys to get new chapters quicker! Side note, this is a fic I'm republishing, but I'm proofreading typed up chapters before I upload them, and ideas are always welcome. Until next time, Bird out!