Friends Forged In Fire
I have always loved the idea of Hiccup meeting Toothless in the Triwizard Tournament, and I couldn't get the idea out of my head, so I just had to write it down. Please comment if you want me to write the rest of this, or leave it as a oneshot. Thank you so much for reading this it's my first fanfic so I'm sorry if it's not amazing. :)
Chapter One
Hiccup staggered across the Champion's Tent towards the small, huddled gathering of teachers, competitors and Ministry Officials alike, his stomach swooping dangerously like a heavy pendulum with every reluctant step forwards he took.
He stumbled into an apparently vacant place between a friendly Slytherin he vaguely knew from the year above, who gave him an encouraging if not uncertain smile, and the ever-cheerful Fifth-year Herbology Teacher, whom Hiccup recognized as Professor Longbottom. Many students (Hiccup not included), found the use of the Herbology Teacher's Sir-name funny, and laughed at him behind his back, but Hiccup liked Professor Longbottom and was sure he didn't want to get on his bad side: That guy may be old, but he was lethal with a pair of Dr Fungus's enchanted hedge-trimmers.
The Slytherin boy to Hiccup's left stood about a head taller than Hiccup himself, with a mop of messy, shock white hair, and a pair of beautiful ice blue eyes that seemed to gaze straight through your own. Even in his panic-ridden state, Hiccup couldn't help but stare.
The boy carried a shepherd's crook in his right hand, (Though what it was for Hiccup had no idea), and stood barefoot, his visible skin almost so pale it seemed to radiate a glow-like aura.
The boy seemed to take Hiccup's lack of speech as a que to introduce himself, as he switched the staff-like-thing he was holding to his alternate palm, stuck out his right hand in Hiccup's direction and smiled as if trying to calm himself as much as he was Hiccup.
"Hi, I'm Jack, Jack Frost and you would be...?"
"H-hiccup!" Hiccup's voice came out as a shrill squeak.
At that moment, a soft breeze blew through the tent, somewhat soothing his blush of embarrassment, so, with new found composure, Hiccup cleared his throat and tried again.
"My name's H-hiccup Haddock" Hiccup stated, his cheeks burning.
"Well 'Hiccup Haddock', It's good to meet you." Said the newly introduced Jack Frost, who smiled a tense smile that twinkled in his eyes, and looked genuinely pleased to meet Hiccup. Jack's apparent pleasure somewhat took Hiccup aback, and he gave a quick, if not forced quirk of his lips before lowering his eyes to the carpeted floor of the tent.
This is nice, Thought Hiccup, I've finally met someone who I can actually enjoy a full conversation with without them bolting straight through the nearest window, and I'm not even going to live long enough to enjoy it, Jeez, I just can't catch a break. Hiccup sighed.
Depressingly, he could recall at least one occasion on which that particular event had happened.
They were seven floors up, and Hiccup was talking to a plump Ravenclaw girl in pigtails about... well, he couldn't actually remember what he was talking about, but anyway, in one way or another, their strained conversation had been abruptly ended by the girl smashing her way through an arched window to get away from him, pigtails flying in her wake. She'd had a broomstick at the time and all so she didn't seriously injure herself but still... It did kind of hurt. And he wasn't just talking about the stained-glass shrapnel that had peppered him in the girl's mad dash to escape his company. Being a Ravenclaw and all, Hiccup reflected, that really wasn't particularly smart of her.
Hiccup looked over at Jack, his ears pounding with more than just the strain of re-living the not-so-distant memory.
"Thanks," Hiccup muttered hastily, remembering that he had forgotten to reply. His eyes were wandering and clouded, his mind still not completely refocused to the conversation at hand. He pulled his mind back in Jack's general direction with not too much effort.
"Usually people don't even want to know my name, let alone think it's nice to meet me."
Jack frowned, his mouth opening to reply, when quite suddenly, a flustered figure stumbled through the front flap of the tent, his pointed hat slightly off-centre, and his cheeks flushed ruddy with discomposure. A great deal of candyfloss hair sprouted from his balding head, nose, and ears, and his forehead gleamed like a mirror in the dull, close light leaking through the canvas tent walls. The man was slightly bow-legged, as if he had been riding his entire life, and he wore an eyewateringly bright set of gold and maroon striped robes that it made Hiccup's eyes ache just looking at them. From the look on Jack's face, he was suffering, too. Maybe the robes will kill me before I die of fright, thought Hiccup, and even in spite of himself he smirked. This commotion was enough to effectively silence the words brewing in Jack's throat. He gave Hiccup an apologetic shrug, then turned his attention back towards the now less pink-faced man before them.
"Right... yes.. h-hello, um yes...hello to Thestral, I mean, ah, Hello to all you... um...Your pardon if you please, that is to say, Hello to you all!" Stuttered the plump wizard, stumbling over each word in a most spectacular fashion. He then gave a strange little titter of laughter, (sort of like a mouse getting trodden on) causing both Jack and Hiccup unceremoniously large snorts of hilarity, neither boy able to control their fit of silent laughter as nervous energy bubbled to the surface in the form of a severe fit of the giggles. This received a stern look from Professor Longbottom, and both boys' shoulders shook with the effort of gaining control over their spasming lungs. The laughter quickly left the boys' eyes and spirits as they redoubled their efforts to listen to the wizened old man before them:
"...am Oliver Wood, Head of Magical Sports and Gaming Events at the Ministry of Magic. I am here, as I'm sure you've already guessed, to deliver to you the conditions, technicalities and terms for the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Wood then exercised his ridiculous laugh for a second time, but this time neither Jack nor Hiccup so much as smiled.
"Umm..well.." Wood mumbled, obviously losing some of his hard-earned confidence due to his less-than-warm- reception.
"As a bit of a sports man in my youth," Proclaimed Wood, puffing out his chest and straightening his robes,
"I know how the nerves must be truly awful at such a time as this," stated Wood, before quickly adding:
"Not that I ever really got nerves in my day!" He then gave an uneasy chortle and fumbled with his pointy hat in order to position it correctly on his head (he blushed deeper still as he realised that it had been askew in the first place)
"But anyway, um...yes, well, ah, onto the Task!" He cleared his throat as his unease was quickly replaced with excitement, and reached inside his robes, searching for a second before withdrawing his hand.
In his now clenched fist was a navy blue draw-string bag, about the size of large flower pot, with a pattern of stars on it that seemed to actually twinkle like their counterparts in the real night sky. It reminded Hiccup of the Great Hall. At the sight of the bag, Hiccup's stomach gave an unexpected lurch, causing him to stumble sideways into Jack, who didn't look to good himself. Jack's complexion had turned even paler, (if that was possible) and had now taken on an unhealthy grey hue. Jack took no notice of Hiccup knocking into him, and pretty much looked as bad as Hiccup felt. Hiccup ran a shaking hand through his hair and tried to give Jack an encouraging smile, but Jack wasn't looking in Hiccup's direction, he was staring into space, looking like he was trying not to be sick.
The rest of the group was staring intently at Oliver Wood, desperately hanging onto his every word. Hiccup gave Jack a nervous tap on the shoulder, and motioned to his ear in a listen sort of way. Jack hinted and tuned in, too.
"...he First Task," Wood was saying, licking his lips in anticipation, "is fairly simple." He stated, clapping his hands and effectively making everyone jump.
"All you have to do," he said, creating a painfully dramatic pause, and Hiccup drew in a sharp breath, "is collect the golden egg!" He explained, his voice shaking with excitement. Everyone let out their held breaths at once, in a flurry of air.
"But!" He called darkly, switching mood effortlessly from jolly to downright dark. "Be warned..." he extended, his eyes growing wide with anticipation "For the egg is not simply waiting to be collected..."
"Really? Oh bummer, and for a second there I thought we were sailing smooth, I was gonna freaking fly through this!" Jack muttered sarcastically, making Hiccup smirk to himself before his face fell back to its default, 'I'm-terrified-somebody-God-Damn-save-me' look.
"It is guarded..." Wood continued mirthlessly, pausing only long enough for Hiccup to think, 'Enough with the God-Damn pauses already!', before he exclaimed in a flurry of excitement;
"By a DRAGON!"
Hiccup's stomach dropped a further four foot below sea level. A Dragon!? How in Merlin's freaking name was he going to get past a Dragon!? He'd probably die of fright before the thing so much as looked at him. Fear curled like a sleeping beast in the pit of Hiccup's sub-sea level stomach, and suddenly Jack's earlier joke about 'flying' wasn't so funny anymore.
"But wait, there is more!" Wood politely yelled over the commotion and panic now consuming a large portion of the tent. "Excuse me, ex-Excuse me! Yes, ehem, h-hello, thank you, thank you." He gave a light cough and continued, now with the entire tent's full concentration.
"The egg will be concealed within a nest of real dragon eggs, and points will be deducted for the destruction of the real eggs."
Screw the points, thought Hiccup, now panicking, and seriously considering trying the trade 'break-through-the-nearest-window-to-get-away' routine, before realizing a) Wood was talking again, so he should probably be listening and b) He was in a tent, therefore there were no windows to eject himself through. Damn it.
"...this bag," Wood had continued, pausing to clear his throat importantly, "There is a miniature model of each of the dragons you will have to fight: there is on for each of the four champions." With these words, he looked at Hiccup, and Hiccup looked back at him, feeling like the beast in the pit of his stomach was in the process of waking up.
"The number," Wood continued, " Specifies the order in which you will face your dragons, starting with the number One: Ladies first!" He called cheerfully, moving towards the pretty brunette girl from Beauxbaton who Hiccup vaguely remembered being chosen. Rather reluctantly and with a stony expression, the girl lowered a shaking hand into the velvety folds of the bag, and from the void a few seconds later, she drew a miniature bird-like dragon that Hiccup recognized immediately as a Deadly Nadder. It squawked contentedly, flexing its tail spines and pruning its scales. The girl audibly sighed with relief, obviously satisfied with her choice of dragon, and began to giggle nervously with every exhale. This didn't exactly instil Hiccup with confidence.
"Ooooh the Deadly Nadder; a truly worthy opponent... now onto Durmstrung!" Wood stated cheerfully, hobbling over to where the muscular Durmstrung candidate stood, and offering him the bag. He was tall and broad, with a ridiculously square jaw adorned with stubble, and large, toned muscles. He had thick, black eyebrows and hair, with was styled in a mini Mohawk that looked tiny and comical in proportion to his bulbous head. All brawn no brain, thought Hiccup, feeling dwarfed in comparison, and wishing he had a little more 'brawn' at that particular moment. With a frown, the Durmstrung competitor plunged his fist into the depths of the bag, from whence it re-emerged not a second later clutching a small, struggling, grub-like dragon.
"Ah, the hardy Gronkle!" Wood exclaimed, obviously delighted. "And now for Hogwarts; Mr Frost?"
Jack stared at the bag like it was going to rip his hand off, set his jaw, and then plunged his forearm into it.
He drew out a lean, red, lizard-like dragon with a mean set of teeth, which growled at him and tried to snap at his partly-gloved fingers, the 'Number 3' dangling from its long neck.
"Well," Jack sighed, obviously not thrilled with his chosen dragon, "Could have been a lot wor- HOLY SHIT!"
Hiccup snapped his head to face Jack's direction. At that moment, Jack's dragon had become completely engulfed by flame, and would have awarded Jack with a serious burn if not for his gloves. Jack was now flailing his arm around wildly, trying to throw off his particularly stubborn dragon, who was hanging on to his padded glove with its taloned wings. The dragon finally let go, and spun flaming through the air, until it collided with the side of the tent and slid to the floor
"Language, Mr Frost." Tutted Wood now moving off in Hiccup's direction, "And that is the iconically named Monstrous Nightmare, so if you think you could bring yourself to scrape it of the floor then that would be splendid"
"Ah, sorry" Hiccup heard Jack mumble, as he went to retrieve his dragon, who looked particularly shaken and rather shocked. " 'm J'st not...biggest fan o' fire." He finished, as he gingerly picked up the mini Monstrous Nightmare by the tail between his thumb and forefinger.
Wood sighed, then came to a stop in front of Hiccup, looking particularly exasperated.
"And finally, Mr. Haddock." He said, plastering a smile on his wrinkled face. "You'd better hope that the last beastie's not to fierce! eh?" Wood laughed.
Hiccup gulped audibly, sucked in breath, and bravely stuck his arm (from his wrist to his elbow) into the bag. For a blissful moment, Hiccup couldn't find anything. Yes! He thought quickly, his mind churning, since I'm not actually meant to be competing, they forgot to- but his thoughts were cut unceremoniously short as his fingers brushed something smooth and scaled lying in the bottom of the bag. Hiccup's breath hitched. His e squeezed painfully shut. His heart beat quickened, as if trying to escape his panicking body... and his fisted hand cleared the lip of the bag.
Wood 's smile faltered, anticipation replaced by horrified shock. Jack's eyes grew wide with concern, his pupils switching between Hiccup's scrunched face and the dragon in his palm, and the entire tent seemed to freeze in barely concealed fright.
Finally, after about ten seconds of silence, Hiccup unpeeled his eyelids, one by one, to view the small dragon pacing across his palm. And Hiccup's blood froze. His brain slowed, his eyes bulged, and suddenly he was no longer taking in his surroundings, for every nerve and every atom of his very existence turned in disbelief to focus, horror struck, on the miniature dragon pacing across his quivering hand.
The dragon was smooth and ink black, all curved lines and smooth edges, with large, panelled wings that stretched far wider than the dragon was long. It was sleek and lithe, like a panther, and had a long, thick, cable-like tail that snaked to end in two flat, out-stretching fins. The creature had four, bottom-heavy legs, that splayed out as they met the floor, each tipped with four, razor claws. The beast's back was adorned with a single strip of spikes that ran down the ridge of his spine and ended roughly halfway down his tail, each curved backwards like a dolphin's fin. The most striking thing about the dragon, however, was its eyes. They moved swiftly, and with purpose, scanning the surrounding environment, discarding the irrelevant information, and analysing what was or could become resourceful. Those eyes were calculating, clever. They seemed to look straight into your very making, to your past regrets, your future wishes; without a second of hesitation, they seemed to understand you: Those were the glowing green, dangerous eyes of a killer.
It was both beautiful and terrifying.
"Is, is s-sat a..." Questioned the Durmstrung teen, pointing an unsteady finger in the direction of Hiccup's palm.
"Night F-fury," Hiccup finished, staring into the dragon's glowering eyes, "The unholy offspring of lightning and," Hiccup paused, and swallowed noisily.
"And death itself."