OKAY, SO, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S SAD!?

I was meaning to post this along with "We Celebrate Them" for Christmas, but I LOST MY FILE. AND GUESS WHAT!? I FOUND MY FILE JUST NOW AND I KNOW IT IS NOT CHRISTMAS BUT CAN I PLEASE POST THIS NOW!? YES!? YAY! :D It will seem rushed, and yeah, it might be. I'm doing a lot of correcting on it right now, but here's the first chapter! It'll only be around five chapters long, sooooo...

YA. ENJOY! MERRY VERY VERY VERY LATE CHRISTMAS (I suppose)! :D

"I don't know, Astrid. I just don't know."

"Aww, come on!" said Astrid. "I promise, this will taste better than last year's Yaknog!"

"That's the problem," said Hiccup. "Your idea of 'better' is sometimes our idea of 'worse.'"

"Well, tell me how you really feel, Hiccup," said Astrid with an eye roll. "I'm not going to be here forever, and you're too wishy washy to say no. Just try one sip. One sip, and I won't bug you about it until next year."

"Fine," Hiccup muttered. "You're going to be the death of me, you know that."

"Yep," said Astrid. "Now take it."

Hiccup sighed and took the cup Astrid held out to him. After taking the mandatory sip, he gave it back to her. Astrid looked at him with slight worry, wondering what he thought.

"Well?" she said. "What do you think?"

"Well..." Hiccup tried to find the words. "It's better than last year's batch, that's for certain. It still tastes like Yaknog, though. Add less...'Yak' next time."

"Okay, thanks," said Astrid. Then, she turned and walked away to spread some more "holiday cheer." Hiccup watched her leave, a pained smile on his face, before he turned away and headed in the opposite direction.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs called him from behind. Hiccup turned around, facing his friend.

"Yeah?" he said.

"I was wondering," said Fishlegs, "if you want to come and have a quick dragon race around the island. You know, just before Snoggletog tomorrow."

"Um...sorry, Fishlegs, maybe later," said Hiccup.

"What?" said Fishlegs. "Hiccup, you love dragon races!"

"Yeah, I...I just have something else to do," Hiccup replied half-heartedly, possibly quicker than he should have. "Sorry, Fishlegs. I'll catch up with you later."

"Well...if you're sure," said Fishlegs, hesitating slightly.

"Yeah, you guys go on ahead without me," said Hiccup. "See you when I see you!" He turned and bolted without another word, leaving Fishlegs, still confused, to go his own way.

A few minutes later, the other dragon riders - Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout - flew overhead with their dragons, whooping as they raced. Hiccup watched them until they disappeared from view, and sighed.

Toothless came up behind the young Chief and cooed, motioning to the sky. Hiccup turned around and gazed at the dragon with sorrow in his eyes.

"Not right now, buddy," said Hiccup. "I don't want to go flying."

Toothless growled sadly and nudged him again.

"I'm not in the mood, Toothless," Hiccup pushed him away gently. "I'm sorry."

Strange. Hiccup was always in the mood to go flying, any day, every day, all the time, if he could. Why was today any different? Defeated, Toothless turned and walked in the other direction, his tail dragging on the ground behind him.

Hiccup wanted to just hang his hands and ride his dragon, but at that point, he really wanted to be alone. He turned around again, and...

"Hiccup!"

Oh great. Another one.

He turned around slowly, coming face to face with Snotlout, just landing and dismounting Hookfang. He ran over to Hiccup as the other dragon riders landed behind him.

"Hey, baby cousin," said Snotlout.

"Oh good grief," Hiccup groaned.

"What's been going on?" Astrid ran up behind Snotlout. Following her closely were Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs.

"Nothing," said Hiccup.

"No, I'm pretty sure something's wrong," said Fishlegs suspiciously, stepping up in between Astrid and Snotlout. "You declined our offer on a dragon race, you declined Toothless' offer on even a short flight-"

"You just haven't been yourself lately," said Astrid. "The Hiccup I know wouldn't hesitate to race with us, and would never ever turn down Toothless. What's going on with you the past few days?"

"Nothing!" Hiccup snapped. "Why is everyone worried about me all of a sudden?"

"Because you're our friend, Dragon Boy," said Astrid. "It's our job to worry about you."

"Not when there's nothing to worry about!" said Hiccup. He sighed. "I have to go." He turned and ran in the opposite direction, leaving his friends dumbfounded behind, deciding as a whole, even without speaking, that they weren't going to follow him. If something was wrong, chances were him just being alone was what he wanted.

"Something's up," said Astrid as soon as Hiccup was out of sight. "Normally when something's wrong, he tells at least one of us."

"Yeah, I know," said Snotlout.

"He even declined a dragon race," said Fishlegs. "Even when he's having a bad day, normally, he does dragon races with us all the more to try and cheer himself up. But now it just feels like he's trying to...avoid us." He shook his head. "He's being strange," he went on. "Should we talk to someone about it?"

"Like who?" said Ruffnut. "Why talk to someone about it, if Hiccup won't tell anyone what's wrong?"

"We could talk to Valka," said Astrid. "She lives with Hiccup, and she's his mother. Maybe he told her something he didn't tell us."

"That could work," said Fishlegs. "Then let's go talk to her!"

...

"Good morning, Hiccup!" Valka called to him from atop Cloudjumper. Hiccup looked up as she landed her dragon and dismounted, approaching him. "This is exciting, isn't it?" she asked him, possibly too enthusiastically.

"Yep, I'm excited," said Hiccup half-heartedly.

Valka frowned. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh not you too!" Hiccup groaned. "Everyone's suddenly worried about me!"

"Is there something wrong with that?" said Valka. "What's so wrong about friends being friends?"

"I didn't say something was wrong with it," said Hiccup. "I just don't understand it. There's nothing wrong."

"Oh is there now?" Valka said suspiciously. Hiccup sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Mom," he said. "To anyone, really."

"I understand not wanting to talk about it," said Valka, "but by the way you're acting, you are pretty much asking people to ask you to talk about it."

Hiccup gazed up at her, still not completely meeting her eyes. "Well, okay," he said. "I have to go now." He turned and headed in the opposite direction. Valka watched him until he was gone, and then turned back around. Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout ran up to her just as Hiccup left.

"Hey, Valka," said Snotlout. "We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions."

"An interrogation?" said Valka.

"Not exactly," said Astrid. "Just a few questions. Have you noticed Hiccup acting...strange lately?"

"Yes, actually," said Valka. "Why? Have you been noticing it, too?"

"Yeah," said Ruffnut.

"It's weird," said Tuffnut. "It's like he's trying to avoid people. But he's never done it before. Why would he suddenly do it now?"

"I don't know," said Valka.

"Hey, wait a minute," said Astrid. "I've got an idea."