Howdy folks :) Been a while since I uploaded, but thank you so much for the support on 'Growth Spurt' :) every favourite and review made my day! I've actually had so many ideas for httyd fics lately and I've been writing a lot, the biggest problem was deciding which one to focus on the most and upload first, lol!

Anyway, I decided to do this one first :) This idea was inspired by a oneshot called "What It Means To Be A Brother" by Lady Elfensenf (seriously guys, you have to read it! It's so adorable! But sad at the same time, so be warned) and I just fell in love with the idea of Hiccup being a big brother XD, so I created this. I've set this during the first movie, but I dunno, if this turns out successful I might make a mini-series of oneshots set in a lot of different moments. To include Hiccup's little brother though, I've ended up changing the story behind when Valka disappeared and was taken by dragons, but that will all be explained as the story goes on. So just clarifying: Valka is both their mother, but she is taken away at a later stage of Hiccup's life.

So yeah, here's hoping you like my fic :) Read on my fellow writers/readers/friends!

(side note: I can't edit 'Growth Spurt' so I just want to explain something: when I published the one shot, I had never heard of nor read 'Iron, Anvils, and the Odd Ones Out', so my scene between Hiccup and Gobber was purely coincidental! I meant no harm! But thank you to those who pointed it out! B.T.W., if you haven't read it yourself, you should! It's filled with all the Hiccup and Gobber family fluff XD)

Chapter One

This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word: sturdy. It's been here for seven generations but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets! …the only problems… are the pests. While most places have mice, or mosquitoes, we have…

"Dragons!"

Hiccup nearly cracked and fell over laughing when the little boy before him gasped loudly and ducked his head underneath his blankets, but he managed to remain still over the light of the candle and keep his 'terrifying' pose. Hiccup silently congratulated himself; the shadows dancing across the wooden walls were looking pretty spooky.

It was lucky the kid liked his stories in the first place, no matter how intimidating, otherwise Hiccup feared that their father would have killed him for terrifying the daylights out of his younger sibling.

It was only when two big green eyes peeked out from the cover when Hiccup resumed his tale.

"Everywhere! Out of every corner, out of every shadow! They came without warning, raining deadly lava from the skies!"

"How many?"

"Hundreds! No, wait! Thousands!"

"No way!"

"Way! Legend says it was the first time on Berk that Vikings were struck with fear from the mere sight of the deadly onslaught! All seemed hopeless; there was nothing they could do! Sheep were gone in moments, houses were turned to ash in seconds, limbs were ripped apart before you could even blink!"

The little boy started quivering slightly, but his wide eyes were still trained heavily on his older brother. Hiccup bit his lip. Okay. Maybe he was going a little too far this time with the whole limb ripping; but it was hard to stay on track. Tryggr loved his stories, he always insisted on one before he went to bed – especially on the nights when their father was out of the house. With Stoick there, Hiccup had to keep them tame, filled with trolls and silly seasick Vikings. With the Chief gone, however, the greatest battles could be told, filled with all the danger and excitement the little boy could ever ask for.

Quickly deciding he needed to bring in the 'hero' in order to avoid Tryggr from having nightmares for real, Hiccup changed his pose as though he were holding up a sword. "It was a lucky thing that He came along, indeed!"

"He?"

Hiccup scoffed mockingly. "He? You're seriously asking who He is? I'm ashamed of you, little brother!"

Tryggr leapt up from his bed, annoyed and curious. "Who is he?" he whined, bouncing impatiently on his knees.

Hiccup swiftly brought his arm up to his face, masking half of it in shadow. "The Night Warrior…" he whispered as dramatically as possible. He was received with an excited gasp and sparkling eyes, and he could not help but grin and mentally pat himself on the back for the idea of the bed time story.

"A deadly beast of a man who only came to fight out when the moon is at its highest peak, who draped himself in the darkest of clothing made of dragon skin – making him practically invisible to every living creature," he continued, edging away from the candle light and towards Tryggr very slowly, "wielding nothing more than a flaming sword to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. As quick as a strike of lightning and just as deadly. A mysterious stranger with one purpose and one purpose alone."

"What?"

"To down every single dragon that dared to threaten the Archipelago…"

"'Specially Berk, huh?"

"Especially Berk! Why, he would have been crazy to miss out on a mighty battle such as this! Left!" Hiccup swiped his arms, pretending to wield a sword in order to captivate his brother further into the story. "Right! He attacked with all his power! Slaying dragons and mounting their heads on spears before they could even touch down on the soil and lay a single claw on the sheep! He was the bravest warrior Berk had ever seen and certainly the most deadly…"

Hiccup sighed dramatically and lowered his arms. "If only the dragons weren't so smart to realise this…"

Tryggr swallowed nervously. "What happened?"

Hiccup edged closer to Tryggr. "They could see how powerful the Night Warrior was; there was no stopping him. Even amongst dragons he was a fearful legend; most likely they told their hatchling the very same tale I'm telling you right now."

"You got this story off a dragon?"

Hiccup chuckled and rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't; now shush! We're getting to the good part!"

Tryggr leaned forward again eagerly, and Hiccup resumed his tale.

"They knew he had to be stopped at all costs if they were to survive. So, they laid waste to the islands, hoping to lure him in and snatch him up!"

"No!"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. And they were successful too."

"Did he die?"

"Not quite. The dragons weren't foolish, they knew they could use the Night Warrior to their advantage; why waste such a deadly weapon? So, with their dark and twisted magic, they lured him to their nest and forced him to change into something even more powerful, something equally terrifying…"

"What?"

"A dragon!"

A horrified gasp. "No way!"

"Yes way… They cast a spell upon our brave Night Warrior, manipulating his mind into believing that the Vikings were the Enemy instead. The dragons had done their work; and now, even to this very day he obeys only to them and commits treacherous deeds against those he once called allies."

Little Tryggr looked torn between awe and depression. "What happened to him?"

Hiccup smirked darkly. "These days, we no longer call him the Night Warrior. For those foolish enough to believe he turned on his own will-"

"No!"

"They became furious; so much so, they gave him a new title and fight with determination to down him and bring him to justice. Today, you may know him as the devil, or perhaps the offspring of lightning and death itself, but most likely by his title… The Night Fury!"

Tryggr gasped excitedly. "Really? He's the Night Fury? So that's why everyone wants to take him down!"

Hiccup ruffled his brother's striking red hair roughly, but affectionately. "Only if you're quick enough to catch him!"

Tryggr gave a squeal of protest and ducked away from Hiccup's palm. "You said it was gonna be you! You were gonna down the Night Fury!"

Hiccup smiled gratefully. "You're the only one who thinks so."

"Only 'cause you run away the quickest."

"Why you little-!"

Tryggr squealed loudly, but was unable to avoid his elder sibling when he suddenly grabbed him in an awkward headlock and vigorously rubbed the top of his head in a noogie. The little boy giggled and fought with all his might to escape the gangly arms.

"Do you surrender?" Hiccup challenged.

"Never!"

"Ok, you're asking for it!"

"No! No! Hahahahaha! Hi-Hiccup! S-stop! Hahahahaha! I give up! I give up!"

Hiccup stopped his tickling and released Tryggr with a satisfied smirk. "That's what I thought."

Tryggr only giggled and stuck out his tongue.

Hiccup glanced towards the window of their bedroom and sighed. "Okay, we'd better go to sleep. Dad will kill me if he finds out I let you stay up this late."

"Aw, but its only midnight!"

"Exactly, and I've gotta be up early tomorrow and so do you."

"One more story! Please!"

"No, it's time for bed now."

Tryggr pouted. "But I'm not tired!"

Hiccup smirked when his little brother struggled to hold back a yawn. "Yeah huh, sure thing, big guy." Before he could give the chance for the younger one to protest even further, Hiccup pushed back on his shoulders, lowering him back down onto his pallet. The boy continued to pout as his older brother pulled the covers over him, but his eyes were flickering closed in a slowly lost battle.

"Not tired," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

Hiccup only smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Goodnight, Tiger," he murmured, calling his brother by his nickname. It had purely been by mistake when he was born, that Hiccup could not pronounce his new sibling's name properly and always called him that. Yet now, five years later, it still stuck.

Tryggr was out cold before Hiccup could blow out the candle light.

Hiccup remained still for a while in his stance, contently watching Tryggr sleep peacefully and was overcome with a sense of calmness as he observed the way his little chest rose and fell rhythmically underneath the furs. It was no secret to anyone that Hiccup absolutely adored his little brother and loved him with all his heart. How could he not? The little boy was his only friend in the world; the only one who did not consider him as nothing more than a runt, an embarrassment to their father's name, a screw-up. To the youth, he was just Hiccup – his big, goofy brother who always found the time to play and tell the best stories that most Vikings had little to no patience for.

It was no surprise really that Tryggr was as equally fond of Hiccup. After all, most of the time his older sibling was all he had. Their father was the Chief of the village and never seemed to have the time for his two sons – though Hiccup highly suspected that his avoidance was due to the still burning grief over their late mother. Really, it was Hiccup who seemed to be raising the young lad most of the time; and neither boy had any complaint about the matter whatsoever.

Smiling contently, Hiccup retreated to his own bed and fell asleep rather quickly. He was exhausted. He really should not have stayed up so late to tell Tryggr's bedtime story; Gobber was going to get back at him for this for sure if he slept in.

Oh well, he thought tiredly, it was so worth it.

Tryggr's awe and joy always made it worth the effort.

Fwoosh!

SCREECH!

BOOM!

Hiccup gave a start in his bed and nearly toppled out. With a gasp, he shot up, staring at the roof from which the loud sounds were erupting from. Oh Gods, he thought worriedly.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup snapped his head back down to face his brother's bed directly opposite to his. Tryggr was sitting up, rubbing his right eye tiredly. "What's goin' on?" he mumbled, confused.

Hiccup silently cursed and jumped out of his bed, quickly pulling on his boots and fetching his fur vest. "Dragon raid. We have to get you out of here. Come on; let's get your boots on."

It took only a short minute to help his sleepy little brother put on his boots, but already Hiccup could tell it was getting worse outside. Many of the Villagers were beginning to shout out battle cries and several dragons were shrieking. He could spot glowing fires from outside their window. "C'mon, c'mon!" He ushered, grasping Tryggr's hand tightly and pulling him down the stairs to the main room. Their father still had not come home yet. Either that or he had already left to go and fight off the raid.

"I'll get you to the Great Hall with the other kids, alright? Same as usual," explained Hiccup as he grasped the door handle, going through usual procedure to reassure and calm Tryggr.

"Agh!" Tryggr yelped when they spotted a Monstrous Nightmare just outside of their household. Hiccup regained his senses just in time to pull the door closed and envelope his sibling in a protective hug that kept him away from the burning wood. He hissed in pain, feeling the heat singe his back.

He played it safe and waited for a minute before trying to leave the house again. Luckily, the Nightmare had moved on to fight one of the more powerful villagers. "Let's go!" He tugged a petrified Tryggr alongside, rushing towards the stairs to reach the Great Hall. It was lucky their house was so close, so their dash was not too long (though it still took a little while, as Hiccup had a tendency to trip over himself when running).

Upon reaching the huge doors, Hiccup bashed his fist rapidly against the wood, hoping for a quick answer. To his relief, the door opened slightly to reveal the village nurse who was in charge of watching over the children during dragon raids.

"I was wondering where you were," she scolded softly, ushering for Tryggr to enter.

He stood still, clutching onto Hiccup's arm tightly. Hiccup had to give him a small shove. "It's alright, I'll be back soon to collect you again."

"You promise?"

"Always, Tiger."

"Maybe you should head back inside yourself, Hiccup," said the nurse, frowning slightly as she pulled Tryggr into the hall.

Hiccup scowled. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," he grumbled when she pulled the door shut, but he still had just enough time to smile reassuringly to his sibling before it could be sealed.

However, Hiccup did not rush back to his home, as many passing villagers urged him to do with annoyance and frustration. Instead, he bee lined straight for the forge to help out with the weapons… and hopefully get to work with his bola shooter. He had to get out there. He had to kill a dragon. After all, Tryggr was probably expecting that.

"HICCUP!"

He yelped when he felt a giant hand grasp the back of his tunic, sweeping him off his feet just in time to avoid a Nadder's flame. He winced, realising it was his father.

"What is he doing out-? What are you doing out here?" Stoick the Vast yelled. "Where's your brother?"

"I-I took him to the Hall with the other kids," Hiccup mumbled rather pathetically.

"Get inside!" Stoick shouted, tossing Hiccup back onto the path. Hiccup huffed and scowled, but still ignored his orders and began to head for the forge once again, leaping over fallen weapons and patches of fire with awkward bounds.

"Oh, nice of ye ta join the party," said Gobber as he finally made it to the edge of the village where the building lay. He pulled of his vest and immediately replaced it with his leather apron. "I thought ye'd bin carried off!"

"What, who me? No, I'm waaay to muscular for their taste! They wouldn't know what to do with all… this!"

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?"

Besides Tryggr, Gobber was probably the only one on Berk who could tolerate Hiccup, even to the point of being considered a friend. Hiccup really hoped that was the case, as he had come to view his mentor as a sort of uncle (although in the deepest corners of his mind, the title 'father' could have even been considered). Tryggr liked him too. He told equally great stories.

The battle continued on into the morning, and after a small argument with Gobber after sorely wanting to join the other teens, especially that special someone, he became more determined than ever to get out onto the field and test his bola thrower.

He had to. He had to make his mark. He had to bring some sort of pride back to his family name and remove his 'useless' title.

He had to shoot down a Night Fury.

And as he rushed out, wheeling the strange device, he grinned eagerly. Just wait till Tryggr heard about what he had done!

…or maybe not.

"…I mean I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a really clear shot! It went down, just off Raven Point! Let's get a search party out there and-"

"STOP!"

Tryggr, who had excitedly rushed out of the Great Hall when the Nurse deemed Berk to be in the clear, froze in his tracks, scared out of his wits. It was not an uncommon occurrence for his father to be angry with Hiccup, but he had not been this angry in a long time. Even Hiccup looked scared. Wisely, Tryggr decided to stay put until the storm blew over and twiddled his fingers nervously.

"Just…stop. Every time you step outside disaster falls! Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

Hiccup pursed his lips and his eyes flickered to avoid Stoick's. "Well, between you and me the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"

Tryggr giggled, though the sound was drowned out by outraged gasps.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick shouted before sighing heavily. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?" He nearly begged desperately.

"I-I can't stop myself! I see a dragon and I have to just… kill it! You know? It's who I am, Dad!"

Stoick sighed and buried his face in the palm of his hand. "Oh, you are… many things, Hiccup; but a dragon killer is not one of them."

Tryggr, noticing that his father had toned down quite significantly in volume, decided it was safe to approach his family. Without further hesitation, he broke away from the small crowd of children and rushed to Stoick and clung onto his leg, grateful that he had come back unscathed from battle again.

Some of the villagers laughed in good nature when Stoick was caught off guard, but others (namely Hiccup ad Gobber) frowned at the lack of any returned affection on the Chief's behalf.

"Are you okay, Tryggr?" asked Stoick, leaning down to pull his youngest son off of his leg.

"Yeah," said Tryggr with a simple smile. "Did ya get any dragons, Daddy?"

"Not enough," grumbled Stoick , though more to himself.

Hiccup was grateful that Tryggr's presence had calmed their father, for when Stoick looked back up to his teenage son he merely waved a dismissive hand and nudged the little boy over to him. "Just… just go home boys," he said lowly before turning to Gobber, "and make sure they get there. I have to clean up the mess…"

Tryggr skipped along happily, although he had to slow his pace as Hiccup had taken a firm hold of his hand again. It did not bother him the slightest, it just made him happy to know that Hiccup was back and okay after another raid too. He had kept his promise.

He jumped when there was a sudden loud cackle from one of the twins. He really didn't like those two, they were loud and mean, especially to the Haddock boys.

"Quite the performance," the boy praised mockingly.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly! That helped!" Then their cousin Snotlout approached the two, teasing Hiccup meanly.

Tryggr tried to scowl up at him, but Hiccup only pulled him along faster. "Thank you, thank you," he called back dejectedly, "I was trying, so…"

"Meanie!" Tryggr yelled back, angry. Now Hiccup was sad, and that made him sad.

"Flea!" Snotlout teased. That earned a smack in the head from Gobber.

"Tryggr, stop that!" Hiccup hissed angrily, tugging his struggling brother along. That made the little boy stop immediately. Hiccup was never angry with him, and he only ever called him by his real name if he was in severe trouble.

"Don't let 'em get to ya, lads" Gobber mumbled to them, leading the pair up to the house.

"I can't even be bothered," said Hiccup, "they'd never listen to me anyway if I tried. No one would. Not even Dad… You believe me, right? I really did hit one…"

"Sure, Hiccup."

"He never listens!"

"Well, it runs in the family."

"And when he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat on his sandwich. Excuse me, bar maid!" Hiccup released Tryggr's hand and struck a pose, putting on a thick accent to imitate their father. "I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms for a firstborn! Extra guts and glory on the side! This here! This is a talking fishbone!"

Tryggr was laughing too much to notice the look of hurt on Hiccup's face; he barely even understood the context. All he understood was that his big brother was putting on a silly voice and trying to copy their father; it was funny. It was great!

"Now, yer thinkin' about this all wrong. It's no' so much what ye look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."

"…thank you for summing that up."

Tryggr tilted his head, confused. "What do ya mean? Like his bones? Or his belly? Or his-"

"He doesn't mean any of that!" Hiccup snapped, irritated and tired. He slumped slightly in defeat. "Let's just… get inside."

Before either Tryggr or Gobber could stop him, the teen had already retreated into the confines of their home; either trusting that the youth would soon follow behind or too deep in his own thoughts to remember to take hold of his hand again.

Tryggr fiddled with his fingers again. "What's wrong with him, Gobber?"

Gobber shook his head. "Ah, he's just bein' a teenager; nothin' for ye to worry about too much, laddie."

"Oh. Okay."

"Just look after him, all right?" said Gobber, smiling down at the boy and ruffling his hair. Tryggr grumbled and tried to flatten it again. Only Hiccup was allowed to do that to him. Although he was a bit happy, having been given a responsibility. "Keep 'im happy."

"…If I do, will you tell me the story of how you lost your arm?"

"For the tenth time, not until yer older, ye cheeky bugger!"

Tryggr shrugged. Oh well, it was worth the try. "Bye, Gobber!" He called back as he finally made his way into the house after Hiccup. He left the door open long enough to hear the blacksmith return the farewell before pushing his whole body to shut the door. He huffed. It sucked being little. He could not wait to finally grow up like Hiccup.

Speaking of whom, he giggled excitedly upon finding his big brother walking down the stairs from their bedroom, clutching his journal in one hand and a charcoal pencil in the other. Tryggr rushed forward. "Did ya get any dragons, Hiccup? Did ya? Did ya? Did ya?" he asked, jumping around Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed. "I dunno," he replied slowly, choosing his words carefully. He laid a hand on Tryggr's shoulder to stop his bouncing, and once he had the boy's attention he kneeled down to face him at an equal level. "I need you to stay here," he instructed sternly, but nervously. "There's something I have to find out there, and I don't know when I'll be back."

Tryggr titled his head, confused. "But Daddy said that-"

"No. I have to get out there. It's actually for Dad that I have to do this for. Please, you have to understand just for now."

"What do ya hafta find?"

"I- er… it doesn't matter, I'll let you know if I find it." Hiccup did not want to get Tryggr's hopes up that he may have actually shot down the Night Fury; he could not stand the disappointment in his eyes if it did fail. "But you can't tell Dad, all right? No matter what. You promise?"

Wow, two responsibilities. Tryggr was starting to feel quite grown up. "I promise," he said honestly. He would not let his big brother down.

Hiccup smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Tiger. I'll be back as soon as I can…"

So, yeah, what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it :)

Please review and favourite if you did, it would mean the world to me :)