WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS!
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OKAY GUYS! :D So before we get into the story, I want to make it clear that I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT VIKING COMING OF AGE CEREMONIES OKAY JUST WANTED TO GET THAT OUT THERE. XD Twenty seemed like a good time to "come of age" but I don't know, but don't judge! I tried to do research on it, but I couldn't find anything helpful...and besides, I think it's okay for this story...right...?
Anyways, enjoy chapter 1! :D
Hiccup knelt before Gothi at the front of the Great Hall one evening on Berk. Torches hung in brackets on either side of the walls supplied light to the hall, as did the candles on the rectangular tables and the chandeliers with torches hanging from the ceiling. What looked to be every Berkian on the island was inside, watching patiently.
A red cape was pulled over Hiccup's shoulders, and beneath his leather armor he wore a long-sleeved green tunic that threw off his eyes. His hair was even more dishevelled than usual, even though he had tried to straighten it for this occasion.
Gothi stepped forward and dipped her thumb into a small bowl of dusty charcoal. Hiccup shut his eyes for a moment, and Gothi smudged the charcoal on his forehead, forming the symbol of the Chief.
Hiccup lifted his head and looked up. Gothi smiled at him and tapped her staff against the wooden floorboards three times fast. Stoick stepped forward as Hiccup stood up, and the father put his arm around his son's shoulders.
"My son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Stoick, voice echoing throughout the Great Hall, "heir of Berk!"
The Great Hall then burst into cheers. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins, standing at the front of the hall, clapped loudest of all. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were jumping upside down, clapping their hands over their heads, and Snotlout looked on, applauding beside Fishlegs. Astrid gave Hiccup two thumbs-up and kept clapping. Hiccup smiled at her more than anyone.
...
After the ceremony, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout found themselves wandering through the Great Hall. A few Berkians were dancing; others were telling jokes over mugs of Thor-knew-what. Astrid's hair was braided messily over her shoulder; she hadn't had the time to do her usual braid that afternoon before the ceremony.
"Hey, you guys! Over here!" Tuffnut's voice called, and Tuffnut waved his hands over his head to get their attention. Ruffnut and her brother were sitting at an otherwise empty table, and Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs wasted no time in joining them. Snotlout sat on the bench beside Tuffnut, and Astrid and Fishlegs sat on the bench opposite.
"I still don't know why we had to come to this stupid ceremony," Snotlout moaned, taking his helmet off his head and ruffling his hair. "My dad actually made me brush my hair today! Can you believe that?"
"I know, right?" said Tuffnut. "Wait...no I don't. My dad told me to come as I always am. So I did."
"And so did I," said Ruffnut. "Except, I think I wore my browner tunic...did you guys notice?"
"No," said Snotlout. "You guys literally wear the same thing every time we see you."
"Hey," said Tuffnut, "resources are scarce, bro."
"What-ever!" said Snotlout, leaning back and putting his feet up on the table. "I still don't understand why this ceremony is so important. I mean, seriously!"
"Lay off, Snotlout," said Astrid. "If you were the son of the Chief, you'd get a coming of age ceremony, too."
"Jealousy is not a good shade on you, Snotlout," said Tuffnut skeptically, shaking his head.
"Jealous!?" blurted Snotlout, and he sounded so offended it was almost hilarious. In fact, Ruffnut and Tuffnut did burst out laughing, which only made Snotlout more offended. "Of Hiccup? Never! Why would I be jealous of him?"
"Can't you just chill out, Snotlout?" said Astrid. "This is kind of a special day for Hiccup."
"But his birthday comes every year!" said Snotlout. "Why don't I get stupid ceremonies whenever my birthday rolls around?"
"First of all, Snotlout," said Tuffnut, "Hiccup's birthday doesn't come every year. February twenty ninth comes once every four years." He paused for a moment. "Wait...in that case, isn't Hiccup technically five?"
"And second of all, Snotlout," said Ruffnut, and she smiled sweetly. "Jeeaalllouuusssyyyy!" she said in a sing-song voice.
"I'm not jealous!"
"We don't do this every year, Snotlout. Hiccup is turning twenty today," said Fishlegs, "which means he's technically old enough to take over as Chieftain of Berk. I don't know about you, but that's sort of a big deal for the rest of us. The heir of Berk coming of age and all."
"Wait, so how old is he actually?" said Tuffnut, confused. "Five...or twenty?"
"I'm actually kind of jealous of Hiccup," said Ruffnut, crossing his arms. "Legend has it that Loki puts in that extra day every four years just to mess with people. And Hiccup was lucky enough to be born on one of them! Why couldn't we be born on the Loki-mess-with-people day?"
"It's called the Leap Day, actually," said Fishlegs.
"Sure!" said Ruffnut. "Tomato tomata!"
"Speaking of Hiccup," said Fishlegs, and he looked around, "where is he?"
"He's probably hiding!" said Snotlout. "Like I wish I was! Maybe he and Toothless took to the hills!"
"Jeaaaallloouuuuss!"
"SHUT UP!"
"Hey, there he is!" Fishlegs called, and he pointed towards the front of the Great Hall. Toothless and Hiccup stepped forward, ducked expertly beneath two dancers, and then headed over to their friends' table, red cape billowing behind Hiccup, bangs covering the upper half of the symbol of the Chief on his forehead.
Hiccup sat down beside Astrid, across from the twins and Snotlout. "So, what did I miss?" he asked, as Toothless sat on the floor beside him.
"Nothing," said Tuffnut. "Hey, Hiccup, are you turning five or twenty?"
Hiccup frowned. "If one more person uses the Leap Day joke," he said warningly, and then let his threat hang in the air.
"Congratulations, Hiccup!" said Fishlegs, reaching over and shaking his hand. "This is exciting! You're old enough to have Chieftain handed down to you!"
"Well, hopefully not any time soon," Hiccup said, withdrawing his hand. "Thor, if I get my hand shaken one more time, I think my entire arm is going to fall off." He shook out his hand as if for emphasis.
"So, what's the word, H.?" said Tuffnut. "What are we supposed to do at a coming of age ceremony?"
"I don't think we're supposed to do anything," said Hiccup, shrugging.
"Oh, and by the way," said Tuffnut, cupping one hand around his mouth, "love the cape."
"It was my Dad's idea," Hiccup said. "Ceremonial, I guess. I wouldn't have worn it if I'd had a say in it, but...well, tradition."
"Tradition," repeated Ruffnut and Tuffnut solemnly, as if it were the answer to all of life's questions.
"You know," said Tuffnut, "if you tried hard enough, you could end any statement with that excuse."
"No you can't," said Snotlout.
"Traditionally, no," said Ruffnut, shrugging.
"Come on," moaned Snotlout. "And you thought I was annoying."
"Well, it won't be long before the ceremony is over, anyways," said Hiccup. "My Dad told me they don't last long. We could probably head out any time we want and make for Dragon's Edge."
"Great!" said Snotlout, quickly getting to his feet. "In which case, let's go!"
"Not right now, Snotlout," said Astrid, reaching over, grabbing Snotlout's forearm, and pushing him back into his seat. "It's the middle of the night. We can head back to the Edge at first light, tomorrow.
Snotlout crossed his arms furiously. "I'm telling you," he said, "it'll only be a matter of time before some stupid Berserker or stupid dragon hunter goes to our stupid Edge to take the stupid Dragon Eye! Are you sure you put in a good enough hiding place before we left, Hiccup?"
"I told you, I'm positive!" said Hiccup.
"Are you sure you're positive?" said Tuffnut suspiciously, leaning over the table to stare into Hiccup's eyes.
"Pretty positive," said Hiccup, though this time, he sounded a bit unsure. "Great, now my confidence is gone. Thanks."
"Well, if you were so confident before," said Tuffnut, "then why didn't you tell us where you hid the Dragon Eye, hhmmmm? You told Astrid and Fishlegs!"
"For a precaution," said Hiccup. "I'll tell you guys when we get back if it's so important to you. But for now, the less people who know about it, the safer the Dragon Eye is."
"I see," said Tuffnut, crossing his arms like Snotlout. "Not cool, H. Not cool."
"Look, guys, we'll head home in the morning, alright?" Hiccup said. "No problem. But right now, can't you just relax? The Dragon Eye is safe."
"Yeah! Relax, you guys!" said Snotlout. "But seriously, when can we leave? I'm bored."
"We'll leave," said Hiccup, "tomorrow, at dawn. But until then, we can have a little vacation, can't we?" He raised up his mug from the table. "Cheers to winning against the Berserkers, and maintaining our hold of the Dragon Eye."
"Cheers," Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins, and Astrid echoed, and they clanked their mugs together all at once.
…
Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut later found themselves journeying into the forest of Raven Point. Toothless walked beside Hiccup, as Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, and the twins walked alongside their own riders.
"So, are we heading back to the Edge now?" said Snotlout. "Come on! Please! I'm bored!"
"We know you are, Snotlout," said Fishlegs, "you've said it over a hundred times."
"Guys, come on," said Hiccup. "Can we have peace and quiet for five minutes? I still have that annoying song going through my head…'Well I've got my axe and I've got my mace-'"
"'-And I've got my sister with the ugly face!'' chimed in Tuffnut. "'I'm a Viking through and - AHHHH!" Ruffnut tackled him to the ground, effortlessly cutting him off. "I didn't mean you! I meant my other sister!"
"Come on, guys, just hang in there until tomorrow," said Hiccup. "We'll head back to the Edge soon enough."
They kept walking through the forest, when suddenly, unexpectedly, their dragons tensed up and snarled. Toothless' teeth unsheathed; Stormfly raised her tail, her spines spiking straight up. Hookfang's wings lit on fire; Meatlug growled. Barf and Belch narrowed their eyes.
"Whoa, Toothless!" Hiccup said, putting out his hands. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"
Toothless didn't answer. He narrowed his eyes further, as did the other dragons around him.
And suddenly, a dark figure stepped into the moonlight from behind a tree. Their face was masked by a large helmet, and gleaming, silver armor covered their body.
Fishlegs gasped. "Gronckle Iron," he said, pointing. "I'd know that shimmer anywhere. Hiccup, the only other people who know the formula for Gronckle Iron besides us are-"
"The dragon hunters," Hiccup finished, and instantly, he drew his sword. Beside him, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins took up their weapons as well.
The masked figure held up their hands. "I mean no harm," they said; Hiccup couldn't tell whether the voice belonged to a male or a female, but it was deep, muffled by the helmet around their face, and it sounded a bit more like a male's than it did a female's.
"Why are you here?" Hiccup demanded.
"What do you want?" Astrid snapped.
The masked figure pulled a rolled piece of parchment from his satchel and tossed it forward. "Read the instructions," he said, jerking his head down at the letter. "If you accept, Hiccup Haddock the Third, then so be it. But if you decline...you have another thing coming to you."
Hiccup looked down briefly, as did the other riders and dragons, and Hiccup lifted up the scroll. It was fastened shut by a wax seal; the insignia of the dragon hunters was carved into the wax.
"Who are you?" Hiccup demanded, and he looked up again.
But the mysterious masked figure had vanished as though he had never even existed.
