MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Here I come with a quick little Christmas (Snoggletog?) story! I know it's nothing too special but it's a cheery one... I think at least... this is actually written before the whole writing process.

And also, you'll get to enjoy the origin of Woodleg Boulder and find out about the Missing toe tradition if you've missed it! Also, Astrid's Yak nog has finally found a place in the Berkian Snoggletog tradition! Drunken dragons and cheery Vikings? we have them all! Read on to find out!

Enjoy!

"Mead barrels? Check. Dragon snacks? Check. Human snacks? Check..." Gobber was checking things on his list as they were slowly brought to the ships.

A few Snoggletogs ago we realized that the dragons left Berk to lay their eggs on a remote island. After that the village heads have taken action and planned a new kind of Snoggletog tradition for the villagers and today is the day it is used for the first time.

"Hiccup! Are the preparations with the dragons complete?" My dad shouted from one of the ships.

"Yeah! The ones participating in the boat pulling are all saddled up and fed where as the others are being fed right now and will make their own way to the island when it's time." I shouted back and gazed at the sight that spread all across the Berkian docks. Everyone was cheerful and humming at least one song, not caring about the complete melodies of the village bards. Men were carrying various objects that were thought to be needed for a good snoggletog and bringing them to the ships.

No one complained and everyone was having fun. The women of the village mostly served the men all kinds of beverages and snacks as they worked but a large portion was also working with the men which was not uncommon in Berk. After all, there were some women that surpassed the physical strength of most men on the island.

And of course then there were the organizers such as me and the other teens except that Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't really participate. They were having their annual contest in "who drinks the most yak nog." Astrid had found out in the end that no one liked the drink but he twins still insisted that she makes it every year for them so they could compete and see who lasts the longest without throwing up.

Astrid wasn't really mad about that and every year she would actually try to improve the drink by adding and removing different ingredients. At one point it actually smelled very nice as I passed her house but as I looked inside to say hello to her, she added something to the mix. The smell immediately changed to worse, practically driving me out. I never told her that but deep inside I wished she would have stopped when the smell was nice.

The plan the village heads had decided was that all the Berkians were to leave Berk to celebrate Snoggletog with the dragons. That way no-one had to yearn for the dragons to come back and the dragons could spend the Snoggletog with their beloved humans and with plenty of good food, the only thing really missing from the breeding island.

But because the island is also a place for the wild dragons to breed, I was asked to take care of them. Honestly I think that after the wild dragons realize our dragons are okay with us, they'll ignore us as well but you can never be too sure so I packed my flame sword and some dragon nip. Even a few eels even though I packed them carefully so that our dragon's would't get scared of them. Speaking of which, Toothless has got over his fear of eels a little. Ever since I fell down to the pond with eels and almost drowned, Toothless has been trying to get used to them so that the next time he wouldn't need to hesitate when seeing them. Of course he would still shiver a bit when seeing one but the progress has been great. He is still extremely careful about not eating them though and I'm grateful for that.

"Come on me lads! Just a little more! Yes, just like that! Snoggletog boulder? What? ok... Check! That's it! Everything's on board Stoick!" Gobber yelled and threw his list in the ocean. I can understand that, he has been standing there for two hours straight just shouting items that most weren't even on the list but the villagers had been insisting to take them with them.

"Good job Gobber! Now Hiccup, attach the dragons to the ships while we load in the passengers"

I did as was told and soon after stepped in the ship myself, Toothless following me and carefully positioning himself so that he wouldn't knock anything down. The massive loads of various equipment was astonishing. There were spatulas, pots, rocks, tools and even a few weapons. Apparently some of the Dragons actually enjoyed the game "fetch the metal stick." Stormfly was one of them although she really fetched anything if she was told. If Astrid needed to see someone, she would just tell Stormfly to fetch them for her.

I would have wanted to fly to the Island with Toothless but after discussing the matter with my father we had decided it would be the best if remained to protect the ships in case of a dragon attack. I didn't think it was likely as all the dragons are currently breeding but it's better not take any chances. I would need to discuss the details of the Snoggletog plan anyway so it was fine by me and even Toothless who has got used to being on ground.

...

After a few hours on the ship we finally reached our destination.

Our plan was to first set up some makeshift stands that would serve as the serving places of all the food we had brought. After that was done we were to unload the ships onto the beach and set everything up as smoothly as possible so we wouldn't distract the breeding. After that procedure we would start serving the food to all men and dragons from buffet-like stands and finally set up the large wooden Snoggletog tree we had brought and spend the night around a large campfire.

This was all to be done without the help of any dragons except Toothless who was know to be possibly the last of his kind so he wouldn't be distracted by other things.

The plan was otherwise quite simple except for one word: Smooth. That word didn't really have a place in Viking terminology and that is what worried me the most. I hadn't had time to explain what would happen on the island so the Vikings are not completely prepared for it. I just hope nothing will go wrong. One thing that should never be said out loud of course.

"Let's just hope nothing will go wrong this time!" Astrid practically shouted out of nowhere, shooting glares at the twins who were slowly recovering from the shock the yak nog had caused them. She said it... Just great.

She shouldn't even be the one to say those things when thinking about the past. The exploding Gronckle eggs, the yak nog and the missing toe tradition (1)... yeah, she has caused her fair share of troubles these past few snoggletogs.

I knocked on the closest wooden object near me that actually happened to be my own leg. A thing believed to banish evil spirits and bad luck. I could just hope.

"Ok Toothless, I don't think you are needed here until we need to help in lifting the Snoggletog tree. You can go make sure that no one bothers the other dragons, ok?" I said while patting Toothless' neck. He gave me a somewhat relieved look and dashed away. Well, not that I wouldn't be happy to get off the hook right now.

I grabbed a few pies from the pile next to me and walked off the ship.

Everyone was working so eagerly that the first step of the plan was completed in no time. The stands had been set and the food was already pouring out and into the stomachs of hard working vikings. They had all just eaten before we left but it is known that traveling on the sea made you hungry. Even more to those who were seasick, not that there were many, just a few kids. It didn't really matter though as the food supplies we had brought were more than enough for all thi vikings and dragons for a whole week and if things played correctly, we would only be here fora good 3-4 days which the breeding took.

Stoick was taking good care of the work management so I decided to go take a look at the dragons and how Toothless was doing. I carried the last piece of decoration in it's place and headed out, telling that I'd be off to some elder viking who just gladly nodded.

I found Toothless sitting on a tall rock where he could gaze over the whole island and keep an eye for his own kind. I thought his actions were very alpha like but of course things would have probably been different if there were other Night furies and the fact that I told him to keep an eye for the others was also affecting.

There was no sight of dragon hatchlings yet but that was for certain because they had all just arrived there. I could see almost all of the Berkian dragons grouped up like the first time I was here and the other, wild dragons occupied a large portion of land just little further up the rocky hill.

I leaned against Toothless and just stayed there, observing the sight in front of me. I knew the Dragons didn't mind if I stayed this far away from them but they could still easily be distracted by any loud noises from the viking camp or by any wandering vikings that happened to step too close. The second reason was actually a great worry in my mind as the barrels of mead that were brought were certain to bring a few vikings to a state that can no longer be described as "a little tipsy"

Not even my father was an exception in that matter. As a chief he had to carry most of the village's burdens on his shoulders and that's why he often drowned himself in a good drink whenever it was possible without it being harmful to the village's safety. That being usually around Snoggletog...

I could smell the cookings of the best bread-making vikings all the way up to the rock. The smell of fresh baked bread was irresistible for me and even seemed to affect Toothless quite a bit. Dragons are mostly carnivores but in Berk we've got them accustomed to viking made products such a different breads and vegetables. They weren't too eager to eat them but sometimes they still did just because of the smells the food produced. I figured it would be nice if all the dragons could smell some of this scent so I didn't think it was a problem, relaxing if nothing else.

I looked at the sky, a few stars peeking on the other side of it where it was already darker. The other side of the sky on the other hand was engulfed in warm colors such as red, yellow and orange from the setting sun. It was nearing the end of the first day of Snoggletog.

I took a look around to see the dragons setting themselves to a good position and then falling asleep and I decided it would be the best if I did the same. I leaned back and pulled Toothless' left wing over my body, embracing the warmth provided by it and his body. He didn't seem to mind me and kept observing the scene that opened in front of him.

The smells from the camp were quick to make me tired and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

Two more days to go

The morning came quickly and I was awakened by a roar from Toothless. I quickly sat up and yawned, looking around not entirely sure where I was until I remembered yesterday.

I have always been a morning person but living with an island full of dragons has certainly evolved that part of me to a whole another level. five more minutes? Oh no, you'll be pushed out of the bed in less than two. Dragons don't like to wait, not even Gronckles.

Toothless nudged me on the shoulder and I nearly fell off the high rock. "What is it?" I exclaimed in surprise.

Toothless shook his head towards the breeding dragons, looking worried. I turned my head to where he was facing and I too became uneasy. Some of the little kids of Berk had indeed wandered off the camp and into the breeding grounds. Yes, we were supposed to spend the Snoggletog with our dragons but these little kids wouldn't understand they were interrupting something while trying to get to those dragons.

Not only that but I didn't like the way they moved, sneakily, like preparing to attack something. They obviously couldn't see me up here so there was nothing to alert them on that part either.

I observed the kids with Toothless for a while and they seemed to do nothing but keep out of sight and look at the dragons, sometimes pointing at the eggs and a few wild Gronckles. If that was all they were going to do, it would be fine by me. It was good that even the smallest kids would get some close-up experiences on wild dragons. On the other hand, if they were to do something else than that, I was sure to rush down from the rock and stop them but even that had to be done in silence.

I could see them speaking but I was too far away to hear anything they said. I looked at Toothless who seemed to be thinking just as hard as I did, not making a move to stop the children nor letting down his worried expression. "Hey Toothless, if they're just observing maybe we should let them. It's good education for them." I said silently, making Toothless look at me for a split second.

That was my mistake.

When my gaze returned to the boulder the kids had been sitting behind, I immediately realized they were gone. "Toothless, where did they go?" I whispered anxiously, ready to leap off the rock.

We both grew silent and just listened to any sounds that would serve as a tell-tale sign of the kids' position and we actually didn't need to wait long before the first Gronckle screech and a voice that sounded like something heavy hitting the ground.

"Oh just great!" I yelled, leaping off the rock just a little too fast, ending up face first on the ground after I landed. "And that too! I've always wished for a faceplant first thing in the morning!" I growled and got up, racing to the source of the loud voice. I had a really bad feeling about this.

When I finally reached to source of the sound, I saw all the kids holding onto something brown-ish and leaning against a boulder, scared stiff. It wasn't really hard to figure out why though. Above them was a really angry looking Gronckle mother. Or at least that's what I assumed. There were already two smoking holes on the ground near the place where the kids were.

I jumped in between the Gronckle and the kids, immediately reaching for my pockets for dragon nip but couldn't find any. Of course! I had left them at the camp while I had taken off some off my equipment. I looked back at the kids and noticed something alarming. The brown thing they were holding was obviously a Gronckle egg.

I felt like facepalming so hard but then I realized the kids were so young they had probably never even seen a Gronckle egg before. Or maybe they had but didn't remember it very well. "Guys, what are you doing with that egg? give it back to her!"

"B-b-but w-we need it to pla-play Woodleg Boulder!" The boy holding the egg whimpered, squeezing the egg even harder. Woodleg boulder is game game where you try to kick any round objects as far as you can and you get extra points if you hit a goal that was set up in the start of the game. It was invented by a guy called Sven the woodleg who was known to have got his wooden leg by kicking a large boulder so hard that it shattered the bones of his entire leg. The leg had to be cut off and replaced with a wooden one so it would be less painful for him. And so, after the simple process of the Viking mind, it became a game!

"This is no time to play boulder! Give the angry Gronckle her egg back and she'll calm down!" I said trying to sound as convincing as possible. Toothless had appeared behind me and was holding the Gronckle off for now although we both know it was only for a short time. There was no holding back an angry mother dragon, especially this time of the year.

"But we don't want to!"

"Come on guys!"

"No!" God, these kids were worse than the twins.

"Well how about this. Do you remember then Snoggletog just a few years back from this day? The day when Berk had a series of explosions." I tried. There was no guarantee that these kids would remember anything but it was worth the shot.

"No..." was the careful response of the first one. "How should we remember? we were really young and..." "I remember..." interrupted the boy holding the egg. Jackpot!

"Were you ever told what caused those explosions? It was Gronckle eggs. Guess what you're holding now? Oh, will you look at that, I think it's about to go boom soon." I said as calmly as I could in a situation when you have your back facing an angry dragon that can spit lava all over you.

The boy's face immediately went pale and he basically threw the egg out of his hands. I was only barely able to catch it before landing. I then turned around, slowly placing the egg on the ground and allowing Toothless to let the mother through.

"Here's your egg, sorry to have caused you all this trouble" I said while taking a few steps back, allowing the Gronckle more room.

She quickly snatched the egg back to herself and hovered back to her nest. I sighed in relief and turned to the kids to give them a small lecture but I was interrupted before I even started.

"Wait, you tricked us! that egg didn't explode!" Shouted one of the smaller boys.

"Oh they do, just not right now. You see Gronckles are boulder class dragons that eat rocks, then melt them in their stomachs and are then able to shoot the molten rock out as what you might know as a lava blast. Gronckles have one shot ready at birth which they use to break the hard and thick shell of the egg they are in. That blast wouldn't usually be a problem but because it's concealed in such a tight place, the explosion is emphasized. That's why Gronckles usually drop the eggs into deep water before they hatch so that the explosion is absorbed by water. Look, that's what happening there right now!" I pointed in a direction where a Gronckle was doing exactly what I had just told, rolling one of her eggs into a pool of water. After a moment we could see a few bubbles on the surface and soon enough a small gronckle hatchling crawled out, instinctively making it's way to it's mother.

"That's so cool! can we see it closer!"

"No, not this time. Let them do it in peace." I explained as the kids aww'd in disappointment. "So, what did we learn today?"

"Don't take a Gronckle egg, it might explode?"

"Close enough. Remember that you should never take away a dragon's egg or any plaything they have with them. It might make them really mad and possibly hurt you a lot. Anyway, off you go."

The kids ran back towards the camp, cheering and shouting things about Gronckles being awesome. Well, a new generation of dragon trainers just got started I suppose.

Well that's out of the way now... "How about it Toothless, should we get some breakfast or go on a flight first?"

RAAAWWRRRRRRR!

*sigh* "I guess it's neither, sorry bud but we have to go after all." I said and gave him an apologetic look. Life was never peaceful for us. I almost felt like a real chief sometimes. I didn't like it.

I climbed on Toothless' back and we were off to see what was going on.

The sound of the dragon had actually come near the Viking camp so I was wondering what it might have been. No Dragons should be that far away from the breeding grounds.

When we got there we were really fast to notice what was wrong. It's kind of hard to miss a flaming Monstrous nightmare the size of a battleship.

"What happened here!"

"Hiccup, thank god you're here! This dragon went on a complete rampage after we give him just a little mead!" One of the Vikings explained as I watched the dragon crash through the Snoggletog tree and quickly bringing it to the ground.

"What do you mean by this 'little'?" I asked in curiosity

"Only a few barrels! I mean, look at the size of that thing! The men were betting that we wouldn't get it drunk even if we had it drink the whole cargo of mead!"

"And you just had to try it, didn't you!" I shook my head in utter disbelief. I knew Viking were thick-headed, stubborn and sometimes quite dim but I didn't think they'd actually try to give mead to a dragon! "Whatever, let's just figure out how to hold him still. The first step would probably have to be putting out the flames on his body. We need to get him in the water."

Seriously, I had many plans in case of Drunken Vikings but now I'm supposed to have one for a Drunken dragon! How the gods do you handle a drunken dragon!? Aren't you at least supposed to get a manual for these kinds of things? The gods must really hate me in a very cruel and mischievous way.

We quickly gathered most of the Vikings and discussed of a plan which was hard enough even without a flaming dragon running past you every few minutes.

We came to a conclusion that it would be the best to scare him off with the few eels I had brought and also try to tempt it with the small bits of Dragon nip to ultimately guide it to the water. I know a Monstrous nightmare doesn't go in the water freely but I suppose the drunken state it's in is disabling some of his natural instincts... I hope.

I shared the few supplies I had and sent everyone to their positions and we waited for the dragon to pass by.

As it came, the rest of the Vikings were also to try directing it towards the sea but in the end it was the eels that did the trick and we got the flaming beast on the shore. I ordered a few Vikings to throw ropes around it's neck to pull it in the water quickly before the ropes would burn through.

Bad idea.

A Drunken dragon is a pretty hard one to tame, especially a stoker class dragon who has just had a year's worth of mead in one go. The ropes burned through even more quickly than I had anticipated. We had to try again with wet ropes to prolong the ropes' lives and it actually seemed to be working until the dragon decided it would be a good time for a fireblast.

Dragon fire enhanced with alcohol would be enough to burn through rock, not to mention a mere Viking. Luckily everyone was able to dive underwater before the breath but the water temperature must have increased with at least a good 30 degrees in an instant.

"Grab the ropes and pull again! one, two, one, two, HEAVE, HO!" Gobber kept up the pace and the dragon who was getting tired was slowly pulled in the water, instantly putting out the flames on it's body. Well, can't say it didn't put up a resistance.

"Tie him up! I don't want him going on a rampage again!" Stoick shouted and started giving various orders to the Vikings around him. I fell back from the crowd and sighed heavily.

The destruction of the camp was total. Only a small stand that served eel soup had remained in the chaos brought by the drunken dragon.

And it was only the second day of Snoggletog! Thank god it's only once in a year.

I took a look around me once more, observing the smoking ruins of the Viking camp.

Yeah, the Snoggletog plan MIGHT just need some more thinking

I think this was a little fast paced but I couldn't help it, I still wanted to make it a one-shot and keep it under 5000 words. And yeah, the ending is intended, not cut short :D

(1) The missing toe is a missing scene from the ´Gift of the Night fury´, basically Astrid's version of the mistletoe tradition where you actually punch anyone who passes under a missing toe instead of kissing them. And yeah, the saying "missing toe" is quite literal, no explanation needed.

By the way, you guys just HAVE to watch 'the first five minutes of HTTYD 2 BACKWARDS' I laughed quite a bit with it.

Would be really awesome if someone was to draw a Drunken monstrous nightmare for this, possibly with a Christmas hat because why not... Man, can't stop thinking about that Backwards clip xD

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

rekaerbnwaD-