This is an HTTYD/RotG crossover AU where the Vikings don't fight Dragon because they are very small, and are instead being bombarded by invading Jotun (Frost Giants) of the North. Because of this, they are looking for a miracle that can help them win the war, and when Hiccup meets Jökul Frosti, a special Jotun who is capable of flight, he eventually discovers he has feelings for him, and thus has to keep him a secret. But Berk's village is being destroyed during the night on several occasions and the Jotun are to blame… But are they really? Jökul knows what's going on but he refuses to tell Hiccup due to the circumstances of the problem. And cantankerous old Mildew is hell-bent on blaming the Jotun for it…
Part 1
The isle of Berk is located solidly on the meridian of misery. It is twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees short of freezing to death. The village perched atop its levels? In a word: 'sturdy'. The people though, are even more so, seeing as they are Vikings and all. But even without considering how charming the Viking demeanor could be, the people of Berk had serious stubbornness issues. However the island itself boasted some nice, unique features. Some of the lovelier aspects included good hunting grounds, fishing, and a charming view of the sunset.
The only trouble were the Jotun.
Most places had simple pests like mice or strange dietary habits. Not Berk. It was like the entire island had plans against the stubborn Vikings who lived there. If the whole island sank, it was said they'd learn to breathe under water before they ever left. But as scrawny Hiccup Horrendous Haddock rushed downstairs towards the door, he could hear the clanging of battle from beyond his house.
The Jotun were back.
Rushing outside, it was a hectic frenzy of everyone moving, running, shouting and loud sounds of battle axes clashing. Thankfully his small stature made it possible to dodge around the blizzards and flying axes and catapulted boulders with ease. He greeted several Vikings who passed him in the fray and had time to say hi without skipping a beat, then headed up to the metalsmith shop where he was supposed to be working.
"Someone get 'im outta here!" boomed the voice of Stoic the Vast, the Chief of their little tribe of Vikings. Hiccup groaned audibly at his father's (yes, father's) disapproving tone as he was pushed off to the Gobber, the large blacksmith with interchangeable hands and a brutish look. He was nice enough, however, and he and Stoic had been friends forever. They said Hiccup's father had defeated a full grown Jotun on the day of his birth and not a soul doubted that fact.
"Ye know ye shouldn't be out there." Gobber was saying in that thick accent of his.
"Oh come on, let me out!" Hiccup protested. "If I capture one of them I'd be so much better off! Think of how much an improvement to my life it would be? I might get a date for Thor's sake!"
Yet Gobber could only sigh and hand him a thick set of axes that needed to be sharpened. "C'mon Heccup, they'd carry ye off." He replied, but the small Viking knew otherwise.
"Me? They wouldn't know what to do with all this." He gestured to himself, but Gobber looked on unimpressed.
"They'd use ye as horse fodder." He replied. "Y'know as well as I do that killing one is no easy task, and capturing one is nigh impossible. Even your father's never caught one without having to kill it. Ya canna'e control them, Heccup. You'd be dead before ye even lifted an axe." And then he turned and focused on handing the sharpened blades to the Vikings who came for aid to the shop.
But that didn't matter to him. Oh no. Hiccup would find a way to sneak off. He always did. Because killing them was everything to the people of Berk, and capturing a Jotun would practically make him Berk's hero! Jotun were fierce warriors….. and they always returned to their shores with spoils stolen from the Berk Vikings. If one were to be captured alive, they could easily use them to force the other Frost Giants to do as they ordered. It would make the isle of Berk finally defensible from the Outcasts or other invaders etc.
The Jotun, Frost Giants of legend from the North, were strong- taller than your average Viking, and the Vikings themselves were very tall anyways. (Well… except Hiccup of course. But he was the exception.) They had skin as blue as the icy waters they sailed on and white fur and the leather hide of mysterious large dragons as their only protection from weapons. But they were strong and tough and had little to fear because weapons could not deter them. They were the stuff of legend- it was said that they were rogue gods who hailed from a far off land near the borders of Valhalla and the edge of the world!
But now that that has been said, you must know one other thing. The sole reason Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III wanted to capture a Frost Giant in the first place was because of the encounter he had had not so long before these events.
And to put it bluntly, Hiccup was in dreadful, terrible trouble. From the moment he realized exactly how deep he had become attached, he knew for a fact that his life had become ten times worse than it had before he had ever met the winter spirit.
Okay, you're probably confused by that last bit, but that's the thing- Hiccup had been too up until fairly recently. So let the stage be set, because what follows is most interesting.
The Viking teen was walking through the forest on a cold September evening with Toothless (his rather small, but equally feisty, little black dragon), near dusk when he'd first laid eyes on him: The pale boy with hair like ice who seemed lighter than air. He had been walking "alone" in the first place, because he was not exactly what you would call the most appreciated person on Berk. To be more specific, most of the people his age did not care to be near him and his father just simply did not believe he could ever amount to killing a Frost Giant. He was the outcast; the runt of the litter; the "Hiccup". And so he walked as he often did, by himself with his dragon perched gently on is shoulder, tail curled around his arm for balance as he trekked across the terrain of his homeland.
He had been walking for quite some time, slogging through wetter areas and climbing over large snow drifts that seemed to be getting larger with the way it was still snowing. His feet were cold, but he was a Viking. Cold just didn't mean all that much to him. Not at this point anyways. It would have taken a lot for it to bother the teen, actually. So he let his mind wander as he meandered through the forest, probably subconsciously working off steam without even realizing it. After a good many hours, he had stopped at the large, hidden clearing where he had first found the little dragon that now sat atop his shoulders. It had been warmer weather then, though he tended to over-exaggerate and claim it was a constant gloomy overcast above. Yet unlike most occasions when the clearing held hardly any life other than the occasional bird or rabbit, on this day there was someone there, standing on the frozen mass of the lake that took up a great deal of the centre.
It was a young man! And such an unusual sight to see too. Hiccup crouched low and watched him for a while, fascinated by both his looks (even Jotun did not come purely with the colour of snow white in both hair and skin, did they?) and also his swift motions. He was graceful in a way even the women on Berk tended not to lean towards. Harsh winter climates and various battles with the Jotun, toughing them up, they were as rugged as a lot of them men. To be honest Hiccup had softly questioned to his scaly fiend whether or not he thought the white haired one was male or female, because his movements were very fluid. Toothless, however, could only give him an odd look as if to say 'you are seriously asking me?'. Eventually though he had come to the conclusion that whoever it was, no matter their movements and hair colour, was definitely male. He was not built like any female Hiccup had ever seen anyways. To see him move and dance across the ice beneath the blanket of falling snow was fascinating though, and he could not tear his emerald gaze away.
For a moment, everything seemed frozen in time since almost all sound was being eaten by the snow as it fell. Toothless kept quiet next to Hiccup, and his freckled hand set out to pet the little dragon absently. He was just as riveted as the small Viking at the sight, it would appear, because he did not tear his gaze away either, but tipped his head to the side curiously. Hiccup, watching with rapt fascination, lifted his hand to brush the freshly falling snow off his shoulders and hair. Oh how he wished he hadn't broken his charcoal pencil- then maybe he could sketch just what he was seeing and ask Gothi, the village elder, about who this stranger might possibly be.
He was slender, this strange newcomer to the island- more like Hiccup actually. Whoever he was, if he were of Viking blood, he certainly did not look it. He carried with him a crook like the shepherds who tended sheep, yet there followed with him no animals to lead about. Still, he held it within his hands easily, as if he had had it with him his entire life, smoothly gliding it over the ice of the lake. Perhaps he was drawing along the ice?
Antagonizing moments passed as the stranger tilted his head up from whatever it was he was doing and watched the skies, letting snowflakes dance across his pale skin. Hiccup could see from his odd vantage point that he wore no shoes and little clothes, save for what appeared to be leather frosted with ice around the edges. Wasn't he cold?! Surely the ice and snow should have frostbitten his feet by now, yet they remained just as pale as before, and not blackened or hindered in any way! "It's like he's asking to freeze to death…" Hiccup mumbled incredulously. He was positive this had to be a Jotun, and yet he was far too small to be one! Not to mention Jotun were notably blue skinned, even grey at times… This surely was not one of their kind if he was to go by features alone.
But before Hiccup could let his mind dwell too much on his thoughts, the miracle happened- the stranger shouted something to the winds Hiccup could barely hear in a language he did not understand, and the winds suddenly whisking up around him and lifting him up into the air with the snow! He tapped the strange, crooked end of his crook (or was it a staff?) and ice flourished out of the tip, coating several of the trees, rocks and branches with feathered fragments of ice.
Hiccup's emerald eyes grew wide in realization as the icy-haired boy disappeared over the trees with a faint laugh and a flurry of snowflakes. That boy- no, that Jotun, was no normal Frost Giant. He could FLY! He was one of the few gifted with the flight abilities of the Valkyrie! One of the few Odin must have deemed worthy! Legends spoke of these mystical Frost Giants… they were said to be different from the norm and could fly about the winds like they were snow itself. Some even spoke of tales that the reason the Valkyrie blessed them was because they were so beautiful at birth the mighty Valkyrie had no choice but to acknowledge their grace and gift them such wind wings.
This Jotun, however, this amazing Frost Giant was something truly unique, and Hiccup gasped as he watched him before he disappeared, the laughter echoing in his head. Legends spoke of a singularly gifted Jotun with frost powers like no other who soared the skies with ringing bells of laughter: Jokul Frosti. If his suspicions were correct, then he, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III had just witnessed one of the Gods, and not just anyone of them! One that the Valkyries blessed!