The Pillow Fight
Age Rank(s): 8-9
Hiccup peered down the stairs from the top of the loft, seeing his father speaking to his brother Spitelout. He couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but it had to be serious since the tone was in hushed voices. His uncle Spitelout nodded to Stoick then exited the house.
"Hiccup," Stoick called in his deep voice. There was no expression in the tone.
Hiccup pattered down the stairs nervously.
Stoick loomed ten feet higher than him. "Spitelout is leaving on an… expedition. He will be gone for a few days. Snotlout will be staying here in the meantime… maybe you can learn something from him."
Hiccup's heart sank. Snotlout? Of all the Viking homes in Berk, it had to be the Haddock house.
When Hiccup continued to gaze up at his father, Stoick nodded. "Well then…stay out of trouble… I'm off to my chiefly duties. Snotlout should be here soon." And he left.
Hiccup busied himself by scribbling in his secret notebook as he waited for Snotlout to get there. He was hoping time would go by slowly, and he soaked up as much peace and quiet as he could before the door was slammed open.
"Snotlout is in the house!" Hiccup's obnoxious cousin yelled at the top of his lungs. Hiccup cringed and shut his notebook, stuffing it under his pillow.
Loud footsteps on the stairs showed that Snotlout was making his way up. Hiccup braced himself for the worst, unable to hold in an exasperated sigh as Snotlout stood on the loft several feet away from him. He looked around.
"Stupid looking room," He scoffed.
Hiccup decided to ignore that comment. He knew Snotlout's bedroom was pretty much the same as his.
Snotlout obviously wanted to start some kind of fight or something, because he kept on with his bullish attitude. "What's this thing supposed to be?" He said louder than needed, picking up a seashell carelessly. He tossed it over his shoulder in disinterest, and Hiccup speedily managed to catch it before it shattered to pieces on the wooden floor. Snotlout continued to examine the room, trying to find something amusing to do. He grabbed Hiccup's unfinished spyglass, one he was still trying to make perfectly to see something from a far distance. Snotlout looked through the wrong side of it, gasping in dismay when he saw how deformed his face looked through the glass.
"Stupid inventions," He sneered, tossing it to the side. Again Hiccup caught it, this time closer than he would have liked. He gently set them back where Snotlout found them when the bigger boy went looking in the other side of the bedroom.
"This is so lame. I don't even know why my dad told me to stay here." Snotlout grumbled, sitting on Hiccup's bed and crossing his arms, glaring at the wall. His weight lowered the weak bed, and Hiccup's pillow slid a few centimeters down, revealing Hiccup's notebook.
"Ooh… what's this?" Snotlout asked aloud, giving a side-ways glance at Hiccup mischievously.
Hiccup jumped when he saw Snotlout flipping through his notebook pages. "Hey- - stop! Give it!" He lunged forward, but Snotlout stood up tall and held the book high above his head with an evil smile as he looked at the pictures.
"What's this supposed to be? A book? With drawings?" Snotlout laughed hysterically. "Some Viking you are!"
Hiccup vainly tried reaching his notebook. His cheeks were bright red. "Stop it!"
Snotlout continued to turn the pages, laughing and making fun of his smaller cousin. Eventually Hiccup gave up, looking around for something to help him. His eyes lit up as he saw his pillow.
Snotlout's eyes ran over some sort of weird, complex invention sketch thing that he'd call 'a waste of time' just to yelp in surprise when a heavily packed pillow slammed right into his nose, dropping the notebook.
Hiccup snatched his book, unable to hold back a chuckle at how funny Snotlout sounded. He instantly regretted it when Snotlout gave him an evil glare.
Uh-oh.
What Hiccup got coming he did not expect, especially from Snotlout.
SMACK! A pillow right to the face. The impact was enough to send Hiccup sliding down the floor on his back, lying still for two seconds. He stood up, eyes wide when Snotlout attempted to hit him again with the pillow. Hiccup grabbed the closest thing near him- - which happened to be his cat Fiddlesticks- - and shielded his face with him.
The pillow smacked the cat's back, and Fiddlesticks caterwauled in surprise, charging to the loft and climbing the rafters, hissing at the boys crossly.
While Snotlout was distracted, Hiccup made a run for the stairs. "Oh no you don't!" Snotlout yelled, running after him to the main floor. Hiccup threw himself to his father's bed, taking his pillow and in the nick of time, fending Snotlout's blow. The two began an all-out pillow war.
Zip! Snotlout's pillow flew past Hiccup's head as the smaller ducked.
Bang! Hiccup's pillow made contact with Snotlout's pig nose, making the bigger grunt. He took a step back, tripping on the stone that lined the fire pit in the middle of the room. With a yelp of surprise, Snotlout fell backwards, knocking into a plate full of mutton, scattering the food contents all over the floor. Snotlout swung his pillow at Hiccup when he got back up, and Hiccup was thrown back, bonking a large mug on the floorboards. Liquid spilled out and quickly spread all the way to the door that led outside. More swings, hits, and misses from both boys sent more and more messes along the house.
Hiccup shut his eyes, and swinging all his weight around with the pillow, slapped Snotlout's cheek around three times. Shaking his head to clear it, Snotlout growled, leapt, and with all his might, slammed his pillow down, down, down, directly hitting his target- - Hiccup's forehead.
Contact made his skull spiral, and Hiccup nearly fell over, dazed. Snotlout whacked the pillow out of his hands, and finally the fabric had enough and a hole tore through it, hundreds of feathers uselessly drifting down to the ground in uncountable different places.
The fight went on repeatedly, like steps to a puzzle- - step, step, swing, dodge, step, step, swing, dodge- - on and on. Snotlout finally got Hiccup on the floor, and he raised his pillow in the air, laughing as he threw it down to slam it on Hiccup's face.
Hiccup lifted his feet and kicked the pillow back up at the last second, backfiring Snotlout's plan as the pillow jumped back at him like a spider- - whacking him right in the kisser.
Hiccup couldn't stifle a laugh as a few feathers got stuck in Snotlout's nostrils. Snotlout blew them out, a high-pitched squeak formed from the blow, which made Hiccup laugh even more. Even though Snotlout was cross, he couldn't help but laugh too.
The war soon turned to more of a playful fight, and the boys went back and forth with pillow swings, showering more and more feathers among their feet. Lifting the pillows high above their heads, Hiccup and Snotlout slapped the fluffy headrests against each other, blowing them both backwards on their bums from the impact. They lied on their backs, laughing.
Maybe Snotlout isn't so bad after all, Hiccup thought, smiling.
When Hiccup's senses returned after he calmed down, he just realized how messy the house really was. Feathers from Stoick's and Hiccup's pillows everywhere, food stomped on along the floor, liquid spilling through the floorboard cracks- - his father's favorite trousers burning into ashes in the fire pit, Thor knows how they got in there. Hiccup's hair stood on end, and he ran his hands through his locks stressfully. "Uh-oh…"
Snotlout realized that this was a problem too. He dropped the pillow on the floor, gulping. "Whoops."
"What do we do?" Hiccup gasped, panicked.
"Don't worry," Snotlout reassured, sticking his chest out. "I'll think of something…"
And so Snotlout thought.
And thought.
And thought.
He opened his mouth to speak when…
BUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!
It was the loudest belch Hiccup had ever heard. Gobber would've been proud of him.
Snotlout patted his chest with a fist, wooting in surprise. "Wow, FINALLY that cooked mutton dipped in yak butter caught up to me…"
Hiccup groaned. "Oh, Thor."
That exact moment the door swung open. "I almost forgot my helme- -" Stoick froze, seeing the mess.
Snotlout finally got an idea. "Hiccup's fault." He said, pointing a finger.
Hiccup deflated. So much for not being so bad.
Stoick's cheeks went red like a kid having a temper tantrum and he opened his wide mouth to scream, stomping his feet up and down like a mad steed.
"HICCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!"