A Winter On Berk
It was cold on Berk. Sure it snowed for nine months of the year and hailed for the other three but every country cycles through the seasons, and Berk was no different. It was currently at the coldest part of that cycle, and the inhabitants of the small, rocky town were feeling it. Snow fell so deep that not even dragons could walk through it, and the villagers took shelter inside their frozen-over huts. The entire island was locked in a miserable, wintry state as almost constant blizzards assaulted everyone there.
It was with a groan that Hiccup Haddock the third woke up one freezing morning. The young man curled up into a ball, pulling his blanket around himself in an effort to stay warm. But it was to no avail, and Hiccup opened his eyes with a sigh, sitting up as he did so. Running cold hands through his long, auburn hair the dragon-rider stared out of his frost-covered window to a land of pure white.
"Looks like the Thorstein house has frozen over again…" He said to the black dragon curled up in the corner, "C'mon bud, let's get to work." Toothless let out a noise of complaint as Hiccup shuffled to the edge of his bed, searching for his prosthetic foot. "Aw what's wrong Toothless? Is the fire-breathing dragon cold?" Toothless snorted smoke across the room at Hiccup, who chuckled heartily. Finding his foot, which he'd left under the bed, Hiccup began to strap it to his leg, grimacing in pain as he did so.
Winter was the worst time of year for Hiccup. On top of the usual aches and twinges of pain in his stump the freezing cold made it extra sensitive to literally everything. Even a particularly jarring step could have Hiccup howling in pain. And, worse yet, the 19 year old was experiencing yet another growth spurt. The changes of the young-adult's body affected his stump in weird ways, as if it didn't know how to grow properly. This caused Hiccup immense pain almost constantly, and he often found himself fighting tears. Pushing through it all, as he'd grown accustomed to doing, he pushed himself off the bed and into a standing position. Toothless gave his best friend a concerning look as he hissed in pain.
"I'll be fine Toothless, let's just get out there and help." Keeping as much weight off of his left leg as possible, Hiccup strapped his flight-suit on and wrapped himself in a large bear-skin. With a familiar thunk-clack, he moved down the stairs and towards the front door, Toothless in tow. The large frame of Stoic seemed to fill the room that Hiccup descended into.
"Morning son," the chief said, "bitterly cold day it is today. A few of the houses have even frozen over." He turned to look at his son. "Where are you heading off to?"
"I'm going to try to thaw out a few of those houses," Hiccup explained, gesturing towards the frosty window. "Hopefully I can finish them all today." Stoic gave him a concerned look.
"You've been working yourself like a yak, son. You'll need to take a break eventually." Hiccup would've been touched that his dad was showing concern for him, but it was far too cold, and his leg hurt too much, for such emotions.
"Well today isn't that day, see ya later dad!" Hiccup shot past his father and out the door before he could get another word in. He immediately regretted it, as a wall of sleet and cold air slammed into the young man. Wrapping himself in his cloak, Hiccup clambered onto the cold leather that was Toothless' saddle and clicked his metal foot into place, hissing in pain as his leg was jarred. Working the stiff gears, Hiccup braced for takeoff.
"C'mon bud, let's go!" With a puff of snow the Night Fury leaped into the air and glided out over the town, fighting the blizzard to stay in the sky. Battling the elements, Hiccup guided Toothless to hover over the centre of the town. "Ok bud, low power plasma blasts. We need to knock the snow and ice off of the roofs!" Toothless acknowledged his rider's wishes with a small grunt and began to charge himself up. Letting loose a series of small, purple shots, the duo began to shake snow off of the houses in town.
"Good work Toothless you're doing great!" Hiccup shouted over the wind to his dragon. With a grimace he leaned down to rub his sore stump. On days like these it almost felt as if he still had a left foot, and that that foot was being stabbed with needles. Toothless whipped his head around to give Hiccup a concerned look when a seemingly gale-force wind caught the two off guard.
Spiralling wildly through the air, Hiccup clung onto Toothless for dear life as the two plummeted to the ground.
