Hey guys, remember when I told you that I wanted to add in snippets of how I imagined life was before Hiccup began to be ostracized. Well here it is, I hope you like it. FYI Hiccup is six and Snow is about three in this chapter. I would like to apologize beforehand for any spelling and/or grammar errors, please have mercy on me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only own Snow, who is a very nice consolation price.

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Time was all matter of perspective. To some it passed at a snail's pace, the days dragging by one after the other. To others it passed at lightning speed, the days going by in the blink of an eye. To Stoick time seemed to pass in a sadistically cruel combination of both.

It seemed like it was just yesterday to him when a three year old Hiccup would take his six month old all around the village on his little wagon. Now it was almost the same concept, a six year old Hiccup taking a three year old Snow where ever he went. Only this time instead of taking leisurely strolls around Berk they were of slaying imaginary dragons in the woods and causing havoc with the other kids.

Everyday those two seemed to findnew way to cause trouble and drive him insane. It got to the point to where it was rare to a week without Snow's tell-tale screams ringing through the village signaling another one of Hiccup's schemes gone wrong.

Stoick shivered at the memory of their latest adventure, he still didn't know what they were trying to do in the first place. All he knew is that they had managed to bury nearly a third of Mildew's cabbage field in fertilizer and dye Fungus blue. Honestly, if he weren't chief he would have found the situation hilarious. But he was, and it was his duty to keep his village safe from harm even if that included his own children.

It wasn't easy disciplining his own children, with their big apologetic eyes and sweet pleading faces, especially when they begged him not to punish the other. It was at times like these were he wished that Val would be back from her questing so that he wouldn't have to be the bad guy for once. Well, it was one of the reasons he wished she were back.

"Good fishing today, Mulch?" Asked Stoick looking down at the smaller man from his spot on the docks.

"Aye, we did, Stoick, nearly tipped the boat over," answered Mulch pointing his hook of a hand to the large pile of fish behind him.

"That's good, make sure to get them to the storage; we're due for another raid."

Sure that the task would be taken cared of Stoick headed back to the village, stopping only to cast one last longing look at the open sea.

Things had been fairly peaceful during the course of the week. Hiccup and Snow had been well-behaved, the teenagers were making great progress in dragon training, food stock was up, and best of all they hadn't had a single raid during the past few days. Stoick knew that sooner or later the other shoe was bound to drop and that it was his job to be prepared for it. But in the meantime he might as well enjoy it while he could.

Smiling softly to himself he made his way to the forge, hoping that Gobber was done with the weapon requests he had made earlier that week. Something told him that the next raid would be a big one.

"Hello there, Stoick," called Gobber briefly looking up from the sword he was finishing up. "Good day around the village?"

"A very good day, indeed, Gobber, would be even better if those weapons were finished."

"Almost there, I'll probably be done by sundown, thanks to my two lovely assistants here." He answered gesturing towards the floor with his remaining hand.

How he hadn't noticed them was a mystery. Sitting there on the floor beside Gobber, sharpening a short sword with small hand sized wet stones, were Hiccup and Snow. Stoick was torn between feeling proud of his children for helping their honorary uncle, angry at said uncle for letting his children handle such dangerous weapons, or parental panic at the sight of little Snow's face so close to the sharp edge of the sword.

He chose parental panic. With one swift motion he snatched the weapon from their grasp causing them to look up at him in shock.

"Daddy!" they exclaimed in unison once they recognized who had startled them. Wasting no time Snow was on her feet, arms raised in a silent demand for him to carry her.

"Look, Daddy, we were helping Uncle Gobber,"said Hiccup showing him the wet stone in his hand.

"Me too, me too," Stated Snow proudly, waving her own wet in front of his face. " I help with Hicca."

"That's very good, you two did a wonderful job," Praised Stoick, not wanting to let his discomfort show. "Hiccup, it's almost noon, why don't you and your sister go to the Great Hall and get yourselves a snack?"

Needing no other form of persuasion both children nodded, wide grins spreading across their faces. Setting Snow down Stoick watched in amusement as Hiccup quickly grabbed his sister's hand before practically sprinting out the door.

"Seduced by a snack, let me tell you, Stoick, kids these days, no work ethic at all," Said Goober, shaking his head sadly before turning back to his work.

"Gobber," said Stoick, his voice tense and serious drawing his friend's attention. "Why were my children sharpening your weapons?"

"Technically, Stoick, that sword belongs to Madame Igerman."

"You know what I mean," snapped Stoick, letting his anger show. "Why were they sharpening weapons?"

"Just, teaching them a life lesson, that's all." Shrugged Gobber, "Never hurts for them to learn early that weapons don't come easy."

"What did they do now?" Sighed Stoick his demeanor changing drastically at those words. His kids must have done something really foolish for Gobber to have decided to educate them.

"Well, according to Hiccup's logic when hunting for troll wooden swords are a poor choice of defense. So while trying to borrow a short sword Snow managed to knock the whole rack over on to the fire. Funny, the things that happen when you go on a bathroom break."

Stoick sighed once more knowing full well that Gobber would have been done by now had his kids not messed things up. Honestly, there were times when he didn't know what to do with them. He hated to admit it but sometimes he wished they weren't so different, especially Hiccup.

It wasn't that he didn't look like the other Viking kids, it was the fact that he didn't think like them. That wasn't a bad thing per say, the boy was brilliant, it just that the boy had too curious for his own good. Always questioning why the world was the way it was and why they did thing the way they did. Nothing could make a grown man more uncomfortable than when his own questions his own methods, then absentmindedly suggests better ones.

And then there was Snow, that girl had the makings of a great warrior, like the Hofferson girl, but seemed like she'd rather be more like Hiccup than like a Viking. If she had to choose between playing dragons with Hiccup or playing raiders with Snotlout, she'd choose Hiccup. Even if Hiccup himself wasn't an option she'd still choose the Hiccup-y way, because to her that was the nice way.

It seemed like such a waste to him that such a strong and promising child would rather talk things out and make deals than to do things the Vikings way. He wouldn't have minded it really, that his daughter was so kind-hearted, she would make a great healer in the future, if all that compassion was focused solely on her kind. He couldn't fathom how she saw the raiding of a foreign and distant village as mean.

It was almost as if the older his children got the less he could understand them. He feared the day that they would practically become strangers to him. 'Oh, dear Odin, please don't let that happen.'

"They sure did a fine job with that sword, didn't they," mused Gobber bringing him back to reality.

Looking down at the sword Stoick saw that they had done a good job sharpening it, not one side sharper than the other, and even throughout the whole blade.

"That boy of yours might not be strong, but he sure is good with his hands."

Stoick looked up at his friend, eyeing his expression carefully trying to see if Gobber was joking or not. He was rewarded with a serious expression, one rarely seen on his good humored friend.

"He has the promise of a blacksmith."

"He's too young for that," said Stoick looking around the forge with a parental eye. Large hammers, molten steel, and an abundance of both dull and deadly sharp weapons littered the room. It was like a Hiccup centered disaster was just waiting to happen.

"Aye, he's too young now, give him a year or two then he'll be ready."

"Snow will want to tag along, leaving you with two kids to keep an eye on instead of one."

"There is a room in the back where she can stay. I'll give her some paper and charcoal and she'll be fine," countered Gobber, knowing full well why Stoick was so hesitant. "Besides, this will teach them how to cope with being separate from one another. Weren't you complaining on how they need to become their own persons."

Stoick was at loss of words, he knew that his friend was right and that no argument he could make would be justified. Hiccup would make a great blacksmith, his creative ideas and knack for building things make him the perfect candidate. But like any parent he worried about his son.

"He'll get hurt," he murmured looking down at the sword at hand.

"Aye, he will," agreed Gobber, his tone reassuring. "But that's just part of being a Viking, Stoick, you can't protect him forever, you can only prepare him."

"I'll think about it," said Stoick, setting the sword down on the table before heading out the door.

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Stoick was right about the upcoming raid, not even three days after his talk with Gobber he was awoken in the middle of the night by sound of their alarms. After reminding his children to stay inside he rushed outside to help his village. Shouting orders to nearby villagers, and subduing dragons as he went, Stoick ran through the village determination burning in his veins.

As their father raced on leading the defense of their village, two little children huddled together in the safety of their room. The only hint of the ferocity raging outside were the enraged and bloodthirsty roars of dragons and Vikings alike, not truly knowing the extent of the carnage outside.

"Hicca, is Daddy ok?" Whispered Snow, shivering at the sound of a dragon's roar nearby. "He not get huwt, wight?"

"Don't worry, Snow. Daddy is the greatest Viking in all of Berk. It takes a lot for him to get hurt," reassured Hiccup, wrapping an arm around her sister to comfort her.

*THUMP*

Breaking out of their embrace the children cautiously crept to their window, curious to what had landed outside. They were greeted by the sight of a downed Monstrous Nightmare, struggling against the metal chains around it. Both children winced as the dragon flayed about, roaring in pain as the chains were tightened, crushing the fragile bones of its wings in the process.

The Nightmare continued to struggle, whipping its head and tail around franticly, knocking men aside. One man, their uncle Spitelout, from the shape of his helmet horns, managed to land a blow to the beast's head with his hammer, stunning it. Hiccup quickly pulled his sister away from the window, as if sensing the bloodlust pumping through the men's veins.

"Hicca? Why do dwagons take ouw food?" Asked Snow once they were in the safety of their bed once more.

"Because they're hungry, I guess." He shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Why did the dragons take their food?

"Oh. Why don't we give food? Then no mowe figths." Replied his sister, tilting her head to the side in thought.

"I don't know. Vikings don't like to share that much, especially food."

Snowstorm huffed in annoyance. "You a Viking and you shawe."

"What I mean is that Vikings don't like to share with dragons," explained Hiccup. It wasn't a bad idea, giving the dragons some food so they would stop attacking them, but that went against the Viking code, whatever that was.

"So we have to fight?" Asked Snow, disappointment in her face. Hiccup nodded, wrapping his arms around his little sister not liking the sadness in her voice.

"I don't wanna fight dwagons," she declared, puffing her cheeks in defiance.

"You don't ?"

"No! They pwetty!"

"And cool," added Hiccup agreeing with his sister. Dragons were such amazing creatures it was a shame they had to kill them. Snow sighed, saddened at the thought of having to hurt those magical beasts.

"Come on, Snow, lets sleep," whispered Hiccup, pulling the covers over the both of them.

"Hey, Hicca," she whispered, snuggling against him.

"What?"

"One day, I'll have my own dwagon," she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "And we'll be the bestest of fwiends."

"Really?" giggled Hiccup.

"Yup, and we'll go flying evewy day, too!"

"That sounds amazing, will you take me with you?"

"No."

"Why not?" He asked his voice rising with surprise. Why wouldn't she take him flying with her? They did everything together.

"'Cause you'll have yow own dwagon fwiend."

"Oh. What dragon you think will be my friend."

"The bwavest, smawtest, and most specialest dwagon in Bewk, like you." She answered matter-of-factly. Hiccup couldn't help but feel joy rise up in his chest at his sister's words.

"And you," he whispered, gently kissing her cheek goodnight. Slowly both children let sleep take over them, images of kind and friendly dragons filling their dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sexy Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning light couldn't have come any sooner to the Isle of Berk. Though his men had fought bravely and they had been better prepared, they had still lost a large amount of livestock. The only consolation was there were no casualties and their food stores had been, thankfully, untouched.

After making sure that the injured were getting treated and that the repairs were in session, Stoick made his way back home, anxious to get to his children. There was a rumor going around that a Monstrous Nightmare had tried to attack his home. Even though his brother had assured him that it had been taken cared of Stoick couldn't push back the feeling of dread rising in his chest.

He was halfway up the hill when he saw it. Laying permanently still, only a good ten feet from his children's window, was the large Nightmare. Picking up his speed, Stoick raced towards his home only slowing down to give the beast one last look.

His men had done a great job subduing it. Several bones of its wings seemed to be broken, and its skull was caved in slightly, a wound only obtained from a large amount of blows from a hammer. Satisfied that his children had been well protected Stoick make his way through his house, climbing as quietly as he could to his kids' bedroom.

Peering into the room he quickly spotted them snuggled contently under the covers. Snow had wrapped her arm around her brother's waist, holding him like a teddy bear. Hiccup, on the other hand, was curled protectively around her, as if trying to shield his sister from danger even in his sleep.

Gently pulling the covers closer to them Stoick let out a sigh of relief. His children were safe, the village was still intact, and they still had enough time 'til winter to stock up. As cruel and unpredictable life could be, right now it seemed to be shining with hope.

That's all people, I hope that you liked my little flashback. I just want you to know that I'm sorry I took so long, my laptop had decided to be difficult last week. So anyways, please tell me how you felt about this chapter, and if you have any suggestions, questions, or requests feel free to let me know. 'Til next time folks.