Loki's Day: Part One (Three weeks later...)

'Loki is the God of Tricksters, so – as you might expect, his holiday is all about people pulling pranks on each other. Aside from the immediate laugh, pranksters hope to accomplish something that will be remembered – pulling the biggest prank of that year. For some this would mean planning in advance and careful preparation beforehand – after the initial stroke of inspiration...

For others, it may take nothing more than a clever mind, quick- thinking, and staying alert for any opportunities that may present themselves.'

...

As always, the week leading up to Loki's Day saw more and more people sneaking off to discuss prank- plans with their collaborators. As well as a rise in the number of people listening at doors or from around corners – hoping to catch a detail that would allow then to prank would- be pranksters.

If a prank went as planned, those responsible might wish their 'victim' a "Happy Loki's Day," or some other phrase; claiming credit for the successful prank. –– If the intended victim, or anyone else, had caught wind of pranksters' plan, and was able to turn it back on them, they would say "Loki Laughs." (It was the accepted way to make- fun of the failed pranksters.)

Flashback... The previous year, Ruff and Tuff had won the quiet prank competition – to the surprise of the rest of the villagers. They'd snuck up to the farm belonging to Mulch and Bucket – in the middle of the night, and dressed the chickens up in wool- 'coats' and the sheep in feather- 'coats'. – Using feathers and wool they'd been gathering during the previous two weeks. –– They'd left the eggs with the chickens, though. The following morning, Bucket came out to collect the wool from the sheep, and the eggs from the chickens. The longer he was out there, the more confused he got. – Finally, Mulch came out and tried to sort him out.
It wasn't so much the
prank that made the situation memorable, however. It was the fact that Mulch would have to keep reminding bucket which animal was to supply which product. (As we see in "Animal House," Mulch... hasn't had much luck – even a year later.)

...

Present; One week before Loki's Day,

This year, the game was going to be taken to a whole new level: This year, Hiccup was joining the lists. On hearing this, most of the inhabitants of Berk approached Hiccup offering an "I won't prank you if you don't prank me"- truce. Hiccup – being a good- sport, accepted all of these offers.

After he, Astrid, and Fishlegs had made their agreements (– both of them wanted to be safe), they asked Hiccup why he was accepting everyone's offers. As Astrid said, "There won't be anyone left for you to pull a prank on."

Hiccup grinned, "I've already chosen my target: Someone who can't swallow his pride long enough to see me as a threat, and make the deal."

Neither Astrid, nor Fishlegs, had to ask who it was… Only one person fit the description: Snotlout.

Loki's Day; Early morning,

Snotlout started his day the same way he started every day: Jogging through a stretch of forest with a fully- grown sheep on his back.
He always said he did to "keep his strength up", but nobody was fooled: He was showing off.

He was just finishing when he saw Hiccup and Toothless walking in the direction of Berk, having finished their morning flight. The workout had left him out of breath – and 'a little' tired, but there was no way he was going to let Hiccup see that. He nodded, curtly, to Hiccup and Toothless, and reached for a handful of berries from a near- by bush.

"I really wouldn't eat those berries, if I were you; Snotlout," Hiccup cautioned.

Snotlout snorted, "Yeah? Well, you're not me… I'm eating these berries because I need to keep my strength up … something you'd know nothing about." With that, Snotlout gathered another handful of berries, and started to walk back towards the village.

If Snotlout had bothered to look back, he would have seen Hiccup grinning: 'Phase One' of his plan was now complete. The berries weren't 'dangerous', but they'd make Snotlout's face swell- up, 'nicely'. By the time they reached the Great Hall, the berries should have reached their full effect, and Phase Two could commence.

Soon after; in the Great Hall,

The reaction to Snotlout's puffed- up tongue and face, when the three of them arrived in the hall, couldn't have been more perfect.

Astrid and a few others laughed: They'd all been warned many times not to eat those berries. Snotlout's parents hurried over, and started berating him. Not far away, Hiccup found a bowl and had Toothless spit into it, several times, until the bowl was a little more than half- full.

Then Hiccup picked up the bowl, and approached Snotlout, "I told you that you shouldn't eat those berries... Here, stick your tongue in this."

Snotlout took the bowl, and held it up, letting his swollen tongue soak in the liquid. "Yuck; it tastes like yak- pies." Hiccup shrugged, and Snotlout sighed. Then, a few minutes later, Snotlout asked, "How long do I have to keep it in here? … I think I thaw Tooth-yes spid in dis."

Just holding back his laughter, Hiccup said, "Well, he did… but Night Fury saliva has 'incredible' healing properties." Turning his back on Snotlout, he took a seat and started to eat.

Ten minutes later, he turned back to Snotlout, "Hey; Snotlout!" Snotlout turned, and Hiccup said, "Happy Loki's Day!"

"Whath do-th you-th..." Snotlout started to say, when Hiccup lifted his mug in a silent toast.

Snotlout dropped the bowl, his tongue only slightly less swollen, and wretched. Around him, the Vikings in the Great Hall roared with laughter.

Within the hour,

Snotlout was very... 'Quick to recover' from the after-effects of Hiccup's prank. In fact, within the hour he was sitting at the same table as Hiccup; talking as though nothing had happened.
"I've got to admit: you got me good, back there!" Snotlout commented. "Hey, to show there're no hard feelings, how about the six of us meet- up at that old watch- tower this evening – the one with the catapult… The fish is on me."

The others turned to look at Hiccup, curious to see how he'd react: It was obviously a trick. Hiccup looked completely relaxed, and said, "Sure... sounds good; Right, guys?"
The rest of them were momentarily stunned, but, one by one; they agreed to attend.

Loki's Day: Part Two

Hiccup had, of course, seen through Snotlout's "no hard- feelings" ploy.

After Hiccup's prank on Snotlout had been successfully carried out, the people of Berk assumed that he was finished for this year … This was not the case: In fact, Hiccup's plans for Loki's Day were more elaborate than the other villagers would have thought possible, even from him.

Just about everything he'd done in the week was leading up to Loki's Day: Publically announcing that he'd be taking part in the pranks this year; accepting every 'prank- truce' that was offered to him... Even the timing of his telling Astrid and Fishlegs that he planned to target Snotlout, a week earlier; which 'happened' to be mere minutes after seeing Snotlout sneaking around. It was all part of his master plan.

After the... 'Groundwork' was in place; Hiccup had made a subtle point of finding out "if" and where Snotlout was sneaking off to; mainly following him from high above, on Toothless.

Hiccup knew exactly why Snotlout had picked 'that old watchtower'; and he'd even paid the tower a 'little visit', the previous night. (Traveling in secret was particularly easy; with the aid of a black Night Fury, and he knew that nobody had seen them.)

That evening,

Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff, and their dragons met at the top of the watchtower – the same place where Hiccup and Astrid had told the story of their dragons protecting them – during the avalanche... just before they'd had to help their animals adapt to the dragons' arrival on Berk... (As seen in "Animal House.")

Hiccup was given the 'place of honour', directly under the catapult, with one side of the fire to himself. The others shared the other side, though Astrid still sat as far from Snotlout as she could.
They talked amongst themselves, as the fish that Snotlout had brought cooked. When it was done, they ate. After they'd finished, Snotlout decided to spring his trap.

Snotlout was sitting where Astrid had been, the last time the six of them had visited the tower; that is to say, next to the base of the catapult. He shot a triumphant grin across the fire at Hiccup, and said, "Since you're so close to all of the dragons, I thought I'd give you a 'little something' I got from a few of them… Look out, below!"

With that, Snotlout rammed his shoulder into the base of the catapult; as Astrid had before, when she'd left him buried in a snowdrift... Only this time, nothing happened.

"Oh, Come on!" Snotlout got up and hurried over. Hiccup stood, and moved to the other side of the fire.

"Maybe something got stuck," Hiccup suggested, innocently, from the 'safe' side of the fire. Turning to Astrid, he added, "Could you try it again … See if it'll work."

Astrid saw the small smile on Hiccup's face, and felt herself starting to grin as well. She got to her feet, and rammed the base of the catapult a second time.
Snotlout's blow had knocked- off the cover Hiccup had fastened to the mouth of the catapult; so there was no longer anything keeping its 'contents' contained... Seconds later, close to a bucketful of dragon- 'fertilizer' came raining down on top of a very surprised Snotlout.

Hiccup grinned across at Snotlout, "I almost hate to say it, but... 'Loki Laughs'; Snotlout."

There was, of course, no question as to who had won that years' prank competition. In fact, once the story had spread to the rest of Berk, it seemed highly unlikely that this story would ever be forgotten.

Loki's Day: Part Three

It was the following morning when 'it' happened.

The inhabitants of Berk were gathered in the Great Hall, eating breakfast: A normal start to a normal day. Then, out of nowhere, there was a flash of light; and a man was standing in the middle of the hall. He wore green armour, and seemed to radiate power.

A number of the Vikings in the hall surged to their feet, but Hiccup was faster; "Stop! Believe me: You do not want to fight him."

All eyes in the hall turned to face Hiccup, but Astrid was the first to speak, "Why not? Do you know him?"

"No," Hiccup admitted. "But I have felt energy like this once before; and it was during my vision with Thor, after the battle of the Red Death!"

The man, who was looking directly at Hiccup, snorted; "Yes... I suppose you would have. My brother always does seem to leave that impression; Subtlety never did come naturally to him."

As soon as he heard the word 'brother', Hiccup knew; "You... You're Loki."

The second the words were out of his mouth, Hiccup could feel the level of tension in the room rise.

Apparently Loki noticed it too, because he smirked and said, "Oh, don't be so dramatic. This is more of a 'social call.'" For a moment, Loki looked around the hall, at the assembled Vikings. "I realize it's not my 'traditional' role, but you might say I'm here to help." Loki returned his attention to Hiccup, "First and foremost: I wanted to congratulate you on your work, yesterday – both on your own prank, and on foiling that... other one. I know whenever someone calls 'Loki Laughs'; most of the time, they scarcely deserve a chuckle, but that was impressive."

For the next few minutes, there was silence in the hall, while Loki considered Hiccup. Finally, Loki's expression soured, "I hate admitting that my brother might be right about anything, but... it seems he's right about you. This actually brings me to the second reason for my visit: My 'perfect brother' removed most of your memories of your conversation." Loki chuckled; "And I admit: I can't wait to see the expression on his face when he finds out you've gotten them back ahead of schedule!" Even as he spoke, Loki was walking towards where Hiccup stood. The other occupants of the Great Hall seemed to be trying to get to their feet, but some unseen force kept them in place.

Then there was a sudden "{CRACK!}" of thunder; echoing through the fall, though there was no flash of lightening... As the echoes faded, the force vanished, and people everywhere shot to their feet, much to their own surprise.

"Alright, ALRIGHT!" Loki growled, as the noise faded. He shook his head, clearly annoyed; "Every time I appear in front of mortals, there's at least one of them breathing down my neck..." After a moment Loki relaxed, and continued; "As you can see, it's... a 'touchy' subject. You'll have to find out on your own." Loki let out a sigh; "Well, I suppose I'd best be on my way… Again: Good work with those pranks, Hiccup." Then, to the hall at large, he said, "Carry on."

There was another flash, and the god was gone.

Gradually, the sounds of conversation filled the hall again – but the 'normal day'... definitely wasn't a normal day anymore.

To be continued…