I don't own HTTYD.
It was snowing outside, at least he was inside the Great Hall and has a warm bowl of fish stew to eat.
He could be closer the heart, but the chief is there with other Vikings deciding what punishment Tuffnut should receive for pranking Snotlout and he wants no part in that even if he was curious to know what the sentence will be.
Fishlegs, like every Hooligan knows what happened this afternoon just outside this place when Tuffnut hung Snotlout from the Great Hall's wall. Spitelout was furious and claimed it to be an attack on his heir and is asking for a geld to be paid to him while Ticknut was insisting Snotlout's clumsiness coasted his son the chance to catch the creature that apparently has been stealing from the Great Hall kitchens. Bread crumbs and some small bones on the spot supported the Thorstons claims about some animal somehow stealing their food.
But Spitelout was not hearing any of it, he was insisting that Tuffnut merely planted such evidence on the spot to justify his horrible prank on Snotlout, that was possible but the only reason the matter wasn't dropped just yet was because Snotlout is chief Stoick's nephew…
The whole thing seemed to be way out of proportion in his opinion, it was just a harmless prank and in the end no one got hurt or anything and if someone asked him what he believed he would have to say that Tuffnut was really hunting something close to the Great Hall because what business did anyone have that far from the entrance?
But his opinion wasn't relevant enough to be asked.
The ones trying to solve the problem were the clan-heads, the elder, the chief and Hiccup. Hiccup looked so out of place there that it was almost funny because it was clear that he'd rather not be there at all and with how Mildew was glaring at him he couldn't really blame him.
From his vantage point he could see Spitelout and Ticknut shaking their hands and he could guess that things didn't went the Jorgensons way since Snotlout's dad's scowl was visible even from where he was sitting.
Things mustn't have turned the way the Jorgensons wanted if they are angry like that.
His dad called one of his cousins to know the result of the conflict "Stoick won't punish the Thorston lad, he says the trap was out of everyone's way and it must have been just an accident."
'Well that's true, but then how did Snotlout fell on it?' he eyed the chief's table where the Jorgensons and the Haddocks were currently sitting, and it was apparent that they were trying to change Stoick's verdict with the way Spitelout was speaking one didn't even needed to be able to read lips to figure that out, Snotlout seemed to be trying to bore a hole in Hiccup's head with his glare but if he was reading things correctly with the way Stoick constantly shook his head and how Hiccup ignored Snotlout in favor of Astrid nothing will change about it.
"I can't believe Stoick will not do something about this!" his dad said, his voice reflected how much he disliked the fact that Tuffnut was basically getting away with a prank "We all know what's to become of those two, better to show the Thorston lad he can't go around like that."
Tuffnut will be a farmer and/or a hunter, that meant he won't have too influence in the future while Snotlout… well, his dad thinks he will go far, and with far he means he will become the next chief.
"Aye, but what was that lad doing all the way there?" his cousin asked earning a glare from his father, sighing Dogscales Ingerman just left and sat with his parents on their table.
"Tell me son, how is that bear going?" his dad asks and he frowned.
"I'll finish it tomorrow dad, but I've never seen a bear alive so…" basically he had no idea if it's good or not.
"Don't worry about that son, Liplout has never seen a bear alive either!" wasn't that a relief? So unless someone alerted his costumer he would be none the wiser? Funny, he was trying his best to recreate the image based on a sketch he found in a book and the few bear pelts he's seen around the village or when merchant Johann comes to trade. "You keep working, I have already spoken with Toelout, and he'll wait for you a couple of years."
"For what?" he had to ask, he had no idea what his dad was talking about.
"To form a contract of course, he has a daughter…" his dad paused closing his eyes as he often does when he is making an effort to remember something "Dotta, I think she will be a good match for you!" his dad patted his back with a smile.
"Oh!" well, at least he knows who he'll marry.
0x0x0
He woke up to the sound of horns that served as the village alarms.
It took him just a couple of seconds to understand that they were under attack, Astrid was marginally faster than him to realized it and that they must get out of bed to help their tribe but unfortunately due to their sleeping arrangements they fell to the floor in an attempt to disentangle their limbs as fast as possible.
In a hurry he puts on his leggings on while Astrid goes for his dragon leather armor to practically shove it down his head and then helped him secure it with the leather strips, the thing still feels tight and restrictive but not as much as the first time he put it on, shoving his feet on his boots he runs to the door and takes the spear he keeps on its side, he turns around to see his wife putting her own armor on "Be careful!" he says before going down the stairs three steps at a time.
His dad is not in the hut anymore, years and years of practice have guaranteed Stoick the Vast could get out of bed and be ready for combat in the blink of an eye.
Running through the dark and cold night makes breathing difficult, and the snow doesn't makes things any easier but making the trip to Toothless cove and back almost daily and always in a hurry has served as a wonderful training for moving in the snow. Midway to the new warehouse he must protect the torches are lit, right on time to let him see and avoid a fellow Hooligan, the dragons were almost upon them and he can see them getting free shots at the building doors and some of the fastest Vikings trying to shut them down.
When he gets to his new place Hoark and Dogscales are already there bashing their shields with their weapons and screaming to throw the aim of the reptiles off, he soon joins with his own voice.
The warehouse the now protect is closer to the village's center and it's bigger than the other one and hey, you can see the Great Hall from here!
Soon the dragons got tired of the noise and started firing at them en mase, there was a total of five dragons trying to get into their building and all of them aimed at Hoark forcing him to jump aside or be burned alive by a lucky shot.
The smell of rotten fish alerted him they were being covered by a thick cloud of Zippleback gas and taking a look around he found a two headed dragon hiding one of the building's walls "Zippleback!" he yelled to alert his comrades as he ran at the deadly dragon hoping to stun it with the noise and force it back into the air before it could blow them up.
Luck was on his side tonight and a snowball hit the head in charge of sparking the gas making it look away and giving him a perfect shot to take care of one of the heads… cutting off one of its heads wouldn't kill it, at least not immediately according to his dad, but it'll guarantee it'll be killed in the next minute or two because the dragon will be unable to take flight… or be able to defend itself properly. He doesn't want to kill the dragon, but there is a cloud of explosive gas covering Dogscales, Hoar and himself… "AHHHH!" with a scream Hiccup swing the spear just the way Astrid taught him a few weeks back, all his might was focused on wielding the weapon that had just enough length to reach his foe with its tip, it cuts through the left neck incapacitating or killing the head and making the surviving one scream in agony for a couple of seconds.
The beast tried to retaliate but the way it moved was not that different to a babe learning to walk and then it was over when Sven jumped at the reptile's second head with his axe over his head and his arms fully extended.
"Move! Move! Move!" Hoark ordered and he complied jumping behind the now dead dragon where his squad mate was already taking cover and an instant later the deadly gas was ignited and the sound of an explosion deafened him for what was probably the longest minute of his life and all he could do was look around frantically looking for another dragon, a fire shot a poisonous quill to dodge or an ally to warn!
'Gods I hate raids!'
0x0x0
There are a few children around the well, just looking at them work, since its winter and her class just graduated some of those children will be taking their place in the Fire Brigade next spring and she remembers that she herself was once in their place, eagerly watching the teens work, memorizing how they moved, how the talked, how they ran. She thought that every detail mattered and she was convinced that she would miss a crucial detail the moment she blinked.
She was twelve back then… How was she supposed to know the teens weren't really paying much attention because it was something they've done thousands of times over the years?
She wanted to say that what she did was complicated but at this point her body just knows what to do without really thinking about it and she barely has to pay any mind to what she is doing.
"It's kind of quiet tonight" Ruffnut said sounding rather just as bored as her.
"Yeah, it's as if not may dragons wanted to visit today" Tuffnut agreed.
"I'm not complaining" Fishlegs said with a smile, she had to agree with him, less dragons means less fire and less food loss, a true win-win situation.
The only one affected by the children's presence was Gustav who was enjoying himself immensely, filling buckets and pretending to keep an eye on the village to spy on his friends, after thaw he will be the most experienced member in the Fire Brigade… she just hopped that the distinction wouldn't swell his ego too much, his head is big enough as it is!
"The warriors are holding well" she commented after they filled every bucket they had available, they haven't been called to extinguish any fire yet and have been standing idle for a few minutes. She was feeling restless for some reason, well, more restless than usual. Normally they would be running all over the village putting off the fires and watching the how the warriors were doing while they were at it and that was kind of reassuring on its own way… because even if watching your kin and neighbors risk their lives was bad, it was better than not knowing if they were alive or not.
She hasn't forgotten the images of her dad's shield being engulfed by fire or Hiccup jumping out of dangers she had to see a few weeks back.
Astrid almost wanted for something to catch on fire just so she could make sure they are alive and well.
"FIRE!"
She was not happy about it but she eagerly grabbed two snow-filled buckets and ran towards the fire with the other members of the Fire Brigade right behind her.
However what started as a slow night soon become a very agitated night because soon there were more and more cries for help as fire spread around the village and while running from fire to fire she managed to get glimpses of what was happening in the village… it was pure chaos.
How else would you describe it? A Viking swinging his axe to keep a Nadder at bay only to see the axe-head fly from its handle leaving a stunned warrior barely lifting his shield in time to block a barrage of quills? Or watching another Hooligan actually slashing a Gronkle without cutting it at all, not even leaving a mark on the think hide of the flying boulder?
It was chaos and she could only watch as her tribe mates had to hastily retreat or be maimed and looking up to see a few Nadders escaping with sheep on their claws and a Monstrous Nightmare with a bull yak slightly behind, it was as if Loki himself was aiding the dragons tonight!
"AARRRGGGG!" a scream of pain made her look bellow and she could see the consequences of being too slow as a fellow Viking just got his leg crushed under a Gronkle's tail, she could even see the broken bone piercing the leg's flesh…
0x0x0
It had been such a good year until tonight.
But now… they lost food, lots of food actually, much more than what they were prepared to lose.
They'll have to ration the food by giving smaller meals at the Great Hall, and for sure they'll have to take some food from those with larger storages of food like himself, he will see that at least half of his family's reserves be given to the Great Hall's kitchens.
Lost food wasn't even the worst thing to happen today, not when he could hear the screams of a fellow Hooligan who was losing his leg: Fishfeather Ingerman is his name and taking off the crushed limb was mercy in his eyes, at least he will keep his knee, if Gobber was to be believed that made a difference.
"ARRGG!" mead and herbs wouldn't dull the pain of Inga's saw cutting through bone and flesh as he could hear the man's pain as if he was right next to him instead of outside the Great Hall.
In the sky the last of the devils fly back to their nest leaving him in despair and whishing he had wings of his own to pursue and punish them by crushing their wings or tails the way they crushed Fishfeather's leg.
How did they lost so much to such a small raid?
This was surely the job of Loki, it had to be!
But no one will be blaming the Liesmith when he was an easier target. This was the bitter side of leadership, to always have to share your victories and having to carry the weight of the defeats alone.
His warriors begin to gather as his lieutenants tell him exactly how bad things are… well they are bad enough to say that they won't survive another raid like this.
His people are, understandably, upset and Mildew's infuriating voice making their complaints for them was like fuel to fire.
"Spears breaking like twigs, swords as dull as clubs, head-less axes, WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR WEAPONS?! WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF THEM!?"
Stoick would like to know himself, his own spare war hammer's handle broke when he hit a Gronkle.
"It was Hiccup's job!" someone yelled in the crowd. But it couldn't be… Hiccup never messed up as a blacksmith before, and while it was true that fixing their armory's weapons was part of his son's duties he couldn't picture him doing such a poor job, not when just a few days ago Gobber was praising his skill in the trade, that could only mean he was doing well!
It didn't took long for the crowd to single out Hiccup throwing him in the space between them, his son fell to the ground by the sheer force of the push, and was saved from further aggression by Hoark and his men, they were doing their best to keep the other Vikings away from Hiccup at the moment and he was grateful for it, all the other Vikings nearby looked like they were ready to stone him like a criminal!
"THE RUNT!" Mildew's voice once again dominated any other sound just by how angry he seemed to be and there was also the way he said it, as if it was to be expected for his son to be the cause of something like this, and that seemed to agitate the crowd even more.
"… should have been thrown to the sea!"
"Good for nothing twig!"
"Exiled!"
This was getting out of control fast, and at this rate he will have to punish Hiccup in some way or he will lose face with the tribe, and then be in a less favorable position to help him later.
Astrid broke away from the crowd and stood beside his son, her face was hard and determined as she took his hand on her own and together they turned to face the crowd.
Matching them was a fluke really, but he got his clan a jewel with that lass.
"OF COURSE, HIS WENCH COMES TO HIM, I BET SHE'S WHY HE MESSED UP WITH THE WEAPONS!"
And that was enough out of Mildew tonight, and the Gods and Gobber agreed with him because the blacksmith punched the instigating old man right in the jaw making him fall and shut up.
"Are you done insulting me Mildew?" the master blacksmith stood right there looking down at the council's elder.
"You can't strike me, I'm the Elder!" Mildew's indignation was palpable through his voice.
The rest of the Vikings were silenced by the punch as well, and they listened with rapt attention after their blacksmith claimed an insult from the elder. Stoick for his part couldn't be happier, his friend's help is appreciated.
"I'm this village Master Blacksmith, and you cannot insult me!" Gobber replied spiting at the ground to emphasize his point.
"Have you finally gone mad boy-lover?!" Mildew asked with disdain as he stood up to face the two limbed Viking.
"Goat-fucker you claim that I'm stupid enough to not check the job of a lad that just married a lovely lass!" Gobber said while pointing Hiccup and Astrid with his flesh and bone arm "I've been breathing on Hiccup's neck picking up his slack ever since he got married, and he didn't messed up that bad to begin with…" Gobber took a step closer to the elder invading his personal space but the elder didn't stepped back "Nothing worse than forgetting something in the coals or making stuff for her with scrap iron!"
"Well, this is someone's fault! There is a leg-less man in the Great Hall right now because someone messed up!" Gobber pushed Mildew back after hearing this "You can't do that to me!"
"This is why a hermit shouldn't be allowed in the council, you don't know Yak-shit of what's going on in the village Mildew!" Einar Hofferson stepped in flanking the elder "And if you ever hear you call my daughter a wench again I'll be the one claiming insult. Is that clear!"
"You'll have to race me for that Einar, Astrid is a Haddock now!" he said, and he truly will, the lass will be a fine chieftess one day, her honor cannot be questioned.
"So now you know better than our ancestors' lad?" Mildew spat the last word, it was clear that he wouldn't allow to have his place in the council be put in doubt "If it wasn't the runt then whose fault is it?"
Much like Hiccup before two other Vikings were pushed to the front. The Thorston twins.
A/N: Aaaand cut!
I know many didn't wanted Snotlout's plot to succeed but it did and now someone is going to suffer the consequences of it… and it won't be Snotlout.
Hiccup was lucky to have such a strong support network, but what will happen to the twins?