Just a dumb little oneshot, lol.
Also, minor content warning for blood and injury for those who might be sensitive to that stuff! Nothing too graphic, though. Also, I am in no way a medical professional, so sorry if I got some parts wrong!
It all started with a bedtime story.
The Haddock kids had gone to their room early, Zephyr eager to spend the night drawing up her ideas for traps and inventions, while Nuffink was just a little blonde ball of energy, both of them adamantly refusing to go to sleep.
"They both got this from you, you know," Astrid teased, whispering to her side. Hiccup laughed sarcastically in response, giving no further comment. He rubbed his forehead, grumbling tiredly as Nuffink jumped up and down on his small bed and fell on the floor. Oh, Stoick was probably having a field day watching this in Valhalla.
"They're still up?" A rich voice asked from near the door. Valka peered into the room, chuckling at the chaotic late-night scene as she carried with her a large book. She didn't live with her son and his family anymore, but she visited so often that she might as well call it a second home, and nobody was phased by her sudden appearance.
"Can't, I'm thinkin' all these huge thoughts!" Nuffink replied, laying on the bed with his head hanging upside-down.
"Such as?"
"Like, how would yaks wear pants?" He asked, staring into nothingness as he seriously pondered the question, "Would they wear 'em with all four legs, or two?"
"Now you're asking the real questions," Zephyr remarked, chewing on the wooden parts of her pen as she, too, pondered the great mystery.
"I think you're gonna have to ask your Uncle Tuffnut about that," Hiccup replied, "I think Snotlout helps him knit clothes for his chickens?"
"But, you can ask them tomorrow morning," Astrid added, gently, "Don't you want to hear a bedtime story?"
"I've got a really good one about your Grandpa!" Hiccup continued. He looked at his wife, and whispered, "Nice save." Astrid winked back.
Instantly, the children were interested. Having never met the great Stoick The Vast, their grandfather seemed to them the stuff of legend and myth, and they were always eager to hear more about him- even if some of the more... graphic details were cut out.
And there went the night. The adults regaled Zephyr and Nuffink with tales about Stoick, some of them including Thornado, or Skullcrusher. The plan seemed to work, for by the time they'd gotten midway through the story of how Stoick and Skullcrusher met, the kids had spent so much of their energy on their excitement that they had already started yawning, and drooping their eyes.
Hiccup chuckled, picking up Zephyr in his hands, while Astrid held Nuffink in hers.
"I think someone's ready for bed..." Hiccup whispered as the children were tucked in their beds.
"No..." Nuffink protested, yawning, "Just one more story..."
"You can hear them tomorrow," Valka replied, putting out the candles. The adults closed the door behind them, and the children drifted into a peaceful slumber.
Little did they know, however, was that they had made a very grave mistake.
The next morning, while Zephyr wasn't as enthusiastic to learn more about their grandfather, Nuffink was obsessed. All those stories were so cool, and he needed to know more!
So, after quickly downing his breakfast (Thankfully prepared by Hiccup, and not Astrid or Valka), he zipped out of the door, leaving behind nothing but a trail of tiny footprints in the snow.
"What's got him so excited?" Hiccup wondered out loud as the rest of the family stared through the open door.
Astrid shrugged, "He's probably meeting up with friends."
Nuffink was not, in fact, meeting up with friends. He sped past the other kids in the village, laughing at the thrill and adrenaline as he ran and hopped, weaving through the various New Berkians, jumping off rocks, and skidding across puddles.
"Hm. Who'd know more stuff about Grampa?" He thought out loud as he ran. His mind's eye then took him to the many memories of that strange man who was always talking to Stoick's statue, and he had an idea. He shifted course, and made a beeline for Gobber's hut.
"Great Uncle Gobber, Great Uncle Gobber!" Nuffink shouted, rapping his hand on Gobber's door. If anyone knew anything about Stoick The Vast, it had to be him, right?
The Heavens seemed to be smiling down on Nuffink, as the door opened, and soon he was drumming his hands on someone's belly rather than the door.
"Are yer alright, lad?" The man asked, peering down at the tiny little boy, "What'yer doin' up so early?"
"It's nearly noon?" Nuffink simply said, cocking his head to the side quizzically, "Ah' wanna hear more about Grandpapa!"
"Hmph," Gobber scratched his beard with his hook thoughtfully, "Are ye' sure? What about your parents?"
"Mama and Dada won't mind!" Nuffink insisted. To seal the deal, he gave the most puppy-dog-eyed look he could muster to sway the older man.
"Alright, alright," Gobber laughed, closing the door behind him and stepping out of the hut, "You win, lad. You're lucky you Haddocks look adorable."
"So," He grabbed a chair from his porch, pulling it closer and sitting down, "What'ye wanna hear?"
Time passed by quickly, as Nuffink begged for story after story, and Gobber told them with equal excitement, eager to share the various tales of his closest friend.
"And then he said, 'When I was a boy, ma' father told me to bang my head against a rock,'" Gobber continued his latest story, poorly imitating Stoick's voice as he did so.
The boy tilted his head in confusion, "Why would he do that?"
"I'm gettin' to that part," The former blacksmith said patiently, "Anyway, he said, 'I thought it was crazy, but I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?'"
"He got a' headache?" Nuffink guessed.
Gobber chuckled, "Close enough. He went, 'That rock split in two. It taught me what a could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas!'"
"Woah!" Nuffink gasped in awe. Vikings could split rocks in two?! He never knew that!
"Exactly." Gobber smirked, "And then, he-"
"Ah, scallops," He looked out at the swiftly darkening sky, "Best be headin' home, lad. Don't want to miss yer dinner!"
"Thanks, Mr. Gobber!" Nuffink replied, scrambling to get up before the night came. He dashed back home, "Bye!"
Gobber watched as the small boy clumsily parkoured through the snow, chuckling to himself fondly.
"Haddock kids," He reminisced, "They never change."
It started with pillows and wood. Nuffink wasn't stupid; if he wanted to split rocks in two with his head, then he had to start small. So, the Training To Become A Rock Splitting Viking Project (Officially dubbed by himself, the "TTBARSVP,") began.
Then, during a family picnic with his parents' friends, when the grownups weren't looking, and as a sort of exam for himself, Nuffink eyed one of the large trees, and charged towards it, headfirst.
"OW!"
"NUFFINK!" The whole group rushed towards the boy's side. Blood was dripping down his forehead; a lot of it.
"Oh Thor, Oh Thor!" Snotlout panicked, helping Hiccup keep Nuffink's head faced towards the sky to prevent blood loss.
"It's not a nosebleed, it's a forehead!" Ruffnut shouted, equally panicked, "Why are you tilting his head up?!"
"Well, what do you want us to do?!" Snotlout snapped back.
"Fishlegs, can you get a bandage, and some ice?" Hiccup ordered. Fishlegs nodded, and the Chief turned his attention back to his bleeding child, "Hey, it's gonna be okay, you're gonna be alright."
"What's everyone talkin' bout?" Nuffink questioned nonchalantly, as if there wasn't a gaping hole in his forehead. Sure, it hurt when he hit the tree, but he wasn't even dizzy!
"Dude," Tuffnut gave him a flat look, "Your forehead is literally bleeding."
Nuffink brought a hand to his forehead, and pulled it back to reveal the blood stains.
"Huh." Nuffink mused, "Didn't notice."
Hiccup and Astrid exchanged concerned glances. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Thankfully, neither of them had to answer the question, as Fishlegs arrived back on the scene, carrying a bag full of supplies with an observing Gothi in tow. Following the dragons' departure, Fishlegs had begun studying under Gothi to become the next village healer.
"Okay, how does that feel?" Fishlegs asked as he pressed a wet rag against Nuffink's forehead, careful not to knock the kid over with his strength.
"Like you're pressin' a towel on ma' face?" Nuffink snarked back. Fishlegs frowned, pulling back the rag and cleaning up the wound.
"Looks like a... very minor injury," The healer-in-training said, "Looks like it's just a minor cut, like when you accidentally scratch too hard on your skin?"
"See? Ah'm fine!"
"How the heck?" Snotlout muttered. Astrid's head snapped towards him, "Oh, come on, 'heck' is not a swear word!"
"He literally slammed his face into that thing!" Tuffnut exclaimed, "Plus, isn't he like, three or something?"
"I'm six, actually..!" Nuffink replied.
"You're five," Hiccup clarified, "Are you sure you're doing okay?"
"Yah!" The child groaned. He looked to his sister, pleading for help.
"I think he looks fine," Zephyr commented. Once again, the adults looked at each other.
"Iron skull," Fishlegs hummed.
After months and months of practice slamming his head into trees, along with careful supervision and observation from his parents, Nuffink's 'iron skull,' as Fishlegs had dubbed it, seemed to grow stronger.
Soon enough, he could barely feel it when he slammed his head into the barky wood, and moved on to soft, snow-covered rocks. Somehow, he never got injured, and after multiple incidents and visits to the healer to make sure the boy didn't suffer from any sort of brain trauma, it eventually just became another part of the Haddocks' daily lives.
After the Snoggletog Pageant and the visit to the Hidden World and meeting 'Uncle Toothy' for the first time, Nuffink's determination to split a rock had only doubled in size. That was his New Year's resolution; to split a rock before the year ended.
Then, early on into Black Frost month, it happened.
It was a little late at night. Nuffink had only been practicing; he wasn't putting in much effort to it, really, but one moment he was banging his head against a rock, and the next...
"The rock split in two.." Nuffink stared down at the broken boulder, small pieces scattered all over the place, but two very large parts of it clearly having been separated from each other.
The rock split in two.
"THE ROCK SPLIT IN TWO!" Nuffink shouted, pumping his fists in the air and cheering like a mad-man. He'd done it! He'd actually done it! This was amazing!
"MAMA, DADA, ZEPH!" The boy sped into the house, waking everyone up with his din. But he didn't care.
"Nuffink? Are you okay? What happened?" Astrid asked, relaxing when she saw that Nuffink wasn't hurt.
"'Fink.. what are you-" Zephyr was walking down the stairs from the bedroom, only to be met with two halves of a rock shoved in her face.
"I SPLIT A ROCK IN TWO!" Her brother screamed eagerly.
"Woah!" Hiccup exclaimed, getting up from his chair and kneeling down to see the stones more clearly.
"You're so strong, 'Fink!" Hiccup grinned, ruffling Nuffink's hair, "That's awesome!"
Nuffink giggled as his father pulled him into a hug, "Just like Grandpa Stoick, right?"
Hiccup paused, remembering a tale that Gobber had once told him, when he was younger, about his Dad. He smiled in realisation. Everything made sense now.
He hugged Nuffink again, grinning ever so proudly.
"Just like Grandpa Stoick."
Side note: Please don't actually try banging your head against rocks. You're not gonna split a rock, you're gonna get sent to the hospital xD.