Author's note: This is my first mpreg Toothcup work and I'd like to say this was heavily inspired by How To Love Your Dragon by Black Gargie/IllusionEvenstar. I'd also like to thank my beta Jjosiah98. If Toothcup isn't your tea, please do not read this work just to troll as you will instantly be blocked from the comments. My social media handles:
Twitter: RoseRozu1
Tumblr: RoseRozu22
Warnings: Maternal Death and mentions of a Premature birth
Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon, all rights go to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.
It was midnight on a small island somewhere on the Atlantic Sea, only a two-day boat trip to Scandinavia, and there was a scream that could be heard for miles. A twenty-year-old woman is giving birth to a child, a child that isn't meant to be born for another two to three months.
In the birthing room was a woman with vibrant brown hair, holding the hand of another woman lying on the bed who had auburn hair that was normally kept clean and tidy in a tight braid, but just for this night the hair is matted with grease and sweat as she has been in labor since twelve that afternoon.
"Valhallarama." One of the Bjargrýgr said unexpectedly. "I can see the head." The bjargrýgr then looked towards the other woman. "Begin the chanting." The woman nodded and started to chant.
"Hér liggr Borgný of borin verkjum,
vina þín, Oddrún, vittu, ef þú hjalpir."
…
Þær hykk mæltu þvígit fleira,
gekk mild fyr kné meyju at sitja;
ríkt gól Oddrún, rammt gól Oddrún
bitra galdra at Borgnýju.
Knátti mær ok mögr moldveg sporna,
börn þau in blíðu við bana Hagna;
þat nam at mæla mær fjörsjúka,
svá at hon ekki kvað orð it fyrra:
"Svá hjalpi þér hollar véttir,
Frigg ok Freyja ok fleiri goð,
sem þú feldir mér fár af höndum."
The moment the helper ended the chant, a newborn cry was heard, but the strain of giving new life exhausted the mother to the point of death.
"Valka, send for the father and village elder and the translator." The Bjargrýgr said. The woman nodded, heading for the door after giving one last look at the newborn baby and now dead mother.
That following morning all the people of this village went to the funeral. On the calm waters rocked a ship made out of stone and full of flowers, and deeply hidden underneath these trinkets is the ashes of who should've been a new mother. With a final push the small but pretty boat drifted off to sea, the forever sleeping mother not knowing the future that will befall her child.
Toothcup
Fourteen years later at midnight, an androgynous teenager is seen running around the village. He's wearing a light-green woolen tunic with long-sleeves and brown leather lacing the neck and arms. A dark brown fur vest wraps around his shoulders, matching the fur boots on his feet. Dark greyish-green pants with leather lacing around the ankle completed his look. As he ran through the village, he ignored the stares of the villagers as he headed for his workplace, the Blacksmiths.
The teenager in question is called Hiccup, and he has a very special way of describing the burning village he's currently running through: 'This is Berk. Twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death, located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. It's been here for more than seven generations but each and every building is new. We have hunting, fishing and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problem is the pests. See, while most places have mice or mosquitoes, we have...dragons.'
As he rounded a corner, a large beefy hand came down and grabbed him, lifting him off the ground by the back of his vest. "Hiccup?!" Stoick exclaimed. "What is he doing out aga-?! What are you doing out?! Get back inside!" Stoick 'gently' set Hiccup down and shoved him towards the closest non-burning building before turning back to the battle at hand.. That man is Hiccup's father as well as the Chief of Berk. According to the villagers, when Stoick was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders. Hiccup believes that tale, as he saw his father throw a wagon at a dragon flying past overhead, the wood shattering on impact and making the dragon fall.
"Ah! Nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!" Hiccup's mentor noticed his apprentice's arrival as he was hammering a sword back into shape.
"Who me? Nah, I'm way too muscular for their taste." Hiccup said, gesturing to himself while trying to put his apron on.
"Well they need toothpicks, don't they?" The elder blacksmith said as he was repairing the weapons. The man in question with the missing limbs is called Gobber, who in Hiccup's opinion is a 'meathead with interchangeable hands.' With the playful banter over, they both got to work, taking and fixing broken weapons and sending out mostly repaired ones for use.
After pumping the bellows, a large explosion nearby catches Hiccup's attention, drawing him to the window. A group of teens run towards the burning building, buckets of water in hand. The large bulky one is named Fishlegs, with the smaller but more muscly boy being Snotlout. The two look alikes are the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, with the last female of the group being Astrid. After semi-successfully putting out the fire, another explosion hits it, giving the retreating teens an epic backdrop.
'Oh, their job is so much cooler.' Hiccup thought to himself as they ran past again, headed for the next fire. As he leaned out to get a better look, a metal hook caught the back of his vest, lifting him off the ground and bringing him back inside.
"Oh, come on. Let me out, please? I need to make my mark!" Hiccup said as he was placed down back to the ground.
"Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places!" Gobber exclaimed.
"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date."
"Hiccup, you can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" As Gobber holds up a bola, another Viking leans in through the window and grabs it, quickly winding it up and throwing it at a passing dragon to bring it down. "And need I remind you that you're already engaged to Snotlout?"
"You know he doesn't like me, he likes Astrid! And besides, I made something that can help me throw the bolas." Hiccup then walked towards a wooden machine, which suddenly activated and shot a bola, hitting a Viking standing by the window and instantly knocking them out cold.
"See, now this right here is what I'm talking about!" Gobber shouted.
"Mild calibration issue.."
"No, Hiccup, you know full well you are not a warrior."
"But I could be if you all would let me try!"
"We'll take our chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now."
Gobber tosses Hiccup a large sword before turning away, ending the conversation. With a scowl, Hiccup takes the weapon to the grindstone, beginning his task. He thinks about how much killing a dragon could improve his status, as killing a dragon is everything in his village. He takes another peek out the window, watching as some Nadders harass the livestock, Gronkles making off with entire racks of fish, even a Zippleback filling an entire house with gas before lighting it up and flying off.
Meanwhile, on the watchtower, Stoick and a group of other Vikings are seen using a catapult to try and fend off the dragons. Suddenly, a Monstrous Nightmare appears, quickly climbing the supports and lighting itself on fire as Stoick catches its eyes.
"Reload!" Stoick commanded. "I'll take care of this." With his hammer, he trades blows with the Nightmare. A far-off screech causes them to pause, the Nightmare taking it's chance to flee with Stoick distracted.
Suddenly a high-pitched whistle is heard from the sky, causing the Vikings to panic and shout "Night Fury!" just before a purple bolt of plasma hit the catapult, decimating the entire structure. The Vikings on the tower barely made it off in time, forced to dodge the burning rubble as it fell down on them. The Night Fury is the most feared dragon of them all. It never steals food, never shows itself, and never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury, but a certain skinny Viking has plans to change that.
Back at the forge, Gobber swapped his prosthetic out with an axe and made for the door. Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there." But before he left, Gobber looked back at his apprentice. "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." With a battle cry, he hobbles out the door, joining the fight.
Hiccup listens for an entire five seconds before, being the teenager that he is, didn't listen and left the blacksmith along with his bola launcher, easily ignoring the complaints of the villagers. He ran until he reached a cliff on the outskirts of the village, quickly setting up his machine before looking to the sky. He looks around, catching a shadow visibly blotting out the stars. Then the infamous shriek fills the air, another plasma blast hitting the nearby catapult. With the explosion illuminating it for a brief moment, showing a visible outline to aim at, Hiccup swivels the machine around and shoots, the recoil throwing him to the ground. A loud cry is heard as the Night Fury was successfully hit, the shadow of the dragon falling and vanishing into the forest.
"Oh, I hit it? YES! I HIT IT! Did anybody see that?" Hiccup shouted in victory, spinning around, but it was short lived as a Monstrous Nightmare, the same one that Stoick had driven off earlier, broke the launcher and snarled at Hiccup. Said boy did the most logical thing, which was to scream and run, barely dodging the teeth aimed for his head. But the band keeping his ponytail in place was caught and torn off instead, causing his long, shin-length hair to fly loosely behind him. Stoick, hearing his son's scream, looked towards the source and saw the teen with his hair loose running away from the dragon. With a sigh, he commanded the other Vikings to hold the Nadders down as he ran off to help his son.
Now in the village proper, Hiccup runs behind a torch pole and hides just as flames hit the other side and splash around him. He looks around the pole, seeing the dragon's tail slither out of sight just as a hot breath hits his neck. Just as the Nightmare reaches to bite Hiccup, Stoick arrives and quickly punches the beast away, jumping back to defend himself. The dragon growls and tries to breathe fire, but coughs up only a few drops of flaming liquid instead, having exhausted its shots. Stoick grins in triumph and quickly advances, punching the dragon repeatedly until it was forced to retreat. Just as Stoick turned back around, however, the torch pole collapsed, tumbling down through the village, leaving ruins in its wake and causing some of the captured dragons to be released as they made off with the village's supply of food.
"Sorry, Dad, but I hit a Night Fury." Hiccup said, only for Stoick to grab Hiccup's tunic again and start dragging him back to their house.
"It's not like the last few times, Dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, before it…"
"STOP!" Stoick shouted but as he saw Hiccup flinch he made his voice softer for his only child sake.
"Just...stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"
Hiccup looked around. "Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"
As Hiccup said that some Vikings looked down at their stomachs, rubbing them as if to say "Are you calling me fat!?"
"This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"
"I can't stop myself! I see a dragon and I have to just...kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad."
Stoick sighs, pinching his nose. "You are many things, Hiccup, but when are you going to stop this? We have said time and time again you are not a warrior and you will never be. It's time for you to forget this nonsense." Stoick then looked towards the teens and gestured for Snotlout, who is wearing a helmet with spiraled sheep horns. His tunic tucked into his pants with an open-stitched neckline and a black vest over it, dark gray bracers on his arms, and matching fur boots. He glares at his cousin and fiance as he walks up. "Take him back to the house, and make sure he stays there. I have his mess to clean up."
Snotlout nodded and roughly pushed Hiccup out of the Villager's eyes.
"You know that was one of the stupidest things I've seen you do!" Snotlout says.
"I know, I know," Hiccup says as he sighs dejectedly.
"Have you found a way to break this engagement between us?" Snotlout asked.
"No, but I'm trying."
"You better do soon, I want to be with Astrid."
"Just give me time." Hiccup pleaded.
Snoutlout nodded and left after Hiccup entered the house. As soon as Hiccup shuts the door, he does and impersonation of his father. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side! This here, this is a talking fishbone with a weird body!" After finishing his rant, Hiccup then walked to the back door and said to himself "I need to find that dragon, and fast."
Viking Terms and meanings: (source . #Midwives)
Bjargrýgr: Midwife
Old Norse Translation of the poem:
"Here lies Borgný with pains over-borne,
thy friend, Oddrún! See if you can help her."
...
They, I know, spoke not more than this:
kindly she went to sit at the maid's knee.
Strongly Oddrún sang, powerfully Oddrún sang,
bitter galdr-songs for Borgný.
A boy and maid-child (twins) might then tread the mould-way,
blithe babes, born of Högni's bane;
then began to speak the death-sick maid,
who before had no word uttered.
"May all the kindly beings help you
Frigg and Freyja and more of the gods
as you warded away
that dangerous illness from me."
Research for the funerals:
viking-funeral/