(A/N: So, what's the episode this chapter is based on? Well… none. It's another holiday special. *Dodges two bullets* I know I just wrote one, but these don't usually take me too long (as long as I'm not busy) and it just wouldn't feel right to have something for Halloween and not for Christmas.

In the games and in the movies and tv series, Snoggletog is basically the HTTYD equivalent of Christmas. With Christmas here, I thought it was appropriate for me to write this. Also, remember, Ladok doesn't know what Snoggletog is because Hiccup didn't bother to tell him much, this is where he's going to learn about it.

Merry Christmas, guys. This is the time of year where we should all be spending time with those we care about.)

*O-X-O*~*Y-U-V-U-Y*~*O-X-O*

Early one morning on Dragon's Edge, everyone was packing for a long visit to Berk. They were leaving for a holiday celebration, Snoggletog.

Ladok wasn't very familiar with this holiday, his mother had briefly mentioned it a couple of times, but he never bothered to ask. He asked his brother about it once, but he didn't give him much of an answer.

He heard it was going to be cold on Berk, so he packed an Arctic fox fur coat. He got the furs from Trader Johann, Helene's adoptive father, and sewed it all together himself.

He only met Johann a couple of times and although he seemed very friendly, there was something about him that made him feel as though he couldn't relax around him. Ripwave didn't like him very much either, growling whenever he tried to get close to Helene. He thought it was strange at first because he was the man who raised her, but he could always see something in her eyes whenever he came to the island.

Once he was finished packing, he left his hut and used the zipline to go down to the clubhouse. He found his brother in there, packing some papers with Dragon Eye information into Toothless' saddle bag.

Not sure what to say, he cleared his throat to get Hiccup's attention. He turned his head to look at him and smiled at his younger brother.

"Hey, nice to see you're awake. Are you excited we're going back to Berk?" he asked.

"I would be if I knew why we were going," he responded pointedly.

He could have slapped himself, he forgot he never told him about Snoggletog, "Oh, right, I'm sorry. Tomorrow is Snoggletog, it's a holiday we celebrate every winter. It lasts for a week and during that time we celebrate with traditions, like decorating the town and having a feast in the Great Hall."

"Will the dragons be there too?" he asked again.

Hiccup frowned and turned away from him, he couldn't bear to tell him. It would break his heart if he knew the truth about Snoggletog.

When he gave him no answer, he pressured him, "Hiccup? Hiccup, what aren't you telling me?"

He couldn't keep a secret from his younger brother, especially when he had a right to know, "The dragons… won't be there."

He thought his heart stopped beating and fell into his stomach, "What?"

He hated seeing him sad, especially since this was his first Snoggletog. He understood how he felt, when the dragons suddenly left for no reason at Snoggletog three years ago, the entire town felt it.

He turned back to him and squeezed his shoulders, he could see his eyes becoming watery, "You see, every year the dragons leave the island to lay their eggs and hatch them. Everything from Terrible Terrors to Monstrous Nightmares will be leaving the island, Toothless is the only dragon that won't. Our ancestors noticed that while they were gone, there were no dragon attacks and created Snoggletog to celebrate this time of peace. Once the week is over, the dragons will return and Snoggletog ends."

He understood why the dragons had to leave, like all animals, they had to reproduce. It would be nice to have the dragons there, if only for a short time, it would make him feel less anxious about celebrating a holiday he knew nothing about. At least, he would still have Toothless there to help with his anxiety.

Hiccup let go of his shoulders and finished packing the saddle bag. He closed it once he was done, "Well, we better get going. Don't want to keep the others waiting."

Nodding solemnly, he climbed onto Toothless' saddle. Hiccup mounted his dragon and inserted his metal foot into the peddle. They flew out of the clubhouse and down to the stables where the others were waiting for them.

He looked down the stables and idly noticed how eager the dragons were to leave; oddly, with the exception of Ripwave. To him, it just meant that they were eager to get to Berk, only to leave their riders for a whole week.

The flight to Berk was much shorter than it ordinarily was, it was not a surprise with over excited dragons. The villagers were still decorating the town for the week, with green, blue, red, and yellow lanterns strung on the colossal torches, wreaths mounted on homes and other buildings, and a large wooden pine tree covered in shields in the center of the village.

Ladok wanted to admire the decorations, but all he could really think about was the fact that he would be on his own very shortly. He tried to remind himself that it was only for one week, he had gone much longer than that without a dragon, but he had been around them his whole life.

As soon as they dismounted, four dragons came up to Meatlug, Hookfang, Stormfly, and Barf and Belch. A male brown and gray Gronckle with yellow and golden bumps, a female aqua blue and red Monstrous Nightmare with a cream-colored underbelly, a male green Deadly Nadder with a pink hue on his wings, and a female bluish-gray Hideous Zippleback with reddish-brown, orange, and yellow patches on her back and wings. They were the mates to the rider's dragons.

Very few dragons mated for life, and neither of these four species typically did such a thing. However, sometimes dragons will return to their previous mates if they feel they were proud of the offspring they had.

The dragons were excited to see their mates again, they were nudging them, licking them, chirping, squawking, warbling. They then began tugging at their saddles, wanting them to be removed while they were gone. It was almost impossible for Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid, and the twins to remove the saddles from their backs; their dragons were too eager.

Once they finally got them off, they said their goodbyes to their dragons before they left with their mates. It was impossible for Snotlout and Fishlegs to hold back the tears and for Ladok to hold back the grief and anxiety, his heart was beating faster than the myriad wings of a Gronckle.

Then, that grief and anxiety were briefly replaced with confusion, he couldn't help but notice that Ripwave didn't leave with the other dragons nor did she have a mate. Did she not have one? Was she too far away from him if she did?

"Hey, Hele, why didn't Ripwave leave too?" he asked.

"Shockjaws mate for life," she answered. "They tend to be more solitary and for that reason, they prefer to have only one mate because they don't want a large group. Shockjaws can be a little aggressive when provoked, which could endanger other dragons. We've been doing Snoggletog on Outcast Island for the past three years and she still hasn't found a mate."

"You've never done it here?" he asked her again.

"Once," she responded, "with my old dragon, Smog."

Knowing that one more dragon would be staying on Berk relaxed him a little, but he also felt sad that she couldn't have any offspring of her own yet. Dragons had a lot in common with humans, and perhaps she was simply waiting to find an adequate mate for herself.

"Boys," they all heard the familiar voice of Stoick greet.

Hiccup and Ladok looked in the direction where they heard their father's voice and saw him coming down the steps of the Great Hall with a group of people. One of them was a man with black hair and a short beard, Spitelout, Snotlout's father, whom Ladok had met once, another was a burly woman with blonde hair tied up in twin buns. There were two couples with him as well, another woman with blonde hair tied in braids with a man with auburn hair and a long, straight beard, and a woman with brown hair with braids styled in the shape of a beehive with a man with blonde hair styled in dreadlocks and a braided beard.

"Oh, my Fishlegs!" the burly woman cried as she ran to him with wide arms.

He spread his arms as she embraced him, hugging her back, "Mom!"

Spitelout walked up to his son and playfully hit him on the head with his fist, causing his helmet to fall slightly, "Happy Snoggletog, boy-o."

He readjusted his helmet, "Thanks, Dad."

The other blonde haired woman and auburn haired man went over to Astrid, who smiled happily and embraced both of them, "Mom! Dad!"

"It's so nice to see you, Astrid," her mother said. She then saw Helene standing by herself with only Ripwave with her. She held out her hand to her, offering her a hug, which she accepted, "Oh, it's nice to see you too, Helene."

Ripwave warbled, which earned her a pat on the head from Mr. Hofferson, "And you too, Rippy."

"Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson," she smiled.

The woman with brown hair and the man with blonde hair went over to Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" the twins exclaimed in unison.

"You haven't been much trouble, have you?" their mother asked with her hands on her hips.

"Uh… no?" The twins smiled nervously at their parents.

Their father laughed heartily and hit them both on the shoulders, "Trouble is the Thorston way!"

"You got that right, Dad!" Tuffnut grinned.

Ruffnut punched her twin's arm, "Yep! You got that right!"

"And how have my sons been?" Stoick asked with a smile.

Hiccup's mind immediately went to the chaos caused by Gustav, the twins, and dragons on Dark Deep, "Uh, good, Dad. Everything's been good."

He hummed doubtfully, he knew what a typical day for them was, "And what about you, Lad?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not sure about all of this."

"Well, maybe we can change that mind of yours," Spitelout suddenly slapped his shoulder playfully.

"There's a yaknog shooter contest later," Snotlout pointed his thumb in a random direction.

"First one to barf wins," Tuffnut smirked, wrapping both of his arms around Snotlout and Ladok.

"Give me a whole pint," Ruffnut wrapped her arm around Tuffnut's neck, putting him into a chokehold.

Grimacing, he stepped away from them and let them act out how they always were. He had seen Astrid make yaknog before, he remembered what she put into it and the smell, the memory made him shiver.

Noticing his brother's expression, Hiccup made another suggestion, "Or, we could go check out the snow building contest."

The disgust he was feeling was suddenly replaced with frustration but he didn't show it when he gave a reply, "I don't like the cold, Hiccup. I'm a reptile, you know that."

"Are you sure?" he asked gently. He sympathized with how he felt without the dragons, before Toothless he didn't have many friends or confidence, he was now a leader with the respect of the whole village.

"Yeah, you can watch the contestants build life-sized sculptures of dragons," Fishlegs chimed in. Ladok growled.

Fishlegs suddenly found himself screaming and falling onto the cold ground when Ladok whipped his tail. He walked away from the riders and their families, feeling both frustrated and depressed.

Ladok's mind was foggy as his feet carried him through the village and eventually out. It wasn't until he tripped over a protruding tree root in the snow and felt a chill penetrate his scales that the fog cleared.

He discovered he was standing in the middle of the forest. It was still very bright outside, it was probably around the peak of the afternoon hours, but he couldn't find his tracks anywhere in the snow. When he was lost, his first instinct was to retrace his steps, which he couldn't do if he didn't know where he came from. Instead, he decided to continue through the forest until he could find a way back to the village.

The further he went into the forest, the deeper the snow seemed to get; at his last step, his foot sank so deep into the snow that it was up to his lower thigh. This wasn't good for him, many dragons were warm-blooded due to the fact that they breathe fire or because they adapted to a cold environment, but he was cold-blooded, just like any ordinary reptile. He needed to find the village soon, otherwise he would freeze to death.

He wandered around the forest until the bright daylight darkened, he felt drained of energy as the air became colder. He wished he had eaten before leaving Dragon's Edge, or at least while on the way to Berk, his stomach was growling and ached painfully with hunger.

Tired, he sat down on a rock and attempted to regain his energy. He was breathing heavily, nearly to the degree of hyperventilating, his lungs felt frozen as he inhaled.

Then, he kicked the ground in shame and anger, causing the snow to fly. He covered his face with his hands and cried, he couldn't believe the situation he was trapped in, and it was all his fault.

He became upset and anxious because the dragons were following their natural instincts to reproduce, and became angry when his friends were trying to help him adjust to the holiday traditions. Now, he was all alone, lost, starving, and freezing, with little faith in himself of surviving until he could find the village.

He looked up at the sky, hoping for a sign from Thor, and saw the familiar outline of a Night Fury. It was Hiccup! He was looking for him!

He wanted to holler up at him, but he had no strength left in him to do it. He watched helplessly as Toothless flew to a different area of the island, without even knowing he was there. He held his head in his hands and cried again, the tears dripped through his fingers.

There was rustling in the bushes nearby, yet he paid little attention to it. Then, there was a heavy stomping coming towards him that stopped and he heard a squawk behind him.

He looked behind him and he was shocked to see a Deadly Nadder standing behind him with its wings spread, as though it was protecting him. He rubbed his arms and it broke off a couple of branches from the tree next to it. It dropped them in front of them and breathed on them, starting a fire. His body bathed in the warmth, relishing in the comfort.

If there was a Thor who lived in Asgard, he had given exactly what he needed to get back to Berk alive. That was, if he was able to train the Deadly Nadder and if it would allow him to ride it to the village. It was certainly possible that it was only providing for him because it was spawning season and it was simply acting on a parental instinct.

He gazed at the Deadly Nadder, analyzing it with his eyes. It had forest green scales with dark red highlights on the tips of the wings. It was a female, he could tell by the shape of the horn and the size of the lower jaw. Also, females tend to be predominantly only one color that covers most of the body, while males could have multiple colors on multiple areas of the body.

He wondered if she had eggs and that she was acting on her maternal instinct. Mother dragons were typically very protective of their offspring, but they could also be caring towards the children of another.

It was getting darker outside, it would be completely dark soon and he would have little hope of finding the village. The Deadly Nadder began to walk away and thought she was going back to wherever her nest was. When she looked at him expectantly, he understood that she wanted him to follow her.

He stood up from the rock he was sitting on and shivered when he stepped away from the fire she made for him. He didn't want to leave the warmth, but she wanted him to follow and he didn't want to keep her waiting, especially if she had a nest.

"I'll go with you under one condition," he told her. She squawked softly, as if agreeing to it. He swatted the snow with his tail, putting out the fire.

He and the Deadly Nadder were now climbing up a slightly steep hill, she had her large maw open with a low flame that radiated in the cold air and kept him warm, he was thankful she agreed to it. She closed her mouth only briefly a few times to lead him up the hill by nudging him with her snout.

At the top of the hill was a flat clearing with a stream that ran nearby. It would have been something ordinary that he had seen before, but there was something that lifted his spirits, dragons. This clearing was full of dragons, many of them with nests and hatchlings, some of them did not. There were decorations on the trees, old ones, probably taken from the village years ago, and lit fire pits scattered everywhere.

The dragons in this clearing were all of the typical species found on Berk - Terrible Terrors, Monstrous Nightmares, Hideous Zipplebacks, Deadly Nadders, and Gronckles - but there was also a bit of diversity in a couple of Boneknappers, a few Scuttleclaws, and one Timberjack. The Timberjack appeared to be the eldest dragon, as it was riddled with scars and was even missing part of one of its horns. The Deadly Nadder that brought him there was only slightly younger than the Timberjack.

She closed her mouth, stopping her fire, and nudged him, encouraging him to walk into the clearing. The dragons didn't seem to mind his presence and he was still cold, so he decided to sit next to one of the fires.

An infant Terrible Terror came up to him with a fish in its mouth. Terrible Terrors were a small species and their hatchlings were half the size of adults, so it was a small fish, but enough for him.

Just as he took the fish, the Timberjack suddenly reached its long neck over and grabbed it. He expected it to eat it, but instead it tossed the fish up into the air and shot a flame at it. The fire continued until it reached its elongated maw and it gave the fish back to him, fully cooked.

He would have eaten it regardless if it was cooked or not, he needed to get something in his system. He was grateful that the Timberjack had done such a gesture for him though, that was kind.

As he started to eat the fish, the female Deadly Nadder suddenly came up to him. She opened her mouth and dropped something into his hands.

In his hands were eggshells from a medium-sized egg, but it didn't look like any egg he had ever seen. He was familiar with eggs from almost every species of dragon in the archipelago, but this was different. It was off-white with a tint of a very light brown and speckled with small grey dots. The closest comparison to it was a Whispering Death egg, but that was a pale grey color with slightly darker grey spots.

"What is this?" he asked, even though he knew she couldn't answer him. She blinked and squawked, nudging his fingers with her snout. "Is this… mine?" She warbled, as if confirming his question. He took in a deep breath, "I think I would like to go home now. Can you give me a lift?"

Hours passed since Ladok left and Hiccup was beginning to worry about his younger brother. He knew him better than their father and knew that he couldn't be in the cold for very long, as he was cold-blooded. As the temperature began to drop, that worry became panic when he still didn't come back.

Stoick told him not to worry, that he would be back soon, but the sun set behind the horizon, making it colder. It also increased the possibility of snow, if he got caught in it, he wouldn't survive the night.

Ordinarily, he would have the riders search for him, but they had no dragons, only himself and Helene did. He knew that only two dragons would decrease their chances of finding him, but they had to and soon.

He told her to search the south side of the island, he would search the north. He and Toothless flew above the forest, circling around the entire perimeter, before returning to the village fruitless.

Snoggletog was supposed to be an exciting and joyful time of year, but it wouldn't be if he couldn't find Ladok. He knew his mother would want him to take care of him, even if he wasn't that much younger than him, but he felt like he failed as an older brother and as a son.

Now, standing in the middle of the town, he fell to knees and looked up at the dark sky as he prayed. During his prayer, he saw the silhouette of a dragon in the moonlight, and it appeared to be approaching the village.

He stood up and with his jaw dropped, he watched as the dragon - a green Deadly Nadder - landed. But that wasn't what shocked him, no, it was who he saw on the dragon's back, it was Ladok!

He couldn't stop the tears from falling down his cheeks, "Ladok!"

Ladok jumped down from the green dragon and ran up to his brother, hugging him, "Hiccup!"

"Don't ever leave like that again," he hugged him tighter.

"Son," he heard their father's voice. He broke apart from his brother to give him a hug, "Thank Thor you're safe."

"I am too, Dad, but I wouldn't be without her," he pointed at the female Deadly Nadder he was riding.

"Hey, I thought all of the dragons left during Snoggletog?" Stoick asked.

"Not all of them," he replied with a smile. He whistled at the Deadly Nadder and she craned her neck and roared. A moment later, all of the dragons Ladok met in the clearing flew in from the forest and landed near them.

Hiccup looked up at their father with a smile, "Dad?"

"Well, I suppose there's enough food for a few more guests," he smiled.

Hiccup wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders, grinning, "Happy Snoggletog."

He smiled back at him, "Happy Snoggletog."

*O-X-O*~*Y-U-V-U-Y*~*O-X-O*

(A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! This is a day to be with your family and loved ones, so with that in mind, I'm going to make this short and sweet. So, once again, have yourselves a Merry Christmas!)