It was just a regular fishing trip.
With the dragons gone, and the tribe having relocated to an entirely new island after Grimmel had burnt up their old home, suffice to say, the Hairy Hooligan tribe needed to do some serious restocking of food.
It was easier, in some aspects. Without the dragons, there were far less mouths to feed. Dragons needed to be fed a lot compared to humans, and now they didn't need to account for thousands of massive stomaches.
It was also harder, in some aspects. Without the dragons, the Vikings couldn't exactly fly out to the ocean and let their dragons dive into the sea, scooping up piles of fish in mere seconds.
And so, out into the sea on boats they went, bringing with them nets and old fishing equipment that hadn't been used in years. Some of the younger ones had forgotten, and had to be re-taught by the older Vikings. It was a strange experience, and some were wary that they wouldn't be able to stock up enough fish in time for the next winter, but most were simply happy to go at their own pace. It was a bonding experience for some, as the more competitive Vikings held impromptu contests over who could pull up the most fish, or as friends and families chatted as they waited for something in waters to take the bait.
It was cathartic, too. The New Berkians were still mourning the dragons' departure, and being able to distract themselves with something slow and yet productive to do was a welcome change in pace, over the loud hustle-bustle of constructing all the new buildings back on land. Who knows? The Hidden World was enormous, underground, and buried under the sands of the sea. Maybe if they squinted hard enough, they'd find a stray Scauldron or Seashocker somewhere, hiding beneath the sand.
Hiccup had decided to join one of these fishing groups, just for a day or two. He couldn't bear to go back to the tall, steep cliffs of New Berk without thinking about flying. How he'd looked out into the skies, standing unafraid atop of these cliffs and itching to explore and whistling for Toothless purely out of muscle-memory, only to remember that the Night Fury was far, far away from New Berk.
Land and sky left him thinking about flying, and so, logically, the sea would be a better option. At least for a bit.
The sounds of the ocean's waves filled Hiccup's ears, as he leaned over the wooden rails, standing next to a prototype of an automated fishing contraption, in which what was once a regular fishing rod was outfitted to mechanically pull up the hook once its bait was caught, using a simple weighted pulley system. He'd gotten far better at inventing than when he was a teenager, but Hiccup still had no idea if it would work, which was a part of why he'd decided to come along for the trip in the first place. He needed to test out the contraption, before doing anything else with it.
The constant swaying of the boat left Hiccup feeling a little uneasy, but he could deal with it. It was hardly his first time on a boat, after all. It'd just been a while; and that left him feeling slightly nostalgic, as he thought of the fishing trip he'd once taken with his father as a boy, only for little Hiccup to go on a wild hunt looking for trolls.
He grinned as he saw Astrid approach him from the corner of his eye, the latter having joined him for the trip, and the couple shared eye contact and a smile, before she joined him in looking out into the sea. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky turned a dark blue, but not quite yet the pitch-black of night.
Astrid broke the silence first, not taking her gaze away from the blue waters.
"The sea's pretty relaxing, huh?"
"Yeah," Hiccup agreed, "It's kind of nostalgic, too. I remember when Dad took me out on all these fishing trips when I was a kid- I used to hate them."
"Now, though," The Chief closed his eyes, listening to the waves as they splashed gently against the ship's hull, "..I can see the appeal."
The Future-Chieftess looked at him softly, as her eyes lit up with a memory of her own, "Remember when Gobber dragged us all on a boat to find the Boneknapper?"
"Thor, yeah," Hiccup gave a faux groan, "Those oars were way too heavy!"
"Even Snotlout and Fishlegs were struggling with those things," chuckled Astrid, "We all looked ridiculous."
"What- Paying attention to 'Lout and 'Legs and not dear-old-me?" Hiccup teased, holding a hand to his chest and faking heartbreak, "You wound me!"
Astrid retaliated with a smirk and a light punch on his shoulder, "A trained warrior takes note of every detail of their surroundings," she recited in a pretend-pompous voice, "I was paying attention to everything."
"Wouldn't expect any less from you," He smirked back. The two laughed again at their own conversation, until the sky began to dim and the clouds began to gray, and their laughter was cut short.
Hiccup made a disgruntled face, squinting at the clouds above, "Looks like it's gonna rain pretty soon."
"I'm gonna go help move all these barrels below deck," Astrid said, nodding towards a small barrel of fish that the Vikings had caught so far, "See you in bed, honey?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Hiccup nodded in confirmation, "Just got to fold this-" he gestured to the large prototype sitting next to him, "-and carry it down, too."
Astrid hoisted up one of the barrels, as the other Vikings around them did the same, and she leaned in to give Hiccup a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you later, babe."
"See you later, honey!" He replied. Hiccup watched as the others moved the barrels below deck, and he set to work on untying all the ropes and knots he'd set up for the contraption to stay in place, pulling up the rod's string and emptying its hook, as well as undoing all the latches so he could fold the contraption to a more carriable form.
He had the contraption tucked neatly under his arm, ready to join the others as he walked across the deck, when suddenly, the boat rocked. Violently.
Hiccup steadied his grip on the ship's railings as the boat rocked again, water splashing all over the floor and he looked up at the sky, finding the reason why.
The clouds were a dark grey, and he could hear thunder rumbling and the flashes of lightning in the distance.
It wasn't just a rainy day. It was a storm.
"Skítur," The Chief swore under his breath, panic slowly bubbling from underneath his skin as the ship continued to rock back and forth, showing no mercy as he was tossed all over the deck, the contraption falling out of his hands and it and various other objects on the deck slid all over, some falling into the sea as the waters, once calm and now enraged, splashed higher and higher, consuming the objects and causing Hiccup's panic to rise in tandem with the waves.
And, with one, decisive jolt, Hiccup lost his grip on the rails and was thrown into the blackened depths below.
"HICCUP!" A voice called, soon to be joined by the frightened murmurings of others, now sounding so distant and muffled as he sank deeper, and deeper into the ocean. Cruel, undeniable terror flared up in Hiccup's veins, and a thick fog seemed to cloud Hiccup's mind, and he was no longer a 21-year-old man who'd gone on a fishing trip.
He was 15 and he had to get Toothless out of those restraints and he had to save everyone-
He was a little kid and Dagur had shoved him into the lake-
He had to prove that Thor was angry at the metal, not the dragons, and the lightning struck and there was pain and he was falling into the harbour and his vision was going dark-
The Submaripper was free and the tank was filling up and he'd told Toothless to go-
The chest was getting away and it was all of Berk's gold and it was so heavy-
It was so heavy.
His body felt so heavy.
He couldn't breathe.
He was going to drown.
In his blind panic, Hiccup attempted a scream, only for water to fill his lungs and gods, everything hurt, and his lungs were pounding, and he watched helplessly as bubbles of oxygen seemed to burst from his mouth like angry bees leaving their hive, and the ocean dragged him down as if there were ghostly hands reaching out, calling for him to join them-
And then he saw someone swimming towards him, a determined expression on her face as she reached out for his hand, and he felt so weak and limp and he tried stretching it out anyway-
And then Hiccup's vision went black.
And then he came back for just a moment, feeling air fill his lungs and the wood under his body, his ribs aching as Astrid resuscitated him back on the boat, and he swore he could hear relieved laughter, and a murmur of, "You're too stubborn to drown,"
He fell into unconsciousness again, shortly after, but he was alive.
When Hiccup woke up, he was no longer on a boat. He felt the soft fabric of his warm bed as he slowly came to, blinking at the bright sunlight seeping into his tent. Feeling his strength returning, Hiccup looked around, spotting Astrid sitting across the room on a pile of scrap-metal junk, her eyes never leaving him as she seemed to process that he was awake, and both their breaths hitched for a moment, before Hiccup was enveloped in a tight hug.
Hiccup cried in his beloved's shoulder, and Astrid cried into Hiccup's, as her arms squeezed his body and their sobs mixed into Astrid's whispers of, "You're okay","You're awake", and, "I thought you'd never wake up," and, "Don't ever do that to me again-!"
And when their sobs died down and Hiccup berated himself, saying, "If I hadn't been s-so frightened, I-I-I could've just swam back easily-" He was cut off by Astrid's cries of, "Don't you dare blame yourself," and, "It's not your fault."
And as they held each other tightly, and Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Eret, and Gobber and Mom practically ran into the tent as soon as they heard Hiccup's voice, and that he was awake, they all piled into a group hug, swarming Hiccup with warmth, and he could finally breathe-
Hiccup had never felt more relieved to be on land.
