Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon, and knowing my luck, I probably never will. All rights go to the author of the books, Cressida Cowell, and the company that made the much-loved films and series, Dreamworks. This fanfic contains a modern AU, one-time use OCs and mentions of coronavirus, AKA COVID-19. You have been warned.
"There's nothing to do!" sixteen-year-old Sophie wailed, throwing herself face first onto the sofa. "All my favourite things will kill me if I do any of them! Going to the cinema, taking a book out at the town library, just a random walk for no reason! This sucks and I'm bored out of my mind! Why do we have to have a pandemic now? Everyone thought 2020 was going to be an awesome year! But it's actually more like what we thought 2012 would be like! Why is this happening?"
"I'm bored, too, but there's nothing we can really do about it except watch movies, do schoolwork and stay home," her fraternal twin, Sam, pointed out, trying to be helpful. "That's how a quarantine works. You stay inside so the disease doesn't kill you. But if the disease does get you, it won't really matter because you'll be bored to death before the disease turns fatal."
"Thanks for nothing, voice of doom!" Sophie huffed, kicking her twin in the calf and glaring at him as he hissed in pain. "Wait! I know something fun to do!"
"What?" Sam asked.
"The magic mirror in the attic!" Sophie told him, her mouth twisted upwards into a euphoric smile. "Let's go see if it still works!"
"That old thing never worked!" Sam huffed. "That snow day you wished for when we were eight had been forecast for weeks before you 'wished' for it!"
"And how do you explain the puppy we got for our birthday?" Sophie asked.
"Pure coincidence! Or maybe Mum and Dad heard you and decided to make your wish come true themselves! They did it with the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the monster under the bed and Santa Claus! I am telling you, Sophie Prince, that mirror is perfectly normal!"
"Well, then I guess if I wish to play with that adorable lizard I saw in the trailer for Frozen 2, nothing will happen!" Sophie snapped, as she ran upstairs to the attic.
"You're right! Nothing will happen! And I'll watch you and laugh at your face!" Sam retorted. It was mean, terribly so, but he was frustrated with his fanciful sister.
"And if something does happen, then I'll laugh in your face!" Sophie snarled, as she grabbed the ladder and scrambled up it like a mad monkey. It appeared to Sam that he really didn't have a choice. He was going to have to go up there with her. Their dynamic was quite similar to Mabel and Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls: she was the fanciful, energetic one (she wore jeans and a hoodie instead of bright sweaters, but still), and he was the more logical and grounded one. They were both brunettes, too! Yes, being him really sucked sometimes, but somebody had to do it. "Damn, this mirror hasn't been dusted in ages," Sophie coughed, as she inhaled a lungful of dust. Sam rolled his eyes.
"What were you expecting? It's in an attic," her twin replied. "Nobody's come up here in months. Of course nobody thought to dust it." He sneezed as the dust tickled his nose. "Stupid dust."
"Watch this, Sam. In just a few minutes, I will be cuddling the blue lizard from Frozen 2!" Sophie squeaked. She screwed up her eyes and chanted, opening them to stare up at the mirror hopefully. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, please let me cuddle the cutest reptile in the universe!" She waited a few seconds, expecting the tiny blue lizard that literally popped up in her dreams to be in her outstretched hands. But nothing happened. Sam rolled his eyes and smirked at his sister. He'd been expecting this to happen.
"What do you know, the thing you were banking on doesn't work. Oh well, guess we can . . . go . . . back . . . " As Sam had started to talk, the mirror started becoming cloudy and swirled like a whirlpool. Then, to the twins' shock, it spat out a big, black blur and a smaller, leather-looking blur. Neither blur looked like it could fit through the mirror, but they fit regardless because screw physics.
"Hey, where's my cute, tiny reptile?" Sophie asked.
"I have no idea, but it can't be my Toothless, who certainly isn't tiny," Hiccup replied. "And he hates to be called cute." Toothless preened at the news. Sam had a huge smile on his face. Instead of his sister's dream coming true, his had. He got to meet Toothless.
"Oh my days! It's Toothless! Coolest reptile ever!" Sam squealed. Toothless seemed to enjoy the praise being heaped on him by this unknown human.
"Do you know where we are? It appears we accidentally flew into a hole in the sky and then we ended up in your house," Hiccup replied. "We must get back. My dad will kill me for staying out so long."
"Of course. Well, it seems that you travelled through a portal made by this magic mirror, and while I, Sophie, try and figure out a way for you to go home, Sam here will get you refreshments," Sophie replied.
Sam tried to protest. "What?! But-"
"Oh, thank you so much! Where do you keep the refreshments?" Hiccup asked. Toothless snuggled Sam as a sort of thank you. Now that they were looking forward to it, Sam couldn't disappoint them.
"This way, Hiccup, but Toothless will have to stay here," Sam replied. "I think he may be too big for the doors here." Toothless began to whimper and stare at Sam with big, green puppy eyes, looking less like the unholy offspring of lightning and death and more like a kicked puppy, albeit a really big, scaly, winged, fire-breathing kicked puppy.
"But I'm sure my brother will bring you something back, isn't that right, Sam?" Sophie hurriedly added. Sam nodded, and just like that, he was back in Toothless' good graces. He gave Sam a hug, then Hiccup, and let them navigate their way through the many dangers of the typical suburban house without him.
"This house is so complicated," Hiccup muttered. "What is this strange material you placed on the walls of your kitchen? Is it supposed to keep the house from falling apart?"
"I didn't do that, and those are called tiles," Sam explained. "What does Toothless eat?"
"Mostly fish, although he firmly believes that anything on my plate is his," Hiccup replied. "Unless I'm eating eels. He doesn't like eels."
"I know," Sam replied, instinctively.
Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'I know'?" Sam panicked.
"I said this because I . . . also hate eels. They are utterly disgusting," Sam lied. Hiccup nodded and continued looking for something to feed Toothless with. "Where do you keep the fish?"
"The only fish we have is frozen fish. I'm sorry," Sam sighed.
"Relax. It can be . . . oh my gods, what are those?" He had seen the bananas in the fruit bowl and were in awe.
"Those are bananas," Sam told him. "Want one?" Hiccup took one eagerly, almost biting down on it, peel and all. Sam took it from him again.
"But you said I could have one," Hiccup pointed out, looking forlorn. Sam felt guilty, so he showed Hiccup how to properly eat a banana.
"You have to get rid of the peel first. You can't eat that the way it is," Sam explained, peeling the banana for him. His eyes dilated in understanding as he watched Sam prepare the banana for him. "Here you go." Hiccup took the banana and ate it, his eyes lighting up with the delicious taste of banana.
"I have decided that I love this odd-looking vegetable now," Hiccup stated.
"That's actually a fruit," Sam corrected.
"Oh," Hiccup replied. "Well, it's a very tasty fruit. You should feel incredibly lucky to be able to eat these whenever you wish."
"I agree, and I do."
While Hiccup and Sam were discussing fruit and searching for fish for Toothless, Toothless and Sophie were getting to know each other. This little human seemed similar to the one with his rider now, but she unnerved him. Why was she getting so close? He hated it when they came close, and so he backed away from her. "Toothless, don't go away! I just want to pet you!" she whined, sulking in a corner. Now she had stopped trying to approach him, Toothless became curious. She seemed sad now, and he knew what to do when Hiccup was sad. So he tried it with her. Well, it worked with Hiccup, but Sophie wasn't used to it and reacted accordingly.
"Toothless, what are you doing?" Sophie asked. "Eww! Gross, gross, gross!" As she wiped the drool off her face, Toothless whined sadly. It hadn't worked and now she was angry and even more sad. "Toothless?" The Night Fury jumped. The girl said his name! Tentative, he padded over to Sophie and nuzzled her, gently. Just the way Hiccup had taught him when meeting new people. Sophie felt this and stiffened. She vaguely remembered what to do at this point, and put it into practice. She slowly placed a hand on his snout and watched as his eyes closed. She'd done it. Toothless trusted her now. He already liked her, and now he trusted her. Tentatively, the female twin placed a hand on his neck and scratched him, as if he was a cat. Toothless purred and stretched, allowing her to scratch more of him. His tail happily thumped against the floor as her fingers got to work.
"We're back!" Sam cooed, waltzing up the stairs to the attic with Hiccup in tow. "And we brought you some fish, Toothless!" Toothless immediately ditched Sophie and rushed over to the attic's only entrance. He tried to drag Hiccup up the ladder, but he couldn't fit (without breaking the entrance to the attic and leaving a huge hole behind).
"Whoa, bud! Easy, you'll break through the floor if you keep stamping like that," Hiccup chided. Toothless stepped back, whimpering sadly, while Hiccup climbed up the stairs. But once he could tell Hiccup was safe, he tackled him with a bear hug, making an audible thump that Sophie and Sam honestly thought would make a hole in the floor. The bananas Hiccup had been holding were thrown to the side by the force of the hug. Thank goodness their parents were out getting food.
"Such a good boy. Here, Sam got you a fish from a place he called a butcher. What funny shops you have here," Hiccup mused, as Toothless ate the fish in one go. "Aww, did you like that?" Toothless nodded happily, sniffing his rider to see if he had more. "Sorry, bud, that's it. But I'll get you more once we get home." The Night Fury looked at the wall and huffed. Sophie giggled.
"Aww, Toothless, you're adorable when you look all pouty!" Sophie teased. Toothless placed his paws over his eyes from the embarrassment he was suffering. Sam couldn't really blame him. Being subjected to baby talk was embarrassing. But he wouldn't be able to talk about that now.
"This is a very odd village you live in, Sam," Hiccup mused. "Is it normal for there to be no people outside?" Sam and Sophie froze.
"Well, that's the thing. You see, there's a quarantine going on, and everyone has to stay outside so they don't catch the disease," Sam explained. "I only went outside because Toothless was hungry, and both of us had to wash our hands after."
"So that was what the odd gel was for!" Hiccup gasped. "Your people have perfected a sort of liquid soap! This is genius! Is it supposed to smell of berries, by the way?"
"Not necessarily, but scented soap is very popular, so more of it is sold," Sam pointed out.
"I must find a way home so I can try to replicate this! How did I get here, though?" Hiccup asked. Toothless sniffed at the mirror and growled at it. "Your world is full of wonder, but there truly is no place like home. And I would like to go home." Toothless nuzzled Hiccup in agreement, and whatever magical forces that controlled the mirror seemed to have heard them. There was a sucking sound, like a sort of celestial vacuum between universes, that started off quiet and slowly grew louder. Hiccup grabbed onto the bananas and Toothless' saddle as the sucking grew stronger and louder, dragging Toothless and Hiccup towards it. As they looked deep into the eye of this magical storm, they saw Gronckles, Monstrous Nightmares, Nadders, Zipplebacks. Berk. Their friends.
Their home.
"Goodbye, Sophie and Sam! You were amazing!" Hiccup yelled, before they vanished altogether. Both of them just stood there, starstruck, until Sam noticed something.
"Hey, where did all the bananas go?"
Meanwhile, in Berk, Hiccup was telling his friends about the nice people he and Toothless met called Sophie and Sam, who let him have the odd fruit named bananas. Once he explained the whole story, at least five villagers checked for a fever, but he could only convince them otherwise because of the bananas he had sto-been gifted, yeah, been gifted, by Sophie and Sam.
"Do they really have a special shop just for bits of meat? How do they keep it all fresh?" Astrid asked.
"I don't know. Maybe they prayed to the gods to do it or something," Hiccup explained, as he ate yet another banana. "I refuse to believe that they did this with just technology."
"How many of those banana things are you going to eat? If you keep eating, you might end up looking more and more like Fishlegs over here," Snotlout snickered, as Fishlegs tried to make himself look small.
"If the worst thing that could happen to me after eating this is weight gain, then my father shall be absolutely delighted," Hiccup grinned, as he ate yet another banana out of pure spite in front of his judgemental cousin.
I must sound like a broken record, but please, please, please stay safe out there! You must be sick of it, but I'll keep saying it anyway! That's me, FT543, signing out!