Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD
A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! Whatever you celebrate, have a good time ;) Context:This is the Snoggletog skipped over in chapter one of Crossroads.
The Snoggletog Spirit
It was a typical winter's day on Berk. Freezing cold, with the expanse of fluffy white snow that covered every surface in stark contrast to the grey clouds the flakes had fallen from. Yet even with the dour weather literally hanging over their heads, the Hairy Hooligans were full of cheer. They had good reason to be. They'd beaten back an invading army earlier that year, and more importantly…
"It's nearly Snoggletog!" Helena shouted eagerly, jumping up and down on her bed. Caught up in the excitement, Ebony flapped her wings and tried to climb up on it too. Astrid shooed her down and told Helena to stop bouncing before she hurt herself. "But I'm too excited!" she cried, "it's the best time of year!"
"Shh! Sweetheart, please be quiet" Astrid begged her. "I've just gotten Finn settled and I don't want him to wake up again" she explained. Helena heaved an exaggerated sigh and stopped bouncing. "Thank you" her mother said gratefully. "Why don't you go and play with Aegir? Don't forget your gloves."
"I won't. C'mon, Bunny" she beckoned to the Swift-Wing fledgling, who bounded after her, almost knocking a Astrid off her feet in the process. Once the two rambunctious youngsters were safely out of the way, she felt relieved. Now there would be some nice peace and quiet for her to catch up with her…sewing. "Oh, Frigg. I'm turning into my mother" Astrid muttered quietly.
Everyone was hanging up decorations and chopping firewood, hunting and cooking, getting ready for the feast. Many of them were helping keep their dragons eggs warm, and suggesting names for the little ones. The shells were painted carefully with runes praying to Freyja for safe and healthy hatchlings.
Luna, Shadow and Asha didn't understand what everyone was doing. *They're getting ready for Snoggletog* Selena helpfully informed them…well, sort of.
*They're getting ready for what?* inquired Asha, tilting her head in confusion.
*Snoggletog. Hiccup says no-one knows why they picked such a stupid name* Selena explained. *I think it's a human thing. Or maybe it's just these humans.*
*But what is it?* wondered Shadow, *what is all this for?* He gestured with a wing at the rings of tree branches, colourful cloth and bells being hung up. It all looked rather pretty, Luna thought, but she didn't see the point of it either.
*They do it every year* her sister replied, *to celebrate getting through winter, and being together. This year is even better, because there are going to be babies!* Selena warbled happily. *It is one of this packs hatching seasons.*
*Hatching season? Selly, are you gonna have another kit?* Luna asked eagerly.
*Sorry, Lulu. Not this time* Selena replied calmly. *Toothless and I…we might have another kit when Ebony is a bit older.* With a mischievous purr she added, *Once I made him think I was in heat out of season and he panicked. You should have seen the look his face!* The two drakainas purred and warbled laughter.
Shadow and Asha looked at each other. *Humans are strange creatures* she observed. Shadow grunted in agreement and began to groom himself idly.
Hiccup, meanwhile, was checking they had plenty of fish to last all the dragons through the rest of winter. Normally they managed with the usual rations, but this year was different. It was one of the packs half-decade hatching seasons, so there would be many more mouths to feed. "I don't think we're gonna have enough food for them" he fretted, "there'll be so many hatchlings this year."
*We'll be fine* Toothless assured him, *we got through last time, didn't we? Most of our flock will go to the hatching grounds anyway. It's only the dragons who live here on Berk who are staying with their hatchlings at home* he said.
"Yeah, but we need fish for the parents to eat as well" Hiccup tried to point out.
*They can still hunt, you know. Or go without food so their hatchlings can eat. Our subjects will be fine, they won't mind not being coddled* replied Toothless.
"Coddled?" Hiccup repeated, brow furrowed. "They're…I'm not coddling them, I'm trying to make sure everyone has enough to eat in the coldest time of year."
*For dragons, that is being coddled* Toothless chuckled. He prowled over to Hiccup and rubbed against him. *Don't worry so much. We'll get through this winter just like we got through the one before, and the one before that, and* -
"I get it." Hiccup rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better. It doesn't seem all that long since the last hatching season…we're gonna be busy this year, huh bud?" he asked, grinning playfully.
*Yes. Very busy petting and nuzzling baby dragons* the Fury deadpanned. *It will be such hard work. Maybe you should just lie down and let them climb over you* he suggested as Hiccup made a few more notes and then turned to leave.
"Um, ow. No thanks" Hiccup shuddered. They emerged from the storehouse, which Hiccup made sure to lock up again. The large structure was well sealed, especially against Biters, who often mischievously tried to steal a herring or ten.
"Hiccup!" a voice called from somewhere behind them. He looked up to see Mulch trudging towards him through the deep snow, panting. Toothless helpfully fired a couple of blasts to melt it in front of him. "Gah!" Mulch yelled in surprise. "…Oh. Thanks, Toothless" he said gratefully, hastening towards them.
*You're welcome.*
"Yeah, maybe give a bit of warning next time" Hiccup remarked, disapproving. Toothless pouted until he relented. To Mulch he asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Oh, aye. I was just on me way to th' Great Hall fer a drink wi' the Stump Club fellas. You wanna come along?" Mulch asked hopefully. "We'll have room."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a few drinks. What d'you think bud?"
*You go on. There's something I want to ask Astrid * Toothless answered. Then he warned *If you get drunk, I'm going to let Ebony wake you up tomorrow.*
"Duly noted" Hiccup said dryly. He and Mulch started making their way to the Great Hall. Toothless watched them go, then hurried back towards the house.
At one table in the crowded Great Hall sat a bunch of Vikings with peg legs and tankards for hands; Berk's so called Stump Club. Everyone with a prosthetic had been inducted into this group at one point or another. "There he is!" Fredrick grinned cheerfully, waving Hiccup and Mulch over, "our youngest member!"
"Ach, I ain't that young, but thank ye" the portly farmer remarked, and they all chuckled. Hiccup sat on the bench next to his father-in-law and picked up the tankard of mead Fredrick slid over to him. "Nice o' you to join us, Hiccup. Looking forward to Snoggletog?" the older man asked. "Got your gifts ready?"
Hiccup gulped down a swig of mead and replied "Most of them. I've been trying to make sure everything's ready for the hatchlings coming back. We might need to establish another splinter colony; Berk can only support so many dragons."
"I'm sure we'll manage. It's gonna be interesting with all those cute little critters underfoot" Fredrick chuckled. "Kids sure are a handful, aren't they? Speaking of which, how's the wee one?" he asked. "I was real touched you named him after Finnick, y'know (1). When you and Astrid found the truth about what happened that night, it eased this old man's heart. I don't know if I ever told you that."
Hiccup smiled, touched. "You're welcome, Mr Hofferson" he began.
"Ah, ah, none o' that now. We're family! Call me Fredrick. So, how is Finn?"
Hiccup replied "He's fine. Well, aside from the colic, but that should be settling down soon, thank Frigga. Everyone in our house has been wearing earplugs for the last four months, and we used up Agnes' whole supply of poppy milk." (2)
Fredrick winced sympathetically. "Aye, colic is no fun for anyone. Not the babe and definitely not the parents. I bet Helena wasn't too happy about it, eh?"
"Well, let me put it this way. She and Aegir once tried to put their baby brothers back in the cabbage patch" Hiccup announced dryly, and they both laughed.
The club chatted about what they were gonna do over Snoggletog (which mostly amounted to eat lots and drink even more), when Bucket suddenly said a tad too loudly, "I miss Gobber." As if on cue, the conversations died off around him. "Did I say something wrong?" Bucket worried, twisting his hook. "Sorry."
"No, no, it's nothing like that" Mulch assured his best friend. "We're just, err…"
"We all miss him" said Hiccup. "I was there when he, y'know…I got to say goodbye, and it still feels like there's so much I should have said" he admitted.
"I miss Lake and Weed too" Bucket added, sniffling. "Hiccup, do dragons go to Valhalla?" he asked hopefully. Clearly he pictured reuniting with the Zippleback.
"I don't…" know, was the most honest answer, but the pitiful expression on Bucket's face made Hiccup change his mind. "I don't see why not. I mean, firebreathing flying reptiles? Why wouldn't Odin want them in Valhalla?"
Bucket was visibly relieved and cheered. Mulch gave Hiccup a grateful smile, and he nodded back. Fredrick agreed, "Aye, Gobber was a great man. A brave warrior, loyal friend, skilled blacksmith…and true to his by-name, he could belch the alphabet like nobody's business." Hiccup snickered. Fredrick winked at him, and raised his tankard high. "I propose a toast. To our former head, Gobber!"
"To Gobber!"
Astrid looked up as the door opened and Toothless padded in. "Shh!" she hissed urgently, pointing back at the bedroom and mouthing 'Finn's sleeping.' The dragon nodded and moved more slowly, carefully shutting the door with his tail. It clicked and they both froze, but no sound of wailing emerged from the room.
With a sigh of relief, Astrid stood up and stirred the fire with a poker. It crackled, sparks flying as the logs shifted. "Hello, Toothless. Where's Hiccup?" she asked.
*Having a drink in the Great Hall* he replied. *Astrid…do you remember when you said if there was something I couldn't tell Hiccup, I could tell you instead?*
"Sure, what's wrong? Wait, let me guess - it's about his Snoggletog present."
*Yes. Normally I just give him something interesting I've found (3)* Toothless remarked, *but this year is different. We've been heart bound for ten years, so…I don't just want to find something. I want to make something for him.*
Astrid smiled. "Aww, that's so sweet!" she cooed. "What did you have in mind?"
*When we were exploring on the day this year we heart bound…the anniversary, I mean* explained Toothless, remembering the human word, *we found an island with a lot of this strange looking rock. I think he called it wolfram? (4). Anyway, I melted some of it…don't ask…and Hiccup brought pieces back to Berk to experiment on. He says it's a really tough metal.*
"Okay…" Astrid nodded, "so your fire melts this stuff, and you want to make something out of it, right?" she figured out. Toothless nodded approvingly.
*I need your help making a mould for it to melt in* he explained. Astrid was happy to help; first she went next door to see if Valka could look after Finn for a while. Then, after assuring everyone outside who noticed her presence that she'd definitely come oversee the building of the Snoggletog Wreath soon, Astrid rode Toothless to the cove, where he'd hidden his piece of wolfram.
It was a pretty nondescript lump of rock; a brownish grey colour, or greyish brown. Astrid didn't know a lot about smelting though, so maybe it would look better afterwards. Toothless showed her his first attempt at making a mould; he'd dug the shape of it right out of the soil. *I can't just melt it in here though. All the dirt will get mixed into it and Hiccup always said that was a bad thing.*
"This is adorable. It's like you're his apprentice" Astrid chuckled fondly. "Okay, we need something to line the mould with…but if your fire can melt this rock, won't it just melt the lining as well?" she wondered. What could withstand it?
Toothless replied, *actually, I'm hoping this will melt into it.* From his mouth he dropped a pile of Night Fury scales; all his own, scraped off on the rocks. *That way when I dig it out, a part of me will be in the gift. Just like the heart bind.*
Astrid was genuinely impressed with how much thought Toothless had put into this. "We'd better get started then" she said decisively, kneeling beside the crude mould and picking up a handful of scales. Carefully she layered them in the pit, overlapping so no cracks of earth came through. When she'd finished, Toothless declared *Thanks for the help, Astrid. I can take it from here.*
"Are you sure?" she checked. He nodded. "Okay. I'll walk back to the village then." Toothless cringed, embarrassed; he'd forgotten about that. He was going to summon Stormfly, but she was guarding her eggs. "It's fine, honest. I could do with the exercise. Good luck with your project" Astrid said cheerfully as she left. Once she was gone, Toothless placed the wolfram in the makeshift crucible.
He breathed fire on it until the rock started to melt. In the forge there was always stuff coming out the bottom of the furnace; Hiccup said it was all the bad stuff in the ore, called slag. So Toothless had dug a channel for the slag to flow into. He was really quite proud of himself. Now I just have to wait for it to cool.
This turned out to take longer than he'd expected. Toothless had picked most of his knowledge about smelting from spending time in the forge with Hiccup. It was just as boring doing it himself, apparently. *Toothless? You out there, bud?*
He panicked. *No! I mean, yes…don't come find me* Toothless insisted hastily.
*Why not?*
*Because I'm busy.*
Toothless could sense Hiccup's amusement through their bond. *Well, alright then. Come find me when you're not busy, okay?*
*I will* he promised. Hiccup withdrew, and Toothless checked on his progress. A lot of the slag had dribbled into the now overflowing channel, and the melted wolfram was now a nice silvery colour. Sniffing at it, he decided now was the time to add the finishing touch. Then all he had to do was quench it, dig it out of the ground, clean it and hide it in the house without Hiccup finding it too early.
I might need to get Astrid's help with that last bit as well he thought to himself.
A few days later, Snoggletog arrived, and so did the hatchlings. They burst free of the eggs with disgruntled squawks, cheeps and grunts. Their dams fed them soft fishy mush from swollen crops, whilst their sires stood guard and preened. Those with riders allowed the humans to crush the leftover shells with pestles, then licked up the powder to give their hatchlings a still more nutritious meal.
Hiccup and Toothless were greeting all the new members of their pack, starting with Stormfly. *You guys are adorable* Hiccup informed the three tiny Spike-Tails, who were chirping and sniffing curiously at him. *Welcome to Berk. You're gonna like it here.* Petting them gently, he told Stormfly and her mate Tourmaline, *congratulations you two. Let's see…two girls and one boy, yeah?*
Stormfly croaked agreement. Hiccup scribbled down the genders and colours of each hatchling; the earlier they kept track of everyone the better. Astrid came over, beaming. "Oh, Stormfly, they're gorgeous" she praised, particularly taken with the pink and blue drakaina. "By the way, Hiccup, I've got something for you." She held a sprig of mistletoe up above them. He grinned and kissed her.
Elsewhere, Fishlegs was cuddling Pyrite and Meatlug's babies. "Well done, princess" he declared, "another healthy clutch. Aww, Aegir, I think he likes you!" Fishlegs said happily, as one hatchling licked his sons hand. The little boy giggled as the bulky baby tried to climb into his lap. 'I want to keep him' Aegir signed.
"You want him to be your dragon, huh?" Fishlegs guessed, smiling fondly.
Aegir shook his head. 'Keep him, not new baby' he signed. "Son, we're not replacing Scrufflout with a baby Gronckle. You can still name this one, though" his dad offered. After thinking about it for a while, Aegir named him Fishmeat.
Not far away, Hookfang was guarding his mate Agama and their newly hatched clutch. The red and blue drakaina was indulgently allowing her mate's rider to come near the babies. "Aww, who's the cutest wittle Fire-Scales ever?" Snotlout cooed over them. "You are, yes you are, yes you- ahem!" He cleared his throat as a Viking walked past. "Yeah, I'm just picking a Nightmare out for my son…"
Hookfang rolled his eyes. *I doubt anyone cares if you think they're cute. Besides, isn't it the dragon who chooses the rider?* he asked rhetorically.
"Why'd you ever choose me, then?" Snotlout retorted sarcastically. "Oh, I know. You took one look at me and appreciated my raw Viking strength and style."
*No, it's because Hiccup paired us together and afterwards Stormfly wouldn't swap with me* Hookfang replied, purring amused at Snotlout's indignation.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were also playing with their dragons new babies. "Two hands, two heads, twice the petting!" Tuffnut said happily, scratching both chins of a baby Zippleback at the same time. "I'm gonna call you Squish and Squash, cos that alliterates" he declared, before saying to Barf&Belch, "you guys always make the cutest double babies. It's like you have five sets of twins at once!"
His sister protested, "Don't give them all the credit. Rumble and Tumble are the ones who actually laid and brooded the eggs. You males never appreciate that!"
"There wouldn't be any eggs if our dragon hadn't wooed her in the first place" Tuffnut retorted, before adding "It was probably Belch who did most of that."
*We think we'll name one of our hatchlings Ruff and Tuff* Barf announced.
*Yes, whichever one squabbles with themselves more* Belch chittered laughter.
"You guys made that joke last time" Ruffnut groused at them.
"But if you want to name a hatchling after us we won't complain" said Tuffnut.
Once all the hatchlings were accounted for, the Berkians made their way to the Great Hall for the grand Snoggletog Feast. Some of their friend from allied tribes arrived, bearing gifts. Heather and Dagur came for Snoggletog, along with his wife Bersa and their twin children, much to Helena's delight, who immediately started a snowball fight with Cammie, Ozzie and the three Fury hatchlings.
Shadow and Asha were put off by the noise and strangeness of it all. In a stroke of brilliance, if he said so himself, Hiccup suggested they could watch over Finn so his parents and grandparents could all be at the feast. "Just try not to wake him up. If he does wake and starts crying, one of you can rock the cot gently to calm him down and the other can come tell me and Astrid" he advised them.
With fires burning and evergreens adorning the pillars, the Hooligans feasted. They happily gorged themselves on mutton and boar, honey glazed carrots and turnips, chicken stuffed with thyme and rosemary, celery soup and pea pottage. The dragons, meanwhile, devoured barrels full of fish, as well as any leftovers of the meat. They took it in turns to feed and return to their mates and hatchlings.
(Adulfr sat in his cell quietly seething. He couldn't hear the celebrations, but he knew what time of year it was. He wasn't stupid. Of course those wretched Hooligans are having fun, stuffing their faces, whilst I rot in here Adulfr thought bitterly. Probably forgotten all about me. The sound of footsteps made him pretend to be asleep. He could also smell a frustratingly delicious aroma.
The footsteps paused outside his cell, there was a scrape and a chink, then they left again. The tasty odour remained however. When Adulfr looked he found a plate of food had been left with him. A piece of each kind of meat, some vegetables, a tankard of ale. He stared at it for a long time, unsettled and half-expecting it to taste foul, before finally his hunger won out over his pride.)
Near the end of the feast, Astrid rose from her seat at the High Table. "Can I have your attention, please?" she announced. Everyone continued to talk and eat. Rolling her eyes, Astrid instead shouted "Oi!" This time she got their attention. "Right! The last few months have been pretty insane. Even by Berk standards. We celebrated fifteen years of peace with our dragon friends" –
A great cheer rose up throughout the Hall, punctuated with gleeful roars. "And on that same day, my dear husband…came back from the dead" Astrid went on. Everyone laughed, including the man himself. "An armada came to invade us, which we defeated" – another cheer rang out – "despite our losses, and now we've gained many new dragons. Even if they are very cute and very tiny."
"The important thing is that if we can get through that, we can get through anything, and we have. So here's to being a Hooligan, and happy Snoggletog!"
"HAPPY SNOGGLETOG!"
After the feast, the dirty plates were taken away to be cleaned. Not by hand, though. Hiccup had persuaded Sagu to clean them with his spray, which made both Scauldron and dragon ambassador beloved by the Great Hall kitchen staff. In the meantime, they hauled the tables out of the way to create space to dance in. Several Vikings pulled out lyres, flutes and panpipes to strike up merry tunes.
Soon nearly everyone was getting in on the fun, clapping to the beat and changing partners in an elaborate routine. Hiccup was content to just watch; he wasn't a particularly good dancer, what with the peg leg, but he always loved watching Astrid dance. She was always so graceful, barely ever putting a foot wrong. The balance and reflexes she'd honed over the years still shone through.
When the music slowed, Astrid pulled him out of his seat to slow dance with her. They were playing a gentler refrain of 'For the Dancing and the Dreaming'. Hiccup could see his parents dancing, Stoick holding Valka as she swayed in his arms, both of them smiling fondly at each other. Dagur danced with Bersa, and Heather danced with Fishlegs, leaving Snotlout with Ruffnut, to his dismay.
"Mum, dad, I wanna open presents!" Helena demanded impatiently, boldly running out onto the dance floor with Ebony at her heels. "Please!" she begged.
"There's plenty of time, darling" replied Astrid, "why don't you dance with us?"
Helena scrunched her face up in a pout. Just then, Nyx scampered over to them, claws ticking against the stone floor of the Hall. She pawed at Astrid and innocently chirped *Mama says your baby human is very loud and smells bad.*
"Great" Astrid sighed, "I'm coming. Thanks, Nyx." She briefly kissed Hiccup, ruffled Helena's hair and rushed off. The fledgling Furies started play-fighting, but Hiccup scooped his daughter up before she could jump into the scrum.
She scowled and wriggled in his arms. "What?" he chuckled as she snarled at him, "don't I get a dance with my favourite baby girl?" He kissed her forehead.
"I'm not a baby!" Helena protested. "Finn's a baby. A really dumb, stinky one."
"Well, like you said, he's a baby. He's got a lot to learn. You could teach him" Hiccup suggested. Helena looked doubtful. "You're his big sister, Helena. He's gonna look up to you so much. Besides, we all know you love Finn, really."
Helena shrugged. "Can we go open presents now?" she asked petulantly.
"Sweetheart, Snoggletog isn't about the presents. It's about family, and love, and celebrating getting halfway out of the dark winter" Hiccup insisted. His attempt to impart a bit of wisdom on her was met with an unimpressed pout.
"You're wasting your breath, Hiccup" remarked Agatha, as she walked past, "At that age, it's all about the presents. It'll be the same with Finn, just you wait."
He sighed. "Alright, I give up. Can we at least get everyone together first?"
"I'll find Cammie and Ozzie!" Helena exclaimed happily, scrambling out of his grasp and running off. Ebony and Nyx rolled to their feet and bounded after her.
Hiccup went to gather the rest of the family. From his parents, talking quietly in a corner with smiles on their faces; to Dagur, Bersa and Heather, the two women laughing hysterically at the sight of their husband/brother teaching Snotlout a traditional Berserker war dance. Agatha would bring Fredrick.
Toothless slipped away to fetch Astrid, who brought Finn with her, bundled up against the cold. The dragons hauled sacks full of gifts into the Hall. Try as they might, getting nine adults, three children, four Swift-Wings and three Swift-Wing fledglings into the Haddock House would be a tall order indeed. By this point most of the revellers were also coming together and fetching presents.
Helena and her cousins gave themselves first refusal on the contents of the sacks. When she found a rounded package with her name on it, Helena eagerly tore away the wrapping to reveal a black scaly helmet, just her size. With a squeal of delight, she jammed it on. "You guys, look! I'm a dragon rider now!"
Hiccup chuckled. "That one's from me" he told his daughter, "I figured since you like playing with mine so much you ought to have one of your own. Happy Snoggletog, darling."
"Thank you, daddy! Where's the rest of it?"
"Ah…you can have a proper flight suit when you're older. And actually riding."
Helena pouted, but was swiftly distracted by the lure of more presents. Hiccup gave one to Astrid. "For you, milady." She smiled indulgently at him and unwrapped the small, rectangular gift. It covered a wooden case, and inside lay a beautiful necklace, with a brilliant blue sapphire entwined in threads of gold.
"Oh, Hiccup, I love it" she declared, putting the jewellery around her neck and giving him a kiss. "Hang on, your gift from me is around here somewhere…"
Stoick suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, a new cloak! Thank you, Astrid" he said gratefully, shaking out a large and heavy (for anyone except him) bearskin cloak.
"You're welcome. Stormfly helped me get it" she replied, still searching for her gift to her husband. That made Hiccup wonder if they'd actually hunted down a live bear. His suspicions were all but confirmed when Dagur found she'd given him the skull and claws of the bear, much to his delight. At last, Astrid found the gift and handed it to Hiccup with a hopeful smile. "Happy Snoggletog, honey."
"Thanks, dear." Deciding (probably wisely) against mentioning the dead bear, he unwrapped the present to find a wooden case and a small key for it in a pouch. Inside there were jars of paint in hues of red, yellow, blue, green, black and white, as well as a bottle of ink and charcoal pencils. "Astrid, this is amazing."
"I'm glad you like it" she smiled, snuggling closer to him. "And guess what; the merchant I bought this from made the paints out of dragon scales he bought from a trader I know bought them from us. So everything came full circle."
The opening of gifts continued. "Thanks for the new leather-working tools, Hiccup" Fredrick said gratefully. "I kinda wish I'd had them when I made yours."
"No, no, it's great" he assured his father-in-law, admiring the new black leather holster for Inferno, with a Fire-Scale on one side and the curving necks of a Zippleback on the other. Hiccup had also gifted his father a set of whittling knives, to replace the ones worn out by all the sculptures he'd been carving.
Stoick had given every rider a carving of their dragons, and for the youngsters, toy weapons, "just like I got when I were a lad." Valka, meanwhile, had knitted scales onto yarn to make various items of clothing. Astrid loved the yellow shawl decorated with blue scales from Stormfly, whilst Hiccup was pleased with his new, much warmer and more comfortable black woollen and scaly gloves.
"Hiccup, Astrid" said Heather, "this shield is really nice, but it kind of looks…"
"Odd?" Hiccup finished. "That's because it's no ordinary shield. Here, I'll show you." He took it from her and moved out to the side. "You guys need to keep back" he warned. Once Hiccup was sure there was no one in the way, he flicked his wrist and arm out with a sudden stop. The two halves of the shield fell apart into a pole-arm with two semi-circular, serrated blades on either side and end.
Heather's jaw dropped. The dragons leapt back with squawks and hisses of surprise. "Oh, sorry guys" Hiccup said apologetically, "I didn't mean to scare you. So, what d'you think?" he asked Heather. She took the weapon back and gave it an experimental twirl. Satisfied with the weight and balance of it, she thanked him and even gave him a kiss on the cheek, before hugging Astrid.
"Hiccup!" exclaimed Dagur, making him jump. "That weapon looks horribly dangerous and difficult to use" he said firmly, before adding "I want one."
Rolling his eyes in good natured amusement, Hiccup asked "Have you found your present from me yet?"
"No, where is it?"
Agatha found the correct package and handed it over to him. Dagur tore the wrapping away and found – "Ooh, my own fire-sword! And you even made it look like Sleuther. Thank you so much, brother. This is the best Snoggletog gift ever!" Dagur announced, marching over and giving Hiccup a rib crushing hug.
"Aah…you're welcome…can't breathe…"
*Dagur, let him go please* said Toothless, having returned from a brief excursion. Gasping slightly when Dagur finally released him – "I wasn't squeezing you that hard!" – Hiccup smiled gratefully at his other half.
"What you got there?" he asked, since Toothless had something in his mouth.
*Your present. I made it myself. You might want to sit down, it's heavy* Toothless advised. So Hiccup obliged and he carefully placed the gift in his riders lap. "Blimey, this is pretty heavy" Hiccup agreed, carefully unwrapping it. When he saw what the gift was, his eyes widened. "Wow…Toothless, you made this?"
The dragon nodded shyly. *Astrid helped a bit* he admitted. *Do you like it?*
"I love it" Hiccup said firmly, beaming at him. "This is incredible, thank you."
By now everyone's curiosity had been piqued, and they all crowded round to see what Toothless' gift was. A slightly wonky heart, made of silvery metal and covered on the sides and back with melted-then-fused black scales. Roughly carved into it were the letters 'T-H' and the number ten. *It's made of that wolfram stuff we found* Toothless explained. *I dug the mould in the cove.*
"You've gotta tell me all about how you made this" Hiccup insisted, carefully placing the heart to one side. "But first, I need to give you your present, bud." He retrieved it from behind his chair, having placed it there for safekeeping. Toothless carefully unwrapped the present, which was revealed to be a new tail-fin. This one was not scarlet red with the Hooligan insignia, but silver.
Sniffing at it and crooning curious, Toothless discovered *Its made of metal.*
"Painted with a metal covering, so it's still light. But it can't be damaged as easily" Hiccup explained. "As for the paint …my first prosthetic, I outgrew it obviously, kept it around for sentimental reasons…until now. I melted it down to cover this with. I figured it would be nice for us to, y'know, match" he said.
Toothless warbled in delighted approval and padded over to nuzzle Hiccup gratefully. *It's perfect. I love it. I love you. Happy silly human holiday, Hiccup.*
Hiccup laughed and hugged him. "Happy silly human holiday to you, too."
"Happy Snoggletog!" Helena declared, "and Iduna bless us, everyone!" (5)
(1) My headcanon now is that Uncle Finn is Astrid's father's younger brother.
(2) 'Poppy milk' referring to opium, which women in the Middle Ages would apparently put on their nipples before feeding colicky infants. It is now no longer considered a good idea to drug babies. So don't try this at home!
(3) Toothless' definition of 'interesting' is rather broad; he once gifted Hiccup a dead plaice that had a pattern vaguely resembling his face on its back. Hiccup appreciates the effort however, since it's the thought that counts.
(4) Wolfram is the former/alternative name of tungsten, and Toothless-Hiccup inadvertently discovered the future site of Målviken mine. I figured as a former blacksmith Hiccup would recognise this particular metal, even if he hasn't yet figured out its value or all of its unique properties (yet).
(5) The Norse goddess of spring. Not the character from Disney's Frozen.