Author's Note:
Hello everyone and here is the last chapter of this story. This is a brand new one that wasn't in the original version and it shows a little of the aftermath of what has happened. Thank you all for your support of this story and I hope you enjoy the last chapter.
I own nothing.
Aftermath to New Room
Stoick had been waiting for the yell that sounded from Hiccup and Snotlout's room.
It had been several days since they'd brought the boy home and, as expected, Snotlout was taking time to bounce back from everything that had happened to him.
He'd still been in deep sleep when they'd returned to Berk, Gothi had been at the docks waiting for them and wasted no time examining the teen. She soon declared him as okay, exhausted and recovering from his ordeal but would make a full recovery. While gathered, concerned villagers headed off feeling relieved, the elder pulled Stoick aside and secretly let him know to keep an eye out, Snotlout had spent a week at the mercy of Dagur and his men so he would no doubt have been affected. The chief had already considered the, fairly likely, possibility but knowing that the elder was also concerned further emphasised his worries.
Over the following days, evidence of this became visible.
It wasn't obvious (Snotlout seemed a bit too good at pretending he was fine) but the signs were there.
Firstly, the teen would not go anywhere alone. This was hardly noticeable because Hookfang was point blank refusing to leave his rider's side, heck, even Toothless was always somewhere nearby keeping watch over the boy. However, on the rare occasion Snotlout wasn't right beside someone he trusted, a brief look of anxiety crossed his face and he'd look around for the nearest friend to check they weren't too far away.
Secondly, he avoided people he didn't know well, especially if they were carrying anything remotely like a weapon. Again, it wasn't obvious but Stoick had seen the boy carefully back away whenever a villager he didn't know that well was near. He also would shrink back towards Hookfang, Toothless or Hiccup depending which one of them was with him at the time. Several times, the chief had seen his nephew deliberately move behind his older cousin if a villager was talking to Hiccup about whatever dragon problem had cropped up this time. Whenever he did this, Stoick was certain that his son lightly tapped his younger cousin's hand, as if letting Snotlout know he was safe.
Finally, was the nightmares. Snotlout had once had these regularly, eventually they disappeared as he grew but Stoick was sure they were rooted in a fear of the dark. It hadn't been explicitly stated, partly because of the mocking he might've received from the other kids, but he'd seen enough to draw the conclusion. This fear had plagued Snotlout's sleep for quite some time but eventually it began to affect him less even if it didn't disappear entirely. Now though, his ordeal had made that fear resurface.
As the yell echoed downstairs, Stoick quickly got out of his large chair and hurried up to the room. Inside was pretty crowded since Hookfang had pushed his large body inside to stay with his rider.
It was possible for both boys and their dragons to fit into the room but there was basically no room to move when they did, as such, Hiccup and Toothless had temporarily moved into the forge so the Nightmare could stay with Snotlout instead of in his pen in the arena. Stoick was already planning to extend the house out back to make a room just for Snotlout, this way it could be made large enough to accommodate Hookfang as well since it was likely the dragon would now always want to sleep close by to his rider. In all honesty, both boys were getting too big to keep sharing a room, despite their close bond they would want their own space during their late teens so best to sort that now.
However, that was a future plan, for now, Stoick was more concerned with his nephew's well-being.
Snotlout was sat upright in bed, hugging Hookfang as the dragon crooned at him comfortingly. The teen was breathing heavily, showing that he had indeed woken up with a shout of fear, and Stoick made his way over to his side, "Snotlout."
The boy looked up at him, his upset and fear clear on his face, "I couldn't get out…the ropes…the water."
The chief simply pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back soothingly, "It was just a dream lad, you made it through and we're not going to let it happen again."
Snotlout buried his face into his uncle's chest, "I know but…I keep dreaming about it."
Stoick hugged him just a little tighter, "It'll pass Snotlout, just keep reminding yourself that it's over and the dreams will fade."
The boy nodded but still kept hugging his uncle and the man gently ran a hand through the teen's dark hair. Sometimes, Snotlout would gradually fall asleep again and rest peacefully for the rest of the night, other times the boy would be unable to do so and they'd both spend a long night awake. This seemed to be the latter and Stoick wondered if there was a way he could distract his nephew's attention from his nightmare.
Then he was hit by an idea and he looked down at his silent nephew, "Snotlout, do you want to help me plan your room?"
The teen pulled away from the hug and frowned in confusion, "My room?"
Stoick nodded, "Aye lad, you and Hiccup are getting too old to keep sharing this one and if Hookfang wants to stay near you then it's also far too small. I thought you might like your own room built on the back, we could make it big enough for Hookfang and give you your own space."
Hookfang growled in agreement, seemingly liking the idea a great deal, and Snotlout smiled, "Really?"
The chief smiled back, "Really."
Slowly, Snotlout's thoughts of his nightmare's and his recent ordeal moved to the back of his mind as he began planning his room with his uncle. Neither of them slept much that night but by the time morning came they had the whole thing planned out and Stoick decided to get them started on it as soon as possible.
Work on the extension actually started the next day.
Once Stoick had mentioned the idea to Gobber and Hiccup they were eager to get started right away, soon, they and Snotlout were gathering the materials required and drawing out a proper set of plans to start building. By the afternoon they'd started work and had even roped in the other riders to help, along with their dragons.
Over the next few days, Snotlout's room took shape. The dragons helped cut down a lot of the heavy lifting and the teens seemed to actually be enjoying doing a job that they didn't usually do. Walls went up, planks were nailed together, roof beams were placed and a roof was put on top of them and soon the interior was furnished and decorated rendering the room complete.
It stuck out from the back of the main hut, almost like a smaller hut stuck on the end. It had two doors, one was the original back door that opened into the main hut's kitchen/front area while the second opened outside and had been made larger to enable easy access for Hookfang. Inside was largely open floor, partly taken up by Hookfang's new bed, with Snotlout's bed against one side of the wall, a chest sitting at its foot. One of the walls had the teen's rather extensive weapon collection while the other held a couple of shelves for his mother's songbooks and a couple of other items he owned. In one of the corners was space for Hookfang's saddle along with the basket that would be filled with his fish to eat, beside this was a small trough that could be filled with water for the dragon if needed.
All in all, it was a very successful project which also had another, lesser known but greatly appreciated, benefit.
Since Snotlout had been so focused on building his new room, thoughts of what had happened to him were gradually pushed out of his mind. Working with his friends had also helped a great deal as he got absorbed in their constant banter and antics and forgot other matters. As the days passed, he began to not have nightmares again and when the room was complete they were basically non-existent.
A good sign.
During Snotlout's first night in his new quarters, Stoick quietly poked his head inside to check on his nephew.
Snotlout was sprawled in bed snoring uproariously, a clear indication that he was sleeping just fine. On his own bed, Hookfang was curled up in sleep but had raised his head to look when the chief had entered, the dragon rumbled softly at him and placed his head back down, Stoick gently patted the dragon's snout and turned to his nephew. Softly, he ran a hand through the boy's unruly hair and Snotlout's snoring faltered slightly as he gave a contented smile.
Stoick left the room to the sound of the snores of his safe, peacefully sleeping nephew.
PS-And finish with some Snotlout/Stoick family fluff (I do like writing it). Please let me know what you thought of this story and thank you all for reading it.
