We've spent some time with Little Hiccup, how about Big Hiccup?
—
Big Hiccup stopped at home quickly to collect some supplies, including an empty inkwell to collect the algae. The sooner he got the ingredient, the sooner he could hide in his room until tomorrow evening. It would be an overnight trip, he concluded. The algae was only visible in the dark after all.
And without Toothless, it would be a hefty hike there and back anyway.
With his pack over his shoulder, Hiccup made his way downstairs. Stoick was sitting at the fire, eating breakfast. They just stared at each other before Stoick finally spoke. "Where are you going?"
"To the Northern Swamp. I have to get the algae, remember? I'll be gone overnight."
Stoick frowned, but didn't protest. "Alright. Just be careful, okay?"
Hiccup smiled softly. It took them five years, but they had finally built a strong, warm, and open relationship. This Stoick just didn't know how to talk to someone who wasn't a 'viking'. But he was still a dad, and he still loved his boy.
So Hiccup stepped up, hugged him around the neck, and said. "No worries, I'll be fine."
Stoick seemed startled at the sign of affection, but Hiccup just kept on smiling, waved, and headed out the door.
What greeted him outside, however, perplexed him.
Snotlout, Fishlegs, the Thornston twins, and Astrid with a crutch all stood waiting for him.
"What're you guys doing?"
"You said we were going on a camping trip." Snotlout offered. "So we went home and packed. I got twiddle dee and twiddle dumb to come too."
"Whoa…" Said Tuffnut, immediately encroaching on his personal space. "You're so tall…did Stoick just grab you by the arms and legs and pull?"
Hiccup sighed, and repeated his mantra. "No, I'm Hiccup from five years in the future. Gothi took past Hiccup and traded him with me, because I need to collect some algae, that no longer exists on Berk, for some medicine."
"Oh, that makes total sense." Tuff said with a casual shrug. "You know, when Ruff and I were 10, she fell out of a tree and snapped her spine. Gothi pulled the old switcher-oo and had me stop her from climbing the tree that day. It's a pretty handy trick."
"Wait wait wait…she's done this before?"
Tuff shrugged. "Only with me, as far as I knew."
"And you remember it?"
"Yeah? Why wouldn't I?"
"Gothi said that I don't remember going to the future."
"Oh yeah, I don't remember that either. But I remember going into the past and tying Ruffnut up so she didn't break her back."
"That's why you did that!?" Ruff shouted. "Aw man, now I feel guilty for farting on your face while you were sleeping…"
So Hiccup would remember this trip when he returned. Perhaps there was still something here for him that Gothi wanted him to see.
"Are we going or what?" Asked Astrid, impatiently.
"Are you sure you can?" Hiccup asked, concerned. "Gothi didn't want you walking—"
"I can handle it!" She hissed, with a redness on her cheeks.
"Well, I'm carrying your bag, at least." He grabbed for it.
"I can handle it!" She hissed again, louder this time.
"I know you can, but I want to help you. We do this stuff for each other all the time in the future." He pulled her bag off her shoulder. "You'll get me back, I promise."
Astrid huffed and looked away with a blush.
Without another word, Hiccup headed out towards the woods, gesturing for the others to follow.
Fishlegs caught up to him quickly. "So, when you said 'we do this stuff for each other all the time in the future' does that mean we're all friends?"
Hiccup gave Fishlegs a little grin. "Sure does. We even start our own little community. A place called The Edge, miles and miles south of Berk."
"We leave Berk?" Astrid asked with a little gasp.
"Not forever. In fact, we just returned back when I was sent here. But I convinced my dad to let us go, you know, teenage freedom and all that."
"So what do we do at this 'Edge'?" Asked Snotlout, with more sarcasm in his tone then necessary.
"Good question! We study dragons. Dragons and all the different groups of people we meet that far south."
"We just study them? You mean like, we kill them and then dissect them?"
The vivid image popped into his head as he violently answered, "No!"
The group recoiled.
"I mean…we just…study them."
"Do we at least study how to better kill them?" Asked Fishlegs.
Hiccup stopped walking. They were quite a good distance into the woods now, and no one from the village would hear them. "We…we don't kill dragons anymore. There's no need to."
"What do you mean there's no need?" Asked Astrid, using the opportunity to sit on a boulder.
"I mean…" he sighed. He couldn't imagine this going over well. "I mean they don't raid us anymore. They did for a while, to feed this huge dragon queen…but then I killed it. I lost my legs, and Berk won it's freedom."
The group was quiet before Snotlout burst out into laughter. "Hahaha! If you're going to make up stories to make you seem cooler, at least make them believable! What, are you and Astrid betrothed, too?" He dissolved into more laughter.
But Hiccup simply stood there, with a smug smile on his face and waited.
Eventually, Snotlout stopped his laughing, and noticed Hiccup's face. "Wait…"
He only smiled, winked, and continued on.
"Wait are you serious!? Come on man!"
—
Little Hiccup and Astrid were at the cove. They had flown together on Toothless while Stormfly followed along.
"Why are we out here in the middle of nowhere?" Hiccup asked, looking around the rather big bay.
"Because, this is where I first met Toothless. You and I come here sometimes…mostly when you're overwhelmed with village life or chiefing duties."
Hiccup climbed to sit up on the large boulder near the water. "It's nice, peaceful." He amended. "Hey Astrid?"
"Hmm?" She asked, joining him.
"How long have we been together?"
She smiled fondly. "About six months now."
"Oh, that's not very long…"
"No, not really," she agreed. "But we've been dancing around each other for years now. Ever since…"
"The Red Death?" He questioned.
"Yeah. I brought you back to Berk after you lost your leg, and I was…worried. Seeing you wounded and bleeding like that…I thought I was going to lose you, and that's when I realized I felt more for you than just camaraderie."
His ears burned. "Oh."
"So I kissed you when you woke up."
"Y-Y-You did?" His voice cracked.
She grinned at him in amusement. It was fun seeing Hiccup flustered like this again. "Yep, and a few times after, too. But when we actually became a couple…" She told the story of the lightning strike and how she had gone blind. How he had bravely taken care of her while she couldn't see, and assured her that everything would be okay. She told him with a blush how he had almost kissed her in the woods, but they were interrupted…only for them to finally kiss at sunset after she was healed.
Hiccup listened with a red face an a dopey grin. "I'm so smooth in the future…"
She cackled. "No you're not, not by a long shot."
He frowned.
—
Big Hiccup and the gang reached the Northern Swamp at sunset.
"Okay, so if we don't kill dragons anymore, then what do we do with them?" Snotlout had been relentlessly badgering Hiccup for answers, and Hiccup delighted in one word answers with a smug grin.
He dropped he and Astrid's packs on the ground. "Here. We'll make camp here."
"How do you know what the algae looks like?" Asked Fishlegs.
"Good question, Fishlegs. The algae is bioluminescent, so we'll see it when night falls."
Snotlout frustratedly dropped his own pack on the ground and started to violently set up a little tent.
"Bio-luma-scent?" Tuff asked, his nose upturned. "What does that mean?"
"It means it glows in the dark." Hiccup provided, as he began to set up his own tent.
"Okay, will you answer my question now!?" Snotlout nearly shouted. "We don't fight dragons anymore, but—?"
Hiccup gave a proud smile. "We ride them."
The teens all stared at him, slack jawed.
"Really?"
"Really really."
Snotlout was in his face suddenly, stars in his eyes. "What do I ride?! Please say its something cool!"
"You ride a Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang."
On occasion, when Snotlout was extremely happy, he would dance. It wasn't something he was proud of, but the excitement in his body would just make him shimmy. And that's precisely what he was doing now.
"Fishlegs, you ride a Gronckle named Meatlug."
Fishlegs smiled, but Snotlout started giggling incessantly. "A Gronkle? You'd crush the poor thing!"
Hiccup so badly wanted Hookfang here at this moment. That dragon was so good about reprimanding Snotlout when he sold something mean, it wasn't even funny. So Hiccup just shrugged. "And you, Snot, get your butt set on fire more often then not."
The dancing ceased at Snotlout frowned. "Shut up, Hiccup."
"Me next!" Cried Tuffnut. "What do I ride?"
"You and Ruff both ride on a Hideous Zippleback, named Barf and Belch."
"Aw, I share a dragon with my stupid sister? Not cool…"
"But you each get your own head, with it's own firepower." Hiccup tried to placate, though the arguing continued.
Astrid had set up her tent without a word, and now sat on a log nearby, with her injured leg stretched out in front of her. "Dare I ask what I ride?"
"You ride Stormfly, a blue Deadly Nadder. You are probably the fastest and well-trained riders out of the village, behind me, of course." He said, a little haughtily.
"Oh yeah? And what do you fly? A Terrible Terror?" Snotlout guffawed.
"Oh haha." Hiccup said, blandly. "Actually, I ride—"
Their little chat was cut short by a roar of a dragon nearby, and everyone froze.
Astrid reached for her axe, but Hiccup held out a hand to stop her. "Everyone, stay calm, and don't raise your weapons."
"You're trying to kill us!" Snotlout accused. "I knew we shouldn't have come with you!"
But Hiccup hushed him again. The dragon called out again, louder, and a tingle went down Hiccup's spine. He knew that roar like his own voice. But it was not a fuzzy feeling to hear it now, in the past.
A whistling sound echoed for a moment, and all was still.
"What was that?" Astrid asked.
"It sounded like a Nightfury…" Fishlegs answered.
"He's here," Hiccup provided. "Just stay calm and quiet."
From the other side of the river came rustling in the bushes. Despite Hiccup's instructions, everyone was on edge as they stared at the moving leaves.
Finally, a black dragon sauntered out, shaking it's head sleepily. He trotted over to the river and drank the water.
"What is that?" Astrid asked, in a shocked whisper.
"That's my Nightfury," Hiccup responded with warmth. "But he's not friendly yet, so I suggest we all mind our own business."
The dragon had quenched it's thirst, and then looked at the little camp, tilting it's head.
"Hiccup! He's looking at us!" Snotlout whisper-shouted.
"I know, I know…it's probably curious why we haven't started attacking yet."
"What do we do!?" Ruffnut cried, almost too loud.
The Nightfury perked up at the sound.
"SSShhhh!" Hiccup scolded. "Not so loud. He doesn't see us as a threat yet, so he's not going to hurt us. But he won't stay there forever."
It's like the Nightfury could hear him, and decided to defy him. With a great show of protest, the Nightfury wound up his tail and plopped his rear on the ground. Then he stretched out and rested his head on his paws, watching them.
"Great. We're dead." Snotlout threw his hands up.
"No, we're not. His pupils are wide and his earflaps are relaxed. He's just watching us."
"But you said—"
"He's not trained, is what I meant. My Toothless would never hurt anyone, but we can't try our luck with him now."
"Toothless?" Asked Tuff. "What kind of dumb name is that?"
"He has retractable teeth, the name just stuck." Hiccup glanced back at the dragon, who watched them with wide, curious eyes. He didn't look too different from the future. His earflaps were a little shorter now, and there weren't as many scars on him.
But of course, he had two tail fins. It was jarring, since Hiccup had never seen him with both in tact.
Astrid watched Hiccup get lost in thought. Though the future he spoke of was far-fetched, she couldn't help but believe him. Something in the way he looked at that dragon spoke volumes.
He knew it, maybe even better than he knew himself.
Finally, he turned back to the group. "We should probably find some firewood."
"Nah uh, I'm not moving while that dragon is watching us!" Protested Snotlout.
"Fine." Hiccup 'hmph'ed, standing.
"I'll come with you." Astrid stood.
"No no no, you've done enough walking today, Milady."
She scowled at him.
"But…if you're up for it…"
Astrid smiled smugly as she followed him.
"Wait! Don't leave us!" Fishlegs called.
"We're not going far!" Astrid rolled her eyes. "Just be cool, like Hiccup said."
"Imagine. Actually listening to Hiccup. We must be insane."
—
It was late night on Berk, and Stoick was just about to go to bed. Tomorrow, Little Hiccup would be leaving, and he'd get his other son back. But now, there was a real fear in facing Big Hiccup again. He swore to apologize for his behavior back then…but who knew how he would react to it?
Carefully and quietly, Stoick climbed the stairs to the loft where Hiccup slept.
Little Hiccup was sound asleep, cuddled in his blankets and furs.
There were some nights, if he was being honest, when Stoick would come up to watch Hiccup sleep. As a child, he had watched because Gothi had worried about his size. He was just so small and sickly…the chances of him making to adulthood were slim.
And after the Red Death incident, Stoick was even more worried about his wounds. It wasn't until the last few years that he had stopped checking in on him.
Stoick leaned in and kissed his son on the head, and then retreated to bed.