OKAY! After some constructive criticism from you guys, I now know what to avoid when writing. But, until like, a very later chapter, all these chapters were written MONTHS ago…so keep that in mind.
Okay, lets venture in and see what trouble little Hiccup can get into.
This is a real turning point.
Hiccup narrowed his eyes at his son but still couldn't help but smile.
His son was harder than training a dragon.
Astrid looked down at her son who brought her so much joy and kissed him.
"Oh, my sweet Hiccup. How has it been the last few weeks?"
Little Hiccup looked up with wide, sad eyes.
That was the first time he'd ever seen emotion from a toddler that wasn't dumbly happy.
Sure, he whined like any other kid for a snack, or cried when he stubbed his toe.
But young Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Fourth usually kept his emotions to himself.
Just like Hiccup.
This cant be good.
Astrid was nearly brought to tears as she waited for him to reply.
"I missed you."
She looked up at Hiccup a bit mad at his keeping him from her.
But she was forgiving when it came to the few people Astrid loved.
Young Hiccup soon forgot about his short burst of depression and began to tell his stories to her.
Astrid loved this, her little storyteller.
But Hiccup cringed as he knew how this story would end.
"Heh, heh," Hiccup tried to create a distraction to avoid the story, "Don't cha think Mommy needs some sleep, Hiccup?"
Astrid pulled Hiccup in by the collar.
"I don't care if you helped make him too Hiccup. If you take him away from me again I may just have to punch you in the face."
He hadn't heard her talk about him like that since they were teenagers.
That meant she meant it.
And that's what scared him.
He restrained from causing a scene with Olga around…ew…she was watching them through the kitchen door window…to dig his own grave with this story about what happened at the river.
Never mind that. Hiccup was about to speak.
"Go on, sweetheart." She motioned for the young Viking to talk.
"Wewll," Hiccup was young and spoke with a lisp now and then, like any other normal toddler, "I was playing adventure, and I was about to climb a mountain when I came to an ocean!"
Astrid smiled and nodded at her sons sickeningly cute tales.
"And I was about to swim it!"
Astrid hoped he was referring to a puddle but squinted her eyes, pondering.
"And then, Daddy ran outside and yelled cause I did something bad."
Astrid looked to Hiccup, who seemed somewhat relieved that his son didn't include the part about what he did wrong.
"What did you do wrong, sweetie?"
Damn.
Hiccup squinted at his son, hoping he would remember how it was supposedly, "their little secret."
Young Hiccup squinted back to his father, and knew he had him in a corner and planned to take advantage of the situation.
His evil smile hinted Hiccup of that.
He wasn't entirely like his honest father.
Hiccup prepared an argument Hiccup couldn't refuse as long as Astrid was in the room, or else the story would be released and all hell would break loose.
"Hey, Dad can we go fishing tomorrow?"
"Oh, Hiccup, you know I have to train the new recruits tomorrow, buddy…"
"Young Hiccup gave a cocked smile.
Evil!
Young Hiccup stopped him as he continued his tale.
"And then, Daddy took me cause-"
"Hey! Who needs to train the future of Berk, I'll take you fishing tomorrow!"
Hiccup gave a cocked smile back, and narrowed his eyebrows, unintentionally, and Astrid smiled, unaware of their quarrels.
"Okay! I'm going to play now!"
Young Hiccup scurried out of the room grabbing an oversized helmet near the front door and pleasantly slammed it shut.
Astrid grabbed Hiccup's hand and marveled at her son.
"He's getting to be such a nice boy."
"Yeah, nice."
Hiccup sat himself down on the bed, a little bit more relaxed.
"Now all I have to do is learn to go fishing."
Astrid bit her lip but then erupted into a small fit of laughter.
Hiccup groaned in a playful way.
"You know what, Astrid, he is starting to be more like you every day."
Astrid slowly faded away her laughter and looked at him, still smiling.
"I assume that's a good thing."
Hiccup nodded and smiled.
"He is just…he knows how to get under my skin. He gives me looks that you give me. Plus, he is a good Viking, and that's what I fear for him, now that Berk has changed.
Astrid suddenly got serious, and a bit offended.
"Berk, still needs Vikings."
"Yeah but I never thought he would be like that."
"What, like as if he isn't practically you? That's funny, cause I always see him as just like you, Hiccup."
Hiccup glanced up. It was funny how neither of them recognized themselves in the boy.
Astrid continued.
"He thinks a lot, he is creative, and he is always pushing his limits."
Hiccup would have used a word like "devious."
He dare not say that to Astrid. She was like that as a kid, busting people and always wanting to be on top, taking advantage of weaknesses and being too self-confident.
Maybe he could tweak that out of young Hiccup.
Either way, the child was a good mix of the two.
His cunning, skill, pride, and strength from Astrid…and then his rebelliousness from Hiccup.
Great mix.
And he's only four.
He was everything Hiccup wanted to be, but couldn't perform.
Hiccup sighed. Astrid looked up at him and gave him a hug.
"Don't get like your father, Hiccup."
Hiccup caught himself and quickly tried to stop changing his son. Fine, he could pretend to be a warrior, fine, they would go fishing tomorrow, but no, he would not get away with what he pulled today.
Hiccup grabbed around her back and rested his chin on her shoulder.
They fell asleep in the bed together as the medics left and the house was theirs again. Hiccup slowly drifted off into dreams and slept soundly.
The soft lull of his son playing cheerfully in the background filled the house as they both were gently asleep.
A trot, a step and a lunge, young Hiccup stabbed his sword into a nearby tree.
"You're dead!"
He cheered happily to himself and pulled the toy sword out as he examined it.
Just simple play he engaged in, not truly wishing to kill anyone, which Hiccup couldn't catch onto. He was just like his father, only he could do all the things Hiccup would have wanted to do and play as a kid, since he grew strong, like his Mom.
He threw the sword to the side of a bush and began to run over to the docks, where some terrors were playing and nipping at one another over a fish two times their size. A boat had just unloaded crates of goods and it seemed like a good place for fun to the boy.
Not for long.
Stoick had noticed him from the other side of the boat, toddling upon some box, trying to stand upright and let loose his best Viking yell.
"Ahhhh!"
He stood proudly and got a few heads to turn.
Impressive.
But not to his grandfather, and the Viking Chief.
"Hiccup!" Stoick called out in an angry tone to the child as he quickly jumped off the crate and fell to the floor, helmet now tipped over his eyes.
To Stoick, calling the name Hiccup in an angry manner was far too familiar, and now he had to do it to another generation.
"Get off this boat, boy! This is no place to play, too dangerous. What, do you want to get shipped to Sweden?"
The boy looked scared as he pondered the thought of being ripped from Berk.
Stoick shook his head and picked him up.
"What, does you father just let you run ramped around the village and just explore?"
Hiccup nodded his head and still failed to see what he was doing wrong playing on the trade ships.
"I was just playin' Grandpa. I was playing on the boat."
"Yes, I know you were, but that's no place for a boy your age, or of a boy so important to this village. We cant have you get into trouble. Your dad did that one too many times."
On the long trek back home, young Hiccup had fallen asleep in Stoick's arms. He looked down at him and wondered how his son, Hiccup could ever think this boy any different from him. But he was angry at his son and stomped up the stairs, waking Hiccup.
He promptly opened the door to his father, a disapproving look, and little Hiccup cradled in his beefy arms.
"Hi, Dad." Hiccup said, waiting for punishment.
"Can we take this outside, so as not to wake your sick wife?"
"She's not sick anymore, Dad." Hiccup continued as he gently shut the door and trotted down the stairs, after his father.
"That's beside the point, son!" Hiccup was started at his fathers sudden yell.
"What?"
"You let your son just trot and play around the entire island of Berk? Hiccup, he's just turned four this month!"
Hiccup looked beat.
"Dad, everyone does that."
"I didn't."
"Yeah, I noticed, I was there."
"Hiccup, your son is just like you. Explorin' and causin' mayhem and running into things he isn't supposed to. You're the same person, and you need to know how to manage him."
"Hiccup? He's nothing like me!"
"He practically is you!"
"Dad, I was a wimpy little kid who sat in the house and drew. You didn't let me out like I do for him."
"You think I didn't notice you sneaking out all hours of the night?"
Hiccup was shocked. He knew about all those years? He knew, sometimes, he got caught, but not all those times."Yes, Hiccup, I knew. But I always came when It got out of hand, and when you caused chaos and whatnot."
Hiccup slugged over.
"Dad, he is a little rebellious thing who wants to fight and break things and just yell. The only thing that we have in common is our name."
"You'll see one day that there is a reason you have the same name, boy. He doesn't mean all those things. He is a rough little boy that I am almost completely sure will get just as awkward as you when he becomes a teenager. Give it time."
"Yeah, sure."
"Don't you remember when you were a little boy who just wanted to be like all of us?"
Stoick passed Hiccup his sleeping son, (heavy sleeper, I guess.) and stomped down the hill toward the boats on the docks.
Hiccup pondered that for a second. All he remembered about his childhood was being an awkward adolescent and being made fun of. He didn't honestly remember his young boyhood. He did used to want to be like all the other Vikings, before he found his dragon. He may have even had a sword like young Hiccup. All these things he couldn't see before hit him at once. He looked down at his sleeping son and began to notice it more and more.
Maybe there was a reason they named him after Hiccup.
Maybe he wasn't a traditional Viking. Look at how Astrid wasn't a traditional Viking mother. The facts were piling up, he just hoped his boy hadn't heard any of that.
Too bad young Hiccup's eyes were filled with tears.
"Dad?" Young Hiccup said in a nasally voice, as he'd been crying.
After a few sniffs from young Hiccup, Hiccup cringed as he was awake. He felt the wet spot on his shoulder where he'd been tearing up and felt the worst he had ever felt in all his life.
And the boy still respected him enough to call him Dad.
Hiccup grinded his teeth and held the boy tighter, hoping it would show him a slight sign of affection.
"Hiccup, were you awake?" He said as he finally built up the guts to talk.
"Dad? Are you mad I went on those boats?"
"No, no, Hiccup, no."
Hiccup was relieved, good old four year old listening skills.
The boy didn't even catch on to what they were saying.
Why did Hiccup always expect so much from his toddler?
"I'm not mad, son."
"Hey, Dad!"
The boy cheered up a little in his voice.
"Did you ever have a toy sword when you were little? Cause I lost mine."
Hiccup's eyes widened as he smiled.
"Sure. Just like you."
Hiccup trekked up the stairs to his home and motioned a "Shhh."
Astrid would be most likely asleep, and he decided to talk to his son upstairs.
He plopped him into a chair and sat next to him in another one.
Hiccup began to think again about how much his son was like him now. They were both the same as kids. This was a crazy thought.
"So, you need a new sword?"
"Yep, lost mine, I'm sorwy."
Hiccup noticed the slight lisp on his son. He wondered if he ever had one.
"Well, that's okay."
Hiccup rummaged in some boxes from when they moved over and there it was. A flood of memories hit Hiccup as he looked at it. A dark brown wooden sword, carved right from a tree in his front yard. He examined it closely to soak up any other memories. Engraved on the bottom of it was the initials H.H.H. 3. He suddenly got a flashback.
…
"Hiccup! You don't go outside today! There is a festival and your father doesn't want you ruining things with our visitors."
A young boy of about five's face saddened. His eyes lowered and he sat on the bottom step of his house's stairs adjacent to the kitchen. The door slammed as everyone in the house left for festivities. He was all alone.
He was always all alone.
He reached to the top shelf in his kitchen and found his sword. He beamed at the sight of it.
"Yes! Gowt it!"
He had a minor lisp.
The boy trotted outside against the will of the others and escaped up a hill in his backyard.
He sat atop it and pulled out a pocket knife.
"With this sword, they will awl see…" He grunted with effort as he carved something into the wood.
"…see that I'm just the same as them!"
He finished off the last letter on his piece and smiled, lacking a few teeth.
He began to swat it into the air, stab things, throw it up and let it hit the floor.
He took jabs at the leaves on low hanging trees and bushes.
He soon grew tired and laid down.
Laying down on the hill, he saw a full view of the festivals his father was hosting.
He pondered as he wasn't invited.
His father must have hated him.
A slow tear ran down one eye.
He fingered the sword in his hand and looked down wearily.
"I guess nobody will like Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third anytime soon, then."
No, not anytime soon, but later.
…
Hiccup pulled the sword from the box and held it where his son could see it, and his eyes lit up.
"Wow! That's even better than mine!"
Hiccup beamed as he fingered the thing in one hand and then bestowed it upon his son.
The boy squealed with joy and took jabs to the air.
Hiccup smiled.
"You got to take care of that, though. No losing that one."Young Hiccup nodded as the held the instrument and examined it. He couldn't yet read, so he asked his father what the strange lettering carved into it meant.
"Those are…just something I did when I was little."
"Oh, can I do one too?"
Hiccup smiled affectionately at his boy. He pulled out his knife and bent over to him. Underneath the H.H.H. 3, he gently carved in H.H.H 4.
Little Hiccup gave a cocked smile.
"Now it's just like yours."
"Yep, just like mine."
Little Hiccup gave a laugh but then hugged his father.
Hiccup was surprised as he held his boy.
He never hugged his Dad, usually Hiccup had to hug him.
And he didn't wiggle away this time.
After a good hour of the boy playing with the sword, night was at hand, and as Hiccup looked down at the sunset through the upstairs window, he suddenly heard snoring.
The boy had fallen asleep, but had his sword back on top of the box.
What had he even been playing with the whole hour?
Hiccup looked over to the boys hands, tightly clenched around an unidentified object he hadn't seen before.
He didn't want to use the sword?
But he wanted to be some tough Viking.
Then what was he playing with?
Hiccup picked up the boy and carefully brought him to bed. When he arrived at his destination, he slowly and timidly dropped the boy down. When he did, the boy must have relaxed once he hit the blanket, for he dropped the object that was in his hands to the ground.
Hiccup picked the small, woolen doll up.
It was a dragon.
He didn't buy Hiccup that toy.
He looked at the craftsmanship on it and never saw that kind before.
It was blue and large and coarse on the skin. Its head was a series of spikes but it had strange legs.
He couldn't believe that his boy would do that.
Like father, like son.
He wrapped the toy under the blanket with his son and lightly kissed his head. He tiptoed down the stairs to where Astrid lay in bed and slowly lifted the blanket to lie with her. Despite his efforts to keep quiet, she woke up gently.
She squinted in a hazy fog of tired and lifted her head up just enough to view her husband. She yawned.
"What were you doing up so late, honey?"
"Me and Hiccup were playing."
Hiccup gave a cutesy smile and Astrid laughed.
"Well, I hope you had fun."
There was a long pause and Astrid almost drifted back to sleep.
"Yep. But he isn't who I thought he was."
Astrid finally broke the fog as she sat up a little bit.
"In what way?"
Anything concerning her son interested Astrid.
"He doesn't like to fight, he was just pretending. I gave him my sword from when I was a kid and he was only interested till he realized it was nothing. He found a new toy somewhere that kept him going for little under two hours."
Astrid gave a strange glance. He was thinking too much.
"And?"
"It was a dragon."
Uh Oh.
Astrid smiled and gave a quiet laugh not to wake him. She loved Hiccup, and always wished her boy would take after him in that aspect. That's what made him different, that set him apart, and that changed the world.
He didn't have to be a warrior, she had been down that cold road.
"Then I guess we know he'll turn out great."
Astrid smiled and began to kiss Hiccup and stop his thinking for a minute. They went on until both grew tired and he held her in his arms, she rested her head on his chest and fell asleep. As Hiccup began to drift off, he wondered if he would even have to get a fishing pole tomorrow.
He hoped not.
The next day was bright and sunny and the town was moving quite a bit. Stoick was still in charge for the most part and still ran the trade months. Hiccup was still in bed but could feel the sun through is eyelids. But that wasn't the only thing to wake him up.
Little Hiccup charged in the room and jumped right on Hiccup.
Upon his stomach, little Hiccup began to shake and push his dad to wake him up.
"Hiccup, I suppose that means you wanna go fish, then."
His voice cracked as it was the early hours of the morning.
He muffled his sound into his pillow and sighed.
Hiccup let loose a little groan and then rubbed his eyes and his voice was raspy.
"I'll have to get a pole of course, and maybe some-"
"No! I wanted to tell you to forget that."
"What?"
"I wanna play with Toothless today."
Hiccup sat up and put the boy on his lap.
He let loose one of his cocked smiles.
"You, know, you've never ridden on him before."
Young Hiccup nodded but had something else in mind.
"Can I have one of the hatchlings, Dad?"
"Oh, Hiccup, those are a lot to take care of."
"I can do it!"
"Hiccup, your too small to even reach the top shelf."
Young Hiccup quieted down and bit his lip.
"Wewl, can I play with them?"
Hiccup pulled the covers up off of him to sit up, and noticed through the thin fabric on the window that light shown through. It was midday and he was still asleep all these hours.
He pondered his sons request.
"You can play with them, but your too young to have one. You know, I was near sixteen when I could barely control one."
Young Hiccup listened attentively for the first time.
"But, when I go out to see over them today, I'll see if you can play with some of them."
Hiccup's eyes lit up and he jumped around.
His father laid back in bed and his voice was no longer in a raspy whisper, but a loud tone, which went unnoticed by him as he talked a bit too loud.
"Calm down, you'll wake your Mother."
At the word, Astrid shook herself awake and spoke in a tired tone.
"What, baby?"
Little Hiccup near sprinted to her side of the bed.
"Daddy's gonna take me to the baby dragons!"
"He is…" Astrid turned to Hiccup with a questioning look.
She whispered to him.
"Hiccup I don't know about this."
He whispered back.
"Don't you want him to be himself, like dragons?"
"Well, yes, he's bound to do that eventually. But we were so much older."
"Ah, so I'll teach him early. He will be better than me."
Astrid shot him a dirty look as to say, 'Don't let him get hurt.'
She turned to her son, now bouncing on the foot of the bed.
"Be careful, Hiccup. You cant make them mad, okay?"
She had become so different than who she once was, and Hiccup liked the new motherly, reasonable side of her. But it never lasted long.
People just change when they age, as he noted on his son.
"Go get dressed, we'll leave soon, I guess."
"Yeas!" Young Hiccup leaped up the stairs to his room.
Astrid slowly turned to Hiccup, who winced at her glare.
"Ha he. Please don't punch me."
Astrid pulled the covers up over her and in a muffled tone spoke.
"I said it wasn't going to be that way forever, remember?"
"You never said it."
"But I meant it. Now take good care of my boy. I hope you know what your doing."
Hiccup pulled himself out of bed and stretched and rolled his neck.
"If I don't come back by dinner, send out a search party."
"Don't joke like that." Astrid responded.
"Who's joking?"
Astrid pulled herself out from underneath the sheets and stood up.
"Have fun, I'm going to help out some of the guys at the dock."
They walked out together after grabbing little Hiccup as he was dressed now. Minus the Viking helmet, because Hiccup put it just out of his reach. It was his mothers, after all.
Young Hiccup in his mother's arms, he wiggled and gestured over to Toothless, who was not far behind them.
"Yes, that's Toothless." Astrid reassured him.
Hiccup smiled proudly at his family. He had gotten pretty far. But his revelation came to a halt when they approached Astrid's stop-the docks.
"Haddock family!" A rough voice greeted them with a gruff wave.
It was Tuffnut.
Hiccup appropriately sighed.
"Hey, Tuffnut!" Hiccup played along.
"Ah! Is this your boy?" Tuffnut exclaimed as he reached out to shake little Hiccup's hand.
Hiccup cringed and grabbed hold of Astrid tighter. He put his face into her neck and didn't respond.
"Hmm, shy, I guess." Tuffnut laughed and Hiccup smiled at his remark.
"Sorta like you, eh, buddy?" Tuffnut joked and both Hiccup and Astrid laughed.
"Say hi," Astrid whispered to the fearful child, "That's dad's friend."
Hiccup pulled his face from out of his hiding spot and looked at him.
He was tall, had a beard, and wore a hat like the one he played pretend with.
This would have been cool before, but suddenly the boy didn't feel he fit the mold of these people. They yelled, they killed, they were far too rough. He would just say hi, and never say anything else.
"Hi." Hiccup said in a sarcastic tone.
"Woah, he looks just like you, man! And what a sense of…humor."
Hiccup shyly laughed and wondered if any of those were insults.
"Heh heh, well, what are you doing at the docks?"
"I'm unloadin', and Astrid is supposed to help us."
She handed her son to his father and smiled goodbye. As they faded off into the distance towards the other Vikings, he heard them bicker and laughed.
"What, were they too heavy for you guys, you just have to call me?"
"Hey! Those boxes are heavy!"
"Yeah, If your used to lifting twigs…"
The voices faded out.
"I see where you get your humor."
Hiccup pried the boy off his shoulder and he seemed to realize the strange visitor was gone.
"I don't like him."
"Not many people do."
Little Hiccup smiled his little smirk and began to ask his father when they would get to see the hatchlings.
"We have to climb up the hill first."
"That'll take all night, Dad! The cave is too far."
Hiccup stood for a moment. He looked at Toothless as he rubbed his back into the grass nearby.
"Buddy! Let's go!"
Little Hiccup looked up at his Dad.
Hiccup looked down and spoke.
"Then, I guess we have to ride."
Little Hiccup erupted into a fit of pleased laughter and ran to the dragon as he escaped his Dad's arms.
He went to the dragon and scratched behind his ear, like his father showed him to.
"Come on." Hiccup picked his child up and put him in front of himself.
"Hold on tight."
Hiccup held the reigns tightly and hoped to god Toothless wouldn't do what he did with Astrid.
Little Hiccup couldn't hold on like that.
The boy beamed with excitement and could not stop smiling, giggling and asking when they would take off.
He talked low to the dragon.
"Toothless! Make this fun."
"Don't, listen to him, Toothless…" Hiccup warned in a tense voice.
Toothless smiled himself.
"Go, boy!"
Toothless shot up into the sky, and little Hiccup nearly flew out of his seat.
"Slower, buddy!"
Toothless slowed up a bit and glided. They were practically at the mountain cave now where the hatchlings were.
Hiccup looked down at his son with a wide smile. He was laughing uncontrollably.
"It's so cool, Daddy!"
"Yeah, I think so too."
The wind was blowing in young Hiccup's hair and his eyes squinted to block the wind.
"Yeeaahhhh!" Young Hiccup loosely yelled.
Success.
Berk would see another dragon training boy.
Another Hiccup.
Now all they had to do was land.
Toothless gently glided down upon some rocks and let his passengers off slowly.
Hiccup picked his boy off, who was shaking with excitement.
"Can we do it again?"
"No, later. The hatchlings, remember?"
"Yeah!"
Hiccup liked the new agreeable son he had acquired. He almost said yes to everything Hiccup did.
Hiccup needed a way to keep his son near him. So, with an old rope, the tied it around his waist and attached it to the boy's rope belt.
"Dad! I wanna play!"
"I know, but we're going in a cave, lets not push our luck."
Little Hiccup agreed and they lit a torch to examine their surroundings.