Berk was buzzing with excitement as Thawfest got closer and closer, and by the time the day actually arrived, everyone was getting into the spirit of things. As the contestants returned from their training, there was a very, very different atmosphere about the village. Bets were on in regards to who was going to win, and there was a very definite pool of supporters between the Jorgensons and the Haddocks. Competition was a very big part of tradition among the people of Berk, and the idea that the Jorgensons could lose this year sent the rumor mill spinning out of control.

Stoick and Hiccup dismounted their dragons on the outskirts of the arena just an hour before the competition officially began, the boy walking down into the former kill ring while his biological father went to take his usual seat, Toothless and Thornado behind them. Snotlout looked over from where he was practicing, raising an eyebrow.

"And here I thought you were going to be too chicken to show up," he called over, making Hiccup turn his head to look at him.

"That's funny, 'cause I only see one chicken here and it's already laid a few eggs from nerves." The gathering crowd 'ooh'ed and fell into whispers as Hiccup watched the other boy's face turn a brilliant shade of red, unable to keep himself from smirking as Snotlout stomped over to him. If it was going to be this easy to rile his cousin up then at least his own personal entertainment was set.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, one hand clenched into a fist at his side and the other pointing directly in Hiccup's face.

"Exactly what you think it does." He grinned, leaning away from the other boy before Snotlout made for a swipe at his head. Hiccup swung out of the way, taking hold of the hand that had struck out at him and turning around on the ball of his foot, tucking it in neatly behind Snotlout's back. The crowd started talking in louder murmurs, watching the former Outcast wrap his free arm around their heir's neck easily in a strangle hold.

Hiccup clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in a chastizing way, shaking his head before he released Snotlout, tucking his arms behind his back and taking a step back away before he could gather his bearings and go for another hit at him. "Bit of poor form for the heir of Berk, so easily taken down not just once but twice," he said, referencing their first meeting as he tilted his head as Snotlout rubbed his throat, glaring at him before Hiccup held his hands up and shrugged. "I'll see you in the first competition, cousin."

Turning around on his heel and hearing Snotlout cuss at him behind his back, Hiccup made his way over to Toothless just as Astrid landed in the arena with Stormfly, raising an eyebrow at the bigger boy before she dismounted, reaching up to scratch her Nadder's chin as she turned her attention to Hiccup. "What's got his skivvies in a bunch?"

"Just some friendly words before the competition, princess. Nothing for you to concern yourself about." Hiccup waved a hand nonchalantly before he knelt next to his dragon, checking that Toothless's saddle was on tight enough. When she didn't give him a response, he looked over his shoulder, noticing her place her hands on her hips with a raised eyebrow. "What? So I riled him up a little, is that so bad?"

Astrid rolled her eyes before she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against Stormfly's leg as she started to preen, watching him check his equipment. "You know that's just going to make him want to beat you all the more, right?"

"It's not a competition if it's not a challenge, now is it?" Hiccup stood from where he was kneeling and brushed his arms down as the twins and Fishlegs entered the ring on their dragons, mimicking her earlier pose as he placed his hands on his hips. He looked her up and down for a minute, tilting his head. "If you're going to snark at me, I take it your training went well?"

"I'm in top form this year." Astrid tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, letting a small smile cross her face at the fact that he'd taken care to notice. "Maybe even in the running to beat you and Snotlout."

He chuckled a little, raising an eyebrow. "We'll see, princess."

"What's with bringing the nickname back? Gonna think of me as an obstacle so you don't feel too bad when I beat you?"

"Something like that. Although I wouldn't count your chickens quite yet."

She opened her mouth to reply before she was interrupted by the sound of a horn and Mulch saying "Dragons and riders to your positions! It's time for the first event!" Astrid looked over at him before she glanced back to Hiccup as they started walking over to the starting line for sheep lugging, Toothless and Stormfly heading over to sit with the other dragons while they waited this one out. "So how did training with the chief go?"

"That would be telling." His lips quirked into a smirk as he lined up between Fishlegs and Astrid, the latter keeping him and Snotlout from interacting and for a brief moment he wondered why she bothered before realizing she was taking position at his left side. He glanced at her to give her a small smile before the sheep was placed across his shoulders with a bleat. His hands clamped down on its legs, shifting it into a comfortable position where he felt like he could carry it the whole way. They hadn't exactly gone over sheep lugging in the last week, mostly working on their teamwork for the marathon, but Stoick had given him a hint or two.

"Hey, Hiccup." He turned his head to look at Snotlout around Astrid, watching him grin at him when he realized he missed the start horn and take off in a sprint. Swearing under his breath as the other teens started in the second it took him to realize what had happned, Hiccup pushed himself off from the starting line, boots pounding against the concrete floor of the arena as he started running to catch up to Snotlout.

Out the inside of his right eye, he saw Astrid move away from his left side to let him catch up without having to brush past her to see who was next to him. The sheep on his back was warm in the cool autumn sun, and somewhere off to his right he heard Fishlegs bowl into the twins due to a lack of balance. Shifting around his cousin so the other boy was on his right, he grinned as he caught up to him, noticing the sweat beginning to build on Snotlout's face. "What's the matter?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as Snotlout glared at him. "Glue snail slime to your boots today?"

"You...I..." Snotlout growled under his breath and slammed into his side in an attempt to body check him out of the competition, but Hiccup held his ground, pushing back against him just as hard. "You have no idea what you're messing with," the Nightmare trainer hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh I think I do." He grinned viciously, shouldering Snotlout as the two boys ran neck and neck around the arena, breaking away from him and getting in front. Shouts were starting to rise up around them and he barely paid attention to Mulch's announcements, focusing instead on running. Hiccup didn't have the lead for long though, and in a second he was stumbling to the side after Snotlout's elbow slammed into him from his left side, causing him to waver as he heard the other boy laughing at him as he crossed the finish line, throwing his sheep down so hard he caused it to bounce and be thrown into the wall.

Hiccup regained his footing in time for Astrid to slow down her pace into a walk, catching up to him. She pursed her lips together as she took in his expression, the way his eye narrowed dangerously and his upper lip lifted into a snarl as both of them let their sheep down off their backs gently. She took hold of his arm, causing him to snap out of it and look at her. "Don't let him get to you," she said softly, turning so she was in front of him, obscuring his view of Snotlout's jeering taunts. "He's like that every year."

He pulled his arm away from her, ignoring the hurt look on her face before he ran his hand under his nose, looking at her with a wicked gleam in his eye and for a split second Astrid swore she saw his old self staring back at her. "Well it's going to be his last year so he should enjoy it while he can."

She felt her spine shiver at the tone of his voice, reaching for the hand hanging by his side. "Don't let it consume you," she whispered, cupping his face and pressing a small kiss to his mouth before she pulled away again, going over to join the others and not catching the look on his face.

Thawfest seemed to drag on for days and quite soon it became apparent that it was quickly becoming the Hiccup and Snotlout Show. The two boys clashed heads over every event, but because vikings were a violent bunch there was nothing stopping their brawls from happening, and nobody seemed interested in doing so. It was far too entertaining and added a little bit of excitement to what would have been an otherwise boring Thawfest had the Jorgensons continued their winning streak unopposed.

Hiccup pulled his tunic on the morning of the Parent Child Marathon, slipping his arms through the sleeves and pulling it over his head with his hair fluffing up. He'd started braiding a small portion of his hair into a side braid, considering that his hair was long enough to do so, and he reached up to start threading the braid into place on the right side of his head. Toothless watched from his bed, ear flaps perking forward as he watched his rider curiously. Hiccup paused what he was doing, glancing around the room. He'd been staying with Stoick since the beginning of Thawfest and sometimes it amazed him just how different it was compared to his room on Outcast Island. There was an actual bed for one, not a pile of rocks in the corner that served as one.

There was a knock on the wall and he glanced over to see Stoick, already awake and dressed. He coughed into his fist when he realized Hiccup was paying attention, noticing the way the boy stood from his bed like a soldier standing at attention. Something else they'd have to work the kinks out of. The chief tapped his fingers together, looking for words to say. "So...today is the last day of Thawfest!"

"I know." Hiccup raised a hand to rub the crook of his neck before he shifted to finish off the braid, tying it together with a piece of string and a smirk. "Just one more event to go before we beat the Jorgensons."

"Ah, that's what I was here to talk about." He looked up quizzically as his father came further into the room, standing in front of him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're not taking your rivalry with Snotlout too extremely? I noticed you boys can barely stand near each other before it turns into a shoving match. Remember this is just..."

"A competition. I know, father." Hiccup clamped his mouth shut when the word came out of his mouth, biting his lip and refusing to look at Stoick. The hand on his shoulder slackened a little before it squeezed him gently. The boy coughed, shrugging it off. "W-well if that's all, we should get to the arena before they think we pulled out..."

"Wait." Hiccup looked over his right shoulder at Stoick as the chief kept his hand on his shoulder before he pulled it away, reaching behind his back. "I wanted to give you something before we left this morning." Watching as his biological father pulled a helmet from behind him, he felt something stir inside at the sight of it. His own Outcast helmet had been left behind on the Island when he'd left, and he reached up with both hands to take it as it was offered to him, looking up at Stoick as his eyebrows furrowed into a questioning frown. "Your mother made this for you while you were still...well, y'know. She would have wanted you to have it."

"Mother..." Hiccup breathed the word out as he wrapped his fingers around the horn, tilting it to look at it at another angle. Something from his mother. He remembered what Astrid had told him about her, how she was an adventurer and quester. He looked back up at Stoick, green eye searching before he sucked in a breath, placing the helmet on his head. Looking at the chief again, he watched a mixed reaction on the older man's face - happiness, then sadness, longing, regret, before it rolled back to the beginning. "H-how does it look?"

"Perfect." Stoick nodded his assessment before he made a noise in the back of his throat, placing one hand on his hip as his other clapped his son on the back. "Well! Let's get to the arena. We have a score to settle." Toothless got up and shook himself down, following the two humans downstairs and out the front door as they started to make their way there.

A definite crowd had gathered by the time that the Haddocks and their dragons entered the arena, all excited and chatting among themselves as they waited for the main event to begin. Considering Hiccup had best Snotlout yesterday in the dragons obstacle course, he was getting quite a few stares and well wishes despite his past transgressions against the village. He felt someone brush aggressively against his left side and turned his head to see Snotlout waving to the crowd. His cousin smirked at him, leaning in. "Better enjoy it while it lasts, Hiccup, because at the end of this Marathon they'll be cheering for me."

"Just like they were cheering for you after yesterday's event, huh?" Hiccup quirked an eyebrow and smirked at the expression on Snotlout's face as he moved over to the other end of the line to join Stoick, passing the twins and their father, Fishlegs and his mother and Astrid with a curly redhaired woman who must have been Johanna. Toothless took up position behind him, given that the dragons were also going to be part of this event, and the Night Fury trilled questioningly to him, which he just brushed off with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

It was almost time.

The outer ring of the arena was packed and no doubt the trails would be packed as well with onlookers wanting to see everything. Mulch grabbed his speaker horn, looking about as eager as everyone else. "It's that time again, folks! We're at the end of Thawfest for another year, which means that it's time for the Parent-Child Marathon! There's been some modifications made to the track this year, which I'll let Gobber explain annnnd over to you, Gobber."

"You'll all be startin' here in the arena, where you'll start the running part of the race." Gobber indicated the end point of the running on a crudly drawn map of the island. "You'll end up here at Raven Point, where you'll round to the coast and swim as though you were being hunted down by Hammerhead dragons over to Breakneck Bog - yes, Fishlegs, you'll be allowed to fly on Meatlug. From there, it's a flight back to the island on your dragons where you'll dismount and enter the one kilometer two-legged race - four in the case of the Thorstons, yes I know - back to the finish line around the mountain. Remember, no more than ten paces in front of your parental unit the entire way. This is a joint competition, kids! No holds barred!"

"Competitors, take your positions!" Hiccup lined up next to his father, ignoring the faces Snotlout was making at him from the other end of the line before Spitelout hit him over the head, and that was when he sniggered at his cousin's expense. "Annnnnd..."

The horn blew and Snotlout and Spitelout were off like a shot, everyone's dragons taking to the air, quickly followed by Astrid and Johanna who were soon overtaken by Hiccup and Stoick. The twins and their father got ahead of Fishlegs and his mother. Soon, the arena wasn't in sight, and within an hour the first duo to reach Raven Point was Hiccup and Stoick, having overtaken Snotlout and Spitelout. It was frustrating for Hiccup, because he believed he could have gone faster were it not for the ten paces rule. Stoick was old, there was no denying that, but as soon as they waded into the water and got deep enough to start swimming, Stoick was keeping pace with his son.

Hiccup stopped and treaded water for a few seconds to look behind him before he followed on after Stoick, keeping a few paces behind the older Haddock's strong swim. "I don't see them," he said with a small gasp for air, lifting a hand out of the waves to brush wet hair away from his face before he swam in order to catch up to Stoick's pace. "Astrid and the others are just getting into the water now."

"They're up to something," the chief warned, large arms making water splash around him as he swam. "Keep an eye..." That was all Stoick got to say before he was dragged underwater.

"Dad!" Hiccup took a deep breath and dived down under just as Astrid and the others drew closer to them, looks of alarm on their faces but they were supposed to keep going. Opening his eyes underwater, Hiccup saw his biological father struggling to get out of a trap of seaweed, and Spitelout and Snotlout swimming away underneath the other viking kids and their parents to take first place.

He swam deeper until he could float in front of Stoick, holding up a hand as a sign to stop struggling against the water weed. Lifting his leg, Hiccup took a knife from the inside of his boot where it was hiding in a small compartment, covered with fabric to make it look like a regular part of the shoe. Watching the way Stoick's eyes widened, he started cutting away at the seaweed, movements becoming frantic as he felt his lungs start to burn. Once he was sure that his leg was free, Stoick grabbed the back of Hiccup's tunic and started pulling them towards the surface, breaking air as both Haddocks gasped and spluttered for breath.

"Thanks." Stoick looked at his son as his brow furrowed, watching the way Hiccup gasp for air. Toothless was hovering over them, a trill of concern leavng the Night Fury before Hiccup waved him off.

"We have a lot of ground to make up," the former Outcast said, turning his head in the direction of where the others were swimming. They were almost specks on the horizon, but Breakneck Bog didn't seem to be too far off if the fog a fair distance away was any indication.

"We can make it up when we get to land and then get on Toothless." Stoick nudged Hiccup's shoulder in a motion that told him to keep going, and the boy nodded, starting to swim again. It was true, they could make up for lost time on Toothless, provided that Stoick didn't weigh him down too much.

The water started getting rougher towards Breakneck Bog, and as they started to surface from the water, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by weapons. It was too late to call to the others for help, and Stoick had his sword out before it was knocked to the side and he was thrown to the ground. Out the corner of his eye, he could see the Outcasts gathered around as netting was thrown over him. "Hiccup! Run!"

The answer that met his ears wasn't what he expected to hear. The boy was laughing and he looked over his shoulder to see Hiccup grinning down at him with a cruel smile stretched across his face and his one eye narrowed in glee. Stoick felt his heart drop into his stomach, shock rising on his face as Hiccup tossed the knife he'd cut him free with up and down in his hand.

"Once a Treacherous, always a Treacherous."

Author's notes: /sits here cackling/

It's been a month since I started publishing this fic on fanfiction, nearly two months since I started writing it. I'd like to take the time to thank each and every one of you for your support, whether it be by following, favouriting or commenting on my work. Your comments make everything worth while and while I don't get back to any of you, I appreciate it very much. I was honestly expecting a fair bit of negativity and criticism considering what I remember of this place from four or five years ago, but your reactions have been nothing but positive and encouraging.

Thank you for making my writing worth while :)