(A/N) So...I just wanna make sure you're all aware. I intended this to be one GIGANTIC chapter. Doing the whole thing in one go. Deciding against that and just splitting it up into multiple chapters, this is a warning if the chapters end too abruptly. That will be the reason why.
Winter had finally fallen upon Berk. It was early morning; dark, cold, and windy, and light snow was falling, flakes whipping through the air, carried by the icy breeze. Everybody, dragon and Viking alike, was snuggled up safely and warmly in their homes.
Yep, now in recent times, the team decided to bring their knowledge of the dragons of dragons home to Berk just in time for the holiday season. They wanted their home to be protected now with the recent developments of Dragon Hunters. Not to mention that there were a few things that Hiccup and Elsa needed to talk to Gobber about these weird dreams of hers.
"This is Berk, boasting the balmy, fun-in-the-sun climate that will give you frostbite on your spleen." Hiccup narrated. "The one upside is our annual holiday. We call it: Snoggletog."
"Why we chose such a stupid name remains a mystery, but with the war long over and dragons living amongst us, this year's Snoggletog...promises to be one to remember," Elsa tells them.
"For both dragon and human alike." Hiccup finished.
Hiccup rolled over in bed and slowly opened his eyes as did Heather. "What is that noise?"
"You know exactly what it is." Hiccup groaned as they both started to realize what the noise was.
The house suddenly rattled and there was a muffled roar from somewhere above him. Hiccup sighed and covered his head with his blanket, hoping the dragon would get the idea and leave him to have a few more minutes of sleep like everyone else was getting.
In response to the boy's silence, the house shook again, rattling Hiccup's room and sending clouds of dust drifting from the ceiling. Another roar from above. Hiccup groaned, rolled over, and reluctantly pushed the covers away.
"Okay, okay, I'm comin'…" Hiccup slurred, sitting up and fumbling around the bed until he got to his foot.
It was times like these when Hiccup wished that Toothless was still able to fly on his own. He would be able to have fun and Hiccup would get a few extra hours of sleep.
Hiccup supposed he deserved it, seeing that he was the one who put the dragon in this predicament and all, but it was still a little annoying. Hiccup didn't really mind, though. After he actually woke up, he was glad that Toothless had woken him up early; that way they were the first ones in the sky before the crowds came.
With everyone else now learning how to ride their dragons and integrating them into their everyday lives, things are becoming a bit hepatic. Elsa has even been trying to get answers from Gobber, but between him in the blacksmith shop and her training the residents of Berk, there didn't seem to be time.
Hiccup stepped outside and involuntarily shivered a bit as the cold air hit him. Yawning, he walked around the house and was greeted with a low rumbling from Toothless, who was perched on top of the roof.
"Well good morning, Mr. Bossy," Hiccup called up to him.
Toothless made a sort of chittering noise.
Hiccup walked forward, forgetting about the large patch of ice that had formed beside the house a few days ago. "You always have to wake me up so early to go..." At that moment, his prosthetic leg landed on the ice patch and Hiccup felt the ground jerk out from under him. "...flyiiiIIINNGG!"
Hiccup yelped as he swung his arms around in the air as if that would break his fall. Just before he hit the ground, Toothless appeared in front of him like magic, and Hiccup fell against the dragon's neck, his legs skidding against the icy ground. Toothless lifted him off the ground and set him down in front of the ice patch, on the solid, snowy ground. Hiccup let go of the dragon and kicked at the ground in frustration.
"Stupid leg," Hiccup muttered under his breath.
Most people figured Hiccup didn't notice it anymore, but he still did. He noticed it from the minute he woke up to the moment he fell asleep. Walking was harder, especially in winter. It is funny considering his sister can always make it an eternal winter.
Toothless whined softly, looking concerned.
"Oh, thanks buddy, I'm okay," Hiccup assured him, steadying himself and smiling. "Yeah, we can go flying now."
He stepped forward and extended a hand to scratch under Toothless's neck in the spot he liked. Just as Hiccup came close to his face, the dragon's mouth opened and he rumbled happily, unintentionally treating Hiccup to a sniff of what he had had for breakfast.
Hiccup quickly pulled back and frantically began to fan dragon breath away from his face. "Ew! What? Ew! Toothless!"
Within the next few minutes, they were airborne, flying around one of their favorite spots on Berk. For the past few days they had been practicing some aerial tricks, and today Hiccup was hoping to perfect one of them.
"Come on, let's see what you got today!" Hiccup told Toothless, and they angled downward in a steep dive through the clouds. Hiccup let out a whoop as they sped toward the sea and yelled, "Yeah!" as Toothless sharply angled up and sped across the water about ten feet from the surface.
Ahead of him, Hiccup saw a familiar rock formation they once used for one of their tricks, and he reached out to pat Toothless's neck. "Okay, you ready?"
Hiccup carefully unhooked his leg from the stirrup and slowly lifted himself into an uneasy surfing position on Toothless's back.
"Easy…" Hiccup murmured, grinning as the rock formation loomed closer and closer.
Hiccup took a deep breath and leaped into the air, soared over the rock, and landed safely on Toothless, who had flown underneath. Hiccup had a moment of panic as he felt himself slip, but he quickly hooked his prosthetic into the stirrup and he knew he had done it.
"Yes!" he cried happily as Toothless flew out over the open sea. "Finally!"
Hiccup had no idea why no other Vikings had wanted to try aerial stunts. Flying was one of the best feelings in the world for the two of them.
Meanwhile, back on Berk, everybody had woken up and was busy happily decorating the village for Snoggletog. Dragons with Vikings atop them flew left and right, carrying everything from shields to pine wreaths. Gobber was standing in front of a house that was being decorated with wreathes, directing a Viking woman on a Gronckle.
"Yes, yes…no, no, no, that one, a wee bit higher!" Gobber yelled up to her as she and the Gronckle hovered over the face of the building with a wreath.
"Here?" the woman yelled back, waving her arm at a spot at the top of the house.
"There!" Gobber confirmed, pleased. "Ah, that's the spot!"
Nearby the old man was Elsa, who had Bruni the salamander with her on her shoulder. They decided it was best not to leave Olaf and Bruni alone for the holiday, even though they never considered they would be back here for the holiday. She wished she had the strength to go over to Gobber and demand answers from him, but she couldn't. This was the only man who showed kindness to both her and her brother. She just needed to find a better time than when he was busy preparing for the celebration.
Elsa then looked and noticed a young child dressed in a makeshift Gronckle costume run up to a full-grown Gronckle and roar at it. The Gronckle responded with a louder roar that blew the child back a few inches, but the child merely giggled and ran away, the Gronckle following behind. From atop a ladder, Fishlegs proudly looked down at the dragon.
"Attaboy, Meatlug!"
Elsa was confused by that and looked to Bruni. "Is he not aware Meatlug is a girl?"
Bruni didn't really respond as he just gave a blank stare and licked his own eye.
"We should really tell him that later," Elsa commented.
Astrid and Stormfly were standing next to a pile of shields at the base of the huge wooden tree in the center of the village. Astrid picked up a shield in each hand and grinned at her dragon.
"Are you ready, girl?" Astrid asked her dragon.
Stormfly growled and shook herself, raising her spike-equipped tail. With a grunt, Astrid heaved the shields into the air. Stormfly flicked her tail and sent several spikes flying. One by one, they hit the shields in mid-air and skewered them into the tree.
"Well done!" Spitelout quickly got their attention as he yelled to everyone. "Well done, all of you!" The crowd turned to their Chief and smiled, awaiting his next words. "I never thought I'd live to see this day," The Vikings with their dragons close by reached out to give them an appreciative pat. "Peace on the island of Berk. This shall surely be the greatest holiday we've ever seen!" At his words, the entire crowd let out a cheer and a round of applause.
As Gobber laughed, suddenly there was a low rumble from the sky. "What the..."
One by one, all the dragons look skyward, sniffing the air curiously, their heads twitching from side to side. Stormfly lifted her head from Astrid's arms and hissed at the sky.
Heather ran outside, sleeping in a little after the commotion she woke up to from Toothless when she heard the commotion and was wondering what was going on. "What...?"
The entire sky was filled with the shapes of dragons, all flying in a giant cloud toward Odin-knows-where. "What in Thor's name…?" Gobber said in confusion, looking around at all the different species in the sky.
A large Monstrous Nightmare climbed to the top of one of the bigger houses and let out a roar before alighting and taking off into the sky.
"Come back!" cried Snotlout, who was left dangling from the roof.
"What are you doing?" The twins cried out.
As the rest of the grounded dragons laid eyes on their flying relatives, they took to the sky and quickly flew off to join them, ignoring their human friends' cries. Elsa was watching the skies and looked at Bruni, who finally showed some emotion as he looked just as confused.
"What's going on?" Elsa was curious to know. Then she looked over and saw Luna screeching, readying her wings to take off. "Luna?"
Luna then took to the skies and took off, followed by Windshear as Heather was racing down the hill. She didn't take notice of the time of year and was wondering if her dragon had already left.
"Windshear?" Heather was wondering if Windshear was leaving with them, seeing she might be heading back to Wingmaiden Island. She didn't know where the other dragons were going, but she knew where her dragon was going. "The migration..."
But she was just seconds too late as both of their dragons took to the sky and followed the giant migration-like pattern the dragons were raking.
"Meatlug!" shrieked Fishlegs, as his Gronckle prepared to take flight.
While half of the Vikings scrambled around, trying to restrain their dragons, the other half simply stood and watched, gasping to one another, "What's going on? What's happening?"
Astrid quickly scanned the crowd for Stormfly, and, not seeing her. She looked over to the girls, seeing they didn't have answers. "Where's Hiccup?"
"He left for his morning flight with Toothless. He could be anywhere." Heather was sorry to say, wondering what would happen if Toothless did this to him mid-flight.
Toothless and Hiccup were still flying, completely unaware of what was happening.
"What do you say, bud?" Hiccup asked. "You wanna go again?"
Toothless gave his 'yes' rumble, and Hiccup grinned, more than ready to repeat the stunt. He looked up and was met with the scene of a thousand dragons flying at them. They had appeared out of nowhere; Hiccup hadn't seen them in the thick fog. Hiccup let out a startled yell and he and Toothless swerved to the right, narrowly avoiding a collision with a Monstrous Nightmare.
They managed to fly around without hitting anything, but a stray Nadder who had gotten too close. All it did was end up knocking Hiccup in the face, causing him to cry in pain and hold his nose.
"Ah! That will leave a mark." Hiccup commented as he rubbed the part of his face that just got hit. "We need to get back to Berk and find out what's going on."
Toothless turned around in the air and with a roar, took off toward the island.
"What's the matter?" wailed a Viking, running after a Nightmare who had just taken flight.
"Where are you going?"
Astrid, in panic, spotted her dragon and extended her hands toward her. "No, no, no, don't leave, Stormfly, don't go!"
But it was too late as the Nadder had already taken off already, without even a backward glance.
"Please!" Astrid finished in a small voice.
Hiccup and Toothless reached the island at that moment, and Hiccup leaped off the dragon's back the instant his feet touched land. "Astrid!"
"Hiccup!" Astrid cried, running to her friend. "What's going on? Where are they going?"
Hiccup turned and gazed out at the sky, where the dragons were flying off into the distance. Behind him, the crowd of Vikings had caught up to them, and they were yelling out questions to him faster than he could speak.
"Why did they leave?" one Viking wanted to know.
"What's happening?" demanded a Viking.
"What if they never come back?" panicked another.
Hiccup awkwardly cowered in the middle of it all, raising his arms to shield himself from their questions. "Stop! Wait!"
"Enough!" boomed the voice of Elsa as she slammed her foot, causing ice to spread and cause everyone to freeze in fear. Seeing everyone ease up on the questions and pushing, she thawed the ice and walked over to Hiccup. "Hiccup, do you know what's going on?"
"No." Hiccup quickly answered, just wondering himself what was going on. "I was hoping you all had that answer."
Elsa let out a sad sigh, and the crowd of Vikings seemed to deflate a little. A roar from behind made Elsa and Hiccup turn around to see what was going on. Luna was hovering over Toothless, who was rearing up on his hind legs and roaring to her. Hiccup couldn't understand dragonesses, but it looked like Luna was trying to get Toothless to follow her. Hiccup knew why Toothless was resisting as he couldn't fly off if he wanted to without Hiccup.
Luna eventually backed off and flew away, and Toothless settled back on four legs, looking wistfully out at the clouds of dragons flying away from Berk. Hiccup looked down at his dragon, wishing he understood what was going on, wishing he knew how to help his friend. The crowd of Vikings watched helplessly as their dragons flew away.
The holiday wasn't exactly off to a good start.
