drabble suggestion!
Hiccup has lived to the ripe old age of 95 (an impressive feat for a viking chief). It's been a mostly good life, but he has had some regrets along the way āĀ some things he'd have done differently. One night he goes to sleep...only to wake up in his 15 year old body, the night before the final test.
Perhaps this is his second chance.
Sorry for the delay! Hope you like it :) Itās a bit sad.
New Berk is as cold as ever this winter season.
The birds do not chirp so happily, or at all. Wind chimes sing with a gloomy hum. Hot drinks chill too quickly.
It is especially harsh because of the passing of an old leader. Chieftess Astrid Haddock bore many titles: leader, grandmother, mother, and wife.
She was a warrior, and her spirit has taken a lot with her. All that has burned brightly are the torches that keep her statue warm.
Not even the wind can blow those out.
Left widowed, her husband is very quiet these days. He greets his people, waving to the new children that give him such purpose in life. His grandchildren are active, and slowly, Hiccup is unable to keep up with them.
It is said that such strong love has kept the Haddocks alive for so long, and distant rumors have spread that they expect Hiccup to no longer bear the absence of his beloved for much longer.
Perhaps they are right.
So, one night, he falls asleep. The wind howls and seeps into his home very obviously, knocking over drawings of legendary creatures or carvings of birds that are the only beings he sees that fly.
It is a dark night, further branded by the draft beside him.
And yet, when he comes to his senses once more, realizing his string has not been cut yet, the sun gently warms him. Birds sing without fear.
Grass itches his palms.
Hiccup moves as quickly as his mind conjures the thought. He moves so quickly, that he scares himself when he snaps up, afraid to have broken something.
Instead, he feels lively. Nothing hurts, nor feels heavy. Every part of him is alive āeven the left foot he hasnāt had since he was ā
āa boy.
Hiccup looks at his hands, inspecting his small arms and then shoulders. A single, thin tunic sits under an old flight suit, the very first one heād made after meeting a legendary creature.
Toothless.
As if summoned with the thought, the Night Fury crawls down the boulder that Hiccup has found himself missing over the years. The cove āthis cove that Hiccup now finds himself inā was just past Ravenās Point, and it was a serene escape from the noise.
Berk has always been loud, but Toothless? The dragon knew just how to keep quiet.
Hiccup cannot believe his eyes. He calls out to the dragon that walks near, and yet, at the utterance of a word, Hiccup surprises himself.
āToothless,ā Hiccup repeats, shocked at the clear difference in voice.
Even the name feels foreign on his lips.
The Night Fury eagerly listens to him, purring and nudging him with his giant head, uncaring of the slobber he leaves on his companion.
But Hiccup is not in a playful mood. Tears flood his eyes; it has been years since heās last seen his dear friend. He no longer has the strength to sail out and venture into the edge of the world to find the dragon.
How can any of this be possible?
After so much that Hiccup has seen, heās learned to spend less time questioning and more time entertaining.
āMy old friend,ā Hiccup mumbles, his vocabulary ancient-sounding with such a boyish voice.
Toothless warbles, sniffing Hiccup all over with a twitching ear that isnāt quite settled. He sniffs Hiccup so much, that Hiccup scoots back, hitting a woven basket behind him. As he inspects it, he finds tunics, pants, boots, and some books āall items he remembers packing when he planned to run off that fateful evening.
This is the evening that Astrid convinced Hiccup to stay. Hiccup allows more tears to fall, and Toothless comforts him with more purrs.
āItās not you dragon,ā Hiccup says, thinking of his father at using the term ādragonā rather than Toothlessā name.
Oh gods, his father.
A thought dawns on Hiccup: if this were some dream, or a revisit of a memory āwhatever it isā could this be a second chance?
Hiccup has wondered what his life would have been like if Astrid had never found them. Hiccup could have been off, living a life that didnāt volunteer his father for a gruesome death.
It is Hiccupās fault that Stoick died prematurely. He has never convinced himself otherwise. This could be the chance to undo it. Drunk on the grief that has struck him after his wifeās death, Hiccup cannot bear the idea of cursing another family member to an abrupt end.
āWe must go!ā Hiccup shouts in a whisper, hoping to leave Berk before Astrid finds them, if thatās even whatās supposed to happen.
He mounts Toothless as if he has done so in the last forty years. Hiccup does not have time to savor this moment and live in the present. For so long, he had dreamed āyearnedā to be back with his best friend, his prosthetic locked in place āah yes, as of their last reunion, Toothlessā self-flying tail did not need any repairs. Thus, Toothless did not need Hiccup.
Yet right now, Hiccup needs Toothless, and Toothless needs Hiccup.
They thrust up into the air, leaving the basket behind. Hiccup looks below him, momentarily immersed in the situation, forgetting that moments ago, he was an old man on what heād hoped was his death bed. Now, he is a young boy, covering his tracks so that he may follow freedom.
Astrid is nowhere to be found, and so Hiccup start to enjoy the breeze āhe sees her. He sees her walking to the cove with her axe. Even from this height, he can see her blonde hair, squeezed into a thick braid that she never let loose.
Memories fall into his mind, and they pull him down to the ground.
āToothless, land there,ā Hiccup instructs, pointing to an open clearing in the forest.
The dragon snorts, unhappy with the idea.
āListen to me, would you?ā Hiccup argues, clutching his saddle tighter.
From muscle memory āit has never left himā he clicks the tail into place, forcing Toothless to lose altitude. Toothless embraces the landing, and hits the ground with a loud thud that announces himself to the young Viking.
To say this interaction goes horrible is an understatement. Hiccup had forgotten how stubborn Astrid was ānot that any of her stubbornness was lost in her elder age. Yet, combined with the ferociousness that youth brings, Astrid does not listen to Hiccup, mostly because Hiccup speaks to her as he would a friend, rather than a peer who is aware he is disliked.
So, when Astrid runs away, frightened and angry at this discovery of the chiefās son cheating, lying, and betraying them all, Hiccup chases after her in long strides. His body might not be able to keep up because of how small he is, but the spirit heās built over the years fuels him with enough adrenaline.
āPlease! Wait!ā Hiccup shouts, holding her forearm.
Astrid retaliates, shoving him off, going so far as to swing her fist at him. Hiccup dodges, now able to make use of his young body and years worth of training.
He disarms her quickly, and as he holds her arm beside himself, talking above her as she lays on the ground, Hiccup apologizes.
āPlease, Astrid, please,ā Hiccup says, letting her name dawdle in his mouth. āI-I need to show youā¦ā
Tears rush to his eyes again, and Astrid loosens.
When Toothless catches up to them, his first instinct is to protect the companion he loves dearly, but Hiccup stops him. Instead, Astrid climbs up with Hiccup, and the memory that heād been reliving since her passing is once again enjoyed.
Only, the wind is real and the colors of the sunset are more beautiful than he remembered.
Hiccup thinks about many things as Toothless flies āespecially after the dragon chaotically falls to force an apology from Astrid. Still, Hiccup can flick the tail in place, remember how his fingers used to position themselves naturally on the saddle.
Everything feels as normal as it had many years ago. But it is bittersweet.
This is not the Toothless Hiccup knows. This Toothless fights slightly against Hiccupās reign. This Astrid is marveled by the flight, not Hiccup.
For a bit, it doesnāt matter. The few weeks that Hiccup has spent alone in his house are enough for him to not care how any of this is possible. He must try to pretend he is this young. He must let this memory play out as he wants it to.
He wipes away tears when Astrid begins talking to him. He thinks about many things when the Queen calls Toothless and many other dragons.
Hiccup knows that he must visit his father when they arrive back at the cove.
And again, Hiccup is itching to leave. He stares at the glare of the moon in the water, unable to properly respond to Astrid.
Hiccup must leave! That way, his father would be alive and maybe in some sad way, he would not have to deal with the pain of losing his beloved partner andā
How could he throw away all of his years with her? How could he want to run away tonight, and forget the life heād built with her? Maybe, Hiccup will go to sleep tonight, and awake as a twenty-year old. Maybe then, he could stop himself from killing his father. Yes, that might work!
Astrid punches Hiccup so hard, he is brought back from his thoughts. As he watches her run away, he does not feel like a teen experiencing his first high. He is not in awe of being kissed.
Instead, he watches a young girl leave his presence, so capable of so much. So dearly missed.
Hiccup sits there in the cove for sometime, uncharacteristically silent. Toothless coddles and nudges him, purring for attention. Hiccup delights in this, finally letting himself weep.
Hiccup is not sure what will happen when this night ends, so he tells Toothless goodbye, and he tells the dragon all that he wished he could have years ago.
āI love you,ā Hiccup says, hugging Toothless at the neck, āI love you so dearly.ā
Now, Hiccup figures it is time to face his father.
Hiccup doesnāt care how this goes. He has been without him for too long ālonger than he has been alive.
When he walks through Berk, he greets eyes that have also withered away on New Berk. Many of the guardians that patrolled the island are no longer living, and Hiccup is quite sentimental at even being present in his old home.
He regrets having moved at all. He regrets giving the dragons away. He regrets having been a dumb, foolish young boy.
But he was alone. He had a decision to make, and even if it was the wrong one, that is what he chose.
Hiccup opens the door to his home, finding his father asleep on his chair.
Tears fall so quickly, quicker than a waterfall.
Again, Hiccup lets himself slip into the title of son, feeling like a child as he shakes his father awake.
āD-dad?ā Hiccup says, fighting his vision in the dark, unable to make out every detail. āWake up, please.ā
Stoick stirs slowly, rubbing his face and yawning. He sits up.
āHiccup?ā Stoick mumbles. āWhatāre you doinā up? You have yer exam tomorrow.ā
Hiccup practically flings himself onto his father. He hugs him tightly, stifling his crying.
āIām sorry, father,ā Hiccup admits, his jaw along his fatherās shoulder. āIām so sorry.ā
Stoick gently pushes Hiccup back, forcing Hiccup on his feet. They are at eye level as Hiccup stands, and Stoick sits.
āWhat do you mean, son?ā Stoick asks, placing a hand on Hiccupās shoulder. āWhatās happened?ā
Every single word drives a knife through Hiccupās heart. He cannot bear it.
Hiccup wipes his eyes. āI havenāt been a great son. Iāve done so much Iām not proud of, and Iām sorry itās affected you.ā
Stoick blinks, unsure of what to do with this newfound confession. He has not yet blossomed into the soft man that left Hiccup at twenty. He is and always has been that soft man, but his heart has also hardened after Hiccupās adolescence proved different than his personal, unrealistic expectations.
āItās,ā Stoick says, pausing to find the right words, āalright, Hiccup. Yer doinā wonderful things now.ā
Hiccup cannot bring himself to explain. He cannot part his lips and say all that he thought about on the walk over.
He lets his father lead him to bed, he lets him say his goodbyeās.
āIāll see you in the morninā, son,ā Stoick says, smiling in the dark. āYouāve made me so proud, Hiccup. Thank you.ā
Hiccup lays in his bed, comfortable underneath the blanket, ignorant of the chill. āI-I love you.ā
Stoick doesnāt know how to react. So he smiles awkwardly. āIā¦ love you, too.ā
Hiccup silently screams at himself to say more. But he wants this to be natural. He wants to feel like a son again. He can no longer carry this weight anymore.
Hiccup watches every step that his father takes. He does not stop listening until those footsteps reach their own bed and stop moving. Hiccup does not sleep until he hears those familiar snores.
When he finally rests his eyes, there is no other memory to return to.
