━━ chapter one
snoggletog
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━━Interludes, in Hiccup's experience, are not exactly part of a book━yes, of course, they are part of a book, but are usually a story not quite so important to be put at the end of a first part, but also too far away from the next that it cannot start part two. Of course, the only interludes he knows is that of Gobber's terrible ballads and stories he liked to sing after he was a bit too far in his cups, or the tales of mighty Viking warriors or the origins of the Gods. This interlude was kind of like that ... well, for sure, it has its obstacles, it's importance, but the holidays are full of cheer, full of love, full of family and snuggles━a sweet in between to this story; everyone needed a sweet in between. Hiccup surely wished he took a moment to enjoy his sweet interlude to this story.
So, in which, he is sure he doesn't need to describe Berk again. But it was a little different since the last time. The early mornings weren't met with dragon raids, or yelling Vikings and a runt of a boy trying his best to weave in and out of those yelling Vikings. No, for once, Hiccup could actually sleep in. The morning was peaceful, with light snow falling down from the clouds above onto the thatched roofs of Berk, and boasting the kind of balmy, fun-in-the-sun climate that will give you frostbite on your spleen. The one upside━other than the dragons, of course━was their annual holiday. They called it Snoggletog. Why they chose such a stupid name remains more of a mystery than that of Valkyrie Frode (and that was saying something). Hiccup had his many memories of Snoggletog; like the pageants, the snow-covered rocks thrown at him by Snotlout and the Twins━oh! And the time he almost got hypothermia from being dunked head-first in the snow by Astrid, one must not forget that! But, with the war long over, and dragons living among them, Hiccup was sure that this year's Snoggletog promised to be one to remember; in a good way.
That was, if Toothless would stop shaking the entire house to wake him up!
(Yeah, forget actually sleeping in).
Hearing the Night Fury's roar up above, sending dust falling onto Hiccup curled up under his fleece blanket, he let out an annoyed sigh and sat up. "All right! Okay, okay!" he called up to the roof. "I'm coming!"
Reaching out blindly, Hiccup searched for his helmet. He didn't always like wearing it, considering it was far too big for him. But it was made from his mothers armour, and with Snoggletog just around the corner, Hiccup and his father ... well, they wanted to keep her close to them. When his fingers brushed the bone horns, he wrapped them around it and tugged it towards him. With a great big yawn, Hiccup Haddock the Third plopped on his hat amongst his messy brown hair and got ready to start the day.
Stepping out into the cold, snow-capped morning, he rubbed his eyes and looked up. Toothless was there, gazing down at him with wide eyes and perked ears, waiting. Hiccup narrowed his gaze at him, "Well, good morning, Mr Bossy!"
The dragon made a guttural sound in the back of his throat, laughing at Hiccup and the son of the cheif mocked him in reply. Hands on hips, leaning forward, he clatted his teeth together in his best impression of Toothless, and he stopped, ears perking up even more. "Yeah, yeah," mumbled Hiccup, letting out another yawn. "That's what a thought, you big reptile. Anyways━" he started his way to the back where Toothless's saddle sat waiting, "━do you always have to wake me up so early to go flying━"
He slipped on the ice━something not so great about having a metal foot. Well, that and the pain, and sometimes forgetting you only have one foot ... and stuff ...
Toothless was there to catch him, jumping down from the roof. Hiccup landed on the flat of his diamond-shaped head. The dragon pitched him up-right, and Hiccup grumbled down at the metal foot, scratching it against the ice to test the grip before setting it back down. "Stupid leg." Toothless peered at him, concerned, and Hiccup smiled. "Oh, thanks, buddy, I'm okay. Yeah━yeah━" he rested his hand on his head, "━we can go flying now."
Then the dragon burped in his face.
Hiccup recoiled away, coughing. "Ew━eww━what? Argh!" he smacked his dragon playfully in the snout. "Toothless!"
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━━There is only one time in the Viking year where Valkyrie the Mysterious of the Frode Clan will allow herself to be a happy burst of energy, and that was the holidays. Every other day, she was a glaring, vicious mean girl with an appetite for freedom and someone you should not mess with. And yes, you should not mess with her during the holidays, but as soon as the Snoggletog preparations began, it was as if a lever switched in her demanour, and Valkyrie Frode was out the door of her home, all smiley and laughing and wishing everyone, "Happy Snoggletog!" at the top of her lungs.
Now, with a dragon, all that became much easier!
Except, Zephyr didn't seem as excited for the holiday morning as she was.
"Come on," she pushed against his side, her fur boots at the end of her bed to give her weight to get him off his backside. "Wake up━we gotta help with the Snoggletog decorations."
Zephyr moaned in reply, and lightly whacked her away with his wing. Valkyrie let out a startled, "Oof━!" and went tumbling away on her floor. Stopping herself, she sat up and glared at her dragon who just huffed steam in her face and settled his head the other way, going back to sleep.
She gaped at him, "I don't get you sometimes. Every other morning you can't wait to wake me up early for flying. And the only time I want you to be up early you won't even have it━oh, you're such a hypocrite!"
The Windstriker flicked his tail gently at her, and she ducked. Valkyrie crouched back up, flexing her muscles, "Oh, so I see how it is━get here you great big oaf━!" she charged straight at him and jumped ontop of his back. Wrapping her arms around him, she did her best to wrestle the big dragon. "Come━on━get━up━you━lazy━whoa━!"
Zephyr had reached back and picked her up at the scruff of her winter fleece coat with his teeth. She dangled from his mouth, kicking her legs and fighting for him to let go. "Hey! This is unfair━this isn't how you fight! Zephyr! Let me down!"
She heard his muffled laughter, and felt the heat of his chortles against the back of her neck. In the end, Valkyrie stopped fighting and just hung there, glaring at the wall. "I'll get you next time," she promised him as he set her back down. (Valkyrie said that a lot; she's never won against him. Yet).
Zephyr nuzzled his horn against her cheek softly, and Valkyrie soon smiled. She wrapped him up in a hug. "Come on, boy━let the Snoggletog cheer begin!"
Leading the way out of her home, she almost forgot something. She let out a gasp and hurried back inside. Reaching for her freshly made flower crowns for today with Snoggletog themed flowers, she set one on Zephyr's horn. He sneezed in response, and Val giggled. She set hers on her head. "Now, let's go."
They stepped out of the Frode household. She wasn't the only one up early to begin the decorations━her brothers were helping around the village with their parents amongst nearly every other Viking who resided on Berk. And Valkyrie wasn't even the earliest bird. Astrid had already started the Snoggletog tree, decorating it with shields that were spiked on by Deadly Nadder thorns; Hott helped her, comanding his own Deadly Nadder, Spikemoth to follow Stormfly's actions.
Zipplebacks and Windstrikers were helping with the higher decorations; putting wreaths on the tops of houses and Great Hall and Dining Hall. Monstrous Nightmares were lighting gentle fire stations for Vikings to warm their hands, and Gronckles were keeping the kids company. On the roofs, Terrible Terrors were singing, and Valkyrie caught her youngest brothers; Mak and Erik, climbing up to the top of Snotlout's house without him noticing, trying to scare the poor dragons with their own Terrible Terrors ready to cause trouble with them.
Valkyrie bounded happily through the snow in seeing her friends, and Zephyr followed after her, still trying to wake up.
"Happy Snoggletog!" she called out to Astrid, waving estatically with a girn.
From the other side of the tree, Ruff and Tuff peered around with their Zippleback heads Barf and Belch to frown at Valkyrie. "Oh, great," said Ruff. "It's Snoggletog Cheerful Valkyrie."
Tuff scrunched his nose up, "I always hate Snoggletog Cheerful Valkyrie."
Val scowled up at him and raised her fist. "I may be spreading holiday cheer, but it won't stop me from punching you two right in the face!"
"I find it great that you're spreading holiday cheer, Val," Snotlout called down from where he hammered on a Snoggletog shield at the tip of a house. "It's such a good look on you. You and Astrid look great today, by the way? Did I tell you that?"
Valkyrie and Astrid shared an annoyed look, both letting out an, "Eurgh." The same thought crossed their minds, and with a nod to each other, they turned back to their dragons. "Stormfly━", "━Zeph," at their commands, their dragons attacked Snotlout. Stormfly flung spikes towards his head, and Zephyr was quick to heat them up so they were set on fire, narrowly missing Snotlout's hair as he ducked.
"Hey!" he shouted.
The girls shared a high-five. Snotlout pointed an angry finger at them, "Oh, yeah, sure, you laugh now. But just wait until I send Hookfang on you!"
Astrid and Valkyrie had some firing shots ready in retaliation, but immediately stopped as Stoick and Gobber passed. They placed on their best innocent looks upon their faces, and quickly turned to their dragons, giving them attention in hopes the Chief didn't see what they had been about to do.
"Odin's beard, Gobber," sighed the Cheif, shaking his head in baffled amusement at the preparations around them. "Vikings spending the winter holiday with dragons. What would our fathers say?"
Gobber fixed in another tool, chuckling, "They'd think we'd lost our minds!"
Stoick bellowed out a laugh, before turning to the village gathered in the town plaza. He held his hands out, and with a big voice, declared, "Well done! Well done, all of you!"
Valkyrie shuffled in closer to Zephyr, giving him a sweet scratch under the chin. A bright smile stayed on her face, already smelling the warm dinner that would be in the hall tonight, or the nightly celebrations of song and dance. Valkyrie silently wanted to ask Hiccup to dance with her tonight ... she went red at the thought.
"I've never thought I'd live to see this day," went on Stoick. "Peace on the Island of Berk. This will surely be the greatest holiday we've ever seen!"
There were cheers amongst the villagers of Berk. Valkyrie hugged Zephyr tightly, nuzzling her face into his neck. She was excited to spend this holiday with him. To enjoy soup by the fire and sing and dance into the night. To receieve presents━she had the best present for Zephyr for Snoggletog morning.
That all changed with the roars, however.
They sounded from up above━hundreds of dragon calls and squawks that made every resident of Berk frown and look up. Valkyrie let go of Zephyr, watching the herd of dragons fly over. She felt a pang of fear in her chest. The last time she had seen dragons of this mass in numbers fly together had been when they were called by the Queen Dragon; but she was dead, unless another took her place ... but surely they would know, right? No dragon stole stock from Berk anymore.
Zephyr made a guttural growl, his eyes narrowing into slits up at the sky. Valkyrie grew more worried; she held out a hand to him, but he snatched his head away.
"What in Thor's name...?" murmured Gobber.
One by one, the dragons around them started to take off after the mob. Gasps echoed up through the crowd, cries for dragons to come back and desperate pleads of, "Where are you going?!" Valkyrie stepped back, gazing up at the sky. "What's going on━?" "━What's happening━?" "━Hey, come back━!"
Another thought crossed her mind within the chaos, and her stomach lurched. "Oh, gods━Hiccup. Where's Hiccup?"
She knew well enough he would be out for a morning flight with Toothless, and if he got carried away in this mob━Valkyrie rushed to Zephyr, trying to hoist herself up to go after him, but Zeph just shook her away with a delicate warning growl. He bounded forwards, and Valkyrie's heart dropped. "Oh, no, no, no━" she chased after him as he spread his wings and launched into the sky with the rest of the dragons. "Don't leave, Zephyr━don't go! Please!"
Amongst all the disorder and confusion, Hiccup and Toothless landed on the icy egde. He leapt off his dragon and raced towards the village, his hair wind-swept. "Valkyrie!" he called, running straight to her.
Eyes wide, she gasped and hurried to him. "Hiccup!" she cried, latching onto his arm, her eyes darted back to the stampede of dragons that flew away from Berk; from them. "What's going on? Where are they going?"
She wasn't the only one with questions. The rest of the village swarmed Hiccup. Valkyrie clung onto him tighter, not wanting to lose him in the ocean of questions that seemed to just drown him as he shrunk lower and lower. "Why did they leave━?", "━What's happening━?", "━Will they ever come back━?!", "━Hey!" Astrid's voice shouted amongst them, shoving away any Viking she could, "Give him some space!"
Hiccup held his hands up, eyes shooting back and forth to all the Vikings who peered in his face. "S━Stop! Wait━!"
"Calm down!" his father came to the rescue, hoisting Vikings away better than Valkyrie or Astrid could ever do. "Give him a chance to speak!" he reached the middle of the circle, and Hiccup had a moment to breathe. His father met his gaze, and asked gently. "Hiccup, where are all our dragons going?"
His shoulders fell, and Valkyrie saw despair flash across his features. "Dad ... I━I don't know..."
A wave of collective defeated sighs washed over the village of Berk. Valkyrie's grip on his arm softened, and she looked back to the edge, watching her dragon try to encourage Toothless to join him. The Night Fury was on his hind legs, trying to reach his good friend, but they were apart; and always will be because of the red prosthetic tail that kept him grounded. Zephyr gave him another squawk, but had to leave, soaring after the others without even a glance to his rider who was left standing there, absolutely miserable.
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a/n: this is going to be cheesy and there's no avoiding it. it's snoggletog in berk, feel the cheesiness and accept it, ALL Of yOU. *dramatically waves hands out* AccEPT iT. nOW.