Chapter Text
It started out as friendly competition. Or, Hiccup amended wryly, as friendly of a competition it could be when he started sparring with Snotlout. He may not be the first to admit it (or the second, or the third, or maybe even the fourth), but despite all of Snotlout’s claims of being the ‘most epic Viking in the history of Vikings’, he actually was quite good at hand-to-hand combat and sparring, especially with his axe. There was a reason he was always one of the best in dragon training as kids, second only to Astrid.
Now Hiccup knew he had been improving to be pretty good himself. After all, sparring with Astrid day in and day out had paid off tremendously, as did the advantages his custom weaponry always seemed to give him. Inferno made training a lot more fun, and it certainly didn’t hurt that Astrid always found some way to reward him after a productive session. If those rewards involved the playful gleam in her eye, her hand trailing down his arm to intertwine her fingers with his as she tugged him in the direction of his hut with her bright laugh…well, no one could blame him for putting in extra time every day to improve.
And he had! He could go toe-to-toe with the twins (both of them at once), could hold his own against the bigger and stronger hunters (at least enough for Toothless to come blasting through), and had even managed to outwit and outfight Astrid almost as much as she did to him. So Snotlout wasn’t any more challenging than usual. At first, at least.
“Come on, Hiccup, come get me!” Snotlout taunted, leaping out of the way as he brought Inferno down in a sweeping arc, missing the edge of his helmet by mere centimeters. Hiccup’s lips twisted into a smile as he ducked to the side, stepping out of range of Snotlout’s counter attack with his axe that otherwise would have sliced clean through his armor.
“Just making the fight drag on longer, Snotlout. What’s the fun if I end it early?” He swung again, this time catching the handle of the other’s axe as he rushed to block the flaming sword in time.
“Hah! You wish.” They kept going for a few more minutes, trading blows and snarky remarks the way only the two of them tended to do. Fishlegs was sitting off to the side of the arena, working through his Dragon Eye cards while offering brief encouragement (usually only to Hiccup). Astrid was sharpening her axe, getting ready for her turn to fight in the ring, keeping an amused eye on the fight already happening. The twins were… somewhere . They were supposed to be here training, but then again, when were they ever where they were actually supposed to be?
“Macey is ready to hit things!”
And there they are.
With their own cries of battle, Ruffnut and Tuffnut leapt in from the stands of the arena, maces raised and running right into the middle of Snotlout’s jab at Hiccup. Both of them leapt back, sharing a brief look of utter exasperation before the twins began swinging at them both. “You guys do realize-” Hiccup started, breaking off to deflect Ruffnut’s swipe, then jumping back to avoid Snotlout’s axe. “-that these sparring matches are not a free-for-all?” He paused, gesturing wildly with his sword. “Why don’t you guys go spar with Astrid? She’s been itching for a fight.”
Snotlout, however, just grinned and raised his axe. “Or, guys, I have a better idea. Let’s all just fight Hiccup .” Hiccup’s eyes widened and he resisted the urge to roll them to Valhalla.
“Guys, that’s not how this works- guys!” But the three of them were laughing now, all turned towards him with weapons raised. And despite himself, he couldn’t help but laugh along, reigniting Inferno and charging towards them as Astrid’s delighted laugh rang in his ears. Three against one was not fair by any means, especially since he knew all three of them were highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. But again, he could handle his sword pretty well, and was happy for the challenge to see how long he could hold his own against his riders. I get in enough trouble with dragon hunters, and everyone knows they won’t fight fair.
He was aware of Astrid cheering him on in the background, occasionally calling out remarks like ‘watch Lout’s leg!’ or ‘Tuff’s open!’, ever the sparring coach. Toothless he knew was perched on the overlook, his tail swinging languidly as he napped in the bright afternoon soon. One green eye opened from time to time to check in, watching as Hiccup danced out of the way of their swings.
To his credit, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping up - parrying, ducking, always thinking two moves ahead. Snotlout leaves his side open when he swings from above. Tuff and Ruff rely on combo attacks too often and have a few seconds where they are vulnerable. But…he was tired. It had been another long night in a series of long nights, the kind he had been having far too often recently as Viggo got bolder and bolder. He still hadn’t located him after their first real encounter, where Heather had almost been lost and was now somewhere on her own. He couldn’t find her either.
And gods, he was trying. Spending night after night pouring over their accumulation of maps. Sending T-mails out to traders he knew to get leads on either person’s location. Designing ways to counteract traps, planning trainings, improving Inferno…all to stay one step ahead of the game that Viggo insisted on playing. So when Snotlout lunged forward as both Ruffnut and Tuffnut swung from either side, could anyone really blame him for being half a second too slow?
Snotlout’s axe struck him in the side, grazing his leather armor. Ruffnut’s axe swept his legs out from under him as Tuff’s mace knocked him (lightly) on the head. The wind rushed out of him as he hit the ground, blinking away black spots as he groaned. Snotlout had already started chanting, as he usually did. The twins were cackling.
“Victory!” Ruffnut cheered, planting one knee on his chest as he whined at the extra pressure. She grinned down at him. “You okay there, Chief?”
Snotlout rolled his shoulders, reaching down for his hand as Tuffnut reached for the other one. “You lasted longer than I thought you would in that.”
“Yeah H, should we let Astrid join the fun too next time?” Hiccup grasped both of their hands, starting to pull himself up before flopping to the ground again instead.
“Give me a minute to feel my ribs again, guys,” he groaned, turning his head to the side to watch Astrid make her way over. “I’m in pain.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she teased, a light smile on her face. “But, I can always-” She didn’t get any further, as just then, a low, dangerous growl rolled across the arena. Everyone froze, and Hiccup lifted his head, looking around for whatever made that noise. A wild dragon? Another animal? It took him a second too long to pinpoint that the fierce growl was none other than Toothless , and even longer for him to realize what was about to happen.
“Everyone move!” The effect was immediate, as the others scrambled back just in time for Toothless to dive towards them, landing hard in between Hiccup and the other riders. His wings flared, eyes narrowed into threatening slits, teeth in full view. His growl had deepened into a warning rumble as his body covered Hiccup’s, who had pulled himself into a seated pushing with a low groan. Toothless’s head swiveled around as he sized up the others, with all of the fury of a protective sibling and a predator combined.
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Snotlout shouted, backing up even further with his hands outstretched. “Call off your dragon!”
The twins also had their hands raised in surrender, weapons left forgotten on the floor. “What gives T?” Tuffnut asked, kicking his mace further out of view in an attempt to make Toothless calm down.
Hiccup shifted, wincing as the movement pulled at his sore muscles. “ Toothless! I’m fine!” Sure, his head was spinning a little bit, and Ruffnut seemed to have four legs, but in the grand scheme of things, he really was fine. Toothless seemed to disagree, however, as he turned his head to appraise Hiccup’s condition. While his attention was back on Hiccup, Ruffnut shifted from where she had frozen. Immediately, Toothless snapped his focus back to the others, stepping forward to place himself squarely between Hiccup and everyone else.
“Toothless, hey , no one is going to hurt Hiccup. It’s just us! It’s Astrid.” Astrid had stepped forward, hand outreached placatingly. At her voice, Toothless seemed to hesitate, warbling uncertainly back at her. Hiccup struggled to stand, shifting closer to Toothless’s side. Astrid motioned for the other three to get behind her, and they moved one step at a time. He seems to listen to her since she hadn’t been actively sparring with me. “That’s it Toothless! The others were just sparring. Play-fighting! Like me and Hiccup do. Not trying to hurt him.”
“Yeah no one’s trying to kill him, or anything,” Snotlout chimed in, grimacing when Ruffnut landed a kick to his leg. “
Ow!”
But the damage was done. At the word ‘kill’, Toothless had crouched low again, another growl building in his throat as even Astrid took a step back.
“Nice going Snotlout,” she muttered, holding her hand out to Toothless in vain. Finally, Hiccup got to his feet, stepping forward to touch his dragon’s side. Then, and only then, did his growl fade, and he turned his head to nudge Hiccup’s side.
“I’m good, but thanks bud,” he muttered softly, leaning on his side to stand fully. “But I promise, I’m okay. Just bruised pride.”
The others fanned out from behind Astrid, all looking at Toothless with varying expressions of annoyance. “Remind me to never knock you on your ass again,” Ruffnut complained. “What’s the fun if Toothless just mauls me?”
“I knew he was protective, but this is a bit much,” Astrid agreed, placing her hand on Toothless’s nose now that he was actually letting them get close.
“What’s next? Is he going to kill me next time I trip you?” Toothless growled again, and Snotlout yelped. “ Kidding! I was kidding, okay, geez.”
Hiccup sighed, rubbing his temple. His headache had only grown exponentially with the entire ordeal. “I know, I know. He got a bit overprotective because he knows I haven’t been sleeping too well, isn’t that right bud?”
Toothless chirped in response.
“Sorry about that guys, I should have known not to push it today. He knows you guys aren’t threats, he just-”
Astrid’s eyes softened. “He just cares too much.”
Hiccup turned back to Toothless, who was now looking up at him with his wide green eyes.
How could I be mad when he just wants me safe?
“He really does.”