Chapter Text
The first thing Hiccup knows when he opens his eyes is that something is very wrong. He doesn’t know how he knows it either because the ceiling above his head looks exactly like his room on the Edge but everything feels… wrong, like he’s somewhere he’s not supposed to be.
Also, his head is hurting but that’s kinda expected. He was injured on the last hunter mission he and his friends were on, and he’s had a concussion for a couple days now and his friends keep trying to chase him back to bed every time he tries to get up. And sure he might have a headache but it’s not like that means he needs to be staying in bed all the time. Right?
“Brother, you’re awake!” Dagur’s way too excited voice says from right next to him.
Hiccup jumps, head swiveling sideways to see Dagur sitting next to his bed, idly playing with a dagger and grinning brightly.
Toothless is sitting right next to him as though that’s somehow the most normal thing in the world, as if the last time he saw Dagur wasn’t when they were both stranded on that hunter island together. And yes, Dagur saved his life there but that doesn’t mean –
“What are you doing here?!” Hiccup demands half-hysterically, heart pounding, instantly pushing himself up and ignoring how wildly his head is swimming.
“Why would I not be here?” Dagur asks cheerily, “I wasn’t just gonna leave you here all alone.”
What in the –
“Why are you in my house?! Or here on the Edge?! Or – ”
Dagur shouldn’t be here. Sure, he saved his life but that doesn’t exactly erase from memory all the things he did before and he was right here while Hiccup was unconscious and –
“Why would I not be on the Edge?” Dagur looks confused now, “Are you sure you’re okay, brother? None of your Hiccupy comments are making any sense today. Not that they do a lot of times.” He laughs.
Is he…
Did he forget something from the last mission? He couldn’t possibly forget anything this important and he doesn’t remember anything about Dagur even being relevant, but…
Toothless lifts his head from the floor then and there’s something about the Night Fury that looks wrong. As in the… this is definitely Toothless but not his Toothless?
The Night Fury pushes forwards, sniffing at Hiccup suspiciously. He whines softly, head titling as he looks up at him.
Hiccup may not be able to understand exactly what he’s saying but it’s enough to know that Toothless is thinking the same thing too.
That he’s Hiccup but not his Hiccup.
Um.
Okay.
“I’m fine,” Hiccup mutters, getting out of bed slowly, ignoring how much it makes his head swim. If Toothless is okay with Dagur being here, then… Well, that means something. If he can find one of his friends, maybe they’ll be able to explain what’s going on and what he might’ve forgotten.
Dagur grabs Hiccup’s arm. “No, you’re not fine. You’re definitely not fine. Do you really think I’d believe you’re fine when you’re still as pale as a ghost? Because that’s really difficult to fathom and I’m going to need some actual proof. And the chief told me to make sure you stay in bed this time. Not that I wasn’t gonna do that anyway.”
Hiccup blinks. “My dad’s here?” Okay, when did that happen? How much has he forgotten?
“Yeah, he’s here,” Dagur shrugs, “Stopped by to check on you.”
“Where is he?”
“Ohh, I don’t know. Probably down at his house?”
His house?
What the –
Stoick doesn’t have a house here! But that makes more sense than Dagur being here in the first place, so…
“Uh, okay,” Hiccup supplies, trying to extract himself from Dagur’s grip, “Maybe I can have a word with him?”
“Sure, okay,” Dagur concedes, though he still looks distinctly disapproving, “But he’s probably gonna carry you right back to bed.”
Um, right. Stoick never carries him.
Besides, the steadily rising alarm in his chest about what’s happening is something he needs answers to more than worrying about anything else.
“Uh well, I’ll be… right back?” Hiccup offers, ducking Dagur and running for the door before he can try to stop him again and ignoring how dizzy so much movement is making him feel.
Toothless patters after, still sniffing at him repeatedly, like he can’t quite figure out what’s wrong with his human.
Hiccup freezes when he steps outside.
Because he’s standing on the Edge but not the one he remembers. His house, the clubhouse, stables, Dome, and Forge all look the same, but his friends’ houses don’t. There’s… only three of them, none of which look anything like any of his friends’ houses at all.
But he’s pretty sure the fanciest looking one must be his dad’s? Even if it doesn’t actually look very Stoick-y.
He swings onto Toothless, flying the short distance there and hopping back off, going to push the door open.
The room inside looks nothing like his dad’s house ought to. The table right inside is piled with books and scrolls, but none of that makes his blood run cold half as much as the person who’s sitting at the table.
“Hiccup? Please come in,” Viggo says, looking up.
Hiccup’s hand is reaching for the nearest weapon before he finishes talking – except he doesn’t have any weapons on him. Why didn’t he take any with him when he left his house?!
As if all of this isn’t already nonsensical enough, there’s a dragon sitting on the floor beside Viggo. Not chained, not cowering, just… sitting there, looking thoroughly content with whatever life’s choices led it to being here in the first place.
And it’s the Skrill.
Like the Skrill should be anywhere near the Edge, when they already sent it as far away from the hunters as they could get it?
Toothless doesn’t even seem bothered with any of the nonsensicalness in front of him.
“What are you doing here?!” Hiccup demands, taking a step back and stumbling right into Dagur who somehow came up behind him without him even noticing.
“He’s being really weird,” Dagur pipes up, “Like really, really weird and not very Hiccupy. Well not the normal Hiccupy.”
Viggo frowns, as he gets to his feet. “How are you feeling, my dear?” Norns, he actually sounds worried. As though he isn’t something out of Hiccup’s nightmares.
Hiccup stumbles back a few steps. “You said my dad was here,” he protests, voice strangled and panicky as he looks between Viggo and Dagur.
“He is. He’s, you know, right in front of you? And so is his house,” Dagur objects, confused.
Hiccup runs for his life.
***
“Do you know what’s happening, bud?” Hiccup asks miserably, now that he and Toothless are out soaring over the water, leaving the strange-Edge far behind. He’s too scared to look back at it again.
Toothless growls softly beneath him, sounding worried.
“It’s like – you’re not my Toothless even though you look exactly like him,” Hiccup tries to explain. It sounds stupid anyway.
His dragon growls again, in understanding. At least he knowns what Hiccup’s talking about, which doesn’t do much to help when he hasn’t exactly mastered growl-speak so he can’t really get an explanation.
“So if I’m not your Hiccup and you’re not my Toothless, then… then…. Either I really should have stayed in bed after my concussion because I’m hallucinating now or – ”
Toothless growls scoldingly.
“Okay, fine. Maybe I should have anyway,” Hiccup concedes, deflating, “But… either I’m hallucinating or I’m… somewhere… else…?”
Toothless yips, like that’s what he’s been trying to tell him all along.
Seriously.
What
The
Thor.
Also, this is not happening.
He very distinctly recalls the twins going on about inter-realities and whatever, during one of their long obsessions with theater and drama and plays that they got from Loki knows where – something about what about a reality where you woke up and everything was backwards. Like that made any sense…
Or maybe all of this is just an act of Loki and he’s gonna wake up and everything will be perfectly normal again.
“What should I do, Toothless?” Hiccup asks helplessly. Because right now his only plan is to either run as fast and far away from the strange Edge as he can, or try to go to sleep and see if he wakes up in a world where things make sense again.
Toothless growls softly.
“Uh, no – no way! I can’t go back.”
The Night Fury growls lowly suddenly.
For half a second, Hiccup thinks he’s annoyed but then he looks down at the water below where Toothless’ head is actually turned, looking at something else entirely.
There’s a boat down in the water, it’s sail flying Berk’s symbol.
Wait, a Berk boat?
Hiccup tries to dive down instantly, but Toothless instantly flicks his tail, fighting against it, growling in what sounds like near panic.
“Really, bud? What are you – ”
Hiccup cuts himself off when he sees what the ship’s deck looks like. There’re dragons in dragon proof cages on the deck, the exact same kind the hunters use.
What….???
But honestly, why not at this point? It’s not like a single other thing he’s seen since he opened his eyes has made a shred of sense.
“Let’s get a closer look, bud,” Hiccup murmurs, nudging Toothless downwards.
Or at least, trying to but the Night Fury continues growling in protest, trying to fly the other way.
“What – Toothless? We’ve gotta – ”
Dragon root arrows start flying.
Hiccup tries to dive, but it happens so suddenly because why would he ever have expected a Berk ship to start shooting at him?
An arrow hits Toothless and they fall, spiraling right for the water. A net gets thrown over them, yanking them on board the ship. Hiccup lands with a strangled groan, instantly reaching for a knife to cut himself free.
Except ohhh he can’t, because when he ran away from the Edge, he also didn’t stop to get any weapons because he’s just that smart and –
Seven familiar faces appear over Hiccup, weapons’ raised.
This is not happening this is not happening –
“Finally,” Astrid says, “And don’t let him get away this time!” Her axe is instantly shoved in his face.
Snotlout steps forwards to yank the net off and grab Hiccup. The twins and Fishlegs grab a muzzle out of nowhere, fully seriously going to put it on Toothless, with the ease of people who do this every day and don’t blink twice about it anymore.
“What are you doing?!” Hiccup demands, voice rising hysterically. He’s getting really really tired of how many times he keeps on asking that but what is happening can he please just wake up in a world where things actually make sense???
“What do you think we’re doing?” Heather asks, giving him a flat look.
“Dragon hunting, duh,” Ruffnut chirps.
“And capturing you of course. This is gonna be awesome!” Tuffnut crows, “We can practice canary singing on you again!”
“But – we’re friends – what are you – ” His heart is pounding hard enough he can hardly suck in a single breathe of air. There’s no way there’s any reality where his friends would be dragon hunters right? Sure, Berk used to kill dragons but not like this, not like…
The others blink at each other. Then, they burst out laughing – other than Heather.
The sound is a way too familiar echo of his childhood before he became friends with any of them, something he never wants to think about again. But staring at their hostile and mocking faces, that’s all he can think about suddenly.
“Thanks, I really needed that, cousin,” Snotlout drawls, “Us, friend with you?”
“Puh-lease,” Tuffnut agrees.
“Nice try! I’m not sure even we’d have thought of that as a distraction,” Ruffnut snickers.
“I mean, of course we would because the Nut is all knowing and all thinking but still,” Tuffnut adds.
Astrid makes a noise of disgust. “Get him below deck before he gets away again.”
“You’re dragon hunters?” Hiccup protests, trying to squirm against the twins as they start to drag him off, “But – why would you be – ”
“Is he serious?” Snotlout asks.
“Wait,” Hiccup protests, trying to yank free and getting absolutely nowhere, “You need to listen to me – ”
“Yes?” Heather cuts in, waving a hand at the twins in a momentary gesture to stop.
Uh, great.
What was he about to say, again? These aren’t his friends but all he can think about is them and how badly he wants to see them and the words come tumbling out fast and desperate before he can try to string together something remotely logical.
“Where I’m from, we’re friends and we ride dragons and we – we fight dragon hunters.”
The twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs look at each other and all start laughing again.
“Twas once a drill, then it became a game, now it is theater,” Ruffnut drawls.
“Why would we ever fight dragon hunters?” Fishlegs asks, incredulously.
“Because – ” Norns, how is this happening? And what’s happening? “Because you – they are hurting dragons and – ”
“Are you for real?” Snotlout asks, incredulous. “Why would we not want to hurt the dragons that hurt us?”
“They only fight and attack people because they’re trying to protect themselves. They – humans are moving on their lands and they’re just defending themselves – ”
He really really could’ve said most of that better. But he can’t even think straight right now.
“Are you actually insane or do you just act that way?” Astrid asks, leaning all up in his face.
He hasn’t been this afraid she’s about to beat him up in a long time. He is now. “Is – isn’t there a third option?”
“Wiping out dragons is why we’re here. You live in a different world, don’t you? Just coast by, taking it all for granted. Never having to work for anything, never struggling to get a foot up. You might have spent your entire life taken care of by some chief or another, but guess what? I come from nothing. No handouts, no excuses. I’m not afraid of hard work. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done which in this case means capturing or wiping out every dragon out there for the good of everyone.”
This is not happening –
“I can’t believe we finally have the Night Fury,” Fishlegs gushes, turning away to lean over Toothless who tries to snarl at him through the muzzle, “Maybe before we sell it, we can even use it to power the Dragon’s Eye just to see what we can find.”
Wait, his friends are dragon hunters and they –
“You have the Dragon’s Eye?” Hiccup blurts. All he wants to do now is cry, even if he’s stubbornly blinking away the growing wetness in his eyes. None of this makes any sense, and…
“You think I would lose it that fast?” Fishlegs asks, annoyed.
“Uh, maybe he forgot he lost it,” Tuffnut shrugs.
“Poor confused thing,” Ruffnut agrees.
“How did you even get the Dragon’s Eye?” Hiccup asks, mostly in a frantic effort at figuring out what’s happening.
They all look at each other, with identical expressions of utter confusion.
“Did you forget that, too?” Fishlegs asks, “We took it off you after I froze you with that Flightmare. Don’t tell me you don’t remember that.”
He – what?!
“That was funny,” Snotlout offers with a snicker. “You didn’t even see it coming. Like really?”
This is a nightmare.
Can he please just wake up?
“I – ”
“Seriously, drop the act,” Astrid snaps, “Whatever you’re going for with all this, you’re not getting.”
“I’m not entirely certain he’s faking,” Heather interjects, arms crossed.
“Uh, what does that mean?” Tuffnut asks, blinking in total confusion.
“I don’t know,” Heather replies, taking a few steps closer until she’s only inches from his face, almost like she’s trying to be threatening now. Right now, suddenly Hiccup he can think about is how much her eyes look like Dagur’s. “What is all this about, Hiccup?”
“I – ” How does he even explain any of this? “I think I’m in the wrong place,” he says, “I know all of you but not – not here? We really do ride dragons and we’ve been fighting Dagur and Viggo because they’re the dragon hunters and – ”
“Ooh,” Ruffnut crows, “You read theater? I loved that play too!”
“What, no, that’s not what I – ”
“Why are we even entertaining this conversation?” Astrid demands, “We don’t have time for this. Shut him up and get him below deck.”
“I’ll take him,” Heather cuts in, grabbing Hiccup’s arm and shoving him forwards, leading him down below.
The inside of this ship looks so much like a dragon hunter ship that it makes him sick. How could they be doing this? And the worst part is… he knows how Berk could’ve gone down that path. But they didn’t so what’s happening?
“You know,” Heather says flatly, “I can’t believe you flying out here all alone with no backup. And not even taking a shot when you had the chance. Were you trying to get captured?”
“I don’t even know what’s happening!” Hiccup protests, mostly hysterical now, “I didn’t when I woke up in this place and I still don’t and I went out flying and then – ”
“Look,” Heather cuts him off, “I don’t know what’s going on with you either but you’ve made an enemy of all of Berk and almost everyone in the archipelago so I’d suggest not getting captured. It’s not going to end well for you.”
She almost says it like she’s worried, even if she’s trying to hide it.
Like…
“Wait,” Hiccup blurts, pausing mid-step, “Are you infiltrating? I mean, in the life I lived, you – you infiltrated the hunters to spy on them for us. Even if you never told me. I – ”
Heather grabs his shoulders, spinning him around with enough sharpness that it makes his heart flip. She’s angry suddenly and now all he can think about is Dagur because that look in her eyes is exactly the same. “I wanted to be with you, Hiccup. I wanted you to be my brother but you chose the dragons. You left and – ”
She sighs, some of her anger suddenly fading. “You’re still my brother, but… But I’ve never found any place to belong before. Until… Well, I owe everyone here loyalty, if nothing else.”
“Okay,” Hiccup squeaks, “Uh, do you mind maybe… explaining what any of that’s supposed to mean?”
She huffs. “You really don’t remember anything, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” Tears are fiercely burning his eyes again, and he tries really hard to blink them back.
Heather sighs again. “Dragons came through my island, Hiccup. It wasn’t a raid. It was something else entirely. An enormous ice spiting dragon came through there, with hundreds of other dragons and some human was directing them… I never saw who it was clearly. They were trying to take control of the island, to force people to live with dragons and anyone who resisted was killed on the spot. My parents were killed there. Some of us didn’t want to stay so we ran, including me. The new island we tried to make home on… it didn’t go well either. We got into a war with the Berserkers and– Well, it doesn’t matter. But in the meantime, you were gone and the next thing I heard about you, you were a dragon rider and attacking the archipelago too.”
He… has no idea what to say to that. But if this is a hallucination, his brain is sure capable of coming up with ridiculously vivid ones. Might as well roll with it as this point, though.
“I can’t speak for any of that, Heather, when I don’t even remember it,” Hiccup admits, “But… the dragons that were attacking before were because of Red Death. They were being forced to. And… I don’t doubt that this was true here, too. Not that I’m saying what happened to your island wasn’t horrible. It was but – All dragons don’t deserve to be hurt because of that.”
Her eyes are dark. “Maybe they all aren’t like that but it doesn’t really matter. I don’t have anywhere else to be. You don’t know what it’s like to be completely alone.”
Uh, yeah, he does actually.
Or at least, he did in his time. No idea what his life here was like.
“You could come with me,” Hiccup offers.
Heather laughs humorlessly. “As if that would ever work.” She nudges him forwards into one of the cages, closing and locking the door.
“What is that supposed to – ”
But she’s already walking away.
***
The ship rocks violently suddenly, and Hiccup hears the sound of yells and dragon fire. A familiar enough noise but it’s strange when he really wasn’t expecting a rescue. And definitely not for someone to come rescue him from his friends. Who… are not his friends here and he’s trying not to think about that at all.
But this is as good a distraction as any so Hiccup gets his lockpick off his metal leg and breaks himself out of the cell, then runs down to Toothless’ cage to him out, too.
Toothless yips eagerly, nudging his side the moment he’s free.
“Let’s get out of here, bud,” Hiccup urges and they run for the deck.
And run straight into the twins and Fishlegs on the way.
Toothless swipes their feet out from under them with his tail and they keep running.
Dagur’s war cry splits the air as he runs out onto deck, to see him jumping off a bright green Gronckle which is snarling ferally at Snotlout, who’s backing away, looking like he wants to attack it but is too scared to try.
Astrid and Heather are both up here too, axes out.
Storm clouds are gathering in the sky above and Hiccup sees the Skrill moments later, sparking with electricity as it flies up.
Wait, is that Viggo riding it? How’s he even able to ride it without getting electrocuted? And most importantly, why is he on a dragon?!
Hiccup’s about to take off when Dagur’s gaze zeroes in on Heather. His face just goes murderous.
“You!” he snarls, ripping out an axe and flying at her.
She swings her own two-sided-axe up to meet his but he’s faster and better and mostly importantly, he’s fighting like he actually wants to hurt her. Like –
Hiccup doesn’t even understand because the one thing he accepted was that Dagur wouldn’t hurt Heather because she’s his sister.
And apparently, that’s more important to him than whatever Hiccup has been to him and it’s ridiculous how hurt he feels about that.
For a moment, Hiccup’s just frozen, watching.
Dagur knocks the axe from Heather’s hands, swiping her legs out from under her. She lands on the deck on her back, him standing over her.
The green Gronckle snarls at Snotlout again, and Fishlegs too as he makes it out onto the deck, trying to get to Dagur.
“Any last words, Heather?” Dagur asks, lifting his axe.
Like he’s actually –
Going to kill her?!
“Dagur!” Hiccup yells, lurching forwards, “What are you doing?!”
“Ending this today! What does it look like I’m doing?!” he yells back.
Hiccup lunges forwards without thinking, slamming into Dagur and shoving his arm aside before he can actually go through with it.
“Stay out of my way, brother!” Dagur pushes him back, “You said I would have another chance and now is the time!”
What in the –
The words are a terrifying echo of exactly what Heather said that day when –
Oh come on. Someone please tell him –
“Dagur, she’s your sister!” Hiccup yells.
The entire deck freezes.
“What?” Heather breathes.
“What are you talking about?!” Dagur demands, stilling.
Why is this happening again?!
“Heather, you have a horn given to you by your birth father, right?” Hiccup asks, breathlessly.
“Yeah, but what does that have anything to do with…” she trails off.
“Years ago, Stoick gave this horn to the Chief of the Berserker tribe, Oswald the Agreeable, as a gift for his newborn daughter. You were that newborn, Heather. Oswald the Agreeable is your father. And he is also Dagur's father. Heather’s your sister, Dagur. You can’t kill her.”
He has no idea if he wants to laugh hysterically or just cry about this.
It’s not like Hiccup being Dagur’s brother – if that’s what he was – mattered when he was trying to kill him. At least not until it suddenly… did. So he has no idea if this’ll matter to Dagur or not.
“No,” Heather breathes, faintly. She’s staring wide eyed and shaking with the same shock she did all those months ago when Hiccup told them this exact same news, in his own reality.
“I have to admit, you never disappoint, brother. Or maybe you’re actually my uncle. Who knows in this crazy world?” Dagur is somehow the first to find his voice, and just cackles as though anything is funny. Or maybe he’s laughing because nothing is.
Something moves behind Hiccup.
He doesn’t see it coming fast enough to react until Astrid is tackling him, axe pressing to his neck. “Surrender,” she calls, warningly.
Everyone on deck freezes a second time over.
“Release him,” Viggo orders, from where the Skrill is circling right overhead, watching that last bit of insane drama unfold.
Astrid scoffs. “Why would I do that?”
“Because if you were to look around you, you would realize you are in no position to bargain. One false move and my Skrill sinks your ship. And if you harm my son, Berk will face consequences they will not soon forget.”
Uh.
How is he supposed to feel about Viggo sticking up for him again?
Hiccup can feel Astrid’s glower without having to turn around but she lets him go finally. He scrambles back to Toothless’ side, and the Night Fury turns to give an extra snarl in Astrid’s face.
Dagur gets on his dragon and all of them take off, leaving the boat behind. No one fires after them.
Dagur looks like he’s still in shock
Hiccup… has no idea what to think anymore either. Except… that it’s very obvious he’s either in a different reality or having the most wild concussion daydream possible. And at this point? He might as well play along with it or he’s gonna lose his mind entirely. It’s not like he has a choice anyway. Someone please tell him he’s gonna wake up.
“How did you know Heather was my sister? You’ve never knew that before,” Dagur pipes up finally.
“As insane as this sounds, I think I’m from anther reality. Or something else that makes even less sense.” Hiccup hardly knows how he’s even able to find his voice right now, when his heart feels raw enough he just wants to cry. Those were his friends and – and they hate him here.
“Another reality?” Viggo repeats, somewhere between incredulous and a little amused.
“Look, I don’t know. So… just don’t ask. But Heather and Dagur were siblings there. What happened, Dagur? Why would you try to kill her?”
“She burned Berserker to the ground!” Dagur bursts out, “We had a fight with her island and she came after ours, got all sparky with a dragon and burned down the whole place. It’s gone, Hiccup. My entire island is gone.”
This is not happening.
But seriously, what could make Heather destroy an entire island? She might have totally lost it in his reality but she lost her island there too and she never became this violent. Maybe she was raised differently. Maybe the people on her island were as violent as Berserkers here and saw that as normal. He has no idea.
“You know,” Hiccup says, very slowly, “In my reality, you destroyed Heather’s island.”
“What?!” he yelps, “I wouldn’t do that, would I? I mean, I might have been really really really really really bored of Oswald always going on about peace all the time but… that doesn’t mean I was gonna destroy a whole island.”
Hiccup groans into his hands. He’s almost too tired to even talk about this. “Everything here is all backwards. Where I’m from, you two were the dragon hunters. Or at least… Dagur was for a while before he left. And Berk accepted dragons. Them back there – they were my friends. I…”
“You recall an entirely different life?” Viggo asks. He looks sort of… intrigued. Hiccup’s just trying not to think about how terrifying it is to even see him.
Hiccup nods.
They probably have questions and he has questions but he thinks he needs a few minutes to recollect his thoughts, and he thinks the same is true for the other two.
None of these people are the same as they are from his reality. Assuming it’s a different reality and not just a crazy hallucination, anyway. It’s probably not fair to treat them as though they’re the same but that’s way easier said than done, when he’s got no reason to trust any of them not to hurt him.
***
They get back to the Edge.
Dagur takes his dragon to the stables, with some rambled comment about how he’s guessing Ryker’s still busy in there with his own dragon – Ryker’s here too? Oh, of course he is why is Hiccup even surprised anymore – but mostly, Dagur looks like he seriously needs a few moments on his own to process what happened with Heather,
Which is how Hiccup finds himself alone in the clubhouse with Viggo.
Hiccup flinches back without really meaning to when the man takes a step towards him.
Something flickers in Viggo’s expression, too fast to really read. But he keeps a distance after that, which is…
Unsettlingly thoughtful.
“I imagine it must not be easy for everything to be the opposite of what you remember,” he says, voice unsettlingly gentle.
“Uh… not really,” Hiccup supplies uselessly. It’s really not something he’s comfortable mentioning. Not that he thinks he could talk about the rawness in his heart without crying, either. Which is the last thing he’s gonna do right here.
“Did they harm you?”
“No.” He very pointedly takes the seat nearest the door, holding himself tense and stiff all the while. Toothless is right at his side, though, which… helps.
He can’t decide if it makes him more or less relaxed that Toothless seems entirely calm with the whole situation. But his dragon would never let anyone hurt him, no matter who they were, so…
Viggo pours him a glass of water, pushing it across the table.
Hiccup blinks at it, holding back the instant is that poisoned. They’re apparently allies here. He probably shouldn’t need to worry about that? After a very hesitant moment, Hiccup takes it.
“I take it we didn’t have a good relationship in your reality?” Viggo asks, studying him.
The laugh that escapes is somewhere between startled and incredulous. “I suppose you could put it that way.”
“I do apologize on his behalf for any harm he brought you,” he says, and he almost sounds… genuine.
It’s a nice reminder that yeah, they aren’t the same person and it’s not fair to see it that way, but it doesn’t change that… You know, this voice is still right out of his nightmares.
“I would volunteer to have words with him but I believe only an act of Loki would allow that kind of intervention.”
“This entire thing is an act of Loki,” Hiccup says dryly.
Viggo laughs. “That is without a doubt.”
The silence that falls is strained and awkward, a million things buzzing on the edge of Hiccup’s tongue but none quite things he feels comfortable saying.
Like seriously, there’s some version of himself that could see this person as a parent? In all the….
“What was my life like here?” Hiccup blurts out, “I mean, how did we even…” he trails off, shrugging helplessly.
“You lived on Berk for your first fifteen years,” Viggo replies, “Your mother was the chief – “
Hiccup jolts. “My mother?!”
His eyebrows raise. “Yes?”
“But she – she died! I mean… in my reality. I never even knew her. What about my dad?” A sudden knot of dread twists in his gut.
“He was taken by dragons when you were a baby,” Viggo answers, “Your mother raised you. Despite what happened to your father, she…. believed there was a chance of peace with dragons and she raised you with that belief.”
She – what?
It doesn’t sink in until right now how little he knows about his mother. All he does know is that he’s feared for years that she’d hate him for standing with her killers. Stoick basically told him as much, years ago, and it’s something he’s never forgotten even if they never talked about it again. It’s why he can never bring himself to touch the helmet made from her armor. He doesn’t deserve too.
“Berk was never accepting of your mother’s view on peace so the fighting continued,” he goes on. “Eventually… you met Toothless.”
The dragon purrs happily, rubbing against Hiccup’s side.
“You wanted to try showing Berk the truth of dragons, so… you and your mother staged what I believe you called the Trial of Flame, where you planned to tame a dragon in front of the entire village.”
Hiccup’s hands tighten on his water glass, a sudden gnawing feeling of dread he can’t quite explain filling him. “And?” he asks, faintly.
There’s something sharper in Viggo’s gaze now, like he’s angry, except… not at him. For him? That’s…. more unsettling than about anything else, actually.
“Your tribe was furious, saying you and their chief were a disgrace to the Viking ways. It became a fight and… your mother was killed. You would have been as well if Toothless had not come in to fly out with you.”
Toothless whines softly, pressing a little more firmly against Hiccup’s side. Hiccup reaches out slowly, scratching his neck, though his mind feels far away.
On the day of his own Trail of Flame.
Because he knew even then that it could have gone so much worse.
“Toothless flew you far away from Berk. You both crashed on an island, half dead, and… you were found by my hunters.”
Hiccup stills. “So you were still hunters here? Then how did Berk….” He’s very confused about this reality.
“I was,” Viggo agrees, “But you changed the hunters immensely. You showed our tribe how to work with dragons instead of merely against them.”
Ours.
Because here, it is an ‘our’.
Still hard to imagine.
“Spitelout took over Berk after your mother was gone. The people wanted the dragons gone and…. they took up dragon hunting.”
“Oh,” is all Hiccup can uselessly offer, because what else is he supposed to say to any of that? “But why – why would you… adopt me?”
“Because my dear Hiccup, Berk may not have seen your value and you may see yourself as not worth any attention, but that does not mean everyone sees it that way. You asked me the same question here, repeatedly.” There’s something uncomfortably intense in his gaze.
Hiccup looks away, the edge of the table digging into his palms hard enough to be painful.
Nobody would…
This doesn’t even make sense.
Viggo shifts to get up.
Hiccup’s head snaps back to him instantly, but he’s moving slowly – deliberately so – enough that Hiccup can track his moves and see he’s not about to do something threatening. He goes to get a…. stuffed dragon, pushing it across the table to Hiccup.
Also with enough slowness that Hiccup can see it coming, like he’s entirely aware that his presence is uncomfortable and he’s actually… being sensitive about it?
It would be a lot less freaky if he just didn’t care actually.
Also, what is he supposed to do with the sight of Viggo Grimborn passing him a stuffed animal?
“This was only thing you had with you from Berk,” Viggo offers by way of explanation.
It’s the same one his mother got him. Of course he still had it in this reality, too.
Hiccup picks it up, fingers tracing across it. It’s actually nicely distracting to be holding something like this right now, even if it makes him feel a little childish and stupid.
“Would you like to tell me about your interactions with this…. other version of me?” Viggo asks.
Hiccup stills again, eyes fixed on the stuffed dragon. “I – ”
“You don’t have to, if you would rather not,” he amends, with enough gentleness that Hiccup thinks a few of his brain cells died.
“Um. Well, the last time we met, you were going to start a plague for no reason.” First thing that came to mind, okay?
“Perhaps there are more similarities between our realities than I thought,” he replies, almost dryly.
Hiccup’s head snaps up. “What?”
“I may have entertained the possibility of solving Berk’s intrusions in our waters for dragon hunting the fast way,” Viggo replies calmly, like that’s something anyone should be able to say perfectly casually, “And they would have more than deserved it for what they did to you.”
Hiccup blinks, then blinks again. “What is honestly wrong with you?” he asks finally, voice a bit hysterical and strangled at once.
“What do you mean by that, my dear?” Now he just looks amused.
“You talk about poisoning people and hand me a stuffed animal in the course of two minutes.”
But honestly? It would scare him a lot more if this Viggo wasn’t also a psychopath. Just a really… weird and confusing one.
“They hurt you and have tried to do so again repeatedly. That doesn’t stand. And at times, ruthlessness is necessary to achieve your goals.”
“Thanks for the life advice, but I think I’ll pass,” Hiccup says flatly.
“You’re too innocent and naïve, Hiccup,” he says, not like an insult surprisingly, more… simply like an observation, “And at some point that could risk getting you or someone you care about hurt or killed.”
Uh.
“That still doesn’t mean I’d want all of Berk hurt because of me."
“I know,” he acknowledges, “That’s why I didn’t do it. You – my version of you told me the same.”
Well, that’s… sort of relieving to know.
Hiccup looks back down at the stuffed animal again. Holding it actually makes this conversation easier – somehow.
The door to the clubhouse swings open suddenly and of all people it could have been, Ryker walks in, with a baby Razorwhip dangling off the arm piece of his armor, fiercely chewing like this is a teething toy.
“There you are, kid,” he says, some of the annoyance on his face smoothing over to something like relief for a moment, “Dagur told me you were captured for… a few minutes. You really need to stop with all the kidnappings.”
Hiccup looks at him, bug-eyed.
“Did Dagur not mention to you that Hiccup presently only remembers you as an enemy and therefore would not likely appreciate a sudden entrance?” Viggo asks mildly.
“He might have mentioned something about that,” Ryker says, looking back to Hiccup, “Is that true, kid?”
Like that’s somehow a perfectly normal nickname to hear from Ryker?
“Uh. Yeah?” Hiccup offers weakly.
The Razorwhip wriggles around, wrapping its front paws more firmly around Ryker’s arm to get a better grip as it keeps gnawing.
“Since when did we… uh… have one of those here?” he adds weakly, mostly to change the topic as he points at the baby dragon. And also, because all he can think about is how in Thor’s name could a baby dragon feel safe climbing around on Ryker?
Ryker huffs. “The story’s not important if you don’t remember. Would one of you mind putting her to bed?”
Viggo materializes a book out of nowhere and starts paging through it. “I could,” he agrees smoothly, turning a page with a bored indifference that looks like it’s meant solely to be annoying, “But it is to your great misfortune and my significant benefit that she mistook you for a woman and chose you as her adopted mother, not anyone else.”
Hiccup blinks. “What?!”
“It’s hardly my fault these things are born blind.” Ryker scowls down at the baby that keeps chewing happily, entirely unbothered.
‘It wouldn’t be mine either,” Viggo agrees, turning another page in his book and not looking up.
“Someone mind cluing me in?” Hiccup asks, hopelessly confused.
“We were on a trip to Wingmaiden island to discuss alliances,” Ryker replies, “They invited us to watch their ceremony where baby Razorwhips choose who their caretaker will be.”
“Uh, wait… there’s another tribe out here that accepted dragons?” Hiccup asks.
Viggo actually looks up at that. “The Wingmaidens have been associated with dragons for generations. They say nearly a thousand years ago, the Razorwhip almost became extinct and they now have a mutual understanding with the mothers that the hatchlings will stay with them until they are strong enough to fly. Each hatchling has a specific caretaker during that time, until they are returned to the wild. Since the Male Razorwhips will often feed on the hatchlings, female Razorwhips will only be around females of any species during nesting time. Hence, all the Wingmaidens are women.”
“And this one still chose me,” Ryker finishes, scowling down at the baby again, who’s still blissfully chewing on his armor.
Hiccup slowly looks between Ryker and the dragon baby.
And then starts laughing.
He laughs until he cries.
“It’s not that amusing,” Ryker grumbles.
Toothless giggles in gleeful agreement with Hiccup.
“Sure,” Hiccup snips finally, wiping his eyes and trying to stifle his giggles, “I can help you with the baby.”
Because sure, that’s a totally normal thing to say to Ryker too.
Ryker makes a noise that is probably meant as a thank you but in the I’m too sore at you to say it sort of way.
It’s entirely freaking him out how much they both act like… like they’re all family. Uh, he’s just not gonna think about that at all right now.
Hiccup follows Ryker out the door, Toothless pattering after him.