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HTTYD Christmas Special: A Snoggletog Miracle Pt 1

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HTTYD Christmas Special: A Snoggletog Miracle—Part 1

It was almost midnight, and Gobber was just finishing his nightly clean-up of the smithy. He thought no one else was still awake until he heard quiet footsteps outside.

Peeking outside, he saw a blond, teenage girl sneaking past.

“Astrid! What are ya still doin’ awake?” Gobber exclaimed loudly.

Astrid whirled around. “Shh, my parents don’t know I’m here!” she yell-whispered. “I was just looking for Toothless…”

“I expect he’s at the Chief’s house; that’s where he was last time I saw him. I’da thought ya were lookin’ fer Hiccup, but then, he’s not ‘ere…”

A wave of sadness passed over Astrid's face. “I know, that’s why I’m looking for Toothless.” She felt a sudden urge to tell Gobber what she’d been doing since Hiccup left; she knew he wouldn’t tell her secret. “I’ve been visiting Toothless every night ever since they headed out. He just comforts me, wakes me up before my parents do so they don’t know I went out. Toothless misses him, too…”

Gobber patter her shoulder. “I’m sure Hiccup thinks about you every day. And I have a feelin’ tha’ they won’t be gone much longer, Astrid. They’ve been out there for nearly a month, more than enough time to get their task done.”

Astrid’s mind wandered.

She was feeding her dragon Stormfly when he called her name. “Astrid! I need to talk to you about something,” Hiccup panted, having run from his house all the way to the other side of the village, where Astrid’s house was.

They walked to one of Berk’s secluded shores and sat watching the sea for a bit. Hiccup had a strange look on his face; a mixture of sadness, and…anger, maybe? Whatever it was, it made her feel uneasy.

“What do you need to tell me, Hiccup?” Astrid prodded gently.

He shook his head and drew himself up. “Um…I’m not going to be on Berk for a while, Astrid. I don’t know for how long. I only know that Dad has to go negotiate with some other Viking tribes about an iron ore mine that’s been found on an uninhabited island. We’re going to talk about how we’re going to share the metal inside and stuff like that. Just so we don’t go to war with each other. If we come to a reasonable agreement, we might go ahead and start mining, and bringing the iron back here. Anyway, Dad wants me to come with him.”

Astrid raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“He thinks it’ll be ‘good exposure’ or something like that. It’ll show me how a Chief solves his problems or whatever.” He sighed.

“I take it you don’t want to go.”

“Honestly, I’d rather stay here. Snoggletog is less than two months away. I know it’s kind of a long time, but from the sound of it, this trip could also be a long time. Maybe a month or longer. I’d prefer spending Snoggletog on Berk with you than on a ship out on the open ocean.” He blushed; it was fairly obvious that he hadn’t meant to say the “with you” part.

Astrid nodded glumly, pretending she hadn’t noticed. “So when are you leaving?”

“End of the week. And we’re not taking dragons, by the way, since most Viking tribes don’t like them much.”

Astrid looked at Hiccup sharply. “But what if something happens to you? Dragons could save your life!”

“I know, but Dad says we can’t risk anything. Especially if the Berserkers show up.”

“You at least have to take Terrible Terrors for airmail! I want to hear from you every once in a while.  Promise me you’ll take at least a couple?”

Hiccup could see several things wrong with that, but decided not to argue. “I’ll try to get my dad to let us sneak a few below deck.”


The rest of the flashback was a blur. They had spent the next few days together, whether with Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins or alone. Two days before Hiccup was due to leave, Stoick had called him away from the Dragon Academy to prepare for the journey. At the end of the week, he had left, but not before Astrid had given him a little goodbye kiss.

“Astrid? Astrid! Are ya awake?” Gobber shook her none too gently.

Astrid shook her head. “Yeah…I’m fine.” She nervously drummed her fingers on the counter of the smithy. “So you said Toothless is at Hiccup’s place tonight? Thanks, he gets restless at night without Hiccup here, so he moves from place to place and I have to go look for him everywhere…”

Gobber smiled at her. “Well, if that’s all, then I bid ya good night, Astrid,” he said, tipping his helmet.

She waved and headed for the Chief’s house. Slipping inside, she whispered, “Toothless?” and was relieved to hear an answering hum from the great Night Fury. He lay on the floor next to the fire pit in the middle of the room. Astrid dropped next him, and he covered her with his wing, simultaneously starting a small fire in the pit. She was grateful; it was only two weeks before Snoggletog and the weather was even colder than usual.

Her mind meandered again, and her stomach swooped unpleasantly as she realized that Hiccup hadn’t kept his promise to write to her. She hadn't received a single letter since the day he’d left, even though he had been able to convince Stoick to keep four Terrors below deck. Stoick could just be keeping Hiccup too busy to write, or maybe he did send one, but the Terror went astray, she thought, trying to quell the rising anxiety in her heart.

There was nothing wrong. The letter was just taking a while to arrive, that was all.  None too reassured, she snuggled next to Toothless and fell into a fitful sleep.

††

Astrid awoke screaming in terror.

A nightmare had invaded her worried mind, one that would haunt her for years to come. She was watching several Vikings descend into a pit, some Hooligans, some from other tribes. Other Vikings were milling around the opening to the pit.

They were saying nothing of interest, and dream-Astrid was thinking about following the other Vikings into the great hole when a great rumble shook the earth. She backed away as the ground fell in on itself, as if the very foundation of the pit had given way.

For a full minute, the earthquake rattled so hard that Astrid could not stay on her feet. Then, as abruptly as it had started, it ceased.

Astrid lifted her head slowly, eyes wide with terror as she beheld the pit. Or at least, what was left of it.

She rushed to the edge and peered in. She gasped, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, as she realized that the hole was almost completely filled in, some Vikings trapped at the top, a few moaning and trying to free themselves from rocks and dirt,  others unmoving.

Astrid wanted to help them, but found herself unable to move as a horrifying thought struck her like the blast of a Night Fury.

Hiccup had gone in there!

She knew there was no saving him. She began to scream in anguish.

That was how she woke up.

Gobber was the first to practically break down the door to get at her. “Astrid, what’s wrong, is everythin’ all right?”

Astrid caught her breath. “Everything’s fine, just a bad dream,” she panted.

“Must’ve been quite a dream, ya woke up yer dragon!” Gobber was shoved aside as Stormfly stuck her head through the doorway.

“I’m fine, girl, get back to your bed before my parents notice,” Astrid ordered her dragon. Stormfly, put out by the fact that Astrid was hanging out with Toothless so much lately, snorted and refused. “Stormfly! Go, or I’ll be in trouble!”

“You’re already in trouble, young lady!” exclaimed a voice that was quite familiar to Astrid.

She groaned. Her parents, Phlegma the Fierce and Brune the Burly, had finally found out about her sneaking out.

Astrid got up along with Toothless and walked to the door with the dragon by her side. Stormfly moved out of the way to reveal her rider’s angry parents. Astrid noticed other Vikings out in the village square, wondering where the screaming had come from.

“What were ya doin’ in the Chief’s house?” Brune asked bluntly. “Tryin’ ta wake up the whole village?”

“Mom, Dad, I can explain. I’ve…been missing Hiccup so much that I’ve been sneaking out to be with Toothless. He’s really the only one that can relate to me—”

“What about me? Hiccup’s like a son ta me,” Gobber protested.

“Well, I guess so, but it would be kind of awkward to go looking for you,” Astrid replied uncomfortably. “And besides, it’s more of a friend relationship for the two of us rather than a parent-offspring relationship. Much, much more. Anyway, Toothless is just comforting me. That’s all that’s been happening, isn’t that right, Toothless?” The dragon hummed in affirmation.

Phlegma looked as though she didn’t know what to say. Then she smiled. “Oh, I think I understand, Astrid. Teenage romance…” she said quietly, more to her husband than to Astrid. Phlegma rolled her eyes.

“Mom! This isn’t about romance. It’s just that he’s my friend, I haven’t heard from him in a while, and I had a dream that he was in a massive earthquake and got crushed to nothing by tons of rock. Okay?”

Phlegma crossed her arms, silently warning her daughter not to cross the line of disrespect. Astrid got the message and visibly wilted. “Could I just go back to sleep?”

Brune took his wife by the elbow. “Come on, Phlegma, let’s leave Astrid to get her sleep. She can come back to the house at breakfast time. Stormfly, come on!”

“That’s okay, Dad, she can stay outside,” Astrid said quickly. Stormfly parked herself right on the stairs; Phlegma and Brune were forced to go around her into the large snow banks. “All this snow, and it’s not even Snoggletog yet!” Phlegma grumbled.

Astrid looked at Gobber. “Gobber, I’m totally fine,” she emphasized.

He shrugged. “All right.”

Astrid watched him walk back to his house, then patted Stormfly on the head and went back inside Hiccup’s house with Toothless. Sitting next to the fire, she gazed at the dying embers, which reminded her of her dream, all the dying Vikings…

It wasn’t only the deaths that bothered her; it was the vividness of the dream. It had seemed so real.

But it couldn’t be. She had just dreamed that Hiccup had been in a colossal earthquake; it was a product of her overactive imagination, fueled by her worry from not having heard from Hiccup.

But again, it was so realistic. Was it a premonition? Oh, Thor, no, please don’t let it be a premonition, she thought desperately. Odin, I am begging you, don’t let it be a premonition.

Forget sleeping. Astrid didn’t want to risk having another dream like that until Hiccup got back. Then at least he would be there to console her, to let her know that he was really alive and well, that he hadn’t died.

†To be continued†
So this is part one of my HTTYD Christmas Special, A Snoggletog Miracle. I'm really sick right now, so it might not be as good as usual. If you guys think my writing is good, anyway.

Will Hiccup be home in time for Snoggletog? And if he is, will he ever be the same?

This is just part one. I hope the last part up by or on Christmas, but it'll probably end up being after that unless I write like a madman over these next few days. I'm sick, so that's no totally out of the question, anyway.

I'm putting this under romance because there is some. Although you might also put this under horror...just because some bad stuff happens to our favorite dragon rider.

Please comment and let me know what you think.
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spartan889's avatar
Awsome story man