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epilogue, ii
how to write a snoggletog pageant

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    THE NEXT MORNING Hiccup and Valkyrie went searching for their dear old friend Gobber the Belch. Ten years later, and he was still quite the mess of a Viking with the same amount of interchangeable hands and attitude. Though these days, his work around the forge had begun to slow down, and their old mentor had decided to retire, spending his days wandering about, telling the children wild stories and speaking to the statute of the late Stoick the Vast▬once and always still, their favourite crazed Hooligan. 

    The village of New Berk was blanketed in thick snow, but the sun was shining down▬and children had ventured out from the fire of their homes to play. Valkyrie smiled, watching them chase after each other with sticks and try to smack each other on their helmets. She hooked her arm through with her husbands, and decided that there was nothing more, right now, she wanted than to make sure the next generation remembered their scaly friends. To see her eldest return the love that Val knew Zephyr and Toothless held for her. To see her youngest cry out Toothless's name with an unconditional favouritism. To see her nieces and her nephews experience the same magic that stayed in their legacy and their memory. 

    Hiccup stopped abruptly and Valkyrie skidded a little on the icy cobblestone. She frowned at him only to realise and chuckle out a nostalgic breath, watching her brother Mak shoot past with a wave and a shout of: "Hey! Get back here▬!" to his son Luk▬a rambunctious, trouble-loving six-year-old. He had somehow managed to get ahold of his father's axe. "You put that down right now, mister!"

    Valkyrie sighed after them, remembering the days when she ran after Mak and Erik in a similar matter with a warm heart. It made her feel old to see them married and with children. Though, as she saw Erik▬who was passing with his wife Dalia and their newborn, Kira▬slyly reach a foot out to trip his older brother in the snow ... Valkyrie realised that some things truly never do change. 

     "How old am I again?" Val sighed sadly to her husband as they continued on their way. "I still▬I still feel eighteen..."

     "You look not a day over twenty, Milady," he told her and kissed her temple. 

      "Good answer," she smiled at him and reached up to squeeze his chin that was now scruffy with a full beard. "You on the other hand, look a day over thirty-two, Chief."

      "Well," he pulled her hand away, chuckling, "I suppose I'm not fooling anyone of my age just yet."

        Valkyrie leaned into his shoulder, "You know I think it very much suits you."

     "Yeah, Snotlout was right about one thing, you do like▬"

       She elbowed him and the rest of his sentence was cut off in the back of his throat as they passed another group of kids running with snowballs clutched in their gloves. Hiccup massaged his side as they finally found Gobber where they presumed he would be: standing in the shadow of Hiccup's father with a weeping heart.

     "Aye▬" he sobbed up to his old friend, "▬remember that time we were at that mead-house and those two Visigoths wagered I couldn't hold my left elbow in a boiling pot of gruel for five minutes?" He laughed. "Ha! Good times."

     Valkyrie and Hiccup slowed to a stop behind him, watching Gobber continue with his many tales. They shared a hesitant glance. Val nodded to him to say something, Hiccup hunched up: I'm not interrupting. Her gaze narrowed. He is your crazy friend, not mine!

     She lightly elbowed him again when he didn't say anything▬and it jolted him into clearing his throat as he stumbled a little to the left. "Uh▬" he cleared his throat again, "▬Gobber...?"

     He turned around, and with a casual smile, he greeted them with a wave of the clubbed mace attached to his left stump. "Hey, kids! I was just talking to a statue of your father as if he were really here."

    Valkyrie clutched her hands behind her back, sharing another estranged look with her husband▬one that was almost identical. (They say after living under the same roof for so many years, married Vikings adopted each others mannerisms▬she, of course, would never admit to such truth ... but Astrid always seemed to point them out, for some reason ...).

     Gobber sighed sadly as he walked up to them, "It pains me, you know, how the wee ones of this town have forgotten Stoick."

    "I know!" agreed Valkyrie. "And Linnea is afraid of dragons▬Nea! She used to sleep on Toothless's back!" 

    "That's why▬" Hiccup continued on with her sentence without a second thought, resting a gentle hand on her back, "▬we want to bring back the Snoggletog pageant."

    Gobber seemed to light up at this, "Aye! What a great idea, you two! Come on▬my, I remember my first Snoggletog pageant ... I was a wee fella, about your littlest one's age...!"

   Valkyrie sighed to herself as he started, but with a knowing smile from Hiccup, the two followed after the old blacksmith back to his home. Immediately, as soon as they entered, Val caught a whiff of the most terrible smell. She tried very hard not to cough, stifling it down with a clear of her throat. She and Hiccup stood waiting as Gobber rummaged through his shelves and his cupboards▬he pulled out numerous things ... some ... Valkyrie didn't even want to know what they were ... Until finally, he found what he was looking for.

    Gobber lugged out a large leather-bounded book that was fraying at the edges. He blew on the cover and a cloud of dust billowed up in front of them. Valkyrie and Hiccup coughed, waving it away until they could see Gobber's grinning face again. 

    "You're in luck!" he said as they did. He set the book down onto his table. "The script I wrote for the last pageant!"

    And just like that, the two hunched up with a flash of horrifying memories.  Valkyrie remembered the sight of severed wooden dragon heads, swords and splattering red apples for blood. At the time, she had cheered and clapped▬delighted at the sight of Stoick the Vast crying out into the crisp winter air: "Die, you evil beasts with twisted souls! Vikings will forever swim in the rivers of your blood▬!"

    But now ... she could start to see how a script such as that would not be appropiate. 

    Gobber took a glance at the writing inside and reared back his head, his face contorting with embarrassment, "Oh▬That's nasty."

    Valkyrie rubbed her husband's back who was shaking a little beside her▬looking as though he just relived a childhood nightmare. (Now that she remembers it ... little Horrendous Haddock was crying in the front row ...).

     Meeting her gaze, he jabbed a finger down multiple times on the old parchment pages, "This▬this has not aged well."

     His wife let out a sheepish chuckle and rubbed the back of her neck, "Hmm..." she bounced her brows in agreement. "I think it might be a good idea to start from scratch, Gobber ..." an idea struck her and she rose up onto her toes, "Oh! I know▬Why don't we show when everything changed▬?"

     Her husband's excitement caught her off guard, "▬Oh that would be fantastic, honey▬!" he took her arm and gave it a thrilling shake. She blinked, trying to keep up with him in order to calm him down. Her hands followed his wild gestures that flew everywhere▬she didn't know how he managed it, but he had gotten worse with them over the years. "Uh▬Like when I met Toothless and▬"

     "Okay, okay, okay▬" Valkyrie took his hands and pulled them down, holding them, "▬take a breath and think▬you know▬perhaps more big picture, babe? When all Vikings and dragons became friends."

    "Oh, Valkyrie!" sighed Gobber happily. "I love that! I'll start writing immediately. This is gonna be just what we need▬to honour our friendships with dragons and, of course..." they watched him slowly reach up to tug a dangling rope. Down fell a glorious, large and mighty tapestry of ... "... my great friend, Stoick."

     Hiccup winced. "Okay...?"

     Valkyrie just reached up to gently push his hand down, shaking her head. 

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    ALL NIGHT, Hiccup worked. He hadn't stayed up this long to complete a project in a very long time▬and while he wasn't as young and spry as he used to be (don't hold it over him, okay? He hasn't aged that much▬he was still quite young! He had a lot more left of his life▬!), he found himself managing to get most of it finished as the new morning sun rose. This pageant, he needed it to work. To keep their dragons in the memory of their children as wonderful creatures and not terrifying beasts was always something important, but to remind Linnea ... that tugged at his heart the most. They knew she was too young to remember the way Toothless would smile at her, or the way Zephyr always curled up close to her. Hiccup knew they would always be telling her these memories rather than her looking back and thinking on them with a loving smile. That she'd hold nothing of them except her old toys. 

    But Hiccup remembered with such tenderness in his heart how much she loved Zephyr and Toothless▬and how much they loved her. He remembered the way his dragon took one final glance before he left, just to catch a glimpse of her one last time. Linnea was important to them, and they used to be important to her. Hiccup couldn't just stand by and let that disappear and fall away. It hurt him too much to even think of it. 

    "Hiccup!"

    Gobber's voice made the Chief stand straight. He spun around, holding up a massive metal helmet against his shoulders. Hiccup peered through the slits into daylight and saw his old mentor rush into his workshop in a blur of sunlight and shadows. "Hiccup▬I've been up all night! It's just a draft▬" he waved a thick set of scrolls in his hand, "▬but I'm gonna be honest▬it's brilliant▬whoa!" 

    He came to a shocked stand-still as he finally noticed Hiccup in the room ... though, in the shadows ... how could it be him? With such a snout, scales as black as the night and inquisitive ears ... Gobber could not believe his eyes. He gasped a hitched breath: "... Toothless?"

    Hiccup unclipped the latch and pushed open the helmet to show his grinning face, "Pretty great, right?!"

    Gobber shook his head in disbelief. "Amazing!" he exclaimed as Hiccup pulled the helmet off. He suddenly jumped as a wonderful thought hit him, "Wait a minute▬I've got an idea!" he rushed forward and pointed the script at Hiccup's chest. "We should use this for the pageant!"

     Hiccup faltered. "Well▬" he glanced down at the helmet he spent all night making. "I▬yeah, that's, that's ..." he sighed, letting it go with a roll of his eyes. "Gee, I never would've thought of that."

     He sighed as he wandered over to the schematics he had sketched across his wall. He leaned onto his bench, feeling a breath of sadness weigh over him▬he stared into the eyes of the drawing of his long lost friend; features he knew only by memory, now ... and suddenly wished he could be here to see this show. 

     He briefly glanced at Gobber who had come to join him at his shoulder, "I'm gonna make him look so much like Toothless," he promised, "Nea's gonna fall in love with him."

    "He's beautiful," said Gobber. Then, he pursed his lips and rested his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "But ... cogs and gears can't bring back the warmth of your friend's nose or the light in his eyes, Hiccup..."

     The Chief hung his head. He sighed once more, understanding Gobber's words deep to their core. He patted his old mentor's hand before it lifted off, "Or the sound of your best friend's voice. Yeah, I▬I miss my dad, too, Gobber."

     "Ah▬" the blacksmith smiled, "▬we'll make them both proud."

    Hiccup nodded, grateful that no matter what, he still had Gobber. 

    Once he was finished, Hiccup decided to head home. Maybe get a bit of rest before the rest of the errands for the pageant were set to begin. He yawned as he took the small trek back to the house; walking up the winding slope to the home that rested above the others, looking down upon the village they all helped build. There was only a couple of days before Snoggletog, and Hiccup was admittedly excited about the pageant▬he started to think of all the wonderful things he could add to Toothless's suit to make Linnea smile. So he could see her eyes glimmer and her face light up with her mother's wonder. She will remember how much she loved the dragons▬loved Toothless, Hiccup knew she will. 

    He slowly came to a stop as he reached the front deck of the house. Hiccup made a face at the fish hanging down from the support beams above. "Uh ...?" he glanced around before awkwardly giving it a gentle tug. 

    As soon as he heard the rope creak, Hiccup's gaze shot sideways. He gaped and rushed forward and inside to avoid the great big log swinging right towards him. He let out a sigh and shook his head▬Linnea won't get him this time▬!

     It hit him▬

    BUTHUMP▬!

    "AAAAARGHHH▬!"

    Hiccup landed harshly back onto the snow. He groaned to himself▬he should have seen that coming. (She was his daughter after all...) Something latched tight onto his right foot. Hiccup's eyes widened and he forced his head up to look▬his stomach dropped to see another length of rope latch around his ankle. "Oh no▬"

     He yelled out as he was dragged up the stairs and across the deck▬in a flash, he was back inside ... except, everything around him was upside down. Hiccup struggled, peering through the rope that had him suspended from the ceiling. He swung in a circle, bewildered at the sight of his children jumping and celebrating right in his face. 

    "Yes!" cried Linnea, giving him a slight push in her excitement. "Look, Dad▬it worked! Did you see it, Dad?"

     "You're upside down!" Kåre pointed at him. 

     Hiccup blinked, overwhelmed, "I'm ... I'm upside▬?"

     Pushing in front of his younger brother, Leiv laughed and jumped around his father, "We're going to catch a dragon, Dad!" he told him. He flung out a few punches that barely missed Hiccup's nose. "Knock him cold so he can't eat us! I'm gonna hit him like this! I'm gonna but him with me wee head▬Just like this, Dad!" he rammed up into the wall, "▬Ow!"

    "You're so dumb, Leiv!" Linnea scolded him as he did. "You're not gonna hurt any dragon doing that▬" her squeal pierced Hiccup's ears as Leiv just turned his head and rammed into her. The two of them hit the ground. "GET OFF ME! LEIV!" 

     Kåre watched his father dangle in front of him, curious before he reached out and tried to poke his beard through the gaps in the rope. As their two eldest squabbled in the corner, Valkyrie held her hands sweetly in front of her skirt with a proud smile on her face. "Linnea designed the whole trap herself!"

     As soon as she heard her name, Linnea glanced back. She forgot all about Leiv as he tried to attack her as if she was the dragon he will kill▬pushing him aside and rushing forward, "Yeah!" she said. "Yeah, Dad, I did! I designed it, built it and I trapped you in it▬Do you like it, Dad? Dad, do you like it? Mum▬" she spun to Val before Hiccup could answer, "▬do you like it?"

    "It's great, honey!" Valkyrie turned soft as soon as her daughter turned to her and rushed forward to give her a cuddle. Immediately, Linnea scrunched her face up and hunched at the big kiss Val gave her on the cheek. 

    "Mum▬!" she complained, trying to shove her off. "That's disgusting! I'm not a baby anymore! I'm twelve."

    "You'll always be my baby▬" she squeezed her daughter tight and she huffed, rolling her eyes as if to say, Mum is so embarrassing. "My smart, dragon-trapping baby."

    Hiccup frowned at his wife, incredulous. "Hey," he let out at her change of tone. Valkyrie just shot him a scowl. "Oh▬yeah, uh▬" he swung a full turn in the room until he saw Linnea again, "▬no, so proud, Nea. So proud! Did you▬did you use a pulley system ...? Uh... is there▬is there a trigger to get me down, or...?"

    Linnea managed to free herself from her mother's proud squeeze and dashed past her father without a second thought, "Come on, guys▬!" she called to her brothers, "▬Let's set some traps outside. Come on! Come on!"

    Her brothers followed her without fail, prancing after their older sister and listening to her every word. "Yeah!" Leiv cried, picking up Kåre and lugging him along with him. "We're going to kill a dragon!"

     Valkyrie quickly gasped and rushed after them, "Wait! Wait▬before you go▬put on your furs! Have you got your furs on, it's freezing▬?! Hey, kids!"

    Soon, it was just Hiccup left in the home. As the doors closed and he was alone in dim light, he sighed▬he swung himself a little, wondering how in Hel he was going to get down. "Okay..." he struggled in the traps hold. "Okay... that's▬This pageant better work..."    

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    PREPARATIONS for the Snoggletog Pageant had officially begun. The rest of the day was chaos of Vikings going back and forth▬together, they worked to build the stage, Valkyrie painted backdrops with the children, her brother Asrifth desperately tried to guide Eret son of Eret on where to hang the wooden stars▬there was a blur of chatter, excitement and Vikings passing on and off the stage for auditions. There was so much to get done and not much time to do it, but they were nothing if not great under pressure. They were Vikings! They can handle some last minute Snoggletog celebrations. 

    Valkyrie loved it. She loved ordering around her friends. She liked telling Snotlout to get moving and for him to complain at her the entire time. She liked pointing to Ruffnut to remind her that there were more stage props to be carted into place and to leave Fishlegs alone so he could get his list of things done instead of turning into a flustered mess at her kisses. "Ugh!" She let out, annoyed, "Fine▬!" before slumping off side stage. 

    She sighed, shaking her head after her before deciding to shake her list up at Hott who was standing up on the ladder above her, adding finishing touches to his dragon artwork. "Hott!" she shouted purely to annoy her younger brother. "We don't have all day▬hurry up!"

    "Hey!" he snapped back down at her, pointing his paintbrush in her direction. "You get up here and paint these scales, Valkyrie, then."

    From the front row of seats, Astrid called out to him, "You're doing great, honey! Just a bit to the left▬you missed a scale▬"

    Hott pointed the paintbrush then onto his pregnant wife watching him who was keeping the children company (and calling out helpful comments ... or just making sure people stayed on track when Valkyrie couldn't reach them), unable to do any heavy lifting at this stage. "You▬" he stopped himself at the arch of her brow. Hott smiled lovingly, "▬look wonderful today, honey. No stress▬no stress onto you ... Just sit back and relax, I've▬I've got it all sorted. I missed a scale▬oh, would you look at that! I missed a scale ... Thank you, honey!"

    Astrid smirked and glanced at Valkyrie who had wandered over to stand beside her, "He's so stressed," she watched him work and her smirk turned into a sweet smile. "I'm not stressed at all. But look at him! He's so fretful and worried▬wanting everything to be perfect..."

     Valkyrie puckered her lips, a little worried that if she annoyed her brother any more, Astrid might just hit her at the sickly sweet smile she landed, locking her gaze. Val chuckled nervously. "He's working so hard," she quickly said.

     Astrid nodded, humming through her threatening smile. She managed to pick up Kåre who was running past and sat him on her lap, turning all attention onto him. Valkyrie left them there, admittedly scared. 

     She stopped by Linnea who sat down on the far bench, sharpening her axe. Valkyrie bit back a smile and hugged her to-do list to her chest, shuffling over to her, "Hey, there, bubba▬you want to help me ready the Zephyr backdrop▬?" she grinned, gesturing a hand out towards the stage. Her daughter met her gaze, not at all excited for this pageant whatsoever. "Zephyr absolutely loved you! He was your good ol' Uncle Zephyr."

    Linnea dropped her wet stone and let her gaze hang loosely from her fingers, eyeing the gleam of the sharp edge, "Mum," she said in all seriousness, "calling a dragon my uncle is weird. Stop being so embarrassing."

    Valkyrie gaped, stunned. Her eldest daughter swung the axe and tested it out on the edge of the bench. Val flinched when it splintered, praying that wasn't what Linnea imagined to be a dragon's neck. She sighed and turned, closing her eyes briefly and cursing whatever god decided to make tweens switch from being so sweet and adorable to so distant in a matter of seconds. 

    (This pageant better work...)

    "Great news, Chief!" Gobber found Hiccup hunched over the scrip. At each page he turned, the more and more his brow furrowed in incredulous disbelief. "After exhaustive casting, we've found our Hiccup!"

    "Uh ... yeah, Gobber," the Chief scratched his head and instead pointed to the scrip in his hand. "I▬uh▬I actually wanted to ask you about the whole Hiccup character in the story, uh▬"

    "Hiccup!" Gobber paid him no mind, waving his hand to the stage. "Present yourself!"

     Hiccup frowned, looking over the edge of the book. He expected to see one of the children run onto the stage, but instead, when he saw the two blonde braids tied at the chin of his good friend, Hiccup blanched. "Tuffnut?!" He couldn't believe his eyes▬or maybe he'd rather have them burned out of his skull, not going to ever get the sight of Tuffnut in long green tunic, leather vest and a mop of scraggly, unkept brown hair that looked as if it had been off a yak's hide out of his head. 

    "Tuffnut," Gobber elbowed Hiccup eagerly, snickering under his breath, "give us a taste!"

    "Uh ..." Tuffnut hunched over, "Uh▬" he thought long and hard, "▬Oh▬!" he flung up a tired arm to the skies, "▬Oh, no. A dragon is coming." Hiccup's head fell into his hands at the flat tone of his voice. "Aah! Help me. Help ... uh ...?" he stopped. "Uh ... line?"

     Gobber's thick brows shot up. He held out the script, pointing an unsure finger at the single word, "... Me?"

    "Oh!" Tuffnut pointed at him, nodding. "Yes! Right▬" he took a deep breath and held up his hands and shrunk low, cowering from the imaginary dragon above, "... Me." He finished dramatically. 

     Hiccup groaned, exasperated. "Oh, Gods▬" He went to leave, but Gobber dragged him back. He huffed, annoyed.

    "Great!" said Gobber. "Now, let's see you run away in fear!"

    Tuffnut leapt into action. Hiccup heard laughter and spun around, watching in horror at Leiv's giggles with his cousin at the sight of Tuffnut flailing around in a mess of limbs. 

    "Oh▬!" Gobber sounded emotional. "Look at those knock-knees▬"

    "Okay▬"

    "▬the splayed gait of a newborn lamb!"

    "▬I don't▬" Hiccup flung a hand out to his friend who was stumbling around the stage, "▬I do not run like that!" A horrible thought hit him and he slumped, "Wait ... do I run like that?"

     Gobber made a face as if to say, Well...

    Hiccup moved on, "Which brings me to a bigger point. Um▬" he held up the script again, "▬I read the script, Gobber, and I have some notes. I▬I'm not sure the character of Hiccup is▬is coming through, uh, quite as heroic as I was." He frowned at the way his old mentor chuckled, waving him off. "I▬I was pretty heroic ... no?"

    "Oh, mate, I think we go the gist of it▬" Gobber smacked Hiccup lightly in the chest. He doubled over and dropped the script. 

    He scrambled to pick it up and gestured it wildly to Tuffnut on the stage, "But▬But that's not, in any way, me!"

    "Hey, Hiccup, honey▬" his shoulders dropped, almost about to lose it as Valkyrie wandered on stage towards Tuffnut, going through her list without a glance upwards, "▬I was wondering if we should add ..." she stopped and stared, blinking. It took her a few seconds until she realised. 

     She flushed red at the cheeks, "Oh ... uh ..." she shuffled backwards, "... um, sorry, Tuff ... uh ..." 

     Valkyrie sheepishly met her husbands gaze and he slapped a hand to his forehead. "Are you serious?!"

    Awkwardly, she chuckled, "I▬I mean," she gestured to Tuffnut, shrugging her shoulders, "he▬he sort of runs like..." she faltered at the look of desperation on Hiccup's face. 

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    WORK CONTINUED into the afternoon. Costumes were made, the last of the backdrops were drying, all of the props had been carted and set onto the side of the stage, ready for each actor to pick up. Valkyrie took her young newborn niece, Kira through it all, taking the opportunity that she was still young enough to be carried around, to show her all of the dragons. (Even if she wasn't comprehending any of it). "That's a Deadly Nadder," she whispered to her, pointing out the blue scales of Stormfly. "Your Aunt Astrid rode her▬and your Uncle Hott rode the yellow one," she moved her finger to the backdrop of Spikemoth. "This one over here is a dragon I discovered and trained, but this was my dragon. Zephyr was Auntie Val's dragon ... and this is the dragon your Dad had and annoyed me with constantly... But let's talk more about Zephyr and how cool Windstrikers are. They are way cooler than pesky Terrible Terrors ... Oh! Look at the Rumblehorn! Your Uncle Eret was passed Skullcrusher down from Stoick the Vast..."

   "Are you poisoning her against Fleecey and Meecey?" Erik eyed Valkryie from behind the remaining set he was hammering. 

    Val gasped at her youngest brother, "What?" she held Kira up closer and squeezed her as gently as she could, "No! Never... Oh ... look at you ..." she continued on and Erik rolled his eyes, "... You're so small! You're just as small as Leiv was when he was your age▬oh, my bubbas are all so grown up now, you promise me that you'll stay this small for as long as possible, okay...?"

    Ruffnut watched Valkyrie pass her with a disgusted look. She glanced at Snotlout and murmured, "I don't know what was worse: Snoggletog Valkyrie or Sad Mum Valkyrie?"

    "They're equally as terrifying," answered Snotlout. The two friends made a face. 

    "This is why I'm never having babies."

    "Agreed."

    "Fishlegs wants to adopt," went on Ruffnut. "So I said we'll get the ugliest one."

    "Nice," grinned Snotlout. 

    "And I'll teach it how to debone a fish through it's nose..."

    "... Not so nice..."

    The most gruelling task of all, though, was trying to find someone to play Stoick. What made it so hard, was that during every audition, Hiccup had to apologetically usher them off to console a sobbing Gobber▬who broke into tears rhythmically after the first line ... Or, he'd throw his hands and cry out, "Not even close▬yeh think that yeh wee arms could pop a dragons' head off its shoulders?! Off!" Or he'd slump and lament, "Oh, Hiccup▬none of these people know Stoick like I do▬they don't understand him!" And Hiccup would have to refrain from saying to Gobber that Stoick was his father, and if anyone knew him the best, it would be him. 

     And each time another Viking stepped up to try their best at playing Stoick, and each time they were sent off, Hiccup just watched Linnea grow more and more disinterested. She kicked her boots against she snow and dug her sharpened stick into the bench to write out her initials. And he realised, not only was it important that he showed her how great Toothless was ... but to also show her how great her grandfather was▬and how much he would have loved and cherished her and her siblings with every breath. 

    He appreciated Astrid for trying to engage her, Kåre and Leiv, but as the afternoon dragged on, even she was getting tired. She just watched Mak's son, Luk race after one of the other village kids with a snowball with a dreary sigh, resting her arms against her full-term belly. 

    Hiccup pursed his lips and fiddled with his fingers. He was worried that this pageant was going to be a disaster, and his kids will never learn the real truth about dragons▬but also the truth and importance of their story.

    He winced as the next auditionee merely just opened his mouth before Gobber waved his hands and cried, "Better luck next time, Haggis. Nice effort."

     Haggis frowned, his braided bears drooping over his lips, "But I didn't▬?"

    Gobber pointed to the stage exit, "Better luck next time, Haggis."

    Haggis slumped and wandered off, upset. 

   "Who's next?"

    Hiccup slouched, setting his chin on the palm of his hand. He watched with hooded, tired eyes as Fishlegs took to the stage. His best friend shuffled awkwardly at the centre, "Uh▬Fishlegs Ingerman, reading for the role of Stoick the Vast."

     Gobber went to wave him off, but Hiccup held up a hand to stop him. The blacksmith grumbled, but listened to his Chief (for once...).

     Fishlegs took a deep breath. He shook it all out. Nervously, he began, "If I don't return▬" he stopped. "Nope. No▬sorry." He shook his head and nudged his chest. He cleared his throat. And when he spoke again, it was someone else in his place, "If I do not return..." Hiccup's shoulders lifted, his eyes widened▬his breath was taken away as he heard his father's voice perfectly from Fishlegs's lips, "...know that all I am, all I do ..." Linnea looked up from her stick, and she was transfixed. "Is for you, my precious Hiccup."

    Hiccup had chills. His breath had hitched, "Wow ..." he let out in wonder and amazement. He grinned at Gobber, "So ..." he went on in a whisper, "... are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

    "Yes, I am..." said Gobber. "This isn't working."

    "Wait▬what? Not working?"

    "You're right▬!" Gobber nudged him with voice heavy of emotion. Hiccup yelped as he fell off the edge of the bench. The blacksmith sniffled back his tears. "I should do it." He got to his feet. "No, no, no, don't try and talk me out of it."

    Getting onto the stage, Gobber shoved Fishlegs out of the way. Hiccup climbed back onto the seat, dead-panned. "I knew Stoick best!"

    He took a mighty breath and puffed out his chest. "If I don't return," he began in a very gruff voice, "know that all I am▬" Gobber choked up. His bottom lip trembled. "All I do▬" he broke down into tears. He wailed. "I miss him so much!"

    Hiccup threw the script over his shoulder, "Da-da-da▬we're doomed."

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    a/n: getting these out pretty quickly because for some reason covid has just gotten me into a huge httyd writing binge. Its a problem, I'm gonna go back to work this Thursday and be like ... whoa ... where are the dragons? what is this? why do I have to adult and work again? 

   homecoming valkyrie >>>>>

    lol ignore my ew finger. believe me this angle makes her look better than she does cos the drawing was annoying me. like the hairstyle made me rip my own hair out ffs.

    also adding scenes between the gang to fit all of my head cannons. like how ruffnut doesn't want to get pregnant but would adopt a child with fishlegs which we stan. or how astrid and hott have their first kid at like 30-32 because that's when they decide they are ready and we also stan that. also hott is stay-at-home dad believe me.

     asrifth and eret are a thing yes they are happily married. eret son of eret is now an honorary frode. they often help out valkyrie's mother whose the medicine woman now that gothi's probs passed away. 

    auntie val with erik's baby just warms my heart. and mak's kid Luk is a little shit but we love him. erik's wife is dalia you meet in the rtte series hehe. not a huge character and like I imagine nothing actually develops until after httyd3 but its just cool to throw stuff in like that. mak ends up marrying the sister of his childhood crush - lol drama. you might meet her in the rtte series too. just randomly popping up somewhere. her name is eira.

    tuffnut doesn't get married or anything. I srsly head cannon him as not interested in any of that stuff. 

    snotlout probs would get married. he'd definitely marry someone older than him tho. by at least 5 years. he'd probably be the one to get married at like 38. specific but it just makes sense. 

    (hiccup and val have another kid. maybe two. could be twins. who knows. val loves children so much and I stan her for that like they both want a large family and that's okay). 

     we stan everything. 

    (they. are. so. grown. up). 

   oh, btw because we all want it:

    linnea : dart
    leiv : pouncer
    kåre : ruffrunner

    if it wasn't already obvious. then their next two children would pair with zephyr's kids. it makes sense. 

    aka what we should have gotten instead of what-its-called-i-couldn't-care-less.