Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was a very special day for Nuffink Haddock, because today he was allowed to go to the markets on his own, just like the big kids can, even though he totally was one since being six and three seasons is pretty grown up.

Mentally pushing aside the insecurities about how grown up one is at that age, Nuffink wandered the trading docks set up near the lift to New Berk. His eyes darted from each massive ship, each with loud and boisterous salesmen who excitedly blabbered about their products, none looking like fun toys or tasty treats that'd interest the refined palette of interests Nuffink had as six-nearly-seven year old.

When Nuffink was just about to declare that nothing here was interesting enough for him, a phrase that weirdly gets the grown-ups to giggle sometimes, he found it, a small barge with a hooded figure selling some really yummy smelling drinks.

Nuffink approached the hooded figure, his head barely peaked over the counter as the figure looked down at him, obscured by shadow.

"Hello there young one," A soft elderly voice said, "You looking to buy some juice?"

"I'm nearly seven." Nuffink corrected, which enticed a gentle huff of amusement from the elderly woman, "But yah, I do. It smells good."

"Why thank you, it takes a lot of effort to get this stuff up here." The old lady smiled, "Almost as much effort as it takes not to deck some of the ruder customers who complain it's not wine!"

Nuffink chuckled along awkwardly, before he pulled out his coin pouch, taking out a few and placed them on the counter, "Is this enough for five bottles?"

The older woman noded, and took most of the coins, leaving a few behind, "It is more than enough, be careful with your coin around here young one, the swindlers around here care not if you offer them double of what they believe their wares are worth."

Nuffink nodded as the kindly hooded woman handed him the bottles, he took them aswell as the leftover coin as he excitedly began to run home, ready to show how grown up he is by buying one for everyone.

. . . . .

Zephyr was busy drawing and sketching out ideas for traps, as she and her brother, Nuffink, had already done their chores for the afternoon.

Usually she'd be working on actually making the things she sketched out, but after an incident a few months ago where dad banned her from actually making them while he's on important trips. Like how he was at some stupid chief meeting right now.

But on the upside, Nuffink went to look for cool things at the markets, perhaps something he finds would be useful or even a key feature for a future or even current design!

While deep in thought about which rope would provide the best tension for her current work in progress concept, Nuffink barged into the Haddock household with five bottles held tightly in his arms.

"I'm back!" He shouted and placed the bottles down on a table near Zephyr, "I gots some juice from a nice old lady!"

"Didn't mom tell you not to accept stuff from strangers?" Zephyr questioned as she took one of the unlabeled bottle and looked at it, the liquid inside was a near-black purple.

"Yah, but I bought it from her!" Nuffink corrected, "I gots one for me, one for you, one for mom, one for dad aaaand one for me again."

"Really?" Zephyr deadpanned, "Why not keep it for Granny Valka?"

"But I bought it!" Nuffink protested.

"Yeah but that'd be... actually, nevermind." Zephyr shook her head, not really wanting to get into an argument, "I'm just going to go back to drawing until mom gets home... and then probbaly continue until dad gets home so I can actually do something with these designs."

A stroke of genius overcame young Nuffink, "Ohhh yah, you still in trouble for the trap that broke Uncle Gobber's good leg?"

"Yes, Nuffink." Zephyr huffed, "Don't rub it in."

"I wasn't!" Nuffink protested with all the defensiveness a six year old could muster, "Dad said no building in New Berk, he said nuthin' about building in the forest, right?"

Zephyr's irritated expression quickly shifted into a more devious one, "No, he didn't."

Nuffink, who was already in the middle of writing a note for their parents about the juice turned around after he pinned the note down with two bottles.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Nuffink responded, unable to stand still while he held his two juice bottles.

Without another word the pair bolted for the door.

Chapter Text

Astrid had finally gotten home after a rough afternoon of sorting out problems that are usually Hiccup's job. Not that she had really minded doing it since her husband was dragged out to a chief meetup over a week ago, and nobody knew how to sort out knuckle headed Berkians like she did.

"Zephyr, Nuffink, I'm home." She called out to no response, her gaze darted across the home for any sign of her children.

The only thing out of place to her was two bottles of black liquid that sat on a piece of parchment that had Nuffink's handwriting on it, 'I bort these jooses today at the market, one for mom and one for dad.'

Astrid's expression bore a soft smile at misspellings before she picked up a bottle, swirled the liquids inside it around and noticed that it was a very dark, inky purple rather than black as she first assumed.

'This better not be wine.' She thought to herself before quickly opening the bottle and gave it a quick sniff test. There was a lack of an alcoholic scent, so after she let out a sigh of relief that her kids weren't drinking alcohol, she took a swig of the liquid the sweet foreign fruit drink provided some much needed relief from filling in for her husband.

. . .

Even if loose sticks were hardly a good construction material for her traps, Zephyr was glad that she able to at least go out and start prototyping her designs with her brother, both of them occasionally taking sips of their drinks.

"Hmmm..." Zephyr hummed as she put her creation under a critical eye, "...good enough. For a model I guess."

"I think it looks good!" Nuffink said before he finished off his bottle, "It makes me feel warm and fuzzy looking at it."

"Yeah?" Zephyr raised an eyebrow and weakly chuckled before she also finished her bottle, "Are you just saying that to make me feel better Nuffink?"

"No..." Nuffink responded like a child caught in a lie, "I mean, mayb- OWW!"

"Nuffink, are you okay!?" Zephyr shouted and rushed over to her little brother with worry, a weird burning sensation pulsed in her chest.

"It-it's not a warm and fu-fuzzy feeling anymore." Nuffink stated as he clutched his chest as he begun to tear up, "It... it's hot and burning!"

Zephyr's own hand instinctively brought her own hand to her chest as she felt a pain similar too what Nuffink was describing, like her heart was on fire and lava was pumping through her veins.

"Nuffink, I-I feel it too." Zephyr states as she held her brother close, as a realization struck her, "Oh, oh n-no. THE JUICE! We have to go back and warn mom!"

"I-I..." Nuffink barely begun to speak before he let out a scream of pain before going limp.

"NUFFINK!!" Zephyr shouted as she shook her brother in an attempt to wake him before going limp herself.

. . .

'What is taking them so long?' Astrid thought to herself as the sun began to set, her kids know that if they go out they're supposed to be back before sundown and despite how similar the pair are to their father, neither of them had never been later than a few minutes after dusk.

Astrid shook the worries from her mind as she went back to doing a bit more boredom-driven tidying where she can whilst she finished off that juice her son had bought, she definitely made a mental note to praise him for doing such a kind thing.

That pride in her children made her feel warm inside...

. . .

The sun was finally rising as Hiccup finally made it back to New Berk and by the Gods was he glad that meeting was over.

As he took the lift up to New Berk he could only think about his family, and how much he prefers dealing with the idiots of his village far more than the chiefs of other villages.

Hiccup finally got to stretch his leg and a half for the first time in a few days as he walked through the village, as he tried and succeed to minimize the greetings from his people since all he wanted to do right now was get home, kiss his wife, hug his kids and pass out for several hours in his own Gods damned bed for the first time in over a week.

"Honey, I'm ho-" Hiccup started as he pushed the front door open, only to be greeted with the sight of a Night Fury fast asleep by his fireplace, his expression became puzzled.

"Toothless? What are you doing here bud?" Hiccup asked as he approached the Night Fury, as he looked down at the Night Fury's tail, he thought that perhaps it needed maintenance.
But as he glanced at the dragon's undamaged tailfins he realized,

'That is not Toothless'

Chapter Text

Astrid woke up with thumping headache, her whole body felt sore, numb and heavy. The first thing she saw was the lit fireplace, the first thing she heard was the crackling of wood going up in flame, but the second thing she heard was the sound of metal clattering on wood.
Her body automatically responded by swiveling her head way too far than should be comfortable to reveal her husband, Hiccup, who then proceeded to kick his sword further from him.

"Woah woah, hey there... it's okay... I'm not going to hurt you." Hiccup softly muttered as he slowly sidestepped to the other side of the room, away from his sword. While he carefully avoided moving too fast as to not upset the owner of the big blue eyes with soft dilated pupils locked onto him.

"Hiccup? Why are you acting like..." A series of warbles came from Astrid's mouth, she knew exactly what she was 'saying', but knew that what came out of her was NOT Norse in any capacity.

"You... good there?" Hiccup asked as the Night Fury in-front of him started to look at it's own body and began to hyperventilate, too see it's pupils sharpen in panic, Hiccup was mentally going through a dusty old mental library of dragon knowledge he hadn't needed in over a decade at this point aside from introducing the kids to Toothless a few years ago.

Astrid was in a state of pure panic, this had to be some weird messed up dream from that strange beverage Nuffink had bought, but the feeling of her scales pressed against wood, the way her neck had moved and the fact she could feel and move not just any pair of wings and a tail, but HER wings and tail really put the flaming arrow into her pyre that this was not a dream, but that this was real.

. . .

The Night Fury started to get up, it unsteadily took a few steps towards Hiccup as a pile of torn fabrics lay where it once laid. It's pupils widened back up as they focused on him, with an adoration that one does not expect from a strange dragon that decided to sleep in front of your fireplace.

"You're... awfully friendly." Hiccup awkwardly half-chuckled as the dragon sat right in-front of him, he extended his hand outwards to attempt the tried and true method of 'let the dragon sniff and touch your hand on their own'.

The dragon gives Hiccup an unimpressed snort before, it rolled it's eyes and bonked it's snout into his hand while, laughing?

"Aaand awfully giggly too." Hiccup deadpans, before giving the Night Fury a thoughtful gaze, "Now, what to call you..."

Astrid lets out a huff of frustration as she awkwardly attempted to put a paw where Hiccup's left pec is and missed by a fair margin due to her front legs being relatively shorter than they were as her arms.

"Uhh... how about Blue?" Hiccup came up with on the spot only to be met with a dismissive huff and a 'gentle' tap from it's paw on the left side of his chest, "Yeah, yeah low effort I know."

He is met with another annoyed warble from the dragon, as it pats at his left pec again, "How about... Pecstriker? Since that seems to be all you're interested in right now."

The response this time was a hiss before the dragon turned around, clumsily picked up something from the torn clothing pile and ran back at him and pressed it into the same spot it was pawing at for the last minute.

"Is that... for me?" Hiccup asked as the dragon started thumping it's tail impatiently, he offered out his hand. The dragon practically shoved the item into his hand, one of many small metals item he'd recognize anywhere, one of Astrid's little skull accessories, something that's been on everything she's worn since he can remember.

The Night Fury then went into nuzzle Hiccup's chest, the same spot she had always been poking at, as it did, Hiccup looked at her chest, among the black scales was a patch that didn't quite reflect light the same way, like a warped set of runes. Ones where if he concentrated he could swear he saw his own name there, the matching tattoo of each-other's names he and Astrid got.

The clues put themselves together as the dragon rubbed her face against him. He put a hand against her face and asked a question he never thought he'd ever be saying to a dragon, "Astrid? Is that... you?"

. . .

Those were the words Astrid had been trying to get out of her husband for the past five minutes. So she halted her physical affection to back away and nod furiously so that dork understands that it's still her under all these scales.

"H-How did this even happen?! People don't just turn into dragons spontaneously." Hiccup questioned, moving his hands around as paced around in thought.

Astrid ran off towards her tattered clothes and grabbed the empty glass bottle and brought it back to Hiccup.

"A bottle? Did whatever was in this, do that to you?" He asks as Astrid gave him the bottle.

Astrid nodded again, not as passionately as her 'yes it's me you dork' nodding, but this time she wasn't at risk of her husband not knowing who she is and naming her something stupid like Bluesky or something.

"Who gave it too you?" Hiccup asked having forgot his wife isn't in the condition to speak back, "Uh... bad questio-"

Astrid let out a short roar as she bobbed her head in the direction of Nuffink's note and the remaining bottle.

"Nevermind then." Hiccup said before he strolled over to the note, letting out a little huff-chuckle at his son's spelling and picked up the remaining bottle for a moment, "Nuffink got these?"

Astrid nodded.

"Wait." Hiccup's expression shifted to one of concern and horror, "Nuffink got these."

Astrid's irises shrunk to slits as she also processed that information and thought to herself, 'That must be why they didn't get home last night.'

"Astrid... where are the kids?" Hiccup asked with the most concern in his tone Astrid had heard in years.

"Outside..." She warbled, knowing Hiccup wouldn't understand what she was saying.

"Yeah, I thought so." Hiccup responded, which earned him a shocked look from his wife-turned-Night-Fury, "What? When you spend six years of your life with a Night Fury following you around everywhere you tend to learn what sounds mean 'outside' after a few hundred morning flights and needing help getting out to answer nature's call."

"Fair point." Astrid huffed as she got up and gave her four legs a stretch to prepare herself mentally to go and find their kids.

"Yeah, I got no clue what that one meant." Hiccup shrugged, which elicited a giggle from Astrid, "Hey now, at least I got opposable thumbs."

Astrid rolled her eyes, but secretly wiggled her thumb-claw, which gave a surprisingly 'normal' range of motion, but decided against proving her husband wrong in this moment since her kids were more important than extending her and Hiccup's beloved banter.

"I'll get the back door." Hiccup stated, "Lady-ragons first."

Astrid passed by him, gave him a gentle smack with her tail and looked at him with an expression that screamed 'Okay, we got to actually get serious about this.'

"Yes dear." Hiccup stated as he closed the door behind him and followed his wife into the forests surrounding New Berk village.