Aftershocks
Title: Aftershocks
Author: janna_hawkins
Summary: Those stories never had a good ending for the would-be trainer
Characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Stoick
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to HTTYD except the first five books, a Hiccup action figure and a Night Fury figure
Author Notes: I'm not really sure what went on while I was writing this. It was originally supposed to be a Hiccup-centered fic but somehow it grew until it was about everyone on Berk *shrugs* I dunno, I guess it came out alright for a fic that I started to write with a totally different ending in mind. Hope you like it :)
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Following the battle and the return to Berk, the chief's house was a place of much activity from the healers moving in and out to the large worried dragon growling at anyone who got close to the unconscious boy. Even Hiccup's father received a stony glare whenever he came near. Astrid was the one exception. She would sit next to Hiccup on the bed for hours on end just holding his hand while Toothless huddled close to both of them.
The rest of the village was still in shock. Not only had they lost their entire fleet of ships in one fell swoop but the dragons that they had only recently been fighting had suddenly turned as calm and helpful as pet dogs. And if those weren't enough reasons to doubt their sanity, it seemed that Hiccup, the smallest and least Vikingish of them all had proved to be the one to save them all by doing what none of them had ever considered: befriending a dragon, and a Night Fury at that.
Not that there weren't legends of people doing that sort of thing but those stories never had a good ending for the would-be trainer. No, what Hiccup had done was cause for even the youngest of the village to rethink how to deal with the swarms of dragons that had apparently now decided that Berk was the best place to live. Even the most hardened warrior found it difficult to watch the swarms of tiny Terrible Terrors fight over a single piece of food without smiling. Although some of these same dragons had raided the town only weeks before, there was nary a sign of flame or destruction that was anything but accidental.
As time went on and wounds healed, the Vikings became used to the large lizards that now filled the village. Some took Terrible Terrors in as pets and others even managed to find a place for a Monstrous Nightmare in their household. The younger Vikings showed off their developing skills and some of the adults learned to fly with dragons.
By the time Hiccup awoke and emerged from his home, Berk was a drastically different place than before. Dragons soared with their riders and lived peaceably with each other. Friendships blossomed and the people slowly grew attached to the creatures who had been the bane of their existence for so long.
Years later, stories and songs still tell of Hiccup, the misfit Viking who changed his entire tribe and the dragons, now gone who once soared through the skies of Berk, a tiny island on the Meridian of Misery.