Snow for the Dragon

Apologies

Hiccup had just come back from his morning flight with Toothless when Astrid and Snotlout had told him that they were going into town to explore and Valka insisted in going with them , so he nodded. He secretly knew the reason his mother insisted on going was to make sure that the two brash vikings didn't create chaos in their host's kingdom. He decided to go to his ship in the docks to get some work done.

Now, Hiccup was going through his equipment for the first time in far too long. It was something that had been in the back of his mind for he last couple of weeks, but he had been forced to ignore it since he simply hadn't had the time. Therefore, it was a relief to finally be able to look it over.As he worked, he noticed that a few pieces would need to be replaced while others only would need a simple fix up. The only problem was that for some of the repairs he would need a blacksmith, and he didn't know where the one in Arendelle was located. However, he could probably just ask Arnold when the lad returned to lead them to the wedding later that day.It hurt Hiccup that he no longer simply didn't have the time to take care of his best friend's equipment as he once had, instead he often had to leave it to Gobber to take of. Before he had become Chief however, Hiccup had always insisted on caring for all of Toothless' things himself, but it had been forced to change as his workload only seemed to grow.It was not that Hiccup didn't enjoy seeing his people prosper under his rule, in fact it gave him great satisfaction and happiness, and it made him think that his dad would have been very proud with him. Still, this didn't change the fact that Hiccup often wished that he could just jump up on Toothless and go discover the world as he had done in his teenage years.Only when he was high in the sky, free from the responsibilities that bound him to Berk, did Hiccup feel truly alive! When he was with Toothless and the other dragons, he was free and strong with the world ready for him to explore and learn from. With the dragons, he was never an outcast or different, and he understood them on such a deep level that he often felt he understood them better than his own people.So it was far too often Hiccup wished he could just fly away and leave behind the responsibility he had never truly felt that he was ready to take over. But his heart never allowed him to do this, always weighing him down until he knew that his place truly was with his people, despite the fact that he still sometimes felt like an outcast among the other Vikings.He sighed and cleaned his hands and sat down, bending low over the paperwork that lay on the desk as he sat in the cool cabin on the ship. He and the dragons were the only living beings on the ship currently as the captain and requested for a day off with his crew to go exploring Arendelle and visit Johann's trading post. Johann was a fellow viking, but a sea explorer. He was Berk's main source of news from trading partners and was Berk's trading liason between Arendelle and Berk.

All of a sudden, as he was engrossed in his work, he heard a sharp knock on the thick mahogany door.It was too early for any of his people to return from their explorations. He glanced at toothless and saw the dragon slightly tense. So this was somebody that toothless didn't know. "Who is it?" Hiccup called out. The answer he heard made him fumble and drop from his chair and onto the floor. "It is Queen Elsa. I would like to discuss something urgent with you, if you are not otherwise preoccupied. ". Hiccup scrambled up and pulled his tunic off him. He grabbed a green silk shirt that his mother had bought from one of the trading posts the other day and he pulled it over his head. Ruffling his hair into place, he opened the door to see the queen greet him with a smile."Good morning Chief Haddock. Mind if i come in?". Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "Uhm. No no problem with me... but i gotta warn you. My dragon is in here with me. ". For a second, he saw a pang of fear flit across her face, before she regained her previous composure and smiled. "It is alright. ". He smiled and stood back to let her in. As she entered, he noticed that she seemed unfazed by the presence of a big black dragon in the room. To his surprise, toothless seemed more relaxed now and he was gazing a her curiously."Good morning Queen Elsa, it is, though I must say I am a little surprised to see you here considering the wedding is just a few hours away." Hiccup said, seeing no reason to beat around the bush.To his surprise however, his words caused a very, very faint blush to appear on the Queen's cheeks along with a small sheepish look in her eyes. But just as fast as it appeared, it was once again gone, making him a little uncertain if it had been there at all."As it turns out it's sometimes best to give your younger sister some room on her wedding day." The Queen replied to him with a slightly distressed face that caused Hiccup to chuckle."Considering what I have seen on Berk, that seems to be the harsh truth about all brides on their wedding day." He said, still smiling."After what I have heard today, I do not doubt that." Queen said with a small smile of her own before she turned serious once more. "But the reason I came here is a very different one, one I felt needed to be addressed immediately. I heard from my sister that one of the maids approached you and to court you last night.".At her words, Hiccup tensed up, his defenses rising immediately as he tried to read if there was any anger coming from the woman in front of him, but to his frustration she remained as unreadable as ever.He rubbed the back of his neck, embaressed. How does news spread so fast? , he thought.Uncertain how to best handle the situation, Hiccup decided that honesty was his best option."That is right, one of them did." He therefore said, carefully watching Queen Elsa to see how she would take the news and to his surprise her expression didn't turn angry, it turned very apologetic."Well, I would lie if I told you that was the answer I wanted." She sighed. "It appears then that I owe you an apology Chief Haddock.I assure you that it will not happen again.".Despite the grave expression on her face, there was an honesty in Queen Elsa's eyes which shone strongly in her eyes and Hiccup found himself to trust every word she had said, feeling that she indeed was truly apologetic for what had happened.Still he felt that it felt a little strange that Queen Elsa would fear that he would despise her for something her maid had done... it had never even crossed his mind. "I accept your apology Queen Elsa." Hiccup said, a little surprised when Queen Elsa relaxed at his words."I am happy that you are so forgiving Chief Haddock." She said, and Hiccup couldn't help to smile slightly at her."Honestly, your apology was never needed, I was not offended last night and had I been, it would have been with your maid and not with you, Queen Elsa.And besides, It's not like i wasn't expecting this not to happen--". He only realized how stupid that sounded after he blurted it out. He looked at the queen, who was peering at him with raised eyebrows. He had to explain himself. Embaressed, he began to stammer."I mean... it's not what you think.... i saw two princesses staring at me..... oh come on!..... ". He was cut off by Elsa, who to his surprise, was chuckling at him. "As I said, I'm still happy you accept my apology Chief Haddock, and no worries, I think I understand what you mean." She chuckled as she looked at him with mirth shining from her sky blue eyes.Then her eyes landed on the upgraded tail wing for toothless that sat in the corner of the room. He could tell that she was trying to hold back her inquisitiveness. Finally giving in, she looked at him."May I?" She asked, gesturing to the red colored prosthesis.Hiccup smiled and extended his arm out, to signal his permission. The Queen smiled and bent down. She studied the prosthesis carefully, her hands running over the smooth leather and cloth hybrid material that was still greasy and left a few stains on her fingers, but she didn't seem to mind as she inspected the apparutus with a fascinated expression."This is exquisite work." She finally said, looking at the threads and grooves that held the different parts of the wing together."Thank you." Hiccup said, a little amused when her eyes snapped to his with, filled with disbelief."You made this?" She asked, looking a little embarrassed when she realized the question could be interpreted as rude. "I do not mean to insinuate that you haven't or aren't capable, it's just not what I would have expected." She said as she rose from the ground, accepting a cloth Hiccup offered to her.He smiled. "I understand. I know royals out here don't do such stuff. But back on Berk, being of royalty does give you a better position yes, but we still help out with normal life. Yeah, I live in a mansion that may be bigger and more sturdier than the others, but i am still a person, and we part take in daily chores.I was apperenticed to the local Blacksmith when i was little... well, Littler. And that's how i know how to make all this stuff.". She nodded . "If you don't mind me asking... do you still work with the blacksmith". He sighed. "Occasionally... when i'm free of all this paperwork. "He answered truthfully. She seemed to have a sympathetic look on her face. "I know the burden of running a kingdom. It....can be a little stressful at times...". He nodded in agreement.I must say that you keep on surprising and impressing me Chief Haddock; you appear to be more skilled than any of our finest craftsmen." Queen Elsa said with honesty."I don't know about that, but I appreciate it." Hiccup said, a little awkward at the praise. She then turned and looked at toothless with a curious smile on her face. "He's a magnificent creature. ". Looking at her open smile as she looked at the dragon, Hiccup made a decision that he knew would not have been appreciated by Astrid."Your majesty, would you like to touch him?". Elsa looked at him with a shocked expression. "Don't worry... he's not aggressive. ...unless you raise a weapon on him.". She glanced a the draogon, who was peering curiously at her. She took in a deep breath and nodded. "I hope you know what you are doing.". Hiccup chuckled. "He is a Night Fury.They are very fast in flight and highly intelligent, compared to the average dragon.Just don't think too much about it if he is a little wary, it usually takes some time to win his trust fully. All you have to do is relax yourself. Think happy thoughts. The trick is, you don't choose dragon. The dragon chooses to trust you. You have to hold up your arm to his head level and turn your head away from him. You have to show that you trust him not to attack you. It's a relationship based on mutual trust. ". Elsa hesitated but chose to follow Hiccup as he seemed to know what he was doing. She sighed and turned her head away , raising her hand up, closing her eyes.

Hiccup glanced at toothless and saw that the dragon was inspecting the queen carefully. He had a curious look on his face as he sniffed her hand. After a few tense seconds, to his relief , he saw the dragon move forward and place his forehead against Elsa's palm. He saw her shoulders relax . "You can look at him now. ", Elsa breathed in and then turned around to see the dragon pressing his face against her palm. She smiled and chuckled at Hiccup with an expression similar to a child who saw Santa clause for the first time. He noticed that she hadn't touched toothless with both hands and that was why the dragon still remained stock still, with his eyes closed. He moved froward and took her hand in his. She glared at him, a slight blush on her face before she realized what he was doing. He placed her other palm onto the dragon and then watched as toothless opened his eyes and smiled widely at her. He forced her hand to scratch his head. "You have to touch him with both hands for them to completely trust you. ". Her eyes widened as she understood . Hiccup, who was watching the interaction, was a little surprised that Toothless had decided to accept the Queen so quickly, but he knew better than to question Toothless's decision and decided not to dwell on it to much.At least they would have no trouble getting along now."I must ask however, why the name Toothless?" Queen Elsa asked abruptly. Hiccup chuckled. "Take a good look at his face, your majesty.". Elsa, confused, looked at toothless and saw the dragon smiling at her, exposing his gummy mouth in the process. "Wait. I could've sworn he had teeth. ". Hiccup walked to the corner of the room where a basket of fresh mackerels lay. He picked one up and said to Elsa " You might wanna stand back, your majesty. ". As Elsa did so, he flung the fish towards the dragon who chomped at it with his teeth which he suddenly possessed out of nowhere. "Retractable teeth, see?". Elsa watched in amazement . Suddenly, taking Hiccup and Elsa by surprise, the dragon leapt onto hiccup and started licking him , covering him in saliva. "He sure do seem affectionate." Queen Elsa said, looking at Hiccup with glittering eyes as he could tell that she was doing her best not to laugh, and he had to admit he was impressed that she managed to hold it back. But when he tried to dry some of the saliva off, he could hear how a small laugh escaped her. "Does he do that to everyone?" She asked, clearing her throat."No, only me and Thor knows I have tried to make him stop." Hiccup said as he tried to see if any part of his shirt was not filled with saliva."You know,I think he is only trying to show his affection." Queen Elsa said as she pulled a handkerchief from a pocket in her dress and gave it to him, a genuine smile on her face. Once again ,Hiccup found that he couldn't help to smile back."He is a nightmare." Hiccup chuckled .He looked at the handkerchief after he wiped himself with it. "I'm sorry. It doesn't wash out .". He said , holding it up with an apologetic expression.She chuckled at him. "It's alright. I don't need it . It was getting old anyway.". "I must say that Toothless seems to be the holder of many secrets." She added as she looked at his dragon who in return, looked back at her in with an unreadable expression as if to prove her point."He is. I still learn things about him that I didn't know before. But as with everyone, with time we have come to trust in each other and we are learning something new everyday, aren't we bud?" Hiccup said, nudging Toothless in the side as his dragon sent him a slightly amused look and cooed softly. "Time is a factor of course, but you gain no ones trust if you do not earn it as well. I think that earing the trust is even more important." Queen Elsa said as Hiccup looked back at her face which had become more closed once more. Still, he could see that there was something that could be hinted in her eyes; was it fear? Or was it simply hesitation? He wasn't sure, but for some reason, Hiccup felt that he would have been able to connect to the feeling if he had been able to understand it."That's true, but if no one is ever brave enough to take the risk to trust someone, they will never have the change to prove that they can be trusted either. To gain trust, you must both give and risk." He told her, thinking back to the risk he had taken the day he had found Toothless and chosen to release him, but also the risk his friend had taken when he in return had let Hiccup go. "I do believe you are right Chief Haddock." Queen Elsa said quietly and she was just about to say something more when a throat cleared behind them.They spun around to see her guard standing outside the cabin doorway. "Yes, Jeriko? "Elsa asked. "Queen Elsa, we need to return to the castle now if you are to be ready for the wedding."the man said, his eyes gliding back to Hiccup and Toothless.
"Yes of course." The Queen said, a slightly stressed look crossing her before her mask of politeness fall back on. It wasn't until now, when he saw the big contrast, that Hiccup understood just how much that mask had fallen away, even when they had spoken about trust."Once again, I am very happy that you accepted my apology Chief Haddock and I look forward to see you at the wedding." Queen Elsa said to him before she turned to leave, but she turned back to him just as quickly once more.
"I thank you for trusting me enough to introduce me to your friend.". Hiccup merely grinned and waved as she walked out of view, her guard following her closely. He shut the door and pulled the slime covered shirt. He held it out and looked at it."Mom is so gonna kill me for letting you near this shirt...". Toothless did his best impression at a human's laughing noise.