The Twelve Days of Snoggletog

The First Day of Snoggletog

Somehow, every Snoggletog, something managed to go wrong.

Whether it was the miserable first 14 Snoggletogs of being an 'utter disappointment', or the Exploding Egg Fiasco on his fifteenth, or the terrible freeze before the Speed Stinger attack, there was always something off about Snoggletog for Hiccup.

So, it was no surprise that the evening before the start of the 17th Snoggletog season of his life found Hiccup creeping through the village, hiding in the shadows and hoping no one would notice him.

Hiccup skirted the houses, carefully covering his footsteps with fresh snow, until he reached the back door of his house. After a full check around, Hiccup opened the door a crack, slipped in, and slammed the door behind him. Then, he sagged down, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Hey dad! Hey Toothless!" he said, and was greeted by silence. He panicked for a moment, then remembered that Stoick the Vast had left two days ago for The Thing, a conference of all the tribes, and Toothless had left to the breeding ground. His face fell for a moment, but he brightened again, realizing that both would be back on the thirteenth day of the Snoggletog season.

"One day down, one month to go!" he smiled. "Perhaps I can avoid disaster this season." he said hopefully, as he unwound his scarf and sat down next to the fire.

But he wouldn't have been as optimistic if he had seen the shadows moving outside his house...

+++

The next morning, Hiccup opened the door of his house blearily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He walked forward a few steps, only to run into a horrible smelling tree!

Suddenly, Hiccup was on alert. He stumbled backwards, and looked at the tree he had run into. He furrowed his brow in confusion, not comprehending what he was seeing. "What the thor..." he muttered.

It appeared that a fully grown Loki Tree had planted itself right outside his door, roots and all. Even stranger, a Terrible Terror had been glued to one of the branches, and was struggling valiantly. It also had a small Terror Mail attached to it's leg.

Hiccup shot the Terror a sympathetic smile, and took the message off it's leg. He opened it, and was met by an odd phrase.

On the first day of Snoggletog a Viking gave to me: a Terror in a Loki Tree.

"O..kay..." Hiccup said, as he looked up. "I have no idea what this means." Then, he was greeted by a puff of flame, and he jumped back. The source of the flame, of course, was the Terrible Terror, who shot Hiccup an annoyed look and gestured to his feet. "Right." Hiccup said, and he began prying the Terrible Terror out of the Loki Tree.

That night, singed and exhausted, Hiccup collapsed in his bed. "That better be enough annoyance for this Snoggletog!" he groaned to the gods.

Here is the Holiday short story as promised!

The version of the Twelve Days of Christmas I am using is:

-Twelve Lords a-leaping

-Eleven Drummers Drumming

-Ten Pipers Piping

-Nine Ladies Dancing

-Eight Maids a-Milking

-Seven Swans a-swimming

-Six Geese a-laying

-Five Golden Rings

-Four Calling Birds

-Three French Hens

-Two Turtle Doves

-And a partridge in a pear tree

This will be important later!