MODERN DAY, WINTER

January 22th, 2026

Winter settled over Berk in a blanket of white, frosting rooftops and turning every field into a glittering stretch of snow. The air carried the sharp scent of pine and woodsmoke, and the distant sound of laughter drifted through the town streets.

The Dragon Gang— Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Guest. Since it was winter break from school which was usually two weeks long, they decided to go to their favorite place— a lakeside cabin in the outskirts of town. Of course they asked their parents first and got the thumbs up, so everyone packed bag and left.

When the whole group gathered together, they often met at their favorite lakeside cabin just outside town. Boots and coats would be piled by the door while a fire crackled in the stone fireplace. Someone would be making hot chocolate, someone else would be arguing over a board game, and the twins would almost certainly be cheating. Outside, snowflakes drifted past the windows, but inside the cabin was warm and bright, filled with the easy comfort of friends who had known each other for years.

Hiccup sat cross-legged on the floor near the coffee table, a screwdriver in one hand and some small gadget spread out in pieces before him. Astrid occupied one end of the couch, wrapped in a blanket and nursing a mug of hot chocolate. Watching her boyfriend mess with his project, her eyes holding mix of fondness and annoyance. Fishlegs sat besides her with his own mug of hot chocolate watching his friends with a soft smile, though his gaze kept drifting back to Ruffnut with a faint flush on his cheeks.

Across the room, Snotlout lounged in an armchair as if it were a throne, loudly recounting an over dramatic story about a fight at school that nobody listened to. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the source of most of the noise. They had abandoned the game entirely and were currently constructing a ridiculous blanket fort from couch cushions, spare blankets, and anything else they could reach. The structure looked one sneeze away from collapse.

Guest was doing their own thing unbothered by the chaos of their friends, clearly used to everything by now. From the cabin windows, the lake looks like a vast sheet of silver-white stretching into the distance. Snow dusted the ice in uneven patches, while windswept areas revealed smooth, glassy surfaces beneath. Near the shoreline, reeds and grasses would poke through the snow, their stems rimmed with frost.