~Dragon Daughter~

Prologue

There was fire, burning bright in the night, alive with the sounds of human battle cries and dragon roars. Valka could only watch with horrified eyes at the scale of destruction occurring on Berk. She watched as dragons killed humans and humans killed dragons. Mindless killings, done because of ignorance and fear. If only they could all see that their differences were only skin deep.

A Monstrous Nightmare fell viciously down to the earth, violent vibrations shaking the land. A Viking came running up, eyes angry and axe raised, objective clear. Behead the enemy. The woman stopped the man, hands shaking but her will strong, grabbing onto his arm. "Stop! You'll only make it worse!" That instant of distraction gave the dragon the chance it needed to fly away. The fellow Viking ripped his arm out of her grasp, glaring at her, silently accusing and criticizing her- how dare she help the enemy, useless woman, how could the Chief marry this stupid traitor- before stomping away.

A man's scream from behind had her turning her head, but a house- her home- on top of the hill had her running, heart pounding in her ears. There, tearing through the roof like it was paper, was a great dragon. Valka could hear Hiccup screaming, wailing, and fear began to clog her blood vessels. She couldn't lose her child, her precious baby. Even if she was consumed by fire, devoured till nothing but a bloody mess remained, her Hiccup would survive and hopefully live.

Flinging open the door, her blood burning her body from the inside, grabbing one of swords off the wall and raising it above her head, Valka managed only a few steps before she froze. The dragon was unlike anything she has seen. White scales, two sets of large wings, a face that reminded Valka of an owl. But that was not what had her speechless, unable to find the words that properly, truly, described what she was seeing.

The dragon was hunched over her daughter's crib, rocking it gently. The babe was giggling, chubby hands reaching for the beast. The dragon was looking at the child curiously, gently. There was no fear. There was only understanding. In this instant, Valka knew she was right. She knew that peace was possible. That dragons and humans could live without violence, without hatred. The dragon turned to face her, drawing a gasp from her lips, and started to walk towards her, wings brushing against her now distressed daughter who was accidently scratched on the chin by one of the impossibly sharp talons.

Valka stumbled backwards until her back hit a post, still clutching the weapon like it was a lifeline. The dragon's eyes were wide and curious, looking at her like she was something new. Something different. The air hung still, a heavy curtain of realizations draping across the human woman. She was right. This dragon- this living, breathing creature- was not a monster. There was no fear in those unblinking eyes, only the reflection of her soul. Intelligence. Curiosity. Everything that supposedly made Vikings humans was inside of this dragon. Inside of those dragons.

An axe suddenly became embedded into the wall.

"Valka!"

Barging in like an unstoppable force of nature, Stoick yelled, "Run!" The dragon belched out fire, chasing after her husband, her love.

A burning beam broke right above Hiccup's cradle and she ran. Grabbing and pulling her daughter out of her cradle, out of its' path, Valka held the crying Hiccup close to her chest, watching. "No, don't!" She could only yell, freeing one of her hands to grab at the dragon. The angry, terrified creature whipped its' head around and she took a few steps back in fear of being killed. Before she could do anything, a mighty claw wrapped around her and Hiccup, mighty wings pushing the three of them up into the air.

"Valka!"

"Stoick!"

The human woman could only watch as her beloved husband stood helplessly while their home burned around him, while she and Hiccup were carried away in a herd of dragons. She could only watch as Berk became smaller and smaller, until it was only a point of red and orange light in the distant night. Valka closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears, and held Hiccup- her daughter, her only connection to Stoick, to Berk- tight against her chest. She doesn't know how long the dragon flew, only dimly registering clinging to Hiccup even more impossibly tight as the weather grew colder.

Suddenly, the dragons- who were silent the whole way- started to screeched and roar. Valka opened her eyes, and gasped at the sight before her. Standing like a creation of Ullr*, great pillars of ice rose from the sea and covered a small island. The dragons flew into an opening on the side of this structure that was much too high up for any intruder to reach. Light green eyes watched in silent wonder as they traveled through the ice, pillars pressed against the walls for support.

Valka was set down on her feet in a small stone cave. Holding a sleeping Hiccup, she watched the dragon stalk around her cautiously. She watched the dragon, holding her daughter closer when the dragon's eyes flickered up to the bundle. The dragon nodded its' head before dashing down a dark tunnel. With shaky steps, and with questionable objectives, Valka followed. Carefully juggling her daughter around in her arms, the woman climbed over jutting rocks, following what little she could see of the dragon's tail. She stumbled around in the dark, becoming startled when she could see pale light spilling into the tunnel.

She could only gasp at what she found.

Color and life clung to every corner of the cave, light highlighting everything in vibrant shades. And there were dragons. So many of every shape, every size, and every color. Flying, nesting, screeching- there was commotion and a sense of community that spilled from everything. Valka stepped further in, captivated by all of it. Then everything stopped. All eyes were on her, silently watching in curiosity. A nudge from behind had her stumbling forward; she looked behind her to find the dragon responsible for her being here. It stuck out its' chin as a silent 'go ahead'.

Gulping down her fear, she walked forward to the edge of the slab of land, her breath being stolen from her. There, sitting in a large pond like a god, was a dragon that was thought to only be a bedtime myth, the Bewilderbeast. Its' eyes slowly opened, revealing ice colored irises. It slowly rose and came closer to her and Hiccup, and she could only watch in awestruck silence. Valka held her breath as its' icy breath blew softly across her face, eyes staring right into the dragon's stunning eyes.

Hiccup, who woke up and was being remarkable quiet, reached out for the dragon, a wide toothless smile across her little chubby face, giggles on her lips. The dragon leaned in closer and gently blew frost onto the child, who screamed happily, clapping her hands. The Bewilderbeast's expression was soft as the child petted its' horns. Ice eyes looked up at Valka before frost breath lightly covered her cheeks and hair. The dragon pulled back and stared down at her, waiting for her next move.

She could leave. They weren't holding her hostage or planning on eating her. Surely one of them would take her back to Berk. But then what? Be forced to tell Stoick- the stupid, headstrong man that she loves- where this den was just so another battle in the war between humans and dragons can be fought? We'll talk about this later were the last words he spoke to her before the attack, nerves and tempers running high during their argument about Vikings and dragons and coexistence. They were also the last words that Gobbler and Spitelout, her dear friend and her own big brother. She had always been different, a trait easily spotted and mocked. As much as they loved her, and she knew that they did, despite Spitelout's attitude, they could never completely understand her. Couldn't understand why she could not bring herself to kill a dragon. Couldn't understand her beliefs in peace with the beasts. They have been arguing constantly in recent months as the attacks grew closer and closer together. Truthfully, and this broke her heart violently, maybe they weren't meant to be…

What if she stayed here? It would hurt, being away from the only place she has ever known and the only man she has ever fallen in love and the two men that she loves. But here, she could- and would- do something to help the dragons, save them. Most importantly of all, though, Hiccup could learn that there's more than "us versus them". Hiccup could change the world knowing that it wasn't black and white. She could change the future for the better.

Valka looked at all the waiting faces around her, at the hope that was bleeding out of every scale of their body. The dragon that took her, that brought her to this den, walked up to her and sat in front of her, head tilted to the side.

She reached out to touch its' snout, fingers brushing against warm scales.

It rolled its' head under her palm.

She looked down at Hiccup, who was looking up with wide, innocent eyes.

"I guess this is our new home."

*Border*

*Ullr- Norse God of Winter, son of a frost giant, rules Asgard in Odin's absence in winter

This is, obviously, going to be AU (cis-female Hiccup, cis-male Astrid, and Hiccup being with Valka) but it's going to be something big. And I mean big- cultural shocks, war, character appearances from the both movies and the tv shows, awkward courting, different types of relationships, disabilities, character development/ introspections, the whole sham bang. Wish me luck, and I hope you are all strapped in because it will be wild.