VALKA
ACT I: Crazy
CHAPTER ONE: The Abduction
Valka had long since stopped struggling against the dragon carrying her farther and farther away from her home – Berk had faded to a dot on the horizon, and then not even that. Questions and images burned in her mind – Stoick, Hiccup, the dragon, their faces, one last glimpse. She choked back a sob; would she ever see them again?
And yet, the dragon… The dragon had not attacked it. Its eyes were full of intelligence, curiosity, and when it had played with Hiccup, when it had looked at her, even a sort of tenderness. It hadn't been a mindless, vicious beast. It had proved her theory, her hope about dragons right.
But would it eat her? The dragons carried off sheep for food, just as she was being carried off now… Would it viciously devour her, like it surely did with sheep? Or would its deeper, hidden side win out against instinct, and she would survive?
The wind whistled in her ears, along with the constant thrumming of wings and crooning from the dragons around her. All of the others, she noted, were among the most common of Berk's breeds: Zipplebacks, Gronckles, Nadders and Nightmares, with sheep clutched in their talons or mouths.
It struck Valka with the sudden realization that the dragon that had kidnapped her was not among any of the species she had knew. It was large, nearly as big as a Nightmare, with an owlish face with frills sprouting off, and huge, blinking eyes. The most notable thing, however, was its wings: two pairs, cutting the shape of an X in the sky. This dragon was a breed unknown of to Berkians, not that the Vikings knew much to begin with… A Night Fury regularly attacked them, after all, and they didn't know a single thing about it.
Valka shivered and forced herself not to look at the ground, or rather, the lack of one. The churning gray sea spread out below her, and in the distance, she could spy sea stacks cropping out of the water. The dragons must be heading to their Nest, not far off of Helheim's Gate. Well, she would know what her fate would be, soon enough, she noted, gulping.
Valka felt the dragon carrying her shift its body, diverging from the sheep carrying dragons. It cut clear, powerful strokes with its wings, going off the path of the raid dragons and onto another path. The knots in her stomach loosened slightly, only to retighten.
Okay, so it wasn't taking her to the dragon's Nest… Then where was it taking her?
Quite quickly, the Berk dragons were a small cluster, and then a few dots, and then just like her home, vanished, gone from her sight. The last trace of familiarity, gone.
Her sore arms and shoulders shook as she finally let loose the flow of tears she had been fighting back. They dripped off her nose, leaving it runny, and streaked down her face, stinging her cheeks due to the cold.
Valka didn't know how long the dragon had been flying with her, but she was now in an area she didn't recognize at all. The sea was unfamiliar, as were the few landmarks, nothing more than large boulders marooned in the water, or chunks of ice floating on top.
The air grew warmer steadily as the sun rose, burning away the mists of night, and it was a welcome change.
"Where – where are you taking me?" Valka managed out, her voice weak and raspy. The dragon's head twisted around and peered down at her for a second, one of its eyes blinking a few more times than the other.
The dragon warbled, a soft, almost gentle sound. Was it trying to reassure her? Did that mean it wasn't going to eat her? It didn't seem to be like the Berk dragons…
The dragon's head snapped back up to the horizon, clearly intent on where it was going. It rose in the sky, rising above clouds (which Valka was glad for, she did not need to be more wet or cold than she already was), almost jumping them in a way.
Jumping clouds, Valka mused, the white fluffiness swirling around below her, what an odd phrase. She could barely see the ocean anymore through the thick carpet of clouds.
Valka felt exhaustion weighing heavily on her, but knew there was no way she was going to sleep while flying, if she could fall asleep at all. So much had happened.
The sky was blue and sun quite high in its expanse when finally, the dragon's wings slowed. A huge spiral of ice – not clear and white, but a thick blue – as large as the Isle of Berk loomed ahead. A cliff made up of evenly squared blocks, looking almost too perfect to naturally be a part of nature, but they were so far from any civilization, she could tell, that they must be formed here normally.
The dragon descended, swooping low and heading towards the ice. As they moved closer, Valka could see wide openings – obviously for dragons to fly in and out of – and the dragon zoomed through one.
The dragon hovered over a patch of the same squared rocks as outside, a flat, dark area. There were some noises in the dark: other dragons. The dragon suddenly let go of her arms and she fell ungracefully to the floor, sticking out her hands to break her fall.
Valka quickly picked herself up, anxiety threatening to over spill, clutching her scraped hands close to herself. So this was the dragon's home… But that didn't mean it was a good thing she was here. The dragon landed a little bit away from her, and used the claws on its wings to help it walk forwards towards her. Nervously, the young woman took a few steps back up, too fearful to move anymore; who knew what the other dragons around here would do to her?
The dragon peered at her, again, one of its eyes blinking more than the other. It looked almost concerned for her, and let out a soft croon.
"I'm okay," she said quietly, half-thinking that she was crazy for really talking to a dragon, half-thinking that this creature could probably understand a lot more than she had thought it could.
The dragon settled down, curling up on the ground next to her. It spread out a wing, its eyes flitting expectantly to the wing and then to her. Cautiously and slowly, Valka lay down underneath the wing. The dragon seemed to smile, as if satisfied.
"Thank you," she whispered. The dragon radiated warmth. Now that she knew it wasn't going to eat her (or at least probably wouldn't) her anxiety began to fade away. For now, she was safe, with this strange dragon looking after her.
Really, she should think up a name for him, she couldn't keep calling him dragon. Valka decided she would think about that tomorrow; for now, she just wanted to rest. Without almost any effort, she soon drifted off to sleep, unsure of what tomorrow would bring.
Because starting another new story is exactly what I should be doing right now, right? ... I had to get this inspiration out somehow, and I've had this rolling around in my head for a while, so here you go, chapter one! Some chapters will be longer than others. I plan on having this story in four acts; I: Crazy, II: Feral III: Vigilante, IV: Dragon Lady. And yes, this shall be detailing the twenty years Valka was around dragons, so this shall be extremely Valka centric. I haven't seen anyone else do a fic like so I'm very excited.
Other characters like Drago and Eret shall come into play as well, just a little bit later. I'll be focusing on Valka adjusting and her relationship development with Cloudjumper first for a while.
I'd love to hear what you thought of this; leave your feedback down below! :)