Little one-shot based on one event in Chapter 7 of my How to Train Your Dragon 2 story. Please enjoy ;)
Little Hope
Valka hadn't expected the area to be a hunting ground for wolves.
She and Cloudjumper were just doing a routine flight, looking for any possible trapped dragons to rescue and bring back to the Sanctuary where they could recover and live in peace. But they had, admittedly, gone a bit off course in their search. They landed in a field where there were plenty of elk and wild deer so they could rest a bit and get some fresh game for Valka and for some of the picky eaters in the sanctuary.
And then the wolves came.
Snapping and growling at the intruders who had trespassed into their hunting ground, the pack surrounded Cloudjumper! The Stormcutter bravely protected Valka and roared at her to go hide in the woods. Of course, Valka didn't want to leave her dear friend behind but didn't have much of a choice as the pack was still angry at them.
So she found herself running for the safety of the trees. Valka quickly climbed up and watched with terrified eyes as the wolves advanced on Cloudjumper. Luckily they hadn't thought of pouncing and attacking directly yet and Cloudjumper was bravely roaring at them to back off. But it wouldn't be too much longer until the wolves decided to use their fangs to attack.
"Aaaawwooooo! Aaarrooorrooorrooooo!"
Valka then relaxed once she saw the pack of wolves leave Cloudjumper, but then became worried all over again when she saw that the wolves were going over to a small child! From her perch, Valka could see that the child was a little girl with short black hair and striking violet eyes. She couldn't have been more than just seven or eight years old, probably the same age her little Hiccup was by now…
Her motherly instincts kicked in and Valka was ready to get back to Cloudjumper and quickly save the young child from the vicious predators when she saw the most astounding sight. The wolves were surrounding the little girl and she was actually petting them! In an instant, the territorial wolves had transformed into tame ones by the girl's pats and cuddles.
'A young girl befriending fierce wolves! How incredible!' Valka thought in amazement. If this little girl could easily befriend a wolf, could she befriend a dragon just as easily?
"Go home, friends. Leave the dragon alone." Valka heard the child say politely to the pack, who eventually trotted back into the vegetation. Even if she couldn't see Cloudjumper's face from where she was, Valka could tell that the Stormcutter was watching the girl with curiosity just like her. Suddenly, Cloudjumper spread his four wings and flew a short distance to land right in front of the little girl. To Valka's surprise, the violet eyed child didn't even back away in fright and just stared at Cloudjumper!
That's when Cloudjumper decided to test the young one's bravery-by roaring right in her face!
'Oh for Odin's sake, Cloudjumper, do you want to make her go deaf?' Valka thought, shaking her head.
Amazingly, all the little girl did was cover her ears and kept on staring at Cloudjumper until he stopped roaring. Valka leaned a bit forward to see what the child would do next.
Would she run? Would she scream? Or would she try to fight?
"You have four wings! Four-winger! Four-winger!" the little girl suddenly laughed, flapping her arms as if they were wings. Not a trace of fear showed on her face. Instead, the little girl had the widest grin on her face and her violet eyes sparkled with excitement and curiosity.
Valka then watched as the child cocked her head to the left, and then to the right. Cloudjumper mimicked both movements like a curious Changewing before turning his head 180 degrees so his face looked at the girl upside-down!
"You're like an owl, four-winger." Valka felt her heart melt at the child's giggle. Here was something she rarely saw anymore: the innocence of children.
The little girl looked so much at ease with Cloudjumper, as if she saw him as a playmate rather than a vicious beast.
Cloudjumper then shook his head. "Oh, you have a name?" the girl asked in her sweet innocent voice. Nodding, Cloudjumper looked up at the sky.
'He wants her to guess his name!' Valka thought, amused as she listened to the girl as she tried to guess the Stormcutter's name.
"Cloud? Your name's Cloud?"
Wrong.
Cloudjumper then jumped up and down to give the girl another hint.
"Jump? Is that your name?"
'She'll figure it out this time for sure…' Valka thought as Cloudjumper, once again, shook his head and looked up at the clouds in the sky again and then jumped about.
"You jump over clouds?"
Oh, Valka nearly fell out of the tree as she tried her best not to laugh at that. And she had a feeling that Cloudjumper was getting exasperated in playing this little guessing game.
"You are a jumper of clouds…" the girl mumbled to herself. Valka didn't really hear that, but she did see the girl's face scrunch up in concentration and heard her next words.
"Jumper…Cloud…Other way around…That spells…"
'Almost there, little one! You can do it!' Valka thought encouragingly as the child slowly fit the two names together. "Cloud…jumper…Cloudjumper! That's your name! Your name's Cloudjumper!" the girl exclaimed, grandly spreading her arms out wide.
'That's it! Well done!' Valka smiled as her dragon companion warbled and nodded to the little girl, who was flushed with childish glee. "Yay! I got it, I got it, I got it!" the child cheered, giddily hopping about.
Valka was amazed and impressed. Here was a child with a pure heart, who didn't see dragons as monsters. Here was an innocent little girl, who had the potential to become a protector of the dragons. Here was…someone who could perhaps be like a daughter to her…
But Valka shook her head at the last idea. No, she couldn't just take this young child away. The girl must have a family and a mother who love her. She didn't have the right to take this little girl away from her mother, like how she was taken from her dear, sweet little Hiccup…and never looked back.
All of a sudden, an intense longing to be with her own family again filled Valka's heart. But she knew that it was for the best that she stayed away. She was so different. The last thing she wanted to do was pass her odd traits down to her own son.
Sighing, Valka tapped her staff on the tree. The sounds reached Cloudjumper's ears and he looked off into the distance. Seeing that Cloudjumper could still see her, Valka made signs for the Stormcutter to fly off a short distance and return to her once the girl had left.
"Bye-bye, Cloudjumper! I hope we see each other again someday." Valka heard the little girl say as Cloudjumper prepared to take off. And Valka could have sworn that her Stormcutter friend had smiled at his little friend before spreading his four wings and lifted off into the air.
The child watched Cloudjumper fly up high into the air with a big smile and then, as soon as the Stormcutter was out of sight, left. After making sure that the girl was indeed gone, Valka called Cloudjumper back.
It was time they headed back home too.
"Roaring in that little girl's face wasn't very polite, Cloudjumper." Valka scolded her dear friend once they made it back to the Dragon Sanctuary. Cloudjumper looked down in shame and crooned apologetically. Valka just smiled and decided to forgive him.
A miracle, for her, had happened today…
That violet eyed girl was someone special…and would undoubtedly see Cloudjumper again someday.
Until she finally got the chance to meet that young girl face-to-face, Valka decided to give her a special name.
Little Hope.
A little bit of hope…for the chance for humans and dragons to become friends instead of enemies someday.
12 Years Later…
Valka had never expected this.
When she had picked up the two Dragon Riders, she hadn't expected on seeing Little Hope again. And with just one violet eye already while riding an also one-eyed Night Fury!
What she also hadn't expected was that Little Hope was with her son. Her dear Hiccup had grown up to be like her! And his girlfriend, who loved dragons as much as him, was Little Hope!
She had seen the way they worked together in defending themselves from the Sanctuary's agitated dragons as well as their shared love for dragons. Seeing Little Hope again once again felt that familiar spark of hopefulness in Valka's heart for a new world where dragons could become friends with humans. Perhaps it was time to get to know her Little Hope…
"And I've never forgotten those eyes of yours…or, eye in your case right now."
Read and review ;) I hope you guys enjoyed it :D