You guys are so awesome! Four reviews, three faves and eight follows? Holy crap, guys!

Okay, you are going to hate me for this, but as you can see, I changed the title. Yes, but I feel this title is more suited for this story. (Meaning that I will be continuing with this story :D)

Leave a review and tell me what you think :) And I don't own HTTYD.


Souls of Dragons

Chapter 2: Two of A Kind

It was too quiet for his taste.

He had his days where all he wanted to do was fly. Across the Archipelago for days, if he had to. For weeks. He could have freedom from any responsibilities. From anything that caused him trouble, since he was mostly in trouble when he was trying to help the village fight dragons. And when he thought he was a dragon killer.

Yea. That did not work out so well.

It seemed like only yesterday he was willing to leave all of Berk behind, with only Toothless to accompany him. So, he did not have to be in an arranged marriage. Or marry to a much younger maiden or something. Yea, where he and his best friend could be alone, free, and never have to worry about the lives of the Hooligans ever again.

But that changed with the Valkyrie-like Vigilante.

He chuckled. Yea… not the most creative name. But it suited her. She was crazy. Considering not only did she try to kill him – twice, let's not forget – she also was staring at him. Like, weirdly. Like she knew him from somewhere. Which was strange: he never recalled ever knowing a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

At least, a girl who looked like the Vigilante.

Did I know her? He wondered.

He tried to recall, as Toothless raced through the Archipelago. If someone, perhaps from a few years back, lost a child, maybe they were raised to be the Vigilante. Many children over the past twenty years had either died from sickness or killed by dragons. Maybe this Vigilante was captured.

But by dragons?

An image of a little girl came to mind, one with bright blue eyes. But the girl obviously wasn't the same as this Vigilante, right? Tons of girls were blonde and had blue eyes. Even Ruffnut would have matched the description. Hiccup shuddered. No way. The girl he suddenly remembered had more of a baby face, round and soft. Ruffnut was too... rough. And this Valkyrie lady had a round face too. Strange... maybe I should ask Mom... if anyone knew of a little girl Hiccup rememebred, it would be his mother, Valka.

The second Toothless, landed on Berk, Hiccup jumped off the Night Fury and scurried through the village. If he knew his parents at all, Dad would have been out doing chiefly duties, while Mom was trying to either clean or cook to distract herself from the argument that happened between them.

He just hoped he did not run into his father.

"Ah, the pride of Berk has finally come home!" a man shouted.

Hiccup flinched and stopped walking. Gods, why do you hate me? Hiccup could not tell, but he had the upmost disgusted face plastered on him.

He looked behind him to the owner of the voice and gave a small, yet fake smile. "Oh... hey, Dad. Didn't see you there."

Well, that was a lie. Anyone could see Stoick the Vast from a mile away. Complete with the tall built, which thankfully Hiccup inherited, Stoick's bulking body and huge beard could not be missed. As his name suggested, no one could really tell what he was feeling; his emotions have been said to hide under his beard.

"I was wondering what happened after our talk," Stoick admitted, patting his son's back. "You should have seen Beardhead not two hours ago. He was so hammered, he could put Thor to shame!"

Hiccup laughed along with his father's version of a corny joke. Gods, this could not have been more awkward. "Look, Dad, about that-"

"Heather's staying here for a few days," Stoick said, pushing his son toward the forgery. "Since she might be spending her life here."

Nope, this news is even more awkward. "You know, she might not have to be stuck here," Hiccup insisted.

Stoick laughed. "Right, right. You two can move back and forth, if you want." He pulled Hiccup in closer, as they ducked under the ceiling from the forgery. "I used to have this one house when your mother and I just moved in, and it's close to our house."

Hiccup rolled his eyes once again. "About that-"

The Chief pulled out a saddle and handed it to his son. "And Finna said she'll even help fix it up."

"And you trust her home repair skills?" Hiccup asked, as he reached for a wrench. "It doesn't sound like Finn to want to help me with anything." Partially true. "Wait. Did you promise her my bedroom when I moved out?"

Stoick shrugged. "I was drunk last night. I can't exactly remember what I did."

Hiccup sighed, as he pulled the levers on the saddle, hearing a convincing sound of the metal sticking together. If only life can be fixed like this, Hiccup thought.

It wasn't his fault he didn't want to get married. He was twenty, for crying out loud, from what he heard from his parents, Stoick was twenty-five when he married Valka, who happened to have been fifteen at the time. Hiccup shuttered. He was glad they did not decide to have children then. The only part of the arrangement that I'm happy with: Heather's my age.

Hiccup gulped. "So…. You and Mom aren't mad still, are you?"

Stoick stayed silent for a moment.

Which Hiccup immediately recognized as a bad thing. Silence from his father was never a good thing. Especially when it involves an argument with Mom.

"Why don't you go see if she needs help with dinner?" Stoick offered, not looking at his son. "I doubt your sister is."

The twenty-year-old nodded and grabbed Toothless as he walked out of the forgery without question. He did not have to be told twice to help his mother prepare for dinner. It was better than having to endure awkwardness with his dad.

Both he and Toothless crossed the village and walked inside the house with a quick pace.

The Haddock house was nothing too special: just a kitchen, fire place and a table at the main entrance. There were also the stairs that ran up to the three bedrooms for the four Haddocks. The house was only two floors, and most of the roofs and walls had to be redone since the first house that was built here three hundred years ago. Not to mention years of rebuilding due to the recent end of the war with dragons.

For the young heir, this was home.

Valka Haddock was standing at the ketches, and filleting what appeared to be fish. Ah... haddock. Hiccup inherited much from her; from her small stature and green eyes (although Stoick always told him that Hiccup's eyes were darker than hers), everyone knew that Hiccup was a descendant of Valka. If she were younger, the two could have passed off as siblings. Her hair pulled back in a long braid signified her status as the wife of a Chief.

The forty-year-old woman smiled at the sight of her son. And Hiccup found himself grinning as well. He always felt close to his mother, especially when he was off training to fight dragons and his mother worried sick about him.

Hiccup went over and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Mom," he said, as he grabbed a knife and a smelly fish.

"My, you're in a better mood," Valka noticed with a small grin. "Did you and Toothless enjoy the flight?" she asked, as Toothless came over and licked Valka's face.

"Are Gobber's socks the smelliest on Berk?" Hiccup asked, beginning to cut the fish. Toothless snorted and walked over to the fire place to curl up alongside Sharpshot (Hiccup's Terrible Terror).

Valka nodded, with a laugh. "I'll take that as a yes."

The stairs started to rupture with loud clanking of boots. It sounded like a thunder storm coming from their own house. However, Hiccup knew not to worry. It was merely his seventeen-year-old sister.

"You could have told me you were back, Fishbone," Finna Haddock retorted.

Hiccup looked back at his sister. With a shrug, he said, "And miss the opportunity to piss you off? No way."

Finna shrugged in response. Much like Valka, Finna's auburn hair was pulled in a braid and down her back. Sometimes Hiccup wondered why she didn't cut it (despite it being against tradition), but Finna explained that she sometimes used her long braid to whip people while she fought. Unlike Hiccup, her clothes were doted with furs on her shoulders and boots. Though she was shorter than her brother and mother, Finna's built was slightly bulkier than them both. While Hiccup inherited his face and nose from Valka, Finna's were from Stoick.

"Fin, dear. Why don't you make yourself useful and bring in some firewood?" Valka asked. "The fire's about to die out and we need some for dinner."

There was a sigh from the teenage Viking. "Got it, Ma."

Once Hiccup heard the door slam shut, he looked back at his mother. "So... you and Dad aren't talking to each other at the moment…."

Valka stopped cutting for a second.

A sense of worry swept over Hiccup. The young adult knew how difficult Valka was taking the whole "arranged marriage" fiasco, and he didn't want her to remain upset with Stoick. Gods only know how she punished her husband.

Hiccup gulped. His parents rarely fought, and he didn't want to be the cause of their fight. "Mom, if-"

"No, it-it's okay, son." She sighed as she resumed her cleaning. "I sent him out."

It was not intentional, but Hiccup found himself chuckling. "What?" he asked, in disbelief. "Sent him out", in his mother's vocabulary, meant that Stoick would not be sharing a bed with Valka for a while. It was a rare occurrence, but Hiccup never really worried about things like that. He knew his parents were madly in love, even after twenty-five years of marriage.

The younger man shrugged. "Mom, you didn't have to do that. Dad has a point."

Valka looked up at her son. "I know he does, and he's only doing this for your benefit, but you need to know that he loves you. He just wants you to be happy." She held her hand up to rest it against Hiccup's cheek.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, despite the affection. "He has a funny way of showing it." He shrugged as Valka dropped her hand. "I don't know. I want to marry for – well – not because of a law or it would help Berk. I want to marry when… I'm ready." Did it sound as selfish as he thought?

Valka nodded and the two of them returned to their fish. After a few moments, Valka spoke: "I wasn't much older than Fin when I had your brother."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. His mother rarely mentioned Erik Haddock, unless on his would-have birthday, falling in late summer. It was a difficult subject for Valka and Stoick, so Hiccup rarely mentioned him. "Was… was he a hiccup?" Hiccups were, on Berk, children that were born prematurely. Most of the time they did not make it, especially during the harsh winters. Old customs dictated that these hiccups should be sent to sea, much as any fallen Viking would when they died. It was the most dignified way to let go of a weak child... but Hiccup (and he knew the story) proved to be too stubborn to die so Stoick brought him back home.

"No, but he didn't breathe," Valka explained. Her voice was low. "I thought, after he died, I was not ready to provide your father with an heir. But he and I worked through the pain, and it made us stronger. He was…is, my best friend." Valka sighed again. "As much as I don't want you to be forced into marriage, I think you and Heather will grow to love each other."

Hiccup nodded, but he could not help but hold back a groan. That was what most people had told him. You'll grow to love each other. He hated hearing that phrase. Not that he did hated Heather or anything… it just seemed weird to slowly love a stranger.

"And if we don't?" Hiccup asked, not convinced.

There was a small smirk from his mother, slowly creeping on her face. "Then it gives you a reason to marry that woman you met."

Hiccup found himself laughing. However, it was more of a fake laugh. "H-how do yo-? I did not meet a girl."

Valka merely smirked. "I know a love stuck man when I see one." When Hiccup did not respond, due to the growing red on his face, she chuckled. "So, tell me, is she pretty?"

Pretty as in pretty insane, Hiccup thought, the choking incident coming to mind. "Well… she – uh… uses actions over words." He rubbed his cheek. "And she is quite loyal."

"I'm guessing you insulted her with your dragon peace talks," Valka noted. She leaned in closer so only he could hear. "But you know I might have to go kill her for choking you nearly to death."

"Gods, how do you notice those things?" Hiccup asked, now blushing as red as the mark on his cheek, and his neck to match. "You could be wrong about all of that."

"I'm your mother. I know everything," Valka teased.

Finna Haddock barged through the door. Her face was red from sweating and in the heat, and her sword was in hand. "Did I hear Fishbone's in love?"

"Finn, I am not in love!" Hiccup insisted to the seventeen-year-old. "She almost killed me twice!"

The teenager walked over to her brother, with her auburn hair tied up in a braid, and observed his neck with interest. "Whoa. And quite a grip, too. How old is she?" she asked, excitedly.

Hiccup chuckled. "Around my age, I think." Which reminds me. "Mom, was there a baby or a kid that was taken by dragons a few years ago?" he asked.

Valka stayed silent, for a few seconds. Perhaps a few seconds too long. "Why, son?" she asked, finally.

Hiccup knew that his mother was never for the dragon raids. She always kept her children inside while the raids commenced, and she only came out to heal the wounded. Valka secretly thought that the dragons were more intelligent than raging monsters, and Hiccup's relationship with Toothless only proved the case. Any mention of the dragon raids brought pain in her heart, as for most Vikings.

"There might have been one."

One, out of possible thousands… Hiccup walked over to the table and placed the cutlery where his sister was cleaning off her sword.

Something about Valka seemed… as though she knew. A soul was taken from Berk, but she knew that they were raised by dragons instead of killed by them.

"What do you mean, Mom?" Finna asked, now invested in the story.

Valka turned to face her two children. "Seventeen years ago, I was watching you and the Hoffersons' daughter, Astrid, when Finna was a newborn. Both of you were good friends. But…" she shook her head. "A female Deadly Naddar came out of nowhere. She… looked at Hiccup with such interest… like Cloudjumper did before your father captured him. However, the Hofferson daughter stood up and made this roar at the dragon. Then… the Naddar left with her."

Hiccup allowed himself to stay silent. There was some… truth in her story. He knew of the Hoffersons, as they took part in many of the raids. Valka even had said, in the past, that she took care of some of the children during the raids instead of participating in them. It was mostly Fishlegs and Snotlout (as he was Valka's nephew through her sister), so the fact that she took care of children during raids made sense.

Hiccup's face filled with redness. It made sense how he recognized the woman. He was... friends with her at one point. The Haddocks were known for their blonde hair, and he remembered Brenna Hofferson having blue eyes that matched the Valkyrie's. And the little girl... that he remembered... she looked a lot like Brenna.

She must have recognized me.

"She might have survived," Valka admitted, as she started to cut another fish. "I guess it's possible. Dragons are not stupid creatures. They must have sensed something unique about her." She looked up at her son. "Like you."

Another person like me….

Hiccup shrugged. The sudden information was making his mind spin. "I-uh..." He walked over to the stairs. "I think I'm going to lie down for a bit, before supper." He trudged up the stairs before he could hear his mother's approval.

He found himself literally collapsing against the hardwood that made his bed. In all his life, he never thought he would be happy just to fall asleep here. The redness was still in his face and he could feel in his neck, where the woman had tightened he grip on his neck.

The twenty year old sighed. There were so many mixed feelings from the woman. At one point, she was this sick and insane vigilante who was willing to kill him. Oh, and she had a strange loyalty to dragons to the point that she would kill to protect them. He shuttered. The exact description of a Valkyrie...

On the other hand… he felt excited. She had this…. connection with dragons. Something he was not sure that anyone else had. She was so…. in sync with her Deadly Naddar. It was like the two shared the same mind.

Like himself and Toothless.

He heard Toothless join him some time later. The Night Fury tried to crawl in bed beside Hiccup, but it proved to be too small. Yet, the dragon was persistent, and nuzzled against Hiccup with affection.

Hiccup stroked Toothless' scales. "I'm crazy, aren't I?" he asked.

"You're beyond crazy," Toothless huffed. He licked Hiccup on the cheek for good measures, despite his protests. "But you're my crazy human."

"Alright, I get it." He sighed as he looked up at the ceiling, staring at the empty old boards.

He could not find himself taking his mind off the Valkyrie. Yes, he called her Valkyrie. Because she had the beauty that out-masked many maidens. And that she was deadly. Valkyries were warriors who decided who was to go to Valhalla. Beautiful women of bravery and honor.

A fine description for this woman.

Yet, he knew it was insane. They were… different. She was obviously feral... who knew a surprisingly enough Norse vocabulary to hold a conversation. She was willing to kill him, to protect her dragons. She was immensely loyal to dragons. A Valkyrie among dragons.

As for him… He was an heir to Berk. He was Dragon Master, a tamer of dragons. His title alone should have angered the Valkyrie, if that was not the case already. That was what he knew. He knew how to train dragons.

If there was one thing certain about him and this… Valkyrie Among Dragons….

Their paths should not have crossed.


From the dragon sanctuary, the woman looked down at the ground. It wasn't like her to do it. But she just... found the ground interetsting. How it grew plants from grass to tall tress, and fed small animals.

But this ground, right at her feet... was interesting. The same soil where the young man had disappeared, probably never to be seen again. Where he stood. Where she grabbed his neck and lifted him off his feet, and his strange shiny one.

She could still smell his scent, which was a mix of the light air and pine needles. It burned in her memory, wanting to savor the smell. It reminded her of the smell of dragons; the wildness, the risk, the freedom…

She pushed herself away from the ground. Not a bad scent.

"Flame?"

The woman lifted her head, to where the Deadly Naddar nuzzled against her rider. There was a low rumble from the dragon, and the human mimicked a purring noise in return.

She sighed. Her sister was the only dragon she could reveal her true feelings to. "I'm alright, Stormfly. I just… I can't get his scent out of my mind."

"If he was a dragon, he would have been handsome." The Deadly Naddar shrugged, as her children began to squawk around them. "Flametorch, did you notice how attuned he was with the young ones?"

"You're insane," the woman, Flametorch, insisted in Dragonese. "He could not…"

"Mother said she sensed something special about you, remember?" Stormfly asked. When Flametorch nodded in agreement, she added, "She told me that she remembered a boy with bright green eyes who spoke to her."

Flametorch shrugged. She wished she could remember fully.

Was he the same boy?

The young man had the same scar. The boy had a chin scar as well. They shared the same shade of green eyes, which reminded her of the sweet pine smell of his hair. Of the scents of spring and summer, and freedom. And how his freckles appeared throughout his face like a mist of stars in the sky.

One of the baby Deadly Naddars rubbed its head against her legs, which were crossed over on the ground. She smiled as she stroked its soft scales. I forgot how much softer hatchling scales are, compared to the adults…

"I am not sure," Flametourch decided. "I cannot seem to remember such a boy."

"What if he decides to come back?" Stormfly asked. She crouched down and brought her children closer to her. "As much as the Night Fury was kind to my children, I am still not sure about this man."

Flametourch released a low vibrate from the bottom of her throat. Years of being surrounded by dragons allowed her to mimic their communication of Dragonese, along with vocal sounds. It helped when she wanted to scare other humans, or simply express deepen anger.

"He would be wise to not return." Memory of his eyes piercing with slight fear flashed, and the feeling of power over him sparked her anger. He had no place her with her or her dragons. He was just like those other humans who killed and enslaved her dragon family. Just like the people who abandoned her as a child.

From what she could tell, he was used to using words with people he should not be associating with. He had this confidence with her, as when he tried to tell her that he was not the Night Fury's master.

He's never where he should be, she thought.

She sighed as she looked up at the ice-made walls. She had to admit, he technically was not harming anyone. Unlike most humans she had seen trap dragons for the fun of it. And yet… he didn't hurt Stormfly's babies, either. That was something, right? And he knew when to leave, after she told him twice.

For some reason… her instincts made her feel… connected to him.

She had never met another human who was in sync with his dragon. Most riders… ordered their dragons. To the untrained eye, the dragons seemed to only respond by word of Viking. Flametourch only knew from the countless rescue missions she displayed in the past five winters.

But not this man.

He and the Night Fury were definitely in sync.

When the man left, he merely jumped on the Night Fury's back. And both knew to use that strange contraption – he said he uses it to fly the dragon – without words or motions. It was like… trust. Both moved together in sync. And when Stormfly went to attack the man, the Night Fury did not hesitate to protect him.

Her eyes narrowed at the ground. She did not like this feeling. Was it jealousy? Attraction? She was unfamiliar with either feelings. Growing up different than other dragons made her feel like an outsider, but never jealousy. And she did not harbor sexual or romantic attractions to any male dragons, either.

She didn't know.

As the thousands of dragons swarmed the nest, Flametorch could not help but remember that she was not the only human with the soul of a dragon.

There were now two.

And she felt threatened by it.