Valka's breath hitched as she got closer to what she assumed were the dungeons. The cages looked like they were made for dragons only, but it didn't hurt to check. After all, her son was a prisoner. They would keep him in a cage.
She hated that she knew the mind of the enemy so well.
As she went from cage to cage slowly, and quietly, she found herself cringing and wincing at the bones, and the poor animals still trapped. She wanted so badly to free them, and yet, she couldn't. It would cause a chaos, and her mission was to get Hiccup.
Afterwards, though? She'd come back for all of them. She knew she would.
There was no sign of Hiccup in any of the cages.
Well, then, maybe he was in Grimmel's quarters. That thought made her especially queasy. What things did the man have planned for her son?
Before she could answer the question, she had to find them first.
Maybe he was still on the ships.
Valka clicked her tongue. There really wasn't time to check each and every one of the ships if she didn't want the other riders to barge in and rescue her. Maybe she should head back…
No. No. She had to keep searching.
She snuck out, near the arena. She could hear loud, animated yelling. Someone there was in huge trouble. She got closer, until she saw hooded men and women.
" - were supposed to capture the Night Fury!"
"We hired you for that one purpose!"
These were warlords, she realized with a start. But they weren't the masterminds behind the attack...
And then she saw Grimmel.
It was exactly how Ruffnut had described. A tall man with white hair and strange robes and a smug, nonchalant expression. She hated him instantly.
"I may not have gotten you the Night Fury, but I did get you something of equal value."
"And what is that?" one of them asked.
Valka scowled, getting her staff at the ready. Hiccup was somewhere close, he had to be.
Grimmel smirked. "Come on out, my little pet! No need to be shy!"
She frowned, squinting to see under the chains covering the ring. He couldn't be referring to Hiccup. He couldn't be calling him a pet. Her son was no one's pet.
But it was her son who stepped out from inside. She could tell by the hair, as well as the outcry that followed.
"The chief of Berk!"
"Why didn't you cuff him, you fool?""
"Don't come any closer, demon!"
The three of them had all taken their weapons out, and with a start, Valka jumped into the arena. using her staff to swing her down the chains.
"Hiccup! Run!"
"Don't move a muscle, pet."
"Who are you?" the woman demanded. "How did you get here?"
Valka didn't bother responding. Why wasn't Hiccup -
She finally got a close look at him. His eyes, specifically.
They weren't green. Weren't emerald, like Stoick's and her own. They were a violent shade of violet. Her eyes finally fell down to the collar on his neck and the purple venom that was embedded in him.
When she looked back at his eyes, she realized they looked dead.
"What did you do to him?" she cried out, raising her staff facing Grimmel, who merely chuckled.
"Do you think you can take on me, and these good vikings here with me?"
Valka snarled. "Oh, trust me, I can do more than take you on. You'll be screaming for mercy once I'm done with you."
She stood in a crouched position. Hiccup made no sign that he heard her, or even recognized her.
"Truly formidable." The man's voice dripped with sarcasm. "But given that, I think it's only suitable if we make it a fair fight."
What?
He looked at Hiccup, pointed at her, and said, "Kill."
The growl that Hiccup emitted, then, she didn't know he was capable of. Barely a second had passed after Grimmel's words when her son had lit up his fire sword in his hand and ran towards her, fully looking like he was going to burn her alive if she gave him the chance.
She didn't give him that chance.
Valka jumped just in the nick of time, gasping. "Hiccup!"
He made no response. There was a crazed look in his eyes. He swung his sword again, forcing her to take even more steps back.
"Listen to me!"
"He'll never listen to you again!" Grimmel said gleefully.
"Hiccup, please!"
She could strike him. But she couldn't. She couldn't hurt him.
"Kill her!"
"Listen to me, son! Fight it!"
"Do it now!"
Hiccup kept attacking. Each blow he threw at her she barely dodged. And she had been dodging for half of her life.
She held her hands out. "Hiccup -"
He kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back before raising his sword.
Valka lifted up her staff -
He brought down Inferno -
One of the warlords screamed -
And then Hiccup was knocked aside by a large tail that she knew to be Cloudjumper's.
Her dragon roared furiously, and she knew he was about to fire.
"No! Don't!" She hooked her staff against the end of his wing. "That's Hiccup, don't fire!"
The dragon hesitated, and in that moment, Hiccup threw his sword. It swept past her cheek and hissed as she got burned, clutching it. Cloudjumper roared again, and they were flying up, up, away from Hiccup, who still looked like he wanted to rip her apart.
"Valka!" That was Eret. "I'm sorry, it hasn't been an hour, but Cloudjumper heard you calling out and we couldn't stop him -"
"Retreat!" she yelled, trembling. The wind was beating at her face like it never had before.
They obeyed her instantly. Cloudjumper flew fast, but he could have been slower than a snail at that moment, because with every second, she knew she was leaving Hiccup behind and in every second, she hated herself for it.
Astrid looked up Mrs. Ack as she teetered on a ladder. The woman hammered at her own hut as she stood down, to make sure she didn't fall.
"Just a bit more! And then you should take a break!"
The woman shot her a grateful look, to which Astrid only nodded slightly at. She looked around - most everyone was doing some form of repairs. Her hands were itching to join in. But she was merely the supervisor, in charge. What a useless role to be in.
She heard someone walk up behind her. "You're doin' a good job."
Astrid looked over her shoulder to see Spitelout, watching approvingly. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"Whatever."
"I know you don't want to do this," he said, stepping up to stand next to her, "but you realize this is going to be your role anyway, once you marry the chief?"
She looked at him with a glare. "That isn't going to include worrying about whether he's alive or not. That - that isn't going to be feeling so helpless."
"You're not helpless. Everyone's calmer because of you. They trust you."
"They trust Hiccup too."
"In times of peace, definitely. In times of war, it's nice to have someone who thinks more like the average viking.."
Astrid clenched her fist and started walking the other way. "We're not at war. Not yet."
"Alright, then." He continued to follow her. "Then we're waiting. It's a good skill to have, to be able to wait."
"If you're critiquing me -"
"For Thor's sake, lass, I'm tryin' to praise you. You're doing a good job of waiting and a good job at being chieftess."
"I'm not the -" She clicked her tongue angrily, but then took a deep breath and stopped walking. They were in front of Hiccup's hut. "But thank you, I guess. Do you always use flattery to become second in command?"
"Would you rather I seduce you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, now I know where Snotlout gets it from." At his expectant look. she went on. "No. If I leave, Gobber is to become chief. That's my final say."
Gods, none of this mattered right now. She should be on Stormfly right now, rescuing Hiccup and killing Grimmel.
"May I be your counsel?"
Astrid bit her lip. She really was entirely new to this game of politics.
"I'm not...entirely opposed to the idea."
"Good. You're open-minded."
"Unlike you."
"Lass, I've been through enough to not have the luxury of being open-minded."
Astrid opened her mouth to fire back, to say that everyone had that luxury, no matter what they had been through, but a man ran up to her, out of breath. "Chieftess!"
She bit down, hard, on her tongue, before she could correct him. She didn't know why the title bothered her so. She was acting chief, so she would be treated as such. But the Berkians were getting a little too comfortable with it, too quickly.
"What is it?"
"Two things. One, the Night Fury is awake."
Astrid started - finally, someone who would be as panicked as she was.
"It is not a good idea to look forward to comforting a dragon more than your own people," Spitelout murmured. She threw him a dirty glance - he was right, but he didn't have to say it.
"What else?"
"A Terror mail."
"From Valka?" Her eyes widened.
The man shook his head. Astrid narrowed her eyes.
"Then who?"
"It's the Berserker tribe, Chieftess. They're under attack."
