Author's Note: Third update today! I think it might be more or less... Huh. Um, yeah enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Haedryin!


Chapter 7: Valka's Santuary

"Uh, hold on! Wait just minute-" I start chasing after Valka, -my mother- through the dark tunnels Toothless right behind me.

"This way." She interrupts and looks back at me for a second eyes bright. No! No 'this way' I want answers!

"Come back here!" I command.

"Come!" She orders and slides over a rock. I race after her swinging over several rocks and slipping across others. This is ridiculous! I mean, there's crazy then there's this! My mother is alive! Where has she been for all this time!?

"You can't just say something like that run off!" I say and she doesn't look back at me swinging over more rocks as if she's been doing it for years, which I guess she has. "You're my mother!?"

"Come." Valka commands and looks back at me waving a hand.

I duck under a large rock and toss my bangs from my eyes trying to see in the dark better, "I mean, what the-do-do you grasp how insane that sounds?" I demand. I mean, sure someone's who's been dead for nineteen years, raised from the dead again. I can't believe this.

"Come, come quickly." She commands and swings over the top of a large rock.

"I have questions!" I argue and jump for the top of the rock but miss it because of my short height. Stupid peg leg. "What have you been all this time?" I ask and leap for the top my fingers sliding down it again. Toothless shoves against my back and I grab the edge of the rock sliding over it thanking Toothless wordlessly.

I hit the ground with a yelp and scramble to my feet chasing after the woman. For the love of Thor would it kill her to slow down!?

"W-what have you been doing?" I say and manage to get to my feet ducking under a few more rocks, "T-they said you were dead. Everyone thinks you were eaten by-" I stop mid sentence as I break out of the tunnels into a large sanctuary. My step stutters with shock.

There's a large waterfall pouring down the middle of it with a colossal lake, dragons fly around large stalagmites covered in moss and plant life down the middle. The air is filled with dragons dozens of species I don't even recognize, I doubt even Fishlegs would be able to name them.

I take a step forward then a few more watching baby Gronckles wrestle for a second Toothless right behind me. What is this place? It's...breathtaking.

I duck slightly as a large dragon flies over my head it's neck as thick as me. I toss my hair from my face, watching the dragons fly freely with wide eyes.

This is amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life. As we walk further into the nest I can spot dozens of waterfalls not just one across the walls, the dragons jump off the large salemites joining the other dragons in the sky and I can spot a few species I realize, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmares, Raincutters, Timberjacks..

Toothless growls lowly and I glance at him before spotting he's glaring at something. I follow his gaze towards a large overhang of the cliffside were standing on spotting the same Stormcutter and my moth-Valka.

I take a step back towards Toothless in shock sucking in a breath. I blink several times and can feel the frost spreading under my foot as I stare up at Valka, "This is where you've been, for twenty years?" I demand staring at her with shock taking a step back. Technically it's more like nineteen but I'm almost twenty. Two or three months short.

The woman gives a brisk nod.

I bite my lip slightly, "Y-you've been rescuing them."

Another nod.

I scan around the sanctuary for several more seconds as Toothless sits back behind me, "Unbelieveable." I murmur.

"You're not upset?" Valka murmurs softly.

"What? No," I say quickly. Yes, actually I am. "I-I don't know. It's a bit much to get my head around to be frank." I admit. You stayed away for twenty years, I don't understand, I'm not sure I want to. What right did she have to leave us for nineteen years? What about my powers? I couldn't feel for fifteen years, does she know, did she care? If she did, didn't she know I would be executed on the spot at discovery?

I keep the thoughts to myself and using wild hand gestures finish my thought, "It's not everyday you learn that your mother is some sort of crazy, feral, vigilante, dragon lady."

"Oh," Valka says with a soft chuckle. Her dragon raises it's wing and helps her to the ground, "Well at least I'm not boring, right?"

A dragon moves forward sniffing my arm and I rest a hand against its cheek, "Well I suppose there is that one specific thing." I murmur and she moves forward towards me. I ignore every instinct within me crying out: FLEE! And let her move forward.

"D-do you like it?" She asks hesitantly.

"I-I, I don't have the words…" I trail off turning my attention to Toothless as dozens of dragons move forward all of them trying to sniff him. Toothless growls angrily at all of them giving a sharp scowl and they scamper off guilty expressions playing across their features.

Valka laughs softly and leans down next to Toothless looking at me, "C-can I?" She asks. I give a brisk nod and she moves towards Toothless dropping her staff out as she laughs running a hand over his head, "Oh, he's beautiful!"

I move behind her watching her with unblinking eyes as Toothless rubs against her happily, he trusts her. I have to try to too. "Oh, incredible." She says and I give a faint smile watching both of them. "He might very well be the last of his kind," Toothless rolls over onto his back and Valka's posture brightens even further, "and look! He's your age!"

"Wow." I breathe.

"No wonder you get along so well." Valka says and mimics Toothless's head motions laughing. Toothless grins and retracts his teeth, "And retractable teeth! How did you manage-" Valka asks and I tense my posture going rigid. Oh no.

"I found him in the woods." I murmur, "He'd been shot down and wounded." I clasp my hands behind my back ringing my fingers together. She's probably going to kill me if I admit, I shot him down, I crippled him and gave him no flight.

At my words, Valka turns and looks back at me her eyes hard. Here it comes….She moves to the right of Toothless to a blue green dragon, "This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Dragon Bludvist's iron traps."

She turns and picks up her staff moving towards another dragon and gently lifting up it's wing, "This Raincutter had her wing sliced by razor netting." She moves forward to another dragon lifting up her hand over it's dead grey eyes, "This poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a Treesnare and left to die all alone and scared."

The dragon changes colors at her words leaning into her happily. I bite my lip heavily tasting blood and run my fingers over the knuckle of my right hand. "And what of this?" Valka asks and lifts up Toothless's prosthetic red tailfin staring at me with hate in her eyes but not for me, "Did Drago or his trappers do this to?"

"Oh," I let out an uneasy laugh tossing my head so my bangs fall in front of my eyes. Valka looks up at me as if startled by the laugh. "Yeah, huh, well, crazy this is…I'm actually the one who shot him down." I say and rub the top of Toothless's head. He purrs fondly and I scratch behind his head avoiding eye contact with Valka but I can sense her gaze on me. "Hey, i-it's okay though," I say reassuringly and roll my eyes slightly looking down at Toothless, "he got me back. Right bud? You couldn't save all of me could you? You just had to make it even, so, " I say and lean against Toothless head throwing up my left leg the skirt falling away to reveal my prosthetic leg and the black pants.

"Peg leg!" I call cheerily at Valka's horrified face.

Toothless shoves under my forcing me onto his back and I let out a soft laugh scratching under his head deeply as he sticks his tongue out staring at me happily. Valka laughs slightly giving a uneasy look, "Eb, what did your father think of your Night Fury friend?"

I snort and Valka looks up at me, "He didn't take it to well." I admit and Valka nods slightly her face twisting as if expecting it, "But then he changed, they all did. Pretty soon everyone back home had dragons of their very own."

Valka huffs softly, "Ha, if only it were possible." She murmurs.

"No, really-" I start.

"Believe me,"She says and looks up from Toothless, "I tried as well. But people are not capable of change, Haedryin; some of us were just born different." Her dragon races off towards the waterfall and Valka turns sighing slightly, "Berk was a land of kill or be killed, but I believed peace was possible. It was a very unpopular opinion. Then one night, a dragon broke into our house finding you in the cradle, I rushed to protect you but what I saw...was proof of everything I believed, this wasn't a vicious beast but a kind intelligent gentle creature whose soul reflected my own. You are your father nearly died that night; all because I couldn't kill a dragon."

I sigh softly, "Runs in the family." I say quietly.

Valka's eyes feel with sorrow, "It broke my heart to stay away-" She starts mournfully. It did? "But I believed you'd be safer off if I did." She says looking up at me pleadingly as if she's trying to reassure herself that's the reason she stayed away.

No, I don't understand, how could she think I'd be safer with my powers? If I was the mother of me, I would have gone back and taken myself. That's what would have been "safer"."Why?" I demand and she looks up at me. "Why did you think I'd be safer, don't you know?" I say my voice coming out as a hoarse whisper at the end. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, green eyes narrowing as she tries to understand what I'm talking about.

She doesn't know.

She doesn't know.

"Know what?" Vakla asks hesitantly and I shake my head slightly backing up.

I close my eyes tightly for a second before looking up at her, "About my powers." I answer and her eyes widen with slight disgust and surprise.

"You're cursed?" She asks and stares at me for several long seconds.

"It's not a curse." I say my voice cracking mid sentence. I'm not cursed! I'm not! I'm not! Am I defending myself, or reassuring?

Valka stares at me for several long seconds her eyes studying me firmly as if searching for some sort of mark that will proclaim me as dangerous or abnormal. "Hmm," She says finally. I take in a breath the air coming in slightly choked. "I remember that." she says after another moment of stretched silence between us. I open my eyes staring at her in surprise. "Snow, ice," Valka murmurs before meeting my gaze.

She forgot. That's why she didn't come for me. That's why she left me on Berk thinking all was fine.

I lift up my head, "And lighting." I add and throw my hands forward firing a blast of the purple lighting towards her. She back and the lighting sails past her smashing into a wall with a loud pop.

"That's something to process." Valka says finally before smiling though I can tell it's strained.

"How did you survive?" I ask trying to break the small tension between us. Accepting the change on topic quickly, Valka moves forward towards the edge of a cliff.

"Cloudjumper never meant to hurt me, he must have thought I belonged here, in the home of the great Bewilderbeast." She says and gestures towards a giant white and black dragon I'm surprised I missed in all my scanning. He has a feather crown and it's easy to spot him now I know of his presence, "The alpha species one of hte very few that still exists. Every nest has its queen but this is the king of all dragons, with his icy breath this graceful giant built our nest; a save haven for dragons everywhere."

We move forward and my eyes widen, "Wait that's the ice spitter; he's responsible for all that destruction?" I demand. Valka laughs softly and I spot Toothless running around in the background through the corner of my eye.

"He protects us." Valka argues. "We all live under his care, and his command." Valka says and the smaller wide eyed dragons race past us, still big enough for me to ride easily but their easily still children, "All but the babies of course." Valka says and gives a laugh, "Who listen to no one."

The Bewilderbeast blows the dragons away from his face and looks up at us turning his head to look at me. His eye is easily as tall as I am, maybe even bigger than Dad. Valka gives a low bow and I stare the dragon in bewilderment. So this is the ice spitter, he sort of reminds me of me in a way.

Toothless gives a hesitate bow as if he doesn't really want to but respects the dragon enough. "I've lived among them for twenty years Haedryin, discovering their secrets." Valka says. The Bewilderbeast stares at me for several more seconds before blowing a breath on me and dipping his head in a bow.

I shake the snow from my face and stare at him in shock. He's the alpha, I should be bowing to him. Not the other way around. Valka sits up and stares at me for several long moments before smiling, "Your highness." She says and bows again this time to me.

"What is he doing?" I ask. The Bewilderbeast lifts his mighty head up again and turns away towards the rest of the nest.

Valka smiles at me, "It's because of your powers." She says and I give her a half look.

"Sorry?"

"He's declared you as an equal or above that. To him, you are the Dragon Princess." Valka explains with a smile. I have to bite hard on my tongue to keep my jaw from plummeting to the ground with a long clang. Everything clicking into place, how the dragons would bow to me after seeing my powers, why they wouldn't kill me, why with the Defenders of the Wing that Speed Stinger looked horrified at the thought of harming me.

Seeing my expression Valka gives another laugh, "You must be hungry." She says and I shrug looking over at her.

"Uh yeah, I could eat." I assure.

She smiles and grabs my forearm and leading me forward, "Good, it's feeding time."


Authors Note: :)

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