Hey guys! So here is Chapter 10!

I'll see you soon :)

Souls of Dragons

Chapter 10: The Valkyrie Returns

The first thing Hiccup did was jump back.

It wasn't really his intention to; especially when he crashed into his bedside table, and books and papers on it went flying all over the room. He found himself also falling to the ground, with his prosthetic dispatching from him in the process. He felt his side pinch from the impact with the table, and he suspected that a bruise will come through.

There were no words for what Hiccup could tell the Valkyrie. Literally, his muscles in his throats ceased in place and he lost the ability to speak. Like when he was ready to kill Toothless, and the Night Fury pounced on him. Or more recently, when she choked him nearly to death upon their first meeting.

It was no wonder he could hardly breathe on top of all of that.

Not to mention she still was stunning.

The Valkyrie's eyes never left Hiccup's gaze. Yea… that wasn't helping at all with his breathing. Her blue eyes were filled with fire, as always, the constant passion of a dragon in her stare. He cringed. How can this woman make me scare so – easily?

But why in all the nine realms was she doing on Berk?

And – oh gods, was she crawling through the window?!

Hiccup cringed, as the Valkyrie jumped through, and ascended to Hiccup with a slow approach. She's here to kill me. Yep, that was the only explanation. She somehow got the dragon to catch his scent and to kill him when he had his guard down. She had him cornered and didn't want him to scream to alert his family. Or even worse… she wanted them to hear him scream, so that was the last sound they would ever hear from him.

His first instinct was to grab his Inferno, which, by odd coincident, was right beside him. The look of contextual evil was written on her face, as it shifted in his vision as a dragon's muzzle. He could feel the fear within his veins cringing at the sight of her, as he clutched the cool metal within his fingers.

"Where is your Night Fury?"

Out of all the plausible scenarios he'd come up with, which involved the Valkyrie, this was not on the list of his ideas.

Hiccup blinked. "Wh-... what?"

The Valkyrie didn't move. "Your dragon, the Night Fury." She glanced around his bedroom. "Obviously, he isn't here, although Stormfly followed it here. Where is he?"

Hiccup merely pointed to the window. He couldn't trust himself to speak.

It was then when the Valkyrie moved. She turned her body around, and walked toward the window. With no look of hesitation, she leaped out.

Hiccup jumped up and ran to it. What the Hel is this woman's problem?! Is she crazy?! He glanced down the window, hoping to find any indication of the Valkyrie. And yet, there was no body… no evidence that she fell to her death. It didn't help that the dragon had disappeared as well.

Swiftly, Hiccup grabbed his sword and lifted his leg over the windowsill. It proved to be more difficult than anticipated, since his peg leg soon was stuck in a crack in the wood. Hiccup frowned, as he tugged hard. So much for stealth. He reached for his stump, and unclasped his peg leg off.

Now free, he slid down the side of the house, and landed swiftly on his attached foot. Hm… not so bad, Haddock, he mused. He stood up and clasped Inferno to his belt.

Now… He looked around the site of the island. It was so dark… he was surprised that the Valkyrie could even navigate through all these houses. Just as Stoick ordered, not even a torch was lit for each home, including the torches at the podiums guarding Berk. Hiccup sighed. Where the Hel could she have gone?

There was a distant ooph! from a few miles down the island.

Hiccup didn't hesitate to run. He ran to the edge of the Haddock property, and had his attention to the nesting area. Oddly enough, it was still closed, but it still looked strange. The torches were blown out, and the men that were usually posted there, at least since a few hours ago, were now laying on the ground unconscious.

Great… Hiccup groaned. There she goes… stealing our dragons.

There was only one thing he could do: he jogged down the hill and headed for the nesting area. Luckily, the men on duty were knocked out, so he hardly worried about getting caught. Unless they wake up…

He bent down to one of the guards, and studied the unconscious body. He recognized the young Viking, with blonde hair and a charming complexion: it was Hoark, who was not much older than Hiccup. And for some reason… Hiccup had to laugh. Not so tough now, are you, Hoark? he couldn't help but think with a grin.

Hiccup noticed a small dart in Hoark's neck, dripping with a black substance. He pulled it out and sniffed it. It had a revolting stench, smelling of the ocean.

There was only one thing that smelt like that.

Squid ink?

It must have been squid ink. It was the most common form of knock-out for trapping. Hiccup only knew of it from the regular dragon trappers he came across on his travels with Finna and the Riders. He studied the dart. It was brilliant crafted, even for him (and he happened to appreciate the beautiful work).

So how did she, of all people, come in the possession of darts with squid ink?

He sighed, as he got back up to follow the nesting area. Inferno was now gripped in his hand, ready to ignite. If talking didn't work… then he'd force her to stop.

And he was ready, until –

"Ah!" he yelled.

A hand went over his mouth.

"Silence, or you're dragon's a goner."

Hiccup lifted an eyebrow. "How ebacky r ew panen-" He groaned and threw the Valkyrie's hand off his mouth. "How exactly are you planning to threaten my dragon if he's not here?" he whispered. "I know dragons don't usally teach stealth in-"

The Valkyrie merely pointed to behind him.

Confused, Hiccup turned around. The next moment, he found himself being licked by a rather large dragon that he could barely see because of his scales camouflaging with the night. The licking got to the point that he fell to the ground and the rather large tongue even covered his hair in saliva. Rather sticky saliva.

"I missed you too, bud," Hiccup said, hugging Toothless.

The dragon cooed, "You have no idea how much I missed you, Hiccup." In addition, he nuzzled Hiccup with the upmost affection he had ever shown to him. Then, he frowned to the Viking. "If you ever allow this to happen again-"

"You'll kill me, I know," Hiccup said, giving his best friend a hug. "It's not the first threat I've gotten today."

"Come with us," the Valkyrie demanded, interrupting the tender moment. She was back on her dragon, ready to take off.

Hiccup didn't think twice to climb back on Toothless. It felt like forever since he was with his best friend, despite being merely a couple of hours. Now, he felt complete with being on Toothless' back, connecting prosthetic to prosthetic. Just like how it shout always be.

And it's because of her.

Toothless looked back at Hiccup, releasing an unsure sound.

Hiccup patted Toothless. "It's okay. We can follow her," he said. The dragon seemed to agree, as he nodded and gave his rider a toothless grin.

Without a further word, the small company leaped off Berk and ascended to the evening sky.

It had been some time since there had been any words.

Not that Flametorch disagreed; she enjoyed the peace and quiet. It reminded her of her old life, when there were no dragon trappers or insane men who happen to wander in the dragon sanctuary. Yes... back when she was with her family… Heavenwings. Bronzer. Stormfly. Icespitter.

Yet… this emptiness of words… it felt odd.

Was it a human thing, to be incredibly quiet for the oddest things?

She lifted her hand, and stared at it. Is my real family quiet too? Astrid barely remembered her true parents. The ones whom abandoned her. Well… I don't even know if they abandoned me. She sighed. I feel as though they left me. But why would they leave me?

Astrid looked back at Hiccup.

Why are humans so quiet? She wondered. The expression on his face was hard to read… like he was speechless or something? It made no sense. He was the one who wanted to find her, and the nest. So why was he speechless now?

Unless he changed his mind.

Astrid shook her head. No. There was no way that he could change his mind. Not when the King wanted to see him. And does he know about Drago? Was this why he wanted to speak to the Dragon Master?

She shrugged. "Perhaps we'll find out soon enough, eh Stormfly?"

The dragon snorted. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Astrid smiled. Leave it to Stormfly to cheer her up. It was one of the reasons why they stayed friends, after all these years. They knew how to speak to one another… it was simple. Without effort.

"Uh… where exactly are we going?" the Dragon Master asked.

She didn't answer. Humans… they could be so… stupid.

The flight seemed longer than ever, especially with the silence between the dragons and humans. What was it that they could talk about, even? She might be able to address the man's question, but would it break the awkward silence between them?

"We… are going to the nest," Astrid explained.

Hiccup said nothing.

Astrid watched his face again. The way Hiccup… frowned... it wasn't of sadness. Rather... it looked more like he was focusing on something. Like… really hard. She shrugged. Perhaps he's thinking as well?

Hiccup shrugged. "Well… what do you want me there for?"

"Nothing in particular." She looked ahead. "We should be there soon."

And the tests will begin.

What could she want from me?

Hiccup held onto the reins of Toothless' saddle tightly. His heart began to beat with uncertainty, as the four of them soared through the beautiful night. The stars were positioned across the sky, and the moon stationed high above them and completely full. It was beautiful sight, but it still made him feel uneasy.

"Uh…" he coughed, as he acquired the confidence to speak. "What exactly am I doing there?" he asked.

The Valkyrie turned her head back around to face him. Her hair, loosely in a braid, flew in the wind and single hair pieces were untamed in the air. Hiccup couldn't help to point out how natural it looked for her.

"A test."

Test? Hiccup wondered.

What kind of test did the Valkyrie have planned for him?

He patted Toothless, but it was to help his nerves more than to assure Toothless. If this test is anything like how she is usually… The gods only knew that Hiccup needed all of the help he could get. And he knew that the gods didn't like to help him that much, not to mention he had some of the worst luck of any Viking.

"What do you mean by… test?" Hiccup asked, uneasy with the word.

If Hiccup knew any better, there was a smug smile on the woman's face. "Well... what do you consider a test?"

"Anything that doesn't include excruciating pain and or death?" Hiccup said with a squeak in his voice.

The Valkyrie pondered at the idea. "Hmm.. not a bad idea…" When Hiccup gaped in utter shock, she chuckled. "No, I won't do anything too… excruciating…" She tilted her head. "What exactly is excruciating?"

"Extreme." Hiccup thought. "Overbearing. Mega. A lot. Terrible"

"I think I got it," she said, holding her hands in protest.

Hiccup had to smile at that, despite his fear. Strangely, when the Valkyrie wasn't being a psycho-maniac dragon worshiper, she actually wasn't all that bad. She seemed rather… normal.And to think I thought she was a dude before we met, Hiccup couldn't help but realize, with some humor.

"It's too bad," Toothless scoffed, "I would've enjoyed the excruciating pain."

Hiccup laughed. "Oh, you and your crazy fanatics, bud." He rubbed the Night Fury's head.

"You… understand their dialect?" the Valkyrie asked.

The young man swallowed hard. Crap. I totally forgot she could understand them. With a slow nod, he gestured to Toothless. "I can mostly understand Toothless, only when I'm actually paying him any attention. Sometimes it's hard to catch when he's whispering or making conversation with other dragons. It's hard to pick up."

The Valkyrie nodded, as though she accepted this answer. "Did you learn from him?"

"Definitely. He's even taught me some words." He shrugged. "Maybe after this little test I can show you what I know."

"Don't count your eggs before they hatch," the Valkyrie could only snap back, as she turned around to face the dark night.

Toothless scoffed again. "Finna was right; you picked a weird one."

Hiccup gulped. And this weird one's still frightening me.

"WHERE IS MY SON?!"

Finna shot her head up with alertness. Shit. There was no hesitation; she leaped from her bed and quickly changed out of her pajamas for her regular shirt and pants. Her hammer laid at her bedside, so she grabbed it and ran out of her bedroom.

Bolting down the stairs, she found her mother and father pacing in the kitchen. Stoick the Vast's face was pale, while Valka's face grew a dark shade of red. Oddly enough, Valka was the angriest person in this situation.

"What's going on?" Finna asked. "Did Hiccup set the island on fire again?"

Stoick darted his eyes to her. "Finna, where is your brother?"

The seventeen year old found herself gulping. In most situations, when Hiccup escaped Berk, Finna could figure out where he went just from how he acted mere minutes ago. Like… when Stoick and Valka discussed Hiccup's marriage; Finna knew that he left for an island somewhere. Then again.. I didn't expect him to meet up with a crazy, feral, dragon lady.

But… Hiccup did talk about the Valkyrie last night…

"He's with the Valkyrie," Finna realized.

Valka's head shot up. Stoick's face turn white.

"But – but I thought he was kidding," Stoick insisted. "He wouldn't go after the Valkyrie, not after I told him not to!"

Finna shook her head. "I don't think he did, Dad." She looked at Valka. "I think the Valkyrie went after him, like Mom said she would."

Valka nodded slowly. "I did say that… but I didn't really think she would." She sighed. "I thought… being feral… she wouldn't want to chance risking her dragons' lives on coming to get him."

"And Hiccup's not one to just… back down on a fight," Finna added. "He came willingly, only if she threatened Toothless in any way."

Stoick laughed. "Well… we can cross that one off the list. Toothless is here, and we'll use him to track down Hiccup."

Finna blinked. The way her father said that… it was though he was certain that Toothless was still locked up. "Dad… did you even check the pin?" she asked slowly.

"Don't need to; we had the best men on duty last night," Stoick said, "and they didn't see anything last night-"

But she didn't hear him finish.

She had darted down the hill, passed where the dragons were still locked up. As usual, there were men stationed at the two corners of the entrance, including on the rooftop. There had been no sign of anything suspicious… except that Hoark was holding his hand up to his neck.

Finna ran up to Hoark. "Hey! What's wrong with your neck?" she asked.

"Oh, hey Finna," Hoark said, as he checked his hand. "Nothing, I think. But there's this black stuff on my neck." He showed it to Finna. "Is this… squid ink?"

Finna grabbed his hand and inspected it. It did look like squid ink, but why would it be covering Hoark? Squid ink was only used in dragon trapping when taking out dragons; it caused dragons to become passed out for a few hours.

"Hoark…" Finna said slowly, "how long were you passed out?"

Hoark shrugged. "I don't know. I… I didn't even know I was." He gasped. "Oh gods! The Chief's going to kill me! He told me to stay on guard!"

Finna grabbed Hoark's arm. "Calm down, you idiot! Just tell me what you remember last."

"Well…" Hoark scratched his head. "There was a noise from behind me. I went to grab my axe, but then I felt a sharp pain in my neck. Next thing I remember was a tingle going through my body, like a fire spreading all over me. Then everything went black."

Finna nodded slowly. "Did you see anything suspicious?"

"Not really," Hoark admitted. "Although… there was something small and mysterious climbing around us. That was when I went to grab my axe." He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you curious all the sudden?"

Finna felt like slapping the twenty-four year old across the face, but she controlled herself. "Because, if you hadn't noticed, my idiot brother's dragon might have been stolen!" she screeched.

There was a pause from Hoark.

"Just open the goddamn doors!" Finna ordered.

Hoark nodded again, as he walked over to the huge doors. With both arms, he pulled down on the lever and the door slowly closed. Finna waited until there was only enough room for her to squeeze in, and she crawled through it.

All she could see was the shadows of what she assumed was dragons. However, Hoark had closed the door back up, and the darkness consumed her vision. And she was not happy with the current situation. She could feel the scaly bodies of hundreds of dragons, and it made her sick.

"Geeze, how do you guys see in here – wait! Someone… low fire!" she shouted.

Nearly twenty dragons lit a fire in their mouths, creating a warm environment along with a better sight of the place. Finna brushed the dirt off her vest. "Thank you. Now…" she looked around. "Toothless?"

No answer.

Typical. He's obviously with Hiccup.

"Blizzard!" Finna shouted.

There was a slight moment that was extremely quiet. Then, Finna heard the trotting of four rather large feet. She looked ahead and saw the familiar Woolly Howl run toward her, nearly pushing her over.

Finna laughed, as she pushed her dragon away. "Okay, I get it. Have you seen Toothless?" she asked.

The Woolly Howl stared at her rider with curiosity, as her blue eyes welled up with admiration. Her tongue then stuck out slightly, and she began to pant happily.

Finna groaned. "Sometimes, you can be rather stupid."

Like my brother.

It was nearly daylight before the small company reached the nest.

Surprisingly enough, Hiccup found himself falling asleep not long after the Valkyrie stopped talking to him. Toothless just... seemed to enjoy flying in the night sky, and Hiccup laid comfortably against the dragon's neck. It was extremely warm there, with (supposedly) Toothless' source of fire came from, and Hiccup felt like he was back at home in his own bed.

I could sleep like this all day.

Toothless suddenly shifted under Hiccup, causing him to sit up. Hiccup jolted back up on the saddle, as he shook his head. What does it take for a guy to get some decent sleep? He thought, as he released a slow yawn. In emphasis, he stretched his arms.

"Are we almost there?" he asked, but felt another yawn come crawling in. It came out muffled, and he covered his mouth. "I'm starting to get the impression that you guys hate sleep."

The Valkyrie shook her head. "I will never understand humans."

"Um, aren't you a human?" Hiccup asked. There was another snort from him. "Forgive me… but shouldn't it be men that you'll never understand?"

He might have offended her, because the next moment she had jumped from the Deadly Nadder's back and somehow ended up on Toothless behind him. To make it worse, she inexplicably turned him around and drew a dagger to his neck.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but it's really not funny anymore."

Hiccup chuckled nervously. "I guess you know what humor is, after all…"

The Valkyrie frowned. She pulled away her dagger, and threw it in rope around her waist (which Hiccup assumed was a homemade belt). "You are right, Hiccup. I don't understand men."

"Wait, you know my name?" Hiccup asked, astound.

He didn't get an answer from her, because she leaped again, and landed back on her Deadly Nadder. The dragon hissed as the Valkyrie pulled the dragon down to the clouds. Before Hiccup could even process where she had went, Toothless immediately dove in after them.

He sighed. I have decided that waking up to a dagger is not the best thing to see first thing in the morning.

But how did she know his name?

Before Hiccup knew it, he was in a cave.

It was incredibly dark, save for the light shining through some ice. There were long icicles hanging down, stretching almost twenty feet long the most. Toothless had to duck just to dodge the long pillars of ice. In addition, the space of the cave was limited to themselves and many dragons on foot.

Toothless landed, as the dragons stared at them in bewilderment and awareness. One dragon with six legs, the one Hiccup recognize from his last visit, came up to him with a slow grunt and teeth baring at him.

"Get away from my human!" Toothless growled.

Hiccup patted the dragon's head. "Don't worry, bud. This dragon won't hurt me."

He closed his eyes, and listened to the other dragons' hisses and growls. If he concentrated hard enough, there would be a possibility that he could understand what they were saying:

"…must be the One. I heard the King talk about it."

Hiccup pinched his eyes tighter. What? A King? And did he even hear the dragon correctly? He shook his head. A trick of the mind.

He listened closely:

"No, he is too small to have a Soul."

"But – but he could!"

"I say we eat him up-"

"Uh.." Hiccup gulped. "P,Please don't eat me up." There was a groan from behind him. "Look… I don't want to hurt anyone of you." He searched through the crowd, trying to find the Valkyrie. "If you can hear me, Valkyrie, I…"

The six-legged dragon inched closer to him.

Before Toothless could react, Hiccup drew out his sword. He first released a small amount of the Hideous Zippleback gas from the tip of the sword. Toothless immediately stepped back, while the foolish six-legged dragon stared at Hiccup with interest.

Hiccup breathed in. You can do this, Hiccup. You've done this hundreds of times before.

With a flick, Hiccup released a spark of Monstrous Nightmare saliva, creating a flame of fire. He then lifted the sword, and waved it slowly in front of the six-legged dragon. The dragon's thin pupils suddenly thickened, and followed the flame as though it were in a gaze. It wasn't the only dragon under Hiccup's spell; two other dragons also followed the sword's dance.

Hiccup smiled to himself. That's it, dragon. He then shut the sword off, and held his hand out. Walking slowly to the six-legged dragon, he held his empty hand out, reaching out for the dragon's snout. A common thing he did, but an effective tactic.

The dragon growled again.

Hiccup closed his eyes, and turned his head away. He allowed all his thoughts escape his mind, and breathed steadily. All his mind would concentrate was on the dragon. He breathed out calmly, hoping the dragon could see that he meant no harm. His extensions were not his instincts, but the dragon's.

In what seemed like an instant, he could feel the dragon's cool scales rest against his hand. He opened his eyes again, and saw the dragon nuzzle his hand gently against his own hand, and even purred against it. Hiccup couldn't help but smile. This has to be the easiest test ever.

"Stop."

Hiccup raised his head and followed the voice. Not ten feet from him, standing right beside the six-legged dragon, was the Valkyrie, with her axe drawn. Hiccup pulled back from the dragon, and slowly walked back to Toothless.

The Valkyrie raised her axe, and banged it against the ground. A strange noise came from them, and the dragons reacted: they created low flames in their mouths, and illuminated the cave with at least seven dragons' torch-like fires.

Hiccup could only watch them in awe.

Slowly, the Valkyrie laid her weapon down, and walked to the duo. Toothless wrapped his tail around Hiccup protectively, and he snarled at the approaching Valkyrie. Hiccup felt his hand rest on his sword and his nerves spike with fear.

The Valkyrie, not a foot away from Toothless, lifted her hand slightly. Toothless followed it, then somehow closed his eyes and landed flat on his back.

So much for the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself, Hiccup mused.

If Hiccup was uncomfortable, he would have mentioned it earlier. Rather... he would be saying it right now. But his fear for the Valkyrie (especially since she knocked out his Night Fury) was growing with every second. Gods, why did I think I could handle her?

It wasn't helping that she was trying to touch his face. Again.

Yet... she paused.

Hiccup tried to contain his rapid breathing, but it wasn't doing him much good. His heart was beating faster than a Gronkle's wings, and he tried hard to keep his heart from going to a heart attack. The way the Valkyrie stared at him... it was creepy. It was though... she was trying to remember him in another life...

The Valkyrie sighed. Hiccup noted how tired it sounded. Or was it disappointment? He couldn't tell. This was the fourth time facing th Valkyrie and still scared him.

"So... you really do have a Soul of a Dragon."

Oh... and the plot thickens!

Hope you enjoyed this Hiccstrid. And don't worry: this is merely the beginning of the planned Hiccstrid ;)

Please review, and I'll see you soon :)