Losing Mother/The Good Bewilderbeast

Valka sprinted through the village, once again trying her hardest to get those stubborn villagers to hear her out and leave the dragons alone. She'd tried talking to Stoick, asking once again to tackle the problem peacefully but to no avail. She knew that by now, at the age of thirty-five, she should have learned her lesson by now – Berk was a place of kill or be killed after all. Yet even now, after what many would call youthful naivety had worn away, she still believed that peace was somehow possible.

A roar nearby signalled the downing of a dragon – a blazing red Monstrous Nightmare. Seeing a Viking run over with an axe raised over his head, Valka's protective instincts kicked in as she stopped his arm before it brought the axe down on the dragon's neck – for a lithe Viking, Valka was stronger than she looked.

"Stop!" she pleaded. "You'll only make it worse!"

The Nightmare scrambled to its feet and flew off, leaving the villager glaring at Valka before running off. Valka sighed – she knew many didn't think she was a suitable wife for Chief Stoick the Vast. She knew that her opinions were unpopular to say the least. But all she wanted was to find peace...she didn't want her son...her darling Hiccup...and her foster-daughter, Astrid, having to grow up in a world where they either had to fight for survival or face becoming dragon fodder, as Stoick put it.

"EEK!" a shrill shriek sounded from a house at the highest point in the village...the Haddock residence. Valka spun around, her long auburn hair flashing red in the raging fires that consumed the village and froze at what she saw – a large dragon was clambering through the roof of her home...into the children's room.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" she cried, sprinting as fast as she possibly could to the house. Throwing the door open, she grabbed a sword from the wall and leapt up the stairs two at a time, ready to go against everything she believed in to protect her son and foster-daughter...her future daughter-in-law...only to pause at the sight that greeted her.

The dragon took up one side of the room but made no move to attack – it hadn't even noticed Valka. Crouched against the wall at the far end of the room was Hiccup and Astrid – Hiccup was shielding Astrid with a fierce protective look Valka never expected her son to show when it came to Astrid...the boy despised her! Astrid was peeking over his shoulder, her height advantage allowing her a closer look at the dragon. Her hair was held back by the headband Valka had given her earlier that day but her bangs still fell in front on her eyes. The dragon cooed gently and tilted its head and for a moment, the children seemed to relax...even Hiccup although his forest-green eyes were still flashing in terror.

Valka stiffened for a moment as the dragon raised a claw but it still made no move to harm the children – instead, it held it out in front of them. Childish curiosity took over both five-year-olds, Astrid first as she reached over Hiccup's shoulder to touch the claw. It was in the mind of every innocent child who had yet to fully develop the hatred of dragons many Berkians harboured – what was it like to touch a dragon? Hiccup followed after a moment's hesitation and Valka exhaled in amazement, lowering the sword she'd snatched up as she did so. This was proof of everything she'd ever believed in! The dragon wasn't going straight for the kill...it was curious...just as curious and harmless as the children in front of it.

Valka moved further into the room but as she did so she stepped on a creaky floorboard and attracted the attention of the children...and the dragon. Startled, the dragon's claw clipped Hiccup's chin, leaving a small ribbon of red trickling down his face.

"AH!" Hiccup exclaimed, clasping his hand to his chin to stem the bleeding.

"Valka!" Astrid squeaked, remembering her fear as the dragon turned its attention to Valka.

"Stay put, kids," Valka said shortly, raising the sword in self-defence but she couldn't bring herself to attack the dragon. It approached her as gently as it had approached the children and Valka could see no sign of the cold-heartedness that dragons were supposedly infamous for. Two gentle pools of golden amber met her own green irises – this wasn't a vicious beast! It was a gentle, intelligent creature...and Valka realised that it had a soul that reflected her own.

"Mom!" Hiccup whimpered, trying to move forward but Astrid held him back, gripping his arm to keep him from running into trouble or even endangering his mother's life.

"Hiccup, stay there," Valka repeated, less forcefully this time as she dropped the sword she'd been carrying and instead raised a hand to touch the dragon's snout.

The moment was cut short when the blade of an axe stuck into the wall just in front of Valka's face, narrowly missing the dragon. Startled, the dragon bellowed in anger and turned to the source of the attack – Valka gasped when she spotted her husband.

"Valka! Take the kids and run!" Stoick roared. Despite wanting to calm the situation down, Valka didn't hesitate to make a beeline for the children, ushering them towards the stairs. Hiccup darted past the dragon but as it lashed out against Stoick, its tail smacked against Astrid and pinned her to the floor as a resounding crack sounded. The girl screeched in pain and when the tail lifted, Valka saw that Astrid's left leg was sticking out at an awkward angle – it was broken. Motherly instincts taking over, Valka grabbed the girl from the floor and ran for the stairs as Stoick drew the dragon out of the room.

She'd barely reached Hiccup by the front door as a sudden burst of flame seared through the house, hitting the door and sending Hiccup recoiling backwards in terror. Terrified, Valka knew that the dragon was going to try to kill Stoick – angered, it was every bit as dangerous as the village believed. She couldn't stand to see a dragon killed in front of her but at the same time she wasn't going to sit back and watch her husband become spit roast.

"No!" she cried, still cradling Astrid to her chest as she wrenched a free hand against the dragon's shoulder, bringing its attention back to her. For a moment, the dragon regarded both the woman and the Nordic Blonde in her arms and growled when Stoick shouted.

"This way!" he yelled, grabbing Hiccup and hoisting the boy onto his shoulders as he dashed out of a hole that had been blasted in the side of the house. Valka ducked as the dragon made a swooping move towards her and Astrid and jumped out of the hole herself...

...her feet never touched the ground.

"AH...OOF!" Astrid grunted painfully as she tumbled to the ground. Unable to stand, she glanced at the sky and shrieked. "VALKA!"

"NO!" Valka's voice sounded. Hiccup's eyes widened, the gash in his chin all but forgotten and his gaze turned skyward and he saw what no child wanted to see – his mother being carried away into the burning skies in the grip of a dragon's claws. "STOICK!"

"MOM!" Hiccup wailed, throwing himself off his father's shoulders and racing after the dragon. "MOM! COME BACK!"

"HICCUP!" Valka screamed back desperately.

"VALKA!" Stoick bellowed but by now the dragon was out of reach of any weapon or net. He grabbed his son and cradled him close as the boy's eyes stung with tears of anger and grief as they watched Valka vanish into the night skies. "Valka..."

A short distance behind them, crumpled on the ground with a broken leg and gazing in horror at the sight that had unfolded before her, Astrid cried silent tears of guilt. Valka had protected her when she'd been left defenceless against a dragon...a girl who wasn't even her own flesh and blood... And now she'd paid the ultimate price.

Stoick had lost a wife. Hiccup had lost a mother.

Because of her.

/\

Astrid felt her heart wrench as the memory of the last night she and Hiccup had seen Valka until now flooded back as Valka recounted the night. She glanced quickly at Hiccup and she saw the pained expression etched into his face. Looking at Valka, Astrid noticed that her expression matched her son's almost perfectly.

"You all nearly died that night," Valka sighed. "And all because I couldn't kill a dragon." Astrid rubbed her arm and glanced at Hiccup briefly.

"I learnt that it's more of a 'wouldn't' than 'couldn't'," she shrugged with a small smile. "But...either way, it runs in the household," she joked lightly. Valka didn't crack a smile.

"It broke my heart to stay away," she admitted. "But..." she paused and huffed in self-frustration. "It sounds stupid but I honestly thought that you would be safer if I did," she explained. Hiccup bristled visibly so Astrid gripped his hand tightly so that he didn't break anything.

"How did you survive?" Hiccup asked after a slight pause, not meeting his mother's gaze. Valka began walking to the edge of the nearby cliff.

"Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me," she excused light-heartedly, patting the four-winged dragon on the shoulder as he sauntered past.

"That his name, then?" Astrid asked with a small smile as she followed. She was fascinated by Valka – all these years living among dragons...there must be so much that the woman could teach her!

"Yep – he's a Stormcutter dragon," Valka explained. "Proud species, if a little big-headed," she added with a chuckle as Cloudjumper snorted indignantly at her.

"Sounds like Dad," Hiccup remarked to himself. Astrid caught it and covered a snort of laughter with a cough.

"Oh, definitely," Valka chuckled, albeit a little sadly. "Well, I guess Cloudjumper must've thought that I belonged here," she continued quietly as they came to the edge of the cliff. "In the home of the great Bewilderbeast!" she added proudly. Astrid froze in awe at the sight that greeted her. Resting in the lagoon below was a mountain of a dragon with a grey-white hide decorated with flecks of grey, blue and red. It had spines that flared backwards like a mane behind its head and at the side of its mouth were two tusks at least a hundred metres long each. Astrid hadn't seen a dragon as big since the Red Death but instead of feeling dread upon seeing the giant, all she could feel was overwhelming awe.

"Every nest has its Queen," Valka explained. Hiccup shot a glance at Astrid.

"Told you," he smirked. Astrid nudged him in the ribs. "So...this is...this Nest's Queen?" he quizzed his mother. Valka shook her head.

"Oh, no – the Bewilderbeast is the Alpha species," she corrected. "The king of all dragons. With his icy breath this graceful giant built our nest," she explained, gesturing at the walls of ice with her bull-staff. The trio, closely followed by Toothless and Cloudjumper, headed along the cliff side to get a closer look. "A safe haven for dragons everywhere." Astrid slipped slightly on her leg as they walked down a slope but she caught herself quickly enough when something clicked.

"Hold on a sec – that's the ice-spitter?" she frowned. "He's the one who's been causing all that destruction?" she exclaimed. Valka turned around sharply to face her future-daughter-in-law.

"He protects us," she protested gently. "We all live under his care and his command." The group walked past a group of small dragons – Astrid thought they looked like a cross between a Nadder and a Zippleback (with only one head). They were bouncing around all over the rocks and through the ferns, tackling Toothless as the Night Fury walked past. "All but the babies of course," Valka laughed warmly as Cloudjumper hissed at the small dragons who promptly made themselves scarce. They fluttered over to the Bewilderbeast and jumped up and down on his head for a while. "Who...listen to no one," Valka chuckled as the Bewilderbeast opened a pair of icy turquoise eyes before snorting. The baby dragons once again flew off.

"Playful little buggers," Hiccup remarked sarcastically.

"Scuttleclaws," Valka noted. "Raucous species even as adults," she explained. By now the Bewilderbeast had raised its magnificent head to greet Valka and her new companions. As it came up to their eye level, Valka bowed deeply – Astrid noticed that the other dragons around them had done the same, even Toothless. She and Hiccup stood staring in awe as the Bewilderbeast examined them.

"I've lived among them for fifteen years, kids," Valka murmured. "Learning their ways...discovering their secrets..."

The Bewilderbeast suddenly blew an icy mist in the Vikings' direction. Valka nimbly stepped out of the way, Astrid ducked and Hiccup only raised his arms. Once the mist cleared, Astrid glanced up and snorted with laughter – Hiccup's hair was standing on end, frozen in place and frosted over. Valka also let out another warm chuckle.

"He likes you," she remarked as Hiccup dusted the snow out of his hair.

"Aww, that was a good look on you," Astrid snickered with a mocking pout. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at his fiancé as he smirked.

"Says the girl with her fringe standing on end," he pointed out. Astrid blushed furiously and quickly fixed her own hair as well as dusting some frost off her shoulder pads. Valka placed a gently hand on her shoulder.

"You two must be hungry," she smiled. Astrid's stomach gave confirmation of that.

"Yeah – I don't know about you, Hiccup, but I could eat," she admitted. Hiccup's stomach also growled – they hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday and that had been a small snack on their journey to find Eret and the Trappers.

"I'll concur with that," Hiccup grinned awkwardly. Valka patted Astrid's shoulder happily and began walking over to Cloudjumper.

"Good – it's feeding time," she grinned. "You fly solo, son?" she asked over her shoulder. Hiccup glanced around the cave.

"Got any Nadders in here?" he questioned.

OH, SWEET FREYA! THIS SCENE WAS SO LONG! Seriously, if I hadn't split this, the chapter would have been over 5,000 words and I like to keep my chapters to around 2,000 words for this site. Admittedly, some of the chapters in this story are at least double that – you'll see what I mean very soon.

Double update for the day over. Anyway, from now on, I'm going to be updating this story twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays so until then, happy reading and writing, feel free to leaves reviews and I'll see you guys around.

Oh! Before I go, bonus bloopers!

Astrid: (In her Stoick impression) You're all grown up. My son' couldn't ask for a better wife. But I think you're ready for much more than that. That is why I've decided to...

Hiccup: What? What did he say?

Me: I don't know, Hiccup! Maybe if you'd let her finish, she'll tell you!

Hiccup: YOU WROTE THIS THING!

(A Viking is about to kill a Monstrous Nightmare, screaming his head off. Valka runs over and blocks him)

Valka: STOP THAT RACKET! YOU'LL WAKE THE BABY!