My apologies for another long delay in updating. I could say I didn't have time, but that would be lie. I was just lazy.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and shout you opinions in reviews!

Hiccup was mad with fear. Not for himself - even though being carried away in the paws of the dragon which he never saw before (and the fact that he just encountered not one, but two new specimens of dragons and he didn't care was also telling) - but for Toothless. Toothless who was dropped from the sky to the sea.

"Hey! You left my dragon back there! He can't fly on his own. He will drown!" he tried to get his kidnapper's attention, but in vain. This... person, whoever he was, continued to stand on the back of four-winged dragon and ignore him. Gods, this really wasn't on programme when he left Eret's ship this morning.

Hiccup was breathing in for the next shout, when his words got stuck in his throat. Dragon carrying him dodged the last iceberg in the way and flew straight to the ice fort which suddenly appeared before them. It was huge, terrifying and oddly impressive. Giant spikes of ice looked the same as the ones which destroyed Eret's fort and Hiccup knew he found what he was looking for - the Dragon Rider he was hunting for weeks. But right now, he didn't really care. He didn't even liked this person very much. More than anything else he hated him for cold-bloodedly leaving his dragon to die in the icy waters of north seas.

"We have to head back for my dragon!" he shouted the second dragon dropped him on the ground. He wasn't even standing properly on his feet yet. Well, foot. He looked around, not seeing the rider, but dozens of dragons of various kinds, all of them closing a circle around him. Did the Rider brought him here just to be eaten? Little snack for his dragons? Well, that was something what Hiccup wasn't going to let happen.

He turned to face the dragon most close to him. He didn't looked very hungry, which Hiccup took as a good sign. He started to talk to him in soothing tones and when it calmed the dragon enough to stop growling, Hiccup did a few steps closer to him, reaching his hand to gently put it on the dragon's nose and therefore show him he's not dangerous. He was almost touching him, when he was interrupted by rumble of stones somewhere by his right side. Startled, Hiccup turned to look, only to see his captor creeping from behind the rocks.

"Uh... who are you?" he asked, immediately mentally slapping himself for this question. He smirked uneasily and quickly continued.

"I mean, I know who are you, but who you really are?" Still no answer. Rider started to come closer. Hiccup instinctively did few steps back.

"Look, I'm not your enemy. If anything, I'm your fan! Really, don't let the fact I have friends among the dragon ex-trappers mistake you!" he tried to reason. Maybe this person thought he was one of Drago's men and that was why was Hiccup held in position to be roasted by dragon flames any second.

Rider still didn't react, just crept another few steps closer. Desperate, Hiccup howled:

"Do you even understand what I'm saying?" He was loosing time here. Toothless was somewhere out there, in need of help and he was standing here, trying to get a word from the person which probably didn't even knew his language. Just terrific. Suddenly, this whole idea didn't seem so great as before. Maybe he should have listen to Eret.

His thoughts were interrupted by the Rider hitting the ground with his staff. Before Hiccup had a chance to ask what the Hel that means, from the cave behind the Rider emerged two big water dragons carrying... Toothless!

"Toothless!" called Hiccup, relief flooding his body on the sight of his clearly exhausted and wet, but alive friend. He run to him and hug him firmly around the neck.

"It's okay, it's okay," whispered Hiccup into dragon's ear. Toothless gave him welcome lick across his left cheek and Hiccup shortly chuckled.

"I'm glad to see you too, bud. You really had me worried, there." They ignored the Rider until now. But when he started to move again, Toothless immediately growled, showing his sharp teeth and protectively circling Hiccup with his tail. It didn't help them very much.

Rider sunk down on his knees and hands and crept closer and closer to them. When he was just before Toothless, he raised his hand and with some strange move turned mighty Night Fury into a mass of purring meat. Hiccup was so stunned that he managed just continue in his slow retreat, until he was stopped by some rock behind his back. Or maybe some dragon. Hiccup wasn't sure, his whole attention was on the person before him, which was trying to touch him, reaching to his chin, only to suddenly move his hand away, like it was burned.

"Uh..." Hiccup tried to think of anything to say, but his mind went blank when the person before him finally spoke - in soft, surprised, tones:

"Hiccup?" He could say only one on this.

"Uh..." He was frozen with fright. How could he knew his name?

"Could it be?" The person before him removed the mask and revealed the woman, considerably older than him, if the greying strands in her hair were any clue, but still quite good-looking. She didn't wait for Hiccup to answer her question and continued talking, speaking more to herself than to him.

"After all these years? How is this possible?" Hiccup finally recovered enough from his shock to ask:

"Uh, should I... should I know you?" The woman looked at him with incredibly sad expression in her face.

"No. You were only a babe." That didn't give Hiccup much sense and it probably showed on him, because she immediately added:

"But mother never forgets." Hiccup gasped, shocked beyond telling. But once again, before he had a chance to say anything, he was interrupted. His... mother looked from him on Toothless, who in meantime managed to snap out of the state she included on him, and then with the slightest of smiles she said:

"Come!"

What followed next was probably the craziest chain of evens Hiccup ever had the pleasure to encounter. From the fact of finding out that his supposedly dead mother was actually alive and running the shelter for injured dragons, through the story of how she got here in the first place, to the fact how Toothless lost his tail-fin and Hiccup his foot. Well, the last one was just half incoherent murmuring on Hiccup's side. There just wasn't the way how to tell your dragon-loving mother you crippled one. Fortunately, Valka (Hiccup knew her name, of course and he really didn't know if he should use that or just call her... mother) soon changed the subject.

"How did your father liked your Night Fury friend?" Well, maybe UNfortunately.

"He didn't take it all so well," admitted Hiccup. He scratched Toothless under his chin and tried to think about how to explain this. But his mother didn't seem to be very surprised by his confession.

"Hm..." she frowned, looking disapprovingly. Hiccup jumped down from Toothless, but continued to scratch him. He remembered his dad when he told him about Toothless and he had no idea how to explain this... basically strange woman before him what passed between him and his father. How could he explain to her, that even though all what was said, he just knew his dad would give him chance to explain now. His mother believed that people weren't capable of change. Hiccup knew the right opposite.

"Actually, that's not right. He never met him." Valka looked at him curiously. Hiccup sighed and his free hand found its was into his hair in the familiar gesture which was accompanying him always when he didn't know what to say.

"I... I left Berk after I befriended Toothless. Almost a year and a half ago," he admitted finally.

"You run away?" asked his mother, but that Hiccup denied vehemently.

"No! No, I had to leave."

"You've been declared a traitor," said Valka knowingly and her frown deepened.

"No, I wasn't," refused Hiccup hotly. Well, he really wasn't. Technically. He could see Ruff's smirk before his eyes when he thought about this. He didn't know why, but had a feeling his mother held some kind of grudge towards Berk. Or maybe his dad. Be it any way, he wasn't going to give her more reasons to hate.

With another deep breath, he began his story. Well, short version, anyway.

"I shoot Toothless during a raid. After I made him that tail fin, he took me to the nest and I saw what lives there. The giant, ugly Dragon Queen. I left to find someone who would be able to take it down."

"And did you?"

"Yes. But unfortunately this person was absolute madman." Hiccup made a little pause before dropping the bomb.

"I guess you know who Drago Bludvist is?" When he asked this, he for the first time in his life found out how does it look like when your mother turns absolutely monstrous.

"You allied with Drago Bludvist?!" thundered Valka and Hiccup suddenly wished to be invisible. Even Toothless tried to make himself look smaller. Or at least that was how it looked to Hiccup.

"No!" Hiccup raised his hands in vain attempt to calm his mother down. It didn't work, so he quickly continued in explaining.

"I'm telling you he's a madman! But I thought he would help me, so I went to him and... It all got so messed up. He imprisoned me, wanted me to take him to the nest so he would make that Queen a part of his army. One of his men helped me to escape and since then we are on the run from him." That seem to do the trick. Valka looked calmer now and Hiccup decided to quickly continue before this changed again.

"We managed to take the Queen down and thus made Drago even angrier. He's looking for me now and I'm afraid that he figured out I'm from Berk and will go there and destroys it because of me. That's why I've been actually looking for you," he suddenly stopped there.

"Well, not for you like for my mother – though I'm very... glad... to find you're alive!" he was starting to babble like he usually did, so he rather decided to leave this topic for now. Hopefully, they will have a time to sort this whole mother-son relationship in the future. Now, he had to concentrate on saving Berk before it will gets into Drago's hands.

"But for you as a Dragon Rider. You fought Drago for years now and I hoped you would... help me to take him down," with shaky voice he finished. There was silence for a while and then Valka asked:

"Take him down?"

"Yes..." confirmed Hiccup, hoping that he convinced her about his good intentions. She wasn't saying anything for next several minutes, until Hiccup couldn't stand it any-more.

"Mom?" The word sounded foreign on his tongue, never having to use it. But it seemed to pull Valka out of her thoughts. With heavy sight she turned away from Hiccup and looking somewhere before her she said:

"I wish you'd come to me for help with that Queen in the first place." Hiccup smiled unhappily.

"Well... so do I, but I kinda didn't know about you. I heard about Drago and at that time, it seemed like a good idea." He leaned against Toothless for support. He heard his mother to snort lightly.

"Yes... I guess people are talking more about a man who conquers dragons than about the one who saves them." There wasn't bitterness in her voice, just sadness and maybe a little bit of disappointment. Hiccup understood this - this desperation over seeing people misunderstands dragons. And he was glad he could tell that he managed to find a few who were willing to alter their view and now were able to share his. Hopefully, one day would also his mother.

"You would be able to help me with that Queen?" asked Hiccup curiously after pushing his musings somewhere back into his mind. There will be time for them, too.

His mother turned to face him and for the first time she gave him a really big smile.

"Come," she told him again and led him to the another incredible experience of his life. The Great Bewilderbeast.

Later that evening, Hiccup sat in the cave with Toothless laying beside him and watched his mother to prepare dinner. His head was swarming with the events of the day, being it feeding time, flying with mother, the fact she knew more about Toothless than him though she never saw other Night Fury in her life or her knowledge of geography (which made him realize he was further from Eret's ship and closer to Drago's land than he thought). It was all simply... incredible. But as much as he enjoyed, he wished he could share it with also another people close to his heart, not just her.

And of course, there was a matter of his "visit".

"So, what do you think about my proposition?" he asked when Valka handed him wooden plate with roasted fish. Being hungry as he was, he eagerly bit into it, getting coughing attack in the next second.

"It's... hot," he managed to get out, while trying to not look as disgusted as he felt. Well, one was for sure - his dad definitely didn't marry his mom for her cooking.

"I'm not sure how it could be done, Hiccup," said his mother, apologetic.

"Well, you have much more dragons than him. And the alpha. It should be easy! The moment Drago will see us, he will realize he has no chance!" It sounded really stupid and naive, even to him. His mother apparently shared this opinion. With kind smile she shook her head.

"That's not how it works." Hiccup sighed. He played with the... food on his plate (he was waiting for his mother to turn so he could give it to Toothless. Really, he was able to swallow the raw fish his dragon burped out but not his mother's cooking. That alone had to be a proof that she was really, really bad cook) and thought about what to say next.

"Yeah, I know... but... there has to be something we can to do!" His mother nodded.

"There is. We must protect our own." She said it with all determination and Hiccup knew who she means by her own. Her dragons. And while Hiccup would also do anything to save them, he had also people to worry about.

"Berk is my own," he said quietly, but firmly. Berk was his home. Well, what was left of it, anyway. His mother may have forgot in those last seventeen years, but Hiccup didn't. and as long there was just a little hope that he could keep his home safe, he would do anything. Valka probably registered the determination in her son's eyes and with her own fiery spark stood up and spoke:

"I saved these dragons, Hiccup. I'm not going to endanger them again." These dragons were her family.

"But..." tried Hiccup once more, but he was interrupted before he could finish.

"I'm sorry. But I can't give you what are you asking for." Uneasy silence settled among them. Valka looked a little bit shocked by her own vicious reaction, after all, it was some time since she was dealing with someone who didn't have wings and could actually say something back.. Hiccup, on the other hand, didn't look shocked at all. He was used to people refusing him. Why should this person, albeit it was his own mother, be any different?

He put the plate aside and stood up. Toothless by his side cooed and did the same. He may have treat Valka friendly for she really knew where to scratch him (literally), but his loyalties laid firmly with Hiccup.

"Than I'll have to go. I have to return to my friends before they start to worry about me." Hiccup didn't want to leave, definitely not like this. After all, who in his right mind would leave his mother after just finding her (even through they didn't exactly saw eye to eye in some matters - but they definitely hit it off in just everything else). But what he said was true - and he couldn't waste the time.

"You can at least finish your dinner, right?" Valka asked, suddenly insecure. Hiccup cleared his throat and lied:

"I'm full, actually." No way he's going to eat any more of... that. He bend down to pick up his satchel. His mother spoke again.

"It's not safe to travel at night here. Temperature drops very low. The harness on Toothless' tail could froze in." Hiccup knew what she was trying to do. She didn't want him to leave either. And Hiccup caught himself slowly giving in.

"Maybe... maybe I can wait until morning." He sat back down, picked his plate and under watchful eye of his mother, ate his dinner.