What a view.

All of her breathless thoughts presently churning about her mind condensed one three-word sentence. Dudinka may have been in the process of turning itself into a contemporary ocean port, but the beauty this 'Berk' possessed cascades anything that setts of brick had to offer. A grand, grand run for its money…

Laid before her was the very soul of Berk, the evening sun blasting its radiance across the paletted sky in all of its orange-palleted glory. Towering structures, things so tall she had doubts of being real… spreading and sprouting out from the bare earth like they were trees, some daring to even transcend the height of Hiccup's own perch.

Gravel streets lit by only the snuggest torches; houses and estates painted in the most eccentric ways… dragons being the prominent theme across the Viking board. But what was most interesting of all to her… were its inhabitants.

Well, Vikings spread about the place like ants, to be sure – virtually submerged the place with a testosterone-bathed stench so ghastly she could smell it from here – but the ones who tagged along with them… they weren't regular Joes you would stumble across at your everyday bazaar.

Beings, reptiles of varying stature and status coloured the place – a riot of colours almost impeding on just how much content her dragon eye could process… before becoming dazed, that is.

To think there were so many species in her genus…

From up here, standing on this couture... the impression it all made on her was quite clear. Berk... it was controlled chaos, through and through. And it most certainly warranted from her a slit eye. But… there was something helplessly beautiful about the sight, despite it.

Judging by Valka's expression and what she was going to say next, she was clearly impressed too. Though, what the woman felt behind her exterior was far more than simply appeasement… no, instead, it was a deep sense of completeness. Content. Turning to Anna, she crosses her arms, smiling – whether it was the cold or simple unsureness, the dragon couldn't tell.

"Dragons and humans, Anna. Look at them," she began, almost in a trance.

Look she did, alright. The little things that previously went unnoticed the first time 'round… a pair or so of dragons squabbling all over the place for the last fish – their mammalian companions snickering and hooting at the sight; children and dragons she assumed to be no older than two… a game of chasey they were so devoted to it was as if they had the whole world wrapped around their little fingers, plus paws, if you'd like. Like how one would cheer for your mate in a bar brawl, like how much of her childhood had been like with… Gal.

She smiles faintly. Not like Anna hid in the attic and surveyed the bar below her like the cheeky little bugger she was, or deliberately letting Gal think she was alone before scaring the lights out of her… or anything. Whatever it was, however, all of her exploits and keen eyesight – those, skills and hidden talents… she would bring to her grave.

Anna made no point of openly showing that memory to Val, though. Not that she'd care.

"Completely different species on the opposite sides of the organismic spectrum… working together," the woman drawls once more. "Some days I can scarcely believe it. Well, I better believe it soon. All of us old farts better. This damned view would always sober me up."

While Val's constant liberal use of language terrified her to no end, she couldn't help but feel vindicated with what she said. So much like Gal.

So much.

"Heh," she chuckles, piercing through Anna's hazy stream of thoughts. "Hiccup is still my personal pincushion, make no mistake… but…" she drifts off suddenly, eyes meandering over the horizon, self-consciously snapping back to reality not long after; a shake of the head. "I never dreamed of this happening. Not when I was first introduced to the true nature of dragons, not when I saw him for the first time in…"

A trickle of a tear flowed down her cheek... much to Anna's surprise… and now, she was obligated to stand more attentive than ever.

"I am so proud of my son, Anna. So proud."

The chokes that accompanied her words almost felt too familiar with the reptile, and the sing-song twangs of pity soon reflected on her present expression.

Observative, delusive Val brushes off the variation.

"Even with my failings as a mother through no fault but my own… even with my own gods-damned selfishness. He still made it out on top. He is the bravest boy a mother could ever have. And the bravest man in the whole wide world.

"He was the first one to break the mould, Anna. To think outside this Viking cesspit of a litterbox. He was the first in generations to shift our people's courses and lead us into a new era.

"I… just hope…" the woman stares down her calloused fingers for a bit, grasping and unholstering her grip like claws, "just hope it will last a good while.

"Nothing good ever lasts. My aunt had… well, she's long dead, but she put it into words but than I ever could. 'Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times.'

Anna draws a sigh. She has personally been held witness to that scenario one too many times.

Usually, she would be put in the middle of the second part.

But Val, for all her fiery Gestapo and mischief, marches on with the enthusiasm of a soldier relieved of their station… and to the cold, reformed world ahead of them.

"Have you ever noticed, Anna… wherever you go, whatever new culture you encounter… they all follow this… this one cycle? Yes – some… some cycle, that kind of just sits there in history, like some oracle, some king; not wavering in his purpose, nor yielding in his dictatorship.

"It will… keep on going, this wheel. Maybe it doesn't shift course – maybe, maybe it will never shift course. Maybe there's this straight road in front of it that it made itself so convinced that should it waver off the beaten track, for even a moment… it will die. Well… at least it stayed true to its namesake. It has, kept on happening.

The masked woman soon halts in her path on towards the supposed hut, Anna stopping in her tracks with her.

"And it won't change if this damned generation could help it, societal revolution or not. Soon as I die, soon as Hiccup dies – soon as some hotshot new Viking gets the grand idea of winning over the people – and as I no doubt know will succeed… I don't want to think about it; but… it's hard not to. Hiccup and Astrid both don't look fond of the idea of starting a family.

But going against all she has previously... the severity of the content she has just laid upon Anna's shoulders and all... she laughs. Laughs and laughs as the whole world watches – even as its candle soon sputters out.

"Heh," she finally absolves, turning heel with a defiant face and resuming what she had first started. Anna, with no say nor desire to input her thoughts into the matter, follows. "Well, damn cycle never said anything about having smart men."

Anna decidedly agrees, the gushing of warm vapour seeping out her nostrils.

Val turns her head back all the while, staring the dragon in the inquisitive eye.

"All this talk about how much Vikings suck dick reminds me… Seeing so many stupid boys at once. Just a total recall. It was noon. And the boys crowded me to a corner. All trying to hit on me and coaxing me to head to their place. Said they were worthy or some shit like that. Anyway, I kicked them in the balls soon after. All four, squishy pairs. They balled their eyes out afterwards. Ha ha! That was fun."

Anna lowers her head a bit, almost as if in disbelief that any of them would have the chemical qualifications to be any of those wandering hulks of muscle on the streets below in the first place. "Geez," she chortles. "Did they even have any in the first place?"

"Well, if they didn't, note that I also punched them in the face."


...

Need I empathise how much Applicational Differential Calculus takes the piss?