I'm glad everyone else needed that fluffy Valkret as much as I did.
-HTTYD-
After the first and second hit, Eret dodged the third projectile that was flung at his head. It was quite skillful, he supposed, that Tripfire could aim that well without any front claws for dexterity. She kept flinging pebbles at him by finding a good one and whisking it with her wing.
"I know you're bored, but you know what? When the baby comes, I won't be able to go flying then either. Remember how much time you spent at home when the hatchlings came along?"
"Hmmph!"
Tripfire sulked nearby, but didn't leave as Eret sat whittling new cutlery - apparently Alva had let her younger siblings know how the cutlery made for such excellent chew toys, and so they were going through a lot of them again. Storm and Junior were (hopefully) close to outgrowing the teething stage though, so Eret hoped it wouldn't be an issue for much longer.
He'd told Tripfire she was welcome to go flying without him, but that wasn't the same for her. At least Cloudjumper was being very understanding that Valka was currently sick, barely keeping anything down and so a jaunt at high altitude wasn't a good idea.
"Wow, that is one sulky looking Stormcutter ya got there."
"Afternoon Astrid. What brings you to my neck of the... mountains?"
Astrid laughed as she slid down from Stormfly's back and walked over, Tripfire perking up when Astrid petted her.
"I was out for a flight and I saw her all flopped out, wanted to check everything was ok."
"We're fine. Tripfire wants to go flying, but I must care for my sick wife. Don't tell her I said that, she'll tell me to go. Stubborn like that."
Astrid smiled.
"Sounds like Hiccup. He's awful when he's sick, hates being taken care of."
Eret chuckled.
"Like mother, like son."
"Yeah. Is she doing ok?"
Eret nodded.
"She's napping. After threatening to throw up on me if I didn't stop fussing."
Laughing, Astrid contined petting Tripfire.
"That sounds so familiar. So, Tripfire, want to come flying with me and Stormfly? We're not Eret, but I'm wondering how four wings matches up to my girls two for speed. We're pretty fast. Up for a race?"
Very grateful Astrid was willing to entertain his dragon for a bit, Eret nodded encouragingly.
"Go on. Cloudjumper's watching the kids, go show her how it's done."
After a lick across the face, Eret was left with his wood in peace as Tripfire went off to play with the Nadder and her rider. He smiled fondly as they took off, wiped his face and then went back to finishing his work, the sounds of Cloudjumper scolding the youngest Stormcutters in the background as they made too much noise - he didn't want them disturbing Valka's rest. Standing with a groan as the stiffness in his legs made itself known, Eret ambled over to the hut he shared with Valka, pushed open the door quietly in case she was still sleeping. He found her sipping water and rubbing her stomach, face a little clammy.
"Hey. How you feeling?"
"Sick, but the babe seems to have settled down."
Eret kissed her temple and hugged her with one arm gently, smiling when he wasn't rebuffed by his slightly-grumpy wife.
"That's good. You want me to make you some broth?"
"Not really, but yes. I have to keep trying."
He got her a damp rag to wipe her face, emptied the bucket that resided at her bedside, then reheated some of the broth he'd made earlier for her.
"I hate feeling so useless."
"Useless? Do you think the baby thinks that? Do you think I do?"
Valka sighed, then shook her head.
"No. Of course not."
While she ate, he made her tea, then got her to go back to bed, though Valka insisted on changing her tunic as the one she had on was damp and sweaty. They'd been married a little over a month, and there was a small but definite bump showing now. Valka was naturally slender anyway, and even though Hiccup was small she said she'd shown fairly early with him too. Each passing week made her more hopeful about carrying them all the way... or at least to a point they would survive. Eret leant down and kissed her forehead, brushed sweaty hair off her face.
"Get some rest, shout if you need me."
"Mhmm."
He headed back out to make sure Storm and Junior weren't tearing up the land outside (again... luckily it wasn't planting season yet), and found them, Cloudjumper and Vali all sleeping. It was sweet to see. Alva was nowhere to be seen, but when Eret looked down at Berk, he couldn't see anything on fire, so she was probably off flying. He caught sight of some distinctive colours in the distance, recognised Tripfire's shape in the sky. They were still moving pretty fast, had they raced all the way back?
"Eret! Eret!"
Astrid all but fell off of Stormfly as she stumbled over to him.
"Are you alright?"
"No. We... I don't know. I think we saw Hunters. But I don't know all the sails, so I need you to come and look because, well, I figure you do."
He nodded, was already turning to the house for his saddle when he paused.
"Wait, I can't just leave Valka."
"Right. Right. I'll uh... get Gobber? He's not put off by gross stuff, Valka knows him and I need to go get Hiccup too."
"Alright. You go do that, I'll saddle Tripfire up, let Valka know and tell Cloudjumper not to let her come along. Tripfire, wait here ok?"
Tripfire rumbled agreeably, ruffling her wings, anxious to have the chance to blow up hunter ships he suspected. He headed into the hut, unsure if he was relieved to see Valka was awake or not. If she was sleeping, he wouldn't have had to worry her.
"Hunters? Are you serious?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm going to look. You stay, and rest. We won't be gone long, I promise. If it is hunters, I'll tell you, but you are in no shape to fly. Gobber's gonna come keep an eye on you."
"I don't need-"
"He's already on his way, deal with it."
Valka grumbled, but fell silent. Pained as he was to leave her, Eret reluctantly peeled himself away from his wife and picked up his saddle, hesitating before he strapped on the belt he wore his swords on too. Travel bag with parchment and charcoal in also collected, Eret headed back out to put Tripfire's saddle on. Her mate was awake, no doubt stirred by all the commotion going on.
"Cloudjumper, Valka is sick. No flying, ok? We're going for a recon, not a fight."
That much was shown by Eret not putting on his armour. Cloudjumper rolled his eyes at the clear indication he also wasn't allowed to come, but complied and went back to entertaining his offspring. Tripfire gave her mate and children reassuring nuzzles and coos, all but bouncing on the spot by the time Nadder, Night Fury and Hotburple landed.
"Thanks for coming Gobber."
"No problem! I'll keep an eye on her, you go check if we got hunter problems! And take good care of the chief and his wife-to-be!"
"Gobber!"
Hiccup groaned, rubbing his face. Gobber gave an unashamed grin, nudged his already-snoozing dragon with his wooden leg and waved them off.
"Off ye go!"
"I told you bringing my axe was a good idea!"
Astrid held the aforementioned weapon up, using it to indicate Eret's belt.
"Worried?"
"Cautious. Hunters have to know about Berk. So if there are some coming that close, then they have to have no other choice. So..."
"Must be important. Got it. Should we bring back up?"
Hiccup asked, straightening up when he fell to Chief mode.
"No. Not yet. Not til we know for sure, and I know who they are. All done Tripfire, let's go. Make sure Valka doesn't try to come after us."
"On me life lad."
Climbing up on Tripfire's back, Eret patted her neck.
"Let's go girl."
Astrid led the three of them through the sky, the Alpha dragon following Stormfly an interesting sight after Eret spent a couple of years seeing the Bewilderbeast follow only Valka and leading all other dragons.
"It was around here... which way girl?"
Stormfly, the tracker dragon, turned a few times in mid-air before choosing which way to go.
"We go slow, alright? If they spotted you before, they'll be watching out. Be ready to go for cloud cover."
It was even weirder having Hiccup look to Eret for... orders? But without Valka, Eret was the most experienced at tackling hunters. They continued on, and Eret recognised the sails far sooner than he would have liked.
"No, no, no. I sent you guys home, damnit!"
"What is it? Who is it?"
"Those are sails from my homeland. My old homeland."
"So... your family didn't get out of the family business?"
Eret sighed.
"Guess so. I mean, they could be stolen sails or a borrowed ship, but I don't like it."
Hiccup frowned, fishing through his saddlebag before he pulled out his little pocket glass... thing, that magnified things in the distance.
"You recognise the species? I don't."
He handed it to Eret, who squinted through it and saw the caged dragons Hiccup was referring to. He also saw flashes of colourful, fur lined clothing that made his heart sink down to his stomach. Definitely the look of his old tribe too.
"Hmm. Looks like... two Windwalkers, and three Woolly Howls. They've been hunting pretty far north for those."
Hovering close by, Astrid turned to Eret.
"If they're northern dragons, do you think maybe while they were down here, dragons came to your old homeland and they're just... dealing with it the only way they know how?"
"I guess that would be the least awful explanation. Assume that plus the five on deck, there's at least half a dozen below decks. Skilled at dealing with vigilantes... you guys up for this or shall we go back for backup?"
Astrid picked up her axe, shaking her head.
"No, we leave we might lose them. One ship is no big deal."
"Wait."
Hiccup said, prompting both to turn to him. He sat atop his Night Fury, pensive.
"What?"
"We should follow them. The dragon trade is supposed to have fallen apart after Drago's death. I want to know where they're going."
"Right. So Eret, anything we should know about those species? Tough to train? Friendly?"
Eret rubbed his chest, scar twinging in his anxiety about having to face his old tribe like this all over again.
"Windwalkers are usually very docile unless their young are threatened. Tidal class, water blasts. Also the same ability as the Skrill to absorb lightning from clouds. Very loyal, we saved some eggs once and I swear, we almost couldn't convince the parents to leave but we were short on suitable tidal spots for hatching season. Woolly Howls... not very cuddly. Shoots ice so fast it looks like a blizzard, very strong, probably won't win in a firefight. Those are brighter than usual, which is probably how they were caught, they're practically invisible otherwise. Super smart. We never had any live at the nest, only found one or two ships carrying them and they left when their injuries healed. Too tough to 'break' unless you raise them from hatchling, though they did respect the Alpha, so we have that on our side."
"Well, just in case we can't tell by colouring and there's similar on board, anything distinctive?"
Eret chuckled.
"Windwalkers scream when they're angry... you know that noise when you're flying, and you dive a little too fast and your ears hurt?" they both nodded "it's like that, but much worse. And all the Woolly Howls we ever saw had purple tongues, regardless of the rest of the colouring. But apart from a sub species of Sand Wraith, which are almost always orange or brown for camoflauge, I've never seen anything like a Howl."
"Right. So the spiky ones have the personality to match?"
"Pretty much. They generally won't pick a fight if you don't start one, but these guys will be scared. So watch for the ice."
Hiccup shuddered. Eret didn't blame him. They tailed the ship carefully, heading up to the clouds as the sky darkened, and Hiccup ducked down under the cover of evening to check they were on track.
"We're almost there. You recognise anything?"
Eret had Tripfire head down, and though it was dark and he had only the half-light of torches in the distance to go on, there was no mistaking the trademark Goregutter antlers motif craved into the central building.
"Oh yeah. Griselda the Grevious. She tried to hand me over to Drago. Her and a couple other Warlords helped fund Drago's dragon army, but they mostly kept out of the dirty work themselves. We can't take that place down alone, we won't make it out. If we're taking the ship, it needs to be now, before they're in range of port to call for help."
"You heard the man. Try to keep the dragons calm Toothless, ok? Uh... Eret?"
"Yeah?"
Hiccup was lifting his helmet back on, but even in the dark Eret could see how uncomfortable he looked.
"Tough question... how careful do we need to be here?"
That was a tough question. Eret had chosen dragons, chosen Valka, chosen Berk even. He'd been disowned by his tribe.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't kill them, but I warned them when I sent them home that I'd stop them if they came back as hunters."
Hiccup nodded, pulled his helmet on and signalled to his betrothed. Eret gave Tripfire a reassuring pat - they'd been gone much longer than anticipated, and Valka was undoubtedly going to be so angry when he got back home - before the three dived down toward the ship. Toothless' plasma blast tore the sails to shreds before they even got close, though that of course meant everyone on board knew they had company.
"Dragon riders!"
Even in the hubbub, Eret recognised the voice. He pulled his legs up on to his saddle, crouching, waiting with one hand on the handlebar. When Tripfire spun to avoid some arrows, Eret jumped. The landing was rough, but none of his bones shattered and he was able to stand back up. With no armour nor helmet, he faced his old tribe and they recognised him quickly.
"You!"
"I warned you Ug."
"I don't have to listen to a word you say, traitor!"
Eret sighed as Ug pulled his sword. He pulled his own, though he didn't raise it immediately.
"Just give me the dragons and this ends without any serious injuries."
"No chance."
Any hope he had that it was a simple extraction of encroaching species was rapidly fading, and Eret ached for the choice he had to make.
"Have it your way."
He whistled to Tripfire before making a run for it, no armour meaning he was just as susceptible to her flames as anyone else. She scooped him up before long, and the clearly-practiced teamwork of Hiccup and Astrid had most of the crew diving off to make a break for land rather than take on all three on a burning ship full of pissed off dragons. Thankful his travel bag also included his lockpick, Eret waited for the smoke to clear a bit before he was back on deck, sweltering heat making him sweat as he worked open the cages. The Windwalkers took no time at all to begin extinguishing the flames for their rescuer, the smaller of the two even knocking down one of the few sailors still on board.
The Woolly Howls took flight immediately, no doubt trying to escape the blazing flames - they were meant for much cooler temperatures. They didn't leave, though, circling and watching in confusion as Eret headed below deck, trusting in the couple above to manage the remaining sailors. Eret felt it was easier if he wasn't there to see it.
Two more of the cages contained wounded juvenile Howls, still small enough they'd be able to carry them home. Eret wondered if they were the reason the Howls above hadn't left right away. He freed another Windwalker, found two empty cells before he reached the two cages right at the very end.
What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Oh my gods."
-HTTYD-
Not such a fluffy chapter, but we did have to move the story along. Much as I love Valkret cuddles forever.