I was watching HTTYD2 recently and thought "imagine how damn great it would be if Tripfire was in this".

-HTTYD-

After a solid hour where the four of them pooled experience and knowledge about hunter tactics - something of a specialised area for Eret, given his past - Astrid and Hiccup took their leave to go and come up with lessons for the Academy. Valka had volunteered to help teach, but nobody really wanted even training shots being fired at her. It was frustrating for her to be limited, but realistically Valka knew it was simply that the others cared. And, as Eret said, she was allowed a few months off after twenty years of dragon rescuing and fighting the hunters.

"I better go see Teeny and whoever else tagged along for the ride. You wanna come along, or go rest up for a bit?"

"Am I invited?"

Eret looked at her oddly.

"Did you think I was gonna hide you from them? I'd love to show off my beautiful pregnant wife who scares me witless when she's angry."

He held out his hand, and Valka took it, unable to suppress a smile as Eret pulled her close and kissed her.

"I wasn't sure if they would see me negatively, since the others went back and told your tribe you chose me over them."

"To them, I chose dragons over the tribe. You were a bonus. Besides, according to Teeny they are here cus they want to see the truth."

With that reassurance, Valka agreeably went. They took Tripfire together, leaving Cloudjumper to watch over the visitor dragons, with instructions to send one of the younger Stormcutters to fetch them if any villagers crept up the mountainside to try and check out the Night Furies.

"Teeny has learnt it, but anyone who's never really left our homeland til now isn't gonna speak much Norse, so I'll have to translate back and forth."

That made sense, Valka thought to herself. Eret didn't speak his native tongue often, so she was not exactly fluent in their language either.

"That must have made things awkward when Teeny left them at the docks earlier."

Eret snorted.

"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if Teeny started trying to teach them on the sail over, just to pass the time, but it would be a tricky conversation if I just left you and them to chat. Which I wouldn't do anyway."

Tripfire landed them as near to the docks as she safely could, though she was a little too big to follow them out along the wooden planks that led up to the ship. Valka recognised the sails, wondering idly to herself how many ships bearing those same sails she and Cloudjumper had destroyed over the years. Eret climbed up aboard first, then turned to help Valka up on to the deck too. Teeny, she'd met, but the others were all new faces. All dressed much like Eret had - without much access to reindeer, his newer clothes and boots hadn't been made with parts of them - with their fur lined clothing and extra layers, the same flat boots with fur around the ankles and shins. And they all had similar tattoos, though she noted no two were identical.

Valka definitely felt more observed than they would have done, since there was one of her and six of them, not counting Teeny or Eret. Because, whether he felt disconnected from his old tribe or not, Valka respected where he came from, and wouldn't dream of stopping him from passing that heritage on to their child. Still, at least Eret was definitely on her side, whether the newcomers liked her or not.

She noticed them eyeing the rings she and Eret wore, the growing bump of her belly. They said something she didn't understand to Eret, who replied in the same tongue with a firm tone before pulling Valka closer to him.

"What is it?"

"They asked if you were the vigilante, and then if you were my wife. I told them I was proud of you for being both."

Valka couldn't help but smile, warmed and content at his side. The others seemed confused, speaking at them both then. Eret answered, shrugging with the arm not around Valka.

"They seem surprised I didn't teach you to speak our language, though I pointed out I don't speak it much anymore. Still, guess I should introduce you guys. Valka, meet Edo, Artor and Bede. Those are the three guys. Then the ladies over here are Darja and Hanna. The last is Matti, and they don't see themselves as male or female."

Valka nodded as he introduced each of them, a little surprised he both recognised them, and remembered all their names. She wondered if their tattoos were identifiers, or if Eret had good memory for faces. Matti didn't surprise her much - there were a few on Berk she knew preferred to live without a label of 'male' or 'female'. They still helped out around Berk and respected the dragons, so most didn't see any issue with that. Strange, she mused, that Berk accepted that but Gobber was still left in his don't ask, don't tell situation for liking men.

Eret conversed with the others a little longer, before (sadly) letting go of his hold on her. Valka looked to him, confused.

"Something wrong?"

"No. They want to meet Tripfire, but it would have been tricky getting off the ship holding on to you like that."

Well, she supposed that made sense. Tripfire was still perched haughtily nearby, watching proceedings closely. As the group approached, she gave questioning rumbles to Eret, who reached out to pat her reassuringly.

"It's ok Tripfire. They're not gonna hurt you, but you have to show them you won't hurt them either."

Tripfire let out a rumbling groan as she eyed the newcomers with suspicion, but Valka knew she wouldn't deny Eret his request. So as Teeny and the others approached - everyone but Teeny looking very apprehensive - she folded her wings more tightly against her side, and waited. Valka let her husband cajole each of the others into approaching, Tripfire obligingly leaning down and letting them touch her one by one.

Then she licked Eret, who spluttered in surprise as Tripfire roared with laughter. Edo and Artor seemed particularly perturbed by that, as though they suspected Eret was on his way to being dragon lunch. But then he started laughing, wiping ineffectively at his face.

"Thanks Tripfire! She does that a lot. Only to me though."

Valka couldn't help but giggle at the two of them - she'd been doing that pretty much since day one with Eret, when she was still a reticent wild dragon who didn't even want her wounds treated. Back when Eret had only just come around to dragons. The two of them had been exactly what the other needed, and the bond between them now was incredible to see.

As she didn't understand what they were saying, Valka observed the body language of the others and Eret as they conversed. It seemed relatively relaxed, and Eret actually smiled a few times, occasionally gesturing to Tripfire and so she surmised they were asking questions about the dragon. After a couple of minutes, Matti even got closer while Eret turned toward Valka.

"Matti wants to try out flying, will you be alright on your own for a minute?"

"Of course. I'm pregnant, not an invalid."

Eret snorted.

"I meant being left with strangers, you're always saying you have no people skills."

She rolled her eyes and waved at him to go on. After helping Matti up on Tripfire's back and showing them how to grip the saddle handles, Eret climbed up behind them and told Tripfire to go. There was a sharp squeal as Tripfire ascended, climbing up high enough to circle the island once before they returned. They landed again before long, and Matti climbed down from the dragons back on shaking legs with a beaming smile on their face.

"Good flight?"

Valka asked, and Eret nodded.

"Yep. Can't really convince someone better than in the air. It's part of how you showed me, remember?"

She nodded, remembering very well how she'd stripped him of his blindfold to show him the magical sights in the air, back when he'd supposedly been itching to get back to his trapper life. So long ago now...

Matti's success had the others wanting to try it out, and it was testament to how much she loved Eret that Tripfire was patient enough to go up and down multiple times on the short flights with strangers on her back for him. Cloudjumper must have been awfully confused, seeing Tripfire fly back and forth without coming back to him, and various strangers in the saddle with Eret.

Neither Edo nor Darja appeared as enamoured as Matti had, but Hanna and Artur seemed perfectly thrilled about it by the time they landed. Eret gave his dragon some loving scratches under the chin as thanks, promising her he'd get her some of her favourite fish later. She warbled happily, ruffling her wings.

"We should get back. Oh, wait... you guys plan on going back, right?"

Eret asked Teeny, who consulted briefly with the others.

"Yeah, why?"

"I was gonna suggest hanging around til I talk to Hiccup. Maybe you can stick around for a couple of days and learn how to deal with dragons in a friendly way, and take that back with you. I don't wanna see these sails in a fight again."

That seemed to go over well enough with the others, who went back aboard their ship to wait patiently while Eret and Valka climbed up on Tripfire. It was the only flying Valka really got to do, as she was prone to dizzy spells and had nothing anchoring her other than her own balance on Cloudjumper's back. It was frustrating, but she knew it wouldn't be forever, and it was for the most important cause.

They landed in the middle of the village, and after Valka asked a passerby if they'd seen her son, they were directed to the Chief's hut. Eret (wisely) knocked at the door, but it opened very quickly to reveal Hiccup, Astrid visible behind him with parchment spread out all over the ground.

"Something come up? We only left you an hour ago."

"Sort of? It's just a quick thing, then we need to get back and check on the dragons."

Hiccup stepped aside to let them in, and Valka looked over at Astrid, seeing that they were indeed designing lesson ideas for the Academy. Closing the door, Hiccup turned to the two of them.

"What's up?"

Still a little awkward with each other (Valka wondered if their shared trip was going to help or hinder the relationship between her husband and her son), Eret shuffled nervously in a way he so rarely did with anyone else.

"I was uh, hoping it would be ok if Teeny and the others stuck around for a few days. I wanna show them how to deal with dragons without anyone getting hurt before they head back. So everyone can be safe, and we don't get any more trapper appearances from them."

Hiccup nodded slowly as he thought about it.

"That's a good idea, actually. The more people who can live alongside dragons, the better. Go for it. We're not leaving for a few days anyway."

Valka saw relief loosen Eret's shoulders.

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, none of them actually speak Norse. So if you want to talk to them, it has to go through me or Teeny."

"That makes sense. I'll bear it in mind."

Valka stayed long enough to hug her son, which did bring a small smile to his tired face. Astrid waved goodbye before Valka followed Eret outside, Tripfire looking at them hopefully as they approached.

"Yes, we're going home now. Go gentle though remember, or Valka might throw up on you."

Tripfire huffed, but waited patiently and took them back up to their home patch. Aside from their bedding having been dragged to the ground so the Night Fury babies could curl up a bit closer to the fire and one of their cupboards emptied out on to the floor, nothing much had changed while they were away. Though they hadn't been away especially long anyway. Eret tidied up the pots and bowls that curious dragons had pulled out, chuckling to himself.

"I guess they've never seen a cupboard before. We used trunks and chests all the time back in the dragon nest, though I've no doubt the little Furies could get in those too if they wanted."

Valka smiled as Eret recounted, rising to his feet and looking over at where the baby Furies were still snoozing. The more shocking thing was that their mother was outside, helping herself to some fish. So she'd obviously decided that Valka and Eret were trustworthy enough to be unsupervised, if briefly, with her hatchlings. That made Valka smile, that she was still capable of that kind of trust after what had happened to her.

Careful not to disturb the little ones, Eret shuffled around the fire and put some tea on to brew before he opened a trunk up to retrieve some of their food. He held out some bread to Valka, who turned it away.

"I'll just have tea, I'm still full from breakfast."

She hadn't been eating much, so her appetite had diminished. Eret nodded, eating some bread and fish for himself and smiling fondly at the sleeping Night Furies while the tea brewed. Valka looked at him for a minute. Even with the scratches on his cheek, he was still very handsome (not that she'd tell him that... he'd only grin ever so smugly at her) and even more so when he had that peaceful expression on his face.

Once he'd finished pouring tea and there was no risk of knocking anything over, Valka sat down next to him and the two rested in silence for a few minutes, occasionally sipping tea and watching the dragons nap.

"Oh, someone's awake."

Valka commented as she felt movement in her belly, the baby seeming to be stretching or rolling around in there. Eret splayed his hand there, though the movements were still small enough he often couldn't feel them. He let out a small laugh at a particularly strong jolt, so she was sure he felt that one.

"Morning little one."

He murmured, turning his head so he could kiss Valka's temple. She was quite glad the babe had made an appearance he could feel, since Eret would be gone for a little while soon. Valka was worried, if she was honest - things had been coasting along, slowly improving ever since Drago's death and their wedding. Even her recent bout of sickness had been more of an unpleasant inconvenience than a serious issue, particularly with such a dutiful husband insistently taking care of her. But now everything was happening all at once, and Valka just wanted her family and the dragons - and Berk - safe again.

But they were needed, and the Night Furies weren't all gone, and Valka wasn't going to let her son go wandering in the Northern wildernesses alone to find said Night Furies. And things weren't all bad, she knew. Aside from the joyful discovery of Night Furies, there were members of Eret's old tribe on Berk, willing to learn how to deal with dragons in a non-trapper way, and willing to take that message home with them.

Yes, she thought to herself as Eret's fingers flexed on her belly and one of the Night Furies yawned themselves awake, things could be much worse.

-HTTYD-

The Sami names were found on the internet, I am hoping they're actually genuine and not made up by white people like a lot of 'native' names.

And I apologise for, well, not much happening in this chapter, but I couldn't get anything else to go in without it feeling incomplete, and to make it feel 'complete' meant gutting half of next chapter... it's a mess but it's going somewhere!