For posterity, if I don't end up getting this out until April, I did start it in March.

-HTTYD-

Valka wondered if Astrid would have been so comfortable being so clearly distressed in front of her, if not for the last few days where they'd spent their early mornings together openly talking about how worried they were. They kept vigil at Hiccup's bedside for a couple of hours in relative silence, comforted only by the steady rise and fall of his chest. Astrid had gotten him out of his flight gear and in to a clean tunic, which might have seemed improper to others but then Valka knew Astrid was more familiar with his body than she ought to have been.

"Eret definitely survived this, right?"

"He did. While imprisoned on board a hunters ship, no less. If he thinks Hiccup will be alright, I trust that. We just have to be patient."

Astrid nodded, her usually rosy cheeks pale with worry as she sat on a seat at Hiccup's bedside, his limp hand resting under her own. Valka was worried herself, of course, but she did trust Eret to know what he was talking about, having had more experience with people like Grimmel. Though it didn't really make the sight of Hiccup easier to bear in the moment; they would all feel better when he was awake again and they could see he was recovered for themselves.

"Was Eret alright? I saw he was pretty beat up but I was too focused on Hiccup to really ask."

"Hm? Oh, yes. He was injured in the fight with Grimmel, and while I'm sure he is downplaying it some, he's definitely had worse wounds and was too tired not to go and rest."

Valka wanted to go check on him, of course she did, but as she really hoped Eret was just getting some well-earned rest, she felt she could stay at her son's bedside for the time being. Besides which, Eret would only have sent her there anyway. He was stubborn like that. And understood how important her son was, which Valka knew was lucky and she adored her husband all the more for it.

Hiccup continued to show little signs of life other than steady breathing for a while, only to bolt upright out of the blue and vomit on the blankets covering him. Valka had to cover her face so the smell wouldn't make her sick too, but Eret had warned them sickness was likely and Astrid was up quickly, patting Hiccup's back and sending Valka to get him some water. Valka appreciated the momentary out and breathed in fresher air, tamping down on her own nausea. Astrid took the cup from Valka and helped Hiccup gulp some down before he dropped back to the pillow, groaning. His betrothed quickly removed the soiled blanket - Eret had told her to have fresh covers to hand too, and it turned out to be very helpful information.

"What happened?"

Hiccup managed to croak out, still alarmingly pale but awake, alive.

"Eret said you guys were attacked by Grimmel, and that you were hit with Deathgripper venom. Everyone is ok, even the dragons. Worry later. Rest now."

Valka nodded alongside Astrid's words - giving Hiccup enough information to settle his urgent curiousity, but her tone was clearly not one to argue with as she insisted he return to his resting. He was too weak and groggy to do more than raise his hand to gesture, but Astrid quickly got his message and held his water cup to his mouth again, supporting his head with her other hand.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now rest."

Obviously exhausted, Hiccup fell asleep again within a few minutes. He was visibly sweating out the venom, but neither wanted to wake him again to change his clothes, and so they fell back to a quiet vigil. Keeping an eye on the village while the Chief was in recovery, Gobber eventually joined them, looking harried and tired himself.

"How is he?"

"He woke briefly, was quite sick but drank some water and managed a few words. There's little to do but wait it out, I suppose. Though that feels like little comfort while we wait."

"Aye. He's tough though. Was out like this for longer after the Red Death, he was back up and about soon enough. Well... most of him. Least he came back with all the same limbs this time."

Gobber let out a short laugh, but Valka could see the weight of concern in his features still. He scratched his chin with his non-prosthetic hand, shuffled from wooden to organic leg, then went off to fuss with the fire. Hiccup woke a few hours later again, drenched in sweat and desperate for water. Astrid had gone to fetch a snack - she was starting to get cravings, it seemed - and Gobber had left to check on Berk. So Valka offered, and Hiccup accepted the help, changing his clothes like he was a small babe and wiping his clammy skin before he got some fresh clothes on.

"I feel terrible."

He coughed out between gulps of water, and Valka sighed as she smoothed his sweaty hair off his forehead.

"I know, but you're on the mend. You just have to let the venom work its way out of your system."

Hiccup groaned again as he laid back down and fell asleep. Astrid returned a few minutes later, annoyed that she had missed one of Hiccup's moments awake but pleased to hear there had been a waking moment at all.

"Maybe you should go check on Eret. You could do with stretching your legs."

Valka hesitated, but eventually relented, dropping a kiss on Hiccup's sweaty forehead and a somewhat awkward pat on Astrid's shoulder before she headed out. Having been in the Chief's hut for a few hours by then, she wasn't sure what to expect when she got outside.

Eret had a sense of dejavu when he spent a while trying to get comfortable with little juvenile Night Furies crowding around him, though last time he hadn't been covered in bruises and could find more than one way to lie down without (much) pain.

The Night Furies that he'd taken to Raven's Point got very upset when he tried to set off for his own 'nest' back up the mountain, and so to appease them, Eret ended up bedding down with them. Which naturally meant he had several of the smallest Furies crawling all over him, curious about the one who smelled of them before and just plain interested in the humans in a way their jaded parents and flock-mates were not. But the older ones trusted Eret to some extent, and though they watched closely, none tried to stop the youngest from interacting with Eret.

He did eventually manage to fall asleep, utterly exhausted after everything that had happened over the last day or two in particular. At least Hiccup was in good hands now, he comforted himself, sure Valka and Astrid and Gobber were all taking excellent care of him.

Eret was jarred back to wakefulness by a low growl and a sharp nudge to the shoulder, blinking sleep out of his eyes and looking up in to the face of one of the two pack leader Night Furies. As he sat up, groaning in pain as he felt the ache of all his bruises again, Eret saw why he'd been woken up. A few curious Berkians were edging closer, and the Night Furies weren't happy. Managing to get to his feet, Eret stumbled a bit before making his way to stand between humans and Furies.

"Guys, you need to leave these dragons alone right now. They're scared, displaced and they don't trust humans."

"Aww, come on! After only seeing Toothless, you expect us not to be excited about this?"

"No, be as excited as you want. But back down in the village, not up here. Leave these guys in peace, or they're going to defend their elders and young and the last thing any of us wants is an angry flock firing on Berk. Remember... Night Furies never miss. If we want to save this species, we have to give them time to trust us. Right now, they only sort of trust me and Hiccup cus we helped fight off Grimmel, and because we turned up with the Alpha."

Grumbling but obviously keen to avoid being roasted alive by extremely accurate dragons, they eventually turned and left, throwing furtive looks back at the wary flock before disappearing from view. Eret was certain that wasn't the end of Berkians ignoring his warnings, but at least nobody had gotten hurt. The Fury leaders seemed a little impressed Eret had turned the strangers away, giving him a little nod each before they headed down to obtain some fish and water from the little lake in the cove.

"Very impressive."

A voice that always made Eret's heart pick up a little sounded from over by the top of the hill, and sure enough when he looked up, Eret saw his wife. Valka looked tired, but offered him a small smile as she made her way down the hill where he headed to meet her at the bottom. The Furies were not too sure about him bringing her in, but a few seemed to remember his introducing her to them, and when Valka showed she wasn't there to gawk at or harm them, the two were left alone.

"How's Hiccup?"

"Still not well, but he's woken briefly a couple of times and even spoken a bit. So we're hopeful, but not too hopeful."

Eret nodded, watching Valka fuss as she wondered whether she could hug his bruised self. Rolling his eyes, he reached out his less injured arm and pulled her close, smiling to himself when he felt gentle arms settle over his shoulders. Her belly was round and firm enough by then that he could feel it press to his hip when she was so close to him, though it wasn't all that noticeable with her clothes on yet.

"And how are you feeling? You and the little one do alright while I was away?"

"Oh yes. They've definitely missed you though."

Eret chuckled, smile crossing his face as they parted enough for him to place a hand on her stomach. The flutters were still small, but he could feel them sometimes and adored every single one.

"Missed you too little one. Hope you haven't been giving your mom a hard time."

Valka let out a small laugh, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. Knowing it would hurt and not caring a jot, Eret turned his head to kiss her properly, feeling Valka smiling softly against his mouth.

"So, did we miss anything?"

Eret eventually asked, and he could tell by her face that Valka immediately thought of something.

"Nothing I can tell you about right now.

He frowned slightly.

"Alright... nobody is in trouble, or sick, right?"

Valka shook her head, gave him a reassuring smile and Eret figured there was a chance the secret wasn't hers to tell. Maybe someone had fallen pregnant out of wedlock or something... though he couldn't envision too many Berkians who would have confided such a fact in Valka. Though most of Berk was on fair terms with her, she wasn't terribly close with many of them. She seemed quite alright about whatever she was hiding, and honestly Eret was too bloody tired to really worry about something he didn't need to worry about.

"Did you just come out here to check on me?"

"Yes. Astrid is still with Hiccup, and I'll return to his side soon but I wanted to know you were alright. And to see how the dragons were doing, of course."

"Of course. They're a little spooked still, and wouldn't let me go home. So if you have the time, it would be good if you could go and check on the injured ones I sent off with Fishlegs Ingerman and the others. And Tripfire."

Valka nodded, smiling still.

"Of course. Where's Cloudjumper?"

"He stayed behind with Tripfire once he'd dropped Toothless off."

Valka gave another nod, and they kissed goodbye before she bowed to the Night Fury leaders and took her leave. He hated to see her go after he'd only really just gotten home, but there were lots of things going on and lots of places they were needed. It would all be worth it in the end, he knew, as he looked around the flock of Night Furies they'd pulled out of Grimmel's grasp. A few bad days were more than worth saving the dragons.

-HTTYD-

With the end closing in, this chapter feels short and insufficient I'm sure. But... here we are!