Honestly I forgot how much I ship these two until I started writing this. I knew that I did. Just not as hugely as I actually do.

On we go!

-HTTYD-

Cloudjumper woke her, confusing Valka as she sat up rubbing her eyes. What was so urgent? He wasn't raising an alarm, so it didn't seem like a dragon-hunter emergency or anything. Only when she opened her eyes properly did she see Eret, the trapper she had accidentally brought back with them the night before. He was shuddering, trembling despite the fur and the fire. Frowning, Valka got up and crossed over, tossing another log onto the fire as she went - the room had cooled, though it wasn't cold enough to warrant Eret's violent shakes.

His skin was clammy, soaked in sweat and despite apparently being awake, Eret barely seemed to notice she was there. Carefully, she peeled away his tunic and saw that he hadn't covered the whole thing in honey dressing, and perhaps it had let something bad in while the rest was encouraged to heal.

"Hold his arms down, as gently as you can. This won't be pleasant."

Valka took off the dressing, used some hot water to wipe away the mess on his chest and Cloudjumper's assistance was definitely needed. Eret twisted, whining in pain but Valka persisted - badness so close to his heart? It would surely take him over. When she felt he was clean, she applied a healing salve before a fresh honey dressing. Eret continued to fight against it, but Cloudjumper held firm until his human was finished.

"All done now. Drink this."

It was cold, but the water had still steeped the herbs and so it ought to help send him back to sleep. Eret spilled half down his front as he shook, but she got some of it into him and sat watching until it kicked in about ten minutes later. He looked tense still in slumber, but Valka hoped he'd be better soon. Then she could work out what to do with him. For now he was just... another ward of hers, really. Only with less scales.

She left to check on any of her sick or injured dragons - the Nadder was still weak, but back on her feet and able to eat and drink for herself before retreating back into the dragon pile. Bolstered, Valka continued on, dabbing ointment on a few torn wings or damaged scales and dispensing many a chin scratch or ear rub or belly tickle as she went, ensuring those who weren't able to fly had been brought meals by those who could. It was a simple life, really, minus the whole vigilante outings, and Valka adored it.

Valka had to spend the entire day mostly watching over Eret, putting him back to sleep and cleansing the irritated wound until finally, early evening brought him around in a slightly more lucid state. He was still feverish, but when Valka asked if he was hungry, he nodded. His expression said he didn't like her cooking, but he ate it anyway.

"I feel terrible."

"Your wound is aggravated. You won't be doing much other than recovering for a few days now. Which is terribly annoying."

"A...annoying?"

"Yes. I have dragons to save, but I can hardly leave you here alone can I?"

Eret shrugged, then thought better of it as it pulled on his chest.

"Guess not. Although what you think I'd do against a couple dozen dragons by myself, while injured, I don't know. Especially since you took my swords."

Valka smiled to herself. If he thought that was all there was? She wouldn't disillusion him. Still, at least he was underestimating the threat.

"I'm more concerned you would try to escape. I can't have you leading your kind back here."

"I don't even know where I am."

She rolled her eyes.

"You're a sailor. I doubt it would take more than a night sky for you to find your way."

Eret frowned, then nodded.

"Fair. I am an excellent navigator."

If he was trying to convince her to let him go, Eret was doing a terrible job of it. He jumped suddenly, confusing Valka until she realised he was noticing the dragon sneaking in to her space. She was so used to it, it didn't instantly occur to her he wouldn't be.

"They come and go all the time."

Valka reached out to the juvenile, feeling bumpy scales under her hand as she rubbed the Gronckle head.

"Who's a good boy? Yes you are!"

The Gronckle wagged their tail happily, nuzzling and bumping against Valka's chest with a happy rumble.

"That thing can literally swallow you whole and you are playing with it like its a harmless little kitten."

Eret was watching them with visible nerves in his face, obviously worried that the dragon might turn at any moment. Valka contemplated simply telling him to try, but training a trapper to befriend a dragon, gain its trust? That didn't sound smart.

"He is harmless. Look at him."

Valka continued, mindful not to scratch under the chin - Gronckles didn't like that, it could irritate their throats. Cloudjumper began to get a bit jealous, huffing and rustling his wings with a little rumble. Throwing her dragon an indulgent look, Valka patted the Gronckle gently and stood to head over, scratching his chin scales until Cloudjumper was all but purring happily.

"If you don't harm them, they won't harm you."

The sooner Eret got over his branding, the better. Because then the mad dragon woman might let him go, rather than treating him like a sick dragon.

Actually, no, she liked the sick dragons more. He saw it in her face, the way she sat next to a sickly Deadly Nadder, like it didn't have deadly in the name, or poison-coated tail spines, or explosive fire-breath and she just... stroked it. Eret wasn't allowed to leave her rooms without her, but he spent half his time sedated by Valka so he'd stop fussing with his healing injury anyway. It was clear she didn't want him there, and Eret certainly didn't want to be there, but he believed her well enough when she said they were on an island with nowhere nearby - where else would a crazy dragon vigilante set up to hoard fifty dragons as pets?

Her... favourite, he guessed, she had actually named. Some of the others had names, based on her calling them things like 'Lump' and 'Sailback'. But not all of them. Cloudjumper was the biggest, and he was the one who stuck by Valka like a rash unless she asked him to watch Eret. He definitely didn't like Eret, nor the guard duty, but he kept it up dutifully and barely took his eyes off Eret.

"I can do this myself you know."

"Last time I let you, you had a fever overnight. Hold still or Cloudjumper will do it for me."

Valka wiped the hot cloth across his chest, wiping away blood and salve residue to leave the stark, clear shape of the brand beneath it.

"What made you earn this then? I didn't know Drago branded his humans as well as his dragons, though I suppose he has no respect for either."

She obviously knew about Drago, and the way she spat his name and grit her teeth even as she touched him with unerring tenderness said she did not agree with Bludvist in the slightest. Eret supposed he could understand how their ideas clashed.

"I turned up without dragons to sell."

The knuckles of her hands turned white as her fists clenched, and for a second Eret seriously expected her to slam them into his chest. He was vulnerable, really. It wouldn't take much for her to order a dragon to roast him alive, and 'Cloudjumper' was watching closely.

"And that's really where you want to go rushing back to?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Valka shoved him; his uninjured side, thankfully, then continued on applying the pot of salve to his wound like nothing had happened.

"It means... you have been here for three days now" had it really been that long? "and even in your condition, you can't have missed that not a single dragon has hurt you. The man you claim loyalty to branded you like a possession, and without a healer you might well have died of this wound out at sea. And Drago would have replaced you easily. But all you ever talk about is getting back. Then again, I never did understand humans."

Eret frowned, hissing as she applied fresh bandages to him, having taken to wrapping an extra layer all the way around his chest to hold it in place so he could sleep without it slipping. He tugged his tunic back on while Valka moved away to wash her hands, grimacing at the dried bloodstain but the dragon place was pretty chilly and he had nothing else to wear. Valka didn't seem to mind, but perhaps she'd acclimatised.

"You have lived with humans though, I can tell. What brought you here?"

Valka's facial expressions were remarkably unguarded, but then she wore a mask in front of people and only bared her face to dragons. There was pain in her face, and Eret briefly regretted asking before reminding himself he didn't care about her, he just wanted to leave.

"Many things, none of which are your business. Eat your soup."

"When are you letting me go?"

"Provided I think you'll survive the flight after I knock you out" after she what? "soon."

"Knock me out?"

"I'm not having you know where we are. So you're not leaving consciously."

"Can't you just... blindfold me?"

Eret had no intentions of being blindfolded or unconscious, but he wanted to play along now his brain was turning over. Valka shrugged, left him eating the gods-awful liquid she called soup. This woman really could not cook, but she refused to let Eret help, as though he might have stashed poison somewhere.

They spent the rest of that evening in silence, broken only by quiet murmurs between her and Cloudjumper. Eret observed her, quiet and contemplative. Having only seen her before in full freaky vigilante get-up, he had honestly been surprised to discover she was so... tiny. Not in height - she stood eye-to-eye with Eret, maybe a hair shorter. But in build, the strength of the woman who took down trappers that wrestled Monstrous Nightmares was belied by her thin frame, hands delicate despite the callouses on her palms and fingers and that feral, screaming fury who flung herself into battle had a soft, lilting voice that sought to soothe terrified fire-breathing reptiles.

He'd seen her tear open heavy cages with her bare hands, body slam a guy twice her width. The way she moved with Cloudjumper was instinctive, practiced; she didn't have to be looking his way to duck when her dragon swooped in to the fight. He watched her move amongst a little group of Hobblegrunts when she let Eret up to stretch his legs, utterly at ease, not the slightest bit afraid of them. Every time Eret jumped because a few thousand pounds of scaly, fiery killer crept up behind him, she rolled her eyes as though he was the one acting weird.

"I... have a deal for you."

He looked up from the parchment he was doodling on, finding his 'captor'. Valka already had her armour on, helmet and staff in hands.

"I'm listening. Not that I have much choice."

"I have to go, tonight. If you stay here and cause no problem, I will drop you off in a couple of days time at one of the trading islands dragon hunters use. I imagine your crew will wash up there eventually?"

"You're... leaving me here. By myself. You trust me here?"

Valka shook her head.

"Not remotely. But the dragons can defend themselves against one injured, unarmed hunter. And I can't take you with me on a rescue. So, stay out of trouble for a few hours and I promise to free you soon. Your wound is healing up after all."

Only after Eret agreed keenly did he realise that meant he was left unarmed and alone with lots of dragons. There was an awful rumbling, the sound of rocks shifting against their will and a heavy splash. Then the noises stopped, and Valka was gone and so was Cloudjumper and that one she called Incognito, that Eret had only even seen once - Changewing.

Ignoring the faint stab of guilt - despite everything, Valka had shown him nothing but kindness and patience - Eret waited a little time to be sure they were gone before he got up slowly from his bedding pile by the fire, groaning at the protest from his guts. Days of Valka's 'cooking' was not good for him, but years on a ship had given him a strong stomach. He was in too good a place to not at least look where he was. Whether he gave that information to Drago...

Eret realised, quite quickly, that he had no clue where he was. The place felt big, parts of the rocky ceiling quite high and more still made of icy patches where sunlight filtered in during the day. He wondered what sort of dragon did that. It didn't look natural, and it didn't melt either. He picked a direction he hoped was away from the centre, and began working his way through the corridors. They went all sorts of ways, some only navigatable by literally leaping or climbing up a few feet. No wonder Valka was so thin and strong - her nest was a workout all by itself. Eret was in good shape himself, slightly-life-threatening-infection aside, and even he felt the burn in his legs as he clambered around.

How Cloudjumper fit was a mystery in itself. After what felt like hours, Eret could smell sea air, salty and wet and familiar. Heart pounding, he sped up toward the smell, stumbling in his haste as he got closer, closer...

and found his way blocked by a veritable wall of scales, three big dragons all perched side by side and he just knew Valka had expected him to try it, that she'd set up guards to stop him leaving and finding out where they were. It was probably unreasonable to feel slighted she expected of him, especially since she had been right. Knowing he wasn't going to get past them all unarmed - he needed to get his swords back - Eret reluctantly retreated, somehow certain the dragons would tell on him to Valka. Maybe it would make her more keen to get rid of him.

He found his way back easily enough, straightening up in the wider space and groaning to himself. His chest was aching now, but there was no fresh blood leaking through his bandages. Eret meandered for a little while, unsure what to do but unwilling to just go back to Valka's room and pretend he hadn't moved. The roar he'd already learned to be unique to Cloudjumper made him jump, had him whipping around before finally looking up and seeing the four winged dragon swoop down from a hidden spot that let him in and, presumably, out. There were several dragons with him, some carrying sacks and a couple carrying barrels. And one, he noticed, carrying another dragon.

He felt blood splatter over him from above as they came to land where he stood, Valka tossing her helmet as she sprung from Cloudjumpers back and beckoned the one carrying injured dragon toward her. The injured one was in distress, thrashing and wailing and coughing up dribbles of fire - out of shots. From his vantage point, Eret couldn't see the injury, legs carrying him forward to try and investigate.

"Eret, no! Stay back!"

Valka wasn't even looking, and if she could hear him walking over the wailing sounds of the dragon he'd be amazed. And yet, he found himself stilling as she fussed around the dragon, pointing toward something and Cloudjumper immediately moved, dragging a crate back over toward her. When Valka moved to get it, Eret felt a gasp steal out of his throat as he saw the face of the dragon; the blood he'd felt was from the head, tearing and damage visibly done to their eyes. Three dragons were trying to keep Valka from being clawed and kicked or bitten, letting her focus entirely on treating the wounds.

If a trapper had come across a dragon with such an injury, they'd have left it there. A kind one might have put it out of its misery, depending on the severity.

"Hush, it's ok. I know, I know, but you're safe now."

Over and over she spoke soothing words to the dragon, all the while working to clean up the injuries as best she could, dabbing them with whatever she had in that crate until finally she could cover their injured eyes with a bandage, which she managed to tie beneath the frill on the dragons head.

"There we go. It's alright. You poor thing."

Valka made to move, but the dragon whined pitifully until she came back, nostrils flaring as he sniffed for the scent of the one with gentle hands and a caring voice. She immediately sat back down, looking around before landing on Eret.

"Would you fetch me some water?"

Her hands and face and armour were covered in bright red splatters of blood, more so than him but both could probably do with getting it off. Eret nodded dumbly, keeping his distance and skirting the edge of the space they were in and disappearing along to Valka's space, finding the trickle of melting ice she often filled things from. He warmed it a little over the fire first, then wondered why he'd bothered. What did he care if the water was too cold for her?

Valka dabbed a cloth in to clean herself, and offered the rest to the dragon. Eret backtracked as soon as she had the bucket in hand, watching how she stroked the almost ridiculously oversized jaw.

"What happened?"

"This poor adolescent Hobblegrunt was left tangled in a tree snare. He's too injured for Drago to take, so they just left him to die. All alone, and so scared. Does your work still make you proud when you see it like this?"

Eret didn't answer.

For the first time since he woke to see Valka looming over him, he was unsure.

-HTTYD-

I love Gruff, he's a funky fierce Hobblegrunt who actually reacts quicker than sighted dragons according to his dragon wiki, but can you imagine when Valka found him? Poor baby! So I had to put it in. Obviously.