So if you don't read Making A Killing/follow me on tumblr, you may have missed a notice that I'm going on a HTTYD hiatus. Now, Changed might be exempt because I don't find it stressful to write like others, but not sure yet. Anywhoooo, on with the pining idiots.

-HTTYD-

Eret made her wait a little, though it was with good reason - they had sick dragons to think of, and hadn't even eaten breakfast themselves just yet. He cooked while she checked on the dragons, made sure they would be fed and watered and comfortable while the humans were gone. Her stomach was in knots, she could barely eat but Eret told her they weren't leaving until she did.

"Don't need you getting faint and falling out of the sky now, do we?"

He had a point, she conceded. They set off just as the sun was reaching its highest point, flying low for a while as Eret got his bearings after sorting through a few maps to work out their journey path. Normally she was the one leading him, but only Eret knew where her now ex-husbands final moments of life had been spent. He didn't make her talk about it more, left Valka to try and sort through her toiling mind as they flew.

Fifteen years... Hiccup would only have been three. Valka was still learning her way around dragon species back then, and had only just begun tackling Drago and his fellow, foul comrades in destruction. All that time, Valka had at least been content in the knowledge Hiccup had his father, that while Stoick had been a hard man to love sometimes, he would have raised his son with the pride of a chief. She'd felt Hiccup was safer without her there.

And while Valka didn't blame the dragons - good dragons under the control of bad people did bad things - she couldn't ignore that dragons had taken both of Hiccup's parents from him, though in different ways. She was one of them now, while Stoick was undoubtedly watching her from Valhalla, wondering how she could have stayed away so long.

"Hang here for a minute, just flying up to get a better distance view."

Eret called out to her, leaning back in the saddle slightly to encourage Tripfire to fly upwards, the two gone for only a couple of minutes before Eret dove back down, seeming satisfied with the direction they continued on in. They had to be wary - they were well beyond the safe zone of the mountain now, could run into hunters or just very surprised, unhappy sailors. The oceans were a little turbulent beneath, not ideal for sailing but that had never stopped the Vikings Valka grew up with.

It wasn't until they stopped to feed and water Cloudjumper and Tripfire that the enormity of where they were going began to truly hit her. Valka didn't know what she expected to see after a decade and a half had gone by, doubted she'd find answers or closure there but something in her just had to go, like the least she could do as the absent, runaway wife and mother she became was pay her respects to Stoick's final moments.

Perhaps selfishly, Valka had always had a lingering hope somewhere in the very pit of her mind - maybe one day she could learn enough, and go and stop the raids on Berk. Bring peace to make up for her years away. She'd always told herself she had time, only for Eret to drop on her that there had never been time at all.

"We're almost there."

Eret let her know some two hours flight later, her hands numb despite the gloves Eret made as they did a cursory aerial sweep of the surrounding ocean before they headed down to land on an island that felt empty, utterly devoid of life. He looked around for a couple of minutes before nodding to himself and leading them on foot through a narrow valley between hunks of rock. Cloudjumper barely managed to fit before they came out to a spot where Eret stopped, glancing around before he raised his hands to take off his helmet.

"This is the spot. Nobody dared live on the island when they realised Drago kept coming back."

Valka took her own helmet off, placing it down and taking in the scene before her. There was little left after all the years of the elements to sweep away the remnants, but the earth beneath still bore faint scorch marks, and there was very little of even the hardiest plants making their attempts to grow there. She stood for a while, silent and unsure what she should do. Did it count as a gravesite when there was no burial?

"What did it look like when you were here?"

Eret didn't comment on how Valka was clearly crying as she spoke. She appreciated it.

"Not much different, really. There was a bit of foundation left along here" he drew a line with his fingers in the air over the ground "and I recognise the cliff from last time."

Valka continued her quiet reflection for a while, Cloudjumper steady at her side. When she looked up, wiping her eyes, Eret and Tripfire were nowhere to be found. She looked around, confused, until she heard them coming back and saw they'd gone to collect... rocks?

"What are you doing?"

"I've lived around Vikings long enough to know some of your traditions. I think burial is out, but we can mark the site."

He seemed to think to himself for a minute, then had Tripfire follow him as he laid the stones in the shape of a ship over the spot he'd brought her to. It hadn't even occurred to Valka to do such a thing, she was so out of touch with her own culture - and it wasn't even Eret's native traditions, but he was attempting to respect hers.

"Thanks Tripfire."

Eret moved back over to her, silent and supportive as he gently took her hand. Valka turned to him and cried, so very glad he was there for that moment, that he held her and let her finally lighten the emotional weight she'd carried for almost two decades. The dragons crooned softly, unsure what to do to help but Valka appreciated them just being there as she fought to regain control of herself. Eret shushed her attempts to apologise, pulling some cloth from his bag so Valka could clean her face up a little.

"I had a feeling it would be emotional for you."

"Thank you."

He nodded, falling quiet again as he waited for Valka to decide whether she wanted to stay a little longer or not. They climbed to the top of the cliff nearby, surveying the stone layout from high above and she hadn't realised it, but the sight gave Valka a sense of closure once she saw it properly - it looked like a Viking gravesite now. After a few minutes thought, Valka took the ring from around her neck - she'd worn it for the flight. It felt like the right thing for her to do. Heading back down to the site, Valka picked up another stone, dug a small hole in the middle of the stone ship, buried her ring and placed the stone over the dirt she covered it with.

"We buried our dead with things they needed in life to carry with them. I don't know what else I could leave here."

"I don't think you have to leave anything here. For us, it's the respect for the dead that matters, but burial was always tricky for us anyway."

"Oh?"

Eret nodded.

"Yeah. A lot of frozen ground. We'd wrap them and keep them somewhere extra cold, then either have a sort of... mass celebration with pyres when their souls danced in the sky, or bury them when the ground thawed enough if they hadn't shown themselves yet."

There was a flicker of nostalgia in his tone, and Valka realised that Eret had been displaced from his life more than once now - first by Drago, and again by Valka. She made a mental note to encourage him to talk more of his homeland at some point, remembering how happy he'd been just to find something as simple as the reindeer fur in the marketplace. His Norse was fluent, and she hoped he'd not forgotten his native tongue because of it.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

"Of course. I'm just sorry I had to break such bad news."

"It wasn't your fault. And now I... now I know."

Valka considered a rather more ridiculous, insane idea of taking Eret to Berk, of seeing for herself that Hiccup was alright. But that was truly a terrible idea, she reasoned. Yes, perhaps Valka could have explained herself, but she would also be putting Cloudjumper and Tripfire at a huge risk.

She'd made her choice, and though missing her son was a physical ache sometimes, Valka knew she had to stand by it. What good would it have done Hiccup anyway, to know his mother was alive and chose to stay away? Swallowing around the lump in her throat, Valka cast her eyes over the small offering they'd made.

"We can go."

"You sure? You can spend as long as you want here. I'll wait."

"No no. I think... I think I got what I came for."

Eret nodded, smile small but warm. Cloudjumper and Tripfire both nuzzled her, their affection a reminder of why she'd made her choice. Hiccup was better off without her. The dragons... well, Valka liked to think she'd made a positive difference somewhere for their kind.

The flight back was slow, casual, a gentle journey rather than a great hurry. Stormcutters were excellent gliders, after all, and so they could go as slow and easy as they liked unless urgency demanded it. They were just looking for a spot to take a break for food and water when Eret pulled up sharply, gesturing to Valka to wait there as he shot up toward the cloud level.

Confused, Valka hovered there with Cloudjumper, leaning forward on one knee and scouting the ocean. She caught sight of ships in the distance, though she didn't recognise their sails well. Eret might have done - he'd undoubtedly have had more face-to-face interactions and less violent altercations with those who hunted dragons before. He dropped back down, lifting his helmet visor.

"Hunters?"

"Worse. Friends of Drago's. Army leaders. They never come this far north though, two of them are from the East and they usually meet further south because they hate the cold."

"Are we going after them?"

"We could, they aren't carrying many dragons and they're more focused on letting Drago do the dirty work right now. They fund him, mostly, in return for his promise not to massacre them with his dragon army. But these guys are still skilled hunters, and we are two against an army."

Valka straightened her shoulders.

"That's never stopped me before."

The dragons growled in agreement, so Eret shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright then. Keep sharp guys, this lot like knock-out darts."

Eret dropped his helmet and the two headed up to the clouds for cover, weapons in hand before they took their first dive down. The fight started as soon as the first flames touched decks, not nearly fireproofed enough for such skilled hunters but then their dragons were either knocked out or muzzled, Valka saw. Cloudjumper banked violently left to avoid several darts, shot back an equally violent flame in return and scattered those bearing them.

Tripfire was already hard at work in her own way - rather than just burn the ships, she tore great chunks of the wood from the deck and the sides, throwing the pieces down at humans who had to scramble free before Eret leapt down to the deck himself to free those dragons caged. Six flew free from three cages, no longer muzzled and two Raincutters stayed back to help. Their abilities were two-fold - they could shoot flames that resisted water, making them excellent for stealth attacks in storms, and if they drank down water first they could shoot it with equally powerful force. And still, they were a gentle, peaceful species, Valka's grip on her staff tightening in anger at them taken to be fed into Drago's army.

Eret managed to get clear of the sinking ship before it disappeared underwater, and Valka took her eyes off of him to focus on another ship. She saw the way several looked to one woman, the crown of her helmet resembling the antler-horns of a Goregutter dragon. Ironic, really, how so many who sought to destroy dragons used them as emblems.

Flashes of fire from the corner of her eye said that Tripfire was handling herself fine as they set to empty more cages of more dragons, setting loose a Triple Stryke and a Slithersong, two Monstrous Nightmares taking flight after throwing a few flames toward their captors for good measure. Valka would have time to be angry at them for intruding on an already incredibly emotionally wraught day for her later, when the dragons were free.

A couple of ships had peeled off from the others to sail in different directions, but their cages were empty and so Valka left them alone - to seek them out would be purely vengeful, and there were still dragons to free. She happily knocked down several hunters with swift blows from her staff, Cloudjumper flinging several straight into the waiter with a few choice flicks of his tail, roaring with laughter before they ran for the next cages. Not their most planned out or streamlined rescue, but duty called when duty called.

Smoke dusting her armour and occasionally tainting the air she breathed, Valka coughed a few times under her mask before looking around and hopping back up onto Cloudjumper. His broad wings dispelled the clouds of smoke enough to check for cages still filled amidst the few ships not yet sunk or escaped, and more than a dozen dragons had been freed and cleared out of there quick. A couple more hovered nearby, looking to the strange ones with human riders for information or perhaps seeking to help - some dragons were so fiercely loyal they would stay to protect a stranger if they'd helped them.

"I think we're clear. Where's Tripfire?"

Cloudjumper soon began looking every which way for his beloved, caught sight of her finishing up with a ship she was tearing to pieces seemingly just for fun by then. He called out to her and she turned, spat one last fireball at her target before zooming over to them. Valka looked to her saddle, confused to find it void of rider.

"Where's Eret?"

Tripfire threw her a confused look, then twisted her neck as far as she could, repeated the motion from the other direction before looking at Valka, roaring in visible distress.

They scoured the decks of the ships still floating, all of the sailors having long departed to either swim or use their lifeboats to get away.

Then they scoured the water, even diving down to check Eret hadn't gotten caught by a current, though Valka knew he was a strong swimmer. Soaked through and still sans Eret, Valka remembered the ships that had sailed off while they were busy.

She dared not send Tripfire alone, which meant they couldn't follow both ships.

Eret regretted opening his eyes as soon as he did it, stomach lurching from the awful dizziness that made it feel as though the world was spinning around him at alarming speeds. It was worse than Tripfire doing spirals right after breakfast.

His neck throbbed with pain, and when Eret reached up to touch it he hissed at the tender, slightly swollen bump there. Struggling through his quicksand thoughts, he remembered something about ships, ships and dragons and...

"Tripfire!"

Eret sat up, cursing himself instantly as the world tipped sideways and he fell to the ground next to some sort of makeshift cot, emptying his stomach onto the floor with painful spasms in his stomach.

At least he didn't have his helmet on. That would have been messy.

"Looks like the venom didn't agree with him."

The voice was sarcastic, smug and definitely female. The answering one had something a little more Celtic to it.

"He's no good to us dead."

"Hush Ragnar, go do something useful."

Eret fumbled clumsily and gripped the side of something sturdy, hauling himself up and back into his cot before he keeled over in his own vomit.

"Like what?"

"Send word to Drago. We have his runaway."

Panic gripped at odds with his delirium, that name tugging at his half-awareness and telling Eret he was in a bad, bad situation. His hand scrabbled at his belt, but his swords were gone. As was his helmet, his armour, and even his tunic to expose the brand on his chest. Someone had undressed him. His mind was sluggish, like crawling through Valka's awful yak stew...

Valka!

He gripped the side tighter, rubbing his eyes and attempting to dig some lucidity up from his mind. He couldn't hear any other people, and his captors had only spoken of him. Eret felt sure if they had the vigilante who enjoyed smashing up Drago's operations, that would be just as, if not more appealing than his runaway.

"What did you hit me with?"

"Deathgripper venom."

"Ragnar!"

"What? Drago's gonna kill 'im, what good will it do him?"

"Just go!"

Grumbling, 'Ragnar' stomped off with heavy steps. Attempting to see straight through his hazy vision, Eret managed to make out the shape of someone... about Valka's size, not including what he almost thought were her own horns, but he realised were part of a helmet when he blinked away a little more blurriness.

Deathgripper... Deathgripper...

Uh oh.

"You're working with Grimmel."

There was a short intake of breath, but she soon relaxed.

"Of course, you were a Hunter yourself. You'd know Grimmel."

"Yeah. He's a psychopath. Good match for Drago."

"Better than a coward who ran from the hunt."

Eret rolled his eyes, wishing his legs didn't feel so numb and weak.

"Between coward and killer, I'd choose coward every day."

Oh, he didn't feel well at all. Eret hoped the after effects of the venom wouldn't last long. It was one hel of a knock out, obviously. Lethal in the wrong (or right, maybe) doses, and clearly not all that agreeable with humans.

She - he was pretty sure her name was Grimora or something - merely laughed, and left Eret in his... cell? Barely dressed and having to be careful not to fall in the mess he'd left on the floor. Eret managed to get himself horizontal on the cot, so at least he could try and think without the world trying to fall over.

Right. So. He was captured. They hadn't threatened him with hurting Tripfire, and the ship wasn't on fire, so they probably didn't have her. They also didn't appear to have caught Valka either. But without his weapons, dragons, or the ability to stand up straight, Eret had very little chance of escape by himself. And that was bad, because if he didn't get off the ship they were on - he knew they were sailing by the familiar motion of the ocean beneath - he would be handed over to Drago, likely for a punishment that would make his branding seem like a picnic lunch.

Depending on how long he'd been gone, Valka had probably noticed he was missing. They were... better, than they had been a couple of months ago, so hopefully she'd at least try to look for him. If not, Tripfire would. Save for sleep, she'd not gone half a day without licking Eret and he doubted that would change just because he'd been captured. If anything, he imagined any reunion or rescue would come with extra licks.

As his vision began to clear, Eret made out the pile of colourful things in the corner of the room beyond his cell - his armour! His swords were there too, and his helmet. He didn't wear his fur under his armour, but his tunic was over there - torn, annoyingly. They'd obviously been heavy handed in removing it.

His co-ordination was nowhere near good enough to figure out how to bust out of his cell yet though, so Eret could only lay there and think while the venom worked its way out of his system. The rocking of the ship was a comfort to the seasoned sailor, at least, and his stomach was no longer felt like it was making a bid for freedom through his throat. He was sweating something awful though.

He didn't realise he'd fallen asleep until he woke up, found somebody had been sent in to clean his cell floor while he slept and that made Eret feel incredibly vulnerable. At least he still had his bottoms on.

Eret was still feeling vaguely out of it, and he had no measure of time beyond how often they gave him a small amount of food and water. Neither of which he trusted, and he avoided the food but knew he'd need water. It was more a sense that they wanted him lucid enough to suffer under Drago than any real desire to keep him alive. He counted each two of his sparse meals as a day, sleeping little and feeling like the worst of the venom was over after three days.

Ragnar was much easier to extract information from than Griselda - not Grimora, as his addled brain had tried to remember - and it seemed he liked to visit Eret because Griselda didn't really like him, and he was lonely.

Of all his kind Eret had encountered, he thought Ragnar might be one they could turn one day if they ever had the time. He was more interested in money than murder, and despite his size, a little soft. He turned up rather drunk at some point and shared the meat he was eating with Eret, which he trusted because Ragnar was eating from the same chunk. Words whispered through prison bars lost charm, but Ragnar wasn't the worst company to keep for a captive, he supposed.

"Why dragons mate? You used to be on the right side."

"I thought that too" Eret stopped to take a drink from his water "but I was literally kidnapped and forced to learn. You should meet my girl."

"The vigilante?"

Eret choked on his mutton. Oh, that was a far more complicated topic, and not one he'd be getting in to with anybody.

"My dragon. I met her fighting off a bunch of trappers while muzzled and netted. Couldn't resist."

Gods, he missed her. Her and Valka and even Cloudjumper, the enormous pain in the neck. And the nest, the sound of dragons, the feeling of flying...

When he turned back from a wistful moment, Ragnar was on the floor. No small feat, but it barely registered as his heart leapt with the sight of a fully armoured vigialnte standing over the unconscious Ragnar. She put her finger to where her mouth would be beneath the mask, and Eret nodded to show he understood, pointing over to the corner where his things were. Valka lifted the keys hanging from Ragnar's waist, handed them through to Eret while she grabbed his armour and weapons. It took four tries to find the right key, but Eret got his cell open eventually.

"There were two ships. We followed the wrong one, and had to track you down."

"I don't care, I'm just glad you're here."

"Hurry! We're about to be noticed."

Eret was confused initially, until he saw Valka rapping her staff on the side of the 'room' they were in. He'd barely pulled his armour on before there was a great creaking sound, followed by the exposure of sunlight upon his skin at last as two rather large dragons tore at the ship.

"There's my girl!"

Tripfire roared happily at the sight of him, Eret attaching his belt and grabbing his helmet. He glanced over at Ragnar, knew that he couldn't leave him out cold to drown if the ship went down. Eret threw his water at him, and Ragnar jerked awake with a splutter just in time to watch Eret jump out to grab hold of Tripfire's tail, clinging on for dear life when she swerved to avoid more of those accursed darts until they were high enough for her to even out, curving her tail upwards so Eret could drop onto her back and clamber into the saddle.

"You didn't have to save him."

Valka knelt on Cloudjumper's back, lifting her helmet off to talk to him when they were far enough from the ship to

"He was... well, better to me than the others. And he doesn't hate dragons the way the others do. They're just a tradeable good. Besides, I thought we agreed they're only allowed to die of their own stupidity, and you knocked Ragnar out."

"Ragnar?"

"Yeah. They caught me with a dart, I must have fell on to a ship without Tripfire noticing" she cooed sadly and Eret rubbed her neck "it's ok girl, it wasn't your fault. And when the knockout wore off, I realised I knew who they were. That was Ragnar the Rock, he works with a couple of others. There's Griselda, she's the one with the horns" Eret mimed the shape of her helmet "and... who did you follow?"

Valka nodded as he spoke, taking in the knowledge.

"I think his name was... Khan?"

"Yeah. Chaghatai Khan. He's smart, wealthy and connected. Griselda is more... cut first, questions later. Ragnar is muscle and money. They fund some of Drago's operations, and since they used Deathgripper venom on me, I'm also thinking they've been working somewhere along the lines with Grimmel."

He didn't need to ask if Valka knew the name; he saw her face tighten in anger.

"Grimmel the Grisly. Oh, I'd love to get my hands on him."

The venom he'd been hit with was likely diluted, though he wasn't sure what they'd cut it with. Deathgripper venom was pretty damn lethal, after all.

"Yeah. He was famous amongst my- amongst hunters" Eret caught himself "and as far as I know, he's the only hunter who's ever exterminated an entire species."

"Have you met him?"

Eret nodded.

"A couple of times. He gave Drago a cloak made of Night Fury scales, and now I know that some dragons eat other dragons, I have a feeling I know what Drago gave him in return. I only saw the Deathgrippers once, and that was plenty."

They flew for the better part of an hour before they dared land, and Eret was immensely grateful for the chance - he'd not eaten properly or drunk much for what Valka told him was four whole days. Sure, he'd had worse weeks, but being seperated from the dragons was painful for him

And being away from Valka was, though Eret would never admit it to her, agonising.

Tripfire was on him instantly, making up for several days she couldn't lick him all at once, butting her head against his chest and warbling happily when he scratched her chin.

"Yes, yes, I missed you too!"

Dripping with Stormcutter spit, Eret managed to beg Tripfire to let him breathe and eat and drink, half tempted to regret it later and dive into the nearby river for a wash, but he'd be able to bathe in hot water with soap if he waited until they got back to the nest. Valka threw him something to wipe his face down with before there was smoked fish and a canteen of water, and Eret felt infinitely better for it when his stomach was uncomfortably full.

"Did they not feed you?"

"They did a bit, but I didn't trust it. They only wanted me alive long enough to hand over to Drago, really. Apparently, he's pretty mad I ran away and now they know the second vigilante is me. So you'll be pleased to know we can no longer go to trapper trading islands."

Valka actually rolled her eyes, not appreciating his humour apparently.

"We should get back."

"Yeah. Gentle now Tripfire, I don't wanna hurl."

The view of the nest in all it's sharp, icy glory was completely, utterly beautiful, and Eret felt freedom finally settle - he hadn't let himself dwell, but if Drago had made it to him before Valka, he wouldn't have survived to get back there.

Back home.

Tripfire followed him happily back to his room, still very keen on lots of nuzzling and attention as he began removing his armour, checking him for injuries with sniffs and licks until she was satisfied he was in fact alright.

"Yes, yes, I'm back! But I really do need a bath now."

He headed down to the bathing spot, sinking into hot water with a feeling of pure relief, fairly sure he'd never want to leave again. However, he was also pretty sure Tripfire would sit and watch him until she wanted to go flying again, and lift him out of his bath water if he'd tried to stay too long.

Dry, clean and having shaved his face of several days scruff, he ran his hand over the once-again visible tattoo and wiped his face while there was still a little steam from the cooling water. Valka had made tea for him when he came back up from his bathing, and she sat next to him as they drank in silence for a while. He made dinner, and Valka joked that was the real reason she'd rescued him as he cooked. Eret relaxed a little more hearing it, knowing they were good again.

Reluctant but tired after days of not daring to sleep much, Eret stood to leave for his own room when it became time for bed. Valka stood when he did, and Eret expected she would go and get ready for bed herself. Instead, he felt her grab his wrist, holding tight until he turned to look at her.

"Stay?"

-HTTYD-

This chapter somehow got surprisingly long and I'm not sure how.