watching HTTYD3 and hearing Valka say "I'm with Eret" has me like YES, YES YOU ARE!
And she likes more than just his instincts.
-HTTYD-
Eret missed his dragon greatly, too used to the sight of her fins flaring in front of him, body used to compensating for the beating of four wings beneah him. But Alva and Vali needed her, and the dragons trapped in fighting rings needed them. Gripping the handles of his saddle, Eret saw Valka signal that they were close enough to rise up into cloud cover. Bubbles in the ocean below signalled their company - captured dragons forced to fight were not always receptive to freedom, and so to be safe and sure, they had the Alpha for reassurance.
His Windgnasher was well adjusted for the chilly transition, and they came out above the clouds with only a few headshakes from dragons to dispel the moisture they collected. Cloudjumper was as on edge as his rider, prepared for the fight and angry about the why of the rescue. He was as free as could be despite being 'Valka's dragon', and so the concept of trapped, caged, owned dragons as nothing but violent, disposable entertainment was as abhorrent to Valka and Cloudjumper as it always should have been to Eret. He could only keep going and hope one day that guilt wouldn't stick to him like sand by the sea.
Gods, he was so lucky Valka had been willing to see through his past and help him become a better man.
Lost in his musings, Eret was glad Gustnudger was paying attention as Valka signalled them to drop, circling the island and spotting the clearly-new arena. They had to be careful, wary of spooked and wounded dragons locked away. And traps. Lots of traps. They were aware of Valka and Eret, or at least of the 'vigilantes', so they were definitely going to be prepared to try and stop the two of them doing exactly what they were there to do - free the dragons.
There was no instant retaliation when they landed, but that didn't mean there was nobody around. Valka crouched down, hands on the ground as she crawled a few paces in her dragon-like way, looking for tracks and traps while Eret looked a little higher up, seeking human guards.
Slowly, she signalled to him, and then to the dragons that were with them. Eret left his sword sheathed for the moment, in case they found a dragon first; being visibly armed only made scared dragons more scared. Valka's staff could make sounds that soothed, and most hunters didn't carry anything similar. Swords were less ambiguous, and more popular with hunters.
It didn't take long for them to be noticed and set upon, but these were not skilled fighters. Brute strength and numbers were their strategy, and between Valka and Eret being seasoned fighters and their back-up in the form of some seriously pissed off dragons, they moved through that group quite soon. The noise had undoubtedly gotten them noticed though, alarms raised and there was the sound of a bell ringing in the distance.
The ringing drew more to them, though the numbers were fewer and the weapons different - Eret and Cloudjumper spent most of their time keeping arrows from hitting Valka before the Stormcutter lost all patience and spat a great torrent of flame around them, allowing them to move on with several crispy looking hunters left behind and the archers scattered. Cloudjumper seemed quite pleased with himself. Eret expected he'd brag to Tripfire when they got home. She seemed to enjoy those sorts of stories.
Valka shook her staff, a signal to pass along to the Alpha that they were close. They made it to the arena with no more trouble, humans slipping through the gaps in the chains to land at the bottom. It took no time at all to find the fixtures on the sides, a few choice tugs freeing them so the dragons could lift the chains and get in themselves.
"Ah!"
Eret couldn't help but yell out as an arrow left a deep, bloody gash on his forearm, where armour was thin to allow for movement. The trigger seemed to be weak on that trap, as the first that hit him took several seconds to be followed by more, by which time the dragons were prepared and managed to knock down or burn up the next volley. Valka wrapped his arm in cloth for him, but they didn't have time to tend properly to the wound yet and so he grit his teeth, thanked her and they continued on carefully.
It was a relief of sorts to finally find the damned cages, though it was painful to see the dragons in there, scared, scarred and chained up.
"We'll keep watch, do your thing."
Valka nodded - well, her helmet did, but Eret could picture the determined set of her face, tightly pressed lips and that deep furrow between her brows. She began to open the cages, soothing one dragon at a time as though she had all the time in the world for each and every one.
"Oh, you poor dear. Come on, we'll get you out of here."
Eret had taught her to pick the most complicated locks the hunters had invented when he still worked for the wrong side, meaning she could free any dragon from any system until they got around to designing new ones. So far, they hadn't struggled.
Three Razorwhips (where did they find those? Eret reckoned they'd be visiting the Wingmaidens soon) and two Monstrous Nightmares freed from the first set of cages, Eret was starting to grow suspicious that nobody had tried to stop them yet. He saw the dragons fear and pain, but they calmed before fire or blood was spilled under the control of the Alpha nearby. It was easier if he could see the dragons, and they him, but it had enough range that they could make use of the power even while the Bewilderbeast stayed hidden beneath the water outside.
"I don't like this. It's too quiet."
Valka murmured to him as Eret tightened his makeshift bandage, focusing on her voice instead of the pain. He nodded, having thought the same.
"Agreed. Next row of cages should be back and to the right. Let's go carefully."
The next row housed bigger, heavier dragons, a few very unhappy Gronckles who were in bite-proof cages, kept starved until it was time to fight so there was nothing in their system to make into lava.
"Oh-hoh, careful!"
Eret grabbed Valka and halted her from going further, both peering around the corridor to where there appeared to be two prime dragons, caged several feet apart.
"Is that a Thunderpede?"
Valka hissed, though her voice still carried surprise.
"Yep. Big one too. Those guys break ships with body slams. And over there is a pretty big Triple Stryke. This won't be easy."
"I think that might have been the point."
As soon as they stepped over the threshold of the room, Eret felt something was tripped and both the dragons cage doors opened. Seeming to be asleep seconds before, they both reared up, spitting angry and scarily powerful.
"We can't hurt them!"
"I know, but they're gonna hurt us!"
Thunderpede claws were strong enough to crush boulders without breaking a sweat, and Triple Stryke tails were very very poisonous, and Eret had never gotten round to asking Valka if she knew an antidote for that. And the two dragons did not seem open to being befriended.
They both dived out of the way of Triple Stryke tails, Cloudjumper roaring indignantly behind them but he was no more want to hurt the trapped dragons than they were. The Alpha was apparently struggling to get through to these particular dragons, so Eret guessed they were on their own. There was only so long they were going to be able to parry the blows, and Eret was already wounded, slowing him down.
"I'm sorry."
Eret wasn't sure who he was apologising to more - the dragon or Valka - before he moved in, taking advantage of an old-known trick that knocked out most dragons and punching the Triple Stryke in the side of it's neck. The dragon went down like a ton of rocks, but the same trick wouldn't work on the thick plated scales of the Thunderpede.
The very angry Thunderpede who'd just seen Eret hurt another dragon.
He barely moved before the volley of small, powerful fireballs landed where he'd been standing, narrowly missing the unconscious dragon on the ground. Stumbling backwards, Eret tripped over one of the tails on the ground and landed heavily, jarring his bleeding arm when he broke his fall. The Thunderpede advanced, claws growing closer and Eret's bones stood no chance against boulder-crushing strength.
A small explosion behind it had the Thunderpede whipping around, exposing the softest part of their belly scales to the dart Valka shot at it, Cloudjumper pulling the Triple Stryke away just in time to not be crushed under the falling Thunderpede.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Found it. I wish we hadn't needed to resort to that."
Eret nodded, dragging himself to his feet and looking around. Stone as far as the eye could see...
"Hey, can you guys eat your way outta here?"
The Gronckles didn't need asking twice before they started biting at the rock walls, opening up cracks that could be blown open. As soon as there was enough space, Valka crawled out and got the attention of the Bewilderbeast, which made escaping a lot easier. Unhappy their trap hadn't worked the way it was intended, there were hunters starting to converge as they hauled the unconscious dragons out at last, but they made it to the air dodging only a few flaming arrows.
"That was stupid!"
Valka was understandably incensed with him, almost dropping her helmet with how fast she took it off to rip into him.
"I know, but it was that or actually hurt them. Trust me, I didn't like doing that. There isn't always a gentle way!"
"It's going to take twice as long, if ever, to get those dragons to trust us now!"
Eret nodded, pain still lancing up his arm as he fought to grip on to the saddle and steer properly in formation.
"I know! I'm sorry!"
She didn't speak to him again the whole way back, and he didn't blame her when Valka left him alone while she went to deal with the dragons. Struggling to take his armour off one handed, he'd just managed when Tripfire found him, not at all pleased Eret was hurt again.
"Hey girl. I know, I know. Let me get cleaned up first, ok?"'
Huffing, Tripfire still kept Alva and Vali from climbing on him as Eret knelt down by the fire, warming water to clean his wound.
Gentle hands pulled the cloth from his grip, Valka dropping to her knees next to him and dabbing carefully at the cut there.
"You don't have to."
"I know. I want to. I'm still angry with you, but it was a bad situation all round."
Eret had been terrified to mess up for so long, not sure how many times Valka was prepared to forgive him after the huge chance she gave him early on.
Yet there she was, tending to him so gently he barely felt her hands.
"Wait there, I need more bandages."
Eret stayed, watching Valka scuttle across the floor in her strange little way that he adored. She even made a soft sound of apology when he hissed in pain as she bound his arm tightly, using the wrapping to hold the cut closer together. She added a second layer when the blood seeped through the first.
"I'll change it when we've gotten some rest."
"Thank you. Really."
Valka nodded tightly, and finally looked up at him.
"Never do that again."
"I won't."
"I... it scared me. I know you're not a hunter or a trapper anymore, but watching you turn back to that method had me worried."
Eret swallowed thickly.
"It doesn't really hurt them. It just knocks them out. No permanent damage. I swear, I'd never intentionally hurt a dragon. Not again."
He didn't care that his blood was drying on her hands when Valka cupped his face, kissed him slowly.
"Don't make me regret this."
-HTTYD-
I was having some strong 'Eret's-gotta-mess-up-sometime' thoughts when I wrote this, and also thinking about how Valka would probably harbour some doubts, even if she thinks she doesn't. Old habits die hard, after all. For both of them.