Ronnie - I debated several ways in which to answer your review, and it boils down to the simple fact that you don't have to read this fic, so if you 'hate' it so much, go the fuck away.
-HTTYD-
"I don't wanna die!"
"We can't fly these things!"
"This is very dangerous!"
Perhaps Valka just had an especially agreeable Scuttleclaw in Scoot, because Hiccup's friends from Berk were having some trouble clinging on to their dragons. Baby dragons were not the most agreeable for flying on, she conceded. Despite the heavy situation, Valka still felt a swell of pride watching Hiccup fly rather masterfully.
"Some might suggest this is poorly conceived!"
Squeak wasn't specifically struggling with Gobber's weight... but she did seem quite amused by his screams every time she dropped down as though he was too heavy.
"Well then it's a good thing I never listen!"
At least Eret was having better luck over on Alva, chasing the scent of her mother. Juveniles between their Short Wing and Broad Wing stages had the highest sensitivity to their parents scent, which Valka had assumed was to ensure they were as familiar as possible prior to their first mating season to avoid accidents.
In their current situattion, it was serving as the easiest way to follow Drago to Berk.
"So, what is the plan Hiccup?"
His betrothed, Astrid Hofferson - Valka vaguely remembered her parents wedding - asked Hiccup, the blonde woman seeming just as capable of managing the Scuttleclaw's occasional bucks and distractions too. Eret's cousin Teeny... was not having as much luck. Hopefully he made it back.
"Get Toothless back, and kick Drago's-"
His next word was lost behind a hunk of ice that seperated them, but Valka was sure she could fill in that blank. Despite knowing he hadn't actually gone anywhere, Valka was still grappling with the fact her son was there, and felt relief when he reappeared.
Eret and Alva reared back, halting in mid-air and confusing those following them.
"What is it?"
"What is the plan when we get there? We're very much outnumbered, and I don't want to put the Scuttleclaws in unnecessary danger."
Every single Berkian looked right to Hiccup, his jaw tightening and there was something strange about Eret's face when he saw that.
"Distract the Alpha. Get his attention off of Toothless. Seperate Drago and the Bewilderbeast. That enough for you?"
To his credit, Eret didn't rise to Hiccup's biting tone. Valka knew Eret was trying to stay calm in his own way, and the fear in his face whenever he looked down at Alva was palpable. He was terrified, just as Valka was, but Eret also knew what it was to lose a father to Drago's sick, twisted brand of evil, and so he forgave Hiccup his upset. Valka was intentionally trying not to think about it all, the last few days of her life the most emotionally taxing since Cloudjumper first took her away twenty years ago.
"Yes. Leave Drago to me."
Nobody seemed to doubt Hiccup's ability to... Valka could only assume her son intended to break the Alpha's control over Toothless, which she wasn't entirely sure was possible, but she certainly believed in her son's stubborness and the strength with which one could love a dragon.
They continued on, and Valka realised rather painfully that Berk wasn't really that far when she recognised a rock formation she'd sailed past as a girl. It was seemingly only chance she'd not flown overhead on some rescue or another, as she'd flown longer, further, probably incredibly close some days. They stopped only once, to let the Scuttleclaws drink (and because some of the humans needed to answer a call of nature), Alva pacing anxiously the whole time as she waited for them to get back to going to find her mother.
Hiccup was as resolute as Eret, refusing to talk or slow down at all as they started going again, but the worried looks Valka caught from Astrid made her worry he was just fronting, that he might slip and crack and fall apart. And the way the others looked at him... he was under pressure to be strong for them, she could see.
"We're almost there!"
One of the Thorston twins commented as they came up on some sea stacks, and Valka's memories niggled with vague recollections of them. Her heart leapt up somewhere in her throat as they got closer... she hadn't seen Berk in two decades.
Of course, the last time she was there, there wasn't a Bewilderbeast trying to climb up on to it.
"He took all the dragons!"
Shards of ice covered great swathes of the island. The swarm had grown, showing Valka for the first time the true scale of Berk's lives shared with dragons. Flying above it all was Toothless, Drago still on his back.
"Distract the Alpha! Try to keep his focus off of Toothless."
"Uh, how?"
Eret flew alongside his cousin, nudging Teeny who was still looking a little green, but had successfully stayed on the entire trip.
"Have you forgotten who you're riding with? Finest dragon wranglers alive! Go help them Teeny."
"Where are you going?"
"Someone's gotta keep Drago busy if Hiccup here is gonna get to the Night Fury."
They seperated, Eret casting one last look at Valka before he flew off after Hiccup, the Scuttleclaws edging toward Berk and when spotted, there was cheering from the people below. Valka stayed back, unsure how to help those landing and unwilling to get in the way of Hiccup or Eret.
Her eyes caught Cloudjumper, picking out his bright orange despite the fact the sun had not yet risen. The blank look in his eyes was agonising to witness, and Valka forced back the surge of anger that rose within her. She believed in Hiccup, and she trusted Eret.
"You certainly are hard to get rid of, I'll say that."
With the way they all flew close together, the Bewilderbeast couldn't fire without encasing Drago in deadly ice too. So Eret hovered close, waiting for a good chance for he and Alva to rip Drago off of the back of the Night Fury. Hiccup flew right up to face his dragon, and while Eret had his doubts it was going to work... he had faith in Valka, and it was clear as anything to him that her son took after her. In stubbornness as well as dragons.
Everyone turned to the sound of a horn, but there was nothing to be seen. He could only look on in bemusement as the Berkians began launching sheep at the Alpha, though it was working to take the Alpha's eyes off of Toothless. So maybe it wasn't the worst idea.
"It wasn't your fault bud. They made you do it."
"He's not yours anymore. He belongs to the Alpha!"
Hiccup was undeterred, not even looking at Drago anymore.
"It's me bud. Come back to me."
Alva twitched under him, having spotted Tripfire and wanting to go to her mother. Eret rubbed the side of her neck, trying to calm her. Drago laughed, looking at Hiccup as though he were little more than entertainment.
"Do try to take him back. He will not miss a second time."
He taunted cruelly, but even that couldn't still the younger man from trying. Hiccup flew closer, reaching his hand out.
"You'd never hurt him. You'd never hurt me."
Eret blinked, sure his eyes were playing tricks out of madness and hope for a moment, but no. He saw that. He saw the way Toothless responded, pupils dilating to softer, friendlier. It was just for a beat before they went back, but when Hiccup placed his hand on the Night Fury's head, the dragon purred in response.
"How are you doing that?"
Just for a second, Hiccup looked at Eret. He had the exact same "are you ready?" look as Valka. Eret nodded.
"You are my best friend bud. My best friend..." Eret tensed, worried for Alva but knowing they had to "atta boy, that's it! I'm here!"
Drago yelled as Toothless broke free from the control, and Eret took his chance. They shot forward, slamming into Drago and knocking him clean off of Toothless' back. Hiccup cheered behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, Eret saw Hiccup diving down to reach for the falling Night Fury who couldn't fly alone. He breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't end up in the ocean, before he realised there was now nothing to keep the Bewilderbeast from firing at will. He tightened his knees, ready for some fast flying with no saddle.
Alva cried out in a pain Eret felt, shaking under him and he realised with a sickening jolt that Drago hadn't just been knocked down as he'd thought, the cruel and sharp metal of his bullhook embedded in her scales. The pain the juvenile was in came not from that, but from Drago ripping downward before he kicked himself free and dropped, landing heavily on the Bewilderbeast, leaving a jagged gash along Alva's underbelly that was bleeding before Drago finished falling.
Panic gripped Eret tight, and he tried to get Alva to turn, to at least move so she'd land on the island and not drop them both into the sea.
"Alva! Come on girl, we can make this."
But Alva couldn't seem to hear him, or maybe she couldn't control herself, still young enough that all she wanted in that moment of fear was her mother and instead she tried to fly up, putting herself in harms way of the swarm, crying out for Tripfire.
Hiccup bought Eret time, a few choice plasma blasts distracting both Drago and the Alpha, but Alva was weakening fast and Eret couldn't steer her at all.
"Alva!"
Whether she fainted or was too weak to fly any longer, Eret couldn't tell, but the sharp spikes of ice that covered large patches of Berk were coming to meet them far too quickly, and he knew they stood no chance. He gripped tight to Alva anyway, refusing to let go, to abandon her, looking up to cast one last look at Tripfire before the impact.
She wasn't there, her brilliant colours notably absent from where he'd seen them just a moment ago. He felt the jerking from behind him, and his heart soared quicker than they did as he heard Tripfire roar, talons gripping her wounded child as she yanked them out of the way. She lowered Alva down to the ground, Eret leaping off to check the injury as soon as he could, ignoring the shaking in his legs as he checked Alva was even still breathing before he examined her cut.
"We need to patch her up, but I think she'll be ok."
Tripfire let out a long, deep sigh that mirrored Eret's own, a sound of relief before the outrage returned, that maternal instinct that had been enough to break the Alpha's spell on her mind showing itself in the way she reared up and roared, gesturing with her head to Eret.
"You got it."
Seeing Teeny rushing over to them, Eret let himself believe in his cousin for a moment and left Alva to be cared for by him, climbing up on Tripfire's saddle only a heartbeat before she took off. Hiccup seemed to be holding his own, but that wasn't going to stop Tripfire. Or Eret, if he was honest with himself. Drago had done enough damage.
"We have to be careful, or we will get frozen."
Tripfire nodded to let him know she heard him, and so they circled the air, serving as distraction for Hiccup to get closer. Eret saw Valka's particular brand of daring insanity more than ever in her son just then, when Hiccup not only leapt off his dragons saddle, but pulled out a pair of 'wings' and used what looked like Zippleback gas to literally blow Drago down from his perch upon the tusk of the Alpha.
His dragon didn't hesitate. Tripfire flew right for him, and plucked Drago from the air before he could land, climbing up through the air to give herself the space necessary. She kicked Drago up higher, swelling as she drew in a deep breath before she fired, the heat so intense that even from his saddle, Eret was sweating in his flight suit. There wasn't even time for him to scream before the flames consumed him, a constant stream of blazing anger and vengeance that ended a reign of fear spanning almost twenty years.
They didn't stay to watch what was left of him drop to the ocean, Tripfire more than a little keen to get back to her daughter already. With Drago gone, maybe they could get through to the Alpha? It seemed a long shot.
"No!"
Valka's voice cut through everything else, and Eret looked for her frantically, seeing Scoot flying straight down toward... Hiccup.
There was no time for anyone to get there, to help him as the Alpha shot great spikes of ice right for him, a blur of black landing amidst the spray before it solidfied. Valka landed first, Tripfire dropping Eret seconds later so he could watch her slam her fists against the ice, sobbing her sons name.
"Hiccup!"
-HTTYD-
Yeah... I was always gonna kill Drago. Maybe if HTTYD3 had gone the way it was meant to and brought him back... but no. So Tripfire cooked him.