Valka needs a cuddle. And some tea. And maybe a big fluffy blanket.
-HTTYD-
It took a little while to actually track down where the ship had gotten to. Teeny sort of remembered where he'd been dragon-napped by Astrid, but the ship wasn't there. In the end, they checked where the crew might have headed, and found them at what was Drago's main base, along with half a dozen other ships crewed by his tribe.
"Teeny! What're you doing with that traitor?"
Several edged closer, but Eret stayed up on the back of his dragon, hopefully reducing the chances any of them would try to trap or kill Gustnudger.
"Relax, Ug. Drago's dead."
A gasp rippled its way through the assembled men, low whispered chatting following it.
"What?"
"Yeah. He got barbecued by Eret's... what was it again?"
"Stormcutter, and her name is Tripfire."
He missed her a lot, and worried for Alva but was sure that mother was caring for daughter very well.
"He's still a traitor. We joined Drago to protect our tribe and he turned his back on that!"
Ug wasn't wrong, and Eret had used words much like those himself before, to Valka.
"Look, I didn't come here to fight. Teeny wants to go home, as I'm sure most of you guys do, and I agreed to help him find the ship he was lifted off."
"You're not coming back with us. You have no place there, as far as I'm concerned."
Eret sighed; he'd expected it, but that didn't make it pleasant to hear his own cousin disowning him in front of everyone else there.
"Even if I wanted to argue and point out you don't have that right, especially since when my father died I technically inherited his place in the tribe, which is above yours and your fathers Ug, I am not going to fight with you. I'm not leaving Tripfire, and there's no way she'd come back with me. I just came to bring Teeny back, and dragons are a lot quicker than ships, ain't that right Gustnudger?"
The Windgnasher rumbled happily when Eret rubbed the side of his neck. The gesture visibly made several of his fellow tribesmen uncomfortable.
"Stop treating it like a pet. They're just animals."
"They're more like us than you know, and I'm sorry you're too hard headed to see that. You think I chose this side on a whim? I went kicking and screaming, but it's the truth. Our homeland is that way" Eret pointed "and you're free. Drago's really dead. Go home. But if you come back out to these parts hunting dragons again, I will be there to stop you."
There was muttering and mumbling, several of the men there heading off to raid Drago's base for supplies to sail home. Ug spared Eret one last glare, before he turned away and stormed off.
"Teeny, are you coming?"
"Yeah. Just... I'll catch up."
Once they were relatively alone again, Teeny turned to Eret.
"What are you gonna do? Back to Berk?"
"I don't know, to be honest. I didn't leave on the best note."
Teeny's brow furrowed in thought.
"Go back there man. She might be a crazy vigilante, but that woman loves you. I saw it when Drago tried to make her dragon attack you, she was devastated."
"Yeah, that's why she was about ready to go home to her husband and son."
"Did she say that to you?"
Eret scowled.
"She didn't have to."
"So, no? Go back there and fix it. At least try. Like you said, you can't leave Tripfire, so you're kinda stuck with her since your dragons are mates for life and all."
Eret sighed.
"Look at you, suddenly all knowledgeable."
"Not really, just picked up a bit around Berk. Anyway... I disagree with him, and if you wanted to come back, I don't think Ug could stop you. But I know it's not where your heart is anymore."
He'd admitted as much to Teeny before, really, but to have it spelled out to him again made it seem stupidly clear. And even if he didn't go back for Valka... he was never going to leave Tripfire, or her kids.
"Yeah. I guess."
Teeny gave him a very brief hug goodbye, letting out a low sigh and, after checking nobody was looking, patted the side of Gustnudger's neck very gently.
"Thanks for the lift. I better go."
Eret took off not long after, Gustnudger taking him up high enough to watch the ships starting to sail back toward their homeland.
"Berk?"
Gustnudger contemplated him for a minute, before rumbling his approval and turning back toward the island full of dragon riders. They did stop so the dragon could rest a bit - tracking down the ship had taken a full day, and both of them were pretty exhausted. So they found a spot to nap, Eret had to actually start a fire by hand as Windgnashers spat ice rather than flame, and after some water and fish for both, they were back on their way to Berk.
He should probably figure out what he wanted to say to Valka, or whether he should ask any of the questions still churning away in the back of his mind.
It was night when they made it back to Berk, so rather than land in the center and risk waking up a bunch of dragons, Eret had Gustnudger drop him off on the outskirts after catching sight of the distinctive little colour pile that could only be the Stormcutter six, their small scales rising and falling with breath meaning the moonlight caught them easily.
He hadn't been gone that long, but given how he left things with Valka, that didn't mean much. Eret had expected her to be bunking down wherever her son was, but as he headed over toward Tripfire, he was surprised to notice the fur pile next to Storm and Junior.
Tripfire woke to the sound of his footsteps before he was close enough to ascertain if Valka was even asleep or not, and the fuss she kicked up was enough to wake the other five dragons.
"Eret!"
Valka spotted him too, but Eret couldn't respond before his dragon was upon him, making noises that said he was in trouble for disappearing before she licked him, then smacked him with her tail.
"Yep, fair enough. I deserve that. Sorry girl."
Storm and Junior scrambled to climb up Eret's body, clumsy wings and tails all over him as they both tried to demand his attention with loud chirps.
"Yes, yes! Hello!"
Managing to extricate himself from them, Eret headed to look Alva over.
"How you doing Alva?"
"She's healing well."
Valka finally broke her silence, rising to her feet, the furs sliding off her to show her tense posture. Almost definitely his fault. He couldn't quite meet her eye.
"Good. Good. Uh... did I miss anything while I was gone?"
She drew a sharp breath, nodding slowly. Eret immediately felt anxious; had he missed something bad?
"What?"
"I... I realise this perhaps isn't good news..."
"Just tell me."
"I'm pregnant."
Eret did a double take. It took time to truly penetrate his head, because that was something she'd made clear was unlikely to ever be on the table two whole years ago, and they'd never tried to even be careful about it since.
"You... wow. Ok. Uh. I guess that explains why you were sick before?"
She nodded, still looking tense. Eret tried to search for something to say, still a little stunned.
"It's yours, if you were wondering."
Eret blinked.
"I never thought anything else. I mean, I don't know what happened with Stoick, but that was only a couple of days ago and you were sick before anyone turned up at the nest."
"Hiccup asked."
"Oh. You told him?"
"Yes. I also told him about... us."
The way she said it implied many things, and Eret didn't like any of them.
"How did he take that?"
"He said he couldn't be happy for me yet, but that he'd get there. And whether or not you came back, he still wanted the baby and myself to stay on Berk."
"Does that mean I have to leave?"
Valka shook her head.
"No. Though last I checked, you weren't staying anyway."
He hated the way Valka's tone sounded, and for all his hurt and upset before, Eret felt none of that now. He just felt guilty for hurting her, for making her think he'd walk out.
"I'm sorry. I... I don't want to leave you. I was just being an idiot."
Teeny was right. His heart wasn't tied to a land anymore. It was with Valka, wherever she was.
"Yes. You were." Tripfire made a sound of agreement "After everything I confided in you about my marriage to Stoick, and all the years we spent together, you really thought I would just... up and change like that?"
Cloudjumper was being awful quiet, but perhaps he was trying to even the score after being an inch away from killing Eret before.
"No. I guess not. I was just scared, I think. I knew how badly you wanted your son in your life, and I was pretty sure you'd do anything to make that happen. I wouldn't want to come between that. I just heard you singing and it felt like..."
Eret couldn't find the words, which was unusual because if asked, Valka would undoubtedly tell anyone who listened that he never usually shut up. But she didn't say anything. She just closed the distance between them and threw her arms around him, ignoring the Tripfire-spit on his face and holding him tighter still when Eret returned her embrace.
"I'm still mad at you."
"Aren't you always?"
That at least earned him a short laugh, the sound warming his heart.
"Well, stop giving me reason to be."
"I can't. I'm an idiot. I just happen to be your idiot" there was a very disgruntled sound "and Tripfire's idiot."
Tripfire rumbled in agreement, nudging at him for attention regardless of the fact Valka was still hugging him. She laughed, releasing him so he could give his needy dragon said attention, eyes a little wet but brighter than before when Eret looked at her.
"So... pregnant?"
"Gothi seems to think so, and she is so very rarely wrong about these things."
Eret felt even more stupid then. He could have abandoned Valka, and their child, just because his ego was wounded? If Mala found out and hit him, he'd deserve it.
"Wow. I promise I'm happy about it, I'm just still getting my head around it."
"Happy, really?"
His heart ached for her seeming so unsure, but Eret was genuine.
"Yeah. I never said I didn't want us to have kids. Just that it wasn't a dealbreaker, and that feral vigilante life in the mountain was no place to raise a child. If we ended up staying here, that's obviously a lot different."
Valka didn't manage to answer before she let out a huge yawn, and Eret remembered the late hour.
"We should get some sleep. That includes you guys."
The dragons gave him their best pouts, but settled when they saw Eret was getting down on the floor. He half expected Valka to leave him there, and he'd slept in worse places many times, but she rolled her eyes and gestured for him to join her when she realised Eret wasn't going to invite himself. The fur was a little small for both of them, but both were well adjusted to the cold and Eret gave off massive amounts of heat anyway, according to Valka at least.
Plus, when she actually cuddled up to him, it was even easier to share the cover. Stormcutters drifted off one by one until the only sounds were their light snoring, Valka's breathing and the occasional activity of other dragons or humans further out from their sleep spot.
Used to irregular sleep, the two woke before the sun was even risen. Though it was quite likely Storm and Junior climbing on top of them helped wake them.
"One day you two will be too big to do this, you do know that?"
"Hmmph."
Was the only response Eret got, managing to sit up with the weight of a young Stormcutter on his legs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and yawning to himself. Valka jerked upright so violently it knocked the dragon on her off her lap, and before Eret could ask what was wrong, she'd gotten up and dashed to a nearby bush to vomit behind it. He almost went over to her, but chose instead to fetch her water to rinse her mouth out, which Valka took from him with thanks before insisting she was fine.
"That's going to keep happening."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't take care of you, no matter how stubborn you are."
She scowled, but didn't try to argue. Eret called that a win.
"We need to talk, properly. But maybe not here."
Valka looked at him, confused.
"Then where?"
"Back at the nest? I know you're not gonna wanna leave a lot, but we do still have dragons there that need us."
Frowning, she nodded slowly.
"I'll need to talk to Hiccup first."
"Of course. And we can't all go anyway, Alva still can't fly."
"We'll take Cloudjumper, the others can stay behind? Rather than just keep moving them back and forth."
Tripfire was not happy to hear that, but Eret pointed out it was that or leave Alva, which made his fiercely protective mama-dragon more agreeable.
"Yeah. That means you guys are gonna have to behave, you know? We're new here, you can't just burn Berk down."
"Are you implying that once you've been here a set amount of time, I'll let them set fire wherever they please?"
Though clearly still half-asleep, Hiccup and his Night Fury had landed soundlessly nearby.
"No, but they'll be able to go flying alone by then and set fires elsewhere."
Hiccup let out a short laugh, rubbing his face and scratching at the stubble clouding his jaw.
"Fair enough. When did you come back?"
Eret swallowed. There wasn't going to be another human alive who's opinion of him would matter more, because he was Valka's son.
"Last night."
"Are you actually sticking around?"
"Uh, yes and no. Valka?"
She shot him a look for putting her on the spot, but she did pick up the conversation.
"We need to go back and check on the dragons in the mountain, if you don't mind me leaving for a short while?"
"Oh. Yeah, you said you'd need to. Sure, go take care of dragons. How long will you be gone?"
"A day, perhaps less."
Hiccup got down from his dragons back to hug his mother, fixing Eret with an unreadable look all the while.
"I'll see you soon mom. You're welcome to bring any dragons that can make the trip back here, we can care for them on Berk."
"Thank you son."
The word did seem to bring a small smile to Hiccup's face before he sighed, mumbling something about how the village would be waking, so he'd be working soon.
"Is Alva doing ok?"
He asked his mother, and she nodded.
"So far, so good."
"That's good. I better get going. Chiefly duties and all."
He left soon after, Valka chewing her lip as she glanced between his retreating silhouette and Eret.
"It's gonna take time for him to get used to me. I'm willing to put the time in."
"Thank you."
Eret smiled, felt Valka reach down and squeeze his hand.
"We should get some breakfast for these guys and then get going ourselves. The sooner we leave, the sooner you can get back."
-HTTYD-
Valkret and Cloudfire are both "what a dumbass... wait, that's my dumbass" ships and we love them for it.