=Normal POV=
(Tyrsdagr, Harpa; Dusk)
(Berk; The Great Hall)

It had been a crazy afternoon, but once it got confirmed Valka Haddock was indeed alive and would be staying on Berk by order of her eighteen-year-old son; she got settled into Stoick's house. Of course, Stoick took the first chance he had to ask Valka to marry him again, and she didn't refuse the thought of being a family again. Also, Hiccup promised that things were going to change, and Valka knew that Hiccup was Drage Riddari, so if Hiccup said that they'd get the dragons back and bring change; she believed him. Valka loved the idea of coming home and being with Stoick and Hiccup again; it would take some adjusting, but she knew it would be alright. Stoick helped Valka get moved into his hut, explaining to her that Hiccup was married to Brenna, and knowing, at the time, that they would need a home of their own; Stoick gave up his house to them since Hiccup would be Chief soon, and was certain he and Brenna would have kids eventually.

When Hiccup and Brenna reached their hut, Hiccup took a hot bath to ease his sore body; then he made a sandwich and ended up falling asleep on the couch. It hadn't been an easy week for him, so Brenna covered her husband up and left him be while she worked around the house. Now, it was hours later and dinner time; Hiccup was still knocked out, so Brenna left him a note and headed out to the Great Hall. The village was still bustling with shock, confusion, and joy that their Chieftess was back. However, they all knew Hiccup would be Chief soon, and Brenna, his Chieftess.

"Hi, Brenna!" Sigrid greeted cheerfully upon seeing her older sister arrive.

"Hi, Sig," Brenna smiled softly.

"Where's your husband?" Cuyler inquired.

"Sleeping," Brenna replied.

"At this hour?" Stoick arched a brow.

"It's fine, Stoick. Hiccup is exhausted from everything," Valka said lightly.

"What do you mean?" Mildri wondered.

"During our capture; he took all the beatings meant to be inflicted upon me. Hiccup wouldn't let them hurt me, so whatever they wanted to do to me; Hiccup stepped in and said to leave me alone, and he'd take it all. He's missed days of sleep and food," Valka looked down.

"Val, who did this?" Stoick pushed.

"A bad man. A very bad man who knows no bounds, and has no conscience of mercy, Stoick. He's a self-proclaimed Dragon God," Valka sighed. "I've been rescuing dragons from him for years now, but he's smart, and has bested me many times until Drage started coming around. Now his attention has shifted to Drago; I just happened to be in the wrong place and got captured. Hiccup came to find me and ended up caught as well. Hiccup is good at escaping captivity; he got out multiple times in two days, but they used me against him so that he wouldn't fight back until earlier when Drage showed up with his Night Fury and saved us both," she informed softly.

"And…That dragon you were riding, wanting to go after?" Mogadon inquired.

"That is Cloud Jumper; he's a Stormcutter species and the dragon who took me eighteen years ago. He was placed under the control of the Alpha. The king of dragons, a Bewilderbeast; very few still exist. I had a white one, who built the nest I've been in all this time, rescuing dragons and giving them a haven. Our enemy has a black one that he raised to be bad and take total control of the dragons. And there is another one that Drage works with, but I have no idea where he keeps it. The Bewilderbeast is not a dragon you can hide; it's a massive creature," Valka shrugged.

"The Bewilderbeast can take control of dragons?" Brenna frowned.

"Good dragons under the control of bad people, do bad things," Valka looked down sadly. "They truly mean no harm; I've lived among them for years and never had a problem," she added.

"So this person and his Bewilderbeast are the source of the raids then?" Stoick inquired.

"Yes," Valka nodded.

"We should report this to Drage; he's looking for the source," Elvar interjected.

"Drage knows," Valka said calmly. "That's why he was around when Hiccup and I were captured; he had been in the area, scoping things out. He found us in the cells and lets us out; then we escaped on our dragons. Cloud Jumper went under the Alpha's control as we were leaving, and fought it most of the way back here, but got taken over entirely as we arrived,"

"So Drage will deal with this, or since we all know…We could hel-," Alvin started.

"Nobody does anything," came Hiccup's voice as he was seen walking inside. "Drage will handle it. There is no need for any more innocent lives to get hurt. The less you know and involve yourselves, the safer you will be,"

"Son, we could help Drage out…" Stoick tried.

"Drage Riddari works with his dragons; he'd never agree to it," Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, enough about this…" he sighed.

"A-Are you alright?" Valka asked him. "Y-You took a lot of what was meant for me…"

"I endured what I had to for you to be safe, and that's all that mattered to me at the time," Hiccup remarked.

"You endured being starved, whipped, burned, and beaten for two days!" Valka scolded with concern. "Why? Why would you do that for me after I abandoned you and your father…After I got captured when you told me to stay away from him!"

"Because you're my mother, and I love you," Hiccup said calmly as the room was quiet. "Why would you assume that just because you did those things I wouldn't come to save you?" he asked as Valka's eyes widened a bit. "I found you alive after believing you were dead for all these years. I'm not about to let you die over your stupidity to keep throwing yourself into the fire when you know you can't win. What you've done doesn't erase that you're still my mother, and I'm not going to lose you again. I'll always come for you, as I would for anyone I care about. I've taken beatings for you before; I will do it again if necessary. I would do it for anyone. What I endured was nothing I won't recover from in a few days," he stated.

Valka looked like she was going to cry as Hiccup sighed, turning to face her. "Come on," he opened his arms. Valka instantly hugged him tightly, as Hiccup ignored the pain he felt. Valka kissed his forehead before letting go.

"I owe you my life," Valka said softly.

"Yeah…So does everyone else," Hiccup whispered.

"I know you can do it," Valka said confidently.

"I know I can too; it's just gonna be one hell of a fight…" Hiccup nodded.

"We're moving into the next phase, Hiccup?" Ander wondered.

"We'll discuss it tomorrow," Hiccup informed.

"Got it," the twelve replied and nodded.

"Feel like cutting back tonight?" Jolgeir grinned, pulling out a flask and tossing it to Hiccup; he caught it in his hand with ease.

"My favorite?" Hiccup inquired.

"You think we don't know your favorite thing to drink?" Sigvard chuckled.

"Hurtful," Eirik laughed.

"True," Hiccup said as he twisted the cap off and took a drink. "Oh, so good…"

"What is that, Hiccup?" Brenna wondered softly.

"Alcohol," Hiccup responded.

"Still drinking I see," Valka sighed.

"Likely ain't gonna stop either," Hiccup remarked.

"Don't get drunk, Hiccup…You get stupid and reckless when you do…" Valka reminded.

"And you get stupid and reckless sober, which one of the two of us is worse here?" Hiccup chuckled as Valka huffed, but had been defeated. "Mom, I'm good…Come on, just trying to relax a bit,"

"Is it mead?" Brenna looked at the flask.

"Eh…Not quite. It's…Flavored differently, and much stronger than what you're used to," Hiccup stated.

"Can I try it?" Brenna looked up at Hiccup now.

"If you'd like; it's got a bit of a burn going down, though," Hiccup opened the flask and handed it to her. Brenna took it carefully, placing it to her lips and lifting the flask to drink. As soon as she swallowed, she took the flask away, coughing. "I warned you, babe," Hiccup chuckled, getting her some water.

"Dear Odin above, how can you drink that?!" Brenna questioned instantly.

"Acquired taste, love," Hiccup took another drink afterward. "It's called Fireball for a reason,"

"Come on, Hiccup…Drink a beer with us," Colden tossed him one. Hiccup caught it and cracked the top off as the other guys did the same.

"This is gonna be a long night," the six girls sighed.

"We're just having fun," Jolgeir stated. The seven males stood up raising the bottles in their hands. "First to finish starts the party?"

"You're on," the other six replied.

"For today and all of our tomorrows…" Colden started.

"We fight for peace, freedom, and what's right!" Hiccup yelled with his friends. The seven started drinking their bottles, and Hiccup was first to finish without stopping.

"Yeah…He's still got it," Sigvard patted Hiccup on the back.

"This is gonna be an interesting night, girls," Valka shook her head.

"Why is that?" Alvin wondered.

"You know how you all act when you've had too much mead?" Valka asked as most of the men nodded. "It's that, only worse. Louder, crazier…What they drink is a lot stronger and gets you drunk faster. They end up laughing, doing stupid stuff, like trying to fight one another. It's just…"

"Madness," Thordia, Disa, Norna, Lena, Olivia, and Dahlia sighed heavily. "Hilarious madness,"

"You've never seen this side of Hiccup, Stoick…You're not even gonna believe it is him until you see it," Valka informed.

"But they have fun, so what's the big deal? I love seeing Hiccup so happy…" Brenna giggled. "I'd like to see him cut loose and act…Like himself, I guess,"

"Yeah…Until the hangover tomorrow morning when he hates life and is sick…" Valka chuckled a bit. "But, you're right, Brenna. It's rare for Hiccup to sit back, relax, and have fun these days. Once in a while isn't so bad," Hiccup and the guys took another drink from their flasks. "And it's already starting…" she said. All seven of the friends were just sitting around, drinking, and laughing. "See? You'll never see this side of Hiccup unless he's drinking. It's honestly the only time he can relax…Other than that; he's always…Serious,"

"Why?" Stoick wondered.

"My guess is everything he's dealt with over the years. Ignored, bullied…He didn't have a regular childhood, Stoick. You know that. I wasn't around, and from what I've heard…Neither were you. All the things he has done, Stoick…Everything, since he was about seven, was to make you proud; he just wanted you to accept and love him. Spend time with him, be his father, not his Chief. When Hiccup turned fifteen; he gave up trying,"

"Gave up?" Brenna looked at Valka now.

Valka nodded. "Gave up trying to make his father proud of him; he accepted that he'd always be unwelcome in the Tribe, and his father's biggest disappointment," Stoick looked at Hiccup now, how happy he was. Hiccup didn't do this without his friends or the drinking. It was the first time anyone had seen Hiccup have fun. "You know that he only started acting badly because everyone accused him of being the cause for everything bad that happened. Even when he was innocent; he was blamed. Hiccup figured that if everyone wanted to make him out to be the bad guy; he would start living up to the title,"

"That's why he started acting the way he did before I banished him?" Stoick asked.

"That's not fair…No wonder he wanted to leave…" Gobber sighed. "I told you that it wasn't him, Stoick. I told you time and time again that there was no way Hiccup would do all those things. But you didn't listen, so he started being bad to show you the trouble he could cause if he wanted…Hiccup acted that way because he knew you'd only ever see him as trouble…That's why he said what he did that day; to get your attention…And even then, you didn't listen…"

"I know, Gobber…I know. I messed a lot of things up…" Stoick muttered. "I've been doing all I can to fix it…"

"You can't, Stoick. He's all grown up now, and notice how fast he matured after being banished. He never needed to grow up; it was always in him. All Hiccup is doing now is living the life you forced on him. But if this is the only way for him to have a little fun, let go of all the seriousness; then so be it. Leave him alone…" Gobber remarked.

"He doesn't drink like this all the time," Valka informed.

"Only when he's stressed," Dahlia interjected.

"The boys aren't drunk, and they won't allow themselves to either. Maybe a buzz, to relax…But they're mostly doing this to help Hiccup," Olivia said.

"They are getting him drunk on purpose?" Brenna stared.

"It's the only way Hiccup can relax, Brenna. Hiccup doesn't sleep a lot; he's always stressed out lately. The alcohol helps, and it's rare that he gets full-on drunk like this. You can usually tell how stressed he is by how fast he'll drink," Colden stated.

"I never see him drink at home…" Brenna frowned.

"Check his office or the bag he usually carries around with him," Norna slid the bag towards her. Brenna peeked inside to find Hiccup's notebook, some pencils, keys, and about three flasks. "Sometimes he can relax on his own, but not lately with all this stuff going on. Hiccup drinks more than you think; he hides it well. Occasionally; it's the only way he can sleep. He'll drink until he passes out,"

"Then you shouldn't be enabling it…" Stoick stated.

"We've gotten him to slow down a lot from where he was, Mr. Haddock. Believe me…It was bad before; he'd get drunk and start going off about how things would be better if he were dead. That's how much he hated how he was treated here. He felt like no one cared or loved him, so why keep living such a life," Ander said.

"But he would wake up the next day…Not remember a thing from the night before, and go about whatever he was doing. And he'd always return here, ready to protect the Archipelago from threats. You'll see later when he's drunk enough…He'll show how much he holds inside. Most of what you see during the day and when he's sober is just a mask…"

Stoick looked at Hiccup having fun with his friends. It wasn't good that Hiccup drank this much, but apparently; it's not nearly as bad as it was whenever it started. Stoick did want to see what would happen; how much Hiccup held and hid from people. Hiccup's friends seemed to be watching him, so that's what everyone else curious as well would do.