"Are you alright, babe?" Astrid asked Hiccup once she sees him. Next, she would make her way towards him.

"Not going to lie. I feel better. But still a bit sore," Hiccup answered, trying to ease his girlfriend's mind of its worry. Then he notices both Fury dragons were not present. "Astrid, where are Toothless and the Light Fury at?" Hiccup asked his girlfriend. He was expecting the Night Fury to be waiting impatiently for him to get out of the hut. Not only that, but he was worried that the white dragon would harm someone while he was being treated by the old lady. All because she did not trust any human. He does not blame the albino dragon. He knows that the villagers of Berk would not hesitate to kill her, if she had harmed anyone.

"After Heather treated her wounds, the Light Fury had taken off to the woods. I told Toothless he could go after his girlfriend if he wanted too. As I stayed and waited for you," Astrid replied. Hiccup sighs in relief knowing where the two dragons had gone to. He was so glad that the albino dragon had not harmed anyone while he was in the elderly woman's hut being treated for his injuries. Before he could ask any more questions, be heard a certain voice called out to him.

"Hiccup, laddie how are ya doin?!" shouts Gobber, as the blacksmith runs to the former heir. The moment he is in front of the dragon rider, he hugs him tightly, never wanting to let him go again.

"Gobber…I c-can't…breathe." Hiccup could barely get out of his mouth. As a pain from his injured ribs flared up, making it even harder to breathe.

Before Gobber could let go, he was smacked on the head by Gothi's cane. Letting go of his former apprentice as he shouts, "Ouch! Why did ya hit me, ya ol' bag of bones?!" The elder of Berk had given the blacksmith a warning glare to silence him. So, she could explain why she did not want him hugging the former heir like that.

She is writing in the dirt in old runes as the blacksmith went to translate what the mute women is saying. "She says, 'Hiccup has several fractured rims.'" That only earned him another whack from the elderly woman. "Ouch! Do ya ever get sick of hittin poor ol' me?!" The elder of Berk shakes her head no to answer his question. "She says, 'Hiccup has several fractured ribs. She recommends that he takes some time to test.'" The elder once again hits the blacksmith on the head. "Damn it! I swear ya enjoy whackin me like that. Whatever Gothi said, 'The lad needs to rest so the ribs could heal.' Now could ya please stop with the hittin me," Gobber added.

"I see you two haven't changed much," Hiccup says before he let out a heartwarming laugh. Alongside Hiccup, Astrid is also laughing at the scene between the elder and blacksmith.

"Ya know, the forge hasn't been the same since ya left me all by my lonesome self," Gobber teased Hiccup. Oh, how the blacksmith missed the back and forth with his apprentice.

Before Hiccup could have respond he heard another villager cry out, " Holy s***, Hiccup is alive. Or maybe he's a zombie. Here to eat our brains. I call first dibs." The voice belonged to one Tuffnut Thorston. Almost everyone groaned and or face palmed at the stupidity of the male twin.

"Yeah, I'm a zombie. I'm here to eat all of your brains. You're so right, Tuffnut," Hiccup replied with sarcasm dripping with every word said.

"Of course, I'm right," Tuffnut says. That had earned him a punch in the gut by his sister. "Ouch. I'm hurt, I'm very much hurt," the male twin cries as he holds his stomach.

"Idiot, Hiccup was clearly being sarcastic," Ruffnut informed her twin brother. She was embarrassed sometimes by her brother's antics, like this very moment.

Punching his sister back in her stomach as he argued, "No he wasn't. You heard him confirm it himself."

Recovering quickly from the blow to her stomach, she throws another punch to her brother. This time it was aimed towards his nose, causing it to bleed out. "Yeah, he was being sarcastic, dumb-ass," Ruffnut argues back.

This leads to one of the Thorston twins' fights. The villagers all shake their heads in an unamused way, wishing to the Gods to finally have the twins stop their antics. As both Hiccup and Astrid lightheartedly chuckle at the fighting twins. "Yep, some things haven't changed at all, milady," Hiccup says. Then, everyone just tuned out the twins fight as they were already used to them always fighting.

"Hiccup, what are we going to do about this village? Surely, Grimmel and the others are bound to attack Berk again at some point," Eret asked the former heir of Berk. It was a question Hiccup had thought of and tried to find an answer for; while he was flying back to Berk, after he fell for Grimmel's trap. He just could not leave his former home now with what transpired with his enemies. He knows that it was going to be difficult to convince the Vikings to abandon their home of seven generations. But what choice did they really have here? Let all his enemies keep on attacking Berk just to draw Hiccup and Astrid out? Just when Hiccup was about to answer the used-to-be dragon trapper, he was interrupted by Dagur.

"Brother, we also got something for you. Eret and I found these on the dragons," Dagur cries out to the former heir. Once in front of the leader of the dragon riders, he hands him some sort of collar. The collar had a needle in the inside of it. It was obviously used to inject this unknown substance into whatever was wearing the collar. Hiccup wondered just what this collar was for. And what was with this substance.

"Interesting. How did the dragons react to having the collars taken off?" Hiccup says, trying to figure out what the collar was for.

"They calmed down once the collars were off. I think whatever that drug is was causing the dragons to become hostile," Eret answered Hiccup. This information startles Hiccup, Astrid, and Heather. So this unknown substance was causing dragons to become hostile. Hiccup is determined to find the cure for whatever drug this is.

"What're we going to do now, brother?" Dagur asked Hiccup. "I mean, now that we all know that the dragons hunters and Grimmel aren't going to stop. Until they are defeated, or they found a way to take us out. On top of that, Berk is now in the middle of all this," Dagur also added to his question. Astrid, Eret, Heather, and Dagur are looking at Hiccup, waiting for his grand plan on how to deal with their current situation. As the villagers of Berk looked on confused, they thought that Astrid was the leader from earlier. Why did Dagur the Deranged seem to want to follow Hiccup's directions?

"Wait an Odin damn minute? I thought that Astrid was your leader, not Hiccup," Snotlout questions as he is genuinely curious.

"Well, we all voted Hiccup as our leader years ago. I'm the general of the dragon riders, also I'm second in command. The reason I'm not the leader is cuz of my quick temper always clouding my better judgement. Hiccup has always been the level-headed one in our relationship. When it comes to knowing how to put us in the best position to succeed, nobody is better than my Hiccup," Astrid explains to the villagers, hoping that they would be seeing their mistakes in overlooking Hiccup Haddock all those years. All of the people of Berk looked down in shame and guilt as they all recalled how they treated their former heir. Wishing that they could take back all of the cruelty they did to Hiccup. The more they thought about it, the more sense it made for why Hiccup left them. Who would stay in a village where the residents seem to only undervalue or underestimate you?

Hiccup is blushing in embarrassment. He was certainly not used to the praising of his girlfriend. "Astrid," Hiccup complains. Astrid lightheartedly giggled at her boyfriend, before she gives him a kiss on his cheek. She knows that it was only Hiccup's insecurities talking.

"She isn't wrong, Brother. You really need to stop undervaluing your accomplishments," Dagur encouraged the former heir as he pats Hiccup on his back.

"Whatever you've got planned, I'll follow you to the world's edge," Heather, like her brother, also encourages Hiccup.

"Where you go, I'll go with you," Eret says as well. Hiccup's spirit is being uplifted by the encouragement of his friends. It made him feel like he could do anything that he sets his mind to. He wonders what did he do to even deserve such friends and wife in his life.

"Alright, here is what we're going to do. The best way to deal with this is divide and conquer. Rather than facing that army all together. To do that, I'm going to need Heather and Dagur to invade their ship, to see the best way to take them apart. Eret, could you go back to New Berserker Island to tell the others that the marriage is being postponed until all this mess has been cleared up? Astrid, I need you to go back home to get some dragons for training. While I'll stay here and train some Berkians on how to train dragons. We'll meet back up here to deicide who'll get who." Hiccup announces his plan. The dragon riders all nodded to show they are in an agreement with the plan. "Milady, I'm sorry that we have to hold off on our wedding." Hiccup apologizes, as he takes both of Astrid's hands in his own, then he looks into the ocean blue eyes of his future wife that he loves so much.

"It's alright, babe. I would much rather our families be safe, than being married tomorrow morning. Besides, maybe we could change their minds on dragons," Astrid answered as she grabs Hiccup's hands tightly.

The villagers all watched the scene between both lovers. Even a blind bat could see that they love each other very much. Also, they were impressed with Hiccup's leadership skills. They all did not know the once tiny teenage boy would not only become such a leader, but also a better man. It made them wonder what if the young couple never left their village. Could they have helped Hiccup become the person he is today, if he and Astrid never left Berk? Sadly, they know that they would never have the answer to that question.

"What the hell do you mean training those mindless beasts? Who the hell are you all anyway?" Stoick makes his present known by asking questions towards his son. He too was impressed with the leadership skills Hiccup had shown. The Hiccup he remembered did not have the aura that made others be inspired to follow you into battle. Sure, his boy had a great mind but without strength for fighting, or the aura to inspiring others. He was starting to believe that Hiccup may have not been suited to become the chief of Berk. Now, Hiccup seems to have gained two of three traits of what he was looking for in the next chief. Now he was more determined to have his son back to take his rightful place, and become chief with Astrid as the new chieftess beside Hiccup.

To also say that the chief of Berk was disgusted by the idea of his people training dragons was an understatement. He hated the dragons for all the damage they have done to all Vikings. Especially after what happened to his beloved wife, Valka, all those years ago. Now, his son seems to have followed the same path his wife took before she met her fate twenty-one years ago. He remembered all of their arguments about how to deal with dragons. He recalled all the times she would try to convince him that there had to be a different way. But sadly, her beliefs were her undoing when that four-winged dragon had broken into his home, attacked baby Hiccup, leaving his son with a scar on his chin, before that beast took off with his wife. He spent several months after the events of that night looking and praying to the Gods that his Valka was still alive, but unfortunately, he had to face reality that his wife passed away. Now, his son had become the infamous Dragon Master. He just has to convince Hiccup to let go of his pet Night Fury.

"Well, Dad. You already know Dagur. This is Heather, she is Dagur's little sister. Next, this is Eret. He used to work for a twisted dragon trapper named Drago Bludvist-," Hiccup introduced, but before he could say anymore, his father interrupted him.

"Drago Bludvist?! Don't tell me you got mixed up with that heartless b***?! Please tell me he won't be coming here like Grimmel did?! How do you even know that this Eret isn't just deceiving you?!" Stoick screams his questions towards Hiccup. He wondered how his son even knew Drago. Is this Eret going to betray Hiccup? What if Eret was like his boss?

"Wait, you know about Drago Bludvist? Also, Eret isn't tricking me. In fact, he helped us beat Drago after mo-," Hiccup responds, but cuts himself off before revealing what really happened to his mother that fateful day a year ago. Not wanting to even remember what happened to his mother, because he still feels responsible for her death. He could only imagine how his father would react to the news of her death. He knows that he should tell him how his mother truly died, but he knows that his father would not hesitate in trying to kill Toothless.

All the dragon riders are looking at Hiccup with expressions showing their sympathy. None more than Astrid, as she recalls the moment they found Valka.

(Flashback)

"Hiccup, could it be you after all these years? How is it possible that you're here?" asked the masked dragon vigilante as she takes a few steps towards them. While Hiccup had out his flaming sword out, Astrid had her axe out. Hiccup and Astrid are both ready to fight their way out if their situation called for it. Both Toothless and Stormfly are ready to attack any dragons that dared harm their humans. Toothless had a plasma blast charged up ready to shoot, as Stormfly had her spikes on her tail ready to shoot as well.

"Sorry, but do I even know you?" Hiccup asked as he looked at Astrid, confused as to how this stranger knows his name. Astrid also looked just as confused as her boyfriend did. Who was this dragon rider they ran into ss they were looking for this man named Drago?

"No, you were only just an infant when I last saw you. But a mother would never forget their child," Valka says as she took off her helmet. So the young couple was greeted by the face of a middle-age woman. Her once pure auburn hair now has the touch of gray to it.

Both Toothless and Stormfly quickly use their sense of smell to see if Valka was telling the truth. Both were shocked when the smell of both of Valka and Hiccup were similar to each other. That proved to them that Valka was Hiccup's mom. The two tilted their heads to the side in confusion. They were under the oppression that she was dead. So why is she alive and in front of them now? Where was she when she should have been taking care of her hatchling? These were the questions running through the two dragons' minds at that very moment.

Hiccup was frozen on the spot, shocked from the older woman's claim. His mother was alive all this time. Where has she been for the past twenty years? What has she been doing all these years? Why did she not return back to Berk if she was alive? Then, the realization that she abandoned him and his father broke his heart. Did he do something wrong that his own mother would abandoned him?

Astrid, on the other hand, was growling in pure rage. She would not believe this stranger for a second. Astrid remembered all the stories of Valka, told by her mother. Hilda would always tell Astrid that her best friend Valka was a kind and caring soul. She would also tell her that Valka was truly happy when Hiccup was born. Now this stranger was claiming to be Berk's chieftess and mother of Hiccup. "Liar! Valka Haddock is dead! Also, she wouldn't just abandon Stoick and Hiccup like that!" Astrid yells at Valka very lividly.

Valka looked at the younger woman's face. Seeing Astrid's sapphire eyes and temper reminded her of Hilda Hofferson. One of the regrets she has was leaving behind her best friend, Hilda, all those years ago. She also recalled that Hilda had a baby girl around the time she had Hiccup. Was this young woman the daughter of her best friend? "I'm not lying. My name is Valka Haddock. Your mother's name is Hilda Hofferson, right?"

That was all Astrid needed to confirm that Valka telling the truth. She was about to attack Valka when Hiccup snapped out of his shock. Stopping Astrid from throwing her axe at his mother as Astrid screamed, "Let me go, Hiccup! How dare she do such a thing?! Not only does she abandon her people, her duties as chieftess and wife of Stoick, but most importantly, she had the nerve to abandon you! You were just an innocent baby when she left you, without even thinking about how that would've affected your life! What kind of mother would do something like that to her own child?!"

(Flashback ends)

Astrid remembers that day. She still cannot make what her feeling are towards Valka. On one hand, Valka had been willing to abandoned everyone on Berk for selfish reasons. Sure, convincing Berk that dragons are not mindless devils would have been difficult task. But she truly believes that if Valka had returned back to Berk to show them that dragons were not evil could have saved so many lives like her uncle Finn. It also means that her and Hiccup would have not been forced to leave Berk behind as well. Something Hiccup and Astrid learned on this journey together is that every decision we make, good or bad, will always have consequences. The price of the consequences of Valka's actions seems to have been worse than good. The day Astrid and Hiccup would have children of their own, she would not leave them like Valka did to Hiccup. The only way she would leave her babies; you would have to kill her before she makes the same mistakes Valka did.

On the other hand, Valka redeemed herself when she gave her life for Hiccup. It proved to her that Valka did care for Hiccup, but she wishes that Valka did not have to die. She knows that the death of his mother has haunted Hiccup ever since it happened. Going so far as to blame himself for the actions of what Drago did.

"What were you about to say, Hiccup?" Stoick questions his son.


I hope you guys enjoy this chapter so far. A few weeks ago I promised you guys a chapter focusing on Toothless and the Light Fury. Also told you guys that I was having trouble thinking of ideas for that chapter. Well I still can't think of any good ideas for the chapter. So I've decided that if you guys have any recommendations of any ideas for the chapter please do share? Because I don't want this story to be on hiatus, because I hate it when stories do that. I know I'm not the only one who hates that too. Because next chapter will be focusing on developing Toothless and Light Fury relationship.

I'm taking a week break to get some personal stuff done. I hope I'll have the next chapter out within two weeks, but I can't promise you guys that. Anyway I want to thank everyone that has reviewed, followed, and favorited my story so far. I know I say that in every chapter, but I want you guys know that it truly means a lot to me. I hope you all have a wonderful day and stay safe out there ;)