Berserker Island (part 1):
Being curious dragons, and having nothing better to do, Toothless and Luna flew after their young humans, catching up to the boat in only minutes with their vastly superior speed. They stayed high enough and far enough back to just keep the boat in sight, so that even if a human did happen to glance their way they would see nothing more than two random birds in flight.
After flying at a snail's pace through the sky for more than an hour, Toothless huffed, bored out of his mind. Hiccup wasn't even being good entertainment, just staring out over the water, his thoughts a repetitive jumble of 'Astrid, love Astrid', 'Ooooo, look at that fish!' (or whale, or shark, or aquatic dragon type, and so on) and 'I wish I could fly'. Toothless smirked at that last one the first few times he heard it, but even that got old after awhile. "Hey, Luna."
The glittering white dragoness turned her head and looked at him. "What?"
"Where do you think they're going?"
"How should I know? There are a number of islands in this direction. It could be any of them. Some even with human settlements on them."
"True." Toothless gazed off in the distance, mentally mapping the area in front of them. "You don't think..."
"What? Don't think what?" she demanded when his thought trailed off and he didn't finish it for too many seconds.
Toothless looked at her, shiny black wings flapping once to maintain his glide through the sky, and green eyes filling with concern. "You don't think that they're going to the island where we can't follow?"
"Which one? There's a few that fit that description."
"THE Island."
Her eyes widened. "Oh! THAT island. I hope not. Just being near it makes my scales try and crawl right off my body." She shuddered lightly in memory.
Toothless agreed with her assessment of the effects the island had on them. "I hope not, too."
Seven long hours later, as the sun was hovering over the horizon, it became very clear that THE Island was the humans' destination.
Disappointed that they couldn't continue to spy on their chosen humans up close, Toothless and Luna decided that they would give up and go hunt for their Queen and then go home, intending to find out from Hiccup's and Astrid's thoughts later what they'd been up to.
Hopefully not telling anyone that they saw a Night Fury, though, Toothless thought with one last glance over his shoulder at the boat as it approached the craggy mountain island bathed in the gleaming light of the setting sun. I would hate to have to kill them because of it.
Only a few minutes later, a four winged dragon and his rider flew into the area on one of their regular sweeps of the skies, looking for dragons in distress or other entertaining trouble to get into.
Valka all but froze on Cloudjumper's back as she recognized the clan crest on the sail of the dragon boat closing in on Berserker Island; an island which had far more than the usual number of dragon boats docked in its harbour. Her hand flew up to her chest in an automatic reaction to try and hold in the sudden pounding of her heart. "Stoic," she gasped.
"Stoic?" her dragon inquired curiously.
"Yes. Stoic. My mate. You know, the one you stole me from." She wasn't quite successful in keeping the resentment from her tone.
Over the last fourteen years, they'd flown far and wide, covering the entirety of the Barbaric Archipelago and way, way beyond, all the way to the mainland in three directions, but the one place Cloudjumper had refused to fly or even go anywhere near was Berk because he was afraid that she would change her mind and leave him. Which was silly, because Valka hadn't wanted to return to her home, not really, not with the way they hunted dragons, but she had been dying for what felt like an eternity for even just a glimpse of her husband and son, just to know that they were all right.
And somehow, in all that time, she'd never stumbled upon a Berk longship sailing elsewhere, not even a fishing expedition.
Until now.
"Ahhhh. Him. The big human with the evil axe." Cloudjumper pointedly looked at his wing that had an old, faded scar on it from said axe.
"Yes, him." She pulled out her spyglass and trained it on the deck of the ship. Her heart stuttered again when she almost immediately spotted the giant and unmistakable frame of her husband standing in the prow of the ship. His profile was to her, and he looked just as handsome, or even more so than her memories. His bright red beard was even more prolific than she remembered, too. Thor, he's still just as tempting as ever, she thought as her insides squirmed with remembered nights of passion. If only he wasn't such a stubborn arse.
She watched as he gestured to someone and then her entire system shut down again as a teenage boy, with wild auburn hair just like hers (but much shorter), joined Stoick at the prow and getting all but buried under the arm her husband flung over his narrow shoulders. He was slim and fairly short, just barely coming up to Stoick's chest, which made him small for his age. But then, she'd always known her son would take after her more so than his father when he was born so tiny and earned his permanent nickname. (There was nothing Horrendous about her son, and she refused to call him that, no matter what tradition dictated). Her family had all been late bloomers, not finishing their growing in height until their late teens, and never truly bulking up like most Vikings. Hiccup. Oh, my sweet little Hiccup. Look at you. So handsome. So like me.
I should have tried harder to see you sooner.
Her heart ached with misery and joy as she watched her two men talk to each other, smiles on their faces as Stoick pointed something out over on the island they were approaching. They get along so well. I'm so happy they do. Not that it was in doubt. Stoick turned into the world's biggest pile of Viking mush when he first saw Hiccup.
Her heart warmed even further when a petite blonde girl a fraction or two taller than her son moved to tuck herself into Hiccup's side, sliding her arm around his waist as he did the same to her. He brushed a kiss over her temple and smiled adoringly at her; a look she returned before they both turned their attention back to whatever Stoick was saying.
Alga's daughter. It must be. Astrid, I think she called her. She looks like her. Well, a slimmer and much younger version, but still, she definitely looks like Alga. She's perfect for Hiccup. And look how in love they are. I remember when Stoick and I used to look at each other like that. Before the never-ending fights about not killing the dragons because they were more intelligent and less vicious than he gave them credit for.
Wouldn't Stoick just die if he knew I was right and he was wrong? she thought smugly as she patted the dragon she was currently sitting on. A dragon who trilled in amused agreement as he blatantly listened in on her thoughts.
As her dragon hovered high up in the sky with gentle beats of his massive wings, Valka watched Stoick's longship coast into the harbour. With the assistance of the oars, the ship was neatly and efficiently parked in a tight spot along one of the overcrowded docks. As she watched her little family disembark and be greeted by a man she vaguely recognized as Oswald the Agreeable, the Chief of the Berserker clan, along with a few other chiefs from neighbouring clans, an idea began to form in her mind.
"Cloudjumper, I know you don't like to fly too close to that island, but do you think you can at least get me to that little outcropping of rocks over there?" she asked, looking at a clear space hanging over the ocean below and nowhere near the village in the center of the island.
"It will be uncomfortable, but yes, I think I can do that."
"Thank you," she patted his neck gratefully. "We'll come back after full dark, and do just that. I want to go see me son up close, even if he can't know it's me. There should be enough strangers wandering around the village right now that one more shouldn't raise an alarm."
"If you're sure that is what you want," Cloudjumper's mental voice rumbled through her mind doubtfully.
"I am," she said, spyglass still trained on her husband, son, and Astrid as they moved up the pathway that had been chipped out of the rocks and supplemented with bridges as necessary. "I may never get this chance again."