Chapter twoooooo! (I am in the habit of holding the O when I say doctor whooooo and now anything that rhymes with who gets held)

-HTTYD-

The pathetic, painful cries were unmistakeable to her as Valka crept through the thick trees. The forest cover should have been safe, godsdamnit! Instead, she found the sad but expected sight of baby dragons all alone, crying out for their mother who would never come back. And Valka knew that, because she'd found the poor Nadder in a trap only half a mile away, already much too late to save her. She'd only have left to find food for her hatchlings, and she should have been safe to do so.

"Hush now little ones. I know you're scared."

They were initially resistant to letting Valka take them, too upset and frightened. She wrapped them carefully, minding sharp little claws until they settled a little, comforted by the gentle pressure around them. They snuffled at Valka's skin, learning the scent of the one who helped them. Baby dragons were especially trusting - they had to be, when small and reliant on others to care for them. It broke Valka's heart all the more whenever she found the Hunters raided whole nests, because the babies were too much work for most. The trade in baby dragons was very small - they were too small for hides to be worth much, and between uncontrolled flames and their cheeky attitudes, they weren't much use as 'guards' either. So they were either left orphaned to the elements, or killed and left there. Sometimes they'd be brought along as bait, or to threaten the mother with, but even that was rare.

Valka saved the ones she could, cradling the little Nadders to her chest and waiting for her own dragons to return from scouting the rest of the woods. There were no more to be found that day, which was a relief. Cloudjumper flew them back to the nest safely, where Valka could get them fed and cleaned before seeking out one of the more friendly nest mothers. Valka could hand-rear babies if she had to, but it was better for them to be reared by other dragons. Thankfully, she had some who were always happy to take on the orphaned babes, patient with the little ones who knew it wasn't their mother until they settled down.

It was sweet to see them bond and watch them flourish and thrive, but it shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. There was a world of difference between dragons following natural instincts and occasionally hunting the young of others, and hunters stealing the mothers away and leaving the babes to die so they could turn a profit or some bored, rich scumbag could a 'pet' to guard them. Cloudjumper was her equal, her companion, her soulmate in dragon form. He wasn't a pet, and he wasn't an attack dog.

Her heavy heart weighed her down that evening as she bathed and re-dressed, eating a functional dinner before she went to check on the orphans. They were still fussy, but when the elder Nadder raised her wing, they seemed content enough to curl up under it, chirruping to one another before they fell asleep. Valka stroked the elder one gently, thanked her quietly.

Since Valka had taken up the dragon-rescuing mantle, the population of the nest had swelled immensely. They had the space, thankfully, the remnants of a blown out volcano for a base and the 'roof' a great sheet made from the icy breath of the great Bewilderbeast. Warm and strong and safe, a haven for any dragon who needed it. Valka had had to set up special areas for sick and wounded to rest peacefully, they'd had to knock through walls to expand the nursery, and come mating season she expected to be breaking up territory disputes for those who nested at home.

Though she loved each and every dragon, and though Valka - and the Alpha, of course - offered every dragon their safety, she also grew increasingly angry with the constant need to rescue. Every single hunter just proved her right, showed her how they could be so cowardly, so cruel. And all for profit? Or fear? Perhaps both.

As she put on her armour the next day, ready to go out and continue disrupting the market trade for dragons, Valka turned her mask/helmet over in her hands a few times before lifting it on to her head, hiding herself from the humans she was going to face off with. She'd cleaned blood off of it more times than she cared to admit to, though there hadn't been any more intentional deaths... yet.

It got harder and harder to talk herself out of it, if she was honest. Why was she giving them such consideration? They'd only keep on doing it. Valka's only hold out by then was that she didn't want to stoop to their level.

Then again, who was she trying to prove herself to?

She and the dragons flew in under the cover of night, though that didn't mean nobody else was up; some dragons were nocturnal, and so the dragon hunting didn't end when the sun went down, but it did allow for the element of surprise. A cloudy night was even better, and they were in luck that evening.

Her staff was fine tuned by then, and most of the dragons knew what each rattle and gesture meant, so Valka indicated they should split off in to two groups, while she and Cloudjumper headed down alone to where she knew the cages would be. The campsite might change, but they used the same basic layout for the most part, levelling trees and using the wood to build their temporary homes. If it was a more permanent settlement, then they used less flammable building material.

Like dragon hides.

Valka had seen one distinctive type of tent in a few permanent camps, where they'd made a garish mimicry of a patchwork quilt out of different dragon skins. From the times she'd broken in to them, Valka suspected those tents were for higher-ups in the chain. There were often documents for things like price lists, auction times, messages between other 'leaders'. She already recognised distinctive signatures from a few, had made out the name Grimborn several times.

Hiding amongst the shadows - easier said than done with the size of her dragon, but they were well-practiced by then - she and Cloudjumper crept along. There were two hunters forcing a turquoise Gronckle into a cage. The dragon was clearly in distress, but that meant they weren't sedated, which was going to help when it came to escaping later.

"Stay put ya dumb animal!"

Valka bit back a growl, waiting for them to leave and giving it a few minutes longer to be sure they weren't coming right back. She held a hand up, signalling Cloudjumper to keep watch and stay quiet as she edged forward, pulling her lockpick out and starting to get to work on the cages, hushing any dragons that made too much noise. The cage doors were loud, creaking something awful when Valka pried the heavy metal open.

"You hear something?"

"Maybe. Better go check some idiot didn't leave a cage unlocked."

Valka cursed under her breath and yanked the next cage open, turning just in time to see two hunters find her freeing their 'catch'.

"It's the Dragon Thief!"

She'd picked that name up recently, it seemed. Though how they got the idea it was she and not them who stole dragons, was beyond her. Raising her staff, she let the rattles ring through the night air. Cloudjumper was at her side in a second, rearing up to full height. He was a big dragon, and it was often enough to make even the seasoned hunters falter.

It wasn't enough to stop them, however, both advancing on her, with the expectation of backup after they'd called out that she was there. Cloudjumper's first flames were a warning, and stalled the hunters long enough for Valka to get another cage open. There were two more to go, and thankfully the arrival of her other dragon companions bought her enough time to get the cages open.

Her first strike was on instinct, whipping around with her staff when a hunter tried to rush at her. She felt how his ribs gave way as it impacted, obviously one of the ones who'd already been going to bed when the call came, nothing but a linen tunic to protect him against her blow. He doubled over, sword dropped, forgotten in his blinding pain.

Her second strike was intentional. He was close enough that she heard the sounds of breaking bone, felt the wet splatter of blood when she raised her staff and struck him again. The hunter crumpled to the ground, and Valka stepped over him without checking to see if he was even alive.

The hands that curled around her staff were wet, moonlight and torches illuminating the red mess. When they saw she was out for blood, the hunters grew more violent themselves, and more than one dragon was wounded in the fight as metal flashed and fire flared. Even so, skilled fighters stood little chance against the fury of dragons and their human protector, those who managed to limp away burned and bloodied.

Most importantly, all the cages were empty, all the dragons escaped. So rather than stay just for the sake of fighting, they set fire to huts and took off into the air.

Valka only realised she was wounded herself when they were flying, feeling the sting as she stretched her arm out and seeing a cut there. There were small burns on her hands, but they were an ordinary part of her day, so she paid them little mind other than to cleanse them when they got to the nest.

They landed back in the mountain, safe and home. Valka tended to the wounded and settled the rescues. She cleaned herself up and washed the blood from her armour, drinking something strong to ease her pain a little. Not that she was certain what it was, having taken it from a hunting ship they'd left burned and splintered. That time, she'd given the hunters enough time to get away. Next time, Valka wasn't sure she'd bother.

As she headed out to the Alpha, to tell him of the evenings raid, she felt... compelled to justify it. To explain herself to the giant who allowed her to live among them, who trusted her with all the dragons he watched over.

"Perhaps it make me no better than them, but each one of them I don't leave behind alive is another who can never hurt a dragon ever again. Is that wrong?"

The eyes of the Bewilderbeast seemed to pierce right through her as he pondered on her words. After several moments of her heart pounding uncomfortably, Valka felt that tell-tale breath of gentle frost, ice sparkling on her eyelashes, cool along her hairline.

When she opened her eyes, the Bewilderbeast had lowered his front legs, his head dropped too.

If Valka wasn't mistaken... the great Alpha was bowing to her.

-HTTYD-

I remember the villain!Valka storyboards having a line like "this beast bows to me" about the Bewilderbeast, which is what I was going for, if I didn't sell it quite right..