Ch. 17: Time With Valka & The Threat Approaches

A mother never forgets.

Hiccup and Rapunzel couldn't stop staring the woman in shock of what she just said. She was Hiccup's mother!? The woman, who kidnapped them, was his mother.

Hiccup didn't know how to feel.

The woman who claims to be his mother put her hand out towards them, and then, she smiled.

"Come," she said as she turned and raced down another corridor.

Hiccup and Rapunzel exchanged glances and chased after her.

Meanwhile, far away, Eret was walking on a deck and around him was the fleet of Drago Bludfist. He had a worried look on his face as he wondered how he could tell Drago about the failed attempt to capture more dragons.

"Where are my new dragons, Eret," a deep voice asked Eret, making him jump in fear.

Eret slowly walked towards Drago, who was looking at the ocean.

"Drago, sir, I almost managed to capture one, but it got away thanks to those Dragon Riders," Eret explained.

Drago turned to him and grabbed him by the throat.

"You failed AGAIN!? Did you forget what will happen if you fail," Drago asked, threateningly.

"Drago, I had that Night Fury right where I wanted it, but the Dragon Riders got away with it," said Eret.

"A NIGHT FURY!? Dragon Riders with a Night Fury!? How did they look like? How," asked Drago angrily.

"The boy was with brown hair, green eyes and was wearing some sort of armor. The girl also had green eyes and had some pretty long golden hair and…," Eret explained, but Drago let go of him and stopped him.

"Anything else," asked Drago.

"The boy said that the Night Fury was his best friend," said Eret in fear.

Eret looked up at Drago, expecting to see anger, but instead saw him smirking.

"Hold on," Hiccup called after Valka as they raced through the corridors of the tunnel as Rapunzel followed him closely, as did Toothless. "Wait just a minute! I–".

"This way," Valka cut in, turning around to face them briefly before leaping over a stone as if she had done it million times.

"Wait," shouted Hiccup. "Come back here! I have questions!"

"Come," his mother replied as she maneuvered herself over rocks and between stones, and even a few more jagged pieces of ice.

"You can't just say something like that," Hiccup went on as they made their way through the small corridor, "and runoff! You're my mother!? I mean, what the…? Do–do you grasp how insane that sounds?!"

"Come! Quickly! You need to see this," Valka urged, climbing up a steep rock and disappearing over the side of it. Rapunzel jumped with ease, but Hiccup struggled, slipping every time he was sure he had a grip.

"I've got tons of questions," shouted Hiccup. Rapunzel used her hair to pull him up with some help from Toothless, and they continued following his mother, who still jumping around the rocks like some super werewolf. "Where have you been all this time!? What have you been doing!? They said you were dead! Everyone thinks you were eaten by…"

Hiccup's voice trailed off as they stepped out of the tunnel and into the light. Rapunzel gasped slightly as she saw the sight.

There were dragons everywhere. Everywhere they turned, another dragon came out of nowhere. They flocked like schools of fish, flying in dozens of different formations, some of them wrestling another dragon to the ground with playful bites and scratches.

Valka and her dragon were hanging from a rocky overhang, and when Hiccup and Rapunzel saw her, they jumped for just a moment before relaxing again.

"This is where you've been for 20 years," asked Hiccup. He was in awe and in shock. Valka nodded. "You've been rescuing them?" This time, Valka smiled before nodding.

"You're not upset," asked Valka.

"What," asked Hiccup. "No. I mean… I don't know. It's a bit much to get my head around, to be frank. It's not everyday you find out your mother is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady."

"Oh," said Valka and she laughed. Her dragon lowered her to the ground, and she made her way towards Hiccup and Rapunzel. "At least I'm not boring, right?"

"Well," Hiccup began. "I suppose there's that…one…specific…thing."

She looked from Hiccup to Rapunzel. "And what's your wife's name?"

"I'm Rapunzel," Rapunzel greeted her mother–in–law.

"She's the Princess of Corona, and since we're married that makes me the Prince of Corona," said Hiccup before looking at Toothless. "And Toothless is the leader of the dragons that live there."

Valka could only stare in shock. Her son was married to a princess and was a prince of an entire kingdom, and his Night Fury was the leader of dragons that lived there?

"Well, you'll have to tell me how you two met sometime," said Valka.

Deep down, Valka didn't know how to feel. She had missed 20 years of her son's life and during that time, he befriended a Night Fury, ran away from Berk, became prince of Corona and got married to Rapunzel. Of course, she still hadn't learnt that Hiccup had also defeated the Red Death and became a father.

"We will," Hiccup agreed.

Valka scanned her surroundings once more and looked back at Hiccup and Rapunzel.

"Do you like it," she asked nervously.

"I don't have the words," said Hiccup in awe.

Suddenly, there was another roar. Valka didn't recognize it, but Hiccup and Rapunzel did. A flock of dragons came out from one of the tunnels, among them a dragon Rapunzel immediately recognized.

"Serenade," shouted Rapunzel and the Death Song landed in front of her after hearing her rider's voice. The princess hugged her dragon with a smile on her face. "How did you get here?"

"You forgot your diary, so I came after you guys. I saw Hiccup's helmet in the ocean, and I knew you were close. That's how I came across these dragons that led me here," said Serenade.

Rapunzel looked at Hiccup, who translated for her.

"You came all the way from Corona just to give me my diary," Rapunzel asked her dragon and the Death Song nodded.

"What kind of dragon is that," asked Valka.

"That's Serenade, Rapunzel's dragon, and she's a Death Song," said Hiccup. "She came to give Rapunzel's diary."

"This is the first time I've seen one, but how did you know why she's here," Valka asked her son.

"That's because I can understand what dragons are saying," said Hiccup.

This time, Valka was floored. Her son could understand what dragons were saying!? That just tops everything she learnt about Hiccup in the last few minutes. Her thoughts were interrupted as Toothless rubbed his head against her hand.

"Oh, he's amazing," said Valka in amazement as Toothless' tongue flopped out of his mouth. "Oh, incredible!" Toothless pressed against her and rolled over on his back, his head in her lap. "Oh, and look! You're both the same age. Ha, no wonder you get along so well. How did you manage to…"

"I found him in the woods," said Hiccup. "He was…um…shot down and wounded." Hiccup put his hands behind his back.

Valka looked up at him and stepped away from Toothless towards another dragon Rapunzel had noticed when they walked in. "This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps," she said sadly. Without waiting for Hiccup to respond, she walked towards another maimed dragon. "This Raincutter had her wing sliced open by razor netting." She then walked towards one last dragon. This particular dragon's eyes were clouded over and foggy. "And this poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare, and then left to die alone, and scared."

Valka knelt beside Toothless' tail fin and held it up. "And what of this?" she asked. "Did Drago or his trappers do this, too?"

Hiccup then laughed awkwardly at the story he has to explain. "Heh, well, crazy thing is...I'm actually the one who shot him down. Hey, it's...it's okay, though!" he promised when he saw Valka's confused expression. "He got me back. Right, bud?" Toothless cooed in agreement. "You couldn't save all of me, could you?" Hiccup said. "You just had to make it even! So…peg leg!" Hiccup lifted his leg off the ground, his prosthetic in full-view.

Toothless flipped Hiccup up in the air so that the boy landed on his back, and Hiccup leaned against Toothless' neck, rubbing his head.

Valka smiled nervously. "What did your father think of your Night Fury friend?" she asked, motioning to Rapunzel's dragon and then to Toothless. "And your dragon loving wife?"

"I didn't tell him," said Hiccup. "When I was chosen to kill the Monstrous Nightmare at Dragon Training, I packed a few bags and left Berk with Toothless and after a day or two of flying, we got to Corona and the three of us have been living there for the past six years."

"The three of you," asked Valka, confused.

"I guess I didn't mention that shortly after leaving Berk, Toothless and I heard a crying baby on some deserted island. Someone had just left her there and if we hadn't found Mary and took her with us, she would've died. I became her father, and shortly after Rapunzel and I started dating, Mari began to refer to Rapunzel as her mother, and when we got married a few weeks ago, she officially became our adopted daughter," said Hiccup, leaving Valka in absolute shock.

"It's true. And I still can't believe that you sent your own father to the dungeon after the Vikings attended our wedding," said Rapunzel.

"I can't believe I did it either, but it all worked out," said Hiccup getting a confused expression from Valka. "The day after the wedding, we sent the Vikings back home and everyone seemed to understand that the dragons are misunderstood creatures so they stopped killing them, but refuse to accept them."

Valka sighed in clear disappointment. "If only it were possible," she said.

Rapunzel tilted her head sideways. "He's not joking," she said.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed. "Really, I–"

"Believe me," Valka cut in. "I tried as well, but people are not capable of change, Hiccup. Some of us...were just born different."

She sighed and glanced back at the ground, a distant look in her eyes. "Berk was a land of kill or be killed," she said, and in Heather's mind, she imagined what Berk used to be like, back before Hiccup proved them wrong about dragons.

"But I believed peace was possible," Valka went on, and she sighed again. "It was a very unpopular opinion," she murmured under her breath. "Then, one night, a dragon broke into our house, finding Hiccup in his cradle."

"I rushed to protect you," Valka said. "But...what I saw...was proof of everything I believed. This was not a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature, whose soul reflected my own."

"Your father came running in at that moment," Valka went on. "He told me to run. The dragon tried to defend itself, and...I suppose he saw me as one of their own."

"And he took you," Hiccup finished.

Valka sighed, and nodded. "Yes," she said. "You and your father nearly died that night...all because I couldn't kill a dragon."

Hiccup smiled softly, exhaling through his nose. "Yeah, it runs in the family." He said smoothly.

The comment seemed to go unnoticed. "It broke my heart to stay away," Valka said to Hiccup, "but I believed you'd be safer if I did."

The conversation was growing depressing, so Rapunzel decided it was time to change the subject. "How did you survive?" she asked.

Valka's features brightened. "Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me," she said, walking towards the cliffside. "He thought I belonged here. In the home of the great Bewilderbeast!"

Looking over the side of the cliff they saw a huge, monstrous, white dragon rise. Its tusks were as white as snow, the ends were sharp, but not pointy. They gasped at it, smiles growing even bigger.

This creature was incredible and large. Very large. It had large spikes on its back, and there were more spines on its head that seemed to match that of the jagged ice cave, and Valka's mask.

"The Alpha species," Valka explained as she walked ahead of the two towards the Dragon. "One of the very last few that still exist. Every nest has its queen but this is the king of all the dragons! With his icy breath, this graceful creature built our nest. A safe haven for dragons everywhere." Valka tells them.

"Wait, that's the ice spitter?" Hiccup asked.

"He's the one responsible for all the destruction," Rapunzel asked as they make their way towards him.

"He protects us," Valka said, almost defensively. "We all live under his care and his command. All but the babies, of course…"

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel asked.

Valka nodded towards the Bewilderbeast, and when Rapunzel looked, she saw what she was talking about.

Baby dragons were climbing all over him, biting at his horns and sliding down his tusks, growling happily all the while.

"...they listen to no one," Valka finished with a chuckle.

The Bewilderbeast gently blew the baby dragons off his face, and then turned in Rapunzel, Hiccup and Valka's direction. He studied them carefully with his old, wise eyes.

"I've lived among them for twenty years," Valka said. "Learning their ways, discovering their secrets."

The Bewilderbeast blew frost towards Hiccup and Rapunzel, and it collected in their hair. Valka laughed while Hiccup and Rapunzel desperately tried shaking the snow out of their scalps.

"He likes you two," Valka said.

"Wow," Hiccup breathed.

"Yeah," Rapunzel said for lack of better words. "Wow."

Valka turned back towards their direction. "You two must be hungry," she said.

Rapunzel thought about it, and then, she realized just how hungry she was. "Um, yeah," she said.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed with a small shrug of his shoulders. "We could eat. I'll have to fix Toothless connection rod before we do, but give me a rock and some dragon fire and it'll take me five minutes."

"Good," Valka said, almost excitedly. "It's feeding time!" she told them, and Hiccup and Rapunzel called for Toothless and Serenade respectively.

Meanwhile, Drago Bludfist was giving orders to his men.

"Prepare to leave in a few minutes. First, we'll take down the Alpha and then the home to those Dragon Riders, Corona," said Dragon.

"Excuse me, Drago, but how do you know the Dragon Riders' home," asked Eret in slight fear.

"Thanks to some inside information," said Drago as he turned to a figure standing in the shadows. "The description Eret gave about the Dragon Riders confirms that the Princess and her Prince have left Corona. Without the Night Fury defending it, nothing will stop us. I must say, my daughter, I'm very proud of you. We'll take back what those people took from us!"

"Of course, father," said the figured as it stepped out, revealing none other than Cassandra. "We'll free mother from their prison."

"And we'll need to take out the Dragon Riders' Alpha to do that," said Drago as he and Cassandra laughed evilly, something which scared Eret quite a lot.

To be continued…

Hey, everyone. I know I haven't updated for a long time, but I'm back now. I bet some of you didn't expect this chapter to end with such a twist. The next chapter will be uploaded some time in February. Anyway, I wish you all Happy Holidays and I'll see you all next time. Until then, have a nice day.

R&R