The air was silent – except for the dragons growling in the background. Hiccup looked back and forth at his father and the rider. Do they know each other? Hiccup asked himself noiselessly. Once again he looked back at his father and then the rider. But the foreign man in armor was running towards an opening in the wall and dragons started flying away from them.
Without second thoughts, Hiccup set to a run towards the gap; his father, friends and their dragons following behind without objections of the silent decision. Hiccup was in the lead, but struggled to keep up with the armored man or woman – he couldn't really decide what gender on the only word the rider had said through his helmet. He jumped over stones and crawled up long cylinder shaped rocks to a higher ground. He rounded a corner that the rider had taken, but the man was gone.
All in Hiccup's sight were a bright light by the end of the tunnel he was in, making a deep contrast to his surroundings of bright and dark. His pace slowed down and he found himself walking slowly into the light. He was blinded. Blinded of amazement. Hiccup gasped in awe. His eyes couldn't focus on one object, or dragon in this case, seeing all the different species he had encountered this far – and some he hadn't seen before - fly around in circles and playing around on a land of green nature.
"How did we ever miss this?" Astrid asked, coming up behind him. Hiccup didn't answer. He was too caught up in the newly discovered nest. Toothless came up on his right side and nudged his hand. Hiccup scratched his head unconsciously until he growled.
"What is it, bud?" Hiccup asked, tearing his eyes off the mesmerizing view and to his dragon who looked up. He followed Toothless's gaze and his eyes met a woman staring down at her from the four winged dragon that led them here.
"Val," Stoick whispered, taking his helmet in his hands. The woman tore her eye away from the boy and what she presumed is his night fury. She looked at him and her eyes softened. She nodded quickly. Her body uncovered from the Stormcutters wing and gently as if she was a feather she landed on the ground and stood there. Hiccup looked at his father.
"Dad? Who is this?" He asked, backing away as she started walking towards him. The woman stopped and looked at Stoick. His father walked over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Son," He said. "This is your mother, Valka," Hiccup gasped. He stood there paralyzed as the woman - his mother – walked over to him cautiously and unsure. He stared at her with wide eyes and didn't move to wrap his arms around her as she slowly did with him. His mother…is alive. She's been alive all those twenty years.
Hiccup didn't know what to think. Part of him was angry and another part of him was happy. He was happy that his mother was alive after having believed she went to Valhalla in that raid twenty years ago. He had so many questions to ask her, but that was also the part he was angry for. The questions swarming his mind were like an ocean with river. The rivers were made because of the ocean; or in this case, the other thoughts were a following of the first. Why didn't she come back?
All his life had he believed they would be reunited in Valhalla once the time had come, but instead a miracle happened and they were reunited on Midgard. He looked at his father who stood behind his mother with a gleeful smile. Thinking back, Hiccup couldn't remember when he had last seen that smile come from his father. Was it after he had defeated the Red Death and come home from Outcast Island? The moment he forgave him? Or was it after he defeated Alvin and made peace with the Outcasts, freeing Berk from their clutches? Neither.
That was what Hiccup's mind could come to an answer of. Never had his father smiled so brightly and warmly at the same time, and Hiccup couldn't help it anymore but smile back and wrap his hands around the slim waist of his mother. He buried his head in her neck, taking in the aroma of her. It was mixed with dragons and what he could only presume to be the flowers growing inside the nest.
"You were here this whole time," Hiccup whispered more as a statement than a question. He felt her thin fingers tangle in his hair and stroked it lovingly. Finally for once did Hiccup feel the love of a mother, and he never wanted it to end.
Hiccup remembered back to only a couple of hours ago where he encountered a pack of wolves in the woods of Berk. His mother had saved him twice by only helping and smashing away the one pinning him down. Still, he couldn't believe that armored person was his mother. Not after the discovery. Though, at least now he could have a chance to thank his savior. He pulled away to get a look at her. "Thank you for saving me back there," Hiccup laughed. "I still can't believe you're alive though!" He turned to his father with a smile. "I guess grandpa was right after all."
Valka looked at Hiccup confused for a second before shifting her gaze to Stoick. "Is my father still alive?" She asked surprised and yet happy. Hiccup looked at his father. He remembered his grandfather was still alive back then when she was still a citizen on Berk.
Stoick lowered his head. "I'm sorry Valka…he passed away not too long after you were taken." Just like that, Valka's smile dropped and she sighed, looking down at her feet, but her head popped back up just as quick.
"But what was he right about then?" Hiccup's gaze shifted to his foot in which he fiddled a bit back and forth with his prosthetic. Stoick sighed beside him.
"A lot of things have happened these last five years," Stoick looked at Hiccup and noticed how uncomfortable he felt about the subject. His lips created a gap between them to change the awkward atmosphere, but Hiccup spoke up before a single letter came out.
"Yeah," Hiccup sighed. "Especially after the Red Death and the Outcasts," His hand reached up to the back of his neck and began its bad habit of scratching it when nervous. He smiled, trying to seem alright, but deep inside he really was anything but. "Man that was a big mess."
"I don't understand," Valka said. She looked at her family curious. "What's a Red Death?"
Astrid walked over to Hiccup and took his hand in both of hers. She felt his tense body relax. "It was the reason for the raids on Berk," Valka looked at the blonde girl interested. "Nearby, an island we named Dragon Island was inhabited with full of Dragons, but…," She looked at Hiccup.
"But the dragons were being controlled by a queen, the Red Death," Hiccup sighed. "I defeated him with Toothless here…though there were some consequences for winning the fight to the Vikings," Hiccup let his gaze wander down to his prosthetic and Valka followed. Her eyes went wide, but no words came out. Toothless coed and nudged Hiccup's free hand. Hiccup stayed silent.
"After the explosion that engulfed the queen to its death, taking Hiccup and Toothless here with it, they were believed to be dead," Hiccup looked away from his best friend's comforting green eyes and up at his father as he continued speaking. They thought we were…dead? Hiccup asked himself silently. "But somehow Alvin the Treacherous found them barely alive on shore and took them both to his island. We don't even know why-
"I do," Hiccup said. He looked at his mother. "He wanted me to train dragons and tell him Berk's secrets," Hiccup's hand rubbed beneath his armored arm where scars from back then covered his skin. Valka seemed to notice but didn't question. She knew who they were talking about, and the thought of her son captured on that mad man's island sent flashes and pictures in her mind. She wanted to shake them off.
"But I refused so he…he tried to force it out of me," Hiccup's voice cracked and sounded weaker than before. His friends bowed their heads. Pictures flashed through their minds as well, only difference was that it had happened and wasn't a mind-created picture out of information. Hiccup forced a smile. "But Dad and everyone here got us back, though they couldn't save my leg," Valka looked down at his leg sadly. She hadn't been there and he was only just…what, fifteen?
When she lived back on Berk she had assisted healers and even Gothi herself when they were in need for help on such serious and life-threatening wounds. And now, discovering her son had suffered through that as well in his mid-teens, she couldn't help but feel disappointed in herself; for not being there for her son, but instead assisting and calming fellow Berkians back then. She wanted to take back her decision of never leaving the nest, but of course that was impossible. Her eyes stayed on his metal leg for a few more seconds, but in the corner of her eyes she caught sight of a mechanism attached to a dragon tail.
Curiously, she walked over to it; her eyed following the tail up to the dragon, Hiccup's dragon. She bent down and held it up with her hands to examine it. "Did Alvin do this too?" She found herself asking him; a bit of anger showing in her voice. From experience, well not precisely feeling it herself, she had witnessed and healed many amputee wounds on dragons she and her fellow reptiles rescued from one man; her and the dragon's greatest enemy, Drago Bludvist. Her thoughts shattered like a broken mirror when Hiccup spoke up again. Her focus was back to him.
"Heeh, not really." Hiccup laughed nervously. "Crazy thing is that I'm actually the one who…shot him down," Hiccup said awkwardly. "But it's okay though!" Valka looked at him unsure. "He got me back, right bud?" Hiccup placed both his hands on either side of Toothless's head, shaking it up and down. Toothless moaned. "You couldn't save all of me could you? You just had to make it even," He laughed, lifting his prosthetic. "So peg leg!"
"Nice save Hiccup," Tuffnut snickered. Hiccup rolled his eyes, sending him a glare before looking back at Toothless who nudged his hand. He yelped as Toothless lifted him up on his back. Happily, Hiccup scratched Toothless's chin quickly and getting moans from the reptile.
Valka laughed along with the others. Only by the short time they had known and talked with each other, she could see that his son and his dragon had a special bond with one another. Her mind set to one thing as she watched them. She looked at Stoick and the people watching her son and his Night Fury, but noticed there were dragons behind them. Dragons that she had never seen in her nest. On the backs of those dragons were saddles.
"Berk is at peace with the dragons?" The air of laughter and dragon moans silenced and all eyes were on her. She looked at their dragons surprised and even more astonished at her husband.
"Yeah," Hiccup smiled. "After returning from Valhalla, Berk is already at peace. It's amazing how a three hundred year war could end so quickly-
Valka cut him off. She looked at him as if he had gone crazy. "Returning from Valhalla?" Hiccup breathed out through connected teeth with slightly wide eyes.
"Oh…I forgot that part," He chuckled nervously and once again scratched the back of his neck. "Let's just say I didn't exactly survive on Outcast Island…That's where grandpa comes in too. Before he somehow miraculously got me back to Midgard he told me you weren't there," Valka nodded, taking her time to take in the information. "So… that's where I began looking for you."
Valka looked at him shocked. Her son had known for the last five years she was alive. But had Stoick known too? She decided to leave that question behind for later when she would converse with her son and try to catch up on everything that had happened the last twenty years; maybe even sharing some of her own adventures.
The topic of their conversation had been kind of depressing towards Valka when she learned what they had gone through. Her mind kept yelling at her that only if she had come back, she could have convinced them like Hiccup had. And that way they could-…no. The situation couldn't have changed much more. Alvin would still seek revenge on Stoick from their past and Hiccup or herself could have been easily dragged into the center of it.
"What happened to Alvin?" She asked.
"He was defeated by Hiccup after three years of Berk in his hands," Stoick said. He decided to leave the spiritual fight out of it and tell the tale another time. "But that's not important. What's important is that everything is back to normal and we can finally live as a complete family," Stoick smiled warmly, taking her hand in his and looking at Hiccup who slid down from Toothless's back.
Valka nodded with a smile she was sure she hadn't had before. "Come on, we can continue catching up while we eat," Valka said and pulled Stoick towards the opening they came from. She motioned for her dragon to follow before letting go of Stoick's hand and leading them all to the nest's food supply. They entered the tunnel and Valka led them to the opposite corner they came from. She took a small glance back and her eyes met her son's. They smiled warmly and lovingly at each other before she turned back to the path. Her family was finally whole and at peace with what she offered her own lifespan to protect. The dragons of the world they lived in.