Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or Riders of Berk.


Chapter 3:

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Hiccup called back. Eret let out an affirmative noise, still clinging tightly to the Nadder. Luckily, the poor dragon didn't seem to mind, only flicking its head every so often before settling down amongst the clouds. Following them were the other dragons.

"We're going to pass my base island soon," Eret shouted. "And they came from this direction!"

Hiccup nodded, and turned back to keep an eye out. It wasn't long before they caught sight of a small island down in the ocean, covered by large fractals of ice, protruding from the centre in a bizarrely beautiful arrangement. "Is that it?" He asked, squinting.

Toothless gave an uncomfortable growl.

Hiccup patted him on the side. "I know, bud. Don't worry. Hopefully we don't have to fight."

Toothless nodded.

"That's it!" Eret called out from behind, having not heard what they said.

"How recent was the last attack?" Hiccup called.

Eret shrugged as well as he could. "A couple of week ago? They come by pretty frequently ever since they discovered our location to free any dragons we could find."

"Wait," Hiccup called, stopping. He glanced over at the Nadders. "Nadders are good trackers. Maybe we can get one of them to lead us to the other dragons."

Eret scoffed. "Do you really think they understand?"

Hiccup frowned. "You'd be surprised." With that, he guided Toothless down to the wrecked island, where splintered wood and twisted metal served as garish decorations for the explosion-shaped ice. As they got closer, Hiccup took the opportunity to get a closer look. The ice was still solid, and didn't show any sign of melting. Strangely though, the ice didn't come from above. It seemed like it came from…below.

"I suppose a dragon as large as that would be too heavy to fly?" He tried. Toothless shook his head, clearly as confused. "This is still a lot of damage though."

"They were trying to kill us," Eret scowled, tripping over the Nadder's wings and landing headfirst into the ground. He quickly leapt up and dusted himself off.

"I don't think so," Hiccup said slowly. He looked around the island. "I mean, maybe? But look at those over there." He gestured to where several trap machines had been destroyed, and then to the other side, where there were cages strewn across the ground, its metal badly warped by dragon fire. "It looks like their priority was freeing the dragons. Like you said, they really organised."

Eret huffed.

"To work," Hiccup decided, straightening up. The Nadder's head also straightened upon catching sight of Hiccup, and she let out a happy trill. Hiccup grinned and patted her head, allowing her to nuzzle his shoulder for a few seconds before gently guiding her to one of the cages. "Can you find us the other dragons, girl?"

Toothless let out a croon that sounded similar to a request.

The Nadder let out a screech, and then began sniffing around the cages. Several of the other Nadders landed nearby, and jogged over to join in the hunt.

Meanwhile, the Monstrous Nightmare remained by itself at the corner of the island, preening itself and occasionally setting itself on fire whenever it caught sight of the ice. Eret jumped backwards to protect himself, but otherwise remained surprisingly still, letting the Nadders do their work.

"How did you get into the trapping business?" Hiccup asked casually.

Eret glanced at him. "I didn't think you would be interested."

Hiccup shrugged. "I mean, you did seem to like the dragons," he pointed out. "You accepted too quickly for someone who spends his whole life capturing them. Besides, someone who captures them instead of killing them is always better off in our books."

"Our? Oh, you mean the Night Fury."

Hiccup grinned. "We're a package deal."

Eret gave a small chuckle. "I can see that."

"Well?"

Eret shrugged. "I'm from further south," he said quietly. "And trapping was the best way to go. Capturing beasts and making them fight was one of our only means of entertainment, so anyone who was good at it could make a fortune. Then I got here, and it was capturing dragons. And since I was the best at what I did…"

"You decided to be the best at capturing dragons," Hiccup finished.

Eret nodded a little ruefully. "I mean, not a lot of other competitors here. And Drago paid pretty well…when he wasn't mad and you did what he asked."

Hiccup nodded thoughtfully.

"You're surprisingly calm with this," Eret noted.

"Well, we used to kill dragons for a living, so capturing's a little better," Hiccup hummed. "Though I'm not too sure about forcing dragons to submit to your will and building a dragon army."

Eret's smile was small. "I guess."

The Nadder suddenly turned and headed back to them, closely followed by one or two. The remainder immediately took flight, with the Monstrous Nightmare perking its head up in interest; after a moment of deliberation, the dragon took off after them.

"It looks like they found something," Hiccup straightened and hurried over to Toothless, sliding onto his saddle easily. He glanced at Eret. "You coming?"

Eret sighed and nodded.

Hiccup grinned. "Come on, it'll be fun."


"You said it was going to be fun," Eret grumbled as somehow managed to cross his arms. Hiccup shrugged, happily gliding along beside them with Toothless. Finding the dragon flock had taken a little while, but eventually they came across a flurry of them, swimming together as fish spewed out of the ocean.

The dragons had immediately dived for it, and Eret - inexperienced as he was - had fallen off after a particularly vicious tug of war between his Nadder and another dragon belonging to the flock.

Hiccup had urged Toothless to catch him - albeit with a lot of cajoling from his end and grumbling from Toothless' end. In the end though, Toothless still escaped with a sizeable quarry that he ingested at once.

"It is," Hiccup said. "We're following these dragons back to their lair. Hopefully their leader is back there."

"You mean the ice spitter?" Eret rolled his eyes. "Are you going to put your hand against its head and somehow bring it under your command."

"I was kinda hoping their human leader would be there to translate," Hiccup said. "But failing that, Toothless can help us with that, right bud?"

Toothless gave an obliging growl.

"See? We've got everything handled."

"Handled?!" Eret demanded. "Are all your plans like this?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Basically. Besides, if our plans weren't like this, we wouldn't have saved you."

Eret was silent for a moment. "…duly noted."


"We did good today, didn't we, Cloudjumper?" Valka stroked her dragon's head, smiling as he nodded solemnly, amber eyes glinting with wisdom beyond her understanding. He turned and trilled at some of the smaller dragons, chasing them off from Valka's living area; they had yet to understand the concept of personal space.

"There are still a lot more we have to do though," Valka sighed. They had just released another group of dragons from the islands that were further east. Closer to…

She sighed again.

Closer to Berk.

She had avoided hearing any news about it, knowing that any sign of danger would have her leaping on her dragon and making her way over without thinking twice. And that was something she couldn't do no matter how much she wanted to.

Besides, she had other problems at hand. Drago was expanding his army and his reach, and it was all Valka could do as the lone human in the ice sanctuary to organise the dragons and release any she could before he got his horrible hands on them.

They had taken care of that dragon trapper and his fort, but maybe she should take another round?

She could wait until the other dragons came back to fortify the sanctuary, and then with the Bewilderbeast's blessing, she could go and see what Drago had been up to recently.

Nodding to herself, Valka reached for her helmet and her staff. The dragons should be on their way back soon, and once they got back, then she'll take off again. Cloudjumped nudged her affectionately, then quietly followed her out of her cave.


"Wow," Hiccup breathed out in awe as he stared around the…sanctuary? It seemed the right word…the sanctuary that they had just landed in. Dragons of all sorts flew around, creating a flurry of colour that was only penetrated by gleaming sunlight, refracting on the ice crystals that protected them from the outside world.

Squawks sounded from every corner, and Hiccup couldn't help the smile that formed when he saw a few baby dragons - head oversized and claws too big for their body - fluttering around erratically as they tried to master the art of flying.

"This is amazing," he whispered. "I've never seen anything like it. What about you, bud?"

Toothless shook his head, glancing around in the same awe that his rider currently had. Eret was also looking around, having given up on sulking for the time being.

The myriad of colours and sounds was too inviting, too fresh and exciting, to sulk over. "No wonder we couldn't find it," Eret murmured. "It was hidden so well."

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded. He shook his head to snap himself out of his reverie. "C'mon, let's see if we can find out who's in charge here. Bud?"

Toothless nodded, and then launched them near some cliffs where he could put Eret down.


Just as Valka was ready to head out, smile already spreading at the thought of seeing the flock of dragons she and her sanctuary had rescued, Cloudjumper's head suddenly snapped up. His eyes narrowed and he let out a menacing growl.

"Cloudjumper?" Valka asks, instantly alert. "What is it?"

Cloudjumper twists his head to look at her. Intruders.

Valka immediately leapt on her dragon and let him bring her out. She couldn't risk anyone bringing harm to the dragons she had so painstakingly saved, and who were still recovering from the bulk of human cruelty.

But there was a little voice nagging from the back of her head.

Humans couldn't get here, not on their own. The only way they could was through dragons, and she had not heard any sounds of danger. If it were Drago, the only person she knew who was capable of using dragons, the dragons would immediately react to the danger; the Bewilderbeast wouldn't even have led the flock back here when danger was afoot.

That meant a third party.

Valka swallowed. This could either be very good or very bad. She longed for her dragon mask and staff, where she could hide behind the semblance of a dragon and the idea that she was one of them.

In many ways, Valka was one of her sanctuary; the King even regarded her as one of its inhabitants. But there was always an otherness that she felt, that even Cloudjumper and the other dragons she saved couldn't fully soothed. It was the same part of her that occasionally longed for Berk - longed to see her husband again, see her son again…

Was Stoick still alive? Still killing dragons with pride and running the village despite the crippling dragon attacks that she could never understand?

And what of Hiccup? Had he grown up strong and fierce like Stoick? Killing dragons with a fearsome grin, ruling the village in the same way as his father?

Cloudjumper let out a concerned trill from beneath her.

"I'm okay, Cloudjumper," Valka says, clearing her head of such thoughts. As more and more time had gone on, her rumination of home had only become stronger and stronger; nowadays, only Cloudjumper could get her to snap out of it.

She couldn't worry about it now. There was a possible intruder in the sanctuary, and she had to deal with it before the other dragons had to.

It wasn't long before Cloudjumper made his way to where the dragons had emerged from their lunch. Besides one or two cliff-faces that hung over the entrance (which, will well-position stalagmites, hid their sanctuary), there was little vegetation or rocks around this area. As a result, no dragons roamed around this corner.

"Where are they?" Valka murmured.

Cloudjumper suddenly cocked his head to the side and dove underneath one of the cliffs, revealing a small cave carefully hidden underneath it.

From inside, they could hear voices.

"-ly? You came all the way here, on a Nadder, and you're skipping out now?" The voice was a little nasally, exasperation drenching the tone.

"Didn't you see the thing?" Another voice said. Their accent was foreign - maybe further south? "That thing was massive! It would eat us for breakfast!"

"Dragons don't eat humans," the other voice pointed out.

"And you know this, for a fact?" The second voice challenged.

A barely noticeable hesitation before they tried again, only to be cut down by the second voice, crowing triumphantly.

"I knew it! You don't know, do you?"

"Look, Toothless and the other dragons only ever eat fish or chicken, okay?"

"Yeah, well, your Night Fury and the other dragons aren't the size of a small island!"

Night Fury? Valka straightened. She quietly slid of Cloudjumper's back and made her way into the cave, Cloudjumper hot on her heels and equally silent.

Just as they were about to reach a clearing, the first voice suddenly stopped. "Toothless? Bud, what's wrong?"

A growl.

The Night Fury.

"What's going on with him?" The second voice asked.

"Someone's coming," the first voice hissed back. Then, louder, "whoever's there, we come in peace! We don't want to fight!"

Valka blinked.

The other voice seemed equally stunned. "What was that?!"

"It's true," the first voice said. "Besides, we need their help to get Berk back."

"There is no we about that. I don't even care about Berk. Never been there."

"Yeah well, Berk is your best bet if you want to escape Drago," the first voice said firmly. "Now shut up while I figure out who's out there."

Valka, bemused though she was, sobered at the mention of Berk and Dragon. Who were these people?

Taking a deep breath, she rounded the corner, emerging in a small clearing. The Night Fury (an actual Night Fury!) growled at her from near the back of the cave, flaring its wings high in an attempt to assert its dominance.

Cloudjumper recoiled at the stance, and immediately did the same.

"Toothless, stop," the first voice said, shoving one of the dragon's wings down. "We don't want to start a fight."

As the wing came down, albeit with a lot of grumbling from the dragon, Valka finally got a clear look at who the voice belonged to. Brown hair, green eyes, an abundance of freckles scattered over his face. The person suddenly jerked his head up as the Night Fury tried again to lift his wing and push him back protectively.

The lighting in the cave was not as bright as Valka had hoped, but it was still bright enough for her to catch a glimpse of the boy as his head jerked backwards.

A scar. A tiny scar on the chin, healed but still there, and Valka was brought back to the past, to a screaming child in the cradle, to the gentle coos as Cloudjumper raised a curious claw at the small baby nestled safely in the covers. At the cradle which gave a jerk and left a scratch on the child's chin.

"Hiccup?" Valka breathed, voice watery and weak.

That…that can't be right. Her Hiccup wasn't still so small. So young. Her Hiccup was supposed to be big and strong, like Stoick. He was supposed to kill dragons and rule over Berk, not shove his Night Fury's protective wing away with the ease and familiarity of a friend.

How? Had her memories been distorted? How long had she been here, truly?

"Do I…know you?" Hiccup asked cautiously. His dragon seemed even more suspicious now, baring its teeth.

"No," Valka murmured, her inadequacy and questions suddenly flooding back to her. All of her insecurities, all of her longings for home but her repellence for home and the notion of dragons being killed needlessly. But…

But.

Was this a sign?

Returning her child to her after so long, just when she had started to sink into the despair of her thoughts and longings?

"But a mother never forgets," she whispered.


Eret does not know what is going on. All he knows is that the second that the lady stopped speaking, she had beckoned to them, slid aboard her dragon, and left. Hiccup had followed her, and when Eret had made no move to follow him, had had Toothless grab onto him in a move reminiscent of the one they had done earlier when travelling to this place.

Was it bad that Eret was getting used to being carried around by a dragon?

Anyways, Hiccup followed the woman across the sanctuary, through the flocks of dragons who either ignored them or cooed curiously, and then finally landed outside a cave that looked well lived-in. While Eret struggled to his feet, Hiccup was already inside the cave with Toothless as a silent bodyguard.

Normally, Eret would be going on. He doesn't want to be left out here, with these strange dragons who were getting bolder and bolder by the minute. His Nadder had fled the moment they landed, and she and her small group of Nadders had disappeared into the colourful cloud that was the dragons in this sanctuary.

Toothless was the only one who remained, which meant that with Eret out here, he was virtually defenceless.

But Hiccup had been kind to him. Had made conversation and rescued him, and even though he had wanted information, that was still worth something in a region that had been laid waste to dragon conquerers and leaders claiming one part of the region themselves.

And if this was Hiccup's mother?

Well. Eret had been trapping dragons from since he could walk, and he had known the existence of this flock - and their masked leader - for many years. That meant that Hiccup had not known his mother in that same space of time.

Maybe it's a longing for his own parents, or maybe it's a small part of him which was still optimistic for a happy ending of some sort. But he sat himself down outside the mouth of the cave, stared up at the dragons who soared happily in the ice-covered sanctuary, and waited.