Hey everyone ;)
So sorry to say this, but my update for Riders and Defenders of Berk won't be until next week. I'm sorry. But it's just that I'm going on a 3 day retreat with my classmates next week and I haven't finished Heather Report Part II yet. Don't worry, I'll update it next week.
In the meantime, here's an update for HTTYD 2. Enjoy ;)
Note: I do NOT own HTTYD (both the films and series).
Chapter 8: My Best Friend's Mother
When we were flying on our dragons, I suddenly had a feeling that when Valka meant by 'feeding time' she meant feeding time for the dragons. I patted Stryka's side gently and watched along with Hiccup at the multitude of dragons joining us outside the Dragon Sanctuary.
"Hey, I-I thought we were going to eat!" Hiccup called out to his Mom. Valka, who was such a great Dragon Rider that she practically stood bareback on Cloudjumper, swooped over to us. "Oh, we are!" she replied, holding out her hand and directing our gazes down to the water.
Massive two-headed Tidal Class dragons, called Seashockers, were circling around a huge school of fish like a pod of dolphins. All of a sudden, the Bewilderbeast breached the surface of the water and scooped all the fish up into his mouth and spat them out before going back into the water!
"Holy Shields, it's raining fish! Now I've seen everything!" I laughed along with Valka while Hiccup just looked around in open-mouthed amazement. Dragons immediately began to swoop and fly all over the place, snapping up whatever fish they could get.
Toothless and Stryka looked at us hopefully. Smiling, Hiccup and I gave them an affirmative nod. The two of them practically went into a double power dive to have their bellies filled! Stryka was polite enough to eat her catch one at a time while Toothless, had his mouth stuffed with fish.
Stryka gave a slight scolding warble to Toothless, who merely swallowed all the fish in one gulp and gave her an innocent puppy dog look. "Oh, Toothless…" I chuckled as feeding time soon ended and Valka, Hiccup and I landed our dragons on a snowy peak.
Hiccup immediately took out his map and showed to his mother all the incredible places he had discovered. "And then from Dragon Island, I found this archipelago…" he managed to say before I nudged him to look at his Mom. Valka was using her staff to draw a much larger map in the snow. "There." She pointed to the drawing that matched her son's. "Wow…" Hiccup breathed out in awe. "Whoa…That's almost as big as my map!" I remarked, taking out a copy of the map Stryka and I had used for our travels.
"Oh, I've been to that one…And Cloudjumper and I found some rather useful medicinal plants here…" Valka told me. I was amazed at how Valka had explored almost half of all the lands in my map. "You definitely have the whole world open up to you when you're on the back of a dragon, that's for sure." I smiled at Valka along with Hiccup before we both frowned in confusion as Toothless and Stryka then proceeded to draw on Valka's snow map with icicles in their mouths.
Valka chuckled lightly at our two Night Furies' antics and me and Hiccup laughed out loud when we saw Cloudjumper do a 180 degree head turn to watch them. And in the end, the icicles got stuck to their tongues and the three of us Dragon Riders had to be very careful in pulling them icicles off of Toothless and Stryka's tongues.
Oh, what would we do if we didn't have our two best dragon friends and their silly antics?
Also, Valka introduced me and Hiccup to all the dragons in the Sanctuary. There's Gruff, the blind Hobblegrunt I had comforted earlier, the baby Scuttleclaws, who listen to no one, Snafflefangs, Raincutters, Tidegliders and so much more. Hiccup, Toothless, Stryka and I made so many new friends! And I got to learn some new recipes for salves and brews to cure dragon illnesses from Valka as well as show my doctor skills in treating some injured dragons.
"Alright, big boy. You're all good." I grinned, petting a Tideglider who had gotten a shard of ice stuck in its side, which I had carefully removed and disinfected the wound. "You have a gift, Zen. A great gift." Valka told me. "Thank you, Mrs. Valka." I smiled, deciding to be a bit formal in addressing her.
Hey, she is my best human friend's mother.
The highlight of the day occurred late in the afternoon. Valka had taken us to some high cliffs with wild thermal drafts coming from down below. Dragons were hurling themselves off the cliffs to let the hot air pouch under their wings and carry them aloft. Hiccup and I had a blast with Toothless and Stryka!
"This is so much fun!" I yelled over the howling wind. "Woohoo!" Hiccup hollered. And then, Valka impressed us all the more by walking lightly from one dragon to another. She walked across Toothless and lovingly ruffled Hiccup's shaggy brown hair before lightly crossing over to me and Stryka and gently brushed my bangs behind my ear. I couldn't help but smile happily. Valka was just so sweet and motherly that I almost saw her as my second Mom. Joining her up higher into the air, Hiccup and I enjoyed the view.
"Oh, when I'm up here, I don't even feel the cold. I just feel…" Valka said before Hiccup and I finished her sentence for her. "Free." We both said, looking at each other and grinned. Valka smiled and took a deep breath of the cool, crisp arctic air. "This is what it is to be a dragon, Hiccup and Zenna!" she told us happily.
I then saw Hiccup sit up a bit straighter on the saddle. I rolled my eye. I knew what was coming next. "It's all well and good to call yourself a dragon, but can you fly?!" he asked, loudly proclaiming the last word as he then jumped off of Toothless. "It's okay, Ms. Valka…He's…sort of practiced." I said upon seeing Valka gasp in fear before I decided to follow Hiccup down too.
"Ha, ha, woohoo!" "Waaahooo!" Hiccup and I yelled as we opened our wings and glided through the air. At one point, we flipped ourselves over to find our flying companions no longer up above us. Then they promptly reappeared by our sides. Valka was beaming at us proudly and in awe.
"Woooohoooo!" Hiccup and I hollered as we flipped ourselves back to normal gliding position and enjoyed our solo gliding. But, of course, flying troubles happened once again.
This time, we were headed straight for a snowy mountain peak and we couldn't stop!
"Mayday again!" I shrieked. "Ah! Oh no! Ahhh!" Hiccup shouted in alarm before Toothless and Stryka caught us in their wings. We barely missed hitting the mountain, flew through a narrow hole and rocketed down into the snow. Once our dragons had opened their wings, Hiccup and I popped out of the snow, all dusted in white powder.
"We still need to work on our landing." I deadpanned. Hiccup, on the other hand, was pumped. "Ha! Woohoohoohoo, man almost. We just about had it that time." He whooped as Toothless sneezed the snow off of his face. Stryka had the grace to give him a lick before shaking the snow off of her. I then laughed when Toothless swung his tail and knocked Hiccup off his feet.
"How's that snow taste, Hicc?" I giggled as Valka landed and sprinted over to us. "Oh, incredible." She breathed out, inspecting Hiccup's flight suit in amazed fascination. "Well, not bad yourself." Hiccup smiled as his mother's hand then gently cupped his right cheek.
I looked on as Hiccup tenderly leaned into his mother's touch, something I'm sure he had been wanting to experience for a long time.
"All this time, you took after me…" Valka said, gently touching her dear son's face before her expression saddened. "And…where was I?" she said softly. I could tell that she felt guilty for having missed out on 20 years of Hiccup's life. But of course, I didn't blame Valka…and I'm pretty sure Hiccup didn't have any hard feelings for her. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup…Can we start over? Will-will you give me another chance?" she asked Hiccup. And even if he didn't say anything, the look on his face meant that all was forgiven.
"I-I can teach you and Zenna all I've learned these past 20 years. Like…" Valka said, going over to Toothless and Stryka. What she did next surprised me and Hiccup. She gently massaged them both on one special spot on their necks…and the back spines split!
"Wow." "Holy Shields." Hiccup and I said in amazement. "Now, you two can make those tight turns." Valka told our two best dragon friends.
Toothless and Stryka bounded over to us, their tongues hanging out of their mouths in excitement. "Did you know about this?" Hiccup asked Toothless, who happily clapped his spines together. Then, Stryka decided to reveal her little secret to Valka. "Zzzenn, lwook! Nuueeww ssppiiaanness! Lwook awt mwee! Whheee!" she warbled as she took off and flew about, perfecting sharp turns every single time.
"I can definitely see them, girl. Now, what do you say to Ms. Valka?" I smiled at her when she had landed. Stryka then faced Valka and crooned, "Thwank Ywou, Misss Vawlkwa…" toothless gums showing in her wide grin.
"Odin's ghost…" Valka said in amazement. "She's been practicing on her own. She taught herself human speech all by herself." I said proudly. Toothless warbled proudly in agreement with me. Valka took a minute to look at me, Hiccup, Toothless and Stryka before smiling proudly at us.
"Your bond with each other is the strongest I've ever seen. I'm so proud of you four." She told us, beaming. "Well, to be honest, we still have a lot to learn. And I'm pretty sure you know more about the dragons than we do, Ms. Valka." I replied modestly while Hiccup and I watched Toothless and Stryka play in the snow.
"Every dragon has its secrets. And, I'll show them all to you two." Valka said and looked at Hiccup fondly. "We'll unlock every mystery, find every last species together, as mother and son." She told him as I watched Toothless and Stryka burrow through the snow before bursting out of it in front of Cloudjumper, who promptly dumped some more snow onto their heads.
Upon hearing Valka's words however, I felt slightly troubled. Was Hiccup going to stay here? Would he rather be with his mother far, far away from Berk instead of sooner or later rising to the position of Chief? What about his Dad and Astrid? I felt kind of worried. Whatever decision my best human friend made, I vowed that I would always stand by him. But if he chose to stay here…did that mean I have a duty to remain here with him as well and not see my family again? I wasn't so sure…
I chose to talk to Hiccup about this matter later in private and listened to the conversation between him and his Mom. "This gift we share, it bonds us. This is who you are, son. Who we are." Valka told Hiccup, who perked up at his mother's words. 'That is true. I'll have to agree with her on that…' I thought, smiling to myself. I knew Hiccup really well and I knew that his whole life is dedicated to Toothless and the dragons.
"We will change the world for all dragons. We will make it a better, safer place!" Valka said, delighting Hiccup to no end. "Yeah! That sounds…amazing!" he said, looking a bit overwhelmed but happy nonetheless. And when Valka hugged him…well, I've never seen my best human friend that glad to be hugged. But, of course, it was his Mom hugging him for the first time in twenty years after all. My heart melted at this touching moment. Oh, if we can just convince Valka to come back to Berk with us then Hiccup will finally have his whole family back. And imagine how the people of Berk will rejoice at the return of the Chief's wife!
"Ah, this is so great! Now you, Zenna and I can go talk to Drago together." Hiccup said to his Mom. Valka looked surprised at his suggestion. "What? There's no talking to Drago." She said, petting Cloudjumper. "You know him, Ms. Valka?" I asked. "I do, Zenna. And he's a complete madman. The maddest of the lot, in fact." Valka nodded. "But, we have-" Hiccup managed to say before his mother said, "No, we must protect our own."
'That sounds a lot like what Stoick would usually say…' I thought as Valka called to us, "Come on, we should be getting back."
Hiccup and I stood there for a minute to try and process all our thoughts when we vaguely registered our two Night Furies excited pants as they clapped their newly split spines, eager to try them out. Hiccup and I obliged them a flight, where we began to debate.
"Since your Mom's against talking to Drago, Hiccup, then maybe we should forget about talking some sense into him. He sounds like he's really bad news." I suggested politely. "We can't just give up when we haven't tried, Zenna." Hiccup pointed out. "I know, but…well, maybe we really shouldn't try. It could be dangerous." I advised him. Hiccup sighed deeply. "I know I can do this, Zen. I'll show to Drago that dragons can bring people together. And…maybe after him, you and I can try changing…" he then trailed off before looking at me with concern. I knew what he wanted to say, and I just really didn't want to be reminded of what had happened earlier on the god forsaken ship. "I know what you're trying to tell me, Hiccup. And I really don't want a reminder of the heartache I've been through so let's not talk about it anymore." I said flatly. But then I changed my mind when I saw the hurt in Hiccup's emerald green eyes.
"I mean…can we at least change the subject?" I asked quietly. Hiccup nodded and waited for me to speak again. "Hiccup, are you thinking of living here with your Mom?" I began. "Well, we do have a lot of catching up to do…" he shrugged. "Then what about your Dad? And Astrid? Are you willing to leave the two of them and Berk behind? What about your birthright to become the next Chief? Are you willing to give up all of that to be with your mother?" I asked him carefully. Hiccup blinked at me in surprise and remained silent for a moment. Then, he looked at me. "I don't really want to be Chief yet, Zen. But I do want my family to be reunited again and I want Astrid to meet Mom. So…you think you can help me in convincing her to come back home with us?" he asked me. I instantly brightened up at his words. "I'm always ready to help you, Hicc. Okay?" I grinned. "Okay." Hiccup grinned right back and we quickly went back to the Sanctuary to spend the night.
In the Dragon Sanctuary, as night began to fall, I played with the dragons and practiced some moves with my Fire Staff. But, then, I decided to name it Ember. For me, Fire Staff suddenly sounded way too obvious and Ember sounded a whole lot cooler. All the while, Hiccup and his mother talked and talked and talked while I practiced down below close to the Bewilderbeast's pool. Then at one point, I managed to hear a bit of their conversation.
"She had a childhood sweetheart?"
"Yeah…I just found out about it today…I would have liked the guy if he wasn't a trapper, Mom…"
"A trapper?"
"A Dragon trapper."
I stopped practicing when I heard that. Did Hiccup really have to tell that to his Mom? It kind of felt like a violation of privacy. But, I decided to eavesdrop a bit.
"One of Drago's hired men, perhaps…Did she know?" I heard Valka's say worriedly. "She didn't. And when she tried to find out why, he wouldn't even look at her. I was shocked, Mom. Zenna had actually waited for this Eret guy almost her whole life and he didn't even try to find her. I'd like to go try change his mind about the dragons as well…But after what he did to Zenna…I don't really like him that much now." Hiccup's voice said next.
"Eret? Zenna's sweetheart is that cocky trapper?" I heard Valka ask in surprise. Then, I heard her sigh sadly. "You know him, Mom?" Hiccup asked curiously. "I do, son…And I pity him greatly." Valka replied.
'Pity? She's been rescuing dragons trapped by Eret and she pities him?' I thought to myself in shock. Apparently Hiccup was thinking the same thing for he asked, "Why would you pity him? You've been saving dragons from his traps. Isn't he one of the bad guys?" Valka's voice answered, "Circumstances made him do all of that, Hiccup. If it's alright with Zenna, I'd like to tell her that."
That's when I decided to get a lift to where Hiccup and Valka were. I decided not to tell them that I heard part of their conversation and pretended to be tired. "Man…I'm beat. And it must be getting late. We should probably get to bed." I fake-yawned, stretching to emphasize my point.
Valka had already prepared two beds for me and Hiccup and Toothless and Stryka curled up next to us. I saw Valka smile as I decided to cuddle close with Hiccup. "Hey, Hicc…you think you can sing me that old lullaby of yours?" I asked hopefully. Hiccup smiled at me gently and softly began to sing…
Have no fear my dear
For I am right here
Close your eyes and sleep
Dream and do not weep
I actually began to feel sleepy as Hiccup sang to me. I felt his arms gently wrap around me in a loving embrace and I smiled, closing my eye. I had really missed that lullaby he had first sung to me when I was severely depressed in the wake of Elias' death.
In my arms you're safe and warm
I'll protect you from all harm
Have no fear my dear
For I am right here
"Sweet dreams, my son…and daughter." I heard Valka say softly before I fell into a deep slumber…
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