Heather had barely finished when Astrid said "no way. It could be a trap."

"Maybe, but she might be afraid of the same thing," Hiccup pointed out. "I'll meet with her alone, but you and Heather can trail me as back-up. Like when I got the twins to follow me that time Viggo roped me into his scheme."

Astrid gave a nod, but Heather said "I can't come. I was visiting my brother when Minden delivered the message, but I've gotta get back to my tribe."

"Oh, right," he acknowledged. "Change of plan. Astrid and Snotlout will come with me as back-up to meet V. We'll head out first thing tomorrow."

"You could have picked anyone, and you chose Snotlout?"

"I know, he's a pain in the ass, but I need to talk with him," said Hiccup. He looked at Heather and said "you can stay on Berk as long as you need. Now if you'll both excuse me, I have some ch- errands to get done." He left the Hall, with Toothless close behind. "Can't believe I nearly said 'chiefing'."

"Hiccup?"

"Gah!" He jumped out of his skin. "Fishlegs, don't do that! I thought you left?"

Fishlegs tapped his fingers together. "Sorry. But listen, there's something I wanna show you. It's on the Dragon Eye," he added, as if to tempt Hiccup.

Unfortunately, it worked. "…Alright, I'm coming." They went back to Fishlegs' house, and he retrieved the Dragon Eye from a chest they were both locked in. Fishlegs set it up and began sorting through various lenses in the chest.

"Atali said this new rider's dragon was strike class, but I've looked at every dragon on that lens and none of them are a Stormcutter," he explained. "There's just Night Furies, Triple Strykes, Snow Wraiths, Woolly Howls and something called Death-Grippers. Those ones seem scary. But the name sounded familiar, and then I remembered where I'd seen it before."

He slotted a lens into the Dragon Eye, adjusted it, and motioned for Toothless to do his thing. The image that appeared was blue, indicating it came from the Sharp Class lens. It was of a large four winged dragon.

"Okay…but I don't really see what the problem is," Hiccup admitted.

"I mean think about it! Stormcutters are in Sharp Class, but why? Yeah, they have sharp spines, but so do a lot of other species," Fishlegs pointed out. "Also, one of the defining features of the Sharp Class is the ability to eject their spines or cut through stuff with just their body parts. Nothing on here says that the Stormcutter can do anything like that. It doesn't make sense."

The discrepancy was rather odd. "Not every dragon fits perfectly into every class," Hiccup said reasonably. "But y'know, when I meet this mysterious new rider, I'll be sure to ask her why she thinks her dragon is strike class."

"Y'know, if Astrid doesn't wanna go with Snotlout, I don't mind taking his place," Fishlegs offered. "I'd really like to meet this other dragon rider too."

"I appreciate the thought, but I need to straighten things out with him, and this way he can't avoid me. Don't worry though; maybe I can convince this new rider to come back to Berk with us, and you can meet them then."

Fishlegs nodded. "That's fair. I should let you get back to chiefing," he noted. "Um, good luck with the mission…and dealing with Snotlout," he grimaced.

Hiccup chuckled. "Thanks, Fishlegs. I'll see you around." He left the house.

/

Stoick wasn't content to stay on bed rest any longer than necessary. By late afternoon he was up and about, and by the next morning he resumed his duties. Just in time for Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout to head off on this new mission. They'd spend a night on Dragon's Edge before going to meet the Wingmaidens and then to the rendezvous point with the mysterious rider.

They set off early, and stopped for a break on Melody Island. "Ugh, this place gives me the creeps," Snotlout complained as they ate their lunch.

"We're not in danger," said Astrid. "Garff and Melody don't live here now."

"Melody?"

"The other Death Song."

"No, I get that," he said, "but why Melody? Why not call her 'Murdery', cos y'know, she wanted to eat all of us?!"

"That's just her nature, Snotlout. She can't help it."

"Oh, I'm sure that would've been comforting when I was getting digested."

"Guys, don't start arguing," Hiccup warned. When they were finished he stood up, looked at Snotlout and inquired "can I talk with you, alone?"

The two of them walked along the beach. "Don't tell me you're still mad about the other day," Snotlout protested when they were out of earshot.

"I'm not mad."

"Well, you - wait. You're not?"

"No, but I am frustrated. I thought we were past all of this boar-headedness."

"Hey, what happened wasn't my fault! I was just helping my dad; and you're the one who said we shouldn't bother you unless it was an emergency."

"I know, I know. It's just…it feels like you think I have it out for you. I don't."

"Well, duh."

"So what is your problem with me?" Hiccup demanded.

"I don't have a problem with you!"

He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Snotlout. We can't keep doing this, butting heads all the time. I want to help, but I can't do anything until I know what's wrong." Hiccup sat down on the beach, leaning back against a rock. He closed his eyes. After a few moments, he heard Snotlout sit down beside him. For a while, neither of them spoke a word.

"D'you remember that time we got stranded on Outcast Island?" he asked.

"Heh, yeah. What about it?"

"We were arguing; I forget what about. But I remember what you said. 'Hiccup's the hero. He trained the dragons, he took down the Red Death'"-

"'He's got the metal leg'," Snotlout finished. "What are you getting at here?"

"We never talked about it after that. Snotlout, are you…jealous of me?"

Snotlout scoffed. "I don't get jealous." Hookfang snorted. "Shut it, you!"

"I won't be mad, if you say yes. I just wanna know why you'd be jealous."

"I'm not - okay, fine, maybe I am jealous. Of everything! Happy now?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Everything. Even this?" He tapped his false foot.

"…Okay, maybe not everything. You can keep the metal leg."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Ugh…I'm jealous because you get everything on a silver platter. Even when you screwed up when we were kids, there weren't any consequences. You got sent to your room. Big deal! You got off scot-free cos you're the chief's son. Then you tamed a Night Fury and took out the Red Death, and suddenly it's all hail Hiccup, Berk's new wonder boy!"

He scowled. "So yeah. I'm jealous because no matter what I do, it'll never be good enough. I can't believe you made me talk about my feelings. Asshole."

Hiccup said quietly, "if there's one thing I know from experience, it's that comparing yourself to others all the time is a quick way to feel worthless."

Snotlout frowned. "What…you mean you feel like that?"

"Not so much anymore," he shrugged, "but I used to. Let me ask you this. What do you want to do with your life? Never mind me or anyone else."

"Sure, put me on the spot, why don't you," Snotlout grumbled, but he fell silent, thinking about it. At last he announced grandly, "I want people to look up to me. To do something great and be given the respect I deserve."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay…but respect has to be earned. You know that, right?"

"You sound like my mother."

"She's a smart woman." Except for the part where she married Spitelout. "I have a couple ideas. Of course, they're not as dramatic as you might hope" -

"Just spit it out."

"Okay, okay. Gobber gets a lot of respect as the blacksmith. It's one of the most important jobs in the village. But I'm not his apprentice anymore, and I know he hired you as an official weapons tester way back when."

"Yeah, to test weapons. Not to make them. I don't know the first thing about blacksmithing!"

"We can teach you," Hiccup offered. "You could be good at it. I mean, you're strong, you're tough, you're used to nearly being set on fire all the time…"

"Ha, ha. Wait, then how are you a good blacksmith? You're a weakling!"

"A weak-? Can I remind you that I once knocked you flat with one punch."

"Oh please. I let you do that."

"Sure you did. Anyway, about blacksmithing. What d'you say?"

Snotlout shrugged. "I'll think about it. So what's this other idea of yours?"

"That one's a bit more complicated," he said, "and it involves Astrid."

"I'll get her." Snotlout yelled, "hey Astrid! Get your butt over here!"

She got up, jogged over, and sat down facing them. "This better be good."

Hiccup explained "okay, first, I want to reorganise the Berk Guard into teams of dragon riders. My uncle Starkard is the current Guard General, and I want that role to pass to you, Astrid, when he retires. So I think you should lead one of those teams…and Snotlout should be your second-in-command."

They both stared at him in disbelief.

"You want Snotlout to be my second-in-command?"

"You want me to take orders from Astrid?"

"Well, when you put it like that…"

Hiccup cleared his throat pointedly. "Guys, please. Hear me out. I know you don't get on, but you can work together. This way, Astrid will be in a position to take over from Starkard, and you'd become the next leader of the team. It'd give you a chance to prove yourself; and you'd have the same role as your dad has in the Guard, so he wouldn't be in a position to complain."

That gave Snotlout pause. "Huh. Wait, so…I don't get it. Do you want me to be a blacksmith, or do you want me to be Astrid's second-in-command?"

"It's not up to me; and you could do both, y'know. It's not like we have an army; everyone does their usual jobs until we get attacked," Hiccup pointed out. "Like I said, it's your choice. But will you consider what I've said?"

Snotlout hesitated, then said "yeah. Okay, I'll think about it."

"Thank you." Hiccup glanced at the shadows. "We should get a move on."

/

They camped out on Dragon's Edge that night, and set off for Wingmaiden Island the next morning. "Welcome back," said Atali. "You must be hungry."

"Yeah, I'm starving. What's for lunch?" Snotlout asked eagerly.

She looked him dead in the eye and calmly replied, "we're having sacred stew." He paled. Other women who were standing nearby all snickered.

Snotlout laughed nervously. "I mean, uh… I'm sure it'll be delicious?"

"Thanks for the invite to lunch, Atali," said Hiccup. "Can you tell us anything else about this new rider? The more I know going in, the better," he added.

As she led them to the food, Atali explained "she's…eccentric. She wears a mask, and she moves oddly. To be honest, it's rather hard to describe her."

"How did you actually meet this person, anyway?" Astrid wondered.

"It was about a decade ago. I was exercising my Razorwhip fledgling at the time, and we'd flown quite a way from home when the weather turned. I knew she wouldn't make it home in a storm, so we took shelter on a nearby island in a cave. The next thing I knew, we had company. Bladewing, bless her, thought the strangers were a threat and tried to protect me from them.

"Then this stranger rattled a staff, the way I'd seen Razorwhip mothers rattle the spines on their tails. It calmed Bladewing. She flew back to me when I whistled, and that's when V noticed me. At first it seemed like she was only interested in my fledgling; I asked who she was, but she wouldn't answer."

Snotlout declared "so she's a masked weirdo who's obsessed with dragons."

Hiccup gave him a not now glare, and prompted "you were saying, Atali?"

"Well, the two of us were stuck in that cave until the storm died off, so we talked. Well, she asked me a lot of questions, but didn't really answer any of mine. Or she did, but in vague ways. I asked her where she came from, for instance, and her answer was that she came from somewhere down south."

Astrid said "but from here, almost everywhere is 'down south'. Did she at least tell you if there were any other dragon riders where she comes from?"

Atali replied, "I asked her if there were others, and she said no. She was quite adamant that she was the only dragon rider in the archipelago. I told her about you, and it really seemed to take her by surprise. Especially when I mentioned that you're all from Berk, and that you're the leader, Hiccup."

He frowned. "Why would she be surprised? We've never even met."

"I have no idea. You'll have to ask her; she wants to meet on that very island. I'll show it to you on a map later," Atali promised him. Hiccup nodded.

"Hiccup, I don't think you should meet this person alone," said Astrid.

He replied "I won't be alone. Toothless will be there, and so will you guys. But if we want this new rider to be an ally, then it's best if we play along, and that means letting her think I've come alone. Trust me, Astrid; I'll be fine." He leaned over and gave her a kiss. Snotlout scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Minden, babe. Can I talk to you?" he asked her.

"Sure." She led him outside again, and inquired "what is it?"

Here goes. "Minden. Mindy. My girl! I was thinking, now that we're not busy fighting dragon hunters all the time, maybe you and I could, y'know, date."

She winced. "Snotlout, that's really sweet, and I'm flattered, but… I don't think it's gonna work out. I can't leave the Wingmaidens; I made a solemn oath to protect these Razorwhips. You can't leave your tribe; they need you."

Jaw dropping, he protested "but - but you kissed me!"

"I know, and I shouldn't have led you on like that. I'm sorry."

He threw his arms up. "Great! Just great. You were supposed to be the one. You're the first girl I've ever had a crush on that's been interested in me!"

Minden sighed. "I really am sorry. I hope we can still be friends."

"Ugh. Women. Why do you all have to be so complicated?" he scowled. She reached out to him, but he moved away. "Forget it. I don't want you to make me feel better about getting rejected, again." He strode inside the building. "I don't wanna talk about it," he snapped, when Hiccup asked what was wrong.

/

Later that afternoon, they flew to the island where V wanted to meet. Before landing, the three of them did a flyover. There were a few wild dragons, but no sign of species that were overly aggressive, and a large mountain. There was also no sign of anyone else waiting for them. Toothless, Stormfly and Hookfang landed in a clearing in front of the entrance to a darkened tunnel.

"Maybe she's not here yet," suggested Astrid.

Hiccup looked into the tunnel, remembering Atali's story. "Or she's in there."

"Don't tell me you wanna go in there alone… of course you do," she sighed.

"You guys stay here," he insisted. "If something happens, Toothless will roar, okay?" Hiccup made to grab Inferno, only to remember he didn't have the flaming sword anymore. "Err…oh!" He picked up a stick. "Toothless?"

A tiny burst of flame set the stick alight, turning it into a torch. Hiccup and Toothless strode into the tunnel, which soon expanded out into a larger cavern. It was filled with stalactites and stalagmites. He lifted the makeshift torch and looked around. Toothless snarled. Hiccup followed his gaze up and gasped. There, clinging to an overhang, was a red-bronze Stormcutter.

He recognised it from the Dragon Eye lens, but it was much bigger than he'd pictured. Crouched on its' - his? - shoulder was a figure in a strange looking helmet, with long twisted 'horns', and a hooked quarterstaff gripped in their hand. As far as he could tell, they were looking at him through a black mesh.

"Err, hello?" he called. "I'm a friend of Atali. My name's Hiccup; are you V?"

With slow, careful movements, the figure hooked the end of their staff onto one of the Stormcutters claws. He lowered it, and they gracefully slid down his wing to the ground. They approached in a half crouch. Toothless curled his tail protectively around Hiccup, fangs bared; only to blink when the strange person reached out a hand, covered in a fingerless clawed gauntlet.

"Look, we don't wanna hurt you," said Hiccup. "I know you understand me."

V - he had to assume it was her - was almost close enough to touch. Her pale hand was still outstretched towards Toothless. He sniffed at her fingers and jerked back, pupils narrowing. "Bud, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked in alarm. Toothless looked between him and V, then gave a gummy smile and nuzzled her palm. He felt more confused by the minute. "You like her, then?"

She stood at her full height; she was a tiny bit taller than him. "Err, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked nervously when she reached to touch his face.

The claws on her gauntlet didn't touch him, but her fingers brushed against his chin. She gasped and recoiled, snatching her hand away as if it were burned, and finally spoke aloud. "It's true…you're really here. My Hiccup."

Her Hiccup? "Um, I don't mean to be rude…but I have no idea who you are."

At first she flinched; then she reached up and removed her helmet, revealing a woman with greying auburn hair, green-blue eyes and high cheekbones. "You wouldn't know. You were only a babe…but a mother never forgets."

His jaw dropped. "You…? No. No, that's not possible. My mum's dead. She was carried off by a…" His gaze was drawn to the Stormcutter. V. Valka.

"Cloudjumper never meant to hurt me," she whispered. "He thought I belonged with them. The dragons…I had to be sure. That scar on your chin."

A memory struck him, one that he didn't even know he still remembered.

"Dad, how come I've got this scar?"

"It's a scratch from the dragon that took your mother from us, son. You're very lucky she tried to protect you, or it would have been much worse."

He stared at her, barely able to make sense of his feelings. "…Mum?" She gave him a tentative smile and a nod. "I don't understand. Why…it's been nineteen years. You're telling me you've been alive this whole time - why didn't you come back? Me, dad, Uncle Magnus, we thought you were dead!"

His mother flinched again. "I thought you were dead," she whispered. "That night…there was a raid. I'm not sure why, but Cloudjumper broke into our house, with you in the cradle. I tried to protect you, but what I saw changed everything. This wasn't a vicious beast; but an intelligent, gentle creature. He didn't try to harm you at all…until I startled him, and he scratched you.

"Then your father attacked him, to defend us both. They were fighting and a fire started. I had to reach you, get you out of the house, but Cloudjumper was in the way. When I tried to make him move…the next thing I knew, he was carrying me away. The last thing I saw was the roof collapsing, right over your cradle," she explained. "It terrified me. I didn't want it to be true."

It seemed like a weak excuse. "So you didn't even think to check?"

"I was scared," she implored him. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm a coward. I was afraid if I came back, you'd be gone, Stoick would've moved on, that they'd kill Cloudjumper…and even if you were still alive, that I'd just get you hurt, or worse, because I couldn't kill dragons. I was weak…" she said.

Familiar words. "I was a coward. I was weak. I wouldn't kill a dragon."

Hiccup swallowed, his throat dry. "It runs in the family," he murmured, giving Toothless a pat. Then he looked at the Stormcutter. "So you're the reason I grew up without a mother. No - don't look at me like that. If you're smart enough to cart her off and not eat her, you're smart enough to know she had a family. You could have taken her home whether she wanted to be or not."

Cloudjumper growled. "Oh, hush," said Valka. "He's right. I should have come home…all this time, you took after me, and I wasn't there for you. I am so, so sorry, Hiccup. Can…can we start over? Will you give me another chance?" she asked, reaching up to caress his cheek. She stopped herself.

Before he could respond, an echoing voice startled them both. "Hiccup?!"

"Sorry!" he winced. "I brought some friends. In case… you weren't friendly."

"Oh. It's okay…you can go see them," Valka encouraged. Toothless didn't have the patience for that, apparently, because he just called out to them. Of course, his roaring was the signal that something was wrong, so Astrid and Snotlout rushed into the cavern with weapons drawn, expecting a threat.

"No, no, guys, it's okay!" Hiccup exclaimed, getting between them and Valka. "It's fine, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong, it's just… yeah, there isn't an easy way to tell you this. So, err, this is V, and turns out she's actually…my mum."

They both stared at him, jaws dropping. Snotlout spluttered incoherently. Astrid pointed at Valka. "That's your mother? Hiccup, your mother is dead."

"Apparently not? At least now we know where I get my dramatic flair…"

"Oh, great!" exclaimed Snotlout, throwing his arms up. "That's just perfect. As if everything else wasn't enough, now your mum is back from the dead!"

"Snotlout, you can't possibly be jealous of this. You know your mum is alive!"

"That's not the point. Where has she even been for the last nineteen years?"

"Good question," Astrid said coolly, folding her arms (she had, thankfully, put the axe down.) "So, where have you been all this time?" she demanded.

Valka explained "there's a dragon nest, far to the north. Ruled over by a kind and great Bewilderbeast…the same species as the egg you found. That's where Cloudjumper took me. We don't always stay there… we tend to move around the edges of the archipelago, rescuing dragons from trappers."

"We were fighting a war against dragon hunters for the last two years," said Hiccup, "but you've been doing the same thing for almost twenty years."

She tilted her head, rather like a curious dragon. "Are you…still upset?"

"Yes. No. Oh, I don't know! I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, to be frank." Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. "It's not every day I find out my mother is some kind of…crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady. Uh, no offence."

Chuckling, she remarked "well, at least I'm not boring. Right?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. "I suppose there is that one specific thing. Oh! Sorry, I haven't even - my bad. Uh, mum?" It felt weird to call her that. "I'd like you to meet my betrothed, Astrid; and our friend Snotlout. You already knew that, I said his name a few seconds ago," Hiccup rambled.

His mother gave another tentative smile. "It's nice to meet you. Are… are you Aslaug's daughter, by any chance?" she asked Astrid, whose eyes widened. "It's just, she was with child when I…the last time I saw her, and she told me that if the baby was a girl, they wanted to name her Astrid."

"Y-yes. That's me, Astrid Hofferson. It's…it's nice to meet you too."

Snotlout declared "I'm sure you remember my father, Spitelout Jorgenson."

Valka nodded. "Yes, I remember. I never liked him" she said bluntly…then she winced. "I shouldn't have said that, should I? Sorry. I haven't been around other humans for…a while. Are those your dragons?" she asked, looking at the Nadder and Nightmare, who had obligingly flamed up to give them more light. Good thing too; Hiccup's arm had been getting tired.

Hiccup replied "Yeah. Astrid rides on Stormfly, and Snotlout rides Hookfang. Oh, and this is Toothless," he added, gesturing to his own dragon. She knelt down and reached out; Toothless eagerly snuggled up to her, purring loudly.

"Oh, he's beautiful," Valka laughed as he coiled around her, a gummy smile on his face. "And retractable teeth! Incredible. I've never seen a Night Fury this close up. However did you manage…" she trailed off, staring at his red tail-fin. "What happened to him? Did a hunter do this?" she demanded.

Her son winced. "You're busted," jeered Snotlout. Astrid elbowed him.

"Um, no, it wasn't a hunter. I kinda…shot him down," Hiccup admitted. "But it's okay! He got me back. Didn't ya, bud?" Toothless bounded over to him. "You couldn't save all of me, you just had to make it even. So, peg leg!"

When she saw his prosthetic, Valka's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, Hiccup."

Before he could say anything, Astrid grabbed Hiccup's hand. "Would you excuse us for a moment?" she asked Valka with a forced smile, pulling him aside. Just inside the tunnel, Astrid said in a low voice, "I don't think we can trust her. This woman shows up out of nowhere and claims to be your long lost mother? Don't you think it's all a bit too convenient?" she demanded.

"I know she's not lying," he insisted. "She really is my mum. I could hardly believe it either; but she knows dad's name, she even knows how I got this scar, the one I've had my whole life." He realised… "Do you not like her?"

Astrid looked uncomfortable. "I dunno. She seems nice, but…Hiccup, she abandoned you. Maybe she was taken against her will at first, but you said it yourself; she's been flying around with that dragon of hers for almost twenty years, and she never bothered to come back and check on you, or Stoick?"

"She was scared," replied Hiccup, "and she knows that's not an excuse. Just before you guys came in, she asked me if I'd give her a second chance. I was going to say yes. I think you ought to do the same. Please, Astrid."

His intense gaze was attractive…and distracting. "Fine," she sighed. "I'm still not sure if I trust her, but I do trust you, so we'll do things your way."

Hiccup smiled gratefully. "Thank you." He gave her a kiss, and they walked back over to the others. Valka was trying to pet three dragons at once, whilst Snotlout regaled her with undoubtedly exaggerated tales of his grand feats.

"Okay then. We'll spend the night on Wingmaiden Island, then head back to Berk," said Hiccup. "Mum, are you uh, looking forward to seeing Atali?"

She fidgeted, looking as awkward as he felt. "Oh…yes. Of course."

"…What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'll come with you, it's just…I'm not sure Stoick will want to see me," Valka admitted. Cloudjumper rumbled quietly, and she stroked his chin.

Hiccup stepped forwards, and held out his hand. "He'll want to. Trust me."

/

Toothless, Stormfly and Hookfang all had saddles. Cloudjumper did not. Valka simply knelt or even stood on his shoulders, balancing with her staff.

"Finally! Someone who's a better rider than Hiccup!" declared Snotlout.

Astrid pointed out "that means she's a better rider than you, as well."

He scoffed. "Oh, please. I could totally ride standing up." To demonstrate, Snotlout proceeded to stand up in the saddle, arms outstretched to keep his balance. "Ha! See? It's not that difficult," he boasted; and nearly fell off.

"Great! Now do it without the safety straps," Hiccup challenged mockingly.

"Yeah, why don't you do it? Oh that's right, you can't," Snotlout jeered.

Valka looked confused. She inquired of Astrid, "are they always like this?"

"Pretty much, yeah!"

Wingmaiden Island wasn't far away. Despite the late hour, Atali was waiting for them. "I assume everything went well?" she asked. "Hello again, V."

"Hello, Atali. It… it's Valka. My real name."

"Turns out she's Hiccup's mum. Crazy, right?"

"Snotlout!"

"What? You never said it was a secret or anything."

"Yeah, cos I thought that went without saying! You can't just - right, I'm swearing you both to secrecy. Neither of you tell anyone about this until I give permission, okay?" Hiccup demanded. They both agreed, Snotlout more reluctantly than Astrid. "Thank you. Uh, sorry about that," he said awkwardly to Atali. "What he said is true, by the way. This is my mum."

The Chieftess of the Wingmaidens blinked, then looked from him to Valka and back again. "I'd be more sceptical, but I can see the resemblance."

Two huts were prepared; Hiccup and Snotlout would share one, so Astrid and Valka could share the other. "Oh, you don't need to trouble yourselves. I can sleep outside with Cloudjumper," declared Valka, stepping closer to her dragon. Atali was insistent, however, so she reluctantly entered the building.

Astrid matter-of-factly stripped down to her smallclothes without looking at Valka, and got into bed. She heard a sniff, but ignored it. The tiny sob that followed soon after was harder to disregard. Astrid looked over to see Valka sitting on the other bed, tears running down her face, hand over her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

Valka flinched. "Oh! S-sorry, Astrid. Don't…don't mind me." She scrubbed at her eyes, which did nothing to stop her crying. "I shouldn't be disturbing you like this. You must be tired. I'll just…" She stood up and made for the door.

"Wait!" Astrid got out of bed, walked over to sit on the edge of Valka's, and patted the spot next to her. The older woman hesitated, then came to sit beside her. "So…I'm guessing you feel bad, for leaving Hiccup," she said.

Sniffling, Valka replied "I know I'm a bad mother. I should have gone back... It just feels so strange. My baby boy is all grown up. He's gone through so much…I should have been there for him, but I thought he was dead - and I was too much of a coward to find out for sure." She wiped her eyes again.

Astrid handed over a cloth. "One of our friends cries a lot. Don't ask. Look, I don't think you should've stayed away so long either…but what's done is done," she said pragmatically. "Instead of regretting the past, be there for Hiccup now…and help keep him alive. I hate to break it to you, but he's kind of disaster prone. Toothless always has to save him from something."

Valka chuckled at that. "Oh, gods. He really did take after me. Thank you; you're very wise." She gave a tentative smile. "So…betrothed, hmm?"

"Yeah," Astrid blushed. "I wish he'd get on with it. Hiccup…he gave me a medallion, as a betrothal gift. He said it was the one Stoick gave to you."

"I remember that; Stoick asked Gobber to make it. He's such a romantic."

"Really? The chief never seemed like the romantic type. Uh, no offence."

"None taken. He used to be; I suppose things will have changed. Mind you, the way we first fell in love was… kind of ridiculous, looking back on it."

Curiosity piqued, Astrid inquired "what happened?"

"So, my brother Magnus was a friend of Stoick's, growing up. They weren't close, but that's how he knew me. He used to be the most eligible bachelor on Berk, for obvious reasons," Valka explained. "Plenty of women, both in the tribe and out, wanted his hand in marriage. He turned them all down.

"Then one day, when I was…eighteen, the Outcasts tried to invade us, led by Alvin the Treacherous. Somehow I wound up fighting them alongside Stoick. I complimented his right hook, he complimented my uppercut… the next thing I knew, we were flirting. With each other. In the middle of a battle."

Astrid giggled. "Now that sounds more like Stoick."

"Doesn't it just? I think until then, he'd only seen me as his friends' little sister. That day I became an equal. Our courtship was a bit rushed; both of our families were eager to see us paired up. But he and I fell in love, and by the next year we were married. The year after that, I gave him a son."

It was romantic. Part of Astrid felt awkward, learning all of this before Hiccup did. "Is it okay if I tell him that story? I understand if you'd rather do it…"

Valka smiled. "I don't mind. But perhaps it's time we tried to get some sleep."

"Oh, yeah, of course." She went back to her own bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Astrid."

/

The next day, after a quick breakfast, the four of them set off for Dragons Edge. Hiccup felt a bit giddy at the prospect of showing off their outpost to his… mother. It was going to take a while to get used to that. On the bright side, it seemed like Astrid had gotten over her reservations about Valka.

"Welcome to Dragons Edge," he declared when they arrived. "Me and my friends made this outpost - with our dragons' help, of course - so we could explore this part of the archipelago without having to worry about getting too far from Berk. Then we started fighting dragon hunters…what d'you think?"

She looked at him and smiled. "I think it looks incredible. But I can only see five of those houses; surely there were more people living on this island."

He shook his head. "Nah, it was mostly the six of us. Me, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They're twins, so they shared that green hut."

"Just the six of you, fighting hunters? But you're" - she cut herself off.

"…Mum?"

"Sorry. I was going to say you're only children, but of course you're not."

"Oh please. We've been kicking butts on our dragons since we were fifteen," boasted Snotlout. "Or fourteen. Whatever. Point is, we aren't new at this."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I feel like you could have worded that better…but yeah, he's right. We have been doing this kind of thing for a while. Um, I guess I should start at the beginning." They sat down in the clubhouse, and he began to explain it all. How he'd grown up as a runt, never fitting in; how much he'd wanted to kill a dragon and finally earn everyone's approval.

He described how he'd shot Toothless out of the sky, but been unable to bring himself to kill the Night Fury. How he'd gradually earned Toothless' trust, and worked to restore his flight, all whilst trying to survive 'training' to fight dragons instead. Astrid volunteered to tell the next part of the story.

She admitted that her competitive nature made her jealous of Hiccup, especially when he was granted the 'honour' of slaying a Monstrous Nightmare. She described her terrifying, then thrilling first flight on Toothless, and how they discovered the nest and the reason behind the dragon raids.

At last, Hiccup explained how he'd tried to show everyone the truth about dragons, only for it all to spiral out of control. He told his mother about the fight with the Red Death, being knocked unconscious, and waking up weeks later to discover that like his dragon, he now had an amputated left limb.

Valka listened to the story patiently, and didn't interrupt. When it was over, she remarked "that tale is worthy of being a saga, I'd say. It's…I trust you, but it's hard to imagine Berk living in peace with dragons. It's even harder to imagine your father living in peace with them. Stoick is rather…intense."

"Oh, don't worry, that hasn't changed," said Hiccup. "But yeah, he changed his mind. They all did. Now almost everyone has a dragon of their own."

"I was wondering," said Astrid. "You love dragons as much as Hiccup, but he was scared of them when we were kids, and then he wanted to um…kill one. Was it the same for you? I mean, did you want to fight dragons before Cloudjumper made you realise they weren't like you thought they were?"

His mother replied "actually, I always hated the war. It seemed so pointless. I thought there had to be a better way than us killing them and them killing us, over and over." She sighed. "But nobody listened to me when I tried to persuade them…and until Cloudjumper came along, I didn't have any proof."

"Then why didn't you come back when you had proof?" Snotlout demanded. "I get that you thought Hiccup was dead and all, but why not just - I dunno, get your dragon to kidnap Stoick too and show him how awesome flying is?"

Valka stared at him, gripping her staff so hard her knuckles whitened. "I…"

Hiccup cut in. "Do you even remember what my dad was like back then? It took seeing the Red Death for himself and me almost dying for him to change his mind. Look, we could argue until Ragnarok about what might have been, but what would be the point, Snotlout?" he challenged firmly.

"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off. I was just saying."

"Ignore him," Astrid told Valka. "He likes to criticise anyone but himself."

"Hey!"

The rest of the journey back was uneventful, thankfully. By the time they reached Berk it was dusk. Stormfly and Hookfang headed straight for the village, but Toothless led Cloudjumper to the cove. "Wait here," said Hiccup. "I'll go get dad." Valka looked anxious, but nodded, so they took off again.

Stoick was sitting in his chair by the fire when Hiccup came in. "Hi, dad."

"Hello, son. How did it go?" he asked. "Did you meet this new rider?"

"Yeah, that's what I was about to tell you. She's here. You should come see her. Right now," Hiccup insisted. "Toothless is getting Skullcrusher."

"Now hang on. He's not even saddled up; and why doesn't this new friend of yours come to me? I'm the chief, for Thor's sake. Who is she, anyway?"

"It's a surprise; but dad, trust me. Unlike most surprises I spring on you out of nowhere, this is one you'll actually like," Hiccup insisted. "Now come on!"

He left the house; with luck his dad would be more curious than stubborn. In the meantime, Hiccup went to put Skullcrushers' saddle on. Only it was too big and heavy. "Give it here," Stoick grumbled, easily lifting it onto his dragons' back, strapping it on and heaving himself up. "This better be good."

Hiccup grinned and mounted up. Toothless landed in the cove first, closely followed by Skullcrusher. For the first time in nineteen years, the chief laid eyes on a dragon and a woman he would never forget, albeit for two very different reasons. Valka clutched her staff in front of her. "H-hello, Stoick."

He dismounted wordlessly and stepped forwards as if in a trance. "I… it's really me. I'm alive," she told him. "And I am so sorry I didn't come back to you, to our son, but I feared he was dead and I thought you'd have moved on without me. I was wrong, I see that now. Oh, don't be so stoic, Stoick. Go on…shout, scream, say something," she begged him, tears in her eyes.

By now he was standing right in front of her. He reached out to caress her cheek, and murmured softly, "you're as beautiful as the day I lost you." The quarterstaff fell from her grasp when he kissed her, beneath the rising moon.