The boy was stubborn, that was something Valka had learned early on. When Cloudjumper had finally returned them to their home, Valka had rushed the freezing boy into the cave they shared with Cloudjumper.
The boy had a mild case of hypothermia, had he been left out on that raft for any longer he might have gotten severe frostbite, but luckily for the mysterious child he had been found by them. It hadn't been too hard to get the boy warm when she had Cloudjumper spit a couple of fireballs on the ground near the boy to keep him warm. Though the boy seemed to be fighting off his sickness with surprising speed.
Valka had immediately rushed towards the small cache of herbs she had gathered before hand, in the off chance she or Hiccup had been injured or got a fever. When she had been a Viking back on Berk, she spent most of her time exploring the thick forests that surrounded the tiny wooden village and Gothi, the village elder, would tell her which herbs would heal a fever, fight off infections, or kill you. Luckily she remembered what the wise elderly woman had taught her over the years, though she had never been a healer she did have a knack for remembering which herb would fight off the common cold (which on Berk was likely to kill you before you could so much as sneeze), what could be used for burn ointments (another necessity on Berk where they were subject to dragon raids), and to fight off infections.
Cloudjumper was curled at the boy's side, one of his smaller secondary wings wrapped around the boy's body like a warm, leather blanket. Color was slowly retuning to the boy, but Valka knew that the boy would most likely have a fever when he would wake up.
"Hiccup, could you grab me those herbs over there, the ones with the rounded leaves? Oh, and grab me some dragon nip from outside," Valka asked her son as she warmed up a pot of water.
Valka's son hurried over and grabbed the right leaves before scurrying off to the cliffs where dragon nip grew in abundance. When he returned Valka had already mashed up the herbs and soon quickly mashed up the dragon nip before brewing it in the warm water. Grabbing a bowl carved from stone, Valka quickly poured the medical tea and rushed over to the unconscious and freezing child.
She had noticed one interesting thing about the boy they had rescued, and that was the tattoos on his chin. They were dark blue and looked tribal, though it looked nothing like a tattoo from a Viking culture, perhaps he really was a merchant, or rather a merchant's son. Valka remembered that merchants often had their children with them when they went on voyages, such as Trader Erik and his young son Johan when they had traded with Berk.
She tilted his chin upwards and slowly poured the medical tea in his mouth, helping him swallow so he wouldn't choke. She had put the dragon nip into the tea to help the boy sleep restfully, to help him get through most of his fever without him having to be unconscious. It wouldn't do good for the boy to wake up when Valka or Hiccup were asleep and wandered the tunnels, either getting lost or running into a sleeping dragon. Of course none of their dragons would hurt him, but the boy obviously wouldn't know that.
Hiccup was crouched by the boy who was sleeping where Hiccup himself usually slept with his mother, he was frowning at the boy though anyone could see the fascination as he looked at the first human being besides his mother at a closer distance. "When will he wake up?" he asked her curiously as he looked at his mother.
Valka looked at the sleeping boy with a light frown, "I don't know, Hiccup. I gave him some dragon nip to help him sleep, but he will wake up when he's ready to wake up. Just be patient."
Hiccup scowled at that, crossing his arms with an agitated huff. Hiccup hated waiting because it took forever.
"I'm hungry," he declared as he felt his tummy rumble. "Can I go get something to eat, Mama?"
Valka looked up from where she was mashing up more herbs for more tea, "Only if Cloudjumper goes with you. I don't want you wandering off in the tunnels, it's almost time for bed." She said as Cloudjumper perked his head up at the mentioning of his name.
Hiccup looked up at her with pleading eyes, "But I wanna explore!" He stressed the last word with a pleading tone, eyes widened with tears as he tried to use his adorableness to sway his mother to let her make an exception this one time.
The only problem was that whenever Hiccup wanted something, he always tried to use his six year old charm on his mother and while it worked most of the time, this wasn't one of those times. She crossed her arms which Hiccup mimicked, "Hiccup…" she started threateningly, staring at her son with eyes that promised motherly punishment. "Need I remind you that you're still in trouble for wandering off a week ago to explore with Pip, Squeak and Tigg? Do you want to add onto your grounding?"
Hiccup deflated at her words, realizing that he had lost. "Fine," he huffed out before he brightened considerably when he caught Cloudjumper's gaze. "Come on Cloudjumper, let's go eat!" He quickly crawled up on the Stormcutter's scaled shoulder as Valka's dragon companion got to his feet with a warm purr. Valka couldn't help but smile as she watched the two leave their cave to get dinner.
My boys, she thought contently as she watched Cloudjumper's tail recede into the tunnel that outwards towards the main area of the Sanctuary.
Valka sat down on a small rounded pillar of rock, a natural chair, and grabbed her staff. She traced a finger against the curved wood, grinning warmly when she looked at the splashes of bright blue and yellow paint that had been smeared by Hiccup in his attempt to make his mother's staff look even cooler than it already was. She tapped one of the curved ends against the stone floor, listening to the rattles with a concentrated look in her eye. She had begun to realize how she could convey messages to dragons without a word if she used the rattles in a certain way.
She did not know how long she sat there inspecting her staff, it could have been hours for all she knew. Cloudjumper and Hiccup were most likely fishing at the moment, trying to bring back food for supper for her to cook. Valka had surprisingly gotten better at cooking over the past six years. Before she couldn't even cook meatballs without nearly killing someone, but after having to take care and feed Hiccup as well as herself she had slowly gotten better and thus she wouldn't accidently kill her own offspring with her cooking.
Valka heard movement, the sound of blankets being tossed and turned. She turned around to see the boy she had been nursing back to health slowly opening his eyes. She rushed forward with another bowl of herbal tea, without the dragon nip, and approached the conscious boy.
Valka knelt down by the boy's side, watching him looking around at his surroundings in a feverish haze. She noticed that his eyes, while slightly glazed and unfocused, were a light brown, almost amber in appearance. His sickly pale skin clashed terribly with his tattoos, making him look even sicker.
"W-Where…" The sickly boy began to hack and Valka immediately handed him some more of her herbal tea, which the boy gratefully drank. "Where am I?" The boy asked her again, his voice hoarse from fever but Valka could hear the fear in his voice.
It made sense. The boy must have been on those ships when the dragons attacked, his father or mother most likely having died during the attack, maybe even sacrificing themselves so their son could escape on that raft. It was something she herself would have done for Hiccup. A parent would do anything for their child.
"You're in my home," she whispered softly, keeping her voice light to keep him calm.
Something about her must have made the boy relax, for he slowly laid back down, though he still looked around the cave with confusion. "You live in a cave?" He asked curiously.
"Aye, I do." Valka didn't really wish to reveal the small bit of information that she, and now he for a short time, lived in a dragon Nest filled with dragons and an Alpha. She knew that if the boy were to know that, he wouldn't trust her and would probably die of fright. She would tell him later, only after easing him into trusting her.
"My son and I found you on a raft, we found a destroyed fleet rather close to where we found you, were you on one of those ships?" She asked him.
The boy's eyes widened in alarm, as though only now just remembering. "M-My father!" He tried to shout out, but his voice cracked halfway through and he returned to hacking terribly.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. He looked up at her, those amber eyes filled with tears threatening to spill like floodwater. "Where's my father?" He whispered to her, begging her, he looked so small and pitiful as he huddled there with those watery eyes it made Valka want to weep alongside him, for she knew what had happened to this boy's father.
"I'm so sorry," Valka said mournfully, as the boy started to weep uncontrollably, his built form shuddering and quivering.
"N-No… my Da can't be gone, he c-cant!" the boy wept, his amber eyes broken in grief.
Valka remained silent, her tongue stuck as she watched the boy mourn his father. It was odd, speaking to another human being that wasn't her own son, and never before had she been in such a dire and sorrowful situation such as this, so she stayed silent and let the son mourn for his father.
She waited patiently until the tears had run their course, and his shuddering and quivering had slowed down. When she felt the time was right, Valka softly asked him, "What is your name, little one?"
He looked at her, rubbing his hand against his dripping nose and managed to croak out, "I'm Eret, s-son of Eret."
"Hello Eret, my name is Valka." She said kindly, not wishing to aggravate the mourning child any further. She wiped away the tears that still trailed down his cheek. Her voice was soft and quiet as she asked him what she desperately wanted to know, but couldn't until he had calmed down enough for her to inquire, "Eret… what happened to those ships?"
He gulped back tears and cries and stared at her instead, his eyes still watery and now tinged with redness from his grief and sorrow. He looked at her with wide eyes filled with absolute terror and fear as he remembered, "D-Dragons…"
Valka felt her heart sinking at those words, though she had already known. "Do you know why they attacked you?" Most likely one of the sailors had done something incredibly stupid to cause such an attack.
Eret shook his head, "No… they… they just came out of, of nowhere… there were so many," he whispered, his voice filled with absolute terror. "They were scary and they burned everything and they took stuff…"
"They took stuff?" Valka inquired sharply, "Like livestock?"
"No. They took our cargo. They took our barrels of cloth, they took our crates of weapons, they took our furs, they took everything!" Eret exclaimed, his glazed from both fever and memory.
Dragons took their cargo? It would explain why there was nothing left on the ships save those books… but a dragon cares not for furs and cloth or weapons. If they had carried sheep or yak, I would not be surprised, but that sort of cargo? No dragon would need such things… but then why did they take it? Valka thought to herself in bewilderment.
She couldn't think of any answers and that unnerved the woman greatly.
"Is my Da dead?" Eret asked hoarsely.
"I'm afraid so, little one… I'm afraid so," Valka said just as hoarse, for she truly did feel terrible for the boy. He was only a little bit older than Hiccup and lost a father. This was a child mourning the loss of a parent, and though however cold she might be to humans, she was still human herself with a beating heart and not even she could feel nothing for the boy who had lost everything.
Valka grabbed another bowl of steaming tea, without the dragon nip, and handed it to the boy who drank it gratefully.
"You're safe here Eret," She assured the child wrapped in furs. "You won't be hurt anymore, you're safe."
Eret looked up at her with mournful eyes, "D-Did you find any survivors in the fleet? Even if my Da is…" he trailed off as he choked on his own words, but somehow found the strength to continue, "You know… Did anyone else survive the attack?"
Valka stayed silent, not knowing how to respond to the already grief-stricken boy. Nobody had survived the dragon attack, she had seen the burnt corpses herself.
Eret noticed her silence and realized that his question had been answered, tears silently streamed down his cheeks and dripped off of his tattooed chin. He latched onto her, sobbing against her leather armor as he held her as though she were a lifeline. Valka stiffened at the touch, unfamiliar with the touch of another human being outside of her own son, but the way he held onto her, it was just like when Hiccup had nightmares of scary Vikings trying to eat him and he would latch onto his mother as though she were his lifeline until she managed to coerce him back to sleep with promises that she would never have anything or anyone ever hurt him. She slowly wrapped her arms around his burly shoulders, hugging him back as he snuggled closer, she could feel the tears seeping through her furs but she didn't mind it.
"You're safe, Eret," she whispered to him again as she stroked his ebony locks, like she did when she held a scared Hiccup. "You're safe…"
Eret looked up at her, eyes reddened by tears and his nose ran but he held himself in a desperate attempt to appear calm. "I'm-" Eret paused, the words chocking him as he looked at something behind Valka. Brown eyes as light as amber widened to epic proportions, Valka saw the boy go pale as he began to quiver in what could only be pure terror. Eret screamed, the sound echoing off of the cave's walls.
Valka turned around swiftly when she heard Eret scream, instantly rising into a crouch to attack whatever intruder had dared to enter her home. She relaxed instantly when she saw that it was just Cloudjumper, Hiccup on his back, with a mouth full of fish. She paled when she realized that Cloudjumper was here, where Eret could see him. She hadn't told him that he was currently residing in a dragon Nest, where hundreds of dragons lived.
"Eret!" She called out to him, but the son of Eret only screamed again, a scream full of complete and utter terror as he gazed at the confused Stormcutter, not seeing the gentle creature that Valka and Hiccup saw, but one of the monsters who had destroyed his fleet and killed his father. Eret fled, racing away from the massive dragon as fast as his feet could carry him, but stopped when he realized that he was in a cave with only one entrance, which Cloudjumper was currently blocking.
Eret pinned himself against the wall, desperately trying to hide himself from the burning amber eye of the demon staring at him, the eyes burned into him like miniature suns. All Eret could think of was the dragon attack, where his father was killed protecting him, where all the sailors were burned to crisps and Eret was the only survivor because his father had placed him on a raft, sacrificing himself to save his son. That demon was a dragon, dragons killed people! Why was there a dragon in the nice lady's home? Why wasn't she screaming in terror or screaming for an axe? Why was there a boy nestled on the demon's back? He thought these questions rapidly, trying to make sense through his petrifying terror.
"Eret," Valka slowly approached him as though he were a wild animal, "Eret, calm down." She said softly, hoping that her own relaxation would make the child calm down, if only enough so she could explain.
"D-Dragon," Eret whispered, pointing a shaking finger at Cloudjumper with absolute terror.
"Aye, that's a dragon." Valka agreed as she slowly edged closer, "His name is Cloudjumper. He won't hurt you, I promise."
Eret shot her a look of bewilderment mixed with fear, his amber eyes kept darting between her and the prideful Stormcutter. "It has a name?" He said it as though repulsed which made Valka internally scowl at the usage of the word 'it' as though Cloudjumper was just some mindless beast.
"He," she stressed the word, "Won't hurt you. He's my friend. He's nice." Eret stared at her with wide eyes, sweat beading down his forehead from the terror pulsing within him, but now he was both terrified and confused. What did she mean that the dragon was her friend? Dragons were evil; everyone knew that. Dragons had killed his father. Dragons weren't nice; they were evil creatures that killed anything they saw, that's what everyone said.
Valka wished that her beloved dragon hadn't appeared just yet, though she couldn't blame Cloudjumper for entering his own home without knowing that his presence wouldn't be very well received. "Eret… there's something you should know." She glanced backwards at Cloudjumper, staring into his warm amber eyes and slowly motioned him to come forward.
Cloudjumper began to shuffle forward towards the two humans slowly, as though he knew that he was scaring the younger hatchling. He was so caring and kind, he might look to be mean on the outside with his sharp teeth and claws, but on the inside Cloudjumper was sweet and gentle, but yet people never saw the inside, only the outside that made them think dragons mere savage beasts. She had been the only one to see what a dragon could be, a gentle and intelligent creature. She knew she shouldn't be angry at Eret for acting the way he did, she knew that the child was most likely terrified of dragons from that attack, it made sense for the boy to react that way when he saw a Stormcutter hobble into what he had thought to be a safe haven.
Eret tensed like a cornered animal while Valka remained as relaxed as one could be. Cloudjumper approached her, purring contently when she stroked his blue-tinted jaw tenderly. Eret watched on as he saw the woman who had saved him petting a dragon, a demon of the skies, as though it were some tame housecat. And the dragon wasn't even trying to eat her! Why wasn't he eating her like all dragons did?
"Eret, you're not just in a cave." Valka said as she leaned against Cloudjumper's scaled shoulder, finding comfort in his presence. "You're in a Nest. A dragon Nest."
If Eret had been terrified before, now he was actually paralyzed. He had heard of Nests from his father; great fiery infernos where dragons dwelled as though it were their own version of Helheim. Dragons were living here. Dragons had killed his father and all the sailors. He was in a Nest. He was most likely going to die, but somehow some of the terror ebbed away ever so slightly when he saw Valka leaning against the scary dragon, looking completely calm as she stroked the dragon's snout as though it were a pet.
He kept expecting for the dragon to rear back it's massive head and gobble the woman whole; it was certainly big enough to do so. He couldn't stop staring at the dragon's knife-like teeth that poked out of his lower jaw, easily imaging being eaten by the dragon without much difficulty. The dragon had a face that looked slightly squashed with several nose plates that made the dragon always look perpetually angry.
He shivered despite the furs that covered him; the dragon was terrifying. He backed further away into the wall as the woman stepped forward again; the way she walked was more of a slight hobble, as though she was burdened by some great weight though she walked with a nimble grace. "This is Cloudjumper," Valka said slowly as she slowly crept towards him, going as slow as possible as to not startle him, she had seen a fair share of terrified dragons over the years and knew how to approach them, hopefully it would work with Eret though he was a human.
Eret flinched when he heard the deep rumbles that erupted from the Stormcutter with the strength of an avalanche; he glanced back towards the dragon and spotted a young boy perched on the dragon's back. The dragon's crowned and spiked head had hid the boy from Eret's view until now. The boy was staring at him with wide unblinking green eyes, his head cocked slightly as he gazed at Eret with shy wonder. Eret saw that he looked a lot like Valka. He must be her son, he realized as he remembered Valka telling him how she and her son had found him on the raft. When the boy saw that Eret was staring at him, he shyly ducked his head behind the dragon's wide and scarred crown.
"Cloudjumper won't hurt you," Valka said to him as she stopped approaching him, if she wanted to she could reach out and touch him, but she stayed away from him at a comfortable distance. "He's my friend. He doesn't hurt humans." Judging by the way Eret was looking at her as though she had spouted two heads, he didn't believe her in the slightest. She slowly reached her hand out, palm facing him with her slender fingers splayed. Eret stared at it, unsure of what she was doing, he blinked when he saw the hand getting closer. Fingers lightly caressed his forehead, the tips just barely touching him. There was something calming about the action that made Eret relax if only so slightly, he watched as the fingers left his face to hold his hand. He stumbled when he felt himself being gentle guided by the woman, eyes wide in terror when he realized she was gently herding him towards the awaiting dragon.
He wanted to bolt from her grasp, but the woman had a grip like iron and refused to let go of his arm. Realizing that there was no way out of this terrible situation, Eret reluctantly allowed her drag him to his awaiting death by dragon. He stiffened when he saw the Stormcutter hobble towards them, but Valka looked down at him with a warm smile that made him relax if only slightly. "Do you trust me, Eret?"
Eret did, he really did. She had saved his life when she had taken him from the makeshift raft that his father had pushed him on before their whole ship went up in flames. She took him to her home and nursed him back to health. She had saved his life. He nodded shyly, still staring into the amber eyes of the dragon before him. "Than let me show you what you've been missing when it comes to dragons." Valka slowly extended his arm towards Cloudjumper's snout, making him spread his fingers and expose his palm as she did so. Eret flinched when he saw the massive head of the beast getting closer, so close that he could almost touch him.
Slowly, so as to not startle the boy, Cloudjumper softly leaned against Eret's outspread hand, his forehead meeting the boy's small palm lightly. Eret hadn't known what to expect, but he was surprised to feel how warm the dragon was, how sleek his scales were. Without knowing it, Eret was slowly stroking Cloudjumper's snout, amazed at the touch. The fear was gone, instead now all the boy felt was wonder.
Valka watched on, sharp eyes watching Eret's fingers lightly stroking Cloudjumper's snout, watched as they were slowly raised to stroke the lowest of his nose plates, she smiled when she saw Cloudjumper's toothy grin directed towards the son of Eret, eyes as warm as the sun itself. Hiccup was watching from his higher vantage point, clutching onto Cloudjumper's neck spikes as he peeked over the Stormcutter's shoulder. She shifted on her feet slightly, her feet scuffing the ground.
At the sound Eret jerked back his hand and clutched it to his chest as though he had been burned, the wonder was gone as fear retook him. Why had he touched the dragon? Dragons killed people, they ate people, they killed his Da. He didn't care if the dragon hadn't eaten him, it's kind had killed his father and people.
Valka sighed wearily, shoulders slumped as she realized that even though Eret seemed to know that Cloudjumper wouldn't hurt him, he was still terrified of dragons in general. She couldn't blame him, she knew that he had lost his entire life to the creatures, though it hurt to see such fear in a boy's eyes when he looked at her greatest companion. She had to prove him wrong. She had to show him that not all dragons were bad. She had to show him the truth. That dragons were beautiful, gentle creatures.
"Hiccup, why don't you go show our guest your friends?" Valka encouraged her son, who was still hiding behind Cloudjumper's massive form, latched on his back as he shyly peeked over the Stormcutter's shoulder. "It's feeding time for the hatchlings, anyway."
She watched as her young son slowly slid off of Cloudjumper's back, torn between the chance to play with his friends and feed the dragons but having to be with the strange human boy while doing so.
"Okay," Hiccup said as he shuffled his feet, he turned his attention to the dark-haired boy, eager for to playing the hatchlings, which was one of Hiccup's favorite things to do, second only to flying and feeding time. Though he wished the weird human boy didn't have to be with him, but his mother had told him to include Eret, so he would even if he didn't like it.
"Why don't you go feed the Gronckles? Spitfire would really love that," Valka suggested, knowing that Spitfire had recently had hatchlings and would no doubt appreciate it if they gave the green bulbous dragon her favorite type of rocks and maybe some dragon root. It was also the best idea to warm Eret up to the idea of dragons not being murdering monsters, but gentle creatures if treated right. Hatchlings might not listen to anybody, not even the Alpha, but they were rather adorable and wouldn't hurt Eret as they weren't old enough to spew lava from their maws. It would be the best opportunity to have him get over his fear of dragons. "I'll meet you in her den, why don't you go grab a bit of dragon root for her?"
Hiccup grinned up at her, "Okay, mother!" He yelled exuberantly as he hurried out the cave, completely forgetting about Eret in his excitement.
"Go on," Valka jerked her head in the direction her son had run off to, "Before you lose him."
Eret quietly followed, still terrified that a dragon was going to appear from the shadows and swallow him whole. He hurried throughout the tunnel, follow the path until suddenly he was in a small cavern with multiple tunnels leading in different directions.
Surprisingly the boy was waiting for him, the boy was hopping from one foot to the other in his impatience but once he saw Eret emerge from the tunnel that led to where he lived, Hiccup hurried towards one of the tunnels on Eret's left. The boy's lean form disappearing into the shadows.
Eret ran after him, not wanting to be left alone in a dragon's Nest without someone else.
He struggled to move past the stalactites and stalagmites that erupted from the tunnel at random intervals, the tunnel itself was getting narrower and narrower as he slowly progressed through it, sometimes even having to squeeze his way to continue on.
He could see Valka's child ahead of him, sometimes peering back at him with unblinking green eyes, before he crawled through the tunnel like a spider.
Eret watched in fascination as the auburn-haired boy crawled throughout the cramped tunnel on all fours, climbing protruding rock spikes with experienced ease. It unnerved the son of Eret, to see a human walk as though they were a dragon, and for the odd boy he moved as gracefully on all fours as easily as walking on his feet. "W-Wait up!" He called back, his voice echoing off of the stonework as he tried to follow the nimble boy, but while it took all but a few seconds for Hiccup to clamber over the oddly shaped rocks, it took the older boy much longer to scramble upwards, and even when he did he only managed to catch the sight of the dragon boy's foot as he turned a corner, vaulted over a rock, or one time actually climbing several feet when the tunnel suddenly gained slope and the only way through was to climb straight up.
"Wait!" He cried out, his muscles aching and his heart thumping loudly, but the dragon boy the lady had called 'Hiccup' was always several steps ahead of him.
Hiccup stopped at that, crouched on all fours he looked at the boy crawling after him, he shifted impatiently as he turned around and continued onwards, only yelling back "Come! Quickly!" as he scurried away further into the winding tunnel.
Eret spent another minute or so attempting to climb over rocks, his head throbbing whenever he hit his head, before he finally entered another cave, the only light coming from the ceiling which was made entirely of ice, making the room glow a bluish green.
Hiccup was waiting for him patiently, his back turned to him as he began to dig furiously in the ground, which was surprisingly just dirt. He hadn't seen any dirt since he had gotten here, most of the place was either solid rock or ice. Rough patches surrounded the boy, almost as though there was something halfway buried under the rounded lumps.
"Y-You…" Eret fell to his knees, gasping for breath. "M-Made me run and climb on all those stupid rocks in those stupid tunnels and get hit in the head, just so you could dig in the dirt?" he asked in complete disbelief.
Hiccup made a face at him, as though wondering just how stupid the exhausted boy really was. "No, Mama said that we need to feed Spitfire and her hatchlings. Spitfire is a Gronckle." He said that part slowly, as though talking to a hatchling that couldn't fully understand him.
"I know what a Gronckle is!" Eret said defensively, crossing his arms across his chest. "My Da fought them all tha' time, they burned his cargo once… before the attack."
Hiccup titled his head in confusion, "Da?" He asked curiously, not recognizing the word, before looking horrified, "he fought them with those shiny sharp curvy things -what did Ma call 'em- axes?"
"My Da, father? Don't you have a father?" Eret asked curiously, realizing that besides Hiccup the only other human being he had seen was his mother, the nice lady who got rid of his fever.
Hiccup shook his head, looking at him as though baffled, "No." He suddenly perked up, "But I have Cloudjumper! He's always helped take care of me when my mother can't."
"That dragon bat thing?"
Hiccup scowled, "He's a Stormcutter."
"Whatever." Eret huffed.
Hiccup was staring at him, his eyes fixated on the boy's chin. Suddenly Hiccup was right in front of him and grabbed the sides of his face, making the merchant's son yelp as he tried to rip his face out of his hands, but the kid was surprisingly strong for a six year old runt. "What are those?" Hiccup asked in wonder, not at all aware that he was invading Eret's personal bubble, he poked at the boy's chin, his head titled in confusion. "Are they scales? Cloudjumper has blue scales on his chin too."
The son of Eret realized that Hiccup was talking about his tattoos, which infuriated that this dragon boy thought he had scales, what did he think Eret was, some type of dragon boy too? "These," he jabbed a thumb at his chin while his other hand shoved the boy out of his personal space, "Are tribal tattoos."
Hiccup cocked his head at that, not recognizing the word. "Taaatu," he tried to wrap his tongue around the odd, foreign word.
"Tattoo."
"Tattuo?"
"Tattoo!"
"Tato?"
"Tattoo!"
Tattaou?"
"Odin's axe, I will strangle you! Tattoo!" Eret exclaimed as he grabbed at his raven locks, ready to pull the hairs from his scalp in pure frustration.
"Tootuu." Hiccup drawled out.
"Tattoo!"
"Tattoo?"
"No! Tattoo!"
Eret quieted as he realized that after many failed attempts, the dragon boy actually managed to say the word. "Hmph," Hiccup said with a snide smirk, his chin tilted up in smug pride. "I think I said it right."
If there were ever a time where Eret had wished to punch a child in the face, it would most definitely be this moment. "You annoy me," Eret said with a deadpan, completely without emotion as he looked at the annoying dragon boy.
Hiccup sneered at him, which only infuriated the older boy more.
"Help me dig," Hiccup gestured towards the rough patch that he had begun to dig in.
Eret grumbled as he joined the weird boy and helped him dig through the rocky soil, after a couple of seconds he suddenly felt his fingers scrape against something that wasn't a rock, but instead was smooth to the touch. He glanced up at Hiccup, only to fall on his back and scramble away when he saw the knife in his hand.
Squinting, Eret realized that the knife wasn't made of iron but rather it was from the tooth of some giant dragon. Hiccup was looking at him as though he was crazy, "Weirdo," the six year old mumbled to himself, to the fury of Eret, son of Eret.
"Who are you calling a weirdo? You're the weirdo," Eret exclaimed childishly, never minding the fact he was goading someone who was easily five years younger than him.
The six year old rolled his eyes, "Are all humans as dumb as you?" He had never met another human being before, but if they were as slow, clumsy and dumb as Eret, than he was glad that he lived with dragons.
Eret's tanned face turned a nasty vermillion, the red clashing against the blue tattoos on his chin. He fumed and turned his attention to the thing in the ground, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what it was. The plant, he assumed it was a plant, was a light green with bulbous stumps protruding from the base, white thin stalks poked out of the stumps that reminded Eret of hair.
"This is dragon root," Hiccup explained as he cut off a stump with his dragon tooth. "My mother and I grow it up here, where the dragons can't get it and eat it."
"Why?" Eret asked with curiosity, trying to ignore the fact that anything with the name 'dragon' on it usually ended badly.
"It's like dragon nip only much more…" Hiccup struggled to find a proper word to describe the odd effect it had on all dragons aside from Gronckles, he might be extremely intelligent but he was still six, he couldn't even read though his mother had promised to teach him soon. "Stronger."
It still confused Hiccup and Valka on how even the most peaceful of dragons would go absolutely berserk if they all but caught the scent of the root. Even Cloudjumper had gone berserk when they had stumbled upon it, though Valka had managed to calm him down enough to get him away from the dragon root. After they realized that all of the dragons save the rock-eating Gronckles would go crazy aggressive with one another, the two humans had immediately set out to find any stray roots growing in the Sanctuary, which hadn't been too many but still enough for them to bring into this small enclosed cave where nobody but Terrible Terror could reach (though Valka always had the entrance to the tunnel blocked off in case the mischievous dragons got any ideas) and she and Hiccup could reach. The only other dragon that hadn't reacted so badly towards the root was the Alpha, their king.
They grew it up here for the Gronckle, as dragon root was one of their favorite foods despite the terrible influence it had on the other dragons. Luckily Valka had figured out the answer to that little problem some time ago.
Hiccup grabbed something from his roughly hewn tunic, which Eret realized was a small cloth smudged with what appeared to be dirt. He leaned closer to see it better and immediately wished he hadn't.
"Ugh, what is that smell?" Eret asked as he pinched his nose in a vain attempt to block out the disgusting smell. It reminded him of rotting yak milk and dung.
"Dragon dung," Hiccup said with a shrug as he waved the cloth in front of Eret's face, who smacked it away with a heated glare.
"Do you even know what personal space is?" Eret, son of Eret demanded, "And why do you have a dung smelling cloth on your person?"
Hiccup carefully placed the green stump from the dragon root in the center of the cloth before wrapping it up. "My mother thought of it. The smell masks the scent of the root, so other dragons won't smell anything but dung. This way we can carry some around to feed the Gronckles without the other dragons having to smell it."
"That is… actually smart." Eret realized, though he didn't really understand the purpose of dragon root, but if what Hiccup had told him was true, than he would take the smell of dragon dung over murderous dragons any day.
Hiccup grinned at him, which unnerved the son of Eret greatly. The way the boy smiled… it just wasn't human. He showed his entire set of teeth, even the back ones, the lips were pulled back too far, and the smile looked far too dragon-like for Eret to be comfortable with.
"Are you and your mother the only humans here?" Eret asked, remembering the conversation with Hiccup about his father, which Hiccup didn't seem to even know what the word meant.
Hiccup blinked at that, before shyly nodding.
"You two just, just live here. With dragons? Fire breathing lizards who kill humans?"
Hiccup glared at him, his green eyes suddenly alight in an inferno of fury. "Dragons don't kill humans, humans kill dragons. Humans can't be trusted, you can't be trusted," Hiccup poked the boy in the chest to emphasize his point. "My mother told me so!" He said smugly, head held high, remembering all the scary stories about Vikings from his mother.
"You're human too." Eret sneered.
Hiccup looked down at that, suddenly looking mournful. Eret immediately felt terrible, the boy might have been extremely annoying, far too snarky for his own good, had no clue on how to have a civil conversation with someone, and seemed to love dragons, dragons of all creatures, but when Eret saw those wide, green eyes he felt something akin to pity burn within him.
Eret thought back on Hiccup's mother, the nice lady who helped him get better, the only other human he had seen besides Hiccup. "Am I… the first human you've seen or talked too, besides your mother?" He asked softly, thinking back on how shy the boy had been in the cave with that scary Stormcutter, Skyjumper or something like that, and how the boy didn't seem to know how to act when he invaded Eret's personal space.
Hiccup nodded shyly, all anger and sorrow gone, now he just looked confused.
Eret opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't think of anything. How exactly was he supposed to talk about this with a boy who had never had any human contact outside of his mother? "I-I," he began, stalling for time.
"We should go," Hiccup said shortly as he stood up and began to head towards the opening of the tunnel, his gait more of a hobble than a walk., reminiscent of how Valka had slowly approached him. "Mother is waiting."
Eret wordlessly followed him.
Valka was waiting for them patiently as she rubbed the side of a large Gronckle whose scales were light green with tints of purple on her back, the Gronckle was moving her foot back in forth as Valka rubbed her belly, tongue lolling out like a dog. Suddenly there was a sudden stampede of baby Gronckles that vaulted over their mother and immediately swarmed Valka's son, who laughed as he valiantly tried to keep the stump of dragon root out of their mouths. "This is for your mama," he told the hatchlings, five in total. Eret hunkered back, nervously looking at the dragons with barely concealed fear, remembering the dragons that had burned his father's ships.
"I brought it, mother!" Hiccup held the cloth that held the root up high, proudly showing it to his mother and also to keep it away from the hatchlings. He suddenly fell belly when a multitude of Gronckle hatchlings jumped on his back, their combined weight making the boy fall onto his belly with a loud "Oof!"
Hiccup shrieked out in glee as the hatchlings crawled around his back, one of them contently gnawing on his ear, though luckily their teeth hadn't grown in yet, while the others sniffed at the cloth curiously.
Eret watched from a safe distance as Valka was tossed the root by her son and gently feed the Gronckle mother it with her palms spread outwards, as though she was feeding a Yak a carrot.
Hiccup was currently playing with the Gronckles, shrieking in glee as he was crawled on by the heavy-set hatchlings, who found chewing his hair to be a great enjoyment.
Eret turned his attention back to Hiccup's mother. Valka was warmly smiling at her boy, Eret noticed that her smile seemed much more human than her son's. She was watching her son play with the dragons as though it was one of the greatest sights to behold. The son of Eret watched as the mother sat back down, leaning against the belly of Spitfire as both mothers watched their child/hatchlings play with one another. Eret instinctively compared them to normal mothers watching their children roughhouse back at his own village.
He watched as Valka picked up a rock the size of Eret's head and feed it to the mother, who licked it into her mouth with a content groan. Valka turned towards him, as though she knew he was watching her, and smiled kindly. "Would you like to feed one of them?"
Eret really didn't want to. He really, really didn't want to. But the woman had been so nice to him! She had rescued him from the ocean, had helped him get rid of his fever, and had even feed him. He couldn't refuse her.
Eret slowly picked up a rock the size of his fist. Slowly, as though unsure, Eret tossed it at one of the baby dragons, who started at the sudden rock that almost, accidently, hit him and gave a sharp wail before fleeing to his mother.
Eret winced as though he had been struck and shrunk away, refusing to make eye contact with Hiccup's mother, scared that she was mad at him.
He started when Valka placed a hand on Eret's shoulder, making the boy peek up shyly at her, his cheeks tinged red in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to hurt him," he said, terrified that he would be thrown out back into the ocean.
"It's alright Eret," Valka gently told the son of Eret, "You didn't know. Gronckle hatchlings can't quite eat rocks just yet, their digestive systems are still too weak to process solid rock. You didn't hurt him, they have strong, thick armor like skin, you merely startled him." She grabbed another rock and lightly tossed it to Spitfire, who merely opened her massive mouth and contently chewed on the rock.
Eret watched in fascination as the Gronckle mother suddenly started to shudder and quiver, her eyes bulging out ever so slightly. He heard what he thought sounded like choking, and immediately wondered if she actually was choking but before he could tell the nice lady that, the Gronckle spat out a spew of lava onto the ground.
The hatchlings pounced on the molten rock, slurping it up like water. "Gronckle mothers have to digest the rocks until it becomes lava, they then regurgitate for their hatchlings to eat. It's rather similar to young humans when they are toddlers, they have to have to have mashed vegetables and fruits."
"I never thought of it like that," Eret said in amazement. He wasn't scared of the Gronckle anymore, though he was still terrified of dragons in general, but rather he felt more curious about them than he was scared of them. He had to admit, there was something about the baby Gronckles that was, well, cute. He glanced up at the dragon lady and her son, "Why don't the dragons eat you?"
Valka smiled at that, bemused. "Why would they?" She asked him as they watched the hatchlings finish their molten meal, their eyes blinking slowly as sleep threatened to overtake them. As one, the swarm of hatchlings slowly stumbled towards their mother, who nuzzled them warmly with gentle tenderness. They piled on one another in a giant pile; Spitfire curled around them protectively.
Eret swallowed as he thought of that. His whole life, dragons had been monsters. Dragons killed his father, though they didn't seem to be these dragons that Valka and Hiccup lived with. Dragons had always been scary to him, but he wasn't scared here.
"We're not so different from them, Eret." Valka glanced down at the human boy, green eyes filled with fire staring into amber eyes. "If anything, we're actually similar. We both love and care. Dragons and humans might be enemies, but not all of them must be." She thought of Berk and their never ending war with the dragons and of herself and Hiccup, who lived under their care. While humans in general hated and feared dragons, not all of them did, such as herself and Hiccup. And maybe Eret too, she realized suddenly, If I can convince him that dragons aren't to be feared or hated, but to be loved and cherished… "Dragons aren't monsters." She suddenly looked hesitant, as though wondering on what to say next. "I know that dragons killed your father, Eret. Yes there are some bad dragons out there, just like there are bad men too. But I promise you, no dragon in this Sanctuary will harm you."
Eret glanced down at his feet, suddenly at lost for words. "You promise?" he asked, suddenly looking like the child he was, instead of the adult he tried to be.
Valka smiled at him as she knelt down to his eye level, her hand cupping his cheek so that he would look her in the eyes. "I promise."
Eret looked at the former Viking, he still looked so confused and lost, as though unsure of what his place in the world was now. "Do you have any family left, Eret? Your mother perhaps?" Valka wouldn't force the boy to leave live with herself and Hiccup if he didn't wish too, if he wished to leave than she would allow him. She didn't fear him telling everyone that a lady who rode atop a Stormcutter rescued him and lived in an icy utopia with hundreds of dragons with her young son, no one would believe him.
"My mother died of dragon pox when I was six," Eret mumbled out.
"I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago," Eret whispered softly, grief still tinged in his tone. He was an orphan now, his parents were gone and he was all alone.
Valka felt her heart twinge for the human, he looked so lost and hopeless, his broad shoulders hunched with the weight of his father's death burdened upon him. He was so young, too young to look so old and weary. Odin help me, pray that I am not making a serious mistake, Valka prayed silently as she pondered the possibilities.
She didn't trust humans in the slightest, her encounters with the Vikings of Berk –she refused to think of them as they had once been to her, friends and comrades- had soured any reform that Vikings could change for the better. Vikings couldn't change. But could Eret?
He wasn't a Viking, he wasn't a Hooligan from Berk, he wasn't from the Meathead tribe, he wasn't an Outcast, he was just a little orphan boy who she had found in the ocean, close to death. Eret wasn't a Viking, but he was still human.
You're human too, you and Hiccup, that little voice in the back of her head reminded her softly, which she tried to ignore. Aye, she was a human but she and her son weren't like other humans, they weren't Vikings, they were something else.
Though she didn't know it, Valka held the boy's life in her hands as well as his future. If she let him stay in the Sanctuary, she could change his entire view of dragons, what path she chose would mold the son of Eret, though she didn't know it.
If he stays, he can learn. Even if he doesn't wish to live here, and I won't force him to, he will leave knowing that everything the humans know about dragons, is wrong. He won't kill them so eagerly, if at all, knowing that on the inside they are gentle creatures, not horrific monsters. Valka thought to herself.
"Eret… would you like to stay here, with us?" Valka tentatively asked the son of Eret, ignoring the completely gob smacked expression that was on her son's face, she was focused solely on Eret.
He stared up at her, those amber eyes still tinged with redness from his grief. "You'll… You'll let me stay?" He asked, trying to not sound so hopeful, he hadn't expected to hear such an offer, Valka and her son seemed to enjoy their isolation from the rest of humankind, so it surprised him greatly that she would offer him sanctuary.
"Only if you wish to," Valka assured him, wanting to let him know that he didn't have to stay with them. "Only for as long as you wish."
Eret thought of his options. He had nowhere else to go, no family to go back to, nothing of his life remained but ashes, what did he have to lose? He could always leave if he wanted; this place wasn't a prison but a sanctuary. Sure he would have to deal with Valka's son who annoyed the Hel out of him, but maybe they could be friends. Eret had never had a friend before, his whole life was on the seas with his Da, he didn't have time for friends. But could he find that here, in this Nest? His whole life had changed so abruptly in the past week, his father was dead and he was currently in the middle of a dragon Nest where hundreds of dragons lived with two humans and treated them as their own. What did he have to lose?
"O-Okay, I'll stay." Eret said.
Valka smiled at him, "Welcome to the home of the great Bewilderbeast, Eret, son of Eret." She said with gentle smile, knowing that sooner or later she would have to show Eret to her Alpha. She couldn't wait to see his reaction when he saw the gentle giant that protected them from harm.
Thor's hammer, this might actually work. Valka thought to herself, This boy needs a home and someone to guide him along life's perils and joys. He can learn from my teachings just as Hiccup is learning. There can be another in this world who views dragons the same as we do. This poor boy can have a home.
Hiccup finally spoke up, having overcome his shock as he slowly stepped forward. Valka's son glanced at Eret, then back to his mother, before glancing at Eret once again. Suddenly he spoke, "Mama, can I have a tattoo?"
Valka blinked at that, "What did you say, son?" She asked him, wondering if she had heard him wrong. She swore she had heard her six year old son ask if he could get a tattoo. Surely she had heard wrong?
Hiccup nodded in affirmation. "A tattoo, can I get one? I want it on my face," Hiccup rubbed his hands all over his face to prove his point, unknowingly covering his face in mud from the dirt on his hands, which helped emphasis his statement. "All over it!" He declared with childish glee.
Sweet Freyja, this child will be the death of me.
I'm glad to see many of my reviewers were correct that our favorite son of Eret was the one on the raft, and now he's living with Hiccup and Valka! I personally loved Eret's character in the movie and he will play an important role in the story as it goes further on in time. For those not liking the idea of him clashing with Valka and Hiccup who are living in isolation from the rest of humankind, Eret is the only one who will be living with them and the only outside human interaction with them aside from Valka fighting dragon trappers. So even though Eret is with them, there will still be chapters where it is just the mother and son. I love writing Valka and Hiccup mother/son feels so those will still be there despite Eret living with them. And for those wondering about Eret's role in the future… the only thing I can say is that he will most definitely run into Ruffnut (I cannot wait to write those interactions) and the awkwardness will intensify!
I only have one question, this story doesn't have a main character as it is shared between Valka and Hiccup, but what do you guys think of the idea of different point of views? Most of the chapters I have planned are either in Valka or Hiccup's point of views, as I love both of the characters and there aren't too many fanfictions with the two in it together and Valka isn't really explored too much so I want to include her as much as possible, she is officially one of my favorite characters after Stoick, Hiccup and Toothless. Do you guys want to see other point of views? I have plans for Berk as time passes, but I would like to hear your opinions as you guys read the story and I want both sides to be happy with it.
I personally loved writing the interactions between Hiccup and Eret, right now they're not exactly close as Eret doesn't know how to react around Hiccup who has never had any other human contact outside of his mother, which will slow down their friendship as both parties have no idea how to form one and Eret tries to deal with Hiccup, who can be quite annoying to him. Hiccup is really more dragon than human at the moment, I tried to show that with both Valka and her son by using Eret's point of view as a way to show how isolation has treated them to an outside view. Their relationship will get better in future chapters, though they will be off to a shaky start.
The next chapter should be updated sooner than this one, it's a Stoick POV so we see what's going on with Berk.