I Own Nothing

All Rights Reserved

Thanks for the reviews! They really mean a lot to me.

In answer to the last chapter's little quiz, on the morning of April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln died after being shot by John Wilkes Booth the night before. Around 2:20, April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank after striking an iceberg less than three hours earlier.

A little Trivia: back in early 2016, I was just starting the first chapters of "The Dragon King," and it was going to be a 3 part story. Part 2 was going to be where Hiccup and Berk start reconciling, and it was going to end with Stoick say, half jokingly, that if Hiccup ever brought Valka back to Berk, he would accept dragons with open arms. Hiccup decides to take him up on this, and Part 3 would begin 5 months later in Greenland. Snotlout's opening lines in this chapter originally belonged to Hiccup and opened the whole story.

As this project developed, the plotlines were changed around drastically and it became reduced to a 2 part story. But what you are about to read was originally going to open Part 3, with some alterations.

And with all that being said, I would like to add that I think this has been perhaps the hardest chapter I have ever written.

Chapter 11

The Residents of the Island of Ice

"Greenland my foot! Dad's beard had more green in it than this place!" Snotlout shouted as he trudged through the hard snow. Snow and ice were everywhere. Before, behind, to the left, to the right, below, even above in the clouds that hung overhead. "Snow, snow, and more snow! Where's the green?"

Hiccup chuckled. "At least the name 'Toothless' is occasionally accurate!"

"I don't like this either," Toothless grumbled. "I stick out like a tree in the desert!" His pitch black scales were indeed horrible camouflage in an environment of ice and snow. His rider was not any better suited for the location either. All of his clothes, from his flight suit down to his socks, were either black or dark brown. In fact, the only one in the party who even remotely blended in was Windshear and even she, with her shiny metallic armor, still reflected the sunlight whenever it was present and created a beacon as if to say "I'm right here!"

They all felt vulnerable. They had taken every possible precaution flying there: leaving in the dark, flying in the wrong direction and then heading into the clouds, doubling back, changing directions repeatedly, and landing on one mountain and climbing around it for an hour before taking off again. Yet given how much everyone stood out in the snow and ice, their precautions might have all been for nothing. On the other hand, they had not seen anybody following them.

"Well this certainly looks ideal for a cold loving Stormcutter," Fishlegs observed, "and it's isolated and desolate, so it's certainly an ideal place for a person to hide,"

"Hide where?" Tuffnut demanded, gesturing to the expanse of ice before them, "there's nowhere to hide!"

Astrid had borrowed Hiccup's spotting scope and was scanning the area, muttering to herself. Heather watched her anxiously. Tuffnut had a point in what he said. If he was right, how could they hope to find their quarry here? Second thoughts and doubts were creeping in every second. Were they even in the right place? After all, Hiccup and Fishlegs had selected the location purely by deduction, assumptions, and guesswork. She wanted to have faith in their abilities, but there was lots of room for error and they were only human.

Ruffnut decided she did not care. There was snow around, and she took advantage of it by lobbing a snowball at Snotlout. He retaliated and the fight escalated to include Tuffnut and their dragons. The rest moved away and continued to scan the area.

Suddenly Astrid spoke. "Snow Demons approaching in a half circle formation,"

Hiccup looked around quickly. "That's not a half circle. It's a full circle. We're surrounded. Guys—cut that out!" Snotlout responded by throwing a snowball at his chest.

"Why you—!"

"Later, Bud—defensive circle now!"

The dragons were already arranging themselves. The humans got on top of them and waited.

"When Snow Demons hunt in packs they surround the prey and sneak up on it," Fishlegs told Heather, "their undersides are light blue, so they stalk prey on foot and keep low,"

"So what do we do?" Heather asked uncertainly.

"Wait," Hiccup replied calmly, "they know we're here and they know we can see them. Let them come to us and we'll hear what they have to say."

"And if they want to have us for dinner?" Snotlout asked nervously.

"I'm sure there's easier game around," Fishlegs said, trying to sound confident. Despite all the experience they had had with dragons, they could never be entirely certain about how safe they were amidst species unused to humans, although Hiccup looked perfectly at ease.

The Snow Demons approached cautiously. They moved almost in synchronized steps, all the while their eyes unblinking and their expressions like those of stalking wolves. The circle drew tighter and tighter around them. At last Toothless gave a greeting call. This did not make them relax but it did make them pause.

"What are you doing around here?" One of them finally shouted.

"Passing through and searching for a Stormcutter," Toothless called back. It was important to sound as calm and casual as possible, as a way of indicating they did not want a fight. "If you've seen one, give us directions and we'll be on our way at once."

"That's a bit vague," the Snow Demon chuckled dryly. "What kind of Stormcutter, exactly?"

"Sunless…" warned another one.

"One that carries a human," Toothless said carefully. The Snow Demons exchanged glances and got further down on their hunches.

"That's why I asked," Sunless said quietly to the one that had been warning him.

"I see now. They're after—." But the dragon caught itself and did not say any more.

"And why are you looking for this Stormcutter?" another demanded.

"Personal reasons," Toothless replied.

Hiccup could not help but feel a sense of relief. The fact that these Snow Demons were showing so much concern told him they knew what Toothless was talking about, which meant they had come to the right place.

The Snow Demons exchanged glances again, clearly trying to work out what to do. Finally Sunless relaxed his position. "Well, you want directions? We can provide more than that! Come with us and we'll take you right to this Stormcutter!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" one asked.

"They want to see him, don't they? And the Bewilderbeast will want to see them too, so everyone gets what they want."

"The what?" Fishlegs whispered to Astrid. She did not react.

For Heather, Snotlout, and the Twins, this conversation had been nothing more than Dragon calls and noises, and they had sat in suspense the entire time. Finally Heather could not take the wait any longer and said "Hiccup, what are they saying?"

"They want us to come with them. Either this is a trap or we've found the right place." If it had been humans, he would assume this was a trap, but he usually gave dragons the benefit of the doubt.

The Snow Demons led them to crevasse in the ice. About halfway down was a large opening, into which they all flew.

"Another cave," Windshear muttered. It was indeed a large and very long tunnel made entirely of ice.

"We must be leagues under the surface," Snotlout said in awe as they went deeper. Doubtless he knew he exaggerated, but it did feel they had descended a considerable distance.

And then all at once the ice walls turned to rock and the tunnel gave way to a chamber large enough to fit Stoick's house in several times with room to spare. The dragons all landed now, save for two Snow Demons who kept going down another passage.

"Now what?" Tuffnut asked. "More waiting?"

They waited. Nobody spoke but they all looked around curiously and anxiously. Astrid was almost convinced they had flown into a trap and was looking around for all the escape routes and potential combat positions. She was not the only one who was doing so either.

At length; it must have been perhaps a quarter of an hour, though it felt considerably longer, they heard movement. A large dragon flew into the chamber, with one of the Snow Demons right behind it. The dragon was creamy yellow in color and had four large wings, the largest of which was greater in size than Meatlug's entire body. Each wing had a claw in the front. It had a face that looked strikingly like an owl, with large flaps behind its head and in front of the forehead, which looked like giant eyebrows. It only had two powerful legs. In fact, everything about it seemed to give the impression of power, strength, and authority. At another time it could perhaps look cute and friendly, but right then it glared at them coldly and looked anything but.

"So this is a Stormcutter," Hiccup commented. "Very impressive."

Now his attention was caught by the person on the dragon's back. Thus far they had been hidden by the wings and the dragon's head, but now they dismounted. Their movements made Hiccup think of goblins, or maybe apes: they seemed to hobble about with their knees slightly bent. Their arms were extended and their fingers seemed to be pointing in random directions. Not one centimeter of the person's body was visible from beneath their clothing. While the dress style was somewhat similar to that of a Viking, the materials were some kind of makeshift leather, giving the impression of armor. The way the armor was worn and looked made it impossible to tell the stranger's gender. Most of it was brown, but there were some splotches of sky blue paint here and there. Their mask was the most striking part of their outfit. The front had the same crude blue paint on it. Two long tusks emerged from the mouth and six more protruded from the top of the head. The eyeholes were covered in some black material. Two tiny eye slits were visible near the bottom of these. All this put together to give the person a mysterious, almost feral, and yet solemn appearance.

Hiccup slowly got off of Toothless and went to approach the person. Astrid wanted to join him but Hiccup told everyone to stay on their dragons, to save time in case they needed to make a quick getaway. It was an odd sight, seeing two masked people approached each other warily. Hiccup was standing straight, the other was almost crawling on their knees, yet when they rose up they were nearly as tall as he was.

The stranger suddenly whipped Hiccup's helmet off his head and backed away from him. It had happened so quickly and unexpectedly Hiccup had had no time to stop them. At the first sign of movement his hands had moved for his weapons, not his helmet.

"If you had wanted to see my face, all you had to do was ask," he commented, hoping the light tone would ease the tension. The stranger had dropped the helmet and was drawing nearer and nearer to Hiccup's face. They clearly were trying to examine it. Hiccup felt the sharp and icy touch of their glove as they put their hand on his chin.

Then all at once they pulled away with a loud gasping sound and darted over to the Stormcutter, who barred its teeth at them in a protective way. They seemed about to leave, but Hiccup had not come all this way for that, so he cried "Wait a minute, don't run off! We don't mean you any harm! We only want to have a long talk with you and your Stormcutter friend—can you even understand what I'm saying?" The two had stopped when he spoke but made no further signs of understanding him.

"What is it?" the Stormcutter asked its rider.

"I think it's my son!"

"What? Are you certain? I thought he had died!"

"I know but this man has a scar on his chin, just like the one you made!"

"Everlasting ice—!"

"Um, excuse me?" Hiccup interrupted shakily, "what did you just say?"

The two froze.

Now the Stormcutter spoke. "You know the language of Dragons?"

Hiccup gestured to Toothless slightly. His eyes were wide and his body was nearly as frozen as theirs were.

Fishlegs spoke up. "Would you mind explaining what you just said?"

But instead the human leapt onto the Stormcutter and they flew away.

"Hey, wait!" Heather shouted but it was too late.

"Hiccup, did I hear that right?" Astrid asked hoarsely, "Did that person say 'it's my son'?"

"Can't be," Hiccup whispered, not hearing her, "it can't…" he slumped against Toothless as if he had been struck in the head.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Heather asked.

"Maybe," Fishlegs said, looking uncertainly at Hiccup.

Toothless eyed the Snow Demon, who had been sitting on a rock this entire time. "Sunless, was it? That person—who were they?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because we asked and we want an answer!" Hookfang growled. He lit up his body partially to look more intimidating, and it succeeded in driving the Snow Demon away.

"Nice going," Windshear retorted.

"For once I have to agree with her," Stormfly scowled.

"Never mind," Hiccup said in Norse so everyone could understand him. "We can wait. Somebody will approach us sooner or later, and this cave will be like Valhalla compared to camping outside." He spoke very calmly and deliberately, perhaps too calmly and deliberately. "And we're not leaving until we get what we came for."

Yet after saying this, he staggered over to a corner of the cave and starred at the wall. Astrid tried to approach him but he quickly said "I want to be alone for a while." He was given his wish, although Toothless sat down right behind him.

Nobody unpacked, just in case they had to fight or make a quick getaway. Instead they sat beside their dragons in a circle and discussed what they had just seen, in low voices so that Hiccup could not hear, although truth be told, Astrid doubted he would have heard them had they shouted, he seemed so absorbed in his own thoughts.

"So let me get this straight," Heather said once they had briefly explained the family history of the Haddocks, "we came looking for the person who stole the Dragon Eye and whom you believe fought against Drago Bludvist before Hiccup did…and we believe that person just happens to be Hiccup's mother?"

"Who was taken by a dragon nearly 25 years ago—" Tuffnut began,

"And, contrary to all expectations, is apparently alive and a friend to dragons," Fishlegs finished for him.

"This is seriously messed up." Heather moaned.

Ruffnut said "Tell me about it. We came all this way to solve one mystery and tumbled into a bunch of new ones! How did she survive? What does she have to do with the Dragon Eye? What has she been doing this whole time? What has she—well, you get the point. This is just crazy!"

Astrid glanced worriedly at Hiccup. "What are we going to do now? Good Gods, guys, how do you talk to a mother who's supposed to have been dead for over 20 years?"

"Are we sure that was his mom?" Snotlout demanded.

"Snotlout, they said quite clearly 'it's my son'. Who else could they be talking about except Hiccup? They even ride the same kind of dragon that took Valka Haddock!"

"And it can't be his father either, because his father's on Berk—unless he's secretly been living the double life all these years, which would be really cool but a little weird," Tuffnut added.

"Thank you for that insight, Tuffnut,"

Tuffnut's acceptance of Fishleg's gratitude was cut off by the return of the Stormcutter and its rider. Everyone got to their feet and took up a defensive position. Hiccup and Toothless slowly turned around but stayed in the same places. Astrid tried to catch Hiccup's eye but he was looking fixedly at their visitor.

The stranger slowly and hesitantly approached him again, this time making an effort to walk more upright.

"What's your name?" she asked. He could tell it was a woman now, for even though the voice was muffled it was clearly feminine.

"Hiccup,"

The woman stiffened and slowly reached for her mask. "Full name?"

Hiccup groaned slightly. He really disliked telling people that. And why on earth was he so concerned about that at a time like this? "I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

"There's no doubt then," the Stormcutter muttered. His rider responded by pulling her mask off. She was a middle aged woman, probably in her late 40's. Her ragged hair was russet and went beyond her shoulders. Her face was lovely, if slightly cold to look upon. Her eyes were large and a lovely shade of forest green.

Hiccup did not react to anything he saw.

"I suppose…you've worked it…out?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah," Hiccup said hoarsely. "If your name is Valka Haddock, that is,"

"It's been…long time since I've…heard that name," she said. She took a step closer. "I never thought...this day…come," she moved closer again but Hiccup took a step back. She moved closer again but Hiccup backed up again. "Why…back away?" she asked, then in Dragonese said "I'm sorry, my Norse is really rusty,"

"I noticed,"

"Why are you backing away from me?" she asked.

"Why shouldn't I?" Hiccup struggled to keep his voice level.

Neither of them could figure out what to do or say next. It was obvious Valka was torn whether or not to embrace him, but Hiccup would not let her get close enough. She tried to read his expression and perceived a mixture of emotions: confusion, anger, indecision, bitterness, and surprise, and she hoped she saw a hint of joy in him as well. Perhaps she did not truly see any of these beyond indecision, for that was plainly evident; perhaps she was only reading in his expression what she only wanted or expected to read.

As for Hiccup, his mind was trying so hard to work out how this could be that it refused to work out what to do next. He was looking at his mother for the first time that he could ever remember. The woman he thought had been killed by a dragon when he was just a baby. He had never doubted the story, even after he learned that dragons were not inherently evil. And yet here she was.

Everybody else was so transfixed by what they were watching they feared to make the slightest sound. Astrid felt this was such a private matter that she had no business being there, and yet she could not leave without drawing attention to herself.

At last Hiccup spoke up. "How?"

Valka bowed her head. "It's…it's a…it's a long stor—ee,"

"I should hope so if it covers over 20 years,"

"I thought you were…dead," She looked around uncertainly, and then an idea occurred to her. "Perhaps showing you would...be better," she gestured to the passage which she and Cloudjumper had come through.

"And how do we know this isn't some trap?" Snotlout suddenly asked. "No offense, but we've come a long way while being chased by assassins. You might be pretending to be Hiccup's mom to lure us to our deaths!"

"Chased by a-sass—?" Valka exclaimed as the others told Snotlout to be quiet. "Chased by a-sass—chased by assassins?" she switched to Dragonese so she could pronounce it.

"It's a long story," Hiccup said. "And Snotlout—if she wanted to kill us, why not just set the Snow Demon pack on us?" He hoped he was right and not giving her any ideas.

"Snotlout?" Valka said in surprise, turning to him, "you're my neff-yew?"

"I guess you could say that," Snotlout said, a little uncomfortably. He awkwardly realized he had just accused his own aunt of being treacherous or an imposter.

"I should have known. You look a lot like…Spitelout did at your…age. How is your father?"

Snotlout was even more uncomfortable now, though he tried not to show it. "Died in battle last year," he said shortly.

Valka was equally uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. We were not close but…I…never wanted him dead,"

"Yeah,"

She quickly turned to look at the others. "And you two must be the…For-sten Twins…the last time I saw you neither of you had any…hair!"

"And now I've got hair all over me, including my chest!" Tuffnut said proudly.

"Liar!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"Am not! Here, I'll prove it—"

"Oh no, you won't!" Astrid said sharply.

"I will, or the Chicken will not be amused!"

Valka looked questioningly at the Chicken he was now holding.

"Don't ask," Hiccup said quickly.

"Why should he care about the amusement of a chicken?" Cloudjumper asked.

"Like he just said, don't ask," Toothless said.

"Tuffnut—you pull your shirt down right this minute or I'll nail it onto you!" Astrid threatened. "I'm sure the Chicken will be very amused to see that!"

"You're Greta Hoffer…Hofferson's daughter," Valka said, "you sound just like her,"

"I'm Astrid," Astrid replied shortly and uncomfortably.

"So then you must be…"

"Fishlegs Ingerman, and this is Meatlug," he patted his slobbering Gronkle friend.

"I thought you told me the Vikings on Berk hated Dragons," Cloudjumper observed.

"They do. Or they did, anyway." She looked at Hiccup for an explanation.

"It's another long story," he said reluctantly.

"I can see we've…lots to talk about,"

"Yes we do," a dangerous glint came into his eyes, but Valka did not see it, for she had turned to Heather.

"Now…I don't ree—member many other children born around Hiccup's time…except those two, what were their names? They rhymed together…Dog something and Hog something,"

"I'm Heather and I'm not from Berk. I'm part of the De—" but she suddenly stopped. Was it sensible to bring up the Dragon Eye and the Defenders right now?

Before Valka could ask her what the 'D' was, Fishlegs answered her other question. "Their names were Dogsbreath and Hognose. Dogsbreath is dead and Hognose ran away,"

"One's dead and one fled?" Valka asked. They all then realized she had made a rhyme and could not help but chuckle at it. Even Hiccup smirked very slightly. "And let's see, there was a kid named Gruffnut…"

"That's our cousin!" Tuffnut said happily, "he's doing very well, but he hasn't lived on Berk for a very long time,"

"And a good thing too," Ruffnut scowled. "I don't get why you idolize him so much, he was nothing but a braggart and a bully. Remember when he locked Hic—"

"Anyway, he hasn't been seen on Berk in a long time," Astrid hastily interrupted. "Most of us forget about him,"

"Oh. All right. But since when do you ride on Dragons?" Valka asked.

"Since when do you?" Hiccup countered.

She hung her head and looked away. "Some time after I…." She did not hesitate because of rusty Norse, but because she was uncertain how exactly to phrase what had happened without making it sound negative. So she decided to avoid the question by gesturing once again to the passage. But nobody moved.

"I see Snotlout's objection still holds," she muttered to Cloudjumper. "Or perhaps they want nothing to do with us?"

"Or perhaps we want some answers," Hiccup said rather harshly. Valka realized she had forgotten Hiccup could speak Dragonese. How he had learned and how he had managed to meet a dragon and clearly befriend it she could not imagine.

"What have I missed?" she asked herself softly. "I guess you all know about that last night?"

"There was a raid," Hiccup said in a detached tone, as though unaware he was speaking, "a dragon entered our house. Dad said it was in my room and you were trying to defend me. He tried to do the same, only the dragon took you and flew off."

"That's...true enough," she said, "but not the whole story. Did he ever tell you I'd always believed dragons were not so bad?"

"Eventually,"

"It wasn't ex—actly the most popular opinion," she smiled bitterly, "and yes, when I saw Cloudjumper enter your…room I was ready to forget it and fight him. But when I entered I saw him playing with you. Playing with you…like anyone would if they had entered a baby's room. I saw all my thoughts and beliefs…and hopes proved in that instant. And then your father showed up and…well, he didn't react like me. He attacked. But Cloudjumper thought he was trying to attack me, so he took me with him." Valka turned around to look at Hiccup earnestly. "Not to kill me or hurt me but because he thought I belonged with him!"

"Why are you trying to convince me that dragons are not monsters?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow. "Haven't we already demonstrated we think otherwise?"

"Demonstr…oh, that," evidently she had not understood him at first, "yes…er—I suppose you have,"

"So—Cloudjumper, is it?—so Cloudjumper grabbed you and brought you here?" Astrid said.

"More or less," she said hesitantly. "So…who are these?" she gestured to the dragons. "Meatlug I know, but—"

Fishlegs cut in eagerly. "Oh, this is Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf n' Belch, Windshear, and last but not least—"

"I'm Toothless, Hiccup's best friend," the Night Fury interrupted, "you know we can speak for ourselves, Fish,"

"Sorry,"

"Your best friend is a dragon?" Valka exclaimed, "I don't…well, I don't mean I'm against it, but…not a human?"

Everyone shifted their weight or looked at the floor.

Hiccup spoke. "Yes, I'm best friends with a dragon, and what of it? I don't care what species he is! I don't judge any of my friends that way!"

This little outburst made Valka take a step back, whereas Toothless felt a strong surge of affection for his human.

Valka eyed her son warily. "H—how did your father react?"

Hiccup rubbed his shoulder gingerly. "Not very well," he said at last.

"You have a great talent for understatements," Toothless commented quietly.

"But he's more accepting now," Astrid said quickly over the Night Fury's comment. "Much more accepting. In fact, so is everyone on Berk!"

Valka looked at her skeptically.

"It's true!" Fishlegs said defensively, "we don't kill dragons anymore! We ride them and live with them!"

Valka was unconvinced and said as much.

"Then why are we all riding dragons?" Snotlout demanded. "What, do you think we're all exiles or something and are making all this up?"

"You could be. Or you could be spies sent here by Bludvist to try and kill us," Cloudjumper said coldly, unaware Snotlout could not understand him.

"Drago Bludvist is dead," Hiccup said sharply. "Nobody spies for him anymore."

"Dead?" Valka and Cloudjumper exclaimed together.

"After all this time, that monster is finally gone forever?" The Stormcutter cried.

"News is too slow reaching these parts," Valka told him bitterly, and then to the humans "How?"

"Hiccup beat him in combat and Toothless killed him," Astrid said, for Hiccup did not respond.

"Everlasting ice," Cloudjumper said, looking at the humans with newfound respect, "if they're telling us the truth…I had started to think he would never die, after he dodged my fire and threw that spear into me,"

"I know, old friend," Valka said.

"I'm guessing this was not your first nest," Hiccup said, "let me guess: Drago found your old nest and attacked it? He hinted about it during one of our last meetings."

Valka nodded, "And injured Cloudjumper, along with many…others. We drove him off but knew he'd be back as he…knew where we were. So we pulled out and in time came here. But how did you—"

"And then Hiccup returned to the Archipelago and took up the fight," Fishlegs said to Heather, "and Drago never realized he was fighting a different person."

Valka looked very confused. "You left the Archi…archi…you left the—"

"Another long story," Hiccup said quickly.

The Stormcutter spoke up. "Valka, we must let the Alpha know about this,"

She nodded reluctantly. "Will you come with us?" she asked them, "I…promise you I'm not luring you to your deaths,"

"You'd be in for a surprise if you did!" Tuffnut proclaimed, "Why, we were attacked just yesterday and beat everybody off!"

"Is this another 'long story'?"

"They're all kinda part of the same story actually," Fishlegs remarked, "it's just that it's a very long one,"

"Stop there a moment," Hiccup interrupted, "Did you say 'the Alpha'?"

Valka suddenly smiled. "Come and I'll show you," she said, and she leapt onto Cloudjumper once again.

"Hiccup, he said 'Alpha', he said 'Alpha! Does that mean the Alpha's here! Does that mean, after all this time, we've finally found them?" Toothless said excitedly. Hiccup was less enthusiastic but his curiosity was certainly piqued by now.

"Saddle up, gang,"

The new tunnel led steeply upwards, recovering all the altitude they had lost on the downward descent.

"Down below is where we live when it's too cold or the weather changes," Valka called back to them, "but most of us stay up here on days like this!"

"Feels like we're back in the Sanctuary," Stormfly remarked to Toothless, "only it's a little colder,"

"Just a little,"

The passage now became almost vertical. The rock walls had turned back into walls of solid ice. The dragons shot out of the opening and then opened their wings to glide over the landscape.

Valka pointed to a massive wall of ice that encircled the area like the walls of a fort. "That wall runs around the whole nest. The outside walls are either…sheer or stick out like great pikes. If anyone came at it from the outside they'd assume it was a huge mountain of ice. As long as we fly low at such times, no one would ever think there's a dragon nest here. The only ways into it are…tunnels like the one we went through, and they're too steep for hu—humans to climb."

"What if someone broke through the ice?" Astrid asked.

"If they did, we'd just make more,"

"How?" Fishlegs asked.

Valka pointed down at the icy valley below them. Every rider and dragon was struck speechless. Below them, what they had initially mistaken for rocks and ice formations, was the largest dragon—nay, creature—that any of them had ever seen. Hiccup and Toothless had seen the Red Death, a massive dragon in its own right, but this was in another realm. It was snowy white, except for the tips of its spines, which were black. Its body was massive and powerful. Its tail looked like it belonged to a whale: it was that long and thick. It had short wings, or flaps sticking out from the sides of its body, which Fishlegs estimated were largely for show, as they were too small to carry its bulky frame. Nearly every part of the dragon had spines elegantly coming out of it, from its legs down its tail, and all over its back. The spines came out of its head as if to make a giant headdress. On either side of its mouth, which was so large it could probably swallow Cloudjumper whole, were giant tusks, each one thick enough for a person to stand on comfortably. They reminded Hiccup of an elephant, only each one was thousands of times larger than any elephant tusk he had ever seen.

"That's the King of the nest," Valka said proudly, "the Bewilderbeast,"

Fishlegs nearly fell off Meatlug as he reached for his notebook and dragon cards; he was so excited to document what he was looking at. For one of the first times in his life, Hiccup did not think to do the same. He was just so stunned by what he was looking at, even though he had seen so many dragons, never in all his life had he imagined one would look like this.

Hiccup felt as though he was a treasure hunter who had finally found the city of gold. Forgotten was the fact that he had learned his mother was not dead, and everything that came with it. All he could think about was the Bewilderbeast. This creature surely had to be the Alpha. Nothing else on earth could possibly be grander or more majestic. Every centimeter of the dragon's body radiated power and authority. Hiccup had long wondered how it would feel to actually see the Alpha, and now he could say it was every bit as awe inspiring as he could ever have imagined. And he knew that though the others had not cherished the same thoughts, they too were just as awestruck as he was.

Yet Toothless, although very impressed, looked suspicious about something.

"Why am I not feeling anything in my head?" he asked himself.

"What was that, Bud?"

"With the Red Death, we could all feel her control whenever she wished it. Wouldn't the Alpha be the same? So why don't I feel anything?"

"Perhaps, unlike the Red Death, he doesn't treat other dragons like slaves,"

Toothless was unconvinced, but said nothing as he watched Valka and Cloudjumper fly closer to the Bewilderbeast. They were too far away to hear what was being said, but the white dragon raised its massive head slowly and breathed ice crystals in their direction. Snotlout and Hookfang, being the closest to it, got coated in frost.

"AUGH! MY BEAUTIFUL BODY WON'T LIGHT UP!"

"AUGH! IT'S FREAKING COLD! GET THIS STUFF OFF ME!"

Cloudjumper came flying back. He was maintaining his dignity, but Valka was laughing loudly. "He likes you," she said happily, "He's very happy to hear Drago is dead, and says you're all welcomed in his nest—you are going to stay here, right?"

The Riders exchanged glances.

"We're staying," Hiccup said at last, "though I don't know for how long."

"Oh…good,"

Trying to relieve how uncomfortable he felt, Hiccup gestured to the Bewilderbeast and said "So…would it be all right if we got closer to him?"

"Closer! Why d'ya wanna get closer? Have you forgotten what just happened to me?" Snotlout exclaimed. He was still brushing the bits of ice off of his and Hookfang's bodies.

"Perhaps you should wait a little bit on that first," Valka suggested, "he's a bit pre—preocc—well, just watch,"

The Bewilderbeast was moving slowly and majestically towards a large lake nearby. It was a large flat expanse of light blue water that had not one straight line making up its border. And now that he was no longer focusing on the Bewilderbeast, Hiccup saw for the first time other dragons, many of which looked like grasshoppers next to a hawk when compared to the Bewilderbeast.

Some dragons he was familiar with. He saw more Snow Demons, Zipplebacks, lots of Nadders, Gronkles, and Skinkhards, as well as Typhoomerangs, Snow Wraiths, and Timberjacks, to name a handful. There were even a few Razorwhips, much to Windshear's delight. But there were other dragons which even he had never seen before. Poor Fishlegs was frantically trying to break them all down and was driving himself to the point of exhaustion.

They saw the Bewilderbeast dunk its head into the lake to take a drink. It raised its head and spat a huge column of ice into the air, into a section of the ice wall. The ice quickly froze into place.

"Whoa," The Twins said together.

"That's amazing!" Fishlegs cried, "Just like a Scauldron, only instead of boiling the water he must have frozen it!"

"That explains why the walls probably won't be penetrated," Astrid observed.

"Exactly," Valka replied, "We only left our first nest because Drago learned where it was and we didn't want to risk anyone getting caught. This nest can sus—err—sus—"

"Sustain?" Heather suggested.

"Yes, it can sustain us better than the old one did." She smiled. "Most of the dragons don't live here year round. It's too cold. They move south for the winter but come back for the short summer. You'd not believe how cold it can get, and how fast the wind blows here. Only the Alpha doesn't seem to mind. Even the Wraiths and Demons have to move underground at times." She looked at Hiccup eagerly, "Well? What do you think?"

"You two are definitely related," Snotlout said. "Crazy dragon loving vigilantes. Like mother, like son."

Hiccup did not nod in agreement. Instead he turned to the group and said, "Guys? Could you give us a few minutes, please?"

Tuffnut said "Why? Anything she's got to say she can say in front of us, right?"

"Come on," Astrid ordered. So only the two Haddocks and their dragons were left facing each other.

Hiccup was about to speak when Valka pointed at his metal leg. "How did that happen?"

"What? Oh that. Another long story," Hiccup said with a slight smile. "It can wait,"

"And how did Toothless lose his—?" she paused, uncertain what to say in case she might offend the Night Fury.

"He was shot down. The ropes and crash took his tailfin off in the process. I…found him in the woods." Hiccup said shamefully.

"Drago's doing?" she drew closer to Toothless.

"No, just some stupid Viking who thought that killing a dragon was the true test of manhood and Vikingness."

"You know I don't blame you for any of that," Toothless said.

"Why should you?" Cloudjumper asked.

Hiccup sighed. "He should because I'm the one who shot him down."

"Oh, let it go already, will you!" Toothless exclaimed, as Valka and Cloudjumper reacted with shock. "You also gave me back the means to fly, and you've given me a lot more than that! Besides, I'm the one who took your leg off, so that makes us even!"

Valka looked uncertain of what to say to any of this. She felt she hardly had any right to say anything.

Cloudjumper did not. "You shot him down and robbed him of his ability to fly? The one thing that matters most to a dragon and you took it from him!"

"And gave it back to me!" Toothless snapped, waving his tailfin. "And I'd lose my tail a hundred times for him, so you keep quiet! It's not his fault they tried to raise him to fear and kill dragons! It was a senseless war that took my fin off, not Hiccup!"

"Cloudjumper," Valka said sternly. The Stormcutter backed away slightly. She then carefully approached Toothless and held a hand out. "May I? I've never seen a Night Fury before,"

"Neither have I," Toothless remarked.

She started petting him. "He's beautiful," she said gleefully.

"Did you hear that, Hiccup?" the Night Fury said smugly. "Beautiful. I like her already!"

Hiccup was only slightly amused. "Does flattery work that easily on you?"

"It's not flattery when it's the truth!" Then Valka stuck her hand inside his mouth.

"GAUK!" was the sound Toothless made as she felt around.

"Retractable teeth. So that's how you got his name. I'd wondered. And a forked tongue. I've never seen one this shape before."

"Hiccupth thee's pullin' on ma thunge!" Toothless gagged.

"I can see that," Hiccup smirked. Now he was genuinely started to enjoy this. "That's what you get for being so vain."

"Thaiting tha thruu—ptoo!" he spat once Valka removed her hands. "As I was saying, stating the truth is not vanity!"

"Well, he's certainly a wonderful dragon," Valka said as she stood up and turned to face Hiccup, "and incredibly rare too! He might be the last of his kind for all we know. But…that's not what you wanted to talk about, is it?"

He shook his head and folded his arms, his amusement gone. "Why didn't you ever come back for me?"

Valka bowed her head. "I knew you'd ask."

"Well?"

It took her a while to work out what to say. A few times she looked ready to start speaking but then suddenly changed her mind. Finally she said "I don't think any words can excuse it…"

"Try,"

"I couldn't go back," she said, turning away from him, "knowing what I did, I couldn't return to Berk and live in such a place any longer. And I had no way to get back—I couldn't make Cloudjumper take me and I couldn't just leave him. And can you imagine how Stoick might have reacted if I came back with a dragon for a friend?" she said all this hoping he would see a parallel between himself and Toothless.

Hiccup did see the similarity but remained cold and silent.

"What good would it have done?" Valka asked.

"I would have had a mother! Isn't that good enough?"

"Or you could've come back and taken him away with you," Toothless said. He knew a lot about Hiccup's childhood bullying, and was not pleased to know there might have been a way to avoid it.

"How could I raise a boy in the wild? And how could I steal him from his father?"

"Or you could've shown them that dragons aren't what they thought!" Toothless added, "It would've saved a lot of time and lives!"

"Would they have listened?" Cloudjumper retorted.

"Don't you think Cloudjumper carrying you back safe and sound would have been proof for them?" Hiccup asked.

Valka shook her head. "That was a risk I couldn't take. I wasn't going to ask Cloudjumper to fly into the middle of Berk and hope no one would try to kill him." She said sternly.

Hiccup had only wanted to know if she had considered this. He understood her answer, for he had had the same fear when he and Toothless had returned to Berk. He scratched his shoulder. When he had told his father that particular truth and much more with it, Stoick had thrown a spear at him. Oh yes, he could understand why Valka might have feared Stoick's anger. Even so, while he knew his father might do something horrible in blind rage, he could not believe Stoick would ever harm his beloved wife. His estranged and difficult son perhaps, but surely not the only woman he had ever loved.

"In any case, I thought you'd be better off without me." Here Hiccup snorted but she did not notice, "I…I did come back when you were four. I saw you playing with other kids. You were so happy…" she smiled at the memory.

"And we agreed taking you would have been wrong," Cloudjumper said.

Valka nodded wearily. "I did intend to come back…again, Hiccup. It was going to be a surprise for your sixteenth birthday. I'd thought the time was right. But when I snuck into Berk, I learned that you were dead. And I saw Stoick, drunk and cursing dragons. And I gave up."

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged glances. That would have been around a year after they had left Berk. A year after Berk had incorrectly concluded the Night Fury had killed him.

"So," he said at last, "you didn't come back because you wanted to believe we were all better off without you, is that it?" he had been thinking about this during the silence and the more he thought about it the more it hurt.

"That was one reason,"

"And it's more inaccurate then the Book of Dragons used to be,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Valka asked sharply.

Hiccup's expression was even sharper than her tone had been. "It doesn't really matter, does it?" Her statements had hurt more than she could have realized, but suddenly he decided he did not want her to know that. Before she could respond, and before he said anything further, he climbed onto Toothless and urged him to fly off. Valka and Cloudjumper did not follow.

Author's Note: when I was posting "The Dragon King", one reviewer remarked that Valka had no real right to tell off Stoick for being a bad parent, given her own track record. The more I thought about this, the more I realized they were right. I really struggled to find an excuse for why Valka would rather stay away from Berk and her family that did not sound completely selfish, and I just could not let Hiccup become friendly with her instantly, like he does in the movie. I honestly think Valka is the hardest character I have had to write for in these stories, because nearly every scene that features her keeps giving me difficulties. Astrid's question "how do you talk to a mother who's supposed to have been dead for over 20 years?" is a direct reference to my own frustrations at trying to write these scenes.

And the next chapter answers a few more mysteries, creates a few more, and has a surprise that I think everyone will really like. It will be posted April 29th.