AN: This story was written back in 2019, and I plan to rewrite it sometime in the next three years. It was my first fanfic with arms and legs (Polish saying) and incidentally, right after I posted it, the librarian who encouraged me to write it died. Stricken with grief I haven't managed to write a second chapter since then. I have had a fair share of grief processing since then and I plan to write chapter 2 and 3 as soon as the rewrite is done. You think three years is a long span of time? Well too bad.
This was unusual.
Valka usually could tell whether humans she encountered were dangerous or not. Mostly because almost every single one of them was, but still. This time however she couldn't, when she watched as six people–teenagers for Odin's sake–flew on dragons.
She should have been concerned, seeing as the dragons had saddles on their backs and one–The Unholy Offspring of Lighting and Death itself – the Night Fury–was even trapped in some sort of metal gear. But she couldn't bring herself to intervene immediately, as she would do in case of dragon hunters, because she felt something long forgotten slowly emerging in the depth of her shared soul.
Hope.
Hope for peace.
It felt alien in her. She has lost it ages ago, and even when she has merged in one with her soulmate eighteen years ago, she still couldn't bring herself to even think about that possibility. It hurt too greatly. But now? Looking at those kids, flying on dragons' back without much care she was almost sure that she wasn't alone, that other people had seen much more in those beautiful creatures than blood-thirsty beasts. She wanted to cry from happiness but didn't let anything besides a little happy crooning leave her body. (And her other half crooned back happily, feeling what she was feeling.) She was still high in the clouds and didn't want teenagers to see her and be scared. Anyone would have been scarred seeing her, really. She took great care into making her battle outfit as savage and barbarian as possible.
Even though, she decided flying a bit lower wouldn't hurt anyone.
Except it did.
Blue Nadder, whose rider was blond, lean girl, sniffed air cautiously before signalling that something wasn't right. "Storming-Anger-Consort! Storming-Anger-Consort! Someone above us!" she started chirping at her rider. "Queen! Flying-Half-Queen and Non-Flying-Half-Queen! Above! Above!"
Valka let loose a hiss. She wasn't supposed to be noticed! If not urgent need to escape she would have maybe pondered more about names chosen by blue Nadder, but having more important things to do, she pushed the thoughts down and took higher in the sky.
'Queen,' she absentmindedly thought, letting Cloudjumper take full control 'Could that be the Night Fury? That would make sense. They were the strongest of "small" dragons if to believe both human and dragon tales. But "Flying-Half" and "Non-Flying-Half"? Could the dragons from around here treat Night Fury's rider as their Queen too? That would be bad,' she mused. 'The Queen is usually whoever takes down the previous Queen, or,' she started dreading at the thought 'Or whoever would be so strong as to beat dragons into submission.'
Valka shook her head furiously. No, no, no, she couldn't think about this or her changing smell would make her easier to track down. She needed to keep calm, not mourn those who were killed in this. With bared teeth she closed her eyes, beating her hopeful heart into submission. 'Those are not allies but enemies,' she thought bitterly. 'What was I thinking, of course they wouldn't be.'
Suddenly something, or rather someone, appeared in front of her and her other half. She almost jumped out of her skin. The Night Fury and its reader caught up to them. Now that she was so close–too close for comfort. How did they get so close without her noticing?–she could see tousled auburn hair and even green in rider's eyes. Male was young, as she first estimated, and had stern look on his face, though his eyes–they're familiar. Why are they so familiar?–his eyes held a few glimmers of utter amazement. 'Oh, he might think I'm one of them…'
"Who are you?" he wasn't exactly shouting, but was speaking loudly as to be heard above the noises of beating wings.
Valka moved her staff near Cloudjumper ears: "Stop, My-Love. But don't answer if their dragons ask you anything."
"Of course, as you wish Half-Of-Me-That-I-Love," he crooned reassuringly, but quiet enough, that she mostly got it from vibrations she felt along her skin, not the sound of it. Her soulmate straightened his wings, stopping them mid-air.
"Hey, do you hear me?" The mysterious rider and his Night Fury stopped in air too, not nearly as abruptly as Cloudjumper did, but with grace that told her that they must have trained this manoeuvre. The rider didn't even stir in his saddle, and she knew herself how hard that was sometimes. "Oh, come on," he whispered with a sigh and repeated, much louder and with breaks between words: "Do!? You!? Hear!? Me!?" Cloudjumper growled protectively at that. He didn't like the fact, that this someone was shouting at his other half. Valka calmed him down with a pat and slight calming sound from back of her throat, but otherwise remained silent. "Okay… So you probably can hear me but just don't want to speak…" he rambled. "That's suspicious." The boy waited for some sort of answer but after some time without one he continued. "If you're our enemy then let's just… clear up whatever wrongness did we do to you and…" he stopped and looked at her a little exasperatedly "We can try to clean up that mess or just fight but–for the love of Thor say something! I don't know what to make of you and that's driving me mad! Do us both a favour and speak!"
Ah, of course, famous Vikings' anger. She still remembered her husband's angry shouts, angry glares and– Wait. Glares. Stoick's glares… She looked deep into boy's green eyes again and gasped. The absolute tiredness and anger in them didn't really faze her–maybe except for the former one–but everything suddenly clicked. Those eyes reminded her so much of her husband. 'Stoick… must be his father… So he remarried and finally had a warrior he wanted so bad, huh?' she mused, trying desperately to not think of the fate of her own child. Dead. Surely dead. If not from being so fragile and early out in this cruel world, then killed while one of brutal dragon raids. She was sure of it and made peace with those thoughts, but it still hurt, especially now when she was forced to look into those green, green eyes inherited from her husband. 'Hiccup had the same beautiful eyes.'
"Maybe you just don't understand what I'm saying?" he whispered suddenly, his eyes shifting in the look of shame and worry. "Oh gods, I shouldn't have shouted…" That… wasn't what Valka expected. Not from Stoick's new wonder boy.
Ah, perhaps she shouldn't call him so mockingly even if it's in her head. She shouldn't let her past make her so bitter.
"Why do I always make mistakes…" muttered the boy. His left hand stopped gripping the saddle handle, and he rested it on his face. "Great." He pondered about something for a few seconds than his face brightened. He smiled slightly to her, moved his hands, so they rested on place where his heart should be and bowed. His whole expression seemed to say "sorry".
Huh. He was full of surprises.
Suddenly the boy raised his fist in the air and twisted it, with loud whistle.
…aaaaand then and only then Valka realized she's stupid and got actually surrounded.
'Great.'
Two dragons with riders circled her, one slightly lower than her, and second slightly higher. Below her was Zippleback, whose riders were apparently twins. She remembered dear Mrs Thorston who was in blessed state of twin pregnancy around the same time Hiccup was born. So that's probably Thorston twins.
'Focus Valka' she thought, shaking her head slightly.
The dragon flying above her was red Monstrous Nightmare. His rider was shorter than the rest of riders and seemed awfully familiar… 'Oh. This must be Spitelout's son.'
The dragon behind her was Gronckle, she was sure without turning around to check. Her instincts finally kicked in, telling her where everyone was and looking for a way out.
About that, the fifth dragon was effectively blocking every, and she meant every escape route. The Deadly Nadder that smelled her earlier never lingered in a place for longer than a few seconds, constantly shifting and making her unable to escape.
"Guys, I need you all to co-operate. We're gonna slowly escort him… her… them to the nearest land, and we'll try communicating through drawing or something. Something seems fishy, so I won't be taking chances."
The chorus of "Aye boss", "Yeah chief" and "Sure, sure, whatever you say" sounded as if they were mocking him but after maybe two seconds of disarray they actually followed his orders and, gesturing to her every so often, began guiding her towards land. She didn't like it one bit but decided to play along for now, until she could make a run for it and escape their clutches.
Suddenly she felt Cloudjumper tense underneath her, and she noticed an opening. Her hands were on her other half's crown before she could fully process that thought, and they were diving in air before she could take another breath.
She didn't even remember the details of the chase that ensued. Just that the riders went as far as made dragons under their control shoot her. Fortunately they missed. She hoped that the reason of this was a spike of trust and an itch of hope, that she'll free them.
"Huh, we made it…" she whispered silently, quite not believing herself when she double-checked that the surrounding sky was clear and completely devoid of life.
"SO YOU DO UNDERSTAND AND I MADE A FOUL OUT OF MYSELF! AGAIN! GREAT!" Valka noticed Night Fury and his rider the moment the boy revealed himself but that was too late anyway. With a shriek Cloudjumper started diving towards waves underneath them. It took her too long to realize that he wasn't doing that willingly.
"When..?" Cloudjumper's wings were netted. She was in so much shock she barely recognized the capture weapon. She feared for safety of her beloved, feared that there were some sharp hooks or spikes entwined in the net, feared that they could hurt him to the point where he couldn't fly again, but she didn't find any from the position she was in. Then she realized she couldn't move. Yeah, she was definitely in a shock.
She hadn't ever dealt with dragon raiders before. Dragon trappers, yes. Other Vikings even, yes, those too. But dragon raiders? It was her first encounter. Of course, she should have expected of them both, techniques of simple Vikings and ones of dragon trappers–which they essentially were, who was kidding who–and on top of that something entirely new.
"When negotiations fail fists come into dance. In the name of Stoick the Vast I accuse you of being Berk's enemy." His voice was much more stable this time.
At that she had only a pained shriek to give. 'Negotiations my ass!'
"Don't struggle and we'll help you!" shouted Night Fury's rider. The dragon was holding onto the net but was dragged down too. Poor, majestic thing, he shouldn't be forced to participate in these people hunting…
Other dragons and their riders soon caught up to them too, Nadder effectively stopped Valka's and Cloudjumper's fall. The woman finally noticed how she was tricked. The riders must have circled the nearby island and flew through caves or something, staying out of her vision but close enough to attack.
She was so stupid, she was fighting along dragons for eighteen years, she should have learned to watch her surroundings more. Especially for mountain ranges like that.
The way she was squished between Cloudjumper's wings made her unable to see where they were going and it wasn't as if she had a good sense of direction to begin with even after all those years without as much as a compass.
So, she was lost, captured and helpless. She was sure her staff will be taken away from her as soon as they'll land too. She was really helpless. Great.
"Hey, they really tricked you, hm? As I said before, when you do fail you fail big time, huh?" a male voice could be heard, obviously trying to rile up their leader. Why?
"Thanks a lot Snotlout." Oh, wow, Night Fury's rider sure sounded angry aaaaand she was right with the Monstrous Nightmare's rider being Spitelout's son if the name was anything to go by.
"Well, it's not like you wouldn't be tricked," accused girly voice. "Any of us would be, really. Besides, it wasn't his fault that they escaped from our escort, but mine. I should have noticed tha–"
"Astrid," Oh, a quite normal name, so she must be a Hofferson. They never named they children as to scare trolls. "Don't blame yourself too much. You are just a human," Night Fury's rider was instantly gentle and caring. Who would have thought? 'Well, if he has soft sides than maybe we won't be tortured,' Valka allowed herself to think. 'Just maybe.'
"Ugh, such lovebirds!" Snotlout made a few noises of disgust. It was apparently enough to rile up their leader again.
"Snotlout, one more comment and I'm taking your advice about blasting people into oblivion." Oh. Oh, that would hurt, surely. If it wouldn't kill him instantly, that is.
"Hey! Copyright! And I would like to say something for the record–"
"Shut up Snotlout!" almost all riders said it simultaneously with varying levels of enthusiasm. The only response the poor boy had for it was 'Hey!' which did nothing to subdue laughing that came after that. Oh, well, they're still young.
For a while they flew in silence until some new voice ended it.
"Um, can we talk about how we haven't seen that species of a dragon until today? I soooo wanna probe and research it. I mean, four wings!" 'Oh no, not my Cloudjumper! Who knows what they'll do to him while these inspections?'
"Right? It's exciting! And that ability to just stop mid-air? Absolutely amazing!" their leader sounded positively excited, not a hint of malice in his voice. 'Thank gods, if they're interested in his flying techniques than they won't kill him immediately.'
"Ugh, can you stop geeking out? You'll have all the time in the world to do it once we'll land. Don't force us to listen to this now," said Snotlout angrily. Why skip the learning experience?
"I thought we told you to shut your mouth, so shut your mouth." Their leader wasn't even bothered, though his tone of voice hinted amusement. 'He must like having upper hand in conversations.' Well, who doesn't. For another while they flew in silence until the boy spoke again: "Okay gang, be ready to stop them should they try to escape. Once we'll have them unbound take the dragon to stable. I and Astrid will take the rider to cell and maybe question them. Remember to not rile up the dragon and keep away from beak and claws."
A few confirmations followed, and Valka soon felt that they were landing. She stilled, waiting for an opportunity to free herself and her other half. Her curiosity got them into this mess, so she needed to get them out of it too. She heard someone approaching and draw a blade. Ropes tying her and Cloudjumper's body were swiftly cut. In the moment she was released, Valka made a run for it, trying to elude her captors and maybe outsmart them enough to free her soulmate in one go.
She didn't make two steps out of web before someone brought her to ground–or rather floor as she noticed wooden planks underneath them–and started binding her with rope. Cloudjumper tried to shake the net off himself but he was caught in ropes before he managed that. Three boys–Snotlout, a fat one and male twin–were pulling in other direction, while Valka could only writhe in her captor's clutches. The person holding her was their leader, she realised after craning her neck a bit. He looked absolutely furious and disgusted, baring his teeth halfway and furrowed his brows. He impatiently stomped his feet and oh, wow, he was an amputee. That made her wince with empathy, until she looked in his angry eyes again. Oh, maybe her dragon will avoid tortures, but Valka was sure she wouldn't.
"Stand up," he commanded, and she didn't rebel. Who knew what consequences would stepping out of line bring?
"Hey…" Hofferson girl took Valka's staff in her left hand, walked up to Night Fury's rider and placed her other hand on his arm. "Let me do that? You're irritated to Helheim and back and you deserve sleep after all that happened in those three days. You know they won't escape from me." 'Oh, well, dealing with this girl is better I suppose. At least she may go easy on me.' "You need rest," she firmly said, before placing a small kiss on his cheek, and grabbing ends of rope. 'Possessive.'
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. As always," he grumpily responded, but didn't protest otherwise. "Have Fishlegs watch her whenever you won't be able to. We don't want another 'Viggo-outhouse'y' situation, so twins and Snotlout are out of question." 'What.' That sounded strange to Valka but earned a small laugh out of Astrid. So probably an inner joke.
"Sure, just go to sleep now, I've got this." She pushed him lightly and he went away. 'Just like that? He must trust her a lot…' "So…" the girl looked at Valka sternly. "I don't know what to make out of you so I'm just gonna see what will make you talk." She yanked the rope and pushed her prisoner. "Walk." Valka obeyed again. Who knew what did the girl mean by 'making her talk', right? She just hoped Cloudjumper would have better luck than her. As long as they're interested, they'll let him live so maybe he'll find an opportunity to escape. She repeated that to herself but couldn't find hope to believe it.
The walk was a rather short one, and soon Valka was unceremoniously sat on wooden floor. Astrid took off her mask and threw it in the corner of the cell along with her staff. She inspected woman's face for a bit, before closing cell's door and sitting right in front of her with an axe in hands. Valka didn't notice any hostility in girl's actions, but she felt it could change any moment. Woman's eyes wandered around cell, looking for an opening or any way to get out. She didn't like feeling helpless and was blindly focused on getting her soulmate free. And for that she needed herself free.
"We can sit here forever, staring one another down or you can try explaining yourself," said Hofferson girl, sharpening her axe. After that she sat in silence, not once looking away from her prisoner or stopping tending her weapon. The sound of rock on metal was starting to drive Valka mad. And it just continued and continued… The woman lost track of time, but she noticed that shadows became significantly longer. And the girl stared and stared and sharpened her axe and the sound was excruciating. Valka's ears felt like they were bleeding.
"What do you want?" she whispered weekly, feeling her resolve crumble. She wanted out. She wanted to be near her soulmate again. The walls of cell seemed to be closing around her. She really wanted to be out–needed to be out.
"Oh, I don't know," said blonde cynically, finally stopping her tending. "Maybe a little explanation why weren't you speaking to our leader before?" she asked with pretended curiosity and wondering on her face. "Maybe why did you run off when we tried to reach you? Or why didn't you say a word when we captured you? Oh, I really wonder what we could possibly want from you, you poor thing that did nothing wrong in your life. We're monsters for wanting to protect our people and checking on dragon riders who appear out of nowhere. Such monstrosities, right?" There was so much mocking in her voice that Valka shut her mouth for another long period of time. She didn't deserved mockery. They were the ones who tortured both dragons and people, totally uncaring and unemphatic. The pure disdain on girl's face was saying a lot in itself about who this people were.
"I'm not going to explain myself to dragon hunters," Valka finally spat out, no longer able to ignore crushing presence in front of her.
"Dragon hunters?" The girl looked genuinely surprised at that. "Wait, you mean you think we're hunting dragons!?" she practically shouted in disbelief. She looked so offended that Valka did a double-take.
"Yes. That's what I think it is. Why else would those dragons be trapped in armour?"
"Those are saddles," the girl replied dumbfounded.
"What if dragons don't like them? What if they're uncomfortable?"
"We make sure they aren't and if they are, we make another saddle and if it's bad too we just mark them as unrideable."
"And what do you do to unrideable dragons? Kill them?"
"Uh, no? They just… I never really thought about that much but I guess they just fly around Berk freely and I think sometimes they care for Berk's children? They usually don't have owners, true, but it's not like we don't care for them. Hiccup would kill us all if we didn't," she added with a fond smile. 'Hiccup? My Hiccup is alive? Oh gods thank you! That's all I could ask for.' "Um, miss? You have a strange expression."
"Oh, this… Hiccup you were talking about…" She didn't know what to ask, so many questions bubbling inside her skull. 'How is he doing? Is he hurting because of her? What's his profession? How does he even look like? Oh gods I want to see my baby. What w–'
"Oh! Right, I forgot it might sound strange to outsiders," Astrid said sheepishly, stopping Valka's train of thoughts. "He's Stoick the Vast's–our chief's–son. He's… well… um…" 'Probably not an heir, huh? But it's good that he's alive. That's more than she could ever ask for.' "He was the first dragon rider," Astrid finally said. 'Oh, who would have thought? Certainly not me. But gods, I'm so proud… If I could only tell him…' "He changed our minds about dragons, though not without a price…" she trailed off, a hint of smile ghosting her face. "He was… temporarily disowned…" 'Oh… Cruel… Wait, temporarily?' "And then he killed the Red Death itself." 'Must be nest's Queen…' "Of course with Toothless." 'Toothless?' "Oh, right. That's his dragon. And in that fight, he lost his leg, so that's another unfortunate thing that has happened…"
'Wait a moment.'
"Um… Is this boy, well, in this facility?" Valka asked feeling strangely light-headed. 'Could it be? Could it really be? A metal leg… Being a Queen…'
"Well, yeah, why?" the girl replied confused. "He was the one who brought you down. He's really skilled in dragon riding."
Valka could barely hear what the girl was saying. Her Hiccup, her Hiccup was well and alive and a dragon rider and strong and a worthy heir of Stoick and… everything she didn't dare to hope he would be. 'And where have I been?' She felt so ashamed for leaving her son among Vikings, for never coming back. 'Hiccup… Oh, will he ever forgive me?'
She noticed wetness on her face. Oh, she was crying. And another oh, Astrid was kneeling in front of her–cell's door open, she could escape right now–asking her why she was crying. And why was she crying? She didn't know. She held so much hate, disdain and pity towards herself that it felt as if she had to wash it all away from within. Oh, that was bad, that was really bad. She had to come back to Cloudjumper and free him, she shouldn't cry her eyes out in front of nearly strangers.
Heyy, sorry but I couldn't sleep. Did you get anything out of heeee–whyyyy is she crying? And wh– why did you open cell's door? That could be a trick! Astrid!" Dragon rider's leader's–her son's–voice jerked her into consciousness after being in that hopeless state of overthinking. She looked up, meeting those beautiful green eyes, currently filled with concern. "Wha–wha–what's happening?" he stuttered as she sometimes imagined he would.
She hadn't really let herself think much about what he would look like or how he would behave, but when she did she has mostly thought about him as a scrawny kid who was stuttering mess and couldn't stand to his father big expectations. Like, come on, who orders the smallest axe ever made and gives it to prematurely born baby? Vikings and their customs…
(And sometimes, sometimes she felt sure he was dead, and she even imagined his funeral…)
But Hiccup standing in front of her was nothing like those images she had created in her head. Sure, he didn't look as… big as a Viking should, but he was in no way scrawny. His frame lithe, not too thin. His face wasn't one of the Berk's liability but a leader, Berk's future chief. When he moved a bit, she could see light reflect on his scar placed on his chin. 'Cloudjumper did that…' His tousled hair looked beautifully in evening light.
"After all these years I meet you again…" she found herself saying. She was surprised at herself but continued, it was as if someone else was moving her mouth "My heart was longing to come back, to see you with my own two eyes but all those years I didn't realize…" her voice wavered, new tears coming "I didn't realize I wouldn't recognize my own son."
Another wave of tears blurred her vision. Her heart was thumping in her chest so loud she was afraid it will break through her ribcage. There, she said it. Now it was in gods' hands.
Some time passed, Valka wasn't sure if it was a second, a minute or an hour. Some shouts were heard in the distance and something touched her face. No, someone. Valka blinked furiously, trying to get rid of tears. Once her vision was no longer blurred, she looked around the room again. Astrid was still kneeling in front of her, asking her to breathe. But Hiccup was nowhere around. 'Now I lost him for good…'
"Free the four-winged dragon Fishlegs!" she heard someone shouting in the distance.
"What!?" another voice.
"Just free him and don't ask questions!"
"Miss," Valka's attention immediately snapped to Astrid. "I can see that you've calmed down a bit, but your breathing is erratic, and we would rather not have you lose your consciousness," her voice was calm, gentle. Her hands were on either side of Valka's shoulders now. "Breath with me, please? In and out. In. Out." Valka tried to follow instructions, but her breath hitched in her chest and sometimes just didn't come. 'Oh gods, my son hates me, how can I be calm?' "Miss, please. In and out. Hiccup will be back in a minute. In and out."
Suddenly she heard Cloudjumper roar: "Where are you Half-Of-Me-That-I-Love!?"
'So they freed him. He's free. Oh, at least this went good.' She wanted to reply but her voice was caught in her throat. She couldn't make a sound.
"Hey! Hey, easy. I'll take you to your rider, ok? Just follow me," that was certainly Hiccup's voice. He said everything slowly and calmly but it still took Valka a bit to connect the dots and realize that he's talking to her soulmate.
Her breath hitched again, to the point that it hurt, when Hiccup slowly emerged through the door, facing her backwards and with one hand in the air. Soon she could make out another familiar face.
"C– Cloud-djum…" words died on her tongue as she began coughing. Her world started spinning and she couldn't help it. She heard someone scream something vaguely resembling 'Mom' and then darkness swallowed her whole.
Valka woke up feeling her lungs burn. 'Oh no. I must have had a coughing fit while sleeping… Or I'm getting pneumonia again. Great. Wait, where am I?' Admittedly it took her an embarrassingly long while to notice that she wasn't in her cave, safely nested between her soulmate's wings, but in an unknown environment, apparently some tent but thankfully not in a cell or shackled but on nice bed. She tried to stand up but there was suddenly a crushing weight at her ribcage so with a hiss of pain she fell back. Fortunately this unpleasant experience was caused by a pleasant person. Cloudjumper took his claw away from her body and crooned lightly.
"You're awake, My-Love. Happy, happy, happy! Sorry for hurting you, My-Love," he repeated it again and again.
"Muttonhead, she's awake!" Valka almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Night Fury's howl. "Now come her and explain, stupid non-flying muttonhead!" Ok, he was screaming at a human. Ok. Totally normal. Not a strange thing in it. Nope.
"Okay Bud! I'm coming, I'm coming!" she heard Hiccup's voice before she saw him. He caught her stare with his own and instantly became kind of unsure about what to do.
"Oh, there you are! See? I was watching her for you! And where were you!?" scowled Night Fury, poking him with his snout. The dragon was irritated to no end and apparently decided that blaming his rider for everything was the best option. "Doing stupid things of course! Scribbling those unmeaning scribbles and packing them to Small-One's fake-skin!" The Night Fury decided that a little nudging wasn't enough of a punishment for his "idiotic human" and tried to jump on him.
"Woah, woah, Toothless! What are you– Wh– Hey! Stop nudg– Woah, woah, woah! I'm gonna fall if you keep doing that! You're like ten times heavier than me!" Hiccup tried to escape his dragon's operations but to no avail. Toothless was pretty committed to making his rider apologize or at least blow off some steam.
Valka watched with amusement as the dragon succeeded in making his rider fall to the ground and just lay himself on him. Hiccup only sighed. 'This must be a frequent occurrence then,' Valka decided. She looked in her soulmate's eyes and wordlessly asked him to let her sit. His eyes immediately became slits. He didn't just dislike the idea, he hated it. 'Oh, come on, please?' another wordless plea and Cloudjumper gave out. With a grumble he extended a wing so she could use it as a help to sit up.
Valka thanked gods that aside from a little back pain and burning lungs nothing was wrong with her body. Not a single scratch, not a bruise, at least not on visible parts of her body. She noted that her armour was taken off her, so she was left in just her tunic, but she quickly noticed it laying on the table nearby, so she let herself relax. It was a miracle that the only damage she sustained was from her own panicking. That, or Loki was playing tricks on her.
"Toothless, get off me!" Hiccup was still writhing underneath the Night Fury. "You stupid, overgrown lizard I don't have time to play with you right now!" 'Oho, so the insults aren't one-sided then.'
"I have a vague idea of what you just said and I'm not letting you go," barked out dragon, licking boy's face all over.
"Oh AAAAARGH! You know this doesn't wash-out!" Valka watched as her son's face cringed in disgust and couldn't stop another laugh escaping her lips. This apparently made him feel self-conscious because he quickly muttered: "I-I-I am so sorry. I don't know what has gotten into him, um…"
"He's angry that you went away," she explained with a smile. "I didn't really understand what he meant by saying that you were "scribbling unmeaning scribbles" but he thinks you were doing "stupid things"." In the last moment she remembered to do air quotes. Gods, how long has it been since she spoke Norse? Too long.
"O-Oh…" he pouted but suddenly his eyes went wide. "Wait a moment… Wait, you– You understand dragon speech!?" The excitement was evident in both his voice and bodily language which caused Valka to laugh again. Hiccup's shouts achieved one more thing, Toothless decided that since he wasn't getting his rider full attention either way, he was just going to look for it elsewhere. He turned around and walked out. Valka noticed something rather horrifying then. The magnificent dragon was missing a tail fin, and, in its place, there was a red mechanism. 'That's how he can fly, huh? Wait, what was Hiccup asking? Right, dragonese.'
"Yes… I spent past eighteen years learning about dragons; their customs, their behaviour, their language…" she could feel another wave of tears welling under her eyelids, so she quickly wiped her eyes. 'No point in crying again.'
"Wow, that's, that's amazing!" There was nothing but awe in his voice. No resentment, no accusation, no anger. That felt wrong, she left him for gods' sake! Valka gathered her courage and asked:
"You're not upset?" Hiccup's face dropped immediately but light in his eyes wasn't gone.
"I– I don't know," he replied truthfully. "I mean, it's not every day you learn your mother, who was presumed dead, is actually alive and a feral dragon lady at that," he muttered, scratching his neck. He finally looked up, meeting her eyes with his own. "I-I mean, it's not bad it's just… strange." He looked down again. "You have no idea how many times I have wondered if you would be… proud of me, for trying to change Berk, how many times I hoped that if you would be with us, you wouldn't look down on me like everyone on Berk did, I–" he suddenly stopped, clamping a hand on his mouth. "Oh gods, sorry, I'm rambling, I shouldn't have–"
"I'm sorry, Hiccup." Her apology stopped him before he could say more. He looked at her in disbelief, as if he wasn't used to hearing those words directed at him. It hurt Valka's heart even more. "I'm so sorry. I was wrong, I see it now, but what hope could I have that I wouldn't be killed on sight, should I come back on dragon?" She wanted to say more, maybe sound less like she's excusing herself, but Hiccup smirked sarcastically and cut her off.
"You know what, that's fair," he said with bitterness. "They all would have done that three years ago. But," he quickly added with much kinder facial expression "Berk has changed, a lot." Valka found herself not quite believing it and apparently it showed on her face because Hiccup suddenly looked determined to make her believe him. "No, really. Everyone back at home have dragons of their own now. It might be hard to believe but we really learnt how to coexist. Some dragons are straight-up domesticated. I couldn't even imagine everything going so smoothly when I first tried to fly Toothless and now…" his voice carried a certain note of nostalgia "And now the war is over, and we live in total peace." His face immediately dropped again after that. "I-I mean, not total peace," his right hand found its way on nape of his neck again right as his voice dropped to adorable stutter. "Mostly because first we had war with Alvin and Dagur and now we have a conflict with Viggo and Ryker so…" Valka recognised first two names, as she remembered Berk's worst enemy, the chief of Outcasts, and the second man was probably the son of Oswald the Agreeable, but "Viggo and Ryker" didn't sound familiar at all. "Ah, right… They're, uhhhhh, they're dragon hunters," supplied Hiccup, sensing her confusion. "That's why we have had those conflicts to begin with, because everyone around us seems to want our dragons either dead or trapped in their collection." He shook his head in frustration. "It's sickening."
Valka couldn't stop warm feeling in her souls, seeing how much her son cared for dragons. Her heart swelled in pride painfully.
"All those years... you took after me. And where was I?" she whispered, looking down in shame.
"Where were you indeed," Hiccup sat in front of her and looked at her from floor level. "Eighteen years is a long time and I can't imagine anyone surviving it without some place to call home," he said with a smile. He looked like a child eager to hear a story before going to bed and Valka couldn't stop a smile forming on her face. Cloudjumper laughed, snugging himself down on the floor.
"There's a huge nest about half a day of flight away from here," Valka said, gesturing with her hand. "It's home to great protector of dragons around the world and their king!" she smiled wildly, noticing as curiosity started eating away her son. "I lived there under his rule, the rule of the Great Alpha Bewilderbeast! His species is on the brink of extinction… and that remind me of a certain dragon that can be very well last of his kind," Valka really wanted to know more about that Night Fury and his friendship with Hiccup. She has seen only a bit of their interactions, but she already could tell that their dynamics couldn't be achieved in a short amount of time or without full trust.
"Ah, Toothless…" Hiccup smiled and looked around as if expecting his dragon to somehow submerge out of shadows, and then shrugged when nothing like that happened. "What would you want to know?" he asked with a small smile.
"I've seen his tail… and your leg… you fit, you know?" she laughed, and he followed.
"Aaaaah, thank you! What a compliment!" he said and gave up on suppressing another laughing fit. "Well, that was a payback." He gestured towards his peg leg. "He crippled me after I crippled him…" his voice went darker and Valka stopped laughing momentarily. Cloudjumper immediately was pressing his snout to her cheek reassuringly, sensing her uneasiness. "I was falling down into the flames after we defeated Red Death together, and he bit down on my leg to pull me up higher, so he could cover me with his conveniently fire-proof body. He miss-judged the strength of his jaws, didn't retreat his teeth." Valka stopped breathing for a moment. Having one's limb bitten off by dragon was one of the most painful things in the world, but Hiccup spoke quietly, without anger or resentment. At least not towards the dragon. "And I– And I deserved it, really. One night while dragon raid, I shot him down with bola-launcher and the net ripped of his tail fin clean. I went off to kill, to kill him fi-first thing in the m-morning but when I, when I, when I looked into his eyes, I've seen myself," he looked up at her, and she noticed tears welling up in his eyes. "He was as scared as me and made peace with death… so I went a little suicidal and freed him from the net. He pinned me to the ground, prepared to shoot me, roared at me so loud that it still rings in my ears and ran away. Yeah, that was memorable experience," he smiled slightly although bitterly. "It took me two days to realize why he can't fly on his own and I made him prosthetic tail fin, then I actually thought "Oh wait, someone has to ride him and move the mechanism. Oh well, I'm the only person crazy enough to do this!" so after the tail fin went the saddle and then some more equipment, like a small rope to make sure I don't fall from his back… I still managed to somehow fall from his back… Yeah…" he sounded so resigned, so small and broken and Valka could only watch in silence as he spoke. "I-I actually made him an automatic tail fin and gave it to him as a present on our first Snoggletog but instead of like, flying away to look for a mate or maybe getting away from me for good he–" Hiccup started laughing, a bit hysterically. "He flew off to look for my helmet that I lost while flying with him. He hates diving, you know? Maybe because we both almost drowned so many times." Valka wanted to ask about it, but Hiccup continued. "And he spent almost all day diving for my helmet into the ocean. And the next day I wake up, feeling that everything is right in the world and I find him sitting in front of our old flying equipment. He destroyed the automatic tail fin in front of my eyes and pushed his old one in my direction doing the best puppy-eyes he could manage… I crippled him and then gave him a way to not be dependent on me, and he still chose to fly with me I– I don't understand it!" He looked at Valka with tears in his eyes and before she could stop herself, she was on the floor with him.
"Oh Hiccup…" she really didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry… I should have been here… Can we– Can we start over? Would you give me another chance? I–" She decided that going for misdirection was her best shot "I could teach you all that I learned these past twenty years! Every dragon has its secrets," Hiccup relaxed a bit under her hand, so she allowed herself to dream a little "And, I'll show them all to you! We'll unlock every mystery, find every last species… together..! As mother and son."
The look Hiccup gave her was worth everything. Pure amazement, unapologetic curiosity and longing for a mother he hasn't had before. It was both sweet and painful to watch but Valka didn't want anything more than to look into those green eyes reminding her of Stoick. 'Oh, Stoick… How will I show myself to you? How could I look into your eyes without burning down with shame?'
"Can– Can I show you something? Like a compensation for capturing you," he looked away from her. "Aaaaaand I need to explain who you are to the rest of gang, or they'll attack you immediately. I haven't gotten to that part yet, and they overreact a lot. Gods, Tuff and Ruff attacked me once because they thought I joined dragon hunters, when they've seen an emergency fix-it tail fin I made for Toothless from hunters' ship's sail. Who knows how they'll react when they'll see you walking around free?"
"Really?"
"Really, they never watch their backs when they have to, but are overly attentive when they don't need to," Hiccup sighed and rose to his feet. 'Well, to his foot and a prosthetic. My poor boy.' "I barely control them on my best days and as happy as I am I met you, this week is so horrible all together that I'm starting to contemplate praying to Loki for help as it seems he's the only one that listens. At least that's what I think looking at twins. They're definitely blessed by him. Daily." Valka laughed at his exasperated tone. It seemed that he used it a lot, at least while complaining. 'It sounds nice, his voice gets much lower than when he's speaking normally and has a slight growl to it… Almost like Toothless' grumpy voice…'
Valka stood up too, taking Cloudjumper's wings for support. Gods! Her back really was killing her. 'Eh, I'm not that young anymore.'
"Um, do you want to take your armour, or can it stay here?" Hiccup asked, gesturing slightly towards the bundle at the table.
"I'll take my staff, the rest can stay," Valka said, lightly taking the object.
Hiccup awkwardly gestured towards door and made a small "follow me" motion. Out of the building Valka focused not on the architecture but the way Hiccup walked. She has lived among amputees for as long as she could remember, first humans and then dragons but no amputee walked so freely on their prosthetics. Take Gobber for the instance. The man lost his hand and leg, made prosthetics himself and lived like that for at least good ten years. His walk was unnatural, accommodated to uneven muscles and tangential plane with ground. 'Oh, I hope he's still alive…' Hiccup walked without a wobble, with straightened back and by the small motions of his hands and shoulders she could tell it was his natural way of being, and he wasn't trying to impress her with posture and air of confidence. 'I wonder if he's capable of running normally...'
"Snotlout!" Hiccup stopped and so did Valka, she finally stopped looking at his legs and shoot up her gaze to look in front of her. There stood Spitelout's son. Now that they were on the ground, she could tell he was much shorter than Hiccup, although more buff and… generally more Viking-like. He wore his helmet for one, and he puffed his chest proudly, looking at his leader, as if challenging him. "Gather everyone in the clubhouse. I have some announcements to make."
"Aye, any other wishes?" Snotlout asked with a hint of curiosity, looking at Valka as if expecting her to grow a second head soon. His voice was unpleasantly snarky, and she found his gaze unnerving.
"Yeah, while you're on it check if there isn't any Terror-mail from Berk. I'm expecting a reply soon." 'Terror-mail? Oh, this must be what Toothless meant by unmeaning scribbles and Small One's fake skin… Maybe some vest for holding letters?' Snotlout has already left to fulfil his duties and Hiccup took a few next steps when all information finally sank down. 'Oh no, Hiccup wrote a letter to Berk, he wrote to Stoick.' Her world started spinning around again. Cloudjumper stalked closer to her, alarmed by her behaviour and changing smell.
"My-Love, what's wrong? Sad. Anxious. Angry. Why are you feeling it?" he crooned, giving her his head for support. And thank gods he did because Valka collapsed a moment later, barely caching his crown.
"Mom!" Hiccup was kneeling near her in seconds. "Mom, what happened?"
"You wrote to Berk about me, didn't you?" she whispered. She couldn't find strength in herself to speak louder. 'He's going to be so mad. He's going to come here, scream, shout and maybe for the first time in our marriage even hit me… Or maybe he'll give me his best stoic face, won't say a word, will just crush me to the ground with his eyes alone…'
"Yes, I did," Hiccup spoke softly, unaware of her inner turmoil. "Of course I did! You're– You're back and dad's missing you, a lot! Though, I didn't just write… oh, I don't know: "We found a dragon rider, imprisoned her and guess what, mum is alive!"" he threw his hands in the air and changed his tone of voice to nasal mock. "He would probably kill Scullcrusher with chivvying and abandon all his chief duties rushing here. I just asked him to come here as soon as possible!" he smiled to her in an attempt to calm her down. "It could be days from today, don't worry. I get you're nervous." Hiccup didn't appear the least bit shocked at his mother's reluctance and it crushed her heart a little more. What kind of experiences did he have to live through to think such reaction to Stoick is normal?
"I'm…" '…sorry for leaving you? Sorry for all those years we've missed? Sorry that I couldn't protect you?' "…just a little bit freaked out by this situation. Sorry." Valka stood up slowly and tried to smile reassuringly.
"Don't apologize, anyone would be." How could Hiccup show so much forgiveness and compassion was beyond the Dragon Lady. Her son was anything but resentful. Unlike so many Vikings she has met through her life, starting with her parents. Everyone has always treated her like a freak and here stood her son – so understanding, so emphatic, so un-Viking like. And she left him among those cruel people. But maybe he had enough Viking in himself to actually fit in? Valka really hoped, that was the case.
'Why don't you hate me, though?'
"Shall we go then? Or would you prefer if I told them alone? I understand if you don't want to talk to them yet." 'There it is again, total understanding. Since when are Vikings thoughtful?'
"I– I'll go with you. It's only fair for them," Valka reluctantly said, standing up.
"Are you alright now, My-Love?" Cloudjumper nudged her again, and she caressed his snout lightly, non-verbally affirming. "Good." Her soulmate could read her like an open book, just like she could read him. There was no language barrier between them, whatever verbal or not.
"Um… S-So is he… Is he the one who… who took you?" 'Hiccup's stuttering got much worse,' Valka noted. 'So he is hurt but tries not to show it…' "I-I mean…"
"Yes, he's that Stormcutter. But he meant me no harm," the woman instinctively started defending her soulmate. "He just thought I belonged in Bewilderbeast's nest and–"
"Hey, hey, that's okay, that's okay…" Hiccup's voice got her out of this strange protective rant quickly. One of her son's hands hovered around her arm, the other hanging limply, like forced-relaxed kind of limp. It took her a second to realize that this pose was meant to show he means no harm. And oddly it calmed her instantly. "I didn't mean to sound too bitter I just…" Hiccup looked at her and kind of awkwardly shifted his hands towards her. Valka stared until she realized he was asking if it's okay to hug her. She nodded gently and closed her eyes when his arms closed around her. 'He basically treats me like a wild dragon… Well, that's preferable to be honest.' Hiccup armour was oddly soft and warm against her, as if it wasn't meant to protect him but was constructed for… whatever purpose he had on his mind, she couldn't think of it. She felt her son breath in slowly, and then he let go of her. "I'm… really glad you're here. Even if you built yourself a life away from Berk and will come back to it in a few days I… I'm really glad I could at least meet you." His voice was steady as he backed away from her with slumped shoulders, looking at her staff rather than her face.
"I'm confused," Cloudjumper warbled quietly over her. Hiccup shoot up his gaze and looked at him with… well… confusion. 'He doesn't understand a word,' Valka realized. 'Then how did he even formed a bond that strong with that Night Fury?' Magic. "Is he inviting you or letting you go or what? His smell and actions are so confusing!" Her soulmate was getting anxious because of rapid changes in Hiccup's behaviour and smell.
"I know," Valka murmured quietly, caressing his scales. 'I don't understand a lot too.'
"Uh… What is he… are you… you two… saying?" whispered Hiccup theatrically. He even rose hand to his lips as if it could muffle the sound of his voice. "I'm not exactly dragonese expert," he said that, yet there was joking undertone to his voice that made Valka ask:
"Then what do you specialize in?" His eyes were filled with light again instantly. He was radiating happiness.
"Dragon Riding," he answered smoothly. "Though I suppose after spending eighteen years around dragons you had a fair share of practice yourself." His smile was blinding, and Valka had to stop herself from shielding her eyes. He was so eager to get to know her, eager to learn from her.
Well, Valka was eager to teach.
"I'll show you everything as long as you'll be willing to watch," she promised. "Every technique, every trick…" She saw the moment he bit his lip in an attempt to hide his smile. 'Why would he?' But even so, his eyes were the most expressive part of his face anyway, blown wide open and glistening with hope and excitement. Valka wasn't sure but his pupils seemed to dilate whenever she mentioned something new. There was something else in those eyes too, something she didn't quite understand or know, but what she did know was that it was one of the warmest feelings he has shown her since she woke up. Feeling a burst of confidence she touched his cheek, and he leaned into touch. "This gift we share Hiccup, it owns us," she whispered, hoping that he feels the same. "This is who you are, son. Who we are. We will change the world for all dragons! We will make it a better, safer place!"
"Yeah! I mean, that, s-sounds amazing!" The smile he gave her afterwards was by then the brightest, sincerest and the most heart-warming.
Suddenly someone coughed on their left. Valka quickly looked away from her son to see Astrid standing awkwardly a few meters from them.
"It's… um… nice to see you two already bonding and on the same page but Snotlout has already managed to… uh… get a new crush, Fishlegs still complains about not getting to research the dragon and I had to stop the twins from gathering explosives… twice already so they wouldn't blow… um… our dear guest up cause they started conspiracy theory that she somehow hypnotized you so… Yeah, I need you Hiccup," she finished with a sigh. She looked both nervous and tired.
"Right, we're coming, we're coming!" Hiccup scratches his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Eh, you see what I'm dealing with here?" he asked his mother exasperatedly but not without a hint of amusement. "At this rate I'm going to get white hair before you," he laughed, glancing at her loose bride to check if he was right in assuming it wasn't touched by time yet. Valka subconsciously moved her fingers over knots.
"Oh, definitely not before me!" Astrid gave him a long look. "I have to deal with all of them and you on top of that!" she came closer and punched him lightly on the arm, then turned around to meet Valka's eyes. "Miss, can you believe that he almost regularly jumps off the cliffs and moving dragons? And every dragon is a friendly dragon to him. A Skrill tried to kill him and Toothless multiple times, and he just went like: "Yeah, we should let him off the cage and totally not freeze him either! Maybe it won't kill us!" Just like that!"
"I DON'T SOUND LIKE THAT!"
Valka felt a little disassociated from the situation in front of her, even as Astrid brought Hiccup to the ground with a few smooth movements and her son started begging for help.
For one thing the girl in front of her was snitching at Hiccup. The only explanation Valka could come up with at the moment was that she realized that even without connection Valka was Hiccup's mother aka the only person on the island with birth right to scold him for endangering himself.
For second, the punch, imitating and now brawling showed how playful they were to each other. Hiccup couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his face and every "ow" and "ouch" sounded more amused than hurt.
For third thing… 'Hiccup. DID. WHAT!?'
"Your hatchling is confusing…" murmured softly Cloudjumper, watching passively as the pair of teenagers rolled into dirt.
"Yeah. And apparently has no self-preservation."
"Hm?"
"I'll have to keep watching over him for a while or my nerves won't settle."
"I'm with you." His words were much needed comfort in this crazy situation. "Won't you intervene?"
'Right, it would be suspicious if we didn't show up soon in this clubhouse.'
"Um… Hic–" she hasn't even started speaking properly and both of teenagers were standing and laughing sheepishly.
"Right, sorry, um…" Hiccup looked at Astrid expectedly and held out his hand. Astrid took it and blushed a tiny bit. "Astrid, this is, as you already know, Valka of Berk, my mother. Mum, this is Astrid Hofferson… my girlfriend." In her subconsciousness Valka knew Hiccup was almost a man if not just, but this was like a brutal slap with knowledge. Oh well, now she just had to recover from shock and deal with that knowledge.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Valka bowed slightly and Astrid followed with the same gesture.
"Right, formalities done, we better get to the rest before they'll set The Edge on fire," Hiccup murmured and reluctantly let go of Astrid's hand.
"The Edge?" Hiccup opened his mouth to answer but Astrid beat him to it.
"We call this place The Dragon's Edge," she explained with a smile. "It's our home outside of Berk."
"You built that place yourself?" A nod from both of them. "That's impressive."
"Con. Fu. Sing. He was so hopeful and then sad and now he's happy and proud." Oh right, Cloudjumper couldn't read them as good as he could Valka.
"My-Love, this is their nest. He's proud because he built it with his mate–this girl–and his friends. And he was sad because he thought I'll leave him soon. But hopeful that I'll teach him the ways of our kin." As soon as the words were out of her mouth (and staff) Valka realized that what she just implied was true, she really felt more like a dragon than human.
"Well… Less confusing now but still strange," mused her soulmate. "I'll learn to read him soon, maybe, but for now it's helpless case."
"Why do I feel like you're talking about me?" Hiccup rose an eyebrow and looked at her halfway serious halfway amused.
"Oh, you're absolutely right." Valka decided a little teasing would be great idea.
"And may I know about what specifically?" His eyebrow somehow got even higher.
"Unfortunately no." The woman could barely hide her smile.
"You have to teach me dragon speech or I'll go crazy," he laughed, until Astrid clasped him on his back rather hard.
"Don't worry about that, you already are crazy so it shouldn't affect you much."
"You know what," he groaned from the floor "Let's go to the clubhouse while I still have some dignity left."