Without Saying

Chapter 10 - Wants & Strategy

Hey, everyone, so sorry about the late update. Don't worry I haven't given up on the story. It was just my turn for life to kick me in the pants instead, so I haven't had much time to write. I'm hoping to be able to do it more from now on, but I wouldn't hold me to that just yet. Anyway, I hope you like this next chapter. 

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The Nest. Toothless and I discovered it about two and a half years ago when we encountered my mother, Valka, for the first time. We stayed with her for a while but eventually moved to Dragon's Edge to keep the Nest safe from Drago. I couldn't have him find the Nest simply because we were flying to and from it all the time, but that didn't mean I never came to visit. The others didn't know about Mom though, they only knew I went to the Nest every once and a while to 'check' on things, but I never even told them where it was. I did it for the Nest's safety mostly. The fewer people who knew about this place the safer the secret would be. At least that was what we all agreed to. My normal visit wasn't scheduled for another couple days, but I needed to talk to Mom. I needed someone to give me a good reason to stay because right now the thought of leaving, even for a little bit, was getting pretty tempting. A glacier of ice quickly came into view through the fogbank as we flew closer, and Toothless had no problem finding the right tunnel, being that we've used it so many times. We glided through the many twists and turns with practiced ease and gracefully landed inside the hidden paradise. All heads turned to us at our sudden arrival, and I quickly made a move to remove myself from Toothless' back before he was swarmed by an excited flock of young Nadders. Toothless was not amused.

"Hiccup?"

"Mom."

I greeted turning to face her.

"I'm surprised to see you. I wasn't expecting a visit for another few days...What's wrong?"

I didn't bother hiding my troubled expression. Even though we had only really known each other for a few years, she could always tell what I was thinking. We were so similar that it was never hard to figure out. She must have realized that I didn't want to talk about this with present company, so she led the way to a small ledge that overlooked a giant crater in the center of the glacier where the Dragon King used to rest, and we sat.

"What's on your mind, son?"

She spoke softly. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair trying to think of a good way to explain what I was thinking, but I eventually decided to just go for it. She sat back quietly listening to my explanation but remained quiet after I had finished. Her gaze fluttered between the empty crater bed and the circling flocks of dragons above us before changing to rest on the small cave that her and Cloudjumper shared.

"Do you remember the day that Drago killed the King?"

She said before turning back to watch the dragons above us. I nodded. It was a hard day to forget. We had been out fishing with the King and the other dragons when Drago's men attacked. They showered the King with many harpoons that were laced with dragonroot, and it made him go crazy. We tried our best to fight them off, but the King had started to attack everything in its path, but Valka refused to stop fighting. She would have died if Cloudjumper hadn't listened to me and pulled away.

"Do you remember what you told me when I refused to retreat?"

I sighed, knowing where she was going with this.

"'It is pointless to die while fighting an enemy unless that death can guarantee a victory' that is what you told me, and you were right. There was nothing we could do to help the King. He was going to die from the Dragonroot no matter what we did, and we were outnumbered. It was good to retreat, and you were wise enough to see it while still keeping the Nest safe and hidden."