━━ chapter three
a dragon's loyalty
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━━In Berk, it snowed nine months of the year and hailed the other three. But the coldest seemed to be at the end of the year, where the snowstorms and freezes terrorised the beautiful landscape with a harsh contrast. But they were Vikings, and Vikings will not let the harsh winter take away their pride. They had ... stubbornness issues.
(And in Valkyrie's case, a competitive issue).
When the mountain slopes were covered in snow, they were the perfect landscape for sled races. Usually, when they were kids, they would take the wheels of the carts and push them down the slope with each other sitting inside to see who'd reach the bottom first. Now that they had dragons, well, of course, Valkyrie would be determined to see whether Zephyr was as fast against the snow as he was in the air━and if he was even faster than Toothless, because Valkyrie wanted that title, for once.
She shrieked in delight, meeting the chill that stung at her cheeks with a grin on her face. Her winter fleece coat flew in the wind behind her, and Valkyrie steered Zephyr slightly to the left, moving away from a cluster of snow-capped trees. Looking over her shoulder, she sent Hiccup a face of triumph in being in front of him. He narrowed his eyes back playfully, and she laughed. At the nape of his neck, there was a single braid weaved with winter grass, and Valkyrie felt her heart flutter.
Concentrate! She told herself.
Ready for mischief, and determined to win, Valkyrie leaned forward and whispered to Zephyr, "Hey, Zeph, let's send some snow their way." Her dragon was perhaps just as competitive as she was, and didn't hesitate to drag his tail along the ground, sending a wave of snow at Hiccup and Toothless.
His eyes widened and quickly ducked him and Toothless out of the way. "Whoa! Hey, Val!"
"Oops," Valkyrie called back innocently, "did I do that?"
Hiccup scoffed at her goodnaturedly. Leaning forward, he and Toothless shot forward. Passing her, Valkyrie gritted her teeth, annoyed. Then━out of nowhere━Toothless's wing flew out, blocking her path. She pulled Zephyr back slightly so they wouldn't crash.
"Hey!" she complained. She tried to see, looking up and down, but Toothless's wing just followed. "Not fair━AHHH!"
Valkyrie got a face-full of leaves and snow from a branch that whacked her in the nose. She heard Hiccup laugh at her misery as she wiped the snow from her face. "Oh━so it's gonna be like that, huh?!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Milady!" Hiccup shot over his shoulder.
He focused on the slope in front, and Valkyrie took her chance. Setting her jaw, she tapped Zephyr on the neck twice, their singal for a quick flame. He answered immediately, shooting a short blast towards a snow mount in Hiccup's way. It exploded and he and Toothless spun to miss it. Valkyrie grinned, gleeful and took the lead again. "HEY!" Hiccup shouted after her.
"It was Zephyr's idea!" she replied, grinning. "But I━of course━approve!" she laughed in victory, missing Hiccup's gentle smile at the bright gleam on her cheeks.
But it was wiped away at the sound that seemed like thunder behind them. Hiccup frowned, glancing back, his eyes soon widened to see a billow of snow cascade down after them━an avalanche. "Uh━oh..." he let out. Turning back, he shouted, "Valkyrie!"
She glanced back, confused until she saw it. She gasped. "Oh, gods━Zephyr, up!"
They launched into the air. Hiccup tried to follow. Toothless jumped━only for them to fall right back down. Hiccup looked back, and his heart jumped to see his fabric tail frozen. "Tail's frozen!" he cried. The wave of snow was getting closer and closer, a few more seconds, and Hiccup and Toothless will be under it.
Valkyrie heard, and immediately spun Zephyr back around, "HICCUP!" she shouted, diving down towards him as they neared the ledge.
He shook his head, trying to wave his arm at her, "No! No━Get back━" with his heart in his throat, he tried to fix Toothless's tail. The ledge got nearer and nearer, and the avalanche was right at their feet, thundering in his ears.
Valkyrie didn't listen. "Zephyr! Catch!" she ordered, and she and her dragon dive-bombed down towards Hiccup and Toothless. She could barely hear her own words against the roar of the avalanche, but she pushed through it. Pressed against Zephyr's neck, she narrowed her eyes in determination. Holding out her hand, she stretched her fingers out to Hiccup━their fingers brushed, and she almost got a hold━
And then the snow hit.
They four of them tumbled over the canyon and into the darkness below. Valkyrie screamed, reaching down for her dragon, but he was too far away. Toothless flew past her, screeching in alarm and kicking his legs. She heard Hiccup's yells, and the bottom was moments away from impact. Valkyrie tried her best to turn around so she could land the safest and try to find Hiccup at the same time, but she was too late━she hit the ground, and was met with absolute darkness.
Valkyrie didn't know whether she had been unconscious or not, because there was no difference in light when she opened her eyes, and when she closed them. She had no idea where the dragons or Hiccup were, and when she shifted, she was met with freezing cold that made her gasp get stuck in the back of her throat. "H━Hiccup?" she called out into the frost.
For a fearful moment, she thought she was alone, until she heard his voice reply back with the slight shiver of chill, "Valkryie?"
She reached out towards his voice, desperate to feel something━warmth, knowledge that she wasn't alone, that he was okay ... "Hiccup? Where are you?"
"Over here," she heard him say and shuffled towards the sound. When Valkyrie felt the warmth of his arm, she latched onto it and felt him pull her closer until he could wrap his arms around her, and she him. Valkyrie dug her head into his shoulder, begging for warmth amongst the freezing cold. She shivered, and so did Hiccup, but there was a sense of comfort knowing that the other was okay, and close.
"Are you okay?" she asked him.
"Yeah, yeah," his breath fanned her neck, warming her up. "Are you?"
Considering she ached all over from the fall, Valkyrie honestly didn't know, but she nodded into his shoulder anyway and just held him tighter. "Where are the dragons?" she heard him then say.
The space around them suddenly lit up. Valkyrie looked up, and felt her breath cascade away to see Toothless and Zephyr let out blasts towards the snow above them. "Toothless?" breathed Hiccup, and Valkyrie frowned. "Zephyr...?"
The dragons continued to fire above them until a hole in the snow broke away, and daylight cascaded down into the darkness. "Whoa ..." Hiccup let out, and Valkyrie couldn't help but agree. Their dragons stood above them, their wings outstretched and over the two teens to keep them from the falling snow; their stomachs warm and vibrating. They were protecting them.
"I see daylight!" Hiccup said, peering up through the hole and Valkyrie grinned.
"We're gonna get out of here!" she cried.
"Look what they did..." he murmured as the dragons looked down at them, purring and checking whether they were okay. Valkyrie felt Zephyr's nose brush against her forehead affectionately and she suddenly felt a need to cry.
"They saved our lives," she said. Grinning, she turned to look at Hiccup only to realise just how close they were. Her breath hitched at the tips of their noses brushing against each other; her heart raced, her stomach fluttered, and she immediately pushed him away, scrambling back as far from him as possible. She settled herself against Zephyr's belly, and she knew he was laughing.
"Uh━um━" Hiccup scratched the back of his neck, "━that was━so━um━"
"Yeah..."
"Um━so━" he cleared his throat, "━we're good now?"
Valkyrie nodded, flustered. "G━good as new..." her nerves skyrocketed, and it seemed the only way she knew to express them (that is, in front of Hiccup nowadays) was to punch him right across the shoulder.
"Ow!"
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━━As soon as they were free of the snow and ice, and Hiccup fixed Toothless's frozen tail, he and Valkyrie were up in the air to return to Berk. They were both eager to tell the tale of their dragon's heroics to save them, and both eager to forget the awkward air that settled between them at the reminder of how close they had been in that cavern. Thinking about it caused for flutters in Valkyrie's stomach. She didn't know what it meant, but she felt the same way she had that night she kissed Hiccup on the cheek in the cove after that flight and when she kissed him in the Great Hall at Snoggletog ...
It confused her, and so she ignored it, pushing Zephyr to go faster. Once they reached the others, they took over the watchtower they usually held for themselves; they could see all of Berk from down here. Sitting next to Hiccup with their dragons towering behind htem, they explained to the others what they had experienced.
"━And then the dragons used their wings to block the snow!" Hiccup was saying. Valkyrie nodded, agreeing. She held a hand up to Zephyr, and he met it for a scratch. Toothless himself nudged in for attention, and Val chuckled and scratched his nose, too. The others looked amazed, even Snotlout who's mouth was agape with a breathless, whoa...
"I've never heard anything like that!" exclaimed Fishlegs, grinning. "Not even in the Book of Dragons!"
"I know!" said Valkyrie, stopping petting the dragons to lean forward in her excitement. "It was amazing━it was as if their protective instincts just kicked in!"
"Who'd believe it?" added Hiccup, glancing up at Toothless tenderly. "The dragons we fought for years came to our rescue."
"Yeah," nodded Val, smiling at the two of them. Their bond was something very special. "If it weren't for them━" she leaned back towards Zephyr again; her bond with him was very special, too, "we would've frozen to death."
"You know what?" said Fishlegs, "You could've used your own bodies to keep each other warm."
And there it was.
Eyes widening, Val tried to hide her blush as she glanced nervously at Hiccup. Immediately, the two friends shuffled away from each other, refusing to meet their others gazes and instead awkwardly playing with their hair. They shared a strained chuckle, "Uh━", "━Who would do that━?", "━Yeah, that's gross━"
Snotlout leaned closer to Astrid who sat begrudgingly next to him. "Hey, Astrid. If you're cold..." he held out his arms to her, puckering his lips obnoxiously. She let out a scoff in disgust and elbowed the catapult above them. It shuddered, and snow fell heavily onto Snotlout's face. "Hey!"
Down below, the only missing Dragon Riders arrived, calling up to Hiccup with their voices that sounded as similar as their looks, no wonder people had trouble telling them apart. "Hey, Hiccup!" called Tuffnut, hands cupped around his lips. "Your father's looking for you."
Ruffnut snickered, eager for trouble, "He looked angry."
Hiccup's expression turned blank. Standing up, he sighed, "He's looked angry since the day I was born. But I'm sure there's no connection."
Hopping onto Toothless's back, the two of them took off into the sky. Valkyrie watched them leave, hating how her stomach was back to constant flutters. Snotlout pursed his lips as he shoved the snow away from his face, "Well! Now that they're gone, let's go terrorise Mildew's sheep."
Astrid rolled her eyes, "You and the twins do that. I have actual things to do. Come on, Stormfly━" she reached for her dragon, who hoisted her up on her back. Looking over at Val, she arched a brow. "Race you to the egde of Berk?"
Snotlout frowned, "That's your actual things to do? Oh, come on, Astrid━"
As she hopped on Zephyr's back, Valkyrie elbowed the catapult again, and Snotlout was once more covered in snow. She laughed as she joined Astrid up in the sky. The two girls started their race around Berk, testing out their new tricks and spins. Valkyrie pulled Zephyr up higher into the sky, happy now that she had a saddle and she didn't have to cling onto ropes. (Or not get sore legs and backside so quickly).
Astrid spun upside down next to her, passing quickly and taking the lead. Looking back over her shoulder at Valkyrie's scowl, she grinned, "So! Are you going to tell me about what's happening with Hiccup the Horrendous, or am I just going to guess?"
Valkyrie hated how she knew she was blushing as red as her hair. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she said and sky-dived down at an angle, bypassing Astrid and overtaking her with a quick woosh up into the air again. She felt Zephyr swing his tail back at Stormfly as if to say, ha! Take that you slow poke!
As they did, they scared a flock of sheep away from being rounded up. "Sorry!" the girls shouted back down, and Silent Sven threw his fist up at them in frustration.
"Oh, come on!" Astrid tilted Stormfly as they turned back around, her blond hair flying behind her in its braid. "I saw how you two just jumped away from eachother after what Fishlegs said."
"Who wouldn't?" Valkyrie argued back, eager for the subject to change. "It's an awkward thing for him to say!"
Astrid rolled her eyes, but let the conversation be. "Stormfly! Spine-shot!" her dragon flicked her tail, and rounded Sven's sheep back up with a single accurate shot. Valkyrie did her own to help, commanding Zephyr to dive and pick up a loose stray gently in his claws and dropping it back down with the rest. The girls continued on their way.
"What do you think Hiccup's dad is angry about?" then asked Val, and the girls stopped racing to fly at the same pace beside each other.
"You didn't hear?" Astrid tilted her head much like a Deadly Nadder's. "The yaks aren't producing milk, and the chickens aren't laying eggs━and there's a storm coming. Didn't you hear Bucket wailing?"
"No," she said. "I was busy being stuck in snow."
"With Hiccup━"
At that comment, Valkyrie tapped a short pattern on Zephyr's neck and he followed the command, holding out his wing in Stormfly's way and throwing her and Astrid off course. "Hey!" she called after her, and they were back to racing.
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━━"There has to be a better way to predict storms than Bucket's bucket and goose feet," complained Ruffnut, massaging her backside from where she fell over in the academy. The yak that had topped her over cantered away from Barf and Belch, which Valkyrie would admit, wasn't the best choice to assure the animals that the dragons wouldn't hurt them. They only had three days until the storm hit, and Hiccup's idea of showing the livestock that they had nothing to fear was getting nowhere.
"Yeah," agreed Tuff, fighting a chicken to stay still in his arms. "Maybe they can test the wind, or something━or what's in the air."
The twins shared a look, then scoffed, "No that wouldn't work," they said together.
Outside, the wind was picking up, and the sky was dark with storm clouds. Valkyrie found it hard to hear over the tides of the wind and crashes of the ocean against the cliff faces, but she gritted her teeth and went on, pushing her yak towards Hookfang. On the other side, Hiccup tugged it's horns, his metal leg skidding and creating sparks on the stone floor.
"Come on, big boy," he said through clenched teeth. "You can do it. Come on..." Hookfang and Stormfly's heads cocked in interest at the animals. The yak yelped in alarm and tried to get away. Valkyrie set her feet on the ground, not letting it get away. "You'll really like them if you get to know them."
"Yeah!" she said. "The dragons look scary but they're just big ... scaly ... reptiles." That didn't sound as good as it sounded in her head.
"Just like Snotlout!" Tuff snickered and he picked him up by his tunic, a fist ready to punch.
Snotlout hesitated, however, and narrowed his eyes, "You're the guy, right?"
Tuffnut froze up. "No," he said in his best Ruffnut impersonation.
Hookfang must have annoyed Stormfly (like usual), and she snapped at him in warning. The yak wailed and galloped away. Valkyrie narrowly missed being run over. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she crossed her arms and glared at the yak who cowered by the pens.
Astrid threw her gaze up to the stormy sky, "This is getting nowhere."
"Okay," Fishlegs's eyes brightened with an idea, "what if we look at this from an animal's perspective?" getting onto his hands and knees, he walked up to Zephyr who was cleaning his wings near Stormfly. "Oh, hello, Mister Dragon! I'm just a little sheep here ... walking ... doing sheep things ... baaa! Baaa!" Zephyr stopped and peered down at Fishlegs with a look Valkyrie could only describe as, what in the name of Odin are you doing? "You know," said Fishlegs, "he doesn't really seem so big and━"
Zephyr opened his mouth and roared at Fishlegs. He squealed and lumbered away on all fours, hiding underneath Meatlug. Zephyr huffed at him, pleased and went back to cleaning his wings.
"Sorry!" whimpered Fishlegs. "But I'm siding with the sheep on this one."
Valkyrie pinched the bridge of her nose and shuffled over to Astrid who shared her defeat. Hiccup tried to keep the positivity, but even he was falling short with worried glances up at the brewing storm above. "Look," he walked over to the small family of sheep they snagged from Mulch and Bucket's farm, "I've learned that once you have a positive experience with something you're afraid of, it isn't so scary anymore."
He met Val's gaze, and she pursed her lips, knowing he was right. She had been terrified of Toothless, determined to slay every dragon she could, and then he had shown her another side━one that changed her morals forever.
Hiccup herded the sheep towards Hookfang, "Okay, there you go ... over here ..." he turned back to the others, "And that's what we'll have to do with these sheep. We gotta prove to them that they have nothing to fear━"
Hookfang sneezed, and the sheep baaa-ed in alarm, running away from the flame that lit the tips of their wool. Astrid gasped and was quick to stop the one that was on fire, and Valkyrie was there to pat away the flame with her sleeve.
Hiccup tugged at his hair, now as hopeless as the rest of them, "Ah━at this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs!"
It didn't get better from there on. Chaos ensured in the arena; yaks, chickens and sheep ran everywhere, dragons were causing mischeif, and the teens were tripping over their own feet to try and calm them all down. The storm grew worse and worse, and Valkyrie had a terrible feeling they had less than three days to get this figured out. Hiccup nearly spun over on his feet, but Toothless caught him before he could fall face-first to the stone.
"Thanks, bud," he muttered to his dragon before wiping the sweat from his brow━yes, they were getting sweat amongst a brewing winter storm!━and said, "Another way for the animals to overcome their fear is to show them that dragons are afraid of things, too."
Astrid nodded, blowing her bangs from her face, "That could work," she said. "Remember Magnus the Merciless? He was a pretty scary guy. I was afraid of him until I leared that he was afraid of the dark."
Tuffnut frowned, "So ... during the day: merciless━" he wiggled his fingers mysteriously.
"━and during the night," went on Ruff, "Tuffnut!"
He elbowed her and she stumbled sideways. "Hey!" he pointed his finger at her. "That's a real problem!"
"I'm just saying," Astrid stopped them before a fight could brew, "knowing he was afraid of something made him less scary to me."
"I heard Hofferson's weren't meant to be scared of anything," muttered Snotlout, and Astrid glared at him. Grabbing her axe, she held it up and went to attack, but Hiccup stepped in front of her.
"Okay," he said, trying to calm her down. "Yes, so let's show the yaks that dragons are afraid of things, too." Astrid reluctantly put her axe away, and when Hiccup was sure she wouldn't attack Snotlout, he made his way to the fish-basket and pulled out two eels. Walking past the yaks and towards the dragons, he held the eels up, and they balked. Valkyrie saw the yaks tilt their heads, and she snapped her fingers.
"I think it's working!" she exclaimed.
Hiccup sent her a smile, happy she was impressed━until the eel slipped from his hand and dropped in front of Hookfang. He reared and shrieked, knocking a sheep against the wall with his tail. His grin faded, and he was back to tugging his hair with a frustrated moan. Val pursed her lips and quickly shuffled over, "Don't worry," she told him, placing a hand on his shoulder and Hiccup shot up.
"Worry?" he said quickly. "I━I'm not worried! Do I look worried?!"
She arched a brow at the grin he tried to send her that turned out into more of a grimace. Valkyrie squeezed his shoulder. Up above, lightning crashed, and Toothless's ears perked. Looking up with the rest of them, she heard him moan with worry as snow started to fall (great, she thought, even the Offspring of Lightning and Death itself is worried). "So much for three days," she murmured.
"What if we showed them how much they have in common with the dragons?" suggested Fishlegs, and Astrid frowned at him. "Well, they both lay eggs, right? A Terrible Terror laid one last week!" he rushed to the open nest they had for observation (just incase Hiccup or Fishlegs needed to add anything to the Book of Dragons) and picked up a rough green egg. Setting it in front of the chickens, they all waited anxiously in hope that maybe this could work. Valkyrie's eyes widened as they surrounded the egg, and one of the chickens hopped right up on top of it. She just hoped it wasn't like a Gronckle egg and━
Boom!
... Exploded.
"Oh, Odin's ghost," sighed Astrid, watching the baby Terrible Terror fly out and hit the chickens, sending them squawking. "That's it; we're going to starve."
In seeing the look on Hiccup's face, Valkyrie sent Astrid a quick sharp glare, and she winced a quiet apology. "We'll figure this out," Val tried to assure him. "We have time━"
"Everybody out, the storm is here!"
Seven pairs of eyes━including their dragons━all spun to the gates of the academy, where Gobber and Mulch rushed down into the arena. Up above, more lightning crashed, and thunder rolled not long after it. Hiccup's eyes widened. "Ah━wha━wait! We haven't made any progress with the animals!"
Gobber pushed a few of the yaks towards the entrance, "Your father wants everyone in the Great Hall!"
Hiccup━as stubborn as ever━shook his head and stood his ground, "Take the others. I need to stay and keep working with the animals. They're ... still afraid."
Snatching up a chicken with his hook, Gobber snapped, "Yeh can't get eggs from a frozen chicken! We've got to get the animals in the barn━now come on!"
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━━"So much for the barn."
The barn was a mess. The snow had fallen heavy here up on the edge of Berk near the mountain slopes, and the barn was completely covered with no chance of entry. Valkyrie grimaced, meeting Astrid's gaze to see a similar look. This wasn't good. She shivered, even in her winter jacket and boots. Vikings were made for the cool weather, but this was something else. Valkyrie couldn't remember the last time there had been a storm this bad.
"There's no other place to hold them!" cried Mulch.
Valkyrie glanced down at the chicken at her feet, and she reached down to pick it up, holding it close to give it some warmth. Hiccup shuffled his feet in the snow apprehensively, "What about the Great Hall?" he offered.
Mulch stared at him, "So ... we're gonna have the dragons and the animals under the same roof?" the idea sounded ridiculous now that he said it like that. "We know that won't work."
Hiccup shook his head, "We have no choice!" He started the trek back down the slope. "Let's go."
They all shared nervous glances, but followed, herding the animals down the mountain. The wind and snow grew worse and worse, clouding their vision. The storm was settling fast. Valkyrie could hardly see anything but white. Her teeth chattered, her skin was raw with chill━she wouldn't be surprised if her hair was growing icicles. But they pushed through (they were Vikings, after all; it's all an occupational hazard). It wasn't a long walk back to the Great Hall, but in this weather, it was a marathon. Valkyrie's flowers in her hair blew away long ago, and snowflakes settled in her hair. If this was any other time, and not a horrendous storm on the verge of erupting, Valkyrie would take a moment and marvel the sight of each snowflake━different from the previous━drift down like they were falling stars.
"All right!" Gobber's voice was distant in the wind despite him being close. "Keep 'em separate!"
"This way!" Astrid pushed a straying sheep back into the herd, looking as though the snow didn't bother her one bit. Fishlegs helped her, coaxing the livestock with words of, "Come on, come on! Let's go! Oh, this way guys!"
Lightning stiked down, hitting a nearby tree. Startled, Valkyrie let go of the chicken in her arms, and it flapped its arms wildly. The dragons all fell back on their steps, spooked. Stormfly's spikes flung out in defence, and they struck Hookfang's neck nearby, setting him aflame. Oh, Thor, Valkyrie had the time to curse. What did we ever do to you for this?
The fire sent the sheep, yaks and chickens fleeing for their lives in every direction. The Vikings desperately tried to catch them, only to fall over their feet, be too slow, or to be run over━like Snotlout. ("Ow!" he had cried out, "Okay━everything hurts!").
Hiccup set his jaw. Valkyrie knew that look as he ran to Toothless and mount the saddle. She was Valkyrie quick to follow, reaching up for Zephyr's neck and hoisting herself upon her dragon as well. Gobber frowned, "Where are you going?!" he demanded.
Slipping in his metal foot into the lever of Toothless's saddle, Hiccup said, "I'm going after them!"
"Forget it, Hiccup!" said Gobber. "We'll never get them rounded up in this storm!"
"With Toothless, I can!" Hiccup clicked the tail into place. "I have to try. If I don't, we starve to death."
"No! Your father will kill me if I left you out here━!"
"Sorry, Gobber!" he took off, and Valkyrie steadied herself and with a click of her tongue, Zephyr took off after him.
Gobber tried to stop her, rushing in the snow, but with his wooden stump, he couldn't move fast. "Hey! You━get back here!" He turned to Astrid, already breathless as she mounted Stormfly. "Astrid, will you talk some sense━ah━no, no, no━not you too━" they were up into the air, Gobber tugged his beard, "━Astrid!" around him, the rest of the riders also got onto their steeds, and Gobbers orders were left stranded in the snow, much like him. "Get back here!" he shouted after them. "All of you!"
The sky grew darker and darker as they searched the forest. Valkyrie was freezing from her fingers to her toes, but she set her jaw and followed Hiccup in and out through the trees. Toothless lit up the path in front of them with a sonic blast, but they had to space it out━he had a six shot limit. Valkyrie shivered, her fingers so cold she feared she wouldn't be able to pull them away from the saddle.
Hiccup glanced over at the other riders from his shoulder, "You find as many as you can!" he ordered. "We'll herd the back to the Great Hall."
Fishlegs held up a shivering hand, "Can we swing by my house? I'd like to get my heavy coat."
"Check this out!" shouted Tuffnut over the wind. He punched himself right across the jaw, and then laughed. "I'm so cold I can't feel my face." Ruff frowned, and reached over to slap him herself━so hard, Tuff nearly went tumbling of Belch's neck. "Didn't feel it!"
His sister grumbled, "That takes all the fun out of it!"
Valkyrie did her best to ignore them━which wasn't all that hard, peering down through the blizzard to try and find any livestock, but it was harder than trying to see through the pitch black night, especially when the flicks of ice hit her cheeks like sharp stones. They soared up into a clearing, and Hiccup pointed down, "There they are!" Valkyrie followed his gaze, and saw a group of yaks huddling together in the storm. "Come on!"
Val leaned forward and Zephyr followed; diving after Hiccup and down towards the livestock. In seeing the dragons, the farm animals broke out into a gallop downhill. They separated, trying to follow all of them.
"Yaks to the left!" Val heard Fishlegs in the wind.
"Chickens to the right!" then called Snotlout, barrelling past Fishlegs, "Hey! I'm flying here! Chickens! Over here! Follow me this way. Come on━Wait, where are you going?! AAAAAHHHHHHHH━" Valkyrie didn't even want to know what had happened. Instead, she focused on the sheep.
"Come on━come on!" she called down them, getting the group of them into the right position for, "Astrid━now!"
"Stormfly!" cried Astrid. "Spine-shot!"
A volley of spikes surrounded the sheep, blocking them in. Valkyrie let out a laugh of victory, managing to raise up a hand to meet Astrid in a high-five as she flew past━until Snotlout reappeared.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH━" he and Hookfang flew, out of control, past the sheep, breaking away the spines and allowing them to escape. Valkyrie went even redder in her fury.
"Snotlout!" she shouted up at him. "What are you doing━you're all over the place?!"
"YOU TRY HERDING CHICKENS WITH A DRAGON WHO DOESN'T LISTEN TO YOU!"
(Valkyrie wouldn't listen to him either, if she was to be honest).
With a grit of her teeth, she spun Zephyr back around to try and herd all the sheep up again. Astrid helped, but her eyes widened to see a group of three straying too far. She pointed through the storm. "Hiccup! Stray sheep!"
He and Toothless shot towards the cliff face, passing Astrid with a quick spin to avoid hitting each other. He raced through the blizzard, and Valkyrie glanced over to watch. She caught glimpse of a lamb fall off the edge, and Toothless swooped in to save it, catching it with his claws. Hiccup grinned, "Good job, bud!"
Valkyrie returned her gaze to her sheep, only to be met with a gust of snow and wind that nearly sent her off and towards the ground. She clung on, letting out a, "Whoa!" Once it settled, she couldn't see where the sheep were. All she saw was white. With a strained grunt, Valkyrie spun Zephyr around and headed towards Hiccup to say, "The storm's getting worse! I can't see anything!"
Setting the sheep back down, Hiccup said to Toothless, "Come on, bud━Give us some light━" in the sonic blue and purple, they saw two hunched figures in the snow. "Stray yaks!" shouted Hiccup. "Twelve o'clock!"
"I see them!" bellowed Tuffnut, pointing. "And they're huge!"
He and his sister dived down through the snow. With the Zippleback's huge claws, they picked up a yak in each foot. "I got the yaks!" Tuff's voice echoed back.
As they returned, Valkyrie started to see the yaks more clearer ... and in fact, they weren't yaks. Instead, the two figures squrming in Barf and Belch's hold, were Stoick and Gobber. "Put me down!" Stoick yelled up at the twins. "Right now!"
The twins shared a frightened glance, and dropped the two Vikings immediately into the snow. The others sped towards them, catching Gobber prop himself up next to a yak and yell: "Do I look like a yak to you?!"
Valkyrie glanced between him and the yak beside him, and she couldn't help but think, well...
They set down. Hiccup jumped off Toothless and approached his father. Stoick glared at him. "You shouldn't be out here, Hiccup!" the others followed. Valkyrie shivered as she walked up to them, her cheeks stinging.
Hiccup hung his head, his hair blowing in the strong wind. "Dad, I'm sorry I let you down."
Stoick sighed, and placed a hand gently on his son's small shoulders. "It's not your fault, son. I'm taking you back."
"Which way?" asked Gobber.
"Follow our tracks!" Stoick glanced back and faltered. Whatever tracks they had left were non-existent, having blown away in the wind.
Gobber grunted, "So much for that idea."
Everyone shivered. Valkyrie felt her stomach churn at the thought of being stuck here, ground and with no where to go. Shuffling closer to Hiccup, her arms and legs felt like they were ice themselves. The rest of the teens were in no better state. Fishlegs whimpered out, "Sir?" Stoick turned to him. "What do we do now?"
He stared at their shivering for a moment; kids usually strong and acting more mature than they actually were. But here, right now, they were exactly that, just kids, and they were terrified.
"Everyone," he then said, and held out his beefy arms. "Come together."
The group of them huddled together, their backs facing the cold wind. Valkyrie stood shoulder to shoulder with Hiccup and Astrid, her feet sore, her hands freezing and her eyes dry from the wind. She rubbed her arms to try and give them some warmth, but it was ill-attempted. They were going to freeze out here.
Thumps on the snow echoed behind them. Shadows towered above. Valkyrie felt the warm breath of an animal above her head and with a gasp, she looked up. All around them, their dragons circled with wings outstretched against the wind and snow. It was like back in the cavern, but to a much larger extent. Valkyrie watched them join wings, wrapping up their humans in a coccoon of warmth and protection. The wind stopped hitting her skin, and a wave of releif washed over her figure, allowing it to slump and stare in absolute awe.
"What are they doing?" asked Stoick, and Hiccup breathed a smile.
"They're protecting us," he said.
Valkyrie smiled herself, and it's warmth broke through the snow. "It's their natural instinct."
Everyone huddled together through the storm that night amongst the fire of their beloved dragons; creatures, Vikings and farm animals alike. The chickens cooped up with the sheep, the yaks shuffled in next to the Vikings, and Valkyrie set her back against Zephyr's underbelly as the most peculiar of friendships began.
(But like Hiccup said, and Valkyrie had experienced; one positive experience changes everything ...).
✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑
a/n: I remember this episode as a kid. It was my favourite next to the whispering death episode. I don't know why, it just is lol. Anyway, someone wanted to see a drawing of toothless with a flower crown cos it's the cutest thing and I tried y'all but I ain't no da Vinci