━━ chapter twelve
sore winner; great loser
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━━"What are you doing?"
Valkyrie frowned at Tuffnut from where she sat on Zephyr's back, happily weaving her Thawfest flowers together. She stopped, setting them on her lap. Zeph matched her glare, and the both of them narrowed their eyes at the younger twin. "I'm making my victory crown, obviously."
Astrid scoffed, stretching her arms and cracking her knuckles in front of Stormfly, "Oh, please, Val━you're going to eat our dust in the competition."
"Or you'll eat ours."
"In your dreams."
With the thawing of the winter snow around Berk, came the annual strength competition━Thawfest. The strength games. The games where every Viking pushed themselves to prove them the better warrior in a series of warrior-like tests. Every year, since she was five years old, Valkyrie has joined others of her age in the competition of their rank to reach victory over one person━and one person in particular.
(That would be Astrid if one hasn't guessed already).
Because for Valkyrie Frode and Astrid Hofferson; Thawfest wasn't about being the best overall, they left that to Snotlout to gloat over (it's complicated━it's them actually being nice friends), but beating the other in a set of cunning manouvers. It is in this competition, especially, that it was every friend for themselves. And considering Valkyrie lost to Astrid in this tiny inner-competition between the two of them, she was ever so determined to win this time round.
"Didn't your mother say that you weren't allowed to compete in Thawfest because of your ribs?" piped up Fishlegs and Valkyrie rolled her eyes.
"Look━" she waved around her arms, "━I can move perfectly fine! She's just over-exaggerating. I'm competing━and I'm beating you, Astrid."
"Fishlegs is right, Val..." murmured Hiccup nervously, knowing the exact reaction he was going to get. Even Toothless purred in an apprehensive tone. "Maybe you should sit this one out."
"I'm fine," she snapped, and Zephyr agreed with a squawk. "I am not sitting this one out. I'm all healed and I'm ready to win!"
"What am I saying?" Hiccup muttered to Toothless under his breath. "Of course, she won't sit this one out, she's Valkyrie!"
They continued to wait for Gobber to meet up with them in the arena, waving flags of orange and green. Valkyrie perked up when he entered, eager to start the competition. The entire group was here, all except for the reigning champion. Glancing to the side at Hiccup, Val knew he was excited for this years Thawfest. Because, since they have all made peace with the dragons, it only made sense that they brought them into their games. This year, Hiccup had a chance to actually not be the worst.
Gobber shook his flag in greeting, stuck where his hook usually was. He bounded with a fresh spring in his step a man of his age usually didn't hold. It was hilarious to watch, "Dragons!" he exclaimed happily. "They are now officially apart of Thawfest. There will be three━" he held up three fingers, "━additional events: The Fly and Shoot━" Fishlegs 'ooohed' in his interest, "━which will require you to fly straight and shoot straighter━"
Gobber yelped and ducked as a column of fire soared over his head. He spun around to glare at the Twins. "Hey!"
"Oh, sorry!" said Tuff. Valkyrie frowned to see him on Barf instead of Belch. He quickly swapped around with his sister. "We're on the wrong head."
"Ow━" Ruff let out as he shoved her, "━I knew something felt weird━" Barf gurgled out some noxious smoke, and Belch sparked it (and Gobber ducked yet again). Standing back up, the Blacksmith scowled at his burnt flag.
"Ahhh," sighed Tuff. "Much better."
Gobber gritted his teeth, but continued on. "Next is the Freestyle. Where it's up to you to impress the judges with a trick of your choice━"
Hearing the squawk above them, Valkyrie hadn't even realised Astrid had taken to the air. Soaring over them, she hooked herself from her saddle and perched up in a handstand. Stormfly rounded the arena steadily and Valkyrie scoffed.
"Please, what a show off..."
(In reality, she was just annoyed she didn't take the chance to show off herself).
"Ahh," Gobber nodded, impressed. "The Nadder Wingwalk. Impressive, Astrid!"
Fishlegs rose a finger in question, "Uh━excuse me ... Meatlug and I━" he gestured back to his dragon distracted by some rocks; she gobbled them up, "━were wondering if there were gonna be any intellectual event━" Meatlug spewed up the rocks to lava at her feet, "━a puzzle, perhaps?"
Gobber arched a brow. "I'll take that under advisment, Fishlegs ..." he moved on. "And let's not forget the Hurdles! Where you'll be asked to━"
"Wooohooo!"
Hiccup was met with a faceful of dust as Snotlout and Hookfang skidded to a landing on the stone of the arena. Leaping from his saddle, Valkyrie crossed her arms in seeing his chest and shoulders weighed down with ten Thawfest medals━all to showoff and showcase ... his usual gloating. They were all used to it by now, and just ignored it. (Which wasn't hard, since they ignored Snotlout on a daily basis anyway).
"You know what I love about the Thawfestival games?" Snotlout marched up to Hiccup, throwing out his chest of medals for him to arch an annoyed brow down at. "Winning! You wanna touch one of my medals? Just to see how it feels to be a winner━" he shoved one in Hiccup's face and he reared back.
"Uh ... I think I'll pass," he said.
"My family━"
"Oh, here we go..." mumbled Astrid as she landed back down.
"━has never lost a Thawfest games ever," Snotlout crossed his arms, holding his head up smugly. "Dragons or no dragons━" the Twins mocked him on their saddles, Ruffnut moved her hand back and forth, controlling her brother who mimicked Snotlout like a puppet, "━I'll do what I do every year: bring glory to the Jorgensen Clan. And you'll do what you do," he started back to Hookfang, "embarrass yours." Laughing, he set a foot on the saddle. "Let's go, Hookfang━whhaaaaaaaaaa━!" they took off, and Snotlout dangled below with his foot caught in the styryp. They heard his calls, getting distant━ "I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL...!"
Valkyrie sighed and jumped down from Zephyr. She handed Toothless the Thawfest crown she had been making and propped it onto his head. He brought his tongue across her cheek and she recoiled. "Euuurgh..." Glancing at Hiccup who glared up at Snotlout, she crossed her arms. "Don't listen to him," she said, and he met her gaze. "It doesn't really matter in the end."
He frowned at her, "Coming from the most competitive person I know."
Her lips tugged into a small smile, chuckling at the jab━because he wasn't wrong. "I mean━there's a lot of things you've already won. Like the battle against the Red Death, for example." She picked a flower from her crown and handed it to him━her way of saying good luck. He took it, spinning the stem in between his fingers. "What I'm trying to say is you have nothing to prove to Snotlout, while he thinks he has everything to prove to you."
"I find that hard to believe."
Her smile grew, amused. "See you tomorrow, Your Highness."
She swung her leg over Zephyr's neck, sitting in on her saddle. With a wink towards Hiccup, they set off into the sky.
Astrid walked up next to Hiccup. "Wow," she murmured, and he arched a brow at her. "She gave you one of her flowers. That's unheard of."
Hiccup was confused. "She always gives me her flowers."
"That's because she likes you," Ruff scoffed. "Duh?"
Tuff stopped, "Wait, she does?" he glanced at his sister. "I thought they were just really close friends."
"We are just friends," Hiccup rolled his eyes at them.
(Friends who have kissed a few times, the voice in his head added).
Tuff was taken aback. He crossed his arms, "Wow, don't need to get so defensive about it, Hiccy."
"It's because he likes her back," Ruff flicked her hair over her shoulder, and Hiccup sent her a blank look. "I'm a master at these sort of things."
"I would rather you guys stay out of my love life, thanks," Hiccup mounted Toothless. "We don't like each other, we're just friends━" and he launched into the air, making a beeline for the forge.
Astrid snickered and crossed her arms. She smirked back at Ruff, "He acts like we don't know."
"I know right," sniggered Ruff. "They think we didn't see Snoggletog."
"Wait━" Tuff held up his hand, "━what don't we know? What happened at Snoggletog?"
Ruff stared at him, before letting out a disgusted, "Urgh, how am I even related to you?"
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━━"Let the Thawfestival Games begin!"
The morning was bright, perfect for the start of the Thawfest activities to start. The crowd was estatic for the older teens competition to begin, and the Dragon Riders all stood in a line, awaiting for the first event. Valkyrie met Astrid's gaze beside her, and they narrowed their eyes at eachother: oh, it's on.
Stoick swung open the chest, and out of it burst forth a flock of Terrible Terrors. They took to the sky and the crowd cheered. One snatched a chicken leg from a Viking and he growled after it. Up above, Valkyrie heard her brothers shout her name over and over, and she smirked, readying herself for the run.
"The contenstants are lined up for the Sheep Lug," Mulch said through his horn, and it echoed against the stone.
Bucket slapped his friends arm to laugh, "It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch!"
"Why, Bucket━" Mulch chuckled, "━everyday is a good day for lugging sheep."
Gobber placed the sheeps on all of their shoulders, and Valkyrie grit her teeth when the sudden weight ached at her chest. She gripped the sheep's legs, ignoring the terrible smell. It was worse than Zephyr's fish breath! Valkyrie glanced at Astrid again.
"On your marks━"
Astrid narrowed her eyes and dug her toes into the ground.
"━Get set━"
Valkyrie flicked her bangs out of her eyes.
Mulch whacked his hook across the bucket on his friend's head.
They all started.
Valkyrie did her best to run as fast as she could, glancing back and forth between the end mark and Astrid beside her. She jumped out of the way of her foot as she tried to trip her, darting forward with a laugh over her shoulder. "Haha! Yes! Take that Astrid!"
She reached the end after Snotlout, and set her sheep down. Her brothers cheered and clapped their hands. She cracked her knuckles and Zephyr laughed in Stormfly's face. Behind them, Fishlegs fell under the weight of his sheep, Astrid crossed the finish line third seconds after Valkyrie, the Twins were ... well ... fighting each other, like usual. And Hiccup━he was close before ... wham, he tripped over his metal leg under the weight of the sheep.
Valkyrie winced when Snotlout jeered at him, pointing a finger and throwing his sheep to the ground. It's wool bounced it towards Hookfang who hit it onto its feet. It walked off, bleating like nothing had happened. In the crowd, Snotlout's father cheered, "That's my boy!"
Val scoffed up at him. Spitelout was even more obnoxious than his son.
"The first point of the Thawfest Games goes to━" up on the wooden walk above the arena, Bucket brought a giant broom down the cliff side next to a painting of Snotlout's face, marking one point. "Snotlout!"
Astrid walked up to her friend, arms crossed, "You got that one," she told her and Val smirked.
"Feeling the pressure, yet, Astrid?" she grinned and Astrid gave her a friendly punch across the shoulder.
"Just wait, Val, just you wait," Stormfly wandered up behind her, matching the gaze of her rider with a striking narrowed look. Astrid jutted her hip out. "Don't get too cocky yet."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Next up came the Log Rolling Event. That turned out to be a disaster for both Valkyrie and Astrid. They were paired in next to Fishlegs, and in Valkyrie's attempt to push her best friend off as the long turned and turned under their feet, the pudgy Viking stumbled and knocked the two of them off with a flick of his arms. Valkyrie's back hit the stone and she grumbled, "Fishlegs!"
"I'm sorry!" he cried. "My legs aren't made for running!"
Snotlout cheered from his remaining spot ontop of the log, and another point was awarded to the reigning champion. Toothless pulled Hiccup to sit up from the scruff of his tunic, and he grumbled, "Thank you, Toothless..."
The final event of the day was the Axe Throwing Competition; where 'accuracy was supreme'. In their past experiences, Valkyrie and Astrid always thought this would be where Snotlout would fault, since he couldn't throw his mace with any accuracy even if his life depended on it. But he proved them all wrong with a mighty swing that landed the blade right in the bullseye.
Astrid growled and prepared to throw hers, but Fishlegs's throw was off balance, taking her off aim. Both their axes hit the ground and she turned to glare at him. Valkyrie snickered and held up her blade━eyeing the target, she threw it only for Ruffnut's axe to fly right past, colliding and sending hers off course, too.
"Ruff!" Valkyrie shoved her. "I could of had that━whoa!" the two of them ducked out of the way of Tuff's axe, that flung up to the crowd. Vikings dived to the sides as the axe embedded into one of the wooden posts. Tuff laughed, actually proud of himself.
Hiccup was the last to go. Heaving up his axe over his shoulder, he strained to throw it. Valkyrie watched, and was impressed to see it gain momentum. It flipped over as it travelled towards the target, and her heart lit up, wondering that maybe he'll get it ... until it fell short in front of the barrels. Hiccup sighed, his shoulders slumping. Valkyrie was proud of him though! She broke out into a smile━he threw an axe! He was getting stronger! She punched him across the shoulder to show her celebration.
"Ow," he replied, rubbing the spot she hit. "Thanks, Val..."
Snotlout ruined the moment. Sauntering forward, he picked up their stray axes and lugged them back to his spot. Smirking at Hiccup, he said, "Here's how it's done, Dragon Boy." Not even facing the targets, Snotlout threw them with extreme accuracy. Valkyrie gaped, if not a bit annoyed.
"Where was this in dragon training?!" Astrid threw a hand out, angry.
Hiccup grit his teeth at him, "Show-off," he grumbled.
Up in the crowd, Spitelout jumped to his feet, roaring in victory over his son. "Haha! Woohoo!" he turned to Stoick sitting on his chieftan's chair, shouting, "Why don't you just give us the medal now, Stoick? Save your boy the embarassment!" The rest of his clan laughed at his words and the Chief narrowed his eyes.
"Why don't you take a seat, Spitelout," Stoick snapped back and Snotlout's father went a little red, shuffling back down into his seat.
Hiccup glanced up at the points, sighing at his portrait that sat right at the bottom. He walked up to him, meeting Toothless's worried purr with his palm to his snout. "Well ... dead last."
Snotlout snickered, walking up to him. "Wow," he let out. "I have all the points and the best picture?" he threw a hand to his chest, as if to act flattered. "Unfair."
Hiccup glared at him. "Oh, have your fun, now!" he seethed. "Tomorrow━" he pointed a finger, "━everything changes," he turned to Toothless. "Right, bud?"
"I can't wait!" Snotlout called as he made his way towards his dragon. "'Cause Hookfang and I━it's like boy and dragon have become one," he sat on his saddle and Hookfang peered menacingly at Toothless. "We're like a Bragon, or a Droy━" they took up into the air, "━Or a Snotfang!"
"More like a Snotmare," muttered Astrid before mounting Stormfly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Val," she grinned. "Ready to lose?"
"Yeah," Val replied, giving her a fist-bump, "are you?"
"Yeah?" Hiccup was shouting after Snotlout. Valkyrie glanced over, arching a brow as Astrid and Stormfly left. "Well, tomorrow━" he gave a weak punch to his palm, "━you're gonna have to deal with ... uh ... Hicctooth!"
Valkyrie crossed her arms, walking up to him. "Hicctooth?" she echoed, incredulous.
Hiccup went red. "Yeah ... it's not my snappiest comeback..."
She sighed, reaching over to scratch Toothless under the chin. "Why are you even letting yourself get caught up in all of this? It's not you."
"Because━" Hiccup faltered in his defence. Looking down, his shoulders slumped. He petted his dragon, too. "For the first time, ever," he mumbled, "I have a chance to beat Snotlout. To quieten him down━!"
They gasped, ducking down as Snotlout swooped over in his victory lap back home, "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!"
Valkyrie glared after him before turning back to Hiccup. "Good point," she admitted, and Zephyr nudged his snout against her palm, grabbing her attention. "But, Hiccup━" she pulled herself up onto the saddle, giving one final glance, "━don't fall into his trap and be just as bad as him, okay?"
With that said, she and Zephyr took off, heading home to get ready for the next day.
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━━"Welcome to day two of the Thawfest Games!"
Day two consited of the new Dragon Events. Snotlout only had one more point to gain to win ... again, and bring his father pride ... something he constantly strived for. (In a way, Valkyrie has noticed he and Hiccup were similar in that aspect━not that either of them would ever like to admit that).
Valkyrie would admit━she was slightly nervous for the hurdles. With a Windstriker's large wingspan, it didn't make the two of them good and close, tiny manouvers. She had been practicing in the woods, flying through the trees for the first event of today, but in the woods, she was given time to help Zephyr gain enough momentum to zip through without beating his wings too much. Here, they had no room.
"It's okay, boy," said Valkyrie to him softly, "we can do this."
"Let the dragon games begin!" said Mulch and Bucket tapped his arm, grinning.
"It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch!"
Oh, Bucket.
"First up," continued Mulch, "are hurdles!"
Snotlout scoffed from his saddle, "Hurdles smurldes," he crossed his arms, leaning back. "I can jump over those things in my sleep!"
Valkyrie and Astrid shared an amused look. Hiccup gestured to them, smug, "Be my guest."
"You don't go over them, Snotlout," said Astrid with a shake of her head. She gestured down and up with her hand, "You go under them."
"Duh," said Snotlout, holding onto Hookfang's horns. Valkyrie arched a brow. "I knew that." His dragon snarled at Toothless as if to say, yeah, take that. The Night Fury narrowed his eyes back.
"And first up is: Fishlegs!" whack! Mulch hit his best friend's bucket on his head.
The pudgy Viking and his Gronckle started to the hurdles, buzzing along. His family cheered from their spot in the crowd, only to falter when they didn't make it past the first one, getting stuck under the wood. Meatlug gurgled, upset and Fishlegs quickly scratched her behind the ears fondly, "It's okay, girl, this just isn't our event."
Next up was Astrid. She and Stormfly raced through the hurdles to get to the finishing line, and were going pretty well until the spikes on Stromfly's crown struck the wood of the last hurdle, knocking them from getting a first-place point. In following, were the Twins. They did their best to weave in under the hurdles, until Barf jetted up and the wood jarred in between the necks of the two heads. The riders were flung from their saddles, landing in the crowd. they laughed, high-fiving each other to say, lets do that again!
Valkyire came in next. With a deep breath, she readied herself in her saddle. With a nudge to Zephyr's sides, he started with a great big flap of his wings. Valkyrie aimed them down through the hurdles, except they crashed right into the first one. Val yelped, pulling Zephyr up to a halt to keep them in the air. The hurdle broke apart and there were a few gasps in the crowd. Snotlout let out a laugh at her.
Val shot a glare back at him. She set her jaw, and decided a new tactic. Leaning in close to Zephyr's ears, she said, "Zeph━up!"
With a woosh━they leapt up into the air. Valkyrie felt the wind rush past her as they got further and further up into the sky, and everyone watched them, confused as to what they were doing. Val leaned back, glancing down over her shoulder as Zephyr turned around, and the both of them looped over upside down before jetting back to the ground. I'll have to gain momentum another way ...
Before they could hit the ground, Valkyrie grit her teeth and pulled Zephyr back. They evenened out and he closed in his wings. They shot in through under the hurdles, reaching the end with no more crashes. They flung around the end mark, and Zephyr huffed back at the hurdles to say, that's what I thought!
Pulling Zephyr to settle in next to the other Dragon Riders as they waited for the last two go, Valkyrie watched Snotlout jeer to Hiccup, "Where's your Book, Hiccup? You might wanna take notes━haha!"
They shot to the hurdles━and it was more of a distaster than any of the previous rider beforehand. Snotlout's helmet knocked each and every hurdle. He reached the end, dazed and muddled. Valkyrie winced.
Finally, it was Hiccup's turn━the moment he's been waiting for ever since Thawfest first began. Egging Toothless on, they sped towards the hurdles and with a gasp from the crowd, they spun upside down. Hiccup let out a, "Yeah, baby!" as they reached the end, spinning up into the air. He pulled up in front of Valkyrie, eyes wide and happy at the mark painted next to his face.
"And Hiccup makes a perfect run!" cried Mulch.
Hiccup threw his hands up, cheering with the crowd. "Yes!" he turned back to the others, "Did you hear what he said?! Perfect! I━I believe those are my first Thawfest points ever! I just realised something━" Hiccup felt his chest, proud, "━I like beating Snotlout! I feel taller, am I taller?" Valkyrie frowned at him, startled by his reaction. She wasn't ... expecting this from him if he ever won something. "Nevermind━" he held a regal hand up, "━don't answer that."
Fishlegs and Astrid shared a shocked look, turning to Valkyrie for answers. "Is he ... gloating?" asked Fishlegs in a whisper.
"I don't know..." murmured Valkyrie, her nose turned up. "I've never actually seen Hiccup gloat before..."
Snotlout landed in next to Hiccup, "Don't get too excited," he sneered. "You know what this is?" he held up a finger. "Still the number of wins I need to end this thing, and you know what this is?" he held up a second. "The number of chances I have."
"Oh yeah?" Hiccup arched a brow. "Well you know what this is?" he held up his fingers to mimic a small circle, "The size of your brain━no! Wait!" he closed in the circle, "━eh ... that's much better."
Valkyrie scoffed, taken aback. She never thought she'd see this sort of side to Hiccup, and she hated it. She always thought it above him to treat somebody like this. Snotlout growled, "Like you've ever seen my brain!" he snapped back. "Come on, Hookfang." They left and Hiccup smirked, happy.
He glanced back at Val to see her reaction, but at the frown and shake of her head to ask, what was that? His shoulders slumped, annoyed. "What? He started it!" he gestured to Snotlout and Hookfang's retreating figures. He faltered. "When we were five..."
After a perfect run in both the Freestyle and Fly and Shoot, Hiccup stood up in a tie with Snotlout, both with three stikes to their pictures. As Hiccup and Toothless got more and more, the chief's son grew worse and worse━revelling in his new victory to the point Valkyrie found him worse than Snotlout. She felt embarassed by him, because she never thought he'd be this person. Her favourite thing about him was how humble and selfless he was, and she loved how he'd prefer to take to the skies and explore rather than fight to win a competition ... Valkyrie thought she knew Hiccup, but apparently, not as well as she thought.
"That's it," he chuckled after Snotlout, stepping down from the stage with waves to the crowd and a smile pastered on his face. Valkyrie watched, frowning and arms crossed. "Keep talking, Snotlout as your family's winning streak goes up in smokes, just like your Rings of Deadly Fire."
Snotlout spun on his heel to glare at him, unable to come up with a comeback other than a few short-fused noises before storming off. Hiccup came to a stop next to Valkyrie, not noticing the disapproving look on her face.
"Hey!" the chief's son called after Snotlout, amused. "What's the matter? Yak got your tongue?"
Valkryie gaped at him. She propped her hands on her hips, "Hiccup," she scolded.
"Oh, he's crumbling under the pressure," he snickered, looking quite ridiculous━or maybe because this side of him just did not suit the Hiccup Valkyrie liked, "I can feel it!"
He glanced at her, and faltered. Seeing the frown on her face, disapproving and muddled with disbelief, he dropped his arms. "What?" he asked her, and her hands fell to her sides.
Sighing, Valkyrie pursed her lips. "You know what I always liked the most about you, Hiccup? It wasn't the dragon-riding, or stopping the Red Death ... You were always a gracious loser, and that's one of the things that make you a brave leader. Didn't realise you'd also be such a lousy winner."
She left him to think about what she said, taking Zephyr's neck to hoist herself up on his saddle and take off.
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━━Valkyrie stood in the crowd the next day, her frown settled on Hiccup in the arena with a breath of nerves. With the rest of the teens, they all stood shoulder-to-shoulder, watching amongst the rest of Berk, eager to see either win ... except for Valkyrie. To be honest, deep down, she was eager to see what Hiccup was going to do. How he took her words yesterday ... she couldn't expect him to do anything, but ... but she wanted him to be the better Viking.
"Welcome to the final deciding event of this year's Thawfest Games!" cried out Mulch and Bucket beside him shuffled his feet around in his excitement. "The Obstacle Course Race! Take it away, Gobber!"
"The race will start here, in the stadium!" Gobber shouted over the cheers of the Vikings, gesturing his hook to a painted course on the stone. It followed the red line around. "Where, after the Log-Dogde, and the Cliff-Climbe, Hiccup and Snotlout will get on their dragons, loop around the lagship anchored off the coast━" he circled the ship at the bottom, "━slam through the sea-stack maze, then head back here! The first one to pass that finish line is the winner!"
Valkyrie watched Hiccup as he walked up to Snotlout. He looked like he was going to say something, but Snotlout shoved him off and the Chief's son just glared at his back. Valkyrie sighed. She thought he was better than Snotlout, but maybe he wasn't. But she held out hope for the former━of course, she held out hope.
"Vikings and dragons━take your positions!" Snotout and Hiccup stood at the base of the arena. Snotlout stretched out his legs and chest, cracking his knuckles. Hiccup pursed his lips, and gave his metal leg a tester in the joints. "On your mark ..." they readied against the stone, "... Get set ..." clang! Bucket fell over the back of his seat. "GO!"
"Get out of my way!" Snotlout shoved Hiccup to the ground and took off towards the logs at a sprint. Stepping up onto the ramp, he dodged the falling wood, jumping up and over, rolling to the side, somersaulting to the top.
Hiccup got back to his feet and rushed after him. As Snotlout reached the cliff face, Hiccup was at the foot of the log slope. He stepped up and jumped to the sides to avoid the logs; they rolled past him.
On the cliffface, Snotlout was met with falling rocks from above. He dodged the first two, but the third landed right━smack!
"Ooooh," the crowd went. Ruffnut and Tuffnut snickered.
"Yes! Rock to the face!" Tuff pumped his fist into the air eagerly. He nudged his sister beside him who nodded, impressed. "I love a good rock to the face━" she reached down, grabbed a rock and smacked it across his jaw. Astrid jumped, brow arched at their antics. Tuffnut stumbled, dazed, but grinned. "Yeah," he let out. "That's what I'm talking about..."
"I worry about you two sometimes..." Fishlegs murmured.
Hiccup made it to the cliff-wall, only to see Snotlout jeer down at him up from the top. He jumped onto Hookfang's saddle and took to the air, leaving dust in Hiccup's face. He gritted his teeth and continued on━only to loose his gripping from descending rocks. Valkyrie gasped as he began to fall, scratching for any hand hold on the rocks. "He's falling!" cried Gobber.
"Oh, I can't watch━" Fishlegs covered his and Meatlug's eyes, the two cowering beside each other.
Valkyrie's breath hitched in her relief when his metal leg came to the rescue, the grip on the bottom jarring against the rocks━skidding to a stop and letting Hiccup take hold of the ledges again. Stoick cheered for his son, and Val smiled begrudgingly.
Hiccup reached the top and leapt onto Toothless's saddle. With little delay, they shot after Snotlout and Hookfang with a burst of speed that Valkyrie hadn't seen before. "Look at them go!" exclaimed Mulch.
Val shuffled through the crowd to get a better look━Zephyr helped her by growling and nudging aside Vikings to make sure she got to the front. Some villagers grumbled at her, but neither she nor her dragon cared, gaze fixed on Hiccup as he gained significant distance towards Snotlout in a matter of seconds. They swooped around the ship and towards the seastacks, almost neck and neck. Weaving in and out of the sea-stack maze, it was a fight to reach to front━Snotlout, Hiccup and their dragons crashed into each other, pushing the other against the stone in desperation to get forward. Until they were forced to split ways, and Hiccup had no choice but to spin right and take the long way around.
"Hiccup has to take the long way around!" Astrid said, eyes wide.
Valkyrie watched Hiccup and Toothless glide around while Snotlout continued forward. They spun through a set of sea-stacks and up into the air. Wrapping around, Hiccup clicked Toothless's tail and they dived back down━nothing but a blur towards Snotlout. They were closing in━nearner and nearer. Valkyrie thought for a second that Hiccup would overtake and win ...
Toothless's wings expanded and they flew back. Tumbling through the air, Valkyrie's eyes widened after them, her heart leaping up━she knew what he had done. Hiccup and Toothless crashed into the meadow, and Snotlout swooshed in for the win, lighting up the banner on his way. The crowd were ecstatic; his father was beyond proud, and Snotlout cheered for himself, relieved.
But Valkyrie smiled and cheered for someone else. The boy who had given up the chance to win to let a friend━who he never really got along with, to take the win because he needed it. Hiccup didn't need to win, and she was so proud of him to realise that ... for his selfless, modest and kind persona to win in the end and fall back.
Val slipped through the crowd, leaving the cheers and applause to head down. In her ears, she heard the celebrations. Stoick handed the medal to Snotlout━and the Jorgensen's won the Thawfest games, again. As he jumped off the stage and ran around his dragon, crying out, "Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!" Valkyrie brushed past him, heading straight towards the small, fish-bone of a Viking that was really the strongest of them all.
Hiccup didn't see her coming. She rushed in next to him and threw a punch across his shoulder, grinning brightly. He jumped, frowning at her with a sharp, "What?"
He rubbed his arm, and Valkyrie tilted her head, smiling. She narrowed her eyes at him, all-knowing. "I know what you did," she told him.
"Yeah," said Hiccup, shoulders slumping. He found it hard to meet her gaze. "I lost. As usual..."
"No," Valkyrie shook her head, hands on her hips. "You threw the race. I saw you do it."
He gaped, "I━I━I don't━I have no idea what you're talking about, Valkyrie," he still wouldn't meet her gaze and it just made her smile grow. "Snotlout was just the better Viking today."
"No, Hiccup," she said again, her smile growing gentle. He finally met her gaze and faltered to see how tender it was ... it was so not Valkyrie. But it made his heart flutter, because he realised that the look she gave him, it was just for him and no one else. "No one was a better Viking than you today."
Stepping closer, she leaned in. Hiccup's eyes fluttered close and her lips brushed against his for a soft kiss that felt different than the others. It wasn't a peck, or a rushed express of affection. Valkyrie didn't care that there were people watching━so what? She kissed Hiccup, and there was a primrose blossiming; a promise of forever growing between the two of them. Valkyrie didn't need to promise forever right now, but she wondered whether she could start it. Plant the seeds and nuture it ... maybe that was how promises truly worked. You promise to nuture, not promise the end result, because no one can see the end. It was like the edge of the world, and they were gazing from the cliffs towards the horizon. They might fall off the edge, or they might stay on the end of it━and that was exciting. That was what Valkyrie promised ... she couldn't see the end, but she could see now, and she wanted to promise a now, nutured towards a possible future.
Hiccup cupped her cheek, and Valkyrie smiled.
By the gates of the arena, their friends watched. Astrid crossed her arms, proud and glanced at Ruff next to her. "We're just friends," she mimicked Hiccup the best way we could.
Ruff flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I told you, so."
Tuff was still behind. He stared, alarmed, and let out, "Wait━aren't they just friends?!"
Ruffnut sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑
a/n: originally i wasn't going to start something until the end of defenders of berk, but this felt right, so here we are. doesn't mean it's like whoa they're together. they're just kids, it's awkward, it's cute, it's not going to be affectionate all the time. like val said^ the seeds are planted, and now it needs to be watered and nutured.
i love writing flower metaphors for love stories, though. i just find it so sweet.
anyway, yeah. here's the chapter and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!