━━ chapter sixteen
love, mother
i skipped the previous episode, mainly because val would hardly be in it. it's mainly just hiccup and snotlout trying to survive on outcast island but they're both prideful idiots, and end up bonding. it would basically be a montage of val worrying. if you wanna see it i could do a one-shot in my one-shot book. let me know.
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━━Val had a small skip to her step that morning. Walking through the bustling Viking and Dragon streets of Berk, past her home and up the slope towards the Forge, she waved at family friends. She stopped by Astrid's house to have a small chat with her about their last race, and when their next should be. She picked up some flowers growing beside Mrs Ack's home, taking away the roots, leaves and grass to then weave them around her mallet's handle.
Finally reaching the forge, she signalled for Zephyr to wait outside with a pointer finger, and slipped into the ash-scented workshop. It was immediately warmer in here, like always.
"Hiccup?" she called out, searching the forge for the familiar boy. "Hiccup, you in here?"
"Yeah, I'm back here, Val!" she heard him and grinned. Making her way over, she peeked around the workshop to the back to see him hunched over the work table, drawing out a new saddle design.
"Good morning, Your Highness," Valkyrie smirked and walked up to him, perching herself up on the table with a swift jump. Her legs swung under her, fleece boots brushing against each other.
"Good morning, Milady," Hiccup chastly kissed her lips as a hello and got straight back to work.
She peered at his work, holding down the edge of the paper as her way of helping. She watched him outline the design with his charcoal pencil and couldn't help but ask a curious, "What are you working on? A new saddle for Toothless?"
"Nope, this one," he stepped back to gaze down at it, tilting his head in thought, "is for Thornado. Designing a better one for Dad's long trips..."
Valkyrie nodded. She swung her legs a little more, expecting a certain bout of words from Hiccup. Maybe a swift little gift. But he paid her little attention, his gaze fixed on the design he was drawing. Val frowned. But she didn't let it hinder her. Maybe he was just teasing her.
"So!" she spoke up, pulling her legs up to cross them over and smile down at her boyfriend. "Are you working on anything else at the moment?" Val tried not to be suggestive in her words, but she couldn't help it. Her brow arched, awaiting his answer. He glanced up at her. "Anything I could help with? Anything━I dunno━for someone other than Thornado and your dad?"
"Well..." Hiccup murmured, smiling a little in his confusion at her tone, "... I'm always coming up with new ideas for Toothless's tails━ways to get faster, have better turns, you know ..."
Val pursed her lips. "Right..." she said. Slipping off the table, she shuffled to his other side, leaning on the bench with him and watching him work. "Other than Toothless? Who knows? Maybe someone's birthday, perhaps?"
Hiccup met her gaze innocently. "Who's birthday?"
She gaped at him, annoyed. "Mine."
He then grinned. "Wait, it's your birthday?"
Valkyrie scoffed, realising he had been teasing her the entire time. She shoved him, "Dumbass. I hate you."
"Ow," he rubbed his elbow. "All right, fine━close your eyes. I'll go get your gift. Gods, Val."
She grinned, triumphant. Placing her hands over her eyes, she waited with a little bounce in her feet. She kept her ears peeled, listening to the clink and thunk of Hiccup's metal leg to see where he was going. She had been terrified he had forgotten for a moment.
When she heard him return, she peaked through the parting of her fingers and saw him frown back at her. "Keep them closed!" he told her.
"Okay," she whined, but did as he said, fixing her fingers over her eyes.
He reached her, and with a tap to her hands, she knew she could open her eyes. Letting them fall, Valkyrie gasped at what Hiccup held, smiling nervously.
For a second, she didn't know what it was. But then he explained. Scratching the back of his neck, Hiccup mumbled out a, "I━I know you love putting flowers around her mallet, but they always fall off so━so I thought I'd built something you could put them in a━and it'll be secure and━"
Valkyrie's heart fluttered. She didn't let him finish. Instead, she flung her arms around him for a tight hug. Hiccup chuckled, just managing to hold her around the waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, peppering him with kisses on his cheeks and nose. "You're amazing!"
He was bright red, a flustered mess. She giggled as she pulled away. "Show me how to put it on! I got new flowers just on the walk here━I was going to braid your hair but, oh, my gods, I want to see it! I want to see it!"
Hiccup felt light in his chest. It the time he's known Valkyrie, she was always a hard, mean exterior, but recently, around him, it was like she was a bouquette of flowers. Blushing like roses, smiling bright like a sunflower, as beautiful as a primrose. It made him weak at the knees as he realised that was because of him. She trusted him, and opened up to him enough that she was like this. And he really liked this part of her.
Valkyrie handed him her mallet without a second thought and Hiccup almost dropped it at the weight. She laughed and sat back up on the desk, waiting for him the secure the wire around the hilt. She readied her flowers, picking and choosing the best she believed would suit her day, and her gift, and her hopes.
She found the best flower to represent Hiccup, grinning to herself and swinging her legs. The smallest flower of the bunch, but also her favourite for the morning. It had beautiful colours, and beautiful petals; she thought it matched his soul very well.
They chatted with each other as he fixed the wire. Val flirted every now and then, liking the way he went bright red and fumbled on his words. Finally, he fixed it up and showed it to her. She was grinning. Around her mallet handle, the wire wrapped with intricate little twists for her flowers to slip into. She beckoned him over and took the mallet, already starting to fix in her flowers.
Hiccup watched her, shuffling on his feet. "Do you ... uh ... do you like it?"
Valkyrie gave him a soft look, chuckling. "Of course I like it," she leaned in and kissed him gently. When she pulled away, she told him: "I love it."
Hiccup stopped her from looking back down to her mallet, taking her chin and planting his own kiss on her lips. She was surprised. Usually it was always her that initiated the kisses━she was far more confident than Hiccup in that matter. He was a fan of quickly kissing her cheek in passing or holding her hand when he thought no one was looking. But not forwardly kissing her like this, even if they were alone in the forge. It made Valkyrie smile. He was getting more comfortable around her.
It was the longest they've kissed, for sure. Sloppy, maybe. Valkyrie has never kept kissing him before. She's only pecked, nothing more. She was unsure on what to do. So she just held his hand and kept going, bright red.
When Hiccup let go, he was just as red as her. "I have to go," he told her, stepping back. "Dad wants Toothless and I to go on another trek with him in search of Johann. He's late."
"Okay," Valkyrie murmured, still a little breathless. "Thank ..." she swallowed, wiping her lips that were now wet, "... thanks for the present, Hiccup."
He smiled at her nervously. "Anytime, Milady."
He walked out, and Valkyrie looked back to her mallet. She smiled to herself as she kept adding more and more flowers.
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━━"Why is your mallet covered in more flowers than usual?"
Valkyrie rolled her eyes at Snotlout. He had insisted on joining hers and Astrid's race today, tagging along and trying to showoff. Except he failed, and Astrid won, reaching the sea-stack before the rest of them.
"Because it's my birthday," she said simply, turning Zephyr around and taking off on their way back to the Academy. "And besides, Hiccup made me a wire to put them in around my mallet and it's pretty."
Snotlout gagged. "Valkyrie the Vicious who?"
She glared at him. Swinging sideways off her saddle, she whacked him over the side of his helmet. He shrieked in alarm, swatting her away. "You were saying?" she taunted, pulling herself back up properly on Zephyr.
They swooped down into the Academy, seeing Hiccup by Toothless. He looked to be packing something, which made them all share a frown. Setting down, Valkyrie caught the end of his sentence━
(She has noticed he makes quite the dialogue of everything).
"Okey-dokey, we'll start in the West Islands and work our way back."
"Back from where?" Valkyrie slipped off the saddle, her boots landing on the stone floor of the arena.
He jumped and spun around, seeing the three of them. "Uh━ah━" he chuckled nervously, trying to hide the saddle bag from their view. Valkyrie arched a brow, curious. She walked up to him. "Just━just a quick spin around the island..."
She shoved in next to him and opened up the saddle back. She picked out the salmon and the water, "Uh, huh, sure━quick spin, huh? With enough food to feed all of my brothers twice?"
Seeing the fish, Snotlout grinned and snatched it from her fingers. "Ooh! Salmon!" he took a big bite from the middle before downing it with the water. Valkyrie, Hiccup and Astrid all glared at him.
Astrid rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She jutted her hip out, arching a brow at Hiccup, suspicious.
He sighed, "Ugh, fine! If you must know..."
"And we must," said Astrid.
"I'm going to do something for my father."
Valkyrie tilted her head. They expected more of an answer for that. Realising, Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, gods━okay: Trader Johann is bringing something for him, something important and he should have been here by now."
"You're not trading this fish, are you? Because it's delicious..." said Snotlout with a mouth-full. He took another bite before Hookfang snapped it in his teeth and swallowed it whole. Snotlout gaped at his dragon, offended. "Hey!" he snapped his fingers. The Monstrous Nightmare glared, but lifted up his head. There was a gagging sound before the head of the fish was back in Snotlout's palm, half-eaten. The rest of them let out whines of disgust to see him throw it into his mouth.
Valkyrie shook her head. Turning back to Hiccup, she smiled. "When do we leave?"
Hiccup held a hand out to her gently, "No, Val. I need to go alone. If we all disappear my dad'll get suspicious."
Snotlout arched a brow. "Go alone?" he echoed, incredulous. "You without us?" he laughed. Valkyrie shot him a glare, annoyed. "Like you can handle anything if we weren't there to bail you━" he was cut off. The fish head got stuck in his throat. He heaved, and heaved, and Astrid and Val stood there for a few seconds, just watching with smirks on their faces. Hiccup gave them a look to say, guys, come one...
Astrid rolled her eyes, but punched Snotlout in the gut nonetheless. The fish head came flying out. Snotlout doubled over, coughing. Valkyrie smiled.
Hiccup let out a tired, "Oh, all right! All right! Fine. You three can come. But that's it. Don't even tell the others. Heed my warning," he pointed a finger at them each, "I am serious!"
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━━"Hey, Hiccup━"
The chief's son slumped his shoulders in his annoyance, glaring at the coastline they flew towards as the younger Twin pestered him on his left.
Tuffnut waved his fingers at him, "Hey, Hiccup━Snotlout told us there'll be salmon. And I love lox..."
Hiccup let out a loud sigh, and Toothless met it with an tired garble of his own. Shooting a glare to the boy on his Monstrous Nightmare, Hiccup said, "I'm pretty sure I said: 'Don't tell the others'."
Snotlout just shrugged, leaning back in the saddle. "And I'm pretty sure I didn't listen to you!"
"Hiccup," Fishlegs fluttered Meatlug in close, "aren't you always saying it's better when we work as a team?"
Hiccup grumbled. Val chuckled at his face not far behind him. "Next time I say that, just slap me in the face..."
Ruff held up her hand, "I'll do it right now?" she offered. Hiccup set his jaw.
"She will!" nodded her brother helpfully. "And she slaps like a guy. It's awesome! Watch━" she brought her hand right across his cheek. He shook it out, grinning. "Aw, yeah..."
Belch laughed at him while Barf gurgled in amusement.
Astrid caught sight of something in the waters. She pointed, "Hey! Look!"
"I can't see anything through the tears," mummbled Tuffnut.
Valkyrie narrowed her gaze down to the water. Her breath hitched to see a lonesome plank of wood drifting amongst the calm waves. There was a body on that wood; one in a familiar, bright cloak and long, braided brown hair.
"Is that ...?"
"Johann," nodded Hiccup.
Snotlout frowned. "I thought he had a bigger boat!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Come on, gang!" he announced. "Let's check that out!"
Diving down, Toothless swiped Johann up in his claws. Making it to the nearest sea stack, they settled down and waited for the trader to wake up. Valkyrie, with her little experience in medicine from her mother and the Sanctuary, kept an eye on Johann, checking his temperature and breathing. Zephyr tried to be helpful, nuzzling the man's beard as if to say, come on! Wake up! I'm bored!
When he did come around, he muttered nothing but, "The fog ... the fog ..." for the next few minutes.
Hiccup kept asking questions, but it wasn't until he said, "Johann, where is your ship?" did the trader speak.
"No idea," he said, voice trembling. He look like he had been Niflheim and back. "All I know is, one minute, I was sailing in a perfectly calm sea, the wind at my back ..." he held his hands up dramatically, the water sloshing in the pot Astrid gave him, "━and then suddenly the next thing I know, my entire ship is pulled out from under me and I'm shark bait!"
Valkyrie and Hiccup shared a glance.
"I ... I don't understand," muttered the chief's son.
"I do," said Johann woefully. He grabbed the fish held out to him. "I was three days late and trying to make up time and I got too close!"
"Too close to what?" Fishlegs asked, his hands to his mouth.
"Too close to ..." the trader paused for dramatic effect, "... Breakneck Bog!"
There were a hitch of gasps between the group of teens. They have all heard of Breakneck Bog one way or another.
Fishlegs let out a little terrified squeal. "Many a ship has sailed into its water ... few have returned."
Astrid propped a hand on her hip. She glanced at Val. "My grandmother has told me it's pirates."
Snotlout scoffed, loud and obnoxious. "That's ridiculous!" he said. Astrid frowned at him, annoyed. "Everyone knows it's haunted by a Fog Monster," he crossed his arms, giving her a look that said, duh!
Fishlegs whimpered. "Fog Monster?!"
Tuffnut appread at his shoulder, leering into his face menacingly. "Legend says the Fog Monster makes this really creepy moan..." he made weird noises; it was enough to make the pudgy Viking's knees shiver. "Then he surrounds you and scrapes the skin off your bones!"
Ruff laughed at Fishlegs's shriek.
But Tuffnut wasn't finished. He lurked to Fishlegs's other side and murmured, "And then he scrapes the bones off of ... whatever is under those."
"And then," added his sister, waggling her fingers mysteriously to add to the drama, "it drops the bones from the sky!"
"It's true!" nodded Johann vigorously. "It━it surrounded me!"
Valkyrie arched a brow. Hiccup didn't look convinced either.
"See?" Snotlout pointed a finger at Astrid. She gritted her teeth. "Fog Monster!" he scoffed. "Pirates ... ha! Stupid grandfather━ah!"
(Astrid punched him).
"Johann," Hiccup took the trader by the shoulders, giving him a little shake, "we have to find your ship. There's something on it for my father."
"Yes! Yes, there was," said Trader Johan, meeting Hiccup's eyes. "But it wasn't for your father. It was for you."
Hiccup faltered, confused. "For ... for me? From who?"
Johann tilted his head, "He didn't tell you?" the trader's brows lifted up, sympathetic. It made Hiccup's confusion grow. "It was from your mother..."
Valkyrie's eyes widened. She glanced at Hiccup, seeing him stagger like he had just been hit in the stomach by a strong fist. "M━My mother?" he choked out the word, and Val immediately came to his side, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
She frowned at Johann, "How?"
Hiccup's mother was dead. She had been taken away in a raid when he was just a babe, barely one. He got his scar that day; he and his father had almost died in the fire that raged the house from the angry dragon that decided Valka Haddock would be a great early morning feast. Valkyrie's father, Mallory Frode had helped Stoick the Vast in his search for his wife, hoping that she had somehow survived. But after weeks of searching the Archipellago waters, they decided that no one, not even a kind chieftan's wife, could be that lucky.
"What is it?" asked Hiccup, his voice sounding suddenly very dry.
"I have no idea, lad," sighed Johann. "I just know it's in a chest with the Haddock crest on it."
"I━I━I have to find it," Hiccup's eyes flickered around in his thoughts. He let go of Val's hand and crouched down, much more distressed and determined he had been before. "Take us back there!" he demanded. "You━you show us where you where when you lost your ship━"
"NO!" cired Johann, scrambling away. He shook his head, refusing to look at them. "Nooo! I won't! You can't make me! I have a knife in my boot━!" he faltered, and hung his head, embarassed, "━I don't ... I don't actually have a knife in my boot ... But no more fog, please!"
"Can you at least tell us where we can find Breakneck Bog?" Valkyrie instead asked, determined to help.
Johann twisted and turned, but decided it wouldn't hurt to say, "Head due East. There's a group of islands in the shape of a man's hand." He held up his hand to show them. He pointed to his thumb. "Breakneck Bog is the thumb."
Hiccup nodded. He took a deep breath, looking rather pale. "O━Okay. Snotlout," he nodded to the boy, "you and the Twins take him back to Berk."
Snotlout gaped, "Back to Berk?" he whined. "With this clown━" he gestured to Johann and then the Twins, "━and those clowns?"
Valkyrie crossed her arms. "Snotlout," she warned.
He stamped his foot; like a child. "Fine! Fine! But you owe me!" he stabbed a finger at the two of them.
Fishlegs raised a hand nervously, "Question: What are the rest of us doing?"
Hiccup glanced due East, eyes narrowing. "We're going to Breakneck Bog."
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━━It wasn't a long fight until Breakneck Bog came into sight. The dragon riders took a few laps around the island, searching for a boat off the shore. They came back with no ship in sight. Breakneck Bog was just as Johann said: covered in a thick bank of fog that made it hard to see. The marshland looked damp to the touch, with low hanging trees and the sounds of animals in the bushes.
Landing amongst the marsh, Valkyrie could tell Zephyr was nervous. He squawked at every sound, shuffling his wings. Val rubbed his neck, telling him, it's okay, I'm here. Even though in many situations, it was Zephyr that pulled Val out of danger, not the other way around.
"I don't get it," sighed Hiccup, annoyed. "We flew all around the island. No boat."
"Not even the remains of a boat," grumbled Astrid, clinging onto Stormfly's spikes at the crown of her head.
"You know who would take a boat?" whimpered Fishlegs, huddling close to Meatlug. "A Fog Monster!"
Valkyrie whispered menacingly, "The Fog..."
"Stop it, Val!" she laughed at his words.
Her laughter was cut off by a screech in the trees. She gasped, hitching her breath and holding onto Zephyr tighter as they all turned to the sound. Their dragons growled and skirted on their feet anxiously.
"Settle down, bud," Hiccup patted Toothless on the head, frowning at the direction of the screech. The Night Fury narrowed his eyes.
"What was that?" asked Val, keeping Zephyr steady so he wouldn't be spooked.
Hiccup met her gaze. He shrugged, "Only one way to find out..."
They started to the forest. Fishlegs squeaked, "Wait a minute!" they stopped, sighing and glanced back. Val arched a brow. The pudgy Viking hunched his shoulders. "You don't go towards the weird scary sound!"
Astrid frowned, "Yeah, we do," she said. "We always do."
They started off again (not without Fishlegs grumbling under his breath: "I hate that about us!").
Taking the trek through the woods on foot, Valkyrie gazed at the different plants. Taking the time to pick some flowers in passing and sniff them before adding the colours to her already packed-out mallet handle. It distracted her from the sounds all around them: chitters and chatters, shrieks and growls. It was like there were a herd of dragons all around them, perched in the trees like lurking birds with razor-sharp teeth.
Zephyr didn't like her leaving the pack of them, even if for a short moment. He would reach his long neck and try to drag her back. She frowned at her dragon, mumbling, "You know, you act all tough and big, Zeph, but you're just a scardy-cat sometimes." He huffed in her face for those words as if to say, I'm trying to keep you from getting us killed!
She liked how she could start to understand him like he was actually speaking, even if he wasn't. It made her heart swell to think how close they had become. She loved Zephyr with all her heart. He was more than her dragon, he was her best friend.
Fishlegs let out a squeal.
Valkyrie jumped, "What?" she turned to him only to falter at the sight of bones at his feet. She tried not to show how much that made her stomach flutter with fear. "Come on, Fishlegs. Quicker we find this boat, the quicker we'll be able to leave this place."
She took a few more steps, not looking where she was going before Zephyr squawked in alarm. In seconds, he gripped the back of her armour straps and hauled her back into the air. Just where she had been, a great big metal anchor hit the ground with a sickening clang!
Valkyrie stared, a little shocked. "Uh ..." she reached back and patted Zephyr on the horn. "Thanks, boy..."
Astrid made it to her side. Glancing up, she gasped. "Wow..."
Hiccup reached Val's other side. Fishlegs and their dragons hovered behind, all of them staring up at the tallest tree on the isle; and on it, a Viking longship lodged in the break of the branches.
"What in the name of Thor...?" breathed Valkyrie, mouth agape.
"It's Trader Johann's ship!" exclaimed Astrid.
"Yeah, got that already..."
"Wow," Hiccup mumbled, "he really got of course."
Zephyr set Valkyrie back down. Her boots touched the grass. Fishlegs came in under the Windstriker's wing to squeak a terrified: "Fog Monster!"
"Fishlegs, I say this again," Val jumped onto Zephyr's saddle, "there is no such thing as a Fog Monster. The Twins were just messing around. Come on."
Fishlegs grumbled as he returned to Meatlug. "Well, how do you explain a literal ship in a tree, Val? How do you think it got there?"
Val didn't have an answer because she didn't know. But what she did know, is that it was most definitely not because of a Fog Monster. Maybe some freak tornado? Or a huge wave. Or ... or ...
They followed the trail of vines and crooked branches twisting up and up until the tip top where the boat sat, nook in the crevice of a four-way branch split. Val could have guessed the tree had originally treked higher, but the boat had cut it straight in half at the split. The four of them tried to land on the deck, but their dragons objectified, keeping their claws in the air and their wings beating anxiously.
"They're afraid," noted Fishlegs, gazing at the deck with horror. "And they're dragons! So should we ask ourselves: what are we doing?"
"That boat's not gonna hold them," said Hiccup instead. "We have to jump down and send the dragons below." He clicked Toothless's tail to keep him in a glide once he left so he could make his own way down.
"Great," muttered Fishlegs. "That's just perfect."
Valkyrie rolled her eyes and swung her legs off the saddle. With a deep breath, she leapt from Zephyr and onto the boat, landing perfectly in a crouch that kept her balance and the ships balance. The others followed, all quite well until Fishlegs who screamed as he hit the deck with a thud to his back. The ship wobbled. They signalled their dragons to wait down below on the ground; all with different hand gestures, but their respective dragons understood exactly what they meant.
Once that was done, Hiccup turned to the small team. "Okay, so let's just find this thing and get out of here. We're looking for a chest with my family's crest on it━"
Plonk.
Val jumped at the thigh bone that landed at her feet. She shuffled back, suprised. Fishlegs whimpered, "Uh ... Care to explain that?" he sent her a side look. She narrowed her eyes.
Astrid let out a terrified yelp as a whole shower of bones came down upon them. Valkyrie shielded her face, wincing as the bones hit her arms and back. "Below deck!" shouted Astrid, and no one thought twice. They ran down under and came to a crouch in the corner by some whicker baskets. Valkyrie clutched Hiccup's sleeve, hearing the crunch and thunk of bones come to a stop.
There was silence between the four friends for a minute or two.
Valkyrie's heart was racing.
"Uh ..." Hiccup gulped. "It's just ... a little bone-shower! A━and it passed!"
"Bone-shower," Fishlegs's voice was flat in disbelief. "So ... I'm the only one who thinks that's weird?"
Astrid and Val couldn't help but agree.
Hiccup winced, "Okay ... it's a little weird."
"It's a lot weird," corrected Astrid.
They stood up. There were growls outside. Val gripped Hiccup's sleeve tighter. Not a Fog Monster, she reminded herself, all though it was quite weak. Fog Monsters don't exist! Fishlegs brought his hands to his lips. "So is that!" he whispered, terrified.
"Okay," even Hiccup could admit something was off. "Let's just start looking for the chest and quickly. That really doesn't sound like friendly scraping."
They split up and searched below deck. Looking into whicker baskets and checking the sides of crates, the four of them were all equally as desperate as the other to find this chest and get out of there.
When Hiccup found it, he called out happily to the others and was met with Fishlegs's scream. The pudgy Viking dashed over, waving his hands around.
"Fishlegs, I found it!" Hiccup showed him the small, old wooden chest.
"Oh, oh, thank Thor!" cried Fishlegs. "There was a hand━no skin━all scraped off!"
Up above, the sound of footsteps echoed. Thud! Thud! Thud! Stomping down to the stairs. All four of them froze, glancing at each other. Valkyrie's heart raced much louder than it had before━she thought she could hear it in her ears, matching thundering the footsteps that got closer and closer━
"It's coming after us!" cried Astrid.
"Hide!" shouted Hiccup, pointing to the chamber at the end of the boat. "In there!"
They ran for the doors. Astrid whirled them open and they all ducked inside, closing them in. They huddled together, not even daring to make a sound, or breathe in order to hear where the Fog Monster was. Hiccup hugged his chest close, Astrid and Valkyrie clutched onto each other, hiding their faces in the others shoulders, Fishlegs suppressed his terrified whimpers with sniffles.
The door shook as the monster tried to enter. Valkyrie pulled Astrid closer. Hiccup hunched up. Fishlegs couldn't hold it in any longer, he squeaked out, "I just want you to know, I love you guys━"
The door swung open.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH━!"
There stood Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Snotlout, smirking at them. Tuff laughed, waving the bone arm and hand at them. "Hey guys! Need a hand━AHHHHH!"
Astrid leapt forward. Pinning Tuffnut to the ground, she snatched away the bone arm and hit him━once, twice, thrice ... again, and again, and again. "OW! AUGH! YEEEOOOUCH!"
Valkyrie helped. Screaming in her rage, she took the bone hand to land some of her own hits to his chest and helmet. "You━absolute━I━will━send━you━!" she didn't even finish; she just kept whacking Tuff in the head.
"Ruffnut━!" he cried out in between hits, "━do━something━!"
She took the hand and gave him another whack.
"OW!"
Hiccup's chest fell in relief and filled up with a flush of annoyance. "All right, all right. Break it up, guys."
They stopped. Valkyrie took the arm one last time. Whack!
"YEOWW!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "So," he began, "let me get this straight. This was all of you. The bones, the scraping?"
Snotlout laughed again, holding his stomach. Valkyrie just noticed the golden medalions hanging around his neck. "That's right. And this was all you: OOOH! AH! EEK!"
Hiccup was not amused. Fishlegs raised a finger. "Uh ... actually, most of that was me."
"Oh, gods," the chief's son shook his head. "Why━why would you do that? What were you thinking?!"
Snotlout jabbed a finger in his face. "That I was gonna make you pay for sticking me with Trader Johann!"
"Where is he?"
"Don't worry about him. He's fine."
Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. She pointed the bone hand at Snotlout. "Don't tell me you just left him there...?"
Snotlout scoffed, which let Valkyrie know that yes, that was exactly what he did.
Astrid stood up, glaring. "Just so you know, I'm not going to forget this," she declared. "And what is with that stupid necklace?"
"Oh," Snotlout jutted out his chest proudly, showing the gleaming gold around his neck, "you likely? Yeah. Just a little something I found on deck. I can grab one for you if you want?"
Astrid took the bone hand and smacked in him the stomach.
Just as she did, the whole boat shuddered. None of them had any time to think before the ship tilted forwards and in seconds, they were freefalling to the ground. Valkyrie screamed, hitting the deck, and she blacked out.
She didn't think she was out for long. When she came to, everyone was still sprawled out, clutching their sides and groaning in pain. The crates and whicker baskets were a mess around them, contents spilled and shattered.
Someone was at her side. They helped her up and felt the bruise already forming on her temple. "Is everyone okay?" Hiccup asked.
"You still got the chest?" grumbled Valkyrie in response, sitting up and leaning against his arm as she pressed her fingers tenderly on the bruise. Hiccup nodded, showing her the wooden box by his side. "Good. Because..." her voice fell away at the scraping from above.
The teens all shared a startled exchange.
Hiccup's breath htiched. "Run!" he shouted.
They didn't reach the stairs in time. A bank of grey, suffocating smoke sifted in from above, filling up below deck in mere seconds. The teens bundled up together, screaming. Valkyrie found Hiccup's hand, holding on tight as she squinted her eyes closed and turned away, fearful for what awaited them. For a few seconds, all that she could hear were her own screams, Fishlegs's cries, Astrid's yells of defiance and Snotlout's squeals, as well as the sound of growls and claws.
She clung onto Hiccup tighter, too scared to fight as she just reached for comfort.
When the fog dispersed, she had her face buried into the fleece of his vest. She looked up, checking whether the coast was clear before letting go, clearing her throat. Surveying the area, she saw Fishlegs holding onto Snotlout for dear life before the Jorgensen shoved him off.
"We're alive!" exclaimed Ruffnut in victory. "Right?" her brother punched her to double-check. "Ow!" she shoved him back.
"Can we please just get out of here?!" snapped Astrid.
Nodding, they went to leave but Hiccup called them back with a distressed, "Wait! The chest! I━it's gone! I just had it!"
"Uh, too bad, so sad━" Tuffnut led a line of the teens aside from Hiccup, Valkyrie and Astrid back up the steps to the deck. "See you back on Berk!"
Val growled at them, frustrated. They followed up, watching the others jump right off the side of the ship and to the ground, running for their dragons. Valkyrie clenched her fists, ready to shout at them. Are they seriously that disloyal? After everything they've gone through together?!
"You guys go," said Hiccup, jaw clenched. (If not a bit hurt by their actions). "I have to find that chest."
The others mounted their respective dragons, already getting ready to fly. Snotlout stated, "Do what you gotta do. See you when we see you."
"Oh, for the love of━hold on, you guys!" Valkyrie shouted. Toothless jumped over the edge and sat himself behind them. Zephyr and Stormfly stood by the broken mast on the ground. "The chest is from his mum!"
"Yeah," Tuff gave her a brief glance, "touching story. Gotta go!"
She wanted to punch them. "Would you just put yourselves in his shoes?!"
"Shoe," corrected Snotlout off-handedly.
She stamped her foot, annoyed. "That's it━" she signalled Astrid and she didn't need to be told twice. With a hand gesture, Stormfly's spines were impaled in the grass in front of the others' dragons. They balked.
Snotlout glared over his shoulder. "Rude."
Valkyrie stepped up on the edge of the ship, balancing her weight amongst the shields where the oars used to be. "No, you listen to me right now━all of you! If it weren't for Hiccup, all of you would have been dead at least once in the past year! And now when he needs you, you all go off like a bunch of cowards! I thought we were Dragon Riders! Odin would be ashamed! And not just that, we're supposed to be Hiccup's friends."
"I never said I was his friend━" Snotlout's jaw fell shut at the glare she and Astrid sent him.
"What if it was your mother?!" Valkyrie tried her final tactic, and the retreating Riders all faltered.
With a grumble, Snotlout spun Hookfang around and leapt off. The others followed. They all came to a stance in front of the boat, the group back together. Snotlout crossed his arms.
"I hate you," he told Valkyrie and Astrid before turning to Hiccup. "And this does not mean we're really friends."
Hiccup smiled. "Thank you, guys," he said, but his eyes settled on Val beside him, beyond grateful. She nodded back, telling him: I'll always have your back. "I mean it. Now, let's go find that Fog Monster."
✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑
━━Following after the Fog Monster led them to a break in the woods were a cave amongst boulders and rocky ground stood. They waited around, skittish, having lost it in the trees, until it returned and sifted around them. However, it hadn't been a Fog Monster at all. They were dragons. Small, growling, very angry smoke-grey dragons: Smothering Smokebreath dragons. Valkyrie, Astrid and the others had stared at Fishlegs at his words.
("What?" he had cried.
"You knew about these things?!" Snotlout had shouted.
"Well I've read about them. I didn't believe they actually existed!"
Astrid had clenched her fists, "And so you went with Fog Monster instead?!).
Fishlegs explained that Smothering Smokebreath dragons hid themselves in a veil of smoke to protect themselves from larger predators, as well as being very territorial. There was a third thing ... but, because of their luck, he had suddenly forgotten it. In the end, they had no choice but to fall back to the top of the cove, hiding amongst the bushes and trees to gaze down at the Smothering Smokebreath nesting rocks.
Lying stomach-down shoulder-to-shoulder, the teens were quiet for a few seconds before Fishlegs whimpered: "What are we doing? Why are we still here?"
Hiccup sent him a look, "I can't leave here without that chest."
Snotlout threw his hands up, "You don't even know if they have it!"
Up above, the anchor that had almost squashed Valkyrie flat into a bug was being carried over their heads in a waft of smoke. Together, the Smothering Smokebreaths worked together to lug it down and into their cave, disappearing into the dark.
Hiccup arched a brow at Snotlout, you were saying? "I have a pretty good idea. Let's get a closer look."
Leaving their dragons up above, the group of teens moved their position down and in behind a set of large boulders, peering up over the edge. They were closer to the cave now, but still couldn't see inside. A few stray Smokebreath's darted into the darkness.
"Uh, Fishlegs?" muttered Hiccup out of the corner of his mouth. "Anything more you'd like to share?"
"Unfortunately, yes," said Fishlegs. The others glanced at him. "The third thing: the Smothering Smokebreaths build their nest out of metallic objects."
"That doesn't sound too cozy," mumbled Tuff, off in his thoughts. "Or does it...?"
"It's not supposed to be," Fishlegs picked at his nails nervously. "They do it to defend against attacks by bigger Dragons."
Hiccup gritted his teeth. He glared at the cave. "I wish I could see in there."
Beside him, Tuff chuckled, handling a spy-glass as he looked through the lense back-to-front, waggling his fingers in front of it. Hiccup froze. He tried to keep his annoyance down. Slowly, he took a deep breath and said, carefully, "Tuff, where did you get that?"
"Duh, from the ship," he continued to giggle at his fingers through the lense. "Or whatever that was in the tree."
Hiccup snatched the spy-glass from him and peered into the cave.
"They're melding them all together," he stated. There was a second before he gasped. "The chest! It's in there!" he pulled the lense away, eyes lit up. "We've got to get them away from that pile of loot."
"Maybe we can lure them away," suggested Astrid.
"Yeah, but with what?"
Simoultaneously, the same idea seemed to hit them all. Glancing to their left, their eyes landed on Snotlout who was busy polishing his gold necklace with a quick breath and smudge of his fingers. Realising they were staring, he looked up. He chuckled nervously, "What?"
The plan consisted of this:
Have Snotlout step up oon the tops of the rocks by the nest, dangling the necklace out with small, weak cries of, "Dragon! Here dragons! Got something for you! Over here! (I'm gonna make hiccup eat that chest!" When they snatched him up and were distracted, the rest of the Dragon Riders raced inside the nest to grab the chest and get out. They heard his shouts and a cry of, "HEY! NOT THERE━!" as they surrounded him. Valkyrie winced, not wanting to think what one of their teeth landed around ...
Hiccup then climbed the mound of gold, silver and other shiny metallic objects, reaching for the chest at the very tip top. The others━as discussed━stood guard, ready to shout as the dragons returned with Snotlout and his necklace, and they did. Hiccup grabbed the chest (and a stray, screaming Snotlout) just in time before they all shot out of the nest.
Only thing is, the dragons kept coming after them. Which, Valkyrie would admit, was not part of the plan.
They snatched for the gold around Snotlout's neck, but he shouted out a, "NO!" holding the medalians closer to his chest.
"SNOTLOUT! WOULD YOU LEAVE THE NECKLACE?!"
"NO! IT'S MY SHINY!"
"SNOTLOUT! THROW THE DAMN NECKLACE OR I'LL THROW YOU TO THE DRAGONS MYSELF!" screamed Astrid.
(He did as he was told. Dramatically, for sure, but let the necklace go).
The dragons didn't stop their pursuit.
Hookfang picked up Snotlout and Astrid cried, "Anything you have that's metal, throw it at them!"
She threw her axe. The Twins chucked their knives and their helmets. Hiccup threw his dagger. Snotlout chucked his helmet and mace. Fishlegs threw an abudance of small weapons. Astrid even had to take off her shoulder pads, the skull-tied metal flying back to the cloud of fog behind them.
In the end, Valkyrie was the only one who hadn't thrown anything in.
"Val!" shouted Astrid. "What are you doing?!"
She held her mallet in her hands, eyes wide. She stared at the intricate wire Hiccup had made for her; the best present she's ever recieved. She didn't want to throw it. She couldn't bear to━
But she had no choice.
A part of her broke to see her mallet and the wire be taken up by a group of Smothering Smokebreaths; like they had taken something of her with them back to their nest.
But they were alive. Hiccup had his mother's gift. And she supposed that was what mattered the most.
✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑
━━Valkyrie was in a bit of a dull mood the rest of the day over losing her mallet, especially since Hiccup had spent all that time making her that wire. Sitting with a sick Nadder in the sanctuary, she sighed and scratched the adolescent sadly. She was so caught up she didn't realise her mother had entered, holding something in a soft piece of fabric.
"Val, my dear," at her voice, Val glanced up.
She smiled a little at her mother, their hair a matching aurburn. She was quite like her mother in looks. (Which many stated her very lucky for). "Hey, mum," she greeted. She gave the Nadder another scratch. "Just feeding the dragons, making sure they're all right..."
Her mother sighed, "I know you're sad about your mallet. Hiccup's present was lovely, wasn't it?" Val nodded, swallowing hard. In fact, the worst thing she felt was guilt. Hiccup had worked hard and she lost the present. What girlfriend did that make her? "Well ..." she sat down next to her, and Val frowned at the object she held hidden in the cloth. "I thought your birthday gift would make you feel a little better."
Valkyrie's eyes widened. Her mother smiled.
"This is very special," she stated. "It's been in my family for a very long time. My grandmother was gifted it when she was a young maiden, and so was my mother, as was I. And now, I gift it to you, Valkyrie, my beautiful daughter."
Valkyrie tenderly took the object. Her heart jolted as she already started to guess what it was. Opening the cloth, her breath hitched to see a beautiful kransen. It was simple really, but intricate with threaded designs of flowers and leaves. But it was still lovely. It made her smile. "Thank you," she breathed to her mother, who cupped her cheek and brought her in for a kiss on the forehead.
*
a/n: I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. But it's hard enough to constantly concentrate with adhd, but when you add that you're sick and tired and feel lightheaded, it's even harder. So I tried my best to get this chapter out. (And yes, I know technically Valkyrie should have had a kransen earlier since it's a show of her maiden hood and it's only worn at special occasions but is httyd ever historically accurate lol?)
(Oh, and don't worry, hiccup is definitely taking his time to make Val a new mallet and wire for her flowers cos he's just the most precious thing in the entire world).
I have a very rushed drawing of Val and zephyr cos we were due for another one of those ahaha: