━━ chapter one
there is no flight club
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━━Berk, in one word, could always be considered sturdy. Hiccup has said this before. But perhaps what made it sturdy more than its buildings and resources, was the people who resided on it. Vikings were tough; they were strong, and could survive the harsh winters. They did this by their community, their care factor for each other. Now that the dragons were at peace with them, that community has gotten stronger. They were all there for each other, and they were more sturdy than ever; in all the seven generations they've stood on this land.
But in every story, what the characters find sturdy is always tested. Hiccup didn't think he'd be tested in the way he was in his life, but he is sure that without it, he wouldn't be the man he was today. Hero's are made the hard way, and for sure did Hiccup reach the end result the hard way.
And every hero has a weakness. For Fishlegs Ingerman, that just happened to be the dark.
"Tell us what you know about the dragons, boy! Tell us how you train them!"
Fishlegs whimpered in his chair, gazing at the dimly lit torches around him. He shivered in his restraints, almost a sobbing mess. "I won't talk!" he cried, closing his eyes tight and shaking his head. "You can't make me!"
"Oh, I think we can!"
Woosh!
The lights were snuffed out in a single breath, and Fishlegs was basked in complete darkness. He whimpered again. He was absolutely terrified of the dark. He glanced around, searching for the people in the shadows. There was absolute silence. He couldn't hear anything except his own rapid breaths and the quivering of his knees.
"H━Hello?" he called out, fearing the worst. "Is anybody there? Oh! Oh━" he started to freak out, hyperventilating as he struggled in his bonds. "Oh, you can't━you can't leave me in here!" He gave up. With a sob, he blubbered out everything he knew. "Okay! Okay! Hiccup is the leader of the Berk Dragon Academy! He rides a Night Fury named Toothless! Then, there's Valkyrie! She's a bit mean, but also really nice. It depends on the day you get her. Or the time of the day ... or the second. She━she has a Windstriker! Can shoot boiling hot breath instead of flames and loves chicken eggs! She also really, really loves flowers! You have Astrid, she's really aggressive━a bit overly aggressive, actually. We all think she has an anger problem. Her dragon is a Deadly Nadder, shoots spines, loves chicken, but not the eggs! Snotlout rides a Monstrous Nightmare, we're not actually sure who's more monstrous, him or the dragon! Then, there's the Twins. They share a Zippleback━actually, they fight over it..."
At the screech of a dragon's breath, Fishlegs hunched up as best as he could. The light returned around him, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with a set of very annoyed riders and their dragons.
"What?!" he let out miserably. "You know I hate the dark!"
Meatlug huffed, hanging her head like she wasn't sure to be supportive of him, or disappointed.
"Great," scoffed Tuffnut, rolling his eyes. "Fishlegs? More like Guppylegs, jeez..."
"Fishlegs, you can't cave in!" said Hiccup, frustrated. "Alvin will do a lot more than turn out the light to get you to talk. He had me locked in a dungeon ready to be executed! Toothless was chained and muzzled for days. You need to stick with what we discussed: your name, where you live, and nothing else."
"All right!" exclaimed Fishlegs. "All right! I'll work on it!"
"Also, also, mean?" Valkyrie held a hand up, a little offended. She gestured between them. "I'm not mean!"
"And I'm not aggressive!" added Astrid.
Val glanced at her and arched a brow, "Well..."
Before she could punch her, Snotlout stepped in. "It's okay, Astrid. I like mean girls."
The Hofferson turned her punch to him, getting him in the chest. He squawked and jumped back, and she gagged, "Ugh!"
The group of them exited the Great Hall, and Fishlegs was left behind. He struggled in his bonds. "Uh ... guys?" he called after them, feeling the dark return. "Guys!"
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━━"And you agreed? Just like that?"
Hiccup frowned at Astrid. Throwing his arms out, annoyed, he said, "What other choice did I have?!" Valkyrie sighed, leaning back against Zephyr. Stoick the Vast had decided on a ban on flying dragons; for their safety. He planned on protecting Berk the traditional way━with catapults and axes against Alvin the Treacherous who now had dragons on his side. Their best way of protection was with the dragons.
She glanced down at her boots, fiddling with the fresh rabbit fur she had added. It kept her feet much more warmer than the ones she had before. Her mother had been teaching her to sew more these days; not just for the dragons, and herself, but for a future family, one day. (It had made her scoff, despite actually liking it. It reminded her of making flower crowns).
"He's the chief," went on Hiccup, exasperated, "who also happens to be my incredibly overprotective father."
"Well, we have to change his mind," stated Valkyrie. The others nodded, agreeing. "How else are we supposed to stop Alvin if he attacks?"
"Stoick the Vast?" Fishlegs arched a brow at her. "Um, good luck with that."
"Hey," Valkyrie pointed a finger at him accusingly. "You're still treading on thin ice from your interrogation, Legs."
"I said I was sorry...!" he cried, throwing his head back and wallowing beside Meatlug.
"So, what am I supposed to do with Hookfang if he can't fly?!" Snotlout gestured to his dragon who was already lighting his tail up and screeching in his frustration. Astrid rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You know what happens when his inner warrior is caged up?" smack! Hookfang brought his tail across and Snotlout went flying. He landed in the water troughs. "That is what happens!"
"Whoa!" grinned Tuff. He nudged his sister who was busy laughing. "We should have caged his inner warrior a long time ago! That was awesome!"
"Look," Hiccup held his hands up placatingly, "I know this is going to be hard, but I'll keep working on my dad, and hopefully he'll change his mind."
"And what if he doesn't?"
Astrid's question made him sigh. Hanging his head, he shrugged and she scoffed, not particularly happy with this answer. The riders dispersed after that, heading home on foot rather than in the air. Valkyrie stayed back to make the walk with Hiccup━she always forgets how long the trek was from the arena to her house when she has to take it on foot.
She picked up some flowers on the way. Since being captured by Alvin, Hiccup was a little different. He was still━well, him, obviously. But he was more determined now; with a quicker fuse to snap. He was stressing, and he always looked tired, and Valkyrie was sure he spent his nights just glaring at the coastline, searching for the Outcast boats that will inevitiably come to their shore.
It made her worried. But she wasn't too sure how to help. He didn't talk about it that much, and when she tried to stay up with him, he refused and had her go to bed.
It's been two months now, and he just seemed to be getting worse instead of better.
Valkyrie tired to break the silence between them with a gentle, "Wow, I forgot how long of a walk it is from the Academy." She sighed, glancing back at Zephyr. "Sure would be nice to fly home."
Hiccup didn't appreciate it. "Right, thank you," he said sarcastcially, "for that observation, because I clearly don't have enough on my plate, right now."
She scoffed. "Sorry."
They finally reached the forge in silence. Valkyrie fixed a flower in her hair, slipping the stem under her kransen. Hiccup watched her, and she got a small smile out of him, which made her feel better despite his short snap before.
He looked like he might say something when Toothless started to bounce. He circled Hiccup expectantly, waving his tail back and forth and cooing up at the setting sun. Valkyrie arched a brow, "What's up with him?"
"Eh, it's sunset," sighed Hiccup, glancing at the pink tones in the sky. "We always take a lap around the island when it gets dark. He loves it."
Val pursed her lips, watching the Night Fury sit with his saddle facing his rider. He twitched in anticipation. "Well ..." she shrugged. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow ..." she was going to say for a morning flight, but backtracked. "Uh━when I see you."
"Okay," he leaned in and pecked her on the lips as she went to leave. She smiled, a little tired before heading off. Hiccup sighed, staring at his dragon with a grim look upon his face before deciding to turn to the forge.
Valkyrie sighed sadly to Zephyr as they made it home. He wanted to stretch his wings, but she pursed her lips and had no choice but to shake her head.
"Come on, boy," she murmured, pointing to the stables outside of their home. "I've got some extra fish for you to make up for no flight, yeah?"
She stayed out with Zephyr, making flower crows as she wounded herself down for the night. He snacked away at the fish she had for him, and he squawked in delight when he found some chicken eggs amongst it. She grinned at him as he met her gaze, very happy.
"There you are, bud," she said fondly. "A special treat just for you tonight."
She let out a groan when he licked her across the face, disgusted. "Oh, gross, Zeph━" but despite it, she was smiling.
That was when he caught eye of something. Squawking and frowning up at the sky, Valkyrie sat up, on edge. "What is it, boy?" she stood up, setting her flowers aside. "What's wrong?"
She heard the familiar roar across the skies. Looking up, she saw the flash of a black dragon pass through the clouds. Valkyrie's shoulders fell, her voice going blank. "For the love of ... Hiccup."
With that said, she got onto Zephyr's neck, not even wasting time to hinge up her saddle, and the two of them shot up after the chief's on and his Night Fury. Riding bare back, Valkyrie leaned Zephyr to the left and he flapped his wings, gaining extra speed. Together, they started to catch up to Hiccup as he soared across the water.
Diving after him, Valkyrie gritted her teeth, leaning in close to Zephyr's scales. "What are you up to...?" she murmured to herself.
They weaved in and out around the sea stacks. Hiccup was trying to cut her off, using her dragon's wingspan against him. She narrowed her eyes, seeing him glance over his shoulder and disappear to the right. Valkyrie scoffed, knowing exactly what he was doing and shot them back up into the clouds.
Searching in through the clouds, they kept an eye on him from above as he slowed down. Hiccup landed Toothless in the shadow of a seastack, out of sight from Berk, but not out of sight from Valkyrie.
She and Zephyr hovered carefully behind them, slowly coming out from around the sea stack. She crossed her arms, scowling at her boyfriend.
"Nice flying, bud," he told his dragon, not even realising. "I think we lost her."
She rolled her eyes, "Think again, Hiccup."
She knew he was wincing as they landed. Glancing back at her, he gave her his best sheepish smile.
"Val!" he exclaimed. "We were just talking about you! Did━did I say how pretty━?"
"Ugh," she shook her head, slipping off Zephyr and onto the grass of the sea stack. "Save it. You'll sound too much like Snotlout."
He gave up. Hiccup went back to his sheepish smile. She approached him, arching a brow. "So, does this mean your father changed his mind?" she asked hopefully. He winced. "Or is it the case where I've asked you whether your father changed his mind, and he hasn't, and you're going behind his back again?"
Hiccup gapped, scoffing. "Actually no," he let out. "This is the part where I tell you my dad is wrong."
She crossed her arms, "So ... he knows?"
"I didn't say that."
"So you are going behind his back."
Hiccup sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Val, you were there on Outcast Island as well. You know what Alvin is capable of!"
"I didn't say I didn't," Valkyrie told him. She walked right up until she could lean against Toothless saddle, looking up at Hiccup. "What I'm saying is that are you seriously going to spend your time, flying around at night instead of sleeping, and tell no one?"
Hiccup went to retort, but faltered. "Uh ... yeah, that was pretty much my plan."
She sighed, "Hiccup. You need to sleep."
"I'm fine!"
"No, you're not!"
She stepped back, starting to get annoyed. He sent her a scowl and she returned with one of her own, propping her hands on her hips. The dragons shared a glance at their glaring contest. Toothless purred at Zephyr; whatever he said, the Windstriker agreed.
Their stare off lasted a few more seconds before Valkyrie gave up with a, "Oh, fine!" she threw her hands up. "Whatever." The silence between them was even worse than the stare off. Valkyrie pursed her lips and twiddled her thumbs. Hiccup cleared his throat, unable to meet her gaze.
In the end, Hiccup sighed. "Look, Val. I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble. I was ... I was trying to do the right thing ..." he frowned, looking out to the ocean. "Sort of."
That's not what I'm annoyed about, Valkyrie thought, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she took a deep breath and just let it go. Forcing a smile on her face, she said, "We both know what the right thing to do is, Hiccup. But if we're gonna ride dragons behind your father's back," she walked back over to him and took his hand, "we all need to ride dragons behind your father's back."
Hiccup smiled at her, and a plan began to form.
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━━The next morning, they told their team about the idea. A Secret Dragon Flight Club! Astrid was in immediately, and decided to tag along for the rest of the day, telling the others. Valkyrie had to explain it to Snotlout, who took a second to understand. But when he did, he asked Hookfang and the Monstrous Nightmare showed his excitement by blasting his rider right off his feet and into a nearby wagon. The Twins took a little longer to persuade. Mainly because they had absolutely no idea what Hiccup was talking about.
("This is very, very important," he had stressed at the Twins who gazed at him, hanging upside down in their home. "The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club."
"Okay, so," Tuffnut had crossed his arms, frowning, "wait a minute." He jumped down. "Is there are Dragon Flight Club?"
"Yes," Valkyrie had sighed, exasperated. Ruff jumped down beside her brother, even more confused. "There is a Dragon Flight Club."
"But ..." Ruff arched a brow, "... you just said there is no Dragon Flight Club."
"No," Hiccup said. "The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club. Get it?"
"Absolutely!" Tuff grinned, then shook his head, dead-panned. "Not."
"Yeah," Ruff shook her head, holding her fingers to her temples. "I think I need to lie down."
"Me too. Why don't you guys come back when you've made up your mind.").
But they must have understood in the end, for that evening, the Twins were there with the rest of the Dragon Riders with their dragons in the Academy. All of them were eager to get started, for the thrill of going behind the chief's back always got them on board. As the sun set behind the sea, Hiccup paced in front of his team as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their dragons watching him go back and forth behind them.
"Okay, Dragon Flight Club members!" he began. "You know why you're here."
"Ha!" scoffed Tuffnut, nudging his sister. "Speak for yourself."
Hiccup let them be. "We need to be ready for Riders on any type of dragon. From a Typhoomerang to a Scauldron to a Changewing, even a Whispering Death. So, I put together some training excercises━"
Snotlout cut him off, mocking his voice with a very nazal version of his own before exclaiming, "━Can we go already?!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes, but turned to the others. "Mount up, gang! First up: Changewing Island!"
(Fishlegs whimpered).
And so, in the cover of night, the members of the new Dragon Flight Club took to the sky, heading straight for Changewing Island. It took a two hours to reach the tree-littered island. It wasn't mating season, so the eggs weren't glowing in the branches, but that didn't seem to differ Tuff from his pleasant sigh and announcement of:
"Ah..." he leaned back in his saddle, propping his arms behind his head. "Oh, yeah! Stones of Good Fortune. A lifetime of good luck. I can't wait to get my hands on one of those!"
Astrid and Valkyrie frowned at him. They swooped down on either side of Barf and Belch, staring, incredulous at the younger Twin.
"Tuffnut," scolded Val. "We've been over this. They're not Stones of Good Fortune, they're Changewing eggs!"
"And can we leave them alone, please?" cried Fishlegs in passing. "I really don't want to revisit the Changewing Debacle."
"Ha!" Snotlout laughed. "Speaking of eggs, remember when Valkyrie exploded the entire━"
"Nope," Valkyrie swooped down towards the island, "we're not going over that again."
Soaring over the trees, the team of Dragon Riders quietly searched for the Changewings. They were skittish creatures, but also very curious. If they heard them, they might follow them, but under the cover of their camoflauge, and they didn't want that to happen. Hearing the squeals of boars, they shot towards the sound. Careful, they hid in the trees and watched the dragons hunt; circling the boars until they were surrounded.
"Changewings hunt like wolves," Hiccup whispered, pointing the creatures out. "One dragon lures a single boar from the herd ..." Valkyrie watched the single boar be separated from the rest, screeching and running.
"Then the other Changewings surround it," went on Fishlegs.
Tuffnut startled in his saddle, sitting up straight as he narrowed his eyes. "Hey," he stated loudly. Astrid tugged at her hair, telling him to shush! He didn't listen. He just turned to his sister, pointing to the animal below, "don't we know that boar?"
Ruff peered at the boar, and she soon gasped. "Yeah, we do! That's Bjorn Boar!"
Astrid growled, "Are they serious?"
Tuffnut cupped his mouth and shouted down to the Changewings, "Hey! You leave Bjorn alone!"
Hiccup sighed, frustrated. "Clearly, they are."
The Changewings heard Tuffnut, and looked up. Seeing the riders, they all growled. Tuff reared back, "You're on your own, Bjorn!"
The Riders scattered as the dragons shot burning green acid up at them. Valkyrie gasped, not even telling Zephyr to take to the sky. They shot through the break in the trees, darting as quick as he could from a falling trunk as the acid hit it. Valkyrie clung on as they spun out of the way. They had gotten better at short evasive manouvers in the trees.
"Keep your distance!" she heard Hiccup shout into the night. "Their acid is only effective at close range!"
"Not very comforting when you're on the slowest dragon!" snapped Fishlegs in reply. Meatlug growled. He hugged her as they sped up. "I'm sorry, girl, it had to be said."
Valkyrie shouted in alarm when one appeared right in front of her. "Zeph━side-bomb!" they dropped down and spun underneath, shooting past.
"There's too many of them!" yelled Snotlout. "And they come out of nowhere!" he and Hookfang ducked down to avoid a shot of acid.
Hiccup gritted his teeth, clicking Toothless's tail to spin in through the acid, avoiding them by inches. He glanced up, and an idea hit him. "Wait a minute━if they don't have anything to camouflage against━"
"━It'll take away their advantage!" realsied Fishlegs.
"Up!" Valkyrie understood and screamed to the rest of the Riders. She pointed to the sky. "Up! Up! Up!"
She led the group into the sky. As soon as Astrid had enough distance between the Changewings and herself, she ordered Stormfly to send a volley of spikes downwards. As the dragons ducked, Toothless took her place and shot a few plasma blasts that made them screech and scurry back to the island.
As the group started to return home in the dark, Fishlegs whimpered out a, "What did I say about the Changewing Debacle?! Was no one listening?!"
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━━The next night, the secret Dragon Flight Club society continued to train under the cover of night. No one suspected them as they snuck off into Berk's woods, searching for a particular set of scorch marks on the grass. Leaving their dragons at the edge of the opening, they trudged on; over fallen trees and boulders until Valkyrie spotted a set of markings in front.
They all hurried to the tornado-like scorch marks on the grass; from a dragon that had spun around in flight like a typhoon. Crouching on their hands and knees, they felt the ash with their fingers. Valkyrie's nose scrunched up at the smell.
"Much like the rings inside a tree," said Fishlegs, "the scorch marks can tell you the age, and thus the size, of the Typhoomerang in question."
"Do you think Torch is an adult by now?" Valkyrie wondered, running her finger along the marks.
"Oh, I remember Torch!" exclaimed Ruff, grinning. "He was awesome."
"His mother wasn't so awesome," grumbled Snotlout. "Remember how she tried to burn us alive?"
"I wish I could burn you alive," Astrid said.
Snotlout stared at her, alarmed. "Okay, that was a little dark, even for you, Astrid."
Hiccup ignored their banter, feeling the marks beside Valkyrie. His hair hung over his eyes. It made her really want to just braid it all. "Still warm," he murmured.
"That means it wasn't here to long ago," added Valkyrie, sitting back on her knees.
"And," said Fishlegs, "if you look at the mark, you can tell which way come from and which way it was headed."
Snotlout was distracted; he wasn't even looking at the scorch marks anymore. "I know which way it was headed without all that stupid stuff."
"Oh, really?" Astrid narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed. "Where is it going, then?"
"It's not," said Snotlout, his voice suddenly becoming very weak and very high. He pointed a shaky finger out to the tops of the trees. "It's coming. At us. Right now!"
The Riders all stood up. Snotlout was right. Diving down and gaining speed, was a large, adult Typhoomerang. She opened her mouth, and a set of flames barely missed them overhead.
"Anything else we need to learn?" shoued Hiccup.
"Nope!" the Dragon Riders responded.
"We're good!"
They bolted for their dragons and took off. As soon as they were a safe distance, did they settle in their speed, coming to a gentle soar back to the arena. Valkyrie sighed, wanting to get home and have a rest. She had a full day of helping out in the dragon sanctuary tomorrow, especially when Mak and Erik are going through a phase of: you can't make us work to help the dragons, we'll work to help the dragons when we want to work to help the dragons.
Valkyrie slumped back on her saddle, gazing up at Astrid who flew over her. The Hofferson quirked a curious brow down at her, amused.
"I've been slumped with worth at the sancturary," she explained, waving her arms around. "Not only that, but mum has got me focusing more on sewing and housing duties━'soemthing every female Viking warrior should know as well as how to swing a weapon!'" she mocked her mothers voice in the best way she could.
Astrid snickered. "You've been spending too much time around Hiccup. You're starting to sound like him."
Valkyrie gasped, offended. She sat back up, "Am not," she argued back weakly.
"Are too."
"Not."
Behind the girls, Tuffnut frowned down through the clouds. Seeing an familiar silhouette, he let out an unsure, "Uh, hey, Hiccup?"
Hiccup glanced back, "Yes, Tuffnut?"
"When did your dad join Dragon Flight Club?"
The chief's son faltered. "Uh ... he didn't."
"Oh, weird," said Tuff. He pointed below. "'Cause he's right there."
Hiccup followed his gaze and blanched. His father was indeed there, flying beneath them on Thornado, his Thunderdrum. "What the━? Oh, for the love of Thor━Quick! Evasive cloud maneuvers!"
The Riders all shot above the clouds to hide from their chief. Valkyrie couldn't see where she was going, but she trusted Zephyr to lead. She could hear the others beside her or above. Hiccup was somewhere to her left, and he spoke as loudly as he dared:
"We have to stay up here in the clouds until we're right over town."
In the small break of the clouds, Valkyrie saw the Twins flying upside down, their heads peaking out underneath the blanket of fog. "Uh ..." she frowned at them. "What are two doing?!"
"We can't see in the clouds!" replied Tuffnut, as if the answer was obvious.
"Yeah," agreed Ruff. "It's too cloudy!"
Valkyrie gritted her teeth. "Guys! If your heads are out of the clouds, Stoick can see you!"
The Twins realised too late. Or rather, as Stoick was coming right for them.
"Uh ..." let out Tuffnut, watching the chief approach, "not going to disagree with you, there."
Hiccup took a deep breath to calm himself. "Okay, all right, guys, split up! Head home and━please━keep the dragons out of sight!"
They all took off in different directions. Stoick couldn't come after them all at once, especially in the cover of the clouds. Valkyrie leaned in close to Zephyr, allowing him to maneuver as fast as possible. Usually, at this speed, she would be screaming in delight, performing tricks and spins, but tonight, she just shot straight through the sea stack maze she knew off by heart towards her home.
She and Zeph landed behind the Sanctuary. Together, they ducked in the back door towards her room, and she signalled him to head to bed. He curled up in his connected stable, and Valkyrie could finally head to sleep, hoping that everyone else had made it home without any trouble.
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━━Fishlegs didn't make it.
He had been caught right outside of his home, and was pursued for questioning. The next night in the arena, he was proud to tell his fellow Flight Club members that he━Fishlegs Ingerman━did not crack under pressure.
"He put the screws to me!" he told his friends his tale. They all listened, standing there without their drgaons, for they didn't want to risk too much toight with Stoick already on their ankles. "I━I thought I was gonna crack! Especially when the lights went out. But I held firm. Because I know, the first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club."
From the barrier they had taken out to lean on, Tuffnut scoffed with his sister, "Oh, great," he grumbled at Fishlegs, "not that again!"
Hiccup ignored them and smiled at his friend. "You did geat, Fishlegs," he told the pudgy Viking. Valkyrie and Astrid nodded, agreeing. He giggled, proud of himself.
"So," spoke up Ruffnut, crossing her arms casually beside her brother. "What are we doing tonight?"
"Nothing," said Hiccup.
The Twins frowned.
"That doesn't sound fun at all!" whined Tuff.
"Look," sighed the chief's son, "my dad is onto us. It's important that we lay low until this blows over. We need to be invisible━"
"HEY! GUYS!"
They all jumped.
The remaining Dragon Rider who was yet to arrive swooped in down the ramp to the arena. Hookfang roared in greeting with Snotlout on hs back. Hiccup's shoulders slumped, deadpanned.
"Snotlout!" he cried, angry. "What did I tell you?! No dragons!"
"Yeah!" echoed Tuff. "Even I knew that."
Val sent him a look.
"What's so important, anywau?" Hiccup asked Snotlout; the dark haired Viking rolled his eyes.
Casual, he expressed the news. He picked at his nails. "Let's just say I may have saved this entire island." He leaned back, gesturing a sweeping hand to the distance. "Alvin and the Outcasts are attacking as we speak."
Valkyrie arched a brow, "That's not something to be casual about, Snotlout!" she exclaimed.
The Riders grew anxious. This was exactly what they had feared. Without their dragons, unprotected at night, and the enemy quickly advancing on their shores. Hiccup took a deep breath, eyes darting as he tried to figure out what to do. How many ships? How many dragons?
Hiccup told them all to go get their dragons and meet him and Toothless outside of his house. Valkyrie nodded and they all took off at a run. Snotlout picked up Hiccup, and together, they dived to the chieftan home at the top of the sloped hill next to the Great Hall.
As she ran, Valkyrie whistled shrilly into the night. Zephyr knew that call, even in his sleep. He met her halfway. As she ran up the decking to her home, she heard him cry out. Holding up her arms, he was there to snatch her up and fling her into the air. Valkyrie spun her body accordingly and landed in the saddle.
"Come on, boy!" she cried. "We have an some Outcasts to destroy!"
Shooting into the air, they met up with the rest of the Dragon Riders and their chief. Together, they flew into battle. Using the clouds for cover in their approach, Valkyrie could soon count five Outcast ships down below. Three of them had catapults. Two had archers.
"I'm going to draw their first round of fire!" ordered the chief to the riders. Valkyrie fixed her final flower in her mallet for luck in this battle. "When they're reloading, you attack. But not before!"
Hiccup nodded, taking in the plan. Satsified, Stoick guided Thornado down and out of their cloud cover. The Thunderdrum let out a ear-shattering cry that announced their presence.
Still up in the clouds, Hiccup gestured to his team. "Okay! Once my father does what he says, Ruff, Tuff, I want you guys to give us a fire line at the ocean, cover the archers aim in steam. Fishlegs, have Meatlug swallow the boulders she can and spew them back out onto the catapults. Snotlout, cover him as does so! Val, Astrid, I want a volley of fire spikes heading straight for the archer boats from above. I'll have Toothless fire at the centre ship with my dad; that's got to be Alvin's."
As he said this, Stoick and Thornado dodged the multiple boulders sent, and the arrows fired. With a blast of pure sound, most were knocked astray, landing back towards the boats where some Outcasts jumped overboard to avoid being hit.
Once the Outcasts were out of their first rounds, Stoick bellowed, "NOW, HICCUP!"
The Riders split up in the teams they were assigned. First up, the Twins swooped down and set spark to the ocean beside the first archers boat. It rocked the longship, and some ran for cover in the sea as a wall of steam stretched over. Astrid and Val were flying above as they moved onto the next.
"Stormfly, spine-shot!" Astrid ordered, and her dragon did as she said. Exposing her belly, she flung her tail in between her legs and the row of spikes flung past Valkyrie. Zephyr let go a boiling hot breath, and they were lit alight, flying straight into the nooks and crannies of the deck. The boat started to catch fire.
Diving down, Stormfly shot at the mast, melting right through the wood and sending it crashing down, speeding the fire's spread. The rest of the Vikings on the ship dove for safety in the ocean.
Fishlegs and Snotlout were going well, too. One of the ships were already sinking from a column of fire from Hookfang against the sides, burning straight through the wood. The catapults were being destroyed by Meatlug's lava blasts; melting even the iron hinges of its connections.
Everything was going well.
Until the Changewings were unleashed.
At first, Valkyrie didn't see them. Then, out of nowhere, they appeared into sight from Alvin's boat, coming straight for them.
"Uh?!" she called out to Hiccup. "Angry Changewings!"
She and Zephyr dived out of the way of the set of acid flying to them. Spinning back around, her gasp got caught in the back of her throat as she saw them pass the Riders and go straight for Berk.
"We can't let them get to Berk!" yelled Astrid in alarm.
"If they get into town, they'll tear Berk apart and we won't even be able to see them!" Fishlegs tilted Meatlug down to the seastacks and a dive. The others followed. Valkyrie snapped her fingers at Snotlout and pointed to the Chanegwings. He understood. With a short yell, he urged Hookfang to go faster. They swooped in under the Changewings and shot up in front, startling them with a column of fire.
They shrieked and headed back the way they came. The others were there, ready to intercept. Valkyrie and Hiccup worked together. The first shot up in between a pair of Changewings, breaking them apart while the latter had Toothless fire, scrambling them.
"Val!" He called out to her. "You and the others lead them towards Changewing Island━and make sure they don't head back this way! I'm going to help my dad!"
"Be careful!" shouted Valkyrie before leaving him. She spun to the others. "Come on, guys! Time to herd up some Changewings!"
While the team drew the Changewings back to their island, and kept them there, Hiccup and Stoick managed to send the Outcasts retreating back to the horizon. Returning to Berk, Valkyrie didn't know how she felt about this. It didn't make sense for Alvin to travel from his island to Berk, with a bunch of angry Changewings that could possibly cause his ships to sink half-way and then retreat so quickly.
Valkyrie didn't want to ruin the mood of the celebration over their victory, but she had a bad feeling about this. A terrible feeling.
✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑
a/n: first defends of berk chapter is done!!!!! (exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Hiccup and valkryie are acting like a married couple, tensions are already starting ... gah! I just want to write everyone happy!! but i can't because development. For the drawing today I have a small defenders of berk valkyrie design. Not much different, just some changes to help you guys in visualisation. Lol it's so rushed