A/N I'm skipping out some parts of the script, purely because I don't think I'm going to be able to write all of them out, it's taking ages as it is! Sorry, no Merida in this chapter, but it is one of the most crucial elements of the story, so it will take up an entire chapter. Also, I'm skipping the flashback because it isn't relevant to the storyline.
Hiccup was gliding above the clouds. He couldn't concentrate on anything. Where he was going, he didn't know. Maybe if he'd stayed down there, with Merida and the trappers, he might have had a chance. But that chance was gone now. He yelled out, throwing his fists in the air and falling onto Toothless' back, allowing the wind to flow through his hair. The night fury made a noise, as though questioning his odd behaviour.
"Don't worry bud," he murmured, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." He rubbed Toothless' side affectionately.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the clouds start to break away. A figure was there, floating, almost. Hiccup, not seeing who it was, sat up angrily, thinking it was his father.
"Aw, come ON Dad! Really?"
His breath froze in his throat as he looked at the figure. Only it's upper body was visible, yet it seemed to be floating on air. It wore a mask with two black circles to show eyes, but he could see nothing human in them. The figure floated away, just as quickly and gracefully as it had appeared.
"Okay," Hiccup whispered to Toothless, "No sudden moves."
The moment he said this, a huge, four-winged dragon burst from the clouds, bearing the figure he saw before. They rose, way above the Night Fury and Hiccup felt dwarfed in their wake.
"Hold on, hold on..."
Suddenly, the huge dragon swooped forwards, grabbing Hiccup by the shoulders. Toothless, being unable to fly without a rider, fell through the clouds.
"TOOTHLESS!"
The Night Fury fell into the icy depths of the ocean below, struggling to stay afloat. Hiccup's helmet floated to the surface of the water, gently bobbing up and down.
"Hey?" Hiccup tried to shout to the masked figure, flying just within his sight. "You left my dragon back there! He can't fly on his own - he'll drown!"
The figure did not turn, only stared straight ahead, flying on wards to only Thor knows where. He was dropped in a circle of what looked like incredibly rare and injured dragons, all of whom started to hiss and snarl at him.
"We have to head back for my dragon!" He shouted, only to be met with no reply. The dragons started to advance, and as they did so, Hiccup opened his fire sword and drew a ring of gas around him. He ignited it, causing the dragons to stare in awe. Hiccup advanced towards one of them, his hand outstretched, as he did to Toothless all those years ago.
The masked figure stepped forward, making Hiccup recoil back. The figure only advanced.
"Who are you?" Hiccup asked. "The dragon thief? Drago Bludvist?" Exasperated, Hiccup cried, "D'you even understand what I'm saying?"
The figure shook her stick and as it hit the ground, another dragon flew overhead, holding a very familiar looking dragon in it's claws. Toothless was dropped and Hiccup ran to him, holding his face as he whispered to him. The warrior stood and watched the whole time before approaching Toothless, putting him into a trance. Hiccup gasped. He'd never seen someone use these skills on a dragon before. It was almost unreal.
The warrior drew even closer, touching Hiccup's face. Feeling vulnerable, he tried to move away, tilting his head back as he did so. The masked figure drew away with a gasp. Finally, it spoke.
"Hiccup?"
The warrior removed the intimidating mask, revealing a woman with vast green eyes which looked oddly familiar. She had brown hair which was streaked with grey and an elegant neck and small nose.
"Could it be? After all these years? How is this possible?" She stood, looking at him in wonder. Her voice brought something back to Hiccup. He didn't know quite what, but something was returning.
"Should I -" he said, panicking slightly, "Should I know you?" The woman's face fell at his words.
"No," she mumbled, her eyes rising to meet his as she spoke clearly and definitely. "But a mother never forgets."
Hiccup's breath caught in his throat. He felt like he was going to hyperventilate. Mother? But she, she died! She was killed when I was a baby! All I knew of her was her name! How in Thor's name..?
"Come," she whispered, beckoning for him to follow. It almost looked as though she was scampering, over the rocks, like a cat.
"Hold on, wait just a minute -!" Hiccup shouted as he tried to follow and his brain registered what was going on.
"This way," she continued, moving further through what appeared to be a labyrinth of tunnels.
"Come back here!"
"Come."
At this, Hiccup snapped.
"You can't just say something like that and run off! You're my mother? I mean, what the ... d'you grasp how insane that sounds?"
"Come, quickly!"
"I have questions!" Hiccup shouted as he struggled to get over the boulders blocking his way that his 'mother' seemed to have no trouble with. "Where have you been all this time? What've you been doing?" He required some assistance from Toothless at this point to climb up a particularly large rock. "They said you were dead! Everyone thinks you were eaten by -"
His breath stopped. His mother had lead him into what seemed to be a wonderland. It was huge, teeming with dragons large and small, many more species than he'd ever dream to find on Berk and their neighboring islands. He almost wished he had the Book of Dragons with him right now, to note them all down. He looked up and saw his mother hanging higher up with the four-winged dragon he'd seen before.
"This is where you've been," he gestured around him in utter disbelief, "for twenty years?" She nodded, smiling anxiously. "You've been rescuing them," he murmured in astonishment. Valka nodded. "Unbelievable."
"You're not upset?" she asked, hopeful.
"What?" Hiccup was caught off guard. "No, I don't know. It's a bit much to get my head around to be frank. It's not every day you find out your mother is a crazy-feral-vigilante dragon lady," he said, looking up at her, trying to get her to understand the meanings behind his constant rambling. It happened sometimes.
"Well," she laughed, sliding down to the floor with the aid of her dragon and her rattling staff she carried with her, "At least I'm not boring, right?"
"Well," Hiccup acknowledged as one of the dragons hit him gently on his shoulder with their head, nuzzling him, "I suppose there is that, one, specific thing."
"Do you, d'you like it?" she whispered, approaching him cautiously.
"I -" Hiccup looked around the nest in complete wonder, "I don't have the words..." Valka approached Toothless cautiously, her hands outstretched.
"C - Can I?" She asked; Hiccup smiled and nodded. "Oh," she cooed, stroking the Night Fury's face, "he's beautiful! Incredible! He might very well be the last of his kind. And look!" Valka said excitedly, showing her son, "he's your age! No wonder you get on so well!" She opened the dragon's mouth and started in wonder. "Retractable teeth! How did you manage -"
"I found him in the woods," Hiccup explained. "He was shot down and wounded..." Valka stood up, a pained expression gracing her gentle face.
"This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist’s iron traps," she said, indicating one of the dragons close to her. "This Raincutter had her wing sliced by razor netting. And this poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare - then left to die alone and scared." She approached Toothless' fake tail fin emblazoned with a Viking skull. "And what of this? Did Drago or his trappers do this too?"
"Heh," Hiccup laughed nervously, "well, the crazy thing is, that I'm actually the one who, shot him down... Hey, it's okay though! Right bud? You couldn't save all of me, could you? You just had to make it even! So," He lifted his prosthetic, grinning. "Peg leg!"
In spite of herself, Valka laughed gently. "What did your father think of your Night Fury friend?" Sitting on top of his dragon, Hiccup replied.
"Er, he didn't take it all that well. But then, he changed! Everyone did. Pretty soon back home everyone had dragons of their own."
"Ha!" Valka smiled. "If only it were possible."
"No really, I -"
"Believe me," Valka cut him off. "I tried as well, but people are not capable of change Hiccup. Some of us were just, born different," she said as they watched some of the dragons take off from their ledge, flying gracefully around the sanctuary.