𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter twenty-nine; yrsa
❝ from morning to eve! ❞

     YRSA LEFT HIM THERE, taking the time to dust the snow from her skirt and leggings. She heard Cloudjumper land and Valka jumped onto the snow with a breath of laughter in her amazement. She pulled Hiccup up onto his feet, picking at the leather fins and contraptions.

     "Oh! Incredible..." she gasped. She helped him brush the snow off.

     Hiccup shrugged, scratching at his stubble, "Well━uh━not bad yourself."

     Valka smiled, brushing the final snow from his shoulders before checking his face. Her hand cupped her son's cheek and she froze. Yrsa wrapped an arm around Toothless's neck as she watched Hiccup lean into her touch, and Valka's smile grew. "All this time," she murmured, "you took after me ..." her smile fell. "And where was I?" Her hand fell to his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup. Can we start over? W ... will you give me another chance?"

     Yrsa leant against Toothless, happy to see Hiccup smile, his answer in the shine of his eyes.

     Valka stepped back, still going, "I━I can teach you all that I've learned these past twenty years. Like ..."

     She walked up to Yrsa and Toothless. Yrsa shuffled along, letting her press her fingers into the nook of Toothless's neck just behind his crown. Her eyes widened to see him shake as something inside crackled━all along his back and his tail, his fins split into two.

     "Wow ..." she breathed.

     Toothless froze up and looked over━even he didn't seem to realise he could do that. Then, his gums lifted, and he glanced at Yrsa and Hiccup with a bright and happy smile. His feet danced in the snow in his excitement.

    "Now he can make those tight turns," chuckled Valka as he swept around Yrsa, closing and opening his fins to show off before rushing past Helrose and then finally Hiccup.

     He pressed a hand on his snout, shocked, "D━did you know about this?"

     Toothless just kept on snapping them open and closed. He bellowed, estatic.

     Valka smiled, "Every dragon has its secrets. And, I'll show them all to you." She rubbed Yrsa's back and made her way back over to Hiccup, excited. "We'll unlock every mystery, find every last species━together, as mother and son." She glanced at Yrsa, eyes twinkling. "As a family."

     Yrsa's heart swelled. Hiccup's entire face seemed to light up at the thought. Behind her, Toothless barrelled into the snow, managing to sift through with his new fins and jump out beside Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter glowered at the snow in his triangular fin above his eyes. As Toothless shook his off, he just tilted his head and covered him in it all over again. Helrose joined them, sniffing at the fins. Toothless did his new favourite trick again and she reared back, startled.

     "This is a gift we share, Hiccup," said Valka, beaming, "it bonds us. This is who you are, son. Who we are."

     Yrsa faltered. The smile she held wiped off her face as she registered what Valka meant. There was a twist in her stomach and she found herself turning away, hundreds of concering thoughts swimming in her head. If Hiccup stayed here with his mother, then he would be completely disregarding his responsibility as future chief of Berk━and Yrsa had a jolt of fear thinking he might just take it. This life? With his mother━finding dragons, saving them, living in a world full of them ... it was something he must dream of. Someplace far away from his future. She remembered their conversation at the cliffside: I'm still looking. 

     This wasn't what she meant in finding who he was. Yrsa pursed her lips━how could she say that to him? She doesn't own him. He was a grown man who could make his own decisions, but was this the right one? Did she have the right to believe what decision was good and bad for Hiccup? Of course not ... but she was still wanted the best for him. She wanted him to see himself as everyone else did; as she did. She wanted him to take on his responsibility with a deep breath and a set of his jaw like he always did━like she knew he could. But this was his chance to run away, to live a life with his mother ... and what did that make Yrsa to suggest against that? If she had one more day with her father; one more chance to spend time with him, she would jump at the opportunity, too.

     But there was also that selfish part of her that wanted to beg: no, please, Hiccup, don't leave me. Because he was her friend, he was her future husband━she loved him, and Yrsa didn't think she could bear saying goodbye to him like that. Not after everything they've been through. Because she also knew that while he might want to stay, Yrsa was determined to stay on Berk. And she couldn't force him to stay with her, like he couldn't force her to stay here.

      Yrsa was torn, watching Valka pull him in for a hug and how he melted into her embrace, shedding a single tear as he clung onto his mother━the one person he needed, but never had for twenty years. 

     Helrose noticed the slump in her figure. With a concerned warble, she walked up to her and nudged her head against her shoulder. Yrsa chuckled sadly at her, scratching the sides of her snout. "You know me too well, girl..." she whispered. 

      "Oh, this is so great!" exclaimed Hiccup as he pulled away, grinning. "Now you, Yrsa and I can go talk to Drago together!"

      Yrsa glanced over, surprised. 

     Valka chuckled in her disbelief, "What?" Cloudjumper decided to walk up to her, towering over the lot of them even as he sat down. "There's no talking to Drago."

     Hiccup faltered. The smile on his face fell slightly as he said, "B━but we have to━"

    "No," his mother shook her head. She turned to Cloudjumper, "We must protect our own."

     The irony in her words━Yrsa could see Hiccup realised that too in the way he scoffed and flung his gaze to the heavens in his exasperation. 

     Before he could say anything else, Valka pulled herself up onto Cloudjumper's back. "Come on, we should be getting back."

      Hiccup sighed as she took off, hovering above in the clouds waiting for them. He clenched his hands. Toothless was still showing off his new skill, and Hiccup arched a brow at him as he stopped in at his side. He snapped his fins open with a gummy grin. 

      He then glanced over at Yrsa, and she saw a pained gleam in his green eyes. "You still think we should go talk to Drago?"

      Yrsa found it hard to meet his gaze. She pursed her lips and scratched Helrose a little more. Hiccup frowned, noticing her stance easily━she couldn't hide from him even if she tried. "Yrs ...?" he stepped up to her. "You okay, hon?"

       She couldn't tell him━how could she? What did that make her? So, Yrsa forced a soft smile on her face and turned to him. "Nothing," she lied. "Just━you know━waiting for the moment to do this━"

       And she hooked her finger under the spring-coil to snap out his back fin just after he spent time rolling it back in. 

      And Hiccup's face made her feel better. Just the furrow of his brows and the miffed puff of his cheeks made her heart light up and she chuckled, watching him twist the fin back in. "Stop it," he chided lightly. "I'm serious."

      Yrsa smirked, and he shook his head at her, light-hearted. He reached out a hand and grasped her cheeks lightly, squeezing them and she smacked his hand away, blushing. But even with the smile on her face, her heart ached. Yrsa always told Hiccup what she thought, and what she believed━he relied on her for it. And she prided herself in it, as well. But now, for the first time, Yrsa was keeping her thoughts to herself━for the same reason why she was always blunt with him. Because she loved him; she loved him so much ... and she wanted the best for him, always. 

      "I love you," she decided to say out of the blue. 

      Hiccup's hand fell away slightly, taking in her words with a slight furrow of his brows. He squeezed her hands. Then, he smiled gently. "I love you too, Yrs." He brought her hand up to his lips before letting go. "Come on," he sighed. "We should head back, and then get ready to go find Drago again."

       Yrsa nodded, but when his back turned, the smile she had on her face fell completely. 

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

       SHE KNEW, just by the way he folded up his map with a tense hand, that Hiccup was annoyed. He was annoyed that his mother━just like his father━thought he was wrong, and that he couldn't do it, and that Drago couldn't be reasoned with. He was annoyed that he might have to leave, or that he might stay, and Yrsa was too scared herself to say anything. She just sat in the ferns, silent and watching the hundreds of dragons continue with their lives. 

      Yrsa caught a glimpse of Valka's Mountain underneath a sketch of mountains on his map, but also a few landscape pictures in his other journal he was yet to close, and instead was waiting for his damp charcoal to dry. 

      She could tell he knew there was something on her mind. Yrsa couldn't escape it━they've known each other for five years, and were close friends were most of it before they were betrothed. He knew her like the very palm of his own hand, and she did him, and she knew it made him worse to think she was keeping something from him when she usually told him everything. 

       But she just knew how the conversation will go. He'll want to stay, she'll want to leave ... and those differences will change things between them forever ... Yrsa knew she couldn't deal with that. 

      The silence between them was tense. Hiccup could tell the severity of what she was feeling, and she could tell that scared him, especially when he didn't know what it was. She had a feeling he was waiting for her to tell him━because why wouldn't she? They had that trust, that normality; she was always there to tell him exactly how she felt, and he has begun to do the same. She made him comfortable to do that. But for once ... there was a wall between them of kept secrets. It made her want to blubber out it all, but she couldn't; she refused to make him feel pressured, or like she didn't support him. And she didn't want to make it seem like she was controlling him either. She thought he should stay and become chief, as was his responsibility, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. 

      When he knew she wasn't going to say something, Hiccup sighed and snatched up his journal, closing it now that the charcoal was dry. He slipped it beneath the padding of his armour and clasped the buckle closed. 

     She pursed her lips and instead turned her gaze over to Helrose and Toothless; their poor dragons were overrun by the Scuttleclaw babies yet again, yelping and growling at their gummy mouths snatching onto anything they could━tails, ears, fins, legs━it was true. Nothing could control these babies. 

      Hiccup fixed his leather gauntlets, securing the straps and rubbing his fingers clean onto his pants. "Well ..." he started with a sigh. "We can't wait around for Drago to attack this place." He glanced at Yrsa, and then at their dragons, quite indifferent to their struggles with the baby dragons. If Yrsa wasn't so down, she might have a smile on her face. "We've got to find him first."

      Toothless had had enough. With a roar, the Scuttleclaws were startled from their game. They darted away, leaving he and Helrose free ... except for the final, stubborn baby determined to chew away at Toothless's tail. He glowered at the hatchling. He just chewed harder.

       Hiccup managed a small chuckle. Then, he offered a hand to Yrsa. She took it, letting herself be gently pulled up. She found it hard to meet his gaze, watching the way his fingers grasped her own━tender and loving ... did he expect her to stay? What did she expect? What was her duty? Her responsibility? To him? To Berk? To herself? To her mother? Yrsa has never even thought of a moment where she'd separate herself from Hiccup; she always imagined she'd be in his life forever, even if they weren't going to marry. It was just unspoken. Everything between them usually was, but this wasn't. This was new, and uncharted, and Yrsa was scared. She was so scared she couldn't even tell him with a blunt tongue, and that was equally frustrating, too. 

      "You sure you're okay, Yrsa?" Hiccup frowned at her, searching her eyes for an answer. He wanted her to speak so badly━desperate even. They weren't used to this. 

       Yrsa shouldn't be scared. She shouldn't hold back. She loved Hiccup, she was supposed to marry him next week. And yet━in just a day, so much has changed. Things were different in the morning, and now in the afternoon, what they once knew was gone. What Yrsa was once so sure of, now she had no idea. 

       "Hiccup━" she stared, though she wasn't sure where she was going with it. His brows lifted, listening━if not a little relieved. 

       But Yrsa never got to see where her words took her. Instead, two large hands wrapped around them and clamped their mouths. Yrsa gasped, quickly trying to struggle, but the meaty hand held her tight. Bristles of greying red hair brushed her cheeks and her eyes widened. 

      Seeing them, Helrose and Toothless broke out into growls, but their captor quickly shushed them with a familiar, "Easy now."

      They both stopped, sitting back in shock as Yrsa pulled away to see whether she was right.

      And she was indeed.

      Stoick had found them; and he didn't look happy━at all.

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

     a/n: sorry if this seems like a filler. but i wanted to spread out the chapters a little bit just so those who read both this and valkyrie aren't reading the bewilderbeast battle side-by-side; i wanted some differing time and spacing between events just so we can all experience them differently for each character. 

      (there are probs mistakes, lol, soz for that)

     hope you enjoyed the chapter!! see you in the next!

     (no, i'm not procastinating my drawing body of work by updating this pfft).