━━ chapter two
a viking for hire?

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  ━━"Every dragon has its own unique abilities that give it its special place in the world. Which dragon makes the best welding torch?"

    "Oh!" Astrid threw her hand up before Valkyrie could even lift a finger, pushing it away to lean in front. "Oh! Deadly Nadder!"

    Valkyrie shoved her backwards, "Hey! We're on the same team!"

    "Yeah, well, you always answer the questions," Astrid flicked some of the dust on the barrels into Valkyrie's face. She coughed, wiping it away. The group of Dragon Riders were spending their morning in the newly dubbed Berk Academy, testing their knowledge on a quick HIccup had created for them. Valkyrie would like to say she━uh, she means, her team━is winning.

    Val went to flick some dust from her own barrel at her face, but Fishlegs stopped them with a quick, "Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun!" to Hiccup, and their small fight was over ... for now.

    "Correct!" Hiccup pointed their way, and Fishlegs pumped his fist in celebration. "Point to Team Astrid. Score is now one hundred to ten."

    "Why is it Team Astrid?" then asked Valkyrie. "Like you said, I've gotten us most of these points. It should be team Valkyrie."

    "It's because we agreed that it would be Team Astrid because it was Team Valkyrie last time," stated Astrid. She shoved Valkyrie to prove her point, which only caused for Val to let out an annoyed, "Hey!" and try to shove her back. Hiccup winced and went to stop them with weak calls of their names, but instead, it was their dragons that pulled them away. Valkyrie kicked her legs towards Astrid, but they fell short as Zephyr held her up in the air with his teeth around the scruff of her tunic.

    "Hey!" she told her dragon. "Put me down, Zephyr━now!"

    Zephyr just swung her back and forth, and in the end, Valkyrie stopped struggling. Crossing her arms, she glared at Astrid who just sent her a smug smile.

    "I would like to remind you, Val, Astrid," Hiccup crossed his arms, frowning at the two girls, "that you are on the same team. You're competing along side each other, not against each other."

    "We should get points for that," said Snotlout opposite them with his team of Ruff and Tuff.

    "That's because you haven't gotten any," Valkyrie taunted, kicking her legs in his direction from where she still dangled from Zephyr's mouth. "You started with ten."

    "Oh, yeah?" Tuffnut leaned forward on his barrel, glaring at Valkyrie. "Well, the games not over. Wait," he glanced at his sister, "what team am I on?"

    Hiccup sighed, "Next question," he tried to keep it moving. "What is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout."

    Astrid snickered as Zephyr carefully let Valkyrie back down. "I don't think they can count that high." She, Val and Fishlegs shared a snigger behind the palms of their hands at the look on Snotlout's face.

    "Oh, really?" Ruffnut crossed her arms and arched a brow. "Let's find out. Barf, Belch━!"

    "Whoa!" Valkyrie, Astrid, Fishlegs and their dragons all ducked as Barf and Belch fired right at them. With a clenched jaw, she waited for them to finish after six shots.

    "Ha!" said Tuff, "Looks like it's about three," he held up only two fingers. Valkyrie sighed. Why did she chose to hang out with these dimwits?

    "Yeah!" agreed Ruff. "Told you we could count that high!"

    Hiccup kissed his teeth and said, "It's six ... You were half-right. Five points."

    "Yes!" Ruff high-fived her teammates. "We're up to thirty!"

    Valkyrie scoffed. Standing back up, she shared a look with Astrid and knew exactly what the plan was. Astrid dusted off her armour and said, "All right, it's our turn━" she leaned forward on her elbows, scowling at the other three. "What happens when you shoot fire at the owners of a Deadly Nadder and a Windstriker?"

    Placing her fingers to her lips, Astrid whistled and Stormfly's tail shot up with spikes. As she threw them, Valkyrie was there to command, "Zephyr, heat-blast!"

    As the Deadly Nadder spikes pinned Snotlout and Ruff and Tuff to the far wall, Zephyr blew hot air onto the top three, and they lit up in flames above the three Dragon Riders' heads. Valkyrie and Astrid shared a high-five of their own.

   Hiccup sighed once again, "Glad to know you two work as a team when it comes to hurting others..."

    "Hey!" Tuff shouted back at them. "No far! You didn't give us time to answer!"

    Snotlout's nostils flared in anger, and he jumped off from the wall, pulling himself free from the Nadder spikes. "I've got a question," he snarled. "What happens when I sick Hookfang on you."

    Astrid stepped forward, up for the challenge. Realising this was getting too heated, Hiccup snapped the Book of Dragons closed. "Okay, guys, that's enough training! So, we did some really good work here today!"

    They didn't listen. Snotlout glared at the girls and stood over his dragon. With his chest out, he declared, "Prepare to face the Monstrous Nightmare!" he tapped Hookfang twice on the jaw, and instead of standing up, the dragon was startled awake. His whole body erupted with a thin coat of fire, and Snotlout leapt off, screaming. "Ahhh! That's the third time this week!" jumping into the water trout, Snotlout sighed in relief.

    Hiccup frowned. Walking up to Snotlout, Valkyrie was quick to follow━she doesn't know why, she just does. She just automatically gravitated towards Hiccup━perhaps a flight on Toothless in the clouds will do that to two people (or a kiss at Snoggletog ... that would do it too...). Either way, they've grown a lot closer since. Valkyrie never thought she'd end up friends with Hiccup the Horrendous, but ... well ... here they were.

    Stopping by the water trout, Hiccup crossed his arms. "Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him. Is he okay?"

    Valkyrie scoffed, "Maybe he just realised who his owner is."

    Snotlout peered up at her, and gave her a flashing grin, "There's room in here for two━gah!" Valkyrie shoved him back down under the water by the horns of his helmet before walking off. Hiccup sent Snotlout a look that said, you had that coming before wandering after her.

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    ━━Returning for dinner after a night ride with Zephyr and Hott and Strikemoth, the two siblings entered the Frode home and frowned to see their mother supporting a tired gaze at the table. Valkyrie knew something was up, because Erik and Mak's Terrible Terrors were running around the table, and she was doing nothing to stop them.

    Hott shared a glance with Valkyrie before making his way over. "Uh━hey, Mum, what's wrong? You look a wee bit off colour."

    Valkyrie frowned at him, and flicked the back of his head. Hott let out an, "Ow! What was that for?"

    "You don't just tell someone they're off colour!"

    Before a fight could start out, their mother sighed and sat up. "I just had a big day, don't worry," she said. Rubbing her eyes, she let Erik's Terrible Terror under her hand for a pat. "I just had to deal with a lot of injuries because Gobber thinks the best way to diplomacy is to have two people knock some sense into each other."

    Valkyrie and Hott shared another look. Was that ... not how you do it? Then she realised their mother said Gobber. "Wait━Gobber? What's he doing handling stuff Cheif Stoick's meant to do?"

    Her mother and Hott stared at Valkyrie, as if she was supposed to answer this question. She frowned again, "What?"

    "I figured you'd know," said Hott, crossing his arms. "Considering you spend half your time with Hiccup."

    Valkyrie gaped at him, "I do not. For you information, I spend a lot of time with a lot of people that aren't just Hiccup! I spend a lot of time with Astrid, and Zephyr, a━and Astrid..." she counted them off on her fingers, and winced. "Um ... good point. Look, that doesn't mean I know what Gobber's doing. Maybe he's just helping out. He has a lot less on his plate now that we aren't killing dragons anymore."

    "Well, he's not helping," said Val's mother, scratching the Terrible Terror behind the ears. He purred. "Bucket went from being able to count to fifteen to only being able to count to ten."

    Hott pursed his lips and started his way to his chambers. "Well ... Bucket's not a halfwit for nothing ..."

    Valkyrie's expression turned blank, and with a nod from her mother, she was allowed to catch up to her younger brother and whack him upside the head. "You've been hanging too much around Gustav. Regain your manners."

    Hott scoffed and disappeared behind his door. Valkyrie rolled her eyes and made the journey to hers, eager for some sleep ... just a usual conversation between any of the Frode siblings. Val didn't think she actually wanted to know what Gobber was doing helping out Stoick with his chief duties, she had already seen the horror that was him trying to sell his old weapons as kitchen utensils ... poor Silent Sven's house had a fresh catapult hole in the roof! In saying so, she was also glad that this might mean Gobber has stopped selling those weapons, because Valkyrie can only hide Erik and Mak's chore money for so long until they trash her room, find it, and buy said catapult themselves. The day that happened, will be the day Berk shall fall. Or the day the Terrible Terrors, Fleecy and Meecy lose a tail, or a wing, or a leg... or Gothi, because Valkyrie wouldn't put it past those two in harassing the poor Elder. They stopped helping her and their mother with healing for a reason. (To which she will not disclose, because they all decided to never speak of that incident again. Mainly because Snotlout is far too proud to admit it ever happened).

    (Which is why she's telling you anyway: imagine getting a drink from Gothi to soothe a sore throat only for it to turn out to be Yack dung ... after he drank it ... yeah, Snotlout's pride was hurt very much that Loki Day).

    When morning came around, Valkyrie made sure Erik and Mak's money was well hidden before waking up Zephyr for breakfast. They went for their usual morning flight and training run, testing out some new tricks. Valkyrie wanted to beat Hiccup the next Trick Competition. He can run across the sea stacks? Well, Val can now stand on Zeph's back and stay stable while flying ... well ... kind of ... she has to work a few more kinks out ... like not falling off.

    A little bruised from some almost-misses━sometimes, Valkyrie thinks that Zephyr almost just lets her drop until last minute to prove a point━she made her way into the Dragon Academy, cracking her nuckles and rubbing the back of her neck. Hiccup watched her enter with an amused smile on his face. As she got closer, he said, "Enjoy your morning flight?"

    "Shut up," she told him before coming to a stance next to him and wait for the others. She rubbed her neck again, and shot Zephyr a quick and playful glare as he made a sound in the back of his throat Valkyrie has known to be laughter. Fixing up the flowers in her hair, she heard the others arrive with their dragons, and looked up.

    Hiccup grinned in seeing them. "Great!" he said once they touched down. "Now that everyone's here, I have something to tell you all..."

    He told them what he had planned for today. Once he was done, there was a echoing silence among the Dragon Riders before Astrid let out a loud, "What?"

    Fishlegs held his hands nervously to his chest, sharing glances with the others, "You're bringing Gobber here?"

    "He's gonna be great!" Hiccup's grin turned nervous at all of their incredulous faces. "Nobody knows dragons like old Gobber. He's spent a lifetime, you know ... studying them ..." (Yeah, studying is one way to put it). "If we can tap into that, we'll all be better Dragon Trainers!"

    Valkyrie didn't like the sound of this idea━at all. She was going to tell Hiccup this, perhaps tug him aside and explain just how troubling this could end up as ... Gobber joining them in the Academy? Yes, he knew quite a lot about dragons ... how to kill them. Which they didn't do anymore. And well, Gobber's ... they all love Gobber, truly! But sometimes he can be a bit over the top, in a way; Valkyrie isn't sure how to describe it, she just really didn't think this was a good idea.

    She didn't have time to tell this to Hiccup, for the gates sprung back open and there Gobber was, tugging a wagon full of ... dragon killing weapons? Valkyrie frowned. She glanced at Astrid, and stepped back to Zephyr just in case he got startled. They had just gotten them okay with being back in the arena, but adding weapons to that list? Not exactly a good combo.

    "I'm back!" announced Gobber. "Did you miss me?"

    Zephyr reacted just as Valkyrie suspected. His head shot up, eyes widened into slits and Valkyrie was quick to place her hand on his nose, calming him down.

    Hiccup stared at the wagon of weapons, wincing. "Uh ... First of all," he began, cautious over what to say, "welcome. And second ... tiny question, why did you bring your ... you know...?"

   "Killing things?" Gobber tapped his hook against the weapons fondly. "I thought maybe we could train them━" he swiped out a mighty battle-axe and Valkyrie held onto Zephyr tighter, "━by threatening to kill them! That's how my daddy taught me to swim." With a yell, he brought the axe to the ground, and the stone cracked in impact. "School's in session!"

    Zephyr broke free of Valkyrie's hold. She called after him as he and the rest of the dragons━save Toothless━fled the arena. They took to the air, and she gritted her teeth. "Oh, Odin's ghost━"

    She sprinted after thim with the others, and heard Gobber say to Hiccup, "Eh, I didn't like school either."

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    ━━It took Valkyrie four hours to find Zephyr. Four hours. She loved the boy to the end of the world, but she didn't expect to have to travel to the other side of Berk to get him back. Gobber's weapon spectacle had spooked them nearly right off the island, and Valkyrie wanted to have a word with him, maybe smack him upside the head━but then she realised that that might be a little unfair and well ... Gobber can pack a punch. However, maybe a punch might regain the feeling in her legs after riding Zephyr for so long to try and get him back.

    Hopping off and onto the stone ground of the arena, Valkyrie winced and stretched out her lower back. The others were in no better condition. Astrid doubled over and bent her knees, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were kicking feeling back into each other's backsides. Hiccup frowned at them, a little taken aback.

    "What's wrong with you guys?" he asked, and Toothless tilted his head in curiosity.

    "Ugh!" Astrid cracked her back, standing back up straight. "We've been riding our dragons for four hours. It took forever━" she glared at Stormfly, "━to chase them down after Gobber scared them away."

    "Yeah," agreed Valkyrie, scowling at Zephyr who cooed by her cheek as if knowing she was mad at him. "That was a terrible idea, Hiccup."

    He winced, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that," he sighed, shaking his head. "I just don't know what to do with him."

    Valkyrie propped her hands on her hips, and let out a sigh as well. Truly, none of them wanted Gobber to lose his job; to fall down so low considering how much they all respected him. Pushing past her pain, she walked up to Hiccup and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure something out," she promised like he has promised to her plenty of times. Then she punched him in the shoulder. "But that's for inviting him here in the first place."

    "Ow," Hiccup frowned at her, cradling his arm. He shared a look with Toothless, but in hearing the cries of the twins, his frown turned to them. He rolled his eyes. "Do you guys always have to fight?"

    "It's okay!" said Tuffnut as his sister hit in again. "I asked her to do that. I was just trying to get the feeling back."

    Ruff scoffed and bent down herself, gesturing back at him. "You gonna return the favour, or what?" Tuffnut rolled his eyes, but kicked her up the backside.

     Scratching the tip of his nose, Hiccup muttered, "I've flown for hours on Toothless and I've never had a problem."

    Valkyrie sent him a sharp look, "That's because you have a saddle."

    Hiccup's eyes brightened, which wasn't the reaction she was expecting. "Saddles!" he exclaimed. Clapping his hands at Valkyrie, he said, "You are a genius━I owe you one!" and with that said, he sprinted out of the arena. Toothless shared a perplexed look with Valkyrie before bounding after him.

    Astrid came to stand next to her, and said, "Why do I have the feeling this isn't going to end well?"

    Valkyrie fiddled with the flowers in her hair, grimacing herself. "You're not the only one, trust me."

    Hiccup's grand plan was revealed the next morning. It involved Gobber, again. Valkyrie wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, considering he didn't arrive with a wagon full of weapons this time. But she was still uneasy, standing in between Astrid and Ruffnut and frowning at Hiccup hoping that he knew she wasn't sure on this. It was warmer today, which was quite strange━but a good strange, Valkyrie had gotten tired of the constant chill on her bones, and welcomed the beam of the sun. (It made her mood just a slight bit better).

    Fixing today's flower crown on her head better, she saved some of the petals that fell off into her pocket for her mother later. (She liked to use some for her remedies). It helped her nerves. Hiccup didn't look much better, glancing apprehensively at the tarp-covered wagon. "All right," he began, "this is an exciting day for all of us. Gobber━" he gestured to the blacksmith, "━has been working hard to━"

    "I think they might want to hear from the artist himself," Gobber stepped in front of Hiccup, pushing him gently away by the mallet attatched to his prosthetic. Fishlegs shuffled excitedly on his feet, Snotlout nodded to himself━most of the teens seemed quite fired to see what Gobber had made for them while Valkyrie crossed her arms and glowered her usual scowl until she was sure this would be good. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day," went on Gobber. "Horse, donkey and now, dragon. But these saddles are special. They're like my children; that is if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rode it." Valkyrie arched a brow. "So! Without further adue━" he pulled the tarp away.

    Valkyrie scowl depened. The other teens pushed out strained words of awe at the weapon-adorned saddles Gobber had made them, but it was obvious this was not what any of them had been expecting.

    Hiccup grimaced yet again, and pursed his lips━like he usually did in uncomfortable situations. "Wow, Gobber," he said carefully. "This━this is certainly not ... what I imagined ..."

    "How could it be?" said the blacksmith. "I'm Gobber! Nobody knows what it's like to live in here━" he banged his helmet lightly.

    Valkyrie stepped forward, examining the different saddles with a wary glance. At Hiccup's side, they peered at Snotlout's new saddle━a strange contraption that held a bellow in front of a lit torch bristle. She pointed at it uncertainly, "Is that...?"

    "Yep!" Gobber grinned. "Flamethrower━" he squeezed the bellow and the little flame on the straw burst forward with a mighty roar. She jumped back, pulling Hiccup with her━imagine his scrawny self against that? Oh, Odin, no... Gobber laughed at their reaction. "Didn't see that one coming, did yah?"

    "Uh━uh ... no," muttered Hiccup, his nose twitching as he tried to hide his want for a sarcastic comment. "Not for dragons. They come with one built in, actually..."

    "I know," Gobber stroked the saddle like a baby in a swaddle, "but can yeh ever really have too much firepower?"

    The sound of Barf and Belch's usual gurgle from raising weight on their necks in the form of the twins, the three Vikings glanced back. Valkyrie held her fingers to her lips, watching Ruff and Tuff handle catapults on their saddles. Fixing a rock in the brace, they pulled it back and fired━right at the back of their dragon's heads. They fell to the ground, dazed. Valkyrie and Hiccup winced.

    "Uh ..." Hiccup scratched the back of his neck, "catapults for the twins? Not such a good idea."

    "You can do it girl!" a little ways away, Fishleg's coaxed Meatlug into trying to haul not just him, but a saddle with four heavy and large maces up into the air with her tiny little wings. She struggled, hovering up and down with a strained growl. "Think light━!" she fell back down, exhausted.

    Gobber gaped and threw his mallet-hand out. "Oh, come on!" he cried. "You can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs!"

    Fishlegs went a bright red. "M━my mum says I'm just husky."

    "You're well-fed, Fishlegs," said Astrid as she heaved her saddle up onto Stormfly's back. "It's a good thing! You have more money than most of us. Don't listen to him."

    "She's right," muttered Valkyrie to Hiccup. "You should be like that, considering you're the chief's son and all..."

    Hiccup stared blankly at her. "Thank you, Val, that really made my day."

    "You're welcome━"

    She was cut off by the screech of a Monstrous Nightmare. Hookfang flung off Snotlout's saddle, as if in pain, and Valkyrie frowned. He was a stubborn dragon, sure, who rarely ever listens (quite like his owner), but he was never usually this disobendient...

    "Eurgh! Come on, Hookfang!" snapped Snotlout, frustrated. "What's wrong with you?!" he tried to hold out his hand towards his snout to calm him down, but Hookfang's eyes narrowed into slits and he turned away and settling himself miserably on the ground. Snotlout stamped his foot, "Ugh! That's it! Someone's trading with me."

    Tuffnut scoffed, "Yeah, sure," he said, arms crossed and rolling his eyes. "I'll trade my perfect dragon for an angry oven."

    The only person who seemed to be having some luck with their saddle, was Astrid. She took a nice lap of the arena with Stormfly and landed back down looking quite impressed. "This saddle's actually pretty good," she said.

    "Wait 'till you try the horn!" exclaimed Gobber.

    She frowned, but tried it out. Blowing into it, the pipe extended out, echoing out a low and ear-peircing sound that spooked Stormfly into throwing her spikes out━they caught Snotlout and pinned him against the wall. "Really?" he grumbled. "Again?"

    Valkyrie turned to her saddle that was waiting. Zephyr sniffed at it and recoiled back at the sight of two mallets hanging on either side━not exactly the best saddle to manoeuvre around at high-speed. Gobber gestured to it, "Now, there you go lass, try it out!"

    Val turned her nose up at it much like her dragon, "Uh ..." she said, "... I think I'm good, thanks."

    Hiccup sighed and turned to Gobber, "So, anyway, I━I think we're really gonna need to make a few━"

    "Changes!" nodded Gobber, smiling. "I'm already ahead of you. I've got so many ideas! It's gettin' crowded up here━" he tapped his helmet again, chuckling. Hiccup met Valkyrie's worried look with one of his own.

    This is just going great, Val thought to herself.

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    ━━Some of Valkyrie's favourite flowers bloomed at night. Once darkness settled over Berk, it was immediately cooler, and they thrived in that━in the chill without wind, in the light of the moon instead of the sun. Zephyr wasn't out with her, she let him have an early night, and sometimes, she did want time to herself. She loved him, she truly did, but just like a dragon needed their space, so did their rider. And at night, picking the flowers from the side of the path near Old Man Björn's Well, she could sit and think. Weave her flowers, and stems, and take a breath of cool fresh air.

    Usually, she didn't like being interrupted, but there were some excuses━or rather an excuse. Hearing Hiccup's voice, Valkyrie stopped and glanced up. He and Toothless hovered by the path. "Hey," he greeted, a small frown on his face. "What're you doing out here?"

    Valkyrie showed him her flowers. "Some only bloom at night."

    Toothless's eyes brightened in seeing a flower crown. He bounded over to her, thinking it was for him. Valkyrie breathed a small chuckle, letting him sniff at the petals. Hiccup followed, but he looked a lot more down than his dragon. Val's smile fell away, and her brows furrowed in concern, "What's wrong?"

    Hiccup pursed his lips, but took a seat next to her. Valkyrie gave Toothless the flower crown, sitting in on top of his head and he hopped around with it, happy and showing off, but Hiccup's attention was elsewhere.

    Valkyrie tilted her head, curious. She shuffled closer to him, "What's up?" she asked again, and he let out a long sigh.

    Digging up some dirt with the hook of his metal leg, Hiccup said, "I just had to explain to Gobber that he can't make the saddles anymore. He didn't take it too well ..."

    Her brows lifted. Thinking of what to say, Valkyrie reached for another flower and pulled it form the earth. Picking away at the dirt and roots, she muttered, "You did the right thing."

    Hiccup slumped forward, wrapping his arms around his legs. Toothless rolled around in the grass behind them. "Didn't make it seem right. Gobber ... he's like family."

    Valkyrie nodded. Finishing picking away at the flower and stem, she shuffled even closer to Hiccup and started to weave it into the long tuffs of hair at the nape of his neck━it was begging for a braid. As she did, she said softly, "That's why you had to tell him. Sometimes the best decisions are also the hardest. What do you think would've been worse? Telling Gobber the truth, or him being ignorant to it all?"

    At Hiccup's silence, she knew he agreed with her. Twisting the flower with his brown hair, Valkyrie's brows furrowed a little in concentration. When she reached the end, she tied it all together with the stem. Done, she leaned back slightly to judge her work. Valkyrie couldn't help but smile━Hiccup looked older with a braid in his hair.

    "And in the end," she continued as Hiccup met her gaze, "sometimes those hard decisions, that are the right decisions, end up better in the end. Remember Snoggletog? You did the right thing, making Toothless that tail where he could fly on his own, bringing the rest of our dragons back even if it meant that he might've not returned. But he did, didn't he?" Hiccup gave her a weak smile, she returned it. Valkyrie didn't smile a lot, but she couldn't help it with Hiccup━he always made her feel free, like she was always on the back of a dragon flying ... like that night on Toothless's back, soaring through the cloud ocean of orange, pink and purple. "You always end up doing the right thing," she said. "It's what makes you such a good person, and a good friend."

    Hiccup's gaze piqued, and the glumness of his expression disappeared to muster a crooked smile at Valkyrie. "Did you just admit I'm you're friend, Milady?"

    She scoffed at him, and gave him a little shove. Hiccup chuckled. Toothless looked up from where he was playing around in the grass, watching the two Vikings laugh and looking very content in each other's company.

    "We'll find Gobber another job that's right for him," Valkyrie promised after they had settled back down. "Berk still needs weapons made. We still need to be defended━especially with the thin treaty with the Beserkers that could burn away at any moment. This isn't the end of Gobber's world. We'll figure something out."

    Valkyrie was proud to see that Hiccup seemed to believe her. I've gotten better at insiprational speeches, she thought happily to herself.

    She looked for another flower to make another braid, but before she could, there was a woosh! like the sound of fire, and screams; feet pounded towards them. Looking over their shoulders, Valkyrie and Hiccup frowned to see Snotlout heaving as he skidded to a stop. "I never ... thought ..." he tried to regain his breath, "... I'd say this ... but Hiccup━HELP!"

    Snotlout pointed desperately behind them and Valkyrie's eyes widened. Hookfang was causing distruction in the Berk plaza━setting ablaze houses and anything in sight. He shrieked, thrashing his head around, and scraping his jaw against the concrete, only to cry out more and explode into fire.

    Immediately, Val and Hiccup were on their feet, following Snotlout at a sprint towards the chaos with Toothless at their heels. Vikings ran for cover, or buckets of water to douse burning homes. Stoick pushed forward, shoving villagers away and shouting, "Everyone back away! The dragon's out of control! It's not safe here!"

    "I don't know what happened!" cried Snotlout miserably as they ran. "I was just rubbing his head! He usually loves that! But this time, he went crazy!" he sobbed. "My dragon hates me!"

    They came to a stop by the other riders. Valkyrie's feet skidded along the ground, and she gasped up at Hookfang who screeched out into the night. Fishlegs hopped on his feet nervously, but still managed to quip, "They do say a pet starts to take on the characteristics on it's owner. I think that's what's happening here."

    "Hey!" Snoutlout elbowed him in the gut.

    "Yeah," croaked Fishlegs. "I rest my case."

    Hiccup took a deep breath, and carefully approached Hookfang with his hand outstretched. He studied the dragon's movement and cries━still rubbing his jaw against the stone. Valkyrie frowned. "When was the last time he ate?" asked Hiccup.

    "Not for days!" moaned Snotlout.

    Reaching for a carp out of a nearby basket, Hiccup held it out to Hookfang, coaxing him to take a bite. "Are you hungry, boy?" The Monstrous Nightmare calmed down to gaze at the fish, and edged closer to it━he looked as though he deserately wanted to eat it, but something was making him hesitate. Hiccup threw the carp at him anyway, and Hookfang caught it eagerly. He chewed for a second━and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he shrieked, spitting out the carp. It landed in Stoick's beard. Hiccup winced, "Sorry, Dad..."

    Stoick gritted his teeth and threw the carp away, "We've got to bring this dragon under control!" he barked.

    "Don't worry!" Hiccup assured him. "I can do this..." he held out his hand, and Hookfang met it with the tip of his nose. Valkyrie shared an uneasy glance with Astrid. "There you go," murmured Hiccup. "It's gonna be okay━" he gently set his other hand against Hookfang's jaw━

     Hookfang reared up with a great, screech of a roar. Hiccup gasped, stumbling back as the dragon fired up into the sky. Valkyrie tensed up, "Hiccup!" she shouted. "Run!"

    "Already on it!"

    Toothless jumped into action, launching himself at Hookfang and protecting Hiccup━the two dragons went rolling along the ground, snatching at each other's necks. "Toothless!" cried the chief's son. "Stop!"

    The dragons separated, circling each other with low growls. Toothless bared his teeth, and Hookfang sent a stream of fire that set the top house ablaze. Hiccup ran forward, "No━Stop!" he stood in front of his dragon, pushing him away from Hookfang by the snout.

    Stoick clenched his jaw, and Valkyrie watched as he stood next to his son and declared, "I've seen enough, Hiccup. I'm sorry. We tried it your way."

    Valkyrie frowned. She felt a twist in her gut. He didn't mean what she thought━? Her alarmed look was shared with the rest of the Dragon Riders, especially Snotlout who called after Stoick as he stormed to the blacksmiths, "Wait━what's happening? What's going on?! What's he doing?!"

    Hiccup narrowed his eyes, determined. "Come on, guys!" he spun to the others. "Hurry up! Think! What haven't we tried?" Toothless and Hookfang continued to circle each other, and Valkyrie twiddled her thumbs in a frenzy to figure out how to fix this. But their minds were dry━none of them knew what to do; not even Hiccup.

    Don't freak out, she told herself. Take a breath and think! But it was hard to think and dart out of the way of Hookfang's fire at the same time. Valkyrie pulled the twins with her, barely missing the flames by an inch.

    "Snotlout!" she tried. "You know Hookfang better than any of us━do you have any ideas?!"

    He didn't reply. Instead, his eyes were set on something behind them. Valkyrie gritted her teeth. "Snotlout!"

    With a shaky finger, Snotlout pointed in front of him, "G━Gobber!"

    They spun around.

    The wagon of weapons had returned, and they were now in use. Gobber swung a mace around, glaring at Hookfang with purpose. In his other hand, connected to his prosthetic was a mightly double-bladed axe, glinting with menace in the moonlight. Around his waist, sheated a sword and hung a heavy bola. On his back, were spears of every kind. He was going to kill Snotlout's dragon. He was going to slay it.

    "Stand back," he shouted at the teens. "I came here to do what I do best."

    Snotlout's knees trembled. "He's gonna kill my dragon!"

    Hiccup's assurance was weak, "No ... no, he's not."

    "Uh, yeah, he is," breathed Tuffnut.

    His sister nodded, "You don't use that stuff to butter toast."

   "I mean━we would━" Tuff gestured between them, "━but you don't."

    Hiccup shook his head, and raced up to his father. "Dad!" he cried. "You can't be serious! Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon!"

    Gobber set his jaw, "I'm sorry, Hiccup," he told him, "but sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways."

    "But he's a good dragon!"

    "He's a good dragon!" echoed Snotlout, close to tears.

    "There's probably just something wrong with him!"

    "There's definitely something wrong with him!"

    Hiccup held a hand up to tell Snotlout to stay quiet as he tried to plead his case, "We have to try and help him!" he said. "We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day!"

     Stoick stepped forward, and Hiccup stared at him, pale. "A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for us. That's not a risk I'm willing to take," he turned to the blacksmith. "Gobber."

    Sheathing his mace, Gobber nodded and stepped forward. Reaching for the bola, he swung it in his hands, gaining momentum. Valkyrie watched, sick to the stomach. She saw the tears on Snotlout's face; the fear. She turned to Hiccup, do something! She pleaded silently.

    Gobber threw the bola, and Hookfang's wings were tied. The next were thrown, and so were the dragon's legs. He fell forward, hitting the ground with a cry. Hookfang tried to fire, but all that came out were miserable coughs of embers. Gobber let out a triumphat, "Ha! You're all out of fire!"

    Pulling out the sword, he advanced but Hiccup sprinted after him. Tugging on his arm, his feet skidded in the dirt as he was dragged. "I can't let you do this!" he yelled.

    Gobber snatched his arm back, "There's no choice," he said. "It has to be done."

    Hookfang managed to get enough fire back to set his body ablaze, burning the bola's away. He leapt forward and roared in Hiccup and Gobber's faces. Valkyrie shouted their names. There was a moment of silence as no one moved, not even the dragon, Gobber or Hiccup.

    Gobber frowned at the open jaw, "Do you see that?"

    Hookfang scrambled back, shaking his head. Hiccup let go of Gobber's arm, and his shoulders fell in realisation. "I do."

    Gobber put away his sword. He flexed his arms. "Time to put this beast out of its misery."

    He started forward, and Hiccup made no move to stop him. Astrid gew livid, "Hiccup!" she cried. "What are you doing?!"

    Valkyrie wondered the same thing, but was frozen to her feet as Gobber launched up into the air and grabbed ahold of Hookfang's jaw. The two wrestled for seconds that seemed like hours. As soon as she could move, Val rushed forward to stop it, but Hiccup pulled her back. She glared at him, seething, "What is wrong with you━?!"

    Gobber was thrown back. Hitting the ground at the teen's feet, he rolled over himself a few times before catching himself with his hand. Hookfang roared in defiance, only to stop. He blinked and shook his head a couple of times, then his eyes brightened and he smiled.

    Snotlout's whole body slumped in relief. "You didn't kill him!" he exclaimed.

    Gobber sat up, and in his hand, Valkyrie saw a hollowed and dark Monstrous Nightmare tooth. "For a toothache?" he said, incredulous. "What kind of lunatic are you?"

    Valkyrie stared in shock for a second, trying to take in everything that had just happened. But when Snotlout raced to his dragon with a shout of glee, throwing his arms around his snout and crying in relief, she couldn't help but smile━whether it was her own relief, or disbelief, she didn't know, she was just happy to see Snotlout still with his best friend.

    (Even if he did try to hide it).

    Gobber found a new job━the official dragon dentist. When the world around someone changes, the good men find a way to change with it, and Valkyrie can assure you ... Gobber is one of those good men; in fact, he's one of the best.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

a/n: i did a drawing... I got an iPad ooooooooooo
it's the only reason I updated this so quickly lol. I mean, I update whenever I want there's absolutely no schedule have u guys even met me ahahah. 😂😂

I hate this chapter, but the drawing makes up for it hopefully