━━ chapter six
hofferson's bane

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    ━━Dreadfall; a time for fear, lights, and every ten years, a Flightmare fight.

    At least, that was what Valkyrie's brothers Mak and Erik always sang on the morning of the spookiest time of the Viking year. Val remembered the last time the lights came and Flightmare followed, and it wasn't something to joke about. The Flightmare was dangerous, and it made even Fearless Fin Hofferson freeze in absolute fright. Valkyrie had to grow up with the lasting effects of it, and she definitely saw it strong today when she walked into the Academy on Zephyr's back. Astrid was rampaging, smashing every target and barrel they had on them.

    Slipping off her saddle, Valkyrie carefully stepped up beside Hiccup, watching her best friend shout and cry with a breath of concern. "How long has she been at it?"

    "All day," he replied in a murmur.

    Val pursed her lips. She knew better than to interrupt Astrid when she was like this, but they were also running out of targets, considering she was destroying each and every one.

    "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?!" Astrid cried out with fury as she slammed her axe down onto the wood, tugging it out with spinters flying. "THAT'S RIGHT! Who's next?!"

    Hiccup winced at her heaving figure, "I━I'm pretty sure that━yeah, I━I think you got them. All of them."

    She just glared at him.

    Hott looked up from where he was giving Spikemoth some water. He arched a brow, "Yeah, I've been watching her go━she's been killing inanimate objects all day."

    "She's really wound up about the Flightmare," said Valkyrie in a soft voice, not wanting Astrid to hear and get worse.

     "Ha!" Snotlout laughed loudly from where he leant against the wall, very amused. Valkyrie scowled. "Too bad she's wasting her time. When the Flightmare comes, the Hoffersons freeze. Right, Astrid? I mean, you are a━"

    Astrid's axe lodged so harsh into the wall of the Academy beside Snotlout's face, it cracked the stone. Snotlout peeked an eye open and finished: "Hofferson."

    "All right, shut up," Valkyrie was there to defend her friend who looked like she was ready to murder him. Stormfly squawked at her, concerned. She sniffed at her rider, the spikes along her crown jetting back as she grew more worried for Astrid as the day went on. Zephyr sniffed as well at the broken targets and faced Astrid, if not a bit fearful of her as he reared his head back.

    "Okay, okay," Hiccup held up his hands, eyes wide at the tension growing, "let's all take a deep breath. Just because Aurvandil's Fire is coming doesn't mean the Flightmare is, too."

    "Sure, it does!" said Fishlegs. The chief's son sent him a sigh. "Every ten years the sky lights up with Aurvandil's Fire, and when it does the Flightmare appears. Its spectral glow and banshee-like scream are unmistakable."

    Valkyrie crossed her arms and Hiccup sent the boy a blank look. Bless, Fishlegs, really, but he couldn't read the room today.

    "You were saying?" snarked Astrid, hands on her hips and a glower on her face.

    "Thank you, Fishlegs," grumbled Hiccup. "Your extensive knowledge of the Flightmare is timely, if nothing else."

    Fishlegs grinned at the compliment, the sarcasm passing right over his head. Valkyrie pinched the bridge of her nose, "Here we go," she murmured to Hiccup. "I'm going to grab some bandages━" he pulled her back gently by her armour straps so she stood next to him again, not even looking.

    "I do fancy myself to be Berk's leading authority on the subject," said Fishlegs proudly, puffing out his chest and opening the Book of Dragons. "Here's a few more fun facts. Legend has it that the Flightmare is so terrifying, it actually freezes its prey in their tracks."

    "Yeah!" agreed Snotlout, sniggering. "Just as Frozen Finn Hofferson. Right, Astrid?"

    The blonde yelled in anger, launching herself at Snotlout and throwing him to the ground. Valkyrie winced, but she did nothing to help, letting her friend press her boot against his face and point her axe at him.

    "You think it's funny, Snotlout?!" she screeched, trembling. "You think it's a joke that my family name was ruined by that dragon?!"

    "Well ..." Snotlout managed with his mouth full of loose rocks, "I used to, just a couple of minutes ago. But, now I can see how it might be upsetting you."

    Valkyrie rolled her eyes. Snotlout eyed her, just standing and watching. "Hey, Val━we're friends, now. Can you━uh━help?"

    She crossed her ups, jutting out her hip and gazing down at him. "No, you deserve this."

    Astrid pressed him down more, as she did, Snotlout whined, "What happened to you helping me with Hookfang?!" he cried. "I thought we made a connection!"

    Val shrugged, "Yeah, I can tolerate you better now. But as a best friend to Astrid, it's my role to let her beat you up for making fun of her family's misfortune."

    "Traitor," Snotlout grumbled as she turned away, still struggling under Astrid's hold.

    Val just walked over to Toothless and gave him a new flower crown she had brought with her scariest flowers for Dreadfall. Zephyr had his own around the horn on his snout as he was sniffing curiously at Snotlout on the ground. He glanced at Astrid and then decided to copy, flopping down and setting his neck on Snotlout's back. The Jorgensen let out an angry, "Ooof!"

    "Valkyrie!" he shouted as Astrid smirked gratefully at Zephyr, giving him a scratch. "Get your dragon off me!"

    "I'm busy!" she said, making sure the crown won't fall off as Toothless wagged his tail happily, grinning at her.

    Snotlout made some very unnice comments in his incoherent grumbling. Valkyrie smirked to herself, just scratching and playing with Toothless. It was true, her and Snotlout have grown closer as friends after she had heard what his father said and helped him with Hookfang. He took her advice to heart, realising his father knew nothing about dragons, and now he and Valkyrie have a better understanding between them. (Even though she still sometimes wanted to punch him).

    Into the Academy finally arived the Twins, carting a whole barrell of apples and fish with them. Behind them, Barf and Belch were helping, each holding baskets of more Harvest luxuries. Hott picked up an apple as they passed, chewing into it.

    "Have you guys heard?" said Tuffnut as he did. "The Flightmare's coming!"

    Hiccup clenched his hands and turned to them, "Guys!" he murmured quietly with a subtle nod towards Astrid, "we're really trying not to talk about htat."

    Ruffnut shrugged, "Hate to break it to you, but that's the only thing anyone's talking about."

    Tuff nodded, then back tracked, "Well," he added, "that and Astrid's Uncle."

    "Hey!" Snotlout shouted from underneath Astrid's foot, "a little sensitivity here!" he glanced up at the girl, "Can I get up now?"

    She rolled her eyes, "Ugh! Whatever," she stepped off. Giving a quick signal to Zephyr, he stood up as well. Valkyrie, Astrid and Hiccup have taken to knowing each others signals for their dragons in case they got separated and needed to communicate with each other's dragons.

    Then, Astrid stormed to Stormfly. Hopping up onto her saddle, she left without a word, leaving a heavy air in the Academy.

    Hiccup sighed after her leaving figure. He spun back, glaring at the others. "So, thanks a lot, guys," he snapped.

    "No problem," said Tuffnut and he, his sister and their Zippleback continued to the largest pen at the back of the Academy. "If you don't need us anymore, we gotta go get ready for the end of the world. See yah!"

    Valkyrie realised she was apart of that and her eyebrows jumped, "What? Hey! I know Astrid━she doesn't like being wrapped up in furs just because of what happened." She dropped her hands from Toothless's chin and propped them on her hips, scowling at her boyfriend. "She doesn't shy away from the Flightmare, she uses it to fuel her anger so she could have a go at it when she got the chance. Why did you think she used to be determined to win Dragon Training to kill Hookfang━no offense, boy━" she added to the Monstrous Nightmare who huffed at the memory. "She's probably already out there getting ready to find it."

    Hiccup froze, "Wait, what? We have to stop her."

    Val shook her head, "We shouldn't get in the way━this is her burden, and only she wants to fix it."

    Her boyfriend scowled. "She'll get hurt!"

    Valkyrie was taken aback by his tone. "She wouldn't want us to! Look, Hiccup, I've known her for ages, I know what she's like━"

    "We're a team, Valkyrie," he cut her off, angry, "we help each other."

    "This is helping her!" Val met his tone, starting to get annoyed. "By letting her clear her family's name." He scoffed, shaking his head. Snotlout's eyes widened, backing towards the others and whispered to Hott━

    "They're arguing again ..."

    He arched a brow and whispered back, "I'm new to this ... what?"

    Valkyrie stepped away from Toothless and he warbled, glancing between the two of them. "Come off it, Hiccup, don't act like you want to follow her just so you can see the Flightmare yourself. It's all you really care about; dragons."

    Hiccup's eyes widened. His brows rose, and Valkyrie realised what she said. She flushed, immediately regretting it. "Well, you know ..." he tried to step away from the argument, and so did she. "Dragons aren't the only thing I think about, Val ..."

    However, that only ignited her anger. She glared at him in disbelief. "You did not just say that to me with a straight face. Whatever, go after her, I'll stay back and make sure Berk doesn't get destroyed by the Flightmare."

    She whistled for Zephyr and hopped up onto his back, flying off before Hiccup could say anything else. He set his jaw, turning back to the others who were watching. "What?" he demanded.

    Snotlout crossed his arms, "Did you seriously just say that to her with a straight face?"

    Hott agreed, "Yeah, man, you gotta fix that."

    Hiccup gaped. He gestured back to her, "She said all I care about is dragons!"

    Fishlegs made a noise in the back of his throat. Hiccup recognised it and he argued, "What? I do not just think about dragons!" 

    Snotlout and Hott both said, straight up, "Yeah, you do."

    Even the Twins reappeared from the pen to say, "You do."

    "You always do━" went on Ruff, shrugging.

    "━Yeah," added Tuff, nodding, "━I mean, like, it's your charm, but with the ladies?" He shook his head, "Nope."

    Hiccup scowled at him, "And what do you know about that, Tuff?"

    He gasped at him, as if he had offended him dearly, "I am a master at many things, Hiccup!" Tuffnut held out his fingers, ticking them off, "Preparing for the end of the world, yak-dumping, chicken-flying━"

    "Oh!" his sister tapped him, "Don't forget the Uncle Lars impression."

    "Oh, yeah!" Tuffnut snapped his finger at her, grateful, "Cannot forget that. And I'm really good at relationship advice! The Thorston Clan is a very big Clan, young Hiccup, and we━" he gestured between him and his sister, "━have seen our fair amount of relationships."

    "Important rule number one!" Ruffnut held up a finger with a very posh voice. "Always listen."

    "Important rule number two!" Tuffnut continued, holding up three fingers. Hiccup sighed, shaking his head. "Always make time for your significant other."

    "Important rule number four━wait, no," Ruff fixed her fingers, holding them all out, "━five: Valkyrie always holds in emotions until they build up too much."

    Hiccup arched a brow, "That's very specific."

    Tuffnut shrugged, "We base a lot of it off you two. Now━excuse us!" he and Ruff disappeared back into the pen and Hiccup sighed, turning to Toothless as he glowered over everything that happened this afternoon.

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    ━━Hiccup went after Astrid, but when Valkyrie saw Stormfly still around, hanging out with Spikemoth at her house, she frowned. She asked Hott what had happened and he shrugged, letting her know that they went off to find the Flightmare on Toothless, alone. Valkyrie didn't know what she expected. She thought she'd be angry, but she did practically tell him to go after it. Slumping down beside her brother, she sighed and watched him do his chores in the Sanctuary before the Lights got here. Stormfly squawked at Zephyr, the two of them bouncing heads before joining back up with Spikemoth and the three dragons all chatted.

    Valkyrie regretted what she said, she really did, and she didn't mean for it to come out like that, but she did know, deep down, she meant it. Hiccup did seem to only care about training dragons recently so they'd find a way to stop Alvin and the Outcasts. She knew he was stressed, and she knew it was necessary, and maybe it was her being so reluctant and immature to the situation, wanting back the times where they'd just fly around without a care in the world to return, but Valkyrie felt a little neglected.

    When was the last time they went on a flight? Just the two of them? That wasn't going after some dragon or patrolling the beaches of Berk? When was the last time Valkyrie was alone with him in the forge? Just watching him work? When was the last time they had a conversation that wasn't about prepping for oncoming war or about the Screaming Death returning? Or about Dagur and the growing threat of the Berserkers?

    Maybe she was selfish to think about all of that in a time like this━none of the others were upset! They went along with it, enjoyed the excercises. Astrid and Snotlout were begging for the Outcasts to return with another ship so they could all shoot it down. Valkyrie? She just wanted peace.

    It was so different from the girl she used to know, it slightly scared her. That girl just under a year ago wanted war, she wanted to fight dragons, she wanted to be vicious and the best. Right now? Valkyrie wanted peace. She didn't want to fight, she didn't want to vicious. She still wanted to be the best (when didn't she?), but she didn't want to be the best warrior anymore. Not when it came to war and big Screaming Death's and━

     Maybe that was it.

    Maybe Valkyrie was scared.

     And that hit her worse, because if there was anything Valkyrie didn't think herself to be; was scared. Vikings weren't scared of battle. They ran to it, screaming and waving their weapons. And if they died? It was good. That meant glory, that meant Valhalla, that meant their names remembered with passion. And a Frode was always there for a battle and for glory.

    Valkyrie used to be.

    So, what changed?

    Was it dragons? Was it Hiccup? Was it something else entirely? Had she met her own Flightmare in the form of something she was yet to recognise?

    Hott knew she was upset, but he didn't really understand why. He just assumed it was the argument she had with Hiccup that afternoon. He shrugged, shovelling some dung into a barrel with a turn-up of his nose. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "You guys will figure it out, don't you always do?"

    Valkyrie pursed her lips, "Yeah, I guess ..." she murmured. She sighed and slumped back against Zephyr sitting behind her, still bobbing his head at Stormfly and Spikemoth. "Are you scared, Hott? I mean, you just joined us without hesitation with war on the rise, Berserkers readying an armada down South and a Screaming Death still alive out there somewhere."

    Hott stood up, dusting his hands off on his pants. "Yeah," he said, very bravely for a teen of his age. "But it's what we do, right? We're Vikings. We fight."

    Valkyrie frowned and looked down. He faltered. "Uh ... do I need to get mum? Or Asrifth? They're usually good at this stuff..."

    She managed a small smile and shook her head. "No, I just ..." she took a deep breath and sighed it all out. "You said you were ready when I asked if you wanted to join. But━I've been at this for long and ... and I don't think I'm ready."

    Hott watched her for a second, trying to think of what to say as his sister hung her head. She had always been the bravest━the one they all looked up to. She was the eldest, it was natural. But she was also the best out of them. Asrifth had always been envious, Mak and Erik had always held her in a halo of godly light (even if they didn't show it) and Hott always held her as an example of what to be.

    It didn't seem right to see her so defeated.

    So, he made his way to sit down in front of her. Crossing his legs, he told her in a soft voice, "I'm not ready."

    She looked up, startled to hear him say that. Hott continued, "I'm not ready, Hiccup's not ready, Astrid's not ready, nor is Snotlout, or Fishlegs, or the Twins. None of us are ready ... but ... that's what makes us a team, right? We'll make each other ready; we're in this together. We're ... we're all scared, and none of us want this, right? But we fight anyway, we go in screaming the Hairy Hooligan war cry because that's what we do. We fight for peace."

    Valkyrie didn't think he even meant it, but he said exactly what she needed to hear. Valkyrie's eyes widened and her breath hitched. Before Hott could comprehend it, she gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek and pulled him in for a hug.

    Then she smelt the dung and coughed, shoving him away. "Oh, you stink!"

    But Hott was busy gagging and wiping the remenants of her kiss on his cheek. "Ew! Why would you do that?! That's gross! You're gross!"

    Valkyrie laughed at him, feeling a lot better. She stood up and propped her hands on her hips, looking around. "You know, we're not supposed to be doing this alone. Where are Mak and Erik? And Asrifth?"

    "They're all in the Twins' End of the World bunker," grumbled Hott.

     Val's eyes widened, "Wait━what?"

    Hott nodded, "Yep━sounds pretty cool, actually. I heard they have rooster fights."

    Valkyrie scoffed, and started to laugh again. Hott chuckled at her response, the two siblings letting themselves joke and laugh instead of finishing their chores.

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    ━━When word reached Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs had returned, and that the Flightmare would no longer be tormenting them, the whole village exited the safety of their homes. Everyone watched as Hiccup announced that the Hoffersons were indeed fearless, and Finn Hofferson hadn't frozen up with fear, but encased in a Flightmare's paralytic mist. Astrid grinned, showered with applause, bright red.

    While Valkyrie cheered and applauded her friend, she waited until the end to find Hiccup and punch him across the shoulder.

    "Ow!" he stated, clutching his arm and glaring at her.

    Thinking of her conversation with Hott, Valkyrie took a deep breath and said, "You were right."

    He frowned, "Huh?"

    She flushed as red as her hair and tucked back the strands behind her ear. "About going after Astrid. If you didn't, she would have died, and never cleared her family's name. So, yeah, you were right about that. I'm sorry."

    Hiccup's shoulders fell slightly, registering what she said. Then, he went bright red, too. He shrugged, not meeting her gaze. "I━I'm sorry, too."

    She frowned, her heart beginning to race, "A━about what?"

     He took a deep breath and locked eyes with her, and Valkyrie's breath hitched. Under the lights above, he looked so much older, and so handsome. His braid she had twisted still settled against the nape of his neck, and her heart fluttered. Stepping closer to her, Hiccup took her hand and stated, "Training dragons aren't what I always think about. I think ..." he grew even redder, "... I also think about you ... a lot. I think you're really pretty, and funny, and brave ... and that I really like having your braids in my hair━only yours. A━and I think that I'm scared with everything that's happening because I don't want you to get hurt. So, yeah, that's ... that's also what I think about."

    Valkyrie watched him, eyes wide. She tried to think of what to say, but her words were taken away from her as everything Hiccup said settled in. So, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burrying her face into his neck. He held on tight, relieved that they were okay.

    She closed her eyes, sighing and finally managed to say, "I'm scared, too ..."

     At those words, Hiccup clung onto her tighter. Valkyrie told him everything she felt there, safe in his hold, and he listened. She was ashamed, but with Hiccup, she didn't feel it anymore. She felt like she could tell him everything, and it'd be okay; he wouldn't judge her. He'd support her, and he'd help her, and understand her.

    And Valkyrie knew she didn't want to lose him, either. Whatever this was between them, it wasn't just something between two kids, it could turn into something real, and Valkyrie didn't want to ruin it. He was going to be her primrose; she was sure of it.

     They were unstoppable.

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     a/n: okay, time to get real, guys, i'm gonna have to start skipping defender of berk episodes val isn't in much, not because i don't want to write them, but because the program where i have the episodes only have them for a certain amount of time. at the moment, i'm rushing to write an episode per day before it disappears off abc iview, since riders of berk and defenders of berk episodes aren't on netflix in australia. (i also don't have a vpn). 

     so, yeah, that's what i'm dealing with, and i'm gonna need to skip a few which really hurts, but it's going to help me write the ones i do better since i'll have more time.