━━ chapter eight
screaming death

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    ━━"Ha! Bullseye!"

    Valkyrie dusted the paint off her fingers as she tagged a Windstriker passing, her underbelly being splattered with yellow. She batted her eyelashes at Hiccup, shrugging, "Your turn."

     The Riders had all split up to head to different islands in the Archipelago from Dragon Island, tagging as many dragons as they could with different colours that correlated to the islands they inhabited. Val took this chance with Hiccup to spend much needed time with him; alone.

    She dived Zephyr beneath him, laughing. They haven't had much time alone recently, and she was excited to fly around Sorrow Island with him, showing off her tricks and sneaking in close to flick his hair or shoulders.

     Hiccup arched a brow, hearing her flirtatious tone. "All right, Milady," he pulled out the small pigmented paint in the sack from his satchel. Fixing his grip, he spotted two Windstrikers darting beneath them. He chucked the paint and it hit the first dragon on his back before rebounding to hit the second.

    They squawked, darting away.

    Valkyrie bounced her brows, "Okay," she admitted, "impressive. But━" she took out two this time, "━can you do this?" diving down and spinning upside down, Val dropped the paint and splattered three more, rebounding one of her shots herself.

     Spinning back up, she poked her tongue back at Hiccup, challenging him.

     He scoffed, shaking his head with a small smirk on his face. He readied another paint sack, "You do know this isn't a competition, right?"

     "Babe," she flicked her hair over her shoulder, "we've discussed this. It's always a competition."

    Hiccup just pulled out his Gronckle Iron shield. Separating it, he configured the crossbow and set the paint in the notch. He held it up to the nearest Windstriker and fired. It hit her on her back. Valkyrie narrowed her eyes, smirking. He pulled Toothless into a soar next to her and Zephyr, looking smug.

    "For someone who doesn't like competition," Valkyrie picked at her nails, "you sure love to play."

    He shrugged, "Only for you, Milady━" he quickly spun Toothless upside down and Valkyrie eye's widened in surprise to feel his lips catch hers in passing. Then they shot back down to find more dragons and Val was stunned to silence, her face bright red.

     It took her a second to reconfigure herself and took after him. "Hey! That's unfair━you don't get to distract me!"

     "I don't know what you're talking about!"

     She narrowed her eyes at his figure, playfully. Valkyrie thought of a plan and she grinned. Doing her best to catch up, she pushed herself flat against Zephyr's saddle and darted right past his shoulder. Hiccup shook at the shudder of wind, staggering in Toothless's flight for a second. Valkyrie grinned, looking back over her shoulder. He shook his head, but had a smile on his face. She blew him a kiss and they continued to tag as many dragons as they could.

    Once they were done, Hiccup sighed, "Come on, we should go check on the Twins. They're supposed to be marking the Crescent Island dragons."

    Valkyrie rolled her eyes at the very thought, "I'm sure that's going really well."

    (And things were going swell).

    Valkyrie and Hiccup found the Twins midst a paint war; their faces completely covered in the purple pigment. She sighed, setting down (not exactly sure what she expected).

    "Guys!" Hiccup stopped them.

    Ruff spun on her feet and threw her paint sacks at him. Hiccup only just missed them, two blotches smacking the rock face behind him. He frowned at them, annoyed. Ruff laughed.

    "You're supposed to be tagging the dragons," the chief's son said. "Not each other."

    Tuffnut shrugged, he chucked his paint between his hands. "You know," he said, "if you think it through, Hiccup, this is pretty much your fault."

    He crossed his arms, blank-faced, "How did you figure that."

    Ruff arched a brow, "Uh, hello?" she pointed at her face. "You armed us with paint," she laughed. "Were did you think that was gonna go." She turned to her brother, shaking her head, disappointed with Hiccup. "And we're the stupid ones."

     Valkyrie pinched the bridge of her nose. She glanced around, wondering how she's dealt with the Twins for so long. (A common thought).

    "How many of these do we have to do, anyway?" asked Tuff.

    "As many as we can," answered Hiccup. "The more dragons we tag on each island, the better we can keep track of where they belong and where they may migrate to."

    "Wow!" exclaimed Ruff. "That was ... uh ..."

   "Fascinating?"

    "What's the opposite of fascinating?"

    Valkyrie snickered into her plam. Hiccup shot her a quick look, but her attention quickly grew to somewhere else. She frowned at the two Gronckles grazing rocks not far along; one had a purple paint splodge while the other green. "Uh ... Hiccup? Isn't it supposed to be one dragon colour per island?"

    He turned to her, confused. "Yeah, why?"

   She pointed over, "I see two colours down there. Have we been using the wrong one?"

    Hiccup watched the Gronckles, looking concerned. "I ... don't think so."

    Valkyrie arched a brow at the Twins, arms crossed. Tuffnut immediately threw his hands up in surrender, "Don't look at us!" he said. "If we had green paint, you know where it would be."

     Hiccup's brows furrowed more. "Well," he decided, "I better ask Fishlegs. This was his idea."

    Val tilted her head, "You're gonna fly all the way back to Berk?"

    "No," he said, suddenly grinning at her. "I don't have to." Out of his satchel, he pulled out his charcoal pencil and parchment. He started to write something. Valkyrie shared confused glances with the Twins.

    "What's he talking about?" wondered Ruffnut.

    Tuffnut gasped, clapping his hands and pointing, "He must have some of that magic paper we've been looking for!"

     His sister slumped, throwing her head back to whine, "He always gets the good stuff!"

    "It's not magic paper," Hiccup sent them an incredulous look. "Fishlegs and I have been working on something new. We call it: Air Mail!" he clicked his fingers and Sharpshot fluttered from the back of Toothless's saddle. Huh, Valkyrie had been wondering what he was doing with them.

    Valkyrie turned up her nose. Tuffnut scoffed, "Stupid name."

     Hiccup ignored him and just attatched the parchment to Sharpshot's ankle. Val propped her hands on her hips, still sitting on her saddle. "Do you wreally think that Terrible Sterror is gonna fly all the way to Berk?"

    "Yep, and right to the Academy!" he scratched the dragon fondly under the chin. "Terrors are especially territorial, so, it's a natural instinct to return to their home from wherever they get released."

    Sharpshot took to the air, swooping the Twins who yelped before making his way back to Berk. Valkyrie watched him leave, not particularly believing it. "And how will we know if he made it?"

    "When Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid and Hott meet us at Dragon Island."

    "Right," she scoffed. "If that happens, I will kiss Snotlout on the lips."

    Hiccup arched a brow. "All right," he said. "I guess we shall see, won't we, Milady?"

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    ━━When they made it to Dragon Island, Valkyrie's jaw was gaping in shock to see the others waiting for them at the beach. Fishlegs, Astrid, Hott, and ... Snotlout. She and Hiccup landed, the latter watching Valkyrie's face contort with disgust, smug. He laughed at her.

    "Well," he gestured to Snotlout sleeping against the rocks under the shadow of Hookfang, smirking. "Look who it is! All of them here, on Dragon Island. Even Snotlout!"

    She glared at him.

     Snotlout jumped awake, hearing his name. Hiccup continued to grin, leaning back in his saddle and crossing his arms. "Snotlout!" he greeted. "Valkyrie was just talking about you!"

     He scoffed, "Of course, she was," he mumbled, going back to dozing.

    Hiccup turned to Valkyrie, puckering his lips and making kissing noises. She glowered, slipping off the saddle at the same time as him. Walking up to her boyfriend, she held up a finger, pointing at his face with a seeth of, "Go on━say one word, I dare you. And they'll be the last words you ever speak."

    He continued to pucker his lips at her and she clenched her hands. She punched him in the shoulder, storming off. Hiccup gaped, holding his arm and following, making small noises of pain.

    Fishlegs met them by the group, "Hiccup!" he grinned, holding Sharpshot, "I got your message. I knew Air Mail would work! So, uh, what's the emergency?"

    "We've been seeing dragons painted green on Crescent Island."

    Snotlout peeked open an eye and arched a brow, "That's your emergency? I was in the middle of somehing very important!"

    Astrid crossed her arms, "You were sleeping."

    "Beauty Rest!" he corrected, sitting up. "Do you think this━" he pointed to his face, "━just happened?"

    "Ha!" Hott laughed. "Beauty Rest, good one Snotlout."

    The Jorgensen scowled after the younger Frode as he made his way over, Astrid at his shoulder. "I thought one colour, one island?"

     "Yeah, that's how it should be," agreed Hiccup. He glanced at Fishlegs. "Does it make any sense to you that those dragons could be there?"

     "No," he frowned. "They shouldn't be. Cresent Island is clearly marked as purple."

     "That's what I thought."

     "So, what would the green dragons be doing there?" Astrid propped her hands on her hips, shaking her bangs out of her eyes.

    Fishlegs looked a little miffed, "Uh, first of all, it's not green. It's pistachio━" she rolled her eyes as they travelled to the map perched on a nearby rock; the group of them eyed the set of islands with different colours marked. "And second, they belong on Tall Tree Island," he tapped the furthers island from them. "That's where I tagged them."

    "Yeah, well, your pistachio dragons aren't where they're supposed to be," said Valkyrie, crossing her arms.

    Fishlegs frowned, "Well, that's weird."

    "We need to figure this out," said Hiccup. "Let's check out Tall Tree Island."

    Snotlout shrugged, "Sounds awesome, I was wondering what I was gonna do with the rest of my day."

    "Sleep?" offered Val.

    "Shut up, Val."

    But as soon as they were up in the air, Snotlout spun Hookfang right around and cried out, "See you back on Berk, suckers!"

    Valkyrie sighed, running her hands along Zephyr's scales, "Why am I not surprised?"

    The Dragon Riders continued along. Valkyrie and Astrid took to racing half-way through, trying to fill up the time it took to travel from Dragon Island to Tall Tree Island at the end of their Archipelago. At least, what they've discovered so far.

     They thought they reached it, except, where it should be, there was no island in sight. Valkyrie thought that they could have gotten lost, but even from here, they should be able to see it. It was as if it had just disappeared. Valkyrie frowned, hands on her hips as she peered around at the ocean.

     "What could have happened?" she asked.

    "Earthquake?" suggested Fishlegs.

     "Volcano?" shrugged Hiccup.

    "Act of Thor or Odin?"

    They all stared at Hott. He frowned. "What?! I'm just throwing out ideas."

    "None of that explains this!" Astrid's distressed tone made them all spin East. Valkyrie gasped and just ducked a flock of Monstous Nightmares swoop overhead, painted orange.

    She watched them go, a brow quirked, "Orange?"

    "Burnt apricot, actually," stated Fishlegs. She shot him a scowl.

     "What island are they from?"

    Hiccup glanced down at the map, "According to this they're from Sunstone Island."

    "Ooh! Sunstone Island!" Fishlegs soon grinned, clapping his hands together. "Pristine beaches, avertable smorgasbord of fine mineral deposts for Meatlug," he hugged his dragon tenderly. She clattered up at him.

    "Well," Hiccup spun Toothless East. "Sunstone Island it is."

    Fishlegs was very confused when they arrived to see only a single tree on a stump of rock. Valkyrie only just barely fit on, Zephyr scrambling to stay onto the island, his tail reaching the ocean.

    "Huh," he looked around them, "I thought it was bigger."

    "You think?" grumbled Astrid as Stormfly clawed back up with her talons.

    "I━I have to say," said Hiccup, "the beaches are ... a bit of a disappointment."

     Hott arched a brow at him, "Really?"

    "One island is missing and one island has been sunk..." Fishlegs twiddled his thumbs.

    "I guess an entire island can disappear," murmured Valkyrie, glancing around at the ocean that stretched out all around them.

    "Well, if━if the islands are gone, where do the dragons go?"

     "Good question," said Hiccup. He looked very worried. "Dragons live in specific places for specific reasons."

    Fishlegs nodded, agreeing, "The food they eat ... where they nest ..."

     "If they lose their homes," realised Valkyrie, "it could endager their whole species!"

     Hiccup set his jaw, glaring at the stone. "We need to figure out what's going on. Now. Let's head back to Dragon Island."

    "If it's still there," mumbled Astrid as they took off again.

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    ━━"Look at them all!"

    As soon as they set back down on Dragon Island, it wasn't hard to notice the growing flock of dragons flying around. Valkyrie saw all different colours on their bellies, backs and tails. Her stomach started to churn. What was causing their islands to disappear, giving them no choice but to flee here? What could do such a thing?

    "Check their colours!" said Astrid, gaze flickering around.

    "I━I see pistachio," pointed Fishlegs, growing pale, "b━burnt apricot."

    "Look!" Hott gestured gestured up at a set of Nadders. "That's our colour━red."

    "Actually, that's vermillion."

    He, Astrid and Valkyrie all glared at Fishlegs.

   "What? It is!"

   "Dragons from three different islands are somehow here," Hiccup tugged the map back over, spreading it along the stone face with his pencil in his fingers. "Look, this forms a line━" he drew such, "━which means there a more islands in danger. Boarhead Island, Thor Rock Island," he glowered, starting to come up with a quick plan. "Toothless," he turned to the Night Fury, "we're going back out."

    Valkyrie didn't hesitate in following, "I'm coming with you," she held out her hand and Zephyr was at her side in moments. "This could get dangerous," she pulled herself up onto the saddle.

     He spun Toothless to her, brow arched, "What makes you think that?"

     Val met his gaze with a similar one of her own, "Uh, disappearing islands?"

     He considered this. "Fine," she grinned, triumphant. "Fishlegs, Astrid, Hott, you guys stay here in case any more dragons show up. We'll be back."

     They took off and Valkyrie flew in close enough to be in hearing shot. She traced Zephyr's scales, a little nervous. Something was causing these islands to disappear━maybe the gods were angry at the dragons? Or maybe there was a thing; something big enough and destructive enough to cause this.

      Zephyr was growing nervous, too, bobbing his head as they came closer and closer to where Boarhead Island should be. Instead, there was just ocean. Valkyrie ran a hand through her hair, her flowers coming askew.

     "How is this happening?" she asked, knowing that Hiccup had no answer. "Is there a humongous tidal class dragon we don't know about?"

     Hiccup pursed his lips as they started towards Thor Rock. "I hope not. We already have enough to worry about. Just ..." he glanced at her, brows lifted. "Stay close, okay?"

     Valkyrie nodded and dipped Zepher even closer to Hiccup and Toothless. Thor Rock wasn't far from here, and thankfully, she could see its formations in the horizon━however, it was far smaller than she remembered it.

     "Holy Odin," she breathed, eyes wide. "Look what's left! Barely anything!"

     Hiccup glanced at her, "Let's get a closer look."

     She pursed her lips and together, they dived down towards the island. They soared around the side of the island, spotting something on the West Beach. Hiccup led the way towards it, pulling back as he frowned at the gaping hole; a tunnel.

     Zephyr grew more and more restless.

     Valkyrie narrowed her eyes, "That looks familiar..." she murmured, hand on Zephyr's flank as he gave a sudden jerk. "Whoa, boy ... it's okay ..." He tried to get her away, but Valkyrie kept him still, refusing to leave Hiccup and Toothless.

     "Hiccup," she said, breathless in her struggles. "Something isn't right here. Zephyr's going crazy."

     "You're right, Val," he said, but made no move to fly away. "These markings are familiar; but they're bigger ... different."

     A scream of a roar made them jump. Zephyr squawked, growing more and more desperate. Valkyrie's heart dropped as she saw formations in front of them crumble into the ocean. And that sound ... It made her skin crawl as she recognised it━

     Out of the tunnel in a cloud of debris, rock, dirt and dust, appeared the dragon of their nightmares. Bone-white and colossal, it flew into the air, baring his saber teeth and flaring his blood-red eyes. He looked even bigger━far bigger than the last time they had seen him. He opened his maw and roared, making their dragons cower and hide their ears.

    "The Screaming Death!" cried Valkyrie, beginning to tremble.

    Hiccup eyed his size, pale. "Uh━someone's been eating their vegetables."

     "And everything else in sight!" Valkyrie snapped, not in the mood for his sarcasm when their deaths were staring them right in the face with soulless red eyes. She did her best to keep Zephyr up as he shook the scream from his senses, staggering dowards. The Screaming Death roared yet again before burrowing back down into his hole, showering them with rock.

     They darted in and out of the falling debris.

     "The Screaming Death has been destroying all the islands," realised Hiccup. "It must be tunneling underneath and causing them to collapse in on themselves!"

    "But why?"

     "I don't know. Let's get a closer look."

     Her eyes widened.

     Hiccup tilted Toothless up, "You wanted dangerous━" he shot off.

     Valkyrie gritted her teeth before following, "Not this dangerous!"

      They made it over the top formation, what used to be Thor's wrist when it shattered right behind them. Valkyrie gasped and urged Zephyr to go faster as the Screaming Death crashed through. "HICCUP!" she shouted to see him falter right in front of the dragon's humongous head. "What are you doing?!"

     "Easy, bud," he told his dragon who growled and flared his wings. "Maybe ... Maybe it wants to be friends?" The Screaming Death glared. "Or━or not━ah!" he barely dodged the fires; multiple shots that burst in and out of the sides of his scaly neck and out in rings through his mouth.

     Valkyrie gasped and raced to help. She grabbed the last of her yellow paint and chucked it with everything she held. It hit the Screaming Death right in the eyes and his aim was knocked askew. He shook his head, closing his mouth and allowing Hiccup to dart away. "HA! Take that you overgrown lizard!"

     He glowered up at her.

    "All right, Zephyr━race time!"

     Valkyrie lied her chest against her saddle as Zephyr folded his wings and dive-bombed right to the ocean floor to gain enough speed as they could. As the Screaming Death followed, they darted it and around the Thor Rock sea stacks. The gigantic Whispering Death just plowed right through them, furious at the yellow paint coating his scales. He must remember them; they had burnt some of his scales right to his tender skin. That would make a dragon angry, for sure.

     "Up! UP! UP!"

     Zephyr shot right up, vertical as she tried to use the Screaming Death's size against it. She glanced back briefly, seeing him follow her and open his mouth.

     But Hiccup was there to send a plasma blast right to his jaw, knocking him to the side. He roared but turned away, heading back for the island. Valkyrie pulled Zephyr to a halt, his chest heaving. Hiccup and Toothless came to her side.

    "You all right?!" he asked her.

    Valkyrie nodded, "We're okay," she watched the Screaming Death get further and further away. "We need to get back to Dragon Island━now."

     Hiccup didn't disagree. He just turned Toothless and led the way.

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    ━━Fishlegs was stressed when they returned. He, Astrid and Hott met them as soon as they landed, recognising the looks on their faces. Astrid clenched her hands, eyes wide as she understood that what they had seen hadn't been good.

    "Periwinkle blue!" cried Fishlegs in dismay. "There are now periwinkle blue marked dragons here!"

    "I know," Hiccup leapt off his saddle. Valkyrie followed, checking whether Zephyr was okay. She hugged him around his neck, apologising for keeping him in that situation. "Boarhead Island."

    "A━and look!" he pointed up at the flock of dragons that had grown bigger. "There's eggshell white!"

    "Thor Rock Island," said Valkyrie, a little shaky.

    "What happened to them?!"

    Hiccup pulled out his map and they were back to the stone, shoulder-to-shoulder as the looked down at the marked islands. As they did, Valkyrie grabbed Astrid's hand, her heart racing as she stated the horrible news: "The Screaming Death."

    Fishlegs let out a strangled gasp. Astrid squeezed Valkyrie's hand. Hott cursed. "The Screaming Death is back?!"

    Hiccup scowled as he crossed of the islands they passed and circled the next in the line. "I don't think it ever really left."

    "Yeah," agreed Val, trying to stay calm. There were a lot of dragons she's faced; one of them being the Red Death. But none seemed to scare her as much as the Screaming Death; it made her knees tremble, begging to run away and hide. "It just got bigger and nastier."

    "How much bigger?"

    "Chop, chop━" she snapped her fingers together at Hott, "━there goes your island big." Fishlegs whimpered.

    Hiccup was still focused on the map. "It's just as I thought ..." he continued to draw his line, "━the Screaming Death is following an imaginary line, destroying anything in its path." He neared Dragon Island.

    "He's coming right at us," growled Astrid.

    "That's not even the worst part," Hiccup reached his finish line, circling their home at the corner of the map.

     "He's heading straight to Berk," Hott paled.

    "But ..." Valkyrie was confused. "Whispering Death's have a territorial connection to their birthplace. Why would he want to destroy it? What is he looking for?"

    "I don't know," Hiccup sighed. "But right now, we need to focus on stopping him."

    "We have to get back to Berk and━and warn Stoick!" gasped Fishlegs.

    "No, we head it off," Hiccup told him, determined. "We make our stand here, there's no other land between here and Berk."

    "Hiccup," Valkyrie took his arm, and he finally noticed her shaking figure. "You━you saw that thing. Even with the lot of us, there's not enough to fight it off."

     He took her hand reassuringly, "It's not going to be just us," he told her. "We're sending for reinforcements."

    "Snotlout and the Twins?" Astrid blanched. "Oh, wow, so reassuring."

    "Hey," he sent her a look, signalling for Sharpshot who was annoying Spikemoth by the rocks, "we're gonna need all the help we can get." He quickly wrote a message and attatched it to the leg of the Terrible Terror before sending him off.

    Valkyrie fiddled with her fingers and turned back to Zephyr. She reached out to him for comfort and he dipped his head, wrapping her up in a tight, protective hug. She thought of everyone at Berk━her family, her friends, all the kids and the villagers. They couldn't let the Screaming Death reach it, and she knew she had to fight, but she had a serious need to run away━to take flight. It scared her more than the Screaming Death.

    That wasn't who she was.

    She looked over at Hott at that fear grew. What was she doing letting her younger brother be apart of all this? He could get killed! And it would be her fault━

     "Hey," Astrid ran a comforting hand along her arm. "Val, it's going to be okay."

    Valkyrie turned around and met her gaze. "What if━what if it isn't? You didn't see how big the Screaming Death has gotten ... he ... I'm scared, Astrid. I don't━I don't know what to do."

      Her friend faltered. She leaned in and set her forehead agianst Val's and she found herself calming down. Astrid held her arm tight, fiercly. "It'll be fine," she told her. "We'll make it fine, okay? You're scared, and that's okay, but the only thing to do is face it, otherwise it'll become too much."

      Valkyrie nodded. She felt ashamed, but when Astrid hugged her, that shame went away to hear the slight tremble of her breath, too.

     An hour passed and the Twins and Snotlout were yet to arrive. Hiccup was perched at the edge of one of the shore rocks, staring into the distance with his spyglass. They started to see yellow dragons join the fray, and an uneasy feeling settled━they were running out of time. Dragon Island was next in the Screaming Death's road. Help wasn't coming; they could do nothing but set up a defensive perimieter with what they had━rocks, Red Death bones and more rocks ...

     They heard his scream even before they saw him in the horizon. Valkyrie froze, her breath hitched. Hiccup stepped away from the map, eyes wide. He ran for his shield, snatching it up and racing straight for Toothless.

    "Toothless and I will try to buy us some time. You guys join me when Snotlout and the Twins get here."

    "You can't seriously just face him off by yourself," Valkyrie exclaimed. She was terrified, but she knew she couldn't just let Hiccup go out there alone. Even with a Night Fury. "I'm going with you."

    "No," he told her, strongly. She frowned. "I mean it this time, Val. I need you here as a safety net in case it gets past me."

     She pursed her lips, but let him go. They flew off and she raced for her mallet, pulling it off the back of her saddle. She aslo grabbed Hiccup's spyglass he left on the rock, peering through it to keep an eye on him. The others were at her shoulders, trying to see the Screaming Death with bated breaths.

     Astrid kept an eye out for the Twins and Snotlout. But as the Screaming Death came into view of the skyline and the small black dot that was Hiccup and Toothless tried to steer him away, reinforcements were nowhere in sight.

     Valkyrie was getting more and more anxious. She swapped with Astrid, using the spyglass to peer back towards Berk. She gritted her teeth.

     "Ugh!" she snapped, turning away with a stamp of her foot. "I knew we couldn't rely on that Terrible Terror Air Mail."

   "Actually, we can," Fishlegs told her. She rolled her eyes. "Like all dragons, Terrible Terrors are━"

    "Territorial, I know."

    Suddenly, his eyes lit up. The pudgy Viking spun to her and began to grin. "Wait! That's it!" he exclaimed. "Val━you're a genius!" he took her by the shoulders and gave her a shake. She stared at him, incredulous. "Oh, I could kiss you on the lips right now━!"

    She socked him in the stomach for that comment. He doubled over, wheezing. "No!" she shouted, remembering the bet she made with Hiccup earlier. "I am not kissing anyone on the lips! Ever!"

    "Aside from Hiccup," muttered Hott.

    "Not the point!"

    The Screaming Death roared in the distance, and Valkyrie's worry returned.

    "Why don't you guys go and cover Hiccup's back," said Fishlegs, already shuffling away. "I━I've got an idea. But I'll need time."

    "Wait!" Astrid shouted after him. "Where are you going?"

    "Just trust me!"

    He ran to the far side of the island, giving the others no choice but to trust him.

     Valkyrie was first on her saddle, taking to the air. Hott and Astrid followed and they all shot like arrows towards the Screaming Death that was close enough they could see Hiccup on Toothless's back.

     They split up as they got closer. Valkyrie took Zephyr to the cover of the sky, his scales blending in. Extending his wings, he spun around and they dived down towards the Screaming Death. Valkyrie glowered, "Ready, boy? Heat-blast━NOW!"

     The boiling breath of the Windstriker seared the scales in the same spot they had struck before. The Screaming Death shrieked, spinning around from Hiccup to roar up at her, but she was gone before he got the chance to follow. On his other side, Astrid fired a blast that rocked him to the side. He turned again and Hott was there with Spikemoth's own.

     "Hey! Over-grown earthworm!" Hott shouted. "Over here!"

     He and Spikemoth dived in and out of the multiple shots the Screaming Death fired. Valkyrie dived Zephyr back down as he stopped to draw his fire━the next heat-blast boiled the scales by his snout.

     He screamed, and Valkyrie gasped as she ducked Zephyr down from his tail that whipped around. But she wasn't quick enough. Val's scream was knocked from her chest as she was winded, flying away from Zephyr at tremendous speed. He squawked at her, flapping his wings desperate to reach her. She heard Hiccup shout her name when the water hit her━a complete shock to her skin. The cold clouded her senses, or maybe it was the pain of the impact. She couldn't move her legs as she sunk lower and lower, black dots dancing around her eyes.

     She closed them, and descended into the depths.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

     ━━When she opened her eyes again, she was relieved to find herself home again. She ached all over, but was alive, and it seemed her home was still in tact, which meant the others managed to handle the Screaming Death. They were safe, for now.

    Zephyr perked up in seeing her awake and a grin formed on his long snout. He bodded his head and squawked, nudging her over and over. She giggled, wrapping her arms around him, and just holding onto him as she continued to wake.

    The door opened, and Valkyrie heard a crash. She looked over and saw her mother drop the bowl she had carried in. "Val!" she cried and raced to her daughter, crouching down at her other side and showering her with kisses. Valkyrie chuckled, leaning towards her mother. "Oh, you strong girl, you strong warrior━I knew you'd be okay."

      She got stonger as the day went along. Zephyr stayed at her side, lying his head protectively on her chest. But he allowed Astrid to come close and explain everything that had happened and how Fishlegs saved the day. Valkyrie smiled weakly, proud of him.

     But she knew it wasn't the last they saw of the Screaming Death; it never was.

    Valkyrie was trying to sleep when Hiccup came to visit. He had been really busy━always was, but as soon as he knew she was awake, he finished everything as quick as he could and raced over. Zephyr perked up when he peeked in through the door with Toothless behind him and Valkyrie glanced over.

     She breathed a smile when she saw him holding a cup of water. "Hi," she croaked.

    "Hello, Milady," he said softly as he came to kneel down beside her. She kept her head on her pillow, feeling fluttery when he reached a hand to tuck her hair out of her face. Toothless purred and nudged her, happy she was alive. "Thought we lost you there for a second."

     "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I should have been quicker."

     "Hey, don't be sorry," Hiccup told her, setting the drink aside and sitting down on the floor so he could meet her gaze by height. "That thing is huge━any of us could have been hit. I don't think even Toothless and I could have escaped that tail. I'm just happy you're okay."

      Valkyrie let him take her hand, linking their fingers. She played with them for a little bit, just happy he was here before she said, "I don't think I can come to tomorrow's training."

      Hiccup chuckled, shaking his head at her. She grinned, proud she made him laugh. "You are having a break for two weeks at least," he told her.

      "Two weeks?"

      "Yep," he gave no room for argument. And deep down, Valkyrie was grateful for the rest. "You are officially on bed rest, Milady. Gothi's orders."

      "Oh, do not want to go against her."

      "Wouldn't be the wisest choice."

      "She'd whack me over the head with her staff."

      "Yes, she will," Hiccup leaned in and kissed her gently, cupping her cheek. Valkyrie's eyes fluttered close, exhaling out with a breath of exhaustion.

      When he pulled away, she furrowed her brows. "You'll come and visit the next two weeks?"

       Hiccup nodded. He brushed more of her hair out of her face, "Every day," he promised.

       Valkyrie smiled.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

     a/n:

     me: I need to cut this episode short cos I have to do homework and the episode disappears off the website tomorrow.

     me: we need to be smart, something ingenious.

    me: *knocks Val out for cute cliche moment at the end* perfect.

    Lol I'm so sorry for the shitty chapter. I think I've decided the episodes I'll have to skip to keep up. I've prewritten what I've can. But these are the episodes imma have to pass off:

     Episode 9; basically what happens is the gang is out destroying old dragon traps, Tuff gets stuck in one and meets torch again. The gang stop a fire from spreading to Berk. I imagine during this time Valkyrie is recovering.

     Episode 11; this is part two to a view to a skrill. Hiccup and the twins are on outcast island, they discover that the berserkers and the outcasts are working together and free the skrill. Valkyrie isn't in the episode at all, but stuff will be explained in episode 12.

     Episode 16; the eel effect is hiccup gathering medical supplies for Gothi, toothless eats an eel and gets sick and hiccup and fishlegs help him. Valkyrie is helping her family and tending to the sick people of Berk. She gets sick herself.

    The last two episodes will probably put in one chapter, like in riders of Berk. I dunno yet. I'm trying my best, but I'm seriously running out of time to write all these episodes and get my art homework done. I'm writing one to two episodes a day, plus drawing full on projects and writing other books as well as doing written assessments and fixing a resume. I'm a little stressed ahahaah.