━━ chapter thirteen
a tale of two dragons

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━━Across the hills, cliffs and fields of Berk, a horn sounded. It echoed, waking all the Dragon Riders from their slumbers. They knew that sound; it had been drilled into them by Hiccup far too many times. Today, was yet another drill for the Screaming Death, preparing each and every one of them for when the great white dragon finally attacked, finishing his vengeance.

Valkyrie was determined to be ready. Recently, she has spent her time fearing the Screaming Death; avoiding the truth. It had gotten her into arguments, into trouble, into serious moments of self-evaluation of what really caused for her to falter in her role as a Dragon Rider. But now that she understood━or rather, had little time or choice to not, she was sure to be the most prepared.

She was stationed at the Great Hall, and was heading there right now. The morning sun was only just rising over the ocean horizon, spreading Berk in a gorgeous glow. Valkyrie knew that when the Screaming Death truly attacked, it wouldn't be this tranquil.

Or perhaps she spoke too soon.

"Whoa!" Valkyrie spun Zephyr to the left to avoid the obnoxious sight that was Snotlout and Hookfang. She sighed, gritting her teeth. He cheered, overtaking her in her journey. She urged Zephyr to catch up, pulling up next to him to snap, "Snotlout! What are you doing here?"

He was in the mood to anger her, for sure, since he leaned in and jeered, "I'm sorry, did I scare your girly little dragon?"

She did not have the patience to deal with this right now. Zephyr huffed, giving Snotlout a side-glare. "Get out of my way!" Valkyrie growled. "I have to get to the Great Hall."

"No, you don't," said Snotlout, pointing proudly to himself. "I have to get to the Great Hall. You have to get to the armoury."

"Hiccup assigned me to the Great Hall yesterday. You heard him!"

"Tell you what, whoever gets there first━me━gets to guard it."

Valkyrie gritted her teeth. He knew how to play into her weaknesses; forcing her competitive streak out. She was too prideful to let herself lose this to Snotlout. "Fine!" she snapped and dived Zephyr down but before she could get anywhere, something slimy slammed into her face.

She shrieked, losing control. Zephyr balked in surprise, his tail flying down and ripping into the wood of a nearby wagon. Vikings gasped and jumped out of the way. "SNOTLOUT!" screamed Valkyrie in her anger; she wasn't competiting anymore, she was furious. He threw fish at her and it knocked her flower crown off!

He cackled at her. "Val, I thought you liked cod!" His grin fell away at the glare on her face. "Oh, no━"

Instead of racing, Valkyrie dived Zephyr straight to Snotlout, determined to get back at him. They weaved in and out of houses, shooting to the Great Hall at full speed. No one messes with her flowers! Valkyrie managed to get close enough to shove Hookfang to the side, but the Monstrous Nightmare's claws got stuck in the bottom of her saddle and the lot of them tumbled through the door of the Great Hall.

Valkyrie rolled across the ground, dazed with Zephyr beside her. His flower crown was steaming from Hookfang's skin on fire. The Vikings who were just spending their morning inside all screamed as they ran out. She gritted her teeth, glaring at Snotlout who stood up and gestured to the burning table near them.

"Look what you did!" he shouted at her.

"Me?!" she screamed. "Your dragon lights itself on fire!"

"Yeah? And what does your girly dragon do? Nothing! He just wears weak girly flowers━like you!"

She yelled in her fury and grabbed a nearby bowl of half-eaten stew, chucking at him. He shrieked and ran out with the rest of the Vikings. Valkyrie grabbed a piece of bread and chased him out,.

The two of them faltered, however, to see Stoick and Hiccup standing outside━neither looked happy, at all.

Valkyrie hid her bread. (Not before shoving Snotlout to have the last word. He glared at her).

Stoick rallied up the rest of the teens for his lecture. Valkyrie stood next to Astrid, shooting daggers across the line to Snotlout. Hiccup sighed at them, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a half-and-half situation with Val and Snotlout. Some days, they got along, were friends. Other days? They wanted to rip each other's throats out━or rather, just Valkyrie, Snotlout loved to fuel her reactions until she was a boiling pit of fury. Only a few people got her to that point, and Snotlout was one of them.

"When you told me you'd be running the Screaming Death attack drill," Stoick said as he paced the line of teens. "I assumed you wouldn't actually try to destroy the entire village!"

"Uh, technically," Fishlegs held up a finger, "chief, it was just the Great Hall━" he snapped his mouth shut at the glare he sent him. "And I'll let you take it from here."

"Dad, this was supposed to be a practice drill, but it just got out of hand," Hiccup shot Valkyrie and Snotlout each a look of annoyance. "I'm sorry."

"Uh, sorry doesn't unburn Silent Sven's chest hair━" Gobber pointed back at the farmer who was still trying to dampen is smoking chest.

"No," agreed Stoick, "it certainly does not. Which brings me to your punishment."

Valkyrie glowered at Snotlout.

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━━"Mildew's Farm? Gods! Just send me on a boat out to the end of the word already!" Hott complained, kicking up an old, rotten cabbage and waching it roll across the soil. He shot Valkyrie a glare, like this was all her fault.

"Hey!" she argued. "I didn't do anything, Snotlout is the one who started it all━"

"Okay━" Hiccup set his hands on her shoulders and guided her away before another argument could start. She seethed. "My dad wants this field cleared and ready for planting by the end of the week. Val, Snotlout━" he eyed then, daring them to argue, "you two break down and clear out the big boulders on the far end while━"

"Actually," Snotlout crossed his arms, smirking at Val, "that sounds more like a man's job."

She sneered, "Oh, really?" she snarked back, spinning on her feet to face him. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, better give me Fishlegs instead."

Fishlegs frowned to himself, "I ... I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult."

Astrid just patted his shoulder.

Snotlout gaped, clearly offended. Valkyrie crossed her arms, proud. "Huh? Val, please, what do you see when you look over here?" He quickly flexed, showing off his muscles. She was revolted.

"An idiot with half a brain?"

He froze, glowering. "Uh━no," he pointed back at Hookfang, "you see five thousand pounds of boulder crushing splendor!"

"Yeah, sure," she turned to Hiccup, expecting him to back her up. But he arched a brow. She sighed, knowing deep down, he was right, but she still threw her head back. "Fine," she snapped and stormed past Snotlout. "Just don't slow be down, boulder boy."

They got to work. Valkyrie refused to speak to Snotlout, and that seemed to work. They just did their job, taking boulders and moving them away from the soil. They were going to use the good-sized ones for catapults, while the rest were destroyed with plasma blasts or gobbled up by Meatlug. Until Snotlout shoved past her with a rock, almost knocking her from her saddle.

She spun Zephyr around, "Hey!" she snapped. "What is wrong with you?! You could have hurt Zephyr!"

Snotlout gaped at her as Hookfang dropped down the boulder. "What?! I didn't do anything! You were in my way!"

"There is achres of room around us!"

"I told you to stay out of my way━it's your fault I almost hurt your weak kettle━"

"My fault?!" she exclaimed. "MY FAULT?! Zeph and I were just minding our own business until you and your overheated oven barged right into us!"

"Oh, gods..." Hiccup mumbled to himself, face-palming. He guided Toothless over, eager to stop the fight.

"Come on, Val━we both know this is Viking work, not flower-girl work."

"Exactly," she snapped back as their dragons grew closer, "so what are you doing here?"

Snotlout readied to fire another insult when all of a sudden, Hookfang's eyes slitted in anger. He screeched and shot out a column blast right in Zephyr and Valkyrie's way. She gasped, holding her arms up. Zephyr only just got out of the way, roaring. He jumped forward, firing a heat blast that would have burnt Hookfang's scales right to his flesh if he didn't jump back.

"Zephyr, stop!" Valkyrie frowned, having not asked him to do anything. She tried to pull him back, but he was out of control. He shoved her hands away, shrieking and flaring out his wings. Snotlout was having similar trouble, yanking Hookfang's horns with shouts of his name as he attacked Valkyrie and her dragon. Soon, a minature fight started, and it wouldn't stop, no matter how hard Valkyrie and Snotlout tried.

"Hookfang! Stop! Heel━!"

"━Zephyr! Cut it out! Calm down━!"

"━Toothless, plasma blast━!"

Valkyrie shielded her eyes from the purple light, but it did nothing to stop their dragons. If anything, it just made them angrier. Toothless flew in, trying to stop them when━as soon as he touched the ground━he, too, grew aggressive.

"NO! Zephyr, stop!"

"HOOKFANG! STOP IT!"

"Whoa, bud━come on! We're trying to break up the fight not win it!"

"This is awesome," murmured Tuff to his sister. She agreed, grinning.

Valkyrie had never lost control over Zephyr like this. She liked to think they had a great bond. They were the dearest of friends. She could understand Snotlout and Hookfang, but them? Not even Hiccup could control Toothless. It was chaos.

"Guys!" Hiccup tugged his saddle, bewildered. "Back your dragons away from each other."

"I'm trying!"

"Well try harder!" Toothless snarled at Zephyr which caused for the Windstriker to rear up his head. They usually got along━never did they fight; they were best buds. Hiccup gritted his teeth. "Okay━everyone to the rock pile!"

Valkyrie forced Zephyr into flight. She pulled them away from the ground, and as soon as she got higher into the air, Zephyr would listen to her again. She set them down with Hiccup and Hookfang by the rock pile and immediately, she was onto the soil, storming up to Snotlout, seeing red.

He met her in the middle, equally as furious. "What is wrong with your dumb dragon!"

Hiccup skidded down the rock pile, trying to step in between them, "Guys━"

"My dumb dragon?!" Valkyrie barked. "Your flaming Snotmare was trying to barbecue us!"

"Guys━"

"SNOTMARE?!" Snotlout exploded. "Snot━" he stopped, thinking about it, "━I kind of like that!" he got into her face and Valkyrie sneered, not backing down━

"Oh, you would."

"Guys!"

"Oh, I would, huh?"

"Yeah! You would!"

"How about I call your dragon ugly?!"

"UGLY?! Zephyr is stunning! Look at his wings, I don't see you having beautiful patterns on your face!"

"My face is gorgeous!"

"Your face makes me want to barf!"

"Toothless!"

Hiccup's dragon roared and Valkyrie and Snotlout fell silent.

"Thank you━now!" Hiccup stood in between their two fuming figures, holding out a hand to Val's shoulder especially, scared she might lose it then and there. She didn't blame him, she was so close to grabbing her mallet and slamming it on Snotlout's stupid helmet! "Would somebody mind telling me what exactly was going on out there?"

"Simple!" snapped Snotlout. "Hookfang and me were just trying to do our job when Zephyr went crazy and tried to burn us alive!"

Valkyrie scoffed, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Hiccup━" she turned to her boyfriend, arms crossed with a look that begged for him to be on her side with this, "━Zeph and I were just doing our job when this lunatic and his red fire-pit worm started torching us!"

"Oh, come on!" shouted Snotlout. "When have we ever started a fight just for the sake of starting a fight?!"

Hiccup arched a brow while Valkyrie crossed her arms, glowering.

Snotlout realised what he said and backtracked, "Let me rephrase that."

Hiccup sighed. "Nevermind. Do you two think you can work together? Yes or no?" Valkyrie scowled at Snotlout, daring him to answer. She wouldn't say no or yes with everyone else around, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. And at the look on his face, Valkyrie had a feeling he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction either.

So, together, they grumbled, "Yes."

"Good," said Hiccup, hands on his hips. Valkyrie walked back to her dragon, running a soothing hand down his neck. She mounted the saddle and took off, saying not a word to Snotlout who followed.

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━━Valkyrie rethought everything by that night. She had agreed for Hiccup, working alongside Snotlout to help him feel less stressed. But Snotlout had almost fired Zephyr! She wasn't going to let him hurt her dragon again━she wouldn't ever put Zephyr into a dangerous situation like that. Not when Snotlout, the muttonhead, can't even control his own dragon. She decided she will show up, apologise for today, and then ask to work with him, or Astrid, or anyone but Snotlout.

Zephyr followed her, squawking curiously at her fuming steps up the stairs to Hiccup's house. She thought removing herself from the situation would be very mature and very helpful for her stressed boyfriend.

At least, she hoped.

Reaching the door, she rapped her knuckles on the wood.

It was a few seconds before he opened it.

Valkyrie's eyes lit up, happy, "Hiccup! Look, I'm sorry about today, but I seriously refuse to work with Snotlout━"

He awkwardly laughed over her words, making her stop immediately, taken aback. "Hey! Val! Val, hi! Hi, Val, hi, Val━what a beautiful night, let's talk outside━" he shoved her gently back down the stairs and closed the door quickly behind him.

She arched a brow, very confused.

He sighed and asked in a softer tone, as if scared his father would hear. "Uh, didn't we talk this out?"

"Yes, but I was thinking about it," Valkryie jutted her hip out. Zephyr tilted his head at them, watching. "I'm really sorry it got out of hand━" Hiccup sighed a little, relieved to hear her say that, "━I have no idea what overcame Zephyr but that is no excuse for what Snotlout and Hookfang did to us." And Hiccup's relieved look disappeared. Valkyrie gave him an exasperated look. "Hiccup," she chided, "I am not going to put Zephyr in danger by working with that muttonhead! Who can't even control his own dragon!"

"Oh, for the love of━fine, fine," he tried to calm her down, taking her arms and rubbing them as she glowered, hot-headed. "I will deal with it tomorrow, okay? I promise."

Her anger washed away and she beamed, beyond grateful. "Thank you!" she said.

"You're welcome," he said and she grinned at the tone of his voice.

"Don't be so grumpy-face," she teased and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, babe━you're amazing!"

She and Zephyr headed back down home, feeling much better about tomorrow. When morning rose, she hopped onto her dragon's saddle and met up with the others, heading straight to work. She hummed to herself, guiding Zephyr around with his tail and talons to claw away the soil and old roots. Valkyrie was mazing a flower crown as she did; a thank-you to Hiccup, because she knew full well she was frustrating him. She was obviously making a second for Toothless, because if she showed up without one for him, he would start complaining and annoying her until she did give him one.

However, she went quiet when she heard a familiar growl behind the dirt pile. Valkyrie pulled Zephyr to a stop, glancing over her shoulder suspiciously. The other sound went quiet, too. Valkyrie arched a brow. Leaning in close to her saddle, she quietly guided Zephyr up the dirt pile━

On the otherside, having had the same idea, was Snotlout and Hookfang.

Valkyrie understood what Hiccup had done immediately.

"Oh, come on!" she let out.

Snotlout turned up his nose, "Why that little━"

"━Option Three," scoffed Val, crossing her arms and leaning back in her saddle. "Ugh! I should have seen that coming, it's so Hiccup."

She and Snotlout eyed each other for a few moments.

Then, Valkyrie sat up straighter, "Well," she announced, nose turning upwards, "Zeph and I are going to prove that we are not the problem. By working with you!"

"Ppff!" Snotlout snorted. "Not as well as we're going to work with you! Right, Hookfang?"

"I'm going to work with you better," argued Valkyrie as she led Zephyr down the slope.

"Ha!" shot back Snotlout, following her. "You wish."

"Will, too."

"Will not."

They started to work, upturning dirt and such. They got to the same spot they were yesterday when, suddenly, Zephyr balked.

Valkyrie frowned, "Zeph━?" she tried to calm him down, but he snarled at Hookfang who reared back, flapping his wings. "Snotlout! Calm your dragon down!"

"I'm trying!" he argued, tugging Hookfang's horns. "He's not listening━"

"When does he ever listen━WHOA━!" Valkyrie screamed as she was thrown from her saddle. She hit the ground, skidding a little. Looking back up, she was shocked. Zephyr never ... never threw her off until now. He charged Hookfang, snapping his jaws fiercly. "Zephyr━stop it!"

Snotlout, too, was thrown from his saddle, landing a few paces beside Valkyrie. He was surprised as well, shouting his dragon's name as he fired at Zephyr.

It took a good few minutes to get them away from each other and calmed down. Valkyrie had no idea what had happened, and she refused to admit that her dragon started it this time. She petted his scales later that day in the arena, looking everywhere but Snotlout's eyes. She murmured a few questions to him, knowing he couldn't answer. He just nuzzled into her cheek, as if apologising for throwing her off. Valkyrie wanted to know why he had done it in the first place.

Zephyr was a proud dragon; he held himself high and mature. He has never sucummbed to dragon fights; he thought them primitave. Something was wrong with him━something was upsetting him, and Valkyrie was more concerned than she was angry.

Hiccup sighed as he walked up to them, standing between the two riders and their dragons, "Val, Snotlout, your dragons are out of control but I think I know why."

Val arched a brow at him, very concerned. She wanted to help Zephyr. She hugged him around the neck.

The chief's son continued, "This is the day I've always feared would come. Your dragons have picked up on your animosity to each other and now they are behaving the same way."

Snotlout blanched, immediately disagreeing. "Is it my fault that me and Hookfang are so in sync?" The Montrous Nightmare huffed at him, the smoke causing Snotlout to stumble forwards a little. He shot a glare at the dragon.

Hiccup walked over and took his arm, leading him over to Valkyrie. She let go of Zephyr, rearing back in her bewilderment. "But, you have both given me an idea. You both need to walk a mile in each other's shoes━" he swapped Snotlout with Val, taking her hand and tugging her to Hookfang. She stared at him, wide-eyed, a, what are you doing? "Or━in this case━saddles."

Val hunched up beside Hookfang, eyeing the chaotic dragon as he peered at her, mischevious. She shuffled a little away from him, glancing back and forth between him and Hiccup. Help, she asked. He just smiled, walking back to his place in the centre, very smug of himself. "Perfect," he decided.

"What?" she demanded. "What's perfect?"

"You two are gonna swap dragons for the day."

"What?!" she and Snotlout cried, horrified.

"That's right."

"It's a weak flower dragon!"

Zephyr glowered at Snotlout, baring his teeth into a snarl. Snotlout flinched, jumping away.

"If you can learn to understand each other's dragons," said Hiccup sternly, "then maybe you can learn to understand each other."

Hookfang nudged Valkyrie, sniffing at her and wanting attention. She pushed him away lightly.

"This does not work well with my manliness!" snapped Snotlout.

But Hiccup just turned to Toothless, leaving them with the others dragon. "You can take the day off and just get to know your new best friend."

"Hey," spoke up Tuff from where he and his sister stood watching under Barf and Belch's shadow. They didn't need to be here, but had wanted to see a possible fight unfold. "Does that mean if we━" he gestured between them, "━start fighting that we'll get the day off, too? 'Cause we will. Watch."

Ruffnut punched her brother.

"See?" he then attacked her and the two started to wrestle in the Academy. Their dragon copied their actions, the brother heads snapping at one another with snarls and shoves.

Hiccup sighed, "Nope," they paid no attention, still fighting, "the three of us, Fishlegs, Hott and Astrid are gonna head out to the field and keep working. My dad wants this done in time for planting."

The Twins weren't listening. Tuffnut was pulling his sisters hair as she smacked his face with cries of, "I━want━that━day━OFF!"

Valkyrie crossed her arms, very unhappy with this decision. She turned to Hookfang who continued to peer at her. "Oh, what are you looking at, you overgrown flame-eater."

He purred, affectionately nuzzling her shoulders.

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━━Valkyrie━reluctantly━spent the day with Hookfang. She wanted to see what Snotlout raved on about. She took Hookfang to the woods, immediately wanting to see how well he went with something her dragon didn't exel the best at: evasive manouvers amongst the trees.

"Come on, Hookfang!" she shouted as they darted in and out of trees in the wilderness. She held onto his horns, feeling them to have quite good, comfortable grip. He roared with defiance, excited to spin in and out, up and over. She stayed close to the saddle. He was fast━not as fast as Zephyr, of course, but still pretty fast. "Yeah! That's it, boy━there you go━aha!"

He was a ... pleasant surprise, Valkyrie will be honest. She has trained a Monstrous Nightmare once: Valerian back when she had snuck into Outcast Island disguised as Heather and needed a way out. But she didn't spend day-to-day with one like Snotlout did. She was sure she'd end up getting impatient━especially with someone like Hookfang. But he wasn't as stubborn as he seemed to be towards his rider. He didn't flame up on her for fun, he didn't throw her off randomly, nor did he lead her into branches and trees.

In fact, he was quite smooth to ride.

Of course, Valkyrie didn't hate Hookfang. She never did. She just always thought he was tempermental because he had Snotlout as his rider. (She didn't hate Snotlout, either. They just had their ups and downs in their complicated friendship).

"Okay," Valkyrie pulled them to a hover in the woods and set Hookfang down. She looked around and grinned when she found a lonesome tree. "Snotlout is always bragging about how much firepower you Nightmare's have━" Hookfang huffed smoke from his nostrils at her words, grinning up at her smugly, "━let's see what you got, boy!"

She tugged his horns back and Hookfang happily let loose a wide column of flame. Valkyrie's eyes widened, her breath hitching in amazement to see the entire top-half of the tree burn to ashes.

"Whoa!" she let out, chuckling in her shock. "That was━that was crazy big!"

Hookfang sat back, proud of himself. Valkyrie grinned and gave him a scratch under his chin. He closed his eyes, letting his tongue fall out with a purr. She giggled. "You're cute," she told him. "But don't tell Snotlout I said that."

He huffed in agreeance.

"Now," Valkyrie spun him back towards the thick of the woods, "let's find some red flowers to make you a cool fire flower crown."

Hookfang grinned, excited and she clapped her hands together, giddy. After finding the right flowers and making them matching flowercrowns, setting it amongst Hookfangs horns and on her own head, she took them for another flight.

She examined his flight patterns, looking around. She arched a impressed brow at his wings, "Wing-span, duly noted. Not too much flaming ... tail looks good ..." she looked back in front of her and gasped, "tree!"

Valkyrie pulled Hookfang back with an alarmed shout. He flapped his wings in his attempt to stop━the sheer wind force surged around them and Valkryie gaped, gobsmacked when the branch broke away from the tree, flying away yards from them.

There was a silence as she tried to comprehend.

"Holy Hel!" she let out, amazed. "Hookfang! I didn't know you could do that! Did you know you could do that?" she glanced down at him and he growled, very proud of himself. She smirked, "I bet Snotlout doesn't know you can do that."

The day continued very much like this. Valkyrie spent time with Hookfang until nightfall. She learnt a lot about him, and found herself ... enjoying her time with him. Valkyrie was growing attatched to the Monstrous Nightmare, something she never thought she'd admit━and most definitely will not admit to Snotlout!

She found that despite being proud and very stubborn like his rider, Hookfang was also extremely compassionate. He always wanted attention; nuzzling against her and huffing at her back for gaze. He reminded her of Zephyr in that manner, and it might've made her come to like him quicker.

Returning to the Academy at night, Valkyrie kept a straight face as she landed Hookfang down opposite Snotlout on Zephyr. In seeing her, her dragon's face lit up and he grinned, wagging his tail.

Hiccup and Toothless were waiting, watching the teens slip off the saddles of each other's dragons. "So?" he prompted. "How was it?"

"Eh, Zephyr flies pretty good," Snotlout said off-handedly, shrugging, "I mean, he can dive-bomb full vertical ... and is really really fast ... for a weak Sharp Class dragon. And he does━like━boil things so hot with his breath that it light's up and just ... melts solid rock, which is cool."

Zephyr nudged his head under Snotlout's arm, peeking up at him with those eyes Valkyrie knew too well. She crossed her arms suspiciously at Snotlout, did he play fetch with him? Because that is Zephyr's Play Fetch With Me face.

"He does indeed," nodded Hiccup, a little smug. "Val? What about you?"

"Hookfang's okay," she glanced at him, quickly taking off the flower crown before Snotlout could notice. Hiccup hid back a smile. "He's pretty powerful, so .... and he's easy to fly at top speed, which is good if you have little talent."

Hookfang huffed at her, and Valkyrie sneaked a scratch under his chin, not looking at Snotlout who propped his hands on his hips, smug.

"Yeah! And I have a little talent!" he realised the insult and snapped at her, "Wait━hey!"

Valkyrie smirked.

"Well," Hiccup was very proud of himself, seeing right through them, "it sounds like you both have a better appreciation for each other's dragons."

Valkyrie pursed her lips, crossing her arms. Snotlout scoffed, shrugging, "Psh, it's okay..."

Hiccup approached them, "So, that means maybe tomorrow you'll cut each other some slack?"

There was silence. Val stuck her tongue against her cheek, giving Snotlout a side glance, "Yeah, I guess..."

"Fine," Snotlout spun on his heel. "Can we go now?"

He left and Valkyrie fiddled with the flower crown she made Hookfang. He peered at her with those gentle eyes, tilting his head. Val rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of her feet, seeing Hiccup smile at her.

"Oh, don't act so smug," she told him lightly before giving all three dragons a scratch.

But as she walked up the ramp home, she had a smile on her face, already thinking of the best flowers that would look great against Hookfang's scales for tomorrow.

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━━The next morning, Valkyrie snuck to the Academy. She and Snotlout had decided with Hiccup it would be best to keep their dragons in the pens for the meantime as they figured out the problem between them. Which meant, Valkyrie had brought today's flower crowns and food with her ... but not just for Zephyr.

She was sneaking for a reason.

Valkyrie would refuse to let anyone see that she had started to like Hookfang, and wanted to spoil him like she did her dragon. Especially Snotlout.

Glancing around, she backed up to the ramp entrance, holding the fish and crowns to her chest━

She bumped into someone. "Ahhh!"

Valkyrie spun around. As soon as she saw who it was, she quickly hid all of her things behind her back. Val peered at Snotlout, a brow arched. He looked up at the sky, not meeting her gaze and looking very suspicious.

"Er━" she cleared her throat, shuffling back a little in hopes he wouldn't see what she had brought his dragon. "What━what are you doing here, Snotlout?"

"Nothing!" he answered quickly, also hiding something behind his back. She tried to catch a glimpse of it but he quickly moved to the side, blocking her view. "Nothing. What are you doing here?"

But then she saw a peek into the basket he had behind his back. Her eyes widened to see a cluster of chicken eggs. "Is━are those chicken eggs?" she stepped closer to the Jorgensen and he began to sweat. She put on her best intimidating, interrogation face. "Zeph's favourite food?" she realised with a gasp, shocked, "Did━did you come here to feed my dragon?"

"What? No!" Snotlout accidentally pulled out the basket in his attempt to shrug her words off. He glanced down at it and flushed. "Maybe ..." he pursed his lips at her glinting gaze. "Fine. Yes, I did. But what are you doing here? I smell something fishy!"

Valkyrie had been caught out. She shuffled closer to the Academy, her turn to grow flustered. As she moved, Snotlout saw the red flower crown hidden behind her back. He gasped, horrified. "Did you make my dragon a flower crown?!"

Val gaped, immediately shooting back a, "No!" She quickly thought of an excuse and decided to put it on her head, also showing the herring she brought him, too. "It's for me!"

"You hate red flower crowns!" Snotlout turned his nose up at her. "You complain that they don't match your hair! And you brought a fish!"

Valkyrie went red. Looking at the herring and up at the petals dangling down, she took the crown off and grumbled, "Fine! Maybe I brought Hookfang a little breakfast and a present."

"Hookfang loves breakfast and presents!" Snotlout faltered. There was a stiffling silence between them. Valkyrie shuffled her feet. "That was ... actually, well ... nice of you."

A realisation hit them at the same time. They locked eyes and exclaimed to one another, "You like my dragon!"

Simoultaneously, they stepped away from each other, glaring at the ocean. Valkyrie fiddled with the flower crown awkwardly.

Snotlout glanced at her briefly, "Don't tell anyone!" he told her. "Okay?"

Not looking at him, Valkyrie quickly met his hand with her fist softly, "Deal; as long as you don't tell anyone." She continued down towards the Academy, leaving Snotlout a little surprised she didn't hurt him.

However, when she stepped inside, the sight made her gasp with terror.

Snotlout stopped beside her, freezing up to see the same thing.

The pens their dragons were in were completely broken apart━the doors were burst off the hinges and Zephyr and Hookfang were nowhere to be seen.

Together, they gathered the rest of the Riders, frantically explaining what had happened. They left out the fact they came to feed the others dragons, but it was a minor detail in the whole scheme of things━their dragons were missing!

Valkyrie paced, tugging at her hair with her heart racing. Where could have they gone? Did someone take them? Was Zephyr okay? Was he hurt━oh, please don't let him be hurt.

"We'll find them," Astrid tried to reassure her as she paced past. "It's going to be okay."

Val chewed at her nails, continuing to pace. Her brother held out a hand to comfort her, but Astrid shook her head━she knew that if he even tried to, Valkyrie would most likely snap and twist his wrist or something. She was stressed━she couldn't think of anything but her dragon.

The Twins didn't understand this, however. Tuff crossed his arms and scoffed at the two scared Riders. "We've done a lot of dumb things in our life," he said, "but we have never lost a dragon. Not a whole one."

Ruff nodded, and she pointed at Valkyrie with a scowl, "I am very disappointed in you, young lady."

Val glared at them, stopping her pacing to clench her hands and grit her teeth. "Say that again!" she stormed up to them. "Come on━say it to my face━!"

"Okay━" Hiccup tugged her back, the only one who could get close to her in this state without her punching or kicking. "Okay! It's going to be okay," he said to her and Snotlout. "They can't be far. We'll split up the island."

"Uh, actually?" Fishlegs spoke up and they all turned to face him. He winced. "I might actually know where they are."

Valkyrie's breath hitched with hope and she raced to Toothless, hopping onto the saddle and giving room for Hiccup to sit in front of her. Snotlout stepped up onto Meatlug's saddle behind Fishlegs and they took off back to Mildew's Farm.

Val's eyes widened to see that Fishlegs was right. Zephyr and Hookfang were exactly where he said, the same spot they've been the past few days━fighting. They danced and dodged each other's fire around a pit in the ground where Valkyrie could see a glimpse of something inside.

"We need to break this up!" cried Snotlout.

Valkyrie agreed, "Who knows what they'll do to each other!"

Hiccup briefly glanced at her over his shoulder, "I'm open to ideas."

Val glared down; she didn't have an idea, at all. She just knew she had to be down there with them. "Drop me in," she decided.

Hiccup was wary, but he knew better than to argue. Especially when Snotlout nodded and said, "Me, too!"

As soon as her feet hit the ground, Valkyrie ran to Zephyr, her arms up in desperation to calm him. Snotlout followed her actions, running down the dirt pile to Hookfang. Up above, the rest circled.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup was saying. "How did you know they were gonna be here?"

"The more I thought about it, the more I wondered what made this situation different than any other. It was the field!"

"We've been in a lot of fields."

"No, no, no," Fishlegs pointed to the pit the dragons fought around. "Not like this one."

Hiccup recognised the plant under the dirt, "Dragon Root."

Tuffnut gasped, "No! Not Dragon Root! That's terrible!"

Hiccup sighed at him, "Y━You don't actually know what Dragon Root is, do you?"

"Not even slightly. Not even the faintest. I mean I think I know what dragon means."

"Dragon Root is like Dragon Nip, only more powerful," explained Fishlegs as the group of them continued to circle the fight below where Valkyrie and Snotlout pranced around their dragons, still trying to calm them down. "Dragons crave it but instead of making them happy and calm, it makes them━"

"Want to rip each other apart, wing from wing?" finished Tuff.

"Exactly."

Ruff's eyes lit up and she grinned, "Cool!"

"Sounds good! Do they have it for people!"

"Well, we can't leave Val and Snotlout down there," said Astrid. "We have to help!"

Valkyrie waved her hands, tyring to gain Zephyr's attention. She had absolutely no idea what to do━she thought that maybe if he saw her, he would stop, but so far, it wasn't working. "Zephyr, calm down!" she cried. "It's me! Everything is okay!"

He darted from her and Valkyrie gasped, hitting the ground to avoid the spines on the tip of his tail. Snotlout tried to leap onto his saddle from the dirt pile, but Hookfang moved at last minute, and he hit the ground.

He spat soil out of his mouth, glancing at Val. "They're ignoring us! How do we get their attention?"

Like that, an idea hit Valkyrie. She winced, realising how stupid it was━it was Hiccup stupid. "I ... I might have an idea," she admitted, pushing herself back onto her feet. "But it's stupid and reckless."

"You had be at stupid!"

And so, Valkyrie set her jaw and ran straight into the fight. Dodging one of Hookfang's blasts, she skidded to a stop right in front of him, locking gaze with Zephyr and holding out her hands.

Her dragon skidded to a stop, squawking with horror. The hot air blast he had been readying fell away as soon as he saw her. "Stop it! Zephyr━if you're gonna attack him━" she pointed a thumb back at Hookfang, "━you'll have to go through me!"

Snotlout understood what she was doing. He ran in front of his dragon, and they stood back to back, hands out. "Look Hookfang, we both know you can totally kick Zephyr's tail but if you want to try, you'll have to go through me!"

And like a miracle, their dragons listened. They slowly backed away from each other, and Valkyrie could breathe again. When she had the courage and knew they were far enough away from Hookfang, she held out her palm to Zephyr's snout.

He sniffed at her, and the slits of his eyes widened back to the look she was used to; a tender, loving and protective look and he nuzzled into her palm, calming right down. Val smiled, relieved, "There you are," she murmured, hugging him close. "You had me worried there for a second, boy..."

Behind her, Snotlout had familiar luck. Hookfang purred at the touch of his hand, shaking it off, but when he opened his eyes, they were back to normal. Snotlout chucked, "Ah! You big knucklehead!"

Valkyrie kept her eyes fixated on her dragon, keeping him calm with not much knowledge of what happened above━until there was a explosion of noxious gas. She glanced up and gasped. Barf and Belch were out of control, firing at random to the other dragons in the sky. The Twins tried to wrangle them, but Valkyrie heard their laughs and joyful cries.

Hiccup, Astrid and Hott did their best to cover Fishlegs as he and Meatlug dived to the pit in the centre of the farm where the Dragon Root resided. With her teeth, she tugged and tugged, but was having no luck. She had to bounce back at the Zippleback blast.

Above, Tuff was cackling, "This is scary but in a good way!"

"I'm going to punch them," said Astrid as she tried to have Stormfly shoot a volley of spikes but a blast knocked her askew. Hott took her place and fired a shot that staggered the Twins and their dragon.

"Sorry!" he said, but it didn't sound convincing.

"We're not!" the Twins cried together.

"This is the best day ever!"

Hiccup kept them back with a few plamsa blasts from Toothless. "Hurry Fishlegs!" he shouted down.

Meatlug went back to tugging on the Root, but couldn't make a dent. Fishlegs looked back up, helpless, "She can't do it by herself!"

Valkyrie took a deep breath, glancing at Zephyr and then Snotlout. He was already staring at her━they seemed to be having the same idea.

"I think we better do something!" he said as the choas ensued around them.

She nodded, "For once━I actually agree with you!"

"But if we get close, our dragons will start fighting again."

But Valkyrie grinned, a plan already forming. "I think I have an idea."

"Is it stupid and reckless?"

"More likely insane."

Snotlout laughed, pumping a fist in the air, "Loving it!"

Fishlegs screamed and covered his face as the noxious gas surrounded them. The Twins cheered and did nothing to stop Barf and Belch as they hovered up above, ready to spark it alight━except a Windstriker darted through at striking speed, dispersing the gas before they could.

"Val!" Fishlegs grinned, happy, "are you a sight for sore eyes!"

But then, he saw that on Zephyr's saddle wasn't Valkyrie; no, it was Snotlout. He arched a brow down at the pudgy Viking. "Who are you calling Val?!"

Fishlegs's eyes widened, shocked. "Snotlout?!" he exclaimed. "What? Where's━?"

"Looking for me?"

Into the air, Hookfang roared in defiance at the Twins and their dragon. Sitting back in his saddle with a fierce, vicious glare on her face, was Valkyrie.

Hiccup stared at her, a little concerned, "Uh, Val━what are you doing?"

"We switched dragons again," she explained, rushed. "It's the only way we can keep them from figthing each other."

Snotlout nodded, "Yeah! He can sniff Dragon Root all day, but Hookfang would never attack Snotlout. He respects him too much!"

Astrid grimaced, "Please don't refer to yourself in third person."

The Twins cried with delight as their dragon darted back in, trying to spark the gas again, but Valkyrie was ready. She pulled Hookfang's horns back and shouted, "Do it, Hookfang! Wing-blast!"

He knew exactly what she meant. Very happy to show off, Hookfang reared back his wings and pushed them forward with enough force it sent the Twins and Barf and Belch tumbling through the air. They hit the ground metres away, unconscious.

Snotlout gaped at her. "What was that?"

Valkyrie smirked, "Oh, you mean this?"

Hookfang reared his wings again and the wind propelled Meatlug and Fishlegs up, the Dragon Root with them. But it was still stuck. Valkyrie cursed.

"It's still stuck!" yelled Hott.

"I'm on it!" said Snotlout. "Zephyr━you know what to do! Tail-strike!"

He set his palm on the crook of Zephyr's neck just under his crown and Valkyrie's eyes widened to see her dragon roar and fling his tail upwards. One of the spines that lined his back all down to the tip of his tail let loose; it projectiled and struck the root, yanking it free from the dirt.

Fishlegs urged Meatlug high into the air, getting the Dragon Root far away. Valkyrie scoffed in her surprise, grinning at Zephyr who huffed in her direction, smug.

Perhaps Option Three gave Valkyrie and Snotlout more than just a lesson on how to work together, but also let them undersand their dragons much deeper than they could have had alone.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

    a/n: considering Windstriker is part of the sharp class, and most dragons in the sharp class use their tails as a way of defence, I added a little more to the dragon because we don't know much already. Pls don't hate me if you think it's similar to Stormfly. A deadly Nadder as poisonous spikes that can be shot multiple at a time. This is just a single strike that's not poisonous so ...