━━ chapter fifteen
a zippleback problem

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━"Zephyr━" Valkyrie caught her dragon's attention by his name. With his eyes set on her, she grinned and did a quick signal with her hand: two fingers pointed to her mouth before extending out with the rest out before her. "Heat-blast!" she then pointed to the target. He listened and with a breath of boiling heat, the wooden shield stood no chance, setting aflame.

Val smirked and dusted off her hands. "Good boy!" she told him, and Zephyr bounced his head, happy for the praise. Hiccup nodded at her, impressed. She smirked. "Oh, just you wait," she told him. Turning back to Zephyr, she said, "Zeph—tail-whack!" With her hands clasped together, she swung them towards Snotlout.

He was too busy trying to get Hookfang to listen, he didn't see Zephyr bring his tail under his feet, knocking him flat. He yelped, and Valkyrie laughed. Snotlout spun to her, "Val!"

"Good boy, Zeph," she scratched her dragon under the chin, and he grinned.

Hiccup gave her a look, albeit amused. "Val..." he said slowly.

"Hmm?" she let out an innocent hum.

He rolled his eyes but had a smile on his lips.

Valkyrie turned to him, her hip jutted out. "What are your tricks, Your Highness?"

Hiccup arched a brow. He glanced at Toothless who watched them patiently. "Want to see, Milady?"

She smirked, "You know I do."

"All right━" Hiccup held his hand out to his dragon. "Toothess," he clenched it into a fist, "battle ready." The Night Fury crouched, his teeth snarled. "Toothless━" he pointed to the ground, "━plasma-blast━!" with his other hand, he threw up the shield. Toothless shot the target with no trouble, blasting it to splinters. "Good job, bud!" he ran his finger along his lips, grinning. "Now, smile."

Toothless titled his head, but soon lifted his gums up into a smile. Valkyrie cooed. "Aw," she walked up and gave the Night Fury a scratch under the chin. "Not bad, babe. But, mine are better."

Hiccup stoppped, startled. "Wait━hang on. Did you just call me babe?"

Valkyrie hummed, smiling to herself as she fixed the flower crown on Toothless's head so it wouldn't fall of. He, her and Zephyr were matching today. "Unless you want me to call you something else?"

Hiccup turned up his nose. "Val, stop it."

She giggled, liking the way his face was bright red.

"You guys are gross," called out Snotlout towards them. The two glanced back, annoyed. He crossed his arms. "You know that, right?"

"What?" Valkyrie pouted her lips at him. "Jealous, Snotlout?"

"Pppht? Jealous of that one-legged whimp? I just don't get how you picked him over me." He held up his arms to flex. Valkyrie gagged and turned back to Hiccup.

"Trust me," she grumbled. "It was an easy choice."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Astrid returned the conversation back to what was at hand. Tossing her braid back, she cracked her knuckles. "You guys haven't seen anything yet. Stormfly!" the Nadder tilted her head, listening. Astrid spread out her fingres in front of her, "Spine-shot!"

She flung her tail and a row of spikes jetted up to Astrid's boot. One nicked the egde of the leather. She winced and tugged it out. "Well!" she said. "That's better than last time..."

Snotlout laughed his usual obnoxious laugh, grabbing their attention. Holding up his fist, he cried out, "Hookfang! Enihilate!" he gestured to the barricade, but his dragon had other ideas. Narrowing his eyes playfully, Hookfang set a burst of flame that knocked Snotlout off his feet, sending both him and the barricade onto the ground.

Tuffnut snickered, "Bullseye!"

"Meatlug!" Across the arena, Fishlegs swung his arms around his chest. "Hug!"

With an excited clatter of her teeth, the Gronckle flung to her rider, topping him over. She brought her tongue right up against his face and Fishlegs smiled, hugging her back fondly. Hiccup nodded, albeit a little impressed. "You know..." he murmured, "that could actually be useful." He turned to the Twins. "Ruff, Tuff, your turn."

They nodded and focused their gazes on their Zippleback. Together, they commanded, "Barf, go━!", "━Belch, come!" listening, the two separate heads pulled against one another, only to yank back and knock the other on the jaw. Ruffnut clenched her fists, fuming at her brother. They tried again. "Barf, sky━!", "━Belch, ground!"

Valkyrie winced, watching the Hideous Zippleback tumble in his effort to follow both. Barf and Belch fell to the ground, dazed. Tuffnut laughed, "Ha━ha!" he pointed at his sister. "I win!"

She slammed her foot on the ground, livid, "What do you think you're doing to my dragon?!"

"Your dragon?!" Tuff scoffed. "Puh━lease. You've been breathing in Barf's gas again."

"Yeah, so?!"

"Guys, guys!" Hiccup quickly stepped in before the two could grow more heated. He held out his hands, gentle like they were a dragon he was trying to train. "Barf and Belch is one dragon. You have to use one signal at a time."

They stopped arguing for a moment.

"Good idea," grumbled Ruffnut and they separated, turning back to their respective dragon heads. "Barf, attack Tuffnut!" she flung her arms towards her brother. Barf grinned and slammed his head into Tuff's back. The younger Twin fell against Snotlout, sending him back to the ground only after just getting back to his feet. Ruffnut laughed. "Ha! How's that?"

Fishlegs scratched his cheek nervously. "Uh ... I don't think it's what Hiccup━"

Tuffnut growled and sat up. "Belch━" he brought his fingers together in a snap, "━eat Ruffnut!"

Belch swooped down and gently encased Ruffnut's head and shoulders in a bite that still must've hurt. Valkyrie winced again, leaning back. Belch held her up and gave her a little shake. In his mouth, Ruff's muffled voice could be heard, "Uh ... ow?!"

Hiccup sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tuff, come on..."

He rolled his eyes, "Ugh, whatever. Belch, drop Ruffnut."

He obliged. As soon as her feet were back on the ground and she could breathe properly, Ruff shuddered. "Eurgh!" she glared at her brother. "I can't work like this!"

Tuff agreed, pushing himself back onto his feet. "Yeah," he walked up to her, "it's completely unprofessional."

She watched him, furious. "I'm taking my dragon and going home!"

He spun on her, finger raised. "You touch that dragon, and I'll━"

"You'll what?" she got into his face and Tuff faltered, not the best at thinking on his feet.

"Uh ... I ..." he scratched his head, "I don't know. Don't rush me! Just, uh ... uh, I'll tell you tomorrow!"

Running to their dragon, each twin tugged their respective head away from the other. Valkyrie raised a hand, trying to tell them to stop, but it was useless. Zephyr whined, as if wincing himself as the Zippleback's necks were stretched from the connecting body.

Hiccup was exasperated, "Guys, come on. Stop, please. Leave the dragon out of it; it's over," he put his foot down.

"Oh, it's over," said Ruffnut, dropping her grip of Barf.

"Yeah!" snapped Tuff. "It's so over it's under!"

They stormed off, and Barf and Belch whined after them. They tried to reach their riders to comfort them, only to yank back. They snarled at each other and started to snap back and forth, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't give them another glance.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━"Hey! Back in line! Back in line!" Snotlout had Hookfang flap his wings rather aggressively at a flock of Terrible Terrors who tried to slip out of the group and back down into the forest. They were all tasked with trying to hide all the dragons from the Berserkers who were arriving for the annual Peace Treaty signing. Now, Oswald the Agreeable was very ... well ... Agreeable, but they couldn't take any chances. "Everybody, in line, in line!"

He flew in next to Hiccup, eyes glittering with excitement. "Hey━is Dagur coming? He's so cool!"

Hiccup stared at him, incredulous, "Cool?" he echoed in disbelief. "Last time he was here, he used me for a knife-throwing target."

"That guy should be locked up in a cage," said Astrid and Valkyrie couldn't help but agree. She remembered Dagur. He was a bit ... best way to put it? Deranged.

"That's what he did to me!" said Fishlegs. "He wouldn't let me eat for three days!"

Snotlout laughed as if looking back on a fond memory. "Then he forced fed you rotten cod heads!"

Fishlegs scowled. "Thanks," he grumbled. "I almost erased that from my memory..."

Valkyrie caught sight of something heading straight towards them. She gasped, pulling Zephyr up as a two-headed green dragon spiralled over. "Heads up! Incoming Zippleback!"

Seeing Barf and Belch, Hiccup sighed. The dragon zipped up in between him and Snotlout, knocking them uneven in their flight path. "Where's Ruffnut and Tuffnut?" he said, but decided it wasn't the time to ask. "Someone get that dragon!"

"I'm on it!" declared Snotlout and shot after the dragon. Soaring over the two heads, he dropped off his saddle and down onto Belch's neck, clinging on for dear life. Hiccup dived in next to them, Fishlegs tailing behind while Valkyrie and Astrid kept trying to keep the group of dragons together.

"Snolout, you need two riders! Fishlegs, get in there."

The pudgy Viking laughed nervously, "Heh ... I'm not sure this is really the best━" Barf gave him a nudge and he fell right from Meatlug's saddle onto his. Barf yelped at the sudden weight, green noxious gas spilling from his mouth. Fishlegs gulped, holding his hand to his mouth. "Oh, I don't feel so good..."

"It's the gas," said Hiccup, flying in near. "Just try not to breathe any in."

Fishlegs gagged, still holding his mouth. He looked very queasy. "Yeah ... that ship has sailed."

Meanwhile, Snotlout was still trying to hold onto Belch, being hoisted up and down, up and down━ "Whoa! Hey! Somebody tell me how to work this thing!"

Hiccup was seriously regretting his decision letting these two handle this situation. He pinched the bridge of his nose, using just the strength of his legs to hold onto Toothless's saddle (who knew flying gave him much more strength than a blacksmith's apprentice ever did? Still didn't change how scrawny he looked, though). "Whatever you do Snotlout, don't━"

He tugged Belch's horns. The dragon head let out a spark, igniting the gas and throwing him and Fishlegs right off. Hookfang was there to catch them.

Hiccup sighed, "... Spark..."

"Okay," mumbled Fishlegs behind Snotlout. "Now I feel worse."

The Jorgensen sent him a mischevious glare, "Then if I were you, I would not think of that rotten cod head sliding down your throat━" Fishlegs hunched. They all let out cries of disgust as he threw up over the side. Snotlout cried out, "Eurgh! That is disgusting!"

Hiccup threw his eyes up to the sky. Annoyed, he turned Toothless after Barf and Belch. "Wait here," he told Valkyrie gently. "I need to find the Twins to get that Zippleback under control before the Berserkers━"

A horn sounded in the distance.

Her boyfriend's words fell away. He looked like he was going to just let himself fall from the saddle then and there. Valkyrie winced, giving him a sheepish glance. "Are here ..."

"Great," he grumbled. "Just great."

"We'll handle the Zippleback," Valkyrie told him, nodding to Astrid. "You go talk to your father."

"Good luck."

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━Valkyrie would like to think she and Astrid handled the Zippleback problem quite well. Except, they didn't, and now they were trying very hard to keep Barf and Belch out of sight of the Berserkers in the village (because that was where they decided to hang out, scuffing down fish from barrels). Problem was, they couldn't exactly find him. All they had were large footprints, right in Berserker sights.

She saw Hiccup running past them, looking very distressed. Valkyrie raced to meet him in the middle, "Hiccup!" she called in a harsh whisper. "Hiccup━we have a big problem━" she tugged him where she and Astrid had found the footprints.

"Oh, yeah, you're telling me?" he let out, frustrated. She arched a brow, confused. "Dagur's the new Berserker Chief!"

"What?!" cried Astrid, eyes wide. Valkyrie gaped, unable to believe it.

"What happened to his father?!" she then asked. (Gods, their problems just keep buidling and building...).

"Apparently he retired!" said Hiccup, waving his hands around. Valkyrie had to lean back to avoid being hit. "And he thinks we're hiding dragons!"

"Well, we kind of are," Valkyrie tugged him further behind the houses. "Which brings us to our next problem━" she pointed to the tracks at their feet.

"Huh?" Hiccup followed her gaze, and his shoulders slumped. "Oh, come on! Barf? Belch? Here?!"

Together, the three of us looked over in hearing the dragon. The two heads were busy stuffing themselves into barrels of fish. Valkyrie winced again. Right across the road, Berserkers were marching up from the docks. Any second now, and they would see him. Valkyrie, Astrid and Hiccup all ran to Barf and Belch, trying to coax them away into a hiding spot with the barrels of fish.

Dagur only just missed them as he came up to a stop in the tour, focusing on the Storage House. They stepped in, and behind his shoulders, the three Vikings ran past after a scurrying Barf and Belch.

He didn't notice.

Valkyrie's heart was racing, searching for Barf and Belch to keep him in the hiding position for now as Dagur stormed off with Stoick and Gobber grumpily in tow. But they had lost him. Val narrowed her eyes at Dagur━he hadn't changed much. Still as obnoxious, as crazy, and as annoying as he's ever been. With a scratch-mark tattoo on his left bicept and a skrill emblem on his chieftan's belt. He was too much of a child to be a chief. Valkyrie knew she will be glad that when Hiccup will become chief, he will be nothing like that lunatic.

"Where did it go?!" asked Astrid in a hushed whisper.

Hiccup threw his hands up, "Why would I━? I have no idea. You guys keep looking and I'll go warn my dad."

Valkyrie never thought she'd spend today running after an annoying Zippleback, but she had. Running back and forth after Barf and Belch who were like two three-year-olds, distracted by everything under the sun. She and Astrid thought they had them under control, until a bird flew past and they were off again.

In the end, Valkyrie had had enough. She stormed up to Hiccup, not caring about the look on his face after his talk with Dagur and announced. "That's it, I've had it with this dragon━" she gestured to Barf and Belch, "━we need the Twins."

Astrid crossed her arms, nodding and agreeing with Val.

Hiccup sighed, and nodded as well. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. We need the Twins."

Together, the three of them started to the Zippleback-headed house, Val with a frown on her face and a usual cross of her arms. She knocked harshly on the door. She went to push it open, but Hiccup set his hand against the small of her back, and she jolted. She wasn't expecting it, but it calmed her down enough to let him open the door gently himself.

Stepping in, they didn't see him anywhere. Toothless gurgled curiously, tilting his head at the mess on the floor. A body suddenly swung down from above between them, hanging upside down. Val jumped, startled.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Tuff, his hair falling.

Hiccup sighed and turned to him. "Hey, Tuffnut, feel like talking?"

"Um ..." Astrid arched a brow, "can you come down?"

"Whatever," he grumbled and spun off. He landed on his feet with a thud and laughed at the feeling to his head. "Whoa. Yeah ... I love that part."

Valkyrie crossed her arms again. They didn't have time for this.

"Look," said Hiccup, "about Barf and Belch, we need you and Ruffnut to get your dragon under control."

Immediately, the younger Twin shook his head. "Uh━uh," he said. Astrid grit her teeth. "No. No, thank you. I am officially out of the dragon business, and the sister business, and the dragon and sister business: The 'Distisderness'."

"Oh, for the love of━" Val uncrossed her arms, frowning at Tuff, "━what is going on with you two?"

"Simple," said Tuff. He reached for something in the mess of the house. He showed it to them. "Do you know what this is?"

Hiccup tilted his head, "Uh, a spoon?"

"No, it's our spoon," corrected Tuffnut. "Just like this is our dish, and our axe━" he showed them their things as he did so, filled with gloom, "━and our well-groomed stuffed yak. Everything is ours. I'm sick of ours. Just once I want something to be just mine." Valkyrie's gaze softened as she understood. She's never really seen this side of Tuff and Ruff, they always seemed to just be immune to emotions and all this stuff. She always thought they were too dumb to comprehend them; blissfully ignorant. But, of course, she was wrong. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he brushed past them, "I have to go pack up my half of the yak."

"Go?" asked Hiccup, incredulous. "Where?"

"I don't know," he replied sadly. "To my dark, soggy, alone place." He picked up his satchel. "Not to cry ..." he sniffled and truged out of the home. "This house ... it has too many memories."

Hiccup sighed after him, "Tuff!"

But he didn't look back. He sulked off to wherever he was headed, and while Valkyrie wanted to help him, she didn't like the sound of his, "━Dark, soggy, alone place?"

"Yeah," muttered the chief's son, "I don't really want to know."

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━They have been looking for Ruff and Tuff all the rest of the day. As it was starting to darken into night, Valkyrie grew even more worried. They were running out of time very fast. Dagur had seen Barf and Belch and now was on the hunt. The Dragon Riders had to find the Twins first.

"Hiccup," Astrid didn't want to state the obvious, but she knew she had to. They had been flying over Berk for two hours now, and the Twins were nowhere. "You heard Tuffnut. He went to his dark, soggy, alone place. That could be anywhere."

"Not really!" said Snotlout, coming into a soar beside Astrid. He held his chin up smugly, "That could be only one place."

The Dragon Riders stared at him. Valkyrie boiled with anger. "What?"

"Why didn't you say anything?!" demanded Hiccup, outraged.

"Why didn't you ask?!"

"Snotlout!" Valkyrie exploded. "We've been looking for them all day!"

"And?"

"And if you don't say anything right now, I'm going to throw you off that dragon!"

"Wow, okay, Astrid," Snotlout mocked her and Valkyrie narrowed her eyes, "no need to get vioent. He's probably at the Lost Cavern. They used to play Hide and Go Kill there when they were kids."

Hiccup sighed. He knew better than to lose his anger over Snotlout. (Are they even surprised by his antics at this point?). "Astrid, you and Snotlout take the South entrance of the cavern━" the blonde Viking gaped, clearly annoyed at this choice, "━Val, Fishlegs and I will take the North."

They separated, splinting up in the groups allocated to search the cavern for the Twins. Valkyrie, Fishlegs and Hiccup flew as fast as they could, desperate to find Ruffnut and Tuffnut before they lose their dragon forever. Val didn't want that to happen━no one wanted that to happen.

They landed outside the North entrance. Hiccup had Toothless light a torch bracket, gesturing to the dark cavern before them. "All right, bud, do your thing: Search."

Toothless titled his head, before understanding the signal. He set off and the others followed. Valkyrie came to a pace in next to Hiccup, comfortable to walk beside him. Slipping her fingers into his hand, she held on and was happy he let her, squeezing tenderly.

They continue to take the trek the Night Fury carved. Meatlug and Zephyr shared a few words in dragon whispers behind them, and Valkyrie wondered what they could be talking about in their clatters and squawks. But, then again, she was too busy being completely enamoured by the way Hiccup's thumb rubbed circles on her palm, trailing up and down.

She knew they were supposed to be focusing on finding the Twins, and Valkyrie should not be distracted by her feelings, but Gods, did it feel so right, to have her hand in his. She leaned into him, brushing her shoulder against his. While she didn't care whether Fishlegs could see them or not, being shadowed in the darkness just enough to not notice the way Hiccup turned his head and kissed her cheek softly made it so intimate, Valkyrie's knees were weak.

The three of them and their dragons made it to a small opening. Still basked in darkness, the torch only lit up so much. But they made it to a centre boulder and there, Hiccup held the torch out to see, "Tuffnut?"

The younger twin shield his eyes from the sudden light. He narrowed his gaze at them. "Oh, you guys again. Would you quit following me?!"

On the other side, Astrid's voice echoed, "Ruffnut!"

"Would you quit following me?!" snapped the other twin's voice.

Tuff frowned, startled. He looked up and around, like his sister was a ghost coming to haunt him. Hiccup arched a brow, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Duh," called out an obnoxious voice belonging to Snotlout. "It's called an echo." He appeared from around the boulder with Astrid and Ruff at his heels.

In seeing his sister, Tuffnut growled. "Eurgh!" he let out. "What are you doing in my soggy place?!"

"This is my soggy place!" seethed Ruff. "And I'm not sharing it with you!"

Hiccup passed the torch over to Valkyrie, letting go of her hand to step forward and say, "Okay, listen, please. We need to get you guys to your dragon. It's important."

"Barf and Belch are in real trouble," added Valkyrie helpfully.

Tuff nodded. He crossed his arms. "I'll go!" he said, before shooting a glare to his sister beside him. "But not with her."

She glared back at him. "Yeah! I'm not going anywhere with her either."

"Yeah! Wait, what?"

"No, you don't understand," said Hiccup, exasperated. "You both have to go! Guys, listen━" he said at the relucant looks upon their face, "━like it or not, your connected to each other, and the two of you are connected to that dragon. Just like me with Toothless."

"And me with Stormfly," Astrid scratched her dragon tenderly under the chin.

"Us, too," Fishlegs hugged Meatlug.

Valkyrie felt Zephyr nudge her cheek fondly and she smiled, leaning her head against his.

"We can get you another spoon, another dish, another stuffed yak," said Hiccup. "But what we can't get you is another Barf and Belch."

The Twins pursed their lips. They briefly glanced at each other, their shoulders falling. Hiccup stepped in close to Valkyrie, murmuring, "You think they got any of that?"

Tuff then sighed, and hung his head. He turned back to his sister, the Viking he shared a womb with, who has been there through everything and said, "Fine━" together, they spat in their hands and slapped them in a firm handshake before knocking each other with their helmets. Val smiled. "You know," added Tuff after a short silence, "I did spit a little more in my hand."

"They got it," Val said to Hiccup and he smiled back at her, relieved.

"Okay!" he clapped his hands together, happy to move on, "let's go. We're out of time."

"So why is this so important, anyway?" asked Tuff.

From a rock on the ground, Snotlout stopped picking at his fingernails to say casually, "The Berserkers are hunting down your dragon to use its blood for ink."

They stared at him, shocked. Ruffnut gasped.

"What? Is that not what's happening?"

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━"HELP! DRAGON ATTACK!"

"The dragons are attacking!" screamed Astrid, running into the arena with Val, Fishlegs and Hiccup. "Run for your lives!"

Val cried out in horror and pointed up to Hookfang who snarled in through the chain roof of the arena. He poked his head through and above, in his eyesight, Snotlout gestured his fist down. Hookfang nodded and opened his mouth. Down into the arena, burst forth a column of fire that disorientated the Berserkers (and most importantly, Dagur, from cutting Belch's head right off).

So, here was the plan:

Cause as much chaos as they possibly could and scare the Berserkers away.

Or, as Snotlout will say: ANNIHILATE!

"What is going on?!" shouted Gobber, a little behind to the realisation.

Stoick sighed at his best friend. Pulling him to his side, he grumbled, "Gobber. Dragon attack."

It hit him. His eyes widened. "OH!" he slapped a great big hand to his forehead. "Dragon attack! EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!" Zephyr, Stormfly and Meatlug leapt into the arena, wings balking.

Valkyrie grinned and hid in behind a barrier. When she was sure no one was looking but her dragon, she clasped her hands together and swung them towards a group of Berserkers. Zephyr acted immediately, swiping his tail undernreath their feet. They screamed at the contact and were soon running for their lives. Zephyr grinned at her and she gave him a happy thumbs up. Astrid beside her threw her hands out, fingers outstretched. Stormfly squawked and flung a volley of spikes to Berserkian shields. Meatlug hugged an unlucky Viking after Fishlegs signalled it with a wrap of his arms around his chest.

Gobber tried to grab Dagur to lead him to 'safety', but he just screeched and pushed him away. "No! Run if you want, but Dagur the Deranged will not retreat!" He turned onto Barf and Belch, who's eyes slitted in surprise to see their riders run into view. From the ledge above, they signalled explosion. Barf and Belch followed and Dagur was thrown from his feet in the impact. He hit the wall.

As he struggled to get up, Valkyrie was there again to tell Zephyr to swing his tail. Dagur yelped as he fell back down. She tried not to laugh. Astrid snickered, though, and they shared a high-five.

Ruff and Tuff worked as one, and so did their dragon. It was a strange sight to see, but marvelleous in its own way. When all else failed, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston were still Dragon Trainers, and they knew what they were doing ... well ... some of the time.

Finally, in through the entrace, Toothless was last to make an appearance. He snatched the spear Dagur through into his teeth and roared━even Dagur the Deranged became fearsome of the Offspring of Lightning and Death itself.

"A Night Fury!" he cried out, astonished. "They do exist!"

Valkyrie glanced around the barrier to watch, amused as Hiccup danced forward with a dagger and shield in front of the Berserkian Chief. He brandished it at Toothless. "Back, you ... fiend, you! You wil not harm my friend Dagur━" at this, he brought the shield back, hitting Dagur in the nose. Val snorted. As his head yanked back, Hiccup pointed to the ground.

Toothless readied a plasma blast, waiting for the right moment to strike just after Hiccup pushed Dagur to the ground. With his shield, he shoved the chief towards the entrance with the other running Berserkians. "Please, Dagur, save yourself! You owe it to your people!"

Toothless caught Hiccup and pushed him to the ground. They play-fought light many times before, but it was enough to send Dagur over the edge.

"Berserkers!" he cried. "To the boats!"

"What about the treaty?!" called Gobber helpfully, holding out the parchment with a quill.

"CONSIDER IT SIGNED!"

Valkyrie finally laughed once Dagur was gone, screaming with the rest of his men back to their fleet. Zephyr bounded over to her and knocked her lightly to the ground with his head. She giggled, trying to block out his tongue that licked her non-stop.

"Gah!" she let out, wheezing. "Zephyr━no━stop━ah!"

It was victory for the Dragon Riders. A whole Berserkian fleet retreating from their little charade.

At least, that is ... for now.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

a/n: no drawing for this chapter, sorryyyyy. but there was some cute Hiccyrie moments in here!!! short chapter, but cute valkyrie and hiccup-ness.