━━ chapter eighteen
family values

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    ━━Vikings have a strong sense of community. It's important for Vikings to be a part of a family, and to celebrate that connection. For Gobber, Bork Week was important to him especially. Valkyrie often forgot that Gobber the Belch was a lasting relative of the Bork the Bold. (Of course, he wasn't always called that. He had a name before that: Bork the Unfortunate, but that's a story for another time). Without Bork, the Book of Dragons would have never existed, and they wouldn't be where they are now. Sure, back then, dragons were killed, but he was the first to take a moment and look at the dragons and try and understand them.

    For Bork Week, the Dragon Riders had a special chance to show off their training: a parade across Berk.

    And to do this, they had to practice their dragon calls.

    As Hiccup finished his call to Toothless, he glanced back at the others watching, hoping they understood. Snotlout scoffed, crossing his arms from where he sat on the fallen branch in the cove. "That's why you brought us out here? To honk into the wind?!"

    Fishlegs rolled his eyes. "Just wait, Snotlout."

    "Dragon calls," Snotlout scoffed, taking out a medallion from his pouch. "Whatever." Holding it up against the sunlight, he tried to hold in his snickers at the Twins who followed the beam of light darting back and forth like domestic cats.

    Hiccup arched a brow. "Uh ... guys?"

    Snotlout snickered. "Idiots."

    Valkyrie looked up from where she was making a new flower crown by the water. "Snotlout," she chided.

    "So stupid..."

    "Seriously?" sighed Hiccup.

    "What?" Snotlout shrugged. "It's fun." At the looks on their faces, he rolled his eyes and put the medallion away. "Fine!"

    The Twins gasped when the light disappeared. Tuffnut slammed his hand on the grass. "Ugh! Gone again."

    Hiccup sighed and returned to his dragon call. Cupping his hands to his cheeks, he let out a loud warble that he had perfected to sound very similar to that of a Night Fury's. The riders all looked to the edge of the cove, expectant.

    Snotlout threw his head back, "Aaaaaand nothing. Can we go now?"

    Toothless's roar echoed across the trees. Snotlout fell silent. Astrid smirked, crossing her arms and jutting her hip out. "You were saying?"

    The Night Fury hopped down, just in time for Valkyrie to finish her flower crown. She showed it to him and he grinned, bouncing over and lowering his head so she could set it on. Snotlout gagged. Looking away, he mumbled. "Fine. I hate to admit it, but that was pretty cool."

    "Not as cool as that disappearing shiny thing," Tuffnut leaned back against the log. "You can never catch it."

    Astrid arched a brow at the Twins, but decided to just leave it.

    "Fishlegs," Hiccup smiled at his friend, "you wanna show us your dragon call?"

    Fishlegs puffed out his chest proudly. "Thought you'd never ask," stepping forwards into the centre of the Cove, he practiced some breathing excercises to warm him up. "The call of the Gronckle is as unique as the dragon itself ..." he stretched out his arms and legs, "... raw, guttural, intense, yet with subtle lilt━"

    "J━j━j━just do it, already," mocked Snotlout.

    Fishlegs glared at him. With a deep breath, he let out a deep-throat growl that rattled the birds from their nests. Valkyrie arched a brow. That sounded painful. Over the edge, Meatlug fluttered down happily, giving her rider an affecitonate lick right across the cheek. Toothless sat down next to Valkyrie, settling his head in her lap so she could pet him.

    "Well done, Fishlegs!" grinned Hicucp.

    "Oh, I'm not done," said the pudgy Viking. "Watch this━" with an even deeper and louder growl.

    Tuff recoiled away. "I don't even wanna know what part of his body that came from ..." he glanced at his sister, thinking, "... Or do I?"

    Fishlegs finished, breathless. "Whoo!" he exclaimed, swaying forward. "I gotta take a knee."

    Up above, a whole herd of Gronckles flew over. They hovered, waiting for Meatlug to join them with an exchange of excited chatters. Fishlegs waved after her, "Be home for dinner! You're having granite!" he turned to the others and cheekily added, "That's her favourite."

    "Okay," Hiccup propped his hands on his hips, "anybody think they can beat that?"

    Astrid flicked her braid down her back and stepped forward. "I'll give it a shot. Watch this."

    She jumped up onto the fallen log and cried out into the morning. With specialised clicks of her tongue, she was able to immitate a Nadder's call, and immediately, Stormfly led a flock of them in perfect formation across the Cove. She finished, smirking down at Valkyrie as if to say, beat that.

    "Oh, challenge accepted," Valkyrie stood up and Toothless warbled, annoyed that she stopped petting him. "I bet you I could get double that in Windstrikers."

    "Oh, of course," said Astrid casually, throwing a hand out. "Be my guest."

    Hiccup sighed, rubbing his brow. "Not a competition..."

    "It's always a competition," Valkyrie gave a little sway to her hips to knock Astrid off her pedestal and stand up instead. Digging her boots into the wood, she settled her lower stomach for a deep breath. She fixed her mouth into the right position, and bellowed her best Windstriker's call━a flurry of purs and squawks.

    (She had been practicing, determined to win. Obviously).

    Finished, she dusted off imaginary dirt from her hands. There was silence.

   Snotlout frowned at her. "You did nothing."

    "Ah━ah━" she held out a finger to silence him, "━give Zeph a minute..."

    There was an echo of a Windstriker to the East. Following, in just seconds, was a herd of Windstrikers. Zephyr led them with a small spin in the air, and they all shone the patterns on their wings to the sun, creating a reflection of a rainbow in the water.

    Valkyrie smugly smirked at the others, blowing casually on her nails.

    Hiccup smiled, proud of her.

    "Oh, that's dumb," Snotlout rolled his eyes. "You had way more time than us because Hiccup probably told you like a week in advance."

    Valkyrie jumped down from the log, crossing her arms. "And?"

    "It's unfair."

    "Not my problem," Val accepted the high-five Astrid gave her. Snotlout grumbled, discontent as he crossed his arms moodily. Val giggled and happily came to a stance next to Hiccup as Zeph settled down and gave her a small snuggle with his neck. He licked Hiccup on the cheek who made a face, wiping the slobber away.

    As he did, Tuffnut held up a hand, "Uh, I have an important question."

    Hiccup sighed, scratching Zeph under the chin. Toothless bounded forward for attention. Hiccup scratched him on the ears. "Is it actually important this time?"

    "Uh, yeah. It always is. Like, why are we even doing this anyway? I don't get it."

    "Well, first of all, you never know when you're gonna be separated from your dragon," said Hiccup. "And the only way to communicate is to call it."

    Tuff frowned at his sister. She shrugged. "Sorry," he pursed his lips. "Didn't get it."

    "Second of all," Hiccup rolled his eyes at Tuff's antics, "it's Bork Week, and my dad asked us to put on a dragon air parade."

    "Why do we care about this Bork guy anyway?" Ruffnut whined. "Wasn't he a dragon killer?"

    "Hey, Bork only killed dragons in self-defense!" said Fishlegs, offended she didn't know. "He studied them, wrote about them, lived and breathed them!"

    "And without him," went on Hiccup, "there would be no Book of Dragons."

    "And without the Book of Dragons, there'd be no━"

    "Reason for you to live?" Snotlout finished for Fishlegs. He and the Twins laughed. Astrid came over and gave them each a smack across the head. (She punched Snotlout extra hard, though, and he fell back off the fallen trunk with an, "OW!").

    "No Dragon Academy, actually," Hiccup corrected, annoyed. "And there'd be no really cool dragon air show."

    Snotlout sat back up, crawling to the top of the log again. He sent a glare at Astrid. She smiled, amused. "So, when we do this really cool dragon air show━" he mimicked Hiccup in a very honky voice before gesturing to Toothless. "Who's he gonna fly with?"

    Toothless purred, showing Zephyr his flower crown, ignorant to the tone of the conversation it suddenly turned to. Hiccup's gaze softened, sad and placed his hand on Toothless's snout. "I'm ... I'm working on that."

    Heading back to Berk, Valkyrie was happy for some alone time with Hiccup (or just alone time without Snotlout and the Twins gagging at her every second). But she knew he wasn't in the mood for a walk, too busy mulling over what Snotlout had said. Val tried to distract him, taking his hand and talking about how much she loved the new mallet he made her with the wires for the flowers (isn't he the best?), but he just smiled, his eyes off somewhere else.

    In the end, Valkyrie took him to sit by the edge near the Dragon Sanctuary. Zephyr and Toothless went off to play, running after each other and rough housing. Zephyr liked to tap at Toothless with his shorter two front limbs as he sat back on his behind, and it annoyed the Night Fury so much he leapt forward and they went rolling in the small flower patch.

    Valkyrie nestled herself close beside Hiccup, reaching out to pick a small grass flower. Hiccup watched Meatlug and her Gronckle friends sadly fly across the horizon.

    "Don't let what Snotlout said get to you," she finally decided to say, picking away the roots and starting to braid the strands at the nape of his neck. "He's just being Snotlout."

    "No, but ..." Hiccup sighed. He took one of the flowers she had and fiddled with it in his fingers. "I've just been thinking, Val. And ... Zephyr has other Windstrikers. Hookfang has a whole herd of Monstrous Nightmares. And Toothless ..." he frowned at his best friend still playing with Zeph. "Toothless has no one."

    Valkyrie twisted his hair and secured the flower down at the bottom, tieing it off. "He has you," she said to him simply. "You're his family. And he looks pretty happy with that, if you asked me," she nodded to Toothless bouncing away from Zephyr, flaring back his wings with a grin on his face.

    Hiccup's shoulders dropped and he gave Val a gentle side look. "You know what I mean."

    "Yeah, I do," she tucked the long hair starting to cover his eyes behind his ear. "But I also know that Toothless is going to be just fine." She pressed a sweet kiss on his cheek. Hiccup gave her a weak smile.

    Behind them, a Nadders squawk casued them to glance back. Stormfly landed amongst the grass with Astrid on her back. "Hey!" she called to the love-birds. "Sorry to interrupt your date or whatever━" (Val rolled her eyes), "━but Hiccup, your father and Gobber are looking for you. They wanna see you in the Great Hall. They looked serious."

    She took off after that, most likely to go and practice her dragon calls. Hiccup sighed, his face going blank. "Yeah, great," he muttered sarcastically as he began to stand up. "Happy Bork week to me." Glancing down at Val, he said, "I'll see you later, I guess." He bent down to give her a chaste kiss on the lips before whistling to Toothless and they were off.

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    ━━"Okay, so, let me get this straight," Snotlout leaned forward in his saddle as the Dragon Riders all soared in formation towards the horizon. Val threw her eyes up to the heavens. Here we go again. Hiccup had been given all of Bork's personal notes on Dragons, which was the best present ever for someone like him. He was entrusted with them now, and in searching through them, he found a whole set of papers about Night Furies never put in the Book. And with it, mention of a whole island of them. (And so here they were, on the search for the map). "To find this island, we have to find Bork's cave?"

    "His last known place of residence," said Fishlegs.

    Astrid turned up her nose, "Who would live in a cave?"

    The Twins soared past her. Tuffnut grinned. "Who wouldn't?"

    "There must be something in there about the Isle of Night and where we can find it," said Hiccup, leading the formation down in through a sweep of sea stacks towards the upcoming island.

    "Bork's notes said his cave was cut into the mountains right above Odin's shield," pointed out Fishlegs.

    "Hiccup," Val called, darting around a sea-stack. "Can you promise me something?"

    "Yeah?" he frowned back at her.

    "Please don't end up living in a cave." 

    He rolled his eyes, amused. "Wouldn't dream of it, Val..."

    They neared Odin's Shield. It was a rocky cliff island in a cluster of islands to the South-East of the Berkian Archipelago. They got a lot of their metals from here. Hiccup pointed to the cluster of cliff-facedmountains behind it, "Right there! That must be it."

    The group of Dragon Riders landed on the edge of Odin's Shield, taking a wide glance at the landforms around them.

    "Um, so wait," Tuffnut spoke up, and the others glanced back at the Twins, "so, how do we know what we're looking for?"

    Astrid rolled her eyes. "It's a cave," she said. "Look for a big hole in the side of a mountain."

    The Twins nodded. "Hole, check━", "━Mountain, on it."

    The Hofferson sighed, shaking her head. She turned to Hiccup. "You know, we don't have to bring them every time."

    Val raised a hand, "I agree."

    Hiccup looked like he might say something, (probably give them the Why the Twins are Important Speech again) but was cut off by a terrible wail coming from Snotlout. It pierced their ears, making them all cover them and wince.

    "What in the world was that?" said Fishlegs as Snotlout finished.

    He crossed his arms over his chest, very proud of himself. "That is a Changewing call, my friend. Surprised you didn't know that."

    "I would if it sounded like one," muttered Fishlegs. "This is a Changewing━" he made a sound that Valkyrie could best describe as a shriek.

    Snotlout grumbled to himself, not expecting to be shown up. "Bet you can't do a Thunderdrum..."

    "Puh━lease," Fishlegs held up a finger. He cleared his throat. "At least challenge me..." and so, with the displeasure of the others watching, Fishlegs screamed and bellowed out into the water. The rest of them shouted, annoyed. He finished with a little giggle.

    Hiccup sighed, relieved and turned Toothless towards the moutain-face. They wandered through the boulders and rocks, looking around for any cave until the chief's son gasped and pointed up. "Hey! I found an opening!" His gaze landed on the set of cliffs across the canyon.

    Snotlout appeared at his side, clinging onto Hookfang's saddle as the Monstrous Nightmare clung to the rock face vertically. "Man, that Bork was a dweeb, but boy, he could climb like a mountain goat."

    The Riders readied to set off.

    That was until a roar echoed behind them.

    Valkyrie felt chills up her spine. "Fishlegs!" she snapped back at the pudgy Viking and his Gronckle. "Can you stop with the dragon calls?!"

    Fishlegs looked very small in his saddle. "Actually?" he squeaked out. "That wasn't me. Mine's far more authentic."

    Around the side of the cliffs, swooped in a purple wild Thunderdrum. Valkyrie's shoulders fell. "Oh, come on!" she cried out, annoyed.

    Astrid let out a nervous chuckle, "You wanna tell that to him?"

    Fishlegs glanced back. He whimpered. "Oh ... where did he come from?"

    "Where did he come from?!" Valkyrie grew furious as Zephyr took off, bouncing his head nervously at the wild dragon. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you called for him?!"

    "Not the time, Val!" Hiccup shouted. "Everyone━head for the cave!"

    They took off, speeding across the canyon. Valkyrie gritted her teeth, feeling the Thunderdrum's calls rattle at her ears. But as they reached the other end, they had to pull up. Because where the cave opening had been before, was now just a stretch of rock.

    "Wait," Ruff's eyes widened. "What cave?"

    "We just saw it!" exclaimed Astrid, frustrated. "There was a hole!"

    "Yeah, and now the hole's gone," said Tuff, pointing it out.

    They all ducked close to their saddles as the Thunderdrum dipped over them and up the side of the cliff, roaring. Hiccup winced, covering his ears. "Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff━you guys look for the cave opening. We'll lure the Thunderdrum away. Fishlegs!" he turned to the Viking. "Thunderdrum call."

    "Gods," muttered Fishlegs, "wish you'd make up your mind."

    "Fishlegs!"

    "All right!"

    They took to the air, heading back the opposite way. Fishlegs cleared his throat and bellowed out. The Thunderdrum spun back around mid-air, answering back with his own call. Fishlegs squealed in fright and edged Meatlug to fly faster.

    Back by the cave (or where there had been a cave), the Twins and Snotlout tried to figure a way inside. As behind them, Fishlegs screamed and flew in circles with the Thunderdrum on his tail, Ruff and Tuff decided to ram straight into the stone.

    Snotlout watched them fall down, dazed. "Idiots," he muttered. He faced the stone, chest squared like the Jorgensen he was. "It was right here!" he said. "I swear it was." He punched at the stone. Beside him, something shimmered into view.

    Snotlout froze and glanced to his side. A dragon of burnt-orange red and acid-dripping saliva narrowed her eyes at him. "Ahh!" he screamed, trying to get away. "Oh, no! AHHH!" the Changewing snatched him up by the back of his britches. Snotlout yelled and flailed his arms as they flew up third landings on the cliff face. The Changewing settled down, gazing at the Viking struggling from her maw. "Hey! HEY! Put me down! HOOKFANG!"

    His dragon leapt up from the perch he had settled on, watching from down below. He lit up his skin, startling the Changewing into rearing back, dragging Snotlout with her. He only just missed the column of fire the Monstrous Nightmare shot. "AHHH! No! Go away, Hookfang!"

    His dragon rolled his eyes and flew away.

    Valkyrie, Astrid and Fishlegs continued to keep the Thunderdrum busy as Hiccup left in search of Bork's Cave. The Twins were supposed to be getting Snotlout out of his conundrum with the Changewing, but instead, they just sat there, laughing and pointing as he━whack!━was slammed━WHACK!━multiple times━THUD!━against the stone.

    Fishlegs continued to scream as he dodged exploding sea stacks, for the Thunderdrum rammed right into each. Astrid led the Thunderdrum back off, following her and Stormfly West. Fishlegs and Meatlug were safe.

    The Twins still wondered how to get Snotlout down. He was now dangling by his foot from the Changewing's jaw, trying to land punches to her snout.

    Ruff and Tuff thought very poshly to themselves, fingers at their chins and their backs straight, pacing the stone ledge.

    "Oh, here's an idea," said Tuffnut. "We could blast him out!"

    "Yeah!" Ruffnut grinned. "Let's blast him!"

    "What?" screamed Snotlout from above. "NO! No blasting! Blasting bad! Blasting hurt!" He had to hold his breath as the noxious green gas floated up. Belch let loose a spark━BOOM. Snotlout screamed and the Changewing darted up to the next highest landing.

    "OH! GREAT!" he shouted down at them. "MUCH BETTER! THANK YOU!"

    Valkyrie and Astrid swooped past the cave by accident. As the Thunderdrum roared, the cave began to collapse around Hiccup inside, trapping him within. Valkyrie pulled Zephyr up and gasped, horrified. "No!" she cried. "Hiccup's trapped!"

    Snotlout screamed again as he was chucked from the Changewing's jaw to the end of her tail wrapping around the ankle of his boot. "Oh!" he wailed. "I'm in a tough spot here myself!" The Changewing peered at him curiously, her eyes sparkling.

    Tuffnut tapped his nose, all-knowing, down below. "I know you think our plan didn't work," he called up, "but believe me, this Changewing is playing right into our hands."

    "AAH!" she dropped her tail down, and Snotlout's screams were muffled in the wind as he was dropped down and up ... down and up ... down and up ... "Sorry━" down, "━I don't━" up, "━believe you━AGH!" his body bounced. He glared up at the Changewing. "Stupid drago━AAAAAHHHHH!" the tail wrapped around his ankle just as he was about to hit the earth, tugging him back up. Snotlout cried in his anger and slammed his fist right across the dragon's jaw. The Changewing narrowed her eyes. A hot puff of acid-smelling steam circulated from her nostrils. Snotlout winced. "Oh, no..."

   When Hiccup arrived, managing to find a way out of the cave (or rather, Toothless had━don't ask him, he has no idea), he had to stifle his laughter at the sight of Snotlout. He was stuck to the Changewing's chest, all hugged and snuggled.

    "Aww," Hiccup teased, "you made a new friend."

    "Yeah?" Snotlout glared at him as the Changewing nudged her snout against his cheek. "It's not as friendly as it looks!"

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    ━━Hiccup left without them. Valkyrie was annoyed. She had packed up everything excited to meet Toothless's family, and they just hopped up and left without them! The whole lot of them stood waiting in the arena with their dragons the next morning, giddy with excitement, for about a whole hour. Except Hiccup and Toothless didn't show their faces; at all.

    She and Zephyr set off to the chieftan's house, finding Stoick sitting in his chair by the fire. He was scraping away at what looked like a duck made out of wood. Val stopped, arching a brow in her curiosity before clearing her throat and saying━

    "Uh, sorry to bother you, sir."

    Stoick glanced up, and he smiled at the sight of Valkyrie. "Oh, it's not a problem, Valkryie! Just doing my morning woodwork━" he showed her the duck. "It's quite relaxing."

    "Um ... sir," Val fiddled with her fingers. "Have you seen Hiccup?"

    "Well, I woke up and he was already gone," he glanced at her, frowning. "Should I tell him you're looking for him?"

    "Oh, no, it's okay," Val pushed a smile on her face, because she knew exactly where he flew off to. "How about I just leave him a note in his room?"

    "Ah, well," he smiled again at her, eyes sparkling in amusement at the thought of Valkyrie and his son. "Be my guest."

    Val tried to walk up the stairs as casually as she could. But as soon as Stoick paid her no more attention, she broke out into a rush, hurrying into his room and searching for the map. Finding his journal and seeing the drawing still in there, she grinned and made her way back out. Astrid and Fishlegs were waiting on the grassy slope.

    "Hiccup must've copied the map from his notebook," she said as she made her way to them. Waggling the journal at them, she grinned, "Fortunately..."

    "Yes!" Fishlegs grinned. Astrid gave her a thumbs up.

    They raced back to the Academy, readying themselves for the journey. Valkyrie fixed the saddle bag amongst her bed roll at the back of Zephyr's saddle, a little miffed. Surely Hiccup had a reason, even if it was a stupid one. She was still annoyed, though. She'll be annoyed until he explains most likely, and then she'll just be estatic to see Night Furies. They had thought for this long that Toothless was the last of his kind, but he wasn't. It was amazing.

    Astrid was fastening Stormfly's saddle when Stoick flew in on Thornado. They stopped by the teens, and Stoick frowned at the lot of them. "Has anyone seen Hiccup?" he noticed their stances and their dragons. His eyes fixed on their provisions. "Where are you lot off to?"

    "Uh ..." Astrid thought of a lie off the top of her head, "just a training excercise."

    "Yeah!" added Valkyrie with a vigorous nod. "Got to work on those evasive tree manouvers!"

    Stoick didn't believe them. "Uh━huh..." he hummed, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He turned to Fishlegs, the weakest link out of all of them. "Fishlegs?"

    The chief hopped of his saddle and walked up to the pudgy Viking, a brow raised. Fishlegs whimpered. It didn't take long before he cracked, "We're going to the Isle of Night to look for Hiccup. It's an island full of Night Furies, could be dangerous, maybe not. Wanna come?"

    Valkyrie and Astrid face-palmed straight into their dragons' wings.

    "There you are, Stoick!" Gobber came hobbling down into the arena, looking very distressed. The air settled, tense. Valkyrie looked up, frowning. Her stomach clenched with a new worry. "Strangest thing at Mildew's place," he stopped in front of the chief, breathless. "It's completely cleared out! No sign of him anywhere!"

    This didn't settle well in Valkyrie's stomach. She shared a wary glance with Astrid and the others. Maybe they were being paranoid, but as the group of them all set off into the morning, following the map, there was an unsettling feeling in the air.

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    ━━It was a very long flight to the Isle of Night. They reached it by late evening. Valkyrie had almost fallen asleep half-way there. Her backside was sore, her eyes were heavy, and she had to be careful not to eat through all of her food even though she was hungry. She didn't expect to be travelling a whole day. When she could see it in the horizon, she sighed with relief.

    "The Isle of Night!" exclaimed Fishlegs, bouncing with joy on his saddle. "The chance to see Night Furies in their natural habitat! Oh, I'm bursting at the seams!"

    "Don't wet yourself," snickered Snotlout. "I'm right behind you."

    Fishlegs shot him a scowl.

    Stoick set his jaw, glaring down at the island below. "Gobber and I will check the North side. You kids head South. If we find anything, you'll hear it from Thornado."

    He set off, Gobber clinging on behind. They dived down and continued over the island. Val nodded and glanced back at the others.

    "Okay," she said, "this place is gonna be crawling with Night Furies, so let's fly low until we get a sense of where Hiccup might be and how many Night Furies there are."

    With that said, she led the team of Dragon Riders down to the forest on the Southern side. They hovered above the trees, peering down into them. Finding nothing around there, they swooped down further to the canyons and caves. Valkyrie was nervous. She didn't know whether every Night Fury was as sweet as Toothless. They were Strike Class, which meant they were fast, very intelligent and very dangerous. But still, she was tingling in excitement. What if there were female Night Furies? How different are they in statue? Oh, and Night Fury babies?! Was there a Night Fury Titan Wing? What would they even look like?

    In the dark, Valkyrie spotted a figure of black. Her breath hitched in her excitement. It had a tail, and two wings, and looked exactly like a━

    "Night Fury!" exclaimed Astrid, grinning. "Let's check it out!"

    They landed beside it.

    Valkyrie's excitement fell.

    Now up close, she could have a better look. It had the body of a Night Fury, for sure; but it was unmoving, and along its wings, were nuts and bolts, like someone had built a life-size dragon and left it here. Valkyrie shifted nervously in Zephyr's saddle. "Guys," she murmured, her worry growing, "this isn't a━"

     "NIGHT FURY!"

    KABOOM!

    In the explosion that followed, Ruff and Tuff appeared on their dragon, grinning from ear to ear. The other Dragon Riders moved their hands away from their faces as the fire died down. Valkyrie clenched her hands into fists, furious.

    A piece of the fake Night Fury landed in Fishlegs's arms. He sniffed at it, "But it's very realisitic."

    "What were you thinking?!" Val exploded like the fire. She pointed at the Twins and then to the piece in Fishlegs's hands. "If that was Toothless, you could have killed him!"

    They led Barf and Belch towards the group. "Yeah, well," said Tuff, "if my chicken had horns, he'd be my yak."

    His sister nodded, "And if I were weak and girly, I'd be my brother."

    "Yeah! Wait. What?"

     Behind them, Thornado arrived with a mighty roar. Stoick and Gobber were frowning at the teens, and Valkyrie pinched the bridge of her nose. The chief leapt off the saddle, Gobber on his heels. 

     "We saw the Zippleback fire from the sky," said Stoick the Vast. "Did you find something?"

    "We did," growled Astrid. "A fake Night Fury."

    Stoick glanced around them, confused. "Where is it?"

    "Uh ... gone?" Fishlegs showed them the piece he had. "Blown to pieces, actually..." he sent a knowing glance to the Twins, and Stoick scowled. They weren't paying attention (as usual), too busy picking at their nails, hitting each other or petting Barf and Belch. When Tuff noticied the Chief was glaring at them. He frowned, and shrugged as if to say, what? Wasn't me. 

    "Ugh," Valkyrie threw her gaze to the heavens, wanting to jump off a cliff. 

    Gobber sighed and held out his hand to the piece Fishlegs had. "What do we have here?" he passed it over. Gobber examined the piece, sniffing and licking at the surface. The other Riders gagged. "Oh!" he let out suddenly. "Smell this━" he pushed it into Fishlegs's face and he nearly vomited. "Nasty, isn't it?"

    "Oh! Oh!" Tuffnut waved his hand in the air. "I wanna smell! Put it near my face!"

    Gobber ignored him. "Now, this false head was made of dragon skin then covered with ash from a charred Loki tree."

    Valkyrie's blood went cold. She tightened her grip on the front of Zephyr's saddle. Her breathing went shallow. No...

    Snotlout frowned at the fall of her face. "Loki tree? Never heard of it."

    Stoick clenched his hands. "That's because it only grows in one place," he growled.

    Gobber nodded, grave. "Outcast Island."

    Fishlegs caught on. He gasped a whimper. "Oh, no!" he cried, hands flying to his face. "Hiccup is on Outcast Island!"

   "We need to get back," Valkyrie's heart was racing. She launched Zephyr up into the sky. "Quick!" The Dragon Riders, Stoick and Gobber all followed without another word. They had to fly fast. It would take them another whole day to get back into Berk's waters, and then half a day to reach Outcast Island. 

    And in that time, Valkyrie couldn't even bear to think what Alvin might have planned for Hiccup and Toothless. She just knew he was still alive. He had to be. 

   Valkyrie remembered the last time Hiccup had disappeared for days. He and Snotlout had gotten stranded on Outcast Island because someone (Snotlout) thought it would be smart to fly in close to a ocean tornado. This felt much worse though. Valkyrie couldn't stop thinking (even if she tried not to) about what they might be doing to him and Toothless. Was he locked up? Was he tortured? She knew Alvin wanted him for his knowledge on the dragons, so he wouldn't be dead, and Toothless would most definitely be leverage. But she also knew that Hiccup would refuse to help, and she didn't know where that might get him. She placed her hand on Zephyr's neck as they crossed back into Berk waters, the sunlight making her glare. They were taking too long. She had been stuck on Outcast Island herself. She had been terrified. They had to get Hiccup and Toothless out of there.

    The time it took to get back to Berkian waters and take a turn to Outcast Island, Valkyrie wondered how this came to happen. How did they know Hiccup would go looking for Night Furies? It had been in the Bork Papers ... someone in Berk must have ... it hit her. Mildew had gone missing the day Hiccup left, his home completely torn out. Left dry and abandoned. Mildew had set this whole thing up. Mildew had led Hiccup into that trap. That old dragon-dung, mung-bucket, son of a troll had been conspiring with the Outcasts all along.

     (Oh, she wanted to whack him over the head with her new mallet so bad━).

    They were starting to (finally) reach Outcast waters and Astrid stretched out her back, determined. She turned to Stoick on Thornado. "What's the plan?"

    The Chief thought for a few seconds, before saying, "Alvin knows we'll be coming in from the sky. We have to find another way onto Outcast Island."

    Gobber frowned at the murky waters. "Stoick," he pointed down below iwth his mallet hand. 

    The others followed his gaze. Valkyrie's eyes widened at the boat drifting through the waves. A very familiar traders boat.

    Stoick arched a brow. "Is that...?"

    Gobber grinned. "I think it is."

    Vakyrie dived down. Outcast Island, here we come. 

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    ━━When the trapdoor of below deck opened up to Outcast Island, Valkyrie the Vicious had a Hooligan yell in her throat. With her flower-adorned mallet raised high, she and the others pushed past Johann to battle on the boat. Stoick the Vast needed no weapon but his fists, punching Outcasts here and there right off the side of the vessel. Gobber whacked them over the head with his hammer-hand. Astrid spun her axe and parried a strike from a Viking twice her size. Gritting her teeth, she slammed her foot on his toe, making him drop his weapon and cry out in pain before she manouvered skilfully on her hands, knocking the man right off his own with a swift sweeping kick. Valkyrie whacked away charges with her mallet, using its weight to her advantage and locking an Outcast's axe hilt to the ground. He made a sound of, uh oh ... as he realised and Valkyrie grinned viciously. She kicked him off the side of the boat. He screamed before he hit the water with a splash. The Twins charged another, jumping and landing right on top of him. The force knocked him straight out. 

    "Whoa!" Tuffnut grinned, high-fiving his sister. "Way better than just punching him!"

    A new wave of Vikings tried to dock the boat, but Snotlout had them covered. Pulling back the anchor, he laughed as he let go, and it knocked them all down in a row like pins. Fishlegs was screaming as he grabbed a barrel and slammed it over an Outcast's head. With newfound strength and adrennaline, he hooked him up and over into the water.

    "Ha!" he grinned. "That felt really good!" Fishlegs whimpered. He glanced back at Valkyrie and Astrid. "Is that wrong?"

    They just smirked, proud. 

    Valkyrie then whistled. "Zephyr!" she called and he dived out from the clouds. "Tail━!" he dipped down his tail and she clung on. He knew what to do. Flicking the tail, she somersaulted back onto the saddle. 

    The others joined her. Stoick hopped up onto Thornado and dragged Gobber with him. Astrid called Stormfly as she ran up onto the edge of the boat. With a jump, her dragon was there to catch her, and she climbed back up onto her saddle. The twins called their respective heads, and they were there to snatch them up. Tuffnut had a few last words to the dazed Outcasts on the boat, throwing punches and kicks as he and his sister were lifted back up into the air. Snotlout screamed, "HOOKFANG!" and his Monstrous Nightmare picked him up with an annoyed huff and flipped him back onto his saddle. Fishlegs giggled and waved goodbye to Johann, just stepping off the edge where Meatlug was there to catch him. They disappeared off towards the rocky earth of Outcast Island, Fishlegs cooing and hugging his dragon. 

    Now, they had to find Hiccup. 

    They started for the main hub; the arena Valkyrie had been to when she had been here. Plan? Possibly storm in, release the dragons, find Hiccup and Toothless, give Mildew a well deserved whacking and get out of here. 

     However, that plan fell away when they saw Hiccup land down on a orange and blue Deadly Nadder away from the arena. With━Mildew━on the dragon's back with him?

    Well, Valkyrie will worry about that later. She was just estatic he was alive.

    They set down. Stoick hit the ground running to his son, "Hiccup!" he shouted. "Oh, thank Thor you're all right!" he pulled him into a tight hug that caused the boy to wheeze. 

     As he set him down, Valkyrie was there to rush forward. "Hiccup━" she breathed and threw her arms around him. He gave her a small squeeze but quickly pulled away, his gaze distressed. 

    "Toothless is in trouble," he said, and Valkyrie's grip faltered. 

    "What?" she frowned, her worry returning like crazy.

    Hiccup nodded. "We have to find him."

    Tuffnut shuffled up to them warily. "Uh ... Hiccup," he said, tapping the chief's son on the shoulder. He pointed at Mildew and whispered, "Mildew is on the back of your dragon."

    Hiccup's stare went flat. "I know, Tuff."

    Valkyrie stepped back, arching a brow at him. "What?"

    "Weird!" Tuffnut agreed. 

    Gobber let out a furious yell as he grabbed Mildew and dragged him straight of the Nadder's back. The old man, struggled, holding his hands up as Gobber held up his hammer, "I should run you through right now!"

    Hiccup jumped forward, hands out, "No, no, no, Gobber! Gobber, no! He helped me escape!" Gobber dropped Mildew in his shock. Hiccup turned to his father. "Dad, I owe Mildew my life."

    Tuffnut leaned in close to Valyrie, "Getting weirder..."

    "I know..." she replied. 

    Hiccup glanced back at them, "I'll explain later. But right now, I have to get to Toothless."

   "Or," Astrid stepped forward with a great suggestion, "bring him to you."

    Hiccup understood. He nodded, smiling. Walking out to the edge of the cliff, he looked down at Outcast Island below. Cupping his cheeks, he let loose the loudest dragon call he could muster, hoping that wherever he was, Toothless could hear it. 

    His shoulders slumped, relieved to hear him cry back. To the left. Down near the caverns. 

    The riders all raced to their dragons and followed the sound. Racing to the caverns and canyons, they saw Toothless running through the dried cracks that were once rivers of lava. In seeing him, Hiccup dived his Nadder down and leapt off before they even landed.

    Toothless roared happily and bounded towards his best friend. Valkyrie had a smile on her face to see them reuinite━the Night Fury knocked Hiccup right over licking and nudging his face into his best friend's neck and chest. Hiccup squirmed, laughing and giving him a well-missed hug. 

    "Are you okay, buh?" he asked, sitting up, cupping his snout. "Oh, I am so sorry, Toothless━" he set his head against Toothless's. "This is all my fault━" the reuinion was cut short. Toothless's ears quirked and he started to growl at the rocks above them. Hiccup frowned, immediately standing up and going to the defence. "What's the matter, bud?"

    Valkyrie reached for her mallet, hearing a voice echo down. "Hey there! Boy!" she glared up at Alvin leering down from the canyon's edge. Hiccup set his jaw. "You weren't gonna leave before we finished our business, were you?" he sneered. "That's what I would expect from Stoick's little runt."

    Gobber knew the reaciton coming. "Oh, boy..."

    "Hiccup!" his father tried to stop him, but Hiccup was already clicking Toothless's tail into place. "Hiccup, no━" they set off towards Alvin. "We got what we came for!"

    "DO IT, BOY!" shouted Alvin as Hiccup and Toothless neared. "I'M RIGHT HERE!" Toothless readied a shot, but Alvin was ready. "NOW!" he shouted to his men. Valkyrie wasn't surprised, but she was still shouting Hiccup's name when the bolas came out and wrapped themselves around him and his dragon. They hit the ground, struggling as twenty men or more surrounded.

    "He's down!" shouted Gobber.

    Valkyrie turned to the team, "Dragons, everybody! Now!" she went to mount Zephyr, only to realise, he wasn't there.

    Tuffnut winced. He scratched his head. None of the dragons were there. "Uh, would love to, but as you can see..."

    Mildew laughed snidely, "Trust in dragons," he mused. "This is what it gets you."

    He may have 'saved Hiccup's life' but that didn't stop from Valkryie slamming her fist right into his long, crooked nose. 

    "Wait!" shouted Astrid in surprise. She pointed to the skies above them. "Look!"

    Valkyrie glanced up, and her breath was taken away. Their dragons━all of them━not even without a single order or command, had left their stations, diving straight to Hiccup and Toothless trapped on the ground. With no signals, no riders guiding them, they put their training to good use. Everything they taught them, everything they tried to teach them, suddenly they knew it all. Valkyrie laughed in her wondrous disbelief, beyond proud of Zephyr who side-bombed a bola, dropping right down before spinning out of it and━with Stormfly's help━snatched up Hiccup and Toothless, soaring back to safety.

    As soon as they touched ground, Snotlout raced forward with his dagger and cut them free of the bolas. His eyes were glittering, for even he was amazed (especially when he thought his dragon never listened). 

    Hiccup got to his feet, watching their dragons settle back down. Zephyr walked over to check whether Toothless was okay with a friendly nudge. "What happened?!" asked Hiccup, scoffing in awe.

    "The dragons saved you on their own!" grinned Fishlegs.

    Valkyrie nodded. "Looks like they took their training to a whole new level!"

    "We can catch up later," said Stoick, interrupting their conversation. "Right now, we need to get out of here."

    He was right. The Outcasts were charging, weapons drawn. The Riders mounted their dragons. Mildew had barely enough time to cling onto the new Deadly Nadder's tail as they took to the sky.

    Hiccup glanced back. "Mildew!" he shouted in alarm.

    Gobber looked down. He rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Ah, for the love of Thor. Mildew, get back up here!" he cried as one of his hands slipped. Gobber growled. "Don't you let go, old man━"

    Mildew let go.

    Hiccup's eyes widened. "Mildew! No!" he went catch him, but the old man hit the ground and was swarmed immediately by the Outcasts. Hiccup and Toothless swerved the arrows, but Mildew shouted.

    "No! Go, Hiccup! You have to leave me!"

    "He's right, son!" bellowed Stoick. "We can't help him now!"

    Hiccup hesitated. He gritted his teeth and dodged a few more arrows, but in the end, he had to leave. With sad look back down at Mildew, he shot back up after the others. And they left Outcast Island (hopefully for the last time). 

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    ━━Here, at Berk, family was important. Bork Week may not be the celebration of Hiccup's family, or that of Valkyrie the Vicious's, or even Astrid's (though with her anger, they might as well let her have it), but that didn't matter. Seeing the man who started it all's statue in the centre of Berk made Gobber happy, and Hiccup understood now, more than ever, the true meaning of family. It wasn't just his father, or the grief of missing his mother he barely knew. It was Toothless, it was his best friends, and their dragons, it was Berk; his home. 

    A wonderful island told to be a haven, with beautiful streams, and mountainous landscrapes and many sea-stacks spread out along the ocean. With a lot of dangers, and hidden treasures; a glacier or two, and a scary pit of Fireworm dragons (and Torch, wherever he might be). They have their ups and downs━but all families do. They have their arguments, their traitors, their enemies across the shores. But you know what they also had? The most important thing? They had each other. 

    "Hey!" Hiccup looked up as the door to his room opened. Valkyrie was there, arms crossed. She grinned, nodding back down the stairs. "You wanna have a race? Final lap before Bork Week ends?"

    He smirked. Setting aside his journal, he leapt off his bed, "Only if you can deal with losing?"

    Valkyrie laughed, "Oh, you're on!"

    For generations, Berk was one way; traditional, stubborn (they still are), and a place of war in the early morning. Three hundred years of Viking against dragons, but now, that has all changed. Now, they were apart of their family, their community. 

     "Hey!" Hiccup shouted when Valkyrie took a head start, shooting off with Zephyr. She grinned smugly over her shoulder and he rolled his eyes. Leaning forward, he and Toothless launched after them, easily catching up. 

    "Catch up if you can!" Valkyrie shouted over her shoulder, taing a sharp left. He laughed after her, diving Toothless down and spinning along the houses. Seeing them, the other riders decided to join. 

     Because here was the thing: a family wasn't just something you were born into. It was also the friends who stood with you. The ones who fought by your side (even the ones you thought you would never want to watch your back). You know that you'll be there for them, and they'll be there for you. 

     Astrid swooped in underneath, throwing her arms up in victory as she took the lead. Snotlout whined, wanting to be first as he pushed past Fishlegs to get closer, leaving the Twins shoving and fighting in the rear. 

    Valkyrie cheered loudly into the sky as the team of them took off into the horizon.

   (For the battles that have already commenced, and of course, for the battles that are yet to come). 

END OF PART TWO!

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    a/n: omg part two is finished!!!!!!!! Fudggggeeeee! After Defenders of Berk this book is finished and we move onto the movies again!!! (*sobs* they're so young right now). 

     AHHHhhh I feel like another short era has ended. Maybe it's cos i'm listening to Coming Back Around from the soundtrack. That song always puts me in the feels. 

    (also, snotlout and the changewing: best. thing. ever. to. happen. in. the. riders. of. berk. series.)