Droplets of water fell from the ceiling, trickling gently down the side of the cave. By some standards, the room was more of an ice box than a living space. However, coldness was not at all on the mind of the twenty-year-old man lying on the bed.

The large room was designed in a unique fashion, with a large pit of rocks in the centre, and a small forge by the entryway. The door itself was a simple periwinkle curtain hung across the opening on a rod of steel. In the walls were many shelf-like indents, storing books and maps and little trinkets here and there. Light filtered in from a small hole in the ceiling between stalactites But the most peculiar thing about the room was that all the walls, the floor and the ceiling were made of blue ice. 

The man sighed and sat up. The past few months had been extremely uneventful for the dragon rider. They had defeated Drago Bludvist a year earlier, and had finished rounding up and putting an end to all of his followers, with the help of his mother of course. 

At first, he had believed these actionless months would be fun. He would map the world, train new dragons, discover new species, invent new things! But really what happened was he lost his map and had to start over, he got his right hand bitten off by an agitated skrill, he had yet to find any new dragons, AND his forge broke down three times. Needless to say, things were not going as planned for Hiccup. There was success, however, in the fact that he'd managed to craft a gronckle iron hand for himself between the forge's collapses. 

It took a while to adjust to his new hand, just like it had with his foot, however, his hand was different. He had to use it for so much more than just walking. Sometimes it would seize up and not respond to Hiccup's movements. Valka was very helpful in those times, helping him pick up things.

Hiccup smiled slightly at the thought of his mother. She was the only person in the world that could even come close to understanding him. She'd helped him to grow and become who he was. She'd even helped him discover many secrets about his own dragon. Hiccup couldn't imagine a life without her.

Hiccup pushed himself up from the bed and walked over to one of the indents in the wall that held books. He didn't have to open them to know what was written within, for he himself was the author. Picking up a book titled The Sharp Class and a quill and ink, Hiccup walked past the forge, pushed aside the curtain, and left the room. 

His metal leg clanked against the icy floor, the sound echoing off the walls, likely alerting Valka to her son's presence. Running his real hand through his hair, Hiccup approached the doorway to the large room that was their house. 

The stalactite strewn ceiling towered above the circular ice cave, small holes showering the room with light. Through an enormous gap in the far wall, vegetation was visible on a giant column of ice and stone, flourishing despite the cold climate. 

The cavern itself was full of homey items, including an engraved pine table with matching singed chairs. Atop the table was a small bowl of dragon fruit and papers scattered across the remainder of the surface. 

To the left of the tunnel leading to Hiccup's room was a large flat stone suspended horizontally over a crackling fire, strips of meat sizzling aromatically on the slab.

And standing over the food, hair tied back from her pale, flawless face was the Mother of Dragons herself, Valka.

This was a woman of grace and beauty, a mystery and an adventurer wrapped in a flame-resistant cloak and dragon scale armour.

She glanced up as her son entered the room, a motherly smile on her face.

"Good morning," Valka approached Hiccup and kissed his forehead, before returning to tend to the fire. "Breakfast is almost ready."

Hiccup seated himself at the table, setting down his utensils and peeling open the cover of the book. "It doesn't smell like fish. What is it?"

"It's a special treat this morning. One of our razorwhip scouts returned carrying a small chicken, which he relinquished once I offered him a small bucket of herring." The pair laughed, and Valka carried a steaming, engraved bowl to the table.

Hiccup grabbed a strip of chicken from the bowl and bit into it, glad for the change from the regular salmon. Halfway through one strip, he paused in realization, dropping the meat back into the bowl. Seeing this, Valka placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Son? What is it, dear?" Hiccup met his mother's eyes.

"Which direction was the razorwhip patrolling in?"

"South, I believe. Why? What's wrong?"

"What is the nearest island in that direction that is inhabited by chicken-farming vikings?"

"What is your point, son?"

"Those barbarians probably tampered with the chicken's feed to make them poisonous to dragons!" Hiccup grabbed the bowl and began inspecting the strips.

"Hiccup, you cannot possibly still be angry about what happened." Valka gently pryed the bowl from Hiccup's grip. "It has been a long time, son. You have to let go of your grudge against your father."

"It isn't that simple, mom. Dad hated me! He probably hosted a grand celebration at my departure." He shoved his chair back and stood, pacing around the cave. Valka remained silent. There was nothing she could say to ease her son's despair. She was not there for the better part of Hiccups childhood, and she could not claim to know how Stoick felt towards their son. It had been twenty long years since Cloudjumper had borne her away from Berk, and for all she knew, Stoick hated having Hiccup as a reminder of the loss of his wife that fateful night.

The silence stretched for what seemed like hours, when a black shadow swooped past, ruffling Hiccup's hair. The shadow circled the room at lightning speed, creating a black blur along the walls. The wind funnel created by the shadow's antics sucked up The Sharp Class, sending the book flying across the room. As Hiccup scrambled to recover his precious penmanship, Cloudjumper walked into the room, an irritated look gracing his scaley features. With a flick of his tail, the blur appeared to falter, and with a loud CRASH! the table was thrown to the side of the room. Valka and Hiccup stared at the table open-mouthed, as a black head and two green, sheepish eyes peeked over the edge of the table.

After a minute of silent shock at what had occurred, Valka let out a terribly unlady-like snort, which then turned into a chuckle that evolved into a full out belly laugh. Hiccup laughed along, despite the mood of the preceeding conversation.

"Toothless! We just had that table made!" Hiccup approached his dragon, playfully swatting him on the nose. Toothless rumbled what seemed to be an apology, nudging Hiccup's arm. "It's alright, bud. I forgive you." Hiccup hugged his night fury, scratching him behind the ears. Toothless could always bring a smile to his face, no matter the circumstances.

"We will have to get another table," Valka took a stab at starting a conversation with Hiccup.

Hiccup stiffened at her voice, and his face went blank. "I can build one."

"You will need more lumber."

"I can get it."

"About our conversation earlier-"

"Forget it, mom," Hiccup interrupted. "Toothless and I are going to patrol the North." Not waiting for a response, Hiccup walked down the hall to his room, Toothless trailing behind him. He pushed aside the curtain, and retrieved his dragon scale armour from a chest in the corner of the room. Toothless waddled over to his rider, nudging his arm. "Not now, bud." As he strapped on an arm piece, Toothless pushed him again. "What?" The night fury rumbled and motioned towards the room's entrance. "You want me to apologize? Are you serious?" The dragon blinked. "Toothless, I'm not the one who needs to apologize! My mom does not know what it was like to live in Chief Stoick the Vast's household. She shouldn't assume that it's easy to just 'let go' of all the disappointment and shame I had to endure, every. Single. Day." Toothless purred and rubbed his head against Hiccup's arm. Hiccup grabbed his patrol satchel from the chest, and headed towards the door. "Let's go, bud."

The dragon and rider walked back out into the main room. Valka looked up from carrying the broken table with Cloudjumper's help, to see Hiccup mount his dragon.

"How long will you be-," she began to say.

But Hiccup and Toothless had flown off.

"-gone." Valka whispered.

*****

A/N:
Hey, hehe, umm, yes, Snowdropthewolf, I am alive and well. I am so sorry for not updating, I am very slow at doing so. I haven't edited this chapter, solely because I wanted to get you guys an update as soon as possible. I cannot make any excuse as to why I am only updating today when I said I would months ago, except a simple lack of inspiration.

Thank you all for reading this book despite the author's terribly slow update speed, I promise to try to update a lot more often than every couple of months.

BUT, I do want to know what you think so far! I appreciate any feedback you may have for me, whether positive or negative.

Again, thank you for reading, your comments are what gave me the inspiration to write a thousand words today! :)

~Piptheturtle