After about twenty minutes of flying, Valka and Cloudjumper encountered a timberjack, followed by an agitated, riderless Toothless.

As the timberjack lumbered past, Toothless flew circles around Cloudjumper in a panicked frenzy. 

"Whoa, whoa, Toothless! Calm down," Valka said. Toothless stopped pacing and hovered in front of Cloudjumper, his ears twitching and a series of growls coming from his throat. "Where is Hiccup?" 

Toothless turned Southwards, growling, and glanced back at Valka. 

"Well let's go get him, then." 

As the trio sped off over the ocean, Valka's mind was in turmoil. Half of her was panicking. What if he was captured? Or worse, injured or dead? Valka would never forgive herself if something happened to him. She had sent him to Berk in the first place, it would be her fault if he was hurt. The other half of her, the sensible half, was reasoning with her motherly half. He probably sent Toothless back on purpose, to get her or something. And even if he was captured, Hiccup could handle himself. He had conquered worse foes than a small island of vikings. He would be okay. 

Valka pulled herself out of her thoughts as the dragons neared the island. Cloudjumper camouflaged himself in the clouds as Valka attempted to come up with a plan. She needed a way to search for Hiccup, and if he was captured, he'd be in the village somewhere. She glanced around, brainstorming for ideas. Then, as though Odin himself had heard, a solution appeared out of nowhere. 

Valka smiled. Berk, here I come.

***

Valka pulled her hood over her head and adjusted her face scarf as she stepped off Trader Johann's knörr and pushed through the gathering crowd with her head down. Her boots thudded on the dock, enunciating every step she took into the village she had left all those years ago. Her conflicted emotions about returning, however, were overpowered by a sense of determination to find her son and bring him home. He was distressed enough at the prospect of getting wood from the other side of the island. Valka could only imagine how upset he would be if he was forced to face the people he ran away from.

As she made her way farther into the village, Valka shivered, feeling vulnerable without her armour. Most of it she had left with Cloudjumper, but she knew it was unlikely she would get her greaves and bracers back from Trader Johann. She had offered them to Johann in exchange for safe passage to Berk with no questions asked. It had given Johann quite a scare when she dropped onto his ship off the back of a giant stormcutter, so Valka was grateful that he accepted such a meager offering. 

Nevertheless, she wished she had her armour on her. There was no telling what challenges she might run into in her search, especially considering she was in a village of vikings.

Taking a deep breath of smokey air, Valka continued her trek through the village and toward the battle arena. When she was last at Berk, albeit 20 years ago, all criminals and captives were thrown into the arena and made to face a dragon. The Berkians considered it a 'trial by tooth and claw.' The viking would fight a dragon, and if they won, it was considered proof of their strength and ability to fight dragons. And if they lost, well, they got their punishment. 

As Valka approached the arena, she heard shouts and the clanging of swords. Valka crept into the entryway, remaining in the shadows as she observed the action taking place within. A group of younger vikings were watching as a young man and a young woman sparred with swords. 

The man looked to be about 20 years of age, with meager stubble on his chin and dark hair covering his head. His frame was stocky and muscular and his face was tense with determination. 

The woman was tall with a lean figure. Her dark hair swung through the air in a braid as she parried a slash from her opponent, her bright green eyes analyzing every move. Her stance was one of confidence and power, and Valka was not surprised when she disarmed the man and rested her sword on his collarbone. The girl smiled, contentedly and the pair shook hands before turning to the young ones watching in awe. 

"And that is how to disarm an opponent," the man said with a hint of indignation. "Thank you, Heather. Now, I expect to see you all back here tomorrow to practice that move." With that, the group of students began chattering with excited tones, running past Valka and out into the village, not giving her a second glance to her relief. 

"Three years, and you still can't beat me, Jorgenson. I'd give up hope if I were you," the girl, Heather, said. 

"I'll win next time, you'll see," the boy said, crossing his arms. Him and Heather stood alone in the arena. 

"In your dreams, Snot-face." Valka watched as Heather punched 'Snot-face' on the arm.

The arena was silent for a minute, before Heather glanced at the cages on the opposite side of the arena and led the boy closer to the entrance. Valka moved a step farther into the shadows. 

"How is she doing, Snotlout?" Heather lowered her voice. "It's been years since he left. She has to be getting better." 

Snotlout sighed. "Not great. You heard about her parents?" Heather nodded. "Well, before they... passed, they told her they wanted her to find someone to marry." 

"Oh no," Heather gasped. "So who's she marrying?" 

"Fishlegs," Snotlout said. "He felt like he was her best option for happiness after Hiccup... disappeared." Valka's breath hitched at the name of her son. These people knew him before he left. Were they his friends? Hiccup had never mentioned anyone from his past. Berk was kind of an 'off limits' topic. 

"Oh," Heather replied, seeming a tad downcast. 

"When are you going back to Berserker Island?" Snotlout asked as the pair began walking toward the entryway of the arena. Valka retreated into an alcove and held her breath. Snotlout and Heather walked by the alcove and Valka relaxed. 

"Soon. Maybe the end of the week. It depends if..." Heather's voice faded as she and Snotlout walked off into the village. 

Valka shook her head, refocusing her mind on the task ahead of her. She slipped into the arena and stuck to the shadows as they lengthened in the evening light, and made her way to the cages. She peered in, immediately noticing two deadly nadders huddled on opposite sides of the enclosure. Valka reached up and pulled a lever on the wall, opening the cage and freeing the two dragons. She was surprised, however, when neither dragon moved to escape. 

Valka had seen traumatized dragons before, ones who were so used to captivity that they didn't understand freedom, so she figured that was the case with these dragons. She approached the blue nadder, using her body language to convey calmness and a lack of fear to the dragon. The nadder hissed a little as she got closer, but otherwise, remained still. When Valka was close enough, she reached out her hand and allowed the dragon to smell her. The nadder leaned forward and rubbed its nose against Valka's palm and she relaxed. Valka scratched the nadder's nose with a smile, and moved to check the dragon for injuries. As she approached the nadder's right wing, the dragon hissed at her. Valka recognized this as a warning and waited patiently for the dragon to make the next move. When it did move, Valka was shocked. Beneath the nadder's wing, curled in a ball, was a thin figure with golden blonde hair. 

Valka glanced at the nadder who was standing over the girl in a protective stance. Valka wanted to leave. She was wasting time. Clearly, Hiccup was not here and could be in danger elsewhere. But her motherly instincts screamed at her to comfort the girl who was evidently in distress. 

With a quiet sigh, Valka approached the girl, movements slow and nonthreatening. The nadder eyed her as she knelt down and touched the girl on the shoulder. The blonde jumped and shot up from her laying position, her crystal blue eyes wide and fearful. As the girl stared, Valka realized she was still wearing her hood and scarf. She pulled her hood down and lowered the scarf to her neck, giving the girl what she hoped to be a caring, motherly look. 

The girl stared at her blankly for a minute before relaxing, the tension in her body dissipating. Valka searched the girl's eyes, looking past the blank look displayed on her face. In them, Valka saw pain, too much pain for a young woman to keep within herself. After a moment's hesitation, Valka's arms twitched and she opened them in a silent invitation. She saw tears beginning to well in the girl's eyes a split-second before the girl crashed into Valka's chest. As Valka wrapped the sobbing girl in her arms, she scolded herself for considering leaving her here.

A/N

 I'm sorry I'm such a slow updater, y'all must hate me, but here's an update. Thanks for reading and voting and commenting, I really do appreciate it <3<3<3