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━━ chapter five
the mediator

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     VALKYRIE had no time to grab her mallet.

     In under seconds, she was rushing after Hiccup and Stoick in a flustered confusion. The others followed━at least, Valkyrie believes so. In the chaos that underwent immediately, she only barely managed to catch up, rushing so fast on her toes she almost tripped once or twice. It wasn't long before the forge was completely abandoned, customers and all, and the crowd was following their chief in shock curiosity━wondering what might've caused such action. Valkyrie assumed Astrid, Hott, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the Twins merely followed like her, trying to push through passing Vikings to keep in hearing distance to the conversation father and son held.

     Though it was far from a conversation. Hiccup's questions were ignored━or perhaps not even heard. No matter how much he raised his voice, his father was a bellow louder, drawing Vikings down to the Hangar and commanding the war horns to echo.

     Val was breathing heavily. Her heart pounded. Her mind flooded with her own questions as she descended the stairs into the caverns below Berk into the Hangar. She tried to catch the conversation, but it was as wild as everything else. Wild as the hammer of footsteps, as the confused shouts of Vikings, and the bellows, squawks and roars of dragons uprooted from their rest and food.

     She blessed the Gods that Zephyr was down here already, resting after his ordeal amongst straw and beside a water trough. He looked up at the commotion, tilting his head and twisting his long-neck to meet Valkyrie's eyes━he seemed to ask, what is happening?

     Valkyrie didn't know. Gods! She was clueless!

     Who was this Drago Bludvist to cause such fear and commotion? Who had the power that a single utterance of his name meant war? Who was he?

      When Val tripped over the last step down into the Hangar, Toothless━who had followed obediently, albeit very startled━was there to dip his head under and hoist her back up. She gave him a quick scratch as a thank you before finally catching up. Her chest heaved as she took a moment to think, trying to listen behind Hiccup and understand━but Stoick was not ready to explain.

     "Ground all dragons! Seal the gates! Lower the storm doors!"

     Val's breath hitched a little as Vikings ran to the many levers in the Hangar, starting to tug down each one. Dragons were ushered from above in through the windows and down towards the tunnels to the many pens━Valkyrie signalled Zephyr towards her, not sure what was going to happen. She just knew she wanted Zeph close to her.

     "Whoa, whoa, whoa━wait!" Hiccup threw his hands out, incredulous.

     Astrid skidded to a stop not far from Valkyrie, lips agape as she━too━tried to take everything in. The wheel was turning; spinning so fast it might come off its hinges. Wooden shutters slammed into place, jolting in the sheer force as the villagers of Berk left their calm early afternoons to try and meet their chief's orders as he threw them out.

     "What is going on?!" Hott demanded, fixing his helmet that had tilted askew in his race down the tunnels. He glanced at Gobber for an answer, but the blacksmith just followed his cheif, calling out to those still frozen in their startlement.

     "Come on! You heard the man━Lock it down!"

     Ropes were pulled, more levers were yanked━it was a race to get the dragons inside. Valkyrie ducked as a Monstrous Nightmare swooped, startled and skittish in the urgent chatter around them.

     "No dragon or Viking stets foot off this island until I give the word!"

      The group of them rushed down a final landing of wooden beams and supports, hitting the stone of the hangar floor. Valkyrie caught one of her flowers that had fallen out of her hair, quickly fixing it back in as she was back to a jog, following her husband with Toothless bounding beside her. Zephyr met up with them halfway, dipping his neck down with an edge of fear in search of Val's comfort.

     "Wait━" Hiccup's metal leg brought up loose stones and straw as he moved, "━because some guy you knew is stirring up trouble in some faraway land━?"

      Stoick rounded on him; his beard fiery in the light seeping through the remaining open storm doors. "Because Drago Bludvist is a madman without conscience or mercy!" He took his son by the shoulder, who stared in his alarm. "And if he's built a dragon army? Gods, help us all ... Get them into their pens! Quickly!"

     Valkyrie tried to wait for Hiccup's glance, hoping for an insight on what their plan was, but he just ushered forward after his father's urgent march. "Then let's ride back out there!" he said. "We'll follow those trappers to Drago and talk some sense into him."

     "No," ordered Stoick the Vast. "We fortify the island."

     This caused a tick to Hiccup's jaw. "It's our duty to keep the peace!" he raised his voice.

     "Peace is over, Hiccup!" the shout rang in their ears. Valkyrie could feel the Dragon Riders' eyes on her. She looked back at them, standing in a line, wanting her explanation. She couldn't give them one. Snotlout noticed her breathless dissaray and she saw his shoulders slump in realisation━though none of them really knew what all this meant, they understood well enough that what awaited them was going to be dreadful. They felt it in the pits of their stomachs. "I must prepare you for war."

     "War?" Hiccup echoed, his voice barely even a loud whisper. "Dad, if Drago's coming for our dragons we can't wait around for him to get here. Let's go find him and change his mind!"

     Stoick sighed━whether it be frustration, or a hint of despair, Valkyrie couldn't decide. But she does know she has never seen him so afraid. Even standing under the shadow of the Red Death, he hadn't been deterred. Now, the determination in his green eyes were clouded━shrouded even with whatever he had seen, whatever he knew. "No, some minds won't be changed, Hiccup," he told his son, softer. "Berk is what you need to worry about. A chief protects his own."

     He stormed off and Toothless moved past Valkyrie to peer at his rider. He let out a low, concerned warble. Hiccup set his jaw, brows furrowed and stubborn. His eyes flickered━a decision passing his mind in just seconds before he made it; and there was no changing his mind, either.

     Valkyrie pushed forward, knowing that look all too well. She reached for him, grasping the sleeve of his tunic, "Hiccup━" she tried.

     "I have to," he answered before she could finish. Hiccup swiftly brushed away the curls of her auburn bangs to kiss his wife's forehead. "I'll be back━love you━"

     His fingers swiped one of her flowers as he passed, determined to take part of her with him. Valkyrie watched him go, hoisting himself up onto Toothless's saddle and hooking in the tail with a grit of his teeth. Her nose flared in her own determination.

     As Hiccup escaped the latches of his father, shooting through the rapidly closing doors, Stoick the Vast couldn't stop the young woman following. Zephyr cried out in defiance as they took to the high roof and dived down for speed. The doors were closing, barely cracks of sunlight peeked through, but Valkyrie Haddock was vicious in her decision.

     The yells of her and Hiccup's name were echoes as Zephyr folded his wings and the Windstriker and his rider zipped through like an arrow from a bowstring. They made it with a split-second to spare, the storm doors clamping shut with an echoing thud behind.

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    HICCUP KNEW, of course, that by this point of time, the chances of Valkyrie following him wherever his stubborn backside decided to go, was very━very━high. And of course, Valkyrie knew that every time she did, she'll get his brooding side-eye that told her the same thing everytime: why are you like this? A side-eye she also knew meant: thank you, love you very much.

     (Gods, one could tell they're married when they have small arguments with absolutely no words exchanged. What was next? Was Valkyrie going to copy Hiccup's facial expressions? His wild gestures? Has she already?).

     Valkyrie felt bare going into this without her mallet. She had no time to head back to the house and grab it with everything that had just happened. As the weather grew colder and the mountain peaks of Itchy Armpit were hazy silhouette's in the distance, she fiddled with her brooch. She will have to take a weapon, somehow. Easy━usually. But her mallet was special to her. As Valkyrie grew, and she needed a heavier, bigger weapon, Hiccup made her one━each time without fail. She now had a collection. The important thing, however, was that having that mallet with her made her feel braver, and safer━and just better overall. Now, she was weaponless, vulnerable, and very nervous.

      Peering through the holes of his helmet, Hiccup veered to the left, dipping down in search of the trappers' ship. Valkyrie followed, briefly glancing back the way they came. If Drago Bludvist was someone even Stoick the Vast was afraid of, Val really needed her weapon. But they couldn't go back━if they did, she was sure Stoick will lock them up into a dragon stall himself!

     Trusting Zephyr to follow Hiccup, Valkyrie spun in her saddle to her bag and searched through. Come on, she thought to herself, I should have something━

     She picked out a small ornate dagger used for sharpening charcoal.

     Great. Perfect. The best weapon ...

     Valkyrie sighed but gripped it tight. She closed her satchel and gave it a spin in her fingers, testing the weight. It could do some damage if she was fast and close enough. She could skewer Drago with it ... maybe ... unlikely.

      Wondering what she was doing, Hiccup looked over his shoulder. Amused to see her peer, annoyed at the small knife, he said━voice muffled under his helmet, "You know, if you stayed, you wouldn't have this problem..."

     Valkyrie immediately scowled and pointed the blade towards him, "I will skewer you with this."

     They continued on for a little bit longer. The distant islands were getting more and more into focus. Valkyrie now soared beside Hiccup and Toothless, peering through her spyglass in search for the insignia they had seen at the destroyed fort. It was a silent flight, and despite his cheek before, Valkyrie knew she didn't hear a smile behind it.

     Pursing her lips, she murmured, "You okay?"

    Hiccup's shoulders tensed a little, "Yeah ..." he decided to say. "I just ... if Dad wants me to be chief, he sure has a difficult way of showing it."

     Valkyrie sighed, her own shoulders slumping a little. "Babe, you and your father don't think alike━you're very different. But that doesn't mean he doesn't think you capable. He would ask you in the first place if he didn't."

     "Then why doesn't he trust me on this?" Hiccup flung a furious hand out to the distance. "If I have to be chief, then this is how I'll be chief. Protecting Berk on the back of a dragon━mediating, not fighting."

     "You're going to have people disagree with you as chief, Hiccup," said Valkyrie wisely. "Doesn't mean they don't trust you, doesn't mean they don't believe in you, they just see things in a different light. A chief can't make every decision by themselves, that's why he has a council. Even once your father retires, he'll be on that council. He'll have your back, but he'll also provide a different view, which is something you'll need. But he's also still Chief at the moment, and you need to respect that."

     "You think I should've stayed?"

     Valkyrie shrugged. "Honest? I don't know." There was a still silence; dreary and churning as they both thought back to Stoick's reaction. "I think with this Drago, we shouldn't wait like sitting ducks━he has a dragon army, and we don't know how big that is. We could be overwhelmed. But at the same time, going out like this, we risk exposing Berk and leading him right to us."

      Hiccup's sigh and hang of his head told her he agreed.

      "Let's just ... let's just hope you can change his mind," finished Val. "And I'm sure you have a very good chance at doing so."

      She got a glimpse of a thankful smile from behind his helmet, and Valkyrie gave him a gentle one in return.

The moment was cut short, however, when out of the corner of Valkyrie's eye, she saw the mast of a ship. On the fabric, was the same colour she remembered frozen in shards of jagged ice.

"Look," she pointed over.

Hiccup followed her gaze and saw the trappers shift drift out of the fort harbour. He nodded. "Come on," he told her, and together, they dived down towards the ship.

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     a/n: heyy!!! sorry for the short chapter and stuff, but I hope you still enjoyed it! I'm still getting used to val and hiccup being so grown up *sobs* like they were just sixteen like a book ago!! *sobs intensify*