━━ chapter nine
a trader's tales!

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    ━━There are many upsides in living far north in an Archipelago; their foes had to travel far ways to reach the island of Berk, they could see them oncoming days beforehand at least, and it made for a large territory. The downsides, however, were the lack of recourses from the South. Berk━in a word━had always been traditional; the Viking way, or off the cliff-way. (That was until Hiccup changed their minds on dragons forever). However, the one thing that did excite the Vikings of the Hooligan Tribe that wasn't traditional, was Trader Johann's stories and product.

    No one knew where he came from, not really. Some said he was a prince, exiled from his lands far south. Others said he was an ex-pirate. Valkyrie's mother liked to think he came from everywhere, and nowhere, and with the tales to prove it. Snotlout once heard that he had survived the grasp of a Skrill to the deep West, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut were told of a story that he had escaped the claws of a tribe of Cannibals in the East. Needless to say, Trader Johann's stories beat even Gobber's in the ridiculous endeavours and description.

     But seeing his ship in the port was still exciting━whether it was for the stories or the goods nestled on his deck━, and all those in Berk rushed to meet Johann the morning he arrived, ready to trade their own goods for his.

    Astrid was gleeful (for once), grinning as she dragged Valkyrie towards the ship with Stormfly's help to shove them all out of the way. "Hey!" she'd shout. "Deadly Nadder coming through! Dragon Riders━thank you!"

    Valkyrie herself was much the same, though she hid it, keeping her usual scowl as they jumped over the edge of the boat and landed both boots down onto the wood. "Ah! Hello!" greeted Johann. His voice was soft and smooth, but greasy and thin━slipping through crevices to get what he wanted; a true salesman's voice. He was dressed in robes of fine silk; colourful and bright━something not seen here at Berk with hair dark and shiny, wrapped up in twists together by his braid hanging over his embroidered tunic.

    Val and Astrid didn't pay him much attention, heading straight for the weapons stacked to the left. Fingers picking at a double-bladed axe, Valkyrie spun it around, testing the weight. Seeing Snotlout walk past, she smirked mischeviously to herself, and swung it towards him. Snotlout shrieked and barely ducked the blade.

    "Valkyrie!" he shouted at her, alarmed and she and Astrid laughed.

    Val chucked the handle of the axe between her hands. "Hmm, yeah, good swing, good weight."

     Snotlout narrowed his eyes. "You think you're so funny."

    "She's not," Astrid crossed her arms, smirking. "She's hilarious."

    The girls shared a high-five as he grumbled, continuing on his way through the tradepost goods. Valkyrie passed over the axe to Astrid, who tested it out herself, frowning in concentration.

    Moving along, Valkyrie looked through the botany, smelling the flowers. When Johann wasn't looking, she picked some away, hiding them in her pouch to weave into crowns later. (She wasn't trading her food for flowers! Overpriced!).

    "Where have you been this time, Trader Johann?" asked Bucket, shuffing on the tips of his toes like a child on Snoggletog Eve.

    "Oh, Bucket," Johann's voice ran like smooth honey, luring him onto his boat to sell whatever he could, "the things I've seen, the people I've met! I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together. Whatever it is you're looking for I can assure you you'll find it here!"

    "It's all mine!" Snotlout shoved past Fishlegs, and the latter frowned. "I call dibs on everything!"

    "I've got foods of all sorts, spices, exotic animals..."

    "Ooh! Oh!" Tuffnut pointed to squirming bag. He hit his sister to gain her attention. "Is that moving? Does that one move━?" out of the sack, expanded out spikes like a Deadly Nadders, and Tuff stepped back, absolutely in awe. "Whoa...!"

     "Works of art, jewellery, not to mention━knowledge."

    Valkyrie picked up a botany book, and went to gaze through it before Snotlout bounded past, making her drop it back down. "Snotlout!" she seethed.

    He ignored her, holding up the silver plate with a pucker of his lips. "Ooh, I'm even better looking than I thought."

    "A yak is better looking than you," quipped Astrid, chucking up the axe once again. She caught it, giving him a glare as he winked her way.

    Picking up another flower and tucking it away, Valkyrie continued on, examining the old shields and treasures. Hiccup walked up to her, holding a small clay pot of ink. "Are you buying those flowers?"

    Valkyrie met his gaze innocently. "They're of the wild, they belong to nobody."

    She smiled at his chuckle.

    Behind them, the sharp, feriocious yell of a Viking brought their attention. Spinning around, Valkyrie watched, quite impressed as Stoick the Vast handled the sword in his hand; testing it's weight and balance. Hiccup looked the far oppsoite.

    "Wow," he let out. "Another sword. Just what we need."

    His father sent him a quick look, balancing the hilt on the tip of one, meaty finger. "If you must know, it's not for me. I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the Chief af of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a gift━" he swung it at the mast, and the blade went right through. Val gasped, amazed, "━left without a head."

    Hiccup winced, watching the mast fall down, revealing a startled Johhan behind it. Stoick turned to him, bellowing his name in a heafty laugh. "Johann! What will you take in trade?"

    "Stoick!" he threw his arms out with a nervous smile. "It is but your good graces I desire when my amble ship passes through Berk."

    Valkyrie gaped. "That's unfair!" she whispered to Hiccup.

    He frowned at her, "He's the chief of Berk."

    "So? I'm the friend of the son of the chief of Berk, and I don't get free things."

    "Val, you stole the flowers instead."

    "That's not the point."

    Having finished trade, Stoick walked past the two teens and back onto the docks where his Thunderdrum sat waiting. Blue and mighty, it most certainly matched the chief in stubborness (that was for sure). "I'll be back in five days," Stoick told his son, before chuckling. "What am I saying? I'll be back in two, thanks to Thornado!" he hopped onto his saddle, and Hiccup arched a brow.

    "Oh, you finally named him?" he asked. "Thornado, huh?"

    "That's right," said the chief. "Because he has the power of Thor and the forecoity of a tornado━" the Thunderdrum growled as Stoick tried to fix the reigns to launch into flight, much rather staying on the ground where he had been napping than to take a two-day-long flight. "And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to! Turns out he can be quite stubborn━" he finally managed a proper grip.

    Hiccup muttered under his breath, "Can't imagine where he gets that from."

    Valkyrie hid her chuckles behind her palm as his father and Thornado shot up towards the skies.

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     ━━"Wow! How does that look?"

    Valkyrie glanced up from where she sat on Zephyr's back, tieing the new flowers she stole from Johann's boat to the saddle. She had a stem in between her teeth, frowning at the statue Tuffnut finally had managed to drag into the Academy. He pushed it in front of his sister, who took a deep breath and let it all out in one, awestruck, "Beautiful."

Hiccup looked over, taken aback, "You got them just for the Academy?"

"Yeah!" said Tuffnut, placing a hand on the stonework proudly as Hiccup walked up to him. "We got them from Trader Johann. We had to give him our great-grandfather's skull." (Valkyrie didn't think the statues were worth a family's skull, but it was the Twins, so she didn't take the time to question it). "We got to keep his clavicle."

"Wow!" Hiccup sounded pleasantly surprised. "You know, it's about time you guys started taking some pride in this place."

Tuff wasn't listening. "Duck!" he told the chief's son and shoved him down. Over their heads Barf and Belch fired at the statue, lighting it with a spark that sent it stumbling backwards.

Why is Valkyrie not even surprised?

Snotlout gaped, "That was awesome!" He ran for Hookfang, jumping onto his back. "I wanna take a shot—fire!"

Hiccup—who only just got up—had to dive back down again to avoid the magma amongst Hookfang's fire that encased the stone of the statue. Snotlout whooped! in his victory, and that sound immediately made Astrid and Valkyrie glance at each other: challenge accepted.

"Please," said Astrid with a scoff. "That was nothing—Stormfly, spine-shot!"

The son of the chief ducked again, yelping in alarm and covering his head with his arms as a volley of Nadder spikes flew over him and imbedded into the stone. "Guys!" He shouted. "Not a competition! Stop!"

"Oh come on, Astrid," Val put away her flowers for now, cracking her knuckles. "You can do better than that. But—alas—you didn't, so I win."

Snotlout glared at her, "You haven't even taken a shot!"

"Yeah!" agreed Ruffnut. "How do you know you've won?"

"Because I always win."

Astrid made a face, "No you don't."

"Stop it, please," Hiccup rubbed his eyes, tired of their antics.

But Valkyrie just spun Zephyr onto the statue, "Hiccup—duck—!"

He didn't even get up from the ground this time, just hiding down next to Tuffnut who cheered at each fire. After Zephyr (and Snotlout's statement that that had been nothing compared to Hookfang), came Mealtug, and finally, even Toothless joined in on the fun, aiming at the stone—he sneezed, and he missed. There was a moment of confusion, and Hiccup looked up at his dragon, frowning with concern. The Night Fury sneezed again, and Snotlout barely avoided a plasma blast to the face.

Hiccup pushed himself to his feet, "Well, that's strange..."

"Hey!" Snotlout barked. "Could your dragon cover his mouth when he sneezes?"

"I—I'm sorry," said Hiccup, holding out a tender hand to his dragon, who murmured a whine. He placed it onto his snout, raising his other hand as if to check his temperature. Valkyrie hopped off Zephyr, stepping forward in her own worry. "But that's ... that's never happened before."

Toothless sneezed yet again, and Hiccup moved his hand away, jumping back to avoid the blast that scorched the stone ground at their feet.

Astrid shared an anxious glance with Valkyrie, "Maybe he just needs some rest?"

"Yeah," murmured Hiccup, but he didn't sound convinced, still watching his dragon shake his head as if something was up his nose. "Maybe..."

Leaving the Academy, Valkyrie, Astrid and Hiccup soared their way home. Diving down towards the chief's house, they decided that Astrid was probably right, maybe some rest was what Toothless needed. She told them that whenever she felt under the weather, a good sleep always got her up and ready to go like nothing had happened. But Val found it hard to focus on her when she had trouble steering her own dragon.

Zephyr was usually agile in the open air; as all Windstiker's were. But today, he seemed a bit off. Valkyrie had to pull them out of a dive that almost sent them straight into a cliff face; they nearly crashed head on into Silent Sven's farm, the sheep into an all-out scurry!

"What's going on with Zeph?" asked Astrid, frowning.

"I dunno," Val glanced down at her dragon in worry. "We've flown through here dozens of times without any problems."

The group of them took a turn towards the plaza, neither Valkyrie nor Astrid taking much notice to Hiccup struggling with Toothless behind them. Something caught the blonde's eye, and she gasped, "Gods—Valkyrie, look. What flowers are those? They're beautiful?"

She pointed down to a shrub of purple flowers, and Valkyrie titled her head. She hasn't seen those flowers in Berk before; she believed she would remember and know such a pretty flower. "Huh," she let out. "I have no idea—whoa, hey!" Valkyrie ducked as a plasma blast flew over her head. Behind them, Hiccup and Toothless spiralled out of control, heading straight for the ground. "Hiccup?!"

Astrid gasped and dived down after them. Valkyrie tried to follow, but Zephyr sneezed, blowing them back with a gust of hot hair that would have seared Valkyrie's eyes if she hadn't covered her face in time. "Zeph, watch out—what the—whoa!" They plummeted towards the ground. Valkyrie cried out in alarm, keeping close to her saddle as the ground got closer and closer. She tried to pull her dragon up, but it seemed like he had lost control, and together, he and his rider hit the ground. Valkyrie was flung from her saddle, rolling along the grass.

When she stopped, she ignored the pain in her side to get up onto her feet and rush to her dragon. "Zephyr?" she cried. "Zephyr, are you okay? What happened, boy?" Valkyrie knelt at his side, feeling her stomach twist as he went to raise his head to look at her, but couldn't. "Zeph?!" she whimpered.

"Val!" Hearing Mak's voice, she looked over. Running towards her, he held Fleecy the Terrible Terror in his arms with Astrid at his side. The little Terrible Terror coughed and sneezed, hanging her head over Mak's arms. "It's Fleecy! I think she's sick!"

Astrid's eyes widened as she saw what had happened. "Oh, gods! Val!" She ran over. "Is Zeph okay?"

"I don't know!" said Valkyrie. "He was fine and then he just fell out of the sky!"

"That's what happened to Hiccup and Toothless," Astrid looked terrified. "Val, something's happening to the dragons—they're all getting sick."

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━━Valkyrie's mother frowned at the set of dragons and their owners appearing at the doorstep of the Frode Clan home. The dragon sanctuary they've started was going really well, but in coming back home, Val could see that they weren't the only ones feeling under the weather. The Sanctuary was almost full of dragons already, all coughing and sneezing and lying helpless on the floor by the fire. The worst part about it, was that Spikemoth, Boulder and Erik's Terrible Terror Meecy were amongst them.

"Oh, gods," muttered Astrid.

"They're allergic to something, but I don't know what," sighed Valkyrie's mother who opened up Toothless's mouth to peer inside. When she closed it, he smacked his gums sadly. He had grown even worse in the past few minutes. So had Zephyr, who leant his head on Valkyrie's shoulder, and she was doing her best to hold his humongous weight that felt like it was crushing her. "Gothi tells me the same thing, but neither of us know how to stop it, or what to get rid of."

Astrid—in seeing Spikemoth—walked over and placed her hand on the dragon's snout, feeling connected to another Deadly Nadder. Valkyrie wondered whether she was seeing Stormfly sick instead. She was yet to have any symptoms, but Valkyrie knew Astrid was worried. Hott slumped next to his dragon, watching sadly.

"You can fix them, right, Mum?" asked Mak, still cuddling Fleecy. Their mother turned to Zephyr, and sighed to find the symptoms all similar. "They'll get better, right?"

They all waited anxiously for an answer, but at the look on Fira Frode's face, their hopes were crushed. "Our best hope is to get rid of whatever is causing this allergy."

"Well," Astrid squeezed Hott's shoulder at his sniffle. "It would have to be something new to the island, right? None of the dragons got this before."

Toothless sneezed, and the plasma blast narrowly missed Astrid. She gasped and ducked in time. Stormfly gave a warning growl to the Night Fury, but her rider held a hand up. "It's okay, girl, it's not his fault."

"But that's nearly everything," said Valkyrie, exasperated. She hugged Zephyr's head closer, upset she didn't know how to make him feel better. "Johann brought in a whole ship worth, and we all bought a whole ship worth."

"We have to get rid of all of it," said Asrifth, standing up from beside Boulder who huffed, sagging into his spot by the fire. "Whatever's causing this will surely go away with it."

"Can we throw Mildew away while we're at it?" mumbled Hott off-handedly before shuffling in closer to Spikemoth, wrapping his arms around her neck as she whined and titled her head towards him.

"Fira!" The call for Valkyrie's mother came from outside, and the group of them all rushed to see what was happening. Up above, riders and their dragons were flying out of control. Snotlout and Hookfang barrelled into Barf and Belch, sending the lot of them down near the forge. Meatlug was spinning, shrieking in alarm within Fishlegs holding on for dear life.

"Help her, Hiccup!" he shouted down, seeing the chief's son. "She's sick! Whoa—" he held a hand to his mouth, turning green. "And I'm about to be—!" They landed at the walk to the docks in the grass.

Hiccup was pale, glancing back at Toothless who managed enough strength to poke his head out of the Frode Dragon Sanctuary. "It's spreading to all the dragons," he said, meeting Valkyrie's gaze. "We have to get rid of anything new, and quick."

They rallied up the entire village to the cliffs, setting up a long line to throw everything they had bought from Johann overboard. Valkyrie frowned at the flower crowns she had made for her and Zephyr, and angrily threw them away. She didn't know what was doing this to her dragon, but she will do anything to stop it, and to save him. No one was happy giving away the items they had bought—some with items that they'd never see again (you know, like the Twins' grandfather's skull)—but they did it anyway. Anyone who refused was met with a glare and a threat to have Astrid's axe in the back of their head.

"I know this is hard, guys," Hiccup said, hearing a few Vikings grumble on their way back from the cliff. "But I promise you, you're doing a good thing! You're helping the dragons."

"It's the least we can do for them!" added Valkyrie from beside him, trying to stay strong. If this didn't work...

Some threw away valuable things; like fine silks and weapons, others (like Snotlout) cried over throwing meaningless things, such as a silver plate that served no other purpose than to see their own reflection. Fishlegs was so torn to be apart from his botany book to the point that Ruff had to snatch it from his fingers and chuck it over into the pit herself.

There was still one person yet to throw anything over, and Hiccup narrowed his gaze at Gobber who stood by them, shuffling nervously in the sand. "I don't see you throwing anything in the pile," said Hiccup, "and I saw you buy something from Trader Johann."

"He did," stated Astrid at the shake of Gobber's head. She held up her axe menacingly. "He bought silk!"

Hiccup sighed and held out his palm. "Hand it over, Gobber."

The blacksmith gave him a sheepish look. "Can't do that, Hiccup ... it's—uh—currently in use," glancing around, he leaned in closer to whisper so no one else could hear. "It's my skivvies! They're glorious!"

They weren't amused. In the end, he let out a loud sigh—"Fine!"—and disappeared behind the boulders. A few seconds later, he returned with a pair of silk britches hanging over his hook. Valkyrie turned up her nose, gross. He chucked them into the pit.

Hiccup winced, "I could have gone my whole life without seeing that."

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━━The dragons weren't getting any better. Valkyrie stayed up all night to make sure Zephyr would be okay. She tried her best to make him extra comfortable, she had her mother bring in his favourite fish—never once leaving his side as he got worse and worse. She didn't think a dragon could look deathly pale, but Zephyr has no colour to his scales anymore, no brightness, or determination or any mischief to his green gaze. It was just dull; dull, sick, and tired with no motivation whatsoever to get up.

Val had bags under her eyes the next morning, having not slept a wink. She had to put out fires he sneezed, make sure she didn't get burnt from his breath herself. Praying to all the gods that he would keep on breathing, that he would get better, that they had found the solution ... but morning had arrived, and no dragon in Berk was cured. The Dragon Sanctuary was filled with sick dragons, and tired Frode family members, trying to keep them happy, comfortable and from accidentally burning the house down.

Valkyrie wanted to cry. They had thrown out everything new from Trader Johann—why wasn't it working? Why were the dragons only getting worse?

The Dragon Riders all met up early next morning—all tired, all with bags under their eyes, and all with dragons who either couldn't lift their heads up to make it, or lied there miserably on the ground beside them.

"I don't get it," said Fishlegs. "We got rid of everything from Trader Johann, but our dragons still aren't getting better, they're getting worse!"

Hiccup tired to think, but he was just as tired as the rest of them. "Let's—let's make a list. Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann but hasn't thrown it into the pit."

"Yeah," muttered Astrid. "There must have been somebody who didn't want to give up what they bought."

Snotlout punched his fist to his palm, looking furious. "If I find out who was holding back, I am gonna be so mad! Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls!"

"Yeah?" argued Tuffnut. "Well, ours is dead!"

The Vikings all gasped, turning to Barf and Belch who lied on the stone. They didn't move, and Valkyrie's heart was in her throat, until she saw their stomach rise and fall, and Tuff shake his hand. "Just kidding," Astrid glared at him. "But he's really not that fun anymore."

"Yeah," added Ruff. "He just sits there. He won't blow anything up!"

A roar from above announced the return of Chief Stoick the Vast, landing on the grass with his mighty Thunderdrum and a laugh that shook Berk's core. "Hiccup," he called out to his son, failing to see the sad looks upon the teens faces. "Put this in the Book of Dragons!" He made his way towards them with Thornado railing behind him. "Never fly on a stomach full of under-cooked mutton. The Shivering Shored will never be the same." He finally noticed the expressions in his son's eyes, and his friends around him. He then saw Hookfang and Barf and Belch, who didn't even move in greeting at his arrival. "What is it, Hiccup? What's wrong?"

"It's the dragons, Dad!" he said. "They're, uh..."

"They're sick," Valkyrie finished for him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder despite being tearful herself. She looked up at Stoick—and even though she knew he couldn't help, she searched him for an answer. She couldn't help it; it was a force of habit. A chief was always supposed to know the answer.

Stoick's shoulders fell. "Every dragon?"

They nodded glumly. Astrid sniffled, wiping away tears that welled up in her blue eyes, and Snotlout even didn't have anything to say. He just rubbed her shoulder, because no matter what, they were all friends, and they all were going through the same thing. They had to be there for each other. And they had to be there for their dragons, they had to save them. Valkyrie couldn't sit here and watch Zephyr die ... it broke her heart.

It didn't take long before they got the news that Thornado had grown ill as well. Whatever it was that was causing this, it was still here on the island. Valkyrie didn't want to leave Zephyr, but knew that she has to in order to stop this. She left him with a hug and a kiss on his head, not caring about the feel of scales against her lips. "I'll be back soon," she whispered to him. He didn't move, so she didn't know whether he heard or her, or just didn't have any strength to respond. "I promise. Just stay strong for me, boy, okay? You're a warrior, you can get through this ... you have to get through this."

She shed a few tears, and left. Meeting up with the gang outside of the chief's home, she made sure to keep stoic, but it felt impossible when all she wanted to do was hold onto Zephyr and cry. They retraced the chief's steps in order to find the source of all of this, but the dark made it harder to see, cascading over them with dim moonlight as if the gods felt their pain as well. (And yet we're doing nothing to help).

"Well," said Stoick. "This is where I landed."

He gestured to the slope around them, and Valkyrie took a deep breath. Nodding to herself, she readied to search. "Okay," said Hiccup the group of them, "look around for anything unusual."

Fishlegs pointed downhill where the Twins spent their time ramming their helmets into each other instead of helping. (People cope in different ways, Valkyrie had to remind herself before she shouted at them). "Does that count?"

They laughed as they fell back at the impact, hitting the ground. Ruffnut sat up in a bundle of purple flowers—the same Astrid and Valkyrie had seen flying over. "I'm seeing stars!"

"No way! Me too!"

Valkyrie frowned. She hadn't recognised those flowers because she had never seen them before that day—her stomach jolted. As Astrid rolled her eyes at the Twins with a sigh of of, "Nothing unusual here," Valkyrie stepped forward and towards the flowers. Her friend frowned. "What is it?"

Val stepped over the Twins and crouched next to the bush. She picked at the petals, studying them. "The flowers," she murmured. Glancing back, she felt her whole heart drop. "These flowers are new—they're not native to Berk."

The others followed her down, circling her as she held it up by the stem. Stoick the Vast crossed his meaty arms. "They were here when I got back."

Fishlegs grabbed the flower from her fingers, holding it up to his eyes. "It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander. I recognise it from my botany book, chapter eight."

Valkyrie stood back up, startled he knew something about flowers she didn't. Hiccup walked up to her side. "Is there anything specific you can remember?" he asked Fishlegs anxiously, and the pudgy Viking spun the stem around.

"Well," he began, "they're very beautiful, very soft perennial—" suddenly, he gasped, wheezing in alarm. Valkyrie watched terror cross his face. "And poisonous to reptiles!"

"Which means poisonous to dragons," Hiccup exclaimed what they were all realised with sick stomachs. Fishlegs chucked the flower away with a terrified whimper. Valkyrie glanced back down at the flowers and felt the sudden need to drop to her knees. "This is serious—uh—" Hiccup began to stress, waving his hands around as he searched for his words that seemed more impossible to find when he was nervous. He turned back to Fishlegs. "Did your book say anything about a cure?"

Amongst the horror, Fishlegs managed to throw a livid glare over at Ruffnut. "I don't know, because somebody made me throw it into a pit!"

They didn't have the time for this. "Well then, go and dig it back up!" snapped Valkyrie, and Fishlegs hobbled off with a startled Yelp at her anger.

"I don't understand," said Astrid, tucking her bangs behind her ear in her anxiety. "Where did these flowers even come from?"

"Mildew."

Tuffnut's answer was so casual, it caused for Valkyrie to jump. They looked over, seeing the younger twin pick at his ear and flick the wax away, unbothered. Realising they were staring at him, he shrugged. "I saw him plant them the other night."

Astrid propped her hands on her hips, and Valkyrie had to hold an arm out to stop her from attacking them. Narrowing her eyes at Tuff, she sounded very much like her mother whenever scolding her younger brothers. (And to be honest, she felt like a tired mother having to deal with the Twins' antics every day. It was like looking after two three-year-olds). "And you didn't think that was strange?"

Knowing she was annoyed with him, Tuff spoke back an immediate and defensive, "No!" He doubled back over what he said. "Well, maybe—I don't know! Quit pressuring me!"

At the top of the slope, Thornado sneezed out a shot of sound waves, knocking their helmets and weight askew. Standing back up, Stoick fixed his helmet with a ferocious growl. Valkyrie had never seen him so mad—even when she caused the whole village to explode from Gronckle eggs. It made her shrink back. "Let's go pay the old man a visit."

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━━"Well, so what if I planted some flowers?" Mildew's house smelled like a yak pen. The wood rotted at their feet, and the roof creaked at its crooked stance. Valkyrie wanted to be anywhere else but here, having to smell the strew bubbling in the pot over the fire, or feeling the gaze of his three dead and gone wives glare down at them from their portraits along the wall. The old man himself was cranky as usual, walking through his home with an annoyed thunk of his staff against the floor. "The town square has never looked better. I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness."

"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" snarled Valkyrie, and his stupid sheep Fungus bleated at her, looking just as mean as his owner.

Hiccup—for once—didn't hold her back. Instead, he pointed a furious finger at the old man with a declaration of, "You did this!"

Mildew picked Fungus up, gaping at them with faux surprise. He wasn't even trying to hide it. "What? Me? Ha! Well, I had no inkling, Stoick," his words slithered along his dry tongue like a snake on sand, "that these flowers had special properties. Oh, it's true, I'm no friend of the dragons, but in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them."

He knew he was caught out, and it amused him, to the point he denied it with a smug look upon his face. Because while they knew, they had no more evidence that could condemn him. They were stuck, and he revelled in that fact, smirking at the growing redness of Stoick's face in his anger. But he gave him no more satisfaction, opening the door and leading the two teens back outside to where the rest of the Dragon Riders were waiting. "Let's go..."

Together, the group of them made their way back to the centre of Berk, sitting and waiting by the forge for Fishlegs to return. Astrid sharpened her axe sadly, sitting beside Valkyrie who played with the string of her arm wraps. Her flowers had fallen out of her hair, but she couldn't care less about fixing them up—she was far too worried about Zephyr to even think about that.

When Hiccup caught sight of Fishlegs rushing towards him, his face lit up. "Fishlegs!" He cried out. "You found your botany book!"

The smile on his face fell when he saw the sweat upon Fishlegs's brow. The pudgy Viking was breathless, doubling over to catch his breath. Valkyrie stood up, her heart back in her throat with her worry. "Wh—what does it say?" When he didn't answer, she grew annoyed. "Fishlegs!"

He sobbed, and Snotlout sent Valkyrie a look that said, oh great, you made him cry!

Hiccup stepped forward, "Calm down!" he told Fishlegs. "Talk to me."

Fishlegs took a gulp of air, pushing back his sobs to say, "My botany book says that Blue Oleander is poisonous to reptiles! And dragons are reptiles!"

"We know that, Fishlegs!"

Hiccup held a hand out to calm Val down, and she huffed, crossing her arms and turning back to Astrid. She didn't mean to be so aggressive, but they could be on the verge of finding a way to save their dragons, and she was impatient. They didn't have time to waste. "Was there anything else?" the chief's son asked gently, and Fishlegs sniffled.

"Not in here," he said. "But I remembered the Book of Dragons talked about a dragon that feeds on the Blue Oleander. It's called the Scauldron," he pulled out the Book of Dragons, and Val's attention was regained. "In a perfect world, if it eats the flowers, maybe it's venom can be used as an antidote, like with snakes and spiders. But alas—" he sighed, "—we do not live in a perfect world—" he spun the page to them with a wail, "—look! The Scauldron has no venom!"

Valkyrie's hope was gone again. She stifled back the lump in her throat, feeling the dread return in waves. There was nothing to save them. Tuffnut peered at the photo, late to the realisation (as always). "No ... but it looks cool!"

"Don't you understand?!" sobbed Fishlegs. "The Book says no venom!"

Tuffnut stepped back, alarmed. "Okay, got it! No venom! Golly, write it on your forehead..."

"The Book is wrong!"

Snotlout screamed in surprise at Gobber who appeared out of the shadows of the forge. When he realised it was just the blacksmith, he calmed down. "Gods, Gobber, a little warning next time?"

Gobber ignored him and limped up towards Hiccup. "I've dealt with a Scauldron before. They're sixty feet long—" he held out his arms as far as they could go, "—with razor sharp teeth!" He gestured his book to his stone tooth. Much like every other story Gobber told, it was bound to be huge with mix of truth and fiction—Valkyrie just hoped this time there was more of the former, and no hammerhead yaks riding hammerhead whales. "And they'll shoot boilinh water that melts the flesh from your bones! The Scauldron has no fear—" he leered in closer to Snotlout, who whimpered and hid behind Astrid. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No conscience! But what The Scauldron does have is venom! And lots of it!"

Tuffnut blinked. There was a moment of silence as the teens all took in this new information, before—

"I'm out," Tuff walked off.

"I'm with him," his sister followed.

Hiccup sighed, but turned to the remaining Dragon Riders. He gestured to Valkyrie, "All right, you guys stay here and take care of the dragons. Val's family's sanctuary is going to need as many hands as they can get."

They nodded. Fishlegs held the Book of Dragons nervously to his chest. "What are you going to do?"

"Dad, Gobber," Hiccup spun back to them, face set with determination, "let's go find ourselves a Scauldron."

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

━━It was the last person everyone expected to save the dragons: Mildew's butt.

(Look, Valkyrie doesn't want to think about it either. The Scauldron bit his backside, and to get the venom, Gobber and her mother had to ... look, she doesn't want to talk about it.)

But really, all that mattered, was that they had the venom, and they're dragons could get better. Valkyrie stayed up all night yet again at Zephyr's side. After feeding him the concoction, she refused to leave him. What if it went the opposite? What if it didn't work? Even if the gods weren't that cruel, what if they were? Zephyr was Valkyrie's best friend, and she wanted to be there with him every moment until he got better ... and she needed him to get better.

She didn't know she had fallen asleep until she heard the voices of Terrible Terrors singing outside of her door. A usual morning routine. Valkyrie grumbled in her sleep, turning over amongst her fleece that she set up at Zephyr's side. Fleecy and Meecy were always there, ready to wake them up at the sparrow of the morning—

Wait.

Valkyrie's heart jumped. Her eyes opened and her breath hitched. The Terrible Terrors are singing outside her door!

Her breath was bated I'm the back of her throat as she sat up, "Zephyr?" she called, too scared to look at him. "Zephyr?"

There was a murmur—a guttural mutter that made her let out a cry of relief. Spinning around, there he stood, up and ready even before she was. Like a pup, his tail wagged, hitting the walls with a thunk—thump—whump! Valkyrie grinned. "Zephyr!" She launched her arms out towards him into a tight hug. "You're better! You're better—oh, thank the gods—thank all the gods!" She felt him lick at her cheek, and it didn't even matter if it was slobbery. Valkyrie cried, holding him tighter. In the Frode home, there were cheers as her brothers woke to find their dragons all better, as if they had never been sick, and it was a glorious day for the Vikings of Berk.

"Come on, boy," Valkyrie pulled away, tearful. She cupped Zephyr's snout and set her forehead against the horn at its tip. "Let's go for a flight."

(And a fantastic flight it was).

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

a/n: I wrote most of this on my iPad since my laptop decided to not work today, which is cool, but yeah, that's why the aesthetic is different like halfway through. I'm sorry! But yeah, oh my god, I love Val and Zeph so much. And like—rewatching this episode, it made me fucking cry when Stoick is like to Thornado: 'my whole life I've been killing dragons, now look at me' before he's about to go fight the Scauldron for his dragon like NOPE IM IN TEARS HOW DOES A KIDS SHOW DO THIS TO ME?

And of course, I have the annual drawing for this chapter:

A quick drawing thats no way perfect of zeph and val cos writing this chapter gave me emotions.

(Oh and by the way, fuck Johann).