━━ chapter nine
offspring of lightning and death

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    ━━"Leaving. We're leaving."

    Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at Hiccup's back. She wasn't going to let him get away this time. He had ruined her chance at achieving her goal; a goal she's wanted since she even understood what a goal was. He took that from her, just like he took everything else, and she was going to find out how.

    She followed him to a cove. Through a set of gaping boulders and into a beautiful miniature paradise. The pond in the centre glistened under the sunset, shining like a mirror. Valkyrie ducked behind a boulder, peering over at Hiccup who lugged a basket of━oh, who knows what?━towards the shore of the water. With her mallet strung on her back, Valkyrie climbed up onto the boulder, avoiding the moss so she wouldn't slip. She eyed what Hiccup was wearing━a leather design, but nothing like any other Viking would wear. It was light, with little protection. Not armour at all.

    "Let's pack up," continued Hiccup, unbeknownst to the girl watching him. "Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever ..."

    Valkyrie's frown deepened. She stopped her hunched position to sit up and stare at him. He's leaving━why? (Why does that make her even angrier?). "Why?" she spoke up, and Hiccup jumped so high, he lost his footing and stumbled back away.

    "Ah!" he let out, holding his hands in front of him. Valkyrie arched a brow. She detatched her mallet from it's sheath, and gave it a swing with her wrist. "What the...? Oh━ah━um━ah━" Hiccup cleared his throat. His gaze flickered around the cove, as if scared someone was watching. There was someone else here, Vaklyrie knew that much. She narrowed her gaze. "What are you doing here?"

    She leapt off the boulder, her feet planting themselves on the ground with an intimidating thud. Hiccup shuffled back. "I want to know what's going on with you," Valkyrie stated. "Because no one just gets as good as you do," she approached him, glaring and Hiccup kept on stumbling back. Being taller than him gave Valkyrie an advantage to get what she wanted, and she will gladly use it. "Especially you."

    Hiccup stammered. He was still glancing around, and Valkyrie gritted her teeth. "Start talking! Are you training with someone?"

    "Uh━uh━training━?" Hiccup continued to back away, but Valkyrie continued pressing him, giving him a small shove to grab at his weird leather armour━

    "It better not involve this stupid thing━"

    "━I━I know this━uh━this looks really bad," Hiccup tried to flick her hand away, and she let go, feeling the stickiness from the material that stayed on her fingers with a frown. Why was it wet? "B━but you see, this is━" Valkyrie heard the snapping of a branch, and she let out a gasp. She pushed Hiccup aside, and he fell to the ground with a, "Oof!"

    The sound continued; a rustling in the far bushes and low hanging trees. Valkyrie felt her heart race, but she refused to show an ounce of fear. Gripping her weapon tighter, she stepped over Hiccup and towards the sound. She blew a loose hanging rosemary leaf out of her eyes that dangled from her halo braid she had done today.

    Hiccup was quick to his feet again to try and stop her, "You're right! You're right. You're right!" he chuckled nervously, "I━I'm through with the lies! I━I━I've been making outfits!" he stepped in front of her. Valkyrie rolled her eyes, what a nuisance. She tried to look over him, and get past him, but Hiccup━like she was a dragon herself━stayed in her blindspot, moving with it and gods was it annoying. "So you got me. It's time everyone knew━" he placed a hand on her shoulder, and her glare snapped to him for a second. Hiccup didn't take the hint and instead grabbed for her other hand to try and stop her from continuing on. Oh, for the love of━ "Drag me back, go ahead. Here we go━" Valkyrie twisted his wrist to let go of her hand, and Hiccup crumpled in the pain, "━OW! Why would you do that?!"

     "Why would I do that?!" Valkyrie's anger distracted her from whatever was ahead to glare down at the boy. "You ruined everything for me!" she kicked his side to keep him down, and Hiccup yelped. "I was meant to kill the dragon! I'm meant to be the best Viking there is! And now I'm a disgrace to the Frode name!" She dropped the butt of her mallet down on his stomach, and Hiccup hunched. "So that's for the lies and everything you did to me!"

    The roar made her freeze. Valkyrie's breath hitched, and Hiccup groaned, "Oh, man..."

    She looked up, and Val's eyes widened. There, in the shadows of the low hanging trees, was a dragon as black as night. Eyes narrowed; teeth bared. Valkyrie has never seen a dragon like this━no one has, but that didn't mean she didn't know which dragon it was. She didn't need to know what it looked like, just by the sound of its roar━like lightning and death itself━told her exactly what advanced. Fast, deadly, with a blast that would kill them instantly━

    "Night Fury!" she gasped. Turning back to Hiccup who had weakly stood up, Val wrapped an arm over his chest and shoved him to the ground. "Get down!"

    The Night Fury's roar echoed behind her, and Val━for the first time in her Viking life, wanted to run for her life. But she had to protect Hiccup. There was no way he could hold his own against a Night Fury, no matter how well he went in training. "Run!" she told him as she stood up to fight. "Get out of here━run!" Holding up her dragon tooth-adorned mallet, she went to hit the beast, but Hiccup screamed in defiance, leaping in between the two of them. He latched onto the handle of her weapon, and they fell to the ground. The whole earth rumbled as the Night Fury's feet slammed the grass. Hiccup skidded Valkyrie's hammer away.

    "No━Hiccup!" she tried to stop him, but he stood above her in front of the monstrous beast. Valkyrie's breath hitched, staring as he held his hands out towards the Night Fury, calming him down.

    "No!" he cried to the distressed creature. "It's okay! It's okay! She's a friend!"

    The Night Fury's wings settled, and Valkyrie shuffled back further and further away. Her limbs trembled in meeting the beast's eyes━and she understood why no one has ever lived to tell the tale against the likes of the Offspring of Lightning and Death itself.

    All four of the beast's feet returned to the ground, and Valkyrie whimpered as she stood back up. Hiccup kept a hand to the Night Fury's nozzle, keeping him back as he snarled at Val with teeth that could surely rip her heart out.

    Hiccup glanced back at her, seeing the absolute terror across her face━that was something new. "You just scared him."

    Valkyrie stumbled back further, desperate to put length between her and the dragon. "I scared him?! Hiccup━get away from him! He'll kill you━" she then realised Hiccup had called the dragon a him. She faltered. Gaze flickering between the two, Valkyrie whimpered out a scared, "Who is him?"

    Hiccup winced. "Uh ... Valkyrie, Toothless," he gestured to the dragon who still glared at Valkyrie, and she let out another whimper. "Toothless, Valkyrie━" Toothless the Night Fury snarled.

    Valkyrie gasped.

    And before she could think, she ran.

   Watching her leave, Hiccup sighed, "Da da━dah!" he sang. "We're dead!"

   Toothless just huffed at Valkyrie's retreating figure, satisifed. Brushing past Hiccup to return to his nap, the Viking frowned, "Whoa, whoa, whoa━where do you think you're going?"

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    ━━Valkyrie has never run so fast in her life. She dashed through the woods, past trees, leaping over boulders and rocks. It didn't matter she had left her weapon behind, it didn't matter that Hiccup had cheated━not anymore. All that was going to Valkyrie's mind was that there was a Night Fury and that she had to tell his father!

    Would anyone even believe her? When she burst into the Great Hall and scream: "Hiccup befriended a Night Fury!", the most that could happen was a chorus of laughter. Because how could Hiccup the Horrendous befriend a Night Fury? Or more recently, how could the dragon slayer befriend a dragon?

    And so, Valkyrie would be hoenst, she had no idea what she was going to do. She ran━she sprinted━and she tried to her best not to stumble, not even checking to see whether the dragon was behind her, and Val had no idea what she would do once she returned to Berk. She had come to see what Hiccup's deal was, if he had cheated, or how he got so good, but now that she knew the answer, the arena and Dragon Training was far from her mind. Her mind was just clouded with: Oh my gods, Night Fury! Run! Run! RUN!

    The tales of Night Furies were spoken to frighten children: monstrous beasts with skin as dark as the velvet of midnight, a roar that brought immense fear to whoever heard it. A beast who never got caught, never missed, and has never been seen. No one had killed a Night Fury and lived to tell the tale━no one had seen one and lived to tell the tale. Which meant, if Valkyrie didn't pick up the speed, she would be the next to be added onto that list of dead Vikings. So, when you ask her━perhaps later on━why she ran, she didn't have a heroic story to tell. She was scared, terrified ... Valkyrie the Vicious was petrified.

    She jumped over a fallen log, except, her feet never hit the ground. Feeling the talons of the Night Fury around her arms, pulling her up into the sky, Valkyrie screamed. Feet dangling beneath her, the forest floor got further and further away. "Oh━oh no━oh, gods━oh, this is it! AHHHHHH━!"

    When the dragon dropped her, Valkyrie was met with a branch full of leaves. Clinging on to the pine, she tried desperately to regain her whereabouts. But Hiccup and his dragon just nestled on the top, and Valkyrie screamed as the whole tree bent forward. "HICCUP!" she shouted, kicking her legs and glaring up at the boy above her. "Hiccup, I swear to all the gods━get me down from here!" a few of her flowers fell from her hair, which didn't make her feel any better.

    "You have to give me a chance to explain!" Hiccup pleaded, and she gritted her teeth.

    Kicking again to try and get closer to the trunk, Valkyrie cried out a furious: "I'm not going to listen to anything you have to say!"

    "Okay! Okay!" the son of the chief shook his hands. "Then I won't speak! Just ... just let me show you."

    The wind whistled through Valkyrie's ears, making it hard to keep a grip on the branch. Scowling up at Hiccup, the last thing she wanted to do was go up on that Dragon with him. Especially when the Night Fury bared it's teeth at her like it was doing now.

    "Please, Val."

    At the nickname, her glare harshened. Valkyrie fixed her grip on the branch, but when she glanced down ... it was a long way down. (What will she do when she got back? What will she say? Why was she so hesitant in screaming to the heavens that Hiccup was exactly who she thought he was━a liar, a cheater, a traitor, siding with the dragons who wish to kill them all ...?) Glancing back up, Valkyrie saw the plead in his eyes━he was begging; desperate for her to say yes. He looked scared━but not scared for himself.

    Valkyrie eyed the dragon again, feeling her heart crawl up her throat. What if it killed her? Her gaze met Hiccup's again, and she knew he wouldn't let that happen.

    Get away! part of her screamed.

    Give him a chance! the other half argued.

    You'll get down this way, they both agreed.

    So, with a gunt through gritted teeth, Valkyrie hoisted herself up and over the branch. Getting her feet up on the wood, she glared at Hiccup's outstretched hand. No, she does not need help━Toothless the Night Fury growled when she hovered her own hand by the saddle. Valkyrie hesitated. She glared right back at him. The dragon huffed, but let her take hold. Val smacked Hiccup's hand away and threw one leg over the dragon. She pulled herself up onto the saddle, settling behind the cheif's son and thinking, oh, gods, this will not end well.

    But the dragon didn't do anything. It didn't bite her, or throw her off. It just growled, full of discontent. Valkyrie pursed her lips. She checked how far they were from the ground. "Now just ... get me down."

    Hiccup nodded. "Toothless," he turned to the dragon, rubbing his neck. Oh, for the love of ... it's like a pet, "down. Gently."

    The dragon outstretched it's wings, and softly, they began to rise and the tree straightened back up ... Hiccup gave Valkyrie a nervous grin. "See?" he said. "Nothing to be afraid of━"

    Toothless launched up into the air.

    Valkyrie screamed.

    She desperately tried to cling on━to anything. The saddle, Hiccup, the dragon━Toothless just kept on going higher and higher, and faster and faster. Soon, the forest was just a blob of green, and Valkyrie could see ocean stretch out for miles all around them. "Toothless!" scolded Hiccup, but it did nothing to help. "What is wrong with you?!" Valkyrie finally found something steady to hold on to, with her legs and her hands━and that was Hiccup. Like a tree animal, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms gripping round his chest. She kept screaming━up and up and up... "Bad dragon!"

    Toothless stopped mid-air. Hiccup laughed restlessly. Valkyrie had her face buried into his shoulder. "He's ... he's not usually like this━" they dipped to the side, "━oh, no..."

    They plummelted back to the ground. Valkyrie's throat was sore from screaming so much, but she managed to close it as they hit the water, ducking under and up again, under and up again, under and up again━

    "Toothless, what are you doing?!" cried Hiccup, trying to gain some control. "We need her to like us!" Woosh! They left the water and swooped back up into the sky again. Valkyrie held on tighter━so tight that Hiccup had trouble breathing. Val kept her head down, unable to look up as they spun around and around. She sobbed into Hiccup's shoulder. He groaned, "Thank you for nothing!" he told the dragon. "You useless reptile!"

    Toothless dipped forward, and they were back to soaring straight towards the ocean; spinning, swiping, gaining speed, more speed and then more speed. This was it, thought Valkyrie. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to fall off a dragon, oh, my gods━!

    "I'M SORRY!" she shrieked━all though, she wasn't too sure who to. Maybe to Hiccup, who she had insulted all this time. Or maybe even to the dragon. She didn't know. All she knew that was she was sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry━ "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I wasn't going to tell anyone I swear! Please━I don't want to die━ahhh!"

    The dragon's wings flew out, and they stopped falling. Valkyrie thought that she had died, that they had hit the water, and now she was dead and gone━would this get her to Valhalla? Falling off a dragon? That didn't sound heroic━especially not in this way.

    They rose up back into the air. Slower this time ... gentler. Valkyrie whimpered, but in still feeling the rough wool of Hiccup's tunic, and the breeze amongst her hair that turned tender━like kisses to her cheek ... she opened her eyes.

    Valkyrie's breath fell away.

    A sea of pink, orange and yellow swam around her; clouds reflecting with the Berkian sunset that hung over their heads. Toothless soared them through it, and Val couldn't keep her gaze away. There were oceans, smooth clouds at her feet, and yet sea-foam that billowed out around them, looking softer than a babe's bottom. It was silent up here ... tranquil ... Not a single voice, or cry, or any pressure or character to hold.

    She felt like she was swimming through an ocean of her dreams ... filled the to brim with beautiful flowers, and images in the clouds that seemed to smile at her, hold her as if hugging, allowing her to breathe it all in, and let out every tense thought, feeling and grudge that held her down; with it, her shoulders lifted.

    Her hands hovered up into the clouds, and she ran her fingers through the calm waters. It was a breath of cool air, she didn't feel like she was holding anything, but the way they parted around her fingertips ... it made her breath out a smile.

    Hiccup managed to glance back, and found himself breathtaken by the look on her face. For once, Valkyrie the Vicious wasn't glaring, or frowning, or looking like she would murder you ... she looked content, at peace ... with her hair gently flying in the breeze, she looked like the beautiful warrior she was named after━graceful, strong, and absolutely stunning.

    He smiled slightly to himself. Leaning forward on his saddle, Hiccup guided Toothless up further, and they burst through the tip of the sea of clouds and into the night above. Valkyrie gasped, eyes twinkling in the moonlight as she looked up. Colours exploded in the sky━waves of green, blue and purple that encased them as Toothless sailed through.

    Valkyrie's grip on Hiccup's chest slackened, and her own heart seemed to just open up. She allowed herself to open up with it. To smile, to laugh, to feel the breeze in her hair. She felt like she was in the forest, picking flowers and herbs. She felt alive, and free ... Valkyrie felt like she could truly be herself.

    They rose up and over the clouds. Down below, Berk was shrouded in the night ... but a beautiful night. The two warriors guarding the ocean mouth were lit up in the flames of their torches, standing mighty over their town━almost like gods. All the lights from the houses, and the streets glimmered like stars ... Valkyrie always knew her home was beautiful, but seeing the mountains, cliffs and the village from here ... it was more than beautiful.

    Her gaze flickered down, and she saw Toothless's eyes brighten. He gave her his best smile, and Valkyrie chuckled in disbelief. Leaning forward, she settled her chin on Hiccup's shoulder before she could stop herself, her arms gently wrapped around his waist as she enjoyed the view below.

    And she wondered. How could something so vicious, and dangerous, and dreaful, show her something this wonderful? How could they smile at her, with eyes so bright and intelligent? In the back of her mind, she remembered what her brother had said to her, everything he had tried to do ... she always thought he was crazy, but sitting here, on Toothless's back with Hiccup and seeing the view only a dragon could hold━it felt like a gift, something a Viking should never see. And yet, Toothless had let her. He let her, and he smiled at her, and now that she had apologised ... it was like this was her reward; a showcase to tell her she was forgiven.

    As they returned to the clouds, Valkyrie's voice was soft in her awe. "I have to admit ... this is pretty cool. It's ... it's more than that," she smiled at Hiccup, and he went a little red. "It's amazing." Glancing down at Toothless, she reached down a hand and pressed it gently on his flank. She felt him purr in response, and her heart fluttered. "Thank you," she told him. "You are amazing..."

    Toothless sent her another smile ... and Valkyrie for the first time wondered: what if everything they knew about dragons was wrong?

*

a/n: okay, I think I should just admit it, I'm so obsessed with these two and this book that I just can't pace these chapters out. fight me.