Prologue

Valerie jolted awake to the sound of wood cracking and ground thudding. She wiped on her eyes and stood
up to peer through the window, only to see dragons wrecking Berk, roofs burning, Vikings running around
with their axes, swords and maces. 'Typical', she thought. And with that early wake up call, she took her
arrow stash, bow, and went outside to fight along with the other Vikings. Not necessarily fight, just shoot
some arrows in hopes of distracting one long enough to have it pinned down by the other vikings.

"Good mornin' Valerie!"

"Good morning Hork!'

"Good morning Moorden!"

'Morning Valerie! Keep safe young lady!"

She laughs lightheartedly, "I will!" She responds. A young viking she was, living alone since she was young.
Her mom left her when she was too young to remember, and she never met her father. But contrary to the
folks viking demeanor, they made an effort in taking care of the orphan, with Gobber, the giant blacksmith,
and Kroma, the head archer of Berk, making the big contributions. And when she was sure that she could
handle herself, she told them. And now, the redheaded girl lived alone, in a house Gobber made for her. "It's
small, but it does its job," as he said.

But despite this, her existence is not known by few people in Berk, either that or they chose to ignore and
avoid her. And some of those few people happen to be her peers. The reason behind this is because of her
very unique appearance, being the only one in Berk to have ginger hair, she was seen as some freak or a
wicked witch by others. It bothered her, of course, but she chose to ignore the constant whispers about her.
But nonetheless, people were kind to her, well, most of them.

"Oof!"

"Whoops, sorry!"

She was bumped to the dirt in the middle of aiming by a male teen, slightly taller than that of her petite
figure, pushing some sort of machinery. After saying sorry, he rushed away into the hills, leaving poor
Valerie on the ground, dirty, speechless and confused. 'It must be the chief's son again,' she thought,
standing up and dusting herself. The other teens might not know her, but she knew them very well, being
able to witness their mischievous and glorious acts. She was always with the adult authority figures, so she
was bound to encounter them at some point. And the one that she was most familiar with, was Hiccup.

He was Gobber's apprentice, so Valerie has had a few small talks with him. It couldn't be helped, because
she really wasn't used to talking to people her age, being surrounded by mature and older people most of
her life. And for her, he was... something else. She couldn't point what it was that made him different, but
she felt it. 'Well, who am I to talk, I'm more of an oddball too,' she says whenever she thinks about it.

The next few minutes passed by in a blur, with her hearing a rather, odd scream, because she couldn't tell if
a male or female could possibly make that sound. Nets were thrown, dragons continued their destruction,
sheep were taken, and it all ended with Hiccu being scolded by his dad, Stoick, the chieftain himself. She
couldn't help but feel pity for the boy, being humiliated with the presence of most people on Berk and all.

Time flew by rather quickly, and she found herself searching for dragon scales dragons shed off for her
arrow tips in the forest. It was a very tedious task, because the scales were arduous to find, and edged for a
fact.

"And I manage to lose an ENTIRE dragon!"

She hears a loud smack and a yelp, and she immediately looked up. She was surprised, because Hiccup was
there, just a few feet away from her. "Are... you okay?" She hesitated to ask. Hiccup wiped his face, red from
taking a hit from the tree branch. He looked up and was confused. "Oh me? Yeah... yeah I'm okay... I'm
fine... I'm great!" He say, his voice spitting slight sarcasm.

"Oh, okay, that's... great." She felt very awkward. She REALLY wasn't good at talking to people her age. "Hey,
you're Valerie, right?" He asks scratching the back of his head. Before Valerie could reply, Hiccup spoke.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for ramming on you like a deranged bull this morning, I was kind of in a hurry." She gives a
small smile, and says "It's fine, don't worry about it." He mirrors her smile stretching his hand out to her.

"I believe that I haven't introduced myself properly. Hi, I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third." He says
with a slight sad tone. She flashed out her brightest smile and shakes his hand. "I'm Valerie Faunaflora." He,
again, mirrors her smile. A long silence passed, and Hiccup spoke. "This is awkward..." He said with gritted
teeth, as she chuckles awkwardly. They let go of each other's hands, and when Hiccup was about to say
something, he was interrupted by a groan, a very loud one.

"Woah, that must be a dragon," Valerie says with a worried tone. She didn't have her bow and arrows with
her. "Stay low," Hiccup says as he gestured her to follow him. She was hesitant, but she followed him
anyway. Their feet led them down to a small depression, but Hiccup told her to stay where she was. And
when she peered down, she saw a black dragon, all tied up. She gasps, and Hiccup hears her. She mouths,
'What is that?!' He responds, 'A Nightfury," and she hid behind a rock. A Nightfury...

"Hey Valerie, check it out!" He calls out to her, and she stands up, looking down on the brunet and the black
dragon. "I have taken down this mighty beast!" He yells with pride, but immediately backs away when the
dragon moves slightly. She lets out a soft chuckle, while Hiccup glares at her halfheartedly for laughing.
Then she sees him raise his dagger muttering some words, and yells "I'm a Viking!"

She may be a Viking, but she is still sympathetic when it comes to animals. She avoided the scene, but then
she heard no scream. Looking back at them, she saw Hiccup cutting the ropes, their only protection.
"What... What are you doing!?" She half yelled. This brought half of Hiccup's attention to her. "I don't... I don't
know!" He exclaimed rather quickly, and in a blink of an eye, he was pinned down by the massive dragon.
"HICCUP!" she yelled, scared and worried. She was about to go down there, but she barely hears him say
"stay there." So she backed away. The Nightfury, probably angry, was about to blast fire on his face, and she
was screaming internally, pulling on her red locks for hair, her green eyes widening with fear.

But when she was about to close her eyes from the horrific sight that was to come, she heard the dragon
roar, and flying away. She immediately opens her eyes and heads down without hesitation. "Hiccup!" She
calls out as Hiccup drops down. The worst thoughts rushed through her head, but she ignored them,
remembering the teachings she went through. She was a healer, and she wasn't supposed to be distracted.

She turned him over,grabbing on his head and tapping on his face. "Hey, wake up." She checked for a pulse,
but then Hiccup spoke, "I'm fine, really. Just... surprised." He says as he sits up, pale from the dragon's
treatment. She sighs, relieved with his response, as Hiccup slightly shifts away from her foreign touch. But
Hiccup was determined to follow the dragon but he was risking Valerie's safety. He already made the worst
first impression that he could possibly give, and he didn't want her harmed in any way.

"Hey, why didn't you, you know, kill it?"

He looks up at her and wasn't able to respond, he didn't know why himself. He instead stood up and said
"I'm going to get a good look at it." She followed him down to the small hidden lake, carefully sliding down
beside him as he examined the dragon from afar.. She watched him draw the Nightfury, admiring his
handwork. She sat a few inches away from him, because she wasn't so comfortable. And really, he just HAD
TO drop his charcoal pencil. "Oh gods, what is it doing?" She gasps out as she hides. "He's just... looking at
us." He says and grabs her arm and pulls her. She sees the dragon staring intently at them, and the thought
of it blasting them both into charcoal scared the heavens out of her. "Hiccup, I think we should go." She
forces out the words, and Hiccup nods. They ran back to the village in silence.

"Should we tell your dad?"

Valerie breathed out, and Hiccup shook his head. "I need to know more about him." He smiled slightly at her.
She returns the smile, "what now? That dragon is dangerous" She says. "I... I don't know. It's something I
have to think about. Obviously that dragon can't catch his own fish, so I might have to feed him, other than
that, I don't know what to do," he sighs as he pulls on his hair. She stayed silent, she didn't know what to say.
Should she offer to help him? Or should she stay out of his way? "Promise me that this will only be between
us." He says, staring at the redhead with seriousness. Seeing this, she nervously nods, and Hiccup gives a
small smile. "Your secret's safe with me." She mirrors his smile.

Time flew by fast, and they both said farewell. She rushed to her house, and slumped in her bed. She was
tired from the adrenalin rush earlier, she didn't bother eating dinner. As she was laying there, she thought of
what happened earlier. It all happened so fast, she couldn't process it properly. They just saw a Nightfury,
and escaped the very dragon. It was incredible that they made it out alive. And as she was about to sleep,
she was woken up by a very loud knock. Who'd knock on her door at this hour? This person better have
something important to say. Groaning, she heads to her doors, only to see Gobber, his back turned away
from the door.

"Hey." Gobber turned to her and grinned. "Hey lass. How's it going?" She was about to respond when Gobber
continued. "You better sleep early, 'cause you're joining the other teens in dragon training!" He says with a
joyful tone. "What?! No! I don't want to!" She exclaims quickly, her face showing fear. She didn't want to go,
she didn't want to actually talk to them. She knew that she should, because being an Archer isn't that
common, so it was a great opportunity to train herself with melee weapons, but still, she wasn't good when
it came to groups.

"Don't worry, I'll be the one to provide the weapons for everyone. Heck, I'll give you the new scimitar I made!
So don't you worry!" He reassures, ignoring what she said earlier. But Valerie already knew that it would be
stupid to reason with him. "Alright," she sighs. "When does this start exactly and where?" She asks, annoyed.
To her surprise, Gobber was actually listening to her. "Look kid, I know you don't want to do this, but you
need it. It starts tommorow morning. Think about it." He sighs and walks out.
"Love you Gobber, good night!" She yells, and the Viking waves goodbye, "Nighty night," he says. She walks
back to her bedroom and lies down on her bed, and as her sleepiness kick in, she thought, "Should I go or
not?"
Chapter I
Hiccup woke up to the sound of birds singing, and he jolted up. Why is it peaceful? It can't be this quiet. He
stretched his arms and raced to the window. He looked everywhere, but there wasn't a single wrong thing
going on. All was right with the the world, and he wasn't so glad about it. He was used to noise in the
morning, vikings defending the village. It just didn't feel right. He shoved the feeling aside and shrugged, he
had to get ready for the dragon training he didn't want.

Time went by, and he was on the go. He didn't bring anything with him, not even a weapon. He figured that
he didn't have to, since the arena had too much of it. When he arrived, he saw all the other teens talking
about getting marks on their bodies. Do all vikings think like that? Maybe sometimes they're all brawn, not
too much brain.

"Welcome to your first class in dragon training. How many are you?" Gobber asks, eyeing each and every
individual, which made Hiccup a bit frisky. Hiccup also counts the others, they were six. Gobber then goes
ahead in explaining the mechanics. "The winner will get to kill his first dragon in front of the entire village!"
He cheers, to which Snotlout snickers mockingly. "Hiccup already killed a Nightfury so does that disqualify
him or...?" He doesn't continue as the twins laugh in unison. "Haha..." Hiccup laughs sarcastically as Gobber
comforts him, saying that the dragon will most likely target the 'more viking like teens.'

"I'm so sorry I'm late!"

They turned their backs as they all heard footsteps. There came Valerie, panting with her hands on her
knees. Hiccup figured that she ran all the way to the arena, because her home was reasonably far. "Ooh, you
came." Gobber mocks as she panted out a 'good morning.' "This is Valerie, if you don't already know her."
Gobber introduces, and immediately Hiccup sees Snotlout flirt without any second thought. He snickers.
"This guy really can't keep his mouth shut," he murmurs.

"Hey, my name's Astrid. That's Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Hiccup, and you already know that heaping pile of
cow dung." Astrid introduces. He sees Valerie direct her attention to him, and he waves. She smiles back
and introduces herself to the other teens. Hiccup already noticed that she had brought her bow and arrow,
and what intrigued him was the arrows. Instead of steel or iron, the tips were made of dragon scales. Did
she kill dragons for scales? He smacked himself, as he forgot that dragons shed.
"Hey."

He looks behind him and sees Valerie. "So, was there a fly on you face?" She laughs out, as he figures out
what she meant. "Oh yeah, I slapped myself." He laughs slightly and continues. "No, no, there wasn't, I just
had a dumb thought." He says, shrugging. "You're part of this too?" He questioned, as the young archer
replies. "Oh yeah, about that. I didn't want to upset Gobber, so I joined. Plus it's an opportunity to work on my
swordfighting." She informs, sighing deeply after. Hiccup wondered. What was her relationship with Gobber?
Sure, he sees her in the workshop sometimes, talking to Gobber and helping out, but that's all he knew.

His train of thoughts came to a stop when he hears Snotlout say "Aren't you gonna teach us first?" Gobber
replies cheekily, and opens the gates, revealing a Gronkle. 'Easy enough,' he thought. He could handle that,
he shot down and more surprisingly, survived a Nightfury! Gobber then tells them to grab sheilds, hammers
and smack both together. He understood what he said, but he had trouble avoiding the dragon. "The gronkle
has a maximum of 6 shots. That's one less for each of you!" Gobber shouts as everybody panics. Fishlegs
and the twins were out, followed shortly by Snotlout and Valerie. "Guess it's just you and me huh?" He tells
Astrid cooly, to which Astrid replies with a "no, just you." They both ran, but with his body, it wasn't too long
before the dragon got him pinned to the wall.

He was nervous, he felt like he was going to turn into dust and his body was frozen to place, but Gobber
acted quickly and pulled the dragon away. "That's six. Go back to your cage, you overgrown sausage!" He
taunts as he pulls the dragon to the cell. Hiccup was stunned, he still couldn't move. "A dragon will always,"
Gobber turns to Hiccup and continues. "Always go for the kill." His tone was grim, which made Hiccup shift
uncomfortably. He then was offered a hand by Valerie, which he accepts as she pulls him up. "Hey, you
alright?" She questions, eyeing him. "If a dragon always goes for the kill, then why didn't he?" Hiccup
mumbles to himself, but it was enough for Valerie to hear. "Maybe he thought you were sick or insane?" She
mimicks Gobber's words, to which he snickers. "Yeah, that makes so much sense," he replies sarcastically
while chuckling. "We should... check on him later."
Chapter II
He was shocked with her offer. We? Why? She was so scared yesterday. But he thought about it, she could
help him. He didn't know what type of help she could give, but he knew she could help. "Yeah, we should.
After this, meet me there later." He offered, and she nodded. He didn't really get a close look at the dragon
since she insisted to go.

Valerie was on the edge of the hidden lake, fish on her bag and some arrows and a bow. She watched the
dragon struggle to escape the lake. The Nightfury also got some of its scales scratched off, so she took
them. They were excellent for arrow tips. "Hey." She jumped, startled with the male's voice. Looking behind
her, she sees Hiccup, eyeing her. "What's the dragon doing?" He questions, walking past her and picking up a
scale, but the black beast suddenly jumped in front of them, which startled both Vikings. "Woah, stay close."
He says, beckoning her to follow as he slid down behind a rock.

What's it doing? She had no clue. Hiccup started drawing, which raised questions in her mind. "Why are you
drawing him again?" She asks, recalling that Hiccup already drew the black dragon yesterday. "Well you
know, I couldn't draw him properly yesterday." He answers. "Why won't he just... fly away?" He asks her, and
she responds by pointing at his drawing. "You drew this wrong," she implied, pointing at the Nighyfury's tail.
Instead of one, the tail had two flaps. "Oh, thanks." Hiccup responds.

They stayed there for at least an hour or two, examining the dragon. They also talked about themselves, and
when it was Valerie's turn to talk about herself, Hiccup realized that she had it worse than him. He had a
dad, a very discouraging one, but nonetheless he had one, but she had no one. He tried his best not to feel
pity for her. He then decided that it would be best to talk to her more, since they were both somewhat
rejects or eccentric. He didn't want to feel alone, nor did he want her to feel alone. He was also startled
when she threw a fish down at the dragon without warning. They were both terrified when the dragon stared
at them again, but only this time Valerie was stuck to her place, looking at the dragon in the eye. That
continued for god knows how long.
Now Valerie was in the dining hall, eating alone in a big table, with the students in the other table. She told
Hiccup that she would be going back earlier than him because Gobber still promised her a scimitar. Of
course she didn't tell him about the scimitar, he would be suspicious. She was an archer after all. Gobber
was lecturing them, well mostly the other teens. She could say that they were fine with each other's
presence, but she wasn't friends with them yet. This wasn't what Gobber hoped for, and she felt sad that she
disappointed him.

"Where did Valerie go wrong?" Gobber asks, and Tuffnut quickly answers. "She's attractive, therefore
distracting." He says with a wink, and she smiles sheepishly. Ruffnut then shoves her twin downwards
apologizing for his stupidity. "She talks to Hiccup too much." Snotlout says with a frown, and Fishlegs
contradicts that it had nothing to do with her performance. "She can't use a shield properly," Astrid the
points out with a smirk. "Thank you Astrid! Now the reason behind that is you're using the wrong weapon!"
Gobber scolds.

"I perform better with my bow and arrows." Valerie argues. "Yes lass, but in dragon fighting, not so much.
You see, you have to learn how to use swords, maces and shields, because..." And she didn't listen anymore.
Gobber went on and on and on and on about it and she didn't bother listen, but then she heard Astrid speak.
"Hey Valerie, teach me how to shoot arrows sometime," she says, smiling at Valerie. Valerie then mirrors her
smile and nods. "Me too, me too!" Ruffnut squeals out and Valerie chuckles lightly. "Sure, I will. But in return,
teach me sword fighting!" Valerie cheers, and the blonde warrior nods.

And then the large door of the hall opens, revealing a wet Hiccup. He walked past the crowded table, took
his food and sat in front of Valerie. "Hey, what happened?" She chuckles at the wet brunet, and he sighs
deeply. "Long story." He replies. She decided not to pry and just eat her food."Where did Hiccup go wrong?"
Gobber asks again, and a bunch of nonsensical answers were given.

"He showed up."

"He didn't get eaten."

"He's never where he should be."

"Thank you Astrid!" Gobber says. Valerie heard Hiccup sigh again, and she put her hand on his shoulder and
gave him a gentle shake. "You're just not used to it yet I guess. Don't let them get you down," she smiles at
him, and he tried his best to reciprocate. Gobber then explains about a book about everything every dragon
they know. "No attacks tonight. Study up." He reminds and walks out. "Read?" Complains Tuffnut followed
by his sister. "While we're still alive?"

"Oh, uh... Gobber, can I skip the reading? I have duty tonight." Valerie yells out. "Okay then. Go on ahead." He
yells back at her. "I'm gonna have to go ahead Hic. See you tommorow." She smiles at him and stands up
with her tray. "Bye guys, see you tomorrow." She waves at the other teens, but then Snotlout spoke. "What do
you mean by you have 'duty?'" He asks. "Oh, I watch from towers at night to warn people from attacks. They
need stealthy archers for the job, and it happens to be my night tonight." She informs and runs off. Hiccup
was then left to read the book alone.
Chapter III
Valerie woke up to the sound birds, annoyingly singing outside her window, the sun glaring harshly at her as
the cold morning wind blew. She pulled on her hair, she was tempted to slump back onto her comfortable
bed, but she knew she had to get up. Sitting up, she pulled herself away from her sheets, the wood beneath
her creaking along with every step of her small feet. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she wasn't fully awake,
not enough to notice the wooden table ahead of her. “Ah!” she yelped, immediately grabbing her red toe
where she hit it with the table’s leg. Colorful words flew from her mouth. She didn't bother eat breakfast and
started the daily routine without it and ran off. She was already running late and her face flushed at the
thought of their reactions. She winced at every step of her left foot, her tight leather shoes not helping her
situation.

After a long and painful dash, she finally arrived in the collosal iron arena, sweat dropping from her
forehead, catching her breath. "Look who decided to show up," a voice taunted. Hiccup. She looked up and
blushed, as others joined in. "Yeah, I overslept." She fidgeted in her place, avoiding eye contact. "As usual."
Astrid chuckled as she pats Valerie's armor. "Don't worry, we haven't started yet. Well, not exactly." Astrid
reassured, shaking her slight droopy shoulders. She smiled at everyone as Gobber arrived. "Late again, I
see." Gobber shakes his head and sighs, slapping his own hand on his forehead. She tightened her lips,
avoiding Gobber’s disappointed gaze as she limped her way to the others.

The arena's new look made her jaw drop as tall walls leading to who-knows-where were placed. “I wouldn’t
want to go in there with a dragon,” she murmured to herself. The terrifying sound of the metal gates rising
made her jump slightly, draining color from her face. “Today, we play with the Deadly Nadder,” Gobber calls
out. Everybody grabbed their own shield and ran into the maze, and luckily, Valerie happened to be with
Hiccup. “Hey,” she greeted as she tapped on his shoulder. He smiled his usual smile, as he narrowed his
emerald eyes to the blue dragon not too far ahead. “Have you found anything useful in the book?” she asked
as she listened for slight movement, taking her stance. “The book had nothing on Nightfuries, no drawing,
no specific description, nothing.” He sighed, his eyes dropping. She could sense his mood so she did what
she had to. “How about we ask Gobber about it later.” She smiled, and he replicated it.

Training went on with everybody failing at what they were supposed to do, and succeeded at what they
shouldn't have. Valerie's back ached, her foot was throbbing and she was slightly dizzy, but she made to
through, although she wasn't so aware of things. Her eyes were droopy and she yawned every now and the,
until the real disaster fell. She witnessed the Nadder thrash around the maze, sending giant spikes flying to
the air aimlessly as the walls were knocked down. "Oooh, love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut coos, directing it
at Hiccup who was pressed down by Astrid's viking body. 'He did it again,' Valerie thought, as she watched
the poor boy struggle under the blonde viking. It turned bad real quick as Astrid hit the poor dragon in the
face, and Hiccup earned an ear breaking scolding from her. Poor boy.
Chapter IV
Valerie gripped her bow tighter as she followed behind Hiccup. She ignored the rustling in the bushes and
splashes of the fish in the hidden lake, and focused on staying alert, because the black Nightfury could
pounce at any moment. They both suddenly came to a stop, as Hiccup's shield gets stuck on two large
boulders. He pushed his hardest, but to no avail. He instead crouched down, his hands rubbing against the
grass, and crawled. He gestured Valerie to stay behind the shield, which she said no, but then suddenly, the
large dragon appeared. Hiccup readied his fish and his heart as it came closer. He gulped as the dragon
growled. He took his shiny dagger and threw it into the water with a soft plop.

"Toothless..." he paused, examining the dragon. Valerie was shaking in her place, her mind screaming 'run'
but her body stood still. "I could've sworn you had–" he flinched away as the dragon snatched the fish away
from his hand, and that triggered Valerie to spring out of her place, arrow aiming at the beast. "—Teeth."
Hiccup gulped as his mouth began to dry. "Valerie, drop your weapon," he said in a soft and soothing tone.
She hesitated, but with shaking hands, she removed her quiver and dropped her bow. "I don't have anymore!"
Hiccup said as he backed away, his back hitting a giant rock. Horrible thoughts went in her mind as her
hands shook to grab the fish in her bag and threw it to the dragon. The dragon caught the slimy fish, and
continued to pin Hiccup. She was running out of options, when the dragon puked half of the fish to Hiccup.

Valerie covered her mouth and stiffled a laugh as her hands stopped shaking. She then noticed that the
dragon wants to say something. "Hiccup, I think it wants you to eat that." She pursed her lips and Hiccup
groaned. He took a bite, and his breakfast rose to his throat. Valerie was affected too, her stomach churned
and she tightened her lips. "Ew. Gross!" She cried as she shuddered. Her light laughter was then heard as
Hiccup glared at his ginger haired friend. The dragon then tried to mimick Hiccup's quarter hearted smile,
and idiotically, Hiccup reached out for the dragon, and it flew away in an instant.

"What were you doing?" The redheaded girl chuckled as she pulled her friend up. "Pet him?" He stammered
out, biting his bottom lip. "First base?" she waggled her eyebrows, and he elbowed her playfully. "No, shut
up." He snickers and walks toward the dragon. She decided not to follow him and admire the lake instead.
Clear water over the crumbly soil, green bushes scattered all over the area bearing berries and flowers, it
was a dazzling oasis. She shifted her eyes to the dragon, and narrowed her eyes. What could she name him?
Black wing? Fury? Barnaboo? Her mind wandered every possible name for the winger reptile. "Toothless."
She flinched at Hiccup's sudden statement. "What?" She wondered aloud. "We'll call him Toothless."

"Oh... I like it." The corners of her lips tugged upward and Hiccup sat beside her. She started kicking around
mindlessly as Hiccup drew on the soil. "Scales for arrow tips huh?" Hiccup questions and Valerie laughs.
"Yeah, not such a brilliant idea huh? It just went to my head when I saw that an ordinary arrow couldn't
penetrate through a dagon's body." She gave a lopsided smile. "I think it's clever actually.'
Chapter V
Days passed swiftly, and Valerie's friendship with everyone was greatly evident, as she spent lots of time
with the other teens, most notably Hiccup. She developed a soft spot for the boy, and was beyond delighted
when he called her his 'best friend.' She was with him in making Toothless' tail, building the saddle, and
exploring the very dragon's secrets. It came to a point where they knew each other more than anybody else,
she was happy that she made such a loyal friend, even though they argue a lot.

"Hey Valerie, wanna test Toothless' flying with me?" Hiccup asks as he buckles up on the dragon. The winds
were blowing wildly, sending her hair everywhere, even winding up eating her own hair. The field they were
on was pretty high up, the leaves on the trees were flying wildly, and she had to tie her hair. "Woah, this is
the first time I've seen you with you hair up." Hiccup laughs, and continues. "You're ugly." He sneered, and
Valerie frowned, and she took a rock and tried to throw it at him, which missed. "For an archer, you suck at
aiming when it comes to hands."

"I hate you," Valerie snorts, smiling right afterward. "So what, you joining me?" Shaking her head, she sat
down on the soft grass. The sun was glaring extra hard today, and she hated it. "I'll pass. I'll just watch you
boys from here, so if something goes wrong, I'll be witness to it." She shrugs, taking a pencil out of her bag
and some paper. "Well, if you say so." He says as he hops on Toothless. "Let's go bud." He encourages and
then zooms off, with Valerie left to watch them.

She pitied Toothless, Hiccup's maneuvering skills wasn't something he could brag about. Although, nearly in
the end of their flight, Hiccup did well. He managed to keep them alive as the narrow and tight rocks
threatened to knock them out. "Are you sure nothing was left behind while you guys were flying? Cause you
flew pretty fast, my eyes couldn't follow." Valerie furrowed her eyebrows at Hiccup's slightly burned face. "I
think I left my soul. Does that count?" He massaged his temples and shook his head. Valerie laughs, twirling
her wavy red hair with her fingers. "Meh. Don't worry about it. It was your first time, of course it was very
hard to handle." She smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean we didn't really like, almost die or something so, I guess it's fine." He ran his fingers
through his hair vigorously.
Valerie rolled her eyes and tightened her lips. Then Toothless spit out fish again, covered in glossy, slimy
dragon spit. The presence of an actual dragon as a companion was still new to her, unlike Hiccup. "No
thanks bud. Me and Valerie are fine." He chuckles out as he pulled his grilled fish to show Toothless. "Hey
look, Terrible Terrors." Valerie gestured to the tiny dragons circling they. "They're probably hungry, and it
looks like Toothless doesn't want to share." Hiccup chuckled and shook his head. "They're not so fireproof in
the inside huh," Valerie took notice of the poor dragon who was shot in the mouth by Toothless.

"Come here you," she smiled and threw raw fish at the coughing dragon. The dragon gladly ate it and rested
its head on her lap. "They're not who we think they are." The chilly wind blew, the sun glowed softly as it was
about to set. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Are you alright?" Hiccup creased his eyebrows as he gazed at
her. "Yeah, I'm just kinda sleepy." He pursed his lips and sighed. "You know, that duty thing is really taking a
toll on you," he said as he placed a hand on her head, pushing it to his shoulder. Valerie didn't open her eyes
and she let Hiccup do what he did. "Kroma wants me to be strong enough to fight on my own. I can handle
it." She yawned, snuggling her head on Hiccup's neck. She couldn't see it, but the brunet viking's face flushed
red as laid his head on hers.

"The head archer? Oh yeah, you trained with him." Hiccup said softly, careful not to move his shoulder too
much. His face felt very hot, and he couldn't explain why. "Yeah, he kinda taught me how to fight, but Gobber
raised me." Her voice was faint, but audible for Hiccup. "It's fine if you don't answer, but..." He bit his lip, and
continued. "Where are your parents?" Valerie tightened her jaw, her heart beating abnormally quick. She took
several deep breaths. "I never met my father, and my mom, she left me. I don't know where, but she did, she
didn't love me enough to stay. At least that's what Kroma said." She sighed heavily, fiddling with her fingers.

"Oh, sorry for asking." Hiccup wanted to squeeze her hand right there, but he couldn't. He was her closest
friend, and he wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't. "Don't worry about it. I trust you." She giggles lightly,
as Hiccup's eyes roamed elsewhere, to the rocks they were sitting on, to the sea below them. Reddish
clouds floated in the sky, giving it a dramatic flare, he enjoyed it. He was barely outside, so he sucked it all
up. "I think you shouldn't attend tomorrow's training. You need sleep." Hiccup raised his voice slightly.

"No, I'm fine, really." She raised her head up, and so did Hiccup. They looked at each other, and Hiccup raised
a brow. "Really now?" He said as he leant forward, poking at her baggy eyes. She pushed his hands away
from her face and laughed. "Ugh, fine. I'll tell Gobber." She rolls her eyes as Hiccup grinned. She brought
back her glance to the sunset and fixed her gaze to it."I take it back," Hiccup looked at his grilled fish, then
looks back at Valerie. "Take back what?" Asks the ginger, as her blue eyes scanned the boy infront of her for
clues.

"You look pretty with your hair up."

Chapter VI
Valerie admired her stove top. Not too classy, with only a few pots and pans and two simple charcoal
stoves, but it was her small kingdom. The fire was burning brightly under her small pot. The smell of spices
flurried to her nose, her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered. The stew was bubbling slightly as she
stirred it with her wooden ladle, when the door busted open. Valerie jumped, causing a small drop of piping
hot stew(ie2k) to make its way to her bare hand.

"Valerie, you will NOT believe what happened during training." Hiccup said with a dry mouth, and harshly
slamming the door behind him. "Oops, sorry." He apologized for the noise. Valerie hissed and flailed her
hand. "Hey Hiccup," she smiled, still flailing her hand. Hiccup knew where her house was, they talked there
sometimes. "What happened?" They said simultaneously, and laughed. "Uhm, you go first." Hiccup raised his
eyebrows. "Oh, I just burned myself. Nothing out of the ordinary." She grinned and continued. "Would you
like to eat lunch here?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to decline, but his stomach thought otherwise. He grabbed a fistful of his hair and
sighed. "Yes please." Valerie chuckled and pulled his nose. "Ah, ah, ah!" Hiccup yelled as he grabbed his
nose. "Sit down and we'll talk about what you were about to say." She gestured to the wooden seats. She
was still new to the fact that Hiccup was now a constant visitor in her house, she was used to being alone.
Gobber visits her quite a lot, and when Kroma was still on Berk, he would hang around.

"Sorry for coming here in short notice." He laid his head on the rough table as Valerie placed a bowl filled
with stew in front of him. He looked up at her and she smiles widely. "Be careful, it's hot." She said as she
sat down in front of him, stirring her bowl. Browned tender lamb meat, chewie mix of vegetables bathing in
red steamy stew. He was tempted to shove his mouth full of it, but as she said, it was still hot, so he
followed suit and stirred. "What were you about to say to me Hiccup? What's the big news?" Hiccup paused,
and then explained.

"You're going to kill a dragon!? And tomorrow!?" She startled Hiccup with her outburst, slightly jumping in his
seat. "Yeah, I'm actually going to pack up. Leave. Forever probably," he says as he rolled his eyes, showing
obvious sarcasm. He started blowing on his spoon full of stew as Valerie grabbed her head and leaned her
shoulders on the table, steam of the stew hitting her face. "This is terrible, this is very, very, very terrible."
She squeezed tighter as Hiccup pulled her hand away from her head. "Don't worry, I'll deal with it." He said
as he pulled the other hand away. "What will you do in the ring? Pet the damn Monstrous Nightmare!?" She
half yells. "Maybe, maybe," Hiccup thought aloud, scratching his chin. Valerie wasn't buying it so she half
yells again. "I'm not joking here!"

"So am I!" Hiccup also yells with a mix of laughter. Seeing her reaction was gold to Hiccup. Valerie groaned
and absentmindedly ate a spoonful of hot stew. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes widened. She swallowed
painfully, earning a stifled laugh from Hiccup. "Ahh! I burnt my tongue!" She said as she bit her tongue, and
Hiccup let out his laughter. "Ha, ha." Valerie laughed along sarcastically. "Oh gods, I'm sorry. I'll get water."
He says chuckling slightly as the redhead glared at her. Once he arrived she snatched the mug of water from
his hands and chugged, but it didn't work. The brunet pitied her, and then he suddenly got chills when she
spoke. "You don't make a redhead angry Hiccup." She pouted, and Hiccup gave lopsided smile.

"Any who, what are we going to do if they find Toothless? He's a downed dragon, so he can't just fly away."
He choked on his food, and gulped. "That I don't know," he fixed his gaze on the soup. "I'll fly him." Valerie
offered, biting her tongue. "What? No. It's too dangerous." He grits his teeth as he spoke. "Just..make sure
they don't find him if something happens to me." He says in a grim tone, and she frowned. "Nothing will go
wrong, you're Hiccup for Thor's sake!" She smiled and Hiccup felt his shoulders lose weight. Somehow she
had the power to do that. The both picked up their bowls and washed them together, and by wash, they
threw water at each other's faces.

"I better check on Toothless." He said, but then he was pulled back by Valerie.

"I'll come with you." She insisted, but Hiccup shook his head. "You need to rest. Stay here." He smiles and
says farewell.

"Hey Hiccup!" She calls out from the door, and Hiccup looks back, his eyes shining from the sun's glow. "I
had fun." She smiles sincerely. Hiccup felt his cheeks heat up as he responded meekly. "I did too."
Chapter VII
The ginger haired girl had her blue fur cloak on, matching the moonlit sky. The thick forest was silent, only a
few crickets could be heard. The tall trees casted shadows that could be mistaken for a dragon, but this did
not stop her in her tracks. She moved stealthily, narrowing her eyes at every corner. Her curiosity controlled
her as she walked faster to the hidden lake. She wondered what Toothless and Hiccup were doing, when
something flew overhead. She leaned on the closest thing to her, which was a mossy rock, and his in its
enormous shadow. She figured that it was just another dragon, and kept walking.

Upon arriving at the side of the hidden lake, she heard voices. Two voices, belonging to opposite genders.
She carefully peered down on the lake, and was shocked. "Hiccup? Astrid?" Her mouth gaped as she
watched the two talk under the moonlight. Valerie grinned, "Hiccup's reaching first base." She muttered to
herself. The soil was moist due to fog, but it didn't matter for her. And then, out of nowhere, Astrid kissed
Hiccup on the cheek. She gasped, quickly covering her mouth to stiffle a laugh. Her eyes widened at the
thought, 'Astrid and Hiccup, together.' She grinned widely, it was unbelievable. She made sure that Astrid had
gone home before going down to meet the duo. She snuck upon them, glancing at her feet every now and
then to avoid stepping on scattered twigs.

"Guess you got to first base with Astrid." Her blue eyes admired his reaction when she startled him.

She took him by surprise, and Hiccup's emerald eyes widened at her. "Oh gods, I was totally expecting you,
really."

The redhead smirked, circling Hiccup until she reached Toothless. "Hi buddy!" She said softly as she pet him
harshly, which Toothless loved. "Astrid followed me here. She knows about Toothless, about all the tricks,
everything. And she tried to tell dad!" Hiccup groaned, running his hand through his hair. "Woah, what did
you tell her?" Valerie raised her eyebrows and licked her lips. "She didn't listen, so, I took her with me to fly."
Valerie then nods in understanding. "And we discovered something big. Very big." Valerie's ears perked up,
and she walked towards Hiccup, furrowing her eyebrows.
"The dragon's nest? I never thought dragons would give their kill away." Valerie exclaimed when Hiccup told
her what they discovered.

"I know, it was unbelievable. It even ate it's own."

"You're not going to tell the chieif are you?"

"No. I can't."

Hiccup sighed, he knew his father would be euphoric if he told him he found out where the nest was, but it
was like betraying Toothless, his best bud. "What are we going to do? You're going to kill a dragon
tomorrow!" Valerie grabbed his shoulders and squeezed the tightly, fighting back the urge to shout. "I don't...
I don't know what to do. I still have till tomorrow morning to think about it." He avoided her blue eyes and
pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hey Valerie." He called out, still avoiding eye contact. "Yeah?" Valerie let go
of his shoulders and she put it on her hips.
Chapter VIII
"We never got to fly Toothless together yet."

She snapped her eyes to the brunet boy who was now petting Toothless, furrowing her eyebrow at his
statement. "Come on, just this one time!" He gestured to the dragon who was jumping happily, making his
way to her and nudging at her.

"Hiccup, I almost drowned the last time we quote 'flew' unquote." She glared, continuing to ignore the
pleading grunts of Toothless. "That was before Val, he chucked us both into the water!"

"Still, no." She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, standing firmly. "Oh come on, please?
Toothless obviously wants it too." He grinned, and Valerie sighed in defeat. "Fine. Don't kill me this time."
Hiccup mumbled a small 'Yes!' and fist pumped. He hopped on Toothless and assisted Valerie on. "Hold on."
He instructed as he pet Toothless on the head. "To what?" She replied, and Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Me,
Valerie. Hold on to me." He snorted, shaking his head at her stupidity. "Okay, please go slowly." She said,
then Hiccup turned his body towards her, creasing his brow at her statement.

"Ah, ah! Okay, okay!" Hiccup yelped as Valerie pinched his stomach. In a flash, they took off, she gasped at
the sudden acceleration. She could see the trees becoming smaller and smaller as their distance to the
ground grew, and she held on to Hiccup tighter. Hiccup, who felt her tension, slowed Toothless down once
they were in a good distance from Berk, high above the clouds as the moon shun brightly. He held her hand
and squeezed. "Hey, calm down."

She followed, and loosened her grip, and opened her eyes. Her eyes widened at the sight, a sea of clouds
below them, and millions of stars overhead. She was breathless as her eyes roamed above and below,
admiring every inch of the scenery. "Wow..." was all that came out of her mouth, as Hiccup turned to her and
said "I know, it's—" he paused as he caught her smile, her red hair softly blown by the wind, sea blue eyes
that shimmered under the moon glow and her lips, glossy and pink. "—amazing." He continued as Valerie
brought her gaze to him. She blushed and pursed her lips as Hiccup stared. Hiccup's mind was completely
blanked, he couldn't see the stars, he couldn't see the moon, he couldn't see the clouds.

All he saw was her.

"Hey," she yells softly, poking on his cheek. Hiccup snapped back to reality and turned his back to her,
smacking his hand on his temples. "Are you okay?" She said as Toothless groaned, worried about his
master. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking." He sighed as he changed Toothless's direction. "Everything
will be fine tomorrow Hiccup." She said softly, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing it slightly. Hiccup
laughed humorlessly. "Let's show her what we can do bud." He said as they flew fast. Valerie shrieked in joy
as they went below rocks, twirled over hills and zoomed over trees, and finally, slowing down to admire the
late night view of Berk.

Torches lit up the houses on the small island, and the Vikings looked like ants when they walked around. "I
can see my house!" She jumped in her seat, which almost gave Hiccup a heart attack. "Yeah, Berk is such a
small island huh." He says stoically. "But the people's hearts aren't." She said and looked at him. "Don't you
think?" Hiccup sighed, then shrugged. "I don't know, they kill dragons without reason Valerie. I mean look,
dragons are kind and intelligent creatures." He massaged his temples as Valerie replies. "We're all
misunderstood. Someday, not only Berk, but everybody will know how gentle dragons are."
Chapter IX
"You're an idiot!"

Valerie boomed, crossing her arms over her chest as her voice echoed in the lake. The sun wasn't up yet,
clouds swam in the sky as the chilly morning wind blew. Despite this, Valerie's face was red, her blood
boiling at Hiccup. "It's not that bad to be honest." He shrugged, prepping Toothless' saddle. "When I said 'pet
the Monstrous Nightmare', I didn't mean literally!" She yells through gritted teeth, stomping her feet. Hiccup
sighed and made his way to her and forcefully pulled down her arms. He made her face him by holding her
cheek.

"Look, I don't want to do this too, but this is the only way. They're going to know anyway, why not now?" He
says, but Valerie snorted and forced her face to move away from his gaze. Hiccup sighed heavily, and
grabbed her forearms and pulled her close forcefully. "Do you even trust me?" He laughs humorlessly. "Yes
Hiccup, I do, but I don't trust my plan! I don't trust the other Vikings!" She says. "It'll be fine Valerie. You just
gotta keep an eye on Toothless for me." He pats her shoulder reassuringly, and her blood boiled down. He
was about to climb away to the arena when she spoke.

"Don't do anything stupid." She mumbled, fiddling with her fingers. He stopped in his tracks and turned to
her. "When have I ever done anything stupid?" He grins innocently, not waiting for a reply. "Uhm... I don't
know. Always probably?" She snorts as Hiccup chuckled. When Hiccup reached the top, Valerie shouted a
'good luck.' She heard his footsteps fade away, and looked at Toothless, who was scratching his ear. "Look's
like it's just you and me today Toothless." She smiled, which the dragon imitated, and it ended up looking
like he was taking a dump. "Oh Toothless," she cooed and pet him, praying to the gods to keep her idiotic
best friend safe.

Valerie was straddling on Toothless, just enjoying the warm sunlight and his presence when suddenly his
ears perked up. He roared and Valerie tried to calm him down. "What's wrong—ah!" She screamed as
Toothless tried to climb up, and succeeded. Toothless ran quickly and all she could do was repeatedly yell
'stop' at him. When they neared the arena, she jumped off of Toothless, rolling on her back. She quickly
regained her posture and ran to the area, only to find that chaos had already fallen. "Stop!" She yelled as
Vikings attacked Toothless, and Hiccup did too.
Stoick was almost blown to ashes by Toothless, thankfully Hiccup stopped him. He watched as Astrid
stopped him from getting to his dragon. Hiccup gave a crestfallen look on Valerie, and all she could mouth
was a sorry as she dropped to her knees and covered her face, fighting back the tears that threatened to
spill from her blue eyes. She failed Hiccup, she failed Astrid and she failed Toothless. She didn't know how
she could ever face Hiccup now, he could be in rage right now. "Ye knew about this lass?" Gobber knelt
down to her, stroking her head softly as she stayed silent. "Yes, I'm sorry Gobber."

Gobber was surprised when Valerie cursed suddenly, and he sighed. "Don't worry lass, it's not yer fault." He
gave her head a last pat and stood up. She heard his footsteps weaken as she wiped her eyes dry and
watched Hiccup get dragged by his dad to a room. Her heart sank, everything that happened was her fault. If
she would've been strong enough, she could've stopped Toothless, and none of this would've happened at
all.
Chapter X
The skies were gray and the wind was cold, but blew hard enough to drag the Viking ships to who knows
where. "I'm so so sorry Hiccup," Valerie said as she squeezed her eyes shut, pursing her lips. Hiccup
clenched his fists as his blood began to boil slightly to Valerie's looping apologies, it was impossible not to
get annoyed. "Valerie, for the last time, it's not your fault." He said through gritted teeth, his heart sinking
when the ships began to disappear. "Why didn't I just kill that dragon when we found him in the woods.
Wouldn't it be better for everyone?" He brought his eyes to the floor, his lips forming a thin line.

"It could, but why didn't you?"

"I don't know... I was a coward, I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!" He boomed, and Valerie frowned at his
remark. "I know that's not your real reason." She insisted and Hiccup sighed. "Valerie, I couldn't kill him
because— because... he looked as frightened as I was." He brought his green eyes to look at her bloodshot
one's and continued. "I looked at him, and I saw myself." She smiled lightly at his reply and brought her gaze
back to the now gray sea. The waves calmed her down as the smell of sea salt flowed to her nose. "He's
very frightened, I'm sure. What are you going to do?"

"Probably something stupid," Hiccup shrugged, which made Valerie snort.

"I can't count in my hands on how many times you've done that." She rolled her eyes.

Hiccup's eyes widened as he began to smirk. "Or maybe something... crazy." He beams, running to wherever
he was going.

"That's my Hiccup." She says, following suit.

~
"It would've been easier if I had just rode with Snotlout or Fishlegs ya know."

"Oh, she's interested in me."

"Haha, shut up Snotlout."

Valerie struggled in her current seat, on the back of the Deadly Nadder. She was afraid of squeezing Astrid
in between her and Hiccup, so she did her best to make Astrid comfortable, even going as far as almost
impaling herself to the dragon's spikes from jerking backwards too much. "If you just stopped torturing
yourself by scooting around too much, we'd all be comfortable here!" Astrid complains, gripping on her
friend's clothes in fear she might fall. "But I'll squeeze you!" Valerie replies, as the harsh cold wind blew her
hair to her mouth and she began to spit them out.

"We're nearing guys, c'mon." Hiccup stated, unbothered by the ruckus behind him as the two ladies
quarrelled pointlessly. Tall masses of rock covered by thick mist started to make an appearance, they
carefully dodged them. "This place is making me uncomfortable," Fishlegs frowned, petting his dragon.
"Yeah, I know, it's creepier than Tuffnut's room." Ruffnut mocked and Tuffnut bumped his dragon to hers.

"Oh gods, no." Valerie gasped.

Chapter XI

The ships were swallowed by fiery flames, beaten up and battered. Vikings were running everywhere trying
to avoid the colossal dragon. "Look guys, we're on dragons!" Tuffnut bragged as Hiccup told them what to
do. Valerie took a special arrow from her quiver. "Hiccup I can distort its smell!" She yells, waiting for
Hiccup's signal as he dropped down to the ground to get Toothless. "Astrid, you think you can fly me up
there?" Valerie asked the blonde warrior and she nodded, smirking. "Steady," she told Astrid, and she
slowed her pace. She shot the arrow, and it stabbed the dragon's nostrils. "Yes!" She cheers, but was then
cut off. The queen dared to sick both riders and the dragon to its mouth. The two riders clasped their hands
together tightly. "Valerie, hold on tight!" Astrid yells, gripping her.

Suddenly she was falling as Astrid and her dragon was shot away by the rippling waves of Toothless' beam.
Valerie shrieked for her life, and when she felt like she was about to hit the ground, cold legs caught her.
"Did you get her bud?" She hears Hiccup say, and Toothless looked at her and grinned. The duo left her on
the ground safely as they zoomed off, and she says good luck to both. She couldn't do anything now but to
tend the injured and assist the fleeing.

The end neared as Hiccup fought the queen with Toothless, and Valerie sweated buckets. Her knees were
threatening to give up as they shook, while all the others watched with hope in their eyes. She could see
Stoick, his father, also tremble slightly, which was unbelievable. It all ended with a big glaring explosion,
sending wavesand bright hot ashes over the area. "No, no, no... no." She muttered to herself as she pushed
her horrible thoughts away as she pushed through the crowd, only to witness Stoick, kneeling in front of the
almost dead-looking Toothless. She gasped, her red locks falling to frame her face as her face paled. Her
eyes nearly watered as she bowed down.

"You brought him back alive!"

She hears the others cheer, and she found herself crying silently in relief. He was alive, the color from her
face came back even brighter. Dragons beside Vikings, what an odd mixture, but a wonderful one too.
Chapter XII
"Are you sure you don't wanna fly with me?"

Snotlout asks, smiling brightly at Valerie, who chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I have terrible memories when
it comes to flying with dragons, so I'll pass." She smiled and neared Stoick, who was standing in front of his
house, observing the rare blinding sunshine over the ruckus conducted by his people, only that it was a good
kind of ruckus, if that were possible. They all ran around, chasing dragons, trying desperately to pet them.
Some succeed and eventually tame one.

It's been three days ever since the fight, and Hiccup was still asleep. He was due to wake up now by Gothi,
that's why they were waiting for him to come out. She wanted to surprise him, she made Toothless' new tail,
working with Gobber who worked on his new leg. It surprised you greatly that he lost his leg, but relieved
that it was the only thing that he lost. As they watched, thudding was heard from the house. "What's that?"
Valerie asked, hearing more thudding, pots breaking and metal clanking. "It could be him, child." Stoick says,
giving a soft smile, which was very rare to see from him. Ever since the fight, Stoick would usually refer to
her as 'child,' which she didn't mind, but it still got blood rushing to her cheeks.

"I knew it, I'm dead."

"Well, you did your best shot," Stoick says, wrapping an arm around Hiccup's thin shoulder as Hiccup shook
his head, shocked by the scene of dragons flying with Vikings, the two finally getting along. As his eyes
roamed, his eyes caught a redhead, growing in distance. "Hey Val! Where are you going?" He yells, his mouth
turning to a slight frown when she kept running. "I'm glad you're safe." Stoick says meekly as Gobber walked
towards them.

As Valerie ran, she pursed her lips. She didn't turn around for Hiccup, but she had to get Toothless new
wings. She ran to the work shop, quickly grabbing the tail and jogged towards the house, the wings clanking
every time she took a step, sweat leaving her forehead. She had to get there fast so Hiccup could use the
tail. When she was near, she tied her hair up, gritting her teeth at herself. Then she continued, pushing
through the crowd until she was near Hiccup.
"That's for the lies," Astrid said as she slammed the hammer handle to his stomach, earning a loud groan
from Hiccup. "Is it going to be alwa—" but he was cut off by Astrid also slamming her lips on his, and she
turned away, cringing as shivers went down her spine. She smirked, seeing Hiccup finally hit first base, oh,
was she rooting for him. "I could get used to this," he says, his cheeks and ears rosy. "Welcome home,"
Valerie smiles as Hiccup turns his attention to her, and was handed a new tail. "I designed that myself," she
brags proudly, placing her hands on her hips, and Hiccup gave her a tight hug. Valerie widened her eyes, but
hugged back as Hiccup whispered, "Thank you."

Toothless arrived at the scene, stomping over a few Vikings along the way as he looked eagerly at his
master, then nudged his head towards Valerie, forcing her to lift her hand off her hips and onto Toothless'
head, who was now grinning at her. "Try it!" She yells slightly, her eyes smiling with her. He found himself
smiling too, for some reason, Valerie could do that. "Alright bud," he says, tightening the leather belts on
Toothless' new tail, "Let's see what this baby can do."
Chapter XIII
Valerie hummed a tune as she stirred malt with honey and water. The winds were getting colder and colder,
and Stoick asked her and a few other chosen people to make mead for storage. Days flew by after the peace
with dragons, and life different ever since. Ruckus was more common now than ever, and it bothered her a
lot. Dragons ran around snatching food or fighting, and it wasn't very helpful when it came to hoarding food
for the season. "Ooh, nearly done. Just need more honey," she grins, proudly lifting up the pot and placing it
beside the other under her table.

It took her half of the day to make 6 pots of mead, and she needed more honey for the last pot. Putting her
boots on, she gestured her Terrible Terror, Nazbu, to come with her outside. He flies towards her and follows
her, grunting happily as he caught up to his master's pace.

"Oh gods," she exclaimed as a dragon rushed past her with a woman trailing behind.

She ran all the way to the great hall with Nazbu following, her hair flowing backwards as she ran and her skin
blemished with goosebumps. She rubbed her hands together constantly, just to make them a bit warmer
against the wind.

Her footsteps were heard as she walked to the door, pushing them emitting a creak. She closed the door
behind her, and asked for the keeper for some honey. "Darling you're lucky, this is the last batch we have.
Those pesky dragons seem to have some taste for honey." The woman sighs and hands her a pitcher of the
sweet golden liquid. "Thank you so much." She smiles, and says farewell.

"Looks like we won't disappoint Nazbu. Let's go before it turns 3 o'clock." She places the lid on and skips her
way outside, humming her tune.

"Woah woah, Val look out."

Suddenly, she stumbled to move when her clothes were dragged backwards by someone. "Ew, gross, gross
gross." He repeats, as she feels his firm arms on her chest, pressing her back to him.

"Hiccup?" She meets his gaze as she her body moved away, but her feet stayed put. "Hey, thanks for
protecting me from dragon poo," he snorts sarcastically as she let's out a fake laugh. "Yeah, you're welcome
Hiccup." She snorts back as Hiccup gently pokes her side. "Hey Mulch, hi Bucket." Hiccup greets as he
places his hand on Valerie's red locks, and Valerie furrows her eyebrows. "Always on three ey?" Valerie
chuckles softly as she tries to peel off Hiccup's hand from her head. "Yeah, same time, same place." Mulch
nods, smiling when suddenly his eyes widened. "Oh Hiccup, we've got fish for that father of yours!" He
informs and gestures to bucket, who holds up a bag, torn to shreds from the bottom with no sign of scraps.
"I ate it already?" Bucket questions, scratching his bucket. "Did I enjoy it?"

"Uhmm, no. Bucket, I think that..." Valerie's voice fades as she points toward the thieving Terror. "There goes
the cod." Hiccup frowns and sighs deeply as the Terror drags the fish away and was followed by other
Terrors. "Ooh, sorry." Bucket also frowns, trowing the useless shredded bag to the side. "Yeah, don't worry
about it. These dragons are really not in order." Hiccup mutters the last part to himself as he rubs his chin.
Chapter XIV
Valerie held the pitcher of honey tightly against her chest, as Hiccup maneuvers themselves, holding a
shield mounted on a stick with his other hand rested on her shoulder. With vikings everywhere running
around like free boars, and dragons threatening to knock people down with swift movements, he couldn't let
Valerie walk home alone. Either that, or he just wanted to find an excuse to be with his best friend. He had
the feeling it was both.

"The dragons really are making themselves at home on the island huh," Valerie nearly muffles out as she
was jerked to the left, away from a viking yelling for his apples. "Yeah, tell me about it." Hiccup nods and
shoves her and himself to Valerie's door.

He puts down the shield and sighs, checking himself for dragon poo. "How are holding up with it?" Hiccup
asks Valerie.

"Oh, I have a bit of honey on my shirt, but hey, at least it's not poo." She laughs, and pokes Hiccup's nose
with honey, removing his straight face. "Yeah, no. What I meant was with the dragons." He chuckles slightly
and opens the door. "After you, milady," Hiccup says teasingly as he received a scowl from the redhead.
"Thank you gent," she says, curtsying mockingly.

Hiccup let's himself in and closes the door behind him. "I'm fine with them I guess. Just as long as they
don't turn my house into char, I'll be fine." Valerie says, pulling a pot underneath the table and placing it on a
small chair, just to give the pot some elevation.

"I don't know what to do about them yet." His shoulders slump as he leant on the table, facing Valerie who
was now pouring honey on the stout pot. She stirred forcefully, sweat trickling down on her neck, and she
wiped them away. "There. That should be good. Enough for everybody on Berk!" She cheers.
"Maybe I'll ask dad if I could help about it." He says as Valerie scoops some mead and directs it at Hiccup.
He drinks, and gives her a thumbs up. "That's a great drink." He mutters as he carries the heavy pot down
and pushes it underneath the table with the rest. "Yeah, I do think you better do something about it." She
nods, fiddling with her armor.

"Uhh, hey. You know, we haven't hung out for a long time. Are you busy after this?" She breaks the silence,
and Hiccup smiled. "No, no. No I'm not busy." He says although he really didn't really know if he was going to
be busy or not. "Alright then. Wanna stay here for a moment? We could just, talk and drink milk and eat
cookies." She shrugged and Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah. I'd love that."

For a moment turned out to be the rest of the day, and it was already dark when Hiccup realized that he had
to go home. They had great conversations as they ate cookies and drank milk by the fireplace. "Yeah, we
could hang out more next time." He said as he opened her doors, revealing a silent village under the stars.
"Okay, okay. See you tomorrow, good night." She smiles and gives him a hug. "Yeah, goodnight milady." He
smiled back, but Valerie grimaced at her new nickname, pushing him outside harshly and shut the door on
his face.
Chapter XV
The sun was glaring brightly like a giant fireball in the sky, with the winds contrasting its warm feel. Blue
skies blanketed Berk this afternoon, and it was a great time to be on the watch towers. This is where Valerie
happens to be, sitting beside both the twins while Snotlout, Astrid and Fishlegs stood behind them.

She felt guilty just watching the other Vikings agitate themselves over the dragons. "What's he doing?"

"I think he's helping dragons break stuff."

"Cool."

The eyes of the teens were all directed at Hiccup who chased a sheep to put off the fire on its wool. Poor
Hiccup was all over the place, stopping dragon fights and collecting sheep. "I think we should help him,"
Valerie says and Astrid nods in agreement. "Yeah, we should," Astrid adds. "Yeah. In a minute." The twins
completed their own sentences, and the teens settled down. "I feel so bad," Valerie mutters. The destruction
and complaints were getting worse and more intense each day, it won't be long before Berk turns into
splinters and pebbles. "And, its 3 O'Clock." Astrid sighed out, and everybody on the watchtower headed
down to cover. Being in the middle of an open area part of the plaza, Hiccup wasn't fortunate enough to
dodge the dragon droppings, and had a lot on his clothes. "Oh gods, poor Hiccup." Valerie frowned, looking
over at Astrid who was covering her mouth, stifling her laughter. "Sorry, he just looks funny." She chuckles
slightly, biting her lip after. "Oh, am I glad that I'm not him right now." Snotlout snickers loudly, earning a
painful elbow from Astrid.

"Nazbu, do you think should go talk to Gobber later about our roof? It kinda seems... penetrated to me."
She could see the bright stars that illuminated the dark sky from the hole on her roof, the wind letting itself
in. The Terror just grunts in response. "You are not helping young man," the redhead cooed at the small
dragon and picks him up and hugs him. Knocks were emited unexpectedly from her front door, and she lets
go of Nazbu, who scrambled his way to the door, growling defensively. "Who is it?" She called out, stepping
back slightly, waiting for a response. "Thor! I came to steal your boots!" A familiar voice yells from outside,
and Valerie sighs. Nazbu then drops his guard, licking his eye then waltzes back to Valerie. "Come in
Hiccup," she yells back, pulling out chairs for both of them. Hiccup enters with a slight frown, stomping his
feet slightly, creating thuds from the wooden floor.

He sits beside Valerie and drops his head on the table, grunting. Nazbu was startled and flew away from the
thump. "What am I gonna do?" He complains, groaning louder, and Valerie frowned slightly from his
distress. "Mind telling me what happened first?" She chuckles humorlessly, standing up to fetch up some
hot chocolate as Hiccup whinged about his day, and Valerie pretended she didn't already know.

She wasn't new to Hiccup visiting constantly, she liked a bit more company. At first, she would clean
vigorously and would hide embarrassing pieces of art she had displayed, and Hiccup would always knock,
and would ask if he could come in. But after a while, she got so used to it, she stopped cleaning too much
and just tidied up, and Hiccup would just barge in without warning. He felt at ease at her house, and he liked
her presence. She had a warm aura every time they meet, and he felt calm around it.

"My whole body hurts, gods, even my metal leg." He whines, his voice muffled by his arms and the table.
"Woah, that's very eventful. I can't believe your dad let you handle the dragons for a day." She sets down the
mugs filled with piping hot chocolate on the table, along with a plate of warm sliced nut bread. "I know.
What's worse is that I told him I had a plan!" He groused loudly, straightening his body to face her. "You do,
right?" Her voice was raised slightly, and Hiccup pursed his lips.

"You know what you need Hiccup?" Valerie smiles widely, eyeing him.

"A plan?" He snorts, glaring at her lightly.

"Yes, and also a hug." Valerie sighs and gives Hiccup a hug from behind, wrapping her arm around his neck
and chest as she leaned her head to his. In response, Hiccup also leant his head on her, tapping her arm
against his chest, gesturing that he was fine already. "Yeah, I guess I kinda needed that," he shrugged, his
head following his motion. "You better come up with a plan, sticklegs." She teases, grinning slightly as she
took a sip from her mug. "I will Valerie, just— wait, what did you call me?" Hiccup lowered his eyebrows and
gave the redhead a look.

She narrowed her eyes and recited his new nickname slowly. "Stick—" she hits his head lightly and
continues. "—legs."

"Ha ha ha ha, hilarious. Sure, that's a great nickname, squirt." He teases back and Valerie gasps at her
nickname. She opened her mouth to complain, but Hiccup spoke again. "No, I won't call you that. Oh I know,
Sunshine sounds better." He smiles, and Valerie's face reddens and her eyes went wide. Hiccup laughs
lightly at her reaction. "Why would you call me... Sunshine?" She asks, her eyebrows creased.

"Well, you called me Sticklegs, which was kind of accurate, cause I do have thin legs. Sunshine seems
accurate for you..." he mumbled, smiling to himself. "You remind me of the sun." He chuckles lightly, as
Nazbu flew to them and sniffed some of the bread and dragged one thin slice to the corner of the table and
ate. Valerie blinked repeatedly, trying to process what her best friend said.

"Thanks, Hiccup. That's uh... very flattering." She mumbles as she fiddled with her red ears.

An awkward silence passed between them, and all that could be heard was the bright fire behind them
cracking and Nazbu munching on bread.

"Uhmm... uhh... Hiccup, what about the plan?" Valerie blurts out, breaking the intense silence as both teens
were released from the tension.
Chapter XVI
"What about, you guys train the dragons?"

Valerie taps on the table, getting Hiccup's attention. They spent several minutes talking about prevention
plans, brainstorming for ideas, but none seemed to work with logic.

"You know what, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea!" He rejoiced, smiling widely. "Oh, this fixes
everything! Gods, you're a genius Sunshine!" He grins, and Valerie blushed slightly, pouting at her nickname.
She didn't know why, but the nickname was too gushy for her taste.

"Yeah, not really Hiccup. I mean, you trained Toothless, why not the others?" She implied, primping her hair,
grabbing a handful and unconsciously covering her mouth.

"Alright. It's decided. I gotta get going before dad notices I'm gone." He says, chugging the last of his warm
chocolate and shoves bread on his face as the redhead laughed. They went to the door and Hiccup opened
it, the wind slapping him on the face. "Good bye and good night, milady Sunshine." He smiles as Valerie
leant against the door frame. "Yeah, good night Sticklegs." She forces a smile as she watches Hiccup walk
home.

She felt so bad for frowning at her new nicknames, but she couldn't help it. She was never called any
nickname before, and Hiccup just starts conjuring up plenty of it. She liked it, sure, she just wasn't used to it.

Gobber came today, sweat trickling down his forehead, singing his song while fixing Valerie's roof. While
Gobber did so, Valerie baked Gobber up some garlic flat bread, his favorite. Despite nearing winter, the sun
was shining down on the village so brightly, it felt like the people were inside a sauna, sweating buckets.
"Heya lass." Gobber calls out while hammering wood onto the roof. "What is it Gobber?" She yells back,
barely audible from the loud clanking of his tools. She yawned slightly, and rubbed her eyes as Nazbu flew
to Gobber. "I've noticed you've been pretty close with Hiccup lately." Valerie pauses from Gobber's
statement. "Why would you say that?" She continues, her eyebrows raised and her lips frowned slightly.
"Well, ye both seem to enjoy the others presence, I can tell ye that. Do you like Hiccup, Val?" Valerie chokes
on air at Gobber's question, her eyes wide from shock.

"Of course I like him Gobber. I like everybody who's nice to me!"

"That's not what I mean lass."

"Well, if you're saying that I like him as... more than friends, please don't go that far."

"Val, you know I love you as my own daughter, and I'm also not saying that Hiccup is not good for you. I do
believe he's a great kid, but these things shouldn't be your priority!"

"Gobber, for the love of— no, I don't like him that way! Can't two people just be close because they're best
friends?"

"Well lass, that's where love starts. I'm just warnin' ye. At your age, you're bound to break yer heart."

"No, I won't Gobber." Valerie sighs, placing the warm flat bread on the table as Gobber came down after
finishing the roof. "Valerie, just be careful around these things. We're vikings, we don't think of love or love
interests. We think about fighting for ourselves and the village. Got it?" Valerie sighs as she stares back at
the giant man in front of her with bread crumbs on his face. There was no point in arguing, so she just
responded. "Yes, I understand."
~yesterday evening~

"Hiccup, where have you been?"

Stoick booms, startling Hiccup, enough to make him jump off his boot. "Oh, uhh... dad, I just uh, came from
Valerie's house." Hiccup stutters as he pets Toothless who was happy from his return. "And what were you
doin' there?" His father questions, circling him like a giant bearded vulture. "Oh, uh... we talked about the
plan, for uh, the uhm... dragons." He stammers, biting his lip afterwards. "Oh, I see," Stoick mutters and
clears his throat.

"Son, we need to talk."

"Oh, boy. What did I do wrong?" Hiccup's heart palpitated, like a huge drum being struck by ten trolls at
once. "No, son. Gobber has been telling me that you've been very close with Valerie lately." Stoick narrowed
his eyes, stroke his long brown beard and stepped towards his shaking son. "Mind telling me about that?"
He questions, and Hiccup creased his eyebrows, directing his eyes somewhere else. "That's normal for best
friends dad. Aren't you and Gobber the same?" Hiccup argues, and Stoick shakes his head, sitting down on
his chair, and sighs. "Son, this is different. Valerie's a girl, and your a boy. What you're feeling may not be
friendship, but love." Hiccup chokes on air and shakes his head, blinking.

"Dad, where would you even get that idea? We're best friends, we're supposed to be close. What's your
problem with it anyway?" Hiccup raised his voice, but not enough for Stoick to notice. "Son, at your age, you
should be worrying about the village, about the people. Learning how to be a great, strong leader for the
tribe!" Stoick raises his hand, gesturing to what he said. "And being close with my best friend will hinder
that? That's like saying that a dragon is related to a tree or a rock." Hiccup argues, getting annoyed. But
Stoick heaves a long and deep sigh, furrowing his eyebrows at Hiccup.

"No son, but a broken heart will distract you forever."

Chapter XVII
Valerie was awoken by Nazbu, who rubbed his slimy cold tongue on her pale face. "Nazbu— what are you
doing!?" She sits up, wiping her face with her nightwear's sleeves as Nazbu circled on her lap. "Oh boy, you
really know how to wake me up."

She picks him up and walks downstairs, her feet caressing the cold wooden stairs, blowing out the lit
lanterns.

Morning went on like any other morning, only this time, she was tasked to do some errands for the other
villagers. There were only a few, mostly consisting of delivering a few things, it didn't tire Valerie too much.
It wasn't long enough when she caught the other teens gathered in the middle of the plaza. She grabs Nazbu
and rushes toward them, with Hiccup taking notice.

"Oh, hey Valerie." Hiccup waves, as Valerie arrived, panting slightly.

"Good morning guys, what are you all doing gathered up like this?" Valerie questions, making her way beside
Astrid.

"Hiccup had this barbaric idea of training all the dragons. We're actually trying to find the dragons." Astrid
sighed.

"Have any clue where they are Valerie?" Hiccup asks, and a big explosion suddenly was heard.

"I bet you a million buckets of yak milk that it came from there." Valerie pursed her lips as she followed the
teens to the source of the explosion.
It turns out that it came from the storage house. It wasn't such a problem, but it turns out the reserves for
the upcoming winter were all stored there, and Valerie was glad that her honey wines were at home. Nobody
was hurt, although everybody was aware that the dragons were responsible for the catastrophe. And in the
end, Mildew, the Viking every Berkian hated made Stoick decide that the dragons would be banished from
the island.

"What do we do now?" Snotlout said, petting Hookfang.

"I can... I can fix this guys—" Hiccup speaks, but was cut off by Astrid. "We can't do anything now Hiccup."

"We lost our dragons!" Fishlegs cried, biting his lip, trying not to cry.

"I'll find a way, I will." Hiccup uttered, making his way to Toothless and flying off.

"Don't worry guys, he's Hiccup. He'll find a way." Valerie smiles as she pats Tuffnut's back.

Seeing the others sad made Valerie feel pain in her heart. Hopefully Hiccup comes up with a plan soon, or
else the dragons have to move away. It'll be hard for all the dragons, but it'll be harder for Toothless, he can't
fly on his own. Toothless is as good as dead without Hiccup.

After comforting the other teens, Valerie finishes up her errands, she also hoped to find Hiccup. She ran
about like a chicken being chased, delivering this and that, until it was lunchtime. Although she skipped
going to the great hall for lunch, and decided she only wanted warm bread filled with golden yak butter and
cinnamon-sugar. She walked home, Nazbu carrying her basket full of fish for his lunch.

When she arrived home, she quickly made a couple of sandwiches and grilled fish for Nazbu who was
eagerly waiting for his food. Placing them all in her basket along with some warm yak milk, she waltzed to
the cove, admiring nature as she went. She was lucky that the sun wasn't glaring so much, it was finally
acting accordingly to the season.
"Let's have a little picnic Nazbu. All this stress might kill me," Valerie giggles, blowing on Nazbu's face.

"Thankfully the sun isn't so bright today, otherwise we'd be burning Nazbu," Valerie spoke, glancing slightly
at the cloud filled sky, heading towards the edge of the cove.

Nazbu grunts in response, while Valerie made her way down to the cove.

"Oh, hey. What are you doing here?"

A familiar voice spoke inside a small cave on the wall of the cove, echoing the voice clear enough for her to
know who it was.

Chapter XVIII

"Oh hey. What are you doing here?" Hicc