THE TRANSLATOR, httyd.

the translator, twenty-six.

elina's clothes and hair was wet. chameleon flew above them, roaring in fear as elina managed to bring toothless out of the water into one of the blocks of ice. chameleon flew down towards them, landing on the piece nearest to the two as elina tried to find hiccup.

toothless clung onto the ice when suddenly, elina heard something ripple in the water. elina turned backwards to see spines sticking out of the sea, and elina watched in panic as chameleon and toothless both disappeared as the spikes swallowed them whole.

elina lost grip on the ice and desperately tried to kick up, but the cold was numbing her. the feeling of drowning embraced elina again, and elina found herself becoming more and more panicked as she felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into the dark ocean.

she screamed in the water, but all that came out was bubbles. she struggled as she felt something wrap around her waist and her mouth, and too tired to fight, elina let herself get dragged under.

all she could see was a small blur of sunlight at the top. her brain was muddled and water filled her nose. she could feel the sea pressure being exerted on her body, and she fell into the state of fear. she heard a muffled dragon's shriek, and then she couldn't hold her breath any longer.

the body in the dragon's claws went limp, bubbles coming out of her lips.

the first thing elina registered was the hard ground she was on. breathing heavily, elina sat up straight and felt her clothes cling onto her like a second skin. her hair was wet and dripping, and a cough wracked her body.

she opened her eyes, and she had to adjust to the dim setting. she heard toothless growl and droplets of water spray onto her body. chameleon licked her face, making elina give a half-hearted laugh. hiccup ran towards toothless, whispering words of reassurance while chameleon brought elina under her wing protectively, like a mother protecting her kin.

as hiccup bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead, he whispered to her, "what happened?"

"nearly drowned," elina responded. elina felt like she had gone through more 'near death experiences' in a week more than most vikings had gone through in their entire lives. hiccup held her hand tightly as the two watched the dragon's mouths glow with fire.

elina furrowed her brows. the person in armor didn't seem like a threat to her, and elina knew that for sure because she was always able to detect who was an enemy and who was not. elina tilted her head sideways; the person seemed so familiar. as if she knew them.

the person walked closer towards them. hiccup lost his grip on elina's hand as elina watched nervously, still panting. chameleon's body became warmer as if adjusting the temperature to make elina warmer. elina's hand edged towards her dagger.

the person dropped their weapons and crawled towards them. the person reached their hand out to toothless, and that was when elina had a stroke of brilliance. as toothless purred happily under her touches, elina knew that only a few people was able to have this ability, this bond with dragons. 

one of those was elina, and she suddenly remembered who this was. "valka!" elina gasped as the person — no, valka — turned to look at her. "it's me, elina." valka leaned closer towards her, and chameleon moved her wing away to let valka hug elina.

elina hugged the woman. hiccup interrupted, confused. "wa — wait," hiccup asked, "you know them?"

valka turned towards hiccup, and walked closer to him. she backed him up against the dragons, and reached her hand out. hiccup awkwardly backed away as far as he could while elina just watched in understanding.

"uh, uh..." hiccup looked at elina pleadingly, but elina just stared at him. elina saw as valka suddenly stopped and gasped. elina walked towards valka and sheathed her weapons. 

"it's him, isn't he? hiccup... hiccup haddock?" valka turned to look at elina, and elina suddenly had a jolt of realization.

"oh my gods," elina whispered. "he is. he is, valka." elina watched as valka whispered, "hiccup." the muffled word broke elina out of her thoughts. her gaze switched between the two of them every 2 seconds as if waiting for a fight to break out. 

elina walked towards hiccup, leaving chameleon to follow her. "uh..." hiccup said hesitantly. elina placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded towards the woman.

she took off her mask, and elina had no doubt that this was valka. elina held her breath as if breathing would ruin the moment. she stepped away, valka repeating, "c — could it be? after all these years? how is this possible?"

"uh, should i..." hiccup looked at elina again, a look of confusion placed on his face. "should i know you?"

valka flinched away at his blunt words. elina winced, but she knew that hiccup didn't mean it. "no." valka shrinked back in disappointment. elina was itching to tell hiccup the truth, but she contained the words and let valka have her moment. "you were only a babe."

hiccup's face became more confused, if that was even possible. valka took a deep breath. "but a mother never forgets."

hiccup gasped, staring at the woman in shock. he stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over if it wasn't for elina holding him back up. he struggled to find the words to speak, emotions flashing across his face.

"shh, shh," valka placed her finger to her lips. then, her face turned bright, as if she had an idea. valka looked at elina, who nodded understandingly, before she whispered, "come."

elina's lips twitched up. hiccup stared after the woman, his mother, and she interlocked their fingers together. "come on, hiccup," she whispered. "let's go."