To mend a Valkyrie's heart (HTTYD fic)

Chapter 19

Hiccup's POV

I groggily woke up to feeling various tugs along my body, as well as several licks. "Toothless" I grumble but the tugging doesn't cease. I slowly open my eyes trying to stop the blurriness, when a small black shape crawls up to my face, and starts licking me.

I hear laughter to my left, and I slowly pick up the little black thing licking me, and hold it a bit farther to get a better look. The black blur was in fact a baby Night Fury who was currently sticking out his tongue at me.

As I slowly sit up, and put the young Night Fury down I notice that it was not alone. At least eight or more baby Night Furies were busy crawling, tugging, and licking me without a care in the world.

As I turn to my left I see Snotlout, Heather, and Astrid trying to stifle their laughter as they were watching me. "Dude you really attract dragons." Snotlout says as he takes in the sight.

"Guys what happened?" I ask, not really bothering to get up because the babies keep jumping on me.

Astrid points to my right. "You were jumped by that female Night Fury." She says, and I turn to see Toothless sitting with a smaller Night Fury, both shooting smug looks at me. "Toothless used his plasma blast to get her off of you, and then proceeded to fight. As soon as she noticed him only protecting you, and not endangering the little Night Fury that had snuck out, and was hiding behind a boulder she actually calmed down."

"Okay......." I said. "How did I get here then? This isn't the place I fainted."

"The female Night Fury must have figured out that we weren't a threat, and then led us here. As soon as we put you down you were jumped by those babies." Heather answers.

I look around, but see no other dragons. The others must have noticed, because Snotlout commented that only the babies, and the female apparently live here.

"It's strange because I don't think she could have laid all those eggs." Astrid comments.

"This isn't a nest. It's a hatchery." I tell her as realization dawned. "The Night Furies probably lay their eggs here, and leave them to be raised by a dragon version of a nanny."

The female approaches slowly, with Toothless following. She gives a roar, and the babies shatter to go play somewhere else.

"Hey girl." I say as I slowly approach her. I reach out my hand. The female sniffs it before pushing her snout into my palm. "You need a name." I mumble. "How about midnight?" I ask, but she simply huffs a small plasma blast. "Hmmm, quite the little spitfire aren't you." I chuckle. I hear her croon approvingly now. "Spitfire, huh? Then Spitfire it is."

"Now I know why Bork never put this place in the Book of Dragons." I tell the others, and begin to explain. "Look what happened with the Skrills. He made their nesting grounds public, and they are now nearly extinct. I don't think Bork wanted a repeat to happen with the Night Furies."

"But what are we going to do Hiccup? The babies can't fly yet, and Drago's men are on their way." Astrid worriedly tells me.

"I've got an idea. It's a long shot but I might knock some sense into those trappers." I tell the others. "What do you say bud." I ask, receiving a warble in return.

"Astrid I'll need you guys to hover above the trapper ships, but don't make any hostile movements." I tell them.

"Hiccup, what in Thor's name are you going to do?!!" She asks worriedly.

"Probably something crazy." I mumbled loud enough for her to hear, and hop on Toothless who flies out of the cave at full speed.

As Toothless, and I streak across the sky I spot the trapper ship not far from the coast. "Okay bud. Let's put the fear of Thor in them." I chuckle, and Toothless climbs higher into the sky, only to dive towards the ship, while making his signature whistle. As we get closer I could hear shouts of "Night Fury, get down!", and the men on the boat duck down covering their heads. This gives us the perfect opportunity to land on the ship's deck.

"Don't shoot!" I yell from behind my mask, as the men slowly get up to look at us. "I want to talk. No one needs to get hurt." I quickly say. The men on the boat were eying us with suspicion.

"Look, I know how Drago treats you guys. He won't know what was discussed here." I tell them, and see that many of them are lowering their shields, but are still wary. It's not every day someone riding a Night Fury lands on your boat, and so far they are handling it remarkably well.

A man soon comes to stand before me. "I'm Sigurn. Captain of this vessel. To whom am I speaking to." He asks, and surprisingly lays his sword on the deck. The crew was also quietly following their captain's example. "I've only ever seen Drago control dragons, yet I've never seen him ride one."

"I'm known by the Vikings as the Dragon master." I tell them. This causes quite a stir on deck as the trappers were watching the exchange.

"For now you guys can call me Ryder, but I don't control dragons. I simply treat them with respect."

The captain nods, and speaks once again. "You made quite a statement in your entrance, and you claim to know how we are treated. You should know what would happen if we defy Drago."

"I do. I'd rescued one of the trappers who rebelled." I tell them. This causes a the crew to go silent as they are now listening more attentively. "He told me what happened to your villages, and your families. For that I am truly sorry." I tell them. "But if you get close to these mountains, I will have no other choice but to open fire."

The captain looks pensive for a moment. "Tell me. Who was the man you rescued. I heard an old friend of mine tried to escape, but I could get no more news."

"His name was Eret, and I am proud to call him a friend." I tell Sigurn. Relief showed on the captain's face. "Then I thank you for saving him." He tells me. "Now, if I'm correct in assuming, you wish to protect whatever is in those mountains. How do you expect us to not face Drago's wrath when he finds out we failed."

"It's quite simple Sigurn. Drago himself doesn't know what is here. He is merely following 300 year old clues." I explain. "If you, and your crew swear to him that you found nothing in that place, he wouldn't be any wiser."

The captain was pensive for a bit. "Ryder, I trust my crew with my life, and they will hold their tongues if I ask." He tells me. "May I make a request of you?"

"It depends on the request." I tell the captain. "If you manage to defeat Drago, I do not wish for my crew or any of Drago's slaves to be taken as prisoners of war, and made slaves once again. They were once simple farmers, and fishermen. With your travels you must have seen lots of lands. Could you find a place for them to once again rebuild their villages? In return we would offer what help we can when you confront Drago."

I nod, since such a request would not be hard to fulfill. There were still many fertile uninhabited islands in the Archipelago.

"Dragon master, there is another thing." The captain says as Toothless, and I were about to take off. "It is a rumor, but apparently Drago managed to take down an ice nest, and captured a rider from there. Was it one of yours?"

"I'm afraid not. It's surprising enough that there are more riders." I tell Sigurn.

"Apparently the rider is being kept in a cell on the island of the Murderous tribe." Sigurn says to me, then addresses his men. "Alright you lot, we're heading back."

I bid farewell to the trappers, and Toothless, and I take to the sky joining up with the others who were circling the ship.

"You guys need to hear this." I tell them once we watch the trapper ship depart, and head back to Spitfire's cave to have lunch.