━━ chapter thirteen
a tale of two dragons

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━━Across the hills, cliffs and fields of Berk, a horn sounded. It echoed, waking all the Dragon Riders from their slumbers. They knew that sound; it had been drilled into them by Hiccup far too many times. Today, was yet another drill for the Screaming Death, preparing each and every one of them for when the great white dragon finally attacked, finishing his vengeance.

Valkyrie was determined to be ready. Recently, she has spent her time fearing the Screaming Death; avoiding the truth. It had gotten her into arguments, into trouble, into serious moments of self-evaluation of what really caused for her to falter in her role as a Dragon Rider. But now that she understood━or rather, had little time or choice to not, she was sure to be the most prepared.

She was stationed at the Great Hall, and was heading there right now. The morning sun was only just rising over the ocean horizon, spreading Berk in a gorgeous glow. Valkyrie knew that when the Screaming Death truly attacked, it wouldn't be this tranquil.

Or perhaps she spoke too soon.

"Whoa!" Valkyrie spun Zephyr to the left to avoid the obnoxious sight that was Snotlout and Hookfang. She sighed, gritting her teeth. He cheered, overtaking her in her journey. She urged Zephyr to catch up, pulling up next to him to snap, "Snotlout! What are you doing here?"

He was in the mood to anger her, for sure, since he leaned in and jeered, "I'm sorry, did I scare your girly little dragon?"

She did not have the patience to deal with this right now. Zephyr huffed, giving Snotlout a side-glare. "Get out of my way!" Valkyrie growled. "I have to get to the Great Hall."

"No, you don't," said Snotlout, pointing proudly to himself. "I have to get to the Great Hall. You have to get to the armoury."

"Hiccup assigned me to the Great Hall yesterday. You heard him!"

"Tell you what, whoever gets there first━me━gets to guard it."

Valkyrie gritted her teeth. He knew how to play into her weaknesses; forcing her competitive streak out. She was too prideful to let herself lose this to Snotlout. "Fine!" she snapped and dived Zephyr down but before she could get anywhere, something slimy slammed into her face.

She shrieked, losing control. Zephyr balked in surprise, his tail flying down and ripping into the wood of a nearby wagon. Vikings gasped and jumped out of the way. "SNOTLOUT!" screamed Valkyrie in her anger; she wasn't competiting anymore, she was furious. He threw fish at her and it knocked her flower crown off!

He cackled at her. "Val, I thought you liked cod!" His grin fell away at the glare on her face. "Oh, no━"

Instead of racing, Valkyrie dived Zephyr straight to Snotlout, determined to get back at him. They weaved in and out of houses, shooting to the Great Hall at full speed. No one messes with her flowers! Valkyrie managed to get close enough to shove Hookfang to the side, but the Monstrous Nightmare's claws got stuck in the bottom of her saddle and the lot of them tumbled through the door of the Great Hall.

Valkyrie rolled across the ground, dazed with Zephyr beside her. His flower crown was steaming from Hookfang's skin on fire. The Vikings who were just spending their morning inside all screamed as they ran out. She gritted her teeth, glaring at Snotlout who stood up and gestured to the burning table near them.

"Look what you did!" he shouted at her.

"Me?!" she screamed. "Your dragon lights itself on fire!"

"Yeah? And what does your girly dragon do? Nothing! He just wears weak girly flowers━like you!"

She yelled in her fury and grabbed a nearby bowl of half-eaten stew, chucking at him. He shrieked and ran out with the rest of the Vikings. Valkyrie grabbed a piece of bread and chased him out,.

The two of them faltered, however, to see Stoick and Hiccup standing outside━neither looked happy, at all.

Valkyrie hid her bread. (Not before shoving Snotlout to have the last word. He glared at her).

Stoick rallied up the rest of the teens for his lecture. Valkyrie stood next to Astrid, shooting daggers across the line to Snotlout. Hiccup sighed at them, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a half-and-half situation with Val and Snotlout. Some days, they got along, were friends. Other days? They wanted to rip each other's throats out━or rather, just Valkyrie, Snotlout loved to fuel her reactions until she was a boiling pit of fury. Only a few people got her to that point, and Snotlout was one of them.

"When you told me you'd be running the Screaming Death attack drill," Stoick said as he paced the line of teens. "I assumed you wouldn't actually try to destroy the entire village!"

"Uh, technically," Fishlegs held up a finger, "chief, it was just the Great Hall━" he snapped his mouth shut at the glare he sent him. "And I'll let you take it from here."

"Dad, this was supposed to be a practice drill, but it just got out of hand," Hiccup shot Valkyrie and Snotlout each a look of annoyance. "I'm sorry."

"Uh, sorry doesn't unburn Silent Sven's chest hair━" Gobber pointed back at the farmer who was still trying to dampen is smoking chest.

"No," agreed Stoick, "it certainly does not. Which brings me to your punishment."

Valkyrie glowered at Snotlout.

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━━"Mildew's Farm? Gods! Just send me on a boat out to the end of the word already!" Hott complained, kicking up an old, rotten cabbage and waching it roll across the soil. He shot Valkyrie a glare, like this was all her fault.

"Hey!" she argued. "I didn't do anything, Snotlout is the one who started it all━"

"Okay━" Hiccup set his hands on her shoulders and guided her away before another argument could start. She seethed. "My dad wants this field cleared and ready for planting by the end of the week. Val, Snotlout━" he eyed then, daring them to argue, "you two break down and clear out the big boulders on the far end while━"

"Actually," Snotlout crossed his arms, smirking at Val, "that sounds more like a man's job."

She sneered, "Oh, really?" she snarked back, spinning on her feet to face him. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, better give me Fishlegs instead."

Fishlegs frowned to himself, "I ... I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult."

Astrid just patted his shoulder.

Snotlout gaped, clearly offended. Valkyrie crossed her arms, proud. "Huh? Val, please, what do you see when you look over here?" He quickly flexed, showing off his muscles. She was revolted.

"An idiot with half a brain?"

He froze, glowering. "Uh━no," he pointed back at Hookfang, "you see five thousand pounds of boulder crushing splendor!"

"Yeah, sure," she turned to Hiccup, expecting him to back her up. But he arched a brow. She sighed, knowing deep down, he was right, but she still threw her head back. "Fine," she snapped and stormed past Snotlout. "Just don't slow be down, boulder boy."

They got to work. Valkyrie refused to speak to Snotlout, and that seemed to work. They just did their job, taking boulders and moving them away from the soil. They were going to use the good-sized ones for catapults, while the rest were destroyed with plasma blasts or gobbled up by Meatlug. Until Snotlout shoved past her with a rock, almost knocking her from her saddle.

She spun Zephyr around, "Hey!" she snapped. "What is wrong with you?! You could have hurt Zephyr!"

Snotlout gaped at her as Hookfang dropped down the boulder. "What?! I didn't do anything! You were in my way!"

"There is achres of room around us!"

"I told you to stay out of my way━it's your fault I almost hurt your weak kettle━"

"My fault?!" she exclaimed. "MY FAULT?! Zeph and I were just minding our own business until you and your overheated oven barged right into us!"

"Oh, gods..." Hiccup mumbled to himself, face-palming. He guided Toothless over, eager to stop the fight.

"Come on, Val━we both know this is Viking work, not flower-girl work."

"Exactly," she snapped back as their dragons grew closer, "so what are you doing here?"

Snotlout readied to fire another insult when all of a sudden, Hookfang's eyes slitted in anger. He screeched and shot out a column blast right in Zephyr and Valkyrie's way. She gasped, holding her arms up. Zephyr only just got out of the way, roaring. He jumped forward, firing a heat blast that would have burnt Hookfang's scales right to his flesh if he didn't jump back.

"Zephyr, stop!" Valkyrie frowned, having not asked him to do anything. She tried to pull him back, but he was out of control. He shoved her hands away, shrieking and flaring out his wings. Snotlout was having similar trouble, yanking Hookfang's horns with shouts of his name as he attacked Valkyrie and her dragon. Soon, a minature fight started, and it wouldn't stop, no matter how hard Valkyrie and Snotlout tried.

"Hookfang! Stop! Heel━!"

"━Zephyr! Cut it out! Calm down━!"

"━Toothless, plasma blast━!"

Valkyrie shielded her eyes from the purple light, but it did nothing to stop their dragons. If anything, it just made them angrier. Toothless flew in, trying to stop them when━as soon as he touched the ground━he, too, grew aggressive.

"NO! Zephyr, stop!"

"HOOKFANG! STOP IT!"

"Whoa, bud━come on! We're trying to break up the fight not win it!"

"This is awesome," murmured Tuff to his sister. She agreed, grinning.

Valkyrie had never lost control over Zephyr like this. She liked to think they had a great bond. They were the dearest of friends. She could understand Snotlout and Hookfang, but them? Not even Hiccup could control Toothless. It was chaos.

"Guys!" Hiccup tugged his saddle, bewildered. "Back your dragons away from each other."

"I'm trying!"

"Well try harder!" Toothless snarled at Zephyr which caused for the Windstriker to rear up his head. They usually got along━never did they fight; they were best buds. Hiccup gritted his teeth. "Okay━everyone to the rock pile!"

Valkyrie forced Zephyr into flight. She pulled them away from the ground, and as soon as she got higher into the air, Zephyr would listen to her again. She set them down with Hiccup and Hookfang by the rock pile and immediately, she was onto the soil, storming up to Snotlout, seeing red.

He met her in the middle, equally as furious. "What is wrong with your dumb dragon!"

Hiccup skidded down the rock pile, trying to step in between them, "Guys━"

"My dumb dragon?!" Valkyrie barked. "Your flaming Snotmare was trying to barbecue us!"

"Guys━"

"SNOTMARE?!" Snotlout exploded. "Snot━" he stopped, thinking about it, "━I kind of like that!" he got into her face and Valkyrie sneered, not backing down━

"Oh, you would."

"Guys!"

"Oh, I would, huh?"

"Yeah! You would!"

"How about I call your dragon ugly?!"

"UGLY?! Zephyr is stunning! Look at his wings, I don't see you having beautiful patterns on your face!"

"My face is gorgeous!"

"Your face makes me want to barf!"

"Toothless!"

Hiccup's dragon roared and Valkyrie and Snotlout fell silent.

"Thank you━now!" Hiccup stood in between their two fuming figures, holding out a hand to Val's shoulder especially, scared she might lose it then and there. She didn't blame him, she was so close to grabbing her mallet and slamming it on Snotlout's stupid helmet! "Would somebody mind telling me what exactly was going on out there?"

"Simple!" snapped Snotlout. "Hookfang and me were just trying to do our job when Zephyr went crazy and tried to burn us alive!"

Valkyrie scoffed, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Hiccup━" she turned to her boyfriend, arms crossed with a look that begged for him to be on her side with this, "━Zeph and I were just doing our job when this lunatic and his red fire-pit worm started torching us!"

"Oh, come on!" shouted Snotlout. "When have we ever started a fight just for the sake of starting a fight?!"

Hiccup arched a brow while Valkyrie crossed her arms, glowering.

Snotlout realised what he said and backtracked, "Let me rephrase that."

Hiccup sighed. "Nevermind. Do you two think you can work together? Yes or no?" Valkyrie scowled at Snotlout, daring him to answer. She wouldn't say no or yes with everyone else around, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. And at the look on his face, Valkyrie had a feeling he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction either.

So, together, they grumbled, "Yes."

"Good," said Hiccup, hands on his hips. Valkyrie walked back to her dragon, running a soothing hand down his neck. She mounted the saddle and took off, saying not a word to Snotlout who followed.

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━━Valkyrie rethought everything by that night. She had agreed for Hiccup, working alongside Snotlout to help him feel less stressed. But Snotlout had almost fired Zephyr! She wasn't going to let him hurt her dragon again━she wouldn't ever put Zephyr into a dangerous situation like that. Not when Snotlout, the muttonhead, can't even control his own dragon. She decided she will show up, apologise for today, and then ask to work with him, or Astrid, or anyone but Snotlout.

Zephyr followed her, squawking curiously at her fuming steps up the stairs to Hiccup's house. She thought removing herself from the situation would be very mature and very helpful for her stressed boyfriend.

At least, she hoped.

Reaching the door, she rapped her knuckles on the wood.

It was a few seconds before he opened it.

Valkyrie's eyes lit up, happy, "Hiccup! Look, I'm sorry about today, but I seriously refuse to work with Snotlout━"

He awkwardly laughed over her words, making her stop immediately, taken aback. "Hey! Val! Val, hi! Hi, Val, hi, Val━what a beautiful night, let's talk outside━" he shoved her gently back down the stairs and closed the door quickly behind him.

She arched a brow, very confused.

He sighed and asked in a softer tone, as if scared his father would hear. "Uh, didn't we talk this out?"

"Yes, but I was thinking about it," Valkryie jutted her hip out. Zephyr tilted his head at them, watching. "I'm really sorry it got out of hand━" Hiccup sighed a little, relieved to hear her say that, "━I have no idea what overcame Zephyr but that is no excuse for what Snotlout and Hookfang did to us." And Hiccup's relieved look disappeared. Valkyrie gave him an exasperated look. "Hiccup," she chided, "I am not going to put Zephyr in danger by working with that muttonhead! Who can't even control his own dragon!"

"Oh, for the love of━fine, fine," he tried to calm her down, taking her arms and rubbing them as she glowered, hot-headed. "I will deal with it tomorrow, okay? I promise."

Her anger washed away and she beamed, beyond grateful. "Thank you!" she said.

"You're welcome," he said and she grinned at the tone of his voice.

"Don't be so grumpy-face," she teased and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, babe━you're amazing!"

She and Zephyr headed back down home, feeling much better about tomorrow. When morning rose, she hopped onto her dragon's saddle and met up with the others, heading straight to work. She hummed to herself, guiding Zephyr around with his tail and talons to claw away the soil and old roots. Valkyrie was mazing a flower crown as she did; a thank-you to Hiccup, because she knew full well she was frustrating him. She was obviously making a second for Toothless, because if she showed up without one for him, he would start complaining and annoying her until she did give him one.

However, she went quiet when she heard a familiar growl behind the dirt pile. Valkyrie pulled Zephyr to a stop, glancing over her shoulder suspiciously. The other sound went quiet, too. Valkyrie arched a brow. Leaning in close to her saddle, she quietly guided Zephyr up the dirt pile━

On the otherside, having had the same idea, was Snotlout and Hookfang.

Valkyrie understood what Hiccup had done immediately.

"Oh, come on!" she let out.

Snotlout turned up his nose, "Why that little━"

"━Option Three," scoffed Val, crossing her arms and leaning back in her saddle. "Ugh! I should have seen that coming, it's so Hiccup."

She and Snotlout eyed each other for a few moments.

Then, Valkyrie sat up straighter, "Well," she announced, nose turning upwards, "Zeph and I are going to prove that we are not the problem. By working with you!"

"Ppff!" Snotlout snorted. "Not as well as we're going to work with you! Right, Hookfang?"

"I'm going to work with you better," argued Valkyrie as she led Zephyr down the slope.

"Ha!" shot back Snotlout, following her. "You wish."

"Will, too."

"Will not."

They started to work, upturning dirt and such. They got to the same spot they were yesterday when, suddenly, Zephyr balked.

Valkyrie frowned, "Zeph━?" she tried to calm him down, but he snarled at Hookfang who reared back, flapping his wings. "Snotlout! Calm your dragon down!"

"I'm trying!" he argued, tugging Hookfang's horns. "He's not listening━"

"When does he ever listen━WHOA━!" Valkyrie screamed as she was thrown from her saddle. She hit the ground, skidding a little. Looking back up, she was shocked. Zephyr never ... never threw her off until now. He charged Hookfang, snapping his jaws fiercly. "Zephyr━stop it!"

Snotlout, too, was thrown from his saddle, landing a few paces beside Valkyrie. He was surprised as well, shouting his dragon's name as he fired at Zephyr.

It took a good few minutes to get them away from each other