━━ chapter sixteen
cast out

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━━"Ambush!"

The collection of boulders flung sky-high towards the Dragon Riders. Valkyrie dipped Zephyr down to dodge the first. Above her, Hiccup destroyed it with a well-aimed plasma blast. The second lodged into Meatlug's throat and she chomped it to bits with a huffed growl. They took to the wilderness that morning for a series of exercises for different scenarios. Below, Gobber, Mulch and Bucket were helping them in playing the Berserker Catapulters, doing their best to knock them out of the sky. They twisted in and out and away of the rocks. This exercise wasn't supposed to be a victory, but rather to practice conducting a well-organised retreat.

The Twins spun wildly away from a boulder.

"Whoa!" Ruff clamped her helmet onto her head, "That rock almost took my head off!"

"It did?!" This idea excited Tuff and he cupped his hands over his mouth. "HEY, GOBBER! DO IT AGAIN!"

But of course, as the number of boulders became 'too much', Hiccup shouted to the team, "Fall back, everyone! There's too many of them!" 

The riders did as they were told, turning their dragons around and evading the oncoming catapults. All except for one.

"You fall back!" announced Snotlout. "I am going in to finish this!"

He twisted Hookfang and dived right down to the catapults.

Hiccup's eyes widened, "What━Snotlout! That is not the excercise!" he cried down after him. "Retreat!"

He ignored him, swooping and causing Gobber to duck. He spun back up and when he was far enough away, Hookfang did a tricky tumble and let loose a trick shot that destroyed the catapults. He didn't account for the rocks still in them. One of the catapults launched at the impact.

It flew over their heads. Snotlout gasped and ducked. Hiccup glanced back and shouted, ducking down to the saddle.

But Valkyrie━Valkyrie had turned around too late.

Hearing the whistle of the boulder through the wind and Hiccup's shout, she frowned and glanced back, only to gasp━

It knicked her in the shoulder and before Valkyrie knew it, she had fallen off her saddle.

"VALKYRIE!"

She screamed, trying to flail her arms, but her left shoulder was numb from the hit. Zephyr squawked down at her and flapped his wings into a dive. Hiccup and Toothless followed. Valkyrie tried to look for something to break her fall, but the forest grew nearer and nearer, until she was encased in green. Zephyr had no choice but to pull up, unable to dive at high-speed in the branches. He shrieked, distressed as he searched for a way in to help his rider, but she just kept falling and falling━

Valkyrie's body jolted with pain at each hit of a branch. They knocked her sideways, up, down━in her stomach, her shoulder, her back. They made her vision become blurry; black dots danced in her eyes, or maybe it was Toothless, desperately weaving in and out of the branches with Hiccup gritting his teeth to reach her.

He swooped in underneath her, and she hit Toothless's saddle. Valkyrie was met with pitch black.

When she could finally open her eyes, she ached all over. She remembered when she had fractured her ribs, and the absolute pain that stretched from one side of her chest to the other and made it hard for her to breathe. This felt similar.

Pairs of worried eyes looked over her. Zephyr was the first she noticed, squawking and sniffing down. His long neck allowed him to hover his head right over her to check whether she was okay. He nudged her softly in the cheek, trying to wake her up more.

"Zeph?" she croaked, her head still dizzy.

She tried to remember what had happened. And when she did, she gasped, "Zeph━are you okay━?" she tried to sit up only to be met with only more pain. She winced and a pair of hands were at her side, gently setting her back down.

"Hey, hey, stay still ..." Hiccup shuffled in closer. "Zephyr's okay; he's all right."

Valkyrie's brother was on her other side, eyes wide and fearful. How far had she had fallen? She remembered being caught━she glanced up at the sky, seeing a cluster of broken branches she had tumbled through.

"Hiccup," she tried to sit up again━she could feel her arm now and gods did she wish she couldn't.

Zephyr hunched his head down; something he did when he was extremely worried. Hiccup carefully wrapped her up in his arms, helping her to rest against his chest as she tried to take in the rest of her surroundings. Astrid stood beside Fishlegs, absolutely fuming while the pudgy Viking was tearful in his relief she had woken up. The Twins were down as well, brows lifted in concern. How long had she been out? Had they ... did they think she could've died? She saw Toothless shuffle in close as well, sniffing at her arm. Something was wrong with it, she knew that now. Maybe it could be broken, or dislocated━the boulder had nicked it, and at that speed and that impact ... she was lucky it didn't hit her anywhere else.

"We're going to get you to Gothi soon, okay?" Hiccup murmured, brushing her hair off her face.

Zephyr whined again and carefully walked up to her. His hunched back told her he was scared━sorry for not catching her. Valkyrie was just glad he wasn't hurt, either.

She held out her good hand and he met it, the worry in his back slumping as he realised she didn't hold any hurt feelings. Toothless plopped down by her legs, peering up at her gently. Zephyr sat down, wrapping his long tail around all three of them and Hott, protective.

"I'm okay, right?" Valkyrie frowned, straining to see her arm. Oh, yeah, definitely broken ... "Oh, why did you let me look ..." she turned her head back to Hiccup's chest, hiding in it and taking a deep breath. Now that she saw it, the pain came on in waves. She blinked through tears, not wanting to cry in front of everyone. She felt him run fingers through her hair, attempting to calm her down.

Then, a cheer echoed above them. Something swooped and Valkyrie heard Zephyr snarl. He wrapped his tail around the lot of them tighter. Val felt Hiccup stiffen in anger and then, carefully, he passed her over to Hott as he stood up. She glanced over and saw Snotlout land with Hookfang. Hiccup stepped over Zephyr's tail and stormed up to him. Everyone else had glowers on their faces.

Valkyrie remembered what caused the boulder come flying towards her, and she glared, as well.

"Yeah!" Snotlout jumped off the saddle, celebraing. "That's right! That's how Snotlout retreats: he doesn't! Click━click━BOOM!"

No one was amused. Valkyrie wondered whether steam might come out of their ears. Zephyr's growls grew louder. Val reached a hand out to calm him. She didn't want him to hurt Snotlout, even if he got her hurt.

Snotlout realised their glares. "What?" he let out, annoyed. "Why are you all looking at me? I mean━" he chuckled, "━listen, I know why you're all looking at me." He flexed his arms. Astrid growled like a dragon. "What?" he dropped his arms. "It's Hiccup's stupid exercise!"

Hiccup couldn't contain his anger any longer. He marched right up to him and snapped, "You have no idea what you did, do you?!"

"Uh? Yeah," Snotlout scoffed. "Hookfang and I made the coolest trick shot ever!"

"You almost got Valkyrie killed!"

"Oh, come on, she's fine. Look at her!"

Considering Valkyrie could barely move, she considered herself not to be fine. She wanted to go at him herself, but every time she went to stand, she winced. However, Astrid had her back. Letting out a furious yell, she ran straight for Snotlout with a shout of, "No thanks to you!"

She would have attacked him if Hiccup hadn't pulled her back. She tried to kick him and punch him.

"All right, okay," Hiccup tugged her back towards the rest of them. "Easy there, Astrid!" but there wasn't much enthusasim to his voice. He looked as though he might just attack Snotlout himself if he wasn't supposed to be the leader.

"I'm going to kill you!" Astrid threatened Snotlout as she stormed back. "I'm going to take your helmet and shove it up your dirty, little rotten━"

"That's it," Hiccup spun back to Snotlout, livid. "I am tired of this!"

"I'm tired of this!" snapped back Snotlout, voice rising. "What are you tired of?!"

Hiccup stormed right up into his face. "You always have to do things your way!"

"Yeah? Well, guess what? I look out for number one━" Hookfang shot a column of fire. They ducked. Snotlout gestured back at his dragon. "And One 'A'."

"Exactly!" exploded the chief's son. "How can we rely on you if you don't do what we ask?!"

Snotlout snickered at his reaction, jeering, "So, what are you saying, Hiccup?"

"I'm saying, until further notice, you are supsended from the Academy!"

Whatever it was, Snotlout wasn't expecting this. His whole act fell and his eyes widened. "What?!"

Everyone else was shocked, even Valkyrie. She looked over with strain, surprised Hiccup would go to this level. He was always frustrated over Snotlout, but he never went so far to suspend him. This wasn't the first time Snotlout put someone in danger because of his impulsivity━he once got himself and Hiccup stranded on Outcast Island, but perhaps Valkyrie's near death had pushed Hiccup over the edge.

"You're grounded!" he stated, firm.

Snotlout jammed his finger against Hiccup's chest, "You can't ground me! You're not my dad!"

"I'm the chief's son!" he poked his chest back. "And I'm the leader of the Dragon Riders so yes! Yes━I━can!"

"Oh really?!" they had a small staredown. Snotlout expected Hiccup to give up, but he didn't. He stood his ground. In the end, Snotlout stepped back and stomped furiously to Hookfang. "Watch!" he mounted the saddle. "Ground this, Dragon Boy!"

They took off and Hiccup clenched his hands.

"Uh ..." Tuff spoke up into the silence that followed. "Am I wrong in thinking that grounding means staying on the ground? Because that looks an awful lot like━" he flapped his arms to mimic wings, "━skying."

Hiccup just stormed past him back to Valkyrie. Zephyr let him pass his protective circle and Hott passed Val back over. She felt the need to pass out again, but she forced herself to keep conscious and say, "Hiccup ... you ... you didn't have to do that for me."

He gestured for Toothless to get up and he did so. Hott stepped back, glaring off to where Snotlout disappeared. "If we can't count on him during practice," said Hiccup matter-of-factly as he helped Valkyrie up and onto Toothless's saddle, "how can we possibly count on him the next time we run into Dagur? And he risked your life━I won't forgive him for that."

Valkyrie didn't have the energy to argue. She felt stupid defending the boy who almost gotten her killed, so maybe that was why she stayed silent, too. She just let herself settle back onto his chest as his arms secured around her, terrified she'd fall again.

"Come on, I'm taking you to Gothi," he told her gently. "Fishlegs," he glanced at the blonde Viking. "Make sure Astrid and Hott don't find and kill Snotlout while we're gone."

"It's okay, we'll kill him instead," said Ruff.

Tuff snickered and they high-fived.

But Hiccup wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Just do as I say, for once. Or I'll ground the two of you as well."

That shut them up and Hiccup set off, veering the way back to Gothi's.

Gothi set Valkyrie's arm back pretty quickly. She wouldn't be able to use it for a few weeks, and it still hurt with a constant, thudding ache, but she was relieved to see it in the right spot again. Valkyrie's parents━as one could assume, were furious. The Frode's have declared the Jorgensen's enemies of their Clan for what Snotlout did, and Valkyrie just wanted it all to stop. While her father stormed off to find Stoick and demand for something to be done, Hiccup helped Val's mother in getting her home.

Her mother fretted non-stop, keeping the rest of Valkyrie's brothers out of her room as she set up furs and pillows and tended to her arm the best she could after Gothi. Hiccup gathered Valkyrie food and drink, a nice broth with water, which made her flustered.

"I'm fine," she argued.

"Fine?" her mother exploded. "You almost fell to your death! I will not━you stress me out too much. You are going to rest, and you are going to heal, and if I have a say in anything!" she scowled at Hiccup in passing as she pulled the furs right up to Valkyrie's chin. "You are going to get out of this Academy business and staying here. Help me out, help the sanctuary, learn your cooking and needlepoint━you're safe that way."

Valkyrie knew her mother was just worried for her and stressed, but the thought of not being allowed back into the Academy made her gasp and cry out, "Mum! What━you can't do that!"

"Yes I can!" she snapped and Valkyrie huffed, furious again. "And if your father says no than I will make him!"

"But, Mum━"

"No, buts!" she told her daughter. "This is for your own safety, Valkyrie. I can't stand back and watch you almost die again," she looked tearful and Valkyrie fatlered. Hiccup watched on, a little awkward. He decided to turn to Toothless and Zephyr, giving them some attention. "Screaming Deaths, Outcasts, Berserkers, Skrills━we're Vikings, I know it's what we do, but you're also my daughter. And as a mother, I can't bear it anymore. At least not until you're of age."

"Mum ..."

Her mother quickly wiped away the tears brimming at her eyes and took a deep breath. "There. You," she spun on Hiccup and he shrunk a little. "Keep an eye on her. I don't care if you have Academy business, you will stay at her side."

She stormed out then and Valkyrie sighed, her head slumping. So much has happened this morning, so much has changed━it was still only just hitting her. Now that Val's mother left, Zephyr went back to his protective nature. He set his head on her legs, positioned so he could watch both the window and the door. He curled his tail back around the end of her bed.

Glancing over at Hiccup, Valkyrie murmured, "I'm sorry. She'll ... she'll be better soon. And I'll be better soon. I'll be able to help fight Dagur when he comes. I promise. You should go off and find Snotlout, just so he doesn't do anything stupid."

"No, I'm staying here. The others can go find him," Hiccup pulled the stool over and sat down next to her bed. Toothless sat beside him, stubborn. "Besides, I think if I left your mother might just kill me."

Valkyrie chuckled. Then, she winced as the pain arched in her arm. "She does have a point, though━maybe ... I dunno ..."

Hiccup frowned, listening. Val has never told him this, and now that she might, she felt her breath freezing up. "I ... for a while I kind of ... I dunno, thought about stepping away from the Dragon Riders."

She expected him to look hurt, angry, or something along those lines. But instead, he just leaned forward, "Why?" he asked her gently.

Valkyrie hung her head, still feeling that shame. "I think I was scared. Or maybe I've just ... changed. I don't know. The idea of not fighting and just being at peace sounds way better than going out there and fighting and fighting and fighting. But then I realised that we're fighting for peace, and so I stayed. And I didn't want to disappoint you."

"What?" Hiccup took the hand of her good arm gently. "Val, you never disappointed me; you never will. You ... you are literally the girl I've crushed on since forever━like, I am not letting that go."

She grinned, feeling light in the chest. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts my arm."

"If you want to leave the Dragon Riders," Hiccup squeezed her hand, making her meet his gaze. "I'm okay with that. I will support you in that. I'll miss you, and there will be a gap in the team because I rely on you━I do rely on you. But that's something I will deal with and work around, not force you to."

Valkyrie smiled softly, "Eh ... there's things about it I like. I mean, I'm never bored. I get to see new dragons and new islands. And everyday there's something else entertaining from the Twins. And I get to spend time with you. That's definitely a positive. I don't think we'd get much time for that if I wasn't in apart of the Dragon Riders."

Hiccup realised with a soft sigh. His gaze dropped a little. But Valkyrie just let go of his hand and tilted up his chin. "That's who you are. You love dragons, and you're brave, and you're stubborn. I don't think I'll ever change that━I don't want to. I like you for you. And for a long time, I didn't even stop to even see how good you are, and how wonderful, and now I just ... I don't want to stop seeing it."

His eyes flickered to her lips before he leaned in and kissed her. Gentle, careful not to hurt her, but sensational in a way he's never before. Slow, soft━making her heart light up and the pain disappear.

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━━Valkyrie hates it when she gets injured, because she misses out on a lot of things. Good thing, however, was Hott was there to fill her in. And the news? Baffling. Snotlout returned from his stubborn flight with somebody they all thought to be dead: Alvin the Treacherous. He saved his life, flying Hookfang all the way back to Berk and letting himself be taken in. It didn't make sense. Perhaps he wanted something, but what was there to get? Did he want to take Berk out from within? But with what armada? Dagur took it all after he overran the Outcasts back when he took the Skrill.

Things didn't make sense. Worst of all, however, when Snotlout woke was the news of this:

The Screaming Death was making his way to Berk.

This made Valkyrie want to get out of bed and straight back to the Academy. So what she was in pain? So what she had a broken arm? She spent so long being afraid of this dragon and letting it control her, she wasn't going to let it destroy her home, too. But as she tried to sit up, Zephyr growled and set his head back on her legs, keeping her down.

"Zephyr!" she snapped, annoyed. "Sit up."

He stared back at her stubborny.

"Don't give me that look," argued