chapter 12

As Hiccup grieved over his father's passing, he didn't register that all the dragons had been long gone by the time he felt his mother shake his shoulder.

"Hiccup…look at me dear…"

Hiccup looked up at her as the tears slowly came to a stop, his body shuddering every now and then when he hiccupped from how much he had been crying.

"It's not her fault…you know that… Good dragons under the control of bad people do bad things…" Valka said softly as she rubbed her son's back to try and soothe him.

When the words fully registered in the young Night Fury's mind, he glared daggers at the woman in front of him.

"Do you honestly think I don't know that?" Hiccup asked harshly as he pushed Valka's hand away from him as he stood. "I am well aware that Kala isn't to blame here. I knew she wasn't in control of her own body as my father pushed me out of the way of the plasma blast intended for me and me alone. I knew who ordered her to go for the kill. It was the man that flew away on the back of the love of my life under the control of his dragon!" He growled out as his pupils changed appearance and shrank down to slits from anger as scales appeared around his eyes.

Valka backed up a bit with wide eyes, not sure if the changes on her son's face were a trick of the mind or if they were real. The others on the island took notice of the broken family and the Dragon Riders and Gobber froze when they took notice of the scales adorning Hiccup's face.

"Not good…" Nanna whispered as she gripped her arms nervously.

"Son, I–"

"DON'T! Don't you dare call me your son!" Hiccup screeched, making her flinch back. "You have no right to call me your son, Valka! YOU didn't raise me! DAD DID!"

"Hiccup, you are not the only one grieving him right now!" Valka shouted back with tears in her eyes.

"You were gone for twenty years!! What gives you the right to grieve over my father?! You were never there!!"

"I am his wife and your mother! I have all the right!"

"NO, YOU DON'T!!" He growled as his wings and tail came out of hiding, his claws making themselves known as the scales spread further and further across his face. "YOU LOST THAT RIGHT THE DAY YOU DECIDED BERK WOULD NEVER CHANGE!!"

"That is not fair, Hiccup!!"

"Not fair? NOT FAIR?! You know what's not fair?! Leaving your own son to grow up without a mother!! My father struggled to raise me while simultaneously running an entire village!! I grew up questioning what happened to you and never getting the answers I needed!! Hel, if you actually decided to try and change Berk for the better instead of accepting that Berk was a lost cause, you would have known I had fallen in love with a Night Fury, became the mate of said Night Fury, and that I became a Night Fury MYSELF!!" Hiccup listed off as anger consumed him, his face slowly but surely getting covered in scales as his hair darkened to a midnight black and his ears morphed into Night Fury earplates.

"How was I supposed to know Berk was capable of change, Hiccup?! Anything I tried failed and none of them would listen to reason!! Nothing I did got through to them, so how do you expect me to have gone back?!" Valka shouted as tears streamed down her face.

"I NEEDED YOU!! DAD NEEDED YOU!! AND YOU ABANDONED THE BOTH OF US FOR DRAGONS!! ALL BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T THINK BERK WOULD LISTEN TO REASON!!" Hiccup screeched as his glare hardened significantly, his wings splayed out behind him as tears began to flow down his face once more.

"That is not true Hiccup!!"

"LIKE HEL IT'S NOT!! YOU ADMITTED TO THINKING I WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU!! THAT YOU DIDN'T THINK ANYONE ON BERK COULD CHANGE!! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO DECIDE IF OTHERS ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE?! THE RIGHT TO DECIDE IF YOUR OWN CHILD WILL HAVE A GOOD LIFE IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE PICTURE?!"

Just before Hiccup could pounce on Valka, Gobber got ahold of him and held him close. The boy struggled in his hold growling as he squirmed to get free.

"GOBBER LET ME GO!!"

"Afraid I can' do that, little flame. I get you're upset, as am I, but tha' don' give ya the right to lash out on yer mother like this." Gobber stated, not loosening his hold on the young Night Fury once as he struggled to get free.

Valka backed away holding herself as tears streamed down her face, her body shaking as she took in the appearance of her son. Hiccup's face was now fully covered in pure black scales, his eyes were narrow slits, his teeth somewhat sharper like a Night Fury's. His hair was midnight black and shorter than it had been moments before, as though it was slowly sinking back into his head as his appearance morphed into that of a dragon. His ears were almost exactly like Kala's when she was in dragon form and were folded back sharply atop his head as he growled in agitation.

Valka's eyes then trailed down her son's body, taking in the set of pitch black wings on his back that were pinned down by Gobber's arms. His attire didn't seem to be affected, but Valka could have sworn they seemed thinner. As if they were sinking into her son's body as he changed. His hands were now covered in the same midnight scales that covered his face, and his nails were now sharp black claws that gripped tightly to Gobber's arms as the boy struggled to break free. Valka noted that Hiccup was being careful not to injure the blacksmith as he squirmed about harshly.

Her eyes continued downward, taking notice of the tail flicking violently between Gobber and Hiccup. It looked exactly like Kala's, besides the fact that both tailfins on her son's were intact. She noticed that Hiccup's features were more feminine than Kala's were though. And as she took it all in, something clicked in the back of her mind.

Earlier in the day, when the family was gathered in the kitchen of the sanctuary, Hiccup and the others froze when she had placed the food in front of him. Now she understood why. It was because he was a dragon just like his lover. It all made sense now.

Her son, her sweet little boy, was a Night Fury.

And that Night Fury was upset at her for abandoning her family, no, abandoning her nest . Abandoning her mate and her hatchling . All because she didn't think her tribe would listen to reason and stop the war between humans and dragons.

And now the one parent who had been a part of Hiccup's life for the past twenty years lay dead just a few feet away from them. It's no wonder the boy blew up at her the way he did. The amount of pain, sorrow, and anger he must have held back up until now must have been too much for the boy to handle with the added grief from the loss of a loved one.

Hiccup lost someone very near and dear to him and potentially even lost his mate in the process.

Valka slowly made her way over to Hiccup and Gobber as the young dragon thrashed, but the closer the woman got, the less he thrashed about and the more he growled at her. She ignored his warning as she gently placed a hand on his cheek and locked eyes with him.

"I am…so…so sorry for abandoning you…for abandoning our family… I understand if you never forgive me, Hiccup…I don't think I would myself… And I understand why you are upset at me… I wasn't around…and I see the pain it has caused you…" She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she continued, briefly noting that the pupils in Hiccup's eyes were slowly dilating. "I know I left your father to raise you alone…and there isn't a moment in my life that I haven't regretted not going back home to you two…but I can't change anything that's happened no matter how much it hurts… And I know you think it is wrong of me to grieve over your father's death…but you have to understand that even though I was never there…I never went a day without thinking about either of you…and my love for the both of you never faded from my heart…"

Hiccup's eyes then became dull as he went slack in Gobber's arms. His appearance slowly turned back into his human features as he forced his way out of Gobber's hold and began to walk away from the two Vikings.

"I need time to think…" He mumbled before he pushed past the other riders to find someplace private, ignoring the calls from the others, pleading for him not to leave as he disappeared from sight.

Valka sighed, slumping in defeat as she watched her son walk away. She looked at Gobber as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Give the lad time…We all just need time to process and grieve…" The blacksmith reassured her sadly.

Valka nodded and wiped at her face to get rid of stray tears. "Right…we…we should probably get a boat ready…get things prepared for Stoick's send off…" She muttered as she walked off herself to collect what was needed.

Gobber sighed and followed the sorrowful woman to help with what he could.

~~~HTLANF~~~