A/N: …...…. I… *clears throat* Hey, nice to see you all again after… two months. *hits self* I'm sorry, guys. I've been crazy busy, and then inspiration for The Dragon Conqueror kind of fizzled out, so… *shrug* I'm really sorry. *sniff* Well, here's Chapter Five, even as short as it is, (finally), and hope at least some of you are still out there to read. :) Updates will probably be around once to twice a month from now on! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Story requested by the amazing, the awesome, and the incredible TheWizardRider! And beta'd by the wonderful animalsarepeopletoo.

Chapter Five: Reflections

Valka Haddock wasn't one to be superstitious, but after seeing the ships' flags that carried the man who had fought her, she was beginning to think otherwise.

Those were Berkian flags- fabric that represented the island she had grown up on. The island her husband was on. The island her son… the son she had abandoned... was on. She had a strange urge to go back and find her little Hiccup. Tell him she was sorry. Tell him she would stay for awhile. But was that even possible now, with this dreadful war going on? But she did need reinforcements or some sort of backup... Maybe, if her son knew she was alive, he would help her... and help her keep the dragons safe. Perhaps not all Vikings hated dragons? She was an exception to the mass of them, after all...

"What do you think, my dear Cloudjumper?" she murmured, reaching up to pat her dragon's scales.

The beast moaned with pleasure, closing her eyes, a slight shiver running down her spine.

Valka smiled. "I guess we don't have a choice if we are to keep the sanctuary. Back to Berk we go in a few days." She cast a look out of the ice cave. "And we'll take the Night Fury. He can't be left on his own. He's crippled now."

Her brow furrowed.

"And whoever this 'Dragon Conqueror' is that they speak of…" She swerved away, storming towards the Night Fury's quarters. "He shall pay!"

Nothing?" Stoick asked, his face sagging with disappointment.

"Nothing," Hiccup repeated bitterly, already stomping away from the harbor. He didn't want to tell his father about what had happened. How he had finally shot down the Night Fury, but then lost it to a masked figure he had fought out in the snow. And lost against.

Viggo hadn't helped things, either. All the way back to Berk, he had chided Hiccup about losing the fight with the masked man- if it even was a man- and threatened to cut their alliance off if anything happened like that again. Hiccup had managed to pacify him at the moment, but he knew their small treaty was wearing thin.

"Son, wait," Stoick pressed, but Hiccup was intent on not talking.

"I wouldn't push him, Stoick," Astrid sighed from beside him. "He's gone through a lot these past few days."

Stoick cocked an eyebrow. "But he said he hadn't found anything?"

"He found more than he let onto. But I'll let him open up when he wants to." Astrid shook her head. "Hopefully, he'll feel better later. I'll do what I can."

Stoick somehow managed a smile, though his creased brow spoke otherwise. "Thank you, lass. I'll try and talk to him later." He ran a hand down his face, feeling exhausted. "Meanwhile, the dragon raids have gotten worse. Winter's coming, and the beasts can sense it. More supplies stocked up... more opportunities for the devils to get more than they did earlier."

Astrid scowled. "Any deaths?"

"A few. And we're not any closer to finding the Nest." Stoick furrowed his brow. "Are you absolutely sure, lass, that you didn't find anything on your expedition? Any clues to whereas the nest might be, or the Night Fury?"

Astrid slowly shook her head. "No, sir. We didn't find what you were looking for.'

"All right, then." Stoick chose not to ask for her to elaborate. "Now, let's go find Hiccup. Who knows what sort of trouble he's gotten himself into already." Laughing, he wrapped an arm around Astrid's shoulder and directed her up the docks. "That boy's a trouble magnet."

"You have no idea," Astrid murmured, rolling her eyes.

It only took a day of steady flying before Berk appeared over on the horizon, gleaming in the last vibrant rays of sunlight.

Despite that, Valka felt a chill run up her spine and clutched the Night Fury she was flying closer. This was it. The place she had been taken from, the place she had left behind. The place that went against everything she believed in. The place where her abandoned son and husband were.

Berk.

The Night Fury snarled, and Valka rubbed at a sensitive spot on his neck to calm him. "Easy, dragon," she whispered. "We will be arriving very soon. And then we shall find out who this 'Dragon Conqueror' is." Her brow pinched together. "He crippled you, and he will pay."

The dragon's tail twitched.

A faint smile twitched at the corners of Valka's mouth. "Yes, we will be arriving soon. To Berk."

A beat passed.

"To home."

"What do you mean, we can't pull off on another voyage again?" Hiccup nearly shouted at the captain of one of his ships. "We're still looking for the Nest! We have time-"

"No, we don't, Dragon Conqueror," the man interrupted, tone polite but warning. "Winter has already set in over a good piece of the archipelago. Looking for the Nest would be useless in this weather." He nodded up at the grey sky. "Snow's already gathering, as you can see."

Hiccup's fists clenched, and he sucked in a breath. "Fine. Fine. When can we pull out next, then?

The captain scratched his chin. "Oh, I'd say around…" He thought for a long moment. "I'd say in three to four months it'd be safe enough to go out again."

"Three to four… three to four months?" Hiccup exploded, unable to control his frustration. "No, we're not waiting that long! By then, half of our food supply will have been taken by dragons and the other half long gone by us!"

The captain winced. "Dragon Conqueror-"

"No, I don't want to hear it." Hiccup crossed his arms tightly, refusing to admit defeat. "Hasn't enough been said?"

"Hiccup," the seaman emphasized, addressing the young man by his real name.

Hiccup slowly turned to him, shaking his head. "What? We have to wait five months now?"

The other man was unaffected by his insults. "Dragon Conqueror, you've… changed in these past few months. You're completely driven by your hate for the Night Fury, and all dragons…"

"I wouldn't call it a hate," Hiccup muttered.

"Then what is it?"

The urge to prove myself to my village, Hiccup wanted to say, but held back. He wasn't going to tell anyone that. Not his father or even Astrid knew what his so-called "obsession with hunting down the Night Fury" really was He just wanted to kill the beast and get this whole "proving himself" thing over with.

"Maybe two and a half months."

Hiccup looked up, confused. "What?"

The captain nodded. "Maybe two and a half months from now we could set sail again in search of the Nest. Depends on the ice, though. It can get awful thick this time of year, and I'd hate to see anybody stuck in it."

Hiccup sighed. "Yes, well let me know." He smiled apologetically. "And sorry, you know... for yelling."

The other man grinned. "Aye, you've got a temper at that. But don't worry, lad. Everything'll turn out all right. It always does."

"I hope so."

Hiccup turned away, heading back up the docks in a troubled manner.

But the thing neither of the men noticed was the dragon perched in the grove of trees next to them, where a woman cloaked in armor sat on top of a Night Fury, stunned. For she had heard every word the two men had transpired.

The younger one was the Dragon Conqueror.

And the younger one was also Hiccup. Her son. The son she had abandoned.

The color drained from her cheeks, turning her nearly as white as the snow on the ground around her. "Oh, Hiccup… son... what have they done to you?"

Hiccup kicked at the same tree again, mumbling a string of incoherent words when his foot stung at the impact. He clutched it for relief.

"Gods darn it all," he growled, leaning against the tree with his furious eyes glaring at the ground. "Everything's messed up… Night Fury got away… who even was that masked person… who do they think they are, anyway... they should never have confronted me… I'm the Dragon Conqueror… I'm the Heir of Berk... I'm... I'm…"

He paused, anger slowly fading.

"I'm me."

He kicked at the dirt again.

"Now what am I supposed to do? The raids are getting worse, I can't help anyone… I can't do anything... I can't protect my village..." The anger suddenly returned, fueling him even more than before. He stomped away from the tree, yelling at the sky, "What do you want from me? Haven't you done enough?"

He was met with silence.

Hiccup's eyes flashed. "Answer me! I don't know why you're doing all of this, but stop it!"

Nothing.

"Just help me! I don't know what to do! Should I go after the Night Fury again? Winter's here, so I can't leave Berk. So what…" He folded his arms, staring crossly at another tree. "So what do you expect me to do? Let my village starve? Freeze to death? Go back to being useless?"

Apparently, the gods had no answer for him. That, or they found his distress amusing.

There continued to be nothing. No miraculous bolt of lightning or thunder. No booming call of Odin. Not even a bird cried back at his tantrum. Only a cool wisp of the wind surrounded him.

Grunting, Hiccup kicked the same tree again, but this impact was directed at a better angle. This time, the sting didn't hurt as much, but it didn't seem to affect the tree at all. Not even the tiniest piece of bark was affected. Gods... he couldn't even make that small of an impact!

Chest heaving, Hiccup backed up against the tree and slipped down to the ground. What was he supposed to do now? His father was already struggling with getting enough food for the village as winter was drawing nearer, and now that his venture to find the Nest had been a failure, it just added to the pile of problems. And it didn't help, he reflected, that no ships could leave the harbor for three months.

"Please… help me," he murmured, to anyone who was listening. Whether it was the gods, a wild animal, or even just the wind, he didn't care.

He just needed help.

Suddenly, his thoughts were broken by the sound of leaves crunching faintly off in the distance. But not so far away that he couldn't hear them clearly.

They were drawing nearer, not further away, and he jumped to his feet, alarmed. Who was out there? He was one of the only people, besides his friends, who ventured out into these woods. And he knew that all of them would announce their presence if they were looking for him. Whatever was making that noise meant trouble...

Slowly backing away, Hiccup peered out from the side of the tree, breathing heavily.

There was a figure up ahead, walking towards him. It seemed distracted, head bent over and footsteps not at all quiet. Careless, Hiccup snorted to himself. Anyone could sneak up on them. But the thing that caught Hiccup's attention the most were the two figures beside the person.

They were the figures of... of... of dragons.

Hiccup's breath was suddenly stolen from him. Who walked around with dragons? No one, at least, as far as he had heard. They were deadly, unpredictable beasts. They'd kill you in an instant without a second thought.

"Hey!" he shouted, catching the person's attention.

They seemed to hesitate for a moment, then swerved around and started to dart through the woods, the opposite way.

"Come back here!" Hiccup howled, beginning to sprint after them.

The two dragon figures surprisingly followed the figure running away, almost obediently, easily dodging trees and fallen logs whereas Hiccup had more trouble avoiding them. His lungs burned with the sharp winter air, but he wasn't about to give up.

Who was this person? And why did they have dragons as companions? Was it some sort of trickery? An illusion? Because dragons were deadly... dangerous... one couldn't hang around with them without being killed... Yet with each passing moment, Hiccup began to doubt things he had been told his whole life long. Things he had believed without question. However, there was one thing he did know...

The chase was on.

But this time, he wasn't so sure he would win.