Chapter Text
“Valda, over here!” Hiccup calls, waving. Valda smiles, running over to the eight-year-old before he can dart again. They’d been playing for hours now, and she could see the cold was finally getting to him as his nose and cheeks glowed red.
“Coming!” Valda cheers, tackling him into the snow. They peel with laughter as they roll. He pins his sister for just a second before she kicks him off into the snow bank. She laughs loudly, sitting up to watch him pop his head out and shiver.
“I’m cold, Valda.” He whines, and she only laughs louder. She stands up, wading through the snow, and pulls him into her arms. Though she was ten, only two years older, she was much bigger than her younger brother. She sets him on the ground, helping him brush off snow.
“Let's go find Dad, then,” She says, setting her cold hands on his cheeks. Hiccup frowns but relents, taking her hands. He drops one but keeps the other, swinging their arms between them as they begin down the path.
As they walk, Valda notices him start to look around nervously.
“What’s wrong?” She asks.
“What if there’s dragons around?” He asks weakly. She frowns, looking around the snowy forest.
“So what?” She asks, getting her brother to turn a horrified look on her. “If there are any dragons, I’ll beat them up! No dragons are gonna ever get close to you.” She proclaims confidently.
“You’d do that?” He asks weakly. “They could eat you, though.”
“Don’t care.” She sings back. A tiny smile bubbles onto Hiccup's face, stretching out the scar over the right side of his chin.
“I wanna be a Viking just like you.” He murmurs.
“I wanna be a Viking just like you,” She replied, poking his side, getting him to laugh.
Valda Haddock the 2nd was the firstborn of Valka and Stoick Haddock.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd was the second born of Valka and Stoick Haddock.
Valda was the perfect Viking. She was a great fighter, often helped around the village, and was a spitting image of her dad and mom.
Hiccup was, well, a Hiccup. He couldn’t carry most weapons, let alone use them, and often was an outcast.
Valda couldn’t be next in line to become Chief, as she was born a woman, and the Tribe hadn’t changed their ways in many years. Valda didn’t mind.
Hiccup was the next in line to be Chief, and he wished, along with the rest of the village, that Valda could take over instead.
If Valda did anything, Hiccup would hear about it. How Valda fixed the Yak fences, how Valda helped her father around town, how Valda fought off a Gronckle, how Valda saved two children from a runaway wagon, and how Valda killed her first dragon after scoring the highest at the dragon training arena.
Hiccup used to look up to his older sister. He used to want to be just like her. Sometimes, in the dark of night, when no one was around and when he was at his lowest, he would wish he was an only child.
Valda knew Hiccup used to look up to her. She heard what others said about him and how others compared them. She saw the look on his face, and her heart ached. Sometimes, in the dark of night, when no one was around and when she was at her lowest, she would wish he was an only child.
Hiccup knew he was not a Viking; everyone knew. He would do anything to be one, though, to be just like everyone else.
Valda knew she was not a Viking, but no one else knew. She would do anything to be one, though, to be just like everyone else.
Yellow eyes.
All she ever saw was large, golden eyes. They bore into her. They begged, they pleaded, they cried.
A sour scent fills her nostrils. Blood coats her hands and soaks up her legs, weighing her down. Dragon blood smelled like sulfur and rot. It stained the inside of her nose, burning away any other smell.
Valda was a Viking.
They were Vikings. They chanted around her.
Kill the dragon. Kill the beast. It will kill her if she doesn’t. It will kill other Vikings: fathers, mothers, and children. It will drink their blood, eat their skin, and wear their bones.
Valda was a Viking.
Vikings purged dragons.
Dragons were evil, terrifying beasts.
Yellow eyes bore into her. Golden eyes brimmed with tears.
Fear. Palpable horror burned in those yellow eyes.
They begged for mercy. They prayed for forgiveness.
They begged Valda not to be a Viking.
Its blood burns her hands.
But she had to be a Viking.
All she could see were yellow eyes.
Valda was a Viking.
She woke up crying.
Every night, for the last two years, Valda had the same waking nightmare. Her hands trembled as she sat up, hurriedly wiping her wet cheeks. She shakes under the fur blanket. No matter how close she pulled it to her, the warmth wouldn’t seep into her clammy skin.
She can hear her dad snoring in the other room. She's relieved she hadn't woken him with her dream. She hoped that her brother, Hiccup, was just as sound asleep. She was sure that if he had woken, Hiccup would have come running to her aide. Even though he was her younger brother, he was like that. Heart unlike any Viking Valda had ever met. He was unlike any Viking she'd ever met.
He wasn’t a Viking.
It’s why she loved him so much.
Valda wasn’t a Viking, either. Not really. No matter whose blood she spilled, she could never be like my dad or the other tribesman. She would say that made her a failure, but then that meant she saw her brother as a failure, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Valda stared at the wall across from her bed.
What dragon-killing Viking was haunted by the memory of the dragon they killed?
What Chief’s daughter had waking nightmares?
Everyone said the dragon would kill her. After all, It was trapped in an arena with jeering Vikings surrounding it. After all, it was a dragon. It was going to kill her.
She didn’t know why she had to repeat the thought to make herself believe it. It was a dragon. Of course, it was going to kill her.
It was going to kill her.
Valda sighs, rubbing her eyes. They hurt with the lack of sleep. Weariness clung to her shoulders. Valda hadn’t slept right in two years. The nightmares never stopped. The only time she was spared was if she forwent sleeping entirely. She couldn’t do that for long, though, or her dad would start to notice how dazed she was. The last thing she needed was her fearless father discovering her problems.
She’d never hear the end of it.
Seeing as she wasn’t going back to sleep, she stood and dressed. She might as well see what needs to be done around the house before meeting with her dad for the day. He’d have more tasks for her to help around the village.
Valda heaves a sigh and steps outside her room.
Valda watches Hiccup as he works in the forge. She sits close by, eating an apple. His own that she'd grabbed for him sits on the workbench, forgotten. Her eyes drift out the window, watching the other Vikings rebuild the houses ruined during the last raid.
Valda often spent any free time she had loitering around the forge. It was always so warm and brought back any feeling she'd lost in her toes while trudging around town.
She watches the town's pack of young teenagers make their way through. Astrid branched off to help her mother. Fishlegs seemed to be debating about helping his family, too, before Snotlout punched his arm, and the kid followed. The twins laughed before snapping at one another. Valda frowned at the group, annoyed they weren't helping.
She wasn't either, but she thought she deserved a break after helping all morning. After all, the moment she woke, her dad had grabbed her to lend him a hand. She had asked why he hadn't taken Hiccup with them, and he only muttered that the boy was with Gobber.
Which, at the time, Valda knew wasn't true. She hadn't liked the idea of Hiccup waking to the house empty, but she hadn't had much choice as her dad dragged her out.
One of the Viking men saw Valda looking and waves. She gives a halfhearted wave back.
Even though the town accepted her, she wondered why she felt so… left on the outskirts.
Valda looks back to Hiccup.
Around him sat his half-finished inventions, as he was never given the time to work on them.
The day was cold. Colder than it had been, at least.
“How's it going, Hiccup?” Valda asks. The boy takes a moment to register her question, and when he does, he only shrugs in response.
Valda wondered when Hiccup had stopped talking to her.
She wondered if they ever would again.
She turns back to the window and stares at the sky.
She prayed then, to the gods. She prayed for her relationship with her brother to be mended. She prayed for her father to acknowledge his son. She prayed for their family to be put back together. She prayed for the nightmares to stop. She prayed that she never had to see a dragon again.
Valda finished her apple and dropped the core out of the window.
Even the gods wouldn't be able to answer her prayers. What she asked for was too much.
Valda prayed for forgiveness.