Chapter Text
Snow.
It howled, devouring the land as the wind whipped the flakes through the air. The dead of winter bit the north hard every year, leaving behind scraps for only the strongest of survivors. Snow beads pelted against the living who dared venture out in the cold, stinging their noses and eyes.
Valka Haddock trudged across the sleet and snow mixed blanket beneath her feet, Cloudjumper and Mercy at her back. She peered over her shoulder to assure the copper Stormcutter and pink Nightmare were there, before continuing onwards.
She wondered in silence whether the anonymous tip she’d received about the haul was real, but she would rather be safe than sorry. Her stomach turned at the idea of dragons freezing to death in cages out in the open wind and snow, left behind by the Grimborn Company or Drago’s trappers in carelessness.
She squinted through the blinding white snow, sighing as she saw no shadows looming in the distance. She adjusted the wool mask over her face, peering over her shoulder again to check on the dragons.
Cloudjumper trilled, his shadow hardly visible, even just a few feet behind Valka. He crawled forwards, the thumping of his heavy steps muffled by the snow. He nuzzled Valka’s arm, nose twitching, his eyes big and focused despite the snow spluttering into them.
“I know, Cloudjumper. Just a bit further and we’ll go back.” Valka promised, patting Mercy on the nose as she came up beside Valka. She pushed forwards, boots crunching in the snow, the scrawny shell of a woman pulling her fur cloak tighter. She glared through the snow, trudging forwards until the snow was piling up to just below her knees.
She glared through the white around her, blinking away the snowflakes that clung to her lashes and stuck in her eyes. She shielded her face from the snow, biting her lip beneath her mask. She shook her head, heart sinking into her stomach as she saw no shadows ahead.
She turned to the two dragons at her back, and sighed as she approached them, head hanging low.
Cloudjumper whined, nuzzling Valka to comfort her, his scales cold to the touch.
It was time to go.
She wasn’t about to risk Cloudjumper and Mercy for something she wasn’t even sure was true.
She nuzzled Cloudjumper, her nose tickling against his as she forced a smile. “Alright you two, let’s go home.” She rested a hand on Cloudjumper’s neck, patting Mercy on the nose, leading the two dragons back towards their nest.
They walked two paces, then Cloudjumper sat up straight, head swerving all the way around, eyes widening. His nose twitched, a slow blink covering his eyes, before he focused on the horizon behind him. He ignored Valka for just a moment as she asked him what was happening, and paid attention to the howling wind.
Or rather, the sound he heard through it.
A low, rumbling howl echoed through the high-pitched whining of the wind, causing Mercy to copy Cloudjumper, her head raised high, eyes widened.
Something was out there.
A dragon.
The howl echoed through the wind, loud enough for Valka to hear it. She widened her eyes and climbed aboard Cloudjumper’s back, and shouted, “Find them, Cloudjumper!”
Cloudjumper took off into the cold-bitten sky, followed closely by Mercy. The two dragons circled around, listening for the howls. They kept listening, the howling growing louder as they pushed through the cries of the wind, until Valka was able to spot a black splotch through the snow.
She patted Cloudjumper on the side and pointed her staff towards the splotch she saw, the Stormcutter diving towards it. He swooped up the snow with his wings, scattering it as he landed, helping Valka off his back by lowering her with his claw towards the ground, her staff hooked on his claw.
As Mercy landed behind Cloudjumper, Valka sprinted towards the mound in the snow. She huffed, coming close, eyes widening as she saw and could confirm it was a dragon. With a tender hand outstretched, she crouched at the dragon's side, blinking away more snow from her eyes, and saw the bundle of arrows that gathered around the dragon’s shoulders, back, and one boring straight into the dragon’s neck.
Valka pursed her lips, and scanned the dragon up and down, shaking her head. “Oh… you poor thing.” She whispered, resting a hand over the dragon’s head. She sighed, peering over her shoulder at Cloudjumper and Mercy as the knowledge that this dragon was not going to make it crawled up her spine and spread on her shoulders.
The dragon moaned, the one eye that faced Valka blinking open. The she-dragon huffed, scanning the woman up and down, landing for just a moment onto Cloudjumper, who inched forwards, before closing. Her wings shifted upwards to reveal three bundles huddled beneath a single wing, her chest heaving.
Valka’s eyes shot wide as she reached for the nearest bundle, and pulled a little girl close to her chest, the tiny thing whimpering as she curled close to Valka’s warm furs. Valka scanned the little girl, a human, resting a hand over the back of her head, a gasp forcing through Valka’s lips.
She choked on any words that came to mind, eyes flickering back and forth between the girl, the dragon, and to the two other bundles still embraced in the dragon’s dying warmth. A little boy, also human, and a dragon cub. A Swifting Cub. She hadn’t recognized the mother in the snow, but now she knew.
“Oh dear Thor!” She exclaimed, reaching forwards and pulled the little boy out, holding him and his sister close to her as she stayed crouched beside them.
They were out, but responding to the change in elements.
She shook her head, did one last scan of her surroundings, swallowing hard. She turned to the mother Swiftwing, who whined one more, last pitiful time, before her breathing came to a stop. Her chest stopped heaving, and her wing dropped to re-cover her biological son, before Mercy caught it, sticking her nose in to pull out the cub before his mother’s wing could hide him again.
Valka, embracing the two human children, stood to her feet, heaving their weight over towards Cloudjumper, where he helped her aboard with the two children she kept a firm hold on. She wrapped her cloak around both of them, squinting through the howling snow one last time, before commanding Cloudjumper to fly.
Mercy followed as he re-entered the sky, the Swifting cub scruffed in her jaws.