When Hiccup finally reached his mother, she was back in the nest. She'd left when she had seen that Hiccup had it all under control with the other newly-appointed riders.

"Mom! You might want to see this..." He handed her the note, with the worn material that had the two crudely scratched out words at the center of one side. Valka looked at it with worry. Cloudjumper had noticed his rider's change in emotion and came over to see what was wrong. His eyes turned into slits when he saw the ominous note. (why he did so escapes me but who cares it's fanfiction.)

"I.. I.. I don't know how to handle this. We're not prepared for war. This is a sanctuary, the only people who'd want to even bother attacking it would be-" recognition flashed in her eyes as she stopped talking abruptly.

"Mom? Mom, who would want to cause trouble here?" Hiccup took the note from Valka gently.

"We must prepare. Hiccup, gather the Berkians and get them in here at once," Valka climbed onto her Stormcutter's back. "We don't know when they're coming, but they are, and we must be ready."

"Mom, who's coming? You're freaking me out, here." Hiccup was already set off by the note, but his mother's reaction was putting him even more on edge. It was as if she'd has personal experience with who sent the warning.

"The trappers. Dragon- dragon trappers. Get the Berkians and stop standing there!" She gave him a pointed look before Cloudjumper flapped off, going towards the Alpha, who was on the far side of the sanctuary.

Hiccup quickly mounted Toothless and they flew past the Monstrous Nightmare messenger, who was sleeping with a few other dragons of the same breed. They zoomed out to where the dragon riders had gathered in a group on the shore, talking about random things. "C'mon," was the only thing that came out although he tried to say 'c'mon, we need to get inside.'

"Why? Where?" Gobber stood straight from his previous position of leaning on a still-sleeping Grump. Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, Toothless still poised to take off again.

"We need to get inside. Now. M- V- we'll explain it when we're all inside the sanctuary." Reluctantly but trustingly the others got on their dragons and followed Hiccup into the icy mountain and over to where Valka had collected the strongest of the sanctuary's dragons.

"Apologies for the short notice, and for making you all stop your fun with your new companions, but this situation is dire," Valka slowly rubbed Cloudjumper's neck, seeking solace in the warm scales of the Stormcutter.

"What's wrong...?" Fishlegs stood beside Gobber, along with Astrid, the twins, and Snotlout. Valka put her hands at her sides, her breath sounding muffled from behind her helmet.

(sorry for the A/Ns in this, but i wanted to say that none of the Berkians know Hiccup nor Valka's identity. it's just not stated every time in the story.)

"We've recently received a.. startling note. We must prepare. To fight." Valka spoke. Astrid looked surprised.

"Isn't this place an anti-war zone? Why are we fighting?" She asked. Hiccup looked at her, finally speaking up.

"We're not on everyone's good side, it seems. Dragon trappers have declared war on us. We don't know when they're attacking, all we know is that they are." Toothless purred, sitting next to his rider. The others looked a mix between scared and angry that someone would want to attack the place.

"Our chief can help. He can send an army," Snotlout started, but Astrid shook her head.

"He hates dragons, remember? He wouldn't help a sanctuary full of them, even if we proved that good dragons existed," she said, "Plus, how could he even think they weren't evil? His son and wife were taken by them."

Hiccup cleared his throat. "Maybe we could convince him..." At the look he could feel through his mother's helmet, he continued, "We could use the extra warriors. Our dragons aren't ready, and may not be when the trappers attack. It would be beneficial for us. We might even win."

He wasn't looking forward to seeing his father for the first time in five years--oh, Thor, no. He was just thinking about the village helping, that was all. The only people he even missed from Berk were standing in front of him, and they didn't even know who he was.

Not yet.

Valka seemed to think before nodding slowly. "Okay," she said. "We could work together, just this once. Dragon slayers and dragon riders can set aside their differences for battle." She didn't sound very hopeful of her statement, although she was sincere in saying it. Hiccup didn't blame her; Stoick wasn't exactly easy to persuade, no matter the reason.

"Who'll go, though? We need a few to go to Berk to try and convince the village to assist us. We also need some to stay behind and hold down the fort with the dragons while we're gone, in case we take too long coming back and they attack before we get here."

Valka nodded. "We need those with credit, speaking skills, and the knowledge of the village." Snotlout flexed his arms.

"I've obviously got the cred, right? I'm totally going." He glanced at Astrid while boasting about his "cred", in which the blonde responded to with a roll of her eyes.

"Fishlegs has to go," Snotlout stopped flexing to say. "He can speak good." Fishlegs looked shook.

"Did you just compliment me?! This is the first time Snotlout's said something nice, someone document this!" Snotlout scowled.

"I take that back. Leave Fishlegs here," Snotlout announced. The twins sniggered. Hiccup sighed as Valka turned to Cloudjumper.

"I'll go, since I'm the adult here with the most common sense," she began, "H- Er"- she pointed to Hiccup- " you and Fishlegs, you come with me. Gobber, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Astrid stay here to assist the dragons and prepare the sanctuary." She turned to Astrid.

"I'm relying mainly on you, lass. Make sure nothing gets blown up while we're gone, ey?" Astrid nodded. "Now, off with you all. We must get ready."

As everyone walked off to do their part, Valka grabbed Hiccup and pulled him aside and out of earshot of the other Vikings. "You father is a wonderful man. Don't forget that."

"I didn't say he wasn't." Hiccup replied.

"I could see the look in your eyes through your helmet. He might not be the best father out there, but he tries, alright? He's a chief that looks out for the needs of his people. Give him a chance." Valka said.

"He certainly didn't try hard enough to keep me on Berk, did he? I'm sure he didn't even realize I was gone until he realized the village hadn't been set on fire for a few days. He's probably glad I left!" Valka stepped back and didn't say anything for a few moments.

"He isn't the kindest person on Earth, but he sure as Odin isn't how you see him! He was the only one other than me who had hope when you were born early." Hiccup sighed.

"I don't like him, but I don't hate him. I'm almost looking forward to seeing him again after five years, despite the fact I never fitted in on Berk. Happy?"

Valka's demeanor immediately changed as she gave Hiccup a pat on the head. "That's my boy. Now you go on, too. Get ready. We leave in the morning."

[i have a few announcements to make

1; lost in evil is officially put ON HOLD until this story is completed

2; i will try to update every weekend, and if not i'll make sure to announce so on my message board (try and make sure to read those because sometime's they're important)

(you don't have to if you don't want to i'm not forcing you)

3; i had a dream where i was a viking and my dragon was this deadly nadder born w/o spikes on his tail n we kicked ass (this is an important announcement shut up)

okay that's all ty for reading bye]