Lars had managed the Vagabonds well during Snotlout's absence. Enough food was stored for the freeze, or any freak storms that could hit early. Also, the dragons had become far more docile, and people were starting to accept seeing them every day, without any lingering feelings of fear.

When Snotlout arrived at Thor's Wrath, the first thing that happened was the arrival of terror mail from Berk, saying that the army was assembled heading for Rhineland Isle to break a dragon siege. Hiccup explicitly ordered Snotlout to maintain the tribe well, and if nothing was heard in three weeks, to try and send help to the isle. A map was attached.

At the bottom, Hiccup had written:

"And Snotlout, when I come back to Berk, I expect you and Heather to be on the same page."

Since the incident in the ring, Snotlout had managed to stay clear of Heather. He wanted her still, but the threat of an angry Hiccup was still something to be considered before making any move. He was officially the tribe's chieftain now, though he didn't feel like it. He missed the conversations he had with Harald – where was he anyway? – and he felt the villagers were far happier with Heather and Fishlegs, then with him. He needed to show them who was boss.

Since he came to this island, replacing Hiccup, he had been doing fairly well. He was a just chief, he settled conflict and did all sorts of altruistic stuff one would never have deemed Snotlout to be able to. Hiccup had made a good bet on this. Giving Snotlout true responsibility was the best gift he could give. And Snotlout did not want to disappoint him. But now something ached inside him. If he were to be their chief, he needed his people's loyalty.

Harald had become a close friend to Snotlout. They could easily talk, they exchanged ideas and he helped Snotlout with names and who to trust doing what. He knew these people and that made him become a big asset to Snotlout.

A few weeks after Snotlout returned from Hiccup's wedding Harald returned to Thor's Wrath. He had been visiting his uncle on a neighbouring island.

After he had returned, Snotlout kept Harald close. He always asked for his input whenever it concerned the village. More often than not, Harald's advice was to "show strength". And that was what Snotlout did.

One evening Harald told Snotlout he overheard some of the townsfolk saying Snotlout was too nice to be chief. That they needed Heather in charge. People reminding their neighbours "remember how she humiliated the chief in the ring?" and "we need a real chief".

Snotlout did not like what he heard. At first he let Harald deal with it.

"Tell the people I am their chief. They are not to mess around. Is that clear?"

But every so often Harald returned saying only he had heard more rumors.

Snotlout began to prescribe heavier penalties to disobedience and civil disorder. Upheaval in the town and little skirmishes that Vikings are so prone to were no longer penalized with a mere warning. Now, for a skirmish in the street, the ones involved got to do dirty jobs, such as rinsing litter and sewage pits and for the lucky ones, repairing damage throughout the town.

Snotlout was pretty pleased with himself. He no longer heard any complaints about him lacking authority. Harald had scoured the town for rumours, but nothing negative about the chief's new approach was heard. For a few days that is. Later he again heard some minor disgruntled remarks through Harald. This time about dragon training. People seemed to think Heather and Fishlegs were holding their students back for some reason. That they weren't telling all they knew.

Snotlout was afraid of this. He had successfully not made any contact with Heather since the "incident", and was glad of it. Now he had to not only speak to her, but straighten her out as well. As Snotlout got to the arena, he saw Heather from a distance and decided to see for himself how the Vagabonds were trained.

It seemed as though Heather was lecturing the students on something very bad. She seemed to be fuming and yelled at them all in a loud voice.

"Don't you ever do that again. None of you are ready for these sorts of tricks. Next time Meatlug may not be there to catch you. I know you saw Astrid demonstrate the free-fall-trick, but for you this is a free-fail-trick and a deadly one at that. All of you, get back home. I don't want to see any of your dragons in the air for a week. Am I clear?"

"Yes, miss Heather" the men shouted together.

"Now, get yourselves gone" Heather fumed.

O, how much he loved her when she was like this. He could spend hours upon hours looking at her when she was angry. It made her look so sexy, so seductive. Probably that was the last thing Heather wanted to communicate, but Snotlout could not help his thoughts.

The men put the dragons back in their pens inside the arena, then hastily ran away with a face red of embarrassment and annoyance. Snotlout now approached Heather in the ring. Heather saw him coming.

"Well if it isn't our glorious chief!" she sneered. "Come to learn anything today?"

O, how to start this about. He certainly didn't want to make her angrier than she already was.

"What did they do?" Snotlout said.

"You know that trust exercise Hiccup let us do last year?" Heather said.

"You mean the one where he said to jump to your death?" Snotlout replied.

"And to trust your dragon to catch you, yeah," said Heather.

"I still have nightmares about that one," Fishlegs threw in.

"Well, our dear Astrid showed that trick on Stormfly when we escorted the ships to Berk. Now, two of these idiots decided to try it out. Their dragons are not even used to being ridden!"

"And you just sent them off. Where is the discipline there? They have to feel it, don't they."

Heather's face grew tense. Her fists grabbed her axe tightly. With an icy voice she replied:

"Don't you dare tell me how to train my recruits, Snotlout!"

"Relax, Heather! I'm just saying, if you had taught them some real discipline, they wouldn't have jumped in the first place!"

Fishlegs jumped in between.

"Snotlout, shut it, please," he said. "Come on sweetie."

Fishlegs led Heather out of the ring.

"Well that could have gone better," Snotlout thought.

"Harald!" he yelled. "Get me the guys that just got sent home!"

Twenty minutes later Snotlout saw four downcast faces staring at his feet.

"You disobeyed Heather," Snotlout said. "That is unacceptable. All four of you will be detained for two nights. Get them into separate jail cells."

"On it, chief," said Harald.

"And Harald" said Snotlout

"Aye?"

"How is your training with the changewing coming along? Does he have a name yet?"

"Aye, chief. Shadowwing is fine, actually. I was wondering. Could you give me another flying lesson sometime?"

Snotlout replied in the affirmative. Harald took the four Vagabonds to the jails and locked them up.

An hour later both of them were in the air. Shadowwing and Hookfang flying side by side.

"Harald, I have a job for you," said Snotlout.

"I want you to train Shadowwing to follow Heather and Fishlegs wherever they go. I don't trust them. I want a daily report on what they do, who they talk to, and what they think. Make sure he isn't spotted. That would make for quite the complicated situation."

"Aye sir. Starting when?"

"Starting after dinner. Shadowwing can track them from there on easily."

Snotlout thought deeply.

"What should I do about them, Harald," he asked. "If my suspicions are correct and they are plotting against me, what do I do about it?"

Harald said: "I would never advise you to do anything against some of your own tribe, sir."

"Don't give me that," Snotlout said.

"Well sir," said Harald. "You are the chief here. If they are indeed plotting against you, you have to be decisive. Your response must be swift and effective. There can be no room for favouritism, just because they're dragon riders."

"You are right," Snotlout said. "I am the chief. They have to listen to me. I just can't have them sending terrors to Hiccup complaining. We need to keep an eye out for mail, and see what they are writing."

"Excellent, sir." said Harald, "I know someone who can help us in this. He's now riding a nadder. He could easily overtake a terror. Shall I have him report to you tonight?"

"Yes, do that. One thing more, what sort of punishment do you think is appropriate for undermining my authority?"

"That's not really my place to say sir, but if you insist I'd say you've tried talking. They'll need to feel it. Anyone who disrespects your authority should see and feel your authority harshly. It's the only way it will sink in."

The next few days surveillance on Fishlegs and Heather was secretly begun. Their terror mail was intercepted, and at time altered to a message that made the reader think things were good between Heather and Snotlout. No one would expect that things were off.

If they crossed him, he would know what to do.