"So... this is the guest room. Wasn't sure how many he'd bring, so I'm afraid I had to improvise..."

Eryna led them down the hallway and opened the door at the end of it. Cami and Ruffnut stood behind her, both going wide-eyed as they saw what the interior of the room looked like. It was small and simple, nice enough, and the single bed was in one corner with a haphazardly stitched fur sleeping bag right next to it.

"I'll let the two of you decide your sleeping arrangements. Night." Eryna closed the door behind her, leaving the pair of them to their own business.

Cami sighed in annoyance with her hands on her hips, chuckling as she glanced at Ruffnut and said "no offense, Ruff... but if you were literally any other girl I know, I'd be happy to share the bed with you..."

"I take it I'm using the sleep-bag then." Ruffnut snarked, being surprised when Cami patted on the back and said "aw, such a generous soul!" as she darted over to the bed and lay back on it with a relaxed exhalation.

Ruffnut groaned at this, quietly sighing as she said "me and my big, stupid mouth..."


It was midnight. Eryna and Eret had both gone to bed about half an hour beforehand, which meant it couldn't have been a more perfect opportunity for Ruffnut and Cami to explore the house with a candle while chatting and gossiping.

"Wait, so Hiccup's middle name is actually Horrendous?!" Ruffnut was trying to keep herself from breaking down with laughing as she and Cami walked together.

"You better believe it! And I don't even think Astrid knows... ah ha ha ha!"

"Shh! Shh!" They were both trying to stay quiet so they didn't wake up Eret or his sister, but still playfully giggled like excited young children as they went down the stairs and out of the house to where Furious and Skullcrusher were sleeping next to the front step.

The two dragons woke up to greet them, but still laid down as they were still tired. Cami sat next to Furious on the ground and hugged her dragon's head, while Ruffnut knelt down next to Skullcrusher and stroked under his chin. "So... what about Eret's sister...?"

"What's left to say... ha ha...?" Cami chortled, motioning her eyes up to the house. "Really needs somebody to bend her down and yank that big stick out of her a..."

"Not heavy sleepers, are you?" a voice prompted them both to jolt a bit, before they turned to see Clodagh standing there holding a torch. They calmed down a bit, before she said "so... I take it you're both friends of the chief dragon trainer on Berk..."

"Hm... that's right..." Cami got up a bit. After a brief moment of silence where she and Ruffnut looked at one another, they both turned back to Clodagh and Cami cleared her throat. "So, uh... must be nice having your son back, huh...?"

"It is, dear... it is indeed... we used to be so close, all of us... he always wanted to impress his father. Ha ha... live up to the family name, and all, but... but, um..."

"He screwed up..." Ruffnut said nonchalantly.

"Well... yes, I suppose he did..." Clodagh clearly let in a more sombre tone to her voice, prompting Cami to hit Ruffnut on the shoulder and shoot a brief glare at her. Cami then looked at Clodagh, saying "what Ruff means is the whole incident Eret had... wasn't it a shipment gone wrong or something like that...?"

"Yes, it... it was wild dragons..." Clodagh explained. "Somehow, they... they broke into the cargo hold of his ship and destroyed all the goods, and... and when he opened it to show the chief of that tribe what he had to sell, they all broke out and... and they..."

She put her hand to her face since she was unable to even finish her sentence. Ruffnut and Cami both glanced worryingly at each other, before looking back at Clodagh as she said "it very nearly caused a war to break out, ha ha... they got over it, luckily, but my husband was still anything but happy about it..."


"Father, I assure you! I checked it multiple times, there was no way they could ha..."

"Then how do you explain them being there, boy?!"

"I... I don't know, but it wasn't my f..."

"Do you not realise what you have done?!"

"Of course I do! But it wasn't m..."

"You have shamed our family name! You are no son of Eret!"


"After that, Eret joined those dragon trappers... then he found you... and he seems happy with you lot..."

"Yeah... sure seems like it..." Cami chuckled a bit.

"It was dragons that tore my family apart, girls..." Clodagh's more solemn tone softened a bit as she gently petted Skullcrusher's face. "Hm... I suppose it's only poetic that these dragons be what brought it back together again..."

"Well, poetic, ironic, whatever... yeah..." Ruffnut scratched the back of her head awkwardly. Clodagh then straightened up, grabbing her torch and saying "well... I suppose I ought to bid you both goodnight..."

"Oh, yeah. Sure..." Cami nodded as she and Ruffnut both nodded silently yet respectfully. Clodagh then walked through the sleeping village back to her house, while Ruffnut yawned audibly.

"Well... don't know about you, Cami, but... but I'm beat..."

"Pft... you're beat... I've got an arrow-hole in my leg, how do you think I feel...?" Cami snarked, prompting them both to laugh again. As they went back inside the house, Cami said "just thought I'd let you know, Ruff... I normally snore when I'm not feeling so good... problem is, I can't really tell when I feel that way..."

"It's okay... sometimes, I sleepwalk and take my clothes off while I do it..."

"Ugh, gods... alright, well, I'll burn that bridge if we get to it..."