Chapter 12

The occasional distant explosion followed by the rushing sound of falling water, indicated to everyone that the hatching of Gronckles was going well. Everyone had been pleased to see the first of the dragon offspring running around in the early evening, but now it was getting far too dark to see anymore of this years batch. Heather sat by the campfire and thought of how good it would be to see her Razorwhip again in the morning, along with all her newly hatched brood. Fishlegs meanwhile, stood at the base of the mountain with a lit torch, giving light to guide Snotlout back to the safety of the campsite.

With nobody around to see her, Heather decided now would be a good time to see what was on her brothers dropped piece of parchment, hoping it would give her a clue as to why Dagur was looking very self satisfied, and Snotlout was acting so sickly sweet. As she unfolded the note and turned it towards the light of the fire, the returning Viking in question started to approach the light before him.

"Hey Snotlout, any sign of Dragon Hunters?" Fishlegs asked.

"All signs are good sir" Snotlout reported "Not a single ship sighted and Dagur is now in place for the current shift... sir!"

"Erm... thank you Snotlout but... why are you being so... not you?"

"I have come to realise just how important our role is here, and how there can only be one leader at a time. I must follow the chain of command... sir!" Snotlout saluted.

Fishlegs really had thought he could handle this assignment, but he had not prepared himself to deal with a broken Snotlout who had an excessively gung-ho attitude. What was even worse, before he could even attempt to get to the bottom of the situation, a sudden cry of rage blasted out from behind him.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

Both Dragon Riders spun around and took a few steps back as the daughter of Oswald the Agreeable stormed forward, proving once and for all that she had a very different personality to that of her late father.

"YOU MISERABLE BUNCH OF MISOGYNISTIC SWINE!"

"Uh-oh; sounds like Heather's found Dagur's list" Snotlout took another step back.

"What note?" Fishlegs asked but it was far too late for him to receive an answer.

"I WOULD EXPECT THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOUR FROM DAGUR AND SNOTLOUT, BUT YOU TOO FISHLEGS? I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS."

"Heather, I swear I..." Fishlegs began.

"Just... shut up" Heather told him "I'm way too angry to listen to your excuses now."

"You can rest assured dear lady, that I..."

"Are you looking for a broken nose Snotlout?" Heather said through gritted teeth.

"No ma-am" Snotlout squeaked.

Without saying another word, Heather stormed off into the night while mumbling the occasional profanity filled rambling about how insensitive men could be, even in these modern times of the enlightened second century. Fishlegs decided it would be best for he and Snotlout to simply sit by the fireside and wait for Heather's own fire to burn itself out.

"You know why she's angry, don't you Snotlout?"

"Well... kinda... you see Dagur decided to make a list of all the good things and bad things about us, to see who might be worthy of Heather's hand."

"Isn't that really up to Heather?" No wonder you've been acting so strange; you've been trying to get in good with Dagur."

"Of course I have" Snotlout proudly admitted "I know when to go crawling in order to get favours; I'm no idiot."

"There are those who would dispute you there" Fishlegs grunted.

The boys sat by the fire in silence for most of the next hour. When he was sure Heather had finished pacing back and forth, and had stopped cursing every male on the planet, Fishlegs decided to go and attempt to make peace once more. And so as Snotlout started to snore loudly, Fishlegs rose to his feet and summoned all the courage he could muster.

"Um... Heather... I just wanted to..."

"Oh Fishlegs, you startled me" Heather said, sounding calm at last.

Heather stood up but did not turn around; she took a few steps forward and gazed up at the bright clouds, lit by the rising moon. Seeing his opportunity, Fishlegs tried to explain himself.

"I'm sorry for what happened, I didn't... I mean I wouldn't..."

"You know, I was really angry at first" Heather interrupted "and of course I still am. It's horrible to think my own brother would treat me this way but I have to remember, Dagur is really protective of me; he's been like this ever since we were reconciled. It doesn't mean what he did was right, and I still intend to make that perfectly clear to him; but for all his foolishness, at least he wasn't trying to hurt me. He did though, so I guess I'll have to measure his punishment with a little bit of understanding."

"That really is very good of you" Fishlegs admitted.

"As for Snotlout, he is a jerk, he's always been a jerk, and I fear he always will be a jerk. So I think he needs a good kick in the butt to remind him to think twice before just doing what he wants. He needs to consider other people's feelings, and their rights."

"No argument here" Fishlegs agreed.

"But when it come to you..."

"Heather please, I..."

"Don't interrupt me Fishlegs, I know this is not the kind of thing you would normally be involved in, and I'm not sure to what degree you are actually guilty here. But I've come to realise I am actually flattered that you would try so hard to be as good as you are. You may not be doing it only for me, but all these check marks must mean Dagur sees something in you... and I see it too."

As Heather went on, Fishlegs started to blush.

"And these crosses; I don't know what any of them are for, but there are so few of them... and that makes sense too. Nobody is perfect, but some people come pretty damn close. Looking at all of Snotlout's crosses, I'd say some people really need to try harder... but then again... who am I to judge?"

Turning around to face Fishlegs at last, Heather reached up and placed her right hand on his cheek.

"Don't worry Fishlegs; you and me... we're in a good place."

And so with her piece said, Heather returned to the fire to warm herself while Fishlegs took a few minutes to think about what she had said. There were numerous clouds in the sky, but the full moon still shone brightly on the nearby shore, lighting up the crashing waves.

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Ah romance... so difficult when Snotout is nearby. Back with more soon, Marty.

There is no doubt about it, computers are not made for cats. I googled cat fude and only got a stack of things called memes. So many pictures of other cats but none of me. Surely the people of the world would want to drink in my beauty too. Must double my efforts to find weapons. Don't forget to worship me, Boo Cat.