Chapter 11: Critical Choices

"Where should we search next?" Dagur said frantically. He gripped Sleuther's saddle hard and looked over at his sister.

Heather sighed. "Dagur, we've been at this all day. Maybe it's time to call it a night."

Dagur gasped loudly. "How can you say that? Eira is out there, lost and alone! We have to find her as soon as possible!"

Windshear snorted, and Heather shook her head. "First of all, she's not alone. Swiftwings, Toothless, and Hiccup are with her. Second of all, it will be hard to find her in the dark. It would be counterproductive if you got lost as well."

Dagur frowned. He hated logic. "Fine, but we resume our search first thing in the morning!" He reluctantly steered Sleuther in the direction of Berserker Island. He wanted to hope that another search party had located Eira, but then that meant he hadn't been the one to find her. Why was it this difficult? "We should have found her by now!"

"You know, maybe Eira and Hiccup aren't lost at all. What if they've located Drago, and they're developing a plan to defeat him?"

Somehow, Dagur liked that idea even less. He knew that was their purpose for leaving in the first place, but still. "Then they should let us know they're okay!"

"Maybe they-"

"Enough with the 'maybes,'" Dagur growled. "If you're so smart, answer me this: why didn't Eira consult me before leaving on this dangerous mission?"

Heather blinked. "She doesn't have to consult you before doing anything. You're not her chief yet, and it wouldn't matter if you were because she disobeyed Stoick as well."

"This isn't about being chief! It's about-" Dagur sighed heavily, lowering his head. "Why didn't she trust me? She never once updated me on the situation after initially reporting to us, and then she just vanished. Didn't she want to tell me personally? I could have helped! How can I keep her safe if she's not here?"

Heather appeared thoughtful. "Well, you won't know the reason until you ask her, but I bet she wasn't thinking at all about not trusting you. She felt she needed to do something and you weren't there, so she just did it. I'm sure that will change once she moves in." She paused. "But you might want to dial it down on the over-protectiveness. She can take care of herself, and you don't want to come off as too pushy. That is not the way to get her to confide in you."

Dagur's eyes grew huge. "I'm too pushy? Oh no! That's why she's been staying away. We need to find her so I can fix this!"

"That's not what I-" Heather started to say, but Dagur zoomed ahead and did not catch the rest of her sentence.

Valka begrudgingly allowed Viggo to join everyone for the evening meal. Then she made the Vikings stay in a cave that served as her house while she returned to caring for the dragons. Eira and Hiccup did not mind, for this gave them a chance to discuss their plan with Viggo.

"So," Viggo said to Hiccup, "your long lost mother intends to keep us here in perpetuity?"

"Well, she wants Eira and me here because she knows we love dragons," Hiccup said. "I don't know what she'll do with you."

"If she doesn't think you're good enough to live among these dragons, she'll think you're too dangerous to be set free," Eira said.

"Ah," said Viggo, "that is quite the conundrum. Is that why you chose to write to me?"

"Well, not exactly..."

"Why did you choose Viggo?" Hiccup asked.

Eira bit her lip, glancing from Viggo to Hiccup. "He's smart enough to help us find a way out of this mess, he will remain calm and not overreact, he has motivation to get out of here to return to his family, and his story might convince Valka that people can change."

"Those are all very good reasons," Viggo said. "It was a wise decision. However, did you not think about letting Dagur into your plan?"

Eira frowned. "I only had the opportunity to write one letter. I didn't send it to Dagur because he would probably barge in here with an army and make everything worse with Valka."

Viggo nodded. "True, but you could have allowed me to fill him in so he will stop scouring the archipelago for you."

Eira looked away. "Maybe... I guess I was worried he would insist on coming."

"You didn't trust that he could behave himself even if both of us asked?"

Eira clenched her fists in frustration. "I don't know, okay? I just didn't want to get him involved." She did not understand why he was asking her these questions. She thought he would be on her side. "Are you going to help us or not?"

"Of course I'll help you. I don't have a choice." Viggo looked to the mouth of the cave when Valka entered, her eyes narrowing at him. "Pardon me, but I think it's about time we take our leave."

"They didn't tell you?" said Valka. "You can't leave now that you know about the sanctuary. It's too great of a risk."

"I see you care for these dragons very much. They are your family, are they not? Like you, I have a family. My wife and baby daughter are waiting for me to return home. Do you think my child should grow up without a father?"

Valka's hard gaze faltered for a second as she glanced at Hiccup, but then it returned. "From what I know, she's probably better off without you. What could you possibly teach her that she couldn't learn elsewhere?"

Viggo smiled. "How about compassion? Forgiveness? Redemption? Humility and the ability to admit when she is wrong and change course? Most of all, I want her to witness the love her mother and I share and for her to know she herself is deserving of love."

Valka stared at him long and hard. Finally, she dipped her head and said, "It is late. You should rest." She walked past them without another word.

"I think that's a good sign," Eira whispered.

Viggo nodded. "We'll try again tomorrow."

Hopefully, tomorrow would not be too late.

Ingrid and Snotlout's search for Eira and Hiccup proved as awkward as Ingrid feared. Snotlout barely said a word to her, and he refused to hear her out. She really hoped she had not ruined their relationship by blaming him for the attack on Berk. She wished Eira were there to give her advice, but she had no idea where her sister could be.

The following morning, Ingrid had in mind to make sure Krogan was taken care of before resuming her search with Snotlout. However, she could not find Krogan in the house. Worried, she rushed to the stables. Ruby was gone. She quickly mounted Shadowwhisper and set out in search of the Viking and Singetail.

Fortunately, she found Krogan in the forest about to climb onto Ruby's back. "What are you doing?" she cried.

Krogan paused and looked up at her. "I'm getting as far away from here as possible while I still have the chance," he said calmly.

Ingrid hopped off Shadowwhisper as soon as she hit the ground. "What about Eira? She's still out there."

Krogan looked away. "It was her own foolish decision. It doesn't concern me."

Ingrid narrowed her eyes at him. After the big deal he made about Eira leaving, she didn't buy this. "After everything she did for you, you're just going to abandon her?"

Krogan turned on her, his jaw tight and his expression hard. "This isn't my fault! I am simply trying to survive. What you have going on here is nice, but it's not real. The peace Eira desires is a myth, and the sooner she figures that out the better. Nothing here can last."

Ingrid crossed her arms while she considered his position. "It sounds like you're saying two different things. I don't know whether or not our way of life will last, but it is very much real. Eira is real. I know you find it inconceivable, but she cares about you. She may have decided to help you on principle, but once she chooses to work with someone, she can't help but care about them. Trust me, this is personal for her. If you were in trouble, she wouldn't rest until she got you out of it." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But if you want to go ahead and leave the only ally you have, be my guest. I won't stop you."

Krogan stared at her, unmoving, as if he did not believe she would not prevent him from leaving. Finally, he turned to Ruby and climbed onto her back. Then the Singetail flew into the air.

Ingrid let out a heavy sigh. She hoped her instincts were right about this. She really did not want to face her sister if Krogan was gone for good.

Dagur planned to continue his search for Eira and Hiccup as soon as the sun rose. Unfortunately, his body had other ideas and made him sleep in. So, he frantically readied himself and met Heather at the stables. "Where is Viggo?" he scowled while pacing. "He's late!"

"I don't remember seeing him at all since Ingrid's visit yesterday," Heather said with a frown. "Are we sure he came back?"

Dagur halted, gasping. "No! We can't lose anyone else, and we can't afford to search for him as well."

"Well, seeing as how we have no idea where Eira or Hiccup are, adding Viggo to the list doesn't change anything."

Dagur groaned. "But it means we have one less person looking!"

"Uh, excuse me, I know where Viggo is."

Dagur and Heather turned to look at Runa, who held baby Tyra in her arms. "Alright, where is he?" Dagur snapped. "Get him back here right now!"

Runa chewed on her bottom lip. For some reason, she seemed extremely reluctant to divulge information, which annoyed Dagur. "Well, you see..." Her eyes trailed downward.

Dagur followed her gaze. "And what is that Terror doing with you?"

Heather elbowed him in the side. "Dagur! That's not a nice thing to say about Tyra."

"No, I was talking about the Terrible Terror." Dagur motioned to the dragon on the ground.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Runa said. "This guy arrived with a letter from Eira-"

"WHAT?! When was this?!"

Runa winced. "Yesterday afternoon..."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"Viggo asked me not to."

"I am your chief! Your first loyalty should be to-"

"Dagur!" Heather said sternly. "We talked about this. Your power comes from respect, not fear. And the trust between a husband and wife is more sacred than any loyalty to a chief."

Dagur crossed his arms and grumbled to himself. "But if Eira is hurt-"

"Viggo wouldn't let that happen," Runa said confidently. "What Eira wrote must have made it sound like she wasn't in danger. I think she and Hiccup are stuck somewhere. Anyway, Viggo said this Terrible Terror can take you to their location. He didn't want me to tell you until he had a day to work it out himself."

"Thank you, Runa," Heather said.

"We'll leave immediately!" Dagur declared.

Runa shook her head. "You should take Stoick with you. He's probably as worried about Hiccup as you are about Eira."

"But that will slow us-"

"We'll find him first," Heather said. She smiled at the Terrible Terror. "You better come with us, little guy."

Soon, Dagur, Heather, and their dragons were in the air searching for Stoick, who they assumed was out looking for Hiccup. "I still don't understand something," Dagur said. "Why did Eira write to Viggo instead of me?"

"You can ask her when we find her," Heather side.

"Did I do something wrong? Does she not trust me?"

"Maybe the situation calls for a delicate approach, and you can be, well..."

"Pushy?"

Heather frowned. "You come off strong."

Dagur gripped Sleuther's saddle tightly and growled. "I can fix this. I will be the calmest Viking their ever was!"

Heather rolled her eyes. "You're sure off to a great start."

Ingrid met with the dragon riders back at Berk at midday like they planned so they could check in with each other. Like the previous day, no one had seen any signs of Eira or Hiccup. Ingrid was beginning to become seriously worried. What if something terrible had happened to them?

"We need to change our strategy because this isn't working," Astrid decided. "We should consider the possibility that they have been captured by Drago."

"If Drago has them, why wouldn't he contact us for ransom?" Fishlegs asked.

"I don't know, but we're running out of options. We've already searched every island within an hour radius."

"Maybe Drago has them, but they weren't 'captured,'" Snotlout suggested.

Fishlegs' eyes widened in horror. "Don't say things like that, Snotlout!"

"If that were the case, wouldn't Drago try to use that information against Berk as well?" Ingrid said. "I really think they're somewhere else."

"No matter what he did with them, maybe Drago is waiting for us to find him," Astrid said.

Snotlout scoffed at that. "So, you want us to fall into his trap?"

"If we don't, we may never see Hiccup or Eira again."

Snotlout frowned. "So, what's the plan?"

Astrid glanced at Ingrid almost warily before looking back at Snotlout. "We need to find Eret and make him take us to Drago."

"Oh, I like this plan already," Ruffnut said.

"Please, no," Tuffnut groaned.

"And how are we supposed to get Eret to cooperate?" Snotlout said. "We didn't exactly part on friendly terms, and I doubt he'll be very welcoming to you."

"I know," Astrid said reluctantly. "Ingrid, do you think you can convince him?"

"At the moment? Doubtful," Ingrid said. She remembered her resolve to try to patch things up with her, so she added, "But I'll give it my best shot."

Astrid nodded. "Thank you. Hopefully, we won't need to use drastic measures."

Ingrid heartily agreed. The last thing she needed was for her work with Eret and the dragon trappers to be set back even further. She planned to take this chance to finally prove herself.

Hiccup could not remember facing off against such a difficult opponent since his father discovered his friendship with Toothless. In a way, the situations were quite similar. Both parents held strong opinions and wanted him to fight on their side. Instead, he found himself fighting them, which was harder than going up against a villain.

Valka spent less time with the Vikings since Viggo showed up. Hiccup sensed she was uncomfortable, so he asked Viggo and Eira to stay back while he talked to her alone. He found her with Cloudjumper sitting on the edge of the chasm, watching the Bewilderbeast sleep, and she did not object when he sat by her other side. For several minutes, a peaceful silence enveloped them.

"This place is amazing," Hiccup said at last. "These dragons are well taken care of. It's great that they have a place like this to go to."

"This is not paradise, but it is the best we can hope for at the moment," Valka said.

"What's your plan? To create more places like this? If you continue rescuing dragons, eventually you'll run out of space."

Valka nodded slowly. "That would be ideal. I am always on the lookout for safe havens." She paused. "What is your plan to improve conditions for dragons?"

Hiccup frowned. "Eira keeps saying we need a plan, but I haven't really thought that far ahead. After we defeated the dragon hunters, I guess we got used to peace. We didn't know there would be another threat."

"One should always be prepared. You never know when danger will strike."

"Yeah, I get that now." Silence followed, and Hiccup reached for something to say. "You know you can't keep us all here forever, right? It's not a good long-term strategy."

Valka stared sadly at her clasped hands in her lap. "I always knew what I would have to do if anyone discovered this place, but... you were never part of my plan."

Hiccup conceded the point. Perhaps she would soon understand she had acted rashly due to the strange circumstances. He sensed no ill intent from her, "Well, I hope we can reach an understanding that works for both of us."

Valka looked at him, appearing cautious yet curious. "Perhaps... someday."

It was a start.