Hiccup and I decided to take the scenic route to Berserker Island, flying further south and heading down towards Mystery and The Waterlands. Most of what was once known as the Mazy Multitudes was nothing more than small stacks of rocks after being destroyed by dragons such as Drago's Leviathan or the Screaming Death. This made the flight down south clear and enjoyable. Hiccup and I were flying closely together, not really talking, and just taking in the sights together. Every so often I would see his eyes drift to me, and a smile crease his face as our gazes met during flight. When we neared Mystery, I nudged closer to Toothless's flight and got his attention.
"I was thinking you and I should scout Mystery together one of these days. No one from the Archipelago has ever set foot on it." I suggest as he laughs.
"Yeah, cause no ships can pull up to it. It's entirely cliffs and the few times we've flown over it, it seems like it's a giant chasm with a forest inside. We've never landed there, but also never seen signs of dragons." Hiccup responds as I nod. "Even when I was scouting for new dragons, before we left for the Edge and the Great Beyond, I scouted Mystery while everyone else had their own drives.." Hiccup adds before smiling. "Never landed there though. We could do that together." He finishes as I smile and nod.
"That sounds good to me. Between the two of us, we're ready for anything that island could throw at us." I add as he flies closer and reaches out his hand. I extend mine and they connect as our dragon's let their wings glide.
"We're unstoppable together." He says with a smile as I nod.
"So, maybe after Berserker Island, we check it out? We've got a couple days before we need to button down for the storm anyways and we won't be hitting any trappers until after the storm. Maybe could be a little get away for us." I suggest as he nods.
"Sounds perfect to me, Berk can survive just fine as is with us being a little late from Berserker Island. I doubt Dagur and Heather will let us leave without treating us to food, though, especially if Mala is there." Hiccup adds.
"Plus, it's been a couple years since the war with Johann. We haven't visited since then, so I imagine they've grown quite a bit. Given how much we have." I continue as he laughs and nods.
"Yeah, they took a lot of our designs and now that the King of Dragon's no longer lives under their island, they can all have dragons there." Hiccup says as we start nearing Berserker Island. We can see it on the horizon, and it is easily triple the size of Berk as a whole.
As we flew closer, Berserker Island was beautiful with an extended Dragon's stables that mimicked the one we had at the Edge only had grown much larger to seemingly hold dozens of dragons comfortable. The city below the stables had grown much larger as Dagur had successfully relocated his people back to the island. They have almost double our number of Vikings and easily double our amount of ships in dock and around their waters. I notice several small dots above the island and as we get closer, I see a pair of Berserkers on a pair of dragons and stare in awe.
"Hiccup!" I yell out, pointing to the pair of flyers as they approach us on two Nightmares. We fly towards the flyers as they wave us down and fly closer to us.
"If it isn't Chief Hiccup. Chief Dagur has said you are always welcome here. Follow me." He says in a monotone and leads both of us down to the main lay of the city. "He's in there." He says, pointing out a large building in the center of the town. We nod in appreciation and fly down.
Hopping off our dragons, we approach the large building and open the door to find Dagur sitting on a large throne with a paper pad before him and a few Vikings in front of his throne-like chair. Heather and Windshear were off to the right side with her arms crossed as I spotted Sleuther hanging from the rafters above. Mala was sitting next to Dagur as she looked on the paper he seemed to be reviewing. It seemed to be some sort of dispute or gripe he was dealing with. Heather almost immediately spotted us as we entered, and she hits Dagur on the shoulder and points to us. Dagur literally throws the papers up and hops off his large chair as Mala catches the paper swiftly.
"BROTHER!" Dagur exclaims and rushes towards us, quickly gripping Hiccup in a bear hug and lifting him from his feat.
"Oh, hey! Hi! Dagur! Still, uh, hurts!" Hiccup strains as I laugh lightly. Dagur had always been incredibly strong, and Hiccup had grown to be no slouch himself, but he was in no way on Dagur's level.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Dagur says, releasing him and hugging me much lighter as Heather and Mala approach. Heather and I exchange a hug as I nod to Mala. Mala shakes her head and hugs me as I smile, I was still sort of unsure how to address Mala.
"We're extended family not to mention staunch allies, Astrid. Hugging is more than acceptable." Mala says as I nod, smiling.
"Absolutely. I consider us family." I respond in kind as Mala smiles.
"So, brother, what brings you two here? Looking for a vacation get away? I always knew you were a ladies man." Dagur says, teasingly jabbing at both of us with his arm as Hiccup groans and I roll my eyes but we both end up laughing.
"No, no. I come with news and to check up on you guys. I noticed you have a pair of flyers?" Hiccup asks
"That would be all Heather. Awhile ago she picked out some and started their training in between helping you lot. I may have helped guide them in her absence but it was really all her effort. Since you captured Krogan a couple days ago, she's been putting them through their paces and we finally have a working aerial squadron of ten strong. Two Zipplebacks, Two Gronkles, Three Nadders and Three Nightmares." Dagur explains as I look to Heather.
"Impressive. That's what I did with Berk's Auxiliary Team." I admit and she nods.
"That's where I got a lot of the idea from, when you told me about them. I owe a lot, or, well, everything to what I learned from you two." Heather answers as we hit arms and smile.
"Glad to help." I state and she smirks.
"So, Mala, how long are you here?" Hiccup asks as she glances to Dagur and shrugs.
"We were in the middle of settling a marital arbitration. One of Dagur's citizens, a wonderful warrior viking woman named Tora and one of the Defenders, Leif, want to be married. It would be the first official union other than Dagur and I between our two tribes." Mala explains as Dagur nods, pointing behind them.
"That's them, actually. They each want the official ceremony to be held on their own home island." Dagur explains as we nod along.
"Dagur and I both agree that we must find a way to compromise." Mala continues as I feel Hiccup's hand slip into mine as I glance at him and he smiles.
"If they want common ground, what about holding it at Berk? Or the Edge, a halfway point between islands. Symbolizing their will to go to great lengths to be together." Hiccup suggest as Mala smiles and Dagur nearly exudes delight.
"Oh, ho, ho! I love your little Hiccup-y ideas. Maybe!" Dagur exclaims and as he turns to move back to them, Hiccup stops them.
"Uh, maybe after the storm, though." Hiccup adds and Dagur and Mala turn back to us.
"What storm?" Dagur asks as both he and Mala look concerned. Hiccup nods and lets loose a light sigh.
"Part of why I came here. Let's find a place to talk, we've got some other news to talk about." Hiccup suggest and together, the five of us head to a back room in the large building after Dagur tells the young couple to be patient while they convene. I looked to those two with a mild envy as I walked with the married couple, Dagur and Mala. I wanted my love for Hiccup to be so public at this point. There was a point when I wanted to keep it quiet since it was so new, but I was long past that. There were still awkward moments when we talked about it in public, but that was only because of how far Hiccup and I had gone together in private without fully being wed. Patience, I just had to have patience. My love for him, and his for me, would not grow any weaker with time.
We soon find ourselves sitting in what can only be described as a war room, which makes sense on Berserker Island. The large centerpiece of the room was a giant map of the archipelago with ship lanes and dragon paths; sightings of trappers and a detailed outline of their port. It was far more detailed than anything I've done for Berk, which just goes to show the warring mind that Dagur still had. He had certainly changed, but his battle knowledge had only grown more refined in the years and this map was honestly impressive. Sitting us down and grabbing us all a few mugs of mead, Dagur, Mala and Heather look to Astrid and I for the news we came to bear. I'll admit, still talking about my slaying of Krogan was a challenge.
"First, and most importantly, you will probably see it on the horizon tomorrow. There is a large stormfront moving in from the north that will strike Outcast Island tomorrow and hit Berk the day after. It'll likely hit Berserker Island the day after that, it looks really bad. I've ordered some Riders to Outcast Island to make sure their supplied for a haul and Berk is buttoning down. We came here to see if you needed anything and to warn you, we've far from forgotten how you helped us after Johann." I explain as Dagur nods along, looking to Mala.
"Too dangerous to fly in?" Mala questions as I glance to Astrid who nods.
"From the looks of it, it was really bad. I'd wager we'll see later water spouts as well as lightning. It'd be dangerous to try flying in. How are your people on Defender's?" Astrid asks as Mala smiles.
"We are well prepared for any storm, though from the sounds of it, it has likely already it. Throk is well versed in caring for the tribe in my absence and with the heat from the active volcano, the cold won't be unbearable for them. I'm confident in their preparedness. How about our people here?" Mala asks, turning to Dagur.
"We've recovered since the war with Krogan and Johann, our supplies are a little light but we'll survive a hefty storm just fine. Especially if we spend the next couple of days rounding up emergency supplies. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, brother." Dagur says, glancing to me then to Astrid. "And sister." He adds with a smile.
"Uh, yeah… there's, um, there's more." I stammer. Sitting at the table, I feel Astrid's hand rest on my leg as she smiles towards me and nods. Reassuring me to be honest and talk about it. Taking a deep breath, I nod.
"So, there was an incident with Krogan." I begin as all three of them almost erupt at once.
"Did he hurt anyone?" Heather asks
"Did he escape?" Dagur asks
"Is he dead?!" Mala asks, all three almost in unison as I wince with each question.
"Um, yes. Yes, and yes." I add, pointing to each of them separately as they gasp, sitting back. Sighing and shaking my head, rubbing the back of my neck I nod. "So, he escaped and hurt two of my people. He also killed the turncoat trapper known as Arne. It was a brutal slaying. We're lucky he didn't kill anyone else. Astrid and I tracked him into the forest. He tackled me off of Toothless, and we tumbled down a hill. There was a knife and a dragon spine and… well it was me or him and I got the upper hand." I explain slowly, my eyes lightly closed. Looking away from them I shake my head. "I'm sorry, guys. I know we wanted to bring him to that summit, to make him answer before the Chief's of the Archipelago. I messed up." I admit, opening my eyes lightly to see Astrid smiling softly at me. She sees me glance at her and she nods her head towards the others.
As I look, I barely have enough time to comprehend what I am seeing as Dagur closes the distance between us shockingly fast and takes me into yet another Dagur-bear hug and I struggle for breath. Heather and Mala both approach and hug me as well and as I'm released, I feel Dagur's hand on my shoulder.
"Brother, none of us think you messed up. If anything, I'm proud you ended Krogan's miserable life and that you did it before he could hurt you, Astrid or anyone else in your tribe. He was a menace." Dagur explains as Mala nods along.
"Would we have liked to have him executed before the Summit of Chiefs, yes. Will we be able to accept and appreciate that his own actions led to his death before that, and that now our waters are all the safer because of it, yes." Mala adds.
"It was going to be one of our main factors to get others like the Hysterics involved." I admit and Dagur shrugs.
"I'm not too worried about what those brutes think. Besides, their form of justice is usually much worse and equally as bloody. I've had dealings with them before. Remember, The Berserkers had a treaty, of sorts, with every tribe in the Archipelago because no one wanted us to raid them. The name still inspires that, even if our actions and culture have changed dramatically since then." Dagur adds.
"Ohh, well, okay. That's what people keep saying." I add as Astrid smiles, shaking her head.
"Hiccup, everyone knows you did the right thing. No one will fault you for killing Krogan, no one." Astrid adds as Heather steps forward.
"Definitely. Though I am curious how?" Heather admits as I groan and glance to Astrid who smiles again.
"I watched it happen but was powerless to stop it. Krogan had one of Stormfly's spines, and Hiccup had this dagger." Astrid begins, pointing to the dagger she had given me that is on my gauntlet. "There was a tussle and Krogan slipped up, and, well… Hiccup's dagger went deep into Krogan's neck." Astrid explains.
"Impressive. You have a little Berserker blood in you, after all, eh, Brother?" Dagur adds with a grin as I sigh.
"Come, let's have a dinner before you two go on your way back home. I'll take stock and send you a air mail if we are in dire need but I am confident we will be fine." Dagur adds and glances to Mala with a grin. "Plus, being locked down with my Mala-Pooh in utter isolation during a cold winter storm." Dagur begins, rubbing his nose to hers as she giggles.
"I could certainly think of worse ways to spend the time." Mala adds as Heather groans.
"See what I've been dealing with?" Heather exclaims to Astrid and I as we both glance at each other and I feel my cheeks flush as I see Astrid's color rosary red. Laughing awkwardly, I glance to Heather and shrug.
"We're actually much worse, well, in private." I sheepishly admit as Heather rolls her eyes and nods.
"Oh, I can imagine. I also can't imagine myself finding someone like that to be with, so I guess I'll live vicariously through you guys." Heather retorts, looking between both Astrid and I, and Dagur and Mala.
"I'm sure any one of the men of the Defenders would be honored to marry you, Heather, what of Throk?" Mala suggests as Heather groans.
"Okay, not that again. How about that food!" Heather exclaims and moves away. "I'll get it, you two pairs of love birds stay here." Heather adds and leaves the room.
"So, when will you two marry?" Mala asks suddenly as I nearly choke on my mead and Astrid laughs.
"By the gods, again with that." I stammer as Astrid pats my back, stifling a laugh.
"After we deal with the trappers. We just couldn't justify it with the threat still out there, it'd get in the way of our duties as Riders." Astrid explains for me as I clear out my windpipe. Dagur pats my on the shoulder as I growl softly and frown.
"Don't mind them much, Mala. I've noticed it, they are still a bit awkward discussing their future. Rest assured though, I've never seen a pair of people more in love, well, besides us, maybe." Dagur adds as Mala laughs, taking Dagur's hand and smiling.
"I don't know, my beloved. I noticed their affection for each other when they first set foot on my island, even then, their connection was deep. Even if it was unspoken. They may well have us beat, not that it means my love for you is anything less or that it has or will dwindle." Mala adds as I feel my face flush. Astird's hand finds mine and she leans against my side and smiles.
"True words, my love. What these two share is deep." Dagur adds.
"You know we are right here." I interject as they both laugh as Heather returns with a healthy supply of Yakchops, Fish, Chicken and mead.
"We had some on the queue already as it was nearing that time. Eat up before your flight, did I miss anything?" Heather asks as we all laugh lightly.
"Nope, just observations from your brother." I explain and she nods, smiling.
"Yes, he does like to claim he is ever observant." Heather retorts, glancing back to Dagur who shrugs.
"But dear sister, I am! Ha ha ha!" Dagur laughs, taking a piece of chicken and handing it to Mala before taking one of his own. We spread to food around and the mead and spend another half an hour laughing and talking. These talks with those I had grown so close with, laughing and reminiscing, reinforcing my actions, had really helped me come to terms with what I was forced to do. I know my father wouldn't have thought twice about it, and each day I wish he were still here. I can take solace in the face that I think I am doing him proud. As we eat and talk, Astrid was no further away from me than she had to be, with our hips and legs touching for a good portion of the food as we talked. More than once, her hand found mine in between eating and lingered as she'd rest her head against my shoulder. Among close friends and allies, we had started becoming more open about our affection, something I hope would only grow.
