Chapter 33: Figuring Things Out

Snotlout did not sleep well. This was not his bed, his hut, or his island. Though he knew Hookfang was right outside, he did not feel safe with Drago around. Despite feeling tired when he awoke, he got up at Ingrid's prompting and made himself presentable. Then the two of them headed outside to take care of their dragons.

"I've been thinking," Ingrid said, leaning against Shadowwhisper's side.

"About how to get off this island?" said Snotlout, also standing close to his dragon.

"Well, yes." She hesitated. "We need to work together with Drago."

Snotlout's eyes narrowed. "No way! We can't just let him loose in the archipelago again. Do you know what kind of damage he would do?" Hookfang snorted in agreement.

"But what if he didn't?"

Snotlout crossed his arms and frowned. "And how are you going to ensure that?"

"What if I change his mind so he doesn't want to harm dragons or Vikings?"

"Didn't you already try that? It failed!"

"But circumstances are different now!" Ingrid took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Look, Eira said that people are mostly likely to change when they are removed from power. That's the case with Drago, is it not?"

Snotlout found truth in this, but he still did not like her idea. "Do we really have time to try an experiment like this?"

"Maybe, if it helps us get off the island faster. And it's not like I'm going off nothing. Drago's situation is similar to Krogan's in many ways, so I can copy Eira's techniques."

"But you're not Eira!" Snotlout winced at the look she gave him. "I mean that in the best way possible. You don't have as much practice."

"But I was able to help Eret. Besides, Eira will tell you herself that she had no idea what she was doing with Krogan half the time, but it worked out. Can you just let me try?"

Snotlout let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. Do what you need to do, but getting off this island is our first priority."

Ingrid nodded. "Agreed. You know this means you have to be nice to him."

Snotlout made a face. "As long as he doesn't become a threat." Because if he did, he was going down! Snotlout would make sure of that.

Eira did dot have much to say in the morning. It may have been her imagination, but Dagur seemed to be avoiding her as well. Oliver gave them quizzical looks but did not probe. Eira forced a smile on her face as they met Krogan and Oliver outside.

"Sleep well?" Viggo said, looking at the couple.

"As well as possible," said Dagur. Eira nodded and looked away.

Thankfully, Reidun arrived with a guard before that particular conversation could get off the ground. They exchanged pleasantries, and then the chief got down to business. "Since you have all been very cooperative and extremely helpful, I have decided to let you each make brief, supervised visits with your dragons. We will start with this first visit, and then I will consider more."

The dragon riders exchanged pleased looks. "That's great!" Dagur said. "Can we go now?"

"You may start now," Reidun said, "but one at a time. Eira, would you like to go first?"

Eira looked at her in surprise. "Me?"

"Go ahead," Krogan said, to which the others nodded.

Eira smiled slightly. "Thank you." The guard left Reidun's side and started for the forest with her.

Eira's negative mood finally lifted at the thought of seeing her dear friend again. She had to stop herself from running into the forest in order to keep pace with the guard. Once inside, she made sure to go far enough from the village so as not to disturb the villagers. Then she took a deep breath and let out her Windwalker call.

Almost immediately, a screech rang through the forest followed by the sign of flapping wings. Then Swiftwings descended, landing before the Vikings. Eira ignored the terrified guard and ran to embrace her dragon. "Swiftwings!" she cried. "I've missed you so much."

The Windwalker craned her neck around Eira in a pseudo-hug and made a gentle sound that comforted her. Eira closed her eyes while she took in the moment. She remembered why she was here and what she was fighting for. Her personal problems did not matter, for her calling was much higher.

Eira pulled back and gazed into Swiftwings' eyes. "I'm sorry about this, girl. I hate being apart as much as you do, but we're really making progress here. If we just left, a lot of people could get hurt. This way, we may even be able to make new allies." She paused as she thought of something. "I bet you've been making friends with the local dragons, haven't you?"

Swiftwings snorted, swaying her head. Eira smiled. "Good job. That will be helpful in the future. Keep it up, and make sure to look after our friends. Don't let them cause any trouble." The dragon bent her head until her forehead touched the girl's. Eira hugged her around the neck and then slowly let go.

Finally, she stepped back to put some distance between them, giving her a sad smile. "Goodbye, my friend. I will see you soon." Swiftwings let out a mournful noise as her trainer disappeared back into the trees.

Hiccup finally had a plan. The former dragon trappers returned the previous evening with information about Grimmel's hideout. Hiccup spent hours conversing with Eret, Astrid, Valka, and Gobber to come up with a suitable response. Now he stood in front of Berk's best warriors inside the Great Hall.

"We know where Grimmel is hiding," he said. "According to Eret, he is not heavily guarded. We need to strike now before he realizes we're onto him. "I need everyone who has had combat training with a dragon to join me. The rest of you will stay here and guard Berk."

"We're going to attack them without warning?" Fishlegs said, appearing nervous.

Hiccup hesitated. This was one of the heavily debated details the previous night. The element of surprise was a huge advantage, but the chief felt uneasy about not even attempting a peaceful solution. In the end, they came up with a suitable compromise. "Not exactly, Fishlegs. I will talk to Grimmel first and try to reason with him. This probably won't work, but I have to try. My main team will stay with me while we talk, and everyone else will hide in the clouds in case things go wrong. Ingrid, if you want to-"

"Ingrid isn't here," Spitelout said flatly. "And neither is my son."

Hiccup frowned. "Where are they?"

"I have no idea. The last time I saw Snotlout was the middle of yesterday."

This was not good. The last time Hiccup had seen them, they were convinced the Light Fury was up to something. Had they taken action on their own and gotten themselves into trouble? Perhaps captured by their enemies? He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. They were probably fine. They had Hookfang and Shadowwhisper to take care of them. He could not go off course now. "We'll look for them after the attack. Right now, we need to prepare to face our enemy."

The Vikings murmured in agreement. Hiccup hoped he made the right choices. He was worried about his friends but had to trust they knew what they were doing... wherever they were. As chief, he had to focus on what was best for Berk and its dragons, and that meant ending this conflict once and for all.

Krogan exited the forest feeling lighter than he had in days. It was great to see Ruby again and know that she was alright. Also, he was pleased with the progress he and his friends were making in this village, especially with the chief. He noticed Reidun upon stepping into the village. The guard who was with him left to talk to her. After conversing with him briefly, she started for Krogan.

"How is your dragon doing?" she asked politely.

"Just fine, thanks," Krogan said. He saw the hesitancy in her eyes and felt the need to say more. "We have missed each other, and it was good to be together again. Thank you for this opportunity."

Reidun nodded. "The dragons are not planning on taking the village to free you and your friends, are they?"

"No, we have explained the situation to them, and they understand. They trust us."

Reidun frowned. "They can understand you like that?"

"Of course. Dragons are quite intelligent and quickly pick up on human tendencies. You simply have to know how to work with them." Krogan remembered what he learned about her husband and understood her concerns. He did not want to bring up the topic directly, but perhaps he could still deal with the underlying problem. "Knowledge is an excellent tool against fear. It is the unknown that proves the most troubling."

Reidun smiled slightly. "Yes, that is true. Did you have a fear of dragons you had to overcome?"

Krogan lowered his head. "Yes. Dragons destroyed my villagers, killing everyone accept me." He did not look at her face, knowing what he would see there. "Learning how to work with them helped me overcome my fear. But back then I controlled dragons instead of befriending them, and I instilled fear in others to take away my own..."

"In a way, I am doing the same," Reidun said softly. "I may not be directly involved, but is it not the same if I'm helping the ones who control others?"

Krogan looked at her and was surprised to see compassion, not pity in her eyes. "It's easier if you're involved at a distance. You are not aware of all the harm you caused. You can claim partial ignorance."

"But that may also allow me to cause more harm in the end." Reidun placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for talking. I think you are incredibly brave. If you can find a way out of that life, perhaps so could I."

Krogan's chest bubbled with hope, and for once, he did not feel the need to deny the compliment. "I am sure of it." He paused. "It may help you if you actually meet a dragon in a controlled setting. May I suggest Eira's dragon? Windwalkers are incredibly gentle, and she should give you no problem."

Concern flashed on Reidun's face, but she nodded. "I shall think on it. Thank you again, Krogan."

"It is no problem. I enjoy speaking with you."

Reidun smiled. "And I you."

To Ingrid's surprise (and Snotlout's even more), Drago offered to show the couple around the forest and teach them the survival skills he had picked up. She observed him carefully but could not find any hint of a motive. Maybe he was simply lonely. Could it be that his time spent alone helped him mellow out like it had Dagur? Krogan had not benefited from that type of situation, but then again, he did not have anything to keep him occupied like Drago.

Snotlout, for his part, behaved himself pretty well. Still, Ingrid sensed hidden resent. The circumstances were not ideal, and she understood his desire to return home as soon as possible. However, she could not just pass up this opportunity in front of her. She knew she needed to move carefully and slowly until she had a better handle on Drago.

"So," she said during a lull in the conversation while they walked through the forest, "have you actually tried to get off this island?"

"Of course I have!" Drago said, appearing offended. "I even built a boat for my escape. It didn't do much good when a dragon spotted me immediately. I even tried wrangling one of the wild dragons, but they're all under the command of the Night Furies." He shook his head. "There's nothing you can do that they won't notice."

"Well, maybe your ideas have been limited because you're only one person. Two - er, three - heads are better than one." She gave Drago a weak smile. Snotlout glanced at her but said nothing, which was probably for the best.

"I'm not interested."

Ingrid's smile fell. "Look, I know we're not the most likely of partners, but I really think-"

Drago stopped and turned to her. "It's not you. I've just decided to make this island my home."

Snotlout snorted. "It sounds like you've given up to me."

Drago shot him a look. "This is as nice a place to live as any, and the Night Furies do provides food and safety. Where else can I get that? And it's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"B-But what about Grimmel?" Ingrid said. Of all his possible reactions, this one she had not seen coming, and it had her at a loss.

Drago shrugged. "He's not worth the effort, and I'm not sure I want to get my previous life back. I'm tired of chasing after the latest enemy before I'm taken out. I'm ready to settle down and take it easy."

"That doesn't help us," Snotlout said.

"It wouldn't do any good anyway. It's best you just accept your fate."

Snotlout looked at Ingrid, and she shook her head. It looked like this was going to be a lot harder than she thought. Thor help them!

After visiting their dragons, Eira and her friends gathered up the villagers for another training session. Krogan was the last to join them after an amount of time Oliver noted was considerably too long. He did not explain his absence, though he insisted he spent the same amount of time with his dragon as everyone else. Eira did not worry about it, focusing on the villagers instead. There were more people today, which she found encouraging.

After some time, Reidun appeared, asking to speak with the young woman in private. Eira figured this was their usual talk they had skipped that morning. They stopped near the forest, and the chief folded her hands tightly while her eyes darted around. Was she nervous? "Eira," she began, "I was wondering if you would... introduce me to your dragon."

Eira was so surprised that she was unsure how to respond. "Oh. Uh, I, er..."

Reidun looked at her, her eyes filled with anxiety. "I know it's sudden, but I believe it would help me get used to dragons so I can make better decisions. I understand yours is a bit calmer than the others..."

Eira wondered who shared that information with her, not that she minded. "That is no problem. Swiftwings will be happy to meet you."

Reidun smiled slightly. "Thank you, Eira."

The two of them started into the forest. Eira sensed the chief's nervousness but thought the only way to cure it was to do just as she was asked. She stopped partway in and used her Windwalker call. "That's the sound my dragon makes," she said in response to Reidun's curious look. "I use it to call her."

"That's quite impressive. Oh my!"

Swiftwings landed before them, appearing impressive with her wings spread out. Eira smiled at her. "Hi, Swiftwings. I brought someone to meet you. This is Reidun, the chief of the village." Swiftwings craned her long neck toward Reidun, who flinched. "It's alright. She won't hurt you. She just wants to get to know you."

Reidun cleared her throat. "Hello there, uh, Swiftwings. I hope you are well." The Windwalker snorted but did not appear displeased. Reidun looked to Eira for direction.

"If you're up for it, you can reach out your hand and touch her snout."

Reidun looked back at the dragon and slowly lifted her hand. Swiftwings' eyes followed her movements, letting out an appreciative sound when the hand finally made contact. Reidun visibly relaxed. "You're not so bad."

Eira smiled. "I think she likes you." And from the looks of it, the chief had taken to her as well. This was excellent news. She was one step closer to accomplishing her ultimate goal!