Halvar had adjusted himself to Berk rather quickly and had already spotted the princess walking around Berk. He observed that she was frequently with a viking boy, which he later learnt was named Hiccup. Halvar found the boy physically different from the rest of the vikings on the island. He looked like he could've been a Hjalfadarg if he had lighter hair.

The spy noticed the two of them would run off to the forest together, though he always lost track of them whenever he tried to search for them.

Halvar spoke to these two vikings who called themselves Mulch and Bucket and he easily discovered how the princess arrived at Berk. The two of them rambled on and on without any suspicion towards Halvar and even invited him to fish with them, which he declined.

He had joined other vikings who watched a lesson of dragon training as Hiccup gained attention for his methods used in training. He found it strange how the boy didn't resort to violence when bringing down the dragons, in comparison to his blonde rival who did her best to utilise her axe whenever she could.

Halvar sat in the Great Hall, a couple of tables away from the table the princess sat at as she squirmed in her seat, looking rather impatient as she kept glancing to the doors of the hall. The doors opened and she whipped her head towards it and her face immediately brightened when she saw Hiccup walk in.

She waved him over and he walked through the hall to sit with her, not detecting the other eyes that watched him. The second he took his seat, several vikings abandoned their tables and surrounded Hiccup. He noticed Hiccup's blonde rival now alone at her table and she slammed her wooden cup against the table as her face scrunched in frustration and anger.

It was difficult for Halvar to see the princess when a wall of vikings formed so he joined the growing crowd, acting as an admirer to Hiccup making his way to the front. Halvar paid attention to how the princess was pushed by other vikings towards Hiccup, their shoulders pressed against one another.

The princess laughed at the overwhelming amount of questions and compliments Hiccup was receiving, whilst Hiccup himself was trying to listen to each person and trying to move away from the princess as his face started to glow red.

Halvar threw in a question of his own. "How'd you do it?" It was vaguely worded, but everyone didn't see it as anything and bombarded him with more questions. Hiccup could barely get a single word out without another viking speaking over him.

The princess caught him continuously looking at her and she did her best to not feel uncomfortable from the grown man's stare. Rather than displaying her discomfort, she glared back at him until Halvar looked away.

—

Ilda stopped in her tracks when she had yet again saw a large crowd standing near the gates of the castle. The protests from the Nirhogans had started just over a week ago and the crowd was only growing. More and more people were growing frustrated. They grew tired of seeing a new notice every week.

Raising prices, limits to materials, taxing them more than the average Hjalfadarg. Ilda and her mother weren't able to purchase meat, bread and other foods like they used to. Separate stalls were set up for only Nirhogans, forcing the citizens to be divided even when shopping for food. When Ilda first heard of this new way of shopping, she admittedly didn't mind it. But when she first visited the market stalls after hearing of the news of exclusive stalls, she saw that the number of stalls for Nirhogans were significantly smaller compared to the stalls for the Hjalfadargs. Not only that, but they weren't provided the same foods. The Hjalfadargs were sold the better quality meats and the fresher fruits and vegetables.

Rather than walking past, she stood back to listen to what her fellow Nirhogans had to say.

"Justice for Nirhongans!" "Let us pay the same!" "Stop depriving us of needs!" "Not all of us can afford to feed our families!" "This is unfair!"

A wall of Nirhongans were face to face to the palace guards, shouting their protests yet not engaging in any form of violence.

Ilda watched as Selby - the now former palace guard - stepped up on a wooden crate to cup his hands around his mouth to yell.

"Fellow people!" He shouted in his native language, grabbing the attention of the crowd. "We shall not stay silent!" Noises of agreement were heard amongst the crowd. "After being forced out of our motherland, we will not stand down! After losing our Nirhogan queen, we will not be objects for that wretched duchess to play around with! And now that our princess is gone, she's been using her power for injustice and not sending out fleets to find her!"

"We will not stay silent!" Selby switched the language as he glared at the palace guards, hiding his devastation to see Jakob, someone he considered - or at least used to - a friend, standing there expressionless and simply staring back as he remained composure. "Look at them," Selby scoffed. "They dare not say anything and just watch us. They look down at us."

Ilda quietly observed the growing tension between Selby and Jakob. If she could, she would've joined the crowd, but she was terrified. Ilda was for speaking your mind on matters like these, but to act upon it in front of the authorities terrified her.

Selby jumped off the crate as he stomped over to the one the guards and without thinking, he grabbed the collar and shook him. The guard immediately grabbed Selby's wrists, trying to fight off his tightened grasp.

"We should've known that the duchess has been waiting to do this. Rather than following in the king's footsteps, she took ten steps back and revealed to us how she truly doesn't care for us!"

"Yeah!" "He's right!" "Send fleets for the princess!" "The duchess doesn't deserve to be on the throne!" "Do better!" "Fleets for the princess!"

Different chants were thrown here and there. The guard managed to peel Selby's hands off of him and pushed him to the ground in retaliation. Selby wasn't surprised by the guard's push but it riled him up more and he started accusing him of betrayal. Another Nirhogan stepped in and pushed the guard back. It wasn't long before the guards and the crowd started fighting one another sending punches and kicks to one another.

Ilda couldn't stomach the sight of violence and was about to walk off and head back home but the loud screech of the palace gates stopped her as she watched a plethora of guards emerge from the palace and start grabbing Nirhongans who were attacking guards and clasping handcuffs around their wrists.

Ilda's breath hitched in her throat as she watched Nirhongans being thrown to the ground as she stepped back, fearing that a guard would grab her by the arm thinking she was part of the crowd. She ran all the way back home, feeling tears prick at her eyes wishing that at the moment, she wasn't on Hjalfadargin.

—

Kamon sat in his seat, watching the sun slowly set. His days were repetitive. He woke up to sun beams hitting his face and then Selby helping him with breakfast, then lunch, then dinner. Selby would speak to him each day before and after his new job as a farmer. After breakfast and dinner, Selby would give him the medicine followed by a swig of water.

It was around this time, Selby would've arrived home and started preparing dinner, but he didn't come.

Kamon barely realised this as his eyes stared tiredly at the sunset, remembering visiting the beach at sunset with his children and grandchildren. They used to play in the sand and frolicked in the water before heading home. It was one of the few memories Kamon had left and it was the memory that played back in his head frequently. However, as the days moved on, Kamon could only remember fragments of that memory only remembering looking at the sun, the cold ocean rushing towards his feet and the happy squeals of his children. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the young faces of his children and grandchildren but failed to.

—

Eulianna was waiting for Hiccup to finish up at forge in the afternoon to walk with him to the forest. Dragon training was complete for the day and they went about their scheduled visit to Toothless. Earlier that day, she spent time ending the letter she had written for Ilda and Rorik and headed to the docks to see if anyone was leaving Berk to deliver it for her. She paid the trader heading out a bit of gold as at first he wasn't keen on making a layover just to give a letter. He assured he would deliver the letter safely to Hjalfadargin, of course with a few extra gold from Eulianna.

She noticed a blond man - a man she's never seen before on Berk - nearby talking to a viking as taking a glance at her. Hiccup exited the forge and beamed at Eulianna, about to walk off before she grabbed him by arm by surprise bringing him close to her body, his ear near her mouth.

"Hey Freckles, who's that guy over there?" Eulianna whispered to the boy as he turned to see who she was staring at.

He shrugged. "Not a Berkian. Maybe he's just a visitor," Hiccup said and was about to head to the forest before Eulianna jerked him back.

"He didn't get an introduction to the village," Eulianna stated, recalling when Gobber yelled out her name to everyone.

"He isn't a princess," Hiccup stated. "And he isn't staying here for long. I'm sure he's just passing through."

"I hope so. He's giving me the creeps. He keeps looking at me too," Eulianna pouted at the boy, who just ushered her away towards the forest and into the cove.

"He probably knows you're a princess. Relax!"

"Only Hjalfadargs know I'm a princess and I'm like eighty percent sure he isn't one."

"And you're twenty percent sure he is one?"

"Twenty percent cause he looks like he could be one."

Toothless sprung from his curled position when he heard Hiccup and Eulianna enter the cove and he bounced towards them. Hiccup tested the harness again, looking over the foot pedals and the stretch of the prosthetic wing, making some notes in his small notebook. Eulianna lied on a boulder planted to the soil, moss covering the contact of the boulder to the ground. She was looking through the holes of the panpipe, directing her focus on Hiccup and Toothless.

With a narrowed vision, Eulianna scanned the dragon. From his scales to his wings, to his claws to the contrastingly bright green eyes that have been permanently painted in her memory. How at ease the eyes looked in comparison when she first saw them.

She moved the panpipe to Hiccup's face focusing yet again on his freckles, the physical feature of his that she liked best. Eulianna switched her attention towards the colour of Hiccup's eyes. They weren't the same green as the green of the grass or the green of the leaves on the trees. They were dull in comparison to Toothless's striking orbs. If she had to compare it to anything in the cove, she'd select the moss that coated the rocks in the lake.

Hiccup's form flinched and he whipped around to Eulianna, who quickly put the panpipe to her mouth, pretending she was about to play it and gazed up to the sky.

"Wait, don't move," Hiccup spoke.

"What? why?"

"Your necklace."

Eulianna raised her hand to the pendant of Hjalfadargin's crest.

Hiccup instructed, "Move it up the tiniest bit." Eulianna moved it too much and Hiccup frowned at her. "Does tiniest bit mean big as Hel on Hjalfadargin?"

"Jeez, my bad." Eulianna moved it back down and Toothless leaped to another spot in the cove, his front feet on the small spot of light Eulianna created with her pendant. The sun reflected against the gold on her necklace in her position, bounced off and created a patch of light on the ground. "I see…!"

Hiccup moved himself to his in a crook between two rocks, one of which Eulianna sat on, and used a hammer he had on him to create a second patch of light, distracting Toothless from Eulianna's light.

"Hey!" Eulianna yelled out earning a giggle from Hiccup who looked up at her and shot her a toothy grin.

They watched Toothless jump from a patch of light to another, feeling themselves grow more entertained by the second. Watching Toothless pounce around almost every second reminded Eulianna of a Hjalfadarg dance where people would spin and hop from one spot to the next as if they had rehearsed the formations when really everyone knew what direction to move in. One person would link arms with another and spin before departing, jumping and spinning and then dancing with another.

"It looks like he's dancing," Hiccup commented - not taking his eyes off Toothless - as if he knew what Eulianna was thinking. She fumbled for the panpipe in her bag and started playing a tune her father created that she came to master.

Toothless's head perked up to the light melody from Eulianna's instrument and so did the boy below her.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"We are going to dance," Eulianna corrected. She slid off the rock and continued the song as she spun around Toothless who looked at her curiously, his head following wherever she pranced to. Toothless got on all fours and bounced slowly and then jumped, spinning momentarily in the air in an attempt to copy Eulianna's movements.

"You look stupid," Hiccup laughed, moving from his position and towards the dragon and the girl.

"No, Freckles. You look stupid just standing there. The only one not dancing," Eulianna said with a smirk as she circled him.

Eulianna motioned for Hiccup to link arms with her and spun while skipping in a synchronised rhythm, then switching arms. Eulianna constantly swapped the position of her feet, moving the left in front of the right, and then back. Hiccup tried his best to replicate the subtle movement and clumsily stepped on Eulianna's foot but the girl acted like it didn't even happen and continued the dance. Eulianna danced with ease while effortlessly blowing air into the panpipe, repeating the song over and over until they tired themselves out. Toothless remained dancing to the song and eventually stopped when he saw the two humans fall to the ground, breathing heavily.

"What even is that dance? Did Hjalfadargin have a dance festival too?" Hiccup snorted, obviously joking.

"Yes, actually," Eulianna responded, tucking her panpipe away to ponder about the festival that occurred at least twice a year.

"I was joking, but wow, you guys do really have a festival for everything."

"Believe me, it is excessive. I mean they can be fun, but a festival for apples isn't really necessary," Eulianna sighed as she looked at the sky above her. The sun was beginning to set and it would be time for dinner soon. Toothless curled up near the the two of them, his eyes fluttering shut as he thought it was a perfect time to take a nap.

"You never really speak about Hjalfardgin that much. I don't actually know much about Hjalfadargin."

"Well, what do you wanna know?" Eulianna crawled towards the sleepy dragon and laid against him, her body rising with the winged reptile's breathing.

Hiccup had joined Eulianna and laid next to her, allowing a large enough space between them, but close enough to see her the freckles on her cheekbones. "Whatever you wanna share."

"Hjalfardgin. A kingdom previously ruled by King Andor and Queen Seula, was supposed to now be ruled by me but my aunt is a prick. Mostly made up of Hjalfadargs, but the Nirhogan population is growing. Hmm… what else is worth mentioning?" She broke eye contact with him and looked to the sky yet again.

"In… the forge. You said to Gobber you've come to just ignore being the talk of everyone's conversations." Eulianna shot him an unreadable look causing him to pale and he immediately apologised. "So-sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." Hiccup turned his head away from Eulianna and looked at the clouds.

A minute passed before Eulianna spoke. "As you can see... I wasn't born just a Hjalfadarg." Hiccup peeked at her as she motioned to her overall appearance. "I'm not blonde, blue or green eyed, not the beautifully pale heir as the kingdom expected me to be. Of course, they would've expected that when they heard my dad was marrying my mother. My mum was from Nirhong. Far east. They look obviously very different to Hjalfadargs. Nirhogans had to escape from their country when a war broke out and no one kingdom wanted to take any refugees in. Except my dad."

"How'd they meet?" Hiccup asked.

Eulianna breathed in trying to remember the story her parents and Linnea told her a couple times before.