=Bolverk's POV=
(Saturday; 6/15/2020-12:20 pm)
(Outcast Island; Hangout)

My getaway was easy. I could take refuge anywhere on Outcast Island, and deal with Dagur as necessary. I only used the miniature bomb to buy time for my friends to get to their exit point where the car was, then leave the island using the enchanted car's feature to drive over the broken bridge back to Archian Isle. I know the bomb, and knocking down the wooden bridge would only hold Dagur back for a short time. I didn't care, I could handle Dagur when we crossed paths, but getting Astrid out of here was my priority. I'm sure with time, she'll get over me and find someone who can be what she and the kingdom needs. Once I got out of the tunnels, I saw the car gone and continued along the paths to get back to the hideout and then inside to find Toothless, Sharpshot, and of course, my dad, staring out the windows at Archian Isle.

"Don't worry, they'll make it back safely…" I reassured. All three reptiles looked at me questioningly. "I'm not going back, you three…" I looked out the window to see the broken bridge and then the limo coming out of the road to go across. "It's for the best," I stared and felt Toothless and Sharpshot rub against my arms. "She's safe, that's all that matters to me," I went to turn away with my eyes closed, but my dad's tail wrapped around my wrist and I looked at him as he motioned to the window again. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the car about to go through, but some of Dagur's crew sneaking along the blind spots of the car to get out when the barrier opened. "No, no, no, no, no…" I panicked, grabbing my bag and rushing to roof. I took a few breaths and darted along roof tops and other objects to get to the bridge.

. . .

=Normal POV=
(12:30 pm)
(Outcast Island; Bridge)

Bolverk stopped just a building or two away, panting, as he looked to see Dagur's crew were about to jump the car to get Astrid out before the car went through the barrier fully. "Give me a break here…And I don't even have my magic to use on this side of the barrier!" Bolverk growled out. A familiar roar reached his ears as he looked back and saw Toothless, in full form, coming right from him. "Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it!" As Toothless came closer, Bolverk jumped off the building he was on right when Toothless went under him and Bolverk landed on his back. "Let's get them away from the barrier, bud," Toothless warbled in agreement.

"Uh, we've got problems," Soren said quickly, seeing the crew advancing on the car.

No sooner than he said it, Eret went to slam the gas to move them faster through the opening, but not before the door on Astrid's side opened and she was yanked out. "Astrid!" The four friends called in panic.

"Eret, stop the car!" Heather ordered. The car was already through the barrier, but it hadn't finished closing yet.

"Toothless, barrel roll, multiple blasts!" Bolverk called. Toothless shifted into a roll, firing four blasts to keep the crew away from Astrid. "Run, Astrid!" Bolverk told her. Astrid got up quickly and ran to reach the barrier before it closed.

"What?! Oh, come on! He has a Night Fury too?!" Dagur yelled angrily. "Get the girl!" He ordered.

"For the love of-Ugh!" Bolverk groaned as he gave Toothless a light redirect. Toothless got the message and curved around, heading for Astrid while Dagur's crew was advancing on her and Bolverk knew she wouldn't make it. "Astrid!" Bolverk leaned a bit with his hand out. Astrid raised her hand as Bolverk grabbed it and Toothless rolled once for Bolverk to maneuver Astrid up and sitting behind him. "Hold on, and do not let go," Astrid wrapped her arms around his midsection tightly.

"You won't get away with this!" Dagur vowed.

"BOL! Hurry!" Olivia urged, pointing to the barrier.

"Toothless!" Bolverk said quickly as Toothless shot forward towards the opening. "Bend forward, Astrid. It's gonna be tight…Toothless, wing tuck!" Toothless tucked his wings as Bolverk and Astrid bent themselves as forward as they could go to be level against Toothless as they cleared the barrier with mere inches to spare. "Good flying, buddy…" Bolverk panted, rubbing his neck. Toothless crooned as he landed on the segment of broken bridge and Bolverk slid off, then he helped Astrid down. "There," He told her before letting go and stepping away. "Now, get in the car, and go back home. You don't belong here, Astrid…"

"Bol…Neither do you," Heather said softly.

"It's the only place I've ever belonged and can actually be myself, sis," Bolverk folded his arms over one another.

Astrid blinked a few times. "You're the one he was talking about," Astrid pointed at Heather.

"S'cuse me?" Bolverk remarked.

"Dagur told me that Bolverk took everything away from him, including his little sister. Says Bolverk made her hate him, and call Bolverk brother…And Heather always calls Bolverk her brother, and you, Bol, her sister…" Astrid stated.

Heather sighed. "Yes…I am Dagur's younger sister, but-," She began.

"But what he told you about the situation isn't what really happened. And, unfortunately, Dagur also refuses to hear the truth. It's also none of your business…Now, you've been here long enough and uninvited, at that," Bolverk informed. "Take her home," He told his friends. "Come on, bud…" Bolverk motioned for Toothless to come with him back through the barrier.

"Wait…Hang on, Bol…" Eret stopped him.

"I told you I was not coming back, so you better just-," Bolverk started.

"Stoick and Valka aren't giving you a choice, and to ensure that you don't try and escape through, they've…Sealed the barrier from exit and entry…" Soren revealed, holding up his phone to show Bolverk a text message from Snotlout, relaying the message that they can see them standing there, and want all of them back on Archian Isle, right now.

"Fine…" Bolverk sighed. "Fly ahead, Toothless," Toothless warbled and took to the sky, heading back for Archian Isle. Sharpshot was with him, and Bolverk knew he left his father on Outcast Island, but had sort of been told by Drago to leave him there to save time in rescuing Astrid. Bolverk found it odd, but there wasn't really time to argue either. Perhaps his father was learning to love more, that's why he'd been growing. If Drago eventually returned to human form, he was going to have to be put back on Outcast Island anyway. Bolverk assumed that maybe his father knew being there was inevitable, so decided not to fight it. "Let's go," Bolverk moved to get in the limo. The friends also shifted to get inside and Eret drove it across the magic bridge.

The ride was mostly silent, Flare was sitting in Soren's lap. Heather and Olivia were on one of the window seats. Bolverk and Astrid were sitting next to one another on the back seats by the two side doors.

"Thank you…For saving me," Astrid said in a small voice.

"You're welcome," Bolverk replied.

"I'm sorry for causing all that by coming here," Astrid looked down.

"If it weren't over you, I'm sure it'd be something else. Dagur's had a problem with me for a long time…" Bolverk said, looking out the window, and then turning his gaze on her. "You're safe…" Astrid looked at him now before he turned his head towards the window. "That's all that matters."

Astrid sighed some. "At least I got to see Outcast Island…" She paused. "They're my people too," It was quiet a few seconds. "Dagur helped me see that,"

Now, Bolverk whipped around to face her. "Astrid? Are you serious right now?" Bolverk asked. "Dagur captured you,"

Astrid looked down a bit. "But he's not wrong. All those people on Outcast Island…They still lived on Archian Isle until my parents defeated your father, and then it was decided to move all the bad guys to their own island, and imprison them there to live life as if it were the Viking Age," She took a breath, playing with her fingers. "But they're still my people and Dagur reminded me that I abandoned them after their hopes were raised with my proclamation to bring outcasts here and give them the chance to choose who they want to be, live the life they want to live…" Astrid looked at Bolverk. "I can't blame Dagur for being upset five of you got to leave and no one else was given that chance."

"Oh, so you want to give Dagur the Deranged a chance to come off the island? Astrid, he wanted to destroy the barrier to release all the outcasts and then bring everyone to Archian Isle, your home, for revenge!" Bolverk reminded.

"I gave you a chance," Astrid remarked, looking down again. "The son of the man who forced my parents to decide that it wasn't safe to keep the evil-doers on Archian Isle. I gave Heather a chance, despite who her parents are. Dagur shares those same parents with her, why shouldn't he get a chance too?" Astrid glanced to Bolverk, seeing his some-what shocked face.

"Dagur already had his chance on Archian Isle, Astrid," Bolverk stated as Astrid lifted her head a bit. "Dagur lived on Archian Isle before your parents moved all the villains over. Dagur was about four-years-old, and had been caught doing bad just like his parents, and he was sentenced to life on Outcast Island because he tried to break out the villains from their cells,"

"He was just a child, Bolverk," Astrid countered. "Just a kid who was taught to be bad by his parents. I already know that on Outcast Island…Everyone does what they have to in order to survive," She went on. "Everyone deserves a chance. And maybe some…Deserve a second one because the first one wasn't their fault. Dagur's an angry guy with a bad plan, but I believe he deserves a chance to change and would do the right thing in the end. The same way I believed you weren't evil, and you decided not to go through with the exact same intentions five months ago." Bolverk's eyes widened as Astrid turned her head from him.

Bolverk's mouth slightly open in disbelief that Astrid said that to him. "Ouch…I felt that burn," Flare piped up as Soren instantly put his hand over her mouth.

"Flare…Just because you can talk, doesn't always mean you should…" Olivia informed.

"Oh…" Flare whispered.

Bolverk ended up closing his mouth, then Bolverk turned his head and looked out the window as his friends recognized that he was going deep into thought and suddenly, they felt like any chance they had at Bolverk maybe staying on Archian Isle was gone. Things had looked good when Astrid thanked Bolverk for saving her, and apologizing for causing so much trouble, then it all took a turn for downhill.

. . .

(1:00 pm)
(Archian Isle; Archia Preparatory)

Reaching the school, the car was returned to it's place in the garage and the group of six made their way the dorms and to no surprise, Stoick and Valka were there. So was Camicazi, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs.

"Astrid!" Valka grabbed her daughter in a tight embrace.

"Thank the Gods," Stoick hugged his wife and daughter.

"I'm okay…" Astrid sighed into the hug. "I just want to put it behind me and be happy I'm home,"

"Of course, dear," Valka nodded.

"We'll keep you good and busy before tonight," Camicazi reassured. "I've got plenty of last minute things we can go over for the ball!"

"Great, let's get started," Astrid replied with a smile. "Mom, Dad…Are you coming?"

"We'll be right along, Astrid," Stoick informed.

"We're just going to properly thank Bolverk and his friends for saving you," Valka added.

"Okay," Astrid nodded, looking at the others. "See you all tonight?" She asked.

"Absolutely," Ruffnut and Tuffnut beamed.

"Always down for a party," Snotlout gave a thumbs up.

"Wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Fishlegs smiled.

Astrid looked at Bolverk and his friends now. "Won't miss it," Four of them replied. Bolverk didn't say anything, he just kept his arms crossed over one another, and refusing to even face her.

Astrid moved closer to Bolverk, but his eyes shifted to see her and stepped away. "Don't," Bolverk warned.

"I…Think we should give them a few minutes to talk," Valka suggested, motioning for everyone to step out the room, and they did so, leaving Bolverk and Astrid alone.

"Bolverk," Astrid started softly, bringing her hand up to touch his arm, but he adjusted to avoid the contact. "Please, I'm just trying to talk to you,"

Bolverk made a tch sound, finally facing her. "I don't think there's anything left to say, Astrid," Bolverk remarked. "You made your feelings very clear in the car,"

Astrid bit back a little. "I…Was only trying to explain that Dagur pointed out something to me that is true…"

"What you did was tell me why you think he deserves a chance, and compared him to me," Bolverk retorted.

"No…I-I wasn't comparing you two…" Astrid tried.

"But that's exactly what you did, Astrid. And to be honest, your argument was solid about the people on Outcast Island being your people too. I could even agree with everyone deserving a chance, like you gave me and my friends…What got me was you saying that me and Dagur are alike," Bolverk scoffed. "When my friends and I got here, we were on our parents' orders to steal the object to control the barrier, escape to Outcast Island, and give it to my dad so he could set the outcasts free for revenge. It wasn't my plan at all."

"But you still grabbed the scepter at my coronation and intended to get away with it," Astrid sighed softly.

"I wasn't going to until everyone here turned on me and my friends over what happened the day of that picnic. We hadn't done anything wrong, except Heather punching Thuggory, and for good reason. I mean, she's Oswald's daughter, and Dagur's sister…There's going to be a little crazy and temperament in there…" Bolverk remarked as Astrid couldn't really argue it, and shrugged. "Regardless…Over the time we spent here, we didn't want to ruin everything until that day. The night before the coronation, when I was making that cookie to break the love spell, that I didn't know was already broken, I even told Heather that when the outcasts took over, enslaving everyone, having you spelled to love me was just too cruel. The day we talked to our parents on the video call, I was asked what did I think our parents would do to us if we didn't pull off their big plan. I cracked a joke that they'd be disappointed, but understand we did our best, then finished it off with no, we're definitely dead." Bolverk explained.

"And for the record, I initially only grabbed that scepter because Bjorn couldn't control it's power. I knew it contained magic from both your parents, and I knew only someone with equal power would be able to hold it. You don't get that if I wanted to hand that scepter over, I would have immediately left with it. But I didn't. I hesitated because I was conflicted about doing my father proud…And hurting you. Astrid, we were scared of our parents, and that's why we did what they told us to do. And in the end, we couldn't, because we didn't want to destroy this place and make it the new, desolate, criminal island…But Dagur? He kidnapped you to get the scepter. He wasn't following his parents' orders, that was his own plan to get revenge…And you saw that he absolutely took his chance to break the barrier. Obviously, failed, because I gave him a fake scepter…But you saw that he didn't hesitate like I did. He had no intention of rethinking his choice and he wasn't under anyone's influence to decide his actions…"

Astrid looked down, understanding that Bolverk was right. "I understand that people should get chances, Astrid. I do. But only people who deserve a chance. In my eyes, as a former villain and outcast, Dagur doesn't deserve one. If he'd ended up letting you go Friday night when I came to get you back, sure. But he didn't, Astrid. He kept you all night on his ship, tied up, and used you to make me get the scepter for him, and still tried to use it when it was in his position. There was no hesitation, there was no conflicting thoughts…If that had been the real scepter, we'd be fighting to keep your kingdom safe, because Dagur wouldn't have held back like I did…" Bolverk told her. "That's all I wanted you to get earlier in the car, that your idea to give others a chance like you did for me and my friends, is great…I support it, fully…But take my word for face value when I tell you that not everyone on that island deserves a chance. Maybe it could be earned? Who knows? I'll believe anything…But it would take something huge for me to believe some of them have changed and are worthy of a chance…"

"I see your argument…And you're right," Astrid looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry…For what I said in the car. I was wrong, and…It was wrong of me to say. Can you forgive me?"

Bolverk sighed and dropped his arms. "I forgive you for comparing me to Dagur,"

Astrid smiled a little. "Will…you still come to the ball?"

"I haven't decided if I'm even staying on Archian Island, Astrid…" Bolverk admitted.

"I-I understand…" Astrid managed. Dagur's words were coming back to her, that she basically took control of his life once they were officially a couple five months ago. Right now, she didn't want to push Bolverk as he originally said before that he wasn't coming back at all, but now the answer had changed to he hadn't decided if he'd stay or not.

"You should probably go, Astrid…You're still the queen, and you can't put off your duties any more than you already have, for me," Bolverk informed.

"Right. You'll…Let me know what you decide?" Astrid hoped.

"I will," Bolverk nodded. Astrid gave a light smile to him, then turned and left the room. Bolverk instantly groaned out and flopped back on his bed with his hands over his eyes, feeling more conflicted than before about staying because he loved her, or leaving because he was going to end up in the same spot as before with not fitting in and letting everyone down.