Heather thought her heart was going to explode. Dagur really was alive! Her big brother! She had accepted his death only to find out it wasn't true.
She had pushed Windshear to her limits after she got Hiccup's message. When she saw him standing on a hill she couldn't focus. It was really him! She aimed right for him only for something to jerk him away. It was a dragon, one she had never seen before. It had snarled at Windshear, making the dragon nervous, but Heather didn't worry about it. She could handle her own.
She knew she had made a mistake the moment she swung her fist. Dagur didn't even try to avoid it and just took it. It had been a shock and even more of a shock when a young black haired woman ran to his side. Her blue brown eyes glared at Heather as she knelt next to Dagur. He said what? His bride to be? He goes missing for over the year and comes back with some woman he decided to marry?
When the woman said Windshear needed her, Heather was shocked to see another strange dragon with the first. However this one was more aggressive. She had never seen Windshear act so timid in the face of another dragon but this one was on a different level. Only when the woman said something in a foreign tongue did the dragon stand down. Windshear whimpered as Heather comforted her.
She knew it was disrespectful, what she said to elder Rohan, but she didn't care. When Dagur had been gone Rohan had bothered her about taking the chief seat anytime she came near Berserker. Already he changed his tune now that Dagur was back. She said her piece, trying to ignore the steady glare from the woman, and definitely did not bolt with Windshear.
The whole thing was crazy. Hiccup claimed Dagur had survived the blast of the traps Viggo left for them and managed to get far outside the fog where he was cared for until he found a way to return. He hadn't mention the fact he had two new dragons and a woman with him. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he was a whole different person.
For the rest of the day Heather hid in the vast woods on the island. She needed time alone to think and process everything. She had finally gotten over his death, finally came to terms, only to have everything change.
By dusk she headed back to the village. Windshear kept close to her, probably out of fear of the white dragon. When she arrived at the village she noticed everyone was in higher spirits, more active than the previous times she stopped. A group of women sat under a new canopy that came off the side of Dagur's house. Curious she moved closer.
"Have your design drawn out," she heard a woman say. "Mark on your design what colors are where. If you can use different colors to draw out the design so its easier to track. Once you have that decided make sure you have enough spun wool. Like normal weavings, you need base lines. The thinner and plainer the better so they don't draw away from your design."
The woman Dagur claimed to be marrying sat before the several women and girls, a weaving loom next to her. Heather noticed most of the woman and girls there were single and of marrying age. Why were they learning how to weave from her? It was something they already knew.
A large woolen hanging was stretched out behind the woman. A mountain forest scene dominated the lower half in detail Heather had never seen before before becoming a sky scene. In the upper half a large Skrill seemed to rise up from the forest below with two dragons swooping down on either side. They looked like the dragons that had been around Dagur. The details were amazing and lifelike. It looked like they would pop off and come to life.
"She's teaching them how to weave like her," Dagur said next to her. She glanced at her brother who stared at the other woman with admiration. "To help with their dowries. Things weren't well while I was gone and all are suffering cause of it. Thankfully Iris has plenty of new ideas to help change things."
"Her name is Iris?" Heather asked quietly. He nodded.
"She and her family took care of me when they found me," he said. "I swore when I saw her the first time she was a Valkyrie coming to take me to Valhalla. Thankfully I was wrong. I was pretty tore up and they took me in, treated my wounds, and kept me alive."
"Why did you come back?"
"I didn't plan on it actually. There was no way back as far as I knew. Jager and Enigma found a way through the fog though. I knew I had to come back even though I didn't want to leave her. Thankfully she agreed to come with me even if it meant leaving her family behind."
"If they're so important why not bring them? Its not like they wouldn't have a place to live."
"I couldn't take them away from their life too. They had a home and life."
"And she didn't?"
To no surprise he didn't answer her. She didn't blame him, it was a harsh question, but she felt it was needed. It needed to be known if he actually cared he took her away from her family or not. Heather took his silence as her answer.
"I want you all to work at home," Iris was saying. "After supper, after work, work on this. You have your chosen designs and colors and enough wool to finish one hanging. We'll meet again in a few days to see your progress."
Stools clattered as the women and girls moved them to the side of the building. They all were chattering with small weaving looms in their arms. Each one looked somewhat new and were the perfect size for someone to place on their lap to weave anywhere. They noticed her and Dagur, giving small bows as they passed.
"Good class love?" Dagur asked as he approached her. Heather stayed where she was to watch.
"For the second class it was," she answered. "Everyone has a good understanding. Now if it turns out for each of them, that's a different story." Iris glanced behind him and scowled at her. "Why is she here? To yell at you some more?"
"I won't apologize for that," Heather huffed. "But, I do apologize for behaving like that in front of you. Especially since it was our first meeting."
"Calm down before Enigma gets moody," Dagur said in a gentle tone Heather never heard before. "We don't need a dragon fight."
"That Enigma would win," Iris grumbled. "I acknowledge your apology but I do not accept it." Dagur groaned and she elbowed him. "Use you actions to ask for forgiveness, not words."
Heather nodded. She seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders. It was kind of cute to watch her struggle to get the wall hanging down only to have to have Dagur help her. She was shorter than her and her brother.
"Let's head inside," Dagur said to both of them. "Heather, I'll show you your room for now." She nodded and followed them inside.
