Bright sunlight streamed through the windows. That was what woke Iris up. She blinked sleepily, not ready to get up. Right now she was surprisingly comfy, even with Dagur laying against her chest. She rubbed her nose against the top of his head, eyes closed and hoping to fall back asleep.

Instead a familiar weight plopped onto her side. Now she knew who opened the window. A nose rubbed against her ear, cooing softly. She really didn't want to get up. Why couldn't Screechie be a lazy Terrible Terror and not such a morning bird?

"Go bug Enigma," Iris grumbled. Screechie began nibbling on her hair instead. "Ugh. Why don't you ever wake up Dagur?"

"Cause he knows I'll turn him into roasted Terror," Dagur muttered. He moved his face side to side while giving a content hum. "I'm not moving. Gonna stay here forever."

"I wish," she sighed. Her arms wrapped around his head as she rubbed her face against his hair. "Screechie is trying to eat my hair though. Eventually I'll go bald and you'll be next. What a sight that would be. A bald Berserker chief."

"No thank you." With a groan he let go of her and wiggled out of her grasp ignoring her protests. He rubbed his face, looking absolutely exhausted. "How much did I drink last night?"

"Depends. What do you remember?"

"Meeting Fiske's wife though she really was just a swirly blur."

"Then you were way past your limit. We're meeting with them again today. Think the crew will be in any shape to set sail later?"

"They've sailed ships drunk before. Hung over won't be an issue. Just, avoid any buckets." Iris shuddered, sitting up and getting out of bed.

She got dressed, ran her fingers through her hair before braiding it, and nudged Enigma and Jager awake. Both dragons protested but got up as she continued to pester them. Dagur was moving slow but eventually got all his armor on. No more heavy drinking for him.

The village was bustling as they exited the house. Everyone who passed by them stopped to give a quick bow and greet them eagerly. If you hadn't been here the night before you never would have known they continued partying after her and Dagur went to bed. Granted it was probably normal to them.

Iris led Dagur to the Great Hall, following a hunch. Her hunch was right. Scattered about the Great Hall was their crew, snoring away with a few villagers as well. Fiske was sitting at the crescent moon shaped table, only this time his face was pressed against the table while Stjern rubbed his back without an ounce of sympathy on her face. She smiled when she spotted them.

"Dagur, Iris," she called, ignoring a wincing Fiske. "Come join us for breakfast! Someone was just getting to the point he could look at food without turning green." They headed up to the table. "Come Iris, sit by me. Dagur can sit with his new drinking friend."

"Thank you," Iris said. "I'm surprised to see everyone, well almost everyone, up and about this morning. I would have expected them to be, well."

"Hung over?" Stjern asked. Iris nodded. "They used to until Fiske became chief and I his chieftess. We put a stop to that. It is alright to enjoy drinks but not to the point you are of no use to the village. I encourage music to lift spirits and give a false sense of stupor. The more serious still drink themselves silly but they know they still have to pull their weight. And visitors, well, its a traditional prank to get them drunk and pass out where ever they are."

"I'm never drinking with you again," Dagur grumbled.

"You will at your wedding," Fiske groaned.

"Absolutely not," Iris said calmly as she spread butter on a piece of fresh bread. "I will not deal with a drunk on my wedding night."

"I don't blame you," Stjern laughed, causing both men to wince. "What woman wants to do wedding night duties with a drunken man who can't see straight? You listen to your future bride, chief Dagur, or I'll teach her how to beat some sense into you with an oar."

"Thankfully I won't need to do that," she muttered to Stjern, causing the woman to snort again. "Now supposedly these two finished the peace agreement between our two tribes last night before drinking heavily. Should we risk reading what they wrote?"

"I inspected it last night," Stjern said. She offered Iris a pair of scrolls. "One is the original that we will keep here, the other is a copy for you that Dagur needs to sign. For two wild men, its a fairly straight forward agreement. The typical come to each other's aide along with a no war agreement. Also covered trading between our two villages. Guess they did good before trying to drown themselves in alcohol."

It was a good treaty. Like Stjern said, they covered the bases of being allies, not going to war with each other, and agreeing to fair trade rates with each other. Berserker would act as a center hub for the Murking tribe and the Icer tribe when it came to trading with each other. It would cut down on travel time for the two tribes as well as benefit Berserk with more merchants stopping in.

"Impressive," Iris murmured. "It may be beneficial to build a small port on the south western side of Berserk. There is a small bay there and it would reduce the amount of time your people would need to be on ships. Your vessels could stop there for any repairs or rest if anything were to happen."

"We could help supply workers to build that," Stjern mused. "There are plenty of trees near that bay to cut down and mill for boards."

"We are down manpower, thanks to some idiots at Berserk while Dagur was missing, so the manpower would be greatly appreciated. Our next order of business if to find a healer or at least someone who can help with some health issues on our island."

"What's going on?"

Iris explained the low birth rates, the missed periods but no pregnancies, and the issue with children getting sick and not recovering as well as they should. Stjern listened with a frown. Iris also explained the farmlands had been pretty much abandoned and she suspected it was a drastic shift in diet that was affecting everyone. This made Fiske look up.

"My mother spoke of ship sickness," he said. "Vikings had solved it but the Saxons were easily injured from it. She said it was a lack of fruits and vegetables that caused their bodies to attack themselves. Sailors would get so sick they couldn't move and would die where they laid. Perhaps that could be part of the problem on Berserk. With no one to tend to the fields or harvest fruits, there is a dire lack of those foods especially for the children."

"I've been teaching the children how to identify and forge for wild edibles," Iris said. "Since they have added that to their diet, they are looking healthier."

"It will take longer with the adults," Stjern mused. "Have the women eat more greens, less red meats, and see if there are any changes. We use seaweed in soups and stews to add what our diets lack. I will send some dried sacks with you and you can see if it helps."

Iris thanked her, feeling a weight she didn't realize she was carrying lift from her shoulders. Her people's health was part of her duty to care for. If she couldn't solve the issues they were facing, how could she call herself chieftess? Some would think it was a silly way of thinking but she couldn't help it. It was her way.

While they talked Dagur had begun to move around. Iris watched, feeling a little amused, as he grabbed a piece of bread with his eyes closed and slowly gnawed on it. She had never seen him this way before, not even when he was day drinking with her dad, and it was amusing.

Suddenly a young girl, a few years younger than her and the same one Fiske danced with last night, burst into the hall. The doors flew open with a bang, shocking everyone inside awake as well as surprising Iris and Stjern. The two chiefs just groaned and held their heads.

"Brother," the girl shouted. "There's a Scauldron in the bay!"

"Really?" That perked Fiske up and seemed to sober him up. "Dagur get up! You promised to show me how to tame a dragon! Come on!"

"Alright," Dagur groaned as Fiske shook him excitedly. "Stop shaking me or I will show you last night's dinner."

"Ew."

"Should we join them?" Stjern muttered as Fiske urged a slow moving Dagur out of the hall.

"Probably," Iris muttered back. "I can have Enigma do something if anything happens. Alright everyone!" She clapped her hands together before standing up. "Time to wake up, sober up, and get ready to set sail home! Remember this the next time you decide to over celebrate with locals!"

Ayes echoed through the hall as the crew slowly got to their feet. Iris headed for the doors while Stjern walked with her, chuckling. Enigma was waiting outside, sunning herself. Already Jager was following after Dagur like an anxious mother hen. The view made Iris snort as she gestured for Enigma to follow.

"Do you think Fiske will succeed?" Stjern asked as they headed to the docks.

"Personally I have no clue," Iris admitted. "I've only seen Dagur tame a dragon and that was Jager."

"What about your dragon?"

"I found her as a pup, injured. I got my fair share of bites but she warmed up to me. Now I'm stuck with her." Enigma chorkled, bumping her arm. The dragon knew she was lying but Iris wasn't about to tell the truth. "And I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Hopefully Dagur can keep my fool husband from getting eaten then."

Everyone was off the docks and away from the shore, nervously looking at the large Scauldron that was guarding one of the smaller ships. It growled at Dagur and Fiske when they approached but stopped when Fiske offered it a bucket of fish. Eagerly it gulped them down, purring as it did. Dagur leaned over and nudged an awed Fiske. The other Viking started, causing the Scauldron to pause and glare at Dagur, before he stepped closer with his hand raised, palm facing the dragon.

For a minute everyone was tense. The Scauldron eyed Fiske, more curious than anything, and finished the fish before sniffing his hand. It studied him more. With a coo it surprisingly moved its head forward and pressed its nose against Fiske's hand. A loud purr filled the air as Fiske laughed in shock.

"Congratulations," Dagur said as Iris and Stjern approached them. "You now have your first dragon!"