"Watch where you're going!"

"Get those barrels on board we're going to need them."

"Toss me those ropes!"

"Hey! Watch where you're landing!"

The port was busy as the crews got ready to set sail. Berkian, Murking, and Berserker ships lined the docks to prepare. Three of the Berserker ships were set up to handle the Windstrikers and their Riders. Dagur's ship already was set up to keep Jager comfortable.

Everyone was on edge, more tense and on alert. They all knew they were heading into battle against an enemy that had been harassing Hiccup, the Riders, and the Berkians. With the two former Berserker families joining their side, now Berserk had a reason to join along with the Murking tribe. Not to mention both tribes now had dragons like Berk which would make them targets for the Dragon Hunters.

"I want Minnow harnessed yesterday," Stjern roared at her crew.

The Murking tribe planned on using their three Scauldrons to pull their ships. They had dismantled the masts and sails to make their ships more offensive than defensive including new ballistas for each ship, courtesy of the Berserker tribe. So the Scauldrons would pull their Riders' ships along. Fiske and Stjern already planned on detaching the harnesses from the ships once the fighting started so the Scauldrons could join or stay out of the way to focus on rescuing any potential allies falling into the water.

True to their roots, the Icer tribe wasn't going to battle with them. Instead they were staying back on Berserk and their island. They already had planned on evacuating the Berserker villagers if things went wrong. Granted Iris and the three Gronkle Riders would be here to defend the village but it was a back up plan.

"You keep him safe," Iris told Jager as she scratched the purple dragon's face. "Don't let him do anything stupid. You can sit on him if he tries."

"I can't make any promises," Dagur drawled.

"You better promise me you'll be safe," she argued.

Iris had been dreading this day since they spoke of having to go against the two families that left Berserk to join the Dragon Hunters. The dread had been building to the point she had been snapping at everyone, even Stjern and Ellie. Both women were understanding but Iris didn't like it. She hated acting that way.

"I'll come back in mostly one piece," Dagur said. She glared at him. "Alright alright one whole piece. I won't even lose a hand or a foot. Is that better?"

"It'd be better if none of this had to happen," she grumbled.

"I know. You've been saying that the last two days. Come here. Let me feel my lovely wife's embrace."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him just as tight as he hugged her. Jager crooned, nudging them both. The dragon knew what was going on, all of them did, and he was just as sensitive as Enigma to his Rider's emotions. So while she and Dagur spent as much time as they could together outside of the tribe's needs and war councils, Jager and Enigma spent time in each other's company grooming each other and staying around each other.

"I'll protect the home front," Iris said quietly. "Don't worry about us. I don't want you getting distracted."

"Of course I'm going to worry," he chided. "I know you'll be worrying about me so it's only natural I worry about you. Don't worry though, I've been in enough fights I could do this with my eyes closed."

She just snorted. Soon they had to pull apart as Stoick called to them. The large chief was accompanied by Berk's blacksmith Gobber. Gobber was leaving today with Spitelout to return to Berk and guard their home.

"It's almost time to go," Stoick said, giving Iris an apologetic look. "Hiccup has Astrid and Heather scouting the route ahead so we need to get to the meeting point before nightfall."

"Alright," Dagur sighed. "LET'S GET GOING!"

"Love you," Iris said, giving him a kiss after he shouted for the crews to get boarded.

"Love you too," he returned. He pulled her close for a deep kiss that took her breath away. "I'll be back with Warog's head this time! We can put it with his hand!"

All she could do was shake her head as she followed him to the docks. One more kiss, this time in front of everyone, he boarded his ship. She watched as Hiccup and the other remaining Riders took off, signaling everyone to push off. Jager gave a deep roar and leaped into the sky, gliding over the ships. Enigma also took to the air to fly with her friend.

Iris stood on the dock, watching the fleet of ships sail away. She was alone at the end of the dock, feeling the salty air tug at her hair and clothes. It was the wind's fault that her eyes stared to water.

Even after the ships disappeared from view she stayed there. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't see the ships. It wasn't until Enigma landed on the dock, whimpering, that she turned around and headed back to shore.

The mood was solmen in the village. Everyone was quiet, even the children. A few villagers nodded at her, which she returned the nod, as she headed towards her home. It felt odd having so few people in the village now with many Berserkers now gone to fight and their allies gone after being here for over a week.

Opening the door to her house, Iris was met with silence. Usually someone was here as of late. Sometimes it was the women who attended her weaving classes waiting to show her their work, some Terrors who snuck in to play, children wanting to show her or Dagur something they found cool, even Heather sitting at the kitchen table working on something. Sometimes Dagur would beat her home and be waiting eagerly to hear how her day was. Now it was just her and Enigma in the silent house.

Enigma laid down in the living room, whining softly. She had been whining and whimpering the whole walk home. It was her way of pining over Jager leaving. There was nothing Iris could do to comfort her dragon friend so she went upstairs.

Changing out of her usual half armor clothing, Iris pulled on a loose shirt and pants. They were her relaxed clothing, something she wore when she knew everything was done for the day. It made her miss the burnt orange wool sweater she left behind when she came here. She had left it behind for Vivian to have though. Eventually she'd have to knit her own to replace it. For now she stared out the window at the village before her.

Being alone let reality completely set in. Dagur and her friends were gone, off to battle with a formidable enemy, and she was sitting at home instead of being with them. Dagur had made a rational argument that she needed to be here to lead their people but she knew the real reason. She had reacted badly when she caused the deaths of the crews on the two Dragon Rider ships. Killing people wasn't something she could do so easily and this battle guaranteed some people were going to die.

She knew what the outcome was supposed to be. Hiccup and them were supposed to attack the base, without Dagur and the others, only to find Viggo had been betrayed by his brother. They would have to defend the Defenders of the Wing when they are attacked, end up with a volcano dragon in their care, and have to fight another dragon along with Dragon Hunters. Another sea dragon would cause the Dragon Hunters to be destroyed while the Edge's volcano erupted. Hiccup would throw an object called the Eye into said volcano which would cause Viggo to jump after it.

She couldn't tell anyone though. She didn't even know if it would all happen as it had before. So much already changed. Her and Dagur were married, tribes never mentioned before allied with them, Berk was a staunch ally now, even Dagur had changed. He wasn't as crazed or deranged, he had calmed down to more civil levels. Everything changed.

"Maybe Viggo won't be betrayed," Iris muttered in English. "The Slange and Warog families allied with them, that never happened before. Hell Berserk didn't even have any other Dragon Riders besides Dagur and Heather. It could be an all out battle between them. I wish I could talk to Dagur about all this. He wouldn't understand though. He might hate me." The thought of him hating her for telling him what she knew of the original story line made her feel sick. No, that was a secret she would carry to the grave.

The room felt too empty. Too quiet. She grabbed one of her blankets, a tanned hide honestly, and the lumpy pillow she used and headed downstairs. Enigma perked up at her approach. Without a noise the dragon lift her wing and Iris sat next to her. She buried her face into her dragon friend's mane and breathed in her comforting smell. This war was going to drain her.

Somehow she fell asleep. Maybe it was from all the crying she did under Enigma's wing. Cuddling with her friend had caused the dam to break. This time it was just Enigma to listen to her muffled sobs and whimpers. Iris knew she wouldn't judge.

Rubbing at her salt crusted eyes Iris moved Enigma's wing to the side to crawl out. The sun was barely up. The stars still dominated the clear sky. She grabbed her fur and wrapped with around her to walk outside. The air was a little chilly but it was tolerable to watch the sunrise.

A note was tucked into the front window sill. Curiously Iris grabbed the piece of paper and read it. It was from Travis, letting her know the Icer tribe was leaving late in the night to avoid any pirate ships. He didn't want to take any warriors they had left since it was the bare minimum already. In the note he told her to contact him if she needed anything while the war party was gone.

"He's oddly polite," Iris mumbled to herself.

"Who?" Iris about had a heart attack at Ellie's sudden voice. "Apologies! I didn't mean to surprise you!"

"Its okay," she gasped. "Just a mild heart attack. Um, Chief Travis, he left a note letting me know they were leaving late last night and to send a Terror if we need anything at all."

"Oh him," Ellie said with her disgust barely hidden.

"I heard about what happened," Iris said sheepishly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to do something."

"There is nothing for you to apologize about Chieftess. I should be the one apologizing for punching an ally. However I wasn't appreciative of his approach."

"At least he has good eyesight," Iris teased, remembering her own mom saying the same thing when Dagur embarrassed her. "You are a beautiful woman Ellie. I'm surprised there aren't more men falling over you!"

"Most of my fellow Berserkers know I am loyal to my late husband still," the widow said. "I am content staying single. No man can replace him."

"Can you tell me about him?" Iris asked. Ellie fidgeted with her sword, staring at the sunrise.

"He was a man of few words," she began. "But he was loyal and loved with all his heart. I never doubted his feelings for me, not once. When he smiled, it was like another sun was born and when he frowned, even the sea storms trembled in fear. He was loyal to Berserk and would never turn his back on his fellow warriors. There were many times when we fought alongside each other that I and our fellows thought we were going to lose only for him to come charging in swinging his war axe to turn the tide." She chuckled softly. "I'll never forget when I learned he was scared of spiders. We were newly weds and he went to move a crate only to discover a tiny little spider sitting behind it. He shrieked so loud our neighbors heard him and thought it was me! For days he refused to go near any crates and insisted I check behind them for any spiders."

"That's adorable," Iris giggled. "What did he look like?"

"He was tall, taller than me." Iris raised an eyebrow at that. Ellie was already a tall woman. He must have been a giant. "With a thick black mustache. He never kept a beard, said they were too itchy. He also kept his hair cut short, shorter than Dagur's hair. It was even shorter than mine. Claimed it was easier to wear his helmet without having long hair in the way. He was well muscled too. Could lift me in the air like I was a pillow." Ellie swallowed hard. "I miss him."

"I'm sorry Ellie," Iris apologized. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No. I'm glad to tell you about him. He would have approved of you."

"Can I ask what happened to him?"

"He and several other members of our family and other families decided to fight back against the Dragon Hunters. We all knew it was because of them Chief Dagur had been killed. Well, we thought he was dead. So the other family heads decided to take revenge and my Cal was one of the first to join him."

The pain in Ellie's eyes made Iris' heart hurt so much. She didn't want to think about the heartbreak at not knowing it was their last goodbye. It was something she feared. That her and Dagur's last moments would indeed be their last together.

"Chief Dagur will come back," Ellie said suddenly. "Don't fret. He will come back. Our fleet is larger than before with more allies than ever. So please Chieftess, don't cry."

She didn't realize she had been crying. Quickly she wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. If anyone should be crying it was Ellie yet the widow was dry eyed and emotionless. Her own way of coping.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "You are a good friend."

"Thank you Chieftess. That means a lot to me."