The Berkians stared at the Berserkers and Defenders for a few moments longer until Keira and Espen broke the silence. Clearing his throat, Espen began, "Excuse us." Keira looked at the brown haired viking with a prosthetic foot, "Are you Hiccup Haddock the Third?" The chief looked down at the kids and back up at his former foe-turned-friend. Chuckling, he nodded. "Yeah, I am." Dagur gestured to the two kids next to Astrid-who was going over to give Heather a hug. "Ooh, I see you and Astrid have been busy, Brother." The parents blushed a little before Dagur pulled Hiccup into a hug. No longer able to take in breaths, Hiccup tapped Dagur's back. "Air." he struggled to say. The Berserker sheepishly let go and laughed. "Good to know not everything's changed." Dagur commented. Hiccup looked at Keira and Espen, then knelt down. "I'm Keira and this is my brother, Espen." the girl said, shaking the Berkian's hand, "We've heard a lot of cool things about you all." As Snotlout puffed up, Hiccup smiled, "It's nice to meet you too."
Hiccup rose and turned to his own two kids. "This is Zephyr and Nuffink." he told the visitors. Keira and Espen skipped over to them and the small Haddocks moved away. "Mom, Dad," Zephyr started, wariness evident in her voice, "who are they?" Astrid was still laughing with Heather, but managed to answer. "These are our friends. Remember when we told you about the Berserkers and Defenders?" Her kids gave small nods, but looked no more relieved by the information. "They are far more shy than I had anticipated." Throk mentioned to Heather. She gave an absent-minded nod as her eyes moved to the large Ingerman who had grown a mustache over the years. They locked eyes for an instant and walked up to each other. "How have you been?" Fishlegs asked, as nervous as he was happy. "Good. It's been nice to be with family...and it's gotten bigger." she replied, looking at her niece and nephew. "Yeah, kids." the Berkian noted, quietly. Fishlegs's eyes diverted from hers as he thought of how to word what he was trying to ask. "I don't have any." Heather assured him. A flash of happiness went over his face, but he tried to conceal it. "Oh, I'm sorry." Heather fidgeted with her specialized ax. "Don't be. It was my choice. There wasn't anyone I wanted to have kids with on Berserker Island."
Dagur smiled at how happy his sister looked, though felt something other than joy for her as well. Pushing the unfavorable emotion down, he turned his attention to Keira and Espen who had found their way over to the twins. Tuffnut and Ruffnut, who was frowning at Fishlegs, looked down at the little vikings. "We heard you're kind of fun." Espen started. "Well, really wild too, but it sounds mostly fun." he added. The twins shone with pride. "Oh, have you now?" Tuff asked, beaming. The kids nodded, excitedly. "When Barf and Belch come to visit, what kinds of stunts will you two do?" Keira asked. The twins stared at them, sadly. "They aren't going to come." Tuff said. "Why is that?" Throk questioned, who had made his path to be next to the Thorston sister. "All the dragons are gone. Did you just not notice?" Ruff wondered, half annoyed and half suspicious. "We noticed." he defended, "Every evening after Snoggletog, we are visited by the dragons we best knew. It only seemed likely that the same would have applied for Berk." "New Berk." Snotlout corrected, rolling his eyes. Throk gave him a look. "Hey, if I had to get corrected every time, so do you." the Jorgenson stated, crossing his arms.
Hiccup's mouth gaped at Throk's words. "Wait, you guys get visited?" He looked at each of them for the answer. "Yeah, H. What happened here?" Dagur asked him. The Berkian chief's brows furrowed. "We haven't seen them in ten years." Gobber told, in a sad tone. Dagur looked at him, appalled, "They just left?" Snotlout shook his head, "Nope. We just shooed them away." Hiccup sent him a mild glare and turned back to his companion. "It was the best option. Dragon hunters were becoming too abundant and with Toothless being the king of dragons-" The Berserkers and Defenders all inhaled sharply at that new information. "-I decided that if he led all the dragons away, they would be safe. We found a hidden world of dragons. It was amazing, but only dragons deserved to be there. They've been there ever since, I'm guessing." Mala looked at him in doubt, "So, you, Hiccup Haddock, the great dragon trainer, sent all of the dragons away?" Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "It wasn't an exile or anything. That just was the safest alternative for them. We couldn't protect them on Berk." There was a bit of silence and the chief could practically see the steam from thinking coming off the Berserkers' and Defenders' heads. A small frown formed on Dagur's face. "You had all the dragons leave?" he said, clarifying in a certain tone Hiccup could not distinguish. Astrid wrapped her arm around Hiccup's and nodded. "It was tough, but we've learned to adjust." she told. Snotlout grumbled. "Says you. Try explaining to a Wing Maiden that your tribe had all the dragons leave. Minden hasn't spoken to me since." he told, unhappily.
Dagur's hands clenched into fists and Mala touched his right hand, causing its tension to ease. They looked at one another for a moment, having a conversation all within their eyes. As soon as it began, it ended, and they looked back at the Berkians. "Well, it's getting pretty late." Heather said. Fishlegs spoke up. "We have a bunch of guest huts I can show you to. The island has a similar design, but we made a lot of improvements too." Hiccup smiled, "In the morning, we'll have to catch up more. I feel like we've missed out on so many things and by Thor do we have a lot to tell you all." Dagur clasped the Berkian's hand and nodded. "It's a plan then." He waved to the others and Fishlegs led them out of the Great Hall, oblivious to the paranoid expression a fellow Berkian was giving him. He walked by Heather and their hands almost touched. Just before they did, Fishlegs put his arms behind his back. The emotion returned to Dagur and he distracted himself from it by looking at decorations and listening to the drunken carolling of who used to be known as Silent Sven.
Once they reached the huts, Fishlegs wished them all a good evening and went to his own hut. The Berserkers and Defenders said good night to each other and went to their huts as well. Keira and Espen grinned while they looked at the hut design. They got ready for bed and plopped down on their father's lap. Looking at him and their mother, they said, "Thanks for bringing us here." "I think it's going to be really fun." Keira grinned. They went off and left the adults in solitude. "Do you concur?" Mala asked, sliding into a seat near her husband. Dagur paused and then shrugged. "That was...something-what we learned today." he sighed and leaned his head back. "I don't know, Malapoo. I'm more than glad they're all fine, but part of me is just.." he trailed off. "Angry?" Mala offered. He nodded, " Yeah, to be honest." The Berserker's demeanor changed. "It's a shame about Stoick, though. I wonder what happened. There's no way he would've suggested erecting a statue if he were still here." Mala rested her head on his shoulder, "I am sure they will tell us tomorrow." She looked at him, "I am also sure that they did not send the dragons away with malice in their hearts." Dagur stroked her hair. "I doubt it too." He looked in her eyes, "But it doesn't change what almost happened."