The vikings went to their huts to prepare for the next day's voyage. Dagur eyes met Heather's but she hurried past him. Throk followed her absent-mindedly into the New Berk village. The Berserker leaders sadly watched them, but continued on. Once inside their hut, Dagur turned to his and Mala's children. "What happened?" he asked, kindly but firmly. Keira and Espen looked at each other. "Zephyr was talking badly about you." Keira admitted, "I got upset and...kind of pinned her in the snow." Her head lowered as she saw her mother's disapproving expression. "She was acting like Dad was a bad person." Espen added. The chief sighed, "That's nice what you were trying to do, but we can't solve everything by attacking." Mala nodded, "Unless we are against an actual enemy like the hunters, it is best to vocalize our issues. In a way, I wish you both had stayed in the Hall. Our problems have not necessarily been resolved, but no fighting began either." Keira frowned, slightly, "But it seems like talking didn't work. We're risking the dragons' safety tomorrow. Zephyr might have been mad, but she did stop her badmouthing." Dagur crossed his arms, "Even though the Berkians didn't just go 'Oh, all right. We'll bring back the dragons,' doesn't make it a complete failure. That would have been attacking them and ruining our friendship probably forever." He rose a brow, "And what happened to meditating?" Keira slinked over to a chair. "I tried a little, but it didn't work." Espen put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She really did try to talk it out first. Zephyr just kept pushing." Inwardly heaving a breath, the Defender queen went over to the pitiful-looking siblings. "We're not mad. Just concerned. Go on and get ready for tomorrow." she stated.
The two went off to gather a few items, chins still on their chests. "Not really helping our cause for not being a threat anymore, huh?" Dagur commented, rubbing his temple. "One cannot say you are not their father." Mala mentioned, a small smile forming. A shortened version of Dagur's laugh sounded, quietly. "Or that you're their mother. Remember, Hiccup was being a knife throwing target with me thinking we were friends." "True." the chieftess noted. Her demeanor turned grim. "What if we lead the hunters to the dragons tomorrow?" she inquired, worriedly, "We do not know that area and would be on the same level as the hunters as opposed to when we set up traps." Her husband looked at her. "I guess just what we've been doing, but with a bit more difficulty. Chances are, they have the same ships as before. The biggest issue will be getting all the dragons out of the way and possibly Berkians too if they're rusty." The two leaned against another in a large chair and clasped hands. As they did, the Berkians leaders were conversing with their own children.
"What actually was going on?" Astrid asked the still silent Zephyr. The young girl looked at her brother, who appeared to be one second away from spontaneously combusting. Hiccup picked up on this and went over to their son. "Nuffink." The chief began. The boy bounced, nervously. Zephyr started talking about their dad and then they got mad and she got pushed into the snow." he blurted out. Zephyr frowned at the little boy. "Sorry." he finished, sadly. "What did you say about Dagur?" Hiccup asked. Zephyr shrugged, though she could not repress a bit of shame she felt deep down. "Just something like how he used to be such a villain and is dangerous." Her parents eyed her, unhappily. "Why did you do that?" Hiccup questioned, surprised. "Because it's true." the girl defended. Her father frowned at her. "What's also true is that we became good friends and he's changed his ways." He shook his head, "You're too judgmental, Zephyr. As soon as you hear anything bad about someone, that's all you see. And that's even if you don't know them. You've never seen a dragon and swear they're evil and you really don't know Dagur either. You've heard about how crazy he used to be, but aren't thinking about how he saved my life on that island right before we became close. Or how he found Berk's gold." Zephyr's eyes lowered. "Keira mentioned the second one." Hiccup nodded, "As much as my dad and I didn't see eye to eye for a while, I wouldn't have wanted someone to talk badly about him. You'd be upset if someone started talking about me and my pre-dragon days. How do you think they felt?" Throughout his speech, the girl had felt worse and worse. In a small voice, she replied, "Not very good." "You'll have to apologize." Her mother stated, "But since we're heading out early, get ready for the trip and speak with them about it tomorrow." The girl nodded and went to her room, quickly wiping away a tear.
"What are we going to do about her?" Hiccup asked, tiredly, "It sounded like my mom is hardly better." Astrid's eyes went to the kids' rooms, "She's a work in progress. I do wish she'd be more open-minded." the chieftess mentioned. She gave Hiccup a kiss on the cheek, "Even you and I weren't immediately close." "Exactly!" The Berkian exclaimed, "That's what I want her to understand. If she only accepts others on first impressions, she's going to miss out on a lot." Astrid bobbed her head in agreement. "Hopefully tomorrow will help her realize that too." While the leaders talked about this, the Berserker and Defender seconds-in-command spoke. They stood by Sven's sheep and watched as the snow started to fall. "I can't believe that Fishlegs didn't tell me." Heather stated unhappily. "Neither can I." Throk agreed, sadly, "Though I suppose this is not the first time that Ruffnut has chosen someone over myself; however it was not for a romantic reason." Heather sighed, "They don't even seem like they would suit each other." "Perhaps we do not know them as well as we believed." The Defender offered. "Maybe not." The Berserker straightened up and lifted her head, "But you know what? I wouldn't have changed anything if it meant I weren't able to be around my family. Being with Dagur, Mala, Espen, Keira, and you has been great. For so long, all I ever wanted was to be part of a family, so I'm happy with or without Fishlegs." Throk smiled, "Likewise. And I am honored to have been included in your family." For the rest of the evening, the two conversed on happier topics and packed for the next day's trip.
The next morning had a sky filled with light grey clouds. The Berkians and visitors piled into a large ship and Keira and Espen watched as New Berk turned into a speck. Zephyr approached them and they greeted her with a mild "hey." "Hey," Zephyr returned, quietly. "I-I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. It wasn't kind or fair." The siblings looked at her in mild shock. While the Berkian began walking away, Keira called, "What's your favorite kind of fighting move?" Zephyr halted, "Choke hold." "Good one." Espen complimented, "I like body slams." Zephyr pranced back over to the two and they spent the remainder of the trip talking about fighting.
After about an hour or so, Hiccup pointed to a wall of fog and steered the ship close, but far enough away to avoid the pull of the rushing water. After a little bit, they saw shapes moving closer to them. A nice sized dragon with orange and black flew over to the ship. He was followed by a smaller Triple Stryke and several baby dragons. Zephyr and Nuffink leapt out of the way as the dragons swooped to land on the vessel. "Strykie!" Dagur called, hugging the dragon. Windshear and her family were the next to arrive. Keira and Espen saw how the Berkian kids were frightened and gently led them over to the one of Strykie's kids. The little dragon hopped over to the children and locked its big eyes onto them. Zephyr's face scrunched up and Nuffink yelped. "Come on." Espen encouraged. "You'll like them." Keira promised. Taking a breath, Zephyr stood still and allowed the dragon to come up to her. Following the other kids' lead, she extended her hand to its back and pet it. The dragon nuzzled against the girl and Zephyr reluctantly smiled. "See?" Keira prompted, "We told ya." Zephyr giggled, "I guess they're not the worst things ever. At least we haven't been attacked yet." While the viking and dragon children played, Dagur noticed Hiccup was looking concerned. "I'm sure he's fine, brother." He assured. Hiccup looked from the fog to his friend and opened his mouth. Before he said anything, he spotted a black form approaching them and his eyes lit up. "Toothless." he said, almost in disbelief. The Night Fury carefully came up to the ship, encouraged by the Triple Strykes' and Razorwhips' interactions. He looked at the vikings and stared at the Berkian chief. In an instant, he was nuzzling his head against Hiccup's. The Light Fury was behind him and three little Furies watched their father in amusement. Toothless nudged them over to his old friends. The commotion soon caught the attention of Meatlug, Hookfang, Barf and Belch, and their respective families. Cloudjumper, Grump, Skullcrusher, and Thornado reunited with the vikings afterwards. Joyous squeals and laughing could be heard from the bottom of the hidden world. A few of the other dragons started to fly up as well to meet the vikings. Amongst the exultation, one sound rang clear over the others. The sound of a dragon crying out from a dragon root arrow piercing its flesh. The Berkians watched in horror as a barrage of arrows fired overhead at the newly coming reptiles. Too familiar chains were heard starting to haul dragons onto the ships. A numbness fell over Hiccup as he thought, "The war really isn't over."