Chapter 5: Digging Deeper

The following day, Eira roamed the village herself in search of Snotlout. She did not know where to look as they had not made plans to meet up. She felt awkward about asking the other dragon riders after their praise of her tactics. This was something she had to figure out on her own.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted him at the armory. "Hey, Snotlout!"

The viking turned from what he was working on to look at her. She swore she saw him smile, but all emotion quickly left his face. "Oh, it's you, Eira."

Eira's own smile faded as she stopped beside him. Now that she was here, she was not quite sure where to begin. "So, about yesterday..."

"It's fine," he said curtly. "Don't worry about it."

Eira furrowed her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Of course! You think you could hurt me? I'm fine!"

Eira frowned. He did not look fine to her, but she did not know if pushing him would help. "Then would you like to train together today? Or we can just hang out."

Snotlout shook his head. "Can't. I'm busy working."

"Maybe I could just-"

"Go find someone else to bother, Eira. I'm done here." He turned his back here and continued with his work.

His words struck her, and she had no comeback. "O-okay. Have a good day, Snotlout." There was nothing else to do, so she turned and left.

Clearly he was not over what she had done. But if he did not want to talk about it, how could she fix it? Maybe there was something she could do to prove she was serious. After all, it was actions, not words, that had gotten her into this mes in the first place. She decided to think it over with Swiftwings.

Snotlout had not been working long when he heard someone approach again. Assuming it was Eira, he did not bother to face the person. "I told you, I'm busy."

"This will only take a minute."

Snotlout turned in surprise to see Hiccup standing there. He quickly recovered and frowned. "I don't want to talk to you either."

"I ran into Eira earlier," Hiccup said, rudely ignoring him. "She seemed pretty distressed. You know she didn't mean to make you upset, right?"

Snotlout returned to the ax he had been working on. "Of course. I'm not mad."

"Really? You could have fooled me. Ever since she arrived, you've been eager to spend time with her, but now you're suddenly too busy?"

A wave of irritation rolled through Snotlout, and he tightly gripped the handle of the ax. "I'm playing hard to get."

"That's not really your style."

Snotlout set down the ax and shot Hiccup a glare. "What do you know? This is your fault, anyway. You're the one who came up with that stupid competition."

Hiccup blinked. "I can pair Eira with someone else if you can't handle it."

Snotlout shook his head. "No, I can handle it. I'll figure it out."

"If you're sure." Hiccup turned as if to leave, but he paused and looked back at the other viking. "Just don't be too hard on her. She's a good person, and she cares about you."

Snotlout grunted in response. He waited until Hiccup's footsteps faded, and then he let out a long sigh. He did not know whether to believe him or not, but it did not matter. It was too late.

Hiccup continued to worry about Eira as the days passed. He knew she could take care of herself, but he could not help his concern. She had recently moved out of his home with Asmund into her newly constructed hut. This meant he did not have as many chances to talk to her.

So, when he caught her after feeding her dragon, he asked her to accompany him on a stroll through the town while they let Toothless and Swiftwings play. They engaged in light small talk before Hiccup finally brought the topic of interest.

"How are you doing with Snotlout?" he asked as casually as possible.

Eira frowned for a second, but she immediately put on a smile. "Oh, I'm working on it. He'll come around eventually."

Hiccup gave her a sympathetic look. "He's still ignoring you, huh?"

This time, she allowed herself to frown. "Yes. I've tried everything I can to get him to talk to me but nothing works."

"He can be pretty stubborn. Although, usually he's the one chasing after someone." It certainly was odd to see him avoiding a girl. He could speculate on his motives, but that would just give him a headache. "You're the one who's good at figuring people out. Don't you have any insight into his behavior?"

She shook her head. "I don't have enough information. I haven't known him long enough, and he's... harder to read than most people." She took in a deep breath. "I know I hit something much deeper than is visible on the surface. The problem is, he hides all signs that something is wrong behind his air of confidence. He may even have himself fooled."

Hiccup considered this. "He never has been one to admit he has problems, even to himself. You may be right that he's motivated on a subconscious level."

"Hey, you've known him for a long time. Do you have any ideas?" She gave him a hopeful look.

Hiccup hesitated. "I don't know... He's a puzzle I try not to think about."

"You must have noticed something. A weakness, an insecurity..." She paused. "I don't want to exploit it. I just want to help."

Looking into her pleading eyes, he believed it. He supposed it was too late to ask her to give up now. He thought back to everything he knew about Snotlout. "Well..." He spotted two people in the distance, igniting his memory. "There seems to be something going on with him and his dad."

Eira blinked. "His dad?" She followed his gaze to Spitelout and Stoick, who appear to be arguing about something. "Is that him?"

Hiccup nodded. "That's him. Spitelout."

Eira furrowed his eyebrows. "They don't get along?"

"He and my dad? Not at all." He paused when he realized that was not what she had meant. "Him and Snotlout? They get along fine - most of the time."

Eira gave him a puzzled look. "Then what's the problem?"

Hiccup considered the question. He had never given words to his observations before, so he was not sure where to start. He thought back to the first time he had noticed something was off: back when he had nearly won Thawfest. "On the surface, they're a lot alike. For a long time, I assumed Snotlout looked up to his dad and wanted to be like him, but now I think it's more complicated than that. At times, it seems he fears his dad's disapproval more than he craves his approval."

Eira frowned. "Does he have good reason to fear?"

"From what I've seen, yes. Spitelout really only pays attention to him if he's acting in a way he wants: winning, acting tough... typical viking stuff. I don't know how much of Snotlout's attitude is real, but I think he could be a much better person than Spitelout if he could get out from under his influence."

Eira appeared thoughtful. "I see."

Hiccup gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I can't be of any more help."

Eira shook her head. "No, that was great. Thank you. At least I have something to go off of now." She looked at the adults arguing and then glanced back at Hiccup. "Do those two typically argue like that?"

"Spitelout and my dad? All the time. Usually it's about Spitelout trying to do something his own way while my dad asserts his authority."

Eira gave him a thoughtful look. "I'll be right back."

Bewildered, Hiccup watched as she started for the duo. "Wait! What are you going to do?"

She looked over her shoulder at him and smile. "Don't worry; I'll be right back."

Somehow, he was not convinced. Still, he waited as Eira interjected herself into the argument. At first, it looked like both men turned on her. But after a minute, they calmed down. Then the three went their separate ways.

"What was that all about?" Hiccup said once Eira returned.

The girl shrugged. "Their argument was stupid. Both their egos got in the of them seeing the obvious solution, so I acted as an independent mediator."

"And it worked?"

"I guess so." She gave him a sad smile. "If only Snotlout were so easy."

"Easy? If you can calm down Spitelout..." He shook his head in wonderment. "You'll get through to him eventually."

Eira appeared surprised, but then she beamed at him. "Thanks, Hiccup. I won't give up!"

For the first time, Hiccup found her declaration to be a good thing.

Eira tried every tactic she could think of to get Snotlout to talk to her. Nothing worked. Every time she got close, he made an excuse and ran off. After a week of this, she had had enough. It was time for some drastic action.

She waited until the dragon riders met for training. Snotlout tried to avoid her during the exercises, but at least they were forced to be near each other. Thankfully, Hiccup did not force them to work together. She had to do this her own way. When he disbanded the group for the day, she had her move.

"Hookfang and I are going to take an afternoon flight," Snotlout said as he started for his dragon.

Eira made it to Swiftwings quicker. "Great idea," she said, "but I'm going to join you. Follow me." She flew low to the ground, and when she passed Snotlout, she reached down and snatched his viking helmet, placing it on her own head.

Snotlout stared at her in shock. Then anger overcame his features, and he hopped onto Hookfang. "Hey! Get back here!"

Eira smirked. Success. She ignored the bewildered looks of the other dragon riders until she flew off towards the shore. Snotlout and Hookfang flew close behind her, but her Windwalker was faster than the Monstrous Nightmare. Besides, what exactly could he do if he caught up to her? She had him right where she wanted him.

She did not slow as she left Berk and flew over the open sea. She aimed for the closest island: Dragon Island. She knew she would have to act quickly for the next part of her plan. Upon approaching the island, she found a secluded spot on the beach with no nearby dragons and landed.

Hookfang skidded to a halt several yards from Swiftwings. Snotlout stumbled off his dragon and nearly fell face first to the ground. He regained his balance and stormed towards Eira, who had already dismounted. "Give me back my helmet!" he said angrily.

"As you wish," Eira said calmly. When he got close enough, she held the helmet out for him to take.

"About time," Snotlout grumbled as he snatched the horned helmet and returned it to his head. "I'm out of here."

"But we need to talk."

Snotlout waved her off. "There's nothing to talk about. Come on, Hookfang."

The Monstrous Nightmare lay in the grass with his tail curled around his body. He snorted and looked away from his rider. Eira gave him a small smile in thanks.

"Please?" the girl said.

Snotlout crossed his arms and turned his back to her. "I'm more of a doer than a talker."

Eira had had enough. He wanted action? She'd give him action. She walked right up to him and grabbed the horns on his helmet again. This time, she kept the helmet on his head and used the horns to turn him to face her. She brought his face close to hers and stared him down as if asserting dominance against a Monstrous Nightmare.

"I am not going to hurt you," Eira said firmly. Snotlout stared at her with wide eyes but did struggle. "I'm sorry that I already have. I made mistakes and lost sight of my goal."

She let go and took a step back. Snotlout remained still, gazing at her. "I want to be your friend. I messed up, but I think I know where I went wrong." She took a deep breath. "I've been trying to figure you out, but I should have begun by sharing about myself first." She glanced behind her at Swiftwings and then looked at Snotlout. "Do you still want to know what Windwalkers are like?"

Snotlout nodded.

Eira gave him a slight smile. "Well, they are gentle, kind, and cautious, but they are quick to protect and defend their flock. So, while it might take patience and effort to win their trust, Windwalkers are very loyal and courageous allies." She paused. "Do you want me to show you how to approach her?"

Snotlout cast her a doubtful look. "Are you sure it's safe? How do I know this isn't a trick?"

Eira smiled. "You'll just have to trust me. Come on." She reached forward and grabbed his arm, and then she led him over to Swiftwings. The Windwalker straightened upon their approach. "Try introducing yourself to her."

Snotlout looked up into Swiftwings' blue eyes and let out a nervous chuckle. "Hello, Swiftwings. I'm Snotlout. Please don't shoot me with your water balls." He flinched when she Windwalker brought her face to his so they were eye level.

"She likes you," Eira said. "Here." She released his arm and instead took hold of his hand, which she brought up to Swiftwing's face. She let her hand cover his a it touched Swiftwings' jaw, and then she dropped her arm to her side.

A huge grin spread across Snotlout's face. "Hey, I think you're right! You're not so bad, are you, girl?"

Swiftwings snorted.

Snotlout dropped his hand and turned to Eira. "Will that work on you?"

Eira blinked. "What do you mean?"

Snotlout stepped up to her with a serious look on his face. Then he raised his right hand and placed it against her cheek like he had with Swiftwings. Now she felt like she was the one in the trance as she stared into his eyes, her heart hammering.

After what seemed like ages, he removed his hand and broke eye contact. "Sorry," he muttered.

Eira took in a deep breath. What was that? That was the first time she had heard him apologize. She shook her head, deciding to move on. "So, are we good?"

Snotlout looked back at her with a small smile. "Yeah, we're good."

Eira's eyes darted around the area as she tried to shake the last of her awkwardness. "You want to hang out then? We can do something you want to do."

Snotlout smirked. "Really? I know just the thing."

Hiccup and Astrid talked amiably as they walked among they trees together. They stopped when they heard a sound in the distance. Hiccup looked up, surprise on his face when he saw two dragons and heir riders zipping towards them. And was that a sheep?

"Pass it!" called Snotlout, in the lead with Hookfang.

Eira, riding behind him on Swiftwings, tossed a sheep, dripping red with paint, up in the air. Snotlout caught the sheep and immediately threw the sheep at Hiccup.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup exclaimed, catching the sheep out of instinct.

"We're having fun!" Snotlout shouted as he flew away.

"The two of us made up!" Eira said. She grabbed the sheep from Hiccup as she passed and then zoomed after Snotlout.

Astrid placed her hands on her hips and glared at Hiccup. "This is your fault! You made them partners."

Hiccup looked at his now-red hands and sighed. "Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe she'll rub off on him."

One could only hope.