Chapter 32: Temporary Solution

"Good work, Swiftwings," Eira said as the dragon landed in the middle of camp. They had just flown around the island, practicing their speed and agility. She was just about to suggest something else when she saw something fly overhead. A green Gronckle and...

Eira gasped. Dagur! She quickly took care of her dragon and then headed for the clubhouse.

When she arrived, she found everyone inside, watching Dagur devour a piece of mutton. Shattermaster eagerly munched on a pile of rocks off to the side. Dagur appeared to be talking animatedly about something, but when he saw Eira, he abruptly stopped and rushed over to her.

"Eira!" he exclaimed. He hugged her tightly, making sure to keep his food out of the way. "It's good to see you!"

Eira smiled slightly and hugged him back. "It's good to see you too, Dagur. What are you doing here?"

"He says he knows how we can hurt Viggo," Hiccup said. "Which he should get back to."

"Yes, of course," Dagur said. He released Eira and turned to face the others. "The strangest thing happened while I was out traveling the world in search of Oswald the Agreeable."

"Wait a minute," Heather said. "You're searching for our father?"

"You see, since I didn't kill him, and you didn't kill him, I figured he must be out there, somewhere. So there I was searching for dear old dad. When I captured the wimpiest Dragon Hunter." Dagur laughed and looked to Hiccup. "I mean he was just a little tiny wimpy, he was about, your size and build."

Hiccup frowned. "Hmm."

"No offense. Anyway, all I had to do was sneer at him, and he gave up everything! I mean I actually had to give him the Berserker Choke Hold just to shut him up!"

"So, what did the hunter say about Viggo?"

"I'll tell you if you call me brother. Please?" Dagur grinned at Hiccup. "Just once? Please?" But Hiccup merely frowned at him. "Ok, ok, just a barrel of laughs aren't you?" He sighed. "He told me where Viggo hides his gold."

"What!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Woah!" Tuffnut said.

Dagur appeared thoughtful. "And if I remember correctly some of the gold-"

"-is Berk's gold," Astrid finished.

Dagur grinned. "Bingo!"

Eira smiled at him. "Good job, Dagur."

"And we can get it back and cripple Viggo in one blow!" Hiccup said. He started for the door. "Let's ride!"

"Don't forget the best part," Dagur said. "After we get your gold back, if you don't mind I'll take a few bags of Viggo's for myself. Heather and I will need it as we embark on an epic journey to reunite with our father and rebuild the Berserker tribe as a family!" He put his arm around Heather and pulled her close to him.

Heather chuckled nervously. "Aheh, yeah right Dagur. I-I think you've taken one to many to the head." She slipped out of his grasp and backed away.

"I'm serious, Heather; that's why I'm here."

Eira exchanged a look with Hiccup. He had told her not to mention anything to Dagur until they were sure what they wanted to do. But looking at Fishlegs' forlorn expression, she hoped too much trouble would not be caused in the processes. She moved to stand next to Heather. "I'm sure you can talk about that later."

"You're still welcome to change your mind and join us, Eira!" Dagur said brightly.

"She will not be doing that," Snotlout said, glaring at Dagur. He grabbed Eira's arm and pulled her out of the clubhouse.

"It's up to her!" Dagur called after them.

Eira pushed back her uneasiness. She really hoped this ended well. For all of them.

"Hiccup, you're going to fix this, aren't you?" Snotlout demanded as the group flew towards the island that supposedly held Viggo's gold.

Hiccup frowned at him. "What are you talking about, Snotlout?"

"Dagur! Are you going to ask him to stay or what?"

Hiccup's eyes grew wide. "Not so loud! We're going to see how this mission goes, remember? And I didn't think you'd be so eager to have him join us."

"Well, it's better than seeing him run off with Heather and Eira."

Hiccup frowned. "Eira said she won't go with him."

"Have you seen them?" Snotlout motioned to Eira and Dagur, who happily chatted together.

"There is another solution to this, you know," Astrid said, popping up out of nowhere.

Snotlout glared at her. "Don't say anything!"

"Berserkers and dragon riders!" Dagur suddenly bellowed. "May our first mission be Successful! WO HA HA HA HA YEAH!"

"Uh, hello," Fishlegs said in annoyance. "You mean dragon riders and one Berserker."

"Alright gang," Hiccup said. "Diamond Formation. Remember where heading into Viggo's domain, expect the unexpected... What the?"

Snotlout stared at the empty island. "Well, there's no one here. Didn't see that one coming."

They flew down to the island and began searching. They saw no sign of Viggo's men, but the place was littered with ancient ruins that Fishlegs found fascinating. And then they found mysterious tracks that led them to a locked storehouse - a locked storehouse that turned out to be dragon proof.

"You tried your way Hiccup," Dagur said. "Now its time to try it Berserker style. Right, Heather?" He turned to his sister.

Heather blinked. "Berserker Style? You mean do something crazy?"

"No!" Dagur said in frustration. "Everyone thinks Berserker means crazy, but what it really means is going full speed, all out, all the time. Total commitment to your Berserker brothers and sisters."

Eira smiled at him. "That doesn't sound too bad."

Dagur grinned at her. "I think you would make a pretty good Berserker yourself."

Snotlout scoffed and looked away.

"So," Dagur went on, "if you wan't to know what Berserker style really is, show them our new move Shattermaster. Shatter Scatter..."

Shattermaster rolled right into the storehouse, shattering the door.

"ROOOAAARRR!" Dagur exclaimed. "Not so dragon proof anymore. Bravo, Shattermaster." He grinned at Heather. "That's what you call a Berserker battle cry. It comes from deep within, understand? You'll get it."

Astrid sighed as she looked in the empty storehouse. "Well, I guess we're to late. Viggo moved the gold."

Hiccup frowned. "Nothing makes sense, no guards, no booby traps."

"What are you thinking?"

"Well, it looks like the cart tracks comes in this way then go off that way." Hiccup pointed in the two different directions. "Fishlegs, look at the depth of the tracks."

Fishlegs bent down and stuck a finger in the tracks. "Yeah, they're deeper going in and more shallow going out."

"Someone rolled the gold in here then offloaded it and carried it away by hand. This storehouse is just a decoy. The gold is somewhere else on the island."

"In that case I say we split up, cover more ground," Dagur said. "Viggo and his men could come at any time. The Berserkers will search the north, the dragons riders search the south.

"W-Wait I-I should go with them," Fishlegs said, scrambling after Dagur.

"Me too," Eira said.

Dagur smiled at her. "Of course!"

Snotlout was about to protest, but Eira shook her head. She looked pointedly from Heather to Fishlegs. Snotlout frowned. She was worried about those two at a time like this? Well, she could have worse reasons.

"Okay," Hiccup said, "four heads are better than two. Stay on the ground, send up a signal if you find anything."

"We will," Heather said.

"Come on Heather," Dagur said as he slung his arm around her, "while we search for the gold we'll discuss our future."

Eira hurried after Fishlegs, who watched the siblings with a hard look. Snotlout did not envy her job.

Eira tried her best to keep her little group together. Dagur kept going on about his future plans for him and Heather, which made Heather nervous and Fishlegs upset. She could hardly get a word in herself. She wished Dagur would slow down instead of unloading everything all at once, but she should have expected nothing else.

"Don't worry, Fishlegs I'll search this one," Dagur said as they approached a cave. "Sometimes I miss the pleasant Zen of a deep dark cave."

"I'll go with you," Eira said quickly, earning a grateful look from Heather. She had a feeling she and Fishlegs wanted to talk.

"Sounds good to me!" Dagur said brightly. He led the way into the cave. "Here goldie goldie goldie goldie!"

Eira chuckled. "It's not going to come if you call."

Dagur shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Eira took a deep breath. She had to say something now while she had the chance. "Listen, Dagur, about your plans with Heather-"

Dagur looked at her hopefully. "You changed your mind about coming with us?"

"No. And you need to consider that Heather might not want to leave right now either. You need to think about her feelings."

"But I am! This would be good for her. She needs to be with family."

Eira hesitated. "Maybe, but-"

Dagur peered at the end of the cavern. "The gold isn't here. We should-" Suddenly a group of Terrible Terrors flew right at them. The Vikings turned and fled out of the cave. "No gold! No gold! No gold! And Terrible Terrors make terrible meditation partners!" He paused as he took in Heather and Fishlegs' awkward, blushing faces. "What I miss?"

Eira shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Let's keep going."

They continued to search for the gold, and Dagur continued to talk about his ideas. Finally, Fishlegs had enough and said forcefully, "Dagur, this is not the time. Heather is not going with you right now, so just drop it."

Dagur frowned. "I'm just trying to figure everything out."

"You need to include other people in your process."

"But that's what I'm doing!"

"No you're not," Eira said. The others looked to her in surprise. "You keep talking about what you want to do and what you think is best, but you won't listen to any of us. Maybe we have ideas of our own. There are alternatives to consider."

"What kind of alternatives?"

Eira hesitated. She wanted to tell him, but she promised Hiccup. "Never mind. You won't listen anyway." An odd wave of sadness passed over her, and from Dagur's look, she knew he noticed. She tried to push it back as she strode forward. She was just tired. She would get over this.

Dagur followed her to the edge of a cliff overlooking the water. "Eira, I'm sorry. Can we just-"

Eira held up her hand to silence him. "Look." The dragon hunters were docked at the island, and it looked like they had just captured the other dragon riders!

"Oh, this is bad," Fishlegs said. "Really, really bad."

"Heh, funny, Hiccup was never that easy to capture when I was chasing him," Dagur said.

"Viggo," Heather side with narrowed eyes. "We can't just sit here, we need to rescue them now. Before Viggo disappears."

"We should save them Berserker style. I have the perfect plan!"

"No!" Fishlegs said firmly. "Dragon riders rescue dragon riders! I have known Hiccup my whole life, and he's my best friend, Dagur. Whenever I have needed him he has been there for me, and now he needs me. We are doing this my way."

Dagur wiped away a stray tear. "That was beautiful, man, just beautiful."

Eira offered Fishlegs a small smile. "You're exactly right! What's the plan?"

Fishlegs instructed them to get to their dragons and take to the air. Then they closed in on the ships, sailing away. Dagur and Heather went for the flanking ships while Fishlegs and Eira aimed for the lead vessel. However, it soon became clear the ships were dragon proof.

"Okay, that didn't work," Dagur said. "Anyone have any other thoughts that, you know, I mentioned earlier?"

"Fishlegs, I-I think maybe we should try it my brother's way," Heather said hesitantly.

Fishlegs frowned. "Your brother?"

"I mean, what do we have to lose?"

"I agree," Eira said.

Dagur grinned. "Yeah! Berserker style!"

And his plan did work. Dagur climbed onto Windshear behind Heather, and the Razorwhip tossed Shattermaster at one of the dragon hunter ships. The rolled up Gronckle broke right through the ship.

"WOO HAHA HA HA!" Dagur exclaimed. "See, Heather? We're a match made in Valhalla!"

"Great work!" Eira said with a smile as she hovered beside them. "You're pretty good at this, Dagur."

He brightened at her praise. "You think so?"

"I sure do." She glanced at Heather. "And, you know what? I don't think there's anything wrong with being a Berserker and a dragon rider."

Heather smiled. "I couldn't agree more." Her attention was diverted as Shattermaster flew back to them. "Coming in for another pass!"

Eira flew towards the main ship as she saw her friends escaping. Swiftwings shot at the dragon hunters, knocking them off their feet. At least they weren't dragon proof! She quickly dashed away when one of the hunters tossed chains at them.

"Eira!" Dagur called. "I've been thinking... Would Hiccup mind if I stuck around for awhile? If you and Heather aren't ready to leave, that's another option, right?"

Eira wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. Instead, she simply smiled at him. "That's a great idea, Dagur. Let's ask him after we're finished here."

Dagur grinned. "WOO!" He looked back at Heather. "Let's finish this, sis. Are you with me?"

In response, Heather let out a Berserker battle cry: "AHH OHH AHH YEEYE YAA!"

"That's music to my ears, sister!"

Eira flew over to Fishlegs, who appeared dismayed the siblings were getting along so well. "Don't be so glum," she said. "Everything is going to work out."

Fishlegs frowned at her. "But Heather-"

"-isn't going anywhere. And neither is Dagur, if I have anything to say about it."

Fishlegs smiled in relief. "You're the best, Eira."

Dagur was impressed when Hiccup found the location of Viggo's gold. It turned out to be hidden in plain sight under fake Vikings ruins. Everyone worked together to load it up and transport it back to Dragon's Edge.

"Thank you, Dagur," Hiccup said once their work was complete. "We would never have found that island without your help."

"And you wouldn't have escaped the hunters without the help of me and my sister," Dagur said proudly.

"He did do a pretty good job," Eira said to Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled. "Does everyone else agree?" He looked around at the dragon riders and received nods and words of affirmation.

Dagur suddenly felt out of the loop. "Did I miss something?"

Hiccup looked to Eira. "Do you want to ask him?"

Eira walked right up to Dagur and smiled at him. "Dagur, we want to know if you would like to join us here on Dragon's Edge... as a dragon rider."

Dagur's eyes grew wide. "Do you mean it?"

"Of course I do. I know you have big plans and things you need to do, but you could stay with us for awhile - at least until we defeat Viggo."

Dagur looked around in astonishment. "You're all in agreement?"

"Yes," Heather said. "I'm not ready to leave yet, but I would like you to stay."

"And that would give me the chance to convince you and Eira to eventually leave with me," Dagur said thoughtfully.

"Hold on a minute-" Snotlout said.

"So, you'll stay?" Eira asked hopefully.

Dagur grinned at her. "Of course all stay!" He grabbed Eira with one hand and Heather with the other and pulled them into a hug. "Thank you! This means a lot me!" He had always wanted to e a dragon rider! Well, when he wasn't hunting them.

"You proved you can keep up with us," Hiccup said.

"I won't let you down, Hiccup! You can count on me!" Dagur smiled at Heather and Eira. And so could they. He would do his best to prove it to them. For now, everything was perfect.