Chapter 53: Too Little Too Late?

Ingrid felt great about her job. She finally helped Eira and Snotlout see that they were better off as friends than lovers. Two weeks had passed since they broke up, and they did not seem to suffer any repercussions. Some of the riders teased them for a bit, but it was all in fun. Snotlout still hung out with Ingrid, who was given permission from her family to stay at Dragon's Edge.

Now it was onto the next stage: getting Eira and Dagur together. Ingrid wanted to wait a bit to give Eira time to think things over. She had to admit, she was a bit worried about Dagur and wondered if she should slip the news of the breakup to him. Or perhaps she should mention it to Heather, who she had not seen in awhile. Speaking of which...

Ingrid was out picking berries when Windshear suddenly landed before her. "Ingrid," Heather said, slipping off the Razorwhip's back, "we have a problem."

Ingrid's eyes widened in alarm. "The others are around here. Let's-"

"Not that kind of problem. It's about Dagur."

Somehow, this made Ingrid feel even more uneasy. "What about him?"

"You know Mala, right?"

Ingrid swallowed. "Yes."

"They're getting married! Dagur is completing the trials to become king right now."

"WHAT?! Why didn't you stop him?"

Heather gave her a look. "Have you tried to stop Dagur from doing something he wants to do?"

"Well, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

Heather frowned. "I didn't know until now. Dagur has been acting very secretive. He must have known I wouldn't approve."

Ingrid groaned. "Great. And right after Snotlout and Eira broke up..."

"Wait, they broke up?!"

Ingrid smiled weakly. "Yeah, two weeks ago. I wanted to give them time to get over it, but if I knew Dagur was going to pull this, I would have told you sooner."

"This is just great." Heather sighed. "We're terrible sisters."

Ingrid had to agree. She had seen the signs but done nothing about them. She should have known better than to leave this to chance. "Maybe it's not too late. Dagur's not married yet, right? We still have time?"

Heather gave her a weak smile. "Well, if you come up with a plan, let me know."

"If I could get Eira to want to fight for him..." Ingrid knew it could work, but she also knew the chances of Eira going for it were slim. If she wouldn't fight for Dagur when he was available, why would she do so now even if she did break up with Snotlout? This was a disaster.

"You work on Eira while I'll try to knock sense into Dagur. He's moving way too fast." Heather climbed back onto Windshear.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I told Dagur I would take care of things back home while he was gone. Let me know if you make any progress." And she was gone.

Ingrid let out a heavy sigh and started the trek back to camp. Just when things started to look up, everything came crashing down again. It was going to take some serious thinking to sort out this mess. Hopefully, what was meant to be would come to pass with enough effort.

Eira watched Ruffnut and Tuffnut use Barf and Belch to drop a huge selection of scrap metal onto a pile. Everyone had worked together to gather the metal, and this was the last of it. Now that she had a break, she wondered where her sister had run off to.

"Okay, look, come on down, you two," Hiccup said to the twins. "We have to decide what to do with all this scrap metal."

"Throw it in the water with those Nuts," Snotlout said.

"And pollute the ocean?" said Fishlegs. "Unh-unh. Not on my watch."

Tuffnut hopped to the ground and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If only there was a way, some- some way that this metal, this very metal here could benefit all of dragon-kind."

Ruffnut nodded. "Yeah, like if there was a dragon that could somehow reuse all this junk."

"Armorwing!" Hiccup and Fishlegs said at the same time.

"The Armorwing?" Snotlout said in surprise. "That thief?"

"This great deed shall be known forevermore as... re... doing the thing," said Tuffnut.

"Yeah," said Ruffnut, "we'll figure it out, bro."

"Re-figure it out, bro."

"Eira!" Ingrid shouted as she ran towards the group. "I have to tell you something!"

Eira looked at her sister in worry. "What is it?"

Ingrid stopped short upon seeing everyone else around. "Uh, maybe I'll tell you later."

"If you want to talk in private-" Eira was interrupted by a Triple Stryke landing before them. It was Sleuther with Dagur and... Mala?

"Hiccup!" Dagur exclaimed as he hopped off his dragon. Mala slid off beside him.

"Dagur," said Hiccup. "Mala. A-arrow?" He stared at the arrow protruding from his chest.

"What?" Eira said in surprise.

"Oh no," Ingrid muttered. When Eira glanced at her, she quickly looked away.

"Are you guys okay?" said Fishlegs.

"Never better!" Dagur said brightly. "Why do you ask?"

"You have an arrow sticking out of your... nothing."

"We have a very important announcement, Hiccup Haddock," Mala said.

"I just finished the Defenders of the Wing King Trials," Dagur said. "Nailed it!"

Eira swore she felt her heart stop. "W-What?" She had terrible memories of the trials she had witnessed, but that was not the reason for her reaction. And she felt very awkward with the way everyone was trying hard not to look at her.

"We are getting married," Mala said with a smile.

"Yes, we are," said Dagur.

"I'm over the moon!"

"Huh?" said Snotlout.

"Oh-ho-hoo!" Fishlegs squealed.

"Isn't this a little, um, sudden?" said Eira, forcing down the rush of emotions at the announcement.

"Not at all," said Mala. "Why wait when we know what we want?"

"Just because you like to take it slow-" Dagur started.

"We broke up," Snotlout said flatly.

Dagur stared at him with an expressionless face, and for a long moment, no one said a word. A second later, he brightened up and said, "I'm sorry to hear that. Anyway, if, uh, someone could fix this before the ceremony, I would greatly appreciate it." He motioned to the arrow in his chest. "Don't want to scare the new in-laws." He chuckled.

Hiccup laughed nervously. "In-laws."

Eira slowly followed behind everyone as they made their way to the clubhouse. "This is what I wanted to tell you," Ingrid whispered. "Heather just told me the news."

Eira plastered on a smile. "Well, now I know."

Ingrid gave her a concerned look. "If you want to talk about it-"

"What's there to talk about? Dagur can do whatever he wants. It doesn't bother me."

"I'd be pretty bothered if I were you," Snotlout said, popping up on her other side. "Dagur spends all that time obsessing over you and then just finds someone else?"

"You know how impulsive he is. He also switched opinions on Hiccup pretty quickly." Eira pushed back the distress that threatened to enter her mind. She was fine.

"We need to discuss how to handle this," Ingrid said.

"There's nothing to handle! I told you it doesn't bother me!"

"Uh, I think it does," Snotlout said.

"And why do you think that?"

"You've never snapped at anyone before."

Eira frowned. "You haven't seen me around family enough." But she did feel guilty. She gave her sister an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."

Ingrid shrugged. "It's fine."

They stopped outside the clubhouse, where everyone else had already gathered. Eira hesitated at the door. "You don't have to go in, you know," Snotlout said gently.

"Yes, I do," Eira said. Avoidance solved nothing. She took a deep breath and entered the clubhouse. She immediately regretted it when she saw Dagur and Mala sitting close together engaging in physical and verbal affection. It made her sick to her stomach. And she wasn't the only one - Snotlout gagged beside her.

"You are the Dagur in my heart and the king of my kingdom," Mala said.

"And you are my Queen Mala-poo," said Dagur. "Poopy, poop-"

"Uh... Hiccup?" Astrid said, a confused and disturbed look on her face.

"They did seem to get along after the wwins' whole mediation thing," Hiccup said, "but... ugh."

"Marriage?" Fishlegs said. "Wait, w-when? How?"

"Let me set the scene, Fishy," Dagur said. "One day, I was sitting pondering this one little spot of fat that I just can't seem to get rid of no matter how many crunches I do. Then it just- It hit me, Fishy."

"Or more specifically, I hit him," Mala said, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

Dagur smiled lovingly at her. "Ah, it was love at first fight. Hit me again."

Mala giggled. "Oh, no, no."

"Go on, hit me again."

Mala smiled bashfully. "Dagur."

Dagur grinned at her excitedly. "Hit me again. Hit me again."

"Now's not the time."

Eira clutched her head as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She could not take much more of this. "Eira, are you okay?" Hiccup asked in concern.

"I - I need some air," Eira said. She did not care if everyone - except Dagur - stared at her as she ran out of the clubhouse. No, she did care that she suddenly appeared invisible to Dagur. Why couldn't he look at her? It may have helped if she saw guilt on his face, but he seemed to just not care she was there. No, not looking at her had to be intentional. But why?

Eira stopped running when she reached the edge of the forest. If she disappeared, the others might worry. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was fine. She had no right to feel upset about the decisions Dagur made about his own life. She should be happy for him. But she wasn't. And she did not even feel anger towards Mala like when the queen tried to take Snotlout away. She just felt... crushed.

"Do you want to punch Mala in the face?"

Eira turned around and took in Ruffnut's smug expression. For a moment, her pain was forgotten, replaced by confusion. "Huh?"

"Remember the advice I gave you about figuring out if you like someone?"

Then it dawned on her. "Oh, right. You'd said I'd know if I imagined him getting married and wanted to punch the other woman in the face..."

Ruff smirked. "So, do you?"

Eira frowned. "No, I don't think so."

"What about Dagur? I would pay to see that."

Eira sighed. "No. I want to punch myself for being stupid." All the reasons for not choosing Dagur in the first place now seemed inconsequential. She couldn't say she regretted taking a chance on Snotlout, but she should have ended it sooner. And she should not have spent so much time cooling down after the relationship. At the very least, she should have told Dagur right away about the breakup and spent time with him as a friend.

"Oh, cool! After you punch yourself, you need to figure out how you're going to win Dagur back."

Win Dagur back? The idea had not even occurred to her. "That's not going to happen, Ruff. Dagur has made his decision, and I have to respect it."

Ruff placed her hands on her hips and gave her a disapproving look. "How could he have made a good decision if he didn't know he could have you?"

"I - I still don't know if he could. And what if he thinks I'm just jealous because he's suddenly unavailable?"

"You mean like how Snotlout reacted? It turned out pretty well for him - until you broke up."

Eira clenched her fists in frustrion. "What do you know anyway? You're no love expert."

"But Tuff and I are catering the wedding. If you need some sabotage..." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Eira shook her head. "Don't bother. It's fine. I'm fine. I'll get over it."

Ruff shrugged. "Alright, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Eira hoped she simply needed time to process everything. Perhaps dealing with the scrap metal would provide a useful distraction. She started in the direction of the pile, assuming Hiccup and the others would be there to get started eventually. And there better not be anymore awkward non-looks at her. She didn't need their pity.

Eira did not have the chance to stay away from Dagur, for he came along with the riders (minus the twins, who stayed back at camp with Mala) to give the scrap metal to the Armorwing. Everything went well until Hiccup noticed a Dragon Eye lens attached to the dragon's body. A couple of dragon flyers noticed as well, though they were chased off.

The Armorwing did not want to give up the lens. The riders were forced to change tactics when Krogan and his flyers showed up and started attacking the Armorwing. The riders were able to obtain the lens, but the Arorwing was so injured they had to fly him to safety. When Krogan still pursued them, Hiccup chose to give up the lens to protect the Armorwing and his friends.

Back at the clubhouse, Eira watched as Dagur and Mala greeted each other like they had not seen each other in months. "I thought of you, darling," Dagur said, "every time I sent a dragon flyer screaming and plunging into the sea."

Mala smiled. "You are too sweet."

Ingrid nudged her sister in the side. "You need to talk to him," she whispered.

Eira would rather avoid a lengthy conversation, but speaking directly to him might be the only way to actually get his attention. She cleared her throat and took a hesitant step towards the couple. "Uh, Dagur?"

He finally looked at her. His face retained its smile, but there was something off about it. "Eira! I wanted to talk to you."

"You did?" Maybe he had not meant to ignore her after all.

Dagur nodded. "It's about Runa. She's tried to contact Viggo, but he's not responding. She can't tell him the news if he won't meet with her."

Eira frowned. "Oh." She wanted to point out the irony about Dagur himself not communicating with her recently but held her tongue. "I suppose I could try to reach out to him. He might think he's putting Runa in danger by responding, so he might write back to me."

Dagur smiled. "Brilliant! Thank you, Eira. I knew I could count on you."

Eira smiled weakly at him. "No problem."

"Viggo Grimborn?" Mala said with disdain. "Why would you need to contact him?"

"I told you about Runa, didn't I?" Dagur said. "She's in love with Viggo and wants to help him get away from the dragon hunters."

"I admire the sentiment, but the only way to 'help' him is to destroy him before he destroys us. You should know that, Dagur."

Eira frowned. She did not like her tone of voice. "What he knows is that people can change and deserve a chance. He used to try to kill us too, you know."

Mala smiled at Dagur. "But that is in the past, and we don't need to address it. I care about the present, and presently, Viggo Grimborn is nothing but a threat."

Eira exchanged a look with Dagur. For the first time, she saw doubt in his eyes in regards to Mala. Still, he followed her when she suggested they head home for the day. The uneasiness in Eira's stomach had grown after the conversation. How could she be happy for Dagur if she sensed a potential problem with his relationship?

"So, how did that go?" Ingrid said, popping up beside her.

"Not well," Eira admitted. "Do you think Dagur could be too infatuated with Mala to see the issues that could occur if not addressed?"

Ingrid shrugged. "Sure, that happens when you rush things. While I do know Dagur prefers a fast pace, I wonder if he's rushing because he doesn't want to give himself a chance to change his mind - or Mala doesn't want to give him that chance."

Eira sighed. "Can you talk to him?"

Ingrid lifted her eyebrows. "You think he'll listen to me? You're the one who knows how to get through to him."

But Eira did not know if he would listen to her this time. He seemed to have his mind set. She just might be too late.