Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter is a week late; this story got waylaid by circumstance, and as I am rewriting it, my usual 'prewrite everything' strategy has been defeated by lack of time. It shouldn't happen again, and I am only a few weeks away from being back to consistent wifi, so there is also that.

"Of course they didn't go home!" Maour ranted to Toothless as they sped towards what they had seen flying above the meeting island. "Why did I even expect it? Heather is set against Dagur, and apparently, Nóttreiði hates humans enough to go along with whatever crazy scheme to off Dagur Heather and Einfari can come up with!"

Toothless growled. He didn't sound very happy either. 'Maybe they have a good reason for being here. Don't get mad at them until you hear the whole story.'

Maour grumbled to himself. "Well, it better be a good story." He was almost angrier at himself than Heather and Einfari. He was an optimistic fool, to expect them to just go home with Dagur in their sights. He should have gotten Heather to promise before leaving them alone to make their way home. Looking back, he saw that Heather had never said they'd go straight back. She and Einfari had dodged that every time it came up. It was obvious, at least in retrospect.

Judging by the careful, silent manner in which Toothless was approaching the other dragons, he had decided to give the renegade Furies he had seen circling from afar a fright. Maour was entirely fine with that.

Toothless powered up as high as he could fly, to where his wings could barely keep them up in the thin air, and quickly navigated to a spot over where the Furies would be, dropping like a rock once in position. He flew silently, not even flapping his wings, and glided up behind Einfari and Nóttreiði, completely unnoticed by the three interlopers.

'Land. Now.' That was accompanied by a snarl as Toothless voiced the full extent of his displeasure.

The two grey-eyed Furies and sole rider jolted at the same time. Heather looked back, her face a mixture of shock and shame. "Fine. There's a sea stack a little way out. We'll land there." She was clearly surprised to see Maour and Toothless right there, but not surprised to see them in general. Maour supposed they had been fairly visible on the hilltop.

Nóttreiði meekly followed Einfari's lead, not saying a word or even voicing his displeasure at being ordered around, on the other hand, was far less understandable. That was hugely out of character for the angry Fury.

Toothless followed above and behind the three as they quickly made their way to the aforementioned sea stack. It was actually two separate sea stacks, one slightly higher than the other, and leaning on the shorter. Maour and Toothless landed on the higher end, and Einfari and Nóttreiði landed on the lower end.

Toothless took a good look at Nóttreiði and inhaled sharply. The still-healing wound was clearly visible. 'What happened to you?' His voice wasn't nearly as angry now.

Nóttreiði sighed, looking down. 'I did something terrible and paid the price.' He sounded discouraged.

"Don't bother him about it; he's already feeling bad about it as is," Heather advised, staring at Maour and nodding significantly at Nóttreiði, who was still looking down.

Maour shrugged his shoulders and mouthed a silent 'what?' at her. If she was trying to tell him something, he wasn't getting it.

'And you can skip the scolding, Toothless,' Einfari added defiantly. 'We will get more and worse from our parents; all you could come up with would just be a preview.'

'That does not stop it from making me feel better,' Toothless grumbled. 'Please, explain why you thought coming here was a good idea.'

"You're here, so obviously it's not that bad of one," Heather observed snarkily. "We were trailing a soon-to-be dead man."

'Because we wished to know where he was going,' Einfari contributed. 'We were going to fly home if no good opportunity came along…'

"What?" Maour could tell Einfari didn't want to say anything.

'If no good opportunity came along within a week, which has come and gone,' Nóttreiði growled sullenly. 'We all wanted to see this through, even if it is dangerous.'

"Dagur needs to die," Heather summarized. "We believe that, even if you don't. He's here, and you're here too… so what in Thor's name is going on with you?"

'We still have not heard why Nóttreiði is sporting an open wound,' Toothless said sternly. 'You are in the wrong, so you tell all first.'

'It is a short, simple story.' Einfari looked back as Heather slipped off of her back. 'Heather?'

"You tell Toothless; I need to talk to Maour." Heather jumped up and pulled herself onto the higher sea stack, gesturing to Toothless as she clambered up. "Go, if you want to know."
'You are pushy for a defiant miscreant,' Toothless complained, doing as she had suggested.

Maour stared at Heather, unsure what she wanted. "Aren't we going to be saying the exact same things as them?" he asked skeptically.

"No; I have more to tell." Heather shrugged, lowering her voice. "And some of it I don't want Einfari to hear, so I'm telling you that first, while she cannot possibly listen in."

Maour looked down, over at said Night Fury, who seemed to be defending herself from an increasingly vexed Toothless's questions. "Go fast."
"Nóttreiði will act like he's turned over a new leaf. Don't believe it entirely; he has just decided to be a little less open with his feelings. He still probably wants me and you dead."

Nóttreiði didn't like humans? That was like Heather telling him the sky was blue; not hard to believe, whether or not he would prefer it to be false. "That is the secret?"

"Einfari believes him, and I don't want to aggravate her by telling her that." Heather shrugged. "Anyway, that was it. If you want to know what we did, it's pretty simple."

"Run it by me anyway," Maour sighed. He was not really used to ordering people around; there wasn't much need for that at home. Not having anyone to order around was not helped any by the fact that the twins and Fishlegs answered to the heads of the families that had taken them in, and nobody else. He was not inexperienced, but he certainly did not feel comfortable questioning someone who had been under his authority, in a sense, much less someone who had also defied that authority so flagrantly.

"We went after Dagur, used Nóttreiði to attack a scout ship, rescued Nóttreiði when that didn't work, and followed him here. That's it."

So simple, yet so ridiculously full of complications. "Did Dagur see you doing this?" There was no way Dagur wouldn't mention it if he knew of it, but Maour didn't understand why any of the three would attack a ship that didn't have Dagur on it.

Well, except for Nóttreiði. Maour could totally understand why he would do that kind of thing.

"I mean, he knows by now that a Night Fury killed an entire ship's worth of Berserkers," Heather said carefully. "There's pretty much no evidence it was us specifically. We made it look like the work of a lone Night Fury, and nobody lived to say otherwise."

"So why didn't he say anything about it?" Maour wondered aloud. There had to be more; Dagur wasn't the kind of person to hold back something like that without a reason.

"You've talked to him recently?" Heather asked skeptically. She turned to look at the distant island and the sporadic patches of light. "Also, if one of those campfires is his, Einfari and I are going to blow it to oblivion, so please tell me you know which is which."

"No, you're not." Maour was sure, now more than ever, that killing Dagur wasn't the best option. "This is a place of peace, and nobody is going to break that. Toothless and I have a chance to get allies against both Berk and the Berserkers, and breaking the peace is a great way to stop that from happening."

"Allies." Heather pointed at him. "Your turn to explain."
Maour quickly spoke of Camicazi, making a deal with the Bog Burglars, and the peace he and Toothless were a part of that allowed them to stand among hated foes without much fear for their lives. He stuck to the bare essentials, not wanting to go into detail when there were more important things to be discussed.

Throughout the rushed explanation, Heather began to look more and more annoyed, tapping her foot impatiently. When Maour was finished, she scowled aimlessly. "Once again, talking instead of just taking the enemy down here and now."

Maour had taken just about enough attitude from Heather by that point. "Once again focusing on killing Dagur like it's going to change anything! This obsession is going to get you and probably whoever helps you killed, and I'll not let it also get my home and people killed too."

"I am going to end Dagur," Heather gritted. "He's right there." She pointed out at the island.

"Probably surrounded by guards, in a place where an attack by a Night Fury or one known to be associated with me will destroy everything I'm trying to do for the good of all of us, not just you." Maour decided it was time to put his foot down. "Make one false move to attack anyone on that island, and Toothless will help me stop you and Einfari by force. If she's stupid enough to do that in the first place."

Heather's response was a wordless exclamation of disgust, more of an angry grunt than anything. She turned away from Maour and went to go sit on the edge of the sea stack.

'Just checking in,' Toothless's voice said wryly. 'Is she attacking you? That sounded like a snarl to me.'

"Heather is just facing the fact that she disobeyed orders for nothing," Maour replied loudly. "What's the verdict there?"

'We are very sorry to have not gone straight home, but I owe Heather my help in ending Dagur,' Einfari replied, hopping up onto the higher sea stack. 'We need to focus on the here and now. The mission is to gather support?'

"Yes. It's good to see at least one of you sees the value in gaining allies," Maour announced sarcastically. "How enraged is Nóttreiði at that idea?"

'Very,' Nóttreiði gritted from below after Toothless translated the question. 'But I understand the idea of letting one enemy kill another.' There was a heavy irony to his words that Maour did not get. Probably a reference to something that had happened to his group recently.

"Good. And you understand that-"

'Toothless is in command; I will not defy any further orders.' Nóttreiði's voice was downright sullen. 'I believe it best I remain here for the time being.'

"Yes, that's definitely best." Maour was not going to take Nóttreiði down into a place of peace to be surrounded by Vikings. He wouldn't be comfortable taking Togi down there, let alone a falsely repentant Nóttreiði.

"I, on the other paw, will be going down there if you can get me included in this peace,' Einfari declared defiantly. 'Let at least one Nótt be present.'

"I'm going down there," Heather agreed. "So add me to that too."

'Wait, if Einfari is going I will go too,' Nóttreiði added, not even giving Maour a chance to respond to the previous two requests. 'I will not leave her back undefended there.'

Toothless snarled loud enough to cut them all off. 'This is a peaceful mission, and you three have reasons to not be peaceful. You have also gone against orders before now, on this very trip. Give us one good reason to take you into a volatile situation and vouch for you.'

Heather glared at Toothless. "You wouldn't get it," she asserted angrily. "I'm not going peacefully. I just need you to get me in close enough."

"Heather-" Maour began, frustrated beyond words.

'No!' Of all dragons, it was Toothless who interrupted him. 'Maour,' he continued in a far less rude tone, 'let me talk to her. You get Einfari and Nóttreiði's side of this. I think I might be more suited to… disarm… Heather than you.'

Maour shrugged aimlessly. "Sure." He certainly wasn't getting through to her. Toothless might as well try.

'I would say let's go for a flight,' Toothless quipped as he ascended to the higher pillar and Maour descended, 'but she is no expert on tailfin operation.'

"Good luck, Toothless," Maour said fervently.

'Thanks.' Toothless knew Maour really meant it, too. Some people might be offended at having someone else offer to take over at something they were failing, and then wish that person to fail to validate their own lack of success, but Maour did not have that particular character flaw.

He also did not possess another character flaw Toothless knew he and Heather shared. The need for vengeance.

That was the reason he was finally going to try talking to Heather himself. He understood why she felt so strongly.

"What's your angle?" Heather asked bitterly once they were alone.

'Understanding and agreeing with you?' Toothless supplied, settling down next to her. 'We do not know each other very well, do we?'

"No," was all the reply he got.

'My fault,' Toothless generously claimed. 'Did you know dragons have a natural vindictive streak?'

"Just like Vikings," Heather mumbled.

'Not Maour. It's one of his strengths." Toothless was reminded of how easily Maour had cast aside the idea of avenging Stoick, though his explanation to Gobber of not caring about Stoick was a blatant lie, even if Maour himself also believed it. 'It saves him a lot of trouble and anger.'

"And here you're going to tell me to just throw my hate aside for the greater good. Save it."

'Here I am going to tell you that were I you, I would not do anything like that.' Toothless knew he was taking a long shot. 'But I would not live to see that I should have.'

Heather turned to look at him for the first time since they started talking. "That makes no sense."

"Maour is a thinker; I am a doer. Maour has a human mind, and I have a dragon mind. What he lacks in aggression and vindictive qualities, I make up for, even if that does not often happen. And I know that were Cloey or Shadow to die at some human's hands, or even some dragon's paws, I would hunt them to the end of the world. He would too, but we are talking of me.'

"So you get it."

'I totally get it.' Toothless could easily put himself in Heather's place. 'I would want to kill at any cost. But no matter how strong my anger, how much my enemy deserved to die, I would not be able to kill them if it meant I would die too.'

Heather chuckled bitterly. "I win, then, because I'm willing to do exactly that here. Viking peace probably means I'm dead the moment I kill Dagur."

'The moment you so much as strike him, actually. But you do not win a prize for dedication, you win a prize for selfishness.'

Heather glared at him. "If anything, I am being selfless, not selfish."

'Wrong.' Toothless knew he had her now. 'Being selfless would involve waiting until killing him did not risk hurting others.'

"Killing him here hurts nobody but me."

'Einfari loses a close friend. Joy loses a playmate. The Nótt family loses a human who brings them closer to the rest of the pack. The pack loses an enemy one of our members knows, and probably gains one just as bad that we have no knowledge of.' And Maour would lose a potential mate, but Toothless left that one out because it was far from a sure thing, and not something he needed to bring up right now. 'Letting yourself die for vengeance takes something from everyone who has helped you recover a life worth living.'

"Thought all of that out, have you?" Heather asked bitterly. She was angry because he was right.

'I had to. My father made me. He says his father taught him the same lesson, and that I would have learned it earlier had he been around to teach it then.' Toothless had understood it easily enough, mostly because he had not been currently embroiled in the emotions the concept dealt with. Heather was going to have a harder time with it, because she already thought she knew better.

"So what do you propose I do?" Heather asked, turning away from him. "Stay here, alone, let Maour do his nonviolent thing, and try to forget Dagur exists?"

'No way. First, I say you go to the island and try to get Dagur off of the warpath against anyone but you. Say whatever you want to him, but don't let yourself die, whether you or he might strike first.' Toothless was making this part up, but it felt convincing. 'Then, make sure Maour knows you're up for fighting for anyone who opposes Dagur. I don't think he can be totally stopped without conflict and the agreement we're hoping to get has mutual defense against him in it, so just make sure you and Einfari will be there, and in the meantime train up every possible advantage you can think of, in the both of you.'

"Wait and hope I run into him someday in the future," Heather cynically summarized.

'Live a good life and kill him when the perfect chance comes to you. If it never does, then you have won anyway, because that is all he can take from you now. A good life.'

Heather did not answer for a long while. As he waited, Toothless mentally debated checking in with Maour and the other Night Furies, but decided against it, knowing that Maour would be fine.

"If Nótts are cynics, then what are Svarturs? Optimists?" Heather asked with a wry smile.

'No. But we're not pessimists either. There's no special word for being in the middle.' Toothless shook his head. 'Not like we need one. Who needs to label what they are? It's the same whether or not there's a name applied to it. Putting the name on it just makes you think you have to be that thing all the time.' He thought that a good piece of advice.

"Sure." Heather didn't sound all that impressed. "So the short version is that I should stop being selfish and swallow my hate for now, so that I can… what? Why else would Maour need me on that island? I might as well not go."

'I think you could watch his back where I could not,' Toothless suggested. 'Help him negotiate deals with other tribes. You are like a Nótt and are also a human; he could use that sort of help.'

"Fine." Heather sighed angrily. Toothless knew that meant she really had seen reason. "I'll still kill Dagur one day. Avenging my family is important."

'Yes. But not as important as preserving the happiness of your new one. That comes first.'

"They're not my family," Heather replied automatically, sounding like she wasn't sure whether she was right. "They are just-"

'People who took you in, claimed you as their responsibility, adjusted their lives and mindsets for the most part, and plan to stand by you.' Toothless knew family when he saw it, no matter what Heather or any particular Nótt had to say about it.

"Stop being right," Heather replied rebelliously. "But if they're family, then one thing's for sure. I have bad luck with brothers."

From what Toothless knew, that was no joke, but why would Heather say that now, when Nóttreiði was apparently beginning to see the light?

He resolved to not ask that question. He wasn't Maour or Shadow, to spout wisdom ceaselessly. It only worked here because Heather was dealing with something Toothless had already considered for himself.

And thinking of Maour spouting wisdom on command… Toothless looked over at the other sea stack, wondering if Maour was done yet.

"Einfari," Maour began, temporarily putting Heather's vengeance out of his mind, "can I expect you and your brother to actually listen to me on this?"

'Yes, you can,' Einfari warbled, speaking for the both of them.

"Good." He didn't need to deal with any stubbornness issues lumped on top of the other problems they would be discussing. "I want you both to understand something. If you so much as try to attack anyone on that island, they will kill you, and if Toothless or I try to interfere, the same applies to us. But that same concept applies to them too. It all depends on who strikes first."

'That seems counter-intuitive; surely the best solution to prevent conflict is to make it known both combatants would be killed if anything happens,' Einfari rumbled.

"If that was the case the more crazy would be able to pressure the less crazy into anything they wanted." He could totally see Dagur convincing someone like Snotlout that he would send them both to Valhalla that instant if Snotlout didn't cave on some trade deal or something.

'This so-called peace is really just assuring that the would-be attacker waits until it is over, then,' Nóttreiði growled. 'It is really just a pause in hostilities.'

"Basically, yes," Maour agreed, for once not disputing Nóttreiði's assessment of the situation. "But it adds up to the same thing. Do not attack, and you will be fine. If they attack, flee. Let the other humans deal with them, and trust me, they will."

That explained, Maour got down to the serious part of the talk. "Now I want you two to convince me you can do that. Nóttreiði, you first."

Nóttreiði glared at him for a long moment before abruptly relenting, looking down at the stone. "I am trying to change. Right now, I want Einfari safe. You say attacking means I die? Then it is in my best interest to not attack. That is all."

Maour had honestly expected some bloodthirsty plan to provoke Vikings into attacking simply to get them killed, but he was more than happy to not hear that coming from Nóttreiði. That didn't mean he was convinced yet. "I get you plan to be peaceful. In practice, though? It will not be easy. Some of these humans do want you, me, and everyone else on these sea stacks dead."

'I have already made the mistake of thinking myself in control and always right.' Nóttreiði nodded to Einfari. 'There is nothing I can say to you about my self-control; you have no reason to believe me. Know that I accept the consequences if I cannot do this simple thing.'

That was pretty convincing, but Maour had just been burned by trusting too easily. "So what do you see yourself doing down there?"

'Protecting Einfari.'

"The peace will do that. You attacking her attackers would make things worse and get you killed."

'Protecting,' Nóttreiði emphasized. 'In this case, that means throwing myself between her and any who attack, and if need be by taking the injury meant for her.'

Einfari barked in annoyance. 'Who says I want you to try and do that?!' she exclaimed angrily. 'That is stupid!'

'Fine, then, I will simply provide another set of eyes and ears at all times. Happy?' Nóttreiði asked defiantly.

'Do that,' Einfari asserted. 'Only that.'

Maour nodded in spite of himself. Maybe he was too forgiving and trusting, and her recalled Heather's warning given just moments ago, but he could not help but believe Nóttreiði would do as he had told Einfari, and no more. "I believe you mean to do that, Nóttreiði. But I need your word you will obey Toothless if he tells you to do something."

'I gave as much to my father… and then broke it, in spirit if not in exact wording,' Nóttreiði admitted. 'You have my word.'

Too easy, but Maour could not complain. "Your turn, Einfari."

'I am not easily provoked when I know someone will be trying to provoke me,' Einfari said confidently. 'Heather wants Dagur dead, but we are intelligent enough to wait when it means certain death to try. Truly,' and here she leaned in and lowered her mental voice so that it would not be overheard, 'I hope Toothless convinces her to at least put aside her hate. It is only hurting her. But I promised to help her kill him, so I will not give her reason to think I will not uphold that promise.'

"So do I," Maour agreed vehemently on the subject of hoping Toothless could somehow reason with Heather where he could not. "I think you will have a harder time keeping Heather in check than yourself." He needed little convincing from Einari…

But he also needed something else all the same. "And I want your word; you'll obey Toothless or me, even over Heather's wishes, for as long as we are here." He did not want to come between Heather and Einfari, but if he had to, he wanted some leverage to ensure he would not fail.

'You have it; I cannot be blamed for defying Heather if I had to give my word to even accompany her,' Einfari agreed readily. 'How long is this meeting of important humans supposed to last?'

"At least three days, probably more." He wanted to get as many tribes in on the mutual defense pact as possible, so he would take all the time he could get as long as things remained safe.

'And it… you are not planning on taking any of these humans, supposedly non-hostile or not, to our home island, or letting them know where it is?' Nóttreiði asked urgently.

Maour smiled reassuringly. "First and most importantly, I'm not that stupid. Second, I promised the pack not to reveal our island's location to anyone. Third, even if I wanted to and could, I wouldn't do it here or now, because there are plenty of humans here who cannot find out that location. Like Astrid."
Einfari was immediately on the alert. 'The human who wants all of our kind and you dead. She is here and you are not afraid she will break the peace?"

'She wants all of our kind dead by her hand or at least her order, and we're not even close to all here; she knows of Cloey if nobody else for sure. That's the reason she gave for not attacking me tonight, anyway." It was not at all reassuring, and he knew she would break the peace if he pushed her too far, but it was some small explanation for her actions.

'We will follow your lead,' Einfari declared, partially for Maour and partially, given how she very deliberately said we, for Nóttreiði's benefit. 'You know the currents that might otherwise drag us down.'

"Yes, I do." Maour noticed Toothless looking down from the higher sea stack. "Toothless, have you and Heather discussed this?"

'Yes. I trust her to go down there and not attack as long as someone remains vigilant and reminds her that she would not just be sacrificing her own future,' Toothless said solemnly.

"Good for her," Maour decided. If Toothless could handle Heather more effectively than he could, he would leave them to it. He certainly didn't know how Toothless had managed that. "Now, we have the rest of the night to sleep. Tomorrow, we go to work."

"What is the actual plan, Maour?" Heather asked, dropping down and walking over to stand by Einfari, her face unreadable.

"We make our way around all of those campsites tomorrow and talk to certain Chiefs individually, getting our foot in the door with them. That night, Bertha and I will propose the deal to them." He would explain the two specific tribes he was supposed to handle tomorrow morning before they set out. "It is basically a lot of posturing and negotiating, while avoiding the less friendly Chiefs, all done in a way to ensure we do not look weak at any point in time."

Heather nodded. "What's your strategy for explaining me and the others?"

"You're a friend, and so are they. Technically speaking, the 'Isle of Night' we're going to be talking about is actually just me and Toothless right now. We can get the pack to decide whether or not they want that to expand to include them later, but for the time being-"

'You are making no promise you cannot keep on your own,' Einfari purred. 'I approve. Who came up with that one?'

"I did. Anyway, Heather, feel free to help me talk to these people, offer advice, whatever, but I have to be the one doing the talking in the end."

"Unless it's Dagur. I'll talk to him myself this time around." Heather spread her arms. "And I don't plan on tricking him into striking first, before you start wondering."

'She understands,' Toothless added knowingly.

"Okay then." Maour yawned, and was forced to consider the time of night. "We can sleep out here, and talk through the rest of this in the morning. Our first stop will be the Order-Keeper, to add you three to the official peace."

'No, our first stop is breakfast,' Toothless corrected lightly.

"Second stop. We will want to eat on the beach to avoid looking scared of everyone else, and that means being safe before we do that. Don't worry, it will be quick." He didn't expect trouble with the Order-Keeper.

'Hypothetically,' Einfari asked after a moment, 'would it be good or bad if we harmlessly scared these humans? You speak of not looking afraid as if doing so will put us in a less influential position.'

"If you have a way to do that, tell me." He would play the little unspoken game of reputation for all it was worth, and with a few Nótts on his side, he felt more than capable of doing do. But that was for tomorrow.

So much to discuss, and so little time! Dagur immediately made for Astrid once he had shaken off the jitters of not being able to kill when near-bloodlust descended. Always annoying, that, but this place was a lesson in controlling himself for an extended time, and he knew he needed to. No single kill immediately repaid by death could be as satisfying as all the kills he would make if he did not attack here.

Savage was following him, of course. He didn't care; Savage was always following. The important person was sitting out in front of her tribe's tents, sharpening a stake. A fittingly ominous activity, given the rage he suspected she was also dealing with.

Luckily, he knew their moods would soon change. One of the many benefits of being like them; no setback could keep them down for long at all. Who had time for anger or frustration when there was always something new to kill?

"Astrid!" he called out happily, laughing maniacally for a short time.

"Dagur." Astrid stood and hefted the stake, before driving it into the sand, never taking her eyes off of him. "What do you want?"

"To commiserate!" Dagur pointed up at the hill, though there were no accursed shapes to be seen there any longer. "To plot revenge! To court you!" All three were about the same in his mind, at least for the moment.

"I did say you could try," Astrid said dismissively. "I didn't say you would be able to succeed. And I need no help in plotting."

"Oh, at least let me help," Dagur asked hopefully. "Hear me out! Five minutes, no more." He wanted to force her to listen, but that wouldn't work any better on her than it would on him. She was a new kind of challenge. An interesting one, too.

"Three."

"I can do it in one." Dagur pointed out at the open water. "See those lights out there?"

"The ones from your ships," Astrid remarked, coming to stand beside him, sharpened stake and ax in hand.

"Yes!" He was fully enthusiastic about this now, to the point where if Hiccup walked right in front of them, he would probably just shove him out of the way. "Eight fully-armed warships, crewed by Berserker island's… dregs."

Astrid looked over at him, unamused. "Get to the point."

"I am!" He held down a flash of rage. "These are my dregs, maybe a tenth of my total might, but then again… how many warships does Berk have? Ten in total?"
"Fourteen, now." Astrid seemed to be getting his point. "None as good as these, either."

"We have many things in common," Dagur enthused. "I have an armada, you have a target you hate, I hate that target too, you're insane, I'm insane… it all makes sense."

"A target that is right here, right now." Astrid snapped the sharpened stake over her knee in a burst of anger. "You want to court me? Help me kill him without repercussion and I'm yours, assuming our honeymonth is spent hunting the Night Furies he claims as his own."

Too easy, though he was glad she had so quickly grasped that being with him would put his fleet at her genocidal disposal. "No, I want to have to work for you," Dagur complained. "No deal. I'll try and help you kill him, but at least put up a fight before giving in to my pursuit."

"I'm not the prey," Astrid growled, stalking a few steps away from him. "Forget that and I'll gut you."

"Predators hunt predators, you know," Dagur retorted. "What do you think us hunting dragons is?"

Astrid smiled, her anger gone in an instant. "Very true. Or us hunting other so-called Vikings."

Perfect. She might be the same as him, but he had more practice with the mood swings they suffered from, and he would use that. This really was a hunt, him for her, and she didn't know the game as well as he did.

"And speaking of hunting both humans and Vikings…" Dagur gestured to his ships. "The rules around here are interesting. Allow me to explain which parts will let us slaughter Hiccup and his dragon unopposed."

"I am listening."

Dagur could not help but inwardly celebrate as he explained what he knew of this so-called peace's loopholes. They were subtle and frustrating, but they were there, and along with the promise of overwhelming power, they were his courting gift to Astrid. He would catch her, and soon. There really wasn't any reason for her to resist. And in the process, they would have some fun hunting down actual prey.

Author's Note: So, for anyone who didn't know what Dagur was planning to do at this meeting, now you do. Sorry for what some might rightfully consider yet another setup chapter, but I had to do it… and what's a good chapter without a cliffhanger?