It was no surprise that most of the journey was made in silence as neither warrior spoke to each other. It was hard enough having survived a brutal attack from an enemy they couldn't even see let alone fight back against, but having such a bitter history made it that much tougher. Even the dragon they rode on made little noise outside of the occasional grunt as it corrected its course to wherever Heather had told it to fly to.

Farran shifted his weight with a sense of discomfort. The gods seemed to work in mysterious ways as the full brunt of what had transpired started to press down on him, from the moment Ryker had tried to gut him up to this very moment, making a deal with the traitorous spy to stop the bald headed maniac before he took any more human lives. And even if he managed to survive whatever came next, what would be left for him after the dust settled? It was a bitter pill to swallow. His bargaining chip of concealed dragon trapping locations had managed to keep him from being placed in a cage, at least for a while longer, but it didn't show much of a future afterwards.

"You good back there?"

Farran snapped out of the distracted gaze he hadn't realized he was expressing and noticed Heather looking back at him. She was still angry but some small amount of concern showed.

"I will be fine." He waved off, not wishing to share his woes with his somewhat temporary ally and found his temper rising quickly. "Let us just kill Ryker and be done with it."

"Or Viggo. This could be him as much as it is Ryker striking us you know."

Farran let loose a low growl of annoyance, despite her being possibly right. Even after all the doubt she had tried to place in his mind he still held a sense of loyalty to his employer. "Very well. Should it be Viggo, which I guarantee it will not be, you and your friends are free to deal with him however you please. If it's Ryker, we cut his head from his shoulders and be done with it!"

Heather sighed. The kind of sigh that you hear after having an argument for the hundredth time in a row. She turned her full attention to the injured hunter trusting Windshear to guide them to where they needed to go.

"So that's all there is to it then?" She asked tiredly. "A simple revenge kill and then that's it?"

"If you're worried I won't uphold my end of the bargain, you have no need to worry. As I said back on your island, I have never lied to you including now. You will have you caged reptiles."

"Charming but that's not what I was referring to."

"Then what is it you ARE referring to?" Farran responded getting all the more annoyed the longer this pointless talk went on for.

Heather collected herself before offering her rebuttal but then paused. After a second or two she quickly waved it off. "Nevermind. It'll be easier to discuss back on the Edge."

The hunters face twisted upon hearing the name of the dragon riders main base. He had very much expected it to be their destination but having it confirmed did nothing to settle him. So instead of replying he merely chose to view the sea below hoping the sight and sound of the waves would ease him, which it did. A boat would have been much more preferable compared to... this. Riding around in the sky on top an angry fire spewing monster. Unfortunately time was not on his side nor was it his choice so he would make do as best he could.

As the wind shot past them and the morning sun decided to grace them with its presence after nearly an hour of flying, a sudden thought came to Farran. One of curiosity that revolved around Heather. Throughout his entire time knowing her she had once been seen as a brave and powerful spy for the hunters before her true agenda had been discovered. Before then she had made mentions of being a child of two families and even how she had come to befriend her mount. She had told him plenty of small details of her life and he had done the same. But now there was something he felt he needed to ask while they still had time. It was hard to tell how she may even react but Farran decided to ask anyway.

"Did you ever hate dragons?"

The hunter could practically imagine the riders eyes bulging slightly. Even the dragon who had apparently heard him made a strange screech-like noise of surprise at the sudden broken silence. Heather cast him quite the look as though ready to push him off of Windshear.

"During the war I mean." Farran clarified. "Yes, you seem to share a clear bond with... your dragon now. But back when dragons attacked viking villages constantly and those you loved killed, fought and died on the battlefield of death, did you want nothing more than to protect them from your once great enemy? Even if it meant killing a dragon?"

"Why, interested to hear me just tell tales over spilling dragon guts for your entertainment?"

This was a conversation Windshear was not all too happy listening to.

"Merely a curiosity."

Heather remained quiet on the matter, offering only a frustrated huff of air through her nostrils before returning to what was in front of her once more making her thoughts on the matter all too clear. The hunter decided to say nothing and allowed the Berserker her peace as he focused once more on the endless ocean. It didn't take much longer until a small mass of land could be seen in the distance and was slowly growing bigger by the second. Perhaps another ten minutes of flying and they would reach it. There was no need to be informed of the name of the island as it was all too obvious what it was and who inhabited it. Farran had to admit there was a certain tightness in his chest now, and not because of his injuries either.

Then something broke him from his thoughts.

"I never really came across many dragons growing up." Heather spoke up causing Farran to look up surprised. Her words were so sudden and out of nowhere that for a second he didn't realize what she was talking about. Just for a second. "I'd heard about them but never actually saw them since where I grew up was so remote. It wasn't until I was fifteen that I actually came across a dragon face to face."

Farran seemed to show no reaction other than maybe his lips tightly pressing together upon her last note. No doubt he knew that feeling just as much as she did.

"That must have been... shocking." The hunter pointed out, barely sympathetic. His face soon contorted into confusion as she released a small laugh at his reply.

"A little. But it's not every day you find yourself looking right into the eyes of 'the unholy beast of lightning and death' itself?"

Unholy beast of lightning and death? Surely she wasn't talking about...

...

"You came across a night fury and lived?" Farran asked astonished, his usual stoic mask cracking bit by bit. "How did you survive?"

"He wasn't exactly the aggressive type, just more interested to know who I was. Although it turns out Stormfly liked me just as much, probably thanks to all that chicken I fed her back then."

Stormfly? Where had he heard that name before? Wasn't that the supposed to be one of the...?

The hunter noticed the amused smirk on the rider face growing the more he put the pieces of the puzzle together. Now everything was making more and more sense. Her fondness of dragons, learning to train the razorwhip and even acting as a spy for the hunters, all because of some chance meeting three years ago?

"This explains a lot." He mulled over. "How did you even meet?"

"That's an even longer story." She mumbled. "Do you know who Alvin the Treacherous is?"

And so for the remainder of the flight, Heather told Farran what had happened during her very first experience with dragons, how a powerful maniac with a personal vendetta against Berk had attempted to use her to steal something known as the book of dragons, met the dragon riders for the very first time and double crossed them, and how after all the damage she had done, managed to come through and redeem herself by stopping Alvins twisted plans. It was quite the story. And Farran managed to pick up on some things more than others.

"So you were a spy before the hunters then?"

"I was." She nodded.

"And you did it to save your family?"

"Yes."

Farran found himself feeling something towards Heather he had not done since he had discovered her true role within the hunter ranks. A feeling of respect. Having to be just a kid and forced to undergo a dangerous mission with the risk of capture or worse, only to come out on top and ensuring the safety of her parents. Even as her enemy he had to admit he was impressed. It didn't excuse her actions against helping dragons nowadays, but he was impressed.

"So. Now you know." Heather finished with a distant look.

Farran opened his mouth to reply, but the razorwhip started to dive downwards forcing Farran to tighten his grip. Had he been so engrossed in Heathers story that he had forgotten he was still on top of a dragon? Daring to look down he could see a fast approaching wooden platform. They had arrived at Dragons Edge. At the last second before hitting land, the beast flapped its enormous wings halting the majority of its momentum before gracefully landing right in the middle of the platform. Despite dreading having to step foot on this accursed island once more, Farrans need to feel solid ground beneath his feet won out and was the first to disembark. Heather followed soon after.

"What made you change your mind?" The hunter asked out of the blue as Heather checked on Windshear.

"What do you mean?"

"When I first asked about your experience with dragons you clearly did not want to answer. And then not long after you decide to tell me anyway. What changed your mind?"

Heather gave her dragon a gentle rub on her horn, assuring the animal that she was okay. She then answered. "I just remembered back on Berserker island when we were under attack and everything was in chaos. I knew you would try to escape if you hadn't already and wanted to stop you, but my village and my people come first. It was only after everything had settled down and our fighters began to focus on taking care of the injured did I finally have time to look for you. I was furious, seeing everything that Viggo had done to us and I was ready to toss you into the deepest, darkest hole I could find." The growing anger that had been carefully building up in her voice then disappeared and was replaced with a controlled calmness. "And then when I did find you, you were looking after that girl and her mother, keeping them safe. And judging from from that burning house, well... you clearly saved their lives, didn't you?" The hunters silence confirmed it and she gave a gentle smile. "That's when I realized something that I... I should have worked out."

"And what would that be?"

"Everytime I've reached out to you.. everytime I've tried to help you've pushed every one of those offers aside without even thinking about it. I thought you were nothing more than a selfish, twisted monster every time you did. But that's not the case. You're... you're...?"

"I'm what?" Farran asked crossing his arms as he continued to wait for Heather to stop showering her overgrown pet with affection.

"Well, to be honest I'm still trying to work that out." She sighed. "But... you're not a monster. That much I do know. You might not care for dragons, but you do care for other vikings." At last she managed to pry herself from the dragon and closed the short distance between him and her. "Do you know what else that tells me?"

Farran shook his head. Heather in turn chose to place on of her hands on his shoulders. She wanted him to hear this.

"It tells me you're a better man than both Ryker and Viggo."

Farran seemed to hear her well enough. He looked to the shoulder Heather had placed her hand on, then back up to her face to see her sympathetic eyes staring directly at him. He did not hold that gaze long and brushed her hand off not harshly.

"Come. I believe we've spent enough time sharing opinions." He muttered before heading over the walkway that connected the landing platform to the rest of the buildings. Heather watched his retreating form a few seconds more before quickly catching up. Windshear followed closely behind. There was no doubt that the rest of the riders were going to have plenty to say about Farrans presence here on the edge.

./././././././././././././././././././././././

Now that I have a bit of a break from work now I can focus a bit more on this story once again thank goodness. Not to mention a bit of an extra feature you've probably seen by now which is the new title image. It's not exactly finished yet and will need some changes but considering it's the first proper picture I drawn of both Farran and Heather, I think it turned out quite well. Makes me want to do more but that's a future decision right now. For now, I hope the designs of both characters look good enough to please y'all ^^