Dagur stood, eyes looking nowhere in particular, for what seemed like forever. Eventually, he spoke.
"Wh-what just happened?" Before the elder Berserker could receive a reply, he turned to his older self. "I listened to you. Did what you asked me to do with the mindset that it would benefit me," Dagur seethed.
FD stayed calm. "This was unexpected, but maybe it's...for...the–"
PD crossed his arms. "You can't even say it and that's because no matter how much you've over romanticized your memories of Dad, you know how it's always been with him." His tone became ice-like. "I should've left him on that island."
FD's brows furrowed. "No, this is still better."
The ex-chief laughed scornfully. "Why? Because he's dead in your timeline? Doesn't sound too bad to me right now." The time traveler's eyes widened in shock. "Yeah, I know you never told me," pD started, "but I could read between the lines. That's why you were so adamant about me saving him. So adamant to 'fix our future.' Well, how's it looking now?"
FD sadly regarded him. "I understand how much being chief means to you."
PD gave a small nod. "Then you'll understand why I can't listen to you until you're back with things you remember. If we're in new territory, you can't help me. You've proven this today with Alvin."
Embarrassment was evident on the elder Viking's face. "I'm sorry for that."
PD waved him off angrily. "Doesn't matter. I'll find a way to be chief again. In fact," a deranged twinkle shone in his eyes, "not only will I prove that they want me as leader, I'll prove that they need me."
Dagur strode to his hut with a newfound confidence–one that concerned his future self.
"What are you planning?" fD asked.
PD gave a smug smirk. "Nothing that you'd approve of and considering what I normally do, you'll complain once you hear it."
The older Berserker frowned at him. "So, you're not going to tell me."
PD's smirk got larger and he walked closer to the building.
Stopping just as he reached the entrance, Dagur said, "All I've got to do is keep cool for a while. Anything too soon would mess up my plan."
He entered the hut with a stressed out Berserker behind him. The night brought no sleep, though much scheming for Dagur. His face was plastered with a grim smile the next morning.
"You look…suspicious," fD commented.
PD nodded. "Dad's not up yet. Once he is, I'll lose the grin and look more like someone who's just been stripped of the position that they both love and deserve."
His tone became harsher as he spoke. Thinking about it more, a scowl was easily formed once the Viking did see his father.
"Good morning," Oswald greeted, a jolly sound in his voice that infuriated Dagur.
"Morning," the boy said back, with a significantly smaller amount of enthusiasm.
Oswald went to the hut's door and exited, heading over to Heather's home. Curious, Dagur peeked out the door and saw where Oswald was going. The boy growled.
"And now he's going over to gloat. Heather does not need to be the first person to know I'm not chief anymore."
He glared at the resumed chief all the way up until Oswald was allowed inside of the home and no longer in plain sight. The man was warmly received by his daughter and her foster parents. He beamed so much in their presence that Heather just had to ask what had happened.
Still smiling, he responded, "I have some good news that I wanted you to be the first to hear of."
She raised a brow. "What is it?"
The man plopped down in a chair as though it were his throne. "You will be able to see your father lead our kingdom from now on and when I'm done, you can take my place."
Heather's eyes widened. "Um, wh-what?" was all she could muster. "But, I thought-"
Oswald gave an understanding nod of his head. "You thought that Dagur would be chief." A small smirk appeared on his face as he thought, "So did he." Aloud, he stated, "Yes, but things have changed with your return. And they changed for the better, Heather." He looked into her eyes and smiled. "Trust me, you will be a wonderful chief when the time comes. I'll make sure of it."
This did ease Heather's worries a bit, though she was still uncertain.
"Come with me while I do my runs around the island today. That way, I can start showing you how to be in charge."
A smile slowly formed on Heather's face and she nodded. "All right." With agreeing looks from Axel and Mia, the two left the hut and went into the village.
Dagur had stopped staring at Heather's hut long enough to miss the two exiting. Instead, he was sharpening a blade.
"I just don't know how long I should wait," he thought aloud.
His older self only grew more wary at these words. As the boy schemed, Oswald and Heather were going to the docks.
"An important thing with leading the Berserkers is knowing which traders have the best supplies," the man told her.
They looked around at the items that each Viking sold.
He whispered, "I have a couple of tricks that I've only ever told your mother. Watch." They approached one trader who was selling fish. "Where did you get these?" Oswald asked.
The trader replied, "Just eastward of the outskirts of the archipelago."
The chief nodded and kept walking by.
"What was wrong?" Heather inquired.
Her father frowned. "The outskirts are several days away by boat. If he got those from there, the fish wouldn't have been fresh."
Impressed, the girl continued walking beside him as he went through some more of the faulty traders. Eventually, they found three respectable vendors and went back to their huts with arms full of goods. Oswald went to his hut and saw Dagur sharpening another knife.
"We're about to go into the village. There's an announcement that I need to make. Come with us," the man stated, setting down a bag of apples.
The young Viking kept his face calm, "I've got plans for today. Maybe next time."
Oswald did not move and sighed. "That wasn't a question, Dagur. I told you, I have an announcement to make and it's an important one."
Dagur felt more anger boil in his stomach and he let a small amount of the steam out.
"Well excuse me if I don't want to be there when you tell the whole island I'm not chief anymore." His rage momentarily faded as the Berserker's face saddened. "It was tricky enough to get them to move past their suspicions of me and want my leadership. Now, they'll just assume that all the things they thought were right. Could you not mention me directly?"
Oswald took out the contents of the bag. "I've already thought of what I'll say."
When the items had been put up, the chief went to the door and looked back at Dagur expectantly. The Viking reluctantly followed him out and they went over to Heather before going to the center of the island. Heather wanted to say something of what she had learned that day, but it all seemed too awkward. She really did not know either of them well enough to want to get involved. Once they reached the center, Oswald climbed onto the podium and cleared his throat, signaling for the attention of his surrounding Berserkers. They stopped and turned to see what the man would say. As they did, Dagur's stomach formed knots.
"Change is a beautiful thing," Oswald began. "It led to my daughter being reunited with us, dragons being trained, and new leadership for you all. Now that I am here, I shall be your chief once more."
"When my reign has come to an end, Heather will be my successor. Even so soon as today, I have begun training her to the best of my abilities to take my place. It has been made clear to me that your current situation needs to be altered and I am glad that I could do that."
Oddly enough, the part about training stung Dagur more than the subtle insult. For years, he had tried to go with his father to study how to be a chief. Every time, Oswald would shoo him away and refuse. The annoying sensation of jealousy tugged at him, though he pushed it away. Oswald said a few more things while he was on stage, mostly more passive aggressive remarks towards the ex-chief that went over the heads of many Berserkers; however, Dagur had stopped listening. Rather than let his mind rest on the concept of being upset with his sister's and father's instantaneous bond, he went back to his plan. Mentally, he imagined commanding his Berserkers in battle.
"This'll be new, but I can do it," the boy mused.
When Oswald was done speaking, a round of applause began and he descended back to the ground. Without looking at Dagur, he went to Heather and the two went to the Hall to answer the impending questions that were to follow. A voice snapped Dagur out of his thoughts and he turned to see one of the last Vikings that he wanted to see.
With a villainous grin, stood Ansson the Abominable. The man seemed to tower over Dagur and was as sturdy as one of the huts.
"Ya couldn't cut it as chief, eh Dainty?" he chuckled. Ansson's eyes lit up. "Guess if things are going back to normal, they're going all the way back," he said, his tone becoming sinister.
The Viking stalked towards the other, who pulled out a knife. "Nothing's going back to that kind of normal," Dagur stated.
His older self glared at the other Berserker. In all the years that had passed, he had nearly forgotten how Ansson once was, or at least in build. The man's bully tendencies had left him long ago, as did his muscularity when he spent so much time tirelessly hunting down the Scauldron. The Ansson that Dagur saw again after his return to Berserker Island was an eighth of the size of the one he saw before them then.
"Really think that you can beat me?" Ansson taunted.
Honestly, the two Dagurs highly doubted that. The odds were against the boy. Ansson was a trained soldier. He had been for years and had also been starting and winning fights since before Dagur chased his first chicken. On top of this, the Berserker fought dirty.
"Besides," he began, "even if you somehow did win, resulting in my humiliation, your sister wouldn't do as well." Dagur's face paled as he thought of Heather, making Ansson smile. "The only real way to make sure neither of you are in danger is to not only beat me, but kill me. And we know that apparently , you're no killer."
Dagur snarled. "You wouldn't attack Heather. She's next in line and you wouldn't want any vengeance to come your way when she's in charge. Plus, Dad won't let you hurt her. You'd be shipped off in pieces before you could even think up a plan."
Ansson growled back. For the moment, they were at a standstill. A smirk tugged at Ansson's lips.
"You're probably right. It's good to know that the chief cares about one of his kids. I'll have to get used to that."
Shooting a hateful look, Dagur left for the forest. The Viking went to what was once a strong tree that was now scratched and nearly destroyed. FD looked at the tree in remembrance, sighing.
"Haven't been here in ages."
It was a place that he used to go when he was infuriated. Sort of his way to prevent accidentally hurting someone or purposefully doing that and getting in trouble. Viciously, PD attacked the trunk of the tree, slicing it with a blade.
"I'm pushing up the time," he said, still slashing. "This time tomorrow, I'll be in charge again and there's nothing Oswald can do about it."
Dagur let out a deranged laugh before FD interrupted him. "Enough! Whatever you're planning, it can't be good. I came here to prevent us from going down the path of evil and I'm not going to just stand by and watch as you run down it anyway. I don't like to waste my time." His tone was firm and unrelenting, as was his glare. "Now, for the last time, what are you planning?"
PD glared back, though let his eyes divert from his older self's. "I'm planning on sneaking back onto Outcast Island and killing Alvin. It's a win-win. He can't hurt Heather and with their leader murdered, the Outcasts will attack us."
FD rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And why is that a win?"
"Because when they do, it'll be clear to everyone that the real reason Dad's never declared a war is that he doesn't know how to be chief in one. He's too reserved and when he's afraid to take action, I'll be the one left to lead us to victory."
FD sighed. "It's not worth it. Some of our people could get really hurt in the battle, or killed, just because of your 'ambition.'" He could see that he was getting through to his past self and his tone turned more empathizing. "Look, Dad's not the right choice for chief anymore and to be honest, as much as I love Heather, she's not either. We'll find a way to get you back there, but this isn't it. If you want to lead, you need to do it by proving that you deserve it. Not by scheming or killing, but through respect. I still have memories of being chief, so this doesn't need to be permanent. You just need to be patient for once. I'll be here right beside you as we try to figure this out. I get that if it's a new memory, I won't be as much help, but I've still got a lot more experiences than you've had and those can come in handy. What happened with Alvin won't happen again. That just triggered an interesting flashback. We can fix this, though I need you to trust me. We've always had a hard time trusting others, but we've been pretty consistent in trusting ourselves."
He smiled jokingly. PD paused for a moment, then nodded.
"All right," he agreed, "We'll do this together."