Eyarr and I waved goodbye to Hilda and her village a few days later. Maui was with us this time, and I was ecstatic he was here.

He and I had spent several days catching up, and he had told me about what my family had been up to since I left. It left me emotional and with a deeper longing to see everyone again. Maui promised he'd been working on finding me a way to communicate with home and maybe a chance to see everyone. It was a shot in the dark but worth a try.

Despite the initial awkward interactions, Maui and Eyarr were getting along. Eyarr was dumbfounded seeing Maui transform into his favorite giant hawk form.

"First, the ocean is alive, and now there are demigods that can shape-shift? What's next? Magic?" I laughed.

"The world is wilder than you think! I didn't even know dragons existed until I came here!" I replied.

"Touché."

We did intend to fly to the south to find the Celts, but Mother Nature had different ideas.

A week after we left Hilda's village, a massive snowstorm blew through. Eyarr and I were both frustrated, but we had no choice but to stay put. Somehow, this storm was worse than the one for my first winter on New Berk. The trauma of becoming sick flashed through my head, making me shudder. I genuinely thought I would die, but luckily I was well taken care of until spring came, and my health improved.

I was better prepared for bad winters now. But I didn't think either of us were prepared for the storm. Ironically though, Hilda's village gifted us fur coats for our journey.

"The North Sea becomes even colder and more unpredictable during these months. We want you to be prepared."

The North Sea was cold, alright.

It was completely frozen over.

"Fuck." I uttered, looking over the sea, standing on a cliff. The sharp wind blew my hair, and I pulled my new fur coat around me tighter. This was a cold I had never experienced before. This was a deadly kind of cold.

"Laeli, come on. Staring at the sea isn't going to make it melt any faster. Cliffire and Riptide found a cave for us." Eyarr said as he came up behind me. He placed a hand on my lower back, "Ocean will have to wait until the spring melt."

"So we'll find the Celtic people during the spring melt?"

"We will." With a dejected sigh, I walked with Eyarr to the cave the dragons found. It was sizable, enough for all of us to fit comfortably. Eyarr had Cliffire help him put a strong, sturdy blanket to cover at least part of the cave entrance to protect us from nature's harsh winds. Maui said he would spend the winter in the realm of the gods for the time being, at least during the winter. He said while he was there, he would try and talk to the gods about how I ended up here.

We settled in just as the storm was picking up force again. Initially, I insisted I would be fine next to Riptide for the night. But then Riptide moved closer to Cliffire for warmth. I sat there for a moment, debating whether it was worth it.

Eyarr gave me a look seeing me sit there.

"Come on, I don't bite." He joked, patting the spot next to him. I rolled my eyes, bringing my blankets closer to him. He turned and patted Cliffire on his side. Suddenly, I could feel the heat radiating off of his scales.

"What's he doing?" I asked in wonder.

"Sharing his body heat. He can self-regulate. I don't know exactly how he does it, but regardless, it's kept us alive on many rough winters. This one won't be an exception." I leaned against Cliffire's side, feeling the heat seep into my skin, feeling the pulses through his body. I looked up at Cliffire, who craned his neck, nuzzling me gently.

"Thank you…" I said.

"Come on, I'll help you get comfy." Eyarr offered.

"You don't have to. I can make myself comfy."

"Let me." He said, a bit firmer this time, "The last thing I want is you to get sick. I can handle the cold better than you." He made sure I had enough furs and blankets. I don't know how long he stayed up, but I eventually fell asleep to the sounds of the dragons breathing, the fire crackling, and the icy wind outside.

I woke up in the late morning to the smell of fish cooking. I sat up, seeing Eyarr busy making food.

"Oh, morning," I said groggily, pushing my hair out of my face. He glanced over, smiling at me.

"Morning to you, too. How'd you sleep?" I bobbed my head a bit.

"Actually, quite decently." He offered me some fish with bread and honey, "How much fish do we have left?"

"Not a lot. We'll have to go fishing soon."

"And how will we do that with it cold and icy out there?" I asked.

"Easy, ice fishing."

"Ice… fishing?" I repeated. He nodded.

"What, you've never heard of that before?" I paused and shook my head.

"Nope."

"Hm. Well, when it's a bit warmer, I'll show you. It's pretty straightforward." I shrugged.

"Alright." After we ate, Eyarr went out to survey the land while I stayed inside, bringing one of his empty leather bags. I would have to find new ways to entertain myself during the winter. I found my Hoe Leiomano, or my shark tooth club, in one of my bags, along with some other weapons from home that I kept. And my Pikoi, a special tripping weapon that I was specially taught how to use.

My father taught me and Aihe everything about Lua, our ancient fighting style. Dad said he hoped we never had to use our skills, but if needed, we would know how to defend ourselves.

We had a small group of warrior women who, along with me, were taught the Pikoi and became extremely accurate with our throws. But despite its unassuming appearance, it was a deadly weapon, designed to throw rocks from long distances and to trip our enemies in battle.

I remember asking Dad where he learned all of this, and he said when he was a kid, before his island's exodus, he was offered training by an old master who had not had a student in a long time and saw potential in my father. He taught him traditional hand-to-hand combat styles, and also the proper use of weapons. When Dad came to Motunui, along with helping our fisherman improve their baiting and catching, he taught our warriors a lot.

And even though he just had Aihe and I and no sons, Dad wasn't deterred from teaching us typically masculine fighting and warfare.

"Regardless of who becomes chief, you must both know how to fight. You will fight with your people, never ahead or behind them. Remember that."

I took that to heart, and I wanted to make him proud. Make both my parents proud. Becoming the leader mom was meant to be, and the warrior dad wanted to be.

So while Eyarr was gone, I decided it would be a good time to refine my skills. I remembered the stances Dad taught me, swiveling my wrists around accordingly with each weapon. I even used the new daggers that Eyarr gifted me. I had to adjust a little bit, but the daggers weren't too different from the shark tooth clubs I was used to using. I created a small target on the soft dirt of the cave wall, bettering my target practice.

I wondered if Eyarr would ever be interested in practicing hand-to-hand combat. Granted, I knew his style would drastically differ, but I was still interested in practicing with him.

After several hours of refining and practicing, I was tired and sore. And by pure chance, Eyarr returned to the cave, with his leather bag full shortly after I was done.

"How was it out there? And what's in the bag?" I asked.

"Weather still sucks, but it's an improvement from last night. I found a good spot for ice fishing, the ice is pretty solid. So I was able to partially replenish our stock." He replied, setting the bag down. I grabbed the descaling tools and carefully collected some embers. I set up a spot near the cave entrance, placed the embers on the ground, and set up some sticks. Once I was done, I joined Eyarr's side, and together, we worked on descaling the fish he caught, cutting the meat, and putting the skin to the side.

I showed Eyarr a different descaling technique my father taught me that would be much more effective and faster. Once we were done, I took the cut meat and hung it over the embers, setting up stones and leather around it so the meat could be smoked dry.

In the past months of being with Eyarr, we learned each other's survival techniques, and I enjoyed it. We worked well together, and our skills were complementary.

Once we were done, we sat back and relaxed, enjoying a dinner of cooked salmon, bread, honey, and dried berries from the summer. I reminisced to him about family dinners from home, sharing old stories we would laugh at.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. What about your dinners with the Haddocks?" He asked. I chuckled.

"Oh, they were quite similar! Chief Hiccup was always cracking sarcastic jokes with us and Gobber, an old friend of his father's. Zephyr and Nuffink would bicker with each other, and Chieftess Astrid and Hiccups' mother Valka, and I would just watch in amusement. It was the closest reminder of home on New Berk." He smiled.

"Having dinner with you is far better than eating alone." Cliffire snorted indignantly behind him, "Hey buddy, I like having dinner with you, too."

"But it's better with a person."

"Absolutely."

After we finished dinner, I ensured the smoking fish would be fine through the night, with the embers still going. I poked them to keep them alive.

As we settled in for bed, I decided to mention the practicing.

"Hey, Eyarr?"

"Hm?"

"Remember when you told me you'd offer to teach me how to fight with daggers?"

"I do. Why?"

"Well, I want to practice with other weapons, not just daggers." He raised an eyebrow but seemed curious.

"Alright, hit me." I showed him my other weapons, to which I quickly explained their uses.

"But I'm skilled in more than clubs."

"Like what?"

"We call it Lua back home. It's a special type of fighting that only certain people are taught. Usually, our warriors are taught to protect the chief and their families. But my father was taught it, and therefore taught my sister and me those skills." He appeared surprised at first, but it quickly dissipated.

"That's pretty cool. What are the techniques?"

"There's a lot that goes into it. But bone breaking, joint locking, pressure points… uh, open ocean warfare are just a few."

"Huh! Alright, that's hella cool. Us Vikings have our own hand-to-hand combat, too."

"Is that right?" He laughed.

"Yes, we do more than use swords and axes. Our style is called Glima. It's similar to what you're describing, but we use more kicks and damage-inflicting blows."

"So you're saying if we were physically fighting, we'd be equal in technique?"

"To an extent." He answered, "It's interesting to think about."

We stayed up for a couple more hours just talking about our fighting skills and our interest in teaching each other. I was thrilled that he was on board.

Tomorrow, we would give it a go.