It took some self-encouragement, but I actively tried to make Eyarr more comfortable. I showed him my kinder side, but I remained cautious, not letting him too close. It was worth mentioning that he struck up a good friendship with Ana's son, Dustin, and Zyrah's son Tannr. When Eyarr wasn't in the house, I often saw him with Dustin and Tannr, talking about Gods knows what. But I was happy to see him slowly come out of his shell.

In one conversation I'd overheard him chat about with Dustin, Eyarr was sharing tales of the sights he'd seen and that he picked up on a few languages. It intrigued me. And I felt there was more of a possible connection if I expressed my interest.

I was still taking mini-lessons with Hiccup to improve my Norse, per my request, even though he insisted I was fluent. But I was always eager to learn more. After all, I had the benefit of being the chief's daughter, which enabled me more access to learn new things others couldn't. On top of my people skills with my mom, my sister and I would learn survival skills from our father. Since, well, before he and Mom met, he was a fisherman. I learned to cast nets, build traps, and learn the behavior of schools of fish.

Around the same time, I recall Astrid chatting with Ruffnut and Minden about the possibility of his weapons range.

It made me laugh. The Berkians, all so fascinated by this stranger. I'd never seen anything like it. Valka had mentioned that Hiccup and Astrid didn't typically gossip, but when it came to dragons and weapons, respectively, they couldn't help it.

I decided I'd learn more about him independently since he was my guest, and I felt the obligation.

It just so happened I found Eyarr sharpening his sword one afternoon. I was walking by with Ana, and I spied him. It was a mundane chore here on Berk since I'd seen numerous people sharpen their weapons. I'd even visited the forge to see Hiccup and Gobber at work. The forge was utterly fascinating since there was nothing like it on Motunui.

Ana must have noticed my expression and let me join him since she encouraged me to get to know him better.

He didn't see me approach him, but he was pleasantly surprised.

"What, do you need anything?" He asked, putting his whetstone down. I shrugged.

"Mm! Nah, just curious, I just like watching the process of sharpening weapons."

"Do you want to try? It's not that hard." I shook my head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to watch." I then considered an offer that would be my way of getting a taste of his skills, "by the way… if you're ever down for it, maybe we could spar?" He blinked in astonishment at first, but then I saw a sly smile creep across his face. He returned to his sword and whetstone, slowly scraping the latter across the blade's edge.

"That would be very interesting," he paused for a moment. "Have you sparred before?" I grinned.

"Oh yeah. I used to spar with my dad and sister growing up. I'm capable." He raised his eyebrows and chuckled a bit.

"Alright. Tomorrow afternoon then. How about it?"

"Perfect!"

We parted ways for the day, doing our usual stuff. When I went to the Haddocks for dinner, Ana and her son Dustin also visited. I stuck with Zephyr most of the time and finally told her about my spar session with Eyarr tomorrow. She was surprised.

"No offense Laeli, but I don't think that's a battle you'll win." I shrugged.

"I never said I intended to win, but I just want to know what he's capable of." Ana overheard me.

"If you come to my house with a broken bone, you're helping Dustin gather my supplies for a week!"

"No promises!"

"You're okay with the possibility of a broken bone from him? Laeli, the man is jacked." Zephyr exclaimed, laughing in disbelief, "You're crazy!"

"Life's too short not to try."

"Good luck, idiot."

The next afternoon, I found Eyarr waiting for me behind the house. He looked prepared for this.

"How long have you been waiting here?" I asked.

"Eh, an hour or so, just preparing myself." I heard a guttural snort and jumped, not realizing Cliffire was watching us from the edge of the woods.

"Does… he have to be here?"

"Don't mind him. He's here for entertainment." Eyarr replied a bit smugly. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I picked up my linen strips and wrapped them around my hands and wrists. And I even removed my boots; since I was raised barefoot, it offered more agility. I caught his glance upon me doing so, but he said nothing about it. I then watched as he pulled off his tunic, and I finally had a better view of his chest and abdomen. His muscles flexed with the movement of his body, and Zephyr's words rang back in my head.

"Laeli, the man is jacked!" And damn, he was. Every muscle on his chest and abdomen was toned and well-defined, rippling with every movement. He flexed his fingers out, cracking them, his biceps were nearly as thick as my thighs, and I observed veins distending on his arms. Oh, Te Fiti, here we go…

We got into our spots, and now, it was just a matter of who would take the first swing. I decided to be smart and aim for where his kidney would be. He swiftly dodged my attack, laughing at me.

"Gutsy, huh?"

"No talking!" I snapped. I had to act fast, I didn't know what he was planning. Then he swung at me, and I dodged his fist, noting its size. I rushed behind him and struck his side, just under his rib cage. He jumped a bit, grabbing where I struck him. He didn't expect that, good!

But he recovered quickly, spinning around, barely grazing my waist as he attempted to grab me. I spun around, too, and swung my leg at him, but he managed to grab my leg.

I yelped, almost losing my balance. I tried pulling away, but he was gripping my leg firmly, his hand nearly wrapping the circumference of my calf. I looked at him with wide eyes and briefly made eye contact. His eyes narrowed, eyebrows knitted together, and a ghost of a smile crossed his face. Before I had time to process the next few seconds, I was on the ground underneath him.

I cried out in shock and felt an incredibly sharp pain in my ankle. I tried to move, but Eyarr's full body weight held me down.

"Get off!" I shrieked. I pulled my other leg, shifting it and kicking him in the back with my heel. He cried out and stood up, reaching for the spot.

"Shit!"

Groaning, I rolled over onto my back, looking up at him. My chest heaved, feeling sweat trickle down my face. Upon looking at him, his pale face was red, and his blond hair was sticking to his forehead. We watched each other for a few moments, processing the fight.

"Good spar." He finally said, holding his hand out for me. I squinted my eyes momentarily and reluctantly took him, letting him pull me up. I tried to stand, but my right ankle exploded in pain. I cried out and felt my knees give out. Luckily Eyarr caught me, holding me up.

"Whoa, you okay?" I shifted my gaze to my ankle, noticing it was swollen. Gods damn it.

Zephyr was right.

"I think my ankle broke…" I said in defeat. I saw Eyarr's demeanor soften just slightly, and to my surprise, he wrapped his arm around my waist and began to help me walk.

"Wait, what're you doing?"

"Taking you to Ana." He replied, "You're not walking on a broken ankle." I pursed my lips and huffed.

"I am so getting my ass handed to me." He asked no further questions as he helped me hobble to Ana's house, which wasn't far away. He opened the door, and we entered the house to see Dustin putting some stuff away. He took one look at us and immediately walked away.

"Oh, here we go," I groaned, rubbing my face. I lifted my head upon hearing footsteps approach us. I closed my eyes, waiting to see Ana's disappointed expression.

And sure enough.

"Laeli! What did I tell you!" She exclaimed. Dustin quickly grabbed me as Ana scolded Eyarr and shooed him out of the house.

Dustin helped me onto a bed, grabbed the proper supplies to set my ankle, and let his mother take over. As Ana got to work, first rubbed a salve around the red and swollen parts, placed the wooden splints, and securely wrapped linen and leather around my ankle. It was done almost instantly, with years of practice under her belt.

No words were exchanged until she was done.

"Laeli… come on. Zephyr told you it was a bad idea." She scolded me in a gentler tone than her scolding Eyarr earlier. I shrugged.

"Honestly… I just… had to. Fucked around and found out." I attempted. I knew it wasn't the answer Ana hoped for, but it was all I could give. Ana exhaled sharply through her nose as she fetched me some warm yak milk and honey. As I slowly sipped, she took a seat across from me.

"Well, you got half that answer right." She sighed.

"Ever since he got here, something about him… There's just something about him." I told her about what Zyrah told me during Zephyr's birthday. Ana did laugh a bit.

"Ah, Zyrah. Never change…" It was quiet momentarily, then she returned with a new question, shifting the topic slightly.

"So, how exactly did he break your ankle?" I snorted a bit in embarrassment. I relayed the spar with her, explaining that when he brought me to the ground, he had my ankle in an awkward position that caused the fracture.

"While I am not thrilled whatsoever you sparred with him, I will say that's a clever move on his part." She reminisced from when she was my age, being swifter on her feet, sparring and sword fighting with Hiccup, Astrid, and their fellow peers.

"Next time something like that happens, use your free foot and kick the chest right in the middle. Or the face." She playfully winked at me, and I laughed. I'd only seen Ana fight with the others a couple of times. She was fast now, and I could only imagine her skillset when she was my age.

"Also, you still have to teach me archery."

"How about we wait for your ankle to heal before we do that?"

*** Eyarr***

I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't feel bad about Laeli's ankle. But she did ask to spar, so I did what I could do, though I did not intend to injure her physically. I told myself that I would make it up to her later.

And, to be fair, I did deserve Ana's scolding.

I returned to Laeli's house, figuring I'd be in my room.

I was maybe by myself for 10 minutes; then I heard the front door swing open. Pulling on a shirt, I rushed out to see who it was, only to see Ana's son, Dustin, standing in the doorway.

"Dude, you broke her ankle?!" He exclaimed. I blinked.

"Well, hello to you too," I replied, crossing my arms. Some greeting.

"I knew about the sparring, but did you need to swing her down like that?" I rolled my eyes.

"I wasn't going out of my way to. It was an accident!" Dustin sighed.

"Some advice, when a girl asks to spar, she's hoping you'll let her win."

"Why are you giving me advice? I don't think the girl hosting me will want to do that again." He raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know her that well, I get it. But that was a huge effort on her part to get to know you, from what I can tell."

"What do you mean, huge effort?"

"You haven't heard her vents to Zephyr, Nuffink, and myself. She's trying to figure you out. I mean, not that the rest of us aren't. But given that you're living in her house, she wants to understand you."

"Understand me? What else is there to understand?" He and I stared at each other.

"Aaand something tells me you don't know the answer to your question." I pursed my lips, not wanting him to ask any further. But I knew he would.

"You've been difficult for everyone to even talk to. What gives? You know we want to help out, right?" He said, crossing his arms. I swallowed. Was it worth explaining to him?

"If you're uncomfortable talking to Laeli, you can at least talk to me, have another guy to talk to."

"It's not that, exactly." I wasn't sure if I was ready to explain everything to him, but before I could explain why not to him, he grabbed a chair and sat down, resting his arms on the back of the chair.

"Man-to-man talk. C'mon." I huffed, knowing he wasn't going anywhere. I thought momentarily, trying to figure out what I could tell him. What would be enough to get him out of the house? After careful consideration, I opted to tell him what he wanted to hear. Even if I was friends with him, I wasn't ready to unload my baggage on him.

"If it helps you get it, I've been on my own since I was like… I dunno, 14? 15? Since then, I've been figuring my shit out and proving my worth."

"Proving your worth? To who?" I shook my head.

"It doesn't matter now. The point is, I need more time to figure out what I want in my life. I'm just hoping living here will help with that." I watched his face, hoping he would get the hint and leave.

"That's rough, man, I'm sorry." I rolled my eyes.

"I don't need 'I'm sorry.' It is what it is. And I'm going to leave it at that." He pondered momentarily before finally standing up, putting the chair away.

"Alright, fair enough. But, I'm serious, if you ever need a guy or two to talk to, either me or Tannr. He's a good guy. He'd be down to help you out, too." I gave him an awkward half-smile.

"I appreciate the offer." He helped himself out, and finally, I was by myself. Now, I just had to wait for Laeli to come back.