That morning, we woke up late, feeling much better and well-rested. After we changed for the day, we left the house and could finally observe the damage done to the village, even though it was not nearly as bad as it could've been.
Some Vikings were out and making repairs to damaged roofs. It impressed me, not even a full day after a battle, and they immediately made repairs.
I led us to the Haddock's house, expecting to see one of them at least here, but the house was empty. Or so I thought.
I heard someone approach from one of the back guest bedrooms, where I knew Zyrah was staying.
And much to my slight surprise, we spied Zyrah hobbling in our direction, followed by Konall, her husband. Konall expressed surprise when he noticed us.
"Laeli? Eyarr? What're you two doing here?" Eyarr and I glanced at each other.
"Uh, well, not sure I can exactly ask the same of you, but we were looking for the Haddocks. We thought they'd be home?" Zyrah shook her head, leaning on her cane.
"No… they're at Ana's. Hiccup, Astrid, and Zephyr left this morning to go see Nuffink, Bronwyn, and Saoirse."
"How bad is Saoirse's condition?" Eyarr asked. Konall's expression changed of visible discomfort.
"It's not good; her left eye was filled with blood last I heard. I hope Ana and Dustin were able to quell the bleeding somewhat."
"Should we go see them?" I inquired, unsure of whether to have asked to begin with. Konall shrugged.
"I don't think now's the best time."
"Where's Tannr?"
"He's with them, currently."
Zyrah moved to take a seat with Konall's assistance; Eyarr and I decided to stay and keep them company until we got more news.
As we sat there, Eyarr asked Zyrah about her association with Saoirse, and Zyrah relayed her whole excursion with Saoirse's situation and how she met Bronwyn.
"So it was all by chance?"
"Essentially. But I will admit, that's the last time I'll have an adventure like that. With my condition, I… can't go out like I used to. Even whenever I'm with Blueheart." Blueheart's mention made me think of a question.
"Does Blueheart visit you often?" Zyrah bobbed her head from side to side.
"Periodically. Outside of Snoggletog, she comes to visit once or twice a year. It's mostly to bring me comfort. I may have adapted to my blindness, but having her alongside my family brings extra comfort and peace of mind." To a degree, I could understand that feeling of needing familiarity.
"Do you ever wonder about her relationship with Toothless?"
"Not really; it was a whole matter settled decades ago. I know that Toothless is aware of how independent she is… but she and the Light Fury get along, which also offers Hiccup peace of mind."
"Dragon relationships are so odd sometimes," Eyarr remarked, leaning back into his seat, crossing his arms.
"Indeed they are. Now Eyarr, what breed of dragon do you have?"
"Skrill and Monstrous Nightmare mix. I rescued him from a trap when I was young. I'm pretty sure he was born in the Hidden World but left to go see the surface world."
"Interesting. I didn't even consider other dragons would mix. My old boy, Lightbolt, is a Skrill." Konall remarked.
"Well, I can tell you that Cliffire retained the 'need for speed' gene. He's wicked fast when he wants to be. To be fair, I know he'll never be faster than a Night Fury, especially female Night Furies." Eyarr answered with a slight grin. Zyrah chuckled.
"I can confirm that. Female Night Furies are faster than males. It wouldn't surprise me if Toothless would ever admit that if he could talk. I am curious, though; how are you familiar with Night Furies?" She asked, turning her attention to Eyarr.
"To be frank, I heard stories when I was on the run. I guess they were stories passed from the archipelago to the mainland and the southern islands. I never saw one in the wild. Granted, dragon sightings to the south are few and far between. Laeli and I never saw another dragon besides our own while in the south."
"It's true. One of the girls we met told me that before we brought Cliffire and Riptide to her village, she'd never seen a dragon in person, only in drawings. And I'm the same. Back home, we don't have dragons. The only mythological creature we have is Maui, and he technically doesn't count!"
Our conversation lasted a bit longer, and it was lovely to catch up with them. Sometime in the mid-afternoon, we turned to the front door as Zephyr, Tannr, and Astrid came in.
"Laeli! Eyarr!" Zephyr exclaimed, rushing to hug me, "What're you guys doing here?"
"Well, we came to see you guys, but you were out, Zyrah and Konall weren't, so we've just been talking," Eyarr explained.
"We know you went to be with Saoirse, Bronwyn, and Nuffink. How're they doing?" I asked.
"Honestly… it's not good. Ana said that Saoirse's injury was too severe to save, and she will be blind in that eye."
"Oh gods… poor Nuffink…"
"He's devastated. I tried telling him it could be worse, but then Ana told me to leave." Tannr said, crossing his arms.
"Babe, I love you, but that wasn't exactly what my brother needed." Zephyr sighed in admonishment.
"No, no, I know." Zyrah gestured for her son to take a seat with her.
"Well, Hiccup is still with them." I was confused as to why.
"Why's that?" Astrid and Zephyr glanced at each other and proceeded to explain all the tension that had occurred between Hiccup and Nuffink… all because of Saoirse. It caused a rift between them, and they had a massive fight.
"Because of Saoirse?"
"Not entirely. You know Nuffink doesn't always make great decisions," Zephyr reminded me, and I couldn't help but awkwardly nod in agreement, "it was also because of that. Not to go into detail, not that it's necessary, but yeah. The past two-something years have been a mess. And honestly, it's good that you weren't here to witness it, Laeli. It would've made you uncomfortable."
"Thanks, I think?"
We didn't stay much longer after that. Eyarr and I felt it was best to go home and have dinner just to decompress. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get too involved in this fiasco. On one hand, they were my second family, but because I'd been away for so long and still had a lot of stuff to catch up on, I was familiarising myself with them again.
Eyarr and I had been excited to start planning our wedding, but I knew that would be pushed back as we waited for everyone to be in better moods and fully recover. It just wasn't the right time.