The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

Little Progress

Chapter 4: Little Progress

Eira followed Krogan around as he explored the village. He ignored her when she tried to point out something important. Occasionally, she had to explain the situation to a terrified villager. Luckily, they avoided any serious confrontations.

Eira grew tired as time went on, and at one point, she ran ahead of Krogan and blocked his path. He stopped and stared at her with an emotionless expression. "Look," she said, "you're going to be here for awhile, so we might as well get along. You can trust me. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

"You don't really want to help me," Krogan said with an edge to his voice. "You don't actually care. You want information from me."

Eira frowned. "Yes, I do, but I didn't spend months visiting you just for that. I've been trying to-"

"You're trying to prove that you know people. I get it. You have accomplished a lot, and you're proud of that. You can't let one of us escape. But you don't care. about me."

From his hardened expression, Eira could tell he meant it, and it saddened her. She let out a heavy sigh. "I understand why you think that, but I do care." She remembered what Runa told her about having to prove it. How was she supposed to do that? He sure was not giving her any ideas. "If you want to take a break, I can show you my house."

"Very well."

Eira held in a sigh as she led the way to the house she shared with Ingrid and Asmund. At least Krogan had agreed to one thing she said. Maybe he just needed time to get used to her. When they neared the house, she spotted Gobber talking to Asmund. Gobber looked at her, chuckled nervously, and and fled.

"Hello, Eira," Asmund said, his expression cool and unreadable. He original came to Berk with Eira because her parents wanted someone to look after her, but now he enjoyed the island too much to leave. "Gobber told me about your friend."

Eira gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, uh, can we talk?"

Asmund glanced at Krogan, who appeared disinterested once more, and then at Eira. "Of course. Let's go inside."

Krogan followed them into the house. Eira motioned to the long, cushioned bench in the main room. "You can rest here. We'll be in the next room."

Krogan did not respond, but she saw him eye the bench. Asmund brought Eira into his room, closing the door behind them. Once they were alone, she explained the situation to him.

"And I don't know how to get through to him," she said at the end. "No matter what I do, I don't get much of a reaction. I don't know how to help hm."

Asmund nodded slowly, appearing thoughtful. "From what I can gather, he is not used to people showing him kindness. He probably assumes it has a cost. Try to think from his perspective. If you believed you could only rely on yourself for survival and everyone else was a threat, what would it take for you to change your mind?"

Eira did not immediately have an answer, but she could tell this was a good area to pursue. "I'm not sure, but I'll think about it. Thanks for the advice, Asmund."

The Viking gave her a small smile. "You are welcome. Whatever you do, do not give up. You care about people, Eira. Eventually that will shine through."

"I sure hope so." EIra's mind drifted to Ingrid. She wondered if she was having better luck obtaining information about the dragon trappers.

***

Ingrid and Snotlout searched high and low on their dragons but found no sign of the dragon trappers. Hiccup specifically told them not to visit the trapper camp unless they were with the whole group. After awhile, Ingrid thought that might be the best thing to do.