The next ten days were awkward. Astrid, of course, was ignoring you most of the time. Snotlout was constantly rubbing your face in the fact that you were in more trouble than he was. That was when he wasn't running between Astrid and Heather. The twins kept making weird comments about your possible exile from the dragon riders, which you resolved to dispel. You could tell that Fishlegs was keeping his distance from you, probably for fear of you losing your temper again. Heather you couldn't really account for, considering she now spent most of her time on Berserker island with Dagur. You had had a few conversations with Hiccup, which had been awkward and shaky. Both of you were trying to act as normal, but it wasn't really working. You knew your reputation would take a while to heal, but at least he was talking to you. After a while, you and Astrid did exchange a few blunt words. You tell she was still angry at you, but you figured that was normal. As a result, you spent a lot of time flying around on Ember. Come to think of it, you were technically the first dragon rider ever to train a Changewing - that had to count for something.
You knew Hiccup and the other riders were going on some important mission today - something about Project Shellfire, but you weren't exactly feeling the team spirit. That's why you had left your hut at dawn to visit Changewing Island. You figured Ember might like to revisit his old home and see a few old friends. On the way there, you couldn't stop thinking about Viggo: what he might be planning now, when he would strike next. It was imminent, of course. You had only now come to realise how narrowly you'd escaped death, thanks to Ember. Hiccup was right about Viggo being the most dangerous villain you had encountered but, at the same time, a part of you admired his tactical genius.
As dusk neared, you and Ember began to travel back to Dragon's Edge. The journey back was cold and dark, only made worse by the ceaseless rain that had commenced as you had begun the journey back. By the time you reached the Edge, it was pitch black, but a full moon lit up the sky. Realizing that it was practically impossible for you to get any wetter, you decided to do a quick patrol of the island.
By the time you were finished, your fingers were going numb, as you came in to land at the clubhouse. As you walked in, you saw Heather and Dagur looking overcome and defeated. You instantly wondered what had happened. Fishlegs was desperately attempting to console them, along with the twins. Hiccup was pacing, Astrid and Toothless close behind him. Even Snotlout looked sincere, as if something serious had happened. Then you saw him. Viggo Grimborn. He was standing right there - in the clubhouse! A mixture of shock and confusion hit you. Why on earth was Viggo here? And, why did everyone else seem okay with it?
"There she is." Astrid said to Hiccup. He looked up, looking a bit annoyed, but not nearly as much as the other day. He had other problems on his mind.
"Nice of you to show up." Astrid said sarcastically.
"The pleasure's all mine." You retorted with equal sarcasm. You had found that outwitting Astrid was not only entertaining, but also an efficient method of dealing with her attitude.
"Where have you been?" Hiccup questioned. "Again?"
"On patrol." You replied calmly.
"Well, thanks for letting us know!" Snotlout rebutted impatiently. You narrowed your eyes at him.
"Why? Did you think I'd get lost?" you replied sarcastically. Snotlout opened his mouth to reply, but Tuff got there before him.
"That's what they call a rhetorical question, Snotlout." He said proudly.
"I'm afraid brother," Ruff said, "that Snotlout here is not familiar with such advanced language."
"Oh yeah, like you know what that means!" Snotlout snapped.
"A rhetorical question is one used solely to produce an effect or to make assertion, not to elicit a reply. Bam!"
"Hmm, just checking." Snotlout muttered, desperately trying to think of another subject to change to.
"The bigger question is," you began, "what is he doing here?" you said staring directly at Viggo, who had been observing the whole conversation attentively.
Hiccup briefly explained what had happened: that Ryker had supposedly rallied the dragon hunters, and turned them against Viggo, and that they had used the Shellfire to attack Defenders of the Wing Island, as well as Berserker Island and that an attack on Dragon's Edge was imminent.
"That still doesn't explain why Viggo is here." You replied.
"Ah (y/n)," Viggo addressed you, "I'm glad to see that you made it back safely. Your shoulder is healing well, I trust?" You narrowed your eyes, and your hand automatically went to the healing wound on your shoulder.
"Viggo might be able to help us defeat Ryker and the Shellfire. We're still not entirely sure what it is. Every time we get close to it, it seems to disappear." Hiccup said.
"That's because it's a tidal class dragon combined with a ship." You replied.
"What?" Heather couldn't stop the word pouring out of her mouth.
"Don't you think it would have been useful for you to tell us that before?" Fishlegs exclaimed.
"Well, if I recall, last time I tried to find out some information on the matter, it wasn't gratefully received." You retorted.
"That's because you infiltrated Viggo's base all on your own without telling anyone!" Hiccup exclaimed. "It was a ludicrous plan!"
"I agree with Hiccup." Said Astrid.
"That's all you ever do!" you hadn't meant to say it in a provocative manner, but Astrid always took those kinds of things the wrong way. And, was it just you, or could you see a glimmer of amusement on Viggo's face?
With some sort of battle cry, Astrid launched herself at you, axe in hand. Unarmed, you had no choice but to use your wit, which suited you fine. Dodging out of the way at the last second, Astrid went hurtling past you, but quickly spun round, the blade of her axe narrowly missing you. Using quick moves to confuse her, you managed to knock the axe from her hand, and kicked it across the floor. She was a tough opponent, and stronger than you. By now you were wrestling on the floor pretty evenly. Astrid used her strength to her advantage, whereas you used your intellect. You felt hands pulling you back. Heather was trying to restrain you, and Hiccup Astrid. You shook Heather off, and turned to take a seat at the edge of the room, walking past Viggo as you did.
"This is ridiculous." You said. "We should be preparing for a Shellfire attack, not fighting one another."
"Then you shouldn't have wound me up!" came Astrid's reply.
"You wind yourself up, Astrid."
"Okay, both of you stop it right now!" Snotlout intervened.
"We need to wait for Ryker to get here so we can learn more about the Shellfire." Fishlegs said, taking a seat next to Heather. You could see Hiccup and Astrid were holding hands now. Ugh, that stuff made you feel sick. You knew that their relationship could be a major disadvantage in situations like this. You told yourself that you would never let yourself fall to such a weakness. You felt uncomfortable near Fishlegs and Heather too. Getting up, you instead took a seat in the corner of the room, by the Maces and Talons game board, where the Dragon Eye had been placed.
You picked it up and examined it carefully. You had often tried to combine diverse types of dragon fire to unlock different maps from the Dragon Eye. The complexity of the device fascinated you. From your pocket, you took two small flasks; one containing Changewing acid, and the other water that had been blasted from a Scauldron, which you had managed to get during your trip with Ember. You delicately poured the contents of the latter into the former, and gave the flask a quick swirl. You could hear fragmented pieces of Hiccup and Astrid having a heartfelt conversation on the other side of the room, and wished you could block it out. The contents of the flask were now glowing, and the container had warmed slightly. You placed the flask before the Dragon Eye, and, sure enough, it projected a map you had never seen before. It looked really complicated, but important. Of course everyone else was too busy to notice, which you were okay with. You actually quite liked keeping some of these things to yourself. Your mind wandered as you imagined the endless possibilities of combinations of dragon fire. Imagine the blast of a Skrill combined with the blast of a Changewing! From what you had studied, that kind of combination would be extremely powerful.
You felt the air stir behind you, and spun round to see Viggo, standing behind you, observing your experiment. How long had he been standing there? He didn't seem that surprised by the discovery. Of course, being an intelligent person, he had probably discovered this for himself, but he still seemed impressed by your intuition to delve deeper into the secrets the Dragon Eye had to offer.
The projection slowly became fainter until you could no longer see it. You hadn't exchanged a word with Viggo since he had been peering over your shoulder. You only now realized that Heather, Dagur, Fishlegs and Snotlout had left the clubhouse to return to their huts for the night. You still couldn't believe you were all sitting here, doing nothing, waiting for Ryker's arrival. But, you knew voicing your opinion to Hiccup would be useless. Besides, he seemed far too distracted by Astrid to listen to anything you had to say.
You stood up, and were just about to for walk outside to get some fresh air, when Tuff tapped you on the shoulder.
"Ouch!" you winced. It was your bad shoulder.
"Oops, sorry about that, milady." He apologised, but still bore a triumphant expression on his face.
"Can I just say," Ruff began excitedly, "I think you and Astrid should dual like that more often! It was awesome!"
"Is that it?" you said disinterestedly, about to leave.
"No, no, that's not it!" Tuff declared. "What we wanted to tell you is that we know what's wrong!"
"What's wrong? Nothing's wrong, Tuff." You were acutely aware that Viggo was within earshot.
"Ah, now there you are mistaken, (y/n), or are you merely denying it? Who knows?"
"I'm not denying anything, Tuff. What are you on about?"
"The problem, (y/n), is that you're lonely." There was a small pause, as Tuff stood proudly and you raised an eyebrow at his assertion.
"One might even say jealous." Ruff added.
"One might, sister nut."
Again, you arched a brow in confusion.
"I'm not sure what you two are talking about." You began.
"Let us explain." Ruff offered.
"Err, actually..." you tried to discourage them from doing this, but it was too late.
"You see," said Tuff, "Hiccup and Astrid have each other to confide in."
"As do Heather and Fishlegs." Ruff added.
"We twins have each other."
"And poor Snotlout is so busy running between Astrid and Heather, hopeless as the situation is, that he practically doesn't even notice you."
"Thus leading to you being all alone, leading to these frequent and sudden bursts of outrage."
"That is our hypothesis." Ruff concluded.
"Ha! That's completely ridiculous!" you snorted. "I enjoy my own company. And, besides, I have Ember to talk to." And with that said, trying to hide the worry on your face and hoping Viggo hadn't heard too much, you walked out of the clubhouse into the night.
A/N: That chapter was longer than expected! Hope you guys enjoyed it!