The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

Working it Out

Chapter 5: Working it Out

Dagur missed Eira. Sure, it had only been a day since he last saw her, but it felt like an eternity to him. He could not stop thinking about her, which caused him to be distracted as he attempted to teach the former dragon hunters with Viggo. He fumbled over his words and gave orders that did not make much sense. The students were left in a state of confusion as a result.

"Let's take a five minute break," Viggo said at last, to which the others murmured in agreement.

"Yeah, uh, a break," Dagur said weakly. "I was about to say that."

Viggo rolled his eyes and pulled him off to the side by his arm. Once they were alone, he gave him a pointed look. "What's wrong, Dagur? You need to get your head in the game."

"It's not the same without Eira," Dagur said. "She should be here."

Viggo lifted his eyebrows. "Are you saying you can't do anything without Eira? That's quite the admission."

Dagur cringed at the idea. "No, that's not what I meant. I want her to be here."

"So, you're choosing to not teach these students properly?"

Dagur frowned. "That's not- I just-" He paused as he took in Viggo's unamused expression. "Uh, pass?"

Viggo sighed. "If you're not going to take this seriously, I'll teach them myself."

Dagur's eyes widened in surprise. "W-Wait!" But Viggo had already returned to the class and started his instructions. Dagur grumbled to himself as he watched him. There was no way a former villain like Viggo could teach reformed dragon hunters better than Dagur, right? Sure, Dagur had been a villain too, but he was never as bad as Viggo!

Well, it turned out Viggo was better at teaching than Dagur. The students listened to him with rapt attention and did everything he said. By the end of class, they were eager and enthusiastic about the next lesson. Dagur was not happy about this.

"What did you do, bribe them?" the chief said after the dismissal.

"You were there the whole time," Viggo said. He paused. "You were physically there, at least. You saw what I did. I connected with them and inspired them, unlike you."

Dagur scoffed at that. "You cheated by using a bunch of your mind tricks."

"It's not cheating, and my methods are no different than Eira's." Viggo smirked. "Are you jealous, Dagur?"

"No way! But Eira put me in charge, and-"

"Eira put us in charge. I think she would want the most competent teacher to continue her work, don't you? You should find something you're actually good at and be productive." Viggo gave him a smug look before departing.

Dagur glared at his retreating form. Why did he act like he was the one in charge? Dagur was the chief! He was just having an off day was all. Everything would be better once Eira returned. Thinking about her threatened to spin his mind out of control, so he approached his nearby relaxing dragon instead. "Come on, Sleuther. I need to clear my head."

***

Eira's day seemed to be going no better than her previous one. Hiccup sent the other dragon riders off on missions while she was left to look after Krogan, who still refused to help them. She followed Krogan as he wandered the village again, this time remaining silent. She told herself at least he had the energy to move around; he was doing something.

"Why didn't you lock me up last night?" Krogan said at last. They were past the village now and at the edge of the forest.

At first, Eira was too surprised to respond. This was the first thing he had said to her all day. When he turned around and gave her a questioning look, she quickly formulated an answer. "There was no reason to. You're not going anywhere, and hurting us wouldn't do you any good."