"Well, you screwed up big time now little brother," Duke remarked as he walked over to Max. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Max rested his forehead on the wooden railing of the fence. He really didn't need this right now. Last he checked, he had somehow managed to lose everything. He was quickly reminded of that as Duke listed off, "Respect of the village, respect and love from your father, your... pet? Best dragon friend?"
"Thank you for summing that up. Are you done?" Max muttered sarcastically. His hands now white knuckled fists, he murmured, "It's so easy for you to gain his love and respect, isn't it?! That's all I ever wanted from him and I blew it up! Sometimes I wonder how he ended up with the both of us as sons..." Staying quiet during that, Duke nodded his head thoughtfully before finally replying, "True, very true. Then again, I'm not actually his son."
"WHAT?!"
"Oh yeah, before you were born, there was an attack on the village and my parents died. Your father took me in."
"Why has nobody told me this until now?!"
"It wasn't time for you to learn until now. But if you must now, your dad really loves you. He just has a hard time showing that he does."
"At least your father, or adopted father, loves you guys," Gidget commented as she came over. Both Max and Duke hadn't a single clue of where she had come from. The three teenagers stood by the fence, gazing out at the sea where the fleet had sailed off to find the dragons' nest. Sighing quietly, Max mumbled, "I should've killed that dragon when I found him in the woods."
"Yeah, totally. So why didn't you?" Gidget asked. Looking away from her, Max responded, "I don't know. I guess I was too weak to kill a dragon."
"I don't think that's the answer," Duke butted in.
"Look! I'm probably the first Viking in history who wouldn't kill a dragon!"
"First to ride one though," Gidget pointed out. Speechless for a moment, Max glanced over at her. The sun glistened in her sky blue eyes while a gentle breeze played with her white hair. Biting his lip, the young Viking mumbled, "I looked into Snowball's eyes and I saw myself. We were both afraid. He was afraid to die and I was afraid of becoming something I wasn't, a killer."
"I bet he's terrified right now," Duke remarked, gesturing out to the sea. That's when an idea popped into Max's head. A determined look coming over his facial features, he declared, "And that's why we're going to save him. Get everyone else and follow me." Without another word of explanation, he took off running. Wondering what kind of plan he had just come up with, Gidget and Duke started racing after him.
