He twisted the long feather between his rough and scarred fingers, slowly looking at the grey and white patterns as it turned in his hands. It reminded him of the chicked he had just placed on the rafters, and thought about how long it would take for the little bird to get down.
He looked at the parchment in front of him, it wasn't exactly fair to just use someone elses stuff for this, but he guessed that it was alright for this occasion. And if it wasn't it was just another item on the list.
He thought about what to write, but he never was one for words, so didn't know what he wanted to write, let alone how he was going to write it. But time was of the essence, so he had to do something.
'Heather' He began, the ink sinking softly in the parchment, creating clear runes with the slanted tip of the feather. 'If you are reading this, I guess that means bad news for me.' He wrote, calmly dipping the feather into the small vial of ink again, he had never expected Astrid to have a small supply of it too. He sighed, thinking about what he wanted to write, should he explain his actions? Should he apologise? Probably.
'Sorry,' He started, the runes neat and calm, he had never written runes as clearly as now, but he also never felt like writing had been as important as now. 'but I couldn't let Hiccup fly you into a trap.' He wrote, putting the feather down beside the letter. He read the runes again, should he explain more? Or should he just have said sorry? It didn't matter anymore, he thought.
'Tell our little brother that if he really wants to hurt Viggo,' He wrote after he had dipped the feather in the ink again, creating the small runes that formed the Viking writing. 'hit his next dragon auction.' He explained, he had spent a bit longer with the hunters then Heather, and he had overheard many conversations about these events.
'It moves around.' He explained in the letter, putting his small amount of knowledge about the subject on paper. 'But if he turns over enough rocks,' He continued, applying some of his own expertise on the matter. He smiled softly, as bad as it was, he was experienced in it. So he knew how the course went with these things. 'some worm will tell him where it is.'
He looked at the letter. He had apologised to her, warned them, and given advice. There was only one more thing for him to tell. A thing he had never told anyone, a thing he had been certain he'd take to the grave.
'One more thing,' He wrote, he didn't want to drop right into the subject, he felt like this would ease it more, for him it did at least. 'I didn't kill our father.' He wrote, short and to the point. Perhaps a bit too short, such a statement demanded explanation, explanation he wouldn't be able to give again later.
'When he disappeared,' he wrote with a slightly trembling hand, but years of fighting and training had taught him to supress it for the most part. 'I made people belief that,' He wrote, feeling like a small burder of all his sins was beginning to lift from him. But also feeling a bit frightened, spilling a secret he had held so dear to him this way, written down, perhaps engraved in history. 'so they would think I was tough enough to be chief.' He finally explained, putting the pencil down again and looking at the letter, the ink slowly drying as he did.
He closed his eyes, just a bit more, a bit longer. As tough as it might be to do it, she deserved it. He grabbed the feather again, dipping it in the ink softly. 'I did a lot of things I'm sorry for,' He wrote, the feather making soft scratches as he wrote the runes. 'but I couldn't rest in peace knowing you thought I did that.'
He looked at the parchment, he almost managed to fill an entire side, he'd never done that before. 'Be safe,' He wrote, closing his eyes for a second, pleading to the gods that still liked him that she would be. He thought about adding dear sister, but she didn't want to be his sister anymore. But that didn't change what he was. 'your brother,' He wrote.
He turned to the ink vial one more time, dipping the almost dry feather into it and waiting for a large drip to fall off it. He stroke it against the edge of the vial, reducing the amount to what he needed, just one more word, just a couple of runes.
'Dagur' He wrote, putting the pencil to the side. He blew softly over the fresh ink, hoping it would dry faster. He placed a cork on the vial, making sure it was just like the way he found it. Perhaps not the same place, but good enough, especially for his standards.
It's wasn't like they would be worrying about that ink for the next couple hours. He thought about what had happened as he stood up from the desk, calmly waving the parchment to dry the ink. He had gained the trust of his brother, only to confirm the loss of trust from his sister. He thought leaving was what he had to do. But, he just wanted to help them, to protect them. They were his family, blood or no blood.
But that had also lost the trust of Hiccup, a trust he held pretty close after the last month. A trust that had caused him to bond with a dragon, a trust that had caused him to ride a Night Fury into battle.
A trust he had lost.
He looked around, the larger bed was probably Astrid's. And the smaller one with the fresh scratched on the wooden floor from placing it, that had to be Heather's. He placed the letter on her bed, calmly resting it on her blanket, she'd find it. Hopefully long after he had left.
He turned around, calmly walking towards the door of the hut, he listened calmly, making sure no one was near or coming. If he didn't have their trust then he'd just have to watch out. He'd do this, whether they believed him or not.
He calmly pushed the door open a bit, not enough for it to be clear, but enough for him to fit through the gap. He shouldn't do this right now, escaping captivity under the cover of daylight? Ludicrous. He had done crazy things before, but this wasn't so much crazy, it was just tricky.
He stepped into the light, the soft glow of the sun shining in his eyes. He looked over the edge of the platform, at the planning room down below him. The entire group was still busily planning away, probably discussing whether it was or wasn't a trap. He would have to hurry if he wanted to be there before them. He would have to beat them there. They wouldn't be tailing him with the other Gronkle, they'd be sending their fastest to catch him.
He looked at his dragon, in the short time it had took him to decide he needed to learn how to fly he'd never even considered a Gronkle. They beasts were slow and cumbersome, and not exactly a create that struck him as fearful or threatening. But in the short time he spend with the green bundle of joy he had grown fond of it, quicker then he'd ever thought possible. He chuckled softly, Dagur the Deranges, flying on the most playful, tail-waggling Gronkle that lived in the archipelago.
He placed his arm gently on the back of the dragon, earning him a soft and curious moan from the dragon. "We can do this." He said softly to the Green Gronkle. "We'll show them, right little one?" He asked as he softly patted the dragon's back. "We'll protect her."
He swung himself on the back of the dragon, grabbing a gentle hold of the Gronkle's ears. "Let's go Shattermaster." He said as he softly pressed his feed into the side of the dragon. The small wings started beating quickly, and the dragon calmly took off. They flew off towards the sun, and towards Viggo's shipyard. Never to return again.
AN: Well, I couldn't not do it. I blame this all on DreamWorks, blame it all I say! Even though I refuse to believe he's actually gone or something like that, it would kinda make sense, especially since we don't see any race of Heather or Dagur in the second movie. But hey, who knows, right? But yea, I guess we'll wait and see. I've never written Dagur before properly, it's kinda tricky to get into his head. I don't feel like I did him justice right here.
Man that new season was dark, I mean, enslaving of dragons, dragon fights, deadly plagues, and people almost dying. There was quite some stuff that made me sit there thinking 'Wow, this is for kids?'.
But that doesn't matter, because it was awesome, between the twins awesome and incredibly hilarious lines this season, and the subtle Hiccstrid that I've grown very fond off, it was good. I only feel like they kind of ruined the last episode. They advertised the chapter as getting a whole new side, a whole new tribe. And we only get one episode with them, a two parter of which we don't get the second half, please, just put it with the next season, and then advertise this one as the one where the twins do stuff, Snotlout gets quite some attention in episodes, and Dagur changes alliances.
Anyway, that's just my two cents on the new season, I hope everyone enjoyed the fanfic and has a great day! Take care!
- Ray