Hey hey hey, guys! Did you miss me? :D So, I decided to update again today! Whoo! :D I finished one of my other stories, so now I'll have a bit more time to write this one. I finished this chapter, and I was like, "Ah, what the heck?" so here it is! :D Thanks for all your reviews last chapter! You guys truly ARE amazing! :D Enjoy chapter 7!
Dagur walked slowly, the twigs snapping almost silently beneath his feet. He didn't even need to think very much before he figured out Hiccup's location; the healer's hut, obviously. That's where he would be, and no where else. Dagur knew he would find Hiccup there, and when he did, Hiccup was going to be sorry he ever became enemies with Dagur the Deranged.
Dagur drew his axe as he walked, and in his other hand, he grabbed a handful of dragon nip out of his satchel. If Toothless or Heather's dragon were there with Hiccup, Dagur knew he would need something that would keep the dragons out of it while he did his thing.
What was his thing?
Killing Hiccup, obviously. Was there any other thing?
And if he could somehow manage to get Heather on his side of thinking...well, that would be nice, too, of course. She could be useful to him and his armada. She could be very useful to him and his armada. All it would take would be a little bit of manipulation. A bit of twisting her thoughts. If Hiccup was her brother and Stoick was her father, that wouldn't have been too hard to do.
Grinning, he continued on towards the healer's abode, getting ready to throw the dragon nip when needed. If he knocked those dragons out, he would make Hiccup defenseless. After Hiccup was dead, Dagur would find Heather, kidnap her, and get her to come to his side as a Berserker.
It sounded like a flawless plan to him.
He slowed dramatically when he reached the front door to the healer's hut. He waited quietly, waiting for the right moment to open the door, and then, all at once, he pushed it open.
The instant he saw the dragons sleeping in the corner (Toothless, and Heather's dragon as well), he threw the dragon nip at them. The dragons made small, dreamily coos deep in their throats, and then, they were sleeping even sounder than they had before.
Dagur smiled. It had worked. He then turned around, searching for Hiccup, and what he saw made him smile bigger.
Both Heather and Hiccup were sleeping, Hiccup lying on his back with a blanket over his body while Heather laid on her side just inches away from him. It looked like, by her position, she had fallen asleep on accident. Maybe she was on guard duty and was supposed to be protecting Hiccup? Who knew.
"This is where the line ends, brother," Dagur whispered, gripping his axe tighter. He cracked his neck to one side, and then did the other side as well. This was a historic moment for Dagur. He was going to kill his brother. His mortal enemy. It was going to be GLORIOUS if not a bit messy.
Ah well. He didn't have to worry about it that much. He would kill Hiccup, grab Heather, and run. He would run, towards the ship he had brought, and he wouldn't look back until he was far away enough to eliminate any risk of being tracked.
It was a fine plan.
Or, it would have been, if Heather hadn't woken up at that moment, just before Dagur brought his axe down.
The first thing Heather did when she realized it was Dagur was scream. She was certain she saw Dagur's eyes flash with amusement as she screeched, but it was short lived when she tackled him.
She was shocked by his appearance, but at the same time, it's not like they had ever completely overruled the possibility of his return for vengeance. After she got over her start, she was consumed by hatred and fury.
She attacked him so quickly he didn't even have time to use his axe against her. She knocked him to the ground, coming in over him. He simply laughed, and more than ever, she wanted to kill him. She wanted to wrench the axe out of his grip and use it against him.
"HOW DARE YOU RETURN!?" Heather screamed in his face. She glanced over at the dragons, about to call to them to help her, but one look at the dragon nip surrounding them, and she knew it was useless. They were no help to her now.
Which meant she was on her own. With Hiccup as hurt as he was, he wouldn't be able to help her defeat Dagur.
Heather had her mind focused on three things:
Protect Hiccup.
Protect herself.
And kill Dagur if it came to it, which she was hoping secretly it would.
Dagur cackled. "I returned to save you!" he said pathetically. "Oh, don't glare at me, Heather! I'm here to help you! You know I am! I've always been here to help you! That's-"
Heather slammed her hand over his mouth, but as she did so, he grabbed her wrist, twisted her off him, and stood up. Heather yelped and tried to rise to a standing position as well, but Dagur aimed his axe at her threateningly.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned.
Heather thought about the words he spoke. Those were the same words Hiccup said, the day he found her and Windshear.
She thought hard for a few moments, and then, she lifted her head, blew her hair out of her eyes, and smirked. "I wouldn't either," she said smugly. Before Dagur had the chance to realize what she meant, she kicked his legs with her heel, and he stumbled backwards with a yowl of pain.
Dagur lifted his head, met her eyes, and bared his teeth. "I don't want to fight you!" he said. "I want to help you, Heather!"
Heather knew he was lying. He had to be lying. He tried to kill her. He would have killed her if Hiccup hadn't jumped in the way. She kicked him hard in the ribs, and he stumbled backwards again. "I don't want your help, you LIAR!" she shouted.
"You can join the Berserkers!" Dagur shouted. "You can always join me! Heather the Unhinged has a rather nice ring to it! Heather the Maniacal wouldn't be too bad, either!"
Heather punched his jaw, wondering why he wasn't fighting back anymore. "What do you want!?" she screeched. "Fight me back!" She punched him again. She hoped all the noise would alert Berkians of Dagur's presence, but it must have been midnight, and the healer's hut was on the outskirts of the village.
Which meant that help wasn't coming.
Which meant that it was up to Heather to get rid of Dagur, before it was too late.
"Like I said!" Dagur said. "I don't want to fight you! I want you to join me! What do you have to lose!?"
Heather punched him again. "I HATE you!" she yelled. "You almost killed my brother! I never want to see you AGAIN!"
Dagur, to her surprise, broke out laughing. "Your brother!" he mocked. "Your brother doesn't care about you! Blood means nothing, Heather. I proved that when I killed my father!"
"SHUT UP!" Heather yelled, dropping another harsh slap onto Dagur's face. Dagur took a step backwards, avoiding her next punch. "You're a liar, Dagur!" Hiccup proved how much he cared about Heather when he jumped in front of Dagur's knife. He proved it ten-fold. "I will never join you! I will never listen to ANYTHING you have to say!"
She was about to grab the dagger on her belt, remembering that she did indeed have a weapon and that she could use it, when Dagur suddenly advanced on her, holding the axe dangerously close to her throat. She stumbled backwards, but he raced forward, grabbing her wrist as she reached for her knife.
"We could be a team," Dagur said, his voice low, the axe blade almost pressing against her throat. "Me and you, you and I...we will be unstoppable. This is your last chance, Heather, or you'll end up like your brother by the end of this. I'll run you through, not kill you, and then, I'll kill him, right before your eyes with you being helpless against me. And then I'll kill you. What shame. Coming back to the island of your birth to be murdered on the same island. It sounds just like it was meant to be, doesn't it?"
Heather wanted to fight back. She wanted to punch Dagur right in the face yet again and be done with him, maybe use his axe and kill him even, but now, he had her backed against a corner, threatening her with the life of her brother and her own life as well.
One wrong move...one little slip, and he would kill her and Hiccup without so much of a second thought. She didn't want Hiccup to die, and truth be told, she didn't really want to die, either.
But she wouldn't give in. She wouldn't go with Dagur. If she went with him, chances were, he would kill Hiccup anyway, in the end. She couldn't live with herself if she knew she was the reason Hiccup was dead.
She would have to try and fight, even if it was suicide.
Just before she raised her foot to kick Dagur's ribs and flee, she heard something odd. The sound of something whizzing through the air, and then, a sickening, wet thump. Dagur's body went rigid for a few moments, and Heather's breath caught in her throat.
Then, Dagur screamed. He spun around, releasing Heather in the process, clawing madly at his shoulder. "OWWWW!" he screeched. "OW OW OW OW OW! WHAT THE-!?"
Then Heather saw it: a knife embedded in Dagur's shoulder, blood spilling over it and rolling down Dagur's back. Heather recognized the knife: Gothi's knife. The knife she used to cut away Hiccup's bandages. Her knife, not much bigger than a dagger and a heck of a lot sharper.
And it was stuck in Dagur's shoulder.
Heather looked as Dagur continued screaming, and she saw Hiccup, propping himself up on his elbow, one of his arms outstretched.
He had been the one to throw the knife.
He saved her.
Again.
His eyes were open, full of fury and hatred yet at the same time, relief. Heather understood all those emotions. She was feeling all those emotions, just as he was. She raced towards him and caught him as he slumped forward, grabbing his shoulders to keep him from bashing his head against the wooden floorboards.
He looked ready to pass out again. This would be a bad time to pass out.
"Come on, we have to go!" Heather urged. Dagur was trying to grab the dagger to rip out of his shoulder. They were running out of time. This was the perfect opportunity for them to run, but they would lose their chance if they wasted any more time.
Hiccup shook his head weakly. "You...you have...I...I gave you...an opening," he coughed. "You...you need to run…"
"No," Heather said, grabbing his arm and pulling it over her shoulder. "We go together or we don't go at all. You save me, I save you. That's the way it works."
Dagur got a grip on the knife, ready to pull it out. Heather yanked Hiccup to a stand, and although he screamed in protest, she didn't let him go. She simply wrapped her other arm around his waist, and the two of them stumbled out of the healer's hut, Dagur's screams of fury and pain rattling the night.
They had to get away from there.
Fast.
