Hello Readers!
Before we start this chapter, I think it is a good idea for you guys to know how I have guessed Heather and Dagur's ages. I always thought of Heather as being older than the rest, about two years older than Hiccup, which put her at 21 in Race to the Edge. Dagur, in my mind, was always about eight years older than Heather, making him almost thirty in the last season of Race to the Edge. (if y'all haven't noticed I also changed it so that Mala and Dagur got married a couple of years earlier than they did in the show so that it would fit my story a little better) Hiccup had mentioned that Dagur was a "mean kid" showing that they had played together as children, but because Dagur could be immature at times I always justified that maybe he played with younger children because maybe he was picked on by kids his own age. This reasoning makes Dagur about ten years older than Hiccup and the others. So in this story, Heather is 22-23 and Dagur is 30-31. This is just my thoughts on their ages, they are not canon. I just noticed we were never actually told exactly how old they are, so I did some figuring on my own. You guys are allowed to your own opinions, of course, these are just my thoughts on the matter.
Seeing Mother Part 1
*Dagur's Point of View*
I didn't even go to bed. All I could think of was that horrible woman. She had been cruel to him. There was a reason Oswald had banished her! He growled in frustration. Now she was alone there with his sister, who probably didn't even remember her.
I slammed my fist on the table and grasped the letter in my other hand. I needed to talk to Hiccup.
It was already dark out and everyone was in their homes getting ready for bed when I ran through the town. My pace quickened the closer I got to the Haddock house.
"Hiccup!" I called out, banging on the door.
Astrid answered. She was wearing Hiccup's chief cloak to cover her night clothes.
"Where's Hiccup?" I asked.
"He will be right down. Dagur, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly, holding the door open for me to walk in.
"Everything! Everything is wrong! I got a letter from Heather," I told her.
"Is she okay?" Astrid asked urgently.
"For now, but I am afraid she won't be for long," I responded.
Astrid rushed to the stairs. "Hiccup, you need to hurry up!" she yelled.
Hiccup groaned and walked down the stairs.
"Astrid, you know I can't just stop mid…" he paused when he saw our faces.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concern filling his voice.
"It's Berserker island," I said, "my mother is there."
"What do you mean your mother is there? I thought she was dead!" Hiccup said incredulously.
"Yeah, well, you thought your mother was dead too, but look how that ended!" I replied.
Hiccup sighed, realizing I was right.
"Okay, is Heather in danger?" Astrid asked.
"There is a reason she was banished…" I muttered.
"Knowing the reason might be helpful," Hiccup told me.
I sighed and looked up at him. "It isn't good," I warned.
"We weren't expecting it to be,' Astrid said. She took Hiccup's hand and we all went to sit in the living area. She sat close to her husband, keeping their hands entwined. Seeing them made me wish Mala was still with me. She always knew what to do when stuff like this happened…
"We are listening," Hiccup said softly.
"Okay, so it all started when I was maybe four, which means about four years before Heather was born…"
*26 years earlier*
I fell back onto the dirt, tears filling my eyes as the other kids, all just a couple of years older than I was, surrounded me and laughed at me.
"Look at him! You gonna cry, wimp?" the biggest of them laughed. I shook my head quickly, wiping my hands across my face to get rid of the tears before they fell. I tried to stand up, but the biggest kid pushed me back down.
"You will never be chief. You are too much of a wimp to be chief, especially of the Berserkers!" he yelled, shouting a Berserker battle cry while he was at it. He and the others laughed and walked away, leaving me in the dirt.
I slowly got up and sniffed quietly. I made my way home, rubbing my arm where the mean kids had hit me.
"Mum?" I whispered as I walked into the house.
My mother looked up and rolled her eyes. "Again, Dagur? I told you to fight back, like a true Berserker!" she scolded me.
"I'm sorry, mum. I just don't want to hurt them like they are hurting me," I responded, my voice small.
"Dagur, you have to fight. It is what Berserkers do!" she told me sternly.
"But dad says"
"Never mind what dad says! You listen to me! Now, go clean up or you will get even less dinner than you are already going to be getting," she threatened.
I ran to my room as quickly as my little legs could and rushed to the wash basin in the corner of my room. I used a rag to wipe the dirt off my face and arms, wincing when the rag touched the sensitive spot on my arm. It would definitely bruise.
Soon I heard the front door open and loud footsteps filled the house. I smiled from ear to ear and ran out of my room.
"Daddy!" I shouted excitedly.
"Ho! There's my boy!" Oswald said happily, his voice filling the room. He was the only thing that made me feel safe when I was that young.
My father looked me over, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Why are your clothes covered in dirt? Did those kids pick on you again?" he asked.
I nodded silently. "I will fight them next time, I promise," I responded.
"What? Fight them? Nonsense! Fighting never solves anything. You must always strive to be as peaceful as you can be," he told me softly.
I smiled and hugged him. My eyes glanced over at my mother. She was frowning, which was definitely not a good thing…
We ate dinner together and I went to bed, perfectly happy again. My dad tucked me in with his big gentle hands.
*20 years earlier*
After years of my mom telling me revenge and fighting was the only way to live, hitting me whenever I disagreed. Because of the violence, I had come to believe it. At just eight years old, I hated my father. He was a coward. Any peacemaker was a coward. He was not a true Berserker.
There was one fateful week that changed everything. It started with the day I became a brother.
I sat outside of the house, my short legs dangling over the edge of the porch. I could hear my mum's screams from inside, shutting my eyes tight and covering my ears with each yell. Anything that put my mother through that much pain had to be bad. I didn't know what exactly was happening behind the closed doors, but I did know that my father had told me mum was getting me a new baby brother or sister.
So, naturally, I hated the baby because of how much pain my mother was in.
It felt like years before her screams stopped. My father stepped outside, smiling from ear to ear.
"You have a little sister, lad!" he said excitedly. I glared at him and pushed past him to see for myself. I marched into the room, ready to hate the baby with everything I had in my little eight-year-old body.
What I was not expecting was to see my mum actually smiling at the baby. After it had caused so much pain, how could she be happy with the baby? I always got slapped when I caused mum any kind of pain.
Then I stepped closer and saw the baby. My heart softened at the sight.
She had little tufts of dark hair and big green eyes. Her cries had turned into soft coos as she looked up at me.
How could I ever think I could hate this little baby? No, I would protect her with my life.
"Her name is Heather," mum said softly. I looked up at her.
"Heather…" I repeated quietly.
"Would you like to hold her, son?" my father asked, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged his hand off but nodded in response, climbing onto the large bed. Mum carefully placed baby Heather into my arms.
This strange feeling washed over me. I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew that no matter what I needed to take care of this little baby. She was my sister, and I was her big brother.
"Hi," I whispered quietly, smiling when the little baby hummed at me.
That was one of the best days of my life.
The next few days, however, were a living hell. My mother was exhausted all the time, which meant more lectures and beatings.
My little body could only handle so much. Every night I went to bed covered in bruises. It was then that I decided I hated both of my parents. I also swore that if my mother ever hurt Heather the way she was hurting me, I would kill her.
One day I had gotten in her way at the wrong time. I cowered in the corner of the main room, a shower of slaps and punches hitting me from all angles. My mother was screaming at me. When I started crying, she only hit harder. I could feel blood dripping from my nose and my lips, bruises were already forming on my arms and I could feel them on my chest as well.
"Brenna!" I heard booming from the front door. Then something pulled her off me. I fell to the ground, breathing heavily and sobbing. The next thing I knew was darkness.
*present*
"The next day my mother was gone, and my baby sister was in the care of another Berserker woman. Heather was sent to her adoptive parents a few weeks later when my father couldn't care for her. That broke both his heart and mine. But there was not much we could do about it. He had chiefly duties and a son to take care of. He loved Heather, but she also wasn't going to be chief one day," I chuckled, "at least we didn't think she would be chief."
Hiccup and Astrid were silent.
"You never told us your mother was abusive to you," Astrid said softly.
I sighed and looked down. "Well, it isn't exactly something I like talking about. I still have a few scars from some of the more extreme beatings," I replied.
"Dagur, if that woman is on Berserker Island with Heather…" Hiccup didn't finish.
"I know," I answered. My throat felt tight.
"Well, we have to go help her," Astrid said decisively.
"Astrid, babe, we just got back…" Hiccup started to say.
His wife was quick to interrupt him. "No! Hiccup, I love you, but we can't get out of this one. Heather is our friend. She has helped us out of messes countless times. It is our turn to help her!" she said. She had an intense look of determination on her face. I knew no amount of protesting would persuade her to change her mind. From the look on Hiccup's face, he knew as well.
"Okay, we can get a team together tomorrow morning," he said.
Astrid hugged him.
"Thank you, brother," I said genuinely.
Hiccup smiled at me. "Astrid is right. Heather is our friend and she is my second in commands sister. There isn't even a choice here. We have to go. I am sure the others will come as well. Mom and Gobber can run things while we are gone," he said, almost like he was reassuring himself.
I bid them goodnight and made my way back to my house. There were probably only a few hours of night left, but I was going to need as much sleep as I could get.
