The team is back at the Edge and Hiccup is working on some new dragon armor to protect their dragons from the dragon arrows and Toothless doesn't care for it.
"Come on, bud, work with me here, please?" Hiccup asks of his dragon.
The two start making their way out of the stables and runs into Heather.
"Heather! Hey." Hiccup greets her. "So, what brings you here so early in the morning? You're going on a test flight with Windshear? Well, same here. With Toothless, of course."
"You're going on a recon flight. Alone, with no backup. We talked about this a dozen times." Heather puts together and reminds him.
"I know, I just didn't want to wake you. It's no big deal. Really." Hiccup assures her.
"Hiccup, it's been months since the whole Viggo.."
"Fiasco?" Hiccup interrupts her.
"I was gonna say experience. You had to stop obsessing over this guy." Heather reminds him. "You're gonna wear yourself thin looking for him who doesn't want to be found."
"I'm fine. Besides, maybe Viggo isn't out there, but his Hunters surely are." Hiccup reminds her.
"And we know they won't say anything." Heather says and sees he's not stopping. "Look, if you're going, at least let me go with you."
"Fine." Hiccup says and waits for her to leave before turning to his dragon. "Okay, it's now or never."
-
The two fly off and Toothless still wouldn't wear the armor as they took off.
"When Heather and Windshear finds out you're not wearing your armor, I am not covering for you." Hiccup warns his dragon as they fly out. "But with all that armor on, would we be able to do this?" He asks as they start flying and doing their tricks throughout the air.
"Man, that new tail is awesome." Hiccup states as they continue to fly trough the air and Toothless takes a dip into the water, causing Hiccup to get soaked and Toothless laughs at his rider.
While flying, they come across a Dragon Hunter ship.
"Okay, bud. Let's get a closer look." Hiccup says as they fly up to the ship and see they're all unconscious and smoke coming from the ship.
Hiccup and Toothless land and sees them.
"Looks like a dragon hit the best of them." Hiccup guesses as Toothless growls. "Yeah, let's get out of here." He says, agreeing when the Hunters start getting up and they fly off.
"Fire!" One of the Hunters say and they start shooting their dragons root arrows and one was able to hit Toothless.
"Come on, bud!" Hiccup tells Toothless and see an island coming up. "We can make that." He encouraged Toothless as they drop onto the island.
"I got you, Toothless. I'm right here." Hiccup assures his dragon and sees the arrow stuck inside of him and pulls it out and Toothless cries in pain. "I know. We just gotta wait or out, bud." He tells him and he doesn't know how long that will be and the hunters are coming for them.
-
Hiccup just takes Toothless and starts dragging him until they reach a cave that they'll be able to hide in for now.
"I'm sorry, bud. I am so sorry I got us into this." Hiccup apologizes as Toothless drops and isn't feeling well because of the arrow.
Hiccup runs to the entrance of the cave and sees the hunters approaching.
"Why didn't I listen? Why didn't I...what's wrong with me?" Hiccup asks himself and Toothless cries in pain. "Shhh! Toothless, please. You stay still and keep quiet. I'm gonna buy us some time. I'll be back." He promises and quickly covered up the cave with some bushes.
Hiccup runs and sees the hunters moving towards the cave and throws a stone over them and into some nearby bushes and they run towers it. He sighs, seeing they're distracted when he suddenly steps on a twig, causing a noise.
"There he is! Get him." They call and Hiccup goes off running away from them. But as he runs, he looks and sees he was knocked unconscious suddenly and so was the second one.
Hiccup keeps running, not wanting to see what knocked them out as the more hunters he finds, the more get knocked out.
"Gather up more men, and check the caves." Their leader tells them. "We're not leaving until we find the rider and that Night Fury after what they did to the ship." He states.
"What we did?" Hiccup asks, completely confused to what he could mean but keeps running.
As he runs, someone else was helping by conserving his tracks.
-
Hiccup makes his way back to the cave and sees Toothless is resting.
"You think you can stand up, bud?" Hiccup asks him and Toothless tries his best but he drops to the floor.
"Keep searching!" He hears the hunters say and Toothless growls out more and knows they've been spotted.
"Okay, if they want you, Toothless, they're going have to go through me." Hiccup says and gets his shield out, ready to take them when he heard grunting and slamming.
He just looks confused as the bushes start getting moves and Hiccup sees the last person he thought he'd ever see.
"Hello, Hiccup."
"Dagur?" Hiccup asks, seeing him move closer. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warns and Toothless growls before dropping again.
"Easy, Hiccup." Dagur says as Hiccup goes in to hit him. "Hiccup, I'm not here to hurt you." He assures him and drags him out of the cave where Hiccup sees he knocked out the hunters.
"You did that?" Hiccup asks.
"Plenty of time to answer all of your Hiccupy questions later." Dagur promises. "Right now, we need to move your dragon before these guys wake up. Or you can handle them yourself, hmm?"
-
The two of them are moving Toothless and the dragon doesn't trust Dagur as much as Hiccup does.
"Oh, come on. If I was gonna hurt you, don't you think I would've done it by now?" Dagur asks them.
"I don't know. You're pretty crafty." Hiccup states.
"Crafty. Thank you, Hiccup. I appreciate the kind words." Dagur says. "They were kind, right?" He wonders.
"You see so weird." Hiccup says when Dagur throws a knife over Hiccup's shoulder and he looks to see a dragon trap he springed. "Thanks?"
"You're welcome." Dagur replies with a smiles as they keep moving Toothless. "Dragons are heavier than they look."
They keep moving Toothless and they reach a waterfall with a long drop.
"I knew it! What was I thinking?" Hiccup asks himself.
"Hiccup, it's not a trap. Look." Dagur assures him and Hiccup looks and sees a cave hidden behind the waterfall and now sees Dagur's plan.
They keep dragging toothless into the cave and had a close call with the ledge where Dagur saved him.
"Sorry about that. I should've warned you about that." Dagur sees and gets back up.
"I have officially stepped into an alternate archipelago." Hiccup states, trying to see what Dagur is trying to do.
-
Dagur leads them into the cave and lights a fire for them and Hiccup sees this is where Dagur has been these past few months.
"Yeah, I tend to have a lot of time on my hands these days." Dagur says as he heads to Toothless and starts helping the dragon. "Yes, answers. I did tell you those were en route. Well, after I came to the unfortunate realization that I was completely expendable while part of the Dragon hunters and under the command of Viggo Grimborn...oh, I would have lived to have seen the look on his face as I drove a..." he then interrupts himself and calms down. "Have you ever tried that? It's cathartic. I used to think the only deep breaths were the last ones." He says before laughing. "How's Heather?"
Hiccup knows he can easily say she's okay, but that could encourage Dagur to return to the Edge as he knows where it is. But he could lie and give him some time to see how Heather would feel about meeting him again, considering the last time she almost died in his hand and the other time was when they almost killed him and they learned she was his brother. Then the time before that, he attacked her home and killed her family.
"Yeah, you know, she's okay." Hiccup says, knowing that'll assure him.
"Good. And her dragon? What was it, Windshower?" Dagur asks.
"Windshear." He corrects.
"Right. Anyway, after that learning experience, I drifted at sea for quite some time, then came across here. Been alone on this island for months. It's amazing what a near death experience and hours upon hours, upon hours of alone time will do to the mind, body and soul, Hiccup. I mean, you should try it sometime." He says and Hiccup chuckles. "What's so funny?"
"You. This. I mean, I knew you were crazy, but this takes the cake." Hiccup tells him.
"I AM NOT...crazy." Dagur starts shouting but calms himself down. "But I understand your skepticism."
"Dagur, why in the name of Thor should I believe a word you say?" Hiccup asks him.
"You shouldn't. I don't deserve the benefit of the doubt." Dagur says as he throws more logs into the fire and looks at Toothless. "He doesn't look so good."
"He's never been hit with one of these. I don't know, maybe...maybe Night Furies react differently?" Hiccup guesss.
"I never liked those dragon root arrows. Seemed like cheating to me. And I hate cheaters." Dagur states. "There's an antidote for this, though. I saw Ryker and his men make it. I can give you the ingredients and together make the antidote to save your glorious Night Fury. Unless you want to take the chance of him surviving this on his own?" He asks and Hiccup looks at Toothless and knows he needs to help when Dagur passs him a sword. "You might need that. They're still out there."
-
They're in the forest, looking whole they left Toothless in the cave for his protection knowing he won't be found there.
"Butterweed. That's the first ingredient." Dagur says as he's sniffing a flower. "Looks like this, but darker."
"So, what caused this new Dagur?" Hiccup asks him.
"I told you. Near death experience and a lot of time to think." Dagur explains.
"About what?" Hiccup asks.
"When you only care about yourself, life is simple. Your actions are clear. Consequences?" He laughs maniacally. "Who cares? When that changes..."
"Heather?"
"She's blood, Hiccup. And makes me closer to her than you and her." Dagur says while winking when he finds the flower. But when he reaches for it, a Changewing and Dagur jumps in shock.
Before Hiccup could do anything to stop it, Dagur starts whistling into his hands and the Changewing leaves them.
"What?" Hiccup asks, looking to Dagur.
"A little something I picked up along the way." Dagur explains.
-
They keep walking in search of the second ingredient.
"Okay, now we need the branch of a Fire Fern. It's the long, red plant underneath the big Elm tree." Dagur explains and Hiccup finds it. "Just make sure you don't..." he was gonna warn but was too late as Hiccup screams, "touch it with your bare hands." He finishes and picks it up with his sword.
"Thanks for the early warning." Hiccup mocks.
"I gotta work on that." Dagur says as he drags Hiccup to the lake and puts his hand in the water. "Keep it in the water. Hey! Next ingredient, fresh water." He says as he takes some water in a mug. "So, you wanna tell me why you're out here on your own?" He asks.
"Not really. Let's just say you aren't the only one who changed after Viggo Grimborn." Hiccup tells him.
"That stuff can kill you from the inside, Hiccup. Revenge. Anger. Obsession. Trust me, I know. It can make you do things you never thought you were capable of. Causes you to take chances, make mistakes. If that doesn't end you, it'll sway away at you slowly." Dagur warns him and he takes his hand out of the water.
-
The last ingredient, purple oleander. Which confuses Hiccup since the blue stuff is poisonous to dragons.
"Blue Oleander can kill a dragon. How is purple any different?" Hiccup asks.
"Well, for one thing-"
"Please don't say, it's purple."
"I was going to say nature. It's always a great mystery, Hiccup." Dagur tells him. "Take Heather and I. We're brother and sister, and yet we're very different."
"I must be out of my mind to go along with any of this." Hiccup says and climbs up the rock pile as a Dragon Hunter comes and starts attacking Dagur and he fights him off.
Hiccup grabs the flower and is shocked to see him fight then and let them live.
"I told you, I've changed." Dagur says when they hear a crossbow and Dagur moves Hiccup as he gets shot. "Huh. Stuck right in there, look at the way it's..." he falls unconscious as the archer charges at them.
Hiccup quickly grabs the mace and attacks the Dragon Hunter in the chest, knocking him unconscious. Shocking Hiccup just exactly what he did.
-
Hiccup brings Dagur back to the cave and mixes the ingredients after bandaging up Dagur and he later wakes up.
"Whoo those were some crazy dreams." Dagur says and sees what Hiccup did. "You...did this? For me? I don't know what to say. I mean, nobody has ever..."
"Dagur, it was the least I could do. Think of it as payback for everything." Hiccup states as the ingredients states fizzing. "I was just about to give it to him."
Dagur walks up and sees its not complete. "Needs more purple. Definitely." He says and adds more of the flower and it goes purple.
Hiccup takes it and moves it to Toothless and gives him some hoping he was right to trust Dagur.
Suddenly, Toothless states freaking out and roaring uncontrollably.
"Toothless? You okay?" Hiccup asks and Toothless drops unconscious again. "What did you do?" He asks Dagur.
"I didn't know, you have to believe me." Dagur tells him and Hiccup charges at him and the two of them fall out of The cave and into the water.
They crawl out and run into the Dragon Hunters where they're captured
"We're going to find that dragon. It's only a matter of time." Their leader tells them. "Why don't you make it easier on everyone?"
The two of them aren't talking obviously.
"Maybe this will burn a hole in your memory." The leader says and pulls Hiccup towards a fire with a mark brand inside.
"Now you'll be part of the Dragon Hunters forever." One of them say and moves it close to Hiccup's face.
"Okay! Enough! I'll take you to the Night Fury." Dagur promises.
"No, Dagur!" Hiccup tells him as they drop the maker.
"Take a few more men just in case." Their leader tells them as Dagur runs to the fire and uses it to burn the ropes and takes the men down.
"Come on, hurry!" Hiccup tells him and Dagur sees more men approaching.
"Sorry, brother. You'd just slow me down." Dagur says and runs off and Hiccup can't believe he did that. Just when he was learning to trust him.
"Well come back for Dagur later, put an end to his miserable life. This one will lead us to the Night Fury." Their leader promises and take Hiccup to their ship.
"Last chance. You want help that dragon? Help yourself?" Their leader asks Hiccup.
"I'll die before I talk." Hiccup promises.
"Then die you shall. Viggo will see to that." He promises when Toothless comes flying in and blast the guards and Hiccup sees Dagur is on him.
"What?" Hiccup asks seeing Dagur and he's terrified as Toothless does most of the work and Dagur stops him from getting hit again.
"Easy, Dragon!" Dagur tells Toothless, not used to flying as Toothless makes quick work of the hunters and meets back up with Hiccup.
"It's good to see you, too, bud." Hiccup says as Dagur releases him from his restraints.
"I have no idea how you stomach that." Dagur tells him.
"It's good to have you back, bud. Now, what do you say we show him how it's done?" Hiccup asks Toothless as they fly off to their ship and runs everyone off of it.
-
They lead them as, in and their leader runs into the Changewing from earlier.
By the time they return, they see Dagur is gone.
"Where'd he go?" Hiccup wonders but knows he isn't a threat. "We seriously owe him one. Maybe he'll get to Viggo before we do." He tells Toothless and they fly home.
Unknowingly, Dagur snuck onto the Dragon Hunter's boat and confiscated it.
"Hiccup! Tell Heather I'm coming for her!" Dagur call's out wanting to reunite with his sister, but Hiccup was too far gone to hear him. "I still wonder why he came back when I swear I saw Toothless flying around this morning." He wonders to himself and walks to the deck.
-
Earlier that morning, there was another dragon rider with the idea of going on a recon flight while rescue dragons.
This Rider was indeed flying another Night Fury that resembled Toothless by a lot, but this one was a female and had streaks of red on her spikes and across her eyebrows.
Her rider had her face covered with a groncle iron mask that covered everything except her hair that was mud brown.
The Night Fury growls at her rider knowing they're gonna be in trouble for leaving.
"Don't worry, Scarlett. We're just on a normal flight. Mom can't get mad at us for that." The Rider tells her Dragon when they come up across the Dragon Hunter ship. "Dragon hunters."
Scarlett growls at seeing the shop, as they're not friends to these people.
"Yeah, I despise them as well, girl." The Rider agrees with her and the two go flying in.
"Scarlett, multiple blasts, take them down." The Rider tells her dragon and she blasts every single Hunter just as they were spotted.
"Okay, Girl. Let's free these dragons." She says as they land and head into the lower deck and lets every dragon free and starts beating back up.
"See? We even saved some friends. There's no way she can be mad now." The Rider tells Scarlett before quickly removing her mask to reveal her face and her forest green eyes and braided brown hair that goes over her back down to her hips with the mask removed.
The rider was Hala Haddock; lost twin sister of Hiccup Haddock.