Part 2
Dagur was laying on the green grass and rocky earth, arms crossed behind his head. His eyes were closed but he could feel the warmth of the the sun anyway. It was midday already, the riders were probably having a light lunch before going back to whatever task they had for the day.
He helped around the Edge patrolling, training the riders and setting traps around the island; however he didn't have a dragon to ride so most of the time he had to stay alone.
One eyelid fluttered open, and a green eye looked around for any sign of danger. It seemed another quiet day.
Satisfied, Dagur closed his eye and left the mind free to roam once more.
His wish to stay with his sister was slowly backfiring; he wasn't the type to do nothing all day. He needed action, fights. War!
He could also go back to search for their father, that was another thing that bothered him. He needed to know what had happened to him, and so did Heather. They were family.
His mind recollected the image of her and, naturally, it brought to the memory their last plan.
He pictured her grinning amused while she was explaining what Dagur had to do. One step at a time. That was easier said than done.
He had already tried with small things, for example passing Hiccup whatever he needed during work at the forge, or even during a meal. He had received more than one confused stare especially because most of the times there was the whole greek chorus around their leader and he did have to act quick before everyone else. Maybe too quick for normal standars but hey, he needed to step up his reputation.
He sighed and sat up. He was trying to collect other ideas for his next move but for now nothing seemed to work. Any gentle act from him was viewed with suspicion. And it burned him from the inside.
He wanted Hiccup to be at ease with him around but he needed to show him that the old and deranged Dagur was gone. Hiccup could trust the new one.
Finally he got up and felt all his muscles crying for the prolonged inactivity. Deciding that he might as well train by himself if none was around to spar with him, he began moving toward the center of the Edge.
He arrived in an hour of walking and took notice that there wasn't anyone around.
"Eh everyone is busy but me" he noted to himself and scrolled his shoulders.
The redhead arrived to the arena and grabbed the first weapon he could reach. It was a mace. He wasn't really into maces, he preferred sharp weapons such as axes and swords but that wasn't a good reason not to practice.
After all you can't know what you might have at hand during a fight, he concluded mentally talking to himself.
He began fighting against imaginary enemies, one step, one hit. Step, step, hit. It seemed like a dance, his mind completely focused on the task at hand.
That's why he didn't notice when Toothless snuck up on him and knocked him face down.
He grunted "Who… oh hey Toothless!" the night fury was looking intently at him "what happened?" Dagur asked as he got back up and turned to look around.
The dark dragon didn't need to attract the attention of the red headed Viking any more; Dagur's green eyes had already lock onto figure laying on the grass.
"Hiccup!" he howled running toward that figure, closely followed by Toothless.
"What happened?" he asked again, this time to the unresponsive rider.
"This is not good at all" he frowned and checked pulse and breath. They were okay, if a little bit too fast.
Aside from the absence of any reply the Hooligan's heir seemed ok. No bruises, no cut or arrow sticking in any place.
"Im" a feeble voice escaped Hiccup's dry lips.
" oh, are you awake brother? Are you ok?"
Hiccup remained silent for a few seconds more trying to catch his breath. He managed to open his eyes, if just a slit. "…ne" he mumbled something incomprehensible and tried to sit up without much success.
Dagur helped him to sit and when he was positive that he didn't have any strength to suffice that simple task, he used his arms to held him in place.
Hiccup's head leaned forward, no trace of strength in his neck also. He moaned into the Berserker's chest, a failed attempt to communicate with the one helping him up.
Dagur looked around but there was still none in sight that could help them.
"Ok brother, I'll take you inside" he told him, and proceeded to carry him as gently as he could. He didn't know what happened to him and didn't want to cause him any damage.
Hiccup was limp in his arms but from his face he could see that he was suffering from some kind of pain. He brought Hiccup to Fishlegs's house and gently laid him onto the bed inside.
He brushed his brown hair away from the face and checked his temperature. It was definitely warm. Was it some kind of flu? He wasn't a healer but he had never heard of anything so violent and quick, and that morning the boy was perfectly fine.
"I'll take care of you brother, don't you worry"
He whispered, caressing the side of his face.
He had brought the rider here because of all the notes meticulously stored inside. He could check them in search of what to do and keep an eye on Hiccup at the same time.
He was a skilled fighter AND a genius!
"Toothless, I need you big guy" he turned to the quiet yet upset dragon that had followed them into the room. He took a few notes with drawings and showed them to the night fury "If anything has happened to him you have to tell me which one did it"
Toothless was ready. He couldn't communicate in human language but he understood what the red headed human was asking with all those parchments. With his muzzle he pointed to a drawing of a Zippleback.
"A Zippleback?" he asked while looking at the drawing. He began scratching his beard "how did a Zippleback…? Oh well let's just search for any clue"
He took all the notes on those type of dragons and brought them close to the bed where Hiccup was lying.
Dagur sat on the floor and placed every note in front of him as he began his review for anything that he could use to help the berkian.
It was mostly basic stuff, all things that Dagur already knew. Then things got interesting as he kept on reading. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration while the eyes run from a word to another.
"Aha!" he exclaimed finally and got up.
Toothless turned his gaze from his human to the redhead while the latter frantically searched for any kind of container. Luckily he was in Fishlegs's room so everything was pretty much ready for him to use. He gathered all the ingredients to make a remedy for that type of poisoning. He mixed everything, boiled the liquid for a while, and stirred it to mix it even more.
When he was pleased with the result he got back to the bed where Hiccup was still limp and now slightly wheezing.
Dagur took off his undershirt and wrapped it over Hiccup's head, leaving one small space just for the heated container to fit inside. He held it close to the opening so that the fumes went directly up to the young man's nostrils.
"Come on now brother, breath as much as you can" he told him "big big breaths"
He wasn't sure if the younger one had heard him or was unconscious. As long as he breathed by himself though, that was all Dagur could do.
The liquid kept on vaporizing for a long time and Dagur's arms were getting stiff for all that tension. He ignored them and kept on firmly holding the remedy. When it turned cold, only then, he put it away.
The night fury mumbled something in dragonese and Dagur sighed "lets hope it's enough"
He tiredly sat on the mattress, unwrapped Hiccup and checked his temperature and pulse again. It was still fast but the fever had finally dropped.
"Good" the Berserker smiled and cracked his sore arms to relax the muscles"come on Hiccup, your dragon is worried about you"
"Mhf" Hiccup grumbled without opening his eyes.
He wanted to see his green eyes opening to him, Dagur realized suddenly. He frowned and kept talking to him.
"Can you hear me brother?"
"Yes" he murmured slowly as he began to cough weakly. His hand trembled for the effort of reaching out to the Berserker's ones.
Dagur grabbed it and slowly he pulled him in a sitting position, while Hiccup kept on coughing more and more. The more he coughed the more his strength got slowly back.
Dagur kept a firm hold on him, not trusting to let him go even when he felt the other one steading himself in that sitting position.
Once he turned quiet ,Hiccup finally managed to lift his head and to look at his saviour. He was tired, he needed to rest but he was okay.
Dagur smiled widely and couldn't stop himself from hugging Hiccup with his full strenght.
Hiccup groaned and the Berserker quickly bolted away from the bed.
"Sorry, sorry ahahah I guess I was just too happy to see that you are okay now" he apologized sheepishly.
Hiccup smiled tiredly back to him and the redhead shivered. A cold breeze had probably chosen that moment to tease him. After all the sun had already set outside.
Toothless was the second one to get close to greet his human. He was the one to nuzzle Hiccup since he layed back down onto the mattress. He was still too tired to speak but he chuckled softly for all that attention.
Dagur kept an eye on them as he put back his shirt on. The others should arrive here soon, and Fishlegs could check on him as well, just to be sure that he was really fine.
"I'll go and grab you something to eat and drink. Are you hungry?" he asked Hiccup as he collected all the notes he had left lying around. He threw them over the table and turned around just to see the berkian nodding to his suggestion.
"Okay then, leave it to me" he winked and got out of the door.
As soon as he was out he was hit by the cold air of the evening. He shivered again as he walked around to find something for Hiccup to eat. He was sure that the younger Viking was safe with Toothless guarding him now.
Hiccup's tired smile flashed back into his memory and Dagur shivered again. That was definitely a small victory for him.