author's note: hello again! thanks for the lovely comment on this work! I also understand this is not canon but... it's a fanfic :D if I want to write a Dagur/Hiccup story and this pairing is not your cup of tea, close it and go read something else 3 *
Hiccup awoke with a start in complete darkness. Before he could get up from his laying position on the grass, he felt a rough hand covering his mouth. Panic filled his still confused brain as another arm locked with his shoulder, effectively pinning him on the ground.
He began struggling against this force, then he heard a familiar "shhh" whispered close to his ear. He shivered but obliged and stopped moving.
Once he was calm, the tight grip on him loosened and Dagur helped him in a crouching position instead. His eyes couldn't see the other figure yet; they were getting used to the darkness but he could hear distant shouting and the soothing sound of grass moved by the wind.
"what happened?" the young chief managed to ask in a hushed voice, trying to guess what was the danger he sensed from the caution of the other presence.
"Ryker" Dagur replied shortly "they must have been behind us after we escaped"
"They attacked the Edge? Where are the others?" Hiccup asked worriedly. Turning his attention to the now shadowy figure he could see close to him, green eyes shining worriedly in the soft light of the stars.
"They have been taken along with the dragons" Dagur replied after a few seconds of silence, then continued "Ryker wants to exchange them for the dragon eye and lenses. We have got little time left, you were out much longer than I expected"
Hiccup chose not to comment; he realised in that moment that Dagur had been the one to drag him away from the attack while he was unconscious. He felt a warm sensation in his chest but he had to focus.
They had to save all of their friends as fast as they could.
"Ok, let's find a way to solve this. Tell me all you can remember from the attack and if you know their whereabouts right now"The forest was unusually silent with the exception of the rough voices of the Hunters; Hiccup could hear them joking and laughing not much further from where he was heading.
In his hands he had the dragon eye and he wasn't hiding in any way, he was walking straight toward the place chosen for the exchange.
Of course Hiccup's plan was to fake an exchange to save the dragons and their riders. He needed to buy time while Dagur was going to try and sneak around to actually free the others and not surrender the instrument to those goons.
"Look who's here. You finally decided to surrender then" a Hunter found him and pointed his weapon at him with an evil smile.
"Yes, this thing isn't worth the life of my friends" Hiccup rised his arms with the dragon eye plainly visible in his grasp.
"Whatever makes you sleep at night" the other snickered and gestured the young Viking to walk toward Ryker.
Viggo's brother was standing in the middle of a semicircle made by his friends and dragons, everyone with a guard pointing arrows and different kind of blades at them. The dragons didn't seem particularly scared of the hunters, instead they feared for their riders life.
A few fires were lit in the area, crackling creepily in the dark night and making the whole situation look like Hiccup's personal nightmare.
"My brother sends you his greetings. He was heartbroken since you decided to escape so fast on our last meeting"
"I'm sure he was. Why isn't he here now?" Hiccup asked suspiciously at that strange absence, Viggo wanted the dragon eye so badly he wouldn't want to miss the chance to get it.
"Let's just say you are not his top priority right now" Ryker smirked at his own remark, very pleased to belittle him in any way he could.
Unfortunately his smirk lasted shortly when Hiccup replied "Ohh that's why he sent you then!" and an angry scowl appeared instead on his face.
Ryker snorted an annoyed "Mmpf" then opened his arms "Anyway I was expecting you. Or better, this thing here. Give it to me so I can give you your friends back"
Hiccup hesitated. He needed to buy more time for Dagur so the only way to try and do it was to make the other talk as much as he could.
"How can I be sure you will keep your word?"
"You can't. But there is nothing else to do, is there?" the bald hunter caressed his moustache looking expectantly at the young chief in from of him, urging him with just his look to give him the instrument. The reflection of the fires all around made him look like some kind of demon and Hiccup knew the other was done talking.
Cold sweat rolled down Hiccups back, unseen underneath the armour and clothes.
Where was Dagur?
A loud commotion just a few seconds later gave him an answer to that question.
Hiccup and Ryker turned their heads toward the noises and the berkian felt all his hopes disintegrate.
The redhead had his arms behind the back and he was violent struggling with four hunters keeping him still.
"Oh, there he is" Ryker seemed pleased by that scene; he didn't look surprised at all by that sudden apparition.
Feeling the question in Hiccup's eyes he just grinned "Viggo told me to look out for him. He knew he would try and do something like this".
They were busted, his whole plan had been a complete disaster. Viggo was a step ahead once more.
The young chief swallowed a lump of saliva and turned to Ryker "Well, you were saying you want this. So take it and you can go your merry way" he had to offer the dragon eye to the hunter, there was no other way he could save his friends now that Dagur had also been captured.
"Indeed we will" Ryker grabbed the mechanical tool and, after giving it an accurate inspection, he nodded "you found me in a good mood Hiccup Haddock" he told the hooligan' s chief as he signaled to his men to release the hostages.
Hiccup sighed in relief to see his fellow riders and dragons out of their imprisonment. They were still without their stuff and with weapons pointed at them but as soon as the Hunters were off the island they would be free at least.
Ryker chuckled darkly at Hiccup' s relieved face and with his crossbow at ready he moved toward the only one still struggling to get free of his captors.
"Hey! Release him " Heather was the first one to see her brother still in chains and her edgy voice made Hiccup turn his head once again in direction of the redhead.
"I don't understand" Hiccup began confused from that change of events "I gave you the dragon eye and the lenses..."
As they made Dagur kneel on the ground with his head down, Ryker aimed his arrow at him
"Of course you did. That's why I allowed your friends to live. Him, on the other hand is my personal business. One I'll take care of right away." He told him and seemed like he was ready to shoot.
He could faintly hear the screams of the other among his thundering heartbeats as he run, oddly at first and then sprinting in their direction "Nonono no, wait!" Hiccup shouted as he put himself in front of the redhead, facing the bolt in his place.
"I thought that he would be included in the exchange" Hiccup tried to reason with Ryker but as soon as he finished his sentence the other laughed out loud.
"Of course not! he's just filth that needs to be eliminated"
"How..how about another exchange?" Hiccup was panicking for the lack of ideas in his mind, it was happening all too fast. He blurted the first thing he could think of "If you save his life I will become your hostage. Think of all the knowledge you can bring to your brother".
Hiccup noticed that the entire area went silent and Ryker relaxed his arm, probably considering the offer.
"You really would do something like this...for him?" the disgust was clear in his tone.
Hiccup didn't know why there was so much hatred between the two of them but knowing Dagur it wasn't that difficult to imagine one or two reasons.
"Yes. If you spare him I will willingly tell Viggo everything I know about dragons, not from just the lenses but from my experience".
While he was waiting for the other to weight pros and cons of his offer, Hiccup began hearing a strange sound. It was faint and he wasn't sure it was real and not some mind trick caused by the stress of the situation.
"Did you hear that madman?" Ryker laughed again, a cold and harsh laugh "Too bad we don't need you, Viggo has everything he needs right now. Now move!" he told them as he tried to push Hiccup out of the way.
The area was now full of shouting, his friends were either pleading or fuming with rage, the hunters were cheering on their leader while keeping an eye on their not anymore bounded hostages.
The young chief managed to grab one of the hunter's hand and stopped himself from being pushed away.
"Move it kid or you'll end up with an arrow sticking from your chest" Ryker yelled and tug hard on his arm to free himself.
Hiccup was thrown off balance and pulled hard back, causing the other to tighten his grasp on his weapon. Hiccup felt, more than heard , the snap of the strIng of the crossbow and the movement of the arrow piercing the air; then he felt a sting on his right leg and he crashed unceremoniously on the ground with a grunt.
"Now I can finally put an end to your miserable life" as Ryker was gloating in front of Dagur who had lost his human shield.
Hiccup could now hear more clearly the strange noise and turned to look at the Berserker.
The berkian's face paled.
Dagur's green eyes were locked on the small trail of blood coming out of Hiccup's scraped leg and his teeth were grinding together in a ferocious snarl.The redhead was furious and the sound he had heard, now louder and louder, was a deep growl of rage.
Shuttermaster, having heard his master's growing growl, responded immediately spitting his fiery projectiles close to where his rider was being help captive.
The following explosions scared the four tugs and they lost their grip for a moment, just a single moment Dagur used to get free. He wriggled out of their grasps and, with a fury plainly visible in his dark expression, attacked them with a roar.
It seemed like that became the cue the dragon riders were expecting: fueled by that threat everyone started fighting at the best they could. Hiccup knew that it was a matter of seconds that they would win that battle because the dragons were not worried for their humans safety anymore and could now fight without worries.
The young chief searched Toothless on the battlefield and saw him attacking the thugs closer to him, his dark silhouette glistening at each blast.
While waiting for his dragon to come and help him, Hiccup gazed back toward Dagur who was beating his captives hard and fast into submission, until they lost consciousness on the ground; Ryker on the other hand had been shocked by that outburst and consequent change of events but after a few seconds he had reached out for a new arrow to charge his crossbow.
Noticing the movement, Hiccup called out for Dagur who immediately looked at Ryker now prepared to take the shot.
Another arrow flied but this time the target, namely Dagur, avoided the projectile with ease, his body responding perfectly to the fight. He was now ready to pounce in the direction of the bald hunter.
The redhead jumped him and knocked Ryker onto the ground, fists pummelling against every part of the hunter he could reach, again and again with a mad rage. His growl had become a series of shouts covering the weak ones of the hunter being punched black and blue.
Hiccup groaned at that scene and limped closer to them, keeping pressure to the injuried leg. Ryker was in a very bad shape but Dagur didn't look he was going to stop soon.
He reached out to touch one of the redhead shoulder, fully aware that he could become a victim of that mad rage himself. "Dagur, that's enough!" he shouted even if they were at that close distance, he needed to snap him out of that state.
Sure enough Dagur lost interest in beating the living out of an unconscious Ryker and grabbed the hand that had dared to touch him.
Hiccup found himself again on the ground with a mad viking on top of him. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his face, expecting to be hit just as much as the others had. He just heard a thump on the ground close to his head, then he felt enveloped in the tightest hug he ever felt. He couldn't move because the other had completely squashed his arms but he managed to open his eyes and look at the figure he could feel trembling over him.
"Dagur?"
He responded by squeezing him even more tightly.
All the gang gathered around them after kicking out from their Island all the opponents. Astrid had the presence of mind to take back the dragon eye and lenses from the loosen grasp of Ryker, whom Heather also kicked in the legs for good measure .
"Hiccup are you alright?" Fishlegs asked him gently as soon as he noticed the superficial wound on his leg.
"Umph. Yeah I'm fine. Getting less and less air but fine"
Heather smiled and crouched close to her brother "We should let him get his good leg healed, don't you think?"
"It's noth..."
"Oh shush now" Astrid intervened as she gently helped Dagur getting up on his feet "you two need some rest after this stunt" she lightly commanded and Hiccup knew he couldn't say anything against that.
He accepted the help of Snotlout and Tuffnut to get back up, finally ready to get some deserved rest.