A/N: This is probably my favorite chapter of all! XD Dagur is absurdly fun to write, even more so when he's faced with his dragon "brother."

Response to Random Fan: Nope, but Heather sure can hope! Welcome back!

The Riders swiftly approached the Hunter ship from above, using the clouds for cover. The Hunters on the ship were unaware of the Riders flying above them.

Astrid smiled to herself, then turned to Fishlegs. He'd been putting a plan together during the flight.

"Okay, so there's just one ship," Fishlegs mused. He eyed the rest of the fleet headed in the direction of the single ship "We'll have to strike fast and silent-"

Whatever else Fishlegs had to say was cut off when a roar cut through the air. Astrid threw a glare at Snotlout, who raised his hands innocently and pointed at Astrid.

It was then that Astrid realized the cry had come from Toothless.

With no further warning, Toothless threw himself into a dive. Astrid nearly fell from the saddle, but just managed to grab on as Toothless raced for the ship.

"Toothless, wait!" Astrid yelled to no avail.

Toothless pulled up impossibly close to the deck, causing several Hunters to leap from the deck into the water. Toothless thudded to the deck and knocked the remaining Hunters away with his tail. He roared angrily, and a chorus of roars came from below the deck.

"Okay, you watch my back," Astrid said. She slid to the deck. "I'll get Hiccup and-"

"Ah, no, no, I don't think so," Dagur said, strolling from the cabin.

Toothless crouched and gave a savage snarl. Astrid thought that Toothless wouldn't have any qualms about killing Dagur if the Berserker didn't get out of her way.

"I'm not leaving without Hiccup," Astrid said, pulling out her axe.

Dagur lifted his own axe. "Oh, yeah? Just try."

"Hiccup's not here," Heather said drily, coming onto the deck from below between Astrid and Dagur. "All we have is a dragon-boy."

Heather raised her eyebrow at Astrid, who narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly. She knew about Hiccup's antics. So, he hadn't snapped out of it yet.

Dagur gave one of his slightly insane laughs. "Yeah, have you seen Hiccup recently? I have to say, crazy is a good look on him."

Astrid's grip on her axe tightened. Where were the other Riders? While she could hold her own against the siblings -maybe- they didn't have time to waste.

Boom!

They didn't have any time, actually. Astrid looked quickly to the side and saw that the other Riders were busy with the rest of Dagur's fleet. She returned her glare to Dagur, then took a step back.

Heather and Dagur didn't seem to know what to make of her retreat, and Astrid took advantage of their hesitation. She swung onto Toothless' back, murmuring to him.

"Let's go, Toothless."

Toothless growled incredulously.

"We'll come back, I promise, but we need the others," Astrid pleaded quietly. "Hiccup will be okay."

Toothless snarled, eyes darting from the hall behind Heather to the Berserker siblings to the battling dragons nearby.

Barf and Belch were tangled in a chain, slowly being dragged down. Meatlug was doing her best to free the dragon, while Hookfang battled the five other ships alone. They wouldn't last long.

Toothless bellowed and spun. His tail knocked Dagur into the rail and barely missed Heather as she ducked down the stairwell. Toothless bounded into the air, wings pumping furiously.

Meatlug saw Toothless coming and flew away from the deck. With uncharacteristic recklessness, Toothless rammed his head into a ballista on the deck. It was ripped from the deck and skidded away, forcing the Hunters to leap for cover. The chains around Barf and Belch were released, allowing the two-headed dragon to shake free.

"Get out of range!" Astrid yelled to the Riders.

The dragons turned up and sped for the clouds, weaving and dodging arrows and chains. They didn't stop until they were once again behind the cover of the clouds, far out of reach.

The dragons hovered for a minute, panting from the short battle. The Riders were inwardly shaken by the close call but, in true Viking fashion, hid it from each other.

Astrid stared down at the fleet through gaps in the clouds. Her hands clenched into fists as she thought about having to leave Hiccup. He was hurt and alone, and she'd abandoned him.

"Where's Hiccup?" Fishlegs finally asked.

"He was being guarded by Heather and Dagur," Astrid almost growled. "I had to choose… Hiccup or you guys."

The Riders were silent. Astrid saw them exchanging nervous looks and made herself relax her hands.

"It would be pointless to rescue Hiccup if the rest of you got captured as well," Astrid said. She sighed. "But we are going back for Hiccup."

"Let's just dive-flame them!" Tuffnut suggested enthusiastically.

"No. They know we're here and they'll be ready," Astrid said. "Besides, we can't just sink their ships. Hiccup's on one, and so are captured dragons."

"Either way, we'll be attacking them directly," Fishlegs said. "We'll have better chances if Hookfang and Toothless have their armor to protect them from dragon root arrows."

"If we leave now, we'll lose the ships," Astrid said, shaking her head.

"You and Snotlout go back to the Edge and get the armor," Fishlegs said. "The twins and I will keep an eye on the fleet."

Astrid hesitated. "Will Hiccup be okay for that long?"

Snotlout snorted. "Puh-lease, this is Hiccup we're talking about. He'll probably rescue himself before we can and find some way to fly off the ship. Dagur'll never know what hit him."

An unexpected laugh escaped Astrid. Toothless grumbled and glared sideways at her.

"I was just thinking…" Astrid smirked. "Hiccup still thinks he's a dragon. I wish I could have seen Dagur's face when he found that out."

"Huh. That went faster than I thought it would," Dagur said, sounding disappointed.

Heather rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while Dagur stood up. Dagur stretched, creating a disturbing pop in the middle of his back.

"We've got bigger problems," Heather said, waving Dagur to follow.

Heather went below. Dagur yelled at the Hunters to get out of the water and get the ship moving, then followed. Heather silently led the way to Hiccup's cell and waited for Dagur.

Hiccup had stopped his roaring at some point, as had the captive Nadders. Hiccup was curled tightly in a far corner, green eyes focused on Heather.

"Oh, he's awake!" Dagur said. He paused when Hiccup growled.

"I wasn't joking about catching a dragon-boy," Heather said. "He hasn't said a word, and I think he called the Riders to us."

An expression that was an odd mixture of awe, confusion, and anger rose on Dagur's face. He blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it. For the second time, Hiccup had struck him speechless.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Dagur finally said. "What's the point of gloating when he doesn't understand me? Wait, does he understand?"

"He doesn't respond to his name," Heather said, shrugging.

"Hic-cup. Can. You. Under-stand. Me?" Dagur asked, dramatizing each syllable.

Hiccup's only response was a growl.

"Are you sure this isn't just some trick of theirs?" Dagur asked, stepping up close to the bars to study Hiccup.

"I'm sure. That Night Fury…" Heather inwardly shuddered, thinking of the murderous glare in Toothless' eyes. "He was rescuing his Rider."

"The others will be back soon," Dagur mused.

"Why don't you prepare the fleet to capture them, then we can deal with him," Heather suggested.

"Good idea!" Dagur said.

Dagur's proclamation seemed to startle Hiccup. The scrawny Viking tumbled forward, then bounded to crouch on all fours. His feral eyes darted between the siblings.

"That." Dagur jutted a finger into the cell for emphasis. "Is crazier than my reflection."

Heather jerked Dagur back as Hiccup lunged. Hiccup's teeth snapped shut inches from Dagur's finger.

"And I don't think it's a trick," Heather murmured.

Dagur was staring at his finger, as if he was making sure it was still intact. "Either that, or a really good one."

Heather didn't think anyone could fake the wild panic of an injured and cornered dragon that well, but left Dagur's statement. He had to see it as well, he was just thinking out loud.

"Well, what can we do with him now?" Dagur asked, lowering his hand.

"I guess Viggo will want to see him," Heather said.

"Do we have to?" Dagur whined.

Heather shrugged. "It's two days trip back to his base. You'll come up with something by then."

Dagur's expression switched with its usual lack of warning. He beamed at the realization that he had a couple days to plan. He studied Hiccup for a bit longer, then turned and walked away.

Heather stared at the still-growling Hiccup, then set the stool upright and sat down. She waited silently until Hiccup's growls trailed off.

"Hey," Heather said in a low voice.

Hiccup blinked at her and shifted his hands.

Heather hummed quietly to herself. So, Hiccup was acting like a wild dragon. She had many questions about that -specifically how and why- but she figured she wouldn't get answers to that anytime soon. She was more concerned about what to do now.

An idea came to her. If she could get Hiccup to trust her enough, she… could let him out. If all the cells were conveniently unlocked and Hiccup happened to get out… it would be easy to convince Dagur that Hiccup really had been faking his actions. But, that plan wouldn't work if Hiccup freaked and attacked everyone.

Heather eyed the nearby cell, where Stormfly crouched. Thor, she could just unlock the cells and leave Hiccup to Stormfly.

But… where would the fun be in that? Whether it was by the Riders or Heather herself, there was a pretty high chance that Hiccup and the dragons would be long gone by the time they reached Viggo.

Curiosity over this unique challenge encouraged Heather's decision. She stood up, ignoring Hiccup's snarl, and walked away to get some supplies. It was time to see if she could tame the famous dragon tamer.

Hiccup watched the human that Stormfly called Heather -why did Stormfly name the humans, anyway?- walked away.

Hiccup once again checked the den for a way out, but there wasn't any entrances. He tried squeezing between the straight, smooth sticks, but couldn't get his head through.

Approaching pawsteps made him quickly move from the sticks to the solid back wall of the den. Heather walked into view and sat on the wood chunk outside the den. She held something in her forepaws that released a delicious smell…

Hiccup's stomach growled. He was still hungry, having only had the one bite of fish.

The noise only caused Heather to make the pleased show of her teeth. She spoke, then threw something toward Hiccup.

Hiccup leaped away. From the corner of the den, he studied the thing that Heather had thrown at him. After glancing at Heather, Hiccup crept forward. He sniffed deeply, then realized what it was when he saw it up close.

It was a piece of fish. It was blackened and had green flecks on it, but it smelled really good.

Hiccup looked at Heather. She watched him, then lifted her own piece of fish to her mouth and ate it.

Without taking his eyes off Heather, Hiccup lowered his head. He carefully picked up the fish in his mouth, then flicked his head back to drop the fish into his mouth. He chewed hesitantly at first, then quicker when he tasted the deliciously warm juices. He swallowed and couldn't help but coo in pleasure.

An amused sound reminded Hiccup that he was being watched. He glared at Heather, but didn't growl. This human wasn't attacking him or being loud, maybe she wasn't so bad…

Heather throwing another piece of fish certainly helped Hiccup's opinion on her.

Hiccup quickly ate the fish, then lifted his head to see another piece sitting just out of reach. He stepped forward and ate the piece, grimacing at a piece of dirt that had stuck to it. He swallowed the fish, though, dirt and all, then sniffed out the next piece.

A few pieces later, Hiccup found the latest piece of fish appearing to float in front of him. He opened his mouth to take it without thinking, then stiffened when he saw the reason.

Heather had moved to crouch on the ground and was holding the fish between the sticks with her paw.

Hiccup rocked back with a growl. Heather's stance didn't change; she just waited with her eyes turned low. Gradually, Hiccup relaxed and stepped back up to her paw. He delicately reached out and grabbed the piece of fish in his mouth. Heather let go. Hiccup twitched the fish into his mouth, but didn't chew.

Heather withdrew her paw and simply watched Hiccup. Hiccup stared back, then came to a decision.

Stepping forward, he lowered his head close to the sticks, then spat out the piece of fish. He sat back and cooed at Heather, pleased.

Heather had an odd look on her muzzle, and she didn't touch the fish. Hiccup huffed and gestured with his muzzle toward the fish.

"Heather fish," Hiccup said.

Heather gave a reluctant growl and reached out to pick up the fish between two of her claws. She pulled it closer, but just held it. Hiccup gestured impatiently.

Snap!

In a blur of silver scales, the Click-Wing jumped into view and snatched up the piece of fish to eat for herself. Hiccup leaped to his paws with an infuriated roar.

"Heather fish!"

"Windshear fish," the Click-Wing said contentedly.

Hiccup growled, angry at Windshear for taking his gift to Heather.

Heather said something in a soothing tone. She took another piece of fish from a smooth stone one her lap and ate it, then gave a piece to Windshear before offering a third piece to Hiccup.

"Wrong way," Hiccup grumbled, but took the fish from Heather and ate it.

Heather made her pleased sound again. She put the empty stone beside her, then stared at Hiccup again.

Since she didn't mean him harm and was out of fish, Hiccup soon lost interest in her. He returned to studying the walls and pawing at cracks. There had to be some way out!

A squeak from behind made Hiccup spin. Heather was standing inside the small den! An opening that definitely hadn't been there before was behind her but, as Hiccup watched, she pulled on a portion of the sticks, and the opening closed.

"Both stuck," Hiccup grumbled.

Looking at Heather, Hiccup realized she was nervous from her stiff stance and her quick breathing. It put him on edge. He gave a nervous growl and backed away.

Heather made a soothing sound and breathed slowly out. Her stance relaxed and she took a step closer to Hiccup. He stiffened, but let her get closer until she stopped just out of reach. Hiccup stared curiously at Heather and waited.

Heather exhaled slowly and lifted a paw. She stretched it out in front of her, and lowered her head so she wasn't looking at Hiccup anymore. She then stilled, waiting.

Hiccup knew what she wanted, and didn't hesitate. He leaned forward, pressing his head against her paw.

A/N: It's the hand thing! XD Anyway.