This is where the story begins to become somewhat more informational. I like this chapter a lot. We start to see our new character I developed come into place. As I had said previously, I am starting to get a little writer's block, and have been working on this idea for about two years. I am approaching the ending to what I have so far. I hope I can get more going once I run out of my chapters I already have.

Thanks, guys!

Hiccup sat at his desk doodling, having a slightly more difficult time with a sore shoulder. It was nighttime again, and into the early morning hours he was finding himself having a difficult time sleeping. Instead, he was trying to reconstruct his peg leg. He had lost his blueprints, so he was having to start over from scratch. He was hoping to make this one even better than the previous one.

Sleep wasn't coming easily. Throughout the day he had found himself taking cat naps, but he was not being woken up by his mother or Astrid. He was coping with his dreams on his own. The one that was playing his mind over and over again was when Dagur had placed the hot iron on his hip.

Hiccup shuttered at the thought again. The pain had knocked him clean out. He had remembered waking up to a guard adjusting his ropes…the man with the scar on his face.

"What?" Hiccup's voice had said aloud to the man. Hiccups realized the guard had a knife in his hand. Hiccup remembered the panic going through him when he saw the knife, and he was trying to get away from him without obtaining another injury.

"Easy," the guard said to him quietly. "I am trying to loosen these up for you." The guard finished adjusting them. They were very loose around his wrists, giving him feeling back into his hands and leaving less pull on his injured shoulder.

"Wh—why are you helping me?" Hiccup had asked, his voice very weak. He was grateful for the ease on his shoulder.

"Dagur has been insane for quite some time," was the man's reply. "If I don't help you, you will continue to whimper in your sleep. And if Dagur hears you he will just come in and hurt you worse."

The guard made one last knot a moment later. But Hiccup could tell he could move better if he needed to.

"Do not tell Dagur I helped you," he said quietly, and he disappeared back into the shadows.

Hiccup was pulled from his dream-like state when he heard Astrid move in bed. He saw her disappear down the stairs. He sighed, reached for his crutch, and went down after her.

He held onto the banister for extra support. He wasn't used to walking with a crutch. As he was more than halfway down, he saw Astrid sitting at the table, puking into a basin at the kitchen table.

Managing to get to her side rather quickly, he reached out and touched her shoulder, startling her.

When she was able to breathe, she turned and looked at him. "What are you doing up?" she asked him.

"I should be asking you the same question, but I see."

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she said, taking a seat at the table.

"I think your nerves are shot," Hiccup said to her, taking a seat beside her. "I didn't help that."

"You and I both know I don't get nervous too easily," Astrid reminded him.

"Yes, Astrid, you don't," Hiccup said. "But, you've also never seen me like this."

She chuckled slightly. "Actually, I have. When you lost part of your leg."

He laughed slightly. "Was I this bad, though?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "No. You didn't have horrible nightmares. You just kind of moaned in your sleep from the pain."

He nodded. He barely remembered any of that. He was surprised he could remember some details now. But, maybe it was because the events of that incident didn't happen over a course of weeks, rather hours instead.

After a few moments, Astrid reached for the bread on the table, unwrapped it and sighed. "I'm tired of milk and stale bread," she said. "How about I make us some eggs and toast?"

"I think I might be able to stomach that," he said. "Question is, what about you?"

She nodded. "I think so."

Hiccup had started shaking after day four of dealing with his burns, cuts and broken bones. His cuts were starting to become infected by this point. He was thankful that Dagur had not noticed his ropes were still very lose on him. Dagur had left him alone, barely speaking to him, and barely acknowledging he was even around. Dagur had also not offered him any food, just some water was given to him from the guard.

Finally, on the fourth day, the same guard had left very briefly to go eat dinner. Another guard stood in place. He didn't pay any attention to Hiccup. He just sat at his seat, staying very briefly, and leaving when the man knocked on the door to come back inside to sit.

After a few moments, the man fully untied Hiccup's ropes, and half carried him to a wall, where he gently helped him lean against it. He then pushed a roll into Hiccup's hand.

"Eat," he said quietly. Hiccup noted he had a strong chin, and the scar was just below his right eye, almost like a dragon claw infliction. Hiccup couldn't comprehend anymore details before the man slipped away from his view.

Slowly, Hiccup mustered up some energy to lift the roll to his mouth and take a small bite. Because he had not eaten for several days, he felt nauseated, dizzy and weak. His energy was almost gone. He had to tell himself when to move his jaw up and down to chew. He felt pathetic.

Toothless still hung upside down in his cell close by. Hiccup turned his head to look at him, and to show him he was eating something. He felt that Toothless was relaxing because of it. He knew the dragon could sense his uneasiness and discomfort.

The guard came back and pushed a warm mug of cider into Hiccup's hands. "I know this is hard right now, but you need to eat fast." He helped Hiccup take a drink of the warm amber liquid when he realized Hiccup was still too weak. He then took the roll and pulled it into smaller pieces to help Hiccup eat.

"The sugar in that cider should help you," the man said.

"What's your name?" Hiccup asked him quietly.

The man turned around him to make sure no one was approaching the door. He then turned back to Hiccup. "Cecil."

Cecil offered Hiccup another bite of the roll, which Hiccup accepted.

"Thank you, Cecil," Hiccup whispered.

Cecil nodded at Hiccup, then began inspecting the cut on Hiccup's forehead. He left Hiccup alone with some pieces of roll to feed himself, and went over to a basin full of water, wetted down a handkerchief he had taken out of his pocket. He rang it out, and came back to Hiccup's position on the floor. He gently began to clean some of the dry blood off of Hiccup's face.

"This cut will scar," he said quietly. "Get some of your energy up, and I'll dress some of these other wounds as best as I can."

Hiccup let out a small breath. "Can you tell me, Cecil, what does Dagur want?"

Cecil leaned back on his hunches and looked at Hiccup a moment. "The dragon. It's always the dragon."

"He has Toothless," Hiccup said quietly. "He—" Hiccup was overcome with a dizzy spell, and he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"You need to keep eating," Cecil said to him reassuringly. He then helped Hiccup get another drink. After a moment, he spoke again. "What Dagur is wanting is control. He's found a nest of dragons. Since he knows Toothless defeated an Alfa, and he has become one, he thinks Toothless will gain him access."

"Drago," Hiccup said.

Cecil nodded, and held the damp towel to Hiccup's forehead. He could tell then that a fever was developing. "A long time ago, I used to help Drago capture dragons. Eventually, I did escape from being under his thumb. I went into hiding, away from everyone. Somehow, I ended up here with Alvin, and now Dagur since he took over Outcast Island."

"You have been with Alvin?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes. I was stranded when pirates took over the small ship I was on. I hid in the floorboards while the ship was taken over, fearing fire would be set, but the fire never came. Instead, the voices died away, and all remained quiet, leaving me the lone survivor. I took a boat and left the ship. A few days later, Alvin passed my boat and brought me aboard. I had been very ill, but survived. I was with Alvin until Dagur broke free from jail. He tied Alvin up and placed him on a boat, and set him sail. He found it amusing."

Hiccup looked at Cecil questionably, which Cecil found amusing, and he only chuckled slightly at him.

"Don't worry. I am not bad. At least I don't think so. I do what I do to survive here until I can escape without being detected."

"Well, you have been kind to me," Hiccup said. "Perhaps one day I can return the favor to you."

"Perhaps," Cecil said. His voice was eerie calm. "In the mean-time, if you think you can keep yourself quiet, I'd like to clean that burn on your hip."

Hiccup shook his head, alarm flowing through him. "Please don't."

Cecil nodded, then turned to look at the door again. Surprisingly, to both of them, it was quiet outside.

"Has Dagur reached Berke?" Hiccup asked Cecil.

"No," he said gently, rubbing his fingers over Hiccup's forehead. He was feeling the fever. Concern showed on his face, but that was all. "Your village is safe, don't worry." Cecil found another subject to discuss. "I see your wedding band. Have you been married long?"

"Just under a year," Hiccup replied. He reached a hand out for the cup of cider Cecil held. Cecil allowed him to hold the cup, and put it up to his lips. He shook, but he managed to take a drink without spilling anything. "I am sure she is worried about me."

Suddenly, they heard Dagurr's voice closing in. Cecil threw the roll and the mug across the room, grabbed Hiccup and tossed him over to where he had laid prior, jarring his shoulder. Hiccup winced in pain, almost screaming.

Hiccup heard the door open.

"That'll teach you to steal from us!" Cecil screamed, and Hiccup suddenly felt the rope tie around him again. They still remained loose on him, but his shoulder was still screaming in pain from the fall.

"Did he break free?" Dagur asked Cecil calmly.

"Barely," said Cecil.

Toothless's chains were making noise. Hiccup knew he was struggling to get out of his binds to get to him, but it was no use.

Dagur reached down and grabbed Hiccup by his chin, and forced him to look directly at him. Hiccup's shoulder roared in pain. Dagur seemed pleased about that fact.

"Soon," he said quietly. He looked over at Toothless. Hiccup's energy was running low. But so was Toothless's. "A few more days, and I will have you BOTH broken!"

He dropped Hiccup to the ground again, and walked up to Cecil. "Make sure that he can't get away again. And Dagur departed.

Hiccup woke up suddenly to the sound of birds outside his bedroom windows. He glanced around, collected his surroundings. He realized Astrid was still asleep next to him. She hadn't woken back up, thankfully. She needed rest.

He pushed himself to sit up in bed, and threw his one good leg over the edge to sit up straight. It took him some time with a bad arm as well. He was being extra careful not to jar it too much. He grabbed his crutch, helped himself up, and began to depart down the stairs as quietly as he could. Toothless went to follow him, but he placed his hand up to him, indicating to him to stay. Toothless didn't need to baby him.

Alone in the kitchen, he made himself a cup of warm tea. He sat at the table and sipped it, thinking about Cecil. He knew Cecil played a role in helping Toothless and Hiccup escape from Dagur. Even though his thoughts were beginning to return back to him, he still did not know exactly all the details of how he and Toothless managed to get out.

Hiccup closed his eyes, thinking about the tunnels. They had to have been 30 feet below the top of the island. There should have been at least two or three levels of tunnels to get through before Cecil had helped them escape. How had they been able to escape without detection?

More importantly, what happened to Cecil?