This is the final chapter I have as of right now. I hope to work more on it very soon!

"Let me through!" yelled Dagur.

"This has gone on far enough!" Cecil yelled at Dagur. "You keep this up, you'll end up beating him to death!"

"What do you care for, Cecil?" asked Dagur.

"I don't believe fighting dirty wins the war you are starting," said Cecil. "Ragland is an excellent welder. May I please suggest that you console with him in regards to the saddle? As of right now, he is too weak to even lift an arrow."

Dagur sneered.

"All I ask, Dagur, is that you see what the outcome of your actions has done. You want him to rebuild a saddle, but he cannot, especially if he cannot walk or have use of an arm."

"He is useless if he isn't making my saddle—"

"He is useless NOW!" Cecil screamed at him.

Hiccup heard a scuffle, but it was over before it had really begun. Dagur couldn't overpower Cecil alone. Hiccup thought Cecil was a little head strong to be going at it with the current leader of Outcast Island. In a moment's notice an army could overpower Cecil.

"Dagur, I ask you to realize. He will die in a few days' time if you don't allow him to heal and to get his strength up. Keeping food and water from him will make matters worse. His arm—it needs a healer, which I am not. I cannot pop it back into place and know that it'll heal the way it needs to. And that burn—"

"Who is the best healer you know, and where can I find them, then?" asked Dagur.

"Sir, the best one that you will find is back on Berke. The boy's mother and Madam Gothi. They are the best ones that I know of that can heal the wounds on Mr. Haddock, here."

Suddenly, a cough escaped Hiccup's throat. He was trying to force himself from dropping out of consciousness. His chest was burning, his head and body ached. He tried to force himself to stop coughing. He felt like death. When he felt Cecil touch his cheek, then his forehead, did he allow his body to relax. For some reason, his new friend brought him some comfort in the terror. He had someone on his side.

"He is burning a pretty high fever," Cecil said after a moment of silence. "How you expect him to function in this is mad—"

"I am not CRAZY!" Dagur screamed. He was just inches above where Hiccup laid.

"I didn't say you were, sir." Cecil's calm voice relaxed Hiccup again, despite the screams from Dagur. "I think you are trying to rush the process along. Let him regain his strength. Keeping food and water from him is not breaking him. It's only going to kill him."

"You help him heal up then, Cecil. But, he WILL help Ragland fix the saddle and make it so that MY foot can control it. He can instruct him. How long do you think it will be?"

"Can you be patient enough for—five days?" Cecil asked him. "No less."

"Very well. Get whatever supplies you need from the infirmary—"

Hiccup heard the door shut. He felt Cecil untie his ropes again, this time removing them completely. He was lifted over to a cot, where Cecil placed warm wool over his body to warm him up.

"You need to rest, my friend," said Cecil.

"I'm—I'm not making that saddle—"

"I didn't expect you to," Cecil said to him calmly.

"I'm not helping—"said Hiccup, a coughing spell overpowered him for a moment. "You—you and Dagur are wasting your time. We are both going to die down here."

"I am not letting either of you die down here, Hiccup," Cecil said to him. He had stood up and walked over into the shadows and returned again with two buckets and some other supplies. He dipped a rag into a bucket that was filled with water, rang it out, and placed it over Hiccup's burning forehead. He then uncorked a bottle of brandy with his teeth, lifted Hiccup's head up and helped him take some small sips. "This will help you rest easier, my friend."

Hiccup choked on his last sip. He felt Cecil wipe his lips with another cloth. After a moment, he looked at Cecil, his vision going more blurry. "Why are you helping us?" Hiccup asked. "You are wasting your time on us. We both know we cannot escape this place."

"You are far from a waste of time, Hiccup. Any son of Stoick and Valka is a dear friend to me. I will not sit around and watch you die in the hands of Dagur. Now, sleep. I will be here if you need me."

Hiccup opened his eyes.

Cecil somehow knew his mother and his father. He also knew Gothi. The man wasn't young, but he wasn't very old either. Hiccup sat up and put his foot on the ground. He reached for his crutch that rested against the bedframe, and wobbled his way down the stairs, leaving Astrid in bed.

He was surprised to find his mother awake at the table with a cup of tea this late at night. He saw his mother's startled face when she heard him coming down the stairs. He felt instantly guilty for worrying her again.

"Hiccup—are you all right?" she asked him.

He nodded, putting his hand up to her, signaling he was okay. He realized here recently that he wasn't speaking quite so much. He had let himself be more reserved. "It is just a dream, that's all, Mom." He took a seat on the bench across from her and placed his crutch at the head of the table.

"More?" Valka asked him. She went to the cupboard and pulled out another mug.

"No yak's milk, please," he said to her. He was tired of the stuff.

"No, just some more of that broth Gothi had us make for your fever. You still look a little bit pale."

He knew until he was up riding dragons again and out of his sling his mother would be hovering over him. He did enjoy it just a little bit, simply because she wasn't there when he was a child. He often day-dreamed when he was a child what it was like having a mother to care for him. He enjoyed her unconditional kindness, but then again hated the fact that he was an adult now, and she was trying to take care of him.

Valka placed the mug down in front of him and took her seat across from him again. After a few moments, she said, "What's troubling you, son?"

He looked up at her, and he could see the concern that had already been in her eyes grow.

"It wasn't a bad dream, really," he said quietly. He played with his mug, watching the herbs in the broth swish around a little bit. "I mean—it wasn't a nightmare. It was—well, I guess you can say, informational."

Valka placed her chin on her knuckles. She watched Hiccup for a moment. She took a deep breath, and sighed. "What are you remembering?"

"Just pieces," he said gently, looking away from her eyes. He took a small sip of his broth, clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, now finally really tasting the nasty stuff. "Gothi needs to liven this up a little bit."

"We did," Valka said. "Eret suggested extra peppermint. It was the reason we finally broke that fever of yours in the end. But, the point is that you didn't vomit it everywhere." She reached for the bread basket and started slicing them each a piece. "Anyways, what you are you remembering?"

"There's a man that I keep seeing," he said. "I'm pretty sure he played an important role in getting Toothless and I off of the island. I wish I knew exactly how we were able to get out of the caves, into that boat and out to sea—"

"The important thing is that you both are here," Valka said, handing him the slice of bread. "I wish you weren't so troubled by all of this."

"What do you mean?"

"You need to continue to get better and put this in the past, son," Valka said. "You have a village to run, a wife to take care of…A life to continue to live—"

"You don't think I'm not trying to run the village?" Hiccup asked her. His tone was very low. Anger was brewing in his blood. He felt like he was getting the finger pointed at him. "As for Astrid, you and I are very much aware she can tell care of herself pretty well."

Valka eyed him for a moment. Hiccup could see she was slowly shaking her head in slight discuss.

"No, Hiccup, I am not insinuating that," Valka said, finally. Astrid is able to handle herself—most of the time." She sensed his insecurity of her previous words. "I just want you to move forward."

"Do you not realize how traumatic this was?" Hiccup moved his bad arm, a little too much, and he jarred it something fierce. He held back the reaction to the pain.

"I do, Hiccup, but I want you to get past these bad dreams, bad memories and look towards a good future," said Valka.

Hiccup let a moment of silence escape past them before he spoke again; a moment of silence and the angry feeling he was having towards his mother currently. The anger needed to subside. He didn't want to yell at her.

"The man was kind to us," Hiccup said again.

"That isn't like the Outcasts," said Valka. "I cannot tell you how many times they tried to shoot Cloudjumper and I down."

"He wasn't Alvin's originally," said Hiccup. "He knew you and dad. And he knew who Gothi was."

"Many people from distant lands knew your father. Gothi went along during raids and battles to help injured Vikings. Then, one day she told your father she had enough and would only heal those here on Berke."

"Were you apart of those voyages?" Hiccup asked her.

"A few," his mother replied to him. "Up until Gothi told me I was pregnant with you. After that I remained at home. I was only married to your father for a wee bit of time before I carried you."

Hiccup sighed. "He mentioned that he knew the three of you. He knew you and Gothi were healers—"

"I'm no expert like Gothi, Hiccup—"

"But, you can help pretty well," he said to her. "He's had to have been a part of Berke at one point in time. Eventually, he joined up with the Outcasts. He isn't an Outcasts. He came from somewhere else…"

After a few moments, Valka interrupted Hiccup's train of thought. "You sure you cannot remember getting in that boat?"

Hiccup nodded. He took a small piece of his bread in his hand, dipped it into his now cold broth, and placed it into his mouth. "So far I know Dagur beat me, he starved me. He kept water from me as well. He wanted the saddle reconstructed. The man convinced him to let me get better so that I could actually help reconstruct the gears. After that—it's all gone, really. I remember the rain, the boat rocking. I remember feeling very cold, and very sick. But, nothing else."

"I am sure your memories will keep coming back," Valka said. "But, dear, they shouldn't matter because you made it home, alive, and you are improving remarkably."

"They do matter, Mom. If I can remember, maybe I can figure out if Dagur is going to come or not. I am tired of sitting here just waiting. I have no plan. I need to protect this island from Dagur—"

"Easy there, son," Valka said, grabbing his arm, seeing the tension he was beginning to cause on himself.

"I know he's coming, Mom. One way or another, he is coming here. Just a matter of time. And I am not well, I am not ready—"

"Just calm down, Hiccup—"

"Cecil, Mom. Cecil was the man's name."

Hiccup watched his mother's eye twitch slightly. "I know of a couple of people with that name—"

"Cecil had a scar above his eye," said Hiccup. "It was large. It looked as though—"

"A dragon—a dragon clawed his face—" Valka said. She put her head down and sighed.

Hiccup was a little dumb struck. "You do know him."

Valka remained silent for a moment. She settled herself back down in her seat. Hiccup could tell she was trying to find the words to talk to him. He was trying to remain patient, but it was hard when he was desperately wanting an answer.

"Cecil was a young boy that the village took care of when his family was murdered in a dragon raid. He was probably only about three or four years old. He received that cut below his eye the same way you received on your chin."

Hiccup waited for more.

"At first, his aunts and uncles took him it, but as his families started to die off from illness, dragon raids, what have you—he found himself alone more than with someone. One night, I found him asleep in with the herd of sheep to stay warm. He couldn't have been but maybe nine or ten years old. It was freezing cold outside. His clothes were all tattered, and he was dirty. I went and told your grandfather—and he went out to get him, and carried him inside to the hearth. After that, we adopted him into our home."

"So—he's basically my uncle?" Hiccup asked.

"If you want to call him that you can," Valka replied softly. "Cecil didn't stay on the island very long after Stoick and I married. He wanted to go explore. He thought there was more than staying on the island."

Hiccup pondered for a few moments, collecting some thoughts. "Mom—he chased dragons for Drago—"

"That he did," said Valka. He eventually left Drago. He and I met one night and exchanged a few words prior to him leaving that cause. I believe he went into hiding a while afterwards. He seemed rather lost. I think he held resentment towards dragons for killing his family. They only did it out of self-defense—"

"Cecil—knew you were alive all this time?" Hiccup said. Valka noted the tone of his voice; it was angry, worried, concerned, and rather scared sounding.

"Not the whole time. We only met about a year or two following my leave here," she said.

Hiccup turned away from her. Someone had known that she was alive after she left, after she was thought to have been dead. He had heard rumors his whole childhood that she was out there somewhere, abandoned him when Gothi told Stoick and herself that he wouldn't be very strong as a child or a teenager. He had been told she had been too ashamed to stay. He also heard his mother didn't want to be stuck on the island to raise a child that wasn't physically strong, cut all her ties to the island, and left Stoick to raise him. His father had told him that she was taken by a dragon, never to be seen again, which he knew was the truth as far as Stoick knew.

Hiccup knew when he saw his parents reconnect after nearly twenty years apart, that what Stoick had told him had been the truth to his knowledge. There wasn't any denying it. But the rumors the other kids, including Snotlout, had said to him had been lies they had heard from their parents or made up themselves.

Hiccup blinked those thoughts away, and decided to carry on with their current conversation.

"Cecil cannot be bad," Hiccup said. "He may have strayed away, but he cannot be evil. I don't think he—"

"Why are you so worried about this man?" Valka asked him.

"He saved my life," he told her. "I know he helped us escape." He bit his thumb nail in thought. "Just how? And is he okay?"

"Cecil is a survivor. Don't you worry about him."

"I do, Mom. Dagur was going to kill me. If he knew Cecil helped me escape, I am sure he would kill Cecil as well—"

"So, what are you thinking?" Valka asked him again.

"I want to go back and save him—" Valka's eyes became really big, and her face became rather red. "—if he is still alive he needs—"

"You are not going back to that island!" Valka yelled, taking a stand. "I am demanding you let this go, right now, Hiccup!"

Hiccup glared at her. Valka saw the hatred and anger in his eyes. He suddenly slammed his palm into the mug of broth, spilling it all over the floor. He grabbed his crutch and headed towards the door.

"Hiccup—"

"Let me be," he said to her, quietly.

"Hiccup—"

He pulled the door open. Outside the sun was just coming up in the distance. Soon, daylight would overtake the village.

"You are being rather ridiculous," she said to him. "As chief you need to be more conscious of your actions—"

"I am NOT your chief!" Hiccup turned and screamed at her. "I am YOUR SON!"

"Hiccup—"

At this point Toothless and Astrid were at the banister, watching the two argue back and forth. Astrid was relieved to see that Hiccup was not hurt, just angry. Toothless cooed at her worriedly.

"Look around me, Mom! Do I look like Stoick the Vast right now? Of course not! Stoick the Vast he—he wouldn't be one-legged, his arm wouldn't be dislocated, and he wouldn't have been held captive for—for—Odin knows how long—by DAGUR!"

"Hiccup—"

"Don't," he said sternly. It took all he had to hold back the tears in his eyes. "Just don't."

"Son—" She stopped when he gave her a glare. "It isn't a good idea for your safety to go rescue one man, especially in your current condition. Cecil is capable of taking care of himself—"

"I thought the same for myself, as well," Hiccup said to her coldly. "Now, look at me."

"It's your duty to look out for the well-being of the village, not one man—"

Hiccup had heard enough. He started out the house, even though he knew he would be slow, and headed away.

Toothless hurried down the banister and rushed out the door after him. Neither looked back as they left.