Hiccup opened his eyes only to find a set of big green ones looking at him. He was lying in a bed, but it wasn't his bed. The weight of his prosthetic was absent. That meant someone had removed it as a precaution. His entire body thrummed with pain.
The pain wasn't so bad that he couldn't sit up. He pushed himself up until his back was against the headboard.
What happened? Hiccup thought. The last thing he remembered was leaving Toothless outside the cave. No, wait it was coming back now. He was yelling at a frozen Johann when all of a sudden he was on the ground.
What had happened? Did he have a seizure? No, he couldn't have. He'd taken his tonic just before the wedding. The wedding! Oh, gods. What did he do!?
He had killed Dagur.
Before Hiccup had a chance to mourn what he had done to his friend, the man himself walked in.
Dagur was wearing his usual attire of a sleeveless tunic with his armor covering it up. "Brother! You're awake. How are you feeling?"
Hiccup had to be dreaming. He clearly remembered running Dagur through and tossing him over the edge. Could that have been the dream? Had he dreamed about killing Dagur?
"Um," was all Hiccup could say. His brain was still trying to process all this information at once.
"Don't worry about talking," Dagur suggested. "You're probably still tired. I've sent the rest of the Rider's home and told them once you were better, you'd head home as well."
Hiccup managed to find his voice. "I'm a little sore. What happened?"
"No one knew where you went, so we went searching. Mala and I found Toothless running through the woods roaring like crazy," Dagur explained. "Mala calmed him down and he led us to the caves. I went in and found you on the ground lying next to Johann. Magnus checked you over and could find no sign of injury and suggested you might have had a seizure."
Hiccup played dumb. "A what? Seizure? What's that?"
Dagur sat down in a chair on the other side of the room. "Don't act like you don't know. You had one during the Battle. You've had them for a few years. I'm guessing since the Red Death."
Hiccup eyes widened in fear. "Did Astrid-"
Dagur shook his head and cut him off. "I figured it out long before she did. It was just before you imprisoned me on Outcast Island."
"Why didn't you use it against me?" was all Hiccup wanted to know.
"It's how my mother died. I wasn't going to put you through that," Dagur answered with a frown. His frown disappeared and was replaced with a smile. "Anyways, let's have Magnus check you over so you can head on home."
Hiccup felt fine. He didn't need to have a healer, who didn't know him, examine him. For all he knew, this Magnus fellow had a staff he likes to hit people with.
"I'm fine. I know what to look out for," Hiccup stated as he moved to get up. Dagur was quick on his feet and pushed Hiccup back down.
"You're not going anywhere. Besides how far do you think you'll get with one leg?" Dagur dared. "House rules. You are going to rest and wait for the all clear. I don't want you to get halfway home and something happened because you missed something. Don't worry, Magnus knows what he's doing. He trained under Gothi for 20 years."
"Oh great," Hiccup muttered. "Is he going to hit me in the head with a staff if I don't agree or say something wrong?"
Dagur pondered the question for a moment before answering. "Depends on how mad you make him. He's not supposed to hit visitors, but that hasn't stopped him."
Oh fantastic, Hiccup thought.
After losing his leg, Gothi made sure he would come to her once a week to make sure everything was okay. He learned by the fourth visit to watch what he said, otherwise he would end up a lump on the top of his head. If this man trained under Gothi, he was better off keeping his mouth shut.
While Hiccup and Dagur waited. Hiccup went down his post-seizure checklist. He could still feel all his fingers and toes. His muscles weren't tense anymore. He wasn't tired, but he was sore. Must've have been a bad one. Usually, the pain would fade right away after waking up. He had a bit of a headache, probably from his head hitting the ice.
He'd be able to make it home and take his medicine without risking another one. A visit to Gothi's hut might be in order.
Dagur broke the uncomfortable silence. "What were you doing down there anyway?"
"I was trying to come to terms with what happened," Hiccup admitted. "Gothi thought it might be a good idea to help me move forward."
"Did it help?" Dagur wondered.
"At first," Hiccup shrugged. "I got up close to his face, as is if to say 'I'm not afraid of you.' That's when I saw him blink."
Dagur shot to his feet in alarm. "Why didn't you say that before!?"
"Why does it matter?" Hiccup retorted. "Seeing him blink was a hallucination caused by having a seizure."
Dagur started pacing. The deranged chief was clearly freaking out.
"Dagur, why are you freaking out over a hallucination?" Hiccup asked. He was starting to freak out himself. "It was just a hallucination, right?"
Dagur fervently shook his head. "About a week ago, some kids snuck past the guards and went into the caves. They wanted to see 'the frozen man'. One of them nearly fell into the cavern when he saw, what he claimed he saw, Johann blinking. His friends saved him and brought him to me."
Hiccup fell silent. No words could describe how he was feeling. His enemy was still alive. If he was alive and his followers found out, they would come and rescue him. Once his ice prison thawed, he would come after Hiccup, knowing that he wouldn't be able to deal with him.
They had to make sure he remained frozen. Dagur would have to have guards surrounding him 24/7, waiting for the day he stopped blinking.
The Rider watched as Dagur left the room. He heard a far-off door slam shut followed by a ton of shouting. Hiccup couldn't make out what was said, but he got the gist of it. Dagur had been thinking the same thing.
When Dagur came back, he planted his butt firmly in the seat, crossed his arms and stared worriedly at the younger man.
After waiting two hours, Magnus showed up. He was a small man. Slightly taller than Gothi. His eyes were unfocused. They looked everywhere but at Hiccup or Dagur. The man didn't have a staff with him. Hiccup doubted that would stop him from smacking him.
"What took you so long, Magnus?" Dagur demanded, clearly peeved at the man's tardiness, but not surprised.
"I was having a drink in the Hall of Heroes," Magnus answered. "Or ten."
That explained the unfocused eyes. Magnus was also the village drunk. No way in Thor's name was Hiccup going to have this man check him over.
"Dagur," Hiccup spoke up. "I really feel fine."
"Shut up boy," Magnus ordered, raising a fist. "I'm the only chance you have of getting off this rock."
Dagur stepped between the two. "Magnus, if you even think about hurting Hiccup, I will exile you to Outcast Island, or better yet, make you sail to the end of the Earth".
Magnus curled his lips inward and lowered his fist. Dagur clearly put the fear of the gods in him.
Johann stared at the abyss before him. It was all he had done for the however long it had been. Hiccup showing up had been a treat. Hearing the scrawny boy admit he was afraid of him overfilled him with joy. And watching him shake on the ground out of the corner of his eyesight as he had done so long ago was even more pleasurable. That boy clearly had an impairment of some sort.
Once he was freed, he would figure it out. It was just a matter of time before his men finally came and rescued him. Word will have surely spread to the whole island by now, and hopefully farther.
Magnus spent a good three hours poking and prodding Hiccup wherever he could. Hiccup watched as the little man took pleasure in making him jump and squirm.
Toothless growled whenever Hiccup winced or moved away from the man.
This man was not a healer. He was a flipping psychopath.
"I give you a clean bill of health boy," Magnus finally stated.
"Good," Hiccup said bitterly. "Can I have my leg back now?"
Dagur left the room and walked back in a minute later holding the fake leg. "Here."
The married man tossed it to the younger man, who caught it with ease.
Hiccup sat up and clicked his leg into place before standing. He tested the balance, making sure it was on right. Once he was positive it wasn't going to come off, he motioned for Toothless to get ready to follow him.
"See Gothi as soon as you get to Berk," Magnus said, wagging a finger at the boy. "Tell here you need a tonic to treat a fit. She'll understand."
Hiccup paid the small man very little attention. He was already planning on doing what he was saying.
Toothless snorted in the healer's face and set the tips of his hair on fire. Magnus didn't realize he was burning.
Dagur threw his arm over Hiccup's shoulder and began to lead him out. "Let's walk and talk for a minute."
Once they were far enough away from what Hiccup assumed was Dagur's house, Dagur stopped walking and looked around, making sure no one could hear him.
"Hiccup, I can't let you come back here. It's not safe," Dagur said in a harsh whisper.
Hearing Dagur say that, hurt, but Hiccup figured he had a good reason. "Why?"
"There's something not right here. Things keep happening. Sabotagey things," Dagur continued to whisper. "Until I find out what, I don't want anyone from Berk coming here unless I say so. I'll make sure you know it's me when I send word. Something only I know."
Hiccup nodded in understanding. Dagur had a traitor in his village and had to find out who that was.
Hiccup climbed on to Toothless. "Be safe Dagur, and keep us updated."
With that said, Hiccup and Toothless flew off into the night and headed toward Berk.
Author's Note: See Dagur is alive. I would never kill him. I don't have it in me too. But Hiccup and Johann. I have no problem killing either of them. Which one dies and which one lives.
Leave and review and follow to find out.
Quick question. Does anyone draw fanart? I want a picture of Hiccup covered in his own blood being tortured by Johann or one of his men. His prosthetic should be missing from the picture. I want to use it as a cover image. If you do let me know. I will give you all the credit.
Special thanks to Draconicbeing2.0 for being an amazing beta reader and friend