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The skrill was scared, even when it was only Hiccup who came in. Hiccup could feel the fear in her defensive snarls and cowering nature. They probably hadn't even fed the poor thing properly. Hiccup had to get down on all fours to get close and not seem intimidating. The weight of her belly threw her off balance even then but she persevered. She had had to get this dragon away from this island. She made sure the men she had recruited kept their distance with the chains, as much as Hiccup hated the though, the skirl had to remained chained for everyone's safety. Eventually the skrill calmed down enough to accept the presence of the humans. Hiccup had to keep the dragon's attention on her as the men held onto the chains as they led her from the arena door. Once out, the dragon needed her presence even more as she grew restless so close to freedom. But this dragon could no longer keep her freedom, as sad as it was. Now that she was known, everyone would try to capture her and chain her down, or kill her because she was threat. Her life with the Berserkers would be one as a dragon mount but one where she would be loved and treated kindly. Hiccup shot a look to Alvin's unconscious men, some were waking up.

"Are they alive?" She asked one of her men.

"Yes ma'am, just unconscious."

"Good." Part of her loathed to hurt these men and other relished in it. These men betrayed her father and the whole Hooligan tribe for Alvin. But they were still her kinsman. Hiccup regarded one of them, awake but gagged and bound with a cool glare, let him fear her and make sure everyone else did as well. Let them know the daughter of Stoick the Vast and the bride of Dagur the Deranged was not one to be trifled with. It seemed to work because the man shrunk under her harsh gaze.

"Let's get ready to leave; I don't know how much longer we have." Vessa was already running ahead to ready the ships.

X

They had less time than they even knew. After Dagur departed from the feast with a smirk and mentioning something about attending to his wife's needs, his men went with him. The comment about his wife was a deliberate barb, but no one that could be called on; perhaps just as Hiccup grew fierce from her husband, Dagur grew cleverer with her. But something about all this rubbed him the wrong way, Hiccup may have had a good excuse to leave but it seemed wrong and Alvin was a man that trusted his instincts. He glanced out into the harbor in horror as the ships moved out to sea. His gut dropped and he raced to the arena where he found his men bound and gagged. Where dread had been fury took its place. The clever little whore, this had Hiccup all over it, Dagur would not have been so clever to distract the way they did and for the girl to slip off….

Damn it all.

"Ready the ships, I think the Berserks need a lesson in respect."

X

"They're coming. I'd hoped we'd have more time but…" Hiccup mumbled watching the light in the Outcast harbor.

"It doesn't matter, we're younger and faster." Dagur stated, unconcerned.

"They're older ad smarter. You don't reach an age like that without being good at fighting." Hiccup counted. Dagur sighed heavily, he did listen to her a lot, thankfully.

"I suppose you have a point." He groused.

"They're going to catch up with us, their ships are faster." Hiccup argued further, trying to urge him to be ready for the inevitable conflict.

"And we'll fight them." He stated. Then he looked at Hiccup, up and down taking in her whole form.

"Go below deck, you'll be safe there." Hiccup balked at the idea.

"Not by much, none of the men would dare kill me."

"I'm not risking you or the baby, Go. Below. Deck." Hiccup chewed her lip irritably but obeyed.

X

"Going somewhere Dagur?" Alvin snarled from the ship.

"I go where I want Alvin." Dagur shouted back, casually.

"Not with my skrill you're not." Alvin barked.

"Funny I thought it was a gift, but it wasn't yours anyway. Hello, it's on my belt, my sails and my shields."

"That skrill was mine to be given at the right price."

"Yeah, about that. I don't think you deserve anything for stealing my skrill." Alvin growled and turned to one of his men.

"Retrieve the whore." He whispered then leapt on the ship. All hel broke lose after that; men leapt onto the Berserker vessel in an all but battle. Alvin took Dagur head on. Alvin had the advantage of brute strength, experience and size but Dagur was surprisingly holding his ground against the seasoned warrior. The stories were true, the boy was a prodigy and nothing less should have been expected from the lasted in the line of Berserker chief, even his father, as tame as he was known to be a, was a gifted warrior.

"I'll cut ya ta pieces ye stupid boy!"

"You'll try." Dagur replied with a sickening look of satisfaction on his face. The boy fought like a hellion, and a skilled one at that. He replied not only on strength but agility and flexibility as well. It had been some time since Alvin had gotten kicked in the gut, and it caught it him off guard. Then the blasted boy was head butting, it wasn't until he had Alvin on his back that he had to play his trump card. Even with the axe to his throat, Alvin smirked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were ye."

"Oh?" That was when he heard a small distressed sound. He spun around to see four of Alvin's men, dragging Hiccup from below deck with a knife to her throat. Her hair and clothes spoke of a struggle before she was taken above deck. Her hand maid wasn't far behind, dragged by her hair, kicking and screaming the whole way. Dagur froze.

"You're not going to kill her, she's too valuable."

"Yer right." It was then Alvin's claymore swept his feet out from under him. Now the blade was to his throat.

"To lose because of a whore, such a shame really, we could have done great things together." Dagur glared up at him his lip twitching.

Hiccup was not going to let this happen, no way. She looked to Vessa on the ground sniffling now that she had been pulled up and her hands grabbed behind her. Hiccup tucked her fingers into her sleeve, fiddling with hidden bindings; she twiddled until she felt a warm handle slide into her waiting hand. She wasted no time, her arm swung out and stabbed the man holding her in the gut and yanked enough to tear the skin. His grip brought the knife close enough to cut her, but not enough to do any damage. She turned her attention to Alvin next, who was staring in astonishment. It was then that she grabbed a crossbow on the ground, scooping it up and firing. The bolt embedded itself in Alvin shoulder sending him stumbling.

"Back off now if you don't want to die Alvin."

"Ye dun have the balls girl." Hiccup blinked in confusion for only a moment before stiffening and shooting another bolt, this time in Alvin's side, enough to send him to the edge of the ship. Dagur took the advantage and knocked him off the ship with a well-placed kick. Alvin fell off the side of the ship. Vessa took the opportunity to bash the skull of her captor with the curve of her own, releasing her hand and pulling her own hidden knife and promptly stabbing his gut before dashing to Hiccup's side. The effort to win was renewed with the release of the leaders and the Outcasts were driven from the ship into the sea or back onto their own. It was only then that the Berserkers allowed themselves a moment to breathe.

X

The skrill lounged on the ground of the training arena. Hiccup sat with her and Toothless trying to help Dagur earn her trust. The dragon proved to be as stubborn as Toothless had been. The skrill had kept relatively friendly just reluctant to allow anyone to touch her and frankly get near her. Dagur had a harder time than anyone but due to his stubborn nature, he kept on trying it made for an amusing sight watching her husband chase the beast with a saddle in hand. Patience never was his strong suit. Speaking of which, Dagur came into the arena, finishing his duties, or pushing them off to someone else, it was hard to say. But he approached and the skrill acknowledged him by lifting her head.

"Alright beast, care to try this again."

"I kept telling you it won't work." She called to him.

"Nonsense, my tribe trained skrills for over a hundred years."

"And where did that get you?" Hiccup asked, not looking up from the sketches she had been doing.

"Oh shut up." Hiccup waited approximately twenty minutes before trying to interfere again. Dagur had been chasing the poor beast around, this time without a saddle trying to touch her muzzle. She figured now that Dagur was beginning to wear down a bit he might listen.

"It might help to give her a name." She called from her seat with Toothless.

"I got this" He insisted, trying to out-maneuver the dragon. Hiccup rolled her eyes again.

"You clearly don't, just give her a name."

"Whatever, what about Death-killer?"

"Yeah you're not naming this baby."

"Tough critic, how about Flying-death?"

"Oh my gods." He glanced over to see the look of utter horror on her face.

"Fine you come up with something." Hiccup sighed. Dagur should be the one to name her, but she didn't want the poor things stuck with a stupid name, though she was in hardly any positon to judge, Toothless, she wanted to kick herself sometimes. But it had stuck and now it was so commonly accepted it hardly mattered. She gave it some thought, running some potential names through her mind before one stood out.

"How about….. Maelstrom." She suggested.

"Maelstrom?"

"It's a bad storm and turbulent waters I think it would suit her." Dagur nodded thinking it over for himself, rubbing his chin in the process.

"Maelstrom, I like it."

"Knew you would." She remarked, returning to her drawing.

"Okay Maelstrom, be a good girl and come here."

"Use a nicer voice."

"This is my nice voice."

"No, that's your forced to be nice voice, use your actual nice voice. And don't chase her, let her come to you." Dagur heaved a huge breath and at down, making eye contact with the dragon. The newly named dragon eyed him curiously wondering why he had given up the chase. She even made a few noises at him, as if trying to coax him to run again. Soon she lost interest and snarled at him once before going to Toothless and rubbing against him and soon Hiccup. Hiccup made those strange purrs that brought comfort to the skrill.

"Why does she like you so much?" He grumbled spitefully.

"I don't know." Hiccup shrugged. Then he watched Maelstrom and Toothless play like housecats round the arena, batting at her other and play biting. She had an idea.

"Let Toothless stay the night with her, with luck he might teach her to behave."
X

"Why does the human pursue me time and again, I don't know what he wants." The skrill grumbled, restlessly walking about.

"He wants to be your rider." Toothless informed her calmly. He was unhappy to be far from his rider while she was in a delicate state. But he understood her wish and would do his bet to fulfill it. His rider, his female was at an age with him and it made him see the little creature as his brood mate. She was even learning to speak their tongue. Though her words were clumsy but her meanings were always clear and it made him proud to fly with her. The male, he was less fond of. But he was mated to his rider, he made her happy and protected her. He gave her the egg she carried. And there needed to be more people like his human in the world.

"My rider? What is a rider, a master, a slaver like the Queen?" The skrill hissed suspiciously. Obviously she saw him as conquered. Dragons were vulnerable to control, and it was a real fear to be controlled by one that would take advantage.

"No, a rider is a partner. You saw my tail, I cannot fly on my own, the female helped me. She understands us." The skrill snorted loudly.

"That I know, I do not fear the girl." She replied, holding her head up.

"Nor should you. But the human wants to ride you." They both knew very well who they were speaking of.

"Why?"

"You are strong and you will give him strength. My rider and I fly as one. The male wants to fly with her."

"Because he is her master?" The dragon questioned fearing for the kind human girl.

"He is her mate and humans mate for life." Toothless explained. Mating for life was a foreign concept for dragons. There was no romance in dragon culture, sex was physical and while friendships could last a life time, love did not. But the male did make her happy on some level.

"Foolish."

"I think so but the male wishes to protect her and the hatching she carries."

"So she is gravid." Initially Toothless wouldn't had been able to tell either, but humans had an odd way of swelling up and hatching the baby from their own bodies. He didn't understand quite how it worked and it seemed rather awful. His human was always a mix of anxiety and great joy. Human reproduction was beyond his comprehension.

"Yes, she is and the male wants power to protect them both from his enemies." Maelstrom said nothing.

"They call you Maelstrom."

"They gave me a new name?"

"Yes, they cannot pronounce ours. My human calls me Toothless."

"Fitting." She snorted and Toothless joined in a chortle.

"I think so." But a heavy silence fell again, Maelstrom stopped her pacing ad sat, looking him in the eye. Unnerving for any dragon to do. It was challenge, but not here, it meant she wanted a direct answer.

"I smell only blood on that male." Toothless couldn't deny it his rider's mate was drenched in their kin's blood. He wondered if the smell would ever wash out.

"He is changing, I see it every day and he does it for her."

"Fine, I will think it over."

X

Hiccup was curled under a pile of furs by the fire places painstakingly stitch away at a tiny little tunic. She stuck her tongue out with each stitch she pulled taut. With a final examination she smiled widely. She stood up and showed her work to Dagur who was lost in thought at the table, drinking. She stepped up to him and tapped his shoulder. He glanced at her and paused. She was standing before him, holding a mini tunic with a proud grin on her face, her fingers covered in pin pricks. He considered her.

Hiccup wasn't traditionally pretty her hair wasn't bright blonde, red or black, but a reddish shade of brown. Her face wasn't heart shaped or angled. She wasn't curvy, her hips small as well as her rump and breasts. She was covered head to toe in freckles. Her eyes were pretty but she had no curls. He didn't know why he found her so beautiful, standing in front of him in old loose clothing, her belly swollen, hel all of her was swollen, with a big crooked toothed grin on her face. He even found himself smiling. He reached out, cupping her rounded cheek. She was something, he had seen far prettier women but none inflamed him. Even this touch made him want to throw her down and take her in every way possible, to consume her, meld her to himself so that they would never be separated. A child grew in her, a meld between the two of them. But as rough as he would be with her, ever did he want to truly hurt her. He had hurt her on their wedding night; she must have thought he hadn't noticed her crying. It still twisted his guts to think of at times.

He remembered her words about the dragon. They were companions, family, not servants or slaves. But Hiccup was kind to everyone despite their status in the tribe. He admired that but thought it foolish at times. He loved her and she told him that he should find love for his dragon. Maelstrom would take to him if he gave her a chance. Gentleness was not something that came easy. But he would try for her, for them. He gently pulled the tunic from her hands, admired her handiwork carefully.

"Very good Silver-tongue."

X

The next day when Dagur went to Maelstrom, she let him touch her.

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Princess: Finally finished it. All I have to say.

Review:

Wordsorceress: Pretty accurate guess with the skrill and yes, HTTYD2 will be in later chapters.

REBD: You do have a point.

Dagcup: Well to be honest I'm not comfortable writing lemons but if anyone wants to write lemons based off this they're welcome to do so. I wouldn't mind so long as they credit me.

Viking Lady: Dagur has a lot of complexes ratting around that head of his.

: I appreciate it, enjoy this chapter.

Onidra: I really appreciate the understanding, thank you.

AutumnMobile: Good question. The berserkers found her in ice and tried to transport her back, they were intercepted by outcasts and hence our lovely skirl ended up in their possession.

Dsman: In the age of Vikings, not really. This was when red hair was thought to either the result of being devil spawn or conceived on a woman's menstrual cycle. I try to get in their heads and conceptions about reproductions. I think the extent of education went to, slot a into slot b, no bleeding? Either pregnant or old.

Alysandra: I really appreciate the praise, thank you! I do now most people call her Hicca but I consider Hiccup to be a gender neutral name/title. Hiccup explains in one episode that it is a name given to a runt, so it strikes me more of a title than anything so no need to change it for gender. I could see Hicca as a nickname though. Dagur is very hard to write for because I try to portray him as a psychopath, capable of getting attached but difficult. I don't want him to be too lovey dovy because in the end Dagur is a violent and dangerous person and even Hiccup acknowledges that he could turn on her one day. I think Dagur has natural inclination towards mental instability coupled with a difficult childhood. I mentioned his sister made him do chores and that his mother died early on, couple it with a heavily criticized father and tribe of violent warriors didn't help. But in the end, Dagur craved love and he gets it in Hiccup.