Night brought with it pain, but the morning including work at least meant that Alvin could not do as much as he might have otherwise. He needed his worker to not cause too many complaints and if that meant stopping the attack early so that he would not be slow with building, then it meant just that. The man took several Outcasts on the ship, then left them with the prisoner. Dagur returned to where he had been before with the homes. The smug looks on the elderly vikings' faces irritated him. They had not forgotten that he was supposed to be on good behavior and wanted to test that theory.
"I don't like how that looks," the man lied, pointing at a wall. "Make a window."
Dagur bit his tongue and nodded. "What size?"
"About the size of a dinner plate."
"Can I use anything to make the window?"
"Your hands will do just fine."
Trying to not grumble, the Berserker began breaking the wood. It was not difficult to break, but it was difficult to do so neatly. He kept wanting to destroy the entire wall, but that would just have caused problems. After a little more time than he would have enjoyed spending on this, he finished.
"Looks like a baby did it," the woman complained.
She waited for an angry reply but got nothing. Walking back over, the couple inspected the window closer.
"It'll do. Keep doing this for the next three homes. We're going to meet up with our daughter. She's just got back from a voyage today."
Dagur nodded and kept working. Mentally, he began mocking the couple.
"I hope she got mangled during the trip," he thought, smirking. "See how smug they are then."
The prisoner continued the painstaking process of setting up windows and walls. When he was nearly done, he noticed someone walking over to him. It was neither the elderly man nor woman but a blonde woman. She eyed him curiously before speaking.
"You're my parents' worker?"
"That's me," Dagur unhappily answered. "Need a home, I'm apparently your viking."
"Do you build often?"
"It's not normally on my to-do list."
She paused, gaze becoming more intense. "They said you're a Berserker. Are you?"
"I am."
"Do you know Oswald the Agreeable?"
Dagur glanced up at her. "Why?"
"There's something about you that reminds me of him."
"First time I've ever been told that," he mentioned, surprised. "Did you see him recently?"
"You're talking a lot," one of the Outcasts complained.
The Berserker frowned at the walls, fixing them faster. "I haven't stopped working."
"It's okay, guys," the woman said. "I want to talk with him."
"All right then, Ma'am."
This got them to back up, but they stayed close just in case the viking went berserk. The older viking went up to one of the new homes and pressed her hand against the wall.
"I knew him years ago. He explored a lot in his youth. I still do, so we crossed paths often. I thought he'd ask me to marry him, but he never did." She began frowning. "Never even so much as looked at me twice in the same day. I could have been popular if I wanted, but I only had eyes for him."
Dagur was not sure how he felt about this information. "People had crushes on Dad?" he thought, feeling a little sick.
"But then he left, claiming he'd fallen in love with some redheaded temptress," the woman said bitterly. "I should have tracked her down and killed her. She didn't deserve him. At least she was weak in body. Rumors say she died in childbirth when they had a second brat. Serves them both right."
Dagur felt his blood boil, but he kept his head low. He grinded his teeth and attempted to not seethe too much, but the viking's eyes were on him.
"Did you know her too?" She walked away from the building and stepped closer to him, taking the top of his head to turn his face towards her. "You've got his eyes, her hair color. You're their son, aren't you?"
A slight pause came as Dagur considered lying. To discourage this, the woman hovered her hand above an ax.
"I don't like liars. Your father's one. He's a coward too. Who leaves their kid to be someone's prisoner?"
"I agree about him being a coward," Dagur said. "You probably wouldn't have liked him for long if he did marry you."
"But I still would have wanted to see for myself. If it turned out I didn't like him as much as I hoped, I could have always let death part us and tried again."
The Berserker felt anger again. Vikings could call his father a coward. He would as well, but no one would threaten his life. Glancing to the side, he saw the Outcasts watching him. Attacking was not a wise decision. Instead of doing that, Dagur just kept working, ignoring the infuriating sets of eyes on him. Soon enough, he finished and ran out of lumber to use. He got up from the ground and started heading to the forest. Pushing, he began knocking down some more of the smaller trees. It was even more difficult than the last day.
"Stupid Alvin," he grumbled. "Stupid empty stomach caused by Alvin."
When the tree was down, Dagur sensed someone behind him. It was that viking again. There was anger on her face and the Berserker was quite aware of the ax still attached to her back.
"Look, I'm sorry Dad hurt your feelings."
"He really did," she admitted. Pausing, the emotion in her eyes changed. "I wonder if it would hurt him to hurt you."
"It wouldn't. He's gone."
This surprised the viking. "Gone? How…that's interesting. I guess I won't have the chance to get back at him."
Dagur kept his eyes on her as he collected the fallen lumber. She was where he needed to go, but he did not like the idea of turning his back on her.
"Drop the trees," she said.
"Why?"
"Just do it."
The viking begrudgingly dropped the lumber.
"Now, come over here."
"I have to get back to the homes."
"You have to follow orders."
Trying mostly unsuccessfully to hide his scowl, Dagur walked over to the woman. She went around him slowly. After a swish sound, he felt a slash on his back and then blood. Adding to this, he was tackled to the ground, making the fresh wound burn from the dirt.
"I'm not my father!" he yelled angrily. "You don't have any reason to be mad at me!"
The other viking nodded her head. "You're right that you're not Oswald. He always rebuffed me, but you don't have the ability to. You've been rented."
Dagur paled then scowled. "Rented for building homes."
"Rented for the week. I'll be gone again tomorrow on more expeditions. Imagine my good luck, returning during the same week as the son of Oswald would be on my island."
Pushing up, the Berserker was met with the ax being brought to his neck. He looked at it with wide eyes, then they narrowed.
"I'm not doing this."
"What's the problem?"
"You wanted to be with my dad, you just cut me…with you leaving tomorrow, there's really not enough time to list it all."
The woman glared at him. "You're forgetting my family paid for you. If you're Oswald's boy and he's gone, that means there's no one to take care of the Berserkers. What would Alvin say if you made a sale of his look bad? He wouldn't be too happy with you."
Dagur became crestfallen and the other viking saw this. She began using the ax to cut his chest and the Berserker fought against the urge to rip off her head.
"That hurts."
"It's supposed to," she whispered.
"I don't like this."
"I do."
To spite him, she made the cut deeper. Dagur's temper flared and he rolled, flipping so that he was on top. His hand wrapped around the viking's throat.
"I'll rip you to shreds and make it look like it was a Monstrous Nightmare," he warned. "Don't ever threaten my Berserkers."
The woman smirked, struggling a bit to breathe. "Maybe you're not Oswald's boy after all. He was always much more mild-mannered." She paused, trying to suck in air. "All right. I can tell when I'm not wanted. I'll leave you alone."
Though suspicious, Dagur also knew that if he was gone for too long, the Outcasts would come. If he was going to kill her, he would have to make that decision quickly. His time was up when he heard one of the Outcasts walking that way. He quickly removed his hands and stood up, going to get the trees to bring back to where he had been working. The other viking stood as well, watching him as he left. Dagur began sanding the wood for more homes, stopping only when the elderly woman came over to him.
"Our home has a broken door," she said. "I want you to fix it."
Dagur kept in a sigh. "Which one is yours?"
She pointed down several buildings and he went there. It did not take too long to fix, but it was still annoying and as he worked, the Outcasts kept moving nails so that it would take more time.
"Will you–" He stopped himself mid-yell as they grabbed another handful.
The Berserker took a deep breath and got back to what he was doing. Even though it took a bit longer, he finished the door, then got back to the homes. As soon as he did, the man was there with an irate look on his face.
"And what were you doing? I'm not paying for you to slack off."
"I was with your family," Dagur explained in an icy tone.
"Excuses. Just get the work done."
Realizing being nice was becoming increasingly more difficult, Dagur decided to be quiet. He was quiet until that evening when Alvin came back to get him. He walked over to the Outcast, almost happy to see him just because it meant he was leaving. This faded when he noticed the daughter talking with him. He saw the expression on the man's face go from curious to sinister and felt his stomach drop.
"Dagur," Alvin said, "this viking just told me you've been disrespectful today. I thought we talked about that yesterday."
"We talked about having good manners. I haven't been rude."
"I disagree," she chimed in. "He threatened my life. That's no way to treat an old family friend."
Alvin sucked his teeth. "Horrible behavior, boy. You should know better."
Dagur started shaking from anger and tried to control this. "I'm working like you and they wanted. I fixed up their home, made windows, and finished over five homes today. I don't understand why I have to do more than that," he said through gritted teeth.
He let out a small whimper as Alvin gripped his throat, lifting him up and squeezing tight. It felt like his windpipe was being crushed. The Berserker grabbed at the hand but was unable to remove it from his neck.
"What you don't understand is that whatever I tell you to do, you do," the Outcast informed him. "And right now, I'm telling you to make all the clients happy."
Still keeping him in the air, Alvin began walking. Dagur could not see where they were going, not helped by how there were starting to be black dots in the sky. He almost lost consciousness, but he snapped back when he was thrown on the floor. Glancing around, he saw that he was in the clients' home. Then, he looked at Alvin's cruel expression.
"I've never…" he trailed off, blushing as he looked at the floor. "Do I really have to?"
Rather than address him, Alvin spoke to his Outcasts. "Hold him down."
The vikings held Dagur's arms and head down. He struggled against them.
"Fine!" he said furiously, getting an arm free. "I get it. This is happening no matter what. I won't attack anyone. Just let go." He noticed that they were not listening and could feel even more anger building. "Get off of me!"
He scowled as the other viking entered. She looked proud of herself. Alvin glanced at her, then shook his head.
"Why risk it? I've learned not to take you at your word. Keep him there, men. Let him up when the lady tells you to."
Dagur felt a mix of rage and nervousness. His breaths quickened and his heartbeat raced as he was kept pressed into the floor and the viking approached. As she did, Hiccup was on Berk, leading the other riders through exercises. Astrid could tell that his focus was not fully with them. When the others headed home for the day, she stopped him.
"What's going on?" she asked. "Snotlout got burned by Hookfang twice in a row and you didn't even shake your head at him."
"It's not really that much of a surprise by now."
"True, but what about when Fishlegs told you about the new dragon call he was working on."
"I said it sounded good."
"Exactly! It sounded terrible. It was accurate I guess, but I think it made my ears bleed. Were you even paying attention?"
Hiccup glanced at Toothless. "I've just been thinking about a lot of things today. There's nothing wrong, though."
The blonde did not look convinced, but she had to go speak with the Berk Guard, so she did not have time to discuss this more.
"I have to go, but this isn't over," she said. "Something's going on with you. I wish you'd just tell me what."
Astrid sadly left the other Berkian and flew off with Stormfly. Feeling some guilt, Hiccup sighed.
"I'm doing the right thing, aren't I?" he asked Toothless. "She wouldn't understand. I'm not even sure if I understand, but I know I want to keep seeing how this will go." He paused for a moment. "How upset would you be with me if we went back to Outcast Island? Dagur should be done working on the homes by now."
Toothless was not at all surprised and just garbled in response, looking receptive to the idea. Happily, Hiccup hopped onto his saddle and they returned to the prison. On the flight, the boy kept thinking of the last conversation. Maybe he wanted to test it. That apology could have been insincere or it all could have been a fluke. He was not used to actually being around Dagur. He only spent time around the older boy once a year or, recently, when under attack. Talks were never really had. Finally, the two landed on the island and greeted the guards as they went inwards.
"Came for the prisoner again?" one asked.
Hiccup nodded and was allowed entry. The prison was louder this time. He could not quite make out what was being said, but he heard several guards talking and laughing. Getting closer, Hiccup neared the back of the prison. He saw five guards near the cell and Alvin in there. Dagur was looking at the ground, face red and hands balled into shaking fists.
"You had a good time even if you're acting like you didn't," Hiccup heard one of the guards say.
"It's not like you could do much better than her."
"Exactly. No one else would want a maniac, so you should consider it an honor."
"If the price is low enough, maybe you'll get someone else."
The guards started laughing again as Dagur's expression became more embarrassed. He glanced up and saw Hiccup, immediately changing his expression to look more unfazed. The other vikings followed his gaze and quieted down.
"Hiccup," Alvin greeted. "I didn't realize you liked speaking with Dagur so much."
The Berkian awkwardly looked at the scene and the prisoner. He saw more fresh blood and bruises which covered the viking's face and body.
"What were you guys talking about?" he asked, not sure if he wanted the answer or not.
"Dagur's got a girlfriend," Alvin said, smirking at the Berserker.
The former chief bit his tongue. A scowl appeared on his face as he was roughly grabbed by the Outcast leader.
"Wasn't she nice?" he asked. "You sure seemed to like her a lot."
Dagur's body felt hot, but he swallowed the emotion. "Very nice. A real lady."
"You're learning those manners after all," Alvin said, patting his head. He left the cell and had the Outcasts go with him. "Let's leave them. I'm sure Dagur's got lots to tell Hiccup. Just don't scar the boy for life, will ya? The details aren't meant for sensitive ears."
Chuckling, the vikings exited the prison. As they passed, Toothless found himself snarling at them like he would have months earlier. Once they were gone, Hiccup looked back at the prisoner. Dagur was not looking at him.
"Were they joking?" he asked.
The other boy shrugged and rubbed his arm. "I took a page out of your book with blondie."
"Well, Astrid and I haven't started…" he trailed off, uncomfortably. "Did she give you those bruises?"
"She plays rough," the Berserker answered, licking some blood off his lip. He frowned before letting out a laugh. "You know, I reminded her of Dad. Said she used to have a thing for him. Gross, right? Weird too. I never remind anyone of Dad. Funny how things work out."
Hiccup hesitated with what to say next. He did not need to hear confirmation to know that the Berserker's feelings were not as lighthearted about the event as he tried to make them seem. Dagur knew that he was not believing his proud grin, so he changed tactics.
"Do you plan on exploring more?" he asked.
The Berkian did not expect the question and tapped his chin. "I haven't thought about it too much, but I probably will."
"Have you ever read about different places?"
"Not really. I mainly look at the Book of Dragons."
Dagur pretended to yawn, causing Hiccup to frown at him.
"Hey, it's taught me a lot about dragons."
"It should. It's right there in the name, but that's it. If you can't get out around the world, you should read about it."
"How would I do that?"
"Traders. That's what we do on Berserker Island," the prisoner said. "We have a bunch of traders for various items and since they all come from different places around the world, we get new scrolls from them. How many traders does Berk have?"
"We just have Johann."
Dagur scrunched up his face. "The guy that won't shut up? Just him? You're kidding."
"No, I'm not. My dad's known him for years. He's an old family friend now."
The prisoner internally shuddered at the mention of another family friend. "That's a dumb idea."
"You don't have to call it dumb."
"But it is," he complained, crossing his arms. "What if he's crooked?"
"He's not."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Hiccup insisted. "We can trust him. What would he even want from us?"
Dagur rolled his eyes. "Fine, O Trustful One. I guess paranoia doesn't suit you anyway. It's more my thing. I'll have enough for us both."
"Or," Hiccup suggested, "you could learn to trust people."
"Why would I do that?" he asked, eyebrow raising. "I trust Dagur. That's enough. He's great. Anyway, even if Jojo is trustworthy, he's just one guy. He can die. If he does, how do you get supplies if you only use him?"
Hiccup was about to answer when he paused. "That's…not a bad point."
"Naturally," the Berserker said proudly. "I'm full of good ideas."
"You're full of something else too. Did you read a lot on Berserker Island?"
Dagur nodded. "It would get boring a lot of the time, so I'd go to the library and pick random topics."
"Did you have a favorite book?"
"The one on Skrills!"
"Besides that?"
"Um, not really. They were all neat, though. I read about different plants, cultures, and even some meditation scrolls that talked about the third eye."
The Berkian's eyes widened. "Funny, I never figured you'd be much of a reader."
Dagur looked hurt momentarily. "Why not?"
"It's not that I thought you couldn't. I just always saw you fighting and attacking things."
"I can't spend every second of every day fighting someone. I'd get bored."
"I guess that's true."
"Before, I did a bunch of stuff. I read, cooked, drew–"
Hiccup's expression turned doubtful. "You cooked and drew?"
"You saw that I prepared a yak leg on Dragon Island."
"Yeah, but I thought you just did it because no one was around to cook for you."
Dagur shook his head. "No one cooked for me. I'd make my own meals all the time. I used to cook for Dad too, but I'd have to leave so that I wouldn't hear his annoying smacking," he said, covering his ears. "It was awful!"
Hiccup smirked. "That really bothers you."
"Why do you keep acting like everything I say is so weird?" the redhead asked, frowning a bit.
"It's not that I think it's really weird. It's just that it's not common here. Not too many Berkians care about table manners or even know how to cook. You should have tried what the twins made a few years ago."
"What was it?"
"Disgusting."
This caused Dagur to laugh, making the Berkian look a bit disturbed.
"Specifically, it was some type of eel dish, I think." Hiccup paused, thinking. "Drawing isn't really done a lot either except by those of us who discover new things, so I draw some."
"I remember," the Berserker said excitedly. "You have for a while. You'd show my dad on visits. You were good. He liked them a lot too."
"Thanks. I don't remember you ever showing any artwork."
"It's not your failing memory. I didn't."
"Why not?"
"Dad said they were disturbing. They didn't fit with the agreeable image." Dagur shrugged. "It's not important, though. Dad liked you and Stoick never liked me, so it wouldn't have made sense to show him stuff."
"He probably wouldn't have minded."
"If you say so. You should read more, though. That's how I knew to make an antidote for the Deadly Nadder venom when I got that spine in the leg. We don't get any dragons on Berserker Island, so everything I know about them is from reading. Plus, learning more is helpful to see how other places are doing in comparison to yours. We make Berserk chicken now a little bit like they make this one dish in French places."
"French?"
An ornery look appeared in Dagur's eyes. "You'd know what that was if you read about more than reptiles all day. Bet you haven't heard of Defenders of the Wing Island either."
Hiccup could feel the curiosity tugging at his insides. "Where's that?"
"I don't remember where it is, but I remember what. They help heal and protect dragons. You'd probably fit right in." He dramatically sighed and jokingly added, "Too bad you didn't want to get to know them. You'll hurt their feelings, Hiccup. That's not nice."
"Okay, okay, you've convinced me. I'll let my dad know and see what he thinks."
"Just don't tell him who the idea came from or he won't use it," the prisoner said, laughing his signature laugh.
The cackle unsettled Hiccup again and he noticed the sound of another prisoner eating. He could not see what it was, but he noticed there were bowls in every cell but the one he was next to.
"Um, what does Alvin give you to eat?"
Dagur's laugh abruptly stopped. "What makes you ask?"
"I see that everyone is eating except you."
After a moment, the prisoner began doing a handstand. "He doesn't. I get a little water, but no food. Well, he did give me food once, but it didn't stay down for long. It doesn't matter, though. I don't need to eat," he explained. "I need to work out."
He began doing pushups. Hiccup watched, frowning.
"I also notice that there's more blood."
"I said she played rough," the older boy said, going faster. "Want me to give you a breakdown of the whole time or something? I'm not doing that."
Hiccup did not back down. "The way the guards were talking–the way they were laughing–they got money for that, didn't they? This wasn't something you agreed to. You didn't want to be with her."
The Berserker did not respond immediately, but he stopped the exercise, switching to situps. "How are things on Berk?"
Reluctantly, Hiccup changed the subject. "They're going well. We're training more with our dragons."
"I bet your Night Fury is still the best."
Toothless looked flattered by the compliment and made a happy noise. Hiccup saw that and chuckled.
"Keep that up and you might just win him over," he said.
"That would be fun," the Berserker quietly mentioned. A curious look appeared in his eyes. "What's it like riding on a dragon?"
"It's incredible," Hiccup said, fondly thinking back on the first time. "At first, it's terrifying. It doesn't feel like you belong in the air and then, something just shifts inside of you. It becomes exhilarating. You don't feel the worries of the world anymore. It's just you, your best friend, and the sky. It's ultimate peace."
Dagur closed his eyes, imagining what the Berkian was saying. When he stopped, he opened them again. He paused, having stopped the workouts entirely and thinking about one part.
"You said 'best friend.' Dragons become their riders' best friends?"
"They do. You bond with them and they bond with you. There's a connection there that you just can't have with another person. It's a total understanding."
"That sounds nice," the redhead mentioned.
Dagur looked at Toothless who was watching him. The dragon's gaze was not vicious, but curious.
"Hey, Mr. Night Fury. He's always been cool," the prisoner commented. "How'd you come up with his name anyway? It never made sense to me."
"He can retract his teeth. When I saw him the second time, he was all gums until I fed him some fish."
Toothless demonstrated. Dagur's head tilted to look, intrigued.
"Neat." The Berserker's expression changed, looking less certain. "It'll probably take a little while to find new traders. I could tell you some of the things I've read about until you get them."
Hiccup hesitated, then raised an eyebrow. "Is that your way of asking me to come back?"
Dagur crossed his arms and turned away. "No, it's my way of saying that I'd tell you what I read about. Don't look too deep into it."
"Oh, well, if you don't want me to come back, I could just wait on the traders. We haven't suffered too much without the information, so I'm sure we could make it another few weeks."
The Berserker turned his head back slightly to look at the other viking. "Maybe you coming here isn't the worst thing in the world," he quietly admitted.
Hiccup glanced at Toothless. "That's odd because I feel like I remember you saying that the last thing you wanted was a visitor."
"Okay, well, I changed my mind. I can do that if I want."
"So," the Berkian said, smiling, "to clarify…"
Dagur huffed. "I want you to come and hang out again. Could you?"
Hiccup and Toothless glanced at one another again. An ornery look appeared on the reptile's face. It spread to his friend as well.
"We'll have to see," Hiccup said. "Things will be busy on Berk with getting new traders and dragon training."
The boy's amused smile fell some when he saw how miserable this made the prisoner look.
"You really won't return?"
"He won't," Alvin said for Hiccup.
Dagur watched him and moved back further from the cell bars. Hiccup looked at the approaching Outcast who saw the question on his face.
"Sorry, Hiccup. Dagur will be busy all week and I don't think he needs the distractions. Besides, the nights this week are special," he said, sending a meaningful look to the Berserker. "He'll need his rest. You can come back when he's done if you do at all. Let's be honest with ourselves, Dagur makes terrible company. I'm sure the other Berserkers would agree. I don't know why you'd ever want to see him again."
The redhead sadly looked away from them. Hiccup was not sure why, but Alvin's words had irritated him. Still, he respected that it was his prison. He turned to leave with Toothless.
"I'll go then," he said. "I'll see you when the week's up, Dagur."
The boy's eyes lit up and a smile crossed his face. It did not stay on his face too long since there were still tortures awaiting him that night, but knowing that there was an upcoming day to look forward to was enough to make those sword slashes and kicks hurt a little less.
