It was morning…probably. Dagur could not tell and did not care anyway. It was still dark in the prison and he was still feeling emotionally numb. Actually, no, he was not numb at all. He just wanted to feel that way. In reality, numb was the very opposite of how he was feeling. The boy's heart hurt more than it ever had. That was the reason why it was not true that he did not care if it was morning. He wanted it to be morning because he wanted to go to the Vandals. Despite what he knew they would do, he wanted them to attack him. He wanted to be killed swiftly so that the pain would stop. Anything to make it go away forever. He was a Viking with no family, no home, and no future. Might as well embrace the last part.
The night had passed tensely. Dagur was worried that Hiccup showing up would upset Alvin, but apparently the Outcast was in a good enough mood to decide that he did not need to be around the other prisoners. Alvin still did not know what the Vandals wanted from the boy, so he wanted him to not be horribly bloodied by the time he got there. Soon enough, the Viking entered the cell with the chains.
"We're leaving," he informed the prisoner.
Dagur got up and went over to him. The restraints were attached and the pair along with one of the guards went to the ship. Rather than go to the Southern Markets, they went to the Vandals' homeland, the one guard having recalled where it was located. Alvin sent Dagur down with the man and left to return to Outcast Island. The prisoner's wrists were freed, but the long chain was kept like the last time. Happily, Gunnel greeted the Vikings.
"Welcome back!" she said, ecstatic. An ornery look appeared on her face. "And to think that you didn't want to come here again. What's the final decision? Are you going to haunt us?"
"Haunt you?" the Outcast inquired, frowning. "How would he do that?"
Gunnel did not look at the man, instead focusing entirely on the Berserker. She took the chain attached to his neck and began leading the way deeper into the island. The Vandal began skipping, then frowned.
"You're quiet today," she commented. "Too many Outcasts last night?"
Dagur did not feel like talking, but he knew silence would only annoy the Viking and make her more likely to cause this process to be more difficult than it needed to be. He just wanted to get it over with.
"What's wrong with you?" Gunnel questioned.
The boy recalled what she said about bodily changes caused by stress and how they were favorable. If he did nothing, then she might just send him back to prison. She wanted a meal and a show, so he gave her one. Dagur lunged at Gunnel, causing her to yelp in surprise. He pinned her against a tree trunk.
"I want to kill someone before I die," he told her, grinning. "I don't need to taste blood like you, but I want to spill it."
The Berserker began chuckling quietly before it grew into a maniacal laugh. It was partially genuine. There he was, trying to convince someone that he was crazy enough to eat. Of all the absurd places he foresaw himself during his life, this was nowhere on the list. Briefly, Gunnel's eyes were wide and her face was pale. Dagur's grin only grew as he glanced around them.
"I don't see everybody. Are you going to bring someone to me? You'll get more to eat if you're down at least one Viking."
Gunnel tried to free herself from the tree, but the attempt was in vain.
"What's your answer?" he asked, closing the space between them more. "Or I could just rip your throat out while no one's watching. What'll they do to retaliate? Kill me?"
His laugh started back up and he moved back, putting a hand over his face. When he lowered it, he saw a somewhat disturbed, though intrigued look on Gunnel's face.
"I'm almost upset that I picked you for this," she admitted. The Viking went over to the Berserker and wrapped her arms around his neck. "If I didn't, I would've rented you for a very different reason, Blaze."
She kissed him and Dagur almost pulled back. Gunnel licked his cheek, really making him want to move.
"You taste good, but you'll be even sweeter when you're clean. Right now, you're filthy." Gunnel moved away, still keeping her hand on the chain. "That's why we're here. Look, we have a hot spring. Get cleaned up."
The Vandal reached into a bag she had with her and handed him some items. Dagur looked at them, seeing that they were a change of clothes.
"You'll eat before we do and we can't have you doing that nude. It also would defeat the purpose of bathing if you just put your dirty clothes back on."
Gunnel flicked her wrist, gesturing to the spring. Dagur took the clothes and put them on the edge so that they would not get wet. To the best of his abilities, he ignored the set of eyes on him as he undressed and got in the water. It felt amazing once he was in there. The hot water relaxed his sore muscles and the blood began to wash off. He could hardly remember the last time he felt this nice. It had been too long. The Berserker tensed when he felt a hand on his head. Gunnel was washing his hair.
"I can do that," he said, trying to move from under her hand.
Knowing the Vandal, she would just set him on fire again and he would have to duck down into the water to put it out. Gunnel's grip on the hair tightened, getting the prisoner to not pull too far.
"I won't have much more time to spend with you," she said. "I want to make the most of what we do have."
Dagur glanced back at her. "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
The Vandal chuckled. "Don't worry. We're not allowed to be with our meals. It's unsanitary and said to ruin the meat, so I won't be doing anything besides this."
This made the prisoner relax some. After Gunnel was done, he dunked his head into the water. He stayed there a moment, considering this as another potential escape from everything.
"All right. No drowning allowed either," she called. "I'll have the water pushed out of you if you try."
A little begrudgingly, the Berserker got out of the water and dressed in the new garments. Gunnel smiled at him.
"Now, don't you look nice. Too bad it won't be for long. Come on, let's join the others."
Gunnel led the way back to the center of the island. Dagur noticed that everyone was gathered again. He wondered if this was what it felt like when the Berserkers of the past would attack islands. Suddenly, his great uncle's favorite story of the three soldiers against a thousand did not seem as funny. They were at a table that stretched far. The scout walked up and looked proud of what she had done. She sat down, pulling Dagur so that he was beside her. Several roasted yaks were on the table, getting ripped apart so that the Vikings could eat. The Berserker regarded this in confusion. Gunnel noticed and chuckled as she ate.
"We wouldn't get full off you," she explained. "There are too many of us. We always feast first."
"So, I'll be dessert?"
"You got it!"
Dagur watched as she eagerly kept eating the food. All the Vandals ate in the same way, like they had never seen food a day in their lives before. They were so ravenous. It was difficult for the prisoner to not picture himself as those pieces of meat they tore apart like wolves did with their prey. After a little time passed, Gunnel nudged him.
"Not hungry, Blaze?"
"Guess I lost my appetite."
"Funny. Most of the Vikings we bring seem to have that happen to them."
"I wonder why," he said sarcastically.
"It's their loss. We're great chefs. They should be happy to get such a wonderful last meal."
The Vandal noticed how Dagur still was not eating. She shrugged and kept enjoying her time until everyone was done. Once they were, Gunnel quickly pressed a knife against Dagur's throat. She let it rest there a moment, just looking at him.
"We don't kill quickly. It stresses the body more if we let you live during as much of this as possible."
Someone came up on the redhead's left, biting down on his shoulder. Dagur grunted and nearly punched the Viking. Gunnel saw and smiled.
"That's what I love to see. You can fight us, Blaze. In fact, we want you to. It makes it more fun for us when the food fights back."
As the teeth dug deeper into him, Dagur obliged the request. He moved back from the knife and hit the man in the face. The Vandal cried out and wiped his bleeding nose. Several more Vikings caught Dagur's right arm and Gunnel sliced it, licking the wound when it bled. One of the people holding the Berserker got too close and his kneecap was kicked, breaking it. This shocked some of the other Vandals who moved back for a moment. The moment did not last long and their hunger became more powerful. One-by-one, they leapt at the target. Dagur was able to move around most of them, but there were so many that he had nowhere to go. Someone tackled him, then another and another and another until there were too many to breathe. They beat their fists down on the Viking, then began to try the meat they had tenderized. His left hand was being gnawed on and someone was biting his right leg.
"Wish it were faster," he thought, frowning at the discomfort.
Dagur felt as the gnawing stopped. The biting did as well. Weight on him was lessening. When the Vandals were off of his head, he could see that they were running. Painfully, he started to get up and saw an unexpected sight. Toothless's face was right next to his own. Shocked, he stumbled back with a yelp. The Night Fury let out a soft roar resembling a laugh. On his saddle was Hiccup who had a relieved expression on his face. It contrasted with the confused one on Dagur's face.
"How did you–"
"I asked around, but I was able to get a map to the Vandals."
Toothless fired a plasma blast at a Vandal who had a bolas. Hiccup saw how the Vikings' shock was beginning to wear off.
"We should probably get out of here."
One of the Vandals charged forward, trying to stab Dagur, but he kicked him down and hopped onto the dragon's saddle. Immediately, Toothless flew into the sky. He quickly put distance between them and the island. As he did, Hiccup felt arms go around him tightly. Momentarily, the boy thought that he was being attacked.
"Brilliant," he thought. "And we're above the ocean, so this would be a bad place to even try to fight against him."
The Berkian decided that this would be a good point to bring up to hopefully convince the Berserker to stop. When Hiccup turned to deliver the news, he saw that the redhead did not look like he was in the middle of an attack. His eyes were wide and locked on the ocean below them. He was also really pale.
"Oh," Hiccup said quietly. "I guess this is your first time flying after all."
Dagur nodded, still not looking away from the water that looked so far away from where they were. Hiccup wiggled to try to breathe more, but the grip was still crushing.
"I can't really operate Toothless's tail if I suffocate," he mentioned.
The possibility of them crashing made the Berserker speedily let go. Instead, he grabbed onto the saddle tightly.
"You know, it might help if you don't look down."
"But then I won't know how far the fall would be."
"That's kind of why I suggested it. Besides, we won't fall."
Hesitantly, Dagur forced himself to look away from the waves that were calling to him, taunting the boy about how he would drown beneath them.
"How do you do this all the time?" he asked, trying to just close his eyes to see if that made it easier.
"Practice, I guess. I always thought it was pretty fun, though."
"Doesn't it ever make you nauseous?"
"No, it's sort of always felt natural."
Dagur paused, trying again to open his eyes. This time, he looked out at the sky. It was so different up there, near the clouds and closer to the sun.
"It is kinda nice, but you weren't supposed to get involved."
"That's an odd way of saying thanks."
"It's not one at all," Dagur said, frowning. "This was going to be it. Now, I have to go back to Outcast Island. I was better off as dessert."
Hiccup shook his head. "I'm not taking you back to Outcast Island."
The Berserker lifted an eyebrow at him. "Dad's not letting me step foot back home. Besides, Alvin won't be happy about this. He might see it as a sign of war."
"He might, but it wouldn't be."
"How wouldn't it?"
"Because he sold you to the Vandals."
Dagur tilted his head. "What? He's sold me to a lot of people. How does this one become different?"
"Because these Vikings are known for eating people. He sent you to get killed, so he basically relinquished his right as your jailer."
The redhead's eyes widened. "Would that work?"
"I don't see why it wouldn't. If I didn't get involved, you would have died. Either way, you wouldn't be his prisoner anymore. If I take you to Berk, it'll be the same as it would have been."
Dagur was quiet for several moments. Hiccup turned back to look at him again.
"I really don't have to go back to the Outcasts?"
It seemed too good to be true. Dagur kept expecting it to be some type of cruel joke where they were actually headed there as they spoke. He knew Alvin would be so kind as to tempt him with freedom just to throw him to the other prisoners for daring to want a different life. Yet, Hiccup would not go along with such a plan. It seemed like this was not a ruse. It seemed real.
"You really don't," the Berkian answered with a grin.
Dagur let out a surprised but happy laugh. "This day's going a lot better than I expected it to."
"Well, I'm glad to have it confirmed that our company is better than being around cannibals," the Berkian joked.
The Vikings and Night Fury kept flying through the air until they reached Berk. Once there, Hiccup got off Toothless's back. Dagur did as well, but he was more cautious. The Berkians were grouping together and glaring at him.
"They didn't know I'd be showing up, did they?" he asked in a whisper.
Hiccup cringed. "I might have just left this morning."
"What's he doing here?" the formerly Silent Sven questioned, hands on the hilt of a sword.
"I brought him here to stay in our prison."
The Berkians gasped at what they heard.
"You didn't, lad!" one exclaimed, appalled.
"I did and he's not going to be a problem for anyone, so it's not an issue."
Glares still were directed at the Berserker. He was hesitant to follow Hiccup to the prison. It seemed like the moment he moved any closer to the other Berkians, they would attack. Toothless noticed their aggression too and positioned himself between the Viking and the others. Dagur gave him an appreciative smile. The Berkians got the message and backed away, but they still shot daggers with their eyes.
"So, how likely is it that they'll kill me in my sleep?" Dagur asked when they were further from everyone.
"Eh…I don't know," the trainer admitted. "Not completely unlikely, but I think it won't really be something you need to be worried about. Dad said I could try to help, so him being on board with this will make it easier to keep them at bay."
"Stoick was cool with this? I wouldn't have expected that."
They quickly got to the prison where the Berserker entered the cell. He was not thrilled to step into another, but he knew it was better, so he was not that upset. Before Hiccup could close the bars, Stoick entered.
"Hey, Dad. Toothless and I were able to find him, but I guess you noticed."
"I did," the chief said. His gaze was stern as it landed on the prisoner. "Hiccup, could you give us a moment?"
Hesitantly, the boy and dragon exited the prison. Stoick's gaze remained hard.
"I still don't trust you, Dagur," the man said. "I don't support what Alvin did, but if it weren't for Hiccup's merciful nature, you'd still be there. Remember that. Also remember that anyone who tries to hurt him has to go through me and then a Night Fury."
"I'll remember. I don't want to hurt him."
"Stay that way because if you've used this situation to try to continue your plans of attacking him, your sentence will return to the way it was before. Only, this time, no amount of interference from anyone will change it."