Hiccup and Toothless flew back to Berk in a silent, gloomy mood. That unhappy air was impossible to not notice when Stoick saw them enter the hut. The boy still had a frown on his face and the dragon looked sad.

"Did it not go well?" Stoick asked, not knowing if he had expected it to necessarily go well or not.

"It went…it went," Hiccup said, sighing.

"What happened?"

"I told him that he wouldn't trick me like he'd done to Alvin. I said how everything that he was going through were things he'd do or have done to me." The Berkian paused. "He denied it, but I didn't go in there thinking that he'd confirm anything."

"I'm glad that you didn't. He's a liar. His words mean nothing."

"Yeah," Hiccup said, trailing off.

The hesitation in his voice made Stoick lift an eyebrow. "But there's clearly more. What else happened?"

"Nothing really." Seeing how the chief was not going to just move on, Hiccup sighed again and continued. "I mentioned Oswald and he said he didn't really kill him."

Stoick let out a scoff. "So, Oswald vanished mysteriously and he just happened to take his place?"

"Well, he was the heir. Him taking Oswald's place isn't that weird."

"But him having to so soon is. Oswald couldn't have disappeared into thin air."

"What if he left?"

"He wouldn't have. He had a tribe to lead."

"He might not think like you do."

"He wasn't the type of man to abandon those who needed him and he definitely wasn't the type to leave them in Dagur's hands. He would even protest when you two would interact as children."

"Really?" the dragon trainer asked, suddenly frowning. "So, it was your idea?"

Stoick turned a little sheepish. "In my defense, I didn't know you'd end up with a Night Fury as a best friend. I needed you to get stronger and if being around a maniac for a few hours could help, I was willing to try. I never let you die from it, so no real harm was done."

"Just psychological," Hiccup mumbled. "Doesn't it seem weird though that Dagur didn't announce the kill more proudly? He implied that he killed him, but he never actually said it. He's not the type to be shy about something he's done. If he wouldn't have regretted it, why not just outright say that he killed him?"

"Maybe because he was worried about the backlash from the tribe."

"Wouldn't it still have been there if they thought he killed him even if he didn't directly admit it?"

"Perhaps, but they might have different laws on Berserker Island, saying that he just has to admit to it to be arrested. As long as he doesn't, he gets to have their fear and the throne." A slight pause came. "Don't tell me that you're thinking he's incapable of killing Oswald."

"I don't think that. I just don't think that he did kill him. Do you remember what their relationship was like from Oswald's side of it?"

Stoick paused to recall, glancing upwards. "Not really. I suppose that I always thought it seemed cold. Oswald never spoke of him when we would talk."

"What would he talk about?"

"The world mostly. He had an adventurous spirit like yours."

"So, why is it so strange to think that he'd leave?"

"Because he understood his responsibilities as a chief."

"We don't know that."

"Hiccup, I know…knew Oswald. He wouldn't have done that."

The smaller Berkian started to frown. "Dad, you didn't know if he'd think us having dragons was a sign of war. We really don't know much about any of the Berserkers. We'd see them once a year and not even for the entire day."

Stoick heaved a heavy sigh. "Why would Dagur have lied about killing him?"

"I'm not sure, but I want to find out."

"If you don't even know that, how can you be so sure that he didn't do it?"

"I'm not sure, but I also have seen how remorseless Dagur can be. If he did kill Oswald, I don't think he'd lie and say he didn't, not even to get out of prison."

"It could've been to gain your sympathy."

"I doubt it. He admitted that he would have tortured me even if it was to a lesser extent. Why say that and then try to win me over?"

"He's deranged. That's why."

Hiccup paused for a few moments, just being in deep thought. "I want to talk with him again."

"Last time was the final trip."

"But if he's telling the truth and Oswald's out there, we could find him. The Berserkers might try to attack without him. Even without a chief, they have enough soldiers to be a threat. If it turns out that Oswald really is dead, then I won't ever go to see Dagur again."

"I feel like we've been here before with you saying that you'll give up on him."

"I didn't know about this possibility before."

"And what if he tells you something else that intrigues you?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Only Oswald will change this. If he could kill his own family, then I'll know he's a lost cause. If not, I'd like to keep going." He saw the frown already on his father's face. "He can't do anything to me in there. He's behind those bars and if he reaches past them, Alvin will probably chop off his arm."

A stern expression was on Stoick as he stood from his chair. "I'm holding you to this. If Oswald's dead, Dagur rots there with Alvin and he'll never get another visitor from Berk."

The deal was made and the family sat down to dinner. In the morning, Hiccup found himself thinking of what the Berserker would be getting into at the Southern Markets. Dagur wondered about this as well. He was in low spirits that morning. He had lost his only visitor.

"How could he think I'd do all this?" he wondered, practicing kicks. "Do I really seem that evil?" The boy began feeling angry and his kicks had more ferocity behind them. "Sure, this is fair," he thought sarcastically. "Hiccup has me spill my guts about everything and then turns on me. This is why it's stupid to trust people. I knew he wouldn't be any help. I'll get myself out…if I can just clear my head."

Dagur's head felt foggy again. The only thing he could think of to fix that was to try to focus on things. These things tended to be negative. He hated how the cell walls were all the same color. It was boring and drew his attention to the bloody spots. He hated the snores of other inmates. They were mocking him with their relaxation. He hated the sound of eels sliding between old bread loaves. If he was lucky, he would get to eat one soon. He just hated everything. The idea of walking out of the prison, not in chains, was intoxicating. It was almost too nice and just depressed him. This was taking forever and he had always been impatient. After some time, Alvin entered the cell with the chains. Not resisting, Dagur stayed still as they were attached. This put a smile on the man's face.

"You lost your little friend," he taunted.

"We weren't friends," Dagur grumbled.

He did not want to say anything, but he also knew by that point that being too quiet was as offensive to the Outcast as saying something aggressive. It was difficult to strike a good balance and not be punished. Like this time. Apparently, that was too much spunk because a hard punch was sent into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The redhead could not catch his breath before he was yanked down to the ship. Guards who joined them watched him closely, wishing that they had not been forbidden from attacks outside of the prison. Some of Dagur wanted to gloat, but most of him was just glad that going to the Markets granted him some peace from them.

They docked at the island and went to their usual spot. It took a little longer for a final buyer to be decided. Alvin kept wanting to get more coins from the Vikings. Every offer he heard sounded low. He could get more use out of the boy than this. Finally, someone caught his attention.

"Gold, you said?" he clarified.

"Aye," the other man answered. "I'd pay twenty gold coins if he does the job."

"What job is this?"

Through the crowd, a short man with a bald head approached. "I work with Vikings as crazy as this one is. One guy keeps killing those I send to sedate him. I need him to not be a problem. Either your prisoner kills him or finds a way to not have him hurt someone. I don't care as long as none of my workers get killed anymore. I'm sick of holding funerals for them. I'll run out of arrows to light their ships aflame by the time next month ends."

Alvin shook the man's hand. He unlocked the prisoner's handcuffs, then exchanged the bag of coins for the chain.

"Deal. Peder," he added, turning to the Outcast, "you three go with them."

The man nodded and had his group follow the buyer. They boarded a ship and sailed for a short while before docking at an island with a large building near the coast. It sent a chill down Dagur's spine. Its walls were dark gray and muffled the sounds of screams coming from inside.

"Why are they screaming?" he asked.

Shrugging, the buyer answered, "Who knows this time? I'm not even sure if it's a resident or a worker."

He led the way into the establishment. Pushing open the doors, Dagur realized just how much the walls muffled the sounds. It was almost deafening and he covered his ears. The smells there were terrible as well and somehow worse than at the prison. He assumed it was due to the size. There were so many people. Some were getting chased down by frustrated workers, leaping over each other.

"Get back here!" one worker yelled, only to get tackled by someone else.

The buyer rushed towards them, kicking the attacker off the man before anyone got strangled. Dagur could only describe the place as pure chaos. He always wondered what pure chaos would look like. Admittedly, it was a lot less nice than he anticipated. Someone ran by and grabbed the chain, yoking him. Shooting him a death glare, Dagur got the resident to let go and continue running. He turned back to the Outcasts.

"Can I lose this for now at least?" he asked, gesturing to the chain.

They glanced at one another before begrudgingly removing the metal. When they were done, the buyer approached them again, a red mark on his face where someone else had hit him.

"He's in the fourth room to the right."

Nodding, Dagur went where he had been instructed, dodging thrown buckets and whatever liquids they contained. When he got to the room, he saw that it was locked from the outside.

"Are they just going to lock me in there with him?" he wondered. "Guess I'll have to find out. Lucky me."

He undid the lock and entered. As he expected, he heard it lock again as soon as the door had closed. Trying to not let this bother him, the Berserker turned his attention to the other person in there. In the back corner was a man with a long, graying beard despite an otherwise youthful appearance. When he saw the newcomer, he looked scared. Dagur raised his hands peacefully.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he assured him. He thought, "Well, I guess that could be why I'm here depending on how this goes."

"Why didn't you respond?" the man asked.

Dagur tilted his head in confusion. "You didn't ask me a question."

"They did. You're ignoring them." The resident covered his ears. "They won't stop talking to us!"

The prisoner stopped walking forward, noticing that it just caused the other individual to curl further into a ball when he did. "I guess my hearing isn't as good as I thought it was. Do they sound like your voice or someone else's?"

"Both. Some are mimicking me and others are mimicking my siblings. They're evil!"

"Why are they evil?"

"They know my siblings are dead."

"What happened?"

"A raid. The raid was bad. It was really bad. Few survivors."

The resident covered his eyes with his hands, still not hiding the tears which streamed down his cheeks. Dagur hesitated again. He had never been around someone who heard voices. He had no idea if there was a way to stop that from happening.

"Who are the ones mimicking them?"

"The raiders. They like to taunt me. They keep me here and weaken me with special plants. I won't let them."

"How do you stop them?"

"I kill them," came the answer. "First time, I didn't. Didn't know what they were doing. Then, I woke up surrounded by icy water and almost drowned like my big brother."

Curious, Dagur tried a different type of question. "What is this place?"

"A prison for the survivors. They must've caught you too. You smell like blood."

"How long have you been here?"

"Not sure."

"When was the raid?"

"Not sure. Think I was a teenager."

"Did you hear the voices before then?"

"They didn't come before then!"

"Okay, okay. Wasn't sure."

Dagur glanced towards the door, hearing a knock. They wanted him to hurry up with this. Looking back at the resident, he did not know if he could do the job that way. The Viking was in a constant state of fear, living a lie that only made his life more distressing. Dagur was not sure if killing him would be a mercy or if it would just be another bit of bad luck.

"Do you want to die?" he asked, knowing time was running out.

"No! I have to live for my family. I can't let our line die out."

"That's going to make this trickier," Dagur thought unhappily.

The resident was in a fetal position and the Berserker approached. When he tensed, Dagur frowned at him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, but listen up. This isn't a prison. Well, it's not that different, but it's filled with Vikings that everyone thinks are too weird for the rest of–"

"It's a pri–"

"Don't interrupt me," the redhead warned.

This got the resident to stop, eyes wide. The Berserker sighed and brought a hand to the bridge of his nose.

"What happened messed with your head. That's understandable, but you're going to let it ruin the rest of your life if you keep doing this. These aren't raiders here. No one's talking, but you could be in danger if you keep attacking the people who come in. They sent me to either get you to stop killing them or to kill you myself. If I can't do either, they'll find someone else to do it."

"You're supposed to kill me?"

"If I can't get you to stop killing."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because my mind's weird too, but it's always been. Seems like maybe yours hasn't. I couldn't imagine waking up one day like this. If you can go back to how you were, you should try. That's probably what your family would want so that you can keep their memory alive. They wouldn't want you rotting away somewhere like this."

After several seconds, the man spoke. "I miss them," he said miserably. "Even if it's not really them talking, it's nice to think it is. I'll never get to hear their voices again."

"You can see them in Valhalla, then you can tell them of all the fun things you did in your life after leaving this place."

"Will I ever leave?"

"I don't know, but I know you won't if you don't get better."

Another tear rolled down the resident's face and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. "No one's wanted me to be okay since they died."

"If you get out, maybe you'll find a lot more people who want that."

This caused the man to have a hopeful smile. Dagur wished he could have felt as hopeful. He knocked on the door.

"All right," he called. "I think we're good." Looking back at him, he lifted a finger, stern. "When they bring people in here to give you food or whatever, don't kill them."

"I don't like ice baths, though."

"They really give you those?"

"Sometimes."

Dagur frowned. "I wouldn't either. Just think about leaving. It'll give you strength. Think, 'I'm getting out no matter what they do.'"

Before the other Viking could respond, the door was opened and one of the workers hesitantly approached with some water. He shielded his face after setting the drink down by the bed. Momentarily, he lowered his arms, seeing that there was no attack. He turned to Dagur, shocked.

"He didn't attack. Good job."

The boy had a proud smile and began leaving, seeing Outcasts and scowling. They were staring at a Viking who seemed like she was in a trance. She kept swaying side to side with an odd grin on her face.

"The workers are just hiding people away," Dagur thought. "It doesn't look like anybody's getting better."

He found the buyer who turned to him after hitting another resident on the head. "You're done?"

"Yeah, he didn't attack the water Viking."

"Good. Hopefully, he won't attack anyone else either."

Dagur started frowning again. "Do you really give them ice baths?"

"It calms people down."

"Do you use those often?"

"Whenever they're needed."

"Doesn't look like what you're doing is working."

The buyer began scowling at him. "I didn't bring you here to criticize me. You're as crazy as the rest of these fools. I could lock you in one of the rooms too."

Dagur scowled back, doing so with more ferocity than the other Viking and causing him to regret starting this aggression. His hesitance amused the Berserker.

"It's easy to hurt people when they can't really fight back, huh? This could be a nice place you've got. Too bad it's run by you."

The prisoner left, being bored with the noises and sickened by the stench. Glancing around, he did not see the Outcasts anymore.

"I don't have enough luck for this to be a time to escape," he thought. "Alvin would've sent a ship out to meet us at the Southern Markets. They'll know something happened if no one shows up for a while."

Dagur crossed his arms and waited for the Vikings to show themselves. Deciding after a few seconds that this was taking too long, he went to find them. When he did, his eyes widened. The Viking who looked hypnotized was with the Outcasts. Peder had her pushed against a wall with a hand on her throat. From what Dagur could see, this was the only thing that had happened so far.

"The job's done," he stated, hoping it would attract their attention.

It did not, so he repeated himself. The Outcasts just shooed him away.

"Go wait with the others on the ship 'til we're done here."

Dagur felt his body grow warm with anger. "I'm not leaving."

"That was an order."

"That I'm not following."

He was ignored again. When another Outcast approached his comrade, he suddenly moved back as Peder cried out. Looking down, he saw how his wrist had been broken. This enraged him and the others who glared at Dagur. Some of his confidence faded, but it felt so nice to break that wrist.

"You'll pay for that."

The boy already knew he would, but there was no way he was going to be as useless as everyone else. If he saw something like that happening, he was going to intervene. He was not like the Outcasts who took advantage of these situations or the Berkians who turned a blind eye. Still, he knew that he was definitely going to find himself wondering if he would repeat his actions given the choice.

"I'm getting out no matter what they do," he thought, chuckling a little.

Like always, the laugh disturbed them. He was beginning to like his laugh more just for this reason. Briefly, he thought that he saw clarity in the woman's eyes. If he did, then he also saw a look of gratitude. Whether or not he did, he decided he would be a little like the one resident and believe what was nice. It made it less stressful when the chains were attached and he was pulled back to the ship. Not too long after they arrived, Hiccup did as well, but he was stopped at the entrance.

"Why are you here?" one asked. "We thought you had your last visit."

"I did too, but things changed."

The Vikings did not budge from where they were standing. Hiccup began frowning at them.

"Can you move?"

"I don't think Alvin wants you here anymore."

"Probably not, but I'm still here."

This annoyed the Outcasts who bristled, but they calmed upon seeing a snarl from Toothless. Begrudgingly, they stepped to the side, letting the two pass.

"I'd wait a moment if I were you," an Outcast suggested.

Hiccup did not have to ask why, seeing the smirk on the man's lips. Eyebrows still furrowed, he entered the prison with the Night Fury. He heard some laughs and when he got to the last cell, three Outcasts were exiting. One, Peder, was still there. Toothless growled at the Vikings as they passed and used the same expression for the one in the cell with the Berserker. He was pulling Dagur's hair from behind with his good hand and glanced up to look at the newcomers.

"What are you doing back?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk with Dagur."

"Haven't you done enough of that?"

"I don't think so." Hiccup paused, then crossed his arms. "Could you leave?"

"I could, but I don't have to. I was going to have some alone time with him. You interrupted."

The Outcast and Berkian glared at each other, then the man relented as his eyes moved to the dragon.

"I'll just come back when you're gone," he said bitterly. "You ruined it." He released the hair, but he gave a smile to the prisoner first. "I know you only interrupted that girl and us earlier because you got jealous."

He exited the cell, glaring at Hiccup and Toothless before returning to his position near the front.

"What do you mean interrupted?" the boy asked him, catching him while he was still within earshot.

The Outcast half turned to him. "We were about to have fun with someone else for once, but then he did this to me," he explained, showing off the splint he had on his left wrist.

He said nothing else as he walked away. Hiccup looked back at the Berserker who had a blank expression on his face. Suddenly, he smiled.

"His wrist broke like a twig," he reported, happy with himself. "I'm getting stronger. Next thing to break is a neck."

"It sounded like you protected someone from them."

This made Dagur's smile fall. "Would you believe me if I said I did?"

The Berserker started getting more frustrated and turned away from the visitor, though it was partially because Hiccup would have seen the guards' time in his cell had he arrived a few minutes sooner. Dagur tried to not think of that and let himself revel in the pain he had caused the one Outcast. He wondered if revenge would taste as sweet after Hiccup was gone and he was left alone with him. At least he would be down one hand.

"I believe you," the Berkian said.

Dagur was quiet, expecting him to change his mind. When that did not happen, he glanced at him.

"About what part?"

"About what's going on here, that you wouldn't put me through this, and…that you didn't kill your dad."

Dagur's eyes widened hopefully. Just as they did, his face clouded over.

"You'll switch on me again. Tomorrow, your dad will say something and you'll be here, telling me how I'm crazy, killy scum."

"I won't, but I need proof."

"What kind of proof?"

Hiccup had a determined look in his eyes. It was the same one Dagur had seen when he would not stand down after getting on Toothless's saddle and revealing Berk's secret. Only, this time, it was not upsetting. It was almost encouraging.

"I need to find Oswald," the boy answered. "So, if I can do that, I might be able to get you out of here."