At the Northern Markets, Alvin impatiently waited for his prisoner. The Vandals were late. They should have been there with the Berserker and the guard, but the ocean was clear. No ships could be seen on the horizon. Annoyed, the Outcast decided he would go retrieve the prisoner himself. He sailed the distance before arriving at the island. When the man did, his eyes widened. Jumping off the ship, Alvin could see the state of disarray the island was in. Vikings looked angry and frightened still by whatever had occurred before the Outcast arrived.

"What happened here?" he questioned, grabbing one by the back of the neck.

"Let him go, Alvin," Gunnel ordered, approaching the pair.

The larger Viking eyed her bitterly. "Not until someone answers my question. Where's my prisoner?"

Gunnel crossed her arms. "You left out some important details when we made our deal. You never said he had a friend with a Night Fury at his command."

Alvin's eyes widened, then he glared. "He isn't supposed to."

"Well, he does and the three of them flew out of here."

"Where's my guard then?"

"With some Vandals to keep him busy so that he wouldn't interrupt us before we could finish."

"Finish what?"

"Dessert."

Alvin lifted an eyebrow at her before realizing her meaning. "Then, you also left out some important details. I never said you could eat him. There's more use I can get out of that boy."

Gunnel shrugged. "You technically never said we couldn't."

"Just get my Outcast and bring him to me."

"Fine, but good luck with that plan of yours ro get more use out of Blaze. I doubt you'll be seeing him again."

Alvin's gaze became sinister. "I wouldn't be so certain."

While the Outcast was on the island, Hiccup was gathering some items and bringing them back to the prison on Berk. He decided that he could do that while his father was busy speaking with their new guest. Stoick was already gone by the time the younger Berkian returned. Hiccup and Toothless entered, then the rider went over to the bars with something in his hands. Instinctively, Dagur did not reach past the bars. Hiccup was confused for a moment before remembering.

"Don't mind Dad. He's not going to kill you if you reach out as long as it's not to do anything violent."

Dagur looked doubtful. "Are you sure about that?"

"Pretty sure. He's also not here and I don't think either of us is going to tell him."

Toothless gave a happy grin to assure that he would not disclose any such information. Dagur chuckled at the dragon's expression and reached out to grab the offered items. One was a small bowl. The redhead smelled it and made a face.

"What's this? It stinks."

"It's helpful too. Gothi has a bunch of it. She puts it on the twins–Tuffnut mostly–whenever there are some bad cuts." The boy paused. "Yours are a lot worse than what they've had, but it'll still do a good job with getting them to heal. You're actually a lot less bloody now than the last time I saw you, which is good."

"I can thank the Vandals for that. They like their meals to be squeaky clean," Dagur said, starting to put some ointment on his gashes.

"I brought some bandages too," Hiccup said, handing them over as well.

"Thanks." As the Berserker wrapped one around his injured arm, he tilted his head. "Okay, what now? We start plans to kill the Vandals?"

"No, I was hoping we'd work on getting you to be less…"

"Deranged?"

"Less violent actually. I could probably deal with you being deranged."

"Oh." A surprised smile crossed the other boy's face. "That's fun." It faded as he thought of what else Hiccup had said. "Less fun about not being violent. I've always been violent. That's who I am."

"And believe me, I don't doubt that for a second. I'm just saying that maybe you being so violent has been a little more harmful than helpful. It is kind of how you got in this situation in the first place."

Dagur frowned at the ground. "You might have a point. So, I figure out how to be all peaceful?"

"That would be the plan."

"I don't know how to do that."

"I can help. I think I've been doing a pretty good job with making Berk a more peaceful place. You saw it before. It used to be a constant battlefield."

"Yeah," Dagur said, grinning in remembrance. "It was pretty cool."

"No, it was pretty terrible."

"Right. Terrible…in a sort of cool way."

Hiccup put a hand over his face. "Oh, gods. This is going to take some time, isn't it?"

"Maybe." Dagur paused. "I still want to kill the Vandals but mainly Alvin and the rest of his Outcasts I didn't kill."

"You can't do that."

"Not at this moment, but there'll come a day when I can."

The Berkian could see how much the other boy meant what he said. He could also understand why murder was on the Berserker's mind, but he still wanted to find a way to change that.

"There has to be another option," Hiccup mentioned.

"The way that I see it, there are two. Torture or death," he said, listing them off with his fingers. "Torture seems more fitting after what they've done."

"You don't have to be like them."

"I wouldn't," Dagur stated, frowning. "I'd find other ways to make them suffer. I've spent most of my time in the cell doing just that."

The Berkian sighed. "Why is your first instinct always violence?"

"Why is yours always avoidance?"

"It's not avoidance."

"Sure, it is. You didn't want to see what would happen if you told us about the dragons, so you just figured you'd avoid potential conflict by not saying anything. Did the same thing on Dragon Island. You're doing the same thing now with Alvin and the Vandals. Instead of handling the problem, you're just avoiding it."

"I don't think the next best thing is to kill them all."

"Maybe it's not, but we can't avoid them. I'm not the only one. Vandals eat people. Since they couldn't get me, they'll just send someone else out to capture another Viking. Who wants that? You're a hero after all. Isn't it in the job description to help people out? Kinda messed up to just leave them to be eaten."

"I'm not leaving them to be eaten."

"You're letting their eaters be free to eat them, so yeah, you kind of are. You're just doing it the slow way."

"I'm not letting you kill them."

"Then, you could capture them."

"Berk's not big enough for that."

"Berserker Island is."

Hiccup paused, becoming thoughtful. "I guess, it is."

"It absolutely is! No more people getting bitten down on. I can tell you that it's somehow less pleasant than it sounds."

"I could talk with Oswald about that."

Dagur's excited expression changed. "Doesn't seem like he's in a listening mood." He got a questioning expression on his face. "What about the Outcasts? Are we going to do anything about them?"

"They're still allies to Berk for now. Unless Oswald starts a war with them, I don't think anything will happen."

Dagur began frowning at the floor and Hiccup got quiet. He could tell that Oswald was still a sore subject and was not oblivious to the reason why. His gaze moved to his reptilian friend, causing a smile to appear.

"Hey, if you wanted, you could pet Toothless this time. No one would stop you."

Dagur glanced down at the Night Fury. Looking back at Hiccup, he grinned and nodded excitedly. Happily, Toothless stepped closer to the bars and the Berserker patted his head. The dragon let out a happy warble as he was scratched under his chin.

"I think you're going to have a new fan soon," Hiccup commented, smiling.

"Dragon fans are cooler than I expected."

After a bit more petting, Hiccup gestured for Toothless to come over to him.

"We're going to see if we can convince Oswald," the Berkian said.

"Good luck."

The dragon trainer and Night Fury left the prison to return to Berserker Island. Remembering the necessary steps, they landed on the top of the island. Hiccup got off Toothless's back and began looking for the chief. He ran into Captain Vorg first. The man looked confused initially, then had a look of understanding.

"Here for the chief?"

"Yeah, do you know where he is?"

"I do. He's this way."

Vorg began to lead the Berkian down the hill. They kept walking until reaching a large building. A line of Berserkers was wrapping around the outside. Moving around them to enter, the duo saw Oswald sitting at the other end of the room. He had been answering questions all day and had a splitting headache as a result. When the man saw the newcomers, he was not sure if he was happy to have the distraction or annoyed to have yet another question be asked of him.

"He came to speak with you, Chief," Vorg informed the man.

Oswald regarded Hiccup curiously. "What is it this time?"

"It's about a group of Vikings called the Vandals," Hiccup said. "Have you heard of them?"

"Vandals?" Oswald paused, tapping his chin. "Yes, I believe they have peculiar dieting habits."

"That's putting it lightly," Hiccup mumbled. "Since their way of eating causes innocent people to get hurt, I was hoping that your Berserkers could stop them. I'd be willing to offer dragon aid too. They don't seem prepared for those types of battles."

The chief regarded him with a confused look. "You've lost me. Why would my Berserkers take part in a battle against a random tribe?"

"They're picking people out to eat," the boy said bluntly. "I thought that would go against your peaceful nature."

"So does starting a war with Vikings I've never even met. How have you met them? They don't live in the Archipelago." Oswald's gaze was scrutinizing, but realization soon dawned on him. "You came here to ask for Dagur's sake."

"They were going to eat him."

"I'm surprised Alvin agreed to that."

"I don't think he knew."

"Then, he's back on Outcast Island now?" When a pause came, Oswald put a hand to his face. "Why would you bring him to Berk, Hiccup? He's dangerous. The war should have made you see that."

"It did. I'll never say he isn't dangerous. I just think there's hope for him. Everyone I care about is dangerous. It doesn't have to mean being evil too."

The man leaned back in his seat. "I am not starting a war. As long as the Vandals harm no Berserkers…" he paused, seeing Hiccup about to speak, "that I claim, they are free to do as they wish. My heart goes out to those who are captured, but my ships do not go out to their side."

Hiccup frowned at the chief. "You know, Dagur was right from the beginning. He knew you wouldn't be willing to help. You won't help with anything apparently."

"It's how my home has stayed safe for so long. We keep to ourselves."

The Berkian started to leave, then stopped. "It's always been the same. As many soldiers as you have here, Berk could have used your help during the dragon raids when they were at their worst. We lost hundreds of lives while you probably sat right there in that chair, thinking about how peaceful everything was. You weren't our enemy, but you never really acted as an ally either."

Angrily, the dragon rider went back to the top of the island and got on Toothless's saddle. The two of them flew off to Berk. Toothless could tell that his friend was irritated and glanced back at him.

"I'm okay, Bud. Just annoyed with Oswald. He really is a coward after all. He has the ability to save lives, but he won't risk anything for anyone. I don't know how we'll stop the Vandals without him. The Berserkers have the biggest armada I know." He let out a sigh. "And that's not even to mention the fact that I really don't feel comfortable just letting Alvin and his guards get away with everything they did either. I guess for now, we just have to take the wins where we can get them, huh?"

Toothless made a little noise which Hiccup took as his agreement. When they reached Berk, the duo went to the Great Hall. Most of the Berkians were there eating. The heir made two plates of food and was about to leave when a blonde Viking blocked his path.

"Come on, Astrid," he said. "I didn't bring Dagur all this way to just starve him."

"I didn't say you had to," the blonde remarked. "I'm just saying that I'll bring the food."

Hiccup lifted an eyebrow at her. "I also didn't bring him all this way for you to kill him."

"I'm not going to. Probably."

The boy shot her a look and she sighed. Astrid gestured to the Vikings at the tables.

"You brought him to our home, Hiccup. If he's going to be here, I want to see him for myself and make sure he's not going to be a threat. I'm going soon anyway, so if anything, the food will make it seem less aggressive."

Hesitantly, Hiccup relented and handed over the plate. Astrid accepted it and left the building with Stormfly in tow. The pair kept going until they reached the prison. Walking in, Astrid wore the expression of a warrior ready to attack. Dagur saw this and tilted his head at her. Seeing the food, he pointed to the plate.

"Did you poison it?"

"I might have."

Dagur squinted at her, then shook his head. "Nah, Hiccup would be upset with you if you did. Can't have trouble in paradise."

Blushing, the blonde slid the plate into the cell. "You haven't fooled all of us."

"I wasn't trying to fool any of you."

"I don't believe you."

"It's not necessary that you do."

Astrid could feel herself getting angrier. "Just admit it. You're planning on breaking out of here to kill us in our sleep."

Dagur yawned. "That's a boring way to kill somebody. I'm not trying to kill you guys anyway."

"Since when don't you want to?"

"Since Hiccup started offering me some very appreciated assistance."

The rider paused, glaring harder at the redhead. She inspected every part of his expression to detect the lie he must have been telling her.

"You're lying."

"You don't have to convince yourself."

"I'm not. I'm stating the facts."

Dagur laughed. "Okay, now you're lying."

The blonde was fuming. This was getting her nowhere. Before long, Hiccup would probably just enter and tell her that she was being paranoid, then lower his guard even more. Out of options, Astrid went to the cell door and undid the lock. Dagur's eyes widened for a moment. As soon as she did this, Astrid held up her ax and got in a fighting stance. The door swung open and the prisoner's eyes followed before landing back on the Berkian. For a few moments, he looked at Astrid. Then, he stepped forward. The girl's grip on the ax's handle tightened as she saw Dagur reach out. Her eyebrows lifted when he reached for the cell door and closed it again.

"Mind locking that before you leave?" he asked, heading off to a corner of the cell to sit down and eat. "No need to give Hiccup any unnecessary heart trouble when he comes back here."

Astrid just blinked at him. "It's unlocked."

"I know. That's why I asked you to lock it."

"It being unlocked means you're free to go."

Dagur cackled at the comment. "Go where, blondie? This cell might look pretty bad to you, but it's the best accommodations I've had in a long time and I'm not messing up that for you to prove a point."

The redhead's laugh faded as he saw how angry the Berkian was with the whole situation. Taking a breath, he started speaking in a calmer tone.

"I get why you're worried, Astrid. You should be. I know I would, but Hiccup's earned my loyalty. I doubt he thinks of me as a friend, but he's mine. I'm not throwing that away. I don't want to hurt him and I know how much all of you mean to him, so none of you are in danger because of me either. You can keep doing these tests, but they'll be a waste of time."

Dumbfounded, the Berkian locked the door again and left the prison with the Deadly Nadder. Dagur had to be lying. That was the only option that made sense. The only problem was the fact that if he was, Astrid's skills at reading people were severely dropping.