Astrid returned to the dining hall, avoiding Hiccup because she was certain he would see the frustration on her face. The other Riders spotted her and approached.

"How'd it go?" Snotlout asked curiously.

"It went."

Tuffnut scratched his head. "Okay, that didn't answer the question for you guys either, right?"

Astrid sighed at him. "He didn't try to attack me, but it doesn't change anything."

Fishlegs had a hopeful, though fearful, expression on his face. "Maybe this is a good thing. If he isn't already aggressive, he might not be later on either."

"As if, Fishface," Snotlout said, rolling his eyes. "He probably just was playing nice because Astrid's a girl. It'll take a man like me to make him show his true colors. Then, we can get him on the first dragon back to Outcast Island."

"We'll come too!" Ruff chimed in.

"Yeah," Tuff said, "because even though Ruff's a girl, he'd never know it."

The boy let out a cry as his foot was stomped on by his sister. Tuffnut frowned at her and Snotlout sighed at them. Fishlegs just looked ashen at the thought of going to see the prisoner.

"I'm going to stay here."

"Shocker," Snotlout snarled.

The trio began going to the prisoner. Snotlout led the way, but he tried to keep the nervous expression off his face as he entered. It faded when he saw the redhead.

"What happened to you? You look like you got run over by a herd of yaks," Ruffnut said, tactful as ever.

Dagur eyed the visitors and Snotlout felt Tuffnut push him forward a little, jolting him from his shock. He stared at the older boy, then started to puff up arrogantly.

"Not so dangerous anymore, are you?" he taunted.

The redhead was quiet.

"I can't believe I used to think you were cool. It's unbelievable that you used to be a chief."

Snotlout felt a twinge of guilt as the prisoner stayed silent, just looking at the group. He could see embarrassment in the Berserker's eyes. If the Berkian did not want to prove the other boy to be a threat, he would have stopped talking. But he did still view him as a threat and told Astrid that he would get a reaction out of him, so he had to continue.

"Did Alvin give you that scar or was it one of the other prisoners? Maybe it was a group of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he put you in a cell with a bunch of tough guys for them to beat you up. It looks like that happened."

Dagur felt annoyance bubbling up inside of him, but he pushed it down. He had endured worse insults and what the Berkian had said did not even scratch the surface of describing his time in prison. Hiccup mentioned being less violent. Maybe this was a time to start. He forced himself to take a breath.

"If Fishlegs isn't going to come in here, could you tell him I'm sorry for feeding him cod heads in a cage?"

The trio looked shocked and Tuffnut turned to Snotlout.

"Well, I guess you probably feel pretty bad now."

The Jorgenson glared at him, then looked at the prisoner. "You don't mean it."

"Yeah, I do. I didn't realize that wasn't fun for him."

After hearing this, the twins started to laugh.

"How didn't you?" Tuff asked.

"Yeah, he was only weeping the entire time," Ruff added.

The siblings snickered some more and Snotlout noticed that the Berserker was turning red. At first, he thought that they had succeeded. Soon, Dagur would explode. He would leap onto the bars, hissing and growling curses and threats at them, then they could go report back to Astrid that they had gotten the response she wanted. It would probably make her fall in love with the dark-haired boy, so the day would be the best of his life. As seconds passed and the only sound Snotlout heard was from the twins, he realized he was wrong. The other boy probably was irritated, but there was something besides that. Snotlout recognized the emotion he saw in his eyes. It made him think of when he was losing to Hiccup during Thawfest. Dagur was ashamed of not being able to do something as well as he thought he should.

"Next thing you'll say is that you didn't know Hiccup nearly had the yak dung scared out of him when you almost drowned him," Ruff commented, still chuckling.

After a pause, the twins stopped laughing, looking more surprised than anything.

"You didn't, did you?" Snotlout asked.

Dagur shook his head, frowning. "Was it really that obvious?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tuff said. "I mean, even we knew it."

The Berserker looked away from them and at the ground. Snotlout started to say something, then stopped himself. He felt odd–like he was kicking a foe who was already bleeding and restrained.

"Well…that means you're even more dangerous," he finally said. "If you don't know what you're doing could hurt someone, then there's really no way to protect anyone from you."

"Like when you threatened to cut off my legs," Tuff said.

"Actually, that was intentional," Dagur told him sheepishly. "You were smacking."

Ruffnut turned to her brother. "And you thought me just kicking you in the side for smacking was harsh."

The stocky boy ignored their ensuing quarrel. "This isn't making you look better, Dagur."

"It's not, but at least I'm being upfront. That's something," he said, with a hopeful smile.

"That's true," Tuffnut commented, nodding his head along with Ruffnut.

Snotlout scowled at the duo again. "Why did I even let you come with me?" He let out a heavy sigh. "We can't trust you."

"Us?" Ruff asked, shocked. "Was it because we made you think you were dying?"

"I'm talking to him!"

"Oh," the twins dragged.

Snotlout facepalmed before fully turning his attention to the prisoner. "Dagur, we can't trust you. It doesn't take a genius to know that something bad was going on at the Outcast prison. Hiccup got you out, so you're acting nice for now to keep him from sending you back. When you heal–"

"I still won't go after Berk."

"How can we believe that?"

Dagur hesitated. "I don't know. I'll just have to prove it, I guess."

Snotlout scoffed. "Good luck with that." He turned to leave the prison but stopped before he could. "There's one more thing. Do you know my name? As in my actual name without it ending in 'hat?'"

The redhead started to smirk. "Yeah, I do, Snot…lout."

The Berkian grinned proudly. "I knew it!"

Snotlout left with the others, returning to the dining hall. He had barely entered the building when he was confronted by Astrid. She had an expectant look on her face.

"Well?" she pressed.

"Did he attack you?" Fishlegs asked.

The twins shook their heads.

"Nope. He said sorry for locking you in a cage and feeding you the cod," Tuff said.

Fishlegs's eyes widened. "Really?"

"He didn't mean it," Astrid told him, frowning at the fact that he could miss something so obvious. She noticed the quiet coming from the trio and sighed. "Don't tell me that you believe him too."

"Okay," Ruff said. "We won't tell you."

Astrid let out a groan. "What was the point of you three going if you were just going to side with him?"

"We're not siding with him!" Snotlout said defensively. "It just seems like something's wrong with him."

"You just realized that now?"

Tuffnut shook his head with a thoughtful expression. "Ruffnut and I have come to the conclusion that Dagur has an issue with his brain."

"One that has been with him since birth no doubt," Ruffnut added.

"And it has led to him viewing the world differently than we do. He didn't become our enemy until his supposed friend betrayed him."

"But after Oswald left, he embraced the insanity to gain respect, hence the new title 'Deranged' that he probably would have found insulting before."

The Riders looked at the twins, dumbfounded.

"How did you get all that from our talk?" Snotlout asked.

"Uh, maybe because we were listening," Ruff told him.

"Yeah, what were you doing the whole time?"

Snotlout squinted at them and Hiccup crossed his arms, having come over as well.

"I'm glad you went to see him. Hopefully now, you'll see that I didn't bring him here to be a danger to any of us. I really think he wants to be better." The heir turned to the Night Fury who grabbed a chair in his mouth. "So, if there aren't going to be any new visitors, Toothless and I are headed that way."

The boy's friends could think of no good excuse to use which might have dissuaded him. Hiccup kept walking with Toothless until they reached the prison. They received a smile once they were seen.

"I've been popular today," Dagur said, laughing. "Think Fishy will ever visit too?"

The Berkian shrugged. "I'm not sure. He gets nervous really easily. Maybe? I wouldn't count on it, but he might after a while."

Toothless set down the chair and Hiccup used it to sit down. The Night Fury laid down next to him and the Viking began to speak.

"I heard that you didn't lash out against Snotlout and the twins. That's good progress. They can be…"

"More irritating than yak fur skivvies?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, I'd say that sums them up pretty well. They're not so bad when you get to know them, but it's that getting to know them process that can be rough."

"Fair enough." Dagur's eyes lit up. "What do you want to hear about today?"

"You mentioned the Defenders of the Wing. Do you know about any other groups of Vikings?"

"Sure do, but the information starts getting a little vague. Not too many of our traders had been that far out of the Archipelago. Some had scrolls that spoke about winged women, though."

"Winged women? Were they talking about Valkyries?"

"No, just women with wings."

Hiccup put a hand to his chin. "How would that be possible?"

"Maybe they're Lycanwings."

"They can't be. Those don't exist."

"Are you sure?" Dagur asked, eyebrow raising. "They might. Maybe you just haven't seen one. You probably didn't think Night Furies existed until you saw Toothless."

"I didn't, but I knew that they'd existed before. No one's ever seen a Lycanwing."

"And long ago, no one had ever seen a bunch of dragons."

Hiccup sighed. "I'm not going to be able to convince you they're mythical."

"Not any time this decade at least." The redhead grinned. "I used to want to be a Lycanwing or at least a wolf."

"Why?"

"It seemed fun. You'd get to fly around or just be really feared by a lot of Vikings."

The Berkian recalled something and his expression turned inquisitive. "Is that why you wanted me to howl at the moon with you?"

"Actually, no relation. I just think that's fun." A mischievous smile covered his face. "Consider me excited for the day you come back and tell me that you did find a Lycanwing."

"If I ever do, you'll be the first I tell."

This put a happy smile on the boy's face, then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, do you still use that ornate shield of yours?"

"Sometimes, but I don't not too often."

"What about to practice accuracy?"

"Not really. I probably should do it more, but I guess I've started to get used to Toothless hitting whatever target I need blasted. He's got great aim."

The reptile proudly wiggled his ear flaps at the compliment.

"Yeah, I've noticed that, but what if you get separated?"

"That's when I'd use the crossbow."

"You'd be all rusty."

Hiccup paused for a moment. "I guess, you're right."

"That's fun to hear," Dagur said, grinning. "I could give you accuracy tips."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I've always had pretty amazing aim. Besides, I still want to keep my end of the deal and be useful."

"I thought you'd tell me about what you've read."

"I can do that too, but I probably need to add a few things to make it more even. Before, you got information for company. For getting me here…" Dagur stopped to frown. "I don't really know how to make the payment fair. You're not trapped anywhere, so I can't get you out of there. Maybe one day, you'll be someone's prisoner and then I can help."

He smiled brightly at the idea. Hiccup was not sure he was as fond of the thought.

"Um, thanks. If I could avoid being a prisoner, I'd prefer that, though."

Dagur's face turned to a pout. "Then, I don't know what else to do."

"I think what we've mentioned is fine and I won't complain about some accuracy training either."

"Cool then! I can tell you about stuff while you work on throwing things. Have any knives?"

"I've got one."

"You'll need more than that."

"I think my dad has a few in his room."

Hiccup received an excited nod of encouragement. Leaving Toothless with the Berserker, the boy started to look for the chief. He knew how his father was with his weapons. If he took one without asking, a new peg leg would probably be needed for one of the other Berkians until Stoick found out where it had gone. Hiccup spotted the chief finishing up a conversation with the no longer silent Sven. Going over to him, he smiled.

"Could I borrow some of your knives?"

The older Berkian blinked at the boy, then glanced around him.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked, growing more confused.

"I'm looking for the Viking who's talking because you've never asked to use any of my knives before."

"Well, I just have the one and I'll need more for whatever he's planning."

Stoick's eyebrow lifted. "'He's planning?' This is Dagur's idea?"

"He said he'd help me with accuracy in case Toothless ever wasn't around."

The chief stroked his beard. "If I knew that was the only thing I had to say to convince you, I would have pushed more after you got back from Dragon Island."

"Does that mean that you're fine with it? Don't want you killing someone for stealing a knife they didn't actually take."

"You're fine, Hiccup. Go ahead and use however many you need."

As the younger Berkian went to get the blades, his father smiled. This expression faded when Hiccup came back and something caught both of their attentions.

"Dad," he said, audibly concerned.

"I'll take care of it," Stoick said, heading to the docks.

Hiccup watched for a moment before returning to the prison, nerves building in his stomach. An Outcast ship had pulled into the harbor. When Stoick got to the docks, Alvin stepped onto them as well. He reached out to shake his ally's hand, but the Berkian did not extend his hand in return. Alvin regarded him with mild surprise.

"I see that we're foregoing the formalities this time," he commented.

"Why are you here, Alvin?"

"You know why I'm here. You have my prisoner. I want him back."

"You sent him to his death. You practically got rid of him yourself."

"That's a technicality. How was I supposed to know Vandals ate Vikings?"

"You should look into people more before you start selling your prisoners to them. Your prison might be empty soon at this rate."

Alvin began to glare at the other man. "Just hand him over."

"For you to throw him back to your guards?" the Berkian questioned. "Oswald told me what you did."

The Outcast scoffed. "He knew and left. Why do you care what happens to his son?"

"I really don't, but I know that my son is starting to care, so it would hurt him too."

"Hiccup would forget about him as soon as he's out of his life."

"He wouldn't. He's made it a mission of his to rehabilitate that Berserker."

"That's not my fault. I want him back."

"I'm not giving him to you."

Alvin snarled at the Viking. "Do you really think he's changed? Dagur's traitorous. He'll get your son's loyalty, then use it to kill all of you, starting with Hiccup."

"I won't let that happen. If he tries anything, I'll kill him personally."

"That's fine to say until it's happening." The Outcast smirked. "I have clear memories of Dagur holding a blade to your throat. Don't you?"

"I do," Stoick said, voice practically a growl.

"Then, why are you forgiving him?"

"I'm not, but…Alvin, what you did was too much. You have to know that."

"I know that what I did wasn't enough if he still had enough spirit to leave with Hiccup. Even if he was given the option of freedom, he should have begged to be brought back to my prison."

"What did you expect? You put a Viking through all that, he's not going to just come running back to you."

Alvin glared off towards where he knew the prison on the island was located. "He's in there, isn't he?"

"I'm certainly not giving him a hut."

"You just give him mercy." Briefly, concern flashed in the man's eyes. "He already tried to kill me, Stoick. Now that I've let the guards and prisoners attack him–now that I've done all that I have, he's going to plot the worst ways to make me pay."

"I'm not letting him leave that prison. Assuming you don't go in there, I doubt he'd ever be able to do anything to you."

"I need him back on my island so that I can keep an eye on him."

Stoick shook his head. "I told Hiccup that if he found a way to get Dagur away from you, I wouldn't fight against him. He did, so I won't."

Furiously, Alvin turned to board his ship again. "He'll never change. The only thing you do with a Viking like Dagur is break him. It's safer for everyone that way. Might seem like barbarianism to you, but it's what he deserves. Sooner or later, you'll see that too."