Time moved like glaciers, if not, slower. At long last, it was the week of the peace treaty. Hiccup had been working on various inventions in preparation of Dagur's return. Even Gobber needed a break, but he would stay in the forge longer for the boy's sake. Hiccup was not big enough to do everything on his own, but he did what he could. Any time that he had to wait for Gobber, he decided to work on sketches for new ideas. Still, it felt like he was not ready yet and had so many plans for improvements that he had not had time to make.

"This looks weird, doesn't it?" he asked Gobber, showing him a knife.

The older Berkian scratched his chin with his hook. "I think it looks fine."

"It's all uneven. I should redo it."

"Hiccup, the Berserkers are going to be here in a matter of minutes. You won't have time and I'm sure that Dagur will love whatever you show him."

The heir was not too sure about that. Yes, Dagur had said they were brothers, but that was a year ago. A lot can happen in a week, let alone that much time. Maybe he got a new friend or brother. If so, why would he still want to be his buddy? That was why Hiccup needed to have the best weapons ready. He would prove that he was worthy of such a title. It took Gobber pushing him out of the forge by the shoulders to get him to relinquish the weapon.

"Just one more hit with the hammer, Gobber!"

"No, let's go. You'll spend the whole visit in here otherwise."

Reluctantly agreeing, Hiccup stopped fighting against him and went out to the docks. Oswald was already shaking hands with Stoick. He smiled at the boy and Gobber when they approached. Dagur was at his side. When the two heirs saw each other, the redhead hurried over and hugged him again. It hurt as much as last time and Hiccup patted his back.

"Air," he requested.

"My bad!" Dagur said, putting the other Viking back on the ground.

He had a sheepish look on his face. There was something behind his eyes that Hiccup noticed which was not there the last time, but he was not sure what.

"How's it been?" the Berserker asked. "Work on anything new?"

Hiccup's expression turned hesitant. "Yeah, but I'm not sure what you'll think of it."

"I'll let you know! I've been looking forward to it since last year."

This gave the Berkian some confidence and he led the way to the forge again. Dagur followed Hiccup inside and looked intrigued as he saw all the new weapons.

"Okay, so everything on this wall is what I was working on," Hiccup said. "They're not great."

"Says who?" Dagur asked. His expression became harsh. "Seriously. Who said that because I'll show them how much use I can get out of these."

The younger boy shook his head quickly. "No one's seen them besides me and Gobber, so it's just me who isn't a fan of them and I'd rather you not test them out on me."

"Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't do that. There are other people I'd do that with," Dagur added, somewhat under his breath. His eyes lit up as he lifted a shiny blade. "You even made a knife after all!"

"Yeah, you said you wanted me to try it out. I still think it could be better…"

"I think it's great," Dagur told him happily. "Where do you want to see these get tested out? The forest?"

Hiccup looked uncertain. "The forest normally has a lot of dragons. There are a bunch of places where they can hide."

"Perfect! Then, let's go there so that I can see how these bad boys work."

Fear gripped the Berkian as he heard this. It existed for two reasons. If he went to the forest, then he could get killed, mauled, or both in either order. If he did not, he would need an excuse which Dagur might see through.

"You really want to go out there?" Hiccup inquired, as casually as he could.

As he had feared, Dagur noticed the odd tone of voice. "You don't?"

The boy sighed and his shoulders slouched. "Not really. When there are dragon attacks, it makes me think about what Dad said happened to my mom."

Suddenly, the redhead looked sad. "Sorry. I didn't know she was killed by a dragon."

"Yeah," Hiccup said quietly, feeling down. "I wish I was older when it happened. I don't remember her very well. Dad just said a dragon broke into the hut and flew off with her. Sometimes, I get a few flashes in my mind of her face, but that's it. I don't even know what her voice sounded like. The other kids have both parents, so it can be rough seeing them all together."

"I get that. It's like everyone's happy but you. It's not fair."

The Berkian looked up at him with a curious expression. "I've only ever seen your dad come here. Did something happen to your mom too?"

Dagur nodded unhappily. "She got really sick. It spread through the tribe some years ago and she never recovered."

"I'm sorry. Do you remember her?"

"Yeah. She was nice. She always told these great stories. I bet that's how she made Dad fall in love with her so much. She'd have you thinking that you were on an adventure just with her words."

Hiccup began to smile a little. "That sounds fun. I'm not sure when my parents decided to get married."

"You should ask."

The younger Viking seemed unsure about this idea. "I don't know. Dad doesn't really like talking about stuff like that. He just likes for me to work on killing dragons."

"That's it? You should show him your weapons."

"He wouldn't be impressed. This type of work is fine as long as the Berkian doing it still knows how to fight. Since I don't, he wouldn't be proud or anything."

Dagur's face scrunched up. "I bet that if he saw what could be done with these, he'd like them. Plus," he added, grinning brightly, "remember that we're a team now. You make the weapons and I fight. If you don't want to go to the forest, we can go somewhere else, but I'll still be able to prove how dangerous these can be. He'll love them as much as I do."

Hiccup grinned before nodding. "Let's go near the arena."

"Are you sure?" the redhead asked, eyebrows lifted.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be too dangerous and we could probably ask Gobber to let us use one of the wooden targets."

"Works for me! I'll make wood chips out of it!"

The Berserker began running off and Hiccup had to catch up with him.

"Hold up! I still have to ask Gobber. If you wait by the arena, I'll come back."

Dagur hesitated for a moment. "Okay, I'll wait."

Hiccup hurried off to find the blond and saw him with the two chiefs. They were talking and when Oswald saw that the Berkian was alone, a look of mild concern crossed his face.

"Where's Dagur?" he asked, voice tense.

"He's waiting by the arena. I wanted to ask Gobber if we could use some of the targets to test out weapons."

Stoick's eyes lit up at the sound of that. Finally, his son was taking an interest in fighting. He was almost unsure if he had heard him correctly.

"Weapon testing?" Gobber asked, a bit worried. "Okay, but I'll supervise."

The redheaded chief put a hand on his shoulder. "Nonsense, Gobber. Let the boys test out the weapons. We did the same as lads."

"Yeah but…" Gobber trailed off, seeing a slight frown forming on his friend's face. "I guess it's fine. Just be safe, Hiccup."

"Will do!"

The boy went back to his friend, missing the sigh from the blacksmith.

"They should be watched."

"I agree," Oswald said, even though he was glad that no one would be around to see Dagur inevitably act strangely.

Stoick crossed his arms. "We can't coddle him. We do it enough as it is. Sometimes, it takes seeing that there's no option but to succeed."

The other Vikings just glanced at one another, hoping he was right. While Dagur waited, he felt anxious. This was a bad idea. He did not want to be on his own. He should have gone with Hiccup. Every sound seemed like those foreshadowing an attack and they were not even those from the arena. When Dagur heard a twig break under someone's foot, he tensed, but he saw that it was only caused by two blond twins. It looked like they were going to the docks with their parents.

"I'm getting worried over nothing," the heir thought, annoyed. "Snap out of it, Dagur."

Slapping himself, the Berserker tried to calm down his mind. It worked for a while until he felt someone touch his shoulder. Dagur's hand clenched into a fist and he spun around with a snarl. As soon as he did, he stopped. Hiccup stumbled backwards, heart feeling like it was no longer beating. Dagur blinked, then looked between the other Viking and his fist. Speedily, he lowered his hand.

"I…I'm just getting ready to test out the weapons. You surprised me. You shouldn't do that."

"I'll make sure to remember that in the future," Hiccup mumbled, scrambling to his feet again.

Gradually, the Berkian could feel that his breathing was getting calmer. As it did, he looked at the older boy more closely.

"Why are you pale?"

"I'm just a pale person," Dagur answered, cringing after he heard how snappy he sounded. "Let's just talk about something else. Did Gobber say we could go in?"

The brunet looked like he did not want to change the subject so quickly, but he did.

"Yeah, he said we could go. We just have to be careful."

Dagur grinned and went into the arena, looking around in a state of fascination. He glanced back at Hiccup who was trailing behind. The boy was staring at the pins. A Hideous Zipplesback kept causing explosions, seeming like it would have escaped and killed both boys the first chance it got. Going over to him, the Berserker put an arm around his shoulders.

"I won't let them eat you. I swear."

Hiccup nodded his head and took a breath as they stepped forward. The duo kept going until they got to the targets. Then, Dagur tossed the knife in the air so that he could get an idea of its weight and how much force he would need. Deciding that he was ready, the heir threw the weapon, hitting the center of the target. He cheered and jumped.

"Told you these weapons were great! I'm going to see how the ax works."

He slashed with the new weapon, grinning happily when it cut clean through the wood.

"Beautiful. Imagine that's a Viking. I know I am."

Dagur laughed and Hiccup jumped as he heard another explosion coming from the dragon pins. To distract himself, he forced himself to look away and think of something else.

"So, about the almost punch…"

"That we agreed we were done talking about."

"No, you did. I never agreed to it."

"I decided for you."

"You can't do that," Hiccup protested.

"Sure can. It's a big brother benefit. It's not my fault you're a little brother."

"Then, what do little brothers do?"

"They let their big brothers help them and stay safe."

"Is that it?"

"Well, no, that'd be boring. They play too."

"Do they ever help the big brothers?"

Dagur made a face at him. "They can't do that. It's breaking the rules."

"What rules?"

"Brother rules."

"I don't think those exist."

"You're an only child, so you don't get it. They exist."

"Then, I don't like them."

"They make life easier. What would you do anyway?"

The Berkian looked hurt at that, then frowned. "Are you saying that because I'm so small?"

"Because you're an ocean away."

"Oh. Can you tell me about what goes on then? You said that you had someone like Snotlout in your life. Is it getting any better? It looks like your lip's swollen."

Dagur put a hand up to his mouth, covering it while he took a sword to stab the target. "New subject, Brother."

"You helped me with Snotlout last time. Honestly, it's gotten a lot better. He still says some stuff, but he's scared of what you'd do when you got back if I told you he tried to fight me. I can help you too."

"That's not what little brothers are for."

"Who protects the big brothers then?"

"They protect themselves."

"It doesn't seem like you can."

Hiccup internally winced at his words. He meant them, but he could see how much he had just embarrassed the other Viking. Dagur's grip on the weapon loosened and he pressed onto the back of the hilt, pushing it deeper into the wood. He gritted his teeth and kept pushing until it had completely impaled the target.

"I can protect myself just fine." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Check that out. If that were a person, he'd be dead."

"I just want to help."

The Berserker's cocky grin faded. "I know, but I don't need you to help. I'd rather be the one looking out for–"

Dagur stopped talking, eyes widening. There had been more explosions than he thought in the dragon pins. One pin had been blown up by the gas and sparks. Grabbing Hiccup by the arm, the older heir pulled the boy behind him as the Hideous Zippleback came charging. Dagur took the sword out of the wood. When one head got closer to bite, he stabbed it in the eye, blinding some of the beast. This thrilled the boy as he began to laugh.

"Ooh, so are you half blind or quarter blind now? Wonder what would happen if each head just had one good eye."

The other head seemed willing to help him discover the answer and snaked around him. Dagur grinned until he saw that it was getting too close to Hiccup. He stabbed this head too, but it was more determined than its other half. It started to spew gas and the Berserker saw that the other head was going to set the spark soon. With a shove, Dagur sent Hiccup flying backwards just before the gas could be ignited. The subsequent explosion sent the bigger boy into a wall. His head hit it with a loud thud and he saw stars. Dizzily, he started to stand again, but he was not sturdy on his feet and leaned against the wall. Blinking hard, Dagur spotted Hiccup.

"He's safe," he thought, "but he won't be for long if I don't kill this thing."

Dagur began to lift the sword again. In horror, he saw the dragon's attention shift from him to the easier target. It was getting ready to charge at the Berkian. The other Viking got ready to tackle one head, but a larger Viking got there first. Stoick removed each head of the beast with quick slashes of his sword. The dragon's legs wobbled as the body swayed. Finally, it fell flat to the ground. Swiftly, the chief took in the area to be sure that no other pin was broken. Seeing that it was not, he bent down to where Hiccup was. He saw that he was fine, then he looked at Dagur.

"Did you break the dragons out?"

Before the Berserker could answer, Hiccup rushed over. "No, he didn't. The Zippleback exploded it and Dagur kept it from killing me."

The harsh look on Stoick's face faded. "Are you both okay?"

The boys nodded and Stoick sighed a breath of relief. He took one of the dragon's tails and began dragging it out of the arena. When he did, Dagur watched quietly. Hiccup was still a bit shaken, but he went to stand beside him.

"How about parents then?"

Lifting an eyebrow, the Berserker looked at him in confusion.

"If little brothers can't protect the big ones, then parents can," Hiccup elaborated.

The Berkian began smiling, pleased with the suggestion, but it did not last long. He saw the Berserker's bottom lip starting to quiver.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as confused as he was concerned.

Swallowing hard, the other boy shook his head. "Nothing."

"Was it that you were scared? I was too. Really scared. I'm still kind of scared that it'll come back to life and eat us."

Dagur just shook his head again, forcing himself to laugh. "I think that gas is getting to me. Must have gotten in my eyes. I'm going to see if I can get some water to wash it out."

He ran off before Hiccup could say anything else. The drink of water helped soothe his sore throat. When he was sure that he could without embarrassing himself, he returned to the others. They were by the docks. Oswald was already boarding the ship, so Dagur quickly hugged Hiccup. The Berkian hugged him back this time.

"Thanks for trying to keep me safe, Brother," he said.

"Always will," the Berserker said. Before he let go, his voice sounded unhappy. "I wish my dad was like yours."

Dagur let go of the other Viking, waved goodbye to Stoick and Gobber, then hurried up the ramp to the ship before Hiccup could ask what he had meant. As he watched the Berkians go out of view, that soreness in his throat returned. Another year to wait. He hoped he could manage until then.