Toothless knew that New Berk was too far away. He needed to get Hiccup help, quickly. And he knew just where to go. Where he was headed was home to two tribes that had blended together. Both allies to Hiccup. Berserker Island.

He flew as fast as he was able to. Exhaustion was starting to take its toll. He hadn't stopped to sleep, much less eat, since he had left the Hidden World. Even then, he had spent the better part of two days pacing his cave.

The sooner he got to Berserker Island, the better.


In less than an hour, the island had come into sight. Just off the shore was a longship out on patrol. Toothless knew he couldn't make much farther and dove towards the boat. Giving the Vikings aboard little time to react.

He let out a roar as his legs collapsed under him. He wearily watched and listened as Jorn talked to the Berserkers, pleading for aid.

"We mean you know harm," Jorn stated as he carefully climbed off of Toothless. "We've just been in battle, and this man is hurt. I'm a healer, but I have no supplies with me. Please help us."

Toothless watched as the men moved around him, feeling as they took Hiccup off of his back. Listening as Jorn asked for whatever supplies they had on hand. He heard another shout for them to head back to the island and to fire the signal for aid.

One of the Berserkers helping got a good look at the injured man and did a double take. "It's Chief Hiccup Haddock. Signal for Dagur as well." He looked back at Hiccup then at Jorn. "How? I thought the Berkians moved islands."

"I don't know about that," Jorn admitted. "All I know is that he's spent the past month being tortured for information on the dragons' whereabouts. Toothless just rescued us a few hours ago."


Dagur stood on the docks next to his wife and village healer, watching the patrol ship come in.

"What do you think happened?" Dagur asked, looking at his wife.

Mala shook her head. "I don't know, whatever it is, it can't be good if they want you here."

The Chief of the Berserker tribe just nodded and folded his arm over his chest. They would just have to wait and see.

Within five minutes, the boat was close enough for verbal communication.

"What's going on?" Dagur ordered.

"It's Chief Haddock, sir," one of the shipmen answered. "And his dragon. Both are in need of assistance. It's quite bad."

Dagur's arms fell to his sides as he stared at the ship. "Brother," was all he could manage, his voice a harsh whisper. He watched as the boat fully docked and set the plank out. Two of his people and a strange man stepped off the boat, carrying the younger chief on a stretcher. Behind them was Toothless, who was swaying heavily from side to side.

He looked over at the stranger, hoping for some answers. "Who are you? What happened to my brother? Why is Toothless here? Who did this? Why isn't he back on New Berk safe and sound?"

"Jorn," Jorn replied. "I'll answer the rest of your questions in due time, but first I must tend to Hiccup. He's badly injured. Where can we take him?"

"Eldrick is the village Healer," Dagur answered. "Eldrick, take them to my hut. It's closer and already has supplies there for you. I'll send someone to grab the rest of your stuff from your place."

"Yes, sir," Eldrick agreed. "Follow me." He motioned for the men to follow him.

Toothless collapsed in front of Mala and Dagur, unable to take another step forward. Mala carefully knelt down next to the tired dragon, gently petting his head while examining him.

"No visible injuries that I can see," Mala noted. "But he's clearly exhausted, possibly hungry as well." She looked at one of the dockhands walking by and pointed at him. "You there, bring me a barrel of fish and some sagefruit."

"Will he be okay?" Dagur asked.

"With time and rest, I believe so," Mala assured. "You do not have to stay here. Go be with Hiccup Haddock. He's surrounded by people he does not know, jostling him around as they tend to his wounds. A familiar presence will bring him comfort, even if he's unconscious. I am safe here."

As if to prove her point, Toothless purred in contentment as he laid his head on her lap. Dagur kissed the top of her forehead and took off, running towards their home.


Upon entering his home and seeing Hiccup, Dagur had to run back outside to throw up. Seeing his brother in such a way was disturbing, to say the least. Normally he could handle looking at the gorier side of battle, but this was something else.

Hiccup was covered in cuts, burns, welts, and bruises. His body looked like it had been used as a practice dummy for training purposes. The only part of him that seemed untouched was his face, which looked sunken in and ashen grey. Underneath all his wounds, he was skin and bones. Yeah, he was skinny, to begin with, but a healthy skinny with muscle and a bit of padding. He looked like he'd been starved.

"Can one of you head out and get supplies for herbal boar broth?" he heard Jorn say.

Dagur stood back and quickly regained his composure as one of the men dashed past him to head down to the butcher's before he closed up for the night. He took another minute to steel his nerves before heading back in.

For a while, he just stood in the doorway and watched as Eldrik and Jorn cleaned Hiccup's wounds, set his broken bones in place, and applied what appeared to be balm of sorts over the more serious wounds, before wrapping them in bandages. Hiccup occasionally let out a groan, but did not wake throughout the whole ordeal.

Once they were done, Jorn pulled a blanket over Hiccup's battered body, stopping at his shoulders. "Now we wait and see if he makes any progress." He stepped over to the bowl of clean water they had set aside and dipped his hands in it, washing away the blood. "You don't have to stand there, Chief Dagur. It's alright to come in."

Eldrik stood off to the side, packing up his medical supplies, not saying a word.

Dagur cautiously stepped into his and over to Hiccup's side. He sat in the chair that had been set by the bed. "Will he be okay?"

Jorn gave him a grim look. "I don't know. He's lost a fair amount of blood, and that's on top of malnourishment and lack of medical care. I wish I could have done more for him from the start, but I wasn't allowed to."

"What do you 'from the start'?" Dagur inquired.

Jorn dried his hand and sat at the foot o the bed, adjusting the blanket to make sure Hiccup stayed warm. "A month ago, a ship of Hunters took him prisoner when they found him all alone on a boat. The leader tortured him for information on the dragons. He never caved. Even sent them on a wild goose chase towards an island called Saman. I was the resident healer on that ship, but I could only wrap his wounds. Anything more, and Skade would have killed me. I tried to help him, by slipping him tonics, but he never took them. I don't really blame him, he had every right to be suspicious of my actions. I never wanted to join the Hunters, but it was good money and gave me a bed to sleep on. At least as a healer, I could feel like I was helping rather than hurting. I realized, almost too late, that it wasn't worth it. I'm just as guilty as they are. So if you feel the need to lock me up, go ahead. I won't stop you. Just let me make sure Hiccup is going to be okay."

Dagur stared at the man before him. He had just risked everything to save a man he didn't even know, and here he was saying it was okay to throw him in prison. Dagur understood, probably better than most, how hard it was to leave a life that was filled with cruelty and hatred. Besides, Hiccup needed him. Sure, Eldrik was a decent healer, but he had an entire village to look after. Hiccup needed someone caring for him day and night for gods knows how long.

"If he pulls through, what will his recovery look like?" Dagur asked, refusing to acknowledge the man's affiliation with the Hunters. Everyone deserved a second chance.

"First things first, getting his weight back up," Jorn started. "Getting him back to a healthy weight will help him heal from the injuries. Boar broth will do for now until he wakes up. Even then, we have to be careful with how much he eats. If he eats too much too fast, it could cause more problems than it would solve. Slow and steady is the way to go for now. We'll worry about everything else later."

Dagur stared down at the man, he'd spent several years calling "brother" for a moment before speaking. "Astrid, his wife, needs to be here. She must be worried sick if he's been gone for a month."

"How far away is New Berk?" Jorn asked.

The Berserker shook his head. "Too far. Other side of the Archipelago. A month by boat if the winds are favorable. You might just have to wait for Toothless to recover enough and send him with a letter detailing what's happened."

"How long should that take?" Jorn wondered.

"The dragon needs to rest for a few days before he's able to fly," Mala said, as she walked in, hands wrapped around her stomach. "Dagur, dear. I know the timing couldn't be worse, but could you go and fetch the midwife?" She looked over at Eldrik, who was still packing away his supplies. "And could you help me up to the bedroom?"

Dagur just stared at his very pregnant wife in disbelief. He knew they were getting close, but was sure they had another week at best. "Tonight's just full of surprises, Mala," he stated as he stood up.

Jorn watched as the Chief ran out of the house while Eldrik helped Mala up the stairs. He'd offer to help, but he wasn't sure of their laws when it came to childbirth. Besides, he didn't know how useful he'd be, as he hadn't helped bring a child into the world for over a decade. His current skills were in the treatment of battle wounds and infections.


In no time at all, Dagur had returned with the midwife, who immediately went upstairs, motioning for him to stay put. As Dagur sat back down at Hiccup's bedside, Eldrik joined them.

"How was she?" Dagur asked.

"She was doing fine," Eldrik replied. "Embla has it under control. All we can do is wait. Have you thought of any names?"

Dagur shook his head. "No. We wanted to wait to make sure the baby made it first. We've already lost one, don't want to lose another."

Jorn offered Dagur a sympathetic look. He understood wanting to wait.


Author's Note: Thank you to all who are reading and enjoying this story. I apologize in advance if the characters come off as OOC; it's been awhile since I've watched any of the series. My little one is terrified of the dragons (yet she watches Dragon Tales, no problem). Finding time to watch is difficult. I'm writing based off memory while trying to push through writer's block.

Anyways, thanks again for reading. Please don't forget to leave a review and share with your friends.