Warning for sexual assault.

How can someone feel lonely on an island with over fifty thousand people? It should have been impossible. Yet, lonely was the only way the future chief of the Berserker Tribe could have described himself. He stood by the door of his hut, hoping he could prevent his father's exit. At seven years old, he hardly blocked the door, but that did not keep him from trying. A dark-haired man crossed his arms and frowned at him.

"Dagur, move out of the way. I need to speak with Vorg."

"No," the boy protested. "After you're done talking, you're going to have us sail to Berk. I don't wanna go."

"You've never even been. The Berkians are good Vikings. Stoick is a brave, just man. I'm sure he's raised his heir to be the same. The boy will be five now."

"I still don't wanna go!" Dagur insisted, frowning. His face became a pout. "They won't like me. They'll think I'm weird."

"Then, act normal."

The redhead just looked upset, causing his father to sigh heavily.

"You'll be chief one day–Odin help us when that day comes–so you can't afford to let other tribes think there's something wrong with you. As far as they know, you're a regular Viking."

"But–"

Lifting a hand, the chief stopped him. "Don't give into anger, don't come up with activities for you to do, and for the love of Thor," he said, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders, "do. Not. Laugh."

Dagur's eyes went to the ground and he nodded unhappily. Oswald sighed and straightened his back.

"Good. Now, I'm going to speak with Vorg. Wait for me by the docks. When I'm done, we'll leave. I won't have any more of this talk about you not wanting to go. Try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

The man opened the door, watching to make sure Dagur left before he did. When he saw the heir go towards the docks, he went to find Vorg. Scowling, the boy stood by the ships and glanced around, but this did not make him feel better. He saw some other children. Waving excitedly, he tried to get their attention, but they only stared at him. After a moment, they turned and went to play with one another.

"Freak," he heard one of them say.

Dagur blushed and turned towards his father's vessel. He should have been used to that, but it still always stung. There was going to be a lot more of that soon. The Berkians would meet him, learn how he was not like most people, and they would think he was weird. He would be treated like an outcast by them as well. To Dagur's surprise, he noticed the shadow of someone. It was not his father's silhouette, but it was also too big for one of the other children.

"Headed to Berk with the chief today, Dainty?" a tall young man asked.

Dagur spun around but chose to not respond to that. He could feel himself getting angry.

"Dad said to not get into trouble," he thought.

"You're ignoring me?" the older Berserker asked.

He kicked the boy in the stomach, knocking him down. Dagur quickly got back to his feet and into a fighting stance. The other Viking only laughed at him.

"That won't do much against me, Dainty. This isn't a fight you want. Trust me," he said threateningly, "it would be a lot better for you if you didn't fight back."

"No chance of that, Ansson," he snarled.

Ansson only smirked at the child. He turned to leave, but it was a fakeout. Just as Dagur relaxed, he saw the Berserker spin and leap at him. He was smashed into the side of the ship, a forearm pressing down on his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, the heir saw Oswald returning. The man saw the two and paused. For a moment, he and Ansson locked eyes. Oswald saw something in his eyes that he had only seen in certain Vikings.

Dagur took advantage of Ansson's shifted attention and managed to kick with both legs, pushing the Viking off of him. As soon as there was room, he made a dash for the vessel. He almost got grabbed, but he reached the deck safely. A proud look appeared on his face and he stuck out his tongue at Ansson. The Berserker just eyed him sinisterly before heading back into the village. Annoyed, Dagur looked at his father who had moved to the helm. He should have been used to that as well, but he was not.

"You'll have to fight your own battles," Oswald said.

Mocking him under his breath, Dagur went to the side of the ship to look at the water. He was not looking forward to this trip, and he was not the only one. On Berk, their heir was just as worried. The boy had heard of Berserkers. They had Skrills, they had a Berserker rage…and they had a ship coming to his home. Dealing with his own Vikings was enough of a headache. How would he be expected to deal with wild soldiers?

"You'll show Oswald's heir around, Hiccup," his father said, looking out at the sea beyond the docks.

Hiccup looked at him unhappily. "Why do I have to?"

"Because you're my son and heir," the man explained, frowning at the fact that he had to elaborate in the first place. "You'll be expected to offer the same hospitality to him as I show to his father."

"But I don't know how to control Skrills or any of that. We won't have anything in common."

"The Berserkers don't have Skrills anymore." Stoick paused, frowning. "You've met Oswald. He's nice."

"I know, but I've only met him. I haven't met the others and–"

"Hiccup, I'm not changing my mind. They'll be here soon. While I speak with Oswald and we sign the treaty, you will be a host for his son. That's the end of this discussion."

Miserably, Hiccup nodded his head as his father left to go to the Great Hall where he would prepare things for the guests.

"He's not going to like me," the boy thought sadly. "He's going to see how small I am and make fun of me. I don't want that from another Viking. Maybe I can just hide until they're gone."

This idea did not sound terrible to him, but he knew that there were too many areas of the island which could easily have dragons. If one attacked, he would be unable to defend himself. So, he was stuck waiting in the village awaiting potential death in favor of avoiding certain death.

"Hey, runt," someone called.

Hiccup sighed, hearing a familiar voice. When he turned around, he saw a dark-haired, stocky boy. They were the same age, but he was so much larger. Fate had a way of being cruel to the heir.

"Hey, Snotlout."

"Is the chief really having you show the Berserker heir around? That'll just make the Berserkers think that Berk is weak if you're our future."

The boy turned away from him. Snotlout was not wrong. Hiccup was worried about that as well and hoped that he would not cause the downfall of his own tribe. He was unsure how he would defend them against violent groups of Vikings. Stoick the Vast could put fear into the hearts of anyone foolish enough to want to attack, but Hiccup Horrendous Haddock was certainly not his father.

"You should pretend like you're not the heir. I pretend like you're not the heir."

Hiccup frowned at Snotlout. "Well, I'm not going to meet him, but you couldn't stop me if I planned to."

Roughly, he was shoved to the ground. Snotlout stood over him, glaring down.

"I could if I wanted to. You're lucky your dad's the chief. If he wasn't…" The boy punched his own hand, his expression becoming harsher. "That doesn't mean that one punch to your gut wouldn't go unnoticed, though."

Hiccup's eyes widened as the bigger Berkian went over to him. He drew back a fist, scowling. Before Snotlout could punch, his arm was grabbed. Turning, he looked behind him and upwards, seeing Dagur. The Viking looked scarier than Snotlout expected. He was a lot taller than both Berkians and had a dangerous look in his eyes.

"A-are you the Berserker?"

Dagur nodded, then yanked on the arm, flinging Snotlout back and onto his bottom. The redhead looked between him and the smaller boy. He snarled at Snotlout.

"I don't like bullies."

"But look at him! He's a hiccup."

Hiccup turned red with shame and Dagur noticed. With a scowl, he turned back to Snotlout.

"So, you like picking on him because he's smaller?"

"Yeah, it's weird."

Hiccup's jaw dropped as the boy was lifted by his shirt. Dagur was positively growling at him.

"I'm bigger than you," he pointed out. "I could gut you like a fish right now and no one would find out because you'd be at the bottom of the ocean."

The Jorgenson's face paled as he trembled in fear.

"What do you think? Should I be like you?" the Berserker asked him.

Quickly, Snotlout shook his head.

"Then, we're in agreement that you're a jerk. You do this again and…"

Dagur emphasized his implication by drawing a knife that had been hidden on him. He tapped the boy's cheek with the side of the blade. Snotlout winced, but he was not cut. Instead, he was tossed to the floor. Relieved to be alive, he scurried off. Dagur glowered in his direction, then looked back at Hiccup.

"You okay?"

"Uh, yeah," the boy said, still shocked. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I was trying to find somebody and saw what was going on."

Dagur put up the knife and smiled. He extended a hand to help the younger boy back to his feet. Hiccup grinned back and accepted his hand. He went airborne for a moment as he was pulled up. It was a little scary, but the happy look on the redhead's face made it less so.

"I'm Dagur," he said. "What's your name?"

This made the boy's smile fade. "It's like he said. I'm a hiccup."

Dagur looked confused. "That didn't make sense when he said it. Isn't that a sound? Does that mean he was a burp?"

Hiccup shook his head, almost laughing to his own surprise. "No, it's what we call the runts of a litter."

"Oh, that's no fun. I mean, you're pretty obviously small. I don't know why they'd have to remind you every time they say your name."

At first, Hiccup frowned, then he saw that there was no mal-intent on the boy's face. Was he not mocking him?

"Uh, why did you help me? I'm glad that you did, but no one's ever stood up for me before."

Dagur's eye contact broke and he took out another knife to play with the weapon. "I just did what I'd want someone to do for me. It sucks when people stand by and don't say or do anything."

"Do you have to go through this too?"

The older boy tried to not look embarrassed. "A little, I guess," he lied.

"Why? You don't look scrawny."

The Berserker frowned at himself. His father did not want anyone to find out about his weakness. Now, there he was, about to reveal it willingly.

"You know what my thing is," Hiccup commented. "I won't judge."

"You'll think it's weird."

"No, I won't. I promise."

Dagur looked at him to see if he was telling the truth. He hoped he was.

"My issue's invisible."

"What does that mean?"

The Berserker tapped his forehead. "It's my mind. My dad said it's messed up."

"Your mind?" Hiccup asked. "You don't seem dumb."

"I'm not dumb!" Dagur snapped, making the other boy step back in concern.

He saw the fear and frowned. Dagur took a step back as well.

"It's stuff like that. I get mad easily and don't see things the way others do. I don't know how to fix it, so no one wants to hang out with me."

Hiccup saw the dejected look on the boy's face. "I'd like to hang out with you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You don't seem bad to me."

Dagur's eyes brightened and he beamed. "Thanks! You're the Berkian heir, right?"

"Yep."

"Cool! Because I was supposed to find you anyway."

"Yeah, I was supposed to show you around. Want to see more of Berk? It's not the biggest island, but we have interesting spots you could see."

"That sounds fun!"

The boy laughed, then stopped himself, clamping a hand over his mouth. He supposed that he was just trying to see how many parts of his father's rules he would break. To his shock, Hiccup did not make fun of him or leave. He looked taken off guard by the sound, but he started laughing as well.

"I like your laugh," Hiccup said.

It was contagious and this information delighted the redhead even more. The boys started heading back towards the rest of the village. Dagur's steps were bouncy with excitement and he did not hesitate to ask questions as he saw curious people and things.

"What's that?"

"It's a dragon killing arena."

"That sounds cool! We don't have one of those. We don't get dragons. It's always so boring back home. Let's go over there."

Hiccup shook his head quickly. "We can't do that. Berkians are only allowed in there when they're teenagers and just when Gobber's there too."

"Who's Gobber?"

The Berkian pointed towards the Great Hall. Dagur followed his gaze, seeing his father talking with two men.

"You do realize that this doesn't clear it up more, right?"

"The blond," Hiccup informed him. "He's best friends with my dad–the other guy over there."

Dagur's eyes widened. "Your dad is a giant. Gobber is too."

Looking a little discouraged, the other boy said, "Yeah, it doesn't make it easier to be so small when everyone can see what I should look like."

The Berserker shrugged. "Well, not every Viking is like that. Look. My dad's way smaller than both of them. He's not even at your dad's shoulder. Plus, you're five, so you'll probably do a lot of growing later." Dagur kept watching the fathers, frowning a little at his. "So, what do you do for fun?"

"Gobber lets me help him work on weapons. I like making things. What about you?"

"I like breaking things, but making things sounds fun too, especially if they're weapons. Can I see something you've made?"

"Sure! Come on, I'll show you."

Out of the corner of Stoick's eye, he saw the two boys hurrying off. He smiled slightly at that and gestured to them with his head. Gobber turned and grinned.

"I think Hiccup's made a friend," the blacksmith said.

Oswald gave a small nod of his head, worriedly thinking, "Hopefully, Dagur won't be around him long enough to start a war."

As the Berserker chief stressed himself out over this, the boys were entering the forge. In awe, Dagur looked at the walls adorned with weapons of all kinds. He spun around, jaw dropping more and more.

"You got to make these?"

"Not all of them, but I helped with some on this back wall."

Dagur hopped over to it to see and let his eyes trail all over the metal.

"Ooh, you made an ax. I like those a lot. Ever make a knife?"

"No, I haven't done that."

"You should give it a try."

"I'll ask Gobber if I can do one next."

"Awesome!"

Dagur took one of the axes and slashed the air. Hiccup watched in amusement as the older heir's eyes lit up.

"Ooh! I have a great idea! What if you make the weapons and I test them out? Gotta know that they're strong. I can go kill a dragon or something whenever you've made a new one."

The Berkian looked unsure. "But you'll only be here once a year."

"Right," Dagur said, remembering sadly. "What if I do it when I can sail on my own? Then, I can come visit outside of the treaty signings."

"That would be fun," Hiccup said happily. "I'd be open to requests too if you had any suggestions for what I could make."

"Then, we have a plan!" Dagur paused, thinking about something as a hopeful look crossed his face. "I used to be a big brother. I miss it. Want to be my little brother? I'll be a better big brother than I was the first time," he promised earnestly. "I won't let anybody pick on you or hurt you. Not when I'm around and if they do it when I'm not, they'll die as soon as I find out."

Hiccup felt a little worried at the fierceness of his words, but the sentiment behind them was nice.

"Okay," he said slowly. "We can be like brothers. I always thought the idea of having an older sibling sounded fun."

Dagur smiled gleefully and hugged the boy, almost crushing him. When he heard a whimper, he let go. Hiccup gave a weak laugh.

"I think everyone's going to have a hard time getting to me when I have a brother like you."

"You know it!"

The Vikings were both grinning as they heard their names called from outside. Begrudgingly leaving the forge, they returned to their fathers.

"It's time to go home," Oswald said. "Thank you for your hospitality as always, Stoick. You as well, Gobber."

"Of course, Oswald. It's always a pleasure having you here."

The Berserker began heading towards the ship. Before Dagur joined him, he gave Hiccup another hug. It was slightly painful again, but the bruises were a small price to pay for a surprisingly nice visit. When Dagur let go, he started following after his father, waving to the little Berkian.

"See you next year, Brother!"

"See you then, Brother!" Hiccup returned, waving back.

When the Berserkers were out of sight, a knowing look crossed Stoick's face. "And to think that you didn't want them to come here."

"Okay," the boy admitted, "I might have been wrong. That was pretty nice. I'm actually looking forward to them coming back. It's just too bad that we'll have to wait for another year."