Over the next five years, the boys' brotherhood had only gotten stronger. They kept up with their agreement of building and testing weapons. Neither heir could bear the thought of doing anything else. They both were still treated worse than the others in their tribes. Hiccup might have been a skilled blacksmith, but he was still a hiccup. Dagur might have been a skilled warrior, but he was still strange. So, everyone around them would take the opportunity to point that out. Even if the Berkians were too scared of Stoick and the Berserker heir to hurt Hiccup physically, there were emotional scars in abundance. Apart from Ansson, the other Berserkers were not aggressive enough to attack Dagur, but they all still made sure to treat him like there was something wrong with him. Only one part of the year was something that the duo enjoyed and it was when they did not have to be viewed as scrawny or crazy. They were just themselves.

The heirs would laugh, help each other come up with ideas, and simply enjoy being brothers in every way except biologically. When the day came again, naturally Hiccup was thrilled with the idea of spending more time with his best friend. He just wished that it did not have to take so long. The boy was standing on the docks, a big smile on his face in anticipation. His father watched him in mild amusement.

"You seem very excited," Stoick commented.

"I am," Hiccup admitted. "I helped Gobber with even more axes this week, so I can show Dagur those when the Berserkers get here."

The father's facial expression turned unreadable. "I'm sure the other Berkians would enjoy it too. You don't have to wait until Dagur gets here to spend time with someone around your age."

Hiccup's smile faded. "I do if I don't want them to make fun of me the whole time. The other kids hate me, Dad."

"Give them a chance."

"I have. I've given them plenty and they've given me none. I'm done trying," he said, a frown replacing his grin. "If they don't want to be bothered with me, I'm fine spending time alone. It lets me work more on my ideas for inventions anyway."

Stoick's countenance became sad at this. He could understand the boy to a certain extent. He had seen the way it was between him and the other Berkians, but the man also just lacked the ability to truly relate. Stoick had never lacked the respect of their people. To him, it should have been easy for Hiccup to regain. He did not understand how it had been lost in the first place. Sure, he was small, but he was just a boy. Of course, so were Snotlout and Fishlegs and they were of the expected size. Perhaps, Hiccup would grow and become more muscular or at least more physically capable.

"Maybe in a few years when you're bigger, things will change," the father mentioned.

Hiccup just nodded, not wanting to verbally disagree. "It won't matter to me later," he thought.

While he considered this, the Berserkers were nearing the coast. Dagur was excitedly going to the edge of the ship, pushing up with his arms to give himself a better view even though his head was already above where it needed to be to see. He kept alternating between doing that and climbing up the mast to find out what he could spot. Frustrated, Oswald looked away from the helm and called up to him.

"Will you get down from there?"

"But I can almost see Berk," the boy complained.

"Then, that's all the more reason to get down. They'll think you're odd if you show up dangling from the sail."

Making a face, Dagur slid down the mast and back to the dock. "I wasn't on the sail," he mumbled. His eyes quickly lit up again. "I've got a new knife I'm going to show Hiccup. I bet he knows how to make an even sharper one. I wonder if he'll show me how to do that one day." He paused, tapping his chin. "Eh, maybe I'll leave that to him. He said it takes a while to do right. I'd get tired of waiting."

"Patience is a virtue, Dagur."

"But it's so boring!"

"It wouldn't be if you worked more on meditating like I've tried to get you to do."

Dagur crossed his arms. "That's boring too. I don't want to meditate. I just want to kill stuff."

"I'll pretend like that shouldn't concern me."

The younger Berserker heard a familiar note of snark in the man's voice which irritated him. He took out one of his blades and stared at the tip.

"Just dragons," he clarified. "They get so many on Berk. I can help them when they get attacked."

"If they get attacked, I'm sure they would prefer it if you didn't get involved. You might end up causing more harm than good."

Dagur unhappily put up the blade. His scowl melted away when he saw Berk. It took everything in him to not immediately jump off the ship to find his friend, but a stern look from the elder Berserker got him to wait. Still, nothing could have stopped Dagur from engulfing Hiccup in a massive bear hug. Over the years, they had gotten to no longer be painful.

"I don't know how you got so cuddly," Dagur commented happily.

Hiccup chuckled. "I can always count on you to give me unique compliments."

"Can't just throw standard ones at you. They need flair," the redhead said, letting go to look over the Berkian. "How's it been, Brother?"

"Not bad apart from the dragon raids every week. How about you? Has anything new happened recently?"

"It's been the same as usual, but I've got a new knife to show you!"

Excitedly, Dagur drew out the weapon and showed it to the auburn-haired boy.

"How do you always have so many knives on you?" Hiccup asked, confused. "I couldn't even tell you had that one."

"Natural skill plus practice," the redhead answered, beaming. "Isn't this so cool, though?!"

"Yeah, it is pretty well-made."

"But I know you could make it even better!"

Hiccup smiled. "Thanks. I actually have this new ax I made that I wanted your opinion on. I know you really like those."

Dagur's eyes twinkled. "You made one? As in without any Gobber help?"

"Yeah, it's not perfect, but I can show it to you if you want to see."

"Of course I do!"

The Berserker let out his signature laugh. After a few moments, Hiccup's eyes began to squint. Dagur noticed where his gaze was and he moved back. The younger boy went forward, eyebrows furrowed.

"A fight again?" he asked. "It looks like you're recovering from a black eye."

Hiccup glanced at the fathers a short distance from them. They were talking as well and Oswald looked like he was in high spirits. When he looked back at Dagur, the boy's expression was unreadable. Then, the Berserker suddenly smiled brightly.

"I broke up a brawl between a few Berserkers and got punched in the process. That was it."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure," Dagur said, laughing. "I was there, you know."

"I know but–"

"Come on," the bigger boy interrupted. "Our dads are starting to head to the Great Hall. Let's join them before you show me the ax."

He grabbed the Berkian's wrist and pulled him along until they were right behind the fathers. The group entered the Great Hall and started going to sign the treaty. While they did this, a ship was pulling into the Berkian harbor. It was being ridden by the Outcasts. Alvin was at the helm and his eyes widened upon seeing the Berserker ships. He changed their course, going off to the side of the island. Savage noticed and went over to him, eyes wide.

"What do we do, Sir? Do we leave?"

Alvin glared at him, quickly making him stop talking. "Give me a minute to think. What I know is we're not leaving." The man stroked his dark beard and then realization dawned on him. "This isn't an issue. It's an opportunity."

With a sinister expression, he explained his idea. He did this as the Vikings were enjoying the feast. Dagur sat near his father, scowling at him. Hiccup had to try not to laugh at his face. He never understood why the older boy hated the sound of smacking so much, but he did have to admit that Oswald did it a lot. The father noticed the glare being sent his way and sighed.

"Maybe there's something you two could be doing while Stoick and I discuss chiefly matters."

Hiccup nodded. "I was going to show him the ax anyway. I could do that now. We can go to the forest."

Dagur grinned and got up from the table. "Let's go then!"

The Berserker yoked Hiccup up by the arm and started running off for the woods. His grin was a deranged smile that Stoick was not quite sure if he trusted or not. Regardless, history had shown that the other heir did care about his son. Even if he was not sure where the whole "brother" thing came from, he would never be upset to see someone else wanting to keep the little Berkian safe. Happily, the two heirs hurried off for the forge. When they got there, Hiccup led the way to the weapon. Dagur's eyes widened and he let out a happy cheer.

"You made this?! I don't know where you got these skills, Bro, but I love 'em."

Hiccup smiled brightly and tried to lift the weapon, but it was too heavy for him. Seeing this, Dagur grabbed it by the handle and inspected the blade. It was really sharp and the handle was sturdy.

"I can already tell that I'm going to like it, but I'm shocked that you wanted to go to the forest."

"I still haven't killed anything or gotten bigger. I have to start making some changes, so why not start with this? If I always avoid dragons, then I'll never know how to deal with them."

Dagur shrugged. "Your call, but I don't think you need to change."

Hiccup appreciated that and they began heading to the forest. There, Dagur went over to a medium-sized tree. With a quick movement, he cut the tree in half in a clean slice.

"I was wrong. I love it," he said, gleefully swinging the weapon.

"Anything you think could make it better?"

Dagur tapped the blade against his head, thinking deeply. "Hmm, ooh! I've got it. What if right here, there's another part of the ax, but it's upside down?"

"Upside down?"

"Yeah! It would be awesome! Then, you could kill someone by slicing up or down. No limits!"

Another laughing fit started as the redhead imagined this. Hiccup considered what he said.

"I'll see what I can do. It would definitely be unique."

"And as we both can testify, unique is the best."

The Berkian rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know if I can always agree with that."

Dagur made a face at him.

"Don't give me that face," Hiccup complained. "You know how it is."

"I do, but don't let it get to you. That's how they win."

"How don't I let it get to me? It's constant. You'd be surprised what happens when you're not here."

Dagur stopped swinging the weapon to look at his friend. He heard his sad tone and saw his equally sad expression. Anger began building in the Berserker.

"Did they start trying to attack you?"

"No, they still won't, but it can be a lot to keep hearing everyone say stuff like how it would be better if I got eaten by a dragon, so Snotlout could just become the new heir." The Berkian let out a miserable sigh. "Like I said, it's constant. It wears you down."

"Don't let them know it bothers you then," the Berserker suggested. "That's easier. It's easier to pretend and make people think you mean it than to actually mean it."

Hiccup glanced up from the ground and saw Dagur. Again, his expression was unreadable. It was so difficult knowing what he was thinking that the Berkian liked how much of an open book he normally was with his expressions. They were the only hint Hiccup got to what was going on in his mind. However, at times like this, it made it nearly impossible to know what he was feeling. Before he could ask, Dagur's head turned sharply to his right. His eyes were narrowed and the meaning behind his expression became clear. It was one of ferocity. Hiccup did not often see that outside of when Snotlout would say something to him, but this was more deadly. The Berkian did not have time to ask because Dagur rushed over to him.

"Stay behind me," he ordered, moving Hiccup with one arm.

The smaller boy nodded, hearing how unusually serious he sounded. Dagur's eyes darted around, looking for escape routes. He cursed under his breath, wishing he knew these forests better. He should have gone on his own to get a layout of them. If they were on Berserker Island, he would have known every nook and cranny. What he knew was that they were surrounded. All Dagur could do was stay in front of the other boy. There was nowhere to go. Trying would have only pushed them further towards one of the enemies. Soon, Hiccup also saw this. Alvin and his Outcasts approached, glares on their faces.

"Look what we found," Alvin said, voice dripping with cruelty. "Two brats."

Dagur snarled at him. "You're stupid for having your Outcasts come here. You'll have two tribes going for your heads."

"Will we? From what I can see, you're both alone."

The Vikings got closer and Dagur threw a knife into one's throat who reached for Hiccup. This injured Outcast sputtered out blood and fell to his knees. The boy threw another at Alvin, but the Outcast caught it in time. He charged at the boys, sword drawn. Dagur lifted the ax to avoid being slashed. Metal clanged against metal, but the Outcast was a lot stronger than the Berserker. Dagur knew this and used his speed to his advantage. When a sword went for his head, he dodged and went to get Alvin in the side. To his shock, nothing happened. Some of the chain mail vest was damaged, but the man underneath was unharmed.

"Takes more than a little slash to take me down," Alvin taunted, smirking. "Wonder if the same could be said for the boy."

Dagur had been paying attention to where Hiccup was, but he was still worried. There were a lot of Outcasts. Maybe he could take down some of them, but not all and definitely not Alvin. Hiccup's face was scrunched into a frown, trying to decide what he could do. He felt helpless and it was a feeling he despised. When an Outcast got closer to the Berkian, Dagur swung the ax again, nearly taking off the man's arm. When someone else reached, he did more than just nearly remove the limb. The Outcast howled in pain as it fell to the grass. Several comrades came up behind Dagur. He did not want to turn around too much, making him unable to see Hiccup, but he also had to keep them in his sights.

"Don't be stupid," Alvin scolded. "You can't beat us all. Not without leaving the runt behind. You know that. You'll have to focus all your energy on us and as soon as you do, we'll take him. So, it's your decision. Will we leave with him now or after you kill some of us?"

The Berserker growled at the man, then he locked eyes with Hiccup. Seeing the look in Dagur's eyes, Hiccup's heart dropped.

"Dagur–"

"Stand down, boy."

Begrudgingly, Dagur lowered his weapon. He knew Alvin was right. His total focus would be required to kill more than one, leaving Hiccup vulnerable. He could go for help, but the time it would take would leave too much for them to hurt the Berkian. That was something Dagur would not do. Alvin gestured to the floor.

"Toss it over here."

Frowning, the redhead did as he said and let his arms be tied behind his back. The same was done to Hiccup. He had a confused look on his face as he and the older boy were forced into the Outcast ship. The sail was hoisted and the ship took off for Outcast Island. Hiccup scowled at Alvin.

"What do you want with us?"

"To make Stoick suffer and to get gold from your tribes," Alvin explained. "I'll give them a ransom letter. If they care about you, they'll pay it. If not," he started chuckling darkly, "I'll have to find other ways to make you worth the effort of capture."