Hiccup's morning was not going very well, not at all.

Toothless wouldn't listen to him, Viggo embarrassed the living Helheim out of him, Heather was captured, and Viggo had the Flightmare, which apparently, he desperately needed for reasons Hiccup could only guess.

So he decided to do the sensible thing, a recon flight. It wasn't as if he was going after Viggo himself, just some of his ships. It should be safe enough.

Apparently Astrid didn't agree. Again.

"Astrid!" He shouted, stumbling to hide the metal armor behind his back, "hey! Hey. So, what brings you here so early in the morning? Are you just going for a test flight with Stormfly? Yeah, well same here. With Toothless, though, of course, because, Stormfly, that would be, you know…" He trailed off, I am so dead.

"I don't believe this. You're going for a recon flight. Alone. With no support. No cover." She began, looking at him as if he was some inexperienced child. Did she not think he could do this without someone there to hold his hand the whole way?

"We talked about this." She scolded, looking disappointed.

We also talked about keeping secrets from each other but that didn't seem to be very important to you.

"I know. I just didn't wanna wake anybody." He said instead, and it was partly the truth anyway, "it's no big deal. Really." He assured her, finally meeting her unforgiving glare.

"Yes, it is. It's way too risky." She argued, couldn't she just trust him for once? She's acting like I'm the one who went behind her back, he thought to himself bitterly, fighting the urge to just roll his eyes.

The truth was, he still wasn't quite over that. The voice in the back of his head was still there always warning him.

She's lying…

"Hiccup, he's not out there. It's been months since the Viggo…"

"Fiasco?" He filled in.

"I was going to say 'episode'," Hiccup had to fight the urge to scoff.

"You have to stop this. You're gonna wear yourself into the ground looking for people who don't wanna be found," she argued, having to practically chase him as he walked towards the edge of the landing pad.

Great, and now we're including Vorder… He thought to himself, frustrated.

He felt fidgety, Astrid's advice used to be comforting, something grounding. Now it just felt like a heavy weight on his back. Something actually chaining him to the ground, and if you knew Hiccup, you knew chaining him to the ground would only ever lead to disaster.

"I'm fine, Astrid. Really." He assured, "besides, maybe Viggo isn't out there, but his hunters are." He could feel Astrid roll her eyes, "if I can find one to question–

"They won't tell you a thing."

"You don't know that." He insisted, they paused for a moment, just glaring at each other before Astrid sighed, "Look, if you're going, at least let me and Stormfly go with you." She requested.

"Fine," he said. Yet there was a small voice in the back of his head that told him, if she's going to go behind my back, why can't I do the same?

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

The discovery of not one, but two plagues going around- if the second one could really be considered a plague -unforgivingly sweeping across the Archipelago really put Jack in a bind. He was so busy he never had the time to continue his search for the Guardians, let alone his quest for Pitch.

He didn't mind though, this was much more important.

Fearlings.

Wherever Pitch was hiding, he had somehow found a strong enough being or place to grant him enough power and freedom to create Fearlings.

Come on North, Sandy, anyone! Where are you?

He was forced to eliminate anyone who was affected as he came across them. But it was a frustrating and tedious task.

Coming across them was easy, Fearlings were everywhere after all. The hard part was finding out if they were a Fearling in the first place. You could walk right past one and never know they were so good at acting normal. Especially at a first glance.

They could disguise themselves, anyone could be a Fearling, anyone. He'd come across a few in some Dragon Hunter rings, those seemed to be the most common places.

Jack didn't know if it was because the Hunters were scared of dragons yet were forced around them all the time or if they were just overworked and underpaid.

For a while, he assumed that the only way to free a Frearling was to kill them, that was, until he met Dagur.

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

"When Astrid finds out you're not wearing your armor, I am not covering for you." He said, knowing that Astrid would be absolutely furious that not only had Hiccup ditched her, he also went without Toothless wearing his armor.

Toothless shot up into the air as an apology and Hiccup couldn't help but surrender to the winds.

"Then again, with all that armor on, would we be able to do this?" He considered, before switching the tail fin position so he and Toothless could do aerial tricks and chase an adrenaline rush no one would ever be able to give him.

Hiccup couldn't help but laugh with the fun that came with being free, "Man, that new tail is awesome." He said, and he meant it, after all he made it.

Toothless shoved Hiccup's face into the water, then shot back into the air upside down, normally Hiccup would complain but, "I owe you one," he said, and Toothless chuckled at his victory of getting his rider soaked.

That's when Hiccup noticed the Dragon Hunter ship.

"Gotcha."

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

1 month earlier…

He flew straight and true, frustrated. Nothing. Trail, cold. The most productive thing Jack has done in the last fucking year was come up with the cure for the Scourge of Odin, courtesy of Valka's knowledge and obsession of historic events.

Other than that, he couldn't find anything on the Guardians, Fearlings, or even Pitch. It was like there was some divine deity purposefully keeping him in the dark.

Artemis whined, she was hungry and tired, and Jack had to admit, so was he.

You've been flying for hours now she deserves a break…

"Sorry girl," he sighed, letting his shoulders drop, "how about we stop at…" He glanced around, there was a good sized island to his left that looked remote enough for the two of them.

"There," he steered Artemis, letting them drop down onto the island near a river so his comrade could hydrate herself.

"There we go, we'll set up camp and rest here for a few, then we'll head back okay?" He said, and Artemis let out an adorable and grateful trill.

He smiled and turned to take in the scenery. It was beautiful. There was a waterfall above them, roaring as it fell into the river below. The trees were green and there was peacefulness in the air. He unclipped the mouth piece of his mask and placed it down to rest across his collar bone. The fresh air was something hard to come by in the Barbaric Archipelago, unless you were in the sky of course.

Then that peacefulness was gone so quickly Jack was impressed by how fast he'd found them.

Artemis growled low and threatening. Jack held up his hands as a dagger, no pun intended, was firmly pressed to his throat.

"Easy dragon, wouldn't want to stain this armor red now would we?"

Artemis only growled louder.

"Dagur! What brings you to this random abandoned island all on your lonesome?" He asked, and Dagur growled like a feral animal.

"No, no no no no, this isn't right!" Dagur suddenly said, stumbling back and shaking his head, "why am I here?" He asked, and both Jack and Artemis became so confused and taken aback that they both just kind of stared.

What?

"Hey are you okay?" Jack asked, this was concerning.

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

"Sky, Toothless!" He shouted, panicking.

They shot into the air dodging arrows left and right, and then they weren't. Instead they were falling, "Toothless!" He screamed, not quite registering that they'd been hit.

his dragon was doing everything he could to straighten out because if he didn't, Hiccup would be getting much more than just soaked.

They crash landed onto a nearby island. Hard too. Thankfully, by now, Hiccup had done this enough times to roll out of the impact. I don't really want to think about if that's impressive or not. It hurt but he could stand it.

What he was more worried about was his dragon. They'd never been hit before. I should've been more prepared, he berated himself.

"I gotcha, Toothless. I'm right here."

He spotted the arrow that had struck them. It was lodged deep into his dragon's tail. He winced at the pained whine that Toothless made when he tried to pull it out the first time.

In the end he did manage to get it out, "I know, Dragon Root. We just gotta wait it out, bud." He said, not exactly sure just who he was trying to comfort here, him or Toothless.

The way Toothless was acting, it worried him. "But who knows how long that's gonna take," he muttered to himself.

In the distance he could see the Dragon Hunter ships getting closer, "Oh, come on," he whined.

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

Dagur had been out of it lately. Truly. Reality was not only often disappointing, but also really, really confusing.

It was like the second he touched Vorder something in him snapped. Broke. Something happened because he wasn't thinking like this earlier.

He left the Dragon Hunters, he remembered that, and he knew why, but why had he joined in the first place? Why did he let himself float adrift for so long at sea when he had the ability to go wherever he liked? Why was he still on this island when there were plenty of trees to repair boats with?

He didn't really know. Why am I still here?!

"Hey, are you okay?"

"No! No, I'm not okay! I've been stuck here for months and I barely remember why! Half of my life is missing!" He laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"My sister is in danger and I just let her be that way! Why would I do that? She was right all along! Berserkers are meant to be family, and for reasons I can't- she might be dead! Why haven't I gone looking for her!" He shouted, and didn't care that Vorder was watching.

Then there was a hand placed gently on his shoulder and his mind cleared to a point he forgot was possible.

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

"Hey, How are you doing, bud?" He asked.

They'd found a cave and Hiccup had done his best to hide it with branches and bushes he'd found outside.

But even then, with the extra cover and all, he didn't know how long they had before someone found them, and Toothless didn't look any better than before, in fact he looked worse.

"You think you can stand up, bud?" He asked, getting ready to lift his dragon, hoping that by some miracle Toothless would be able to walk, "come on, let's try to get you up." He strained.

His efforts were in vain however as Toothless almost crushed him… again, "oh, come on. Think, Hiccup. Think," he muttered himself.

He was interrupted by the sound of shouting outside.

Well that ended sooner than I'd hoped, he thought grimly. Toothless screeched in alarm causing Hiccup to hush him.

"Okay." He said grabbing a rock, because of course the only liable weapon in there was a rock, "if they want you Toothless, they're gonna have to go through me."

He'd hold his ground, because he'd rather die than let one of his best friends get taken so easily.

Unexpectedly, Dagur was the only one to be present when the leaves were gone.

"Hello, Hiccup,"

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

Fuck the whole "the most productive thing Jack has done was distribute the cure for the Scourge of Odin," this had to be the most revelations he's had in a long time.

Apparently, even in the day time his powers of fun and joy still existed, not only that but…

Dagur started crying.

"Wha–

He retreated his hand quickly, Jesus, this guy is… clearly going through something, to put it lightly.

"…I barely remember… Half of my life is missing!"

Oh…

Jack and a sneaking suspicion as to why Dagur was so distraught, "it was Pitch wasn't it?" Jack exclaimed, mostly to himself, for a moment Dagur stopped crying, "who?" He asked.

Jack's gaze snapped to him.

Here we go again…

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

Turns out, Dagur, the same Dagur who had tried to kill Hiccup multiple times and who had, so far, refused to answer any of his questions, was now the same Dagur who was trying to help him and Toothless.

Hiccup told himself he would never believe it no matter what was said.

It had taken some struggle and Hiccup almost dying but eventually they managed to move Toothless into a cave blocked by a waterfall.

He could tell Dagur had been here quite a while considering he had enough time to map out the island, carve an entire mural into the wall and already have a campfire set up. Not to mention the bucket of clean water.

"Yes, answers. I did tell you those were en route." He said, that is, after laughing like a maniac about some sharp minded joke he made.

Comforting.

But answers were what he came here for so he might as well get them. He sat down on a log, and urged Dagur to continue.

"Well, after I came to the unfortunate realization that I was completely expendable while part of the Dragon Hunters and under the command of Viggo Grimborn, Oh, I would have loved to have seen the look on his face as I drove a-"

He cut off from his outburst and took a deep breath to calm himself, something Hiccup would have never seen him doing, until today of course.

"Have you ever tried that?" Dagur asked, "it's cathartic. I used to think the only deep breaths were the last ones." He explained before laughing again, "how's Heather?"

To say Hiccup wasn't deeply uncomfortable and weirded out would be a complete and utter lie, "Yeah, you know, Heather, she's okay." He said, hoping Dagur didn't notice the concerned expression on Hiccup's face. Dagur scowled like he was... disappointed?

What could he possibly be disappointed about?

"Good. Good. And her dragon? What was it, Windshower?" Dagur asked. "It's Windshear." Hiccup provided, "Right. Sorry." He berated himself as he turned back to Toothless, "here you go, little buddy."

Watching Dagur say "sorry" was weird, watching Dagur comfort Toothless was like watching the twins talk about skinny dipping.

"Anyway, after that learning experience I drifted at sea for quite some time, then shipwrecked here." He explained while adding more wood to the fire.

"I've been alone on this island for months. You know, it's amazing what a near-death experience and hours upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours of alone time will do to the mind, body and soul, Hiccup."

He just blinked, "I mean, you should try it sometime. I've met someone who had been isolated for much longer and he was the wisest person I've ever met, I mean-" Dagur cut off suddenly and just froze for a moment, "you didn't hear that from me," he said, but by then Hiccup was already focused on the concept that Dagur of all people would be doing meditation.

He just couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation in general.

"What's so funny?" Dagur asked him, "you, this. I mean, I knew you were crazy, but this takes the cake," he answered only to be met with Dagur standing to face him, "I am not!-" then his eyes shifted downwards, "...crazy. but I do understand your skepticism." He finished.

"Dagur, why in the name of Thor should I believe a word you say?" Hiccup asked exasperated, "you shouldn't. I don't deserve the benefit of the doubt." Dagur answered, throwing more wood into the fire.

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

"So… I'm not crazy?"

"No, but I do find it concerning and very confusing as to why and how Pitch has been here for over a decade, while I've only been here for about a year," he said it more to himself than to Dagur.

The story went something like this. Dagur had been passing in and out of consciousness for almost his entire life. So much to the point that he found it normal, until everyone started calling him crazy, that is.

What Jack concluded is that when someone starts to become a Fearling, they're consciousness is split in two, the person, and the Fearling, so basically D.I.D? Jack didn't know enough about the disorder to tell fully.

The Fearling would then pretend? To be the person, he'd have to find out more later, but right now, this was the perfect opportunity to get an upper hand on well, everything.

He looked to Dagur who as fiddling with the fire, they had decided it was best to move this conversation to Dagur's hidden cave, "I might need your help with something Dagur,"

"With what?" He asked, throwing the burning stick at the wall, Jack refused to flinch, "with stopping the one who's causing this and saving everyone… including your sister," he started, but continued when he saw Dagur was going to say something, "but I need you to keep it a secret, from everyone, even your sister," he said, "you in?" He held out a hand for Dagur to take.

And Dagur took it.

°•○●○●○●○●○●○● ◇ ●○●○●○●○●○●○•°

"Bitterweed, that's the first ingredient. Looks just like this but darker." Dagur explained, gesturing to a small green plant. Hiccup walked over to examine them closer.

"So, what caused this new Dagur?" He asked, curious, "I told you. Near-death experience and a lot of time to think." Was all he got.

Hiccup still wasn't sure if he believed it yet. "About what?" He asked, digging for more information.

"Well, when you only care about yourself, life is simple. Your actions are clear. Consequences?" He paused to laugh maniacally, "Who cares? When that changes…" He trailed off suddenly looking somewhat wistful, "Heather?" Hiccup asked, "She's blood, Hiccup. Which makes her even closer than you and me."

Since when in the name of Thor were we close? He thought. Dagur just winked at him.

"Okay, now we need the branch of a Fire Fern." Dagur instructed, and of course, that's when something red caught his eye. "It's the long, red plant underneath the big Elm Tree." Dagur explained.

Well this is long, red, and under an Elm Tree.

Naturally Hiccup assumed this was the plant. He went over to collect it when a feeling like fire ran up his arm, he couldn't help but scream at the sudden flare of pain.

He barely registered Dagur explaining how he shouldn't touch it with his bare hands. "Thanks for the early warning." He sassed. Dagur just groaned and said, "I gotta work on that."

He grabbed Hiccup's wrist and dragged him over to a river, shoving his hand into it. The cold water threaded through his fingers like it was actively chasing the pain away.

"Keep it in the water." Dagur told him, "hey! Next ingredient, fresh water." Dagur cheered, before grabbing a waterskin and thrusting it into the river to let it fill.

"So, you wanna tell me why you're out here on your own?" Dagur asked, "not really. Let's just say you weren't the only one who changed after Viggo Grimborn," was all Hiccup gave him. Dagur hummed in response, looking… like he understood.

"That stuff can kill you from the inside, Hiccup. Revenge. Anger. Obsession. Trust me, I know," Dagur told him, looking more sincere than Hiccup had ever seen him, "it can make you do things you never thought you were capable of. Cause you to take chances, make mistakes. If that doesn't end you, it'll eat away at you slowly," Dagur paused, he seemed to consider something before ominously adding, "Fear is the best motivator… remember that," Hiccup raised a brow at this as Dagur stood up.

He never gave an answer to Hiccup's confused expression, however, only said, "you'll live." Before walking off.