Author's Note: TW: Mentions of child loss/stillborn.

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 a 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 hands and sat at the foot of 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, Skade, tortured him for information on the dragons. He never caved. Even sent them on a wild goose chase toward 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 has happened."

"How long should that take?" Jorn wondered.

"The dragon needs to rest for a few days before he is able to fly," Mala said, as she walked in, hands wrapped around her stomach. "Dagur, dear. I know the timing could not 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, eh, 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 two decades. 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 is she?" Dagur asked.

"She is 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.

Hiccup drifted between the world of the living and the land of the dead. He could hear voices, both old and new. He couldn't understand what was being said, though, try as he might. Occasionally, he would catch glimpses of a warm, well-lit room, but there was screaming and crying in the distance. He would see figures floating around him. None of them had faces or familiar shapes. Just blobs that looked vaguely human. He could feel pain radiating throughout his body and, he assumed, people touching him.

He tried focusing on the voices in an effort to get through this, but he couldn't maintain focus long enough to distinguish any of them. Eventually, he just settled on trying to get back to the living world. He wasn't ready to go to Valhalla. His tribe needed him. Astrid needed him. The dragons need him to protect their secret.

Dagur couldn't make up his mind. One minute he was sitting, and the next he was pacing like a caged animal. Once in a while, Mala would let out a scream, followed by a slew of curse words normally not spoken by a queen. During the breaks, she would yell loud enough for the men to hear as she damned Dagur for putting a baby in her.

The Berserker Chief really wanted to go up and be by her side, but it was not a place for men. Having a man present during delivery was seen as bringing ill fortune to the family. Only in worst-case scenarios could a man be present. And even then, they would have to pray and sacrifice to the goddess Freya to offset any bad omens that might come their way.

After several hours, all the commotion upstairs had ceased. Dagur stopped pacing, standing at the bottom of the staircase, holding his breath, and counting the seconds. One. Two. Three. Four. Fi-. Then the most beautiful sound filled the air: a crying baby.

Author's Note: Let's count how many surprises I've sprung on you so far. Astrid's pregnancy, Toothless, Dagur and Mala, and now their baby. Well, I guess that's it for the surprises. Okay bye

Until next time

PSYCH! WE ARE NOT DONE YET! I have many more surprises in store. So stay tuned for me. Please feel free to take a guess as to what else I could possibly have in store for our cinnamon roll and his friends in the reviews.

Okay for real this time. Until next time