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Adrenaline is racing through him, lightning every sense and Toothless, for all his speed, doesn’t feel fast enough. He’s doing his best, of course, flying forwards eyes narrowed as he angles himself through the wind’s wild mercy, but when Dagur’s fleet finally comes into view, it’s already largely in shambles – or at least a few central boats are.
Windshear and Stormfly stand out jarringly, shimmering silver and colorful blue, against the boat’s wooden boards. Heather and Astrid.
And where Heather, is Dagur.
Dagur, tied on the ground and Heather is lifting her axe for the killing blow, Windshear’s tail rising.
Toothless takes out the razorwhip spines before they can detach.
“Stop!” Hiccup yells. He leaps from Toothless’s back, grabbing a rope from one of the sails and swinging in, skidding to a stop just in front of Heather and pulling her back.
“Move, Hiccup,” Heather orders, her eyes wild and furious.
Wild in a way that looks so much like Dagur, but that’s not where his fear is even if the rage always has his heart skipping a few beets, and the axe she’s holding doesn’t help.
He still forces himself to breathe, desperate to put a stop to this, to give what he knows even if he hasn’t had two seconds to stop and actually think or be angry about the long list of very important things his dad conveniently never told him. Would’ve been great info, don’t know, maybe three and a half years ago?!
He’d screamed his lungs out with frustration into the sea and sky as he flew back to Dragon’s Edge, only to see the map his friends had strung up on their clubhouse wall for his return, a map that marked the end of – of Dagur, and Heather’s soon-to-be never-ending spiral of pain and vengeance.
“No, you don’t understand,” Hiccup tries to get out through his lungs screaming for air and the panic rush leaving him lightheaded and shaky.
“You told me I’d have another chance, and this is it!” she yells back, her eyes wild.
“Look, you told me your father gave you this?” He holds up the horn that Toothless had dug out of Heather’s bag, the one with Berk’s seal his dad’s seal engraved into it.
“He did, but what are you doing?”
“Look, Heather –” Toothless crashes onto the deck behind him. The thump shudders the boat, and both dragons are looking at him. Astrid is watching, Dagur is watching, everyone’s watching and he feels dizzy. Too many expectations, too many eyes. “My dad made this to you. It was from our mother.”
Heather’s eyes go wide. “Our mother? I’m – I’m your…”
“No – I – it – look, it’s a long story,” Hiccup fumbles off shakily, “But it’s more than that, Heather, my dad wasn’t our mom’s first marriage. You’re my half-sister. Your father was Oswald the Agreeable, the Chief of the Berserkers. And… he’s also Dagur’s father.” He’s trying to get a wild grip on his own head right now, he has no idea how to handle Heather’s other than by dumping the truth on her outright. “You can’t kill Dagur because he’s your – he’s our –” Hiccup’s eyes flit to the Berserker, on his feet again somehow and mostly wriggled out of the restraints the girls put on him, watching wide-eyed. And Hiccup just as quickly looks away. “Brother.”
And it’s numbing his mind to say that word. A word he never wants to think, much less say aloud.
His sister’s eyes are wide. The world still feels fuzzy to Hiccup, too, like colors are whirling around him and the air he’s standing in feels too far away to reach, his lungs burning and burning. He’s shaking, too, Toothless’s grounding presence behind him being all that’s keeping him upright.
Heather drops to her knees, panting and shaking. Windshear whines softly.
He wishes he didn’t have to tell her. That he didn’t have to tell either of them.
Astrid is gaping. Stormfly’s head is cocked to the side, her gold eye blinking at everyone. Even they’re astonished.
And Dagur, of course, is the one to break the silence by descending into a hysterical bout of laughter.
Hiccup hears him without the disgust he might once have felt. Now he’s just tired. Very, very tired. He’s more resigned than afraid, still overwhelmed after two days of nearly straight flight, thinking of nothing but that. Just – tired.
After a lifetime of growing up alone, of longing for… someone, when he finally found a family and place that made him happy, he finds what he wanted so dearly throughout his childhood – something to never be alone. And, in Dagur.
Of course, with Hiccup’s luck, it just had to be Dagur.
Which makes absolutely no sense, he’d have believed it a whole lot easier if Stoick sat him down to explain that Valka Haddock gave birth to a certain Night Fury.
Because at least that would’ve made sense.
“I have to admit, you never disappoint, brother,” Dagur says through his cackling. “I knew you were always my brother! I just didn’t know it was by blood, and that’s – that’s – that’s amazing!” And then he’s cackling hysterically again.
Heather is still on her knees, one hand gripping her other arm and panting. Windshear is curling around her back, nuzzling her forehead to prompt movement, but Hiccup’s had panic attacks, and he knows it takes a lot more than a simple touch to snap one out.
“Hiccup.” That’s Astrid, but he can hardly think about her at all, or even Toothless, just the madly cackling-to-tears redhead in front of him. “The fleet, they’re –”
“Ohhh.” Dagur is coming closer to him now. Too close – Toothless snarls protectively from his side. “Come, brother and sister, we can have the amazing family reunion we were always meant to!”
And he just holds his arms out to them like, somehow, either of them could think about hugging him after everything he’s done.
“Hiccup, we need to get out of here,” Astrid is saying, and something nearby is clanking. The blonde is moving to mount her dragon again, and Windshear is snarling. “The rest of his fleet is coming in.”
Hiccup hears but his brain isn’t really processing anything. “No, if it’s okay with everybody,” he says, “I’m staying for a minute, we –” Just to cry-laugh into the floorboards and ignore the rest of the world for an hour.
“Yeah, not an option.” Astrid is on Stormfly, “Heather, come on! if we don’t leave now, we’ll be overwhelmed.”
A pair of Deadly Nadder claws whisks him away from Dagur’s attempt to hug him and carries him into the sky.
Nearby streaks silver and black. Windshear carrying Toothless. Because he can’t… fly. That’s right. Because –
Oh, he can’t form a single logical thought, can he?
“Oh, come on!” Dagur is yowling behind them. “I’m your family! Join me! Don’t fight destiny. Come back, sibs!”
“That’s not even a word!” Heather shouts over Windshear’s saddle bars.
“’Heather the unhinged’ and ‘Hiccup the Horrendous’ have a nice ring to them, no? Wayyy better than Horrorcow.”
“For the last time,” Hiccup shouts as they fly away, “That’s not my name!”
“Okay, can someone please explain to me what just happened?” Astrid’s voice fades in from above him.
Yeah… not a bad idea, really.
***
“Can we take a few minutes to talk about… that?” Fishlegs taps his fingers together over the table where he’s been fidgeting since everyone crashed into the clubhouse again. Hiccup’s still watching, halfway dazed over the last few days’ fallout.
“Can we not?” Heather requests. She was quiet most of the flight back, Hiccup thinks, except he spent most of it still operating under a wild state of shock himself.
“Uh, no, can we, please?” Snotlout leans against the table beside Fishlegs, snickering. “You and Dagur. Siblings? Can we just talk about the irony and family drama here for a minute?”
“No, thank you.” Hiccup fixes his cousin with a fierce glare. He would rather not, actually, think about it. He doesn’t want to think about Dagur at all, or to even try making sense of the mess in his head. “Look, Dagur’s the guy we’ve been fighting. He wants us dead and Berk off the map.”
But blood still means something. Dagur meant something even before, and now…
“And that is why I would much rather have a sister.” Tuffnut’s hand shoots up in offering.
Ruff grins and raises her own in response.
“Not you, obviously,” he quickly corrects, “But a different sis.”
Ruff scowls, then takes to ignoring him. “The family drama here is immeasurable,” she volunteers, “It’s even greater than the entire Thorston family drama, and you know what that means.”
“Uh-huh,” Tuff nods gleefully.
“Yeah, thanks for that, guys,” Hiccup says with the driest sarcasm he has ever spoken. “Made me feel much better.”
“How about Hiccup and I just take this outside?” Heather requests, pushing herself to her feet.
It’s sunset on Dragon’s Edge now, the shimmering light creeping towards the horizon as it fades to golden-orange and the clouds turn pink. Golden sunlight shines across everything on the island, and it’s… beautiful. Under other circumstances, Hiccup could appreciate it more.
Toothless and Windshear are playing, which gives him a nice thing to watch for a moment, then he tries pushing all worries from mind and just turns back to Heather. And focuses on, for once, just Heather.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find you better news.” And that her mom is… dead. Eaten by dragons, to be precise. And If Hiccup killed their mother’s killer, he feels nothing. Red Death isn’t something he feels pride over. All it reminds him of is fear and pain, the gutted emptiness of his disownment and the flames that followed, months and months of spasming, numbing pain.
“Are you serious?” Heather asks, and she’s facing him now.
“I mean, that Dagur is…”
“Let’s not talk about him,” Heather interrupts, her fingers curling over his. It’s the first time Hiccup remembers holding her – his sister’s – hand. But it feels nice. “Hiccup, I might never be able to meet my parents, but at least I know who they are. And I finally know who my little brother is.” She finishes with a gentle smile.
He’s overwhelmed, and overjoyed, but it comes with so many messy feels and most of his news was sad. “Oh.”
Heather hugs him. His sister, Heather – and they’ve been through so much together, but he trusts her, or at least he has faith in her even if he can’t trust her ability to take care of herself and not get killed.
“To be honest,” Hiccup confesses to her sheepishly. “I… don’t think I’m ready for you to leave again. We – we just found each other.”
“I do have a lot of things to figure out.” Heather’s head leans against his shoulder, her arms around his back. “But I don’t want to leave you, either.”
“Then let me help you,” he tries. He just got Heather back into his life. There’s no way he’s risking her… leaving and disappearing on him again. She means too much to him. She’s… his sister. “Whatever we need to figure out, we can do it together.” He has a sister, something else of his mother, someone of his own flesh and blood – and it’s Heather, which alone is… uplifting.
Heather sighs, smiles, and Hiccup thinks, for the first time in her life, tells the truth. “Okay. I’ll stay.”
He curls up next to Toothless late that night, sinking into the dragon’s wings and soaking in his warmth, trying to force away the reality of the world. He wishes he could wish away the long string of Dagur-related worries. Wishes he could stop thinking about how this guy is his brother is something that matters to him so, so much.
***
Hiccup doesn’t actually remember why he was out, just pretty sure he isn’t in his room, and the slow rocking of the bed beneath him nicely adds to that. He’s in a boat – a familiar feeling. But a confusing one, too.
“Hiccup!” Dagur’s face pops into view over his, and he immediately says goodbye to all hopes of sanity. “Oh, you’re awake, finally. I was getting worried.”
“What the –” Hiccup flails, trying to get upright. Dagur is right here? No, he’s with Dagur right now, and as nightmares go, that’s one of the worse ones. He’s – he’s – been captured. Again. Didn’t Toothless get shot down or something? His last memories are a little foggy.
Is he even still alive?
All I care about is wearing that Night Fury’s skull as a helmet –
“Toothless!” He fights his way upright, shoving Dagur’s hands off and eyes wildly scanning the room, but no, it’s just… a ship. Sort of looks like captain’s quarters, but he sees no cage, no sign of Toothless o anything. “Where is he? What did you do to him?!” He tries to get up, but his weight crashes sideways and Hiccup topples uselessly onto the floor.
Ugh.
He pushes himself up, panting.
“Oops,” Dagur says, holding his prosthetic.
“Give that back!” Hiccup tries to get up, but one-legged, he can’t run, and he feels so, so helpless.
“Relax, brother, your glorious Night Fury is perfectly fine.”
“Where is he?!” Hiccup yells at him. He grabs the beds’ edge and hauls himself to his feet – uh, sorry, foot. And Dagur keeps his other foot nicely out of his reach. “What did you do to him?!”
“Oh, he’s in the next cage or so. But you and I are going to have a nice little chat, brother.” He chucks Hiccup’s leg over his shoulder like it weren’t, actually, something he needed to walk with, thank you, a very integral literal part of who him, thank you very, very much.
“Let me see him!”
“Uh, no, we’re talking first. What? Else you’ll just run off and we’ll never have our little heart to heart. You broke up our last family reunion, you know.”
“That’s really not how I remember it.”
Dagur pauses. “Oh. Huh, maybe not. But still. We’re not having our moment broken again.”
“What moment? For the last time, we were not having a moment!”
“I was!” Can he at least respect personal space?! Hiccup huffs as Dagur loops his arm around his middle and hauls him backwards to sitting back down, which is significantly easier than balancing on one foot. “Alright, little brother, with our most recent discovery that you and I are apparently siblings, which is still very difficult to fathom, I just can’t believe neither of our parents ever told us.” He scowls.
“Yeah.” Hiccup either, actually. That’s the only thing they have in common.
“But,” Dagur announces, suddenly back to cheerful again, “I thought we could talk about our glorious future.”
Toothless should seriously have killed Hiccup in the woods.
“There isn’t an our, Dagur.”
Why does he look so hurt? He’s the one who spent three and a half years chasing Hiccup all over and trying to kill Toothless. And all of his friends.
“Yes, there is,” Dagur argues, “Come on, little brother, we have so many things to talk about!”
Hiccup squeezes his eyes shut and tries to breathe. Those words would’ve been irritating once. Now, he’s just terrified. Because he knows it’s true.
“So,” Dagur says cheerfully, “Maybe you can tell me exactly what that cylinder thingy is, and we can take a look over whatever glory fortune it has together, hmm?”
“No,” Hiccup says flatly.
His smile drops into an instant and fierce scowl. “Oh, come on! You can’t just hide it from me forever!!”
Hiccup tries scooting further away. Dagur’s all up in his personal space, and his heart is racing and his throat feels tight. But he’s stubbornly determined not to pass out. He’s not going to cry, either.
“We’re brothers, Hiccup!” Dagur insists, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him like it could do something other than making him dizzy. “Brothers share. We should’ve grown up together, we should’ve spent time together and I already missed three years –”
Oh, gods. Hiccup scoots farther back until he bumps into the wall and wood is digging into his shoulder, and his hands raise to ward him off, move back please, thank you – and Dagur sees so sincere, he hates it. Dagur missed three years because Hiccup put him in prison.
He – he had to, Dagur was going to wipe out Berk, and Hiccup didn’t have a choice, but he – he –
He wishes he didn’t have to, he wanted a sibling so badly when he was growing up, and somehow that had to come in the form of one of his greatest fears, not to mention after he was already grown up.
He never – he hated what Dagur stood for, what he did and how intense he was.
“I,” he fumbles out, words failing him. “Uh.”
Dagur’s hand cups his cheek. He shouldn’t be so gentle, but he’s gentle, and he’s almost smiling, some sort of terrifying, twisted fondness in his eyes. “Ohhh, you really do have my eyes,” he says, terrifyingly adoring.
Yeah. He does. He and Heather have the same eyes, Fishlegs had said once they looked remarkably similar for not being siblings. And Dagur and Heather have the same eyes, but he never thought that meant he looked anything like Dagur, he doesn’t want to be anything of him, he doesn’t want this at all.
The only one he wants to be like is Toothless.
“That’s – that’s amazing, brother! Why don’t you find any of this funny? Look at us! We spent all this time fighting, and we were brothers all along!”
Hiccup, for his part, is not amused by anything. “It has a tiny bit of irony, I guess?” Oh, and at least Dagur’s not touching him anymore. Small victory. “But – but, you know I-I don’t think we really see eye-to-eye on anything, I mean, what I want for my future…”
“Is probably with me in prison,” Dagur replies, his face falling. And he looks so hurt that it actually hurts Hiccup.
He doesn’t want to put that face on anyone. Not even Dagur. Not even if he tried to kill him and Toothless and Hiccup wants to tell himself this means nothing, but that’s not true, it means everything and he’ll never be able to shake that truth. “N-no, I – I just want – I finally got a reason to be off Berk, with the Dragon’s Eye and everything. I want to learn, and I don’t think you’d live with that option, like – ever.”
“Ohhhh.” Dagur starts cackling. Hiccup doesn’t even understand what’s funny, but here he is, cackling like a madman – okay, that’s not so surprising, really. Hiccup, for his part, just tires to take a few deep, calming, levelheaded breaths. “That is very Hiccup of you, brother! And you’re right. Not very me. But if you can teach me how to ride a dragon, maybe we can go on some really cool adventures together!”
…oh boy. “I’m not even getting a choice in this, am I?” Hiccup queries miserably.
Dagur grins right back widely.
“Alright, fine. You come back, and I’ll tell Heather you insisted, so you can, uh, deal with that conversation and not me.” But, unfortunately. “I will have to be around to make sure she doesn’t kill you, though.”
Dagur for once doesn’t look delighted, but the way too relieved nearly tearful smile is not any better. Thank you. “I knew you cared!”
“Um.” Did he doubt that? Of course, Hiccup cared about him – he thought that was really so obvious, that he couldn’t let go of anybody and he couldn’t let go of Dagur for all that he’d wanted to hate him sometimes. He couldn’t, because that’s simply not who Hiccup Haddock is, but – Dagur…
Makes absolutely no sense anyway, and Hiccup’s really tired of wasting braincells trying. Still, though. That hurts.
Okay, yeah, just a normal every day in the life of Hiccup Haddock. “Okay, can I please have my leg back now?”
Dagur laughs.
“That’s not funny! Have you ever tried walking on one leg?”
“Well no, but I can imagine it. It probably would look pretty funny.”
Thor help him, Hiccup is going to actually kill this person.