"Ash? I need a little help." Ash looked up from her letter to see Hiccup standing in the doorway of her hut on one foot, his peg leg in his hands all broken and bent, like his last one when Snotlout accidentally sat on it.

"What happened? And where's Toothless?" Ash asked, setting her charcoal pen down and hurrying over to Hiccup to help inside.

"In the woods, got a Gronckle to fly me back here." Hiccup explained, gesturing to the green Gronckle outside the hut who was snorting and panting. When it's eyes landed on her, it gave an excited noise that sounded like a horse and a pig and tackled Ash and Hiccup to the floor.

"Shattermaster off!" Hiccup yelled. Storm, who was asleep on his bed nip, awoke to all the commotion and screeched at the Gronckle before releasing a small bolt of lightning at the dragon's foot.

"Storm!" Ash scolded as the frightened dragon gave a yelp and leapt off of them and hid behind Ash. "Bad Skrill! Put that out before we get a fire!"

Storm snorted in annoyance before stomping his foot where the wood was starting to smoke until it elwent out. He gave the Gronckle one more annoyed look before stalking out of the hut to sleep somewhere else.

"Now, do you want me to act as a cane and get you to your forge?" Ash asked as she got off the floor and helped Hiccup up.

"Yeah, I need someone to get my tools so I can repair this or get a spare." Hiccup replied with a small nod.

"Don't you have any spares?"

"Nope, this is the last spare. Been meaning to fix the other ones but..."

"You've been too busy, I know. I'll help, but I'm going to the woods afterwards to check on the Triple Stryke."

"No no, it's fine! He's perfectly fine!" Hiccup exclaimed quickly. "I check on him this morning and he's already claimed a part of the island to be his territory."

"Well I was hoping to work with him, see if we can possibly train him or look for any untreated injuries." Ash replied, confused about her friend's strange actions.

"Sleuther is perfectly fine, I promise." Hiccup assured her and gave her a nervous smile.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, your nose is twitching and you're stuttering. Two very sure signs that you are lying." Ash said with a frown.

"Am not!" Hiccup protested until he saw the look Ash was giving him, the same one her mother gave when she caught them misbehaving. "Uh...oh gods how do I explain this in a way where you won't blow up..."

"I have plenty of time Hiccup." Ash said, setting Hiccup on her desk and folded her arms over her chest. "Speak."

"Dagur is in the woods...and he asked me to help him train a dragon to find-"

"He's what?!" Ash shrieked, causing Hiccup to flinch at her raised tone. "That idiot! I told him to stay there! Ugh I am going to kill him!"

"What?" Hiccup asked in alarm as she stormed out of her hut. "Ash! Ash wait- oof!!" In his haste, Hiccup had completely forgotten that he was missing a leg and had faceplanted onto the hard wood. "Oh great..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tell us where Hiccup is and things will go a lot easier for you!" Astrid threatened as they were dragging Dagur back to the base.

"I told you, here's right here getting a spare!" Dagur protested.

"Sure he is, I've had enough of these lies!" Tuffnut said and glared at the Berserker. "Either you start singing like a canary, or we will!"

Before Dagur could respond, both twins launched into a very noisy song full screeching and making everyone wince and cover their ears. They stopped when they heard the loud thud of a dragon landing and turned to see Ash jumping off Sweet Song and storming over to them.

"Ash get this guy to talk! He refuses to tell is where Hiccup is!"

"I'm telling the truth!" Dagur snapped and lowered his head to the ground when she approached. "Look I'm sorry for leaving the island, I know you told me to stay put and go nowhere near the Edge but-"

"Sorry?! Sorry?!" Ash yelled angrily, yanking Dagur to his feet by the straps of his armor. "IF SORRY WAS ENOUGH THERE WOULDN'T BE NEED FOR HELL!"

"What's going on here?"

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs exclaimed as the said Viking was walking towards them. Astrid shoved Dagur aside and marched right over to Hiccup.

"What's going on here? Dagur says your buddies now and you were training him to ride a dragon?" She asked and poked him in the chest with each statement.

Hiccup gave a nervous laugh and pushed her finger away. "Funny, uh that's a really interesting story I have to tell you all about."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...and when I turned around he was gone, just like that." Hiccup said as he finished his tale. "And Ash mentioned something about him staying there."

Everyone looked over at Ash who was seated on a stool and glaring at Dagur the entire time.

"I went to go save this idiot's ass a few days after Heather and I escaped with his help and I told him to stay on the island because I knew it I took him to Berk or the Edge, either you lot or my father would murder him on the spot." Ash explained and glared at Dagur. "Everything I say really does tend to go in one ear and out the other with you."

"I had no choice! The hunters attacked the island and I had to leave!" Dagur argued. "So I figured I should go looking for Heather, it's why I'm here and asking Hiccup to help me train Shattermaster."

"Wait, the green dragon Hiccup brought to my hut to ask me for help?" Ash asked, the image of the excited dragon surfacing to her mind.

"Yep! That's him!" Dagur said with a grin and Ash groaned.

"I need to check on my dragons." She muttered before walking outside. Ash heard someone follow her out, but she didn't need to turn around to see who it was. "I'm still mad at you for disobeying me by coming here." She announced loudly and heard Dagur groan behind her.

"Ash, I didn't have a choice. Plus Heather-"

"Heather is probably very mad at you, she might split you in two the moment she sees you!" Ash snapped and turned around to face him.

"But if I could show her I really have been trying to change, maybe she'll accept me!" Dagur retorted and looked at her sadly. "I really wanted to start a new life the moment you left me on that island. I've been working on keeping my temper, trying to respond to things in a non-violent way, I've really tried Ash."

Ash let out a sigh and shook her head. "Your sister won't be convinced, but Hiccup is already convinced and I am as well. The others however, need convincing. At least try not to annoy Astrid the way Gustav or Snotlout have."

"Snotlip is the one with the flaming dragon, right?" Dagur asked and received a nod from Dagur. "He was....also the second rider I met when you guys did that thing on Dragon Island."

"He said you called him Snothat, and his name is Snotlout."

"I've heard worse names than that."

Ash snorted and shoved him to the direction of the clubhouse.

"Go and try to make peace with them, just try." She said before hurrying off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"His training wasn't so bad today, he's a really fast learner." Hiccup told Ash during dinner as Dagur was laughing and being entertained by the twins.

"I've been watching, I'm surprised that he's managed not to fall off the whole time. None of you were able to do tricks like that when you were all starting out after a week of riding." Ash replied and cast Dagur a proud smile. She saw Dagur look at her and smile back.

"Hey Ash, come tell Dagur about that incident of Elin when she was hoarding!" Ruffnut called and waved her over.

"Elin had a hoarding problem?" Dagur laughed as Ash came over and sat down next to him. "What was she hoarding?"

"Yeah, when she was a baby she used to steal anything shiny that was lying around. Like runes or a forgotten knife and at point she managed to get ahold of Daenerys' ring." Tuffnut replied. "Once she snatched Snotlout's helmet off and he didn't notice it was gone until dinner."

"And that time you sent Smothering Smokebreaths at us, a lot of people suspected her." Ash added. "When she got older she started stealing sheep, yaks and boars and hid them in a cave. Never ate them, but it turns out she was upset that I hardly spent time with her so she just plucked whatever seemed cuddly and snuggled it. Of course after we returned the animals to their respective owners, she'd go into their pens and cuddle the ones that actually like her."

"She really is a big softie." Dagur chuckled.

"Before I what?" Ash and the twins froze when the heard Heather and turned to see her standing in the doorway of the clubhouse with Snotlout. Her eyes widened when she saw her brother and then narrowed dangerously. "You!"

Dagur, not noticing his sister's anger, stood up with a happy expression. "Sister!"

With a loud war cry, Heather unsheathed her axe and charged at her brother.

"Heather no!" Hiccup yelled. Dagur saw the axe and tend braced himself for impact, only to see the blade inches from his face.

"I guess that a hug is out of the question?" He asked. Heather gave a yell and her fist hit him right in the face.

"Heather!" Ash shrieked as Dagur stumbled back, covering his bleeding nose.

"Oh! Oooh that hurt as most as bad when Ash punched me in the face!" Dagur groaned as he plugged his nose in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Ash glared at her friend before removing Dagur's hand to see how much damage was done.

"Mind explaining why he's here?" Heather asked the other riders and glared at each of them.

"Uh...well....it's a long story." Hiccup admitted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hiccup Haddock I cannot believe you've been keeping my Heather from me!" Dagur scolded Hiccup and rubbed his sore nose and chin. "I was so worried! Was she hurt, was she okay?"

"Oh please, like you care!" Heather snapped and looked to Ash and Hiccup. "And how could you two be helping my mortal enemy?"

"He's your brother Heather, why can't you just let it go and consider the fact that he's sorry for what he did to you as a child?" Ash asked.

"You'd feel the same way if one of your older brothers was human and did what he did to me!" Heather snapped.

"Drogon, Rheagal and Viserion would never do that to me! I never even got a chance to ever meet then, they died before I was born!" Ash retorted and felt her heart ache. It always hurt just thinking about the three dragons who lost their lives protecting their mother, their step-father and the baby sister they'll never see until the Stranger came for her. "I trust him, Hiccup trusts him!"

"I don't care! Don't you think it's suspicious that he appears the day before our attack?" Heather asked.

"To be fair, that's what I was thinking." Astrid imputed.

"Most, if not all, those are true. But I really am trying to change sister." Dagur said and looked at his sister sadly. "Please, believe me when I say that I am sorry sister."

"Don't you ever call me that, traitor!" Heather spat and shoved her axe under his chin. Ash shoved Dagur behind her and shoved the axe down while she glared at her friend, as if daring her to step forward and attempt to strike her brother down.

"I'm not a spy, I don't know how I can prove it. But you'll all have to take my word for it." Dagur said as he pulled Ash back and looked to the other dragon riders, expecting at least one to step forward and claim they believed him. He knew Ash believed him, but what of the others? When none stepped forward, he let out a defeated sigh.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd take it either if I were you." He mumbled, not even bothering to hide his disappointment. "Well, thank you all for the hospitality, but Shattermaster and I will be leaving now. Good day." He added before heading to the door.

"Dagur, wait!" Hiccup called.

"I said good day!" Dagur yelled and wiped at the tears that were starting to fall.

Ash gave her friends a disappointed look before rushing out of the clubhouse to follow Dagur. She managed to catch up with him and grabbed his hand.

"Dagur, please don't go." She begged.

"No, I have to go. It's obvious that I'm not wanted here." Dagur said and looked at her sadly. "I was waiting for someone else other than you to say they believed me, but they all just remained silent."

"It's just hard for them, they've endured too much cruelty from you. But even I can't excuse their actions after they tried being nice to you until Heather showed up."

"I don't blame them. You better head back now."

"No, I'll go with you. I'll escort you back to Berserker island and stay until you are back on your feet."

"You sure you want to do that? For me?"

Ash smiled softly and threw her arms arms round him. She heard Dagur give out a small sigh before hugging her back and felt a smile form on her lips.

"I'll go get my dragons ready, I'll meet you by the stables." She said when they broke the hug.

Ash hurried off towards the stables where her dragons were waiting. Sweet Song gave a yawn as her rider opened the door to the stable where she was curled up with Stormfly. The Nadder looked up with tired eyes to see who woke her up before relaxing when she saw it was just Ash.

"Come on, we're leaving sleepyhead." Ash whispered as she picked up the tired Deathsong from the soft hay and shut the door behind here. "Where's Val?"

Sweet Song gave a yawn and nodded at Windshear's stable. Ash walked over to it to see Val curled up on her mother's back as Windshear was gorging herself on a basket of sea slugs. She looked up when she heard Ash approach and leaned her head back to pluck Val from her back. The baby Razorwhip gave a small squeak of protest before relaxing when she was placed in Ash's arms.

"Shhh, it's okay." Ash whispered ash she transferred the baby dragon to her shoulder where she tucked herself under her hair and wrapped her tail around Ash's waist. "We're just gonna go get Storm and Elin and head out for a few days. "You'll see your other again soon."

Once she got Storm's saddle, Ash hurried right to her hut where her Skrill was fast asleep. After a few minutes of trying to wake him up as quietly as possible, Storm was wide awake, a bit cranky with his saddle on his back and ready to go. Ash was just finishing packing up some clothes when she heard someone knocking on the door of her hut.

"Who is it?" She called as she tucked away her last shirt into a saddlebag.

"It's Snotlout! We just locked your boyfriend up!" She heard Snotlout yell from the other side of the door.

"What?!" Ash exclaimed and ran over to throw the door open. "Why did you guys do that? He was going to leave!"

"Hiccup and Astrid found him looking at the battle plans of the shipyard, they couldn't risk him going to Viggo to warn him if he really was a spy." Snotlout replied and looked over at Storm. "And by the looks of it, they probably shouldn't have because you were planning to leave as well."

"Where is he?" Ash asked, ignoring his last statement.

"Stables, only place where we could lock him up. I did tell Hiccup we should build a jailhouse to keep enemies in. Maybe have a few scary dragons patrolling it for extra security.

Ash was already hurrying out of her hut the moment Snotlout told her where Dagur was. Luckily, no one but Chicken and the other dragons were inside the stable. She found Dagur in Shattermaster's stable, sleeping peacefully against his dragon's side as the dragon happily munched away at some rocks.

"Dagur, wake up!" Ash called. Shattermaster stopped eating and made a loud noise that woke Dagur up with a start.

"I didn't do it mom!" He yelled and looked around wildly. His eyes landed on Ash and he gave a sigh before using his dragon to get to his feet. "So, you heard what happened?"

"Yeah, I can't believe they did this!" Ash exclaimed and looked down at Chicken, who was quietly glaring at Sweet Song. "And they left Chicken to guard you?"

"Yeah, that was awkward." Dagur admitted as Sweet Song crawled down from Ash's shoulder and dropped to the floor to growl at the bird. "It's not gonna look good for you if they catch you here."

"I'm not going to leave you in here to rot! You said it was a suicide mission!"

"I know, I told Hiccup but everyone is still wary that I might turn on them. I don't want you guys to go get yourselves killed, and it's really gonna hurt me if you, Heather or Hiccup died."

Ash reached through the stable door to grasp Dagur's hand and rested her head against the door. "I am not too sure about this mission either, but Viggo doesn't know that we know about the shipyard."

"I'm telling you, it's a trap! By the time any of you realize it, it'll be too late!" Dagur pointed out as he gripped her hands with his bound ones and looked at her in the eyes. "Promise me you'll be safe."

"I'll try to, I'll really try." Ash promised him and felt her eyes water. "I can't promise you that I'll make it out alive, but I will do my best."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ash gave out a sob as she ran out of the clubhouse as the sky overhead darkened. Perfect weather to match her mood. She could hardly believe what had happened earlier that day, the memory still fresh in her mind.

"You idiot, why?" She sobbed as she stopped at her hut and leaned against it. She could hear the rumbling overhead getting louder, but she didn't care. "Why did you do that?"

Earlier Dagur had escaped the prison and flew out towards the shipyard. Everyone thought he went to warn Viggo, but instead managed to take out almost the entire fleet with just Shattermaster. By the time they got close, Dagur had flown into a blanket of smoke and never emerged. It took all of the gang and Heather to hold Ash and Storm back to keep them from charging in and killing themselves.

Ash heard another crack of thunder and felt the cool drops of water hit the top of her head. She fell to her knees as the rain began to pour down harder, her hair and clothes starting to get soaked. But at the moment, she didn't even care.

'Was this how my parents felt when their lovers died?' Ash wondered. 'I can't even even give him a proper funeral!'

She heard a small croon and looked up to see her dragon looking down at her, her beautiful golden eyes looking sad and dull. Ash reached forward and hugged Elin's snout as tightly as she could. Despite the cold, Ash felt warm hugging her dragon, a feeling that disappeared when she realized that Dagur would never come back.

"It hurts so much Elin, I don't know why!" Ash cried as she buried her face against the tip of Elin's nose. The blue dragon crooned softly and lifted a giant wing up in attempt to keep her rider dry.

Ash continued to sob as the rain came down, ignoring the cries of her friends until she felt the twins and Heather help her off the floor and lead her back to her hut. She allowed them to remove her soaked clothes and change into something dry before she threw herself onto her bed and wrapped herself in her blankets. She felt her three friends crawl or sit down on the bed and hug her tightly; Heather sitting near her feet while the twins enveloped her in a tight hug.

Meanwhile, Val was curled up near her mother while Storm curled himself on Meatlug for comfort while Sweet Song was snuggled next to Barf and Belch. Elin remained outside of the stables, but she wished she was still small enough to go in and curl around all the other dragons. It pained her to see her mother in so much pain after she witnessed the death of the one human she never expected herself to fall in love with. It wasn't fair that the hunters were still alive and the poor boy and his dragon were possibly dead. Elin looked up to the stormy sky as she watched lighting pierce the clouds. She tilted her head back and gave a loud roar, letting the whole world know of the pain the dragon princess felt.

'Let those hunters hear my cries, let them know that the dragon princess will strike back at them with vengeance.' Elin thought to herself as she released another roar. She could hear the other dragons in the stables and the ones scattered along the islands taking up her cry. 'Let them know that she will want fire and blood in revenge for the death of a man who changed not only for her, but for his sister and himself.