"Stupid dragon root arrow!" Ash muttered as she attempted to move her leg and winced in pain.

Earlier during the attack on the Edge, she had been defending the woods with Sweet Song but both got shot at in the process. Sweet Song was fine, just a little dizzy from the crash, but Ash had fallen off her dragon when the arrow hit her leg when she tried blocking it.

The Deathsong whimpered softly and nuzzled her rider as she crooned apologetically. Ash rubbed her snout in assurance and looked down at the gash from the arrow on her thigh.

'Okay I got the tip out, but can I get up?' Ash wondered.

"We got you now, princess."

Ash turned to see four dragon hunters with arrows surrounding them and gave a frustrated groan.

"For cripes sake, I wish Valyrian was here." She muttered as she tried getting up but fell back on her rear, earing a laugh from the hunters.

"Surrender your dragon and we won't kill you." One hunter said mockingly and the others laughed again.

"Surrender? If you knew anything about my family, you'd know my answer." Ash said as she attempted to rise again, using Sweet Song to boost her up and balance on her good leg.

"If you surrender perhaps Ryker won't kill that tribe he bought you from." Another hunter suggested. "You're still his slave."

"I am not his slave!" Ash growled and gripped her sword. "I am a free woman! And I will not be working under a man who thinks dragons are better off as food!"

"Shut your mouth! And surrender now!" The first hunter yelled as his companions took aim at Sweet Song.

"Easy girl, don't waste your amber on them. Not yet." Ash said as Sweet Song growled and opened her jaws to blast at them.

Just then, Ash heard a familiar clicking sound and smiled. What fools these men were, didn't they hear what her companions did a few months ago at the dragon fights?

"Oh Sleuther! Come to mama!" She called out in a sing-song tone.

There was a loud roar followed by a war cry as the Triple Stryke leapt out of the bushes with Dagur on his back and slapping the dragon hunters away with his tail.

"No one touches this princess while I'm around!" Dagur yelled as the soldiers scrambled away.

"Good boy! Who's my good boy?" Ash cooed. The dragon crooned and scurried over to Ash, nearly knocking her over. "Easy Sleuther! My leg is hurting!"

"Oh great, not you too!" Dagur groaned and winced when he saw her injured leg. "And I have to go back and get Shattermaster back! He's hurt badly!"

"I'll be fine, you and Sleuther go back and get him, I'll just ride back to the base." Ash said as she limped to Sweet Song's back and tried climbing on.

"No, I'll take you to the base." Dagur said hopping off the Triple Stryke and hurrying over to her. "Sweet Song can go with him to get Shattermaster."

The Triple Stryke screeched and motioned for the other dragon to follow him before Ash could argue.

"And leave us defenseless?" She asked as Dagur scooped her up in his arms bridal style and started to walk to the base. "That is like the worst plan you ever had."

"We won't be because we both know these woods better than the hunters. I've got this whole place memorized." Dagur assured her. "Besides, Shattermaster doesn't know this dragon and Sweet Song can't carry him either so he'll let her amberize him and let the Triple Stryke carry him off."

"Or did you just send them away so we could talk?"

"Now why would I do that?"

Ash crossed her arms over her chest and gave Dagur a knowing look.

"Because I told you the other night that I would tell you how I felt about what you told me but you and Heather had to leave so I never got around to tell you."

"Alright you have a point, but that's not why I had both the dragons go off."

"Quick question, how did you even get onto Sleuther anyways? He never lets anyone but me ride him even after we trained him." Ash asked glancing back at the path the dragons had taken.

"Oh well me and Shatty were cornered and he saved us." Dagur explained and grinned. "He's so full of surprises! And that tail is just amazing!"

"Well he is surprising, after all he is my baby."

"Can we share him?"

"No."

"Where is Storm anyways?" Dagur asked, looking at the sky in hopes of catching sight of the Skrill that was never far from Ash's side

"Keeping an eye on Viggo." Ash answered.

"So are you gonna answer my question from the other day?"

Ash sighed, and looked away. Dagur frowned a bit and walked over to a boulder and placed her on it.

"Dagur...we've been friends- very good friends these past months, and I don't remember when this started but I had felt my heart start to soften to your kindness." Ash said after a moment of silence. "But I am afraid of what would happen to you after you told me how you felt and kissed me. The last friend I had who did that died in my arms and I didn't want that to happen to you."

Ash could feel her eyes tearing up and felt a few of the tears already sliding down her cheeks.

"I lost my only friend who had done everything to keep me safe and make me feel comfortable and tried helping me get my memory back! And now he's dead because he died protecting my dragons when they were still eggs!" By now Ash was sobbing and hiccuping uncontrollably.

Dagur immediately wrapped his arms around the crying girl and held her tightly as she sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly as he attempted to calm her down.

"You won't loose me Ash, you'll never loose me. I'll always try to be here to protect you." Dagur promised as his friend cried. "And even if I died I'd find a way to keep on protecting you."

They heard a loud roar and both looked up to see a young Razorwhip the size of Toothless land nearby. It looked around before walking over to them and rubbing it's head against Ash's arm gently.

"Wait is this Valyrian?" Dagur asked in surprise. "She's grown so big! Last I saw her she was the size of a wolf!"

"Yep, she's grown pretty big." Ash chuckled and rubbed her dragon's chin. "My little baby is no longer a baby now, she's a teenager."

"They grow up so fast don't they." Dagur said and chuckled. "The first time I ever saw her she was just a baby, barely the size of a Terrible Terror and now look at her! She's a beauty!"

Valyrian purred and sat back on her haunches with her head held high and puffed up her chest in pride.

"Thanks to being around Stormfly and Hookfang she's now just as vain as them." Ash said shaking her head and gave a small laugh.

"Has she been trained to let someone ride her?" Dagur asked getting up from the rock and putting Ash back into bridal carrying position.

"Indeed she has, she can carry me and Heather and can withstand the weight of Fishlegs."

"Pretty impressive. Then let's get back to the base to get that leg of yours fixed."

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

The two soon were in Ash's hut with the rest of the gang. Dagur had Ash remove her pants and boots to look at her injury to see how bad it was. Lucky for her, it wasn't as bad as they thought since it hit her lower thigh. Everyone watched anxiously as Dagur was cleaning out the wound with a wet rag.

"Can you all stop staring, you're making me nervous." He asked and placed the wet cloth back into it's bowl. "And if someone could hand me the bandages that would be great."

Fishlegs hurried forward with the bandages and helped Dagur unwrap them. Dagur carefully wrapped the bandages around Ash's thigh and made sure it was tight before tying it off.

"Well it's almost as good as a maester's handiwork." Ash said making a grab for her pants from Smudge who had been holding onto them.

"Luckily you got no arrow bits stuck in the wound." Hiccup said with a nod. "Who knows what Dragon Root could do to humans if it got in their system."

"I know what dragon nip can do to a human." Ash said, casting Dagur a look. "Especially to one who has the word 'deranged' in his title."

"Can you blame me?" Dague asked.

"So what's your answer to my brother's question? And you know exactly what question I am talking about." Heather asked. "Everyone knows that Hiccup and Astrid's relationship went over the friend zone and into the romantic zone, so what about you two?"

"Is it that obvious?" Dagur asked as he and Ash looked at each other in worry.

"Clear as day." Tuffnut answered.

"And it's very obvious." Ruffnut added.

"Not to mention we've seen the way you both have been acting around each other and how you two look at each other." Snotlout added and smirked. "Unlike Hiccstrid, it was obvious with you two."

"Well...I finally gave Dagur my answer and he's okay with it." Ash said and looked at Dagur with a smile. "We talked about it in the woods and on the trip over here."

"And what is it?" Heather asked.

"Well it's-"

"-for us to know and for you all to find out!" Dagur finished and Ah gave him a small laugh.

"Oh come on!" Snotlout groaned.

"Still, just wait Snot-hat."