You heard the familiar noises of dragons and their riders swooping overhead and past your window as you sat up right in your bed. Ghostripper jolted awake as you woke up gasping from your dream, giving you a slightly annoyed but questioning look. You placed a hand on your chest, your heart thumping in your chest as you tried to recall the fading memories of your dream.
You'd been dreaming more and more about Dagur lately. Whether it was because it had been 3 years since the war with the Berserkers or just because you'd gone the longest without seeing him now since he'd been locked away, you didn't know. But the uneasy feeling it gave you thinking about it wouldn't leave as you got up and ready for the day.
"I know boy, I know. I'm alright though." You spoke gently to Ghostripper, stroking his scales affectionately as he stood on his back legs and nudged you with his nose.
As you walked out of the door to meet your father at the great hall. After successfully negotiating a new treaty with the Outcasts and remaining Berserkers after Dagur had been sent to prison, you'd begun training with your father and Alvin of all people to become the future ambassador of Berk for any new traders or tribes who decided to show themselves in the future.
It was a suitable role for you, especially considering you were the sister of the future Chief of Berk. A lot had changed in 3 years, Hiccup had grown up a considerable bit and was now very annoyingly taller than you rather than you are being of similar heights. You had of course grown as he had, which many Berkian women had commented on as it had happened, but you couldn't focus too much on that during your training.
The last time you went to see Dagur, almost a year ago on his birthday, he'd not been able to take his eyes off you through the cell doors as you were sat holding a small present out for him. It wasn't anything he could hope to break out with. It was a lock of your hair braided into a bracelet.
You'd forgotten just how wide his smile could get when he was excited about something.
Taking your mind off Dagur, you debated asking your father if you could go to check on the Outcast prison. After the dream you had, you didn't want to leave anything up to chance, even if you were called crazy for thinking a dream could actually become true.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind me being late to check on the most dangerous prisoner in the Archipelago, right?" You asked Ghostripper with a cheeky smile. He responded with a small bound towards you, turning his saddle so you were able to get on. It had been a while since you'd been able to fly with him.
You gave a laugh at his enthusiasm, giving a quick wave to Astrid as you mounted him.
"Where are you off to?" She called to you, landing on Stormfly as you prepared Ghostripper to set off.
"I need to check something near Outcast Prison, can you cover for me? It'll only take like, an hour or so." You asked her as she dismounted and walked over to Ghostripper, giving him an affectionate pat on the head.
"Why, has something happened?" Astrid asked you, giving you a suspicious look.
You shook your head with a small laugh, "No, no. I just have a feeling that I should check it out, you know? I'll be fine by myself!"
She squinted her eyes at you before shaking her head, smiling at you, and motioning for you to take to the skies. "You owe me!" She called after you as Ghostripper hovered.
"Call it even at a new axe?" You replied, receiving a laugh and a thumbs up as she turned from you and made her way towards the Great Hall. Looks like your training was paying off.
You scanned the ocean below you as you left Berk's shores to head towards Outcast Prison. Something distinctive caught you off guard. The very familiar screams of Bucket and Mulch. They hadn't exactly changed much when it came to seeing something that looked a little too out of the ordinary. Spotting their ship, Ghostripper dived straight for it as their shouts got louder.
As you got closer, you heard in between the screams the tell-tale laughs of the twins who had just played their latest prank in worship to Loki. You sighed, rolling your eyes as Ghostripper slowed down his dive towards them and hovered above the ship.
"What are you guys doing? What did I tell you about Bucket and Mulch? You know they're terrified of sea monsters!" You scolded them, as much as you'd have loved to laugh about the prank and its reactions, you had bigger things on your mind.
"Oh! Lady Y/N!" Turning your head to the side quickly you spotted Trader Johann over Tuffnut's back.
"What the- Johann??" What was he doing out here and on Barf and Belch with the twins?? No way had he been pranking with them, especially considering the state he seemed to be in.
"I beg of you, take me to Master Hiccup at once!" He pleaded, looking up at you pathetically as Tuffnut and Ruffnut simply stared at him. Bucket and Mulch had since calmed down and were looking between the twins, Trader Johann and yourself in confusion.
"Ah ah! Finders' keepers, Y/N! And we happen to be the finders!" Tuffnut made a shooing motion with his hand as Ghostripper got closer to Barf and Belch.
You sighed, "Fine, let's at least get him back on dry land though."
"Dad?" You announced yourself as you kicked open the doors to the Great Hall. Stoick and Hiccup were stood there, your father looking slightly irritated at your late arrival before noticing Trader Johann on your shoulders.
"Y/N! Great Thor, what's happened to him??" Stoick asked, quickly making his way over to you and lifting Johann off your shoulders. Hiccup looked at you with a quizzical expression. You shrugged your shoulders at his clear question of "What happened??" as the twins peered from behind you at Johann.
"Johann, what happened to you?" Stoick asked the man, holding him up as he took a few deep breaths, his legs barely holding him up as he managed out one word. Or more specifically, one name.
"Dagur..."
"What about Dagur?" Hiccup enquired, taking a step closer as you felt your vision going slightly blurry. You blinked it away and inadvertently took a slight step back, the twins bracing an arm each in case you fell. You already knew what was coming.
"He's escaped! He's more Berserk than ever, and by the way he was talking, he's got tunnel vision for you, Lady Y/N. And Master Hiccup! You're the first on his revenge list!"
Queue your face instantly losing all colour, to which the twins at first grinned, but noticed just how ghostly pale you'd gone and exchanged concerned looks, while Hiccup had an expression of anger written across his face.
Before you could get any more information out of him, Johann passed out. Something you almost did if it wasn't for Ruffnut smacking your cheek to keep you awake.
"Ruff, Tuff, can you go get some water for Y/N please?" Hiccup asked him, taking your arms from them as they nodded quickly and ran towards the kitchens. You couldn't find any words to come out as you continued to stare at Johann, who was now passed out in Stoick's grip.
"We'll keep you safe. I promise." Your brother promised, a slight growl in his voice resonating that you'd never heard before. You had managed to calm your breathing with some practices Gothi had taught you, which thankfully had also returned some of the colour to your cheeks.
"Hiccup, you know I can handle myself-"
"No, no I know that! But you heard what Johann said. Dagur's broken out of the highest security prison in the Archipelago and is probably gathering another armada to come after us as we speak." Hiccup sighed, rubbing a tired hand on his forehead.
You gave an acknowledging nod to his worries before standing firm on your decision to help find and re-capture your ex-fiancé.
"And that's why we have to protect each other. We've handled this before and we'll handle it again."
"So, what I'm taking from this is that Dagur could literally be anywhere by now?"
Snotlout asked in irritation, watching your brother point to the map of the Archipelago in front of you all.
"Well...yes." Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, glancing to you for a split second. Snotlout, always one to point out the obvious.
"Oh great! Just great! That's the last thing we need, just when my life was getting simple again." Snotlout raged, throwing his hands in the air in exhasperation just as you noticed Trader Johann walk into the academy.
"Master Hiccup, Lady Y/N!" He called to you, earning a small, sympathetic smile from you.
"How are you feeling?" You ask him, a hand on your hip as Hiccup stands by your side. Johann had his hands clasped together and still looked rather sickly after his encounter with your deranged ex-fiancé. But at least he was alive.
"Oh, I'm feeling much better, thank you for asking! Now, Master Hiccup, I have a strong suspicion of where our nefarious foe may be hiding!" Johann used a whistful, darker tone of voice as he gestured to the map, a tone he only really used when he used to tell you and the other dragon riders about dangerous voyages that he'd been on in the past. You swallowed slightly; mind only temporarily taken off Dagur before Johann brought him back up.
"I believe he may be just inside the Archipelago, on the outer most islands that are hidden by the fog bank." His whimsical tone of voice continued as his arm sweeped over the map to gesture towards where he thought Dagur would be. You placed a hand thoughtfully on your chin as your eyebrows furrowed while taking in the look of the islands. You'd never been there before, even in the years you'd had dragons.
Hiccup, ever the mind reader, relayed this to Johann.
"We've never been out that far, how would he even know how to get there?"
Johann rubbed his arms and shivered while recounting how Dagur commandeered his ship and stole an important map that seemed to lead to a graveyard of ships. Those ships in particular were said to hold a lot of secret treasures and weapons, perfect for someone looking to rebuild an armada.
"Wooooow, that's the first place I'd go after breaking out of prison. Not back home to my nice warm bed, no!" Snotlout interjected again, gaining a small snort from you at his sarcastic tone. It was true though, Dagur clearly hadn't lost his deranged touch of doing exactly the opposite of what a normal person would do.
"Master Snotlout, if I may be allowed to finish?" Johann asked, already annoyed at having to put up with Snotlout's interruptions of his story.
"Uh, last time we allowed you to finish, we ended up on Breakneck Bog! So no, no finishing." The most this, admittedly humorous, interaction got out of you was a small smirk and eyebrow raise before Hiccup intervened. Had it been a normal day, you would've been laughing with Astrid at another round of Snotlout vs Trader Johann in who can talk the most.
But considering everything happening, your heart just wasn't in it.
"What exactly is so special about this fog bank?" Astrid took the small silence after Hiccup silenced everyone to voice her question, to which you realised it was the perfect excuse for Johann to tell one of his stories again.
"Aha! Well, you see-"
"Short version please!" You pleaded with him. He went uncharacteristically quiet.
"...It's where I store all my treasures and wares." Your eyebrows raised and mouth hung agape as you looked at Fishlegs and then back to Johann. He'd done it. He'd actually been short and to the point. Crazy times you were living in...
"Is there anything else we need to know about this ship graveyard?" You asked quickly, body already feeling the adrenaline you got when you were about to embark on a mission. It had been 3 years since you'd felt it but oh man, was it a welcome surprise.
"Oh, yes! There is one ship that must be avoided at all costs. It's called...The Reaper...riddled with traps from stem to stern! I barely made it out alive the first time I dared venture aboard! Ooh, wow!" Johann was clearly re-living his memories of his first time on The Reaper as his eyes went slightly glassy and he shook his head.
You gave Hiccup a look that said 'we signed up to this.' He gave you a small nod in return before all of you made your way over to your dragons. You made short eye contact with Astrid, grinning excitedly at the thought of actually flying your dragon with purpose for the first time in years. She gave a small chuckle, patting Stormfly as she mounted her.
It felt like nothing had changed as you all soared through the skies away from Berk. Ghostripper glided easily through the formations Hiccup had you all do, before Snotlout and Hookfang burst through your group, announcing "500 pounds of flaming muscle coming through!!!"
You gave a laugh, feeling at home again with your friends on their dragons and the wind in your hair.
"You still feel up to this? Last time you saw Dagur you said he tried to grab you through the cell." Hiccup asked you, still looking worried. He never changed, in 3 years, despite all of your training, searching for different dragons and obvious maturing you'd done, he still worried about you. Despite the fact he knew you could hold your own almost better than anyone else on Berk, Hiccup would always be a protective older brother.
"I'm fine, Hiccup! Promise! And he only tried to grab me because he didn't want me to leave. I barely saw him you know, all the time he was locked up." You replied, looking down slightly with guilt written all over your face as you remembered the 3 times you went to see him.
"I mean, you told me, that you told him...that you love him? Is that uh...still, y'know...?" Hiccup never was the best person to talk about love, especially when it came to the thought of you and Dagur, who had tried to kill him multiple times, as a couple.
"Wha- uh- I mean??" You leaned away from Hiccup, trying to look anywhere else but him, only to find Astrid giving you a curious look as well as Fishlegs. There was no escape.
"May-maybe?? It's been 3 years for Thor's sake Hiccup-"
"But you've tried to visit him at least 100 times during that!"
"Yes, 3 of which you and dad let me go! 3! The least I can do is still-"
You instantly realised your mistake as Hiccup's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened. He didn't exactly look angry, just in shock at the fact you almost out loud let yourself admit you still had feelings for Dagur. Astrid looked slightly less so, considering you'd spent the last 3 years talking to her every so often about how you felt.
But your thoughts were dragged away from the past as the twins, or more specifically Tuffnut with Ruffnut copying him, started making smooching noises at you.
"Oh Dagur! I love you Dagur! If you don't break my friend's legs, I'll marry you, Dagur!" Tuffnut's awful imitation of your voice in addition to the embarrassment of shouting that in front of all your friends made your face scrunch up in a scowl, red adorning your cheeks.
"You can't prove I said any of that, Thorston!" You shouted back, leaning forwards on Ghostripper as he gave a fake growl at Tuffnut.
"Uh oh, she only uses our last name when she's actually angry, FLY BELCH, FLY!!!" Tuffnut shrieked as Ghostripper shot after the Zippleback, which took a minute to drag its other head along at a faster speed to escape your embarrassed rage.
After you'd taught Tuffnut a lesson by dangling him over the side of the ship you landed on, Ghostripper and the other dragons had fled at the presence of giant Eels in the waters of the Ship graveyard.
You decided to search through one of the ship's cabins and deck storage to see if you could find anything.
That, you did. An incredibly shiny silver sword was lying in a chest. It was so shiny in fact, that you could see your reflection in it. You pointed it away from you, then setting it down to pull out a similarly shiny broach. It didn't have anything printed on it, clearly it was for holding up a warrior's cape. You decided, screw it. Mine now. And pinned it in your hair.
Picking up the sword again, you inspected the patterns and marks engraved on the handle. "Look at this beauty..."
"I know, aren't I to die for?" You jumped about 10 feet in the air, almost dropping the sword as you gave a yell. Snotlout let out a cackle from behind you as you turned to him, red again with a scowl on your face.
Upon seeing the hair he had stuffed underneath his helmet however, you gave a snort. Which turned into full on laughter. In the last few years, you'd grown from being mostly annoyed at Snotlout, to being very midly annoyed at him at best. He didn't really mean much harm, he just had exceptionally high expectations placed on him by his father and was constantly trying to live up to them. Admittedly, by scaring the life out of you and almost making you stab yourself in the foot, but still.
"What's with the hair??" You wheezed, calming down and using the sword to lean against gently. He flipped it, resulting in a small exhale of air from you in amusement. "I found it in one of the other cabins, thought I'd test out a new look. What do you think? Do I look like a Viking lord or what?" He flexed his muscles and stuck numerous poses, causing you to break out into another small fit of laughter, closing your eyes and holding your head in your hand.
You didn't hear the footsteps approaching from behind Snotlout before he was knocked out cold on the floor. You gave an alarmed gasp, gripping the sword tighter as a soldier stood before you, a smirk plastered on his face as he stepped over Snotlout and made his way towards you.
"I recognise you, don't I." His gruff voice filled the silence aggressively, you knew he was one of Dagur's men instantly. You gave him a glare, readying yourself to strike before another voice entered the room behind the soldier.
"Don't take another step, this one's mine." It growled, foosteps coming closer as an all too familiar face revealed itself from behind the soldier. Your grip on your sword wavered slightly as you saw him, rugged fiery red hair and beard, blue streaked eye and arm and wicked smile all told you it was one person.
He seemed to have been prepared to fight one of the others. You guessed he assumed you'd be either near Hiccup or back on Berk. Clearly though, he wasn't upset over the fact you were here. His face, which had been twisted into a malicious grin as he'd approached you, turned into that all too familiar love-struck wide grin he always had when around you. In that moment, every emotion you'd ever felt came crashing down on you as you took a step back.
"Dagur..." You breathed quietly, standing perfectly still as he took you in. Clearly Dagur was having a similar experience to you because he was stood almost as still as a statue. His wide eyes piercing your own before he commanded the soldier to leave the room. As soon as he did, Dagur dropped his own sword and launched himself at you.
You didn't have time to react, your sword dropping to your side as his huge arms wrapped you in an incredibly strong embrace. You could tell he was touch starved from the drawn-out inhale he took of you as soon as his head was over your hair. Your arms hesitantly wrapped around his middle as you already felt the shaky laughter coming from him as he gripped you tighter.
After a few minutes of you just stood there, hugging Dagur as he cackled, he pulled back.
"Y/N, look at you! It's only been 10 months, 28 days and 9 hours, but you've gotten so much more beautiful since I last saw you!!!" He fawned over you, one hand stroking your hair while the other gripped your waist to stop you from moving. All the while, he had that wide grin plastered on him, his eyes roaming your face and body to see how much you'd changed.
"You...you counted?" You asked, referring to the fact that he'd been actively counting the months, days and hours between your last visit to Outcast Prison. Something about it just did not sit right with you. But on the other hand, something about it struck a chord with you. Gotta love a guy with time management skills. Even if he's a raving lunatic.
"Of course! After you gave me this little token of your undying love for me, I've been counting down until I finally have you in my arms again, my love!" He purred, hand rubbing your waist affectionately as he showed you the bracelet, you'd given him for his birthday almost a year ago. The hair was slightly matted and honestly it looked 100 times worse for wear than when you gave it to him. You could not believe he'd worn it for a year.
"Undying- What? Dagur it was a birthday present-" You tried to explain, slightly confused but also slightly flattered at how seriously he'd taken your gift before he cut you off by slamming his lips onto yours. Your eyes widened and both of his hands pressed against your waist to pull you against him, hands rubbing and gripping the fabric. It was almost as if he was wishing it weren't there in the first place.
"There's no need to explain, my sweet! I already know how you feel about me, so how about you let me take care of your brother and his Nightfury, and then we can finally get married, yeah?"
Your mouth was once again agape, eyes wide and staring at him with horror as Snotlout let out a painful groan from the floor.
"WHAT?!"