Exile

No Mercy

Eleven. [Contains scene-Sexual Abuse]

They sighted the island by the middle of the next day, when Hiccup was still lying swathed in his patched blanket, recovering from his whipping. Roar had cut the boy down a couple of hours after the beating had ended, arguing not unreasonably that the boy had saved their lives and that leaving him exposed to the cold would probably kill him. The Captain-Vorg-had agreed, knowing his duty was to ensure what Dagur needed happened, and Dagur needed the boy alive.

Roar stared at the ashen face, his fresh bruising on his gaunt features pitiful. He was hunched and the Berserker had read a horrific tale of abuse. He tucked the boy tighter in the blanket. Sometimes, he was ashamed of his Tribe. Gently, he shook the boy's huddled shape until his eyes opened. "Shh!" he said quickly as the boy stirred, his eyes widening in fear. "You don't want to anger Dagur, do you?"

The tiny, ashamed shake of the head told everything. Hiccup managed to get to his feet and stared at the island. The shape was familiar because it had only been a few months since they had defeated the Skrill but somehow, it seemed like a whole lifetime.. The dragon was buried very deep in the ice and it would take months to dig it out. He swallowed. The Skrill was as deranged the Berserker Chief and had taken a deep dislike to Hiccup and Toothless. It had taken the efforts of the clever boy, the super quick and brave Night Fury and the help of the fearless twins to trap the dragon last time.

Dagur emerged and giggled. "My Skrill will be glorious!" he announced. Then he turned to Hiccup and closed his hand cruelly around his neck. Hiccup froze: any time Dagur touched him seemed to bring back the final moments of Truth or Forfeit. He blinked hard. "And this time you won't get your frail little hands on my dragon!" Dagur added menacingly. Hiccup went rigid, his eyes dark with fear. He shook his head slightly.

"No, Master," he whispered.

He was a slave. He belonged to the Berserker Tribe. He had been exiled from Berk, disowned by his father, abandoned by his friends, thrown out of his Tribe.

He was probably even a traitor now.

Dagur released him and gestured for the Captain to moor them on the only viable beach, an ice-swathed ledge just above sea level. The Berserker Chief was impatient and was pacing like a caged animal as they moored and the gangplank was lowered. Dagur raced off first, followed by his close guard and Savage. The Outcast gestured and Hiccup was bodily picked up and dragged along as well. The Berserker Chief glared at him and he stared back, almost too scared to speak.

"Well?" Dagur snarled. Hiccup glanced up the sheer ice wall.

"Up there," he said breathlessly. Dagur grabbed his tunic.

"And how am I supposed to get up there?" he hissed. Hiccup stiffened. He swallowed once.

"Climb?" he suggested. Dagur's fist curled and he began to hyperventilate. "L-look, I-I was on T-Toothless when I w-was l-last here..." He mastered himself. He was being truthful: he should have nothing to fear. "We-we flew up to the c-caves and trapped it. We melted ice to freeze it." Then he allowed himself a slight smile because he could see Dagur was completely mad at the 'but' that Hiccup had deliberately omitted from the tale. No matter what he said, he would pay dearly for this disaster. He had delivered the Skill, but it would take Dagur's men half a year to dig it out. "It may take some freeing!" he added and there was the vaguely taunting note in his voice that cut the Berserker to the quick. Dagur was almost shaking with rage now, his mad eyes locked on the boy's white face. Despite his beatings and the awful mistreatment, he was still defiant.

Dagur lifted his head.

"Get up there, search and find my Skrill!" he screamed. Then his hands closed tighter on Hiccups grimy tunic and he began to drag the boy back to ship. "And you...this is a forfeit," he hissed, with hatred in his voice. He continued dragging the struggling boy. "We will locate my Skrill, I will make you pay for your lies and then we are destroying Berk!"