Okay, this is where things REALLY get started! That's all I'm going to say! :D Enjoy chapter 4! :D


The look of fury that crossed Hiccup's face was something like Fire Lily had never seen before.

"What?" he exclaimed in absolute shock. Hiccup took a step backwards, unable to believe what Fire Lily was saying to him. "What...what do you mean? How could-"

"I had no idea what they were doing," Fire Lily promised desperately. "I saw two of them earlier pouring some weird looking stuff into barrels, and they said it was poison. They also said that my father was completely into it...they said he ordered it."

Hiccup stepped back again, putting his hand against his forehead. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Lava Louts were trying to poison them? That explained why they were being so friendly to them earlier...it explained a lot of their behavior, actually.

"I can't believe this," he growled. Really, he was more angry than anything. He shouldn't have trusted those traitors. He should have trusted his instincts of not buying their lies. "My first peace treaty signing as Chief of Berk and the first thing the opposite tribe tries to do is kill us."

What was he supposed to do now?

"I'm so sorry, Chief Hiccup," Fire Lily said. "I swear, I had nothing to do with this. I don't know why they think they can...but please don't tell anyone I told you! They said they would kill me if I told you!"

"They won't have a chance," Hiccup said. He was still in shock, but he was angry now. "As soon as my tribe knows, your tribe will be in the dungeons. They won't be able to hurt you, I promise. We'll think about what to do with them later. Right now, we need to focus on bringing their treachery to light. Understood?"

Fire Lily choked on a sob and nodded feverishly. Hiccup lifted her head with two fingers under her chin, and she met his eyes. She was only thirteen, and it probably took a lot of courage for her to tell Hiccup what she just told him.

"You did the right thing, Fire Lily," he said. "Thank you."

Fire Lily nodded, and afterwards, they stepped out of the room, Hiccup mentally planning what he was going to say.

"Oh, he's back," Astrid said, standing and approaching Hiccup. "Hiccup, what was it? What was wrong?"

"I have another announcement," Hiccup said. "Here goes." He stood up in front of the others and clapped his hands together. "Now," he said. Oh gods, how am I going to put this? "First of all…" He took in a deep breath and raised his hand. "Why are you Lava Louts trying to kill us?"

The question sent a chorus of confused whispers, coming mostly from the Lava Louts. Hiccup knew that, according to Fire Lily, her father had ordered the poison, which meant he probably told his people, which meant that he'd probably told them to "play dumb" if anyone grew suspicious.

"What is he talking about?" a Lava Lout whispered.

The Berkians took steps away from the Lava Louts, equally confused, but trusting their Chief wholeheartedly.

Hiccup put his hands up for silence. The whispers were steadily rising to outrageous shouts, and Hiccup didn't want that to happen. Astrid stood beside him, ready to back him up if he needed it, and as soon as the hall was quiet again, Hiccup continued.

"Your heir," Hiccup said, "Fire Lily, said that she saw soldiers poisoning our drinks earlier today." Gasps echoed throughout the hall. "And she said…" Hiccup swallowed. Wonderful treaty signing, he thought bitterly. "She said that the soldiers said she did it on the order of Chief Fearsome."

Fearsome gasped. "I did no such thing!" he said. "My daughter is lying!"

"I know what I saw, father," Fire Lily said in a choked voice. "I'm sorry."

"Hey!" a Berkian shouted - it sounded like Snotlout, and it wouldn't have surprised Hiccup. Snotlout was always very outspoken. "If you're so sure it's not poisoned, Fearsome, drink it yourself!"

"YEAH!" the others agreed. "DRINK IT YOURSELF!"

"No, no!" Hiccup shouted putting up his hands desperately, trying to get his voice over the shouts. "Stop this!" he said. "We aren't going to do this!"

"Hey, how about YOU drink it!" a Lava Lout shouted. Hiccup swallowed hard.

"QQQQQQQQQQQUUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT!" Astrid screamed, and instantly, the hall fell quiet. "COULD YOU ALL SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THE CHIEF FOR ONE SINGLE MOMENT, PLEASE!?"

"Thank you, Astrid," Hiccup whispered, and Astrid nodded to him. Hiccup looked back at the Chief of the Lava Louts and crossed his arms. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" he asked.

"I did not poison anything!" the Chief of the Lava Louts insisted. "Drink it, Hiccup, and I can assure your safety."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. He couldn't trust the Chief of the Lava Louts, he knew that now, but if he didn't drink it, there would be no evidence to back up his accusation. And if he didn't drink it, someone else would, and if it was poisoned, they would suffer, and Hiccup didn't want anyone of his people to suffer.

So, he reached over and picked the chalice up off the table.

"Hiccup," Astrid gasped.

"This is an act of trust," Hiccup shouted, ignoring his wife and raising his cup over his head. "I don't want to believe that any of you would ever poison me, but...we're renewing a peace treaty. If that's what you've really come to do, then I'm going to drink this and hope that I live. My life is in the hands of whoever did or did not poison it."

Without another word or warning elsewise, he downed the contents of the cup.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted at the same time Valka did. Hiccup lowered the cup, waiting for the effects of the poison to set in.

But nothing happened.

Moments passed, and still, nothing happened. Hiccup felt himself sigh with relief. Maybe Fire Lily saw something else, he told himself. Yes, she probably did.

"It's fine," Hiccup said simply.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he felt as though someone were choking him. He coughed once, trying to get the lump out of his throat, but it only seemed to make it worse. He felt like someone was forcing something up his throat irregularly, and yet he couldn't clear it away or swallow it.

Everyones' heads whipped in his direction. Breathing became harder. He put his hand against his throat, but when his knees buckled a moment later, he stopped to put his hands forward to brace himself against the ground. He dry heaved, trying to get air that simply didn't seem there.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, racing towards him. She collapsed by his side, putting her hand on his back, her other hand looking as though it wanted to grab him and pull him into an embrace. "Hiccup...Hiccup, breathe," Astrid coaxed, but even then it only did so much. At length, after nearly dry heaving up his lungs, he made a move to stand.

"I'm alright," he lied. "Just...just help me up…" She offered him her hand, and he took it, letting her pull him upwards.

"Alright," Astrid said, putting her hand on his back once again. He was still bent over nearly double, and Astrid kept her arm positioned around his chest. "Alright, come on, easy does it. Sit down and we'll get a healer for you, alright? Easy, Hiccup."

Before they got far, the tightness in his throat returned. His legs felt like straws, feeble and unable to bear his weight. He fell back towards the ground with a pinch of terror.

Astrid caught him and cradled him, holding him in her arms, sitting on the ground and checking him over although by her panicked features she already knew what the problem was. Hiccup glanced over at the other villagers, who were seizing the Lava Louts, weapons aimed, ropes in their other hands. The Lava Louts remained stunned in shock as the Berkians began tying them up.

Fire Lily was the only one who wasn't surrounded by Berkian soldiers, and Hiccup figured that it was because she was the one who told them about the poison in their cups.

Hiccup thought all of this in only a split second, because the next thing he knew, he was gagging again, coughing and gasping for breath although it didn't help in the slightest. He felt the need to vomit, but he couldn't even do that. He felt like he was being strangled by imaginary hands wrapped around his throat, choking the life out of him breath by breath.

"Hiccup, Hiccup," Astrid begged desperately, "shhh, shh, I've got you...oh my gods, don't die. Don't die…don't die, please. Hiccup...Hiccup, breathe...breathe, please...I've got you, shhhh..."

It wasn't as though Hiccup couldn't breathe. It was just as though in order to breathe, he had to suck in a breath so deep it felt as though his lungs were going to explode. And whenever he did that, it left him struggling and suffering in a coughing fit. His chest felt oddly clogged and tight, and that didn't make breathing any easier.

"Someone get a healer!" a terrorized villager shouted. Hiccup could barely keep himself focused on anything else, so he kept his eyes fixated on his wife as she soothed him, caressing his forehead and his cheek gently with shaking, terrified hands.

Then, suddenly, Hiccup couldn't breathe at all. He tried gasping, but there was no air for him to grab. He was suffocating, his chest growing tighter and his throat feeling constricted. He started panicking; he couldn't breathe. He was going to die.

His mind went fuzzy. He heard lots of people shout, but he was dizzying, the edges of his vision blackening. He heard people scream in terrified tones, but he couldn't figure out which voice belonged to which person.

"I'm losing him! Someone help me!"

"Where's that healer!?"

"Someone do something!"

"He isn't breathing!"

"OH MY GOSH."

"Hiccup...HICCUP!"

Hiccup's world spiralled into darkness.