I really tried to finish the chapter in time, but I'm just not ready yet. School just started up for me again, and...ugh. I need another week.

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Hiccup broke the surface of the water, sputtering and gasping for air. The stream had come out of nowhere, not even the sound of rushing water gave it away. One moment, he and Astrid were enjoying a walk through the woods, the next, he was nearly drowning.

Astrid.

"Astrid!" He called, fighting against the current to get to land. "Astrid, where are you?"

A distant down the stream, he saw a hand reach out in an attempt to surface. He rushed to her, grabbed her wrist and pulled her out. "Are you alright?" He asked, as she coughed up fluid.

"A little wet, but I'm-..." She didn't get to finish her sentence as a pain hit her in the back. She arched and groaned in pain.

"What is it? A cramp?" He asked, afraid to touch her.

She shook her head. "It burns!" Then she twisted violently and clutched her scalp, screaming. "Hiccup! Help! Help me!"

"What do I do?!" He shouted back. Though, he could do nothing as his vision began to blur. He felt cold, oh so cold, and collapsed onto the ground. Astrid's screams of pain ringing in his ears.

It seemed like hours passed before a panicked hand shook his shoulder. "Hiccup! Hiccup! Look at me, please!"

He blinked and stared up at the girl he thought he knew, though now she had changed. "Astrid...?" He questioned.

She sighed in relief. "Oh thank Thor, I thought...I thought you were dead. And the blood..."

He would contemplate her words later. "You...you have..." He pointed to the large white, feathered wings on her back, and then to the black horns from her head, not sure which was more remarkable.

"Yes, I know." She nodded. "But...you need to see yourself."

Hiccup gulped, and then crawled over to the now calm stream to gaze at his reflection. His skin was pale white, his freckles turned red like blood. His eyes were still green, but they glowed intensely. He gasped and saw the sharp teeth that now filled his maw.

Then he screamed.

It rocked the forest. Astrid dropped to her knees and covered her ears. He wailed loudly, unable to stop, before a tree died, right in front of him.

The two teens stared at it.

"A Banshee..." Astrid whispered allowed.

"How...?"

"I don't know." Purely on instinct, she fluttered over to the water. "I think...it's cursed."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Hiccup?"

"Hmm?" He patiently answered.

"I...I'm scared." She admitted.

He smirked a little, not admitting that he was too. "There's no reason to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. And, I'm sure Goði has the answer."

"But what if she doesn't?"

He stepped up to her and smoothed over her wings. "Well, we can get used to it."