I hope y'all liked the last chapter! Apparently you did! So I'm going to write the next chapter now! Yay! The next challenge appears today! What will it be? Who knows? Not me, that's for sure! Okay, let's get this over with so I can go back to weeping in the corner.

CHAPTER 4 – Some Things are Better Left Not Even Being Thought

Hiccup woke up early the next morning and saw that he was not the only one awake. Tuffnut's sleeping bag was empty, and he was nowhere to be seen. But as Hiccup started to wonder where he was, the tent flap opened and Tuffnut came in.

"Hey! You're awake!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"Where were you?" Hiccup wondered.

"I was talking to Stoic," he replied, "I was hoping he would give me a hint as to what the next challenge would be so we could prepare."

"And?"

He shook his head. "Nothing," he replied.

Hiccup sighed. "Well, we'll find out soon enough," he said, "Come on. Let's wake the others."

As soon as everyone was awake they followed Stoic, Stench, Slackjaw, and the Kreb kids out into the woods. They passed the giant tree of the first challenge and went even deeper into the woods than that. Deeper and deeper they went until the sun was blocked out by the thick trees and they could hardly see anything.

"Where are we going?" Snotlout asked at last.

Slackjaw laughed crazily. "You'll see soon enough," he cackled. The kids looked at each other doubtfully, but said no more.

Eventually they came to a rise in the pass and sunshine seeped through the trees. Finally they stopped and Slackjaw pointed to a huge mountain in the distance. "You see that mountain over there?" he asked.

"How can you not see it?" Snotlout muttered.

"You're goal, starting from right here, is to get to the top where the two chiefs and I will be waiting," Slackjaw explained. He pressed two of his fingers together and whistled. His terrifying dragon immediately came out of nowhere and swooped the two chiefs and Slackjaw up to take them to the mountain.

"Wait!" Fishlegs called, "I had a question!" But they were already specks in the distance.

"Well," Hiccup said to his friends, "I guess we better get going." But before he could take even one step, Belchus shoved him out of the way and sent him to the ground.

"Okay, Kreb," he said in a loud voice, "Follow me. I will lead us to victory."

"Yes," Sandy said, "Because you did such a good job-"

"-With that last challenge," Mandy finished.

"Oh great," Tuffnut muttered to his sister, "Not only do they speak in unison, they also finish each other's sentences."

"How annoying," Ruffnut agreed.

Belchus glared at Sandy and Mandy. "I am the future leader of this tribe," he growled at them, "And you will do as I say. Now let's go!" With that, he led the Kreb kids away down the hill towards the mountain.

Hiccup stared after them before turning to his friends. Snotlout gave him a look that said, "You order us around like that, and I'll break your leg."

"Come on," Hiccup said, "Let's go."

They started down the hill after the Kreb kids, taking extreme care not to trip and tumble down the rest of the way. The hill was very steep, and this was very hard to do. By the time they were at the bottom, the trees had swallowed up the sun again, and the Kreb kids were nowhere to be seen at all.

Picking a direction that he hoped was the right way, Hiccup strode off into the trees with the others following him. Astrid walked along side him with the twins just behind. Fishlegs walked nervously behind, and Snotlout brought up the rear. Occasionally they saw glowing eyes from the bushes, or hear a snicker, but they met nothing.

Astrid pressed against Hiccup and shivered. "There's something weird about this place," she said.

"I feel it too," Hiccup muttered. He knew something was watching them, but he didn't know what. The trees blocked out the sun and only the faint glow of strange mushrooms gave them any light. It was eerie.

"I don't know about this," Fishlegs murmured, "This place is really creepy. Like it's setting us up for something."

"Really?" Hiccup hissed, "A challenge thought up of by Slackjaw? And you think he's setting us up for something?" He glared at him. All of Berk knew how dangerous Slackjaw was. He didn't look like it, but he was clever, mean, and ruthless. He wanted Hiccup dead, and he wouldn't stop until he succeeded.

Fishlegs muttered something and looked down at the ground.

The group continued on in silence. The strange snickering continued all around them, and seemed to get louder and louder. Snotlout cursed under his breath.

"What is that?" he wondered, "Is it even human?"

"I don't think so," Astrid replied. "Or they're really weird people."

"I wish that snickering would stop," Tuffnut muttered, pressing against his sister.

Suddenly they heard a loud twang! And an arrow flew past Hiccup's face, just barely missing him. It burrowed into a tree and started to sizzle. Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Those arrows are poisoned!" he gasped, and suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down and saw an arrow in his side. Sighing, he collapsed to the ground.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called, before she, too, was shot with an arrow. One by one, each of them were shot, and one by one they all fell to the ground.

…

…

…

When Hiccup woke up, he couldn't move. It wasn't because he was paralyzed, he quickly realized, but because he was tied to a tree. He saw that his friends were also tied to the tree, with Tuffnut, Astrid, and Fishlegs on one side of him, and Ruffnut and Snotlout on the other. He heard whispering and snickering and looked around. Strange masked people stared at them, and one reached out a hand poked Hiccup.

"He is awake!" A very feminine voice gasped. All around her the other masked people inched closer to get a better look.

Hiccup held his breath, and felt the twins stir beside him. He heard Ruffnut groan, but he dared not to look at her. Then he heard Tuffnut gasp as he woke and saw the strange masked people too.

"Now three are awake!" the girl voice exclaimed, happily. The other masked people clapped their hands joyfully.

"Where are we?" Ruffnut muttered so only her brother and Hiccup could hear, "And who are those people?"

"I don't know," Hiccup replied, "What happened? Weren't we shot with arrows?"

"Yes! You were!" the girl voice answered, "Poison arrows! But we saved you."

"Oh, um, thanks," Hiccup said, "Who are you?"

"Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Thorn." And the girl took off her mask and Hiccup and Tuffnut gasped.

She was a gorgeous girl, tall, with long brown hair, red lips, and the greenest eyes ever. She batted her eyelashes at them and made the boys' hearts soar. Already Ruffnut didn't like her. She stepped closer to them.

"So," she said, "Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Hiccup," the boy replied, "These are my friends. The twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs." He tried to gesture to them, but that was hard to do since he was tied to a tree.

"Is there any particular reason why we're tied to a tree?" Ruffnut asked Thorn.

"Oh, that's to keep you from writhing," Thorn replied, "When you guys were shot, you wouldn't stop writhing. So we had to tie you up so we could inject the antidote."

"Well, thank you," Hiccup said in a very sincere voice, "But would care to untie us? We're in the middle of a challenge."

"Why, of course," Thorn said, "Guys! Cut them loose!"

There was a loud snap! And Hiccup, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and the others fell to the ground. Immediately they went over to their unconscious friends and slung them up on their shoulders, all three of them supporting Fishlegs.

"Thank you for rescuing us," Hiccup told Thorn, before they turned and plunged into the forest. As soon as they were a good distance away, they stopped and set their companions on the ground and Tuffnut started kicking Fishlegs to wake him up.

"Well, it's good that we're not dead," Ruffnut sighed, "But now we have no idea where we are now. We're totally lost."

"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed, "And these lumps won't wake up."

Hiccup ignored Tuffnut and turned to his sister. "We don't have to be lost," he told her, "One of us who is not me, just has to climb a tree and see where the mountain is."

"I say Ruffnut should go," her loyal brother chimed.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll go." Then, muttering to herself, she leaped into the nearest tree.

Hiccup watched. "I wish I could do that," he said to himself.

"What?" Tuffnut asked, "Climb trees? Yeah, you're pretty pathetic."

"No," Hiccup growled at him, "I meant just leap into a tree as if it were nothing. And I can climb trees just fine, thank you very much." Then he muttered, "It's the getting down part that gives me trouble."

They stood in silence as they waited for Ruffnut to come back down. Tired of kicking Fishlegs, because clearly he wasn't waking up, Tuffnut slid to the ground. Hiccup walked over and sat down next to him.

Tuffnut sighed after a while. "That Sandy," he muttered, "If he thinks he can woo my sister, he's got another thing coming." He was mostly talking to himself, but Hiccup smiled. Tuffnut and Ruffnut tried to act like they didn't care about each other, but Hiccup knew that they loved one another in a way only siblings could.

"He doesn't really seem like her type anyway," Hiccup added helpfully.

Tuffnut snickered. "Yeah," he said, "She wouldn't fall for a disgusting guy like him. I bet he and his sister don't even clean their rooms."

Hiccup would have liked to point out that both his and Ruffnut's rooms looked like junkyards from Hell, but decided not to. Instead he opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a shout from Ruffnut.

"I've got it!" she called. She climbed down the tree and landed in front of the boys. "The mountain is that way," she told them. She helped them to their feet and they continued onward.

Eventually Astrid and Fishlegs woke up and they were left pulling Snotlout along by his legs. Finally they got to the base of the mountain and stared up at it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Kreb was already up there," Fishlegs groaned, "Who knows how long we took just to get here?"

"Think positive," Astrid said, "They could've gotten lost."

That hope was immediately destroyed when they heard snickering above them and they looked up. On the path just above them, the Kreb kids were staring down at them. It was Sandy and Mandy who had snickered.

"Thank goodness," Mandy sneered, "We thought you guys had gotten lost. It's a good thing you're okay." Then she winked at the boys flirtatiously.

Growling, Astrid bent over and took off her shoe. Then, as the group leaned over and laughed at the pathetic Berk kids, she chucked her boot up at Mandy. It hit her square in the forehead and she tumbled from the mountainside all the way down to Berk.

"Ow!" she exclaimed.

Up the mountain, Sandy shrugged. "Let's just leave her," he said. Then the remaining Kreb kids stood and continued up the trail.

"Hey, wait guys!" Mandy called, standing and racing to the cliff edge, "You can't just leave me here!" But she received no answer. Sighing, she turned to the Berk kids and saw that they were already heading up the winding trail towards the top of the mountain, dragging Snotlout behind them. She stared after them for a moment before racing after them. "Hey!" she shouted, "Wait for me!"

…

Progress was extremely slow, and Mandy's whining didn't help. As they climbed, it got colder and colder, and eventually started to snow. Snotlout still didn't wake up; they just dragged him along by his legs as he wore a pleasant smile on his face. Mandy walked beside Tuffnut and complained in his ear. Hiccup took the lead, wishing Toothless were there to shield them from the wind. Astrid pressed against him, shivering. Fishlegs was greatly regretting not wearing a coat or something with longer sleeves, and the twins took the end, dragging Snotlout on the ground. They pressed together, trying to keep warm.

"Wow," Mandy said, observing the twins, "You two seem really close. I mean not that I'm not close with Sandy, but still."

"Yes," Ruffnut growled, "And that's why he ditched you. Yes, you seem very close." Tuffnut snickered in agreement.

Mandy sneered at her, but thankfully that stopped her from talking. For the next half an hour the group walked on in silence. They stopped once to switch who was dragging Snotlout (Hiccup and Astrid) and that was all. Eventually, the snow cleared up and they could see the top of the mountain. Kreb was already there.

Grumbling, they continued up the mountain, and when they reached the top, they heard Slackjaw explaining something.

"You see, you only win if the entire group is here," Slackjaw told the Kreb kids.

"So that means we win?" Fishlegs asked, excitedly.

"No," Slackjaw replied.

"Why not?"

The vulture man pointed at the dozing Snotlout. "Everyone has to be conscious," he said, "He is not. So you don't win."

As he explained this, Mandy separated from the group and marched over to Sandy. As he opened his mouth to greet her, she punched him in the jaw, knocking to the ground.

"Thanks a lot for waiting for me," she growled at him.

"Now Kreb wins," Slackjaw sneered. Sighing with frustration, Berk groaned and slunk to the ground while Kreb celebrated their victory.

I know, not the best chapter ending ever, but hey, Berk can't win every challenge. And just to answer the question I know will be asked, yes, Thorn will return, and yes, Hiccup and Tuffnut have a big time crush on her. Which makes Ruffnut really mad.

Next chapter will slow things down for the kids (pfft, yeah right!) and we'll see whether Ruffnut really will go for Sandy or not.

Also, when Snotlout finally woke up Astrid punched his lights out, knocking him out again, angry that he had cost them the challenge. Stupid Snotlout!

P.S. You'll find that bad things keep happening to Mandy and Cake, but there's one major difference between them: you're supposed to feel sorry for Cake. You're supposed to laugh at Mandy.