JOY TO THE WORLD! OY! TO THE WORLD! DRINK THAT EGGNOG! EAT THOSE CANDY CANES! DECK THEM HALLS SO FREAKIN' HARD THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT HIT 'EM! IT'S CHRISTMASTIME! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEE! :D

Sorry guys! I'm just a bit excited! :D Merry Christmas to all you amazing people, and enjoy chapter 12! :D


Dagur smiled. "You and your Night Fury?" he asked hopefully.

Hiccup glanced back at Toothless. "No," he said. "Toothless stays on Berk."

"Very well," Dagur said. "Then I'll kill the girl." He raised his axe over Astrid's head. Toothless roared in fury and growled at Hiccup. The message was clear: I'm okay with going with you. Don't let Dagur kill Astrid.

"NO!" Hiccup yelled. "Don't! Okay! Okay, we'll both go with you! Just let Astrid and the others go! Now!"

"Send yourself up here first!" Dagur ordered. Hiccup glanced back at his father, and then he and Toothless stepped onto Dagur's ship.

"Okay," Hiccup said. "Now let my friends go."

Dagur looked at Hiccup angrily, pulling a sword out of its sheath. He cut Astrid's bindings, and then called for his men to bring the others forward. Fishlegs and the twins stepped up, Ruffnut and Tuffnut dragging a half-conscious Snotlout between them.

Maybe they used a dart on Snotlout, Hiccup mused to himself. It just made him more angry with Dagur.

Once all their bounds were cut, Hiccup looked at Dagur expectantly.

"Now let them go," Hiccup said.

Dagur glared at Hiccup just before smiling. Hiccup felt his blood run cold. No. He knew that smile anywhere, and seeing it on Dagur was just downright terrifying.

"No," Dagur said simply. "I forgot to tell you, Hiccup. I never keep my word. You, your Night Fury, and your friends are all coming with me."

Hiccup was so shocked that he couldn't think clearly. How could he have been so blind? Of course Dagur wouldn't let his friends go. He didn't know what he was thinking. He tried to save them, and now he was in the same boat as them.

That, and his headache was coming back again.

He was so shocked, his head hurt so badly, and it was getting harder to breathe again. His head spun, the edges if his vision darkened, and spots danced before his eyes.

No, he thought. Not here. Not now. Don't collapse. Stay on your feet. Don't collapse. Your friends need you to be strong. Don't...don't...don't…

His knees buckled anyway, and he fell to the deck, limp but conscious. Get up, he told himself. Get up, get up, get up…

But his body wasn't cooperating with him. He couldn't move. His eyes closed on their own. He felt so tired. He didn't want to move, and his body pretty much made that clear. He couldn't feel his arms or legs. The only thing he was aware of was the fact that his head was spinning. He heard muffled voices, but nothing else. He heard shouting, and then roaring that sounded like it came from Toothless, followed by the sound of chains clinking and Dagur shouting to his men.

They must have been restraining Toothless. Hiccup was filled with rage towards Dagur and his men, and wished desperately that there was some way he could make the Berserkers pay…

But at the moment, he wanted to sleep. He couldn't move. He was useless to his friends and island. There was nothing he could do to Dagur.

"Hiccup!" he heard Astrid and his friends shout. The next thing he knew, he was being held in Astrid's arms with the others bending over him, looking at him with an expression more worried then just concerned.

"Get...away," Hiccup choked out. He knew that this was their chance; they could run and make a safe getaway, and then just he and Toothless would be taken from Dagur.

Astrid, however, shook her head. "No," she said. "We're not leaving you. Not when you're like this. You need us."

"Let them go, Dagur!" the voice of Stoick shouted. "You and Hiccup had a deal!"

"I decided that I didn't like that deal!" Dagur called back. "Now listen to me closely. If any of you make a move to follow us, well...you'll be looking for a new heir." At this, he drew his crossbow and aimed it at Hiccup.

"Astrid," Hiccup whispered. "Please…"

"No," she said. "Stop it, stop it, stop it. We're not leaving you." She caressed his forehead, and then moved her hand against his cheek.

Hiccup couldn't even get another word out before he passed out in her arms.

"He fainted!" Dagur said. "Look at that! Too shocked to handle a little treachery, aye? Or maybe he's faking it. You know, I bet he's faking it. The drama queen."

Astrid turned her full attention on Dagur. There were no words suitable enough to describe how mad she was at him. She stood up, laying Hiccup back down on the decks, and stomped towards him.

"He didn't faint, and he's not faking it," she snapped. "I can't believe you, Dagur. Look at him! Do you think someone could just...fake something like that!?" She didn't want to tell Dagur about Hiccup's disease, but part of her wondered if maybe, just maybe, Dagur would pity Hiccup and let him go.

Maybe…

What did she have to lose?

"He has a heart disease!" Astrid shouted. "He's dying, Dagur! He can't help you! Why kidnap someone who has no use to you!? There's no point! If you want to think logically, you would leave him here! He'll die on Berserk, and he'll die here, too. What's the difference? Look at him. Do you really think he can help you?"

It was risky, and Astrid knew it. She didn't think of Dagur as compassionate, but maybe he would spare Hiccup and the others. Maybe he would even let Toothless go if Hiccup wasn't going to help him.

"Dagur," Astrid said, "if you have one single solitary compassionate bone in your body you would let him go."

Dagur stared at her, before a maniacal smile crossed his face. "No," he said. "We're taking you all. And if Hiccup is smart and values what time of his life he has left, then he'll help me, too, and do exactly what I tell him to."