Chapter Fourteen

A/N: Dovahkiin! Dovahkiin! DOVAHKIIN! ...that is all. XD

Deep in the rolling hills that surround the Hooligan village, a herd of yaks are peacefully snoozing away, not bothered in the least by the biting cold and roaring winds. From a distance, they almost look like miniature hills, all covered in snow and frost. But still, they sleep on, oblivious to the world.

What they don't know, however, is that they're being watched by a most...peculiar predator. Or two to be exact...

"Hey, move over, idiot!" Ruffnut growls under her breath as she shoves her brother. The twins are hidden within a snow blanketed bush, laying on their bellies as they observe their prey.

"No, you!" Tuffnut retorts in irritation. He punches her square in the shoulder, rustling the bush dangerously and spilling some of their white camouflage on the ground.

"Hey, stupid!" Ruff hisses. "Are you trying to get us seen?!"

"No! Wait...am I?" He hesitates, tapping his chin in thought before shaking his head. "No, I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be hidden right now..."

"Exactly!" She says, shimmying a bit forward. "Then stop pushing me!"

"I'm not pushing you! You're pushing me!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

Ruff shoots him a glare and peeks out from beneath their cover. "Come on, I see one ripe for the tippin'!" She chuckles, obviously deciding to ignore her brother's immaturity.

"Ooooh yeah! That big fat one?"

"Yeah!" She agrees in sheer delight. "On three..."

Tuff nods, grinning. "One..."

"Two..."

"Uhh..." He passes her a nervous look. "What comes after two?"

"Ummm..." Ruff pauses. "I think it's nine, right?"

"No! Wait, it's seven!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Tuff bites his lip. "No..."

"Wait, why are we counting?" Ruff asks, having forgotten.

"I don't know." He admits. "Counting is for nerds!"

"Yeah, like Hiccup!"

The twins snicker, quietly before remembering where they are. "Oh yeah, let's go tip that fat one over there!"

"I like the way you think, sister!" Tuff says. They're both about to pounce out of their hiding spot when a shadow suddenly passes over the hills, stopping them in their tracks. "Oh no! That's Astrid!" Tuffnut gasps.

"Oh maaaann! If she finds us, we'll get in trouble!"

"Yeah, we're not supposed to be yak tipping!"

"Stoick made us clean the dragon stalls last time he found out...that was gross!" Ruff shivers at the memory of all those dragon droppings. "Stay hidden until she's gone."

"Right." And so the twins shrink back under cover and patiently wait until their friend and her Deadly Nadder vanishes from sight. If they strain to hear, they just make out her frustrated voice.

"Come on guys...where are you?" She mutters, mostly to herself. She'd been so sure they would be here. With an annoyed grunt, she steers Stormfly in another direction. "Maybe they'll be by the river...?"

Hiccup's room is dark, nearly pitch black. The only light emanates off of the flickering embers in the fireplace that had gone out hours before. His father, who had resolved to just rest his eyes for a few minutes, now snores loudly in the chair beside his son's bed. Even Toothless has curled up on his stone slab against the wall. There's just something very boring about staring at an unconscious teenager for hours on end and, eventually, both of them had lost their fight against heavy eyelids and let sleep consume them...

Not long after, however, something changes in the room. If anyone had been awake to see it, it would have appeared as if a black mist had just materialized from under the front door. It looks like fog as it rolls up the stairs, toppling over itself like a wave. Eventually, the strange mist reaches the foot of Hiccup's bed. It glances sideways at Stoick with coal-black eyes that seem to devour light like a black-hole. Despite the mist being entirely transparent, no light manages to filter through those empty, dark eyes.

Suddenly, the mist begins to shift. Its shape changes, bubbling up and eventually standing upright over the boy's bed in a humanoid shape. It tilts its head and stares at him, reaching out with a blurry hand.

As the smokey appendage hovers over Hiccup's stomach, the teen begins to squirm uncomfortably. The soul creeps closer, jerking its head to the side and lowering its hand until it nearly touches the unconscious teen's chest.

A low, ungodly hiss escapes from it and finally, its fingers brush his skin.

Hiccup's eyes snap open as his consciousness is torn back into reality, his back arcs off the bed and a scream rips from his throat. His hands fist the blankets as the mist begins to seep through his skin, disappearing into his chest... He screams in agony, his unfocused eyes finding his father still asleep beside him... How does he not hear him?! Why has he not woken up?!

"Because I have told him not to..." Aragwen purrs in his ears.

"Dad..." Hiccup whimpers as the last of the soul vanishes into him. His limbs begins to feel dead and he collapses back to the bed, his eyes fluttering dangerously. "Help..." He pleads, panicked tears stinging his eyes.

"Don't bother." Aragwen whispers. "No one can help you now... You're mine, Hiccup. Heart, body and soul...you belong to me."

He shivers as the world turns dark, his eyes slipping shut once again... It's happening again... He realizes, numbly. Whatever that was just now... It...possessed me... Just before the invading soul mercilessly crushes him down, he feels his body become incredibly heavy.

"Rest, lost soul...we must be careful not to break him. He is very important."

When Stoick finally sputters awake, having accidentally fallen into a deep sleep, he hears the hurried sound of footsteps below him. As well as the hushed voices of the Dragon Riders. They must have just showed up. He glances at Hiccup, unconscious and seemingly not having moved a muscle. Of course not... He's practically in a coma, after all.

That's when Astrid appears at the top of the steps. "I brought everyone together...well, except for the twins. I couldn't find them..."

"That's fine." Stoick mumbles, still a little groggy. I never should have let myself fall asleep! Something could have happened to Hiccup and I wouldn't even have figured it out until it was too late... He shakes his head and stands up. Thankfully that didn't happen. "Everyone else is here, though? Just the twins are missing?"

"Yes sir." She nods. "They're waiting downstairs. What do you want us to do?" She asks him, stiffly. Always the warrior...

"Come," He says, motioning for her to follow him. "We'll discuss this downstairs."

She obediently follows him down the steps where the others are waiting. Gobber and Gothi are sitting on wooden stools by the fireplace, poking it back to life. The teens, who all look half-asleep and a bit irritable, are standing throughout the main room, shivering from the cold and blinking with heavy eyelids. It is the middle of the night, after all.

"Alright, Astrid!" Snotlout grumbles in annoyance. "Why did you bring us all here? What's going on?"

She hesitates, unsure of what Stoick wants her to tell them.

"I had Astrid gather you all because I need your help." Their chief announces. "There's been...an accident."

Everyone's eyes grow wide as they exchange worried looks. "What kind of 'accident'?" Fishlegs wonders, grimly. He already has a bad feeling about this, remembering his foreboding about Hiccup... "Wh-where's Hiccup?"

Stoick grimaces. "He's upstairs...unconscious."

There's a collective gasp and everyone is suddenly paying a lot more attention. Even Snotlout seems worried and he usually doesn't pay much attention to his 'rival'.

"It was Aragwen, we're sure of it. She's done something to him and now he can't wake up. Toothless and I found him staggering through the fields in a...trance of some kind. He collapsed as soon as we got to him."

"Okaay..." Snotlout draws. "And what are we supposed to do about it? None of us are exactly experts on witches..."

"Actually," Stoick nods to Gothi. "Elder, having been alive as long as you have, surely you must know some things on witches..."

The elderly woman gives him a curious look before slowly getting to her feet. She tips her head down, a slight nod. Then, with her ancient staff, she begins to write something on floor... Gobber jumps up to read it, being the only one who can translate.

"She says..." He tilts his head, squinting his eyes in concentration. "She doesn't know much about the craft itself...but she does know a few things on how to combat it!" He looks up, excitedly. "She says she'll do what she can for your boy!"

Stoick offers a polite smile to her. "Thank you, Gothi."

She nods again and hobbles toward the stairs, Gobber in tow. As soon as they're gone, Stoick looks back to the teens.

"There's still something I need of you kids."

"Anything." Astrid assures him.

"In the morning, I'll be leading the three of you to Aragwen's clearing. We'll fly above on the dragons and try to pinpoint where she is. After that, we can come up with the best plan of taking her out for good."

Fishlegs's eyes widen. "Y-you mean...kill her?"

"Yes. She's a danger to everyone. You should know that better than anyone, Fishlegs. She could have killed you."

"Yeah...I guess...I'll go for Hiccup's sake..." He mutters in response.

"I'm in!" Snotlout barks, enthusiastically. "Hookfang and I'll show her who's boss! We'll burn that old hag to a crisp!"

Astrid nods at him, smirking a bit. For once, his violent tendencies are coming in handy... "I'll be there too."

Stoick smiles at them. "Thank you for your bravery. Hiccup will be so proud of you when he wakes up."

The kids grin at each other.

"We'll meet at Raven Point first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir!" They shout in unison. And with that, the teens rush off to prepare for their mission, their dragons squawking and growling as if sharing in their excitement.