Happy New Years, everyone! With another year beginning, so does another chapter as the story continues! Though I will say, this chapter will be a bit more darker than usual. (Also, apologies for any grammar mistakes you see in this chapter, just try to word them out the best you can if you see any.)

Also, a thanks to MrsMagnusB, HikariCruz, SkyTalon, KaliAnn, and KorrieChan for reviewing the last chapter!

Now, without further ado, let's continue our story!

Magnus shut the door as he walked into his newly made hut that overlooked to the ocean. He'd been living there for a couple of days now and so far he had enjoyed it. In front of him sitting by the hall's table was Hiccup, Astrid and Eira having a discussion about the blanket.

"Any luck?" asked Eira.

"Nope." he replied sitting next to them. "So far there has been no sign of Hiccup's parents. I searched all over the village from corner to corner and from road to road, and no one knew the owner of this blanket."

"Did you ask Stoick?" asked Hiccup as he sat up.

"The Chieftain was too busy… I'm sorry Hiccup, so far there hasn't been anything. Though I promise you that I will continue my search for them - and you will help us, right Eira?"

"Of course." said Eira.

Hiccup gave a sigh. "Perhaps they thought I was dead in which they decided to pick up their things and leave Berk. Gah, I don't know, Magnus. Maybe they're just not here…"

"Hey, don't think like that." said Astrid as she rubbed her hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "We'll find them. We just need to look more. I know that they're around here somewhere."

"And if they're not?"

"Hiccup, stop doubting yourself." she replied. "I know they are. Just believe in yourself, and before you know it we will find them."

"But I- ...alright." he sighed. "Can we just get off the topic of this for now, though? There's something else I'd like to talk about."

"Mildew?" they all asked in unison, receiving a nod from Hiccup. "Mildew." he said. "Any news of what he's done recently, perhaps maybe even on what's happened with his loyalists?"

"Well, so far there hasn't been much with Mildew himself." said Magnus. "However, the three loyalists that were thrown into the cells have been charged by Stoick for assault. At first, the councilors didn't know why - but that was until Snotlout stepped forward and explained to them that he and his friends; especially you, were assaulted in the middle of the night by those loyalists. The council soon became infuriated with the three men for attacking the Heir and instantly they agreed with the charges."

"And what does Mildew think?" asked Hiccup.

"Mildew doesn't believe it, but we're going to execute those three regardless of what the old shepherd thinks… though in the meantime, there other matters that we have to worry about."

"Aye." said Eira. "We have to focus on Ivar, as well as finding out who Hiccup's parents are. They could be anywhere on Berk."

"Then I suggest we begin our search." responded Astrid as she stood from her chair. "The sooner we find his family, the better it'll be for us. I'd rather not wait it out, and besides, you seem upsettingly desperate, Hiccup."

"I know." he said. "It's just that I don't know what to say to them the moment that I will meet them. What will they think of me? What questions shall I ask them? What- ...well, you get it."

"Then let's waste no more time." began Magnus. "Eira, Astrid, you two will come with me around town as we try to find out where exactly the whereabouts of Hiccup's parents are. Astrid, you know Berk more than any of us here - you can guide us around as well as help Eira and I ask the people around. We can cover more ground quickly this way and ask more townsfolk at a time."

"A pretty solid idea." replied Eira. "I like it."

"What about me? Do you want me to come?" asked Hiccup.

"It's much safer here for you, Hiccup. Mildew's loyalists are everywhere all over this town. It's best you stay out of sight. They could plan out another ambush if they see you alone, and the last thing we would want is open violence in this town."

"Then it's settled." said Astrid. "Let's go."

The three Vikings soon stood from their seats and began making their way out into the open of the village, with Astrid waving back at Hiccup as they finally made their way out of the hut.

Hiccup sat there alone as he allowed his mind to take over on his thoughts. One part of his brain would think about what Ivar was doing, the other would think about Mildew and what exactly he was scheming to do with Berk and likely Stoick, and then the last part of his mind thought about who his parents were and where they were residing on Berk… but then something else popped into his brain. Into another part.

The fourth part of his thoughts now turned towards the Night Fury he saw in the cove days ago. So far he hadn't understood the Dragon completely, specifically on his feral actions as he was less hostile to Hiccup.

"The Night Fury." he said to himself. "Why didn't he attack me? All it wanted was fish, and that's what I gave it - but even if I didn't it still left me alone. What is with that Dragon? Whatever his name is-"

Then, it was in that instant that a name popped into his head. He didn't know how he could've thought up of such a name, but it somehow ended up in his thoughts, and repeatedly the name kept repeating itself inside his head. One word:

'Toothless. Toothless. Toothless.'

"Toothless." he once again said to himself. "Huh, that's a fitting name. I mean- it does have retracting teeth, so why not call him that?" He took a moment to pause and then looked up towards the ceiling, giving off a smile. "Yeah… Toothless! I mean, why not-?"

Before he could finish, a loud knock soon came at the door of the hut. Hiccup raised one of his brows, wondering if Magnus and the others came back early, or if it was someone else that stood outside the door. Perhaps it was a messenger from Stoick? Or Gobber looking for Magnus? ...Or, was his parents finally found and they stood outside the door? What was it?

Hiccup had to know. Immediately he stood from his chair and allowed himself to walk towards the door, slowly opening it as he glanced outside the hut…

But once again, he would regret doing such a foolish thing as he saw a large tight fist come crashing down above his head, hitting him hard and rough as his vision soon turned black.

…

"Have you seen this blanket before?" asked Magnus.

"Nope." replied the woman. "My husband and I never knitted a blanket with brown fur for our child. We gave him a crib."

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Absolutely." replied the man who stood next to his wife.

Magnus sighed. "Very well. I am sorry for wasting your time."

"No problem, lad." the man responded.

Astrid, Magnus and Eira had by now been exploring the village for nearly three hours, and so far they had not the slightest clue on where Hiccup's parents were. They eventually met in the crowded plaza of Berk, but by far many of the denizens had not seen the blanket before, or they already had their own for their children.

After much searching, the three young Vikings rallied up near the empty Blacksmith with blank expressions mixed with frowns of hopelessness. "Did you find anyone?" asked Astrid.

"Nope." said Eira. "Not a single trace. I gave a clear description of the blanket to everyone I came by upon, but they had never seen it in their lives, or they just didn't have children."

"Ok." she said. "And what about you, Magnus?"

"Nothing." he replied with a deep sigh. "I retraced my steps from when I began my search, and still I didn't find anyone who owned the blanket - or, like Eira; I found those who said they had no children… it seems like we're at a dead end, guys."

Astrid grunted, stomping her foot into the snow as she leaned against one of the supports of the Blacksmith, covering her face in her palm. "What are we going to do...? Hiccup is going to have a breakdown and lose hope once we tell him that there was no sign of them. This is overall exhausting."

"Stay calm, Astrid." Magnus assured as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, looking down at the younger Viking who was a few inches shorter than him. "We will find them. Just remain yourself and don't worry, alright? I understand you're exhausted, but still we must press on."

Astrid who was staring down at the ground from exhaustion gave a nod to the older Viking, and he patted her right shoulder before giving a small fist bump which she gladly responded to as a smile began to grow on her face.

"You certainly know how to cheer people up, Magnus." complimented Eira.

"Well, that's experience." he responded with a hearty chuckle. "Now, I suggest we get back to my hut before Hiccup starts wondering where we are.

Astrid and Eira agreed, and soon enough they all started making their way back to Magnus' hut, following the snowy-dirt path. However, as they went along the road they noticed a Viking passing by them with a glaring smile as if he committed a crime or prank that pissed off the victim. The three didn't mind him as they knew that Berk was filled with strange people.

Closing in to the hut, Magnus immediately spotted something wrong. There were holes on the outside walls of his hut as if someone had been swinging a mace, and the wooden door was slightly opened as if someone broke in. He then gasped from this sight.

"Hiccup…" he said as he started running towards the door, and that running soon turned into sprinting. Eira and Astrid from behind started running as well, following Magnus.

The older Viking knocked on the door of his hut, and slowly it creaked open to reveal a horrible sight before him. His entire hut was trashed with chairs knocked over, planks of wood broken from the wall, and the table and other furniture flipped on its' sides with papers of parchment from his work desk spread out all over.

"What the HEL!?" bellowed Eira as her eyes were soon met with what Magnus was seeing.

"No. He's gone..." gasped Astrid as she slammed her fist into the sturdy wooden door frame of the hut. "Gods DAMN IT! I knew I should've stayed with him! If I hadn't left his side then he'd be completely fine- ...what I have done, oh gods why did I-"

"Astrid!" interrupted Magnus as he flicked his hand to her upper arm, gesturing her to relax. "Calm down. If we all act up in this state then we'll never find Hiccup. We have to think."

"So what's the plan?" asked Eira.

"Whoever's been here certainly didn't have a liking to me or Hiccup. We need to spread the word that he's been kidnapped." He turned his gaze back onto Astrid. "Astrid, find Stoick and tell him of what's happened. Tell him that someone has captured Hiccup and taken him who the Hel knows where."

"What should I do?"

"Eira, go to the arena and assemble my personal warriors, my bodyguard. Tell them all that I require their presence at my hut due to something bad that has transpired."

He then unsheathed his sword. "I will stay here and guard my hut. I think I have a good idea on who could've ordered such a dishonorable act, and if I see him, then I won't hesitate to cut down the old shepherd."

…

Stoick knelt down towards the floor where Hiccup stood when he opened the door. There was a small pool of blood which was drying up against the wood. He ran his hand across it and dabbed his fingers at the red liquid. Behind him outside the house, guards were marching to keep the area secure.

"He was beaten unconscious." he stated. "It seems that one punch was able to knock him down and cause him to bleed as he is scrawny unlike many of the Vikings around here-"

He instantly stopped in his track of words, hearing himself of what he was saying, and he turned to face Astrid who had her arms crossed, realizing that she was scrawny-like as well. "Oh, ah… my apologies."

"Continue, Chieftain."

Stoick cleared his throat. "As I was saying, for him to be knocked out and have this much blood come out of him would've taken one rough blow to the head for a very bloody nose along with cuts along his body, as well as more hits towards the stomach and other parts of his body to completely blacken him out. Whoever devised this was no push-over and must've planned it out thoroughly… those fools."

"Do you think you know where he is, Stoick?" asked Fishlegs who stood next to him in helping him observe the bloody scene.

The Chief shook his head. "I do not. But Magnus and Eira might know once they return. I've sent them out an hour ago to go find Hiccup. We can only hope that the lad is safe."

"I want to go out and look for him." replied Astrid. "I'm responsible for looking after him as a friend. He's my closest friend by far, and I don't want to lose him. Please, Chief, by all the gods' sake let me go search for him."

"Lass." he began. "It's not your fault that he was taken and kidnapped. Those responsible are those who had beaten him and planned this out. You never saw it come, thus you nor Magnus and Eira could've done anything. However, I fully respect the fact that he is your friend… and because of that I will let you go search for him. Very well, Astrid. I won't stop you."

Astrid then wasted no time and she headed straight for the door, jolting through as she made her way back into the open of the village with snow lightly falling and the day beginning to turn into night. She had to find Hiccup soon, otherwise who knew what would happen to him them.

She ran through the snow, wondering where to first begin her search to finding Hiccup. "There has to be a place - he's got to be around here somewhere!" she said to herself. And then, a thought popped into her head and an idea soon became present as she considered where to start first.

Astrid started her search near the docks with a lantern in hand given to her by one of Magnus' guards, beginning at the upper portion of the docks as she slowly made her way down, looking around every corner from above her to below her as well as from left to right.

The docks had to be a good place to begin due to the reasoning.

Mildew wanted to throw Hiccup off of Berk, though it is clear that he might've escalated it to the point where he probably wanted to slowly kill the scrawny young man for killing his loyalists, before likely shipping his dead body off to sea in a longboat, hoping that it would find its way to Ivar.

'When will that old man learn that Ivar's after all of us!?' she thought to herself. 'His act will only give the evil King a lead to where Berk is…'

Disregarding the thought on Ivar, she went back to focusing on Hiccup. His name echoing in her head. 'He has to be around here, he has to be around here, gah, he must be somewhere around here!'

But it was then that in the corner of her eyes down below between two piers she noticed a skinny figure hanging by two chains attached around his wrists. Running towards it with a closer look and with more light, she could make out the figure of a make Viking who was stripped of everything except for his leggings. His skin was pale and his hair wet whilst his feet were completely drowned into the frozen waters of the docks, reaching up to his ankles.

Getting an even further and closer look, she inspected the young man and gasped as his characteristics were clear. His hair was auburn and his face was familiar to her as she immediately knew who it was.

"Hiccup." gasped Astrid as she dropped the lantern to the wooden floor boards of the docks and ran over to try and reach him, but the shirtless lad was too far to reach.

Suddenly from her left she heard two pairs of footsteps coming towards her, and in her defense she unsheathed her axe and pointed it at the two figures who were approaching her. "Stay back, you pathetic loyalists! Enough damage has been done to-"

"Easy, Astrid!" called out the familiar voice of Magnus with Eira standing next to him. "We were just searching around for Hiccup, but so far we have no luck on his trace. I assume you've come out to find him?"

"I've already found him!" she said, pointing out the almost-lifeless figure of Hiccup between the two piers. Both Magnus and Eira gave out small gasps, and Magnus quickly made his way over onto one of the piers where one of the chains were being held. Then he turned his gaze to Eira.

"EIRA!" he called out. "Get onto the other pier! Help me free Hiccup!"

…

Hiccup felt something soft against his back and head along with a warm and cozy fabric covering him. He blink once and saw colors. He blinked twice and he saw blurry shapes. Then he blinked three times and saw the shapes beginning to take form.

He laid in a bed he was unfamiliar with, and he looked around and saw that he was in an unfamiliar hut, but before him sat Stoick, Astrid, Magnus and Eira who gave sighs of relief upon his awakening, though Hiccup was slightly startled upon seeing them.

"Oh… it's you guys- argh!" He felt a wave of pain spread through his left arm as he looked down at his bruised and cut body. "Everything hurts…" he groaned.

"Easy, lad." said Stoick. "You're in my hut resting where my son once slept. I placed a bed here in any case that if a guest or Chieftain from another island were to sleep over the night, though for now consider it yours. I'm placing you under my protection."

"Mfmm… I really appreciate it, Stoick." he groaned again. "But I want to get revenge on that son of a bitch who ordered his men to beat me to a pulp and leave me to die."

"Whoa, language." joked Astrid, getting small chuckle off Hiccup, though he squinted from the pain.

"Tell me, Hiccup." began Magnus. "Who did this to you? Who stripped you of your clothes and left you to die beaten and cold? What kind of sick bastard are we talking about here?"

One word escaped Hiccup's mouth. "Mildew…"

"Mildew?" asked Eira. "That old man and his psycho loyalists did this to you?"

Hiccup gave a small nod. "He dragged me into his hut on the far side of the village where I was beaten by him with his staff and cut up until I couldn't speak. Everything hurts… so much right now." His groan was now louder and longer than before.

Before anything could be said after that, Magnus stood up from the chair he sat on and said in anger; "I've had enough of Mildew's actions. He's taken it too far this time, and now I'm going to make him pay for this." The angry Viking then began to walk with stomping feet down the wooden stairs, but not before being stopped by Hiccup.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" asked Hiccup, sitting up from his bed.

"I'm going to teach the old man a lesson." Magnus replied coldly. "Even if I have to give the pathetic shepherd a Blood Eagle execution myself…"