Hiccup opened his eyes, feeling something hard beneath him. He tried to see through the darkness of wherever he was, but it was no use. Everything felt like Deja vu. As if he'd gone through something like it before. He felt cold cool down his skin, making him rub his arms in hope to get warm, but the cold didn't disappear. Something much colder breathed against his skin and he felt himself flinch and turn around, but soon wished he didn't. He was met by a pair of blood thirsty eyes and yellow teeth that seemed to be the only source of light around him. Nervously, he backed away, still rubbing his arms, but the red eyes followed him.
"Don't be like that," The voice said. Hiccup recognized it all too well. He felt his throat go dry and his lips lose its humidity. "I just want to have some fun," Alvin said. Alvin was haunting him. Hiccup felt a pair of hands grab his and in a flash he was strapped against a table with someone standing over him. He struggled against the chains holding him down but it was no use. A sharp pain spread itself on his fingers and up his arms. Hiccup screamed and trashed, trying to push Alvin away from him as he felt the red metallic liquid leave his body quickly. "Brings back old memories doesn't it?" Alvin smiled, taking a pinch as he held Hiccup's hand tightly.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Hiccup screamed out into the darkness, hoping anyone could hear him. He screamed out, kicking and struggling against the chains as he felt the pinch take a hold of his finger nail and it pulled back slowly.
"We're going to have so much fun," Alvin smirked, throwing the nail away and Hiccup swore he could hear it touch the ground. Alvin brought the pinch over to Hiccup's next finger, knowing he couldn't black out because he already had. Hiccup, on the other hand, didn't know that he was unconscious at all.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Hiccup suddenly screamed out, his eyes still closed, as Kenna held him down. Toothless covered his ears, letting out a small whine as Hiccup screamed and trashed against Kenna's grip. Gothi worked her way over to Hiccup, pouring some medicine into his mouth and expected him to go still, but he didn't. He kept screaming out in pain, his forehead burning up. Kenna held her hand against his forehead and gasped.
"How is this possible? He was ice cold only seconds ago!" She said, grabbing a wet cloth and pressed it against Hiccup's forehead, but he pushed it away and screamed even louder. Because in his dream, his hands were now free after Alvin left him alone, for a few minutes with a long gash over his forehead, saying he needed to take care of something.
Kenna tried again, and held the cloth against his forehead, but Hiccup kept on pushing him away. Behind her she could hear Mildew snicker at the sight and whisper "And so it begins,"
Kenna removed the covers to cool him down, but put them back on once his skin was cold. His temperature changed from warm to cold and in the blink of an eye he was paler or better than before. Gothi checked his mouth several times in hope to find traces of the liquid, but found none. She checked his pulse constantly along with his heart beat once he stopped screaming and lay deadly still.
Kenna sat down with a deep breath, relaxing her arms after having used them to keep him down. She looked around the room, her eyes landing several times on Mildew, but found nothing that could help them. Her eyes landed on a certain shield and that was when she remembered the mark. She removed Hiccup's tunic, having curious eyes on her, and traced the mark with her fingers. Her eyes went back and forth from the mark on his chest and the crest on the shield.
"Outcast crest," She whispered, tracing the mark on his chest. Gothi looked at the crest herself and gasped silently. In a flash she was out of the room, leaving them alone with Hiccup.
"Is this it?" Stoick asked, looking at the small hut that was hidden by leafs and stones. Heather nodded, walking over to the door. Luckily it wasn't locked. She pushed the old door open with force so strong the door could break any second. With a sigh, she walked into the house, the floor creaking beneath her feet along with the wooden door crashing into the wall behind it. The house was messy and covered with dust. It seemed unstable by the old looking wood, but it was actually pretty secure.
Astrid looked around in awe. She had expected the house to be a lot smaller, but the leafs and stones seemed to cover up most of it from the outside. There were layers of dust on furniture's and an unknown source of light somewhere in the house, lightning up the cold, old house along with the little light that went through the door as the last person walked in. Astrid looked around curiously, finding different shapes of glasses and different colors of liquid in it on shelves, but nothing looked like the one Mildew had with him.
Stoick looked around the room, trying to find anything that looked like what the teens had described, while the others did the same. "Anyone found anything?" Stoick called out, walking closer to the light to get better view of the things he was looking at, and most importantly hoping he would find what he was looking for.
"Nothing yet chief," Gobber called out, squinting his eyes to see better in the dark. No one kept their eyes locked on something for too long, knowing that Hiccup may not have long enough for them to do so. They scanned the building, only finding different bottles of different colors.
Fishlegs walked curiously closer to the light, following the flickering light on the walls as he was led to a long slim stairs that led below the house. "I think I found something!" He called out, walking slowly down the staircase to the source of light. He heard footsteps following behind him but didn't take time to look behind him because he already knew who it was. The slim stairs led down to another room filled with several pots with liquid, just larger than the ones on the first floor. But one thing caught their attention the most.
In the center of the room stood a huge cauldron with torches surrounding it. It almost looked like some sort of sacrificial, ceremonial event having been celebrated there not too long ago. Fishlegs walked forward curiously, seeing smoke come up from the cauldron. He leaned over and squinted his eyes. "It's…purple," Fishlegs whispered almost speechless. Many thoughts crowded their minds but only a few obvious reasons explained them. One question they had in common was if it was the one Hiccup was given?
"Could this be the one?" Astrid asked, looking into the cauldron, staring at the purple liquid that steamed up in the air. They were careful enough not to bread any of the hot steam in case it could endanger them too and put them in the same state as their acting chief.
"I think it is," Heather said simply, peeking over Astrid's shoulder. "I didn't get the chance to see where Mildew got it from," She explained truthfully. She had been tied up, on the first floor, unable to get away as Mildew had no chance for stopping her. Though, the old man had made sure she was secured tightly and safely so that he could accomplish his plans.
"It is the only thing purple," Gobber shrugged.
"It doesn't matter. Whether it is this or not, we're taking it back to let Gothi have a look on it," Stoick said firmly, looking around for anything to store the liquid in. He spotted a few pots in the corner of the room, some empty and some half used. His eyes took in the different color's as he grabbed the empty ones and brought them back over to the cauldron after getting a good look at the pots. Stoick gave one to each of them and filled them up one by one.
"Okay, let's get this back to Gothi and Kenna," The teens nodded and followed their chief up the slim stairs that led to the first floor. Walking out the doorway that led down the stairs, they heard a sudden sound that startled not only them, but also the dragons of theirs who stood growling outside the house. Shrugging it off as nothing, the seven of them made their way to the door, but once grabbing a hold of the handle Stoick found it stuck. Locked, actually.
"Leaving so soon are we?" A voice snickered in the dark room. Everyone turned around at the sound of the voice, but they found no source of it by the little light they had. No one responded to the voice, unsure whether or not their words would come out the right way.
Growls became louder from the outside and sounds of talons scraping and clawing at the front door that rustled by the force, became the only sounds until the mysterious voice appeared again. Only this time it came from another location in the house. "We can't have people snooping around in someone's house and steal something that doesn't belong to them, now do we?" Their heads whipped to the side, trying to find the source of the voice that obviously belonged to a man.
Something about the voice was familiar to them, but the croaky, almost dead, sounding voice made it sound even more foreign to their ears.
Once again, neither of them responded. "Now enough talking," The room suddenly lit up, flames spreading up by the end of the room and smoke filled the room faster than usual. The last thing they heard of the voice was a sickening laughed, echoing through the crowded room, and his last words before he was gone. "I've got something, or more like someone, else to take care of."
Hiccup's fingers were the only part of his body moving expect for his chest going steadily up and down. His fingers kept a hold of his right side. Kenna had removed his hands to get a look, but found nothing. By the minute she let go of his hands, they went back the way they were.
Kenna had no possible explanation for Hiccup's state. She turned to Mildew, glaring daggers at him. "If you don't tell me what you did, I swear I will personally ask the chief for access to beat you up," Mildew snickered at her.
"You can't do that," He smiled mischievously at her.
"And why not?" She snapped.
"Last I checked, the boy is the chief, which means he has to give back the title for the real chief. Which also means you have no opportunity to do it," Kenna let out a growl in frustration.
"Then I'll make it look like self-defense," She snapped only earning another laugh from the wrinkly old man. "Listen up old man. You're guilty in this any way, and when the 'real' chief comes back, he and the council will decide your fate. So you better tell me what is going on and what you did to him," Mildew rolled his eyes, glaring at her.
"You think you can threaten me with something I'm already expecting?" Mildew laughed. "I'll tell you this. There won't be an heir any time in the near future and all because of a little frightened heart," Kenna's eyes widened. She looked back at Hiccup, with the same wide eyes in realization, just in time to see his chest shoot up followed by a strangled gasp.