Author's Note: It's finally here, chapter 3! Sorry I took a little longer to write this chapter, as I had writer's block and this chapter's actually slightly longer than the last two. I worked hard on this, so enjoy (don't forget to fave/follow/review)!

The full moon was prominent in the night sky above Berk. When its light was cast down upon the forest, it created a world of eerie shadows, which loomed threateningly over the forest floor. The brightness of the moon somehow made the forest appear darker than it normally would, even without a source of lunar light. Usually filled with the sounds of life, from insects to Typhoomerangs, the forest was very still, and the unnatural silence weighed down in a thick blanket. A thin layer of fog wafted gently through the conifers, which only served to enhance the feeling of suspense that may be experienced by anyone who wandered through Berk's forest at this time of night.

There were six souls that wandered the forest under these conditions, but the atmosphere of their surroundings was definitely not the first thing on their minds…

"Okay. Truuuuuth, or dare?" Astrid pointed at Snotlout and watched with a smirk as Snotlout fidgeted awkwardly in his seat on the trunk of a large fallen pine, trying to guess which option would be safer.

"Nygaaaaaah… Truth?" Snotlout shrugged his shoulders, trying to make his reply sound airy and uncaring, but his voice wavered. Astrid saw right through him.

"If you had to make out with one of the guys in the group for ten seconds, who would it be and why?" Astrid folded her arms against her chest smugly, watching as Snotlout's cheeks turned crimson.

"This is going to be good!" Ruffnut winked at Astrid, showing her approval for Astrid's devious question.

"Well… Uh… I dunno!" Snotlout stammered, desperately trying to think of an escape from Astrid's trap.

"Weeee'reee waaaitiiiing…" Astrid pulled out a small hunting knife from a sheath attached to her belt and started to spin it on the back of her thumb. "We've got all night, you know," Astrid taunted.

The young dragon trainers were slowly making progress through the forest, Hiccup marking off searched areas on a map, when he began to notice everyone's faces drooping a little. The surrounding air was as still as always, and the mystery dragon was nowhere to be found. So far, the gang's pursuit of adventure had been fruitless. A heavy cloud of boredom hung above their heads, but as of just now, they were suffering in silence. Hiccup sidled over to Astrid and nudged her to grab her attention.

"Hey, do you think that the others look a little… Well, bored?"

"It's just that we've been searching for three hours and we've not even seen a single trace of the dragon we're looking for," Astrid sighed heavily, and turned her head towards Hiccup.

"It's more elusive than we thought, if it actually exists," Astrid scratched her head and squinted at the view ahead of her. She was clearly in deep thought.

"I've got it!" Astrid said in a similar tone you might expect to hear from someone shouting "Eureka!" in the presence of a brilliant idea.

"Got what?" Hiccup asked, as he and the others stopped walking, surprised at Astrid's sudden epiphany.

"Okay, admit it guys; we're bored of searching for the mystery dragon. Right?" The others looked at Hiccup, who just gave them an accepting shrug. The group nodded their heads.

"We should take a break from our search for now and do something fun."

"What would you suggest?" Fishlegs bit down on one of his knuckles nervously.

Astrid had an eager gleam in her eyes, which glowed with a childish passion. "The best game any young Berkians can play when all alone in the dead of night; Truth or Dare.

This is how the dragon trainers of Berk started their game.

"Ugh, FINE. I'd pick… Tuffnut, because he looks most like Ruffnut out of the group," Snotlout hung his head in embarrassment. The twins suddenly looked rather pale. Tuffnut shuddered in revulsion.

Hiccup leaned in closer to Snotlout, grinning mockingly, and nudged him, saying, "It sounds like you've thought this question through in great detail, Snotlout. If I didn't know better, I'd say you think about Tuffnut every ni-"

"SHUT UP!" Snotlout pouted and folded his arms angrily. Fishlegs sniggered.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's your turn now," Astrid gestured a hand from Snotlout to the rest of the group. "Pick someone to truth or dare."

Snotlout raised his head again, feeling slightly better than he did a few seconds ago. He lazily raised his hand and wavered his index finger at the individuals sitting around the small fire they had lit.

"Hiccup. Truth or dare?" Snotlout giggled with excitement and with a slight hint of contempt due to Hiccup's earlier taunting.

"Oh great, me and my big mouth… Dare." Hiccup's fists clenched in his lap as he steeled himself for whatever Snotlout had in mind.

"Aha!" Snotlout shouted triumphantly, leaping from his seat. "I dare you to eat this eel I found," Snotlout opened a small wooden casket he had been carrying since they left the academy (so that's what was in the casket). Snotlout dangled the slimy eel in front of Hiccup's face, leering at him.

Hiccup snatched the eel from Snotlout in disgust, and frowned at the sticky residue it left on his hands as he held it.

"This is going to suck," Hiccup cringed as he raised the eel towards his open mouth. Just as he was about to take the first awful bite, the eel suddenly writhed and squirmed in his hands. "IT'S STILL ALIVE?!" Hiccup screamed internally.

With an alarmed gasp, Hiccup instinctively threw his hands into the air, sending the eel catapulting towards Tuffnut's dumbfounded face. With a wet slap and a yelp of pain, the eel ricocheted off his now rosy cheek and its trajectory carried it through the air in a not so gracious arc towards a nearby stream. When the eel met water, it shot off downstream, away from the group.

"Did you see that? That couldn't have landed any more perfectly!" Fishlegs burst into fits of laughter and he started rolling on the floor. Astrid, Ruffnut and Hiccup all started to hoot along with Fishlegs, all incredulous to what they had just seen. Tuffnut sneered at the four clowns, unhappy about being the current laughing stock, whilst Snotlout facepalmed, despairing at the cruel robbery of his dare. After a few more minutes of mockery and mirth, the giggles started to die down.

"Well, since Snotlout's been robbed of his aquatic friend, we'll just move on to Hiccup," Astrid winked very subtly at Hiccup, who responded with an equally subtle wink.

"NO FAIR!" Snotlout kicked the dirt at his feet in a bout of frustration.

"I choose…" Hiccup stroked his chin as he decided on a victim. "Fishlegs! Truth or dare?"

"Well, if it's anything like the last one, then I might as well pick dare," Fishlegs cracked his knuckles, nervously internalised what act of humiliation awaited him.

"You see this quill?" Hiccup pulled an ornate quill from his pocket. "It's a special quill I made, which has a storage compartment for ink, so you don't have to keep reapplying the quill in more ink." Hiccup tosses said quill to Ruffnut who looked suspiciously at Hiccup. "For ten seconds, Ruffnut, you may use Fishlegs face as your canvas. Draw whatever you like!" Hiccup nodded at Astrid and Snotlout who quickly pinned Fishlegs to the floor. Fishlegs protested with pleas and cries, but to no avail. Ruffnut loomed over Fishlegs' quaking form, quill in hand. She giggled sinisterly.

"Aaaand, go!" Hiccup started a descending countdown from ten, as Ruffnut leapt on top of Fishlegs and began doodling crude imagery on his pale complexion.

"No, not the face! Aaaaaaagh!" Fishlegs screamed in a very feminine manner, as Ruffnut added the final touches to her impressionist masterpiece.

"… Two, one, time's up! Let's see what we've got."

Astrid and Snotlout released Fishlegs and Fishlegs dusted himself off of small clusters of moss, stones and dirt that had accumulated on his back.

Fishlegs turned towards Hiccup, so Hiccup could observe his human art exhibit. Ruffnut had drawn a lopsided curly moustache above Fishlegs' upper lip. Below his right eye lay a rather explicit part of the male anatomy. Beneath his other eye, in disjointed block letters were the words "TUFFNUT IZ STOOPID". Fishlegs' face drooped as Hiccup's face lit up with hilarity.

Hiccup turned to Ruffnut and said, "I'm really digging your art style, Ruffnut. You put my drawings to shame!" He buckled over starting a second laughing fit; the immaturity of the illustrations were just overwhelming. The rest of the group gave a few chuckles at Fishlegs' new appearance (Tuffnut immediately stopped when he read Ruffnut's message) as Ruffnut handed back Hiccup's quill, which he quickly pocketed.

Everyone continued to play Truth of Dare as the moon rose higher in the sky. They decided to call the game quits when Snotlout almost vomited after being dared to down an entire flask of mead (courtesy of Tuffnut). The group all felt a little closer to each other. They sat in silence for a little while, recovering the energy they had spent on good-natured banter and enjoyed the friendly warmth of the crackling fire they sat around. Hiccup gazed at the star-speckled sky, enjoying the simple pleasure of viewing the cosmic heavens above.

"You know," Snotlout looked unusually thoughtful. "I thought this whole dragon-chasing deal tonight was gonna be really lame, but it was actually pretty cool," Snotlout allowed his mouth to curl up at the sides before biting his lip, realising he was being more sentimental than normal.

"Wow, you're actually being sincere?" Astrid looked stunned. However she smiled warmly at Snotlout and everyone else gathered around the small flickering flames that burned brightly a few hours ago. "But you're right Snotlout, I had a lot of fun today."

The rest of the group agreed, nodding their heads and chattering to one another cheerfully.

Without warning, the last tongues of orange and red fire were extinguished by a torrent of unnaturally cold air. The group turned around in mild surprise towards the source of the draught. Any sound that previously carried through the air stagnated. Wisps of dead grey smoke began to billow from the fire pit, where only embers rest. A shadowy figure weaved through the nearby trees. From what the dragon trainers could make out, its form was serpentine, and caressed through the woodlands with a weaving pattern of movement.

"What was tha-" Fishlegs gasped before Hiccup quickly covered Fishlegs' mouth with his small hand. With his free hand, Hiccup placed his index finger on his own lips and hushed Fishlegs and the other group members. The temperature of the forest seemed to drop by ten degrees.

In a subdued whisper, Hiccup said, "We need to get closer. Follow the shadow quietly and cautiously," Hiccup flashed an intense glare at the twins, making sure they wouldn't make a sound. They both understood the message.

"Everyone draw your weapons and let's go," Hiccup walked towards the forest as light-footed as possible and the others followed suit.

The atmosphere had only minutes ago been that of a friendly gathering; lively, festive, everyone enjoying the midnight seclusion. Now the atmosphere had a chokehold around the group's throats. The air became heavy and suffocating, riddled with menace and apprehension. The hairs stood up on the back of Hiccup's neck, as he trailed further into the woods, where the shadows lurked even more ominously than before.

Fear clawed at the group's souls that Skrekkur Nótt.

Author's Note: Dun, dun, DUUUN! I'm pulling my trump card; the dreaded cliffhanger. Chapter 4 will be here soon, so wait patiently fellow HTTYD fans, I plan an interesting turn of events. Until next time! :)