On we go to a chapter whose events are a fairly new idea in comparison to some of the others.

Chapter Twelve: Blackout

The flight to Maero was long and exhausting. Neither Hiccup nor Adrianna spoke on the flight there, Hiccup because he was too busy stewing in his hatred for the place and Adrianna because she had too much on her mind. By the time they got there, it was after dark so they decided to set up camp and get an early start on finding the berries they needed the next morning. After they set up the tent, they became very thankful for the extra blankets Lofn and Brandyn had given them because they contributed to making the inside of the tent very warm and comfortable.

"Feeling okay?" Hiccup asked as he settled into the piles of pillows and blankets that served as a sort of mattress.

"I feel fine. But you're still hoarse." Adrianna sighed. "Let me make some tea."

"You don't have to do that." Hiccup protested but his daughter held up a hand.

"I don't want you getting sick. Even if it's just a cold, you'll get me sick and we'll spread it all over Berk right after the outbreak. Best to nip it in the bud." Adrianna said as she placed a kettle on the ground.

Toothless quickly heated the kettle (made of metal that wouldn't melt and taint the tea; this was the result of a lesson Hiccup had unfortunately learned the hard way) and Adrianna soon poured the tea into a cup and added the herbs. Hiccup and Adrianna were silent for a moment as she did her best to make tea the way her mother had showed her so many times. But she never was very good at paying attention to detail, which was something that drove her mother and brother crazy at times.

Hiccup took a sip of the tea and nearly spat it out. "I think you forgot something." he choked out.

"What?"

"Honey." Hiccup grabbed a container of the stuff and added copious amounts to the brew. "You made it a bit strong, Addie, but sweetening it shouldn't be too hard."

"Sorry." Adrianna looked slightly sheepish.

"It's fine. I once nearly killed your Poppy because I wasn't paying attention and made tea with medicinal herbs." Hiccup laughed at the memory. "He was pretty ticked. It didn't help that I made it way too strong."

Adrianna smiled. Hiccup suddenly sat up and patted the front of his shirt. He withdrew a small and very old book, which he then handed to his daughter.

"What's this?"

"I found it in the records building at the Bogs. Camicazi claims one of her people stole it from the Meathead Public Library but she sold it to me anyway." he grinned. "I've been dying to read it but I wanted to read it with you."

"How to Train Your Dragon." Adrianna read. "You mean people have been training dragons before?"

"It seems so. The book is really old too. Maybe they trained dragons hundreds of years ago! Hmm, I wonder how the war started if that was the case." Hiccup looked thoughtful for a moment before impatiently waving his hands at the book. "Open it, I want to know what it says!"

"Okay, dad!" Adrianna chuckled as she opened the book. "There's a whole page dedicated to reviews of this book. Success stories. Wow, this must be really good advice!"

"I know! I did see the review page but I forced myself to wait. But the time is now!" Hiccup leaned forward as Adrianna turned the page.

The girl stared at the first page of the book. Slowly, she raised an eyebrow and stared at the back cover, almost like she was trying to find more of it. After a few seconds, Hiccup's curiosity could no longer be contained.

"What does it say?"

Adrianna looked up at him with an expression of pure bewilderment. "Yell at it."

"And?"

The girl handed the book to her father. "That's it."

Hiccup stared at the page containing those three words for several seconds before rolling his eyes tossing the book aside. "Well that was informative." he deadpanned.

"Not much of a bedtime story." Adrianna giggled. "Though it's nice to know we've come a long way since then."

"Yep." Hiccup rubbed his dragon's chin as he snuggled into the pillows and blankets once more. "It really is."

"Finn, for the last time, would you please go rest with your mother?"

Finn continued on his sluggish path through the Great Hall, moving in the opposite direction of his mother's cot and towards Mara and some other women helping. Benen was at his heels again, demanding that he rest. But how could he rest? There were countless dozens of people still sick. Mara needed all the help she could get, and while his mom was still down for the count, he wouldn't rest. His father trusted him to do what was necessary, his mother and the village depended on him. Then Mara putting her focus on Inga for some time that afternoon, it put things behind on her attempts at a cure, food preparation, and warmth.

Glancing at the morose Jorgenson family as he walked by, Finn ran a hand through his hair, trying his best not to stress out. As much as he dearly loved Benen, he couldn't stand it when he was nagged about something that he so very clearly did not want to do.

Benen, for the last time," Finn finally faced him with raised eyebrows, "I'm not resting! There's too much to do! And even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get back up the next morning, and something tells me I can't trust you to wake me up if I asked."

"Too right I wouldn't!" Benen nodded with crossed arms. "You've been going non-stop with less than ten hours of sleep for the past two days, almost three! You have to rest, Finn! You're too young to be hurting yourself due to exhaustion."

"Benen, I'm fine!"

"You don't sound fine and you don't look fine." Benen argued sternly. "You're white as a sheet. You're dragging your feet. You're moving slower than I think I ever remember seeing. You need to sleep!"

"URGHHHHHH!" Finn growled, turning on his heel to leave.

A few heads glanced their way and Finn stared at his boots in agitation. He knew he was exhausted and probably looked like a ghost, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't stand the idea of taking care of himself when so many were hurting.

A shoulder rammed into his and he jerked. "Hey, watch it!" a voice growled and Finn looked up to see Cale matching past with a few cups. The tall, dark haired boy glared at him with the ferocity of a Monstrous Nightmare as he slid the cups across a nearby table to a few sniffing friends.

Finn winced. "Sorry. Wasn't paying attention-"

"Yeah, we know." Cale rolled his eyes, completely ignoring Benen standing at Finn's side. "Stop trying to be a hero, Haddock. WE all know you can't do anything for us."

Finn clenched his jaw for a moment before replying. "I'm doing the best I can to help."

"Help? Help with what?" Cale growled. "You don't have the cure and you don't have the means necessary to save all of these people! So what exactly are you trying to prove?"

Benen held out a hand toward Cale. "Hey now, calm down-"

Finn interrupted, more distressed than angry. "I'm not trying to prove anything, Cale! I have a job to do! My parents asked me to help and I'm just trying to do what I can."

Snotlout finally glanced at the group with an agitated look. "Would you two shut up?"

Cale turned a smirk over his shoulder. "Sorry but I don't answer to you."

Snotlout turned a shade of puce and seemed to internally debate between staying by his still unconscious daughter's side and knocking the young man's lights out. He opted to stay with Inga and Heather, who stood and walked to her younger brother.

"Cale, please stop." Heather gently said. "This isn't helping anything."

"Yeah, that's the thing, Heather. Nothing anyone is doing is helping anything!" Cale nearly shouted. "While the chief is off parading across the islands, our people are just getting sicker!"

"Yes, our people!" Snotlout finally stood and marched up to the boy in full view of everyone in the Hall. "Since when are you so concerned with the people in this village, Cale? No, you don't care about anyone here besides yourself!"

Cale sneered and leaned in close to Snotlout's face. "I'm not afraid of you, old man."

"Oh, that doesn't make much of a difference to me." Snotlout growled back and Finn took a protective step closer to Benen in case a fight should break out. "You don't have to be afraid of me when I put you in your place."

"No, don't! Please!" Heather pleaded, shoving herself between them and pushing Snotlout backwards. "Get back to- Inga!"

Snotlout whipped around to look at his daughter and Finn got a full view. He'd never forget the way her limbs shook and her eyes flickered open and closed, rolling back and forth as her body began to convulse at a frightening pace.

Heather gasped in fear and Snotlout lunged toward her, but Benen suddenly leaped forward and grabbed him, holding him back. "No, no, no! Don't touch her!"

Snotlout tore against his hands but the old man wouldn't be swayed. "Let go! Something's wrong! I have to hold her-"

"No, Snotlout! You can't hold her! It'll get worse!" Out of the corner of his eye, Finn could hear Benen fight and nearly beg Snotlout to stay put. But he couldn't tear his eyes from Inga's shaking form. Mara appeared at Inga's side and Benen shouted at her to leave the girl alone. "Mara, trust me, I've seen this before. You can't touch her-"

"Are you sure, Benen?" Mara asked tersely, watching in horror as Inga's mouth began to froth.

Snotlout yanked desperately against Benen's arms and nearly broke free, but Spitelout grabbing his arm made him stop. "Let me go! She needs me!"

"Yes." Benen nodded, still holding Snotlout's arm. "Holding them makes it worse."

Without warning, Inga stopped shaking. Her body relaxed against her mat with a sheen of sweat on her brow and her hair mussed against the pillow. Snotlout yanked away from Benen and Spitelout and instantly picked her up, Mara watching closely. Snotlout used his sleeve to wipe around his daughter's mouth and quickly checked for breathing. Heather sat down beside him and patted Inga's hair with shaking fingers.

Snotlout pressed his face against Inga's brow and quietly asked, "Is she going to die?"

Mara stared at them sadly and whispered, "I don't know."

Snotlout closed his eyes and tears slipped down his face as he pulled Inga fully onto his lap. Heather pressed her lips to the girl's temple, her own tears dripping onto her daughter's slack face. Mara quietly stood and waved everyone away. From the corner of her eye, she could see Astrid trying to pull herself out of the massive stack of blankets surrounding her, but couldn't stir up the energy. Without another word, the healer hurried over.

Benen sighed quietly and turned to Finn. Cale had disappeared but Finn still stood where he had bee, face blank and eyes staring at Inga's mat blankly.

"Finn?" The Haddock boy noticeably shook and blinked, his eyes searching until he found Benen. His elderly friend took a concerned step toward him. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah, I-I umm..." Finn swallowed, wiping his palms on his tunic, eyes darting everywhere.

Benen could see the hair at Finn's nape getting darker as his face began to flush. He reached out and grabbed the teenager's arm. "Finn-"

"I..." Finn panted. "I-I need air."

Benen nodded quickly. "All right then." Not removing his hand from Finn's arm, Benen led him to the stone steps outside and sat him down. "Don't move; I'm going to get you some water." Finn nodded without argument.

As he poured a mug of water from a basin inside the Hall, Benen turned when someone tapped his shoulder. Fishlegs stood there looking tired but alive. He cocked his head toward the door and asked, "Is Finn okay?"

Benen sighed, glass in hand. "In general or after... that?"

"Well... both."

"He needs to sleep. He needs a hot meal. But he won't listen to me."

Fishlegs snorted. "Finn, not listen to you? Is it Ragnarok?"

"I'm serious, Fishlegs. He won't... ah." Benen sighed again. "As for right now, I think that little... episode with Inga just frightened him."

Fishlegs nodded, wishing to ask more questions but not wishing delay him. "Well he probably needs that water then."

Benen nodded his thanks and hurried outside. Finn still sat leaned against a pillar where he'd been left taking deep breaths of air. He accepted the cup with a shaky hand and Benen smiled. "Slowly."

Finn nodded and touched the cup to his lips, shocked at how much he was shaking. Setting the cup down with a sigh, he stared at Benen. "What was that?"

"Hmm, I believe it was water-"

"Benen..."

"All right, all right." Benen wiped off his smirked and sighed. He watched Finn take another careful sip and replied, "When I was in my thirties, I was owned by a family with children. They weren't as brutal as Ratri but they were still slave owners. But one of the boys, he..." Benen paused. "I believe he got a fever when he was a few months old. And though he lived through it, he had these... episodes ever since."

Finn glanced back toward the Hall behind them. "Episodes... like that?"

"Yes. I only saw it happen a few times but when I did, he'd been having them for quite a while. He was nearly four the first time I saw it. And everyone around him backed away and said, 'don't touch him.' I quietly asked if he needed anything and they said, ;no, best to leave him til it passes.' Within a minute, it passed. He was up and running again within the hour."

"So... she'll be okay?" Finn asked.

"I don't know, Finn." Benen frowned. "I suspect it isn't the same for everyone it happens to."

"Do you think it happens a lot out there in the world?"

"It might. I imagine so."

Finn managed to take a longer drink of water this time and was pleased to see the shake in his hands lessening. "What do you think caused it? Maybe she was getting a fever?"

"Benen winced. "Snotlout believes she hit her head pretty hard. Brain injury, perhaps."

Finn nibbled his lip nervously. "Do you think... I-I mean she'll be okay, right? Like that boy you knew?"

Benen smiled sadly and met Finn's eyes. "I don't know, Finn. I pray so."

Finn nodded and drained his cup. He looked out toward the dark ocean beyond the village and then glanced up at the stars twinkling above them. He didn't have to look to know Benen was doing the same.

Finn spoke up after several quiet minutes. "Do you think my dad will bring back the cure?"

"Oh yes." Finn could hear his friend's smile. "I have no doubts."

"When?"

"When he has all the ingredients."

"Well I could've figured out that part, Benen. But thank you for that.?" Benen chuckled and pushed Finn's shoulder. The boy cracked a smile but didn't push back.

"Oh." Benen smiled wider and reached into his shirt pocket. "I made you something."

Finn watched him pull out a long, dark twine cord with a small block on the end. In the darkness, it was hard to see when Benen plopped it in his hand but he raised the block to the dim firelight behind him. It was a block of cedar, only two inches long and a quarter inch thick. But on it was scrawled the word on which their relationship had been built six and a half years ago.

Fortis.

Finn smiled and looked up at Benen gratefully. "I'll never take it off." he pulled it over his head and smiled when he felt it thunk against his chest below his shirt.

Benen chuckled. "I would hope not. If you're going to keep running around like a dead man, then you will need the extra strength."

"And who better to bestow it upon me?" Finn asked with a grin.

Benen snorted. "Cheeky boy!" He stood slowly and stifled a yawn. "Well I don't know about you, but I would like to speak to your mother before heading to bed."

Finn waved him toward the door. "I think I'm going to stay out here for a few minutes."

"All right."

Long after Benen left, Finn found himself staring out at the ocean again. His fingers found the necklace and trailed down until he touched the block. He traced the letters with his fingertip and sighed heavily.

"Hurry, dad." he whispered. "We need you home."

SNAP!

Finn jerked awake and blinked in the pre-dawn light. Wisps of smoke rolled to the sky from the distant chimneys of the village and Terrible Terrors could be seen flocking toward the ocean for their morning feeding time. He rolled his eyes with a mental sigh that he'd fallen asleep, determined as he'd been, but smiled at the wool blanket draped over him.

Fog stretched out over the forest and Finn caught sight of a deer grazing a hundred yards away. If he weren't so exhausted, he might go find his bow and go after it. The people probably wouldn't mind something different in their stew.

A soft rapping of knuckles on his head distracted him and he looked up to see a smiling Helga. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

Finn stirred from under his blanket to let her sit beside him. "Morning." he frowned and cleared his groggy throat.

"Did you sleep out here all night?" Helga asked with a wild grin.

"Didn't mean to." Finn snorted, rubbing his eyes. "Didn't mean to sleep at all.

"You're going to kill yourself."

"Thanks, Benen."

Helga laughed. "Please, if I were as wise as I was wild, we'd all be doomed."

"I'd drink to that." Finn smirked. "Only problem is that I am currently lacking a drink."

"And you don't drink, bozo."

"Who says?"

Helga's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline and Finn laughed out loud. "Wow, Finn, I knew you were adventurous but wow."

"Kidding, kidding. Geez, my dad would kill me. Closest I got was wine and that was purely accidental... and disgusting."

"Psh, only you, Fearless Finn."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Only you, Bones."

Helga grinned at her dubbed nickname. She fingered the bone necklace around her neck fondly and grinned when she saw the cord around his neck. "What's that?"

"Oh," Finn showed her the necklace. "Benen gave it to me last night."

Helga ran a finger across the cool, smooth surface. It was a pale gold in the morning light. "That's cool. He's so cool."

"You have no idea."

Helga sighed heavily, laying back against the cobblestone with her eyes skyward. Finn forced himself to look forward instead of down at her shapely, womanly form. He shook his head to clear it, hoping she hadn't noticed.

"You're so obvious, you know that?"

"About..." Finn asked, but blushed madly at the wolfish grin she definitely inherited from her mother. "Gods..." he muttered when she cackled madly (another motherly trait she'd received). Shaking his head, Finn thought of something to change the subject. "Do you want to go hunting? I saw some deer earlier."

"I thought you'd never ask."

Hiccup and Adrianna didn't enjoy waking up early but with the amount of sleep they had gotten in the previous day and night, it wasn't as difficult as usual. When they packed up and got moving, Adrianna looked around.

"It's warmer." she said after a few minutes. "I guess we flew south?"

"We did, yes. Last time I was here, it was the middle of summer and parts of it were sweltering." Hiccup peered around them with narrowed eyes.

Adrianna furrowed her brow. "It's actually kind of nice. I was expecting... I don't know what I was expecting."

"A rocky, gods-forsaken heap?" Hiccup suggested. "That's probably how we made it sound."

"Sort of, yeah." Adrianna shrugged. "But it's not. I guess with all I'd heard about it, I should have known that."

"Slave labor, Addie." Hiccup gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's why it looks so nice. But the people here are anything but."

Adrianna shivered at the thought of kind of people who would buy other people, treat them as property instead of fellow human beings. She thought of Benen's life here, probably walking the same paths they walked now and forced to contribute to the island's deceptive beauty. How could anyone treat someone as kind and sweet as him so brutally, so disrespectfully? Even though Finn drove her nuts a lot of the time, she still couldn't imagine someone beating a child as young as he was back then. Physical punishments had been incredibly rare in the Haddock household when she and Finn were children, reserved only for the very worst and most dangerous behaviors, but beating someone for not cleaning the floor fast enough? Or for getting the wrong items at the store? Or simply for being too weak to do some of the work, as Benen had been toward the end? It was enough to make her sick.

"Why don't you try to stop it?" she asked her father after a few minutes. "You stopped the dragon war."

"That was different." Hiccup sighed deeply. "I stopped my people and the people around us from killing thousands of peaceful dragons. But I can't stop people from all over the world who still do. In this case, slave handlers and people who buy slaves know that these are people. They don't care. To show them that what they're doing is wrong would have no effect on them. And the slave trade is massive. There's no way our little collection of islands could go up against an entire world full of people who think that this is okay." Hiccup looked sadly at a young man in chains who was walking behind his master. "We can't win this, Addie. The best we can do is show others that we don't need slaves to be successful."

"You intervened when Finn was taken." Adrianna countered.

"Yes I did. And I freed the only other slave I could." Hiccup placed a hand on his daughter's back. "Maybe one day, a force more powerful than we are can put an end to this."

"We can only hope." Adrianna replied, her eyes still on the slave they had seen earlier.

Suddenly, the slave's master shouted something they couldn't quite make out. He got out a whip and Adrianna screamed in horror when he brought it down on the young man's back. Hiccup grabbed her arm to keep her from running over.

"Don't you see what he's doing?" Adrianna whimpered through gritted teeth, her eyes misting with tears.

"Addie-"

"How could someone do that?" Adrianna continued, her voice raising in pitch. "Why isn't anyone doing anything?" she added as she looked around at the crowd of people forming in the area.

"Addie, listen to me," Hiccup turned her to face him, "if you do try to intervene, you could get arrested. Or beaten."

"I don't care-"

"I do." Hiccup brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "You can't stop this by yourself. But if there ever is an army strong enough to rise up against this, I would join it in a heartbeat. And maybe you could form one someday. But for today, your job is the same as mine: find those berries." she nodded and he looked around. "We're in some kind of marketplace. See if you can find some of those berries for sale. Keep Lily nearby and holler if you need me."

"Okay." the girl agreed.

Thanks to her size, Lily followed Adrianna from the edges of the marketplace. It was definitely best to keep her away from the many booths and carts because she could easily destroy them with one swipe of her tail. Adrianna got out her money bag and looked around for someone who could sell her the berries she sought. She scanned the area with her eyes, finding several vegetable merchants and a few selling little trinkets. She was briefly tempted by a lovely purple necklace but she reminded herself that she had more important things to do. And then she caught sight of a merchant selling some already cooked meat. It all smelled delicious and gave her an idea. She quickly walked over and purchased the tastiest looking section of chicken.

The slave she had seen before had been left on his own to buy some things for his master. Adrianna sighed in relief and hurried over to him.

"For you." she said, offering him the piece of chicken. The slave shook his head but she placed it in his hand. "You deserve it."

Tears filled the young man's eyes as he quickly ate what was probably one of the best meals of his life. Adrianna helped him wipe down his mouth and hands so his master would never know what had happened.

"Gratias tibi ago." he whispered.

Adrianna smiled warmly at him before turning away, satisfied that the master still hadn't seen anything. She quickly prayed that he never would.

As the girl walked into a slightly more crowded part of the marketplace, she found herself face to face with a man older than her father who walked with a cane. His steel gray eyes made her extremely uncomfortable, especially when they traced her developing curves.

"Are you lost?" he asked with a smile that gave her shivers. "I can help you find your way."

"I'm fine." Adrianna said a bit too quickly. "Thank you though."

"Oh I insist. Pretty young lady like you could get lost without a man to show her where to go." Ratri grabbed her upper arm, making her gasp in surprise.

"No, really, I'm fine-"

"Get your hands off my daughter!" came a loud voice to her left.

Adrianna looked over and saw her father bounding over, looking absolutely (and a bit scarily) livid. He stopped short when he made eye contact with the man, his face reddening with suppressed rage.

"You!" the man with the cane bellowed. "You cheated me!"

For a moment, Adrianna was completely bewildered. And then it hit her. The cane, the cold gray eyes... she quickly wrenched her arm out of his grip while he was distracted.

"I paid for my son. If you lost the money, that's your problem." Hiccup hissed through his teeth. "Come on, Addie."

"Ratri..." Adrianna said out loud without thinking. "You're the scum who beat Benen and my brother!"

"Watch your tongue, girl." Ratri said warningly, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. "Or I'll have it removed."

"Addie, let's go-"

"Benen served you for years and you still beat him day in and day out. He is the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful man I know! And my brother was a child! How do you live with yourself?" Adrianna raged, her hands balled at her sides. "You are nothing but a filthy coward and you deserve to-"

SMACK!

Adrianna felt a sensation of white hot pain flash across her cheek as her body was thrown sideways. As she landed heavily on the ground, she heard an outraged roar and caught sight of her dragon, ignited and running at top speed toward the trio. Hiccup leaped in front of her, holding his arms out.

"Hey! Calm down, girl!" he shouted over her angry roars. He turned to Ratri, his gaze scathing. "I suggest you run because I can only hold her off for so long."

Ratri hobbled off, cursing loudly. Hiccup barely kept Lily contained, requiring the help of Toothless to keep her from flying off and ripping the man to shreds. She was making quite a spectacle of herself, her wings outstretched, her whole body aflame, her tail knocking over stands and sending their contents flying. Soon, they could hear the others talking, some in Latin and others in Norse.

"Susurro est quod draco?"

"Is that a Night Fury?"

"Qui a meridie positus Zebah!"

"My cabbages!"

Hiccup ignored these comments as he finally succeeded in calming the Monstrous Nightmare down. He reached down and helped his daughter up but there was a fire in his eyes she had never seen before.

"We need to talk." he said through gritted teeth, marching her through the marketplace and apologizing to as many people as he could.

As soon as they were in a somewhat secluded area, Adrianna spoke up. "Dad, I couldn't just let him get away with what he-"

"Yes, Addie, you could!" Hiccup roared, causing her to jump. "You are lucky Lily didn't kill him because then there would have been Hel to pay! Do you have any idea how foolish that was?"

"He deserved it after what he did!" Adrianna shouted, her face reddening and her hands shaking with fury. "He's a monster!"

"I don't disagree!" Hiccup growled. "But you can't say things like that to people! And now we can't shop at that marketplace so our only chance of finding those berries is to search all over the island!" he sighed deeply and massaged his temple. "I thought you were more mature than that."

"Well clearly I believe in standing up to people who hurt others!" Adrianna straightened herself up so that she looked taller. "Unlike some people!"

Hiccup's head shot up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out!" Adrianna turned on her heel and stomped away, her breathing ragged and her muscles tense.

Hiccup stood still and watched her stalk off with a frown on his face. For the first time since they had left, he was beginning to feel like he was missing something. His daughter had looked so scathingly at him. Almost like he too had done something wrong. And he had a feeling that it had nothing to do with Ratri.

Rather than try to figure it out until he was mentally drained, he decided to wait it out. Surely she would tell him what was wrong. She told him everything... didn't she?

He didn't usually have bad ideas. But hunting had been a very, very bad idea.

He shot a buck; Helga shot a doe. They even shot a few ducks on their way back to the Great Hall. The cooks had been thrilled when they returned with new meat for the sickly village to share. But Finn hadn't taken into account that once he killed something, he'd have to drag it home. And of course, with his sleep deprived mind, he hadn't thought to bring Thornado along.

The teenagers had been gone for two hours, what with tracking the deer, shooting the deer, waiting for the deer to die, gutting the deer, and then trekking all the way back to the top of the village with said deer. All in all, by the time they returned, Finn was exhausted. A headache had effectively blossomed halfway through the trip and now his head pounded with every step. His body felt heavy and sluggish and it felt like a chore to take each step.

Despite this, Finn launched full-swing into another day. He helped the volunteering cooks make venison stew, helped pass out bowls of food to everyone, and then took time to eat a late lunch with Astrid, who was still bedridden. He could only eat half his food, which he pinned down to his lack of sleep. He was standing to leave when his mother grabbed his wrist.

"Finn..." Astrid turned away to cough and then said, "Why don't you stay with me? You look exhausted."

Finn shook his head stubbornly. "Too much to do, mom. I'll check on you in a bit." He walked away before she could argue further. He didn't see her share a concerned look with Benen.

The teenager walked past the Jorgenson family with curious eyes. Inga was still unconscious and her parents still hadn't left her side. Snotlout looked blank and terrified; Heather looked pale and depressed. Finn walked on, forcing himself to look away.

He walked up to Mara, waiting patiently until she was done speaking with Gobber, who gave him a concerned expression. The healer turned at the blacksmith's gaze and she too raised her eyebrows at Finn.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Finn asked, trying not to look tired.

Gobber pursed his lips and looked at Mara as she firmly said, "Yes, I want you to go to bed."

Finn blinked, wondering for a second if he'd heard wrong. He stared at her blankly, waiting for the punch line until she pressed her hands on his shoulders. "Finn. Go to bed. I mean it."

He shook his head, "There's too much to-"

"Yes, I know." Mara nodded. "But you're not doing anyone any favors by running yourself into the ground like this. I bet if you were to sit down with your mother, you'd be out in seconds."

"I slept for half the night, Mara, I'm fine." Finn turned away. "It's fine, I'll find something to do."

Gobber began to follow him, but Mara set a hand on his arm. "Leave him be. We can't force him. Just keep an eye on him." Gobber sighed regretfully but nodded, catching Benen's eye from across the room.

Finn kept himself busy with odd jobs here and there for a while after that. He was increasingly quiet, but when he did speak, he was typically short and sarcastic. After a while, people stopped trying to talk to him. Benen sat at the same table as him, watching with a careful eye as Finn struggled with a knot in some netting he was trying to fix for a carrier.

Finn let his mind wander as he worked. Or at least he liked to tell himself he was working hard, but in fact he knew he was moving slower than usual. In his mind, he kept telling himself to keep moving, keep working, people need this done, Mara needs this, mom needs more water, Mr. Larson needs another blanket, give this note to the Jorgensons from their boys, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving.

Finally sick of messing with the knot, Finn resolved to just give it back to Mara. He spun out of his seat to stand, and the room shifted. Finn reached out and steadied himself at the edge of the table, shaking his head to clear it.

That was weird, he thought. He took a few steps forward, trying to figure out who he'd gotten the net from. It wasn't Mara…was it Hoark the fishermen? Gunnar the… no, maybe Mulch or Bucket?

The room shifted again and he blinked hard, trying to focus on the voices around him. When did walking get so difficult? Who as the net from? What was he doing again?

Suddenly, everything felt off. Sounds echoed, lights winkled in and out of focus, faces blurred, walls and tables shifted. Finn's center of gravity plummeted and his knees buckled.

"Catch him, catch him, catch him!" Benen yelled out to anyone as Finn collapsed.

Finn vaguely felt his forehead knock into a shoulder, but only gave a stifled "mph" in response. He felt the arms around his body and then the cold hardness of the ground against his back. He tried in confusion to make out the blurring shapes over him, but everything began to spin once again. He moaned and closed his eyes.

Finn felt someone pat his cheek and could vaguely hear Benen's echoing voice. A cold sensation touched his lips a moment later and it trickled down the side of his neck, but he couldn't make himself respond to it. To anything at all. He felt everything slipping away: feeling, vision, then hearing. The dark of unconsciousness pulled him under just as he heard Benen's voice echo, "stay with me."

Oh my goodness! I feel a great sense of relief in writing this because I just finished transcribing 8 pages of already written story from a series of pictures. It was so very boring but EmmerzK's internet went haywire and I didn't feel like waiting yet another day to post the chapter. Extra special thanks to night-fury-baby for transcribing some of it as well because it decreased my workload by quite a bit. Hopefully this will never happen again!

Special thanks to the amazing ex-epileptic Purple Bob for some information about seizures that was very helpful. You may remember her from my author notes in Little Miracles because she also helped me write the clues (because I can't write decent poetry to save my life).

Well I said on tumblr that this chapter wouldn't be a spooky Halloween special or anything but there's a lot to be frightened of in this chapter. I'm rather pleased with it!

My biggest fright this Halloween was the pregnancy announcement from my best friend in third grade. I mean sheesh, we go out of contact for a decade and this happens!

Don't forget to review!

~KateMarie999

P.S. The references were strong in this chapter. HTTYD book fans rejoice! And as for the other fandom I referenced (the cry of a certain vegetable merchant may have clued you in), I joined it very recently and I'm so happy to be part of it! Perhaps more references will come in the future.