A/N: I don't really have much to say in this author's note... so enjoy! =^.^=

Hiccup woke up with a throbbing head. He went to touch his aching head only to find out his hands were shackled behind his back. Suddenly Hiccup remembered what had happened. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a small room with three concrete walls and one made of bars. He was in a cell.

"Hello?" Hiccup called out, struggling to stand up and then walking over to the barred opening. They weren't your normal vertical bars cells were usually made out of. They crisscrossed in every which way, each opening too small for even Hiccup to squeeze through.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty is awake," a loud voice boomed. A man walked into Hiccup's sight, grinning. Three purple lines went across his left eye as if he was wearing war paint.

"Why am I here?" Hiccup asked, doing his best not to sound afraid.

"I thought the son of the mayor would be smarter than that," the man laughed, a little too much Hiccup thought. "We are using you for ransom."

"You're wasting your time," Hiccup said sharply. "You won't get much for me. My dad doesn't exactly want me around."

"We will see about that. I have men dropping off the ransom letter as we speak."

"Then you'll see that I'm right," Hiccup spat.

Quicker than Hiccup could follow, the man reached through the bars and grabbed a handful of Hiccup's hair. He pulled on it, slamming Hiccup's face roughly against the bars.

"If I were you, I would realize the situation I was in and show a little respect," the man said in a scarily calm voice that made Hiccup shiver. "Let's start with don't speak unless spoken to."

"Dagur! The note has been received," an older man said as he entered the room. "But it was some girl who first got it. She gave it to the mayor though, we made sure of that."

The man, Dagur, tossed Hiccup away. Hiccup gratefully backed out of arms reached, tripping on his own feet and falling backwards on the way. He wished he could rub his sore head. But who was the girl they were talking about? There shouldn't have been a girl there.

"Good job, Savage. We will see in three days what the decision will be," Dagur said, grinning at Hiccup. "So get comfortable."

"With all of this dirt? How can I not?" Hiccup said sarcastically.

Dagur smiled. "Watch that mouth of yours, Hiccup. All I have to do is return you alive. Who says you need to be in perfect condition?"

xxx

"Three days!" Astrid said out of breath. "Three days they want to trade Hiccup for money at some old lot south of town, and the worst part is I don't think Hiccup's father is going to do anything! I mean, I could be wrong and maybe he was just shocked and that's why he didn't really pay attention to what I was saying and such, but what if he doesn't go?"

"Woah, calm down," Jack said, placing his hands on her shoulders to try to get her to relax.

"It's his father, Jack," Astrid said with tears brimming her eyes. "It will break Hiccup's heart if his father doesn't do anything."

Jack smiled sadly. "The sad part is, I think Hiccup is starting to get used to that. As long as you are there to care for him, I won't be as reluctant to leave him here."

Astrid nodded, taking a deep breath and wiping the stray tears off of her face. "So what are we going to do if Hiccup's father doesn't help him?"

"Do you know if Hiccup will be there at the empty lot?"

Astrid shrugged. "I don't know. I would think so since they want to exchange."

"Then we just have to scare them all away and maybe they will forget Hiccup and leave him," Jack said.

"And how can we do that?"

Jack looked over at Astrid like she was stupid. "Hello? Land of the Dead? Corpses?" Jack said, pointing to his exposing ribs for effect.

"Look, no offense, but you can barely tell your dead from far away and they will think that's makeup or something."

Jack smirked. "I may not look too bad, but you haven't been to the Land of the Dead. Believe me, you'll even be scared when a group of my friends walk towards you."

"Okay, but what if that plan doesn't work? Then what?"

Jack frowned. "I don't know, I haven't thought that far."

"We have to have options!" Astrid said. "One mistake and Hiccup could be killed."

"I know, I know," Jack said. "We will figure it out."

"We got three days. Now, I better get home. My parents are probably freaking out."

Jack watched as Astrid made her way out of the forest. He let out a deep sigh, sending crystals of his breath away from his face.

Three days.

How was he supposed to sit and wait for three days?!

Who knew what kind of people have Hiccup! What they could be doing right now!

Jack started pacing in the snow in circles. But what else could he do? He didn't know who had Hiccup. If he did he would be there in a heartbeat to rescue him. And what if scaring the others off doesn't work?

Jack flew up to a high branch in a tree and settled down. Nothing he could do about it now.

Just hope.

xxx

Hiccup's stomach felt like it was eating itself. Since the violent little encounter with Dagur, Hiccup hadn't seen anyone come by his cell. It was just quiet, as if they had forgotten all about the small boy they had kidnapped. Hiccup leaned his head against the back wall and groaned.

"Hello?" Hiccup yelled, staying at a safe distance from the bars. "Is anyone going to give me food?" He paused to listen, hearing nothing. "Come on, what does it take to eat around here?" Hiccup said, barely getting the rest of the sentence out before a dagger whizzed by and imbedded itself inches away from Hiccup's ear.

"I thought I told you to be quiet," Dagur said, tossing another dagger in the air and catching it. "Just because you're hiding back there doesn't mean I can't get to you."

"Well, you can't let me starve to death, can you?" Hiccup asked. "You need me alive after all."

"For now, yes, but a person can last quite a long time without food," Dagur said. "And if your father doesn't pay ransom, I'm still trying to decide how I want to kill you. It will be slow, I know that for certain."

"What's the point in all this? You probably know by now my father won't pay the ransom."

"It's not just about the money," Dagur grinned. "Think about how many people will know the name of the man who kidnapped and killed the mayor's son! Everyone will know Dagur the Deranged!"

"You got the Deranged part right," Hiccup mumbled, instantly regretting the comment as a sharp pain exploded on his left shoulder. Hiccup cried out as the dagger sunk deep into his skin.

"What was that, my frail little friend?" Dagur grinned. "Oh wait, your teeth are too tightly clenched in pain to respond." Dagur twirled another small knife in his hand. "Got anything else to say?"

Hiccup bit his lip hard enough to start tasting blood and looked downwards. He couldn't even take out the dagger with his hands shackled behind his back.

"No? I didn't think so," Dagur said with a laugh, walking away from the cell.

Hiccup wedged himself in the corner. He figured out he was small enough and the chains on the shackles were long enough so that Hiccup could bring his hands down and slip his legs around the chain so his hands were at least shackled in front of him. He reached for the dagger and winced as he quickly pulled it out. He dropped the bloodied blade in the dirt and pressed his hands on the wound to try to get it to stop bleeding.

What a mess he was in.

Hiccup sighed. Stupid Jack. If he wouldn't have just up and left this wouldn't have happened. In a way it was his fault. He should at least come and save him.

But Hiccup knew Jack was probably back in the Land of the Dead having a good time at the tavern. He probably is forgetting all about Hiccup by now.

Hiccup found himself laughing a little. In a couple of days he will most likely be dead. He wondered what Jack's face will look like when Hiccup arrives. Would he feel bad? Or maybe happy?

Hiccup frowned as laid down on the dirt floor. He knew he didn't fear death. Now that he knew about the Land of the Dead he could care less that Dagur was going to kill him.

What Hiccup feared was how Dagur was going to bring death upon him.