Hey, guys!

Okay, so, due to a rather nasty review last chapter, I have something to say.

FISHLEGS DID NOT GO WITH THE SEARCH PARTY. I REPEAT, FISHLEGS DID NOT GO WITH THE SEARCH PARTY. I thought about it, but then, I wanted to focus mainly on Astrid, the twins, and Snotlout. Before you accuse me or call me names (and this is in general, not to one person), PLEASE READ THE STORY A LITTLE BIT CLOSER.

On the other hand, thank you ALL for your reviews! I appreciate them SO much! :D Onwards and upwards, my friends! We travel...ON DRAGONBACK! :D Enjoy chapter 20!

...Wow, twenty chapters. I didn't know I would get this far on this story. XD

This isn't real…

Astrid shot into a sitting position, glancing about her for any signs of the Outcast battle. None. It wasn't real. No, it had been her fears brought to life. That's all it was. Nothing more than a realistic nightmare.

Looking around at her surroundings, she found herself, once again, at Raven Point. Then again, she had never really left it. It was just her fears taking control of her thought process.

She saw that she couldn't find the Gemsho anywhere. It must have run off somewhere as to keep from being sighted by the other Berkians. Brilliant. So there was a rogue dragon on the loose, people were unconscious left and right, and the search party was failing.

What would Hiccup do? Astrid found herself wondering as she stood up and brushed her skirt off, recollecting her discarded battleaxe. Hiccup was always the one thinking of brilliant plans to get them out of their problems, and so naturally, when he couldn't help them, she would try and think about what he would do were he in her situation.

Across from her, Snotlout bolted upright with a scream. Astrid instantly ran over to him, thinking of what her first move would be. Snotlout was shaking uncontrollably, whispering words Astrid couldn't make out.

"He's dead!" Snotlout suddenly shouted. "Hookfang and my Dad are dead!"

"No they're not!" Astrid shouted. Snotlout shook his head. Desperate, Astrid grabbed his shoulders and shook him back and forth. "They're not dead!" she shouted. "It wasn't real! It was just your fears! It wasn't real! Snotlout! Snotlout, listen to me!"

"They're dead!" Snotlout yelled.

"I know it seems like that," said Astrid, "but it didn't happen! I want you to repeat after me. 'Hookfang and my Dad are alright.'" Snotlout shook his head. "DO IT!" Astrid ordered.

"Hookfang and my Dad are alright," said Snotlout in a whisper.

"Say it like you mean it!" said Astrid.

"HOOKFANG AND MY DAD ARE ALRIGHT!" Snotlout shouted.

"There you go!" said Astrid. "They're alright, and so are we! We're all alive." She suddenly thought of something she hadn't before, and gasped. "This is what happened to Hiccup and Avril!" Astrid shouted to Snotlout. "They let their fear take control of them!"

She didn't blame either one of them; Avril was three years old. She was afraid of anything, really. A hurt dragon, a bleeding paper cut, the dark...it wasn't hard to scare a three year old.

Hiccup, however, had seen more in the eighteen years of his life than most Berkian soldiers saw in eighty years. Hiccup killed the Red Death, lost his leg, faced Dagur the Deranged, watched people he cared about go to war, lead the Training Academy, was captured by Alvin the Treacherous...it was hard to scare him, but if the Gumshoe Dragon really brought people's worst fears back to them, then Astrid didn't want to think about what Hiccup was going through.

"Okay, okay, brilliant," said Snotlout. "So, we're dead, in other words."

"No," said Astrid. "No, Snotlout, we're not. Don't let your fear take charge; it's what the Gemsho wants. That's the first thing."

"You make it sound so easy," said Snotlout.

Astrid winced, remembering her nightmare; Avril dying, Hiccup bleeding to death in her arms… "It's not easy," said Astrid. "It's not easy, no."

"You're supposed to be encouraging me," said Snotlout, "not making it worse."

"I'm not trying to make it worse," said Astrid, and really, she wasn't. It just came out like that, and besides, it wasn't her fault the Gemsho took people's greatest fears to use against them.

"Of course you aren't," said Snotlout sarcastically. "Of course."

"Hey, I don't see you trying to do anything beneficial," Astrid snapped.

"What's there beneficial for me to do?" Snotlout returned.

Ouch.

She averted her gaze to the darkened forest around her, her eyes scanning for any sign of the Gemsho. She and Snotlout both sat there alike, Snotlout staring straight up into the starry sky while Astrid searched the forest eye-level to her. There was nothing, though, silence engulfing the eerie setting, making it even more creepy.

"Nothing," said Snotlout. "It's like it never even existed!"

"It has to be here somewhere," said Astrid. "It didn't just disappear!"

"Who knows what this dragon can do!" said Snotlout. "We already know it can manipulate our minds. Why can't it disappear!?"

"NOT HELPING," said Astrid. "Oh come on...come on...what would Hiccup do…?"

"Probably something so insanely stupid that it actually fixes our situation," said Snotlout.

As much as Astrid wanted to deny it, that was exactly what Hiccup would do. His plans were often so stupidly brilliant that they just barely managed to squeeze them out of even the tightest of situations. However, Hiccup wasn't there to think up any ideas, leaving Astrid and Snotlout to wonder just what they were going to do concerning the Gemsho, and all the rest of their problems.

A few feet away, Ruffnut and Tuffnut both woke up at the same time with a shrill cry, almost as if their minds were in sync. As soon as they regarded each other, they rushed forward, one hugging the other in brotherly and sisterly comfort. Astrid didn't know what they had experienced during the fear-driven nightmares pushed onto them by the Gemsho, but she could only guess that it had to do with one or the other dying or getting hurt in some horrible way.

It suddenly occurred to her why Hiccup had woken up the first time with a shriek of Astrid's name. During his fear sequence, he must have seen something happen to her, or else he wouldn't have been so worried as it came to her leaving him.

"Is everyone okay?" Astrid asked. Ruffnut and Tuffnut both managed to nod, while Snotlout did the same. "Okay, then," said Astrid, rising to a stand. "We need to find that dragon. If we don't…"

She knew what was going to happen if they didn't. The next time they fell asleep or unconscious, the Gemsho would take control of their dreams again, showing them their greatest fears.

If that happened, then they were never going to be able to take down the Gemsho.