Apologies for the delay – computer issues, work commitments, continual tweaking of chapter, oh and my internet went down. Anyhow, this part and the next are very dark, but no violence. And after that, things will brighten up (for a little bit).

000

Questions from Dark Corners

Brie's POV

Brie sat at the back of the room with Gunnar's other girls - the only place she felt she could sit. There, the table offered enough darkness to hide her from Astrid, but gave her a decent view of Hiccup. She noticed the couple seemed less content than the previous night and she suspected Gunnar had a part in that, but beyond her role, his plans remained unknown to her.

None of the girls at the table spoke. Gunnar's girls only spoke to each other when he wanted them to. Otherwise, they stayed silent. Maybe they were nice once, but now they just gave cruel looks to Brie, envious she escaped their Hel.

Now, she waited in her own Hel. It pained her to have this sinful assignment. But, after meeting Gunnar, she learned some people have no choices. A tyrant could force people on paths their most ingrained moralities would never condone. She wondered why her God left her to him. Was God himself afraid to challenge this man? Perhaps her Lord saw what happened at the Church on the day Gunnar's people came to slaughter her's and he had less power than this mortal, so he abandon them. She certainly had not seen signs from her God since that day.

Brie listened to Tuffnut's first song, which reminded her of music from home - when people in her little town gathered to sing in church. She like that his funny songs made people smile, something rare in her world. Then he and his sister performed the song about Chief Haddock. She wondered how true it was and how much was embellished or symbolic. She became so entranced by the beautiful piece she almost missed Hiccup slinking out the door, holding himself together as he snuck into the darkness. When she saw his face, she knew the essence of it was true.

She rose to follow him, keeping to the shadows.

A cold hand grabbed her arm before she made it to the door.

"Are you making progress?" She recognized Gunnar's grip digging into her bicep and alcohol laced stench invading her space. He pulled her so close she could almost feel the strands of his beard on her face.

"I – I think so. I'll try something tonight," she swallowed.

Gunnar pulled her closer and further into the shadows. Even if she screamed, she knew people viewed her as worthless and no help would come. When Gunnar captured her, she screamed her throat raw and no one helped. Why would now be different?

"I know you have some strange moral hesitation, because you probably are starting to like him. Maybe the tales they tell and song they sing make you think he's a good man. But I tell you this – if you really want to help Chief Haddock, you'll seduce him. If you don't, I destroy all you have left, then I'll do far worse to him than blackmailing him for an affair. You know I will – you've seen the man I am."

How do you save a man by ruining a man? She wondered.

She never knew what 'far worse' was but she could tell there were many things Hiccup Haddock loved – probably everything and everyone in Berk meant something to him. And those things meant targets to Gunnar.

He released her, but she stayed in the shadows as she slipping along the old splintery walls of the hall then outside.

She saw Hiccup and waited for his tears to cease. She knew if she approached while he cried, he might feel embarrassed. She didn't need him to be that sort of weak. She needed him vulnerable enough to like her - for that he must be comfortable.

She Stood in the darkness and until she heard Hiccup pull himself together as the black dragon wandered out of the hall and trotted to him. He whispered to it and scratched its ears.

She called out and ask to walk back with them. As they walked, the dragon, stayed between them and supported Hiccup when he stumbled. Brie senses the animal's distrust.

She pretended she missed the sad song. She told him she left the hall after the funny one and got lost. After all, she explained, she came from a small village and a huge town like Berk confused a girl like her.

Hiccup laughed and pointed out landmarks. She smiled and hung on every word. He couldn't help himself. He had to be the hero, even in the smallest of ways. And he couldn't see how being so heroic put him in so much danger.

000

Astrid's POV

"I'm happy you guys have been able to keep in touch." She heard her gushy words fall out slurred. The effects of the alcohol started to seep deeper as Astrid stabilized against a table.

"Not sure what we would have done without Terror mail." Heather playfully leaned into Fishlegs.

"Heather, what are you long term intentions, with Fishlegs? You know Hiccup couldn't run Berk without him. Are you going to let us keep him, or steal him away?"

Fishlegs modestly protested, "Hiccup can take care of things better than he thinks he can. Besides, he just needs you, Astrid."

"Doesn't seem that way these days," she mumbled.

Fishlegs and Heather exchanged tense glances, "Give him a break, he's had to go non-stop since becoming chief and today he had to put up with that nut job – Gunnar." Fishlegs realized who he was talking to, "Who, I'm sure is a great brother-in-law."

"I wouldn't know." Astrid stated. Wanting to change the subject, she turned to Heather, "I'm not so drunk I missed you not answering my question." She pointed a swaying index finger at them. "Are there plans to move here?"

"I can't leave Dagur. I sort of hope he finds someone. If I left, he doesn't have anyone he feels he can trust quite the same."

Tuffnut trotted over to them, "Guys, have you seen Hiccup?"

"I saw him getting a drink before your song," Fishlegs said.

"Ruffnut says I might have upset him. Or he drank too much. I saw him laughing with some girls then I caught his eye during the song and he looked not so good."

"I'll look for him," Astrid said, walking toward the kegs. "He's my responsibility."

The room had become unbearably suffocating with the clattering of dishes and disjointed words from the crowd. Astrid wandered for a while, stopping to greet guest who put themselves in her way. She forced herself to wear smile and spew kind words to everyone in her path, but she wanted to shove people out of the way. She thanked Thor she still kept it together despite slipping sobriety. That Akevitt needed to be banned, she only had that and a few mugs of mead.

She made it to the kegs, where the drunkest Vikings stood around talking loudly and getting rough. She wandered to the darker corner of the room, behind the kegs.

"Looking for my cousin, sister?" Astrid spun around to find Gunnar. "I think he went home, maybe enjoying his wedding gifts."

Astrid back away.

"You're lucky, you're pretty," he commented as he followed her. "Not as pretty as your sister, nor as docile. Not sure how long my cousin will put up with that. All men have breaking points."

"Why would you say that? Hiccup loves me."

Gunnar passed behind her, cutting her off from the light of the hall and the crowd.

"You know, Astrid. I've found each person always has something they fear the most. You don't fear much - not death, not violence – no, you fear losing the man you love. Even if it's not through death."

She resisted the urge to back up, "Who told you that? Ingrid? She's been gone. She doesn't know me."

"I don't need your sister. I understand people. That's what you do to rule. You don't see Hiccup do it, because he only does half of it. He and I, we see where people are strong and we manipulate that. But Hiccup can't – won't see where people are weak. He's been praised so much, he can't even see where he is growing weak."

She maintained eye contacts and kept her face like stone, unwilling to let him see the truth she felt in his words.

"Hiccup doesn't manipulate people, he uses their strengths to find where they are useful and puts them in roles accordingly – like Eret, or Fishlegs, or his mother."

Gunnar shrugged, "OK, if you want to see that. Maybe he does manipulate weaknesses. Like he's manipulated your love for him to blind you to his faults and weaknesses."

"Look, Gunnar," Astrid got a sick feeling the more she interacted with him, "I don't really know you. Honestly, I thought you were some sort of prince charming when I first heard about you, but now that I'm seeing you up close and hear the strange ideas my sister could only get from you, I'm not sure I like you very much. Don't play games with me. Don't play game with Hiccup, and when this wedding is over you and my sister can go back to doing whatever you do and leave us out of it. You stay out of our way and we stay out of your's."

"Oh, Astrid, do you think I was just here for the wedding? I'm here to start something. Build somethings up. Tear some things down. I have a map for our future and I've laid out the paths to get there. And by 'our' I do mean Hiccup, you, Berk, and of course me. So, you be good to me. And your sister." He tilted his head in such a way the sparse light made his features look sharper. "I'll make you regret not being nice to her."

Astrid's inebriated mind tired of his strange threats. Why did Hiccup always seem to attract the attention of the craziest people? Did he emit a pheromone that attracted only the criminally insane? In any case, she wanted out of this threatening conversation.

She started to leave. He stepped closer. She feigned to the left and then cut right to move past him.

He called after her as she moved toward the crowd, "You know if someone tried to move on what was mine…I'd kill them. You should look for him at home and see if you can catch him in the act."

His words stabbed at her, making her chest feel like it had been sliced open. Why did she let him and this idea of Hiccup slipping away affect her so much? Could it be that maybe people started to realize what she saw long ago? There was no shortage at this party of girls who had higher statuses than her, daughters of chiefs, rich girls, maybe girls others would see as prettier. He never talked about it, but then again, when had she ever seen him with other girls in situations beyond her control? He and Stoick had gone to meet with these other chiefs in the past, but he never said much about it. Maybe he hadn't seen enough of the world to know this was what he wanted. She started to think about it and there was only one way her inebriated mind could think of to start keeping him.

She found her mother and lied about wanting to go to bed early. She passed Heather, asking her friend to cover for her and let her back in when she returned in the early morning, before anyone woke up.

She left, praying to Freya she wouldn't catch her husband-to-be in the middle of something that couldn't be undone and she could seduce him back.

000

A/N:

-First thanks to all those who reviewed, favored, and followed. You guys rock.

I do realize this part is very dark. Remember, not every story will be happy all the time and sometimes people go through hard times to appreciate what they have. And sometimes those hard times cause them to question their beliefs. This story is not meant to push anyone in any particular religious direction, the part above just explores what people think when life is hard.

SPOILER ALERT – I want to stick by what I said previously, Hiccup will NOT cheat. Note, Toothless is with him when he leaves and he keeps an eye on his friend - the story is as much about Hiccup being there for others as they are there for him.

In response to the guest comment about thinking about cheating- thinking about it is NOT cheating in this case. Hiccup only wonders if he would have done it, then realizes he wouldn't. He realizes that isn't him in the previous chapter. I wrote the story, I know there won't be cheating, and it is not Hiccup's intent to be unfaithful – sometimes people get pushed to the edge and think about their limits, then ask if they would go there, to realize who they are and what they will/won't do. Hiccup is not a cheater in this story and he is put in a situation where he could cheat to show he is better than that and to contrast with Gunnar who does not value his wife or women.