"I Do.... NOT!!"

Chapter 24: Trader Trouble

Stoick turned away, an angry growl in his voice. "I've had enough of this. I can't trust anything you people tell me. Gobber, ready the ships. We leave at once!" He ended with a shout. Gobber scurried out and I gulped, wondering what was next. "You both will take us to the nest. That's not an invitation." He said. "No. I'm not taking you to your deaths!" I shouted." Stoick turned and left clearly tired of my refusals. "If you're not at the ships soon I'll send up warriors to drag you down!" Stoick yelled behind him. Heather and I shared a look of terror and then decided it was time to escape.

We'd done all we could here... clearly no one would listen. Gothi hobbled over to us and gave us a small bag of medicinal supplies, with a hand written note. I believe you. If you have a way to end the raids we need to listen. Good luck it read. We thanked her and then snuck out the back window of her hut, previously covered by some animal skins.

We crept around the back and began a tough climb down the side of the mountain into the sparse forest below. We had nearly made it to the beach when disaster struck. Snotlout and Viggo stepped out of the boulder piles blocking the way to the ocean, holding chains and more of the fake antidote. "Stay away from us! Snotlout?! Please- he's a liar! He'll stab you in the back!" I cried, standing in front of Heather. She passed a wooden stick to my hands that she'd picked off the ground while I was talking.

"Snotlout! Please let us go!" Heather said, her eyes wide with fear. "I think this viggo guy knows what he's talking about. Everyone knows I'm next in line for chief... And the only chieftess I want is you. That dragon freak thing seems to be getting in the way! Of course if you won't cooperate I'm sure your friend will... Lucky me you found a replacement as beautiful as yourself." Snotlout said, a smug smile on his face. "I'll never cooperate. You're a self absorbed brat, selling your tribe's safety to liar that consorts with grim reapers!" I yelled. " You'll die before you get to me," Heather hissed, now standing next to me with rocks in her hands.

Viggo lunged toward us, swinging chains. Heather threw a well aimed rock that glanced off his forehead while I broke my stick on his side with the force of my swing. He was hardly fazed and succeeded in kicking me to the ground, then catching Heather by the wrist with his chain. I screamed and lunged at viggo, now dragging a furious, kicking Heather to the docks in the distance. I never made it though, because Snotlout tackled me from behind, looped chains around me, and dragged me along with him.

Halfway there, we stopped. I struggled furiously as Snotlout threw me to the ground and tried to shove a tiny bottle of grim reaper venom down my throat with Viggo's help. Eventually they got the best of me and then held me down as the venom took effect. A terrible sick feeling washed over me and slowly rendered my limbs to weak to fight anymore. I began feeling sick to my stomach, along with a pounding headache. I moaned and went limp, to sick to do anything.

I barely registered Heather screaming and struggling as they forced the venom down her throat, and then blacked out. I drifted in and out of consciousness, as we were hauled down the gangplank to the 3rd ship docked, then heard Stoick march up with Spitelout and demanded we be unchained. "What happened to them?! Why was viggo helping you?" He asked, turning to Snotlout.

I managed to wake myself a little more and listened with horror as Snotlout answered. "He said they were going to escape! So I went with him to watch the beach behind Gothi's hut. Sure enough they were trying to sneak away, but they were to sick. Just like viggo said- they should have gotten that medicine" Snotlout said, sounding proud of himself. I moaned and shook my head no, then slumped against my captors, spent from the effort. We were dragged to the mast and tied far more gently to it by Berkians, as conversation passed around my ears. I couldn't tell what was going on... everything sounded as if it was underwater.