Trader Johann was so eager to get word back to Hiccup and Astrid that he had Finn that he scribbled out the note as he walked and tied it to the first Terrible Terror he found (after feeding it Berkian dragon nip, of course). He then turned back to speak to his stowaway.

"Well, my boy, we should get back t-"

He found himself talking to no one at all. The young boy had apparently gotten lost in the crowd. His heart thumping, the trader immediately began running into the groups of people, calling Finn's name over and over. But the boy was long gone. He looked back in the direction of the Terrible Terror he had sent but it was too far away to summon.

His only hope was that Hiccup and Astrid would come soon because if they didn't... he shuddered to think of what would happen. He prayed for a speedy flight there... and for mercy on himself.

Xxx

The back of Finn's head ached horribly and for a few seconds, he wished he was still out cold. The darkness was penetrating, even when he opened his eyes. He was dizzy but unsure if it was his perception or if the ship was really rocking and spinning around him. He suspected that it was a bit of both and he was beginning to feel nauseous. The only light he could see was coming through the boards of the ship. Unlike Trader Johann's ship, the light barely went through it so for all the good it did him, he might as well have kept his eyes shut.

It was a few seconds before he noticed that he was standing upright even though he had been lying down when he fell unconscious. He tried to move his arm but felt something obstructing the motion. A metallic clink. Gritting his teeth, he tried to free his wrists from his binds but he was no match for the heavy chains. He felt shackles on his feet as well. This was nauseating because every time the ship moved, he was forced to sway with it. He didn't have anything to hold onto so he had no choice but to stand upright.

"Hello?" he rasped, his voice still sore from his screaming however long ago it was. "Is someone down here?"

No response. Was he alone? He couldn't see anyone but then again, it was far too dark to know for sure if he was alone. He trembled in fear but held back his tears. He wasn't going to cry.

"P-please..." he whined. "I j-just want to g-go home."

"Jus' keep yer mouth shut." came a low voice from a point to his right.

"Who are you?" Finn turned to look but he could see nothing but darkness.

"Better yeh don't know." the voice replied. "Seein' as we're jus' gonna be sold. We don't make friends."

"But I c-can't be sold. I have p-parents." Finn whimpered.

The man laughed bitterly. "Not anymore, yeh don't."

Finn felt a tightening in his chest. He shouldn't have left home. Admittedly, his parents hated each other and his sister was annoying but at least he had friends. And a bed to sleep in. And food to eat.

"What's gonna happen to me?" Finn asked after a few minutes of deep breaths, trying to hold back his tears.

"Yeh work. Do what yer told." the man replied nonchalantly. "Sometimes they let yeh go free. But mos' of the time they don't. Now stop askin' questions and jus' be quiet."

Finn complied, though he had about a million questions left. He thought of his parents. Would they be worried? They would be if they knew where he was, that was for certain. But they didn't.

That when panic began to set in. No one knew where he was. No one was coming.

Xxx

It was dark. Too dark. A blurred shape blocked the moonlight, pressing a cloth up to the little girl's mouth before she could make a sound. The girl tried to scream but found herself far too groggy to do so. She couldn't move her limbs so she lay helpless as the shape in the shadows wrapped her in her own blankets and had a large, dark shape lift her with what felt like its teeth. She wanted so desperately to struggle and cry for help but the whole world was spinning and her arms and legs wouldn't move. Her daddy always came when she needed him so, as she felt her body rise hundreds of feet over the village, she hoped that maybe he would come anyway.

But he didn't. And now she was completely alone in the dark. Alone in the hands of a stranger whose hate for her radiated from above the dragon (at least she thought it was a dragon). She knew no one was going to rescue her. She opened her mouth in a silent scream...

Adrianna woke up with a squeak. She was soaked in sweat and her heart thudded in her ears. For a split second, she wanted to go get her daddy. And then she remembered she wasn't at home.

Her heart thumped harder when the events of the previous night returned to her. She hadn't seen her brother all day and all anyone would tell her was that he had run away. Her parents hadn't even been able to look her in the eye when they had come to talk to her that evening. They wouldn't give their daughter any details except that her brother was still missing but hopefully they would find him soon. But Adrianna could tell from her mother's tone that hope was running out fast.

Her father's lips twitched upward in a tiny smile when he caught sight of her but she noticed his eyes intentionally averting those of her mother. She didn't know why this was. And, as usual, no one was going to tell her.

And now she was alone. Alone in a house full of people. She loved Erick's parents but she hardly knew his brothers and sisters. Gustav no longer lived with the family so she was sleeping in his old bed, which had been pushed into Erick's sisters' room. Magnus and Aud were fast asleep. She didn't like the Larson girls much. Magnus was over twice her age and spent an awful lot of time mockingly calling her and Erick a romantic couple, and Aud was very popular with the village girls so Adrianna almost never spoke to her. About the only good thing she could say about the two of them was that they didn't snore. But it was pointless trying to go back to sleep now.

Adrianna sat up and thought about her options for a few minutes. Ordinarily, she would have gotten up to speak to her father. But she couldn't do that now. He was probably still out looking for Finn. Her second choice would have been Erick but her best friend was still asleep and she didn't want to wake him. So she was faced with a night of lonely contemplation.

She got up as quietly as she could, careful to avoid the creaky floorboards. It didn't take her long to descend the staircase and emerge into the main room of the house. She knew that Erick's parents now slept on the lower floor so she was still going to have to be quiet. She briefly considered setting a fire and washing her face off. But the smell of smoke might alarm the Larsons at this time of night. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and tried to wipe the sweat off her brow. She only succeeded in soaking her nightdress's sleeve.

And then an entirely new feeling overtook her. Jealousy.

Erick's family never lost anyone. The parents never fought. The siblings got along. Erick wasn't as stupid as she was. He had learned to read just fine. So why couldn't she? And why was she gripped with paralyzing fear almost every night? And why did no one, not one other child, understand what she was going through? Why?

She was surprised at how quickly and suddenly these emotions overcame her. What was more surprising was that they wouldn't go away. They had festered below the surface a bit when she would watch other kids run and play freely while she was nervous about taking risks. But she didn't let them consume her. Why was it different now?

Oh yes. Because her father was always close by. And her parents didn't used to hate each other so much. But now even those who had kept her sane all of these years were letting her down one by one. Like Poppy, when he had so abruptly left. She couldn't trust anyone. Not anymore. Not even herself.

She stood at the entrance to the main room of the Larsons' house for a very long time, the emotions beginning to penetrate every barrier she'd erected to keep herself from succumbing to them. Now that they had... she didn't know what to do. She didn't even know what she wanted to do. This was new. This wasn't the sweet, compassionate little girl she knew. It was an angry, bitter child, a child she didn't even know emerging from the shadows of her own heart. And now that it was out, she couldn't banish it. She felt it running rampant in her mind, reminding her of everything that wasn't fair. And there was a lot of unfairness in her life. Too much.

And that made her angry. It wasn't right. None of it was right. It wasn't supposed to be this hard. If it was, all the other kids would have fears too. Fearless was in Finn's name and even when he had broken his ankle, still he gritted his teeth and dealt with it. Within three months, he was back to jumping off rocks and climbing trees.

But that wasn't her. She had spent the first eight and a half months of her life with Finn. Why did he get all the fearlessness while she got all the... well... weakness? It wasn't because she was a girl. Her mother wasn't weak or stupid. It wasn't because she didn't have anyone brave or admirable in her life. She had more heroes than she could count and she was the daughter of the strongest man in the entire world.

So what was wrong with her?

"You all right?"

A sudden voice violently startled her. She emitted a small squeak of surprise but was relieved when she spotted Erick's father rolling out of his bedroom.

"I... I'm sorry, I'll go back to bed." she stammered.

"Don't worry about it. No sense in lying there for hours if you can't sleep." Olaf Larson chuckled, rolling closer to her and lighting a candle. "I understand the feeling myself. Though I hardly think it's for the same reason."

Adrianna watched him suspiciously, almost like she thought he might be an imposter. Olaf leaned back a bit in his chair with wheels, watching her with a warm gaze that soon melted her defenses. She relaxed a bit and strode forward, seating herself on their couch. Olaf wheeled next to her and lit a fire in the pit.

"What's on your mind?" he asked amiably.

"Nothing." Adrianna answered automatically.

"Really now?" Olaf turned to look at her, the small fire now flickering and casting odd shadows on his face. "Nothing at all? I hardly think that's the case. Smart kid like you's got to be thinking about a thousand things at once."

Adrianna shook her head. "I'm not smart."

"Well now, why would you go and say a silly thing like that?" Olaf chortled, shaking his head as though she had told him the stupidest joke in the world.

"Just 'cause I am. It doesn't matter." Adrianna propped her elbows on her knees and placed her chin on her hands.

"Of course it does." Olaf turned his soft brown eyes to Adrianna's sharp green ones. "Because if that's true, my Erick is a liar."

Adrianna's head snapped up. "What?"

"Well isn't it true you play together a lot?"

Adrianna raised an eyebrow. "Yes..."

"Well he says he likes spending time with you best." Olaf told her calmly, poking the fire. "And my son is a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. He wouldn't like spending time with someone who isn't as smart as he is."

Adrianna didn't have a response to this so she remained quiet. Olaf watched her for a minute or two but she pretended she didn't notice.

"You know how I can tell you're a smart kid?" he asked. Adrianna shook her head. "You never point out the obvious. Most kids your age, they just tell you what's going on in their lives and leave it at that. But you and Erick, you like to pick apart your thoughts and draw conclusions. You like to think about ideas. So what if you can't read? What you can do is better."

Adrianna's lips twitched upward in a smile. Her daddy was the strongest man in the world... but she could see why Erick thought his was.

Xxx

Finn barely slept that night. It was far too uncomfortable in his chains. His stomach growled loudly but no one came down to offer him any food. At this point, he would eat just about anything. His throat was so sore, each time he coughed, he thought he could taste blood. He had no idea how long he had been down there but he was beginning to suspect that it had been close to 24 hours. No one had spoken to him since he had awakened from unconsciousness. The belly of the ship was filled with a putrid smell of just about every bodily fluid, some of it Finn's. It was stifling. Finn's nausea worsened and he prayed to the gods that he wouldn't vomit all over himself. Though he was beginning to wonder if he had anything left in this stomach. Perhaps that was the only thing keeping him from doing so. But still he would not cry.

As sunlight began to shine again, several large men opened a hatch and descended the stairs. Finn blinked, his eyes in pain from sudden exposure to the bright sun. He looked to his right and saw two men, both quite a bit older than him, chained as tightly as him. But the men seemed to find him more interesting. They crowded around like vultures over a corpse, laughing at his battered appearance. One man seized him while another removed his shackles. Finn didn't think he could possibly be more humiliated than he already was.

But, as in other areas in life, things can always get worse. The men got to work holding him while they ripped off his clothes. The only thing more humiliating than standing in front of them in his soaked clothing was standing naked in their midst. He heard several lewd comments about his body before they tied a loincloth around his waist. Then he was held tightly while the slave handlers did the same to the two other slaves. Finn shut his eyes and tried to block out their piercing voices.

He was then shackled to the other slaves and taken to the deck of the boat. One of the men grabbed his head and pulled it down while another one pressed something white hot against the back of his ear. He screamed in agony and struggled but it was no use. He had no idea why they had done it but he knew that he had just received the worst burn of his life. And that was saying something considering the pets his parents kept.

Within a few minutes, he was taken out of the ship and forced to march, shackled to the other slaves, to a platform. The slave handlers began speaking to a crowd of, Finn suspected, prospective buyers, but he didn't understand what they were saying. Everyone in this new place spoke a different language. Before long, he was pushed onto the platform as the slave handler shouted something to the crowd. People were yelling and screaming and pushing and shoving, all clamoring to get their hands on a young, healthy boy, especially one with such vivid red hair and odd features.

But one person, a large, middle aged man with dark hair and small, cold gray eyes, appeared to have made the best offer. Laughing with glee, the slave handlers removed Finn's shackles and shoved him at the man, who roughly grabbed him by the upper arm while he deposited a large bag of what sounded like coins in one of the slave handler's hand.

Finn dearly wanted to ask what was going on as he was now yanked through the crowd and down a rocky path that cut and bruised his feet with each step. The man held him by the elbow, his other hand gripping a wooden cane which helped him walk. Finn winced when the man's hand made it down to his wrist, which was in agony from the chains it had rubbed against for a full day and night. But he did not cry out.

It took a long time for them to reach their destination, a small cottage on the edge of town. An elderly man was on his knees in the front of the house, pulling weeds from a small flowerbed. He looked up when Finn and the man arrived. After conversing with the man for a moment, the man who bought him looked at Finn. The boy wanted to shrink back but he had just enough courage left to stand tall. This was the man he would be forced to serve. Possibly for the rest of his life. He didn't like the look in the man's eyes. There was no mercy, no compassion. Nothing remotely human about him.

And that was what frightened Finn the most.