The entire world went silent. Hiccup clutched his daughter, feeling her rapid heartbeat against his chest, breathing in the flowery scent of her hair... Adrianna was his little girl. Finn was his little boy. But the village was his as well. It wouldn't be right to put his children ahead of hundreds of Vikings who would surely be killed. Berk's army didn't come close to rivaling Dagur's. The only reason the Berserkers had never declared war was because Berk truly didn't have anything they wanted. There had been no point.

But now the law was on their side. They didn't have to fight to take control of what they wanted. In fact, if the Hooligans backed down, the Berserkers could slaughter the Haddocks with little to no opposition.

At least... if the Haddocks didn't relinquish their children. The only way for everyone to live was to give up the gods' greatest gifts. Hiccup caught sight of one of Dagur's men staring at Adrianna with a hungry look in his eyes. The young father shuddered and held her closer. No one was going to take away his children. At least not while he had anything to say about it.

"We're not letting them go." he said in a soft voice so that only Dagur and the soldiers closest to him could hear. "You'll have to kill us."

"I was hoping for a bit more fun." Dagur chortled. "But this is too easy." he turned to the guard standing closest to him. "Freystein, is it considered suicide if you let someone kill you?"

The man called Freystein smiled widely, drawing a sword and staring pointedly at Adrianna. But before any of the Berserkers could go in for the kill, Gobber stepped in front of the Haddocks.

"We'd like to invoke article 32. Berk is on emergency lock down." he said calmly. "Now get off our land."

Dagur rolled his eyes. "You're grasping at straws."

But Hiccup knew exactly which law to which Gobber was referring. There was a loophole, however small. He snatched the law book out of Dagur's hands and immediately read the law out loud.

"In the event of a crisis within a tribal boundary, the chief can proclaim a "state of emergency" actuating a lock-down upon the entire tribe and any temporary residents. A state of emergency entitles the tribe protection from outside influence, in whatever form, for three days unless the scenario concerns the chief personally (whether by sickness, disability or absence). Any violation is considered an act of war. Climacteric circumstances that warrant a state of emergency solely include deleterious conduct, epidemic, missing person, and/or hostage."

"None of which applies!" Dagur snarled.

"It applies in hostage situations." he told them, turning slightly to block Adrianna's line of vision. "And we're definitely taking our children hostage."

"You're just stalling. The law is only effective for three days, after which we're free to come and take what's rightfully ours." Dagur shook his head but the scowl on his face made it evident that he wasn't pleased with this turn of events.

"If you want to go by the book on this one, Dagur, you're going to have to get off Berk or you're inciting war." Astrid said, stepping forward with her fingers around her axe.

Dagur glared at the Haddocks for a few seconds before motioning for his men to stand down. "Three days. And then we'll be back." he snarled, turning on his heel and walking away, his army following and looking very disappointed.

For a few moments after the Berserkers were out of sight, the entire village was silent. Hiccup clutched his daughter, sighing with relief. Astrid held onto Finn, who looked outraged at the very idea of being taken from his parents. Then a loud thumping noise made everyone jump and look at Gobber, who was hobbling forward into the center of the town square.

"The entire council will meet in the Great Hall immediately." he announced. "All others should go about their business as usual."

The people in the council silently stood up and made their way to the Great Hall. Lotus, however, made a beeline to the Haddocks.

"You go." she said, gently taking Finn from Astrid's arms. "I'll take care of the kids."

Adrianna, finally able to speak again, looked at her father with wide eyes. "Is that man going to take us away?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"No." Hiccup replied, kissing her on the forehead and praying that his empty words would somehow be true. "I won't let him. You're staying here."

"I don't want to go." she continued. "Please don't let him take me."

"I won't. I promise." Hiccup said, looking directly into her eyes. "But now you need to go with your Nana. Your mommy and I have to meet with the council to make sure you stay here."

Adrianna faltered for a moment. Her daddy was the strongest man in the world and she would surely be safer with him. But the look of fear in his eyes made her blood run cold. If her daddy was scared, this was serious. And she knew that the only thing she could do was to obey. She slowly nodded and allowed him to place her on the ground. He immediately turned toward the Great Hall and took off as fast as he could. As she watched him go, she decided that if her daddy really was scared, she was going to have to be brave for him.

Xxx

It took far too long for the entire council, twenty members in all, to settle down. Hiccup tapped his remaining foot impatiently, growling in frustration.

Gobber finally slammed his prosthetic mallet onto a table. "Quiet down! Now!"

The crowd silenced instantly, all eyes turning to their young chief and his wife.

Hiccup cleared his throat. "We need a majority ruling to declare war on the Berserkers. They're not taking the twins. All those in favor of declaring war, raise your right hand."

He looked around the room, expecting to see hands flying up in eagerness but saw almost none. Only Olaf, Fishlegs, Astrid, and Gobber raised their hands. His heart sank.

"I said all those in favor-"

"We heard you." Snotlout snapped. "And we don't want to declare war."

Hiccup was breathless for a moment. This couldn't be happening.

"All those opposed?" he asked, praying for a miracle.

Hands flew up all over the Hall. Fifteen hands in all. Hiccup's heart seemed to stop beating completely. He blinked and swallowed thickly, breathing slowly and deeply to remain calm and hear his people's arguments.

"Okay. Why?" That didn't sound too harsh did it? Though crossing his arms at the same time probably didn't help much.

"Think about it." Snotlout snarled, standing up and locking eyes with the chief. "The Berserkers have thousands of soldiers. They have more soldiers than we have citizens. We'll be massacred. Our kids will be slaughtered. I'm not sitting back and letting that happen."

There was a murmur of assent from the other council members.

"How many times did we defeat Dagur with five dragons and six teens?" Hiccup fired back. "We could do it-"

"No we couldn't!" Snotlout shouted. "We sneaked up on them, we didn't engage the army. Hel, Tuffnut even pretended to be a Berserker. None of those tactics could work, not while they're running through our village killing our people!"

"We have over one hundred dragons right now! If we set up a barrier by the cliffs and the port and attack long before they begin to port, we could hurt them significantly! Notice I've already got a plan."

"And if one of our people is killed? That blood will be on your hands. You're putting your kids ahead of every single person here, ahead of our kids!" Snotlout shot back. "I will not sit back and let some disgusting Berserker kill my wife or my daughter! Not on my watch!"

"So force me to hand my children over to Dagur? That's what you are telling me?" Toothless growled lowly beside Hiccup as he shouted back. The chief distractedly set a hand on his nose, but his agitation didn't let up, so neither did the dragon's.

"None of us wants that, Hiccup." Horst spoke up quietly. "But it's the only way to ensure the safety of our village."

Hiccup shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not saying you're wrong, but you would die to protect your families from an attack on any other day! It's when there is a required trade that there is difference in opinion!"

"I'm not trading Inga's life for Anna's! Especially when we all know she'll be killed anyway!" Snotlout stood up and leaned forward, hitting the table with his fist.

"I'm not trying to pine your daughter for mine, Snotlout! If this situation were reversed, some man wanted to take Inga from you and do horrible things to her, you would be begging for help!" Hiccup hollered furiously. "I'm trying to do the right thing by my wife and kids! I won't let the mother of my children cry herself to sleep every night for the rest of our lives because some ruthless crooks have our babies!"

"The matter is closed! In three days, just do what you're told and everyone will be safe." Snotlout yelled back.

"Hiccup, if you don't do this, both your kids will die. If you want them to live, this is your only solution." Horst said calmly.

Hiccup laughed a humorless laugh. "You would rather that I send them away to live a life full of destruction and chaos than to at least try to protect them?"

"They'll die anyway!" Tuffnut piped up.

"No they WONT!" Astrid finally shouted, ending her silence. "Haven't our kids suffered enough? First Anna is tortured by some sick, twisted madwoman and then they lose their grandfather and now you want them to spend the rest of their lives with the Berserkers? To condemn a little girl who still has nightmares to a life of being hurt by men several times her age and size?"

There was a deafening silence. Most of the council members lowered their heads, not making eye contact with their chief.

After a few seconds, Horst lifted his head and gently shook it. "Of course not... But what other choice do we have?"

Astrid shook her head tersely. She blinked and a tear rolled down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away. "I can't even Look at you all right now." She turned around and placed her hands on Stormfly's snout, trying to hold off more tears

"No one is going to hurt Adrianna. That's illegal." Snotlout drawled after a few seconds, his gaze firmly locked with Hiccup's.

"Like that would stop Dagur from doing whatever he wants." Hiccup said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Well yeah, it would! You know, seeing as he's following the law in this instance!" Snotlout shot back.

Hiccup took two fluent steps forward. "You calling me a liar? Are you so naive enough to believe that little girls out there are not hurt every day?" Hiccup seethed in Snotlout's face for a moment, the atmosphere tensing by the second. "I don't care what it takes, I will stake my own life on it before I let that happen." he leaned in closer. "Dagur doesn't care About the law! He just wants to tear my family apart! He has been trying to destroy me since we were three! He couldn't succeed back then but now that I have something to lose, he is doing what homework he has to!"

Snotlout leaned in so that their noses were almost touching. "Well as long as my daughter and everyone else's kids don't have to go through it, it doesn't matter to me what happens to yours."

Astrid whipped back around, her mouth agape. People's eyes snapped to Hiccup's face to see his response.

His face was sad, hurt and almost blank. Finally he nodded. "I would die to protect this village like any chief would. Like my father would. I am not perfect and I am trying so hard to do the right thing. But I would never, never wish that on Inga in order to spare Adrianna."

"You wouldn't be saying that if the situations were reversed. Your daughter has always been your weakness and everyone knows it. You will always put her first." Snotlout laughed humorlessly. "You canceled Snoggletog, sent the entire army on a wild goose chase and all because she was missing. You can't look me in the eye and tell me you'd seriously risk her life to save anyone here."

"W-wouldn't you?" Hiccup shouted indignantly. "I wouldn't want anyone to go through what my family has in the last five years, but I would like you to know how it feels! To have your baby snatched from her bed in the middle of the night!"

"Well lucky for me, my daughter wasn't-"

"You know what?" Hiccup held up a hand. "Forget it. I am not nearly selfish enough to even start attempting to understand your point of view." He stepped back and looked over the council again. With a heavy sigh he asked again, quieter this time. "All in favor to declare war... raise your right hand."

Olaf, Gobber and Astrid raised their hands with him. Fishlegs sank slightly lower when the others' eyes rested on him.

"Fishlegs?" Astrid squeaked.

"Fish, please..." Hiccup murmured.

"I have three kids. I can't let... I won't... I have to do what's right for everyone." Fishlegs mumbled, his eyes fixed on his clasped hands.

Gobber suddenly hobbled forward, the wooden peg making a loud clunking sound that echoed through the Hall. "I can't believe you all." he said in a dangerously quiet voice. "If we unite together as a village, as the family we are supposed to be, we can whip them right out of here! But no, you're all too selfish and stubborn to see a couple of grieving parents, too scared to risk the thought of having to go through half what they have for those kids!" Hiccup, or anyone for that matter, had never seen Gobber so livid. "You don't trust your chief even though he has proved himself worthy since he was fifteen! You don't respect him and his authority, and you don't respect the legacy that Stoick the Vast left behind!"

"You're not a parent!" Ruffnut growled. "You don't know what you're talking about! You don't have anyone to protect!"

"Gobber was a second father to me! I didn't have the luxury of two parents like you and Gobber made up for it." Hiccup snapped at her.

"I have five kids." Olaf said from the corner of the room. "And I'm not letting Hiccup's kids suffer just for their sake."

"You just don't want Erick to lose his girlfriend."Snotlout snipped.

"No, that is not true!" Olaf cried. "I would like to see you risk your daughter at a Berserkers' clutches! You would die, as would I, at the thought!"

"You have your majority." said a woman at the back who kept her face half hidden in shame. "We're not changing our votes."

Hiccup felt a surge of panic well up inside his chest and he knew they could see it. "Guys please, I am begging you-"

"Beg all you want. We aren't changing out votes." Snotlout growled.

Hiccup had the urge to scream and pull his hair, but he did neither. He made eye contact with Gobber, then Olaf. In their eyes he saw determination and hope, both sets screaming at him "don't give up!" In them he found courage.

He stood taller and faced Snotlout again with a hardened expression. "Fine. I don't need your help."

The chief then turned, gently held his wife's arm and led her out of the Great Hall, Gobber, Olaf and the Haddocks' dragons on their heels. The moment the doors slammed behind them, Hiccup's hands began to tremble. He reached up and ran them through his hair, breathing heavily and forcing himself to contain the screams of anger building inside him, threatening to burst through.

I can't let them take my babies... I can't let them... I can't-"

"Hiccup, they are not going anywhere, I promise!" Gobber held his shoulders like Stoick had done so many times in the past to capture his attention. It was only partially effective.

The young chief looked up at Gobber, his eyes wide and tears brimming at the edges. His breaths came in short gasps and everyone present knew that they had mere seconds before the dam would finally burst.

"No, don't... lad, look at me. It is okay; they won't take your kids away. They won't. Don't despair now; you need to focus. Come on now, I know you're in there." Gobber smiled at him gently.

Hiccup panted before nodding quickly, wiping his eyes, making a clear effort to pull himself back together before he fell apart. He turned to look at Astrid but she wasn't at his side. She was sitting against the wall of the Great Hall, her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking. Olaf was speaking to her, consoling her. Hiccup might have been upset that the older man was doing his job but he was simply too emotional to have been any help in the first place. He turned to look back at Gobber but the sight of the rest of the council walking down the hill from the back entrance of the Great Hall made his blood boil. He angrily kicked a bucket on the ground, sending it flying down the hill.

"Listen to me, Hiccup." Gobber said, gently nudging the young chief with his mallet. "I took our law book from the Hall. There has to be something that can help."

Hiccup, still shaking slightly, nodded and looked over the older man's shoulder as he flipped through the pages. They skimmed through dozens of laws, begging the gods for some way out, something to use against Dagur.

"Here's something: The majority of a tribe's council must accede to promulgate war officially. If the quorum lacks, the patriarch may appeal to all other chiefs to vote on the matter. An advocate is obliged to engage in battle." Hiccup read. "Okay, that sounds like it means that if the council won't declare war, we can call together the chiefs from all the other tribes to vote for it. And any chief who votes in the affirmative has to participate in the war."

"Hiccup..." Gobber sighed deeply. "Do you really think the other chiefs will side with you when your own council won't?"

"It's our only chance!" Hiccup snapped. "I don't see a single other law about getting around the council and declaring war. Or about reassigning citizenship. We have to do this!" he turned to Astrid and Olaf and quickly explained the plan. "We need to round up some Terrible Terrors now if we're going to meet with the other chiefs by this evening."

Olaf shook his head. "Listen, Hiccup-"

"There isn't another option. It's that or let the Berserkers take our kids and I will never let that happen!" Hiccup said in a very shaky voice. Toothless growled in support of his human.

Hiccup took off down the hill, scanning the ground and the skies for Terrible Terrors. The others pursued, all speaking at once, all trying to talk some sense into him. He didn't hear a word they said. This was a long shot for sure. It would be a miracle if even one tribe sided with him. But it was hope. And with so few of his own people in support of him, he knew he had to cling to every ounce of hope he had left.