October 22nd-Hallucination

Whatever Tuffnut had drank he didn't know. All he knew was one minute he was drinking a mix his sister had dared him to drink which had tasted rather nasty, the next he was in his hut curled up into a ball and sobbing his heart out as little green trolls stole chicken and Ruffnut was laying on the floor unconscious with blood matted in her blonde hair.

"Ruff...Chicken...No!" Tuffnut gasped out as he was torn between saving chicken and trying to wake his dead sister. Tears fell down his cheeks before he screamed their names again. He didn't even remember how Ruffnut had been killed. He just knew it had happened because the evidence was there.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Rather than answering it Tuffnut cowered back, his knees to his chest as his back pressed against the side of his bed. The trolls were back. Or the dragon hunters. They were coming for him!

"Hey Tuffnut?" That was odd. That was Hiccup's voice. Tuffnut could recognize the voice of that one-legged enigma anywhere. His life was a riddle, but his voice was high, squeaky at times, and overall far too easy to recognize in a crowd.

Believing this had to be some sort of a trick, Tuffnut refused to answer. His breathing felt short. What had he drank that made him feel so sick? Did the trolls give it to Ruffnut? Did she drink it too? Was that why she was dead? Tuffnut grit his teeth as more tears fell.

What if it was his fault she was dead? What if she had just asked the trolls for some of the drink for their game of truth or dare-which had been going on for two weeks now-and they had given her some that was poisoned? Sure he himself loved fighting with his sister physically, but he didn't want her dead.

"Hey Tuff? Com'on and open the door! Ruff told me she gave you some stupid potion in truth or dare and you locked her out of the hut. As your friend I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Tuffnut's eyes widened in surprise. How had Ruffnut told Hiccup about the drink?! She had been dead for the past hour now! At least it felt like an hour...but she never left the hut since he'd drank it regardless!

Tuffnut looked back at the body on the floor. It suddenly vanished, making him even more confused. Then the body of his sister was replaced by the one of chicken. Patches of her feathers were missing and she was near a fire pit.

Before he could cry for his lost pet and in confusion at the same time, Tuffnut felt an odd crawling sensation on his arms. He looked down and realized there were inch thick beetles climbing up his arms and trying to get in his mouth. In a desperate attempt to remove the little critters who were trying to invade his body as if he were a decaying corpse, he began clawing at his own arms so vigorously that he drew blood. This only resulted in more bugs crawling on him and even biting him, swelling up as they drank his blood.

"Help! Hiccup!"

The second he was called to Hiccup ditched the door and flew Toothless through the window of the hut. He saw the blood on Tuffnut's arms and the way he was still scratching himself so hard it was as if he couldn't feel the pain at all. He was also crying.

Not wasting a second, Hiccup slid on the floor next to his fellow dragon rider and friend. He sat on his knees and wrapped both arms around Tuffnut from behind, grabbing both of his wrists and pinning them to his chest. Hiccup then used to his legs to wrap around Tuffnut's torso so he couldn't kick at the young man restraining him.

Hiccup knew what was going on here. He'd faced it many times do to fever induced by the infection he'd once had in his leg. Never had it been this bad though...

"Tuffnut! Tuffnut listen to me..." Tuffnut silenced as Hiccup got his attention, eyes pinched close to prevent him from seeing the bugs sucking his blood and his dead chicken on the floor.

"They have her Hiccup! They have chicken and they killed Ruffnut! It's all my fault! They put something on me that's making these bugs want to eat me! Get them off!" Tuffnut screamed the last part as loudly as he could, thrashing in Hiccup's grip for a few moments before falling limp against his friend's chest do to exaustion.

"Tuff you're hallucinating. That's what the drink did to you. Do you remember drinking something Ruffnut gave you?"

Tuffnut choked on a sob and nodded his head, snot coming out of his left nostril which he really didn't care about right now. A quiet "It's all my fault..." Left his dry lips before he fell limp in his friend's tight hold once more.

"Nothing's your fault here Tuff. No one is gone. No one has chicken. Ruffnut is not dead. She's just in the clubhouse helping Fishlegs make dinner. Maybe after you get some rest you'll be able to eat with us. Sound good?"

Hiccup wasn't normally this gentle, but he had been through rather awful hallucinations before. Some people found them a laughing manner, but they weren't. They weren't funny at all. They changed your view on reality, made you believe things that weren't there. It didn't matter how many times the others had told him what he was seeing wasn't real. It sure as hel was real to him. Sometimes it was even painful.

Tuffnut shook his head but didn't find the strength to do anything more. He gasped when of the bugs bit his bleeding wrists, but did nothing more. When he was sure Tuffnut wasn't going to hurt himself further, Hiccup gestured Toothless over and grabbed some bandages from the saddle bag. He dressed Tuffnut's wounds while still sitting behind him, having to restrain Tuff's wrists every now and then when the other young man would attempt to get the 'bugs' off of his skin.

Once he was done bandaging the wounds Hiccup helped Tuffnut to his bed. In order to make sure his friend didn't hurt himself further, Hiccup requested that he could lay with Tuffnut in the bed until the drug had worn off. Tuffnut agreed, feeling safer that someone else was laying behind him. Hiccup was grateful for the extra few hours of rest as well.

Astrid was the one who came to tell them it was time for dinner and Hiccup filled her in on what had happened. Tuffnut walked to the clubhouse groggily but not hallucinating anymore. He sat beside Ruffnut, telling her he didn't remember much of what had happened other than getting bit by some huge red beetle. Ruffnut punched him in the shoulder playfully while calling him an assortment of synonyms to 'Idiotic', but she quickly hugged him afterwards and apologized.

Hiccup and Astrid both shook their heads in sync when they heard Tuffnut refuse to throw in the towel and continue their game of truth or dare.