HELLO! :D New story! So, this is requested by Asmita321, who read "Eel Pox at Dragon's Edge" and wanted me to write this, so...yeah. It's another sick!Hiccup fanfiction, and I know, I just did one, but the plotline for this is COMPLETELY different, and it should be pretty fun, so...without further adieu...ENJOY CHAPTER 1! :D
"UGH. Do we have to do this drill, again!?"
Hiccup sighed. He would never understand why his cousin always seemed to hate every single little thing Hiccup asked him to do. Hiccup could tell him to go North, and Snotlout would go South. Hiccup could tell him to go South, and he would go North. Hiccup could tell him to do anything, and it always seemed like Snotlout would do the exact opposite.
Except, as time wore on, it was becoming more of a reality than something that "seemed." Hiccup would never really understand his cousin, ever, never in a thousand years. When Snotlout was doing his own thing, great, but the minute Hiccup asked him to do something for the rest of the group, it was "Oh, I don't want to do it! Let me do the opposite!"
"It's an important drill, Snotlout!" Astrid called to Snotlout just as Hiccup opened his mouth to do the same. "Hiccup knows what he's doing! We're working on new formations and new-"
"Blah blah blah!" Snotlout growled, mocking himself with his hand by making it "talk" like a puppet. "I know, Astrid, because Hiccup told me nearly seventeen times since we took air!"
They were working on a new flight formation Hiccup liked to call "scatter." It was where they would fly in a small, almost painfully enclosed circle and, when Hiccup shouted "scatter", they would turn and fly in different directions. It would be handy if Dagur attacked and used catapults on them, like he usually did.
"It's only because I needed to tell you seventeen times!" Hiccup said.
"And to be exact," Fishlegs pointed out in his trademark "let's be logical" tone, "it was eighteen times Hiccup told you the drill, and seven times you asked him to tell him yourself because you forgot."
Hiccup sighed. The stress was making his head hurt. "Okay, okay, just drop it! Nevemind how many times. Let's just try this again," he said. "Okay, group up!" He put his arms over his head, creating a circle.
Snotlout groaned under his breath, but protested in no other spoken way as he and the others formed their circle with Hiccup flying at the front. Hiccup glanced at his friends and then refocused his attention to the sky in front of them.
"Okay!" he called. "Now...scatter!" He spread his arms apart, grabbed Toothless' saddlehorn, and he and the others broke off into six different directions. "Ha! Nicely done!" Hiccup congratulated. "Even you, Snotlout."
Snotlout crossed his arms and snorted. "Pfftt. I wasn't even trying!" he said, although it was clear he was lying. "I could do better than that! I could do better than all of you combined!"
"In that case," Hiccup said, "let's try it again. Group up! … Alright, now...SCATTER!"
This continued for another hour, until the new formation was drilled into their heads. The twins and Snotlout (surprisingly) didn't complain once they knew how to do it, although Hiccup was certain they would complain as soon as they had to practice it again.
By that time, the one dull ache in Hiccup's head had turned into a vicious stabbing ache, but he passed it off without concern. He had been up late last night, and he was up before the sun was even rising the next morning to work on the "scatter" drill himself before his friends woke up. Plus, he was stressed out. A lot, in fact. Snotlout stressed him out more than he wished to say out loud.
Once they landed back at Dragon's Edge, the sun was already setting. Hiccup slid off Toothless' back, as did the others around him. "So," Hiccup said, "do you guys want to-"
"I. AM. STARVING," Snotlout complained. "I need food! My warrior side is weakening! Whenever I don't eat, I always end up sleeping for days straight!"
"Oh," Astrid said. "We should have starved you a long time ago, Snotlout. What do you say, Hiccup?"
Hiccup rubbed his head. "Tempting, but no," he said. "We'll meet at the clubhouse for dinner. Fishlegs, think you can help me catch some fish?"
Fishlegs smiled. "Of course," he said. "Meatlug and I will be happy to help you!" He leaned against Meatlug, and in response, the Gronckle licked him tenderly, and Fishlegs smiled brighter.
"Okay," Hiccup said with a nod of his head. "Then let's go. Astrid, I'm leaving you in charge of Snotlout and the twins."
Astrid nodded and smiled. "Got it," she said.
Snotlout looked horrified. "What?" he blurted. "Why does she get to be in charge!?"
Astrid glared at him warningly, and Snotlout shut himself up the instant she did so. "Okay, fine," he growled. "Be in charge all you want, but you can never cage my warrior spirit!"
"Then we'll go back to our idea of starving you," Astrid said. She nodded to Hiccup and Fishlegs in a clear You can leave, I've got this motion, and Hiccup and Fishlegs read it, mounted their dragons, and headed towards the ocean.
Hiccup ignored his headache, instead focusing only on catching the fish for his friends. Fishlegs grabbed a basket from one of the houses, and then followed Hiccup to the ocean easily.
"Alright, you ready, Fishlegs?" Hiccup called, shouting to get his voice over the rushing wind.
"Yeah!" Fishlegs called back. "Meatlug and I are ready for anything!"
Hiccup nodded and patted Toothless' head. "Alright, bud!" he said. "Do your stuff!"
Toothless growled happily, and fired a plasma blast straight at the ocean. All at once, Hiccup's senses went goofy. His vision blurred, and his hearing zoned out as if his ears were clogged. He was aware of Fishlegs flying Meatlug where Toothless' plasma blast had met the ocean, scooping dead fish into his basket, but that was about it.
His headache got worse when Toothless fired a second time. He shook his head feverishly, but it only made it worse. When he opened his eyes, his vision was spinning, so he tried to keep his eyes shut as much as possible while, at the same time, trying to make sure he kept Toothless' tailfin open.
He remembered the drills they had worked on for hunting fish: Toothless would fire three plasma blasts, and Fishlegs (or Astrid, depending on which of them were present) would catch the fish that were killed and flung out of the sea in a basket.
Which meant that Toothless still had one more plasma blast to go. Hiccup didn't know if he would be able to take a third blast.
"Toothless, stop," he tried, but he was just a second too late. Toothless fired the third plasma blast, and Hiccup's vision went from slightly spinning to vicious turning, almost like how it looked while spinning out of control on Toothless.
Except, to him, it felt as though he were spinning out of control. He shook his head once, and shook it again, but all this did was make it worse. He felt sick, his head pounded, and his surroundings felt unnaturally hot.
"Hiccup!?" he heard Fishlegs shout, and Hiccup opened his eyes long enough to regard his friend. "What's wrong!?"
"Nothing," Hiccup lied. "Nothing's wrong. I-" He cut himself off when he leaned to the side and threw up. His throat burned, and he coughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Fishlegs' eyes widened. "You're sick!" he cried.
Hiccup knew Fishlegs was right, but he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit he was sick, no, not by a long shot, but there was no hiding it now. He couldn't even blame his sickness on an aerial stunt; he and Toothless weren't even moving.
At length, he sighed in defeat and promptly began coughing into the crook of his elbow. "Y-yeah," he stuttered. "I think I might be."
Fishlegs instantly looked back to the shore. "Dragonback is too dangerous," he said. "We'll land and walk back to Dragon's Edge. It isn't too far a distance. Think you can make it?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes and had to shut them to keep himself from vomiting again. "I can make it," he choked out, and shut his mouth afterwards. I'm not dying, he thought to himself. Why's Fishlegs so freaked out? He's melodramatic, that's what he is. A drama queen.
But all in all, he was thankful that it was Fishlegs to learn first and not Snotlout. He nodded, and they headed back to the shore.
Hiccup hated being sick.