Author's Note:

Due to uploading issues I've decided to to delete then re-upload this story to see if that helps.

Hello everyone and welcome to another story set in the 'Differently Similar' verse. To those reading 'Family of Fire' don't worry! I'm not abandoning that story at all.

For those who don't know, this particular 'verse' doesn't differ greatly from the canon one in that most of the main events are identical. The difference is that Snotlout's parents died when he was five which placed him in the care of Stoick (his uncle in this 'verse'). This caused him to grow up differently from the movie Snotlout so his character is quite different and he's one of Hiccup's main supporters rather than a rival. I did a re-write of HTTYD 1 set in this verse called 'Differently Similar' but that's everything you need to know to understand this 'verse'.

Now that the explanation is out the way I hope you enjoy the chapter and I own no aspect of How to Train Your Dragon.

The Illness

An illness had swept through Berk's children over the previous few weeks and now Snotlout was about the only kid who hadn't caught it.

It was Gustav who'd caught it first and to begin with it had simply been considered a minor cold but over a few days it deteriorated into a fully-fledged fever. By then many other kids had also shown symptoms and Gothi realised that it was far more serious than a cold and so she had all affected children moved to the Great Hall and quarantined from the other children. Hiccup was the first to succumb out of the Academy teens and was immediately moved to the hall with the other kids and it wasn't long before the other riders joined him.

This left Snotlout largely responsible for their dragons because most of the adults were occupied with their sick children and trying to help the best they could. Snotlout was not allowed anywhere near the Great Hall or anyone who'd been in there in case he caught the illness too and he'd also been moved out of Stoick's home and into Gobber's hut because it was one of the few places a child with the illness hadn't been. Snotlout also hadn't seen his uncle for several days because Stoick had been with Hiccup most of the time and the chief wasn't taking the risk of somehow giving his nephew the illness himself. The rest of the adults were taking similar precautions so the teen hadn't seen many of them either which meant he didn't really know how ill Hiccup and the others were.

With Stoick otherwise occupied with a sick Hiccup, Gobber had taken it upon himself to make sure Snotlout didn't catch the illness as well. Firstly he made sure that he himself had a decent bath (that alone an incredible testament to his seriousness towards his self-given task) and then he made sure that Snotlout also scrubbed properly each and every day. He also gave the boy tasks that kept him as far away from the Great Hall and anyone that had been near the sick children as possible, most of these included things at the Academy as that was away from the main village. Snotlout was also regularly sent out to Healers Island to fetch more herbs for Gothi as any Vikings not involved with caring for the sick kids were out doing double work to make sure that there was enough food for everyone. On top of that he was the only one left who could ride a dragon well enough to make the trip to the island and back fairly quickly.

It had been many days since Gustav first caught the illness and there was little sign of any improvement in any of the kids.

Snotlout sat in the Academy arena surrounded by a group of worried dragons.

Most of them wanted to be near their riders but with the amount of people bustling about in the Great Hall looking after sick kids made that impossible. The only dragon that was in there was Toothless because everyone knew better than to keep the Night Fury away from a sick Hiccup and he wasn't that big when compared to most other dragons. The rest were stuck outside knowing something was wrong but not understanding what, Snotlout tried his best to comfort them but he was just as worried about his friends and it frustrated him how little he knew about how they were because of the extreme measures taken to keep him safe from the illness.

Gobber shuffled into the Academy and Snotlout ran over to him asking anxiously, "How are they Gobber, are Hiccup and the others any better?"

The blacksmith sighed, "I don't really know laddie. I've only been told that they need more of the same herbs. They seem to be the only things that keep this illness in check and we're running through them like crazy but there not actually curing it." Snotlout sighed, discouraged by the man's words and Gobber patted his shoulder comfortingly, "Don't worry laddie, Gothi will find something to cure them but until then we need as many of those herbs as you can carry."

Snotlout nodded and he, Hookfang and the other dragons headed out of the Academy to fetch the many satchels and baskets that had recently gathered in Gobber's hut for this purpose. When he got there he found the six Terrible Terrors that the he and the others had trained waiting for them, the Terrors and the other dragons had proven exceptionally helpful when Snotlout went to gather the herbs because they all knew what ones to get and they really sped up his gathering time while the teen's dragons helped carry as big a load as possible allowing him to bring much more back than he normally would. As quickly as he could Snotlout loaded up the dragons with empty satchels and baskets and they all headed off towards Healers Island.

In the Great Hall Stoick was at Hiccup's side trying to use a wet cloth to cool the boy's fevered brow.

All around the hall sick children were lying on blankets on the floor with more blankets placed over them as their parents went through similar motions to Stoick. Despite the many people present things were quiet as most kids took Gothi's advice and rested as much as possible and adults spoke in muted tones trying in vain to hide the worry and fear that was tangible in the air. In the centre of the hall a team of people were busy preparing the only medicine that seemed to do something as others handed the completed concoction out to those that needed a dose.

Hiccup was sleeping fitfully as Stoick continued to mop his forehead with the damp cloth and the chief ran a gentle hand through his son's hair. Toothless was right beside Hiccup on the boy's other side and the dragon would occasionally give a worried croon and nudge the Hiccup's hand. Stoick hated it when either Hiccup or Snotlout was ill like this because it wasn't something he could do anything about. It wasn't a physical assailant he could simply beat in a fight nor was it some scheme of an enemy he could counter with some sort of plan, it was something that was beyond his skill or knowledge to fix and he hated being so helpless.

Looking towards the back of the hall he saw Gothi there trying to find some sort of definite cure for the disease that had attacked their children, so far she hadn't succeeded but Stoick prayed that she would find one soon. Though no one had said it yet they were all certain that without a cure this illness would end in only one result for their children.

It was not one any of them wanted to face.

PS-So one mysterious illness and Snotlout is the only rider left standing. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update this or 'Family of Fire' soon.