A/N: Sorry for the wait again, everyone! I haven't been feeling well lately, and therefore haven't felt motivated to do anything, which is never a good excuse, but. :P Anyway, here's the next chapter! Sorry for the fluctuating lengths... I've just been breaking them off when it feels right.


Disclaimer: Still don't own HTTYD. OCs mine.


CHAPTER FOUR

The next morning, Hiccup found Astrid ready and waiting for him. They flew up to Fiona's and worked all morning. After lunch, they brought Davyn to the academy, then after a few hours, brought him back to his home and worked in the field some more.

Fiona tied up another bundle of wheat and stacked it next to the others. "I think we're going to be able to get it all in in time." She smiled and Hiccup and Astrid. "Thanks to you two."

"Don't mention it," Astrid said. "We're all going to need help to make it through this winter. It's supposed to be a bad one."

"Astrid, when was the last time we haven't had a bad winter?" Hiccup asked, smirking.

Astrid rolled her eyes and turned back to her sickle. "Where are Aric and Ro?" she asked Fiona. "I haven't seen them today."

The smile faded from Fiona's face. "They aren't feeling well." She tried to smile. "Knowing them though, they'll be up and running around in no time."

After working for a while longer, Hiccup and Astrid mounted their dragons and waved good bye. They went their separate ways, Hiccup again heading towards the coast.

This time, he didn't have Toothless land. Instead he directed him to fly out over the water, circling above the area they had last seen the sea dragons.

After a little while, three shadows moved underneath the water, breaking the surface one by one. They hissed up towards Hiccup and Toothless, lashing out towards them, but the Night Fury stayed safely out of their reach.

Once Hiccup had Toothless go down lower so he could try to show the dragons they were friendly, but they snapped at them, forcing Toothless to fly higher again.

After a few fruitless hours, Hiccup turned Toothless towards home.

The next three days passed the same.

On the fourth day, Hiccup arrived at Astrid's house to find her waiting for him, but not as he had expected. She leaned over on Stormfly, eyes closed and face flushed.

"Astrid!" Hiccup dismounted, and ran over to her. She opened her eyes and sat up.

"Oh, Hiccup. Ready to go?" She tried to smile, but the normal life in her eyes wasn't there.

"Not until you tell me what's going on," Hiccup demanded. "I know something's wrong with you, Astrid. Tell me."

Astrid didn't look at him. "Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

"Because you're clearly sick and you aren't telling me."

"I'm not sick," Astrid protested. "I'm just... not feeling well."

"That's the same thing, Astrid," Hiccup said.

Astrid shrugged. "I'll get over it."

"You need rest," Hiccup argued.

"No, I don't. I need to help Fiona. Winter's coming soon. It might even start snowing this week."

"But-" Hiccup started. Astrid cut him off.

"I'll be fine. Now we've got to get started, or we'll be late." She nudged Stormfly and took off into the sky, leaving no choice but for Hiccup to get back onto Toothless and follow her.

That afternoon, after Hiccup, Astrid and Davyn had returned from the academy, Hiccup pulled Fiona aside. "I need to talk to you," he said.

"Okay," Fiona said. "What can I do?"

"It's about Davyn," Hiccup started.

"Is something wrong?" Fiona asked, concern plain on her face.

"No!" Hiccup said. "Quite the opposite. Davyn is showing a lot of progress at the academy. But..." he paused. "I think he needs a dragon." He paused, then continued. "I know it's another mouth to feed, but they can really help, with protection, and this winter you won't need to worry about getting a fire started."

Fiona smiled. "Dav would love that," she said. "Do you think he's ready?"

Hiccup nodded.

Fiona's smile grew wider. "Then I would love to have a dragon here."

Hiccup smiled back. "Great! Can I tell him?"

"Of course!"

Hiccup walked over to where Astrid sat telling the story about how she'd met Toothless to the three kids. Aric and Ro's faces were slightly flushed, and they coughed every once in a while.

They all looked up when they heard Hiccup approach. "Davyn, I have a question for you," Hiccup said.

"Okay," Davyn said, curiosity in his eyes. "What?"

Hiccup tried to keep a blank face. "You've been performing very well at the academy." He paused. "And I've been thinking... I think it's time for you to get a dragon. Would you want one?"

Davyn's eyes grew wide. "Really?" he cried.

Hiccup grinned. "If you want one."

Davyn jumped up. "Yes!"

"We gonna get a dragon?" Ro asked, clapping her hands.

"How about looking for one out tomorrow?" Hiccup asked.

Davyn nodded, grinning. "Yes!"

"Sounds great," Hiccup said. "Now I think we'd better get back to work."

Davyn nodded, ran and picked up his sickle. He ran up next to Fiona in the fields. "Mom! I'm going to get a dragon!"

Fiona coughed, then beamed. "I know!"

Astrid stood up and looked at Hiccup. "You just made his day, you know that?"

Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, well."

Astrid smiled back, then picked up another sickle and headed towards the fields. Hiccup smiled at Aric and Ro, then followed her.

As Hiccup was working, he found a bluish gray stone. He held it up to the light. It shimmered an interesting color, so he put it in his pocket to show Ro later.

As he reached into his pocket, his fingers brushed up against cold metal. He squeezed the object. In the busyness of the past few days, he'd nearly forgotten it. He looked over at Astrid. She worked away, chatting with Fiona.

He pulled his hand out of his pocket and started working again. Every once and a while, he would look over at Astrid, running through what he was going to say in his head. And every time he would shake his head and try to think of a different way to phrase it.

After a while, Fiona straightened and started walking towards the house. "Hiccup, could you lend me a hand with something?"

"Sure," Hiccup called. He set down his sickle and walked after her.

Inside the house, Fiona turned and looked at him.

"What do you need?" Hiccup asked.

Fiona crossed her arms. "I don't need anything. You need to just do it."

"Do what?"

"Don't pretend not to know what I'm talking about."

Hiccup realized what Fiona meant. He felt the blood rush to his face. "I, um..."

"I've seen the way you watch her, Hiccup," Fiona said. "Why don't you ask?"

Hiccup looked down at the ground. "I..." He sighed. "What if she says no?"

"There is a possibility that is what she will say," Fiona said. "And if she does, it will be because of one of two reasons. One, she's not ready, and in that case, you wait until she is. Two, she's not interested, and in that case, it will hurt. A lot. But instead of asking what if she says no, ask what if she says yes? Isn't the possibility of her saying yes, worth the risk of her saying no?"

Hiccup looked up and gazed at Fiona for a moment. "Fiona, would it be alright if Astrid and I took a break?"

Fiona smiled. "Certainly."

Hiccup turned and ran out the door, his hand in his pocket. He ran into the field. "Astrid!"

She looked up. "Hiccup, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Hiccup said. "Come here, I've got to take you somewhere."

"But, what about..."

"Fiona said we can go for a minute," Hiccup interrupted. "Come on!" He reached out and took her hand, running towards Toothless. They mounted the Night Fury, Astrid staring at Hiccup like he'd gone crazy. "Hiccup, what-"

"Just wait," Hiccup said. He nudged Toothless and they took off into the sky. Hiccup leaned over and whispered into Toothless' ear, "To the cove."

"Hiccup, what on earth are you doing?"

"Just wait," Hiccup repeated. He smiled. Fiona was right. They'd land in the cove where Toothless had been trapped when they'd first met. They would sit down on the rock they had dubbed their's, and he would...

"Hiccup!"

Astrid's concerned voice broke him out of his thoughts. "What?"

Astrid pointed below them to the right. "Hiccup, the ship..."

Hiccup followed the direction she pointed to, and stared. The purple sailed ship.

Hiccup nudged Toothless. "Go in, bud. It's time we found out who they are and what they're up to."

Toothless flew down towards the ship. But before they got close enough to see the people on board, an arrow whistled past Hiccup's ear.

Toothless dived to the right, avoiding a second arrow.

A burst of anger flared up inside Hiccup. Not because they fired at him, but because Astrid was there. He had to keep her safe.

"Return fire, Toothless," Hiccup said. "But just beyond the ship. Don't hit it."

Toothless obeyed, sending a burst of blue flame into the water in front of the ship. They responded with another arrow, this one piercing Toothless' artificial tail fin.

Hiccup felt his control snap. They started falling down, out of the sky, towards the water. Astrid tightened her grip around Hiccup's waist.

The wind tore at them. Toothless strived to pull up out of the downward spiral. Hiccup struggled to direct Toothless towards the nearest cliff. Every second meant more loss in control.

They crashed onto the grass. Hiccup and Astrid tumbled off Toothless' back to the ground. Hiccup scrambled over to Astrid's side. "Astrid!"

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, smiling weakly. "Well, I think we've figured out that they're not friends."

Hiccup smiled slightly. "Are you okay?"

Astrid nodded, and sat up. She gasped and grabbed her head.

"Astrid!" Hiccup set his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm... fine..." She gasped. She stood up, and would have fallen back to the ground if Toothless hadn't caught her with his wing.

Hiccup jumped to his feet. "Astrid, that's it. You're not fine, and you're not denying it any longer."

Astrid looked at him, trying desperately to keep the look of pain off her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but swayed and fell into Hiccup's arms.

"Astrid!" Hiccup wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her up. He brushed a chunk of hair falling in her face away, his fingers brushing against her forehead. "Astrid, you're burning up."

Astrid looked up at him wordlessly. She tried once more to stand on her own, but collapsed again, her eyes closed. Hiccup caught her. "Astrid," he whispered.

She didn't open her eyes.

"We've got to get her back home," Hiccup whispered. He lifted her up in his arms, turning to Toothless. He glanced at the arrow in Toothless' prosthetic tail fin and sighed. "I guess we're walking."

Hiccup started walking in the direction of the main village, Toothless walking beside him, helping support him when Astrid's weight started getting to heavy for him to carry.

The sun faded beyond the horizon. Hiccup could see the lights of the village not far ahead. He stumbled into the village.

"Toothless, find a doctor," Hiccup commanded. Toothless bolted past Hiccup, disappearing behind some of the houses. Hiccup continued on towards Astrid's house, his arms nearly screaming with exhaustion.

Hiccup made it to the door of Astrid's house. He banged on the door with his prosthetic leg. A moment later, a large Viking woman opened the door, gasping, a hand covering her mouth when she saw Astrid unconscious.

She stepped aside and let Hiccup in. He staggered into the house, lying Astrid down on a bed. He brushed some of her hair out of her face with a trembling hand.

"What happened?" Astrid's mother demanded.

Hiccup turned around. "I don't know," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "She just collapsed. I noticed that she didn't seem to be feeling well the past few days..."

Another knock sounded at the door, and it open inwards to reveal the doctor and Toothless standing there. The doctor bustled into the room, asking questions and looking Astrid over. He asked Hiccup about her symptoms, and Hiccup tried to answer them as best he could. His head was spinning and his muscles trembled.

After Hiccup had answered everything the doctor wanted to know, the man asked politely if he wouldn't mind getting out of the way. Hiccup nodded, and with a glance back at the unconscious form of Astrid, stepped outside.

Toothless cocked his head and rumbled. Hiccup looked up at him, not saying anything. He leaned up against Toothless, staring at the door to the house.

A little while later, the doctor exited the house. His eyebrows arched a little when he saw Hiccup still waiting there.

"How is she?" Hiccup whispered.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm not sure. I can't figure out why she's sick. I've never seen anything like this before. From the little I could gather from you and her mother, she should just have a cold, or the flu. I don't know why she's unconscious."

Hiccup bit his lip. "What can I do?"

"Nothing," the doctor said. "I'll keep an eye on her, but there's nothing you can do."

Hiccup tried to shove down the feeling of helplessness. "But there has to be something I can do."

The doctor shook his head. "Hiccup, I'm afraid all you can do is go home." With that, he turned and walked away.

Hiccup looked back at Astrid's house for a moment, then turned to Toothless, fingering something in his pocket.

Toothless' eyes showed genuine sympathy and sorrow. Hiccup sighed. "I guess we go home."

The two started towards Hiccup's house. Hiccup pushed open the door and walked in, head down.

Stoick looked up and smiled. "Hiccup!" He stopped when he saw the look on his son's face. "What's wrong?"

Hiccup sat down in a chair next to the fire. "Astrid's sick," he said, his voice flat. "She's unconscious, but the doctor doesn't know why."

"I'm sorry," Stoick said, his eyes showing a genuine concern. "But you know Astrid. Nothing keeps her down for long."

Hiccup nodded, placing his head in his hands and rubbing his throbbing head. Toothless sat down next to him and leaned his head against Hiccup's leg.

Stoick coughed.

Hiccup looked up. "Dad?"

"Just a cold," Stoick responded.

Hiccup stared at his father, but before he could say anything, the door burst open.

The two men and the dragon turned to see Davyn standing in the doorway, panting and eyes wide. "Hiccup! Mom and Aric and Ro..." He took a deep breath, then continued, his voice trembling. "They're sick. I don't know what's wrong. Mom's unconscious and won't wake up."