Hello everybody! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've had a slight eye problem, so now I'm using reading glasses, but yeah, I'm BAAAAACCCCCKKKK! :D ENjoy chapter 6! :D
By the next morning, Hiccup and Astrid made sure that everyone knew about their findings, and what to expect. The rules were made; if someone suddenly came down with a headache, they were to go to the healers immediately.
So far, in just the one day, seven more people had been caught infected.
"Everything we've tried so far has lead to a dead-end," Hiccup said as he paced angrily in front of Astrid. "Any of the books that show a little bit about the poison never mention a cure."
Astrid didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to believe that there truly was no cure. Of course, she would never say that to Hiccup; even if she did, she knew he would shrug it off and say "There has to be a cure."
But what if there wasn't?
Astrid couldn't get Hiccup's earlier words out of her head; "Berk is in danger as of now, Astrid." If they didn't find a cure, then yes, Hiccup was right. Even as they were looking for a cure Hiccup was right. He was right about a lot of things.
However, he was also wrong about a lot of things. That was one of the things that scared Astrid the most. Sure, he was smart, but he was also stubborn. She knew that he wasn't going to give up on finding a cure, even if his mind was screaming that there wasn't one.
"Yes, we'll find a cure, or we'll die trying," he had told her. She knew that he was mainly speaking for himself. I'll find a cure or I'll die trying. She knew that if she refused to believe that there was a cure, Hiccup would carry on without her. He wouldn't give up, no matter what happened.
"It's happening fast, Astrid," Hiccup said, breaking her from her thoughts. "So far, we already have twelve people who we know are infected. The rest of us are probably infected as well, we just haven't shown signs of it yet."
"What are you saying?" Astrid asked, although she already had a pretty good idea.
"I'm saying we're running out of time, Astrid," Hiccup said. "We need to hurry. Maybe we can get Snotlout to help us out, or someth…" His voice trailed off, as if he had suddenly remembered something he had earlier forgotten. "No, wait…" he said, "right, Snotlout was one of the infected, meaning he can't help us." He slammed his hand down on the table and stepped backwards. "We need to hurry, Astrid."
"I know," Astrid said, flipping through one of the books frantically, "but I can't find anything in this book."
"If we can find the cause of the virus," Hiccup said, "then maybe we can find a cure, too." He moved over and looked over Astrid's shoulder. "Anything yet?" he asked.
"Not yet," Astrid said.
Hiccup groaned in frustration and went back to looking through his own book. "We need to find something," he said. "There has to be something on this freak disease. If there's not…" His voice trailed off, and he shook his head. "We just need to find it."
Astrid knew he was trying to deny the truth with everything in him. At this point, it didn't look like there was a cure at all. She wasn't going to tell Hiccup what she thought, though. Especially when he already seemed so discouraged.
"We have to…" He suddenly froze, his fingers hovering over a page. "Hold on," he said, looking more intently at the words sprawled on the paper. "Hang on just a minute."
"What?" Astrid said, rising from her seat and moving to sit next to him. "What did you find?"
"Something that might turn out to be important," Hiccup said. "Look at this." He showed her the page he was on, and Astrid read over it.
"It says that there's a dragon that causes this virus," she said. "And...the symptoms are just like the ones the infected have been showing."
"Exactly, Astrid," Hiccup said. "See? These dragons are scavengers. They go from island to island, but they're deadly poisonous. They touch something, and then anyone else who comes near that object is infected."
"And if it came to Berk at any time recently…" Astrid started. "And it went in the forest…" She paused, waiting for Hiccup to continue.
"And we've been spending so much time in the forest playing capture the flag and everything," Hiccup said.
"Then maybe that's where it came from!" Astrid said. "We're coming closer and closer to a cure, Hiccup!"
"You're right!" Hiccup said.
"But that doesn't explain why it's just people around our age being infected," Astrid said. "Why aren't the adults showing the same signs we are?"
"Well, think about it," Hiccup said. "If the dragon just touched something, maybe it can't infect the others. Or maybe it does, but their bodies are stronger and can fight it off...who knows."
"What's the dragon called?" Astrid asked, examining the page again.
"From the looks of it," Hiccup said, "Stormbringer."
"Stormbringer?" Astrid asked
"I really don't want to know," Hiccup responded. "But yes, they're deadly poisonous, and it doesn't show anything about a cure, but maybe…" He suddenly smiled, turning in Astrid's direction. "THAT'S IT!" he shouted so suddenly that Astrid almost fell backwards off her chair.
"What's it!?" she asked.
"Snake bites!" Hiccup said. "It's like a snake bite! They're poisonous, yes, but their venom is also the antidote."
"You're serious," Astrid said.
"Yes, of course I am!" Hiccup said. "This is it! All we have to do now is find out where these dragons live, and then we can find a cure."
"But we don't know if it will work," Astrid said.
"It has to work," Hiccup said. "It has to."
Astrid believed him, so she nodded. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she said. "I'll go get the Book of Dragons. Maybe we can learn something from that...oh, and I can also grab Bork's notes. He did a lot of exploring. Maybe we'll learn something else from that."
"Sounds brilliant!" Hiccup said. "I'll see if I can't dig up some more information."
Astrid nodded, stood, and then headed out of the Great Hall. Half-way down the steps, though, she had to place her hand against the wall for support, her other hand rubbing her temple.
"Stupid headache…" she muttered.