Sorry if this took so long to post…I only have a few days of Christmas Break left and we've been going out of the house lately these days…

Anyways, read and review ;)

Note: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING

Chapter 7

By noon, Zenna and Stryka were ready for their mission. Having packed the saddlebag with enough lightweight food for her and Stryka, a medical kit in case of any sustained injuries and, by Hiccup's insistence, the Dragon Blade, Inferno, Zenna was ready for the journey to Dragater.

"Hicc, I already have my battle sticks. Plus when Stryka goes into Titan Mode, she's practically unstoppable." Zenna politely refused when her Chief gave it to him. "Zen, it'll make me and Toothless feel a whole lot better if you have it." Hiccup insisted, placing Inferno in his sister's hands. Zenna finally conceded and strapped Inferno to her waist after taking it out of the saddlebag. Her family helped her finish the necessary preparations and were, now, with her outside their family's house. El whimpered as he gave his big sister a kiss on the cheek. Zenna smiled lovingly at her baby brother. "Don't worry, El. Stryka and I will be back in less than five days. Until we return, Mama and Dada will be here to protect you with Serpent and Serpentine. And, remember, you have Eret with you." She said softly, pointing to the stuffed Night Fury in El's hands. El nodded and opened his little mouth.

"Zewnwa, come howme wid Stwykwa…pwease?" little El said quietly. Henna and Edgar now stifled their tears as their Zippleback curled around the family with Stryka. Zenna smiled and nodded. "Stryka and I will come home. We promise. Right, girl?" the one-eyed Dragon Doctor said gently. "We prrrooommmwwiissssee…" Stryka crooned. Henna and Edgar hugged Zenna, who tightly hugged them back. "Be safe, love…" Edgar whispered. "We'll be okay, Dad…" Zenna said, a little unsure whether she and Stryka would really be okay. "We'll keep an eye on Eret…Try to keep him comfortable and stable until you and Stryka return. But, sweetheart, please be careful…" Henna said worriedly as she kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Stryka and I will be back soon, Mom. Don't worry." Zenna reassured her mother.

Getting on Stryka, Zenna flew up into the sky. But she made sure to stop by Gothi's, where her friends and their dragons were keeping vigil.

"Make sure those Dragon Eaters don't get you and Stryka, Zen." "If they test you two, unleash the pain!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut told her supportively.

"We'll keep a close eye on Eret and make sure he doesn't get any worse." Fishlegs said meekly. "If you and Stryka aren't back in five days, we'll go into panic mode and send a search party out for you two." Snotlout reminded her.

Zenna turned to Astrid and Hiccup. "Keep him safe." She said simply to Astrid. "You can count on me, Zen." The blonde Hofferson shield maiden said in affirmation, holding her battle axe. Hiccup gave Zenna a tight hug. "Be careful…" the one-legged Chief whispered to her as he tried not to show how worried he was. "…I…make no promises." Zenna mumbled, feeling nervous.

Then she excused herself and went inside Gothi's house. The elder had been expecting her and handed Zenna a box containing a set of glass syringes, rare equipment that was hard to come by for healers, and drew down some runes.

"Sometimes the quickest way to get medicine to work is through injecting them directly into the bloodstream…Thank you, Gothi…" Zenna said quietly before checking on Eret. The former dragon trapper was still asleep, but Zenna could hear him mumbling in his sleep.

"Not gonna…let you go…Promise…"

Zenna looked at Eret in confusion, wondering what her boyfriend could possibly be dreaming about…

(Eret's Dream)

'The earthquake had already stopped but aftershocks were still hitting the South. Eret had been put in charge of locating any injured people outside the village with his Wolf Pack Army trainees. They went into the forest, shouting out so people could hear them.

They searched the forest for almost an hour until another aftershock shook the ground! "Get down, lads!" Eret shouted frantically as he crouched down on the ground, his trainees following his lead. But, suddenly...

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! HEEEELLLPPP! ELLLIIII, HEEEELLLP MEEE!"

Elias, who was with Eret, suddenly stood up upon hearing his little sister's screams. "That was Zen! Hold on, baby sister! I'm coming!" the then 7-year-old boy shouted and bolted in the direction of Zenna's screams while the aftershock was still happening! "Elias, wait!" Eret yelled in alarm, standing up and running after him along with the rest of the team. By the time the aftershock died down, Eret and the other boys had caught up with Elias. The little Fiersome boy was worriedly looking down over a cliff edge. Eret looked down as well only to get the biggest scare of his life.

Zenna was stuck on a small outcropping of rock, shaking in fear and pressed up against the rock!

"Zenna! Oh gods, are you hurt?!" Eret yelled in alarm. The little 6-year-old girl remained paralyzed with fear, unable to even shake her head. "I think her acrophobia's gotten the best of her…I tried to calm her down but she's not listening…" Elias said worriedly. "Her acro-what?" one of the younger trainees asked in confusion. "Acrophobia, it's the irrational fear of heights." Elias stated.

"Really, Eli? You need to bring that issue up right now?" Zenna's terrified voice squeaked out. Eret was a bit surprised, to say the least, to learn that Zenna was afraid of heights. But he quickly huddled the boys together to devise a plan.

Five minutes later, he was going down the cliff while the Elias and the other trainees held on tightly to the rope they had brought with them. Elias had volunteered to go down and rescue his sister, but Eret and the rest of the team decided against it. Considering the fact that another aftershock could occur and cause Zenna to freak out and her older brother might not be able to keep her calm, Eret was automatically chosen given that he was the strongest among all the trainees. Now, he was carefully going down with the rope tied around his waist. "Keep it steady, lads!" he instructed the boys. "You got it, Eret! Just please save her!" Elias shouted back to him.

Once his feet touched the ground, Eret cautiously made his way over to Zenna. The little Fiersome girl was shaking like a leaf, but slightly calmed down when Eret approached her.

"Hey, Zen…It's okay, I'm here…" the 11-year-old boy said reassuringly. But no sooner had he said this, another aftershock hit the area! Zenna screamed in terror as the outcropping she and Eret were standing on began to destabilize and crumble! Quickly, Eret grabbed Zenna with one arm and held onto the rope with the other. In just mere seconds, the two of them were now dangling over the cliff and about a hundred or so feet above the ground!

"Eret! Zenna! Are you two okay?!" Elias yelled as he and the boys hung onto the rope while the aftershock kept shaking the ground. At that point, Zenna began to hyperventilate like crazy but Eret tightened his grip around her as small bits of rock rained down on them.

"It's so high up here…Holy Shields, we're gonna die…We're gonna die…we're gonna die…we are going to die…" Zenna whimpered clinging onto Eret while looking down, her acrophobia getting worse. "No, Zenna. We're not going to die. Don't look down…just look at me, okay? Zen, just look at me…" Eret told her firmly. Zenna looked up and did her best to focus on Eret's face. "We're going to be okay. I'm not gonna let you go, I promise. And when we get back up to your brother and the others, I can help you get rid of your fear of heights." The boy reassured her. Zenna took a deep breath and, thankfully, stopped hyperventilating. "You'll really help me get over my fear?" she asked timidly. Eret nodded and gently kissed her forehead. "I will, I promise." He swore.

"Hang on, you two! We're gonna pull you up! Okay, guys! Heave!"

The aftershock had passed and, now, Elias and the other Wolf Pack Army trainees began to pull the rope up. Zenna then looked up at the sky, instead of looking down. Upon seeing the endless blue and white clouds up above, the young Fiersome girl calmed down. Then, looking at Eret, Zenna managed to crack a smile.

Eret smiled back at her. "You won't let me go, will you?" Zenna asked him. Eret shook his head and kept a strong hold on her. "Never. I'm not gonna let you go, Zenna. Promise." He swore, just as they were finally pulled up to safety…

(End of Dream)

Zenna gently placed a hand on Eret's pale cheek and, at that moment, her boyfriend's eyes weakly opened. "Hey…" Zenna whispered to Eret who managed to crack a smile. "Hey, Zen…Funny…I was just dreaming about you earlier…" he said weakly. Zenna cocked her head curiously at him. "Really? What was your dream about?" she asked softly. Eret blinked his eyes a few times to get his slightly blurred vision to refocus. "It was…that time when I saved you from that cliff…You know…during the earthquake?" he mumbled. Zenna instantly remembered that scary experience and blushed a bit. "Yeah, I remember…That was the day you found out that I was terrified of heights…But then, after that, you helped me get over it…and we climbed to the very top of the Sky Giant together…Remember that?" she said gently. Eret hoarsely chuckled. "Yeah…I remember…" he whispered.

Then he noticed that his girlfriend had a satchel with her, which meant that…

"Zen…are you going somewhere…?" Eret asked weakly, trying to sit up in bed but to no avail. Zenna gently adjusted the covers around him to keep him warm. "I'm just gonna go get the medicine for you, Eret. Don't worry." She said soothingly.

Sick as he was, Eret couldn't help but feel worried about her.

"You'll come back, right?" he asked Zenna, his expression matching that of a scared child's. Zenna felt tears well up in her eye as Eret gazed at her as if he was never going to see her again. She wanted to save Eret…but she didn't want to leave him either…

Finally, she managed to steel her nerves. "Of course I will, Eret. Until then, you just get some rest." Zenna said, lovingly brushing her hand against Eret's cheek. But when she turned to leave, Eret managed to grab her hand and gently squeezed it making her look back at him.

"…Promise…?" Eret whispered, already feeling exhausted. Zenna managed a smile and gently kissed him on the forehead. "I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise." She whispered. A bit comforted by this, Eret nodded. "You just get some sleep, Eret…" Zenna told him soothingly. "Mmmm…'Kay…" the former dragon trapper mumbled, already half-asleep. With a small smile, Zenna turned and began to leave.

"I love you forever, Zenna…"

Those words made Zenna freeze in her tracks. She glanced back at Eret only to see him already asleep…

"Right back at you…" Zenna whispered, not feeling comfortable with saying the exact same words. In all honesty, the whole 'I love you forever' phrase was more of Eret's thing and she didn't really see herself saying those words to him either…

But Zenna also felt insurmountable guilt clawing at her. She knew that the chances of her being back in time for Eret to wake up and see her at his bedside were practically zero, considering the two-day journey she and Stryka would have to embark, one single day to get the Frost Ivy in Dragater, and another two days to make it back to Berk with the cure.

Her promise to Eret was an empty one…But she'd rather make that promise than lose him…

Quietly thanking Gothi, Zenna went outside and mounted Stryka.

"Okay, girl…I don't wanna push you too hard…but you need to fly as fast as your wings can allow you. We need to get to Dragater fast." She instructed her loyal one-eyed dragoness. Stryka nodded and spread her wings before taking off, she and her Rider soon leaving the isle of Berk to fade into the winter fog…

I apologize if this chapter is rather lame-ish. But feel free to read and review, as those two things make me happy and help me write better.

-GuardianDragon98