A/N: Okay so the reason why this chapter took long to be posted was because for some reason I didn't have this saved on word document. So I had to write the whole thing again. Anyways, enjoy! Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon
Chapter 10: Dragon Flower
Berk is a small island in the middle of nowhere. So when we get a taste of something new...
Another normal day in Berk. Hiccup was in his house sketching a picture of Toothless in his notebook. He dipped his quill in the pot to get some more ink, only to find the pot empty.
Bucket was standing on a small boat near the shores of Berk, when he spotted a familiar ship approaching. "Trader Johann is here. Trader Johann!" He announced excitedly to the other villagers nearby. He was so excited, he accidently fell off his boat. Soon the other villagers gathered at the docks, excitedly waiting for the ship to come.
We tend to go a little overboard. Unfortunately, new isn't always good.
"Ah, Berk, my favorite of all the islands I travel to." Trader Johann greeted as he set a plank between his ship and the docks.
"Where have you been this time, Trader Johann?" Bucket asked, having swam back to the docks.
"Oh, Bucket, the things I've seen, the people I've met! I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together." Trader Johann answered. He then turned to address the crowd."Whatever it is you're looking for I can assure you you'll find it here!" The villagers immediately boarded the ship.
"It's all mine. I call dibs on everything." Snotlout declared.
"I have a variety of things. I've got food of all sorts, spices, exotic animals..." Johann announced.
Tuffnut spotted one of the stacks moving. "Did that bag move? What's in it?" The bag was then covered in spikes."Whoa!"
"Works of art, jewelry, not to mention, knowledge."
"Trader Johann, is this your only book on botany?" Fishlegs asked, holding up a book.
"Yes, Mr. Fishlegs. Why it was given to me by the author himself." Johann answered.
Fishlegs then took out a necklace with three teeth. "Would you take this necklace? It's made from baby dragons' teeth."
"Fair enough Mr. Fishlegs." Johann said taking the necklace.
Hicca was looking through the library, until she found what she was looking for. Her eyes widened as she held the book. "A Healers' Guide To Deadly Diseases. Vol. I'. I need this!" She turned to Johann taking a bracelet with Night Fury scales out of her bag. "Johann, I'll take this book for this bracelet with real Night Fury scales."
"I accept!" Johann said, carefully taking the bracelet as he saw the high value in it.
Raeda was looking between a new set of paints and a chest full of different cloths, both things she wants. 'I'll get both.' She decided. She took out two paintings from her bag. "Here you go, Johann." She said handing the painting to the trader.
"Ah, thank you Miss Raeda." Johann said being careful with the drawings. He always got a high price for the paintings he sold made from Raeda.
Snotlout was admiring his reflection from a metal dish. "Oooh, I'm even better looking than I thought." He said to himself. He looked at Astrid, who was testing out a mace and winked at her.
The Hofferson girl caught the wink and rolled her eyes in disgust. She then saw Gobber rubbing his face with a cloth, looking extremely bliss. "You okay there, Gobber?"
"I'm more than okay, I'm in heaven!" Gobber said with a sigh.
Hiccup found a pot of ink. "Oh, that's pure squid ink, from the colossal squid of the Northern waters." Johann explained, rubbing his left shoulder.
Hiccup brought out as spy-glass from his bag "Well, how about this spyglass?" He offered."You know, I made it myself."
"I know. You've given me five just like it." Johann said unimpressed."Unfortunately, I've only got the two eyes. What else have you got?"
Hiccup looked through his bag again and found a winch. "Well then, what about this winch? Eh? You can use it to pull up your gangplank."
Johann accepted it. "A welcome tool for a working man's ailing shoulder. Consider it done."
Hiccup and Hicca then saw their dad testing out a sword. "Wow. Another sword. Just what we need." Hiccup said sarcastically.
"Yep, we'll just add that to the ever-growing pile." Hicca said with equal sarcasm.
"Very funny you two. For your information, it's not for me. I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the Chief of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a gift left without a head." Stoick informed them. He then turned to Johann. "Johann! What will you take in trade?"
"Stoick! It is but your good graces I desire when my amble ship passes through Berk." Johann answered.
"You'll always be welcome on our shores." Stoick said. He got off the ship and went to his dragon, who was waiting patiently for his rider. "I'll be back in five days." He then realized something."What am I saying? I'll be back in two, thanks to Thornado."
"Oh, you finally named him?" Hiccup asked."Thornado, huh?"
"That's a good name." Hicca complimented.
"Thanks Hicca. I named him that because he has the power of Thor and the ferocity of a tornado!" Stoick said as he got on Thornado. The dragon playfully tried to shake the chief off him.
'One more reason.' Thornado said.
"And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to!"
'There it is!'
"Turns out he can be quite stubborn!"
"That we can tell." Hicca said.
"Can't imagine where he gets that from." Hiccup said sarcastically.
"Up, Thornado." Stoick commanded. The Thunderdrum did as he was told and they flew off.
"Ah, men riding dragons. What a magnificent sight." Johann said in awe as he watched Stoick and Thornado fly off.
"Johann!" A voice shouted catching the trader's attention. Johann turned to find Mildew.
"Mildew!" Johann greeted.
"Did you bring what I want?" Mildew demanded.
"Always straight to the point. I like that!" Johann said. He then brought a closed basket and showed Mildew the contents. The old man seemed satisfied by what he saw.
"I assume you've brought my cabbage?" Johann asked.
Mildew pointed to the basket of cabbage, which Johann took. "Take these to my house." Mildew said as he left the ship.
This exchanged didn't go unnoticed by Raeda. Ever since Mildew got the dragons banished from Berk, the Henderson girl kept a close eye to the old man. She made a mental note about the exchange as she left the ship with Hicca and their dragons.
Trader Johann noticed a Terrible Terror sniffing the basket in curiosity. "Now, now, now little fella, that's not for you. Away." Johann said, trying to shoo the fly away.
'What am I, a fly?' The Terrible Terror said. It decided to retaliate by biting Johann's hand.
"Ow! Feisty little one, isn't he?" Johann said rubbing his hand. He picked up the Terror and lightly threw him away. Toothless did not take kindly to how the trader treated his friend and charged after Johann. In doing so, he accidently bumped into Hiccup, causing the Haddock boy to drop his pot of ink.
"Safe distance, please!" Johann said, holding his hands to calm Toothless as the male Night Fury started growling at him.
'You better apologize!' Toothless apologized.
"Toothless, no!" Hiccup said, calming Toothless down."Sorry, Johann. He's just being protective." Hiccup then saw the broken pieces of the pot and the ink spilled on the ground. He picked up one of the pieces. "Ah, it's gone."
"Oh, sorry, lad. That was my last one." Johann regretfully informed the boy."But rest assured, I'll find that colossal squid and wrestle you another bottle."
With no other choice Hiccup had to leave the ship empty-handed. "Oh, Toothless."
'I'm sorry.' Toothless crooned. The two of them went to join the other teens and dragons in the Academy. There they found Tuffnut setting up a new statue in the middle of the Academy.
"There we go. How does that look?" Tuffnut asked after he set up the statue.
"Beautiful." Ruffnut praised.
"You got them just for the Academy?" Hiccup asked, surprised.
"Yeah, we got them from Trader Johann. We had to give him our great-grandfather's skull. We got to keep his clavicle." Tuffnut explained.
"That's nice." Hicca said, her eyes still on her book. The teens, except for Hiccup and Raeda, looked at the Haddock girl in confusion.
"Whenever Hicca gets a new medical book she will read it once to see the contents, read it again to memorize the concepts, then read it one more time to copy down the important. Every stage of reading is given full concentration." Hiccup explained.
"This will go on for a week or so, so if it looks like she's distracted then worry about it." Raeda said.
Well, if she was paying attention right now, she would also be impressed at how you two got a statue just for the Academy." Hiccup said to the blonde twins."You know, it's about time you guys started taking some pride in this place."
"Duck!" Tuffnut suddenly said.
"What?" Hiccup asked confused. Though he was quick enough to follow Tuffnut and ducked, right before Barf and Belch fire at the target. That's when it was clear to Hiccup that Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't buy the statue as a decorative but as a target practice.
"That was AWESOME! I wanna take a shot!" Snotlout exclaimed. He then got on Hookfang and directed him to the statue."Fire!" Hookfang did so, causing the other dragons to take a shot at the statue. But when it came for Toothless' turn the male Night sneezed, accidently shooting a plasma in Snotlouts' direction. Luckily the Jorgenson boy jumped out of the way.
"Oh, that's strange." Hiccup said, looking at Toothless. He never saw his dragon sneeze before.
"Hey! Tell Toothless to cover his mouth when he sneezes!" Snotlout said.
"I'm sorry, but that's never happened before." Hiccup said. He went to his twin and put his hand on the page she was reading. Knowing her brother needed tell her something important, Hicca looked up. "Sis, have you ever seen Midnight or any other dragon sneeze before?" He asked. Unaware of what happened, the Haddock girl shook her head. Hiccup then nodded and took his hand off the page. Hicca just shrugged and went back to deep reading.
"Well, I think I'm going to take Toothless home." Hiccup said getting on his saddle. "Rae, can you keep an eye on Hicca and make sure she doesn't fall off a cliff or something?"
"Sure." Raeda answered.
"I'll come with you." Astrid said, getting on Stormfly. The two teens then flew off. They reached the center of the plaza when Astrid spotted a new flower bush. "Look at those flowers! They're beautiful. I wonder who planted those." Suddenly Hiccup and Toothless flew past her and Stormfly, nearly colliding into them. "Whoa! Hey! What are you doing?!" She demanded as she watched Hiccup and Toothless flying out of control.
"It's not me!" Hiccup exclaimed as he tried to steer Toothless. "Uh, okay, Toothless."
'Something's wrong with me! I don't feel so good.' Toothless warbled, hoping his rider would understand.
The male Night Fury lost complete control of his flight, causing him and his rider to fall to the ground. "WHHHOOOOOAAAA!" Hiccup yelled as they descended very rapidly. They crash to the ground, with Hiccup getting launched out of his saddle. He recovered quickly and ran to Toothless. Astrid and Stormfly landed where the boys were and Astrid got off Stormfly to join Hiccup.
"Whew! Toothless, are you okay, bud?" He asked.
'No, not at all. Definitely not okay.' Toothless warbled weakly.
"Toothless? It's like he's got a cold or something. Do dragons get colds?" Hiccup asked, turning to Astrid. The blonde shield-maiden shrugged, having no idea.
"Hiccup!" Hicca called out as she and Raeda ran to the group. Hiccup looked concerned at his sisters' worried expression. Whatever is causing this is serious enough to take her attention away from her new medical book.
"Remember when you asked me if I've ever seen Midnight sneeze?" Hicca asked. Her brother nodded. "Well, I have, just now. She is sneezing a lot and she doesn't look so well."
"Same with Sparkfire." Raeda added.
Something caught Astrids' eye "Whoa, look at that." She said pointing to a Terrible Terror walking dizzily around the plaza before it dropped to the ground. Astrid went to pick up the Terror. "Well, whatever it is, looks like he's got it, too."
Hiccup and Hicca took Toothless and Midnight home and called Gobber. They told their mentor about the situation and the blacksmith/dragon dentist starting brewing a cold cure (though Hicca seems to have some doubts of the concoction when she saw it being made.)
"This will help them." Gobber said as soon as his special remedy was made.
"Are you sure?" Hicca asked, still doubtful.
"Of course I'm sure! This recipe has been in my family for generations." Gobber said.
"What exactly is it?" Hiccup asked, also weary of the remedy.
"That's not important." Gobber dismissed. "Just be careful not to touch it." He placed the cauldron next to Midnight and Toothless and the two Night Furies sniffed it.
'Ugh! Is that supposed to make us feel better or worse?' Midnight asked.
'I don't want to find out.' Toothless replied. He then sneezed the concoction all over Gobbers' clothes.
"Well, that's ruined." Gobber said as he looked at his clothes in disgust."I'll never get that yak to vomit again."
"That's it! I'm confiscating your rights to make remedies from now on!" Hicca declared. Gobber started protesting, but she dismissed it. "No 'buts'. Anything with any vomit in it is a clear no-no!"
Just then Astrid and Raeda came in. "Guys, we've got a bit of a situation here." Raeda said.
"You guys gotta see this." Astrid said, leading them outside.
Hicca, Hiccup and Gobber ran out to see what Astrid and Raeda were talking about. There they saw Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch flying out of control with their riders trying to steer them straight.
"Easy, easy!" Snotlout shouted while steering Hookfang. The Monstrous Nightmare decided to quit causing the two of them to crash-land."Whooaaa!"
"Help her, guys! She's sick!" Fishlegs yelled to Hiccup and Hicca as Meatlug started spinning out of control. This caused the Ingerman boy to be dizzy."Whoa! And I'm about to be!"
"It seems to be an epidemic going on with all dragons." Hicca said.
Hiccup turned to Gobber. "How do we stop this?" He asked his mentor.
Gobber then got an idea. "Gothi! She'll know what to do!"
They brought Gothi to the Haddock household, where the elderly did a check-up on both Toothless and Midnight. "I've heard Gothi could tell you when you're gonna die, just by looking at your fingernails." Astrid said nervously to Fishlegs. This caused the blonde boy to cover his hands.
"Ah, that's just an old wives tale." Gobber informed them, making Fishlegs sigh in relief."She looks at your tongue." Fishlegs panicked and immediately covered his mouth.
After the check-up, Gothi threw some bones to the ground and looked at them. She then poured some sand on the ground and used her staff to draw something images. Gobber went to read what she was saying.
"She says they're reacting to something, like they're allergic." Gobber read.
"Allergic? To what?" Hiccup asked, while comforting Toothless.
"To a moose wearing boots." Gobber read."Shouldn't be hard to find." Gothi hit the blacksmith in the head with her staff, telling him he's not reading properly.
"Didn't think that was right." He read the drawings again. "Ah, they're allergic to something new that's just come to the island." He clarified."But that still looks like a moose."
Whack!
"Well, there are a lot of new things on the island. Trader Johann was just here." Astrid pointed out.
"How are we going to narrow it down?" Raeda asked.
Gothi drew something in the sand. "She says to get rid of everything, immediately." Gobber said."Otherwise it's just going to get worse. The dragons are going to get sicker."
Immediately, the group gathered all the villagers and made the announcement. No one was happy over getting rid of their new valuables, but if it would help their dragons then they were ready to do it.
They gathered there valuables and went to an island far away from Berk. There they built a trench and lined up to throw their newly acquired possessions in the trench.
"I know this is hard, guys, but I promise you, you're doing a good thing." Hiccup said as he and Astrid watched."You're helping the dragons."
They have been protecting us, it's the least we can do for them!" Astrid added.
Snotlout took on last sorrowful look at his reflection before he threw the metal dish in. "Goodbye, beautiful." He said to his reflection.
Raeda went next, placing the chest full of clothes and her new paint set in the trench. As excited as she was to try them out, Sparkfire is far more important to her.
Some people, however, were a bit reluctant to part with their new valuables, like Fishlegs and Hicca.
"What are you two doing?! Throw them in!" Ruffnut said as she watched the two of them speed read through their books.
"I'm sorry! But this botany book is a real page-turner! I gotta know how it ends!" Fishlegs said keeping his eyes on his book.
"I have so many questions, Ruffnut. Questions that need to be answered!" Hicca said as she frantically turned the pages to get the key points.
Not understanding either of her friends values for books, the Thorston girl snatched both books.
"No, Ruffnut!" Fishlegs said.
"Wait!" Hicca pleaded.
But Ruffnut ignored them and threw both book in the ditch, much to both their readers sadness.
"Now I'll know the cure for vorpentitis." Hicca said sadly.
Hiccup then noticed Gobber just standing near the ditch. "I don't see you throwing anything in the pile, and I thought I saw you buy something from Trader Johann." He accused as his mentor tried to deny.
"He did. He bought silk!" Astrid stated.
"Hand it over, Gobber." Hiccup demanded holding his hand out.
"Can't do that, 's, uh, currently in use." Gobber said, before he leaned down and whispered to the two teens."It's my skivvies. They're glorious!" The look on Hiccups' face remained adamant causing the blacksmith to give in. "Fine." He said. He then went behind a large boulder and a few seconds later, threw out a purple pair of underpants.
"I could have gone my whole life without seeing that." Hiccup said to Astrid.
After everyone threw their new possessions in the ditch, they decided to head home and let the dragons rest.
The next day at the Haddock Household, Hiccup and Toothless woke up. "Hey! How 'bout we go out flying? Maybe that'll make you feel better." Hiccup suggested.
Toothless responded with a sneeze, accidently shooting a plasma blast in Hiccups' direction. Luckily, Hiccup managed to dodge it in time.
It seems that none of the dragons have gotten better.
In the Hofferson Household, Stormfly kept shivering as Astrid tried to comfort her.
"Poor girl. Can't get comfortable, huh?" Astrid said. She then got an idea."I know what'll help! I'll-" She turned her back on her dragon and got down to pick something, narrowly avoiding the spines, Stormfly accidently shot at her a second later. Astrid got up and looked at her dragon.
'I'm sorry.' Stormfly squawked.
"It's okay, Stormfly. I'm a soldier. I've been shot at before."
In the Henderson Household, Sparkfire was lying down with a large blanket on her with Raeda bringing a bowl of soup. "Here you go girl. Soup always helps me feel better when I'm not feeling well." Raeda said as she set the bowl near Sparkfire.
The purple Nadder sniffed the soup and was considering drinking it when she accidently sneezed shooting a flame that burned the bowl. Luckily, Raeda managed to back-flip to avoid getting burnt.
"Poor girl." The raven-haired girl said as she walked to comfort her dragon.
In the Ingerman Household, Fishlegs was massaging Meatlugs feet while telling her a story. "Once upon a time, there was a little princess named Meatlug, the most beautiful dragon in all of the land! People would come from miles around-" He was interrupted when Meatlug farted.
'Sorry, Fishlegs. I was starting to like that story.' Meatlug said in her dragon voice.
"No, no, it's okay, girl. It's not that bad." Fishlegs said, forcing a smile."Smells just like rose petals and-" The blonde boy couldn't take the smell anymore and fainted.
Seeing that none of the dragons were feeling better, the teens all gathered at the plaza to discuss why.
"This doesn't make sense. We got rid of everything from Trader Johann, but out dragons still aren't getting better, they're getting worse!" Fishlegs said.
"Let's- let's make a list. Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann but hasn't thrown it into the pit." Hiccup guessed.
"You're right... There must have been somebody who wasn't willing to give up what they bought." Astrid agreed.
"Who would be that selfish?" Raeda asked.
"Don't know, but if I find out who was holding back, I am gonna be so mad! Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls!" Snotlout complained.
"Yeah? Well, ours is dead!" Tuffnut said monotonously as he and his sister looked at Barf and Belch. This revelation caused the other teens to gasp in shock.
"Just kidding." Tuffnut said quickly."But, he's really not that fun anymore."
"He just sits there. He won't blow anything up!" Ruffnut complained.
The other teens rolled their eyes at the blonde teen and just then, a voice called out from above.
"Hiccup! Hicca!" Stoick shouted as he and Thornado landed."Put this in the Book of Dragons! Never fly on a stomach full of under-cooked mutton. The Shivering Shores will never be the same." He then noticed the teens' solemn and serious expressions as he got off Thornado. "What is it, kids? What's wrong?"
"It's the dragons, Dad." Hiccup explained. "They're, uh..."
"They're sick! And getting worse." Astrid said.
"Every dragon?" Stoick asked.
"Yeah and we have no idea what's causing it and without that, we can't find the cure." Hicca answered.
Later that night, Toothless and Midnight were in the center of the Haddock Household, still shivering and sneezing.
"Poor guys. What do you two think happened?"
"Ugh, we don't know! Gothi says they're allergic to something new to the island, but we think we've gotten rid of everything." Hiccup explained.
"But, if the dragons aren't getting better..." Stoick trailed.
"Then there's something still be here that's making them sick." Hicca finished.
Suddenly they heard a loud sound from outside. "Thornado?" Stoick wondered, recognizing the sound. The three humans ran outside to where the Thunderdrum was. Thornado gave out another sneeze, causing Stoick to keep his children away from the sonic blast before he checked on his dragon.
"Sneezing! That's the first symptom." Hiccup stated.
"Fatigue is the second one." Hicca noted, looking at Thornados' drowsy state.
"He was fine until we got back!" Stoick said.
"Um, we should retrace your steps." Hiccup suggested.
They gathered the rest of the dragon riders and informed them of what happened. They went to the Plaza to look for clues.
"Well, this is where I landed." Stoick said.
"Okay guys spread out and look around for anything unusual." Hiccup instructed the other teens.
"Do not leave anything out, even if you think it's unimportant." Hicca added.
"Does that count?" Fishlegs asked, pointing to the Thorston twins who were head-butting each other.
"I'm seeing stars!" Ruffnut said in a daze.
"No way! Me too!" Tuffnut exclaimed.
"They said something unusual." Raeda stated.
"Rae is right, there is nothing unusual here." Astrid said. She then noticed Hiccup looking at something with a frown. "What is it?" She asked.
"Uh, does anybody remember seeing these flowers before?" Hiccup asked walking over to the flower bush behind Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Astrid, Stoick and Fishlegs followed him.
"They were here when I got back." Stoick answered.
Fishlegs plucked one of the flowers. "It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander. I recognize it from my botany book, chapter eight." He said.
"I-is there anything specific you can remember?" Hiccup asked, starting to have a bad feeling.
"They're very beautiful, very soft, perennial." Fishlegs said, stroking one of the petals. His eyes then widened as he remembered something else. "And... poisonous to reptiles!"
"Which means poisonous to dragons!" Hiccup concluded, his eyes also widening. Fishlegs immediately threw the flower away. "This is serious. Uh, duh, did your book say anything about a cure?" Hiccup asked the Ingerman boy.
"I don't know. I didn't get to finish it because somebody made me throw it in a pit!" Fishlegs replied looking at Ruffnut.
"Well, then go back and dig it up!" Hiccup ordered and Fishlegs complied.
"My medical book might have some information about curing poison." Hicca suggested.
"Then go with him." Hiccup said and his twin ran to catch up with Fishlegs.
"I don't understand, where did these flowers even come from?" Astrid wondered.
It was Tuffnut who had the answer "Mildew. I saw him plant them the other night."
"And you didn't think that was strange?" Astrid demanded.
"No." Tuffnut answered hesitantly."Well, maybe. I don't know! Quit pressuring me!"
"Ugh! I knew there was something suspicious when I saw Mildew demanding his order from Trader Johann. He must have done some research since he made the order in advance!" Raeda exclaimed.
Thornado give out another sonic sneeze, causing Stoick to duck. "Let's go pay the old man a visit." The chief said as he, Hiccup, Astrid and Raeda started walking to Mildews' house.
As soon as they went to Mildews' house, they went straight to the point and demanded a confession. The old man, however, decided to act innocent. "Well, so what if I planted some flowers? The town square has never looked better. I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness." He said.
"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" Astrid asked.
"That's right. You live far away from Berk. The only time you do come there is to complain about something." Raeda pointed out.
"You did this!" Hiccup accused.
"What? Me?! Ha!" Mildew denied. "Well, I had no inkling, Stoick, that these flowers had special properties. Oh, it's true, I'm not friend of the dragons, but in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them."
Realizing that he has no concrete evidence against the old man, Stoick sighed. "Let's go." He said, taking three very reluctant teens out of the house.
As soon as they left, Mildew tsked. "Ah. The poor, poor dragons." He sneered in a smug smile.
They went back to the Plaza and rejoined Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Now they could only wait to see if Fishlegs and Hicca found something. The two teens then came running to the group "Hicca! Fishlegs! You two found your books!" Hiccup said, watching the two teens pant.
"Did you guys find anything helpful?" Astrid asked, hoping one of them would say yes.
But Hicca and Fishlegs were focus on regaining there breathing, with the latter more panicked. "Calm down you two! Talk to me."
"My botany book says that Blue Oleander is poisonous to reptiles! And dragons are reptiles!" Fishlegs stated.
"We know that! Was there anything else?" Hiccup asked.
"It says in my medical book that venom from spiders and snakes can be used as a cure." Hicca informed.
That's right and then I remembered the Book of Dragons talked about a dragon that feeds on the Blue Oleander. It's called the Scauldron. In a perfect world, if it eats the flowers, maybe its venom can be used as an antidote. But alas, we do not live in a perfect world." Fishlegs said sadly. He turned to the page on the Scauldron. "Look! The Scauldron has no venom!"
"No... But it looks cool!" Tuffnut said, looking at the picture of the Scauldron.
"Don't you understand? The Book says no venom!" Fishlegs exclaimed to the Thorston boy.
"Okay, got it! No venom! Golly, write it on your forehead." Tuffnut said annoyed.
"The Book is wrong!" Gobber declared joining the group. "I've dealt with a Scauldron before. They're sixty feet long, with razor sharp teeth! And they'll shoot boiling water that melts the flesh from your bones! The Scauldron has no fear. No conscience. But what the Scauldron does have is venom! And lots of it!"
"I'm out!" Tuffnut declared walking away.
"I'm with him." Ruffnut said, joining her twin.
Hiccup then came up with a plan "Alright... You guys stay here and take care of the dragons. You too, sis. They might need you."
"What are you going to do?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup turned to his dad and his mentor. "Dad? Gobber? Let's go find ourselves a Scauldron!"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Gobber said getting excited.
"I'm coming with you guys." Raeda declared. Hiccup was about to object to that but Raeda cut him off. "No arguments, unless you want to waste a night." Hiccup sighed and conceded.
Hiccup, Raeda, Stoick and Gobber all went to their own homes to pack up and prepare for the Scauldron hunt.
"Look at that thing..." Hiccup said, looking at the picture of the Scauldron in the Book of Dragons. He looked back at Toothless and Midnight, both dragons feeling even weaker. "You two just hang in there. Hicca will take good care of both of you and I'll be back before you know it." He said as the two Night Furies decided to take a nap.
Hicca then walked to him. "You guys better be careful, okay? Don't do anything reckless out there." She warned.
"You know that can't be guaranteed, right?" Hiccup asked rhetorically.
Hicca sighed. "I'm afraid yes." She said.
The auburn twins then gave each other a hug.
Outside their house, Stoick was comforting Thornado. "How's my dragon warrior?" The chief asked. Thornado gave a weak response, barely able to lift his head. Stoick then got a rock and put it under the Thunderdrum, to act as a pillow. "I spent my whole life trying to kill them. Now look at me." Stoick said to himself.
"Dad, it's time." Hiccup said as he and his sister came to him."The boat's ready." Giving one last look to Thornado, Stoick nodded. He gave Hicca a good hug before he and Hiccup made their way to the docks.
Soon a ship was sent off from the shores of Berk which includes Hiccup, Stoick, Raeda, Gobber, Sven and a very reluctant, angry companion.
"Well, this is an outrage! I dug up all the flowers! I did my part!" Mildew complained.
"Why couldn't we knock him out cold?" Raeda muttered to Hiccup.
"We're all out here because of you, Mildew. If we all have to put our lives at risk, then so do you!" Stoick said to Mildew.
"You have no proof, Stoick!" Mildew sneered."You can't blame me every time something goes amiss with your precious dragons."
The others decided to ignore the old man "Alright, Stoick. What's the plan?" Gobber asked.
"Hiccup, when Gobber and I secure the Scauldron's head, Sven will wedge its jaw open." Stoick informed. "We'll need you to-"
"Drain the poison into this bucket. Got it." Hiccup finished.
"And I need to make neither the venom, nor the boiling hot water touches Hiccup." Raeda added, readying her bow and arrows.
"Let's get started." Hiccup said as he and Raeda each took a bag full of the Blue Oleander Mildew dug out. They then scattered the flowers in sea surrounding their ship."This is what Scauldrons eat. It'll draw them to the boat."
"It'll be like luring Snotlout with a pile of fake gold." Raeda said, smiling at the memory.
They then waited for a Scauldron to come by. But hours passed and there was no sign of the sea dragon.
"Looks like the Scauldrons are smarter than Snotlout." Raeda said as she, Hiccup and Gobber continued looking out in the sea.
"Bah! This is not working! It was a stupid idea to begin with!" Mildew complained walking by. Getting fed up, Raeda and Hiccup were ready to follow him when the chief stopped them. "Easy, you two, that's not why we're here."
Gobber then saw something in the sea. "But that is."
Sure enough, the crew spotted a green Scauldron swimming around the ship.
"Scauldron!" Stoick said, now on high alert. Suddenly the Scauldron rose its' head above the water, looking at each crew member dead in the eyes.
"Woah." Raeda said in a whispered tone.
"I may need to change my skivvies again." Gobber said.
"We need to lure the Scauldron on deck!" Hiccup ordered. Raeda snapped out of her daze state and helped Hiccup scatter some Blue Oleander on deck.
"Oh, that's great. Get it on the ship where it can have at us all!" Mildew said.
"Hopefully, it will take you first." Raeda muttered.
"Gobber! Secure its neck with this! I'll lasso his horn!" Stoick yelled, throwing his friend a rope. But just as they were about to get to the Scauldron, the sea dragon went back in the water.
"Where did it go?" Gobber asked.
"I have a feeling we're about to find out." Raeda answered, getting worried.
Suddenly, the oar that Sven was holding was taken from his hands a dragged a good distance away from the ship with the top part sticking out of the water. It then stopped and disappeared from view and a second later, a strong force of water came right in the ships direction! "HANG ON, EVERYBODY!" Gobber shouted, just before the Scauldron rammed right into their ship. The Scauldron then climbed aboard the ship and started eating the Oleanders on deck, causing the ship to tilt upwards like a seesaw.
"HICCUP!" Stoick shouted as he watch his son sliding downwards, towards the Scauldron.
"Gotcha!" Raeda said, grabbing onto Hiccups' hand. She took an arrow from her quiver and stuck it on the deck, giving her something to hang on to.
Stoick then noticed the Scauldron distracted by the Oleanders "Gobber! Here's our chance!" Stoick shouted. He and Gobber then slid down towards the Scauldron, right when it was about to go back into the water. They then grabbed onto their ropes and used it to lasso the Scauldron, pulling as hard as they could to keep the sea dragon from retreating."We can't let the dragon get back into the water!" Stoick exclaimed.
"He's a strong one!" Gobber grunted.
"Sven! We need that barrel now!" Stoick ordered. Immediately, Sven brought the barrel.
"I've got the bucket!" Hiccup exclaimer, holding a bucket with a cloth covering it.
"I've got my weapon!" Raeda said, getting ready to shoot the Scauldron if necessary.
"Careful, son! You don't want to get that venom in you!" Stoick warned, still holding on his rope.
"Yes, I know, Dad! I'll be dead in twenty-four hours!" Hiccup said.
Sven threw the barrel at the Scauldrons' mouth, keeping it wedged open. "Ha-ha!" The Viking said in triumph. But his triumph was short lived as the Scauldron crushed the barrel with its sharp teeth.
"Maybe we should have taken that fact into account when we made the plan." Raeda said keeping her arrow aimed at the Scauldron.
Stoick then saw the Scauldrons' tail coming out of the water and heading for Sven. "Sven! Look out!" He tried to warn, but to no avail as Sven was suddenly knocked off the ship and into the water. Unbeknownst to Hiccup who kept his eyes on the Scauldrons' head, the tail then aimed for him.
Stoick saw that as well. "Hiccup, behind you!" This time, the chief let go of his rope and ran to Hiccup, he grabbed the tail just before it could hit Hiccup. Angered, the Scauldron lifted his tail, taking the chief with him and tried to shake him off.
"Dad!" Hiccup yelled, concerned.
The Scauldron then slammed Stoick into the mast of the ship, but the Berkian chief managed to hang on to the mast, pinning the Scauldrons' tail. "Daah! I got his tail!" He shouted.
"Hiccup, Raeda, grab your Stoicks' line!" Gobber shouted, still holding onto his.
The two teens grabbed the rope, and pulled as hard as they could. "Got it!" Hiccup shouted.
"Pull him in! Use the mast to winch his jaw open!" Stoick shouted, struggling to keep the tail pinned.
The teens and Gobber followed their orders and pulled with their full strength, wedging the Scauldrons' mouth between the mast, right where Mildew decided to hide behind from the Scauldron, causing the old man to be between two sets of teeth.
"Mildew! Grab the bucket!" Stoick ordered.
"HOLD ON! It's one thing for me to-" Mildew tried to protest.
But Stoick was hearing none of it. "Grab the bucket or I'll throw you overboard myself!" He roared. Reluctantly and terrified, Mildew decided to comply. He grabbed the bucket that was in front of him but hesitated. The hesitation was all the Scauldron needed to prepare its' boiling hot water.
Stoick noticed it "Everyone take cover!"
Mildew immediately got up from where he was sitting and ran to the other side of the ship and behind a crate.
"Gobber!" Hiccup yelled.
"The shield!" Raeda said, referring to the lone shield between them. The three of them, immediately let go of their ropes and ran towards the shield. Gobber picked up the shield and held it in front of him, Hiccup and Raeda and just in time as the Scauldron sprayed its water right at them.
Stoick lost his grip on the mast, allowing the Scauldron to drag the chief into the sea.
"Dad!" Hiccup yelled, running to the side of the boat, hoping to find some sign of his dad.
Mildew was still hiding behind the crate in fear until he saw the Scauldron looking at him. Frightened he tried to run to the other side of the ship, but unbeknownst to him there was lone Blue Oleander on his rear. The Scauldron saw it and ate, biting Mildew in the process. "AHHH!"
The Scauldron then threw Stoick back onto the ship with his tail and swam away from the ship.
"He's gone." Hiccup said watching the Scauldron disappear from sight.
"And you can bet the last place he's coming back to is this ship." Gobber stated.
"We didn't get the venom." Stoick said in dismay.
"Well, I wouldn't say that." Raeda said smiling. The guys give her questioning looks and the Henderson girl simply pointed to Mildew, who was lying down face first in pain.
Hiccup smiled when he remembered that the Scauldron bit Mildew before it left. "She's right, we do have the venom."
"Get this poison out of me!" Mildew demanded.
"Oh, we will." Hiccup said.
They managed to retrieve Sven from the sea and set a course back to Berk. As soon as they came to the docks, Gobber and Stoick took Mildew to the forge, while Hiccup and Raeda gathered the other teens and updated them on what happened. The teens then waited outside the forge, except for Hicca, who was inside learning the method to extract poison.
"Can you believe we're all just standing around, waiting for something to come out of Mildew's butt?" Tuffnut commented.
"I would be so disturbed by that comment if I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy this moment." Raeda said.
"No-no-no! W-w-wait-wait-wait! Isn't there something a little smaller you could use?" Mildew pleaded when he saw what Gobber was going to use to extract the poison.
"Probably." Gobber replied shrugging. He then began to extract the poison.
Outside the teens could hear Mildews' screams. "That's the sound of our dragons getting better." Astrid said happily.
"That's also the sound of sweet revenge." Raeda said, equally happy.
Gobber then came out of the forge with a bottle in his hands, looking traumatized. "I've seen a Nadder's spine slice through a man's eyeball like a grape. I've watched my own arm get devoured by a Monstrous Nightmare. But never, NEVER, have I seen anything so disturbing... as that old man's bare behind!" He said shuddering. He handed the bottle to Hiccup. "Here. Take this to your dragons. I'm going to the forest to scream."
"Way to take one for the team, Gobber." Hiccup said watching his mentor walk away. Hicca then came out of the forge, writing something in her notebook.
"You seem awfully calm right now, sis. Didn't you see the procedure?" Hiccup asked.
"Oh I definitely saw it and its' definitely going to haunt my dreams for a while." Hicca stated, still calm. "On the plus side, I now know how to extract poison."
The teens then divided the cure and gave it out to all the dragons on the island.
In the Haddock household, Hicca and Hiccup sat with Midnight and Toothless, waiting for the effects of the cure to kick in. Their dad was standing at the doorframe, anxiety written all over his face.
"Relax, Dad. It's gonna be fine." Hiccup assured.
"They just need some time." Hicca said.
Stoick decided to go and pace outside. A few minutes later, Hiccup and Hicca came running towards him with their dragons as healthy as ever.
"Dad! Great news!" Hicca exclaimed.
"They're coming around!" Hiccup announced.
Stoick turned and saw Thornado also good as new. "Ha-ha! Thornado!"
The next day was better for everyone as all the dragons were better and flying high in the sky. Having borrowed some ink from Raeda, Hiccup was able to finish his drawing of Toothless. He then looked out the window and saw the other teens flying outside. His sister came to his window.
"Come on, bro. We're going out flying." Hicca said and Midnight warbled in agreement.
Hiccup smiled and got on Toothless. The four of them then flew to join the others.
A deadly flower, a venomous sea dragon, and Mildew's butt. Three things Hicca and I never really thought we'd have to deal with in the same day. But we'll do anything for our dragon..