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DreamWorks Dragons: Defenders of Berk

A Banished Beast

Chapter 21

The Banshee flew up and out of the pool, shaking itself off before starting to walk over to the cocoon. He froze in its tracks as it heard nothing, no heartbeat from the boy, and rushed over only to stop in front of the sheath, eyes wide and taken back.

The cocoon was open, no boy lay inside, none of the vines were glowing with pulses—at least from the vines that were left behind—and no food for the Banshee.

The beast let out a deep growl then screeched angrily into the cave atmosphere. The scream echoed out into the forests of Dragon Island.

Hiccup lay on his bed upstairs in his room. His father stood beside his bed, along with Gobber who stood beside him, and Hiccup's friends all placed themselves wherever amongst the room. Gothi leaned in closer to Hiccup's temple, tapping at the vine that had attached itself there.

"What are those things?" Astrid asked, standing at the end of the bed.

"And why are they glowing?" Fishlegs added, standing by Hiccup's desk.

"They seem to be glowing to the rhythm of his heart. Why? I do not know." Gobber replied.

"What do they do?" Astrid asked another question the adults could not answer.

"Gothi should be able to figure that one out, hopefully soon." Said woman sent a glare at Gobber, scolding him for his impatience. She walked back over to Hiccup's desk where she sat her satchel and some wooden bowls. Fishlegs stepped out of the way as she came over, watching her as a small chunk of the vine Gobber and Stoick got from the cocoon was mixed in with a bowl filled with some type of medicine. She walked back over to the bed and scooped a small amount into a spoon before pouring the substance onto one of the glowing vine heads. It stopped glowing, short circuiting almost as it died out. The effect journeyed to the other vine heads as all of them were connected to one another. The vines on Hiccup's body soon died and ceased their actions.

Hiccup's eyes burst open and he shot up, leaning forward in his bed as a gasped escaped his lips. He began to breathe rapidly as if he was holding it in for too long. His sudden awakening frightened the teens and the adults at first, but after recovering they were quick to help him stay up in his bed before falling back down against the pillow.

Hiccup's glossy eyes darted around the room before landing on Gothi and then swinging over to his father. Gothi put the bowl down on his nightstand and walked back over to grab something from her satchel on the desk.

Stoick grabbed his son's arms and brought him into a hug, the rest of the teens airing their relief.

"Hiccup," Astrid breathed with relief.

"Oh Thor, you had us worried." Fishlegs added.

"That was crazy." Snotlout commented.

"You just like came straight up." Tuffnut joined.

"He looks dizzy." Ruffnut observed. Her comment caught everyone's attention and Stoick let go to examine his son's face.

It was still pale and his eyes seemed distant. He moaned and closed them, clutching his head as he was losing balance and his head began to get heavy.

"Easy, Hiccup." Stoick said as he held onto him, his hands firmly at his chest and back to stabilize his balance. He leaned him back against the bed and brought his pillow up.

"Dad…" Hiccup's voice was hoarse and soft. By this time, Gothi was back over by his bed side with a tankard of water and some tweezers. She handed him the water and he weakly grabbed it, tipping it at his lips and drinking the cool liquid. She waited till he was done before starting to take off the vines. It wasn't too painful, just a little prick every now and then; the numbness his body was still experiencing from the vines helping out a lot.

"Where's Toothless?" He asked, his voice still a little raw but otherwise better from the water.

"He's downstairs." Stoick answered him, glancing up at Astrid who nodded her head and whistled down the stairs. Seconds later, said black dragon came up the steps and glanced around in the room until his eyes lay on Hiccup. His head perked up and his eyes widened with excitement, bouncing on over to his rider before settling down and coming to a stop by his bed side. He licked his face and earned a smile and giggle, cooing happily to have his rider back and safe. The kids laughed as well and so did Gobber and Stoick.

"How do you feel?" Stoick asked, happier now that the mood had changed to a brighter one. It was evident that Hiccup seemed more focused now, but no one could assume that he still didn't feel like crap.

He moaned again, "Horrible…" but then Hiccup smiled up at his father. "But I'll live."

"I think this calls for a celebration. Why don't we head on over to the Great Hall for a feast." Gobber announced. The teens smiled and nodded at one another, Stoick shook his head yes and Hiccup gaped at him with pure excitement. He hadn't eaten in so long…

"Oh good, I'm starving." Hiccup commented with a smiled, then his smile vanished as Gothi pulled off another vine.

"Ouch."

"Why don't we hold off until we get all of those things off of you." Stoick suggested; Hiccup nodded in agreement.

By the time Hiccup was checked out of Gothi's care, his stomach had been fighting with him, seeming extremely hungry and at the same time ready to eject all of its contents. Hiccup had to stop himself on more than one occasion from running to the Great Hall due to his legs still not use to walking and his head which would swim if he was too active.

They came into the Great Hall no soon after Hiccup was clear to go, though. Toothless bounding beside him, the two of them, followed by Stoick and the others, walked into the Great Hall only to be meet with the whole population of Berk, hands up and cheering for his arrival as if it was his birthday.

"Hiccup!"

"Welcome back Hiccup!"

"Good to see you Hiccup!"

The young Viking was taken back a bit from all the cheers and attention as the crowd grew around him with smiles, laughter, and friendly faces.

Stoick pushed through them and place a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Alright, alright, let us pass so he can eat. We all know he needs it right now. Can't have him getting any skinner than he already is." The chief said as he led Hiccup off towards the food prepared especially for him and Toothless. The crowd giggled and chuckled at Stoick joke and returned to their last positions whether it be crowding around the round table where Stoick, Hiccup, Gobber and the other… more or less important Vikings ate (the high council… I don't know, that's sort of how I view them) or returning to their seats.

Hiccup was awestruck at all of the bread and fish and chicken and turkey and… well basically all of the food on the large rectangular table. His mouth was watering from just looking at it all! And his stomach would not settle down as its growls could very much be mistaken as a dragon's roar.

He grabbed a fish kabob and waved it over in front of Toothless' face.

"Bon appetite, Toothless." He said with a loving smile. Toothless followed the kabob before engulfing the whole thing into his mouth and swallowing it whole.

"You better not throw up any of that onto my lap later on." He joked. Toothless licked his chaps and hiccuped before smacking his lips and digging into the rest of the fish given to him.

Hiccup laughed at the sight of him and began eating himself. And boy, did he love it!

A.N.

There we go, sort of like a Christmas oriented chapter! Happy times, happy days! Happy Christmas everyone!

Don't think we're out of this yet! There's still more to come and I may or may not be able to upload the new story. I think this one is ending soon, though I had thought it to last at least 30 chapters… I guess not… well, maybe. I don't know, Merry Christmas everyone!