Astrid spent two excruciatingly long days asking anyone and everyone if they knew of a potato and, if so, where in Odin's name could she find one? It was Bjorn Junior who suggested asking Trader Johan. Everyone else either didn't know what a potato was or wanted to know why she wanted one. Astrid didn't waste her time answering, rushing off to the next person.
The gods must have been smiling on her that day as it was Trader Johan's visiting day. She shoved past the Vikings lining up, ignoring their shouts and protests. She sprung up the gangplank and yanked Johan away from helping Hackett.
"Ah, if it is not the chieftess! How-?"
"Potato." Astrid blurted. Johan did a double take. "Potato!" Astrid stomped her foot. "It's for Hiccup, he's... he's..."
"Hungry?" Someone she had cut ahead in line had ventured onto the ship. "If the chief's hungry, I'm sure he can wait like the rest of us."
"He's not hungry, you idiot! He's dying!" That shut them up. She whirled around to glare at Johan. "I need a potato for him, it's the only known cure!"
"I don't have any, miss, but I do know where you can get some." Astrid grabbed him by the shoulders, intent on shaking the answer from him. "America." He choked. "America is bursting at the seams with potatoes-"
"It doesn't exist!"
"My dear lady, the Americas are very much real. Fly to the west, you'll be there in a few days."
"There's nothing to the west, just the edge of the world!"
"I have traveled many oceans, miss, I do know. I have set foot in America hundreds of times, spirited people." Astrid pulled at her hair in frustration. "If I may, what is wrong with Master Hiccup?"
"He's poisoned." Astrid spat through gritted teeth. "How far west?" It was stupid idea, but if it held the possibility of saving her husband, so be it.
"You need to go straight west. It takes a couple of weeks by boat- you should be there in about five days-"
"Hiccup hasn't got that much time!"
"What if you take that Night Fury? Fastest dragon around."
"That'll cut the travel time in half, I could be there and back in five days! Thank you, Johan!" Astrid sprinted off, oblivious to the mutters of the Viking line and the questions fired her way- "What's wrong with the chief?"/ "Where are you going?" / "Will Hiccup be OK?"
Astrid raced all the way home, bursting through the front door with enough force to leave a dent in the wall. Her mother was at the table, Ingrid standing on the chair beside her and drawing. Alastor was chewing on a rag, drool soaking it through. Astrid paid them no attention, darting here and there all around the house, gathering food, spare clothes, blankets, water, a compass, her axe and Hiccup's fire sword.
"Where are you off to?"
"America."
"What?"
"I'll explain later, I have to go! Toothless!" She called. The dragon roared from upstairs. Astrid bounced up the stairs two at a time. "Toothless, we need to go." The Night Fury snarled, reluctant to leave his rider. "I know, I don't want to leave him either, but we have to. It's to make him better." The dragon's ears pricked up at that. Stormfly huffed. "Sorry, girl, but I need Toothless for this one. We don't have much time. Can you make sure no-one tries to hurt Hiccup?" The Nadder squawked, still a little miffed, but ever loyal.
It took two minutes to change Toothless's tail- Hiccup had taught her how to in case of emergencies- and they were off. Astrid had to tie herself to the saddle firmly and lie almost flat to stop from falling. She had flown Toothless a few times, but he had never gone this fast with her. She had only ever seen his speed and that was with Hiccup, not her. In any other circumstance, it would be thrilling. Now, it was a matter of life and death.
Land quickly turned to ocean, vast deep blueness spanning as far as the eye could see in all directions. Toothless was as determined as his new rider, not taking the time for fancy flying, zipping straight on. Astrid knew he should rest as there was no way he could fly for five days straight- it was just convincing him to do so.
Stoick sat at his son's bedside, miserable. He rinsed the cloth in cool water and reapplied it to Hiccup's feverish forehead. A minute later, he flipped it over. The last hour had seen Hiccup's temperature spike. They had had to remove all but a thin sheet covering him. He had cooled a little bit after that, but not enough to make a difference. Valka was to change his dressings in a few minutes. It was a good job they kept him topped up on the milk of the poppy, yet Stoick couldn't help worrying what would happen if and when they ran out. There was no way Hiccup would be comfortable or painless lying on his front or back, broken ribs or vicious and infected wounds.
His daughter-in-law's Nadder must have sensed his anxiety as she gently bumped her nose against his arm and whined. Stoick rested his palm against her nose, stroking the scales there as his son had taught him- it was also her blind spot and to keep her calm was the best thing to do. She nestled down beside him as Valka appeared, carrying her ever-present medical box. Fishlegs was with her, pale and sweating as usual, and near tears when he saw his best friend.
Together, the three sat Hiccup up. Valka carefully pulled the bandages from around his torso, wincing as he moaned incoherently. The infection didn't look as green as it had. Whatever herbs she had slathered over the dressings were certainly doing their work. Valka talked while she worked, issuing orders to Fishlegs. He was learning to be a doctor to humans and dragons alike. No one better to learn from than Valka. He ground the herbs, adding a little water and then pasting it over a new set of cloth strips.
"Mmm..." Hiccup hummed in his sleep. "Potato..."
"He listens more unconscious than he ever does awake."
"Ay," Stoick agreed solemnly, "runs in the family."
"Po... ta... to..." Hiccup's head drooped and he started drooling on his father's arm. Stoick didn't notice.
"Fishlegs, his leg. Keep the splint." Valka instructed. Fishlegs nodded dutifully, gingerly unwrapping the splint and the tight bandages underneath. He cleaned Hiccup's leg first, wincing at the angry red scars crisscrossing his skin. He was relieved to reapply fresh dressings and to put the splint back on. Valka told him to fetch some broth and water. She was finishing up with Hiccup's back and was set to move onto the stitched cut on his forehead. She only had to wipe that one down.
Valka checked Fishlegs was gone and hurriedly unravelled Hiccup's left forearm. The slave mark glared up at them, fresh and white hot as though Dagur was still pressing the iron down. She and Stoick exchanged uneasy looks. Valka put a fresh layer of burn salve on it, muttering prayers to the gods, and re-wrapped it as Fishlegs returned. He was carrying the broth and mug of water carefully on a tray.
"I've mixed a little more poppy milk in the broth." He told Valka. "I hope you don't mind."
"No, that's good. Thank you, Fishlegs." He smiled timidly. Valka and Stoick set Hiccup back against the mound of pillows behind him. Hiccup muttered again. Stoick took the broth and fed him spoonful by spoonful while Fishlegs and Valka attended to Hiccup's cracked wrists. "We'll change them again before turning in for the night." She frowned at the contents of her box. "We need to get some more herbs. Come, Fishlegs. It's about time you learnt which herb was which."
"Po... taaaa. to..." Hiccup murmured dreamily. His eyes opened for a second and he gave a small smile. "Potato..." And just like that, he was asleep again.
Toothless faltered for the fifth time, breathing hard.
"Land!" Astrid ordered. "You have to land!" It was the second half of the second day. Toothless stubbornly persisted, snorting at her insistence for rest. Astrid unhitched herself from the saddle and climbed back to his tail. Hiccup had installed a switch there in case Toothless started being a pain. Astrid flipped it and took hold of the tail, controlling the dragon from there. He roared unhappily, batting his wings to keep going straight, but Astrid had all the control. She directed him to a collection of sea stacks, partially crash-landing on one of the taller ones. Astrid hurriedly disconnected the tail completely. Toothless screamed in temper, snapping at her and bouncing maddeningly in a circle, howling. "I know, I know, but it won't do any good for you to collapse in the middle of nowhere." Toothless snarled. "I'm sorry." Astrid said quietly, tears springing to her eyes. Toothless's pupils widened and his expression softened. He mewled, nudging her lightly and resting his head over her shoulder. Astrid hugged him. "We'll go again in a few hours." She promised. "We'll have some food, some sleep and go again, OK? We'll even fly through the night if we have to." Toothless grunted in agreement, patting her leg clumsily with his claws.
He fell asleep after eating, the tail of a fish still hanging from his mouth. Astrid extracted it carefully; for once, he was too tired to notice food was being taken from him. She finished her bread and honey, sipped some water and curled up against the dragon, a blanket draped around her shoulders. She observed the stars above her, seeking the constellations as she prayed to the gods under her breath. "Don't take Hiccup away." She pleaded. "You can't take Hiccup away, you just can't."
For those that haven't seen it yet, I posted a one-shot yesterday of a HTTYD book/movie crossover :D If you don't mind, please read! Apologies in advance if it's confusing!
