Hi friends, I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

I'd really appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism on this fic as it's my first. Any guesses as to what's wrong with Astrid?

Hiccup led the riders to a cave on the side of a mountain. "Assuming the people can't fly, we're safe from them here for now. And there are no trees so the Flame Whipper can't reach us."

"Quick question," Said Snotlout. "What's a Flame Whipper?"

"Stoker class dragon, lives in forests. It shoots tornados of fire."

"Awesome!" Yelled Tuff. Everyone looked at him. "Not awesome?"

"Not awesome." Said Heather. "Hiccup, how are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know. Snotlout, what were the people in the village like?"

Snotlout opened his mouth but Ruffnut interjected before he could reply. "What, so you ask Snotlout but not us? The Twinvestigators detect favouritism."

Hiccup sighed. "Fine, Ruff. What did you notice?"

"Oh, we didn't notice anything." Said Tuff. "We were too busy admiring all the ginormous scorch marks on their buildings. It was pretty cool, we might take that approach with our hut at the Edge."

"You two never disappoint, do you?" Said Snotlout with a chuckle.

"Actually," Hiccup placed his hand on his chin, "They might be on to something."

"We are?" Said Ruff.

Hiccup paced back and forth. "It sounds like their homes have been destroyed by the Flame Whipper. Snotlout, you said they don't like dragons. Was it definitely the dragons?"

"Well, I assume so." Said Tuffnut. "I mean, they were screaming about flying demons and trying to stab Belch with pitchforks."

"Excellent!" Said Hiccup.

"It's official!" Snotlout waved his hands in the air. "Hiccup has officially lost his mind! Don't worry, the Snot will get us out of this one!"

Hiccup laughed. "Nope, not gone crazy yet. If we can train the Flame Whipper so it doesn't terrorise those people anymore, maybe they'll trust us."

"It could work." Said Heather.

"Thoughts, Astrid?" Hiccup turned to his girlfriend, who had been unusually quiet.

"Yeah, good plan."

"Okay," Hiccup drew another map in the soil. "Snotlout, you and Heather will lore the Flame Whipper towards this stream. Astrid, you'll be positioned here; twins, here. Your job is to stop the Flame Whipper reaching the village if it makes a run for it."

"What are you going to do, Mr. Future Chief Of Berk." Ruff put her hands on her hips.

"I'm going to stand by the stream and train the dragon. According to the Dragon Eye, Flame Whippers are most comfortable around water."

The plan seemed to be working. Hiccup could see Heather and Snotlout flying towards him. The trees below them were shaking, presumably from the weight of the Flame Whipper. It burst out of the forest and stared at Hiccup. The dragon didn't look frightened. It padded slowly over to the stream and began to drink. Hiccup watched its rippling skin and noticed it was much thinner than it should have been. The poor animal was starving. Hiccup pulled a piece of chicken from his satchel and slowly approached the Flame Whipper. "Hey, little one. You hungry?" The dragon eyed him suspiciously, then came forward and took the meat from Hiccup's hand. He reached out to touch the Flame Whipper, who, to Hiccup's surprise, purred happily. When Hiccup held his hand out, the dragon bowed his head almost instantly, then flopped down onto his side. Hiccup laughed and tickled the Flame Whipper's belly.

The other riders came out of their hiding places. "Wow," Said Tuffnut, "This is disappointing. It usually involves more fire and biting and imminent danger."

"I know," Said Hiccup. "This dragon isn't wild; it's been trained before. It doesn't know how to hunt, that's why it's starving. It's looking to the villagers for food."

"Who trained it?" Asked Heather.

"No idea, that's something we need to figure out. I'm going to go and meet the people who live on this island. Stay here with the dragons. You too, Bud." He added as Toothless moved to follow him.

When Hiccup arrived at the village, he discovered that Tuff was right. Most of the buildings were destroyed. There was a large brightly coloured tent on a scorched patch of land that must have once been the village green. Hiccup approached cautiously. Voices came from inside the tent. Hiccup decided eavesdropping wouldn't be a good start for an alliance, so he called out.

Boots stomped across gravel and the opening to the tent was pulled back. A man not much older than Hiccup, dressed in an electric blue tunic and with a dark sash across his chest, stood in the doorway. "Who are you?"

"Hiccup Haddock; heir to the throne of Berk."

The man laughed. "Come to obliterate us with your dragons?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Hiccup by the arm and hauled him inside. "Hey! Listen up!" The room fell silent. "The future chief of Berk has graced us with his presence."

Hiccup looked around. The tent was full of people of all ages, some lying on dirty mattresses on the floor, others sitting on tables or leaning against tent poles. They were all staring at him. A middle-aged woman in a torn dress stood, her eyes shining, "You've come to help us!" She addressed the other occupants of the tent, "I told you all he'd come!"

A man laughed. "Ingrid, get your head out of the clouds. The Berkians hate us. He's probably the one who set that dragon on us in the first place."

Hiccup didn't inform the people in front of him that the Berkians weren't even aware they existed. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Yes, I am here to free you from the Flame Whipper."

"So that's what it's called." Someone behind him muttered.

"I have trained the dragon." Said Hiccup simply. "I will remove it from your island, take it back to my base."

Ingrid began to clap, and slowly others joined her. An elderly man shouted, "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"I'll show you." Hiccup lead them out of the tent and set off a signal flare with his shield. Within minutes, the other riders emerged from the forest. The Flame Whipper bounded over to Hiccup, licking his face like a puppy. Hiccup laughed, and turned back to the people. "He was just hungry." Some of the villagers had approached the other riders and were eyeing the dragons warily. To Hiccup's delight, one of the children reached out to pet Meatlug.

The man in the blue tunic appeared at Hiccup's side. "Thank you." He said gruffly, and held out his hand. "Ragnar."

"Ragnar, are you leader of these people?"

"No," Said Ragnar. "Kinter is chief of the Wanderers."

"May I speak with him?" The Flame Whipper bumped its head into Hiccup's hand and he scratched its chin.

"He is away on business for a moon cycle. I am charged with protecting my people in his absence."

"I can help you there." Said Hiccup. "I came here to speak with you about an alliance."

"I cannot make decisions alone. Come back in seven moons, after I have consulted the Wanderers."

Hiccup nodded. "Can you tell me what support you'd need from an alliance so I can think about how we can best work together?"

Ragnar almost snarled. "I share no information before discussing with my people."

Hiccup held up his hands defensively. "Okay, okay. We will leave you in peace, and I look forward to our discussion upon my return." Ragnar nodded, and Hiccup lead the Flame Whipper over to the other dragon riders. "Let's go." Wordlessly, they mounted their dragons and rose into the air. The Wanderers gazed open mouthed.

"We have a potential alliance." Said Hiccup. "We need to go to Defenders of the Wing Island."

"Shouldn't we scout the docks?" Said Snotlout.

"This is more important. I promised I'd tell Mala immediately about any new allegiances, plus we need to get the Flame Whipper out of here."

It was a long flight to Defenders of the Wing Island, made slower by the Flame Whipper being carried between Barf, Belch and Windshear. They bumped into Fishlegs en route, who said he'd fill them in on what he'd discovered back at the Edge. The conversation then turned to an argument about the rules of Maces and Talons, which everyone joined in with. Except Astrid. Hiccup flew next to her, "You okay?"

"Fine." She called back without looking at him. Hiccup wasn't sure what else he could do. They were flying over a large, uninhabited island when Astrid suddenly circled downwards. Hiccup followed her.

"What?" Yelled Snotlout, "Why are we stopping?" Hiccup felt worry twist in his chest. He had a very good idea why they were stopping. As soon as they landed, Astrid slipped off Stormfly's back and doubled over with her hands on her knees. Oh Thor.

Hiccup was beside her in an instant. She didn't look up at him, but gasped out, "I'm gonna hurl."

"I can see that, Astrid." Said Hiccup, not unkindly. He gently pulled her hair back and rubbed vigorously between her shoulder blades.

Behind him, he could hear Snotlout laughing. Heather spoke. "Come on guys, she doesn't need an audience for this."

Hiccup made soft hushing noises as Astrid dry retched repeatedly. "Oh honey." Astrid's next heave was more productive. Hiccup tried not to listen to the sound. She stopped gagging, and Hiccup whispered, "Done?" She gave a small nod, then began walking towards the other riders. Hiccup went with her, his hand still on her back. She didn't push him away.

"Oh My Thor!" Yelled Snotlout.

"It's not funny." Sighed Hiccup.

"Astrid just barfed on Hiccup!" Snotlout seemed almost gleeful. Astrid wrapped her arms around her stomach. Hiccup looked down at his trousers, which were slightly splattered.

"Woah!" Said Tuff.

"What?" Astrid snapped.

"It's just you must really be ill. You're not attempting to kill Snotlout with your axe."

Heather touched Astrid's arm. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

Hiccup tried not to let his frustration show. "You're obviously not fine, Babe." The words slipped out before he could stop them. He'd never called her Babe in front of their friends before.

Snotlout doubled up in hysterics. "Ha! He called you Babe!"

"Why can't he call me Babe? I'm his girlfriend."

"Yeah, his girlfriend who just puked all over him."

Astrid groaned.

"It's fine, it'll wash out. Let's get you home." Said Hiccup.

"I'm fine now, and you can stop rubbing my back. We need to get to Defenders of the Wing Island."

Hiccup reluctantly let his hand drop away but turned her to face him. "Astrid you're not fine."

"Yes, I am. Why aren't you listening to me, Hiccup?"

"Because you lied to me this morning." Hiccup spoke clearly, and Astrid didn't meet his eyes.

"Ooh! What'd she lie about?" Yelled Ruffnut. "The Twinvestigators are on the case."

Tuff shoved his face close to Astrid's. "What did you say to one young Mr. Haddock?"

Astrid pushed him away. "I was fine this morning, and I'm fine now."

"I should have made you stay at the Edge."

"What?!" Squealed Fishlegs. "You thought she felt ill and you still let her come on the mission?!"

"...Yes." Said Hiccup.

Snotlout rolled his eyes, "Wow, Hiccup jeopardises the whole trip by bringing his barfing princess along for the ride. By Odín, isn't that great!"

"Look, we're wasting time arguing," Said Astrid. "I'm fine, let's go."

"Astrid, you said you were fine last night, and now you've been sick again."

"Wait," Fishlegs whispered in horror, "She actually vomited and you still let her come? What if she's infected the Wanderers? This could jeopardise the whole alliance."

"I'm not contagious."

"How do you know? Are you a doctor?" Said Ruffnut.

"I was reacting to the chillies."

Heather rested her hand on Astrid's arm. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, not your fault."

"Erm guys," Said Tuffnut. He was poking Astrid's mess with a stick. "I'm not seeing any chillies in here."

"Oh Odin's ghost." Astrid muttered into her hand.

"Tuff, stop that." Yelled Hiccup, touching Astrid's shoulder.

Tuff ignored him, "You know, it mainly looks like mashed up toast. And that burning stuff that lives in our stomachs. I thought Ruff was-"

Astrid gagged into her fist. Snotlout stepped away from her. "Tuff! Stop it! Or I swear to Loki I'll make you wash the puke out of my clothes!"

"Oh sorry," Tuff walked back over. "I get a bit carried away. It's all part of being a Twinvestigator. You know, part of my true inbuilt nature? You wouldn't understand, you aren't in touch with your inner beings."

"He has got a point though." Hiccup said to Astrid. "I think you brought up everything last night. I don't think it can be the chillies."

Astrid climbed onto Stormfly's back and looked Hiccup in the eye. "It's the chillies." She said firmly.