Chapter Three: Floral Bait
Dawn arrived faster than Hiccup wanted it to. The young viking woke up to Toothless licking him once again. He groaned and wiped off the dragon slobber and glared at the Night Fury who had a rather pleased look on his face.
"If you keep waking me up like that, you won't be getting anymore haddock fish," said Hiccup with a deadpan expression. Toothless frowned and Hiccup smirked at him. He tied on his prosthetic and slid out of bed. The Night Fury waited patiently as Hiccup put on his saddle and tailfin. Hiccup did some last minute packing by putting in two extra tailfins, a spare prosthetic, and a notebook. He and Toothless walked down the stairs to find Stoick sitting at the table.
"Morning, Hiccup," Stoick greeted him. "You're up early, again."
"Yeah, but this time it was intentional," said Hiccup. "How are things at the Great Hall?"
Stoick shook his head. "Not good. Eight more people came in with the illness. There's not enough healers on Berk to tend to all of them at once, but they're doing what they can."
Hiccup sighed. He wished things could have just gone back to normal overnight, but that was Berk. Trouble never disappeared into thin air.
"So," said Stoick as he stood up and walked to a cabinet, fishing out two plates. "Mind telling me why you're up so early?"
Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "Well...the other Riders and I were doing some research and we found a few things that might help with the spread."
"Like what?" asked Stoick.
"Like the cure," said Hiccup.
Stoick dropped the plate he was holding. "Really?"
Hiccup laughed nervously. "Well, not exactly, but we have a lead. We're leaving to see if we can find it and bring it back before things get out of control."
Stoick walked over to Hiccup. "And you're just leaving without telling me?"
"I'm telling you now," pointed out Hiccup. "And we'll only be gone for at least three days depending on where the cure is. Hopefully we find it in record time."
"But what if you get sick while looking for it?" asked Stoick. "It would be impossible to get help."
"But impossible also is 'I'm—"
"Don't even try the 'I'm possible' joke, Hiccup," said Stoick in a serious tone. Hiccup clamped his mouth shut. "It's too dangerous."
"We've been through a lot of dangerous stuff already," Hiccup said. "We defeated the Dragon Hunters, you're back on your feet, and the King of Dragons is safe. I had a bounty put on my head, fell out of the air thousands of times, and to top it off, got punched in the face. We've risked our lives more times than I can count," Hiccup stepped forward, a determined expression on his face. "So risking my health to find the cure to something that may be fatal is a risk that I'm willing to take as long as it saves the people I care about."
Toothless nodded in agreement as if he had a say too. Stoick looked at the two of them, their green eyes waiting for an answer. Finally, Stoick sighed.
"You can go," he said. Hiccup and Toothless exchanged smiles.
"But on one condition," added Stoick. "If any of you begin to feel unwell, come back to Berk immediately."
Hiccup nodded. "I'll tell the others the same."
Stoick laid a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Be careful out there."
"I will," said Hiccup. And he and Toothless walked out the door into the daylight.
…
"I said this before and I'll say it again...NO."
"But come on, Astrid!" whined Tuffnut. "It's completely safe!"
"Yeah! We tested it out and everything!" said Ruffnut.
Astrid pointed her axe at the two of them. "I'm not going to be a test subject for whatever you two are giving me. Besides, I'm not even sick!"
"I say otherwise!" cried Snotlout from a corner, curled up into a ball. "You sneezed into your elbow three times. THREE! And then you coughed!"
"What did I just walk into?" asked Hiccup. He and Toothless had just arrived and were very confused by the scene that was playing in front of them.
"Astrid is one of them! She's...an infected!"
"Oh for the love of Thor, I'm not sick!" shouted Astrid. She turned to Hiccup. "I sneezed because of the stupid pepper in Ruffnut's pocked at coughed because I had something in my throat!" She jabbed her axe at Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut. "Now they think I'm sick!"
"Guys, she already told you," said Hiccup. "Astrid isn't sick."
Tuffnut frowned. "So you don't want this?" He held up the bowl that contained a grey liquid. It had black dots in it and Hiccup would have very much thrown up at the sight of it if he hadn't decided to eat breakfast once they left.
Astrid, however, gagged. "No I do not want it and never will want it. Ever."
Tuffnut shrugged. "Suit yourself."
"I'm here! I'm here!" shouted Fishlegs from the door as he and Meatlug ran in. "Sorry I'm late. I was up late doing some extra research and I have a good idea on where we should start looking."
"That's great, Fishlegs!" said Hiccup with a smile. "Then we should get going. To your dragons, everyone!"
The Dragon Riders mounted their dragons, but before Astrid mounted hers, Hiccup stopped her.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" asked Hiccup.
Astrid rolled her eyes, but a small smile crawled onto her face. "I'm fine, Hiccup. No need to worry about me."
Hiccup nodded. He hopped onto Toothless and Fishlegs handed him the map he had drawn out the previous night.
"Let's head out!" shouted Hiccup. And the Riders took to the air.
…
The weather was pleasant making it easier for the Riders to fly through the skies. Hiccup hoped that Thor wouldn't send a storm and make their mission harder.
Hiccup looked at the map in his hands and looked straight ahead. They were going in the correct direction, and an island began to come into view.
"I think this is our first stop!" shouted Hiccup over the rushing winds. He and Toothless were the first to land on the beach followed by the rest of the Riders. Hiccup slid off of his dragon, giving Toothless a pat and the Night Fury warbled in response.
"So, what exactly are we looking for here?" asked Astrid. "Because this place looks like a totally normal island to me."
"Well, according to the book I read about herbs, there's a plant here that may cure the illness that's going through Berk," Fishlegs said. "I didn't have a picture, but it had a description."
"Okay, what does it look like?" asked Hiccup.
"It's bright pink," said Fishlegs. "The steam is a dark green and it has little white specks all over the petals. I think it's called a 'Hedendra.'"
"Everyone spread out," said Hiccup. "We'll cover more ground that way. Meet back here if you find anything."
The Riders nodded and spread out and Hiccup and Toothless went into the forest area of the island. It was beautiful with vines hanging from the trees and the leaves were a luscious green. Hiccup found it odd that it still looked and felt like summer on the island when it was still winter. The two eventually came to a clearing that had a patch of flowers laying in the center.
"Hey, Bud! Look!" said Hiccup happily. "We'll be able to find the Hedendra in no time!"
Toothless crooned happily and sniffed at the flowers. Hiccup began to look through them to see if they could find the flower Fishlegs had described. There were many flowers in multiple colors. Pink, red, orange, and blue, but none of them filled the description that Fishlegs had given.
Hiccup and Toothless were about to give up when Stormfly's dragon signal flashed in the air. Thinking that something was wrong with Astrid, Hiccup jumped onto Toothless and quickly flew toward the direction the fire had come from. Hiccup and Toothless landed quickly and rushed to where Astrid was crouched over.
"Astrid? Astrid, are you okay?" Hiccup asked quickly.
Astrid turned around, a smile on her face. "I found it!" She held up the flower in her hand.
Hiccup laughed. "Oh! Oh, that's great!"
Astrid nodded. "I know, right? And it was sitting in plain sight!"
The other Dragon Riders landed behind them and jumped off their dragons and landed on the ground. When Fishlegs saw the flower Astrid was holding, he gasped.
"You found it already?" he asked in disbelief.
Astrid nodded. "Yep! Now all we have to do is get back to Berk and give this to Gothi."
The Riders were so busy cheering that they didn't notice that the atmosphere grew quiet. The forest went still and the soft wind that had been blowing earlier suddenly stopped. Dark figures moved through the forest surrounding the Riders and five of them aimed at the dragons and made their shots. Five darts shot out from the bushes and whistled through the air, hitting their targets. The dragons fell down, unconscious.
"What's happening?" asked Snotlout.
"Sleeping darts!" shouted Hiccup as he saw the familiar red tassel protruding from Toothless' leg. He looked around wildly and saw what looked like former dragon hunters step out from the shadows.
"Capture them!" shouted one. Hiccup drew out inferno and the fire quickly licked at the metal. Astrid drew out her axe and the other Riders drew out the weapons they had brought and they all stood in defensive positions.
"Look strange, scary guy," said Hiccup. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but we're not here to cause any trouble."
"Well, we'll cause it for you, then," said one of the men threateningly. The rest of his men erupted from the bushes and encircled the Riders until they were all back to back.
"I think we just got busted," whispered Tuffnut.
"We're outnumbered," said Astrid. She looked at Hiccup. "We'll have to turn ourselves in, Hiccup. We'll get defeated anyway and we'll end up hurting ourselves." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "We'll find a way out."
"How do you know?" asked Hiccup.
"Because," said Astrid, her eyes narrowed. "I know who their leader is."
