Chapter Eight: In Which Hair Comes in Handy
"Hey, guys?" said Fishlegs as he looked around. "Shouldn't Hiccup and Astrid be here by now?"
"They probably got lost or something," said Tuffnut. "Hiccup has a horrible sense of direction."
"Agreed, brother," said Ruffnut. "Last month while we were doing flight training, he told me to go left and I did, but then he said I was going right!"
"Because you were going right," said Snotlout with a roll of his eyes.
"I was not!" said Ruffnut. "Everyone knows that when someone says go left you go their left, and so I did."
"Hiccup meant your left, not his left," said Fishlegs.
Ruffnut scoffed. "Then he should've been more specific."
Fishlegs shook his head. "Anyway, back to our original topic, where are Hiccup and Astrid?"
"Why are you asking us?" said Snotlout. "We don't know either."
"Didn't they go that way?" asked Tuffnut and he pointed in the direction Hiccup and Astrid had gone.
"Yes they did," said Ruffnut.
"Okay, then! Let's go and look for them," said Fishlegs.
"Whoa, whoa, who said we'd go and look for them?" said Snotlout. "They told us to come here if we didn't find anything by nightfall. And it's night. Meaning we stay here."
"I think Snotlout is scared," Tuffnut whispered loudly.
"I'm not!" shouted Snotlout. "I'm just following directions and the directions were to come back here and stay here if we didn't find anything."
Ruffnut made chicken clucking sounds and Tuffnut laughed. Fishlegs couldn't help but snicker. Yes, even though Snotlout wouldn't admit it, he was scared.
"Shut. Up," he said threateningly.
"Okay, okay, geez," said Ruffnut. "But seriously, are we looking for Hiccup and Astrid or not?"
"Of course we are," said Fishlegs. "I mean, Snotlout doesn't have to since he's scared…"
"I'm not!" Snotlout shouted. "You know what? I'll go first to prove it to you."
Snotlout and Hookfang approached the rail that Hiccup and Astrid went down. It was dark and difficult to see, but the moon provided enough light for the dragon and rider to see a mysterious figure moving through the trees. Snoltout screamed girlishly when it lunged for him, but when the figure stepped into the moonlight, it revealed that it was just a small squirrel.
Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs burst into laughter.
"'Help! Help! Someone save me from this squirrel!'" said Tuffnut, making a ridiculous imitation of Snotlout.
Snotlout looked at the squirrel and then back at the other riders. "It had rabies!"
Fishlegs stopped laughing. "Actually it doesn't—"
Snotlout jabbed a finger in his direction. "Shut up, Fishface!"
Fishlegs shrugged and then turned to the twins. "Come on, you guys. Let's go and look for Hiccup and Astrid."
Tuffnut patted Snotlout's shoulder. "You know, if this is too overwhelming or scary for you, you can hold Ruffnut's hand."
Ruffnut stared at her brother. "What."
Snotlout's eyes brightened and he turned to Ruffnut and put on his charming look. "I'll keep you safe from rabid squirrels," he said. He extended his hand to her but Ruffnut batted it away.
"No thanks," said Ruffnut.
Tuffnut shrugged and then turned back to Snotlout. "Welp. You're gonna get eaten alive by rabid squirrels then."
Snotlout stiffened as Tuffnut and Ruffnut followed Fishlegs. He turned to Hookfang and said, "Well, at least I have you. You can protect me."
Hookfang blinked at him and ran off to follow the twins, Fishlegs, and their dragons. Snotlout sighed and squeaked when a bush rustled nearby. He shook his head and put on an audacious expression.
"Come at me, rabid squirrels," he said as he followed the others down the trail. "You'll regret messing with the Snotman."
…
Hiccup groaned. He opened his eyes and felt a stinging pain erupt from his leg. He shifted his leg away, and he felt a soft hand place on it.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," said Astrid. "I was trying to clean up the wound with this water I found."
"Oh," said Hiccup. "I guess you can continue, then."
Astrid nodded and poured the last bit of water on the leg wound and cleaned it up. She patched it back up with the remaining gauze she had and then said, "I'm guessing it's probably morning by now. The others are probably looking for us."
"Yeah, well, we're still stuck here and they're out there," said Hiccup. "We still need to bust out of this place."
Toothless crooned from his side and nuzzled his rider. Hiccup smiled and gave him a pat on the head. Then he added, "Do you still have the flowers?"
"Yep," said Astrid. She patted the brown satchel. "The flowers are all here."
Hiccup nodded. "Good." He shakily stood up on his prosthetic, not putting his wounded leg on the ground. Using the wall to steady himself, Hiccup hopped over to the closed entrance. The large boulders hadn't moved, and the viking was hoping to wake up and find them gone. So much for hoping.
"We can't blast them down since it would cause another rock slide," said Hiccup. Only a sliver of daylight made its way through a small crack. Hiccup peeked through it but couldn't see anything.
"What if we try to find another way out?" suggested Astrid.
"I don't think there is one," said Hiccup. "This cave is more like a tunnel. The only entrance and exit is right here," he pointed to the boulders that blocked the exit.
Astrid hacked at the boulder with her axe. Nothing more than a few pebbles and stones fell down. She sighed and leaned against the wall.
"How about we dig our way out?" she said.
"It could work," said Hiccup. "Just as long as we pull out the right rocks." He walked up to a stone and gestured for Toothless to help him. The Night Fury walked over and helped Hiccup push the rock out of the way. A few other rocks that were on top of it fell, and Toothless had to pull Hiccup out of the way before he got crushed again.
"That was close," said Hiccup. "But, hey! We got some of the rocks moved!"
Astrid pulled off another rock, and Hiccup did most of the pushing work with the help of Toothless and Stormfly. The four moved and pushed rocks out of the way, and more light began to break through.
"I think we can blast this," said Hiccup. "We've got most of the rocks cleared out now."
"Okay," said Astrid. She turned to Toothless and Stomrfly. "Give it all you got, guys."
Toothless and Stomfly nodded and aimed all their firepower toward the remaining boulders blocking the cave. They both fired and the rocks exploded out of existence. Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons ran out before the entrance got blocked again. Once they got out, new rocks and boulders from above fell down and closed off the cave.
"Yes! We made it!" Astrid cheered. She and Hiccup high-fived.
"Now we can get to the others and look for the next ingredient," said Hiccup. Astrid suddenly paled.
"Hiccup...did you get the flowers?" she asked tentatively. Hiccup's eyes widened. No. They didn't. They couldn't have left the sachtal in the cave.
"I...I thought you did…" he replied. Astrid sighed sadly.
"I didn't," she said. "I didn't get them."
…
"There they are!" shouted Ruffnut. The Dragon Riders ran up to Hiccup and Astrid with relief on their faces.
"Where were you guys?" asked Tuffnut.
"We got stuck in a cave while looking for the wrein flowers," said Astrid.
"Did you find them?" asked Fishlegs.
"Yeah…" said Hiccup. The Rider cheered but then noticed Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, and Stormfly's sad faces.
"I feel like a 'but' is going to be inserted here," said Snoltout.
"But...we left them in the cave," said Hiccup. The Riders blinked.
"What?!" shouted Snotlout.
"But can't we just blast the cave open?" asked Tuffnut.
"We could, but it's too dangerous," said Astrid. "The flowers would get crushed."
The Dragon Riders made their way back to the shore, hopes crushed. The flowers were back in the cave and there was no way of getting them back without them being destroyed.
"Is there a substitute? Like...a distant cousin or something?" asked Tuffnut.
"Why would a flower have a cousin?" asked Ruffnut.
Tuffnut shrugged. "Why not?"
Ruffnut tapped her chin. "Well, you do have a point there."
Hiccup shook his head. What were they going to do?
"I just remembered something!" cried Astrid. The Riders turned around, giving her their attention. Astrid walked up to Hiccup and pulled out five wrein flowers from his hair. Hiccup turned red and the other Rider laughed.
"So, Hiccup wears flower crowns now?" cackled Snotlout.
"N-no!" shouted Hiccup. "I didn't even put those there!" He whirled around to face Astrid who had an innocent look on her face.
Hiccup pointed an accusing finger at her. "Don't give me that face! I know you put those flowers in my hair!"
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," said Astrid with a smile. "Okay, fine. I did. But I was bored and they looked adorable on you. You never would have let me put them on you if you were awake, so I did it while you were sleeping like a normal person would."
"How is that normal? Putting stuff on people in their sleep?!" Hiccup burst out. "That is beyond normal! It's...it's creepy!"
Astrid shrugged. "Well, we got the flowers now." She shook them in her hand and smiled. "Thanks to your hair."
Hiccup facepalmed which only made the Riders laugh even harder. But Astrid was right. They did have the flowers now, but only five.
"Is five enough?" asked Hiccup.
"It depends on how many people are sick," said Fishlegs. "But I'm pretty sure it'll be enough."
Astrid ran her fingers through Hiccup's hair. "I didn't put any more flowers in here. Hopefully five will do."
Hiccup mounted Toothless and the other Riders mounted their dragons. They took to the air and Astrid flew Stormfly next to him.
"So, where to next?" asked the Hofferson girl.
"Next up is the black vine," said Hiccup. "And, luckily, I know exactly where we can find some."
Astrid smiled. "Lead the way, Dragon Boy."
Author's Note: Welp, the Dragon Riders got one of the ingredients in the strangest way possible (looking at you Astrid! XD) But they're making progress, so, yay! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203
