Chapter Nine: Black Vines and Twenty Coins

Black Vine was an extremely common plant, which was why Hiccup was so surprised to find that the island the vine usually inhabited was completely barren of it. He and the Riders had arrived on good time, and followed Hiccup to the forest where the vines grew. There were no black, dark vines hanging from deep brown oaks like usual, and the young viking found this confounding.

"So we came all this way for a bunch of empty trees?" said Snotlout. "Wow. Good job, Hiccup."

"No, no, they're supposed to be here," said Hiccup. "I remember coming here for some a while back. There were lots of vines here."

"Maybe someone took them all?" suggested Fishlegs.

"But that's impossible," Hiccup said. "I was getting them because my dad was trying to make this fancy stew."

Astrid gagged. "Oh, I remember that stew."

Hiccup nodded. "This is why I do most of the cooking. Anyway, I only took three. The only other uses for black fine are for cure remedies, an ingredient for food, and if fed to dragons—"

"It makes them go crazy," said Tuffnut.

Hiccup blinked. "Well, yeah, Tuff. How did you know?"

"Because our dragons are going insane!" shouted Ruffnut. Behind them, the dragons were rolling around on the ground, snarling at whatever they saw.

"Everybody stand back!" directed Hiccup. The Riders stepped a good distance away from the dragons while they were trying to get the vine out of their system.

"Are they going to be okay?" asked Astrid.

"Yes, it will wear off once they get tired," said Hiccup.

"Okay, admit it. Who fed the dragons the Black Vine?" asked Tuffnut.

"None of us did," said Astrid. "They must have eaten some while our backs were turned."

Eventually, the dragons calmed down and went back to their original state. Astrid scratched Stormfly comfortingly and then turned to the others. "So, what do we do now?"

"We search the rest of the island," said Hiccup. "There has to be some Balck Vine around here somewhere."

The Dragon Riders left to search for the black plant but found none. It was as if a whole village of vikings came through and took them all. The Riders met back up at a tree and watched as the dragons played around.

"There's nothing here," said Snotlout.

"Then we're just going to have to find a place that does have Black Vine growing on it," said Hiccup. He whistled to Toothless and the Night Fury came bounding over. "We better get to it."

The Riders nodded and then took to the skies once again. If they had looked back, they would have noticed a dark, scaly figure slinking its way through the shadows. Another figure stepped next to it, and a sinister smile spread across his face.

"They'll never find the last ingredient," he said. He patted the dragon that stood next to him and the dragon growled malevolently.

"I spy with my little eye something that is..hmm...white!" said Tuffnut.

"Something white?" repeated Ruffnut. "That's obvious. The clouds!"

"Nope!" Tuffnut said.

"Oh, I know! The wrein flower petals in Hiccup's hair!" shouted Ruffnut.

"Ding, ding, ding!" said Tuffnut. Ruffnut pumped her fist but Hiccup sighed from the front.

"That's the fifth time you guys had made the I spy object the flower petals my hair," said Hiccup.

"I mean, it's the only interesting thing around here that's worth spying," said Tuffnut. He and Ruffnut giggled. Hiccup rolled his eyes and then turned to Astrid, a frown on his face.

"Sorry!" she mouthed, but Hiccup could see the laughter in her ocean blue eyes.

Hiccup shook his head pointed straight ahead. "There's another island over there. Let's land and see if we can find any Black Vine."

The Riders nodded and landed on the island that Hiccup had pointed to. It was mostly rocks, but there were still areas where plant life could be located.

"This is actually a great spot for Black Vine to grow," said Fishlegs. "There's a bunch of things around here that it can wrap itself around."

"Then let's get looking," Hiccup said. "Split up and dragon call if you find anything."

The Dragon Riders nodded and went their separate directions. After thirty minutes of searching, Hiccup's night Fury call rang throughout the island. The Dragon Riders rushed toward the sound and found Hiccup holding a handful of Black Vines.

"Where were they?" asked Astrid.

"In this ditch," said Hiccup. He examined the vines in his hand. "They look uprooted too. These might have been the vines from the other island."

"But how did they get here?" asked Fishlegs.

"Something or someone moved them," Hiccup replied.

"It was probably a ghost," Tuffnut said.

"Are you serious right now?" asked Astrid with an irritated look.

"Anything is possible," said Ruffnut. "Besides, it is 'I'm possible,' anyway. We didn't see anyone or anything, so a ghost is the only logicalical explanation"

"It's 'logical,'" corrected Fishlegs.

"That's what I said," said Ruffnut.

"Let's just collect the rest of the vine and look for the next ingredient," said Hiccup. The Dragon Riders collected the amount of Black Vine needed for the cure remedy and stuffed the black plant next to the wrein flowers in her saddlebag.

"Huh, this was easier than I thought it would be," said Astird.

"A little too easy," said Hiccup. He looked around but everything seemed perfectly normal and peaceful.

"Please don't tell me you're wishing for something to happen," said Snotlout.

"No, no, I'm not," said Hiccup. "It's just that after the fake flower thing with Savage, I just thought that finding the rest of the ingredients would be even more difficult."

"Well, we're making good time," said Astrid. "We should have to rest of the ingredients in a few days and then we can bring them back to Berk and give the cure to the sick people."

Hiccup shrugged. "Then I guess we should leave," he said. "We have other ingredients to get."

"What's next?" asked Fishlegs.

"The yellow berries," said Hiccup. "I have no idea where they grow."

Astrid pulled out the paper from her saddlebag and read it over. "It doesn't give any information on where they grow here either."

"Then we'll just have to go off of what we have," Hiccup said. He pulled out one of his many sketchbooks and began flipping through it.

"I know I sketched one once a long time ago," he mumbled. He eventually came to the page he was looking for and showed it to the others. The berry was very unique. The leaves sprouted in different sizes and shapes, and, ironically, wasn't even yellow. It was bright red.

"Whoever named this berry must have been color blind," said Snotlout.

"Actually, the inside is yellow," said Hiccup. "The outside is red."

"Do you remember where you sketched it?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup tapped his chin. "Well, it was when Trader Johan came to Berk—-"

"Hush, Hiccup," said Tuffnut. "We do not speak of that name here."

"Traitor," said Ruffnut. "After everything we did for him!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Anyway. I remember him saying that he got them from a market somewhere. The island it's located on is far up north since the berry usually grows in cold climates."

"That will take us a while to fly there," said Astrid. She turned to Fishlegs. "Do you know if there's anywhere else we can find this berry?"

Fishlegs shook his head. "Sadly, I don't. Going north is our best shot."

"If we leave now, we can probably get there in good time," said Astrid as she mounted her dragon. "Let's go!"

And the Dragon Riders mounted their dragons and shot into the sky headed toward north.

...

After a few hours of flying, the temperature dropped. It wasn't an unbearable cold but still cold nonetheless. It had begun to snow and Hiccup could see his breath. A cold wind blew, making him shiver.

"Why didn't we come with the proper gear for this?" asked Snotlout.

"Because we weren't expecting to go so far up north!" shouted Astrid over the wind.

"We can get some coats once we land, hopefully," said Hiccup. "I see somewhere we can land up ahead!"

The dragons landed on the snow below. The Rider slipped off their dragons and looked around.

"How do these people even live here?" asked Tuffnut.

"They find a way to get by," said Hiccup. He pointed up toward a hill that led up to two large doors. "That must be their Great Hall."

"And over there is the market!" Astrid said with relief. "Come on, let's go buy some coats!"

The Riders walked over and bought fur coats of their choosing. When Hiccup slipped on his brown one, warmth immediately returned to the viking and he could help but smile with satisfaction. He turned to the others who seemed just as happy to have something to sustain their warmth.

"Now let's go and find that yellow berry," said Hiccup. The Dragon Riders weaved their way with their dragons following behind them. Some people stared in awe at the sight of dragons following the Riders obediently.

"I guess they haven't had many dragons up here," said Hiccup.

"That's too bad," said Astrid. "Dragons are amazing."

"Super amazing," Hiccup said. The group eventually walked up to a stand that had various fruits lined up in baskets. They were covered in snow but Hiccup could still make out the bright red of yellow berries from underneath a pile.

"I think I found the berries," said Hiccup. The Riders walked up to the stand and Astrid picked up a berry. She handed it to Fishlegs since he was more of an expert on plants.

"Yep, these are the ones," he said.

"We'll take a handful," Hiccup told the standkeeper.

"What do you have to trade," the standkeeper asked.

"We have some coins," said Astrid,

"Nope," the shopkeeper said.

Tuffnut blinked, bemused. "This is the first time I've seen somebody reject money."

"It's money! Take it!" said Ruffnut. "You don't get an offer like this everyday!"

The shopkeeper shook his head. "You see...these berries are extremely rare." There was something in his tone that told Hiccup that he was lying. "So you're going to have to pay extra."

"Extra? Extra? Do you know how far we came for these things?" said Snotlout.

"Do you know how far I went to get these things?" retorted the stand keeper.

Hiccup frowned. "Fine. We'll pay extra. How much?"

"Twenty coins," the stand keeper said.

Astrid stared at the stand keeper incredulously. "Twenty coins? Are you insane?"

"Nope," said the stand keeper. "Twenty coins. That's the deal."

"We only have ten," said Fishlegs.

"Then no berries for you," said the stand keeper. He tipped his viking helmet and turned to another customer.

"What a bastard," seethed Astrid as they walked away from the stand. "Making us pay extra for a handful of tiny berries."

"I say we sue him," said Tuffnut.

"For once I actually agree with you," said Astrid. She drew out her axe. "What are we gonna take away?"

Hiccup stepped in front of her. "Whoa, whoa! We're not taking money or any of his limbs away from him! We'll just have to get ten more coins, that's all."

"But we don't have time to do that, Hiccup," said Fishlegs. "We need those berries now."

Hiccup sighed. "I know, but what else can we do? Steal them?"

Astrid, the twins, and Snotlout looked at each other. Mischief gleamed in their eyes.

"Oh Thor, what did I put into their heads," mumbled Hiccup.

"Hiccy, Hiccy, Hiccy," Tuffnut said slowly as he stepped toward the Haddock. "This is why you're the leader!" He tapped his shoulder. "You have the best ideas even though you don't mean to!"

"Uh...I thought it was because I'm your friend and you'd probably be exiled from Berk if I didn't convince my dad to excuse you everytime you blow something up," said Hiccup.

"That too," said Ruffnut. She rubbed her hands together. "So, what's the plan?"

"We're gonna steal the berries," said Astrid.

"We can't steal!" said Hiccup a little too loudly. A few heads turned toward the young vikings direction and Hiccup could feel his face turn red.

"Shhh!" said Ruffnut. "Everyone, huddle up."

The Dragon Rider got into a huddle. Astrid looked around and then said, "Okay, here's what we're going to do…"

"We're actually doing this even if I say not to, right?" asked Hiccup.

"I don't want to," said Fishelgs. "But I know I'm going to be forced to."

Hiccup sighed. "Okay...what's the plan, Astrid?"

Astrid smiled. "First, we're gonna need a distraction…"


Author's Note: I wonder what Astrid has up her sleeve...

Until the next chapter!

-BeyondTheMoon1203