It was an average morning in Berk. Aurora and her new boyfriend, Viggo along with the other teens were already at the Academy and ready for a day of training when Hiccup and Toothless arrived.
"You got them just for the Academy?" Hiccup asked in amazement. Since when did the Thorston Twins, who mostly fought over who got to keep what, do something so generous like purchase some décor for the Dragon Academy?
"Yeah, we got them from Trader Johann. We had to give him our great-grandfather's skull. We got to keep his clavicle." Tuffnut said with a hint of pride. "Clavicle…also known as kleis, which means 'key' or 'collarbone' in Greek…" Zenna read aloud from her scroll. "Wow…you've read half of that in just one morning?" Fishlegs asked upon noticing a pile of scroll paper on the ground.
That Hippocratic Corpus was a very, very long scroll.
Hiccup didn't really notice Zenna's deep fascination with the medical science and focused on the Twins. "Wow! You know, it's about time you guys started taking some pride in this place." Hiccup said in praise before Tuffnut suddenly yelled, "Duck!"
"What?" Hiccup only had a second to ask that before the male Thorston pulled him down as Barf and Belch. The Twins' Hideous Zippleback, launched a fireball at one of the statues!
Hiccup sighed. He should've known…
Astrid was eager to get Stormfly some target practice and signaled her Deadly Nadder to shoot some spines, which hit their mark. "That was AWESOME! I wanna take a shot!" Snotlout exclaimed excitedly and got on Hookfang shouting, "Fire!" At his Rider's command, Hookfang unleashed his flame!
Rosethron and Venom fired target in a combined fire attack and blasted it to smithereens. "Great work you two." Maria cooed.
Toothless and Stryka were eager to try this new game out and got ready. "Go for it, Stryka!" Zenna cheered, looking up from her scroll to watch.
But, instead of firing pinpoint accurate plasma blasts, Toothless and Stryka both sneezed and their blasts nearly fried Snotlout!
"Ahh!" the Jorgenson boy yelped as he dodged the blasts. "Oh, that's strange." Hiccup remarked. "No kidding…" Zenna murmured in agreement, rolling up her scroll. "Hey! Could you two have your dragons cover their mouths when they sneeze?" Snotlout demanded crossly.
"I'm sorry. But that's never happened before…" Hiccup apologized before looking at Toothless and Stryka, who both snorted and smiled sheepishly. "You think they're sick?" Zenna asked, a bit worried as she looked over the two Night Furies. When they saw that the dragon couple weren't sneezing again and looked pretty much okay, Hiccup and Zenna dismissed the incident as a little accident and left with Astrid and Stormfly for a flight around Berk.
While they were up in the air, Astrid noticed something that caught her attention. "Look at those flowers! They're beautiful." She gushed, seeing the flower bushes before Hiccup and Zenna did.
No sooner than Astrid had proclaimed it did the trouble with Toothless and Stryka begin. Both Night Furies then started to falter in mid-flight, startling their Riders!
"Whoa! Hey! What are you two doing?!" Astrid exclaimed when the two Night Furies nearly collided into her and Stormfly. "This isn't our doing, Astrid!" Zenna yelped as she frantically tried to calm Stryka down. "It's not me! Uh, okay, Toothless." Hiccup said nervously as his Night Fury's flight began to become unstable.
But no matter how hard Hiccup and Zenna tried, Toothless and Stryka were way too unfocused to stay airborne and they dropped out of the sky like stones!
"Brace for impact!" "WHHHOOOOOAAAA!" Zenna and Hiccup hollered as they crashed. Once the dust settled, the first thing they did was fuss over their dragons.
"Holy Shields! Stryka, sweetie, are you alright?!" Zenna asked worriedly as she gently stroked Stryka's scaly snout. Stryka warbled weakly, shaking her head. She and Toothless did not feel alright…
"Whew! Toothless, are you okay bud? Toothless?" Hiccup looked worried as he tried to get Toothless to respond. The poor male Night Fury grunted weakly. Both he and Stryka weren't feeling so good…
"Maybe he and Stryka have colds or something? Do dragons get colds?" he asked worriedly. "I'll try to see if I can come up with something. I'm gonna have to consult Gothi…" Zenna mumbled, helping Stryka to her feet.
"Whoa, look at that." Astrid pointed out, seeing a Terrible Terror who looked just as sick as Toothless and Stryka. "Well, whatever it is, looks like he's got it too." She said, gently picking the sick dragon up. "This isn't good…" Zenna murmured, getting scared. "Bring Stryka and Toothless to my house. I'll see if Gobber can help. If he can't, we'll consult Gothi." Hiccup told her gently.
"Okay, Hiccup…Come on, girl. Let's get you and Toothless back to the house for nap time." Zenna coaxed Stryka gently. The one-eyed female Night Fury and her beloved mate staggered to their feet and followed the one-eyed girl back to the Haddock house.
Gobber came as soon as he could, along with a remedy Hiccup and Zenna weren't so sure they wanted their dragons to try.
"This will fix them right up." The blacksmith proclaimed. "What is that?" Hiccup asked warily. "It's best not to ask. And whatever you do, don't touch it." Gobber replied, setting down a cauldron filled with vile-smelling green goop which Toothless and Stryka promptly sneezed all over and splashed Gobber with.
"Well, that's ruined. I'll never get that yak to vomit again." Gobber said disappointedly. "There was yak vomit in that sludge?" Zenna asked in horror. Hiccup was about to ask Gobber the same thing when Astrid burst in, looking really worried.
"Hiccup! Zenna! You two gotta see this!" the blonde shield maiden breathed out. Following Astrid outside, Hiccup and Zenna were shocked to see that Toothless and Stryka weren't the only ones feeling sick.
"Easy, easy! Whooaaa!" Snotlout hollered as Hookfang flew about in dizzy circles. "Help her, Hiccup and Zenna! She's sick! Whoa! And I'm about to be!" Fishlegs gulped, turning pale as Meatlug who was also having irregular flight patterns.
The Twins on their Zippleback streaked past, yelping as Barf and Belch took insane turns that they didn't usually do. Then, to Zenna's worry, Serpent and Serpentine were also flying an irregular flight pattern with her parents.
"Zen, they're not feeling well!" Henna shouted, trying to keep her half of the maroon Zippleback steady. "What's going on, love?!" Edgar hollered as he did his best to stay on the dragon. "Mom! Dad! I wish I knew! But for now, you have to bring Serpent and Serpentine home!" Zenna yelled up to them before looking at Hiccup, scared. Venom and Rosethorn flew up regularly and grabbed the sick Zippleback and placed them on the ground. Rosethorn came over to cooed at the Zippleback, worried.
"Hiccup, what do we do?" she whimpered. "It's spreading to all the dragons. How do we stop this?" Hiccup was just as scared as his best human friend and was desperate for help. Suddenly Gobber said, "Gothi! She'll know what to do!"
"Then I'm gonna go get her. Hiccup, stay with our dragons and keep them comfortable. I'll be right back." Zenna said hurriedly and took off running. And she didn't stop until she had reached the old elder's home. As usual, Gothi was happy to see the young Fiersome girl and had a pot of tea ready. But when she saw Zenna's terrified face, Gothi immediately took up her staff and followed her to the Haddock house.
"They've both come down with something, Gothi. Please help us." Zenna pleaded. Gothi nodded and knelt in front of the two sick Night Furies. She checked their eyes, looked into their mouths and did a full examination.
And while this was happening, Astrid and Fishlegs stood by Gobber and debated on something. "I've heard Gothi could tell you when you're gonna die, just by looking at your fingernails." Astrid piped up. Fishlegs' eyes widened and he quickly hid his hands behind his back.
"Ah, that's just an old wives tale." Gobber told the two and, noticing that Fishlegs had his tongue out, added, "She looks at your tongue." Making Fishlegs put his tongue back into his mouth.
Gothi had finished her diagnosis and was now writing her findings down in the sand. Zenna could have translated but was busy soothing Stryka so Gobber, who was the second best translator, had to interpret the runes the elder had scribbled.
"She says they're reacting to something, like they're allergic." He said. "Allergic? To what?" Hiccup asked worriedly. Gothi drew in the sand again. "To a moose wearing boots." Gobber read out loud.
Well that didn't make much sense to the four Dragon Riders in the room.
"Shouldn't be hard to find." Gobber remarked. Gothi scowled and whacked the blacksmith in the head. "Didn't think that was right." Gobber said sheepishly, looking at the runes again.
"Well, Gobber?" Zenna inquired, looking pretty worried as well. Finally Gobber got the message. "Ah, they're allergic to something new that's come to the island…But that still looks like a moose." He said, cringing slightly as Gothi whacked him again.
"Well, there are a lot of new things on the island. Trader Johann was just here." Astrid said. "Looking for the allergy causing agent's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. What do we do, Gothi?" Zenna asked her teacher.
When Gothi had finished drawing runes, Gobber translated them with a grim look on his face. "She says to get rid of everything, immediately. Otherwise it's just going to get worse. The dragons are going to get sicker."
At those words, Hiccup and Zenna worriedly hugged their dragons. Hiccup locked eyes with Zenna and knew that his best human friend was just as terrified as he was. Both of them hated to see their dragons in pain.
"Don't worry, Zen. We'll find a way to fix this…" he whispered. "I sure hope so, Hicc. I sure hope so…" Zenna whispered back.
It was a good thing both Hiccup and Zenna were quick thinkers. In no time, they had devised a solution: throw every new item the village had purchased from Trader Johann into a pit.
Vikings lined up with their newly acquired goods, some not really happy to do the act of sacrifice.
"I know this is hard, guys, but I promise you, you're doing a good thing. You're helping the dragons." Hiccup consoled the villagers along with Astrid. "It's the least we can do for them!" the tough Hofferson girl added as Snotlout went by with his mirror.
"Goodbye, beautiful!" the Jorgenson boy said, tossing the mirror into the pile. Fishlegs, meanwhile, was trying to maximize whatever time he had left with his Botany book to the best of his abilities. "What are you doing?! Throw it in!" Ruffnut demanded as she stood by him. "I'm sorry! But this Botany book is a real page-turner! I gotta know how it ends!" the chubby Viking insisted. Finally the female Thorston took matters into her own hands.
"No, Ruffnut!" Fishlegs howled as Ruffnut snatched the book out of his hands and threw it in.
Tuffnut, on the other hand, was assisting Zenna in putting her Hippocratic Corpus scroll in a chest. "What's so important about keeping this roll of paper in good condition?" the male Thorston asked. "Tuff, this scroll is more precious to me than gold, silver or jewels. It's my ticket to learning more advanced healing techniques that'll help benefit our village." Zenna stated, locking the chest for good measure. "You're studying to become a healer?" Tuffnut asked her, surprised. "Yes. But don't tell Hiccup." Zenna told him. "Why?" Tuffnut asked, wondering why the one-eyed Fiersome girl didn't want her surrogate brother to know about her dreams of becoming a healer. "Just don't, okay?" Zenna reminded flatly.
Not wanting to argue, Tuffnut shrugged and helped Zenna lower the chest into the pit. Meanwhile, Hiccup spotted Gobber in the crowd. Oddly enough, his mentor wasn't throwing anything in.
"I don't see you throwing anything into the pile, and I thought I saw you buy something from Trader Johann." He said to him. "He did. He bought silk!" Astrid informed her boyfriend.
"Like me…" Henna sighed sadly as she and Edgar threw the chest containing the silk and sword fighting and archery book they had purchased into the pit.
"Hand it over, Gobber." Hiccup requested politely. "Can't do that, Hiccup. It's, uh, currently in use." Gobber said sheepishly just as Zenna came over to the group. Then the old blacksmith leaned forward and whispered, "It's my skivvies. They're glorious!"
Zenna was confused, while Hiccup wasn't swayed.
"Fine." Gobber gave in and went behind a nearby boulder. Curious, Zenna followed…only to come running back with a look of horror on her face. No sooner had the Fiersome girl fled did a pair of bright pink silk underpants come floating down into the pit.
"I could have gone my whole life without seeing that." Hiccup said dryly before he and Astrid noticed that Zenna's face was as pale as a sheet. "You okay, Zen?" Astrid asked. Zenna shook her head.
"I have seen something…no man, woman, Viking or dragon…should ever see…" the one-eyed girl replied, shuddering.
It only took a moment for both Hiccup and Astrid to figure out what Zenna's cryptic reply meant. After putting two and two together, they both shuddered.
"We shall never speak of this." Zenna told them, her eye grave.
"Agreed." Hiccup and Zenna nodded emphatically before leaving to go care for their dragons. Zenna had managed to get Stryka up on her feet and led her home, where she could be with the family.
"Come, come, Serpentine…You need to eat." Henna said softly as she tried to give her part of her and her husband's Zippleback some cod. Serpentine growled irritably and curled up to sleep, wanting nothing more than that. "Oh, Edgar…Not even their favorite cod will rouse them…" Henna sighed worriedly.
Edgar frowned as he gently stroked Serpent's scaly head. Serpent blew out a weak puff of smoke before falling asleep as well. "We can only hope that whatever's ailing them has been buried, love. And that they'll regain their strength soon enough." He sighed.
Suddenly the sound of a plasma blast came from upstairs in the Fiersome house and the walls shook! Startled, Henna and Edgar raced up the stairs to their daughter's room to find Zenna frantically smothering out the flames on her bed while Stryka huddled in a corner, flopped down like a dead fish!
"Oh my Thor!" Henna gasped.
"I got this, Pouncer Dart!" The two Night Lights flew into the room and Pouncer flapped her wings while Dart kicked up some dust from the floor and the dust calmed the fire. Once the fire was put out, Zenna rushed to Stryka's side. The female Night Fury weakly warbled an apology.
"It's alright, Stryka…It was an accident…It's okay…" Zenna whispered soothingly. Stryka then placed her head on Zenna's lap and drifted off into a fitful sleep. That's when Zenna started to cry.
"Mom, Dad…I'm scared…What if she just gets worse…?" Zenna whimpered. Henna and Edgar went to their daughter's side to comfort her.
"She won't, my dear. Stryka's a strong dragoness. She'll pull through." Edgar told her gently.
"Stronger than all of Berk's finest shield maidens, love. Stryka is strong and will never let something like a silly cold bring her down." Henna chimed in. Zenna looked at her parents, took their words to heart, stifled her tears and nodded.
Looking down at Stryka, Zenna heaved a deep sigh and leaned down to kiss her best dragon friend's scaly head.
"I swear to all the gods and goddesses of Valhalla…that I'll do whatever it takes to get you healed, Stryka. I promise…" she whispered. And Stryka, hearing her Rider's promise even through her sickness, crooned softly.
Pouncer and Dart came to her side and cooed, nuzzling the sick Night Fury.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was busy trying to lift Toothless' spirits up. "Hey! How 'bout we go out flying? That'll make you feel better." He suggested to his best dragon friend. Toothless looked up from his rock slab bed with a slightly hopeful look on his face, that was then replaced with a grimace as he sneezed out a weak plasma blast! Hiccup ducked just in time to avoid it!
And it was a small mercy that the blast didn't destroy the wall…
Astrid, on the other hand, had prepared Stormfly's rooftop bed the best she could. But the proud Deadly Nadder of the brave Hofferson maiden still looked unwell.
"Poor girl. Can't get comfortable, huh? I know what'll help! I'll—" Astrid managed to say before Stormfly accidentally shot out some of her spikes!
Ducking, Astrid watched as the spines missed her by mere inches and impaled themselves on the wall. Stormfly squawked an apology. She didn't really want that to happen. The stupid sickness made her do that!
"It's okay, Stormfly. I'm a soldier. I've been shot at before." Astrid reassured her. But, nonetheless, Astrid was still worried and hoped with all her heart that her dragon would get well soon…
Fishlegs was back at his house, telling Meatlug a little story to cheer her up while massaging her hind paws.
"Once upon a time, there was a little princess named Meatlug, the most beautiful dragon in all of the land! People would come from miles around—" the Ingerman boy said with gusto before…
Meatlug unleashed a blast unlike any other.
Fishlegs tried to be strong. "No, no, it's okay, girl. It's not that bad. Smells just like rose petals and—" he managed to say before the stench overpowered him and made him pass out!
A dragon's gas…effective both in making fire and in making stink…
"We got rid of everything from Trader Johann, but our dragons still aren't getting better, they're getting worse!" Fishlegs squeaked nervously to the rest of the group.
It was the next day when the Dragon Riders saw that nothing had changed in the condition of all the dragons. Hiccup and Zenna had then decided to gather all the members of the Berk Dragon Academy for a meeting to discuss the situation, which they feared was getting worse.
"Stryka and Serpent and Serpentine were eating a bit this morning at breakfast. But they didn't really recover enough strength to even stand, let alone fly. I'm beginning to think that our old plan didn't really work." Zenna said to Hiccup.
"Let's-let's make a list. Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann but hasn't thrown it into the pit." Hiccup said, thinking hard. "Yeah…There must have been somebody who didn't want to give what they bought." Astrid nodded in agreement.
Snotlout then stepped up, looking really pissed off. "If I found out who was holding back, I am gonna be so mad! Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls!" he exclaimed, really needing to let off steam. "Yeah? Well, ours is dead!" Tuffnut piped up.
Astrid gasped in horror while Zenna looked at the still Hideous Zippleback standing between Tuffnut and Ruffnut in shock. Luckily Tuffnut was just messing around and said, "Just kidding. But, he's not really that fun anymore." Ruffnut frowned sadly. "He just sits there. He won't blow anything up!" she complained.
Hiccup was about to say something when he heard the definitive roar of a Thunderdrum, followed by his father's gruff voice.
"Hiccup! Put this in the Book of Dragons! Never fly on a stomach full of under-cooked mutton. The Shivering Shores will never be the same." Stoick announced as he made his way down the hill, his face looking a bit green. But once he saw the ill dragons and the teens' worried faces, Stoick quickly forgot his stomach troubles.
"What is it, Hiccup? What's wrong?" Stoick asked in concern. "It's the dragons, Dad. They're uh…" Hiccup said before Astrid joined in with, "They're sick! And getting worse."
"Every dragon?" Stoick asked Zenna. "I'm afraid so, Chief." The Fiersome girl answered. Later that night, Stoick had invited the Fiersomes and their dragons over for rest. Serpent and Serpentine were outside with Thornado while Stryka and Toothless stayed together.
Toothless warbled weakly and draped a limp wing over his beloved mate, Stryka crooning softly in gratitude and licking the male Night Fury's cheek.
"Poor guys. What do you two think happened?" Stoick asked Hiccup and Zenna. "Ugh, Zenna and I don't know! Gothi says they're allergic to something new to the island, but we think we've gotten rid of everything." Hiccup said helplessly. "It still didn't work. If anything, the dragons are getting sicker." Zenna agreed, worried.
"But, if the dragons aren't getting better…" Stoick began to say. "Then something must still be here that's making them sick." Hiccup finished for him.
"What it is, we do not know." Henna pointed out. "And whoever didn't throw their goods into the pit, we do not know as well." Edgar added.
Suddenly, a loud noise similar to a dragon's call came from outside!
"Skullcrusher?" Stoick wondered out loud, recognizing his Rumblehorn's roar. Quickly the Haddocks and Fiersomes rushed outside. Serpent and Serpentine hissed in distress while Skullcrusher sneezed out a fireball.
"Sneezing! That's the first symptom." Hiccup said grimly. "He was fine until we got back!" Stoick exclaimed. "Well, he's not well now." Zenna stated.
"If this keeps up, who knows what!" Edgar groaned, frustrated.
"There's got to be a way to solve this problem." Henna sighed as she petted her and her husband's Zippleback.
"Um, we should retrace our steps." Hiccup suggested.
"I'll get the others. We can cover more ground that way." Zenna offered before running off. Pretty soon, Zenna had rallied all the other members of the Berk Dragon Academy to join the investigation.
"Well, this is where I landed." Stoick stated, gesturing to the area where he and his dragon had landed earlier that morning. The teens along with Zenna's parents quickly got to searching. "Okay, look around for anything unusual." Hiccup instructed them. "Does that count?" Fishlegs piped up, pointing to the Twins.
Both Thorston siblings were crouching on their hands and knees as well as head butting each other like goats in a brawl! "I'm seeing stars!" Ruffnut exclaimed. "No way! Me too!" Tuffnut said giddily.
"Nope, that's just the Thorston Twins being themselves." Zenna said dryly. "Hmm…Nothing unusual here." Astrid remarked in agreement before she spotted a couple of Terrors sniffing at one of the flower bushes she had seen earlier in the day. Much like their own dragons, the wild dragons were looking pretty sick as they sniffed at the bush.
"What is it?" the Hofferson girl wondered out loud, inspecting the bush.
The flowers weren't like any flower grown on Berk. They were sort of tropical looking. Blue petals with a white center. The Riders soon gathered around them, wondering if they had something to do with the current situation.
"Uh, does anybody remember seeing these flowers before?" Hiccup asked, holding one up. "They were here when I got back." Stoick told his son as Fishlegs got one flower and examined it.
"It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander." He said thoughtfully. "Blue Oleander?" Zenna asked, tilting her head.
Aurora then gasped in horror, "Aurora, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked.
"Blue Oleander is poisonous to dragons!" Viggo stated to Hiccup as he suddenly appeared.
"POISONOUS!" Zenna and Hiccup exclaimed in horror.
"Yes, though I've never seen it with my other dragons. I usually see two of my Scauldron friends eating it." Aurora explained.
"Of course, a plant can't be buried in a pit. If it is, it just grows!" Edgar shook his head.
"And who knows how many of these Blue Oleanders have been planted? It could take days to get them all off the island!" Henna said worriedly.
"This is serious." Hiccup added.
"Wait.. if these flowers and poisonous to dragons... how come none of Aurora's dragons aren't as sick as ours?!" Snotlout exclaimed in anger.
"Hey, Snotlout's right. They seemed perfectly fine." Zenna said. "All of them."
"Hmm.. Something must be protecting them from the flowers' affects. But what?" Hiccup asked.
"Well I gave them all a vaccine for the flower just in case some would grow in the Sanctuary a while ago and I give it them every few months or so." Aurora recalled.
"That vaccine must be why your dragons aren't sick, Aurora That's why they aren't sick." Zenna concluded.
"I don't understand, where did these flowers even come from?" Astrid asked. "They couldn't have just sprouted from seeds overnight. Someone must have gotten plants that were ready to bloom from Trader Johann when he stopped by. But, who?" Zenna wondered out loud.
"Mildew. I saw him plant them the other night." Tuffnut suddenly said, much to everyone's surprise.
"He what?" Zenna asked sharply. "And you didn't think that was strange?" Astrid asked the male Thorston unhappily.
"No. Well, maybe. I don't know! Quit pressuring me!" Tuffnut complained.
Stoick then turned to his son. "Let's go pay the old man a visit." He said grimly.
"A grand idea, Stoick! I'll go get my sword…" Edgar began to leave before Henna grabbed his arm.
"No weapons, love…no matter how much we want to make that old coot pay for all this." She muttered.
"Does that mean I gotta hand these over?" Zenna asked innocently, holding up her sticks to her mother. "No, keep them. Your father and I both know how precious they are to you." Henna said gently. Zenna smiled a bit before joining her family in accompanying the Haddocks to Mildew's house along with Astrid.
Needless to say, Mildew was surprised at his visitors. And when the alleged accusation had been made, he was even more shocked.
"Well, so what if I planted some flowers? The town square has never looked better. I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness." The old man explained.
"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" Astrid asked suspiciously.
"All you care about, Mildew, is the opposite of all of that." Zenna added.
"You did this!" Hiccup accused. "What? Me?! Ha!" Mildew laughed. "Was there anything humorous in what the lad said, Mildew?" Edgar asked, narrowing his eyes. "Have some respect to the Chief's son, you disrespectful old man." Henna said scoldingly.
Mildew rolled his eyes at the couple before looking at Stoick. "Well, I had no inkling, Stoick that these flowers had special properties. Oh, it's true, I'm not friend of the dragons, but in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them." He said with mock honesty.
Seeing that there was no sense arguing with a denying old man, Stoick sighed, "Let's go." Reluctantly, the small group left.
But if Hiccup and Zenna had been a little slower in leaving, they both would have heard Mildew sneer to Fungus…
"Ah. The poor, poor dragons."
Yep, Mildew had officially gone from sneaky old coot, to no-good conniving weasel old coot.
When they had returned to the Haddock house, Hiccup, Zenna and Astrid were relieved to see Fishlegs running towards them with his Botany book as well as the Book of Dragons.
"Fishlegs! You found your Botany book!" "Wh-What does it say?" Hiccup and Astrid both said. But Fishlegs was looking pretty nerve-wracked. The poor Ingerman boy looked like he was about to burst into tears!
"Calm down! Talk to me." Hiccup said, trying to ease his friend's worries. "My Botany book says that Blue Oleander is poisonous to reptiles! And dragons are reptiles!" Fishlegs whimpered. "We know that! Was there anything else?" Hiccup asked.
Fishlegs then opened up the Book of Dragons. "Not in here. But I remembered the Book of Dragons talked about a dragon that feeds on the Blue Oleander. It's called the Scauldron." He said, flipping the pages to the Tidal Class section where the Scauldron page was listed in.
"In a perfect world, if it eats the flowers, maybe its venom can be used as an antidote, like with snakes and spiders. But alas, we do not live in a perfect world." Fishlegs said gravely, showing them the Scauldron page that had a note written below the drawing of the great sea dragon.
"Look! The Scauldron has no venom!" Fishlegs told them.
"Yes they do, Fishlegs." Aurora stated. "How'd you think I made Scauldron anti-venom?"
"Aurora, do you have anymore of your vaccine?" Hiccup asked. "Maybe we can use the rest of that for our dragons."
"I have some but its not enough for all of them. I need to get more." Aurora stated boldly.
"Alright…You guys stay here and take care of the dragons." Hiccup instructed Astrid and the rest before looking at Zenna, who nodded in agreement to his yet to be proposed plan.
"What are you two going to do?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "We're going fishing, Legs." Zenna replied. "Dad? Gobber? Mr. and Mrs. Fiersome? Let's go find ourselves a Scauldron!" Hiccup said, turning to the adults.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Gobber said, excited to set sail.
"Edgar and I will be right back. We'll gather the rest of the crew." Henna said with a devious look on her face that slightly worried Zenna. 'What could Mom and Dad be up to?' the one-eyed girl mused as her parents swiftly left. But right now, she and Hiccup had to prepare for the trip.
"Look at that thing…" Hiccup said in amazement, gazing at the Scauldron drawing.
"Wonder what facing that behemoth will be like…" Zenna murmured in agreement.
Suddenly Toothless and Stryka warbled at them weakly, bringing their Riders back to attention.
"You and Stryka just hang on, bud. Zenna and I'll be back before you know it." Hiccup patted Toothless gently on his head. "Stay strong, you two. We promise that everything's going to be alright." Zenna said softly, stroking Stryka's head. Both Night Furies crooned, trusting their Riders.
Meanwhile, Henna and Edgar were with Stoick and their dragons. "Here you go, Serpent. This'll keep out the chill." Edgar murmured, putting a wool blanket on Serpent's neck and Henna did the same with Serpentine.
"How's my dragon warrior?" Stoick asked Thornado. The mighty Thunderdrum snorted weakly. Stoick then brought a rock underneath his dragon's chin to help make him feel more comfortable.
Looking at his sick dragon, Stoick sighed. "I spent my whole life trying to kill them. Now look at me." He said, noticing the Fiersomes give him an understanding look. "We've all been there, Chief." Henna told him.
"It's amazing how quickly things changed…all because of our children." Edgar smiled, hoping to lift Stoick's spirits up even just a little.
Stoick was about to say that he agreed when he heard the door open. Hiccup and Zenna stepped out, faces set in hard determination. "Dad, it's time. The boat's ready." Hiccup said.
"We better set sail, Chief. Some of the fishermen said that they might have a lead on the Scauldron's whereabouts." Zenna chimed in.
What Hiccup and Zenna hadn't expected to see was Mildew on deck along with baskets full of Blue Oleander. "Your parents did a pretty good job convincing him to dig up all those flowers and join the crew." Gobber winked at Zenna, who merely stared at her parents in surprise. Henna and Edgar just laughed upon seeing their daughter's shocked look. Viggo came along too for some extra muscle.
Mildew, meanwhile, muttered and complained the whole time as the ship left the docks. As soon as they were all out in the open sea, he began to complain louder.
"Well, this is an outrage! I dug up all the flowers! I did my part!" Mildew complained. "Not every bit of it yet you haven't!" Henna and Edgar both told him.
"We're all out here because of you, Mildew. If we all have to put our lives at risk, then so do you!" Stoick gruffly informed the old man.
"You have no proof, Stoick! You can't blame me every time something goes amiss with your precious dragons." Mildew huffed as he stomped off to some other part of the ship. "That guy seriously needs to take calming exercises…" Zenna mumbled to Hiccup who whispered back, "Or better yet, move to another island. We'd have a break and he won't have to worry about us. It's win-win."
Several roars were heard from above and Venom and Maria's other dragons were there trailing behind the gang.
"Alright, Stoick. What's the plan?" Gobber asked, bringing the two back to focus. Stoick went to Hiccup and Zenna. Hiccup held a bucket in his hands and Zenna stood straight as the Chief instructed them.
"Hiccup, Zenna, when Gobber, Edgar, Henna and I secure the Scauldron's head, Sven will wedge its jaws open. We'll need you two to—" Stoick managed to say before Hiccup piped up with, "Drain the poison into this bucket. Got it." Zenna then added, "Then we sail back to Berk and administer the antidote to all of the dragons."
"Good leadership skills, those two have." "Fine leaders they'll make." Edgar and Henna both remarked, even some of the other men onboard nodding in agreement.
"Let's get started." Hiccup told everyone, getting into focus mode along with Zenna. Getting a basket of Blue Oleander, Hiccup brought it close to the edge of the deck. "This is what Scauldrons eat. It'll draw them to the boat." He said, scattering the blossoms into the water. Zenna did the same thing as well. But not before looking at the flowers and smiling a bit. "Kind of reminds me of orchids…" she mumbled.
But of course, Zenna knew that these flowers weren't allowed on Berk and decided to let her fascination with them go. In her opinion, orchids and tulips were much prettier than Blue Oleander anyway.
A couple of hours later…
Not a single Scauldron in sight.
"Bah! This is not working! It was a stupid idea to begin with!" Mildew said crossly. Hiccup and Zenna both glared and made a move to give him a piece of their minds when Stoick stopped them.
"Easy, you two, that's not why we're here." Stoick chided them. "But that is." Gobber pointed out, he and Zenna's parents spotting an ominous blue-green shape swimming in the water surrounding their boat.
"Scauldron!" Stoick said warily. "Look at that…" Edgar murmured in awe. "That's a pretty massive sea dragon there…" Henna mumbled nervously.
The Scauldron then poked its head out of the water, showing off its razor sharp teeth that struck fear into everyone's heart.
"I may need to change my skivvies again." Gobber gulped. "Please don't…" Zenna quietly prayed, already freaked out over seeing the 'thing that shall not be named' yesterday.
"We need to lure the Scauldron on deck!" Hiccup shouted, scattering one basket of the Blue Oleander flowers onto the deck floor.
"Oh, that's great. Get it on the ship where it can have at us all!" Mildew exclaimed, thinking that Stoick's little runt was officially the most idiotic boy in the whole island of Berk.
"Gobber! Henna! Secure its neck with this! Edgar and I'll lasso his horn!" Stoick yelled, tossing a rope to Gobber and Henna while he and Edgar took position. But no sooner had they done so, the Scauldron immediately went back into the water.
"It's gone under!" Henna alerted the crew. Everyone was silent as they waited for the Scauldron to resurface. "Where did it go?" Gobber wondered out loud. "Has it left?" Edgar was worried as well.
Suddenly one of the men on the ship got his oar stolen! A plume of water not far from the ship was now headed straight for it!
"It's coming back!" Zenna yelled. "HANG ON EVERYBODY!" Gobber shouted, just as the Scauldron rammed into the boat and began climbing onto the deck to eat the scattered Blue Oleander!
Everyone screamed as the ship began to tilt upward, sending people and things sliding down in the Scauldron's direction.
"HICCUP!" "ZENNA!" Stoick, Edgar and Henna screamed as they saw their children sliding down the deck. Hiccup and Zenna were both screaming, afraid that they were going to be the Scauldron's next meal! Aurora jumped towards them and swung her shield, smacking the Scauldron in the face, making it screech in anger. Aurora grabbed the shield back.
"Gobber! Henna! Edgar! Here's our chance!" Stoick yelled as he and the three other adults slid down the ship. By then, the Scauldron had decided to slip back into the water. Luckily, the adults grabbed the ropes they had used to lasso the Scauldron and played a mighty game of tug-of-war!
"We can't let the dragon get back into the water!" Stoick told his companions.
"He's a strong one!" Gobber exclaimed.
"We'll have to be stronger!" Henna cried.
"Don't even think about it, you slippery reptile!" Edgar grunted. But the Scauldron also put up a good fight.
"Oh please, let an expert do this!" Aurora stated before she snatched the lassos from the adults hands. The Scauldron hissed and yanked it head up, taking Aurora with it! "Aurora!" Hiccup gasped.
"YEEE-HAAWWW!" she cried with joy as she landed on the Scauldron's head, "Come on! I've dealt with Slitherwings more terrifying that you, buster!" Aurora challenged, yanking on the lasso's around the Scauldron. The Scauldron roared and tried to shake her off but Aurora wasn't giving up.
"Oh no you don't!" The dragon roared before it decided to dive into the water, "Aurora!" Zenna gasped.
A moment of silence passed before the two resurfaced and Aurora came swinging around and she yanked, getting the Scauldron on the boat and wedged its jaws between the mast then swinging around she tied the lassos securely so it couldn't get away. "That's how you get a Scauldron people!" she exclaimed hyped with adrenaline.
The Scauldron tried to get away but it hissed in displeasure, "Now now you.. we just need your venom and I'm not gonna ask you again, so you will give us your venom so we all can leave you can go back and hunting prey alright?!" Aurora snapped at the Scauldron who looked at her in shock before blinking twice.
Viggo chuckled while everyone else was frozen in shock. "That's my girl..."
Later back at Berk, Toothless and Stryka warbled in protest but let Hiccup and Zenna give them the antidote Aurora made from the Scauldron posion. For the two of them, Zenna added a little dollop of fish oil to make the taste more tolerable. "Rest now, you two." Zenna whispered, stroking their heads.
Then Hiccup and Zenna went outside to check on their parents and their dragons. Edgar and Henna sat next to Serpent and Serpentine, worriedly stroking their heads while Stoick knelt next to Skullcrusher.
"They'll be okay, Mom and Dad." "Relax, Dad. It's gonna be fine." Zenna and Hiccup reassured them, going back inside.
A few minutes later, Stoick, Henna and Edgar saw their children emerge with Toothless and Stryka. "Dad! They're coming around!" Hiccup exclaimed happily. "They're getting better!" Zenna said giddily.
That's when Skullcrusher and Serpent and Serpentine recovered and roared in celebration. They were okay!
"Ha-ha! Skullcrusher!" Stoick laughed heartily, butting his head against his dragon's affectionately. "Serpent! You and Serpentine gave us quite a scare!" "Thank Odin you're both well once again!" Edgar and Henna laughed, hugging their dragon's two heads.
"How you feeling, bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless. To answer his Rider's question, Toothless fired out a strong plasma blast. "Good to have you back, bud." Hiccup smiled. Stryka then trilled happily and fired a plasma blast into the sky as well. "It's so good to see you back on your feet, my brave dragoness." Zenna smiled.
Throughout the night, the dragons recovered and were soon happily flying about in the night sky and shooting fireballs in celebration of their recovery. The plague of Blue Oleander was no more, and everything on Berk was once again alright.
'A deadly flower, a venomous sea dragon, and Aurora's lassoning skills. Three things Hiccup and I never really thought we'd have to deal with on the same day. But we'll do anything for our dragons…'
The next morning, Hiccup had just finished completing his ink drawing when Toothless looked up from his rock slab bed and crooned to Hiccup. Looking outside his window, Hiccup saw his friends out flying on their dragons. Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, Hiccup and Toothless took to the skies.
The seven Dragon Riders whooped and hollered with delight, glad to have their dragons all healthy and flying again.