SO, next chapter! Will Hiccup and Astrid get back in time to save Tuffnut? Find out here!

Thank you for all of your lovely reviews, they make me happy!

Ruffnut was woken a second time by a horrible noise coming from her lap. She came to her senses just in time to push her brother away before he vomited over the both of them. Instead, the mixture of bile and blood leaked out across the floor and snaked its way through the thin grass before soaking away with the rain. The sister leapt to her feet and made sure Tuffnut was lying comfortably on his side. With a jolt, she realised his eyes were open. He was awake.

His body convulsed as he coughed his throat clear weakly, beginning to shiver with cold, though his skin was still red-hot. Ruffnut tried to lay his jacket back over him, but it was sodden and cold, just like everything else, and didn't seem to help at all. Tuffnut blinked slowly, letting out a long, pained moan.

"Shh, it's okay..." His sister soothed as best she could, placing a hand on his burning brow. He looked up at her weakly, his eyes dull and lifeless, a film of blood coating his lips. He scowled as he caught sight of his sister's worried look.

"Ruff..." He croaked, trying to lift his hand. She placed her own over it, holding him still. "What's... what's happening...?"

Ruffnut gulped, looking away for a second to contemplate her answer. "Hiccup and Astrid are coming, Tuff. They're coming back for us. Just hang on..."

Hiccup came rushing out of his house, stumbling down the steps and splashing through the mud, his Night Fury at his heels. In the square, Astrid was knelt by Stormfly's head, stroking her softly and whispering quiet words as the Nadder lay on her side. She was exhausted. Hiccup frowned. Obviously, yet anther part of his plan had gone wrong.

"Hiccup, Stormfly can't fly any more..." Astrid whined, looking up at him with worried eyes, as though she thought that this might ruin everything.

"Leave her here. Toothless can carry us both."

"But Hiccup... won't he be as tired as she is when we get there?"

"No, Stormfly was flying straight into the wind the whole time. It's no wonder she's tired; it's not easy. No, Flying with the wind will use a lot less energy." Hiccup reached out, the Night Fury placing his nose in his rider's palm.

"Then what?" Hiccup didn't have a chance to answer as a figure came rushing across the square towards them. Snotlout had heard the disturbance and had come out to see what was going on. Internally, the Chief's son was grinning. Having an extra person on hand to help was just what he needed.

"Guys! What are you doing out here?" He cried out. Hookfang came scurrying behind him, nudging Stormfly in greeting as he came.

"Snotlout, I need you to go and get Gothi for me."

"Why? What's wrong? Is Stormfly sick?" He asked hurriedly. Hiccup glanced over at the dozing Nadder.

"No, but if you could put her to bed too, that would be really helpful." Taking Astrid's hand, he mounted Toothless and pulled her up behind him. The Night Fury spread his wings, ready to take off.

"Wait! Hiccup, what's going on?" Snotlout was considering all possible possibilities, but he couldn't find anything that would require this magnitude of hurrying and worry.

Hiccup knew that the more Gothi knew, the better. He locked eyes with Snotlout. "Tuffnut has eaten a poisonous berry. Gothi will have the cure, I'm sure. Tell her to bring every antidote she has. We're going to need everything we can get if we're going to stand a chance of saving him."

The horror on Snotlout's face was plain as Toothless shot into the air. However, he pushed it away again and took one of Stormfly's rain-soaked horns in his hand, giving it a dutiful tug and leading the Nadder back to her shelter, leaning beside her rider's house.

Out into the storm, they flew, Toothless catching and riding the strong gusts pushing them from behind like a ship riding waves. Hiccup looked out across the vast expanse of grey cloud and black ocean, his eyes as cold as the chilling wind. A mixture of emotions swirled around inside him. Worry, mostly for Tuffnut, but also for his sister, who wasn't known for coping well in anxious situations. In fact, he'd never seen her at all before in a situation like this.

He also felt the stressed anxiety that they were about to lose a valuable dragon rider and a friend. Without Tuffnut, Barf and Belch couldn't fly. That would leave Ruffnut also grounded, unless they could find some way of flying the Zippleback without two riders. Hiccup bit his lip thoughtfully, wanting not to have to think about it, but knowing he should, for the sake of everyone.

A gust caught Toothless off-guard and tossed him roughly forwards, jolting both riders back to their senses. The boy clung to his dragon's neck strap, Astrid holding on around his waist. He could feel her shivering against him, and realised that now, she'd been out in the storm for a good half an hour, twice as long as he had. That meant the twins, also, would be soaked through and freezing to death.

"How far away is this island now?" He asked, turning his head to talk to her.

"I don't know!" Her teeth were chattering quietly.

"Toothless! Take us below the clouds! We could have been blown off-course..."

As they dipped through the sky, Toothless gave a deep, thrumming roar, his ears standing up on end.

Barf and Belch's heads shot suddenly into the air, making Ruffnut jump. She looked at them in annoyance, but then followed their gaze, realising they had caught sight of something, Then, she heard it. A deep thrum, like a dragons roar. Barf and Belch replied almost immediately, standing up and lashing their long tails in excitement.

"What is it? Barf? Belch? Who is it?" Her heart was soaring. She jumped to her feet and strained her eyes as much as she dared against the cloud bank, picking out a tiny figure soaring towards her. Lifting her arms above her head, she waved, jumping up and screaming;

"Help! Help! Over here!"

Toothless came whizzing over her head a moment later, tuning into the rushing wind to land. Astrid was off his back in a second, Hiccup following a moment later, rushing over to her. The blonde went straight for Tuffnut, kneeling beside him and checking his pulse, while Hiccup jogged over and grabbed Ruffnut's freezing arms.

"Are you guys alright?" He asked hurriedly, gazing into her eyes. She smiled, so genuinely that it lit up her whole face, her body seeming to radiate with warmth, but it was quelled cruelly a moment later when Astrid grabbing Hiccup's arm and tugged.

"You've got to take Tuffnut back, right now. I don't think he's gonna make it..."

Dun dun dun! I hope you guys don't mind waiting for these chapters like this. I'm sorry for the long waits! In other news, I have a new story coming up called The Runaway which is quite exciting, but be warned, it will have much darker tones than this one, with much more injury.