So ya, 'dis a new chappie. :) Not too bad of a cliffy thingy here, but it's still there, so...ya. Please don't chop me. Shout-outs:

midnightsky0612: Exactly. My thoughts exactly.

silverwolvesarecool: Glad you seem to be liking it so far! :D

xFaerieValkyriex: Cray-cray-er. Haha. :D

AnimeAngel: Lol! I don't watch Pokemon, but I still laughed. :)

HiccupHaddockIII: Hahaha! :D

Silver Electricity: Oh, thank you! *takes award* It gets WORRRRSSSEEE for poor Hiccup and his friends, too. :) *evil smile*

TheLastNightFury777: I've always wondered what it would be like if Hiccup went Post-Lightning-Snotlout on us. :D

Wanli8970: Haha, yep! :D So, I have a question: If Flara is trying to kill Hiccup, what would make her stop?

My head swam, my vision slowly coming into focus as I opened my eyes and squinted at the world around me with confusion. The blurry haze was a sorry excuse for sight; really, it was. My head pounded as if it were being bashed with a forge hammer (in which I speak, sadly, from experience).

When my vision finally returned, I found myself in a cave. That was weird. I tried to make a move to get up, and then ended up yelping and falling back sharply. I was quite certain at that point that if someone so much as touched me I would have screamed from the pain.

Only one question flashed through my head: What happened?

I closed my eyes against the pounding in my head. I could hear my heartbeat, pounding against my ears as if it were beating to the invisible tempo of a wardrum. My hands felt shaky, my breath labored and heavy.

"Is he awake?" I heard one voice that sounded like it belonged to Snotlout.

"I think...maybe," said the voice of Astrid. "Hiccup?"

"Fine…" I choked out. "M'fine."

"Uh-huh," said Astrid. "Yeah. Tell us that when you can keep your eyes open. What's up with you, Hiccup? You got a death wish, or something?"

Being the overly stubborn person I was, I forced my eyes open and stared right at her, almost daring her to say something otherwise. She and Snotlout were both sitting in front of me, looking a mix between worried and relieved.

"I'm fine," I said. My voice was still raspy and harsh, but it was easier to speak then it had been a few seconds ago. I winced as another wave of pounding pain pulsed through my head. "What happened?" I asked.

"The Skrill got you pretty good," said Snotlout. "It was cool."

"Snotlout!" said Astrid.

"But then of course I realized how serious it was, and then I was as worried as ever," Snotlout quickly added.

"That doesn't explain much," I admitted.

"You took a lightning bolt to the head," said Astrid. She paused. "Um...again."

"Yeah, again," I said. I winced as I recalled the first time, although that time had seemed so less painful. It had knocked me out first thing, so I didn't feel the pain, but for this time, I was conscious during the entire strike.

That must have been it.

But where were we now?

"Where are we?" I questioned.

"In a cave," said Astrid. I suddenly felt something nuzzle me, and I weakly placed my hand on Toothless' head in a reassuring manner, although I wasn't quite sure he bought it.

"What happened after the strike?" I asked.

"Stormfly lead the Skrill away," said Astrid. "We haven't seen either one of them since. Hookfang is right outside the cave, still unconscious, but otherwise unharmed, so as soon as he's conscious, we can get back to Berk. Toothless' prosthetic tail fin is fried, too, so no help there. You're too weak to do anything-"

"I'm fine," I insisted, but I was lying through my teeth. I was quite certain that if I stood, I wouldn't be able to remain doing so for more than a few seconds, and even if I somehow did manage to do that, a tiny shove would easily push me back down again.

"Uh-huh," said Astrid. "Right. You're fine, and I'm Chief of Berk."

I frowned at her, and she looked back at me, a satisfied grin flashing on her face. I make a move to get up, but only to get pushed down again by Astrid. I wasn't strong enough to fight her on a normal day, much less when I was feeling this weak.

"This is...really not fair," I mumbled.

"Sorry," said Astrid. "How do you feel? Honestly, Hiccup, no lies."

"Like I've been mauled over by a Night Fury and poisoned at the same time, but other than that, good," I said, and I was speaking truthfully. Astrid didn't seem convinced, but maybe it was just as well.

"So what are we going to do, Hiccup?" said Snotlout. "We're kind of stuck here, because we can't get Toothless back to Berk, and we can't trust Hookfang to go get help...and no one even knows where we are."

"I...I don't know," I admitted. I couldn't think clearly at that moment. Toothless couldn't fly, Hookfang was unconscious, Stormfly was gone, I could barely move, the Outcasts were who-knew-where, and there was a wild Skrill on the loose.

Perfect.

"For now," said Astrid, breaking me from my negative thoughts, "let's just...try and get some sleep. We'll figure it out in the morning, since it is quite obvious doing it right now won't do anything useful."

I nodded. One of the things I liked about Astrid was that she knew when to take charge, and she did so automatically when something was wrong with me. I appreciated it more than she realized.

Snotlout grumbled something under his breath and got to his feet. "Well," he said, "you two do that, I'm going to check on Hookfang."

Astrid and I watched until Snotlout walked out of the cave. Then, I turned back to Astrid.

"What's his problem again?" I asked, genuinely wondering.

"He's just mad," said Astrid. "It was technically his fault Hookfang crashed. He wasn't looking where he was going, and then you were struck by the lightning...he would never admit it, Hiccup, but he was terrified."

"Terrified, huh?" I asked. Astrid nodded. "Ooookay," I said. "That's a first."

"He cares about you, Hiccup, even though he doesn't act like it," said Astrid. "You know, Hiccup, we thought you were dead, when we saw that lightning hit you...the way you just stood there for a few seconds, and then collapsed...it terrified us both."

"I guess I do tend to do that a lot," I said. "Terrify you…"

"I'm not joking."

"I never said you were joking."

"Well, you don't seem to be taking it seriously."

"I am." I sighed and put my head in my hands. "Astrid, you know I am," I said. "I'm just still trying to think of a way to get back to Berk, and find the Skrill, before the Outcasts do."

"We can think about that tomorrow," said Astrid. "You should rest."

"Astrid, I'm fine," I lied.

"Yep," said Astrid, and shook her head. "I ain't buying it, Dragon Boy."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked.

She didn't offer an answer. "Go to sleep or something," she said.

"So demanding," I muttered, yet did as I was told.