Sorry for taking so long, I've been a bit busy and so was my beta, Ladipretender. Thanks for sending me the edited version as fast as you could!

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Previously, Hiccup and the Strike Tribe fought bravely against the Berserkers. The wild dragons joined them and they finally won the battle. Unfortunately, though, the conflict had consequences, with Hiccup getting so injured that he collapsed on the ground.

Chapter 15

Whatever it Takes

Camicazi saw Hiccup collapse and quickly flew in his direction, jumping off of Shimmer when she was close enough. She turned him over so his face would be up, seeing the bloody gash on his abdomen and that his breathing was shallow. She started applying pressure to keep the red fluid inside, looking around to call for help, luckily, she found Sten and Eret nearby.

"Sten, go get the healer and take her to Hiccup's! Eret, help me get him home!" her voice was concerned and almost desperate.

Sten jumped on his dragon, Calder, and flew away seeking her while Eret called Windwalker and ran to Camicazi and Hiccup's side. He got the wounded man and hopped on his dragon, that was quickly airborne even before Stoick could get there.

Camicazi wanted to fly Shimmer there, but out of sympathy, she turned to look at Toothless and touched his snout. His expression was so sad and concerned it broke her heart.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine."

"But where is he?" Stoick asked, confused.

"He was taken to his house. Toothless will lead the way. Go on, Bud. Show him where Hiccup is. I'll meet you there."

The dragon nodded slowly and walked quickly, being followed by Stoick and the other Hooligans. Most of them were still thrilled about flying for the first time. The twins were almost too busy jumping from excitement at the sight of the Zipplebacks' explosion to notice the commotion for the injured. Snotlout was feeling like the king of the world sitting on a Nightmare, even if he hadn't liked the idea of mounting a dragon just moments ago. Fishlegs was still awestruck, not believing what he had done or just how gentle and sweet a Gronckle could be.

Astrid, however, was a different story. She had seen just how injured Hiccup was and that hadn't been her first flight, though she still felt the thrill of being airborne on a dragon. She saw Stoick following the Night Fury Hiccup was on and trailed after them to a small cozy house in the 'upper level'.

She landed in front of the wooden house that both Toothless and Stoick were entering. From where she was, Astrid could see both apart of the bed with Hiccup on it and another woman, whom she guessed was some kind of healer, inside. The woman told them all to go away so she could work, Stoick and Toothless reluctantly walked away before she closed the door; inside, only the healer, Hiccup and Heather, who was training to be one too, remained.

Camicazi was worried, finding it difficult to concentrate and think about anything else, but she needed to be strong and put the village during order in Hiccup's momentary absence. She sighed deeply and turned to Sten.

"You're hurt too, can you take care of yourself?"

"No problem, it's just some scratches."

"Great, go patch yourself up and then help the others. And if you find people that are fine, ask them to help the injured."

"Okay, ma'am" He responded and went away his Snafflefang.

"Hall, if you aren't hurt, I want you to fly around the island, help the ones in need, count how many injured there are and if there are any deaths, human or dragon. Come and tell me whenever you can, just remember that the priority is to assist them, you can report later."

"Right, I'll do my best." He announced before departing.

She sighed and started petting Toothless, who was laying on the floor, anxiously looking at the door of his house. She was doing it to try calm Toothless, and herself, down. Camicazi didn't notice Astrid looking at her and the black dragon with angry eyes. Astrid didn't know this herself, but the truth was that she was jealous of Cami and the interaction she had with Hiccup.

Stoick was pacing from side to side and Gobber tried to calm him down, but he knew it was impossible, after all, he had just discovered his son had been alive for the past five years. It seemed like an eternity until the door finally opened.

The healer, Ingrid, walked out with Heather and the girl nodded before leaving, as a healer's apprentice, she was going to see if anyone else needed medical assistance. Everyone turned expectantly to Ingrid who certainly did her best at patching him up.

"The good news is that, although his wound is wide, it's not as deep as it looks and it won't kill him. But, it's not just that…"

"What do you mean?" Cami asked.

"The bad news is that there's a small cut on his left arm that seems a little infected."

"Small cut? That's nothing to worry about. He can get over it. Right?" Gobber said, shrugging. By then, there was only Stoick, Gobber, Camicazi, Astrid, Eret and the dragons, including, obviously, Toothless around the house. Bork arrived at that moment, hearing part of the conversation.

"It's not that simple. I think the wound is infected with Scauldron's poison."

"It could really be, he was with one right before the attack…" Bork said. He knew that because Hiccup told him he was going to check the Scauldron.

"If there's really venom in his system, he won't be able to survive. The cut is very small and thin, but his body is already tremendously weakened because of the gash on his abdomen. If it was just one or the other, he'd be alright, but his body can't fight both…"

"So you're saying my son will just die? There's nothing we can do?"

"Not exactly. If we treat one, the other will heal itself."

"That's not a problem," Camicazi assured, approaching Shimmer. "All we have to do is give him the antidote. I can go to 'Flower Island' and be back in no time."

"I didn't know there was antidote for Scauldron's poison," Gobber pointed out, more in wonder to himself.

"We found out recently." Bork explained.

"Cami, you can't go." Eret said, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean I can't go? Are you insane? We have the answer to our problems just a 20 minute flight away and you say I can't go? What's wrong with you, Eret?"

"Cami, think about it! We're not safe, yet. The Berserkers headed north and that's where the antidote is. You're a good fighter, but you won't be able to win by yourself. Our best warriors are probably hurt now, and I can't go because if their plan is to come back or something, I'll be the one who will have to lead. Not only because I have the most experience in battles but also because I'm better with defensive tactics than you. You know I can replace him better in the defense and you in the attack tactics. I can't let you take that risk."

"Don't be stupid, Eret! They won't come around again, not so soon! And I'll be fine, Shimmer and Stormcloud will be with me!"

"You can't be sure they won't come back. Dagur is insane, you know that! And we don't know if he has more men just waiting for his next order to come. And you know that you can't fight all of the Berserkers that left!"

"But I can't stay here and do nothing! I have to go!"

"I won't let you!"

"Why, you stupid!?"

"Because I can't lose you!" Eret blurted out. "I love you, damn it!"

"What?" She asked, confused and doubtful, the anger now faded away from her voice.

"Exactly what you heard. I'm in love with you and I won't let you go. We'll have to find someone else to do it. Maybe a big group." He said. Camicazi wanted to say something and continue the discussion, but she had no chance to do so.

"A big group might be easier to spot," Bork rationalized. "Maybe it'll be better for a small one to go. It's soon going to get darker and maybe just one or two volunteers with their dragons will be enough, right?"

"I don't think we have time to wait for nightfall… Someone has to go as soon as possible. We don't have time for a discussion. He gets weaker with every minute that." Ingrid informed them sadly. "We don't have time to form a group, someone needs to go now or it's safer not to even bother to go."

While the group was debating, Stoick slowly and silently walked to the slightly open door of Hiccup's house and saw his son lying, unconscious, on the bed. He was covered by a blanked but Stoick could see that Hiccup was shirtless, probably because it would be easier for the healer to take care of his wound and search for other possible scrapes. He could send the Hooligan teens, but sending the twins and Snotlout for something so important wasn't a good idea, though only Fishlegs and Astrid going could be dangerous too.

"Even so, if the dragon and the person are very stealthy, they might go without being noticed if the Berserkers are there."

"But the stealthiest dragons are Shimmer and Toothless." Camicazi finally managed to say, still a little mad at him and surprised at his declaration at the same time. She crossed her arms. "Apparently, I can't go, though."

"I can," Stoick said, his voice was deep and serious, but not loud.

"I'm sorry, sir, but sailing will take too long." Bork informed him.

"I'll ride a dragon, then. Just tell me what I have to bring back." He turned to where Toothless was lying near the house. "You can take me there, right, Beast? I mean, dragon." He corrected himself out of habit, trying to talk to him, even though it was hard for Stoick to believe dragons could understand him, he saw everyone talking to them as if they could, so he tried to do the same. He didn't get the reaction he expected. Instead of jumping in agreement, the dragon just crooned sadly, like a whine and turned his head the other way. "What is that, dragon? I thought Hiccup is your friend, why don't you want to help me save him?" His voice was angry.

"Stop that! You're hurting him!" Camicazi yelled and everyone's attention turned to her. "He can't go. Toothless can only fly if someone is riding him. Look at his tail, there's a prosthetic. That's because he lost his real fin, but the only one who knows how to operate it is Hiccup. Without him, Toothless is grounded. If he could go, he'd already be back by now!"

Stoick, sad and irritated, lowered his eyes. He felt a nuzzle on his arm and turned to find that annoying Rumblehorn.

"What do you want, Dragon?" He nuzzled again and Stoick got a bit confused. "You want me to go with you?" The dragon nodded.

"Okay, then. I got my ride. What do I have to bring back?"

"A red flower." Bork responded. "We didn't name it 'Flower Island' for nothing. There are a lot of them there. The Blue Oleanders are poisonous to dragons, except the Scauldron, so you can't stay there for too long anyway. The Red Oleanders are the opposite. So you find them, get them and bring them here. Simple as that."

"How many?"

"Two will be enough," Ingrid answered Stoick. The man nodded and jumped onto the Rumblehorn's back.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Sir, may I go with you? I want to help too." Astrid asked.

"Yes. Now follow me."

As soon as Stoick said that, the Rumblehorn flapped his wings to take off with Astrid right bhind him. The truth was that Ingrid wanted Stoick to go. Not only because she wanted to bring more humans and dragons together, but also because she knew Stoick cared very much for his son and one way or another, he'd bring the medicine back.

"Bork, bring me a bowl of water and a cloth. We need to lower his fever while I prepare the things for the antidote."

"Right away, Ingrid," the boy said before he broke into a run.

It didn't take too long for Stoick and Astrid to get to 'Flower Island', and they found out their suspicions were right, the Berserkers were there, with boats that could barely set sail. There were probably around just half of them, but they were still too many to face. The sun was already setting, the sky was getting darker where it would be harder for the Berserkers to spot them, yet, they needed to be careful.

"Look there, Sir." Astrid said, pointing from where they were. Down at the shores were the Berserkers. He followed her gaze and found bunches of flowers, but he couldn't tell witch colors they were because they were too far and it was too dark.

"Let's go there. You dragons need to stay here. Bork said the blue ones are bad for you and we still need a ride back. Stay hidden from them and wait for us get back." Stoick demanded before he followed the girl on the way up. Their voices were low to prevent someone from hearing them.

"Sir, I must say, I'm impressed."

"With what, Astrid?"

"With all due respect, Sir, but you going to an unknown island to get a red flower using a dragon as a transport? I thought that out of all the people on Berk, you'd be the last one to ever be remotely close to nice to a dragon…"

"Thanks, but that's just because the biggest reason I hated them disappeared and there's an important reason for me to do it. Now, stop the chat and let's get back to work. We need to find the Red Oleander."

"Right. Sorry, sir." She said, concentrating on the task at hand. Looking around carefully, he finally saw a bush of the thing they were seeking.

"Here! I got it! We can go back!" The happiness and excitement were clear in his voice. He couldn't and wouldn't lose his little boy. Not again.

"Going somewhere?" The voice of a deranged, irritated man sounded through the early night. Both Astrid and Stoick turned, seeing Dagur with a sword in each of his hands. "You're not going anywhere."

"We will. We need to." Stoick mumbled, more to remind himself of the urgency and drew his sword while Astrid got her axe.

Dagur was crazy and lost in his blind rage. He was furious because he was losing the respect of his people after those two disastrous losses. He wasn't really thinking anymore. That is, if he ever did that.

He charged against them and Stoick managed to easily block his blows, he was indeed an experienced warrior, after all. Stoick gestured for Astrid to step back as he dueled the psycho man. Even though Dagur had two swords, his movements weren't well thought out, he was just strong and mindlessly swinging.

While the two men were battling, Astrid gathered a few flowers in a sack and grabbed a thick branch without them seeing. She positioned herself behind Dagur and hit him in the head, though it wasn't enough to cause him to black out. He turned to face her, even angrier than before and started attacking.

Stoick could have stayed fighting for as long as he wanted just for the fun of it, but he knew they didn't have time. So the moment Dagur was distracted with Astrid, Stoick finished it.

"Do you think the others know we're here?" She asked, watching Dagur's seemingly lifeless body fall to the ground. Stoick walked over to her and grabbed the sack with the red flowers.

"I don't know and I don't want to stay to find out. Let's go back to the dragons and fly back."

They quickly climbed down and found the dragons waiting patiently. They jumped on them and silently flew away from the island. Stoick's grip around the sack tightened as he wished and prayed they'd be back in time.

Flashback 15

"Heidi, be careful!" Bork said pushing her away from the friendly Scauldron.

"Why? What's wrong? He wasn't going to hurt me, I just wanted to feed him some cod."

"I know, and it's okay, but be careful because Scauldrons are poisonous."

"But he's a good dragon. He won't hurt me."

"I know. He won't bite you on purpose, but he might accidently scrape your skin and then it will be a problem."

"Sorry, I didn't know…"

"The venom comes out from the teeth automatically and…" He was suddenly cut off by the hungry dragon that reached for the cod in her hands. Bork tried to help and protect her, and he ended up getting his arm scratched by one big and sharp tooth. It was all it took to get venom into his system.

"Bork, you're hurt!" She exclaimed, noticing the red line of blood around the cut. "I'm sorry! It was all my fault!"

"No, it wasn't! I was the one who wasn't careful enough…"

Hiccup wasn't far away, he heard and saw everything and quickly ran to them to draw the Scauldron away. The dragon quite happily took its leave because of the delicious cod. They took Bork back to his house and called the healer to treat his wound.

"It hurts a little but I'm fine. I'm feeling fine. Maybe the venom didn't get on me, right? I saw in some of your old journals that the Scauldron didn't have poison…"

"You know just as well as I that they do. Those old journals were just some information I got from the Book of Dragons of my old village and some stuff was wrong."

"I know, it's just that… you know… I'm scared…" He admitted with difficulty, he didn't want to say that because it just made him realize it was the truth.

"My mentor, Gobber, told me he fought against Scauldrons and he told me they have venom, but he's alive. I just don't know why anyone never updated the book before I left and if there's an antidote…"

"Do you think there is?"

Hiccup sighed, realizing his friend was frightened. He smiled sympathetically and tried to sound reassuring.

"Sure. There's always an antidote, right? We have dragons on our side now. Things are different. We'll find a way to cure you." He said as firmly as he could to calm Bork down. We'll find a way, even if I have to go back to Berk to ask Gobber about it.

"Yeah. Don't worry." Camicazi said, smiling reassuringly. "It's Hiccup we're talking about. He always has a plan." He rolled his eyes nervously before walking outside with Camicazi, leaving Heidi to help take care of Bork.

As soon as they were out and far enough to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, Camicazi turned to Hiccup with concern in her blue eyes.

"You know some antidote for the Scauldron's poison?"

"In fact, no, I don't know… But I couldn't tell him that, could I?" He said in a worried tone.

Sharpshot came and landed on his shoulder like he was some kind of personal support. Toothless kept walking slowly behind him with a sad expression. As the girl walked beside him, her two dragons came along as well.

"No…" she trailed off looking down.

"But there's got to be. There's always an antidote, right?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Cami. Why do you keep asking me like I have all the answers?"

"Because you usually do." She whispered sadly. "If only we could speak to the dragon, maybe he could tell us what to do or what would be the antidote…"

"That's it!" He said, with his eyes lighting up, so excited, he ended up kissing her cheek "Cami, you're a genius!"

"Could you explain then? Because I don't know what I did."

"You gave us the solution. The dragon will know his own weakness. The antidote is probably something that's not good for him, since the venom is natural for him. Just like the Blue Oleanders. Other dragons are allergic to them, but Scauldrons eat it. Maybe there's something to do with it!"

"Wait, what?"

"Okay, let me spell it out for you." He explained, excited. "Remember the Blue Oleanders thing?"

"Of course I do. Heidi was flying around and found beautiful flowers she decided to plant on our island, but then, the dragons started to get really sick. The healer said they were allergic to something new and we got rid of the flowers, with a little help from the Scauldrons that ate almost all of them."

"Yes, but what did we give the dragons so they could get better?"

"We made some syrup with Scauldron's poison to neutralize the effects of the Blue Oleanders…"

"Exactly. Maybe, if we find a weakness of the Scauldron, we can try to see if it can neutralize the effect of its poison just like it neutralizes the effect the Blue Oleanders has on dragons."

"Hiccup, that's brilliant! It might work."

"It has to work. Or else, I really don't know what else to do…"

"Okay, so where do we start?"

"Follow me. We need to find that Scauldron again."

Hiccup jumped on Toothless and they took off being quickly followed by Camicazi on Shimmer. Eret would have come too, but he was away, he and his friend Ivar were exploring an island in the far North and keeping an eye open just in case they heard something about the Berserkers or the Outcasts. Both found the Scauldron swimming around happily. Toothless and Shimmer flew very low, almost touching the seawater.

"Hello, little friend…"

"Little, Hiccup? Seriously?" Her voice was a bit sarcastic and had a teasing tone.

"Just shush and play along…" He complained bitterly and she just rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. The Scauldron stopped swimming to look at them, his head out of the water, eyeing them curiously. "Remember me? My friend fed you some cod a while ago… but now he's hurt…"

"To sum it up, you injected venom into our friend." She said, straight to the point. Hiccup was known for his calmness and tranquility towards the dragons, Camicazi, however, was a different story.

"We know you eat the Blue Oleanders, is there anything that could be a weakness for you and maybe diminish the effect of your poison?" And then, the Scauldron simply turned away and kept swimming. "Wait! Come back! Please!"

They went after the green big dragon that reached a shore of a small island north from Drakheim and laid down resting. Toothless landed in front of it and Hiccup jumped off him to get close to the Scauldron. The boy slowly and boldly reached his hand to his snout. Dragons were friendly to every human around Drakheim, but Scauldrons were still the wildest species of dragons and the ones with little patience with humans.

"Be careful, Hiccup, don't piss him off…" Camicazi said as Shimmer landed by Toothless's side.

"Hey, big guy. Sorry to be insistent, but if I recall Gobber saying, the warriors that got deeper scratches from dragons like you die in 24 hours. My friend is hurt and I don't know if he'll be able to survive without a cure for your venom…"

Hiccup remembered his former mentor telling stories about men facing a Scauldron on the open sea. Some men received nasty gashes from the reptile's teeth and died the same night, others received very small cuts and got sick for days but managed to survive. He didn't know if Bork's scrape was small enough to let him live and he didn't want to discover it the hard way.

He got closer and the dragon growled, annoyed. Toothless hissed from behind him, getting in a position to defend his frail human friend. Hiccup stubbornly ignored the warning growls and got even closer still.

"Please, dragon. I'll give you all the cod you want after you show us something to neutralize your poison. I promise not to use it against you if that's what you're afraid of." He said insistently. "But I need it to save my friend's life."

Suddenly, the dragon lifted its head high and crooned, annoyed, he heard Camicazi telling him to watch out and Toothless getting nearer to protect him if needed. However, Hiccup wasn't so worried, he noticed the Scauldron's noises were angrier before and now were just a little annoyed. The Scauldron nuzzled him roughly to go away, but he kept being persistent.

"No. I'm not going away until you answer me!"

The Scauldron huffed as if he gave up and nodded before flying away.

"Are we supposed to follow him?" Camicazi asked.

"I guess so…"

Hiccup said jumping on Toothless again and following the green dragon up to the highest mountain of the island. There were Blue Oleanders there and Hiccup and Camicazi exchanged worried looks, their dragons couldn't stay there for more than just a couple of minutes.

The Scauldron landed between two bushes, one of the Blue Oleander, and the other was a red flower that looked like the first one in shape.

"What is it, big guy?" Hiccup asked curiously. The Scauldron eyed the two bushes and ate a few Blue Oleanders.

"Is he kidding us or is he just hungry?"

"I don't know…" Hiccup mumbled until he saw the Scauldron turn to the other bush, sniff it lightly and back away from it like it would electrocute him or something. "Maybe he's trying to tell us something. Maybe he's allergic to the red ones just like all the other dragons are allergic to the blue ones! Cami, that's it! These flowers, the Red Oleanders might be able to do the trick!"

"So, are we supposed to grab some of those and stuff them into Bork's throat? Or maybe make some ointment to put on his wound?"

"I don't know. Maybe both? I think out healer Ingrid can make some syrup and ointment that we can give him, right?"

"It's worth a try."

Camicazi concluded, grabbing some red flowers and stuffing them into a small sack while Hiccup petted the Scauldron and thanked him. The dragon appreciated the soft touch and then flew away. Camicazi and Hiccup didn't stay for any longer and took off on their dragons before they started to get sick themselves.

When they got back to Bork's house, he was in a very bad shape. Heidi told them that first his arm that had been hurt was numb and it was hard to move, but then his whole body started to go numb and sore until he was too tired and the healer told him to lay down and rest. He'd been there for a few minutes feeling awful with Heidi helping him to feel better until they arrived.

Hiccup explained everything and Camicazi gave Ingrid the flowers so she could heal him. It turned out Hiccup's suspicions were right. The Red Oleander had the opposite effect of the Blue Oleander and in just a few hours, Bork was well and healthy as if nothing had happened, apart from the small cut on his arm that was already healing itself.

And that was how Hiccup and the Strike Tribe discovered the cure for Scauldron's poison. But since the flowers were poisonous to them, they couldn't really plant them around the island, so whenever they required some, they'd have to fly there quickly and get what they needed.

Liked it? I hope so! Tell me what you think about it!

I'd love to hear/read you thoughts of Stoick going to get Hiccup's cure or how they found out about the antidote!

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Itban Fuyu