Author's Note: Here's chapter 2. Bet you weren't expecting this so soon. Well, I originally had this as part of chapter 1, but then I figured it might work better as a second chapter.

Frightening Discovery

Later that night, Hiccup was sound asleep in his bed, Toothless by his side, when they were awakened by the sound of a crash.

"What the-?!" Hiccup asked, nearly jumping out of bed. He and Toothless then heard a panicked roar and looked down to see Hookfang roaring and knocking things over. "Hookfang?!"

Seeing that he had managed to get Hiccup's attention, Hookfang motioned for him to follow and then took off. Hiccup figured out that Hookfang wanted him to follow, so he mounted Toothless and they flew after the Monstrous Nightmare. Hiccup realized that they headed for Snotlout's hut and started to become worried that he might be in trouble. They landed on the bridge outside and then Hiccup dismounted Toothless and rushed into the hut. Once inside, Hiccup found Snotlout sitting on his bed looking pale.

"Snotlout?" Hiccup asked worriedly.

"Hiccup?" Snotlout asked as he looked up and saw his cousin, "What are you doing here?"

"Hookfang seemed a little worried, so I..." Hiccup began, only to be intrupted by Snotlout violently coughing.

Hiccup grew more and more worried, so he told Toothless to stay with Snotlout while he he got the others. Toothless obeyed and Hiccup used Hookfang to fly around the Edge and tell Astrid, Fishlegs, and the twins about Snotlout. Everyone arrived at Snotlout's hut and Fishlegs immediately went over to examine him. After recording all of Snotlout's symptoms, Fishlegs finally came up with a diagnosis. Unfortunately, he knew it was one that his friends would not like, because he did not like it himself.

"Um, guys, I think I know what's wrong with Snotlout," said Fishlegs.

"Really?" Hiccup asked, "What is it?"

Fishlegs gulped and said, "You all might wanna sit down."

Everyone complied, taking a seat on either a chair, a stool, or the floor, and waited to hear the diagnosis. Fishlegs took a deep breath, unsure of what to say.

"Oh Thor," said Fishlegs, "I'm not sure if I can say it."

"What?" Astrid asked, "What is it?"

"Yeah, don't leave us hangin'," said Tuffnut.

"Well, it's just, you're probably not gonna like what you're about to hear," said Fishlegs, "I don't even like it."

Snotlout groaned in annoyance and yelled, "Fishface, would you spit it out already?!"

Fishlegs finally forced himself to tell everyone, "Snotlout, I think you have the Scourge of Odin."

At the new revelation, everyone gasped and Snotlout shrieked, "What?!"

"It's the only thing that fits your symptoms," said Fishlegs.

"So you're telling me that I have a plague that tore through the Archipelago centuries ago and wiped out entire Viking villages?!" Snotlout asked in a scream.

"I'm afraid so," said Fishlegs.

"But that's impossible," said Hiccup, "There hasn't been a case of the Scourge of Odin since the last out break. And that was centuries ago."

"Hiccup, all the signs are there," said Fishlegs.

Hiccup sighed and said, "Okay, let's assume that you're right. How do we cure it?"

"I'm not sure," Fishlegs sadly admitted.

"There's gotta be someone who knows more about the Scourge," said Hiccup.

"There is!" said Fishlegs in realization, "Gothi! She's a master healer. If anyone knows how to cure the Scourge of Odin, it's gotta be her."

"Then we have no time to lose," said Hiccup, "Astrid, take Stormfly and fly to Berk. Go to Gothi's and gather whatever notes you can concerning the Scourge of Odin."

"Okay," said Astrid, "I'll grab a map and some previsions. If we leave tonight, we should be back by tomorrow."

"Not to worry, my friends! I already have the answer!" Tuffnut announced. He then reached inside his tunic and pulled out a piece of bread, "Bing! Oh yeah. Here, Snotlout, eat this."

Tuffnut tried to hand it to Snotlout, only for him to flinch away and say, "No way, man! That's been in your tunic! And it's moldy!"

Ruffnut raised an eyebrow and asked, "Seriously, bro? You think that's gonna cure the Scourge?"

"Oh it will. Trust me. One time, I had a really bad cold and I decided to eat some moldy bread. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. But, boom! Instantly cured," Tuffnut explained. Everyone, including Ruffnut, all looked at Tuffnut skeptically, "Okay, you scoff now. But one day science will recognize my genius. They called old Crazy Uncle Henrik crazy."

"He is crazy, Tuffnut," said Ruffnut, "He married his own beard!"

"Okay, bad example," said Tuffnut.

"Hang on. Isn't the Scourge contagious?" Ruffnut asked in realization, "Shouldn't we be wearing masks? Or maybe we should run out and burn our clothes!"

Before the twins could start anything, Astrid stood up and and yelled, "Nobody's burning anything!"

"And you can't catch the Scourge of Odin by breathing," said Fishlegs, "Or by just putting your hands on a person who has it."

"Oh," said the twins in unison, feeling embarrassed.

"But you guys do bring up an interesting point," said Fishlegs, causing everyone to look at him curiously, "How did Snotlout catch this?"

Everyone silently pondered the question for a moment, and then everyone heard Snotlout cough once again. Hiccup rushed to his cousins side to comfort him. His eyes landed on the bandages on Snotlout's left arm; the very spot where he got scratched during patrol hours ago!

"Snotlout, is there something you left out when you told us what happened on that boat?" Hiccup asked. Snotlout was reluctant to answer until Hiccup insisted, "Snotlout, this is important. Tell us everything."

Snotlout took a breath and then told everyone, "The bodies inside the boat... had pale green skin."

Everyone gasped in horror at what they heard.

"That explains everything," said Fishlegs, "The man that grabbed you must've had it and spread it to you when he scratched you."

"Snotlout, you should've told us about that sooner, you muttonhead!" Astrid yelled, and then she let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I have to get to Berk."

"Okay, Astrid," said Hiccup, "Be careful."

"I will," said Astrid.

And with that, Astrid left the clubhouse to gather some previsions for herself and Stormfly. Once she finished, Astrid mounted her dragon and took off for Berk. While Astrid and Stormfly were on their way to Berk to retrieve Gothi's notes, Hiccup and the others stayed behind to watch over their sick friend.

"You're gonna be alright," said Hiccup, "You'll see."

"I hope so," said Snotlout, with a slight moan.

While Hiccup comforted Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins watched in concern. Snotlout may get on people's nerves a lot, but seeing him in this state was really hard to watch; Ruffnut for one almost wanted to cry.

"He's gonna be alright, isn't he?" Ruffnut asked.

"It's hard to say at this point," Fishlegs sadly admitted, "All we can do right now is wait for Astrid to get back. Hopefully we'll be able to save him in time."

"What do you mean?" Tuffnut asked, "How much time does he have?"

Fishlegs sighed sadly and said, "The Scourge of Odin moves swiftly, claiming it's victim in three moons."

"But, one moon is about to pass now," said Tuffnut, fearfully.

This new knowledge filled the twins with fear. Snotlout had since passed out and fallen asleep, so he did not hear them, but Hiccup heard what they said. However, Hiccup refused to accept the idea of losing his cousin; Snotlout was strong, and he believed that he could beat this illness.