So Close

Back at Dragon's Edge, Hookfang watched in worry as Snotlout slept. He watched as his chest moved up and down to indicate that he was still breathing. Hookfang inwardly feared that his riders' chest might stop moving at any moment. At this point, Snotlout's skin had started turning pale green, meaning that they were running out of time. However, Snotlout was unaware of what was going on as he had a happy dream.

*Snotlout's Dream*

After Spitelout left little Snotlout alone in his room, the boy cried as he laid in bed and tried to sleep. He flinched upon feeling a hand touch his shoulder, and then looked up to see his mother, Cora, smiling warmly at him.

"It's okay, Snotlout," Cora said in a kind and gentle voice, "There's nothing to be afraid of. Mommy's right here. And I won't let anything happen to you."

Snotlout started to calm down enough to smile at his mother. She then pulled him into her lap and held him close as she started to sing his favorite lullaby, "Ba Ba Black Yak." As he listened to the song, huddled in his mother's arms, Snotlout felt so safe that he started drifting off to sleep.

*End Dream*

Snotlout awoke to the sounds of footsteps coming his way. The sound was familiar, thump-click, like the kind from a person with one metal leg; Hiccup. The footsteps were also pretty fast paced, as though he were in a hurry. When Hiccup finally made it to his hut, Snotlout started to slowly push himself up so he could greet him.

Before he could say anything, Hiccup rushed over to his side and said, "We have to go, now!"

"What?" Snotlout weakly asked, "Why?"

"We found a living Buffalord, but it won't leave it's island," Hiccup explained as he started trying to pull his cousin to his feet, "The only way to get you better is to get you to the island."

Hiccup then started leading Snotlout out the door to Toothless. At one point, Snotlout nearly fell over because the illness was making him physically weaker. Luckily, Hiccup caught him and helped walk him over to Toothless. Hiccup helped Snotlout onto Toothless' saddle and then prepared to mount up himself when he heard a low whine. He looked and saw Hookfang looking sadly at Snotlout; like he did not want his rider to be separated from him.

"Okay, you can come along, Hookfang," said Hiccup, mounting Toothless, "Follow closely behind Toothless."

Hookfang nodded and the two of them took off into the sky. It took some time to get there, but they finally made it to the island of the Buffalord. Once they arrived, Astrid rushed to Toothless just as Hiccup started helping Snotlout down. Hiccup and Astrid each took one of Snotlout's arms and wrapped them around their shoulders. Together, they walked their friend over to a large boulder and laid him against it.

Snotlout weakly opened his eyes and looked up at his cousin and moaned, "Hi-Hiccup..."

Hiccup shushed him and told him, "Just rest. You're gonna beat this, I promise you. You just have to keep fighting."

"I'm not sure... I can," Snotlout whispered between breaths.

"Please, hold on," said Hiccup, "Don't give in. I'm not giving up on you, so don't give up on yourself."

"Okay," Snotlout breathed, "I'll try."

Hiccup rushed over to the Buffalord and caught it's saliva in the cup once again. Hiccup then brought the cup to Snotlout and held it up to his mouth to help him drink it. Snotlout drank the saliva and Hiccup and the others waited to see if the cure worked. Unfortunately, the only result was Snotlout coughing again, worse than before; it did not work.

"I don't understand," said Hiccup, "Nothing's happening."

"Maybe it takes time for the cure to work," Fishlegs guessed.

Snotlout coughed again, causing his friends to become concerned. Hookfang looked at his rider with worry in his eyes.

"I'm not sure that's it," said Astrid, "Something's wrong."

Fishlegs looked at Gothi's notes again to find something that he might have missed. He frowned as he read, "It says that the green solution will cure the Scourge. Nothing else; just green solution and cure."

"Hold on," said Hiccup, "Did you say green solution?"

"Yes," said Fishlegs.

"But the Buffalord's saliva was clear," said Hiccup, "How could it be a green solution?"

Fishlegs looked at the notes again and then answered, "It doesn't say."

Hiccup groaned and mentally cursed the fact that the information that they needed was left out. As he started wracking his brain to try to figure out how to save Snotlout, Hiccup felt someone grab his hand. He looked over and saw Snotlout holding his hand and looking at him.

"It's okay, Hiccup... You tried," said Snotlout.

"No. No, don't give in!" Hiccup shouted, on the verge of tears. He pulled Snotlout into a hug and told him, "Please, hold on! You have to hold on."

Astrid was about comfort Hiccup and Snotlout when she heard chewing. She turned around and saw the twins eating grass.

"Guys! How can you eat at a time like this?!" Astrid yelled, "Our friends are suffering and you're just stuffing your faces with grass!"

"Hey, people deal with stress differently, okay?" Ruffnut defended.

"And we're eating what the Buffalord eats, because, hey, who doesn't want sweet smelling droppings?" Tuffnut agreed.

"It's a victimless crime," Ruffnut added.

Astrid was about to say something to them about sensitivity when she noticed that the twins' were drooling. And this was no ordinary drool, it was green!

"Hiccup! Look at the twins!" Astrid called, "Their drool's green!"

"What?" Hiccup asked. He slowly set Snotlout down and turned around and saw that the twins did indeed have green drool. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know," said Tuffnut, shrugging his shoulders, "We were just eating this grass that the Buffalord was eating because we were stressing out."

As Tuffnut explained, the wheels in Hiccup's head began to turn. The twins were eating the grass and their drool turned green. The Buffalord had not eaten much yet and it had clear drool. Finally, the pieces were coming together.

"The herbs! Of course!" Hiccup realized, "That's what makes the antidote! The Buffalord saliva mixed with the herbs it eats!"

"Which explains why it won't leave the island!" Fishlegs added, "It can't be too far from the herbs it eats."

"So, all we need is it to eat the herbs and create the solution," said Astrid, and then rushed over to the dragon.

Hiccup then turned his attention back to his cousin and said, "Hang in there, Snotlout. Just a little longer. Please, don't give up."

Astrid led the Buffalord over to a patch herbs on the ground and then instructed the dragon to start eating. The dragon took a few bites of the herbs and started chewing. Everyone waited for something to happen, and sure enough, in no time the Buffalord started to drool; green drool. The cure!

Hiccup eagerly rushed over to the dragon, cup in hand, and prepared to collect the saliva needed to save Snotlout. Unfortunately, just as he was about to collect the cure, a net was fired into the air, forcing Hiccup to jump out of the way before he got trapped. The Buffalord was not so lucky. This took the riders by surprise until they looked around and saw some Dragon Hunters approaching. Among them were both Grimborn brothers.

"Viggo?!" Hiccup exclaimed.