Hello my dear readers,

You've probably been wondering where I have been the last few days... weeks... Well, tomorrow, or today, depends when you read it, anyway, tomorrow I am meeting a friend, someone I've been waiting to meet for a long time now, and to be honest, I am scared beyond belief. I have no idea what will happen when I see her, and... I... I just... She'll be with me for a week, so I doubt if there will be any writing.

Aaaanywaaay... my own personal fears aside, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

A Storm Blows Through It, Part V

She just barely managed to catch the boy as he went limp in her arms. At first she was confused, but as his hands slipped from his side, she saw the still growing bloodstain and cursed softly. As gently as she could, she laid him on the ground, then she stood up, but as she did so, her head spun and she blinked a few times. She was dizzy, feeling nauseous, and when she swallowed her throat was dry.

"Ezra!" she called, but her tongue felt strange as she did so, "Ezr..."

Another wave of dizziness washed over her, and she had to sit down again. She had no idea if the man had heard her calls, if her weak voice had carried far enough. She took a deep breath when she felt how the bile rose in her throat, and wondered if Wrenlou had meant this when he said he hadn't been feeling well. She blinked a few more times, having trouble keeping her eyes open, and just when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Ezra's face, she too passed out.

0-0-0-0-0

Ezra was biting his nails, waiting outside the infirmary of the shelter. After Wrenlou and Dove, the other three members of the search group had all fallen into a deep unconsciousness that they could not be woken from. After they had been been brought to the infirmary, the healers had drawn a quick conclusion: they had all been cut by the strange grey dragon. Somehow whatever venom it was had caused them to go into a deep coma. Now he was waiting for news. Any news.

He turned back to the door, but it remained sealed. So the dragon was venomous then. But would it kill them and how fast would it work. Had it taken Rico and the two women as well? How had they encountered it? How could he keep the rest of the riders save? These were the questions that haunted his mind as he paced up and down the hallway. What would become of the dragons? What would Hiccup do, now that his best friend was in a coma? Sighing he ran a hand through his hair. What would they do about that dragon... they could try hunting it down, with the risk of more people ending up in coma.

He turned back when he heard the door open, but the healer that came out shook his head, indicating that they had no more news yet, and he watched the man walk away through the hallway. His shoulders sagged a bit, his worry growing with every minute. And when the door finally opened again, he practically jumped the healer that came out, the woman nearly falling backwards.

"Any news?" he asked.

The woman shook her head. "Not at the moment. As far as we know all the... drug has done is put them into that coma. We're still trying to figure out the rest."

"Drug? It's poison right?" Ezra asked frowning.

"We're not sure yet. The wounds look clean, they show no signs of fever or any other symptoms normally related to poisoning. As of right now, we're just as clueless as the rest."

Ezra sighed again and nodded. "Alright. Let me know if anything changes."

The healer nodded. "I think it's best to keep visitors away for now. So we can work in silence and get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

Ezra nodded and turned around, his eyes falling on the small figure of Hiccup, still sitting at the table. The boy hadn't moved from that spot since Wrenlou had collapsed, and the occasional shudder that shook his shoulders was enough indication that he was crying. All in all, the boy looked lost, suddenly alone among people he didn't know, thrown into a world that was unfamiliar to him.

"You... might want to make an exception on the no visitors rule," Ezra said softly gesturing to Hiccup's lonely form.

The healer frowned, then nodded when she saw Hiccup. While Ezra left, slowly walking away to inform the other riders of a plan on how to deal with the dragon that now posed a threat to them all. The healer slowly approached Hiccup, sitting down next to him on the bench. She placed a hand on his shoulder and the boy jumped up, staring at her with tear filled eyes.

"Come," she said softly, offering him her hand, "I'll take you to your friend."

Hiccup took her hand a little hesitant and allowed her to pull him to his feet. As soon as he was standing, she straightened his tunic, and wiped the tears from his face. Then she led him towards the infirmary with an arm around his shoulders, opening the door for him. He looked up at her and she nodded, then she gently pushed him forwards.

The infirmary was basically a long hallway that had been widened, resulting in a large, long room with beds on either side. Hiccup stopped walking as soon as he saw the beds, the riders in the first five on the left side. As soon as he saw Wrenlou, he stopped walking, and looked up at the healer behind him. She nodded and he took a few steps towards the bed, tears stinging his eyes as he did so.

Wrenlou looked like he was asleep, the blanket pulled up to his waist leaving his chest bare, barely revealing the bandages around the wound. His breathing in a steady rhythm, his face a little paler then usual, but other than that, nothing betrayed the fact that he had been attacked by a dragon, and poisoned by the creature.

"You can stay, if you're quiet," the healer said, and she pointed to a chair next to the bed.

Hiccup nodded, hardly hearing her words. His eyes were fixed on Wrenlou's face.

"He'll be fine, right?" he asked softly, without looking up.

The healer sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We don't know yet," she said softly, and Hiccup's shoulders sagged a little, "Hiccup, the truth is, we don't know anything. They have all been attacked by the dragon, and we believe that it has some sort of venom that caused them all to fall into unconsciousness."

Hiccup looked up, his tears spilling over again. "He's poisoned? B...but... he can't die... I don't want him to die..."

"Hey, look at me," the woman said softly, kneeling down in front of Hiccup, "at this moment, nothing is certain. We don't know much about this dragon, or what it does to people. Anything can happen."

"But I don't want him to die..." Hiccup whispered.

The healer sighed and carefully wiped the tears from his face. "We're doing everything we can to prevent that. That's all we can do for now. Why don't you stay with him, talk to him. Maybe he'll hear you."

Hiccup nodded and then slowly walked over to Wrenlou. He sat down next to him, staring at his face. He had seen him asleep a few times before, this time it looked no different, except for the bandage that wrapped around his stomach. Tentatively he reached out, touching Wrenlou's hand on the blanket, but his temperature felt normal, as it always did. He sighed as he took out his notebook again, flipping though it until he reached the page where he had sketched the dragon. He stared at the drawing, the little legs and small claws Wrenlou had described, the wings that he thought were too small to be used. Grey, no more than 5 or 6 feet, blue eyes. What kind of dragon was it? He set the book down on the bed, and rested his head in his hands. If only he could find this creature, maybe train it, maybe then he could prevent further attacks.

When the healer came to check up on Wrenlou a few hours later, she found Hiccup asleep in his chair, one hand under his head, the other resting on the book. His charcoal pencil had slipped from his fingers and lay broken at his feet. She smiled softly and lifted the boy from the chair, laying him down on the bed next to Wrenlou. The book she put on the table, after closing it. The broken charcoal was placed on top. Then she pulled a blanket over the boy, smiling a little when he stirred in his sleep, mumbling something about training dragons.

"Just rest," she mumbles softly, "you need it. And it makes my job a whole lot easier. You don't need to see the wounds."

She unwrapped Wrenlou's side, and sighed as soon as she saw the wounds. No sign of infection, no inflammation, not even a swelling as was so often the case. The wounds had closed already, a dark scab sealing them. She shook her head.

"They are healing already," she said softly, "and you're in perfect health. So what is keeping you unconscious... what did it do to you..."

She stood up and walked to a table, where she picked up a bowl and some clean bandages.

"I don't know if you're in pain," she said sitting down, "you don't look like you're in pain... but then again, you shouldn't be in coma... anyway, this will help, if it hurts."

As soon as she was done with Wrenlou's wounds, she checked on the other riders. All were the same, no infection, no fever, and no wound severe enough to cause a coma. She shook her head. Whatever that dragon had done to them, they needed answers.

0-0-0-0-0

"As you all know by now," Ezra said to the crowd, "three of us have vanished without a trace. A search has only led to more misery. We found the culprit, yes, but now five of us are in a coma they won't be woken from! Young Wrenlou is among them. He was the only one that saw the beast, before it wounded him too."

"What do we do!" one of the riders called out, "we'll all die in here!"

"No!" Ezra thundered, "we won't die. But there will be no further searches! I will nit risk any more lives! We don't know what happened to Rico and the others, we don't know what it did to Dove, and Wrenlou! I cannot take that risk! There is, however, some good news. Just before he fell unconscious, Wrenlou was able to describe the dragon to Hiccup. Hiccup, could you come up here please?"

Hiccup slowly walked towards Ezra, his notebook pressed against his chest. The words Ezra had spoken to him just before he had called the meeting still rang in his head. "You only have to tell them what Wrenlou told you." He didn't mind helping, but he had never spoken to large groups before, and he was so nervous he could feel his heart beating in his throat. He stepped up on the table, next to Ezra and looked up at the man.

"It's okay," Ezra said softly, placing his hand on Hiccup's shoulder, "it will be fine. Just tell them what Wrenlou told you."

Hiccup nodded and opened his notebook. He flipped through the pages with shaking fingers until he found the one where he had sketched the dragon.

"Eh..." he started, suddenly having trouble finding his voice, "he... eh... he..."

"Take a deep breath," Ezra whispered, "you'll be alright."

Hiccup nodded again and took a deep breath. Almost instantly he felt calmer. There was no need to fear these people. They had come here to learn something from him, not to laugh at him. He took another deep breath, and looked down on his notebook.

"He told me that the dragon was small," he said, his voice only wavering slightly, "n...no more that 5 or 6 feet. It had short legs, small claws and small wings that he could most likely not use. It was grey... oh and he found this."

He pulled the horn Wrenlou had found from his pocket and held it up for everyone to see.

"Here," Ezra said, taking the horn, "have a good look at it." He gave the horn to a dragon rider close to him. "Has anyone ever seen something like that?"

The horn passed from hand to hand, all studying the strange horn, some even licking it. But they all shook their heads. None of them had ever seen something like it before. When the horn was returned to Hiccup, every one started shouting. In the chaos that ensued, Hiccup slipped away, carrying the notebook and the horn with him as he went back to Wrenlou, to wait for his friend to wake up.