Hello guys... I'm alive... please don't be mad at me for not updating in a looooong time, besides having a visitor and a writers block, again, I also had to prepare for school again, which starts next week. Joy.

Anyway, here's the next chapter! And if you read all the way to the bottom, there's a little something else...

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

A Storm Blows Through It, Part VI

Hiccup stared down at the grains in the wood. He was sitting at one of the tables, breakfast next to him, but no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't eat. He couldn't stop thinking about the dragon that was hunting them, and Wrenlou, unconscious in the bed. Rico and the two women were still missing, and that had prompted Ezra to send out more search parties, this time with weapons so that they might be able to kill the dragon. He had forbidden Hiccup from going, so now here he was, three hours after breakfast, and he still hadn't eaten anything.

Ezra had gone with the search parties, so he was here alone besides the healers, but they were in the infirmary and didn't allow any one in. He pushed his pencil around the table, both worried and bored and stared at his bowl. Before he left, Ezra had told him to eat, and he had tried, but he just couldn't get himself to eat. He hadn't slept last night, the worry keeping him up. Not even the healers knew what it was that kept Wrenlou in a coma, and that was never a good sign.

He was about to get up, when he heard hissing behind him, and he froze. The hissing got louder, but he didn't dare turn around, afraid he would end up like Wrenlou. He sat there, clenching the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white, staring ahead while the fear surged through him. Suddenly, the sound stopped, but still he didn't dare turn around. What if the dragon was right behind him? What if it was waiting for him to make a move? It stayed quiet in the room however, and finally he dared to turn around. He instantly froze when he saw two ice blue eyes staring at him from the darkness.

The dragon hissed again and slowly moved out of the shadows. Hiccup just sat frozen, staring as the creature neared him. It was as Wrenlou had described, small, slender and grey. He stared at it wide eyed as the dragon slinked closer, a long thin tail raised above it's head. There were three curved horn like protrusions at the end of the tail, that looked more like knifes than actual horns. The most striking thing however, was that the dragon had two additional legs behind it's front legs.

"S...six...?" Hiccup stammered in shock.

The dragon hissed and growled, slowly coming towards him while it's tail quivered above it's head. Hiccup moved away from it, scooting over the bench until he reached the end and fell to the floor. The dragon growled and leaped forward, but before it could hurt the boy voices approached, and heavy footsteps indicated that the search parties were coming back. It hissed and turned back. With a few large leaps it was gone, disappeared into the shadows. Hiccup still sat frozen on the ground, staring at the place where the dragon had been not long before.

"Hiccup?" Ezra's voice came from behind him and he practically jumped up, "are you alright? Did you fall?"

Hiccup looked up, straight into Ezra's eyes shining with concern. He shook his head, then nodded, and Ezra extended his hand. The man pulled him back to his feet, but his legs were shaking. Hiccup looked back to the shadows where the dragon had disappeared.

"Is something wrong? Hiccup?"

He looked back at Ezra and suddenly threw his arms around the man's waist, pressing his face against his armour.

"It was here," he mumbled, "the dragon, it was here."

Ezra grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away from his waist. "What did you say?" he asked rather harshly.

"I..it was here," Hiccup said again, "it... it wanted to attack me... if you hadn't come back..."

Ezra just stared at the boy, his face shocked. "What!?" he blurted out, "it was here!?

Hiccup nodded, still a little shaken from his near encounter with the dragon. Ezra kneeled down, bringing his face on level with Hiccup's.

"Did you see it?" he asked.

"Yes," Hiccup nodded, "briefly, but I did. It's just as Wrenlou said it was! It's grey and small and..."

"And what?" Ezra asked, "Hiccup, what is it?"

"I...it had three spikes on it's tail," Hiccup said, "I think that's what it used to hurt everyone!"

"Where did it go?" Ezra asked, shaking the boy slightly, "did you see where it went?"

"Yes..." Hiccup pointed to the hallway the dragon had disappeared into, "it went that way when it heard you come back."

"Alright," Ezra said standing up, "you heard the boy. It went that way. Go see if you can track it down. But be very careful! We know this thing is extremely stealthy. I don't want anymore riders to end up in a coma, understood?"

"Yes sir," the riders nodded and then they headed off in the direction Hiccup had pointed at. Ezra stood up to join them, but Hiccup grabbed his wrist.

"Don't leave me," he whispered, "I'm scared. What if it comes back again?"

"If it comes back, you'll be safe inside the infirmary," Ezra said and he smiled at the boy, "come on, I'm not leaving you on your own again. I was a fool to think that would be the safest option, and I am sorry. It was not my intention to put you in harms way."

"It's okay," Hiccup mumbled, "you couldn't have known that it would come here."

"Maybe so," Ezra said while he knocked on the door of the infirmary, "but I put you in danger by leaving you alone. Ah, Daisy, I have a favour to ask of you."

The female healer in the doorway nodded. "Alright. What is it?"

"I need you and the others to take care of Hiccup while we're gone," Ezra said, pushing the boy towards the woman, "I left him alone and the dragon found him. He narrowly escaped it's clutches, but it seems nowhere is safe anymore. Can you keep him safe?"

"Of course," Daisy said, extending a hand to Hiccup, "the infirmary is one of the most secure places, he should be safe. Just... don't fill any more of these beds Ezra, I don't want more patients."

"I will do the best I can," Ezra said softly, "but we have no idea what we're up against. We didn't have these problems last year. I have no idea where this new dragon came from. But we will find out, don't worry."

He ruffled Hiccup's hair and smiled at Daisy, then he turned around to get his sword, which he had left on the table when he took Hiccup to the infirmary. They waited for him to disappear into the shadows, then Daisy closed the door again.

"You can take any bed you like," she said gesturing to the beds along the wall, "I guess you're going to be staying here from now on, so make yourself at home. My name is Daisy, but I think you heard that."

Hiccup nodded and walked over to the bed next to the one Wrenlou was in, and after a look at his friend, slowly sat down on it. He sat there for a while, just sitting on the edge staring at the healer doing her work. After a few minutes he put the pillow against the wall, took of his boots and nestled down on the bed, leaning against the pillow with his feet under the blanket. He pulled his sketchbook out and opened it to the sketch of the dragon. After taking his pencil, he added the things he had seen to the sketch. The long tail with the three barbs on the end, the extra limbs, and when he was done he stared at it for a long time. He was pulled from his thoughts when the female healer, Daisy, slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hiccup," she asked softly, "have you eaten anything lately?"

Hiccup shook his head while he looked down at the blanket. He heard her sigh, and then she left. A few moments later she was back again, and he looked up when she put a hand on his shoulder. She was offering him a bowl of stew. When he looked away again, she gently grabbed his chin and turned his head so he faced her.

"Look," she said softly, "I know this is hard, and I know that you're scared. I'm scared too. But believe me, starving yourself won't help Wrenlou, and the last thing I need is another patient. Please eat something, okay love?"

Hiccup nodded slowly and put his sketchbook down on the blanket to take the bowl from her. The stew was warm and he felt better after a few bites. While he hungrily emptied the bowl, Daisy picked up his notebook, studying the drawing of the dragon.

"This is it?" she asked, gently touching the page, "this is what attacked them?"

Hiccup nodded, scooping the last of the stew from the bowl. Then he gave it back to Daisy and took his notebook from her. He stared at the drawing again while Daisy continued her work, checking on her patients every now and then, making sure they didn't have a fever or other symptoms that could indicate that the wounds had become infected.

"Daisy," Hiccup asked, looking up at the woman, "is there a library here?"

"Well... yes," Daisy said, standing up and walking closer to the boy, "but it's not in the infirmary. It's on the other side of the Dining Hall. Why do you ask?"

"I need some books," Hiccup said, "I want to find out what this thing is, and how we can..." he cut off, his eyes drifting to Wrenlou and the other riders, "how we can help them," he ended softly.

Daisy nodded. "I understand. Really I do. But it's too dangerous to go out there now, Ezra told me to stay inside. We'll wait until he comes back, then you can go get your books. Okay?"

Hiccup nodded and nestled back down against the pillow. He picked up the sketchbook and started drawing randomly on a new page, just drawing without a thought. Ezra didn't stay away long, and when he came back his face bore the darkest expression Hiccup had ever seen on a man. Not even his father had looked this angry. He soon figured out why. The search groups had returned, and three more riders had been injured.

"No matter what we do, that thing is just to fast!" Ezra raged while he was pacing up and down the room, "it came out of nowhere! Took us completely by surprise. At this rate there will be none of us left by the time the storm blows over!"

"Ezra," Daisy said, her voice stern,"I would appreciate it if you took that anger elsewhere. There is no place for it here."

Ezra sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're right, you're absolutely right. I apologize. This dragon just makes me so angry. It's picking us off one by one, probably laughing about it too! How are we supposed to fight a dragon that can knock a human being out with the smallest scratch? It's downright impossible."

Hiccup slowly slipped off the bed, holding his sketchbook as he walked towards the man. He took a deep breath, then tucked his sleeve.

"Sir?" he asked a little hesitantly, "I... I had a question..."

Ezra swallowed his anger as soon as he saw Hiccup, holding back his rage, knowing that the boy had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve a tirade.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice only slightly trembling with anger.

"I need to get into the library," Hiccup said, "I... want to look at some books, see if I can figure out what exactly this dragon is and what we can do about it."

Ezra nodded slowly. "Alright. But I'm not letting you go in there by yourself, and I will make sure the dragon isn't there before I let you in."

"Okay," Hiccup nodded.

"Put on your boots," Ezra said, "and then meet me in front of the library, okay?"

Hiccup nodded, running back to the bed he had occupied most of the day. He sat down on the edge to put on his boots and tuck his sketchbook and pencil back into his tunic. Then he looked over at Wrenlou.

"Don't worry," he said softly, "I'll find the cure. You'll be better in no time, you'll see. I promise."

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Howdy fellas!

Alright, now that you all have read this extremely long chapter, there's something I need to say. Don't worry, I won't stop writing or anything, this is a good kind of thing. In two months time it will be my first anniversary here on FF, and for that I want to do something special. I know it's not quite there yet, but still. Time flies and before you know it, we've past it! You have done so much for me, and I want to give something back.

Now, the way this works is as following: every new chapter I will post a riddle at the bottom. The first to answer correctly, wins! Easy right? You can either answer via PM or review, whatever is easiest for you. There are of course rules to this game. Can't have a game without rules!

1. The FIRST to tell me the CORRECT answer wins.

2. I will inform the winners personally. And don't fear, there will be quite a few riddles to come!

3. You can only win ONCE. So once you've won, you can still participate, but your answer won't count.

Since the thing I will be giving you if you win, is physical rather than digital, I will need an address to send it to. So if you're not sure if you can give that to me, ask your mom, or your dad, or ask a friend or grandparent or anyone. I understand that there are people who don't trust some random stranger on the internet with that, but I can promise you I will only use it once.

So, let me know what you think of this idea! And if there's anything that needs to be added, please tell me! I suppose we'll start next chapter, if enough people like my little plan!

Thank you!

Aurora