So... eh... sorry for the late update... em... authors note on the bottom... yeah...

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

A Storm Blows Through It, Part VII

Hiccup sighed, closing yet another book as he placed it on the stack to his right. He had been in the small library all day, reading every book about dragons he could find, but nothing had come up so far. The man next to him put a hand on his shoulder, and Hiccup looked up.

"You should rest," the man, Tim, said softly, "you've been at it all day."

"No," Hiccup said shaking his head, "I can't stop. I have to find it. It has to be here, it has to be..."

"Hiccup..." Tim started, "you're not the only one who's worried. Michelle is my sister, Hiccup, and she is still missing."

"Your... sister...?" Hiccup asked softly, and Tim nodded. "I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"It's okay," Tim said, "not a lot of people realize that we're twins."

Hiccup frowned. "Twins? But you don't really... look alike... I mean..."

"I know what you mean. And yet we were born only minutes apart." Tim smiled weakly. "Come on, let's find the answer shall we? If we can find what kind of dragon this is, we'll know how to defeat it, and we'll be able to find a cure. And hopefully the three missing riders too..."

"Yes," Hiccup nodded, "we'll find your sister."

Tim smiled again and took a book from the stack. He looked around the small room stacked with books, to see if there was any movement that would indicate the dragon was there, but the shadows were still, the cobwebs unmoving. He turned back to the book and turned a page. Just before he could flip the page again, Hiccup jumped up.

"I found it!" he declared, "the dragon! I found it!"

"You did?" Tim asked also standing up, "show me that."

He pulled the book from the boy's hands, quickly reading the page. Then he turned it, and was greeted by a detailed drawing of the same dragon Hiccup had in his sketchbook.

"Excellent work Hiccup," he said, looking over at the boy, "come om, lets show Ezra."

Hiccup nodded and took the book from Tim. Then they left the library, Tim looking around for any sign of the dragon, but the hall was empty. They found Ezra in the infirmary, talking to one of the healers. As soon as he saw them, he smiled a little, gesturing them to follow him. On his way out Hiccup could see that two more beds were occupied.

"I'm glad to see you," Ezra said softly, "we've had two more attacks. I don't know how to stop it..."

"We found it," Tim said, "well... Hiccup did. Hiccup, show him?"

Hiccup nodded and took the book to one of the tables, where he opened it and showed Ezra the page about the dragon.

"It's called a Grey Scorpion," Hiccup said, "although it's not related to scorpions at all. According to this it's a highly territorial dragon, which is why it's attacking us. It thinks we invaded his territory."

"Last year we didn't have any of these problems," Ezra said, "it makes sense that if it moved in between last years last storm, and now, that it never knew about us. And the scent of the Night Furies masks our scent... hmm..."

"Are they okay?" Hiccup asked, suddenly remembering that he hadn't seen Toothless in a few days.

"The dragons? Yes they're fine," Ezra assured him, "we're keeping them in a closed off room, mostly for their own safety, but also because if we didn't, they would want to be with their riders, and the infirmary is just too small to accommodate a dozen dragons."

Hiccup nodded and looked back down on the book. Ezra was reading the many lines of information that were scribbled down on the page, a frown forming on his face.

"It describes here the poison the dragon has," he said tapping his finger against the paper, "and the effect it has, but I don't find anything about a possible cure..."

He looked up to see Hiccup's sad face and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Hiccup looked down, his posture slumping.

"I'd hoped we'd find a cure..." he whispered.

"I know," Ezra said, "I think we all did. But at least we now know what it is, and how to keep it away. And I'm sure we will find a cure Hiccup, it's just a matter of time. And the condition of the injured riders is stable, no change at all, so we have time, okay? Besides, you found out what it is! I think that deserves a big, big thank you."

Hiccup nodded, smiling a little. Ezra smiled back, straightening his back. He opened his mouth to say something, but right at that moment a rider came into the hall.

"Ezra!" the man called, turning every head towards him, "the storm has passed. The streets look flooded, and it's still raining, but the wind is gone."

"That is good news," Ezra said, his smile widening a bit, "that certainly is good news. Alright! You heard the man. The storm has passed! It's time to get out of here!"

A few hours later Hiccup was standing at the door that led to the plaza. The storm and the rain had turned it into a small lake, the water reaching the knees of the men wading through it. The sky was still dark, and big drops of water splashed down on whoever was brave enough to go out in it. He sighed, staring at the water that sloshed against the steps that led up to the shelter, and turned back into the hall. He quickly navigated his way through the tunnels, until he found the room where the Night Furies had been hiding for the past few days. Most dragons and riders had already left, working on draining the plaza. As soon as Toothless spotted him, the dragon bounced towards him, crooning happily.

"Hey bud," Hiccup said softly, "I missed you too..."

Toothless pressed his nose against Hiccup's chest and curled his tail around the boy's legs. Hiccup, in return, wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck, embracing him the best he could. He smiled as the warmth from the dragon's scales seeped through his clothes and into his skin, and after a while he pulled away.

"Come on bud," he said while he climbed up on Toothless' back, "let's go get some fresh air."

Toothless cooed happily and allowed Hiccup to steer him through the tunnels and towards the door. There, the dragon stopped, looking at the water that covered the plaza. He whined softly and looked back to Hiccup, who gently rubbed his scales.

"Please Toothless... " the boy begged softly, "it's really deep for me."

Toothless warbled something, then stepped into the water. Together they waded to the Hall, where Ezra stood on the steps, shouting orders to the riders all around.

"Hiccup! Toothless! There you are. I wondered when you'd come," Ezra said crossing his arms, "smart, riding the dragon. Alright, I'm afraid there's not much to do for you two... you could go back to the Bay and get Dale I suppose."

"Oh..." Hiccup said, looking down, "I... I don't think I can..."

"Why not?" Ezra asked, "Wrenlou will be okay."

"It's not that sir," Hiccup said meeting Ezra's gaze, "the storm... it tore the prosthetic."

Toothless raised his tail a little, showing Ezra the broken prosthetic. The man sighed and ran a hand over his face. He scratched the back of his head, then sighed again.

"Alright," Ezra said, "in that case, I'll go get Dale. Now that I think of it, that's probably better anyway. Why don't you go see if the forge is operational, make that fin. And if you want, the library is that building," he pointed towards a large building across the plaza, "so if you want to see if there's more about this dragon, it's all yours. Okay?"

Hiccup nodded and turned Toothless towards the forge. As soon as he got there, he saw that it wouldn't be operational for quite a while. The blacksmith was in the building, the roof partially destroyed, and he was muttering to himself while he collected his tools from the water. The fire had gone out, no surprise there, and the anvil was broken when it had fallen onto the ground.

"Hiccup,"the man greeted him, inspecting a pair of pliers, then placing it on the table, "what can I do for you on this lovely morning."

"Well," Hiccup started, "the prosthetic broke, but it can wait. I can come back later, if that's better."

"Probably is," the man nodded while he looked around, "there's gonna be a ton of cleaning up to do around this place."

"Is it always this bad...?" Hiccup asked softly.

"Oh no my dear boy, it's usually a lot less. This time the storm just past straight over the city. Usually we just skim the edge. We don't use the shelter every storm, only with the bad ones. This just happened to be a really bad one."

"Oh right... well, then I'll come back again later," Hiccup turned Toothless back to the plaza, "good luck with the clean-up."

"I could use a hand you know!" the smith shouted after him.

"Sorry!" Hiccup shouted back, "I have to find the cure!"

If the smith shouted something back at him, he didn't hear it anymore. Toothless splashed through the water towards the library, and when they were finally inside the building, both rider and dragon were soaking wet. It was still raining outside, and looked like it would for a while. Hiccup sighed, turning to the rows and rows of books.

"Alright bud," he said, his voice echoing hollow, "be careful okay? These books are probably really old, we don't want to destroy them. So don't touch anything. Let's just... see if we can find the dragon section first. Hopefully we'll be dry by then."

Toothless crooned in agreement and followed Hiccup through the library, leaving a trail of watery footsteps on the floor. It wasn't hard to find the dragon section, and soon Toothless was curled up on the floor, Hiccup leaning against his side with books surrounding him on all sides. When the night began to fall, and the dark crept into the library, he lit a few candles and continued reading, determined to find a solution.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Hello my readers,

First of all, sorry for not updating for weeks... school's been... well... school, ya know? Second, I want to say a few things about the riddle game.

Guest reviewers do not have to leave their address or email here, I will leave mine, so you can send it there.

And yes, I am aware that every riddle can be found online, and that cheating would be very easy, but if you really want to win by cheating, go ahead. I have no way of checking it. Just remember, it's not my conscious you're going to have to live with. I set up this game as a way to celebrate my upcoming first anniversary on . Keep in mind that it's supposed to be fun, just a game.

I have no idea how many riddles there will be, for now... let's just start with number one!

In which place does today come before yesterday, and tomorrow is in between?

Good luck guys!

And I'll try to update weekly, promise!