Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a perfect morning to fly. There was a breeze providing the needed updraft for take off. No cloud in the sky, which meant there was no rain to water down and tear his wings. Except for Toothless, there wasn’t a dragon in sight to interrupt or accidently crash into. Finally, in case of an emergency landing, the new spot he picked had nothing, but a pond and bushes below. It couldn’t be a better place for his test flight.

Hiccup grinned as he adjusted his makeshift wings and looked to Toothless. “Okay, Bud, ready for the test flight of the Dragon Fly 6?”

The Night Fury kept his deadpan and unimpressed expression as he gave a growl, which Hiccup knew translated into “No, you stupid human. I’m not.”

“Ah, come on, Toothless,” Hiccup encouraged as he patted the dragon’s head. “I’m certain I worked out all the kinks, and I’m extra certain the wings won’t fall apart this time.”

Toothless growled again.

“It only happened that one time,” Hiccup argued with a sigh. “Honestly, you’re as bad as Astrid.”

Astrid had been making clear lately, or at least strongly encouraging, Hiccup to give up on the flight suit idea. Hiccup was starting to believe her threat of locking him up grew more tempting for her after each test flight. Thus was the reason why Hiccup purposely got up early and went to test his his latest flight suit before the other teens woke up.

The only accompaniment Hiccup had was Toothless in case he needed assistance in an emergency landing. Even if Hiccup thought he didn’t need it, Toothless had been refusing to let Hiccup out of his sight whenever he took out one of his test flight suits. Hiccup couldn’t lose Toothless even if he wanted to.

He stared over the ledge, letting the breeze ruffle his hair as he placed his hands into the cuffs of his wings.

“Okay,” he declared as he got into position. “1...2...3!”

Hiccup jumped into the air. His heart pounded as he started to fall, but suddenly the wind caught up and tossed him into the air like a leaf. Hiccup laughed as he soared through the sky and grinned back to Toothless.

“It’s working!” he cried. “See, Toothless, I told you it would-”

A sudden blast of wind came roaring through and caught the viking off guard. The wind twirled Hiccup around like fan. He tried to keep keep his arms steady, but the force of the wind and spinning proved too much and to his horror he dropped.

“Arrg!” Hiccup cried with Toothless crying out in unison as he fell.

He skimmed the pond and braced himself by shutting his eyes as the bushes came into view. Hiccup landed with a hard thud as he felt his body roll and crash.

He blinked slowly and had a clear upside down view of the sky and leaves. Hiccup attempted to turn his head and winced as he felt something scratch his cheek. He then cursed as he saw the bush he landed in. White flowers with pink dots were in full bloom. Normally, Hiccup would be slightly curious since he had never seen such flowers grow on Berk. This time, however, he forgot about the flowers entirely as he saw thorns in every bare spot of the bush that wasn’t already home to a leaf or flower.

“Thorns?! Seriously?!” he cried. Sure! Why not thorns?! That’s just my luck, isn’t it? He grumbled and wiggled to get out of his wings, except found that his wings were tangled and caught among them. Making it worse, the thorns continued to scratch his face and hands as he moved.

“Come on,” Hiccup grumbled and tried to ignore the stinging pain of the thorns. “I need to get-”

He was cut off as he felt something grab hold of his belt and, with a hard tug, was yanked out of the bush. Hiccup was dropped to the ground, and was relieved to see Toothless standing over him.

“Thanks, Bud,” Hiccup said as he patted the dragon’s nose. He glanced back to his now torn wings and sighed. “I might be able to sew that and-”

Toothless growled softly and poked Hiccup’s chest with his head.

“Okay, okay,” Hiccup said as he held his hands up in defeat. “No more test flying...today at least.”

Toothless’s eyes narrowed as if he was saying “No, more test flying ever,” but Hiccup’s answer seemed enough to satisfy the dragon for the time being. Hiccup then looked over his hands that were covered in scratches and to his chagrin, he saw from his reflection in the pond his face was in the same state.

“Astrid is going to give me an earful when she sees me,” Hiccup muttered. He glanced back to the bush and reached out to pick a couple of the odd flowers.

“Well, I can at least make this test run not a complete failure by bringing these back,” he said as he tucked the flowers away in his schachel. “There’s a chance Fishlegs might know what these are.”

Toothless looked uninterested and rolled his eyes as he sat for his rider to climb on his back. Hiccup approached, but suddenly his legs wobbled and he was forced to grip onto Toothless’s saddle to keep his balance.

The Night Fury’s eyes widened and looked concerned.

“I’m okay,” Hiccup said as he regained his composure and climbed into the saddle. “The wind just got knock out of me. I’ll be fine once I sit for a bit.”

Toothless looked uncertain as he unfolded his wings and took to the air. Hiccup kept his focus on flying, and tried to shake off the odd sense of dizziness that seem to linger.

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Astrid sighed from her seat as she finished the breakfast Fishlegs had made. “Snotlout, face it, you are not going to win. It’s been five rounds already.”

“No, way!” Snotlout cried as he pounded his fist on the table, never letting his unblinking eyes leave his opponent. “I refuse to lose to this thing.”

Fishlegs shook his head as he collected the breakfast plates. “Just let him do it, Astrid. It keeps the twins entertained at least.”

“Come on, come on,” Tuffnut muttered from his seat. “I got a week of chores riding on this.”

“Two weeks if you include mine,” Ruffnut added with a grin as she punched her brother.

Snotlout became even more determined as he was reminded of the bet and brought his face closer. He could do this. His eyes started to strain. He was stronger than this. There was no way he was being beaten by a-

His eyes blinked.

All at once the twins cheered and Snotlout cursed, face palming into the table. “How?!” he cried, throwing his fists into the air. “How is this chicken able to not blink longer than me!”

The chicken tilted her head innocently as she bucked and started to preen her wings.

“Never doubt the chicken,” Tuffnut said as he held up the feathery campion.

“And, as agreed,” Ruffnut said smugly. “You have to do our share of chores for two weeks.”

Snotlout growled as he banged his forehead against the table. “That chicken isn’t normal.”

Fishlegs shook his head and frowned as he glanced to the uneaten plate that sat on the table. “Do you think I should keep this out for Hiccup?”

“Yes,” Astrid said with a growl as she leaned back in her chair. “If he’s not back within an hour, I’m going out to drag him here to eat breakfast.” Hiccup had a bad habit of skipping meals while he was in one of his inventing frenzies. Without Stoick or Gobber here to force the boy to sit down and eat, it was up to Astrid and Toothless.

“You mean if he hasn’t broken every bone in his body from his test flights,” Snotlout muttered as he sat up. “Why won’t he give up on that stupid thing?”

Astrid sighed. It was rare, but for once she agreed with him. She knew Hiccup was an inventor; he’d been one since the moment Gobber had taught him how to hold a hammer. Yet, she hated it when Hiccup would willingly take risks that might physically hurt him for the sake of testing an invention.

She still got nightmares of when he fought the Red Death, and they had all thought they had lost him forever. Astrid didn’t like a repeat of that feeling at all and would like to avoid it if possible.

“It’s because he’s Hiccup and he’s stubborn,” Fishlegs explained.

“Well I’m stubborn too,” Astrid said, and would have said more, but at that exact moment a familiar dragon cry was heard. “Speaking of which,” she muttered as she rose and went outside.

She saw the dragons were almost done their breakfast as Toothless landed near them. Astrid folded her arms, prepared to start the nagging until Hiccup unmounted as she saw his scratched covered face.

“What the?! Hiccup, what happened to you?” she asked, racing over.

Hiccup sighed as he let Astrid examined his face and then traced her fingers over the scratches on his hands. Only a few of the scratches were leaking blood, but the red marks all over him was unsettling.

“Did you get attacked?!” she asked.

“Only by a bush,” Hiccup said with a shaky laugh. Toothless rolled his eyes as he went to chomp some of the leftover fish.

Hiccup sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m okay, I just had the bad luck of crashing into a thorn bush when I landed.”

Astrid sighed, relieved it wasn’t something more severe. “Come on, you,” she said as she tugged Hiccup inside. “Get inside and eat, while I get the ointment for that.”

Hiccup followed, giving a sheepish smile as he entered and the group turned to him.

“Um...let me guess?” Fishlegs asked with a raised eyebrow. “Another crash landing?”

“More or less,” Hiccup said as he sat to eat. “Although, on the plus side I discovered a new plant.” He placed a piece of meat into his mouth. “At least not one I’ve ever seen before.”

“Who cares about plants?” Tuffnut asked as he set the chicken to run free on the floor. “They all basically look the same to me.”

“Not all of them have thorns,” Astrid commented as she grabbed the small jar Gothi had given them and took a seat near Hiccup.

Toothless entered, licking his lips, as Astrid removed the lid and started to rub the ointment onto Hiccup’s cheek. She gave a sigh. “Hiccup, I think it’s time to take a break on the flight suit.”

“I have been taking breaks,” Hiccup replied and cringed as the ointment was rubbed in. “Ow, that stuff stings.” Toothless gave a growl like chuckle as he sat himself near Hiccup.

“Two days doesn’t count,” Astrid said as she reached for his hands. “I’m thinking more like a month at least.”

“I’m with Astrid,” Snotlout commented as he plucked a leftover berry into his mouth. “I mean, it’s hilarious to watch you crash and all, but that can only be entertaining for so long.”

“Says you,” Ruffnut replied. “We could watch that forever.”

“Yeah, total chaos,” Tuffnut exclaimed and gave his twin a high five. “In the name of Loki.”

“Oh, brother,” Astrid muttered and turned her attention back to Hiccup. “Point is, you need to lay of the flight suit for awhile...are you listening?”

It was clear he wasn’t. Hiccup’s face had suddenly gone pale and he looked like he was going to be sick. He breathed deeply as his body shook and he gripped his head.

“Hiccup? You, okay?” Fishlegs asked as he patted his shoulder.

“Y-yeah, s-sorry,” Hiccup said, as his words began to slur together. “I...just feel...dizzy...for some...” Suddenly, his eyes shut and he collapsed. The plates clattered as Hiccup’s body went limp and crashed to the floor like a stone.

“Hiccup!” Astrid cried moving over to him instantly. She was speedily joined by Toothless giving panicked cries and Snotlout swooping down to pick up his head.

“H-he’s breathing,” Snotlout said, trying to keep his voice calm. “That’s a good sign, right?”

“But he’s really pale,” Fishlegs said and placed a hand on Hiccup’s forehead. “And he’s burning up.”

Astrid took a deep breath to calm her nerves and get her brain to think rationally. “We need to take him to Gothi.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Fishlegs said. “It’s a long trip, and with the cold winds we’ve been having lately that could make his fever worse.”

“So, what? We’re suppose to leave him like this?” Snotlout spat as Toothless wrapped his tail around Hiccup.

“Course not,” Fishlegs argued back, “what we should do is bring Gothi here for her to look at Hiccup.”

“But we don’t even know what caused this,” Astrid said as she forced one of Hiccup’s eyes lids to inspect . “Eyes aren’t clouded, so it’s definitely not eel pox.”

“Maybe Hiccup licked some green stuff he found on a tree,” Tuffnut suggested as he peered over the table.

“Um...why would Hiccup do that exactly?” Snotlout asked, placing a hand on his hip.

Tuffnut shrugged. “Because he wondered what it tasted like.”

The room went quiet as all the teens stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.

“Oh, sure!” He said with his hands raised. “Like I’m the only person to have ever done that.”

“Um...what’s up with the chicken?” Ruffnut asked asked she pointed. “He’s suddenly interested in Hiccup’s bag.”

The chicken barely heard the question as she pecked at Hiccup’s schachel. The latch came undone and the chicken gave a startled buck as tools and two flowers rolled out. Toothless growled at the sight causing Fishlegs to blink as he picked up the strange plant.

“Where did Hiccup get these?” He examined the petals closely. “I’ve never seen flowers like this before.”

Astrid frowned as she glanced to Hiccup. “And how much you want to bet they’re somehow connected to Hiccup being sick?”

“He did mention that thorn bush was a plant we hadn’t seen before,” Fishlegs said with a nod. “It has to be from the same plant, Hiccup must have picked them for us to examine.”

“Ha! And clearly the chicken knew it was in there!!” Tuffnut declared as he held up the bird proudly. “Never doubt the chicken!”

“Yeah, praise the chicken!” Ruffnut cheered.

Astrid tuned them out as she snatched the flowers from Fishlegs and stashed them into her own bag. “I’m taking these to Berk to show Gothi. Hopefully, she’ll have or know something that can cure Hiccup.” She looked to the others with a serious expression. “In the meantime, take care of him. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Snotlout grumbled. “And why do I have to play nursemaid?”

“Because he’s hardly in a position to move himself,” Fishlegs retorted as he lifted Hiccup and draped him over Toothless back to carry. “Or would you rather go with Astrid and have the honor to tell the chief his son has been poisoned?”

“Let’s see, take care of Hiccup or have to face a no doubt cranky and angry chief?” Snotlout sighed as he rose to his feet. “Fine, I’ll stay here.”

“I’ll be back as fast as I can!” Astrid yelled and dashed to Stormfly. They wasted no time to take off in the air. Astrid’s grip tightened on her saddle as they flew. “Hiccup, if you die because of this, I swear I will kill you,” she whispered.

Chapter Text

Astrid rubbed her hands to calm her nerves as Gobber and Gothi examined the flower she handed to them.

“Well?” she asked. “Do you recognize it?”

“Hmm…,” Gobber muttered as he twirled the flower between his forefinger and thumb. “Will admit, I haven’t seen it before.”

Astrid’s hopes sunk slightly. None of the teens had ever seen it before, but she had been hoping one of the adults had. If it really was a brand new plant, they were helpless to save Hiccup.

Astrid hadn’t wasted a breath the minute she landed. She found Gobber and went straight to Gothi’s hut. She had thought about telling Stoick, however, she would much rather wait until they knew for certain what they were dealing with. Astrid herself was having a hard time keeping a cool head. She wasn’t sure if the same could apply to the Chief of Berk once he learned his son was poisoned.

Gothi scratched her chin as she eyed the flower, causing a huge knot to form in Astrid’s gut as she watched. Yet, much to her relief, luck was on their side, and Gothi gave a slow nod.

“You know what it is?!” Astrid asking, trying desperately to keep her voice at a normal tone.

The old woman nodded as she started to write in the dirt with her staff.

“Huh,” Gobber said curiously as he peered over. “Apparently, it’s a plant that has a hard time growing on Berk, so she’s only seen it twice in her life as a young boar-Ow! Sorry, girl! I meant, girl!”

Gothi gave him a glare as she threatened to hit Gobber again and wiped away the words with her foot before writing again.

“It’s called Yak’s Breath,” Gobber read aloud.

“Yak’s Breath?” Astrid repeated, skeptically.

Gothi gave a shrug as Gobber said “She didn’t name the plant, she just knows it.” He held up the flower. “Although, if you ask me, a better name for it would be Spotted Sven after my uncle who-”

Gothi swifty struck him with her staff and fiercely pointed to the ground where she wrote.

“Alright, alright,” Gobber grumbled and went back to translating. “While the flowers of Yak’s Breath aren’t poisonous, it’s thorns are and there’s no cure if someone gets scratched by it.”

“What?!” Astrid cried, her heart jumping into her throat.

“Hold on,” Gobber cut in by raising his hand, “but the good news is that it’s not fatal. It makes the victim have a high fever and feel like they’re getting their insides twisted for a few days, but they won’t die. It eventually wears off.”

Astrid gave a sigh of relief. Hiccup wasn’t going to die. Good, that was good. With that worry off her mind, she then frowned in concerned. Regardless of it being deadly or not, it sounded like Hiccup was going to have a rough recovery. “So...there’s nothing we can do for him?”

Gothi shook her head and held up a finger for Astrid to wait as she turned her back. The old woman reached into her hut and brought out a large bottle. She placed it into Astrid’s hands before returning to writing in the dirt.

“This medicine will help keep his fever down,” Gobber read as he folded his arms over his chest, “and most importantly keep him asleep, while he has his hallucinations.”

Astrid forgot about looking over the bottle as she raised her head. “Hallucinations?”

Gobber went silent as he read over the rest and sucked air through his teeth. “Oh boy, let’s just say the delusions people had during the eel pox epidemic were as breeze compared to the ones caused by Yak’s Breath.”

“How bad, exactly?” Astrid asked, fearing the answer.

Gothi wrote a sentence that Astrid didn’t need a translation for since the old woman’s expression cleary read You don’t want to know.

“Great,” Astrid muttered, darkly. “As if we didn’t have enough problems.”

“Ah, it’s not that bad, Lass,” Gobber said. “Just each time Hiccup wakes up, force him to take a swallow and that’s all there is to it. He’ll spend most of the time sleeping like a baby.”

“You say it’s easy, but why do I have a feeling it won’t be?” Astrid said as she put the bottle in her schachel for safekeeping. She had clear recollections how bad the eel pox affected people. Astrid didn’t even want to imagine how much worse the Yak’s Breath poison would be.

She then gave a sigh. “Still, thanks, Gothi. At least we have something for Hiccup.” She turned her gaze back to Gobber. “And I’m thinking I need to tell Stoick what happened before I head back to Dragon’s Edge.”

The blacksmith shook his head. “No need, Stoick is away this week meeting with the other chiefs, but I’ll fill him in when he gets back.”

Well, at least that was one less thing to deal with, Astrid thought as they started to make their way back down the mountain. Astrid hadn’t gotten the answer she wanted, but at least it wasn’t what she had been fearing. She just hoped the others were doing alright and Hiccup wouldn’t wake up until she got back.

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Snotlout huffed as he slouched in the chair beside Hiccup’s bed.

“This is super boring,” he muttered as he glanced to the still unconscious Hiccup. “Watching grass grow would be more exciting than getting to witness Hiccup breathe.”

Toothless barely turned his head and kept his seat next to Hiccup’s bed, his face full of worry. Fishlegs patted the concerned dragon as he glanced back to Snotlout.

“Astrid asked us to keep an eye on Hiccup, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Fishlegs said firmly.

Snotlout rolled his eyes. “I know that, but it seems rather stupid for both of us to be doing this.”

Toothless gave a growl.

“Sorry, for all three of us,” Snotlout corrected and pointed over his shoulders, “especially since the twins got to run off.”

“That’s because we’re doing important research!” Tuffnut declared as he entered Hiccup’s hut.

“Yeah!” Ruffnut agreed as she appeared, carrying a bowl full of green slime and trying to keep it from spilling over.

“Researching what?” Fishlegs asked and pointed to the bowl in disgust. “And what in Odin’s name is that?”

“Only one of the many famous Thorston family cures!” Tuffnut said as he took the bowl and showed off the green slime. “Man, I’ve always wanted to try out these things.”

“Wait, the Thorston’s family cures?” Fishlegs spoke in horror. “I thought those were banned by Stoick’s father years ago.”

“They are banned on Berk,” Tuffnut cried, and then grinned evilly, “but we’re not on Berk, are we?”

“And therefore no longer banned!” Ruffnut added excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to try out these cures, and we can test them out on Hiccup. One of these old remedies is bound to work.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Fishlegs argued. “We don’t even know-”

“Oh, let them try,” Snotlout remarked as he rose. “I can’t see how these numbskull cures can make things worse, and it’s not like we got any other ideas to go on.”

Fishlegs sighed in defeat and cringed. “It pains me to say it...but you have a point.”

Ruffnut gave a grin full of manic glee as Tuffnut wrapped his arms around Hiccup to sit him up. Toothless’s narrowed his eyes in suspicious, but stayed put in his spot as Ruffnut held the bowl up to Hiccup’s lips.

“Okay, here we go,” Ruffnut stated as she poured the concoction into Hiccup’s mouth. “This should fix you up.”

Once they were certain Hiccup had swallowed, Tuffnut swiftly set Hiccup back down and stepped away. “Alright, everyone stand clear.”

“Uh...why?” Snotlout asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is he going to explode or something?”

“No, but each of the recipes ends with telling people to stand clear,” Ruffnut explained. “Apparently they can cause strong reactions in people.”

“That’s not comforting,” Fishlegs replied in a shaky tone.

Suddenly, Hiccup’s eyes flew open. He sprang upward, gasping for air like he had just been drowning. Toothless gave a worried growl as the twins high fived each other.

“Look, he’s awake!” Tuffnut exclaimed, ignoring how green Hiccup’s face was becoming. “That’s a good sign-”

He was cut off as Hiccup leaped off the bed and made a dash for a bucket. The group was silent as their listened to their fearless leader vomit non-stop. Finally, when he was finished, Hiccup raised his head, shut his eyes and fell back onto the floor.

Snotlout frowned as he and Toothless approached the young viking. He kneeled to poked at Hiccup’s face and rolled his eyes when he got no response. “He’s unconscious, again” Snotlout stated. “Guess your ‘cure’ was just strong enough to make him toss his breakfast.”

“Huh,” Ruffnut pondered as she grasped his chin and looked to her brother. “Think it has anything to do with the fact this stuff is suppose to be rubbed onto feet?”

“You know,” Tuffnut said with a slow nod, “it might.”

“Rubbed on feet?!” Fishlegs exclaimed. “Why would-no, wait I don’t want to know.”

Toothless gave a defensive growl as Snotlout propped Hiccup onto his back to carry back to his bed.

“Alright,” Tuffnut said as he took the bowl. “Time for round two-”

“No, no round two,” Fishlegs stated as he picked up the bucket and gagged at the smell. “Snotlout watch Hiccup, I’ll takes care of Hiccup’s mess here before it stinks up the whole hut.” He turned to the twins. “And you two dump that stuff somewhere where it won’t poison anyone.”

Ruffnut huffed. “Fine, we got better cures that we should try anyway,” she said as they left the room.

“Wonderful, that’s just what we need,” Snotlout muttered as the others left and he pulled up a chair. He leaned back and drummed his fingers on his knees. He really didn’t like being on watch. Although, not that he would admit it, but it wasn't due to things being boring. It was because he felt so helpless. He hated feeling this way.

Things would be different if they knew exactly what they were dealing with. They always knew what had to be done, especially Hiccup. Simple and easy. Usually, it was Hiccup’s mad schemes that saved everything in the end.

Now, it was a combination of not only having no sweet clue what was going on, but also their leader - the one who normally thought of solutions - being the victim. Things were a lot harder without the guy’s crazy ideas, not that he would tell his cousin. Hiccup had a big enough ego as was.

Toothless’s growl awoke Snotlout from his thoughts. The Night Fury looked miserable, as he lay his head next to Hiccup on the bed. It reminded Snotlout of the time Hookfang’s fire nearly died out, and he sat next to his dragon unable to do anything to heal him. He had loathed every minute of it.

Snotlout glanced over this shoulder, double checking the twins or Fishlegs weren’t back yet to eavesdrop before speaking.

“Hey, don’t worry, Toothless. Hiccup will be fine,” Snotlout said in a confident tone. “Hiccup survived the Red Death, getting his foot burnt off and not to mention all the other times he almost got himself clobbered.” He gave a smirk. “While scrawny, he’s surprisingly hard to get rid of. A little thing like a plant isn’t going to kill him.”

Toothless gave a low growl, still looking concerned and yet nudge Snotlout’s hand gently.

“I’m going to assume that means ‘Thank you’ in giant reptile,” Snotlout remarked as he patted the dragon. “But if you tell anyone I tried to make you feel better, I’ll deny it.”

Toothless snorted, but then a moan was heard. Both viking and dragon stood at full alert as Hiccup rose, rubbing head.

“What’s going on?” Hiccup muttered.

Snotlout grinned and slapped his knee. “Ha! It’s about time! Didn’t I tell you Toothless?!” Toothless grinned happily as Snotlout rose out of the chair. “How you feeling, Hiccup?”

Hiccup stared up with his face full of confusion. “Hiccup? Who’s Hiccup?”

The smile on Snotlout’s face vanished instantly. Uh oh, did Hiccup lose his memory? “Um...you are-”

“No, I’m not!” Hiccup snapped as he shoved Snotlout aside and stood up. “I’m Captain Vali!”

“Captain...Vali?” Snotlout said, slowly as he poked his ear. Toothless titled his head, looking completely baffled.

“That’s right!” Hiccup snapped. “And you’re my first mate, and that” he pointed to Toothless, “is the ship’s cat Tiny.”

Toothless choked as he stared wide eyed. Snotlout swallowed and coughed into his hands. “Right, he’s our cat...um...Hic-I mean, Captain,” he spoke and gradually moved towards Hiccup to grab him. “You need to get back into bed-”

“Who’s steering the ship?” Hiccup asked.

“What?”

“If you’re here, who’s steering the ship?” Hiccup repeated, sounding annoyed.

“Ship? WE’RE NOT ON A SHIP!” Snotlout cried, losing his patience.

Hiccup sighed and tossed his hands up into the air. “I just have to do EVERYTHING around here, don’t I?!” He stomped out of the hut. “We’re going to have words about this later!”

Snotlout stared stunned as he watched Hiccup leave. He was brought out of his stupor when Toothless poked his hand with his nose. The dragon looked at him and then gestured to the door like he was asking for him to explain what just happened.

“Don’t look at me, he’s your rider!” Snotlout declared. He tugged at his hair with a growl before deciding he should chase after the idiot before he hurt himself.

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“Well, that should do it, eh, Girl?” Fishlegs asked as he held out the bucket for Meatlug to inspect. His dragon sniffed and gave a growl of approval. “Although,” Fishlegs continued, “think I’ll warn Hiccup not to carry fish in this just to be safe.” He shuddered slightly. “I really don’t want to know what was in that gross stuff.”

A familiar roar made him turn, and he was relieved to see Stormfly as she land.

“Thank, Thor,” Fishlegs muttered as he raced up, but slowed his pace as he realized Astrid was alone. “Astrid, where’s Gothi?”

Astrid gave a sigh as she reached inside her schachel. “She’s actually not needed because, thankfully, Hiccup’s not going to die. He got poisoned by the thorns of the flower he found, and while it will make him feverish, it’s not lethal.”

“Oh..well, that’s a relief,” Fishlegs said as Meatlug sniffed Stormfly to greet her. “So, you got the cure then?”

Astrid chewed her bottom lip. “That’s kind of the bad news, there is no cure. Apparently, the poison will wear off in a few days.”

“And what’s so bad about that?” Fishlegs asked, not understanding Astrid’s frown. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“It is,” Astrid said slowly as she brought out a bottle, “but the catch is that we need Hiccup to drink this and keep him asleep because-”

“HICCUP, GET YOUR BUTT BACK DOWN HERE!!” Snotlout’s voice suddenly bellowed throughout all of Dragon’s Edge.

Astrid and Fishlegs exchanged baffled looks as they rushed towards the source, with their dragons behind them. They found Snotlout outside the main hut stomping his foot in frustration as both Hookfang and Toothless stared upward.

“Snotlout!” Fishlegs scolded. “I thought I told you to keep an eye on Hiccup.”

Snotlout’s eyes twitched as his hands tightened into fists. “That’s exactly what I’m doing, idiot!”

“How is this watching-”

“Uh, hate to interrupt, but question,” Ruffnut asked as she and her twin approached with Barf and Belch, “why is Hiccup on the roof?”

All the teens and dragons glanced up and stared wide eyed. Their fearless leader was sitting up on the roof, with a basket on his head, holding his spy glass and pointing ahead.

“Brace yourself, crew!” Hiccup cried. “There’s a strong storm coming! I can feel it in my bones.”

Toothless gave a confused growl as he looked to the other teens with pleading eyes. Fishlegs imagined the Night Fury was saying Please, get my crazy human down before he hurts himself.

“Snotlout, explain,” Astrid said in a flat tone, but never took her eyes off of Hiccup.

Snotlout shook his head and growled. “All I know is that Hiccup suddenly woke up, claimed he was ‘Captain Vali’ and decided to steer the ‘ship’!”

Tuffnut blinked and scratched his head. “Um...we’re an island, not a ship.”

“Try telling him that!” Snotlout snapped, stomping his foot. “I’ve been trying to get him to climb down, but he won’t listen! He’s gone nuts!”

Astrid sighed as she buried her face into her hands. “No, he’s hallucinating because of his fever.”

“It’s worse than I dared dream!” Hiccup continued. “I dare say that I spy pirates on the horizon!”

“And, boy, Gothi wasn’t kidding when she said it was worse than eel pox,” Astrid concluded.

“So, what do we do about this?” Fishlegs asked as he watched Hiccup. From how Hiccup’s body was wobbling each time he move, Fishlegs was afraid he was going to fall off the roof at any second.

“Right now, get him off the roof and have him drink this,” Astrid instructed as she held up the bottle. “We’ll make a plan after that.”

“That might be easier said than done,” Fishlegs stated as Hiccup searched the roof for a sword. “He doesn’t look like he’ll be in a mood to cooperate with us.”

“Oh, please,” Tuffnut said with a scoff. “It’s Hiccup.”

“Yeah,” Ruffnut replied with a laugh. “I know boars stronger than him. Tackling him and getting him down will be easy.”

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An hour later, Snotlout moaned as he rubbed his sore arms. “Easy, huh?” he snarked and shot Tuffnut a glare. “If you ever say that again, remind me to punch you. I got bruises on my bruises here!”

“Hey, how were we to know Hiccup could actually be strong when he wanted to,” Tuffnut snapped as he bandaged his hand. “Or had such sharp teeth for that matter.”

“Although,” Ruffnut said as she rubbed her neck, “seeing Hiccup declaring we were committing ‘mutiny’ was funny.”

“That’s your opinion,” Fishlegs muttered as he rubbed his sore head. “I didn’t think he could kick that hard either.”

Astrid shook her head as she finished tucking Hiccup into bed and patted Toothless on the head. “Well, at least we got him to take the medicine and he’s sleeping.”

“Heh, yeah at least there’s that,” Snotlout grumbled.

“Now, we just have to do it all again in a few hours,” Astrid stated as she leaned against Hiccup’s bed.

“Whoa, wait, sorry, I must have mud in my ears or something,” Tuffnut replied as he poked his ear with his finger. “I thought you just said ‘we would have to do that AGAIN’!”

Astrid rolled her eyes. “Of course we have to do it again. It’s going to take a week for Hiccup’s body to get this poison completely out of his system.”

“So, what you’re saying is,” Snotlout said as his eyes twitched. “Is that each time Princess Outpost wakes up, we have to force him to drink that stupid medicine, just so we can have some peace and quiet?!” He grumbled and buried his face into his hands. “Terrific.”

“It’s also to keep his fevers down,” Fishlegs added. “Besides, it’s not likely he’ll be having the same delusion each time.”

“Oh, so we’re going to get a wide variety of crazy Hiccups!” Ruffnut declared tossing her hands up in the air with a scowl. “That’s just awesome!”

“It’s either that or we let him run wild for a week, and risk him hurting himself,” said Astrid. “We don’t have a choice, and since we don’t know exactly when he’ll wake up each time, we’ll have to take turns watching him.”

“You say that,” Ruffnut said with a grin, “and yet, I’m thinking we just stuff Hiccup in the boar pit and-”

“No, boar pit, “ Astrid replied, firmly. “Fishlegs, you take the first watch. After that it’ll be me, then Tuffnut, then Snotlout, then Ruffnut and then we start over again. Got it?”

“Got it,” Fishlegs replied as Ruffnut mumbled along.

Snotlout said nothing as he stroked his chin and looked thoughtful. “Are we certain we’re not open to the boar pit idea-”

Toothless growled.

“Okay, okay! Just checking!” Snotlout replied. “Geez, can’t dragons take a joke?”

Astrid sighed, suddenly feeling drained. It was going to be a long week.

Chapter Text

The next few hours were thankfully quiet. Fishlegs wasn’t sure if his nerves could handle another fight with ‘Captain Vali’. He just hoped when Hiccup awoke he didn’t decide to take up where they had left the fight. Fishlegs’s arms were still sore from having to hold him down.

Meatlug gave a growl indicating it was her rider’s turn.

“Oh, sorry, Girl,” Fishlegs said as he looked over the playing board. “Lost in thought...um...here we go.” He moved one of his tiny carved wooden vikings two squares ahead. “There we go, let’s see you beat that, Girl.”

Meatlug’s eyes narrowed as she looked over the game board. She gave a thoughtful nod as she shoved one of her carved wooden dragons to the left with her nose. It collided with one of Fishleg’s vikings and knocked it over, causing the Gronkle to give a delightful growl.

“Huh, so three points for you,” Fishlegs muttered as he wrote it down. “You’re really becoming a master at this game.”

Meatlug smugly wagged her tail. Fishlegs chuckled and folded his arms. “And Snotlout said my ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ game was stupid.” He glanced over to Toothless who was still sitting in the same spot he had been all afternoon.

The Night Fury lay near Hiccup’s bed, with his head resting on his front paws. He gave a worried growl as his gaze refused to leave Hiccup.

Fishlegs couldn’t blame Toothless. Gods know he would be feeling the exact same way in his boots..er or was it dragon claws? He wasn’t sure what the correct analogy was here.

“Hey, Toothless, want to join Meatlug and I in an exciting round of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’?” Fishlegs asked as he held up an extra dragon piece to tempt him. “We could always use a third player.”

Toothless growl and covered his face with his tail.

Fishlegs sighed in response. “Thought you would say that,” he said as he set his piece down. “Can’t blame me for trying-”

A moan came from the bed. Fishlegs sprung to his feet as Hiccup sat up grasping his head. Toothless sat up at full alert, staring at his rider with an anxious frown. Fishlegs didn’t dare move as Hiccup glanced to the Night Fury and blinked in confusion.

“Fishlegs,” he asked, “what’s going on?”

Well, he’s sounding more reasonable, Fishlegs thought. “You’re sick,” he explained calmly and picked up some of the soup he had made earlier. “Why don’t you try eating?”

Hiccup looked at him, and then scowled. “Bah! I don’t have time to eat! I got a village to run!”

Fishlegs blinked. “A village?”

Hiccup rose, not minding how shaky his legs were as he did so. “Where’s Gobber?! He’s supposed to have sharpened my axe by now!”

“Your axe?” Fishlegs asked as Toothless sniffed Hiccup’s feet.

“Of course!” Hiccup continued as he placed his hands on his hips. “What kind of chief am I without my axe?!”

Uh, oh. “Chief?” Fishlegs asked.

“And where’s that son of mine?” Hiccup exclaimed and looked to Toothless. “Go fetch him ya scaly beast. I need him to get those Terrible Terrors under control!”

Fishleg’s jaw dropped. Oh, Gods, he’s thinks he’s Stoick. I’m not sure if this is worse or better than Captain Vali.

Hiccup grumbled as he started to stomp. “I need something hard and heavy to throw.”

“Rrriigghhtt,” Fishlegs said as he glanced back to Meatlug who was blinking in confusion. “That...uh, sounds like some very important stuff to do, Chief,” he said as he turned around to block Hiccup’s view of him pouring the medicine into the food. “But, I really think you should have something to eat first.”

“I told you,” Hiccup said as he started to exit the hut, “I got too much stuff-”

“Um...Gobber, said he was coming right here,” Fishlegs stammered. “So, you might as well eat something while you wait.” He gave a shaky smile. “Right?”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow that scarily reminded Fishlegs of Stoick. For a second, he was certain Hiccup was going to leave, and in his state of mind, Fishlegs really didn’t want to fight him hand to hand. However, the not-so-vast viking gave a sigh.

“Fine, but after this I’m tracking down Hiccup,” Hiccup grumbled. “That boy is always running off without telling me. I need to lecture him about that.”

“I’m...sure you will, Sir,” Fishlegs said. He gave a relieved sigh as Hiccup took the soup and started to eat.

The next several minutes were spent with Fishlegs pretending to listening as Hiccup ranted how the food storage was still short, they needed to build another ship for their fleet, and Sven was complaining how the dragons’ snoring was keeping his sheep up at night. Eventually, Hiccup began to yawn and within seconds the empty bowl dropped from his hands and he flopped back on the back.

“Thank, Thor,” Fishlegs said as Meatlug picked up the bowl to play with. He glanced to Toothless. “Does Stoick yell this much at home too?”

Toothless merely shrugged, which didn’t confirm or deny the question. Fishlegs sighed as he tucked Hiccup back into bed.

“I just hope he doesn’t wake up thinking he’s Mildew next,” he said. “One’s more than enough.”

Toothless gave a snort as Meatlug licked her lips and decided to chew on the game board.
“Meatlug!” Fishlegs scolded as he walked over. “I told you that’s for playing not eating! I knew making it out of stone was a bad idea!”

Toothless shook his head as he sat back on the floor.

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Astrid could not have heard what she thought she had heard. Sure, the twins could be ridiculous, and there were times she greatly questioned their sanity, but surely this time she had misheard them. Although, Toothless looked to the twins with the same awestruck look and was now directly growling at them. Alright, so maybe she wasn’t losing her hearing.

“You want,” Astrid said slowly as she folded her arms over her chest, “to whip Hiccup?”

“Just for a minute,” Tuffnut said as he held out the makeshift whip made out of...something that she wasn’t sure she wanted to know if the smell was any indication. “According to the Thornston family cures, if we whip his back for a minute with this whip it will knock the poison right out of him.”

“We got science on our side this time!” Ruffnut declared as she lovingly held the other end of the whip. “It’s foolproof.”

Astrid buried her face into her hands. It was far too late to be dealing with this. “Guys, we’ve been over this, Hiccup doesn’t need a cure since he should recover in a week.”

“Yeah, but this could cure him faster,” Ruffnut argued with a huff.

“Besides,” Tuffnut replied with a smirk. “It would be really funny to watch.”

“To you two maybe,” Astrid said as she yanked the whip from their hands. “I’m confiscating this.”

“Hey, that took like ..um…” Tuffnut counted on his fingers. “A few minutes at least to make.”

“You’re not whipping, Hiccup!” Astrid said with a snarl and was glad to hear Toothless back up. “Go. To. Bed!”

Ruffnut rolled her eyes, but seemed to take the hint.

“Alright, fine, but we’re not giving up on the cures,” she said as she tugged her brother along. “Come on, Bro. Later, we can try the spider cure on him.”

“Oh! Good idea,” Tuffnut said as they walked out. “And let’s not forget the mudslide cure.”

“I don’t even want to know,” she muttered as she shook her head and returned her gaze to the sleeping Hiccup.

She was glad that he hadn’t woken up since Fishlegs’ watch. His fever was dangerously high and he needed all the sleep he could get. However, that only meant he was bound to wake up again eventually and Gods only knew what state he would be in.

Astrid sighed as she gently took a wet cloth to wipe the sweat off of Hiccup’s forehead. He was still so warm to the touch. “You are going to give me grey hairs before I’m even twenty,” she grumbled as she brushed his brown bangs away from his eyes.

Suddenly, a whimper escaped Hiccup’s lips. Astrid froze and watched him start to fidget in his sleep.

“No, no, leave him alone,” Hiccup mumbled as his gripped the blanket tightly.

Toothless raised his head in alarm, but only stayed back when Astrid touched his nose.

“Hiccup’s probably having a bad dream,” she explained. “Let me wake me him up.” It was hard to tell what dream was Hiccup, and there was a chance waking up to a dragon in his face would only make things worse.

“No, no,” Hiccup spoke as his shifted to his side, taking deep breathes. “Don’t hurt him-”

“Hiccup,” Astrid said firmly as she shook his shoulder. “Wake up!”

Her leader awoke with a start and sprung upward. Hiccup kept a tight hold on the blankets as he panted. His face was coated in sweat, although Astrid was more disturbed by the tears that were building up in his tear ducts.

“Hiccup? You okay?” Astrid asked, but Hiccup barely seemed to have heard her. He looked lost and unsure where he was. She reached out and touched his shoulder causing Hiccup to jump. He looked frightened until he blinked and seem to calm slightly as he looked to her.

“Astrid?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said in a calm voice. “Do you want some water-”

“Don’t let them hurt Toothless!” he begged and took her by the shoulders.

Astrid stared befuddled as Toothless growled in confusion. Hiccup sounded so scared. “Them?”

“Please, don’t let them hurt him,” Hiccup begged, tears starting to roll down his cheek. “Don’t let them! Please!”

Then it dawned on her. Hiccup’s nightmare had been about Toothless, and people hurting him or worse. Was it possible he had dreamed of the day in the killing ring? If the Berkians hadn’t just captured the Night Fury?

Astrid swallowed, keeping her face emotionless in order to keep Hiccup calm. Whatever the nightmare was, Hiccup hadn’t realized he woken up from it in his fevered state. It would be hard to get him to believe nothing was going to happen to his beloved dragon. The better route would be getting him to back to sleep.

Gently, Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup’s neck and hugged him tightly. “No one is going to hurt Toothless on my watch,” she stated.

Hiccup seemed to relax and leaned into her touch. “Y-you promise?” Hiccup asked, his voice shaking and belonged to that of a scared little boy then her brave friend who met with danger on a daily basis.

“I promise,” she said as she broke away and brushed the bangs from his eyes. “How about you eat and drink something?”

Hiccup blinked unsure, but then as Toothless nudged his hand he seemed more at ease.

“Um..yeah, okay,” he said in an puzzled tone as if he was slowly piecing together Toothless wasn’t in immediate danger.

Astrid gave a soft smile as she gave Hiccup the soup Fishlegs had left Hiccup when he awoke. Hiccup still looked slightly disoriented as he ate, but to Astrid’s relief he ate the whole bowl without incident. Astrid was afraid Hiccup would be hesitant to drink the medicine, but with a couple of encouraging nudges from Toothless, Hiccup swallowed it in one gulp.

His face winced as he wiped his lips. “That’s really bitter,” he commented and yawned, his eyes starting to close. “What’s..in it?”

“Various things to help you sleep,” Astrid said as she coaxed him to lay down and pulled the blanket over him. “Why don’t you get some rest?”

Hiccup blinked, struggling to stay awake. “You’ll...protect Toothless?” he said with his voice thick with sleep.

“Promise,” Astrid said as she held his hand. “No one will hurt him as long as I’m around.”

Hiccup gave a half smile. “Thanks...Astrid,” he muttered before giving in and shut his eyes.

Astrid remained still as she studied Hiccup’s chest steadily rising up and down until she was certain he was in dreamland. Her shoulders relaxed and she let her head drop back, but was startled as she felt Toothless nudged her hand.

Astrid glanced down into Toothless’s pair of concerned eyes. They looked so wide and innocent as Hiccup’s eyes had been moments before. These two really were brothers even if they weren’t even the same species.

She gave him a half smile and stroked Toothless’s head. “He’ll be okay, Toothless,” she whispered. “Same promise to you, nothing will happen to him as long as I’m around.”

Toothless cracked an eye open and gave an appreciative growl, which Astrid always took as a sign of friendship. They always had an unspoken promise between them to always watch Hiccup’s back, especially when the idiot wouldn’t always watch it for himself. In a strange way, if Hiccup wasn’t Toothless’s partner, she had a feeling she would have been Toothless’s second choice.

Astrid yawned as she stole a glance at the sleeping Hiccup. “You mind taking over ‘Hiccup Watch’ while I get a little shut eye?” she asked.

Toothless nodded and then set himself comfortable sitting on the floor near the end of Hiccup’s bed. He curled up like a cat, wrapped his tail around himself, but both of his eyes were wide open and full alert.

“Thanks” Astrid replied as she sat and sank into the chair. “And when this is over, we’re so keeping him away from that stupid dragon glider agreed?”

Toothless growled, and Astrid didn’t need to speak dragon to knew it meant Had already planned on it.

Chapter Text

The rest of the night and following morning passed by without incident, and thus came Tuffnut’s turn for ‘Hiccup Watch’...and he had never been so utterly bored. He had been hoping Hiccup would wake up as Captain Vali again, or maybe even believe he was a three headed yak or something. Nope! Hiccup slept like a baby, and Tuffnut was forced to count the wood knots in Hiccup’s hut for amusement.

However, the novelty wore off after the tenth round of counting and it took of of Tuffnut’s willpower to not yank his hair out of boredom. He sighed and casually glanced to the sleeping Hiccup.

“Couldn’t you just randomly scream in your sleep or something?” he muttered.

Toothless raised his head and shot a glare in Tuffnut’s direction.

“What? I was just asking,” he replied. “Be more entertaining than seeing how many snores Hiccup can do in an hour.”

Toothless rolled his eyes before snorting and resting his head back down. Tuffnut scoffed as he gave a pout and leaned back in the chair. It was sssooo boring! He needed to do SOMETHING to liven things up.

Then a thought struck him. He did have that bottle of medicine he and Ruffnut put together in his pocket. He was going to save it for later when Ruffnut came to take over, but there was no reason he couldn’t try it now. It was for science!

Tuffnut chuckled as he glanced around to make certain Astrid nor Fishlegs were around to stop him before yanking out the bottle. This stuff was supposed to cure itchy scalps, and with how mess up Hiccup was in his head right now, it seemed a logical cure to try out on him in his current state. It made perfect sense!

He chuckled as he knelt forward and brought the bottle to Hiccup’s lips to drink. Toothless raised his head, and growled softly.

“Relax, Toothless,” Tuffnut instructed as he poured the medicine down Hiccup’s throat. “It can’t make it any worse.”

Toothless gave a doubtful snort, but remained where he was. Tuffnut finished pouring the last bit of the liquid, and stepped back to wait for the results. For a moment, nothing happened. Tuffnut gave a pout of disappointment, until Hiccup’s eyes suddenly sprang open.

“Ha! See!” Tuffnut whirled around to Toothless as Hiccup bolted upward. “Told you there was nothing-”

He was cut off as Hiccup kneel forward and vomited on Tuffnut’s boots. He was frozen with disgust and watched helplessly as Hiccup finished, his eyes rolled back and he plopped back onto the bed. Tuffnut blinked as he lifted his boot and wince at the green vomit. What had Hiccup eaten that was green?

“Yuck!” he screamed in disgust. “Okay, apparently it can make it worse.”

Toothless rolled his eyes in a I told you so manner.

“Tuffnut?” Fishlegs asked as he walked in and sniffed the air. “What smells so bad-”

He froze as he spotted the mess on the floor. Fishlegs’s eyes narrowed and he immediately look to Tuffnut. “What did you do?”

At the same moment, the chicken wandered inside and flapped her wings with questioning look as she stared at the mess.

“Hey, I didn’t do-Don’t give me that look!...” Fishlegs kept his glare, and Tuffnut’s shoulders slumped in surrender. “Okay, I gave him some medicine to try, and it caused him to toss his lunch, alright? Sheesh!”

The chicken clucked as her inspected the vomit and ruffled her feathers.

Fishlegs rubbed his eyes. “We told you guys to knock it off with that stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tuffnut grumbled as he stomped and winced as his boots splashed in the vomit. “Mind lecturing me AFTER you get me out of this gunk?”

“Why?” Fishlegs asked with a smirk. “I thought you and Ruffnut thought ‘vomit’ was hilarious.”

“Not when it’s on me!” Tuffnut snapped. “So, give me a hand!”

“I’ll clean up Hiccup,” Fishlegs replied as he walked over. He wet a cloth and wiped the dried vomit off Hiccup’s face. “You can clean yourself, and this mess on the floor, since you got yourself into this mess.” He gestured to his boots. “Quite literally.”

“What? Come on,” Tuffnut whined, and gave a pleading look to the chicken. “You’re on my side in this, right?”

The chicken tilted her head at the young viking, but then swiftly turned on her legs and made a dash out of the hut.

“Traitor!” Tuffnut yelled. He stomped his foot, except had immediate regrets as his boot splashed in the vomit. He cleared his throat as Fishlegs and Toothless stared at him.

“I...ah...meant to do that,” he muttered before sulking off to wash.

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“Come on, Astrid,” Snotlout whined with his hands folded. “Trade shifts with me!”

“For the last time, no!” Astrid snapped as she jabbed a finger at his chest. “It’s your turn!”

“But it’s perfect weather for fishing,” Snotlout hissed as his squeezed his fists. “Don’t you want us to have fish to eat, Astrid?”

Astrid rolled her eyes as folded her arms over her chest. “Yes, so I’ll go fishing. Happy?”

Snotlout glared as he slumped. “No, not really.”

“Deal with it,” Astrid scowled and patted his shoulder. “It’s just for a couple of hours.”

Snotlout grumbled and continued to do so as Astrid left the hut and he turned his gaze to the sleeping Hiccup.

“You so owe, me,” he muttered to his cousin. “I am missing valuable fishing time because of you.”

Toothless’s gave a snort and whacked Snotlout’s bottom with his tail.

“Ow! Hey!” Snotlout protested as he shook a fist. “I’m only stating the truth!”

“Toothless?”

A moan caused both Snotlout and Toothless to instantly hush as they glanced to Hiccup who was starting to sit up.

“Oh, crud,” Snotlout muttered, bitterly. “I didn’t think he be waking up already.” Great, just what Snotlout needed. Another session with crazy man Hiccup.

Hiccup sat up as Snotlout folded his arms over his chest. “Alright, listen up!” He pointed directly at Hiccup. “YOU are going to stay exactly where you are! No funny games this time, got it?”

Hiccup blinked dumbly at Snotlout’s accusing finger before giving his eyes a roll. “I don’t have time for this, Snotlout.”

Snotlout? He’s calling me by my actual name? Ha! Good! Maybe we’re starting to get the normal Hiccup...wait... why is he looking at Toothless when he said that?

Toothless growled equally baffled as Hiccup shook his finger at him. “I don’t know why you’re nagging me when it’s your turn to help gather food supplies, Snotlout.”

“Uh...Hiccup,” Snotlout started, pointing to himself. “I’m right here.”

Hiccup held up a hand. “Yeah, I know, we’ll go out in a minute, Bud.”

Bud? Hiccup never calls me ‘Bud’. The only thing that ever gets that nickname is...oh, crud.

Snotlout took a step back from his cousin. If his hunch was right, then Snotlout was REALLY not going to like dealing with this little delusion of Hiccup’s. As Hiccup continued to lecture Toothless, Snotlout slowly grabbed the bottle of medicine.

Just get this down his throat before he does anything weird.

He slowly approached Hiccup from behind. If he did this right, Snotlout could catch him off guard, and hold him in a headlock as he got it down his throat.

It was a good plan...except he didn’t count on tripping over Toothless’s tail. He let out a yelp as he fell and cast a glare at the Night Fury.

“Useless reptile,” he grumbled. Snotlout tried to climb to his feet, but alas he was interrupted as he felt something hard placed on his back.

Full of dread, Snotlout turned his head in time to see Hiccup finishing latching the saddle together.

“Okay, Bud,” Hiccup said, and completely oblivious to the befuddled expression on the real Toothless’s face. “Let’s go flying.

“Hiccup,” Snotlout snarled. “If you think I’m going to let you ride me like one of your dragons, then you’re-”

“Toothless, hold still,” Hiccup ordered as he tried to climb on his back.

Snotlout shook, trying to free himself. “Hiccup! Get off my back! LITERALLY! AND HOOKFANG STOP LAUGHING! I CAN SEE YOU FROM HERE!”

Hookfang snickered as he slowly pulled his head back out the door, looking very amused.

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“Astrid! Quick, c’mere!” Ruffnut cackled as she gestured to the inside of Hiccup’s hut. “You got to see this!”

Astrid raised a suspicious eyebrow, and Stormfly blinked curiously as she leaned the fishing pole against the wall. Whatever amused Ruffnut or Tuffnut was rarely good, but it was even more disconcerting on the fact that Hookfang seemed to be laughing too.

“Dare I ask why?” Astrid asked as she stepped towards them. Stormfly butted her head against Hookfang to step aside and give her more room. “I was about to get some fish with Stormfly for dinner. If this is a prank-”

“No, and this is way better than a prank!” Ruffnut hissed. “Just get over here.”

Astrid kept her guard up as she moved closer and glanced inside...and froze. “Is Hiccup...trying to ride Snotlout?”

“Come on, Toothless! Let’s go!” Hiccup cried as he tried to keep his grip on his cousin’s shoulders

“Ow!” Snotlout hissed as he struggled to keep his balance. “Hiccup, I swear when you’re back to normal I WILL KILL YOU! NOW SHUT UP AND TAKE YOUR STUPID MEDICINE!”

“Yup,” Ruffnut laughed and Hookfang looked to the girls with a big grin. “Oh, this is priceless!”

Astrid struggled to keep from bursting out laughing. She should really step in and stop this...but it was really amusing. She heard Stormfly give a squawk from behind her, no doubt wondering why they hadn’t left yet.

“HICCUP! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU PUT THAT SADDLE ON ME!” Snotlout bellowed. “TOOTHLESS STOP GRINNING LIKE A DUFFUS AND HELP ME!”

“We’ll go in a bit, Girl. Promise,” Astrid said as she chuckled. This really was too funny. They were not going to forget this for a LONG time.

Chapter Text

Ruffnut eyed the painted ‘X’ she had drawn on the wall as she angled her dagger.

“Almost, got it,” she muttered and then threw it. The dagger flew and landed a few inches to the right off the mark.

“Rats,” Ruffnut grumbled as she went to retrieve her weapon. “Okay, time for round ten.”

Toothless gave a disapproving growl from his spot next to Hiccup’s bed.

“Hey, you won’t let me draw on Hiccup’s face,” Ruffnut replied as she twirled the dagger in her hands. “I need to do something to keep me busy.”

Toothless gave a judging glare until Ruffnut sighed.

“Fine,” she said with a huff and slumped in a chair. She set the dagger on the floor and folded her arms over her chest. “This has to be the most boring job, EVER. Man, I hate this!” she whined.

Ruffnut then gave a sideline glance. Colour had returned to Hiccup’s face, and his fever had been steadily going down in the last couple of days. However, while he was more stable, he still was having delusions each time he woke up. Hiccup was on the mend, but they weren’t out of the woods that.

“I hate it when people are sick,” she grumbled to Toothless. “All they do is lay there all helplessly, moan and groan. It’s a pain to watch.”

Just like it was with Scauldy. She flinched at the memory. For only knowing the dragon for a day, she had gotten oddly attached to the guy, which made it even worse to watch the creature be in so much pain and left to die. She was grateful they had been able to save him.

Still, that was bad enough for a dragon she just met, it was even worse for her to see people she personally knew in pain. Drumming her fingers against her arms, she glanced over her shoulder. Confirming no one was there, and no chance of Hiccup being conscious to hear it, she cleared her throat.

“Hey, Toothless,” she started. “Can you keep a secret?”

The Night Fury tilted his head.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Ruffnut said as she slouched. “Truth is, I hate seeing people sick and there’s nothing I can do about. Guess it’s why I wanted to try all of those cures so badly.” She shrugged. “Just made me feel like I was doing something, you know?”

Toothless seemed to understand as he gave a nod.

She sighed. It felt good giving that off her chest...although if anyone had actually heard her she would forever deny it.

Suddenly, a moan was heard. Ruffnut sprung to her feet. Oh, great, so this was it! After seeing the mess Snotlout had to deal with she was prepared for anything.

Hiccup said nothing as he sat upright and looked around sniffing.

“Hiccup?” Ruffnut called out as Toothless joined her side. “You feeling-”

A growl cut her off.

Ruffnut huffed. “Well, no need to be cranky about it.”

However, Hiccup didn’t hear her and growled again as he climbed out of bed...and proceeded to crawl on the floor.

“Huh?” Ruffnut asked, scratching her head and Toothless mummered in concern.

Things continued to become even stranger as Hiccup started to sniff the ground. Ruffnut chewed her lip. Okay, first hypothesis, Hiccup was having another fever hallucination. If so, what exactly was he doing?

Toothless then decided to cautiously approached Hiccup. The young viking responded with a growl, but then sniffed and looked content to rub his face with Toothless’s.

“Hmm,” Ruffnut muttered as she watched Toothless nuzzle Hiccup’s face. “It’s almost as if Hiccup’s acting like-”

A light went off her in head and she slammed a fist in her hand. “A dragon! He thinks he’s a dragon!”

The meaning of the words then suddenly dawned on her, and she groaned. “A dragon, just great. Of course of all the vikings, Hiccup would think he’s a dragon when sick.”

Hiccup then suddenly became aware of her presence and snarled at her.

“If you’re trying to breath fire, it’s not going to work,” Ruffnut replied as she went for the medicine. “So, then let’s get this down your-”

Hiccup jumped back and hissed before Ruffnut could even stepped towards him. Ruffnut sighed and tapped her foot.

Well, this is going to be a pain in the butt. How am I going to get him to drink this if he won’t let me near him?

Toothless looked tempted to move closer, but stayed where he was.

I could chase him, Ruffnut thought. But he could run out of the hut and then we have to run around the whole island to catch him. Astrid will never let me hear the end of that one.

She glanced around the room, searching for ideas. Her eyes landed on the barrel of fish that sat outside the hut. Recalling what exactly was in the barrel, an idea struck her.

“Toothless,” she stated in a steady tone as she inched her way towards the barrel. “I’m going to drive Hiccup to the corner of the room and you got to pin him, okay?”

The Night Fury blinked, glanced to Hiccup who was currently chewing on his hand, and growled a ‘Yes’.

“Then here goes,” Ruffnut said as she got to the barrel and dug through it. She let loose a maniac grin as she found for what she’d been searching for, a fat eel.

“And Hiccup complained I never paid attention,” she cackled.

She tucked the eel behind her back, taking care that Hiccup didn’t catch on what she was holding as she approached.

“Hey, Hiccup,” she said in a teasing tone as she picked up the bottle of medicine. “Want to hear what I think?

Hiccup turned to her, and with his back arched growled swiped a hand at her.

“If you think you’re a real dragon,” she continued, “then I’m betting you don’t care for these!” She held out the eel and wiggled it in front of Hiccup’s face.

As expected, Hiccup’s eyes widened and he tumbled backwards. He hissed, backing up into the corner behind him as he attempted to whack the eel from her hands.

“That’s it,” Ruffnut beckon as she kept a steady course. “Just keep trying to get away from the eel.” She smirked as Hiccup’s butt collided against the wall and the boy fumed at having nowhere else to go.

“Pin him, Toothless!” Ruffnut directed.

The Night Fury obeyed and immediately jumped onto his rider, pinning him to the ground. Hiccup growled and struggled to shake off his dragon. To his dismay, Toothless stay put and refused to move an inch. All Hiccup could do was flail his arms about and keep hissing.

“Yeah, yeah, just wear yourself out,” Ruffnut said as she dropped the eel in order to get a mug and pour the medicine into it. She kneeled to Hiccup’s level and smiled at him.

“Here you go!” Ruffnut said as she took hold of Hiccup’s chin and dumped the contents into his mouth. “And this time, it’s not one of my cures, I swear.”

Hiccup coughed and gagged as he swallowed, but slowly the medicine took effect. The boy’s eyes started to shut. He gave one last pleading look to Ruffnut before his head dropped face first into the floor.

“Well,” Ruffnut said as she signaled for Toothless to climb off him. “That takes care of that.” She set down the bottle and swung Hiccup over her shoulder. “Let’s get our fearless leader back into bed.”

Toothless growled as he trailed after them. Ruffnut gave a cocky grin. “And look on the bright side, he is getting better.” She dumped Hiccup back into his bed. “So, Hiccup should be back to his regular annoying self soon...hopefully.”

Toothless cooed in concerned and Ruffnut could only offer a comforting pat. “Again,” she stated. “You tell anyone that I actually care, and I’ll deny it. Got it?”

Toothless rolled his eyes, but gave nod before resting his head on Hiccup’s bed.

Ruffnut sighed before resuming her seat. “This has been a weird week, man.”

Toothless couldn’t resist giving a grunt in agreement.

Chapter Text

Hiccup moaned, as he rolled to his side in his sleep. His body felt stiff, like he had been nothing but a statue for weeks. Didn’t help matters his mind was hazy, and his tongue felt oddly fuzzy. Gradually, despite the urge to keep his eyes shut, Hiccup forced them to crack open.

First observation, he was in his hut. Second observation, Toothless was snoring next to his bed. Nothing new or strange there. However, his third observation of seeing Astrid sitting in a chair next to him as she read a book hinted something was amiss.

“Astrid? he asked, his voice cracking slightly. Man, he was dying for a drink.

Astrid paused and looked anxious as she turned to him. “You’re awake,” she stated as she set the book down. “How are you feeling?”

Hiccup groaned as he sat up holding his head. “Like the twins had used my head for a hammer, what happened?” He rubbed his eyes. “Last thing I remember was us arguing over my flight suit.”

Toothless raised his head, looking equally thrilled as Astrid slowly smiled. “Wait,” she said as she leaned forward. “You mean the one we had over breakfast?”

“Uh, yeah?” Hiccup replied. “What else would I be...um Astrid?”

He trailed off and blushed as Astrid felt his forehead.

“You’re fever is gone,” she muttered and then grasped Hiccup by his face. “Quick question, who is standing in the room with you, right now?”

“Um, you,” Hiccup said, wondering if Astrid was the one with the fever, “and Toothless.”

The Night Fury tucked his head under Hiccup’s arm happily. Astrid on the other hand grinned joyfully as she let Hiccup go and rushed to poke her head out the door. “Guys! Hiccup’s back to normal!”

A series of fast pace feet echoed throughout the fort and Snotlout was first to reach the hut.

“Please, tell me this isn’t a prank!” he demanded as Fishlegs and the twins joined in. “My back can’t take another ‘ride’ if you’re joking.”

“Uh...what?” Hiccup asked, but his question was tossed aside as Toothless cheerfully licked his face as if he hadn’t seen Hiccup for a month.

“Nope, he seems back to the usual and mostly sane Hiccup,” Astrid replied as she ushered them inside and folded her arms.

“Uh, can we really say ‘sane’ since that flight suit of his started this whole mess in the first place,” Ruffnut asked.

Tuffnut held up the chicken who gave a loud bawk. “The chicken agrees with this statement,” he said in a firm tone.

The other dragons had poked their head in the door and each gave a growl like they agreed with the bird.

“Okay,” Hiccup said as he held up his hand as he gently shoved Toothless away. “Will SOMEONE please tell me what’s going on?”

“You got yourself poisoned, that’s what!” Snotlout stated as he jabbed Hiccup’s chest with his finger. “And nearly drove me crazy!”

Fishlegs sighed as he shoved Snotlout out of the way. “What he means is that when you crashed in your flight suit, you landed in some poisonous flowers that made you sick with a fever for the last week.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened. “Flowers...wait, the one with the strange petals?”

He gulped when the group and Toothless nodded. He rubbed his neck. Hiccup had fuzzy memories of hands giving him something to drink, and there was one memory of Astrid talking to him in a comforting tone...but he couldn’t recall why exactly.

“How close to being a goner was I?” he asked.

“Thankfully, you weren’t,” Astrid replied. “According to Gothi, the flowers weren’t lethal, but there was no cure. All we could do was give you medicine to keep your fever down and have you sleep through most of it.”

“Yeah, although it might have been faster if we had been allowed to try our family cures,” Tuffnut said as he held a fist in the air.

Hiccup paled at the suggestion and looked to Astrid. “Please tell me you didn’t let them.”

Fishlegs gave a wince. “We were mostly successful.”

“What do you mean mostly-wait, nevermind, I don’t want to know,” Hiccup replied as he ran a hand through his hair. “So, you all had to take care of me for the last week?”

“Yup, you got it,” Astrid stated and patted his shoulder. “And it wasn’t easy.”

So, all of his friends got to see him at his worst, and if that wasn’t bad enough he could barely remember any of it. Terrific!

Toothless grunted and batted Hiccup’s hand with his nose. Hiccup saw the worry that had lingered in his dragon’s eyes and for the first time, he caught the same uneasiness in his friends. Whatever had happened, one thing was clear, he had caused his friends to worry and that wasn’t fair.

Hiccup sighed as he started to pull the blankets off of him. “Thanks for taking care of me, guys, seriously, I mean it. Looks like I put you guys through a lot,” he started to pull back the sheets. “And I’m going to make it up to you all by-”

“NO!” all four teens cried in unison, and even the dragons outside the hut let out roars.

Snotlout snarled as he stomped forward. “YOU can make it up to us,” he said as he shove Hiccup back into bed, “by keeping your butt in bed, and don’t leave for two days at least! We are NOT risking you having a relapse!”

Hiccup grunted as he struggled to sit up despite the pleas of his lethargic body. “Snotlout, I’m fine!”

His cousin cut him off by pinning him to the bed and drew his face so close their noses almost touched. “Listen, Hiccup. You owe me BIG time! Got it?! And you will pay me back by staying in this bed, or by Thor’s hammer, I swear I will tie you to it!”

Hiccup blinked stunned and was only awoken by his stupor when he swallowed. “Uh...okay, I promise to stay in bed.”

“Good,” Snotlout hissed as he let go of Hiccup and let him drop to the bed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do some much needed stress relief fishing with Hookfang.”

“Yeah, you’ll need the fish since I’m suppose to be cooking tonight,” Ruffnut replied with a grin. “And since you lost the bet-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Snotlout interjected as he left. “Cooking will be a breeze compared to dealing with ‘Captain Vali’.” He cast one more look at Hiccup. “And you better still be in bed when I get back!” Snotlout said in a threatening tone as he shut the door.

Hiccup asked, glancing to Toothless for an explanation and scratched his head. “Captain Vali? Who’s that?”

“Ooh,” Tuffnut said as he looked to the other teens. “Can I be the one to tell him? Please!”

“I’ll tell him,” Astrid said as she shoved the teens to the door. “Go play in your boar pit.”

“Good idea,” Ruffnut replied as she let herself be pushed outside. “We haven’t been in it since this whole mess started.”

“And that’s just a crime in itself!” Tuffnut agreed as they left.

Fishlegs sighed as he patted Meatlug. “If you two aren’t needing us, Meatlug and I are going to our rock garden to meditate. We’re overdue for some much needed relaxation too.”

Meatlug gave a content growl and followed her rider outside. Hiccup didn’t say a word until the door was shut, and only he, Toothless and Astrid were left alone in his hut. He was starting to fear of what he was going to learn, but he had to know.

“Astrid,” he said, slowly, “what exactly did I do while I was sick?”

Astrid sighed as she pulled her chair closer. “The thing is Hiccup, your high fever also gave you some delusions.”

Hiccup’s body stiffened. “Like eel pox level delusions?”

Astrid gave a mocking laugh. “Worse than eel pox.”

Hiccup froze, and debated if he wanted his next question answered. “How much worse?”

Astrid then gave a bit of an evil grin, which filled Hiccup with dread. “Where do I begin?” she said mockingly and then snapped her fingers. “Oh, I suppose I better start with Captain Vali, eh, Toothless?”

Toothless nodded as he took a comfy seat next to Hiccup and set his head in his rider’s lap. Hiccup sat silently and listened. He started to stroke Toothless, but was forced to stop as Astrid continued her story. He had his face buried in his hands when Astrid told of how he had acted like his own father, and even mistaken Snotlout for Toothless in his fevered state and tried to ride his back. By the time she told the part of Hiccup actually thinking he was a dragon, his entire face was bright red and he dove under the safety of his covers to hide.

“Hiccup?” Astrid asked as she poked at him. “You okay?”

“Oh, fantastic,” Hiccup grumbled. “I’m just planning to hide here for the rest of the year and possibly my life.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Astrid replied. “It was really funny watching you try to ride Snotlout.”

Hiccup moaned as he buried his face into his pillow, hoping it could somehow hide him from the world.

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A day later, after Hiccup agreed to not leave his bed both for his health, and wishing to hide from his humiliation, Astrid was humming to herself as she washed Stormfly’s scales.

“Almost done, Girl,” Astrid replied as she started to rinse. “Then you and I will go a flight around the island.”

Stormfly growled softly as she rubbed her face against Astrid’s chest. She laughed and wrapped her arms around the Nadder’s neck. Suddenly, a roar was heard and she turned her head to see a familiar Rumblehorn flying towards the island.

Astrid finished cleaning and waved as the dragon and his rider landed. “Hey, Stoick,” Astrid greeted her chief. “I thought you were away at a meeting.”

“I was,” Stoick said as he climbed off Skullcrusher and patted his head. “I just got back last night and Gobber filled me in.” He frowned in concerned as he rubbed his hands together. “How’s Hiccup?”

“On the mend,” Astrid replied as she started to lead him towards Hiccup’s hut. “He no longer has a fever, but it was a LONG week.” She shook her head. “You would not believe some of the stuff Hiccup did.”

“Oh, I can.” Stoick stated as they reached the hut. “I am his father, remember?” He chuckled. “You should have seen what he was like when he was eight years old and got the eel pox.”

Astrid paused and raised an eyebrow, but decided to save the question for later. They entered the hut and found Hiccup quietly sketching in his bed. Toothless waved his tail in greeting and snorted at his rider to look up.

Hiccup looked slightly dazed until he spotted his father. “Oh..uh, hey, Dad.” He tucked his drawing to the side. “What are you doing here?”

“Doing my duty as a father and checking up on my sick son,” Stoick stated as he pressed his hand against his forehead. “And looks like you don’t have a fever.” He frowned. “But you look pale, have you been eating enough?”

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Dad, I’m fine-”

“Snotlout and I have been making sure he eats,” Astrid said, “and if we don’t Toothless growls at him until he does.”

Toothless gave a proud smirk and a small chuckling sound.

Hiccup sighed as he slumped. “Oh, please, continue to talk like I’m not even here.”

“Sorry, Son,” Stoick replied. “But you do have a bad habit of not taking proper care of yourself, especially when you get into your inventing streaks.”

Astrid suddenly narrowed her eyes at the flapping piece of parchment in the bed. “Speaking of which...what exactly are you drawing there?”

Hiccup’s look of annoyance vanished and he gulped as he tried to keep his drawing behind his back. “Oh, uh nothing special. Just uh...sketching a Thunderdrum you know-Wait! Astrid!”

She seized the drawing and groaned when she saw it. “The Dragon Fly 7?!” She waved the parchment. “I thought I made it clear you were banned working on this for the next month!”

“I know, I know,” Hiccup stammered as he tried to take the paper back. “But I got a really good idea on how to make the wings stronger and had to get it down-”

“The only thing that is ‘down’ is you!” Astrid stated firmly, “or trust me Toothless will sit on you to keep you grounded.”

Toothless growled as he grabbed the parchment from Astrid’s hand and proceeded to walk away it in his mouth.

“Hey! Give that back! I’m working on that!” Hiccup replied. He attempted to climb out of bed, but Astrid’s glare made him motionless.

“Or I...could stay right, here and read,” he said as he slowly pulled his legs back under the blanket.

“Reading would be a good idea,” Astrid said as she handed him one of his books. “And if you don’t stay here and read, I’ll get Fishlegs to recite his poetry to you.”

Hiccup shuddered and sighed. “Fine, I’ll be good.”

Stoick laughed and patted his Astrid’s shoulder. “Must say it’s reassuring to know I left my son in good hands.”

“We try,” Astrid said with a shrug, “but he does keep us on our toes.”

“Don’t I know it,” Stoick commented.

Hiccup sighed as he reached out and stroked Toothless’s head. He gave a small smile. It was good to have friends that cared for him...even if it was annoying when they bossed him around.