My Little Dragons: Book 2: Riders of Berk

It was an average morning in Berk. Hiccup was busy making a new ink drawing of his best dragon friend Toothless. But then when he placed his feather pen into his inkwell, it came out dry. Hiccup frowned as he checked the inkwell to find it empty. Looks like he was gonna have to get some more ink.

Bucket was having standing on the edge of his boat, waiting for the one thing that he and his fellow Berkians had been waiting many months for and that the arrival of Trader Johann, an old friend of the village and Stoick the Vast.

With various goods, Berk's villagers rushed to the docks in order to get an early start on Trader Johann's inventory and get the best deals. Zenna, Henna and Edgar Fiersome were already up and armed with various cloths and some of their own old belongings while Stryka and Serpent and Serpentine had their breakfast back at their house.

"Ooohh…I hope Johann's got some silk. I would love to make some new clothes. And maybe a tapestry for the Great Hall." Henna said hopefully, carefully handling the bundles of fabric she had with her.

"I wonder if he's got some books…preferably about sword fighting. I've got to keep my skills sharp." Edgar chuckled, swinging one of his old yet still trusty swords around.

"Please let there be a copy of the Hippocratic Corpus…Please let there be a copy of the Hippocratic Corpus…" Zenna chanted as Trader Johann lowered his ship's gangplank.

"Ah, Berk, my favorite of all the islands I travel to." Trader Johann beamed at the sight of all his eager customers.

"Where have you been to this time, Trader Johann?" Bucket asked eagerly.

"Oh, Bucket, the things I've seen, the people I've met! I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together." Johann said kindly.

Then, facing the people of Berk, Johann announced, "Whatever it is you're looking for, I can assure you, you'll find it here!"

Zenna decided that she couldn't wait any longer. "Hippocratic Corpus, I'm so getting you!" she yelled as she charged up the gangplank and onto the ship along with her equally eager friends. "It's all mine. I call dibs on everything." Snotlout said as he looked at all the various goods with eager eyes.

"I've got food of all sorts, spices, exotic animals…" As Johann said this, spikes suddenly protruded from a bag Tuffnut was looking at! "Is that moving? Does that one move?" the male Thorston asked, wondering how much the spiky bag would cost in trade.

Henna happily picked out a roll of violet silk while Edgar grinned as he found a book on sword fighting and archery.

"Works of art, jewelry, not to mention knowledge." Johann concluded as Fishlegs came over to him with a little leather-bound book.

"Trader Johann, is this your only book on Botany?" the husky Ingerman boy asked.

"Yes, Mr. Fishlegs, why it was given to me by the author himself." Trader Johann informed him.

Fishlegs then held up a necklace made of dragon teeth. "Would you take this necklace? It's made from baby dragon's teeth." He inquired hopefully.

"Fair enough, Mr. Fishlegs." Trader Johann said, taking the necklace off Fishlegs' hands.

Snotlout had then found a mirror and was now completely enamored with his own reflection. "Oooh, I'm even better looking than I thought." The brawny Jorgenson boy remarked.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were busy fighting over an antique helmet. Astrid was with Hiccup, looking at all the jewelry, when she spotted Gobber sighing contentedly as he held up a piece of dark pink silk.

"You okay there, Gobber?" Astrid asked him. "I'm better than okay, I'm in heaven!" the two-limbed blacksmith sighed, still holding the fabric close to his face.

Hiccup, meanwhile, had picked up a ceramic bottle. Trader Johann walked over to him.

"Oh, that's pure squid ink, Hiccup. Wrestled from the colossal squid of the Northern Waters." The trader informed him.

Eager to get his new find, Hiccup handed Johann one of his homemade spyglasses. "Well, how about this spyglass? You know, I made it myself." He suggested.

"I know. You've given me five just like it. Unfortunately, I've only got the two eyes. What else have you got?" Johann politely refused.

Hiccup, luckily, was prepared with more items to barter. He then pulled a custom-made winch he had made in the forge a few days ago and showed it to Trader Johann.

"What do you think of this winch? Eh? It will help you pull up your gangplank." He offered. Johann smiled as he rubbed his aching shoulder.

"A welcome tool for a working man's ailing shoulder. Consider it done." He said happily.

That's when Zenna showed up, looking rather disappointed. "You didn't find anything, Zen?" Hiccup asked her. "Nope…" the one-eyed Fiersome sighed.

"I think I know what you're looking for, Lady Zenna." Johann smiled as he pulled out a thickly-rolled scroll. Zenna's eye twinkled with excitement.

"Old Hippocrates sends his regards. He said that it warms his heart to find out that someone as young as you is interested in studying the healing arts." The trader told her as he took the cloth bundles off her hands and gave her the scroll.

"At last!" Zenna exclaimed, excited to pore over the scroll, and quickly left the ship.

Hiccup chuckled. It wasn't every day that he saw Zenna so excited over something. Then he heard his father, Chief Stoick the Vast, yelling as he practiced swinging a sword around.

"Wow. Another sword. Just what we need." Hiccup said sarcastically. His Dad had more than enough deadly weapons lying around in their house, in his opinion. "If you must know, it's not for me. I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the Chief of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a gift left without a head." Stoick informed him as he swung the sword real hard, slicing the masthead off in the process!

"Johann! What will you take in trade?" Stoick called out cheerfully. "Stoick! It is but your good graces I desire when my amble ship passes through Berk." Trader Johann greeted the great Berkian chief warmly.

"You'll always be welcome on our shores, Johann." Stoick nodded before leaving the ship to get on his Thunderdrum.

"I'll be back in five days. What am I saying? I'll be back in two, thanks to Thornado." He said proudly as his Thunderdrum, that he trained a week ago, whom he had finally named, let out a sonic blast of a roar!

Hiccup quickly covered his ears to block out the worst of the roar. "Oh, you finally named him? Thornado, huh?" he asked curiously. Stoick was now busy trying to keep the hyperactive Thornado behaved as they got ready for take-off.

"That's right. Because he has the power of Thor and the ferocity of a tornado! And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to! Turns out he can be quite stubborn!" Stoick yelled as Thornado tried to buck him off. Of course, Thornado was just kidding around. Yes, he was stubborn and still adapting to his new life but he trusted Stoick well enough.

"Can't imagine where he gets that from." Hiccup said sarcastically, knowing full well how Thornado and his Dad were so much alike.

Stoick then commanded, "Up, Thornado." And his Thunderdrum lifted off the ground and soared into the skies as Johann watched in awe.

"Ah, men riding dragons. What a magnificent sight." The trader said in amazement before an old, raspy voice barked out, "Johann!"

"Mildew!" Johann spun around to greet the old coot.

"Did you bring what I want?" Mildew asked impatiently. "Always straight to the point, I like that!" Johann said brightly, leading Mildew to a covered basket. "I assume you've brought my cabbage?" Johann asked. Mildew begrudgingly handed over one of his prized cabbages and peered into the basket Johann gave him.

Nodding, Mildew looked at Johann seriously. "Take these to my house." He said before leaving. Johann then spotted a sneaky little Terror trying to nibble at some of his edible goods!

"Now, now, now little fella, that's not for you. Away." The trader tried to gently shoo the pesky little dragon away only to get a couple of nips from the Terror's sharp teeth! "Ow! Feisty little one, isn't he?" Johann said and resorted to force that Toothless, frankly, did not like.

"Ow!" Hiccup yelped as Toothless lunged at Johann, causing the Terror to fly off in a hurry and nearly smacked into him. Now Johann cautiously backed away from the male Night Fury, afraid to get blasted.

"Safe distance, please!" the trader said, holding his hands out in front to shield himself.

"Toothless, no! Sorry, Johann. He's just being protective." Hiccup intervened, calming Toothless down before noticing that he had dropped the bottle of pure squid ink.

"Ah, it's gone." The one legged boy sighed, picking up a fragment of the clay pot.

"Oh, sorry, lad. That was my last one. But rest assured, I'll find that colossal squid and wrestle you another bottle." Johann promised him. Hiccup nodded in understanding before looking at Toothless.

"Oh, Toothless." Hiccup sighed. His dragon warbled an apology, which Hiccup accepted along with an 'it's okay' pat before they both decided to head to the Dragon Academy.

"Hey Trader Johann," Aline greeted.

"Ah Princess Aline, I've heard much about you from the villagers," Trader Johann bowed.

"Oh Johann, you don't have to bow. I'm just the same as you," Aline polietly smiled.

"Well anything that interests you?"

Aline looked over the things that Trader Johann had and spotted what looked to be a unquie chest, "Hmm... what's in here?"

"That? Hmm... I don't really know. I pulled that out of the ocean two weeks ago. Haven't been able to open it since,"

"Hmm.... maybe I can open it and see what's inside." Aline smiled as she levitated the chest in her magic and gave Johann some bits. "Thank you,"

"Think nothing of it, Lady Aline." Trader Johann smiled as Aline walked back to the village.

When she got back to the village however....

"Easy, easy! Whooaaa!" Snotlout hollered as Hookfang flew about in dizzy circles.

"Help her, Hiccup and Zenna! She's sick! Whoa! And I'm about to be!" Fishlegs gulped, turning pale as Meatlug who was also having irregular flight patterns.

The Twins on their Zippleback streaked past, yelping as Barf and Belch took insane turns that they didn't usually do. Then, to Zenna's worry, Serpent and Serpentine were also flying an irregular flight pattern with her parents.

"Zen, they're not feeling well!" Henna shouted, trying to keep her half of the maroon Zippleback steady.

"What's going on, love?!" Edgar hollered as he did his best to stay on the dragon. "

Mom! Dad! I wish I knew! But for now, you have to bring Serpent and Serpentine home!" Zenna yelled up to them before looking at Hiccup, scared.

"Hiccup, what do we do?" she whimpered. "It's spreading to all the dragons. How do we stop this?" Hiccup was just as scared as his best human friend and was desperate for help.

Suddenly Gobber said, "Gothi! She'll know what to do!"

Aline quickly activated her magic and paused all the dragons in flight and put them on the ground, "What's the matter?" Aline asked.

"We don't know, they're sick." Fishlegs replied.

Soon, Gothi nodded and knelt in front of the two sick Night Furies. She checked their eyes, looked into their mouths and did a full examination.

And while this was happening, Astrid and Fishlegs stood by Gobber and debated on something. "I've heard Gothi could tell you when you're gonna die, just by looking at your fingernails." Astrid piped up. Fishlegs' eyes widened and he quickly hid his hands behind his back.

"Ah, that's just an old wives tale." Gobber told the two and, noticing that Fishlegs had his tongue out, added, "She looks at your tongue." Making Fishlegs put his tongue back into his mouth.

Gothi had finished her diagnosis and was now writing her findings down in the sand. Zenna could have translated but was busy soothing Stryka so Gobber, who was the second best translator, had to interpret the runes the elder had scribbled.

"She says they're reacting to something, like they're allergic." He said.

"Allergic? To what?" Hiccup asked worriedly. Gothi drew in the sand again.

"To a moose wearing boots." Gobber read out loud.

Well that didn't make much sense to the four Dragon Riders in the room.

"Shouldn't be hard to find." Gobber remarked. Gothi scowled and whacked the blacksmith in the head. "Didn't think that was right." Gobber said sheepishly, looking at the runes again.

"Well, Gobber?" Zenna inquired, looking pretty worried as well.

Finally Gobber got the message. "Ah, they're allergic to something new that's come to the island…But that still looks like a moose." He said, cringing slightly as Gothi whacked him again.

"Well, there are a lot of new things on the island. Trader Johann was just here." Astrid said. "Looking for the allergy causing agent's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. What do we do, Gothi?" Zenna asked her teacher.

When Gothi had finished drawing runes, Gobber translated them with a grim look on his face. "She says to get rid of everything, immediately. Otherwise it's just going to get worse. The dragons are going to get sicker."

At those words, Hiccup and Zenna worriedly hugged their dragons. Hiccup locked eyes with Zenna and knew that his best human friend was just as terrified as he was. Both of them hated to see their dragons in pain.

"Don't worry, Zen. We'll find a way to fix this…" he whispered. "I sure hope so, Hicc. I sure hope so…" Zenna whispered back.

It was a good thing both Hiccup and Zenna were quick thinkers. In no time, they had devised a solution: throw every new item the village had purchased from Trader Johann into a pit.

Vikings lined up with their newly acquired goods, some not really happy to do the act of sacrifice.

"I know this is hard, guys, but I promise you, you're doing a good thing. You're helping the dragons." Hiccup consoled the villagers along with Astrid. "It's the least we can do for them!" the tough Hofferson girl added as Snotlout went by with his mirror.

"Goodbye, beautiful!" the Jorgenson boy said, tossing the mirror into the pile. Fishlegs, meanwhile, was trying to maximize whatever time he had left with his Botany book to the best of his abilities.

"What are you doing?! Throw it in!" Ruffnut demanded as she stood by him.

"I'm sorry! But this Botany book is a real page-turner! I gotta know how it ends!" the chubby Viking insisted. Finally the female Thorston took matters into her own hands.

"No, Ruffnut!" Fishlegs howled as Ruffnut snatched the book out of his hands and threw it in.

"I don't see you throwing anything into the pile, and I thought I saw you buy something from Trader Johann." He said to him.

"He did. He bought silk!" Astrid informed her boyfriend.

"Like me…" Henna sighed sadly as she and Edgar threw the chest containing the silk and sword fighting and archery book they had purchased into the pit.

"Hand it over, Gobber." Hiccup requested politely. "Can't do that, Hiccup. It's, uh, currently in use." Gobber said sheepishly just as Zenna came over to the group. Then the old blacksmith leaned forward and whispered, "It's my skivvies. They're glorious!"

Zenna was confused, while Hiccup wasn't swayed.

"Fine." Gobber gave in and went behind a nearby boulder. Curious, Zenna followed…only to come running back with a look of horror on her face. No sooner had the Fiersome girl fled did a pair of bright pink silk underpants come floating down into the pit.

"I could have gone my whole life without seeing that." Hiccup said dryly before he and Astrid noticed that Zenna's face was as pale as a sheet. "You okay, Zen?" Astrid asked. Zenna shook her head. "I have seen something…no man, woman, Viking or dragon…should ever see…" the one-eyed girl replied, shuddering.

It only took a moment for both Hiccup and Astrid to figure out what Zenna's cryptic reply meant. After putting two and two together, they both shuddered.

"We shall never speak of this." Zenna told them, her eye grave.

"Agreed." Hiccup and Zenna nodded emphatically before leaving to go care for their dragons. Zenna had managed to get Stryka up on her feet and led her home, where she could be with the family.

"Come, come, Serpentine…You need to eat." Henna said softly as she tried to give her part of her and her husband's Zippleback some cod. Serpentine growled irritably and curled up to sleep, wanting nothing more than that. "Oh, Edgar…Not even their favorite cod will rouse them…" Henna sighed worriedly.

Edgar frowned as he gently stroked Serpent's scaly head. Serpent blew out a weak puff of smoke before falling asleep as well. "We can only hope that whatever's ailing them has been buried, love. And that they'll regain their strength soon enough." He sighed.

Suddenly the sound of a plasma blast came from upstairs in the Fiersome house and the walls shook! Startled, Henna and Edgar raced up the stairs to their daughter's room to find Zenna frantically smothering out the flames on her bed while Stryka huddled in a corner, flopped down like a dead fish!

"Oh my Thor!" Henna gasped. Edgar quickly ran downstairs and, in just seconds, came upstairs again with a bucket of water. Once the fire was put out, Zenna rushed to Stryka's side. The female Night Fury weakly warbled an apology.

"It's alright, Stryka…It was an accident…It's okay…" Zenna whispered soothingly. Stryka then placed her head on Zenna's lap and drifted off into a fitful sleep. That's when Zenna started to cry.

"Mom, Dad…I'm scared…What if she just gets worse…?" Zenna whimpered. Henna and Edgar went to their daughter's side to comfort her. "She won't, my dear. Stryka's a strong dragoness. She'll pull through." Edgar told her gently.

"Stronger than all of Berk's finest shield maidens, love. Stryka is strong and will never let something like a silly cold bring her down." Henna chimed in. Zenna looked at her parents, took their words to heart, stifled her tears and nodded.

Looking down at Stryka, Zenna heaved a deep sigh and leaned down to kiss her best dragon friend's scaly head. "I swear to all the gods and goddesses of Valhalla…that I'll do whatever it takes to get you healed, Stryka. I promise…" she whispered. And Stryka, hearing her Rider's promise even through her sickness, crooned softly.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was busy trying to lift Toothless' spirits up. "Hey! How 'bout we go out flying? That'll make you feel better." He suggested to his best dragon friend. Toothless looked up from his rock slab bed with a slightly hopeful look on his face, that was then replaced with a grimace as he sneezed out a weak plasma blast! Hiccup ducked just in time to avoid it!

And it was a small mercy that the blast didn't destroy the wall…

Astrid, on the other hand, had prepared Stormfly's rooftop bed the best she could. But the proud Deadly Nadder of the brave Hofferson maiden still looked unwell.

"Poor girl. Can't get comfortable, huh? I know what'll help! I'll—" Astrid managed to say before Stormfly accidentally shot out some of her spikes!

Ducking, Astrid watched as the spines missed her by mere inches and impaled themselves on the wall. Stormfly squawked an apology. She didn't really want that to happen. The stupid sickness made her do that!

"It's okay, Stormfly. I'm a soldier. I've been shot at before." Astrid reassured her. But, nonetheless, Astrid was still worried and hoped with all her heart that her dragon would get well soon…

Fishlegs was back at his house, telling Meatlug a little story to cheer her up while massaging her hind paws.

"Once upon a time, there was a little princess named Meatlug, the most beautiful dragon in all of the land! People would come from miles around—" the Ingerman boy said with gusto before…

Meatlug unleashed a blast unlike any other.

Fishlegs tried to be strong. "No, no, it's okay, girl. It's not that bad. Smells just like rose petals and—" he managed to say before the stench overpowered him and made him pass out!

A dragon's gas…effective both in making fire and in making stink…

It was the next day when the Dragon Riders saw that nothing had changed in the condition of all the dragons. Hiccup and Zenna had then decided to gather all the members of the Berk Dragon Academy for a meeting to discuss the situation, which they feared was getting worse.

"We got rid of everything from Trader Johann, but our dragons still aren't getting better, they're getting worse!" Fishlegs squeaked nervously to the rest of the group.

"Stryka and Serpent and Serpentine were eating a bit this morning at breakfast. But they didn't really recover enough strength to even stand, let alone fly. I'm beginning to think that our old plan didn't really work." Zenna said to Hiccup.

"Let's-let's make a list. Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann but hasn't thrown it into the pit." Hiccup said, thinking hard. "Yeah…There must have been somebody who didn't want to give what they bought." Astrid nodded in agreement.

Snotlout then stepped up, looking really pissed off. "If I found out who was holding back, I am gonna be so mad! Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls!" he exclaimed, really needing to let off steam.
"Yeah? Well, ours is dead!" Tuffnut piped up.

Astrid gasped in horror while Zenna looked at the still Hideous Zippleback standing between Tuffnut and Ruffnut in shock. Luckily Tuffnut was just messing around and said, "Just kidding. But, he's not really that fun anymore." Ruffnut frowned sadly. "He just sits there. He won't blow anything up!" she complained.

Hiccup was about to say something when he heard the definitive roar of a Thunderdrum, followed by his father's gruff voice.

"Hiccup! Put this in the Book of Dragons! Never fly on a stomach full of under-cooked mutton. The Shivering Shores will never be the same." Stoick announced as he made his way down the hill, his face looking a bit green. But once he saw the ill dragons and the teens' worried faces, Stoick quickly forgot his stomach troubles.

"What is it, Hiccup? What's wrong?" Stoick asked in concern.
"It's the dragons, Dad. They're uh…" Hiccup said before Astrid joined in with, "They're sick! And getting worse."

"Every dragon?" Stoick asked Zenna.

"I'm afraid so, Chief." The Fiersome girl answered.

Later that night, Stoick had invited the Fiersomes and their dragons over for rest. Serpent and Serpentine were outside with Thornado while Stryka and Toothless stayed together.

Toothless warbled weakly and draped a limp wing over his beloved mate, Stryka crooning softly in gratitude and licking the male Night Fury's cheek.

"Poor guys. What do you two think happened?" Stoick asked Hiccup and Zenna.

"Ugh, Zenna and I don't know! Gothi says they're allergic to something new to the island, but we think we've gotten rid of everything." Hiccup said helplessly.

"It still didn't work. If anything, the dragons are getting sicker." Zenna agreed, worried.

"But, if the dragons aren't getting better…" Stoick began to say. "Then something must still be here that's making them sick." Hiccup finished for him.

"What it is, we do not know." Henna pointed out.

"And whoever didn't throw their goods into the pit, we do not know as well." Edgar added.

Suddenly, a loud noise similar to a dragon's call came from outside!

"Thornado?" Stoick wondered out loud, recognizing his Thunderdrum's roar. Quickly the Haddocks and Fiersomes rushed outside. Serpent and Serpentine hissed in distress while Thornado let out a super loud sneeze!

"Sneezing! That's the first symptom." Hiccup said grimly. "He was fine until we got back!" Stoick exclaimed. "Well, he's not well now." Zenna stated.

"If this keeps up, who knows what!" Edgar groaned, frustrated. "There's got to be a way to solve this problem." Henna sighed as she petted her and her husband's Zippleback.

"Um, we should retrace our steps." Hiccup suggested. "I'll get the others. We can cover more ground that way." Zenna offered before running off. Pretty soon, Zenna had rallied all the other members of the Berk Dragon Academy to join the investigation.

"Well, this is where I landed." Stoick stated, gesturing to the area where he and his dragon had landed earlier that morning. The teens along with Zenna's parents quickly got to searching. "Okay, look around for anything unusual." Hiccup instructed them.

"Does that count?" Fishlegs piped up, pointing to the Twins.

Both Thorston siblings were crouching on their hands and knees as well as head butting each other like goats in a brawl! "I'm seeing stars!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"No way! Me too!" Tuffnut said giddily.

"Nope, that's just the Thorston Twins being themselves." Zenna said dryly.

"Hmm…Nothing unusual here." Astrid remarked in agreement before she spotted a couple of Terrors sniffing at one of the flower bushes she had seen earlier in the day. Much like their own dragons, the wild dragons were looking pretty sick as they sniffed at the bush.

"What is it?" the Hofferson girl wondered out loud, inspecting the bush.

The flowers weren't like any flower grown on Berk. They were sort of tropical looking. Blue petals with a white center. The Riders soon gathered around them, wondering if they had something to do with the current situation.

"Uh, does anybody remember seeing these flowers before?" Hiccup asked, holding one up. "They were here when I got back." Stoick told his son as Fishlegs got one flower and examined it.

"It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander." He said thoughtfully.

"Blue Oleander?" Zenna asked, tilting her head.

"I recognize it from my Botany book, Chapter Eight." Fishlegs told her.

"I-is there anything specific you can remember?" Hiccup stuttered, a heavy sense of dread growing in his gut.

"They're very beautiful, very soft, perennial…" Fishlegs said, stroking one of the petals. Then his face turned from fascinated to panicked, "And…Poisonous to reptiles!" he said in horror.

"Which means poisonous to dragons!" Hiccup confirmed.

"Of course, a plant can't be buried in a pit. If it is, it just grows!" Edgar shook his head.

"And who knows how many of these Blue Oleanders have been planted? It could take days to get them all off the island!" Henna said worriedly.

"Pheonix? Eclipse? Star? Hello?" a voice called out and the group saw Aline calling out for her dragons.

"Aline? What are you doing out here?" Hiccup asked.

"Looking for my dragon friends whom disappeared." Aline replied.

"Huh? Now that she mentions, I haven't seen them since Trader Johann came here!" Astrid pointed out.

"Yeah," Snotlout agreed. "Where'd they go?"

"Don't know but-" Aline spotted the Blue Oleander plants and gasped, "What the-? How'd Blue Oleander plants get on the island?! They're poisonous to dragons!"

"You KNEW about these plants?!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"Star told me about them when the Night Lights tried to eat one for breakfast," Aline deadpanned.

"Your dragons must have left cause they recognized the Blue Oleander plants," Hiccup suggested.

"That would make sense." Aline replied.

"Do you know the cure?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, the cure can be made by extracting Scaldron venom after it eats the flowers, like Spiders and Snakes venom used to create anti-venom," Aline replied.

"I don't understand, where did these flowers even come from?" Astrid asked.

"They couldn't have just sprouted from seeds overnight. Someone must have gotten plants that were ready to bloom from Trader Johann when he stopped by. But, who?" Zenna wondered out loud.

"Mildew. I saw him plant them the other night." Tuffnut suddenly said, much to everyone's surprise.

"He what?" Zenna asked sharply.

"And you didn't think that was strange?" Astrid asked the male Thorston unhappily.

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know! Quit pressuring me!" Tuffnut complained.

Stoick then turned to his son. "Let's go pay the old man a visit." He said grimly.

"A grand idea, Stoick! I'll go get my sword…" Edgar began to leave before Henna grabbed his arm.

"No weapons, love…no matter how much we want to make that old coot pay for all this." She muttered.

"Does that mean I gotta hand these over?" Zenna asked innocently, holding up her sticks to her mother.

"No, keep them. Your father and I both know how precious they are to you." Henna said gently. Zenna smiled a bit before joining her family in accompanying the Haddocks to Mildew's house along with Astrid.

Needless to say, Mildew was surprised at his visitors. And when the alleged accusation had been made, he was even more shocked.

"Well, so what if I planted some flowers? The town square has never looked better. I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness." The old man explained.

"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" Astrid asked suspiciously.

"All you care about, Mildew, is the opposite of all of that." Zenna added.

"You did this!" Hiccup accused.

"What? Me?! Ha!" Mildew laughed.

"Was there anything humorous in what the lad said, Mildew?" Edgar asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Have some respect to the Chief's son, you disrespectful old man." Henna said scolding.

Mildew rolled his eyes at the couple before looking at Stoick.

"Well, I had no inkling, Stoick that these flowers had special properties. Oh, it's true, I'm not friend of the dragons, but in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them." He said with mock honesty.

"You do know I can hear the mock honesty in that tone, right?" Aline deadpanned, not falling for that.

Seeing that there was no sense arguing with a denying old man, Stoick sighed, "Let's go." Reluctantly, the small group left.

"Alright…You guys stay here and take care of the dragons." Hiccup instructed Astrid and the rest before looking at Zenna, who nodded in agreement to his yet to be proposed plan.

"What are you two going to do?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "We're going fishing, Legs." Zenna replied.

"Aline? Dad? Gobber? Mr. and Mrs. Fiersome? Let's go find ourselves a Scauldron!" Hiccup said, turning to the adults.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Gobber said, excited to set sail.

"Edgar and I will be right back. We'll gather the rest of the crew." Henna said with a devious look on her face that slightly worried Zenna. 'What could Mom and Dad be up to?' the one-eyed girl mused as her parents swiftly left. But right now, she and Hiccup had to prepare for the trip.

"Look at that thing…" Hiccup said in amazement, gazing at the Scauldron drawing.

"Wonder what facing that behemoth will be like…" Zenna murmured in agreement. Suddenly Toothless and Stryka warbled at them weakly, bringing their Riders back to attention.

"You and Stryka just hang on, bud. Zenna and I'll be back before you know it." Hiccup patted Toothless gently on his head.

"Stay strong, you two. We promise that everything's going to be alright." Zenna said softly, stroking Stryka's head. Both Night Furies crooned, trusting their Riders.

Meanwhile, Henna and Edgar were with Stoick and their dragons.

"Here you go, Serpent. This'll keep out the chill." Edgar murmured, putting a wool blanket on Serpent's neck and Henna did the same with Serpentine.

"How's my dragon warrior?" Stoick asked Thornado. The mighty Thunderdrum snorted weakly. Stoick then brought a rock underneath his dragon's chin to help make him feel more comfortable.

Looking at his sick dragon, Stoick sighed. "I spent my whole life trying to kill them. Now look at me." He said, noticing the Fiersomes give him an understanding look.

"We've all been there, Chief." Henna told him. "It's amazing how quickly things changed…all because of our children." Edgar smiled, hoping to lift Stoick's spirits up even just a little.

Stoick was about to say that he agreed when he heard the door open. Hiccup and Zenna stepped out, faces set in hard determination.

"Dad, it's time. The boat's ready." Hiccup said. "We better set sail, Chief. Some of the fishermen said that they might have a lead on the Scauldron's whereabouts." Zenna chimed in.

What Hiccup and Zenna hadn't expected to see was Mildew on deck along with baskets full of Blue Oleander.

"Your parents did a pretty good job convincing him to dig up all those flowers and join the crew." Gobber winked at Zenna, who merely stared at her parents in surprise. Henna and Edgar just laughed upon seeing their daughter's shocked look.

Mildew, meanwhile, muttered and complained the whole time as the ship left the docks. As soon as they were all out in the open sea, he began to complain louder.

"Well, this is an outrage! I dug up all the flowers! I did my part!" Mildew complained. "Not every bit of it yet you haven't!" Henna and Edgar both told him.

"We're all out here because of you, Mildew. If we all have to put our lives at risk, then so do you!" Stoick gruffly informed the old man.

"You have no proof, Stoick! You can't blame me every time something goes amiss with your precious dragons." Mildew huffed as he stomped off to some other part of the ship.

"That guy seriously needs to take calming exercises…" Zenna mumbled to Hiccup who whispered back, "Or better yet, move to another island. We'd have a break and he won't have to worry about us. It's win-win."

"Alright, Stoick. What's the plan?" Gobber asked, bringing the two back to focus. Stoick went to Hiccup and Zenna. Hiccup held a bucket in his hands and Zenna stood straight as the Chief instructed them.

"Hiccup, Zenna, when Gobber, Edgar, Henna and I secure the Scauldron's head, Sven will wedge its jaws open. We'll need you two to—" Stoick managed to say before Hiccup piped up with, "Drain the poison into this bucket. Got it." Zenna then added, "Then we sail back to Berk and administer the antidote to all of the dragons."

"Good leadership skills, those two have." "Fine leaders they'll make." Edgar and Henna both remarked, even some of the other men onboard nodding in agreement.

"Let's get started." Hiccup told everyone, getting into focus mode along with Zenna. Getting a basket of Blue Oleander, Hiccup brought it close to the edge of the deck. "This is what Scauldrons eat. It'll draw them to the boat." He said, scattering the blossoms into the water. Zenna did the same thing as well. But not before looking at the flowers and smiling a bit. "Kind of reminds me of orchids…" she mumbled.

But of course, Zenna knew that these flowers weren't allowed on Berk and decided to let her fascination with them go. In her opinion, orchids and tulips were much prettier than Blue Oleander anyway.

A couple of hours later…

Not a single Scauldron in sight.

"Bah! This is not working! It was a stupid idea to begin with!" Mildew said crossly. Hiccup and Zenna both glared and made a move to give him a piece of their minds when Stoick stopped them.

"Easy, you two, that's not why we're here." Stoick chided them.

"But that is." Gobber pointed out, he and Zenna's parents spotting an ominous blue-green shape swimming in the water surrounding their boat.

"Scauldron!" Stoick said warily. "Look at that…" Edgar murmured in awe. "That's a pretty massive sea dragon there…" Henna mumbled nervously.

The Scauldron then poked its head out of the water, showing off its razor sharp teeth that struck fear into everyone's heart.

"I may need to change my skivvies again." Gobber gulped. "Please don't…" Zenna quietly prayed, already freaked out over seeing the 'thing that shall not be named' yesterday.

"We need to lure the Scauldron on deck!" Hiccup shouted, scattering one basket of the Blue Oleander flowers onto the deck floor.

"Oh, that's great. Get it on the ship where it can have at us all!" Mildew exclaimed, thinking that Stoick's little runt was officially the most idiotic boy in the whole island of Berk.

"Gobber! Henna! Secure its neck with this! Edgar and I'll lasso his horn!" Stoick yelled, tossing a rope to Gobber and Henna while he and Edgar took position. But no sooner had they done so, the Scauldron immediately went back into the water.

"It's gone under!" Henna alerted the crew. Everyone was silent as they waited for the Scauldron to resurface.

"Where did it go?" Gobber wondered out loud. "Has it left?" Edgar was worried as well.

Suddenly one of the men on the ship got his oar stolen! A plume of water not far from the ship was now headed straight for it!

"It's coming back!" Zenna yelled.

"HANG ON EVERYBODY!" Gobber shouted, just as the Scauldron rammed into the boat and began climbing onto the deck to eat the scattered Blue Oleander!

Everyone screamed as the ship began to tilt upward, sending people and things sliding down in the Scauldron's direction.

"HICCUP!" "ZENNA!" Stoick, Edgar and Henna screamed as they saw their children sliding down the deck. Hiccup and Zenna were both screaming, afraid that they were going to be the Scauldron's next meal, but Aline grabbed the pair in her magic and placed them on her back before she flew into the air. The Scauldron roared at the Alicorn and tried blasting her with its water spray, but Aline maneuvered around and away from the blasts.

"Get us in close to it," Hiccup said.

"It's too risky with him agitated like this, we have to stun him." Aline replied, dodging the blasts.

Suddenly, three plasma blasts came and struck the Scauldron as well, "Huh?" Zenna quipped before the group heard and saw Eclipse and Aline's other dragon friends flying towards them.

"It's Aline's dragons!" Gobber smiled.

"Sorry for vanishing on you like that, we didn't want to be around those flowers," Star apologized.

"Apology accepted, now let's contain the Scauldron so we can drain its venom." Aline replied. Together with her dragons, Aline and the others were able to subdue the Scauldron and extract the venom from its teeth, before Aline used her magic to create the antidote and administer it to all of the sick dragons, curing them of the Blue Oleander Poison.

Hiccup and the others were relieved their dragons were no longer sick and that the plague was gone for good now.