Author's Note: So, this is a story I started last summer and have now finally finished! Yay!

Since the new season of Race to the Edge starts January 8th, I thought it would be fun to post a chapter a day leading to the day before the premiere, especially since this takes place during the series.

So, hope you all enjoy this.

Chapter 1

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.