Night Rider

Remedies

Warning: Soz if this chapter is a little weird and crazy and childish- I was in a giddy and crazy and weird mood when I wrote it. :/

-Hiccup's pov-

"So you have absolutely no idea if this will work?" Fishlegs asked.

"Not really." I answered truthfully. We were walking back into the village of Berk, our arms laiden with different plants, bark, insects, flowers and leaves plus pure water in a bottle in our grubby arms, stray leaves falling out and drifting to the snowy ground every so often.

A day had already past since I arrived back and the village was letting me work in peace and keeping their distance, although my dad was doing it rather reluctantly and angrily. I allowed Gothi to watch over me as I made the medical remedy, and yesterday we found out that she had known it was me for a while - since the day we got Astrid back. Apparently she couldn't help but overhear our conversation in the cove when she went out to get fresh herbs and she watched it from above the cove wall. I was shocked at first, but then I realised that it could have been a lot worse if someone like Mildew or my father had found out that early and we thanked her for keeping it a secret.

"So, this may not work?" Fishlegs asked nervously. Over night, Thorom and Rilsa had died and they had had a formal viking funeral at noon today. It was quite a nice affair, given the circumstances. The sun was warming the air, but the fluffy and sparkling snow was still resting on the ground below our feet. It was only a week to Snoggletog now, so a huge campfire was lit next to the tremendous tree in the plaza and vikings were dancing and drinking to the upbeat music being played by Gobber (on his pipes), Mulch (on his sheep-skin drum) and Ack (on his wooden guitar with only two working strings - another 2 broken ones - which he bought from Trader Johann). Right at the very end, two rowing boats were set out to sea and set fire too as they sailed into the horizon to send them off to Valhalla.

The spirit of the party was still radiating around the village as we entered Gothi's hut with the supplies, so most people didn't even look our way when we walked through the village, except my father but Toothless took care of him again. At first he tried to fight the Night Fury, but after one simple blast which took the head clean off his new favourite axe (after we destroyed his original one), he backed down and sulked in his house.

"It may not work. But it might, and it's the best chance we have." I answered him. I was using the same remedy for when someone gets poisoned by a Scauldron, except I had added a few ingredients like uzdrowić leaves, bark off a heilbrigt tree and lækna flowers instead of the usual added herbs and foliage needed to make the concoction. (Google translate the foreign names of the plants if you can be bothered)

I dumped all the neccassary ingrediants into the steaming pot of boiling water and honey (just to make it taste nicer) which hung in a blackened copper pot over a cozy fire in the middle of the back wall of the house, beneath a row of jars which contained creepy creatures which had eyes in odd places. I tried not to look at them as I stirred the pot, but I found that my gaze was always drawn to them, almost like if you were told not to think of pink, fluffy elephants you always try not to think of pink, fluffy elephants but pink, fluffy, elephants always seem to enter your head, unwanted when you are being told not to think of pink, fluffy elephants. (You're thinking about them now, aren't ya?)

When the pot was giving off steam that smelled vaguely like a fire with honey and perfume drizzled onto it, and was bubbling uncontrollably, I lifted it off the fire and set it onto the table inbetween the four remaining patients. Gustav hasn't woken up since we came in yesterday and non if the other ill people have even flinched, so it was a calming yet unsettling feeling in the air as I added the flakes of heilbrigt bark into the final cups. They immediatly stared to wither and looked like wiggling worms in a puddle, but soon enough they had dissolved in the mixture and all we had to do now was wait until they had cooled to a suitable temperarure so the patients could drink it.