"Hiccup's still not here?" Astrid sighed. "Why's he so late today?"

"Maybe he found something better to do," Snotlout suggested. "I know I do."

Fishlegs scoffed. "Like what?"

"Like get beauty sleep, of course," Snotlout responded. "You think this just happens?" He gestured to himself.

Astrid and Fishlegs looked at him before turning to each other.

"Maybe he's in that cave we told him had dragons," Tuffnut said.

"You didn't think to mention this earlier?" Astrid asked.

Tuffnut shrugged. Ruffnut said, "Yeah. He asked us about it yesterday." Tuffnut grinned, nodding. "We had so much fun! Look at this - I got mauled."

Ruffnut pouted. "Why didn't I get a scar?"

Astrid ignored them, saying, "Alright, let's go get Hiccup. Knowing him, he'd take hours in a cave filled with dragons without realizing it."

"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Astrid sighed in frustration. "Where is he?!"

A figure moved just out of the light, slowly coming where Astrid could see. It was Hiccup, who wasn't wearing his fur jacket. He smiled. "Hey, what's… oh. I missed the meeting, didn't I?"

Astrid punched him. "You did. And now we have to go find the twins and Snotlout, because we split up to look for you. You know these caves are like a maze?"

Hiccup laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'll go this way, you go that way?"

She was about to agree when she frowned. Hiccup was moving oddly… and… "Where's Toothless?" Astrid asked suspiciously.

He jumped, beginning to ramble, "Wha - oh, Toothless? He - he's, uh, at… at home. I left him behind, I… uh… didn't want him to get hurt."

"Toothless? Get hurt?" Astrid said doubtfully. She raised her eyebrows, coming closer. "What are you hiding?" she demanded, turning him around. She gasped as she saw rips in his shirt.

Astrid asked worriedly, "What happened?"

Hiccup raised his hands, laughingly telling her, "Nothing! I just ran into some dragons - but they didn't get me, see?"

On closer inspection, Astrid realized the skin below was unmarked. "Oh," she said, at a loss for what else to say. Then she remembered. "That still doesn't explain very well where Toothless is."

Hiccup's smile became strained. "He's fine, alright? Now let's go find the others."

Reluctantly Astrid went down one tunnel. Hiccup hung back slightly, letting out a breath in relief when she didn't notice his lack of a torch. As the light vanished, his green eyes gleamed slightly in the gloomy cave.

"Hiccup," the green-eyed boy said, shaking his head, "We are in so much trouble."

A black dragon with green eyes emerged from behind a rock, whimpering slightly. He took a step, swaying as he did so.

The boy supported the dragon as best as he could, saying, "I told you! Use your tail to balance yourself, and keep your wings tucked in!"

Gradually, the dragon's motor skills improved. The boy sighed. "Hiccup, what are we supposed to do?" he asked the dragon. It did an approximation of a shrug. Toothless groaned, slapping his hand against his face.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

Hiccup stared back at him, then gave another shrug before growling in frustration.

Toothless shook his head. "Why does this always happen around you, Hiccup?"

Hiccup stared at him.

"And, me too, I guess," Toothless admitted. He gave a soft growl of his own, scratching his head. "Why did you have to go after that dragon?" he griped. "How did this even happen?"

Hiccup gave a few short growls and huffs, but sadly, Toothless couldn't understand them. So Hiccup settled for crooning as he nuzzled against Toothless.

"Let's go face the others," Toothless sighed.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling so well… And Toothless is feeling pretty under the weather too, so…" Toothless-posing-as-Hiccup said.

Surprisingly, their friends bought it. Everyone went home with no one the wiser.

"So now what do we do?" Toothless asked. Hiccup, who was lying on the dragon bed, gave a soft growl. He got up reluctantly, doing his best to keep his wings tucked in as he nosed through his supplies.

Grasping a stick with a blackened end, he slowly scrawled something on the paper.

"I… can't read that," Toothless said, craning his head to make sense of the markings.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup tried again.

"Dreyun… vemon… cero? Dragon venom cure?" Toothless tried. Hiccup nodded.

Toothless hesitated.

"...Does that mean," he asked, his voice already resigned, "that we have to get the venom of the dragon that did this for a cure?"

Hiccup sat back on his haunches, looking pleased.