Hiccup groaned and rubbed a hand over his face to clear away his tiredness. The past five years had been no different as the excitable Night Fury nudged his head against his rider again. Toothless still enjoyed a break of dawn ride, and, what with Hiccup's new role as Chief, it was a good way for him to wake up and start the day.

The Night Fury cooed and dropped his head upon the brunette's body, causing him to laugh quietly. He didn't want to wake his mother up at this time. She could sleep now as they had planned to go for a ride together later so that Hiccup could show her where he had discovered. He was so glad to have a mother back in his life, but never, not even in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine that she would be anything like he was.

Hiccup sat up, good naturedly pushing his dragon's head from his chest. He adjusted his leg in place, sleeping with it on resulted in cramps and unnecessary pain, and stood. What he hadn't expected was for the room to spin dangerously, causing him to stumble and fall back onto his bed. Toothless cocked his head and cooed in confusion.

"I'm alright bud, just stood up too quickly." He assured his dragon. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to steady his heartbeat. That's weird, he thought, all I did was stand up. He shrugged and reached over to grab his top.

As he stood up again, Hiccup felt the same dizziness wash over him. However, he was prepared this time and stayed still, allowing for it to pass. When it did, what felt like an age later, he moved over to his riding gear and slowly put his leather under-gear on before strapping his body armour over it.

Finally he was ready to go. Toothless, who had been unable to sit still since his rider had risen, leapt over and started pushing Hiccup towards the large opening in the roof. He mounted Toothless effortlessly and the Night Fury sprang out, unfurling his wings and gliding over Berk.

This was routine. It gave Hiccup a chance to see that everything in the village was in order. And today seemed no different. The couple of people already up waved at Hiccup as he flew over. The people of Berk were aware of Hiccup's morning routine.

Satisfied that everything was alright, with a slight twitch of his leg, Dragon and Rider sped away. Instantly Toothless began to ascend, quicker and quicker, higher and higher, until the clouds surrounded them. The thin air caused Hiccup's breathing to quicken, something that wasn't entirely unusual.

Through breaks in the clouds, Hiccup could see that they had long left Berk behind. With a quick glance to his wrist where his compass was, the brunette could tell that they were heading North. It wasn't a path that they usually took as it led towards Outcast Island, a place where they tended to avoid. But it was also a great place to practice manoeuvrable flying.

Toothless began to climb even higher, the air thinning dangerously. Hiccup's breathing was increasingly laboured. Spots began to dance in his eyes and his ears were ringing. He blinked furiously, trying to clear them and he adjusted his foot, alerting Toothless to the fact that he wanted to descend. The Night Fury obliged and twisted his body around, plummeting into a sharp dive, his wings closing around his body.

Toothless was unaware of his rider's distress. Hiccup's head was pounding and his ears were ringing painfully. His vision kept fading and clearing and he saw the water was fast approaching. He could feel the muscles moving under the dragon's scaled skin, allowing Hiccup to know exactly when Toothless was going to pull out of this dive. A twitch in Toothless' shoulder blades alerted Hiccup and he cocked his foot, spreading the tail flat whilst the great beast's wings flew open, straining at the sudden change of motion.

A pain unlike anything Hiccup had ever felt before erupted through his ribcage, causing him to double over in the saddle, the motion affecting his prosthetic leg's hold on Toothless' saddle. The moment the foot came out of its locking, Hiccup slid from the saddle and straight towards the foaming Northern Sea below.

Toothless felt the weight leave him instantly and, for a second, believed that his rider was gliding alongside him somewhere. It was only when he looked down and saw Hiccup's limp body falling straight down did some form of understanding blaze through the dragon. Hiccup had been acting strange this morning.

The Night Fury dove straight down, hoping that, although his tail was on another setting, that he would reach Hiccup in time. Just as Toothless managed to wrap his arms around the boy, the both of them smashed into the angry, frothing waters of the Northern Sea.

…

It was the pain reverberating through his skull that brought Hiccup back to consciousness. His eyes felt heavy and almost glued together. After having finally pried them open, he shut them immediately, cringing at the light. He groaned and attempted to roll over, only to have the ground give way beneath him. He looked down and saw he was lying on sand. Black sand. A sand that he knew was only local to Outcast Island. He tried to remember what had happened but couldn't recall much. He had been diving, and fast. No, not just him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, suddenly aware that his friend was no longer near him. Hiccup tried to stand but the increasingly familiar excruciating pain tore through his side. It felt like he was being burnt with a white hot poker and the pain caused his eyes to flutter and cloud over.

As quickly as he could, he ripped off his body armour and leather under-gear. He lifted his top to see a cut that he wasn't unfamiliar with. When Drago had ordered his alpha to kill him with an ice blast, Toothless had blocked the attack in the main. However, one spike of ice had evaded his dragon's protection and had pierced his side. At the time he had barely even noticed, the chill of the ice stopping the wound from bleeding and almost sealing it.

Now he thought back to it, the last few weeks in particular had been a strain on him. He remembered thinking that maybe he had strained his chest muscles, but now, looking down at the blackness spreading from the wound, Hiccup could see that the ice was having a seriously bad effect on his body. How had he not noticed this before?

Could it have poisoned me? He wondered. Surely the alpha couldn't have the power of poison too? That didn't seem right. But maybe it was the dragon that Drago used. It had seemed like the complete opposite of the alpha that his mother had shown him. That alpha had been about life and preserving all things living. If Hiccup's theory was correct, then Drago's alpha was a bringer of death, a thought that sent foreboding shivers down Hiccup's spine.

He decided then and there to keep this to himself until he knew more. After everything that had happened in recent months, it was best to not worry anyone. Hiccup was sure that he would be alright. Wasn't he?

A familiar roar greeted Hiccup's ears and a large black reptilian head burst into his eyesight. Toothless' pupils dilated at the sight of his rider conscious and sitting up. The great black dragon bounded over to where Hiccup still sat in the sand and halted right before barrelling into him. Toothless cooed softly, his eyes seeking out any injury on his rider.

"I'm alright bud. I don't know what happened. I-I think I'm sick." Hiccup wasn't entirely sure why he didn't tell Toothless everything. Maybe it was because the dragon felt so bad as it was about that day with what happened to Stoick. If he found out that he failed to protect the one who meant the world to him, his other half, then he would never forgive himself.

Toothless blinked and sniffed his rider, recoiling at the foul scent that came from his chest. It was a smell that humans were unable to smell, but dragons could recognise particular poisons from a mile away. Instantly Toothless released his teeth and growled at Hiccup, urging him to not lie.

Rider had known Dragon long enough to understand this. Through his eyes, he pleaded with Toothless to drop it, but the dragon's protectiveness had taken hold. If his rider was poisoned, he had to know. He had to help.

Hiccup sighed and broke eye contact, conceding defeat. He pulled the edge of his top up, revealing the unusual wound. Toothless bent closer and his tongue flickered out, tasting the air around the wound. He knew that scent. It was a scent that he had overpowered through will and love. It was a scent of death.

"Toothless, we can't tell anyone about this." The dragon looked at him, confused. "Berk has already lost a chief, they don't need to worry about losing another one. Together, we'll find a cure." Toothless looked doubtful, but he recognised that gleam in his rider's eyes. It was a stubborn determination that meant that he wasn't going to change his mind about this. Toothless cooed and licked Hiccup's cheek lightly, letting him know that he would be there for him.

Hiccup chuckled and looked up. Judging by the positioning of the sun, it had only been an hour since he had left Berk. That left him enough time to head back before anyone noticed anything was amiss. Hiccup, with much aid from Toothless, managed to stand, feeling the vertigo slam into his head again. Had he not been holding onto Toothless, he was sure that he would have fallen straight back down again.

Slowly, he reached down and grabbed his armour and leather-wear. He couldn't bring himself to put it on so he strapped it to the back of Toothless' saddle. It was probably best that he didn't wear it as his clothes were damp from what he assumed was from when he fell into the sea. After what seemed like forever, he climbed onto the saddle and securely strapped himself in before patting Toothless' neck.

"Come on, bud. Let's go home."

…

Astrid and Valka were walking through Berk towards the cliff-face where their dragons waited. Both women's worry was evident on their faces and as they approached the waiting dragons, Snotlout came forward.

"So where are we looking today? We looked everywhere yesterday."

Valka sighed. When Hiccup didn't get back from his ride at his usual time, she was curious if he had gone a little further than usual. But then time began to wear on and no one in the village had seen him. Her worry had only increased tenfold when Astrid had come to the house, claiming that Hiccup was going to train some of the younger dragons. Upon the realisation that Hiccup had never returned from his flight, Astrid was quick to round up the riders and send them to different locations; Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut in one direct and Valka and herself in another. They hadn't found any signs of him when they were searching and had hoped that the others were more successful. Their hope was crushed when they returned.

Honestly, Astrid had no idea where to look next. Hiccup had particular places that he liked to fly to and to escape to and he had been at none of those. And she knew all of them.

"I don't know. If we just keep flying then we may come across him." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince more, them or herself. Ever since finding Hiccup was gone, she had a bad feeling. He never just disappeared like this.

It was then that Gobber looked to the sky and saw a black shape in the distance. It was fast approaching and the blacksmith recognised it.

"Hiccup! Well, Toothless anyway."

Everyone spun to see the familiar Night Fury fly over their heads and turn to land behind them, flapping his long wings to reduced speed.

Instantly Astrid and Valka were hurrying towards Hiccup as he dismounted. As his feet hit the ground, his knees buckled but Toothless caught him. That didn't help anyone's worry. As they looked at him, they saw dark circles beneath bright, fevered eyes, rimmed with red. His skin, too, seemed almost too pale.

"Hiccup." Valka cried when she was close enough and wrapped her arms around him.

As she pulled back, Hiccup was left with a thoroughly bewildered expression on his face. It was only then did Astrid notice his clothes. Instead of his usual riding gear, which she could see was attached to his saddle, Hiccup wore only a grey-green tunic. In fact, Hiccup was rarely seen without his riding gear on. She stepped forward, embracing him and drawing him near, revelling in the feeling of him in her arms again. He smelt odd though. Amongst his usual musk of leather and pine, there was a particular saltiness, almost as if he had been in the sea. She pulled away, questions swimming in her eyes.

"Hey mom, guys. What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"Heh, yeah try you going missing for something happening." Ruffnut said, as if she was stating the obvious.

Hiccup's face didn't change a bit, his shock only flashing through his eyes. "Missing? I only went for my morning ride…"

Astrid took a step forward, concern written all over her face. "Hiccup, you left for your morning ride yesterday."

Had Toothless not been behind him then he would have staggered back. The world seemed to be spinning again. "Yesterday? But- What?" he looked at Toothless and there was some form of silent communication between them. Finally he sighed and looked back to the others. "I'm sorry, I, uh…"

"Hiccup?" Valka's voice was comforting but there was a definite hint of worry laced within it. "What happened?"

Hiccup sighed, something that causing him to wince this time as pain flared through his side again. Toothless, who had noticed this, cooed and gently nudged Hiccup's leg. "I, uh, we crashed. I didn't realise that a whole day had passed."

Everyone stared in shock. Hiccup, the Hiccup, had crashed? That didn't seem right. He was such a talented flyer that he could fly perfectly in his sleep. And he had seemed hurt, Astrid had noticed him wince as he had sighed.

"You? Crashed? What in Thor's name were you doing?" Tuffnut snorted. Astrid frowned. Some people were better at hiding their shock than others. Apparently Ruffnut thought the same of her twin as she brought her elbow up sharply, catching Tuffnut in the face and sending him sprawling to the ground, something that made her snicker.

"We were just flying. I must have miscalculated something. We fell." Seeing the horror on his mother's and Astrid's faces he added. "I'm fine though." A thought hit him. "A day? A whole day? Gods help me I've got so much to do." He hopped back on Toothless, again the effort causing him to grimace. He really had to get his facial expressions in check.

Before he and Toothless could set off though, Cloudjumper leant down and sniffed Hiccup, recoiling much like Toothless had. Instantly, lips were pulled back revealing gleaming, sharp, long white teeth. A low growl reverberated throughout his body.

Hiccup, strangely enough, seemed unfazed by this. He chuckled darkly.

"Nice to see you too, Cloudjumper." Without any further delay, both Chief and Alpha sprung from the ground and flew away. Valka had visibly blanched at Cloudjumper's reaction to Hiccup. Dragons only reacted that way when someone was in true danger.

Whilst the others were complaining about how much of an anti-climax that was, Valka and Astrid looked at one another. Hiccup was hiding something from them. And for him to lie, it would have to be something big. They knew that they had to talk to Hiccup. And soon.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to review and let me know what you thought.