Okay, so, in the books for How To Train Your Dragon, I have noticed that Hiccup and Fishlegs have a brother/brother best-friend-in-the-whole-entire-world kind of relationship that I really missed seeing in the film and franchise. So, in the episode "The Eel Effect", anyone who's seen it knows that Hiccup was knocked unconscious by Toothless' plasma blast, Fishlegs finding him shortly after he woke up again. So, in this what-if, Fishlegs finds Hiccup before Hiccup regains consciousness. The story speaks for itself. Enjoy! :D

Toothless fired a plasma blast straight at Hiccup, who just barely managed to jump out of the way before he was blasted.

"You know," said Hiccup, "that was...a little close...to the one good leg-"

Toothless roared and fired again as soon as Hiccup was on his feet. This time, however, Hiccup wasn't able to dodge before the blast came. It slammed into his shield just as he held it up to protect himself, in which the force of the plasma sent him smacking back-first into the tree behind him. He crumpled to the ground, motionless, his shield falling next to him, the metal in front smoking ever so slightly from the mere heat of the blast.

Toothless instantly realized what had happened...no, what he had done. Terror intruded his mind as he thought for the worst, running over to Hiccup and nudging him. At first, the boy didn't move, remaining limp and absolutely still, and because of that, Toothless panicked. He hadn't...he hadn't actually killed Hiccup, had he?

For a few seconds, the dragon hated himself. So what if he was infected by that eel he swallowed? So what if he really wasn't focusing on his surroundings, delirious and frightened? He should have been able to keep himself from shooting his rider.

He growled worriedly, and then Hiccup stirred slightly, moaning and gasping for breath. Toothless took a step backwards now that he knew Hiccup was at least alive, and watched as Hiccup looked up at him, his eyes full of pain.

"Tooth...Toothless…" he gasped. Toothless suddenly felt anger towards himself again, and so, before he could hurt Hiccup a second time, he turned and fled in the opposite direction, deeper into the forest.

Hiccup watched his dragon leave, and instantly tried to follow him, putting his hands against the ground to push himself to a stand. He grunted in pain, falling back down before he got too far. Unconscious tugged at him, and he knew that no matter how hard he tried, it was going to overcome him either way.

It didn't stop him from trying again, though, which he did, his body screaming in protest whenever he moved. He felt weak and exhausted all at once, and then, before he even fought it, he was unconscious.

…

Fishlegs was having a bad day as it was. With Berk polluted now almost entirely with people suffering from the dreaded horrible-yet-not-fatal Eel Pox, Hiccup missing, and the rest of the riders unable to aid Fishlegs in his search, the Ingerman was feeling overwhelmed, and useless.

He didn't even have a fast dragon to ride.

It wasn't his place; Astrid should have gone instead of him. She had the faster dragons, the more fearless attitude, and a more intimidating personality. Fishlegs, on the other hand, was easily frightened, rather clumsy, and not really much of a fighter. He fought when he needed to, but he feared that on Eel Island, he would come across Typhoomerangs without knowing how to train them, and without having the guts to fight them at least to the point where they left him alone.

No, he wasn't exactly the right person for the job, and he knew it, but with Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and nearly the rest of Berk infected, Astrid staying behind to help the Elder Gothi get everything ready for their return, he was the only able person who could find Hiccup.

Once Meatlug made it to Eel Island, Fishlegs weaved her through the trees in the deep forest, searching for any sign of Hiccup or Toothless. He had Meatlug fly higher, until, they saw a clearing, steam and smoke rising from it.

"There, girl!" said Fishlegs. Now they were getting somewhere. Now, maybe they had a chance. Now, maybe Fishlegs could do something right. If he found Hiccup and Toothless, then it made him feel so better about being on Eel Island. Hiccup was the best Dragon Trainer, and Toothless was a Night Fury. If they ran into a Typhoomerang (which Fishlegs feared they would), Hiccup could train it. And if that didn't work, Toothless could scare it off easily.

The thoughts faded, however, when Fishlegs found Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" he shouted, landing Meatlug on the ground and racing towards the motionless rider. The Gronckle followed in pursuit, watching Fishlegs' every move.

"Oh Thor, oh Thor," Fishlegs cried, grabbing Hiccup by his shoulders and shaking him. "Hiccup!" he shouted. No response whatsoever. Hiccup didn't move, nor did he make so much as a small sound. The color was drained from the Dragon Trainer's face, making his countless freckles stand out almost painfully against his too-pale skin.

"Okay, okay," said Fishlegs. "No need to panic...don't panic...no panicking...it doesn't help...it doesn't…" He laid Hiccup on the ground on his back and then made his way back over to Meatlug, grabbing a water canteen from her saddlebag.

"Okay...don't panic…" he whispered to himself, sitting next to Hiccup and unscrewing the lid to the water canteen. He poured a little bit into Hiccup's mouth, hoping it would wake him up and help his well being, but nothing happened.

"Okay...kind of panicking now…!" Fishlegs said, setting the water canteen aside. "Panicking even more now! Hiccup!" He grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders again and shook him harder. "Hiccup!"

This time, Hiccup groaned, opening his eyes, whispering, "Toothless?" just before his eyes widened, and he struggled to get to his feet.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs shouted. "Oh, thank Thor!"

Hiccup seemed to have panicked for just a moment, before he realized it was only Fishlegs. Then, he visibly relaxed.

"Oh...Fishlegs," he breathed. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Are you okay?" Fishlegs asked.

"I'm fine," Hiccup replied.

"Where's Toothless?" Fishlegs wondered out loud. "And…" He gestured to the smoking clearing, "what did all this?"

"That would be Toothless," said HIccup.

"Aaaand...who was he fighting?" said Fishlegs.

"Uh...mostly...me?" said Hiccup. Fishlegs instantly turned to him. "Also," Hiccup went on, "himself, a little bit." Fishlegs only stared at him. "Welcome to Eel Island!" Hiccup shouted unenthusiastically, gesturing with his hands.

"Well, did you find any eels?" Fishlegs asked.

"We did," said Hiccup, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "including the one that ended up in Toothless' stomach."

Fishlegs gasped. "He ate...an Eel?"

Author's Notes:

Okay, so maybe this was really short, but I kind of liked it. :) I miss the brother like relationship Fishlegs and Hiccup had in the books, and I really wished that something like this had happened in "The Eel Effect." And so, it didn't, and I had to write this. :) One-shot, mind you, so it will not be continued. :) I hope you enjoyed my take.

-BeyondTheClouds777