Nothing to Fear

Chapter Twelve: Blackout

The flight to Maero was long and exhausting. Neither Hiccup nor Adrianna spoke on the flight there, Hiccup because he was too busy stewing in his hatred for the place and Adrianna because she had too much on her mind. By the time they got there, it was after dark so they decided to set up camp and get an early start on finding the berries they needed the next morning. After they set up the tent, they became very thankful for the extra blankets Lofn and Brandyn had given them because they contributed to making the inside of the tent very warm and comfortable.

"Feeling okay?" Hiccup asked as he settled into the piles of pillows and blankets that served as a sort of mattress.

"I feel fine. But you're still hoarse." Adrianna sighed. "Let me make some tea."

"You don't have to do that." Hiccup protested but his daughter held up a hand.

"I don't want you getting sick. Even if it's just a cold, you'll get me sick and we'll spread it all over Berk right after the outbreak. Best to nip it in the bud." Adrianna said as she placed a kettle on the ground.

Toothless quickly heated the kettle (made of metal that wouldn't melt and taint the tea; this was the result of a lesson Hiccup had unfortunately learned the hard way) and Adrianna soon poured the tea into a cup and added the herbs. Hiccup and Adrianna were silent for a moment as she did her best to make tea the way her mother had showed her so many times. But she never was very good at paying attention to detail, which was something that drove her mother and brother crazy at times.

Hiccup took a sip of the tea and nearly spat it out. "I think you forgot something." he choked out.

"What?"

"Honey." Hiccup grabbed a container of the stuff and added copious amounts to the brew. "You made it a bit strong, Addie, but sweetening it shouldn't be too hard."

"Sorry." Adrianna looked slightly sheepish.

"It's fine. I once nearly killed your Poppy because I wasn't paying attention and made tea with medicinal herbs." Hiccup laughed at the memory. "He was pretty ticked. It didn't help that I made it way too strong."

Adrianna smiled. Hiccup suddenly sat up and patted the front of his shirt. He withdrew a small and very old book, which he then handed to his daughter.

"What's this?"

"I found it in the records building at the Bogs. Camicazi claims one of her people stole it from the Meathead Public Library but she sold it to me anyway." he grinned. "I've been dying to read it but I wanted to read it with you."

"How to Train Your Dragon." Adrianna read. "You mean people have been training dragons before?"

"It seems so. The book is really old too. Maybe they trained dragons hundreds of years ago! Hmm, I wonder how the war started if that was the case." Hiccup looked thoughtful for a moment before impatiently waving his hands at the book. "Open it, I want to know what it says!"

"Okay, dad!" Adrianna chuckled as she opened the book. "There's a whole page dedicated to reviews of this book. Success stories. Wow, this must be really good advice!"

"I know! I did see the review page but I forced myself to wait. But the time is now!" Hiccup leaned forward as Adrianna turned the page.

The girl stared at the first page of the book. Slowly, she raised an eyebrow and stared at the back cover, almost like she was trying to find more of it. After a few seconds, Hiccup's curiosity could no longer be contained.

"What does it say?"

Adrianna looked up at him with an expression of pure bewilderment. "Yell at it."