Secret REVEALED

Chapter 19: Finding the Cure

Recap:

"Aye, don't be so hard on me Gothi." Gobber said rubbing the sore area of his head. "Anyway, she said we're going to need..."

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After more smacks in the head here and there, the ingredients needed to cure Astrid was listed. It didn't even reach ten but Helka is already worrying.

• Poison produced by Slitherwing [a handful will be more than enough]
• Death Song's Amber
• Buffalord Saliva mixed with a green substance
• Blue Oleander
• Purple Oleander
• Night Fury's spit heated by Deadly Nadder's fire
• Flightmare's paralyzing mist
• Scent emitted by Snaptrappers
• Eel pox soup

"Let's continue outside." Helka suggested and all agreed. "Astrid, daughter, we'll be off now. You stay here and rest okay?" After hearing her daughter's response they all left for the forest where they decided that it would be the safest to talk about it.

"Slitherwing? What kind of dragon is that and where are we going to find it?" Asmundŕ questioned.

"I have no idea either my friend, but if there's anyone who could help us figure this out it's Hiccup." Stoick placed a hand on Asmundŕ's shoulder.

"Aye, I'm with ya Stoick." That was Gobber lining up along with the two men.

Helka sighed. She knows where the three men in front of her were going with. "Astrid might be mad at me for not being a woman of my word but... I'm afraid he will have to get involve in the situation." The three men and Gothi nodded their heads in agreement.

"But what do we tell the lad?" Gobber asked.

"We tell him the truth." Stoick and Asmundŕ said in unison.

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"So you're telling me that Astrid has been sick this whole time?!" Hiccup exclaimed more than he questioned it. He was now pacing inside his hut. Gobber, Gothi, Asmundŕ, Helka, and his father were surrounding him. "B-but why didn't you tell me sooner? Why didn't she tell us?" Concern with a mixture of worry and a tinge of hurt laced through his voice.

"Hiccup, you know how Astrid is... She don't want anyone to think about her when the enemy is out there plotting some kind of plan to defeat us." Helka explained.

Hiccup sighed in defeat. What was he thinking? She was Astrid ~ filled with stubborness and warrior spirit. "What kind of disease is this? How come I've never heard of it before?"

"The old stories about the Crimson-Blue Flora were taken for granted Hiccup. We Vikings, the stubborn people we are, didn't believe it ~ majority of us didn't. Gothi and my mother, Astrid's grandmother, Freya were one of the few who did believe and studied it. Unfortunately, Astrid has gotten her condition mixed with the poisonous spit of the Wing of Death."

So Astrid wounded herself first before she made contact with the poison. But how could that be? Hiccup would surely notice if Astrid gained any sort of injury and he wouldn't let her be the one to pour the poison...

That's when it hit him.

It happened when he made Toothless as an excuse and let her do their mission on her own. It happened that night. Astrid must've gone exploring first before heading to the cave. How could he let this happen? If only he accompanied her. If only he was there by her side.