An Unknown Sickness - httyd

Bad News

"How many times are you guys going to check behind that rock?" 

The twins looked up at Astrid as if she was the dumb one. 

"Duh! Because the dragon could be behind it! And I thought you had the brains," Ruff snickered and again looked behind the rock. Tuff was nodding in agreement and Astrid just gave one of her glares to them. "Don't give us that look, Astrid," Ruffnut said, putting her hands on her hips. If you want us to help then act like it! Because right now, you treating us like-"

"Guys!" Snotlout yelled from somewhere a little further in the forest. "I found something!"

Astrid sighed and walked away from the argument to Snotlout. They had been searching all morning and all afternoon, first the west side of the island and working their way to the east. They had found a steady stream that worked as a source of water. But now, with daylight fading quickly and still no sign of the Red Grapple, Astrid was getting more and more nervous. Being away from the edge for so long, led to none of them knowing Hiccup's status. But the Chief, Stoick, would send word if something bad happened. Or...if something bad happened. 

Snotlout came into view. He was atop of Hockfang, his dragon was sniffing the ground. 

"What is it?" Astrid asked. Fishlegs and the twins were nearby behind her. 

Snotlout looked up from Hockfang and jumped off his saddle. "That," He said with disgust. Astrid looked at the ground where Hockfang was recently sniffing but stepped away. On the ground was the corpse of a Typhoomerang. But it wasn't its normal giant size: Something had eaten off its wings, limbs, and stomach. Astrid looked in horror at its open eyes and was glazed over lifeless. The horrible stench of rotting flesh made Astrid gag. There was a sound of something hitting the ground behind her and the smell of puke. Fishlegs had thrown up.

"What would be able to take down a Typhoomerang?" Astrid asked, forcing herself to take a closer look. 

"Something....strong....and powerful....." Fishlegs stuttered out, recovering from spilling his insides out. He walked to see the Typhoomerang's back which was turned away from them. "There's a scratch," Fishlegs said suddenly and Astrid hurried over to where Fishlegs stood. There, on the Typhoomerang's back, was a deep, ugly, and single scratch going down its back. Dried blood covered the scales. 

Astrid gasped. "That's what Hiccup's scratch looked like!" She cried out in shock as she looked at the scratch closer. It was turning black in the middle, and the scales around were puffy, indicating swelling skin underneath them.

"The Grapple," Snotlout said in a small voice. 

"How old is it? The wounds?" Tuff asked. Astrid looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Did I stutter?" He asked and walked to the other side of Fishlegs. "How old is the scratch on the back, Fish?" 

Fishlegs sucked in a breath to avoid breathing in the stench and bent down closer to the corpse. He hesitated, but then touched it cautiously. He brushed the scales along the scratch, still holding his breath. When Fishlegs pulled away, he finally took a breath. "It's about a week old, maybe two," Fishlegs finally spoke and Tuff nodded slowly with a finger to his chin in deep thought. 

"What about the others. The wings, arms, legs, and stomach?" Tuff asked and Fishlegs went to take a look. Astrid had no idea where he was getting at. Fishlegs examined the wounds. 

"A few days old," Fishlegs said finally, gagging. The stench was horrible. 

"Hmmm," Tuff said and looked thoughtfully at the dead dragon. Stormfly squawked from beside Astrid, obviously in discomfort from the Typhoomerang. Astrid looked at the other dragons. Meatlug was staying as far away as possible from the corpse. Barf and Belch were almost looking at it with interest and curiosity. Hockfang had mixed feelings it seemed. "The scratch is a week or two old, but everything else is only a few days."

"And?" Ruff asked. 

"Yeah, where in Valhalla is this going?" Snotlout asked annoyed.

"If you would let me finish," Tuff said, glaring at Snotlout. Astrid was impressed. "The scratch could only be from the Grapple. It must have scratched the Typhoomerang and made it get sick and weak. We know that Typhoomerang's are very big and powerful, so the Grapple must have known it couldn't kill the Grapple in one fight, so it made it weak. Then after a week or so, when the Typhoomerang was dying, the Grapple came to finish it off. That must be what the Grapple does to bigger prey. But with smaller dragons, or in this case, vikings, it just tries to finish them off in one fight. Rather than just weakening it." Tuffnut explained. 

Astrid jaw dropped. How? How was Tuffnut Thorston able to figure that out and Astrid wasn't even able to think of it. Fishlegs too looked awestruck. 

"What?" He asked with a confused look on his face as he looked around the group who stared at him. "Was I wrong?"

"The opposite!" Fishlegs marveled and looked at the Typhoomerang corpse again. 

"I know," Tuff said smiling. "I'm a genius." 

"Most of the time," Ruff said loudly and Astrid chuckled. 

"So, what now?" Astrid asked the group.

"We know the Grapple is on the island, we could try and trap it?" Fishlegs suggested. "All we need to do is find it and be able to classify it. The notes we found on the ship weren't enough to determine how to help Hiccup. We need an up close study."

Tuff looked at the Typhoomerang and then back up at the rest of the group. "Can Ruff and I keep it?" He asked.

Back to being an idiot. Astrid mused in her head as Fishlegs and Snotlout yelled at him to keep the disgusting corpse off the edge. 

Something in the sky caught Astrid's attention. Something flying towards them. "Hey, look!" She said, pointing to the small dragon flying to them. The riders turned to see a Terror flying exhaustively to them. It had been flying all day to the island and Astrid's stomach dropped. It could only be from Stoick. There was a roll of paper on the Terror's leg. It landed, or more like crashed, onto Fishlegs's shoulder and he grabbed the note off of the green dragon's leg. He read silently, but his face noticeably paled. Astrid's breath quickened. 

"It's from the Chief..." Fishlegs said slowly. "And...Hiccup..."

......

AAAHHHH! What will happen! I'm so evil........ >:)