I brought Toothless back to our house, passing the Speed Stinger I had... well... you know. Just like all the others, he stopped to investigate it. Toothless never growled, but he was tense for a few seconds. Once he was finished checking the dragon's corpse, he returned to a more neutral standing position and followed me inside.

I only wanted to sit next to a welcoming fire while thinking of plans. A plan to move the Speed Stinger corpses out of Berk. A plan to take inventory of our food stocks. A plan to make sure everyone had food and water. A plan to account for the paralyzed Vikings in Berk. And if time permitted, a plan to once and for all banish any hákarl from this island.

I didn't plan on hearing a loud thunk from inside the walls.

Looking around the house to locate the source of that crash, my eyes settled first on Astrid, then my dad, and then finally Stormfly.

Stormfly's legs were twitching slightly, and after a few seconds, her right leg snapped straight, creating that same loud thunk as it bumped into the wooden floor.

Toothless growled, surprised by the harsh and abrupt movements from Stormfly.

I watched, transfixed as Stormfly's legs spasmed for a minute or two, her chest heaving in and out, and her throat constricting. She made a gagging sound as she struggled to breathe.

Her spasmodic motions looked like a seizure, if I had ever seen one. They forced her onto her side, and her tail slammed into the floor. As she continued flopping, her tail left two spines about the size of my thumb embedded into the wood beneath her.

There was nothing I could do except watch. She was much larger and heavier than I was, maybe the same weight as Toothless. I could only hope and pray that she didn't asphyxiate.

Toothless snapped at the air in front of him, his jaws popping shut. His growl deepened in pitch as he glared at Stormfly, telling her to stop the haphazard movements.

I stood and took four steps to my left, placing myself between Toothless and Stormfly. Toothless' growling subsided a little, but more importantly, he didn't move himself to find a different line of sight to Stormfly.

I turned around, watching Stormfly's legs and chest spasm. It looked like the intensity of her movements was lessening. After a few seconds, a gigantic rush of steam exited her nose, and she pulled in a deep, sharp breath of air. She exhaled, her side dropping several inches as her lungs emptied.

Stormfly continued taking gasping breaths every few seconds, but her eyes never opened. After a few minutes, her breathing settled into a gentle, hypnotic pattern, like she was sleeping.

That was over quickly, I thought.

A second thought crashed into my head. I wonder if Johann went through the same production.

Nobody told me how Johann recovered. He had gone from paralyzed to moving around and being talkative like it was any other day.

I soon realized Astrid and my dad would probably end up going through the same process as Stormfly. I cursed under my breath, knowing the next undefined time period would be just as stressful as trying to rid Berk of that pack of Speed Stingers. I'd only be able to make sure Astrid, my dad, and Thornado didn't injure themselves while regaining muscle control, and I'd have to also make sure they didn't scare Toothless or Stormfly with their movements.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself. Anything outdoors would have to wait until everyone in this house recovered.

Toothless looked like he had gotten over being startled, so I sat down again, my back slumping because I didn't want to watch this.

The door opened and clicked shut a few seconds later. I fought the urge to turn around, instead listening to the footsteps as they approached. I had a decent idea who was entering just by gut feel, and I waited for the distinct pat-clunk of Gobber's footsteps to fill my ears.

"Baster Hiccub," the person said from behind me. "It's goohd to see you're id wod biece. I was wohderihg where you had god."

I almost rolled my eyes in frustration. It was Johann, still with a sealed nose, and still as loquacious as ever.

I turned toward him, but didn't address his concern.

"What happened before your boat got stuck in the ice?" I asked.

Johann limped toward a chair, pulled it out slightly and sat down. He sucked in a breath through tight lips, which had a wet crackle to it. He swallowed with some effort, his face showing a slight grimace.

His ears pop every time he swallows, I realized. That had to be an uncomfortable feeling.

"Well," he started, "I was goihg to visit Behrk adyway, but I was lahte in leavihg two days before dat. I dought I could let by boat steer idself, so to speak, but whed I was securihg de deck, dat greed drahgod juhped od board."

I thought for a brief moment, making sure I had translated everything properly in my head before asking another question.

"You didn't see the ice bridge or any dragons before that?"

"Doh, Baster Hiccub. I odly saw oped wahder. I chehcked by food store ad mahde sure I would be warb edough for de dight." He paused, thinking for a moment. "It was wihdy dat evedihg, ad I dink de wihd pushed by boat off-course a liddle."

That made sense to me. He wasn't even paying attention to exactly where he was going, and being pushed just a little to the side brought his boat close enough for a particular Speed Stinger on the ice bridge to investigate.

"What did you do when the dragon jumped onto your boat?" I asked.

"It was scahry," he said immediately. "De drahgod roahred at be, ad de last ding I rebeber was fallihg dowd de last few steps in de hode. Dat was it."

"Did you have open fish in the hold?" I asked.

"Yes, Baster Hiccub. I had just eatehd subber."

Pure and simple, this was a case of rotten luck for Johann. I doubted things with the Speed Stinger pack would have turned out differently had fortune been on his side. The scout would have found Berk, noticed we had food, and then turned around to let its brethren know.

"You sahbed by life, Baster Hiccub," he said after a silence had fallen over us. "I cah't dank you edough for dat."

I almost did it. Sarcastic Hiccup almost showed up and responded with, Yes, you've thanked me enough, now stop talking.

Instead, I held my tongue for a beat, then replied with, "You're welcome."

Johann smiled a little as another thunk echoed through the house. Toothless jumped with a start, whipped in a circle while growling, ready to kill the source of the sound.

My eyes shot toward Thornado, who was twitching exactly like Stormfly was. Inside, I panicked because he wasn't going to have control over his breathing for a few moments.

Toothless glowered at Thornado as his legs twitched and jerked and his throat opened and closed.

Thornado's gagging sound was much deeper than Stormfly's. A small amount of saliva trickled out of his mouth as he struggled to regain control of his body.

Suddenly, his chest inflated, expanding to what seemed like twice its original volume. Before I could react, Thornado gagged again, followed by a loud rush of air exiting his mouth directly at Toothless. A large cloud of steam enveloped Toothless' body, and he responded by blinking in confused surprise at what had just happened.

Thank goodness. It wasn't a roar, because Toothless would have probably lost his hearing, if not died outright from that close.

Thornado's chest heaved as he slowly regained his breathing, each time exhaling a cloud of steam directly at Toothless.

Toothless snapped at the air in front of him in warning, telling Thornado to stop.

"Toothless, c'mere, buddy," I said gently.

I was going to try the easy way out first, not having to walk into Thornado's exhaled breaths.

"Gohbber said de exahct sabe ding happehd to be whed I recovered," Johann pointed out.

Toothless glanced at me, and a few seconds later, he padded over to my right side. He sat back on his haunches with an exasperated groan while glaring at Thornado.

I tried to stifle a giggle as he slowly relaxed and heaved a massive sigh.

"I'm gonna wait until my dad and Astrid wake up," I told Johann.

He nodded just as the door opened and closed quietly. Both of us glanced toward the door and saw Gobber standing there, not moving. His eyes were deeply focused on me.

Who did I disappoint this time? I wondered sardonically.

"Hiccup, there are two Speed Stingers near the great hall," he stated.

There was a pause, but his expression told me he was going to say something else.

Gobber averted his gaze downward slightly and added, "And Hookfang died."