The morning's sunrise was a breath-taking display of radiant colours. Bright streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky. The sky resembled a prism; all the colours blended perfectly into each other. The sun itself was just peeking out of the horizon, and its brilliant rays already shined brightly and began to warm the air.
Hiccup was completing his morning flight around Berk. He marvelled at the glistening reflection of the sun on the ocean and a thrilling feeling of awe swept over him. His morning flights had become part of his daily routine, gliding across the entire island, and that day, everything seemed to be in order. A small crew of fishing boats were anchored just off shore, bringing in the days catch of Salmon and Cod. The larger fields on the south side of the island were being harvested after the spring rain had provided plenty of crops, and a team of Timberjacks and their trainers we're cutting timber in the forests.
It was these flights that Hiccup enjoyed the most. It gave him an opportunity to oversee everything his people were getting up to, making sure they were all safe. After the business with Drago Bludvist and his dragon army, Hiccup had plenty on his mind. Even through it had been over 4 years since the incident, Berk was still not quite back to normal. It had taken them almost 6 months to thaw the ice from the Bewilderbeast that had covered most of the village. Homes were still being repaired, fields re-ploughed and crops re-sown.
The academy had reopened a few weeks after the war with Drago, and it couldn't have come a moment too soon. Hundreds of new dragons now called Berk their home, and as the Head of the Academy, it was his responsibility to train them all and find them new riders. A group of excited teenage Vikings had been jumping around for the joy the previous evening when he informed them that they had been chosen to become the riders of a group of Rumblehorns. It was those kinds of moments that made Hiccup proudest of all, that other Vikings could share in his passion for dragons, a fact that seemed almost impossible 9 years ago when he was a teenager.
Yet despite all his achievements in the academy, Hiccup now had a much greater responsibility on his shoulders. Being chief was something he knew would one day become his burden, but he never expected it to befall on him at the age of 20. Ever since the death of father, Hiccup had been almost running himself ragged taking charge of the village, ensuring that there was always enough food, water and shelter available.
Negotiating new peace treaties with a number of their neighbouring tribe meant he was traveling a lot, and the archipelago was not exactly a small place. After he had completed his map a few months previous, he finally saw just how vast it was, and he travelled to almost every single island. It was exhausting work, he had often gone over 48 hours with no sleep.
Hiccup felt a well of sadness build up in his chest. He experienced it every time he thought about his father, his strong physique, big presence amongst his people, even his stubbornness at times, his vibrant green eyes and bright red hair. Stoick had been a great leader, admired across the entire archipelago, and now he was gone. Hiccup had some incredibly big shoes to fill, but he was determined to make his father proud.
As he made his final swoop across Raven Point, Hiccup was finally satisfied that the village was taking care of itself for the morning.
"Okay bud, that's the rounds done, now let's get to the academy, I dread to think what the twins might be doing with those Rumblehorns"
Hiccup cooed excitedly in response. Hiccup clicked the gears with his prosthetic and sped towards the academy, flying over the village square as he did so, waving to everyone who waved to him first. The academy had grown considerably in the past few years to accommodate all the new dragons now living on Berk. The stables had been expanded to hold over 50 dragons at once, with feeding stations scattered across their hallways. The main arena was now only used for advanced dragon training lessons, so three smaller training rings had been built on the hills overlooking the bay.
As he flew closer, Hiccup could see most of his friends conducting their daily routines around the academy. A group of younger Vikings, maybe 10 or 11 years old, were sitting in one of the open air classrooms, being delivered a lecture by Fishlegs into the feeding habits of the Smouldering Smokebreaths. Snotlout was helping a group of teen's fit their saddles to a flock of Gronkles. Thankfully, the twins were pre-occupied by themselves arguing over which dragon was faster, Barf or Belch. Hiccup could only laugh as he watched the squabbling siblings argue, despite the fact they actually rode the same dragon.
Moving the gear into landing positions, Hiccup swooped down to the main gates, touching down on a small landing platform reserved for the dragon trainers. He gave Toothless a scratch behind the ears, making his friend gurgle with approval, before dismounting.
"Where have you been?" came a voice from behind him. Hiccup smiled before turning round. He didn't need to see who was there, he recognised that Voice anywhere.
Astrid slowly climbed the stone steps up to the landing platform. Her long blonde hair blowing slightly in the breeze, bangs covering the left side of her forehead, with a braided ponytail in back. Hiccup had always wondered to himself how he managed to make her fall in love with him. She could have had her pick of any eligible bachelor on Berk, but she had chosen him, a man someone had once described as 'the worst Viking Berk had ever seen'. Hiccup felt the same lump in his throat as he recalled that conversation with Stoick.
"Oh you know, morning rounds, running the village, general chiefly stuff" Hiccup replied as she reached to top of the stairs.
"Well when I woke up this morning you had already gone, so I never had a chance to give you this…"
Astrid proceeded to punch him square on the arm. Hiccup winced slightly, she still packed a mean punch. He rubbed the now throbbing part of his arm, starting at her with a look that cried out 'Why would you do that?', but all he got in response was a chuckle from his girlfriend.
"That's for leaving your armour all over the floor last night….." Astrid slowly approached him, before taking his hand in hers and planting a dainty kiss on his lips. Hiccup immediately melted inside, she knew exactly how to push his buttons. Their lips separated with a light pop, Hiccup grinning like a fool back at her, which only made her smile wider.
"And that is for everything else last night". She shot his a seductive wink before skipping off back down the steps. For the moment, Hiccup was rooted to the spot, admiring her beautiful form as she reached the bottom of the stair before disappearing into the main arena. Hiccup never thought he could feel this way about anyone, but he loved Astrid more than life itself. He had lost so many things in his life, suffered so much pain, he was determined to never let her go.
Toothless nudged him gently in the back, snapping Hiccup back to reality.
"Oh sorry bud, got a bit caught up in the moment there. Anyway, you ready to train some Rumblehorns?"
Toothless purred in response, and bounded down the stairs, his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth like a puppy. Hiccup shook his head in amusement, slowly following his friend down the stairs into the arena.
A large group of teenagers were sitting across the main arena on a group of barrels, talking amongst themselves in excited voices about getting their very own dragons. Astrid was leaning against the outer gates, her arms crossed with a smile across her face. This was her favourite part of the job, helping young Vikings pick out their first dragons. Hiccup approached the group of teens, whose chatter had shifted to what they were going to name their dragons. Most of the boys wanted manly names, like Thunder, Firestorm, Shockwave and other such names, the girls however were not that impressed with the boys' choices.
"Good morning guys, so, are you all ready to choose your first dragon?" Hiccup asked enthusiastically. Unfortunately, the teens paid him no head, and continued to talk amongst themselves.
"Uh…..guys…If I could just…"
"I hope my dragon is the biggest" one of the teen males said to the group
"No way man, mine is gonna' be biggest"
"…get your attention for a minute". Hiccup tried to interject, but again had no luck
"Your crazy man, mine will be the biggest"
"In your dreams"
"Clearly it will be mine"
PPPPPPIIIIIIIHHHHHHHH!
The ear splitting whistle noise made all the Viking teens cover their ears to escape the sound. Hiccup let the whistle drop from his lips, staring at the group until they all quietened down. He gaze Astrid a quick glaze as she raised her eyebrow with a small smirk on her face.
"Right, now that I've got your attention, I need to tell you a few things about the Rumblehorn before you choose one of them as your dragon"
The teens all took a seat before Hiccup continued.
"The Rumblehorn is a Tracker class dragon, meaning it has a highly acute sense of smell to track and find things. They have a powerful long tail that can be used as a club, so you need to be careful with them. Basically the Rumblehorn looks like a mix of truffle pig, a rhinoceros, a battle axe, and a scarab beetle"
This last comment caused a few of the teens to giggle under their breath. Hiccup huffed in annoyance and looked to Astrid for guidance, but she was also trying to hide her concealed laughter. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her, but this only made her laugh more. He could never look that threatening, no matter how much he tried, he always ended up looking slightly odd.
Hiccup waited until the giggling had died down.
"Are we all finished?" he asked, as the teens finally stopped sniggering. "Good, then let's bring in the dragons, remember, when you approach one of them, hold out your hand and turn your head away, it's a sign of trust"
Hiccup walked over to the outer gates to where Astrid was standing. She walked towards him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Quiet the show"
Hiccup shrugged and smiled back at her.
"Yeah, all part of the territory I guess, well shall we mi' lady"
Astrid smiled back at Hiccup as the each pulled open the outer gates, ushering in the herd of Rumblehorns who had been grazing on the other side. The ground shook slightly as each dragon stepped into the arena. Slowly but surely, the Viking teens walked towards the dragons, each one holding out there hand and turning their head, just as Hiccup had instructed, causing the smile on Hiccups face to broaden.
The dragons approached the group of teens, sniffing at their hands, taking in their scent, before placing their snouts into their hands. Most of the teens breathed a huge sigh of relief as their new dragon companions nuzzled up against them, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the young teen girls, staring straight into the eyes of one of the Rumblehorns, her eyes wide with fear, her knees shaking and knocking together. Hiccup and Astrid slowly approached the pair, being careful not to startle the dragon
"Sigrid, stay calm, just hold out your hand and turn your head like I taught you" Hiccup said softly, as he approached the Rumblehorn. Astrid walked behind Sigrid, taking her arm and slowly raising it up with her palm extended.
"Now just turn your head away slowly, you can do it" Astrid whispered to her. Sigrid was still almost frozen in fear, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't take her eyes of the dragon in front of her. The Rumblehorn slowly started to growl menacingly at the girl. "Come on Sigrid, you can do this" Astrid repeated, squeezing the girls arm softly, but it was no use.
The dragon emitted a roar and charged towards the pair. Astrid tried to pull Sigrid out of the way, but she was rooted to the spot. She looked up as the dragon drew ever closer, opening its jaws to reveal a row of razor sharp teeth. The ground shook violently as the angry beast got closer and closer.
"ASTRID, LOOK OUT!" Hiccup dove and tackled Astrid and Sigrid out of the way just before the dragon charged through where they had just been standing. The three Vikings thudded into the cobblestone floor, Hiccup smacking his elbow hard onto the stones, grimacing with palm. Quickly he pushed the pain out of his mind, got to his feet and stood between the two girls and the angry dragon, who had turned and was charging back towards them.
Toothless bounded to Hiccups side, roaring wildly at the charging dragon. Hiccup placed his hand on his friends head, scratching lightly to calm him down, holding up his hand to the Rumblehorn and slowly turned his face away. The dragon charged towards then, but began to slow down as it approached, before finally coming to a stop in front of Hiccup. The Rumblehorn sniffed Hiccups hand, sniffed again, before finally placing it's snout into his fingers. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to face the dragon, scratching it lightly on the snout, receiving a happy coo in reply. Hiccup removed his other hand front Toothless head, and signalled to the Rumblehorn to return to the pen, which it did in slow lumbering steps. Once the dragon was back beyond the outer gate, Hiccup pulled the lock shut before running back to Astrid and Sigrid.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" Hiccup asked, helping Astrid to her feet. Astrid brushed herself off before hugging him tightly round the neck. Toothless gurgled and nuzzled his head against the pair.
"Yes, we're fine, thank you" Hiccup wrapped his arms around her waist as Astrid buried her face into his shoulder. Hiccup breathed easy once more as he held her close, relieved that she wasn't hurt. The couple broke their embrace before noticing Sigrid still sitting on the floor, her face covered by her hands, letting out small sobs.
"Hey, hey Sigrid, it's okay, you did your best" said Hiccup, squeezing her shoulder. Astrid wrapped her arm around Sigrid's other shoulder, trying her best to comfort the young girl.
"I'm….I'm so sorry Hiccup….I don't know what happened…..I….I just froze." Tears were hitting the ground with a soft patter. Hiccup looked to the rest of the young Vikings, who were all standing next to their Rumblehorns observing what had just happened.
"Don't worry Sigrid, these things happen, maybe a Rumblehorn isn't the dragon for you, we'll try again tomorrow" Astrid helped the young girl to her feet, brushing the dirt off her back "But for now, why don't you go home and rest. Do you want me to walk you back to the Village?"
Sigrid shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"No, I can walk myself back, thank you" Sigrid hugged Astrid briefly before turning towards the exit, her eyes meeting Hiccups briefly. He nodded encouragingly to her, and a small, but noticeable smile crept onto her face as she headed back to the village.
"Well….that's not exactly the way I thought this morning would go" Hiccup sighed, running his hand through his hair. Astrid took his other hand, intertwining her fingers with his, before planting a kiss on his lips, which Hiccup was more than happy to reciprocate. Every kiss with Astrid sent fireworks off in his heart.
Astrid broke the kiss before motioning over her shoulder at the other Vikings. Hiccup blushed slightly as the group sniggered under their breath.
"Hey one day you guys will feel the same way as I do!" Hiccup cried, laughing as he did so. Astrid chuckled and smiled along with the rest of the group. "But enough about me being in love…" he shoot a small wink to Astrid, "….you've got your dragons, go get your saddles, it's time to go flying"
