I don't own How To Train Your Dragon
"So remind me again why I'm doing this with you?" Astrid yelled over the deafening wind, clinging tightly to Toothless' jet-black scaly body for dear life as the Night Fury cut in and out of the low-lying clouds. Hiccup laughed but it was snatched away by the ocean gusts. He turned around to face her, having no trouble balancing on the dragon's back.
"Oh, come on. It's fun! Trust me, you're going to love it." He assured her with a wink, although Astrid wasn't entirely convinced. Something about the idea of jumping off of a dragon from hundreds of feet in the air into the icy waters of The Sullen Sea sounded a bit off to her.
"Yeah, sure. That or I'll die." She snapped, trying to calm her nerves with sarcasm. It usually worked. Hiccup was silent for a moment.
"Well, not if you do it right."
She hoped he was just kidding.
After a few more minutes of stomach-churning flips and turns, Toothless leveled out over a relatively smooth stretch of water, blocked from the bulk of the wind by a cliff. Hiccup turned around, brushing his wind-blown hair back in place with his fingers.
"You ready? I'll go first so you can see how it's done." Astrid was nervous about being alone on Toothless, even for a little while, but she nodded anyways.
"All you have to remember is that you need to go in fingers first or it's going to hurt. Focus on getting your fingers in first and not flipping over in the air. You want to go in just barely slanted. Watch this." Hiccup stood up on the dragon's back, raised his hands up over his head, and pushed off the saddle using his good leg. Astrid risked a glance over the side and watched his body slide into the water with virtually no splash.
Her chest tightened around her heart as it began to beat faster. It was her turn now. She leaned forward and slowly climbed to her knees on the saddle, careful to keep her eyes focused on Toothless's head instead of the churning icy waters below her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shakily got to her feet. All right, Astrid. If Hiccup can do this, then you can too. He's a wimp. This is nothing. Just a little jump. And...a really long drop. Okay. Deep breaths. Here goes. She opened her eyes and sprung off the saddle.
It felt like every organ in her body decided to race to her toes. She would have screamed if the air hadn't all been sucked straight from her mouth. Astrid sliced into the water, losing her form as soon as she went under in order to stop herself from sinking too far. She surfaced, laughing, next to an already shivering Hiccup. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her slightly-less-cold-than-his body closer so that they could share each other's body heat.
"G-g-good?" he asked, trying to clench his teeth with obvious effort.
"Yeah, it-t was really f-fun. Can you call T-t-toothless so we c-c-can get out-t-t of here?"
Hiccup nodded and pulled the whistle from around his neck, blowing it and sending a shrill screech over the flat water.
Astrid was freezing and tired and her face stung from the impact of the water. She was not looking forward to flying again, let alone in wet clothes in the wind.
But Astrid was in Hiccups arms, so she was having a great day.
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