Disclaimer: I do not own Chris and Windwalker they belong to Splendidguy44 who wrote a fanfic that introduces them, check it out, it's good.
The atmosphere in the air around Berk was colder than normal, winter was on the way. The Vikings were already talking about Snoggletog and the Dragons were talking about migration. Hiccup and Toothless walked through the village both fulfilling their rolls as chief and Alpha. The place was already covered in three feet of snow. The walkways were all shoveled, thanks to the dragons. At that moment Astrid and Stormfly ran up.
"Hiccup everyone wants to do something special with the dragons before they migrate," she said. "But they can't think of what." Hiccup and Toothless exchanged a glance. Toothless would be the only dragon remaining on Berk, partially due to his missing tail fin and partially due to the fact that he loved his rider very much. At that moment Hiccup spotted a small flock of sheep near a house and he got an idea.
"Lets have one more Dragon Race," he said. "We haven't had a race in a while."
"Great," said Astrid. "And to make it special, we can invite our Draconian allies. They've never raced."
"I like it, I'll go ask them myself," Hiccup said. "I'll try to be back by tomorrow." He turned to Toothless who looked excited. Hiccup mounted him, then turned back to Astrid.
"Think you can hold down this place for a night?" he asked. Astrid rolled her eyes.
"Do you really need to ask me that?" she asked. Hiccup smiled at her, then clicked the stirrup and Toothless took off. They turned to the south heading for Draconia. Toothless was excited to see the place ever since the Dragon Healer, Serenity, told him it existed. He picked up speed.
While they flew over the ocean they practiced maneuvers for the race. They spun, flipped and corkscrewed. Hiccup even practiced using his leather wings, which he was getting better at. After several hours of flying very fast they soon reached the Draconian waters. Though Toothless had never been to the country, he somehow knew the way by gut feeling. He soared over the ocean and was soon joined by other dragons. Most of them were Whippertails and Blackfangs, but once in a while a Scauldron or a Sea Shocker would surface. They were skimming the surface for fish. Hiccup and Toothless looked at each of them to see if the King and Queen were among them, they weren't. So the two of them sped off. Before long they spotted mountains on the horizon. More dragons filled the sky and sea.
"What do you think Re does all day when he's not helping us win a war?" Hiccup asked Toothless. The Night Fury crooned in response. They approached the shoreline and saw the massive Golden Gates that sealed off a huge turquoise lagoon. Snow covered mountains surrounded the lagoon. Draconia had gotten snowed on as well. A good foot of it covered the ground. Toothless sped over the gates and the lagoon, and they both spotted the mountainous castle, towering over the lagoon and the surrounding mountains. As they approached it Toothless let out a loud roar, announcing their arrival. They circled around the tall spires. The castle huge, dwarfing the village of Berk. Sunlight bounced off the many windows that littered the side of the mountain. The sires were connected to each other via stone bridges.
Soon Hiccup landed Toothless in a large snowy yard at the opposite side of the castle from the lagoon. The yard was bigger than the Cove and was sealed off by another set of gates, silver ones. Hiccup turned to the tall castle doors that had dragon carvings all over them. At that moment Hiccup and Toothless heard the flapping wings and the thud of a dragon landing on the snow. Hiccup spun around to see Queen Aurora standing behind him and folding her blue wings.
"Hello boys," she said cheerfully. "I thought I recognized the call of a Night Fury."
"Sorry if I'm intruding," Hiccup said.
"No, no you're not intruding," said Aurora.
"Where are the others?" Hiccup asked.
"Inside," Aurora said gesturing to the castle. "Well, what can we do for you?" Hiccup was about to answer but suddenly he couldn't remember why he'd come, the sight of the castle had completely driven it out of his mind. But luckily Toothless remembered.
"We were wondering if you and your family would like to join us in a dragon race," he said in Dragontongue.
"A dragon race?" Aurora said, sounding excited.
"Yeah, we were going to have one last dragon race before the dragons migrated," Hiccup said, remembering again. "I was hoping you would join us." Aurora thumped her tail against the snow in thought.
"When are you running it?" she asked.
"Tomorrow," Hiccup said.
"Wow, so soon," Aurora said. "Alright, I will have to ask the others. Why don't you two come inside for a bit." She walked around them and up to the doors. She pushed them open with her front paws. Hiccup and Toothless followed her into the Entrance Hall. It was rather dark, the only light came from outside. When the doors closed the room was dark for a second then a bright, white light filled the room almost as well as the sunlight did.
"Where's the light coming from?" Hiccup asked.
"Is a special crystal that glows in the dark," Aurora said. "There's a huge deposit of them on the southern shore, they're actually a better light source than torches. You two wait here I'll go get the others feel free to look around just don't break anything." She cantered to the double staircase at the far end of the room and flew onto the balcony. When she was out of sight Hiccup glanced around the Entrance Hall. It was the size of Berk's Great Hall. The flagstones were made of blue marble covered by green carpets. The walls were made of the same brown rock at the outside of the mountain. Lining the walls were suits of dragon armor, obviously empty. At the far end of the room, underneath the balcony was a set of double doors that also had carvings of dragons on them. They were flanked by a pair Draconian flags. The glowing crystals were placed in iron baskets that would normally hold fire. Hiccup looked up at the ceiling, which was quite high. Two large, golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling. They two had glowing crystals on them, in the place of candles. In all the Entrance Hall was very big and very fancy. And it was only one room in the massive castle. Hiccup turned his attention to the double doors at the far end. He and Toothless walked up to them. They weren't as big as the front doors. They were made of petrified wood and the handles were made of brass and carved in the shape of eastern dragons. Hiccup carefully pushed the doors open. Toothless followed him into the Great Hall, which was the biggest room either of them ever saw. The whole village of Berk could have fit comfortably inside it, including the arena. The flagstones were made of gold marble. A large horseshoe shaped balcony sat against the wall, held up by massive columns also made of gold marble. The back wall was one big window, looking out at the lagoon. It had started to snow lightly. At the far end of the room were three huge thrones. They were made of gold, marble, and decorated with gems. They sat on platform with three steps up to it. Hanging from the very high ceiling were ten huge chandeliers. Hiccup and Toothless walked around the room getting a better look at things while the waited.
Elsewhere in the castle Aurora had arrived at the top of the tallest tower where her and Re's chamber was. The rest of her family were up there already. She entered the room to find them all sitting in around the room listening to Serenity read one of their favorite books, Dragon Slippers. Sitting on the large round bed was King Re, a large emerald green dragon with with ocean blue eyes. Sitting beside closest to the window was Tenor; a black Night Fury, Blackfang hybrid with large green eyes, and black venomous teeth. Sitting across from Tenor was a female Night Fury with honey gold eyes named Windwalker. She was the alpha of a large group of dragons who lived on one of Draconia's volcanic islands. And sitting beside Windwalker was Re and Aurora's adopted human son, Windwalker's rider, and Serenity's husband, Chris. They all looked up when Aurora came in.
"Who was it?" Tenor asked.
"It was Hiccup actually," said Aurora. "He has invited us all to participate in a dragon race tomorrow."
"Wow, a dragon race?" said Serenity as she marked her place in the book.
"Yes," said Aurora. "And he's waiting downstairs for our answer." They looked at one another.
"Why not," said Re. "It sounds like a lot of fun. A last chance to get out before we turn in for the winter." Serenity out the book down and got to her feet.
"I'll get my stuff," she said. "I'll meet you all in the Entrance Hall." She left the room and headed for hers.
"Is she actually going to compete?" Chris asked. "She hates competition." Chris and Serenity had grown up together in the castle, so he knew Serenity as much as she knew him.
"No, I never put my Dragon Healer in a position where she could get hurt," Re said.
"Even though this is just a game, accidents happen and if something happens to her there will be no one to help the dragons feel better. We can have her as the medical support."
"We have other healers," Tenor pointed out as they made their way towards the Entrance Hall.
"True," Re said. "But I get the feeling those Berkian dragons would be very disappointed if we don't bring her." No one could argue with that. Aurora clicked her talons and all the dragons were suddenly wearing their saddles. She didn't foresee any reason to bring out the dragon armor since they weren't going to war. At that moment they came to the corridor where Serenity's room was. They walked closer to her door just as she came out wearing her riding uniform and carrying her medical bag, along with Chris's coat.
"You ready?" Re asked her.
"Yes sir," Serenity said. She put her bag on his saddle.
"No camping gear?" Chris asked.
"Nope," Serenity said as she held his coat open for him. "I have accommodations on Berk already, and an extra set of camping gear." Chris put his arms into the sleeves of his coat and Serenity slid it onto his shoulders. They continued towards the Entrance Hall.
"Who's going to look after the place while we're gone?" asked Windwalker, worried about her friends on Mt. Vulcan.
"Don't worry Draconia is prepared for anything," Re said. "If we have to leave for any reason the country is able to keep itself afloat. And if there is a real emergency, like one of my volcanoes erupts, they can contact me with a Hermes Dragon and we will fly back as fast as we can. And you don't have to worry about your friends Windwalker, that volcano hasn't erupted since the Ice Age."
They finally arrived at the Entrance Hall. Hiccup and Toothless were waiting patiently, having finished seeing the Great Hall.
"Sorry for the wait," Re told Hiccup. "It takes a while to get down here from the top."
"That's understandable," Hiccup said. They headed outside where it was snowing slightly harder.
"We should take off as soon as possible," Re said. "Before this becomes a blizzard."
"How cold does is get down here?" Hiccup asked as they mounted Toothless.
"It gets pretty cold," said Aurora said. "If seen it get so cold that it was too dangerous for anyone to go outside for whole month." Chris mounted Windwalker and Serenity mounted Re. They took off and flew in the direction of Berk, as the sun began to set. They ascended above the snow clouds so Tenor could get his bearings. They flew in the usual V formation, letting Hiccup and Toothless be in the lead.
"While were on the move," Tenor said. "Why don't you explain the rules and everything."
"Sure," said Hiccup. And explain he did. He told them how to score points using the white sheep, and how to finish a game with the black sheep. He explained the rules and the reason behind them. He also said that the dragons had to wear face paint so the audience could tell them apart.
"So do you have teams?" Aurora asked. "Or is it an individual thing."
"It can be either," Hiccup said. "This time we are having teams."
"Good to know," Tenor said. "And Serenity can be the medical support, since she hates competition."
"Why is that?" Hiccup asked Serenity.
"Competition is the world where no one is friends," Serenity said. "Everyone is always mocking each other, at each other's throats, and someone almost always gets hurt. It's almost as bad war."
"War doesn't usually have rules," Hiccup pointed out.
"True," Serenity agreed. "And I guess it is a better alternative to war. I just with the competitive ones weren't so mean and prideful." Serenity remembered several years ago when the Riders of Berk had gotten into a heated argument about who was better at dragon training and Fishlegs's Gronkle, Meatlug, had been dragonknapped by Alvin the Treacherous.
They talked more as the stars came out and Tenor found it easier to navigate. It took them most of the night to reach the waters around Berk and by the time they saw the island the moon was starting to set. The three riders were feeling very tired by this point. They landed in the plaza, which was very quiet. The stands were already set up for the race. Re spotted the baskets for the sheep, and one of them had the Draconian crest on it.
"You should get some rest," said Hiccup. "We meet you at noon in the arena."
"Alright," said Re.
"How long is this race?" asked Windwalker, and Chris translated.
"As long as it takes to find all the sheep," Hiccup said. "The longest I've seen it go is two hours. See you tomorrow." He and Toothless went up to their house. Serenity led the way up to her old hospital, which she hadn't seen in years. When they got there she and Chris dismounted.
"Wow that's the prettiest tree I've ever seen," said Windwalker looking up at the Golden Apple Tree.
"I grew it myself," Serenity said as she got her medical bag of Re's saddle. "With some help from Lord Draco of course. I gave it to the dragons of Berk, since I can't really carry it on my saddle." She went over to the tree and found the hidden door while Chris unsaddled Windwalker. Serenity opened up the tree trunk and went into the round room where she used to sleep.
"I remember when you slept in the tree," Re said. Aurora laid down in the snow feeling quite tired. Serenity dragged out her spare camping gear from the house and set up sleeping rolls for both her and Chris. The dragons all laid down in the snow.
"Is is going to snow tonight mum?" Chris asked.
"No," Aurora answered. "And even if it did I can always use magic to keep it off the hospital." She rolled onto her back and leaned into her mate. Windwalker laid next to Chris, leaving Tenor to shelter Serenity with his big black wings.
"Why don't you sleep in the tree?" he whispered.
"I thought it was going to snow," Serenity yawned. "But Aurora said it wasn't and she's never wrong." Tenor chuckled just as he fell asleep.
The next morning the Draconians got up at the same time the rest of the village did. Serenity and Chris began putting the face paint on the dragons. They split up the work; Chris painted Windwalker and his dad while Serenity painted Aurora and Tenor. Windwalker got golden yellow zigzagged stripes on her wings, and down her the middle of her forehead. Her tail fins also got zigzagged stripes. Re got the Draconian crest painted on each wing and a blue spiral around each eye. Aurora go ice blue snowflakes all over her wings and around both eyes. Tenor got a white star around each eye, then Serenity put thousands of tiny white dots all over the underside of his wings so it looked the starry night sky. She also put his crest on his tail fins and the opposite sides of his wings. Soon they were all ready.
"We should head for the arena," Re said. "It's almost noon."
"I'll go down and find a seat," Serenity said, picking up her bag. Chris mounted Windwalker and they were about to take off when Aurora suddenly lost her balance and would have fallen over had she not caught herself with her wings. She was breathing heavily.
"You okay mom?" Chris asked worried. They all ran to her side, Serenity being the first.
"Strange, I feel tired all of a sudden," Aurora panted.
"Maybe you shouldn't race today," said Tenor. "If you're not feeling well."
"Oh nonsense," Aurora said, strength coming back to her. "I'm feeling better already." She got to her feet.
"You sure?" Serenity asked.
"Yes," said Aurora, she did sound like she was returning to normal.
"Okay," Serenity said. "If it happens again there's nothing wrong with forfeiting." She picked her bag back up, along with her folding char and headed for the plaza as her family headed for the arena. Serenity arrived in the plaza which was all excited about the upcoming race. She spotted the pen of sheep that the dragons would use to score points. She counted fifteen white sheep and one black sheep. They were penned next to the sheep launcher. At that moment Cloudjumper landed next to her.
"You not racing ma'am?" he asked.
"No," said Serenity. "I'd rather be the medical support. What about you and Valka?"
"She's going to be medical support too," Cloudjumper said. "She and that small witch will be the medical support for the humans."
"Small witch?" Serenity chuckled, knowing he was talking about Gothi. "You think she's a witch?"
"Looks like a witch, acts like witch," said Cloudjumper as they made their way onto the grand stands.
"I don't think Gothi likes me much," Serenity said. "I don't really know why." They arrived at the section of the stands where Valka and Gothi were sitting.
"Is your mate racing?" Cloudjumper asked.
"He is indeed," Serenity said. She set up her chair near the other two and put her bag next to her feet.
"That will be interesting," Cloudjumper said. "Two Night Furies and a half in this race."
"Yeah I know," Serenity said. "I just hope the Queen makes it. She almost fainted this morning, she seemed really tired."
"Is she ill?" Cloudjumper asked.
"I don't know, it only lasted a minuet and she said still wanted to race," Serenity said. Cloudjumper went over and sat net to his rider. Serenity sat in her chair and waited for the race to begin. At that moment Gobber came up to her.
"Hey, Serenity good to see you at the races," he said cheerfully.
"Yeah I can't wait," Serenity said.
"I wonder if I could ask you a favor?" Gobber asked. Serenity blinked, the only favor
anyone on Berk asked her for was dragon sitting.
"I have to referee the race and we need someone to operate the sheep launcher," Gobber explained. "Will you run it? Just this once, I'll show you how to run it."
"Alright," Serenity said. "I suppose I could make myself useful." She got up and gathered her things. She followed Gobber back down the steps of the stands. They went over to the sheep launcher, which already had a sheep in it. Gobber's Hotburple, Grump, was sleeping next to it.
"Right all you have to do is put the sheep into the basket there," Gobber explained. "Then pull that leaver. Everytime a sheep is launched you must put another one in right away, I'll wave at you when we are ready for the next sheep."
"Sounds easy," Serenity said. She set her chair next to the launcher, she made a mental note to herself to secretly use her own magic to get the sheep in place. Gobber mounted Grump and took off. He circled the plaza and wave in the direction of the horn blower to start the race. The viking blew the horn and the racers flew out of the arena and towards the plaza. Serenity spotted her family at once, the face paint did its job. Gobber waved at her and she pulled the leaver and the sheep was launched into the village. The racers homed in on it like sharks. It was quickly snatched by Toothless who gripped it tightly in hit paws. He raced through the course, hitting the weather vane as he passed. The Draconians began talking to each other in Dragontongue. Tenor circled Toothless, then he dived a foot in front of him. Toothless was so surprised that he dropped the sheep and it was snatched up by Aurora. She flew towards the dragon hanger as fast as her wings could carry her. Snotlout tried to steel the sheep but she saw him comming and did a fancy backflip to avoid the opponent as she entered the hanger. The other riders tried to get the sheep, but Aurora kept dodging them. When she got out of the hanger and headed for the apple tree Chris and Windwalker appeared underneath her. She dropped the sheep into her son's arms, he caught it and Windwalker sped off. They reached the plaza, the others sped after them. Windwalker sped up to the baskets and tossed the sheep into their baskets. The crowd roared. Gobber waved at Serenity and she launched the next sheep. Tenor followed it with his sharp eyes. He sped after it, and caught it before it hit the ground. He held it tightly in his talons. He didn't see Astrid and Stormfly pull up into his blind spot, right below him. But then the sheep chose that time to bleat and Tenor spotted the Nadder below him. He thrust his wings back and sped off. He soared over the docks. He soon saw Re right ahead of him. Tenor let out a bark alerting him that he was about to toss him the sheep. Re called back saying he was ready. But then Eret came out of no where and snatched the sheep right out of Tenor's talons. Tenor had paused for too long. Eret raced towards the hanger and the others followed. They all tried to steel the sheep but Eret dodged all of them. Then Chris saw him make eye contact with Fishlegs. Chris pulled up slightly behind Fishlegs, in a perfect position to intercept. But Eret spotted this and tossed the sheep to Tuffnut. Tuffnut caught the sheep, but then he and Ruffnut began fighting over it. Astrid did her usual trick where she jumped onto the Zippleback, snatched the sheep and landed back on Stormfly. They had already passed through the hanger and were heading towards the apple tree. Astrid threw the sheep to Hiccup, but Toothless inconveniently wobbled and hit the sheep with his wing. The sheep sailed up high, giving Chris and Windwalker the opportunity to snatch it. Windwalker caught the sheep in her talons and hugged it to her chest making it slightly harder for anyone to steel it. She flew into the plaza and dropped the sheep into the Draconians' basket.
The race went on with real intensity. Serenity launched sheep after sheep. She watched the dragons snatch them up and fly off with them. Though this was their first race the Draconians proved to be a tough opponent. They used very tricky maneuvers to intercept sheep and to avoid losing the sheep they had already. All the battle training they had gone through over the years played a big roll. The Berkians were able to get a few sheep into the other baskets, but the Draconians gained on them every time. They were so wrapped up in the race that time seemed to vanish. Then at long last Serenity loaded the black sheep into the launcher. The sheep that was in play currently was in Re's talons. Aurora corkscrewed around the Zippleback and Re tossed her the sheep. She managed to catch it before it was intercepted. She sped through the hanger the other racers hot on her tail. Tenor sped ahead of her and flew into the plaza. Aurora sped up, using her magic to give her a tail wind as she flew over the apple tree. She then glided into the plaza where Tenor circled. Aurora threw the sheep towards him and he hit with his tail. The sheep shot through the air and landed right into the Draconians' basket. The crowd roared. Gobber waved at the horn blower. He blew the foghorn, announcing the final lap. Then Gobber waved at Serenity and she launched the black sheep into play. The intensity increased as the racers flew even faster to try and get the sheep. Astrid beat them all and Stormfly clutched the valuable sheep in her talons. The animal bleated and struggled. But then it got aggressive and bit Stormfly's paw. It didn't break the skin but it did hurt Stormfly enough to make her drop the sheep. It fell a good several feet before being caught by Chris. He urged Windwalker to go as fast as she could towards the hanger. Windwalker could suddenly sense Toothless on her tail. She sped up and soared through the hanger. When she got outside again Chris saw both his parents ahead of him. Aurora was ahead of Re, and Chris decided to risk a pass.
"Dad heads up!" he called. Re looked over his left wing as his son threw him the black sheep. Re didn't catch it, instead he did a frontwards flip and hit the sheep with his tail. Aurora heard the sheep bleating in her direction. Thinking quickly she flipped upside down, caught the sheep in her back talons, and flipped upright again. She thrust her wings back and sped over the apple tree. The others urged their dragons after her. The sheep tried biting again, but the Dragon Queen only flinched and gripped the sheep tighter. She entered the plaza, the finish line in her sight. The crowd was dead silent, saving their voices for the big cheer. Aurora suddenly heard the whistle of a Night Fury gaining on her. Thinking quickly again Aurora put on one last burst of speed and slammed the sheep into the Draconians' basket, claiming victory. The crowd roared and the racers began to slow down. Aurora was about to do her victory lap when the exhaustion she felt that morning suddenly reared its ugly head again, only ten times worse. It took every last bit of strength she had to stay airborne. It was getting harder to keep her eyes open. She looped around looking for a place to land. She pumped her wings, desperately trying not crash. She didn't even notice that she was heading right for the great hall. Then Aurora could fight no more as every muscle in her body shut down. She smashed through the great hall doors, crashed on the floor, and the lights went out.