Test Flight
Hiccup and Toothless had been practicing their flying techniques for the past few days and today was the ultimate test. Their first a official flight together was exciting as well as nerve wrecking. "Okay, Bud, let's take this nice and slow," Hiccup said while studying his notes. Giving him a quick pat he began reading, "Here we go. Here we go. Position...three... no, four." Hiccup nervously stepped on the pedal to open the custom-made tail fin and gained a tighter grip. The young viking was cautious while he banked left tentatively to be sure the fin would hold up. "All right, it's go time. It's go time," he voiced with confidence. Without wasting time, Hiccup and Toothless pinned their ears back and maneuvered into a steep dive. They came close to the water but leveled out just a few feet above it while Hiccup motivated his dragon, " Come on, buddy! Come on, buddy!" The boy yelled as his wing grazed the top of the water.
The confident Night Fury let out a small groan and became energized by his riders words of wisdom. As they approached the rocks, Hiccup didn't realize how fast they were going until he looked up to see the birds flying above as they passed under the cliffs. "Yes, it worked!" The first real test was a success thus far, yet it was short lived when he didn't bank soon enough and slammed into a rock. "Sorry," he apologized. Toothless growled disapprovingly. Then, hit another rock shortly after. "It was my fault." Once he regained control the black reptile gave his rookie pilot a much deserved slap with his ear with a glare. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it. Position four. Uh, three." Hitting the pedal once again but pulling up this time, Hiccup was taking it up another level. "Yeah! Go, baby! Yes!" He screeched. The higher they got, the more excited he became. "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my...cheat sheet," he panicked as his notes blew away briefly. After retrieving his cheat sheet, the boy lost his focus and the dragon went out of control. The strap that kept him attached came loose and they both began plummeting toward the ground. "Oh, no! Oh, gods! Oh, no!" In attempt to instruct the now helpless dragon, the boy desperately shouted orders for him to angle his body. "All right, okay, you've kinda gotta angle yourself." That wasn't going to work. He needed to somehow regain his post on the saddle. "Okay, no, no, no! Come back down towards me! Come back down...ow!"
Hiccup's guidance wasn't cutting it. Toothless then came too close with his tail hitting him in the face. Time was running out as the top of the one of cliffs passed and was now above them, so he made one last attempt to climb back onto Toothless. Assembling what strength remained, Hiccup reached out for the saddle and came up short, but gave it one last stab. This time he was successful. Promptly strapping himself back in the chair.
Recovering from such a fall was going to difficult even though he'd regained control. They were at incredible speeds with the forest below becoming an issue. Hiccup quickly hit the brakes for Toothless to stop, however the g-force was too much to handle as the speeding dragon screamed at the top of his lungs while clinching his teeth. As they sped above the trees the rocks were edging closer. Hiccup not knowing which position to follow on the notes. He gave up and let them blow away and gunned it. Forget it. Let's do this! He thought in a petrified manner. Toothless' facial expression transformed from terrified to courageous after finally leveling out. The pair weaved in and out of the cliffs at record speeds. After all his headaches from repairing the tail and learning how to fly, the work was paying off. There were no words to describe what was happening. The teamwork between the two was just impressive. None of this would've been possible without one important element, trust.
Their confidence was now through the roof as they finally cleared all the rocks and emerged from the fog victoriously. Hiccup was fired up and couldn't help but scream while holding his arms up high. "Yeah!" Toothless celebrated in his own way by shooting a fireball from his mouth with much excitement. Hiccup has done it. He trained his dragon! Something every viking in three hundred years has said to be impossible. "Oh, Come on," he pleaded as they caught up with the fireball.
