In the skies above a cliffside in the far north of the world, a mighty dragon, with scales of red and orange and smoke seeping from it's mouth, flew through the air, on it's back, gripping tightly to a saddle, was it's rider, a young warrior by the name of Anna Journ.
For centuries, Anna's tribe of Vikings had always had an affinity with the dragons. Legend has it their ancestors evolved alongside the mighty beasts and as such, they had been each other's allies. Due to this nature, Anna's tribe had been given the nickname Dovahkiin, which meant dragon born in their native tongue.
From a young age, Anna had always dreamed of riding a dragon. When she was thirteen, as with all the children of the clan, she had been given a dragon egg to raise, to hopefully let it hatch into her noble steed.
Five years later, and that egg had grown into a magnificent beast on which she rode. She named the beast Firestarter, after his tendency to overdo things with his fire breath. Firestarter was a rather friendly animal, the equivalent of having a pet dog, only much much bigger.
Currently, they were training together, honing their piloting skills for the next tourney of riders, a gathering of the best dragons and their trainers from across the world. Anna wanted to prove herself as the best of them, and in a way, Firestarter shared that desire.
As they dipped under an arch of rock, Anna smirked, knowing that Firestarter's agility was in top form today. "Good work, boy," she said, petting the scales on his neck.
The beast softly growled in response, in a rather friendly tone... or at least as friendly as a flying reptile could manage.
"Just a few more runs and we can head home," Anna told him, tugging on his reins. "Now show me what you're made of!"
Firestarter roared in reply, taking off into the air as fast as his massive wings could carry him.
Anna held on tight, the wind rushing through her strawberry-blonde locks. Every Time she flew on Firestarter, she got a sense of euphoria, often feeling like she was meant to be in the skies with him.
The dragon then curved upward in his ascent, performing a loop and a slaloming through the clouds with impressive grace.
Anna grinned, screaming in joy as she flew on her companion's back. As they resumed a normal cruising speed, the then said. "Good going, Fire!"
Firestarter roared in approval, proud of how well those little stunts went.
Before Anna and her beast could perform any more flying tricks, another roar was heard, one that sounded like two beasts roaring in unison.
Suddenly, the two heard a loud yodelling battle cry as another shape flew past them at great speed.
Anna looked up and saw the familiar blue scales of another dragon, one with two heads and imbued with the element of ice. That was Marshmallow, one of the best-known dragons in all of Anna's tribe and sat on his back, was a figure dressed in similar riding gear to herself, a long platinum braid flowing freely down one side of her face.
"Off for a little jaunt among the cliffs, dear sister?" Elsa asked, folding her arms.
Anna smiled slightly. Her big sister Elsa was the best rider in the entire tribe, always beating everyone at any challenge that came her way. This success often made Anna a little jealous of her sister, but they were family after all.
"Come on, love," Elsa called to her. "Firestarter isn't going to be winning any tourneys with his wings alone."
"Hey! You have your ways of training, I have mine," Anna replied, smirking slightly, feeling very confident about herself this day.
Elsa chuckled. "How about we put that to a test then?"
"What did you have in mind?"
Elsa turned and pointed to a tall peak on the horizon, stretching up far into the clouds above them. "A race. First one to Mount Hrothgar wins."
Anna tugged on Firestarter's reins, "Oh, we can do that easily, can't we, Fire?"
Fire started nodded, growling in response. He wanted to prove himself as well.
Elsa smiled and sat on her saddle, riding down on Marshmallow, getting herself and Anna next to each other so they would have a fair start. She was very confident she could win this. She had been an ace at every dragon riding technique since she was eight years old, while Anna was a mere amateur in her eyes.
"Are you ready?" She asked, smirking.
"Ready when you are!" Anna called back, Firestarter roaring in addition.
"Alright, On three, two, one." Elsa took a deep breath before finally saying, "GO!"
Anna and Firestarter raced off into the distance, with Elsa and Marshmallow flying alongside. The two of them were practically neck and neck to start off with from their starting point in the ravine, before Anna pulled back on her reins and took off upward.
As she flew higher and higher, a warm smirk crossing her face, she could leave Elsa in the dust easily.
"Keep going, boy!" She called to her dragon. "Let's wipe that smirk right off my sister's face!"
The dragon roared in approval, flapping his wings wildly and taking off through the clouds.
Elsa followed in pursuit, at a more steady pace, albeit one that could easily keep up with Anna. "Poor Anna," Elsa remarked. "Always full of a false sense of optimism. That will be her downfall." She tugged on the reins on her icy steeds back, taking off after Anna.
Anna saw Elsa catch up behind her and overtake her with ease, frowning. "Oh no you don't Elsa," she remarked. "Fire, dive now!"
Firestarter nodded, quickly diving down towards the ground.
Anna knew that gravity would be to her advantage her and that if she pulled up on Firestarter at the last moment, they would both have an increase in speed and velocity and be able to overtake Anna's sister with ease.
As they neared the ground, Anna began to count the seconds before she would pull up. Two seconds later, Anna then pulled back on the reins, Firestarter complying with her command and flying upward with increased speed.
As they overtook Elsa, the blonde shouting in frustration, Anna smirked. She would have this in the bag.
Soon, Mount Hrothgar was on the horizon, covered in a blanket of snow-filled clouds. The peak was said to be the tallest in the land, and Anna knew she would humiliate Elsa there.
As Elsa watched Anna pass through the clouds, she smirked. Fire Dragons were terrible at seeing through the blizzard, whereas her beast would be able to navigate the storm easily.
"Marshmallow, yup!" Elsa commanded, taking her steed through the foggy back near the mountain's slope. They immediately entered the blizzard, Elsa pulling down a pair of goggles from her forehead so she could see better.
As they dodged the various rock faces and cliffs that lined the sides of the peak, Elsa could only imagine the difficulty Anna was having.
Oh, how proud she would be to see her sister at the top of the peak, out of breath and at her mercy. She would feel bad, but Anna did want a challenge after all.
Marshmallow roared as they finally cleared the top of the mountain, descending upon the icy peak. Marshmallow placed his claws onto the rocks and Elsa climbed off his back, seeing her sister nowhere in sight.
"Hah," she smirked. "I win."
"Guess again!" A voice called to her from afar.
Elsa looked up and to her horror, Anna was standing atop a rock in front of her, her hand petting Firestarter on his scaly snout. She had beaten her. Elsa, for the first time in her life, had been beaten.
"Wait... what... but how?!"
Anna smirked, hands on hips as she gladly boasted her victory. "I had Firestarter use his flame breath to help us see through the blizzard," she explained. "You'd be surprised how helpful an out-of-control inferno can be."
Elsa then started to laugh, knowing how easily she had been beaten. This was a joke, and she was in on it. "I'm... impressed."
"Hard to say isn't it, Oh mistress of dragons," Anna remarked, descending from her rocky podium. "That you, were beaten, by moi."
Elsa sighed and hugged Anna tightly. "I'm proud of you though, Anna. So very, very proud. You beat me, fair and square." She looked into her eyes. "If mama and papa were here, they'd be smiling at us both."
"I know," Anna agreed, stroking Elsa's cheek. "And before we do anything else, there's something I need to do."
"Which is?"
Before Elsa could react, a massive snowball then hit her in the face, courtesy of Anna.
"Hahaha! Got ya!" She cried in glee as the snow covered Elsa's gear.
The older sister smirked and wiped the snow from her body, grinning. "Oh, it's on! Marshmallow, make me some ice!"
The two-headed beast then fired a beam from its mouth, creating a massive pile of ice and snow beside Elsa.
"Now, let's see if you can beat me now," Elsa said with a grin.
Anna smiled and she and Elsa began a snowball fight upon the top of the mighty mountain, their respective dragons roaring into the sky above.
xXx
Author's note: "Insert How To Train Your Dragon Joke here"