The mist flew into her leg, the ocean swiftly being churned up by her dragon's wings.
"Come on!" She softly squeezed the dragon's neck, and it happily dove into the sky above. "WHOOOOOOOOOOO!" She cried as the night fury levelled out and began to spin.
This was living. The breeze softly tugged at her hair, her helmet only able to cover half of it. She gripped onto the dragon's neck as it steadied out again, and began to stand up.
The dragon, snapping out of it's bliss, immediately turned to make sure it's rider was alright, making a soft, curious purring sound.
"It's alright, Flicker, this will work." She assured her beloved dragon. She pushed up, wobbling slightly. Flicker flew level, her need to protect her friend was fiercely alive.
The girl breathed in, and, straightened out her knees to stand tall. She gasped, the breeze pressing against her armour. She then pulled on the side of her armour, and long slips of leather came out to greet her hands. "Alright, here we go!" She leapt off of Flicker, plunging into the sky. She then brought her hands out wide to hold the leather slips as wings. Gripping onto the leather's edges wasn't as easy as it had first seemed. She quickly lost grip, and, Flicker, seeing this, began to fly towards her dear friend in a desperate attempt to protect her. The girl was falling, like a wounded bird. Falling from the sky, she turned to face the ocean. There was no way that Flicker could possibly reach her now. She was done-
Then there was a sound. A sound loud and clear as day, one that rang with familiarity and understanding. A Night Fury's fire charge.
The girl was slammed backwards, soaring backwards without purpose. Then she felt pressure, all around her chest and back. She opened her eyes. Alive and well, but judging by the flapping of powerful wings, she was, no doubt, being carried by a dragon.
Flicker dropped her on a sea stack. "Thanks, Flicker." The girl said, knowing the way her dragon dropped her off all too well.
Flicker landed behind her, making a protesting roar.
"I'm sorry, I should've thought of that. Next time we're adding straps, and... Metal." The girl sighed, voice still muffled by her helmet. "That's going to take a while to get, never mind shaping rods." She looked down at the two rods she had used with her legs to hold the leather slips. She turned to her friend again, a smile on her face as she gestured to the rods. "These took two years. When'd'ya think we'll be done with... Ten more?"
Flicker's eyes flickered with excitement. Adventure was most certainly an option.
"Well, too bad. Ten years is way too long for some wings."
Flicker's folded wings dropped.
The girl took off her helmet, her long brown hair finally free of the helmet she'd been wearing for a few days. Her eyes shone as green as grass, tiny yellow flecks dotting the scape of green. Her face was long, not too long, but a bit longer than her cheeks cared to admit. "So-"
Flicker pushed her back, and the helmet dropped out of her hand and into the ocean far below. The girl looked to Flicker. "I needed a new one anyways. I got a back up back home in the cave." She began to walk to the top of the sea stack, trying to see which way to go to return back home.
Flicker quickly dove into the ocean, retrieving the helmet almost as soon as her black scales hit the water. She got up onto the ground.
"So, Flicker, food?" The girl asked softly. Usually Flicker was ecstatic when it came to the thought of food, but, this time, it was different. "Flicker?"
She turned to face Flicker, who, at the time, was staring at the ground, eyes racing back and forth, like she was searching for sounds or scents. Then she looked up at her friend, and had the most astonished face. She made a soft sound of confusion.
"What's wrong?" The girl asked, rushing over to her friend. "Flicker, is something out there? It's not another one of those leviathan things, is it?"
The girl picked up her water drenched helmet and hopped onto Flicker's back, knowing her dragon was about to take flight. "I won't let anyone hurt you," The girl said as Flicker took off into the sky, putting on her helmet.
Flicker leaped into the sky, faster than she ever had taken off. She flapped her wings vigorously, clearly in a rush to find whatever it was that she was searching for.
SCREEEEEEEEE rung through the air; a night fury charge that wasn't from Flicker.
"Flicker?!" The girl looked to her friend's face, but Flicker refused to return the gesture. She was searching for whatever was making this sound. The girl then realized that there wasn't a chance that it was Flicker throwing her voice, but instead, another night fury. There were other night furies?
The confusion wasn't what mattered now. What really mattered was the fact that there was another Night Fury. Finding it took over primary instincts in both the girl and dragon, and Flicker immediately shot into the sky, making a similar sound. "Come on, girl, we can do this." The girl said, her sleek helmet now dry due to the wind.
A loud roar sounded from the clouds. Flicker returned with a night fury cry.
The girl tugged on Flicker's neck, and Flicker flew upward, climbing higher and higher into the clouds. Another roar sounded, higher in the sky. They were getting closer. The girl knew they were near the cloud line, the air thinner.
The pair broke through the cloud line, not taking a moment to gaze at the clouds they broke as they usually did. Searching vigorously, Flicker made a soft roar, waiting for the other night fury to rise above the cloud line as well, her eyes round with nervous excitement.
"It's okay, girl, that night fury will be up here in no time." The girl petted Flicker's head.
Just as she looked up, there was the dragon. Night fury, clearly. Same age as Flicker by the looks of it. Not only that, but it had a rider as well.
The rider wore leather armor with a viking skull imprinted onto the right shoulder, and a helmet that wasn't heavy enough to be intended for battle. A leg made of metal, one that was a clear part of the Night Fury's saddle setup. Then his leg moved, directing the girl's attention to the dragon's tail fins. One of them was bright red, and it moved the with the rider's leg movements.
The girl was in shock. The saddle, she understood. But what was the manufactured tail fin for? The other rider raised it's hands to remove it's helmet, slowly, all four soul's disbelief was reciprocated among them.
The night fury opposite seemed shocked, but excited: it's pupils were dilated, it's mouth was open with glee, but it kept it's distance, almost as if the sight of Flicker and her rider was too good to be true.
The girl's attention was drawn to the rider once again as the rider's helmet began to be lifted off of the rider's head. Even from this long distance, the girl's excellent eye sight caught a shadow of stubble. Male. The girl huffed, frustrated, but eager to see another night fury rider.
Then the helmet was off. Subtle yet stunning forest greens filled his iris', and his hair was a brilliant dark brown with red hints. His jaw was pronounced, strong and bold, but something about his face seemed so soft and kind. He opened his mouth, about to speak.
The girl held up her hand, signalling him to stop, and she pointed downwards. He nodded in return, and the two riders flew down on their reluctant night furies. Flicker wasn't ecstatic about having to go fly down, so, instead, Flicker simply threw herself backwards through the clouds, falling to the clearer skies. Flicker steadied, readying for the break.
As they fell into the break of the warm, blue open sky, both of them searched for the other dragon and rider. The girl pointed to a sea stack arch, where the other two were landing. The girl smiled as she felt the pump of Flicker's wings rushing to (somewhat solid) ground. Flicker's landing was pure ease, the girl hopping of easily.
The young man was already off of his dragon, and now, being so close, the girl noticed the complexity of his dragon's saddle and tail fin setup.
"Hi." He started, awkwardly, shoulders giving a slight bounce. "I'm Hiccup. This is Toothless," He looked to his dragon for a moment and gestured towards the general direction of his night fury, Toothless. Toothless was wriggling with excitement, like a dog whose tail was wagging with too great of momentum. Hiccup offered a slight smile, then took a step forward.
The girl's attention was drawn away from Toothless, and she instinctively took a step back.
Hiccup raised his hands. "Sorry, I'm not gonna hurt you or anything." He looked to Flicker. "He seems pretty excited."
The girl looked back to Flicker, whose actions mimicked the dragon's across from her. The girl smiled, taking off her helmet as she turned to face Hiccup. "She." She corrected, tucking a lock of hair behind her right ear.
Hiccup was a little bit shocked at first. The girl couldn't tell why. "What's her name?" He asked.
"Flicker." The girl said, returning a soft smile. She looked back to Flicker, who was licking her lips with nervous excitement. She smiled at her friend, who immediately rushed over to Toothless. Flicker carefully approached him. "She's a bit nervous around strangers." The girl placed her helmet under her arm. "I'm Willow." She said to Hiccup, sitting down to watch Flicker being completely ecstatic to be around one of her own kind.
"They really hit it off." Hiccup said, sitting on a small rock close to Willow. "Where're you from?"
Willis's eyes widened for a moment. "A cave." She replied simply.
Hiccup frowned softly. "Your family, too?"
"No. Just me." Willow replied. "Where do you come from?"
Hiccup was certainly intrigued. "Berk. A village not too far from here." He looked at Willow, "How close is this cave of yours?"
"A full day's flight." She said, watching Flicker stand and sit on her hind legs to watch Toothless as he picked up a stick in his mouth.
"What're you doing out here?" He asked out of genuine curiosity.
Willow paused, "Looking for you, in a way." She turned to face him. "We've been looking for other night furies for years. We move from place to place, whatever suits the search."
"I'm surprised we haven't met before. Toothless and I have been looking for a while, too." He said.
"How long?"
"Since we found each other five years ago." Hiccup looked at the ground momentarily, then looked up to the dragons.
"Doesn't seem that long, does it?" Willow asked. "Flicker and I have been friends for eight years." Willow watched her friend. "She's young for a dragon. She's nineteen years."
"Toothless is twenty, according to my mother." Hiccup replied, laughing softly as Toothless looked over to his rider excitedly, as was Flicker. They both stood at the edge of the sea stack, ready for flight.
Hiccup looked at Toothless, and Willow stood, putting on her helmet. "Let's go, Flicker." She hopped onto Flicker's back, ready for a ride.
Hiccup put on his helmet, hopping onto Toothless, "Come on, bud." He said, and Toothless jumped off of the sea stack.
Flicker looked back to her rider, clearly happier than she'd ever been. Willow smiled back to her, and Flicker leaped off of the sea stack, following Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless' wings pumped in the sky, pushing them higher and higher. Flicker soared higher, spitting a ball of fire near the other two. They moved out of the way, and Hiccup looked back at Willow and Flicker, eyes smiling. Toothless turned around, flying towards Flicker and Willow, both riders tucked close to their dragon's back. Just as they were about to hit each other, they both flew straight up. Willow held onto her saddle, and moved to see Toothless, who smiled at her. Before they hit the layer of clouds, the two night furies pushed backwards, all four of them falling happily. Willow closed her eyes as they spun downwards. Flicker levelled out, looking for Toothless. A night fury charge sounded, and fire was shot near them. Willow turned around, seeing Hiccup and Toothless not too far behind them. Hiccup spread his arms out, enjoying the wind. Willow hadn't ever tried that, so, she looked forward, and lifted her hands up. She closed her eyes again, the wind soft and smooth against her eyelids. Flicker landed on another sea stack, Toothless landing beside them. Willow stayed on Flicker's back, as did Hiccup with Toothless.
"She's amazing!" He exclaimed. "You have to come back to Berk with us. We can learn so much more about night furies! How they act, interact with their own, even how they communicate!"
Willow looked towards the ground. "I don't know." She looked up to the sky. "It's almost night fall. I should get back home."
Hiccup frowned, looking down at Toothless. Toothless was looking at Flicker with a happy face. Flicker made an excited roar sound. "Please, Willow. You can stay with us for now."
Willow looked down to Flicker. Flicker returned with a curious face. Willow hadn't been around other people for eight years. She wasn't about to make it obvious that she was nervous to be around people she didn't know. She nodded. "Let's go."