Chapter 21: The Funeral – Part 1
Author's Note: Okay Riders, I'm so sorry for the wait for this chapter. This chapter was originally going to be submitted the Wednesday before the release of "How To Train Your Dragon 2" but just a week prior one of the biggest storms to roll through St. Louis County (Yes… I live in St. Louis County) hit and as I was running from our Dodge Grand Caravan to the house in the middle of this storm my tablet, which I was carrying in a slick raincoat, fell on the concrete porch and into a massive puddle.
Up until July 9, 2014 I wasn't able to write the 21st Chapter of "Flying High" and when I got my tablet back all the information had been wiped clean. At around 10:18 PM on July 9, 2014 I began to rewrite all of Chapter 21 into what you will be reading now. So let's get to it.
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Hiccup and Rebecca turned toward the right and saw Astrid stumble out of the forest. "Thank the Gods," she sighed. "You're alright." Hiccup smiled and sat down on the log next to Rebecca. Astrid walked over to him and asked just where they were. Rebecca smiled and turned toward the eastern sky. "We're just a few miles outside Eureka, Missouri," she said.
Astrid looked over at Rebecca with a confused expression on her face. "Where?" she asked. Hiccup chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder and said, "I think we're getting a glimpse in the future."
Astrid began to look around as she tried to comprehend the fact she had traveled through time and space. She then looked over at Hiccup who was simply just talking to Rebecca. For a second Astrid didn't recognize Rebecca until she got a good look at her face.
"Is something wrong? Do I have something on my face?" Rebecca asked as Astrid stared intently at her face. Astrid smiled and looked over at Hiccup. He of course was looking into the flames with such intensity that he had not noticed that Astrid was now walking up to him. "Hey Hiccup?" Astrid said. Hiccup finally looked up and noticed something approaching them.
"He's back already?" Rebecca said. Astrid and Hiccup looked over to the stricken Nightfury. As they expected the Nightfury was starting to get very defensive. "What's wrong with this… Uh… Dragon?" Rebecca asked. Hiccup turned to Rebecca and asked about what was approaching them. "Oh! It's my big brother, Andrew," she said. "He lost his left leg to an IED explosion."
It was at that moment that a Ford F150 pulled up and a 26 year old man stepped out. The expression on his face was mixed between pure fear and general confusion. "Rebecca! What the hell is that thing!? And who are those two!?" he shouted. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, surprised that someone other than Rebecca could see them.
Hiccup stepped forward and began to introduce himself. "My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and over there is my fiancé Astrid Hofferson. And that 'Thing' is a Nightfury. It's a type of dragon," he explained. Rebecca slowly put her hand on the Nightfury's head and turned to the 26 year old man. "Andrew… This poor thing has been injured and needs our help," she said.
Andrew looked over toward the Nightfury then over to Hiccup. "I'm guessing you can explain what that… Thing is doing here or why you are here. Where are you even from anyway?" he said. Hiccup looked over to Astrid who seem to be just as confused as Andrew. "Well, I guess I have to explain since I did come here thanks to the gods," he said. Andrew gave Hiccup a confused look. "You see me and Astrid are Vikings from the Island of Berk. We are from the distant past and seem to be bound to your family through Rebecca here," Hiccup explained.
Andrew didn't believe Hiccup's story until he notice his left foot. "Okay then… How did you lose your left foot?" he asked. Hiccup looked over at Astrid. This was always a touchy subject and he want to make sure that Astrid was okay. He could already see that she was a little uncomfortable but she also knew that he had to explain a bit about himself.
Hiccup took a deep breath and looked Andrew directly in the eye. "I lost it in battle. I was attacking the Green Death and was nearly killed and when I woke up I had lost my left foot," he said. After finally hearing this Andrew finally cracked a smile and walked over to the bed of his truck. "I figured as much. Everyone in my family has lost either their left foot or left leg in battle and supposedly it all started in a battle with a dragon," he said as he began to rummage through one of the storage compartments.
Hiccup was surprised by this and looked over at Rebecca. "It's true. That legend has been passed down for generations," she said. Andrew then walked up to Hiccup and showed him his left leg. Hiccup wasn't too surprised by this since Rebecca had told him already about the missing leg.
Astrid on the other hand was dumbfounded. From the knee down Andrew's leg was made of plastic and metal. It slightly resembled Hiccup's prosthetic left foot but it looked a lot more sturdy. "How in the world did you manage to survive losing half of your leg?" she asked.
Andrew sighed and looked over to Astrid. "I don't really know, but I do know is that this… Uh… Dragon needs medical attention. I don't have enough bandages to patch up the wing," he said. He then turned to his truck. "I'll have to go back to the house to get the trailer so we can move him," Andrew said. Hiccup rolled his eyes and began to clear his throat. "Actually this dragon is a female," he said.
Astrid and Rebecca looked over to Hiccup with a slightly disgusted look in their eyes. Andrew on the other hand began to look at the Nightfury more closely. He noticed that the Nightfury was indeed a girl and had not actually had any children. "Your right," he said. "And she not a mother as well. Otherwise she would be trying to attack us right?" he said.
Hiccup nodded and explained that mother Nightfuries were especially protective of their young and when they were injured they would not hesitate to try and kill someone. "Well then we need to get her to the hospital ASAP," Andrew said. Andrew hopped into the truck and began to make his way back to the house. Leaving Astrid, Hiccup, and Rebecca alone.
The three of them looked at each other before Hiccup realized that he and Astrid were returning to their own time. "I guess you guys are going home," Rebecca said. Hiccup nodded and took Astrid's hand. "I hope we get to meet again," he said.
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After a bright flash of light Hiccup and Astrid could see that they were standing in the middle of their living room of their home. Hiccup began to let go of Astrid's hand and as he did so Astrid slapped him across the face. "IDIOT!" she yelled. Hiccup was taken by surprise by this and didn't exactly know how to respond. He began to apologize to Astrid, not knowing what he had done.
"You had me so worried," Astrid said. Hiccup could see tears start to stream down her face as she began to lightly pound his chest. "I had no idea where you went. I didn't know if you were still in the house," she sobbed. Hiccup began to embrace her and tried to comfort her.
"I right here. You don't have to worry anymore," he said. He began to stroke her long blond hair as he looked directly in her eyes. "I promise that no matter what happens I will never leave your side," he said. Astrid started to wipe away the tears from her eyes and looked at Hiccup. "You promise?' she asked. Hiccup smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "I promise," he said.
After awhile Hiccup looked over to the portrait of Astrid and Stormfly that was hung up above the mantle. He knew that sooner or later that they were going to have to give Stormfly a proper burial. "Why don't we give Stormfly a proper funeral," he said. Astrid looked over to Hiccup then over to the portrait. She then smiled and began to nod. "I think that's a great idea. I'm just a little concern on if we can do it," she said.
Since the storm had passed, many of the Vikings on Berk had been hard at work trying to rebuild what they could. It didn't help that the docks and ships had been destroyed during the storm, after all they couldn't get supplies to the island. The possibility that the island would stop their effort to rebuild to hold a funeral for a dragon would a little farfetched.
As the two looked at each other and wonder if the funeral was going to even get off the ground there was a knock on the door. "I'm coming," Hiccup said. As he walked toward the door Astrid started to walk toward the kitchen to start making breakfast with what she had.
Hiccup opened the front door and his mouth dropped. "Long time, no see Hiccup," Alexandria said. Astrid whipped around and saw Alexandria walk into the house as if she had never left the island. "Alex? What are you doing here?" Astrid asked.
Alexandria had left the island only a few months ago and had been training dragons for the Meathead clan. Though they had gotten a few letters from her, the fact that she was here on the island was a bit surprising. Alexandria on the other hand knew she had caused quite a stir with her presence and as she sat down on the bench she looked over to Hiccup and gave a soft smile.
"I'm here with several members of the Meathead clan to help rebuild the island," Alexandria said. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other as the same thought ran through both their heads. "Wasn't your village destroyed by the storm?" Hiccup asked. Alexandria sighed. She stood up and began to walk toward the big picture window that was on the western wall. "Yes, it was hit, but it wasn't destroyed," she said.
Alexandria then turned to Hiccup and Astrid and smiled. Hiccup and Astrid couldn't help but smile and all three of them began to laugh. "It actually feels like we haven't been apart," Astrid said. Alexandria nodded and walked up to Astrid and hugged her. "I'm just glad you two are okay," she said.
Astrid hugged her back and glanced over to Hiccup. The look on her face told him that she wanted him to join in the hug. Alexandria also looked over to Hiccup and waved him over. "Come on. You too," she said. Hiccup smiled and the three of them began to hug each other.
"By the way," Alexandria began. "Did I hear that you guys were planning a funeral for Stormfly?" Hiccup nodded as he and Astrid broke off the hug. The look on both their faces seemed to suggest that the memory of Stormfly's death was still fresh in their minds. It actually prompted Alexandria to become a little more serious. "Alright! We need to hurry and give her a hero's funeral!" she declared.
Astrid and Hiccup turned to each other and couldn't help but smile. "Thanks Alex. It's would mean a lot to us if we could do that for her," Astrid said. Hiccup nodded and the three of them promised that they would give Stormfly the funeral she deserved.
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The village of Berk had been trying to rebuild for a few days and now the Meathead clan had come and had started to help them there was a lot more getting done at one time. A lot of the homes that had been utterly destroyed or significantly damaged were now almost ready to be lived in. Stoick and the Thuggery were both key players in what took priority and what didn't. They made sure that what needed to get done first got done.
One of these things was the complete rebuild of the dock as well as the ships that had been destroyed. They reuse as much of the dock that could be salvaged. They even used what they could salvage from the wrecked ships that were scattered across the beach.
While they were overseeing the reconstruction of the docks Hiccup, Astrid, and Alexandria walked up to Stoick. "Hey dad, can I ask you something?" Hiccup asked. Stoick turned to Hiccup and the other and looked at them with a calm look on his eyes. "I'm guessin' ya want ta talk ta me about Stormfly," he said. Hiccup nodded and took a deep breath.
He and Astrid were very determined to argue with Stoick about the need to give Stormfly a hero's funeral. "I'm guessin' that ya want ta give her a hero's funeral," Stoick said. Hiccup nodded again and was just about to ask if he could start working on a funeral pyre when Stoick put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry. I've had a few people workin' on teh pyre since teh Meathead Clan arrived," he said.
Hiccup, Astrid, and Alexandria were all surprised that Stoick was one step in front of them when it came to what they needed to do. They looked at each other, just completely stunned by the fact that Stoick knew exactly what they wanted. "Ya shouldn't be too surprised," Stoick said. "I knew this needed to get done as soon as possible."
Finally Hiccup smiled and turned to Astrid and Alexandria. "Then let's help out with the preparations," he said. Astrid and Alexandria both nodded in agreement and the three of them headed off to the Village Square to check on the progress on the pyre.
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In the Village Square the funeral pyre was already taking shape. Though only the large timbers had been placed and the kindling placed in between each one. Stormfly's body had already been prepared for the funeral and as Hiccup, Astrid, and Alexandria walked up they could see that they weren't the only ones that had heard that work had already started on the pyre.
"Hey Hiccup! You're here too?" Snotlout said. Hiccup almost rolled his eyes and turned to Astrid. She also was a little annoyed that Snotlout was their trying to help with the funeral pyre. Alexandria on the other hand was happy to see Snotlout. She knew that he could be a bit of a jackass but she knew that if Snotlout was there that her good friend Fishlegs was not too far behind.
"Hey Snotty! Is Fishlegs around?" Alexandria asked. Snotlout nodded and pointed over to the far western side of the Village Square. Alexandria ran over to Fishlegs who was trying his best to put together a small batch of kindling to put on the pyre. "Fishlegs! It's been awhile," she said. Fishlegs started to blush and nervously chuckle.
It was obvious to Alexandria by now that Fishlegs actually found her somewhat attractive. "You know it looks like you have a bit of a crush on me, don't you?" she joked. Fishlegs once again started to blush as he tried to explain that he only found her cute and didn't have any feelings toward her.
Alexandria knew what he was trying to say but she also knew that it was a complete lie. She decided to play around with him in front of Astrid and Hiccup. In the middle of Fishlegs' explanation of why he thought she was cute Alexandria gave him a peck on the cheek.
"I see someone else has a crush on you Alex," a familiar voice said. Alexandria smiled and began to giggle a bit. "I know Arthur. But you have to admit, he is cute," Alexandria said. Astrid, Hiccup, and Fishlegs turned to face Arthur Stormerson who had been watching the whole thing from afar.
Astrid and Hiccup couldn't help but laugh as Fishlegs desperately tried to explain that he wasn't trying to take Alexandria away from Arthur. "Hey calm down Fishlegs. I understand. Alexandria does this a lot now that she's a Dragon Tamer," Arthur said.
Astrid then suddenly burst into laughter and for awhile the others figured it had something to do with Alexandria and Fishlegs. After she stopped laughing she took a deep breath and looked over at Hiccup. "You know, Hiccup seem to get a lot more confident after he proposed to me and the marriage contract was set up," she said. Hiccup smiled softly and draped his arm around her shoulders.
Upon seeing this Alexandria turned to Fishlegs and told him that his "Special Someone" was still out there and may be closer than they realized. Although this was just something Alexandria normally said to help someone get through a tough time it was almost ironic when another girl came toward the island on her bright orange Nadder.
The Nadder wasn't completely listening to the girl's directions and looked as if it was trying to buck her off. "There she goes again," Arthur sighed. Alexandria sighed and gave a short whistle. This caused the Nadder to fly straight down to her and land. Upon landing the girl rolled off the Nadder and landed on her back.
It was only then that Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs got a good look at the girl. She had fiery red hair with emerald green eyes. She was wearing a pair of crudely made glasses that helped her with her eyesight and she was fairly skinny compared to Astrid and Alexandria. She looked like she was only 14 years old but in reality she was 18.
Alexandria helped the girl up off the ground and gave her a playful smile. "What am I going to do with you, Tabitha," Alexandria said. Tabitha looked around and tried to get back on the Nadder. Of course the Nadder didn't like this and tried to get her off. The Nadder started to jump around and buck her off.
Astrid could tell that Tabitha was trying her best and decided to help her as much as she could. As soon as Tabatha fell off Astrid helped her up and began to smile at her. "You can't simply jump on a Nadder. If you do that you will end up startling them," she said.
"That's right," Alexandria said. "Nadder's tend to have a rather large blind spot and will attack if you get in it." Tabitha looked over to the Nadder and then over to Astrid. Astrid's expression showed her that she had a Nadder as well and knew a lot about how to tame them. "Can I see how you get on your Nadder?" she asked.
Hiccup mood quickly changed as he whipped over to Astrid. He was surprised the see that Astrid wasn't the least bit upset as she took a deep breath and started to speak calmly. "My Nadder, Stormfly, was killed by my dad," she said.
Tabitha looked completely shocked by this. She had heard that the Hairy Hooligans had been at peace with the dragons for the past two years, so the fact that anyone would attack a dragon, much less kill it, was unheard of. She then noticed the funeral Pyre that Snotlout was still building and looked over to Astrid. "So you are giving your dragon a hero's funeral," she said.
Astrid looked over at the funeral pyre then back at Tabitha. She knew that she was shocked and she could relate. "Are you okay?' Tabitha asked. Astrid knew that Tabitha had no idea that she and Hiccup were also attacked by her father and decided to try and under play the whole thing.
"Other than a few cuts and scrapes, I'm fine," she said. Hiccup rolled his eyes as he gave a frustrated sigh. "Astrid, your injuries were a little more than a few cuts and scrapes," he said. Astrid whipped around and glared at him. "Well at least I'm not as bad as you!" she shouted. Hiccup could tell that this was only because of her pregnancy and that her mood would quickly change.
Alexandria and Tabitha on the other hand were a little confused on why the two were fighting over something like this. Alexandria had noticed that Hiccup's movements had been a little weaker than they were when she last saw him and that every once and awhile she would see him wince in pain just by bending down. She decided to ask him about what she meant and she did so she noticed that hiccup seemed to have a cool head about what had happened.
"Well… Cadman didn't attack Stormfly out of the blue," he started. "Stormfly was provoked after Cadman began to attack me and Astrid." Tabitha looked a little confused by the use of Cadman's name. "Cadman?" she asked. Alexandria sighed and looked over to Tabitha. She quickly explained that Cadman was Astrid's father and then turned her attention to Hiccup.
Hiccup knew that she was wondering how bad his injuries were compared to Astrid's. To him it wasn't really a big deal, but he knew that Astrid was really worried about him now more than ever. "So how bad is it?" Alexandria asked. Hiccup took a deep breath and lifted up his tunic to reveal bloodied bandages wrapped around his stomach. He then lifted up the left leg of his trousers showing the entirety of his lower left leg wrapped up in bandages.
Astrid felt a little annoyed that Hiccup was playing down his injuries. She understood that he didn't want to make Alexandria worry over him. "So how bad are you Astrid?" Tabitha asked. Astrid took immediate offence to this since she already explained that she had only suffered "a few cuts and scrapes".
Hiccup on the other hand walked to Astrid and put his hands on her tunic and smiled at her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Astrid snapped. Hiccup could see that Astrid was getting a little defensive since he was pulling up her tunic just a bit. As he pulled it up he stopped just above the stomach to reveal a set of bandages that were wrapped around her.
The differences between the two were night and day. Hiccup had twice as many bandages on him than Astrid did and there was a lot more blood that stained his bandages than what was on Astrid's. Both Alexandria and Tabitha had never seen how bad his wounds were and in fact Alexandria had not heard the entire story.
Fishlegs and the other boys of Berk on the other hand had pretty much figured out why they were attacked. Though they had not seen how bad their injuries were they knew that they were bad. "So both of you got it pretty bad," Fishlegs said.
Astrid gave a frustrated sigh and pulled her tunic back down. "Yeah… Even though Astrid acts tough and says this is only a scratch she knows that she was lucky compared to me," Hiccup chuckled. Astrid immediately became a bit flustered as took the whole thing pretty lightly.
Of course his mood quickly changed when he started to think back to the events that took place. "Even though I can look back on it now and act all heroic, it was a different story when it actually happened," he said. Alexandria and Tabitha both could tell that this still had a big effect on him. "Me and Astrid nearly lost our lives that day. It was a miracle that we even survived," he said.
Hiccup looked toward the western sky and sighed. "It was really touch and go for awhile there," he said. Alexandria and Tabitha looked over to the funeral pyre then back at Hiccup and Astrid. They knew that anyone who killed dragon for no reason was an unforgivable thing to do. It was especially tough to deal with when it was someone close to you.
"Well… Since I'm here, I might as well help," Tabitha said. Astrid finally cracked a smile and thanked her. She then turned to Hiccup and began to apologize. "It's okay Astrid. I know you didn't mean anything by it," he said.
Alexandria and Tabitha looked at the two with a little confusion in their eyes. "What are you talking about Hiccup?" Alexandria asked. Hiccup looked over at Astrid and gave her a soft smile. "You think we should tell her?" he asked. Astrid looked a little annoyed and started to pout. "Of course we have to tell them," she said.
Hiccup laughed and kissed her on the forehead. This made Astrid smile as Hiccup lightly put his hand on her stomach. "Alright then," he said softly. He then turned to Alexandria and Tabitha and took a deep breath before saying, "Me and Astrid are going to have our first child."
For a moment Alexandria's heart seem to skip a beat, but then a large smile crept across her face. Hiccup and Astrid instinctively smiled back. "That's great!" Alexandria shouted. For some reason or another Tabitha looked over at Fishlegs. Arthur, who had been working on the funeral pyre, heard this and dropped a pile of kindling on the wet and mushy ground. "What?" he blurted out. "You two are going to start a family before you are even married!?"
Hiccup sighed and looked over to Arthur. "It's wasn't planned like that you know. It just happened," he said. Arthur seem to take offence to this and started to storm toward Hiccup. He knew that Hiccup was in no condition to fight but that didn't stop him from grabbing Hiccup's collar and pulling him upward a bit.
Alexandria and Astrid were terrified of what was happening in front of them. Fishlegs and Tabitha immediately hid behind some barrels and Snotlout tried his best to step in and stop them. "Hey!" he shouted. "Why should it matter to you that Hiccup got her pregnant?" Arthur turned toward Snotlout and clenched his fist. Snotlout knew that Arthur had a personal reason for blowing his top like this but there was no reason for him to start roughing up Hiccup because of that.
To Arthur this was more than a personal matter, it was a matter of saving a life. He looked Snotlout square in the eye and shot daggers from his eyes. "You want to know why it matters to me why Hiccup got her pregnant?" he asked sarcastically and angrily. The vibe that he was giving off was starting to creep out Alexandria as she had never seen him get like this before. "I'll tell you why. Every woman that had gotten pregnant before she had gotten married ended up killing themselves and their child just because they couldn't take the criticism that they were given," he said.
Hiccup could tell that Arthur had lost someone special to him for this reason and really didn't want to pry. Astrid could also tell that this was a very touchy subject for Arthur but could see that Alexandria wanted to try and comfort him. She started to approach him and as she got close enough to put her hand on his shoulder Arthur glance over to her and glared at her.
The glare was enough to send a chill down Alexandria's spine and Arthur could the fear in her eyes as she started to back away. It was at this point that Arthur realized that this wasn't his problem. "I'm sorry. It's just that a good friend of mine killed herself after she learned she was pregnant," he said.
Arthur looked over to Astrid and began to apologize once again. Astrid smiled and said that it was something that was very personal and it was understandable. Arthur then looked over to Alexandria and gave her a look as if he was remembering something that was very painful. Alexandria knew what exactly what he was remembering and decided to confirm it. "I look like her don't I?" she said.
Arthur turned away and nodded. "Yeah… Recently I've been having a dream where…" His words were cut short as he put his hand to his forehead and brushed away his hair. Alexandria could tell that he was hiding something and she wanted to know what it was.
She approached him once again and place her hand on his shoulder. "Does this dream have something to do with that girl?" she asked. Arthur shook his head. "It has to do with you Alex," he said. Alexandria was a little surprised by this and had no idea why. She knew he had a bit of a crush on her but this made it seem like he was terrified of losing her.
Astrid, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, could easily relate to Arthur's dilemma. After the battle with the Green Death she was terrified of losing Hiccup. It didn't help when Cadman tried to kill him in a fit of rage. She mainly tried to protect Hiccup out of fear rather than anger. For days she tried to hide the fact that she was having very vivid nightmare of Hiccup dying in her arms.
"I think I know the kind of dream you are talking about," Astrid said. Arthur and Alexandria looked over to Astrid, who had a somber look on her face. "I've been having the same dream about Hiccup," she said. This definitely got their attention and as an added bonus it got the attention of Tabitha, Fishlegs, and Snotlout. Hiccup could only speculate what his future fiancé was talking about figured that it only started to occur after Cadman attacked them.
"You're dreaming of Alexandria dying in your arms, aren't you?" Astrid said. After a brief pause Arthur finally took a deep breath and nodded. It was a shock to Alexandria that he had even nodded to something like this. "Then does that mean…" Alexandria couldn't finish what she was saying but Arthur knew full well what she was trying to ask.
He looked directly into her eyes with a soft yet comforting smile on his face. "Yes Alex. I love you, and I worry about you when you run off without telling me," he said. Alexandria upon hearing this started to tear up in an uncontrollable fashion. "Do you really mean it?" she asked, her voice starting to break up.
Arthur nodded and as a result Alexandria finally broke down and started to sob uncontrollably. Everyone around her knew she was just overjoyed by this and because of this they knew she loved him just as much as he loved her. Arthur opened up his arms expecting Alexandria to just fall into them crying. Instead Alexandria looked up at him, her eyes full of tears as she embraced him and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. For a second Arthur had no idea what was happening as he tried to resist it. Finally he just gave in and the continued to kiss for the longest time.
Though Hiccup and Astrid could understand why Alexandria was kissing him like this, it was still a bit over the top. Fishlegs and Tabitha were both blushing profusely and Snotlout was seething with anger of the audacity of Alexandria's kiss. Finally Hiccup cleared his throat and Alexandria and Arthur broke off the kiss.
The two of them got one good look the group before they started to run. As Astrid, Snotlout, Tabitha, Fishlegs, and Hiccup chased after them one could only imagine what lay ahead for them.
End of Chapter 21
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Author's Note: Alright Riders, I'm sorry this took so long, but with everything that is going on with my life I have a lot of work on my hands.
For one I have started planning for a new fan-fic based on an anime called "Familiar of Zero" (A.K.A. "Zero no Tsukaima"). The fan-fic will be called "When Two Worlds Collide" and is expected to be released in early 2015. Another thing is that I've just been lambasted with reviews for another one on my fan-fics called "The Evolution of Haruhi Suzumiya", with most of them asking for the story to continue. Finally I'm once again getting a little distracted by a game called "War Thunder". It's a great Online MMO dealing with WWII and the Korean War. It mainly uses Aircraft an Tanks from WWII but it has a few jets from the Korean War.
Anyway this chapter has a few references to early chapters in Flying High. There is also a reference to "Familiar of Zero"" (A.K.A. "Zero no Tsukaima") in which I use the name Tabitha. Tabitha is a character from "Familiar of Zero" (A.K.A. "Zero no Tsukaima") as is a bit of a quiet girl who shows little emotion. The end is also a reference to one of my favorite manga series from Ken Akamatsu called "Love Hina". The reference is to Chapter 105 of "Love Hina" where at the last four pages the two main characters kiss very passionately.
I do plan on making a fan-fic based on the manga version of "Love Hina" in the future but right now I want to focus on finishing "Flying High". Speaking of which here is a list of the Expected Release Dates of the next five (that's right five stories) based after the events of "Flying High".
"Boys of Berk" Expected Release: Fall 2015
"An Arrow to the Knee" Expected Release: Summer 2016
"Snowfall" Expected Release: Winter 2019
"Blood and Fire" Expected Release: Fall 2020
"A Dragon's Tale" Expected Release: Fall 2024
"Dragons Reborn" Expected Release: Summer 2025
Until next time.