Chapter 25 here :) Dagny has now met the twin Berserkers, Shade and Heath. But her first day at the academy isn't going so well. Doglegs is now facing a grumpy Gronckle, will he be alright? Read and find out :) Enjoy :)
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Chapter 25
1st Lesson
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Dagny, Shade and Heath all watched with their dragons, as Doglegs and the rouge Gronckle just looked at each other. The Gronckle was panting as smoke billowed out of its maw, having just fired its fourth blast.
Doglegs just stared with wide eyes, he didn't look scared of worried, he was just still. As he watched the Gronckle, it shudder again and huffed through its nostrils, Doglegs tilted his head to the side and thought for a second.
"You were sneezing?" Doglegs realised quietly. But then the Gronckle turned to him again, and this time it didn't stand still.
The dark green Gronckle started lumbering over to Doglegs, it's tongue hanging out and it's eyes wide.
Once again Dogleg's mind went blank, he didn't even hear the others yelling behind him, with the Gronckle only a foot away and still advancing, Doglegs threw his hands in front of him to try and defend himself.
But the impact never came.
Instead, Doglegs felt a waft of warm air puffing over his fingers.
He slowly looked up to see the Gronckle sniffing at his fingers, it's eyes wide and pupils large. Doglegs didn't dare move, he was still a little scared, but now he was more surprised than anything else. When the Gronckle finally looked at him, Doglegs tilted his head curiously, and the rocky dragon copied him.
Doglegs couldn't help but chuckle slightly, now that the Gronckle had stopped sneezing lava everywhere, it felt like he was playing with Meatlug just like any other day. Out of memory, Doglegs reached out and scratched the rough scales under the Gronckles chin. The dragon gurgled happily and fell to his side, rolling over so that Doglegs could rub his belly.
"There you go, you feeling better now, boy?" Doglegs asked with a grin, the Gronckle just grunted happily in reply.
"Doglegs!" The blond boy turned to see Dagny skidding down the hill, quickly followed by Spark and the others. When she reached the bottom of the hill, she ran over to her oldest friend and threw her arms around him, "I'm so glad you're okay."
Doglegs just froze for a second, he'd honestly forgotten the others were there. But then he just smiled and hugged Dagny back, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Aww, you two are such a cute couple."
Dagny and Doglegs turned to see Shade and Heath looking at them, Shade had a huge smile on his face, while Heath was raising an eyebrow at his brother. The two were confused for a second, then they suddenly jumped apart.
"No, no, no. W-We're not..."
"Yeah, we're just... you know..."
Dagny and Doglegs stuttered over their words while Shade just kept smiling. Finally Heath gave a sigh at the awkward silence, he reached over and smacked the back of his brothers head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Shade asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
"So, Doglegs, how did you stop that Gronckle?" Heath asked to change the subject.
Doglegs looked down at his hands again, "I don't know, it just stopped and sniffed my hands."
Shade strolled over and grasped one of the blond's hands, lifting it to his face so that he could smell it, "It does smell a little strange... a bit like herbs or something."
Doglegs' was quiet for a second, a little taken aback by Shade's invasion of his personal space. Then his eyes went wide and he threw his hands into his hair, "Oh, I remember!" The others all looked at him in surprised, waiting for an explanation, "I was helping my dad pick Dragon Nip this morning before we left for the academy, my hands must still smell of it."
The others just looked at him with wide eyes and unreadable expressions. Dagny just gave a sigh, Heath slapped his forehead, while Shade finally snapped.
"You spent all morning picking a herb which can stop any dragon in its tracks... and you forgot!? How do you forget something like that!?"
But Doglegs was unfazed by Shade's yelling, he just shrugged, "I don't know."
As the others all gave tired sighs, the dark green Gronckle lifting himself off the ground and ran his rough tongue over Doglegs' check. Doglegs chuckled at the sensation and scratched the dragon under the chin, the dragon's back leg started stomping in response and he let out a huge croaky bellow.
The teens all covered their ears and the other dragons looked obviously rattled at the loud noise, they cringed at the sound and Spark rubbed her wings over her head. When the bellowing finally stopped, Doglegs put an arm around the Gronckle.
"You know what, I think I just thought of the perfect name for you. What do think of Froghorn?"
"Frog... Horn?" Dagny asked in slight amusement.
Doglegs just smiled, "Yeah, he croaks and roars at the same time." Doglegs just continued to give a childish grin as the dark green Gronckle, now named Froghorn, continued to lick his face.
Spark wondered closer to the new dragon and sniffed at his side curiously, so Froghorn sniffed at her in return, then he gave her a long, affectionate lick across the face. Spark shook the slobber from her scales and growled threateningly at the Gronckle, but Froghorn just gurgled in amusement, while the two Nadders just watched from the side lines.
Then Heath spoke up, "Well, we should get going, we have to get to the other side of the island and report back the academy."
"Yeah and we need to show off our new dragons," Shade said happily, wrapping his arms around his Deadly Nadders neck in a friendly embrace. The red Nadder squawked happily and rushed ahead as soon as Shade let him go, the shorter haired twin laughed and chased after his dragon, leaving the others to slowly follow behind.
As they began walking, Shade and his Deadly Nadder continued to run on ahead, while Doglegs lagged behind so that he could keep Froghorn company. This left Dagny, Heath and their dragons to walk in the middle of the group.
As Dagny walked alongside the slightly older twin, the two chatted about nothing in particular, and Dagny was able to learn a few things about her new teammates. Heath and Shade's family had moved from the Berserker tribe when they were little, it had taken some time to get used to the new island, but now they both loved it on Berk.
"At first it was weird getting used to the new surroundings, I remember being really home sick for weeks after we moved," Heath admitted. "In fact... I think I've only just gotten used to things on Berk pretty recently."
"Really? You didn't like the tribes merging?" Dagny asked curiously.
"I guess I really couldn't see the point at first." Heath looked down at his feet for a minute, then a smile spread over the older twins face, "But now..."
Dagny just waited and listened politely, while Heath turned and looked ahead of them. Shade stood in front of his red Nadder, he was making high-pitched squawking sounds and flapping his arms like a baby bird, while the dragon copied him happily. Heath and Dagny couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
"Just look at what Talon has become. It's a home for all dragons, and a school for young Vikings to make friends and learn how to fight and defend themselves. Berk is pretty amazing too if you ask me."
Dagny smiled in return, "Yeah, I think my parents made a great choice in joining the tribes." She was quiet after that, just thinking.
If the tribes hadn't been merged, the Berserkers and the Hooligans would have remained separate, Dagny's parents would have had to keep going back and forth between islands, possibly forever. Her granddad Gobber told her about it once before. He constant travelling between islands, it was a good thing it had ended. A stable environment was important for a new baby, and it was important for new parents too.
As they kept walking, Dagny looked back at Doglegs again. He was still walking behind slowly, Froghorn trotting alongside him, sniffing at his legs every now and then and pawing at the blond boy, almost making him trip several times. If her family had continued to move between islands, the dragon academy island wouldn't exist, and she wouldn't be here right now among her new friends and teammates.
Dagny was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Shade yelling ahead of them.
"Hey, we're almost at the academy!"
Sure enough, just over the next ridge, the high walls of the academy came into view.
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After a few more hours the last of the students arrived at the academy doors, and 16 students were accompanied by 16 dragons. Dagny watched all of the dragons in amazement, there were lots of common dragon types, like Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders and some other Gronckles. But there were also some less common ones, like Rumblehorns, Timberjacks, Snafflefangs, Hobblegrunts, even a Raincutter.
There were so many different colours and patterns, Dagny felt like jumping around in excitement.
"Wow, they all look so amazing," she squealed happily.
But Spark growled at her and gave an annoyed look, causing Dagny to chuckle and kneel down next to her, "Don't worry girl, you're the most amazing one here."
As Spark purred proudly, Doglegs just watched them with a smile, "You really love dragons, don't you?"
Dagny jumped up to stand next to him, "Well of course, they're the most amazing creatures in existence. They're fierce and loyal, and they're all so unique."
Doglegs gave another chuckle as Dagny's eyes seemed to shine. Then they faced forward as Fishlegs and Astrid stood on the small podium. The other students also started to settle down and listened.
"Alright," Said Fishlegs loudly, "Now that you all have your own dragon, we come to the next important stage." He paused and looked over the students, "You must choose a name for your dragon."
As murmurs started to spread over the students, Astrid stepped forward, "Giving your dragon a name is equally as important as finding the right dragon. It forms a bond between the two of you, and once that bond has formed, it can never be broken."
The students all looked at their dragons, it seemed that Doglegs was the only one who had named his dragons yet. Technically Dagny didn't count, because her parents had named Spark before she was born.
Fishlegs started speaking again, "So, before the ship leaves the island today, you should all come up with a name for your new partner. Once you've come up with a name, tell Astrid so that she can put it on the register." With that, Fishlegs turned and stepped down from the podium followed by Astrid.
The academy then filled with chatter as the students thought of names for their new dragons, Dagny and Doglegs stayed to help Heath and Shade before talking to Astrid. Before leaving the academy Fishlegs stepped closer to his son, whispering a quick 'Good choice' to the young boy before following Astrid to the front entrance.
"So, any ideas?" Dagny asked the twins. The two dark haired boys looked at their Nadders, both thinking hard and striking the same folded arm pose.
"Actually, I just came up with the best idea ever," Shade said with a large smile.
Heath looked a little sceptical, but Doglegs and Dagny looked exited. "Really? What?" The blond haired boy asked.
"Guys, say hello to... Inferno!" Shade gestured to his red Nadder dramatically.
The others were quiet for a few minutes, not too sure how to react to the dynamic name.
"Inferno? Really?" The slightly older twin asked.
"Yeah, it's perfect for him!" Shade's smile was now impossibly wide, he let out a loud laugh when Inferno nuzzled his cheek.
"Well, your dragon seems to like it," Dagny commented after the initial surprise wore off. Then she turned to Heath, "What about you? Do you have any ideas?"
Heath frowned slightly as he looked at his blue dragon, "I don't know, I'm not very creative when it comes to names."
Heath gave another sigh, he really wanted to think of a good name for his dragon, but nothing came to mind. He turned back to his dragon, "I really wish you could talk girl, is there anything you want to be called?"
The blue Nadder tilted her head for a moment, then she suddenly jumped up and lurched forward, head-butting Heath right in the stomach. Heath cried out as he fell flat on his back on the ground, making the others wince slightly.
"Ow... What? You want me to call you 'Shove' or something," Heath tilted his head to give his Nadder an annoyed look.
But the female dragon squawked loudly and tilted her head to the sky. Heath was really confused now, so he just looked up as well, trying to figure out what his dragon was gesturing at. He just looked up for a long time, but the sky didn't look any different than usual. It was a nice day, so Heath could see the fluffy white clouds and the distant dragons as they flew high above them, the sky was clear and endless.
Then it hit him.
"Sky..." He said quietly.
Heath sat up to look at his dragon, who was now sitting comfortably in front of him, "Is that it? You want me to call you Sky?"
The female Nadder squawked loudly and flapped her wings happily, it seems he was right.
Heath gave a small chuckle, "Alright then, Sky it is."
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So there we go :) Dagny's team now all have dragons, and the dragons have their names. Find what happens to the four of them as they grow :) Also thank you to my boyfriend for picking the name Froghorn :) Hope you all liked this chapter, let me know what you all think and I'll see you all next time :)