Author's Note: I recommend creating a Celtic or Scottish Traditional Radio on Pandora and listen to it while reading the party chapters. Makes the experience that much cooler.
The contestants all stood in a line on the coast of Cedar Isle and Igraine barely registered them; they were just faces to her. Though it did come as a bit of a surprise to see Grim in the line. Hiccup stood beside her, looking as strong as ever and she almost felt bad for getting ready to leave him in the dust. Almost. In the back of her mind, she felt ever dragon's support and glee at seeing her standing up for herself and it only added to her determination. Her father stood off to the side, a pained look hidden in his eyes as he readied to blow the blast horn to signal the start of the game.
Igraine knew she would win at any cost and to do that, she had to use every one of her advantage. Reaching out to the part of her brain that felt the dragons, she picked out the one that seemed to be the loudest and a tingle went down her spine as her and Sparky's minds melded. She sent him her plan and he agreed, readying himself on the boat a few miles out. The horn blew and the others ran into the woods, leaving Hiccup and her on the coast to smirk at each other. "Not going to join in the hunt?"
"Nope. You?" He countered, arms folded.
"Thought I'd take an aerial view." Lifting her hand in the air, Sparky swooped down and carried her up into the sky, giving her a full view of the woodland isle. They circled around, both looking beyond the tall cedar trees for any sign of the purple flag or the contestants.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toothless and Hiccup soaring around the isle as well before diving in between the trees and not resurfacing. Focus, Igraine, focus. Breathing deep and steady, Igraine closed her eyes and reached inside until she felt this energy, this fire within her. Harnessing it, she opened her eyes and everything seemed to snap into clarity; she could see further away, hear complete conversations from the boat, smell each scent in the wind. This was her true potential, this was the dragon spirit that was laying dormant within her.
Sparky purred as Igraine caught sight of a scrap of fabric in the palm of a jogging Grim through the woods. Taking his cue, Sparky flew close to a tree and Igraine hopped off, climbing carefully yet swiftly down, her movements confident. Choosing to perch on one of the last branches of the tree, she waited with an overabundance of energy for Grim to run past and she jumped, landing successfully on her feet in front of him. He eyed her wearily but she could see the warrior glint in his eyes while she widened her stance. Without giving him a chance to act, Igraine charged at him, giving the appearance of going for an uppercut. The bulky viking moved to guard his face, leaving the flag in his palm, now at a better grasping height.
At the last minute, Igraine ducked under his arms and simultaneously yanked the flag out of his hand. She ran up the trunk of a tree until she could reach a branch and climb back up, much like a squirrel. At the top branch where half her body broke free of the greenery, she held up her arm that was clutching the rough flag for Sparky to pick her up.
"I'll take that." Hiccup called as Toothless swooped so close, his paws grazed the trees, and Hiccup snatched the flag from her grasp.
"Hiccup!" Igraine called out angrily before Sparky lifted her up from the tree and she climbed on to his back. "Okay, fly behind him and a bit above, Sparks."
The Skrill did so, finding it easy to keep up with the Night Fury as he sped towards the Hanok boat. Igraine watched the distance and spared a glance back to see a shocking sight. Finn, a viking from another tribe, was riding a Timberback, a dragon that resembles a Typhoomarang without legs and the head of a Monstrous Nightmare in a orange and brown color. One of the Sharp Class, the dragon had viciously sharp wings and shot fiery embers, which this dragon was getting ready to do, Igraine realized with a start.
"Hiccup, scatter!"
She pulled up after making sure Hiccup had dove down towards the ocean and felt the heat from the fire as it flew past her. Finn's gruff face hardened when Hiccup brought Toothless back up and towards Igraine and Sparky to make sure they were okay and sped towards them. Igraine met Hiccup's gaze and noticed they were lit up with inspiration. He nodded towards the ocean and suddenly Igraine understood what he was going to do. Wild goose chase. With a grin, she nodded and Toothless dived below Finn and his Timberjack followed by Sparky a few feet away and Finn took the bait, sending the Timberjack down head first. Based on the size of the Timberjack and the inexperience of the rider, he wouldn't be able to pull the dragon up and would crash into the ocean, leaving the game to Hiccup and Igraine.
They neared the water and Hiccup pulled Toothless out and straight across the ocean followed skillfully by Sparky who even tucked in his wings and did a twirl. Once her dragon had straightened up, she and Hiccup both looked back to see Finn flying toward them. He had done it! But his tribe wasn't dragon riders, how did he know how to ride one? Sharing a glance, Igraine and Hiccup took back to the skies and played cat and mouse for some time until Igraine got a flash of brilliance. Turning sharply, Igraine and Sparky hovered in front of the Timberjack whom stopped a few yards away from them, the rider wearing a cautious look of confusion.
"Thanks for playing." Igraine smirked before Sparky opened his mouth and glowed white-blue with lightning. Finn's eyes went wide as he faced his doom but what he didn't know was Igraine had sent a message to every dragon nearby. Behind Finn and the Timberjack, Hookfang, Bark and Belch, Meatlug, and Stormfly flew steadily, waiting for their cue. Sparky let loose his lightning but instead of firing it, he sent it crackling across his scaly skin and tingling over Igraine's body while the other dragons ambushed them, forcing them down towards the ocean in a splash.
Filled with newfound purpose, Igraine steered Sparky back towards Toothless and Hiccup who both looked startled. Shaking his head, Hiccup said something to Toothless and soon they were off with Night Fury speed towards the white clouds. "Come and get it!"
Aided by the lightning energizing them, they bolted towards the enemy and quickly caught up, plans passing seamlessly between rider and dragon. The pair chose one and flew close to Toothless's tail above him while Igraine climbed to the edge of Sparky's snout and jumped, landing shakily on Toothless's back. The dragon let out a startled growl and looked back along with Hiccup but Igraine was already in action, running along the dragon's back and tugging on the flag attached to Hiccup's belt. When it wouldn't come off easily, he smirked at her.
"Sorry about this." Igraine gave him a quick peck, untying the knot and pushing him over. She watched him flail in the air for a bit while adjusting the mechanism on Toothless's saddle and leveled them out despite Toothless trying to save Hiccup.
A glance back showed he didn't need to. Hiccup had landed on Sparky and was riding the Skrill with a grin on his face. "Gunna have to try harder than that!"
"C'mon." She urged Toothless back down below the cloud line and toward the boat only to pull back when Sparky appeared in front of them. For a tense second, their gazes were locked as they both tried to come up with a plan to win. Glancing down, Igraine noticed they were right below her father's boat where her friends and parents were cheering loudly. She smirked and released Toothless's gliding back fin mechanism before jumping off, letting the wind whip past her while she spread her arms out, the flag snapping against her fist.
"Igraine!" Hiccup yelled but she couldn't see what he was doing, the boat was coming up fast. She called for Sparky but only got a stubborn no in response, making her panic before a strong arm wrapped around her waist and her descent slowed until Hiccup twisted them at the last moment, putting Igraine on top and taking the blunt of the impact while they collided with the deck of the boat, the flag falling just a few feet away. Careful about her movements, she eased her weight off Hiccup who had a pained look on his face. "How...?"
"The dragon suit we designed." He cringed before giving her a smirk.
"Amazing," She muttered, trailing her fingertips over the fabricated wings stretching from his leather armor to his arms while she gazed into his hazel eyes. "Thank you."
"My pleasure."
"Igraine! Hiccup! Are ye both okay?"
"Best engagement ever!"
"Wait, who won?"
"Isn't it obvious, Ruffnut? Hiccup!"
"But Igraine had the flag!"
"Who cares, did you see all that lightning?"
"Everyone stop crowding around them! Give 'em room!"
Author's Note: So, who won?