Chapter 2
On Berk's plaza Serenity waited with Valka, Cloudjumper, Gobber, Grump, and Flash. Serenity sat on a bench next to the forge. Flash waited beside her snacking on fish he got from the feeding station.
"I hope they're okay out there," Serenity said.
"I'm sure they're fine," said Cloudjumper. At that moment they heard the roar of an approaching dragon. They looked up to see Eret's ship heading for the harbor, escorted by Skullcrusher, Re, and Aurora. Serenity and Valka headed down to the docks with their dragon friends. The dragons and riders disembarked. Serenity noticed that a few dragons were favoring a wing.
"How'd it go?" Valka asked.
"It was a challenge," Hiccup said. "Tenor's a tough opponent. In the end it was Edelweiss and her dragons that brought him down." Edelweiss was grinning with pride as she got off the boat with her dragons.
"I'm just glad you're all okay," Serenity said. Tenor came up to his rider and she stroked his snout and he nuzzled her. "You seem to be losing your touch if someone finally took you down."
"Ah, it was a fluke," Tenor said. "I'm pretty sure it won't happen again."
"Let's hope so," Serenity said. "Because if something happens to you, we're all doomed." Tenor snorted and flexed his wings. They all headed back up towards the village. Flash, Chris, Windwalker, Edelweiss, and Black Widow walked along side them.
"That was some fancy flying Edel," Chris said, ruffling his daughter's hair. "You almost gave me a heart attack."
"I'm sorry," Edel said. She hugged him back.
When they reached the plaza Serenity, Valka, and Gobber got to work patching up the minor injuries the dragons and riders got. Once all that was done the Draconians and Flash headed up to the golden apple tree for dinner. Edelweiss and her friends were going on about how they had brought Tenor down.
"Why don't you take Flash for a ride as a reward," Serenity suggested. "If it's all right with Flash of course." Edelweiss patted the Skrill on his neck.
"Please Flash?" She asked.
"All right," Flash said. "Since you seem like a great rider." Edelweiss beamed and hugged his neck. Flash grinned and boosted her onto his back. He spread is wings and took off, Edelweiss was laughing with joy. The nightly dragons all settled down to restore their energy for their night hunt, Serenity got started on dinner, and Chris fixed Windwalker's saddle.
Flash flew over the ocean, Edelweiss held on tight.
"So you've been my mom's friend for a long time huh?" Edelweiss asked.
"Yeah," said Flash. "I landed on Dragon Island one day and she was there, and she was the first human to ever show me kindness. All the other humans only wanted to lock me up or use me for my powers. But your mother was really nice to me. The only other humans to be nice to me were Hiccup and his friends."
"All my family is kind to dragons," Edelweiss said. "My dad fights for them and my mother heals them. I'm hoping to do both." At that moment she spotted the Berk Riders out for a leisure ride. Edelweiss steered Flash towards them. "Hi guys." They looked over at her and Flash.
"Hey Edel," said Hiccup. "You're parents let you ride a Skrill?" The other riders gave her a doubtful look. Edelweiss smiled and nodded.
"Okay I'm seriously starting to question their parenting," said Fishlegs. "What kind of mother lets her child ride a Skrill?"
"Um, we made sure it was ok with him," Edelweiss said, patting Flash on the neck.
"I still think it's a touch irresponsible to let you ride a dragon so dangerous," said Astrid. "I mean it almost killed us and destroyed villages." Edelweiss gulped.
"I thought you said these guys were nice to you," she said in dragontongue.
"Yes, well I don't think they fully trust me though," Flash said. Edelweiss sighed sadly.
"Well," she said, speaking normally again. "If my mother trusts this Skrill, then I do too." Flash beamed. "In fact I hope to meet all my mom's friends, including Polaris." The riders exchanged a glance. Edelweiss grew nervous. "You don't like my mom's friends do you?"
"It's not that," said Hiccup. "We just know the risk those dragons pose. They could easily hurt you without meaning to." Edelweiss sighed and sniffed. Toothless could tell she was close to tears.
"It's okay Edelweiss," he said. "I think these guys are forgetting that you're growing up. It's common in adults, both human and dragon." Edelweiss smiled and relayed this to the riders.
"That's a fair point," said Hiccup. "I'm sorry Edel. And you were pretty impressive out there."
"Thanks," Edelweiss said. She yawned.
"How about we fly back to the great hall for dinner?" Astrid suggested.
"Oh, no thanks," Edelweiss said, nervously. "My mother's cooking." She patted Flash on the neck again. "We'll see you guys later." Flash flew off and headed back towards the apple tree.
The Draconians were all ready starting dinner. Flash landed and Edelweiss dismounted. She patted his snout.
"Thank you Flash," she said.
"My pleasure Miss Edel," said Flash. Edel ran over to her family. She settled herself down beside Black Widow and Windwalker. The older Night Fury noticed the unhappy look on Edel's face.
"You okay Edel?" She asked.
"I ran into the other riders and they still think I'm too young for being around dragons," Edel said.
"Don't listen to them," Tenor said from a low tree branch above them. "They must not have seen you out there today." Edelweiss smiled at him. After dinner and after the nightly dragons headed out on their hunt.
The next day the Draconians helped out around the village. Edelweiss and her friends headed for the Cove. Chris was helping Hiccup and Gobber in the forge mending saddles.
"Hey Chris," Hiccup said as he was updating Astrid's saddle. "Astrid and I were planning to head out on a evening flight later, and we were wondering if you and Serenity would be interested in joining us, as a bit of a double date."
"I'll ask Serenity, but that sounds fine to me," Chris said, as he finished fixing his own saddle. "Where would we be flying to?"
"We're not sure yet," Hiccup said. "But we plan to go pretty far."
"Okay," Chris said. "I'll go ask Serenity then come right back." He picked up his saddle and left the forge.
He found Serenity in the hanger, helping Valka attend to the dragons in there. They were nursing a Nader that was a darker blue then Stormfly. They looked up when Chris approached. Serenity beamed when she saw him. Chris told her about Hiccup's invitation. She was down for it. She seemed excited.
So later as the sun was starting to set; Re and Aurora agreed to look after Edelweiss and get her to bed on time. Chris and Serenity flew their dragons down to the plaza and met up with Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons. Serenity secured her medical bag to her saddle and tightened her saddle straps. Tenor wasn't wearing his armor, Aurora had predicted that he wouldn't need it.
"You think Stormfly will be able to keep up with the rest of us?" Chris asked. Stormfly fidgeted as Astrid secured her saddle.
"I wouldn't doubt it," Serenity said. "She's pretty fast for a Nader, with the right motivation."
"She's even beaten Toothless in several races," Hiccup said.
"She could easily beat your dragons," said Astrid. "Even you Tenor." Tenor said nothing, just lowered his head sadly, flattening his ears. Serenity noticed him slouch slightly. She put a comforting hand on her dragon's neck.
"They don't mean to make you sad Tenor," she said gently.
"I know," Tenor said.
"You've raced before," Hiccup said.
"I like doing my part for the team," Tenor said. "But my competitive side was literally beaten out of me when I was a dragonet. I like sparring and a good battle occasionally, and of course hunting. But not racing." Then he sighed and flexed his wings. "But don't let me hold you guys back."
"We didn't mean to upset you Tenor," said Astrid. "We'll wait up for you when I win." She smirked. She mounted Stormfly and the other riders followed suit. Serenity was last to mount up. They took off and left the island. Toothless, Windwalker, and Stormfly took off at full speed. Tenor sped up just enough to keep from loosing them.
The sun slowly set around them. The dragons and riders were so focused on being the fastest that they weren't paying attention to where they were going. They were soon heading right towards a dark patch of storm clouds. Lighting was flashing every few seconds in the clouds. A bolt flashed mere feet in front of Stormfly who was in the lead. The Nader hit the breaks almost dislodging Astrid. The two Night Furies pulled to a stop as well. Tenor arrived last.
"That's a pretty big storm," Chris said nervously. The wind picked up.
"I've flown through worse," said Serenity. The clouds had rolled over them by now and it started raining. "I don't think we should try heading back through this, Tenor spotted an island a ways back."
"That sounds like a plan," Hiccup said.
"You're probably the only one here that's had nothing bad happen to them in a storm," Chris said to his wife, as they headed for the island.
"I yes I know," said Serenity. "Storms at sea are pretty unforgiving. Takes a lot of experience to fly through one without any problems." They soon spotted the unfamiliar island. It had a towering peak that was made of basalt columns, and a dried lava flow. Several sea stacks surrounded it on all sides. Tenor headed for a small cave near the top of the peak. They landed inside. It was small and cramped, and smelled strongly of fish. But it was dry. The riders dismounted.
"I'm glad we're out of that," said Astrid. The dragons shook the rain off their wings. "Nice job spotting this place Tenor." Tenor beamed.
"I don't think I recognize this place," said Hiccup. He pulled out his map and opened it on the cave floor. Tenor watched the storm outside. The rain was coming down heavy and thunder boomed in the distance.
"I guess we're going to be here a while," he said. Chris slouched against Windwalker's side. Serenity reached into her saddle bags and pulled out sacks of berries, nuts, yak jerky, and dried squid.
"I always come prepared for times like this," she said. She gave the squid to the dragons, and gave the rest of the food to the others. Thunder roared outside. Tenor was still watching the storm. Just then something flew by the entrance. Tenor jumped slightly.
"I don't think we're alone on this island," he said.
"Oh I imagine lots of animals are talking shelter from the storm," Serenity said. She was so calm.
"How many storms have you flown through?" Astrid asked her.
"Lots," said Serenity. "It's be come as easy for me as flying in battle is for you guys." She patted Tenor's side.
"How do you avoid lightening?" Hiccup asked.
"Well, if I can I fly above the clouds where the storm can't get me," Serenity said. "But I find the key to avoiding lightening is to fly fast. Lightening has a harder time hitting a moving target."
She told them all her exciting adventures. Tenor zoned out, having already experienced all the adventures too. He was hoping to explore the island once the rain stopped. Windwalker spotted the look on his face.
"You tired?" She asked him.
"A bit," Tenor admitted. "I'm just hoping Black Widow's okay."
"She's fine I'm sure," Windwalker said. She wormed closer to him. Tenor sighed and laid his head down.
"She's probably worried about us," he said.
"Yeah, I'm sure they all are," said Windwalker. "But we're in no danger at the moment." Tenor yawned and stretched his body out as far as it would go. A few moments later he was snoring. The rain outside was so dense that no one in the cave saw the group of eyes looking in on them. They were especially interested in Tenor.