It was hard for the soldier to believe a month had passed already since their Basic Combat Training graduation, and amazing to know they just finished the last day of their Advanced Training. It had been intense and kept them on their toes because it was nothing like BCT where all training was done during the hours of 5:30 am to 5:00 pm when they stopped for dinner, then moved into Drill Sergeant Time, and then to Personal Time. They still had lights out at 9:30 pm, however, ten to one they would get maybe five hours of sleep before being awakened by Hanson for night mission drills. It was just as Vincent, Thatcher, and Ricky warned them it would be, all set up to prepare them for war scenarios and even if it didn't happen right away, they knew it could given Hanson had been deployed five times in eight years all ranging from different periods.

It had been talked about during a night they asked him to talk about his tours, he initially hadn't wanted to but gave in and told them about the five tours of duty he went on. How long they were, how old he was, and few stories of good times in the barracks with friends. Hanson's longest tour as it turned out was eighteen months in Iraq. They also discovered he had been deployed to Syria, Kuwait, South Korea, and Germany. Honestly, they liked Drill Sergeant Time even though as Hanson's three friends warned them from the beginning of Basic, it depended on Hanson's mood how those two hours went. Thankfully, it was rare that he was mad during that time and the soldiers were sure it was because he always talked to Caylee right before it started and that kept him calm or calmed him down.

But now, Basic and Advanced were over. The soldier would be starting Dragon Training in a few days. Hanson was giving them a little time to recover first which they thought was pretty nice of him. Then they learned that it was because he had to take care of a personal issue at his father's house for two days and wouldn't be there to train them and according to what everyone said, Hanson was head dragon training. No one even started Dragon Training without him around. It was odd, others knew how to handle dragons with training so why did they need Hanson around? No one would give them a straight answer, it was always left at 'Hanson is the base leader, those are his rules'. Regardless, at least they had a definite that they would be starting when he returned to the base.

More they learned was that Caylee was doing a lot better since that morning she got shot. Caylee was in ICU for a week, then the remaining three weeks of the month in a regular room but still closely monitored in case of complications and thankfully, none came up. Now she was taking it easy at the base and off missions until cleared by the medic to return, Hanson had hoped she would get to come home for a while, but that didn't happen, so he had to wait out the remainder of the tour time she was on. Vincent informed the new soldiers that Caylee's tour was only supposed to be six months long and then got extended to a year right after her leave was over for reasons they still didn't understand to this day and in truth, Hanson was really ticked off about the situation but didn't let it show.

(A Few Days Later)

Aubree and the other nine soldiers were sitting in the barrack just talking about dragons, wondering how bonding would go. Hanson said it was the first step to training. Forming a bond with a dragon. Dustin, Heather, and Franklin already had bonded dragons but no one else. It made sense now why Hanson said the dragon training took the longest because there were so many factors involved and every dragon was different. After Advanced had finished, another person was promoted during the small ceremony. Eli reached Corporal rank and was very proud of it. Heather, Sylvia, and Franklin stayed at Private 1st Class while the other five remained at Private.

"I wonder what issue Hanson had to make him take off after that phone call from his Dad," Raelyn suddenly said in the silence.

"We all wonder, but it's not our place," Grant told her.

"Still, we're supposed to be his friends and part of his platoon yet, we're the clueless ones, and everyone else knows." Taylor chimed in now. Before anyone else could say a word, they heard the roar belonging to Toothless. Getting up and looking out the window, they saw him land on the ground and climb off his friend's back and send him off to the stable which was off of the barrack. Hanson entered the barrack slowly, he looked exhausted. However, they still had their order when a commanding officer walked in especially when their CO happened to be the base leader. The ten soldiers came to their feet slowly standing at attention with a salute of respect.

"As you were," Hanson told them slowly, and they returned to what they were doing originally which was just sitting on their beds, of course, this time it remained quiet, so they didn't bother Hanson. "We start DT tomorrow," he added while removing his outer coat and hat then moving down the barrack towards the bathrooms and disappeared behind the door.

"Well, he looks miserable," Aubree pointed out.

"Maybe he had a fight with his girlfriend?" Heather offered with a shrug of her shoulders. Vincent, Thatcher, and Ricky came in looking around for him, Aubree pointed to the bathroom as they nodded understanding now. Hanson came out slowly with his eyes closed and reaching his bed which was closest to the door on the right side of the barrack. Hanson drew back the covers after untying his boots and laying in bed.

"Dim the barrack for me and keep it down," Hanson told them.

"You got it," Ricky nodded firmly to him as he looked to the others as if to say to them to get ready to come outside so Hanson could sleep and they began to get on their boots, outer coats, and hats. When they were situated, they filed out of the barrack while Vincent and Ricky began shutting shades, then Thatcher turned out the lights for him.

"Let us know if you need anything," Vincent reminded as Hanson only nodded to him while he closed his eyes and Thatcher was the last one out of the barrack.

(Three Days Later)

Hanson despised being sick. Especially when it lasted more than one day, now three days later he was finally feeling better and well rested enough to start the soldiers in their dragon training. Franklin, Heather, and Dustin would just be watching since they already bonded to their dragons, but Hanson was going to have them give the dragon type and name of their dragon to him. Right now, he knew they were at breakfast with Thatcher, Vincent, and Ricky since Hanson still hadn't been feeling well when he first woke up at 4 am as he always did. Hanson got himself out of bed and to his feet, the first thing he did was go to the bathroom and take a shower. The heat did wonders to wake him up more and help him feel more like himself. After the shower, he dressed in his black and gray camo suit, put on his hat and boots, then made his way outside and towards the chow hall.

Hanson opened the doors to the hall and walked inside, it fell quiet right away. Not silent, but was more peaceful as they stood to salute him from the position of attention. "As you were," Hanson told them while they went back to eating, Hanson grabbed himself a piece of toast, orange juice, and an apple before sitting down next to Thatcher.

"Hey, there he is," Thatcher greeted.

"Hey," Hanson said.

"How are you feeling?" Ricky inquired.

"Better," Hanson replied calmly while taking a bite of his toast. "Dragon training after breakfast," he told the others.

"Yes sir," the soldiers replied as they went back to eating their food. The remainder of breakfast went as it always did with minor conversation. When it had ended, Hanson led them the edge of the woods and stopped to face them.

"These woods are home to wild dragons. However, they know that we will not harm them, so they will be less hostile to you. Now. Who can tell me how to approach a wild dragon?" Hanson asked with his hands behind his back. Heather put her hand up slowly as Hanson nodded for her to continue.

"Slowly and showing no weapons. Stay out of the blind spot, remain calm, and assure that they can trust you." Heather said.

"Excellent. Who can tell me the what bonding is?" Hanson inquired next. Aubree raised her hand now, and Hanson pointed to her.

"It's the process in which dragon and human come together in trust and understanding. There are also times where the dragon chooses who it wants to bond with," Aubree answered.

"Correct. As we enter the woods, be on guard. For today, we will focus on bonding, and you will be naming them. Dragon training is not like Basic and Advanced. Also, I've adjusted the timers in the barrack. Lights on at 6 am, out is 10 pm. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner remain at the same time. Most of your training after you bond with your dragon will be classroom time to learn about them. We likely won't move into hand commands or flying until the second month. As I said, depends on how well you do. Dragon training has no set amount of time." Hanson reminded then he gave a hand motion for them to follow him into the woods to get started.

(Woods)

It was honestly going well in Hanson's eyes. Fifteen minutes in the woods and three soldiers had bonded dragons; Raelyn and Taylor were sharing a male Hideous Zippleback and then Sylvia bonded with a female Monstrous Nightmare. Hanson used Toothless to command those two dragons back to the base to wait for them to return since Thatcher was waiting by the stables for incoming dragons from them. While walking, two more Monstrous Nightmares came out. One was red, black, and orange with a white belly and the other was pale purple, orange, some black and yellow.

The red, black, and orange one ignored just everyone and sniffed out Sawyer. Grant seemed to have no trouble with the purple, orange, yellow one because it was nuzzling right up to him and purring contently. The one with Sawyer blew a smoke ring at him as Sawyer looked back at Hanson for help.

"They've chosen you to bond with. Most of the time it's because they sense your personality and latch on because it matches their own." Hanson informed, "Both of them are males. Give the order Toothless," he snapped his fingers, and Toothless roared at the two Nightmares and stomped his front paw down, the Dragons gave a small head bow and then flew out of the trees and back towards the base. "Let's keep moving. Still, have to find dragons for Aubree and Eli." Hanson reminded them.

Another hour passed with nothing at all. The two remaining soldier were beginning to lose hope that they would get to bond today and as such, their training would be pushed back and take longer. Reaching the beach area, they decided to take a break from all the walking and get a drink from their canteens and sit down a few minutes.

"Is it always this frustrating?" Eli inquired.

"Not always. Bonding can take time. One of the soldiers took almost six months to bond with his dragon. And it happened in the strangest of ways too," Hanson chuckled a little thinking back on it. "That's how it was for Toothless and me too, I'll tell you that story later. In the meantime, I think...I might know two dragons who would bond," Hanson stated as he moved to the edge where the water and sand met, then he cupped his hands over his mouth and let off a loud dragon call. There was silence at first, and then a dragon brought its head above the water and moved in closer to the beach.

"It's...a Thunderdrum," Franklin pointed out.

Indeed he is. This is Thornado, he was a dragon which was very playful with my Dad when he came to my Basic graduation. They never bonded, but he always stays close." Hanson told them while motioning for Aubree and Eli to go beside him and then he stepped back as Thornado inspected the two standing before him. "Toothless, call for your friend," Toothless lifted his head up and let out a loud resonating purr from his throat and within five minutes, a Deadly Nadder emerged from the woods and came onto the beach squawking.

"Oh wow, she's beautiful," Aubree cooed.

"This is Stormfly. Female, little older than you. A good friend of mine, we met Toothless, and I got separated in a storm. This girl right here let me ride her to find him, and the two of them have been best friends ever since." Hanson smiled as he scratched under Stormfly's chin and the dragon purred then looked at Aubree and moved towards her slowly, sniffing her and staring intently. "I think she likes you,"

"Thornado likes me," Eli smiled wide, "He keeps rubbing against my arm and wanting me to scratch him,"

"Come here, Hofferson. There's only one way to know if Stormfly will bond with you and it's different than the standard way," Hanson commanded, and Aubree instantly moved beside him. "Close your eyes, turn your head to the left and put out the right hand with the palm up," Aubree did as she was told to do while Hanson put a hand up to keep the others quiet. Stormfly sniffed Aubree's palm before closing her own eyes and pressing her snout to the skin. "Stormfly is your bonded dragon,"

Aubree opened her eyes and looked over at Stormfly with a soft smile. "Why did I have to do the hand thing?"

"Ultimate trust is given when you close your eyes and wait. Stormfly is a dragon who suffered a lot of torture, she was very hostile when I met her. I had to show her I wouldn't hurt her and I trusted her not to hurt me when she had the chance to do so. Stormfly with anyone has to give that trust, but her closing her eyes and bowing her nose to your palm means she trusts you and has chosen to bond with you." Hanson explained.

"It's amazing, and I love the name. Do you mind if I keep using it?" Aubree asked.

"Not at all. How about the rest of you with names?" Hanson looked to the others.

"I'm naming my Nightmare Hookfang," Sawyer said proudly.

"I'm going with Blastburn for mine," Sylvia smiled.

"I'll keep Thornado, it's fitting," Eli stated.

"How do we name our dragon since we're sharing?" Taylor asked.

"Well, you could give it one name, or you could separately name the head that bonded with you. The left side bonded with Raelyn and the right with you, Taylor. It's your decision," Hanson shrugged with his arms over his chest.

"Barf and Belch!" the twins said together as Hanson fought the extreme urge to smack his face. Not that he should judge because he knew how the twins were and also, he named his own dragon Toothless due to the retractable teeth.

"How about you, Grant?" Heather inquired.

"Fanghook. It's weird, but I feel like Hookfang, and he are brothers since they were together," Grant said.

"It's possible. You three, what are your dragon's names?" Hanson looked to Dustin, Heather, and Franklin now.

"Oh, I have a Razorwhip. Female and I named her Windshear." Heather smiled proudly.

"Female Gronckle and Meatlug," Franklin replied.

"Shattermaster. Male Gronckle," Dustin answered.

"Good, that's everyone with a dragon now. Let's get back to base and get them in their stables, tomorrow, the real work begins." Hanson told them as they nodded and saluted him, then they all started making their way back through the forest to return to Fort Riddari. Upon arriving, Hanson led them to the stables right behind his office and the barrack. A big wooden building with fourteen stable spaces. Each of them picked their stable and labeled it with their dragon's name, then their own name as owner. After that, they each had to feed their dragons and then it was time for them to enjoy their own lunch in the chow hall. Turned out that Thatcher, Vincent, and Ricky kept their dragons in that stable too but Toothless was the only dragon who had a private stable built on the right side of the barrack that Hanson could look out his window to see into.

Lunch was exciting for them to talk about their dragons and couldn't wait to start the training with them. Hanson already warned that it wouldn't be easy just like Basic and Advanced hadn't been, but as long as they took it seriously and focused, they would pass it. Hanson was head trainer, and if he felt someone wasn't ready to be a full dragon rider, they wouldn't become one. Tomorrow would start the dragon training with their bonded dragons, and they were more than ready to begin.