Chapter 11

Black Widow woke up several days later. Her wing was still immovable, but it was feeling better. She opened her eyes. He parents were still asleep beside her. She looked down at her wing, still in its sling. She moved her wing fingers as much as she could, she flinched when it stung. She glanced around. It seemed no one was awake yet. So she snuggled closer to her mother, and went back to sleep.

A moment later she was woken up by her friends. She sat up and yawned.

"Hey guess what?" said Avalon.

"What?" asked Black Widow.

"Hiccup and the riders are inviting you an Edel to Thawfest," said Apollo. "When you can fly again."

"Really?" said Black Widow, interested.

"It's to show them how much you've learned so far," said Eider.

"And we'll be heading back home shortly after that," said said Avalon.

"Where is Edel?" asked Black Widow.

"She's looking over the events," said Avalon. "She plans to train for some of them while you're recovering."

"All right," said Black Widow. "Hopefully I'll be flying soon. Will Edel be allowed to use her abilities?"

"Not all of them," said Avalon. "She's not allowed to use her speed or fire control, but she will need her strength and fighting skills."

"She'll need you too," said Eider. "All the contestants are required to bring their dragons."

"Can she bring you guys too?" asked Black Widow.

"No," said Apollo. "We're only allowed to help you prepare. But it will still be a team effort."

"We'll let you rest now," said Avalon. Black Widow laid back down, snuggling closer to her mother.

As Black Widow recovered, Edelweiss and the other dragonets looked over the challenges that didn't require a dragon such as: ax throwing, log running, and sheep lugging. Edelweiss did all of them effortlessly. The dragonets coached her in controlling her new abilities.

Soon Black Widow was back on her feet and flying again. She was a lot happier and excited for Thawfest. She planned to train for the dragon challenges the following day. She went for a walk through the woods to stretch her legs. It felt good to be walking after being on bedrest for so long. She was trotting passed the spot where Toothless crashed, when she spotted her dad running by. He was out of sight in minuets. Black Widow beamed and took off after him. She caught up to him in no time. She pulled alongside him and kept pace to him.

"Feeling better I see," Tenor said.

"I feel free," said Black Widow. "And ready for the upcoming challenges."

"Good," said Tenor. "Lets see how good you're really feeling." He put on a burst of speed and pulled a head. "Meet you at the other side of the island." But Black Widow ran faster and was able to pull ahead.

They ran through the woods. They overtook one another over and over. Soon they reached the opposite shore. Black Widow put on one last burst of speed and reached the cliff first. She turned around as Tenor caught up to her.

"You're fast," he said.

"That was fun," said Black Widow. "I see why you like it."

"Feels good huh?" said Tenor, nuzzling her.

"Yeah," said Black Widow. She wormed closer to him. "Do you go the same rout every time?"

"Here yes, but not back home," said Tenor. "Draconia is way too big for that."

"Have you ever broken a wing before?" Black Widow asked.

"Oh yeah," Tenor said. "And it hurts. I've broken them several times, even before Serenity came to us. Your mother has too. So we get it wasn't fun." Black Widow rested her head on Tenor's chest. Tenor wrapped his wing around her.

"You ready for Thawfest?" he asked.

"I am," said Black Widow. "I just have to get flying again. I think we can win too." Tenor beamed with pride. He licked her behind her ears. She purred.

"I think you can win too," Tenor said. "Should we head back?"

"Okay," said Black Widow. Tenor turned around and led the way back towards the village. Black Widow pranced alongside him.

They sang the whole way back. Black Widow loved spending alone time with her father. They had so much in common.

"Do you think I'm more like you or Mom?" she asked.

"Well," said Tenor. "You look like me, fight like me, and you have my adrenaline. But you defiantly have your mother's attitude and stubbornness." Black Widow smiled.

"So we're going to Dragon's Edge next year?" she asked.

"I hope so," said Tenor. "I miss Dragon's Edge, and all the places that surround it."

"You think it's still standing?" asked Black Widow.

"I think it will mostly be still standing," said Tenor. "But it will probably be half rotted."

"Aurora can fix it up with her magic," said Black Widow.

"Yes she can," said Tenor. "And Serenity can bring her camping gear so she, Chris, and Edel have a place to sleep. Or they can sleep in the stables."

"I'm excited," said Black Widow.

"Me too," said Tenor.

They reached the tree. It was mostly empty except for Serenity. Tenor sat beside her.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Hiccup's going over Thawfest with them," Serenity said. "I'm the only one who's seen it."

"It sounds like fun," said Black Widow. "I should go find Edel." She nuzzled Tenor's neck, then took off.

She found her friends on the cliff over the arena. Edel was looking at a piece of paper. Black Widow landed beside Apollo.

"What are you guys up to?" Black Widow asked.

"We're looking at the dragon challenges," said Edelweiss. "And the rules. There's the hurtles which we have to fly under, then there's the fly'n straight where we have to shoot targets, and last is the Freestyle where we do a trick of our choice."

"We should practice that one first," said Black Widow. "Can you bring you're bow and arrow?" Edelweiss looked at the rules.

"It doesn't say no weapons," she said. "For any of the dragon tasks. So I suppose I could use it for both the freestyle and the fly'n straight." Avalon pulled the bow and arrow out of thin air and handed it to Edelweiss.

They spent the rest of the day training for the dragon tasks. The dragonets put up hurtles made out of fallen logs. Black Widow tried several times to go under them, but it was a lot harder than it looked. Even when they tried Hiccup's trick of flying upside down, it didn't work. Black Widow landed to catch her breath.

"Do we have to fly under them?" she asked. "Can we crawl under them?" Edelweiss checked.

"No, we have to fly under them," she said. "We can't touch the floor or the beams." Black Widow took off and they tried again. They got most of the way through, but Edelweiss smacked her head on the last tree. They looped back around and landed back at the start.

"I want to try something," said Edelweiss, as she dismounted. "Try going through there with out me just once." Black Widow took off and flew through the hurtles, she didn't hit a single tree. She circled back around and joined Edelweiss.

"Maybe Edel can lay flat on you back," said Avalon. Edel took Black Widow's saddle off. She mounted up and laid flat on Black Widow's back. They took off again and flew under the hurtles. The made a successful run at last. They flew back and joined the others.

"Whew, one clean run," said Edelweiss. She dismounted.

"Now lets train for the other two," said Black Widow. They all took off.

They spent the next several days training for all of the events. The other Academy students were also training. The rest of the village were decorating for Thawfest. The Draconians were looking forward to it. Serenity was the only one among them that had seen Thawfest. Hiccup planned to combine Thawfest and Dragon Racing.

Soon the first day of Thawfest came. The Vikings made their way down to the arena. Serenity made sure she had her bag. Hiccup and his riders flew down on their dragons. The contestants entered the arena, their dragons right behind them. Black Widow stood out with her small size and black scales. Snotlout, as the reigning champion of Thawfest, walked onto the platform with Hookfang.

"I am the reigning champion," Snotlout boasted. "And it is my duty to launch the Thawfest games."

"Well get on with it then," said Black Widow, swishing her tail in excitement. Snotlout just scowled at her.

"Let the games begin," he roared. Hookfang burst into flames and the crowd cheered.

The contestants lined up for the first challenge. Edelweiss was at the end of the line. They were all given an ax and targets were set up on the other end. When all the axes were handed out, the contestants readied themselves. Then a bell was struck. The contestants threw their axes on at a time. Most of them missed, and some hit the edge of the target. Finally it was Edel's turn. She clutched the ax firmly in her hand. Then she threw it towards the target as hard as she could. It spun towards the target far faster than the other axes. It sliced clean through the target, kept going, and embedded itself in the wall. The crowd gasped, then whispered among each other.

"Is that legal?" asked a woman.

"Well, it hit the target," said Gobber who was judging. "But it didn't stay in the target. We'll have to discus this." He went up to the other riders. Edelweiss went to stand beside her dragon.

"I hope I'm not about to get disqualified," she said.

"I don't think so," said Black Widow. "You didn't cheat, or break any rules." Soon Gobber came back into the arena.

"We've decided to put you in second place behind Dogsbreath," he said.

"That's not fair," said Black Widow. "She hit the target."

"It's okay Black Widow," said Edelweiss. "There's worse things than loosing." Black Widow still glared at Gobber, but didn't say anything.

They readied the arena for the log run. Edelweiss stayed by Black Widow until it was ready.

"I can win this one," Edel said. When the log was ready the contestants lined up on it. The bell was rung and they started running. Edelweiss ran as fast as she could. She made the log spin faster and faster. One by one the contestants fell off when the log got too fast. Soon it was just her and Dogsbreath. Edelweiss ran faster. Unfortunately she ran too fast, making the log spin out of control. Dogsbreath fell off, then the log spun right off the structure. It hit the ground, and broke in half. Edelweiss flew off it and crashed right in front of the dragons.

"A little too fast I think," said Seaslug. Gobber came into the arena.

"The winner is Edelweiss," he said. There was only a small applause, as the Vikings were muttering again.

Astrid looked over at Hiccup, while the arena was being cleared.

"Do you think it's safe to have her in the village?" she asked. Re heard her.

"You not scared of my granddaughter are you Astrid?" he asked.

"Did you see what she did to my ax the other day?" said Astrid. Re sighed sadly.

"I don't think she's any more a threat to the village than the dragons," said Hiccup.

"You remember when we had three baby Thunderdrums here," said Astrid. "They were so out of control that they couldn't stay here." Re and Aurora exchanged a sad glance.

"Edelweiss isn't that out of control," said Re. "We'll be out of here in two days anyway." Astrid looked like she wanted to say more, but didn't. They turned their attention back to the final challenge.

The contestants lined up again. Edelweiss stood in the middle this time. They were each given a large sheep, which they put over their shoulders. Edelweiss wrinkled her nose at the stench. At the sound of the bell, they all took off running. Edelweiss pulled ahead of the others, and reached the finished line well before the others. She put the sheep down and it ran off. There was even less of an applause this time. She didn't care though. She went back over to Black Widow.

"Tomorrow we'll both be competing," she said.

"Yup," said Black Widow. "We should practice our freestyle stunt this evening." Gobber came in and announced Edelweiss the winner, and Snotlout ended the games for the day. The crowd disbursed and headed back towards the village with their dragons. Edelweiss quietly mounted Black Widow and flew back up to the Golden Apple Tree. The other Draconians joined her. They congratulated Edelweiss for doing well in the games. But Edelweiss didn't feel much like a winner. She felt as though the people of Berk were rejecting her. She felt better when she was around people who loved her. She crawled onto her mother's lap.

Black Widow went for another run with Tenor. They both found it really nice. Black Widow was able to keep up without breaking a sweat. They came to a stop at the same cliff. Black Widow smiled and stepped closer to her father. She rested her head on his neck.

"I hope Edel will be okay," she said. Tenor wrapped his wing around her.

"She'll be fine," he said. "Even if it means taking her out of the games early and leaving."

"You must understand what she's going through," said Black Widow.

"I do," said Tenor. "She's starting out in a similar place then I did."

"You should help her," said Black Widow. "Make sure she doesn't go through the same thing you did."

"We all should," said Tenor. "She's family." Black Widow nuzzled his neck. She closed her eyes and breathed in her father's smell of wood smoke. "You guys ready for the dragon challenges?"

"Just about," said Black Widow. "We want to do our freestyle stunt before bedtime."

"Don't stay up too late," Tenor said. Black Widow nodded and smiled. Tenor nuzzled her. After a few minuets they took off and headed back to the tree.