It was a picturesque morning. The birds were trilling, not a cloud in the sky, the waves were calm, and the locals of Speartooth village were in the best mood possible. Winter had ended a week ago and the people were celebrating. In fact, Hiccup, Razorre, and their respective dragons were getting ready to go to Berk to attend the Thawfest games. But no one was more happy than Rowana. They had finally found the perfect dragon for her!
It was a new species called a Prism wing. It was a unique dragon due to the fact that it fell under two classes in the book of dragons. Strike, and mystery. It had a long, triangular head, a streamlined body, and most unusually, three sets of wings. It's wings were able to reflect and refract light in such a way, that it bent rays of light away in a sphere, creating the illusion of invisibility. It's projectile attack was called a mirror beam. It was a red/white ray that was strong enough to cut rock in half. This particular individual was blue with white markings along it's back and side. Also, it was female.
Rowana pretty much fell in love with it the moment she had her first ride on it. After some basic training and study to determine what it's favorite food, they crafted a saddle for it and the rest was history. She named it Spirit, because of it's ability to vanish into thin air. She wouldn't go anywhere without without Spirit since then. Razorre warned her to keep walking so that she wouldn't lose any physical ability because of riding.
"Hey, Hiccup! Are we ready to leave?"
Hiccup looked up from where he was adjusting his saddle.
"Almost! I just gotta make sure I packed everything!"
Hiccup jogged back into the shop. He had sold his old sword after he finished his new one. He had completed the new one a few days ago. The blade extended from the shaft and was coated in Monstrous Nightmare saliva, causing it to light on fire. The other end allowed him to release Zippleback gas and ignite it for personallized explosions. He had his own riding armor now as well. Molded leather crafted to be as aerodynamic as possible, and still provide great protection.
"Okay, I've got everything! Lets roll!"
Soon, they were in the skys. The wind was blowing north today, so they had some extra push to get to Berk.
"Been a while since you went to the Thawfest games huh?"
Hiccup nodded.
"Yeah, it'll be great to watch it again, even if Snotlout is bound to win it."
Razorre shrugged.
"Meh. I don't care. We can cheer for who'll come in second."
Hiccup laughed.
"We better go, or we'll be late!"
The two friends swiftly took to the skies, both dragons issuing their challenge to the world. Even after their long years of flying on dragons, they still had that surge of thrill that only defying gravity could give you. Thresher took the lead and zigzagged through a group a Thunderdrums that were leaping out of the water. While Thresher didn't have the same speed as Toothless, he came pretty darn close. Hiccup looked ahead, almost shaking with anticipation of watching the Thawfest games. While it didn't bring back the most pleasent memories, it was still a fun time. The only thing that no one could stand was Snotlout's constant gloating. But even that couldn't dampen his spirits.
He continued to think back to the few good memories on Berk, when suddenly a fireball shot past them. Hiccup and Razorre both drew their swords and looked to see a horde of dragons barreling towards them. Hiccup groaned.
"This could only happen to us couldn't it?"
Razorre shook his head.
"Most likely."
Razorre and Thresher went into a dive, making for a group of sea stacks. Hiccup followed suit. They needed to out maneuver these dragons, which wasn't that hard, since they were riding strike class dragons. The horde thinned quickly as more dragons collided with the immense pillars of rock.
"Why are these dragons after us!? It's not like we did anything to annoy them!"
Hiccup thought quickly. All dragons who travelled in swarms had a nest to return to, they had seen a queen once before, when they were travelling in a more volcanic region of the world, but they had been welcomed with open arms. Clearly these dragons were acting on orders from another queen. But there was no nest nearby except for...
"Hell Hein's gate! These dragons are the same who raide Berk!"
"Why would they be ticked with us though?!"
Hiccup shook his head.
"I don't know, I'm not the queen expert here!"
Razorre groaned.
"Lets just ditch them!"
"And how do you propose we do that?"
Razorre grinned.
"Simple. We break some things."
Hiccup returned the grin. The instantly had there dragons spin around, and fire their respective blasts at a massive column of rock protruding from the sea. The combined blasts detonated with such force, that it brought it crumbling down in front of the horde, giving them some nasty headaches.
"That should take care of them for now!"
They reached Berk twenty minutes later using the jet stream to accelerate themselves even further. The teens were all waiting for them, dragons in tow.
"Your early!" Astrid called.
Hiccup pulled along side her.
"Yeah, we caught some good gusts of wind that accelerated our trip. That's not the most interesting thing that happened though."
Hiccup gave everyone the rundown of their little chase through the sea stacks.
"You mean that this queen dragon ordered all her dragons to attack you?"
Hiccup nodded grimly.
"I feel we may have to do something about that. At least they don't raide as consistantly as before, and you can drive them off with little difficulty, but still. It's worrisome."
Razorre clapped his hands together.
"Why are we standing here talking about these problems when we could be having fun! Lets role!"
That proved to be all the motivation they needed. Soon enough they were tearing through the skies at breakneck speeds, causing all sorts of mayhem for the people below without so much as brushing the top of a roof. The gusts of wind they were generating actually made silent Sven yell. No actual words, but a sound. That alone was pure achievement. After that, Razorre and Hiccup showed off their fencing skills, which were drastically greater than anyone actually thought possible. Hiccup's new sword was also a shocker. The teens watched as Hiccup and Razorre locked weapons, striving to push the other off balance. Razorre's sword may not have been able to light on fire, but the fact that is could store lightning meant that it could take some of the hottest temperatures. In the end, it was a draw. The fact that they trained agains't eachother every other day mean't that they had learned how the other fought. It was impossible for them to beat eachother.
"How do you get so good?"
Hiccup grinned at Astrid's question.
"Practice. Lots and lots of practice. The fact that Razorre was already an accomplished swordsman created a challenge, and we both learned lots from eachother."
Razorre also showed them a strange fighting style he used to catch his opponents off guard. He could fight with his sword backhand. The trick was to fight offensively and used lots of heavy, spinning attacks. He could easily transition from one grip to another, making him unpredictably deadly on the battlefield. He also explained that his backhand technique worked best for fighting multiple opponents.
"Well, enough about death, any new dragons?"
Fishlegs pulled out the book of dragons.
"Well, we did discover a Whispering Death on Berk, but it's been causing problems and we can't catch this thing."
Hiccup and Razorre looked at each other. They knew all too well what a Whispering Death on the loose was capable of. The tunnels it left behind could make villages collapse in on themselves if left unchecked.
"We better solve this problem, quick."
Hiccup and Razorre mounte their dragons and had the teens lead them to the last sighting of it.
"So, how do you propose we find the thing?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup thought about it.
"Well, from out experience, it doesn't like sunlight, prefers mackerel, and it highly territorial. Especially about it's tunnels."
Razorre's mouth curved upwards.
"I'm sure he doesn't like uninvited guests in his well kept tunnel system. I think he would want to give them the boot."
Surprisingly, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the first to catch on. And they loved it.
"This guy is talking my language! Danger!"
He leapt into the tunnels, and began to look around hopefully. Razorre dropped in lightly, followed by the rest of the gang, however reluctantly. Surprisingly, the tunnels were wide enough for the dragons as well. Hiccup decided that this must be due to it making multiple passes to widen them.
The group walked forward a few steps, when the ground gave away under them, dumping them into another section of the maze.
"Ouch. LETS DO THAT AGAIN!"
The group groaned at Ruffnut's outburst.
"Well, we're certainly stuck down here now. There isn't enough room for the dragons to fly out!"
Razorre thought about it.
"We need another tunnel that goes back up. The Whispering Death will be here soon."
Hiccup looked around.
"No tunnel. Only the Whispering Death could dig us out now."
Razorre suddenly got a bright expression.
"Not if the dragons heat up the surrounding rock!"
Hiccup looked confused.
"If we try to dig ourselves out, the noise will bring the... Whispering..."
Slowly, Hiccup smiled. The plan was brilliant. The Whispering Death would hate them messing with it's territory, so it would go after them in an attempt to stop them, possibly digging another tunnel to get to them.
"So we dig. And we make plenty of noise while doing it."
Several minutes of destructive and noisy digging later, the Whispering Death showed up, and boy was it MAD. Sure enough, it had dug another tunnel to get to them and provided them with a free ticket out. After several more minutes of running and avoiding being tenderized, they met daylight. Hiccup and Razorre drew their swords, and Razorre had Thresher charge his blade.
The Whispering Death bellowed with rage and dove at them. Hiccup released a gas cartridge, igniting it and sending it sprawling. Razorre rushed forward and pulled out two sets of iron stakes bound by a strip of leather. He touched the sword to the dragon briefly to keep it immobile, and drove the stakes into the ground on either side of it's wings, keeping it pinned.
"Now that he's not about to rip us to shreds, we can get about getting him out of here."
After they calmed the ferocious dragon down, they released it off into the world.
"I certainly won't miss that dragon." Fishlegs said.
Razorre smiled.
"Cheer up! I thought you loved boulder class dragons!"
"Not when I'm on the menu, I don't."
The group laughed at that, then went back to the village. It was around dinner time, and there was a feast going on in the great hall in celebration of Thawfest.
"Man, I really love the salmon!"
Hiccup smiled.
"They do make it the best here."
Razorre raised his mug.
"Sure do."
The two friends toasted, then went back to their meals.
Great to be back on Berk. I may even consider moving back here at some point. Still, I have responsibilities back at Speartooth village. And the academy is almost ready for business. That reminds me, I haven't mentioned it to anyone else besides Razorre and Rowana.
Hiccup's thoughts were interupted when Stoick walked over, and took a seat.
"What's it like being back?"
Hiccup thought for a minute.
"Great. I'm finally able to connect with the other teens, and I've really been looking forward seeing the games again. Even if Snotlout is bound to win. Again."
Stoick laughed tensly. No one had ever beaten a Jorgenson in the Thawfest games, and while it wore on everyone's last nerve with all the bragging, they'd slowly built up an immunity to it. Besides, Hiccup didn't need to win the Thawfest games to prove he could beat Snotlout at something. His swordsmanship display earlier with Razorre proved that.
"by the way, I've heard little hints from Razorre saying you had a little secret involving dragons."
Hiccup laughed.
"I guess I best tell you. I've been building a dragon training academy hidden in the Speartooth mountains. I let Razorre and Rowana in on it and Razorre's been helping me. We've completed all the neccesary stuff so far, like the classrooms, obstacle courses, places for the dragons to stay, the building where we store dragon eggs, the hatchery, a training facility, that sort of thing."
Stoick looked shocked at this news. Then he patted his son on the shoulder.
"I'm impressed. You've certainly let your creativity run wild!"
Hiccup smiled at the praise.
"I know. If it does well there, I want to set up one here on Berk too!"
Stoick's smile widened.
"That's something I'd like to see! Although, If I don't hurry back, my fish'll get cold!"
Stoick got up and walked back to his seat, while Hiccup and Razorre engaged in conversation.
"Dragon training academy huh? And when were you gonna tell us this?"
Hiccup and Razorre whirled around to see Astrid and the rest of the gang standing behind them.
"After Thawfest actually. We haven't even gathered enough dragons yet!"
The gang smiled. This day couldn't get any better. The group sat down, and discussed how they would go about making an academy for Berk. They talked well into the night, but eventually, it was simply time for rest.
"I gotta get a good sleep if I'm gonna win the Thawfest games again! See ya in the morning!"
Snotlout waved as he went back to his house. The twins went afterwards, then Fishlegs, and finally Razorre.
"Don't wanna miss the action because I slept in!"
Hiccup and Astrid kept talking well into the night, discussing dragons and other topics. She told him about the Snoggletog screwup, which made Hiccup roar with laughter.
"I know the destruction must have been crazy, but man oh man, would I have paid to see that!"
Astrid laughed about it too, then she said her goodnights and left. Hiccup walked back to his old house, and walked into his old room. It was the exact same as when he left. Hiccup collapsed onto his bed, and fell asleep. But sleep can be a terrifing thing.
Grey clouds, grey smoke, grey rock. Everything was grey except for the fire, Toothless' head in his lower vision, and the massive queen wrecking viking ships as they fled away. It's roar was filled with fury and hate. It's six eyes searching for it's target. They found it. A massive spout of flame shot past them, missing them by meters. The heat was intense. He saw lightning bolts surge past, striking the queen's hide over and over. He saw Nadder spines ark past him, puncturing scales. Then he saw it's wings extend. It took flight. Toothless surging towards the clouds while flames hurtled past, barely missing them. Looking back, Hiccup saw the jaws of death.
Hiccup woke with a start and bolted into a sitting position. He breathed heavily.
That was one heck of a nightmare. Wonder what it was about. Ah well, might as well go back to bed.
Meanwhile, Razorre was also locked in a nightmare. However, this one was different. Much different.
The village burned around him. Thresher was tied up, another Skrill charging it's lightning blast to finish him off. A tall, but relatively young viking stood atop a large boulder, an axe in one hand and a sword in the other. bolgard and Rowana were tied up at his feet. Toothless and the other dragons were tied up and gagged, while Hiccup and the others were being tortured. And he felt... helplessness, then rage. His eyes turning towards the sky, he loosed a bellow of sheer, animalistic fury.
Razorre's eyes opened quickly. He fought to control his breathing, then got the gruesome dream out of his head. After several minutes, he fell back asleep.
The next morning...
Hiccup and Razorre met the rest of the gang at the great hall. They discussed the day ahead, and shared some stories. Then it was time. All the vikings began to file down to the arena to watch the Thawfest games. The participants all went down to the center of the ring. Gobber got the large horn they used for announcing the games.
"Welcome to the Thawfest games! We all thank you for your support in setup, and all that other stuff, Blah blah blah, let the games begin!"
The crowd roared in appreciation. The Thawfest games had begun.