Siren

Just three minutes after I marked my fifteenth Japan test, my third Viking test, my twenty-seventh dragon classifying test, and my first Celtic test, I ran out into my rice field to check my crops. As always, they were growing well. I had more than enough rice to feed myself and the kids for about fifteen years, by my guess. I'm really not sure, but I do know it's a lot of rice. I had so much that one whole room at Dragon's Edge dedicated to rice storage. At this point, I was considering another room reserved for rice storage. I had one for me, Toothless, Rupac, and the Terrible Terrors Sneaky and Sharpshot, one for the library, and the rice storage. There was still more space left.

Next, I moved to my vegetable crop. I examined which ears of corn seemed to doing the best. I would take the grains and fertilize the best corn so then I could have good results. There was a little more than enough corn for everyone, but that was okay because of how sweet it was.

I did this with my squash and beans as well. I did have a lot of squash, but I didn't sell it because Toothless liked it way too much, and it meant extra food for the kids.

After I picked my rice, I put it into three bags. I would've been able to do more work if I wasn't riding Toothless so often, or teaching the kids. Or Al on Saturdays. I wasn't tutoring him today because it was Sun's day today, so I had this one day to myself, Toothless, and Rupac.

I went to my storage room and opened the door. The rice was stacked in rows against the wall; there were five rows going across. I could hear heavy breathing and a distinctive purr from behind me. I knew right away it was Toothless. As always, he'd help me carry the bags of rice to other islands just not far outside the archipelago. I got a lot of swords in return for the rice I sold. That's why I had many swords for the kids to practice fencing with. I had enough for about half of them to be able to learn fighting with two swords instead of one.

As soon as I finished packing up about five bags of rice, I boarded Toothless and got into the air. We flew as fast as possible, at a speed no one could hope to match. My long hair was tied up into a bun, since it normally was like that. I hardly even bothered combing it; it was knee length, and it would take over an hour. At this point, I knew it was time to cut it to a more manageable length.

I wouldn't really miss hair that length.

Toothless and I were high over an island. I was kneeling on top of Toothless, ready to jump off him. This was the islanders' cue to know I was up above so they wouldn't shoot us down, like the first time we met. I wouldn't want to repeat that.

I jumped off Toothless head first, and he dived down as soon as I was half way. Together, we fell down. I smiled at Toothless and he returned the smile me. When we were close to the rocks, I got back onto him...and spotted a ship not too far from the coast.

The ship was small, with a mast that wasn't too big, and sails that showed it to be a trading boat.

Was that Trader Johann? I knew if it was him, then I should've brought more rice. I owed him my life. He and Toothless saved me from the Celts when I was held hostage. I didn't know how to pay him for it.

I ordered Toothless to move toward the docks. As we neared it, the residents of the island came into view. I could recognize the chief of this tribe of Vikings: Oswald the Rich, one of the wealthiest men in the Confederation of Tribes. These guys were outside of the archipelago where I lived. We never really met until some months ago, when they tried to kill me and Toothless. Nasty business, that was.

"Siren!" Oswald called out, raising a large hand. He was a burly man, around six foot nine and 400 pounds. He had brown hair and dark eyes. Most folks in his tribe had a similar description. His beard was tied up to his chin, and his mustache practically covered his mouth. Oswald wore typical warrior gear: leather pants, and a large fur shirt with shoulder spikes.

Toothless landed on the docks carefully and folded his wings. I dismounted him when Oswald came up to me, each step making a loud thudding sound.

"We do not need any more rice, if you have come to sell some," he said, as I pulled the first bag off. "Our farmers are growing them, along with the farmers of many other Viking tribes on the mainland. We do appreciate your visits though," he quickly added.

"That's alright," I said, turning to face him as Trader Johann came off his boat, his beard greyer than ever. His son, Bric, came after him. Bric was to take over trading as soon as his father died. We all knew Trader Johann would be dead sooner or later, and so did he, which was why Bric came along.

Bric was the spitting image of his father, with similar clothes and a blacker beard. His eyes appeared younger and more cocky than his father's did.

"Trader Johann!" I cried, running to him. "Can I sell you some rice? I hope my debt to you for saving my life can be paid through that!"

"Siren, Siren, Siren," Trader Johann said, pausing to take a breath. "You owe me no debt for your life."

Even at his age, he was still pretty strong, which was impressive. Many men ten years younger than him wouldn't have his strength.

"But still," I said, holding up my bag of rice, "I can give this to you. Many tribes farther up on the mainland don't know how to farm rice. You can bring it to them for me. I can't travel that far north, since it's going to take me many, many days. Will you and Bric do that for me?"

Johann and Bric looked at each other, then me.

"A deal's a deal, daughter of Berk," Bric said, pulling the load away from me. Five minutes later, all my rice bags were onto Trader Johann and Bric's ship, and Toothless and I were air born again.

It was nighttime, and I was higher up in the air than before. I made Toothless do spinning and twirling, which was so thrilling and romantic. After the spinning, we would go for a slow ride. It was magical, with all the wind blowing and the stars around me.

This one night, however, was particularly magical.

When we were up in the sky, rainbows began to appear. They glowed beautifully and shimmered. I reached out my hand to feel them, and all I felt was cloud. I remember when I was a child, Gobber sat me on his lap and told me that rainbows were the bridges from Midgard to Asgard.

That was exactly what I was looking at now. I didn't know for sure if the rainbow would take me there, but all I know is one thing, and it's that it's the closest to Asgard I'll be before I die.

"Odin's beard, Toothless," I cried out loudly, "I wish I could see that everyday!"

Toothless purred knowingly, but there was something else, and it sounded like nostalgia. I think there was an old memory he was thinking about that involved Mummy and Daddy riding him together for the first time. I don't know specifically what happened from his perspective, but that's something I'll have to ask Daddy when I came home to Berk.

"Let's go down fast, Toothless!" I shouted as I flipped myself off of Toothless and flew down toward the sea. I heard him roar, then strong wind as he caught up with me. Quickly, I grabbed his reins and got back onto him. We made a safe landing on the wooden landing area.

As soon as we were down, I got off and wiped my forehead, taking a deep breath.

"That was a great ride, bud! Now let's get some sleep!"

We retired to our room for the night. I fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow and had a dreamless sleep.