Pretty busy with summer courses (this one right now has quite a lot of work) so it'll be a little bit quiet the next two weeks. But, if I find time, you know I'll get to something ;) Again, this is a short project so the story will be relatively fast-paced.
"Incredible! A fully trained Changewing!" Hiccup cried in amazement as he closely examined Shimmer while Flynn stood close by. "How did you meet her?"
"Well, she found me actually!" Flynn answered, affectionately rubbing Shimmer's nose. "I was out in the woods collecting some samples for my studies and she just appeared in front of me. I noticed she kept following me around and so I just started training her."
"How exactly? We've come across wild Changewings a lot, but we've never been able to get close enough to train one before," said Hiccup.
"I noticed that Shimmer spent a lot of time just watching me and occasionally, she'd try to copy whatever I was doing."
"Right, I remember the book of dragons saying that Changewings are curious and tend to copy what they see. So, what about your Speed Stinger?"
"Milo? Well, I found him on one of the trade ships that came to the Haven. He ran around the entire village before Shimmer here finally nabbed him. He was a bit temperamental at first, but when I gave him some food, he calmed down."
"Interesting. We've encountered Speed Stingers before, but never one on it's own. Just recently a whole pack invaded Berk when the ocean froze over. They stole food from the village every night, but we managed to get them back to their home."
"Wow, that sounds intense. You guys have had quite the adventures since you started training dragons, huh?" Flynn asked.
"Haha, you don't know the half of it. If we're not dealing with wild dragons, we're dealing with other tribes like the Outcasts or the Berserkers! I don't know what we'd do without out dragons," Hiccup said, tightly hugging Toothless who groaned pleasurably. "Hey, look who's finally here!" Hiccup and Flynn looked over to see Stormfly and Voltage enter the academy as their riders dismounted.
"Sig, how're you feeling?" Flynn asked.
"Better, though Voltage can't fly as fast without my shoulder hurting," she said. Sigrid's shoulder was bandaged while her right arm rested in a sling.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that," Hiccup said nervously.
"Forget about it. I'll be fine," she assured him.
"Well again, if there's anything you two need, anything at all, just let me know."
"Thanks, Hiccup," Flynn said.
"So, these are your dragons?" Hiccup asked.
"Yup! This little guy is Smog," she said, motioning to the Smothering Smokebreath that rubbed against her leg, "and you know the big guy, Voltage."
"We've only seen a Skrill once and that wasn't exactly the friendliest one," said Astrid.
"Well, neither is Voltage, until you get to know him at least. He's not very good around strangers," she said, lighting brushing her hand on Voltage's face to sooth the low growl in his throat as he eyed Toothless and Stormfly.
"It's a good thing Snotlout and the twins aren't here then," Hiccup chuckled.
"Well from what Astrid's told me about them, it's probably a good thing," Sigrid said.
"So, how did you manage to train one of the most violent dragons we've ever seen? After what we saw, Skrills are far too violent to be trained," said Hiccup.
"Well actually, Voltage here originally belonged to the Chief's son in my tribe. You see, in my tribe, girls aren't allowed to learn how to fight, hunt or train dragons," Sigrid explained.
"What? That's barbaric," Astrid said, defiantly crossing her arms.
"Yeah, and Baldr's training techniques involved starving Voltage for days. I snuck into his cage every night to feed him and I guess you could say that we bonded," she said, as Voltage affectionately rubbed his head against her. "The problem was Baldr didn't respect Voltage, so Voltage didn't respect him and wouldn't obey his orders. He responded a lot better to me."
"Because you respected him and showed him compassion," added Hiccup.
"That's right! Then came the problem of us getting caught. My father wasn't exactly happy about his daughter breaking Stormchaser tradition, so he was going to execute me."
"Your own father was going to kill you?" Astrid asked, shocked.
"Yeah, but Voltage saved me and we've been on the run ever since."
"I can't even imagine… You know, when my dad found out about Toothless, I was almost certain he was going to kill me," Hiccup shivered.
"And now he's got his own dragon," added Astrid, "really shows how far Vikings have come."
"I wish my tribe was as open to change as yours. Since Voltage helped me escape, they've labeled me as having stolen him from his original rider. They've been after me ever since."
"And they won't let it go?" Hiccup asked.
"Stormchaser men never do."
"So what about you, Flynn? What's your story?" Astrid asked.
"Well, I'm from the Tinkerers," he started.
"Tinkerers? I've never heard of that tribe before," said Hiccup.
"I'm not surprised. The Berserkers nearly wiped us out before I was born. Anyway, when I met and trained Shimmer, I didn't think it'd be a good idea to bring her into my tribe yet, so until they're ready, we're exploring the rest of the world!" Flynn beamed.
"Listen, we appreciate you helping us restock our supplies, but we really should be going. We always have to keep moving in case Baldr and his friends catch up to us," said Sigrid.
"Baldr was Voltage's rider?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah, and he's very eager to get back his 'dragon' that I 'stole.'"
"No offence, Sigrid, but you're in no condition to be leaving, let alone flying Voltage. At least stay until you're completely healed. If Baldr does come, we'll help you drive him away," said Hiccup.
"Oh, you really don't have to. I wouldn't want you to get involved," she said.
"It's the least I can do for, well, shooting you," he chuckled nervously.
"Come on, Sig, we've been on the move all month! It'll be nice to stay in one spot for a while," said Flynn.
"Oh, all right! If you guys insist," she conceded.
"We do!" Astrid smiled.
"So, tell us more about how you trained your dragons," Hiccup started.
"Sir, the latest news from out scout ships!" Savage cried, running over to Dagur. He narrowly dodged the axe that Dagur threw his way.
"What is it, Savage? I'm very busy, if you haven't noticed," Dagur said, retrieving his axe from the rock wall.
"Two new dragon riders on Berk! They're not part of the Berk tribe, though."
"And why would I care about two dragon riders?"
"Because one of them was riding a Skrill."
Dagur's head snapped up as he slowly turned to Savage. A malicious grin formed across his face as he chuckled darkly. "A Skrill, you say?"
Uh oh 3 looks like someone else has got their eyes on Sigrid's Skrill.