A/n: I'm back, with dragon racing escapades. Still (and always) open to requests, btw.
Dragon racing is a simple enough sport: you fly, you get sheep, you win. It's the newest, and best, of Berk's traditions. And the last to be set up by Stoick, but we don't mention that.
Anyway, dragon racing. The only sport I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, can actually win. Until we come up with some new dragon related sports, at least.
"Go!" Gobber shouted, starting the match. All of the competitors took to the air. The usual suspects - myself, Astrid, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout - were present, as well as new arrival in the form of Eret. Everyone started making loops around the island, scanning the floor for any sheep.
"See anything, bud?" I asked.
A bunch of terrors, but no sheep. Toothless reported. I sighed slightly; if we didn't find anything soon, the match could end up dragging out for some time - the black sheep is typically released once everyone has earned five points collectively. Wait, there's one!
We dropped down slightly to take the first sheep of the game, Toothless picking up the pace so that no one had a chance to catch up and steal our prize.
"Hiccup takes the first point!" Gobber shouted happily, slapping me on the back as I flew past. A few cheers sounded within the crowd.
This won't take long.
Half an hour later, and the game was in full swing. I was ahead by five, with all the other riders lagging behind at a slightly lower zero. What? They could beat me in everything else, and besides, a chief has to look strong in front of his people. That was what dad always did.
"Gotcha!" Oh, change in the scores. Astrid had one point, making her a solid second place. A predictable result.
"Oh, gods," I said, noticing a slap fight breaking out between the twins. Apparently the fact that they were on the same team - they have the same dragon; it only makes sense - wasn't enough to stop their arguments. "Quit it you two!"
"That's not going to work," Astrid reminded me, "You know it won't. It never does."
"Doesn't hurt to try," I reasoned, just as Barf and Belch passed by and slammed into me. "Spoke too soon..."
"And the chief falls victim to the twins' usual tactics!" Gobber announced as I swept past, calming Toothless with a quick reassurance of my well-being. The twins were - as usual - too uncoordinated to do any damage, anyway.
"Let's see if we can't get another few points," I prompted Toothless, dropping down slightly to scan the village for one of the animals, which are sure to be cowering away between some buildings. Good thing Toothless is so small. "There!"
I pointed downwards as I yelled, Toothless following my finger to drop down beside the yellow marked sheep. Ha, it's your best friend! Toothless taunted.
Funny, it doesn't seem too familiar. Unless... "Shut up," I snapped, reaching for the sheep. Yeah, it's him. Just my luck that I'd manage to grab the one I tried to throw off a cliff... "Sorry about that," I apologised.
The sheep bleated. Which of course meant nothing to me, and apparently not to Toothless either: Do you think he forgives you? he asked, gazing at the sheep inquisitively.
I rolled my eyes. "Sure. Now, let's win this."
We concentrated now, bringing the sheep back to the nets and slamming it into mine as we flew past. Just a few more, I thought, and we'll be unbeatable.
There wasn't enough time to make good on my promise, as the horn sounded. The black sheep! Everyone started making their way back to the arena, ready to catch the sheep as it rocketed upwards.
The sheep was catapulted into the air, and I caught it before it even got to its highest point. "Yeah!" I whooped, punching the air in victory as me and Toothless prepared to win.
"Oh no you don't..." Astrid muttered determinedly, standing on Stormfly's back in preparation to jump and steal the sheep, and victory. Fat chance.
I was ready when Astrid jumped. Toothless was the perfect height in the air for me to lock his tailfin into position and leap from his back. I smirked at Astrid's irritated growl as she realised what I'd done. "Sorry!" I shouted up, not sounding it in the least.
I tossed the sheep down as I fell, watching it land neatly in my net. The crowd went wild as I won, but I was more concentrated on making my way back to Toothless safely. I tugged the wings out on my flight suit and drifted slowly to face the dragon, who was falling at an equally relaxed rate. We grabbed each other in mid-air, me clicking my prosthetic back into place just in time to stop us colliding painfully with the roaring crowd.
After a quick victory lap to high-five some of the more excitable crowd members, I landed by the chief's - my - chair.
The other riders soon followed, all grumbling in irritation that I'd won again.
"Don't get so cocky," Astrid smirked, "We're doing non-dragon sports next time."
Ah.