Hello hello, awesome people who are more awesome than me! 'Tis I, coming to...do stuff...gah. :D So, enjoy chapter 2! :D
THREE YEARS LATER
Avril Amber Hofferson raced through the plaza, followed closely by a Deadly Nadder. The young girl yelped and ran, hiding behind one of the houses. She held her breath, and then laughed when she felt the dragon nuzzle her from behind.
"Aww Stormfly!" the three year old pouted. "You found me again!"
Stormfly chirped.
"Okay, your turn to hide," said Avril. "I'll count. One...two...three..." She proceeded to cover her eyes with her hands as Stormfly scurried off to hide somewhere.
She and Avril had formed a friendship; of course, Stormfly was still Astrid's dragon, but she loved Avril as if she were one of her own hatchlings. In the dragon's mind, Avril was a hatchling, with her size, and how much she depended on other people to supply her needs.
Whenever they played hide-and-seek, as they were doing on that sunny afternoon, Stormfly always made sure she hid somewhere where Avril could find her. For, example, a tree.
"Twenty!" Avril finished. "Ready or not, here I come!" She looked around, and marched towards Stormfly's hiding place. "Found you!" she cried. Stormfly looked up and huffed in the young girl's face. Avril laughed, and then got ready for her turn, when footsteps stopped her.
"Avril!" said Astrid. "Where have you been all...oh," she stopped, seeing Stormfly in the tree. "You two playing hide-and-seek again?" Astrid asked.
Avril nodded intensely. "Yes!" she said. "It fun! You wanna play with us, big sister?"
"I would love to," said Astrid, "but I'm in the middle of training right now. You need to tell me before you run off. I thought something had happened to you, and got ready to sound the alarm."
"Well, I'm here," said Avril. "Can I come to training with you? Pweeeeaassee, Astrid? Just this one time?"
Astrid rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Fine," she said. "Come on, let's head over before the others start to wonder where we are."
"Yay!" Avril shrieked in joy. "Hear that, Stormfly?" she said. "We're going to train!"
The branch Stormfly was perched on snapped under the weight of the dragon, and Stormfly fell to the ground with a thud. Avril laughed, and then ran over to her, Astrid hot on her heels.
"Can I drive?" said Avril.
"Absolutely not," said Astrid.
"But Hiccup let's me drive Toothless!" said Avril.
"That's because he's too wishy-washy to refuse," said Astrid. "And he controls Toothless with his tailfin, not the same way I control Stormfly. So you're not actually controlling him."
"It doesn't matter to me. Aww, please, Astrid?" said Avril.
"No," said Astrid. "Come on, get behind me. We're heading off to the training academy."
Avril perked up in an instant, and was on Stormfly's back, sitting behind Astrid, her arms wrapped around her sister's waist. Then, they took off.
Avril looked, in a way, like Astrid; same blue eyes and blonde hair, only she wore hers in double braids that were constantly messy. She wore a brown shirt with a matching brown skirt and belt. She was very mature for a three year old, and was often mistaken for an older age of either four or five, or sometimes even six.
"We're here," said Astrid as she landed Stormfly in front of the academy. Dismounting, and helping Avril dismount, the two of them were about to head inside, followed quickly by Stormfly. Just as they did, the academy exploded in a cloud of smoke.
"Just another fun day on Berk," Astrid mumbled.
"Explosions!" said Avril excitedly. "Can I blow things up, Astrid?"
"You most certainly can NOT blow things up," said Astrid.
"Aww," Avril pouted.
Just as they spoke, Hiccup came running out of the academy, followed by Toothless. He regarded Astrid and her little sister with a quick nod before he turned and ran in the opposite direction, Toothless in close pursuit.
Hiccup grabbed a bucket from the side of a house and handed it to his dragon. The Night Fury grabbed the bucket in his teeth and then raced towards the ocean. Astrid and Avril approached the eighteen-year-old dragon rider as he watched his dragon run off, obviously awaiting his return.
"So..." said Astrid. "What's up?"
"The sky," said Hiccup matter-of-factly.
Astrid whacked his forearm. "You know what I mean," she said.
"Yeah, I do," said Hiccup, wincing and rubbing the spot Astrid hit. When he didn't answer her earlier question, she repeated it.
"So...what's up with the academy?" said Astrid.
"Snotlout's pathetic excuses for proper training," Hiccup grumbled. "He doesn't even know what 'proper training' means. And he wouldn't know either, even if it hit him over the head!" Toothless returned with the bucket, which was now filled with water. Hiccup thanked the dragon, and then ran back into the academy, Astrid, Avril, Stormfly and Toothless hot on his heels.
Hiccup stomped into the academy with a purpose, and then dumped the bucket of water upside down, spilling the contents onto a smoking barrel Snotlout decided would make a good target.
Then, once the smoke was clearing a bit, he turned around and faced a sheepish looking Snotlout, wringing his hands together, soot smudged on his face.
Hiccup crossed his arms and tapped his foot, waiting for his cousin to explain.
Snotlout felt Hiccup's gaze on him, and quickly thought up an excuse. "Boy, am I beat!" he said, fake yawning. "I better hit the sack! Come on, Hookfang!" He whistled to his dragon, mounted him, and then took off.
"That's what I thought you'd say," said Hiccup, uncrossing his arms and putting a hand on Toothless' head.
Avril cackled like it was hilarious, while Astrid gave her an "stop-laughing-it's-not-funny" type look, which Avril instantly read and shut her mouth as quickly as possible.
"Morning, Avril," said Hiccup. "You too, Astrid. You guys ready for some training to start?"
"Yeah," said Ruffnut and Tuffnut, appearing, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Snotlout's kind of bored me with his explosions," said Tuffnut.
"I never though I'd live to hear you say that, Tuffnut," said Hiccup with a smirk. "Well then, let's get started, shall we?" He turned, mounted Toothless, and took to the sky, the others in close pursuit.