"Racers, approach the starting line!" A voice bellows from above the dragon pen.
From the looks of it all of Berk had gathered to watch the race, you were starting to feel the pressure as you added the finishing touch to your face-paint. You'd decided to go with a thick black line going across your eyes; like a mask, with a slightly thinner red line underneath. Then three thick lines on both sides of your face (two black, the middle one red) and a black one going down your chin- it wasn't pretty or anything but you liked it. You painted your dragon with bright yellow circles that went around his original spotted wings. His snot had a large yellow line down it with red spots on either side. You mounted your dragon and joined the other races at the starting line, landing yourself at the end of the line beside Hiccup who greeted you with a smile.
You turned your head to look at your fellow competitors. It wasn't just Hiccup that had changed, they looked like completely different Vikings, not those bratty teenagers that they used to be. At first glance you wouldn't of even recognised Astird if it wasn't for her sitting on top of Stormfly, let alone the other Vikings. Clearly there must be some magical potion in Berks water supply because they'd all grown up to be really good looking Vikings and yes that included Fishlegs and Snotlout. Speaking of Snotlout you'd noticed that he'd been staring at you from a few dragons away. You gave him a small smile before averting your eyes, you weren't sure if he was just being creepy or if he was actually trying to figure out who you were. Apart from Hiccup and your family, you'd not actually told anyone you were coming- you didn't see a reason to, you'd not seen these people in years and you'd doubt they'd remember you after all this time. The twins were a good example, they'd bumped into you earlier and didn't look excited or shocked to see you- though you did threaten them. Hiccup had even said your name and it haven't registered with them but knowing them, they probably weren't listening.
"Welcome everyone to the monthly dragon race! I hope you're all ready for an intense competition, we've got a new competitor today, from the (Y/L/N) clan, (Y/N) all the way from Conventina! Let's give the lass a hand!" Gobber shouted over the crowed, pointing his hook at you as the crowd cheered. You gave them a sheepish wave as you hide slightly behind Ashers head. You also glanced quickly at the riders beside you, noticing that all their eyes were fixated on you, looking quite shocked (apart from Hiccup of course). Looks like it had finally twigged.
"Now since we've got a new rider, I'll go over the rules real quick. The aim of the game is to try and get as many sheep into your coloured basket as possible. The sheep are scattered around Berk and it is your job to find them. Each white sheep is worth one point while the black sheep is worth three. Whoever has the most point at the end of the game wins. Alright, are we good?"
You went over the rules quickly in your head before giving a reassuring nod to the older man. It seemed simple enough. When you'd heard the name dragon racing you'd just presumed it meant flying your dragon around the island but this sounded a lot better, there was more a chance of you actually succeeding at this.
"Good. Okay riders, get ready. On the sound of the horn take to the skies."
"3…

2…..

1….

'BRRRRRR'
the large horn echo's around the island as you and the other riders take the skies. The crowed was going crazy below them, chanting and cheering. Even when you were all out of sight you could still here them in the distance. You were already having second thoughts about doing this, you would have been a lot more comfortable in the crowed or just not doing it at all but there was no turning back now. You at least had to try and win.

You watched as all the other dragons' race ahead of you going in multiple directions. With one hand over your eyes to stop the sun's rays from hitting your face you decided to start looking for sheep in the wooded areas first since less riders had flown that way. Your monstrous nightmare wasn't exactly the smallest so you knew that flying through the tress would be tricky but you liked the challenge. You give your dragon a small tap on the neck and send him lower just so he's above the tree tops. Your (E/C) eyes were hooked onto the ground looking for anything that moved. After a few minutes of circling the woods something catches your attention but it wasn't below you, in fact it was actually above you, on a cliff. You look up to see two sheep standing on a cliffs edge, bleating their little hearts out while a voice shouted over them,
"Come on stupid sheep! Don't do this again, I swear I'll not drop you this time!"
It was difficult to make out who the voice belonged to until you heard a second voice, this was one higher but sounded just as frustrated.
"Come on bro just catch them already or you'll be going over the edge after them" the voice shouted. It was the twins. This was perfect, pure perfection, what better way to get back at them then now during the race. With a little smirk you decided to help them out. It's the least you could do. You glide over to the cliffs edge, just high enough so you were hidden from their sight. You stay silent for a number of seconds to listen to their conversation,
"Look I know you want to act all cool and heroic to try and impress (Y/N) but can you just hurry up, I'm sure I've seen Hiccup fly back to Berk twice now!"
"I'm not trying to impress anyone! I just want to win this okay?"
"We'll we're not going to win if you keep this pace up!"
from what you could tell, Tuff had been sent to get the sheep from the cliff edge while Ruff sat on their dragon- more like the back seat driver…well rider. If you timed yourself right you'd be able to scare the sheep into jumping and landing right into your lap.
"How about we show them how monstrous you are, ay Ash? Give'em your best roar." Your dragon snorts before letting out a ferocious roar which makes you cover your ears. You hear a slight yelp from above you followed by a number of swear words as the two sheep fall from the cliff with fright, you managed to catch one of them not really realising how large the sheep where.
"ASHERS QUICK!" You shout at him as you watch the other sheep plummet to its death. Your dragon chases after it his wings beating faster and faster, he extends his legs, his talons spread out and wrap around the sheep's body just before it hit the trees below- that was too close. You let out a sigh of relief.
UNF!
This relief was very short lived though as you realised not only was there a sheep in your lap but also a screaming Tuffnut? Huh, he must have went after the sheep like his sister said…that or she pushed him off. He'd landed with his back to you, still screaming. You roll your eyes at him and tap his shoulder with the hopes that he would shut up. Nope. He was still screaming but it was turning more into rage than fear, you stare the back of his head blankly.
"I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO KNOCK YOU IN TO OBILVION YOU DICK" The man shouts and he turns around, his fist clenched, it jabs you right in to face, sending you backwards, sliding off your dragon-you were out cold. Your dragon realises the situation and chases after you with the other rider still on his back. With one quick swoop he breaks through the tree branches and manages to get underneath you before you on the ground. You land on his back still out cold. Ashers pushes his body back through the brush and up into the sky, landing at the top of the cliff where Ruffnut had witnessed the whole thing. He turned his neck and looked over at his rider, his golden eyes were filled with worry but were soon filled with anger as he looked over at Tuffnut who was sitting there pale as a ghost.
"TUFF YOU IDIOT WHAT DID YOU DO!?" His sister screamed as she ran over to your body.
"I-I DUNNO I THOUGHT IT WAS SNOTLOUT! I THOUGHT I LANDED ON HOOKFANG, OH MY LOKI" The man says his hand now covered his mouth. Your dragon growled at him, using his long tale to flick him off his neck. Tuffnut hissed under his breath but immediately got up and ran to his sister's side rubbing his buttocks as he went.
"Is she dead!? DID I KILL HER? I'M A MURDERER!"
"She's just knocked out, dum-dum. Do you seriously think your punches are powerful enough to kill someone?" She growls punching her brother hard in the arm, making him yelp.
"Well I don't know I was angry and that punch was meant for Snotlout not her, I wasn't showing any mercy."
"Yeah, I can see that from how her cheek is now swollen. What a great second impression that was."
"S-shut up, we need to get her back to Berk." The blonde hair Viking begins to lift up your body but was immediately denied by another flick of your monstrous nightmares tail. Ashers took a few steps back, baring it razor sharp teeth. No one was getting near you, not after what he'd done to you.
"Great now what?" Tuff says chucking his arms up in the air.
"I dunno, maybe he'll follow us home?"
"You got that Ashers, you better follow us home okay? I don't want to be held responsible for killing the guest of honour."
The dragon blows a puff of smoke at them.
"I'll take that as a yes" The male twin grinned before running to his dragon, his sister following close behind. They take off into the air, making their way back to the village. Ashers reluctantly follows them but keeps a far distance.

By the time you'd arrived back at Berk, you'd already came to. With the little strength you had you managed to make your way up Asher's body and sat yourself on your saddle (that still stank of rotting fish) your swollen face resting on your dragons head. You'd only been unconscious for no more than ten minutes but for you it felt like a life time, you were surprised to see that the dragon race was actually still underway. The crowds were still cheering under you, as your dragon passed over them.
"Ugh, where are you taking me" you mumble to your dragon, who doesn't respond. It's not until he lands at the starting line that he grunts at you. With what strength you have you lift up your head and sit up straight to see what was going on. Somehow your dragon had managed to find its way back to Berk and back to where you'd started. With a painful smile you slide off your dragon giving him a hug.
"Thanks you big lizard. I owe you one." You grumble.
"You okay, lass?" You hear Gobbers voice from behind you, you turn around to face him, he backs off a little in shock as he sees your puffed up face. I think his question had defiantly been answered.
"Okay I'm not even going to ask how that happened." The man says scratching his head with his hook. Seriously? Was this like a common occurrence here or something? It was like he wasn't even phased…oh wait yeah you're Vikings this kind of thing dose happen all the time.
With a sigh you sit down beside your dragon, trying to recollect your thoughts. There wasn't much to collect however. You'd been punched in the face, simple as that. But by Tuffnut of all people. Okay it was your fault, you did scare the living shit out of him making him fall from the edge of the cliff or pushed or weren't sure, he sure did want them sheep…wait sheep…SHEEP! You stand up looking at your dragon, he tilted his head in confusing. You checked his feet but they were empty and you don't remember seeing one of the white woollies on his back either, he must have dropped them when he was busy saving your ass. Either that or the twins stole them back…the twins…where were they? Did they actually ditch you? They just left you for dead!? Actually why where you worried where they were, once you found them they were going to be dead meat anyway. If you didn't kill them your dragon would- no one hurts his rider. You let out another sigh and sit back down, rubbing your sore cheek gently- the swelling would probably go down in a few hours but it was going to leave quite a mark.

You decided to sit out the rest of the race, not only because of your injury but also you were so mad and frustrated (again) that you knew it would only end up in a disaster if you tried to continue. So instead you watched as the other racers flew in dropping sheep into their baskets, chanting and cheering as they went. You couldn't tell who was winning but from the sounds of it, it was Astrid though Snotlout wasn't far behind. Both of them had been flying back and forth from a few minutes now, Fishlegs and Hiccup had been less often but the amount of sheep they brought back and been a lot greater than the other two so really you had no idea who was winning. What you had noticed was that the Zippleback had not past you once. Even when the black sheep was released you never once was a flash of green fly past you. Where had they got to? It was quite suspicious but you were kind of at the point where you just didn't care anymore, clearly those two were still no good trouble makers- you weren't much better but hey at least you wouldn't punch a girl in the face, right? (probably not true).
As quickly as it started, the race was over and after a shocking turn of events (not) Hiccup had managed to take gold.
"In second we've got Astrid, third Fishlegs, and fourth Snotlout, fifth is (Y/N) and last are the twins."
Wait you were fifth that didn't make sense, you'd not stopped a single sheep into your basket. You make your way over to your net to see two white sheep squashed at the bottom. Huh, had your dragon done that while you were out? Or maybe someone had took pity on you and put some in there- like Snotlout. You weren't exactly sure but you weren't going to complain, at least you'd beat the twins. Speaking of Snotlout, you noticed he was running up to you, looking worried.
"(Y/N) what happened to your beautiful face! How could someone do this to you?"
"This might not come as a shock to you but I was punched in the face, by Tuffnut!" You respond. The man scowled, curling his fist into a ball, hitting it against his other hand.
"When I find that scrawny bastard I'll give him what for. How are he hit such a fair maiden."
"No need, I'm going to do it myself next time I see him. Besides they scarpered, I've not seen them since it happened."
"What a coward, can't even show his face. Don't worry babe I'll make sure he doesn't go near you again." The man smirks putting his arm around your shoulder. You roll your eyes and shrug him off, before getting into your dragon.
"I'm pretty sure I'll be fine, Snotlout. Though uh thanks? For being concerned at least…" You give him one of your painful smiles before taking off into the air. At least Snotlout had tried to make you feel better, unlike Gobber or the twins who didn't try at all (for all you knew at least). Yeah he was a bit forward with his flirting but you didn't entirely mind, you found it more entertaining than attractive though. If he wasn't such an arrogant prat you'd probably have a tiny crush on the guy…okay you did have a tiny crush on the guy but you were going to keep it that way, if he ever found that out it would be a nightmare.

Once you were up in the air you decided to head back down to the dragon pens to give Ashers some food and a rest- he defiantly deserved some extra sea bass after today, he'd really done your proud. If it wasn't for him catching you, your injuries would have been a lot worse. It wasn't the first time you'd fallen off him and ended up falling on the ground hitting every branch on the way down so for him to actually catch you, especially when you were knocked out just made you trust him that little bit more. Not that you didn't trust him with your life already.
"Alright boy, let's head down and get some rest, yeah? We'll head out again tonight after dinner, okay?" He gives a small but happy roar in return. At least he was content, unlike you who really needed to find something cold to put on your face, even a cold dead fish sounded good right now- although the smell would probably make you vomit.
With a thud you both land outside the dragon's pen. You jump off his back and begin heading inside, Ashers right on your heels.

"What are we going to do, she's going to kill me."
You hear a voice coming from within the building. You stop in your tracks.

"Hey when you die can I have all your stuff?" the second voice teased.

"NO! Okay sure but make sure Macey goes with me, a Viking should never go into Valhalla without his weapon. Besides I don't think she'd take my death very well, she's sensitive like that."

It was the twins.

"Oh look Ashers. Someone already left you some food. How thoughtful." You smirk.

Tuffnut turned around,
"…Oh Loki help me. "