After the first artificial tailfin Hiccup and Leandra start a daily routine with their dragon friends.
In the night they work together to make a better tailfin for Toothless, early mornings they go to the Night Furries, and spend time with them, trying to get Toothless to fly again, then Hiccup goes to dragon training and Leandra to Gothi.
When Hiccup presents Toothless for the first time with a saddle and harness, so he could help Toothless fly, the dragon was not impressed and run away from him.
The boys chased each other through the cove.
Leandra, who leans on Starchaser, snorts, and the female dragon joins her.
Then Starchaser nudges Leandra, looking at her with big puppy eyes, then pointing at the still-running boys.
"You wanna play, catch?", coos Leandra at her dragon, giving her a head pat.
Excited Starchaser wiggles her tail.
So the two girls play catch with each other, laughing and smiling happily.
Hiccup who finally managed to catch Toothless and put on the saddle on him, can't help but smile softly at the scene before him.
His best friends seem so carefree chasing and getting chased by Starchaser around. It reminds him of the little girl he meet ten years ago, who became his dearest friend.
Toothless is just happy that his mate has another playmate. He likes the black-haired girl, she gives good pets.
"This is AMAZING!", shouts Leandra into the heavens.
She is flying for the first time on Starchaser back over the cove.
This feeling of freedom!
It's unexplainable. You need to experience it yourself.
Starchaser cooes at her.
The dragon is happy that her human girl is so excited.
Toothless and Hiccup are also trying out to fly together. But the tail breaks free sending Hiccup flying.
"Hiccup, Toothless!", shouts Leandra worried.
Starchaser whines, thankful both boys landed in the pool of the cove.
The girls are flying over to them, stationary in the air.
Toothless seems to let out a sign, while Hiccup decides he needs to build something which doesn't make him fly off the saddle.
Leandra is sitting with Starchaser beside her in the cove. Tufts of different healing herbs before them.
"Okay, what do you think about this?", she holds a tuft of Chamomile under Starchaser's nose.
Her dragon friends sniff it, making a pleased sound.
The black-haired girl nods and writes it down in her journal. She is determined to make her own healing herbs book for dragons with receipts for ointments and salves for them.
Starchaser is a big help.
She gives the Night Furry a kiss on the snout, which Starchaser recuperates with a lick on her cheek.
"Aww, Starchaser, you know this takes awhile to wash away!", whines the Spanish girl.
The female Night Furry just laughs.
That's when Toothless and Hiccup come back from their test flight and Toothless…seems high?
Leandra really doesn't have a better word for it, how Toothless is all wobbly on his legs, tongue lolling out and peaceful expression on his face.
Worried Starchaser walks over to her mate, but he just falls down before her, showing her his belly. The female Night Furries doesn't seem to know how to handle this situation either.
"Hic, what's wrong with Toothless?", ask Leandra standing up. She worries too.
Her best friend just grins and hands her some green grass.
"Toothless landed in dragon nip, you know, just like cat nip."
Oh, this explains it!
She gets her journal down and writes this down too.
Could be useful in the future too.
Leandra and Hiccup give their respective dragon a good cuddle and scratch session.
Both Toothless and Starchaser are enjoying it greatly.
That's when both teenagers rub behind their ear plates, causing the dragons to relax and fall over.
The best friends stare at each other and then at the purring dragons on the ground.
They can't help but laugh.
Finally, Leandra's grounding is over and she can eat again in the Great Hall with Hiccup.
Like they are used, they take a table for themselves when suddenly they are swarmed by the teens minus Astrid and some adult Vikings.
"Hey Hiccup.", greets him Fishlegs.
"What was that?", ask Snotloud excited. "Some kind of trick? What did you do?"
"Hiccup, you're totally going to come in first, there's no question.", tells him Tuffnut.
Even more, questions get fired in Hiccup's direction.
Of course, no one takes note of Leandra, she is just like an appendage on Hiccup, even if she sits beside him.
She rolls her brown eyes and catches how angry Astird smashes her cup against her now vacant table.
Well, at least someone else feels worse than her.
Maybe that will take down the Hofferson from her high horse and make her humble.
That's when she feels how a hand takes hers.
She looks down and sees how Hiccup gives her hand a squeeze.
This makes Leandra smile a bit.
Even if Hiccup is now famous, thanks to the things he learned from Toothless and Starchaser about dragons, he will never forget her.
So Astrid is in a worse situation than her.
Hah!
Leandra can't help but feel satisfaction in it.
With his hammer, Hiccup has created a little light spot, which Toothless and Starchaser chase around the coven like big kitty cats.
"Dragon nip and now this.", can't help Leandra but laugh. "Are we sure our Night Furries aren't actually big cats?"
"Well, they DO love their fish."
"Oh my lord you are right!"
Both best friends laugh heartfully.
Leandra spreads her arms to feel the wind around her. She and Starchaser are taking a flight around Berk.
The Spanish girl will never get enough of this feeling of liberation.
Up there, close to the clouds, she feels like she can be her true self.
No parents who want a Viking girl, no Gothi who wants a perfect apprentice, no villagers who see her only as the foreigner.
Here with Starchaser, she can be…just Leandra.
Thankful she pets her dragon.
"I love you.", she tells her. "Without you, I would never feel this."
Starchaser purr at her. She loves her little human too.
They return to the cove and see how desperate Hiccup tries to get off Toothless.
"What's wrong?", asks Leandra.
"The harness is jacked. I can't break it off."
That's how Leandra finds herself sneaking into the village at night. She told Hiccup to stay put with their Night Furries since it was better she got the thing from the blacksmith stall he needs to free himself from Toothless.
She sneaks up to shadow to shadow. Careful that no one sees her.
Finally, she is at the blacksmith stall and gets the thing Hiccup needs.
Like she is a shadow herself, she makes haste back to the cove.
No one in the village is non the wiser.
"Are you both ready?", calls Leandra on the back of Starchaser to the boys.
Both Night Furries are flying for the first time in a long while side by side.
Today is the final test.
Today it will show if Hiccup succeeded in making a tailfin for Toothless and if they can fly together.
Billowing clouds rise like mountains. The ground seems miles below them.
"Ready as we will ever be!", calls back Hiccup to her.
"Okay, me and Star, will stay close if something happens, but the stage is your Hiccup and Toothless.", tells them Leandra and makes Starchaser fly now behind Toothless.
"Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow.", reassure Hiccup Toothless with a side pat. "Here we go. Here we go...position three, no four."
He presses the pedal, causing the tail to flare. They roll off into an arcing bank, gloriously lit by the late afternoon sun.
Hiccup tucks tight against his neck, thrilled that his new harness and vest are holding. The foot controls make the tail appendage quick and responsive. He watches Toothless' every fluctuation, trying to match it with the prosthetic.
He sizes up a target a towering arch of stone, rising from the sea.
"Get ready for anything, Star.", whispers Leandra to her dragon. "We are going in and the boys could need our help."
Starchaser grumbles in agreement.
"All right, it's go time. It's go time.", calls Hiccup.
They dive toward it, lining up to pass through the arch.
"Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!", Hiccup encourages Toothless
They zip through the arch. A perfect maneuver.
"Yeah! Yes, it worked!", he yells happily.
Leandra and Starchaser sign together. Seems all to be okay. The triumph is short-lived. They smack into one of several sea stacks as Hiccup tries to keep up with the turns.
"Sorry."
They hurtle into another rock pillar. Toothless grumbles. Leandra facepalms and Starchaser deadpans.
"My fault."
Toothless swats him with his 'ear' plate.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it.", Hiccup promises and checks again his cheat sheet. "Position four, no three."
They pierce the clouds. For the first time, Hiccup can see the whole of the island below them. Leandra all ready seen it on her flies with Starchaser, but she is still charmed by the view.
It shrinks with every passing second. He swallows hard and tightens his grip on the handles.
"Yeah! Go, baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my...CHEAT SHEET! STOP!"
However, Toothless obeys the command and suddenly stops beating his wings. As they slow to a stop, Hiccup goes weightless. The rings of his vest float off of the harness hooks. Hiccup suddenly finds himself detached, free-falling!
"STARCHASER, GO GIRL!", commands Leandra scarred for the life of her best friend and his dragon.
Like she is a rocket Starchaser dives after Hiccup and Leandra can pull him behind her. He hugs her so tight, that she can't breathe, but she lets him.
"Toothless!"
"I know, Hic!"
Starchaser dives after her mate, helping him to roll back into the flying position.
The girls can't even look that fast as Hiccup bravely jumps from Starchaser back to Toothless.
"DIOS MIO, HIC!"
Hiccup finally grabs hold of the harness and manages to lock in just in time to pull Toothless out of his dive barely shy of the tree tops. Leandra and Starchaser are again behind the boys.
They careen past the wooded cliff and directly into a treacherous slalom course of jutting sea stacks. Hiccup pulls the cheat sheet from his teeth and attempts to check positions. It flaps violently in the turbulence, making it impossible.
With no time to think, Hiccup throws it away and steers Toothless' tail on instinct with perfect intuition. Together, they manage a tight, hair-raising series of split-second turns, making it to the open water, unscathed.
The girls are behind them and let out a relieved sound.
Hiccup takes a breath and glances back at the death-defying obstacle course, now safely behind them. He beams, relieved.
He sits back and throws his arms up in victory.
"YEEAHHH!"
"WUHU!", can't help Leandra joining Hiccup in his celebration.
Toothless and Starchaser concur with happy squeals and a fireball each. Hiccup's and Leandra's glee turns to dread as they fly directly into it.
"Ah, come on.", he groans.
Leandra just puts her arms over her face.
Better than nothing.
Later our quartet is on a deserted little island on its beach. With Toothless's help, Hiccup made a fire and Leandra with Starchaser caught for them enough fish to eat.
Leandra and Hiccup are cooking their fish over the fire while leaning comfortably on their respective dragon, who gleefully enjoy their share.
Suddenly Toothless regurgitates a fish head. Hiccup smirks with forced politeness.
"Uh..no thanks. I'm good."
Starchaser does the same thing and looks with big eyes at the black-haired girl.
"I'm good, Star, don't worry.", she tells her Night Furry and waves around her stick with her cooked fish.
Several Terrible Terrors land like seagulls, hissing and nipping at each other as they approach Toothless' pile of fish. One grabs the regurgitated fish head and drags it away. Another attempt to steal it from him. They face off and last fire balls at each other to settle the fight.
The four watch, amused.
That is until Toothless spots one of his fish leaving the pile. A stealthy Terrible Terror is exposed as the thief. They tug on the fish, and it snaps back into Toothless' mouth.
He swallows it back tauntingly.
Irate, the little dragon paws at the ground and blast Toothless. He opens his mouth, the gas hiss comes, and Toothless fires a tiny flame straight into its mouth, causing the gas to backfire into the little dragon. It coughs up smoke and staggers away, looking ill.
Hiccup, Leandra, and Starchaser laugh.
"Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?", the brunette says to the little dragon. He throws the helpless Terror his freshly cooked fish. "Here you go."
The appreciative little dragon gulps down the meal and approaches Hiccup cautiously. He curls up next to him.
Both humans are amazed.
"Everything we know about you guys is wrong.", Hiccup carefully pets him sending the Terror into an immediate, blissful sleep.
Leandra joins in and signs: "The world is such a cruel place. We judge before we understand something. Look at us being friends with dragons. I wonder if others can do it too."
"I don't know Lee, for 300 years my people fought and killed dragons…why did no one take the time to understand them, as we did?"
"I don't have an answer either."
Now both teenagers sign loudly.
Their dragons don't like the mood swing of their riders and they nuzzle their cheeks.
This makes Hiccup smile a bit and Leandra hugs Starchaser.
How the world changed for them.
What should they do now?