Field Trip
Prologue
Edelweiss was riding her dragon Black Widow through the massive fissure on their way back home from visiting the Dragon Realms. They had spent the day visiting their friends in the Realms. But now it was starting to get late. Escorting them home was Thunder the young Night Light. They soon reached their home, which was a massive building that had once been a research station.
It had been almost two years since the humans of ICARIS had left the station, after it had been wrecked by the World Serpent Jörmundgandr. Since then Edelweiss had spent the time turning the station into a house for her and all her dragon friends. She had made several changes to it, including changing the name to Dragons Edge. Miles away Edelweiss and her dragons had built a very large and sturdy wall that encircled the entire fissure. The wall was made of metal and stone, it stood at a good 200 feet high and was embedded into the ground a few feet. It had no visible gate, the only way passed it was to fly or a secret tunnel that only Edelweiss and the dragons knew the location of.
The two dragons soon landed in the front yard of the house. The area around the big building had been cleared of the wind turbines and most of the concrete domes. The big dome remained though, which was now a massive garage that held Edel's land vehicles and two small airplanes. Next to the garage was a long runway that crossed the driveway. Next to the big dome was the Dragon Field Hospital Edelweiss had build with the help of her dragons, ICARIS, and D'Angelo Baker.
Edelweiss and the two dragons entered the big house, into the massive front room. It used to be the visitor center, but now it was the living room. Multi colored crystals hung from the ceiling and bioluminescent plants lined the walls in potted plants. There were chairs, tables, and sofas littered around the room. In the very center of the room was a large round fire pit, filled with green heating crystals that glowed with green flames. Sitting around the fire pit were all their friends including: Plowhorn, Apollo, Eclipse, Feathers, Webmaster, Wu, Wei, and Thunder's three younger siblings New Moon, Stormy, and Shadow. These dragons spent much of their time in this house.
"So how are the Realms today?" Wu asked lazily.
"Same as always," Thunder said stretching his limbs. He settled himself down next to his siblings.
"Things have quieted down so much since the humans left," Edelweiss said, as she unsaddled Black Widow.
"And that World Serpent remains behind bars?" Feathers asked.
"Yup," said Edel. "I'm still wondering if he can be rehabilitated." The dragons hissed at that. "Oh don't worry, I have no interest in releasing him." She carried her saddle over to a corner of the room where a row of saddles sat on racks. Edelweiss had made those saddles herself for Tom Kullersen and his friends when they were living here. On the wall above the saddles hung Tom's lightening sword, Jun Wong's shield, and Valka Haddock's ancient dragon staff. Beside the saddles was displayed a row of fire suits for Tom and his friends. Edelweiss placed her saddle next to the others. She could feel the dragons behind her, watching her.
"It's been such a boring two years without our riders," said Webs.
"Edel, you've been talking to them on that magic window haven't you?" Shadow asked, referring to the large computer down in Edel's computer room which used to be a control center for ICARIS.
"I have," said Edelweiss as she joined them next to the fire pit. "But it's been several months since they've contacted me last."
"I remember you've talked about going to the old Isle of Berk," said Plowhorn. "Where Hiccup and Great Alpha Toothless once lived."
"Yeah," Edelweiss sighed.
"Maybe we can all go there this summer," suggested Plowhorn. Edelweiss leaned back in her chair.
"That will take some time to organize," she said. "But all right. I'll see if I can contact Tom and the others tomorrow." Outside it started to rain. The dragons all made themselves comfortable around the fire pit. Edelweiss went down to her master bedroom which used to be a laboratory. She undressed and crawled into the giant bed at the end of the room. The storm outside lulled her to sleep.
Edelweiss woke up the next morning to find herself sandwiched between Thunder and Feathers. The other dragons were asleep around the large room. She was used to this, since she'd had dragons in her bed ever since she was a baby. She yawned and carefully crawled out of bed. She put on her white lacy dressing gown, and headed up to her computer room. She sat in front of the massive computer screen and logged onto a special site that Alex Gonzolas had created called the Tenth Realm. The homepage had a different insignia for each rider: Alex's was a green outline of Feather's head, Jun's was a purple outline of Wu and Wei, D'Angelo Bakers' was a blue outline of Plowhorn, Eugene Wong's was a red outline of Webmaster, Tom used the black Night Fury symbol he'd inherited from Hiccup, and Edelweiss used a similar symbol except painted silver with a golden eye. The site was quiet, indicating none of the riders were online. Edelweiss sent out a chat request, then went to make breakfast while she waited.
She stayed in the house all morning, waiting for a reply. The dragons eventually woke up and headed out to hunt. Edelweiss pulled out her maps and charted a path from the northeastern United States to the archipelago where Old Berk was. Suddenly her computed lit up. She hurried over and sat in her computer chair. She pressed a key on the keyboard. The screen now showed her five separate video feeds of the riders. They'd all grown significantly, and appeared to be in different locations ranging from; collage dorms, to libraries, to coffee shops.
"Hey Edel!" Tom exclaimed. "This is the first time you've sent out a chat request."
"Yeah, well I know you all have busy schedules," said Edelweiss.
"How are things going over there?" Jun asked. "It's been so long since you've given us any news."
"Things are going okay," said Edelweiss. "The dragons are out hunting for the moment. Anyway, I sent the chat request because I wanted to invite you all on a field trip to Old Berk I'm organizing for next summer."
"Really? How would we get there?" D'Angelo asked.
"On my yacht," said Edelweiss. "It's plenty big enough for all of you and the dragons." The riders all considered this.
"I think it sounds like a great idea," said Eugene, leaning back in his chair. "A nice relaxing cruise."
"It's more of an expedition," Edelweiss said. "But yes." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Where should we meet up?" Alex asked. "I don't have my drivers license yet, I'm still on a permit."
"You're not that far from Lake Champlain," said Jun, looking excited. "We could all meet on it's northernmost shore." Tom rolled his eyes.
"She's been wanting to go to Lake Champlain forever," he said. "Hoping to find the monster that supposedly lives there."
"Champ?" Edelweiss asked. Jun's eyes widened.
"You know him?" She asked eagerly.
"I've never met him," said Edelweiss. "But I've heard about him from other sea dragons. He's very elusive much like his Scottish cousin Nessie, and no I've never met her either." She turned to a large globe sitting nearby, and quickly found Lake Champlain. "All right, it'll work."
They spent the next few hours planning a time to meet and an exact location on the shores of Lake Champlain. They decided to save all the enviable catching up for then. Soon Edelweiss heard the dragons landing outside.
"Oh they're back," she said. "I should get going."
"Okay, we look forward to seeing you guys again," said Tom. Edelweiss smiled and logged off the computer. She hurried upstairs to find the dragons gathered around the fire pit.
"Well the field trip is set for summer," she told them, as she sat on a nearby sofa.
"Ah, so far away," said Feathers, slouching in disappointment.
"It'll go by fast," said Apollo. "We have plenty of preparations to make between know and then."
"I'm going to see if anyone from Draconia would want to come," said Edelweiss. "I might be able to convince my parents and grandparents to join us."
"They've come out here several times," said Plowhorn.
"Yeah," Edelweiss agreed. "But a lot of things happened to them on Old Berk. Some of it good, and some of it very bad. They want to avoid those bad memories."
"I hope they come," said Wu. "Your parents are so fun to talk to."
"They are," Edelweiss agreed. "I'm sure your riders would get a long very well with them and my grandparents." She leaned back on the sofa.
"Is your boat big enough for all of us?" Shadow asked.
"Oh yeah," said Edelweiss. "It's more than big enough for all of us."
"Are you looking forward returning to Old Berk Edel?" New Moon asked. Edelweiss thought a moment.
"Well, I have some mixed memories of that place too," she said. "I'm curious as to what it looks like now."
"Maybe it'll be haunted," Webs said excitedly.
"That's ridiculous," said Wei.
"We'll find out when we get there," said Edelweiss. She got to her feet and headed towards her pantry to find something to eat.