Chapter 5

Edelweiss woke up the next morning. Thunder was still asleep, laying on his back and she was laying on top of his chest. His breathing was strong and steady. Every time he exhaled, Edel breathed in the smell of his breath. She smiled and lovingly licked his face. His scales tasted warm, and slightly metallic. She liked it though, and kept licking him. Thunder purred and smiled without opening his eyes.

"That feels nice," he muttered. Edel licked his snout and gave his nostrils a playful nip, Thunder's whole body shuttered with pleasure. Edel then moved to his neck; licking, nibbling, and nuzzling him. The dragon moaned and relaxed further. "I wish we could lie here forever."

"Yeah," Edel agreed. "But it would eventually get uncomfortable. We still have a day before we reach the Archipelago. We'll have to find something to do."

"Let's just look outside," Thunder suggested. Edelweiss got off the bed and slipped into a simple white toga. Thunder got up as well and stretched his limbs. The two of them walked out onto the balcony. It was the tail end of dawn. The sea was a bit choppy, but not too rough. Edel and Thunder looked over the railing. They spotted Tom and Jun down on the pool deck, kissing. Thunder tilted his head in curiosity.

"Why do humans do that?" He wondered aloud.

"It's a show of affection," Edel explained. "I don't fully understand it myself either. But my mother says kissing the one you love makes you happier." Thunder looked sideways at her.

"You think it works?" He wondered aloud.

"It seems to work for my parents," Edel said. She turned to face him, and he her.

"Maybe we should try it, see what the big deal is," Thunder suggested, not taking his eyes off hers. They were already leaning forwards, as though an invisible force was pulling them together like two magnets. Then before they knew it, her delicate lips pressed against his strong ones. The kiss only lasted a second, yet it sent a jolt of euphoria into both their hearts.

"Woah!" Thunder breathed. "That was, energizing."

"It was," Edel agreed. "I liked it, a lot." Thunder nodded. Edel put a hand on either side of his face, and pulled his lips back to hers. They kissed more deeply this time. Thunder wrapped his tail around her, holding her in place. They separated after a minuet.

"There's something I've been wanting to say to you," Thunder said.

"What's that?" Edel asked.

"Edelweiss Dragonborn, I'm in love with you," Thunder said strongly. "I love you so much." Edel felt her heart swell with more love and compassion then she'd ever felt in her life. She hugged his head to her chest, and buried her face in his neck.

"I love you too," she whispered in his ear. "Now and forever." Suddenly they both found they could no longer live without each other. Thunder wrapped his wings around her. They didn't speak for several minuets, just embraced, inhaled each other's scent, and listened to each other's heart, now beating in unison. After a few minuets they faced the ocean again. Thunder still had his wing around her shoulders, and Edel nuzzled as close to him as possible. Neither one wanted to let go.

"You know what my parents named me when I first hatched," Thunder said.

"I'm guessing it wasn't Thunder," Edel said, cheerfully.

"No," Thunder said. "It was Blue Moon."

"Huh, that's a great name too," Edel said, lovingly stroking his neck.

"I only tell family members that," Thunder said.

"All right," Edel sighed. "I like both names personally." Thunder smiled and nuzzled her, which she returned. They started to feel stronger new urges, but knew they had to actually mate before acting on them.

"Your parents and grandparents are leaving this morning aren't they?" Thunder said.

"They are," Edel said. "We should probably go downstairs so we don't miss them." They turned and headed back inside.

They went downstairs. The other riders and their dragons were there already. Eugene and Alex were playing their multiplayer game again, D'Angelo was reading an old journal, Tom and Jun were playing a card game on the Round Table. The dragons were circling the ship outside, stretching their wings. Thunder headed over to his rider to watch their card game.

"Morning," Edel said.

"Hey Edel," Tom said.

"Your mom is so amazing," D'Angelo said. "She's treated so many of some of the most horrific injuries I've ever heard of, and she didn't breakdown in the slightest."

"Yeah, she is," Edel agreed as she sat at the table. "She's a very dedicated healer. If someone needed her help, she would not rest until they were better. She would go for days without eating or sleeping."

"Didn't she have anyone to help her so she could take a brake?" D'Angelo asked.

"Not too often no," Edel said sadly. "Valka, Hiccup, and Daddy would sometimes lend a hand whenever they were available. But a lot of the time they would have to go fight some enemy and leave my mother with all the wounded. It didn't phase her though."

"Wow!" D'Angelo said. "One dragon doctor for so many injured dragons; I'm surprised she didn't burnout."

"So are we," Edel said. "Thankfully, ever since the dragons have gone underground, she hasn't been needed quite so much. She can enjoy her life without having to worry, my daddy too."

"What do they do in their spare time, besides ride their dragons?" Tom asked. Edel interlocked her fingers.

"They're a married couple," she said. "They do what all married couples do." Tom blushed.

"So that explains the noises coming from their cabin last night," Jun said.

"Yeah," Edel said. "I hope they bother you too much." Tom shook his head, took his turn in the card game. "They'll be heading back home later this morning. I still need to ask them about Dragon Racing." She got to her feet and headed outside.

The sky was clear for once. Edel found her grandparents basking down on the aft helideck. She asked them about Dragon Racing, and wrote down everything they said in a notebook. Avalon and Eider had brought a bunch of old bouys with them, to replace sheep.

"I'm sorry you never got to race Edel," said Aurora. "We did try to talk Hiccup into letting you race, but he considered you too young."

"It's fine," Edel said, putting the notebook down. "He probably would have considered me too young no matter what age I was."

"No, he was a man of his word," Re said. "He had talked about giving you a test run, but fate intervened."

"Right," Edel said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Later at breakfast; Tom asked Serenity, Re, and Aurora questions about what Hiccup and Toothless were like before they became chief and alpha respectively. They told stories about all their adventures, including their own encounters with a Skrill and Speed Stingers. Re and Aurora told their first hand account of the Battle of the Bewilderbeast.

"Wow, that must have been terrible for Hiccup," Jun said. "Watching his father get shot in the heart by his own dragon."

"Yes, it was terrible," Re confirmed. "Both Hiccup and Toothless were pretty traumatized by that, afterwords." Aurora glanced out the window.

"We should get going," she said. "While the sky it still clear."

"I wish I could tag along and help with that injured dragon," D'Angelo said.

"There's not much to do," said Serenity. "Just make sure she's comfortable, and that she doesn't strain herself too much." She got to her feet, and the rest of her group followed suit. Edel got to her feet as well.

"I'll see you guys out," she said glumly. The younger riders and dragons said their good byes, as the older Draconians headed out towards the forward helideck.

Outside; Serenity and Christ both hugged their daughter, then mounted their dragons. Edel just stared at the deck.

"Don't be sad Edel," said Chris. "You have quite a lot to look forward to these next few days."

"Yeah, I suppose," said Edel said. "I look forward to seeing Old Berk, and finally getting to race." Re and Aurora both nuzzled her.

"I hope you will come visit us soon," said Re. Edel sighed and hugged them.

"Yeah, I will," she said. She stood back to get give them space. Re and Aurora spread their wings and took off. Edel watched them fly away. She then saw Thunder land behind her out of the corner of her eye. She felt better with him there.

"You alright?" Thunder asked, nuzzling her cheek.

"I'm fine," Edel said. "I just wish I could go with them." She rested her head on his shoulder. "At least everyone else is staying for the rest of the trip." Thunder then scratched behind his ears. Edel could see a lot of dirt behind his ears. "You need a bath my friend."

"Yeah, shame there's no waterfall around here," Thunder said.

"Not to worry," Edel said. "We can use my hot tub later tonight. It's big enough for a dragon of Eider's size." Thunder purred at the thought. They turned and headed back towards the Round Table.

Later in the afternoon; the riders spent time in the game room. Then Eugene discovered the onboard boxing ring next door.

"Woah, now this is cool," he said. The boxing ring was made of stone, and thick metal chains. The other riders and dragons came to get a better look at it.

"What do you have this for?" D'Angelo asked.

"Wrestling," Edel said. "Though I haven't used it for a while."

"You wrestle dragons?" Tom asked. "How do you do that without getting bitten?"

"Black Widow and Eclipse both have retractable teeth," Edel explained. "And Eider has a special mouth guard he uses. Avalon and Apollo aren't venomous and my skin is tough enough to with stand their play biting."

"Hey, maybe you can put on a wrestling match," Eugene suggested eagerly. The other riders murmured in agreement. Edelweiss sighed.

"I've been sparing with dragons all my life, I'm kind of tired of it," she said. "But I suppose I can do one match for you guys." The riders all cheered and gathered around the ring. Edelweiss jumped into the ring, then turned to the dragons. "Which one of you thinks they can take me down." The dragons looked at each other. They all turned to the Night Light.

"You haven't sparred against her in a long time," said Plowhorn. "At least not since we defeated the World Serpent." Thunder squared his shoulders and jumped into the ring. Edel went to the opposite end, then turned to face him. They both took up a fighting stance. Then Feathers made a ding sound, and the two opponents charged at each other.

The riders and remaining dragons cheered wildly. Thunder charged at Edel like a raging bull. She tried to vault over him, but he slammed his tail into her and she landed hard on the floor. But she jumped back up and ran back at him, dodging further swipes from his tail. The two opponents became a tangled mess. Edel moved so fast Thunder had a hard time landing a hit on her, but he was a fast learner. He would strike with any part of him that was closest to her. She came at him from his left side, and he stuck out with his left wing. She jumped up to avoid it and landed right on the tip, pinning it down. Thunder yanked his wing back, making her overbalance. He took advantage of this and ran at her again. She quickly regained her ground and struck out with a swift roundhouse kick, hitting him right in the face and causing his nose to slam hard into the metal chain on the side of the ring. Thunder swayed on the spot, and buried his throbbing nose in his front paws whimpering in pain. Edel ran over to him, but stayed a fair distance in case he was faking. Thunder whimpered louder, sounding as though he was in real pain. The riders and dragons came over to see what was going on.

"You okay?" Edelweiss asked. "Let me see." She gently pulled his paws away from his nose. His nose was gushing blood, which had already stained the white scales on his face. Edel turned to D'Angelo. "Will you bring me that first aid kit?" She pointed to a big red box, with a white Rod of Asclepius on the side, that hung on the wall. D'Angelo ran, grabbed it, and handed it to her.

"Do you want help?" He asked.

"No, I've treated many busted noses before," Edel said. She opened the box and pulled out a bunch of gauze. She gently pressed it against Thunder's nose. "Sorry about that. That was a harder kick then I intended."

"It's okay," Thunder said, sounding winded. Edelweiss pulled out surgical tape and secured the gauze to Thunder's nose so she could free her hands.

"It should stop bleeding soon," she said. Thunder just nodded as he shakily jumped out of the ring. Edel jumped out afterwards.

"We're reaching Berk tomorrow?" Tom asked, stroking his dragon's neck.

"Yeah," Edelweiss said. "We should arrive early in the afternoon if the weather holds up."

The riders turned their attention to the other games in the room, the remaining dragon headed out fishing. Edelweiss escorted Thunder up to her balcony where she treated his nose. She removed the blood soaked gauze from his face.

"You feeling any better?" She asked.

"A bit," Thunder said. "But it still hurts." Edel dabbed his nose with Speed Stinger venom. Thunder relaxed as he felt the pain turn to numbness.

"Don't worry it's nothing permeant," Edel said. "You should feel better by tomorrow."

"Have you beaten every dragon you've wrestled with?" Thunder asked.

"My Aunt Windwalker," said Edelweiss. "She's really brutal when she spars. She won't kill, but she won't hold back from breaking bones or knocking you out cold." Thunder flinched. "Though we don't really spar as much as we did in the Viking days. It drives my mother crazy."

"She doesn't like seeing friends hurt each other," Thunder said.

"Yeah," Edel said. "Back in the day, we'd spend many hours in the training ring. It made my poor mother suffer from bad anxiety and loneliness." She finished cleaning his face. It had stopped bleeding, but a nasty bruise was starting to form. "I think it's time for that bath I promised you." She got to her feet and went over to the hot tub. She turned on the hot water. While it was filling; she then went over to a crank on the wall and turned it. Thick metal walls lowered themselves around the whole balcony. It was dark for a second, then the walls in the hot tub started glowing blue white. The hot tub was now filled with bubbling water, steam surrounded it. Thunder slowly entered the water, one paw at a time. The water was very hot, but he liked it. He waded in to the center, where the water came up passed his wings. He dunked his head under the water, it felt good on his busted nose. When he reemerged Edelweiss was now in the water as well, sitting against the wall. She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her. The light from the glowing walls reflected off her scales, making it look like she'd been splashed with stardust. Thunder waded over to her. He rested his head against her chest, listening to her powerful heartbeat. She cradled his head in place with one arm, with the other she washed behind his ears with a sponge.

"I love you," Thunder purred, closing his eyes.

"I love you too," Edelweiss replied warmly. Thunder turned his head slightly and licked her lovingly. She moaned with pleasure, and started licking him back.