Chapter 2
Later that evening Edelweiss emerged from the bridge, leaving Apollo and Black Widow in charge for the night. She cooked a dinner of grilled chicken and salad for the riders and buckets of fish and clams for the dragons. They were all outside on the pool deck.
"Hey how do you plan on getting passed border patrol?" D'Angelo asked. "How'd you get passed them last time?" Edelweiss took a bite of fish, then pointed down to the helideck. They followed her gaze to see a flag pole on the railing, flying the American flag.
"That flag should keep them off me," she said. "But if they do want to stop me and inspect the ship, I am fully prepared for that. I instructed the dragons to take off and hide on shore. It's not like I'm carrying anything illegal." Alex swatted at mosquitoes.
"How do you deal with so many mosquitos?" She asked annoyed.
"Wu, why don't you answer that," Edelweiss suggested. The Mist Twister lifted their heads. Wu released his ice cold breath around the deck, all the mosquitoes fled.
"Nice one Wu," said Tom.
"He figured that out himself on our way over," Edelweiss praised. "However that won't keep them at bay forever."
They moved indoors and sat at the Round Table. Edelweiss closed the big doors to keep the bugs out, and sat in a chair. Thunder finished his bucket of fish and laid dow between Tom and Edelweiss.
"So how long will it take us to reach Old Berk?" Jun asked.
"A week, give or take," Edelweiss said, absentmindedly stroking Thunder's neck. He felt a shutter go down his spine at her touch, which surprised him. "We'll explore Archipelago for a few days, then it'll be about another week to get back here. Queen Avalon and King Eider will join us when we reach the halfway point."
"My dad's told me stories of sailors that got lost at sea," D'Angelo said. "They get caught in bad weather."
"Yes," Edelweiss agreed. "My daddy was lost at sea in a storm when he was a boy. If it weren't for a pod of sea dragons, and later my aunt Windwalker, he wouldn't have survived and I would not be here today. But Apollo is amazing at reading weather, it's his obsession. So we'll be fine. Eugene! Get your feet off my table." They all looked to see Eugene shrug and set his feet down.
"I thought it was King Arthur's table," said Alex.
"He's not around anymore," said Edelweiss. "He died thousands of years ago."
"Well, legends say he's not actually dead," said Jun. "He's just resting on the Isle of of Avalon, and one day he'll return."
"Okay, well if he comes back and he wants the table we can negotiate," said Edelweiss. She patted Thunder's neck, then got to her feet. "We should reach the sea tomorrow evening. If any of you start feeling seasick, you can find Dramamine in any supply cabinet." She then headed for the spiral staircase that led to her private deck. Thunder watched her go, not really wanting her to leave.
Early the next morning Edelweiss woke up to the ship surrounded by thick fog. She got up and went outside. She was surprised to find Thunder on her large balcony. He was looking out at the thick fog.
"Thunder, why are you out here?" Edelweiss asked. "Couldn't sleep?" Thunder looked at her, and his cheeks flushed red.
"Um, I was watching you sleep," he admitted, sheepishly. Edelweiss relaxed.
"Ah, I see," she said. "You're not the first dragon to do so. I started liking it a long time ago." She looked out at the thick fog. "How long have we been in this?"
"Before dawn," said Thunder. "Apollo predicted it will lift by midday."
"Well, come in before you catch a cold," Edelweiss said. She headed back inside and Thunder fallowed. "You've seemed to changed a bit since we all got on this boat." She stepped into her walk in closet.
"Well, I have gotten older," said Thunder.
"Yeah, I guess change is to be expected," Edelweiss said. She came back out fully dressed in a backless green halter top and black jean shorts with the edelweiss flower on the hip pocket. "Well I should get to the bridge."
"Oh," Thunder said, sounding disappointed. Edelweiss stated at him, sympathy crossed her face.
"Hmm, I suppose I can cook everyone breakfast first," she said. "I've never had this many humans on this boat before." She opened the door and Thunder bounded through it excited. Edelweiss smiled and locked the door behind her. They both headed down the hall to the spiral staircase.
"Were you able to convince you parents and grandparents to join us?" Thunder asked, sounding happy again.
"Not really," Edelweiss said. "They've only agreed to escort Avalon and Eider out here, stay for a night, then head back home. They have no desire to return to Berk. They know you and Tom still have unanswered questions about Hiccup and Toothless." They headed downstairs and towards the kitchen.
Thunder and Edelweiss talked about Berk and the Vikings while Edelweiss cooked up a big pot of oatmeal. Sweet smells filled the kitchen. Thunder was having such a good time talking with her, that the time went by too fast. Before he knew it, he could hear the riders entering the lounge and Edelweiss was pulling the pot off the stove.
"Will you carry this Thunder?" She asked. Thunder grasped the handle in his teeth. Edelweiss put bowls, spoons, a big pot of honey, bowl of nuts, and a table cloth onto a large tray. They headed out to the lounge, where the rider and the other dragons were sitting around talking.
"Hey there you are pal," Tom said, his face lighting.
"He was keeping me company in the kitchen," Edelweiss explained. She placed the tray on a chair to free her hands. She unfolded the table cloth and placed over the Round Table.
"You think we can check out the bridge later?" Tom asked. Edelweiss considered as she put the tray on the table. Thunder handed her the pot of oatmeal and she placed it next to the tray.
"I suppose," she said. "Once this fog clears, so there's more to see." Eugene looked at the pot of oatmeal.
"Is this it?" He asked looking disappointed.
"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to," said Edelweiss, rolling her eyes. "I need to head up to the bridge." She then headed back up the spiral staircase. Thunder felt saddened again as she vanished from sight. Eclipse noticed him slump.
"What's up with you?" She asked.
"I just wish Edel could stay down here," Thunder said.
"She'll come back when the fog lifts," said Eclipse. "It's not like she's leaving the boat." She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's the big deal?"
"I don't know," Thunder said. "But lately every time she leaves a room and I can't see her anymore, it makes me sad. I'm not sure why I feel that way."
"Hmmmm, well you're pretty much full grown," Eclipse said. "Which means you're ready to find your soulmate. My mother told me you start feeling attractions at this stage. Maybe you're becoming attracted to her." Thunder gulped.
"You think so?" He asked.
"I guess it's too early to tell," Eclipse said. "I have no idea myself. Perhaps you can ask Apollo or Black Widow, since they're soulmates."
"All right," Thunder said. "Apollo can use his magic to see if that's what it is." Eclipse shrugged. "Magic can only help you so much with this though." She then headed for a bucket of fish.
Thunder walked out onto the pool deck. He laid down, rested his head on his paws and just watched the fog. He considered what Eclipse had said. The more he tried to not think about Edelweiss, the more pictures of her he saw in his mind. He jumped when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Tom coming over to him, he shivered slightly in the chilly air.
"Why the long face Thunder?" He asked. Thunder moaned sadly, glancing out at the fog, hoping it would lift. "Yeah I wish we could go flying too." Tom said, misunderstanding. "But we have to wait until we reach the ocean so we don't attract police." Thunder nodded then draped his warm wing around Tom, who was still shivering. "Let's go inside, it's freezing out here." He turned and headed back inside. Thunder followed him. Inside he sat by the big window and continued to watch the fog.
He sat there for hours, just looking out at the fog. He would also glance towards the spiral staircase hoping Edel would come down early, but they didn't see her the rest of the morning. Thunder was just starting to doze off, when at long last the fog faded. Sunlight streamed in through the windows and they could see the river and the shore. The air warmed up.
"Ah that's better," said Alex. She headed out to the pool deck, the others followed. Thunder was about to follow, when he heard someone come down the spiral staircase. He got all excited, but it only turned out to be Apollo. The Night Light sighed in disappointment, Apollo noticed.
"Where you expecting someone else?" He asked.
"Not really," Thunder lied, but he knew Apollo was reading his mind. "Okay yes. But I could use you're advice on something though." He repeated everything he and Eclipse had talked about as they headed out to the pool deck. Thunder waited for Apollo's opinion.
"Well, I think Eclipse is right," said the red dragon. "You are becoming attracted to Edelweiss."
"What do I do now?" Thunder asked, his heart pounding.
"You have to find out if she feels the same about you," Apollo said. "You'll have to declare you love for her and see if she does the same for you, and if she does then you can ask her to be your soulmate."
"Did she say anything about me this morning?" Thunder asked, worried.
"She said you spent the night on her balcony," Apollo said. "Not very wise with this chill in the air." Thunder looked sheepish.
"I wanted to be near her," he said. "I guess because of my attraction to her."
"It's not worth your health," said Apollo. "If you want to talk to her, all you have to do is ask. You don't have to just sit there looking sad." Thunder let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"We'll be out on the sea tomorrow right?" He asked.
"Yes, then we can all stretch our wings," said Apollo. He stretched out on the deck. At that moment Edelweiss finally came down from the bridge. Thunder had to exercise restraint to not go over and nuzzle her, but just looking at her made his heart thud louder. She headed for the kitchen. Thunder glanced over to where To and Jun engaged in a game of cards, then headed for the kitchen as well.
Edelweiss was in there putting an array of sandwich ingredients on a platter. She looked up when Thunder entered.
"Hello Thunder," she said smiling. "You having a good time so far?"
"Not really, it'll be nice to be out flying tomorrow," Thunder said.
"I understand," said Edelweiss. "It's slow for everyone." She tossed him a chuck of tuna. She picked up the platter and carried it outside, Thunder followed. Edelweiss announced lunch and set the platter on a table outside. Every one made their own sandwiches.
"I saw Hiccup's sword and shield in my cabin," Tom said.
"Yes, I figured you'd be interested in that," Edelweiss said. "I wish I could show their features but they've gotten so old."
"They have features?" Alex asked, looking up from her tablet.
"Yeah, Hiccup always thought outside the box when it came to anything he owned," Edelweiss said. "Including his own left leg."
"Do you have anything else of his on this boat?" Tom asked eagerly. Edelweiss smiled.
"Only a few other things," she said. "Avalon and Eider have the rest of it in a separate wing of their castle."
"Why do you guys even keep these things?" Jun asked. "If they belonged to Hiccup, shouldn't have they been sent with him to Valhalla?"
"They're just worldly possessions," said Edelweiss. "He was pretty sure he wouldn't need any of it in Valhalla. He asked us, his closest allies, to keep them safe so he and all his friends would be remembered."
"I guess that makes sense," said Jun.
"Many great warriors have had their possessions preserved in museums," said D'Angelo. "I've seen the weapons and uniforms of fallen soldiers from all the great wars." Edelweiss frowned slightly but said nothing, she still didn't like soldiers.
"Anyway, if still wish to see the bridge I have another of Hiccup's possessions in there," she said.
"Sure," Tom said excitedly. He got to his feet, and finished the last of his sandwich. Edelweiss got up as well. They headed for the spiral staircase, Thunder followed. Jun watched them go up the stairs, the feeling of jealousy returning.
The bridge was very spacious. With a long console along a large panoramic window, that stretched up to the ceiling so they could see the sky. A large, squishy captains chair sat in the center of the room. It had monitors and a set of large joysticks were attached to it. A large doorway took up most of the back wall. Black Widow stood behind the console and other set of even larger joysticks. Tom wen to the massive front window, and looked out at the bow of the ship.
"When you're done admitting the view, meet me in the map room," Edelweiss said. "Black Widow you can go eat something." Black Widow got up, flexed her wings, and left the bridge. Edelweiss scratched Thunder behind his ears, he purred and leaned into her touch. They headed into the map room. Tom joined them a moment later. The map room was mostly empty except for a large table in the center. The top of the table was made of glass. Incased in the glass, was a very old map. It looked to be made of several small sheets of paper glued together. Tom looked down at the tiny drawings of islands, each of them had tiny dragons surrounding them.
"Hiccup spent a lot of his spare time traveling the Archipelago with Toothless," Edelweiss said. "And everything he saw he drew on this map."
"Wow!" Tom said. "Will we be going to all these places?"
"No, we won't have time," said Edelweiss. "I've already marked the islands we'll visit." Tom then noticed the red circles on the glass, around a few of the islands. The biggest one was around the tiny island at the center of the map. There was another circle around the tiny volcano nearest it.
"Have you been to any of these islands?" Tom asked.
"A small few," said Edelweiss. "I like exploring on dragonback almost as much as Hiccup and Toothless did. That's one of the reasons I have this boat. Speaking of which, I should get back to driving before we hit something." She left the map room and headed for her chair.
Tom and Thunder spent the rest of the afternoon on the bridge, looking at Hiccup's map and asking questions about the places he explored. Edelweiss gave all the answers she could.
"So Hiccup didn't let you go exploring with him?" Tom asked. Edelweiss scoffed.
"Of course not," she said bitterly. "I was only a kid to him. He deemed me too young and inexperienced." Then she thought of something. "That reminds me, I've never told you guys about Dragon Racing." Tom and Thunder looked up in interest.
"Dragon Racing?" Tom repeated.
"Yeah, it's a sport Hiccup and his fellow riders came up with," Edelweiss said. "Involves finding sheep and throwing them into baskets. It was pretty wild."
"Did you ever race with the other riders?" Tom asked. Edelweiss laughed humorlessly.
"The cruel irony of that was, Hiccup said I could race when I was old enough," she said. "But by the time I was old enough, the dragons had gone underground and Dragon Racing was no more."
"Oooh, that's too bad," Tom said, he was deep in thought.
"I guess they thought my age and small size would be considered a liability," Edelweiss said. "But I got to keep on riding my dragons when they all had to give it up, for me that makes us even."
"Do you remember how to play?" Tom asked.
"No, once I realized I was never going to be allowed to race I stopped caring," Edelweiss said gloomily." Thunder went over and gave her comforting nudge, then rested his head in her lap. She smiled and stroked his head appreciatively.
"Maybe we can do a Dragon Race," Tom said, thinking. "If we can find someone who knows how."
"Hmmm, that's an idea," Edelweiss said, starting to cheer up. "My parents and grandparents come on board for a day and night, I'm sure they'll know how to play. And we can use floating bouys or something instead of sheep. I'm sure this one will be great racer." She smiled at Thunder and tickled his chin. The Night Light smiled and quivered, purring at her touch. "He's defiantly got the speed for it."
"You think he's faster then Black Widow?" Tom asked. Edelweiss looked Thunder up and down.
"We'd have to race and find out," she said. "I honestly have no idea. Thunder's gotten faster over the years." She stroked the Night Light's snout, and stared into his dreamy blue eyes. Just then Black Widow and Eclipse came onto the bridge for their turn at the helm. Tom, Edel, and Thunder headed back downstairs.
They entered the main lounge to find everyone doing their own thing. Eugene and Alex were engaged in a multiplayer game on their phones, D'Angelo was checking Plowhorn's teeth, Jun had her tarot cards laid out on the Round Table, and Apollo was swapping battle stories with the other dragons.
"Hey Edel, I've been wanting to do a tarot card reading for you," said Jun. "I realized I've never done one for you."
"Have you?" Edelweiss said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, she's done one for each of us," said Tom sitting beside Jun. Edelweiss sat at the opposite side of the table.
"You know how I feel about voodoo," Edelweiss said.
"Come on please," Jun begged.
"Just do it Edel, she's just going to do it anyway," Eugene advised. Edelweiss sighed irritably.
"Oh, I know I'm going to regret this," she said. "Fine." Jun fanned out the deck of tarot cards.
"Choose three," she instructed. Edel reluctantly got up, went over, and tapped three cards in the fan. She then went back to her chair. Jun separated the three cards from the rest of the deck and put them face down in front of her. Edel suddenly heard Apollo let out a long exhale. Jun flipped over the first card.
"Oh," she said, she sounded a bit sad. "Reversed Empress, you've had no romance in your life." Edelweiss said up, surprised that the card was dead on. Jun turned over the second card. "Reversed Hermit, you're lonely."
"No I'm not," Edelweiss protested. "I've never been lonely in my life."
"Maybe you are, and you just don't realize it," Jun suggested. "The cards never lie." She then turned over the third card. "The Lovers, you're in love with someone or someone's in love with you. But given what the other two cards said, it must mean you have a secret admirer." Edel scoffed.
"Well, at least it didn't say I was a mistake," she said. She suddenly heard Apollo clear his throat. She looked over at him, and he winked at her. Edel became curious.
"I bet Kullersen's her secret admirer," Eugene said. "They spent all that time in that bridge." Both Jun and Edel looked over at Tom.
"It's not me I swear," Tom said defensively. "I do think Edel's pretty amazing, and I do like her."
"You're not attracted to me," Edelweiss said.
"No offense," Tom said.
"None taken, the feel's mutual," Edelweiss said. She got up and went to sit beside Apollo, while Tom told the others about Dragon Racing. Edelweiss zoned out of the conversation.
"How did the cards know I've had no real romance in my life?" She asked in Dragontongue. Apollo smiled mysteriously.
"I may have used magic to change the cards," he said. "So they'll actually tell the truth."
"What cards were they originally?" Edel asked.
"I'm not really sure exactly," said Apollo. "But it seems they would have shown that you were going to be betrayed. Which would have been a lie."
"But I'm not lonely," Edel said. "I've never felt lonely in my life." Apollo sighed sadly. He got to his feet, and Edel followed.
"I don't think you realize just how lonely you've been all these years," Apollo said. They headed up the spiral stairs towards the bridge. "Ever since Avalon started her training to be queen, you've been begging for us to come play with you or come traveling with you. But we haven't had the time to do so, since we have other responsibilities to Draconia, and you just sit there and wait for us. Not finding new ways to live your life, just sit there all alone. You've gone to all the council meetings, even though you find them boring, so you can be with us. You have been lonely, you just aren't feeling it." Edel sighed and leaned against the wall.
"Have I been making you unhappy?" She asked.
"You've been making yourself unhappy," said Apollo. "And that makes us unhappy. You have to stop waiting for us, you have to live your own life. We've wanted to tell you that for years, but didn't want to upset you." Edel looked like she was about to cry.
"What am I supposed to do?" She asked. "You guys are my family, you're all I have."
"Not anymore," said Apollo, smiling. "More is coming, I've seen it."
"This secret admirer?" Edel asked.
"Yes, he's real," said Apollo. "I won't tell who it is, that would spoil it, you'll find out on this voyage." He turned towards the bridge.
"Can't you just ask me one more clue?" Edel asked lightly. Apollo thought a moment.
"Well, next time you're alone with him," he said. "You'll get the urge to do something you've never done before." He then went into the bridge. Edel headed for her bedroom.