The sound of a rooster crowing broke through Rune's dream meaning one thing, it was time to get up. Terrible Terrors sang on the rooftop and the moos and bleating of sheep and yaks began to rise.
"Aww, last night was something huh" Rune said as he sat up. He used his right hand to cover his mouth as he yawned and then he rubbed his eye with his left hand.
He looked over to the floor to see his dragon fast asleep but looked uncomfortable as he wriggled from side to side trying to find a good spot.
"I guess you're used to sleeping on sand rather than wooden floorboards" Rune reasoned.
"Wake up Sandstorm" he said and then smacked his lips. His dragon arose slowly as he went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Sandstorm smacked his lips slowly as his eyes slowly opened, he began to do forwards and backwards stretches before he stretched his wings hitting books to the floor.
"What was that?" Rune said peeking out of the bathroom and saw the mayhem he caused. "Sandstorm, you can't stretch same way you used to anymore. That has to be done outside" Rune said with an understanding voice.
Sandstorm gave a light grumble understanding him. Rune was done freshening up and was just getting his tunic worn when he heard his mother's voice.
"Rune! Time for breakfast!" she cried.
"I'll be right down!" he answered.
"You ready to eat?" he asked.
Sandstrom nodded as both their stomachs began to grumble. "Guess that makes two of us" he said.
Both of them walked down the stairs seeing food already laid on the table and a bowl of fish on the floor as his parents were already seated at the table. Sandstorm couldn't wait as he rushed towards the bowl of fish and began to gorge.
"Morning Mom and Dad" he greeted.
"Morning Rune" They chorused.
"Trust you slept well" Wout said.
"Yes I did"
"Seems someone is hungrier than the rest of us" Diana said with a light chuckle in reference to the slurps Sandstorm made.
"I'm famished" Rune said slumping on to his seat.
"Then you better eat up. You will need your strength" His father said.
"Thanks for breakfast mom" Rune said taking his plate to the kitchen.
"You're welcome"
"He's growing up so fast" his dad said. "Things are going to change with his absence"
"Don't worry, I'll still make out time for you guys" Rune said from behind them. "Any spare time I have, I will use it to help you guys on the farm" he said with a heart warming smile.
"You're going to be a fine young man" Diana said holding on to his cheek.
"You better get going, you don't want to be late" Wout said.
"You're right. Let's go boy" he said to Sandstorm who was lying on the floor.
"Have a great day son" his mom echoed.
"And you too" he replied.
Racing out of the door, Sandstorm was eager to follow and upon getting out, he received the scare of a lifetime. A ram stood at the door and bleated loudly into his ears causing him to shriek and jump back in horror. He breathed heavily thinking he was in real danger and when he saw it was a devious ram, he growled in anger. The ears of the ram dropped thinking it was the end of the line for him but was saved by the voice of Rune.
"Come on Sandstorm, we don't have time for that" he cried as he raced ahead.
Sandstorm huffed at the ram before running ahead to catch up with his rider. After running most of the way there, Rune arrived last panting as he rested his palms on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"Look who finally decided to show up. Thought you wouldn't show today because you have no dragon, guess you'll still be taking the leg express for a while" Sten said arrogantly as he was fond of picking on him.
"I won't jump to conclusions so fast" Rune said raising his head wearing a smirk.
Slowly Sandstorm walked into the training arena swinging his head from left to right taking in the surroundings.
"A live Sand Wraith, I can't believe it" Forde said with his voice reaching a high pitch at the end out of excitement.
"Guess he did pull it off" Vyra muttered to herself.
"Well mine's still bigger" Sten said confidently.
"Size isn't everything in the dragon world you know" Hiccup said shattering his sense of false confidence.
"Ehem!" Astrid cleared her throat returning their focus to the main reason why they were gathered.
"Congratulations riders. you have cleared the first challenge and gotten yourselves dragons. You think it's going to get easier from here? Oh no. This is where the real training begins. Training dragons is not all about blasting your enemies to smothering and doing sick tricks in the air, but cultivating a bond with intelligent creatures and refining their strengths into weapons and covering for their weaknesses. It is that bond that determines how good a rider really is and how strong you will be on the battlefield" Astrid addressed them with a commanding voice.
It was only then that Rune took a quick glance around and found out the other dragons his friends had brought. Sten had a red Montrous Nightmare on his left, Forde had a Red Deadly Nadder with yellow highlights on her horns, underbelly and some on her wings. Thyra has a Rumblehorn with green and orange scales and a red head with a cream underbelly while Vyra had a Stormcutter towering over her with woody brown scales, cream underbelly and iridescent blue highlights.
"Rider and dragon are only as good as the strength as their bond, the stronger the bond, the better you fly. And what better way to start to develop that bond than with a little quiz about your dragons" Hiccup added.
"Oh shoot" Thyra grumbled with a nonchalant attitude.
"School of dragons, Wikipedia, don't fail me now" Rune prayed in his heart.
The students settled down on wooden benches with their dragons sitting behind them. The boys sat on one side while the girls sat on the other with Fishlegs moderating the quiz.
"Alright guys, let's begin" Fishlegs said turning towards the girls. "So Thyra, let's begin with you. What is the shot limit of your dragon?"
"I don't know, six or seven?"
"Wrong, it's four" Fishlegs corrected.
"I mean no disrespect but how will this help us on the battlefield?" she asked.
"Dragon knowledge comes in handy on the battlefield a lot. First of all it helps you know how many shots your dragon and team can dish out against the enemy before they run out so you won't just shoot randomly. And if you come up against an enemy, it's good to know a bit about their dragon to use their disadvantages to your advantage" Hiccup explained.
"Ehhh" she sighed. "Fair enough. On with it Fishlegs"
"So what class is your dragon?"
"Tracker class I think?"
"Correct, they are in Tracker class"
"That leaves just one last question. What is their armor rating?"
"I don't know"
"Their armor is rated twelve. You need to put more effort into knowing more about your dragon Thyra, one out of three isn't a good score" Fishlegs emphasized.
"Now Vyra, what are Stromcutters most renowned for?" he asked.
"Their four wings and they agility"
"Good. What is their shot limit?"
"They have a shot limit of eight I think?"
"You are also correct. What about their jaw strength?"
"I think six"
"Almost there, Stormcutters have a jaw strength of five. Last but not the least, how fast are they?"
"17 or 16, I'm not sure"
"The right answer is 17. Good job Vyra"
"Now it's the boys' turn" he said turning to face them.
"Forde, apart from the spikes a Deadly Nadder shoots from its tail, what other special skill to they have?"
"They have venom with a rating of 16" he answered confidently.
"Very good. What type of blast does a Deadly Nadder posses?"
"They have a magnesium blast with a firepower rating of 18"
"Someone's been studying. Okay finally, what is their shot limit?"
"They have a shot limit of six"
"Well-done Forde, keep it up" he praised him. "Now Sten, at what stage of a Monstrous Nightmare's life do they have venom?"
"I don't know, when they're teens?"
"No, it's when they're babies. What is the jaw strength of a Monstrous Nightmare?"
"6?" Sten said unsure of his answer.
"6 is correct"
"Oh yeah!" he cheered.
"Lucky guess" Vyra said rolling her eyes.
"What is the shot limit of a Monstrous Nightmare?"
"I know this one. 10" he answered confidently.
"10 is correct"
"Yeah" he cheered with his dragon backing him up with a roar.
"Finally, what type of blast do they posses?"
"Some type of liquid fire thing"
"Not quite, they posses a gel like flame. Two out of four is not bad. Good job"
Sten had a wide smile on his face feeling as if he had conquered the world.
"Last on the list, Rune"
"Past life knowledge, you better help me now" he prayed under his breath.
"What class does the Sand Wraith belong to?"
Rune remembered this one after reading about the dragon and purchasing it on School of Dragons. "They belong to the Tidal class"
"Correct" Then Fishlegs took a look at his card and saw that there was a problem. Very little was known about the Sand Wraith other than where they live, their stealth, and their armor rating
"Hiccup" he said with a worried tone.
"What's the problem" Hiccup said concerned then Fishlegs showed him the card.
"Very little is known about the Sand Wraith so I'm basically out of questions for him"
"Don't worry. I'll figure it out" Hiccup then placed his gaze on Rune and the others. "Guess the quiz is over"
"What?!" Sten, Vyra, Thyra and Forde exclaimed while Rune looked surprised.
"You only asked him one question? Or are you scared of seeing Farmer boy fail?" Sten questioned.
"Please hear me out" Hiccup said calming them. "The Sand Wraith hasn't been as well researched as the other dragons so there is still a lot about it we don't know yet so that's why we ended the quiz" he explained. That seemed to calm everyone but Sten.
"Well then in that case I wish he did pick a dragon we know well about so we could test his knowledge. Let's see if he has anything but yaks and sheep in there" he teased.
"Cut it out Sten" Forde said annoyed by his antics.
"What? I'm just trying to be funny"
"You're not funny Sten" Thyra voiced.
"Vyra thinks I'm funny. Don't you Vyra?"
"When yaks can breathe fire" she rolled her eyes.
"Alright, let's move on to the next order of business, getting you guys saddles" Hiccup said.