"So dragon riders, what did you learn about your dragons?" Valka asked standing in front of the trainees as they gathered in the training arena.
"I learnt that my dragon loves pork" Thyra said with a loud voice as Rampage gave a gentle grumble. A suiting name for her dragon.
"That's interesting. Anyone else?" she asked.
"Turns out my dragon loves chin scratches" Forde said as Spikethorn brought her head next to him for a quick scratch. He gave her what she wanted as she tapped her foot on the ground.
"My dragon loves to be scratched behind the frills. Don't you girl" Vyra said turning to look at her dragon.
"Well my dragon enjoys loves tuna. Maybe a bit more than me" Sten said.
"And what about you Rune? Find anything interesting about your dragon?"
"Maybe it loves to shovel poop like he does" Sten said picking on him.
Sandstorm didn't like his name calling one bit and gave him a bone chilling glare, baring his teeth with a strong growl. Sten got the message and would only stick to calling Rune names from now on.
"Well I found out that his favorite food is crab" he stuttered.
"Crab? That's fascinating" Fishlegs said as he got out a pencil and a notepad and began to write down what he had just heard. "I suspect that they might have high jaw strength" he said with excitement.
"Glad you're all taking great strides to know your dragons better. The more you know, the deeper the bond" Valka emphasized.
"And let's start testing how well you guys get along with a little drill" Astrid said with a little smirk.
"This can't be good" Rune murmured.
The trainees soon found themselves facing a course of some sort with hay bails, target's and human looking figures.
"This is the aim challenge. It tests how good your aim is, and how well you respond to surprises" Hiccup said.
"What type of surprises?" Forde asked curiously.
"The type that can spring up on the battlefield, duh" Ruffnut said obnoxiously.
"Try to keep up man" Tuffnut chipped in.
"There are human targets in the course that can appear at any moment, the tough thing about it is that you only have a split second to decide whether it's a hunter or a civilian" Hiccup explained.
"So without further ado, let's get this drill on the road" Astrid said.
Thyra went first with her dragon having the lowest shot limit and scored fifty percent after hitting two targets and two civilians in the process. Forde was much more successful with seventy five percent accuracy. He was able to hit four out of six targets as he didn't get the angle quite right on the last two and only hit one out of the two civilians. Now it was Sten's turn and with Eruptor having the highest shot limit, the bar was set pretty high for him.
"Alright Eruptor, we can do this" he told his dragon with a low voice so that the others couldn't hear. Eruptor replied with an annoyed snort.
"Alright let's go" he said.
Eruptor didn't hesitate moving through the course as he unleashed fireballs at every target he saw. Sten had no control over his dragon as he tried to pull him towards the target he should fire on.
"I said fire at the targets and not burn down the whole thing" Sten grunted as he tried to get Eruptor under control.
Eruptor spread fire on everything, including the civilian pop ups. The instructors got the water buckets kept on standby for something like this and poured it over the burning targets as Eruptor stood proud in the middle of the blaze.
"This isn't what I asked Eruptor" Sten said angry at his dragon.
Eruptor didn't like his remark so he threw him of his saddle with a vigorous shake.
"I guess Sten isn't the only stubborn head on this team" Forde commented with Thyra chuckling.
"Despite all the destruction you caused, you still managed to hit a decent amount of targets so I guess you pass-ish" Hiccup said.
Up next was Vyra who was very focused on what she was doing. Upstaging her cousin, Astrid was at hand and she wanted to tear down her record.
"Let's go girl" she told Stormbreaker. A befitting name for a dragon her size.
Strombreaker moved into the course with the same mindset as her rider. She fired with pinpoint accuracy, and moved smoothly through the turns.
"Wow" Rune said in awe with his cheeks lighting up a little.
Her turn was over and she only missed one shot with a trick shot messing her up. A hunter figure appeared but just as Strombreaker fired, it was changed to a civilian figure.
"Good try, you just need to be more patient with your shots" Astrid advised.
Vyra grunted as she unmounted her dragon and spoke words of encouragement only to she and her dragon's hearing.
"Guess your the last one up" Hiccup said.
"Hope you shoot as well as you plant farm boy" Sten said.
"That doesn't make sense" Thyra said.
"Well...…uh..... it's not supposed to make sense to you guys only to him" Sten stuttered.
"Meaning?" Forde questioned raising his right eyebrow.
Sten folded his arms and looked away.
"This would be a great time to find out the Sand Wraith's shot limit and what type of blast they use" Fishlegs said.
"Great idea Fishlegs" Hiccup agreed.
"Alright Sandstrom let's give it our all. Fire until you cant fire anymore" He told his dragon. Sandstorm answered with a serious grunt, ready to give it his all.
The two set off through the course moving gracefully since he wasn't as big as the other dragons. Sandstorm's blasts were different from the others, they looked like hardened balls of sand surrounded by a flame. It was cool looking and very powerful as they busted on impact.
"A blast made of hardened balls of sand surrounded by a weak flame, very interesting" Fishlegs said as he wrote down on his notepad.
They were down to the final part of the course when a civilian popped out, Sandstorm was spooked a bit and was about to fire when Rune cautioned him by pulling him back stopping him form firing. They turned left and this time a hunter appeared holding a sword as if he were about to strike them down. Sandstorm gladly blasted the figure but when they moved further, another hunter figure appeared but there was a problem. Sandstorm wouldn't fire.
"What's the problem boy? Why won't you fire?" Rune asked.
Sandstorm shook his head trying to tell him something.
"What are you trying to say?" he asked then his dragon tried to fire and only coughed out smoke.
That seemed to get the message across.
"Oh I get it. You're all out of fire" Rune said with a sigh of relief.
"What's the problem guys?" Hiccup asked with a voice conveying concern.
"I think he's hit his limit" Rune answered.
"I see. Guess his shot limit is eight. Noted" Fishlegs said scribbling down.
"You guys did pretty well. Only missing the one target" Astrid encouraged them. "Keep up the good work"
That seemed to cheer his spirit up then he turned to his right and saw Sten sticking out his tongue and giving him a thumbs down. That affected his spirit, but he shook it off with Sandstorm giving a gentle comforting purr.
"That was pretty decent from all of you but there is still a lot for you to work on" Astrid addressed them. "Now we have one more challenge for the day" she said as Thyra wheezed in exhaustion.
"Don't worry, you'll love this one"
The team gathered on the far side of Berk with a flight course set out for them. They stood atop a hill with a forest below and a visible gorge that led through two mountains.
"What are we looking at here?" Vyra asked.
"Butt crack mountain" Ruffnut said.
The whole team looked at her strangely.
"That's what I and Ruff call it because the gorge runs through it like a butt crack" Tuffnut added.
Gobber just shook his head with disappointment.
"What you're rightly looking at is your flight path. You're to fly through the forest and head straight for the gorge through those two mountains. Then you make an ascent all the way past the peaks and then drop back down to run the course all the way back here to finish" Hiccup explained.
"At least this won't be boring" Thyra remarked.
"I'm going first" Sten said mounting Eruptor.
"Can't there ever be diplomacy in this place" Forde said sarcastically.
"Alright then" Gobber said holding his hand up. "On your mark. Get set, Go!" he yelled as Eruptor took off.
Sten maneuvered Eruptor through the trees expertly as they spiraled into the gorge. Eruptor had a relaxed food as they hit peak speed in the gorge. Sten had a wide smile as he moved his dragon over, and under rocks.
"Yeah!" Sten yelled in the gorge as they shot out of it and began their ascent.
"Looks like they're on que" Fishlegs said.
"I think you might have to start looking over your shoulder Snotlout, these two are making good time" Astrid teased.
"Whatever" Snot lout grunted.
Eruptor ascended above the peaks and then gave one strong flap as they went into a loop and began the treacherous dive. Sten held on to his saddle tightly as he had never gone this fast on Eruptor before. The wind was in his face as they sped down and he was a nit scared now.
"You might wanna slow down boy" he said with a shaky voice.
Eruptor grunted as they kept on speeding up. Sten looked ahead and saw a flock of ducks flying below them.
"Eruptor!" he yelled full of fear.
Eruptor grunted and gave a thunderous roar giving the ducks the scare of a life time. Eruptor spun as they entered into the gorge and rose to a comfortable height as Sten coughed out bird feathers and held a duck in his hand. The duck quacked angrily as him and bit his nose before flying away.
"So much for taking care of the ducks" he remarked as Eruptor went under a boulder.
Eruptor rose out of the gorge and into the trees as they were on their way back to the starting line.
"Nothing can stop me now" Sten said full of confidence.
But that was short-lived with a flock of pigeons flying into him covering him with more feathers. Eruptor looked at him and smirked. Sten was having none of it as he spat out some more feathers.
"You're having a laugh at this aren't you" he said in annoyance.
The two made it over the line in one piece and circled back to the lineup with little chuckles here and there.
"Guess you're truly a feather head now" Forde giggled.
"A feather head? I like you to call me that when I hang you on top of your roof again" he said angrily.
"I'm sorry" Forde whimpered in horror.
"You can't get over confident while riding. Always make sure to cross the finish line before singing your praises or you won't be so lucky" Astrid Advised.
"I'm next" Thyra announced.
"Okay, on your-"
Thyra shot off without waiting for Gobber's countdown With Rampage making strong flaps.
"How rude" Gobber remarked with crossed arms.
Rampage flew aggressively banking hard and not slowing down one bit, much to the joy of his rider.
"Yeah!" Thyra cheered. "Let's show them what you've got"
Rampage descended into the gorge and got around the rocks rather nimbly to say the least. His ascent was quick as he spiraled into the air then made the drop not opening his wings until he was ten feet from it. The two shot back into the forest with Rampage roaring with joy as he enjoyed seeing Thyra with a smile on her face. They drew closer to the finish line and showed no sign of slowing down as they flew towards the lineup.
"She's not slowing down. Why isn't she slowing down?" Forde said worriedly.
Thyra edged closer and closer and just as she was about to run into Forde and Spikethorn, Rampage opened his large wings stopping at the last moment releasing a strong gust of wind. Rampage dropped to the ground and roared loudly with Thyra screaming alongside him finally getting her blood pumped.
"You and that dragon make a very chaotic pair" Gobber said shaking his head.
"A very chaotic pair that will dominate the battlefield. Right boy?" she said holding his chin.
Rampage gave a light roar assuring his rider.
"Fine aggressive riding but try not to run into your friends next time" Hiccup said glad that no incident occurred.
Forde's run was plain nonetheless with nothing spectacular or significant happening. Now it was Vyra's turn and it was another opportunity to show her worth to Hiccup and the gang.
"On your mark. Get ready. Go!" Gobber yelled as Vyra and Stormbreaker got going.
Strombreaker was off with a great flap from her four wings and had a good run in the forest easily weaving her way acrobatically through the forest. She made a dangerous spiral into the gorge and banked hard and sharp avoiding the rocks that stuck out of the edges. Vyra then noticed something and so did Stormbreaker, the gorge was getting narrower as they got deeper.
"We have to do something about this narrowing gorge" Vyra said as her dragon grunted in agreement.
Strombreaker then moved her body in one quick motion as they flew sideways through the gorge at top speed. Spun viscously out of the gorge as they ascended above the mountain peaks, Strombreaker hit her apex and stopped flapping as they went into a freefall back down.
"Wooohooo!" Vyra cried as they dropped.
Strombreaker had a little smile on her face as she closed her wings a bit and angled into a dive.
"They're doing well" Valka said as Hiccup agreed with a nod.
Strombreaker hit a dive that went over the gorge completely and went straight into the forest. The two flew excellently emphasizing that a strong bond was necessary to fly well. Not a word escaped Vyra's mouth as the two flew in unison making sharp turns through the woods, Stormbreaker let out an excited roar coming up on the last stretch.
"Come on girl, we got this" she encouraged.
Strombreaker vibrated her frills as if to say "Yeah we do". The two barrel rolled their way across the finish line in an excellent display of rider and dragon unity.
"Great work you guys" Hiccup said as they landed to an applause by the other riders.
"That was some of the finest dragon riding I've seen for a trainee" Valka praised.
"Thank you Valka, it really means a lot coming from you" Vyra thanked.
"Guess that leaves the Sand Wraith then" Snotlout said.
"I think we should use this run to determine the Sand Wraith's speed" Fishlegs suggested.
"That's a great idea" Hiccup agreed. Then he turned to Rune and Sandstorm. "Are you up for it?"
"We'll try our best" Rune answered rubbing his hand on Sandstorm's head. His dragon purred at his touch.
"Alright then. Give it your all" Hiccup urged.
Rune nodded as he lined up to go.
"Come on boy, let's show them what you can do"
"On your mark. Get set. Readyyyy and Go!" Gobber said with Sandstorm taking of swiftly.
Sandstrom flapped as hard as possible with the aim of showcasing his speed.
"This is so much better than school of dragons" Rune said with his dragon smirking as if to say, "You haven't seen anything yet".
Sandstrom banked hard as Rune held on to his saddle for dear life adopting a superbike rider position. Sandstrom banked hard and fast as he weaved through the trees at high speed then descended aggressively down the gorge with his wings folding up then opening at the last minute.
"They sure are fast" Forde said.
"But they aren't going to go faster than me" Sten said pridefully.
Sandstorm did a rising spin over a rock then flew sideways past another. Rune was feeling every bit of adrenaline being pumped into his body and didn't want it to end. He felt so alive on his dragon riding and the speed was a thrill, no he wanted to push himself and his dragon even further. Sandstorm flapped over a rock and didn't open his wings as they dropped under another, then Rune pulled up on his saddle aggressively for Sandstorm to start his ascent.
"Come on Sandstorm, show them what you got"
His dragon gave a short roar as they began to rise higher and higher even surpassing the peaks by miles as they edged closer and closer to the clouds.
"What are they doing?" Tuffnut questioned.
"That wasn't part of the plan" Astrid added.
"Guess farm boy plans on leaving dragon training school"
Hiccup stuck out his hand silencing all of them with a different thought running through his mind.
Rune rose higher and higher as they broke through the clouds and his dragon stopped flapping.
"Oh yeah!!" he shouted.
Sandstorm did a loop as he plummeted back to earth, the dragon and rider both angled themselves in aerodynamic positions to fly as fast as possible. Sandstorm had his wings tucked in and Rune got as low as possible on the saddle as possible as they ventured into a daring vertical dive.
"Come on Sandstorm, you have to hold" Rune said as his dragon replied with a grunt.
They were diving down at a rapid pace with Fishlegs in awe of their speed.
"Come on Sandstorm, hold" Rune emphasized as they got closer and closer to the gorge as they accelerated at an unprecedented pace.
"Hold" he said as they were meters from the gorge. Sandstorm grunted showing his discomfort as they descended quickly with all eyes on them.
Toothless gave a worried purr to Hiccup as if urging him to do something.
"Don't worry, they'll be fine" he answered.
"Sandstorm, do you trust me?" Rune asked with Sandstorm giving a worried grunt.
"Then let's do this"
The two of them flew into the gorge as a brown blur as Sandstorm reached his top speed. People couldn't believe their eyes, had Rune dragged himself and his dragon to their death?
"Well it looks like farm boy has gotten both himself and his dragon killed. They will be missed dearly" Sten said with passivity.
"I can't see them" Astrid said worried.
Then out of nowhere, Rune and Sandstorm shot out of the gorge flying as fast as they were in the dive to the relief of everyone.
"Is it just me or did Runy over there just pull a Hiccup stunt?" Tuffnut said.
"Something I was thinking. That's something Hiccup like" his sister added.
"At a boy!" Rune cheered as he and his dragon moved quickly through the trees.
The two found themselves approaching the finish line rather quickly thanks to their speed and it was bittersweet that such a nice ride had to end.
"Come on Sandstorm, you can do this" Rune urged with his dragon giving it his all.
The two crossed the line at top speed and had to go into a vertical spin to slow down and circle back to the landing area.
"That was very compelling. One man, one beast, becoming one. So beautiful" Tuffnut said almost pushed to tears.
Rune landed in the midst of his peers with none of them saying a word.
"That was uncalled for, very dangerous and you almost got yourself and your dragon killed" Astrid said angrily over how he had thrown safety into the back seat and let the daredevil in him run free.
"I know but you wanted me to show how fast my dragon could go so I did" he answered confidently.
Where on Earth did that come from? Somehow the flight had impacted him in more ways than one, not proving his skills as a capable rider but confidence in his abilities.
"But-"
"It's okay Astrid, he just did as he was told" Hiccup jumped to his defense.
"You're picking his side?"
"No but I did tell him to show us what he got and that he did"
Astrid was about to say something else when Valka placed her hand gently on her shoulder and gave her a nod. That defused the bomb in her.
"So Fishlegs, what do you think his speed should be?" Hiccup asked turning his attention to his friend.
"That's definitely strike class speed, no doubt about that"