ALL NOVEL Chapter 56: chapter 1
This…is Berk. The best kept secret this side of, well, anywhere. Granted, it may not look like much, but this wet heap of rock packs more than a few surprises.
It was a rather warm day for the Isle of Berk as the sun slowly made its way through the sky. A group of sheep were huddled together as they hid nervously between buildings from the shadows of passing dragons that raced by them. They moved as one, receding into a shadowy alley, then the majority of the herd pushed one of their own out into the open. The poor sheep was then snatched up and carried away by a dragon.
Life here is amazing, just not for the faint of heart. See, where most folks enjoy hobbies like whittling or needlepoint, we Berkians prefer a little something we like to call–
Dragons of vibrant colors sped past all the buildings, their riders swiped, kicked, and rolled into one another as they wove neck in neck with one another between the huts, docks, and revamped structures that lay throughout the village.
DRAGON RACING!
"WHOOOOOOOO!" Fishlegs shouted in glee as rode atop Meatlug's back, who had a sheep clutched within her claws. That is until Snotlout and Hookfang side-check the unsuspecting Ingerman and Gronckle, stealing their sheep in the process.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Fishlegs! Did you want that?" Snotlout asked smugly and that earned a glare from the other Viking.
"No, Snotlout! That was mine!"
The Jorgenson fell back towards the Thorston twins, who were lagging behind on their dragon Barf and Belch. With a chivalrous grin, Snotlout tossed the sheep towards Ruffnut. "Here ya go, babe."
Ruffnut caught the sheep with a sneer and a grumble of annoyance.
"Did I tell you that you look amazing today? 'Cause you do." Snotlout flirted, which made Ruffnut look at him with disgust.
"Ugh. Cone on, Barf. It's starting to stink around here." The female Thorston complained, urging the Zippleback to get ahead of the Nightmare. Barf spewed some gas as he and Belch flew ahead, the male Thorston atop Belch's side mocked Snotlout with a mugging grin.
"Nope. Still hates you." Tuffnut said to the other male Viking before he looked forward. "Let's blow this place, Belch! Alright!" He shouted and Belch lit up the gas that Barf had just released as they flew away.
When the gas was lit up it went off in a flashy explosion, leaving Snotlout behind in the smoke. Nanna and Stormfly appeared next to the Nightmare and Jorgenson, both having a disapproving look on their faces as Nanna whacked Snotlout in the back of the head.
"OW! What was that for?!" He asked her angrily as he rubbed the back of his head.
"That was for not listening to me when I told you to stop trying to hit on Ruffnut. She's clearly not interested in you. You need to move on, Snotlout. Now focus on the race!" She lectured before she urged Stormfly to gain speed and get ahead.
As the twins speed past the main bleachers at the lap crossing, Ruffnut drops the sheep into one of five of the baskets that were suspended over a chasm. Each board above the baskets bore an image of the head or heads of its corresponding dragon. A Night Fury, a Deadly Nadder, a Monstrous Nightmare, a Hideous Zippleback, and a Gronckle.
The Barf and Belch basket was filled to the brim with sheep, and the Hiccup and Kala basket was halfway full. The Stormfly basket held a few sheep as well, but the Hookfang and Meatlug baskets were empty. As he was chief of the village, Stoick the Vast was presiding over the game.
"Ha-ha! That's nine for the twins, Kala just behind with five, Nanna lagging behind with three, and Fishlegs and Snotlout trail with NONE!" Stoick listed off as he turned to the frenzied crowd, then he rested upon his chair once more and sighed as he looked at Hiccup and Kala's basket. "And Hiccup is…nowhere to be found. Hmmm."
"Scared the lad off with the big talk, didn't ya, Stoick?" Gobber asked his chief and best friend.
"Quite the opposite, actually." Stoick replied. "I have no words for how proud I am of him for standing his ground when we talked."
The blacksmith smiled at that. "Well now, that is definitely a step in the right direction for 'im."
"Aye, indeed it is my friend." The chief agreed, a grateful air about him as he did.
Us dragons used to be a bit of a problem here. But that was five years ago. Now, we've all moved in. And, really, why wouldn't we?
The racers chased one another through a sprawling hangar and into a vast cave, teeming with colorfully painted dragon stables, but one racer was missing from the group. Snotlout took notice of this as they exited through the far side and started to circle back through the village.
"Any of you seen Kala?!" He shouted as they all sped past many of the dragon-friendly additions to the village.
"Not since she last scored!" Tuffnut answered, the others nodding in agreement.
Snotlout groaned in annoyance. "Great. Knowing her, she'll swoop in for the win last minute, like always." The Jorgenson complained.
We have custom stables…all-you-can-eat feeding stations…a full-service dragon wash… Even top-of-the-line fire prevention, courtesy of my beloved Hiccup of course.
Below the racers in the village, a baby Gronckle sneezed and accidentally set one of the huts ablaze. Nanna took notice of this and peeled away from the group, yanking open one of the spouts of the overhead aqueducts Hiccup installed throughout the village, dousing the flames with a surge of water.
Stoick and the other Vikings watch the racers as they lap around the village searching for sheep. The chief turned to Gobber and nodded.
"It's time, Gobber." He stated and the blacksmith nodded right back with a smile.
"Righty-ho!" Gobber said cheerily, then he turned to the crowd. "Last lap!" He shouted, then a horn was sounded and all the racers turned to each other excitedly.
"The Black Sheep!" Nanna exclaimed then put her attention back on the race. "Come on, Stormfly! We can still win this thing!"
"Come on, Barf!" Ruffnut shouted, her excitement clear in her words.
"Let's go!" Tuffnut added, just as excited as his sister, a bit of smugness within his words.
"Go, Meatlug!" Fishlegs encouraged as they all sped up to try and get to where the Black Sheep would appear.
Gobber made his way to the catapult and loaded the poor sheep in question onto it.
"Whooo-hooo!" Nanna yelled as joy seeped through her from the speed and exhilaration that came with Dragon Racing.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Tuffnut urged, rather impatiently as he was eager to get the win under his and his twin's belt for once.
"This is your moment." Gobber said to the sheep as he was preparing to launch it. "Have a nice flight!" He exclaimed as he pulled the lever, laughing the poor sheep into the air.
Nanna spots the Black Sheep and steers Stormfly into a steep climb toward it. "Up, up, up!'
In a flash, the sheep was snatched up by Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"NO!" Nanna complained, stopping Stormfly to keep them from crashing into the Gronckle and Ingerman as they passed by.
"YES! Good job, Meatlug!" Fishlegs shouted as he scratched Meatlug's head, then he tossed his prize to Ruffnut, who caught it with a smirk. "Here you go, darling! Mine's worth ten!"
"Yeah! The Black Sheep!" She giddily exclaimed.
Nanna looks towards Snotlout, shocked over what she had just witnessed. "You guys are fighting over Ruffnut?! "
Snotlout didn't look at the Lykke as he scratched his cheek with a drop of sweat falling down the side of his face out of embarrassment. Not wanting to get lectured to death by the girl atop the Nadder like he usually did.
"I'm totally winning!" The female Thorston shouted, sure in herself that she and her brother would be able to score before anyone else got the sheep out of their grasp.
"We're winning together!" Fishlegs said, a love-struck look on his face and a dreamy air about his voice.
Ruffnut then rammed into Meatlug, sending Fishlegs into an uncontrolled spin, the poor Viking shrieking as she did so. This made him and Meatlug slam into Snotlout and Hookfang, sending all four of them to tumble head over tail, which made the crowd go wild.
"Oh, no!" Snotlout yelped just before all four of them crashed into the earth below in a heap of Viking and Dragon.
"Whoo-hoo! No one can stop me now!"
"Except for me." Tuffnut noted to his over-excited twin. "We're attached, genius! Quit trying–" Tuffnut said as he grabbed at the sheep, Ruffnut fighting back as he did ending up with a tug-of-war starting.
"Hey!" The female Thorston shrieked in annoyance.
"–to steal all my glory!" Tuffnut finished as they continued to fight over who got to score.
Nanna saw this as an opportunity to steal the sheep from them, but before she could get close enough she heard the whistling sound of none other than Kala herself and stopped Stormfly fast enough to miss the Night Fury in question as she came barreling past.
"Get 'em, Kala!" Stoick shouted from the stands as he took notice of the arrival of his future daughter-in-law.
"It's MY glory!" Tuffnut complained.
"Always ruining EVERYTHING!" Ruffnut argued.
"NO SHEEP, NO GLORY!" Tuffnut shot back, neither of them hearing the whistling that came off of Kala's wings from the speed she was flying at.
The Night Fury in question swooped in as they argued and snatched the sheep from the twins with ease. "Gotcha! Ha-ha!" She cheered as she sped past with the sheep in her clutches.
Kala was in her hybrid form, her usual prosthetic replaced with her automatic one in order to let her fly. Her hair was styled into a loose side braid to keep it from going into her face as she raced the others, her cloak nowhere to be found for the same reason. The outfit she had on was very unusual as well. Unlike the other racers, she had on a black flight suit that was mostly made of leather that was painted black from her and Hiccup's scales, some of said scales decorating the flight suit on the sides of her arms and legs. The areas that were made up of cloth were the same red as her tailfin. Kala also had on a black chestplate that had shoulder pads attached to it, the right one having a red Night Fury design adorning it. Her boots were not much different than the fur boots she used to wear, the only difference was they were not lined with fur at the top, but rather leather to match the rest of the flight suit.
"Whoa!" Tuffnut exclaimed out of surprise.
"Kala!" Ruffnut whined in anger.
"Well played! Ha, ha, ha!" Stoick cheered, then he turned to the crowd. " That's my future daughter-in-law!"
"Whoo-hoo!" Fishlegs cheered as he witnessed the skilled steal once he and Snotlout were able to take to the skies once more.
He then looked toward Snotlout and the both of them nodded at one another as they came to a truce and raced towards Kala, each of them on either side of her. Fishlegs made to ram into her, but Kala easily dodged and that made Fishlegs ram into Snotlout, who yelped in surprise and struggled to get Hookfang back on course.
"Oh!" The crowd exclaimed as they watched.
"Sorry!" Fishlegs apologized and Kala giggled at the failed attempt.
"Nice try boys, but this Night Fury always gets away!" Kala shouted at them, then she sped her way to the finish line and she happily dropped the Black Sheep into her and Hiccup's basket as she went past it.
"That's fifteen! Kala takes the game!" Stoick shouted and the crowd erupted with wild cheers for the Night Fury as she flew over the crowd with a smile upon her face as she basked in her victory, speeding up to let her signature whistle be heard.
"Yeah! Whooooo!!" The dragoness exclaimed, overjoyed to have won the game once again.
Yep. Berk is pretty much perfect, even if it took a while for the village to get used to Hiccup and I being around again. All of our hard work has paid off. And it's a good thing, too, because with Vikings on the back of us dragons, the world just got a whole lot bigger.
~~~HTLANF~~~