Dimidius

➑ Dragon Racing

I've taken Sidus out on a few rides before but dragon racing was still new to me. I knew Astrid was amazing at it and she wins every round but I decided it was time I gave it a shot.

I rolled off my bed where I had been lazing and went downstairs where Gobber was.

"Gobber, Sidus and I want to sign up for this week's Dragon Race."

"Ya sure?" He asked skeptically, "Bet'er start practisin' then, takes a lot to beat Astrid."

"I don't intend to win on my first try, I just thought it'd be fun to try something new."

"Alright, Ay'll ask Stoick to put ya name down on the list o' contestants."

I spent the days leading up to the tournament training with Sidus, and it was intense.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" Sidus joked.

"I won't settle for anything less than third place. We'll prove to them we have what it takes to be the best team on Berk."

Sidus laughed and it made me happy seeing her smile. Her life didn't sound too happy before she crash landed on Berk, and it happened just when I was in need of a dragon. Like I said, a destiny planned out for us by higher ideals.

The day of the tournament came and I got up at the crack of dawn. I geared up: coat, helmet, arm braces and fur boots. I quickly braided my hair and ran outside to wake Sidus.

"Wakey wakey!" I called, "Competition day's here!"

"Five more minutes..." Sidus grumbled and rolled over. I let her catch an extra five minutes of rest before waking her again and this time she got up. She was lazy in the morning but you won't see a glimpse of that when she's up and about in the day.

I secured the saddle and harness onto Sidus, making sure it was tight but still comfortable. We walked to the starting area and signed our names before joining the rest of the participants.

"Ooh, we've got a newbie today," Snotlout grinned, "One more person that'll have to catch up to me."

"Save it for afterwards, Snotlout, we'll see if your ego will still be as big then." I snarled and moved to the opposite end of the circle.

A loud horn blast signalled the call for all participants to approach the starting line. We all saddled up and trodded to the front.

Gobber walked up to the podium and cleared his throat.

"Our contestants fur today, startin' from ya left, are Hiccup and Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly, Snotlout and Hookfang, Ruff and Tuff and Barf and Belch, Fishlegs and Meatlug, and Ellie and Sidus. Same rules apply, odd baskets have sheep and even baskets are where you drop off those sheep. White sheep are ten points, the final black sheep is a hundred. May the best team win!" A loud cheer erupted from the stands and Gobber took his seat next to Gothi.

All eyes then turned back to the front where Eret was holding up wooden signs.

[ 3 ]

[ 2 ]

[ 1 ]

[ GO! ]

And off we were! Sidus sped up immediately, beating her wings hard against the cold winter air. Hiccup and Astrid were in front of me. Ruff, Tuff, Snotlout and Fishlegs were behind me.

"C'mon Sidus, we can do this."

There was no reply. Her mind was fixed on winning, and so was mine. We quickly met our first corner and Sidus tilted sharply to the left, maneuvering around the rock pillars perfectly. A few hundred metres later and we reached a cliff where we all nosedived straight down. I kept one hand on Sidus and another on my helmet. My coat beat furiously against the wind as we just kept going faster.

"Over there!" I pointed to the first basket of sheep. Sidus swooped down and caught one with ease. As we neared the second basket where we drop off the sheep, we began to catch up.

The sheep fell into the basket with a soft 'plop' and just at that moment, we overtook Astrid and Stormfly.

The crowd cheered but it was no time to be proud. Hiccup and Toothless were still ahead of us.

The third basket was in sight. Tempted to cheat, I considered beating my wings under my coat and giving Sidus a boost. But we trained so much and it wouldn't be anyone else's fault that I had an advantage. I decided against it and continued on.

Sidus once again picked up the white sheep and dropped it off. Four baskets down, two more to go.

The last basket had the one and only black sheep. It's worth 100 points and we needed to catch up with Hiccup and Toothless if we wanted to win.

"Last one, for first place, give it everything. You can do it, come on." I pulled my helmet securely over my head and braced myself.

All of a sudden, there was a burst of speed. Giving it all she had, Sidus darted through the fields and over houses. Around more rock pillars and under stone arches. We caught up to Hiccup and Toothless but we were also nearing the fifth basket.

"I have faith in you, we can do it."

And with her last bit of energy, Sidus beat her wings hard and overtook Hiccup and Toothless in the blink of an eye. Sidus grabbed the black sheep from the fifth basket and the crowd roared with shouts and applause.

We glided to the sixth basket, which was right at the finish line, and dropped the black sheep off. Sidus landed and took a deep breath.

"That was wicked," I hugged her tight, "You really deserve this win."

We told each other we wouldn't lose, but we never genuinely expected to finish in first place. For days we trained and it most certainly paid off. I grabbed a bucket of water and place it in front of Sidus for her to drink. I sat beside her, still overflowing with disbelief and satisfaction.

"Not so cocky anymore, eh?" I sniggered as Snotlout walked past. He cringed and quickly turned away, pulling Hookfang along.

The winners were announced. Gothi handed out the prizes one by one to each winner. Astrid came in third, Hiccup was second and in first place... was me.

As I received a lovely new shield and the cash prize, I decided that no day in my life had ever been better than this one.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

| Author's Note |

Sorry for uploading chapter 8 SOOOOO late! I've got national exams this year because it's my final year. Some papers are in June and some are in October so the pressure's already on. It's kind of like GCSEs. Those who follow me should have heard that I've been having a bit of a writer's block recently but that should go away soon. But anyway, I really hope you guys liked it! This chapter's a little longer but I guess I should show some of Ellie and Sidus' bonding time. Like, comment, follow and I'll see you guys soon with the next chapter!