Haley and the Dragon Riders

One Hell Of A Birthday

I woke up early the next morning, kissed Viggo goodbye, and went out to find River. I found her in some bushes near the camp. I could tell by the miscoloration around her mouth that she found some food during the night, but nothing she could bring back with her.

"Come on, girl, we gotta get back to the others." I got on her back, and we flew back to base and snuck inside our hut moments before the sun came up. I barely managed to get the weird juice off of River's mouth before there was a knock at my door.

"Happy birthday!" The entire gang cheered as I opened the door. I forced a smile and thanked them. I knew their hearts were in the right place, so for their sake, I'd at least pretend for now.

They brought me back to Berk where Valka, Stoick, Gobber and the rest of the village were all waiting for us. Banners were hanging from every hut, fires were lit, and everyone had a drink in hand as we landed on the island. I think they used the day more as an excuse to drink than to actually celebrate my birthday, but I didn't mind. Drinking 'till I forget who I am is my favorite way to spend this day.

We played games, told stories, sang and drank into the late hours of the night. Everything was great. I even stopped pretending to have fun and genuinely enjoyed myself after a while. Unfortunately, in all my enjoyment and drunken state, I failed to keep an eye on my dragon.

"I hope you're enjoying yourself today, Haley." Valka smiled.

"As long as she stays away from your cooking, I'm sure she'll be fine." Gobber joked, which resulted in him getting smacked on the head by Stoick. Valka just laughed and shook her head.

"Thanks, everyone. I'm really having fun today, and I'm glad I got to meet all of you. I'm even happier that I got to stay here. Stoick didn't seem too keen on me being around when we first met. Remember that? How I had to hide on the Edge because you wanted to kill me? Good times." We all laughed at the memories and continued sharing stories around a campfire. Valka even told the story of how she and Stoick first met and how she lost everyone when Hiccup was born, not that it was his fault, of course. Stoick proceeded to tell the story of how he and Valka met up again after many years apart. I was there when Hiccup and Stoick brought her back. We all knew the story, but he got to tell it anyway. Unfortunately, he didn't get to finish the story.

Despite it being the darkest hour of the night, the full moon shone brighter than it ever had before, and the darkness of night had nowhere to hide.

"There she was, cooking dinner for herself and Hiccup when -" Stoick described as River suddenly ran in between us all and slammed into Stoick, sending him tumbling backwards.

"Dad! River!" Hiccup and I called out in unison.

We all rushed towards them, desperate to try and diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. Stoick wasn't having any of it. He still had some reservations about dragons, so when River attacked him unprovoked, he responded in kind.
He began wrestling with River, the two of them making it impossible to get close.
River was flailing wildly as Stoick got on top of her, and her Stinger was hitting everything in a short radius around them.
Stoick, meanwhile, was having trouble staying on top of her and pinning her down.
River managed to cut Stoick on the leg and infect him with her venom through the slight touch. He instantly froze in place, and she squirmed her way out of his grasp.
She was roaring loudly and slamming her head against every surface she could find. Whether that was a barrel, rock or viking, it didn't matter to her.

"River, please calm down. What's wrong, girl?" I asked and tried to get close to her, but she snapped after me and tried to sting me as well. I barely avoided her stinger and decided to try and keep others away from her instead.