The Friendship

Chapter Sixteen | Test Flight

~LITTLE HICCUP~

The strong gusts of wind lifted Toothless and I, catching us in its trusting arms, faltering only slightly before steadying us once more. "Okay there, bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow."

I squinted down at the sketches of Toohless' varying tail fin positions I had drawn on my cheet sheet, figuring out which one I was supposed to use to steer the dragon. A clip held the loose piece of parchment in place. "Here we go. Here we go...position three, no four," I pressed the pedal, fanning out the fabric appendage. The sun glinted off the lighter fabric as lifted his foreleg to make sure everything was in order. We leaned to the left, giding effortlessly above the rest of the world. I tugged hard on the new harness-- connected to the recently made vest-- and looked back at the fin as well. They were holding up.

We flew back, parallel to the earth, my Night Fury's wings flapping gently. I aimed for a stone arch ahead to be our target, rising from the crashing waves below. "All right, it's go time. It's go time." We dove down towards the arch, me keeping close to Toothless' saddle. The wind stung my eyes, unshielded from the harassment it gave me as we sped down towards the target."Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!" I encouraged, gliding flawlessly through the arch. I peered up to the seagulls clamouring overhead. They reminded me of a pair of Berkians fighting over a leg of lamb, a common sight in the village. "Yeah! Yes, it worked!" I shouted, until I carelessly smacked us into one of several sea stacks. They jutted out of the sea like spears after a fierce battle. "Sorry." We smacked into another pillar, Toothless grumbling in complaint. "My fault," I felt remorseful. The dragon hit me with his 'ear' plate after my second failure. Remorse wasn't good enough.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," I referred to the cheat sheet before advising my winged partner. "Position four, no three." We shot upwards towards the clouds, piercing the sky like the sun's rays pierced the altitude's sharp, cold air. Berk grew smaller and smaller in the sea of blue. "Yeah! Go baby! Yes!" I shouted with joy. This is what was to be a dragon. "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my..."

My cheat sheet tore out of its clip, stolen by the turbulence. I panicked. "...CHEAT SHEET! STOP!" I groped the empty air, frantic to get the sheet in my clutches. "No!" The paper became trapped in my hand, relentlessly attempting escape. My success was short-lived. I could no longer Toothless underneath me. I felt weightless. Toothless had followed my command and stopped flying, unattaching my vest from the harness hooks in the process. We plummeted to the earth nothing to save us. Together we were a soaring eagle, but separated we were little hatchlings, too stupid and eager to fly to wait. "Oh gods! Oh no!" I panicked, truly frightened without my dragon. He seemed just as terrified without me, flailing in the clouds to reach me. I had to be calm for us. For Toothless. "All right, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself. No, no...come back down towards me. Come back down--" his tail slapped me in the face none too softly. I clutched at my cheek momentarily, which did nothing to soothe the pain. All attempts to grasp on to Toothless failed. Berk was growing larger, I could see flocks of birds flapping by, oblivious to our predicament. Come on, I thought determinedly. For Toothless. I have one final effort and my hand was on the harness.

I wasted no time to lock myself in place, just in time to pull Toothless out of our drop. His wings were twin parachutes catching us just shy of the pines. A forest of stone pillars replaced the dense foliage. With a hand I whipped out my cheat sheet, unable to read it in the turbulence. Without thinking about it another second, I threw the sheet away, steering Toothless with only my intuition. Adrenaline pumped through me as we winded tightly through the pillars, manuvering in between the stacks with with suprising ease. This is what it was to be a dragon. I could fly.

We emerged out on the other side of the island unscathed over the sparkling surface of the water. I exhaled in relief, glancing back on the very solid obstacles behind me. The test drive was a success. I threw my arms up in victory, grinning from ear to ear. "YEEAHHH!" I shouted as Toothless let out a shriek to accompany mine. My Night Fury let out a blast of fire and my happiness ended quickly, my smile faltering. "Ah, come on," I sighed as we entered the fading flames.

~HICCUP~

I arrived at the rocky shore, along with a few yellow Terrible Terrors swooping in for a landing. I gave Toothless a pat as I dismounted the dragon. "Good day, sir," I greeted Little Hiccup, who was leaning up against Tiny Toothless. He had a stick in his hand spearing a whole fish, which looked just as burnt as he did. Little Hiccup took off his imaginary helmet. "Same to you, sir," he replied.

Tiny Toothless growled at the Terrors approaching him, hoarding his fish. I noticed the head of a fish, severed on the ground. One of the Terrible Terrors dragged the chunk of meat away, taking small bites unlike the Vikings you would find on Berk or anywhere else. Another Terror challenged him, bobbing himself up and down; a threatening stance for a small dragons like them. The first dragon spewed a mouthful of fire, chasing off his opponent.

I chuckled at the pair. "Feisty little guys, aren't they?" I asked Little Hiccup, who still seemed a bit wary of them due to Tiny Toothless' defensive position. Among his stash of fish a tail started to move away from the larger dragon, like a child creeping away from the scene of the crime quite conspicuously, loud footsteps and cookie crumbs on their face. Tiny Toothless stared at the fish until the third Terror came into view, snatching the fish in his powerful jaws and swallowing it whole. Little Hiccup's Night Fury sounded a warning to keep the creature away as the Terrible Terror clumsily flopped backwards with only the scaly tip of the tail in it's teeth. Frustrated and angry, the small, yellow dragon spit the fish tail aside, clawing the ground as if ready to charge. Tiny Toothless was unimpressed. As soon as the smaller dragon took a breath to blow out some flames, the Night Fury choked the Terror with a puff of fire.

The dragonet stumbled over in Little Hiccup's direction, like a drunken viking on the evening of Snoggletog. Little Hiccup and I laughed at the silly animal. "Not so fireproof on the inside, are          you? Here you go," Little Hiccup tossed his cooked fish to the hungry Terrible Terror, who gulped it down appreciatively. I pretended to look suprised when the little dragon cautiously curled up next to the boy. He rested his hand on the Terrible Terror's side, which rose and fell rapidly in time with its breaths. "Everything we know about you guys          is wrong," Little Hiccup uttered mostly to himself. He rose his gaze to meet mine. "What do you know?"

Eeeeeekkkk! So we finally have the infamous scene among dragon fans! I hope I did well to replicate it lol. Please comment on this chapter I really need to know how I did. Because if you're all "This girl calls herself a fanfiction writer? Lol what is this s***! Boooooooo!" That means I need to change something. Sorry I couldn't add anything ACTUALLY new in here, but I couldn't just leave it out. So LH is getting suspicious! What do you guys think will happen?

Remember to comment, vote, and share! Thanks!

- TGD