Battle For The Thundering Twister

Time For Fun

Chapter 36:Time for Fun

BOOM!A sudden explosion made me bolt upright in bed.The early morning sun cast rays of sunlight across my room.I hopped out of bed and looked out of the window.The sky outside was pink and orange and dotted with clouds whiter than Gobber's mother's hair.And Ruff and Tuff were just sparking gas over and over again with Barf and Belch,disturbing people who were still asleep."Feels great to be back on Berk,right,Castaway?"I asked my dragon.Castaway blinked sleepily in reply and got up,stretching.We trooped downstairs to find an empty table.Evidently,my parents weren't up yet."Let's go get some breakfast,I'm starving,"I said to Castaway.We walked out of the door to a special spot on the sea-shore where there were always fish that didn't need fishing rods to catch.

Sure enough,that morning,there were perches,brown trouts,halibuts and tiny minnows and herrings.I kept my eye on a brown trout and quickly snatched it out of the water when it came close.I tossed the wriggling fish to Castaway,who gulped it down hungrily.We both sat there for a few minutes catching fish for breakfast.Castaway had the big fishes while I ate the herrings and minnows.After a satisfying breakfast,I strolled to the Academy.Hiccup and his dragon rider group were there discussing something with a stone drawing board.Just then,Hiccup caught sight of me and began shushing everyone.He turned the drawing board round so I wouldn't see it."Am I interrupting something?"I bit my lip awkwardly as I spoke."Um...Not really,I guess.I mean,this is kinda a surprise for you,"Astrid explained."Oh,what are we hiding?"Hiccup turned the drawing board round so I could see it."It's a Dragon Race.And now,instead of us racing,we want you younger teenagers to try,"Hiccup explained further."We've just wrapped up the planning of the Dragon Race.If you could get the others over here,we can start explaining about the Dragon Race,"he said.I nodded and went to fetch Zack,Oliver,Cassie,Jessica and Nevaeh.

Once everyone was ready at the Academy,Hiccup began explaining about the Dragon Race."Basically,you have to fly round Berk as fast as you can gathering sheep for points.The goal is to reach 10 points. With 10 points you win the game. Each sheep is worth a specific amount of points. The person with the most sheep therefore get the most points and win when the time runs out if none have reached the goal of 10 points. Each rider is able to collect one sheep per lap done around Berk.One white sheep is worth one point while the only black sheep in Berk is worth five points.Whoever wins gets a gold Racing Cup with their and their dragon's name on it,"Hiccup finished."When is it?"Nevaeh asked."In a week.meanwhile,you guys can start training real hard to win.Best of luck.Now off you go,"Astrid gently pushed us out of the Academy.

"Dragon Race!I can't believe it!This is the best time to show everyone how fast Deathroar really is!"Zack exclaimed as we strolled out of the Academy together."But at the end of the day,Fireproof is definitely gonna win.Just look at him,five hundred pounds of flaming muscle!"Oliver gestured to Fireproof behind him."Oh,no way Oliver!Death and Skull are obviously the fastest dragons here!We have the Racing Cup in the bag,"Nevaeh bragged."Hey,hey,hey.Out of everyone here,Mayhem is the most streamlined.He can obviously then go the fastest.We are winning this,"Jessica insisted."Come on,people!Put your thinking caps on!Frostbite is a Snow Wraith,and Snow Wraiths are Strike Class dragons.The fastest,smartest and the best dragons in the whole universe!We are winning this race,that's a definite answer,"Cassie boasted.I remained quiet,just stroking Castaway's head that was resting lightly on my shoulder as he walked behind me.I was just glad to have Castaway back."How about this:we'll all just go off by ourselves and train hard for the race.See who comes in first in the end,"Zack challenged.Everyone nodded immediately and dispersed.

"Once you get well,maybe we can compete,"I whispered,walking home.I opened the door,climbed the stairs to my bedroom and sat down at my small cluttered table.Castaway curled up in a corner and opened one eye to keep an eye on me.Feeling bored,I began drawing in my sketchbook.First,I drew Castaway with my charcoal pencil on one page.On the next,I began drawing a saddle out of boredom.Suddenly,a brilliant idea struck me."I can make you a saddle that is so flexible,so light and so thin you won't slow down with any extra weight on you and I'll be able to ride you comfortably for the whole race!"I jumped up in excitement.I opened my materials chest and took out a great sheaf of blank parchments and a large piece of leather and began planning the structure of the saddle.For the rest of the day,I figured out how to make the saddle paper-thin yet durable and flexible,and I found out the secret.The trick was not just to keep slicing off bits of leather to make it thin,but also to heat it up a little over a fire to soften it and stretch it to make it flexible.

Next,I took my father's old saddle that he didn't want anymore and stripped off the heavy leather seat part and replaced it with my own special thin leather.Then,I was ready to start fashioning it.I began carving Castaway's name and my own into the saddle.Then I decorated the saddle with carvings of fancy lines,and I was done.I strapped the saddle to Castaway's back and stood back.At first,Castaway tried to nip and bite at the saddle to get it off,but after I calmed him down,he only sniffed at it inquisitively."I'll test it out when you're better.Meanwhile,I'm just gonna see what else I can do,"I told Castaway,taking away the saddle.I hung it up in Castaway's shed and went for a walk round the village while Castaway slept.

A sudden gust of wind almost knocked me over from the back.I looked up to see a black-and-white Deadly Nadder flying faster than the wind."Zack!"I shouted,irritated."Just training.You can't stop me from winning this Dragon Race!"he yelled back as he zoomed off into the distance.Shaking my head disapprovingly,I continued my walk.I caught sight of Oliver talking to Astrid at Gobber's blacksmith."If you wanna do a tight turn on a Monstrous Nightmare,which is extremely difficult,you must train Fireproof to fold his wings in for a moment when you do the tight turn.That way,his body will be more streamlined and the air resistance on Fireproof when he is turning won't be much,so he can turn much faster,"I overheard Astrid say.I kept a straight face and walked on.Next,I saw Nevaeh practising diving and twisting and many more fancy acrobatics with Death and Skull.Cassie and Jessica were watching her.It was crazy,the way my friends were working so hard just to win a trophy made of gold.I mean,that could be so easily fashioned,couldn't it?

I turned back to retrace my steps and end my walk when a sudden crossbow bolt zoomed past my eyes and wedged itself right into a barrel that was barely inches away from my foot..I turned,ready to scream at another one of my friends."This could use a little work,"Hiccup's voice sounded."Hiccup,you know,you could've shot me!"I frowned at him."Oh,um,didn't exactly see you there,Yannied.Sorry,just testing out this new crossbow shield of mine.I tried building a better,more accurate crossbow into it,"Hiccup explained,tossing the shield down to me.It was surprisingly light and made of iron.I pressed a little knob on one side.The shield suddenly split into half to reveal a crossbow.'Wow,this is cool,but I have my own weapon,"I threw the shield back after closing the crossbow."You mean the bow with the axe blade hammered into it?That was one of Gobber's inventions.He admitted that it could be better,"Hiccup commented before diving down,snatching the crossbow bolt from the barrel and flying off.I remembered my weapon which I had used to fight Dagur and the dragon hunters and the Beserker tribe and smiled.It was probably lying about somewhere in the Great Hall.I fetched it and took it home.

"Castaway,ya think this could be better?"I questioned him,holding up the axe-bow weapon.He sniffed it and laid his head down again.I tried sharpening the blade,but it was way too blunt and would take a month to make it sharp again."I'll make my own axe-bow tomorrow,with a few improvements,"I murmured,looking out of the window into the dark purple sky.So much time had passed in just one day.I set down my axe-bow and crawled into bed.Just then,Castaway suddenly sprung up and dived out of the window."Castaway!"I cried,sliding out of bed.A sudden snort and a grunt came from the outside.Grabbing the window sill,I hauled myself over it and out of my house.I jumped down and saw Castaway standing outside his shed."What's wrong,Castaway?You wanna sleep in there tonight?"I scratched under his chin and unlocked the shed door.But Castaway didn't go in and sleep.Instead,he just took the saddle hanging on the wall and held it out to me in his mouth."Wha-?"I was terribly confused.What was Castaway doing?Did he want me to remodel the saddle or something?

Upon seeing my confused expression,he gently placed it on his back and grunted to me.I understood.

He wanted to train during the night.