Battle For The Thundering Twister

Night Flights

Chapter 37:Night Flights

I hastily strapped the saddle to Castaway and climbed on his back.Then I thought of something.If my parents found me gone during the night,they'd surely freak out.I flew Castaway to the window,made him hover outside and climbed into my room.Then I shoved a bulky heap of things from my chest under my blanket to make it seem like I was sleeping underneath.I quickly patted the heap down a little and blew out the lit candle on my bedside table.Jumping out of the window,I landed on Castaway's back."Let's go,boy,"I muttered.Castaway silently flew off towards nowhere while I thought of what to do."Let's see how fast you can fly round Berk,"I decided after some thought.We started at the top of the iron cover that covered the Academy."One,two,three,GO!"I counted down.Castaway raced off.I counted the seconds as we flew and guided him round Berk.We flew round the great mountains,the rolling hills,the pastures,the plaza,the houses and many more things.I realised Castaway wasn't fast,but he was extremely agile.Probably more than other dragons.

I caught sight of the Academy."C'mon boy!We're almost there!"I urged Castaway.He flapped his wings faster and fiercer until we reached the Academy."Whew!That took five minutes and twenty-three seconds,"I said to Castaway.He grunted and raised his wings."You wanna try again?"I was surprised.But if he wanted to try again,I wasn't stopping him.We flew round Berk again,and this time the timing was exactly four minutes and fifty-seven seconds.But I guess that wasn't good enough to Castaway,because he raised his wings again,ready to fly off.We flew round Berk again and again,always on the same route,until we managed to hit exactly three minutes,and by that time Castaway was probably exhausted."Woah,woah,Castaway,stop,"I persuaded him just before he sped off again.I quietly got him a drink of water and a few fishes before loosening the saddle a little so it wouldn't tighten itself round Castaway's body so much.

Next,I tried figuring out how to make Castaway go faster without him wasting too much energy.It was a well-known strategy to make any dragon with large wings fly faster by training them to flap their wings at top speed.After Castaway had finished resting,I commanded,"Castaway,flap wings!"while flailing my own arms.Castaway tilted his head for a moment before flapping his wings slowly.He hovered in the air."Faster,"I continued,doing the same with my own arms.Castaway seemed to understand and his wings began sending out a relatively strong wind.After repeating 'faster' for about a minute,the wind Castaway's wings were making almost knocked me over.Then it was time to test if it really worked.I got on his back and ordered slowly,"Flap wings,faster,".Castaway understood immediately and suddenly,his flying speed was so quick even I was taken aback.We managed to fly round Berk in two-and-a-half minutes,but we couldn't beat Toothless' record of exactly half-a-minute.Definitely not.But we were almost as fast as a Monstrous Nightmare,which wasn't too shabby at all.

Just then,I looked up to see something fly past the moon for a millisecond before disappearing into the darkness of the night sky.But I knew what it was."Night Fury.What's Hiccup doing?"I wondered aloud.To satisfy my curiosity,I mounted Castaway and tried to locate Toothless and Hiccup.Suddenly,they flew past the bright moon again."Go!Follow them!"I urged Castaway.I could see Toothless very faintly against the night sky.But Castaway wasn't headed for them.He was going left while Toothless and Hiccup were flying right."Castaway,it's that way!"I gently pulled the saddle to the right.Castaway obeyed and began flying right.We followed Toothless for a while.Suddenly,he did a tight turn to the left.I almost screamed as I realised Castaway was going to crash right into a sea-stack!I jerked back the saddle violently,causing Castaway to suddenly stop."Are you blind?!"I accused my dragon with a hint of anger.To my surprise,Castaway nodded his head as if to agree.

To test if Castaway really was night-blind,I gently steered him towards another sea-stack.He just kept flying towards it without even stopping!I slowed Castaway down before he rammed into the sea-stack again."This is something to tell Hiccup,"I muttered.I guided Castaway home for fear he would injure himself if he tried to fly in the night again."How will you fly in pitch darkness?"I pondered over this question as I sat on my bed.Unstrapping the saddle,I laid it on my table and stroked Castaway."It wasn't your fault for not being able to see the sea-stack.Sorry for yelling at you,boy,"I apologised,hugging Castaway's head.He nudged my shoulder with a grunt before falling asleep.I laid down his head gently and crept to my own bed.

But before my head hit the pillow,I remembered something."I really wonder what Hiccup is up to,"I thought.Without any hesitation whatsoever,I silently got out of bed and jumped out of the window,slid down the house's outer walls and landed quietly on the ground.Looking up to the sky,I searched it for Toothless.A black figure with a smudge of red suddenly soared up from out of nowhere as quick as lightning.I followed Toothless with my eyes and watched as he suddenly dived behind a nearby hill.I waited with anticipation for the Night Fury to appear as quickly as he had disappeared.Out of the blue,something whacked my head and I blacked out...

A.N. Sorry for the super short chapter!Please forgive me as I have had to study for exams :P