The icy water of the ocean nibbled at my bare toes, Barak was the first to plummet head first into the numbing waves, not even taking off his boots. Halvar and Howard went next, stripping down to only their brown pants, Hayden rocketed into the water exposing his birthday suit! Now it was just Raisa, Gael and I standing on the shore, freezing our behinds off.
"Rais, love the water is great once you're in!" Howard called from a few meters out, he splashed around him trying to beckon his fiance in.
"I'm going to catch my death, aren't I?" Raisa grimaced as she turned towards me.
"We all will." I muttered in response, my eyes fixed on the sea. Suddenly, Raisa dropped her skirt and shirt to the floor, leaving her in her breast bindings and leggings (her boots had already been discarded at this point.)
SON OF ODIN!" Raisa screamed as she sprinted into the water, she flung herself at Howard with open arms and managed to dunk him, causing us all to cripple with laughter. Once they had surfaced, Raisa sprung into Howard's arms and they spun around, laughing as the waves engulfed them.
"Aren't you going in?" Gael asked softly as the others splashed a little further out. Nervously, I gulped, it had been a really long time since I had last been swimming...eight or nine years?
"Well you see...I'm not really a good swimmer..." I muttered, giving Gael a shy smile. He chuckled lightly and began to pull of his boots.
"Neither am I, but we're 'grown ups' now, we have responsibilities and duties, so when a little fun comes along, we should live in the moment." He nodded firmly, pulling off his jacket. For a brief moment I stared out at the others who were now engaged in a splash fight, then my eyes darted back to Gael whom had now removed his linen tunic. I sighed in defeat and began to take pull of the old tartan dress I had thrown on less than twenty minutes ago.
Now Gael and I were standing on the shore, shivering but a wide grin was plastered to each of our faces. He gripped onto my hand and gave me a quick nod, indicating we should go in.
"Right, let's do this!" I mumbled through chattering teeth. Gael chuckled and then done something I was not expecting! Rapidly, he hoisted me up onto his back and then sprinted in the ocean. Splashes of the icy element whipped my back as we got deeper, just as the water reached to Gael's waist he let go of my legs and threw me backwards! I submerged into the water fully, kicking my legs around and my arms flailed, I panicked as I couldn't pull myself up to the surface but a strong hand reached down and hauled me up. Gasping, I pawed my hair out of my eyes coming face to face with Gael. He was in hysterics along with the others.
"Are...you OK..El?!" Hayden questioned through his snorts of laughter.
"I'm fine..." I croaked as I viciously shuddered from the cold. Gael wrapped his two arms around me and pulled me into his slightly muscular chest, trying to share his little body heat. "I'll get you for that!" I grunted.
For the next fifteen minutes, we had splash fights, Raisa and I tried to dunk each other whilst she perched on Howard's shoulders and I was on Gael's. Barak, Hayden, Halvar and Howard were just about to engage in a similar battle when we all heard someone yell at us from the shore.
"YOU GUYS KNOW IT'S WAY PAST MIDNIGHT RIGHT?!" Kaiya yelled from the shore, she had her arms crossed over her chest and an apprehensive look on her face.
"So? We're adults, we can have a midnight swim, can't we?" Barak jeered at his friend, she instantly glared back, effectively shutting him up.
"Come on Kaiya! Join us!" Hayden cheered.
"Are you naked?!" She shrieked at my brother. Howard and I stifled a laugh.
"Maybe..." He mumbled. "Just come on in!" He persisted. Kaiya shook her head and let out a chuckle before bending down to pull her boots off.
"WOO!" Halvar cheered. We all clapped as she dove into the water and swam right up. "Now! Back to the battle!" Halvar grinned. He hoisted Howard up onto his shoulders and Hayden hauled Barak up with a little difficulty.
"Fight!" I cried, initiating the start of the battle. Immediately, Howard lunged his upper body towards Barak and he grabbed onto his fur jacket, pulling him forward as Halvar backed away. It didn't take Barak long to regain balance once Howard had loosened his grip, so he propelled forward on Hayden's shoulders and with both hands, thrust them against Howard's shoulders sending him toppling back into the water, dragging Halvar down with him. Gael, Raisa, Kaiya and I cheered at the winning team, Raisa yanked Howard out of the water and pecked his cheek.
"This so great!" Gael chirped as the others went back to splashing, I was still tucked away in his arms.
"I know..." I breathed happily.
"I really miss dragon racing!" Barak whined a few feet away. The dragon races had been postponed whilst the lock down was in place and it had definitely dampened the spirits on the island.
"Well, tomorrow I could ask my grandpa if we could have a one off race? Y'know to raise to morale on the island." I shrugged, Barak's eyes lightened up and he cheered, fist pumping Hayden.
"That's a really good idea! I'm sure grandpa will agree to it!" Howard beamed.
I glanced over at Kaiya who was floating off to the side a bit. Usually, Barak, Halvar, Raisa and Gael were the four main races when a normal race took place.
"Kaiya, if this is going to be a special race, I think we're going to need more than four riders..." I smirked at her, she stared at me, he mouth open slightly.
"You want me to take part?" She asked in disbelief. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Why not, all of us can!" I mused, the fact that I actually had a dragon completely slipped my mind.
"That sounds amazing!" Hayden gasped. Kaiya giggled slightly and lowered her head...ooooh I sense a thing going on!
The others paddled away and began to chat excitedly about the race, Gael spun me around in his arms, his face was knotted in concern.
"They don't know you have a dragon...and it's a Night Trance!" Quietly, Gael reminded. My smile dropped. He's right, if people were actually afraid of Night Trances then maybe Eclipse wouldn't be accepted, she would be feared and if she actually was a threat...killed.
YOU ARE READING
United -Sequel to 'If You'll Be Mine'
Fanfiction-This is the sequel to If You'll Be Mine- Twenty years ago, Hiccup and Merida DunBroch-Haddock welcomed their triplets into the world: Howard, Hayden and Eliza. As they grew up it became very clear that... Howard was a natural born leader, he mainl...
