Dragons are a Girls Best Friend

Chapter 8 Runa

Dragon: Thornridge

Name: Kari

Personality: Secretive like her name. Very untrusting of strangers at first but is a sweet, kind and loyal to those she deems worthy

I entered the academy silently. I'd passed Asta on the way over. She's all right really, but she just has this type of attitude that makes her think she's better than everyone else. I hate it when she acts that way. Especially as I know that isn't the true her. Ever since that day, she's changed. We all used to be such good friends. Asta, Eydis and I. I would have liked it to keep going that way, but it was just not meant to be. I want to forgive them, I really do! But whenever I'm near them, the pain from that day comes back and I... I just can't. I have the twins first today. I wonder what they have in store for me to do. I looked around the academy and saw nothing. Did they... forget they had me to train? I stood there, unsure what to do when all over a sudden Ruff and Tuffnut jumped down from the ceiling, making me jump. "Ruff, Tuff! Don't startle me like that!" I exclaimed catching my breath. The twins snickered to themselves. "So. What's happening today?" I prompted them after a few moments of awkward silence. 

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot! So, what were we supposed to do again?" Tuffnut put on a thinking face. I face-palmed. "You know... Training!". Finally the twins remember and they spent the rest of the time teaching me how to effectively make use of different situations to my advantage. And i have to admit. Some of it was actually quite, fun and useful too. Surprisingly the twins can be smart if they want to be. I wave goodbye to them and hop on my Thornridge I named Kari. She's a sweet girl and absolutely loves to be scratched under the chin. As soon as I had seen her at the training academy, I knew she was the one for me. Quiet, caring and withdrawn from the rest. She doesn't trust easily so i assume, just like me, something happened in her past that made her this way. Kari dipped her head and nudged me affectionately. I hugged her long neck and smiled. Happy that i now have a friend that I could share all my secrets with. Of course I used to have actual friends I could do that with, Asta and Eydis, but ever since three years ago, that all changed. I'm not that much comfortable in talking about it. But the gist of it was that I needed help and that help didn't arrive. Eydis of course, being the nice girl that she is, keeps trying to include me in everything, which I'm grateful for, but I don't believe I'm quite ready to forgive them all just yet.

The rest of the day went surprisingly quick. Most likely due to the fact that I kept having flashbacks on my past so I wasn't focussing as much as i should have. Kari could sense this, so whenever she could, she would nudge me to check if I was alright. On the plus side I got to choose my weapon. The bow and arrow. I figured that was a good pick for me. Even Astrid thought so as well. And she taught me how to use it effectively. I'm grateful to her for that. But then I thought of what was to come. Dragons being forced to carry vikings around the place was bad but not that threatening so I don't think Chief Hiccup would be preparing us for something as little as that. So there must be something else. Something bigger that Chief Hiccup had to prepare us so suddenly when he and his team could have dealt with it themselves. So they must be worried that, whatever it was, was bigger than what he could handle, and they needed a back up team in case anything goes wrong. There are dark times ahead of us. I just hope that no-one gets killed for it. Kari and I fly out of the Academy as Halvar flies in with his Snafflefang, Tormentar. Of course he had to choose a name with different spelling. So like him. A big fella with lots of brawn and not much brain. Actually when I think about it. I think he'd really get along with Snotlout. As revolting as that sounds, Snotlout, for all his tendencies, is actually very handy in an air battle. Shifting my focus from Halvar, instead, I focus my mind towards what lies ahead.