The Middle of Our Story (Hiccup x OC) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 1

The rush of wind caressed my face, blowing the hair out of my eyes. "Shadow, why would he do that?" I asked my dragon as we flew. It was the day dragon races commenced and Hiccup had promised me he would be there. He also said he would meet me before it started for a picnic lunch. Neither of his promises were fulfilled.

We flew near the ground to grab a sheep with a painted target on its side in Shadow's gentle grip. She shook her head as if to say she didn't know, but she was irritated too. "He's been breaking a lot of his promises lately. I wonder why . . ."

"Hiccup troubles?" Astrid asked, flying next to me. A few years ago, I greatly despised her, but her harsh previous attitude had changed so now we were good friends.

"Yeah," I sighed, flying over the arena and dropping the sheep into my basket as Astrid did the same with hers. The crowd cheered as Stoick shouted to me, "Marish, you're winning. Keep it up!" I looked at him and forced a smile with a wave of acknowledgment.

"Apparently I'm even more competitive when angry," I stated to Astrid as we continued to fly side-by-side. The other competitors came into view, loudly fighting over the black sheep. This was worth ten points and much more valuable than the white sheep that were worth only one. "Shadow, black sheep!" I knew that victory was achievable as I encouraged Shadow to increase her speed toward the riders, leaving Astrid on her Nadder far behind.

"Quit trying to steal all my glory!" Tuffnut shouted at his twin.

"You're always ruining everything!" his sister retorted as the two fought on their Zippleback tugging the sheep between them. I pushed Shadow forward to fly over the quarreling siblings. I leaped off her back onto the Zippleback's tail and up its body, grabbing the sheep from the twins' outstretched arms. A delighted laugh escaped me when the twins gawked in disbelief and exclaimed their irritation as I jumped back into Shadow's saddle. They attempted to pursue after me, but Shadow's strong wings sustained a speed they could not match. We quickly reached the arena and I dropped the sheep into my basket with the other baaing animals.

The crowd erupted with cheers as Stoick announced the winner. "That's eighteen for Marish, nine for the twins, three for Astrid and zero for Fishlegs and Snotlout. Marish must be in one of her competitive moods again!" he joked, earning chuckles from Vikings in the crowd. Little did he know the truth of his jest and that his son was the cause of my success.

Normally, I would fly down to receive congratulations from Stoick and the crowd, but instead, I flew back to my house. There was no joy in gloating if Hiccup was not present, so I planned to leave Berk for a few hours. I slid off the saddle onto the ground and grabbed a satchel from its hook on the wall of the barn. I then filled a flask with water from our well and took three apples from a large sack, loading the items into the satchel. "Alright, Shadow," I said to the Sand Wraith as I slung the satchel over my shoulder, securing it carefully so it would not fall off during flight. After hopping onto her saddle, I gave her a comforting pat on the head and urged her forward away from the barn. "Let's go find Hiccup."