Another Day in Berk

Nightstriker flew close to Cloudjumper, Valka standing gracefully on his back. Toothless brought up the rear.

"I-I thought we were going to eat," Hiccup's voice cut through the flapping of dragon wings.

I turned to look at Hiccup and caught sight of a large flock of dragon's flying several yards behind him and Toothless. I whipped my head back to Valka when I heard her talk.

"Oh, we are." She rotated Cloudjumper around to face me and Hiccup.

The older viking focused her attention on the waters below. We naturally followed her gaze and we found the water bubbling up. Suddenly, the Bewilderbeast leapt from the ocean and spat out thousands of fish from his mouth causing it to rain fish. Dragons swarmed the airborne fish instantly.

I beamed when Nightstriker zoomed around with the others, catching a mouthful of fish. She looked over at Toothless who caught up and also had his mouth stuffed with fish. They grinned at each other while me and Hiccup laughed at them.

After the two had their fill and we gathered a few fish to take back to the dragon sanctuary, Valka led us over to a snow covered island. Toothless and Nightstriker began to wrestle each other while Cloudjumper watched over them like a parent. She seemed more annoyed by their childish antics than entertained.

"So what have you guys been up to in Berk?" Valka asked us when we met up with her.

I shrugged, "Racing dragons, working with Gobber in the smith, helping this one with his map..."

"Map?"

"Show her, Hiccup."

He ran his hand through his hair and pulled out his map. "Having Toothless allowed me to explore beyond Berk. I've been working on this map to help us in future exploration."

"It's incredible what he's found so far," I praised.

Pink colored Hiccup's cheeks. It didn't go unnoticed as Valka stared at me with a smile which I ignored to watch Hiccup lay out his map on the snow.

Hiccup started to point out some landmarks he found and the story behind some of the names. He also mentioned some pieces of land he had yet to explore.

We were so focused on the map, we didn't notice Valka drawing in the snow. When we looked up, Valka hand drawn a map of the world. She wore a grin that we both mimicked.

Suddenly, Toothless came in front of us, drawing lines around us in the snow with an icicle. Nightstriker held a dragon smile on her muzzle as she watched her dragon friend. Cloudjumper watched curiously as he twirled around her. The icicle stuck to his tongue when he finished drawing. We laughed and Valka gazed at the drawing with a grin.

Our laughter died down and she spoke up. "Let's go fly," she suggested.

"Yeah!" I cheered, hopping onto Nightstriker. We took to the skies before the other two got on their dragons. "Come on!"

They joined me a minute later and we started zipping through the sky. I laughed and hooted when my dragon did a few flips.

Valka stood on Cloudjumper before she jumped from her dragon to some other dragon's flying with us. She made it to Toothless and lightly danced along his wingspan, ruffling Hiccup's hair in the midst of her dances. His mom jumped over my way and stood on Nightstriker's back.

"Can you teach me to do that?" I asked her.

She nodded, "Come."

I stared at the hand she held out to me, took it then let her guide me to my feet.

"Find your balance, then feel the air around you. Trust your dragon."

I nodded once and found my balance. She took a step away from me and I stood by myself. The wind rushing past me was exhilarating.

"Woo!" I cheered. "This is amazing!"

Valka made her way back to Cloudjumper, "Keep practicing and you'll dance across dragon wings!"

I cheered again, throwing my arms up, but threw off my balance and fell off my dragon. She immediately dove after me as well as Cloudjumper and Toothless. I just watched the water come closer.

Not to my surprise, I landed in the arms of none other than Hiccup.

"We're going to have to make you a gliding suit, huh?" Hiccup smirked.

Pouting, I crossed my arms, "I just have to be more careful... Thanks though." I reached over Hiccup's arm to pat Toothless' side, "And thank you, buddy."

Hiccup brought Toothless to the island we had been on previously. He helped me down, following after me and walking around me to make sure I was all okay.

"I'm okay, Hiccup," I told him, brushing away his hands on my shoulders.

Nightstriker bounded over to us and pushed Hiccup out of her way. She nuzzled my stomach with a loving purr emitting from her chest.

"Like I told Hiccup, I'm okay, girl. Just made a bad mistake."

"That was a great first try," Valka complimented as she climbed off Cloudjumper.

"Thanks. I'll keep practicing."

She smiled, "Well, I'll go grab our lunch and we can head back to eat." Valka walked away.

I sighed and trudged over to the edge of the island where it dropped off to the ocean a few yards below. I sat down, letting my legs hang over the edge and gazed at the horizon.

"You don't seem okay," Hiccup's voice came from behind me. He sat down right next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.

"No. I'm okay. I'm just disappointed I made a rookie mistake," I admitted. "But I'm not hurt. Just my ego, I guess, is."

"You have to make mistakes to get better. You were there when I tried befriending Toothless. And when he and I had to relearn how to fly with my leg," my friend smiled warmly. "It's a learning experience."

Our dragons laid down next to us, wrapping their bodies around where we sat. I pat Nightstriker's paw when she rested it on my lap before I looked over at Hiccup.

"Thanks again for catching me," I smiled.

He blushed, "Ah, it was no problem."

"I'm surprised I didn't scream."

"Yeah, why didn't you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I figured you would catch me."

A smirk appeared on both our faces.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I told you I trusted you, right?"

His smirk evolved into a smile and he tightened his arm around me.

My arms wrapped around his torso in a hug and I let my head fall onto his shoulder. I didn't blush or feel awkward even when we made no motion to get up.

We heard a soft chuckle behind us. The two of us swung our heads around to see Valka watching us with a grin and the satchel of fish hanging off her shoulders.

"Ready to go? Or do you want to sit around for a little longer?"

Hiccup stood, helping me up, "No, let's get back."

"I'm starving," I rubbed my stomach.

"Then let's get our lunch cooking."