Ch. 13- Excitement

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I woke up bright and early, thanks to Violet. Hiccup was sound asleep while Toothless was starting to stir. I yawned but got up anyways, knowing my best friend frowned upon sleeping in, despite the previous late night.

I had been here for a week and a half and was already falling into a pattern in my days. I started breakfast since I was the first to wake and had finished dishing out plates when Stoick, Hiccup's dad and the chief of Berk, plopped down.

"Thanks," he mumbled, staring at me as we ate in silence.

He was always staring at me. Not in a bad "I think you're up to something way" but with a longing look, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't- or wouldn't.

"Um, do- uh," I started.

"Yes? What's on your mind, child?"

I shifted and stared at my plate. "Do I remind you of someone?"

"What?"

"Y- you always stare at me like- like you long to say something to me. I just assumed it was because I looked like someone you loved or knew or something like that. I, uh," I finally managed to look up to find him staring again. "I'll shut up now. I'm sorry. You don't have to answer if you don't want-"

He chuckled, "Relax, Star. You do remind me of someone I lost. Many years ago. Two someone's, in fact. I lost both my daughter and my wife, and you look very similar to them."

My eyes widened. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

His heavy laughter cut me off. "Relax, lass. You did nothing wrong. It's not your fault. Thanks for breakfast, dear. It was delicious." With a quick goodbye to both Hiccup and myself, he left.

I turned to Hiccup, only noticing him sitting on the stairs after Stoick addressed him. "How long have you been there?" I asked, nervously.

"I was on my way down when you first tried to ask dad your question. I sat down as he started answering. With how observant you are, I'm surprised you didn't see me," he joked. He sat down in his seat and scarfed down his food in less than two minutes. "Oh Thor, your cooking is the best!"

"Oh, thanks."

"Ready for our morning flight?" he asked, eagerly.

I nodded, "Always."

We ran out the door to find Toothless and Violet playing around. They ran passed us, knocking us over with a, "Whoa!"

"Are you, uh- are you okay?" Hiccup asked, his face hovering over mine. I was sandwiched between the ground and Hiccup.

"Yeah, I think." I paused, waiting for him to move. "We should probably get to that flight," I hinted after a few seconds.

He nodded, nervously. "Yeah. Yup. Yes. Exactly what I was thinking. Get to that flight." He stood up, offering me a hand, too. "Sorry about that."

I shrugged. "It's fine. It's not your fault." I climbed on Violet, and he did the same with Toothless, then we took off.

I felt like going for a fast and rough flight, but Hiccup seemed content with a peaceful flight, so I clamped my mouth shut, making plans to go for my favorite kind of flight later. Staying in one place for so long was making me antsy. The lack of excitement and hard core flights and exploring were making it that much more difficult for not only me but Violet, too.

Hiccup seemed to have noticed, because he has been declining Dragon Racing, regular races, stunt tricks, and other adrenaline causing activities thinking it would help. Sadly, it does the opposite. It probably doesn't help to being used to just Violet and I to suddenly being surrounded by a group of people. And let's not forget, many villagers still stare at Violet and I as we walk through the village. I used to think it was just because of Violet but still being stared at while Violet was off playing with Toothless put that assumption in the trash.

I longed to have just a day to collect my thoughts and think about what's next for Violet and I. A day to do all the stupid and daring and life threatening stunts I could come up with. A day to explore Dragon Island, which looked oddly familiar.

Idea.

I would sneak out for a day. No big deal, right? Half the time I woke up before Hiccup, anyways. Leave a note, have my day off, then come back like nothing happened. There, bang, and done! Surely the others would understand, right? Or maybe I should just ask. It's not like they could honestly stop me. And if they disapproved, then I would know this place is too- I don't know- controlling, or something like that.

I would ask- or tell- Hiccup of my plan tonight.

We flew into the Dragon Academy, being third and fourth after Astrid and Fishlegs. We exchanged greetings and separated into two groups: girls and guys. As Fishlegs and Hiccup droned on and on about some new idea, invention, or dragon they already knew about, Astrid and I had some "girl talk" as she put it.

"So, Star, how are you liking Berk?"

"Fine. Fine. I like it here."

"It's just," she trailed, wanting me to finish.

"It's just- I don't know- new. I'm not used to staying in one place for so long. I mean, the longest I stayed someone was a month, and that was only because the accident."

"Accident? What accident?" cut in Hiccup.

"Many years ago, Violet and I were goofing around when a wild dragon bumped into us. We crashed, and I was out for two days. When I woke up, Violet was missing half of her tail. So, I stayed on the island, snuck into the village at night, and made Violet a working tail so we could fly again. It took a month with my limited knowledge and learning how to use the darn contraption, though. It was the longest month of my life!"

"Wow. I was wondering about Violet's tail," muttered Fishlegs.

"Wait, you were out for two days? Who took care of you?" asked Hiccup, concerned.

"Oh, Bard did. We were visiting him, so he watched over me."

"Wait, why'd you have to sneak around the village then?" asked Snoutlout, who must have showed up with the twins at the beginning of your story.

"One, because I kind of wasn't supposed to be on the island. Two, they fought dragons. They still do. I couldn't make a tail for Violet without raising some suspicion."

"What you do to not be allowed in the village?" Tuffnut asked.

I looked at the sky with the corner of my eye, "Eh, I'd rather not say. Hehe."

"Was there explosions?" he asked, hopeful.

"No."

"Fire?"

"No."

"Blood?"

"No."

"Destruction?"

"No. What do you take me for? A deranged psychopath?"

Ruffnut cut in, "One can only hope."

"Ignore them, Star. The twins are- I actually don't know how to finish that," inputted Hiccup. "And you don't have to tell us why you were kicked out if you don't want to."

I sighed. "Thanks, because it's really awkward. And I wasn't kicked out. More like they wanted to take me in, but I ran away."

"Ran away? Why?"

"I was still looking for my family. I didn't want to stop."

"And now?" asked Astrid.

I shrugged. "I don't know, taking a break? Starting to settle down. I got separated from them during a really bad storm. I don't have any actual proof that they made it out alive in the first place. Who knows? Maybe all these years of searching has just been a huge waste of time." I paused. "Wow, that was depressing."

"Star-" Hiccup started.

"We should have a Dragon Race!" Tuffnut shouted. "It's been a while since we've had one.

"Uh, Tuff, I don't know," Hiccup said, glancing at me.

"I'm in," I voted.

"Me, too."

"Oh yeah! You guys will be swimming in defeat!" Snoutlout bragged.

"Speak for yourself," I retorted. "Cause I'll be flying to victory."

"She'll be fine, Hiccup. Besides, she probably needs to let out some steam," I heard Astrid tell Hiccup. "Keeping her bottled up won't help you convince her to stay."

"But she could get hurt."

"And she's used to doing it everyday. She needs some sort of normalcy, Hiccup. A sudden lack of excitement will only push her away, and no one wants that."

"Okay," Hiccup agreed. "Count us in!"

Face paint was distributed among us. I actually managed to make purple my color. Cool, right? I didn't know what to do, so I just watched the others as they painted themselves and their dragons.

Hiccup finished first and noticed my lack of paint used. He walked over and offered to help.

"Thanks, I'm not really sure where to start," I blushed, slightly embarrassed. We didn't use paint last time we had a Dragon Race.

He took dipped his fingers in the paint and brushed my hair back with his other hand. "Well, let's start here." He glided two fingers across my cheek, then my other cheek. "Then here." He painted something on my forehead.

"Star, you're going to have to tie your hair back better than that if you don't want paint in it, and trust me, you don't," said Astrid, walking over. "Here, let me." My hair, which was lazily tied back, was already coming undone. Astrid took the hair tie out and redid it. I stayed still as Hiccup finished his painting my face and Astrid quickly finished with my hair.

"There," they said at the same time.

"Hurry up with Violet, guys," Fishlegs said. "We're all done."

"Okay, Fishlegs. Come on, Star." Hiccup put two lines on Violet's head and a few lines and swirls on her wings. They were quickly done but was better than nothing. They all re- explained the rules as Violet's paint dried. I remembered them from last time but let them continue in case I forgot anything. I didn't.

A net had been made for me to drop my sheep in, rather than the "guest" net. I smiled as Hiccup pointed it out to me. "Wow." The Night Fury symbol matched Hiccup's but had been painted purple. "Look, Vi."

"Glad you like it," Hiccup chuckled.

A huge crowd roared with excitement as Stoick prepared for the start of the race. The crowd had been gathering around us since we made the decision to race. I wondered how they knew what we had planned.

"We sent a Terrible Terror to tell dad," Hiccup explained. "Word travels fast around here. And Dragon Races help us let out a lot of steam and energy, even for those watching."

I looked around, seeing everyone smiling and filled with excitement. "I can tell. Do you race often?"

"It started out as an annual thing but quickly became a common event."

I laughed. "I understand. This is too much fun to just do it once a year."

"Racers!" Stoick called, ending our conversation. "On your mark!"

We all prepared to take off.

"Get set!"

I leaned my body against Violet, gripping the handles on her saddle tightly. I couldn't wait to race! I would love to win.

"Go!"

We all took off without hesitation. We flew to a certain spot before we all turned around to start to the race.

"Come on, Vi. Let's win this thing!"

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