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━━ chapter one
dragon races

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     WITH EVERY start to a story, there is an ending. Some could be sad, some might be happy, but there are also stories that hold both. Bittersweet; ones that ache at the heart, but also fill with something special━a fulfilment; closure. You remember all the years you had, all the times you spent, and you say goodbye to them with a tearful smile because you know, deep down, that while this was the end of your story, it was only just the beginning of someone else's. 

      This ending started quite like any other beginning, as most do. 

      Bright and early, on a sunny day that was unusual for Hiccup's home. An island quite mountainous and rocky, with arms and fingers protuding out of the cool waters like hands grasping up to the sky. A place twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. But much like any home in years gone and past, it has changed. While the landscape stayed very much the same, the people who resided on it did not. Once a place of terror, and war, and early morning wake-up calls in the form of deadly fire, Berk was now the best-kept secret this side of, well ... anywhere. And, granted, the village itself still might not look much since those days ceased (aside from some very brightly-painted buildings), but this wet heap of rock did pack more than a few surprises. 

     Life there had become amazing, but with its rough winters, harsh landscape masked by the beauty and even harsher food, it wasn't for the faint of heart. It was the home of Vikings, and if that wasn't enough to explain, Hiccup will mention their hobbies.

     You see, where as most folks across the sea enjoy hobbies like whittling or needlepoint, them Berkians prefer ... well, a little something they liked to call ...

     Dragon Racing!

     The rules are quite simple, really. Be the fastest to find and catch all the targeted sheep from Sven's farm, toss them into your winnings in time to be in front for the release of the Black Sheep━the final, and most competitive lap of the entire game. Almost everything is allowed: weapons, double-heads, Nadder spikes, explosions ... it was the most dangerous, and yet exciting Viking game that brought out everyone from the village to watch in the stands with chicken legs and home-made banners. 

     Then again, the most important rule of Dragon Racing? Cheating is encouraged. 

      And the usual competitors━oh, they were the most competitive, cheating Vikings one could ever meet. 

      Not even cowering sheep could escape the grasp of their hands and their dragon claws━

     "Ha!" Into the net dropped two sheep in a splender twist of a yellow Nadder's body. The boy (well, he infact would argue young man━he had a braid, that made him of age!). His blonde hair flew in the wind, leading the fray of racers down for the seventh lap of that day. His cheeks were painted in a bloody clan symbol, one that━while their morals have changed━still was quite fearful and vicious, as all of his family were: a bright blood red and just a tad of yellow (to respect his dragon, of course). 

      (All racers painted their bodies, dragons and faces to represent their clan. This of course━Hiccup will inform━came from the anual Regatta! But that is a whole other story he will not get into ... yet).

     This fine racer, of a ripe warrior's age of eighteen (turning nineteen!), ducked down into the empty Berk streets━as everyone was at the stands. With narrowed eyes, he searched for more sheep, fingers gripping the edge of his saddle. Hott Frode was determined to win this race, as always. He was determined to show just how much of a man he has become! A warrior to please the greatest shieldmaiden of their generation. Problem was ... she didn't particulary see him the same way. Hott Frode might just be a little too ambitious sometimes, and a bit arrogant, but all of that weighed evenly with the size of his heart and courage. And most definitely the love he had for his Deadly Nadder, a proud━and mischevious━dragon he named Spikemoth. 

     He glanced back, eyeing the following riders briefly. He caught sight of the woman he liked, and his heart fluttered with determination. She was trying to win━as always. She most definitely will end up beating him, he didn't doubt it. Hott might just let her, but if he ever said that, well, that was an axe to the head for him and back to the beginning of his determination to show himself worthy. 

     Too busy watching her, he failed to realise a second Viking had swooped in underneath. Even with a dragon with the flight pattern of a hummingbird, he managed to grab the targeted sheep hiding in his squandron and cut Hott right off.

     "Hey!" he shouted, spinning to the side trying to control Spikemoth again. She squawked with annoyance. "That was supposed to be mine, Fishlegs!"

      Fishlegs was a large, meaty boy with not much chin because it was all neck and an eager mind to learn anything he can about dragons! Cheering into the skies, he rose up and over the thatched-roofed houses sat snugly in his saddle. Despite riding the slowest of all dragons, Meatlug the Gronckle was not to be underestimated. While she was loving, and just as kind-hearted as her enthusastic rider, she and Fishlegs had mastered the skill of precise hovering. One minute, you think they are behind you, losing, and then the next moment, they come up out of nowhere and steal your sheep! (Now, Hott will sure be complaining about that to Hiccup for a week, at least). 

      Yet, they weren't the only dragon and rider who were keen on stealing sheep from other competitors━or cheating in any way possible to come out on top. That would be Snotlout Jorgenson and his Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang. In very stark contrast to Fishlegs and Meatlug, they were a mean duo, with equally mean faces that shoved the sheep right from Meatlug's claws.

     Snotlout caught it, casual and smug, soaring past. "Oh! I'm sorry, Fishlegs," he quirked a thick, dark brow. Hookfang sent a sneer through aristocratic, slender eyes. His rider pointed to the sheep in his hands, "Did you want that?"

     He grinned at Fishlegs's furious growl. "Damn it, Snotlout!" he cursed.

    The Jorgenson laughed, pulling Hookfang back with a swift extend of his mighty blood-red wings. Fishlegs screamed as he had to duck out of the way. Snotlout was obnoxious, irrational, and a neccessary evil. Worst thing? He was Hiccup's cousin. (Ah, yes, what a lovely cousin he was. Sometimes, he hoped that one day, Hiccup will accidentally get lost and he'd be given the chance to step up for his 'rightful place as Chief'━he was joking, of course!

    Hiccup thinks...).

   Dragon and Rider pulled to a stop in front of the racers in following. The Twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Sister and brother. Annoyance One and Annoyance Two. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, narrow-faced (and very narrow-minded), they rode the one dragon that could match their idiotic genius. A lime-green and yellow Hideous Zippleback named Barf and Belch (respectfully). This group of trouble-makers had many names, many concerning problems, and a shared brain between all four of them that did work ... seldom of the time. 

     Snotlout fixed his gaze on one Twin, in particular, however. Right of her brother, gripping Barf's two sharp horns, Ruffnut immediately turned up her pointed nose at the flashing grin he sent her. "Here you go, babe━" he tossed the sheep up to her. It landed in her arms with a frightened bleat. Leaning back in his saddle, Snotlout gazed up at Ruffnut━not lovingly, oh, no, it was far from loving. There was only one person Snotlout truly loved, and that was himself. (Or Thor Bonecrusher. Yet, another story Hiccup will oneday tell). "Did I tell you that you look amazing today?" He winked. "'Cause you do."

     "Eurgh!" Ruffnut swallowed the bile in her mouth. She held the sheep tighter, "Come on, Barf," she rolled her eyes, "it's starting to stink around here."

     The Zippleback head opened his maw━he did not like Snotlout, at all, and quite enjoyed sending whisps of noxious gas towards him as his brother head swooped in next. Snotlout was far too busy to even notice (as usual).

     Tuffnut, the younger Twin, grinned in his triumph at the falter in Snotlout's face. His face was barely even noticable through the rough splatters of yellow and black paint meant to resemble a skull. "Nope!" he teased, leering, "still hates you!" The gas surrounded them and Tuffnut snickered. "Let's blow this place, Belch!"

     There was a spark, a scream━Snotlout and Hookfang tumbled all the way back to the end of the group, smoking, coughing and ashen to the face. 

     "All right!" Tuff held up his arms as they swooped down to the crowd, in the lead. His sister cackled as she threw her━their, she means━ninth targeted sheep into their winnings. None of which was their own caught. (Ruffnut supposed there was some advantages to being the prettiest and most desired Viking in Berk). 

     The Vikings of Berk cheered as the racers neared. Their roars and stamps shook the wooden stands, and the casual fan bludgened a rival member of a clan━ah, Vikings. Stubborn, a little dim-witted ... 

     And the leader of this group of Hooligans laughed a chesty laugh in the centre of it all. Standing on his chieftan platform with the best view of the race there was, he held his stomach in his joy. It took a moment to marvel at the sight that was Chief Stoick the Vast. He stood taller than most Vikings━a great seven-feet tall━with arms the size of boulders and a skull as thick as iron. Thick red eyebrows, hair and an even thicker beared muddled with braids and grey hairs, the story was that when he was a boy, he rammed his head against a rock━why? Well, because his father told him so! Does Hiccup believe it? Yes. Yes he does.

    "Ha━ha!" he bellowed, turning Mallory Frode with a bright grin on his face. He punched the Viking with a meaty fist that almost sent even him stumbling. "That's nine for the Twins! Hott comes in second with six━" Mallory nodded, proud of his son, "━Astrid lags with three! Valkyrie with two! Fishlegs and Snotlout trail with none! And Hiccup is ..." he faltered, a sudden scowl on his face at the empty net below the Night Fury trap door, " ... nowhere to be found."

     He sat down in his mighty chair with a disappointed sigh. Beside him, leaning on her staff, the Elder of the Village, Gothi was having a doze. She may not talk, but she very well snored like a hungry yak. 

     A meathead with attitude and interchangable hands laughed, stepping in next to his best friend. Gobber the Belch was a mess of a Viking. He had no left hand, or foot, replaced with stumps. Unlike Stoick, he was short, but meaty, with scarred limbs and hands. His fair hair was almost non existent on his scalp, but instead fell down either side of his rock-like jaw in braids grey with ash from his forge. He still had his metal visor pushed up against his helmet. "Scared him off with the big talk, didn't you, Stoick?"

     At his words, the chief grumbled. Gobber chuckled, amused by his reaction.

    Soaring into their eight lap, a blue Deadly Nadder dived in over Snotlout and Hookfang. Her rider hung sideways in her saddle to smack the Jorgenson right across his head. "What are you doing, Snotlout? They're gonna win now!"

     Astrid Hofferson was perhaps one of the toughest young maidens on the isle, and if you told her otherwise, she will drop you off a cliff from Stormfly's clutches before catching you just in time to make a point. No, Hiccup can't say that from personal experiene, but he has seen it happen once or twice ... or maybe five. Her beauty was as sharp as the blades of her axe, or the spikes on her armour, or the insults laced with dragon venom on her tongue. Hiccup was still scared of her ... just a bit.

     "She's my princess!" said Snotlout. She rolled her eyes. "Whatever she wants, she gets!"

     "Ruffnut?!" on his otherside, swooped in a mighty blue, white and yellow pattered Windstriker named Zephyr. On his saddle, brow arched, aurburn hair flying and owning the skies like it was her own personal kingdom ... was Valkyrie. "Didn't she try to bury you alive?"

     "Only for a few hours!"

     Valkyrie scrunched up her face, finding this response ludicrous. Her cheeks were painted with red flowers, but don't let the flowers fool you. Nor her smile, or her laugh. Now, there was Astrid aggressive, and then there was Valkyrie aggressve. She may no brandish her weapon much, or threaten to throw Vikings off cliffs (unless you insult her flowers━Snotlout never learnt), but she was the kind of scary that made you beg for your life before she even opened her mouth. And Hiccup was absolutely in love and delighted to call her his wife. 

     "Didn't she also nearly get you killed?" added Astrid as they took a turn and Snotlout whacked the racing totem with a kick of his foot.

     "Yeah, like at least a thousand times?"

     "She's an independent woman!" Snotlout shouted over the wind. "I like that!"

    "Ugh!" Astrid threw her eyes up to the heavens.

    Now, of course, dragons used to be a bit of a problem here at Berk. But that was five years ago. Now, they've all moved in. And, really, why wouldn't they? They have custom stables, all-you-can-eat feeding stations, a full-service dragon wash, even top-of-the-line fire prevention (if Hiccup did say so himself). 

     Putting aside his discontent about the dissapearance of his son, Stoick the Vast leaned forward in interest from his chair. He watched the group of riders wrap around for their lap, and decided, "Ah! It's time, Gobber."

     The blacksmith grinned, "Righty-ho!" he waved his wooden hand up at the carved bronze-horn settled on a top-most podium. Behind it, stood Sven, who waved back. "Last lap!" Clasping the edges of the tube, he took a mighty breath and blew into the pipe.

     The sound of the horn echoed across Berk, fixing in the racer's ears with gasps of determination and excitement. 

     Astrid lit up in her saddle, "The Black Sheep!" she exclaimed. "Come on, Stormfly," she hunched down low to gain speed. "We can still win this thing!"

     "Out of my way!" Hott weaved in and out of dragons and buildings, eyes glinting. He darted past his sister who laughed and declared━

     "You're losing this, Hott!" before dipping Zephyr into a sharp dive under the bridges. 

     Valkyrie had been losing, but with the Black Sheep, she will be sure to win. Ten points would boost her to first place, it didn't matter if she didn't have many sheep to start off with. The whole group of them raced to get to the launcher first, hearts thundering in anticipation. But even if they were competitive, and made it absolute Hel for one another in the games, they laughed and cheered as they flew together, grins on their faces.

      Getting closer to Astrid, Valkyrie leaned in close to Zephyr, mischevous. "Come on, boy!" she cried and he bobbed his head with just as much determination as her. "Let's do this! Time to play fetch!"

     Just as she said those words, a black ball of wooly fluff shot into the air. She grinned, "Yes! Come on, boy! Come on!"

     Astrid was still leading, tilting Stormfly up for her claws to extend out to the sheep, "Up!" she cried. "Up, up, up, up, up, up━!"

     From the side, having taken a shortcut, Meatlug and Fishlegs took the sheep right before Stormfly could grab it. "YEAH!" laughed Fishlegs as they spun away and Astrid was livid. "Good job, Meatlug!"

     "NO!" she screamed, slamming her fist down onto her thigh. 

     Valkyrie laughed at her as she and Zeph swooped around after the sheep. Only to gap when Fishlegs doubled back towards the Twins. 

     "Here you go, darling!" he announced. "Mine's worth ten!"

     Meatlug dropped the sheep. Tuffnut extended his arms, beaming━the sheep missed by inches and landed in his sister's lap. He froze for a second in shock, then glowered at her as she cheered. 

     "Yeah!" exclaimed Ruffnut. "The Black Sheep!"

     Valkyrie swooped in line with Snotlout at this, incredulous. "You guys are fighting for Ruffnut?"

      Hott joined her, arms crossed, "Didn't she and Tuff almost have Barf and Belch burn you alive━?"

      "━Or trained you to get killed in those Defender of the Wing trials━?"

     "━Or━"

      "None of that matters!" Snotlout cut them off, ignorant. "We're in love!"

      "I remember her chasing you with a Terrible Terror yesterday."

     "A minor misunderstanding!"

     "What about the time you told her she had a sixth toe?"

     "She doesn't?! Tuff told me she does!"

     "Why would you listen to Tuffnut?" scoffed Valkyrie, shaking her head. 

      Meanwhile, Fishlegs flew right in next to Barf. Ruffnut hadn't noticed yet, too busy revelling in her glory, "I'm totally winning!" Tuff scowled at her, envious.

     "We're winning together!" beamed Fishlegs.

     Her smile fell. Disgusted, she shoved Barf into him and with a scream, Fishlegs and Meatlug spiralled out of control right towards Snotlout, Hott and Valkyrie.

     The siblings managed to get out, but Snotlout was too late. His eyes widened, seeing the pudgy Viking and his Gronckle head straight to him, "Oh, no━"

     Wham! They fell into the roof of Hoark's house. 

     Ruffnut threw her arms up, laughing at ther misery. "Whoohoo! No one can stop me now!"

     But her brother had had enough. He glowered at her, "Except for me! We're attatched, genius!" he reached out and tried to yank the sheep from her. Valkyrie gasped, delighted as she saw her way in. But she wasn't the only one trying to take this opportunity. Astrid and Hott were right on her tail, searching for ways to sneak in and steal the sheep. 

     As the sheep was pulled back and forth amongst screams and shouts from Ruff and Tuff, Valkyrie took a deep breath. She dipped Zephyr down slightly before they shot up at a full-vertical. They soared over and she scowled down, planning their next move. Astrid was fighting Hott to get in behind, both head-to-head. Valkyrie smirked and placed her hand on Zephyr's neck, "Come on, buddy," she murmured, "we gotta be ready."

     The Twins were still fighting over the sheep, yanking it back and forth by its hooves. "Quit trying to steal━", "━hey━!", "━all my glory━!", "━you're always ruining everything━", "━no sheep, no glory!"

    Valkyrie drummed her fingers on Zephyr's neck with a pattern of four taps to tell him to ready himself for a dive-bomb. Astrid had managed to take over Hott and set herself standing on Stormfly's back. She trailed close behind the Twins, and while they were distracted, leapt off her dragon and onto their's. Running up, she somersaulted and grabbed the sheep from their hands, but Valkyrie was ready.

    "Zephyr, now!" she ordered, and he shot vertically down.

    Val held her arm down, and with a side turn, she snatched the sheep out of Astrid's hands before she could even blink. She and Zephyr soared right back up into the air. "Ha━ha!" she let out, triumphant. "Gotcha! Well done, Zephyr!"

     She heard her family cheer━her younger brothers that weren't racing: Asrifth, Mak and Erik going ballistic. Up on the chief's deck, Stoick was on his feet. "Well played!" he shouted, throwing his arms up into the air. Valkyrie's father clapped, and she grinned. Spitelout in the back scoffed in his defeat. "Ha━ha! That's my daughter-in-law!"

     "Take that Astrid!" Valkyrie called back at her best friend, who huffed and crossed her arms at her loss. Hott slumped, letting out a whine at his sister. She poked her tongue out. Looking back over, she gasped. Fishlegs was coming right for her━he slammed into her from the side and she nearly dropped the Black Sheep. Keeping a firm grip on it, she desperately tried to stay on her dragon.

     Following, directly in her way, came Snotlout with a mallet held up high, "Uh, excuse me━"

     Valkyrie gritted her teeth, "Zephyr! Side-bomb!"

     And like that, Zephyr stopped flying. Dropping to the side, both of them fell straight down to the water below, and the mallet's wing missed them. However, Valkyrie was sure it found a great home in the centre of Fishlegs's face.

     With a spin, the sheep still in her possession, Valkyrie returned back up with Zephyr. They glided to her net and Val threw the Black Sheep down into the blue and yellow trapdoor. The sheep landed with the two others━the crowd erupted into applause.

     "That's twelve!" bellowed Stoick and Valkyrie laughed, pulling up to a hover over the stands. "Valkyrie takes the game!"

     She stood up onto her saddle, throwing up her hands to take in the cheers, estatic with her victory. Zephyr roared, purposefuly shining his wings in the sunlight so the patterns would shimmer amongst the painted flowers. 

      Valkyrie reached into the back of her saddle for the victory flower crowns she had previously made, holding them up with her. Yeah, Berk these days was pretty much perfect. All of Hiccup's hard work had paid off. 

      Her gaze flickered to the empty net at the end of the line, pursing her lips at the Night Fury trapdoor. Spinning Zephyr to the tops of the stands, she fixed her eyes towards the horizon, having a feeling she knew exactly what that Night Fury and his rider might be doing. 

     Because now with Vikings on the backs of dragons, the world just got a whole lot bigger.

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     a/n: here's the first chapter!!!!!! i hope you guys like it, and i hope it's different from yrsa's story even if it is the same scene. I try my best to change the descriptions, some of the dialogue, add things, take away things ... hope it has worked! 

      also, stoick being a proud father in law is just ... the best thing about this scene. 

    (sorry if there are any mistakes! and there definitely will be!)

     oh, and let me know what you want to see!! or what you're excited to see! because i have many ideas ...