Learning To Fly Away

Chapter 6

"... And with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole! And I saw his face, I was delicious! He must have passed the word on because it wasn't a month later when one took my leg." Gobber explained to the teens who were all eating around a campfire.

Eira wasn't enjoying these stories as much as the others. Snotlout, the nut twins and Fishlegs were mopping it up while Astrid was unconvinced. Hiccup wasn't paying attention to any of the stories.

"Isn't it weird that your hand is inside a dragon? Like, if you could still control it you could crush its heart or something." Fishlegs stated as Eira cringed and shuddered.

"You okay Eira?" Astrid whispered.

"Yeah, just cold." She replied.

"I'm so angry right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and leg. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face!" Snotlout cried.

"You'd be dead before you would even reach the dragon. We all know you're terrified of them." Eira said blatantly while Astrid high fived her.

Snotlout quieted down after that.

"It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Gobber said.

Eira looked to her brother and realised he mirrored her horrified expression. Luckily, nobody else saw.

"Alright, time for bed. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Eira, you can still watch. We'll eventually work our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who's going to get the honour of killing it?" Gobber said before leaving the teens.

"It's gonna be me. It's my destiny." Tuffnut says as he rolls up his sleeve revealing a red dragon on his arm.

"You're mom let you get a tattoo?" Fishlegs asked.

"Nah, it's a birthmark." Tuffnut replied.

Eira had had enough off this conversation.

"I'm heading off, see you tomorrow." Eira said to Astrid.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." She replied.

Eira left with Hiccup following after.

"Hey, Eira, I'm gonna make a tail for Toothless." Hiccup said. "You heard Gobber. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

"I understand. Have you made a connection yet?" She asked.

"He touched my hand." Hiccup said.

Eira nodded her head.

"You make the tail, I will help you put it on tomorrow, before class. Meet at the cove at sunrise." Eira said before heading off to the house.
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The next morning, before sunrise, Eira headed down to the cove to see Toothless and Brighteyes. When she reached the cove, the sun had just started to rise. The sun lit up the cove and it was beautiful. Eira took a seat on a rock by the pool and just sat there, thinking.

Soon, a grey creature nuzzled up beside her.

"Hey girl, how are you?" Eira whispered, scratching Brighteyes under her chin.

As she did that, Brighteyes purred and collapsed to the ground. Eira took out her notebook and recorded the incident.

"Collapses when scratched under chin." She said as she wrote.

Behind her, Toothless crept cautiously to the young girl. If his sister could trust her, maybe he could. He slowly walked up to her.

"Hey bud, good morning." Eira said softly.

Toothless just stared at the girl, his eyes no longer slitted.

"I don't have any fish, but Hiccup is coming with some soon. Sorry." Eira said, Brighteyes curled up at her side.

Slowly, Eira put out her hand, waiting for contact. Toothless hesitated a moment before making contact.

"That's it, that's a good boy!" Eira cried softly while scratching behind Toothless's ears.

The dragon purred happily as Hiccup walked into the cove with Toothless's new tail and a basket of fish.

"Dragons! I brought breakfast!" He called.

The two dragons raced over to the basket of fish and began to eat. While they ate, Hiccup crept up behind Toothless trying to attach the tail. Eira tried to keep the dragon calm as he did this.

Eventually, Hiccup got the tail on Toothless. Toothless stops eating and slowly starts to spread his wings.

"Toothless, easy." Eira tried to calm the dragon, but it was too late.

Toothless took off, with Hiccup clinging onto his tail.

"Hiccup!" Eira cried as the dragon took off with her brother.

Eira just stood at the cove, with Brighteyes by her side.

"So... Are we going after them or...." Eira said to the dragon, unsure of what to do.

Brighteyes just rolled her eyes, as if to say "Let them be." Eira giggled.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Eira concluded as she threw a fish to Brighteyes.

The two settled by the pool at the cove, Eira resting on Brighteyes. In that moment, Eira knew their was something special between the two of them, a bond unlike anything she had ever felt.

The two had fallen asleep, only to be awoken with water drenching them. Eira shot up, awake and alert, and so did Brighteyes. She saw Toothless and Hiccup lying in the water.

"Hiccup!" Eira cries as Brighteyes gives a roar of anger at Toothless.

Hiccup ignored his sister.

"Yeah! Eira, I rode a dragon! I mean, I need to change a few things, but it works!" He cried.

Toothless just seemed to roll his eyes.

"As great as that sounds, you have training soon, so we need to go." Eira stated bluntly.

As amazed as she was that Hiccup had ridden Toothless, she was still mad about getting wet.

"I'll come back this evening Brighteyes." Eira whispered to the dragon.

Brighteyes purred as the two left for the arena.