Fury of the Sun

11. Dragon Training

A/N: Jack isn't going to be central to the story, nor will he be a love interest. I just added him in because he's awesome and I had a couple of ideas that needed a new character.

Sorry, but this is Hiccup / HTTYD fanfiction after all! I'm not totally sure about where I'm going with this part just now, so bear with me if the next few chapters are a bit on the boring side.
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Chapter 11
Dragon Training

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Soundtrack: None
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"Can't you fly straight?" Jack teased over the wind. I scowled and banked harshly to the left, my wings folding to my body. We dropped down like a rock, heading straight for the ocean below.

"Alright! I'm sorry!" Jack screeched.
He had teased me and tested my patience for the last time. I pulled up, but couldn't resist dipping into the icy cold water.
"Hey!" Jack protested after I shot back out of the waves. I wacked him in the jaw with one of my ear fins. I glanced back at him, and he had a childish frown on his face, his arms crossed. I chuckled, and Jack obviously felt it through the saddle because he gave me a disbelieving look.
His clothes stuck tightly to his body, and his silver white hair clung to the edges of his face, tiny icicles forming as the water froze in the wind.

"You're unbelievable," he huffed, relaxing in the saddle. I glided up on a warm air current until we had almost reached the clouds.

Hiccup, Snotlout and Fishlegs were gliding at a lower altitude, almost underneath us. Their students flew nearby on their own dragons, looking far less comfortable on their winged friends.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, ___?" Jack asked quietly as we slowly drifted on air currents.

He whispered an idea to me, and after an initial moment of hesitation and suspicion towards the boy, a recklessness overtook me that I hadn't felt in many years. I'd barely done anything for myself, but this was it. I was gonna have fun.
Once again, I drew in my leathery wings close to my scaled body, creating a streamlined descent as the air flowed easily around us.

My nose pointed straight down, headed right for Hiccup's training group. The wind whistled in my ears, and I barely heard Jack's yell of amused warning as we approached the dragons.

I angled myself slightly, and slipped through a small gap between the flying dragons and we split their group in two as they struggled to move out of the way.
I heard the howls and calls of protest as I pulled up and looped back.

Jack laughed openly and punched the air with his fist. "Yeah!" he celebrated our cheeky act. I had to admit that I'd had fun too, and I hurled a fiery plasma blast forward.

Jack's words died in his throat as he saw the fire. "Oh, great."

. . .

I rose up to meet Hiccup's group and immediately felt bad. Two of the students were sopping wet, having been dropped by their dragons and frantically rescued from the waves below.
Hiccup was looking disapprovingly at Jack and I, a frown on his face that didn't suit him.

I dropped my gaze from his and flew straight, and even though Jack tried to coax me to do tricks and manoeuvres, I ignored him.

My stomach clenched with guilt when I noticed the two wet students were shivering, teeth clattering as they clung for life to their dragons.

Jack seemed to be blind to their suffering, and I remembered why I had disliked him before this little joke.

Finally, after a shortened lesson about what to do if you 'fell' off your dragon, we flew home.

When I settled on the ground, I dumped Jack and took off again, hoping to avoid Hiccup. I heard him call my name, but I pretended I hadn't.

I flew out over the sea, feeling ashamed for causing trouble for those kids. Again, my mind flicked to the subject of Orvask. I hoped he hadn't figured out how to make the Shift Serum temporary.

The soft breeze pressed against my wings, and I flapped them gently, floating between columns of clouds.
Finally, after brooding and feeling sorry for myself, I flew back to Berk. Of course, the first person I ran into was Hiccup.