How to train your Dragon Rider

~Chapter one: dragon raid~ (Jenny)

The cool breeze settled upon the air, sending shivers down my spine. My long red hair flowed through the wind, completely untamed like the ocean below. I could feel Spark vibrate beneath me, and I glanced down at him, his deep blue eyes meeting mine. I then swiveled my eyes up at the village ahead. Only a few lights were on, allowing any who still roamed, a light to see where they were going. I only had a moment to look around, before the rumble of my dragon caused me to gaze back down at him again.

"Just like last time, boy," I said, running her hand against his scaly neck. "In and out. No one will notice."

I reached up, balancing perfectly on my dragon as I pulled my hood up, tucking my hair inside. If I kept my head down, even those who looked out their windows wouldn't be able to tell who it was coming into the town of Berk, though the dark black mask helped quite a bit when it came to hiding my identity. The black cloak had such a big hood, it kind of surprised me that I could even see with it on. It had been my fathers, or at least that's what I thought, since it was too big to be a woman's cloak.

Suddenly, I lurched back, pulling my dragon to a stop. "Wait, Spark!" I called out, and he began to hover, quite still. He glanced up at me, letting out a rumble of confusion. With a pale finger, I pointed towards the village, or, what surrounded the village. "Looks like someone may have beaten us to it." I acknowledged.

Surrounding the now awake village were hundreds, maybe even thousands of dragons of all different types. I smirked and leaned down to my dragon.

"They'll just make my job easier." Allowing for Spark to move forward, I turned him into a dive, so we were level with the water. I stopped him just as we reached the cliff, and then gracefully hopped off, clinging to the wet rock with my hands and feet. I then looked back at my dragon. "Fly around a couple times. If I'm not back by the third round, come and get me." I then paused for a moment. "Don't get caught, boy."

He grunted his approval, and flew off, deciding to stay close to the cliff as he went around the island. I then reached into my cloak pocket and pulled out two daggers. I then turned to the cliff, and stabbed one of my daggers in, repeating the process with her other one, and heaved myself up. I continued up the cliffside, repeating my moves and heaving myself up on every climb. I had done this often enough, that it only took me ten or so minutes to reach the very top. By then, I figured Spark must have already been finished with his first round.

I pulled myself onto the edge of the cliff and stashed my two daggers away in my cloak. Making sure my mask was on, I looked down to the ground and began moving into the familiar village known as Berk. Vikings hardly noticed me, as the commotion around them was just enough of a distraction. I ran towards the forge and pulled some scrap metal out as the two workers (An old-looking man with a long blonde beard, and a young-looking boy with hardly any meat on his bones) turned their backs. I heaved what looked to be the better of the metal and dragged it to the edge of the cliff. When I peered over, I could see Spark coming for his second round. He looked up, noticing me, and flew up a bit. As he did so, I heaved the metal down for him to catch into his claws.

It didn't take me less than five minutes to find everything I needed, other than the scrap metal. I was able to find a few loaves of bread, some fish, building material, and even a new set of boots that I desperately needed. I had just finished as Spark stopped to hover by the cliff, waiting for me to jump on. But I didn't even move one inch before I heard a voice over my shoulder,

"Going somewhere?"

I turned around, not bothering to keep my head down, as my hood and mask kept me completely hidden. There stood a girl, around my age, an ax in her hands. A look of fury crossed her icy blue eyes as she stared right into my stormy blue ones. Her long blonde hair was held in a braid that fell down the side of her neck, and her armor consisted of skulls that I found a bit cheesy. I raised a brow at her in response, seeming to anger her further.

"You aren't going anywhere" she growled. "Not on my watch."

A grunt behind me caused me to look around, seeing that Spark seemed to be becoming impatient. I looked back at the girl, putting my sword back to wrap around my waist. I then backed up to the cliff, the girl following me while swinging her ax wildly around. I couldn't help but notice how her anger seemed to defuse her ability to swing properly, making me chuckle a bit.

Once I reached the edge, I pulled my hand to my forehead and mocked a salute. Then, without warning, I stepped off the edge. Shocked, the girl ran to see where I had fallen, only to see me on the back of my scaly dragon, loot from Berk all around me. Spark shot into the air, finally catching all of Berks's attention. I glanced down at my dragon.

"Let's give 'em a show, shall we?" Spark rumbled his delight and let out a roar loud enough so that even if those below didn't know about us before, they certainly knew about them now.

I gripped Sparks bare shoulders lightly, and he spread his wings, hovering over Berk. Thunder rolled about the sky, and soon, lightning followed. I could feel Spark tense, and balls of lightning shot up his spine and around his wingspan as he channeled the lightning within. Those on Berk gawked and stared in awe, others in fury, before I patted Spark on the head, and we shot off into the night, leaving Berk behind