How to train your Dragon Rider

~Chapter nine: Test drive~ (Hiccup)

    "You ready?" Jenny asked me as I shifted myself on Toothless' back trying to somewhat stabilize myself. Billowing clouds rise like mountains. The ground seemed as though they were hundreds of miles below them.

"Is it always this...unstable?" I asked as I leaned too far in one direction, unintentionally guiding Toothless to his left.

Jenny laughed a bit and shook her head. "You get used to it,"

Hiccup nodded in response. "Well, then, I'm about as ready as I'll ever be." I reached down, settling my hand on Toothless' neck. "Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow." I turned only slightly and took out my leather cheat sheet, clipped onto my harness. Inscribed upon it are several tail positions and their pedal position equivalents.

"You brought that with you?" Jenny suddenly asked, brow raised.

"Wouldn't you?" Hiccup smirked, holding it up and waving it in her face as she chuckled at him. Returning back to the task at hand, Hiccup put his sheet away. "Here we go. Here we go...positionthree," I shook my head, correcting myself. "no four."

I pressed the pedal, causing the tail to flare. We rolled off into an arcing bank, gloriously lit by the late afternoon sun. I tucked tight against Toothless' neck, more than happy that my new harness and vest were holding. The foot controls make the tail appendage quick and responsive. I watched Toothless' every fluctuation, trying to match it with the prosthetic. Remembering what Jenny had told me, I looked around for some sort of target, so I knew where to go. A towering arch of stone rested perfectly in front of us, rising from the sea.

"Alright, it's go time. It's go time." I whispered, leaning perfectly parallel with Toothless. We dove toward it, lining up to pass through the arch. Jenny and Spark following closely behind. We zipped through the arch, touching the water only slightly. "Yeah! Yes, it worked!"

"Told you!" Jenny chuckled behind me.

However, the triumph is short-lived. Distracted, Toothless and I smacked into one of several sea stacks as I attempted to keep up with the turns.

"Sorry." I shouted over the winds. We hurtle into another rock pillar. Toothless grumbled in response. "My fault!" Toothless swatted at me with his ear plate.

"Hiccup, you have to get control of it," Jenny warned, pulling Spark back just enough so that I didn't run into her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." I looked down at my cheat sheet. "Position four, no three."

We pierced through the clouds. For the first time, I could see the whole of the island below them. It shrinks with every passing second. I swallowed hard and tightened my grip on the handles as we gained more and more height.

"Yeah! Go baby! Yes! Oh, this is amazing!" I heard Jenny laugh from somewhere beside me. "The wind in my–" In the corner of my eye, I spotted the leather guide tearing free in the turbulence. "Cheat sheet!" I shouted. "Stop!!"

Jenny shot past me, trying to pull Spark to a stop as I reached frantically for the airborne sheet, barely nabbing it before it's carried out of reach. Toothless, however, obeyed the command and suddenly stopped beating his wings. As we slowed to a stop, I went weightless. The rings of my vest floated off of the harness hooks and I suddenly found myself detached, free-falling.

"Hiccup!" Jenny shouted as I began plummeting towards the ocean.

"Oh gods! Oh no!" Without me, the tail loses control. Toothless and I spiral downward, Toothless fighting to get back under Hiccup, while Jenny dove towards them as well.