Hello. I know I haven't updated in over four months. Sorry! I have no excuse. On a different note, happy Veterans Day! I know that Veterans Day was yesterday, but that's technically when I finished the chapter, but my parents confiscated my computer. Besides, it's never too late to celebrate and honor those who served our country.

I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. If I did, I would have a dog. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.

Chapter 6

As Hiccup double-checked my saddle and tailfin mechanism, I tore into another fish from the basket he had brought me for lunch. Today, we were going on our first big test flight, no ropes or anything acting as a fail-safe. We were heading out the cove, and over the ocean.

"And…done." Hiccup patted my neck. "You ready, Toothless?"

I nodded vigorously.

"Then let's go."

At Hiccup's signal, I leapt off the cliff and spread my wings, feeling the familiar sensation of the wind being caught underneath them. Excitement and nervous adrenaline pumped through my veins, and to keep us aloft, I positioned my fins as Hiccup clicked the device controlling my fake one.

"Ok, bud." Hiccup loudly said over the roar of the find, even though my keen dragon senses could hear him easily. On a quiet day, I could probably hear him all the way from the cove, if he screamed loud enough. "We're gonna take this nice and slow."

"Here we go. Here we go." He muttered as he looked at the piece of parchment clipped to my saddle. "Position…three…no, four."

Satisfied with his decision, he clicked my fin, spreading it fully, and I shifted my other fin to balance us out, my face set with a fierce determination. My wings settled into rhythm; a few strong beats, then glide, repeat. For a few seconds, we coasted smoothly, allowing me to get a better look at the view. That had always been one of my favorite parts of flying: the freedom of being so high, being able to see for miles and miles. The great forests of Berk, tall and vast, were reduced to green smears on the grey stone of the mountain peaks. Seeing the vast size of the island made insignificant by the endless sea that surrounded it. Yes, this was my favorite part of flying.

After further examining the chart, Hiccup gripped the saddle tighter and leaned slightly to the left, and I did the same, angling my wings, taking us in a steady turn. Hiccup looked over his shoulder at the fake tail, examining it as we sailed steadily for a several more seconds.

"Alright, it's go time. It's go time." I noticed that my human had a habit of repeating himself.

I angled myself into a dive, and he leaned forward as we hurtled towards the water.

"Come on, buddy." Hiccup shouted. "Come on, buddy." Again with the repetition. I pulled out of the dive abruptly before we hit the water, flying only a few feet above it. I leaned ever so slightly, dragging the edge of my left wing through the water, enjoying the soothing effect the coldness had on my burning muscles.

My eyes wandered upwards as we flew under an arch of stone, the dragon equivalent of a grin spreading across my face. White seagulls soared above us, squawking, as if to welcome me back to fly with them in the endless skies. We soared on.

"Yes, it worked!" Hiccup cheered, checking the tail mechanism. Unfortunately, while he was distracted, he wasn't looking were we were heading: a collision course with a sea stack. I tried to dodge, but without the cooperation of my prosthetic tailfin, I ended up slamming into the stone.

"Ah!" I grunted. "Ow."

"Sorry." Hiccup apologized. I just snorted in response. In his attempts to steady us out, Hiccup ended running us into a second sea stack. I shrieked when the same place that had taken the force of the last crash took this one too.

"That's gonna leave a mark." I groaned.

"That's my fault." He again apologized as we flew away. I smacked him with my ear.

"Yes it is. Watch were you're going." I huffed. "Let's try something else."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." He said. "Position four."

He shifted and bent over to make a few adjustments before returning his hands to the handholds and clicking the fin into the right position. I beat my wings hard and we were sent spiraling upwards into the clouds. White and blue swirled together, and fresh, sweet air filled my lungs. I opened my mouth and took a deep breath in. The air tasted cold and fresh on my tongue.

"Yeah!" Hiccup shouted. "Go, baby! Yes!"

"Woohoo!" I cheered.

"Oh, this is amazing!" He yelled. "This is amazing! The wind in my… cheat sheet! Stop!"

And I did. I faltered, my wings frozen in midair. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. Hiccup's harness came undone, and he slipped of my back.

"Hiccup!" I screamed.

Without him to work my tail, I was falling too. Panic invaded, coursing through my body, corrupting my senses. I was unable to think clearly, form any rational line of thought besides: we're going to die. My pupils narrowed in fear. I screamed, over and over.

"Oh, gosh. Oh, gods." Hiccup screamed. "Oh, no."

I heard his voice as if from underwater; it seemed distant and hard to discern from the wind roaring in my ears. I knew I had to help him, but I didn't know how. It's useless, hopeless. We were going to die…We're-STOP. I commanded myself. Think, Night Fury! Use your head!

"All right, OK, you've got to kind of angle yourself…" Hiccup shouted over the wind. I tried to regain control, but I was spinning too quickly, and without my other tail fin, I couldn't balance myself out enough to stop. "OK, no, no, no. Come back down towards me! Come back down…"

"Well, I obviously am going down! We both are!" I yelled. "That's why we're having this problem!"

My out-of-control spinning caused him to be hit in the face by my tail, knocking him further away from me. This, however, gave me an idea. Instead of trying to stop spinning, I jerked my wing to one side, causing me to spin faster, but in the direction of my human. The second my back was to him, he reached out for the handles on the saddle. I fought against the wind to keep myself in that position, and I felt a surge of relief when I felt his hand tighten around the saddle and reattach his harness. My relief was short-lived, because we were still hurtling at the earth at a precarious speed.

As Hiccup struggled to keep the tailfin working, I spread my wings as wide as they would go, trying to keep the tips curved in slightly to catch the air beneath them and slow our descent. The wind, however, had different plans, trying to force them back in a way they weren't meant to go. My muscles strained, and I felt the closest thing I would get to burning as I kept my wings in place, teeth clenched in fiery determination.

My heart skipped several beats when I saw the sea stacks in front of us. I groaned. Of all the things… I shrieked in warning. I heard Hiccup gasp, and he grabbed the handles tightly, leaning forward. He clicked the tail, and I adjusted my fins at the same time. We can do this. We moved as one, as if on instinct, with no less than perfect synchronization. Every twist and turn was flawlessly executed with extreme precision. When the sea stacks were cleared, I finally allowed myself to relax. We were now coasting, nice and easy.

Hiccup let out a celebratory cheer, and so did I, as well as shot a fireball into the distance. It exploded in midair, and then remained stationary as a hoop of fire.

Hiccup sighed. "Oh, no."

My grandpa served in the Air Force. If someone in your family is a Veteran, review.