How Lenora Defends Berk

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Dragon Racing

Long ago, there was a little-known Viking village called Berk.

At first glance, the village of Berk didn't look like much, it didn't even look like what one would expect of a normal Viking village but looks could be deceiving and that wet piece of rock packed quite a few surprises. Up until five years previously, Berk had a reputation for being home to the bravest, fiercest and most stubborn of dragon-slaying Viking warriors and for being the center of the Great War between dragons and humans.

Now while Berk's Vikings were still brave, fierce and stubborn—every Viking had stubbornness issues—Berk no longer had a dragon raiding problem and nor was there even a war between humans and dragons anymore. And it was all because of one misfit Viking woman called Lenora Horrendous Haddock the Third, the only daughter of Chief Stoick the Vast, dared to defy tradition and do what no Viking before her had ever done—befriend and train a dragon and not just any dragon, but a Night Fury, the rarest and most mysterious of all known dragons.

Because of Lenora's actions, the evil plague that was the Dragon Queen, also known as Red Death, was vanquished and dragons were free of her tyrannical rule. With their freedom granted and under Lenora's guidance, Berk had enjoyed a glorious era of peace and alliance with the dragons. The people of Berk took care of the dragons and treated them with respect and love, and in return, the dragons protected the Berkians as they would their own blood-kin.

Berk had changed for the better and all because of one woman's courage and stubbornness. Now while the past five years had been some of the best of Lenora's life and life on Berk was amazing, it wasn't exactly for the faint of heart, mostly because of Berk's annual sport. Most villages had sports like a regatta, croquet or knife-throwing, but Berk had dragon racing.

It was a chilly winter day but the skies were clear and the sun was out, making it a beautiful day, but not exactly a happy one for the sheep that got snatched out of its hiding place by Fishlegs, who was riding his beloved Gronckle, Puffskin.

He let out a cheer at his success and looked pretty smug until Snotlout swooped in on his Monstrous Nightmare, Firewyrm, and knocked the sheep out of Fishlegs' grasp and took it for his own.

"I'm sorry, Fishlegs! Did you want this?" jeered Snotlout.

Fishlegs scowled in frustration. "Snotlout, that was mine!"

He tried to snatch it back, but Snotlout dodged Fishlegs and then tossed the sheep into Ruffnut's arms as she flew by on her two-headed Monstrous Zippleback, Smoke and Sparks, with her twin brother, Tuffnut.

"Here you go, babe," said Snotlout. "Did I tell you that you look amazing today? Because you do, by the way."

Ruffnut looked disgusted at Snotlout's attempts at flirting. "Ugh! C'mon, Smoke, it's starting to stink around here."

Smoke nodded and then began spewing out gas.

Tuffnut laughed and gave Snotlout a smug look as the latter pouted. "Nope! She still hates you! Let's blow this place, Sparks!"

Right on cue, Sparks lit up Smoke's gas, causing Snotlout to yelp as the gas exploded and then he was knocked off his dragon and had to be rescued by Lenora and Toothless, who swooped in and saved him before he got hurt.

"You okay, Snot?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the sav, little cousin," said Snotlout, as he leapt back onto Firewyrm. "C'mon, let's do this!"

Lenora laughed as they lapped around Berk and Ruffnut tossed the sheep into the basket she shared with Tuffnut, granting them another point in the game. Normally, the twins would be paired off with one of the other riders, but not this year. Like with most Viking sporting events, the fifth year was when the rules got changed around a bit and dragon racing was no different. For that year's dragon race, Stoick and the riders had decided that instead of teams, it was every dragon rider for his or herself and it was proving to be a real exciting game that year.

So far, Lenora and Aster were tied with seven points, Ruffnut and Tuffnut had five while Fishlegs and Snotlout had yet to score—mostly because they kept giving Ruffnut their sheep.

As Snotlout flew beneath Aster, the latter took the chance to lean down and smack Snotlout upside the head and scowl at him.

"What're you doing Snotlout? I thought you said you wanted to win this year!" said Aster. He was not being a sore loser or showing poor sportsmanship, Aster just didn't understand why Snotlout was helping Ruffnut and Tuffnut win when earlier that day, he'd declared his intentions to be a winner and Snotlout disliked how boastful the twins got when they won at things.

"I changed my mind!" said Snotlout, in the tone of explaining something obvious. "Besides, Ruffnut is my princess and she wants to win! Whatever my princess wants, she gets! Besides, you should know better than anyone that when a man loves a woman, their will is no longer their own."

Aster couldn't help it, he gagged. "You're trying to date Ruffnut?!" he said, incredulously. Ruffnut was a lovely young woman, a fierce Viking warrior and a decent dragon rider, but there were some things about her that made her difficult to love. Her tendency to act insane and her devotion to the God of Mischief, for starters. "Are you out of your mind? Out of the women in the world, you're chasing after the woman who tried to bury you alive last week?"

Snotlout just laughed. "Only for a few hours! Besides, people always do crazy things when they're in love! Isn't that right, Lenora?"

"Absolutely," said Lenora, looking amused as Toothless laughed in agreement.

Suddenly, Hookfang, a Monstrous Nightmare belonging to Gustave Larsen, cried out, "Lenora! One of the Gronckle hatchlings coughed up fire on the Great Hall!"

"Ah, crap!" muttered Lenora. "I'll be right back, guys!"

In an attempt to better understand the dragons, Lenora had studied their language and worked with the dragons for countless hours until she became fluent in what she called "dragonese." She could understand Toothless perfectly when he spoke to her and could even speak to him in his native tongue. It had proven to be a very useful skill over the last few years.

It hadn't been the only useful thing Lenora had managed to do over the years. Since she was six years old, Lenora had been apprenticed to Gobber, Berk's blacksmith and her godfather. Combined with Gobber's mentoring and her own ingenuity, Lenora had designed custom-made stables both above and underground for the dragons to reside in, a special feeding station that constantly brought in fresh fish for the dragons to eat, special pools for the dragons to bathe in, a stall for saddle repairs and healing dragon injuries and illnesses, and most important of all: a top-of-the-line fire prevention system.

It was quite a change from a time when Lenora's inventions would've been looked down on and rejected, now they were admired by the village, much like Lenora herself.

Quickly, Lenora swooped in and unblocked the aqueduct that was connected to the waters surrounding Berk. The result was instantaneous, the fire was extinguished before any real damage could be done, which was a relief.

Suddenly, a horn was blown, signaling the final lap in the game.

"The black sheep! Come on, Toothless!" said Lenora. "Speed it up!"

Toothless purred and then picked up the speed.

Stoick cheered on in pride as Lenora swooped by his seat that overlooked the game. "That's my girl! Come on, Lenora, you can win this!"

Lenora smiled under Stoick's praise.

Gone were the times when Lenora hopelessly tried to win her father's approval and struggled to communicate and connect with him. Now, she and Stoick were closer than any father and daughter could be. Stoick now took time to talk and listen to Lenora and praised her for what she was instead of criticizing what she tried to be and they bonded over their many shared interests, including dragon riding. Since acquiring his own dragon, a Rumblehorn he'd dubbed Skullcrusher, Stoick had come to love flying as much as Lenora did and they often spent time flying together. It was everything Lenora had ever dreamed of and more.

As Lenora and the other dragon riders speed up, Gobber launched the black sheep via Snotlout's new invention—a sheep launching catapult. Whoever caught the black sheep and placed it in the scoring pen would win ten point and therefore win the game.

Aster was nearest and tried to catch the black sheep, Fishlegs came out of nowhere and Puffskin snatched it up with her front paws.

"Yes! Way to go, girl!" said Fishlegs. A dreamy look crossed Fishleg's face as Ruffnut came up to steal the black sheep. "Here you go, my darling! Mine's worth ten points!"

Ruffnut caught the black sheep as Fishlegs tossed it to her. "Yes! The black sheep!"

Aster couldn't believe his eyes. "Wait a second, Fish! You and Snotlout are fighting over Ruffnut?!"

"You didn't know?" Lenora sounded surprised. "Fishlegs and Snotlout have been crushing on Ruffnut for ages!"

"What?!" exclaimed Aster.

Although, honestly, it was hard to tell sometimes if Fishlegs and Snotlout had crushes on Ruffnut because they cared about her or because she was the only girl of their age left on Berk who wasn't already claimed by another Viking gentleman. And to be frank, Lenora didn't think Snotlout and Fishlegs' chances were good. For one, despite how romantic it seemed in stories, two men fighting over a woman's affections really wasn't all that impressive. And two, Lenora knew for a fact that Ruffnut didn't see Snotlout or Fishlegs that way. But since there was no persuading the two men otherwise, Lenora was letting things run their course.

"I'm totally winning!" said Ruffnut, thrilled.

"We're winning together!" said Fishlegs, with a hopeful look on his face.

Ruffnut scowled and let out an exasperated noise as she smacked Fishlegs away, causing him to collide with Snotlout.

"Whoo-hoo! No one can stop me now!" cheered Ruffnut.

Tuffnut scowled at his twin sister's bragging. Clearly disliking the fact that she was claiming their victory for herself and deciding he wanted all their victory, Tuffnut invoked an age-old tradition of starting a petty squabble with his sibling that cost them the game.

"Except for me! We're attached, genius!" said Tuffnut. He reached over and grabbed the black sheep, starting a tug-of-war struggle. "Quit trying to steal my glory!"

"Hey!" said Ruffnut, indignantly.

Aster and Lenora shared a look and then Lenora nodded at Aster. He smiled at her and then leapt into action. Taking advantage of the twins' bickering, Aster carefully stood onto of his Deadly Nadder, Brightscales, Aster leapt onto Smoke and Sparks, ran up to the black sheep and swiped it from under the twins' noses before he leapt back onto Brightscales' back.

"Gotcha!" said Aster, triumphantly.

"Aster!" whined the twins.

Stoick cheered. "Ha-ha! Way to go, Aster! That's my future son-in-law!" he said, proudly to Spitelout, who was scowling.

Because Aster was everyone's favorite male Viking of Lenora's age, it would be easy to believe that Stoick was merely playing favorites. But he wasn't. He was speaking the truth about Aster's future role in his family.

Over the last five years, Lenora's relationship with Aster had progressed greatly. Following the Battle of Red Death, they'd agreed to a long courtship and though they'd had their ups and downs over the last few years, they were still very much in love and they'd stayed together no matter what life had thrown their way. After several years of courting, Aster decided to take the next step in his relationship with Lenora. One month ago, he'd acquired the permission and blessing of Stoick, Gobber and Toothless and proposed marriage to Lenora.

Aster and Lenora now wore betrothal necklaces everyday as a mark of their engagement. Every Viking's betrothal necklace was different but also quite beautiful and special and Aster had made sure that Lenora's was the most special and beautiful of all. Her betrothal necklace consisted of the image of a Night Fury with its tail curved protectively around an emerald. Aster had chosen the Night Fury because he felt that it, like Lenora, was one of a kind, and an emerald because it reminded him of the green of Lenora's eyes.

Not long after Aster proposed, Lenora gave Aster a special betrothal necklace for him of her own making. His betrothal necklace consisted of the image of a Deadly Nadder with tiny, rare bright blue aquamarines masterfully crafted to resemble the dragon's spikes. Lenora had chosen the Deadly Nadder because she felt that it was like Aster—a bit spiky on the outside, but a mighty, pure-hearted soul on the inside, and she thought the blue gemstones were similar to Aster's eyes.

The young couple was to be married in the springtime and it was hard to say who was more excited for the celebration: Lenora and Aster or the rest of Berk. It wasn't everyday a Chief's heir got married and it affected the future of the entire tribe, not to mention everyone loved Aster and Lenora, so naturally everyone on Berk was offering their help and advice for the wedding and doing their best to ensure that Lenora and Aster's wedding was perfect.

As Aster prepared to score, Fishlegs came up from behind and Snotlout came up in front, armed with a huge hammer.

"Excuse me, Aster," said Snotlout, as he prepared to strike.

"Aster, duck!" yelled Lenora.

Aster reacted fast. "Brightscales!"

Quickly, Brightscales took a nosedive, causing Snotlout to accidentally strike Fishlegs and them to both crash. With some difficulty as he had just avoided a big crash, Aster managed to steer Brightscales under the bridge and then high up above, and as soon as he had a shot, he tossed the black sheep into his scoring pen.

Everyone cheered and applauded Aster's victory.

"And that's seventeen! Aster Hofferson wins the game!" said Stoick.

Aster thrust out his arms and let out a victory cry. He turned a faint shade of pink when Lenora flew up beside him and kissed his cheek.

"Congratulations, Handsome," she said.

"Thanks, Beautiful," said Aster. "Couldn't have done it without you." He reached out and gently kissed her on the lips, causing everyone's cheers to grow louder.

Lenora smiled as she considered her good fortune. She was accepted by her people, she had the close relationship with Stoick that she'd always wanted, she had the greatest friend she could ask for in Toothless, there was peace and prosperity between them and the dragons and she was engaged to one of the finest Vikings in the world. It was wonderful.

With all of her hard work paid off, Lenora's life on Berk was perfect, which was a good thing, because with Vikings on the backs of dragons, the world became so much bigger.

A/N: Until HTTYD2 was released, I was under the impression that Stoick's wife, Hiccup's mother, was dead and since I didn't know how she'd died, I made up my own reason for it. (Hence why I said she died of a sickness) When the movie was released and I found out Stoick's wife was alive, I wasn't very pleased with finding out that Val stayed away all those years of her own choice as it felt to me that she'd more or less abandoned her son, which I was not okay with. However, as she's a key factor in the story, I came up with a (hopefully) more satisfactory explanation as to her return from the dead and why she was gone for so long. And also, just in case anyone's wondering, Stoick is NOT going to die. I hated that they killed him off. Complete overkill!