#toothless was a fun little Common Garden Dragon

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Apparently how to train your dragon was a book series? Some reviews says it’s a fun book, but it gets, like, dark. But still fun. Quite different from the movies.

i once read it! i don't remember much, but yes it got Intense! but it was still fun, i remember enjoying it greatly even if i could read an entire book in one hour

[draconesmundi]

Dragons of the Wilderwest

So in Dracones Mundi all dragons start out as serpentine creatures - this would also be true if the Wilderwest existed in this world. The dragons would appear as brown or black serpents with a few mottled patterns or spots. After about a year they will start to develop more defining characteristics; interesting colours, small wings, small forelimbs and the starts of horns. At this age they are perfect for small viking children to kidnap during their winter sleep:

The four dragon hatchlings above are the perfect size to accompany children for around 12 books worth of adventures.

We have one dragon who may either be a Common or Garden or a Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, it is hard to tell aside from the wart on the end of the snout; this is actually a budding nose-horn which will become apparent in later life. His owner misidentified him as a Common or Garden and so named him a ‘Toothless Daydream’, a fictional breed, to explain why his teeth have not ruptured the gums yet and why he has a few quirks not known in common or garden dragons.

The next wyrmling above is a Mood Nadder; when they are young they can subtly change their colours to match their mood to act as a warning to would-be predators, puffing up and turning a dangerous blue-black when stressed, but otherwise shifting through greens, purples, reds and golds. They are adept fliers from a young age.

The small far brown wyrmling is a Basic Brown; she is very similar to a Common or Garden dragon. They are easy to train and very polite; an owner might try to instill a sense of grandeur into this placid animal by calling it ‘Horrorcow’, although the ‘horror’ is less apt than the ‘cow’ part.

The final dragon is a Monstrous Nightmare or Fireworm; strongly developed sharp teeth, strong claws and an arrowhead tail define this dragon at a young age. They are usually reserved as the pets for Viking chieftans.

These four dragons develop a lot as they grow from childhood companions to the large creatures that you might base 3 action packed films on (see below the cut)

The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus becomes more streamlined and adapted for life at sea. The green ‘mackerel’ pattern darkens to a deep black to help camouflage the animal in the water, and he develops bioluminescent dorsal markings to demonstrate his strengths to conspecifics. His temperament mellows from a chaotic gremlin of a dragon to a majestic and noble creature, yet his reputation switches from a ‘Toothless Daydream’ to a ‘Night Fury’ as his appearance and size is certainly more threatening!

The Mood Nadder loses her ability to change colour as she ages; she becomes so formidable that she doesn’t need to flash much warning colouration aside from the yellows, blues and purples to signify she is venomous with venomous spines. She can whip her tail around to provide a devastating injury with those spikes; each spike has micro-serrations along the edge to make an extra painful cut!

The Basic Brown changes from a ‘Horrorcow’ to a ‘Meatlug’; still rather gentle and placid, but with more spikes and spines and armour to act as defence against larger and more aggressive dragons. A lovable and affectionate creature!

And finally, the Fireworm becomes a Hookfang; larger claws, bigger teeth, a change from a flame-red to a burning orange, this tiger-striped terror of the skies can bioluminesce a firey orange so it looks like she has set herself on fire! These are large and vicious dragons, and should be treated with caution.

...

I hope you enjoyed this HTTYD fanwork, I have had some Asks in the past on the topic of making How to Train Your Dragon dragons into Dracones Mundi dragons, from @varinjr​ (link to post here) and from an anonymous account (link to post here) but I got those asks ages ago and I think I have improved in my art and concepts since then!

In Dracones Mundi the offspring of a dragon often looks so wildly different from its adult form that I thought it would be good to play around with that and the difference between the book and film versions of the franchise - also wyrmish serpentine dragons fit well with the ‘vikings and sea monsters’ aesthetic of the books (although I admit the book dragons are definitely more catlike, but it’s my fanart and I want to draw them as noodles).

Fanart of other dragon works is always fun; none of these dragons are canon to Dracones Mundi as they are already canon in Cressida Cowell’s books and Dreamworks’ films, I just like to do a little fanart now and then!

[drawbauchery]

I read the first few books before the movies came out, so seeing Toothless go from a cat-sized little common garden dragon to a Big Boi was quite the sudden change. I get why they did it, though, the book Hiccup is more about outsmarting opponents or just getting really lucky, and the larger, more combat-based Toothless allows for more fun action scenes. Kinda bummed that Alvin the Treacherous never appeared, but that's fine.

alvin is in the show! granted he’s completely different, but he’s there.

[insomniac-dot-ink]

The Peacock Prince pt 2

genre: fantasy, fairytale, mlm

words: 3k

Summary: A young man is banished to a vast garden to spend the rest of his days, cursed to grow peacock feathers from his skin and walk the grounds.

A wandering soldier is charged by the neighboring town to fetch three feathers: one for health, two for luck, and three for wealth. Unfortunately, plucking the feathers off a reluctant peacock-boy is not as easy as it sounds.

A love story of avian dimensions in 4 parts

PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4

PART 2

Two for Luck

Daven looked into the sallow face of a woman well into her 80s, deep worry lines and valleys painted across her face, wrinkles that stretched in all directions and mapped her face like a geographic print of the past and future.

She smiles up with a guileless toothless grin, “but you got the other one so easily.” Daven’s shoulder slump and he has a bad feeling about this, “I fought several wild animals… And it was mostly luck I found the boy in the first place.” She shook her withered head, “I have a good feeling about you.” Then why is your town blackmailing me? He doesn’t bring that up.

“The one feather was very long,” he tries to say with his hands stuffed into his pockets. A young woman in an apron and long dark blue dress nodded. She had honey curls and a face that was round and sharp in all the right angles.

“And we ground it up and fed it to the sick,” she smiled prettily, “It was a heroic deed. A good one, all five were up and walking today.”

Daven opened and closed his mouth uselessly, “don’t mention it?” He tries instead with a slight wince.

“But now,” her face falls, “the fields are thirsty. Dry. You’ve seen them young soldier, they grow sick as well.” Daven felt like he was being backed into a corner, “it was a rough harvest, sure.”

Her eyes get large, like puppy dog eyes or black holes, old mother Henri makes a deep rumbling sound in her throat. “Two,” she says with a rough rasp, “for luck.” Daven frowns decidedly, “why… two?” Both the women tut at him, “two is the second most powerful number.” Mary Lee informs him with her hip jutted out. “It will be enough.” Daven gives a deep heaving sigh, “I can’t keep ripping feathers out of this guy. He’s got some dark magic on him, who knows what will happen if I piss him off again…” He trails off as he realizes he wasn’t making any headway.

The woman just smiles placidly again, “two for luck.”

Her daughter nods, “we can grind them up and sprinkle them over the soil.” Her eyes go soft again, “it would be another hero's deed.” Daven’s shoulders fall and he accepts the inevitable, “isn’t there…?” He takes a deep breath, “I mean, someone else must be able,” he struggles for the words.

“It’s you,” the old woman nods, “you were brought to us for a reason.” Was that reason a directionless horse?

He pushes his hair back and sighs, “Okay,” he looks between the village representatives, “I mean… I did it once, right?” He laughs weakly and watches the women share a small smile.

He grimaces slightly, Mary Lee reaches over and wraps something up for him. “Here,” she passes it to him, “for your troubles.” He holds a loaf of bread and feels suddenly more like an errand boy than any sort of soldier. But they were still looking at him Like That, so he has nothing else to but turn around and start walking.

The Garden was said to spread from the lakes of Dev all the way to the outer coast. Daven feels like he’s looking for trouble and eventually going to fall smack dab in the middle of it.

-----------------------------------

“Here birdie, birdie, birdie,” Daven throws some bread on the ground, “I have some good news for you.”

He throws the bread crumbs again, not without a sense of irony of course. “It’s only a little exchange.” He says loudly and wanders into the seven cherubs square (as he was calling it). He goes up to the great oak tree and rustles some of the branches with his sword before coming up empty.

“Here birdie!” He sings and tosses the breadcrumbs in the air again, some of them land in a puddle and start dissolving. He whistles and makes a kissy face at the trees. “I’ve got a treat for you.”

It’s quiet with the exception of distant sound of bird calls and the wind whipping through the numerous corridors of the garden. His skin crawls as it always did in this place, Daven had looked for the Hunter he found the first time just outside the walls, but hadn’t had any luck this time.

“Ellis!” He tries again, “I have both shoes and a better attitude for you!”

He hears nothing, keeping his eyes on the nearest wall to make sure it doesn’t grow spikes, “and more money, and hey, I finally thought of something you can do with it!”

He takes a left turn back into the endless open-air halls and starts whistling again, “here birdie, birdie.”

Daven is internally groaning and considering his chances of leaving the province of Tefle and running as far away as he possibly can. He hears a rustling behind him instead.

He reaches for his sword.

“Do you have a death wish?” Daven pauses as he recognizes the snide voice.

“Ah,” he stands up straight and places his own self-assured smile on, “knew you couldn’t stay away.”

A boy with large ornate feathers fanned out around him was standing on the wall above him, “one step closer and I’ll jump off the other side and you’ll never find me again.” He says coolly as he stands with his hands folded over his chest and stance wide on the wall ledge.

Daven lifts his chin and studies the boy’s sharp, curious features, they were small and crafted, like there was something purposeful or thought-out about them. A small nose with a pointed mouth that curved up or down on a whim it seemed, mapping and connecting all of his features.

Ellis narrows his green eyes, “well?” Daven stood up straight, “I’m not trying the magic words this time.” “Well thank god,” he says slowly, “I would have let you keep walking around here like an idiot you know.”

Daven frowns slightly, “what changed?” Ellis hums and looms over him as he stood on the wall, “bad decision making.” His shadow falls over his face, “and curiosity. You finally thought of something I can do with the money?” He gives an easy grin, “I’m intrigued.” Daven cleared his throat, “yes.” He grins back, “the question is, of course, if gold coins agree with your stomach.” Ellis rolls his eyes spectacularly, “I’m not a dragon.”

“I have bread then.” “Wow, of course,” he tuts, “you’re lucky I’m a forgiving man after that ‘birdie’ nonsense.”

Daven bounces his eyebrows up and down, “I thought you might like that.” He makes a face at him, “ah, am I that easy to read?” He puts a hand out, “if you gave me your feathers readily, for a good cause that is, it’d be a lot less easy.”

He blows a stray strand of white-blonde hair out of his face, “why's that?” Daven puts on a somber expression, “good people don’t get cursed.”

Ellis’s expression pinches, “you’re really winning yourself over with this one,” he seems to go to turn around, “I really don’t know why I bother.” “Wait,” Daven fumbles for his pack, “all in good fun, all in good fun. I have something for you.” “I don’t eat gold coins for God’s sake,” he waves his hand in the air, “but I am considering soldiers and their poor social graces right now.” He bares his shiny white teeth and Daven shakes his head.

“You are a gracious and good Peacock lord, I’m sure.” “Watch it,” the boy says carefully, “180s like that can make one dizzy.” He takes a deep breath in, “alright, so I’m not good at this,” he lifts something out of his pack, “but I do have these.” He unwraps a neat pair of shiny black buckled shoes as he held them up to the light, “they’re flexible so they’ll fit a lot of sizes.”

The boy examines him carefully before clearing his throat, “you really think I need shoes?” Daven frowns slightly, “there’s poison puddles everywhere.” He pauses, “So, yes?” Ellis shakes his head, “you are as sharp as a blunt sword I see,” the boy kicks the top of the wall lightly, “And I don’t want your bribery.”

“It’s for a good cause!” He hears himself almost whine, “the village people’s crops are dying.”

“Oh no,” Ellis places his hands on his cheeks, “not the village people’s crops.” Daven’s narrows his eyes, the sun frames the feathers of the strange boy, “spoken like a true peacock prince.” “Look,” Ellis dances his hand through the air, “there’s always going to be villages whose crops don’t come in right. And little old ladies who need wishes and young lads who steal your feathers for lasses they want to bang.” He takes a deep breath, “I’ve been here a long time little soldier. And there’s always more people who need things.” Daven almost went to clap sardonically, “Look, I’m not trying to appeal to your… humanity,” he says the word carefully, rolling it around and feeling out the syllables. “But there must be something you want.” Ellis looks him up and down, “you’re pretty cocky for a common soldier.” Daven opens his mouth with a stubborn jut of his jaw, “I’m not entirely common.” And I’m no longer entirely a soldier.

“Good then,” Ellis sprouts a rough smile that prickled across Daven’s skin like sandpaper, a manic energy bursting from it like a flood over a levy system. “Take your sword off.”

Daven hesitates for a long second, he holds his iron green gaze for a long moment, “and you’ll give me a feather? Or… I, uh,” he hesitates, “I need two this time.” Ellis gives a deep sigh, “I know.”

Daven reaches for his sword, holding it tentatively before lifting it carefully out of it’s hilt and holding it up. “Where do you want it?” Ellis cocks his head to the side, “place it at my feet.”

Daven scoffs slightly, “of course.” He approaches carefully, slowly, gently, placing the beat-up, aged thing just below his bare feet.

“Was it your father’s or anything?” Ellis asks slowly and Daven hums for a second.

“Yes,” he says, keeping hard eye contact with him.

Ellis’s face spreads wide open again, “liar.” He shrugs, “alright, it’s standard military issue. But does that really matter?” “It doesn’t,” Ellis leans forward, posing like a tense house cat on the brink of springing. He drops down to the ground and deftly picks the sword up, “I just wanted to know more about you.” “My name is Daven Porter,” he says carefully, “I’m 22, I have two sisters and a mum. I like pears and have never seen the ocean. And,” he pauses gently for a moment, “I would like two feathers. Please.”

Ellis was still observing him, balancing the sword in his hand and whooshing it just above his head, he gives him a cool look. “The rest of it.” Daven screws up his face, “the rest of what? That’s my only sword mate.”

Ellis pouts slightly, “the rest of it. I’ll take your belt first.” Daven’s eyes go wide and his cheeks flare up, “I beg your pardon?” “Your clothes.” He says the words slowly, mouthing around them and putting his hands on his hips, “honestly, it’s like I’m squawking up here instead of speaking.”

Daven might have smiled at that if his face wasn’t falling apart like cloth scraps a off a beggar, “you can’t be serious.” Ellis shrugs, “it’s only fair. You want to make me bare, it’s only fair you do the same first.” Daven makes a face at him and takes a step backward, “And then what?” He scowls, “you put on my trousers? Yours look fine.” “No,” he says slowly, “then I make a nice little fire and you walk home.”

Daven put his hands on his hips, “I’m not walking home naked. Who are you?” He laughs, “no feathers then!”

Daven takes a deep huffy breath, he turns around and takes a few angry steps, and then he turns back around again. He knew what would happen if he didn’t return with the feathers.

He groans and buries his face in his hands, “this is mad.” Ellis chuckles and sings, “An eye for an eye sir.” He scowls up between his fingers, “It’s not the same.” Ellis shrugs, “Well, looks like you’re going home empty h-”

“Alright, alright,” He takes one heavy breath that weighed him down like stones in a river bed, he hunches over slightly, “at least turn around.” He hears a sharp laugh, he imagined his white-blonde curls bouncing. “You watch my feathers fall out and stand there and gawk. It’s only fair.” “Ugh,” he reaches for his pants, “this is why you’re trapped here.” He says as starts unbuckling, “good people don’t get cursed.” Ellis waves a hand through the air, “but they do get naked, chop chop.” “You’re enjoying this,” He fumbles slightly with his belt loop and the end of his shirt for a long moment.

“It’s like drinking nectar,” he says with a smile, “I may even give you the feathers.” Daven scowls at him, “I will burn this place down if-” “It’s just a little embarrassment,” he tuts, “and feel free to try. I’d gladly watch this place go up in flames too.” He says the last part with hints of bright yellow bitterness around the edges.

Daven refuses to look away as he yanks his shirt over his head and then both of his socks off one by one. “Are you even going to wear these shoes?” He says as he puts the two pairs next to each other.

“Absolutely not,” the boy winks, “birdie.” “You’re the bird,” he grumbles, “and the bastard.” “I’ll take it,” he wags a finger in the air, “and feel free to put on a show for the last bit. A had a lass do the same for me in a tavern and it honestly almost got three feathers out of me.” Daven makes a face at him, “you go to taverns?” He squints, “Like that?” Ellis’s features become somehow more edged and perplexing, “No. Before I was like this. But I would still have given her anything if she asked, feathers included.” Daven rolled his eyes, “you’re impossible.” “And you’re not naked!” He lears over him, “What upsetting evident facts.” He makes a face at him, “You’re going to die alone.” “Or in a poison puddle, either one, I won’t complain.” Daven doesn’t know how to respond to that so he reaches for his pants, he takes a deep breath in and tries not to show the stiffness in his movements and tension building in his shoulders. Make it natural. Normal.

He can’t help it, he looks down at his feet as he wrenches his trousers down. Ellis at least has the decency not to laugh or jeer or some other bastardly behavior, he just nods. Daven feels the cool breeze whisk between his thighs and thinks a series of uncharitable thoughts toward this garden, all birds, and all bird boys.

He crosses his arms over his chest and widens his stance, “happy?” Ellis just shrugs and looks at his nails, “not really?” “Ugh,” he takes a series of deep breaths in through his nose, he thrusts his hand out, “I did what you asked.”

Ellis gives him a cool look, “sure.” Daven takes a dangerous step forward, “Look, I’d be unsurprised if you’re not a man of your word, but this whole village’s crop is dying and they expect me to-”

“Yes, yes,” Ellis clapped his hands, “give me a second.” He says the last part under his breath, Daven just opens and closes his mouth like an angry snapping turtle.

“I’ll give you ten.” He put his fingers up and started to count, “Ten seconds.” He says loudly, “One… two…” Ellis rolled his eyes, “I’m not as scared of a man with his trousers down as you might think… but.” He reaches behind him and seems to search around for something on his shoulder blade. He started to pull, “Uh,” he grunts, “There.”

Daven’s eyes go a little wide, Ellis flinched, brow furrowing and expression pinching, body bunching up as he yanks at something. The boy takes a deep breath and holds a single peacock feather out.

Daven just begrudgingly holds up two fingers, “alright. Thank you.” He clears his throat, “for two that is.” He says pointedly, Ellis just shakes his head. “Tell them not to plant these,” Ellis grumbles, eyes still strained and colored with something metallic and heated. He pinches something on his back and yanks. “And to sow the fields earlier in the season for God’s sake.” Daven cocks his head to the side, “Is that your official message?” Ellis gives a crooked smile as he slowly lifts a second feather in his hand, “no. My official message: ooh, look at this strange man’s willy. Please laugh and cheer at your own discretion.”

Daven huffs and continues to not deliberately think about the cool breeze against his backside. “You make this so much harder than it needs to be.” Ellis pushes his curled bangs back and examines him, a placid look on his face, “If only I willingly ripped out my own plumage for anyone that asked.” He tilts his head to the side, “it’s such a shame.” “Okay, okay,” Daven put his hands up, “I get it,” he grits his teeth and puts his hand out, “thank you.”

Ellis considers Daven’s hand for a long moment, a frown line consuming him like a mushroom cloud, ricocheting off taut muscles and frozen joints. He takes one step forward and neatly, tightly lets go of the two long feathers.

If Daven didn’t know any better he would have thought the boy’s hands were shaking. But then he retracts his hands, wipes them off and lifts his chin up. “They also work as aphrodisiacs, burn salves, table centerpieces, and a cure for blindness.” Daven lifts his eyebrows, quickly taking a step back and clutching the feathers to his body, “good to know.” Ellis’s eyes were flicking over him, “so yes, you could also skip town and sell them if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Daven’s shoulders rise, “I wasn’t thinking that.” Or, at least, not right at that second. He scowls and turns around, “if you’d excuse me, I have to go save a village.” He can feel Ellis’s sunburn of a smile blaze across as his back as he turns, “you are easy to read too little soldier.” He waves behind him, “enjoy my sweaty shirt and pants,” He keeps his back completely straight as he looks behind him, “they’re covered in grime. It’ll suit you.” Ellis scoffs, “if you come back I will take more than just your clothes next time Mr. Daven.” “‘Mr’?” He doesn’t turn around as he laughs, “come on now, you’ve seen me naked. No need for the formality.” He swears he hears a full golden laugh after that, just as he turns around the next corner and tries to disappear. He finally gives in and covers himself as he faces the next stretch of garden and the inevitable mess of walking home like this.

He takes steadying breathes and keeps his eyes off the light, soft plumage in his hands. They were warm, warm and thrumming like something was alive in them.

He doesn’t look back as he leaves the garden for the second time.

<====== PART 1   ~~~~~ PART 3=======>

[rosesnvines]

Dragon Games

For Free Day, based on Dragon Drive (it was practically begging for it) and includes characters from Zak Storm. Enjoy!  And a great many thanks to everyone who participated in Mericcup Month! Y’all are awesome!! 

Hiccup glanced at the building, nervousness and excitement battling it out in his chest. He was excited, and grateful, that Fishlegs had told him about the new multi-player game, it was about dragons. He and Fishlegs had been fascinated with dragons since they were little and collected as much as they could, as well as playing any kind of dragon game. But Hiccup was also nervous, and though part of it had to do with the fact that the game could only be played in a special arena, meaning he would have to be near people, the majority of it came from the possibility of being near one person in particular. The sounds of voices drawing nearer interrupted his thoughts. He dashed around the corner and slowly peeked around to see who it was. He let out a romantic sigh, there she was, Merida Dunbroch, captain of the archery team, president of the Tough Girls club, fighter for justice and against bullying, just an all-around awesome girl, and the girl Hiccup had the biggest crush on. He had had a crush on Astrid, until Merida walked into their lives. And now, she was walking towards the very building Hiccup had been about to go into, flanked by Astrid, Heather, Crista, and the twins.

“So, what’s this game about?” asked Merida. “I’m not going to enter that building until someone finally tells me,” she stated as she crossed her arms.

“Ugh, fine, we’ll tell you,” Astrid said with a huff as she crossed her arms.

“It’s about dragons, mainly,” replied Tuffnut.

“You duel it out with other players,” piped up Ruffnut.  

“At the end of the tournament, you get a prize,” said Crista.

“It varies from year to year, but it’s usually a basket of goodies and a gift card to the mall,” finished up Heather.

“Happy now?” asked Astrid.

“Oh, fine. But just one game. I have to get back to the club room and take care of some things.”

“We know,” quipped Astrid as she practically pushed Merida towards the building, Heather, Crista, and the twins following close behind. Hiccup peeked around the corner and watched them usher Merida into the building. Hiccup counted to ten before following, Fishlegs would come out looking for him if he didn’t get into the foyer soon enough. As he figured, his crush and her group were leaving the front desk when Hiccup entered. They hadn’t seen him yet, but Fishlegs noticed him and waved him over to the front desk.

“I figured you were waiting for Merida to come through first. You are such a gentleman,” quipped Fishlegs.

“Ha ha, very funny. So, are you going to introduce me to this dragon game of yours, or not?”

“This dragon game is called Dragon Tournament. They assign you a dragon, you train him or her, and you pit your dragon against other dragons until one person rises victorious! It’s a lot of fun, really.”

“Uh-huh. Remind me why I’m here again?”

“Today they’re trying out something new, they’re doing teams! And I really, really want you on my team, Hiccup!”

“Because no one else will?”  

“Well, not exactly, see, Zak and Crogar are on the team too, we just needed a fourth team member,” replied Fishlegs.

“Oh, I didn’t know you roped Zak into it.”

Fishlegs chuckled nervously. “Yeah, it’s a long story.”

“Fishlegs!” came a voice from the hall. Their friend Zak Storm came huffing into the foyer. “Oh good, you’re here, Hiccup. Hurry it up, it’s about ready to start!”

Fishlegs let out a shriek. “Um, excuse me, ma’am? Can I get Hiccup’s card?”

“Say what?” asked the woman.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I mean, miss, may I have Hiccup Haddock’s card? Please?”

The woman rummaged around on her desk. “Ah-ha, here it is. Have fun, boys!” she said as she gave Fishlegs a card with a dragonesque logo on one side.

“Thank you so much!” Fishlegs quickly handed off the card to Hiccup before basically pushing Zak and Hiccup down the hall. He let out a another shriek when they heard an announcer counting down from fifteen. “Where are our seats?”

“Follow me!” said Zak as he led the way through the large room filled with four-seater tables, the majority of which were filled.

“Zak! Fishlegs! Hiccup!” called out a boy as large as Fishlegs as he waved them over.

“Oh, thank you Crogar!” exclaimed Zak as the three made a dash for the table, each sliding into their seat as the announcer said four.

“Just . . . made it,” huffed Zak.

“Yeah, no kidding. We would have been eliminated for sure if we didn’t make it in time!”

“Please insert your cards into the slot on the table, and we can begin,” came the announcer’s voice. The four slid their cards in and four small screens popped out of the table.

“Whoa! This is nice!” quipped Zak as he looked over his screen.

“Yeah, real nice,” echoed Hiccup. The next instance, dragons were popping up on the screens as well as the large screen in the middle of the room. There were exclamations of awe and disappointment as dragons were being assigned to players. Crogar was the first at their table to get a dragon.

“Hey, I’ve got a Wyvern!” he exclaimed.

“Nice! This is excellent! Wyverns are great at attacks! This is already starting to look good!” exclaimed Fishlegs. “Oh, oh, oh! I’ve got my dragon! Welcome back, Meatlug!”

“Meatlug?” asked Hiccup.

“You named your dragon Meatlug?” asked Zak.

“Oh yes, she loves her meat!”

“Go figure,” mumbled Hiccup.

“She’s a Gronkle, so I’ll be more on defence. Oh, look, Zak, you’re getting yours!” Everyone watched with baited breath as Zak’s dragon appeared on his screen.

“Uh, a Boneknapper? Really? I get a skeleton dragon?”

“Actually, that’s one of the fiercest dragons of all! This is perfect! You and Crogar can be offensive, and Hiccup and I are defensive!”

“But I haven’t gotten my dragon yet,” pointed out Hiccup.

“Here it comes now!” said Fishlegs with a squeal.

“Fishlegs, could you turn down your enthusiasm, like . . .” Hiccup paused, trying to think of a good number.

“Eighty-five percent,” said Zak.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Um, that looks really tiny, almost like a garden or a common dragon,” said Fishlegs as Hiccup’s dragon came into view.

“Hey, I can compare my dragon’s size to yours!” blurted Zak. He pushed a button and their dragons were side by side. Everyone gulped.

“What? Why?” whined Hiccup.

“Oh man, that is, that is a rather small dragon, Hiccup,” said Zak, almost apologetically.

“That has to be a common dragon, it’s too small to be anything else! Though, I haven’t heard of many common dragons that are black. You must have a rather rare dragon, Hiccup!” exclaimed Fishlegs.

“Oh, yippee,” muttered Hiccup.

Someone laughed. “It’s small and wimpy, just like you, Hiccup!”

“Be quiet, Snotlout!” Hiccup shouted at his cousin. But a few others began to join in the laughter and Hiccup began to slump. Zak gave a little growl and was about to stand when the announcer’s voice came over the P.A.

“Everyone, please be quiet. You were given your dragon for a reason. Now, everyone has been assigned a dragon, please turn to your screens and begin to train your dragon!” There were a few cheers before total silence seemed to reign as everyone turned their attention to training their dragons.

“Hey, Hiccup, are you alright?” asked Zak in a whisper.

“Snotlout is always picking on me,” Hiccup whispered back.

“You’ve got to stand up to him one day, man. Maybe, maybe this is why you’ve got your dragon, maybe it has some great potential that only you can unlock.”

“Hey, what are you going to name your dragons?” whispered Fishlegs. The two glanced at their screens, a bar ready to take a name.

“Well, since mine is a skeleton and my first thought is pirates, I’ll name mine . . . Corsair.” The name appeared on the screen.

“Yeah, well, mine looks pathetic so I’ll give him a less-mean sounding name, like . . . Toothless.” Zak shot him a look. “What? If he is a special type and takes us all by surprise, well, the name will take our opponents by surprise.”

Zak looked impressed with that line of thinking. “That’s an idea. I guess so, if you’re set on that name.”

“Definitely. His name is Toothless.” The page with the names disappeared, and the training commenced. It only a took a few minutes, but by the time training was over, Hiccup was nowhere near closer than when he started.

“What is up with your dragon, man?” asked Zak as he glanced at Hiccup’s progress, or lack thereof.

“I don’t know! He doesn’t want to do a thing! The lazy little . . .”

“Training is over! Let the tournament commence!” came the announcement. “However, if you do not think your dragon is ready or would just like some more time to train, please head to the special training room, the door on the other end of the room. All team members are welcome to join their teammate in the training room. Please be sure to take your cards with you. We will hold your place, so have no fear about that. Good luck!” Snotlout’s laugh could be heard.

“Well, looks like that’s the place for the Loser team!”

“No, we’re not the loser team! We’re just the special team!” Zak shouted back.

“Oh yeah, what makes you so special?”

“Hiccup’s dragon! It’s a rare that needs extra training, that’s all!”

“Zak!” hissed Hiccup as he jumped up and began to nudge him towards the door.

“Don’t forget your cards!” blurted Fishlegs as he quickly took them out for Hiccup and Zak. The two took their cards from Fishlegs and walked towards the training room, Zak shooting a glare at the chuckling Snotlout as they passed him by. But they made it to the training room door fairly fine, as everyone else’s attention was drawn towards the tournament. Crogar, having reached the door first, opened it and let his teammates in, closing the door behind him.

“Huh, so, the training room is at the end of this hallway?” asked Crogar.

Hiccup scratched his head. “Uh, I guess so? I hope so. I don’t know where else to go.”

“Well, come on, let’s go get that special dragon of yours trained,” quipped Zak as he led the way down the hall.

“Yeah, a real special lazy dragon,” muttered Hiccup with a sigh as they walked down the hall.

“Hey, I wanted to train some more with Corsair, so, let’s do this! With more training, we can beat all of them, even Snotlout!” cheered Zak with a grin.

“I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic,” muttered Hiccup.

“Hey, come on, we’re a team! Snotlout always tries to do things by himself,” stated Zak as he patted Hiccup’s shoulder.

“You mean like you?” asked Crogar, he and Fishlegs snickering. Hiccup glanced at Zak with a grin.

“Uh, you, uh, mean like I used to. Come on guys, give me a break! I was the new kid and trying to act all cool!”

“And totally blowing it,” quipped Fishlegs between snickers.

“Well I didn’t completely blow it, I met you guys, right?”

“I think that’s the one thing we all agree on,” quipped Hiccup.The group arrived at another door.

“Alright Hiccup, ready to whip that lazy little dragon into shape?”

“Just like we whipped you into shape?” quipped Hiccup as he crossed his arms. Zak grinned and chuckled nervously before pushing open the door. Within was nothing more than a white room with card slots dotted throughout the walls.

“Uh, OK, so, we just put our cards in and we get personal big screens, or something?” asked Zak.

“Well, let’s put in our cards and find out,” suggested Hiccup as he slid his into a slot. The other three slid theirs in next to his.  

“OK, nothing’s happening,” mentioned Zak as he glanced around and scratched the back of his head in confusion. “Is it broken?” A beam activated and a white light filled the room. The four teens closed their eyes and waited a minute before peeking to see if the light was gone, and yelled instead.

“What the?” exclaimed Hiccup tugging on his clothes.

“We’re in Viking clothes now!” exclaimed Crogar.

“That’s not the worst of it! We’re not even in the special training room!” exclaimed Zak. And he was right, they weren’t surrounded by white walls dotted with card slots, they were surrounded by blooming trees, green grass, and birds singing!

“What? What? Where are we?” exclaimed Fishlegs.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” The boys glanced over, and yelled again. There was Merida, Astrid, Heather, and Crista, all in long, flowing medieval dresses, Merida was in a green dress, Astrid was in a blue-grey dress, Heather was in brown, and Crista was in purple.

“Have you seen anything that could give you a clue?” asked Fishlegs hopefully. Though he only asked the question simply because Hiccup was going into panic mode.

“You mean outside of the fact that we somehow changed into ancient people clothes?” asked Zak, pulling at his red shirt and black vest. “And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want my cargo pants back.”

“Uh, how’s that for a clue?” asked Crogar, pointing up. There was a Boneknapper heading straight for them! It let out a roar. The teens screamed and began to run, but the Boneknapper overtook them in a matter of minutes and landed in front of them.

“It’s going to eat us! It’s going to eat us!” exclaimed Fishlegs as he covered his eyes with fright.

“Well, don’t just stand there! Start running!” exclaimed Heather, grabbing his arm. But they came to a screeching halt as dragon after dragon landed, surrounding them.

“Wait a second . . . Meatlug?” The Gronkle just panted and grinned before giving Fishlegs a big lick.

“So, wait, this is Corsair?” asked Zak, glancing up at the Boneknapper. The Boneknapper seemed to purr before it licked Zak.

“Then this must be Freya!” exclaimed Crogar.

“Stormfly?”

“Windshear?”

“Caspian?” Crista asked the Hobblegrunt dragon.

“Caspian? Why’d you name your dragon Caspian?” asked Zak.

“It’s one of the seven seas,” replied Crista.

“Oh, right,” replied Zak going back to petting Corsair and keeping an eye on the overly lost-in-romantic-thought Hiccup. Crista’s father was a wealthy merchant, often nicknamed the “king of the seven seas”.

“So wait a second, where’s my dragon?” asked Merida.

That seemed to snap Hiccup out of his romantic thoughts for him to realize the same thing. “Hey, where’s mine?”

Zak leaned in and whispered, “Maybe her dragon is going out on a date with yours.”

“Oh shut up. Highly unlikely. My dragon’s too lazy to go on a date.” A low chirp-like sound caught their attention. Hiccup found the source rather quick, it was a black common dragon. “Toothless?” The little dragon let out a meow-like sound, as if to say yes, and bumped Hiccup’s hand with his nose.

“Aw! Seeing him up close now, he’s really cute,” stated Zak as Hiccup picked up the little dragon. “Nothing against you, Corsair, but, the smaller ones tend to be cuter, while the bigger ones tend to be awesome.” Corsair let out a soft purr, as if to agree.

“Aw! He so is!” exclaimed Crista as she came over to pet the little dragon. “What did you say his name is?”

“Uh, Toothless.”  

“Well, I guess it suits him. But really, Stormwatch, Windshear, Meatlug? Do you guys have any imagination whatsoever?” asked Merida. “Corsair’s nice, Zak.”

“Thanks Mer.”

“And Toothless works for yours.”

“Um, uh, thank, thank you.” Hiccup began to blush.

“Keep it together, man,” Zak whispered.

“I’m trying! I can’t help it if she’s so awesome!” he whispered back.

“But really, Mer, where’s yours?” asked Crista.

“I don’t know. Toothless let us know where he was, but, I haven’t heard another sound. Nor do I see another dragon coming in.” Merida paused. “I’m getting worried. Everyone’s dragons came looking for us, but, mine’s not here. And I know she would be. Something must have happened.”

“And you’d be right,” said a voice.

“Ah! You’re the desk lady!” shouted Zak, pointing at the woman standing not far from them, who somehow appeared out of nowhere.

“You can call me by the other nickname the kids have for me, the old witch, because, technically, I am one.”

“You’re a real witch!” they exclaimed.

“No, you’re dreaming. Of course I’m a real witch! What did you expect? A fake witch? And these dragons are just figments of your imagination? Pretty solid figments.” The teens chuckled nervously. “Now come on, there isn’t much time, and I have a lot to explain.”

“Oh, you better believe it,” muttered Zak as the group began to follow her. She led them around the bend to a cozy cottage and let them in. The dragons, except Toothless, had to stay outside as they were all too big, but the witch left the door wide open. “Alright, start explaining,” stated Zak as he crossed his arms.

“Weren’t we just playing a game?” asked Fishlegs.

“How did we get here?” asked Astrid.

“Will you let me start explaining, or are you to keep wasting time by asking the very questions I was about to answer?”

“Sorry,” they mumbled.

“Please, go on,” said Crista.

“Thank you. Now, yes, you were just playing a game, but the game is a front for a portal between your world and this one, the game is a virtual reality version of this world, though the dragons still know what’s going on. We send messages to them to let them know. Which is how they knew where to find you, I told them where you were going to be since I brought you here.”

“But, why us?” asked Zak.

“And why now?” asked Fishlegs.

“There is an ancient prophecy that spoke of the king of dragons finally returning one day and, with the help of children from another world, would defeat the usurper Drago. He destroyed  the last great king of the dragons with his Alpha, and we have been living under his tyranny ever since. A few of us have been able to work in secrecy to find you, but only a few of us actually know about Earth, and if Drago ever found out . . . it’s best if you keep that a secret.”

“So, can you tell me where Morrigan is?” asked Merida.

The witch sighed. “Unfortunately, yes, Drago captured her. She and Toothless are the last of the Nightfuries, I made them look like common dragons so that they could pass undetected by Drago’s men, but, apparently someone figured out the rise and has captured Morrigan in the hopes that the king of the dragons will go save his queen.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry Toothless, I thought you were being lazy when you were just worried about your girlfriend.”

“Whoa, so I wasn’t too far off,” whispered Zak.

“Sh!”

“So, will you help us? Will you save Morrigan and topple Drago’s tyranny?”

“Could we get home if we said no?” asked Zak.

“It would be hard to, considering the portals are technically under Alpha’s command, but there are a few that they don’t know about. It’s a long journey from here.”

“Well, if we have to be stuck here for a while before we can get back home, then I suggest we save Morrigan and topple Drago on our way home.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Hiccup. The others agreed.

“Though, if you take out Drago really quick, you could get home even faster,” pointed out the witch.

“There’s that too,” stated Merida.

“Well, that’s why I said it’s all on the way home. We’d have to take him out either way,” stated Zak.

“Good point,” said Crogar.

“Well then, let’s get started on a plan,” said the witch as she unrolled a map and introduced the teens to the world of the adventure of a lifetime.