|☾ WIND ☾| zephyr haddock

Chapter 1

"BAAAAaaAAaaaHHHhh!"

The abrupt wake up call of a sheep outside my window causes my eyes to snap open instantly. It's today. Today is the day! I fling myself out of bed and run down the hall. I hope onto the banister and slide all the way down it to the first floor. I turn and look around the room but everything is still and silent except for the occasional "baaaaahing" of the herd sheep outside. Is everyone still asleep? Turning, I move to head back upstairs to see if they're awake when...

"SURPRISE!!!"

My father, mother, and brother jump up out from behind the furniture. "HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY ZEPHYR!!!" Startled, I step backwards, tripping on the stairs behind me and almost fall back onto my head.

"Woah, Zeph! Are you ok?!" says Nuffink running over to me.

I steady myself on the bannister before I reply. "Great. Just wasn't expecting that". "C'mon Zeph, Yer one of the greatest warriors in the village!" exclaims Nuffink. "I thought you were prepared fer anythin'."

Nuffink proceeds to take a fighting stance and make a few quick gestures of attack into the air as if dueling some invisible foe. I laugh and brush past him to go hug my parents.

My mom hugs me tight. "Happy Birthday my darling girl. This day cannot already be here. I swear just a few weeks ago you were no higher than my hip!" She proceeds to dramatically fake sniffle in remorse.

I roll my eyes. "Try more like ten years ago..." I grumble but am pulled into a bear hug from behind by my dad, his rough beard scratching my face. "The pride of Berk! At last, she is a truly full grown adult of the village. You feel that sense of maturity and responsibility rushing in? I did too you know, back when I became your age" he says sarcastically.

"Do you want breakfast?" asks my mom. "Yeah, su-" but I'm interrupted. "We made breakfast cakes for you!"

I see my mom waking over with a large stack of breakfast cakes covered in berries and honey. The berries have been arranged into a haphazard 18 on top. "Wow, thank you..." I say. "Very impressive".

"I made 'em with my own blood sweat and tears!" says Nuffink proudly. "Should I be worried?" I say jokingly, sitting down with my family at the table. Grabbing a few cakes off the top of the stack, I proceed to dig in. Mmmmm, delicious. Nuffink may be a total bonehead at pretty much everything, but he's a surprisingly apt cook.

I swallow and turn toward my dad eagerly. "So, Nuffink and I are coming with you to the tribe gathering tonight right?"

My dad puts down his fork and sighs. "If only I had been so eager at your age. My dad had to practically drag me to those meetings. I hated going and watching him look so strong and assertive, observing how he led everyone so confidently and easily and how they all respected him so much. It hurt me to watch and feel like I could never live up to that." He smiled, and got that sad sort of distanced look in his eyes that he has whenever he talks about his father.

My grandfather, "Stoick the Vast", one of the great chieftains of our past whose souls' now rest in stars and watch over us. After the end of the Dragon Scourge, he and my father led the Berkians into an era of dragons. I never met him. Sadly, he died saving my father during the first dragon war, but remains a legend to this day in New Berk, with his image carved for all to see and remember him by. After his death, my father and his dragon led the tribe to victory and was named chief.

In his youth, my father was a dragon master. He could understand any dragon and created peace and harmony between the dragons and Berkians. Riding atop his night fury, Toothless, the king of all dragons, the elders tell us he was the lord of the skies, a god of wind and thunder.

The dragons left New Berk long before I was born but I still remember touching a dragon, looking into its eyes for the first time all those years ago, riding one through the skies with my mother, father and brother. It was magical.

My father had taken us on a voyage to check on his old friend after 9 long years. It hurt my dad to leave his bud, but he tells me that the Hidden World of the dragons must remain a secret because there are too many who'd want to hurt the dragons, or abuse the power of dragons for their own greed. The Berkians fought several wars to protect the dragons and their home, which eventually led to the founding of New Berk, and the dragons leaving forever...

My father built New Berk from the ground up and we have lived in peace ever since. He's been Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe for over twenty years. Now that I'm eighteen, I'm eligible to begin training under him as the next Chieftain and be named heir of the tribe. I've been preparing for this my whole life as it's always been my dream.

I sit there munching on my breakfast cakes, stewing in my excitement and anticipation of tonight's meeting.

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