How to fight for your dragon

~Chapter 2~ dragon trappers (Hiccup)

Tucked into my riding position, I almost appear to be part of Toothless. We dip, roll and dive, over a sea teeming with Thunderdrums, pulling off daring maneuvers with honed refinement, making them seem effortless.

"Yeah!"

We jackknifed, heading skyward, rolling and tumbling through the ethereal cloud-scapes and joining high-flying Timberjacks as they soar in formation. I was bound head-to-toe in a snug, aerodynamic flight suit with an asymmetrical, functional design of leather and articulated plates, a design Jenny had come up with.

"What do you think, bud?" I asked my dragon. "Wanna give this another shot?" Toothless grumbled in protest. "Toothless! It'll be fine." With a click of a lever, I locked the pedals in the flared tail position. I then unhooked myself from the saddle. "Ready?" Toothless snorts unenthusiastically.

Suddenly, I slid off Toothless, peeling away from him like a skydiver from a plane, yelling happily as I plummeted. Toothless dived after me. We spiraled through the air, face-to-face, Toothless having fun, despite himself. I slipped his forearms through a pair of tucked leather flaps and yanks, unfurling sheets of leather as I extended my arms. They caught the wind, snapping open like wings, sending me gliding out of control at first, then stabilizing. The turbulence buffets my flight suit heavily. Toothless unfolds his wings, too, catching up with me easily.The freedom is palpable. Toothless and I are, for the moment, the same. Feeling the same rush of adrenaline. Independently together. We plunge past cloud formations, splitting apart then crossing paths again. Impressive as it is, I was gliding at a steep angle. Thankfully, Toothless launches fireballs ahead of me, boosting me higher with the expanding heat bursts.

"This is amazing!" I exclaimed, thinking about gloating to my fiance about how it worked when I got back. A cloud layer washed past, exposing a towering rock formation, dead ahead. "No longer amazing! Toothless!"

I attempted to steer myself away, with no avail. Toothless sped up, trying to catch me as I hurtled toward collision. His locked tail makes maneuvering difficult, making it impossible to pull up at a steep enough angle.

However, At the last second, Toothless blasts the jagged rocks just ahead of me, then wraps me in his wings as they fly through it. The obliterated peak rains down around us, and I closed my eyes bracing for impact. Toothless emerged through the cloud of debris and flew into the trees of a neighboring peak. We tumbled down the uneven terrain, coming to rest on a small plateau. I emerged from the cocoon of Toothless' wings, reaching down to switch my prosthetic riding foot to my walking foot and stowed my leather wings.

"That really came out of nowhere." I said as the blown up sea stack collapsed behind me. "We gotta work on your solo gliding there, bud. That locked-up tail makes for some pretty sloppy rescue maneuvers, eh?"

I reeled in my dorsal fin and removed my helmet, my wild brown locks falling in front of my face before I pushed it back. I walked to the edge of the cliff, taking in the new land stretching off into the horizon, its tall cliffs and sea-stacks adorned with swaying gold birch trees basking in the dappled afternoon sunlight.

"Looks like we found another one, bud." Toothless fussed and snorted, not amused, shaking off dust and pebbles like a wet dog. I flinched as a pebble whacked me on the back of the head. I looked back to Toothless, who averted his eyes. "Oh, what? Do you want an apology? Is that why you're pouting, big baby boo? Well... try this on!" I jumped forward and tackled Toothless, trying to put him in a headlock.