The routine of sleeping in, morning flights, and play time that Rune and Sandstorm shared was broken today thanks to Vyra. With the Sand Wraith remaining in his bed, Rune and Vyra got on with trying clothing combinations. She had basically become his stylist and was organizing his clothes.
"Hmmm, if we put this and this together it should go. But if he's attending a very important event with other dignitaries, the fur coat will go with this"
Vyra was deep in her world of fashion while Rune sat there trying to keep himself awake. He was sleeping and waking up constantly, barely able to keep track of what was going on. Now Vyra was done, she called to him.
"I'm done Rune" she said but there was no answer.
"Rune?" she said as she turned slowly.
She found his head hung to his left, eyes closed tightly and a little stream of drool rolling down the side of his chin. Vyra took a deep breath before exhaling; she rose to her feet and stomped towards Rune who was knocked out cold. She stood by his right and bent over slightly as she spoke into his ears.
"Wake up Rune" she said with a normal tone, believing that her tone was enough to wake him up. Wrong.
"Wake up Rune" She said, tapping him lightly on his shoulder.
His eyeballs began to roll under his eyelids but he still wasn't fully awake.
"Wake up!!" she yelled into his ears at the top of her voice.
Her voice thundered, it seemed to rattle the entire hut. Sandstorm shot up to his feet thinking that they were in danger. Rune jumped up too, pulling his dagger out of his boot ready to fight. He had taken his fighting stance and was ready to throw hands only to find Vyra staring at both rider and dragon with fright.
"Oh, it's just you" he said as he eased. "I thought you were in trouble, that's why I got my dagger out" he said as he tucked it away back into his boot.
Sandstorm gave a loud huff with steam exiting his nose. He wasn't a fan of her little prank at all. He went back to his bed grumpily, grunting and rumbling as he got into a comfortable position to fall asleep.
"I can't believe you couldn't stay awake for that long. Is this really not important to you?"
"Yes, to me it isn't" he replied sharply.
Vyra lifted an eyebrow and gave him a stern look. Rune felt the temperature in the room rise, and the pressure was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
"Sorry. It is important to me. You are important to me" he took hold of her hand and looked her straight in the air as he spoke.
It was his best attempt at trying to diffuse the bomb he had activated.
"Good. Now let's get to trying out these outfits"
Rune rolled his eyes but followed her anyway. He wasn't a fan of this at all but he did it to keep her happy. Despite the number of times he told her that he didn't care about all this attire, she refused to listen to him.
The first thing he tried on was the outfit she picked for events. Rune was adorned in a brown fur shoulder pelt with metal clasps on the ends to attach it to his to the rest of his outfit. The pelt was made up of different shades of brown, with the lighter part around his neck and chest. The rest of the fur went into a darker shade as it flowed away from the lighter part. The pelt was attached to a black tunic that had grey dye around the neck and a straight line down the middle of it. A decorated belt, a bronze ring and black leather boots with grey fur lining.
"How do I look?" Rune asked.
"Like a dignitary. Now you finally look the part. Respectable, powerful"
"Yeah" Rune said with disinterest.
"Now let's try the next set of outfits"
Minutes later, Vyra finally left Rune's hut and he could return to his bed to catch up on some sleep. Rune slept in too long and Sten and Virgil came looking for him. They found him and Sandstorm fast asleep in their respective beds and then the outfits laid out on his chair and table.
"Where did he get the money for all this?" Virgil asked.
"That's none of our business" Sten said, quickly shutting down any curiosity he had. It was best to stay out of his business, especially when it involved Vyra.
Their sleepy leader was finally awake for the second time today, but with more important business to attend to. He got dressed and left with his friends to the clubhouse where the other's were gathered. They were all itching to get a move on and Rune plotted their course. They were heading west, into the unknown, into uncharted territory. Odin knew what awaited them.
"Yes! I wander what we are going to find, maybe a new island or a new species" Forde said, excited.
"Let's try and pack for all situations, we don't know where we might find ourselves" Rune advised.
Cloaks and coats for the cold, spare weapons, tent equipment and the essentials were all packed and the team was ready to go.
"Look after the island while we are away Smidvarg" Forde said rubbing the albino dragon's head.
"Alright team, wings up"
At Rune's words, they were away, each dragon lifted himself and their rider into the air with unparalleled grace. Forde's Thunderdrum made a loud roar; he was going to miss Forde while he was away.
"Don't worry boy, I'll be back soon. I promise!" he echoed.
Their figures faded into the distance as they put distance between themselves and Dragon's Edge. This didn't feel like a raid where they would be back by the end of the day. This was totally different, a big step into the unknown. It felt like the night they decided to leave Berk and live on their own in a distant land, but still different.
The group soared over the crystal sea below, glistening in the sunlight, over islands ridden with dragons that had already been explored. They weren't looking to go into a land their predecessors had explored. They wanted something new, something fresh and they were going to get it. With Rune charting the course for them to follow, they remain on route to the West that hadn't really been explored.
Another reason Rune decided to go west was because of the Hidden world. In the movie, Hiccup and the village travelled to new Berk which was located to the West of Berk. The Hidden World wasn't far from it, so he guessed that if he played his cards right and looked in the right places, he could find it and avert the conclusion of the third movie. Ultimately, his goal was to take this whole exploration one day at a time.
A day and one island stop later, the team was fully in uncharted territory, ready to write their own story. They were some nerves around, but people did their best to hide it. Rune had an idea to calm the mood and get everyone off the edge.
"Eyes peeled everyone. We are in uncharted territory right now" he said.
Still there was no answer from anyone, just silence.
"This means that any island we discover right now will be a part of our legacy. I wonder who the first person to make a discovery will be?"
"it's obviously going to be you. You have the spyglass. You can see for miles so you have the edge" Sten said.
"On the contrary, I believe each one of us is capable of such a discovery. It all depends on our perception and how attentive we are to detail. We could spot something in the distance that Rune might miss" Forde pointed out.
"But my point still stands" Sten repeated.
"Ehh, it's all luck. Whoever has the most luck will be the first to spot something" Virgil chipped in.
"You can have all the tools but if luck isn't on your side, there's nothing you can do" Rune added.
His question had sparked a conversation just like he had hoped. Everyone was beginning to be at ease right now. That was better for the team.
"Everything must be perfectly aligned for things to work out. It's just that some things increase the odds more than others" said Vyra.
"Well I believe being well equipped tips the scale heavily in your favor" said Sten.
"But if you have bad luck, no matter what you do, you will not discover a single island. You could just be flying in circles all day" Virgil emphasized.
"Luck shmuck. Tools are more important" Sten said refusing to back down.
"I mean, Ruffnut and Tuffnut who aren't the brightest in the world have made some pretty important findings and they were true. If that isn't luck, I don't know what is" Forde said.
As the group conversed during the flight, they would soon arrive at one of the most iconic rivalries in their world. I massive plasma shell flew out from beneath the clouds nearly taking Rune and Sandstorm out of the sky. Sandstorm turned sharply while Rune's focus was broken. The sudden move caused him to lose his balance and fall off his dragon.
"Rune!!" Vyra shouted.
Sandstorm let out a worried groan as he dove down after Rune. Rune was still trying to come to terms with what was going on as he fell through the air. With the team trying to steady themselves, another shell flew their way prompting them to scatter and evade. Sandstorm caught up to Rune but everyone was scratching their heads about what was going on.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Sten.
"I have never seen anything like that before" added Vyra.
"We have to get down and find out what is going on"
Cautiously, they flew down in formation; navigating their way through the clouds as they came up on the source of the shells.
"Odin's beard. Those dragons are huge" Virgil said.
The dragons in question? It was a Submaripper engaged in combat with a Shellfire. Two very powerful dragons in their own right squaring up against one another.
"A Submarriper and a Shellfire in combat? You don't see that almost ever. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity" said Forde, cautiously excited about what was happening.
"Let's try and keep our distance. We don't want to get shot down"
While the team moved to a comfortable distance to witness the fight, the two drgons continued their battle. The Submarriper propelled itself forward in a short burst, closing the distance between himself and the Shellfire in an instance. The Submarriper rammed its head into the jaw of the Shellfire causing its head to snap to the right as one of his shots missed it's mark again. This time, it was a safe distance from the riders.
"I wouldn't want to know what it feels like to get hit by one of those" commented Thyra.
The Submarriper grabbed the Shellfire's wing with its jaws clamping down hard and drawing blood. The Shellfire let out a loud groan in agony. The Submarriper put its muscles to good use as it threw the Shellfire out of the water. It landed a couple meters away, recovering from the attacks. It shook its head from side to side, dazed by the impact of being airborne and then back in the water after hitting it hard. Out of nowhere, the Submarriper hit the Shellfire from beneath, ramming into its underbelly.
The Shellfire got some air again before it crashed into the water, exhausted. The Submarriper, watched the Shellfire for anymore movements as it awaited its cry of surrender.
"That was one intense battle" remarked Rune.
"Things are very different when the big boys clash" said Forde.
While the Submarriper awaited its opponent to admit defeat, a new fighter entered the ring. Only that it was on a different level compared to the other two. Out of the depths beneath the waters, A colossal purple scaled dragon breached through the water as its teeth sunk into the scales of the Submarriper.
"Odin's beard" Sten said in shock.
It was the Purple Death, an opportunistic dragon in these waters. It took the Submarriper by surprise thanks to the fight serving as the perfect distraction. The Submarriper cried for help but it was too late. He was in the jaws of death now. The Shellfire didn't waste time putting some distance between itself and the Purple Death or he too could be added to the menu.
The whole team was in shock, the real dragon world was a far more savage place than what they were used to. It showed no remorse, it was brutal, it was savage, it was nature. Blood colored the water as the jaws of Death dug into the flesh of the Submarriper. Silence fell upon them as they heard the jaws clamp down and break bones, pulling out limbs from the dragon.
"By the gods. You mean something like that lived in these waters and we fly low so casually?" Virgil said with fright.
"That thing would take all six of us with one chomp" Vyra added, still in shock.
The Purple death turned its head slowly as it soon locked onto the rider's position. With blood dripping from its mouth, it starred at the six dragons in the distance.
"It's looking at us. It's looking at us…" Sten whispered frantically. He was so intimidated that he couldn't speak with a normal tone.
The dragons themselves were not comfortable and began to groan. They wanted to get out of there before they became the next meal. The Purple Death huffed as its lungs began to expand. It unleashed a devastating roar that echoed for miles. The riders could feel it, the dragons could feel it. The roar sent chills down their spines, rattled their bones and mixed up their guts.
"We have to go, we have to go" Rune said with a sense of urgency.
They didn't spend a second longer to find out what was going to happen next. They began to climb, going higher and higher in altitude to put both height and distance between themselves and that thing. Not the introduction they were hoping for.