Together we Map the World is a canon and OC forum that takes place directly after the first film left off, behaving as if the series and second film after never happened. With a wealth of locations, dragons, and characters to choose from, the possibilities are endless. What the tides of storytelling will do with these building blocks is up to you. How far will you go?
This was the first island in miles the two had come across since leaving the island of the Wing Maidens. From the map Heather had in hand, carefully pressed against the metallic scales of the Razorwhip she presently rode on, it was the Isle of Berk. It seemed bigger than she expected. Compared to the size on the map it seemed quite tiny on paper, but in person appeared quite large and elaborate in its landscape, having thick forests and high rises that could be perfect for hiding if necessary.
But lately, rumor was that Berk had become quite the oddball as of late. The closer they got, the more Heather and Windshear could see that dragons flew out in the open without conflict, and Heather swore she saw some fishing boats actually having help from dragons.
"This village should be okay girl, it appears this place is pretty peaceful." The young Viking observed, gently patting the Razorwhip's neck who let out a wartle of agreement. Visibly, Heather could see Windshear become relaxed and the tension ebbed away in her body. Fact was, not all villages welcomed dragons and there had been one Windshear had to hide while Heather replenished their supplies they had used over the course of their flying. But finally, it appeared they were coming to a village they did not have to have this concern. "Alright Windshear, better to land at the entrance, avoid causing too much problems." Heather directed with a hand towards that gateway leading between the docks and into the village.
Growling softly, the young dragon veered off towards the area, casting her shadow across the ground and her metal scales giving a blinding light as they reflected the sun to those who peered up. Moments later, the Razorwhip came in for a landing, tucking her metallic scaled wings against her side the moment they touched down.
Most of the time he really didn't mind playing peacekeeper between the dragons and vikings who were still desperately trying to adapt to one another, or he said he didn't mind, but he mostly said it because this was his responsibility. It had been because of him that the peace had come, for better or for worse, and that made it his job to handle. Or that had been the way his father had so eloquently put it, you want peace, you have to keep it, sounded a lot nicer on paper than it did in practice. But he was managing...Sort of.
Sometimes though, he was prone to slacking off, when nothing especially outrageous or insane was happening. It was a moment to breath, to hop on Toothless and get an aerial view, and that was kind of when he really got to see the fruits of all of their labor, dragons helping vikings fish, move heavy things, it kind of made the drama worth it.
He didn't miss the metallic glint though, and neither did Toothless, who gave a cautionary warble in response, "yeah yeah, I saw it too..." He mumbled, before he managed to catch sight of it again, heading for the gates, it looked like a dragon, and a rider, but he didn't recognize either, "lets go say hi, eh?" He patted the Night Fury's cheek before the pair dove down to meet the newcomers.
Once he was closer, enough to get a good view of this dragon he realized it was like nothing he'd ever seen before. He felt like he'd seen a vague reference to something in the book, but he couldn't be sure, whatever the case it was new to him, and his curiosity and eagerness to be the first to greet the pair was pretty intense.
Toothless landed close by, in front of the pair, the viking on his back giving a wave "hey! Welcome to Berk!" He grinned, moving to slide off the saddle before he realized too late that his peg leg was still attached, which caused him to face plant in probably the most graceless way possible. Toothless turned in a well meaning attempt to help, which only served to drag the boy along the wooden deck, "no! No! stop helping! Your helping isn't helping, you useless reptile!" He looked relieved when the dragon stopped moving, missing the petulant look he was shot as he turned to the newcomer, "can you...? There's a little latch on the foothold..." He tried to point it out from his awkward position, and also tried to ignore the laughter from the fishermen unloading their boat. The gods really did hate him.
Just as Windshear was fixing to walk through the gates she paused mid-step, seeing a shadow coming across the ground towards them and raising her head. Heather likewise did the same, shielding her eyes for a moment against the sun as she watched a black dragon approach them, carrying another young viking with him. There was no mistaking a dragon rider for sure. But, his dragon certainly was nothing she had seen in her life either.
"Th..." Before Heather could get her first greeting out, her and Windshear cringed in unison as Hiccup took a faceplant right into the wooden dock. And she had to stifle her laughter as Toothless' attempts to help his friend only made things worse, but Windshear let out a chortle of a laugh at the sight. There was no doubt the metallic dragon herself had a twisted sense of humor. Luckily, a small pat from Heather helped her to understand it was best not to make the situation worse, but a small amused rumbling could still be heard in her tone.
Nodding, Heather dropped down from her own makeshift saddle she had made, coming over to the foothold, "Windshear, grab the back of his shirt. I'll release, you lift girl." She instructed as she undid the latch to release his peg leg and Windshear leaning her head down to gently grasp the collar of his shirt and vest between her front teeth and lifting him the moment his metal foot was released. She gently lifted and set him down, making sure he had his footing before she let go and took a step back.
"Thanks for the welcome, but you alright? Looks like that was a nasty spill." Heather inquired, making sure Hiccup didn't have any serious injury.
There were a few completely undignified moments where he was just laying there getting a particularly good view of the wood grain of the docks while Toothless stood still as he could, before he found himself lifted in gentle jaws by the fierce looking metallic dragon, "she's beautiful..." He couldn't help but state this, craning his neck to get as good a view as he could from his position, "I've never seen anything like her..." He turned his eyes to the dragon's rider, feeling his foot release as he was gently set down and finally found his footing.
"Thanks, not the first time that's happened..." He admitted with an embarrassed clearing of the throat, "I'm alright though uh...What's your name?" He looked between them, indicating that he was asking for both of their names, "I'm Hiccup, this is Toothless!" He gestured behind them to the village just up from the docks, "and that's Berk!" He grinned, then became suddenly very visibly curious, "what kind of dragon is that? I don't remember ever seeing one of those in the book..." He mused, at least not that he could remember, "I didn't even know other dragon riders were out there..." He breathed out in an almost reverent tone, before he chuckled and gestured them on, "well Berk's the right place to be, no one's going to give you or your dragon trouble here anymore!" Or he hoped they wouldn't, he hoped they knew better.
He glanced over at Toothless before hopping up a few of the steps, swaying just a little from his uneven footing, "where'd you two fly in from?" He glanced back at them, feeling like he had a million questions he wanted to ask, sorting them out was impossible.
Despite the spill Hiccup had taken, he seemed rather intrigued by the likes of her own dragon who raised her head proudly at his compliment. Well, least he took such an embarrassing fall in stride. Probably was something that happened from time to time Heather could assume. But, there was no telling what happened to Hiccup and his dragon, she could only go off the fact that he just happened to be optimistic regardless.
The flurry of questions though made her smile in amusement, figuring he might ask the basic questions but there certainly was more than she expected. "Well, first I'm Heather and this here is Windshear, we've been together since she was a hatchling." Heather introduced herself and her dragon at last, giving a bright, big grin, showing she was quite excited and relieved they wouldn't have to entirely worry about being harassed. "Its a pleasure to meet you two Hiccup, and we've heard some things about Berk, how it seemed to be making peace with dragons compared to most other places." Subconsciously, Heather rested a hand on the smooth, metallic scaled shoulder of Windshear, who she barely had been able to take around with her without worrying about being hunted or harassed.
Heather took a few steps up towards the gates, peering at Berk for her own eyes, fascinated by how the dragons and vikings were, for the most part, getting along rather well. "We come from a place called Wing Maiden Island, its kind of a long story. They help take care of the Razorwhips since there aren't too many of their kind left." Heather explained, turning back to face Hiccup, awe clear in her expression. "Usually they're let go to the wild, but me and Windshear...our bond has been strong since she chose me to take care of her and we just couldn't see being apart like the other Maidens so we've been together ever since."
For once, Heather didn't mind telling where she had come from, to an extent. This was only part of her life story after all, but she wasn't so quick to tell the full story. But now, she had her own questions. "But you mentioned a book Hiccup. Do you guys keep track of the type of dragons you come across or something? And how did your village even get like...this?" She waved a hand, gesturing to the lack of Vikings trying to kill dragons. Near them, Windshear seemed curious towards Toothless, curiously sniffing at the Night Fury.
Hiccup gave an absent nod as he approached Windshear with an awestruck expression, "Heather, well you're welcome here..." He held a hand out, then glanced at her, silently asking permission, he'd never seen a dragon like this before and was a little more than gushing, he couldn't wait to let Fishlegs meet the pair, "Fishlegs is gonna lay an egg when he sees this..." He laughed, then glanced over at her, seeming almost surprised when she mentioned hearing about Berk, "word is getting around about that already? Huh," he made a thoughtful sound, there was a blessing and curse there, he just hoped they didn't attract the wrong kind of attention.
He glanced back at her when she began to go into where she'd come from, his eyes widening a little, "Wingmaiden Island? So there are other people out there who look after dragons..." He sounded almost disbelieving, even though he did believe her completely, "well, then I'm glad Windshear found a friend like you!" He grinned at her then glanced sidelong at Toothless and chuckled, "I wish we coulda' met on better terms like that, eh Bud?" He gave a sort of cheeky grin, just ducking in time to not be slapped by the night fury's tail, "not this time!" He laughed, shoving at the black dragon fruitlessly before looking back at Heather.
"That's a long story, lets just say we scratched their backs and they're scratching ours," he said with a soft chuckle, it was the best explanation he could think of, "we helped free them from the control of a bully, more or less, they repaid us with their trust," he further explained, before heading up the steps to the village, "c'mon, I'll show you around!" He grinned, he knew his dad would need to meet her sooner or later, but for now he could play tour guide.
Heather quickly nodded at Hiccup's silent question, having seen no hostility from Windshear herself in allowing Hiccup to make contact with her. In fact, Windshear seemed to be allowed the young Viking to get close to her compared to any others they had come across, which Heather was rather relieved about. The Razorwhip could be well-mannered and docile, but at other times her temper was fierce and quick, to the point she was rather protective of herself and her own viking companion. One thing was clear though, Windshear's scales were different than Toothless' own, smooth to the touch like one would expect from most metal, yet just as sharp as they appeared.
"Maybe we'll have to do a demonstration of what she can do later." Heather suggested, not minding in furthering Berk's knowledge on dragons since it seemed many species lived here, but nothing like Razorwhips. Perhaps even ones Hiccup and Berk had yet to come across in their lives. "You would be surprised. There are plenty of people out there willing to show kindness to dragons rather than hunt them down like common animals." The female Viking said with a wide grin, knowing many probably would pay a high price for a bounty there found on Berk. With such a big flock and diverse number, Berk would be a gold mine for any dragon hunters that could come this way and see the lack of any dragon hunting.
Still, Heather laughed softly at the two, seeing they were quite close and had a strong bond. Whatever they had done to earn the trust of so many dragons and to be able to work together as equals certainly seemed worth the effort. "Looks like whatever that bully was it certainly worked out for the best." Heather observed as she followed Hiccup and Toothless into the village with Windshear walking at her side. The further they went the more intrigued Heather was. Not only were they companions, it seemed Berk and its dragons had learned to work in harmony, chores, work, it didn't matter. They seemed to be helping in one way or another in some aspect of Berk's life now, "Wow, gotta admit even the Wingmaidens don't seem so inclusive with the dragons they take care of." Heather said with awe.
