Ch. 21- Dragon Day: The Day of Surprises

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The day before Dragon Day I was pacing at the cove. How was I to do this? How would this turn out? Would they accept Emerald? Would they not? Of course they would; she's a night fury! But... maybe...

"Star," Blade said, laying back on a rock, "Calm down. You're over thinking this."

"Am I? Am I really?" I asked, pacing even faster. Emerald watched me walk back and forth and back and forth and so on. "How will I do this? How will I show them? Will dad let me go last if I ask? Should I ask? Should I just skip tomorrow and show up the next day or that evening with Emerald? Should I-"

"Starfire," Blade said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down. Make up three plans. Tell me them, and then I'll pick the best one, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay." An hour later I was explaining, in detail, three plans of mine, and Blade picked the one he thought was best.

Then we flew round the island to help me calm down. Next, we had to head home for dinner.

"Mom? Dad?" I asked, after dinner.

"Yes, baby girl?" Dad responded.

"Can I spend the night with Emerald?"

"Um, sweetheart, you know what tomorrow is, don't you?" mom asked.

"I do. It's Dragon Day."

"Okay."

"So, can I spend the night with Emerald? Please? I have a big surprise for everyone tomorrow, and I need to do last minute preparations. I'll be back on time, I promise, so please?" I begged.

They looked at each other before nodding. "Fine," dad said. "But don't be late. And Star," he said, before I left. I turned to face him and he smirked. "I'm looking forward to your surprise tomorrow."

I smiled back, "You'll love it."

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I walked to the cove and found Tyson lying on the grass, Emerald was hiding in the shadows.

"Ty?"

"Star?" he jumped up.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, awkwardly.

"Looking at the stars. It's beautiful tonight."

"Yeah, I know. But what are. You doing here? In the cove?"

"Alright. I couldn't sleep so I took a short walk and kinda sorta got lost." I couldn't help but laugh. "What are you doing here?" I stopped laughing. Uh oh.

Emerald saw me and started to come out. I shook my head no but she still kept coming. "That doesn't matter," I said, quickly. I grabbed his hand and started to leave, "I'll show you the way back to the village. I know the way."

"Wait." He pulled back. "It's nice out here. Let's look at the stars for a while before heading back." He turned around

"No!" I shouted. Too late.

"Night Fury!" he gasped. Emerald started to run towards us. "Get down!" He pulled me to the ground with him as Emerald jumped off a large boulder and landed next to us.

He jumped up, ready to try and run. "WAIT!" I shouted, holding my arms out to either side of me. "Wait." Emerald started to calm down and I set my hand on her head. "You scared her," I stated.

"I scared her?! Who is her?"

"Tyson, Emerald. Emerald, Tyson."

"I can't believe it. Emerald. We have to tell your dad! Another Night Fury! I can't believe it! Come on!" He ran off before I could stop him. He was going to tell everyone about Emerald!

"Wait! Ty! Tyson! Oh, great. Emerald, come on. We have to stop him before he ruins the surprise!" I turned around to see Emerald smirking walking off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?"

I hoped on Emerald and opened her tail. She took off and we looked for Ty from above.

"There," I said, pointing where she could see. She followed my finger and dove down, catching Ty in her claws and flew towards a high tree.

"AHHH!" he screamed. I prayed to the Gods that no one heard him.

Emerald dropped him, and he- thankfully- caught the first branch. "Emerald," I scolded, lightly. She would have caught him if he continued to fall, but, still, he was freaked out enough as is.

"Starfire, get me down from here!" he demanded. Hey, I realized, this is just like mom and dad! They have told me this story billions of times. I love it.

"Fine. But you can't anyone tell about Emerald. Not even Luna."

"Why not?"

"You'll find out. Come on," I held out my hand as he began to climb on top of the branch. "I'll take you on a flight."

He huffed but took my hand and let me help him on Emerald, behind me. "Okay."

"Emerald, let's go on a gentle flight," I said. I was about to tell Ty to hold on when she shot into the air. We both screamed.

This better not be what Toothless did! Darn it! I bet it is, silly dragon.

She flew above the clouds then started spinning, still going up. Then gravity made us fall down while she was still spinning. Ty was holding onto me for dear life, hiding his face in my back. I was gripping her saddle, wishing I had my flight suit on so I wouldn't have to fear falling so much. Then Emerald opened her wings last moment and her tail hit the ocean. She started splashing us with water.

"Emerald! Emerald, stop!" I shouted. "Emerald! We need him to like us!"

She started flying back in the air again, heading the the maze of sea stacks. Great.

"Star!" Ty said, loudly and fearfully.

I didn't get the chance to tell him he was fine before we reached through the giant maze. I concentrated on flying so I could help us not hit a sea stack (since the tail controlled the pathway to flying, and I controlled half the tail), even though Ty screaming and clinging awkwardly to me didn't help much.

Once we exited the maze I forced Emerald towards the cove. "Come on, Emerald! Back home!" She fought me. "Emerald!"

"Watch out!"

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Time skip to the morning

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I took deep breaths. My class was lined up in front of the village; Emerald and I were hiding by a building. The entire village surrounded the academy, waiting for my arrival.

"Stay here, Emerald. I'll call you when it's time," I told her. I quickly and quietly ran around to the gates of the academy and walked in.

"Ah, Starfire's here," Gobber said, cheerfully. "Now we can begin!"

The entire village cheered as dad walked up in front of us. He raised his hand and waited for silence before speaking. "Welcome, everyone, we are all excited for Dragon Day. But, a last, it's time to call out the order of the children who shall pick out their companions today!" The crowd cheered as Gobber handed dad the sheet of paper. He waited for silence again. "First up, Starfire!"

"WAIT!" I shouted, running up to dad. "Um... dad? Can I go last, please?" I whispered in his ear. "I have a surprise for everyone."

He looked at me, confused, but nodded before sending me back to the others. "Change that. First up, Tyson! Then Hachette, Yorkie, Periwinkle, Twinkle, Comet, and finally, Starfire!" The crowd cheered.

Tyson chose a Deadly Nadder, which he called Spindle. Hachette chose a Whispering Death, she named Rocky. Yorkie chose a Gronkle he named Lava. Periwinkle and Twinkle agreed on a Zippleback, that they named Punch and Kick (how shocking, note the sarcasm). Comet chose a Monstrous Nightmare whom he called Hotwing.

"Starfire," dad said, excitedly, "you're up."

I nodded and walked forward. I took a deep breath. How was I going to do this? Run out and come back? Call out for her? How?

I looked around and saw Blade standing next to the entrance, Emerald had her head showing.

I motioned her to come, and she slowly made her way towards me.

Everyone gasped when they saw a Night Fury enter the arena. Especially one with a saddle on its back that wasn't Toothless, who was sitting next to my dad. Many heads turned to check to see if Toothless was still there. Then they stared at Emerald.

Emerald looked around nervously but didn't stop until she was at my side.

I smiled and placed my hand on her head.

"Dad," I announced, "this is Emerald. My best friend. My night fury." I leaned against her.

Dad was so shocked, but his smile was so big. He was proud. Happy.

I pet her head gently, trying to calm her nerves as everyone talked about her, either in quiet conversations or yelling at us.

"Silence! Everyone," dad commanded. "So, this- this is the famous Emerald," he beamed, studying her with his eyes.

"Yes, dad. Are you proud?"

"Sweetheart, words don't even begin describe how I feel at the moment. In a good way," he added, quickly.

Toothless slowly edged closer to Emerald, curious to see the other night fury, the ones whose scent I always had on me.

"You can come, Toothless," I told him. His eyes brightened up, and he bounced over to us, slowing down once he was a foot away.

Toothless and Emerald sniffed each other before they looked at dad and I, asking for permission to play. We both laughed and said yes, and they ran off, chasing one another. I was glad they like each other, despite the obvious age difference.

"Star?" Dad asked, after who knows how long I watched Emerald and Toothless playing.

"Yes, dad?"

He chuckled, "Are you going to come with everyone else to the Great Hall for dinner? Or are you gonna stay here and watch Toothless and Emerald?" He hesitated when he said Emerald. That didn't fail to escape my notice.

"Can they come with us?"

"Of course. Dragons always do." He reached out his hand for mine. Mom, Stoick II, Bard, and Blade were at the entrance of the academy, waiting.

I smiled and ran over to dad, having him pick me up rather than just hold my hand. "Emmy! Toothless!" I called. They both raced over to us, Emerald skidding to a stop, passing us a little bit.

Blade laughed, climbing on Emerald. "Come on, Em. Time for dinner. I know how much you like dinner."

"Wait a moment," Bard halted. "Blade often came with you to see Emerald, didn't he?" he asked me.

"He did," I nodded.

"So, he knew the truth about Emerald for how long?"

"Um," I looked at Blade and he shrugged. "Since he was a toddler."

"Starfire, he kinda still is a toddler," mom stated.

"Hey! I'm 5 years old!" Blade shouted.

"We know, Blade."

"He's known since he was about two years old, I believe," I told them.

"Star," dad stopped and me down to kneel down in front of me, then place his hands on my shoulders. He looked me dead in the eye. "Why did you hide Emerald from everybody?" Dad asked, serious.

I had been expecting that question for a while now but never really had an answer. Although I had guesses.

My eyes widened, and I looked away with a small shrug, "I don't really know. I guess I didn't know if she would stay or fly off the first few days I knew her, then I wondered how long I'd be able to keep my best friend hidden- like a challenge, you know. Or perhaps to see if I could make it longer than you, daddy- which I did!- or to be like you. I've always wanted to be just like you. Maybe it was because I subconsciously wanted to surprise you on this day- even all those years ago. Possibly because I wanted to make you proud, in front of the entire village on such a special day.

"Sometimes, I thought about showing you Emerald early. But always feared that because I wasn't of age, she would be taken from me and given to someone else. It was preposterous, I know, but I have a huge imagination. Anything could happen," I finished my long speech.

"Wow. I never knew," Blade whispered, astounded.

"Starfire," mom started.

Dad stared into my eyes, continuing for her. "Just so you know, we wouldn't have taken Emerald from you; we probably would have you only fly with an adult with you and not too high, but we would have allowed you to keep her."

"There's another reason," I pointed out. "I like to fly high, to feel the wind rush past me, the watery clouds pass through my fingertips, the sight of Berk from high above; it's wonderful."

He chuckled, a sparkle in his eyes, "I know what you mean."

A thought suddenly dawned on me. "Oh, dad, I'm Secret."

"I kinda guessed that after I saw Emerald. How did I not recognize you?"

"Yeah, that bothered me a bit as well," I admitted. "I mean, my helmet automatically lowered my voice, and I manually changed me voice as well but-" I trailed.

"-Still," he finished. "And I assume Blade, here-" he ruffled Blade's hair, smiling at him, "was the little boy with you."

"You assume correctly, daddy," Blade replied.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout, his cousin/ friend, called. "Are y'all slow pokes coming or not?"

"We're coming, Snotlout," dad answered, sighing. We followed him out of the academy: Mom got on Stormfly with Stoick II, Bard got on Spikestone, dad got on Toothless, and I sat in front of Blade on Emerald. We all flew to the Great Hall, where everyone was already eating. We walked to our family's special table, finding our food already there waiting for us, and dug in. The dragons had baskets of fish beside the table, and they also dug in.

I gave my left overs to Emerald and Toothless (who whined when I gave Emerald them first, because he wasn't used to that, for he always ate all my leftovers, if there was any).

Slowly, people left one by one to their homes. We were the last ones to leave, and dad would return in the morning to help clean up. Or perhaps he could stay home and spend the day with us; I doubted it though. He usually didn't.

Stoick II was fast asleep in mom's arms as Blade was in dad's, and they were set in bed immediately.

Bard and I went straight to our rooms, our dragons following us, though I had to constantly assure Emerald she could follow me, much like on the walk home.

A stone slab had been placed in my room about a week ago, with dad being too impatient to wait a moment sooner, so I guided Emerald to her new bed. I had already set the shirt I had worn yesterday, some pebbles, and some tall grass from the cove on or next to her bed, so she would have a sent of something familiar as she slept in her new home. I even made a palette next to her and slept there so she'd be more comfortable.

Dad came in, "Starfire?"

"Yes, daddy?" I called out. A candle in hand for a light, he walked over to my bed. "I'm over by Emerald, daddy."

"Oh." He sat down next to me and set me on his lap. "Starfire, you know I love you, right? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know that, daddy," I said, cautious.

"Okay. Please, try to stay out of the village unless your mom, Bard, grandma, or myself is with you. At least for the next week or so."

"Out of? Okay, but why?"

"Well, how do I put this? Some people think that-" he trailed off, then started to speak very slowly, "you... shouldn't... get to... keep... Emerald."

"WHAT?!?!?!" I screamed, almost jumping up but he held me down. "HOW CAN THEY SAY THAT?!?! SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND!!!!"

"Starfire! Calm down! Your brothers are sleeping," he said, softly.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's alright, baby girl," he said, calm like, pulling me into a more comfortable position in his lap. "Just be very careful and try not to get into trouble, okay? At least for the time being."

"Okay, daddy."

He laid me on the blanket and tucked me in. "Goodnight, baby girl," he whispered, kissing my forehead.

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, daddy."

He stood up, smiling, and walked out the door.

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They finally know about Emerald!