𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter twenty; yrsa
❝ here, on berk! ❞

    FOR a long time (three generations, in fact), Berk has been stuck in an unusual, stubborn cycle━much like its dwellers. A cycle of morning raids; of killed or be killed; of dragons against Vikings. But now, things have changed━and for the very much better. Berk used to be known for its chieftains; especially that Hiccup's father: one of the best Dragon Slayers the Archipelago had to offer, or perhaps a more infamous ancestor, the ruthless pirate called Grimbeard the Ghastly. Either way, everyone knew of Berk. Of its beauty, of its harsh climate, of its determination to slay every dragon it could. But now, Berk seemed to just drift back off into the shadows with a secret they held on all of their shoulders; the best-kept secret this side of ... well ... anywhere.

And granted, it didn't look like much. A few cliffs here and there, a glacier up north and vast woodland that has been explored to the point there was nothing left to explore within it. However, Yrsa's home: a wet heap of rock did pack more than a few surprises. Life here, on Berk, was amazing━just not, of course, for the faint of heart. You see, they're Vikings, they have ... uh ... stubbornness issues.

Because where most folks enjoyed hobbies like whittling or needlepoint, Berkians prefered a little something they liked to call ...

    Dragon Racing!

And in the skies of Berk, a group of dragons sped past filled stands of cheering Vikings. They dived down to a flock of sheep hiding in the nook of a house, and a pair of gnarly claws snatched up one by its wool━

"Haha! Yes!" the Viking cheered. That would be Fishlegs Ingerman, a big boy with absolutely no chin a chicken-filled potbelly. His blond tufts of hair stuck out of his tiny noggin of a helmet and shaped in small braids down by his round ears. On the days Fishlegs Ingerman wasn't attending Dragon Racing (and taking the sheep right from Yrsa's hands!), or spoiling his precious Gronckle, Meatlug, one would find him with his fat nose stuck in the Book fo Dragons, Bork the Bold's papers, or his Dragon Cards. Meatlug, his dearest dragon, buzzed her wings happily at the sheep in her grasp, her wings and scales covered in racing war paint much like her rider, who may as well have a green and yellow target painted straight onto his face.

They were━to the surprise of many━in the lead, until the menace that was Snotlout Jorgenson smacked him and Hookfang right into Fishlegs's side, making him drop the sheep right into his arms.

"Ho━ho!" he bellowed, looking back over his shoulder with a smug grin. "Oh, I'm sorry, Fishlegs, did you want that?" he was a mean Viking, with a permanent sneer on his brick-square face and a jeering joke, or sarcastic comment, or anything annoying to say right up his wrist guards. His dragon, a blood-red Monstrous Nightmare by the name of Hookfang, matched his smug sneer━ah, yes, quite the team Snotlout and Fangster were; both mean, both stubborn, both never listen ... even to each other.

Fishlegs grumbled after him, "Snotlout!" he shouted. "That was mine!"

Pulling Hookfang back, Snotlout veered in next to those right behind in following; the Twins: Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Which is which? Well, that was a question the whole of Berk and the Archipelago often mixed up. Despite being obviously faternal (they were opposite genders), the Thorston Twins could be considered entirely identical. In practically everything━their hair, their noses, the facial expressions, the anger and an absolute love for destruction. They even rode the same dragon! A Hideous Zippleback by the names of Barf and Belch (respectfully, of course). Those who had the━uh━pleasure to know the group of them could tell you that they were a set of halfwits with a brain they sometimes used, striking out of nowhere and confusing the rest of the team.

Snotlout sent Ruffnut a charming smile. He chucked the sheep towards her, and she caught it in her arms. "Here you go, babe. Did I tell you that you look amazing today? 'Cause you do."

"Urgh," Ruffnut gagged a little in her mouth. "Come on, Barf," she said to her dragon head that glared at Snotlout through narrowed-slitted eyes. "It's starting to stink around here." He chortled noxious gas towards the Jorgenson, and Tuffnut swooped in beside on Belch to snigger━

"Nope! Still hates you━Let's blow this place, Belch!" his head let out a spark that exploded the gas right in Snotlout's face and he screamed, falling back with his dragon and out of their way.

The group of riders soared down past the stands and Ruffnut dropped her given sheep into their shared basket, setting it amongst many others.

Upon the foremost stand; above everyone else, Stoick the Vast let out a chesty laugh that shook the platform. He was cheiftan of the tribe━a man that stood a gigantic seven-feet-tall with arms so big they could split a boulder in two (and does Yrsa believe that? Yes, yes she does, without question). His thick beard and hair was as fiery as his temper, and as big as his courage. "Haha!" he cried out, slapping a hand to his belly. "That's nine for the Twins! Astrid lags with five, Yrsa with three, Fishlegs and Snotlout trail with none! And Hiccup is ..." he sighed and sat back down, scowling at the empty net by the end of the row, "... nowehere to be found."

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III would be his son. A stubborn boy who can never stay still in his seat, or in his responsibilties━or anything, really. A hero? For sure━maybe the most heroic out of all of them. He was the leader, the rescuer, the peace-keeper, and a vast traveller. He and his Night Fury, the last of his kind, Toothless, might not be the biggest, or the strongest, but they held respect, as all heroes do. Yrsa knew them, however, as Idiot One and Idiot Two, and someone she's had to follow and save a few times.

(She loves them, dearly).

"Heh, heh," chuckled the stout man beside Stoick, leaning in next to his best friend with an amused, "Scared him off with the big talk, didn't you, Stoick?"

The nicest way to describe Gobber was that he was all meathead with attitude and a hint of interchangeable hands. Short, stout and opinionated, with blond braids for a beard always mixed in with grease and ash (and a stecnh that made all the boars in the village even fall ill), he was the town's blacksmith and friendly dragon dentist!

Flying over the stands and around towards the stables, Yrsa smacked her hand right across the back of Snotlout's head. She knew exactly what she was doing, spinning her dragon━a shimmering black and purple scaled Devilish Dervish named Helrose━over and beside him, glaring down, "What are you doing, Snotlout? They're gonna win now!"

Yrsa never really cared about how she looked. Sometimes, people wondered whether she had cut her own bangs with her own knife━jagged and all over the spot. She will answer that she did as a nine-year-old, and now they just never grew back properly. Her thick, black braids fell down on either side of her, settling amongst her fuzzy rabit fur hood and down past her breasts. Despite not caring much about her looks half the time, she was regal and proud; absolutely elegant━that was the best way to describe Yrsa Olofsdotter. Regal, beautiful, a little snobby and possibly a bit crazy (you never know), but also kind and sweet━at least to those who knew her best and deserved it.

"She's my princess," replied Snotlout, leaning back lazily in his saddle. "Whatever she wants, she gets."

"Ruffnut?"

And then, finally, coming up in the rear with a stunning blue Deadly Nadder she called Stormfly, was Astrid Hofferson.

Perhaps the most intimidating, promising, and striking Viking there ever was. A lot of people didn't know how it could be allowed; to have such beauty, such grace, such I will punch you in the face energy in one person. She was Yrsa's dearest friend━beautiful; blonde-haired, blue-eyed and very loyal. She was the perfect best friend. Leader of the Berk Guard, trainer of the Auxillery Team, she was admittedly terrifying with her double-bladed axe strapped to her back and her tunic and skrit studded with spikes and woven skulls.

She swooped Stormfly in next to them. "Didn't she try to bury you alive?"

Snotlout chuckled, spinning around and having Hookfang whack the racing totem with his tail. "Only for a few hours! Thank you for suggesting that idea to her, Yrsa."

"You stole my axe!"

Now, of course, dragons used to be a little bit of a problem here, but that was five years ago. Now, they've all moved in. And, really, why wouldn't they? They had custom state-of-the-art stables, all-you-can-eat feeding stations, a full-service dragon wash and dentist, and even top-of-the-like fire prevention that Hiccup designed himself.

Up on the chief's deck sitting in his comfortable chair while everyone else had to stand, Stoick leaned forward in anticipation. "It's time, Gobber," he said.

Gobber grinned and waved up to Bucket by the horn. "Righty-ho. Last lap!" the half-wit blew into the dragon-shaped horn, and its cry echoed all across Berk, catching the racers attention immediately.

Yrsa gasped, "The Black Sheep!" she exclaimed. Resting a hand on her dragon's flank, she grinned. "Come on, Helrose! We can still win this thing!" they soared away from the stables and back to the main track. The others followed her, all of them equally determined to get the Black Sheep. Ten points; if any of them got it, they were sure to win.

Pushing her dragon to go faster, Yrsa sent a gust of wind back to her best friend and laughed, "Yeah, eat our dust, Astrid!"

When a ball of black fur was catapulted up into the sky, jetting up through the roofs of the homes, Yrsa's heart lept. "There it is!" she told Helrose. "Come on, girl. You can do it. Up! Up, up, up, up, up!"

The Devilish Dervish extended her claws out towards the sheep, and they were so close until a blur of orange snatched it away before they could blink. "NO!" cried Yrsa. "Fishlegs!"

"Yes!" shouted the pudgy Viking, throwing his hands up into the air in his celebration. "Good job, Meatlug!" she shook her clubbed tail happily like a dog. They dropped in next to Ruffnut. "Here you go, darling," he passed the black sheep over. "Mine's worth ten."

"Yeah!" Ruffnut caight it, leaving her brother dry with his arms still extended out in the air. He scoffed, annoyed. "The Black Sheep!"

Yrsa grumbled and spun Helrose back towards Snotlout and Fishlegs. "You guys are fighting for Ruffnut?"

Snotlout sent her a smirk, "Wish you didn't settle for a one-legged wimp now, did you, Yrsie?"

At the nickname, she gritted her teeth and didn't even have to tell Helrose to swipe her razor-sharp tail Snotlout's way. He screamed, ducking as the tail swung overhead. "Hey!"

"I'll remind you that wimp knocked you right out with a punch to the face! With his non-dominant hand!" she laughed in passing, and Snotlout shouted after her━

"Hey! That was supposed to stay between us!"

"I'm totally winning!" grinned Ruff with a gleeful laugh.

Fishlegs hovered Meatlug up snugly next to her, "We're winning together."

She turned up her nose, "Ew━" and shoved him out of the way. He and Meatlug came spiralling towards Snotlout and the lot of them shot astray together, their yells fading in behind the tailors shop.

Yrsa rolled her eyes and pulled Helrose back up and above the Twins, narrowing her eyes down at them and the sheep in Ruffnut's hand. She got ready for a dive when━"Whoa!" she had to spin away from the blue Deadly Nadder that soared past her and took her place. Stormfly and Astrid both laughed at them. Helrose snarled back up at her. "Astrid!"

"Eat our dust, Yrsa," she called down before speeding towards the Twins who were fighting over the Black Sheep. Yrsa set her jaw.

"Come on, girl," she told her dragon, determined. "We're gonna win this━come on━!"

Helrose snarled in agreement and the two spun in underneath, hearing the argument━ "Hey!" Ruffnut was shouting as her brother tugged the sheep towards him, "━that's mine━!" and he wined, "━Quit━trying━to━steal━all━my━glory━!"

"Now!" at the command, Helrose spun upside down and zipped past the Zippleback's underbelly to swipe the sheep right from the Twins' hands with a flick of the blunt of her tail. It soared out in front of them, bleating in horror. "Come on!" Yrsa turned them upright as Astrid gasped and ducked Stormfly down into a dive. "Come on! Come on! Up, up, up━!"

Astrid reached a hand out but Yrsa was ready. Getting to a stand ontop of her saddle, she waited for the right time to leap into the air, taking the sheep before her friend could even grip the fur and falling back down. Helrose caught her, and she cheered, throwing a hand up after her best friend and the Twins who cried in dismay.

"Gotcha!" shouted Yrsa. "Yes!"

"What?!" exclaimed Astrid. "No! You son of a half-troll, Yrsa!"

She blew a kiss, winking.

"No!" Tuffnut threw his head back, wailing.

"Yrsa!" Ruffnut slammed her fist down in anger.

From the chief's deck, Stoick stood up, laughing in victory. "Well played!" he bellowed and Yrsa smirked. Beside him, Spitelout sighed, annoyed. Stoick slapped a joyful hand on his back, sending him doubling over. "That's my future daughter-in-law!"

"Haha! Yes!" cheered Yrsa, holding the black sheep in her grasp. "Good girl, Helrose!" her dragon roared happily, wagging her tail up and down. They neared the nets, passing the ecstatic crowd, and Yrsa got ready to throw the sheep into her net when a body slammed right into her.

She gasped, nearly dropping the sheep. Fishlegs whooped, getting her where he wanted as━right in her way━then followed Snotlout with a mallet held up high, "Uh, excuse me━"

Yrsa's eyes widened, "Uh━Helrose!"

Her dragon listened to her cry and dived them out of the way just in the nick of time. The mallet's swing missed them, and Yrsa winced in hearing Fishlegs's scream from up above and the gasps from the crowd. With a spin, the sheep still in her possession, Yrsa Olofsdotter returned back up with Helrose. They glided up and over and down to the nets. With a, "Yah!" Yrsa threw the Black Sheep into her winnings━the crowd erupted into applause.

"That's thirteen!" shouted Stoick in victory, slamming his foot and rattling the wood. Gothi sent him an annoyed glance. Yrsa laughed, spinning up into the air and letting Helrose spread her wings. They hovered over the arena, taking a short triumphant lap. "Yrsa takes the game!"

She stood up in her saddle, "YEAH!" she screamed towards the cheering crowd, shaking her hands up in the air in success. Helrose shot out a column of fire into the sky with her own cry of triumph, the two unstoppable as they soared down, taking in the high-fives and food winnings (that Helrose happily gobbled up).

(Yep, Berk is pretty much perfect. All of Hiccup's hard work has paid off, and Yrsa is beyond proud of him. And it's a good thing, too, because with Vikings on the back of dragons ... the world just got a whole lot bigger).

Yrsa spun past Fishlegs and Snotlout, a little too close for their liking. They hid their faces in alarm, glaring up at her as she shot to the clouds, on the search for a specific Viking who was missing from the fray.

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

    a/n: FIRST CHAPTER OF HTTYD 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     (they're all grown up *sobs*)

     I made a rough design for yrsa this part, I'll try and do a full colour of her and helrose if I find the time. But so far, here is my present to help you visualise:

     (ps, drawing an older version of her was so hard. I just couldn't seem to get the features right as she grew up ahahah).