"Awww, Hotug, you missed the pyrite!"

"Flamelick! Put me down!"

"Clouddance! Leave it... Good girl!"

Dilan walked into the Academy the next day to find three of the five riders he would teach playing with their dragons.

"You ready, bud?" Dilan asked.

Thunder warbled in response.

"Yeah, me neither." Dilan cleared his throat. The teens turned to him. Bettlelegs with his reddish-brown Gronkle, Hotug, Spitlout with his orange and yellow Monsterous Nightmare, Flamelick, and his long, long, long distant cousin, Rosemy, with her purple and blue Deadly Nadder, Clouddance. But on Berk, everyone was basically your long distant something or other.

Bettlelegs looked a lot like his anscestor, Fishlegs, except he was slightly less chubby and had jet black hair instead of blonde. Spitlout also looked like his anscestor, Snotlout. He had the same headshape, but they had two completely different noses. They also had similar hair, but Spitlout's was slightly lighter and it was longer. Rosemy looked a lot like her anscestor, Astrid, but she wore two braids, instead of one, and her hair was light brown that almost looked red in the sun. Dilan had been told multiple times that he looked like Hiccup. The only difference was that he had dark blue eyes, instead of green ones.

He was about to get started, but there was something he had to adress first. "Uh, where are Berddnut and Terddnut?"

Spitlout answered. "They're in the Village square, 'Honoring their ancestors'.

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"🎶Oh ei oh ei oh🎶"

"🎶Oh oh ei oh oh oh🎶"

"🎶Oh ei oh oh oh🎶"

"🎶Ei ei ei oh ei oh🎶"

Dilan reached the Village square to find Ruffnut and Tuffnut's statue surrounded by chickens. Berddnut and Terddnut were dancing around the base of the statue, each holding a chicken on their head and singing Thor knows what. Their dragon, Burp and Slurp, had hung giant necklaces around the ancient twins' heads.

Berdd and Terdd looked exactly like their anscestors. Not only that, they looked exactly like each other. They both wore their hair down, no braids, no ponytails, no dreads, nothing. The only way you could tell them apart was by their helmets, which they had inherited from Ruff and Tuff themselves. In fact, all of the original riders who wore helmets passed them down to the next rider each generation. Bettlelegs wore Fishlegs' helmet, Spitlout wore Snotlout's helmet, and the twins each had their anscetrial counterparts' helmets.

Dilan facepalmed for the first of many times in his BDA carreer. He cleared his throat, but the twins continued to dance. He cleared his throat louder, but it still didn't work.

"Help me out, bud?" he asked Thunder.

Thunder shot a Plasma Blast at the statue, and the whistle silenced the twins. They froze mid-dance and turned to look at their interupter.

"Uh, guys, You're supposed to be at the Academy."

"We know!" Terddnut answered, unfreezing. He walked over to the group.

"Yeah, in the pamphlet it says you can skip BDA if you are either dead, sick, drowning, or if you are honoring your ancestors," Berddnut followed her brother's lead and walked over to the group.

"Guys, there is no pamphlet."

Terdd's expression changed almost instantly. He began to whistle, facing away from his sister.

"Terdd!" Berddnut turned towards her brother, getting red in the face. "You handed me that pamphlet saying it came from the chief himself!" she stomped her foot to emphasise each syllable. "You lied to me! LIER! ARRGGGHH!"

Berdd launched herself at Terdd, who toppled over. They began to fight on the ground, churning up quite a dust cloud.

"Uh, guys? Guys!" Dilan yelled, getting their attention.

"What?" they asked stupidly, still tangled.

"Let's just go!" Dilan gestured in the direction of the Academy.

The twins untangled themselves and whistled to their Dragon. Their blue, green, and yellow Zippleback landed next to them.

Dilan began to lead the walk back to the Academy.

"So, who's flown before?" he asked, hoping to strike up conversation.

There was silence, in which the twins glanced at each other.

"Uh," Terdd started, "We've tried."

"Didn't go so well," Berdd added.

"Uh, Dad's given me a few lessons before, but I've never actually 'flown'," Rosemy answered.

"I've been on Flamelick, but she can be a bit stubborn sometimes," Spitlout glared at his Dragon. His Dragon snorted at him, causing his helmet to tip. "Flamelick!" he hissed.

The rest of the group snorted.

"What about you, Bettlelegs?" Dilan asked.

"Nope," he answered simply.

"Okay. Here's another question! Do you all have saddles?"

"Uh, nope."

"Nu-uh."

"Don't think so."

"I have one," Rosemy answered, "actually I brought it with me today."

"Great, Rosemy!" Dilan exclaimed. "Right, so, do you think you can lead these guys back to the Academy? I'm going to go and get Thoggman."

Dilan swung his leg over Thunder and swooped into the air.

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When Dilan arrived back at the academy, he found the dragons playing and the Vikings... Fighting.

"Oh gods," he mumbled as he dismounted. He helped Thoggman, the Village Blacksmith off of Thunder before walking into the fray.

Rosemy had Spitlout pinned against the wall, the twins were showcasing the first human tumbleweed, and Bettlelegs... Well, he was sitting against the wall, reading the newest Book of Dragons.

Once Dilan got everyone quieted down, he had Thoggman take mesurements of the dragons so he could make their saddles. Once he was finished, he assured them they'd all have saddles by tomorrow.

As he left the BDA, Dilan decided he wouldn't wait to get this group up in the air. He pulled the lever which raised the metal cage, so the Academy was now opened to the sky.

"Right, Rosemy, saddle up Clouddance. We're hitting the air."

"Wait, what?" Spitlout asked as Rosemy hurried into one of the pockets in the wall. "But we don't have our saddles yet!"

"Yeah, we'll fall off!" Bettlelegs exclaimed.

"Don't worry!" Dilan said, "We're not going to go anywhere, we're just going to get used to being on our dragons while they're in the air! We might even do a few icebreaker exercises."

"Sweet!" Terddnut exclaimed, "I'll get the ice!"

"Right, and I'll get the Skrill!" Berddnut said. They made to run out of the arena, but Dilan stopped them.

"What? No, we don't need a Skrill!" he cried.

"What he means, Twidiots," Spitlout said, "is icebreakers, like, to get to know each other!"

The twins' faces fell. "Oh. Well that takes all the fun out of it." they trudged back to their dragon.

Dilan glanced at Rosemy. She was having some trouble getting her saddle on Clouddance.

"Hey, you need any help with that?" he walked over to her.

"Nope, I'm - perfectly - fine!" the saddle slipped, but Dilan stopped it from falling.

"Here," he slid the saddle up, "it just takes practice."

"Thanks," she mumbled as she ducked under to tighten the straps.

" 'it just takes practice'," Spitlout mocked. Dilan glared at him.

"Right, everyone, get on your dragons!"

"Pfftt, that's easy," Spitlout said, making to step over his dragon's neck. His Dragon quickly raised her head, causing Spitlout to trip. "Flamelick!"

Bettlelegs was trying to gently slide up, but he kept falling.

"You can hop up," Dilan said, "it won't hurt her."

"You sure?"

Dilan nodded. He turned to Rosemy, who was once again, having some trouble. He walked over to her.

"Need a step up?"

"Nope, just got to get - there!" Rosemy managed to climb up to perch atop her Dragon.

Dilan was impressed. This girl was determined.

Once everyone was on their dragons, he helped them all get into the air.

"See? We're just going to hover here, to get used to being in the air."

"Okay."

"This isn't so hard."

"That's because you have a saddle!"

"Well, Bettlelegs doesn't have a saddle!"

"His Dragon doesn't have a rythem that'll end up flinging him off!"

"I beg to differ!" Bettlelegs exclaimed, holding a hand up to his mouth. Dilan watched as his face turned green.

"Okay! Who has any ideas on an icebreaker?" Dilan called out.

"I still think we could use a Skrill," Terddnut said.

"Or a Whispering Death!" Berddnut exclaimed, "Those dragons must've goten their destructive forces from Loki himself." her gaze began to wander dreamily.

"They are magnificent!" Terddnut agreed with his sister.

"Actually," Bettlelegs spoke up, "They're Boulder Class dragons. They look ugly and mean, but they're actually really looking for acceptance and kindness. No offense girl!" He rubbed his dragon's cheek.

"Wow, thanks, Bettlelegs. You just ruined the entire Awesome Class of Dragons for us!"

"I like the Typhomerang!" Spitlout exclaimed. "They're huge and firery and so much better than the Monsterous Nightmare, offense intended, Flamelick."

The Dragon Spitout was riding suddenly burst into flames. And keep in mind, he didn't have a saddle yet.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh! Hot, hot, hot, hot, HOT!!!!!!!! Flamelick! Cut it OUT!!!"

His Dragon huffed, as if asking for something.

"Fine. PLEASE?!?!"

Flamelick exstinguished herself, leaving her rider in heavily charred clothing.

"Flamelick!"

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Dilan walked into his house, exausted and agitated by the day's work.

"Ugh, hey, Comettail," he greeted his father's orangy-pink eyed Night Fury. She cooed in response before greeting Thunder. They bounded around the house, happily playing.

"Hello, son! Was the day really that bad?" his father passed him an ice block from the bowl on the table.

"Ugh, how did you stand it, dad?" Dilan took the ice block and held it against his right ear. That was the side the twins were on all day.

"I still stand it, son. Remember, this is basically getting you ready for your chiefing days! When you become chief, you'll still command the riders, and they'll be your closest advisors."

"Oh, Thor, what did I do so horribly to deserve this?!" Dilan let his head fall to the table.

His dad chuckled. "Don't worry, son, it'll get better."

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Good news! I've figured out a good conflict for this book! Yay! Cheers! 🎉🎉🎊🎊🎉🎉🎊🎊🎉🎉🎊🎊🎉🎉

So this book is going to go somewhere! I'm no longer winging it! He he, ged it?? Winging it? Cause dragons - ya know - have - you know what, nevermind.

¤Cloverpool¤