The afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky, shining down on the dragon training grounds. It was well into the day, and many dragon trainers had taken this moment to bring out all of their 'partners' into the grounds. Many dragons were soaring around the training grounds, with many of their trainers riding on their backs. Today was a beautiful day for Berk, with the Dragon Academy finally coming into full swing with more members than ever. The elders of the village typically left the dragon training to the younger people, as they seemed to know more than the elders, but this didn't stop the elders from keeping a close eye on the training grounds. While dragons, and their trainers, have a huge amount of freedom in Berk, it does not change the fact that the dragons are still dangerous beasts.

Seelo stood off from the rest of the dragon trainers, leaning idly on the side of the wall. 'The Cage', as Seelo had named it, housed many trainers and dragons, and was far from being crowded. Despite this, Seelo couldn't help but feel cramped. He was never really comfortable unless he was out on the open sky with Buster. Seelo glanced to his side, looking at his lazy companion. Buster laid quietly down, his eyes half closed, and his consciousness on the verge of complete sleep. A typical look for Buster. Seelo glanced back at the main part of 'The Cage', taking in all the riders and dragons. It truly was a beautiful sight. The growing number of trainers and dragons ceased to impress Seelo, ~ At this rate, Berk will be able to defend itself from any type of danger! ~ Seelo thought, reaching a hand over, petting Buster softly on his head.

Terra brought Nike in for a landing. Her blonde curls were windblown and tangled. She hopped off Nike petted her head. "What do you think we'll do today Nike?" She asked her dragon softly. She stared out around the Academy. She loved it. It was the one place where she could feel like she was being herself.

Rockelle took her time in the mornings, most thought she paid a lot of attention about the way she looked or that her dragon kept her busy. The truth is that she was a heavy sleeper, and only a certain roar could wake her. Well, only two. Rust roared from outside her window and her mom yelled from downstairs, she woke up faster then a cat running from a dragon. She sat up and blinked twice, she looked over at the door. Rust roared again and Rockelle stood, throwing the first thing she could reach at the window, which happened to be an oddly shaped piece of wood. Rust stopped roaring and dissapeared from the windows view. Rockelle grabbed her cape from a stick protruding from the wall, she had purposfully placed the stick there just for that reason. She buttoned up the cape and walked out of her room and down the stairs, she exited to house, ignoring her moms nagging. Rust waited in front of the house and Rockelle approached. "Didn't have to be so loud . . ." She muttered.

Seigfreid whipped his brow and breathed heavily as he looked up to the sky for just a moment, seeing a young girl on a large reptilian that zoomed past him, but to the boy siggy, it was slower, majestic, and perfect, giving him a sudden motivation to finish the harsh labor giving to him, pitching hay was hard as it was, even with a large dragon like his own, a dragon to busy toying with sheep than to work at his side. "aye, harb, the day you quit fooling with the whelps is the day I'll quit fooling with my mind" he spoke before realizing the time, he needed to get to the academy soon. "HARB, TOSS THESE STACKS INTO THE PILE" he yelled as his work ethic increase.

A voice boomed from within the hay thatched house. “Baelfire!” Bael's mother had always been on his case since the day he could walk. As he made distance between his home and himself, Bael could hear the wooden door swing open and crash against the exterior of the house. “Do not walk away when I’m speaking to you!” Bale merely rolled his eyes in annoyance. He lifted up one hand and balled it into a fist, signaling the silent observer nestled atop the nearby stables. A gust of wind blew past his home as an unseen force flew by. A gentle thud emitted from beside him as the invisible entity unveiled its presence. A smile cracked on Bale’s face, his hand reaching over to stroke the dragon’s neck.

“Good morning, Phan,” he greeted.

He could still hear his mother calling out to him. Bael pulled off his fur boots and tied them by the strings. He attached the pair to his waist and mounted his dragon. “I’m late, mother!” he called back as the surrounding area was engulfed by dust resulting from the dragon’s wings. Phantom managed to get airborne and perched on the stables once more. From here, Bael looked down at his mother and grinned. “I’ll do the chores when I get home.” Before she could protest, he was gone, lifted into the air on the back of his trusted companion. His mother could hear the faintest should of a promise as he made his way toward the old dragon fighting arena.

It had been a few years since that arena had been used to slay dragons for sport. Now, it was a place of learning, of bonding. It was all thanks to a young boy to discover the true nature of the beasts. Still. Creating a bond with a dragon is not easy. They take work to tame, but even then it takes devotion to gain their unconditional trust and affection. Despite her frustrations with her son, Baelfire’s mother couldn’t be more proud of her son’s ability to befriend one of the beasts himself.

Bale flew Phantom down to the arena’s entrance and dismounted. He gave his companion and gentle stroke and pat on the neck before leading him into the center of the stone field. He leaned against Phantom’s body and took in a breath. “Whaddaya think?” he asked, looking up at Phantom. “Is today a combat training day?” Phantom emitted a high noise in response, spreading his wings and hovering three feet from the ground. Bael, who was unaware of Phantom’s intentions, found he was putting all his body weight against nothing and fell to the ground in a thud. He couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright then!"

Val was far above the academy, he'd gotten bored sitting round once again, and so had gone flying. this time practicing high aerial maneuvers, Up here the air was so thin he could glide for miles. Though that did mean that building up speed was very hard. He'd also noticed it was bloody cold. Though his primary complaint was normal aerial stunts were harder to pull off due to the changed air density, though other stunts, such as a three point inverted loop through 360 degrees, were so easy it was laughable. he had a small notepad in front of him and noted down his observations. While others focused on what each dragon could do. he prefered to find out what you could do in the air. he'd been up there for several hours, now cold, and hungry he grinned. "lets get lunch" he said, tapping Nyx's side and guiding her in to a tight dive, wings almost fully closed, tail only steering. blazing down at breakneck speeds, if Nyx or Val screwed up they'd both be turned in to a spinning ball of broken bone and busted up dragon and viking. As it was they'd done this hundreds of times before. though never from this height, suddenly there was a massive crack, and then silence, no more rushing wind, no more growling dragon, no more flapping paper, Though Val could still see this all, and feel the wind. shrugging he continued guiding Nyx in the dive, screaming over the village and then past the academy, the sonic boom from their motions rattling helmets on stands and shaking anyone who was asleep awake. the water was coming up fast. tapping Nyx with one hand val indicated the turn side. Extending only part of her wing Nyx sent them in to a long sweeping curve, now blasting out across the waters towards the harbour. suddenly sound returned. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Val finally said now that he could hear himself, shooting back up the village, fake stalling at the top of the hill and finally gliding lazily down to the academy Val got off Nyx and took his notebook off her back, flipping to a new page and starting to write up his observations. not quite realising the stir he'd caused.

Emmie was already flying above the arena on Lills. She swooped down into the arena with a soft and light thud as she tumbled off, landing on her feet. She patted Lills who gave her a soft nudge of love in return, and Emmie looked around the arena at the others.
She sighed. She may not have a tough name like any of the others, but she felt she had a special connection with dragons. Then again, didn't everyone these days? Sigh, there was nothing unique about her. She was like any other ordinary viking girl. She leaned against Lills with another deep sigh.
A sudden something happened. Emmie did not quite know what, but she fell with yet another soft thud to the ground. "What in almighty was that?!" she softly wondered aloud.

She climbed up onto Rusts back, using its bone armour as a sort of ladder. She sat on it's next, holding onto its horns. "You know that thing you do while flying?" Asked Rockelle, refering to when Rust looks up while flying. Rust nodded giving a perfect example, which gave Rockelle a hard time managing to keep her hands on the horns.. "Yeah that, don't do that." Rust grunted in response and took off, flying somewhat faster then normal. Rust landed in front of the arena. Rockelle climbed down from Rusts neck and onto the ground, she led Rust inside and placed herself seemingly away from most of the others.

Sig now rode on his dragon at a suprisingly fast pace, his entire body clenched as tight as he could to the glider of a pet he owned. He had yet to get a stable and useful saddle to there was no more then his arms and legs keeping him on. As they rode his head was in the clouds, in both ways. As they flew his mind stayed on the others, there dragons much more suitable and amazing than his own, more than the rest he thought of the girl terran, she seemed to be of the only people he thought would be more than just another patient. Suddenly he felt the air in his body escape him and a sharp pain in his chest as he looked down to see that he had landed, but much less graceful than his pet, now on the ground hitting a post perfectly before slumping off. "I guess I really know how to stick a landing" he joked.

"Think we should try to be social Nike?" Terra asked her dragon huffed. Terra rolled her eyes and almost laughed out loud when she saw Sig's landing. Her pale eyes glittered slightly and her hair just hung in tangles around her face.

A loud crack awoken Seelo from his idle observations, causing him to turn his attention to the skies for the moment, before turning back to Buster. Buster was now wide awake, and alert. Seelo doubted either one of them had ever heard something like that before. Whatever it was, it was traveling at immense speeds. Seelo comforted Buster, slightly, petting his scales softly. Seelo glanced around the arena, examining the ever arriving dragon trainers. He smiled to himself, admiring what the dragon academy had become. In all it's glory, Berk had become a sort of beacon, showing that dragons and humans could bond on levels noone could understand, "Think we should get out there and show them what a real dragon and rider duo looks like?" Seelo said, with an air of confidence. Buster shook his head, and lazily closed his eyes, obviously not interested in the bout Seelo suggested.

Sig stood up and wobbled around before his dragon stood behind him to work as a seat which the boy gladly took to keep himself up right. "oi, looky harb, it's terra" he spoke, now getting his vision back as walked towards her off his seat as his dragon followed suit. " hows the lizard?" he asked looking to her dragon hoping she'd not get a wiff of his sent from working earlyer.

Rockelle and Rust both heard a crack noise from the sky. They both looked up quickly, Rust gaze didn't linger on the skys, but Rockelles did. Rust looked over at the other dragons, taking a small interest in Phantom. Rockelle looked among the few clouds for a cause to the noise.

Baelfire rolled to the side, stopped just a few inches from a nearby weapon rack. He reached for a shield and brought it up to his chest defensively, all the while eyeing his scaly companion. As he wrapped his other hand around a mace, he could see Phantom’s eyes dilate and his muscles tensing up, bringing his chest low to the ground in a cautionary stance. Suddenly, Phantom’s friendly disposition changed into one in which Bael was all too familiar with. It was not dissimilar their first meeting, in the wild outskirts of Berk. Phantom opened his maw, his sharp teeth exposed and intimidating. A fast, green projectile emitted from his mouth and toward Bael. Prepared, Bael lifted the shield to his face, blocking the attack. He could hear a light sizzle on the other side of his wooden shield. It was a good thing Phantom had been practicing controlling the acidity of his acid shots, otherwise the shield would have disintegrated within seconds. “A little softer, Phantom!” he shouted from behind his shield. He had a few burns from past sparring sessions with Phantom. Bael was hoping to have Phantom turn his acid fire as nonlethal as possible. He heard a grunt huff come from Phantom as the dragon prepared to fire. Bael pushed himself to his feet and ran toward the center. It was a good thing there weren’t too many people training today. Or, at least, not at this time. Bael gave Phantom a quick nod which followed yet another green sit of acid shooting toward him. He blocked the shot, throwing the shield down and running toward his dragon, mace in hand.

Phantom spread his wings, alert from the unexpected charge. He prepared to shoot another spit of acid at his rider before activating his color-changing properties. He quickly moved out of the way, careful to not make a noise. He was invisible but that did not change the fact that he was a large dragon. Dust rose from where he moved and Bael turned his head in the direction of the disturbance. Before Bael could react, Phantom took off, flying around the caged arena as silently as he could before clinging on to the caged domed ceiling. Bael stood still, trying to find any signs of Phantoms presence. He wasn’t too great at finding him when he’d go stealth. Something he hoped to work on in the future.

Val walked through the main entrance, still scrawling in his notepad, pausing and looking up he smiled "Anyone see that dive?" He asked, skipping introductions and going straight to the single objective that was always on his mind, flying. "also, where's the bread? I'm starving." He said as Nyx buried her head in a bucket of fish. "Also does anyone know what gobber is up to today?" he settled down on one of the numerous boxes used as seats, still just asking open ended questions to the arena as a whole. still writing away in his pad like a crazy person.

Rust watched the scene unfold, sitting down. Rockelles gaze was lifted off the sky and onto Bael and Phantoms 'match'. Rust looked back at Rockelle, leaned down and nudged her with it's jaw. Rockelle stumbled forward. "Oi!" She looked back at the dragon. "What was that for?" Rust glanced at Bael. "Not going to be social. Not now, not till I'm forced to." Rust looked at Rockelle with a determined expression, and Rockelle looked over to Val. 'Asks a lot of questions . . .' she noted.

Emmie got up, and Lills nudged her again and she fell once more. Lills began to give Emmie sloppy licks all over her face. "Gah! No! Lills!" she sputtered out, laughing. She had a loving dragon, that was for sure. Emmie looked around while being licked at the others, wondering if she should go talk to them. That didn't look like an option at the moment though. "Liiiiilllllsssss!!!!" Emmie whined. "Get oooooooofffffah!"
Lills gave a grunt and after a little more licking, nudged Emmie.
She got up and hugged Lills around the neck as much as she could. Lills gave a grunt of thankfulness.

Emmie was somewhat near Val. "Uh, no. But there was a crack and I fell down...."

Sig's head shot up at the word breath and from a bag on the back of his pet he pulls a steaming bag that smelled of various grains and starches, and tints of other herbs it was clear what he had brought in the wrapped up hot mess that began to unraveil. "haha, I happen to have brought my own, and it's only fair that I am entitled to share of course" he said stepping to the boy asking questions only to trip and fall, leaving his assortment of breads on the group and a face of pure depression on seigfreid as he lay on the ground. "well... help yourself I guess, hehehehe" he nervously joked in a lower tone as he lay on the ground. " there goes lunch" he whispered, before his dragon nudged him to get up and reluctantly he did so,

Rust looks over at what's going on near Val and Sig, more focused on the bread then the people. Rust began to make its way over to them. "Wha- Hey! Where are you going?" Rockelle followed after Rust. She soon realized where Rust was going. "Oi! You're staying over here with me!" Rust approached Val and Sig, it's head down near the ground and the bread. "Rust, it's not yours!" Rockelle kept a grip on Rusts wing, trying to pull it backwards, and failing.

sig smiled before tossing the bread to the dragon, knowing well it could bite his arm off if feed by hand he wasn't ready for those odds he tossed as many as he could towards the dragon. "go ahead, what's mine is yours" he spoke in a relaxed manor as his dragon came to sniff the new one. "oh my and a friend already" he spoke before putting a piece of bread in his mouth and realizing it was cover in mud yet continuing to swallow. "ech"