Sand Wraith Island

Rune's eyes slowly opened as light seeped into his pupils, he was soon hit by a pain in the head making him cringe.

"Oh my head" he said rubbing his forehead.

"What happened last night? How did I get to my room? The last thing I remember was having some rounds with the boys" he wondered as he tried to figure out how he got there.

Then he felt something soft and squishy in his right hand, kind of reminded him of a marshmallow or very soft pillow. Caught in the moment he began to play around with the strange feeling as he used it to relief himself of his pounding head. As he played around with this strange sensation, he felt something move next to him, he turned to the movement and then his heart sank when he saw who was in his bed. Everything in Rune's body was on red alert when he saw Vyra not just in his room but in his bed.

"What the heck! What happened last night?! What is she doing in my bed did we? No, she doesn't look like the type, plus our clothes are still on. But she looks so cute when she's asleep" he whispered trying to keep his cool. His hand didn't stop playing with the sensation.

"That's beside the point. We need to figure out what she's doing in my bed"

Then he stopped and thought for a while then a realization hit him.

"If Vyra's in my bed then that means....."

He finally realized what he had been playing with in his hand and just at that moment Vyra woke up as she arose into a sitting position. She felt something on her chest then she opened her eyes seeing a hand there, she traced the origin of the hand all the way to Rune's sweaty face as he gave a nervous smile.

"Hi Vyra" he said shakily knowing what was coming next.

Without warning, Vyra sent him flying into the wall with a thunderous kick being disgusted by his act.

"Taking advantage of me in my sleep. What a pervert" she grunted as Rune had his face on the floor and the loud thump from him hitting the wall woke Sandstorm from his slumber who was all but confused.

"Where are those two?" Thyra wondered with Sten and Forde waiting with her in the training arena.

"My head hurts" Forde said holding his head.

"I can't remember a thing from last night" Sten added.

"I think we had a little too much too drink" Forde said.

"A little?! You guys were so drunk you couldn't stand up from the table you sat on. It took Fishlegs, Vyra, Hiccup, Astrid and I to lead you four drunks home" said Thyra still annoyed at yesterday's drink off.

"Wow, guess we took it too far" said Sten scratching the back of his head.

Sandstorm and Strombreaker appeared circling around the arena before landing in it.

"Guess you also got hungover" Sten said.

"Something like that" Rune said sliding of Sandstorm.

"What took you guys so long? We've been waiting" Thyra said.

"Sorry, we had to get Stormbreaker from the stables" Vyra answered.

"What do you mean we?" Thyra asked.

"Wait, does that mean you and Rune slept together?!" Forde gasped.

"Well, not exactly" Rune said looking at the wall to his left avoiding eye contact with them.

"You guys aren't taking it slow at all. You're getting right to it, if you know what I mean" Sten teased as Thyra punched him in the shoulder. "What was that for?"

"Please clarify on what you mean by 'not exactly'" Thyra said. "And don't leave out any detail"

"Okay, so...."

"I think I'll narrate the story cuz I'm pretty sure you're too drunk to remember anything" Vyra cut in.

"Oh, I thought we were going to start with what happened in the morning?"

"Obviously you're still a bit drunk from yesterday. You should go sit down" she said.

"But I'm"

Vyra then shot Rune a serious look with a frown and he got the message. He nodded and kept quiet leaving her to do all the explaining.

"Well after I took Rune home, it was already late so his parents decided to host me for the night" Vyra explained.

Thyra breathed a sigh of relief thinking something else had happened while Forde and Sten let out groans of disappointment expecting something spicy and entertaining. If only they knew the truth.

"For a minute there I thought you were going to say you slept with Rune but since his parents insisted I guess it's okay" said Thyra.

"Alright guys, let's get down to the order of the day. Flight formations" Rune said.

"From the formations Forde and I have drawn up, there are two main formations we can use. The sharp shooter formation to maximize all our dragon shot types and limits and the suppress formation to keep enemies at bay" Rune explained as they all listened attentively.

"And there could possibly be a third but it's still in the works" Forde pitched in.

"When did you two have all the time to come up with this?" Vyra asked curiously.

"We created time to work on it weeks ago" Rune answered.

"So what do these formations look like?" Sten asked.

"Alright, the sharp shooter formation is kind of like a W or it is a W shape and then the other is a star shape but these drawings should help" Rune said before walking to his dragon resting in the shade of the arena created by its edges.

Rune pulled out to paper sheets from the small saddle bag attached to the side and rubbed his friend's head. He opened the papers and displayed detailed drawings and movements that he had drawn out.

"Odin's beard" Sten remarked astonished by his drawings.

"This is so cool Rune" Thyra admired.

His skill in drawing was one that he had had for years, guess it passed on into this life as well.

"I think a lot of Hiccup might have rubbed off too much on you" Forde added.

"Enough with the big bulgy eyes guys, let's get straight to it"

The dragon riders soared through the sky departing from Berk to practice their formations in real time. Rune led the flight with Vyra to his left and Forde to his right and then Sten and Thyra behind.

"Alright guys, sharp shooter formation!" He instructed.

The dragons and their riders began to move and suddenly there was chaos, Rune and Vyra almost ran into one another since one of them knew who was meant to go lower and under the other. Their dragons groaned and grunted as they almost hit one another.

"Sorry" the two said in unison.

Then Rampage almost hit both of them as he stopped at the last second.

"Come on guys, you ought to have moved into position" Thyra said a bit annoyed.

Only Forde and Sten didn't have any trouble with a smooth transition into their positions behind.

"Okay, okay, let's do it again" Rune said.

They returned to their first positions and then tried it again over and over and over drilling it into their brains until it becomes second nature to them and their dragon in the air. At last after nailing it, they juggled into their final scramble position before moving into their sharp shooter formation again. The riders went into a dive as they flew down at the ocean, Rune was in front, Vyra behind him, then Forde, Sten and Thyra followed.

"Sharp shooter formation!" Rune instructed.

Sandstorm veered off to the left and Stormbreaker to the right as Forde and Sten both ascended to Thyra's left and right as she took center stage.

"Alright guys, let's level out still in position" Rune said.

The riders all pulled out of the dive maintaining their W shape to the best of their abilities. Rune looked around making sure everyone was in place. He and Vyra stayed by the sides acting like wingers while Thyra stayed a bit reserved, sitting a little deep in the middle. Forde and Sten stayed behind her at both sides although closer to her than Rune and Vyra but in a higher position compared to the others and when viewed from above, it formed a W shape.

"We nailed it! Great going guys" Rune praised them.

"Yes" Forde said with excitement.

"Finally" Thyra said exhausted from all the repitition of roles they had done.

The Sandstorm grunted with his rider neglecting his own efforts.

"And you too boy, you did well" Rune said rubbing his head.

"And don't know about you guys but I'm tired from all this training" Sten stated.

"Same" Thyra joined in.

"Come on guys, we still have one more formation to go" Rune insisted.

"Well Rune, we're all pretty tired and the dragons could use a break as well" Vyra said.

Now Rune began to think about it. "What do you say about taking a break?" he asked his dragon and he purred in response.

"Okay, if it makes you guys feel better we could take a little break" Rune said reluctantly.

"Yes!" they all cheered.

"But where too? Because if we head back to Berk, we're not coming back out here" Forde asked.

Rune looked around then he spotted something green out in the horizon. He took out his spyglass and investigated it further and it was an island but he hadn't seen any island of that nature placed on the maps he had studied.

"I see an island not too far, we should be able to take a little break there before returning to training" he said.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Sten yelled as the other riders jetted off in a race.

"Come on guys" Rune said with a bit of frustration as his friends had already gone off.

"You aren't going to leave me behind are you bud?" he asked Sandstorm.

His dragon purred assuring him of his vow never to leave his side. Rune placed his hand on his head happy to have someone like him in his life.

"Alright bud, let's win this thing"

Sandstorm gave an excited howl as they chased the others down as they raced to the island.

"Yes, we win again!" Rune cheered with the team gathered on top of a sea stack close to the island.

"How comes you always win the straight out races?" questioned Sten.

"Maybe because he has the fastest dragon here?" Forde answered.

"Well, let's see what we have here" Rune said standing near the edge of the sea stack and looking at the island. "You've got to see this"

"What is it?" Vyra asked as they all rushed to see what he was talking about.

"No way" Thyra said awestruck.

"This is incredible" Forde remarked.

"How comes No one has ever come across this island before?" Vyra asked.

"I don't know but this sure takes your breath away" Rune replied.

The island or islands rather, were covered with vast coastlines and lush green forests with rocky hill sides. At the center of the islands a large mountain resided connecting the three islands together and it was a beautiful sight. The other thing that caught their attention was the native species to these islands, Sand Wraiths. Lots and lots of Sand Wraiths. Brown figures could be seen moving about be it on land, in the air or in the water.

"It's an island of Sand Wraiths" Sten said.

"More like Sand Wraith island" Forde corrected.

"Sand Wraith island. Sounds like a good name" Rune added.

"It's not just Sand Wraiths but there are a couple of Thunderdrums over there, some Nightmares, Nadders, Mudrackers, Raincutters and even some Sea Shockers that we passed not to far behind" Vyra pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah but the Sand Wraiths are the dominant species" Rune said.

"So are we going to explore this place or what?" Thyra said ready to set out.

"Way ahead of you" Rune said jumping on to his dragon. "Try to keep up" Rune said as the pair took off.

"Those two are really a handful" Vyra said as Strombreaker helped her up to her saddle.

The rest of the group tried to catch up with them but ended up losing track of them in the tree line. The team couldn't waste their time looking for them plus they knew Rune would be safe as long as Sandstorm was with him. They landed in a clearing within the forest boasting tall grass and Sand Wraiths crawling just about everywhere.

"This is awesome. This island must be their birth place for centuries" Vyra said.

"This gives us the opportunity to get a closer look at the life style and behaviors of these fascinating creatures" Forde stated.

"What do you say Eruptor? Reckon we might pick up a few fights with a couple of Wraiths?" Sten said to his dragon.

Eruptor nodded, looking to get their assess into some trouble.

"You two are like children" Thyra said causing Eruptor to growl lightly.

"We're not here to cause any trouble. Just to learn more about the species" Vyra reprimanded Sten and his dragon.

"Why do you have to take the fun out of everything" Sten said with a sarcastic tone.

"It's not about fun. We don't know a thing about the island yet you want us to go look for some trouble. It doesn't make sense...." Vyra lashed back.

Before long, an argument ensued between the two while Forde and Thyra just watched them concluding that they will eventually sort themselves out. As they argued, Forde got a feeling in his got giving him the notion that something wasn't right.

"Something seems off" he said as Spikethorn looked around suspiciously as if she had picked up on something.

Out of the forest a blast was sent towards the group landing feet away from Vyra and Sten but threw them aback from the force of the blast.

"What the heck was that?!" Thyra said looking around.

"Something knows we're here and it doesn't like it" Forde said with a worried tone.

"Alright guys, defensive formation" Vyra commanded.

The team came together forming a circle as their dragons stood by their side looking for where the next attack would come from. Thyra looked deep into the forest and noticed a blast suddenly heading their way.

"Look out!" she yelled as the blast approached.

Rampage was quick to react sending a fireball of his own to cancel out the incoming attack.

"Thank you Rampage" Thyra thanked.

The team began to pick up on a grunt and whooshes around them from the forest. A brown blur then flashed passed them striking them at how fast the dragon moved.

"Thor's beard, do Sand Wraiths move that fast?" Vyra asked not able to connect the dots.

Then four blasts were launched at them from two opposite sides. Strombreaker and Spikethorn took out the blasts heading towards them while Eruptor and Sten moved out of the way. Rampage and Thyra weren't as lucky with the other taking the hit for his rider then roared at the forest around.

"Staying here isn't going to help us" Vyra said.

"We're like sitting ducks and whatever it is that is firing at us is going to have no trouble picking us off" Thyra said in agreement.

"Then let's get out of here" Sten said hopping on Eruptor.

"If we can get to the hill side over there, it would improve our chances of taking this thing out" Forde suggested.

"Great idea. Let's move" Vyra said mounting Stormbreaker.