Fishlegs times how long Toothless and Hiccup took to finish the course. It was a long time, but nothing too impressive when compared to the evolution of one specific dragon: Stormfly.
But the title of fastest dragon belongs to Lua. Skrills are naturally faster than most species and can even ride lightning! The title of fastest was more than deserved on her part.
"How are you getting so fast?" Lua asked Stormfly.
"Hehehe, secret," Stormfly smiled. "But let's just say I changed my food options."
Lua remembers that Astrid started giving chicken legs to Stormfly and, due to some chemical reaction or whatever happened in her stomach, she began matching Toothless in speed. This is also the period when Heather appears for the first time: the castaway, the lost one, the traitor... She has many names, but in the end she managed to win the fans' affection for being an iconic, charismatic character with incredible development.
Toothless and Hiccup finally arrived from their racing track, a little arrogant, thinking they had beaten their own record. Fishlegs praised them for their speed, but...
"But someone—who I won't say who—is improving a lot, maybe even reaching the same speed as Lua!" Fishlegs glanced to the side.
Hiccup was startled when he saw the twins, thinking Barf and Belch might be reaching Toothless's speed. The twins were headbutting each other, clearly in yet another daily fight.
"Don't look ahead!" said Tuffnut.
Hiccup's gaze turned to Astrid and Stormfly, who were wearing smug smiles, very confident about how much they were improving.
"Huh? So Toothless is getting slower?" Hiccup asked, petting Toothless.
"He isn't. Stormfly is just getting faster," Fishlegs replied.
"Getting faster, huh? You want to tell me something?" Hiccup asked Astrid, suspicion in his voice.
(Ahhh, what Hiccup wouldn't give to know her secret.) Lua hummed softly.
"Aren't you afraid Stormfly might steal your title as Fastest?" Toothless asked Lua.
"Nah," Lua shrugged. "No one can match my speed! Maybe I'm the fastest dragon in the world!" Lua puffed out her chest proudly.
"Just be careful not to let that go to your head," Toothless said with a little laugh.
Before Lua could respond, Hookfang and Snotlout rushed into the arena. Snotlout was excited about something and was even slightly out of breath. Hookfang looked tired of Snotlout.
"You're not gonna believe what I found!" Snotlout crossed his arms with a grin.
"A severed head?" Tuffnut asked.
"Cousin Larrys?" Ruffnut asked.
"The severed head of Cousin Larrys?" Tuffnut asked again.
"Wait, Larrys died?!" Fishlegs asked, worried.
"Hey, hold on! Excuse me—do you want to see it or not?" Snotlout asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sure enough, curiosity got the better of everyone and they all followed Snotlout. Unfortunately, the fire-and-brimstone duo didn't say anything about what they had found that was so impressive.
o0o0o
They arrived at the beach, where there seemed to be a kind of hut made from the remains of a ship.
"Just to be clear: I found it first, so it's mine!" Snotlout said, crouching in front of the hut's entrance.
The dragons couldn't see what was inside, since all the Vikings were crowded in front.
"Wow, now I'm liking this ship!" Tuffnut exclaimed with a grin that made his twin roll her eyes.
"And I'll take her!" Snotlout said.
"It's a person, Snotlout!" Astrid said, irritated by his behavior.
"I know! That makes it even better! Lucky me," Snotlout said with a smile that almost made Astrid punch him in the face.
"Is Snotlout trying to kidnap a Viking?" Meatlug asked, worried by his attitude.
"Your rider is clearly delirious, Hookfang," Lua said, just as concerned as Meatlug.
"You have no idea. He clearly hasn't gotten over puberty yet," Hookfang snorted. "He gets way too excited around Viking females sometimes."
"That's worrying," Meatlug said, glancing at the young woman.
"I'm going to teach him a lesson. He's walking home today—I just need a good reason," Hookfang exclaimed.
"A bit cruel, but fair, considering he wants to treat a girl like an object," Lua said, shaking her head.
"I agree. Even dragons with brains have the decency to treat a female the way she deserves," Stormfly nodded.
Barf and Belch didn't care about the situation at all; both seemed to be in their own little world.
"Hookfang, come here!" Snotlout called firmly.
"Finally," Hookfang said, flying off.
This left Snotlout completely awkward and embarrassed in front of the shipwrecked girl. He only said that Hookfang was like that sometimes, but would come back later.
The girl, who introduced herself as Heather at first, was terrified by the sight of the dragons—large beasts that fly and breathe fire. On top of that, her island was probably still at war with them. But she soon calmed down when Hiccup explained that they were friendly.
Heather seemed calmer, while Astrid remained suspicious. Everyone left, leaving Snotlout behind.
Lua wasn't going to give him a ride—not at that moment, at least.