Defying The Rules

Getting back to the village

When Thalos realized the dragon was following him, he panicked and sped up his pace. The dragon, being young, took this as a challenge and also sped up. Thalos kept running, tripping over crystals. If anyone saw him right now, he'd be shamed upon. This was probably the most unviking-like way to act. Honestly, at this point, Thalos didn't didn't even care. He just wanted to live.

The light blue dragon followed Thalos for about ten more minutes before getting bored and turning around, heading back to its part of the cavern. That didn't stop the young Viking's running, though. He didn't even slow down. He just wanted back in the semi-safety of his village. Who knows how many of those things were down here!?

He came upon water and stopped. Did it lead out to the ocean? He hoped so.. That meant he would come out on the shores of Berk, and it was all safer traveling from there.

Even though he was in pain, and his chest felt like it was on fire from the inside, he could swim out of here, assuming it wasn't to long. It shouldn't be to long, based off the size of Berk. Unless of course, this cavern somehow stretched farther. Thalos didn't even know how that would be possible, but still.

He stood by the water for a few minutes, catching his breath. By now his legs, side, ribs, stomach, arms, and everything else hurt. They hurt from the falling and the running. When he decided he was rested enough, he looked down at the water.

"Wait, what if another dragon is in there?" He asked himself. "I could get pulled under and I'd be done for." He scratched the back of his neck and looked around, trying to see if there was any way around the water. It didn't look like there was one, so he slid into the water, feet first.

He waited a few seconds before starting his swim. He used a slow, but energy-saving swimming technique. He didn't know how long this waterway would go, and even his athletic self couldn't run forever. The water was almost warm, so it was at least comfortable to swim in. That was better than nothing.

He swam for another good ten minutes. He was getting quite tired. His whole body was sore. At the moment, he was floating on his back, doing little kicks to propel him forward. Why did all of this have to happen to him? He would much rather be nerding out with Hiccup, the Cheif of Berk's son, or something right now.

Even though Thalos was fairly athletic, he wasn't superhuman. He wasn't like Astrid, who could quite possibly be showing him up right now. He might have done better if it weren't for his falls and such.

He turned around, back on his stomach, and resumed his normal swimming. He gave a smile of triumph when he saw the open ocean. That meant there was land. He swallowed and kept pushing. "Thank Thor.." he mumbled to himself. He made his way out of the cavern and looked for the shore. Sure enough, it was right there.

He hastily made his way to the sand, flopping onto the ground once he made it. He took heavy breaths and closed his eyes. It was still very dark out, and it was likely that most of the Vikings were asleep by now. He groaned and laid on the stand for a good twenty minutes or so. The sand got pretty comfortable quickly.

He ended up falling asleep right there, on the sand. Again, that was another stupid mistake, and he knew it. He could easily get eaten or taken away by a dragon, especially at night. Again, he got lucky, and he slept soundly through the rest of the night. Exhaustion had just overtaken him. The horrifying dragon mixed with the extensive running, swimming, and falling, all sucked the energy right out of him.

He woke up the next day, his body quite refreshed from his "adventure" yesterday. He groaned and rolled on his back, his face, arms, stomach, legs, and hair all covered in sand. He was a conplete mess.

He laid there for a few more moments before actually sitting up. His entire body was painfully sore. "Thor.." he mumbled, cringing as he arched his back and bent his arms and legs, trying to loosen them up a little bit. He stood up, stumbled a little bit, stretched yet again, and finally started his walk back to the village. He stretched even as he walked. Anything that would loosen his tight muscles would probably be beneficial.

He froze when he heard branches move and snap. He reached for his axe, but was left disappointed when he realized he had left it in that cavern. "Darn it.." he mumbled. The last thing he needed was another dragon encounter. He found a bush to hide behind and crouched down. He couldn't fight a dragon without a weapon. He wouldn't stand a chance. He just needed to pray that it wouldn't see or care about him.

Thalos waited there for a few moments before the being finally became visible. "Hiccup?" He said in confusion, standing up. "What are you doing here?"

The auburn-haired, scrawny Viking practically jumped out of his skin. "Ahhg, Thalos!" He said, closing the leather journal he had in his hands. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He added breathlessly, putting a hand on his chest. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you covered in sand? Where were you last night? Your dad was looking everywhere for you."

"I asked you first." Thalos said, looking at the book in Hiccup's hand. "Are you looking for trolls again?"

The skinny Viking shook his head. "No. I shot down a Night Fury. Dad won't send a search party out here, so I am looking myself." He said, opening the leather journal and showing Thalos his map. It was a simple little map of Raven's Point (Where they were) with Xs, showing where he had already looked for the dragon.

Thalos looked at the map, noticing all of the markings. "I guess you're not having much luck then, huh?"

Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "No, I can't find it anywhere. I'm going to check one more place. How I managed to loose a dragon, I don't even know." He said in a defeated tone.

"Good luck, I suppose." Thalos may have offered to help in the search, but Hiccup had claimed to shoot dragons down before, and it never happened. It was either an honest mistake, or Hiccup was lying about it. Thalos believed the boy genuinely thought he shot something down though. He didn't seem like one to lie about something like that.

"So why are you-" Hiccup started to speak, but Thalos quickly started walking back to the village. He didn't know how far Hiccup would go, but he didn't want him going down there and trying to kill the big dragon. He didn't really think he would, but better safe than sorry right?

Thalos did his best to try to get some of the sand off of him, just so he wouldn't look as filthy. It didn't take him long to get back to the village. Once he got there, he started made his way to his hut. His father likely wouldn't be happy, at all. Thalos wasn't sure if he was willing to tell his dad, or anyone for that matter, about the dragon or it's cavern. He didn't want to put people in danger. It hadn't bothered anyone, so maybe it would just stay down there? But what if it was waiting for the right time to come out and attack..?

Thalos didn't know. He sighed, walked up the steps to his home, and walked inside. His father was sitting at the table, practically staring a hole through his son's forehead.