Defying The Rules

Eating and Tales

Thalos finished his documentation for the day and headed home. He actually hadn't seen Hiccup since he got back, which surprised him. A small part of him wondered if he was with that Night Fury.

Should he check? He bit his lip and pondered the idea for a few minutes. He could just check. What if he was dead or something? Thalos really wasn't sure. It's not like he himself would be able to fight off a Night Fury.

He made his way to his hut and grabbed his axe. If he was going to have any chance of living against an aggressive encounter with a Night Fury, he had to have his axe.

He grabbed an apple and made his way out the door. He rubbed his hurt arm. He probably should get that looked at soon. Maybe he could see Gothi, the village healer and elder, later. His burns likely needed looked at too.

He sighed and walked through the forest. He needed a break. No visiting the dragon, nothing. The past few days had been exhausting. He continued walking through the brush, over rocks and sticks, and under fallen trees. It didn't take him to long to find the area where he had followed Hiccup to the other day.

He quitly walked in between the two rocks and peered out. Sure enough, he saw the scrawny Viking. His eyes widened as he watch him. Hiccup's head was down, looking at the ground, and had his hand up to the Night Fury's nose! What was he doing!?

Hiccup looked up. He and the beast locked eyes for a couple of seconds before the black dragon snorted and ran/glided away. Thalos quickly pressed himself behind the rock to avoid the dragon's sight.

"Oh Thor.." he mumbled. Hiccup touched a Night Fury-and it didn't even kill him! He was certain Hiccup would have gotten his hand or arm chomped off.

He peered out again, but quickly recoiled back when he saw Hiccup walking his way. Before Hiccup could turn the corner, Thalos hid behind one of the trees. The thin Viking stopped, clearly sensing the presence of someone, but resumed and kept on going.

Thoughts passed through Thalos's head. Hiccup literally touched the dragon and didn't loose his arm. That's unheard of! How was that even possible? Could he try that with the Xeno'jiiva? Could he somehow gain its trust enough for it to let him touch it? Was Hiccup a friend of the dragons?

He really wasn't sure, but it was certainly food for thought. He started heading back to the village. It was getting dark, and he and the teens in training were meeting Gobber for dinner over a fire. He didn't want to be late. Besides, if he was late, the twins and Snotlout would eat any good food. He didn't want to miss that.

Once he got there, it was completely dark. The fire was quite bright in comparison to the darkness everywhere else. Gobber, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut were already there. Thalos wasn't late though. If anything, he was right on time.

As he scanned the group, he noticed Hiccup wasn't there. Where in Thor's name was he? He didn't pass him walking back, did he? He figured they would have gotten here around the same time. He sighed and shook his head. The poor boy was going to get himself into trouble one of these days. He could never show up on time for anything.

Gobber passed out some chicken to the group. Everyone gladly took a leg, which was all he had to offer, surprisingly, and started eating. Gobber started off by telling his tales of the times when he was a young Viking.

"There's a dragon called the Boneknapper." He started. "It's got an armor of dragon bones covering its entire body. They say he never stops searching for the perfect bone to complete its set of armor." The teens, Thalos included, listened intently. "But, these dragons are silent beasts. They don't make a sound.. You'll never hear 'em coming."

"I thought the Book of Dragons said the Boneknapper had an excruciatingly loud roar. It's loud enough to peel off the skin of Vikings at close range." Fishlegs, the Book of Dragon nerd said.

"Oh please." Ruffnut started. "That dragon isn't even real. It's just another one of your made up stories. No one has ever seen one."

"Aye! I'd bet my undies it's true!" Gobber defended, taking a bite out of his full chicken-on-a-stick. "I've seen it! I was sailing on a ship with me family..." He went on and on about his encounter with the Boneknapper. He started with Vikings frozen in ice, the dragon chasing him, and ended with Hammerhead Yaks and Whales jumping out of volcanoes. Thalos wasn't quite convinced about the validity of the man's story.. at all, really. It seemed much to far fetched. Fishlegs clearly beelived him though. However, that was no surprise. Fishlegs was the gullible type.

"Your story doesn't seem accurate, Gobber." Thalos said skeptically.

Gobber just shook his head in disagreement and then proceeded to tell other stories of his adventures. Thalos wasn't completely sure they were true either. The gang talked about dragon killing and kept eating.

Thalos looked over when he heard footsteps and saw Hiccup finally coming in to join them. Thalos looked back at Gobber when he boomingly continued.

"...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face... I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." He said, talking about a different dragon and gesturing to his missing leg, now peg, and missing hand, that was now a hook.

Thalos looked at Hiccup and watched him. He looked almost depressed and upset, and Thalos wasn't sure why. The boy took a drum stick and fiddled around with it.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something." Fishlegs pondered.

"I swear I'm so angry right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight... with my face." Snotlout said arrogantly, glancing at Astrid to see her reaction. She only shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Gobber shook his head and grunted, his mouth full of food. "Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon, is a dead dragon."

The group talked a few more minutes before Gobber got up and stretched. "Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly, but surely, making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare." He said in a challenging tone. "But who'll win the honor of killing it?" Gobber finished.

"It's gonna be me." Tuffnut said pridefully in response to Gobber's rhetorical question. "It's my destiny, see?" As he said that, the male twin lifted up his shirt sleeve to reveal a dragon imprinted in his arm."

"Your mom let you get a tatoo!?" Fishlegs asked in adorning surprise.

As he said that, Thalos noticed Hiccup get up and leave. Thalos leaned over and watched him. Where was he going? He looked down at the plate Hiccup had left behind. He didn't even eat any of his food! "For the love of Thor.. one of these days he is going to starve himself to death..." Thalos mumbled. No wonder he was so skinny!

"It's not a tatoo, it's a birthmark." Tuffnut corrected, rolling his sleeve back down.

"Okay, I have been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before." Ruffnut, the female twin said, crossing her arms.

"Yes it was!" Tuffnut defended. "You've just never seen me from the left side until now."

"Tuffnut, birthmarks don't that closely resemble a dragon." Thalos said, pretty much face palming himself.

"It wasn't there yesterday. Is it a birthmark or a today-mark?" Snotlout added mockingly, chuckling a bit at the end.

Astrid and Thalos just shook their heads, amazed at the idiocy of some people.