Defying The Rules

The day is here

          Thalos got up at a normal time the next morning. He was anxious for Hiccup's fight with the Monstrous Nightmare. He was worried that Hiccup would get seriously hurt. He didn't want that, and he knew Hiccup wouldn't either.

          Thalos got dressed for the day. He looked down at his hurt arm. He decided that he would go see Gothi about it. It was feeling better, so maybe she would let him take it out of the sling?

          He went down stairs and got some breakfast. He ate quickly and made his way to Gothi's hut. How that old lady made it all the way up to the hut on a hill still amazed Thalos.

          When he made it up to her house, he knocked on the door. The old lady opened the door and looked at up him.

          "I was wondering if I could take this sling off." Thalos said. "It is feeling a lot better."

          Gothi made a motion with her hand, indicating that he was to come in. Thalos didn't hesitate to obey, and when he was inside, Gothi shut the door.

          She put her hand on a chair and patted it, silently telling him to sit down. He did so and she walked to his bad arm. Gothi remover the arm from the sling and set the sling off to the side.

          She poked his arm and looked at him, waiting for a reaction. He just started at her blankly. She nodded in approval and squeezed his upper arm. Thalos cringed a little bit, but she didn't seen to mind it to much.

          She rolled up his sleeve to get a full look at his arm. She looked it over and ran her hand over it. Thalos didn't know what exactly she was feeling for. A lump maybe? Could she feel a disfiguration in the bone? He really didn't know, but he stayed still and let her do her thing.

          After a couple more minutes, she took a step back and looked at him. She shook her head and Thalos's face fell.

          "Noooo." He groaned. "Please? I'm tired of having to use one hand in everything." He said.

          The gray-haired woman shook her head again and opened the door of her hut so he could leave. Thalos frowned and walked out of the door. He watched her shut it when he was outside and looked at his sling. He was probably going to take this off. It didn't exactly look good for a Viking to be walking around in a sling.

          He walked down the tall hill from her hut. When he was at the bottom, he took his sling off. He looked around, not quite sure where to put it. He then decided to quickly make his way to his hut. He set the sling down in the desk in his room and walked back outside.

          Now he just needed to convince Snotlout to let Gustav be his partner in the Thawfest games. He shook his head. He just needed to do the impossible.

          Thalos walked around Berk and kept an eye out for Snotlout. He wasn't really sure where to start to look for him. He really could be anywhere. He could be flirting with Astrid, causing trouble, hanging out with he twins and causing trouble, or even stuffing his face with food. The possibilities were endless.

          Surprisingly, it didn't take him long to find him. Thalos found him bickering with the twins. He couldn't tell what exactly it was about, but he really didn't care.

          "Snotlout!" Thalos called, walking up to him.

          Snotlout turned and looked at Thalos. Within seconds, Snotlout spoke. "Tell these airheads that the chicken came before the egg!"

          "Well where did the chicken come from, genius? It just came out of thin air?" Tuffnut shouted.

          "I think not!" Ruffnut proclaimed.

          "The egg came first!" Tuffnut said proudly.

          "Then who laid the egg, huh!? Answer that!" Snotlout challenged.

          "The chicken came first." Thalos said plainly, just to butter up Snotlout. He really didn't care. He just needed to talk to Snotlout.

          "Thank you!" Snotlout said in a relieved tone as he gestured to Thalos with his arms. "In your face!" He gloated towards the twins.

          "Anyways, since this is all settled, I need to talk to Snotlout." Thalos said.

          "Why would you need to talk to-" Tuffnut started to speak, but Snotlout cut him off.

          "Because Thalos knows where all the brains and brawn are." He said, flexing his muscles and posing.

           Thalos sighed and shook his head. "Yeah. That's it." He said sarcastically.

          "Uh. Fine. Whatever." the male twin said, walking away with his sister by his side.

          "So, Thalos." Snotlout started. "Have you come to seek an audience with the great and mighty Snotlout Jorgenson?"

          Thalos internally groaned. "Yes." He said, rolling his eyes. "It's about Thawfest."

          "Ahhh. So you have come to get tips from the champion? I'll give you some, Thalos. Just for you." He said.

          "No, no. It's not about advice... Although I'm sure your advice is great." Thalos was really just trying to give wood to the fire of Snotlout's ego. The better mood that he was in, the more likely he would take Gustav as a partner in the games. "It's about a partner for Thawfest. I have been seeing Gustav's improvement in battle and in training. I think he would be a suitable partner."

          "Gustav?" Snotlout said in disbelief. "He's great at getting water to soak my feet, but fighting and competing? He's not much better than Hiccup."

          "Just think about it. He's very clever." Thalos added.

          "Ehhhh... I don't know about that."

          "Well you can't make the decision now. Think about it during the dragon match today. It starts in half an hour."

          "Fine, but the answer is probably no. Why do you care about Gustav being my partner?"

          "Oh, no reason." Thalos said quickly. "Come on. Let's go get good seats in the arena."

          Snotlout and Thalos followed he crowd to the arena. Even thirty minutes beforehand, people were heading to the arena. Everyone wanted to get a good seat so they could see the fight clearly.

          The two ended up finding a seat together, and they sat down on the cold stone bench. "So, how many of Hiccup's body parts do you think will be sprawled on the ground?" A man asked, clearly not thinking that Hiccup was going to make it out of this alive.

          "None of them." Thalos said hesitantly. If he was honest, he was worried about Hiccup. He didn't know how Hiccup was going to make it through this. He was about to fight a Monstrous Nightmare. He really hoped that he had a plan, because he really needed one. "I am sure he will make it."

          "You must be delusional." the man said. He stroked his blonde beard and looked inside the arena. The seats were all above the arena. There was a metal chain that separated he top of the area from the Vikings sitting around it.

          Pretty soon, the crowds got bigger and bigger. Cheering and chattering was heard all around. The excitement and anticipation was great. Everyone was surprised and looking forward to Hiccup, of all Vikings, killing that dragon.

          It didn't take long before the Chief, Hiccup's father, stood on a pedestal above the crowd. The fight would soon begin. The big man cleared his throat to speak.