Defying The Rules

"You all Are Going To Ride Dragons"

          Thalos soon got a bit more used to the feeling of being in the air. He was still pretty tense, but he had relaxed. His hands were still tightly gripping on Starclaw's spines.

          He closed his eyes and felt the breeze on his face. It felt good, honestly. He felt free. It was quiet up here in the sky. All he heard was the sound of his dragon's massive flapping wings. The beating of his wings were soothing and relaxing.

          Now Thalos understood what Hiccup meant when he said that it made one feel free. Thalos took a deep breath and continued holding on tightly.

          By the time they landed in front of the arena, Thalos was a bit more calm. He almost fell off when Starclaw landed, though. He had to grip extra tight with his hands and legs.

          Starclaw slowly lowered his head to the ground to make it easier for Thalos to get off. He slid off Starclaw's neck. The moment his feet hit the ground, a stinging sensation filled them. It was quite painful, but it didn't last a very long time.

          Thalos took a few moments to regain his breath. Once he did, he walked into the arena. He stopped and looked around, only to be met by the shocked eyes of the Viking teens. They looked at him in what seemed like horror. Their mouths gaped open and no one moved.

          Thalos's chest tightened, and it became less easy to breathe. He knew what they had to have been thinking. Perhaps they were thinking that he was a traitor?

          "Ahhhhh!" Snotlout shrieked in a battle-like tone, grabbing his hammer and running towards Thalos and Starclaw.

          Starclaw lifted up his head and spread his wings. He roared in defense and stomped one of his claws. All the teens, aside from Snotlout, Hiccup, and Thalos, stepped back in fear.

          "Hey hey hey hey hey!" Thalos said to his dragon, trying his best to calm him down. "He won't hurt you. He can't hurt you." He said.

          Hiccup ran in front of Snotlout to try to keep him from going any closer. "Calm down! Do you want to get yourself killed? Do you really think you will survive an attack from that dragon?"

          Snotlout breathed heavily. He was obviously afraid of the large dragon outside of the arena. Who wouldn't be? Snotlout let Hiccup take the hammer out of his hands. The skinny Viking threw it off against the wall so it wouldn't look like a threat.

          Thalos managed to calm Starclaw down. The dragon took low, deep breaths and eyed Snotlout. Thalos pet his snout and scratched his neck to try to keep him at bay.

          "Wh-What is that dragon!?" Fishlegs asked in fear, his voice cracking.

          "That is Starclaw. He is a Xeno'jiiva." Hiccup answered. He turned to the group. "If we want to save our parents and village, we all need to work together."

          He stared at the Vikings, seeing that most of them weren't paying attention. They were all looking nervously at the large blue dragon that was behind them.

          He sighed and spoke. "He isn't going to hurt you. Dragons aren't killing machines. Relax and pay attention. The lives of the entire tribe are at stake."

          Thalos walked up next to the group and stood beside them. He could feel everyone staring at him, but he was trying to make it look like he wasn't  nervous. If the rider of the massive dragon was nervous, everyone else would be too.

          Hiccup walked over to the door of one of the dragons' pens. He took a deep breath and walked to the lever to the pen of the Deadly Nadder. He turned to the group.

          "If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." Fishlegs said informatively.

          Hiccup looked at the group. They had the facial expressions of worry, disbelief, and confusion. No one knew what they were doing. No one knew what was going on.

          Tuffnut walked up to the scrawny Viking, glaring and putting his face close to Hiccup's. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon." He said, almost manically, making a hand motion in front of his face.

          When Hiccup gave him an almost clueless expression, he added on, "...it's me," to clarify that it wasn't someone else.

          Hiccup stared at him awkwardly and forced out  a laugh. Well, at least he wasn't too nervous about the dragon.

         Snotlout shoved Tuffnut out of the way and got close to Hiccup's face as well. "I love this plan." He said proudly.

          Hiccup could tell that Snotlout was scared, just by looking in his eyes. Snotlout was just saying that to make it look like he wasn't. Hiccup hadn't even said what the plan was. "I didn't..." He started to speak, but Ruffnut cut him off.

          "You're crazy." She said, shoving Snotlout our if the way. She got close to his face as well. "I like that..." she added on flirtatiously.

          Astrid grunted in annoyance, grabbed one of the horns of Ruffnut's helmet, and pulled her away. She looked at Hiccup. "So, what is the plan?" Astrid put her hands on her hips and looked at Hiccup expectantly.

          Thalos watched as Hiccup's face lit up. A grin crossed his face, and the boy took a breath. Thalos was also wondering what his insane plan was. Hiccup seemed to be very pleased with it.

          Thalos would often glance back at Starclaw, just to make sure he was still doing okay. At the moment, the large dragon was laying down with his head poking through the door to the arena.

          "You all are going to ride dragons." Hiccup proclaimed.

          "What!?" Snotlout And Fishlegs shrieked.

          "Yeah! Awesome!" The twins cheered.

          Thalos's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" Yes, Thalos had ridden a dragon before...as in once, and about five minutes ago... but how were the rest of them going to fly a dragon? What dragon would they fly on?

          Clearly there were mixed emotions about this plan. Hiccup took a deep breath and opened the pen containing the Deadly Nadder. The blue dragon looked up from its position on the ground. It squawked and stood up.

          Hiccup walked up to the bird-like dragon with his hand stretched out. The dragon flared its wings and moved its head from side to side. The dragon was uncomfortable, but also confused by the fact that no one had tried to kill it yet.

          Tuffnut shouted, almost like he was trying to intimidate the dragon, but Thalos quickly put his hand over his mouth to shut him up. The Deadly Nadder's head shot up at the sudden sound and squawked aggressively.

          "You muton head, shut up and watch. Do you want us to get eaten alive?" Thalos snapped, keeping his hand over Tuffnut's mouth.

          Tuffnut mumbled under Thalos's hand. Thalos shook his head and slowly removed his hand from his face. Tuffnut grunted and huffed, watching quietly.

          Within seconds after it was quiet, the blue Deadly Nadder pressed its nose against Hiccup's hand. The group made gasps of astonishment. Most of the aw and wonder was from the twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout.

          "As you can see, dragons aren't the killers we think them to be." Hiccup said, petting the Deadly Nadder. "They only defend themselves." He walked over to the Monstrous Nightmare's pen and opened it. The Deadly Nadder stayed put.

          Ruffnut was about to say something, but Thalos slapped a hand on her mouth to keep her quiet. He huffed in annoyance at Ruff and Tuff's lack of ability to shut up. Were they too dumb to realize that Hiccup needed to have it quiet?

          The Monstrous Nightmare roared at Hiccup the second it was released. Hiccup remained calm and held his hand out. He lowered his head and looked at the ground. The massive dragon stopped roaring and looked at Hiccup's hand and body language. One could tell that it was just as confused as last time.