Defying The Rules

Gustav's Deal

          Gustav stroked his chin. "Hmm..." He hummed, trying to think up something good. After a good minute or two of thinking, the preteen spoke. "I want you to convince Snotlout to let me be is partner for the group event in this year's Thawfest." He paused. "And twenty coins."

          "How in Thor's name am I supposed to convince Snotlout to let you be his partner? He wants to win. That would be difficult if you were his partner."

          "Hey! I am improving! I'm just as good as anyone else."

          "You make dumb decisions and mess things up. Snotlout isn't going to want a kid on his team." Thalos said bluntly.

          "Just do it! Snotlout likes you," Gustav said angrily.

          Thalos mumbled under his breath and glared. "Fine. You better not tell."

          "The promise of a Larson is more valuable than diamonds." Gustav projected proudly.

          "Okay, so you can go now." Thalos said. "Don't you have a dragon fight to watch?"

          "You mean the one you aren't in? Yup! Bye Thalos." With that, Gustav ran off.

          Thalos grumbled under his breath. The kid was seriously so annoying and useless. Snotlout is never going to like Gustav. The only reason he does "like" him is because the boy does everything Snotlout asks! He's like his personal servant.

          Thalos ran his hand over his face and turned towards Starclaw. The dragon looked fairly relaxed now. "What am I supposed to do?" Thalos asked as if he was expecting an answer.

          He shook his head. "Not like you can understand me anyway." He sighed and sat down. Starclaw was smart, but he didn't speak human. He spoke dragon. Assuming Starclaw could understand what Thalos said, Thalos wouldn't be able to understand any kind of advice from the beast.

          Pfft.. Advice from a dragon—because that would be a great idea. Thalos groaned and buried his head in his arms. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't keep Starclaw a secret forever. Eventually Gustav would tell. Whether it was intentional or not, it would still slip from Gustav's face.

          Starclaw cooed and laid down to where his head was next to Thalos. Thalos looked at the dragon, who was staring back at him.

          "Pity from a dragon. Great." He mumbled.

          The dragon cooed again and pushed his nose under Thalos's arm, and in turn, under his hand. Thalos let out a small smile and gently stroked the dragon's head.

          "Thanks." He said, watching his friend.

...oOo...

          Thalos started heading back to the village. Starclaw had gone back into his cavern by now. Thalos figured the dragon fighting between Hiccup and Astrid would be over, so that's why he just now started to head home.

          He froze when he heard sounds in front of him. They were sounds of grunting and something hitting wood. He peered behind a rock and saw that the cause of the sounds was Astrid. She shouted and threw her axe at a tree, hitting it dead on as usual. She didn't look very happy. Either that, or she was just concentrating. It was hard to tell the difference sometimes.

          Thalos kind of assumed that Astrid won the contest, and that she was just training. When he saw the coast was clear, he walked out from behind the rock.

          Astrid turned around and looked at him, breathing heavily. She ran her hand over her face and threw the axe at another tree.

          "Training?" Thalos asked, watching her.

          Astrid pulled the axe out of the tree and threw it again. "Yup, but not like it matters. I won't be killing a dragon anytime soon."

          "What do you mean? Didn't you win in the ring?"

          The blonde Viking grunted and threw the axe again. "Nope. Hiccup did."

          "What? How did he beat you?" Hiccup won? Against Astrid? How was that possible?

          "I don't know!" She said bitterly, throwing her axe again. "I turn around, and he's got the Gronckle laying on the ground like a love-sick Viking!" She threw it again. "I know he's up to something. He is constantly wandering off, and I saw him in the forest a few days ago. He was acting weird—er than usual."

          Thalos scratched the back of his neck. He didn't know what to say to that, honestly. He knew why Hiccup was acting weird, but he obviously couldn't tell Astrid. She would be one of the worst people to tell—not because she couldn't keep a secret, but because she wouldn't keep this one.

        "Well, I'll let you get back to letting out your anger... at the trees." Thalos said. Astrid rolled her eyes and continued chucking her axe at various trees. Thalos started to walk away, but when he turned around one last time, Astrid was gone. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and just shrugged it off.

        He made it back to the village. He was a bit hungry, so he headed to his hut. When he got there, he walked inside and looked around.

          His father didn't seem to be home. "Must be at work." Thalos said to himself. He walked over to where the food was kept and grabbed a fish. He started a fire and started cooking it.

          As he smelled the fish, he grew hungrier. It smelled pretty good in his opinion. After a couple of minutes, Thalos took it out of the fire and started eating it.

          He just looked around the hut as he ate. He didn't really have anything else to do today. Hiccup would be killing the Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow. Thalos should probably go to that. He was Hiccup's friend, and he wanted to be there to support him.

          Pray to the gods that Hiccup doesn't get eaten alive, though. How in Thor's name did Hiccup even beat Astrid? Astrid was a fighting machine. She could put a lot of adult Vikings to shame. Hiccup was...well, Hiccup. That spoke for itself.

          Out of no where, Hiccup's words to him popped in his head: "I even flew on him once. It was a bit sloppy and horrifying, but it was amazing. The thrill and rush of being on an animal while it's flying in the air... You feel free. I want to create a mechanism where I can fly him better, and have more control. Just think: What if one day, dragons and Vikings live in peace. Maybe one day, everyone can be on the back of a dragon and have a faithful friend."

          If Hiccup could fly on his Night Fury, could he himself fly on Starclaw? He bit his tongue. No.. He couldn't do that. That would be absolutely insane. So many things could go wrong.

          Thalos shook his head and made his way up to his room. Even though it was only early evening, he decided he would go to bed. He would try to fulfill his deal with Gustav tomorrow. He really didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and he really didn't want to work on that today. He was tired, so sleeping would be best for him. Besides, if he was asleep, he wouldn't have to interact with his father.

          He crawled into bed a sighed. He thought a little longer about flying and being in the air, but soon those thoughts turned blank as he fell asleep. All that was left was dreams at this point—most of which Thalos wouldn't even remeber.