PLEASE READ ALL AUTHORS NOTES WHEN READING THIS CHAPTER. THANKS!
You know, I think this has to be the quickest update in a long time. Although to be fair, I did have all three parts already written!
Ok, so this is part two of this storyline, and in this chapter, it's the weapons challenge, which was so much fun to write! Showcasing the kid's different weapons skills was quite interesting. Also in this chapter you'll see what's going on with Lennart, as well as a little more with Leif, Kelda and Eric's antics, but it's mostly a lot of fun, so hope you enjoy it!
On with the chapter!
Chapter 50 – The Bet: Part Two
"How is this going to work?" Eric asked, as he watched Leif and Kelda grease an axe the next morning. "Couldn't anybody use that axe?"
"In the kids events, yes," Kelda replied absentmindedly, as she continued to rub grease on the handle of the axe she was holding. "But in teen and adults events, you use your own weapons. Unless you don't have that weapon, of course," she added, before Eric could ask.
"But..." Eric began, glancing at the axe in confusion. "...How do we know that's Gerold's axe? It looks like any other one to me."
"I spent enough time watching Gerold train with this thing when he courted Siri," Leif said, looking down at the weapon in disgust. "Believe me, it's his."
Eric frowned. "How do you know?"
"Because this one has chips out of it everywhere," Leif explained, pointing to the damaged parts of the metal. "Besides," he continued, throwing his friend a wide grin, "I don't know anyone else on Berk with the name Gerold, do you?"
"And you couldn't have just said it has his name on it?" Eric asked him, as Leif and Kelda snorted with laughter.
"Not really," Kelda grinned. "I mean, his name was pretty easy to see."
"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Eric protested, his arms flailing awkwardly. "I'm not holding it!"
"Neither am I, but I still can," Leif pointed out with a laugh, causing Eric to flush brightly in embarrassment.
"Oh... shut up!"
"Okay, we'll stop it," Kelda giggled, as she gently placed the oily weapon back on the crates. "Yuck," she added, rubbing her hands together in disgust. "That stuff is gross."
"How is this supposed to work again?" Leif asked, as he watched her try and rid her hands of the oily residue. "I mean, won't Gerold just put the axe down once he feels it like that?"
Kelda shook her head. "It'll dry a little before he uses it later on," she explained, as she finally found a rag behind the set up equipment. "And just picking it up isn't enough," she added further. "By the time he realises what's going on, it'll be too late."
"Why aren't we doing this for the rest of the weapons, then?" Leif asked her, as he gestured to the number of weapons laid out in front of them. "I mean, Gerold could easily come back to win."
Kelda shrugged. "I doubt it," she said, as she finally got rid of the stuff on her hands. "I mean, he isn't the best at weapons, is he? Spear throwing he might do okay, but Siri said he can't hit the side of a stable with a bow and arrow."
"And Len's the best with swords," Eric interrupted, before Leif could respond. "No way is anyone gonna beat him!"
"That's true," Leif agreed with a nod. "But I hope this will be enough. Gerold was so mean to Siri yesterday after she beat him in the obstacle course. I really can't let him win."
"And he won't if we have anything to say about it," Kelda reassured him. "I mean, we distracted him pretty good yesterday."
"I just loved the look on his face when I yelled at him," Eric grinned. "He was so annoyed!"
"I loved how he face planted after I moved the log," Kelda chuckled. "I still can't believe he didn't see me!"
"It was lucky he didn't," Leif said bitterly, as he recalled the look on the boy's face the day before. "I mean, he already looked pretty mean when he blamed Siri for it."
"I think he's gotten meaner since Siri broke up with him," Kelda said with a sigh.
"He has," Leif said. "Which is why I can't let him win. Because if he does, he'll get a lot worse."
"Well, this will certainly stop him at least once," Kelda said, nodding to the sabotaged axe nearby. "But we won't be able to do much if he tries something."
"That's what you think," Eric grinned. "I have a loud voice."
"Don't we know it," Leif whispered to Kelda, who had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, before she took a quick glance at the sky above them.
"Come on, we better get going," Kelda said, taking note of the position of the sun. "If we don't get back soon, our parents are going to be suspicious of where we've been; and the weapons event starts in a few hours."
"You know, I never thought about it before," Leif said nervously, as he, Kelda and Eric made their way out of the arena and towards the bridge into town. "What would happen if we got caught? Isn't it technically cheating?"
"How can it be?" Kelda said, although her face was wary. "I mean, we're not the ones competing."
"But we're still interfering, aren't we?" Leif asked, glancing at the other two with wide eyes.
The three kids looked at each other in horror.
"Oh, poop."
"Why does it have to be spear throwing first?" Siri drawled, as she and the other Vikings teens arrived at the arena. "I never hit the target with a spear."
"Why does it matter if it's first or last?" Lennart asked her in amusement, as Siri trudged along beside him. "You're still going to suck at it no matter when it's done."
"Thanks a lot," Siri mumbled, as she went over to a spear and picked it up, where she glared down at the object in contempt. "I feel so much better now."
"I was just kidding, Seer," Lennart assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders with a kind smile. "But what does it matter if you suck with a spear? It's just one weapon."
"Yeah, but it'll give Gerold to chance to gloat," Siri replied bitterly, as she threw a glance in the sixteen year olds direction. "And the last thing I want to see is him being all smug again."
"Siri," Lennart said sternly, causing Siri to glance back towards him. "You can't let Gerold get to you like this. You're playing right into his hands by focussing on him all the time. And you promised to have fun this Thawfest; despite your bet," he added quickly as Siri opened her mouth to respond.
"Why do you always know what to say?" she asked him, despite a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She sighed. "He's not making it easy, though," she added, throwing an irritated glance in the older boy's direction.
"Don't worry, he's not making it easy for anyone," Lennart assured her. "But we should be able to get one up on him today. It's not as easy to cheat in this event."
"I wouldn't put it past him to try, though," Siri said, as Hiccup and Astrid made their way over to the group of teens to explain the process of the event.
"Good luck, Seer, Len," Hiccup said to them with a smile, before he turned his attention to the teens gathering around them.
"So, here's what will happen today," he began, glancing around at everyone gathered. "Just like every other year, the point of the weapons event is to hit the target as best as you can with five different weapons. The only thing that has changed this year is that you will each be scored for how well you do to determine a winner."
"The weapons will go in a particular order," Astrid continued, sweeping her hand towards the weapons beside them. "Spear, hammer, bow and arrow, axe and then, sword fighting. The first four weapons will be held straight after each other, before we have a break and do the sword fighting. When we do the sword fighting," she continued, sweeping her eyes around the enthusiastic crowd, "you will be split into pairs and the winner of each group will fight the winners of the other pairings until we have a winner. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Miss Astrid."
"Good," she said, giving them a nod. "Just remember, though, that not all of you will be good at everything, so don't worry if you aren't as good at one weapon or another. The point is that you all have an even chance."
"Yeah," Hakon interrupted cheerfully, "at least my leg can't stop me this time."
Hiccup and Astrid chuckled. "Alright," Hiccup said, "first group get ready. Gobber and Valka will begin the event as soon as we join them."
The chatter increased as Hiccup and Astrid began to walk away, but not before Astrid turned back to give her daughter a quick hug, causing Siri to flush with embarrassment. But before she could voice her annoyance, Astrid quickly whispered in her daughter's ear.
"Do me a favour and wipe that smug smile on Gerold's face," she said quietly, as the first group got ready to begin. "I know you aren't good with spears, but everything else is fair game."
Siri grinned. "Will do," she said, as Astrid pulled away from her with a grin, before hurrying after Hiccup, who had stopped on his way back to the stands wondering where his wife had gotten too.
"Come on, we better line up," Lennart reminded her. "We're group two."
Siri snorted. "Do you think I want to be in the way of this?" she asked, as she and Lennart made their way over to the wall, just as Hiccup and Astrid appeared back in the stands. Siri frowned. "Where's Ingrid?" she asked curiously. "She was with Grandma and Gobber yesterday."
Frowning thoughtfully, Lennart swept his eyes through the excitable crowd, before his eyes were met with a glimmer of auburn haired Vikings kids over by the staircase.
"She's over with Leif," Lennart said, pointing in the direction he was looking at. "She must have been bored with them yesterday."
Siri shook her head. "It's probably more to keep Leif out of trouble," she said, as she glanced up at the direction he was pointing in. "He vanished for about an hour this morning and he wouldn't tell us where he'd been."
"Really?" Lennart bit his lip nervously. "Where do you think he was?"
Siri shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted, oblivious to Lennart's uneasiness. "He said he was with Kelda and Eric, but that doesn't explain why he was gone for over an hour."
"So... you think he's up to something?" Lennart asked nervously.
Siri snorted. "Those three are always up to something," she pointed out with a grin. "They don't usually cause any harm, though. I think mum just wants to make sure he stays out of trouble for one day."
"That'd be a first," Lennart chuckled, just as Gobber picked up his megaphone. Noticing this, he tapped Siri on the shoulder, before falling quiet as the older Viking began to speak.
"Welcome to the second day of Thawfest!" came Gobber's booming voice from the crowd. "Today the skills of the kids will be tested by the traditional events of weapon throwing, starting with the trickiest weapon of all; the spear! Each Viking is to try and hit the target as best as they can in order to get a decent score. So, first group at the ready!"
Siri watched as the first group, which included Hakon, Iver and Gerold, stepped forward with spears in hand. They spent a few moments practicing their aim, and moving around, before each one of them threw their spear as best as they could manage.
One by one, spears flew across the arena and landed scattered amongst the targets and the ground, roars of anger and cheers of excitement following soon after. Siri watched in disappointment as Gerold, who was quite skilled with a spear, hit the centre ring of the target, barely missing the bullseye. Beside him, Iver managed to land his spear just outside the middle target, while Hakon, having scored low in the physical challenges, was back to form with a perfect bullseye, earning him full points, compared to Gerold's nine.
"Yes!" Siri exclaimed cheerfully, as she watched Hakon's spear sail comfortably into the target.
"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you, Seer," Lennart reminded her. "Hakon's pretty far behind to beat Gerold at the moment."
"Hey, he beat Gerold, that's all I care about!" Siri grinned, as she and Lennart stepped forward to throw their own spears. "Because I certainly won't," she added quietly, as she turned the spear over in her hand.
"Second group at the ready!"
Sighing nervously, Siri got herself into the best position, and did a few practice aims, sticking her tongue out in concentration, before throwing the pointed object hard in the direction of the target.
A few groans rang out from the assembled Vikings, then from Siri herself, as the spear hit the outer ring of the target, while beside her Lennart's didn't do much better, earning the two friends a five and a six respectively.
"Darn it!" Siri exclaimed irritably, as she and Lennart headed back to the waiting area for the wait for the last group to throw. "I knew that was going to happen!"
"Look at the bright side, though, Seer," Lennart said gently, as Siri pouted beside him. "At least you hit the target this time. You usually don't."
"Yeah, that makes me feel loads better," Siri said huffily, just as Gerold made his way over to them.
"Nice job there, Siri," he grinned, causing Siri to glower in his direction. "You always were useless with a spear, but that really proved it."
"Actually, I thought she was better than usual," Lennart responded calmly, before Siri could retort. "At least she hit the target."
"Barely," Gerold scoffed. "Even you did a better job than her."
"Do you have anything useful to say Gerold?" Siri asked him impatiently, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Because if you don't, go away."
Gerold shrugged. "Fine," he said. "It's not like I need to do anything anyway. You're doing badly enough on your own."
Siri growled angrily as Gerold walked away, before she turned to Lennart with gritted teeth.
"You're going to have to teach me how you stay calm, Len," she said angrily. "Because I'm this far," she gestured to a tiny space between her thumb and index finger, "from telling him to piss off."
"You're doing just fine on your own," Lennart smiled. "Although I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to say that," he added, with a narrowed glance towards Gerold's turned back.
"Yeah, and who's the one who tells me that would just make matters worse?" Siri asked him, throwing him a teasing grin.
"Yeah, and who's the one who usually doesn't listen?" Lennart countered, playfully elbowing her in the arm, causing her to smile warmly towards him.
"The second weapons challenge is about to begin!" Valka boomed loudly through the megaphone, startling the two teenagers out of the reverie. "First group get ready with your hammers."
"Watch and learn, Siri," Gerold said smugly, as he picked up his hammer and strode past her with an arrogant grin, where Siri took a deep breath in an effort to stop herself from lunging at the boy.
Walking over to the targets, Gerold and the rest of his group positioned themselves as best as they could, before hurling the hammers towards the targets where a couple of other Vikings recorded their striking positions and raising up a score for each competitor to see. To Siri's amusement, Gerold's skill with the hammer wasn't quite as polished as his skill with a spear. A seven was raised in the air.
Siri didn't have time to gloat on this, though, as the second group went up as quickly as the first group, and within moments, Siri had thrown her hammer, and had received an eight in return. Beside her, Lennart managed to land a seven, and while not a bad score, Siri thought something off about the way the young Jorgenson had thrown the object. It was almost lazy. Shrugging the thought off, though, Siri quickly got out of the way of the third group who were now making their way over.
The competition moved along swiftly as the day continued, as the third group completed their task, before returning back to the first group in order to begin the bow and arrow challenge which was performed with greater accuracy than the previous two challenges. The only ones who didn't rise to the challenge were Gerold and Iver, who both managed to land their arrows just inside the outer ring, earning them both a disappointing five.
"Still can't hit the side of a stable there, Gerold?" Siri said smugly, as Gerold returned to the rest of the group, mumbling and cursing under his breath after throwing his bow and arrow into the far wall. "Well, I guess you can't win everything."
"Don't get too confident," Gerold said bitterly, as he leant on the back wall of the arena in a huff. "I can easily beat you with any other weapon."
"Sounds to me you're just a sore loser," Siri said irritably, as she picked up her bow and arrow. "Like you always are," she muttered as she and Lennart made their way over to the middle of the academy.
Gerold scowled. "Like I always am, huh?' he muttered, straightening up. "Well, if that's how you want to play it."
Reaching her target, Siri gently placed an arrow into its quiver before moving her bow and arrow into position. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, Siri carefully positioned herself in a position to shoot, before bringing her hand up to her mouth. She pulled back the arrow...
"WATCH OUT!"
Startled, Siri unintentionally released the arrow, causing it arrow to sail across the arena and into the inner side of the outside ring; a five. Noticing this, Siri growled angrily, as a low chorus of boos went up around the assembled Vikings. Siri barely had to move an inch to discover just who the culprit of her distraction was, and her blood boiled as she noticed the smug expression on the older boy's face; now leaning innocently against the back wall.
"Why that little... sneak!" Astrid screamed from up in the stands, her face reddening with anger as she realised what had happened. "He can't get away with that, Hiccup!" she pleaded, turning to her shocked husband sitting beside her. "You can't let him!"
"I can't do anything, Astrid," Hiccup pointed out, although his voice was bitter. "There's no way to prove that was cheating."
"But...but you know it was!" Astrid spluttered, leaping to her feet in disbelief. "Everybody knows it was! We can't just sit here!"
"I know that, sweetheart, but the fact is, he could have been yelling that for any reason, not just to trick Siri," Hiccup said, as he heaved a heavy sigh. "I mean, Siri wasn't the only one who missed their target because of him."
"So we're just going to let him get away with it?!" Astrid exclaimed furiously, brandishing a hand down towards the teens. "He's doing it on purpose, Hiccup, and I am not letting this slide. Not this time!"
"Astrid, no!" Hiccup exclaimed nervously, throwing a hand out to grip her hand as she began to make her way down to the floor. "That's just going to cause more problems for Siri!"
"So I'm supposed to just sit here while my daughter is being sabotaged?!" Astrid hissed, as she glared at Hiccup in anger.
"I'm saying that we should trust Siri to deal with this herself," Hiccup replied calmly, as he wrapped his hand around Astrid's own. "She's not just going to take this lying down, Astrid. Trust her." He glanced down at the arena floor. "See what I mean?" he chuckled, with a nod to the action below, where Siri, Lennart and a few other teens were reprimanding Gerold, who looked a little nervous, even from where the couple were sitting. "She can handle herself, Astrid."
Astrid sighed. "Fine," she said, sitting backwards in her chair in a huff. "But if he does it again, I can't promise I won't do anything."
Hiccup chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything different, milady," he said, as he brought Astrid's hand up to his lips, before getting it a swift kiss, causing her to flush brightly, before bringing their entwined hands back to their laps.
"We can't let that happen again," Leif said, his stomach still twisting with anger at what had just occurred. He turned to Kelda who was sitting behind him. "Are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?"
"I'm sure," Kelda assured him, heaving an impatient sigh. "I mean, we knew he was going to try something, didn't we? That's why we did it in the first place."
"Yeah, but what if he notices something's up with his axe?" Leif asked worriedly, as he watched the first group finally take their positions for the axe throwing challenge. "I mean, they hold it for a little while before they even throw the things!"
Kelda bit her lip. "It should be dry by now, though," she said, although she couldn't hide the worry in her tone. "I mean, we did it hours ago."
"What did you do hours ago?" Ingrid asked curiously, turning her head towards the conversation. "What did you do Leifey?"
"It's nothing, Ingrid, don't worry about it," Leif assured her with a smile, but all he got was a cross look in return. For a six year old, Ingrid really had her mother's stern look down pat, a fact that didn't escape Eric's notice, who couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"She looks like Idony!" he chuckled, referring to his five year old sister. "I think they got it off each other!"
"Can Idony get things out of you, too?" Leif asked awkwardly, as Ingrid continued to look at him determinedly.
Eric grinned sheepishly. "Sometimes," the ten year old admitted.
Leif sighed, before turning his attention back to his little sister. "Me, Kelda and Eric put grease on Gerold's axe this morning," he admitted awkwardly, reaching up to rub his neck in embarrassment. "You know? To stop him from getting a good score."
Ingrid's bottle green eyes widened with surprise, before she emitted a round of giggles.
"That's a good idea!" the six year old exclaimed cheerfully. "Gerold is being really mean."
Leif chuckled in relief. "Yeah," he said slowly, "but we're worried that he'll notice the grease and then not throw the axe."
Ingrid frowned thoughtfully. "Why not do the same thing he meanly did?" she suggested innocently. "Try and scare him too!"
Leif, Kelda and Eric looked at each other in surprise.
"You know," Kelda said in surprise, "that's not a bad idea."
"We better do it fast, though," Leif said suddenly, as he pointed down at the arena. "Look."
The other three kids quickly glanced down and no sooner had they spotted Gerold, they realised that something was up. Gerold seemed to be hesitating with his throw, moving the axe into different positions as the other competitors began to prepare for their throw.
"Uh oh, this isn't good," Leif said, his face paling as he spoke.
"Leave it to me," Eric said cheerfully, and before Leif and Kelda could do anything else, the ten year old had once again, jumped to his feet, just as Gerold had brought his axe back for a possible throw.
"BOO!"
Just like with Siri, Gerold jumped a mile in the air upon hearing the sudden noise, and before he knew what was happening, his slippery axe had sailed out of his unknowing hand and into the target, just hitting the inside of the outer rings earning him another five.
A chorus of laughter rang out within the crowd, along with Annika's irritated voice which suddenly sounded from nearby.
"Eric Tuffnut Thorston! If I hear you do that again, I will take you and the others home, is that understood!"
Wincing, Eric turned to his mother, sitting a little way up from them, and threw her as sheepish grin as she glanced back at him sternly.
"Sorry mum."
"I mean it, Eric," Annika told him, giving her son a stern look. "One more stunt like that and we're going home."
"Yes, mum," Eric said. "Well, I guess we won't be doing much more to help," he added quietly, as his mother turned her attention back to the action in front of her. "I know my mum, and she isn't bluffing. Dad, on the other hand..." He nodded to his father, who seemed to be questioning his wife over whether or not what Eric had done was wrong; and was losing in the process.
"Yeah..." Kelda said slowly, as she watched her Uncle flail in his argument. "It doesn't look like your dad gives many punishments. Even my mum can be firm with us sometimes."
"He can be if it doesn't involve pranks," Eric chuckled. "But yeah, he doesn't really punish us a lot."
"Yeah, well, I don't want to know what will happen if we get caught out again," Leif sighed, as he turned his attention back to the scene below, where Gerold was arguing with Valka over what had occurred and was losing the battle. "I guess we'll just have to try something else."
"We shouldn't have too today," Kelda assured him kindly, as she nodded to Gerold and Valka. "I don't think he'll pull anything else with your Grandma down there."
"Yeah, but she can't stay down there for the dragon events tomorrow," Leif said, frowning thoughtfully. "We'll have to come up with something else."
"We'll do that later," Kelda said, waving her friend off lazily as the second group finally got ready for their axe throw. "I want to watch your sister. She's pretty cool with an axe."
Leif snorted. "Yeah, until she threatens you with it," he muttered, causing Ingrid to burst into a fit of giggles beside him.
"Well, I guess you should be pretty safe now that your Grandma's down here," Lennart chuckled, as he watched the older woman loitering at the other end of the arena.
"Yeah, well, they all know Gerold tried to cheat, they just can't prove it," Siri said bitterly, as she checked her axe over. "This is the best they can do. Although," she added with a suspicious glance in her brother's direction, "I have a sneaky suspicion my brother is trying something too. Eric yelled out yesterday too."
"Or they could just not like Gerold," Lennart replied quickly. "You know what those three are like."
Siri frowned. "Yeah, I guess," she said slowly, as she, Lennart and the rest of their group made their way over to their positions.
"Well, your score should go up a bit now," Siri said cheerfully as she watched Lennart position his axe. "You're not half bad with an axe."
"Yeah, I guess," Lennart said absently, causing Siri to frown in confusion. "But I think I jerked my shoulder on that last event."
"It was a bow and arrow," Siri said, throwing her friend a suspicious glance. "And I didn't actually see you pull it that hard. What's going on?" she asked him, crossing her arms in front of her chest with a questioning look. "You've been acting weird all day."
Lennart frowned. "No, I haven't," he replied quickly, causing Siri's eyes to narrow further. "I've just been holding out for the sword fighting event, that's all."
"I know when you're lying, Lennart," Siri said irritably, as the other Vikings around them got into position. "Something's going on. I know it."
Lennart opened his mouth to argue, but before he could utter a word, Gobber's booming voice came over the megaphone.
"Viking at the ready..."
Quickly glancing away, Siri held her axe up and stuck her tongue out in concentration as she placed herself in the best position for the strike, all the while keeping a wary eye on Lennart, who was doing the same beside her.
"...Aim... and throw!"
Siri hauled her axe as hard as she could, putting her full strength her, and it effortlessly sailed across the arena and into the centre of the target, causing the assembled Vikings to erupt with cheers around her; a perfect ten. But as the Vikings around her cheered, the fifteen year quickly turned to her friend beside her, who was holding his arm lazily by his side. Just as she suspected, she thought. He wasn't even trying.
"I knew something was up!" Siri exclaimed angrily, as she and Lennart made their way back over to the side wall. "You're not even trying to win. You're just throwing and seeing what comes of it!"
"I am not!" Lennart retorted, although his reddening face said otherwise, causing Siri's fists to clench in anger beside her.
"I knew it!" she said heatedly. "I knew something was up when you got a seven with a bow and arrow, but this just proves it. You're not even trying. Why?" she asked him desperately, as Lennart fell silent beside her. "Why are you throwing this away? You're better than this, I know you are!"
"I told you, I hurt my shoulder-" Lennart started, only to be cut off by Siri's furious glare.
"You haven't hurt anything, Len," Siri said quietly, causing Lennart's stomach to clench anxiously. "You've been acting weird since yesterday. Is this still because of your dad?" she asked him incredulously. "Are you losing on purpose just to prove a point?!"
"It's not just to prove a point!" Lennart exclaimed, causing him to redden in embarrassment at his admission. "Yes, I don't want my family to win Thawfest again, but it's also because I want you to win!"
Siri raised her eyebrows. "What?"
Lennart sighed. "I want you to win," he repeated. "I mean, you've been wanting to win this thing for years, and I didn't, and when I found out I was third yesterday I didn't want to take that away from you. Especially when you have that bet with Gerold-"
"And you think letting me win is going to make me like you even more?!" Siri screeched, causing a few curious stares in their direction. "Because to me, that is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard of! Do you know how proud I was with I heard you were coming third? You've never done this well!"
"And I don't want to!" Lennart insisted, as he tried to place a kind hand on Siri's shoulder, but before he could, she stepped away. Dropping his hand, he sighed. "Seer, please, I'm not doing this to make you angry. I just want to have fun and let someone else win. That's all."
"But that's not the point of it!" Siri said impatiently, as she threw her hands up in frustration. "The best person wins, that's the way of it. And you're the best person in sword fighting!"
"But you're good too-" Lennart began, only for Siri to hold up a hand to stop him.
"If you forfeit your best skill just because of some stupid notion, then I don't want to hear about it," Siri said, causing Lennart's heart to clench tight in his chest. "You can do what you want, Len, but just know that if I find out you lost on purpose next event, I will never speak to you again. Is that understood?"
"But... but, Seer-"
"No, Lennart!" Siri exclaimed, as she threw him a saddened glance. "I don't want to win knowing that you didn't even bother to try. And if you think that will impress me, think again; because I don't want to be with someone who won't even try." And before Lennart could say another word, Siri had turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Lennart with his mouth opening and closing like a fish in shock behind her. When he finally came to his senses, he was embarrassed to see half of the Viking teenagers staring in his direction, including a very smug looking Gerold. He sighed.
"Just perfect."
Siri didn't come near Lennart all throughout the short intermission between the axe and sword events, in which pairs were being finalised for the upcoming event. Despite what was happening with Siri right now, though, Lennart would have been lying to say he was excited. Sword fighting was his best skill, and no matter how much he tried to down play it, there was a real chance that he could make it to the final two. For now, though, Lennart was beginning round one with a fight against Brenna, who admittedly wasn't the most talented Viking when it came to a sword. Losing to her wouldn't be an option without rousing some suspicion.
Despite his excitement for the upcoming event, Lennart was extremely irritated. Gerold, having witnessed his row with Siri, kept throwing him smug looks, and then tried to speak to Siri, who, thankfully, just ignored him and continued to speak to Hakon, Eira and Brenna, who were preparing for their own fights by sharpening their swords. Hakon, unlike Brenna and Eira, was extremely talented with a sword, and if Lennart was going to lose to anyone it would be him. His leg may not have healed quite yet, but that didn't stop him from wielding a sword with deadly accuracy.
The sword fighting event began after a half hour intermission, in which the first pair approached the middle of the arena, and on Gobber's command, began to spar with decent skill. Both Vikings blocked and parried with superior accuracy, with both Vikings having the advantage. After several minutes, though, both teens began to tire, and using this to their advantage, one of them landed the winning blow.
A cheer erupted from the crowd as the losing Viking sighed, but congratulated their opponent, before going to sit with the rest of the crowd, while the winner joined the other Vikings at the side of the arena. The next group was called up.
The first round moved swiftly. With a number of teens not as skilled with a sword as the rest of the weapons, it was easy to knock them out. Siri, who was at least decent with a sword, managed to knock out her opponent within a few minutes, as did Hakon, and then Gerold, much to Lennart's displeasure. By the time it came to Lennart, he too also knocked out Brenna fairly easily, as she miss-stepped on a move and practically knocked herself out.
The second round was a bit more difficult. With most of the incompetent Vikings having been knocked out, the sword fights began to become a lot more skilled. Even Gerold, Lennart noted with glee, had a heck of a time defeating his opponent, and in the end only ended up winning because his opponent miscued on a parry he was trying to do.
Siri had a much easier time. Her challenger, having just won his first round, didn't quite have the same luck the second time around, and within a few minutes, and a couple of mistakes later, managed to fall over his own feet in a lunge towards her.
Lennart also had a fairly easy time, but only because he could feel Siri's eyes bore into him from the sidelines as he fought. Knowing she'd know if he threw the fight, Lennart put all his effort into the event, and won spectacularly in the process, much to the disappointment of the fourteen year old girl he was facing.
The sword fighting event took up most of the afternoon, and finally, after several knock outs, it was down to the final four. Siri, Gerold, Lennart and Hakon, after a lot of effort had managed to make it this far and were just one step away from winning the event. Seeing that Siri was one of the final four, though, Lennart nervously bit his lip, not wanting to ruin Siri's chances of winning, but it wasn't long before he discovered that it wasn't Siri he would be fighting; it would be Gerold. 'Well, this ought to be interesting', he thought, just as Siri walked past him to begin her fight with Hakon. Even though Siri hadn't spoken to him for most of the afternoon, Lennart was relieved when the girl stopped to give him a small smile.
"Good luck," she said, before she continued to make her way over to Hakon before Lennart had even had a chance to reply. His stomach dropped slightly.
"Oh, is she still not speaking to you?" Gerold simpered from behind him, causing Lennart's fists to clench in anger. "Too bad. And here I thought you could do no wrong in her eyes."
"Shut up, Gerold," Lennart replied irritably, not even turning to look at the older boy. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
Gerold shrugged. "Maybe I don't," he said. "But I do know that she isn't happy with you. Not perfect after all, huh?"
"I mean it, Gerold. Shut up," Lennart hissed, his temper rising as Gerold continued to mock him. "It's none of your business."
"Bit of a temper there," Gerold noted, although he dropped the mocking tone at the sight of Lennart's clenched fists. "And here I thought you were the calm one."
"Keep it up, Gerold," Lennart said bitterly, as he turned his attention towards the boy. "Because we're about to fight, and if you keep annoying me, you'll soon know about it."
"Bring it on," Gerold said, unaffected by the annoyance in the younger teens tone. "We all know it's a miracle you've lasted this long."
"What-" Lennart began, only to be immediately cut off as a loud roar of cheers and groans erupted from the crowd, and turning his attention back towards the fight, noticed that Siri had been defeated and was now hauling herself up to her feet, before shaking hands with a victorious Hakon.
"Well, she's out," Gerold said cheerfully, as Lennart's stomach sunk. "Guess it's my turn now."
Picking up his sword from the ground, Lennart immediately followed Gerold, who had already began to make his way over to the middle of the arena. A chorus of cheers and boos erupted as the two Viking boys took their position, with many of the assembled Vikings yelling Lennart's name at the top of their lungs, which, Lennart noticed, Gerold wasn't liking one bit.
"Take your positions!" Gobber exclaimed.
Turning to face his opponent, Lennart didn't fail to notice Gerold's narrowed expression towards him, and gulping loudly, Lennart held out his hand to his opponent, who gripped it limply, before dropping it like it had been something disgusting, before raising his sword in readiness.
"Ready...and... fight!"
Gerold moved first, grasping his broadsword in both hands and swinging a heavy chop in Lennart's direction, which he avoided with ease. While Gerold recovered, Lennart deftly moved behind him and patted him on the shoulder with the flat of his blade and smirked - then flinched as Gerold swung his sword backhanded in his direction. This time though, Lennart caught it on his pommel guard, and, with two hands, wrestled Gerold's sword point into the ground. Jostling each other for a few seconds, they pushed each other free, the blades of their swords drawing against each other as they moved apart sending a small shower of sparks up into the air. By the time the sparks had faded the two teenagers had closed the distance to each other and were parrying light blows - right, left, above, right, right - Lennart noticed that Gerold seemed to favour his right - before Gerold lost his balance after a savage riposte from Lennart. Almost tumbling to the ground entirely, Gerold recovered and threw a handful of dirt into Lennarts' face, while simultaneously attempting to kick his knees out from under him. Lennart jumped away backwards from the dirt, but was caught surprised as Gerold's boot knocked him down to kneeling on one leg. Sneering triumphantly, Gerold raised his sword overhead to deal the finishing blow - when suddenly, he felt funny, as if he was falling, and that he was about to vomit. Lennart, using the low and bunched up kneeling posture used the flat of his sword, held at both ends, like a battering ram, springing into Gerold's stomach and sending the older teenage boy sprawling onto his back, sword clattering away along the floor. Licking a small cut on the hand he grabbed his blade with, Lennart turned to face the crowd who erupted into a roar at the knowledge of the victor.
"WAY TO GO, LEN!" Lennart heard his father scream proudly from the crowd, but even his booming voice was soon drowned out by the roaring of the crowd.
"No fair!" Gerold exclaimed angrily, as he finally managed to get to his feet. "I demand a rematch! There's no way you could have beaten me!"
"That's funny, Gerold, because I'm quite sure I just saw you land on your arse," Siri said, as she approached the two boys. "Besides," she added, with a proud smile in Lennart's direction, "in case you haven't noticed, Len is actually one of the best sword fighters on Berk."
"Whatever," Gerold scoffed, as he brushed himself off bitterly. "I don't care anyway." And before Siri could even open her mouth to retort, the sixteen year old had stormed off into the crowd in a huff.
"I..." Lennart began, as soon as Gerold was out of earshot. "... I thought you were annoyed at me?" He glanced at Siri with a confused expression.
"I was," Siri admitted, giving him a small smile. "But I wasn't annoyed enough not to speak to you ever again."
Lennart's eyes widened. "But... but I thought you said you wouldn't. Why...? Urgh!" he groaned, holding a hand to his head in confusion. "I'm confused."
Siri laughed. "Yeah... sorry about that," she said sheepishly, as a blush crept onto her already flushed cheeks. "But I had to do something to get you to listen to me, didn't I?"
"You were faking it?!" Lennart exclaimed incredulously, causing Siri to throw him an awkward grin.
"You didn't really think I would never speak to you again, did you?" Siri asked him, throwing him a gentle smile. "I just... wanted you to try, that's all."
"You're evil, do you know that?" Lennart asked her, throwing her an amused grin as all his previous anxiety finally lifted from the pit of his stomach. "I really thought you were mad at me!"
"Oh, I was mad at you, don't worry about that," Siri said, causing Lennart's smile to slip slightly. "But I would never just not speak to you again." She gave him a sheepish look. "Do you forgive me? I just didn't want you throwing away your best event."
Lennart smiled. "Of course I forgive you," he said gently, as he placed a kind hand upon her shoulder. "I mean, I guess I did deserve it," he admitted. "Just do me a favour and don't leave me hanging quite so long if you pull another stunt like that next time, is all I ask," he added. "I really thought you were mad at me."
"Sorry," Siri said again, glancing at him apologetically. "I could have thought of something better, I guess."
"At least I can go into my fight with Hakon knowing you're not mad at me now," Lennart grinned, elbowing Siri playfully in the arm, causing her to smile brightly towards him. "Because that is going to be a hard fight," he added, as he took a glance in Hakon's direction, who was practicing a few swings with his sword before they began.
"Just do your best," Siri said kindly. "But I know you can do it; especially after you grounded Gerold."
"You have no idea how good that felt too," Lennart grinned, causing Siri to snort a laugh, just as Gobber's booming voice once again came over the megaphone.
"Lennart and Hakon, please take your positions!"
"Good luck," Siri said quickly, as Lennart went to pick up his sword once again. "I know you can do it." And before Lennart could say a word, Siri had pulled her friend into a swift hug, before letting go and hurrying off to sit with her parents in the crowd, her face flushing ever so brightly.
Flushing slightly himself, Lennart picked up his sword and went over to Hakon, who was eager to begin. Seeing Lennart approach him, though, the sixteen year old broke into a wide grin, before stretching out a hand to his opponent.
"May the best Viking win," he grinned, which Lennart gladly returned.
"Agreed," he said, before he dropped his hand, and took his position. A hush fell over the crowd.
"Vikings take your positions... get ready... and... fight!"
Hakon and Lennart faced each other, steps apart in the centre of the ring. When the call of "Ready... FIGHT!" rang out, there was no swift charge like last round, the two began circling each other counter-clockwise, before a swift and mutually timed lunge-parry-cleave-riposte of strikes rang out. Again they circled - Hakon limping on his right leg still - and again a quick flury of swordplay, and again before they stopped circling - they had gauged each others' skills and had found worthy targets of each other - and flung themselves at each other, catching one another on their hilts. A few seconds of argy-bargy back-and-forth power plays between the two was ended when Lennart took the advantage and forced Hakon into putting his weight on his right leg, followed quickly by a quiet yelp and Hakon pushing himself away from Lennart, holding one finger up quietly as he checked his right leg. Finding himself none the worse for wear he came back swinging at Lennart, his sword swinging like a mad woodcutter. Lennart was quickly forced back by the aggression of the blows, real anger shining in Hakon's eyes, barely avoiding any bloodletting through sheer chance and throwing every ounce of weight into his counter-blows to stop Hakon's sword. Soon, he was up against a wall, and with nowhere left to retreat and scarce little strength in his sword arm. The crowd grew quiet as Lennart's face grew grim, knowing unless he did something major or a god intervened that he would most likely lose the bout. Hakon had backed off to recover some of his own energy, the ceaseless swinging depleting even the energy of the older Viking boy. Seizing this short lull in the fight and taking Hakon unaware, Lennart kicked off the wall and struck Hakon's sword from his hand, sending the blade spinning in a shining arc before burying itself in the wall across the arena. Looking at his sword, then Lennart, Hakon threw his arms up in the air, cried out "I give, I give!" and collapsed onto his back where he lay for a few seconds before shuffling around to adjust his - presumably aching - leg bindings.
There was silence for a moment as the assembled Vikings took stock of what had happened, and then, like someone was turning up the volume slowly, the academy erupted into loud claps and cheers as Gobber announced cheerfully that Lennart was the winner.
"Are you alright?" Lennart asked Hakon, holding a hand for the boy to grasp. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I'm alright," Hakon said, grasping Lennart's hand in an effort to get up. "This leg just isn't what it used to be, that's all. It's not your fault." He winced as he suddenly put weight on the effected leg. "Guess there's only so much I can do on it."
"It should heal, eventually," Lennart assured him kindly.
Hakon shrugged. "If it doesn't, it doesn't," he said, stretching out a leg in effort to see his scar, which ran along the side of his calf muscle. "Just the mark of a Viking, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess," Lennart said, as Hakon gave a painful pat on the back, before he headed off to meet up his friends, just as Siri emerged from the crowd.
"That was awesome, Len!" Siri exclaimed elatedly, as she flung her arms around Lennart's neck. "I knew you could do it!"
"I'm glad you think so," Lennart said, blushing brightly as Siri let go of him. "Because for a while, I thought Hakon had me."
"We all did," Siri admitted, as she glanced behind her for her parents, who were coming up behind her. "But you managed it."
"Well done, Len!" Snotlout boomed proudly, as he emerged from behind Hiccup and Astrid, Rona held tightly in his arms. "You proved what a Jorgenson can do!" Reaching out, he clapped his eldest son hard on the shoulder, causing Lennart to wince. "That's my boy!"
"Oh, knock it off, Snotlout," Anna said irritably, "Lennart proved what he could do. Not just a Jorgenson."
"Well, yeah, I know that," Snotlout said, as Anna took her son in her arms for a tight hug. "I was just saying."
"I know," Lennart smiled as Anna let go of him. "Thanks dad, mum."
"Yay, Lennie!" two year old Rona exclaimed cheerfully from her father's arms. "Teth me!"
"I'll be glad to teach you to sword fight, Rona," Lennart grinned, understanding his sister's jumbled words. "When you're older," he added quickly, seeing his father's horrified look towards him.
"Damn right, it'll be when she's older," Snotlout mumbled, causing everyone to snort with laughter.
"Well, congratulations, Len," Hiccup said, as he finally had his chance to speak. "You did very well to hold your own like that. You should be proud of yourself."
"Thank you, sir," Lennart said humbly, as Gobber and Valka made their way over to them.
"Well done, Len!" Valka exclaimed cheerfully. "You got 37 points in that round!"
"Where does that put me?" he asked curiously, as he strained his neck to see the scoreboard on the far wall.
"Still third, I'm afraid," Gobber sighed. "Gerold is still one point ahead of you. How I don't know, though," he added with a disgruntled mutter. "I'm just glad Valka was there to stop the lad from causing more trouble."
"Believe me, he should be lucky that I didn't do anything else to him," Valka said bitterly, causing Siri and Lennart to snort in amusement. "He's more trouble than he's worth in my opinion."
"If Gerold is one point ahead of Len, though, does that mean I'm first?" Siri asked hopefully, as she squinted her eyes over to the scores.
"There's not much in it, Seer," Astrid grinned. "One point difference between first and second, and second and third." She pointed to the top of the scoreboard. "You're on 63, Gerold is on 62, and Len is on 61. Hakon has managed to claw his way back up from yesterday into fourth place," she added in afterthought.
"Let's hope Hakon's leg doesn't affect his dragon riding, then,' Lennart said. "Because we need all the points we can get to beat Gerold."
"I don't know," Siri grinned. "I think we might be in for a chance to be honest. I mean have you seen Gerold with Niddhog? It's as bad as Snotlout and Hookfang some days... oops," she added sheepishly, as she turned in Snotlout's direction, "sorry Snotlout."
Snotlout shrugged. "None taken," he said. "There are days where even I wonder how I've ridden with the great lump for as long I have," he added with a chuckle.
"It's because he likes you," Anna pointed out with a smile. "Even if he doesn't want to show it most of the time. You just... annoy him."
"Thanks, Anna," Snotlout said dryly, but be couldn't help but throw a tender smile in his wife's direction.
"Well, we better get home," Hiccup said, as he suddenly stifled a yawn. "If you're going to perform just as well as did today, you're going to need the sleep."
"Tell me about it," Lennart said, wincing as he moved his sword arm around. "My arm feels like it's about to fall off."
"So does mine," Siri said, as her arm gave out a spasm of its own. "I just hope Gerold doesn't try to pull anything tomorrow. It's not much fun when you have to watch your back all the time."
"Don't worry, Toothless and the other dragons will be here tomorrow to keep an eye on things," Hiccup assured her, as he and the others began to make their way out of the arena. "Gerold won't dare to try and pull something under Toothless's nose; right, bud?" He asked, turning his attention to the Night Fury behind him, who threw his rider a toothy grin in response.
"Yes, and it also means that certain people don't have to take matters into their own hands to get Gerold back," Astrid said knowingly. "Isn't that right, Leif?" She turned to the nine year old with a deliberate expression, who just gawped at his mother incredulously.
"But... but it wasn't me, it was Eric!" Leif protested weakly. "And we were only trying to annoy him."
"Be that as it may, if we hear you do that again, you'll have to go straight home tomorrow, is that understood?" Astrid said sternly, as she glanced at the four kids, including Ingrid, who was still with them. "He may have it coming to him, but it can't keep happening, alright?"
"Yes, mum."
"Yes, Miss Astrid."
"Busted," Siri grinned, as she walked past Leif and Ingrid. "You should have known you guys would be caught out."
"You have no idea," Leif muttered, as Siri ran to catch up with Lennart. And upon seeing she was out of earshot, he quickly turned to Eric and Kelda. "What are we going to do?" he asked them worriedly. "If we yell out again, we're going to get in trouble."
"Leave it to me," Kelda grinned, before Eric could say a word. "The dragons might be there tomorrow, but I know a thing or two that might just slow Gerold down."
Leif's eyes widened.
" You're a little scary sometimes. Do you know that?"
And in keeping with my idea that Leif, Kelda and Eric remind me of Harry, Ron and Hermione, a lot of you that are also Harry Potter fans may recognise that quote lol :p
Ok, so that's the end of part two. So, as you can see Lennart was acting the way he was because he simply didn't want to win, for a few reasons. I mean, who could blame him when you have Snotlout as your dad and Spitelout as your Grandfather? And this is why I wrote the little fake fight with Siri to knock some sense into him, although she actually didn't like doing that, no matter how it seemed. It definitely showcases their relationship a little anyway. Plus it's something I would have done, so that sort of explains it a little too lol.
Alright, next up is part three which, once again, will be up as soon as it's ready, which won't be long at all as it's only got to be finalised. In the final part, Thawfest will wrap up for the year, as will the bet and I'm pretty sure you'll all be happy with the final result, before we move on once again to a new storyline which I'll explain next chapter. You'll also find out if Leif, Kelda and Eric get caught out and in trouble for their little roles too.
Ok, so I also want to credit my boyfriend for all the help he gave me in this chapter. All the descriptive sword fighting that took place in this chapter was actually written by him and in my opinion it wouldn't have sounded so good without his gaming and weapons knowledge. It certainly made the final event interesting anyway!
Ok, so you know the drill! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, but once again, please remember that flames will NOT be tolerated, although KIND constructive criticism is appreciated.
Thanks for reading! :D
