10 Thor’sday Thursday

10. THOR'SDAY THURSDAY The Thor'sday Thursday Celebrations were a truly spectacular occasion. The Hairy Hooligans' fierce rivals, the Meatheads, from the nearby Meathead Islands, sailed across the Inner Ocean to the Isle of Berk for this great gathering. The visitors set up camp in Black Heart Bay, which turned overnight from an empty desert of echoing seagulls into a bustling village of tents made out of sails too patched to be used at sea anymore. By the next morning The Long Beach was packed with stalls and jugglers and fortune tellers. There was a happy confusion of Vikings spotting old friends, and practising their sword play, and yelling at the children to stop hitting each other RIGHT NOW for Thor's sake no I REALLY MEAN IT this time… or… or… or… ELSE. Vast Viking men sat on uncomfortable rocks

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guffawing loudly like gigantic sea-lions in a holiday mood. Impressively large Viking women huddled in groups cackling like seagulls and downing whole mugs of tea in one swallow. Despite Old Wrinkly's gloomy forecasts of terrible storms and typhoons, it was a gloriously hot June day with not even a hint of a cloud in the offing. The Young Heroes Final Inititiation Test would not start until 2 p.m. that afternoon, so Hiccup spent the morning listening round-eyed to storytellers telling tall tales of Dirty Danes and pirate princesses. He was sick with nerves, so found it difficult to enjoy the occasion as much as he had done in previous years. Even Gobber throwing up during the How Many Gulls Eggs Can You Eat in One Minute? competition failed to raise more than a faint smile on his pale, tense face. Hiccup's family had a picnic lunch overlooking the Axe-fighting Display. Hiccup could not eat a thing, and nor, unusually, could Toothless, who was in a difficult mood and turned his nose up at the tuna sandwich Valhallarama offered.

'Good to keep your dragon's appetite sharp for the game,' boomed Stoick the Vast, who was in an excellent mood. He had won a bet on Goggletoad in the Ugliest Baby Contest and was looking forward to seeing his son's brilliant display during the Initiation Test. As the day wore on, a hot wind suddenly started blowing out of nowhere. It was still sweltering, but ominous grey clouds were gathering on the horizon. There was the odd rumble of thunder in the air. Maybe Old Wrinkly had been right, thought Hiccup as he gazed upwards, and Thor was going to put in his traditional appearance at the Thor'sday Thursday celebrations. 'P-P-P-P-A-R-P! Will all youths hoping to be initiated into the Tribes this year please make their way to the ground at the left of the beach.' Hiccup gulped, nudged Toothless, and stood up. This was it. Hiccup was one of the last to get to the ground, which was a large area of wet sand just at the edge of the sea. The boys from his own Tribe were already assembled, their dragons hovering a couple of couple

of feet above them. Everybody was chattering excitedly and even Snotlout was looking nervous. The Meathead boys and their dragons seemed to be gigantic, rough-looking customers, far tougher than the Hooligans. One in particular was a great hulking brute of a boy, who looked fifteen at least.

Hiccup presumed he was Thuggory, Chief Mogadon the Meathead's son, because a silver-grey Monstrous Nightmare about three feet tall was perched on one of his shoulders. It was looking at Fireworm like a Rottweiler thinking evil thoughts. Fireworm acted unconcerned. 'An aristocrat never growls,' purred Fireworm sweetly. 'You must be one of those mongrel Nightmares. We pure greenbloods descended from the great Ripperclaw himself would never dream of doing anything so common.' The silver Nightmare's growling increased in volume. The crowd was assembling at the touchline. Hiccup tried not to notice Stoick the Vast blasting his way to the front with great cries of, 'Out of my way, I'm a CHIEF. 'TEN TO ONE MY SON CATCHES MORE FISH THAN YOUR SON IN THIS TEST,' boomed Stoick, giving his old enemy Mogadon the Meathead a good prod in the stomach. Mogadon the Meathead narrowed his eyes and wondered whether to hit him. Maybe AFTER the Test.