The Great Endeavor - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

3. Creepy Crawler

Fishlegs handed the stick the Hiccup, who examined it in wonder. "This place just keeps getting stranger," he remarked. Handing the stick back to Fishlegs, he told the others, "we'll make camp here."

"Uh, with what?" Tuffnut asked awkwardly, "all of our stuff is with our dragons."

Looking around, Hiccup realized that Tuff was right. "Then let's do the best with what we have," he suggested. Looking up the tall cliff at his side, he thought for a moment. Then, he made a decision, "we'll have to make our way to the top once we're rested...there's no food or shelter on the shore."

"What?!" Snotlout was appalled. But he made no further remarks; he knew that if the dragon riders wanted to survive, that was their only shot.

Ruffnut walked over to the cliff and made herself comfy in the sand. "At least there's shade." As if cued by her words, the others took their spots in the shaded area. Before long, everyone had fallen asleep.

• • •

When Hiccup woke up, the moon was high. Noticing that Fishlegs was also awake, he stretched and stood up. He walked over to his friend, who was sitting by the water. Peering over his shoulder, he asked, "what are you doing?"

Fishlegs looked back at Hiccup, watching him take a seat beside him. The larger Viking was hunched over the odd tree-stick, disecting it with a set of tools he kept on his person. "I was curious to see how this stick started growing," Fishlegs explained excitedly, "and look what I found."

Hiccup leaned closer to the pieces of the stick. Fishlegs had split it in half longways with a thin knife, revealing it's insides. "Are those..?" He began in awe.

"Roots," Fishlegs finished. Poking at the tangle of tiny roots that packed the insides of the stick, he marveled, "isn't it amazing? This plant started growing from the inside, out. It could probably survive on it's own, without any land at all."

Grinning crookedly, Hiccup picked up one of the halves. "Fishlegs, this is an amazing find!" He exclaimed, lifting the stick to his eye level, "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Yeah, aren't roots supposed to be underground? Not under-stick?" Tuffnut's voice came from behind them.

Turning around, Hiccup noticed everyone else beginning to wake up. Tuffnut was already up, standing right behind them and listening to the conversation. He bent over Fishlegs and grabbed the other half of the stick. Fishlegs sighed in annoyance and stood up, followed by Hiccup.

Tuff proceeded to poke the mushy roots with his finger. "Yep, those are definitely roots," he confirmed, "or very small vines. You know, I can never tell the difference."

"Give me that!" Fishlegs tried to take the stick from Tuff, but the twin was too quick. He ducked and swiftly spun away from Fishlegs, walking toward his sister with the stick. He tossed it to her, and she grabbed it in mid-air.

Smiling, Ruff also took a look at the roots. "Woah, cool," she admired. Then, looking at Tuff in front of her, she lifted the stick and smacked it acrossed his head. As he fell into the sand, she laughed obnoxiously.

Her laughing only haulted when her brother stood back up and snatched the stick from her. He let out a battle cry and was about to hit her back, but instead shouted, "ow!" He dropped the stick immediately. Holding his finger protectively, he accused, "it bit me!"

All of the riders had been alerted by his shout. "It's just a stick, Tuff," Hiccup reminded with an annoyed sigh, "it didn't bite you."

But before anything else could be said, the half-stick that Tuffnut had dropped moved. It's thin branches bent into five spidery legs and it scurried away. Tuff jumped away as it scuttled past him like a giant bug. He then frowned at Hiccup and asked, "oh, really? 'It's just a stick'?"

Hiccup, who was still holding the other half, dropped it in alarm. All eyes were on the stick, but it didn't move. "Okay, heh," Snotlout laughed nervously, "I don't like this beach anymore, can we get to climbing?"

"I thought you didn't want to climb the cliff?" Astrid teased him.

"Hey, that was before the stick turn into a creepy crawler," Snotlout responded defensively.

"I don't understand..." Fishlegs trailed off, still not sure how to comprehend what had just happened.

All of the dragon riders were just as confused, and they were finally all beginning to feel a bit uneasy. Something weird was going on on this island, and they weren't sure if getting the the top of the cliff would be better or worse. But right then, that was their only option.

Hiccup took one last look at the stick, but it remained motionless. "I don't understand either, Fishlegs," he spoke warily, "but something tells me we're a long way from home." Then, they began the climb. Little did they know, this was just the beginning of their most wild adventure yet.