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

15. Hungry Sand

Endeavor sighed as if a weight had been lifted from her body. Listening to Tuffnut's detailed description of a relaxing ocean view. She felt around for his hand. When she found it, she squeezed in gently, not letting go.

This prompted Tuffnut to abruptly stop. He looked down at her, heat rising to his cheek. "Y-you know," he stuttered, "you don't have to do that...we're with the group, we won't get split up."

Endeavor smirked a bit and closed her eyes as she responded smoothly, "I know."

Tuff's heart leapt. He smiled to himself shyly, looking down at Endeavor's hand in his. Hesitantly, he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. When there was no objection, he continued to do this same motion, gently and consistently. And it relaxed Endeavor enough to let her fall into a deep sleep within minutes.

• • •

"ENDEAVOR!" A shout ripped her from her sleep. Endeavor shot upright, causing her head to slam into whoever was leaning over her. Seeing Tuffnut's eyes go crossed momentarily, she apologized, "oh, sorry...what happened? What's going on?"

Still not completely recovered from the intense headbutt, Tuffnut wobbled over to his sister who was laying on her back. "Something's wrong with Snotlout," he exclaimed in alarm.

Endeavor, seemingly uneffected by the collision, quickly made her way to the short Viking's side. The other riders were also waking up, thanks to Tuff's shouting. Once at Snotlout's side, Endeavor peered into his face. The young man was awake, a look of fear on his face. But it seemed that he couldn't talk or move; he was glued in place.

Endeavor frowned and ordered, "take his other hand, we need to get him up." She took one of Snotlout's hands as Tuffo tok the other. Together they began trying to pry him from the ground. But even with Endeavor's intense strength, he wouldn't budge.

"What's going on?" Hiccup asked groggily, trying to wake himself up fully.

"Snotlout is sinking into the island," Endeavor explained, sounding alarmed yet unsurprised.

The other riders quickly got up. Through their tiredness, they all began trying to get Snotlout off of the ground. But his body only continued to slowly sink into the sand. Until Endeavor had an idea. "Alright, everyone stop!" She ordered. "We can't pull him out."

"We can't just leave him!" Astrid objected.

"And we won't," Endeavor agreed, thinking quickly, "trying digging."

As soon as the idea left her mouth, everyone began to dig in the sand around Snotlout. They dug down along his body and under him. After a few minutes, he could get up on his own. Snotlout stood and stumbled over to a near by boulder. Scrambling on top of it, he stared at the sand in absolute terror.

"Snotlout! Are you okay?" Hiccup questioned as he and the others crowded around him.

"What just happened?!" Fishlegs demanded of no one in particular.

Endeavor climbed up the boulder and crouched beside the Viking. "I'm not sure," she responded, "I've never seen something like that happen before...always a surprise, I guess." Then, noticing the redness of Snotlout's skin, Endeavor frowned. She reached out and touch his arm gently, causing him to hiss and flinch.

"Ow, that hurts!" He growled, finally finding his voice. But as soon as Endeavor backed off, he examined his skin himself. "It felt like it was burrowing into me," he explained anxiously, "the sand."

"Well I think that's just about what happened," Endeavor agreed nonchalantly. Realizing that Snotlout was okay, she hopped back down to the sand. She seemed to be the only one not completely freaked out by standing on the beach after the event.

"We need to get off this island," Snotlout huffed seriously, adding for defiance, "now."

Hiccup looked to Snotlout and nodded. "I agree," he breathed, "no more stopping to rest, it's too risky. We'll just have to keep going until we find a way off this island."

"Finally," Endeavor sighed in relief at his words. It was no secret that she hated having to stop every few hours to wait for the others to rest. Especially when they currently resided on an island where rest was unnecessary. "This way," she announced, moving immediately to the treeline of a less dense part of the jungle.

"Wait, where are we going?" Snotlout wondered as he tip-toed hastily across the sand.

"Back to the Beneath," Endeavor answered without haulting, "we need it's safety." Then, without warning, she morphed into the white speed stinger.

No one else said anything. They'd quite forgotten that Endeavor was also such a deadly creature, much like the other monsters and mutants.

At some point during their journey, the moon turned over to reveal the sun. And before long, they reached a small opening in the rock wall that surrounded them. Endeavor changed back to a human in order to fit through the tight crevice. The seven then got on their hands and knees, sqeezing through the hole as best as they could. Once inside, they were far below the island. The wall they'd come through closed, revealing the same riddle that had haunted Endeavor since she first found it. It hung on the wall, glowing, taunting.