'No.'
I stare at Snotlout with a dead-serious expression.
'But Astrid won't-'
'Still not doing it.'
'Please Thyra, I need-'
'I refuse to let you use my swords as toothpicks.' I cross my arms and glare at Snotlout, who now cowers away a little.
Astrid laughs from a few meters away. She's still lying in the sun, but probably overheard our conversation.
'Fine!' Snotlout throws his hands in the air. 'I'll figure something else out then. But I I don't find anything on time, and if I need to do the twin's thrash then, I will be blaming you!'
'Oh Thor, I'm terrified.' I say sarcastically. Snotlout huffs and walks away. I hope the twins get to him and make him do the trash before he finds a "more important" activity.
I sigh and lie down beside Astrid.
'So, not that he's gone, what are we gonna do?'
'Hmmm, not sure. How about just relaxing and-'
'Wait, Astrid, relaxing? Did I hear that right?'
Astrid punches my shoulder and we both laugh. 'We can talk about strategy.'
I shake my head. 'Right, right, 'cause we wouldn't dare just relax.'
'Haha, very funny Thyra. No, we need to- oh boy.'
Astrid sighs. I sit up. She mounts Stormfly without another word and I quickly follow her. Why'd she leave so suddenly?
'Hey, wait up!'
Astrid looks back at me with raised eyebrows. 'Why'd you suddenly leave?'
She frowns. Then she smirks. 'You'll see.'
I do not like that answer...
We're all just chilling in the clubhouse, with the exception of the twins, when Snotlout stumbles in. He's covered in dirt and leaves. We all look up at his dramatic appearance. Did one of the Changewings get him? I realized they were migrating, so I wouldn't be surprised if Snotlout pissed one off and got himself in trouble.
'Do not ask, because I do not want to talk about it.' He then dramatically pants and waits for us to ask. No one asks him and we all return to what we were doing. Hiccup is busy writing something, Astrid and I are sharpening our weapons, Fishlegs also turns back to working on his saddle, and Toothless and Midnight lie down again.
Snotlout stares at us in shock. 'Huh? Do you have any idea what I've been through? This Changewing migration is going to be the death of me.'
'Then leave them alone.' I tell him without looking up from my swords. From the corner of my eyes, I see Fishlegs nodding. 'She's right, they won't do anything if you don't provoke them. They'll leave in a few days, then you won't have to worry about them anymore.'
Hiccup now also stands up. 'You're agitating them with all the screaming and stomping around. It just makes them madder and makes them stay longer.'
Snotlout gasps. 'Wait, so now it's my fault?'
I stand up, sigh, and place my hand on his shoulder. Snotlout smiles, so before he can get any ideas, I bluntly tell him "Yes". 'It is indeed your own fault.'
Then another pair of hands land on Snotlout's shoulder. He screams, jumps, and ends up in a water though. Meanwhile, I also got startled, as soon as Snotlout was out of the picture, I threw my fist forward.
Tuffnut stumbles back, holding his nose. 'Ow, ow, ow. You punch harder than my sister, I knew it was a bad idea to startle you too! I should have listened to Astrid.'
I stare at him in confusion. He's covered in paint to camouflage himself. Two wooden wings tied on his back with a rope. I slowly turn to Astrid.
'You knew?'
She then starts laughing while Hiccup and Fishlegs look away and start to whistle. I narrow my eyes. 'You all knew!?' I point at them accusingly.
'I am a Changewing!' Tuffnut screams. He then proceeds to imitate a roar. 'Changewing out!' He runs away on hands and feet. I stare after him. 'What in Odin's beard was that?'
'That muttonhead pretends he's a Changewing during migration season.' Snotlout scowls. He stands up and tries to wring the water out of his clothes, failing miserably.
Then a loud horn sound is heard across the island. Hiccup and Astrid look at each other in confusion.
'Are you expecting visitors?'
Astrid shakes her head, making Hiccup look at me. I also shake my head. 'I don't think you should expect any human visitors for me.'
So then we all go down to the docks, where a Defenders of the Wing's ship is docked. Throk steps off board.
We all look at him with confusion and awkwardness mixed.
'Throk... Ehhh, did we have plans? Hiccup asks awkwardly.
Throk stands proudly with his hands on his hips, determination in his eyes.
'I am on your shores today, to fulfil a mission that is most personal and of the utmost importance.'
'Okay, how can we help?' Hiccup asks. Throk smiles. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before. 'You can point me in the fragrant savior of this man's very life. Ruffnut Thorston.'
We all share hesitant looks. Is he sure?
'I am here to lift her off her feet.'
'Um, do you mean "sweep her off her feet"?' Hiccup tries to correct him. Throk looks confused. 'No. I will lift her from her feet, put her over my shoulder, and return with her to my island, where she will live out her days as my trustworthy wife.'
Astrid's eyes widen. 'WHAT!?' Uhhh, okay, I guess this is bad. I mean, sure, I wouldn't like to get kidnapped either, but there are many Viking traditions I dislike. Apparently, this is one we all dislike, except Throk maybe.
'Um, does she know about this?' Fishlegs inquirers.
Throk raises his eyebrow. 'Is that important?'
I quickly jump in front of Astrid, who is by now holding her axe out. 'Are you kidding me!? AHHHHH.'
Hiccup also jumps in front of her. 'Hey, hey, hey, hey, calm down. Okay, Throk, we do marriage a little differently around these parts.' He turns to Throk while I keep blocking Astrid. Her attacks aren't even strategic anymore, just brute force, all I have to do is cross my swords for a good defense. I look over my shoulder, Throk almost looks sad.
'Say no more. Say no more. Sadly we, too, have gone soft over the years. Losing the club has made the retrieval of the bride much more of a struggle.'
It is then that Astrid breaks through my defense, pushes me aside, and aims for Throk. Hiccup quickly grabs her arms and hastily tries to get her away. 'Hey, Fishlegs, this is more your area of expertise. Why don't you take it? Can't wait to hear what you guys decide!'
I quickly push Astrid's back to try and get her away from Throk while giving Fishlegs the you-got-this-smile. Though Fishlegs might get it, Hiccup and I do not.
'Oh, no, no, no, no! No! Oh! Hey, watch it!'
I fall down on my bed with a sigh. I know that I can best Astrid in a serious fight, but when she's just acting aggressively and we don't want to hurt her, she can throw some pretty good punches. I rub my jaw. I'm sure it's going to leave a mark. In the end, we needed Toothless to swipe his tail against Astrid's legs, and then Stormfly to sit on her until she calmed down.
Midnight purrs worriedly. 'Nah, I'm fine.' I wave her away. She lies her head on my lap and I silently strike her scales. I wonder if what I'm doing is right. Sometimes I just forget that I'm still working with Krogan.
When I'm having so much fun, when I'm feeling so at ease with my friends, I can't believe I'm working with someone as vile as Krogan. But I don't have much of a choice, I can't leave Viggo with him, nor can I tell the riders. Not only would it bring them in danger, but it would also endanger me and Viggo.
I groan and close my eyes. The gods must really hate me sometimes huh?
I keep my eyes closed for a little longer, maybe I should try to catch some sleep, I'm tired. My plans are interrupted when my door barges open. 'THYRA!'
I quickly sit up. 'Huh? What? I'm awake!'
I would expect Snotlout to lean against the door now, saying something like; "were you dreaming of me?"
But he does no such thing. Instead, he just looks at me, opens his mouth, looks like he's about to cry, and then closes his mouth again.
I narrow my eyes. The sun is lower, I guess I did fall asleep after all. So what happened while I was asleep?
I stand up and walk towards Snotlout. 'What happened?'
'It- it's Tuff. He... He's- A Changewing ate him...'
I blink a few times. Trying to process his words. Then I realize that it must be a joke.
'Haha, very funny.' I say, a tad irritated that he jokes about that.
'I'm not joking!' Snotlout says irritated, or maybe more desperate? I halt in my tracks and turn towards him again.
'What do you mean? Is he really-'
His look says enough. I quickly run outside. I need to find Ruffnut. This has got to be some joke right? And if anyone knows whether Tuff is joking or not, it'll be his twin.
When I finally spot Ruffnut at the boar pit, she's looking quite down. I run faster. 'Ruff!'
She looks up, her eyes are swollen. 'No...'
She can't say anything, just looks down again and hugs me. I hug her back, feeling like I'm in a daze. Tuff is... Dead?
It doesn't take long for everyone to gather around the boar pit with some stuff. Ruffnut is standing beside Throk with a paper in her hands.
'Hear ye, hear ye! Peoples of the Edge and all creatures far and near we are present to read the will and last testament of one Tuffnut Laverne Thorston. "First item: one half stuffed yak".' Snotlout proceeds to throw an entire stuffed yak in the boar pit, making Ruffnut scream at him. 'Hey! Half that yak is still mine!'
'Yeah? Which half?' Snotlout snickers. I throw a rock at him for his lack of sympathy, making him rub his head and glare at me while Ruff seeks comfort in Throk by blowing her nose in his tunic.
'Next item! Sixteen pounds of properly pinched salt' Ruffnut reads from her list.
While Fishlegs throws the salt in the pit, Midnight sharply turns around. I follow her gaze. She's staring at the bushes and sniffing the air. I look around for any movement there while the rest throw their stuff into the pit as well. Then I see the slight color change. It's not obvious, perfectly camouflaged. There's only one person on this island that I know of who can camouflage himself this well.
I sigh. Great. Tuff faked his death. But why? If this is one of his jokes, I don't get it. It's not funny. I turn to Ruffnut, who has tears on her face. Why would he mentally hurt his twin sister so much?
'As my last and final wish, I command you to burn all of these meaningless symbols of my earthly existence and dine in glorious reverence with a feast of Chicken in my honor.'
Immediately, Chicken pops out of the bushes with a loud squawk. Toothless' ear immediately shoots up, Hiccup notices and also looks at the bushes. He then looks at me. I silently point at where Tuffnut is hiding. Hiccup squints his eyes but only frowns, I don't know if he saw Tuffnut or not.
'Sorry, I meant a feast for Chicken in my honor, 'cause you would never eat Chicken. And if anyone ever tries to, I will haunt you to the ends of the archipelago.' Ruffnut finishes. Snotlout pouts. In the bushes, a hand pushes Chicken down with a few gentle pads. Then Barf and Belch set the stuff in the pit on fire.
'And now I must go fulfill my Thorston Schleibeldorg Ritual.'
'Schleibeldorg?' I inquire. Perhaps this is another Viking tradition I've either forgotten or never heard of.
'I shall be alone in my hut, in the dark, eating only sea slugs and toenails for the next two days. Any extra toenails are welcomed. I can blow through them pretty quickly in my grief.'
Ruffnut shrugs as I shudder. That sounds absolutely disgusting.
'Pfft! She's not getting my toenails. I work too hard on them.' Snotlout huffs. Everyone leaves except me, Hiccup, and Astrid.
We share a look, and then Toothless jumps up the rocks and roars at the bushes. with a loud yell, Tuffnut jumps out. Chicken, also camouflaged, lands on top of him and coos. Tuffnut stares at us in surprise while we glare down at him.
He then quickly jumps up. 'Don't be alarmed, mortals. I, I am the spirit of Tuffnut Laverne Thorston.' He makes some weird movements with his hands, as if trying to be scary. Hiccup looks at him with crossed arms. 'Tuffnut, we know you're not a ghost.'
'Oh, really? How? How do you know such a thing?' Astrid punches him while I slap him. 'Ouch! Oh!' He quickly switches to his deeper "ghost" voice again. 'Ouch, I mean. All right, fine. I'm not dead. But you cannot tell my sister.'
'What are you talking about?' Hiccup asks confused.
'If she wants to go with the Throkman, I want her to make that decision on her own. You said it yourself. She deserves to be happy, and- And if it means a life of haunting the moors of Berk, then so be it.'
'But by losing her family? Tuff, I know how it feels to lose your brother, and it's horrible! It's not worth it.'
'Look, just give me 24 hours. That's all we need for the young lovers to figure out whether romance is in their future or rather a life of misery and despair!'
'This is arguably the worst idea in the history of worst ideas.' Hiccup sighs. I look at him in shock, is he seriously going with this?
I sigh and shake my head before heading off to find Ruffnut. If she's feeling anything like the same way I feel, she'll feel all alone. I want her to know she's not.
Before I can reach her hut, a Terrible Terror lands on my arm. I quickly look around before taking its mail.
My dear Thyra, how are you? It's been a while since we've heard from you. Krogan is getting impatient. I would advise you to come up with some arguably good information soon, or I fear I do not know what he will do. Be careful.
It isn't signed, for safety, but I know it's from Viggo. I groan. For Thor's sake! what can I possibly tell Krogan? I don't want the information to be useful, but if it's not of any use, he'll simply dispose of me!
Fine, I'll just send them an update.
I change course and start walking towards my own hut where I quickly write a letter about Tuffnut being eaten by a Changewing, but possibly still being alive. I don't tell them he's actually still alive. I watch the Terrible Terror fly away and turn around, but then I see everyone racing to the stables.
'What now?' I wonder aloud.
I quickly mount Midnight and glide down. There I see the most bizarre thing ever. Ruffnut is holding a paintbrush in her hand while trying to hug a Changewing, that has Tuffnut painted on its chest.
What?.....
'I thought we were supposed to leave the Changewings alone. This looks like pretty much the opposite of that.' Snotlout points out. For once, I agree with him.
At that moment, the dragon fires its acid at Ruffnut. Throk quickly saves her. 'Are you hurt?' He asked worriedly. 'No. Snuffnut would never intentionally cause me harm.'
I widen my eyes. Snuffnut is a wild and un-trained Changewing. He would most definitely cause her harm, if not him, his flock would.
'I think someone forgot to fill Snuffnut in on that.' Snotlout snickers. His statement is immediately followed by another blast of acid. Throk quickly pushes a basket of fish to keep the Changewing occupied.
'Ruffnut! While it gives me great glory to save your life, I feel as though perhaps we must allow this dragon to go free, as you should set free the pain that lives in your heart. Come with me, Ruffnut. Start a new life back on our island. I will provide for you. I will care for you. And, most importantly, I will kill for you.'
Throk really loves her huh?
'That is so sweet, Throk. I- I-' Ruff looks at the painting of her brother. 'I could never let go of that pain! I could never leave Snuffnut. And if I should die, then at least once again, my brother and I will be reunited. Reunited. Reunited.' She walks away. The others follow her.
I sigh and look at the Changewing.
'Alright buddy, let's get you into a stable for now alright?' The dragon looks up and growls. I hold my hands up in surrender.
'Okay, okay, no rush.'
I close the stable door and look at the dragon. 'Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll be free in a while. We'll just have to convince Ruffnut and clean you up, as for now, why don't we become friends?'
He still growls. Midnight growls back. I shake my head with a light smile. 'Now, now, no need to be rude.'
I look over my shoulder to make sure the door is closed, then I take my sword and open the hilt. I pour some of my calming mixture inside and let it drip over the blade. I've used it on the Skrill too, when Astrid mistook it for blood. It's something I rarely use, for it can lower a dragon's guard for days, but if I use just a little bit, it might be enough for Snuffnut to calm down.
Midnight's eyes get glossy and big at the smell. I grin. 'Don't come closer, you'll get high.'
I then hold point the sword at Snuffnut. He growls, but as I slowly move the sword, he follows it, as if hypnotized. Then his eyes finally grow bigger and glossy and he walks with me to a stable. I close the door behind him and quickly clean my sword.
A few seconds later, Ruffnut walks in.
'What are you doing to my brother?'
'Just giving him a nice place.' I hum.
'Ruff, you know you're going to have to let go, right? This isn't fair for the dragon and his flock.'
'NEVER! It wasn't fair when he ate my brother either!'
I sigh. 'Right, about that-'
'Nobody understands the bond we share, bro. Nobody.'
I try to tell her Tuff is alive, but get once again interrupted by Throk. ' I do, Ruffnut. I understand.'
'Throk, what are you doing? Leave my brother alone!' Throk walks closer and enters the stable. Snuffnut's reaction is a tad later than usual since the drug hasn't worn off, but he still growls. 'I'm not going to hurt him. But if he's going to be a part of our family, there are going to be some rules. It's okay, Snuff. It's your new brother. I'm here to help.'
As Throk tries to mount him, he starts to violently jump around. 'That's right, big boy. You and I are going to have an understanding. See? We're bonding.' Then the rest of his flock starts to break the roof, and Snuffnut flies up. 'We may still have some work to do!' Throk yells.
'That's not how you train a Changewing!' I call after him. He doesn't listen.
'Ruff, what happened?' Hiccup runs in, Tuff hot on his heels. Finally!
'Throk and Snuffnut had a difference of opinion on his training. Now all the Changewings are trying to kill Throk!'
'Well, that was pretty stupid.' Tuffnut remarks.
Ruffnut screams. 'Hiccup, look out! Tuffnut's ghost is here!'
'He's alive.' I say.
'I'm just me.' Tuff confirms. Meanwhile, I mount Midnight. Someone needs to go save Throk right?
'Oh, well, isn't that exactly what a ghost would say?' Ruffnut remarks suspiciously. I shake my head.
'Good luck Hiccup.'
'Thanks- wait, where are you- are you leaving me alone with them?'
'You're the leader.' I shrug. Then I take off.
Midnight immediately flies to Snuffnut, who is by now spinning around.
'THROK! JUMP!' I scream.
'Nooooo! We're bonding!'
'What- Stupid, stubborn- ugh! Let's follow him girl, and catch him when he falls.' He's doomed to fall off at some point.
And eventually, he does. I quickly catch him and he looks up in surprise.
'You, you saved me.'
'Duh.'
Hiccup flies to my level. 'Good job, now let's drive them to the edge so they'll move on to the next island.'
I nod and then we start shooting close to the Changewings to chase them away. When they are all gathered in the air, they cloak themselves. But Snuffnut can't cloak himself. The group starts to fire their acid at him. Luckily, Changewings are very acid-resistant, it's still mean though.
'The flock won't fly with him unless he can go full cloak.' I call out, trying to think of a way to wash off the paint. 'It's too risky for them.' Fishlegs explains.
'It's all my fault! My undying love for my brother will be the end of this glorious beast!' Ruffnut buries her face in her hands. I narrow my eyes and look at the ocean beneath us. If only I could get him through... the paint would wash off.
'Wait. Methinks there is another way. Yes! I have it.' Tuffnut yells. Then they fly off. We all look at them in suspense. First, they make Snuffnut mad so he'll follow them, and then they fly towards a waterfall.
Alright Tuff! Smart.
We all wait, a few concerned looks exchanged when the twins still don't emerge. Then they finally fly out, cheering.
Snuffnut soon follows, but gives up the change when he realizes the pain is washing off. He looks at his chest, and then cloaks himself again. The other Changewings look at him for a while, then they accept him.
The twins cheer again.
I let out a sigh of relief and land near the docks for Throk. He gets off and looks at me.
'Thyra Grimborn. I apologize.'
'Huh?'
'We have misjudged you in the past. I noticed how you never hit one of the Changewings, but always fired beside them, and how you fly with your dragon in perfect harmony. You saved my life, though I've done nothing to earn it. We have misjudged you because of your name. And I apologize for that. I shall inform Queen Mala of your deeds, know that you will forever be welcome at our island.'
I blink a few times. He was still hung up on that? Honesty, I had forgotten that they didn't really trust me... 'uhhhm, thanks...'
I want to find an excuse to fly away, but can't think of any. Luckily, Ruffnut comes walking towards Throk.
'I'll leave you to it.' I excuse myself and quickly leave. When I enter my hut, I send a quick update that Tuff faked his death and that the Defenders of the Wing are better allies than Krogan thinks. I'm not sure if it's a warning or a threat. I send the mail and sit down on my bed.
One day, I will tell them everything. One day, we will beat Krogan, and one day, I will find a way to make Viggo understand that killing dragons is bad. Just... not this day, not yet.
But soon
I promise myself.