I had a fun idea for a twins story, so here it goes. I needed a break from studying for finals anyway. This takes place during Race to the Edge after the Dragon Riders have met the Wing Maidens.
***
Everything was on fire.
"Retreat! Head to the forest!" yelled Atali. An arrow thudded into the charred wooden bridge she was standing on, causing her to jump back. It was just as well, for a moment later a boulder crashed through the wood where she had just been standing. The bridge collapsed, sending Atali falling to the earth far below.
Falling was nothing new to the Wing Maiden. She simply relaxed, allowing the young Razorwhip that had been clinging to her back to take over. It spread its wings, and Atali felt her descent slow down, and then reverse as the small dragon carried her higher into the sky.
"Thank you, Wingnut," Atali said, glancing over her shoulder at her savior. Wingnut chirped, but remained focused on his task.
Atali paused, and looked out over the village. The dragon hunters had been attacking for days now. She had sent a letter to Hiccup to ask for his help, and hoped that he would show up soon. Any help from him and his riders would be helpful. Well, most of the riders - she wouldn't mind if Snotlout or the Twins remained behind. Her fellow Wing Maidens had managed to hold off the dragon hunters for a while, swooping in to disable their weapons and steal supplies, but it hadn't been enough. Somehow, the dragon hunters had caught them, her, off guard. The assault on the village had been swift. Before Atali could do anything to stop it, the hunters had breached the outer defenses and launched flaming projectiles throughout the raised wooden buildings. Now, the fires had spread to most of the buildings. It was so bad that she could hardly breathe. Smoke swirled all around her, threatening to completely encircle her...
Through it all, she saw something shiny in the corner of her vision. Down below, a figure was crawling out from a collapsed building. It was a Wing Maiden. Atali could see that she was clutching a small Razorwhip that appeared to be injured.
"Down!" Atali called to Wingnut, who sped towards the fallen Wing Maiden.
The smoke was less powerful down amidst the flames, but the heat was much worse. Atali's skin felt like it was burning. Wingnut deposited her onto the intact wooden platform surrounding the collapsed building. The platform was teetering ominously, but it was still standing.
Thankfully, the Wing Maiden didn't appear injured. She was disoriented from the suddenness of the attack and the amount of fire and smoke. Atali reached out her hand and helped the Wing Maiden to her feet. The younger woman looked at her. "Atali," she said, "I...the dragon...she's injured."
Indeed, the small Razorwhip the Wing Maiden was holding appeared to have a bruised wing. It wasn't serious and could be healed easily, but it also meant that it wasn't flying anywhere any time soon.
Without any hesitation, Atali signaled to Wingnut. Wingnut leaped from her back and grabbed onto the other Wing Maiden's back.
The Wing Maiden glanced between Wingnut and Atali. "But...how are you going to escape?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll find a way," Atali replied. Before the other Wing Maiden could argue, Atali whistled, and Wingnut took to the air, carrying both the Wing Maiden and the other dragon. The three of them flew away towards the hatchery. Hopefully there they'd be able to regroup with the others.
The fire was closing in. Below her, Atali felt the wooden platform groan with the strain of holding itself together. It buckled, and for a moment it seemed like it would topple, but then it stilled. Atali sighed in relief.
Then, another boulder dropped from above, hitting the platform and sending wooden planks and Atali flying through the air.
Ordinarily, Atali enjoyed being off the ground. There was a comfort in floating above the trees and feeling the wind on her face. But that was when she had a dragon to help her. Now, she was alone, and nothing would stop her from hitting the rocks below.
She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer to Thor. If she were going to die, at least she would die after saving one of her people.
Through the roaring of the flames and the shouts and the catapult impacts, she heard something else. It was familiar...like the batting of wings. It was another dragon! No doubt Hiccup had gotten her message. He had come to save her and her people! Everything would be alright. If there was anyone she trusted to pull off a last-minute save, it was Hiccup Haddock. She whispered to Thor and his Valkyrie one last time, and then opened her eyes.
There was no Hiccup. She couldn't see toothless either. In fact, she didn't see any dragons. She felt herself begin to panic again, and then a shadow began to form in the smoke above her. It was hard to make out exactly what it was, but as it got closer she could see that it had two heads...
"Oh no..." Atali whispered.
There was an explosion, and Atali could now clearly see the green scales of the Zippleback and the dull metal of the two riders' helmets.
The Zippleback reached out its claws and grabbed Atali before she hit the ground.
"Did we catch her?" one of the riders asked in a scratchy voice.
In a voice that was only slightly lower, the other rider said, "Well, I think Barf and Belch caught her. I didn't have anything to do with it."
Whomever had caught her, Atali was no longer plummeting to her death. She was still shocked that it hadn't been Hiccup to save her. When she saw the dragon through the smoke she had assumed it would be him.
They flew towards the hatchery, following the path Wingnut had taken only moments before. When they reached it, the Zippleback didn't even land. It simply released Atali near the ground, letting her gracefully drop down to the dirt. She looked up at her saviors. Behind them, the fires at the village still burned, glinting off of their helmets.
"Hey, Atali, you okay?" asked the rider on the Zippleback's right head.
Atali nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Ruffnut. But where's Hiccup? I thought he was going to rescue me. I wasn't expecting-"
"You weren't expecting us to save you?" Tuffnut interjected.
"Well...um, no. I sent a message to Hiccup asking him for help. Is he here?"
Tuffnut shook his head. "It's just us. Ruff and I were in the area and wanted to stop by and visit Wingnut. This isn't exactly the welcome we had in mind."
"So no help is coming?" pressed Atali, her heart pounding. "It's really just you two?"
The twins looked at one another.
"No one ever expects us to rescue them," said Ruffnut.
"And why would they?" asked Tuffnut. "We certainly don't live up to the heroic image our fearless and magical leader, H, has painted of us."
"And we can't seem to build that stupid watchtower..."
"And we may have set The Edge on fire a few times..."
"And we may have set Snotlout on fire a few times..."
"Wait, I thought we were listing bad things?"
"Oh, right, my bad," said Ruffnut. "But at the end of the day, when things get serious..."
"We get serious," Tuffnut finished. The twins both began to snap their fingers around their heads.
Atali glance down. "I know...you're both right. I just thought..." but she didn't know how to finish.
"Hey, it's fine," Ruffnut said. "I wouldn't normally trust us either. Like we just established, our track record is not good. But we both love Wingnut. We love this island! And we're going to help save it. In this situation, when our friends are being threatened and we have the power to do something about it, you can absolutely count on us."
"What she said!" Tuffnut replied. The two of them banged their heads together.
And then, they took off, leaving Atali to watch them go. The Zippleback flew them back to the burning village, back to danger. It was now up to them and the other riders to save Wing Maiden Island.
"Atali!" a voice called out from behind her. It was Minden. She was leading a group of Wing Maidens, all of whom had on their helmets and were holding spears. "What should we do Atali?"
"Protect the Hatchery. Make sure no dragon hunters hurt our Razorwhips." Atali watched as the Wing Maidens fanned out, forming a perimeter around the hatchery.
Between the Wing Maidens and the Twins, the island was in good hands.
***
I hope you enjoyed! I wanted to capture a moment in which the twins are heroic. We get so many wonderful heroic moments from them in the show, but I think we still generalize them as being the comic relief (which they often are). Here I really wanted to highlight just how dedicated and competent they actually are. Atali might not be thrilled that they're the only ones there to help, but we as fans all know that that's more than enough.
If you enjoyed, consider checking out my other stories or my creative writing podcast "Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons." You can find it wherever you get your podcasts. We mostly workshop original stories and interview authors, but we also analyze books and movies and shows every so often, including HTTYD!