|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 2:02:39 GMT -5
Tuffnut stood quietly as he watched the commencing show. He had been right, it really was amazing to see the dragons fly around from here. Man did ants get to see like this all the time!? Tuffnut suddenly had the desire to live the rest of his days as an ant. Barfbelch would still listen if he was an ant right? He didn’t know, perhaps that would take some testing later on. He hit himself again and looked back up at the sky. He was still being mesmerized with everything going on up there. To see their students fly so expertly only made him grin. He even could see Snoutlout watching them from his position on his dragon, even he was surprised.
It got to the point where they heard Hiccup and Toothless in the air. The twins looked at each other and both nodded before smacking helmets. After recovering they quickly made their way towards their dragon and hopped on. Within a moment they were in the air, Barfbelch knew when the riders were ready to take off after all. They flew high in to the air and Tuffnut allowed himself to look down at the villagers and see what it looked like now. “I still think it’s a better view up here, being an ant is officially overrated” he said despite the fact that no one would have any idea what he was talking about.
“Well I’m going to go out on a limb and say that was PRETTY impressive” Tuffnut said before stretching slightly as the cold air hit his body. “You were down there Hiccup, what do the chiefs think about all of this?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 2:11:53 GMT -5
Hiccup was laughing now that he was away from the chiefs and back with his friends. Snotlout had made a joke before the twins got there. He glanced back at them. "It looked amazing, you guys! You all did a great job, especially your students. At first I was worried when I didn't see you guys and say them. But, the chiefs loved it! They thought that it was great we had trainers and students. They were more impressed by the students." A pause. "Some of them want us to teach them to tame dragons, as we've done to help secure power in their tribes, as an agreement for signing with us." The likelihood they were going to war was, after all, almost assured.
"That's great!" Astrid said. "Do you think we could train them before we send them home?"
Hiccup sighed. "Well, that's the thing, some of them want a trainer to go back to their homes with them and teach them in the long term. For... a while. If Berk goes to war, they're willing to get whoever goes with them to come home and fight, as long as someone else will take their place." The Chief to be looked conflicted.
Astrid looked sad. "So... they want us? Are we splitting up?" She asked, referring to the group.
"No." Hiccup assured. "My father won't let that happen. He's not willing to send us out, it will zap our defenses, he's trying to work out an agreement about a few of the chief's kids learning dragon training here and then teaching their people when they return home. If that's the case, we'll train them here, on our island, with our terms."
Ruffnut didn't like the sound of this. "It's too suspicious. If you ask me, that could be Alvin's way of making a double alliance. If they only agree to pledge after they get our dragon knowledge, they're not worth their own army. A real viking tribe would stand behind another if they were truly allies and would look to be rewarded with dragon training." They all knew she was right. In their tradition, Vikings admitted they were wrong in gifts and support instead of apologizes. And their people, no matter the tribe, were also fiercely loyal and honorable. To ask for something before giving was considered a disgrace.
Astrid sighed. "While I do agree with Ruffnut, I can see their hesitation. We have dragons, that makes us more powerful and a threat to all the other tribes. They want to assure their safety."
"Bullshit." Ruffnut countered. "They want to assure that they get something out of us if we fall."
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 3:52:53 GMT -5
“Told you it was going to work, didn’t we tell you? We certainly told you,” Tuffnut said before smashing heads with his sister. Course, in actuality it was really just Ruffnut that had made the plans to have the students go in the first place. It was a mutual decision, but it was her idea. Still, that wasn’t going to stop Tuffnut from taking a bit of credit. After all, half of those students kicking ass were his! Any teacher was proud to see a student exceed expectations, and apparently they had blown all of the other chief’s out of the water.
It didn’t take long for the conversation to quickly turn serious as the talk went to politics. Apparently the other chiefs had been so impressed by what they saw that they had determined to train dragons for themselves. Naturally, this was going to cause quite a bit of problems in their world. Tuffnut normally didn’t really bother overloading his mind with political chats. After all, why should he care? It wasn’t like he got to vote or anything. The chief made a call and they had to follow it, that’s the way it had always been. Sure there was crap he didn’t like, but that was just the way the world was. Tuffnut had accepted his place as a warrior a long time ago. It hadn’t been till recent years that he started learning what it meant to be a leader.
“Kinda sucky when you can’t trust your own allies to not stab you in the back,” Tuffnut said as he leaned back against his dragon’s neck as if he was sitting in a chair. “Too bad we can’t just figure out if they’re being sincere or not, would make this a whole lot easier. Still, they should understand that we have a right to keep our secrets right now. Things are tense with Alvin and Dagur breathing down our necks,” Tuffnut commented.
For the past several years so many things had been uneasy, Dagur being one of the worst problems. While he wasn’t outright attacking Berk like Alvin was, he wasn’t far from it. He hated that Berk had learned how to tame dragons, and he still wanted to kill them for the sport. With his army, he really could prove a challenge to Berk and all of its alliances. The Berserkers were given their names for a reason, and their leader was none other than Dagur the Deranged. If he attacked full force there was no telling what might happen…..but Tuffnut knew that people would die. Even with dragons, Dagur’s army was massive.
Fishlegs finally decided to chime in. He slowly turned to Hiccup. “When it has come to the dragons your dad has always trusted your judgment. I’m sure that he’d do the same in this instance….what do you think we should do?” he asked curiously. Hiccup had explained the situation, but he hadn’t exactly put forth his own opinion or ideas yet.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 18:48:41 GMT -5
Ruffnut was glad too. Whereas most of the better ideas were her ideas, she wasn;t the type to take credit. Ever since they were kids, Ruffnut and Ruffnut had to share everything, if they had to share the blame, they'd also have to share the glory. And neither one of them were selfish when it came to the other, they were more than willing to share anything, especially something like this. Theyd impressed everyone and that was pretty badass. That hadn't been their intention. but it was good all the same.
Hiccup sighed. "Well, I do agree with Ruffnut." He never thought he'd say that. "But whereas it would be good to teach them to train dragons, they can't rely too much on them and they won't be properly trained in time. I like the idea of teaching them here and sending them home, but I think we should ask for them to sign a treaty. Anyone who doesn't sign it with dragons, I don't think we should give them dragons if they're not willing to stand at our side. We need a mix of fighters, and that means we need soldiers to help fight against Dagur's army. They're dragon kills and I know he'll try to kill every rider and dragon.We need to think about casualties in addition to the attacks."
Then, Hiccup stopped, as if waiting to hear what the others thought. "But, I think that you guys should have some say in this... We'll be the ones training the others, so we have the choice and my father has left us to be the ones to make the choic since we'll be the ones doing all the work."
Astrid nodded, "I agree with you Hiccup. if they don't sign up for the war without dragons, then we shouldn't be willing to teach them to use dragons. And all the dragons in their regions are different. It would take us a while to go there and learn to train them too."
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 18:57:28 GMT -5
“It sounds to me like we’re all on the same page,” Snoutlout interjected as the conversation continued. “Berk’s peaceful, we don’t want to go to war with anyone but we can’t say the same about our supposed allies until they sign that treaty,” he continued. “If they’re smart they’ll see that through their efforts we will do what we can to make sure they have dragons. After all, why wouldn’t we want allies that know how to fly dragons? Look how much we can do with the few riders we have.”
Tuffnut had started nodding his head in agreement before physically grabbing the horns of his helmet to stop himself from doing that. Hopefully no one had seen that! He and Snoutlout almost never agreed on anything, at least not out loud with each other. It was just unheard of. “Well it sounds like we know what we want to do, we just have to tell the chiefs what we’re thinking.”
“It might not be that easy,” Fishlegs spoke up again. “As much as we all feel justified in our decision, it doesn’t mean that the other chiefs will see it that way. If any of them are even thinking about siding with Alvin, they might see our refusal as a reason to help him,” he said nervously. He had always accepted his position as a rider. However, Fishlegs had to admit that fighting and killing was truly the last thing that he wanted to do.
“Suppose that’s why we got a chief and his son to do the talking for us. Your dad’s a smart guy, I’m sure he can get the others to all see why we’re making this decision,” Snoutlout said again as he looked towards Hiccup. They were all united on their decision, but it was still going to have to be Hiccup that delivered the news. Ever since they started this little band of theirs, Hiccup had always taken responsibility for every action they took. It was a heavy load, but one that he always seemed to bare well.
It was why they all believed in him as much as they did.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 19:17:37 GMT -5
Ugh, nothing was ever easy and Ruffnut hated that. Why did people have to analyze things so much? Why couldn't people just do the simplest thing possible and not try to make things more complicated. Whereas Ruffnut was better at seeing the insides of people then everyone else was, she hated that she had to. She'd always been blunt and didn't play mind games, and she hated it when Astrid played them. When Ruffnut said she was fine, she meant it. There were times when Tuffnut would ask her if she was happy and she was always told the truth, she'd say no if she wasn't okay.
But, war wasn't like that she supposed. "This whole war thing is stupid." She finally said. There was a total lack for words and stupid was just the best word for it. Dagur started the war over dragons and Alvin was starting a war for the same reason. It was just... so ridiculous.
"Nothing is ever easy." Astrid said, rubbing Stormfly as they flew together. They went to their usual meeting place and landed. The others slid off their dragons and gathered to make a choice. "I think that Hiccup is right, but maybe we should think about this a little longer and make a choice tomorrow morning? We want to enjoy the celebration, so please, let's not ruin the celebration."
For once, Ruffnut actually agreed. "Yeah, actually, that's a good idea. Put it off. We can figure all that shit about tomorrow. Let's go back to the party." Whereas they did meet up here often at night, they even camped here from time to time. From the mountain they were on, they could see the glow of the village and hear a small hum of the music that expressed the celebration happening down below.
"I have some drinking to do." Ruffnut stated, walking over to Hiccup. "You're worrying too much about this. Just enjoy the party and deal with the diplomacy tomorrow." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet rather quickly. Hiccup was just slightly taller than Ruffnut now, as Ruffnut was tall for a girl. And she was strong enough to lift Hiccup to his feet from sitting on the ground. "Let's focus on us, for once. Just tonight, let's make this about us."
Hiccup sighed. "Well, that sounds like a good idea. Okay... we'll meet tomorrow before I talk to them. Think about what we should do and before our meeting at dusk tomorrow. That's when I'll have it scheduled so they can feel free to drink."
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 19:33:24 GMT -5
Tuffnut just decided to stay out of this little discussion. After all, what insight was he going to put forward that would make anyone consider differently? As spaced out as he was at times, he still knew the importance of what they were deciding. He didn’t like that it was being left to all of them, he’d rather Hiccup just make a decision and have them all follow it. They all seemed to agree anyway right? What was going to happen tonight that was gonna change anything? He didn’t say anything though, just deciding to let the others continue on. He would just let his sister speak for him. Unless the twins said differently, everyone just assumed they had the same opinion anyway.
“Maybe a bit of time to think isn’t a bad idea. Maybe if we’re out with the chiefs we’ll see the situation differently” Fishlegs added in agreement to Hiccup’s idea about waiting to make their decision. He was slightly concerned that it might backfire on them, what if the other tribes already started assuming that they would be helping them? It could turn in to a bit of awkward conversation, but Fishlegs supposed they would have to deal with that eventually if they stuck to their decision. They might as well wait and hear them out right?
Once the plan for the night was established, Tuffnut let out a laugh. “Now it sounds like we’re moving on to the good stuff,” he said as he rubbed his hands together. “A party can’t be wasted after all, or else it’s like….not used ya know?” he questioned as he looked at the others.
At this Snoutlout actually released a laugh. “Not as well phrased as I would have said it, but I have to agree with you on this one,” he admitted before turning and heading towards the village. “I’ll be outdrinking you tonight Tuffnut!” he shouted and started running down the hill towards the village. It didn’t take long for the twin to start chasing after him, yelling several absurdities as they went.
At least after a stressful chat they could end up on the one thing they always were comforted by: laughter.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 19:42:54 GMT -5
Hiccup was surprised to be pulled to his feet. He smiled at her, as if trying to thank her. It meant a lot that his friends were there to him through all of this. He looked to Astrid and smiled at her. "Come on, let's go. I promised you a dance a few days ago." He stated, taking her hand and kissing it. they returned to the village after Snotlout and Tuffnut.
Once they'd all left, Ruffnut crossed her arms. She sighed, rolling her eyes. Lifting her arm, she moved her hand into a symbol and BarfBelch came over to her. She rubbed both heads to give them both equal attention. Looking over to Fishlegs, she walked over to the other Viking teen. "I don't see why this is such a big deal. I don't want to ally with someone who blackmails us with support for dragons." They needed the support considering the size of Dagur's tribe, but still, she felt uncomfortable for Hiccup. She could see things from his position, but it bothered her to do so, she she tried to avoid it.
"Want to go get a drink?" She asked, turning to him. It was better than just hanging out up here. That, and she felt that this was the night they could get totally shitfaced and it would be okay.
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 19:54:14 GMT -5
Fishlegs glanced up as Ruffnut began to speak. They were the only two here now, with the exception of the dragons, and it wasn’t very often that the two of them got to talk like this. He listened to her speak for some time as he rubbed the back of his own dragon’s neck as she was doing to her own. “Trust me Ruffnut, none of us like it but we have to deal with it,” he said quietly as he tried to think of how to phrase what he wanted to say. “I mean we’ve gotten used to it because it’s been years, but everyone else still looks at us like we are legends. We’re the first group to tame dragons, I can understand why people fear us rather than like us.”
He smiled and gave a slow nod. “Sure, a drink sounds alright just about now. Just one though okay?” he said with a weak laugh. He didn’t really like drinking that much after all, but he didn’t want to turn down Ruffnut’s offer either. She had always been a good friend after all, and Vikings didn’t abandon their comrades! He’d be a bad one if he refused to get a drink. “Come on, let’s get back down there,” he said before heading down the hill.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 20:04:37 GMT -5
Well, yeah, they did have to deal with it, but that didn't make it any better. Ruffnut wasn't happy, but she supposed she could forget about it until tomorrow and follow her own advice. Once Fishlegs agreed to have a drink with her, she smiled in his direction. She moved her arm up in the air and BarfBelch flew off. She watched them fly back to the village and perch themselves where the dragons were resting through the festivities. The dragon would obey commands from either one of the twins, but if the two of them were giving conflicting commands, Barf would react to her whereas Belch would follow Tuffnut. But it had been years since they'd given their dragons opposing signals. They promised not to.
"Come on then." She said, starting to walk down the hill toward the party. "I want to enjoy this. This will probably be the last time we have to enjoy ourselves until the war really gets started." She'd accept that they were going to war and there were no two ways around it. Once they made it down the hill and back into the village, she could see her brother and Snotlout doing shots one after another, as if trying to see who could get more drunk. Shaking her head, she resolved not to get too drunk in case her brother needed her later on, and from the look of it, he would.
Ruffnut grabbed two mugs of ale and offered one to Fishlegs. "What do you think about this?" It was rare for the twins to ask questions. Ruffnut asked Fishlegs about dragons and information about training, but she'd never asked him what he thought about anything, not like this. "About the war."
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 20:24:08 GMT -5
Fishlegs watched with an impressed look at Barfbelch immediately listened to Ruffnut’s hand motions. He hadn’t even gotten his that well trained. He had gotten better at it, but it seemed like the twins had over a thousand hand signals that their dragon understood. It was a strange thing, but it clearly worked. They proved their strength tonight by having their students fly. Everyone had doubted them, but the twins knew that they were ready for it. Fishlegs wished he could have of either of their confidence. They always knew to trust one another, and they never doubted themselves either.
As they sat down for a drink, he gave a gentle nod as she offered him an ale. It was the only one that he was going to have, or at least that was what he told himself. There was no telling what he might do. He downed about half of it before Ruffnut asked about the war. “I don’t really know, other than the battles with the dragons we’ve never really had a war before,” he admitted as he got a little quieter. “To fight and kill actual people, I don’t know how I’d be able to handle that….I just don’t get WHY it’s happening.”
“Dagur has only gotten more stubborn over the years while the other tribes have accepted the dragons. From day one he threatened us with war if we even had one tamed dragon….still, I suppose that doesn’t really matter now,” Fishlegs said as he looked up to Ruffnut. “His decision is his tribe’s decision. If they fight us, we’ll have no choice but to stop him.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 20:38:00 GMT -5
Ruffnut sipped her own. Well, at least Fishlegs was willing to talk to her about this, she half expected to have to punch it out of him. He wasn't usually very forthcoming about things like this. There was a pause and she continued to drink her ale. Looking up, she couldn't believe that Fishlegs had gulped down that much so fast. But, she supposed he was finally letting go. It made her happy to see after so long, she'd always thought he'd be happier if he wasn't as nervous and finicky as he was.
"Yeah, we've never had a war before, but that doesn't mean we can avoid it." She said, running her fingertips over the mug in though, something she didn't do when Tuffnut was around. Alone, Ruffnut was a little more expressive about herself and what she thought. This was something Fishlegs had asked her about when they first started working together. She blew it off and didn't bother to answer the question.
There was silence for a moment. "You won't have to hurt anyone Fishlegs." She looked up at him. "You'd be better to stay in the village and make sure everyone here was protected. Hiccup too. You're not suited for warfare, for battle, not real life-risking battles. That's what me, Tuffnut, and Snotlout are good for. That's what made us better at dragon training. Well, dragon killing." She said with a shrug. "I'll fight for you, how's that?" She asked with a grin.
Dagur... Ruffnut tried not to think of the past too much, but maybe that's why she kept thinking of her mother, since she'd been pondering the past for quite a while, especially when it came to Dagur. She was numb to it now, but still, it was nagging at her.
"We'll stop him. Definitely. Just be confident in that, we're strong and with our dragons, we're unstoppable."
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 20:45:13 GMT -5
“Yeah I know, but I guess the fact it’s coming doesn’t mean that I have to look forward to it. This has been escalating for so long, and now it feels like its right in front of us,” Fishlegs admitted as he just stared down in to his drink. Despite his Berserker blood, he really was a gentle giant. He had never liked hurting anyone, it was why he had been good friends with Hiccup in the first place. Neither of them had a taste for battle, it just wasn’t in them. They had gotten better at fighting with their dragons, but they had still never killed anyone over the conflict…not yet.
When Ruffnut spoke next, Fishlegs looked at her in surprise. He was quiet for some time, thinking about what she said. “No….if we’re going to war, that means we all have to do our part right?” he asked as he looked towards the female warrior. “If I get asked to stay and defend Berk, I wouldn’t complain…but I also won’t hide behind the rest of you if you go off in to battle. We’re a team now after all, I’d want to protect you like you all want to help me. We all care about each other after all.”
It was at this moment that a crash was heard from across the room as Snoutlout and Tuffnut appeared to be in some sort of disagreement and appeared to be having a bit of a fight which quickly resulted in Snoutlout being shoved to the ground while Tuffnut had his long hair pulled on.
“Well…most of the time anyway,” Fishlegs said with a tiny laugh as he saw the fight continue on. “But you’re right. Dagur may have more men, but we’re the Riders of Berk..he’s got nothing on us.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Fateful on Nov 3, 2013 21:02:00 GMT -5
Ruffnut knew Fishlegs better than that. He was scared and he wasn't suited to be a warrior. She was. And she was a good fighter, with her brother, without her brother, and with and without their dragon. It amazed her that there were people who couldn't fight. She didn't understand it. But fishlegs looked like he would be an amazing warrior, he was strong, smart, tactical. He had everything a warrior needed. Except the drive, the desire for blood, the willingness for combat. She didn't understand it, especially since he was a Beserker. He even looked like them.
"You'd be better here then on the battlefield. No offense or anything, Fishlegs. I just..." A pause. "I just think that you'd be better here, with our people helping to coordinate what battle plans the warriors should take and how we should fight." She explained, knowing that her, Tuffnut and Snotlout were warriors, but not thinkers. Ruffnut couldn't fight and think at the same time, instinct took over and her drive was to live.
Another smile touched her lips. "Yeah, we do all care about each other, but keep in mind that this is our way of protecting you and Hiccup. You have to stay here and keep us safe when we're keeping you safe. That's what a family does, and since the dragons, we're a better family then we were before."
At the sound, Ruffnut stood immediately. Her eyes narrowed and she watched her brother and Snotlout. Her lips moved. She was reading her brother's lips. Sighing, she moved to the side of the table. She tapped Fishlegs shoulder. "I'll be right back." Walking over to her brother and Snotlout, she forcefully separated the two, tossing them apart. "Stop it." She caught sight of one of the chief's son looking over at her and felt Snotlout grab her hair. She growled, punching him in the stomach. "Both of you, leave it alone."
She grabbed her brother and pulled him back, "Tuffnut, stop." She said, resting her hand on her brother's chest. It had always had a calming effect on him. She dragged him away from Snotlout and let go of her brother before returning to where she was with Fishlegs.
"Anyway..." She mumbled, rubbing her face in annoyance. "I know that we can stop Dagur, but I don't know if we can stop Dagur and the Outcasts."
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrax on Nov 3, 2013 21:20:05 GMT -5
Fishlegs wanted to speak up and argue, he wanted to talk about how he should be out there if everyone else had to be. As the words came to his mind though, he knew that he couldn’t actually voice them out loud. They just weren’t true. The truth of it was that he wasn’t a very good Viking. The others had all these things that made them smart and efficient in battle. Even Tuffnut could fight, and for the longest time people didn’t think that he had even half of a brain. So many other things came easily to Fishlegs, but killing was never going to be one of them. He just couldn’t bring himself to harm anyone.
“You….you’re right,” Fishlegs admitted as he scratched the back of his head and gave a small sigh. “Guess the drink was just giving me a bit too much courage for a second there,” he said with another one of his weak laughs. Ruffnut had been honest with him that was something that he always appreciated about her. She had never lied to him about anything, even when she sounded condescending she was only honest to make sure that he didn’t get hurt. It was caused she cared.
Tuffnut and Snoutlout were continuing to beat on each other until Ruffnut showed up. Tuffnut was so out of it from the alcohol that he didn’t even notice she was there until she began to pull him away. Snoutlout tried to make one more strike, but she dealt with him immediately as he crashed to the ground. The alcohol had also made him easier to push around. Tuffnut just barked out at a laugh at Snoutlout until Ruffnut touched his chest. He immediately quieted down. “I’m tired…night night” he said completely straight until his head fell and smacked in to the table. Snoring followed soon after.
Fishlegs watched the entire exchange until Tuffnut fell unconscious. He stared for a moment before Ruffnut started the conversation again like nothing had even happened. “Yeah well uh..you’re probably right, especially if we can’t trust these tribes to help us. With a target on our backs it feels like everyone is the enemy…..I really don’t like these feelings Ruffnut, I just wish it was all over already.”
“Every time Alvin’s made a move on us though we’ve been able to stop him. He hasn’t unleashed everything on us yet though…it makes me wonder what exactly he’s up to. He hasn’t tried anything for months now.”
|
|
|