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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 0:53:50 GMT -5
Tuffnut Sr. knew that all eyes were on him. Likely he had caused some stomachs to turn at the treatment of his son. He didn’t care, let them whisper and let them talk. How many of them knew the pain that he was feeling now? To have lost his wife in the way that he did, and now his daughter had been taken from him and was possibly dead herself. He did not care who thought he was unjustified, his anger was legitimate. For as long as he could remember, the father had told the twins to take care of each other. They had done well for so long, and yet the night that Ruffnut was attacked where was her brother? Drunk, and useless to her. This community expected more of its men, and Tuffnut had just proven how much of a child he still was.
Until Ruffnut was found, the boy was dead to his father. If Ruffnut never returned, then Tuffnut Sr. would tell people that he had no children.
As Holmes spoke, Tuffnut Sr. looked to him and listened to every word. He couldn’t help but smile, this was a man of honor who knew what was important. He was a leader, and had shown that he was willing to have all his possessions and men inspected. It would cause pressure on the others to agree to the same terms. Without saying anything, the father just gave a nod to Holmes to show his thanks. He would have to thank him for his understanding later.
Tuffnut slowly used both hands to push himself off the ground. He was breathing heavily as he felt how sore his ribs were. While he wasn’t sure, he was starting to wonder if some of them had become bruised from the punch. Despite being old, his old man could still fight with the best of them. He slowly forced himself to stand, not saying anything else as Stoic addressed the council. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone either, as the misery in his eyes were all too evident with even a single glance.
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 1:07:38 GMT -5
Astrid came to Tuffnut's side, but didn't say anything. She looked at him to make sure his ribs weren't broken, not that she could tell with the way he was standing. Still, she had to get better. "Come on," She said, trying to encourage the male twin.
Slowly, the other seven tribes offered to have their ships searched. Some stated that they would not allow their women to be checked for injuries, especially the chief's protecting their daughters. Stoick agreed to this, knowing that they could always check later.
By nightfall, all the ships had been searched and Hiccup returned, almost an hour after Snotlout had. He landed in the middle of town and climbed off his dragon. He looked defeated and a strange look was in his eyes. "Nothing." he said, quietly. How had they found nothing?! All of them struck out. None of them found anything. Looking up to Fishlegs, Hiccup lead them to the Great Hall. He sat there with Stoick, Gobber, all of the riders, some of the high tribesmen, including Tuffnut Sr and Spitelout, and, as a noticeable surprise to him, Holmes.
"All the ships are empty." Stoick broke the silence. "And none of the men have fresh injuries consistent with any of Ruffnut's weapons." He said this, because a few of the men had brawled the night before, so they had small bruises and cuts, but nothing to the degree that one would expect from Ruffnut, especially if she was fighting for her life. "What did you find, son?"
Hiccup sighed. "Nothing. There were no ships as far as I or Toothless could see. We searched all day." He rubbed his face, obviously tired. "This... this was never supposed to happen. Who could have taken her? And.. what about the treaty?"
It was Holmes who spoke, "Some of the tribes believe this to be a plow so that you could get out of training the dragons." He said, honest with them, as he had already signed the treaty with no desire for dragons. He kept his promise, since Hiccup had danced with Astrid, but it was a secret between them. They were vikings, and they were quite capable with sword and spear, as he'd said, they had no need to mount dragons to defend their home. And, if they ever needed dragons, Berk had them and would come to their aid, since the treaty was mutual. His men were well controlled. None of them had fought the night before.
He hesitated for a moment, "The girl that was taken..." he added, not sure how to say this. "Is it possible that this not a joke? From what I've heard of her, this... sounds like it could be a prank." His frankness wasn't to be mistaken for rudeness. "Although I agree this is no joke, I feel that is my duty, as someone outside of this, to advise that you cannot lock all the tribes down for long. If one of them did take her, it's possible she might be nearby until they leave, if, of course, she's still alive."
Spitelout glared at him. "You have some nerve there boy, spouting all that! How dare you! Do you think we haven't searched every place she could be? She was taken to sea. And--"
"That's enough, Spitelout." Stoick interrupted. "We appreciate your help in this Holmes. However, this is a place where things like that... are not taken well."
Holmes nodded, conceiving the point. "I agree, but you have enemies, and this celebration was not discrete. Who is to say one of your enemies, your reason for this treaty in the first place, did not take her."
Hiccup let out a sound of frustration. "But WHY?" He asked, overcome with annoyance. "Why would they take her? Why wouldn't they take me? I've been called everything from a dragon whisperer, to a dragon conqueror... There... there has to be come mistake. There's no way Alvin or Dagur would take Ruffnut."
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 1:29:34 GMT -5
Tuffnut wasn’t as rude as to push Astrid away, but he wasn’t exactly kind with what he did next. He held up a hand to keep her away, not actually touching her with it though. His eyes were still staring at the ground as he couldn’t bear to look at anyone. “I’ll be back later, I’m just gonna keep searching in case you don’t have any luck here,” he said before hopping on Barfbelch. He didn’t care if Astrid tried to stop him, he quickly turned the dragon and rode off as quickly as he could. He couldn’t stay there, he had to get the image of his father’s face out of his mind. Tuffnut had never seen him this angry, not even when their mother died…
Later that night as they were all gathered, the only one absent was Tuffnut as he had not returned from his search. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going, and no one could afford to go and check on him. They were all too busy searching the ocean, nearby islands, and the ships that the tribes had opened up for searching. Nothing though, not a single hint or clue or trail. “This is so annoying” Snoutout had told Hookfang as they flew. How could these people just disappear so easily!? It didn’t make any sense.
As they were all gathered, Tuffnut Sr. lightly smoked a pipe as he seemed concentrated on staring at the stars. He had yet to sit down since he stood up and smacked his son to the ground. Even now he stood as he stared up at the stars. He was a short distance away from everyone else, but a few of them would hear him muttering something incoherent. If anyone was listening they would hear him say one thing very clearly:
“Bring her home….please.”
After Holmes began to speak, Tuffnut Sr. put out his pipe in order to fully concentrate on the meeting. He was going to make sure that everything was considered, he would hardly rest until his girl was found. He didn’t care who was behind this, if Odin himself had taken his daughter to turn her in to a Valkyrie….he would fight the one-eyed god himself to bring his daughter home. Even as Spitelout spoke in his anger, the elder Tuffnut listened with an ear that seemed to be intent on reasoning. For being so angry earlier, it seemed like he was actually rather calm with the points that Holmes made.
This was no joke and no prank though. Ruffnut may have been a little strange, but this wasn’t the kind of thing that she would let happen for the sake of a joke. No, this had a nefarious purpose behind it.
“We can’t eliminate any possibilities yet,” Tuffnut Sr. finally spoke up. “For all we know Dagur or Alvin did this for the sake of drawing you out Hiccup. We don’t know the full plan yet, but I agree…as much as I love my daughter, she’s not the end goal. There’s something larger going on here. We have to remain resolute until we find her…just by waiting perhaps her captor will reveal themselves, though I’d rather find her long before that happened.”
After speaking this a shadow briefly covered the moon. Upon looking everyone would see Barfbelch flying towards the falls where Tuffnut’s belongings had been found earlier that day. The dragon perched and didn’t seem like it was going to be taking off again, not soon at least.
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 1:41:19 GMT -5
Hiccup nodded. He appreciated the new pact they had made. "Alvin or Dagur could have done this." He said, finally. "I agree that this is something that's a possibility... But why? Alvin already knows how to train dragons and Dagur wants to kill me. Whereas taking her would lure me out it would also lure out Berk and any allies we have for war. Whereas that could be what he wants... why would they take her specifically? Why not me? Odin knows I'd be way easier to kidnap. Ruffnut killed one of them. I didn't even know she carried that many weapons." Hiccup still only carried a knife, since he wasn't much good as a fighter. His safest place was on Toothless because Toothless held all the power between them.
"Okay. Well, I think we should focus... on the treaty for now. We'll work that out tomorrow morning and from there. We will find Ruffnut, but I think, that strategically, our focus has to be the other tribes. We can't risk insulting them."
Holmes nodded. "I agree. I'm willing to stay with half my army to support whatever action comes, with the condition that my soldiers can be housed and fed for that long. We'd even be willing to help you expand your docks to incorporate your ships."
Hiccup looked a little surprised but his, but it was Astrid who spoke up. "Forgive me," Astrid said. "But why are you so willing to help us. Do you even know who Ruffnut is?"
Holmes nodded. "I do." He stated, rather simply. "She separated her brother and the rider who mounts the Monstrous Nightmare during their brawl last evening." He gestured to Snotlout. "It caught my attention, especially considering the length of her hair, it is a trait I've never seen a women before. Her strength of will impressed me." He stated, rather simply, as if it should have been obvious.
Astrid looked surprised by this and glanced to Hiccup then to Tuffnut Sr. She nodded, accepting the answer.
Hiccup stood. "We should get some rest. We meet again tomorrow, just after dawn for the remaining treaty."
As soon as the meeting was dismissed, Astrid disappeared without a word to Hiccup. She went to where she saw BarfBelch land and went looking for Tuffnut. "Tuff?" she called, searching the woods.
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 1:54:40 GMT -5
“Hiccup’s right, none of this makes any sense,” Fishlegs said as this was the first time that he had spoken in the entire meeting. “Alvin may be insane, but would he really do something like this that might show all of the tribes how dangerous he really is?” he continued on. “After all, so far Alvin hasn’t been a problem for anyone else except for us. To do something like this…it really doesn’t gain him that much if anything. And Dagur…I don’t know, he’s crazy but I feel like he’d be more likely to directly confront us rather than use a hostage, it’s not really his style….but he’s crazy, who knows what he’s thinking?”
Tuffnut Sr. continued to stand in silence. A whole day’s work, and all they had managed to do was eliminate possibilities. Some might take comfort in that, but he didn’t. What good was it to know where she wasn’t if they couldn’t figure out where she was? It was worthless information as far as he was concerned. All he wanted was to hold his daughter in his arms again, brush her hair, tell her how much he loved her…how much she looked like her beautiful mother. The fact that he might never be able to utter those words to her haunted the man, and that fear came out as anger when he spoke to his son.
As Holmes spoke to compliment Ruffnut for what she did at the party, the senior Viking couldn’t help but take notice. For such a young chief to take notice of a woman’s spirit wasn’t surprising…but he was grateful. Because of Ruffnut stopping her brother’s fight, they may have gained a very valuable ally in this conflict.
As everyone split up for the night, Tuffnut Sr. decided to make his way to Holmes. “Excuse me,” he said before getting the chief’s attention. Tuffnut Sr. gave a bow of respect and humility. “You have my undying gratitude for the help that you are willing to provide. I know that our relationship is that of a treaty, but you are helping me to recover that which I hold most dear to my heart….I just needed you to know that I thank you and will not forget it ever. If you need anything, I will do everything in my power to make sure it is yours,” he said before rising up to look at Holmes directly. “Thank you.”
Astrid would see Tuffnut sitting at the edge of the cliff, his feet dangling over the edge. He had the necklaces hanging out from his shirt as if he was examining both of them. He also now wore the armguard that he had since cleaned the blood off of. He signed and didn’t turn to look at Astrid. “Unless you’re here to deliver good news, I’d really rather not hear It.” was all he said.
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 2:11:32 GMT -5
Holmes was quite humbled by this and smiled. "You give me too much honor sir." He bowed. "I agreed to sign the treaty last night. We came to an agreement last night. He spoke to us of Astrid, the girl he loves, and I said that I would sign the treaty should he ask her to dance. I am a man of my word, they danced into the dawn, so I felt it my obligation to do as I promised. And, I have faith in my men, to take a woman hostage in such a way is shameless. I came here for peace and for an alliance. I wouldn't waste two months of travel all for not. Why else would I travel all this way." He hesitated. The chief-to-be wanted to say that had it not been the the other man that had taken Ruffnut to dance, he'd have asked her himself, even without Hiccup having to introduce them, as then she'd have been kind to him out of courtesy.
Holmes offered Tuffnut Sr. his hand, "I will do anything to help you find her, sir, and please, accept my apology for not having my men more on guard to prevent an attack upon my new allies shores."
Astrid sighed as she came up to sit beside Tuffnut. "Then I won't say anything besides the fact that we gained an ally." She wondered if it was appropriate to tell Tuffnut that the way this man spoke of his sister lead her to believe he had feelings for her. It was just something in his tone, in his eyes. It... it was strange for her to see someone take interest in Ruffnut. Not that no one did, but Astrid just never realized until now how pretty she was and how strong she'd been. "It's going to be okay, and I know you might not believe that, but it's true." She said, wondering if it was appropriate to hug him or give him some comfort. But, in all the years she'd seen the twins together, they had never once embraced or gotten close or anything even close to it, so she knew that she couldn't.
"She's strong, Tuff. Far stronger than me. It's why I relied on her so much, too much, I guess. I just... Ruffnut was always so strong and so, confident. I loved that about her and as strong as I am, I wanted some of that confidence she had, how no one else mattered and she wasn't ever scared, of anyone or anything." She sighed, glancing to the necklaces. Ruffnut's necklace was longer than Tuffnuts, so his was just above hers. Seeing it just made it more real for Astrid and she sighed, looking down at her knees. "She'll come back." She whispered, as if to convince herself.
Ruffnut slowly regained consciousness in a prison cell. A dark prison cell surrounded by rock. She could hear voices around her and growled as she woke. Sitting, she held her head. She could feel bruises on her face. There was a cut on her chest. She winced, it hurt. Sitting up, she touched the cut and her eyes widened. Her necklace was gone! She scrambled to her feet and started to look around the cell. It was gone.
"Haha! You're up there, are you Astrid?" Alvin asked, coming to the cell, glaring at her. "Longer hair then I remember, but..." He chuckled. "You will stay with us until your Hiccup comes to save you, charging on his Night Fury. It'll be easy."
Astrid? Ruffnut's eyes widened. Oh no.. The Outcasts. She had to keep up the lie. If they found out she wasn't Astrid, they'd kill her. Only Astrid was useful to them. Only the one who Hiccup loved. At least, for now.
Her eyes closed.
Damn it. She was royally fucked.
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 2:24:52 GMT -5
“I would give my honor and everything I owned to have my daughter returned to me, do not doubt that for a moment. I’m sure your father would do the same if anything happened to you,” Tuffnut Sr. said, though he did take some liberty to assume that the boy’s relationship with his father was a strong one. For how well he had taken to becoming chief, it seemed like the relationship must have been strong right? “No parent should ever have to sleep in fear, wondering if they will ever see those they love again…it is a pain that I would rather never have to experience, and yet I fear these next few nights will be some of the worst of my life.”
He took a deep breath and shook the man’s hand. “Do not blame yourself for this. All you have been is kind and good to us. We were not ready for this attack, there was no way that you could have been…but thank you, the sentiment means much to me,” the older Viking said before taking a deep breath. “It is late, though I do not believe in my success I must try to sleep. I shall see you soon I am sure,” he said before departing.
Tuffnut sat in silence the entire time that Astrid spoke, still unable to look towards her. “I know that she’s strong, she always has been. We’ve always supported each other no matter how dumb our plans were,” he remarked before giving the smallest of chuckles. “Even when I wanted to see what it felt like to get shot out of a catapult she was supportive one hundred percent….course I do think she took a bit too much joy out of seeing me land on those rocks,” he said as the memory came flying back. He had landed on his face that day, and Ruffnut thought it was hilarious. She had helped him recover after that incident.
“The hardest part is just knowing I wasn’t there…it was my students that were messing up, I should have been the one to come up here and stop them” Tuffnut said quietly before giving the smallest of glances over at Astrid. “I wish it was me that was gone, that way at least I would know that she was safe, even if I didn’t know what was going to happen to me.”
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 2:39:40 GMT -5
Suddenly, at the mention of the catapults, Astrid laughed, tears welling in her eyes. "Yeah, I remember that. Stoick was furious. They thought you guys had fired a yack out of the catapult and had killed it." They'd been wrong and Astrid thought that the two of them were total idiots for it. But, it had been kinda funny, except for the fact that Tuffnut had broken his nose. There was blood everywhere. Ruffnut had came over and grabbed his face and twisted his nose. She'd relocated her brother's nose and stopped the bleeding, while hurting him at the same time.
More laughter from Astrid. "I remember thinking that she was torturing you, and that she was a fool for touching your nose. But, when it stopped bleeding, I realized how she wasn't just good at hurting others, she could fix up injuries too." That was one of Ruffnut's rather surprising strengths. She knew how to mix herbs and make salves in order to help lessen pain and heal injuries. She was almost as good as Gothi, and considering how her only training was Tuffnut and herself, it was impressive. She took Tuffnut's hand and squeezed it.
"You're wrong." She said, simply. "Well, you're right, but wrong at the same time." She said, knowing she couldn't speak complicatedly with Tuffnut. "If you had been taken, RUffnut would be ripping this island apart to try and find you. You're selfless because you want to take her place, but we know her well enough to know she'd be having the same conversation with me if you were missing."
- - -
It had been four days. Ruffnut had been trapped in the cells, tortured during all times of the day, woken up, interrogated, whipped. They'd yelled at her, tried everything. But she didn't say anything, she tried to fight back, but was bound.
Well, until last night. She managed to stab one of them in the gut and he had to be carried out to get medical supplies. But, she had to get out of here. She had to get back to Tuffnut. He was probably losing his mind.
“Guard!” She called. “I-I’ll talk. Please, just let me go home.” Ruffnut’s voice echoed in the cell. A man came to her cell with her dinner and slid it into her cell. He looked hesitant and looked around.
“Take me to Alvin. Please.” Ruffnut said. There was blood on her arm from where they’d hurt her earlier in the morning. This was the first meal they’d given her in four days. They were aware that she’d die if she wasn’t being fed to replace the blood she was losing. Since she’d spit in Alvin’s face, they’d become more strict with her.
He opened the cell, nervous and went to drag her out. She let him pull her and spun, slitting his throat with a sharp throwing knife she’d pulled from her hair and slit his throat. He collapsed to the ground and she locked the cell before running. Hiccup had explained the layout of Outcast Island to them. A few things were different, but she managed to get through the city. As she made her way through their village, a few men tried to stop her. Not that they did much good.
She jumped into a boat and cut the anchor from the rope and climbed the mast. She cut down the sails and jumped down onto the docks. The wind was strong here and the ship immediately started to move through the bay. Looking back, Ruffnut could see men scrambling on the shore. Damn it. She should have found a dragon, they might be able to catch her if they had a stronger boat.
As she spun the ships wheel to move with the wind so it would move out of the bay faster, she noticed other boats coming toward her won. Damn it! What the hell was this… No. No, these weren’t outcast ships. A grin came to her lips.
However, when a smaller row boat slammed into her boat, she slammed into the side of the ship and growled. She knew it, she should have found a dragon to ride home instead of taking a boat, but she didn’t think she had enough time to do that.
Soldiers started to mount the ship. She stabbed one of them in the chest and he went down, but soon after she was surrounded and five Outsider soldiers grabbed onto her and slammed her into the deck. As they pulled her back up to her feet, binding her arms behind her back.
There was a pause as Alvin mounted the ship. “Well Astrid, I’m impressed.” He chuckled, grabbing her chin. “But I have a friend you should meet.” He looked to the side of the ship as another ship pulled up. He smirked. "Well well, it looks like your plann worked."
His soldiers forced Ruffnut to kneel on the deck of the ship, one on each side, holding her as another Viking mounted the ship in front of her. One grabbed her by her hair and forced her to look up at the man before her. Crystal blue eyes widened because this was the last person she expected.
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 2:54:29 GMT -5
Tuffnut actually started to laugh more as Astried did as well. While she had lightened up in the past few years, it was pretty rare for her to find something as amusing as she did this. He always laughed alongside Ruffnut, and he had to hold back from smacking skulls with Astrid. He had a feeling that she wouldn’t really appreciate the motion if he did it to her. She was trying her best to make him feel better, and that was good enough. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be okay while Ruffnut was who knew where, but at least someone was trying to help him.
He knew that Astrid didn’t approve of what his father had done, but Tuffnut didn’t blame the man. He had spent years trying to get them to be as close as they were to this day. He wanted his children to watch out and care for each other, for he knew that he could go to Valhalla at any time. He was getting old, and any wound could prove fatal. He wanted his children to protect each other, as they weren’t married or had any other family on the island. It was just the three of them, and for the time being it was just the two of them. Tuffnut understood why his father hit him. It didn't justify it, but he understood it.
“You’re right. She would tell me to stop being such an idiot if she heard how I was talking right now,” Tuffnut said as he glanced over and looked towards the dragon that was starting to doze off. “Still, I can’t help but wish it had been that way. I’ll do everything I can to find her though….I can’t go home until I bring her with me.”
--
As Ruffnut was held down by the men, a figure made his way on to the boat. His tall and muscular frame easily set him apart from many of the others. The outcasts looked wild and savage, and while this man was not much different from them; it was still clear that he was of a higher caliber of man. Dagur now stood in front of Ruffnut and looked down at her. As Alvin spoke, Dagur’s eyes just stared at the girl that he recognized for several moments.
No no no no no no no no no no no no NO! This was not going to do at all! Did these idiots even realize what they had done!? Dagur felt one of his hands ball in to a fist before he turned over towards Alvin. He took a moment to decide how to phrase himself. “So….is this some kind of a joke or are you legitimately telling me you think this girl is Astrid?” he finally asked as he glanced back towards Ruffnut. While there were a few similarities, Dagur would recognize that face anywhere. It wasn’t Astrid, they had grabbed the wrong girl. There was no telling what kind of problems this was going to cause.
“This isn’t the girl that Hiccup is in love with, this is not Astrid," Dagur said as he felt his anger beginning to rise up within him. His Berserker blood often allowed his temper to run short, especially when it came to Berk and everything that had happened there the past few years. This was supposed to be the plan that allowed them to finally gain control of Berk! What were they supposed to do now!?
"No wonder your men haven't gotten anything useful out of her. She doesn't know anything about the dragons! She's probably only seen Hiccup in passing, your men have been torturing someone that has nothing to do with our conflict!" Dagur screamed in anger as he smashed his foot on the ground several times.
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 3:04:32 GMT -5
Astrid sighed, "Tuffnut, you can't stay here until we find her. You know she wouldn't want you sleeping out here in the woods. And if I let you sleep out here, alone, she's going to yell at me for leaving you by yourself." She paused. "But, if you don't want to go home... I can understand. But you shouldn't stay out here alone. I can go get the others and all of us can camp out here, together, until we ALL find her. Does that sound like a plan?"
- - -
Alvin arched a brow. What the hell was that supposed to mean, hm? He glared down at the boy who himself felt entitled. "What's that supposed to mean?" Then, his eyes widened. This girl wasn't Astrid? "She never said she wasn't Astrid." He stated, but then a grin came to his face. "You were protecting her, then huh?" He asked, bending down in front of the blonde girl. "So then, tell me, what is your name?"
Ruffnut leaned forward and spit in Alvin's face. "Fuck you, you had Astrid on this island and you don't even know who she is!"
Alvin drew back his hand and punched her face suddenly. "Bitch." He stood up, glaring down at the frail looking woman before him.
Another small boat arrived and Savage, Alvin's second hand man, mounted the ship as well.
Savage came onto the boat later. “This fucking girl killed seven of our soldiers and one trainee!” He said, glaring down at her. Then, he saw how Dagur was staring at the bound girl before them. “W-What?”
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 3:20:49 GMT -5
“I think I’d like that, I can’t go face him until we bring Ruffnut back home. He may have been harsh, but part of what he said was right, I should have been the one to come out here,” Tuffnut said before standing up. “I’m not going to just sit here and be sad though. She’d be working her butt off to find me and I am going to do the exact same for her. That’s a promise,” he said before looking over at Astrid. “Thanks for listening, I guess I just don’t really know how to fully settle all that I’m feeling…”
--
After Alvin punched her in the face, Dagur’s eyes narrowed. This girl was protecting Astrid. She was enduring all this torture just to protect another one of her people? It took a special kind of strength to do that. How easy would it have been for her to just say that they had the wrong girl? The torture might have even stopped, but this girl bought days of time for Berk to be ready in case another attempt was made. This girl was smart, and it was clear where her loyalty was. Dagur couldn’t help but smile.
“Alvin, you will not harm this girl again. She’s not involved in this conflict. No more tortures or beatings, or this truce will end immediately,” Dagur said flatly. This was not a matter that was up for debate with him. Astrid was a rider and part of the disease that was infecting Berk right now, this girl was just a warrior though, she just followed orders. She shouldn’t be hurt because of what her leaders did.
As Savage jumped on to the ship Dagur immediately turned to him. “You,” he said with a particular bit of malice in his voice. “Did you even bother to listen to the description that I gave of Astrid when I sent you on this mission?” he demanded as those eyes burrowed right in to Savage’s. “You got the wrong girl, and because of that we’ve wasted the last three days and you’ve been torturing the wrong person! How stupid are you people!?” Dagur shouted angrily.
This whole plan was completely falling apart, and he was clearly not having the best time expressing it.
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 3:33:01 GMT -5
Astrid nodded, "I don't think you should stay out here alone. You could stay with Hiccup, or Fishlegs, even Snotlout. Anyone would take you in, Tuffnut, especially now. It's not good for you to sleep out here, in the middle the darkness, in the middle of the woods, waiting for her. You belong in the village, with us, with your family when Ruffnut isn't here to be with you." She stood, pulling Tuffnut to his feet suddenly. She was smaller than Ruffnut, but she was almost just as strong. "Come on, you belong with us."
- - -
Alvin rounded on Dagur. "Excuse me?" he asked angrily. "You think you have some right to tell me what to do with me own prisoner boy?" He asked, glaring down upon the boy.
"She's a member of Berk." Alvin countered. "She's involved, guilt by association. Her tribe rides dragons, and I bet she does too."
Dagur was well built, but so was Alvin. "She is involved in the conflict, she has to be. She sent two of the younger dragon riders off the mountain when they found her." Alvin then pointed to Savage. "You, tell him."
Savage sighed, heavily, obviously annoyed. "Well, you see..." He told Dagur. "This girl was up on the Flower Cliff when we yanked her, having separated two boys who were fighting. She then summoned their dragons and sent them off before we grabbed her." A pause and Savage looked to Ruffnut. "Who... is she?" He questioned.
Alvin looked down at the girl he'd punched and then back to Dagur. "You seem to be familiar with this girl, so tell me, if she's not Astrid, who is she?"
Ruffnut spit blood out of her mouth at Alvin's feet. Her stubbornness was evident in who she was. And it seemed like she didn't learn. "Let me go and I'll show you." She growled.
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 17:24:47 GMT -5
Tuffnut listened in silence, unsure whether or not he should accept the kindness. The tribe was your family, everyone in it was your family. He had heard words like this frequently when he was a child and still believed him, but did he still deserve their love after losing his sister? While others may not see it as his fault, he still couldn’t help but feel a large block of fear placed on his shoulders. If she never came home, could he ever accept that?
Thankfully Astrid’s head was almost as hard as the twins. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, going as far as to pull Tuffnut to his feet to insist that he was coming back. “You’re right, of course you’re right,” he said with several nods. “I needed that Astrid, thanks…let’s go home.”
--
Dagur was quiet for some time as Alvin and Savage explained the reasoning behind why they had taken Ruffnut. After seeing her instruct two dragons to leave they had assumed that she was Astrid. Figures, only a bunch of fools would bother to not confirm this information. Dagur rubbed his eyes, doing his best to control his temper. As much as he wanted to unleash his fury on everyone around him, he knew that he was still in enemy territory. While he was willing to work with these outcasts, he didn’t trust them yet.
“Her name is Ruffnut, she’s a daughter of one of Stoic’s council,” Dagur explained. “She’s around hiccup’s age but she’s not a rider. She’s a warrior,” he explained as he had no knowledge that either of the twins had a dragon that they shared. It was ironic considering it was their dragon that he had nearly killed all those years ago. “I doubt you’ll get any tips on dragon training from her. I’m guessing those dragons listened to her because Hiccup ordered the dragons to never fight against their own…..it is strange though,” Dagur said more to himself than to Alvin.
“Take her back to her cell. Your men have had their chance, it’s my turn to speak with her.”
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Post by Fateful on Nov 4, 2013 17:48:54 GMT -5
Astrid and Tuffnut didn't tell anyone what happened in the Great Hall, and it seemed none of the father's told their children what Tuffnut Sr. had done to his son. Not even Stoick. The reaction had been fueled by anger. Stoick made sure to speak with Tuffnut Sr., later, in private, warning him that he had a similar reaction when he found out that Hiccup had trained Toothless. He had almost lost his son, so if Tuffnut Sr. didn't want to lose his son in combination to his daughter's kidnapping, he should make it clear that this was not totally his son's fault, as Stoick assumed some responsibility, since she was not protected in his village.
The dragon trainers went into overdrive. Their students were excited, not that Ruffnut was gone, but that they finally had missions, true missions. They were sent around the island and asked to preform searches, security details, all the things they'd dreamed of doing when they started this. Ruffnut's students weren't in as high spirits and neither were Tuffnuts. They preformed their duties, but were worried about both of their teachers. Ruffnut was gone and Tuffnut was depressed.
- - -
Dagur remembered who she was. That surprised Ruffnut, actually. Granted, she was the only one that ever stood up to him. When they were around nine, Dagur had started to push Snotlout around. Whereas Snotlout thought it was funny, he soon turned the tables to Tuffnut, making him a mutual target. Since the twins were younger than both Dagur and Snotlout, she stood up for her brother and told them to leave him alone. This made the two boys laugh since Tuffnut needed his little sister to protect her. Ruffnut punched Snotlout to the ground and tackled Dagur, wrestling him to the ground and pinning him there. She glared down at him and said that just because he was Oswald's son, it didn't make him special. She slammed a rock to his face and climbed off him and went to her brother. As kids, everyone respected Dagur and never criticized him. She had been the only person to ever do so, not giving him respect until he earned it from her.
And, he seemed to be earning back all the respect he lost. Until, she realized he didn't know she had a dragon. It made sense, Barf and Belch had no saddle on when Dagur tried to kill them. BarfBelch were arguing so they weren't as efficient. At least until the twins made up.
Knowing the sheer man power that Dagur had, having the largest of the tribes in the area, he nodded. "Bring her back to the prison, but put her in the high security area." This part was metal cells, rather than the rock cell underground where he'd kept Hiccup and where Ruffnut had just escaped from. There was a pause as they sailed the ship back to the docks and carried her back to the prison. They imprisoned her in a smaller cell, but it had a bed and was reinforced, making it hard to get out of. The door was partially metal and you could only see through half of it.
It made escape more complicated. These were modeled after the ones they had in Berk. But there was only two of them, so they were in short supply.
Alvin looked to Dagur. "We have a traitor that came to our side from Berk. Get Mildew." He ordered Savage. "Now, she's useless to us. But, Hiccup is a sentimental lad. He might come for a friend. Come, you want to talk to her, I'll allow it." He then lead Dagur up to the prison cells. The top part of the door was bars and they could see her standing in it. The bototm part of the door was solid steel melted together.
Savage left and returned with Mildew.
Mildew looked surprised, pointing his cane toward her. "You idiots grabbed the wrong girl! This is one of the Thorston twins!"
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Post by nyrax on Nov 4, 2013 19:00:14 GMT -5
Dagur had been to Berk many times since he was young. Usually they were there every few years with his father in order to ensure that Berk and the Berserkers kept up the terms for the treaty they signed. Every few years they would renew it and Dagur would get to see what another tribe looked like. He had always gotten around Berk on his own, letting himself basically take free reign on his trip there. He often got in to fights, and he remembered the incident that he had with the twins. She wasn’t afraid of him, she had never been afraid of him.
That was something that Dagur had never forgotten. Even dragons had turned and fled from him, what did that make this woman?
He couldn’t help but smile when Alvin seemed to agree to his demands. Despite the fact that Dagur only had a few men with him, Alvin recognized what could potentially happen if he angered Dagur so much. The ferocity of the Berserker clan was starting to return, and Dagur was happier than ever for it. First Alvin would fear him, and it wouldn’t be long till Berk and all of their dragon riders feared him as well. He walked in silence up to the cells, waiting to see where he would be able to speak to Ruffnut.
Dagur glanced over as he saw Savage going to get this traitor that they had talked about. Interesting, he couldn’t help but wonder who it was. Berk’s people were known to be painfully optimistic, so who would betray the entire village to the outcasts? Dagur didn’t know, but he’d find out soon enough.
“They aren’t going to touch you again, I promise I’ll cut off their hands if one of them even lays a finger upon you. Odin help them if they kick you,” Dagur said before laughing to himself at the idea of what he might do to an outcast. He wondered if Alvin would end the treaty just because one of his men died…perhaps that was something that should be tested later?
Eventually the old man was brought back and Mildew proclaimed his statement. “I know, I was just telling them that a minute ago,” Dagur said with frustration. God were all these people going to be useless!? “Next time maybe you should make sure your soldiers actually know who they’re going after” Dagur mumbled as his eyes fell back on Ruffnut. She was well secured, and he still felt bad for what happened to her. She was innocent in this whole affair…or so Dagur thought.
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