Ruffnut stood at the grave. The rocks that marked it were worn around the bottom but newer on top, for if they ever fell, they were dutifully restacked. The world shook around her as her graying hair pulled across her neck and face as the wind howled. An urgent hand appeared on her shoulder and she turned, seeing Tuffnut's stern scowl.
"It's time to go Ruffnut, we'll miss the boat." He said, tugging gently on her arm, trying his hardest to be sensitive, which wasn't Tuffnut's strength. Ruffnut pulled back, and almost by instinct, pushed his arm.
"I'm not leaving, you know I can't." She said shaking her head and turning back towards the tired grave. Tuff looked at her as the world seemed to fall around them.
"Berk is being destroyed. Thor won't save you. We need to get on the boat and go, Ruff." He pleaded, looking at his twin of almost 50 years. She turned to him as the cliff face they were standing on started to deteriorate at the edge.
"I'm sorry Tuff. I love you. I never said it enough but just go, okay?" She asked glancing back as rocks began falling off the mountain. Tuffnut was afraid and that much was obvious. He took a step backwards as the rocks rained down and the sky churned.
"I'm…I'm sorry Ruff." He called turning and making his way down the mountain towards the docks, his bad posture making it hard. It had been many years since the dragons had come and gone from Berk, transportation was once again limited to foot. Ruffnut sighed and kneeled by the grave. She wasn't mad at Tuff for leaving, she knew he would, he'd always been scared easily, even more so if physical danger was involved.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered to the pile of stones and dirt as more boulders began to rain down around her slim frame, her entire fight and spark gone from her body. She huddled herself close to the ground and waited. Before long she felt a sharp blow on her head, and felt herself slip away into the utter darkness, she only hoped she see him by the gates to Helheim.
It seemed like only a few moments passed before she awoke. She sat up and blinked a few times clearing her head. She pulled a few fingers through her hair and still felt the rough texture and saw the gray streaks. She had figured that when she died, she'd be young again. She stood slowly and glanced around, realizing now that she stood in the main square of Berk. The storm still churned above her, but things seemed to be quiet. She walked towards her home slowly, not sure where else to go. But then she heard a voice, and knew she was dead.
"Hey Ruff, how have you been?" She heard him ask. A smile spread over her face as she turned and found a young man perched on the edge of a roof, his feet, one made of metal, hung carelessly over the side. His longish brown hair fluttered in a wind she could not feel, but his eyes sparkled like they always had, his mouth widening in to a toothy lopsided grin. He rested his elbows on his knees and looked down at her.
"Hiccup." It wasn't so much of a question as a declaration of joy. It had been many long years since she saw his smiling face. She looked over him quickly, he didn't look that much different than the day he left, walking out the door, making some witty adage, and never coming home. When she said his name, his grin widened, showing off the dark freckles on his almost translucent skin.
"Glad to know you still remember me." He said with his lazy half joking mannerisms. She smirked, the corner of her mouth tipping up like it hadn't in a long time.
"of course I remember you, you wouldn't let me forget. But more importantly, am I dead, is this Helheim?" She asked, walking closer to his perch slowly and looking around at what she was sure was the place she had lived all her life. Hiccup shook his head, his hair jostled in the wind as he too looked around.
"No, still Berk. Though it doesn't seem like much will be left soon." He said his eyebrows knitting as he reflexively looked towards where the smith shop used to stand. Ruffnut scoffed and looked up at him.
"Good, I'm glad this isn't Helhiem, this place is a wreck." She said with distain, "Who'd want to spend eternity here?" She crossed her arms as a bored look came across her face, though honestly she couldn't be happier. She feared she'd never see Hiccup again, figured he'd gone to Valhalla, where heroes go if they die a death of honor. She would go to Helheim, like every other normal Viking. Her features softened quickly as she wondered what would become of her, and what had become of him.
:What are you doing here Hic'?" She asked, starting to wonder why he didn't come down to her level, after all they'd been through together, almost 25 years, she figured he'd want to be closer. He smiled but stayed on the decaying roof tops.
"You don't think I'd let you die on a cliff side at a grave would you? I would have paid for that later." He said softly, looking from her to the skies, "Besides, you've got Barf and Belch to worry about still, you know how long dragons live." He added with a shrug. Ruffnut's face twisted into a frown.
"Hiccup I thought you would know that the dragons left years ago, one by one after you…never came home." She said, trying to recall again her last memory of Barf and Belch. She would have laughed at the name her and Tuff had picked if she didn't miss them so much. Hiccup dipped his head, hair falling into his bright eyes before he looked at her again.
"They'll be back Ruff, I promise. You'll see them again, just like you'll see me again." He said looking in the skies once more, to the North." Ruffnut shook her head, taking yet another involuntary step closer to him. The dragons now far from her cluttered mind, she couldn't let him leave without her.
"Hiccup please don't leave. I've missed you. I mean, we all have, though Soutlout always had a problem admitting it, but Hiccup, you loved me for 25 years, please, please don't leave again." She begged, a sob escaping her lips as stinging tears reached her eyes. He pursed his lips and shook his head, looking as if a knife had stabbed his heart.
"Just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not loving you Ruff. Hel, I've spent far too much of my existence thinking about you. A chance to see you like this, it…it never happens. And it won't happen again. But gods Ruffnut. Never think I only loved you for those years we were married." He shook his head again and took a deep breath.
"I really can't let you stay any longer. You can't die here today. The easy road would be to let you die and to finally spend my existence with you but Thor knows I've done the smart thing and taken the easy road." He said with a partial eye roll. Ruffnut wiped her eye as a tear tried to escape and managed a chuckle.
"But really Ruff, I was meant to bring the dragons to Berk, and you're meant to bring them back. I wasn't supposed to tell you…but I figured you'd be too lazy to figure it out on your own and just let Astrid handle it." He chuckled and his eyes twinkled at her as she smirked and crossed her arms.
"You know me so well." She tried not to start crying again but managed to hold it together for Hiccup to finish telling her what he needed to. He looked to the skies one more time and smiled. Over the ridge flew a two headed dragon that was obviously a zippleback, her zippleback. She broke into a wide smile as she saw it circle then land up by the mountain top. Hiccup was smiling too, the wide toothy grin that always made her knees a little weak. He tilted his head and motioned for the mountain peak.
"There's your ride Ruff. Better catch it, spend too much time here and you'll get a reputation like Gothi's." She smiled and opened her mouth one last time as she began to get a little light headed.
"I love you Hiccup. I'll see you soon, and I'll get the dragons back, no help from Tuffnut, I'm sure." She said, her voice sounded so far away and blackness was setting in on the edges of her vision. Out of the dark clouds she saw a flash of midnight black and red and suddenly Toothless was there, Hiccup getting onto his back and patting his head.
"I love you too Ruff, always. And please, don't make it too soon, you gotta lot of living left to do." He smiled sadly and watched her until the blackness had set in completely and she was gone.
You had a lot of living left to do too Hiccup.
Ruffnut awoke as the winds were howling around her, she slowly opened her eyes to see rocks piled around her and more falling quickly. It was tough to move as fast as she used to now that she was almost in her fifties, but she stood quicker than she had in years and turned, seeing Barf and Belch standing there dutifully. She shook her head.
Almighty Thor, I don't know how you did it Hiccup
She thought as she made her way over the rocks to the dragon, giving it a pat, a hug on each head and getting on. She looked once more to the grave before taking off, and she no longer felt stuck there, duty bound or otherwise, because she could feel Hiccup in the winds that tossed her blonde-gray hair, the dust that clung to her skirt. She had a renewed vigor and she felt young again, and if she had to travel to the end of the world, she'd get their dragons back. No one knew why they left. But she'd learn, and bring them home.
She flew off to find the others and didn't look back. But if she had, she would have seen Hiccup standing there on the collapsing cliff, smiling and shaking his head at the impossible girl while Toothless rolled in what was left of the grass. With the next strong wind they were gone.
For the first time in years, Ruffnut was happy.