WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS!
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Must we go through this warning every time? -_- XD Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the last fanfiction and enjoy this one just as much! A lot of Tuffnut and Hiccup, I can promise you. ;) Anyways, I don't have much to say, so I'm just going to leave you with, ENJOY CHAPTER 1! :D Love you guys! :D
The riders were packing bags in the Clubhouse one bright, sunny morning; Snotlout was less than thrilled, and the twins were trying to figure out which side their satchel opened from while Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Astrid loaded blankets and water canteens into their satchels.
"Ugh, I still don't know why we have to do this stupid exercise," said Snotlout angrily. "What good is it hiking to the top of the coldest mountain, staying there overnight, and then hiking back down again? I don't see the logic in that!"
"You wouldn't," said Fishlegs. "This is an exercise to help us work on our survival, without our dragons. Who knows. Maybe someday we'll be stranded for real, and you'll look back on this moment and say, Wow, I am really glad I went through with that exercise."
"I will never in my life say that," said Snotlout angrily, crossing his arms.
"Hey, Snotlout," said Tuffnut, "do the things go in the satchel, or are we supposed to somehow glue them to the satchel?"
"And then," said Snotlout, gesturing to the twins, "there's them. How am I supposed to deal with them all day while we hike to Frost's Peak?"
Hiccup didn't have the chance to answer. Their dragons suddenly lifted their heads, and the doors of the Clubhouse were thrown open. Gobber stepped into the Clubhouse, and Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid, and the twins stopped what they were doing to raise their heads.
"Gobber!" Hiccup said in greeting, snapping his satchel shut and approaching them. "What brings you all the way out here to Dragon's Edge?"
Gobber shrugged. "Stoick sent me with news from Berk," said Gobber, fingering the hook of his hand. "The Murderous Tribe is visiting to renew the peace treaty."
"Oh, and last time the Murderous Tribe was here, that went really well," said Snotlout sarcastically, not even looking at Gobber. "If I remember right, they tried to kill us. All of us!"
"Actually, Snotlout, just you," said Astrid flatly. "You stole the heir's axe and nearly started a war."
"That," said Snotlout, "was not my fault!"
"Well, this time, we have dragons," said Gobber, "and the Murderous Tribe won't do anything. Stoick is sure of it. But, unfortunately, I have a bit of bad news."
"Bad news?" said Tuffnut excitedly. "Oooh, awesome! What kind of bad news are we talking? If it has to do with blowing stuff up, I am entirely interested."
"No, not that," said Gobber. "This bad news will only affect two of you...namely Fishlegs and Snotlout."
"What!?" blurted Fishlegs and Snotlout at the same time.
"Well, Snotlout," said Gobber, "your father asked for you. He's good friends with the Chief of the Murderous Tribe and wanted to reintroduce you in a new light...one that doesn't involve stealing the heir's favorite axe."
Snotlout raised his hand to protest, but suddenly, Tuffnut shouted, "Hey, Snot-Face, we need that glue pretty quick!"
Snotlout reconsidered. "If I go to Berk," he said, "does that mean I get out of Hiccup's stupid training exercise?"
Hiccup and Astrid crossed their arms and glared at him, though Gobber didn't seem to notice.
"Well, you have to leave for Berk right away, Snotlout," said Gobber, "so I suppose-"
"YES!" cheered Snotlout, throwing his hands into the air. "Take that, Hiccup! I am never doing the stupid Frost's Peak challenge, ever!" He grabbed his bag, already packed, slung it over his shoulder, and raced outside, calling to Hookfang before Hiccup could even try to stop him.
"And why does that affect me?" asked Fishlegs, twiddling his fingers.
"Well, ah...you were good friends with the heir of the Murderous Tribe last they came," said Gobber. "Stoick thinks it would be best if you were there to preoccupy him during the treaty signing."
"I don't want to!" protested Fishlegs. "The heir of the Murderous Tribe is horrible, Gobber! I was only his friend because I was afraid not to be!"
"My kind of person," said Tuffnut. "The kind of person that strikes fear into your very hearts and forces friendship upon others!"
"It's the Chief's orders, Fishlegs," said Gobber.
"And what about the rest of us?" Hiccup asked. "Does my father want us there, too?"
"Eh...he thinks it's better if you don't," said Gobber. "The Murderous Tribe is a bit...hostile towards hiccups. And bringing the twins to a peace treaty signing with the Murderous Tribe is...not a good idea."
No clarification was needed for that.
"Alright," said Hiccup. "Astrid, the twins and I will stay here and guard the Edge."
"Are you sure I can't stay behind?" Fishlegs asked desperately.
"Sorry, Fishlegs," said Gobber.
Fishlegs sighed heavily. "Alright…" he said quietly.
...
Hiccup, Astrid, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut hiked up the large, steep, snow-covered mountain of Frost's Peak in the light of midday, carrying walking sticks. Tuffnut lagged behind the rest of them, panting heavily for breath.
The dragons were back at the Edge, Snotlout and Fishlegs had left for Berk with Gobber, and though the sky was clear, the warmth of the sun didn't seem to reach them. They carried heavy packs on their backs, and had been walking for hours with no indication of stopping any time soon.
"Wouldn't this...have been...easier...if we'd...have brought...the dragons?" he gasped between breaths, trying to pull himself along without much gain.
"You're missing the point of this exercise, Tuffnut," said Astrid from where she was walking beside Hiccup, breathing surprisingly normally for someone embarking on such a climb.
"I'm missing something," moaned Tuffnut, "because you obviously have something magic in your pack that makes it not weigh anything." He let his pack slip off his back, and he flopped down to the ground. "I'm tired," he said, voice muffled by the snow.
"Come on, bro," said Ruffnut. "You've been moping like this since the minute we left the Edge. You're not tired. You're bored."
"And you can't tell me you aren't!" said Tuffnut defensively, raising his head long enough to speak. "I have never before felt so bored before in my life! You can't light snow on fire! Why are we even bothering?"
Ruffnut sighed heavily. "You know," she said to Hiccup and Astrid, "this would go a lot faster if we left Tuffnut behind. Why not? He'd enjoy it a lot more than he would following us."
"This isn't about leaving Tuffnut behind," said Hiccup, "this is about us getting on on our own without our dragons. When we get to the top of the mountain, we'll set up camp, stay there for the night, and then head home."
"Leave me!" said Tuffnut dramatically. "Save yourselves!"
"Come on, Tuffnut, hurry up," said Ruffnut. "Stop being such a drama llama."
"A drama what?" said Hiccup.
"I couldn't think of anything else to rhyme with drama," said Ruffnut, shrugging. "But honestly, Tuff. Normally I'd be right behind you on slacking, but it was my turn to slack yesterday."
"Which means it's my turn to slack today," said Tuffnut logically. "So leave me to slack in silence, please. Let me die of boredom."
"He's done it about five times to date," said Ruffnut to Hiccup and Astrid.
"Okay...whatever," said Hiccup, facepalming. "Come on, guys. The sooner we get to the top of the mountain, the sooner we can finish this exercise and get home, alright?"
He pulled his pack higher over his shoulder and trekked on, Tuffnut finally dragging himself to his feet and following reluctantly.
They reached the top of the mountain just before night fell over the terrain. Tuffnut flopped down on the white snow, burying his face in it once again, dropping his walking stick and letting his pack roll off his back.
"Come on, bro," said Ruffnut, "you can at least help me pitch our tent. I had to carry it all the way here in my pack. What did you have to carry?"
"Macey," said Tuffnut, pulling his mace (the only thing in his pack) out of his satchel.
"Oh, well, I guess that is important," said Ruffnut, dropping her satchel in front of him, "but since I carried the tent, you have to pitch it yourself."
"I will," said Tuffnut.
But when it finally came time to go to sleep, Tuffnut and Ruffnut's tent was left unpitched, while Hiccup and Astrid just finished pitching their own. Ruffnut, groaning, grabbed her pack off the ground and began putting their tent up while Tuffnut polished Macey's spikes, one by one.
"Look, I know we both hate working," said Ruffnut, more to herself than to Tuffnut as she set up their tent, "but honestly, I could use some help every once in awhile, bro-"
"Fetch the stick, Macey!" said Tuffnut, picking a stick off the snow and throwing it. "Come on, Macey! I believe in you!"
Macey didn't move.
"Oh well!" said Tuffnut. "We'll try again later!"
Ruffnut rolled her eyes and finished pitching the tent by herself.
"Well, Ruffnut, you got the tent up fast," said Hiccup when Ruffnut had huddled herself inside the tent. "I'm impressed."
"Well, it would have gotten up sooner," said Ruffnut, "if someone, who shall be nameless, hadn't been playing tea party with his mace."
Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, back at the twins, shrugged, and headed to bed themselves, each to their own tent. Tuffnut eventually went to sleep, unaware of Ruffnut's anger towards his slacking.
The first hours of the night were clear, but then, slowly but surely, a harsh wind began blowing. Clouds rolled in ominously, and snow fluttered down from them. The wind swept the snow up and blew it in flurries, tossing the flakes seemingly aimlessly.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut bolted awake when their tent was blown off of them and into the wind. "HEY!" Ruffnut shouted. "WHAT GIVES!?"
Astrid and Hiccup woke up to their shout. The wind was howling, and the wind was blowing so harshly it was hard to see in front of them.
"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, trying to get her voice across the wind. "We should call the dragons!"
"I can't hear you!" Hiccup shouted back. "Astrid!"
"I SAID," shouted Astrid, "WE SHOULD CALL THE DRAGONS!"
"WHAT!?" shouted Ruffnut. "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE OUR FLAGONS ARE?"
"NO! OUR DRAGONS!"
"I DIDN'T BRING ANY FLAGONS!" said Ruffnut. "YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GET YOUR OWN!"
Even if they did call the dragons, it wouldn't have done much good. Even with the dragons' sensitive hearing, they wouldn't be able to hear their riders shouting through the wind.
"EVERYONE!" Hiccup shouted, hoping against hope they could hear him. "FIND SAFE COVER! HEAD TO THE EDGE WHEN THE STORM BLOWS OVER!"
"ALRIGHT!" shouted Astrid. "WE'll GO TO THE CAVES, THEY'RE REALLY CLOSE, JUST FOLLOW US DOWN THE-"
The rest of what she said was swept away by the wind of the storm, and Ruffnut and Astrid, thinking Hiccup and Tuffnut had heard them raced away together, towards the caves found slightly below the top of the island.
"ASTRID!" Hiccup shouted into the storm. "ASTRID!"
No answer. The wind whistled mockingly back at him, echoing his voice. Tuffnut stumbled about the snow, either unaware or undaunted by the wind and snow that surrounded them. "I CAN'T FIND MACEY!" Tuffnut shouted. "MACEY! MACEY!"
Tuffnut started walking, searching helplessly. He didn't realize he was heading towards the edge of the mountain's peak, and even when Hiccup realized this, it was a bit too late.
"TUFFNUT, LOOK OUT!" Hiccup shouted, but Tuffnut slipped and tumbled down the side of the mountain. "TUFFNUT!" Hiccup yelled, and he raced after him.
…
Astrid and Ruffnut ducked into the cave, and the wind was cut off abruptly. Astrid and Ruffnut gasped for breath; running through wind blowing in your direction wasn't always the easiest thing to do.
Astrid looked behind, expecting to see Hiccup race through the mouth of the cave after them...but he didn't. Ruffnut sat up and looked towards the cave's mouth, looking for her brother.
"Where're Hiccup and Tuffnut?" Astrid asked dumbly.
"I thought they were following you," said Ruffnut flatly.
Astrid swallowed hard and stared out the cave. She got to her feet quickly, preparing to race out, and Ruffnut did the same beside her.
But just before they stepped back into the storm they had only just escaped, they froze. The wind was howling. The snow was thick. There was no way they would be able to find Hiccup and Tuffnut in the storm.
"We'll wait out the storm," said Astrid determinedly, clutching the charm of the amber necklace Hiccup had given her, as she did when she was worried, "and look for them as soon as it lets up."
Ruffnut swallowed thickly. "Okay…" she said uncertainly.
The two turned and watched the storm outside, waiting impatiently for it to end.