Ruffnut awoke to banging on her bedroom door. Before she could even get her feet on the floor her best and only female friend slammed the door open with a look of panic on her face. Ruff look at her drearily for a moment before falling back on to her pillow, full intent on falling back asleep. "Ruff, you need to get up and get ready. We only have three hours until the party begins!" Astrid ripped the blankets off of her friends bed as she spoke, distress obvious in her voice.
Ruffnut only groaned and rolled on to her side. "Let me sleep for at least another two hours Astrid," she mumbled to the girl who she knew was not listening. The sound of a latch being undone and the lid of her trunk being thrown open pulled her from her dreamlike state very quickly. She flew out of her bed and over to the trunk, slamming it shut before Astrid could see what was inside. "I am not wearing a dress dammit! I already explained this to you. I do not wear dresses." She glared at the other girl who gave her a look of pure boredom as if to say "I heard you the first time, that doesn't mean I care what you have to say."
"Ruff, you know the elder told ALL of us that we absolutely HAVE to wear dresses to the party tonight for the presentation. If I have to do this, so do you." Her tone was very final as she pulled her friend out of the way by her hair and opened the trunk once more, ignoring the other girls protests. She reached in and pulled out several dresses, throwing them all in a row on Ruffnuts bed. With a sigh of defeat the platinum haired girl went to a small table in the corner of her room and picked up a brush, allowing her friend to be the one to decide what hideous monstrosity she would have to wear today.
A gasp of pure awe forced her to turn around and look at her friend and the horrors that lay on her bed. Her eyes fell upon a form of white fabric, a dress with long sleeves that would bell out at the ends to dangle gracefully from her wrists. The bodice and waste were tight, designed to show off her very lacking features. The neckline plunged furthers than she felt was modest though a slight up the side allowed for easier movement. Silver thread adorned the edges in a border along the cuffs and neckline. It had been her mothers before she had died in a Dragon raid some three years earlier. Their father remarried almost immediately and they welcomed their new mother with much enthusiasm. She had been their aunt who they loved dearly and had been widowed without children when they were very young.
She knew immediately that Astrid intended for her to wear her mothers dress to the party that evening. With a small sigh and a forced smile she agreed to the dress. "We should go get cleaned up and dressed and all that. After all, you don't wanna smell bad for your beloved Hiccup," she teased lightly as she grabbed the dress and headed for the door. Astrid rolled her eyes and threw the brush her friend had been using moments before at the back of her head. Years of training were not wasted as she dodged the projectile. Looking down at it she smirked, "I should bring that with me, shouldn't I."
Going down the stairs her smile softened when she was that her brother had kept his word and did the cleaning. Stepping outside in to the sunshine she couldn't help but let the beauty of the scene before her make her heart soar. Dragons of all different kinds soared and perched all around the village, a very welcome sight in her mind as she had been sitting in a dark hut all month trying to finish her wall in time. She looked to Astrid at the thought of the walls and almost sighed once more. She knew that Astrids wall would be chosen to adorn the Mead Hall and be admired for years to come. This knowledge and the knowledge that all of the time and effort that she put in to her wall would have been wasted caused a spark of jealousy to rise within her.
She began to descend to the village below, intent on going to Astrids home to bathe and get ready. She would have stayed at home to get ready, but her parents had gone out that morning to help with the hunting for the party and she would have no help to get ready. As she walked along the streets she noticed boys around her age staring at her, only then realizing that she had not put her hair back up and her helmet back on before venturing out. Astrid snickered next to her, obviously having noticed what was going on. Ruffnut was by no means an unattractive girl, but she did her best to hide this fact by wearing her helmet at all times and never allowing her hair to be down. With and inward groan she reminded herself that it would be a horrible idea to kill all of these buys right now. After all, she didn't want to accidentally rip or stain her mothers dress.
After what seemed like an eternity they arrived at Astrids home. They followed a small path behind the house where a large tub of hot water awaited them. Without acknowledging each other they sauntered to the wall where they would get undressed and climb in to the tub. An awning had been built over the top to keep boys for peeking as the girls bathed, also trapping some of the steam in the three walls around them. They both sank slowly in to the warm water and began to clean themselves. They took turns scrubbing the others back, chatting about everything and nothing all at once. They were good friends but both had been raised to be very independent, neither willing to share deep secrets or emotions that would cause them to be perceived as weak.
As they began to finish up Ruffnut heard a distinct rustling from the bushes across the way. Without seeming like she noticed it she turned from the bushes and told Astrid in a hushed and conspiratorial tone "We're being watched." Acting as if nothing were wrong Astrid grinned and made a quiet but shrill whistling noise. Soon enough a Nadder came in to view, seeming as if it were looking for food. It was Astrids Dragon StormSpike. Slowly it made its way over to the bushes before pouncing. Two surprised yelps and a deep scream came from the bushes. The yelps were expected, Snotlout and Tuffnut spying on Astrid in the tub again. However, the sound of Fishlegs yell was a surprise to them both as all three boys ran out of the bushes only to be tripped by the Nadder.
"You boys do realize we could to all you in to Stoic for this, right?" Astrid kept her tone light but an edge of raw fury was evident in her voice. Ruff, on the other hand, was trying hard not to laugh at the three boys and their childish attempt as spying. They all nodded in response to Astrids tone, before looking at one another. With a collective gulp they looked back at the Nadder who took the opportunity to chase them out of the yard.
"I swear, we had an easier time of training the dragons than we ever will of training them," Ruffnut exclaimed between laughs. Astrid nodded, her own laughs quieter but still not allowing her to speak. With a grin she began to exit the tub and get ready to get dressed. With a sigh Ruff slowly began to do the same. The cold air hit her body with a gust as she shivered her way to a towel and in to the house. Once inside Astrid beckoned her mother over to assist her with braiding her hair for the festivities of the evening. Without having to be told, Ruffnut sat in front of her friend, welcoming the heat of the fire that they sat next to.
"You should wear your hair down more often Ruff. It looks nice." Astrid ran a brush through platinum hair with a ting of envy. Her own hair was much thinner than Ruffs, and hardly as soft. "Not to mention a lot of the buys seemed to really like it this way."
Astrids mother chuckled at this, and looked at Ruffnut over her daughters shoulder. "I agree with Astrid dear, you do look lovely."
Ruff grinned at the compliment, doing her best to stay still for Astrid. "I don't care what the boys think. My dad will set up a marriage for me with whoever he wants. As longs they obey me, I won't really care who they are. And if they don't, well, that's what a hammer is for." This caused all three of them to laugh before they began to tell stories of some of the stupider things the men in their lives had done. Ruff felt a small twinge in her chest at the mention of Hiccup and Astrid on a date, but was careful to keep it to herself.
When they had finally finished with their hair the girls slipped in to their dresses. Astrid wore a beautifully embroidered blue dress with gold trim. A golden crown was placed upon her head to go with the dress. Ruffnut could not help but admire how beautiful she looked at that moment. She half expected some king to knock the door down at take her away to some happily ever after any moment now.
Astrids mother smiled as she pulled out another crown, wrought in silver that she handed to Ruff. The girl looked at it in confusion before sending that look to the woman before her. With a kind smiled the older woman spoke softly, "It was something that belonged to your mother when she was your age. Right before she died she asked me to fix it if I could. She said that if something were to happen to her, to give it to you when I felt the time was right."
Ruffnut was looked back at the small crown before throwing her arms around Astrids mother. She placed the crown on her head and looked in the small mirror that Astrid held before her. Her hair was mostly down, only small braids scattered throughout. The crown rested perfectly upon her head, watching the light just right. As wonderful as she looked she could not help but to feel a bit foolish. After all, it would only be a birthday party for Hiccup going on tonight. What was so important about that that she needed to get dressed up for?