I do not own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.

Dare suggested by FlowerPoweredCow.

Burn It Off

Snotlout strode up to the Thorston residence, squinting against the afternoon sunlight. Their disastrous awake-a-thon had ended hours ago, and he had managed to snag five hours of sleep before his father found him snoozing and kicked him out.

"A guy can't sleep until late afternoon anymore," he muttered in irritation. But though his senses were still a bit sluggish, his brain was active, and he had come up with a dare to give to Ruffnut.

He shoved the front door open (as was his custom when it came to the rough-and-tough twins) and the slab of wood smacked against the stone wall. Grunting at the sound, Tuffnut rolled over in his bed and squinted at the figure framed in the doorway.

"What do you want?" he whined, pulling his covers over his head.

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Shut up and go back to sleep. I need your sister, not you."

"But I don't want to talk to you," groaned Ruffnut.

"And who can sleep with your big mouth flapping?" muttered Tuffnut.

Snotlout gave the boy a sharp kick for his remark before turning back to Ruffnut with his hands on his hips. "By refusing to listen to me you refuse a dare."

Ruffnut reluctantly sat up and pushed a strand of pink hair away from her eyes. "Alright, what is it?"

"It came to me in a dream-" began Snotlout dramatically.

Ruffnut snorted. "Give me a break."

"And what came to me was this-I dare you to light an end of Gobber's mustache on fire."

Tuffnut snorted from beneath his covers and Ruffnut stared at her friend with wide eyes. "Are you crazy?" she cried. "He's going to kill me!"

"Bonus for me," said Snotlout snippily.

Ruffnut threw her pillow at him. Snotlout spluttered as the yellowed object struck him in the face, which quickly turned to gagging. "Ew!" He chucked the foul-smelling item to the floor. "What's on that thing?"

"You don't want to know," muttered Tuffnut. He peeked out and asked, "You gonna do it sis?"

Ruffnut pursed her lips. "Fine!"

Snotlout grinned. "You have until tomorrow morning. I'll look forward to hearing the screams-whether it's you or Gobber doesn't matter."

"Jerk," said Ruffnut with a scowl as the Jorgenson boy departed. She flopped back against her bed with a frown. "Can't even catch a break."

"There are no breaks in a dare war," said Tuffnut seriously.

Ruffnut yanked on her pink strands. "And I missed my chance to wash this stuff out when it rained during our awake-a-thon."

Tuffnut's lips curled. "Yeah. Well, I'm sure you'll…get another chance."

Though it wouldn't do any good, considering he sabotaged the hair dye with large amounts of sap to ensure the colour would not get out easily. But of course she didn't know that.

Because if she did, he would most certainly be dead.

…

Night soon descended upon the island of Berk, silver stars sparkling in the inky expanse above. Ruffnut slipped out of her home and made her way silently down the dirt pathway that snaked through the village.

"Wait up!"

The whispered yell nearly caused her heart to jump out of her chest. She glanced over her shoulder and scowled. "What are you doing?" she hissed, punching her brother in the shoulder the second he was close enough for her to strike.

Tuffnut didn't even flinch. "You think I'm missing this?"

Ruffnut crossed her arms. "You think I'm taking you along?"

"Ah, come on, sis. I'm not going to get you busted. Swear."

She eyed him doubtfully. "I can't believe I'm saying this…fine. But you better keep that promise. If Gobber throws my butt to nearest island, you can be sure you're coming with me."

They continued on their way, with Ruffnut pausing only for a moment when she spotted a pair of stones she could use to create a spark big enough to set Gobber's impressive mustache on fire. "So…forge or his house?" wondered Ruffnut.

Tuffnut squinted ahead, but he could not see the orange orb of light that normally shone through the window of the forge when its blacksmith was there. "Home," he replied.

The twins went for Gobber's abode, finding the place dark as well. "Here's hoping he's sleeping," said Ruffnut as she approached the door. "Or this is going to be awkward to explain."

The door creaked as it opened the two froze at the sound. They waited tensely, but relaxed when they heard Gobber's thunderous snores coming from upstairs.

"Should we, I don't know, come up with an escape plan?"

Ruffnut glanced at her brother, mildly impressed by his rare showing of smart thinking. "Well…he's upstairs. We could dive out the window or something."

Tuffnut blinked before nodding. "That works."

The two snuck upstairs. Ruffnut peeked around the doorframe and stared at the massive lump under the covers, the snores coming the large form seeming to rock the room. Taking a deep breath, Ruffnut gripped her stones and crept towards the edge of the bed.

Tuffnut inched his way over to the window, wanting to be the first one out in case all heck broke loose. He flashed his sister a thumbs-up in encouragement, and she rolled her eyes in return.

She held the stones over the right end of Gobber's long blonde mustache. Taking a quick breath, she struck the stones together in a rapid motion until a spark flew off and landed on the strands of hair. It instantly started to smoke, small flames flicking.

Ruffnut shoved her brother out the window, gave Gobber a harsh kick to wake him up before flying out the window after her brother.

Gobber jolted up, a hand flying to his aching side and his mind in a confused haze. The confusion immediately turned to panic when he discovered his rapidly-flaming mustache.

"Aagghh!"

…

Hiccup entered the Great Hall the following morning at breakfast, zeroing in on his friends sitting at the back of the hall. He went over to them and sat down next to Astrid. "So," he said conversationally. "I heard an impressive scream come from Gobber's house last night. What happened and who was the cause?"

"I gave the dare," said Snotlout cheerfully.

"And I was the one who went through with it," added Ruffnut.

Hiccup frowned. "But what did you do?"

Ruffnut smiled slightly. "I'm sure you'll see soon enough."

Five minutes later, the doors to the Great Hall swung open with a solid bang. Everyone whirled around to see who had made such a loud entrance, and laughter quickly filled the hall.

Gobber slowly walked down the aisle, eyes hard with fury. His mustache was completely gone, but the teens could make out singe marks on the right side of his face.

"He looks ready to kill someone," said Astrid lowly.

"I can't believe you did that," breathed Hiccup.

Ruffnut shrugged. "I'm in it to win it."

Before anyone could respond, a heavy hand slammed onto their tabletop, causing every to shriek and jump. They all looked up to see Gobber glowering down at them, and Ruffnut tried not to look extremely guilty.

"If I ever find out one of you is the cause of this," he said dangerously, "I promise you will wish for death after I'm through with you. Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir!" they said hastily.

Gobber stormed off, and Ruffnut blinked. "I think I'm going to pass out now."

And she promptly proceeded to do just that.

Next chapter: In which Ruffnut dares Hiccup.