Tuffnut could hear Astrid's screams from all the way across the village and he assumed she had heard the news as well. Betrothed. Tuffnut and Astrid. Tuff didn't care one way or the other but he didn't want Astrid to be miserable, because like it or not, they were friends. Sort of.
When Mom and Dad told Ruff about her betrothal to Fishlegs she didn't seem to mind. When they were alone in their room, he asked her why she wasn't upset. "I've already been married to him once, so doing it again shouldn't be too bad. And besides," she added. "The wedding won't be for years. He could change." And that was that.
Tuff was happy for his sister but not so much for himself. He had spent time with Astrid before, defending the edge and on patrol and stuff but they had only recently started to become friends. And even that was stretching it a bit.
When Tuff couldn't bear to be alone with only his brain and Chicken for company, he snuck out of the window in his and Ruffs room and wandered around a bit. When it was getting dark and the sun was just starting to set, Tuff went into the woods and climbed the tallest tree to watch the sun sink into the horizon.
When the only light came from the full moon that hung in the sky and there were way more stars then 9 in the sky, Tuff decided maybe it was time to go home.
Just as he got to the third branch from the bottom he heard something and crept a bit higher in the tree. The person who was making all that noise came into his view and it turned out to be Astrid, carrying her huge axe and muttering to herself.
"Betrothed, I can't believe it! How could they, they had no right! I don't even care that it's to Tuffnut! How could they not even discuss it with me first!" She grunted and swing her axe into the tree where Tuff was hiding. He made a yelp as the tree shook and Astrid looked up sharply.
"Who is it? Who's there!" She called, brandishing her axe.
Should he come down and risk getting cut into pieces with an axe, or should he stay out and be safe? Well the answer was pretty obvious. He started to climb down and when he reached the ground he put his hands up and said, "Easy A, point that thing away from me."
Astrid sighed and started to lower her axe but then pushed him against the tree and held the axe under his chin.
"Did you know?" She asked quietly.
Tuff brought his hands up and pushed the axe away from his wind pipe before shaking his head.
She turned and walked a short distance and sat down under a tree. She put her axe down and her head between her knees and didn't talk.
Great, Tuff thought. Just perfect.
He awkwardly walked over to her and plopped down beside her. She still didn't look up. He debated putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her and decided it was worth the risk of losing his hand. When Tuff layed a gentle hand on her shoulder she looked up for a moment and then put her head back to her knees, but she didn't pull away or shrug him off, so Tuff considered it a win.
"Listen, I know how you feel, because I feel it to. I mean, I'm not ready to babysit my cousin let alone get married, but there's nothing we can do about it."
A little muffled came Astrids reply. "I- I'm not ready to be betrothed yet. There is so much else I wanted to do, and the wedding... I know it's years away but I can already feel the pressure, the expectations, and now... I don't know what to do. I feel boxed in. I mean, my parents could have at least told me about it, asked for my opinion, you know?" Her voice was so quiet Tuff could barely hear her.
They fell into a somewhat comfortable silence from then on.
They stayed like that for a while before Tuff said something he would say, and he heard Astrid chuckle. He smiled and then heard Ruff calling his name.
"I better get going," he told Astrid. When she didn't respond he got up and went toward the sound of Ruffs voice.
Sorry for the short chapter, it's more of a filler chapter than anything. I do have a great plan and plot twist coming up soon tho :)