Hi :D

Sorry I'm several hours late, I had a lot of work today.

Chapter 3

Watching the pirates prepare to move out soon became quite tedious and dull for Ruffnut, so she began to silently indulge in a one sided conversation with the men on the beach while she waited.

"I bet you wish you were the leader" she said to the captains second in command "but you haven't got a hope. Just look at your boss; much taller, broader shoulders, and all that long flowing blonde hair. If I didn't already have a boyfriend then maybe... but sorry Mr. Blonde, I'm spoken for now. Still, both of you are still much better looking than Mildew, in a rough and smelly piratey kind of way."

At last the men lined up single file and began to move out. They didn't take the direct path to Berk, where Ruffnut hid while observing, but instead took a different route.

"Ho ho, the hill track eh? So ya wanna get the high ground then. Well I'm sorry to say but we Vikings already know you're here. So it seems your plans for the domination of Berk will eventually come to naught Mr. Blonde."

Ruffnut could not explain why, but a strange feeling suddenly came over her. It felt like she should have been sitting in a large swivel chair, stroking a white cat as she spoke. The worst part of this mental flash was her extreme lack of hair.

Back at the village, Ruffnuts predictions were already coming true as Fishlegs had indeed raised the alarm, and Chief Stoick had immediately put Berks defence plans into action. In only a matter of minutes, the armoury had been raided and all swords, spears and crossbows had been distributed to every able warrior. Defences were maned and several ships cast off to intercept the pirates if they could.

Gobber was given temporary command of the fleet and Spitelout remained to lead the defence while Fishlegs led Stoick and a small force back to where he had left his new love. Little did they know though, that their trip would turn out to be quite unnecessary; for back at the beach, something odd was about to happen.

"That's it Mr. Blonde... lead your unsuspecting little band into our trap. Oh I'm afraid the village's defences will be quite operational... when your friends arrive."

In another moment of déjà vu, Ruffnut suddenly saw herself as old, wrinkled and wearing a hooded black robe.

"You want this... don't you?" she said as she placed her hand lightly on the hilt of her knife.

"Astrid; NO!" Hiccups voice snapped Ruffnut out of her delusional dream.

The cry came from up on the hill but Ruffnut could not see anything for the trees. Even so she expected to see Berks main power couple burst out of the forest any second and attempt to drive off the invaders back into the sea single handed (or since there were two of them, double handed).

What Ruffnut saw instead surprised even her. Down at the beach where the hill path met the sand, the Winter Wolf leapt out of the undergrowth hitting the pirate captain square in the chest, knocking him onto his back. Ruffnut had never seen the wolf so closely before and was startled to see it was actually wearing some loose ragged clothing. With almost supernatural speed, the wolf bounded from man to man; felling, biting and slashing with its long claws.

Few of the men who went down got back up in a hurry, but those who did fled back to their longships taking their wounded with them. Eventually the remaining force managed to bring their weapons into play and fight back against the wolf. Swords slashed, spears and arrows flew but none of them managed to find their mark as the Winter Wolf dodged, weaved and jumped so high, it was almost as if it had wings (which it did not).

"BACK TO THE SHIPS!" the captain barked the order at his remaining men.

The firm command brought Captain Sorell to the attention of the wolf. The snarling creature turned and charged, determined to give this presumptive man something permanent to remind him of how foolish he had been to try and raid Berk. The wolf charged with obvious confidence, but this time the pirate was not going to be caught off guard.

From her vantage point high on the coast trail, Ruffnut saw Hiccup run down to the beach from the same path from which the Winter Wolf had emerged less than a minute earlier. At the same time, the wolf leapt at the captain's throat but he ducked, grabbed the wolf's hind legs, swung it around in one complete circle and flung the poor creature into a rather solid tree.

Having lost a good number of his company as well as the element of surprise, the pirate captain smirked and gave a half wave to Hiccup before following his men to the retreating longships. Breaking her cover, Ruffnut made her way through the undergrowth intending to meet up with Hiccup, but she soon changed her mind.

"Astrid... are you alright?" she heard Hiccup say.

Confused as to what was going on, Ruffnut advanced quietly until she could see the base of the tree the wolf had struck. Her eyes widened and she even placed her own hand over her mouth to stifle an audible gasp. There at the base of the tree, wearing the same loose ragged clothing as the Winter Wolf, was a bruised and battered Astrid.

'

Another cliff hanger for you Stripesicles (wink), albeit a small one.

The main reason I decided to do a Ruffnut/Fishlegs story was after their romance was confirmed in the Homecoming Christmas Special last year. This was why the 2019 Snoggletog Tale featured the parting of Fishlegs and Heather as she went to assume her duties as leader of the Berserker Tribe.

So for the whole year I was hoping to do my own take on FishNut (RuffLegs?) getting together and I'm relieved I finally got the chance. (author gives cheesy grin)

See you all next week, Marty and Boo Cat =^..^=