The day sucked. Five minutes into morning consciousness and the day was already a bad one. The morning had come far too quickly and Ruffnut clearly had not had enough sleep. She liked mornings but she also liked sleep. She preferred it when both were to be had.

Rain was common enough on Berk and she had done nothing but expect it, so she barely paid the outside view a glance. A morning was just another morning. She brushed and braided her hair, scrubbed her face, helped her mother with breakfast, and shoved Tuffnut almost into the fire. After accepting the scolding that it probably was not the nicest thing to do to someone with a broken leg even if it were Tuff she settled without much extraneous thought into the rest of her day.

Which continued to suck. Apparently little injuries like fractured legs prevented Tuffnut from doing anything useful and Ruffnut did not even have the excuse of outside to get away from him. With their mother watching them it was nearly impossible to torment him as much as he deserved. She stabbed herself twice with a needle, the bread did not rise well (and good bread was one of few domestic necessities on which she prided herself), and Tuff could not shut up about how much pain he was in.

At least it was raining. As nasty as the day was and as tired as she was, it was raining just as she had planned. The rain would pour down, hopefully cause a nice flood atop Mead Hall, and all would be worth it. Yes, it would be worth it; not that she could remember when a prank had not had some merit. But this particular prank was the result of hard work and long planning, and Ruff liked to take pride in all her hard work. She was that awesome, she deserved it.

It had been a good night. A late night, obviously, but a good one. She liked all the planning that had gone into it. She liked the good ol' fashioned thrill of a late night climb. She liked that she had convinced Fishlegs to do something not strictly in the rules and she liked to imagine that made her a good person.

Well, she had done her good deed for the year and hopefully Fishlegs would wind up a little less boring due to her efforts.

And, in the evening or possibly even the afternoon, the rain would lessen and she could find a reason to wander outside to observe all the horror. It was delightful just thinking about it.

But the day, until that moment, would continue to suck. Rain was common, yes, but she still hated it. Berk needed to be sunny and welcoming so she could do what she did best without getting soaked. So the day wore on as it did, the rain outside gradually becoming heavier and occasionally producing lightening and pounding thunder, and between chores and yelling at her brother the thought of the eggs slipped from her mind.

Until her mother went outside to bring in a rain barrel.

Amazing how fast people's dispositions could change. Her mother had gone outside, hood over her head, whistling a little song… only to return five minutes later without any water and her face red with fury.

"Tuff did it," was Ruff's standard response to such a sight.

"Hey!" Tuff was for all intents and purposes immobile, his bed moved to a convenient position by the fire. "I've been here all morning! For a lot of mornings!"

Their mother ignored him. "Of all the things I have heard in this village." Her voice was quiet and threatening and brought to mind the aura of a spider. "I, who have heard so much… every horror, every sin…"

Argument gone, Ruff exchanged a quick glance with her brother. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

There was no reply, just more of the same. "And the time! Now? After so long?"

Ruff began to really wish she knew just to whom her mother was speaking.

The answer came quickly. "Ruff. Now." Without another word her mother sprang over to Ruff's side, squeezed her wrist, and dragged her into the outside downpour.

Ruff could not smell a single rotten egg. "Mom! My hair!"

"Oh, forget your hair for one minute."

Ruff bit her tongue before her response. She knew much better than to argue with her mother. "It's wet out here."

"I thought you didn't mind being outside."

"I don't mind, I just don't—" She bit her tongue again. Just what was she supposed to think for her next thought? That her little prank had been traced back to her and therefore she was in trouble or that her mother had known her for the past sixteen years and who really cared?

"My own daughter," her mother missed. "I had always thought I was a decent mother, strove to be. I had done my best to teach you, to be an example to you. And then you turn around and do this to me?"

Apparently she was in trouble. Was it too late to blame it all on Fishlegs' as his idea? Nah, no one would fall for that. She made a mental note to work on her blaming skills. "Mom, it was just a few eggs. No threat of anyone dying this time."

Her mother's mouth, half open in preparation for guilt trip, paused and made a quick change for speech. "What are you talking about?"

Perhaps the rain was too loud for correct hearing. "What are you talking about?"

"Eggs." Her mother repeated the word silently several times to herself, then shook her head. "Never mind that, I assume you're speaking of those smelly eggs you've been storing up for weeks. I'm talking about what you did last night. Aside from putting those stupid eggs on top of the Hall, don' t think I wasn't aware of that."

Ruff made a quick assessment of the night. She couldn't recall anything as exciting as the egg incident. "I think you're just going to have to trust me when I said nothing happened."

Her mother's face changed, became almost desperate. "But I'm your mother! I should be the first one you tell when you know of something so wonderfully illicit going on around here."

It was wet, it was cold, and Ruff had no idea what her mother was talking about. Her hair was going to turn into three ropes of escaped frizz and with any bad luck she would catch a cold. As much as she loved gossip, this was not the time nor place. "What happened that was so illicit?"

Her mother took a deep breath, a sure sign of a ready speech. "Well, I came out to bring in the water and someone told me that you and that odd Fishlegs boy were having quite the romantic entanglement."

Ruff felt like a rock had been thrown right at her head. She had absolutely no recollection of anything like that and she would have expected herself to know. "Mom, I swear—"

"And I am the last to hear of this! You obviously knew about it since it involved you and you didn't even bother to tell me! I feel like the last to know when I should have been the one spreading it!"

Another clap of thunder boomed over head.

"Mom," Ruff said as calmly as she could. "Shouldn't you be a little more concerned about me getting into trouble and less about your place in hearing things?"

Her mother couldn't speak for a few moments, but her face twisted into a shocked smile and a blush. "Oh. Oh my. I suppose I should be."

"I am your daughter, after all."

"You are." She sighed and gave a small laugh. "I guess I didn't quite understand in my mind it was you involved. All right, then I change my stance on this and I demand to know what you were thinking."

Her soaked braids made her head feel all the heavier. Ruff so wanted to go inside. "Thinking about what?"

"Fishlegs. Or whoever it was. If the story was changed, so be it."

"Oh, yes. Fishlegs. Like I would participate in some illicit romantic entanglement with Fishlegs, of all people. Eww."

The smile faded from her mother's face, and her arms crossed over her chest.

Oh, for crying out loud… "Mom, I swear. Nothing happened. I don't know where you heard this. All Fishlegs did was help me carry the eggs up. That's it."

The frown did not falter.

"Mom, I promise! This is me. Would I ever do anything like that?" She hoped her mother would believe her. For it was true. For all her faults, Ruffnut had never been in trouble with a guy. For all her flirting she had failed to attract anyone. Oh, well.

Her mother sighed again. "No, no, you wouldn't. You're at least good that way."

"So I'm not in trouble?"

"No, I suppose not. Just a pity that's it's apparently been out and about all morning…"

It was like being hit with another rock. The logic that she should have seen. If her mother had been so late in hearing this tale then…

Oh, the bloody one eye of Odin.

She looked at her mother squarely in the eyes. "I have to go. I assume you understand." Then she was off, no longer caring about how wet it was or any such complaint.

Fishlegs was easy enough to find. Ruff believed she was born with a specific kind of compass, the kind that allowed her to find anyone when need be. It came in great use for tormenting people and perhaps could be considered an excuse that she just couldn't help herself, she was born that way. Fishlegs was far too smart for his own good but also spent a good deal of time outside. Which meant that on a rainy day he would be holed up somewhere reading. He liked to be around people enough that it was doubtful he was in his own home. Which meant he would have gone to Mead Hall. Which meant that news of this would have already reached him. Which meant that he, being the coward that he was, was hiding from her.

Assuming he hadn't started it.

Would he have started it? She couldn't decide. He was a nice guy, rather docile, not the type to intentionally hurt anyone, physically or emotionally. But then again, who knew what was swirling around in that enormous head of his? If anyone was going to shock the tribe and kill them all in some genius evil scheme, she bet on Fishlegs.

She was so going to kill him. She paused only once to scan the area and let that inner compass do its work and decided that he would be hiding down by the water in assurance that he would know how to handle it and that no one would attempt.

And that was where she had found him. Sixth sense had prevailed again. Unfortunately he was standing close enough to the water that he could jump in and perhaps drown himself if he felt threatened and she did not have the strength to pull someone of his size from the ocean. She sucked in the wet air and tried to calm herself.

She said nothing until he turned around. His eyes went wide and he made the smallest of motions toward the water.

Her javelin would have been useful at this time. "I assume you heard the news?"

He seemed to be reconsidering the drowning-himself idea. After a moment he nodded. Barely.

She approached him slowly, though everything in her wanted to run at him, knock him over, and begin the strangling. "I assume it's the same news I heard?"

Another faint nod.

He knew far too much. It was all she could take. A scream broke from her throat, complete with every interesting swear she had ever heard and all the accusation she could manage. "What did you say? What were you telling people?"

He stood there, large body trembling.

At last the screaming was over. She fought for breath and waited for his reply.

"I swear I said nothing. I don't know what happened. It was the first thing I heard about this morning. My mom thinks we were up there last…. I don't know what she thought we were doing."

The shore spun. Not enough sleep, wet hair, and all that screaming had gotten to her. She slowly sunk to the ground, supposing she believed him. Of course. She had given him far too much credit to make up such a lie. "This is completely insane. That I had killed someone, yes. That I had burned down a house Hiccup-style, yes. But that I was as much as kissing someone like you? Please, I can't believe anyone thinks that." Was that a rude thing to say?

Fishlegs frowned. "Not that you're a catch yourself."

Trust Fishlegs to be tactlessly blunt. She picked up a rock and threw at him. It bounced off of his chest as he flinched. "Excuse me? I think you would consider yourself lucky to have someone like me kiss you."

"But you didn't," he replied. "But everyone thinks you did."

So this was justice. She put a hand to her head. Was this was it felt like to be the subject of all those other half-truths she had mentioned? She wasn't so sure she liked it. "This is a huge mess."

"It was those kids," Fishlegs said flatly. "The ones who were going fishing that we ran into. They started it. One told his mom."

"I hate kids."

"I hate being involved with this. I would never do anything like kissing you. Or anything else."

"Are people saying we have been?" Yes, she knew that. Her mother had suggested as much. "Darn it all."

Fishlegs looked ready to faint at such a thought. No doubt more than his mind could handle. "So what do we do? I'm not used to this. No one has anything to say about me ever. How long does this kind of thing last?"

Ruff sighed. "Calm down, you big idiot. I'll think of something." What else was her own mind good for?

"You have to hurry. Snotlout completely believes it. All of it."

Well, Snotlout was annoying. She stood up and brushed the wet sand from her skirt. "We're just going to transfer this. Snotlout wants to talk about it, he can be the subject of it."

Fishlegs' eyes widened. "Isn't that… rude?"

Ruff rolled her eyes. "You have so much to learn."