Author Note: Other fanfics I have read on various websites of 'How To Train Your Dragon' in the modern AU, I find to be quite enjoyable. However, I do find there to be a gap and one I don't like but I will fill.
Most stories set in the modern AU are nearly always about Hiccstrid, Rufflegs, Rufflout, Heatcup, Heatstrid or in relation to Hiccup and Toothless. The following will be have Hiccstrid and Rufflegs in it aswell as Snotlout, Heather and the dragons (portrayed as real animals and vehicles) in it but the primary focus will be on oh so great, much loved, personal favourite character.
I am of coarse referring to master Tuffnut Thorston.
Also, the time setting for this is during the age of the 'Race to the Edge' but this will be changed a bit.
Berk, it's a small town near the coast on the side of the states in North Carolina. Most people there are quite an interesting bunch. There are many forms of public services such as a weapons maker (called the 'Forge'), an army training area aswell as base of operation, a school, shops, hospital, restaurants, fishing port and a couple of farms.
A few years ago, Henry, better known as Hiccup due to him having a lot of them during his child-hood, Horrendous Haddok the third, son of both mayor and head of that army barracks, was seen as the village screw-up but that all changed when he successfully stopped the head of a gang, who was known as the 'Red Death' that was using cars of all types to form thefts. She was killed accidently in an incident when an oil tanker blew up but this came at a cost for Hiccup and his faithful black Labrador, Toothless. Hiccup lost his left foot and Toothless lost his tail.
Hiccup had used his black Corvette Stingray, how he got it at the age of fifteen remains a mystery, to successfully beat the 'Red Death' in her large dark greyish-blue with red dots Chevrolet Camaro. Hiccup went from village zero to hero overnight.
After three years, and the final defeat of a rival school called the Berserkers in a school trials event, primarily on physical abilities but some mental ones, Hiccup had moved on up in his school with his friends.
However, this story is not centred about Hiccup so let's move on to the main character.
Thomas Thorston is one of a pair of twins of the Thorston household, the other half being his sister Rachel. Rachel and Thomas were better known as 'Ruffnut and Tuffnut' due to them being very rough, tough and a bit nutty all-round. Tuffnut sat in his room, which he finally got to his own after years of sharing with Ruffnut, twirling his drumstick while his light green iguana 'Belch' sat on his lap looking up at his master.
Recently, Hiccup, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and their friends had formed a band due to all having musical talents in some form. Their friends were Astrid Hofferson and Fred, better known as Fishlegs due an incident at a fish shop when he was seven, Ingerman also formed into the band. Scott Jorgenson hated their band and was a former friend to Tuffnut. Tuffnut was in Scott's band before his sister persuaded the drummer to join them.
Tuffnut was obviously, the drummer of the band and was extremely talented at this instrument, probably due to his rough tendencies. Fishlegs was on the keyboard, Hiccup on bass guitar, Ruffnut was on lead guitar while Astrid was on vocals. Ruffnut also sung alongside Astrid from time to time.
The five were quite popular in their area with their music. They were also rivalling the next best band of Scott and his sidekicks of nicknamed Clueless, Dogsbreath, Wartihog and Speedifist. What their actual names remains a mystery.
Tuffnut was eighteen years old along with the others in his band. He was wearing his normal clothing of a green t-shirt, red trousers, black jacket and reptile styled boots. He had taken off a black hat he normally wore with several dents in it from Ruffnut hitting him.
Belch looked up at Tuffnut and nudged him gently. Belch, along with his brother Barf who belonged to Ruffnut, were almost dog-like in how they acted to their owners. That said, Barf was a much darker shade of green than Belch. Aswell as Toothless, the others owned pets. Astrid owned a blue raptor bird of an unknown breed but certainly falcon called Stormfly and Fishlegs owned a brown pug named Meatlug.
Tuffnut eventually got up, put his drum sticks into his bags and Belch into his tank. "See ya late boy" smiled Tuff as he put on his hat while he slung his bag over his shoulder. Belch sulked as he walked into his small cave of rocks that was his home. Tuffnut laughed and ran downstairs to get into a car that was shared by him and his sister.
His family where well off but his parents said that they were not having two extra cars in the drive-way. So they gave the two an old, green Mustang Mach 1 that the twins called the 'Zippleback'.
Tuffnut waved off to his mother and grandfather. Tuffnut's father had passed away when Tuff was eight. His father was named Terence but his grandfather, who lived in the house as a permanent tenement was called Thomas. Ironically, he too was nicknamed Tuffnut. Before Tuffnut could get out the door, where he would wait in the car for his sister, his mother grabbed him by his hood and pulled him back to face him where she pulled him in for a quick hug before saying "Have a good day at school and don't get into trouble".
"Mom, when do I get into trouble" laughed Tuffnut. "Too often" replied his mother. Tuffnut smirked and headed out where he sat in the driver seat of the Mustang. Ruffnut followed only a few seconds later in her usual yellow jacket, dark leggings, brown boots, yellow skirt and purple top with a blue beanie on her head from which her long braided hair emerged. She punched Tuffnut in the arm as she entered to which he returned the favour.
The ride to the first day of school since the holidays was as usual, loud. The reason the twins chose the Mustang was because of its shouting V8 engine to reflect their own personalities. Also it was big and had a blower on the bonnet. Tuffnut was the driver most of the time, when the two were in the car at the same time. Most times, Ruffnut got a lift off Tuffnut, Astrid or Fishlegs.
When they arrived at the school parking, Tuffnut parked the Mustang between Fishlegs' brown Nissan Duke and Astrid's blue Porsche Boxster. Hiccup had parked his Corvette next to the Porsche. Tuffnut threw Ruffnut's bag to her, they said their partings, hit their head against the other before heading off to collect their stuff for their first classes.
Tuffnut was just zipping up his bag when he got thrown back and slammed against the locker by Scott. "So, you just walk out on us, regret that Thorston" spat Scott. "Get off me Jorgenson, I need to get to class" snapped Tuffnut who shoved Scott off him, picked up his bag and walked off. "You're dead Thorston, you hear me" shouted Scott. "Says you 'Bride of Grendel'" laughed Tuffnut as he turned a corner.
Tuffnut used to be Scott's best friend but that all changed when two things. One, Tuffnut discovered Scott and the others tried to get him to do drugs. The other was when Scott hit Ruffnut. Tuff may fight with Ruff but as far as Tuff should care, nobody hurts his sister. The last reason was followed by Scott hitting Ruffnut when she and Astrid persuaded Tuffnut to join their band.
The band became known as the 'Dragons Edge', which was also the name of a nearby university that all five members of the band wished to join. Scott's band, 'The Screaming Death' as it is called, has always and will be forever more, a rival but one that is becoming less threatening.
Tuffnut however brushed this off and walked into his biology class. Tuff would never admit this to Scott, but he wasn't a total idiot. Though Tuff maybe not the best at Spanish, Geography, History and all that, he excelled at Maths, Science and Music, obviously the latter was natural, and had an actual interest in the three subjects.
Tuff took his place in the middle section of the class by the window at a two spaced desk. Two rows in front were Hiccup and Astrid, which were an official couple finally however Tuffnut still liked to make fun of the two. "Might still need to be cupid for them" Tuffnut thought to himself and chuckled lightly.
Tuffnut then took out his dark red glasses case from his bag. Tuffnut needed them ever since he was seven for reading, part of the reason he hated reading when he was younger but since he was paying more attention in class, he decided to put them on. They were rectangular in shape and had black frames.
Miss. Phlegma, also known as 'Phlegma the fierce', came in to teach them their class. "Right class, hope you all enjoyed your summer holidays. Now, we can start off early with evolution". However, before she could continue, the door to the classroom creaked open followed by "Sorry, miss, I was stuck in traffic". "No problem Heather, just go take a seat next to, hmmm, Tuffnut down there" replied Phlegma.
Tuffnut, Astrid and Hiccup all bolted up-right when they heard the name Heather and then saw her. Heather had been an exchange student three years ago where she flirted with all the boys, and got Astrid totally jealous as the twins knew it. However, she had gotten with the wrong gang and ended up stealing a book on various forms of chemicals for bombs. The group where known as the 'Outcasts' lead by a former villain Alvin, who had immigrated to Maryland last year. Astrid, Hiccup, Fishlegs and the twins stopped aswell as helped Heather.
Heather was wearing a brown dress, darker leggings, silver boots, a brown and silver hoodie with a horn hung in her belt, kind of her trade mark for her. She was the same age as the other teens of eighteen. When she saw Astrid, Hiccup and Tuffnut, her face slightly went a bit white but she shyly walked over and sat down next to Tuff.
"Start flirting Tuff and you are dead" she snapped. Tuffnut scoffed and went back to listening through the class. After a double class of Biology and a small speech from principal Spitelout on it being their last year and they should study, all stuff Ruff and Tuff zoned out on, it was finally time for break.
Tuffnut grabbed his lunch money, threw his bag in his locker and went to the canteen. Tuffnut didn't bother trying to find Astrid or Hiccup, who were probably off sticking the others tongue down the others throat, and Ruff was probably doing the same with Fishlegs. How they got together, Tuff would never know.
Tuffnut had finally gotten his food in his tray. It was only some mash potato with gravy, a can of coke, a blueberry muffin and a green apple but to Tuffnut, it was heaven. He saw a free round table at the back of the hall where he knew Ruff, Hiccup, Fishlegs and Astrid normally sat. "Well, they aren't using it" smiled Tuffnut.
As Tuff walked over, he suddenly tripped and his face went into the potato as he hit the floor. Tuffnut cleared his eyes and looked up to see Wartihog high-fiving Speedifist. "Sorry there old boy" laughed Wartihog. Thankfully, Scott and Dogsbreath where nowhere to be seen and Clueless hadn't a clue what was going on.
Tuffnut merely growled, picked up his tray and what remained of his lunch and walked over to the table. Tuffnut sighed as looked at a bruise apple, spilt coke, squashed muffin and dusty potatoes. Just when he was considering going out to the car, a voice spoke "You mind if I sit here?"
Tuffnut twirled around to see Heather with a tray of potatoes and gravy, a red apple, chocolate milk and some chopped up mango. "Sure" was all Tuff thought to say in a very lifeless voice. Heather smiled and sat herself down. Before she ate however, she handed Tuffnut a packet of tissues. "Uhm, whats this for?" asked Tuff. "To clear the gravy and mash off your face stupid" smiled Heather in a new, less shy tone. Tuff just took the tissues and did as he was told.
Heather then spoke after an awkward silence "So how has Berk been?" she asked. "Fine I guess, nothing exciting" shrugged Tuffnut. Heather didn't know how to respond so changed the topic "How is Belch doing? Still fit as an Iguana can be I'm guessing" she added. "You guessed right then" said Tuff. Heather had just finished the last of her lunch but still had a lot of break left. After Tuffnut's attitude, she had enough.
"What happened to the Tuff I knew last time? The one who only needed a nod to blow up an office block" she spat. "Time changes a person, look at you, you're not shy like you used to be or more timid" replied Tuffnut. "So time changes your personality and your hair style from straight to dreadlocks" added Heather.
Tuffnut just rolled his eyes, pushed his chair out and walked off to the parking lot. Heather had a baffled expression on her head. That disappeared when Scott suddenly came over and placed a hand on the table. "Hay Heather, it's been ages since I saw you last. Whats say you and I go out and you leave that dreadlocked loser with his Iguana off" he said in a macho way. "I'd love to stay with your pig like scent and see your Dogue de Bordeaux, Hookfang his name I believe, however I got better things to do" she smiled and followed that by pushing his arm out from under him so he fell out onto Tuff's ruined lunch remains. Before he could retort or respond, Heather had swiftly left the canteen.
Tuffnut had hopped for some peace a quiet. That isn't so easy when you find your sister on top of the rear end of your Mustang making out with Fishlegs. Tuffnut grumbled and left to go get his drumsticks and head to the music room.
Tuffnut found drums a good way of relaxing as he let out all his frustration on them. He can play all types of percussion instruments, including xylophone, organ, piano, glockenspiel and so on but drums where his best of relaxing aswell as his instrument in the band. Also, the others thought he could only play drums so he decided against letting them know that his instrument choice had gone soft.
Tuffnut continued his practice on the instrument, some thought he was trying to kill it but that was merely Tuffnut's way of expressing his anger. Why was he angry, he didn't know? Sometimes it just happened and he needed to let it all out.
Eventually though, one of his sticks broke and he had forgotten spares. Tuffnut still was in his music mood so looked around the room as his only other option was sparring or javelin throwing. When his eyes came onto the shiny black 'Ritmuller' piano in the corner of the room, he sighed but decided to go for it regardless.
He sat himself down at the piano and thought of a song to play. Nothing came to mind that was funky or anything like that and he wasn't good at making up his own tunes on this instrument so decided to play his favourite tune, 'River Flows in You' by Yiruma. "Can't believe the only reason I started this instrument was because Belch likes it" thought Tuffnut.
He began to swiftly play his tune and soon closed his eyes and let his fingers slide along the keys of the piano. He and the piano almost became one and Tuffnut forgot all sense around him. Even when the door opened and four figures snuck in to listen, he was too engrossed in his music to hear or feel them.
Tuffnut was focused and played to the end but then suddenly heard the sound of what cheers from a person. He stopped playing and spun around to see Hiccup holding Astrid and Fishlegs the same with Ruffnut while they all smiled. Astrid punched Tuffnut in the arm when he stood up and stated "How dare you make me like your wit". Ruffnut did the same on the other arm and said "And since when can you play like that".
Tuffnut scratched his head and said slowly "Since I discovered Belch likes the sound of it". The two boys both slightly agreed with each, Meatlug and Toothless also liked the sound of music. "Play again" said Fishlegs.
Hiccup, Astrid and Ruffnut also encouraged the motion so Tuffnut sat back down and played instead 'A Thousand miles'. The tune was beautiful but Tuffnut was faultless. Nothing he did was wrong or imperfect; he was a beauty on the instrument.
As Tuffnut played and his friends listened, Heather was out of view and listening to the music.. "I think I got a three point wheel" she smiled to herself and walked out of the room when the tune stopped.
Author Note: So my first HTTYD modern AU story and I would like to add that yes I do ship Hiccstrid and Rufflegs. Snotlout, or Scott, was originally supposed to be a good guy but I decided against it. That may change however, but probably won't. As for Heather's new motive, that will have to wait and see for the future tales to behold.