Next, next, next! What happened after Tuff blacked out? Find out here!
Hiccupisnotuseless: Yeah, strange... Well, actually, I'll reveal what they are later in the story, because Hiccup knows, but the twins don't read, so they don't. I would actually love Dean Deblois to read my stories, but it'll never happen, so I'm not too worried.
Guest: Actually, nope. Read on!
Guest: Thanks! Hmmm, I won't disclose any of the plot yet! Just keep thinking what you're thinking, my friend
1248: Awh, that was really sweet! I was expecting a bad review there, but that made me really happy! Thanks!
Everything was so dark and cold, to begin with. Then, like a sludge clearing from his head, everything began to come back to him. It was like waking up from a particularly deep sleep, save for the fact that his head was throbbing brutally and he couldn't move. He tried to clench his fist, to open his eyes, but nothing would respond. A panic rose in his chest, shaking through him as he tried ever-more desperately to wake himself up, to move his stubborn limbs, to shout out for help. He had lost control. He wanted to scream, to shout, to suppress the urge to sob and cry as he began to fear the worst. He was paralysed, trapped within his own body. He couldn't do anything. So alone. So isolated. He couldn't even control his breathing. There was nothing he could do to quell the raw panic and fear that was consuming him. His attempts to cry for help were coming out as mere whines and grunts. He just prayed to Odin that someone could hear him.
"Wake up!" A sharp sound, a sharp slap across his face. He bolted upright, heaving for breath heavily, though he instantly wished he hadn't. His vision was blurred to the point of blindness, his head whirling and throbbing, his body a pulp of pain. Hunching over, he let out a groan, lifting one shaking hand to his brow, where he traced a scab of congealed blood running through his hair.
"Hey, are you alright?" That voice. He knew it. He looked up at the spinning figure before him, reaching out towards it. A hand shot out, snatching his wrist. "Stop it! You're being really creepy." His sister, Ruffnut. He remembered now.
"What... what happened?" He managed to croak, before coughing dryly as the smudge of his sister began to grow solid. He rubbed his eyes crudely.
"You smashed your head on the rock face when you fell. Seriously, are you okay? You're kinda scaring me..." Ruffnut's brow creased in concern, growing into a face of pure disgust as her brother pitched over and retched over the side of the dragon. "Well... at least you didn't chuck over Scauldy," She shrugged sheepishly, quite unlike her usual self.
"Where am I?" He groaned, hugging his knees tightly.
"You're on Scauldy, idiot. We're flying over the island."
"And... how did I get here?" Tuffnut's foggy head was confusing him. He tried rubbing his eyes again.
"You were lucky Scauldy and I were nearby. We saw you heading for the cliff and came down to catch you. You must've knocked yourself out when you fell. I thought you were dead." Her matter-of-fact tone made him wrinkle his nose.
"Yeah, well, I wish I was. I feel awful" He rubbed his head tenderly, still feeling a little sick and dizzy. Ruffnut tried to hide her worry by turning away.
"Yeah, well, you'll feel better when we get there," She replied breezily, casting a glance over her shoulder as her brother lay down on his back.
"And where is 'there', exactly?"
"Well, if we're going to take back Berk, we need backup. Besides, it might do you good to spend time with someone who actually likes you." He chortled at the remark, knowing she was simply joking to make him feel better. Then, his brow creased.
"Wait, who are you talking about? Did other people get out?"
"Not that I know of." She tried to keep the emotion out of her voice, but it didn't quite work. Her tone darkened. "We've got to try to get everyone out. You know that as well as I do. We're going to get Torch, Tuff. He's a big, powerful dragon. The Berserkers won't know what to do with him."
"Great idea, sis! I was wondering when I'd see Torch again." Tuffnut found himself smiling, the bright thoughts taking the edge off his headache until, by the time Scauldy began to descend, it had all but cleared up.
Scauldy dived hurridly into the ocean, shaking himself out and gliding through the waves. Tuffnut slumped against a large, flat rock, sliding down into a seated position and breathing a deep sigh of relief. He felt thoroughly drained and tired. His head fell back against the rock, his eyes sliding closed. Soon, he was snoring loudly as the sky began to turn pink. His sister was sat beside him, but she couldn't even tempt her eyes closed. Too many things rushed round her head, her body trembling all the time. Her dragon hadn't yet returned from his swim, but she stared out across the waves as though it might call him back.
Though she hadn't eaten for hours, she didn't feel hungry. All she felt was a deep sickness that ran through her whole body. She hugged her knees tightly, resting her chin on them and shifting her gaze to the ground. Ruffnut moved the sand with her toes, watching the grains tumble all over each other and sighing softly.
"Aren't you gonna sleep?" Her brother's voice made her jump. She looked up and tried to hold his gaze, but somehow, she just couldn't look him in the eyes.
"I'm not tired," She sniffed nonchalantly.
"Really? I was." He looked away from her, blinking in the dimming light. "You know, earlier, you said I was scaring you."
"Yeah, so? You were. All pale and sick and moaning like a Zippleback with a sore tooth."
"Well, now you're scaring me." He swallowed, as though the words were hard to say. Ruffnut blinked in shock.
"How?"
"Well, you're pale, you look sick, you don't sleep, you don't joke or hit me or anything. It's like you're a completely different person." Tuffnut looked at his sister again, eyebrows raised, watching her lips tremble as she tried to battle her emotions and produce an answer. A lump grew in his own throat.
"Well... what did you expect?" She finally replied, her voice full of gravel. Her watery eyes met his, finally, if only for a moment.
"I was hoping that you could make everything better, like Mum does. And even if you can't do that, then... promise me I won't lose you, sis. I need you as much as you need me."
Though she tried to reply, words just wouldn't come. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to reply, but all that came out was a dry croak. Giving up, she simply looked up at him. She saw the grit and dirt and blood plastering his face, obscuring his pale skin, the mud streaked through his platinum hair, and yet, his blue eyes still glowed with all the life they usually held. It felt like hers would look like empty voids compared to his.
A dry sob echoed unnaturally from her throat, her body contorting, before she snatching him up in a warm hug, clinging to him like a child.
"We need to fix this, you and me." She sighed into his neck. He looked away, thoroughly embarrassed.
"Yeah, sure, okay..." The punch that landed in his gut took him by surprise. He gave a strangled choke. "Hey! What was that for?"
"For being you." She snatched his wrists. "Don't even think of retaliating, unless you want me to be sick."
"What? Why would you..." His eyes lit up with realisation, then his brow creased deeply. "What did they do to you?"
"Doesn't matter. Scauldy's coming." She was on her feet so quickly, Tuffnut didn't even have a chance to grab her. The brother stared after his twin as she headed to the waterline to receive her dragon back onto the land. Then, shaking his head, he followed her.
Dinner that night was a quiet affair, Tuffnut wolfing down the fish Scauldy had caught with a ferocious intensity, completely missing the way his twin picked at hers slowly, forcing down every mouthful. Only her dragon nudging her in the back kept her eating until the food was gone. Ruffnut then stretched out under the stars, staring up into the black sky, her arms wrapped around her stomach.
Her brother watched her from a distance, knowing there was something she wasn't telling him. She coughed drily, drawing her knees up as though it hurt. He scowled, taking the shell they had been using to drink out of and filling it with water from the stream behind him. He then offered it to her. Ruffnut downed it in seconds, staring at the iridescent inner shell and sniffing, before she tossed it back at her brother.
"You know, I escaped from jail all on my own." He tried to start a conversation.
"Yeah?" His sister sounded only mildly interested as she lay back again.
"Yup. There were stones in the floor that I used to cut my ropes, then I broke a plank in the wall that was all rotten and burned and squeezed through. I lost my jacket, though. They cross-bowed it to a tree. Had to leave it behind."
"Uh-huh." Ruffnut didn't even bother to look over at her brother. In fact, she was quite enjoying the relaxing night air. As for her brother's company, well, at least she wasn't always on her guard anymore.
"What about you?" He probed, leaning forward expectantly.
"Ran away from the fires. Got caught. Scauldy saved me." Her dragon perked up at the sound of his name. Tuffnut scowled slightly. "He was the one who put out all the fires. He did it for me. I'm glad he found me, you know. I wouldn't have made it without him."
Tuffnut sighed, giving in. Whatever was hurting Ruffnut, she certainly wasn't going to say anything tonight. Lying down, he watched as she closed her eyes and quickly dropped off to sleep. The Scauldron stretched his wing out in an arc, covering them both and giving them the heat of his great, cauldron-like belly. Tuffnut was very quickly overcome and was soon snoring away under the bright stars.
END. Not really, but still. What happens next? Wait two days and find out! This was such an intense chapter that I just kept on writing and writing. It was wonderful, and I finished a day early, which means I can now start on the next chapter, which is also wonderful. You see how much I can get done when School of Dragons goes down?