I do not own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
Off With Her Braids!
"Astrid, wait! It was just a dare!" Hiccup cried for the umpteenth time, his prosthetic frantically scraping against the stone as he tried desperately to climb higher and away from the blonde's angry wrath.
Astrid glowered up at him, her hands fisted by her sides. "And you couldn't just take a pass?"
"Well, I want to have my passes for the really gross dares."
Even he knew that was a stupid thing to say.
"So kissing Ruffnut isn't gross, then?" Astrid hissed. She braced one boot on the wall and hoisted herself up an inch. Hiccup cursed his stupidity and peered warily down at her.
"It's not like kissing you," he tried meekly. "No stars, no butterflies in the stomach..."
Astrid faltered and glanced up at the boy with narrowed eyes. Sensing he was on the right track, he continued. "It was a kiss that meant nothing. A kiss that will never amount to anything because it doesn't mean anything."
"...do it again and your pretty little head will be chopped off by my axe." Astrid threatened. She dropped back to the ground and Hiccup cautiously made his way down.
As soon as he was beside the girl, Astrid reared back and punched him in the shoulder. Hiccup stumbled back a few steps, his face twisted up with pain. "You deserved that." Astrid snapped. "And you better do something to get back at Ruffnut."
"Can't you wait for your turn?" Hiccup asked, rubbing his shoulder. He shrunk back at the heated glare she sent him and raised his hands in surrender. "Yeah, yeah. I'll think of something..."
"Good." Astrid smiled with satisfaction and gave Hiccup a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm off to feed Stormfly. See you later!"
Hiccup watched Astrid skip off and let out a relieved sigh. He walked down the grassy slope in search of Tuffnut. He recalled something Astrid had said a few weeks ago, the sly mention of daring Tuffnut to cut off his long blonde locks. He figured Astrid would be content with seeing Ruffnut's signature braids hacked off.
Hiccup found Tuffnut lounging on the docks, his bare feet hanging in the water. "Hey, Tuffnut."
Tuffnut glanced up and smirked. "Hey, Lover Boy. Nice to see you're still alive."
"Well, it was just a dare. Astrid understood." Hiccup shrugged, pretending as if he didn't nearly get his head bitten off by the spirited girl. "How's Ruffnut?"
"Nursing a black eye at home." Tuffnut answered. "It was pretty funny. After she dragged Ruffnut outside, she punched her out. And then she went after you."
"Is Ruffnut okay?" Hiccup asked worriedly, not wanting a rivalry to emerge between the two friends.
"She's fine. She knows how to take a punch. Thor knows I've given her enough of them."
"How about haircuts?"
Tuffnut froze. He stared at Hiccup with wide eyes. "What?"
"I dare you to cut off Ruffnut's braids." Hiccup said, feeling only a little bad.
"Pass."
Stunned, Hiccup gaped at the boy. "Seriously?"
"Look, I know my sister and I do some pretty horrible stuff to each other, but that's like an unwritten boundary." Tuffnut explained. "We don't mess with each other's hair. Someone else can cross that line. I gotta live with the girl and if I do it I'll never hear the end of it-and she'll probably kill me." Tuffnut sliced his finger across his throat for emphasis.
"Makes sense," Hiccup said finally. "See you later, Tuff."
The boy set off with a slight frown on his face. He hadn't counted on Tuffnut passing up the dare. Tuffnut was a daily punching bag for Ruffnut and vice versa, so he didn't think much of sending her brother to do the dirty deed.
"Well, either way, she's going to come after me for issuing the dare." Hiccup said aloud. "Might as well have Astrid around to defend me against her wrath."
He walked over to the Hofferson household and found the blonde feeding Stormfly some chicken. "Hey, Astrid."
"Miss me already?" Astrid teased.
"Yeah. Uh...I dare you to cut off Ruffnut's braids."
Astrid stared at Hiccup in surprise for a moment before a wide grin curled across her face. "Oh yeah. I can totally do that."
"Just her braids," Hiccup said hastily. "Not all her hair."
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not that cruel." Astrid assured the boy. "You do realize the dares she'll have for us in revenge will be ten times worse than cutting off hair, right?"
"I know." Hiccup muttered. "But you said you wanted something to get back at Ruffnut. Here it is."
"I'll do it tonight." Astrid promised.
"This will end well..."Hiccup muttered.
...
At midnight, Astrid slipped out of her house and over to the Thorston household. She opened the door and tiptoed across the hardwood, a pair of small shears in hand. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were both snoring soundly in their beds, and not a force on Earth would wake them up.
Astrid bent down by Ruffnut's bed and carefully removed the various pieces of string that held the thick braids together. When all the ties were out Astrid hovered the shears a few inches below the girl's shoulder and snapped the shears together. With a metallic clink the blades closed together and the hair fell to the floor like a yellow snake. Astrid copied the process with the other side and then ran her fingers through the creased ends, finishing Ruffnut's new hairdo.
"Enjoy your new look," Astrid whispered. "You're going to have it for a while!"
And with a sly grin, she headed back out into the night.
...
The morning sun broke through the darkness, rousing Ruffnut awake. The girl grumbled in annoyance and sat up, tiredly rubbing her eyes. A sudden frown crossed her features when she noticed that something felt different. Her head felt...lighter somehow.
She twisted around to step on the floor and spotted two blonde braids on the hardwood floor. An icy feeling swept through her veins and she went rigid. A dozen swear words raced through her mind, and with great reluctance she reached a hand up and ran her fingers through her blonde locks.
Blonde locks that now ended just below her shoulders.
"AAAGGGHHH!"
Dare suggestion by Messier42 :)
Next chapter: In which Ruffnut dares Fishlegs.