I do not own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.

If you haven't already voted for the ending of this story, be sure to cast a vote in the poll on my profile. You have until July 6th to cast your vote. I'll close the poll then.

Dare suggested by The Prime Writer, with a small tweak made by me.

Confessions

A heavy hammering sounded on the Thorston household door, rousing Tuffnut from his slumber. Grumbling in irritation, he slapped his helmet over his knotted greasy blonde hair. He stumbled over to the door and yanked it open. "What?"

Hiccup stood on their porch, wearing an expression of serene calm that instantly put Tuffnut on edge. "Hello, Tuff. Is your sister here?"

"Uh…yeah. She's still sleeping. It's like, super early."

"I'm afraid I must speak to her now. It's rather important."

His voice was pleasant and there was an odd smile on his face. Slowly backing up, Tuffnut suddenly felt sorry for whatever his sister would be put through. For Hiccup to go from super frustrated and irritated to calm and collected in a matter of days after his humiliating display meant danger was on the horizon.

"Okay. You wait here. I'll get her." Tuffnut hastily shut the door and hurried over to Ruffnut's bedside. "Sis! Get up!" He shook her frantically. "I think Hiccup has come to kill you!"

"Shut up," she groaned, shooting out her fist. Tuffnut dodged it and resumed his insistent shaking. Scowling, the girl finally opened her eyes and sat up. "What?!" she snapped.

"Hiccup is outside and he's scaring me," hissed Tuffnut. "I think you're about to die."

Ruffnut sighed and got up. She put on her helmet and shuffled over to the front door. She opened it, and was immediately tempted to close it again when Hiccup's serene expression transformed into one of deviousness.

"Uh…what's up?" she managed to get out.

Hiccup pointed at her. "The time has come."

"I knew it." Tuffnut moved behind her. "Your death has arrived. I call getting all your stuff."

Irritated, she elbowed her brother in the stomach. "What is it?" she asked reluctantly.

"I dare you to take responsibility for two of the dares I've done, and two of the dares you've done."

As her brother burst into laughter behind her, Ruffnut was positive her heart stopped for a moment. She glared at him and Hiccup only smiled. "Your plan to try to get me out of this dare contest failed. I now bring down fire and brimstone upon you."

"Right," she said heavily. I think we broke him… "Fine. Whatever. You're gonna regret this."

"Probably. For now, I'll enjoy watching you suffer."

He practically skipped off, over the moon with his brilliant dare. Ruffnut scowled after him and slammed the door shut. "Okay, so my plan backfired." She stormed over to her brother, who was rolling on the floor in hysterics. She kicked him in the side, furious. "Shut up. It's not funny! I'm going to have confess to Stoick, and that'll either end in my decapitation or banishment."

Tuffnut sat up, managing to get a hold of himself. "Sorry, sis. I didn't think Hiccup would stoop that low. It sounds like something we would come up with."

"He probably wants to prove a point now." Ruffnut crossed her arms. "He's showing he can fight just as dirty as we can."

"Too bad he has nothing on us." Tuffnut grinned.

"I'll get him back," Ruffnut vowed. "But first I have to confess to four dares. Was Hiccup the one who stole Stoick's helmet?"

"No. That was me."

"Oh. Uh…" Her face screwed up. "So, what dares did Hiccup do, again?"

"He cut off Stoick's beard. He also dumped dragon poo on Spitelout. Oh, and he painted Mildew's sheep pink." Tuffnut thought for another moment. "Those are the only ones I can think of, anyway."

"And I put a dragon egg under Stoick's bed, burned off half of Gobber's mustache and dared Astrid to have a sleepover with Hiccup." Ruffnut crossed her arms. "Fantastic."

"Those are horrible choices."

"I guess I'll confess to putting a dragon egg under Stoick's bed," she muttered. "I've messed with the guy before. I can't exactly confess to making Astrid sleep in Hiccup's bed. Astrid doesn't listen to anyone if she doesn't want to, so that'll arise suspicions."

Tuffnut smirked. "Guess you'll be wishing for death when Gobber gets through with you."

Ruffnut nodded, feeling sick to her stomach. "Yeah. I'm trying not to think about that. As for taking the blame for Hiccup's dares, I'll say I'm the one who painted Mildew's sheep pink. That's no big deal. Uh…and I'll tell Spitelout I'm the one who dumped dragon poo on him. There is no way I'm taking the blame for cutting off Stoick's beard."

"You're so screwed."

"Shut up." Ruffnut flopped down on her bed, resting her chin against the palm of her hand. "But we have another problem."

"What?"

"When have we ever willingly confessed to something? And when have we ever done something stupid without each other?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"No." Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "The answer is hardly ever."

Tuffnut scratched the back of his neck, brow furrowed. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Isn't it going to look suspicious if I just waltz up and admit to these things?"

He shrugged. "That's not really your problem, is it?"

Ruffnut huffed. "You are so not helpful." She stood up and started for the door. "So I'm probably not going to make it back. Give Hiccup a super nasty dare for me."

"Sure thing." Tuffnut saluted his sister. "You were a pain to live with."

Ruffnut stepped outside, where it had started to rain. It was a steady drizzle, the cool drops causing goosebumps to prickle along her bare arms. "Least the hair dye will finally come out," she muttered, running her fingers through her pink, medium-length hair.

Deciding to check the Great Hall first, she hurried up the stone steps and eased the wooden door open. She peeked inside and her heart completely fell at the sight of Stoick, Gobber and Spitelout sitting at a table near the back of the hall. There were only a few other Vikings inside.

Why me?

"Dude, that sucks."

Startled, Ruffnut couldn't even whirl around. Her brother grabbed hold of her shoulders and pushed himself up so he could peer through the crack as well. "They're all in one spot. You can't even waste time."

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Tuffnut dropped back to the ground. "I thought about it. I decided that I wanted to see them flip out."

"Gee, thanks."

"And I figured that I might as well offer my support or something," he added gruffly. "You know, in case I need a favour later on. You'll owe me."

Ruffnut could not help but smile. "Thanks, dork."

"Whatever, butt-elf."

Taking a breath, Ruffnut pushed the door open wider and entered the hall, her brother trailing behind her. She could see that Gobber had trimmed down his mustache so that it was even. She flinched. She was so dead.

"Heads up," Spitelout said lowly. "Thorston twins incoming."

Eyebrow arched, Stoick looked over his shoulder to see the pair of blondes making their way towards them. "She doesn't look so good," mused Spitelout.

Indeed, Ruffnut did not look good. She was paler than normal, her left hand rubbing the side of her neck nervously. The girl approached the table, her brother standing behind her. "Hey," she greeted.

Stoick set down his mug and crossed his arms. "What is it?"

"Okay, so, I've done something that I actually feel bad about," she said.

Gobber pointed his hook at her. "You burned off my mustache, didn't you?!"

Ruffnut gave a slow nod. "Sorry."

"I knew it!" Gobber thumped his fist down on the table. "You little heathen! Oooh, I've got some punishments for you, missy!"

"Wait," interjected Stoick. He looked at Ruffnut suspiciously. "You're admitting to this?"

"I feel bad. I've crossed a couple lines lately-"

"Did you cut off my beard?" he asked, voice low and dangerous.

Ruffnut shook her head wildly. "No, I swear. But I did put that dragon egg under your bed last Snoggletog."

Spitelout's eyes narrowed. "Were you the brat who dumped dragon poo on me a few months ago?"

"Uh…er…I wasn't planning on admitting to that one," she lied. "But now that you bring it up, yeah. It was me."

Spitelout turned to Gobber. "After you're done with her, send her to me."

"Anything else you've done that you want to confess to?" Stoick asked, half sarcastic.

"Um…I painted Mildew's sheep pink a while ago." Ruffnut pretended to think before giving a nod. "Yeah, that's about all I'm willing to admit to right now." She then let out a yelp when Gobber took hold of her pink locks and dragged her from the hall. "Ouch! Gob-ber!"

"I'll make you sharpen swords and axes until your hands go numb," he vowed, keeping an iron grip on the squirming girl. "Then you'll be scrubbing down my entire forge with a rag."

Spitelout scowled and stabbed at his meat with a fork. "She'll be mucking stalls for me until she becomes so used to the stench fresh air will stink to her."

Stoick ran a hand down the side of his face. He looked at the lingering Thorston boy. "Let me get one thing straight. All those things she did, you had no part in?"

"Nope." Tuffnut rocked back on his heels. "All her. Uh…thanks, for not getting super mad at her."

Stoick snorted. "Oh, trust me, I'm boiling on the inside. Once Spitelout and Gobber are through with her, she's going to wish for banishment once I get my hands on her."

For a brief moment, Tuffnut felt sorry for his sister. But that feeling quickly disappeared when he remembered that Ruffnut would grow suspicious once she realized that the rain wasn't even making a dent in removing the pink colour from her hair.

Then he would have some confessing to do.

Next chapter: In which Tuffnut intervenes and dares Hiccup.