Chapter 42: Gruff Around the Edges
Once Henry had returned to Dragon Riders, it felt like things had finally returned to what passes for normal on Dragon's Edge as the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was utterly peaceful, but then a large horn was heard across the edge giving everyone a start.
"What the?!" Hiccup said shooting up.
Hicca woke up next from her hut as she fell to the floor. "Agh!" She cried out as she got up as Midnight came next to her as Hicca looked at the sunlight outside. "The sun has barely risen, it's a little too early!" She yelled out from the rude awakening.
Raeda shot up so fast that she actually hit her head on the art shelf above her. "Ow!" That time already?!" She retorted, rubbing her head.
Snotlout was hugging his toy dragon when he woke up.
Astrid, who was suffering from a bad hair day, drew two daggers as she gave a mean glare.
"Good morning, Dragon's edge!" Tuffnut's voice yelled across the base.
"It's Tuff…" Tuffnut started.
"And Ruff…" Ruffnut added.
"And Chicken…" Tuffnut said, holding out Chicken as she clucked.
"In the morning," They yelled in unison.
Recently the Thorston twins had been using the Thunder Ear providers installed to listen to ships and were using it to send their voices across the Edge. Normally it wouldn't be so bad, but they insist on enduring the early hours of the morning for some sort of ridiculous show to appear.
"All right, folks," Ruffnut began. "Now it's time for your weather forecast." At this point the Dragon Riders had emerged out of their houses feeling very tired. "Today will be freezing cold. Tomorrow will be, well, freezing cold!"
"Leave it to you muttonheads to use the Thunder Ear backwards," Snotlout glared.
"Or are we using it right-wards?" Tuffnut asked. He then leaned over towards the earpiece. "To inform the masses."
"Ugh!" Snotlout groaned.
"Plus, the earwax on this thing keeps our lips from chapping." Ruffnut said as she scrapes some wax off the earpiece and rubs it against their lips. "You know, we really should market this."
"Why did we agree to leave the Thunder Ear with the Thorston twins again?" Henry asked the Haddock twins, looking really tired and annoyed that Ruff and Tuff are messing around with the Thunder Ear.
Hicca rubbed her eyes, "It's better than putting them on supply stash duty." She replied, saying that it's the only way for them to not waste their supply stash like what happened to their Monstrous Nightmare gel supplies a while back.
"Yeah, but them and the Thunder Ear, not really a good sign either." Henry pointed out, since having the Thorston twins have
Heather had also emerged from Astrid's house with her axe, yawning as she then jumped back in surprise when she saw Astrid bed hair.
"Okay, let's check the old mailbag and see what Terrible Terror mails came in last night," Tuffnut continued.
Ruffnut was scavenging through the mailbag and pulled out one. "Ah! Here's one for Snotlout, 'I miss your snuggles, too. Signed Mummy.'" She said with a smirk.
Snotlout was at this point even more furious with them. "Hey, that's private!" He yelled with a blush.
Raeda chuckled from this as she covered her mouth. "Hehe, ya gotta admit, it is a little funny." She joked as Snotlout groaned in embarrassment.
"Whoa! This one's addressed to us," Ruffnut said, pulling out another parchment. "'Dear Ruff and Tuff, your cousin Gruffnut is on his way to visit you today.'"
Tuffnut stared at his sister. "Wait, Gruffnut? Gruffnut's coming here? Today?" he asked excitedly. "Oh, no, look at me. I am a mess. All right, show's over. I gotta get ready."
He then tossed Chicken to Ruffnut and then quickly ran back down to their hut.
(Linebreak)
Later that morning, Tuffnut spent most of the day cleaning the clubhouse enthusiastically.
"Gruffnut's coming." Tuffnut said as he kept on repeating over and over again as he swept the floor with a broom "Gruffnut's gonna be here in any second. The place needs to look nice." He then looked at his sister. "You wanna help, just a little?"
"No," said Ruffnut, clearly not as enthusiastic as her brother.
"Okay. Henry and I are new here. Who is Gruffnut?" Heather asked.
"Yeah, who is this guy?" Henry asked as well.
"He's their cousin. We've never met him but Tuffnut worships the guy," Snotlout explained as he leaned against his spear because he was still quite tired.
"Ever since he was a kid, Tuff's treated Gruffnut like he was Thor himself." Raeda added.
"No, I don't." Tuffnut scoffed. "Even if he is a totally awesome world traveler and a fearless adventurer."
"Yeah, you say traveler, I say a drifter, who just wanders into our lives every few years," Ruffnut scoffed.
Tuffnut then gave a pleading look to the Haddocks Twins. "Hiccup, Hicca, what do you guys think about me taking over the reins around here? You know, just while Gruff is around?"
"Don't you remember what happened last time you were in charge?" Hiccup asked.
"During the time of the Fireworm migration?" Hicca reminded the Thorston boy that during migration, the Thorston twins discovered that they owned the island and became tyrannical rulers with their poor decisions almost got Dragon's Edge burned to the ground when the Fireworms landed.
"To be fair, I was only in co-charge of the island, so I think we all know whose fault all that really was." Tuffnut said, gesturing to his sister.
Ruffnut looked as if she was about to punch her brother, but then a strange voice that sounded strangely similar to Tuffnut was heard. "Did this island just get a hundred percent more amazing, or is it just me?" The voice said, only a lot more gruffy.
Everyone turned towards the clubhouse door and saw a figure standing in the silhouette of the sun.
"Gruffnut," Tuffnut said excitedly. "Ah, my hero-ic cousin. How are you, friend?"
Gruffnut then ended the clubhouse and that is when they realized that he looked exactly like Tuffnut. The only difference was the horns on his helmets were lopsided, he was wearing a brown tunic, a red shirt, and all his hair was cascading down his back.
Gruffnut smiled at Ruffnut, but she just narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Tuffnut then made his way over to his cousin. "Gruffnut, these are the Dragon Riders. Dragon Riders, this is the Gruffnut." Tuffnut introduced.
"Hello, everyone, and always fabulous Ruffnut. Gruffnut said as he entered the clubhouse. He then tried to hug his cousin but she simply moved out of the way.
"Yeah. Cousin Gruffnut." Ruffnut said, looking at him as if he was an infection.
"No one mentioned the family resemblance." Hiccup said looking at the two of them.
"It's uncanny." Hicca agreed.
Tuffnut and Gruffnut looked at one another.
"I don't see it at all," said Tuffnut.
"No. Me neither," Gruffnut agreed.
"Really, cause I think Gruffnut could pass as your twin Tuff." Henry commented before he noticed Ruffnut shooting him a murderous look, "No offense Ruff." He quickly said.
"So, cuz, what've you been up to?" Tuffnut asked, guiding him over towards the table.
"Ah, the usual." Gruffnut shrugged as he moved over to the table, "You know, winning my weight in gold. That sort of thing."
"How does one win their weight in gold, exactly?" Fishlegs asked suspiciously.
"Uh… Spear-throwing competition, of course." Gruffnut replied.
"Duh," Tuffnut said like it was obvious.
Snotlout immediately woke up. "Whoa, that's a lot of gold. Could I see it? Maybe hold it. Caress it." He asked.
"Or maybe have some to replace all the gold that Berk lost." Raeda asked sarcastically as she crossed her arms, getting a funny feeling about Gruffnut's wealth.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't have any more." Gruffnut said apologetically.
"Oh. What a surprise." Ruffnut said. sarcastically.
"Of course." Raeda said with the same tone as Ruffnut.
"Yep." Gruffnut said as if reading her mind. "Gave it all away to the poor."
"Your generosity is only expressed by your adventurousity," Tuffnut said impressively.
"I have an idea, 'cuz.'" Ruffnut said, making her way over towards Snotlout. "Why not show everyone your awesome spear-throwing skills that won you all that gold that you conveniently don't have anymore?" She then kicked the spear away from Snotlout, causing him to craft the floor, and landed in midair. She then tossed it over to Gruffnut, who nearly dropped it.
"I'd be happy to put on a little expedition, except that my arm is still injured from that shipwreck, that darn shipwreck." Gruffnut cursed, rubbing his spear arm.
"What shipwreck?" Ruffnut asked skeptically.
"I didn't mention the saving of the sinking shipload of orphans?" said Gruffnut dramatically.
"No, you conveniently left that out." Henry said, who was starting to understand why Ruffnut didn't like her cousin.
"Buried believe I guess, it's 'cause you're so humble." Tuffnut said.
"The most." Gruffnut agreed.
Hicca raised a brow as she walked over to him, "Well then I hope you don't mind if I take a look at you would you?" She asked as.
Gruffnut suddenly looked nervous before raising his 'injured' arm. "Holy Thor, my arm has recovered!" He declared before he turned to Tuffnut. "Well, enough about me. Tuff, what have you been doing while I was out winning fortunes, saving orphans, and defeating a kraken."
"Well, uh…" Tuffnut stuttered. He then picked up Chicken. "I have a Chicken."
"Oh," Gruffnut said.
"Uh," Snotlout winced.
Tuffnut was unable to think of anything else. "Um…" He struggled to say.
"Hey, Tuff… why don't you show Gruffnut around the base…" said Hiccup, coming to his rescue. "…Uh, around your base."
"Yeah, give him a tour of… your base." Hicca stammer, not liking this idea but it was for Tuffnut.
Tuffnut beam at Hiccup and Hicca.
"Your base?" Gruffnut stared at his cousin. "Whoa."
"Well, it's not really 'my' base." Tuffnut said, pushing Hiccup back accidentally. "I mean, I just designed it, built it, and ran it. Come on, follow me." Tuffnut then began to guide his cousin out of the clubhouse. "I'll give you a grand tour."
Chicken then flew out of Tuffnut's hands and into Ruffnut's, who looked as if she was starting to wish that Gruffnut had never been born.
"Ruffnut, get this chicken into its quarters." Tuffnut ordered her.
(Linebreak)
Soon they reached the stables and Tuffnut was gesturing to everything of reverence to Gruffnut.
"The darkest down there and over there are the stables." Tuffnut said, gesturing to the stables in front of them.
"Oh, and that's where you keep the dragons." Gruffnut said with a smile. "Well, I bet that's well guarded." He said.
"Not really. Who's gonna steal a dragon?" Tuffnut asked as he shrugged dismissively. "I mean, unless you can fly one, you're not getting very far."
"Right. Of course. I hadn't thought of that." Gruffnut said, frowning slightly.
"Yeah, that's why they put me in charge." Tuffnut said proudly. "I think of things."
(Linebreak)
Next they went to the dome and Hiccup and Hicca joined them.
"I designed the arena roof to be totally detachable," said Tuffnut proudly to his cousin.
"Re-tractable." Hiccup corrected.
"That too." Tuffnut nodded. "It is retractable and detachable."
"This is going to end well." Hicca said, folding her arms. She then looked at Hiccup. "Remember what happened last time he was in charge, right?"
"Believe me I'm already starting to regret it." Hiccup whispered to her.
"See? You just use this lever," said Tuffnut grabbing the lever and pulling it instead of pushing it and it snapped in his hand.
Hiccup glared at him in frustration.
"I'll get the wood and nails." Hicca said as she started walking off.
(Linebreak)
Next they were in Hiccup's house which was also the forge.
"And this is where I do all interventionating," said Tuffnut waving his hand dramatically.
"Is that a bed over there?" Gruffnut asked, noticing Hiccup's bed upstairs.
"Yeah. I let Hiccup sleep here." Tuffnut explained. "You know, to guard my inventions?"
Hiccup glared at him in frustration again.
"Like this one," Tuffnut said, picking up Dragonfly One. "With this. I can literally fly like a dragon!" He then started putting on. "A little demonstration can't hurt."
"Tuffnut, no!" Hiccup yelled.
"You're supposed to use it-" Hicca tried to tell him but it was too late. Tuffnut outstretched the wings and one of them had made a hole in the wall. "...outside." She finished as Hiccup got even angrier.
After that debacle, Tuffnut pulled out Hiccup's Inferno. "This invention is my sword of fire!" He declared.
"That sounds magnificent," Gruffnut said, impressively. "How does it work?"
"I'll show you. It just…" Tuffnut trailed off, unfortunately he had no idea how to operate it. "Sometimes, it needs a little shake." He said as he shook the sword.
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Hiccup yelled as Tuffnut began shaking the sword.
"Tuffnut you're gonna…" Hicca tried but Tuffnut ignited the sword and it went straight through the fabric around Hiccup's house. "...burn through the wall." She finished.
"I've been meaning to do that, actually," Tuffnut said awkwardly as he withdrew the blade. "Because I needed better ventilation in here." "Hey!" He said dropping Inferno. "Check this out—" He started, then pulled out Hiccup's shield.
That was the last straw for the Haddock twins.
"Yeah, yeah, actually, would you mind if I talk to our boss here for a second?" Hiccup asked, grabbing Tuffnut's shoulder and looking at Gruffnut.
"We have to talk about inventions." Hicca added.
"Sure." Gruffnut shrugged. "And, Tuff, don't be too hard on thim. Accidents happen." He told them.
The Haddock twins then led Tuffnut out of the hut.
"It's going great. Am I right?" Tuffnut asked him.
"Uh, no," said Hiccup. "Look, I'm sorry Tuff, I was trying to help you out, but this is not working."
"Clearly, you and Leadership are a formula for disaster." Hicca said bluntly.
"What do you mean? Of course we're not!" Tuffnut said, lifting the shield and then accidentally activated its crossbow mode and fired an arrow. Fortunately it just missed Hiccup by an inch, but it proved his point and Tuffnut handed it back to him.
"You have to tell Gruffnut the truth," Hiccup implored him.
"You can't just keep hiding this from him. And you're gonna wreck the rest of the Edge if you keep doing this if you don't tell him the truth." Hicca added, since Tuffnut is already wrecking some of the Edg that they had just fixed.
"Tell Gruffnut the truth about what?" Gruffnut asked. looking through the hole Tuffnut created with Inferno. "Come on, no secrets. There's holes in these walls."
Tuffnut sighed, because he knew that the Haddock twins were right.
(Linebreak)
Later in the clubhouse he came clean with Gruffnut and Ruffnut watched the entire thing.
"Okay, fine. I don't actually run the base." Tuffnut admitted.
"Tuff, no need to embellish," Gruffnut said, patting him on the shoulder. "Everywhere I go, I hear about your heroic exploits, fighting Dragon Hunters, saving islands. You don't need to lie to impress me, Tuffnut, because you already have." He said.
Tuffnut sniffled as tears appeared in his eyes. "I wanna say, for the record, I am not crying." He said as he brushed his tears away. "I just have a bug in one of my eyes, in the same place, and it's irritating each of them equally."
Gruffnut then looked at Ruffnut. "Hey, you know what would be awesome? If the two of you heroes took for a ride on that dragon of yours." He asked.
"What?" Ruffnut starred. "No. Sorry. Pal. Look, it's sort of a two-person setup. I don't think all three of us—" Tuffnut gave her a begging look and she sighed.
(Linebreak)
A few moments later they were in the sky on Barf and Belch. Gruffnut was riding behind Tuffnut.
"So, what do you think?" Tuffnut asked, looking at their cousin.
"Incredible!" Gruffnut yelled. "And I gotta say, flying doesn't seem that hard. Basically, you just learn one way or the other."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Tuffnut admitted.
"Oh, sure, yeah. Not that hard at all." Ruffnut said, shaking her head. "Anybody can do this."
She then quickly swerved Barf to the right and they began spinning towards the sea with Gruffnut screaming. They then quickly pulled up and he screamed even louder and then saw upwards into the air where he screamed even louder.
"Oh, my! Oh, my!" Gruffnut yelled at the top of his voice.
"Take it easy, Ruff." Tuffnut said, looking at his sister.
"What do you mean 'take it easy'?" Ruffnut asked like Tuffnut was replaced with someone else. "An adventurer like cousin Gruffnut, come on, this is tame!"
They then performed a loop to loop and then flew back down towards the island. Gruffnut screamed even louder as they came flying in towards the forest. They began zigzagging their way through the trees which was very disconcerting for him. Then they were heading straight towards one of the larger trees.
"Oh, no!" He yelled, covering his eyes.
'Fire in the hole!' Barf and Belch roared as they fired their gas and spark attack and blew the tree up.
When they eventually returned back to the Edge and dismounted, Gruffnut was holding firmly to the saddle utterly terrified much to Ruffnut's enjoyment. Then when the two of them weren't looking he eventually calmed down and smirked as grabbed hold of Belch's horns and guided them to the open sky.
"Hey, Tuff and Ruff." Gruff smirked. "Thanks for the dragon."
The Thorson twins quickly turned.
"What?" Tuffnut starred in confusion.
"Huh?" Ruffnut asked in confusion.
They then watched as he took off, but sadly he didn't seem to realize that a Hideous Zippleback needed two rides. As a result they crash landed and Gruffnut was grand of Belch.
The Thorston twins then rushed over towards him.
"What was that?" Ruffnut asked with delight. "Did you just try to steal our dragons?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Gruffnut said, brushing himself down as he got up.
"You said, 'Thanks for the dragon,' and then took off." Ruffnut pointed out.
"Yeah, because I was making a joke." Gruffnut said, joining Tuffnut for support.
"Yeah, Ruff, carded tell when it's a joke." Tuffnut said, chuckling. "Gruff, speaking of jokes, we're always looking for fresh material on our morning show."
"That sounds magnificent." Gruffnut said.
Ruffnut glared at the two of them and walked away and folded her arms. Barf and Belch place their heads on either side of the shoulders watching the two cousins walking off.
"Huh. Let's keep an eye on Cousin Gruffnut," said Ruffnut looking at the two-headed dragon behind.
'Agreed.' Barf and Belch growled in agreement.
(Linebreak)
Later that afternoon, Ruffnut was leading the Haddock twins back to Hiccup's hut where she saw Gruffnut entering alone.
"Hiccup, Hicca, I'm telling you guys I saw him go in there, alone," Ruffnut said. "You know? By himself."
She then pulled down on the chain that opened the doors of Hiccup's house. There they saw Gruffnut, in broad daylight, sneaking his way over towards the sleeping Toothless.
"Excuse me?" Hiccup asked, glaring up at him.
Toothless woke up and growled at Gruffnut, who quickly backed away. The only to be stopped by a wooden pillar and stared down at Toothless, who retracted his teeth and snarled at him. 'What are you playing at?' Toothless growled.
"Whoa! Okay," Gruffnut yelled.
"Toothless. Easy bud," Hiccup eased as he, Hicca and Ruffnut made their way up the stairs. "It's okay."
"Got you!" Ruffnut smirked.
"What are you doing with Toothless?" Hicca asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What was I doing?" Gruffnut repeated calmly and looked down at Toothless' tailfin. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help taking a closer look at that magnificent tail device." He said, gesturing to his prosthetic tail.
"What?" Ruffnut starred.
"Amazing workmanship, Hiccup." said Gruffnut impressively. "You know, I'm a bit of an inventor myself."
"Oh, yeah. Right," Ruffnut scoffed.
Tuffnut then chose to show up with two boars in each arm. "Then you are, Gruff." He said. "Come on, I've got these boars greased and the pit primed."
"Oh. Sorry, Hiccup," Gruffnut said apologetically. "Another time, perhaps?"
He then made his way down to Tuffnut and Ruffnut followed him.
"Oh, gee, Ruffnut. I only brought two boars." Tuffnut said apologetically.
"Yeah, you get bored just watching." Gruffnut jokes. "Get it? 'Bored.'" The two of them then laughed and made their way outside and Ruffnut sighed.
Hicca then leaned over to her the Thorston Girl, "So Gruff's trying to steal one of our dragons." She stated.
"Indeed my fellow female twin, indeed." Ruffnut confirmed.
(Linebreak)
The next morning, the Thorston twins had awoken everyone yet again with the Thunder Ear. The only difference this time was that Ruffnut was not as enthusiastic as yesterday.
"Good morning, Dragon's Edge!" Tuffnut announced. "It's Tuff and…"
Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Ruff and…"
It was only that wind that Tuffnut noticed that Gruffnut was nowhere to be seen.
"Wait, where's Gruffnut?" Tuffnut asked.
"Gruffnut's not here?" Ruffnut said, not sounding surprised. "Oh, what a shock. Oh, wait, no. No, it's not. 'Cause that's his thing. He just blows into town and before anyone can get too close, the slivers of like the snake that he is."
"No way," said Tuffnut dismissively. "We boar bonded last night. I'm sure he just overslept. I'm gonna go find Gruffnut and when I do, you're gonna owe him a big apology."
Tuffnut then walked away.
(Linebreak)
Gruffnut was in fact in the stables trying to win Sparkfire over with some fish. Though he soon learned that he was having problems with Sparkfire as she kept on snarling at him.
"Come on, girl. Take the yummy fishy," Gruffnut then made kissing sounds as he guided Sparkfire out of the pen and she kept on snapping up the pitch.
What he didn't know was that she was snapping to say she didn't want it, 'You know Nadders like chicken, right?' She growled.
Unfortunately, Gruffnut was so busy with her that he failed to notice when he was walking and tripped over a bucket FULL OF FISH. He just picked himself up just in time to see Tuffnut entering the stables.
"There you are." Tuffnut said as he walked over to him.
"Tuffnut. You're supposed to be doing your morning show right now," said Gruffnut nervously.
"We both are. Come on, let's go. I can't wait to see the look on Ruff's face when she sees that you…" before he could finish Gruffnut then coughed very harshly.
"Yeah, see," Gruffnut stuttered. "I'm not feeling great this morning, so, maybe tomorrow, we could do it tomorrow."
Tuffnut then noticed this line on the floor and Sparkfire eating them, actually finding them quite tasty. "Wait, what are those fish for?" he asked. "Please tell me you're not trying to bribe Sparkfire so you can ride her."
Gruffnut laughed. "Of course not." Sparkfire then tossed the fish right at his helmet, to say he was. He then looked at Tuffnut. "Look, I just wanted to take a quick spin. You know, I kinda got dragon fever after riding Barf and Belch. So I thought…" The only stopped when Tuffnut then turned towards him, narrowing his eyes. "Oh. Nevermind. What are we doing here, cousin? You know I'm lying. I know I'm lying."
"That's a lot of lying." Tuffnut said, pointing a finger at him.
"I didn't actually win my weight in gold throwing spears." Gruffnut admitted. "So, I owed a lot of gold to some very dangerous men, Tuffnut. I need one of your dragons to pay them off."
Tuffnut looked at him hurt. "Gruffnut, I looked up to you. You were my role model. You were my hero." He said.
"Yeah, false idols," Gruffnut agreed. "Usually disappointing. Anyway, gotta go."
He then made a run towards the door, but Tuffnut blocked his path.
"Hey. Uh-uh-uh," Tunffut said, shaking his head. "I don't think so."
Gruffnut then raised his fists preparing for a fight. "Tuff, you couldn't take me when we were kids, what makes you think you can take me now?"
"You know what? Come to think of it, I don't have to." Tuffnut said before smirking. "Sparkfire is not gonna let any old stranger fly her out of here, none of our dragons would."
Gruffnut lowered his fists. "You got me. Dead to rights." He then walked past Tuffnut. "I don't know what came over me. I'm just so ashamed." He then began to cry. "
Oh. Come on." Tuffnut said as he made his way over to him. "It's not that bad. You know what they say, forgiveness is a dish best served freezing cold."
"Oh, cousin, you are one of a kind." Gruffnut said as he sniffed. "Well, almost." He then pointed straight up. "Look! A rainbow!"
Tuffnut then stupidly looked where he was pointing. "What? A rainbow?" he said excitedly.
Gruffnut then promptly knocked him across the head with a bucket and laughed insidiously.
(Linebreak)
When Tuffnut opened his eyes he found that he was tied up in a lot of rope. Apparently Gruffnut had switched his clothes with his.
"Gruffnut!" Tuffnut yelled in fury.
(Linebreak)
In the clubhouse, the Dragon Riders were just doing their own thing as they waited for Tuffnut.
Gruffnut then came walking inside wearing Tuffnut's clothes. "Sad news everyone, Gruffnut…" he said doing a very good Tuffnut impersonation. "Uh, Gruffnut had someplace really awesome he had to go to and so, now, he's gone for a while."
"I told you."Ruffnut said smugly.
"Oh, yeah, you did," said Gruffnut with a smile. "Told me what?"
"That he would do what he always does. Show up," said Ruffnut approaching him. "Get you to worship him again, and then, disappear." he simply.
"Well, why wouldn't I…" Gruffnut said, almost droppings impersonation, but was able to decide a cough. "Why won't I worship him? Gruffnut is awesome."
"No, he isn't! He's a phony." Ruffnut retorted.
"Uh. Maybe he is a phony, but if he's smart enough to fool people, that's their fault, Gruffnut said angrily.
"What?" Hiccup stare, looking away from the map on the board.
"I, uh… Oh. I mean, that something Gruffnut would say," Gruffnut said, correcting himself. "Not me. Tuffnut. Now, you're giving me a lot to think about." He then slowly made his way to the door. "So, I… I guess, I, Tuffnut, will go think about it."
He then walked out of the clubhouse leaving quite a few of the Riders perplexed.
"Just when you thought Tuffnut couldn't get any weirder," said Fishlegs as he played cards with Henry.
"Personally I always found those Nuts weird and I always expected them to get even weirder," Henry retorted, placing a card down the table.
"Agreed. They just keep getting more and more weirder, but this is more weird for Tuffnut." Hicca said in agreement.
Gruffnut was making his way down towards the stables, but the only one who wasn't fooled by his disguise was Chicken, who clucked at him suspiciously.
(Linebreak)
Tuffnut was still in the cave trying to free himself from the ropes, but they were quite tight. Instead he got to his feet and hoped to dislocated shoulder in order to ease his way out of them.
"Okay, you can do this, Tuff." Tuffnut said to himself. "Just dislocate a shoulder and you will slip right out of these ropes. One, two, three!"
He then slammed his shoulder against the rock hard wall, but all he accomplished was hurting himself.
"Ow!" Tuffnut winced. That didn't work… because I need a running start." He told himself as he then jumped further and further away from the wall. "Uh. Okay, okay." He then slammed right into the wall as fast as they could, but ended up falling back on his face on the floor. "That is no good." He muttered.
(Linebreak)
Gruffnut had finally made his way to the stables and was attempting to get Hookfang to ride him. To that end he was holding a bucket of fish and holding out a piece to the Monstrous Nightmare, who was asleep.
"Hookfang!" Gruffnut yelled to the sleeping dragon, who then promptly woke up. "It's me, Tuffnut. Ugh." He then realized that he was using his normal voice and quickly changed to Tuffnut's. "Your old buddy. You don't mind if I take you for a little spin, do ya?
Hookfang merely snarled at him viciously, 'what's going on here? You never bring me fish.' He noted suspiciously.
When Gruffnut tossed him a fish. Hookfang uses fire to roast it and gobbles it up. 'But hey, early breakfast so who am I to complain?' Hookfang growled in satisfaction.
Gruffnut then held out another fish and laughed insidiously knowing that he was very close to stealing a dragon.
Then at the exact moment he held the fish towards Hookfang, who began to sniff it, Chicken jumped up and started clucking like crazy.
Hookfang then understood what she was saying, 'Gruffnut?' He said before he blasted fire directly at Gruffnut, who then ran away screaming as Hookfang blasted him.
He managed to escape the fiery dragon, but got scorched in the process. Chicken then waddled out of the stables to witness Gruffnut running as far away as he could away from the stables and narrowed her eyes.
(Linebreak)
Gruffnut then decided to try and capture a tamer dragon. To that end he was at Fishlegs' house feeding Meatlug an assortment of rocks.
"Well, I guess I'm settling with a Gronckle." Gruffnut said, tossing another rock to Meatlug,
Meatlug gobbled it down excitedly. 'yummy, yummy rocks!' she said happily, not realizing what Gruffnut said.
"Hopefully, they'll pay me by the pound." Gruffnut said as he then climbed onto her back and then Chicken jumped up and started pecking his leg.
"Get outta here." Gruffnut said, kicking her way. "No, stop it. Stop!"
It was at that point that Meatlug noticed that Gruffnut was on her saddle and started to shake him off. 'Hey, get off my back Tuffnut!' She snarled, as Gruffnut held on for as long as he could, but then he was shot straight off and landed face first on the floor.
He then got up and glared at Chicken. "Filthy-beaked bird," he glared.
Unfortunately before he could do anything about her, Meatlug spewed some lava at him. Knowing that he was defeated he made a run for it and as he did Meatlug glared at him growling as Chicken was clucking away.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Tuffnut had still failed in every attempt to free himself from the ropes. So far all he had caused was more injury to himself.
"Okay," Tuffnut said, the next second he slammed into the wall and screamed in pain. "Nope, dislocated my hip, doesn't work either. Time for the ankles."
Unfortunately before he broke his legs, he saw a Night Terror entering the cave. He then got an idea, which was quite rare.
"Uh. Come here, little guy." Tuffnut said, waving his hands towards him. "You know Smigvarg? He and I are tight. We're buddies from way back." He noted as the Night Terror got closer and he pressed a hand to its snout, taming it "Quick question: How are you with knots?" He asked with a smirk.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile the other Dragon Riders were gathered in the dome and they were starting to find that something unusual was going on with their dragons. For some reason they were all leering at Tuffnut suspiciously.
And Fishlegs discovered someone had overfed her.
"Excuse me? Has someone been feeding Meatlug feldspar again?" Fishlegs asked as next to him Meatlug was just lying on the ground with a big overfed belly, looking at the other Riders. "You know how it bloats her."
Hiccup sighed. "Looks like we need someone to take your patrol shift. Any vol—"
Gruffnut then quickly raised his hand. "Uh. We'll do it, we'll do it." He said.
"We what?" Ruffnut stared in shock.
The other Riders just stared at him in bewilderment.
"Wow, Tuffnut, you are volunteering to go on patrol." Hicca said in surprise.
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Tuffnut?" Snotlout asked.
"What… What is that supposed to mean?" Gruffnut asked nervously.
"No offense. You just don't volunteer very—Well, ever." Snolout added.
"Yeah, you've been acting unusual for the past few hours, and I mean, even more for you," Raeda agreed.
"Oh, yeah," Gruffnut stuttered nervously. "I mean, you're right. But now that that Gruffnut jerk is gone, I think Ruff and I should use a little us time." He then looked at Ruffnut. "Right, sis? I missed ya."
"You had me at 'that Gruffnut jerk,'" Ruffnut smiled. She then picked up Macy and handed him over to Gruffnut. "And, hey, what Macy comes along, too?"
"Uh… No, thanks," Gruffnut said.
Ruffnut stared at him. "Huh?"
Now the Riders were really confused, Tuffnut always wanted to bring Macey along.
"I mean, maybe you should get to carry Macy for a change. Right?" he said quickly.
The two of them then left the dome and Ruffnut was starting to get suspicious. When they went over to Barf and Belch the Zippleback growled at Tuffnut.
'You can't fool us.' Belch said.
'We know you're not Tuffnut.' Barf added as the Thorston Twins mounted on o their necks.
(Linebreak)
Later that day, Hiccup and Hicca were busy fixing up Hiccup's powers after the brief moment of Tuffnut's time in charge.
"Oh, the things we do." Hiccup sighed.
"Sometimes we are just too nice to even let Tuffnut have his chances." Hicca said.
"Tell me about it, sis. We really should've second guessed this." Hiccup said in agreement.
Then suddenly they heard a Night Terror screech and the familiar cries of Tuffnut. They turned around and saw Gruffnut, who was actually Tuffnut, grabbing hold of a Night Terror and flying down towards them.
"Hiccup. Hicca." Tuffnut said.
Hiccup and Hicca quickly glared at him, believing him to be Gruffnut as Toothless and Midnight growled at him.
"You!" The Haddock twins said in unison.
"Yes. Me," Tuffnut said, getting to his feet. He then brushed himself down and looked at the Night Terror. "Thanks for the ride, Peggy." He then shooed it away. "Go on, get."
"What are you doing back here?" Hiccup glared.
"Haven't you caused enough trouble?" Hicca said angrily.
"I live here and I always cause trouble." Tuffnut said in confusion, clearly not realizing that they believed him to be Gruffnut.
"Oh, no, you don't," Hiccup said.
"I don't know what you're thinking when you conned Tuffnut into this, but no way, Gruffnut. Now get off the Edge." Hicca glared.
"Hiccup, Hicca, I'm not Gruffnut. I'm Tuffnut," said Tuffnut.
"Yeah. Sure you are," said Hiccup skeptically. "You do a very good Tuffnut impression, but we think we know one of my best friends when I see him."
"You should have at least changed clothes to make it look more convincing," Hicca said, folding her arms.
Tuffnut gasped and looked at the Haddock twins. "Hiccup? Hicca? We're best friends?" He then chuckled in disbelief. "Really? Even though I almost burned down the whole island that one time and also once released a Skrill and crashed you guys under a bunch of logs and stones?" He recalled.
Hiccup and Hicca were taken aback, because there was no way Gruffnut would know about those things.
"Tuffnut! It really is you," Hiccup beamed.
"Only you would know what happened to us." Hicca added with a smile.
Before Horror then struck them when they realized something. "Which means that Gruffnut's out on patrol with Ruffnut, pretending to be you." Hiccup added as Tuffnut's face turned to worry.
He then remembered, "Gruffnut owed gold to some bad guys and he needs one of our dragons to pay them off!" Tuffnut told them.
"And they have Barf and Belch!" Hicca finished with wide eyes.
(Linebreak)
Up in the sky, Ruffnut and Gruffnut were flying Barf and Belch over the ocean, but Gruffnut was finding it very hard to control Belch and they were zigzagging all over the place.
"Whoa! Air is pretty rough, huh?" Gruffnut said, looking at his cousin.
Ruffnut was starting to get suspicious and narrowed her eyes at him, having no trouble flying. Gruffnut was clearly starting to realize that she was realizing the truth and looked down.
"Oh, look. Suddenly, a ship." Gruffnut said pointing down at the ship in the sea.
"I don't recognise it." Ruffnut said, and then she turned to Gruffnut. "Should we take a look?"
"Sure. Whatever you think," said Gruffnut.
Ruffnut looked at him. "'Whatever I think?'" She retorted, as that was the piece of proof she needed.
She then pulled Barf up and they came to an abrupt stop.
"Whoa! Oh, dear. Whoa!" Gruffnut yelled almost losing his balance.
"Okay, that's it." said Ruffnut glaring at him. "What are you trying to pull, Gruffnut?" She accused him.
"Gruffnut?" Gruffnut started nervously. "What are you talking about, sister?" He asked.
"The real Tuffnut never cares what I think, and while I'm at it, he wouldn't volunteer with us for this mission, and he would never ever let me carry Macy!" Ruffnut yelled holding Macy up in a threatening manner.
"Well, what do you know?" Gruffnut said, dropping his impersonation. "I always said he was the smartest twin."
"Flattery has no effect on me, mainly because I never hear any." Ruffnut said. "So cut the sheep dip and tell me who's on that boat down there!"
"You wouldn't understand." Gruffnut said, not looking her in the eye.
"It's people you owe money to, right?" Ruffnut guessed. "You wanna trade them Barf and Belch to pay off your stupid debt."
'WHAT?!' Barf and Belch roared in disbelief.
Gruffnut stared at her in shock, as she hit the nail right on the head. "Okay. Whoa. Seriously, you are the smarter twin." He commented
"Not gonna happen!" Ruffnut yelled.
"Don't make me do this the hard way, Ruffnut." Gruffnut warned.
"I do everything the hard way!" Ruffnut replied as she then began to guide Barf and Belch up, but Gruffnut stopped by slamming Belch into Barf. Ruffnut tried to hit him with Macy, but he ducked.
"Down dragon," Gruffnut said, pulling Belch downwards, causing them to dive.
'Let go of me!' Belch demanded as they plummeted.
"No, you don't!" Ruffnut yelled as she pulled Barf upwards. Soon the two of them were in a fight to control the two-headed dragon. Soon the two of them were wrestling with one another. "You are not good enough for the Nutt name!"
At that point, the Haddock twins arrived on their dragons. Tuffnut was riding with Hiccup and he saw the fight that was going on, on Barf and Belch.
"There they are," Hiccup said.
"Looks like we just got here just in time." Hicca said. "But I don't know if Ruff can hold Gruff off forever." She added in concern.
"This is my fault for not listening to Ruff," said Tuffnut. "How could I be so stupid? I have to make that up to her." He then got to his feet. "It's time for Balista-Nutt!"
"What?" The Haddock twins starred in surprise.
Then before they could stop him, he jumped off Toothless and dived straight towards Barf and Belch.
"No! No, no, no," Hiccup yelled.
"Well, he's dead." Hicca said.
"Here I come!" Tuffnut yelled as he plummeted towards Barf and Belch.
Ruffnut were still fighting for control over Barf and Belch with Gruffnut which wasn't easy. Gruffnut was stronger than her and she was holding Macy which was making her lopsided. They start a brief second when they see Tuffnut plummeting down towards them.
"Yeah!" Tuffnut yelled, Unfortunately, he plummeted right past them. "No!"
"Be honest. That was hilarious," Gruffnut said, trying to hold back a laugh.
Then suddenly he was tackled by Tuffnut, who had pulled up Thanks to Hiccup's flight suit borrowed before they left, having a feeling it would come in handy, and he was right. Gruffnut landed on the back of Barf and Belch and Tuffnut landed on his feet on the back as well.
"Back in action." Tuffnut said. He then glared down at Gruffnut, who was clinging onto the back of his dragon. "Be honest. That was painful."
Gruffnut then pulled himself up.
"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah," said Tuffnut raising his fists eagerly.
Gruffnut threw the first punch, but Tuffnut blocked it and then blocked the second punch from his cousin. He then slapped him across the face with his backhand, but Gruffnut counter-attack by kicking him in the ankle.
"Ow! My ankle, my ankle!" Tuffnut yelled hopping around.
Gruffnut then punched him across the face and he fell onto the back of Barf and Belch. He then tried to make a grab for Tuffnut, but he used the flight suit and the updraught of the wind to fly right behind him and kicked him in the back.
"You dislocated my hip," Gruffnut winced as he turned around clutching his hip. "Hurt's more than I imagined. Uh…"
He then charged at Tuffnut, but he ducked and got behind him. Gruffnut quickly turned and tried to knee him in the face, but Tuffnut blocked it. He then spun behind him and punched him across the face.
"Chinese finger move," Gruffnut called out, stretching his hand, but Tuffnut quickly grabbed it.
He then twisted his arm and then head-butted him in the head. He then grabbed the flight suit and began slamming him with it.
"Flight suit!" Tuffnut yelled over and over with every slam.
Tuffnut then tried to slam the flight suit against him one more time, but Gruffnut tripped him up and made him drop the flight suit. He tried to reach for it, but Gruffnut grabbed it first and tossed it over Barf and Belch.
"No!" Tuffnut screamed as Gruffnut picked him up.
"Hey! Come on, guys! Work with me here," Ruffnut said, looking back at them as they got closer and closer to the boat.
The man on the boat saw them and got a chain cannon ready and had aimed at Barf and Belch. The boat appeared to be manned by two men and appeared to be merchant by the looks of it
"Fire!" One of the merchants said.
They then fired the chain directly at Barf and Belch and it would have smacked them if Toothless didn't deflect it with a plasma blast. Toothless and Midnight then flew around Barf and Belch as Tuffnut and Gruffnut continued fighting.
"We can't risk hitting Tuffnut." Hiccup said to his sister.
"Then let's focus on making sure that ship stays where it is so we can buy Tuffnut some time." Hicca suggested.
Gruffnut then managed to get Tuffnut into a neck hold and then nearly tossed off Barf and Belch's back.
"I used to look up to you." Tuffnut said, and then charged screaming at him with his fists raised.
He punched Gruffnut across the face, but he then punched Tuffnut even harder causing to lose his balance.
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Tuffnut yelled as he maintained his balance as another fall of the back of Barf and Belch. "Whoa! Oh!"
"Let me give you another chance," Gruffnut said, about to push him off.
Ruffnut then used Macy to reflect the rays of the sun directly at Gruffnut's eyes temporarily blinding him. This gave Tuffnut enough time to regain his balance and soon the two of them began fighting again. Tuffnut dealt a few blows to the chest, but Gruffnut caught his fist and twisted his arm and started kicking him across the face.
Tuffnut managed to knock over and was about to deal the final blow, but Gruffnut kicked off him and he slid across Barf and Belch's left wing.
"Help!" Tuffnut yelled.
"Tuff!" Ruffnut yelled and quickly turned Barf and Belch right to get him back on the wing.
He then slid down the wing towards Gruffnut, who then placed his foot on top of him pinning him down. He then raised his fist laughing insidiously preparing to deal the final blow.
Tuffnut they quickly look at his sister. "Macy me!" he yelled.
Ruffnut then quickly tossed Macy towards him and he caught her. He raised Macy just as Gruffnut swung his fist and slammed into the metal fail and he clutched his hand in pain.
"Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Gruffnut yelled.
Tuffnut then slammed Macy right into his chest and he landed on Barf and Belch's right wing and began to slide off. Ruffnut turned the two-headed dragon left causing him to fall on top of the merchant ship.
"Thanks, sis." Tuffnut said as he made his way onto Belch's saddle.
"You got it, bro." Ruffnut said.
Gruffnut landed on the ship and one of the merchants and the other two had weapons in each hand. They also didn't appear to be very pleased with Gruffnut.
"Oh, hey, guys," Gruffnut greeted nervously as he backed away from them. "The dragon thinks, it's… It ended up being more com—Hey, how about that gold I owe you? What do you say we go double or nothing?"
The merchants did appear to lack that offer as they raised their weapons.
"Oh, no." said Gruffnut.
Then Barf and Belch appeared and grabbed him and began to fly away. Even though their cousin was a lying, sneaky jerk, they couldn't let him die like that.
(Linebreak)
The next morning, the Thorston Twins were still doing the show and this time they had the Haddock Twins with them, who are embarrassed.
"Good morning Dragon's Edge!" said Tuffnut dramatically. "It's Tuff…"
"And Ruff…" said Ruffnut.
"And Chicken…" said Tuffnut holding out Chicken.
"In the morning, with our special guests, another set of twins, Hiccup and Hicca Haddock," Ruffnut announced.
"Hi, there." Hiccup said, feeling the embarrassment eating away at him.
"Hello." Hicca said next, feeling more embarrassed as her cheeks blushed in embarrassment.
"Oh… Sir and Lady Talks-a-lots." Tuffnut said. "Okay, enough about you two. How great were we yesterday?" He asked them.
Hiccup shook his head. "Uh, you were very great. You saved Barf and Belch from being sold by Gruffnut.
"And we were very impressed that despite everything he did, you still rescued him." Hicca added.
"Well, he is family." Ruffnut said.
"And he still had my helmet," Tuffnut said, gesturing to his helmet.
"That too." Ruffnut said.
"But still, you two may have some differences, but you still help a family in need, no matter what terrible actions they caused, you still save them." Hicca said with a smile.
"Uh, speaking of which, where is Gruffnut?" Hiccup asked curiously.
"Yeah, what did you two do to him after rescuing him?" Hicca asked as well, wondering what they did to Gruffnut.
"Oh. We decided he should have a real adventure, for a change." Ruffnut said.
The two of them then shackled mischievously.
(Linebreak)
Gruffnut was in the forest only holding the spear in a forest full of dragons. He quickly ran towards the cave looking wildly behind him.
"This won't be so bad." Gruffnut said as he slowed him back into the cave. "At least I have some shelter."
He then slowly backed into something and turned slowly to discover that the cave was home to a sleeping Catastrophic Quaken. To make things even more unfortunate the Quaken started to awoke and saw him. Gruffnut then promptly ran away screaming as the Quaken chased him down.
"There is a giant eye!" Gruffnut screamed.
The Quaken then stopped at the entrance and roared loudly.