Chapter 73: A Gruff Separation
Hiccup and Hicca were patrolling the outskirts of Dragon's Edge and that's when they saw a lone ship making its way towards the island. Without hesitation, they immediately flew down and boarded the loan ship and they both and their dragons were prepared to attack whoever was sailing her.
"All right, either you come out, or we're coming in," Hiccup warned.
"Or we sick our dragons on you." Hicca warned as well.
The ship looked entirely deserted and the Haddock twins could only assume that the ship's owner was down below deck and so made their way to the hatch. Hiccup opened it and immediately Toothless jumped in and immediately pulled out Tuffnut and left him suspended in the air.
"Tuffnut?" Hiccup blinked while Hicca was surprised.
"Uh, Gruffnut, actually," Gruffnut corrected.
"Oh, right. Sorry. You and Tuff just look very much alike so it's hard to keep track." Hicca apologized.
"That's okay. I get that alot." Gruffnut assured. "And, uh, could either of you get Toothless to put me down?" He asked.
The Haddock twins narrowed their eyes and nodded to Toothless, who then released him and Gruffnut landed on the floor hard.
"You know, 'Midnight' I can understand that it fits her. But 'Toothless,' uh, that is a terrible name for this dragon," Gruffnut said.
The Haddock twins, Midnight and Toothless then immediately narrowed their eyes down upon him as they remember too well what happened last time he came to the Edge.
"Gruffnut, why are you coming to the Edge?" Hiccup demanded. "What's the scam this time?"
"Because last time, you tried to take one of our dragons to pay off some pirates." Hicca recalled with a glare.
Toothless and Midnight then leaned in towards Gruffnut and growled and he quickly backed away. "Whoa, sorry for what happened last time, okay? I was in hot water for some dangerous Vik—" Toothless and Midnight growled at him again and he immediately jumped onto his feet. "Oh, yeah! I mean, I've changed. My time on Dark Deep force me to re-evaluate my entire life. I'm a whole new Nut, a better Nut, an honest, more trustworthy Nut. I even have a job."
Gruffnut then pulled out a sheet of parchment which held the Thorston family crest.
The Haddock twins looked surprised. "That's the Thorston family seal." Hiccup said in surprise/
"Ruff and Tuff's family." Hicca added in surprise as well as Hiccup then immediately took the parchment. "What is this, Gruff?" She asked.
"It's a message for Cousin Ruffnut and Cousin Tuffnut," Gruffnut explained. "I got to give it to them immediately."
(Linebreak)
On Dragon's Edge, the other Riders were preparing the Thorston twins' 19th birthday. Fishlegs had just finished trimming several bushes as well as putting up banners.
"And… perfect," Fishlegs smiled the moment he was finished. He then flew over towards the twins, who didn't look particularly impressed. "Ta-da. What do you think?"
Tuffnut then approached him gently as he dismounted Meatlug. "Fishlegs, this is our 19th birthday soiree, okay? So that's the biggest, the best. It's gonna be the most incredible soiree in the history of Dragon's Edge! In fact, Odin will weep in the halls of Valhalla when he finds out he missed it. Not that we didn't invite the big guy."
Ruffnut then stepped forward. "Yeah, these accouterments, although somewhat festive and moderately well conceptualized, are not in line with the epic barn burner we've envisioned."
Tuffnut nodded in agreement as he looked at him. "You need to go back, Fishlegs. Just go back to where this wasn't even something we were thinking about and then rethink your whole theme."
Fishlegs stared at them. "The whole theme?"
"The whole theme," Ruffnut nodded.
Barf and Belch then appeared and immediately blew away the entire decorations with their gas and spark attack.
Fishlegs moaned at the carnage as the twins left. "It's okay, girl. I thought your decorations were perfect."
(Linebreak)
The Thorston twins then made their way over to Snotlout, who was spending all his time sleeping outside his hut with Hookfang.
"Where are the meat pies?" Tuffnut asked. Snotlout just kept on snoring and Tuffnut leaned towards his ear. "Where are the meat pies?"
Snotlout then woke up with a start and it took a few seconds to get his bearings. He then looked at the twins with an uncaring expression. "Yeah, I was gonna make them, but then I remembered that I don't care about your stupid party." He then leaned back on Hookfang. "Now go away. I'm sleepy."
Ruffnut looked at him furiously and made her way towards Hookfang's horns and gave them a good shove. Snotlout then toppled over and landed on the floor and glared up at them.
"Hey!"
"You're officially uninvited," Tuffnut informed him.
"Like I wanted to go to your boring, pie-less banquet," Snotlout snorted as he got to his feet. He then immediately mounted Hookfang and they took off. "Come on, Hookfang."
Tuffnut then ran off. "Okay, where's Astrid, Henry and Valerie? Because we've got changes to make to the guest list. Oh, and Raeda had better make the parties along with the yak stew."
Tuffnut then stopped when he saw the Haddock twins landing on top of his hut with Gruffnut in Toothless' mouth. Gruffnut then waved at them with a very nervous smile, whether he was nervous upon seeing them or whether Toothless was going to drop him no one knew.
"Wait a minute. Who invited him?" Tuffnut asked, looking at his sister.
"Yeah, he just shipped here on his boat when Hiccup and I were patrolling the Edge." Hicca said in a bored expression.
(Linebreak)
Within minutes they had gathered everyone and had tossed Gruffnut into the stables and locked the door behind him.
"So that's Gruffnut, huh?" Valerie asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. The one who tried to sell out our dragons to some pirates." Henry answered.
"And you weren't kidding when you guys said that he looks like Tuffnut." Valerie said in surprise since Gruff and Tuff almost look alike.
"Their family is almost bearing resemblance. It's uncanny." Raeda explained dully.
The Thorston twins were now narrowing their eyes at him as the two of them had not forgiven him for almost kidnapping Barf and Belch.
"Hey! If you came to ruin our party, you might as well forget it." Ruffnut glared.
"No." Gruffnut said quickly. "You've got me all wrong, Ruff. You see, I've got something important to tell you. I've been sent here to administer the Thorston Induction Trials." He then immediately held out the parchment he had given to the Haddock twins as the Thorston twins looked at it transfixed. He then began to read it out loud. "'On this, the 19th year of their birth, on the event of the coming of the age, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston must take part in the most perilous trials of all: The Thorston Induction Trials!"
Hiccup shook his head in disbelief. "And you expect us to buy that?" He asked.
"Yeah, how do we know it's not a trick?" Hicca asked in suspicion.
Toothless and Midnight style to approach Gruffnut, but Tuffnut stopped them.
"Stand down, T and M." Tuffnut said gently.
Hiccup blinked at them. "Wait. You actually believe him?" He asked.
"This is the real deal?" Hicca asked with a raised brow.
"Of course I believe him and of course this is for real," Tuffnut answered. "Hiccup, Hicca, we've been waiting our whole lives for this."
Snotlout was leaning against the wall with Hookfang shaking his head in disbelief. "What kind of ridiculous clan has their coming of age ritual at 19? The Jorgensons do it at nine months and we have to kill a bear."
Raeda let out a sarcastic laugh, "Ha you think that's tough, we Hendersons take ours at 12, and we have to survive the night in a Monstrous Nightmare's turf with just one weapon in hand." She said.
Ruffnut shook her head. "Most Thorstons don't have that long of a lifespan, so if you actually make it to 19, it's a pretty big deal."
Tuffnut nodded. "Yeah, and because of this every Thorston, on their 19th birthday, must complete three extremely dangerous challenges. Each is specifically designed by the High Council of Thorston to test the mental, physical and height limits of the Thorston taking the trials. Once completed, you're officially inducted into the clan, with all of the rights, benefits and costumery that go along with it."
"And every Thorston does this?" Fishlegs asked dubiously.
"Every single Thorston." Tuffnut said.
The two of them then stood there reminiscing about past Thorstons completing their trials, but then they immediately shook out of it and looked at one another shocked.
"Wait a second. What are we doing reminiscing?" Tuffnut asked. "We must prepare. There are so many things we have to get ready for." He then immediately grabbed his sister and they began running out of the stables.
Hiccup looked at them. "Are you absolutely sure this is real?"
"Because Gruff can be a scammer when he tricks others." Hicca added.
Ruffnut turned and looked at him strictly. "Look, I appreciate the concern, Haddocks, and I admit Gruffnut's a slimy, two bit's scam artist. But you can't argue with a scroll."
Then before anyone could say anything the Thorston twins immediately rushed out.
Hiccup folded his arms. "I really don't like this." He said to own twin.
"Same here, bro. This might be troublesome." Hicca said in agreement, but they doubt they can talk the Thorston twins out of it.
(Linebreak)
Later that night, the Haddock twins later met up with the Thorston twins as they got themselves ready in their hut, still having doubts about Gruffnut's change of heart.
"So, if Gruffnut told you to jump off a cliff just because it's in the trials, would you jump off a cliff?" Hiccup asked.
Tuffnut looked at him. "I mean, how high is the cliff?" He asked.
"Hiccup, this is Ruff and Tuff we're talking to." Hicca reminded her brother with a bored expression.
Hiccup forgot who they were talking to. "Seriously, don't do this." He said.
Ruffnut looked at him. "It's our birthright." She told him.
"Besides, if we don't do the induction trials, we'll be disowned by the whole Thorston clan," Tuffnut added.
"Viewed as failures…" Ruffnut continued.
Hicca looked at them. "Take from a skinny pair of twins from a long of big and burly Viking kings we get it, But…"
Ruffnut groaned. "Hiccup, Hicca, it's so sweet and very Haddock-like that you both care, but relax. We've got something no other Thorston has ever had." She said.
"And that is?" Hiccup asked.
Ruffnut and then immediately opened the door and the heads Barf and Belch poked in. "Barf and Belch." She said.
'Yeah!' Barf growled.
'With us, they'll pass for sure!' Belch added.
Gruffnut then entered and immediately pushed them back. "Uh, ooh. Sorry." He then closed the door behind them and looked at the Thorston twins. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't actually use your dragon." He said.
'What?!' Barf and Belch roared in shock and disappointment.
Hicca raised a brow, "Um, considering these trials happened before we made peace with dragons, I don't think it should be against the rules for them to help." She said.
"Actually, if Barf and Belch did all the heavy lifting and the fun, it wouldn't feel like we passed the trials," Ruffnut said, before she looked at her brother and they bumped fists with one another. "Well, at least we have each other."
Gruffnut looked at them uneasy. "And that's a problemo numero dos," he said as he held out two fingers. "You got to compete as individuals."
"What?" Ruffnut gasped as she and her brother stared in shock. "What are you blabbering on about, Gruffnut?"
"Gruff, care to explain?" Hicca questioned with her arms folded.
"There's only one spot available this year," Gruffnut explained looking at the two of them. "Only one of you can become full-fledged Thorstons."
"You have to be kidding me," Hiccup stared.
"Now you tell us." Hicca said boredly.
Tuffnut looked at him in outrage. "What? But we're a package deal! You want Ruff, you get Tuff." He then pulled his sister towards him and looked at his cousin strictly. "Look, you can't have one without the other."
Gruffnut looked at them sympathetically. "I'm sorry. We've just never had to deal with the whole twin thing." He then separated the two of them and looked at them individually. "For this, we had to devise a whole new system."
"I'll give you a new system!" Ruffnut roared as she tried to strangle him and Tuffnut quickly grabbed her and pulled her back. "Let me go!"
"Ruff!" said Tuffnut firmly and then he looked at his cousin. "Listen, Gruffnut, if that really is your name—and I'm pretty sure it is because no one's referred to as anything else—if we both can't become Thorstons, then count me out."
"Yeah!" Ruffnut agrees, pulling away from her brother. "I'm not gonna leave my brother behind."
"Yes. Thank you, Ruffnut." Tuffnut then placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know, also, that being said, it's probably borne of insecurity knowing, to be fair, I'd win the trials."
Ruffnut then turned on him. "Oh, really? You don't say." She said.
The Haddock twins then immediately jumped in to break it off. "Hey, uh, guys, let's not lose sight of the fact that you're both doing something really honorable." Hiccup said.
"Yeah. Because from what we can tell, you both need to focus on surviving these." Hicca added.
Tuffnut nodded agreement. "Our fellow non-Thorston twins are right. We've made our decision." The two of them then place their hands on each other's shoulders. "I'm afraid we shall be Thorstons no more."
Then the two of them head-butted each other as hard as they could and probably fell to the ground with splitting headaches.
(Linebreak)
The next morning, Gruffnut was waiting for Ruffnut as she took her morning walk around the Edge, in an attempt to sway her decision.
He then immediately grabbed her arm and she immediately turned around. "What the—Gruff?" she stared when she saw who had grabbed her.
"Oh, sorry, I-I…" Gruff sighed and looked at her hopefully. "I was wondering if you might reconsider taking the trials."
Ruffnut pulled her arm away. "We said no, and we meant it." She said firmly.
"Which is so disappointing. I mean, it's clear you would've one," he said slyly.
"Pfft. Dud," she said.
"I get it, a beauty like you will easily marry into another family," Gruffnut nodded. "It's not as if you're going to become an old maid, or, uh, you know, some elderly hen, a baby seal named Derriq, with a Q. but losing the Thorston name isn't such a big deal for you. But poor Tuffnut—I mean, he's stuck."
"Huh, I never thought of it that way." Ruffnut admitted.
Gruffnut nodded. "Yep. An outcast forever. Sad and alone." He then sighed in sadness. "Unless…"
"Unless what?" Ruffnut asked curiously.
"Well, the rules say the winner burns the right to join the clan. Not that they have to," Gruffnut pointed out.
Ruffnut frowned at him. "Okay, so what's your point?"
"The point is, you could win the trials and then give the Thorston name to Tuff."
"I can do that?" Ruffnut asked, looking completely surprised.
"Of course," Gruffnut smiled. "All this is just make-up customs and traditions from our—We don't even know why we do this stuff."
Ruffnut pondered for a moment strongly considering the idea. She then looked at him. "Okay. I'll do it. When do we start?"
Gruffnut then pulled out a container. "How about now? Challenge one. It's simple, really. Just fill this with Speed Stinger venom."
(Linebreak)
After Gruff was finished with Ruffnut he made his way over to Tuffnut, who was playing with the chick as they were racing around a small obstacle course.
Tuffnut then looked up at Gruffnut. "Of course, I would ace the trials. You know Ruffnut probably won't complete the first challenge." He then immediately turned to the chicks. "Hey! Keep your knees up! That's it, little chick-ly." He then turned back to Gruffnut. "But Ruff and I agreed we're not gonna do the trials. So I'm just in the training mode."
"I understand," said Gruffnut honestly. "You're a Dragon Rider, an adventurer. You don't need to be tied down by clans or titles or subtitles. You're your own man."
Tuffnut nodded. "So true, cousin, so true."
"It's your sister," Gruffnut continued. "That's who I feel sorry for."
Tuffnut then immediately looked up at him. "Sorry for her? Why?"
"Well, I mean, two failed romances. Now no name, no dowry," Gruffnut pointed out. "She'll be alone forever. Gotta be so hard."
Tuffnut nodded. "Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. But I mean, what can I do?"
"Here's what I'm thinking…" Gruffnut said as he held out a container for him.
(Linebreak)
Moments later, the Haddock twins were making their way to an island which was inhabited by Speed Stingers and on the back of Toothless was Gruffnut.
"You two didn't have to come with me." Gruffnut pointed out. "I can referee the trials by myself."
Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him. "We have no idea how you talk to them back into this, but we're gonna make sure they don't get themselves killed." He stated, still distrustful of Gruffnut.
Hicca nodded in agreement. "Seriously the first try was trying to get Speed Stinger venom? You know how aggressive those dragons are! They can freeze you in an instance with their stingers!" She called out.
"That is so unnecessary. They'll be fine," Gruffnut assured.
Hiccup looked at him. "So you're telling us there's no way they get hurt?" He questioned.
"Or lose any limbs?" Hicca added.
"If you're looking for a guarantee, then we gotta talk about what is a guarantee?" Gruffnut said.
"Oh, never mind," Hiccup groaned.
"Why are we talking to a Nut when the word 'guarantee' doesn't voice their vocabularies?" Hicca questioned in annoyance as she then immediately glared at Gruffnut. "But if those two are going to get themselves killed, I'm going to make sure that you're going to live to regret it and Midnight will teach you a painful lesson." She threatened as Midnight growled at Gruffnut.
Gruffnut gulped.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile on the island, Ruffnut was positioning herself on a tree as she looked down at the Speed Stinger.
She then immediately jumped out of the tree to grab it, but it quickly dashed off and she landed face first in the dirt. Moaning, she picked herself up and began chasing it down.
Not too far away was Tuffnut and then he saw a Speed Stinger appearing from out of the bushes directly behind him.
"Come here." Tuffnut said calmly. "Come here!"
It then immediately ran off and he quickly chased after it and then suddenly he collided with Ruffnut, who had been chasing her own Speed Stinger.
"What are you doing here?" They asked one another at the same time.
"Nothing. Not a thing." Ruffnut said as she picked herself up and began brushing herself down.
Tuffnut narrowed his eyes. "You're trying to milk a Speed Stinger's tail for its venom!"
"Maybe…" Ruffnut said.
"I knew it. You're taking the induction trials." Tuffnut accused.
Ruffnut looked at him suspiciously. "How did you know that was the first trial?" She questioned.
Tuffnut looked at her uneasily and began fiddling with his fingers. "Oh…" He said sheepishly.
Ruffnut looked at him furiously and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're taking them, too!"
Tuffnut pushed her finger away. "Yes. But for very good reason."
Ruffnut narrowed her eyes. "We agreed we weren't going to do this if we both couldn't get in."
"While that is technically true…"
"Obviously, you were just saying that to keep me from doing them. You knew you couldn't beat me."
Tuffnut shook his head. "No, no. It was because there was no way you'd beat me. I didn't want to embarrass you."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, there's only one way to find out."
They then looked at one another dramatically. "May the best Nut win!"
"Which obviously will be me," said Tuffnut and walked off. "See you at the finish line, loser."
"Oh, you'll see me there, waiting for you to arrive in last place!"
"Well you'll be waiting a long time, because I'll have gotten there before you, and taken a nap in a hammock while you're toiling and struggling to finish the trials."
"You finished?"
"And then, once I woke up again, I would go and get the book and put it on my chest and fall asleep so that if I woke up a third time, I could read." Then there was a short pause. "Yes, now I'm finished."
Without the two of them ran off in separate directions to chase down their own Speed Stinger.
"She-beast!" Tuffnut yelled.
(Linebreak)
10 minutes later, Ruffnut was finally able to track down a Speed Stinger, which was currently drinking at a watering hole.
"I've got you now," she said smiling. "The Thorston name is mine. Oh, yes."
She then quickly pounced upon the Speed Stinger and grabbed hold of its tail. She then pulled out the container and inserted the Stinger into it and began pouring out the venom. Once she had a now she immediately jumped back to avoid the Speed Stinger, who was no doubt furious now.
"Tuffnut's got nothing on me!" Ruffnut smiled.
(Linebreak)
Tuffnut, somehow, had managed to land on the back of a Speed Stinger and it was running as fast as it could. Tuffnut was holding on as tightly as he could and was filling his container with the venom, but then the Speed Stinger immediately stopped and he was sent flying into the air and a bit of the venom entered into his mouth.
He soon landed on his feet and saw the Speed Stinger growling at him furiously, he then slowly began to back away. However, at that point his legs began to paralyze just as he lifted his left foot into the air and soon he was unable to move.
"Paralysis… spreading," Tuffnut said as his arms were no longer able to move. "What a cruel twist of fate."
The Speed Stinger then began to circle around him and he began to panic.
"Oh, no!" Tuffnut said. However, he then noticed that not all his body was paralyzed as he was still able to move his right foot. "I can still move my foot. It hasn't spread to my mouth."
However, it was at that point that he found himself unable to talk now.
Hiccup and Hicca were circling the island trying to keep an eye out for the twins. They then looked down and saw that Tuffnut was in trouble.
"Tuffnut!" The three Viking men cried.
"I suppose helping is against the rules, is it?" Hiccup asked, looking at Gruffnut.
"Yeah, of course, but you know, say I was looking in the other direction while you accidentally fired a blast in the general direction…" Gruffnut explained.
"Oh for Thor's sake! Tuffnut is frozen, Gruff! He can't do much like this!" Hicca called out as she noticed the jar full of venom in it. "We gotta draw that Speed Stinger away from him!"
"Agreed." Hiccup said in agreement.
The Haddock twins took the hint and immediately dived down and Toothless and Midnight fired plasma blasts that hit the Speed Stinger just as it was about to pounce. Tuffnut took the opportunity to hop away as quickly as he could.
"See you, sucker!" Tuffnut said in an unpronounceable voice.
'Get back here!' The Speed Stinger roared and immediately began chasing after him, but Midnight knocked a tree over with her tail, blocking its path and giving Tuffnut the opportunity to escape.
(Linebreak)
At the beach which was arranged to be the meeting spot, Ruffnut emerged from the forest looking completely victorious.
"Whoo!" Ruffnut cried triumphantly. "Yes! Passed the first trial. And where's Tuffnut? Oh, that's right. He's nowhere to be found."
It was at that point that Tuffnut hopped out of the bushes and landed face first into the sand and slid until he reached her feet.
Ruffnut then knelt down towards him and gestured to her container. "Hey, bro. You know you can always back out."
Tuffnut rolled over and gave her a stupid look on his face, telling her that he was not about to give up.
"Congratulations," said Gruffnut as Hiccup and Hicca landed. "You've both completed the first trial. What a proud moment."
Ruffnut then walked away happily as she looked down at her paralyzed brother. "Good for you, Tuffnut." She said.
"You know, I'd applaud for you sarcastically right now if I could move my hands," Tuffnut muttered with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
Ruffnut then presented her container of Speed Stinger venom. "What do you want us to do with these? Drink 'em? 'cause I will drink 'em."
Hicca immediately shook his head. "Oh, Thor, no, no, no! You're not supposed to drink the Speed Stinger's venom! It's not good for the body because it could paralyze anything on the inside as well!" She pointed out.
"It's true. I learned that the hard way when my tongue tasted the venom." Tuffnut muttered in agreement on the floor.
"Plus, you might need them for challenge two." Gruffnut informed her.
Hicca looked at him curiously. "And what is challenge number two?"
"Oh, it is extremely dangerous," Gruffnut admitted and looked at the Thorston twins. "To pass this challenge, you must obtain one molted Changewing skin."
Hiccup and Hicca look at each other in surprise. "Did he just say, molted Changewing skin?" Hicca asked in surprise.
"Apparently, he did." Hiccup answered with a sigh.
(Linebreak)
They then made their way to Changewing Island once Tuffnut had regained use of his faculties. Ruffnut had just witnessed a Changewing landing on a tree and she stealthily made her way towards it.
Once the Changewing camouflage itself she immediately looked down at the ground where there were turfs of Changewing skin.
Ruffnut then chuckled slightly. "Piece of cake."
Ruffnut then went down on all fours and began crawling her way towards the base of the tree, before she could grab the skin a burst of acid nearly struck. If she hadn't jumped back in time she would have been struck by it. She then looked at the tree and saw the Changewing reappearing directly in front of her.
"Okay, look, I'm only here for the skin." Ruffnut told the dragon. "What do you say you just give it to me?"
She then immediately tried to snatch it, but the Changewing jumped in front of her blocking her path. It then tried to pounce on her, but she quickly rolled out of the way and pulled out a container of Speed Stinger venom.
"Oh, this won't hurt a bit," she assured the Changewing before it pounced and she immediately tossed the Speed Stinger venom onto it. Almost immediately began to freeze until his entire body was paralyzed and then she merely walked towards the turf of skin and walked away with it.
"Valerie would probably chew me out if I did this to a Changewing just to get some skin since she has stacks of this stuff from Camo." Ruffnut said to herself as she kept walking away.
(Linebreak)
Tuffnut was still trying to find his turf of skin when he found a massive trove of it.
He gasped as he stared at all of them. "Seriously? I can't believe my luck! Thank you Valerie for Changewing tips." He said with a smile, thanking Valerie for giving him some details on where Changwings commonly mottled their skins as he hit the jackpot.
He then heard a roar and looked up to see a Changewing had been materialized on a tree. Then seconds later more of them appeared and he was completely surrounded.
"Seriously? I can't believe my luck." Tuffnut groaned.
He then tried to run away, but a Changewing flew towards him knocking him to the ground. It also caused him to drop his container of Speed Stinger venom, but thankfully he was able to splash it on it. You also have enough to deal with a second Changewing, which then tries to strike it with an acid blast. He then tossed it on the third and all of the Changewing that had surrounded him.
"Bam!" Tuffnut yelled triumphantly as he grabbed a piece of skin. "Valerie, if you ever find out about this, I am truly sorry I did such a crime to your Changewing brethren." He added, hoping Valerie would forgive him for this.
(Linebreak)
Ruffnut soon found herself at the beach and discovered that she was the first one there.
"Ruffnut wins again!" Ruffnut cheered as she then tossed her Changewing skin on to a stop and immediately disappeared. She then jumped on top of it and it looked as if she was standing in midair.
"Yeah! The crowd goes wild!" Ruffnut cheered. "How does she doing it, folks? I don't know! She must be a genius."
"Don't speak too soon, sis," Tuffnut's voice said.
She then turned and saw that Tuffnut was standing there waving his Changewing skin over his head. Also standing there were Barf and Belch as well as Gruffnut, who was leaning against a boulder.
"Oh, come on!" Ruffnut groaned.
"Sorry, Ruff, but Tuffnut has been here for about 30 seconds," Hicca informed her. "So it seems fair." She said.
Ruffnut then immediately turned on her brother. "You got lucky."
Tuffnut smirked slightly. "Luck? Ha. That was all skill. You're just going to have to accept that I'm going to be the real Thorston."
Ruffnut glared at him. "If you want the Thorston name, you have to take it from me."
Tuffnut then immediately tossed his Changewing skin onto the ground and then immediately rushed at one another and looked as if they were going to fight it out. Toothless and Midnight then quickly jumped between them and immediately slapped them in the faces with their tails.
'Would you knock it off!' Toothless warbled.
'This is too childish!' Midnight warbled as well.
Hiccup then placed his arms between the two of them. "Hey, hey, let's not forget that you're brother and sister."
"Yeah. I mean come on you two." Hicca said as she looked at the two Thorstons. "You both are twins, siblings, family. You shouldn't let these trials get in the way of what's important."
"Unless you two want to adopt the loser, stay out of this!" Tuffnut warned. "Although Ruffnut Haddock does sound sort of good."
Ruffnut looked heartbroken. "And I think I was ever gonna…" She then stopped herself.
"Gonna what?" Tuffnut asked.
Ruffnut turned her back on him. "Never mind."
"Oh for the love of Thor, will you two just care for each other for once!" Hicca yelled out as the others flinched as Hiccup sighs, knowing how his sister acts when she gets this annoyed. "You two are siblings! You're supposed to care for each other and support one another! Not competing with each other like this is more important than family!" She yelled out.
"What?" The Thorston twins asked in confusion.
"This is a Thorston's trial, and you two are Thorstons, but you both really need to stop only thinking about your glory and start thinking about each other! Like me and Hiccup!" Hicca yelled.
Ruffnut scoffs, "This coming from the daughter of Stoick the Vast." She said, "I bet if you and Hiccup were in our shoes you'd be fighting who'd get to be the next chief till your last breath."
"I'm not even ready to be Chief of Berk! Neither of us wanted to from the beginning!" Hiccup called out next after hearing this.
"And also, we competed against each other once, during the Thawfest games!" Hicca called out next. "We were so caught up at winning a game from dragon related stunts, that we even competed with each other to see who is better!" She added.
"And it almost made us forget who we are and we would've been no better than Snotlout since that would make us a lousy winner." Hiccup continued.
The Thorston twins look at the Haddocks in shock. "So, wait, during the Thawfest games, you two lost to Snotlout on purpose?" Tuffnut asked in shock.
"Yeah, because that would've ruined his honor to his family and make us no better than him." Hiccup explained.
"And we wouldn't have been competing with each other since it was a team effort and a sibling bond time." Hicca added.
"But, don't you think you would've won and destroyed Snotlout's winning streak?" Ruffnut asked.
"Yeah we would've." Hicca said before looking at them seriously, "But there are some things far more important than winning for a name."
"And that's being a family." Hiccup finished.
Ruff and Tuff look at the Haddock twins in shock as they look at each other while having conflicted thoughts to the words that Hiccup and Hicca said to them.
"Okay, you two," said Gruffnut gently. "You need to prepare yourselves for the most difficult challenge of all: challenge three." He then held out three fingers. "I'll give you one hint. You might want to take that Changewing skin with you."
(Linebreak)
Gruffnut then immediately let them all to cave, deepen the amount and face. Ruff and Tuff then held out the torches that Barf and Belch ignited for them.
Hicca looked at Gruffnut. "So what exactly do they have to do in this challenge?"
"Hidden within this network of tunnels is an old chest," Gruffnut informed them. "The first one to bring it to me will become the official Thorston."
"Only one of us can win this time," Tuffnut said, and looked at his sister. "So good luck, old maid."
Ruffnut then looked at him. "Get ready to start your new life, Tuffnut Haddock." They then immediately turned towards the cave. "And… go!"
They immediately ran off into the cave pushing one another as they ran.
(Linebreak)
Eventually the two of them reached a fork and they each took different routes. Ruffnut soon ended the cavern with a massive amount of treasure and she just stared.
"What? Oh!" Ruffnut said in awe, looking at all the gold. Her eyes then immediately turned towards a chess in the center of the room. "Sweet."
However, before she could approach the chest emerging from out of nowhere was a Titan Winged Hideous Zippleback.
Ruffnut just stared at it. "Titan Wing Zippleback. Wow, first a Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare, then a Deadly Nadder and now a Hideous Zippleback. Titan Wings are really showing." She commented.
Then to make things even more difficult the Titan Wing Zippleback laid itself next to the chest and its head circled around the podium it was sitting on. It didn't take her long to realize why she needed the Changewing skin.
"Okay, got to use the skin." Ruffnut said as she then snapped her fingers. "Use the skin."
She then immediately dragged herself with the Changewing skin and carefully and quietly she began making her way towards the chest.
"Whoa. I can't breathe," Ruffnut said, finding it difficult to breathe and the skin. "How did Valerie breathe through these things?" She asked herself as she was about to take that chest, but then immediately floated in the air. "Uh…" She then opened it slightly so that she could see with one eye and immediately realized what was happening. "Tuffnut!" she hissed.
"Ruffnut!" Tuffnut hissed back.
"Give me that chest!" Ruffnut demanded.
"No! It's mine," Tuffnut said, pulling it away from her.
Ruffnut then grabbed and the two of them began fighting over it.
"I saw it first." Ruffnut said.
"I'm going to be the real Thorston," Tuffnut said, opponent back towards him.
"Never!" Ruffnut called out.
Then as they argued Tuffnut tripped and fell out of the skin and landed right next to one of the Titan Wing Zippleback's heads. It then immediately opened and it saw Tuffnut sitting next to it.
"Whoa. Oh, no." Tuffnut said as the Titan Winged awoke. "Oh, come on. Seriously?"
It then immediately tried to bite him and Tuffnut made a run for it, Burdick grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him into the air.
"Oh! Help! Oh, no. No, no!" Tuffnut cried as it began tossing him from one head to the other.
Then it immediately began walking off with Tuffnut in one of its jaws. Once it was gone Ruffnut removed the skin utterly horrified.
Ruffnut then looked at the chest. "What have I done?" She then smiled victoriously. "I've won! That's what! Oh, yeah. I won." She then immediately began running down the tunnel singing as she went:
I win, I win
All you Thorston, let me in
Let me in, yeah.
She then stopped when she heard Tuffnut's cries from down the tunnel and she immediately looked at the chest and back down the tunnel.
"Ugh, what's the point of winning alone?" Ruffnut groaned. "Being a Thorston means nothing without him. We are one Thorston. Hiccup and Hicca were right, winning something other than family is not right. We shouldn't have let this trial go into our heads."
(Linebreak)
Outside the cave, Barf and Belch were getting frantic looking very concerned. Toothless and Midnight walked up to them and roared comfortingly and they nuzzled their heads, the other dragons were getting a bit concerned as well, since the other Riders joined in while waiting for Ruff and Tuff.r
"They should have been back by now," Gruffnut said, looking at everyone.
Hiccup then approached him looking furious. "Okay, Gruffnut. Out with it. What are you not telling us?"
"Yeah. It shouldn't take this long for them to be in there." Hicca added furiously as well.
Gruffnut looked at him innocently. "What? I told you everything, I swear! Unless I forgot to mention the Titan Wing Zippleback nest?"
"What!?" Hicca yelled in rage.
Fishleg eyes widened in horror. "Do you have any idea how territorial Titan Wings are? The Thorston twins are walking into a death trap!"
Snotlout laughed. "Finally, some action!"
Raeda narrowed her eyes at him. "Not the time, Snotlout."
"Ruff and Tuff are in danger if they encounter that Titan Wing Zippleback!" Henry called out next.
"We gotta get them out of there!" Valerie called out in worry for the Thorston twins.
Hiccup looked at everyone. "Everyone, to your dragons! We're getting Ruff and Tuff out of there."
"Dragon Riders, let's ride!" Hicca called out.
Without wasting a second they immediately rushed to their dragons.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Tuffnut was being carried along by the Titan Wing Zippleback, which was holding him upside down and he was screaming all the way.
Ruffnut had managed to track them down and then immediately pulled the Changewing skin over herself and went down the tunnel.
The Titan Wing Zippleback then tossed Tuffnut into a cavern and he began to pick himself up. "You know, you could've been gentler—" He then stopped when he found himself surrounded by sleeping Hideous Zipplebacks. "Oh, come on. Seriously?"
The Titan Wing Zippleback then roared and all of the sleeping Zipplebacks began to wake up. Then they all noticed Tuffnut and began to slowly advance towards him with growls.
"Well, this is it," Tuffnut said, preparing for the end. "This is the end of the line of the old Tuff-ster. 'Eaten alive by Zipplebacks'—that'll be on my tombstone. But the irony is searing a hole in my cranium at the mere thought. Why Loki? Why have you… Forsaken me?"
"He hasn't." A voice said behind him.
Tuffnut looked up. "Loki? Your voice is so much more feminine than—" Then Ruffnut placed the skin Changewing directly over him, much to his surprise. "Aah!"
This led to the Titan Wing Zippleback completely confused.
Tuffnut looked at his sister in disbelief. "What are you doing?"
"I'm saving you, you muttonhead." Ruffnut said obviously.
They then carefully began to walk away from the Zipplebacks, but they accidentally tripped on one of their tails. They then quickly began to move as the Zippleback began to locate the cause of the thud. However, in their haste they slammed to several heads belonging to the Zipplebacks and began to move even faster causing them to collide.
Tuffnut then grabbed his sister's arm and looked at her. "No! No, save yourself, all right? Take the chest. Become a real Thorston."
"I'm not gonna leave you." Ruffnut stubbornly said. "Besides, you should be the real Thorston."
"Ruffnut soon-to-be Thorston, this was all for you," Tuffnut looking at her in the eyes. "I wanted you to be the real Thorston." He then placed his hand on her shoulders. "I didn't want you to become an old maid, some elderly hen. Some middle-aged cow!"
"And I didn't want you to live in the street." Ruffnut said.
The two of them looked at one another in silence.
"I'm sorry," They said in unison and then they held one another.
It was at that point that the Titan Wing Zippleback had managed to locate their scent.
"Let's get out of here, together." Ruffnut said.
Tuffnut nodded. "Yes, as a team, as brother and—"
"You know this means neither of us are gonna be Thorstons."
"I thought you were gonna say sis—" He then stopped and smiled. "You know what? Too bad, so sad. Let's go!"
Ruffnut then saw the Titan Wing Zippleback approaching towards him and looked at her brother and put a finger towards her lips. "Shh."
The two of them remained as quiet as possible, but now the Titan Wing Zippleback was now right on top of them and sniffing them.
Tuffnut looked at her. "I think it found us."
"We gotta get him off our backs!" Ruffnut yelled.
The Titan Wing Zippleback then immediately unleashed its gas upon them revealing themselves. Then its right-handed immediately took off the Changewing skin revealing themselves to it.
"Uh-oh," Tuffnut said.
They then roared at them fiercely.
Tuffnut then immediately grabbed a stone and took the chest from Ruffnut. "Fire in the hole!"
He then immediately grazed the rock on the metal lock creating sparks which immediately ignited the gas. The two of them held hands as the explosion pushed them backwards and while the Zipplebacks were distracted they immediately got back to their feet.
"Go, go, go, go!" Ruffnut yelled as they ran down the tunnel.
(Linebreak)
The Haddock twins and the others were still trying to locate the twins when they immediately felt the entire place shocked. It didn't take them long to pinpoint the location of the tremors.
"This way!" Astrid pointed.
They quickly flew down the tunnel avoiding the Zipplebacks that had awoken beneath them.
(Linebreak)
The Thorston twins were still running and that's when they saw the shadow of a Zippleback right in front of them. They quickly backed away and ran down the opposite direction, but stopped when they came face-to-face with the Titan Wing Zippleback.
Immediately the Thorston twins took cover from behind some rocks and poked their heads out to find themselves completely surrounded by Zipplebacks.
Ruffnut looked at her brother. "At least we'll die together, bro."
The two of them then perform battle cries that they charge at the Zipplebacks and then from out of nowhere a couple plasma blast's shot is the Titan Wing Zippleback. They turned and saw the other Riders had emerged down the tunnel.
"Hey Thorstons." Hicca joked with a wave.
"We thought you could use a little help." Hiccup said.
Barf and Belch then emerged and immediately flew down towards their Riders.
"Barf!" Ruffnut cried.
"Blech!" Tuffnut cheered.
The two of them then immediately rushed towards their dragon. The Titan Wing Zippleback had recovered, but Astrid, Henry, Valerie and Fishlegs were providing covering fire as the Thorston twins made their way to their dragon.
The Thorston twins quickly mounted their dragon and looked at them happily.
"We missed you." Tuffnut cried.
With that they immediately took off.
"Let's go, guys." Hiccup said to the others.
"Dragon Riders, fall back!" Hicca called out as they immediately led the others down the tunnel.
As they left the Titan Wing Zippleback began unleashing gas into the tunnel and immediately sparked it.
(Linebreak)
Thankfully, all of them managed to emerge from the tunnel before the explosion and found that it was evening.
The Thorston twins then jumped off Barf and Belch and approached Gruffnut.
"Gruffnut. We failed the induction trials." Tuffnut said, looking ashamed.
"There's no way I was gonna let my brother be Zippleback food." Ruffnut said.
"And maybe Ruffnut and I are no longer Thorstons, but we're still family." Tuffnut said. "We're just a couple of Nuts."
The two of them then immediately remove their helmets.
Gruffnut shook his head. "Hang on to your hats. You two didn't fail." He told them.
"I know it'll be hard, sure, but somehow we'll survive," Tuffnut said, telling them that neither of them heard a single word he said. "We'll get a little hut somewhere with a bamboo divider in the middle…" They then realized what you just said. "Wait, what do you mean?"
Gruffnut approached them. "You didn't fail. In fact, you completed the super-secret fourth trial." He explained.
"What fourth trial?" Ruffnut frowned, shaking her head. "What are you talking about?"
"You see, you two for only you could win the trials, right? That's a little fib. Something on my part that I fabricated." Gruff then chuckled slightly. "It was a pretty fab fib. But in the end, you came together when you needed each other the most. That was the final challenge—to see if you'll put family above everything else. That is the Thorston way."
He then immediately rubbed his hands together and looked at the chest. "So I'll just take this back to Berk to verify that you pass the trials, and you will be official Thorstons." Gruffnut then took the chest. "The Thorston Council will be in touch in the next few weeks about the ceremony. They're gonna be so excited."
Everyone then immediately looked at him dubiously as he began to slowly walk away with the chest.
"They'll be in touch in the next few weeks, few months." Gruffnut promised. "You know how the Thorstons are about paperwork. So if you just excuse me. It was good seeing you all!"
He then immediately dashed off, but Toothless grabbed him and pulled him towards the Haddock twins.
"Hang on," Hiccup said as he and Hicca were looking at him suspiciously. "Just one second. What is in the chest, Gruff?"
"Yeah? What's in there?" Hicca asked suspiciously as well.
Gruffnut looked at him innocently. "I don't know. No idea. They don't tell me these things." He told them.
Hiccup then took the chest from him. "Oh, really? Well, let's have a look, just for fun."
"Open the chest up, bro." Hicca nodded in agreement.
Hiccup opened the chest and dumped the contents onto the beach, which turned out to be nothing but rocks.
"This chest was filled with rocks all along?" Hicca said in surprise.
"Wow. Way to ruin our moment." Ruffnut said, looking at Hiccup and Hicca.
"Wow. Uh, I'm sorry we doubted you, Gruff." Hiccup said sincerely and handed him back the chest.
"Guess you were telling the truth, Gruff." Hicca said.
Toothless then released Gruffnut and made his way to his boat. "Like I said… I'm a whole new Nut." He said before walking away again.
"Now hold on just a minute!" Gruffnut turned and saw Valerie marching up to him, "Look here buster, even if you were being legit about that chest, don't think I'm not gonna cut you down and rip you open if you try a stunt like this again, is that clear?" She warned the Thorston.
Gruffnut gulped and smiled nervously, "Clear and clean as a crystal whistle." He said with a whistle before quickly walking away before Valerie decided to pounce on him.
Behind her, Tuffnut stared at her in awe, 'Sweet Thor, I think I'm in love.' He thought.
(Linebreak)
Later that night they returned back to Dragon's Edge and when they made their way to the clubhouse they found Gobber standing there with a woman that resembled Ruffnut greatly, except with ginger hair.
Tuffnut blinked. "Cousin Agnut?" He said.
Valerie blinked in surprise, "Wow, the resemblance between you Thorstons really is uncanny." She said before turning to Ruffnut, "Only this time it's with you Ruff."
Ruffnut and Agnut looked at each other before scoffing, "Psh, yeah right," Ruffnut said, waving her hand with a smile.
"Most preposterous." Agnut said with a smile as well, her voice almost like Ruffnut's, only sounding more dignified.
Harry: I almost thought Agnut was voiced by another person until I listened more closely.
"What're you doing here, Agnut?" Tuffnut asked their cousin, getting back on topic.
"Your time has come to take the induction trials," she smiled as she held out a parchment bearing the Thorston family crest.
"Wait, what?" Hicca said In surprise.
Ruffnut looked at her confused. "Uh, we already took them." She told her.
"Yeah, Gruffnut administered them," Tuffnut nodded.
The two of them then high-fived one another. "And we passed with flying colours." Ruffnut declared.
Agnut and Gobber looked at one another in confusion.
"Uh, Gruffnut?" Agnut said with disgust. "What does he have to do with anything? He has no authority to administer the trials. No, no, no, no. He's never even completed them himself. He's not even a real Thorston! Not even close!" She said as the Riders looked at her in realisation.
Hiccup and Hicca look at each other in shock.
"So Gruff isn't a real Thorston and was never administering the trials! He tricked us! Again!" Hicca yelled out in rage as she facepalmed herself.
Hiccup groaned. "So that means…"
(Linebreak)
Gruffnut was already safely away and was now fumbling with the chest that the twins had retrieved for him.
"Now, what's this about the treasure I've read so much about?" he wondered.
He then pressed his farm on one of the bolts which turned out to be a secret mechanism and something fell out of the bottom of the chest.
"What we have here? Gold? Jewels? A medallion? Perhaps a bejewelled, golden medallion?" Gruffnut picked it up and soon discovered that it was nothing but the Dragon Eye lens. "Great. As usual, worthless junk. I do all this for nothing but junk." He then tossed the lens into the chest and walked off angrily. "I come down here, make up the whole induction trials thing…"
What he didn't know was that the Dragon Eye lens he recovered was actually quite valuable as it was one of the seven lenses needed to reveal the location of the King of Dragons.