It had been another half hour or so since Snotlout had blindly stumbled off into the dense thicket in hopes of finding the deranged Drago, all to prove his worth as a viking to Eret Son Of Eret. Not being pestered and annoyed by the stubby little man for a change (or by Fishlegs) had definitely refreshed Ruffnut and had improved her mood drastically; that was until herself and Eret had fallen into an awkward silence which had only been interrupted by Eret telling her to watch her head on a branch and the crunching of the leaves and twigs beneath their feet.
Ruffnut looked upwards at Eret who continued to trudge along in silence before her. She let out a small sigh and rolled her eyes. This was beginning to get annoying, he always fell into an awkward silence around her, practically ignoring her existence which was completely unfair. Well that wasn't completely true, she had terrorised the man from the moment she laid eyes on him, flirting with him wherever he went and well just making the ex dragon trapper extremely uncomfortable. She was as bad as Snotlout and Fishlegs were to her.
She felt her whole body grimace at the thought and inwardly cringed at herself, remembering her previous actions around Eret. That must be why he felt so uncomfortable around her (even more so being one on one), granted it had been awhile since her previous flirtations towards him but it did make sense why he still felt well weird around her. What didn't make sense though was his constant defending of her when it came to Snotlout and Fishlegs, maybe because he knew what it felt like to get pestered by someone and he wanted to help her out.
Her realisation was just making her feel like a shit and her body was riddled with guilt, she looked down at her feet and softly kicked a small rock as she continued after Eret. She had never properly apologised to him for being so forward, maybe apologising would make her feel better.
Looking back up she saw she had slowed down and Eret had gotten further ahead of her.
"Hey Eret" she called, her walk turning into a soft jog to catch up to him.
Eret turned around to look at the girl as she stopped at his side, "uh yes" came his awkward response as he continued forwards.
Well, thought Ruffnut here goes nothing. "I just, you know… um I never apologised to you, like properly or anything"
Eret was caught off guard, "I uh.." he tried not to look at her as they kept walking.
"You know for the whole flirting thing" she continued looking towards him, "I was as bad as Snotbreath and Fishface" she said with a smirk.
Eret couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at her words, he felt himself ease into the conversation "Well thank you for your apology Ruffnut" he said with a smile glancing towards her, "but I would rather be sort after by you then those two fish brains any day of the week" oh gods. What had he just said?
To his surprise though Ruffnut didn't seem deterred by his comment, she just let out a laugh as they continued to walk, "We are so mean to them" she chuckled.
"Oh and you suddenly care?" Eret teased, his anxiety easing from what he had previously said, moving a branch above his head and holding it in its place so Ruffnut could pass.
"Shut up, I put up with those two all day everyday" Ruffnut quipped, "you can't seem to put up with them for more then ten minutes" she laughed as she went under the branch giving Eret a smile. She suddenly paused as she passed him and gave him a curious look.
"Why do you do that?" She asked as he once again made his way past her.
Eret glanced at the Viking girl in curiosity, "Do what?" He said, a slight feeling of unease building up inside of him.
"You know save me from them just when I'm about to admit defeat"
Oh gods what was he going to say. "um, well I just think a viking as fine as yourself shouldn't have to settle for the two biggest fools on Berk" Eret said almost sheepishly.
"Pfft, as fine as myself?" Ruffnut questioned with an eyebrow raised, hearing those words from Eret had caught her off guard and well she was flattered.
Eret had to save himself, "Well as fine as any other Viking, like Astrid…. you know what I mean" he said avoiding looking at her at all he had a feeling she would have a hurt look on her face and he didn't want to see that.
He was right, Ruffnut felt the pang like a dagger, once again being compared to Astrid, *come on Ruff* she thought to herself *don't be so dramatic, he's made it clear he's not interested so stop getting your hopes up at anything he says* trying to let her feelings go Ruffnut continued the conversation to try and avoid any awkwardness.
"Well if I think about it logically, those two are my only options" she said walking along beside Eret.
"Bullshit" Eret said blankly causing Ruffnut to look at him in confusion. "I mean there's plenty of older vikings on this island and there's so many more lands out there" he paused, "Surely you can't settle for them"
"Older Vikings? You mean Gobber and all his drinking buddies, no thanks" scoffed Ruffnut, "nice try buddy, I'm not going to leave Berk just for some guy" she continued. "If I don't make a choice between those two buttbracns my parents will arrange for me to marry one of them and even if I hate the thought I'd rather pick myself then have my parents choose" she said blankly.
"Oh come on" Eret scoffed, feeling annoyance growing in him, "You've got more brains then that haven't you" he knew his words were harsh but he couldn't stop them pouring out, "No denying it now your definitely the dumb twin"
Ruffnut looked at Eret in shock but soon her face twisted into anger, "where did that come from?" She spat glaring up at Eret coming to a complete stop.
"What you whinge about those two all the time and now you're seriously considering marrying one of them?" Questioned Eret also coming to a stop his arms crossing over.
"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying to you" Ruffnut snapped "Why the gods do you care so much anyway"
"I don't care Ruffnut, its your life so do whatever you like with it, settle as their second best"
Silence instantly followed. Ruffnut glared up at Eret not breaking eye contact, she held her breath and focused on not showing any signs that tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Eret returned her gaze, he was too stubborn and annoyed at that moment to even fully realise what he had just said to her.
Ruffnut bunched her fists at her sides and suddenly sent a fist flying, hitting the man on the shoulder causing him to stumble backwards. "Bastard" she spat turning around and making her way back through the makeshift trail they had created to get this far.
By the time Eret had recovered from his punch to the chest Ruffnut was out of sight and he was left with a feeling far worse then the punch he had received or the annoyance he felt towards Snotlout and Fishlegs. A nearly overwhelming sense of guilt was now weighing him down. Why had he snapped like that and had been such a dick to her. His own concealed feelings for her had caused him to lash out and try and keep her from being with anyone.
Eret closed his eyes and placed his hands over his face letting out a frustrated groan. He had to go after her and try and get to her before she reached the beach, where he knew he would have no chance of talking to her when she was with her brother and her dragon.
"Come on Eret you idiot" he said before turning back down the pathway and following as quickly as he could after her but her more slender physic had seemingly made it much easier to manoeuvre through the forest because there was no sign of her.
His day had literally gone from bad to much, much worse.
