Berk's Forumvine

Reflect We're all forced to grow up. We're all forced to leave our playful little kid bodies and grow up into the mature adult everyone expects us to be. From a toy dragon to learning and studying and training the biggest and baddest of the scaly beasts. From a wooden ax, battling imaginary foes to being thrown into Hell, fighting off an uncountable amount of enemies as your brothers and sisters fall all around you. No one wants to grow up, but we all have to... eventually.

And that is what happened to Berk's most famous trouble making teens. Hiccup is now the tallest and sporting a small scruff of a beard (that's all Astrid allows him to grow). He has since accepted the responsibilities that came with being chief and is now leading Berk. He has, in fact, brought Berk back from the fierce battle with Drago; the island is excelling beyond all others in the archipelago.

The young chief sat along with his friends and his wife, Astrid.

The ax swinging teen he once knew was no more. She's way more mellow and mature, but will still cut you into a hundred little pieces if provoked. She snuggled close to Hiccup, staring into the orange-red flames of the fire that burned brightly in front of them.

The group of friends sat in a circle on top of logs they had their dragons drag; it was a beautiful night and the group thought that they would spend some time together in the cove. The dragons in question lounged behind their rider.

The dark sky above them was littered in hundreds of thousands of bright, twinkling start. But none could compare to the full moon which they surrounded. The business of Berk had gotten to the old group of friends, so they sat in silence, cherishing the rare moment of sanity and peace; the twins were content, for once, with the slowness and peacefulness around them. They saw no need to disrupt the moment.

Hiccup took a deep inhale through the nose, relishing the smell of the kindled fire burning in front of him. While he liked the peace, he couldn't resist the urge to break the silence. He could be a bit of a chatter box at times.

“So... how long has it been since we had a quiet moment like this?” The chief asked. Astrid fidgeted in his arms.

“Not since Drago five years ago,” Fishlegs said. The burly viking stoked the fire with a long stick, cinders flew into the air, diving in and out of the gray smoke.

Tuffnut yawned and said, “Things were so much easier when we were kids.” The viking rubbed his tired eye.

Hiccup chuckled. “Speak for yourself,” he said. Tuff raised an eyebrow at him. Being his dense self, he waited for Hiccup to explain. The chief sighed, knowing Tuffnut wanted him to go into detail.

Hiccup cleared his throat. “My life was pretty... huh... crappy. Before Toothless, anyway.” Tuff's eyes rolled back into his head in thought. Is face dropped slightly when he got the thought he was searching for. He hadn't been the nicest guy to Hiccup.

He smiled once he got passed the small guilt trip.

“Come on,” he said. “That's in the past, we're all friends now.” Tuff rested his elbows on his knees, leaning ever closer to the flames. His face came out of the shadows and became illuminated by the fire, the shadow coming back to his face every once and a while when the fire flickered.

“Yeah... yeah we are.” Hiccup chuckled. “And I couldn't ask for anything more.” Astrid re-positioned herself to feel more comfortable.

“But, Tuffnut's right,” she said. “Life was way easier and simpler right after the battle with the Red Death.” Snotlout nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Even with Dagur and Alvin,” he said. The group fell back into a comfortable silence, their minds reflecting on the times when they were kids. It was Ruff who said what she was thinking.

“Remember that time when Tuffnut got his head stuck in between the cell bars at the dungeon?” She asked, smiling as the thought came back to her.

Snotlout smacked his knee and laughed, the sound of his merriment echoed through the night. “I remember that,” he said, pointing to Ruff. “That was a laugh.”

The group smiled as they recounted the memory; it was fuzzy, at first, but it was hard to forget a blunder as big as that one. Even Tuffnut smiled at the memory.

“Ahh, I remember it like it was yesterday...” Tuffnut said.

-5 Years Ago-

“I can't believe this,” said an agitated Ruffnut. “How did you even get your head in there in the first place?”

The twins, Ruff and Tuff, were in Berk's dungeon. It was one of their duties to clean the empty cells. The siblings questioned why it was so important to clean a dungeon, weren't the bad guys suppose to suffer in these things? Stoick had told them it would begin to stink if it wasn't cleaned twice a week, but Ruff and Tuff knew the chief just wanted to keep them busy; they weren't as daft as everyone thought. Well, Ruffnut wasn't.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were in one of the cells. Stone bricks made up three of the walls, the iron bars made up the door and fourth wall. The stone bricks were stacked on top of each other, cement was placed in between the cracks to keep them in place. Moss accumulated on the bricks, some long strips ran down to the floor. The only light in the cell came from the hall's torch; flickering and crackling every once and a while.

“When you're determined, you can fit your head into any hole, crack, or crevice. The trick is not to give up,” Tuffnut replied, his head stuck between two of the metal bars. With a grunt, the male twin tried to pull his head back. He held his breath in his cheeks and went cross-eyed, putting everything he had into his arms, trying to get his head unstuck. Tuffnut's face began to get red.

Ruffnut held a hand to her mouth, trying to contain her laughter, but failed just as Tuffnut let out the breath he was holding. Gasping for air, Tuffnut spoke. “Why don't you help me?”

Ruffnut folded her arms and gave her brother an amused look. “Now why would I do that? Your amazing blunder is far to funny.” She said, drawing out the word, “amazing.” Tuffnut groaned.

“Please?” He pleaded. Ruff rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she said. “But you'll have to do with just Fishlegs and Snotty.”

“Ugh, why just those two? We need Hiccup's brain. Not dimwit Snotlout and whiny Fishlegs.” Tuffnut let out another sigh. “Heeelllppp meee,” he droned. Ruffnut huffed.

“Snotlout's a dimwit and Fishlegs's the whiner?” Tuff was just a big hypocrite and Ruffnut knew it.

“Where's Hiccup anyway?” Tuff said, failing at another attempt at getting his head unstuck.

“He and Astrid are on a date,” she said with a hint of disgust. Tuff's face cringed.

“Eww. Dang it! How am I suppose to get loose?” Ruff shrugged.

“I can I try something? It might help you get free.” Tuff's face showed confusion about what his sister would do, but he gave the OK. As long as it gets me out, he thought. Tuff regretted his discussion.

Ruff gave her brother a solid kick in the face.

“OW! Oh I'm hurt,” Tuffnut screamed. “What'd you do that for?” Ruff smirked.

“Tried to get your head free.”

“By kicking it?”

“Yep.” Tuffnut groaned.

“Right in the nose, too.” Ruffnut smiled.

“Oh well,” she said. “'A' for effort.” Tuff rolled his eyes, his fingers lightly squeezing his throbbing nose.

“But your grade drops down to a D for a stupid idea.”

“You're the king of D's.”

“No! King of F's. Geez, get it right and GO. GET. HELP!” Ruffnut put up her hands in false surrender.

“OK, OK, I'm going. Gods, you so testy.” Ruffnut disappeared for a few minutes, leaving Tuffnut to his thoughts on how he was going to get back at his sister. But he quickly dropped the idea, thoughts hurt his head.

Ruff reappeared with Fishlegs and Snotlout in tow.

“Oh! Thank Thor!” Tuff exclaimed. “I though I was a goner!” Snotlout burst out laughing when he saw Tuffnut's current state. Fishlegs tossed an annoyed glance at his insensitive friend, but couldn't help but find the situation a little funny himself.

“Oh, wow Tuff! You really got your self in some deep dragon-”

“Snotlout!” Fishlegs warned, cutting off his friend.

“Yeah, yeah.” Tuffnut rolled his eyes. “So, are you guys gonna help a friend out or what?” Snotlout waved his hand.

“Oh, of course. I just so happen to have the perfect solution,” the snot-man said. “We'll just get some yak butter and make you all nice and slippery like. You slide out from between those devil bars like... uh... butter through... bars...”

“Nice one,” Fishlegs said sarcastically.

“Whatever. But'll still work,” Snotlout said. Tuff was growing impatient.

“Whatever! Just hurry! I'm starting to get a cramp!” Tuffnut said.

“Oh no! Wouldn't want that now, would we?” Ruffnut said. “Oh, wait, I think that'll be-”

“Just get the butter!” Tuff but in.

“I'll get it, keep your pants on,” Snotlout said. Turning around, he walked back out the way he came, his footsteps echoing off the hall's walls.

[][][][][]

“Where is it?” Snotlout muttered to himself. He shuffled through Hiccup's drawers; he knew his cousin had some yak butter. Though he didn't quite know why.

CLANG! Another drawer was ripped from it's place and landed on the floor. Hiccup's room had papers and drawers and pens scattered about on the floor, courtesy of Snotlout.

“Ah ha!” The boy said triumphantly. He pulled a small, closed, wooden cup from a chest. “Here it is!” He smiled broadly as he found what he was looking for.

-Present-

“Wait!” Hiccup said, interrupting Tuffnut's story. “Snotlout, you broke into my house?”

“Absolutely not!” Snotlout defended himself. “Wait... when?” Hiccup groaned.

“Hey now! Don't interrupt!” Tuffnut said. “Now, back to the story.”

-Past-

“There ya go, one bottle of yak butter,” Snotlout said, tossing the bottle to Fishlegs.

“Took you long enough,” Tuffnut muttered. “Now hurry up and rub that butter on me!” He cringed when he said that; the other riders gave Tuffnut an odd look. “That's probably the single most random thing I've ever said.”

Ruffnut nodded in agreement.

Fishlegs looked down at the “butter bottle,” then back at Tuffnut. “You guys are sadly mistaken if you think I'm going to be the one buttering him.”

“Well, I'm not doing it! I got the freaking butter!” Snotlout shouted.

“I'd fight Thor before a put butter on my brother,” Ruff said. Her face lit up. “Hey! That rhymes; butter, brother!” She smiled at her clever little rhyme. Tuff groaned.

“My hands are still free, I'll do it,” Tuff said. “That cramps coming! I can feel it.” Fishlegs's opened the bottle and held it down for Tuffnut. The viking lathered his hand in the yellow substance and began rubbing it on himself; mostly his neck and the sides of his head.

“Ya know,” he said, rubbing the butter on his ear. “This butter actually feels sticky.” The other vikings just shrugged, but Fishlegs eyes squinted in thought. Why would butter be sticky?

“There we go!” Tuffnut said. “I successfully covered my head and neck with rich yak butter. This plans was brilliant!”

“Right!” Snotlout agreed, thrilled that one of his plans actually worked. “Good thing I was here, ha ha! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi oi!” He shouted, pumping his fists in the air.

“Oh... oh no!” Tuff said, trying to yank his head out. “I don't think this was butter, Snotlout!”

“What?” Snotlout asked, stopping his little chant. “What do you mean? Of course it is!” Fishlegs shook his head. He'd since been studying the bottle and it's contents.

“No, Snotlout, I think Tuff's right,” Fishlegs said. Snotlout snapped his head to look at him. “Whatever this is, it isn't butter. Where'd you get it from?”

“Hiccup's room,” Snotlout answered, folding his arms. Fishlegs sucked a breath through his teeth.

“I think it's safe to say you snagged one of Hiccup's inventions.” Snotlout groaned and bent over backwards, letting his arms fall free.

“That dude needs to quit inventing things,” Snotlout said. Ruff rolled her eyes.

“Well you need to stop breaking into people's homes,” she said. Tuffnut screamed, trying to push his head out again. But gave up with a sigh.

“Can we focus on me, please?” He said. “I'm really stuck and whatever this weird... not... butter thing is, it's hardened and now I'm even more stuck!” Fishlegs rubbed his forehead.

“This is some kind of substance that seems to keep things together, not tear them apart... Hiccup's a genius!” Fishlegs exclaimed, getting giddy and studying the strange substance even closer.

“Stupid Snotlout,” Tuffnut muttered. “New plan, please, and fast! Ow! Stupid cramp.”

“That wasn't the cramp,” Snotlout said. “I heard that.” Snotlout stood off to the side, looking a little hurt.

Ruff groaned deep in her throat. “OK, boys, my turn. Here's what we do.”

[][][][][]

Knock knock. Stoick got up from his chair to answer the knock at the door, though the sight that met him wasn't one to suspect.

“Chief, the cells are all clean,” Tuffnut said as the door opened. The male twin turned and started to head down the hill. Tuffnut had two, long, metal bars stuck to his neck, some brown substance was stuck all over his neck and the sides of his head. The bars seemed to be burnt at the ends.

Stoick just shook his head and retreated back into his home. He would deal with Tuff later.

“Ow! Oh no!” Tuff yelled as he reached the bottom of the hill. A dragon came out of nowhere and had grabbed the metal bars, taking off into the skies. “No! Bad dragon!” Tuffnut's command fell short, and the dragon took him higher into the air, heading off to the golden sunset. Above the dragon, Snotlout snickered.

Tuffnut actually liked the view of the sunset.

“Hey!” Who said that? Tuff thought. Since he didn't have the ability to move his head, he just shrugged and let the stranger be. He was enjoying the free ride.

Hiccup didn't understand why Tuff was hanging from his neck, being carried off by Hookfang. Snotlout was probably playing a trick on him, or something.

Hiccup and Astrid watched on top of Toothless as Tuffnut was carried off into the sunset, the golden rays illuminating his body. The two shook their heads and continued to fly back to Berk.

-Present-

“The end,” Tuffnut concluded. He sighed heavily. “Good times.”

Hiccup and Astrid stared at him a with a blank expression.

“That last part didn't happen,” Astrid said.

“What? Of course it did, I couldn't move my neck for a week,” Tuff said, defending his story. Hiccup just shook his head. Astrid opened her mouth to argue again, but Hiccup told her, “Don't even bother, you'll just waste you breath.” Astrid sighed.

“It's getting late, anyway,” Hiccup said. “I'm heading back to the village to get some sleep.” The others agreed and soon were off on their dragons.

The story may not have been a hundred percent truthful, but it was nice to reflect on the days when life was filled with their small, pointless adventures.