The trader and the rider

Chapter 21

-Woah there!

Another violent shake moved everything with strength, and I woke up hearing the sounds of the twins falling to the ground. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, not entirely awake yet. The twins were both on the floor, and Tuff held Chicken with care while he pet her so she would calm down.

-Are you guys okay...? -I asked with another yawn.

-Yeah, yeah, just fell again thanks to the stupid volcano -answered Ruff, going back to her bed.

I had already told them it wasn't safe to do that while the ground shook that strongly, but she didn't care for the last three months, so why would she now?

-How can you even sleep? -asked Tuff, now lying down next to me and holding Chicken.

-Eh, I guess when I was little I got used to sleeping through storms and all the ship's movement, it's not that different from this. If I don't have nightmares, I'll sleep like a baby.

-Lucky... -the ground shook again, making Ruff fall yet again from her bed, and Chicken cooed worried- Easy, little Chicken. I'm so sick of these baby ones. I wish it would volcano-up and start spewing already!

-Right? Either get on with it or keep it to yourself!

Ruff finally gave up and decided to join us, and she laid next to Tuff.

-Don't get all lovey-dovy, I don't want nightmares -she said, and I rolled my eyes- I don't know what weird things you fiancés people do.

I smiled at the word, and I cuddled my soon-to-be husband. Now our friends knew about our engagement; their reactions when we told them the day after our little adventure were the best, and even if we were excited about the wedding, we decided to wait until the right moment. That was, whenever the volcano decided to stop threatening to destroy everything on the island. Not only did it shake the ground now on a daily basis, making it almost impossible to reconstruct whatever those same shakes had destroyed, but it also made it more difficult for almost everyone to sleep and rest. At least now we were done with helping Mala and Heather and Dagur, so we could focus on our problems instead.

-No offence, but even if I wanted to you kinda kill the vibe.

-Good.

Another shake. But this time, it felt way stronger than usual. I worried about all my gems and treasures back at my hut... Given how strong the earth was shaking lately, I decided staying at the twin's hut would be better for now, mainly to avoid an avalanche hitting me while I was sleeping and destroying my hut. Well, it mainly was Tuff that decided that. I was pretty okay with going down with my jewels.

Someone knocked on the door, and I looked at the twins. We obviously weren't waiting for company, and if it was Snotlout again trying to come here because Hookfang lit his hut on fire again thanks to the shakes, well, we didn't really want to answer.

-Guys, wake up! Emergency! -oh, it was Astrid.

The twins tried to act as if they were sleeping, but Boreas shot some cold air to their faces as I got up. They followed me after a few grunts and complaints, and I opened the door.

-What's wrong now?

-Some magma is spilling around the island again, we need to patch it up quickly and check for wounded dragons.

I sighed, as that was exactly the same thing we spent doing last night, but I couldn't say no. I whistled for Boreas to come with me, and I decided to wait for the twins at the stables. Thankfully I was too lazy to change into a pyjama before I went to sleep, so I didn't have to change now.