To The End - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD)

10. The Perfect Weapon

"Oh, Iris," Hiccup mentioned after a while of quiet, satisfied eating, "my dad wants to see you when you get a chance. Just wants to run you through Berk laws and what not."

"Alright," Iris responded, "I'll go now."

Once she had left, all eyes were on Tuffnut. "You have a crush on Iris," Snotlout accused with a knowing grin.

Tuffnut choked on his food for a second, "what? No; why would I want to crush Iris?" He nervously stuffed an entire yak chop into his mouth, the bone sticking out sideways.

"Admit it!" His sister demanded, "it's obvious enough, even to me."

With a shrug, Tuff mumbled gibberish around the yak chop. Ruff gave him a glare and leaned across the table, yanking it from his mouth and pointed it at his face. "Alright, fine, I confess," he sighed, "it's possible, that there is a small chance, that a percent of me, slightly maybe kind of, likes her."

"Hah! I knew it," Ruffnut smacked the yak chop hard against her brother's cheek, knocking him off of his bench. She then came back to her seat with a look of triumph on her face.

Hiccup then smiled crookedly as Tuff got himself back to sitting on the bench, "Tuffnut, you actually like Iris?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Snotlout questioned, "he's literally been drooling over her since they met."

"It's just, I've never seen you really interested in anyone before," Hiccup told the twin.

"Well, my one-legged friend, there is a first for everything," Tuffnut spoke, lifting a finger into the air, "and if Ruffnut has the right to bare yak chops, then I, Tuffnut Thorston, have the right, to lov--"

"I'm back," Iris greeted as she sat back down in her spot. Tuff's making-a-point finger crumbled and his words turned into nonsensical noises.

Iris turned toward him and scrunched her eyebrows. Looking back to the others she asked, "did I miss something?"

"Nope," Tuff quickly responded, a little more forcefully than he'd meant to. "Uh, how'd it go with Chief?" He asked to change the subject. And thankfully, Iris went along. Before much longer though, the moon was high and it was time to go to sleep. Iris was allowed to sleep in the Chief's hut for a few nights while they figured out a better place for her. And although she missed her tribe, she was really beginning to like being with the vikings.

***

"Don't move your wrists so much," Astrid ordered. It had been a week since Iris arrived at Berk, and she was eager to learn all if their ways. This included the semi-chaotic battle training.

Astrid demonstrated throwing a small dagger, hitting a bullseye directly, "it's all in the swing of your arm."

For the hundredth time, Iris tried. Finally, she hit the target, "yeah!" She yelled in excitement. It was big in her tribe to be calm and quiet all the time, but being in Berk, Iris felt as if she could actually be her full self.

Between combat training with Astrid and dragon training with Hiccup and Arrow, Iris hadn't much time for herself lately. But on this day, since she was making quick progress, her lessons were shortened a great deal. She decided it was a good idea to finally get a weapon of her own crafted by Gobber.

"Ah, Iris! Good to see you're settling in well," Gobber greeted, "starting to look just like one of us. What can I do for you today?"

Iris smiled her greeting and began, "Hiccup suggested I ask you for help picking a weapon."

"You've come to the right viking, miss," Gobber spoke confidently as he began rummaging around his shop.

"Iris," a voice called from behind her. She turned to see an excited Tuffnut headed her way, "what are you doing?"

"Picking a weapon, want to help me decide?" She offered.

Tuff's face lit up even more. Then Gobber shouted, "ah hah!" Iris looked to see him pull an ax bigger than her out of a pile. He frowned as he realized the size, however, and threw it aside. Finally, he came back with a short, thin sword, "try this on for size."

"Uh, how is she supposed to wear that?" Tuffnut questioned.

Iris smiled in amusement as she grabbed the sword. She twirled it a few times in her hand, but it wasn't something she liked. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, "hey Gobber, do you think you could make me a spear?"

"A spear? Of course," he assured her, "don't get many requests for spears anymore, this should be fun. I'll make you the toughest, most beautiful spear you'll ever lay eyes on."

"Oh, that's perfect, since you used spears in your tribe, to attack people," Tuffnut spoke the obvious, using his pointer finger to pretend to spear Iris's shoulder.

"That's right," Iris confirmed with a giggle.

Gobber looked from Tuff to Iris with a confused look, "how do you put up with this?"

Iris smiled brightly as she replied with a shrug, "I think he's fun."

Gobber's jaw dropped as he picked up on the hint of flirtation in her voice and he mumbled under his breath, "oh, my, gods."