To The End - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD)

16. The Beginning of a War

"But how do we know what to do with the venom once we get it?" Fishlegs questioned. He looked at the sleeping girl with worry, "we'd need Iris to tell us what to do."

Hiccup stared at Iris for a moment, then his eyes lit up, "maybe we don't." He turned to the others and spoke confidently, "we need to go to crescent island."

"Uh, don't they kinda hate us?" Snotlout asked.

"They won't know it's us," Hiccup told him, "Astrid can wear Iris's dragon armor and mask. If we could get Arrow to go with her, she'll blend right in."

"And I can get the venom formula from them," Astrid continued for him, "that might just work."

***

Astrid found Arrow on the beach and rode her to crescent island that evening. The other riders, minus Ruff and Tuff, waited for her just off the coast. She pulled down the mask and snuck into the village healing hut. However, before she could learn anything, there was shouting and screaming once again.

Running outside, Astrid was met with a thick vail of smoke. She coughed and shouted out, "Arrow!" But the dragon did not come. She raced to get out of the smoke, reaching the outer beach to a terrifying sight.

Numerous ships floated in the water, piled with cages of sand wraiths. "Oh no..." Astrid muttered. One of the Wraiths was staring right at her, screeching and clawing at the cage; Arrow.

Astrid also recognized the captain of these ships, Eret, from when he'd tried to capture Stormfly and Toothless just days ago. She ran back to where she was supposed to meet the others.

"Astrid, what happened?" Hiccup questioned.

"Dragon trappers," she choked out thw words through her aching throat, "they got Arrow."

"Then we need to get her back!" Snotlout shouted.

But Astrid disagreed, "no, there are too many ships; we have to leave."

***

Tuffnut was given the charge of taking Iris back to her home, since Gothi had other customers to tend to. Stoick decided it'd be best to keep her somewhere more comfortable anyways. So Tuff carried the unconscious girl bridal style all the way back to her cabin. He laid her down in her bed and hung a lantern on the tall bed post.

When the others got back, they told the twins and Stoick what happened. But Tuff was right back with Iris once he had the chance. He sat in a chair by her bedside, waiting for Hiccup to come up with a plan like he always did.

To his surprise, she woke up. "Iris," he pulled her up into a hug, "you scared me." When he let her go, she was smiling up at him, "do you still feel sick?"

Iris frown a bit and nodded. She then heaved herself up and leaned back against the wall, "where's Arrow?"

"Actually..." Tuff went on to tell her what had happened once she fell back asleep. "And they just got back but..," he trailed off, not sure how to tell her that Arrow was gone.

Iris gave a light laugh, "they put themselves through all that?" She sighed in exhaustion and went on, "there isn't even a special formula or recipe; it's just, venom."

Tuff's jaw dropped, "seriously?" When Iris nodded, he spoke in shock, "wow, Fishlegs was sure that would just kill you, you know, cause it's venom."

Iris giggled lightly and explained, "well it's a bit more in depth than that. Remember what I told you about how my tribe came to be?"

Tuffnut nodded, and she continued. "The dragons didn't just have mercy on my ancestors; the people were sick and dying. The sand wraiths gave them all a dose of venom to let their suffering stopped. Some died peacefully, but the others were cured of their weakness. That's why the wraiths let them stay."

"Woah," Tuff spoke in awe, "so, how did the poison not kill them?"

"We don't know," Iris admitted, "but what we do know is that the wraiths' venom is deadly to all but their own kind. To other wraiths, the venom acts as an antidote to anything. That's why we lived there the way we did. The dragon's hadn't just accepted us, they truly believed we were part of them, and they part of us."

Tuffnut gave her a wide grin as he exclaimed, "that's so awesome! Does this mean you're part dragon?" But Iris only yawned, and her eyes began to roll back. "Iris," Tuff called in a panic as they both remember that she was, in fact, still sick.

"..I'm still here," her voice was quiet and weak.

Tuffnut climbed into the bed with her and pulled her into his lap, his arm supporting her back. She curled up against his chest and rested her head on his collar bone. Looking down at her sleep-heavy eyes, Tuffnut felt the terrible reality of the situation settling in. Arrow was gone, but he couldn't tell her that. Iris needed to stay hopeful, that extra stress would just make her sickness worse.

So he let her believe that all was well, and he vowed to himself to get Arrow back at all costs.