To The End - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD)

45. Nightmares

Ariel raced over to dismiss the dragon warriors, then met with her sibling wraith, whom she'd decided quite recently to name Otter. The two clicked back and forth, tackling one another playfully. It wasn't long before Gustav entered the arena. He saw Ariel and Otter playing and blushed a bit.

Noticing this, Tuffnut told Iris, "I'll be right back." He then walked over to the younger viking. "Hey, G," he greeted, "how ya been?"

Gustav couldn't take his dreamy gaze off of Ariel, "just amazing."

After a short silence, Tuff smirked, "you should ask her out."

With an alarmed look on his face, Gustav met Tuffnut's cool gaze. "W-what? Why would you say that? S-she's just a friend," he stuttered.

Tuffnut sighed dramatically and draped his arm around his friend's shoulders, "Gustav, Gustav; don't even try to hide it. Give her a shot."

After an audible gulp, Gustav nodded nervously and approached Ariel as the older viking went back to Iris. She gazed up at him suspiciously, "what did you say to him?"

Tuffnut watched with an excited grin as Gustav began to talk to Ariel on the other side of the arena. "Just a little encouragement," he responded.

They couldn't hear what was being said, but Ariel's smile explained it all. Iris watching in shock as Ariel kissed Gustav on the cheek and bolted away with Otter.

Gustav looked over to Tuffnut with eyes wider than Iris had ever seen before. "Go after her," Tuff called to the boy. A grin broke across Gustav's face as he raced out of the arena after Ariel.

Now, Iris gave her love a surprised grin as she stood back up. "Since when do you encourage young love?" She asked teasingly.

"I got tired of him always looking at her like that, just making himself suffer," Tuff explained with a sigh.

The two began to walk home as Iris asked, "and you think that's going to stop now? He'll probably just star at her even more."

Tuffnut frowned, "oh, great, more lovey dove couples? As if I don't see enough with Ruff and Eret, and Hiccup and Astrid." He then raised his eyebrows in realization, adding quickly, "not that it's a problem, with you. I mean, I love being like that with you." He smiled dreamily, "yeah, definitely."

Iris rolled her eyes and gave him an amused grin. Taking hold of his arm, they continued to walk home.

***

Rain poured down around Iris as she trudged through the mud. The night was blacker than she'd ever seen before, only lit by the red eyes of a beastly dragon. It's black scales were slick with water, as it opened it's jaws and roared furiously.

However, thay wasn't the scariest part. When Iris turned to run from the dragon, she found herself tripping over something. She fell into the mud, causing it to splatter onto her face. Turning over, she sat up to see what she'd tripped over; a body. Iris tried to scream, but no noise escaped her lips.

She stood and backed away, recognizing the face as Victor. His neck was twisted unnaturally, eyes half open and gazed over. Blood pooled around him, a spear sticking out of his back.

Then, he moved. Iris was frozen in fear as she watched the dead body of Victor stand. He choked and growled, making inhuman noises as he stumbled in her direction. Soon, Iris realized that the rain had darkened. Thick, hot, crimson liquid pelted her skin from the sky. Victor ripped the spear from his back and readied to thrust it into her body.

Iris jolted out of her sleep to find that it was only a dream. She was laying on her side, facing away from her husband as he hugged her lovingly in his sleep. Sweat coated her face and neck, and her heart was pounding mercilessly. Carefully removing Tuff's arms from around her, Iris sat up. She stared at the ground, sitting on the edge of the bed, and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

Iris looked around just to make sure she was awake now. Arrow and Soul were sound asleep in their sand pit. The dress she'd worn the day before was bundled on the floor with Tuffnut's tunic and vest. She looked down at her stomach and sighed. Not only had it grown, but her breasts as well. She had to wear much thicker wrappings now in order to keep them in check.

Then, there was movement from behind her. "Iris?" Tuffnut's sleepy voice echoed in the silent hut. Iris looked over her shoulder to see him moving to sit beside her. "Are you alright?" He asked, putting an arm around her back.

"Just a little shaken up," Iris admitted.

Tuff frowned in sympathy, "another nightmare?"

Iris sighed and let her head fall against her husband's shoulder, "I wish I could just forget about it. Every time I close my eyes.." She trailed off as water began to drip from her eyelashes. Sniffling quietly, Iris buried her face in Tuffnut's shoulder.