Heart of a Dragon Whisper (An RTTE Fanfic)

Chapter 28

I groaned as I woke up to the start of Ruff and Tuff's morning show through the Thunder-Ear. 

"Why must they do this?" I groaned, rubbing my forehead as I sat up. I glanced at Lilac to see that she was still asleep, snoring softly. I sighed, swinging my legs out from under my blanket as I got out of bed. I yawned, stretching my arms over my head. Suddenly, a knock sounded on my hut's door. I sighed, walking up to the door and opening it slowly, squinting as the sun pierced my eyes. 

"Hey, Melia!" I slowly opened my eyes to see Tuffnut standing in front of me. 

"What do you want, Tuff?" I asked, stifling a yawn. 

"I was wondering if you'd seen Gruffnut anywhere." I raised an eyebrow at him. 

"No. Why?" 

"He was supposed to do the morning show with us, but he never showed. I'm trying to find him to prove Ruffnut wrong about him." I sighed. 

"Tuff... Have you considered that... maybe... Ruffnut is... right?" Tuffnut laughed. 

"That's a good joke, Melia. C'mon. It'd be better if we had two pairs of eyes looking for Gruff." I rolled my eyes, not really wanting to join, but I knew if I didn't something would go horribly wrong. I followed Tuff around the base until finally we got to the stables. 

"This is the last place I'm checking with you and then I'm going to my hut. Deal?" 

"Fine." I turned towards the stables and opened the door, slightly shocked to actually see Gruffnut in there. "There you are." Tuffnut stated, walking past me. I followed suit glancing around as Gruff spoke. 

"Tuffnut. You're supposed to be doing your morning show right now." 

"We both are. Come on, let's go. I can't wait to see the look on Ruff's face when she sees that you-" Tuff was cut off by Gruffnut coughing. 

"Yeah, see, I'm not feeling great this morning, so maybe tomorrow, we could do tomorrow." Gruffnut remarked. Tuffnut and I glanced over at Stormfly who was chomping on some fish that was scattered on the floor all around Gruffnut. 

"Wait, what are those fish for?" Tuff asked as Gruffnut got to his feet. 

"It looks almost like he was trying to bribe Stormfly into letting him ride her." I remarked, crossing my arms over my chest. Stormfly chomped on another fish, glancing up at me. 

"He was trying to bribe me. I don't know what for though." Stormfly squawked. Gruffnut laughed, waving his hand in the air as if he were trying to brush off the idea. 

"Of course not." Stormfly threw a bone piece at him, squawking in protest. I immediately walked up to her and pet her snout, calming her down. "Look, I just wanted to take a quick spin. You know, I kinda got dragon fever after riding Barf and Belch. So I thought..." Gruff stopped talking when Tuff and I glared at him. 

"Dragon fever is not a thing." I growled. 

"Oh. Never mind. What are we doing here, cousin? You know I'm lying. I know I'm lying. Even Melia knows I'm lying." Gruff ranted. It was almost like he was trying to apologize. I wanted to say something about me definitely knowing he was lying, but I kept my mouth shut, wanting to watch this play out. 

"That's a lot of lying." Tuff agreed. 

"I didn't actually win my weight in gold throwing spears. So, I owe a lot of gold to some very dangerous men. I need one of your dragons to pay them off." Gruffnut explained. 

"There's no way that's happening." 

"Gruffnut, I looked up to you. You were my role model. You were my hero." I glanced at Tuffnut, pitying him slightly. 

"Yeah, false idols. Usually disappointing. Anyway, gotta go." Gruffnut said, starting to leave. I was honestly going to let him, but Tuff stopped him. 

"Hey. Uh-uh-uh. I don't think so." 

"Tuff, you couldn't take me when we were kids, what makes you think you can take me now?" 

"You know what? Come to think of it, I don't have to. Stormfly isn't going to let any old stranger fly her out of here. None of our dragons would." Tuff informed. 

"And no wild dragon would fly you out of here either." I added, walking over to join Tuffnut in blocking the way. 

"You got me. Dead to rights. I don't know what came over me. I'm just so ashamed." Gruff started to bawl his eyes out. 

"Come on. It's not that bad. You know what they say, forgiveness is a dish best served freezing cold." I raised an eyebrow. 

"Oh, cousin, you are one of a kind. Well, almost." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Look! A rainbow!" 

"What? A rainbow?" Tuffnut questioned a look of excitement on his face. Suddenly, Gruff hit Tuff upside the head with something. 

"Tuffnut!" I exclaimed, putting a hand over my mouth. Gruffnut turned to me, smirking. Suddenly, Stormfly hopped in front of me. 

"Stay away from, Melia!" she snarled at Gruffnut. 

"Don't worry, beautiful. I'm not going to hurt you. I need your help." 

"I'm not helping you, dragon stealer!" I growled at him. 

"Oh... You will help me because the people I'm dealing with are dragon hunters." I narrowed my eyes at him, crossing my arms. 

"I'm listening."