If We Had Wings - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

3

"All weirdness aside," Hiccup gurgled, then asked Delta, "how are you doing? Those gashes looked pretty painfull."

"I'm better, thanks to you all," Delta responded, then added, "well, better than better, now that I've found another fury."

"I take it there aren't many left out there in the wild," Hiccup assumed gravely.

"None," Delta groaned sadly, lowering her blue gaze to the grassy floor of the den, "that's why I was on my way to Berk; word got around about a handful of furies in the nest."

Hiccup frowned and glanced toward Fishlegs. The two seemed to share a silent conversation, and the whole den began to feel tense. "Delta, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but--"

"There you are," a sudden angry snarl came from outside of the den, followed by a loud landing thump. Delta whipped her head toward the entrance to see a yellow and orange monstrous nightmare outside. His scales steamed with anger as he eyed the twins. "Did you bury old salmon in my den again?" He growled knowingly, "I can smell it rotting away, where ever it is."

"Hey, it's not our fault you're so fun to annoy," Ruffnut gurgled in laughter.

Snotlout growled menacingly as his body ignited with flames. "You are so dead!"

"Hey! Not in my den," Fishlegs begged, "take it outside, will you?"

And with that, the two sand wraiths bolted past the angry nightmare and flew off. Snotlout chased after them until all three were out of sight. "And that's Snotlout," Hiccup introduced with an amused gurgle.

Delta grinned awkwardly. "You're quite a diverse pack," she observed.

"Well, we all hatched the same winter," Fishlegs explained, "we grew up together."

"And more than that," Hiccup added with a serious expression, "we're all that's left--"

The night fury was interrupted once again. This time, it was another female. "Fishlegs, Hiccup?" The voice called from outside of the den.

Hiccup sighed in defeat, giving up temporarily on explaining what needed to be explained. "I-in here, Astrid," he groaned.

Delta grew even more excited when another fury entered the cave. "Oh, you're awake," she observed upon sight of you lying down with you head up and alert. "I'm Astrid."

"Astrid, this is Delta," Hiccup introduced, "she's a tidal fury."

Astrid smiled and padded excitedly over to Delta. "Tidal fury," she repeated, "that's a new one."

"I agree," Delta admitted, "I do believe I'm the first, and last, of my kind."

"What?" the dramillion questioned abruptly, then went on more formally, "I mean, why do you say that?"

"My parents were an...unlikely couple," Delta gurgled, explaining on, "my mother was a light fury, while my father was a tide glider."

"But tide gliders hardly ever come onto land," Fishlegs squawked his confusion.

"Like I said: unlikely," Delta reminded. "But," she went on with a frown, "they're both gone now."

"Which is why you were looking for more furies," Hiccup realized in empathy.

"I tried to fit in with the other tide gliders in my father's old pod...but they never truly accepted me," Delta went on, the cheered up, "but once I get to Berk, I won't have to worry about any of that anymore."

"Berk..?" Astrid repeated gravely. She gave Hiccup a wary look and asked, "you didn't tell her?"

"I was trying to," Hiccup huffed in his defense. He groaned quietly and sat down, Astrid sitting beside him. Delta was eying them with confusion; what did they need to tell her?

"Delta...there is no Berk," Hiccup admitted in a heavy tone, his eyes filled with grievance, "not anymore."

Delta felt her hopes diminish. "What..?" She whimpered quietly.

"A few months ago, our nest was invaded by hunters, hundreds of them," Astrid explained, nuzzling Hiccup comfortingly, "the dragons scattered in fear once our alpha fell. Most got captured, or worse...the six of us got away safely."

Now things were beginning to make sense; this was why these nest dragons were so far from their home. "..I'm so sorry," Delta groaned sympathetically, "losing my parents was hard, but..I can't imagine losing a whole nest."

"I'm sorry, too," Hiccup insisted, the smiled a bit, "you came all this way looking for a home that doesn't exist anymore."

Delta smiled back. "I came all this way to find more furies," she corrected, "and now, I have."

"Then I guess you'll be staying?" Fishlegs asked eagerly.

"If you don't mind, yes," Delta confirmed.

"Of course we don't mind," Astrid assured, standing and walking over to the tidal fury, "us furies have to stick together these days." She nuzzled Delta under the chin, helping her to stand. Once she was up, the night-light asked, "think you can walk?"

Delta took a few steps to test her strength before nodding. Her back still hurt badly, but it wasn't agonizing any longer. "Great," Astrid gurgled, "how about a tour of your new home?"

Home.

The word sounded foreign to Delta. For her entire life, she had been a drifter. Even when she was with her mother and father, she never had a set place to call home. It felt good to finally have one now. And she couldn't wait to get to know her new pack, especially the other Tidal dragons. They certainly were an odd couple, but that only made her even more interested.

"I'd like that," Delta replied as she followed Astrid out of Fishlegs' den.

As the two females walked off, Fishlegs and Hiccup watched in wonder. "A tidal fury," Fishlegs squawked excitedly, "I can't wait to learn more about her!"

"You and me both," Hiccup gurgled in amusement, "I think her arrival is gonna be good for all of us." When Fishlegs gave him a curious look, he went on, "she's a sign of hope. Hope that things will get better after the Devastation of Berk. Hope that we can rebuilt a new nest...a new Berk."