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

8

"Well, this blows," Ruffnut grumbled as she plopped down into a laying position beside Delta in the water. Water splashed the other sand wraith and tidal fury.

"I still had a good time," Delta assured, "you two are a lot of fun."

Tuffnut grinned widely at this. But his grin quickly faded when he caught a glimpse of Delta's wounds under the water's surface. The leaves that had been held in place by tree sap were only half stuck now, flapping gently in the water. "Uh," he groaned, "Delta, your tree sap is washing off."

"Huh?" Delta huffed, standing abruptly. Looking over her shoulder she frowned. "Oh no, Fishlegs isn't gonna be happy about this."

Trudging out if the water, Delta sat in the sand. She reached over to her wound with her teeth and began peeling off the remaining leaves. But as she did so, she noticed something. "What..?" She squawked in confusion.

"What is it?" Ruff questioned as she and Tuff came out of the water as well.

"I'm..healed," Delta answered in shock. When the twins made it to her, they found that she was right. Her cuts were completely healed, not even leaving scars. Even her wing was back together fully. Letting out a joyous gurgle, Delta lifted her left wing and stretched it out in test. It didn't hurt anymore.

"Woah," Tuffnut admitted excitedly, "so I guess we did find your talent."

"I can heal things," Delta exclaimed, flapping her wings in delight. "I'd heard that some tide gliders had this, but that was centuries ago. They were all hunted down for their healing properties. I thought the ability was extinct.."

"Hey, I got a scratch on my shoulder," Ruffnut called out in remembrance, "think you could do something about it."

Delta smiled hopefully. "I could try," she gurgled, padding around to Ruff's shoulder scratch, "I don't even know how I did it though."

The tidal fury examined the small scratch thoughtfully. She wasn't entirely sure what to do for a few moments, but then it hit her. Her injuries hadn't bothered her since the night before. Ever since she licked them clean, they'd felt fine. So she took her chances and licked the sand wraith's scratch. "Woah," Ruff squawked in surprise, the laughed, "little warning next time."

"Sorry," Delta groaned. Then, right before her eyes, she watched the scratch fade into nothing.

Tuffnut, who'd been watching intently, gawked, "woah..your spit heals wounds? Awesome."

Just then, a roaring came from the distance. All three dragons perked their ears and looked up. Out over the horizon, four figures were flying towards the island. However, they seemed to be carrying a large mass in some sort if net. "Is that Hiccup?" Ruff asked, squinting to see the dragons.

"Probably," Tuffnut responded casually.

Delta cocked her head, staring out at the approaching group. "What do they have with them?" She wondered, "I thought they went to attack some nearby hunter ship?"

"Oh, they did," Ruff answered, "they probably found a dragon on board."

"Then why do they have it in that..contraption?" Delta wondered in confusion.

The twins exchanged a look before Tuff prompted, "you've never encounter hunters up close, have you." When Delta shook her head in response, the male wraith explained, "well, they aren't very nice."

"Yeah, a lot of the dragons we rescue have to be carried back here," Ruff added, "either too weak or too injured to fly."

This made Delta shiver. The only time she'd ever seen hunters up close was when her mother was taken long ago. And that was only from her hiding spot in a thick bush.

By the time Delta looked back up to the sky, the dragons had arrived and were lowering the dragon-filled net. "You guys aren't gonna believe who we found," Astrid squawked, sounding both relieved and annoyed.

When the net unfolded on the beach, the dragon came into complete view. It was a purple and yellow monstrous nightmare, only a little more than half the size of Snotlout. The sand wraith siblings both gasped in unison, "Gustav?!"

"Gustav," Astrid confirmed with a sigh as she landed.

"Gustav?" Delta repeated curiously.

Then, the nightmare stood up and lifted his head proudly, announcing himself, "ah-Gustav!" However, as soon as he crawled out of the net, he laid back down tiredly.

"Fishlegs, can you get some herbs for that gash on his leg?" The night fury asked.

The dramillion was about to fly off to his garden when Tuffnut roared, "no, wait! Delta can fix him," he paused before turning to his friend, "come on, show them!"

Delta stepped forward, slightly uncomfortable under the many prying eyes. "Show us what, exactly?" Snotlout asked.

"Woah, hey, Delta your wing.." Hiccup began, trailing off.

"She healed it," Ruff explained enthusiastically, fluttering her wings as if to emphasize.

"With her spit!" Tuffnut added for good measure.

Fishlegs hopped eagerly over to Delta with a look of fascination in his eyes. "Delta, that's an incredibly rare gift!" He congratulated her.

"I know," Delta responded, still just as surprised as the rest. Yet there was a hint of pride in her tone; she had something that no one else did. She padded over to the injured nightmare. "Let me see your wound."

"Woah, hey there," Gustav greeted smoothly.

Recognizing the attraction in his coo as similar to Snotlout's, Delta growled at him in warning, "don't even try."

"Try? Haha, I'm not trying anything," Gustav gurgled nervously. Finally, he lifted his front, right leg. Delta looked it over generously, then licked it clean. All of the dragons watched in awe as the wound disappeared.