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

15

The tidal fury threw herself at Johann, knocking the wounded dragon to the ground. But he got up quickly, spitting acid at her like a deadly watergun. Delta just barely dodged, making her way to the nearest source of water. She hopped into a full water troft, effectively soaking all of her scales. She riled herself up inside as Johann closed in on her.

As acid projected from the death gripper's mouth. Delta held a iced wing in front of her to block reflexively. And to her surprise, the acid slid right off. "It can't melt.." Delta observed, impressed by her newly found icing ability.

Johann seemed just as surprised, for panic flickered in his yellow eyes for just a moment. "You think you and your fancy ice tricks will get you out of here?" He spat, regaining his confidence quickly, "you haven't the strength to take me down."

"Maybe not," Delta growled, crackling the ice that covered her body as she slinked out of the water troft. She kept her belly close to the ground, ears back as she bared her teeth. "Or maybe," she hissed, grinning, "maybe I have the power of a great bewilderbeast in my viens."

Johann roared in laughter. "Oh, please," he growled, "you couldn't breath ice even if you were completely frozen over." Yet there was uncertainty in his eyes.

He didn't know it yet, but his words right then would turn to be his greatest regret, because they gave Delta an idea. It was cruel and ruthless, but this dragon deserved it. She dodged another acid attack, taking this time to knock the water troft over. Water went everywhere, including all over the evil death gripper.

Johann flinched, giving Delta just enough time to swiftly attatch herself to his back. Her talons dug into his scales to hold on as he wreathed around under her. Johann tried to sting her with his tail, but the ice on her back was unbreakable by any force other than her own.

"You're a traitor, Johann," Delta screeched as she let her anger cool her even more, "an embarrassment to all dragon-kind." As she growled this, ice began to spread over Johann from where her scales touched his.

The death gripper flailed around, hissing in pain at the deathly cold ice taking over his scales. "You don't deserve the two wings on your back," Delta spat, digging her talons deeper.

Slowly, his movement's subsided. And before Delta even knew it, Johann was frozen completely over. She hopped off of his back and looked him in his frozen eyes. She could've swore that she could see the life leave his body.

As soon as Johann was defeated, the other three death grippers stopped fighting. With no more commands entering their minds, they were as lifeless as dolls. "Delta!" Tuffnut squawked in worry as he finally got a moment to look around. When he spotted her padding his way, unharmed, he rushed over to meet her.

The sand wraith surprised Delta by immediately nuzzling his cheek against hers. "Oh, thank Thor you're alright," he groaned, continuing to nuzzle her as a cat would do.

Delta's cold body immediately began to warm up at his touch. She closed her eyes and hooked her chin over his rough shoulder affectionately. However, the moment was cut short by a human yell.

Delta whipped around to see Grimmel entering the room in a hurry, armed with a dangerously sharp crossbow. His eyes rested on Johann in both wonder and horror. Then, he slowly turned to Delta. "You..you did this..?" He asked. The impressed tone in his voice gave Delta chills; with her ice ability being revealed so blantantly, she could only imagine what the hunter boss might want to use her for.

Delta growled as he pointed his bow at her and grinned, a green-tipped arrow firmly loaded. Before she could move, he shot. Yet before it could hit Delta, Tuffnut shielded her protectively with his wings. The arrow pierced his shoulder, causing him to let out an awful roar of pain.

"Tuffnut!" Delta whined in horror as the sand wraith fell to the ground groggily.

Valka, who'd been working to remove the collars from the remaining death grippers, squawked loudly, "their free, Delta, we must leave now!"

As Grimmel fumble his fingers in a hurry to reload his crossbow, the death grippers shook their heads, coming back to reality. But before anything else could happen, a deafening screech from outside tore through the tense air. While Grimmel's fluster grew, Delta helped Tuff up as best she could and began to hobble out of the metal building, followed closely by Valka.

"Valka, where are the death grippers?" Delta asked when they made it outside.

"They can protect themselves now," Valka assured, looking up as lightning rippled through the smoke-stained clouds.

"What is that?" Delta questioned as the unnatural-looking lightning struck again.

"That," Tuffnut breathed heavily, managing to grin through the weakness he felt from the dragon root arrow, "is Hiccup..coming to save our tails...late, as usual."

When the lightning struck again, Delta could see clearly as a pair of purple dragons soared around above. Then, Hiccup came out of the cover of the clouds, followed by the other rescuers. Even Gustav was there.

Hunters all around the base began to shout, shooting arrows and nets toward the newcomers. But there were too many dragons, and the hunters were ill prepared for an attack of such magnitude. Fire and lightning mixed in the sky and streamed down to light the fortress ablaze.