AN: Hi again. Here's another angsty one shot for you. This one is about Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Everyone may be kinda ooc, but in my mind they just finished a very brutal and bloody battle, so they have a good excuse. That, and this is about forty-forty five years after the second movie. It's also in the same universe as my story To the End, which is about Toothless and Hiccup in this same battle. Once again, this story is rated T for descriptions of battle wounds, oocness, and my own depressed mind writing angsty, depressing things.

~Allie Beth

Finally, it was over. The bursts of fire receded, along with the shrieks of dragons as they fought along with their riders. Barf and Belch were on the other side of the hill, probably with Tuff. Speaking of my irresponsible twin…

"Snotlout!" I called once I spotted the boy. He was on his knees next to Hookfang's neck, gently dabbing at a deep-looking cut. He looked up at my shout. "Ruffnut!" I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, thanking Odin he was safe.

"Are you alright Ruff?" He pulled me back so he could see my face more clearly. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine, Snotlout," I rolled my eyes. My husband can get so overprotective sometimes. "I need to fine Tuff though," Snotlout frowned.

"I haven't seen him. Last I saw he was with you. Did you ask Hiccup or Toothless?" I shook my head. I gave a quick kiss before jogging off, letting him tend to his dragon again.

The once peaceful field had turned into a complete wasteland. Giant craters from dragon fire had melted the snow in most places, and the remaining snow was peppered with splotches and sprinklings of blood. I forged through the battle field, trying not to look at the corpses-human or dragon-to see if I recognized anyone. I finally found someone I could talk to, though.

"Astrid!" The poor girl had tear streaks down her face, mixing the blood and dirt. "Oh Astrid, what happened? Is it…Hiccup?" I could barely get the name out. Thankfully, Astrid shook her head, but the tears didn't cease. "No, but it very well might be in a few weeks." She looked up at me. "It's Toothless. He...he's not going to make it."

My hands flew to my mouth as a sob suddenly threatened to escape. No…Astrid was right. Those two had flown together for over forty years. Killing one was like ripping the other's soul out. I looked behind Astrid, where I could vaguely make out the form of Hiccup, his brown head streaked with grey bending over the muzzle of a black dragon. Hiccup gently gathered Toothless' head in his lap, letting out a cry of pure despair. Toothless gently nuzzled the face bent over him with a weary purr, before letting out a light shudder and growing limp and still.

Astrid leaned into my side when I put my arm around her. Neither of us was even trying to hide our tears. Toothless is…gone. Toothless wasn't just Hiccup's dragon; they were brothers, and everyone's friend. We all felt safer with the Alpha dragon in our midst. He was our protector, our friend, and now he was gone.

"What are we going to do Astrid?"

"I…I don't know, Ruff." Astrid shook her head before glancing at me. "Where's Tuff?"

I felt completely drained. I wanted nothing more than to curl up on the ground and cry like a baby. Toothless is dead, Hiccup is good as gone, Fishlegs was still missing, and I had no idea where my idiot of a brother could be. "I was hoping you could tell me that."

Astrid frowned and looked over the desolation behind us. "I saw a zippleback that way not half an hour ago. I don't know if it's yours, but it's a start."

I nodded in thanks and gave my friend another quick hug before taking off in the direction she pointed.

There was even more corpses on this side of the hill. Some had red and black skin from the scorching fire; some had limbs or even parts of their torso missing. This must have been where the brunt of the dragons' fight had taken place. I wandered around slowly, looking at every blond head or zippleback I came across.

"Tuff! Barf! Belch! Where in Odin's name are you idiots?" Almost immediately I heard it, the high-pitched keen of a frantic zippleback. "Barf! Thank Thor you two are alright! Belch, where's Tuffnut? Why isn't he with you?"

Belch crooned sadly as a confused look lighted on his face. Barf nudged me with an insistent little bark, and I quickly hopped on his neck. "Belch, find Tuff. Barf, follow."

The two heads swiveled to the ground, sniffing frantically for Tuff's scent. A few feet away from me and Barf, Belch perked up when he smelt a clump of red grass. He growled and strained to follow the invisible trail he found, and Barf and I had no choice but to follow.

They trampled through the carnage, both heads zipping back and forth as they struggled to pick one scent out of hundreds to follow. We finally stumbled into a small clearing where the smoke seemed to dissipate slightly, and the stench of blood and death wasn't so prominent. Belch sharply snapped up, and let out a small despairing sound as they hurried to the center of the clearing. Barf followed abruptly, making me fall off face first into the snow.

"Hey! Guys wait…" I broke off when I saw what they had found. Belch was nuzzling an immobile figure in the snow, and Barf was glaring at anything that looked like it would move. I remembered the last time I had seen them like this, when Tuff had fallen from a tree-again-and the hard ground had knocked him unconscious. Wait…

"Tuffnut!" I scrambled to my feet, and Belch moved his head as I skid to my knees next to the blond figure. He was laying face first in the snow, head turned away from me and limbs sprawled out at odd angles. My hands shook as they hovered over the back of my twin, before Belch helped me roll him over and rest his head on my knees.

"Oh, Tuff, wake up, please," I took his dirty helmet off, and ran my hands along his cool temple hoping-praying-for a pulse.

Thank Odin, he was alive, but barely. I snapped my hand across his cheek, "Tuffnut, wake up. Please, you have to wake up,"

When his golden brown eyes groggily blinked open I could have cried out with relief. "…Ruff?"

"I'm here, Tuff. Just…just stay awake, okay? We'll get some help," I looked up, hoping someone passing by would be able to help us. But of course we were on the very edges of the field, and no one was near enough to hear if I shouted.

"You idiot," Tuff croaked out. He let out a feeble, wet, gurgling cough, and that was when I noticed the arrow wound on his chest.

"No, no no no no," I ripped off the edge of my sleeve and held it to the blood seeping out of his chest. It was too close to his lung for my comfort. Tuff grabbed my wrist,

"Ruff, it's okay sis."

"No, no it's not." I could feel my eyes getting wetter.

"Listen to me for once, you terd," Tuff let out another cough and scowled. "Damn blood, making it hard to bleed," he grumbled, as if he had discovered lettuce on his sandwich instead of beef. "We can't get out of this one together Ruff. You need to trust me when I say that you're gonna be okay."

"Tuff…" "No Ruffnut. You're strong, you can get through this. You can go back home, back to your boys, back to Snotlout. You don't really need me."

"But I do," I almost sobbed. "I…We're twins, Tuff. I don't know what life is like without your annoying voice."

"Wow, I was trying to be deep and philosophical, and you have the nerve to call me annoying?"

"I would slap you if you didn't have an open wound on your chest. You've never been deep or phi..pilo…piloso…that word in your life!"

He had the nerve to smile. Blood coated his teeth and lips, but it was still the same smirk I had woken up to this morning. Funny how fast so many things can change. "There's the annoying sister I was born with."

"You idiot," I sniffed. He frowned. "Ruffnut, I swear to Odin if you start bawling I will not wait for you. I'll let you find your own way to Hell."

"Yeah right." I couldn't help but let out a teary laugh. His head started sagging in my hands. "Tuff…I…"

"I know, sis. I'm sorry too."

"That's not what I was gonna say,"

He weakly quirked an eyebrow. "I was gonna say, I love you Brother. Life would have been way too boring without you."

He smiled and brought a hand to my cheek. It was ice cold, but I put my own hand over it and held it there anyway. His thumb moved slowly to wipe away the tears dripping down my nose. "I love you two, Sister. But that doesn't need you can follow me. They need you here."

I couldn't help it anymore; I put my head on his chest and let out the sob I had been holding back. I felt my helmet fall off and his hand rest on my hair. "I can't do this! I can't do this Tuff!"

"You can, and you will. You're my sister, albeit my idiot sister. I love you, I always have."

"I know…I know." I turned my head so my ear was resting on my chest. "I'm gonna miss you bro," I sobbed out. His hand weakly twined in my braid, and stayed there. I heard his heart, thump, tha thump, tha thump, and his rattling breath getting weaker with each shaky inhale. I carefully helped him rest on the ground, and curled up in his side like we were children again. Wrapping my arms around his torso, I rested my head in his neck and listened to the steady heart that beat in tandem with mine.

Tha thump. Tha thump. Tha thump. Tha…

There was no repeating thump. I didn't cry, just pulled his cooling body closer to mine and buried my head in the crook of his neck. I thought I heard voices calling, but I didn't care. Barf and Belch had wrapped their necks around us and brought their wings up to shield us from the softly falling snow.

I stayed could have stayed there for hours, or minutes, or days, not caring as the rest of the world went on around me. I clutched to my brother as if he was the only thing keeping me grounded to earth, and in a way, I guess he was. I vaguely registered hands on me, trying to pry my fingers from my brother's hair, and untangling his hands from my knotted braids. When their intention became clearer, I started struggling.

"No! NO! Tuff! Let me go! I need to get to my brother!" strong arms wrapped around me and I opened my eyes to see blurry figures start to carry him away. "NO! BRING HIM BACK! TUFFNUT!"

"It's done, Ruffnut. He's gone," Said the dead voice beside me. I looked over to see the broken form of Hiccup, the light completely gone from his eyes as he watched my brother being carried away. His face was like it had aged ten years, making him seem older than the fifty-five year old he was. "It's over."

Astrid wrapped herself around his arm, her own slightly wrinkled face scrunched up from holding back tears. I turned my face to see my own husband holding me back from following my brother, who was now out of sight. He was looking at his cousin, for once not making a snarky or completely dumb comment. Tuff was right. I couldn't follow him, because I was needed here. I had a family, and it was up to me to put it back together. If only I knew how…