Nanny Dragon

Disclaimer: The characters, dragons, ect. do not belong to me but their own respective creative, production, original owners. This is a work of fiction and should not be taken seriously or with offense.

...

They're not pets.

These dragons, they are animals with an unquenchable hunger for fish and scratches right underneath their chin, but they are not pets.

Hiccup may have helped these rough and tumble Vikings tame some of the fiercest creatures imaginable, but they are not tamed. Not completely.

One generation of Vikings could not change the generations of bloodshed and wariness that has been ingrained in each pairs genes since the original Vikings came to the 'Meridian of Misery' those absurdly long and arduous years ago.

The initial dragons that allow the touch of a human did so more out of mixture of morbid curiosity and desperation. They were the ones that were confined in small cages for weeks, months. Never a year. While the top student was allowed to kill the Monstrous Nightmare, the others were still allowed the honor of killing the other dragons as a graduation honor. Nevertheless, the dragons waited – if not death, but for a glimpse of the sky, a breath of air free from the stagnation within their underground confines, or any hope of freedom, revenge even, that they were allowed during those brief moments in confrontation with the human younglings. The dragons that were held captive by those same villagers that allowed their whelp, no older than a blink of an eye in comparison to lifespans of the creatures they were riding, caused an interest to spark in the dragons that stayed behind to view the battle between their Mother Dragon and human beings.

The interest in these human beings, so small but ferocious in their own manner, was infectious.

It was like a scratch that was just out of reach. Before they knew it, some of the more adventurous dragons landed on the edge of the village, carefully sniffing at the 'tame' ones, wonderment about why they stayed when they could have left when their Mother Dragon died. The need to fly and steal food from the Vikings was not longer apparent. They had the ability to stretch their wings and fly free, so why?

Why did they stay?

One of the older Zippleback glided near the village, the familiar smell of its cousin nearby. It landed quietly, the thick layer of snow muffled its normally obvious descent. The heads eyed its surroundings warily. He could hear the creaks, the thumps, the smell of dragons – familiar and unfamiliar – wafting from within or nearby the wooden structures that distinctively smelled like humans.

He rumbled lowly in its throat, calling for a long last family member. It took a few minutes, the snow falling thickly downward, several curious, albeit sleepy, pairs of dragon eyes appearing from behind thick wooden doors or behind windows, before settling back to sleep after realizing he was not here for them or to cause any mayhem.

The Zippleback waited, both pairs of eyes trained on the familiar, two-headed shape lumbering in its direction.

Ah. Cousin.

Said cousin blinked sleepily at the Zippleback, the left head blinking rapidly as if on the verge of tucking its head and going back to sleep, allowing the other head free-rein with their body.

He growled, causing both heads to perk up, more alert while simultaneously more agitated than anything else. It was dark, 30 degrees below freezing, and clearly it was not the time for an intervention on the matters of dragon-human related life choices.

At least, not before they had their breakfast.

The older, slightly larger dragon did not see it in their terms.

'Why didn't you return home?'

The Zippleback heads' simultaneously blinked, a puzzled expression across both of its faces. The left tilted its head to the side, as if in amusement, 'Home?'

The right rolled its eyes, 'We're already – "

Both heads suddenly swiveled backwards, its tail swinging slightly in anticipation.

"Hey Wheezy, Zack, where ya at?" A human, a scrawny little female, turned the corner, her boots shuffling slowly in the snow, her thin, lanky frame dwarfed by the long, dark shadows of the burning flames of the candle posts and towering buildings around her. She huffed, her shoulders set in obvious agitation as she rearranged her thick, wool shawl closer to her thin frame as a particularly strong gust of cold, artic air gusted by. Her weak human eyes scanned the streets – the snow and lengthy shadows from the nearby trees and buildings obscured the dragons from her line of sight.

"It's your fault you lost them!" A deeper voice followed after the female. He was near identical to his female counterpart, slightly stockier in build, but nonetheless, they were obviously related. He huffed, roughly bumping his shoulder against hers, causing her to stumble forward several feet. She growled, her brow narrowing in agitation as she caught her foot, using the momentum of her body to easily spin herself on her toes and soundly connect her fist with his shoulder in retaliation. The force literally knocked him onto the snow with a sound 'oomf', snow spraying in all directions as he failed in the snow for his bearings. He groaned, glaring at her through his loose, disheveled blonde hair, furiously rubbing his shoulder. Despite his outright rage, the corners of his lips briefly quirked upward, impressed with her maneuver. However, that moment of appreciation quickly ended as he realized the reason why he was in the snow drift in the first place. "How in the world can you lose a two-headed dragon, you half-troll?"

"They were right there when I checked on them earlier!" The female retorted. Despite her obvious agitation at her sibling, she still raised a hand for him to grasp and lift himself from the ground.

"Well, obviously they aren't," the male replied. They continued to side-check one another – they were obviously stronger and more durable than their thin frames gave them credit for. A few minutes later, they were snarling at one another, their hands began to tug on one another's long, blonde hair. The tension in the air was thick as their voices continued to rise in decibel, ignoring the fact that it was the dead of night and people (and dragons) were trying to sleep. It reminded the older Zippleback of the quarrels between the Terrible Terrors.

Said 'Wheezy' and 'Zack' made a move toward the young woman, only to have one of the heads of its' cousin stop it with a firm grasp of its tail. The left head of the older dragon pulled the dragon further into the alley, only to have 'Zack' swat his head furiously at the head that kept it from their twins. It snarled, a warning to the other before it slowly lumbered walking toward the two arguing human beings, and leaving a bewildered Zippleback as it tended to the bickering humans. The two siblings were too engrossed in staring one another down, their fists lowered, clenched by their sides to notice the object of their argument standing beside them. The two heads made a motion of what looked like a sigh before each head bent down, its teeth grasping the edge of cloth, millimeters from tender human flesh, and pulled their respective twin apart, their feet dangling several feet in the air.

"What the – "

Two pairs of identical blue eyes widened, looking at one another and then slowly, they turned around to stare into –

"Zack!" "Wheezy!" The twins exclaimed, immediately wiggling free of their respective dragon. They landed on the ground with ease only to run up each respective head, relieved grins on both of their faces.

"Where were you!" The female human, despite her rough and agitated tone of voice and demeanor with her sibling, carefully wound her arms around Zack's head, affectionately scratching the tender scales underneath its chin.

"Yeah, dude," the male human grumbled, lightly head-butting the other head. "Were you out getting another snack? You're gonna get fat at this rate."

Wheezy snorted, bumping the top of his against the boy's, his yellow eyes narrowed in a dry glare. He opened his mouth, electricity crackling menacingly from between his extended jaws.

"Uhh…there's nothing particularly wrong with a heavyset draconic figure…"

The human female snorted, lightly patting the other's – Zack, she called it – head, "With the weight Tuffnut's putting on, it'll be like weight training for you both, really."

Wheezy snorted, laughing in his own manner as Tuffnut opened and closed his mouth wordlessly.

"Come on," the human known as Ruffnut tugged on Zack's horns, "Let's get you back to the shade. Mom wants you to watch the little dweebs, so we'll be waking up early for your morning flight before we get back, sound good?"

"Thank Thor's Hammer for dragons," Tuffnut muttered, "You would think Ma would've learned her lesson with twins, but nooo, she had to have three more kids."

The Zippleback behind them blinked perplexedly. It's respective heads turning to look at one another and the interactions between its cousins and the human's in front of it.

'Why?' Its heads thought simultaneously. These humans were so loud, and angry, and…and loud.

"Hey," Tuffnut growled, tugging fruitlessly on Wheezy's head. "We have to go home. Why aren't you budging?"

"Tuff, shut up!" Ruffnut hissed, nudging her brother's side, "Something's over there."

"Wha?"

Both Vikings froze, their bodies immediately falling into a familiar defensive stance. Although there was no need to actively fight against dragons, they were still Vikings. The older Zippleback growled, its eyes narrowed on the sight of the humans hands as they crept toward their vests, probably with concealed weapons carefully tucked within their clothing. One head opened its mouth, allowing gas to emit, which was picked up by the wind, and floated in their direction. These humans…as dangerous as ever, why could their cousin not see that?

"Hey Tuff," Ruffnut murmured, eying the putrid green gas emitting from the figure in the shadow, "Doesn't that look like – "

"Gas," Tuffnut finished. "Zippleback. But – " He side glanced toward Zack and Wheezy, conflict on his face as his eyes darted back and forth between their dragon, at least, what they thought was their dragon but…

"Odin's ghost, forget it," Ruffnut growled as she made a move toward the still hidden Zippleback, the shine of the small dagger she kept in the inside of her clothing at all times, gleaming in the low light – only to have Zack snarl and wind its head in front of her, stopping her mid-sprint by lifting her from the ground. "Zack, what are you doing?"

Tuffnut eyed the twin-headed dragon wearily, eyeing as Zack calmly refused to put Ruffnut down until she tucked her dagger back inside her shawl pocket.

Zack and Wheezy growled lowly, nudging their twins closer to their body; not so much as to protect them from their cousin but their cousin from their humans; they were feisty.

Zack and Wheezy uttered guttural noises from the back of its throat, toward their cousin. 'Enough. Meet them. They are….' began Zack.

'Our home,' ended Wheezy.

"Zack?" "Wheezy?"

The Zippleback emerged from its hiding place - both heads were reared high, its body ready for an attack from the two humans. It was larger than Zack and Wheezy, taller by at least a good five feet, a little more forest green to their olive-green, and obviously less than tolerable of humans. The left head's mouth was open, electricity sparking from it in warning.

"You're not one of the Zipplebacks here," Tuffnut exclaimed in realization.

Both Zack and Wheezy kept their position, literally becoming a dragon blockade to keep their cousin and humans from harming one another in a brawl in the middle of the village.

Silence reigned as the twins eyed the foreign Zippleback and vice-versa.

Ruffnut finally broke the silent, looking down at Wheezy with a somewhat exasperated expression, "Is he your family?"

Smart girl.

Zack and Wheezy simultaneously nodded.

The twins glanced at one another. The older Zippleback could not fend off the small amount of astonishment as the twins – they were communicating like a regular Zippleback, one body, and one brain, a quick gaze and the tilt of the head were all that outwardly passed between the two blonde teenagers. After a pregnant pause, the twins' immediately shrugged and responded, "Cool."

It did not, would not, however, change his opinion of them.

The Zippleback growled, lunging forward, only to have Zack and Wheezy whip around and corral the humans behind them. 'These are spawned from the same meatbags that captured and confined you!'

'True,' Zack nodded 'but they are interesting.'

"They provide food and shelter," stated Wheezy.

The Zippleback snorted.

'As well as,' interjected Zack, 'Amusement. Companionship."

'If you wanted a pet,; the left head snorted in annoyance, his wings twitching in agitation. The right finished, "A Terror would have been more than sufficient.'

'Not a pet,' stated Zack.

'A…a friend,' Wheezy purred as it nudged against the male Viking.

"Hey, watch it," Tuffnut said, although there was no heat in his exclamation as he carefully stood his ground beside his dragon.

'You are nothing more than,' the left head growled, moving away, the right, 'A pet.'

'If you deem it as such, so be it.' Wheezy narrowed its head, winding its head around Tuffnut, as did Zack with Ruffnut, their features warning and dangerous, 'But they are ours.'

The left head snorted as it made stepped backward, to head back home, with the other dragons.

"Hey," Tuffnut muttered, attempting to pull free from Wheezy and help his sister down from her makeshift perch on Zack's head. "Where ya going? A storm's brewing right now, come on, you can stay with us."

"Yeah, ya crazy dragon," Ruffnut stated, easily jumping down from Zack's head and onto the snow beside her brother. She placed her hands on her hips, cocking an annoyed eyebrow in their direction. "You obviously don't like us but we can't exactly let you fly out now."

True, the dark, gray clouds were swirling in the sky, thick and heavy with perspiration and ready to unload Odin's fury onto the ground below. Even a Night Fury would have difficulty navigating in the storm that would be raging upon the skies in the new few minutes.

Zack and Wheezy were nothing but smug as their cousin finally agreed. As they lumbered back to the humans' residence, he made sure to stay several feet behind. The two heads scanned back and forth along the houses they passed. They were obviously new – the structures closer to the street smaller than the buildings to the side that were two or even four stories high. They could smell the various distinct scents of different dragons residing within the larger wooden areas. At least three or four Gronkles, more than a few Terrible Terrors, and two Monstrous Nightmares, all within proximity of the human's they claimed their own.

'Weaklings…" both heads hissed. Their kind had finally been freed from Mother (by the squishbag humans, no less) but now they allowed themselves to have a new master, these little mammals with violent tempers and a habit to throw weapons and ask questions later.

Wheezy turned his head back to eye his cousin before snorting and crowding closer to its proclaimed humans. The Zippleback noted that they were directly in front of the heavy winds, shielding the two delicate siblings (who were in the midst of arguing with one another) from the blisteringly cold wind that was quickly gaining in strength. Although…along the way, the boy had removed had removed his own scarf and haphazardly wound it around his sister's neck, his body close to her as if to share their body heat.

Such curious little squishbags…

They must have reached what must have been their home because the male twin suddenly bolted to the house while the female veered to a larger structure next to the house. Zack and Wheezy followed suit, trailing after he obediently, but the Zippleback stayed put.

Ruffnut opened the heavy door with a grunt and Zack and Wheezy lumbered easily in. The heads peered between the door as Ruffnut crossed her arms wearily over her front, her boot tapping heavily on the permafrost covered ground.

"It's safe," she stated, a hand motioning toward the barn. She huffed, rolling her eyes. She leaned forward, resting her body on her toes and lifting the heel of her boots upward as if to make herself more intimidating to the significantly taller dragon. It didn't work, she was still five feet or so, but he gave her props for trying. "I don't plan on waiting for you to get off your high horse and get in, but I will force you if I have to."

Their gut told them that if they didn't follow suit, the female Viking would keep to her promise. From the looks of their cousin, they would more than likely assist her in her self-imposed task.

"Is he going in?" A familiar voice sounded from his side. Although it was several feet away, it caused the Zippleback to hop in the air in…not fright, never fright for a dragon, but in surprise as he watched as the male twin returned, his arms loaded with several fish.

Mesmerized by the sight of fish, the Zippleback barely gave notice to the small human being as he entered the barn.

"In," Ruffnut pointed a thumb inside.

The plummeting temperature didn't help his conviction either.

With a grunt, the Zippleback followed in after his cousin, its heads warily watching its surroundings in case a Viking fell from the sky, or in this case, the ceiling.

"Here!" Ruffnut hollered as he flicked something silver in the air. Automatically, all the Zipplebacks followed the sight of the silver speck, their mouths open and –

Oh.

The Zippleback heads chewed slowly.

Fish.

Pacific cod, to be exact.

A Hideous Zippleback favorite.

It chewed thoughtfully, watching as Zack and Wheezy lowered their heads to bid the twins good-bye.

"Don't get into trouble," Ruffnut stated as she gave Zack and Wheezy one final pat on the head. Tuffnut snorted, leaning against the side of the dragon, "Yeah, that's our gig, apparently. According to Ma, out of all the rest of us, you're her favorite member of the family."

Both heads smirked.

"Don't get big-headed," Tuffnot stated as he soundly thumped them on the tail before following his sister back into their home. They shut the barn door with a sound thud, the light from the windows the only illumination within the building. They didn't need light though – they were dragons after all. No…they were still eyeing one another, four pairs of bright yellow eyes glowing, observing one another; two sets more obviously more agitated than the other pair.

'They…'

'Trust you,' The older Zippleback murmured in quiet awe.

'They do,' Wheezy nodded. The corners of Zack's mouth quirked upward, 'Their mother 'Ma' they call her, requests us to watch after the younger children when we're not with the older two.'

'It was an accident, at first," Wheezy continued. 'Our two humans, they were busy with their chores.'

'Their mother, she makes cloth,' added Wheezy. 'According to the twins and the three small younglings, she is the best clothmaker in the village.'

'She was busy as well,' Zack and Wheezy settled on the straw-laden ground, 'And the younglings needed to be watched over They are extremely energetic, as all newly hatched ones are.'

'The twins…' Wheezy smirked fondly at the memory, 'Were obviously more agitated than usual. They have been helping the child known as Hiccup with…helping adapt the villagers to us. They are not…'

Zack ended, 'The most patient of teachers.'

'But sufficient,' said both heads simultaneously.

'While they were supposed to watch the younger children.'

'Three of them. Quite young.'

'Triplets. They just started walking,' Zack stated warmly. 'Erp, Guda, and Halnut.'

'The twins were not properly watching the younglings.'

'And, like their older siblings, they are just as rambunctious.'

'And they disappeared.'

'The two didn't notice.'

Wheezy rolled his eyes, 'Only after we found them. Erp was playing with a Terror near the garden. Guda was underneath the house, napping. Halnut, of course he would wander off and nearly fall into a well.'

'We found them,' Zack rumbled. 'And carried them in our mouths. Guda sat between us, he's quite docile in comparison to the rest of his siblings.'

'Their mother saw us,' Wheezy stated. 'Surprisingly, she reprimanded the twins. She gave us fish, a lot of fish, afterward in thanks.'

'And after that –'

'We became – '

'The triplets babysitter,' finished Wheezy.

'They've enslaved you!' The older Zippleback hissed, 'Again! Except you've been degraded to some sort of playmate!'

'They've killed our kind again and again,' the other head included, his eyes flashing in rage. 'And you stay! For what, exactly? Curiosity? Food?'

'They needed our help,' Zack stated simply.

'Against Mother,' Wheezy added. 'And we provided.'

Zack huffed, 'We needed them as much as they needed us.'

'Even now,' said Wheezy.

'The black one, he calls himself Toothless now,' Zack continued. 'With that boy of his, he looked happy for once.'

The older dragon blinked – the dark dragon, an enigma amongst the other dragon races, actually enjoyed the company of another…?

'We thought…' Wheezy said, his eyes darting toward the house that stood quietly adjacent to the barn. 'That…we would like some of that happiness for ourselves.'

'We left,' Zack stated, 'For a few days, to stretch our wings but those children…'

'Ruff and Tuff,' continued Wheezy, 'We could not forget their hands, touching our scales, their obvious and loud exhilaration in flight…'

'And with the utmost faith that we would not drop them when we first flew together.'

'We returned – '

'And have stayed since,' said both heads.

The Zippleback seethed, his tail lashing out and hitting the bannister in anger. 'See where your faith will lead you!'

'One day, you will find your hide turned into a part of their armor!'

Both Zack and Wheezy turned around to look at one another, obvious exasperation at the conversation. This was obviously leading to nowhere and they would need to wake up early with their twin riders.

Zack shrugged, settling down on his stomach, their turn curling around their body. 'That is what their dumb sheep are for.'

'Rest,' Wheezy changed the subject with a yawn, 'So that you may leave early.'

The older Zippleback snorted, begrudgingly settling down for the evening as well. The younger Zippleback was obviously not listening to reason. The moment either head could see sunlight would they leave this miserable, squishbag-ridden area.

Instead of waking up at first light, he was woken with screaming and the patter of small steps against a wooden floor. Groggily, both heads unfurled themselves from their resting space, blinking sleepily at their surroundings. It took a moment, the feel of a dry cave and warm dirt was in reality, not a cave nor was it dirt. Instead, the Zippleback realized it was in a human-made structure.

"Wuff! Look! Dagon!" A pair of large grey eyes, two in fact, followed by another pair of groggy green eyes peered up at the bewildered Hideous Zippleback.

"Don't get too close, Guda," Ruff yawned, meandering after them. She hummed, obviously pleasantly surprised that their barn was still intact and there was no dragon shaped hole in the wall. She pushed her younger sibling closer to Zack and Wheezy – the child immediately latched onto a foreleg, giggling, while the dragon still happily slept. She touched Zack's sleeping head, scratching underneath his chin while she scowled at her younger siblings. "Erp, stop chewing on your blanket."

"But…" The one known as Erp paused from chewing on her blanket and blinked in bafflement at the new dragon that was currently residing with their Zack and Wheezy. "Dagon."

"Like – like Zack and Wheez!" Halnut clapped his hands, pointing at the now awakened family dragon. He made a motion toward the older dragon, his small, chubby hand outstretched to pet the dragon.

Tuffnut followed in after his sister, picking up Halnut by the collar, lifting him in the air, similar to what Zack and Weezy did in order to stop the siblings from fighting, in an effort to keep the adventurous boy from attempting to run over to the obviously agitated dragon. "Come on squirt, Ma's making food. Eat before it gets cold and slimy."

"Colder and slimier, anyway," Ruffnut mimicked her brother and grabbed Guda and Erp, throwing one over her shoulder and the other underneath her arm like a sack of energetic, wiggling, blonde potatoes. "How that's possible, only Sif knows."

"Dagon!" The three fought against their captors, their fists pounding against their siblings in retaliation with their tiny fists in retaliation. "Wuff! Tuff!"

"Not – " said Ruffnut.

"Listening," Tuffnut finished as they literally threw the three younger siblings into the house.

"We'll be back later Ma!" Ruffnut hollered as she grasped their riding gear. "C'mon Zack, Wheezy, time to get some exercise in."

"Aren't you supposed to be leaving soon," Tuffnut eyed the Zippleback warily.

The Zippleback snorted, gas leaking from its nostrils as it made a move toward the door only –

"DAGON!"

Three wails cut it off.

'What – '

'Is that?'

'The triplets," Zack answered with a fond sigh.

"Tuff, Ruff," the door opened only to have a burly woman step out, three little blond balls tripping over her feet. She, obviously from the familiar scowl on her face, she was their mother, glared at the twins, "Another dragon to feed?" She scratched her head, spitting onto the floor, "It better me as useful as Zack and Wheezy."

"It's not staying!" Tuffnut replied, "It was only staying the night!"

"That's what ye said about Zack and Wheezy," she huffed. Tuffnut and Ruffnut stood between the twins and the two dragons, keeping their siblings from potential harm. Zack and Wheezy rumbled, laughing at the familiar, nearly daily scene, enacting in front of them. "And they're still here. Thank Odin that they don't mind the triplets hanging over them." She shot the two-headed a quick smile before turning away, waving her hand, "After the triplets have their fun, tell them to get back inside and finish their breakfast!"

"But Ma - !" The twins cringed as the door slammed behind them.

"See what you did," Ruffnut punched Tuffnut on the shoulder, "Ma thinks that grumpy dragon is another member of the family."

"Only because you decided to let it stay the night," Tuffnut pushed her back.

"That was your idea!"

"It wasn't!"

"Oh yeah?"

The squabble caused the two to eventually end up on the ground; grunts and yowls of pain littering the foul names the two were calling one another. The triplets, more agreeable with one another, crept past their older siblings and directly toward the new dragon. The dragon froze; watching as the three young Viking children clambered toward him, unbound joy on their faces –

"Zaaaaack, no fair!" Erp scowled as the left head clamped on the back of her dress, easily picking her up.

"Wheeze!" Halnut flailed, his little hands and kicking fruitlessly as his shirt was snagged in Wheezy's mouth. The two heads looked at one in exasperation as Guda managed to scamper away on his small legs, free from capture toward the baffled dragon.

"Dagon!"

The looks from Zack and Wheezy, their narrowed yellow eyes and trilling from deep within their throats – a warning – that if even one hair on the child's head be harmed that Ragnarok would undoubtedly befall the other dragon, if not from the Thorsten's dragon, but the twins and their mother.

"Dagon…" the little boy said in wonder as he stopped mere feet away from the dragon. Despite the fact that the child was in a village where dragons were quickly becoming an accepted part of the family, and the family, in fact, already had a Zippleback directly in their barn, did not dim the excited grin on the child's face as he looked upward, nearly falling on his rump in his attempt to look at all of the dragon. One hand was outstretched toward his flank, a small diminutiatve hand, and –

The Zippleback snorted, moving backward and away from the child.

"Guda! C'mere you runt!" Tuffnut panted as he picked himself from the ground and grabbed the little boy. He carried the boy in his arms, tapping his forehead against his little brother's – a mini-headbutt of disapproval – before exclaiming, "Remember what we said: No talk to strange dragons."

"Zack and Wheez's brutha," Guda pointed at the Zippleback, his bottom lip quivering, large, fat tears were staining his chubby, pink cheeks. "Like me and you," he pointed to himself and then Tuffnut. "So – so he's not a stranguh…"

"Yeah!" Chirped Halnut and Erp as they managed to pull from Zack and Wheezy's grasp, "Play with them like you and Wuff!"

Zack and Wheezy snorted.

The Zippleback growled, making headway toward the slightly ajar barn door leading to the outside. It stepped outside, the breath of air –

Bawling was heard from within the barn.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut were busy holding the twins, mumbling surprisingly gentle, if not awkward endearments, at the triplets.

"C'mon you three, our dragon is so much cooler than that big old fart – "

"Zack and Wheezy are playing with you after we get back, so Viking up!"

Zack and Wheezy hovered over the three crying children, carefully nudging the top of their heads with their own heads. They both sent a glare at the retreating figure of their older cousin from behind their humans' small forms.

The Zippleback groaned. It would never hear the end of this if their younger cousin decided to visit – to be known as the dragon that caused tears – not of physical, agonizing pain – from small children would surely be looked down upon if not laughed at.

It trudged back, both heads lowering to eye-level of the triplets, close enough for them to put their grimy, sticky human hands on.

"Great…" Tuffnut stated quietly, "Gonna make them cry some more?"

"Dagon!" The three young children shouted, their faces still stained with tears, eager and nearly wiggling free from the confines of their older siblings' arms.

It closed its eyes – waiting for the inevitable torture.

Except, it was barely felt, but the pads of small, soft fingers were on top of their scales, eager but tactile hands scratching at their heads, reaching their favored sweet spot and nearly caused both heads to collapse onto its belly and purr.

And just as soon as those hands touched their heads did they suddenly retreat. The Zippleback snapped open its eyes, their yellow eyes peering in confusion as the three small children suddenly hid in their older siblings' embraces. The tips of their ears were a bright pink, their faces were burrowed against Ruffnut and Tuffnut's shirts in attempt to hide the smiles that were as wide as their chubby faces from the perplexed dragon.

"Huh, so you're not that big of a trollbutt after all," Ruffnut stated as she carried Halnut and Erp toward the main house.

"Hmph, so you're related to Zack and Wheezy after all," Tuff added as he followed after Ruff with Guda in his arms. The small boy peered shyly at the dragon, sending a small wave in his direction.

"Bye…" he whispered.

'Good…' 'Bye.' The Zippleback automatically answered only to blink and cough, flapping its wings uselessly as each head looking at either direction, away from the smug faces of its younger cousin.

'Will you be leaving now?' Zack asked serenely.

"We…" the left head started but stopped, looking helplessly down at its feet. The memory of the triplets' small hands – so fragile, so…alive – against their scales was ingrained in their mind.

'Are hungry,' the right head finished lamely. 'We will leave once we are fed.'

'Ah!' The left head nodded, 'As we are their guests, we should be fed accordingly. That meager snack from the evening before was a petty amount to be given.'

Zack and Wheezy looked at one another, a dry look of amusement across their faces as they lumbered past the larger dragon toward the exit to stretch out their wings and wait for their morning fish from the twins.

'Stay after breakfast as well.'

'You can watch the twins with us.'

The Zippleback snorted, 'Ragnarok will be upon us if I do decide.'

The door creaked open, just slightly, and all the heads could see three large pairs of eyes stare eagerly into the door before realizing they had been spotted and immediately slammed it shut.

'Stranger things have occurred, cousin," the two-headed dragon stated, opening the door wider for the other Zippleback to follow.

The larger Zippleback would have retorted, if not for the scene before him that made him pause.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut stood outside, standing beside one another. Beside either of them were a large bag of fish. One bag of fish per head.

"You can stay if you like," said Tuffnut. "Ma just talks big talk, but she likes dragons enough."

Ruffnut leaned against her brother, that same knowing smile on her face, "Fess up, ya wussy dragon. You know we're getting to you. The triplets already have a name for you two."

The Zippleback growled but bent down for their share of the fish, a small nugget of curiosity forming in their chest: a name. A name just for them?

Maybe they would stay.

Just to find out what ridiculous name those crazy children had bestowed on them.

Just a day more.

.

Author's Note: So yup, I hope you got the reference for Ruffnut and Tuffnut's Zippleback's name. If not, then gosh, I must be old. I made the triplets on the fly, I thought it would be hi-larious if their mother, after a set of twins, had triplets. Ironic, right? I'm my own editor, so any mistakes are my own, and if they're really that bothersome, point of the more obnoxious ones out and I'll do my best to do a more thorough read through. I'm heading back to university, so I had to whip this out super fast because it'll be back to writing papers and whatnot for me in a few days. Blah.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Did I get the characterizations of Ruff and Tuff? I swear, I love all the Vikings, but these two are SO FUNNY. And their Zippleback needs more cameo-time, forrealz. Tell me your thoughts! Reviews make me smile~