The four young adults and two dragons flew through the air in search of their friends. Stormfly had only caught a faint whiff of their scent, because it had rained making tracking more difficult. Fortunately, they saw light coming from one of the islands. It didn't seem like there were any ships from where they were, so they thought it could be their friends. 

Astrid, Ryan, and Stormfly flew higher up while Toothless, Hiccup, and Merida circled the island. They hid in the shadows just above the trees in search of any ships that could belong to someone else.

"I see them!" Astrid yelled and made Stormfly roar as a signal for Toothless.

Their friends were all huddled around a fire with their dragons surrounding them for warmth and protection. When they heard Astrid's voice and Stormfly's roar they all looked up, trying to see them in the dark. Stormfly flew down, trying to find a spot to land.

"Astrid! What took you so long?" Tuffnut asked.

"What happened back there?" Heather added.

"Where's Valka and Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked worried.

"That was definitely the worst party we've ever been invited to!" Ruffnut complained.

Stormfly let go of Ryan who landed on his face and skidded a bit on the ground. Thankfully, it was on a muddy spot, so his landing was softer than he thought it would be. 

"You kidnapped one of them?" Fishlegs squeaked.

"Astrid, I didn't know you had it in you," Ruffnut laughed. "So what are we going to do with him? Make him a servant? Oh! He can clean the dragon stalls."

"I'm fine thanks for asking," Young MacIntosh groaned as he sat up and tried to wipe all the mud off of him.

"I don't think he'd survive that," Astrid replied and rummaged through her sack.

She turned back to see him desperately trying to get the mud out of his hair. She definitely pegged him as the type to care more about his hair then his well being. She stopped herself from laughing and threw her costrel filled with water at him. He barely managed to catch it before it hit his stomach.

"No one has been kidnapped," Hiccup said as soon as he landed. 

He unhooked his foot and got off Toothless. He was about to give Merida a hand down, but she had already jumped off. It was easier than getting off of Angus for her.

"Umm, how are ye guys doing?" Merida asked with an embarrassed smile.

"What is she doing here?" Eret asked, then gave him a sly smile. "Don't tell me she's a bargaining chip. Hiccup, I thought you were a good guy."

"Umm, obviously no to the kidnapping thing, " Hiccup replied, slightly offended. "We just came to explain what happened and bring you guys back."

"Excuse me? Take us back where exactly? Because they clearly showed that we're not welcomed there," Heather huffed. Ruffnut, Snotlout, and Eret grumbled in agreement but Tuffnut, and Fishlegs remained silent.

"It was all a misunderstanding," Merida began to explain, "The sorcerer made Lord Dingwall attack ye, and the rest o' the Lords just joined in because they saw that the fighting was serious."

Everyone turned to Hiccup and Astrid for confirmation. Hiccup placed his hand on Merida's shoulder and nodded. Merida suddenly became acutely aware of their close proximity and how it must look that Astrid was the furthest away from him. She could feel their eyes staring at his hand and hers. The silver band must be glistening due to the light of the fire. If she wasn't trying to bring them back she would have wrapped her arms around him and stared back in defiance.

"Guys, come on, it's not like it's the first time we've been mistreated or betrayed by people who later became friends," Hiccup reminded them. "Honestly, it's kind of like a requirement now."

Heather and Eret averted their gazes knowing full well they were a part of that group while the rest remembered laughing at him when they were younger. It really did seem like somewhat of a requirement. 

"So, what do ye say?" Merida asked hopefully.

A chorus of "I guess" and "Sure" mixed in with sighs was heard from them. Merida grinned and clapped her hands.

"Well, now that that's settled, what's this about Tuff getting married?" Hiccup asked.

"That's it. I'm getting married. Nothing else to it," Tuffnut replied nonchalantly.

"I thought Thorstons didn't get married?" Astrid asked.

"Well, we're not the marrying type since usually the Thorston Induction Trials are what really make you a member of our family," Ruffnut replied. 

"Oh gods, don't tell me Aileas will have to do them too? Poor her," Astrid asked then turned to Tuff. "It's punishment enough having to take care of you."

"Nah, Mom didn't marry Dad because she wanted to do the induction, so the opposite is true, if you get married you don't have to do the induction, but your kids still do," Ruffnut explained.

"Mom is so great, she chose Dad over her own family. They were all like "If you want to be with that lunatic, just marry him for Thor's sake!" and mom was all like "I'm taking this test!" " Tuffnut recounted before continuing, "But even if that wasn't the case! So what? It's my life. I can do what I want."

"So you do want to get married?" Eret asked.

"I never said that!" Tuffnut quickly retorted.

"Don't tell us you're doing it for the dowry?" Heather asked, "That's cruel even for you."

"No! I didn't even remember that I was supposed to get one because marriage is rare in our family," Tuff defended himself.

"Ah, I get it. You're in it for the long-haul. Her dad's a lord, so you'll probably get a lot of land and animals for the dowry, but you'll be next in line if Bigger Fishlegs doesn't have kids. That's smart Little Bro," Ruff complimented him.

"No! How heartless do you guys think I am!?" Tuff exclaimed.

"Well, if I were ye, assuming ye don't want to get married," Merida joined in. "I'd wait a few hours longer, so Aileas was out of Dunbroch before I got back."

"She's leaving?" Tuffnut asked.

"Aye, as soon as we said we'd bring ye all back she said she was leaving," Merida replied.

"One of the twins said her dad was forcing you two to get married, so another girl, Kristen, I think her name was--?," Hiccup began.

"Kirsteen. She's my younger sister," Ryan corrected him as he walked over to them soaked and cold, but clean. He stood by Merida's left to be closer to the fire.

"Ha! Guess she didn't want to marry you either," Ruffnut joked before she saw her brother's serious face.

"Right. His sister said that your fiancee felt bad about forcing you to marry her, so she wanted to leave before you came back," Astrid finished while she walked to the front as well. She handed Ryan a blanket so he could dry himself off. He silently thanked her and started with his hair.

Tuffnut felt all eyes on him, so he just laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Good, because I-- I didn't want to be tied down anyway. I like flying solo," Tuffnut replied with fake bravado. Barf and Belch shoved him to show how that comment offended them.

"With you guys of course," Tuffnut chuckled and stroked their heads.

"So, care to tell us about what's going on between you 4?" Ruffnut asked the group with a mischievous smirk, successfully diverting all attention away from her brother.

Everyone turned to look at them. Their expressions and stances quickly changed. Merida and Hiccup tensed, unconsciously moving closer to each other. Ryan was still drying his hair, but peaked from beneath the blanket to see Astrid's reaction.

"I'll tell you," Astrid crossed her arms and looked everyone straight in the eye, daring them to laugh once she explained what happened. No one but Ruff saw Barf and Belch flying away toward DunBroch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surprisingly, it didn't take that long for Tuffnut to make it back to Dunbroch. Maybe the island wasn't that far away or maybe Barf and Belch could feel its rider wanted to get there as fast as possible. Which one was it? He wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't really care either way. There were a lot of boats leaving, but he spotted the MacGuffin flag on one and went to land on it.

"Watch out! Dragon coming through!" Tuffnut warned them.

The man on board yelled and jumped out of the way. Those who were on the other side heard the commotion and ran to that side with their swords ready. Tuffnut was debating whether to fry them or not when Young MacGuffin stood in front and raised his hands. He shook his head no and the soldiers put down their weapons.

"Thanks man! Where's your sister by the way?" Tuffnut quickly asked and got off his dragon.

Callum seemed to debate within himself before reluctantly pointing down to him that she was in the lower quarters. Tuffnut gave him a thumbs up and ran down. Callum turned to the dragon and gingerly scratched its chin, making Barf's head fall to the floor in bliss.

Tuffnut ran down the stairs and saw a few doors. He knew he should have asked for more information, but it's not like he could understood what Callum would have said anyway. Instead he went through all the doors, peaked inside, and left when he didn't see her.

*Creak* "Not here." *Slam*

*Creak* "Not here." *Slam*

*Creake* "Sir Tuffnut!?" "Not here." *Slam*

*Creak* "Not h--wait." *Slam* Tuffnut said and realized what he did. 

He went back to the previous door and opened it without knocking. The room was small, but it still managed to contain a bed and a desk with a chair. Aileas was sitting down at the table with a quill in her hand, she was still wearing her wedding dress. 

"Sir Tuffnut, ye really should learn how to knock," Aileas commented quietly.

"Right, uh, I'll work on that," Tuffnut replied sheepishly.

"What are you doing here?" Aileas asked and stood up from her chair.

"Oh, nothing much. I just-- well, uh, I was just wondering about the wedding," Tuff replied. "What we should eat. What kind of dessert you wanted, you know. Just small details."

Aileas sighed and took a seat again. She looked down at her hands to avoid his gaze.