With you ~ ?????? ????????? ? ???! ??

4. Tuff, Tu, and Chicken

"Yakdragons  to you, my friend. And when you've heard their cries, you'll believe. Trust me. Mm-hmm. Rakay-ya-na-na-na-na-ohhhhh! Pa-poo!" Tuff yelled and all I could do was quietly chuckle to myself.

Astrid looked over at me from her spot right next to me and smiled. I smiled back, but secretly, her smile gave me butterflies.

"That's right. Let that roll around in your head for a minute." Tuff told us.

"I am." I replied.

"All right, Tuffnut, knock it off." Hiccup told him.

"Yeah, you're not scaring anyone." Snotlout sassed.

Tuffnut got in Snotlout's face, "Really? What if there were... snakes out there in the dark? Hmm? Giant snakes? Snakes big enough to swallow a man whole and then barf out his bones? Blech!"

"Ha! Please. Barfing out bones." Snotlout nervously laughed before grabbing Hookfang's wing and using it to hide.

"What?"

"Yeah, that's right, go to bed. Sleep... if you can. Ahh, trolls, demon toads..." Tuff muttered.

I shivered at the thought of demon toads. Astrid, who was still next to me, wrapped her arm around me. "Just go to sleep." She whispered.

I blushed before relaxing and eventually falling asleep.

Our peace was soon disrupted when Tuff ran out of the woods yelling. I was concerned but also a slight bit annoyed that a had to leave Astrid's warm embrace.

We all walked up to a panting and out of breathe Tuffnut. "Chicken! Roaring! Roaring huge chicken! Chicken roar!" He rambled frantically.

"Is he saying he saw a big, roaring chicken?" Fishlegs asked.

"Not a chicken. Dragon. Huge. Massive." Tuff breathed. "What's another word? Colossal."

"What happened to the chicken?" Fishlegs questioned. Why does the chicken matter?

"Forget the chicken! We gotta get out of here!" Tuff yelled.

Astrid yawned, "Is anyone falling for this?"

"I don't know." Ruff started. "I haven't seen him this freaked out since he found a leech on his-"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you there. Ugh." Astrid interrupted. Thank Thor.

Hiccup dramatically sighed, "Okay, fine, let's just check this out so we could all go back to sleep."

"Why aren't you guys believing him?" I asked. I trust Tuff enough to know that he wouldn't lie about this kind of stuff.

"Thank you, Tu." Tuff said to me.

"You believe him?" Snotlout asked.

"Yeah."

He just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, when this giant beast rips us limb from limb, I will expect an apology from each and every one of you." I looked at Tuff. "Besides Talulahh." He added.

"And a handshake. No, you won't be able to shake hands 'cause you limbs will be gone." He continued to rant.

We all heard a rustle. "Shhh."

Tuffnut unexpectedly jumped out from the bush we were standing in and started to yell. Ohhh, he's trying to lure the dragon out.

I jumped out and started to yell, although I didn't look as unhinged as Tuff did.

Everyone just stared at us until a chicken walked up to Tuff.