"You really think she can pull this off?" Astrid asked as we watched Ruffnut and Wingnut join the Wingmaidens at the grooming tables.

"Yeah. Well, I hope so," Hiccup said with very little confidence, "for Wingnut's sake."

Fishlegs smiled. "Well, I for one, believe in her."

"Oh, please, I've seen ax handles that are more mothering," Snotlout said. "Prepare for failure."

"I have to agree," I said. "Ruff is going to have trouble bonding with a dragon she doesn't want..."

"Caring for your Razorwhip is the most rewarding part of being a Wingmaiden," Atali said. "You have to groom your dragon daily to avoid parasites and disease."

Ruffnut pulled something from her hair and flicked it away. "Hmm." Ruffnut roughly grabbed Wingnut and lifted a brush. "All right, Wingnut, let's get you cleaned up." Wingnut slapped the brush out of her hand. "Hey, watch it, you!"

"You can do this, Ruff," Astrid cheered.

"Come on, Ruff, remember when we picked the fleas out of Uncle Uggard's back hair?" Tuffnut asked. "And then you got fleas because of it?"

"That was different!" Ruffnut argued. "He didn't have teeth!"

"Uh," Atali instructed tentatively, "carefully lift each scale and scrub underneath it."

Ruffnut poked one of Wingnut's scales from behind and Wingnut bit her finger. "Ow! Grooming Razorwhips really bites." Nearby Wingmaidens and Razorwhips started to laugh in response to the struggle.

Tuffnut took over and grabbed Ruffnut and threw her into a nearby trough of soapy water. He walked over and dropped Wingnut in the water. "♪Scrub, scrub, scrub, alone, above. Ah, Wingnut's in the tubbidy-tub. Washing his cares away.♪" Tuffnut spotted Atali walking over and hid out of sight behind the trough.

Atali smiled at Wingnut playing in the water. "Who knew that baby Razorwhips loved the water?"

"Well done, Tuffnut," I smiled.

"Hey, Mouse," Astrid said. "How'd you know that Wingnut was going to try to bond with Ruffnut?"

"The same thing happened when I first visited the Wingmaidens," I said. "Except I was willing to stay when it happened to me. I'd been away from Berk for about a year and was visiting to learn about the maidens. Nothing exciting about willingly being a Wingmaiden other than the fact that you're a Wingmaiden. We were even hidden away with no chance of dragon hunters finding us at the time."

"Guess things got complicated, huh?" Snotlout said.

"Five years can do that."

~~~

The next challenge in the bonding process was feeding the babies sea slugs, a Razorwhip's favorite. Ruffnut again struggled.

"The baby Razorwhip's nutrition is critical," Atali directed. "Only a well-fed dragon will thrive."

"Come on! Ah! Get in there!" Ruffnut tried to force the sea slug into Wingnut's mouth but he kept dodging it. "Open your mouth! Ugh! I grabbed you the juiciest one! What is wrong with you?"

"I hate to say I told you so, but-" Snotlout stopped as he received a glare from Astrid. "Nobody listens to me."

"Its not easy, Snotlout," Hiccup said.

"Feeding baby dragons can be a bit tricky," Fishlegs said.

"Especially Razorwhips," I agreed.

Ruffnut took Wingnut by surprise and stuffed the sea slug into his mouth. "Nailed it!"

Wingnut spit the sea slug back into her face.

I chuckled. "My little Razorwhip did that to me too."

"I can't watch this. I refuse to let our baby starve in the streets!" Tuffnut ran over and took the sea slug that Ruffnut had just pulled off of her face and placed it into his mouth. "Oh! Tangy! Hideous! Revolting!"

"That was definitely not my solution," I said in disgust.

"What are you doing, Tuff? Those are not for us! They're for Wingnut! and-" Tuffnut cut Ruffnut off by tackling her.

I looked away. The sound of them both barfing was bad enough, I didn't want to watch.

"Oh!" Atali squeaked in surprise. "There are many ways to feed a baby Razorwhip. Ruffnut, you just invented another one."

I felt as though I may barf thinking about how Ruffnut could have succeeded.

Snotlout shrugged. "Huh, even a blind chicken gets a kernel once in a while."

~~~

The Razorwhips were placed a distance away from the Wingmaidens in preparation for the next test.

"Communication," Atali said, "is the key to the bond between Razorwhip and Wingmaiden. You need to have a specific call that only your dragon understands."

The Wingmaidens started using different trilling calls causing their Razorwhips to come to them. Ruffnut tried a different approach.

"Hey, Wingy. Come here. Wingnut! Don't you make me come over there! Get over here!" Ruffnut tried to whistle but failed and Wingnut ignored her.

Astrid bumped Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, give her some help."

Ruffnut continued yelling. "Over here! Get over here! Hey!"

"How's it going?" Hiccup asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruffnut asked.

"Ruff," I offered my whistle. "Give this a-"

I was interupted by the sound of a melodic turkey trill.

Wingnut popped up and ran to Ruffnut, knocking her over. "Ah, whoa!"

Atali smiled. "Well, in all my years, I've never heard a call like that. You're going to make an amazing Wingmaiden, Ruffnut."

Wingnut climbed onto Ruffnut's head. "Yep. That's me. Ruffnut, the super Wingmaiden. So excited."

"Tomorrow," Atali said, "you will take your first flight. Get some rest." Atali left and Wingnut dropped into Ruffnut's lap.

"Oh boy..." Ruffnut sighed.

"Wow," Snotlout said. "Ruffnut is a terrible dragon maiden."

"Tuffnut is pretty good though," I said. "Too bad men can't stay long on the island."

"Did you struggle this much?" Fishlegs asked.

"Not quite," I said. "Shred was a difficult little Razorwhip, but I wanted to be a maiden when I went to the ceremony so we bonded fast. That can make all the difference in the world."