You do not, I repeat, do not have to read my previous story to understand this one. Not many details have been carried over. But to prevent confusion, I recommend for new readers to read the first section and italics.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the four franchises(How to Train Your Dragon, Rise of the Guardians, Brave and Tangled) included.

Previously:

Jack Frost has been tasked by North(Santa) and Man in Moon to gather the fourth generation of warriors known as the "Defenders of Realms" to fight against Pitch. North gives him the Core Compass, a device that will allow him to cross the Four Worlds. Jack seeks out the descendant of North's old companion-Grimbeard the Ghastly, and finds Hiccup on the Isle of Berk. Hiccup's arch nemesis, Alvin the Treacherous, declares war on Berk, eventually conquering it and Stoick(Hiccup's father), convinces his son to flee, prompting Hiccup and Toothless to join Jack's team.

After saving Merida in the Third World, she joins our heroes. Hiccup learns that he is Grimbeard's heir, and might have to end up battling for the position for King of the Wilderwest, the ruler of the islands from his home world. Hiccup receives Grimbeard's old sword, the Endeavour.

In the kingdom of Corona, Jack and the others run into Rapunzel after hiding in her tower while fleeing from Pitch's Nightmares. As the team bond, Pitch appears and attacks them. The Defenders were easily wiped out and Pitch takes Toothless, leaving him in Gothel's care. Now, with Rapunzel in their team, Hiccup pursues sword-fighting and Rapunzel trains with the whip so they can get stronger, rescue Toothless and defeat Pitch. All in three months.

Chapter One: Separation

Breathing out slowly, Hiccup attempted to calm his nerves. His palms became sweaty. He rubbed his right hand against his waistcoat. The left gripped Endeavour firmly. His eyes traveled across from him to where his opponent stood. Hiccup strengthened his gaze.

Merida stood there, one hand on her hip. The other held a sword loosely. "Come on, Hiccup," she grumbled. "Are you going to attack or not."

"Merida, can't you see he's concentrating?" Jack asked from the sidelines. "You're kind of ruining the mood."

Using her arm, Rapunzel nudged Jack from the side. "Just be quiet. This is the first time Hiccup's dueled against Merida. I've heard she's pretty good. Didn't she defeat several Nightmares in a matter of minutes?"

"Oh yeah, that," muttered Jack. "I confused her for a Spartan for a moment."

"Hey!" Merida said, suddenly turning around. "My parents tell me stories about these so-called 'Spartan Warriors' to the East, and I'll let you know that I am not that brutal."

"I know you aren't," said Jack. "That was just to get you off guard since I want to see some action around here."

"What?" Merida blurted out. She suddenly found Endeavour coming straight for her. She swung her sword in reply. Two metal blades clashed. Merida looked at Hiccup for a moment, who was putting his weight onto his sword.

Rapunzel crossed her arms as she met Jack's gaze. "That's cheating, Jack."

"It's not my fault you and Hiccup are keeping me and Merida away from the courtyard for the past three months. We haven't seen some good action for a while, and we want to see your progress. As team leader, I need to know how my subordinates going."

Hiccup pulled his sword back. "Since when did you become our leader?" he hissed. Bringing his blade up, Hiccup managed to parry a thrust from Merida. She pushed down on Hiccup's sword, almost knocking it out of his hand. "Yeah. And you did not just call us your subordinates."

Leaping backwards, Hiccup freed his sword from Merida's. Stepping forward, he aimed for the small space between Merida's hand and the grip. Neatly, he plucked the sword right from her hand, sending it flying into the air. The sword impaled itself onto the floor behind them. Merida watched in awe as a smile came to her face. "You've gotten pretty good," she said. "Or was that beginner's luck."

"Then he must have been really lucky," said Rapunzel. "Because Hiccup managed to defeat Eugene. Twice."

"Is that why he's sulking in the corner?" Jack asked, pointing towards Eugene who was sitting by himself at the edge of the courtyard. Rapunzel sighed. "It's probably because he lost to his own pupil and a fifteen year old."

"Actually," Hiccup began, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I was born from February 29th. So technically, I'm not even four years old."

Eugene stood up, brushing some dirt off him. He cleared his throat. "Even if Hiccup can defeat one opponent at a time, it won't be helpful if dozens of Nightmares come at him at once. He's going to need a lot more practice. Rapunzel also has her training to focus on. It's already been three months, "

The Defenders nodded, understanding the situation. Jack looked at Hiccup for a moment. He thought back to when they were at the clearing, when Pitch taunted Hiccup for being weak. The winter spirit remembered the fury in Hiccup's eyes when Pitch captured Toothless. Hiccup felt Jack's gaze on him and turned to face him. "What?"

"Nothing," said Jack. "I guess I'm still a little surprised."

"Surprised?" Hiccup repeated. "About what?"

"That you're not going crazy in order to get Toothless back," Jack replied. "You seemed really angry when Pitch separated you two."

Hiccup redirected his gaze to the floor. "I was going to do that at first. I would go to the edge of the worlds to get Toothless. But after getting beat up by Pitch, I figured, that at the strength I had, it would be impossible and my efforts would end in vain. I'd get myself killed before I even reached Toothless, much less save him. So I took that resolve and determination and directed it towards training."

"Do you think you'll be able to get him back now?" asked Rapunzel. Hiccup nodded. "I've never felt better. Or stronger."

Jack smiled at the new Hiccup, one who did only have the heart of a lion, but the skill of a master sword-fighter as well. He turned to look at Merida, who had a rather sad expression on her face. Jack nudged her arm. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Merida replied. "It's just that after sparring with Hiccup, I realized that I haven't sparred with my father in a long time. We used to do it all the time when my mom would have me study about history or something boring. I was just kind of missing it."

"Then go visit your father," Rapunzel suggested. "Take a day away from Corona, head to DunBroch. It shouldn't be a problem. Pitch has been pretty quiet lately."

"I don't think it's a good sign," said Hiccup. "I'm worried that he's going to be planning something big. Merida should be able to go. Just don't go alone."

"I'll take her," said Jack. "I have the Compass too. We'll go and come back within a day or two. Then we'll come back, and we'll go out getting rid of Nightmares and looking for Pitch."

"Sounds good," Merida answered, grabbing her bow and quivers on the ground.

"Wait," said Eugene, stepping in. "What if the Nightmares attack while you guys are there?"

"Attack us?" asked Jack. "It should be alright. Merida and I have been training too. She's accurate, faster, capable of producing stronger shots. I've been working on using my ice and snow to craft items too. We're both stronger. We shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"And if the Nightmares attack us here," Rapunzel began, "we have soldiers, you, Max and me and Hiccup's new strength."

Hiccup thought for a moment before speaking up. Everyone turned to face him. Jack smirked at the expression on Hiccup's face. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," said Hiccup, "that Pitch tracks us from his Nightmares. I bet he uses them as spies, but even he has limits to his powers. I doubt he knows our true strength in the three month gap we've been rather inactive. So if you do get into a fight against the Nightmares, try not to show off all of your new tactics. If we do, we'll lose our surprise attacks. Pitch would be able to see through them and we'd be at a disadvantage."

"So fight, just not at our full strength until we have to?" Rapunzel clarified.

"Great, now that we have that summarized, can we get going now?" asked Merida, growing impatient. Reaching into his sweatshirt pocket, Jack brought out a golden compass. Slowly, it glowed-the light enveloping him and Merida. "Next stop, DunBroch."

In a gentle flash, the two of them disappeared. Hiccup turned to face Eugene. The former thief looked at Hiccup, curious. "What are you thinking now?"

"I want to work on a little technique," said Hiccup. "Where's Max?"

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Opening his eyes, Jack realized that he and Merida stood in the middle of a large lush green forest. He took a deep breath in. Merida looked at him confused. "It's just a forest, Jack."

"Yeah, well," the winter spirit began, stretching out his arms. "You can hardly find forests like these back in my world. It's mostly just concrete and cars over there." Jack paused, realizing that Merida won't understand anything about the technology from his world. "Which way's the palace?"

"I can't even tell where we are," Merida muttered. Using his staff, Jack summoned a wind that carried him high onto the top of the trees. He hovered above the green sea. In the distance, he managed to make out the shape of a castle. He landed back down beside Merida. "It's west," he said. "Follow me."

The Guardian started running through the woods. Merida ran after him, swinging her quiver over her back. Jack nimbly hopped from tree to tree, easily making his way through the dense forest. He turned to see Merida who was trailing behind. "Merida!" he called. "Hurry up."

"Hold on a second," Merida replied. Jack noticed that she was peering towards some bushes. Curious, he flew over. Merida turned to face him, a dark expression in her eyes. In her hands, Jack realized, she held-

"Black scales?" he breathed. Merida nodded solemnly. "There is only one creature I know with black scales."

Jack's eyes widened in realization: Toothless is somewhere in DunBroch.

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Just an average chapter to kick off this installment.

Thanks for checking this story out! If you liked it, look out for Chapter Two: Prey.