A/N: First off, this is not my story.
A friend of mine, Skye, asked if I could post this for her, and I agreed. I'll update it as soon as she sends me the piece. I don't know how often that will be, it might be every week, like I like doing, or it could take longer. Hope you all enjoy it, we both want to hear your thoughts.
"The King and Queen of Corona would like to thank you for attending the celebration for the lost princess' eighteenth birthday and invite you and your... people to the welcome feast to be held later today." The attendant said as he led the Hairy Hooligan vikings from Berk down the castle hallway. He seemed nervous to have the half a dozen giant figures following him. Hiccup smiled wryly to himself, he didn't blame the man; they were a lot larger than normal citizens here, and their body odor was enough to make anyone nervous.
The attendant showed them the village's rooms and with a quick suggestion they use the facilities to freshen up before joining the welcoming feast, he was gone. "They're not so bad when you get to know them." Hiccup said as the poor man passed. He sighed and went into the room set aside for the chieftain and his son. Whoa. He stopped to observe the lavishly huge room. All this richness made him feel very out of place, it was so different from his small little village on Berk. "Remind me again why we came here?" He asked Stoick, his father, who was investigating the large wardrobe to the side.
"We are here to pay our respects to the king and queen here who lost their daughter almost eighteen years ago." Stoick said, still exploring the room.
"Okay, but why are we here. I mean, it's nice and all for them to invite us here, but we're Hooligans, not really fit for 'civilized' society." Hiccup tested the bed. "If you haven't noticed, we kind of stand out."
"All the neighboring kingdoms were invited to come, and as chieftain of Berk and the best representative of the vikings in the Barbaric Archipelago, we have to make an appearance. Plus, the day after will be a summit to discuss trading and treaties." Well, that made more sense. This would be a time for the kings and other leaders to renew trade agreements and make sure they won't all go to war and all; wouldn't want other countries to march on Berk with all its freezing cold winters and hard living and all those other perks. That was one of the reasons Stoick had decided to leave all of the dragons behind; to hide the fact that there was actually something cool up there. It didn't mean that Hiccup was happy that his best friend had to be left behind, but he could understand the reasons.
"I know you miss your friends and Toothless, but its only for a few days. Lets make a good impression and after the summit, we can go home." Stoic opened a door in the back and went in. "It looks like we wash up here. I'm going to go ahead and wash up first. Why don't you get settled in." And with that, the door closed.
"Make a good impression? If we wanted to do that we wouldn't have brought along Spitelout or Mildew." Hiccup complained to the now empty room. He sighed to himself again and went to the window. If it wasn't enough that he had to come along, His father had also brought along Spitelout, his uncle; and his cousin, Snotlout; and the villiage grump, Mildew. All of whom weren't on the best of terms with Hiccup. He still couldn't figure out why Mildew decided to come along anyway; he had just showed up as they were departing and declared he was going too to reaquaint himself with an old friend, he said.
He shook his head, and looked out onto the castle town. He had to admit, it was a very pretty kingdom. He opened the window and was greeted by a gust of cold air. "And, how is the wonderful kingdom of Corona?" He asked the summer night.
A husky laugh answered him from behind. "Let's just say there is a group of very happy kids having a snowball fight in the market place. The adults are going to wonder about that for a while." Hiccup turned to see Jack Frost lounging on the four-poster bed. "You know, I don't think this place has seen many snow days. It is farther south than I normally come. I could have some fun here.
Hiccup smiled wryly. "Don't cause too much trouble." He warned, "We're still guests here."
"Don't be such a worrywart; it's just a little snow here and there. And a couple ice patches. And some wicked frost designs in a few windows. It'll all melt soon anyway."
"Just keep in mind that this place doesn't get a lot of cold. That's all I'm saying." Hiccup left the window to sit on the bed next to his friend, the spirit of winter. "Hey, thanks for agreeing to come along on this trip. It sucks enough that Toothless and the other dragons couldn't come, I'm glad I could still have someone to talk to."
"What about Snotlout or Gobber?" Jack asked. "They're talkative enough." Hiccup made a face. "Haha. Yeah, they're not they best conversationalists."
"Yeah. Of all of my friends to get to come, it had to be Snotlout. I wouldn't even consider him a real friend. He's just my cousin."
"Plus he would be more interested in flirting with all the Corona maids than hanging out with his 'dear cuz'." They burst out laughing at that.
"What are ye laughing about son?" Stoick said, coming out of the bathing room. He didn't see Jack; Stoick was never one to believe old legends and stories.
"Nothing, dad."
Later, the attendant came back to fetch the viking visitors to the feast. Everyone had washed up and smelled a whole lot better. Down in the dining hall, Hiccup noticed about five or six different groups of royalty from different kingdoms. Never more did he feel more out of place than he did standing next to towering, big-boned men in a room filled with dainty princesses and regal princes.
They were shown to their seats; He sat next to his father and Gobber, and across the table sat Spitelout, Snotlout, and Mildew. The cranky old Viking gave Hiccup a look something akin to a glare mixed with a scowl. He hated Hiccup for discovering how to train the dragons and changing the whole viking way of life, or something like that.
The King and Queen of Corona made a short speech welcoming their royal guest and then let the feast began. The Hooligans dished themselves up with many foods laid out; at lot of them Hiccup didn't recognize. He tried many of the different delicacies and found that he liked a few of them. Four courses later, he was full and there was still desert. Before it could be served however the King and Queen made an announcement.
"My dear royal neighbors," the king said. "As you know, tomorrow is my lost daughter's eighteenth birthday. There will be festivities through the day that I encourage you all to participate in. As soon as the sun is down, we will start the lantern ceremony. The day after, we will meet to discuss treaties and trades as needed. Please enjoy yourselves and good night." After that the king and queen retired. Desert came and one by one the other royal family's retired with their entourages.
Jack joined the Hooligans as they left the great hall and walked next to Hiccup. "You should see this place." He said excitedly, "It's huge! You could get lost wandering through the hallways."
Hiccup didn't answer. The other vikings were within earshot and none of them, except for maybe Gobber could see Jack. Hiccup didn't want to get weird looks. Snotlout was walking right in front of him and complained about a sudden drop in temperature. Jack's cold influence did contrast a lot with the warm summer air. "I don't feel anything." Hiccup said. "It must be your imagination; it's way too warm here to feel cold. Maybe you just felt a draft." Jack laughed and blew a little more cold air down the hall to mess with the other young viking. Snotlout shivered and hurried on, mumbling about the cold and how it couldn't be just a draft. As Hiccup let out a little laugh at the joke, he heard a gasp behind him.
"I cannae believe it. I thought you were gone for the winter. What are yea doin' here?" It was a female voice with an accent that sounded a little thicker and slightly different from Stoick's. He turned to ask her what she meant and came face to face with a girl his age with a wild mane of red, curly hair. Her aqua blue eyes however, weren't looking at him; they were trained on the invisible-to-almost-everyone spirit of winter standing right next to him.