This is in Jack's POV. It's the first of a Big 4 series where they each have a turn to narrate, which I'm looking forward to writing…especially Hicca 3 ;) They'll probably all be one-shots. They're currently in Rapunzel's kingdom, and I have an entire back story planned to explain how they got there, so hopefully this isn't too confusing. _ Basically, they've all only known each other for a few weeks and are still trying to get used to each other.
:D
Jack Frost knew that stupid dragon was prepared to bite his head off at any moment.
He sat on a giant rock a few feet from Hiccup, well out of touching distance, but still the lizard looked ready to pounce. Hiccup was blissfully unaware, carefully untying the binds to his prosthetic leg. He probably thought Toothless' incessant growling was simply content purring. Nooo, the sweet little dragon beast would never hurt anyone! He didn't know why Toothless hated him, but it kind of made him feel sad. He would be able to cross "befriend deadly mythical animal" off his to-do list if Toothless would just be a little more rational.
Jack finally managed to tear his eyes away from the dragon's strikingly murderous yellow ones. Next to him in the tiny meadow sat a girl with enormous, extreme ginger hair, curling out every which way and all around her face, so it was hard to tell if she even had one at all. This was his new bestest friend, Merida Dun-something or other. She looked like a swamp monster that had gotten splattered with ten pounds of hair-growth formula. She was sitting Indian style, carving a new image into her beloved bow.
A foot from her sat an older girl, 19 or 20 (Jack could never seem to pay attention when she spoke), and she was the most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes on (this is why he couldn't pay attention whenever she spoke): Rapunzel. Her hair was cut short, dark brown and swept away from her green eyes, making her look much the opposite of ginger head over there. She sat on her knees, blowing on a dandelion and watching the little puffs dance in the breeze.
Then of course there was Hiccup, lying down on the grass and giving his leg a break. Jack smiled as he studied the kid's relieved and exhausted expression. Hiccup had finally started to get used to Jack's somewhat mischievous, but nonetheless delightful, sense of humor. It had taken lots of coaxing and bribing and crying (fake crying, of course) to win him over, but it had paid off. He really was a very interesting friend to have.
And he would be even more fun to hang out with if that dragon didn't always want to murder him.
Dropping that thought, Jack gazed around the meadow with fondness. "We should camp out here tonight," the white-haired wonder said. "We could tell scary stories and brush each other's hair and talk about boys…"
Rapunzel clapped in delight, obviously not quite understanding what Jack was saying, while Merida gave him her best should I laugh or are you serious expression. "What boys do yeh wanna talk about?" she asked.
"I was hoping you might know a few," Jack said, producing an Almond Joy from his hoodie and plopping it into his mouth. Really, the things he found in there after spending a day with the Easter Bunny…
"I know a few!" Rapunzel said, pointing at herself.
"Yeah, but you're married," Merida reminded her.
"Yes," the brunette said slowly, as if Merida had just found out. She really didn't know what talking about boys meant.
Hiccup started lazily swinging his arms back and forth above him. "Why don't we talk about that cool flip Toothless and I did in midair today? We've been practicing forever." Toothless huffed, grinning in pride. Jack almost rolled his eyes; the lizard looked so arrogant with his eyes closed and nose in the air. He was still half-sure that Toothless could talk, and was really just looking down on everyone else, silently judging them.
"I thought you would fall and crack your head open," he said to Hiccup, telling the complete truth. The Viking gave him a knowing grin, as if to say, you were so worried about me.
"Sun will be down soon," Merida said, brushing her hair out of her face. Jack caught a glimpse of her light turquoise irises before the frizz covered her eyes again. "Are you serious about camping out or not?"
Jack shrugged. "We've all done it, right? With Toothless as our bodyguard, it should be safe. Maybe werewolves don't come out this far."
Toothless growled at Jack when he heard his name, and Jack recoiled slightly. He didn't realize the dragon was offended by compliments.
"When can we tell some scary stories?" Rapunzel asked, brushing her own locks away, which was really unnecessary seeing as she didn't have as much hair. She had a slightly mischievous grin on her face, which made Jack's heart skip a tiny little. He hoped someone else could answer her question, because he sure as hell couldn't untie his tongue at the moment.
"Yeah, I've got a few good ones," Hiccup said, sitting up so that he was supporting himself with his hands. "Lots of scary stuff happens in my village."
"Like all your adventures designing new adjustments for the lizard's tail? Oh, please don't share them—they're terrifying!" Jack covered his eyes in dismay, falling over on his rock.
"Hey! Those are WAY better than your stories about sending little kids to their deaths via 'sledding'," Hiccup shot back, eyeing the other boy challengingly. Jack wailed, pretending not to hear this.
"You're adorable, Hiccup," Rapunzel said warmly, trying not to laugh. Hiccup looked unsure about which part of that was endearing, but his cheeks went pink in embarrassment anyway.
Jack eyed her suspiciously, trying to hide the desperation in his voice when he asked, "Aren't I adorable, too?" Rapunzel blinked and looked at Merida, who nodded in approval. Rapunzel turned to Jack and gave him a thumbs-up/winning smile combo. Great, he thought. The redhead thinks I'm cute. Not exactly what I was going for there.
Merida put her bow down and grabbed her feet, smiling giddily. "Let's kill time before the stories. Those are only good when it's dark out. How about a game?"
Jack, Hiccup, and Rapunzel simultaneously whipped around to look at her with wide eyes.
"A game?" Rapunzel gasped.
"I think she said a game," Hiccup ventured.
"Rar?" Toothless asked.
"Yep, she definitely said game," Jack confirmed.
Merida furiously swiped at her bangs before focusing on her posse again. "I play this with my brothers all the time. They normally act it out, but since you guys have too much dignity," she cleared her throat sarcastically, "you don't have to do that. We call it, 'If you could have any power, what would it be?'"
"Great name," Jack said, lying back onto his boulder. "I dunno if I told you this already, but just in case: I already have powers." He checked her expression to see if it looked shocked or anything. He instead got a half-lidded stare of complete indignation.
"Hadn't noticed. Anyway, it's a fun way to pass the time. It can really say a lot about one's personality." She glanced at Rapunzel, as if just realizing this majorly applied to her as well. "Like you and your healing powers. It shows you're a selfless person."
Rapunzel smiled, but it was hesitant. "Well, I used to have those powers. But you think so?"
"'Course," Merida said. "And Jack with his little snowflakes shows that he's just like winter: persistent, overwhelming, and never seems to go away."
Hiccup muttered something that sounded like he was in agreement, but it was hard to be sure. At any rate, Jack couldn't help but agree as well.
"But if you could pick something," Merida went on, "in total consciousness. What would you choose?"
The other three fell silent. A gentle breeze wafted through the meadow, blowing away the rest of Rapunzel's dandelion.
"What do you normally choose?" Hiccup asked Merida. The girl smiled.
"Flight, o'course. Easiest way to get away from everything, you know?"
Hiccup nodded, looking at his hands shyly as his smile grew wider. "I know."
Jack nodded in approval. He tried to imagine Merida cruising along in the sky like an airplane, shooting random passers-by with her arrows and zooming away in a trail of puffy clouds shaped like her hair. It actually wasn't all that hard to picture.
He stretched. "Yeeep, flight is pretty cool. But it can get old real fast."
Merida huffed. "How can you even say that? Don't y'know how many people would kill for abilities like that?"
Jack held his hands up in peace. "Heh, I'm aware. Joking. It's amazing. I wish you could try it."
Toothless straightened up boldly, as if confirming this statement without giving much credit to Jack. Hiccup reached out and laid his hand upon Toothless' big ol' dragon arm, smiling. How could he be so oblivious?
"I think that's what I would choose too," the brown-haired boy said, gazing at his dragon in wonder. "That is, only if Toothless could fly with me."
Jack sat up suddenly, pointing at Hiccup accusingly. "NO. You have to choose something different; Merida already chose flight!"
Hiccup raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Merida cut in, "That's not a rule, Jacky."
Jack stared at her for a good thirty seconds. Jacky. Okay. "I'm just trying to make this game a little more interesting. It's no fun if you all choose the same powers!" His audience stared at him. "C'mon, guys, we have to dig deeper and really think about what we want! This is a life or death situation!"
The others all laughed. Merida shook her head with an amused smirk, waving for the winter spirit to continue. He rubbed his chin in thought, exaggerating his thinking face. Rapunzel burst into a giggle fit as Jack put on a show of changing his expressions.
He glanced over at the murderous reptile (who was so innocently cuddling with his little human) and suddenly his eyes brightened up. "Okay, I got it." He held his hands up in anticipation. "I think it would be pretty friggin cool to turn into a dragon."
Hiccup and Toothless suddenly raised their heads to look at him. Jack almost laughed at their contrasting expressions; while Hiccup looked delighted, Toothless looked like he wanted to throw up. And not in the bonding way Jack had so often seen him do.
"Hey, that's not actually a bad one, Jack," Rapunzel mused. "You'd never have to worry about being attacked if you were a dragon."
"And you wouldn't look any different, either," Merida added, giving him a toothy grin. He forced himself to smile back, imagining the flying Merida-plane being attacked by passing rabid geese.
Hiccup's smile fell suddenly. "Now I want that power. Stop choosing things I want! Leave some cool stuff for me!"
Jack smirked and plopped on the ground next to the little Viking. Toothless bared his fangs, a snarl rumbling deep in his throat, but the Guardian ignored that for once. "Look at it this way, Hiccup. If I was a dragon, we could be even better friends." He wrapped an arm around the boy, causing Hiccup to lean back warily. "And if you train me right, you might even get to ride me."
"REALLY?" Hiccup shrieked in horror, hiding his burning face in his hands. Merida burst out in a shocked fit of laughter, pounding the ground; Rapunzel clamped her mouth shut, her expression unreadable. Hiccup pulled at his hair in total embarrassment. "You REALLY had to…?!"
Jack patted the kid's back as affectionately as he could, trying to keep a straight face. He leaped up on his rock before Toothless could smash his face in. "Your turn, Rapunzel."
Probably unconsciously, Rapunzel's hand went to her head. She tried to hide what she had done by brushing her hair behind her ear. "Oh, you know…maybe being able to breathe underwater? Or knowing just when someone's lying or not. Or…yeah, flying. Flying does sound nice." Jack pointed at her accusingly, silently reminding her of his recently-added rule.
Merida got over her laughing fit, sort of, and glanced at Rapunzel in consideration. "Those maybe woulda helped you before, huh?"
The other girl smiled absently at Merida for a second before she realized she was just pulling out unconscious events from years ago. "Er…yeah." Her face went pink again. She had once told them the story of how she and Eugene had gotten together, spilling out just about everything she could remember in total confidence that her new friends would understand. She was right to trust them with her personal life, as it turned out. They never pushed too hard about her "mother" or how she felt about having her hair sliced off, just as she never talked too much about bears, invisibility, or traumatic limb-threatening events. Just out of sensitivity.
She turned her attention back to Hiccup, feeling self-conscious. "So what did you decide on, Hiccup?"
"Super strength," he said sternly. He flexed his fingers into a fist, eyeing Jack like he was considering just how he'd use those powers. "A scrawny kid with the strength of his father. That would really throw enemies off, huh?"
"But of course," Jack said nobly. He turned to Toothless, as if on a whim. "And what would you, my fine sir, choose for your super power?"
Toothless unfurled his wings in warning. Jack warily turned around and gripped his staff like a security blanket.
"So, NOW can we tell scary stories?" he whined, curling up on the rock in the fetal position.
Merida checked the sky as if waiting for confirmation. (Jack knew that feeling all too well.) She gave the all-clear and scooted closer, gesturing for the others to form a circle. "Toothless, if yeh'd please?" She gestured to the ground, and Toothless somehow knew that was his signal to make a fire. The flames lit up the faces of the five, glowing ominously in a mix of orange, purple, and blue. "When the sun goes down and the darkness comes," Merida began in her spookiest story-telling, Scottish-accented voice, "that's when the nightmares come to life."
"Quite literally," Jack said.
Merida shot an annoyed grimace at him. She continued her introduction to the "great beyond" in the spooky voice that made Rapunzel quake ever so slightly. Jack felt an overwhelming desire to wrap an arm around her or comfort the girl in any way possible. But he couldn't. Not with Rapunzel. She was married, and he was a good person. Although he wanted more than anything to sit next to her and hold her, he couldn't.
So he wrapped his arm around Hiccup instead.
"It's okay to be scared, Hicca," he said in a motherly tone. "The monsters don't eat toothpicks." The brunette under his arm shoved at him so hard, Jack fell over onto his side. He decided to stay like that. The ground was comfortable anyway.
As he listened to Merida's story about a possessed bear or whatever this More-Due was supposed to be (had she told them about that already…?), he stole glances at his other two friends, noting how Rapunzel's eyes never left Merida's face, not even to look at him; and how Hiccup was hugging his knees, avoiding Jack's gaze. The glow of the fire almost made it look like he was blushing.
Well, maybe he shouldn't complain. For once, the heat from Toothless' fire felt nice. There was a cool breeze sifting through the meadow; Merida's story was, admittedly, ridiculously good; and Manny was out, full and listening. He could now also imagine what it would be like to live as a dragon for the rest of his days.
...
Jack's eyes opened to the sound of singing. It was pitch black out (he hated using that expression, but it really was accurate), so he could only see by the light of the moon, which was really what he was accustomed to.
Merida was curled up in the grass, her head resting under her hand as she snored. To Jack's left, Hiccup was safely wrapped in the arms of his dragon, who had his wings curled around the both of them protectively. They snoozed comfortably as if they had done this a thousand times.
Jack ignored the strange pang of jealousy that ran through his chest before he sleepily realized that Rapunzel was gone.
Immediately his mind shifted to Merida's story—which ended up being the creepiest story after all—and he got an insane notion that maybe Rapunzel was eaten up by the killer demon bear. Then he realized he could still hear singing, and sighed in relief knowing it was her. He grabbed his staff and carefully stepped around the mountain of red hair, heart racing when he realized he'd be alone with the "most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes upon".
He found her a minute later, sitting on a branch not far from their makeshift campsite. He couldn't see much in the dark, but the princess' eyes were shut. She sang the end of her song, and after a moment, started over. Jack stared, comprehension dawning on him when he realized what this song was.
He remembered the time they had all sat and listened to Rapunzel's story, not long after their chance meeting with her and Eugene. Jack, Hiccup, Toothless, and Merida had been invited to Rapunzel's home, and after hearing their stories, she felt obligated to share hers. At least, some of it, at first.
"My hair would glow to a certain song," Rapunzel said, running a hand through her brown locks. "I know it's crazy, but it used to be golden and…well, very long."
"Try 70 feet," her husband put in, leaning against the chair Rapunzel was sitting in. The three teens' jaws dropped, and the princess winced.
"I know it sounds insane. It's crazy. But that's the way it was. I would sing an incantation, and my hair…it would heal all wounds, make someone younger…" She shrugged. "Basically bring eternal life."
Just a typical day for your fellow teenaged freak, Jack thought grimly. Rapunzel went on, "Unless it was cut, which as you see, it turned brown and lost all its power. So now…well, now I can stop worrying about people using it for their own gain." She sounded oddly determined. Eugene touched her shoulder and a wordless understanding seemed to pass between them.
Nobody else understood at the time, but no one said anything.
Now, a few weeks later, he finally got to hear the song. It was creepy. Anything about reversing time and all that—it just wasn't right. In fact, listening to it on repeat as Rapunzel mechanically sang it over and over, Jack—Jack Frost—got a chill down his spine.
He decided maybe this wasn't very good for Rapunzel, either.
"Hey, Princess," he whisper-called. He was afraid the girl would fall out of the tree in surprise, but she just opened her eyes like she knew he was there the whole time. Okay…still pretty creepy.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?" she asked, running her hands along her dress nervously.
"A little, kinda, sorta, yeah. But don't feel bad. It was the loveliest sound I ever could've woken up to."
Rapunzel smiled and let out a chuckle. That was along the lines of the reaction Jack was going for, but he realized he really shouldn't be sweet-talking a married woman.
"I was just thinking about all the stuff we talked about today," Rapunzel mused, letting out a huff as she looked at the moon. "I guess I just got to reminiscing about my childhood."
"I can understand that," Jack said carefully. "We're both so much better off now, but there were still some good times even when our lives sucked."
Rapunzel faced him, considered, and then patted the branch, signaling for him to join her. He did, of course, but kept his distance once he was seated.
"So you sing that song once in a while?" he asked, not making eye contact. He fidgeted with his staff, not registering it as a nervous habit. "Why?"
Rapunzel looked back at her hands shamefully. "It…it's not that I think my powers will come back if I keep singing it. I just…guess it's mainly for comfort." She twirled a loose strand that had fallen in front of her face. "Some things are hard to let go, you know?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah."
They sat in silence for a while. It was definitely more comfortable than hearing that freaky song on a loop, but still Jack felt guilty. He didn't know what exactly he liked so much about Rapunzel, but it was wrong in every way.
"So," Jack said, clearing his throat to break the silence. His companion looked at him expectantly. "You know any other songs?"
The brunette let out a light, breathy laugh. It sounded like she was trying to get into a better mood, which Jack was fine with. "I sort of just make up songs as I go."
Jack smiled, well aware of how often this girl broke into random song mode. "That's cool, that's cool. But check this out." He was afraid to do this because his three companions were in different worlds than he was, and showing them modern technology—modern in his world, anyway—would probably just freak them out. But they had shown him murderous dragons, magic hair-incantations and scary bear stories, so he needed something as retaliation.
The winter spirit brought out a bright-blue iPod Shuffle, hidden carefully in his pocket just in case he got bored of real company. It was a brand new one, given to him by a certain little kid for Christmas the past year. He had to admit, it was a neat little invention. He never saw himself needing anything like it, but if Jamie liked it, then it must've been cool.
Rapunzel's eyes widened. "What's that box?"
"It plays music," Jack said, smiling. He held it out to her. "I guess you could say it's a selective music box."
The brunette took the iPod daintily in her hands and stared at it in wonder. "It's a beautiful color," she said, turning it all around in her fingers, probably looking for the on-switch. "What are these?"
She held up the headphones, and Jack explained as best he could without giving Rapunzel some sort of culture shock. Without another word the princess followed his instructions and placed the ear buds in their designated spots. Jack turned the iPod on and Rapunzel nearly squealed in delight. "There's music in my ears!" she cried.
"Yeah, it'll do that." Jack Frost couldn't help the wide smile spreading on his face, that one grin most likely giving away all of his feelings he had for her. Rapunzel didn't seem to notice; then again, she had known Jack was standing underneath her tree branch when her eyes were closed. He didn't know why that thought made him so nervous.
He took a bud and put it in his own ear, surprised to hear that Rapunzel was listening to a rap song. Jack was more a country fan himself, or at least of music genres that didn't revolve around bitches and hoes, but some of it was okay. (Hanging out with preteen kids can really expose one to the frightening world of pop culture.) To his even bigger surprise, Rapunzel started dancing to it. And singing along with it. Well, rapping.
And the weird part was, she was good at it. She got the hang of the beat right away, almost singing backup to the chorus as it went along, and frankly Jack was so weirded out he yanked out his ear bud.
"W-we should go back before Mor—the bear, whatshisface, eats those guys," Jack said, pointing in the direction of the campsite. Still practically beat-boxing, Rapunzel nodded in agreement before leaping off the branch, landing smoothly on her toes. Jack was planning on bringing her down from the tree himself, but that was cool too.
As she danced back to the campsite with Jack hovering a few feet behind her, he couldn't help but wonder if they had gotten closer, and whether or not that was a good thing.
...
"C'mon, sleepyhead. We're leaving now."
Jack woke to Merida pulling at his hair, almost dragging him off his rock bed. "Ahhhh, what the what? Five more minutes. Leggo my hair."
"No! I'm hungry, and I'm going to make us some breakfast. Now hurry up!" Merida scooped up her bow and arrow and ran a hand through the massive red quilt she called her hair, probably her version of brushing it. Hiccup was stretching; his prosthetic was already back in place. Toothless flexed his wings, all ready to show off in another morning flight session.
Hiccup greeted Jack hesitantly, with a shy smile and an awkward wave, before climbing on his dragon and high-tailing it out of there. Jack watched the egotistical bat-cat-lizard swoop into the air and disappear past the trees. They sure seemed to be in a hurry. Maybe they wanted to eat by themselves. Jack had wanted to say something, perhaps join the Viking for breakfast…maybe see why Hiccup was blushing so hard at that moment…
Merida turned back to Jack, and he was just noticing the bags under her eyes. She grimaced at him, ready to chew out if necessary. He raised his eyebrows in confusion. He was pretty sure he hadn't done anything too annoying in the five seconds he'd been up. "One more thing," she said harshly. The Scottish girl pointed sharply upward, prompting Jack to follow her finger and see Rapunzel, sitting and beat-boxing on yet another branch, oblivious to the world around her. Jack grinned at the sight, finding it extremely funny that he hadn't realized what that sound was before he saw her making it; when he woke up, he had thought it was a woodpecker or something.
"Did you do that?" Merida asked.
"Yeah. Not gonna lie."
The redhead bit her lip. "What is it?"
"It's rap."
"Wrap?"
Jack nodded, unaware of Merida's utter confusion. Rapunzel looked so happy. He felt good just knowing that he had cheered her up. He knew he had a knack for that. It was in his nature, his super power. Maybe he needed a cape and a theme song—
Jack Frost paused, on the verge of a great epitome. "Oh, ha, ha! Rap, Rapunzel, I just got that."