Title: The Myth of Jokul Frosti

Rating: T

Summary: Some say he's a demon who freezes the hearts of men. Some say he's a Jotun who steals children away in the middle of the night. But I think you'll find that anyone can be a demon or a monster when the ones they love most are in danger.

Disclaimer: How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians belong to Dreamworks.

01 Chapter One

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

-Robert Frost

The sharp peal of laughter is enough to make his heart soar. He's fond of them, these six children playing in the snow. It naturally snows here in Berk, a lot, so he almost feels welcome when he comes. Snow and ice doesn't stop them, not even his harshest frosts.

A snowball flies through the air and hits the warrior in the back of her head and they'll never be able to prove he did it.

One of the twins makes the mistake of catching her eye when she whirls to find the culprit. She's the most fun to start snow fights with, she's the fastest and has the best aim. She also has the shortest temper. The long haired boy has mere seconds to collect himself before a mass of snow hits him hard enough to knock his helmet to the ground. But he's a wimp and drops out of the fight rather quickly; the real fun was if he could goad her into battle with the stupid one, he was big and burly and has more than a little crush on her.

He doesn't expect the next strike to come from the small one, the pacifistic blacksmith.

She doesn't seem to expect it either and the action makes her pause, snow wetting her knit shirt. But it doesn't stop her for long and, with a yell that's halfway between a laugh and a war cry, all hell breaks loose. He participates, of course he participates it wouldn't be fun otherwise, and maybe it's not fair since they can't hit him back or even see where the attacks are coming from. But they're Viking children having a snow fight and if they noticed or were frustrated by a seventh there was nothing said.

"Whoops, careful there." His staff whirls around and the hook catches the little one around the waist as he almost stumbles over. He's still clumsy and unsteady on his new leg and his dragon wasn't here to stable him. It proves to be a pointless gesture as in the next moment he's tackled to the ground by the warrior. "Sorry kid, can't help you with that one."

"It's getting kind of late, you think we should be heading back?" The warrior glares up at the other girl of their group, the hardier twin of the two. She had quite the thing for the blacksmith and the warrior was... possessive wasn't the right word. Over protective maybe. They've become close friends after their short lived romance and the warrior tended to fall into the role of protective older sister.

"Yeah, we should probably go," she hauls herself to her feet and pulls the small one along with her, he leans on her heavily as they lead the way back to the village. His leg must be hurting him more than normal today and there's a pang of guilt over having started the fight, the extra exertion would have irritated it farther.

He follows them home, just to make sure the warrior gets him there safely. Both twins comment on how clear the weather was on the walk back. He stays long enough to watch him snuggle down in front of the fire before flying off into the sunset.

"Oh, Jack! Come in." North is as boisterous as ever, he never seemed bothered by their turn of fate. But then again it had been several thousand years since anyone had been able to see them. He supposed that they all had just gotten used to it like he had when MiM had done something to make sure they didn't disappear.

Well, he knew Bunny hadn't, but Jack guessed that he just liked complaining. He'd had this scheme, about, what was it now two hundred years ago?, to try and restore kid's faith in the Easter Bunny. It hasn't quite gone according to plan.

You see, like Berk, most nations in the world were now small villages. Jack didn't particularly like to dwell on what had caused it; the event that Tooth had called the Final War. Whole populations were decimated and those who were left abandoned the big cities, which was perfectly fine in Jack's opinions as he'd never liked the way skyscrapers had effected the wind currents. Rebuilding had begun, new lives and fresh starts. The dominate system right now is independent towns and a feudal law, especially places that managed to keep some thread of their old traditions. And again, just like Berk. Maybe it was more than just the snow that drew him there. The Vikings of Berk had become almost exactly like the Vikings of old, recovering traditions from the ruins of their land. It was beautiful and somewhat reassuring that there was still a place for the ancient ways.

And the thought of his blonde warrior hanging up her axe for a day to chase around brightly coloured eggs always made him snort with laughter.

No, no he shouldn't be calling her his. He's getting far too close to these kids. Too close to Berk. He had been visiting, more and more, all throughout the three hundred years since it had been founded. And despite a hardened heart he'd found himself growing ever more fond of the warrior and her group. Maybe it was her strength, or her determination, or their bravery in the battle against the Great Dragon.

So maybe she wasn't the only one who was over protective.

"What brings you here?"

"Come on, North, why do I need a reason to visit with an old friend?" He flies before the larger man as they move through the workshop.

"You always want something when you come here Jack."

"You wound me. Maybe I just wanted a cookie and to talk a bit," Jack snipes as he spies a passing elf with a tray of fresh baking, freezes him, and steals one off the top. He doesn't need to eat, of course, but he still can and sometimes he misses it enough to seek out some food.

"Jack," North scolds, with a displeased almost glare.

"What? Isn't that what you wanted? For us to be normal? Act like nothing's wrong? That's why you still have your workshop and every year you still drop presents off for the kids." It starts to snow and he can't stop it. North gives him a look that's so full of the weariness that mirrors his own and it is almost enough to bring him to tears. "Well it's not working North. And I don't think it ever will. MiM should just pick new guardians because we can't help them anymore."

"Says the boy who was playing snow fights only a few hours ago."

"How did you know that?"

"You think I don't keep an eye on you? You go decades without visiting, I worry."

"So what, you have me followed?" The snow fall had turned into a biting wind and North glares at him until he gets himself under control.

"I have my ways. You've been going to that island a lot."

"Berk? Yeah, it's a few degrees south of freezing to death, it's great. I fit right in. It's like they don't even notice me."

"Jack, I understand, I really do. But there have been concerns brought forth that you're becoming too attached to it."

"Concerns brought forth? What do you do, hold bi-monthly meetings to discuss what I do with my time? Why don't you trust me enough to just leave me be?"

"We just don't want what happened with Jamie to happen again. I'm sure you can understand that." And North says it so casually too.

"It's- This isn't- This isn't like Jamie! I just-" Every way of explaining it sounds so wrong in his head and there's a metallic taste in the back of his mouth. "I thought that you'd be proud of me, I'm just getting back in touch with my centre. I'm snowballs and fun times, remember? And I've found people who want to play, you're not going to take them away from me."

He knows North tries to stop him as he flies away, can hear him calling out. He just doesn't care anymore. He's too tired to play nice and too old to be treated like a child.