I really liked the beginning of this chapter, but towards the end I really didn't know what to do. There was much I wanted to put but halfway through this chapter I realized, I can't fit all I want in just one chapter, so I decided to divide it into two parts.

Merida and Rapunzel's chapters will maybe be the same way because, let's face it, being told you're a Guardian of Childhood by a pale-boy is not an easy thing to swallow.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, Tangled, Brave or How to Train Your Dragon.

CHAPTER 2: Recruitment Part I

The Isle of Berk is a generally small island, west of Scotland and home to many vikings.

The winters are long and harsh and food is scarce. It is for that reason alone, that the people of Berk have resorted to theft and pillage in order to survive. Nothing drastic though; the worst case scenario are injured civilians. After all, Stoick the Vast would not want to give the other villages of Scotland any reason for a war; he isn't called "vast" for nothing. Courageous and tactical, Stoick was named chieftain of Berk following the passing of his father. It was a family legacy he was determined to keep strong. But to keep it strong, however, he needed to keep the blood strong and in order to do that was with his offspring; in other words, his son.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III; his pride and joy.

Well, not so much. While most young boys his age were out with their father's hunting and learning how to fight, his son was either out sketching or building useless inventions that didn't work ninety-percent of the time. That was his son and the future chief of Berk.

Stoick has had his moments of disappointment with Hiccup, but none quite like this. His glare didn't falter for the last five minutes as Hiccup shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Da-da-da, I'm dead, Hiccup continued to chant in his head. He wasn't going to speak that's for sure. If his dad was angry, it was best just to wait for him to speak and then see where it leads from there.

"Hiccup," Stoick sighed, "I just don't understand."

No surprise there.

"Why don't you just give up these silly inventions already? They cause nothin' but trouble for the village and things are bad enough here as it is." Despite the argument that began to work it's way out Hiccup's mouth, he held back. This time, there really was no explaining why he attempted that stunt. He himself was still trying to process it. His father took his silence as a challenge. "Are you listening to me boy?"

"Yes!" Hiccup replied with a little too much force. He cleared his throat before trying again. "Dad, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help."

"With what?"

"Well, I heard you and the others talking about the decline in sheep so I thought-"

"That you'd mess with their water supply?"

Hiccup raised his hands up in defense. "No! The waterway was being blocked so I thought I'd make a water channel to lead it directly to where the sheep are kept."

"Oh, is that all?" Hiccup sighed, knowing his dad's sarcasm-style by heart. It's where he got his, after all. "Well, then tell me genius, how did that go?"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, okay? I just wanted to help."

"But it's not your place, not yet anyway. It will be once you become chief. But first you must change-" Stoick swept his hand up and down, motioning over Hiccup's entire body, "-this."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "You just gestured to all of me."

He nodded. "Exactly, change that and I'll start thinking of you as chief-material. Until then, stop with the crazy inventions and do something practical."

Stoick left without another word, leaving Hiccup alone with nothing but his thoughts.

He bowed his head, resting his forehead against the palm of his hand. Boy, did he screw up this time. Berk was undergoing enough shortage of food, if they had lost the sheep...

But that was the exact reason he had done what he did; to help the village. Hiccup sighed and crossed the room where he disconnect from his body and collapsed onto the bed. Who was he fooling? Certainly not himself. The reason he pulled this stunt was to get recognition. To be considered a hero and for once to be looked at as someone worthy enough to be the son of Stoick the Vast.

Of course, fate had other plans for Hiccup and decided to have the water channels fall to pieces.

"Is it too much to ask for a little acknowledgment in this place?" he mumbled into his pillow.

Hiccup jumped in surprise. A strong breeze had suddenly overpowered his window, causing it to open and violently slam against the wall. For a second, he wondered if the universe had actually heard his question before he shook his head and went to close it. Berk was the type of area where cold wind was a daily thing, but today had been one of its slightly warmer and none windy days. So where had that sudden breeze come from?

Hiccup flinched when he pressed his hand against the glass. It was cold as ice and, if he squinted hard enough, he could just make-out the pattern of a snowflake forming.

"It's official, I'm going crazy."

"You sure do talk to yourself a lot," a voice replied.

Hiccup squealed, causing the voice to laugh, and jerked back, pressing himself hard against the wall. His eyes searched frantically throughout the small room and finally caught sight of someone sitting at the edge of his bed. Despite his caution, Hiccup was curious. The stranger looked so...abnormal.

It was a normal boy, close to his age it looked. But his clothes and his features had Hiccup guessing that he wasn't from around here. What was even stranger was the fact that the boy was leaning against what looked to be a wooden staff.

"Uh, I'm gonna go out a limb here and say you're lost," Hiccup spoke slowly, creeping his way towards the front door. He figured his dad hadn't gone too far and if he could at least open the door to scream, someone would come. The only thing he needed to do was keep this boy talking. "But don't worry, I'll just get someone to...uh, help you find your way out of Berk."

"Why?" the stranger asked. "I kind of like it here. It's nice and cold and the ocean is right next door."

Was it his imagination, or did the stranger seem to be fighting back a knowing smirk?

"That was a pretty intense conversation," he continued. Hiccup cringed and unintentionally rubbed the nape of his neck. "What'd you do with the sheep's water anyway?"

"Well, it was accident really. I-wait, why am I telling you this?" Hiccup shook his head to clear it and reached backward for the door-handle. He gripped it and slowly began opening the door. "Now it was a pleasure having a stranger break into my house but if you don't mind leaving, I'll just-"

The door was halfway opened when a strong gust of wind suddenly emanated, forcing it to slam shut. Hiccup gasped, flabbergasted at the fact that the wind seemed to have blown in from...his bed? No, he realized with much confusion, it had come from the boy that rested on it.

"Did I finally get your attention?" the boy asked, the smirk breaking through to his lips. Hiccup was frozen with wide-eyes. "You seem distraught."

Hiccup physically seemed to wake-up but mentally, his brain wasn't functional enough to form words. "I-I-what? How-you just-what-?"

"You sure do babble when you're nervous? Hey, I'm learning so much about you already, only fair you know something about me. My names Jack Frost."

For a moment they just stared, each anticipating what the other would do. Jack seemed to wait for Hiccup to get his thoughts straight. Hiccup on the other hand had other ideas. His hand reached over to the desk beside him and he seized the tiny dagger that rested on it.

"D-Don't try anything, Ymir!" he cried out shakily, pointing the weapon at the pale boy across from him.

Jack raised an eyebrow, standing up. "What'd you call me? Is that an insult around here?"

"I am a Viking!" Hiccup continued, though his fear kept on overpowering his confidence; if he even had any in the first place. "My father is the chieftain of Berk, so...so you're outmatched!" Jack gave him a blank stare before tapping his staff against the ground lightly. The dagger in Hiccup's hand was blown away by a sudden wind and clattered onto the floor. Jack smirked at the look Hiccup was giving him. "Da-da-da, I'm dead..."

"Would you just calm down for a second?" Jack said. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to talk."

"You just threw wind at me," Hiccup argued, throwing his arms in the air. "Forgive me if I had taken that as a threat."

"Oh, so you do have a sense of humor." Hiccup rolled his eyes, his caution slowly dying down. I mean, if Jack wasn't taking his fear seriously and is even making jokes about it, how scary can the guy be? And, he also knew that if he tried to make a grab for the dagger, Jack would just blow it out of his hand again, so talking really was the best, and only, option.

"If you want to talk, then start, because I'm really confused right now."

Jack nodded. "You want the simple, straight-forward version, or the long, detailed-gonna-give-me-a-headache-explaining version?

"Uh, you pick I guess."

"Alright," he shrugged before simply saying, "I'm a Guardian of Childhood who was sent to retrieve my team of other Guardians, and the first one I'm here to get is you."

Hiccup didn't answer for a while. "Uh, I think I want the long-explanation instead."

Jack sighed, leaving against his staff for support. "I guess I'll start with something simple. I am the spirit of winter, or at least I was. Until good old Santa said-"

"Hang on, Santa? As in the fairy tale guy who sneaks into kids houses and leaves them gifts under the tree?"

"Creepy, right?" Jack chuckled. "I always tell him that but he never listens. Oh, and don't even get me started on the Easter Bunny when it comes to not listening. He's so-" Jack paused, finally glancing at the gaped look Hiccup was sending him. "Probably shoulda mentioned that we're all real, right?"

"By 'we' you mean...?"

"Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Boogeyman, Sandman, oh and good old Tooth Fairy. She's the only Guardian I can actually tolerate. You also got your Mother Nature, uh, Man in Moon but those aren't that important so I'll just leave them out." Jack paused and gave him a nod of question. "Understand, so far?"

Hiccup gave him a thumbs up. "My psychological state of mind has officially snapped, got it!"

"Hey, I'm trying to be as straight here as possible."

"Well, it's obviously not working." Hiccup raised an eyebrow and Jack was about to ask what was wrong when he said, "Wait, how'd you get in here anyway?"

"Through the big gaping hole upstairs," he shrugged.

"There's no...oh no..." The young viking quickly rushed up the stairs and sure enough, there stood a big gaping hole on the wall...right beside his fathers bed. "Oh boy, how am I gonna explain this one?"

"Now do you believe I'm real?" Hiccup almost had a heart attack as Jack appeared right beside him. He was about to ask how he made it up the stairs so fast without making a sound when his words caught in his breath. Jack's sat cross-legged with his staff in his hands, but instead of sitting on the ground, his body was hovering in mid-air. As though there was some invisible force keeping him up.

Hiccup blinked rapidly. "Wow, my subconscious is more creative than I thought."

"Just, shut up, okay?" Jack shook his head, running a pale-hand through his hair. "Sit down and I'll explain everything as best as I can and after, you can decide whether you're crazy or not. Deal?"

Hiccup hesitated at first, weighing all the options down. After coming up with no reasonable solution as to why he should refuse to listen, he sat down, far from Jack, onto his dad's bed and nodded. "I'm all ears."

"Look it's not that I don't believe you-"

"It's just that you believe your subconscious has personified an image to help deal with the stress of disappointing the whole village and your father. This image tells you you're special and some kind of savior so that you don't feel so down on yourself." Jack sighed and shook his head. "I got it, it's you who's not getting it."

Hiccup groaned. "Well, how am I supposed to believe you after you told me I'm the only one who can see you, huh?"

"You can see me because you're chosen to be a Guardian!"

"That's not a logical reason!"

"None of this is logical! I'm a boy who's floating in midair! How's that logical?" Hiccup groaned again and stalked out of the room and down the stairs. Jack mimicked his actions and followed him outside. "Where are you going?"

"To find someone who can see you," he answered simply.

"No one believes in me." Jack took a fast breath; those words weren't something he liked to say. "So of course no one's going to see me. You're lucky no ones outside right now or else they'll catch you talking to yourself."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and turned left, stopping at the first house he saw. He tapped a little too loudly on the door and waited. Jack forced himself not to bang his head against his staff and just decided to let Hiccup learn his lesson the hard way.

After a minute someone opened the door and Hiccup froze.

"Hiccup, what're you doing here?" Astrid asked.

He didn't answer because he was too stunned. Of all the houses he could go too, he ended up knocking on the one of his longtime crush. Yup, fate was definitely not on his side today. Well, not that it ever was. He blinked, realizing that she was still waiting for an answer.

"Uh, hey, Astrid." He cleared his throat. "Nice seeing you here."

"It's my house," she replied with a stoic expression.

Hiccup's cheeks flushed and he could hear Jack laughing from behind him. "Right, right. I just, uh, came to ask you something."

He didn't say anything after that, trying to come up with a question.

"And, what is your question?" she asked and it was obvious in her tone that she was trying to be patient with him.

"Right um..." Hiccup glanced over his shoulder and did his best to keep his face neutral at the sight. Jack was resting on his back a few feet above the ground, one arm rested behind his head and other twirling a snowflake around his hand. He quickly turned back to Astrid. "Do you see anything strange right now?"

"I see you bothering me this evening."

"Sorry, um, what I really need to ask is..." Hiccup racked his brain and said the first thing that came to mind. "Did you hear about the sheep-incident?"

"The whole village did, why?"

He hastily shook his head, cheeks refusing to cool down. "N-No reason. Just wanted to see if you or the others had heard."

"Because you don't want us to make fun of you?" Hiccup sighed and nodded. Truth was, he genuinely was hoping the other teenagers hadn't heard about the incident. They already teased him enough, this would just tip the scale even more.

Astrid raised an eyebrow at his silence before shaking her head with a groan. "Have you ever known me to make fun of you?" she asked.

Hiccup looked up, confused. "Um, no, I guess not."

"So after all the screw-ups you've done so far that I've never given you grief for, what makes you think this one will be different?"

"Uh, w-what makes you think I care if you make fun of me?" Hiccup nervously said, running a hand through his hair.

"The fact that you came to my house out of everyone else." Astrid shrugged. "Just making a logical assumption."

"That's smart of you," he chuckled, easing up a bit. "Seriously though, there's no one behind me?"

"Huh? No, why?"

Hiccup raised his hands up, slowly backing away. "No, reason. So...I gotta go, sorry for bothering you. Um, yea, bye."

Astrid was about to say something but Hiccup took off. He didn't stop running until he reached a path uphill that would lead to the forest. He rested his back against the tree and face-palmed himself. Everyone in the village. Out of everyone in the village he ended up banging on Astrid's door! Not only that, but he's got a crazy boy who flies following him around telling him he's part of a group that protect kid's childhood. Seriously?

"Boy, that was hard to watch," Jack laughed. Hiccup jumped and put a little distance from him. "Told you others wouldn't see me. Who's she by the way? Seems like you guys got something going on."

"T-That was Astrid and I don't wanna talk about her."

"You mean you don't wanna talk about how you embarrassed yourself in-front of her?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and began walking back home, not knowing why he had even ran towards the forest. He ignored the pale-boy behind him, who had started dragging his staff across the ground, making frozen patterns in its wake. He wondered how he would explain the huge hole to his dad when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

It looked like a shadow, but with pale eyes that seemed to be staring back at him.

He blinked and it was gone. Hiccup shook his head, still contemplating his sanity. He turned around, ready to tell Jack to finally leave him alone, but found no one. For just a split second, Hiccup felt...sad and even a little lonely. After all, Jack was the only thing here that didn't look at him with a disappointed scowl.

But he shook those feelings away, thought to himself good riddance, and walked away.

Jack felt slightly guilty for leaving without telling Hiccup.

The kid already thought he was going crazy, now he was sure he made it worse. But Jack couldn't help it. He acted on impulse before when he had spotted something following them. Not just spot though, he felt something trailing their every move since they stepped outside Hiccup's house.

Whatever it was he felt, it seemed to lead to the forest Hiccup had almost walked to after his downfall with Astrid. Jack's feet crunched with fallen leaves and the canopy of trees above his head grew darker with the setting sun.

Stupid kid, Jack thought to himself. If he would just stop being so stubborn and leave with me already, then I wouldn't be stuck here chasing after who-knows-what!

Something moved beside him and Jack tensed. He swiftly did a one-eighty turn and positioned his staff as a soldier would his sword. His eyes widened before narrowing in determination. Whatever had followed them, it seemed to be a shadow with empty white-eye sockets and long branch-like fingers. Jack didn't want whatever it was to attack, so he decided to do it first.

Taking a deep breath, he shot out a stream of ice towards the shadow. But before it could hit, the last drop of sunshine went away, and so did it.

What the-?

Jack ran to where the shadow had previously been, but found no trace of it. Whatever it was, it had to be here after Hiccup. But who would be after him? Jack froze, a name slowly making it's way into his memory. Who did Bunnymund say was threatening them? Suddenly, with a stark realization, the name was clear across his mind's eye.

Pitch Black.

A Ymir, which is what Hiccup had called Jack, is a type of Frost Giant in Norse Mythology(which is what vikings believed in back then).

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I have a link to a picture of what the shadows Hiccup and Jack had seen looked like; although it's not that hard to imagine, lol. Just add a dot to where ever there is space in the link, except next to "http" where you should add ":" and another "/".

http /www theguardiansofchildhoodbooks com/images/characters/fearlings jpg