The pounding of hammers against aged wood punctuated by the childish grumbling of the siblings below was slowly beginning to drive Hiccup mad. All that Sun's Day morning he and the rest of Berk's riders had been working on Mildew's roof. The task itself wasn't intolerable, but after the stunt pulled the previous night Mildew had been placed under house arrest, meaning that not only did the six teenagers have to waste their day repairing his already dilapidated home, they had to deal with the old man's groaning and spitting.
"Dude, this suuuuuuuuuuuucks!" Snotlout groaned, no longer hammering the nail into place as he was meant to be doing but instead halfheartedly swinging the hammer against random tiles on the roof.
"Well if you'd stop whining and start working-" Astrid stepped over Snotlout, who was lying on his stomach on Mildew's roof, and grabbed hold of his wrist, digging her fingers into the leather gauntlet and directing him to hammer properly. "-we could get out of here sooner."
Releasing his wrist, Astrid cautiously made her way to the other side of the gaping hole, where Hiccup was carefully arranging the tiles over the newly built wooden railing. Under her arm she carried a stack of new tiles, which she set down next to Hiccup before grabbing the bucket of clay and straw they used as packing material and applying it to the makeshift rafters.
"You look distracted," she commented, noting the way Hiccup seemed to stare at nothing in particular, even with his green eyes locked on the shingles. "Is something up?"
"Huh?" Hiccup blinked, realized he had laid the shingles out in the wrong direction, and began taking them back up again. "Uh, no, not really."
In truth, Hiccup had been thinking of the previous day's encounter, and the mysterious white-haired flying boy. All morning he'd been casting his eyes skyward, searching for some trace of Jack and finding nothing. Now that he'd had time to think it over properly, Hiccup was regretting asking the spirit to meet his friends. He had no idea how they would react, especially Snotlout who had been in favor of leaving Jack for dead in the woods. Of all of them, Astrid stood the best chance of making a good first impression, being by far the most sensible one in the group, but there was also a chance she would react as she had upon first meeting Toothless. By screaming and throwing an axe.
And, though Hiccup was loathe to admit it to even himself, a tiny, selfish part of him wanted to keep Jack to himself. Being part of a group was still new to him, and from time to time he found himself missing the days when he would sneak off, alone, to join Toothless in the woods to work on his tail fin or practice flying or play or just sit and talk. He wanted that again, to have some secret that separated him from the group.
"Are you brats done yet!?" Mildew's screeching voice rang in the air. A collective wince took the riders and no one answered him. "Well? I'm not getting any younger!"
"Yeah, no kidding," Hiccup grumbled under his breath. Astrid shot him a look and he fell silent.
Down below, Fishlegs 'eeped' and scrambled away from the pulley the teens had been using to carry supplies to the rooftop, as the use of their dragons had been banned, and the twins gave up on removing the knots in their hair – they had proven more hindrance than help several hours ago, so Astrid solved the problem by tying their hair together and leaving them to figure it out themselves – in favor of getting away from Mildew's front door as it flew open.
Stepping out onto the cold stone that served as his porch with bare feet, Mildew cast his beady little eyes about, fixing each of the teens with a nasty glare in turn. No doubt he blamed one of them for the snowballs he'd been pelted with the previous night, though Hiccup was the only one who even knew about his failed scheme.
"If you children are quite finished messing around, I believe there's still a hole in my roof in need of fixing," the old man growled. Only Astrid was able to meet his gaze.
"We're working on it," she snapped at him. "We could have finished hours ago, if we had our dragons, you know."
"As if the beasts can do anything but destroy things," Mildew hissed, much to Hiccup's annoyance.
"Well, at least they don't go around stealing shoes," he bit back.
Mildew cast Hiccup the stink eye, but had nothing to say in protest. Mumbling under his breath, the old hermit turned on his heel and retreated back into his hut, much to the relief of the teenagers.
"What was that about?" Fishlegs asked once the door was firmly shut.
"He got caught trying to steal everyone else's shoes last night," Astrid explained. "He was trying to make it look like the dragons did it."
"My dad punished him by taking away his shoes for the rest of the day," Hiccup finished, hands working swiftly to correct the tiles he had misaligned. "That's why he's stuck in his house; he can't walk anywhere with the snow on the ground."
"It was pretty awesome!" Sitting up straight, Snotlout set aside his hammer in favor of recounting last night's events as he knew them. "The chief got woken up 'cause Mildew slipped on some ice and dropped the shoes, and then the chief was yelling and then everyone was awake-" (Fishlegs murmured something along the lines of 'I didn't hear anything' while the twins hushed him angrily) "-and then Mildew tried to play it off like he was sleepwalking or something. And when that didn't work he tried to run away, but my dad grabbed him and-"
"IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU LOUTS ARE DOING ANY WORK UP THERE!"
Snotlout snatched up the discarded hammer, jaw clamping firmly shut as he furiously set to hammering in the last nails of the new rafters.
Idly, Hiccup wondered what the others would think if he told them the truth of how Mildew had been caught. The twins would probably think it was hilarious, and Fishlegs would no doubt be fascinated by Jack's powers. Would Astrid be annoyed by Jack's antics, or thankful that he had kept suspicion from being cast onto her dragon? Would Snotlout still be terrified of him, even though Jack didn't seem to be able or willing to do anything more harmful than throwing snowballs?
What would Jack think of his friends?
Suddenly he dreaded the meeting even more fiercely.
Hiccup had already made the mistake of gawking at Jack like a wild animal, which seemed to deeply offend him. Not that he could blame the white-haired boy. No doubt the others would do worse – Snotlout accusing him of being a monster, the twins asking him obnoxious questions, Fishlegs wanting to study him like a dragon...
"Hey, Astrid?"
Astrid looked up from her clay-smeared hands.
"Can I talk to you in private when we're done?"
If there was one good thing about the three-hundred years of warfare with the dragons, it was that the people of Berk, even the children, had become very quick and very efficient when it came to repairing damaged buildings. By the time Hiccup had set the last shingle firmly in place it was only early afternoon and the teens immediately abandoned Mildew alone in his misery to retrieve their dragons and head for the academy.
The academy itself was actually a disused arena located outside of the village. The arena had been carved straight into the stone of the island and was closed in by a huge chain-link net. Once upon a time it had been used to train would-be dragon-slayers. Now, it was used to train dragons and their riders.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Astrid asked as Stormfly and Toothless touched down next to one another outside of the iron gate that led down into the pit. Hiccup shook his head and gestured to the other dragon riders, who were dismounting not far away enough for this conversation to be considered private. Nodding in understanding, Astrid dismounted her nadder.
As the other four riders led their dragons into the arena, Hiccup took Astrid's hand and led her up to the stone-carved stands from which spectators used to observe the dragon slaying.
"Hey, do you remember what happened yesterday?" Hiccup asked as he took his seat above the arena. Astrid sat next to him, staring at him warily out of the corner of her eye. "You know, that thing we promised never to speak of again?"
"Yeees... Are we about to speak about it again?"
"Um, yeah." Hiccup scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I ran into that guy again last night."
Astrid's eyes widened in shock, but she wasn't yelling at him, so that was a start.
"It was when I was setting my dad's boots outside," he explained. "I just happened to see him sitting on the pier, and I couldn't help but walk up to him-"
Hiccup explained everything, from noticing Jack lingering on the docks to their part in blowing Mildew's cover the previous night to his late night talk with Jack in his room. Astrid remained silent as Hiccup spoke, not tearing her eyes away from Hiccup's for an instant except to ensure that the other four riders were too absorbed in their own antics to notice her and Hiccup. When he finished she took a slow, steady breath, processing everything she had just heard.
"Wow. I mean, just..." She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. "So, where is he now?"
"I... I don't know," Hiccup admitted. "I told him he could hang out with us, but I didn't tell him a time or a place."
"Are you sure that was such a good idea? I mean, he could be dangerous." Hiccup stared at her incredulously. "He could!"
"He protected our dragons," Hiccup pointed out.
"By throwing snowballs at an old man," Astrid argued. "I'm not saying that Mildew didn't deserve it, he definitely did, but this Jack guy wouldn't really know that, and he could have really hurt Mildew."
"Not on purpose," Hiccup insisted, earning an exasperated sigh from Astrid.
"I'm not saying he would hurt anyone on purpose, but maybe he doesn't know better. He could just be playing around and accidentally kill someone."
"Yeah, the same could be said for Snotlout and Hookfang."
As if on cue, a red-orange glow covered Hookfang's body with a whoosh and Snotlout ran screaming from his saddle as flames covered his dragon's skin. The twins howled with laughter as Snotlout threw himself into the trowel of drinking water they had set out for the dragons to douse the flames.
Astrid stared, blank-faced, before saying, "Okay, yeah, point taken."
Hiccup shook his head.
"And that's why I kind of need your help. I already kind of pissed him off once by being a jerk."
"And you decided it would be a good idea to introduce him to these guys?"
"Yeah, in hindsight I wish I'd just pretended I didn't know any of you." Astrid punched Hiccup in the arm playfully, though the girl was a fair bit stronger than she looked – stronger than Snotlout, for that matter – and Hiccup could feel the beginnings of a bruise as he rubbed the afflicted spot. "Can you just... help me get these guys to tone it down a bit for when Jack does show up?"
"I almost think I'd rather fight the Red Death again," Astrid growled. "But, I don't really have a choice, do I? Someone has to run damage control."
Letting out a relieved sigh, Hiccup stood, Astrid doing the same and the pair made their way back down into the ring.
"What were you two lovebirds talking about?" Tuffnut teased as they reentered the ring. Ruffnut and Barf-and-Belch snickered alongside him at the sight of Hiccup's face going crimson.
"Ha ha, very funny," the brunette said dryly, trying and failing to will away his blush. "Actually, I have an announcement to make, and it's kind of a big one."
"Ooh, ooh! What is it? A new training exercise? Or have you uncovered a new species of dragon? Or-"
"Thank you, Fishlegs," Hiccup interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But, no, none of those things. I, uh... I invited someone to join us for training today."
Four pairs of eyes stared at Hiccup expectantly. Feeling his resolve weaken, he turned to the strong-willed girl standing beside him, but Astrid merely ignored him while pretending to inspect her nails.
"Iiiis this someone we know?" Fishlegs asked when he noticed Hiccup hesitating. He considered how to answer.
"Sort of?"
"Is it someone from the village?" Ruffnut asked. Hiccup shook his head.
"Definitely not."
"Is she cute?" Snotlout chimed in. Everyone stared at him. "What?"
"Um, well, she's a guy," Hiccup explained. "And, uh, we met him yesterday. When he fell out of the sky."
Hiccup paused for a moment to let the words sink in. Four pairs of eyes widened in realization, some more quickly than others. Silence fell over the arena, the dragons perking up from their lazed states as they noticed the anxiety that had taken hold of their riders. Finally, Snotlout broke the silence.
"Are you out of your mind!?"
"Calm down, Snotlout," Astrid ordered, but to no avail.
"Calm down!? How can I be calm when Hiccup invited a freaking jotunn to basically come eat us!?"
"He's not a jotunn," Hiccup deadpanned. "I think. I mean, he looked pretty human."
"You saw him up close, Hiccup?" Fishlegs breathed. As Hiccup had predicted, he seemed rather enthused by the whole thing. "And you talked to him and everything? Did he say who he was? Did he say what he was?"
"He's a teenager, like the rest of us," Hiccup insisted, and then, a bit sheepishly, "He can just... fly and make snow and ice out of nothing. But other than that he's completely normal." Oh gods, this was going worse than he thought it would.
With a roll of her eyes, Astrid took over the conversation.
"Look, Hiccup's already invited him to come see us train dragons. The least we can do is try to make a good impression. Right Stormfly?"
Behind her the colorful, parrot-like dragon squawked, bobbing her head and flapping her wings in show as nadders often did when trying to impress someone.
"See?" Astrid said. "Stormfly's on board."
Hiccup considered something seriously wrong with his circle of friends when he realized that the spine-covered deadly nadder was genuinely his best bet at making a good first impression with a stranger.
"Look," Hiccup said, clapping his hands together, "He didn't come here because he wanted to. He's lost, and I thought that we could at least make him feel welcome until he figures out how to get back home. He's not here to eat or hurt or kill anyone. He actually saved our dragons last night."
"Saved them?" Fishlegs echoed. "How? I thought Mildew slipped on some ice..." Hiccup could practically see the gears in the husky viking's head turning. "He made the ice."
"He also pegged Mildew with snowballs," Astrid affirmed. "And woke up the chief. If it weren't for Jack, our parents' boots would have been stolen and our dragons would be the ones being punished, not Mildew."
"Jack?" Tuffnut snorted. "That's a dumb name."
"Yeah, who the heck is Jack?" Ruffnut sniggered.
"That's his name," Hiccup replied. "Jack Frost."
Snotlout continued to glare at him, and Hiccup swore he felt the temperature inside the arena drop twenty degrees.
"Well you know what?" the brawny teen groused. "You all can get buddy-buddy with him. Hookfang and I, on the other hand, will be getting as far away from freaky ice guys as possible. Hope you all have fun getting... eat... -en..." Snotlout trailed off slowly, dread creeping up his throat as he realized that each of the other riders and their dragons were staring at him, their eyes wide; Fishlegs's with wonder, the twins' with shock, and Hiccup's and Astrid's with something akin to horror.
"Why're you all looking at me like that?"
Then Snotlout felt ice cold breath blow into his ear. He would later deny having made the shrill noise that came out of his mouth.
Despite the promise he had made to the scrawny viking the previous day, Jack actually had no intention of meeting any of Hiccup's friends. The moment he'd left Hiccup's windowsill that night he asked the Wind to carry him as fast as possible away from Berk, relying on his memory and the Wind's guidance to take him to his destination. He shouldn't have been so surprised when he arrived, finding nothing more than a baby-leafed sprout. Still, as he knelt next to the fragile plant that would one day become Big Root, he could feel disappointment slice deep into his chest.
After that he had roamed, searching out any trace of Ombric – the real Ombric – but to no avail. Atlantis was long gone, and Big Root was a long time coming. He really was effectively and totally stuck.
Well, Jack reminded himself, not totally. He was, after all, an immortal with centuries to burn. The idea of spending another three hundred years alone – let alone one thousand – left a bitter taste in his mouth, but if he had endured it once he could do it again.
'And besides,' he told himself as he once again crossed over the Atlantic Ocean, 'I'm not alone this time.'
Baby Tooth crooned inside his hood. Love and hope and togetherness poured into his mind and he smiled and felt all of those things back. Then he flung himself into the Wind where he – where they – belonged, because what else did he have to do? Their voices echoed in the air as they flew, whirled, danced in the sky. Jack dove towards the ocean surface where waves were rising higher and higher and he froze them mid-swell, skating through the tunnels he had created and whooping and hollering as they shattered into millions of sparkling shards of ice.
Eventually, however, exhaustion took hold of the pair. Jack bid the Wind carry them towards Berk because... why not? He really had nowhere else to go. Burgess was not yet Burgess, and there was no Santoff Claussen or Big Root to retreat to.
The sun was just rising over the small island community when Jack arrived. There were a few people up and about, but none of them thought to look up, and briefly Jack wondered if that would have mattered. The Wind carried Jack away from the village, over the rocky cliffs towards the forest that dominated the Northern half of the island.
Though the island and the village shared a name, the town of Berk actually made up a very tiny portion of the island, its people having built their homes on the flattest land they could find, which meant on the gentlest slopes, and propping their homes up on stilts where the ground proved too steep for them. The rest of the island was covered with dense forests and rivers and at its highest point the island's peaks were crusted with snow and draped with fluffy white clouds.
Most of the forests were fir, providing little in the way of a comfortable spot to rest, but then Jack spied a steep depression in the Earth at the bottom of which lay a small, crystal clear pond not unlike the one Jack had been born from.
A smile blossomed on the spirit's face as he dropped down in the center of the clearing, taking in the scenery with an approving eye. The rock that surrounded the clearing was too steep to climb, though above the pond Jack thought he could see a split in the stone that someone small might have been able to squeeze through. Thick, tangled tree roots jutted from the cliff edge and protruded from the walls, stopping a good seven feet from the ground. Two large, moss-grown tree trunks sat, half-submerged in the pond and half-lying on the beach. Beneath his bare feet the ground was dressed in soft, vibrant grass that stretched everywhere except for the very edge of the pond, where the stalks thinned out and gave way to smooth sand.
As for the pond itself...
The surface of the water rippled and froze as Jack stepped onto it, ferns of frost swirling from underneath his feet until the entire pond had been transformed into a swirling mirror of ice. With a wave of his staff Jack had a picturesque flurry of snow falling over the clearing, and only the clearing.
"What do you think, Baby Tooth?" he asked as the snow began to pile up, burying the grass and frosting the hard boulders that littered the ground. "Think we could call this place home for a little while?"
((It's beautiful, Love,)) the frost fairy chirped as she admired the picturesque scene Jack had created. With a satisfied sigh, Jack sat himself down against one of the fallen trees, letting the snow fall over him like a blanket. His eyes slipped closed as he felt contentment-peace-Love-togetherness radiate in waves from Baby Tooth's tiny body, and the pair fell into a sound sleep.
It was around midday when the two frost-spirits woke, the pale sunlight beaming down on them but not warming them in the slightest. Snowflakes scattered from Jack's lashes as he peeled his eyes open blearily. He had to snap his eyes shut again for a moment due to the blinding whiteness around him. When he could open them, Jack found that while the snowfall had stopped, the blanket he had left had remained. In fact, swirls of frost had worked their ways up the cliff face surrounding the clearing on all sides and even over the tree roots, and icicles were dangling from the tree branches high above. Baby Tooth climbed from Jack's hood, chirping in delight as she saw the way the snow and ice glittered in the sunlight.
((We should make a house!)) she suggested as she took to the air. Jack stood, brushing excess snow from his shoulders and from his hair as she continued. ((A little cottage made of ice, sort of like an igloo. We could make windows out of ice and have a spiraling staircase and a balcony and we can make big arches for doors-))
"In what definition of the word is that a cottage?" Jack asked, corners of his mouth twitching in amusement.
Not one to be discouraged, Baby Tooth continued to chatter on about how they could build their house, her plans quickly becoming more and more elaborate, tinkling words rushing together and elation punctuating each sentence. Jack twirled his staff in his hand as he listened to his companion ramble.
"I don't know," he interrupted at one point. "I kind of like sleeping out doors."
Baby Tooth said nothing, but Jack could feel disappointment rolling off of her in waves.
"But-" The silver feather atop her head perked up. "We could make you something. Like a fairy house, on top of the ice."
Instantly Baby Tooth was pressed against his cheek, tiny arms holding him in a vague echo of a hug as she nuzzled his cheek and cried happiness-gratitude-joy-Love out at him.
"But first, what do you say we explore a bit?" Already he was bouncing on the balls of his heels, twirling his staff in his grip and staring up at the sky. "I mean, a new century to experience, a new island to explore. I wonder what kind of trouble we could get up to?"
Baby Tooth's wings vibrated as she considered, weighing her desire to build her fantasy home against the excitement of a potential adventure. Eventually the promise of adventure won out. She returned to her seat inside his hood and Jack flung himself into the air, rising from his new domain with a jubilant laugh.
Berk looked far different by daylight than it had by night. Now Jack could properly see the vibrantly painted dragon figureheads carved into their buildings, into the ships, and decorating their plaza. Many of the creatures, – some of them bird-like, some more reptilian, others resembling bats or cats or dogs – hung around the village, basking in the weak sun atop the roofs or following the adults about as they did their chores or playing with the children as they ran about underfoot. For a moment Jack contemplated dropping down in the middle of the village, but he hastily decided against it, not wanting to run the chance of terrifying the poor villagers if they could see him.
But maybe he would have some fun at their expense later.
For now, he wanted to get a sense of the place. Jack lowered himself, though not to the village plaza. Higher than even the chief's hut was a spire of rock in which the people of Berk had carved a massive set of doors, the stone decorated with depictions of viking warriors going off to battle. Two massive statues of battle-hardened warriors with draconic features flanked the doors, one with its mouth open in a ferocious snarl and sword held under its chin and the other with its blade held between its dagger-like teeth. Jack perched atop one of these statues, high above where people typically cast their eyes, and watched as the men and women below went about their daily routines.
He watched as a burly man with a braided red beard hollered and bellowed at the people, he watched as a strange blonde man with one hook hand and one peg leg went about fixing dragon teeth (and wouldn't Toothiana just be thrilled to hear about that), and he watched as the children of Berk ran through the slushy snow as they played with their draconic friends, teaching the fire-breathing reptiles how to make snow-forts and how to launch aerial snowball assaults.
"I think I could get to like this place," Jack admitted to Baby Tooth. "It's pretty cool."
((Stranger?))
Jack and Baby Tooth's heads snapped up simultaneously, and they found a violet-scaled parrot-like dragon staring down at them.
((Caution-wingless-stranger-caution-you-no-nest-here-stranger-you-good?-yes?))
Baby Tooth glared at the dragon from Jack's shoulder, emanating anxiety-protectiveness-fear-curiosity, while her larger-self just laughed. The line of questioning brought to mind the black-scaled dragon from the previous night.
"Hi there. I'm Jack." Without even thinking about it Jack placed his hand on the dragon's beak-like snout. "Nice to meet you."
The dragon purred, leaning into his touch. ((Stranger-Icicle-gentle-good-Icicle-good.))
Icicle. Strange; Toothless had called him that too. There probably wasn't a way of saying 'Jack' in dragon-speak, but why 'Icicle?' Because he was skinny and cold? Seemed as good an explanation as any.
"Thanks," he said, giving the dragon a light scratch. "I like you too."
Now that he thought about it, Jack hadn't seen Toothless among the dragons in the village. Hiccup was nowhere to be seen either. Jack was unsure of the other teens – he couldn't remember their appearances very clearly – but if he were to venture a guess he would say that they were probably not in the village either. Very suddenly he remembered his promise to meet them, and he began to wonder if they were out looking for him.
"What do you think Baby Tooth?" he asked, rising to his feet. "Should we go looking for them?"
((What for?)) Baby Tooth growled. Evidently she had not forgiven Hiccup for insulting her other half.
"Well, you could always get another look at Hiccup's goofy teeth."
Baby Tooth pondered this.
((Let's go.))
Waving a goodbye to the violet dragon, Jack leaped from the statue. If anyone in the village below noticed him all they would have seen was a blur of blue and white.
Jack might not have had a clue where to search for Hiccup, but past, present, and future the Wind was on his side, and she knew Berk and its people well enough to carry Jack right to the dragon riding teens.
He touched down silently on the chain-link net that covered the bowl-shaped arena, balancing precariously on the thin metal rods.
"Um, well, she's a guy."
Jack's face lit up as his eyes landed on Hiccup. He was standing in the center of the ring among a group of teens, three of them boys and the other two girls. Jack leaned down, careful not to alert any of them of his presence just yet. Already he could feel his heart thrumming in his chest; these people could see him. He was about to be introduced to a group of teens his age (well, he amended, his physical age) and he wanted to make a good entrance.
"And, uh, we met him yesterday. When he fell out of the sky."
Hiccup looked nervous, which Jack had come to expect from the lanky teen. Even more so, he supposed, due to the nature of what had happened the previous day. Except for the blonde girl standing at his side, all of the teens looked stunned, frightened even. Anxiety pooled in the pit of his stomach; maybe this was not such a good idea after all.
"Are you out of your mind!?"
Jack flinched, smile falling. Yup, definitely a bad idea.
"Calm down, Snotlout," the blonde girl with the headband and the skull-shaped ornaments on her pauldrons growled. The dark-haired boy with the large muscles – Snotlout, she had called him – only became more frantic.
"Calm down!? How can I be calm when Hiccup invited a freaking jotunn to basically come eat us!?"
"He's not a jotunn," Hiccup deadpanned. "I think. I mean, he looked pretty human."
"You saw him up close, Hiccup?" The speaker this time was the fat viking with the large, round head and the tiny helmet. He seemed less upset than Snotlout, but even so Jack was not reassured by his demeanor. Baby Tooth openly growled at him and at Snotlout both. "And you talked to him and everything? Did he say who he was? Did he say what he was?"
Jack's eyes narrowed and Baby Tooth fumed, anger-hate-resentment hanging over her like a cloud. He should've known better. The people down below were too close to becoming adults; they couldn't just accept what was different or strange, they had to fear it or study it or otherwise demean it. Jack stood, ready to disappear again when...
"He's a teenager, like the rest of us," Hiccup insisted, and then, a bit sheepishly, "He can just... fly and make snow and ice out of nothing. But other than that he's completely normal."
Jack stared at Hiccup, expression softening.
"Look," the blonde girl said, grabbing Jack's attention. "Hiccup's already invited him to come see us train dragons. The least we can do is try to make a good impression. Right Stormfly?"
Behind her the colorful, parrot-like dragon squawked. She alone noticed Jack perched atop the metal cage, and when he waved at her a bit sheepishly she flapped her wings and bobbed her head as though to wave back.
"See?" Astrid said. "Stormfly's on board."
"Look," Hiccup said, clapping his hands together, "He didn't come here because he wanted to. He's lost, and I thought that we could at least make him feel welcome until he figures out how to get back home. He's not here to eat or hurt or kill anyone. He actually saved our dragons last night."
"Saved them?" Fishlegs echoed. "How? I thought Mildew slipped on some ice... He made the ice."
"He also pegged Mildew with snowballs," Astrid affirmed. "And woke up the chief. If it weren't for Jack, our parents' boots would have been stolen and our dragons would be the ones being punished, not Mildew."
Jack couldn't help the swell of pride he felt as they talked of his deeds. It was about time someone noticed the good work he did!
Then the male twin opened his mouth and ruined his good mood.
"Jack? That's a dumb name."
"Yeah, who the heck is Jack?" the female twin sniggered.
"That's his name," Hiccup replied. "Jack Frost."
'All right, that's it,' Jack thought, temperature dropping with his mood. Down below Snotlout was glaring openly at Hiccup, and since he was the one who had pissed Jack off the most, Jack was going to start with him. Baby Tooth snickered, retreating into his hood as Jack slowly lowered himself from the net.
"Well you know what?" the brawny teen groused, unaware of Jack's presence. "You all can get buddy-buddy with him. Hookfang and I, on the other hand, will be getting as far away from freaky ice guys as possible."
It was to Jack's great amusement that the rust-colored dragon, Hookfang, did not seem to be on board with his rider's wishes. The dragon was the first besides Stormfly to notice his movement, and when Jack raised a finger to his lips the dragon he tucked his head under his wing and proceeded to ignore him.
"Hope you all have fun getting..."
Jack landed right behind Snotlout.
"Eat..."
He smirked at the other teens, giving them a friendly wave for good measure.
"-en…"
Snotlout trailed off slowly, dread creeping up his throat as he realized that each of the other riders and their dragons were staring at him, their eyes wide; Fishlegs's with wonder, the twins' with shock, and Hiccup's and Astrid's with something akin to horror.
"Why're you all looking at me like that?"
Standing on his tiptoes, Jack leaned forward and blew icy breath into Snotlout's ear. Snotlout shrieked and leaped twenty feet into the air. Jack burst out laughing as the brute landed in a heap on the ground, scrabbling at his ear and head whipping around fearfully. It was only when he flipped himself onto his stomach and got a good look behind him that Snotlout saw Jack, and when he did he was scrambling again, trying to put as much distance between himself and Jack.
"You know," the white-haired teen said as his laughter died down, "I always thought vikings were supposed to be tough."
For a moment a heavy silence fell over the arena, twelve pairs of eyes fixed on Jack. Then Hiccup broke the silence with a nervous cough, walking up to Jack and putting a hand on his shoulder. A small jolt took the spirit's body, but this time Jack didn't pull away from Hiccup's touch.
"Uh, Jack, these are my friends. Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and Astrid." He gestured to each of them in turn, and when Astrid heard her name she had come to herself enough to wave at Jack. "Guys, this is-"
"Jack Frost," the spirit cut him off. "Spirit of Winter, bringer of snowballs and fun times, but if that's too hard to remember you can stick with 'freaky ice guy'."
Hiccup resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose; this whole thing was one huge shipwreck. He noted the way Jack held himself – head slightly tilted, body turned slightly to the side, carefully composed smirk on his lips – and realized that he'd already blown his chance to make a good first impression and now Jack was probably going to fly off forever and never come within ten leagues of Berk again.
"Dude..." Tuffnut drawled. "Were you really the one messing with Mildew last night?"
Jack gave them a mock bow.
"Guilty as charged!"
Identical wide grins split the twins' faces in half and they cried out in unison, "AWESOME!"
Hiccup blinked a bit stupidly.
"So how does this snow and ice thing work?"
"Are you a god?"
"Are you single?"
The last question was posed by Ruffnut who, along with Fishlegs and Tuffnut, begun to crowd uncomfortably close to Jack. The spirit blinked, smirk faltering as he took a step back.
"Hey guys, back up a little..." Hiccup tried to place himself between Jack and the other teens, but to no avail. Astrid, fortunately, took charge of the situation.
"Hey guys, back off!" she snapped. Instantly Fishlegs and the Tuffnut leaped back to do as she said, but she had to grab Ruffnut by the horns of her helmet and yank her away from Jack, who appeared to sufficiently put off by the sudden change of opinion. She cowed them with a withering glare before turning to Jack and smiling amiably. "Sorry about these idiots. They don't know when to shut up. Let me start over; thank you for saving our dragons."
"Uh, sure." A slow, silly smile began to form on Jack's face and he twirled the staff in his hand. "Yeah, no problem."
Sensing her rider's approval, Stormfly approached Jack, large head cocking this way and that. Jack noted that her eyes were on either side of her head, so she had to turn her head in order to look at him.
"Stormfly says 'thank you' too," Astrid added with a sincere smile.
((You-Icicle-good-Without-Teeth-say-good-you-good.))
From that Jack gathered that Toothless had told the other dragons about him.
((Me-Flies-in-Storm-me-winged-half-Astrid-me-hers-she-mine.))
"Nice to meet you, Stormfly," Jack said, placing his hand on the dragon's snout. Astrid stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Wow," she breathed, placing a hand on Stormfly's flank. "She normally doesn't let strangers touch her that quickly.
"Yeah, well I'm charming," Jack teased. He missed how Astrid tossed Hiccup a questioning look, and how Hiccup merely offered her a shrug in response.
Emboldened by Stormfly's approach, each of the other dragons stood, nearing Jack cautiously. Barf-and-Belch was at his side first, both heads sniffing curiously at him at once. Then Meatlug was staring up at him with huge, pleading eyes, also looking for pets. Even Hookfang lifted his head from underneath his wing and went to Jack's side, ignoring his rider's calls of 'traitor'.
Strangely, Jack did not seem to mind their crowding nearly as much as he did their riders'.
A certain someone, however, did not share his good mood.
The dragons started suddenly when a shill tweeting filled the air. Baby Tooth flew from Jack's hood, wings humming furiously as she told the curious dragons off.
((Back! Back, you brutes! Leave Jackie alone!)) she shrilled as she fluttered between Jack and the dragons. She screamed out protect-worry-Love-guard while her larger half watched, bemused, as she flitted back and forth, warding off the reptiles as they tried to come closer.
"What is that?" Fishlegs breathed as he stared at the frost fairy, fingers twitching to jot down notes though he had neither a charcoal stick nor a notebook with which to do so. Baby Tooth's little beak twitched in his direction, and when she saw him she began to gesture wildly with her pea-sized hands, squeaking out a long string of words that Jack did not know she knew.
"She's so cute!" Astrid said, drawing bewildered stares from the rest of the group. Fortunately for them she was too enthralled by the fairy to notice.
"Her name is Baby Tooth," Jack explained as his fairy's tirade came to an end and she instead turned to lock eyes with Astrid. "She's my best friend."
Astrid smiled and held out her hand to Baby Tooth, crooking her finger to make a fitting perch. "Hello Baby Tooth."
The fairy seemed to consider her for a moment, and then she perched on the viking girl's finger, twittering happily.
"She likes you," Jack translated, oblivious to the stares he and Astrid were garnering from all save Hiccup.
"Of course she does," he murmured to himself. Nobody noticed with the exception of Toothless, but instead of comforting his rider the dragon's throat undulated and he let out a mocking goff goff goff. "Way to have my back, bud."
"This is incredible," Fishlegs said as he approached Baby Tooth, still perched on Astrid's finger. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. It doesn't resemble any known species of dragon, it's body vaguely humanoid-"
Baby Tooth whirled on her perch, shooting Fishlegs a nasty glare. ((Oh yeah? Well you know what you resemble you blubber-head? A great, heaping pile of yeti sh-))
"She's a she," Jack interrupted, preventing the never ending stream of cursing he knew was ready to pour from his companion's lips. "Not an it. Also, she's a fairy, not a dragon."
"Does she grant wishes?" Ruffnut asked.
"She's not that kind of fairy."
"Well then what good is she?" Tuffnut growled. Taking offense, Baby Tooth zipped from Astrid's hand, jabbing her beak into the space between his eyes. Tuffnut had barely gotten out a yelp of pain when she shot a blast of frigid air in his face, taking the startled teen off of his feet and coating his hair and eyebrows with a thin layer of frost. Everyone stared, wide-eyed, as Tuff lay on the ground dazed. Then his lips moved. "That. Was. AWESOME!"
"My turn! Do me!" Ruffnut cried.
Bewildered, Jack and Baby Tooth could only stare at the two of them.
"Ooookay then." Hiccup stepped between Jack and the twins. "Sorry about that. They were raised by wild boars, and when the boars couldn't put up with them anymore they dumped them on us."
Astrid punched Hiccup in the arm none too gently, but Hiccup's joke had earned a laugh from Jack, so he considered it worthwhile. It was amazing, Hiccup thought, how quickly this disaster had been turned around. Of course, no one had forgotten what Jack was, but he seemed to be assimilating into their group rather easily, the twins no doubt already thinking of ways to rope Jack into their mischievous games. Hiccup was not sure that Jack would not go along with them willingly.
"Hey, why don't we all go flying together?" Fishlegs suggested. To Jack he explained, "We have this course that we normally do together, and sometimes we even do a best trick competition. I'd love to record your time and compare your speed to the dragons-"
"Are you guys freaking serious!?"
Hiccup winced. Ooh, right. He had forgotten about Snotlout. Collectively the teens and the dragons turned to face Snotlout, whose face was pale and jaw was locked into what he hoped was a menacing scowl.
"We still don't know what that guy is, and now you wanna be his best friend!?"
Astrid's hands balled into fists. "Snotlout-" she started, only to be interrupted by Jack.
"No, no, the talking toad is right."
The twins burst out into hysterical laughter as Snotlout's face turned beet red.
"The Hel!? I'm not a toad!"
Jack cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you're right. I apologize to toads everywhere for this comparison."
Somehow the twins' laughter became even louder, and even Fishlegs was giggling through his fingers.
"Okay, let's all just calm down..." Hiccup said, attempting to calm his cousin. He stepped in front of Jack, holding his hands up to Snotlout as he might to a wild dragon. "Snotlout, there's no reason to be scared."
Immediately Hiccup knew that had been the wrong thing to say.
"I'm not scared!" Snotlout protested, pride smarting. "Out of my way, Useless," he snapped as he shoved his much smaller cousin aside. Hiccup staggered, but was caught by Toothless who pressed his head against his rider's back to help him regain his balance before growling at Snotlout.
((Worry-Hiccup-protect-Hiccup-Love-worry-bad-Snotlout-bad-bad.))
Hiccup placed his hand on Toothless's muzzle, calming him, though the nightfury's eyes remained fixed on Snotlout in an open glare.
Snotlout hadn't noticed the dragon's protectiveness, however. He was nose-to-nose with Jack now, leaning down in a vain attempt to cow the other teen into backing down. Baby Tooth was trembling with fury, but Jack appeared altogether indifferent to the brutish display. His lips were still tilted in a slight smirk and his free hand, the one not holding the staff, was resting on his hip.
"Now you listen here," Snotlout growled. "I don't like you and you don't belong here."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh no. I don't have the approval of this one arrogant jerk. I no longer have a reason to live."
When Hookfang lowered his head, a loud goff goff goff bursting from his throat, Snotlout seemed to lose it. With an unintelligible cry he threw himself at Jack, swinging his fists wildly. Jack reacted before anyone else could, leaping straight up and landing on one foot atop Snotlout's helmet. The viking teen staggered a bit, and when Jack pushed off, leaping over his back, his balance was thrown and he went sprawling face first into a pile of snow.
Jack laughed as he landed gracefully a few feet away, twirling his staff over his shoulders. "Hey, that was kinda fun. Best two out of three?"
Snotlout gurgled into his snow pile.
"Okay, so that's over with." Hiccup put his hand on Jack's shoulder, urging him towards the exit. "Flying, yeah? Let's go do that."
Behind them Snotlout slowly staggered to his feet. He'd hardly taken two steps, however, when there was a whistling fwit fwit fwit and he was propelled backwards, pinned to the wall of the arena by the quills from Stormfly's tail, which had caught him by the tunic and trousers.
"Uh, guys?" he cried, pulling against the quills uselessly. "A little help here?"
"Is he going to be okay?" Jack asked as Astrid and Hiccup pushed him towards the exit.
"Unfortunately, yes," Astrid replied with a roll of her eyes.
The teens filed out of the arena, their dragons close behind them. Only Hookfang stayed behind with Snotlout, though the dragon continued to fix his rider with an exasperated look as he struggled to free himself.
Freedom-joy-togetherness-Wind-cold-good-Love-us-invincible-we-together.
Baby Tooth's emotions echoed in Jack's mind and reverberated through his chest as they spun through the clouds, whooping and hollering. Behind him he could hear the roar of wings, and ahead he could see a flash of red and black weaving its way through the clouds.
Not for long, though.
Jack accelerated forward, keeping himself just above Hiccup and Toothless as he quickly closed the distance. For a while he flew directly above the pair, snickering silently as they continued on, oblivious to him, and when he could no longer stand to wait he tapped on Hiccup's head, spilling fine shards of blue magic and yelling
"Tag! You're it!" before rocketing ahead.
Affected by Jack's magic, of course Hiccup took the challenge.
Toothless's tail fin shifted and soon they were gaining once again on Jack. Hiccup leaned forward in the saddle, intent on getting at least the spirit's foot before he noticed them gaining, but Baby Tooth was keeping watch and she chirped in Jack's ear, warning him of his pursuers. Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, Jack considered his odds of keeping ahead of the nightfury. Then he stopped, hanging suspended in the air. Hiccup and Toothless, unprepared, shot ahead of him and before they realized what had happened Jack had already flown off in the opposite direction.
"Hiccup's it, don't let him catch you!" Jack cried, spilling more sparkling flakes of blue magic in his wake as he passed by the other dragon riders. They caught on quickly and scattered, each of them flying in a different direction.
Toothless shot through the sky, leaping above the cloud layer to hide and diving when he caught the vague outline of a zippleback through the fluff.
"You're it!" Hiccup cried as he tapped Ruffnut on the helmet. He was gone before she could retaliate, he and Toothless free falling towards the sea far below.
Ruffnut turned to her brother and punched him. "You're it!"
"No!" he growled, throwing her a punch back. "You're it!"
"You're it!"
"You're it!"
"No, you're it!"
"Guys!"
Both twins turned at once, fists still cocked, and found Jack perched on Barf-and-Belch's back, a dry expression on his face and his hand outstretched to them. Both twins tapped his hand at once.
"No tag-backs, okay?"
He was gone from their dragon's back before they could respond.
Astrid and Stormfly kept just above the churning waves, using the reflection on the water to see whether or not someone was approaching from above. So when they saw the flash of white flit across the surface they swerved just in time to avoid being tagged by Jack.
"Whoa!" Jack cried as he missed his mark, nearly plummeting into the sea. His feet had only just brushed the waves when the churning water transformed into sweeping walls of ice which he skated along just as quickly as he had ridden the Wind. Astrid stared in awe before she was laughing and racing ahead, still avoiding his outstretched fingers.
Stormfly tilted her wings and shot straight up into the sky, squawking madly as she did and nearly colliding with Meatlug. Jack followed after her, slapping Fishlegs's shoulder as he sped past the gronkle-rider pair.
"Tag! Bye!"
"Oh!" Fishlegs narrowed his eyes in concentration, face puffing up as he directed Meatlug to fly towards the nearest dragon rider. His whole body shook as Meatlug's tiny wings buzzed, propelling them towards the twins.
"Barf!"
"Belch!"
"Go down!"
"Go right!"
The twins' conflicting instructions confused the poor dragon and he went into a spiral towards the ocean. Fishlegs and Meatlug hovered in place and as the quartet plummeted through the air Fishlegs simply held out his hand, tapping one of the twins – he was unsure of which – as they fell.
"You're it!"
"You're it!"
"No, you're it!"
"Guys!" Jack interrupted. "No tag-backs, remember?"
There was a pregnant pause before the twins replied in unison: "Oh yeeeeeeaahhhh."
Barf-and-Belch righted himself in the air, angling his wings and gaining elevation without the help of either of his chaotic riders. The twins caught sight of Jack, who was hanging in the air just above them. He gave them a cheeky grin before spinning in the air and speeding off, and unable to resist the challenge they gave chase.
"Astrid! Look alive!" the Winter spirit cried as he spiraled past her. Astrid threw a glance over her shoulder and, seeing the twins gaining, pressed her body closer to Stormfly's.
"Up, Stormfly! Go, go, go!"
Stormfly squawked and tilted her wings, turning at close to a ninety-degree angle as she shot straight up into the sky. The twins swept around at a much wider arc as they attempted to follow, putting more distance between them and their new target. Stormfly's wings cut the clouds as they disappeared into them and they made another sharp turn, attempting to shake off their pursuers. At this point Astrid was beginning to lose track of which way was up and which way was down, but she was too elated to care.
The zippleback and the deadly nadder whirled around each other in the clouds, their wings slicing the clouds and leaving streaks of fluff in their wake. Astrid laughed as she and Stormfly easily outmaneuvered the twins' clumsy attempts to tag her until she notice a greenish pallor to the clouds.
"Light it up, Belch!"
Astrid had time to do nothing but shield her eyes as Barf's gas combusted. The flames did not touch her, but as she felt a hand on the side of her head and heard an obnoxious voice calling "You're it!" she realized that hadn't been the point.
"C'mon Stormfly!" the viking girl cried as the pair dove back down through the clouds.
Below Astrid caught sight of the massive black shadow that was Toothless in flight. Smirking, she and Stormfly descended. Having learned from the first time, however, Hiccup was prepared for the aerial attack. Toothless's head-fins twitched as he caught the sound of Stormfly's wings beating in the air and as she came closer he tilted his wings to the side, swerving just out of Astrid's reach.
"C'mon Astrid! I'm starting to think you're slowing down!" Hiccup teased over his shoulder. Astrid responded with a glare and she and Stormfly accelerated forward. "Whoops." Hiccup patted Toothless's head, leaning so he could talk into his best friend's ear. "Well, that got her attention."
Toothless tucked his wings close to his body, dropping towards the ocean and then snapping up right before they hit the waves. At this point they were hardly even paying attention to whether or not they were being followed; a pod of thunderdrums rose to break the surface just underneath them and as one great wing cut the waves Hiccup flipped Toothless's tail fin for just a moment. He and the dragon spun underneath the thunderdrum's wing, and just above them Astrid and Stormfly were forced to pull up before they could collide with the wild dragon.
"Hey, no fair!" she cried, though her tone was playful. Hiccup threw her a smirk over his shoulder which she returned before leaning forward in her saddle and urging Stormfly onward.
The nightfury lived up to his reputation, however, as one of the fastest species of dragons. The water beneath them broke as they pierced the air, kicking up a spray of sea foam in their wake. Stormfly and Astrid dogged Toothless and Hiccup for several minutes, but the nightfury-rider pair always kept ahead, adding acrobatic loops and whirls to their flight in show and intentionally staying just out of reach, to Astrid's never ending frustration. Behind her Astrid could hear the other dragon riders cheering her on. It occurred to her that she could easily catch one of the others, but her competitive nature prevented her from giving up on Hiccup to go after one of the easier targets.
All of the sudden a blur of blue and white raced by her. Stormfly's wings shot out, catching the air and slowing down before they could crash into Jack, but he flew on ahead as though he had not even noticed. The shepherd's crook in his hand was alight, blue magic spiraling down its length from his fingertips. Before anyone realized what was happening Jack fired a bolt of blue light ahead of Hiccup and Toothless which transformed into a burst of powdery flakes. Visibility impaired, the two of them slowed as Hiccup tried to swipe the snow from his eyes. Toothless's lips parted and his tongue flapped in the air, catching the snowflakes that blew into his face.
Musical laughter rang out; Hiccup opened his eyes to see Jack flying right next to him. The spirit gave him a cheeky wave before rocketing ahead and before he could process what had happened Astrid had overtaken him on Stormfly, swatting the back of his head as she passed and shouting "Gotcha!"
"Okay, and how is that fair!?"
The two teens in front of him laughed and clapped their hands together in a high-five.
"Okay bud," Hiccup said just loud enough to be heard over the wind as he patted the side of Toothless's head. "Let's give 'em a taste of their own medicine."
Toothless's mouth shot open and he fired a violet plasma bolt straight ahead. The ball of flame flew in between Jack and Astrid – who faltered in surprise – and exploded in the air before them. The resulting flash of light and smoke stunned them only momentarily, allowing Toothless to gain significant ground, and when they started moving again it was in opposite directions, Astrid and Stormfly turning sharply to the right while Jack swerved to the left. The prosthetic clicked as Hiccup shifted it in the stirrup, steering his dragon left after Jack.
((He's right behind you!)) Baby Tooth chirped into Jack's ear. Casting his ice-blue eyes over his shoulder, Jack saw Toothless's silhouette growing larger and larger against the clouds as the distance between them slowly disappeared.
"Not for long he isn't," Jack boasted, turning his gaze ahead. His eyes swept across the horizon until they landed on several dark shapes in the distance rising from the waves. Throwing Hiccup a cheeky look, he shouted, "C'mon kiddo! Just try to keep up!" Then he twisted in the air, the Wind carrying him towards the crooked spires of rock in the distance.
"Let's go Toothless!" Hiccup leaned forward in the saddle as he urged his partner forward. Jack grew larger and larger as the distance separating them rapidly shrank, and Hiccup raised his body from the saddle, arm outstretched as he reached for the mischievous spirit, fingertips mere inches away from brushing the spirit's foot.
Suddenly Jack snapped to the side and Hiccup's eyes grew wide as he saw the jagged sea-stack jutting up from the waves ahead of him.
"Whoah!"
The scrawny viking yanked on Toothless's saddle and the nightfury shot straight up into the air, claws scraping over the stone they had avoided by a hair's breath. As they flew over the towering structure Hiccup once again caught sight of Jack who was hanging suspended in the air just ahead of them and giving the pair a hearty wave. Jack laughed before spinning and flying into the maze of sea-stacks, weaving fluidly around the rigid spires. Hiccup huffed and flipped Toothless's tail fin and the chase was on.
The trio swerved and spun through and around the forest of rising stone, sometimes only catching fleeting glimpses of one another as their game of tag transformed into a race. At one point Toothless and Jack were close enough that the spirit decided to just perch atop the nightfury's back. Hiccup threw a glance over his shoulder as they flew onward, beaming at the spirit, and then directed Toothless towards one of the spires. The dragon swerved around the thick base, spiraling up the length as Jack ran the tip of his staff over the surface, leaving a sparkling trail of ice in their wake.
Both boys whooped as they flew straight up into the clouds, out of sight of the rest of the riders below. Toothless's body sent a spray of fluffy white clouds in every direction as they broke the layer and Jack leaped from his back with a grin, flying in wide loops around the nightfury-rider pair and leaving wisps of snow-filled air in his wake. Hiccup laughed as he and Toothless spiraled through the wintry tunnel Jack had created mid-air. Suddenly Toothless's wings shot out, scattering the snow in every direction and he swerved in between clouds as though they were an obstacle course.
By now the sun was beginning to set, painting the clouds with the color of dusk. Hiccup and Jack trailed side-by-side over the pink and orange clouds, Jack riding his staff like a snowboard and Hiccup leaning up in Toothless's saddle so he could feel the wind flowing between his body and the dragon's as they flew. The two boys exchanged glances and laughed, their hearts pounding in exhilaration. Even Baby Tooth was beaming.
Unable to contain his excitement, Toothless shot out a plasma bolt. Jack chuckled and swerved up while Hiccup's smile fell and his shoulders sagged.
"Aw, not again..."
"You know," Jack teased, throwing a glance at the brunette, "That's a good look for you."
"Oh, shut up."
The sun was now slipping past the horizon and the five dragon riders plus Jack had returned to Berk's northern shore, lounging on the grass as their dragons caught their breath and basked in the waning light. Hiccup's hair stuck straight back and soot coated his face and his clothes. At a certain point Hiccup had expected one of the others to stop laughing long enough to ask if he was all right, but nobody did. Even Astrid was snickering at him.
"I can't remember the last time I had that much fun," Astrid admitted. At the moment she was leaning against Stormfly's side, stroking her tired dragon's back as Stormfly cooed in pleasure. "When was the last time we just played around like that?"
"Ruff and I tipped some yaks this morning," Tuffnut replied. He was leaning against Barf-and-Belch, arms folded across his stomach and foot bouncing rhythmically. Ruffnut sat beside him, her pose mirroring her brother's. "Does that count?"
With a roll of her eyes and an annoyed huff, Astrid replied, "No, of course it doesn- Wait, you were with us this morning fixing Mildew's roof. When did you have time to go yak-tipping?"
The twins exchanged looks and deigned not to volunteer that information.
"I just wish I had brought my notes," Fishlegs said without looking up from Meatlug's knobbly toes, which he was massaging dutifully. "It looks like Jack's speed is comparable to Toothless's. I'd love to see them racing at top speed."
Jack hummed, not opening his eyes. He lay on his back with his arms folded behind his head as Baby Tooth lounged on his chest, the shepherd's crook lying just within arm's reach.
"I don't really think I have a set speed limit," he admitted. "It depends on the Wind; I can go as fast as she can."
Nobody questioned Jack's form of address for the Wind.
"It's getting pretty late," Hiccup pointed out as he pushed himself to his feet. Toothless mirrored his partner, hopping up and flicking his tail eagerly as Toothless placed one foot in the stirrup. "We should get back before it gets dark."
The twins groaned, but climbed into Barf-and-Belch's saddles, Astrid and Fishlegs following suit. Only Jack remained where he was.
"G'night!" he called, still not opening his eyes. Astrid stared at him in confusion.
"You're staying out here?" she asked, Stormfly repeating the question in dragon-speak.
"Yeah, I'm good," the spirit replied. "I found a place to crash in the woods."
"In the..." Astrid trailed off, staring at Jack incredulously. "Why don't you come with us? I have an extra room in my house, if you need a place to stay."
Finally Jack's eyelids parted, though he still made no move to stand. Tilting his head back, he locked eyes with Astrid and offered her a glassy smile.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm used to sleeping outside."
Before Astrid could open her mouth to retort that being used to something didn't necessarily make it okay, Hiccup cut her off.
"Actually, maybe it's for the best. Could you imagine how our parents would react? 'Hi Dad, this is Jack. He's an immortal ice spirit from another world who got stuck in ours for an indefinite amount of time. Do you mind if he bunks with us for a bit?' My dad would tie me to a mast before I could blink."
Jack sniggered.
"I'd pay to see that."
"But, there are wild dragons in the woods," Fishlegs pointed out. "And not just dragons; bears, wolves, boars, poisonous plants..."
"Hey, relax," Jack said as he finally moved to grab his staff. The Wind pulled him to his feet, Baby Tooth taking to the air next to him as he continued. "I've been taking care of myself for three hundred years. Trust me, I'm good."
Nobody could formulate a proper response to that.
Well, nobody aside from Ruffnut who sighed dreamily and said, "You look good for your age."
Laughing, Jack twirled his staff in his hands and assured the teens, "So it's all right, all right? Don't worry about me."
Neither Astrid nor Fishlegs looked particularly reassured. Neither was Hiccup, if the lanky teen were being perfectly honest with himself, but he didn't think trying to push Jack into anything would help. Perhaps someday Jack would trust them enough to sleep in their presence willingly, but like he had with Toothless, Hiccup knew that he would have to work for it.
So instead of joining Astrid in Fishlegs in their side of the argument, Hiccup offered Jack a sincere smile and said, "Hey, why don't you come back to the academy again tomorrow?"
Jack smiled, tilting his head.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Rubbing his partner's head, Hiccup went on, "We had a lot of fun today, and I'm sure the dragons would enjoy having you visit."
"Absolutely," Astrid chimed in.
"You can visit me anytime," Ruffnut said, giving Jack a wink while her brother groaned. Jack blinked, smiling politely at the pair.
"Yeah... Yeah, I think I'd like that." Exchanging a look with Baby Tooth, he added, "We'll meet you at the academy tomorrow then?"
Hiccup nodded as Toothless's wings flared out.
"Tomorrow."
And like that, the five dragon riders shot up into the sky, waving down at Jack and shouting their goodbyes. Jack waved back, keeping his eyes skyward until long after he had vanished. Baby Tooth's wings buzzed by his ear. She said nothing, but radiated happiness and awe and disbelief equaling Jack's.
For a while there, Jack felt… normal. These people wanted him and Baby Tooth to come back and visit them, wanted to talk and play with them, and wanted to make sure that they were safe, even if their intentions were misguided. It wasn't like with the Guardians, where they'd more or less ignored him until they needed him. Not that he blamed them, exactly, it wasn't like they were the only ones. Still, he couldn't help comparing them to the Riders of Berk, who really didn't seem to have any underlying reasons for asking him and Baby Tooth to join them at their academy.
The Guardians were still his family, but for the first time in his immortal life Jack had made friends.
(Author's Note: I'd like to point out that I am not trying to paint the Guardians in a bad light. The Guardians love Jack, genuinely, but I can't help but feel a little annoyed that they ignored him until the needed him. I wouldn't be surprised if Jack has had similar thoughts. The whole point of the game of tag was to help Jack and the Riders of Berk bond while staying in character. I also think that Hiccup and Jack would get along the best, not just because of my own bias towards the pairing, but because they both enjoy the freedom that flight brings in a way that no one else in their respective groups do. Yes, North and Toothiana and Sandman can fly, but I think that they're a bit like Fishlegs and Snotlout and the twins in that their flight lacks the same spirit that Jack and Hiccup's flight possesses.)