The remainder of the evening was spent talking or rather Jack telling of his travels with the enraptured humans listening in.
"So how many languages can you speak?" Hiccup asked.
Jack paused for a moment of thought before scowling to himself and counting on pale fingers. "Uhm…more than 10? I keep losing count. Languages keep dying out and new ones take their place. It would be a lot easier if they just stayed put," he pouted.
Rapunzel and Merida got a chuckle out of his child-like expression, but didn't comment on it in favor of kindling the happiness their new friend showed when beginning his many tales.
"As interesting as your story is, Jack, I think Toothless is getting hungry." Sure enough, just after the Viking's announcement, the dragon's stomach growled loudly.
The frostling burst into a genuine laugh that shook his shoulders. It was quickly passed around the group until all of them were holding their stomachs in breathless pain. After a few moments, though, it tapered out and left them panting for air as occasional chuckles escaped.
It was quite a relief to the teens to see that spark of pure joy stay rooted within his still teary eyes.
"If you want, I can go get you guys something," Jack offered excitedly once he could catch his breath. "I know of a great place to get some food." He thought for a moment. "Actually, if I remember right, there should be an empty shack nearby. You guys can hole up there while I run out and restock your supplies!" As he spoke, he lightly jogged through the forest with the teens following his lead.
Sure enough, within a few minutes, they came upon a rickety, old barn that looked- if nothing else –like it could accommodate them for the night. Jack flew around it a couple of times and even inside using broken windows and the absent door. It must have been to his liking as he rejoined the group with a bright smile. "So you guys can stay here while I gather some things!"
A look was passed around the humans before Merida nodded. "Tha' sounds good, Frosty, but we should tag along with ya in case o' trouble. Don' want ya left on yer lonesome."
Shrugging with another smile at the nickname, winter's child twirled his trusty staff while answering. "Well, I can only carry one person. I don't really feel like falling out of the sky; definitely not fun."
Filing the last comment under the growing list of 'What to ask Jack about later', the teens began to discuss who should be where and with whom. Despite the quick agreement that Rapunzel should be the one to accompany the boy due to her size, Jack became bored and began laying ice around the clearing. He skated gracefully without so much as a hint of concentration on his face as he wove between the trees with the ever-hyper dragon sliding after. It was quiet, but the humans swore they could hear the boy hum distractedly.
"Ready to go, Jack?" the princess asked politely.
The sprite nodded excitedly, gliding his way back to them and reaching a hand out towards his new flying partner. She took it without hesitation, but nothing could stay the slight drop in her stomach when the boy lifted them off the ground, wind circling them with a hint of anticipation. "Hold on, Punzie," Jack warned mischievously.
That was the only warning she received before wind swept them away. Rapunzel, having never flown before, tightened her grasp on the sprite's arm in a wave of momentary fear, but it quickly faded away as laughter bubbled up within her throat. While she just met the boy, she trusted Jack enough to forget her worries and let fun take her over. It wasn't hard to do after she rid herself of nerves. Jack made sure to do several twists and turns while keeping fairly close to the ground in case of an emergency. After the third loop-di-loop, he calmed his flight so he would not run out of energy too quickly.
Falling into a peaceful silence, the frostling couldn't resist the smile that overcame his expression. Silence was always the invitation to dark thoughts and depressing realizations, but this was nothing like that. It was relaxing and even though they weren't talking to each other, the mere presence of the other was companionable. Jack marveled about this as a large city came into view.
"Land ho!" he giggled childishly as Rapunzel laughed alongside. "Where do you want to go?"
There was only a moment of consideration before she answered. "Food first and then we should find some bedding. That floor looked uncomfortable."
Nodding in agreement, Jack whooped while mentally asking wind to find them food. The breeze complied, of course, and began returning with different smells, leading them to the darkened alley of a nearby hut.
Gracefully, they landed beside a large trash barrel and before the princess had time to ask why, the young sprite arched his staff upwards with a flourishing spin, encouraging a flurry of snow to blow the lid off. The boy wasted no time before he hooked the crook of his staff onto his shoulder and heaved himself onto the edge to peer inside.
"Wow," he breathed excitedly. "Look at all this, Punzie! There's a whole meal in here; definitely enough for all of us and then some!" He pulled his lithe form over the top and leaned further into without falling while his companion looked on in astonishment.
Mistaking her expression for surprise over their lucky find, Jack laughed brightly and began to shuffle the trash around to get at a surprisingly-hole-free bag. As soon as he had it in his hands, he filled it with anything and everything in reach, even calling forth the wind to help slide some items closer.
Rapunzel couldn't believe her eyes. Why was Jack digging in the trash; and why was he so excited about it? Surely he didn't really mean to eat garbage. There was no way. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud gasp from the boy in question as he delicately held up what appeared to be an entire loaf of burnt bread. She couldn't stand to watch any longer as her suspicions were confirmed by the boy tearing a small bit off and reverently bring it to his pale lips.
"Stop!"
The sudden burst of sound startled the eternal child enough that he dropped the loaf onto the ground. Wide, blue eyes stared at the brunet for a moment and she could swear there was a hint of fear in that gaze before it fell to the bread. Just as he began to stoop down and retrieve his lost treasure, the princess stopped him with the gentle hand to his shoulder. She did not miss his flinch at the contact.
Careful to keep her words soft, Rapunzel continued as well as she could. "Jack, what are you doing?" Everything inside of her hoped it was a joke and that the young boy would soon dissolve into laughter at her reaction, but that hope was cast away by the confusion marring his pale features.
"I'm gathering food to take back to Hiccup and Merida like we said we were going to…" he explained slowly as if it was she who was acting strange.
"No," She almost didn't know how to go one without hurting his feelings. "I mean: why are you looking in the garbage?" His expression was completely lost, so she continued. "No one eats trash, Jack. Have you ever eaten before?"
"Of course I have," he said with a quirked brow.
"Then why are you looking here and not…" Realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
Jack's confusion faded into resignation. "Yeah, not a whole lot of alternatives. No one can see me so I can't go anywhere else. Even if they could, I have no money to buy anything and I don't want to steal."
There was a pregnant pause as the princess fought to find something to say. No amount of words would do anything to comfort the young boy nor would they help him in any way. All she had left was to do what she could for him in the time they had together. Forcing a convincing smile on her face, she held out her hand welcomingly.
"I have money with me so we can get something from a store instead, sound good?"
He blinked for a moment before limitless excitement overcame his features as he tossed the bag of trash back into the bin before taking her hand and allowing her to pull him into a small market she had seen on their flight in.
"I've never been in a store!" Jack was saying, his voice portraying the child in his eyes. "I can't wait to try something that hasn't been in the trash first!"
Honesty poured out of his words and it broke the girl's heart, but she smiled past it in favor of entering the doors. Jack remained quiet, though he bounced on his toes with boundless energy. Rapunzel fought back tears as she realized he was making it easier for her not to speak to him and draw unwanted attention to herself.
How lonely his life must be.
It only took a few minutes for her to gather all the food and blankets they could possibly need, pay with one of the many large pouches of coins she had with her, and exit the store juggling the multiple bags. Before she could get too much farther and hand half the load to her silent companion, an unfamiliar male voice called out from behind causing her to turn back out of curiosity. Sure enough, it was directed at her. A boy, looking a few years older than her, was jogging to catch up; she stayed still as he came closer.
By Jack's expression and the tightening grip on his staff, he was put on edge by this stranger.
"Hey, I noticed you were having trouble with those bags. You should let me help." It was clear he wasn't really asking her, but she politely declined anyway.
"Thank you for the offer, but my friend is close by."
The expression on his face darkened slightly as the invisible sprite harshened his glare. "Then let me walk you there. It can be dangerous this time of night."
By this point, Rapunzel could tell this boy was not here out of the goodness of his heart, but rather to get her away from the store with him in tow. "Sorry," she attempted, hoping he would leave before Jack acted on the spark of anger in his eye. "I've already come this far, I'm sure I'll make it just fine on my own."
"Fine," the stranger all but mumbled.
Thinking she had won the small argument, the princess turned to continue on her merry way when she felt a strong grip attach itself to her shoulder. She didn't even have time to stop before Jack apparently had enough. By the time she faced the two boys, the stranger had been knocked back by a strong gust of wind and frozen to the ground where he lay trembling. The complete confusion was all too obvious on the stranger's face, but Jack's expression only held the upmost contempt as his jaw was set and his staff was raised in one steady hand, still glowing from conjuring the ice.
All semblance of childhood innocence had vanished leaving behind shadowed eyes so full of dangerous intent they seemed to glow with hatred; a thread of black interrupting the endless blue. The sight made Rapunzel shiver. Even the stranger appeared able to sense the threat nearby as he struggled frantically to get out of the merciless ice that began to slowly thicken. To the princess' dismay, watching the human brought an eerie smirk to the eternal boy's face; the countless years of witnessing horrors were visible in the child's darkened, blue/black eyes.
It took more courage than it should, but the brunet soon gathered enough bravery to place the lightest of touches onto Jack's shoulder. As expected, he flinched, but it was now paired with a violent swing of his staff that was stopped just short of her side. Gaze brightening in realization, the age within those endless blue orbs decreased rapidly, bringing back the pure innocence only a child could possess. Jack shrunk in on himself, hugging his staff close and losing his concentration on the ice trapping the human boy though neither bothered to watch him run screaming.
"Look at the mess you've made, Jackson. Look at her face; there's fear in her eyes. She is afraid of you. She will leave you as alone as you have been all these years; as you'll always be. You're too dangerous. You're a monster"
"I…I'm…not…I don't…I…" he trailed off miserably, continuing once his frantic thoughts were a bit more clear, though the guilt and fear were all-too-obvious layering his small voice as his eyes were cast down. "Please don't be afraid." The plea was nothing more than a whisper, but that did nothing to distract from the pain hidden behind the words. "I...I didn't mean to. 'm sorry." Jack began to take steps away from her as if about to run away. "Please don't hate me."
Her heart broke at the despair winter's child was letting show; he looked so vulnerable- nothing like the terrifying force of nature he had been only moments ago. Despite his previous assurance that those centuries alone did not affect him, the still-open wounds were all too obvious. Much to her dismay, however, no amount of her power can heal him. All she can do now is comfort him and that is exactly what she did as she wrapped her arms around the small form. He flinched as if he was anticipating an attack, but he did nothing to stop her should she take a swing.
Surprise and utter relief sank into his core the moment he realized she had no ill intentions. It took a few breaths of hesitation before he dropped his staff completely and melted into the princess' arms in the embrace he had unknowingly waited endless years to receive. Circling her abdomen with his cold, boney arms made her shiver, but this only caused her to hold him closer. He was unwilling to break the contact even after several minutes had passed, though she seemed just as reluctant to let go. Nevertheless, it could not last forever and they finally parted only a short step away.
Pulling himself back together, thankful that he resisted the almost overwhelming urge to cry, Jack impressively used a quick flick of his foot to toss his staff into the air where he caught it. Rapunzel laughed at his antics while brushing her own tears away from her still-glossy eyes.
"Are you ready to go?" the boy asked softly once she cleared her face of any signs of sadness, though her redeyes couldn't be helped.
Nodding, the brunet ran a hand through her hair to straighten it after the intense gust of wind Jack called swept around them. It was only a quick afterthought that reminded them to grab the bags that had dropped to the ground during the encounter with the stranger. They laughed about their oversight for the entire flight and even a bit afterwards.
Their giggling alerted the other teens to their presence. Hiccup raised a brow at them as Merida begged to know what was so funny which only made the two youngest laugh all the more. Eventually, they were able to choke out what happened bringing the Viking to roll his eyes and chuckle along with the rest of the howling teens while Toothless looked on in complete confusion.
Jack couldn't remember the last time he had laughed; let alone this much- it almost hurt. Have you ever laughed, Jackson? Why would you when there was no one to laugh with; no one to hear you? The voice threatened to sober him, but he fought the dark thoughts away in favor of trying to breathe past the remaining chuckles.
Rapunzel was overjoyed at seeing her new friend loosen up so much, but she didn't missed the brief, black haze that shadowed his eyes for such a quick moment. Smile fading, she glanced at Merida and found her trying to swallow her giggling and then at Hiccup who met her eye with the same expression of confusion before his gaze returned to Jack. He must have seen the shadow too.
Strange, Hiccup considered after realizing what he saw wasn't just in his head, it reminded him slightly of Pitch, but that didn't make any sense. He soon decided that worrying about it now would only lead him to ridiculous conclusions so he would just have to keep an eye on the boy. A mental note quickly passed to ask Rapunzel to do the same as she seemed a bit more intuitive than Merida, though he figured he might as well get as many in on this as he could; no sense in leaving the last of them in the dark.
Night fell quickly after they ate, set up blankets, started a small fire (asking for the help of a dragon, of course), and continued their conversations. They settled quickly and efficiently, having enough supplies to comfort all of them and then some. Jack lay farthest from the fire atop the blankets offered him while the two girls curled up within their fluffy piles of warmth close enough to the heat of the fire, but far enough away to keep their new friend in reaching distance. Hiccup was wrapped in a dragon wing and settled into his friend's side.
Winter's child fought sleep once the others had drifted into the welcoming darkness. He was far too proud to admit it aloud, but he feared that if he went to sleep, he would wake to find everything a dream; that he would wake alone. That, and the promise of nightmares had always haunted him when he slept. Eventually, however, even he couldn't resist the pull of the dreary oblivion
It had been an exhausting day.