Always Gotta Be Brave
A/N: Okay so my mom actually helped me write this lol. She's over the whole "me-using-the-computer-too-much" thing and is now totally okay with it. I don't know either. She jsut proof read, which come to think of it was a stupid idea because she has bad vision but she liked it. So this is really long overdue because I've been juggling things like my social life, my internet life, my school life (is there such a thing?) all with my two hands. But I'm grateful I still have readers like you guys who have been pouring the love in buckets. I feel undeserving but so so grateful. So thank you everyone!
You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.
I made sure to strap myself in and complete the little routine Toothless and I practiced every time we were about to fly. I wanted every single thing to be done precisely the way they were meant to be. Everything, even the amount and quality of the food we were packing had to be in order of taste and preference not to mention nutrition. It was all an exact science and I had to carry it out.
Jack however, didn't see my partiality for order the same way I did. He chuckled and tousled my hair before giving me a wicked grin and flew down to get his staff.
As I tried to fight the stupid scarlet color rising to fill in my cheeks just from his touch, a thought occurred to me. This was it. No turning back. We were going to travel further away from Berk than I have ever been and risk my life all to help a stranger no, a myth that turned out to be true, because he was really kind and always had me choking on butterflies every time he looked in my direction. And the worst part? I didn't question it for a minute. In fact thinking of Jack and his cold self made me feel inexplicably warm inside. What was this feeling and why did I like it so much?
When Jack turned around he found me grinning like the village idiot as I let my thoughts entertain me. It took a nudge in the shoulder for me to snap out of it and realize he was trying to talk to me.
"What?" I asked cleverly.
"I said Mount Chridion will be cold, so I was asking if you had anything warm to protect you from the elements."
As I nodded, thoughts of my coats and what I would much prefer to warm me up came to mind but I banished them immediately when I thought of the improbability- Jack's arms would most likely make me freeze to death than anything else. Well they should've. Truth be told I could feel goose bumps from where he nudged me on the shoulder, but the tingling wasn't like the bitter chill of winter frost. It was much more pleasant and came with it a buzz that went straight to my head. Tentatively I rubbed the spot.
"I guess that's what they mean by cold shoulder." He chuckled and I gave him my most murderous glare.
He put his hands up in surrender before taking his place at my left flank and preparing himself for take off.
Mount Chridion was retched. Jack wasn't kidding-for a change-when he said it would be cold. I kind of felt bad for the poor people forced to live in the neighboring towns out of sheer misfortune. Even Toothless with his thick skin kept giving me looks to communicate his discomfort of this wintry place. It was so bad I had to wear both my fur skin coats to keep warm. Jack however, looked at peace.
He bobbed and weaved through the blasts of ice and wind careening towards us with the ease of a piece of parchment drifting through the wind. At any other time I could appreciate this thing of beauty, now I looked at him with envious dislike as I wished I could look so majestic. He caught me staring, gawking was more like it, and gave me a friendly wink that made me, once again feel stupidly warm inside.
A couple minutes later we landed in a remote location, discreetly hidden from the villagers. Though in my opinion it didn't seem like they noticed much. I mean a giant Night Fury flying around not so subtly would tip off anyone with eyes. But I guess the weather and the poverty would make anyone preoccupied. After unhooking myself from Toothless I asked Jack why this was.
He frowned as he mulled it over. "This land is cursed."
I almost fell very ungracefully off Toothless. "What?"
"Glacier, was an evil King who had the power to control ice and snow, kind of like me except with more powerful magic. When he died he cursed this place to have perpetual winter. Needless to say, it sucks." The spirit explained, rising up to help me down.
"So it's like Berk?"
"Yeah, just a lot tougher and more unpleasant."
I scowled. "Guess I'm going to like it here."
"Home Sweet home."
"Oh Jack we have to help them." I thought of the villager's sad faces and how much I hated living in Berk with its cold, bleak weather. No one deserved to suffer as much as I had to. And from the looks of things, they were suffering. Surely there must have been something Jack could do. After all he was the being of ice and snow. Glacier shouldn't have anything on him.
The older boy smiled and it did a strange sparkly thing to his eyes. I looked away to protect the last shred of my sanity.
"I can try, but it will take his stone first."
"Right, the one at the top of the mountain? That should be easy."
Jack nodded his head. "I don't ever remember getting this far. I don't remember what kind of challenge awaited me here but in any case we have to lay low for awhile."
"Do you think something's guarding it?"
"It would make sense. I'm sure the King wouldn't just die and leave his most precious stone unattended without some sort of magic or creature protecting it."
I gulped, suddenly having second thoughts. "And y-you still think we have a shot. I know nothing about magic. Heck, who am I kidding? I can't even read the words off that piece of paper that has just instantaneously taken over our lives much less rescue a village covered in ice and steal a magical stone that may or may not be guarded by mysterious creatures."
The words came out so rushed that it took several breaths for me to recover. Jack saw this as a perfect opportunity to wrap an arm around me in his own way of placating me. "Hic, there you go doubting yourself again. You are so much better than this."
There was the buzzy feeling again. Self-consciously I jumped out of his grip. "I-I know Jack…" But the words trailed off as I suddenly forgot what I was going to say. Darn it, Jack Frost was a detriment to my eloquence.
Personal space was a foreign concept to him obviously, because he turned my head so we were face to face. "Hic," He started and his deep voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "There is nothing to be afraid of. You have me and I won't let anything happen to you."
I blinked, surprised again by his unwavering sincerity. He of course, had nothing to do with my personal safety and I didn't want him to think for a second that he was responsible if something bad were to happen. It was something not many people understood about me; I liked to take care of myself, handle things on my own. I didn't believe in fate, I believed in making it yourself. But I would admit that I was afraid, very afraid. And though I would rather stupidly, follow him to the ends of the Earth, I would always have to hesitate because fear would get in the way.
His words comforted me and I let them. Because although they held promises I should've been weary of trusting, I felt he wanted nothing else in return and that was a pleasant change. Physically and mentally I relaxed, meeting his lazuli blue eyes with my emerald ones but only for a second before the tell tale blush rose to the tips of my ears and I had to look away at something a thousand times less interesting than him, like the view from the edge of the hill we were perched on.
There wasn't much to see except the sunset descending on the horizon. I glanced over at Toothless to see him preparing himself for slumber and I sighed; we were going to need to make another fire and find more food and then tomorrow we'd get to business.
A smile crested my face as I saw Jack reach over to pet Toothless but the big dragon only growled at him while the spirit reiterated with a sneer of his own.
I laughed at them both until it morphed into a yawn and I realized that I, along with the setting sun, needed my rest especially if we were to liberate the villagers of their curse the following morning. But I didn't want to sleep just yet. I watched, pretending to be enraptured in eying Toothless, Jack as he went around gathering materials for the fire. I still had so much I wanted to ask him, like what it felt like to die, where was his family, did he even have a family? Was it even worth it to try to remember them?
These questions rang through my head as I watched him across the fire. I was absolutely sure I was inconspicuous until Jack flat out told me that I wasn't fooling anyone. "Hiccup, do you have something you want to ask me?" He asked, smirking at me with that all knowing I-know-what-you've-been-thinking look.
Quick! Look nonchalant. Play it cool. "No." And the words came out a full octave higher than usual. That was so tragic. Why do I bother?
Jack's smirk grew impossibly more crooked. "You sure?"
Save yourself. "I am absolutely positive that I wasn't thinking about asking you what it would be like to be dead." Oh this just keeps getting better and better.
Jack's smirk faltered before he caught himself and schooled his face into perfect indifference. "It's not all that awful. Uhm, though dead isn't the word I would use. How about nonexistent?"
"You don't have to answer me. I'm sorry-what?" I looked at him through my fingers.
He shrugged. "Being nonexistent. It's not so bad. Think of it like an eternity of boredom, no it's like having everything but without having anyone to share it with."
"So it's like boredom and loneliness. Wow. I know what that's like. I don't really have friends. If it weren't for Toothless I'd be at home wasting precious years of my life studying the ceiling."
Jack smiled. "Boy aren't we one messed up pair."
"Ha, I guess. Jack?"
"Yes."
"How'd you know you even had a past if the only life you know is this one. I mean you say the man in the moon doesn't tell you much. How could you possibly know?"
He straightened up, rubbing the back of his head, looking uncomfortable. He made a face and it was obvious he was going to lie. "Jack Frost, don't you dare lie to me." I said in my best take-no-prisoners voice, molding my face into a frown.
Recovering, he flashed me another crooked smile before finally deciding to give up. "I dreamt it."
I coughed, quite suavely. "What?"
Jack returned to rubbing the back of his head, his eyes though seemed lost to the world. "They are more like nightmares. Scary ones. Nightmares of searching for something, of hunger, of pain, of feeling lost. I didn't even know I could sleep until I wake up and I find myself feeling too warm and I'm almost choking on air. Every. Single. Time."
His eyes burn with more sincerity. There's not much I could say. So I didn't say anything.
"It's the only taste I get of what being human feels like. And you might think this strange but I look forward to them. They give me some semblance of an existence."
I nodded my head in understanding. It was just like the dreams I had of my mom. Sure I'd wake up mourning a terrible loss but I would look forward to them nonetheless, after all they were the only way I could jog my memory of her. I couldn't afford to be picky.
But to have such horrid dreams of the only memories that mattered to you and then going around each day as if nothing distressed you, was a feat I could never imagine having enough strength to accomplish.
"Well," he exclaimed, rising up on his feet with the kind of grace only fairies and swans could summon. "It's about that time again. You're tired and you'll need your rest."
I nodded, trying my best to be convincing, though I could feel my eyelids drooping and several yawns building in my throat. "No, I need to know more mmph."
He laughed softly, "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that last part. The Sandman is patiently waiting for your compliance."
"Jack you sure are strange." I said, feigning indifference though I'm sure he could see by the way I visibly perked up that I was interested in this "Sandman".
He shoved his hands into the pockets of what he called his "hoodie" and glanced away from me towards the stars. I stared up too and the sight was breathtaking. The stars glowed a beautiful silver against the pitch black sky. I gasped and when I looked back to see if Jack was seeing the same thing I was, I found him staring at me, his startlingly blue eyes twinkling with an intensity that I had given to the stars just seconds ago.
I blinked then, out of surprise and when I peered up, he was no longer in front of me on the opposite side of the fire but beside me, inching another strong arm around my waist.
"Are you cold?" He asked, fanning his minty breath in my face.
"N-no" I nodded, trying to rid my head of the fog suddenly rising and filling every crevice of my brain.
"Are you sure?" Darn, he's coming closer. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. He smells so good. Like spearmint and pine cones.
Say something wise and flirty. "I-I don't want you to disappear on me." Yep, why do I bother?
He chuckled and the sound did strange things to my stomach. "Trust me. I couldn't leave you even if I wanted to. I hope you like the sound of forever because that's how long I plan to stay. "
Through my sleep-deprived, fog filled brain the only response I could find was: "forever isn't long enough."
He laughed again, Odin what an amazing sound. How did I ever live without hearing that sound? And then he kissed me on the forehead. The only thing I remember is falling asleep on his shoulder as we both looked at the stars. I fell asleep that night with dreams of snowy mountains and fearless dragons.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it. More chapters to come, only warnings is that this is an adventure fic and boyxboy but then again you knew that going in. Still trying and sort of failing to keep the disney feel haha, please don't kill me lol.