The Big Four: Return of the Dark Ages
4-The Three Musketeers
Jack wasn't shocked, no.
He was used to the darkness.
It only meant one thing.
Pitch had come for him.
Hiccup burst into a fit of giggles while Rapunzel facepalmed and Merida rolled her eyes. Jack gave them a strange look.
What was so funny about Pitch coming to attack them?
Hiccup walked over to the window and put his hand on his hip like a scolding mother. Then, with a high-pitched voice, "Toothless... you've been told not to do that to us, silly boy."
Rapunzel burst out laughing as Jack looked lost.
Jack looked at her. "What?"
She put a finger up to silence him while she caught her breath. Inhaling sharply, she said, "Toothless is a Night Fury. A rare dragon, also Hiccup's pet."
He raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at the boy conversing with the dragon outside.
"We're allowed one pet to cross over with us," she explained further. A small green chameleon revealed himself from under Rapunzel's golden hair. She held her hand out and he hopped into it, looking at Jack suspiciously. "This is Pascal, my pet." Jack nodded in a silent response.
"Plus, we get our own dragon to ride as well," Merida added, pulling a chair over and sitting in it. "Mine's a Typhoomerang, he's red and likes to burn things. I named him Fergie, in honour of me dad."
Jack listened with interest, just like when he was first being shown around North's toy shop.
Rapunzel nodded. "They live near Hiccup's end of this place. Buttercup, which is my dragon; lives there along with Fergie and Toothless. I believe we can go do that now, actually; find a dragon for you, Jack."
He pointed to himself, looking at her. "Me? Own a dragon? Um, don't they breathe fire? Fire and ice don't exactly mix, sister."
Merida chuckled, rolling her head along with her eyes. "Not all dragons breathe fire, laddie. Some spit water or a sonic blast or somethin' else like that. Ask Hiccup, he's the dragon expert."
As if on cue, Hiccup walked over to the trio; a serious look on his face. "Trouble's brewing," he spoke solemnly, staring at all of them at once. "They've infiltrated the Northern Lands. Something's gone terribly wrong in the mortal world."
Jack's eyes widened as he suddenly stood up, almost falling back down as the dizziness from his previous condition settled back in. "It is Pitch," he whispered angrily.
Hiccup looked at Jack with a slight smirk nearly hidden in his serious face. "Looks like this will be your first mission, Frost."
"First mission?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
He nodded. "As a Protector."
"Well, that's a generic name..." he muttered under his breath sarcastically.
Merida rolled her eyes, having heard him. "We actually call ourselves the Three Musketeers, but I got a feelin' that doesn't apply anymore."
Rapunzel shook her head. "He makes four."
Jack watched the two girls curiously. "Who makes four?"
Merida facepalmed. "Ye do, dummy."
Jack frowned at her. "Not like I knew what you girls were talking about."
She shrugged. "Well, now ye do. Get on with it."
Hiccup clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, annoyance evident in his voice as he spoke again. "We can talk about this later, Merida; but right now, we gotta catch a flight outta here and into the mortal world. Jack, we'll choose your dragon and experiment with you later; just pick someone to ride with on our way there." He nodded curtly, stepping almost unnoticeably towards Rapunzel. Hiccup grinned. "Alright, Punz and Jack on Buttercup then. Merida, you've got Fergie, and I've got Toothless. Alright, let's roll." He strolled over to the window and hopped out of it as if it were an entryway, and Jack eyed the place where Hiccup once was; wondering how mentally stable that boy really was.
However, moments later; Hiccup rose back up to view, riding a beautiful black dragon who had big, green cat-like eyes and a silly toothy (well, toothless-y) grin on its face. Jack watched, not sure how to react to the event unfolding before him.
"Want a lift to Berk, Jack? We gotta pick up the girls' dragons there," he asked from his spot on his dragon.
Jack waved it off with his hand, smirking. "Nah, I got the Wind to take me." In a quiet response, the Wind ruffled his hair a little; making him smile.
Hiccup shrugged. "Alright, just keep close. I don't think you know the area of the Somnium Realm very well."
"The what the what?"
Hiccup chuckled. "Somnium Realm, the place we live; where we are right now."
"Somnium is Latin for dream," Rapunzel added. "Read it somewhere in my mortal life."
"Oh," Jack said, dropping the subject.
Merida rolled her eyes again, getting impatient and pushing past Jack and Rapunzel to head to the window. "Got'cha hair ready, lassie? I gotta get down to Angus."
Rapunzel nodded, walking up to the window and looping her hair into a hook above it that Jack couldn't see from the inside. Jack watched in awe as what appeared to be several feet of hair being gently guided to the ground which he knew was a long way down. Merida grinned at Rapunzel before grabbing onto her hair and jumping out the window. Jack watched, amazed that Rapunzel didn't even appear to be in any kind of pain from someone basically pulling on her hair. A shout from below told them that Merida had hit the bottom, and a wild neigh from a horse was heard as she rode off in the direction of Berk.
"Punz, need a ride?" Hiccup asked the blonde girl as she pulled her hair out of the hook.
She nodded and then climbed onto Toothless once he flew a little closer to the tower window. Jack stepped onto the windowsill and watched as the dragon flew back from the tower and up into the sky. It took him a few moments to realise that he had to follow them.
He silently called for the Wind, and the Wind took him up into the skies; his staff now firmly back in his grasp once again. He laughed, his first true laugh since the Battle of the Sands back on Earth. Rapunzel turned her head around as he flew up beside them, grinning at him. He grinned back, winking at her as he dived down, doing a flip in the air before soaring back up high above the pair on the dragon; calling out into the sky just because he can.
Momentarily, he forgot the troubles he had been facing back in Burgess; and just plain enjoyed himself as he ducked and swerved and did all the other cool air tricks in the open sky before Toothless began to make his descent. Jack followed close behind, landing with the grace he possessed before the incident back home. Rapunzel climbed off Toothless and met up with Jack, who gave her a maniacal grin. Hiccup hopped off as well, giving his dragon a nice pat on the back before walking over to Jack.
"Welcome to Berk," he said, gesturing to the land around him. He looked about, and let out a solemn sigh. "At least, this is how I remember it." Jack looked at Hiccup in concern before the young Viking shook his head and straightened his vest, returning to his normal self.
A rowdy cry echoed only moments before everyone had to duck from an incoming fireball. A giant dragon flew above them all before landing a few feet in front of them. A laughing redhead jumped off the dragon, stroking its side lovingly as she watched the fire burn on the grass beside her.
Jack frowned at Merida. "You trying to melt me, girl?" He crossed his arms in frustration, which looked odd since he was still holding his staff.
Merida just laughed. "Told ye the lad liked burnin' things, ye all just happen'd to be in his line o' fire."
Hiccup sighed, climbing onto his dragon once more. "You just need to train your dragon better, that's what. We are living beings, not dying firewood."
Rapunzel giggled at Hiccup's remark, then looked at Jack expectantly.
"What?" he asked after he noticed she had been staring.
She smiled. "Let's go get Buttercup." She took off into the silent village, and Jack had to fly to keep up.
She disappeared into a house, and when he opened the door after her; he was met with a surprise.
Somehow, her hair was suddenly braided with the end only just grazing the ground; and she was petting and whispering loving nonsensical things to an orange-pink dragon.
He leaned against the doorframe, amazed with the scene before him. The dragon turned to face him, and its colour changed.
Jack gasped.
Rapunzel laughed, petting the dragon again as she explained to him what was going on. "She's a Mood Dragon. She changes colour based on her emotions."
"How did you know I was going to ask that question in particular?" Jack teased, smirking and walking closer toward the dragon; which began to pale into a light green.
"Back up, Jack," Rapunzel warned. "You're scaring her."
"Oh," he said, doing as he was told. He did not lose his playful attitude however. "Can you like, read minds or something though?" he joked.
She laughed. "Yes, actually." She laughed harder when Jack raised both of his eyebrows in response. "I'm just kidding, Jack. I don't think I'd like reading minds even if I could." She lowered her voice a bit as if she was afraid someone would overhear her and spoke directly in Jack's ear, "You'd never know what certain guys could be thinking about."
Jack smirked at her, and she made to slap him across the face when the dragon roared quietly beside them. She turned to face it.
"Oh, I'm sorry Buttercup," she apologised, patting the dragon again as she returned to a more pinkish colour. "This is Jack, he's our friend now."
Jack gave an awkward wave to the dragon, who looked back at him curiously.
"Go on, pet her," she urged, pushing Jack toward Buttercup. Jack gulped, hesitant to put his hand out for the dragon. Buttercup leaned into his hand, but jumped back quickly when she felt its cool temperature.
He smiled apologetically. "I'm a bit cold, I know." But the dragon relaxed, knowing that Jack was not a threat to her.
Jack turned around quickly when he heard some clanking noises coming from nearby.
To say the least, he was decently surprised when he saw Rapunzel walk back out from the shadows holding a frying pan.
Except this frying pan was vamped up.
"It's made to kill demons," she said, answering his unasked question. "They don't die with just a whack to the head you know."
Jack let out a low whistle. "Well then..."
She shrugged. "You gotta do what you gotta do."
Jack rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as she clambered onto her dragon.
"Well, come on! They aren't exactly waiting for us out there!"
Jack gave a hurried nod and flew up onto the dragon, sitting awkwardly because he never really sat on an animal's back before.
She giggled quietly. "If it helps you can wrap your arms around my waist, I won't mind." Jack nodded and took in a breath, then tentatively put his arms around her waist from behind as Buttercup walked out of the house and took off into the blue sky. His eyes widened with the sudden jerky feeling he got underneath him, as the dragon's legs bounced and then went still as her wings took over.
They rode in silence for a while, catching up to Hiccup and Merida after they had flown over the island.
Jack was the first to break the quietness of the flight. "So... the Three Musketeers, huh?"
Rapunzel nodded. "That's what we called ourselves, yeah. I'm the Healer, Hiccup's the Intelligence, and Merida's the Soldier. It worked out nice. Makes me wonder how you're going to fit in now..."
Jack shrugged. "I didn't really plan on joining you guys though."
"No one plans it, it just happens."
"Yeah... I think I got that by now..."
By her body language, Jack could tell she had rolled her eyes. He chuckled lowly, absentmindedly lying his head on the back of her shoulder. She tensed a little, and it made Jack notice what he was doing so he pulled back again quickly.
The air thickened as they flew, and Jack looked down to gasp at the sight below. The ground appeared to have turned into a bloody red and when he looked up the sky wasn't much different if you could see past the smog.
He coughed slightly as he spoke. "Where are we?"
"Earth," she responded tersely, Buttercup turning a pale green once more. Jack noticed how Toothless and Hiccup seemed to blend in with the clouds.
His mouth had hung open until he realised the taste of the clouds stuck in his mouth. He quickly shut it again, wishing he was able to spit out the absurd taste. "This... is Earth?"
She nodded. "Hic told ya trouble was brewing."
Jack looked back down at the ground, worried for all the children down there stuck in the bloody mess. "But... but how? By Man in Moon, how?"
"Demons. Something must've broke through the safe lock we had on their world, and now they've overrun it again."
"Oh... Dangerous business, ain't it?"
She snorted. "Dangerous? Heck yeah. Life-threatening? More like death looming, just waiting to pounce and eat out your soul by slowly sucking out your life sources."
Jack whistled. "Damn, girl, that was hardcore metal."
She laughed. "I've been having Hiccup teach me about what people are into nowadays. So much has changed since that day..." Her voice trailed off into a murmur, and Jack sensed that if he asked again he would've gone too far.
He is known for going too far, though.
"What happened?" he asked softly as Buttercup began her descent. "The last day of your mortal life, I mean."
She sighed, her body tensing slightly under the emotional pressure. "Things... too many things... all for a free pass out of the tower for one day..."
His eyes widened in sympathy even though her back was turned to him. "Oh... like what things?"
The tension increased just like the atmospheric pressure as they neared the red lands below. "Look... I don't want to talk about it, okay?"
Jack looked down with guilt. He knew he would be going too far and he went and did it anyways. "Yeah... sorry..."
The rest of the descent was completed in silence, and Jack hopped off a little earlier to have the Wind take him to his feet. Hiccup and Merida were already at the scene, with Hiccup investigating the ground and Merida checking corners for possible hostile intruders. Rapunzel hopped off and gave Buttercup a reassuring pat, which darkened the nervous green colour she was currently.
She walked over to Hiccup, beginning a casual yet informative conversation with him.
Jack bent down to examine the ground himself, wiping his hand across the crimson surface. A gooey substance lifted with his fingers, and Jack pushed his hand away from him in disgust.
It was blood.
Jack stuck his tongue out, trying to shake the blood off his fingers. A shadow loomed over him, and he immediately tensed up.
"Jack Frost," a dark, scratchy voice spoke behind him. Jack froze in fear. "The Last Guardian of Childhood." The voice gave an electronic laugh, and Jack's eyes widened; unable to turn around, afraid to see what was behind him. His grip tightened on his staff as ice swirled around it and his fingertips.
"Well... this is certainly going to be fun, isn't it; Frost?"
EDIT: This is an edited chapter, but don't worry, this won't be a "fake update" XD. Also apparently this was the time in my life I got introduced to Creepypasta and BEN Drowned based on my A/N XD. And omg yasss the RotG Wii game is sooo fun, my sis and I have beat it 100% at least four times at this point XD.
Author's Note: Mwahahahahaha lol things just got interesting. XD Well, all my AP exams are done! :D Freedom! And I only have the one Regents this year and now there is only about less than a month left of school :) More time to write! And oooooo I was finally able to play my Rise of the Guardians game omg that game is so addicting I play as Jack and my sister plays as Bunnymund even though occasionally I play as North because he is just EPIC in battle. Really. I'm sorry Jack, but North defeats Nightmares better than you. XD Cause his sword just like goes swish! and bam! they're dead. XD Jack has to whack them a few times with his staff before they die. XD And Bunnymund... man has he got some cool moves. XD Anyways, yeah, here's chapter 4 and the demon activity appears to be picking up :P lol let's have some fun with this now, shall we? XD lol okay now I have to finish my last precalc assignment before we begin review and some of my NUSTEP US history summaries that I neglected to do earlier lol XD adios and allons-y!
You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?
