It's late again, I know. I'm sorry.
I dislike this chapter, I think it's rushed. Oh well. Maybe I'll come back and edit it but for now, here.
Also, it's not as long as previous chapters but like I said ^ it was rushed.
Enjoy!
Chapter Four
"Fun?" Hiccup squeaked, as he looked at Jack with disbelief. He sniffled and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. "How can we possibly have fun right now, Jack?" He asked, sitting beam straight in his makeshift chair, still shivering.
"We're, um…," Jack's lips pursed in thought before breaking into a wide smile, "We're going to do some interior decorating!" He shouted, looking at Hiccup expectantly.
Hiccup's eyebrows shot up and he looked Jack over. This boy he had happened to stumble upon must be crazy or just terribly naive. While a deadly storm raged over their heads, Jack's master plan was to decorate this inside of the fortress? Hiccup sighed but nodded hesitantly. He trusted Jack and if Jack thought that doing some interior decorating would help then so be it. It's not like they had much options.
Hiccup wrapped his arms around himself in what looked like a self-hug, trying to keep warmth present. He was absolutely terrified but some part of him thought Jack might be on to something, if their minds were kept busy then maybe this could go a lot smoother.
"How exactly do you want to go about this interior decorating?" Hiccup asked Jack, looking at him from his spot on the chair.
"I thought that maybe we could do those snowball reserves in the wall and then maybe even work on stocking them full of perfect snowballs," Jack suggested, standing up. He walked over to wear his staff that was leaned up against the fort wall and grabbed it.
"But for us to make snowballs you're going to have to go—
"Outside, yeah," Jack finished.
Before he knew what he was doing Hiccup jumped up from his chair and grabbed Jack firmly by the arm, "Don't leave me!"
Jack looked surprised at Hiccup's outburst but quickly regained his posture, "It's ok, I'll be right back," Jack assured Hiccup, putting a comforting hand on his little shoulder. Hiccup stared into those blue eyes with his own wide, green ones. He slowly let his hands drop from Jack's arm before saying, "You will come back, right?" He asked tentatively, hating how his voice shook.
"Of course," Jack promised, backing up from Hiccup and turning around to leave out the entrance, quickly disappearing as he rounded the corner. Hiccup was left standing there in the middle of the fort feeling the bitter emptiness of being alone.
He sank into a chair and realised numbly that it was Jack's but not particularly caring he sat in the oversized chair anyways. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, resting his chin on his knees. He sighed as he watched the entrance to the fort with a focused gaze. They were in no danger from wild animals seeing as animals would be back in their respective homes.
Hiccup thought about all the people huddled by the fires in their homes and felt jealousy settle in his stomach. They probably had blankets around them and maybe even warm yak milk to warm their insides. Hiccup yearned for a nice cup of warmed yak milk at the moment. A rough shiver brought him back to face his situation; he was starting to get colder.
He started rubbing his legs, trying to create some friction. His eyes were still trained on the entrance of the fortress. Jack had only been gone for a couple minutes at most and it was ridiculous for Hiccup to start worrying so soon. Jack had promised he would come back. Hiccup trusted him.
He vaguely wondered what his father was doing right now. Hiccup had told him that he was out checking for dragon nests but he was usually home by this time. Stoick probably thought Hiccup was just holed up in his room like he usually was around now. After Hiccup went home from playing with Jack he usually spent the remainder of the day in his room. His father didn't talk to him unless it was to call him down for supper.
Hiccup felt the cool clutches of hopelessness grab him; his father wouldn't know he was still out here until supper time. They had at least another four hours to go. Hiccup groaned aloud and rested his forehead on his knees. Today was just not working out for him.
Not that things usually worked out for him. No, everything Hiccup tried to do failed. Though, Hiccup supposed he was becoming accustomed to everything failing. His name fit him perfectly; he was a hiccup, a flaw. He would forever be looked at as if he didn't belong. But Hiccup knew this and had accepted it a while ago, he just had to get used to living alone.
Well, that is until Jack Frost showed up. Now, Hiccup was happier than he'd ever been. Jack is his friend, or at least he hopes he's his friend.
"Hiccup!"
Hiccup looked up to see Jack bounding through the entrance of the fortress, staff in the crook of his elbow and the biggest snowball Hiccup had ever seen in his arms. Jack dumped the snowball on the ground and it fell apart.
Hiccup got up from his chair and started brushing off the bits of snow that clung to Jack's shawl, "Missed me that much?" Jack teased. Hiccup blushed and withdrew his hand.
Jack's hair stood at odd ends like he'd ruffled it with his hands or more specifically, like he'd been exposed to strong winds. Hiccup's brow furrowed, there was no way there was that kind of wind in this dense forest. Deciding he'd think on it later, Hiccup pushed the thought from his mind.
They both turned to their respective walls and started digging, "Be careful not to dig too far or you'll dig straight through the walls," Jack advised, while digging. "Roger," Hiccup muttered.
It only took them an hour to dig a small, square hole in two of the walls. By the time they were done, Hiccup was shivering and he could just barely feel his fingers. Jack turned to him with a small frown on his face, "Ever heard of Jumping Jacks?"
Hiccup looked at him with confusion as he started rubbing his gloved hands to try and create warmth, "Uh, no," he admitted.
"Of course you haven't because I made them up."
"Ok," said Hiccup, trying to guess where Jack was going with this.
"It's a technique to help keep you warm," Jack explained, "You spread your arms and legs out wide and then snap them close to your body. Like this," he started doing the odd movement with his arms and legs, spreading out like a star and then going stock straight. "C'mon, try it."
Hiccup looked at him quizzically but obeyed, copying Jack's motion. Nothing happened at first but the more Hiccup did it the more heat he could feel radiating in his coat. It was brilliant, his exertion was causing warmth.
Hiccup thought about how odd it would look to see him and Jack doing these strange motions in the middle of his fortress and in the middle of a storm no less. The thought was humorous and he threw his head back and let out a laugh. Jack laughed along with Hiccup and it felt nice, carefree and like they had no worries in the world. Of course it was the exact opposite.
Jack called out a simple, "Stop," a couple minutes later and he and Hiccup got to work on the snowballs. Hiccup was considerably warmer and his fingers weren't quite so numb.
They worked on molding the snowballs for a good hour and by the end of it Hiccup was cold and frustrated. No matter what he did, he could not make a snowball that matched Jack's. Jack's snowballs came out in perfect circles and they were just the right size. Hiccup's were either to large, to small or came out looking like some sort of demented square.
Hiccup sighed and started absentmindedly rubbing his hands together, they were numb again. Hiccup was shivering and oh how he wished he was around a roaring fire at the moment. In his peripheral vision he saw Jack give him a worried look and then look up at the sky.
Hiccup turned to Jack when Jack crawled over, "Take off your mitts," he commanded softly. Hiccup complied and the moment they were off Jack wrapped his larger hands around Hiccup's much smaller ones.
Hiccup let out a sigh of relief when warmth enveloped his hands and he almost groaned out loud. Jack was just as warm as he remembered from that night all those days ago. He had to restrain from putting his freezing face into Jack's very inviting neck. Fortunately for him, he was more aware than he was a week ago.
"I have an idea," Jack whispered.
"What?"
"We're going to have to curl up together again," Jack said, he tried to sound regretful but Hiccup saw through it.
"Why?" Hiccup questioned.
"We can use each other's body heat to keep warm."
Hiccup thought about that. His mind was shouting at him to say no because he would never recover from the embarrassment but his body was shouting at him to say yes because of Jack's warmth. It wouldn't be so bad to curl up against Jack again would it? They weren't complete strangers anymore. They were friends, sort of.
Did friends curl up against each other? Not Viking friends. Viking friends showed affection through physical contact and usually it was painful physical contact.
Then again, Hiccup had never been a Viking anyways. "Sure," he said tentatively.
Jack smiled and crawled over so his back was up against the fortress wall. He smiled at Hiccup and patted his lap invitingly. Hiccup blushed but crawled over anyways, curling up against Jack Frost.
For a couple moments they were silent. Hiccup was curled towards Jack, his head lay on Jack's shoulder, hands splayed out on Jack's stomach and his knees were brought up close to his chest. Jack's head was resting on Hiccup's and he had his arms wrapped around Hiccup. They fit together almost as if they were a puzzle peace.
Hiccup's face was heated and he guessed it was because he was sporting a marvelous blush. Why wouldn't he be blushing? He was currently curled up against Jack and he was doing it while coherent! But, oh he was so warm. A part of Hiccup was wondering why Jack wasn't freezing like Hiccup was but another part of Hiccup, the instinctual side, didn't care as long as there was warmth.
"Will your parents come to find you?" Jack asked softly.
Hiccup closed his eyes; he'd been wondering the same thing. "If my dad knows I'm gone he'll probably try and find me."
"What do you mean if he knows you're gone?"
"He usually doesn't know where I am or doesn't care," Hiccup answered.
"Oh."
"'S not like I blame him. He's the chief; he's got duties to the village and all that," Hiccup mumbled. He wasn't sure why he was telling Jack this. There was something about being snuggled up to someone that meant you could tell them anything. Or maybe it was just him.
"What about friends, won't they know where you are?"
"If I had any."
"You don't have any friends?" Jack sounded surprised.
"None. I'm not like the rest of them," 'them' came out a little harsher than he intended, "I'm not strong, I'm not fearless, I'm not big and I'm not courageous. I'm not a Viking and they don't want me there," Hiccup finished, it seems once he had started the words had just flowed. It felt nice to get that off of his chest.
For once in the week Hiccup had known him, Jack was seemingly speechless. Hiccup could feel his consciousness start to drift and wondered why exactly he was getting sleepy. It was probably only a couple hours past lunch if his stomach was anything to go by. Hiccup guessed it was probably because he was so cozy. Jack was a perfect human pillow.
Before he fell asleep he had to know something. The question had been playing with his subconscious and it was only now that he realized that he needed a solid answer.
"Jack, are we friends?"
Jack didn't answer right away and if Hiccup wasn't falling asleep he probably would have been worried.
"Yeah, I think so."
Hiccup felt a warmth like nothing he'd ever felt settle in his heart. He and Jack were friends and Jack had just made it official. Hiccup had done it. He hadn't failed with Jack, he had made a friend. A lazy grin spread on Hiccup's lips and he felt warm for an entirely different reason. He had a friend.
"Mmm, don't leave me," Hiccup murmured. It was a raw request from the bottom of his heart. It was a heavy-eyed moment and if Hiccup were coherent he probably would have stuttered a lousy excuse. He kept awake long enough to hear a small, "I won't, I promise," before he fell asleep, wrapped securely in the arms of a boy who went by Jack Frost.
Hiccup awoke to his wooden ceiling and then promptly groaned because he had definitely been through this before. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and then looked to see his father sitting on a stool by the fire. "Hey, dad."
Stoick turned to face his son with a glare that lacked fire, "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Um, fine," Hiccup answered, "Can you tell me how I ended up here?" He asked because last thing he remembered was being curled up with Jack in their fortress.
Stoick cleared his throat, "Well, uh, you were just on the doorstep."
"What?" Hiccup asked, getting out of his bed.
"I thought you were in your room when the storm hit but it turns out that you weren't. Somehow someone dropped you off on the doorstep," Stoick said awkwardly.
Hiccup's brows furrowed in thought, Jack had dropped him off at home? How could Jack have possibly walked through the village during a storm and dropped him off at his house? How did he even know where Hiccup lived?
"Were you with anyone when you were, uh, searching for dragon nests?" Stoick asked.
"Um, nope, just me. I guess, I fell asleep next to a tree and some random passerby found me," Hiccup lied.
"It's possible," Stoick mumbled seeming disinterested already.
"What time is it? Is the storm over?" Hiccup questioned.
"It's just after supper. Yes, the storm was ending just around the time you were dropped off," Stoick answered, "I'm going to go check on the villagers, I'll be back soon. There's some soup over the fire, help yourself."
He turned to go down the stairs, "Oh, someone dropped those off for you," Stoick threw over his shoulder, jerking his thumb towards a pile of books, "They said it was from Gothi." And then he was gone, thumping down the stairs.
Hiccup walked to the pile of books and picked one up, the title read, "Parents and How They Work" he picked up another and it read, "Ten Signs that a Storm is Coming" the last one read, "Gods and Legends Alike".
Hiccup shrugged and walked over to his desk in the corner of the room. He sat the books down with a large thump and he hoped onto his chair. Gothi always was lending him books and most of the time he didn't ask for them. He enjoyed reading though so he took the books as a blessing and did not question them. A week later he would walk up to Gothi's hut and return them just as they were.
Nobody in the village read at all. The only Gods the Vikings really knew about were those of Loki, Odin and Thor. Their tale was the one with the harshest battles, the most blood and violence so why shouldn't the Vikings only know about them?
Hiccup was convinced that the only one that knew all the Gods was Gothi and she didn't speak so that didn't help them. Maybe that was why the dragon's attacked them; maybe the Gods were getting their own sort of revenge. Hiccup smirked at that.
Hiccup opened "Gods and Legends Alike" and flipped to the first page. It was just an introductory on the book and what it held, uninterested he flipped to the next page. It held a list of known Gods with their respective page numbers and Hiccup numbly scanned through it.
He was about the flip the page when a name popped out at him, "Jokul Frosti: Page 56". Hiccup's eyebrows shot up and he scrambled to find the page fifty-six. When he found it he quickly read the description:
"Jokul Frosti is a winter god who brings winter to all the lands. He decorates the trees with the ice and he freezes the ponds. He is responsible for the cold morn and the freezing night. Son of the winds, Jokul Frosti brings the storms, he brings the snow and the hail. With him is his object of power, The Staff. Without it Jokul Frosti is nothing but a winter sprite. His powers are crippled."
Hiccup quit reading and leaned back in his chair, eyes blown wide. Jack Frost, Jokul Frosti. It all makes sense! They way Jack is never cold, the way he makes perfect snowballs and his addiction to his staff! Hiccup's mouth dropped open when he realized that he had been playing with a God all week. He'd cuddled with a God! He was friends with a God!
Hiccup's body went limp as he thought of his time with Jack. All the times he'd made fun of him, he was making fun of a God. Oh Gods, he'd thrown a snowball at a God's face! Hiccup flung an arm over his eyes, why him. Of all the people he could befriend he had to befriend a God.
Hiccup smiled, he was so going to tell Jack off for not telling him! All the things Jack could have done with the fortress if he'd only revealed himself to Hiccup. Why hadn't he revealed himself to Hiccup? Did he think Hiccup would be scared?
Yeah right, this was the coolest thing to ever happen to him.
The ending makes me want to shoot at a wall (Sherlock reference). I hate it. UGH. Sorry, venting. Yeah, I think I'll come back and edit the crap out of this.
I just wanted to give it to you guys cause I love you. A lot.
I got my AO3 invite and this story is going to be up on there too. I might even take it down from here. Meh, who knows.
You guys were getting smart. Yes, I'm aware that Jack Frost comes from Norse mythology. Before people jump me, I will be changing bits and pieces of certain mythology to fit the story.
To the people wondering if Toothless will appear, do you want me to tell you the whole story?
Fun Fact: All of the last four chapters were supposed to be my prologue. lol nope.
