Chapter 6

Rapunzel took of the patch from the wound and smiled as she looked up at Jack, who sat on Hiccup's bed. It had been decided that Jack were to share the cabin with the captain… this also meant sharing the bed; since Hiccup's cabin wasn't big enough for another bed or had anything to fasten a hammock between, but to her and the others relief it seemed as if the nightmares had calmed,
for now.

"The wound is completely healed." She standing up "This is good is it not?" he nodded and smiled.

When they got out from the cabin they saw how Nicholas and Hiccup trained with swords, Nicholas held two sables in his hands and grinned big at Hiccup who held one sword; it was thin; Jack stared at it as a yellow flame burst out around the blade. He looked at Rapunzel unable to utter any words pointing at the sword; she just chuckled at him, before he returned to stare at it in awe. They made some attacks and blocks, but mostly it was just to not get rusty. When they were done Nicholas noticed Jack standing next to the doctor.

"Ah! Jack, good time you here." he suddenly called out putting his swords back in their sheets, placing his hands on his hips grinning wide to the boy; Hiccup let the fire die out before the blade was swallowed by the handle and he put the sword to the belt that went over his chest; under the coat. "Give Jack sword." Nicholas then continued, Jack blinked and gave away a loud confused sound.

"What? Why do I need a sword?" Nicholas looked amused.

"To train of course." He said taking one of his swords and threw it at Jack who flinched and dove out of the way of the sword; that clattered against the wood on the deck where it hit the wood. "No. Jack. You have to catch sword." Nicholas said unhappy.

"DON'T THROW SWORDS AT PEOPLE AND EXPECT THEM TO CATCH THEM!" Jack cried out, staring wide-eyed at the shipwright, hands gesturing to the sword that was lying on the deck. Merida snorted there she sat up in the crow's-nest looking down at them with interest, now and then looking around the ship.

Jack grabbed around the handle of the sword; Nicholas just thrown at him, lifting it up with a grunt, he tumbled a bit by the pure weight the sword had, taking him by surprise, but after a bit of struggling he got it up so that the tip pointed to Nicholas…
not for long.
The sword was too heavy and the tip fell back to the deck, and Jack grunted unhappy.

"Jack." Nicholas said.

"How can you lift these things as if they're noting?" Jack grunted trying to lift the sword again.

"It not heavy." Nicholas said walking forward helping him lift the sword; and nearly made the boy fall backwards, as he did. "Hold like this." He said holding his other sword in one hand. Jack just gave him an 'are you kidding me' glare as he took a harder grip of Nicholas sword, with both hands, the man let go and Jack nearly fell to the deck, but was now able to keep himself and the tip it up.

The first training ended fast: Nicholas had told Jack to attack him, the boy had tried, but lost the balance of the sword as he had dashed for the man, the tip hit the deck, sending him tumbling forward and almost overboard if Eugene hadn't grabbed the back of his collar and shoulder. He took Nicholas sword form the boy, and threw it at the shipwright who caught it without a problem.

"Here, take this one instead, its lighter." Eugene said as he gave him the sword he'd been sharpening earlier that day. Jack looked at the sword, before he took it; it was dramatically lighter than Nicholas.

"Come on Jack." Nicholas said putting one of his swords back. Jack held the sword in his hands; it felt foreign and strange to him. How was he supposed to handle these!?

Jack moved his feet a bit not sure if he was just to dash forward as he had done before, or move slowly. He didn't know swords at all. "Show me something epic Jack!" Nicholas shouted grinning as the two started to walk in a circle, facing each other, Nicholas was grinning, while Jack felt as if he was to try and catch the moon!

How it had happened Jack wasn't sure, one moment he had been standing on his feet, the next, he was laying on his back, fighting to get his breath back; from the hard collision with the deck he'd just done. The sword Eugene had given him had skidded away over the wood.
He groaned as he sat up slowly. Nicholas had blocked his attack, so much he knew.

"You balance is off." Nicholas stated "You do not hold sword good either." Jack stood up with some help from Rapunzel and brushed dirt away from his clothes.

"'ave 'e even used ay sword before?" Merida asked from above snickering.

"No." Jack answered; Aster looked to the side of the ship, where among some barrels the hooked staff Toothiana given the boy stood lonely leaning against a barrel under the stairs. He took it up and walked over to Jack who had taken the sword again.

"Ay." He said; Jack looked at him, his blue and brown eye filled with confusion.

"What?" Aster took the sword from the boy's hands before holding out the staff.

"Try this, instead." He said; Jack raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"Aster, stick is not sword." Nicholas complained.

"Tooth' gave it to 'im, there must be a reason why, and 'e can't possibly be worse with the staff then e's with the swords." Aster said looking at the big man, before looking back at Jack, who took the staff in his hands.

"Still, stick is not sword." Nicholas sighed.
Jack moved the staff in his grip spinning it around a bit to find the balance, once he found it he turned to Nicholas.

"Well let's see now." Hiccup said from the helm; where he had walked. Nicholas moved his grip on his sword and looked at Jack and saw a glint in those eyes that he hadn't seen before, Jack knew how to handle shepherd staff's, he'd been using them his whole life!

"Come at me." Nicholas said, and Jack did. This time he seemed, to the others surprise, to be more in sync with the staff than any of the swords. "Thant's more like it." Nicholas hummed more to himself than any of them, smiling as he blocked Jack's attack with the flat side of the sword, not to cut the staff in half, a spark of frost exploded out when the sword and staff collided, and a big cloud of snow puffed down over the Night Fury.
Everyone just stared in shock.
Jack tumbled backwards nearly dropping the staff; who was now glowing in a bright blue colour, as the air around it hazed because of the cold that it radiated out. Jack just stared at it not sure how to feel. Nicholas looked at his sword where frost now melted in the warmth of the sun dropping down to the deck, where the snowflakes melted to puddles.

"What..?" he mumbled out putting his sword back as he walked towards Jack; looking at the staff in confusion. Jack looked up at him, and it was clear he had no idea what just happened. "Can I look at staff?" the shipwright asked, Jack gave him a stiff nod and held out the staff, Nicholas took it and just as Jack let go of it, the glow and haze, that it had created seconds earlier, vanished. Nicholas blinked stunned at this. "Take it again." he said showing the staff into Jack's chest before he placed his hand on the staff and the glow and haze returned as he did.

"Magic..." They heard Merida gasp from the crow's next, before she jumped down landing on the deck hard and walked up to him shoving her finger into his shoulder "Yer a witch!" she shouted giving him a last shove before taking away her hand.

"What? No! I- I'm not a witch!" Jack looked shocked at her and let go of the staff, which in return stopped its special-effects as it dropped to the deck.

"Doesn't tha prove et!?" Merida cried out pointing at the staff that now lied lonely on the deck. "Yer a witch!" she pointed at Jack again.

"Merida, calm down, I know you don't like witches, but calm down." Rapunzel said walking up to her placing her hand on the angry sniper's shoulder slowly moving her away from Jack before she was about to try to hurt him.

"How can I possibly be a witch?! I had no idea the staff would do something like that! I don't have magic, I'm not a witch!" Jack shouted looking between all of them. "And if I were I would be a warlock, not a witch." He muttered mostly to himself then the others.

"It's a gift from Toothiana…" Hiccup said giving away a chuckle. "They always have strange abilities. Just look at this." Hiccup threw down the compass and Jack caught it in a confused sound opening it and looked at the arrow that spun around uncontrolled sometimes stopping before continuing its wild spinning.

"It's broken?" Jack said giving Hiccup a confused glance. Hiccup walked down the stairs towards him.

"It's not; it points to what you want." He said; Jack looked at him even more confused than before. Hiccup chuckled "Think of something, how about… hmm… that barrel over there." He said. Jack looked down at the compass again. "Or something you want dearly."

"I have no idea what you're trying to… say…" Jack said, but as he started talking did the arrow a spin before it stopped and pointed right at Hiccup, the captain walked a bit, to be able to see the arrow, but as he did the arrow moved, not standing still, but following the captain's movements. Jack felt his cheeks start to heat up. He slammed the compass close before giving it back to Hiccup. "What I want can't be found with that." He said kicking up the staff with his toes and walked away. Hiccup looked after him, scratching his neck. Holding the compass in his hand, he opened it and sighed. The needle moved a bit before it pointed towards Jack. Hiccup blinked before he closed it.
Stupid arrow...

Jack sat down on a barrel with the staff in his hands, observing how it glowed and how the frost that appeared on it where he held it, moved as he moved his hands. Even if the air showed it was cold, he didn't feel any difference; it had the same temperature as the deck.

Nicholas was down in the galley preparing food, with some help from Rapunzel, Hiccup stood at the helm now and then looking down at the compass that he held in his hand, he didn't look at a map, and that made Jack curious, where did the captain want to go?
Toothless yawned big there he lay on the deck, next to the barrel; the panther lied snoozing in the warmth of the sun, while Jack sat in the shadow the sail made. Pascal also lay there, nuzzled in the black fur of the panther, the cold-blooded chameleon needed to recharge now and then too.
Merida was sitting with her back against the wall to the cabin with sticks and feathers sprawled out around her, as she made new arrows for her bow, even if she knew how to use guns, she preferred the old bow and arrow she'd gotten as a birthday present from her father. She hummed now and then, and Eugene sat up in the crow's nest whistling random tunes, the man wasn't a fan of singing, but he had the sense of good tunes to mix.

A loud boom made the entire ship jolt, and smoke bloomed out from the small room at the front of the ship; Aster's workroom; where the man made his egg bombs and other explosives. The door opened and a big plume of black smoke escaped up to the sky, before an irritated and soot covered Pooka came walking out, hunched forward coughing like mad, to get the smoke out from his lunges. He wafted with his hand and a small river of tears ran down his cheeks from his watering eyes.

"Aster… what happened?" Hiccup asked in a shocked tone, the Pooka never made mistakes like these. Aster coughed again before he started to brush the soot of his pants.

"Nothing, yest trying a new mixture..." he muttered out in reply. Aster raised one eyebrow at Jack, Toothless and Pascal who just stared at him as if he was crazy. "What's with those looks?" he asked crossing his arms over his now black chest. Toothless and Pascal answered in mutters and small growls before they looked away to try and sleep again, when they knew nothing was wrong.

"You're black as coal…" Jack said slowly.

"Ye got a problem with my skin tone, mate?" The Pooka bit back, glaring at the boy.

"No. I didn't mean it like that, you're black as coal." Jack said again more pressure under the one word he wanted to point out, before he gestured at Aster, who for the first time looked down at himself. Jack was right. He was completely powdered in soot; his usually chocolate coloured skin and blue-greyish hair was now black as the night, making him look like a piece of charcoal.

The door to the Galley opened and golden locks become visible.

"Dinner's about read- ASTER WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Rapunzel shrieked out in shock, when she saw the soot covered Pooka. Aster sighed but before he could answer a splash of water was thrown over him. He forced a gust of breath out thru his lips that he held pressed against each other, making a spray of small dirty droplets fly away, he had grown stiff when the cold sea water hit him, eyes squeezed shut. The soot slowly ran of him as the water dripped to the deck, leaving a black pool of water around him.

"Should I have given ya a warning first?" Merida asked there she stood with a big cauldron that had been filled with water. She grinned as Aster moved his hands to stroke away the dirt and water from his eyes.

Rapunzel shoved a cloth into his chest and he took it and started to wipe himself dry; starting with his face then his hair, he looked down on the cloth and it was completely black, soot colouring it.

The night was humid, and chilly, a northern wind blew over the waters. Rapunzel shivered there she walked around the ship, she was on ship watch. But it was something in the air she didn't like, an evil presence that she couldn't point out where it come from, the moon was hidden behind dark clouds, the only light that existed were some lanterns. She shivered for e short moment, changing her grip of the frying pan she was holding, in her bend she had a sword, but also a gun, but she preferred the pan. The feeling something was wrong didn't leave, she shivered when a cold wind blew over the ship.

"What is it..?" he asked to herself walking back towards the back of the ship, the feeling only grew stronger. The shadows grew darker and in a whips of air the lanterns was blown out and she stopped walking scanning the now completely shadow drenched ship in front of her. She slowly moved her and to her pan, her body growing cold. "Okay... maybe it was just the wind..." Rapunzel looked around before she slowly started to walk again. But she stopped sharp when she saw how the shadows seemed to move. She swallowed as she moved closer. She unsheathed her sword and pointed it towards the shadows. Two yellow eyes opened and glared at her with such hatred that she stumbled backwards. Then she heard how the door to the cabin opened and closed. Shit! She thought and struggled to get to her feet, her legs not listening to her.

Hiccup slept peacefully there he slept on his side. The darkness in the room grew thicker and Jack curled together, eyes moving uneasy under his eyelids. A mumble left his lips and he moved a bit, a silent chuckle come from the shadows, his eyes fluttering a bit a faith yellow glow was starting to creep into them. He rolled over one hand moving to his back his other hand gripped the pillow hard. Hiccup gave away a sound as he rolled to his back.
Jack sat up slowly the blanket falling to his lap, his eyes opened slowly and the yellow glow dimmed his eyes. He reached out over Hiccup towards the nightstand where he knew the knife; he'd grabbed the first time, was placed in one of the boxes. Hiccup gave away a mumbled under him, slowly waking up by the changes the mattress made by Jack's movements. The knife felt cold against his touch, but he grabbed around it. Sitting down on Hiccup's legs and raised the arm ready to stab the knife down. His lips formed an evil grin, that wasn't his. He brought the arm back further, placing his other hand on Hiccup's chest.

Hiccup was brought back from the world of dreams by moments in the bed, but when he felt the weight on another body on his tights and chest he opened his eyes slowly, still sleepy, he mumbled out a questioning sound.

"Jack... something wrong?" he blinked to get the sleepiness out of his system, but froze right there when he saw the knife in Jack's hand, he saw it come down, and he was able to move his head out of the way, hearing how it tore down in the pillow. He stared at the knife. "Jack what are you doing-" he gave away a choking sound when Jack's hand that had been on his chest grabbed around his throat. He grimaced and first now looked at Jack's face and felt his blood freeze in his veins.

"Hello there captain" Jack said, but it wasn't his voice it belonged to someone else. He saw how the shadows moved behind the pale brunette.

"Who- are you?!" Hiccup hissed out, casting a glance towards Toothless the panther lay on his pelt on the floor.

"The cat won't bother us." Hiccup's eyes flashed back to Jack's face staring in shock, he couldn't have- "I'm gracious that you and your puny crew took care of him for me." A grin grew on Jack's face and the knife was lifted again. "But even so, that end's now." Hiccup felt his cheek flare up in pain as the knife cut up a wound on it; he was able to escape the knife again, but not as good as before. The grip of his throat grew stronger. "But my deer captain, stop making it harder for him and just let me kill you." Hiccup had been able to get a strong grip of the hand Jack held the knife in, keeping it at bay but he was at disadvantage; he knew that.

"I've got no plans on getting killed." He growled out grabbing hard around Jack's wrist to the hand he held around Hiccup's throat squeezing it so hard that Jack's hand opened. "I'll ask you again. Who are you and what have you done to Jack and Toothless." A cold laugh came out from Jack's lips.

"You care for him?" Jack put his body weight on his arms making Hiccup end up sinking deeper into the mattress. "Don't waste your time on someone like him, he's not worth it. Your pet cat on the other hand, all I did was forcing him to stay asleep."

A loud gong sound echoed thru the room. Hiccup blinked in shock when he saw how the yellow flashed out from Jack's eyes and he collapsed, landing on top of Hiccup. Where his head had been moments earlier a frying pan was instead, belonging to Rapunzel who looked at them with worried eyes as she panted for air.

"You okay, Hiccup?" she asked lowering the pan.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup stared at her in shock, before he sat up moving Jack to his side. "I'm fine... just confused, what happened?" He pulled the blanket up over Jack's shoulders stroking some of the brown hair away from his face.

Pitch hissed in pain and anger, as the connection he had with him was broken. He moved one hand to his head growling as he glared out over the ocean towards the place he knew the Night Fury was sailing. A dark chuckle left his lips as he grinned.

"This will be interesting." His sharp teeth glimmered in the light of the green lanterns that shone on the dark ship. "Get ready Jack. I'm coming for you~"

Hiccup sat in the bed, arms crossed over his chest, Rapunzel had taken care of the scar on his cheek and was currently sitting on the bed as well.

"Mind control?" Hiccup said raising one eyebrow.

"Yes." Rapunzel looked at him "Do you remember when he got that terrible nightmare?"

"Yeah, he ended up kicking Toothless out of the hammock."

"It was a light control then, I was able to snap him out of it. But I fear the one whose taking control is getting closer and that means it will be harder to bring him out of it."

"Grate, that makes me so much easier." Hiccup grunted. "I got a stranger out there who wants me dead." Rapunzel gave him a look.

"You and the rest of us all got prises on our heads."

"If he was after the prise on my head, he wouldn't have tried to make Jack kill me."

A groan came from Jack and he started to move a bit, placing a hand on his head.

"Ugh..." he mumbled out sitting up slowly, Hiccup, Rapunzel and Toothless looked at him. "Um... what are you all looking at?" Jack asked when he saw them, but his eyes landed on the light bruises around Hiccup's throat and the cut on his cheek, and he stiffened. Without saying anything he scrambled out from the bed and tumbled for the door.

"Jack!" Hiccup called out he got out from the bed and fastened the prosthetic to his leg in haste, before he chased after him. "Wait!"

Jack ran out on deck eyes flashing around, they had gotten close to an island and big towering of rocks shot up from the water as faint mist floated around. The sky was growing lighter in the east. He heard the door open and Hiccup stumbling out as he tried to get the prosthetic in place. A cold wind then blew over the ship and Jack's head snapped to the side, as he ran up to the railing staring out, even if you couldn't see his face, you could see the fear running over him. Hiccup started to walk towards him. Rapunzel and Toothless stopped at the door to the cabin.

"Jack..." Jack spun around to face him.

"Sorry!" he cried out he was trembling, but not because of the cold, but because of the fear. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen-"

"Jack?" Hiccup gave him a worried look. Jack swallowed hard before he turned his head away slowly turning around grabbing his arms.

"I... it's..." he felt his eyes heat up, as tears started to form in them.

"Jack... what is it you're not telling me?" Jack forced his teeth together. A shaky breath left his nose.

"Sorry…" he started but became unable to talk when he felt Hiccup warp his arms around him.

"You're were mind controlled, Jack. It wasn't your fault, and I'm fine, so don't blame yourself for this okay." Jack had to bite his lower lip to not start to cry, but the tears still streamed down his cheeks. Hiccup sighed and smiled as he turned Jack around. "Hey now…" he said stroking some of the tears away, before hugging him tightly.

Rapunzel sighed and looked at the two with a warm smile on her lips. Toothless gave away a sound that seemed like a chuckle.

"They will be fine." She said still smiling.