A Walk in My Shoes
A/N: Well, hi, guys! I'm here again. I nearly had to break the chain I've developed, of Hiccup-Jack-Hiccup-Jack POV chapters. I just thought this chapter might work better, and advance the plot more, if it was written from Jack's POV, but I found a way to make it work. I hope you enjoy! Please review! Oh, and, if anyone's wondering, this story is not going to be slash. Hijack has been ruined for me by the way some of the fandom portrays them, and I can't. So, basically, no Jack/Hiccup slash, but Jack/Hiccup friendship? And if you ship Hijack, feel free to squint hard enough to make it seem romantic to you, but I'm not doing anything overly romantic for these two.
Okay, so maybe I could have tried a little harder to keep the temperatures at a normal range. And maybe I should have tried to keep it at least above zero degrees, but really, can Jack blame me? I have absolutely no idea how to do any of this, and he just blindly handed off all his responsibilities to me, like, 'oh, by the way, you're a winter spirit now!' How can I be expected to know how to do everything? He told me to deliver winter, and that's what I did!
Still, I just had a fight with the only person I know who doesn't actually mind being around me, and that doesn't feel so great. And I'm exhausted. Seriously, just after yelling at Jack, the wind picked me up, as if sensing my distress, and it was good that she did because a sudden wave of fatigue just came out of nowhere then and washed over me. I probably would have fallen all over Jack if not for the wind. I slump down on the pure white ice, the smooth, hard surface cool against my pale cheek. Jack has a point. I have to fix what I did. I made a mess, just like I always do, but this time, I don't have anyone to clean up after me, the way I used to. I have to do this on my own.
Despite the fact that all I really want to do is flop down on that lake and never move again, I pick up Jack's staff, twirling it in my hands. Reciting his words to myself. "You just concentrate until it stops snowing. It's not easy, but it works!"
I draw in a deep breath. First stop? That beach I visited last night. Miami, Florida, I think Jack called it. I need to go unfreeze their water, banish the snow from their beaches, and let them go back to their relaxing, milder winter. I just hope I can remember all the places I went last night. I've got a pretty hectic day ahead of me already, but that's the last thing I need.
Stifling a yawn behind my hand, I run my fingers through the springy white hair, fluffing it a little. How does Jack stand having this much hair? It's always flopping in my eyes. When I arrive at the beach I froze last night, I can't help but wince. It's…a lot worse than I remember. Suffice to say. I gently tap my staff against the frozen solid sand. It doesn't unfreeze. It's still snowing lightly, but without me there to guide it along, it's nothing like it was last night. I wave the staff again. Nothing happens. The stupid snow keeps falling. I thought Jack said Mother Nature would intervene, anyway? I'm way too tired for this.
I wave the staff again. This time, the snow starts falling even slower, just a tiny flake here and there, nothing more than a flurry. I tap the staff against the sand again. A tiny bit of the ice melts away, but it takes a lot of concentration. The waves are still glistening with ice, frozen in the exact same position they were in last night. The beach is completely deserted. I guess Florida citizens aren't as big on winter as I am. I scoop up a bit of the white powder, forming it into a sphere with my hands, and then crumbling it again. I wait for it to come sprinkling out onto the sand but it doesn't. When I open my fingers, the snow has vanished from my hands. Okay. Now this should be easy, now that I've sort of figured it out.
It takes me about five hours to get it done. But when I finally set the staff down again, the waves are splashing against the shore, as they should, the sand is completely unfrozen and warm as it was when I got here last night, and the snow has stopped. The sun is shining, nice and warm and bright, and people are starting to emerge from their homes to catch a few rays of sun before night falls. And as for me, well, 'exhausted' doesn't begin to cover it. Why didn't Jack let on that this work is so draining? Even though making winter was hard on me, banishing it was a thousand times worse.
All I really want to do now, of course, is sleep, but I need to at least get out of Florida first. "Wind?" My voice is a barely audible croak, but the element automatically answers, swirling around me. The cool breeze is just what I need. It's enough of a boost to keep me on my feet, at least.
Hiccup, you need rest.
I'm honestly surprised that the wind cares about me that much, but I brush her off. "Nah, I'm fine…I could…do this all day…hang on, I'm just gonna sit down for a second—no, I am not going to sleep, I'm just going to…catch my…breath…"
It's hot. That's the first thing I'm aware of when I wake up: heat. The hoodie I'm wearing is too thick for this kind of weather, and it's drenched in sweat. It's nighttime, and I'm sitting on the beach, my head resting in the sand. Waves gently lap the shore, and a full moon seems to light up the whole sea. It'd be beautiful if the temperature wasn't so high. My throat is dry, and licking my lips yields that they've apparently grown cracked while I slept, and there is no saliva left in my mouth. Okay, first act of business: water. And then I can go unfreeze all those other places.
I know better than to drink the ocean water, though; I've lived on Berk long enough to know that that's a stupid idea. So I slowly, shakily rise to my feet, groping sleepily for the staff in the dark. It rests against a palm tree, covered in a thin layer of frost still. It sparks blue when I pick it up again, and I summon the rest of my cracked, dry voice. "Wind?" I wince, putting a hand on my throat, where the pain emanates from.
The wind is right there, as always, ready for me.
"Will you take me to the second place I visited last night?"
The second place I visited is a bit of a surprise. I remember it exactly as it was the previous night, before I set to work: a glistening paradise of pinks, oranges and reds, even in the nighttime. There is not a single stray snowflake to be seen. Mother Nature must have stepped in on this place's behalf, but it's way too hot for me here, even hotter than Florida.
The wind seems to read my thoughts, scooping me out of that place, depositing me somewhere cooler. I deflate a little. More snow for me to take care off? Crud, there must be six feet of it! Still, at least I'm somewhere cold. And if it starts to warm up when all the snow is gone, I can just leave. There's nothing keeping me tied down here, the way everything keeps me tied down on Berk.
The moment my thoughts drift to Berk, I feel a flush of shame overtaking my face, surely turning my cheeks bright pink. I should find Jack and apologize. Yeah, I was super excited to find out what I could do, and it's true that I didn't know how to banish the snow at first, but I was way out of line. I shouldn't have yelled at him. Once I've finished with the rest of these places, and possibly slept a little more, I'll go find Jack and tell him I'm sorry.
