Hiya! Just wanted to thank you for stickin' around! only a few more chapters and the story should be complete. :D Drop a review! (I know it's a bit tedious, but hey! It's just a friendly reminder to me that people are actually reading and that my work is worth it! That's why I leave reviews anyway.) See ya~! Enjoy.
The darkness around her was somehow both peaceful and annoying. She could hear something next to her, but nothing at the same time. It was more like she could sense that something was there. But then a voice started filling her head.
"This is the third time I've been knocked unconscious within a day! If I get hit over the head one more time…"
"J-Jack? Is that you?" She groaned and turned over, trying to alleviate the small headache that was starting to build in the back of her head. Slowly opening her eyes, cerulean blue pools met icy blue as Merida and Jack made eye contact.
"Well, good morning sunshine." He said sarcastically, holding out a hand to pull her up. She glared at it for a moment, but then accepted and let him yank her up to her feet. Looking around, she recognized absolutely nothing of her surroundings. A giant lake rested next to them, while Hiccup, the dragon, and Rapunzel still slept on the mossy ground. It was relatively warm, but signs that an early winter were coming showed everywhere. No birds were around to sing their tunes, and there were small bits of frost in the water.
"Where are we?" She asked, looking around. Jack examined it as well, and his jaw went a little slack for a moment before he turned back to Merida.
"Welcome to Lake Burgess. This is where I live." He said slowly, as if not believing it himself.
"Really? It's quite…. Well…." Merida wasn't sure what to say to that. "Let's wake these two up. Then we can figure out wha's goin' on." She said with a frown. Jack nodded.
"You do that, I'll take a quick scout around to make sure we're in the right time period."
"What? What is that suppose' ta mean?!"
"We've traveled… whether in time or not, I'm not sure. So I'm gonna fly up and see if the town I know is there, and if it isn't… We're gonna be a little lost."
Merida nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around what was being said. She watched (in hidden amazement) as he flew up, holding tightly to his wooden staff. Turning to the others, she shook the Blonde's shoulder first.
"Oi- wake up. Yer layin' in the middle of a forest. Get up."
"Uhhh" Rapunzel groaned, sitting up slowly. She blinked her eyes opened slowly, green orbs adjusting to the light. Gasping, she leaned over and shook Hiccup awake, until he sat up in delusional panic.
"Where are we?" He asked, looking around in panic. (Apparently he didn't wake well)
"Well, we're in my time." Jack said from above, making the three look up to see him landing softly on the mossy ground next to them. "This is Burgess. My home town- sorta."
"Wha' do ya mean 'sort of'?" Merida asked, checking her hip to make sure that her bundle of arrows was still hanging there, which it was. She slung her bow over her chest and shoulders, then crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.
"Well, this is where I've been for the last- ahem…" he took an uncomfortable look around- "three hundred years. But! Lucky for us, I can get us some more help by this evening, as long as either Sandy or one of the Tooth fairies come around. Which should be pretty quick, because it's pretty late. See? The sun's already going down."
Rapunzel nodded and then sneezed, a slight shiver wracking her body. Hiccup looked at her with concern.
"Are you cold?" Jack asked, looking at her quizzically. Sometimes he forgot that people could do that.
"Uh- just a little."
"Well ya said there was a town just up here didncha?" Merida said, marching forward. "We can just take shelter somewhere."
"Good idea." Hiccup nodded, following her along with Toothless, whom he had managed to awaken. Rapunzel nodded as well and followed suit.
"Ah!- Guys I dunno if that's a good-" Jack suddenly realized that he hadn't told them-!
"What in the name of Odin…?" Hiccup's surprised voice echoed around the forested area.
"Idea…" Jack groaned.
Flitting forward, he found his friends at the edge of a paved road, and cars racing by. The park over by Jamie's house was full of kids, while their parents called for them to come along to go home. Headlights were flickered on as the light of the sun began to disappear and lights in houses came on as well.
"What is this?!" Rapunzel asked in amazement, stepping forward. Jack, wide-eyed, quickly grasped her arm and yanked her back just before a pick-up truck could ram into her. Panting in slight panic, he helped her upright.
"Uhm… well. Welcome to the future." Jack said, an awkward grin spreading on his features.
"The… future?"
"Well yeah- Uhhh… this is the year 2015." Jack said with a flourish of his staff, as if bowing. "So if we're technically speaking, you're the same age as I am here."
"What?!" Hiccup asked, looking at the winter spirit. "What? Oh Gods… what are those metal box things?!"
"Oh- those are cars… they're like… motor powered transportation. They sort of replaced… horses and stuff."
"They don' ride horses?!" Merida cried.
"Well- some of em do! Just not here much. North has got reindeer though. And they still love them in the western areas of here…" Rapunzel and Merida sneezed this time around. Jack looked around and focused his vision on the electric thermometer inside one of the cars and read 33 degrees F. It was just above freezing. He was a little surprised to see that Hiccup didn't seem all too affected at all.
"Alright, you guys go get warm by the lake as best you can, I'll go see if I can get some blankets or something. If I'm not back by sundown, watch for glowing gold sand in the sky." Jack said, taking off. "And don't try and cross the road!"
Jack came back from Jamie's house, with a borrowed blanket and an old, pink, coat that he thought might fit Rapunzel. Jamie had said they were going to throw them out anyway, so he could have them, although he had seemed amused that Jack Frost would need a coat.
Rapunzel, Merida and Toothless were all huddled around a fire that seemed to have been lit by the said Dragon, while Hiccup was sitting on watch just next to them. It was dark outside by then. He stood up as soon as he saw Jack. The closer the spirit got, the more it looked like the girls and dragon were fast asleep.
"Thank heaven your back." He sighed. "We haven't seen any gold sand though. What is it supposed to look like anyway?" He watched as Jack draped the blanket and coat over the two girls who were still shivering slightly. And Jack was positive that it had dropped far below freezing by then.
Jack thought for a moment. "Well you know, Pitch's sand? It's sort of the exact opposite of that. It's actually called dream sand." Jack explained. "Sorry it took me so long. I got this though." He held up the two articles of cloth. "They should do until we go to the north pole."
"The north Pole?" Hiccup asked with an incredulous look. Jack only nodded, sitting down on a rock. Hiccup sat next to him. "So… how… when- when did things change so much? I mean, those cars and the strange cement thing you called a road?" Jack sighed.
"Well they started on cars a while back… pavement, as the strange cement thing is called, kinda came along a bit after I died. Fifty years I would guess? I didn't really pay that much attention as to when it all happened. Besides, it's a lot to remember." He added as an afterthought. "I don't even remember my own birthday. I've always just marked it as the first of December."
"The first of what?"
"Uh- the last moon cycle of the year. The coldest one?"
"Oh. Makes sense I guess." Hiccup nodded. "being who you are I mean. But… how did you… you know…"
"Die?" Jack finished for him. Hiccup nodded. Jack leaned back, resting on his arms. "Well… this lake right here is where it happened." He started, pointing at the water that was slowly freezing in front of them. Hiccup's eyes went wider in surprise. "The lake was totally frozen over… and remember I mentioned a sister? Well she wanted to go ice skating. And we went, and were skating for a little bit, until she reached the center of the lake. The ice wasn't thick enough there, and I tried to get over to help her and ended up on the ice too. So I got this stick…" he held up his staff thoughtfully, looking at it for a moment before going on. "and I used it to get her off of the thin ice. And… I fell in."
Hiccup stared at the man next to him, a whole new perspective filling his view. He had never expected the winter spirit to have died saving someone. Of course, he hadn't known enough about him to even guess what had happened.
"And what about you?" Jack asked. Hiccup gave him a quizzical look, silently asking him what he meant. "Your leg. How did you lose it?"
"Oh- haha, well I found toothless-"
"And he bit your leg off?!" Jack asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Ahaha-no! Not really… but I found him… or more like shot him down. I found him later in the forest, and his tail fin had been shot off. I was planning to kill him actually, but I ended up freeing him instead. We became friends over a period of time… by my ultimately betraying my entire village and it's people. But I don't regret it. Uhm… then me and Astrid, the blonde girl? We went for a flight… and found the dragon's nest… and then my dad sort of found out and sort of went to destroy it. Then I got the other people my age to join us and fight the giant dragon that we sort of dubbed the green death. Toothless and I fought it, won, but his fake tail fell off and we fell into the explosion. So Toothless grabbed me and protected me. But my leg…"
"Wow." Jack said with wide eyes. "I had absolutely no idea."
"Well none of us do really. I'm sure that those two have some good stories about themselves too. I mean- magic hair?" Hiccup pointed out. Both boys laughed, throwing their heads back in sincere jolly. And as they opened their eyes, tendrils of sand started to seep from the sky.
"That's our man." Jack said, standing up. Jumping up at an incredible height to just let his hand run through the sand. Hiccup laughed a little as dolphins jumped out from where he had touched it. It was almost… funny how such a man would be so happy to see the strange fish flying about him. But the grin that split his face was just too happy to not be contagious.
Jack landed again and stood next to Hiccup. "Well Sandy'll be here any second. He always knows where someone's messed with his sand." He explained. "Let's wake those two up." Hiccup nodded and trotted forward, tapping Toothless on the shoulder, where he sat up and frowned, making a strange purring noise.
"Wake up bud. It's time to meet new friends." He said. Toothless nodded and yawned, large maw widening with its gumless fury. His yellow eyes closed in a sleepy blink, and he licked Rapunzel upside the head. She sat up with a surprised gasp, which made Merida do the same beside her.
"Oh you're up." Jack said with a grin. "About time."
"Wha- wha's goin on?" Merida grumbled. "Wha-?"
"Sandy's on his way. Get on up, so we can get out of here faster." Jack said with a familiar grin. "He's only seconds awa-ah!" Just as he said that, a large ball of golden glow collided with him and nearly knocked him over. Jack straightened out to reveal that a little, golden man was clinging to his chest in a tight embrace. "Sandy! Woah- slow down there!" Jack said, spinning the winter spirit around as if he hadn't seen him in years.
The golden man pulled away, revealing his features to the others. He was short, as obviously observed. His golden hair spiked up in a sandy glow, while his round face sported a round nose and round golden eyes. He was clothed as if wearing a golden robe that twisted to his form.
Small sandy symbols formed and disappeared above his head flashing faster than the actual pictures could register. Merida, Hiccup, and Rapunzel all stared in disbelief, wondering what on earth was going on. Jack however, seemed to know.
"yeah- so how long was I really gone?- a month?!" He seemed almost panicked on this. "But tha- I was only gone a day- and a half really." He told the little man with confusion. More images flashed above his head. "Oh- right." He turned to the others. "Guys, this is sandman. Bringer of dreams. Sandman, this is Rapunzel, Hiccup, Merida… and Toothless." He told him. Sandman made a small hat appear above his head and tipped it with a small bow.
"Nice to meet you." Rapunzel said with a smile. "I'm Rapunzel! So you're Sandman! Jack's talked about you!" Sandman looked at Jack with an incredulous look.
"I didn't say anything bad! There's nothing bad to say!" He said with a laugh. "So sandy, can we somehow get a ride to the North Pole for these guys? I would've taken them, but they'd have frozen to death." Sandman nodded happily, and shot a large bundle of sandy fireworks into the sky. Everyone stared up at them, light flashing in their eyes from the sparkling sand.
"Wow, never seen anythin' like that before." Merida said with some slight impression.
"Not many people have." Jack nodded. "It's awesome." He grinned at Sandman, who just smiled.
Suddenly a hole sprouted in the ground next to Jacks feet. Jumping away, everyone stared as two giant ears popped out of the ground, twitching back and forth before a giant head followed. The kangaroo-sized rabbit hopped out of the hole and stood tall and proud before it saw Jack.
"Frostbite! You're back! So that's why ya called me here ya Gumby!" The giant rabbit said loudly as he grabbed Jack in a choke hold and ground his fist into his head. "When'dja get back?"
"Just a couple hours ago! Stop it!" Jack laughed, pulling away from the giant furball. "Ya missed me that much?" He asked with a laugh. The Rabbit frowned.
"Yeah right!" he said definitely. "Tooth and North were havin' fits within the first week though. Ya hadn't showed up or given any sign yer alright!" He said.
"Well, you know, I went back in time by about five hundred years. Here we have, Hiccup, he's a Viking… oh and his dragon. Toothless. Then we have Rapunzel, Princess of a kingdom… I'm guessing in Germany or something. Uhm- and this is Merida. Princess from Scotland."
"Scotland?" He asked. "Nice. I'm Bunnymund. The Easter bunny." He held out his hand for a shake. The three looked between each other before Hiccup reached up and took the furry hand.
"Nice- to meet you… sir." Hiccup said. "I'm Hiccup…" Toothless nudged his leg. "Oh, and Toothless."
"Toothless?" Bunny snorted. "What a name for a dragon."
"That's what I said, but he really is. He has retractable teeth!" Jack said enthusiastically. "Anyway, can we get a lift to the North Pole? I would have flown them… but…"
"Ya would've frozen them to death. Good thinkin' Frostbite. Yeah, let's get them to a warmer place. Which is ironic if ya ask me." The giant rabbit said. "Come on." He tapped his foot on the floor twice and another hole opened up. "Hop on in."
Hiccup looked over at Jack, who nodded in encouragement. Merida gave him a signal that he could go first. "Aw. Buck up!" And with that, Bunnymund pushed the boy forward. With an ungraceful "AHHH!" Hiccup fell forward and into the hole. Rapunzel fell forward as well when she had leaned over to look down into it. Merida rolled her eyes and jumped down as well, followed closely by Toothless.
"Ya comin' Frostbite?" Bunnymund asked over the shouts and screams of his fellow friends.
"Ahaha, no. I'll be flying by myself." Jack said, getting ready to take off. Sandy looked at him in agreement.
"Ah- ya big baby." Bunny grabbed Jack by his hood and tossed him in.
"Jack Frost! You're back!" A booming voice echoed around the pile of people that had just flown out of a hole that had magically appeared in the wall. Heavy footfalls crossed the room until the owners reached the pile and lifted Jack right out of it, and crushed him in a hug.
"Ow, ow, ow North!" Jack laughed, trying to escape. "Yeah I'm back! Ow!"
"Where have you been?!" North asked, pulling away and shaking him by the shoulders. "We waited for you for a whole week! And then a month! Why were you so long?"
"Sorry! As far as I'm concerned, I was only gone for a day and a half. That's what it felt like to me. But I guess the time travel really made time travel." He shrugged.
"I couldn't really say it quite the same. But no matter! You are back and that is that! And who are these… new recruits?" He asked, patting Jack on the back so hard that he nearly fell over.
"Ah- I'm Hiccup, and this is Toothless. Uahm… this is Rapunzel and Merida." The Viking said slowly, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.
"Aha!" North said, slapping him on the back. "Hiccup! The little dragon boy from Berk, you always wanted gears! And fish! It always made my sleigh smell a little strange… And Merida, you're the little one who got a bundle of arrows every year! And Rapunzel! You loved your paints!" North hugged each of the three as he talked to them, crushing them against his chest with his strong arms. "All very good children!"
"Oh! You're saint Nicolas! He delivers presents to kids on Christmas!" Rapunzel suddenly realized. "Wow! You remember us…?"
"Of course! I remember every child." North said. "And please call me North."
"Saint what? Christmas?" Hiccup asked, looking at her. "What?" Toothless looked just as confused.
"In your town, they called it something strange… ah. Snoggletog or something like that." North said with a grin. "Interesting name if you ask me. But it is still the same idea." North shrugged. "It is so good to meet you in person~!"
"Wait- you're Odin?!"
"Whaa-? No- well- yes. From your perspective I suppose I am." North shrugged again. "But no matter! Now we can get down to what matters here! How did you get back? Was it Mim?"
"Ah- no actually. It was some sort of witch from her time." Jack said, pointing at Merida, who was still in awe that Saint Nicolas was real.
"I see. Well, are you hungry? You look terrible Jack." North said. "You should go rest."
"Nah, I'm fine. These three might want some food though… and fish." He gave North a mischievous smirk, but North knew what it meant. He wanted to talk to North. Alone.
"Phil just put a roast in the oven! It should be ready in no time." North said. "Phil!" The said Yeti shouted back in a garbled language that no one but Jack and North understood. "Take these- four to the kitchen! Jack and I will join you shortly." He said. Phil nodded and started to lead the others away, making them look nervous about being alone with the giant Yeti.
Once they were gone, North, Bunny and Sandman turned to Jack. "What's wrong mate? Ya've never passed up a chance ta wreck the kitchen." Bunnymund crossed his arms over his chest. Jack laughed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck.
How to put it…