Chapter 11

Merida DunBroch

Merida ran a hand over the hilt of her sword nervously as the dragon landed in Burgess once more. She saw Jodie's face in a window, and the girl waved. Merida attempted to communicate through gestures that she wanted the children to meet up, and was rewarded with a flash of comprehension from Jodie, who disappeared from the window.

"How Sandy does this all the time I'll never know." She muttered darkly, rubbing a sore spot on her arm. She then looked back, relieved to see Jack still there. Though the fact that Rapunzel seemed to have a death grip on his shoulder may have had something to do with that. "Frost." Merida called softly to him. "What do we tell the wee devils?"

Jack looked at her. "Tell them that it's not safe in the woods, and watch out for anything that's even slightly out of the ordinary. Even if it's just something as small as a normally peaceful dog that suddenly snaps at passerby, they should take that as a warning signal."

Hiccup shrugged. "Sounds logical."

Merida's attention was attracted by the children as they came out into the street, looking expectantly at Jack. Well, that was to be expected, she reasoned. After all, the children were more used to Jack protecting them than any of the other new Guardians.

"Ok." Jack started, letting out a small breath. "Pitch is definitely back, he's thawed the lake and filled it with his filthy sand." He told them, the last part coming out more as a growl than anything else. He recovered, and continued, "I want you to be especially on your guard, okay? Don't go anywhere alone, keep an eye out for anything unusual. If a bug buzzes too loud, I wanna know."

"Jack..." Merida sighed. "Too much." She cleared her throat to commandeer the attention of the children. "Let me ease the sentence a little." She proposed. "Still stay alert, and don't go alone if yu can avoid it. If anything is out of the ordinary, let one of us know. As opposed to a bug, say, if a previously friendly animal starts trying to take chunks out of people, that's a pretty good sign." She decided.

"And yu've got the snow globe, so don't be stingy about using it." She added, looking at Jamie. "If Pitch is out to get under our skin, yu will be the first ones he goes for." She concluded.

Jodie nodded. "We'll be careful." She promised, grinning at Merida.

"Alright, back to bed with you guys now!" Rapunzel urged. The children sighed but obeyed, scampering back to their respective houses before their absences were discovered.

Merida looked at the other three. "Wot now?"

Jack's eyes hardened as he pulled out a chunk of ice twice the size of his hand. "We see what the Guardians have to say about this." He announced. "Get ready to fly."

Merida sighed. "I don't suppose yu stole another snow globe?"

Jack snickered. "What's the fun in that?"

Merida sighed as she clambered back onto the dragon. "Can yu keep 'im calm this time?" She practically begged Hiccup.

"Only if Jack stays calm." Hiccup replied.

"So, basically, no." Merida muttered darkly as she latched onto Hiccup with a vice grip as the dragon launched itself almost vertically into the sky. "Froooooooooost!" She screamed as the dragon happily followed the winter sprite through dizzying maneuvers. The only reply she received was Jack's laughter floating back to her on the breeze, coupled with Rapunzel adding her squeals and mild curses to the mix.

"Oh, no, not the spinning." Merida heard Hiccup groan.

"Nononononoooooooo!" Rapunzel screeched, closely mirrored by Merida as Jack led Toothless through a mountain range.

"Hey, we can't go back the same way, there might be ambushes!" Jack called gleefully.

"But Pitch can track us anyways, because he can sense fear!" Merida yelled back.

Jack slowed. "Whoops. But, c'mon, that was a good fear."

Merida rolled her eyes. "Fear is fear."

Jack shrugged as he continued in a new direction at a more conservative pace. "Well, fear does keep us from doing stupid stuff. It's only bad when jerks like Pitch warp it and use it to destroy and drive people mad." He explained, doing a quick 360 to check for threats before Rapunzel could even react.

"I'm pretty sure we're safe, now, can we just go back?" Hiccup asked tiredly.

"Aye, I don't see the need for playing cat and mouse." Merida agreed.

"Just trying to keep us safe." Jack muttered as he sped up. "And you guys are the ones that told me to cut it out."

"Oh, no." Merida mumbled. "Please, no..." The next moment panic set back in as Toothless started off after Jack once more. Surprisingly, she found that it wasn't as bad as she remembered. Great, she was getting used to the irritating sprite's antics. Not good.

When they finally arrived back at the Pole, Merida bounded off the dragon. "Never again." She vowed. "I am never doing that again."

"Well, how else are you going to get around?" Jack asked innocently, having deposited Rapunzel on the ground and now hovering several feet off the ground.

Merida resisted the urge to reach for her bow and rolled her eyes. "Not all of us have the pleasure of not having to worry about falling."

Jack shrugged. "Nah, I still do, I can't fly without my staff, and let me tell you, falling isn't pleasant, but it's survivable." He told her. "Another rule bender."

Merida sighed. "Can I just get a list of rules, or lack thereof?"

Jack wiggled his eyebrows. "Coming right up, maybe I can get North to sing the Frosty song in the meantime." He suggested hopefully.

Hiccup sighed as he approached the two bickering immortals. "I have the feeling that none of us would enjoy that, Jack." He pointed out.

Jack gave him the beginnings of a pout. "Really? It's a really popular song, though! And maybe then you'll get the point that I'm not a snowman!"

Merida groaned. "Auch, well, if yu're going to pester about it, might as well get it over with!" She exclaimed.

"Yes!" Jack exulted before flying off to presumably locate North.

"That may have been a mistake." Rapunzel declared.

"Yu don't say." Merida retorted. "I'm freezin', let's go inside."

She was instantly greeted by Jack holding a strange box emitting words to a tune:

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,

With a corncob pipe and a button nose

And two eyes made out of coal.

Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,

He was made of snow but the children

Know how he came to life one day.

There must have been some magic in that

Old silk hat they found.

For when they placed it on his head

He began to dance around.

O, Frosty the snowman

Was alive as he could be,

And the children say he could laugh

And play just the same as you and me.

"W-wot is that?" She yelped.

Jack rolled his eyes, hitting a button that ceased the song. "That is the song about Frosty the Snowman. See what I mean?"

Merida shook her head, pointing at the box. "No, that!"

Jack looked at the device. "Oh, this? This is a radio!" He explained, holding it out for inspection. "It's one of the more popular human devices made with electricity, basically it can either detect special sound waves and then translate them into audible sound, or you put something called a CD in and it reads the information to translate that into sound." He finished proudly. "This one's pretty old, though."

The winter sprite's attention was quickly diverted by the arrival of the other Guardians.

"Jack, how many times must I tell you to not take things without permission?" North scolded, a small smile on his face when he realized which song had been played.

"Guys, guys, listen!" Jack urged, pulling out the piece of ice. "Pitch messed with my lake!" He set the ice on a table, letting the protective layer of frost melt away to allow the Guardians to see the sickly black sand that polluted the ice of his lake.

"Why the lake, though?" Tooth asked, clearly confused.

"Well, it was a right trouble he gave us when he found out." Merida butted in. "That just might have sumthin' to do with it."

Jack looked pleadingly at Sandy, ignoring Merida. Sandy shrugged, placing a small hand on the ice. Jack cheered when there was a golden flash and the blackness left the ice.

Merida blocked Jack before he could drag Sandy out the door. "We've got other things to do." She reminded him.

She saw Jack suppress a nasty look as he turned away, answering questions the Guardians raised. It's just a lake! She thought to herself. Wot's the big deal?

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Well, the plot finally thickens, things will get moving soon, I promise. I hate waiting as much as anyone else does, so all this dancing around will cease soon, very soon.