Hi! Miss me?
I received a distressed please update, and how can I refuse you lovely peoples? You've all been waiting so patiently for this chapter, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. Now let's get this started! Our two heroes shall *finally* meet! Fanfare! No? Okay, fine, just read. ;)
P.S. The chapters will no longer be divided into two parts; it's all one big happy collage now!
EDIT: Big thanks to Atem's Sister Atea for helping me sort out some time measurement confusion in this chapter. I kinda-sorta-maybe-accidentally-without-meaning-to made the Vikings sound waaaaay more primitive than they actually were, and she was a big help for that. :)
12 – First Encounters
The Northern Sea: Aurora Borealis (Jack's POV)
For once I was just having fun. Fun is good, right? I mean, I hadn't done that in a while, so it was good to chill with everyone.
Well, not quite everyone. North and the yetis were the only ones actually working; they were standing around the steering wheel having a very heated discussion over several important-looking maps. When I'd asked about them an hour ago, North gave me a hasty answer – something about planning routes for present-deliver this Christmas or something.
I left them to that…after freezing a few passing elves and steeling their cookies, of course. What? Those things are everywhere! Then I went to see what everyone else was up to.
Tooth was washing her blue jacket. It was still slightly stained and singed on the edges from the attack in Canadia. I knocked on the doorframe to get her attention. She immediately turned with a bright smile on her face.
"Jack! Hi, come in! I was just about make some tea, if you'd like."
"I'd love some," I answered.
She beckoned me in and had me sit on her rug. I offered to help with the tea, but she refused. Baby fluttered from her perch on the window ledge to settle comfortably on my shoulder. I rubbed her cheek before sitting cross-legged on the colorful purple-and-green rug with my staff by my side.
I liked Tooth's room. It reminded me of her palace, with the same grace and sophistication. However, I couldn't say the same for Tooth. Of course, even she had some less-graceful leftovers from her past. Because of the low ceiling she couldn't fly in her room, so had to resolve with walking. Which made her trip on the edge of the rug when she was carrying the teapot over.
I cried out a bit when a splash of hot water flew from the spout and onto my exposed hand. It didn't help that I managed to bang my head on the lowest supporting beam when I jumped up. The pain subsided almost immediately – power of being an instant ice pack, I guess – but it still throbbed slightly, and I could feel a lump developing on the back of my head.
"Ow…"
"Oh Moon, Jack! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Here, let me see."
I rubbed my sore head sheepishly and showed her my hand. Its entire back was an angry red color, which contrasted interestingly with my light skin. But as we both stared the wound began to pale and heal to a shiny blue-white. Ice fringed the gradually shrinking edge.
"Looks like I'll be okay," I stated. "It takes a lot more firepower to burn me seriously. Sorry for giving you such a fright."
"No, you're fine. I'm just glad I didn't have to send you to Bunny for healing. No doubt he would blame you for the entire thing!"
I laughed. "Got that right! Though I didn't know he was a doctor."
"He knows a bit about herbal remedies, being an earth magic specialist."
"Makes sense, I guess."
Tooth quickly poured the tea, adding milk and sugar with nimble fingers. She handed me my cup first though with a lot of caution. I took it gingerly and watched as it began to freeze like my hot-cold chocolate Gerard brought for me every morning.
Seeing that I was okay (with a bit of reassurance on my part) she took her own tea.
"Is there a reason you came to visit, Jack? Not that I don't mind the company."
I shrugged. "I'm curious about Berk. Since you're the only one on this ship that knows anything about it, I figured I should ask you."
"Well Jack, I'm not sure what to tell you. It's not a place I've ever set foot in. The only reason I know about it is because of my ladies began collecting teeth from there. How they got through the border is even a mystery for me."
"You mean there never was a Berk when you were still out in the field?" I asked.
Tooth took a sip of tea and nodded. "My ladies first began to bring teeth from there around two hundred and eighty-or-so years ago. And they were in disastrous shape! It's like the poor children had never heard of toothpaste. I haven't seen that many yellows since the Dark Ages!"
"What," I asked, "did Pitch exactly do during the Dark Ages?"
Tooth frowned. "Why are you asking?"
"I'm just not filled in on the details, I guess."
"Well, the story isn't that interesting. Basically, people then lived in fear. It was everywhere. Fear of starvation, fear of disease, fear of being kidnapped. Even simple things like not being able to afford food and clothing, or a drought ruining a year's worth of crops. But most of all, there was a fear of death. And Pitch fed on that. He became so powerful that there was no hope for anyone."
"Until MiM intervened."
"Until MiM intervened," she agreed. "That's when Sandy was born. He, as I'm sure he showed you, suffered. That was life for many other children then. The Man in the Moon knew that, and used that to his advantage. That's why the children have been so important to our purposes. We Guardians all hold a piece of them, in a sense."
I nodded and finished off my tea. Tooth poured me another glass and sat still. She waited for me to speak first.
"I think," I said finally, "that there's something really wrong about all of this. The entire mission…isn't it too dangerous?"
"Why do you say this?"
I set down my cup. "I don't know. Something about Pitch and Berk is bugging me. He was trying to make me come with him. There's the whole deal with Berk's isolation and the border. Why do they exist? And how was Pitch able to get past them?"
Tooth frowned. "Now that you say it like that…"
I continued. "He was also babbling on about some queen or something, saying he's been plotting for three hundred year up north. 'A beast of ash and fire,' he said. Then he went on about the children. Something's going on with the children up there. I don't know what, but I feel like we need to go and check."
"I couldn't agree more, but right now it's safer to stay on the ship. North still has some use of his magic because we're so close to Santoff Clausen. He's put a shield around us that should make us invisible to Pitch. Though if he does has as much control of the area as we think he does, then he probably already knows we're here."
"So you're saying it is too dangerous then."
"I am."
We sat in uncomfortable silence. Tooth sighed and added softly, "The rest of us are not made to fight both Fearlings and dragons. You're the only one with an edge in battle."
I rubbed the spot on my hand that I had burned, now completely healed. "Yeah, I guess."
I talked a bit longer about trivial things before helping her to repair the outfit, excusing myself right after, and went to bug Bunny.
He, for once, wasn't puking his guts out. And he didn't look that annoyed to see me, so bonus!
"What's up, Frostbite?"
"Nothing much, Kangaroo." I leaned on the doorframe to his room (because I went below decks). "Can I come in?"
"I dunno. Can you?"
I rolled my eyes. "Enough with the grammar!" Though I did correct myself. "May I?"
He waved me in. This was the first time I'd ever been in his room so I took my time when looking around. It was set up the same as mine: bed, desk, chair, shelves, hardwood floors, circular windows. What was different, though, was that the walls and ceiling were all covered in paintings. As I took a closer look, I realized they were all Bunny's careful brushstrokes.
The right wall by the bed was decorated with tribal signs. Many gave an aborigine Auslandia feel to the place. Each symbol was made of a thick, dark paint that varied in color from reddish-brown to black.
The opposite side was a scenic view I recognized with a start as Bunny's village. It in the picture, though, was no longer in disrepair. All the buildings were new and appeared lived-in, so to speak. I lingered on it for several moments before looking some more.
The window area was gone. In that the entire wall was gone (kinda), replaced by a painting in the likeness of a shoreline. Definitely a reminder of land. I smirked before looking up.
The ceiling…it was the sky. Like, every sky. It went in a circle around the light fixture from sunrise to sunset, through night and day. It even had spring showers, winter storms, and cloudlessness. It was pretty spectacular, but I wasn't going to admit that to Bunny. Moon knows his ego doesn't need the extra praise!
"Could'ya close the door behind you, mate?"
I did. And was astounded all over again. The entire wall, including the door, was a collage featuring all of the Guardians (and the Moon's eerie glow surrounding them). And this collage had just about everything: their homes, their powers, their symbols, their purposes, their births, their centers, everything. It was like a family portrait.
I followed Bunny's section of Auslandia and the eggs on the far left. Then there was him sitting in the Warren with Groundhog and Wise Old Owl over a massive book, which then blended into Tooth's human life. I stared for a second; it was the first time I had ever seen any likeness of her husband. He seemed like a typical bookworm, like he belonged in a library: tweed suit, glasses, a little bowtie. But I could see the kindness in his smile as he looked down at the bundle in Tooth's arms. It was a shock when I finally realized it was their baby. Her last living memory.
North came next. The Russki village with the snowy fields, pine trees rising up from the flickering flames of houses' windows, a lake that was a frozen mirror of the sky. I remembered North's constant stories about this little isolated place and couldn't help but smile at his fondness of the place.
And then there was Sandy. I stopped for a few lingering moments. I recognized the scene where he was first contacted by MiM from his memories he shared. The weaving sand that glistened through to happy, sleeping faces. It tugged at my heart in the most uncomfortable way. I reached out and let my fingers brush over the careful brushstrokes before turning away. But then I noticed something else which grabbed my attention yet again.
It was on the far end, in the bottom right-hand corner. I kneeled down closer to get a better look. This portion of the mural was only started, but somehow I could tell it was for me. The background was pale blue covered in sketches and outlines, nothing more. From what I could make out, there was a scene of my night against Pitch, and a bunch of hexagons.
"You paint all this?" I asked unnecessarily.
"I did." I heard Bunny get off his bed and walk over (Did I forget to mention he was sitting on his bed?). "It's not done, but it's all I've got so far." I could practically hear him shrug. "What d'ya think?"
"So far…" I wasn't sure what else to say. "Why hexagons?"
"Snowflakes are hexagons, right? I thought it was fitting."
"I guess so." I cleared my throat. "Well, thanks."
"Yeah, no problem." He was standing behind me when I got up and turned around. "Reason you came down to my quarters?"
"I'm just bored, I guess."
Bunny nodded understandingly. "Not much to do on this ship, is there?"
"Not really, no."
"Surprised you didn't go off to bug our dragon friend."
I could practically feel the wicked grin oozing onto my face, and by the look on Bunny's face I could tell he seriously regretted what he'd just said.
"Right, I'm gonna stay here. Have fun, kiddo."
I grabbed him by the shoulder with the crook of my staff. "Oh no you don't! You, Eucalyptus my dear friend, have just become my partner in crime for all the mischievous fun we'll cause on this ship!"
"For the love of the moon, I didn't sign up for this," he muttered. "And don't call me that!"
"Call you what?" I asked innocently while leading him towards the ladder.
"You know full well."
"'Dear friend?'"
"Eucalyptus!"
"Aw, why not? It suits you!" I teased. Then I hesitated. "What about the friend part?"
Bunny looked up at me from the bottom of the ladder and grinned while swatting away my staff. "Friend is fine."
I smiled back.
So I found myself on the deck forty minutes later tossing snowballs leisurely at Roxy. She was annoyed at first, but soon was running around the deck with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Most of the snowballs hit her, but she managed to swallow a good few. Each one she got made her smoke out of her nose, something that amused us both greatly. I even made the deck a large slip-and-slide by freezing it. Her body temperature melted the ice enough to make it a place of great entertainment.
For whatever reason, I swore Phil was keeping a closer eye on me than usual. I wonder why? Bunny was watching us too, but in a less grumpy way. He was sitting on the stairs leading up to the steering wheel working on something that looked like a new boomerang, but it'd been put aside. I could see he was smiling when I glanced over. That was, until I hit him full in the face with a snowball.
"Watch where you aim those things, Frostbite!"
"Oh relax, Cottontail. It'll dry out of your fur soon. Besides, it was just a joke."
He pointed to his scowling face. "Do you see me laughing?"
"You didn't think it was funny?"
"Not in the slightest."
I turned to Roxy. "Did you thing that was funny?"
I swore she nodded. Then I asked Baby (who was perched on my shoulder as always) the same question. She shrugged.
"There, you see. Three against one."
"Oh for the love of – that doesn't count! Baby was obviously indifferent and no one really knows what Roxy's tryin' to say anyway! She's just a dragon. It's not like they talk or anything."
Roxy looked heartbroken. Phil was just plain mad. I swooped over to the dragon and hugged her around the neck. "Aw look, now you've made hurt her feelings! Apologize immediately."
"No offense mate, but I think you should be the one to apologize first considering you're the one that handicapped her in the first place."
"Roxy forgives me! Right girl?" She snuffed and shook me off violently. "Okay, I'll take that as a maybe."
"Hold it right there! That there was obviously a no."
"Says the one who just claimed no one understands what the dragon's trying to say."
Bunny smirked. "Trust me, everyone can tell when someone hates on Jack Frost. That rejection is something I quite look forward to."
I shrugged. "Keep trying to find people who can say that about me. I don't even exist to most everyone anyway."
"Frostbite…" He knew he struck a chord.
"Besides," I said, trying to lighten the mood, "you can't keep living the past. You just have to loosen up and keep going. So have fun! Nothing beats having fun. Except for all you stodgy old people constantly working!"
"Moon, you're only like that because you're an untamed boy," he muttered.
"Well, I wasn't kidding about loosening up. Life isn't all business."
"I know that!" he snapped. Then he sighed. "Look, I like the positivity, but it isn't exactly a walk in the park from here on out. Pitch has the upper hand here. And it's close to nightfall. We're gonna hafta stay on our toes if we're to make it here. Who knows when he'll come storming in with his Nightmares and dragons."
"I get that, but it's not like he'll get past my ice!"
"Exactly! That's why we need you to be focused. No more pointless wandering or fooling around."
"Relax, I can handle the heat!"
"But to what extent."
I chose to ignore Bunny's last comment, instead making snowflakes fall gently around me. The Auslandian, however, was persistent. He got up and tapped me on the shoulder.
"Listen Jack. I know it's not something you want to hear, but you are a winter spirit. Fire can hurt you, even if you're immortal. And not all immortals are perfectly so."
"What's that cryptic bit supposed to mean?" I asked.
Bunny hesitated, but didn't reply. Instead he turned and headed back to whatever it was he was working on. "It's nothing. Just keep your eyes peeled, okay?"
"Fine, sulk all you want! But are you sure I couldn't help you lighten up?" I casually flipped a snowflake around my fingers to make a point.
Bunny's face fell. "Absolutely not."
"You sure? You won't even know it's me!"
His rage was barely masked. "The last time you hit me in the face with one of those bloody happy 'flakes I was giggling like a lovesick schoolgirl over my googies for hours, and ya expect me to take you up on that offer?"
"What? It was a joke!"
"Again, not laughing. See?"
"Whatever. Sorry you have no sense of humor."
"I didn't hear the end of it from Groundhog for weeks on end!"
Now I was laughing.
Just then, North's voice boomed over the entire deck. "EVERYONE! TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!"
Bunny hopped over. "What is it? What's going on?"
"Maddie is up in crow's nest. She said she saw something coming from the skies."
That got my interest. I leapt over to the steering wheel with the wind behind me. "Was it Pitch?"
"She said it was black dragon, with a rider."
"Can't be too cautious," Bunny said, drawing his boomerangs. "I'll be in your cabin, North."
"I will join you shortly."
"Wait a second!" I interrupted. "Tooth told me there was a shield around this ship. Why panic? Pitch can't even see us, right?"
North hesitated. I could tell this wasn't something he liked to talk about. "With amount of magic in area, I can only put up shields during night. Pitch would not attack during day."
I turned to look out over the sea. The sun was setting, but it was obviously not nighttime yet. I nodded, though I didn't quite understand this whole magic thing. Did Guardians have some magic meter in their bellies or something?
North noticed my hesitation and patted me on the shoulder. "It is fine for you to be a bit confused. But be wary too. You can stay on deck around masts, hide in sails."
"Why? So I'll be the first line of defense if it is in fact Pitch?"
North laughed jollily. "No no. I feel that you should stay out. I can feel it…"
"…in your belly!" I finished, grinning.
"Exactly. Now go. I will be in cabin with Bunny, prepare weapons."
"Got it." I stopped as Baby hit me. "Ow! What?"
She pointed below decks and began to squeak. I got the message immediately. "Tooth! Yeah, we need to warn her!"
Baby took initiative and flew over to the side of the ship. I watched as she tapped on the larger fairy's window/pothole. It opened. A mini conversation happened. Then Tooth stuck her head out and waved up to me.
"I'll be ready downstairs. If anything happens, Baby will keep me posted, okay?"
I gave Tooth a thumbs up and flew to the main mast. From it I followed Bunny's advice and kept my eyes peeled, watching the yetis and Roxy evacuate to the hidden room under the steering wheel. I knew Tooth was downstairs, probably with her ladies and the elves. I think Andy was down there too.
I looked up to the crow's nest, where Maddie was monitoring the skies. She nodded down to me, an obvious 'get ready,' and covered herself with a sheet. I kept closer to the main mast and watched the approaching blob. As it got closer, my grip on my staff became firmer. And then it relaxed as I saw what (or should I say who) was on the dragon. Now I was confused as I watched this sleek dragon glide around the ship, giving me a clear view to confirm exactly who the rider was.
And it made no sense to me.
"A boy?"
The Ship (Hiccup's POV)
Thankfully, the water had washed out most of the stiffness in my hair, though the ends were still a bit burnt, and the wind from flying had dried me off. Toothless circled above the ship; I barely noticed I was the one directing him.
It's large, he said finally.
I nodded. "Larger than any ship I've ever seen. It looks more like several cabins that float on water than a ship. Just look at the size of the mast! And the sails! How did they make that much cloth?"
Toothless hummed and landed gently. Stay close. We don't know what sort of people or things could be here.
"A little protective much, aren't we?" I joked as I slipped off of the saddle.
Hush. I don't smell anything living here. But I sense something, many things, and very much alive. Strange…
As Toothless pondered this, I took a lap around the deck. It was spacious and practically spotless. There were a few coils of rope and smaller boats tied to the sides of this vessel, but that wasn't what got me.
"This deck is made of planks."
I knelt down and felt it. Yep, many planks. And not like wooden pillars. These were smooth and flat with some sort of glossy finish on them. No wonder the ship was of such a size! No trees grew this large for one Viking boat to be carved out of. I stood and continued my search.
The deck was so spacious I found myself wanting to run and slide across it like a young child. However, I didn't; this was a time to be more serious. I made my way to a small flight of stairs that led up to a giant wheel. It didn't look like the rudder on our ships either.
I didn't touch it. Instead, I turned around to the cabin. Toothless was at my side ready to fire a bolt if something dared attack us from there. I gripped the handle.
"Ready bud?"
He growled.
I threw the door open, only to find the room completely empty. Toothless sniffed the air and beckoned with his head for me to follow.
There's no one here.
"Huh. That's not odd in the least bit," I replied.
He sniggered, but I was too busy taking in my surroundings. There was a large bed, and a large table with were both covered in maps and books. There was a plate of cookies too, but I didn't feel hungry (despite not eating anything).
Toothless immediately got bored of the room and wanted to leave. I, however, shushed him and began to look at the maps. They were covered in strange symbols, like runes but not like them at the same time. I picked one up gingerly. It had lands that I had never seen before: large, strangely shaped islands that all looked like pieces of a broken puzzle.
Hiccup, let's go.
"Not yet. I'm still looking."
Toothless groaned. Maybe you can't feel it because you're only human, but I feel like we're being watched. It's not a good feeling. There's something here. We should leave.
"Oh hush. You're just trying to make me paranoid so we can go home."
Insufferable human!
"Lazy dragon," I mumbled as he left. Putting the map back, I was about to follow when a book caught my attention. It was beautiful thing. Without thinking I grabbed it with both arms and carried it gingerly out of the room.
Sitting down in front of the large wheel with Toothless watching me, I opened it to the first page. There seemed to be a title, but I couldn't read it. I continued to the next page, only to find it covered in more of those strange symbols.
"I've never seen this sort of writing…" I murmured to myself. Then I turned to Toothless. "Have you ever encountered this before?"
He gave me a look that obviously said, 'Where in sky's name would I learn how to read human tongue?'
"Okay, fair enough."
I turned back to the book. It was like nothing I'd ever laid eyes on before. It was beautiful, ornate in gold with a heavy red cover. The pages were much thinner and lighter than parchment and seemed to glow with a golden sheen. I flipped through a few pages out of curiosity. More of the strange runes were printed with pinpoint accuracy with flowery designs lining the pages. Not a single error or blemish could be found.
I sniffed it. It was sweet. No smoky charcoal smell could be detected. "What in the world is this page written on with? And who made these runes so perfect?"
Who cares?
"Me."
I don't like this paper bundle. Put it back and leave.
"No, I want to take it back and try to figure this out. I bet there's something in the Hall of Records that'll help me translate this."
Augh! You're so stubborn sometimes.
"Hey, that's really rude," I argued. "And where do you think I picked up that skill anyway?"
I don't know, your father?
Okay, I couldn't argue with him there. I sighed and said, "I can still steer with the book, okay? And I promise I'll be back early tomorrow so we can fly. Is that a deal?"
Toothless seemed to consider it before agreeing. Fine. But if you drop that book into the ocean, it's your fault.
"Well, duh!"
Smiling, I hopped down the stairs after Toothless. He adjusted his wing position and knelt down so it would be easier for me to hop onto the saddle without open arms. And I was about to mount him when the floor under me seemed to freeze for no reason and I went flying backwards with a scream (and it was a *manly* scream!).
I swore the wind began to laugh at my horrible tumble.
"Thor Almighty!" I muttered. Toothless helped me up with his snout; though I accepted the help, it didn't stop my rear-end from being sore. "Thanks bud. Geez, I feel like Jókul Frosti is here."
Who?
"Never mind. He's a thing of legend back where we Vikings live."
Right. Toothless walked away. I'll be over there if you need me. I swear I smell a Gronkle around here!
"Wait! I thought we were about to leave. Toothless!" But by then Toothless had wandered off. I groaned.
Then the weirdest thing happened. With a small crackle frost began to run along the deck and freeze everything around me. I spun around, but couldn't find a cause for it. My breath came out in wintery pants, clouding around my mouth. I could feel the air temperature drop greatly, followed by a voice laugh from behind me. I gasped. That was the same laugh from earlier that I thought I had imagined up. I turned, but there was no one there.
"Who's there?" When I got no response, I added (trying to sound braver/cooler than I really was), "If you don't show yourself, I'll make Toothless attack you with a fireball. And I don't think you'd like that very much."
I heard the laughter again, this time from high above me in the sails. I peered up, but saw no one. There was no way this was just my imagination; I created weapons, not people. No, there had to be someone there. Very subtly I reached into my vest and wrapped my fingers around the familiar hilt of my dagger. Maybe I couldn't kill someone with it. But worst-case scenario, just having something to throw could be better than nothing.
The ship became eerily silent. Nothing made a sound except for the wind gently blowing. I backed up a few steps. "Toothless?"
I'm here. His voice was comforting. I sense it too, don't worry.
I nodded, hoping he'd see; Toothless was out of my peripheral and I had no idea where exactly he was. Just then I heard the sound of someone landing on the deck behind me. The voice spoke again, much closer than I'd expected.
"Toothless? As in your dragon. By the moon, that's an interesting thing to call a dragon. And here I thought Henrietta was a bad name!" Then as an afterthought it said, "No offense, of course."
I gasped and whipped around, dagger out. Still, despite going all on the attack I hadn't been expecting what I saw.
It was a boy, a couple of years older and a good head-or-so taller than me. He was pale, paler than any person I had ever seen in my life, with shining silver hair and eyes a brighter blue than the sky. They also had a strange glowing quality to them. As if he wasn't real.
He wore odd garments too: a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with a pocket in the front and a hood in the back, and brown pants that were fraying on the bottom ending above his ankles. In his hand was a long staff with a hook on the end. It looked a lot like something Mildew (the senile old man who lived outside of the village) had, which he used to drag sheep around by their necks. Strangely enough, his feet were bare.
Though something about this person – or spirit or whatever he was – was oddly…I'm not even sure. It's like I knew who he was through a story or something. Something that was definitely impossible.
"Who are you?" I asked in my best brave voice.
I guess the voice worked because the figure blanched and stared, paling more than his already-pale self. His strangely blue eyes stared into mine in disbelief. "Wait, you can see me?"
"What?"
The Northern Sea: Aurora Borealis (Jack's POV)
I couldn't take my eyes off of the boy as he steered his dragon down to the deck. There was something more than just flying between them, even I could sense it and I had no potential for spirit-y magic like the Guardians, namely Bunny.
As he landed and slipped off of the saddle, I saw some strange contraptions attached to the dragon. As I peered more closely, I saw it was a prosthetic fin connected to foot pedals. So this dragon was handicapped. Was this a plot of Pitch for more control?
I stared. No, it couldn't be. This was a human boy, not some mind-controlled thing. Unless that was what Pitch was actually doing this far north: converting innocent kids to do his bidding? Still, I didn't quite believe that theory.
Whoever this boy was, he just looked like an awkward teen wandering around the deck like it was his first time on a ship. Judging by the old-fashioned getup, I decided this was probably true. This far from the border there was probably no such thing as a sky ship, and they're the only ones built in such a massive size. I remembered back when I first saw the Aurora Borealis and I couldn't help but smile. His shock mirrored mine.
The boy kept close to his dragon as he wandered around the ship, looking at just about everything. He seemed to be mumbling on to himself, looking at his dragon occasionally only to make some disgruntled noise and a snippy comment. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but I made me über curious.
He didn't notice the secret room all the yetis were crowded in, but continued up to the steering wheel. As he turned to it, I had a clear view of his face. Okay, not that clear considering I was many, many feet above him.
He was thin, with a round nose and freckles. His face was contorted into a puzzled way, as though he wasn't sure exactly what he was looking at. I observed as his hand reached out only to pull back quickly as though he knew what he was about to do was wrong.
Then he turned around and went to the door. Hand frozen on the handle, he turned to his dragon (which was crouched at his side in an attack position) and said something to it. They gave each other a long look before he turned the handle and opened the door wide.
I tightened my grip on my staff, knowing North and Bunny would attack him at full force. I waited for their battle cries, to hear something – anything – only to hear nothing. Nothing at all. I frowned. What the heck was going on?
I floated down to on top of the cabin. The boy was emerging with his dragon, both completely unharmed. When they weren't watching I leaned over so I was hanging upside-down in the doorway with my head poking inside. As I expected, North and Bunny were there. They looked confused, so I waved and left it at that.
I pulled myself back up and crouched on the roof while watching the boy. He was seated in front of the wheel, baffling over the book. I recognized the book immediately from my supposed initiation that didn't happen. Looks like North was keeping that thing around until I changed my mind (which I haven't yet).
Suddenly, he said, "Me."
I stayed silent. The boy turned back to his dragon, then became more insistent. "No, I want to take it back and try to figure this out. I bet there's something in the Hall of Records that'll help me translate this."
Translate? So he couldn't read the book?
He was still talking, eyes back on the book. "Hey, that's really rude. And where do you think I picked up that skill anyway?" A pause, then, "I can still steer with the book, okay? And I promise I'll be back early tomorrow so we can fly. Is that a deal?"
He got up while laughing. "Well, duh!"
I then realized he'd been talking to it the whole time. Curious.
For whatever reason, I stayed behind him. I don't know why but my gut was telling me I should listen to the others and stay hidden…ish. What? I'm terrible at hiding as it is! Three hundred years of that gets pretty habitual.
As the boy ran down the stairs and towards his dragon, I landed on the deck. Which was still covered in water. Which froze the moment I touched it. And made the boy fall backwards with a shout. And as a chain of events goes, I began to laugh hysterically. What? He flew back onto his rear with the girliest scream I'd ever heard. How would you not be laughing at that?
He looked less amused, swearing loudly or something; I didn't hear him because I had already flown up into the rafters of the mast. Henrietta was staring down at me. I just beamed.
And then the boy said something that made me grow cold.
"Thanks bud. Geez, I feel like Jókul Frosti is here."
"Jókul Frosti?" I said to myself. "Wait, wasn't that what MiM told me to remember?"
Eyes wide, I looked back down at the boy with much more interest. Where had he heard those words before? I wanted to ask him, but knew it was fruitless. Thankfully, I didn't need to. He answered my question for me.
"Never mind. He's a thing of legend back where we Vikings live."
He. As in a person. A person of legend.
I didn't even care that his dragon had wandered off towards where the yetis and Roxy were hidden. All I could focus on was the sudden power I felt from those two words. Jókul Frosti. Something about them made my power thrum through me like liquid ice.
"Wait! I thought we were about to leave. Toothless!"
I couldn't help but laugh at the feeling of power. I floated down so my feet only grazed the deck, frost developing everywhere and temperature dipping until I could see the boy's breath puffing nervously in the air. He turned to where I was, but I had already floated back up to the mast. Trying to control my sudden surge of power, but it wasn't working. What the heck was causing it? Surely it couldn't just be the name.
I felt another nervous laugh bubble out of me.
"Who's there?" It was the boy, looking up at the rafters where I was hidden. He paused for a moment. "If you don't show yourself, I'll make Toothless attack you with a fireball. And I don't think you'd like that very much."
"Toothless?"
The dragon was just out of his view, but I had a bunch of fun messing with them. It's not like they could see me, after all. How wrong I was.
Now I had to laugh. I landed back down behind him and began to chuckle at the strangeness of the name.
"Toothless? As in your dragon. By the moon, that's an interesting thing to call a dragon. And here I thought Henrietta was a bad name!" I heard her warble something angrily down at me, so I added, "No offense, of course."
The boy then gasped and turned around towards me with his dagger brandished. I was prepared to laugh again and make some snarky comment about watching where short people pointed weapons when he said something that make me stop.
"Who are you?"
My earlier thought came back to me. It's not like they could see me, after all. How wrong I was.
This awkward boy, with his furry boots and vest, green shirt and even greener eyes, had seen me. And he was asking who I was. Not knowing how to react, all I could say was, "What?"
He gripped both hands around his dagger. "You heard me. Now, I don't know who or what you are, but I want an answer out of you. Who are you, and what have you come to do?"
But I could hardly care about his questions. I was too busy laughing. "Wait, you can hear me?"
He looked confused; I don't blame him. "Umm…yes?"
"You…you can see me?"
He nodded. I began to whoop, flipping in the air, laughing in a somewhat crazed way. The boy just stood there, staring at me. But I didn't care.
"Jack?" I turned around to see North and Bunny approaching me, both armed to the teeth. North had been the one to speak. "What has happened?"
"He sees me!" I was still a little off. "He can see me!"
Both the Guardians looked ready to interrogate me, but then the boy distracted me again. "Now that we've established that I can see and hear you, can you please explain what's going on? Am I missing out on something here?"
I don't know why, but out of a whim I half-tackled him into a bear hug. "You are the first person to see me in three hundred years! The first in all of my existence!"
"What?"
I pulled away, smiling brighter than the sun. "Hi. I'm Jack, Jack Frost."
"Again, what?"
"Your name is…"
"Hiccup," he replied quickly. "But more importantly, can you please explain what's going on?"
I suppressed a laugh (his name was Hiccup?) and did my best to calm down. "I'm not really sure. I was just wandering around the deck here and suddenly you show up with your dragon. Toothless, right?"
"Yeah, Toothless."
By then Toothless had rejoined his rider at his side, watching me curiously. I waved. "Hey there. Anyway, you suddenly said the name Jokúl Frosti and I felt this surge of power. I'm a winter spirit and when you said it, I just felt more winter-y. You know?"
"No, I really don't."
I laughed at that. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't."
"So…are you our winter spirit. Jokúl Frosti. The one that brings frost and snow to the area and plays pranks of people during your reign?"
Something about all of that felt right. The tingling in my body only got stronger the more he said those magical words the Man in the Moon had said to me. Suddenly, it all clicked into place. "Yeah…I guess I am Jokúl Frosti. But I go by Jack Frost now. It's easier on the memory of the masses, you know."
I heard Bunny snort behind me. "As if you care about the masses."
I hit him casually with my staff without turning around. He swore a bit, which made me snort.
A moment of silence. I cleared my throat. "So, Hiccup – I can call you Hiccup, right? – what made you find this fine ship here?"
"Well, I was out with Toothless," he started, "and I saw this in the distance and came to investigate. Sorry, that seems really rude since it looks like your boat."
"Oh, it's not mine. It belongs to Nor— I mean Santa Claus."
He nodded slowly.
I decided to take the chance and ask, "Have you ever heard of Pitch Black."
"Who?"
"You know, the Boogeyman?"
Hiccup shook his head. "Never heard of him in my life. Why?"
I shrugged; so he wasn't in league with Pitch, it seemed. "No reason. Forget about it."
"Okay then…"
Neither of us noticed how his dragon had flinched slightly when I brought up Pitch. Meanwhile, Hiccup had pointed down to the ground.
"Is that your book there?"
I turned to where he was pointing. The poor book was lying with its pages open to the frozen ground. I picked it up and blew the dirt off of it, also swiping a bit off the edge of the spine with my hand. I hope North wasn't too mad about him dropping it. "This book?"
He nodded.
"Well, it's not mine. But I know of it," I offered.
The boy nodded some more. "What are those symbols in it? I've never seen them before?"
"What, letters?"
"…letters…" He seemed to ponder the word for a while.
I cleared my throat. "If you don't have letters, what do you write with anyway? Symbols?"
"Runes. Here, I'll show you." Hiccup fumbled in his furry vest until he pulled out a bundle of parchment bound in leather. I took it and flipped through carefully.
North leaned over my shoulder to look. "That is Norse alphabet! I have not seen this for many years! Only saw it on cave drawings and in history museums in the cities as young child."
Bunny agreed. "The last time I saw any Norse was in Wise Old Owl's library, and even he said the language had died out hundreds of years. The closest thing we've got to it is in Islandska, and even their people adopted the Common alphabet by the time Tooth was in the field.
"Hang on a sec…" Bunny stared. "This Norse…it's that old alphabet of runes, all right, but it uses the spellin' of Common. I can read it."
"Wait, this is Norse?" I asked him.
"Yeah," the boy answered. "Norse. You know, the language we're speaking."
I held my hands up. "Whoa whoa whoa, time out! I am not speaking Norse."
"You're not?"
I shook my head. "Nope. And neither are you, it seems. All I hear is Common tongue."
"Common tongue?"
"Yeah, Common. Isn't that right, guys?"
The others nodded to confirm what I was saying.
"Umm…"
I turned back to Hiccup. "Yeah?"
"Who have you been talking to? Are they hidden?" He was craning his neck to see over my shoulder. "I don't see anyone. Do you, Toothless?"
Again, he turned to the dragon and did some crazy telepathy thing. "Toothless says he doesn't smell any other presences either."
"He didn't notice us when he came into the captain's quarters, mate," Bunny said.
North concurred. "This is true. He walked through us on way out."
"Wait, what? Okay, I'll ask him about that. They're right behind me. You see them earlier?" I wondered out loud. "They were there the whole time, and you walked right through them. How is it that you can see me and not them…? Do you not believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny?"
"Umm, who?"
Well that was confusing. I shook my head; there was no time to explain everything now. I'd have to sit down with him for at least a few hours.
"Look, Hiccup. We can answer all of each others' questions in the morning, 'kay? How about we meet up here again around, oh I don't know, nine o'clock? Does that work for you?"
"Nine o'clock?" He looked confused. "What's a 'nine o'clock?'"
Now it was my turn to be confused. "You know, nine? As in time. Hours, minutes, seconds, et cetera. Comes between eight and ten."
"I know my numbers," Hiccup huffed indignantly.
I grinned. "Well, that's a relief. Not so primitive then, are you?"
"…but I don't know of this 'time' you speak of. In that context. I mean, we have time. Days, weeks, months, years, seasons. That's time. But not those other things."
Hiccup looked pretty flustered as he spoke. My grin was fading as he explained stuff.
"You don't have clocks where you come from?"
"Clocks?"
"Never mind."
I thought for a moment. Now this was a puzzle. Either Hiccup was really good at pretending or he had no idea that he was part of a group of peoples long extinct. Still, if he was really a Viking, then it was possible that they didn't have clocks.
Which just complicated things a lot more.
"Wait right here," I told him before dashing off towards North's cabin. He followed me, knowing exactly what I was planning to do.
"You need clock for Hiccup?"
I nodded. "Preferably something he can easily hide. Like, I dunno, a pocket watch? He's got pockets in that fur vest of his, it looks like."
"I should have one somewhere. Let me find it."
With a little digging in one of his drawers (he had a bunch of wooden filing cabinets filled with random things) North pulled out a pocket watch with a successful cry. It was silver with intricate carvings of mountains on its cover. I took it and flipped it open. The numbers were not Roman numerals; for once I was glad. I prefer the fanciness of the X's and I's.
"He'll be able to read this, right?"
"We must hope so."
The two of us exited and headed back to the deck. Once again, Hiccup was talking to Toothless under his breath. The dragon growled slightly but did nothing but watch me approach. The boy looked up too and I grinned.
"Here, your own personal watch." I handed it to Hiccup. He looked even more confused. "Push that button on the side to open the lid," I suggested.
He did as he was told, slightly shocked as it popped open. I stood next to him and pointed.
"Right, I'll take you through the basics of how to read time. Time is pretty simple once you know it. There are these things, measurements, called seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. I'll start with seconds. Seconds are the smallest unit of time. It takes about as long as it does to say 'one Mississippi,' okay?"
"One missy sippy?'"
"Exactly. Now, there are minutes. Sixty seconds in a minute."
"Okay…"
I pointed to the watch. "That long, thin stick-looking thing, that's called a hand. That specific hand moves in exactly one second increments. Follow me?"
Hiccup nodded. "I think so. So…sixty seconds to a minute. One second is like saying one missy sippy."
"Exactly! Now, there are sixty minutes in an hour. See those big numbers on the sides? They go one through twelve. That tells the hour, which the shorter hand on the watch points to. The longer hand points to the minutes. Get me so far?"
"Yeah."
"Then there are twenty-four hours in a day. Then you got all the other things! Seven days a week and whatnot. Got all that?"
Hiccup put the watch around his neck and pulled out his notebook and pencil. "Can you repeat all that? I think I'll need to write it down."
I laughed. "No worries. I can explain it better tomorrow. Just come here when that little hand points to the big nine there, okay? I'll talk to the others about how to explain it better."
"You described time very well, Jack," North complimented. I couldn't help but grin a little wider.
"Okay," said Hiccup. "These numbers look a bit strange to me. Which one's the nine?"
"That one."
"Okay, thanks." Hiccup, having finished adjusting his saddle, turned back to me. He asked, "Do you think I'll be able to see the others tomorrow? The people you keep talking to? That is, unless you're some crazy person who imagines these people."
"Says the one who talks to a dragon," I noted.
Hiccup frowned. "I can talk to Toothless, and he replies. But that's not the point. I just want to know who you keep talking to behind you."
I patted the boy on the shoulder, surprised that I actually could. It hadn't quite sunken in that he actually could see and believed in me. "Sure thing. Just promise me you'll come back with an open mind!"
He nodded and hopped onto his dragon. "Tomorrow at this nine o'clock thing, then."
"Tomorrow at nine."
But before he left, Hiccup asked me one last thing.
"About when in the day is nine o'clock?"
"In the morning."
"Right. So I'll see you then."
I mock-saluted him with my staff. "You betcha!"
I watched as Hiccup and Toothless disappeared into the distance. By then, the others who had been hiding below deck came out; no doubt they were all listening in from right under the hatch. As they all came to join us the sun had completely set. As its last rays vanished I could see the moon reflecting off of the calm, flat ocean.
A small whoosh sounded. A film, almost like a bubble made of all the colors of a real aurora, surrounded the ship in a veil of magic.
As I stared at it, thinking of what had just happened, my vision began to blur. I'd been seen. I gasped as the reality of the situation hit me and I sank to my knees, my legs unable to hold my weight up for some reason. I could touch someone. My staff clattered to the deck out of my hand next to me, rolling away slightly. But I could hardly care. I could talk to him. I looked up at nothing, gasping. There was not enough air for me to breathe. I was believed in.
Nothing in the world could sum up this feeling as hot tears began to run down my flushed face and freeze. The Guardians surrounded me with worry, just as ignorant of the situation as I had been.
"Jack? Mate, what's wrong?"
"Why do you cry?"
"Are you okay? Does something hurt? What is it?"
I laughed a bit, wiping my eyes. "I'm believed in. Somebody saw me, and spoke to me. I could touch them without them walking through me. I don't think you understand what this means to me."
"No, I do not imagine we do," agreed North, "but now it make much more sense why Manny sent us north."
The four of us turned to the shining moon. For once, I didn't feel any bitter resentment to it.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I think I do too. Now all I need is my purpose."
Berk: The Hall of Records (Hiccup's POV)
After leaving the cove, I wandered into the Hall of Records with the full intent of figuring out what this "common" was that Jack had spoken of. What I hadn't expected was Fishlegs to still be there, pouring over an ancient-looking book.
"'Legs?"
He looked a bit startled as my voice roughly dragged him to reality. But when he laid eyes on me, he smiled genuinely. "Hey Hiccup! I knew you'd be here eventually. I saved you something to eat."
"Thanks. You shouldn't have," I said as I began to dig into the tough meat and hard bread from dinner. "It's just too claustrophobic to eat in there, especially with Dad home."
"You're welcome. And I understand. Hey, most of the attention'll be on him and his plan to try and get us through the winter. I heard that dragon training's going to be cancelled for at least six or seven days."
"Really?" I couldn't've been more relieved.
Fish, however, mistook my tone for the opposite. "Yeah, sucks, doesn't it? I mean, especially since you can finally prove yourself to your dad."
I made an indignant sound through my food. He heard it and laughed.
"Okay, fine. I get that you're trying to get your own name up from 'Useless,' but you've gotta admit the extra attention doesn't hurt."
I swallowed my bite and washed it down with some weak mead. "I guess."
Fishlegs looked ready to continue his current conversation so I quickly distracted him by asking, "What have you got there? I don't think I've seen this book before."
His eyes lit up and he began to tell me about rediscovering an original copy of ceremonial practices in Berk. It was interesting, but my mind wandered away from Loki's daughter to the day's events. The flight and the soul bond. How I was able to communicate with Toothless effortlessly now. And then the ship. Meeting Jokúl Frosti. Or I guess his name's Jack Frost now. His mission to bring winter.
But there was more that seemed to nag at me like a stodgy housewife. How he was adamant that I see him again; something about being the first person to see him in three hundred years. It was strange and didn't make any sense. It was frustrating. It didn't seem right.
And now the more I thought of him, the more I couldn't get him out of my mind.
I turned back to Fishlegs. Thankfully he hadn't noticed my lack of reaction, still chatting away with his whole heart. Suddenly it struck me that I was probably his only true friend. The only friend that truly knew and accepted this side of him. And he was the only one who I could talk to about anything (except maybe Toothless).
It hurt.
"—I mean, it's still really cool that the first people here used to worship Hel as well. I guess they were afraid of getting on Loki's bad side or something, Hel being his daughter and all, but still!"
"Hey, Fishlegs?" I interrupted, unable to take it anymore.
He looked at me, arms that had just been moving animatedly dropping to his sides. "Yeah?"
My question came out before I could stop myself. All self control was gone.
"Do you believe in Jokúl Frosti?"
I cringed at the mere thought of asking such a weird thing. Fishlegs, being a good guy, didn't really question my question. He thought about it for a few moments and replied honestly.
"Not really. At least, not anymore. I used to when I was little though. My mom would always tell me stories about him whenever we got snowed in, but that was years ago. I grew out of it. It's just a childhood story after all. Why?"
I shrugged, absentmindedly twirling the bone from my bird leg around my fingers. "No reason. I guess it's just the late winter that's bugging me. Maybe if we could have something to blame, like when we were children…I guess that's all I've been thinking about. The good old days before all this dragon killing picked up another notch."
He hummed understandingly. "There's an old housewives' saying that I once heard. The first time winter's late, there's famine. The second, plague. And the third, war."
"Well that's morbid," I said, causing Fishlegs to laugh.
"It is, isn't it? Still, I used to believe in it. Kinda like I used to believe in Jokúl Frosti, you know?"
"Right." I found myself fingering the pocket watch in my pocket. I'd moved it there to avoid the questions of what I'd managed to create this time (though I doubted anyone would've been truly interested anyway). "Me too."
Then out of curiosity I asked, "What number would we be on now, if that old housewives' saying is true."
'Legs thought. "Let's see…last time was back in my grandmother's day. There was a great plague that cut down half of our numbers. So we're on war."
"War…" I thought. "Wasn't the last war against Big-Boobied Bertha's tribe some years before she and our parents were born?"
"Yep! But it ended in peace and the strongest alliance any Vikings in the history of Vikings have ever had. But that was over a hundred years ago."
I was barely listening. Now I was lost in thought. The last time there was war, there in the end was peace. Would that happen this time? Would there be a war?
"But against who?" I wondered aloud.
Fishlegs suggested, "Maybe the dragons? Perhaps we'll finally find the nest and destroy them all once and for all!"
An image of a slaughtered Toothless crossed my mind; I did my best not to cringe obviously. "Yeah, maybe."
'Or maybe we'll be able to find peace with them,' I thought. 'But how?'
Thanks for reading. And a big thanks for all the reviews I got; my inbox was flooded when I checked, which was a great feeling. Thank you so very, very much!
Now Hiccup learns about time. I got a review asking if it would be explained why the Vikings are stuck in the Dark Ages while the Guardians and anything south of the border seems pretty modern. This will be explained to all those wondering in the distant-ish future. I'm sorry my answer can't be clearer; but it will be explained, I promise.
On a completely unrelated note, Japan was (as expected) amazing! I won't gush about my vacation here, so PM me if you would like to hear more about my trip. I'll answer any and all questions to the best of my ability. If anyone's interested in looking at some pictures I took in Japan, I'll have a link to my Flickr account on my profile by the next chapter; too many pictures, too little time to get them all organized, ya know?
Love you peoples; I'll get on this next part ASAP.
-Sushi
