Two updates in one month. I feel like I should be proud of this seeing as how compared to how irregular my usual updates are this is kind of a bit of an accomplishment.
Moving on, a big thanks to all the follows/favs/comments that happened or ere left since the last update. They mean soooo much to me!
I can't wait to see what you guys have to say about this chapter, especially since (and I apologize for this) not much really happens and this mostly consists of the boys just goofing off and being, well for lack of a better term, dorks.
So yeah, enjoy!
Chapter 14
North didn't like what he saw. Not one bit. Each light that sparkled on the metal frame of the globe gave the Guardian a feeling of doubt and worry every time that they passed. Surely by now there had to be more of a difference between the last time he had looked and now, right? Maybe he had miscounted? No, no that couldn't be right. He had checked, double checked, even triple checked! After years and years of checking lists, counting the small amount of lights on the globe should have been an easy task, but that didn't stop the toy maker from counting the lights several times in order to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
Unfortunately, North wasn't seeing things. With clenched fists and a deep sigh, North reached out and twisted an illuminated clamp before pressing it down and causing the globe to light up and shoot out brightly colored lights into the cold and frigid sky. The lights began to slowly crawl over the sky in four different directions, invisible to any mortal eye. But to the rest of the Guardians, it was a sign none of them would want to ignore.
The combination of Jack's laughter and the Night Fury slowly and carefully moving underneath him woke Hiccup slowly, scratching his eye as he looked around to try to make sense of everything. He was surprised that he managed to stay warm all throughout the night, wondering what happened last before he fell asleep. He was surprised though to see the blanket draped over him, trying to remember when he might have gotten it. Dismissing it, he looked over to Toothless to see his head lifted up, eyes wide with eager appreciation as Jack teased a large fish right in front of him.
"Yeah? Is this what you want? This big guy, right here? Huh?" Jack badgered with a smile. "Looks tasty, doesn't it?" Toothless, tongue sticking out as he panted in hunger, nodded his head in glee. "You want it? You want it?" Jack continued to pester. Toothless was itching to just reach out and take the fish right out of Jack's hands, but thankfully the winter spirit tossed the fish in the air towards Toothless. The Night Fury caught the fish with ease, swallowing the fish whole and licking his lips afterwards.
Jack laughed as Toothless swallowed the fish, reaching out and scratching the top of Toothless' head. "Haha! Yeah, did ya like that?" The Night Fury of course nodded in reply, even bobbing his head closer to Jack and asking playfully for more. Jack kept his smile as he looked back to the basket, but returned to Toothless with an apologetic smile instead of his playful one. "Sorry man, looks like you're all out."
Toothless' eyes closed halfway as his ears and the rest of the 'nubs' on the side of his face drooped as Toothless looked at the basket, huffing at it as if it was the basket's fault it couldn't hold more food for the Night Fury's growling stomach. "I'm sure there's more somewhere," Jack encouraged, "I just dunno where. So, why don't we just wait for your pal over there to wake up and tell us where it is, okay?"
"You won't have to wait long," Hiccup said with a groan as he leaned his head off of the dragon and ran his hand through his tangled excuse he called hair. Stretching his neck as he yawned, Hiccup lightly tapped the dragon wing that was still covering him, letting Toothless know that he was ready to get up. The dragon happily complied and even moved his head closer to Hiccup just in case his friend needed some help standing up. But Hiccup gave Toothless a small wave with his hand, smiling as he let his friend know that he would be fine. The young Viking stood up and cracked his knuckles as the blanket fell to the ground in a small and curved lump.
"Sleep well?" asked Jack.
"Oh yeah, nothing like dragon scales to make the best pillow ya know?" Toothless, as expected by Hiccup, reacted a little negatively to the news, glaring at Hiccup and lightly shoving his back with his wing. Hiccup however laughed at Toothless' reaction. "Easy, easy there bud. You know if I was going to make a pillow out of dragon skin it wouldn't be a Night Fury's. You're too…scaly!"
"Well which dragon would you use then?" Jack asked as he leaned against the inside wall of the shed.
"For a pillow?"
"Yyyep-puh," Jack said, over-exaggerating the 'p' sound.
Hiccup had to think about it for a moment obviously. He had never even once considered making a pillow out of dragon skin. Come to think of it, even when they were still hunting dragons, did anyone even think about skinning the dragons and using their hides for something other than wall decorations? "If I really had to use dragon skin?"
"Mmhmm."
"Terror skin," Hiccup said coming to a somewhat regretful decision. "It's a little smoother than you might expect."
Jack smiled as he looked up into the sky and said to Hiccup, "I'll remember that the next time I see a Terror or two. Now I know what to get you for your birthday."
Hiccup laughed quietly as he shook his head. "Shuttup," he said as he moved closer to Toothless' head and gave him a soft pet. "So, what did you do when I was passed out?"
"Not much, really," Jack answered with a shrug, recalling the scarce amount of events that happened the previous night. "I just sat here with Toothless, kept him cool, made sure he didn't get worse which he obviously didn't. Not much really happened." 'Oh yeah and I couldn't stop staring at you and thinking about how wonderful you are and how much I appreciate our friendship and wish you could meet Jamie so the best kind of craziness could ensue' Jack thought.
Hiccup furrowed his brows as Jack gave his response, still petting Toothless as he asked, "Really? You stayed?"
"Of course I stayed. Why wouldn't I have?" Jack asked with a tilt of his head.
"N-nothing, nothing, it's just," Hiccup didn't think Jack would have actually stayed if he had the choice. He thought he would have at least flown somewhere where there wasn't complete and total boredom while the sick dragon and his rider slept; there are plenty of islands to explore after all. "I just didn't think you would have is all."
Jack rolled his eyes as his smile returned and he moved away from the wall. "Come on, Hic, I couldn't just leave when there's a sick dragon right next to me. I might be a little mischievous here and there but come on, I'm not that harsh."
Toothless, with closed eyes, purred as he leaned into Hiccup's soothing touch, loving the fact that he wasn't so hot anymore and that the irritation in his throat was long gone. Finally he was feeling like his normal self again, and he couldn't wait to show Hiccup how grateful he was for all those days he took care of him by showering the boy with affection. The dragon bumped his head against Hiccup's chest, slowly and carefully spreading his wings as he stepped out of the shed and shook his head, perking up and looking towards the open sky in eager anticipation for a well-deserved flight.
Moving out of the way for his friend, Hiccup brushed his fingers together and smiled, realizing the importance of Jack staying. If he hadn't stayed, then who was to say Toothless would be feeling better? Hiccup looked to Jack with a grateful smile and gave the Guardian a nod before moving to his dragon. "Thanks, Jack."
"Ah, it was nothing. Just couldn't stand to see the big guy so miserable, you know?"
Before Hiccup could give a reply, he heard the sound of the front door opening and his father's voice calling out for him. "Hiccup?"
"Back here dad."
The chief of Berk walked around the corner, surprised to see Toothless standing upright and looking so energetic. "Ah, I thought I heard ya. Sleep well?"
"Yeah, yeah I did. Toothless was really warm last night so I was actually kinda comfortable."
"Good," Stoick said with a nod, glad to see that his son was able to make it through the long and cold winter night outside. "Glad to see you doing so well, Toothless."
The Night Fury gave a small and happy grunt to Stoick, nodding his head before he leaned back and stretched his spine and two front paws.
"I came out last night to check up on ya, but you were already asleep."
"Oh," Hiccup said in understanding. "So I guess that explains the, uh, blanket." Hiccup turned and gestured towards the blanket that was still sitting on the ground in the small pile where Hiccup left it.
Stoick nodded as he placed his hands on his side. "Yes I, uh, just wanted to be sure that you would still be warm is all." Stoick appreciated the fact that Hiccup made it through the night unharmed thanks to his small gesture of love, even if the main source of warmth was coming from his sick dragon friend.
"Awww," Jack called out from behind Hiccup, walking closer to the Viking and his dad in order to stand next to the pair. "Now isn't that sweet?"
Hiccup nodded to his dad. "Thanks, dad."
"Ah, it's no trouble son," Stoick replied. "I'm just glad to see Toothless feeling so well." Toothless, shuffling his paws for a quick moment, let out a small roar before firing into the empty sky, licking his lips afterwards and retracting his teeth as he looked back at Hiccup and smiled. "Any plans for today then now that he's feeling better?" asked Stoick.
Hiccup thought about it for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "I don't think so. I mean other than let Toothless fly around for a little while now that he's feeling better. Might stop by to see Astrid for a little target practice, I dunno." Hiccup shrugged as he continued, "I'll probably just see where the day takes me is all."
"Aye, that sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately for me," the chief took off his helmet and scratched the top of his head, "I have repairs to oversee down at the docks."
"What? Again?"
"I know right? They can't seem to fix the darn thing, can they?" Stoick gave a small laugh, Hiccup smiling and giving a forced laughter in reply, but still happy that his dad was able to find humor in the situation. "Ah, well, don't be out too late tonight. I'll be doing the cookin' tonight."
Hiccup would have dropped his jaw if it wouldn't have made him look like a fool in front of his dad. "Really?"
Jack playfully bumped Hiccup's right side with his elbow. "Ha, is he that bad of a cook? I would have thought after raising someone for eighteen years he would have learned something by now."
"Yeah, I haven't cooked in a while," Stoick said with a smile. "I think it's high time I try again. And I mean really cookin', not just heating up whatever I can find, what do ya say? I'll make that stew you said you liked."
Hiccup couldn't help but light up on the inside. It was great to see his dad try so hard to connect to him like this. True that maybe sometimes he might overdo it, but he couldn't blame the guy for trying to make up for the years he felt he lost with his own son. Hiccup nodded in reply as he answered, "Sure! Yeah-yeah, I'd like that!"
"Great," Stoick clasped his hands together, squeezing them as he tried to think of anything he might have forgotten to tell his son. "I'll be down there for a while but if you need me, well, you'll know where I am, right?"
"By the docks, dad, I heard you," Hiccup said with a roll of his eyes.
Stoick sighed as he continued to nod his head, his beard bouncing as it collided with his chest. "Good. I'll see you later then. Have fun with Toothless," Stoick began to walk towards the dock, looking back at Hiccup and giving him a small goodbye wave, glad to see Hiccup being so enthusiastic about dining at home. It would be good to spend some real time with Hiccup instead of just having the small conversations like the one they just had. Though he felt as if he shouldn't complain; after all, they were both very busy and Stoick appreciated every moment he could get with Hiccup. He looked forward to the time they would be able to have as father and son later that night.
"Seriously though," Jack said as Stoick walked off. "Is he a bad cook?"
Hiccup shook his head, glancing back at Stoick as he made his way down the hill towards town. "Actually no. Not really. He used to be okay but now he's….well it's okay. But it-it is better. He makes a really good stew though. Really, I was surprised that my dad managed to make something like that."
"Hm, well, be sure to save some for me then if I ever get hungry." Jack said as he walked over to his staff that he left lying on the ground where Toothless was once lying.
"Thanks again," Hiccup said as Jack used his foot to kick up his staff and swiftly grab it while it was still in mid-air. "For watching Toothless I mean."
Twirling his staff in hand, Jack looked at the large dragon who was still staring at Hiccup, waiting for the moment when he would say he was ready to go flying again. "Hey, like I said, I couldn't just sit there and do nothing while the poor guy suffered. I had to help him best I could."
"Thank Odin you did," Hiccup added as he moved back towards Toothless. "If you hadn't, I don't know if he would feel better." Toothless nudged Hiccup's chest again with a smile, rubbing the side of his face along Hiccup's shirt. Hiccup was pushed back just a little, but moved back in order to place both hands on the side of Toothless' head and look him in the eye. "Yeah, you're feeling better now, huh bud?" Toothless gave little grunts in response, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as Hiccup gave his head a small shake. "Yeah? Yeah I bet you do!"
"Oh get a room you two," Jack said as he walked over to the duo, grabbing his staff with both hands as he watched the two mess around with each other.
Hiccup let Toothless' head go with a sigh, the Night Fury giving it a small shake. "You're just jealous of how strong our friendship is. Admit it."
"Ah. Yes. You have figured it all out, Hiccup. I'm jealous of you and your pet dragon. What is it that obvious, be honest with me Hiccup. I need to know!" Jack tucked the staff under his arm and clenched his hands together, pleading for some kind of answer from Hiccup, who wasn't about to deal with any of Jack's ridiculous and sarcastic nonsense this early in the morning.
Not even giving Jack a simple gesture for a response, Hiccup turned his attention back to Toothless. "What do ya say, bud? Wanna go for another spin?" Toothless practically jumped when he heard Hiccup mention flying, quickly tucking his head in-between the boy's legs and lifting him up onto his back facing the wrong way. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." Hiccup said through his laughter. "Yeah, you've been looking forward to this for a long while, haven't ya?" he asked as he rubbed the bottom of Toothless' jaw, Toothless raising his head up with each scratch on his chin.
Jack slowly drifted over to Hiccup, hovering at the Viking's eye level. "Mind if I tag along?"
"Only if you promise to behave," answered Hiccup as he secured his left foot, giving it a couple slight movements and looked back at Toothless' tail in order to see if everything was secure.
"Yes dad, I promise I'll behave," Jack said before sticking his tongue out at the Night Fury, who stuck his own tongue out in retort.
After making sure the tail was working properly, Hiccup looked ahead towards the open sky, making sure there wasn't anyone he and Toothless were about to run into. "Okay Toothless," Hiccup said as he leaned down and braced himself for take-off. "Whenever you're re-WOAAAAHH!"
Toothless wasn't going to wait a second longer, taking off as soon as he saw that Hiccup and his artificial tail were ready to go. Hiccup held on as tight as he could onto the small harness at the front of his seat, squinting his eyes at the sudden rush of cold air being forced against his face at the initial take-off. Jack laughed as Hiccup's shout grew more and more distant, sighing in order to calm himself down before he flew after the pair. By the time he caught up with them, Toothless was already doing barrel rolls, Hiccup's voice going in and out as he shouted in his own excitement.
"Having fun there?" Jack asked.
"DOoo I NeeD TOoo AAAnnsswEERRrr?" Hiccup shouted while Toothless continued his barrel roll.
"Uh, I'm gonna have to go ahead and say that the answer is…no."
Steadying himself and finally allowing Hiccup to sit upright, Toothless roared in his excitement, finally being able to fly freely and no longer stuck to the ground for almost a whole week. Hiccup, dizzy from all the sudden spinning, tried to keep himself still and placed both hands on the sides of his head, closing his eyes tightly before slowly opening them and removing his hands. "Well that was, uh, fun," he said as he looked down at the village to see how far up they were.
Jack nodded in agreement as he flew underneath Toothless in order to get to the other side of the dragon. "Yeah, it looked fun. You might also have a couple bugs in your teeth, but still fun though."
"Seriously!?" Hiccup exclaimed as he ran his finger along his teeth, worried that he might have accidentally swallowed one again.
"I'm just messing with ya, Hic. Your teeth look fine. Well, for a Viking anyways."
"Should have known," Hiccup said as he twirled his wrist before grabbing onto the harness once more. "It's winter. Most of the bugs are gone this time of year."
"You're welcome," Jack said with a hint of pride. "Are you sure you should be working Toothless this hard though?"
"I don't really think he cares right now, Jack. Besides, all I said was 'fly', remember? Not any of that rolling nonsense."
"No, no," Jack said gesturing towards Toothless with his free hand, "I mean the guy just got done being sick, ya know? Are ya sure it's a good idea for him to be doing all of this? You don't want him getting sick again." Toothless looked at Jack with his own sense of pride, eyes partially closed and a thin smile spread across his face.
Hiccup hadn't really thought about it, if he had to answer. Toothless seemed to be okay and after all, it was pretty obvious that Toothless wanted to fly more than anything right now and Toothless knew how he felt. His temperature was getting better, he was eating more, his throat wasn't sore anymore. It seemed to Hiccup that Toothless had made a full recovery. Shaking his head and scratching the top of the Night Fury's head, Hiccup replied, "Nah. I'm sure he'll be fine, won't ya bud?" Toothless grunted in response, looking up at Hiccup in order to reassure him that he felt fine. "Besides," Hiccup continued, "if he feels bad later we can always land and give him some rest."
"Doesn't look to me like he wants to stop any time soon though," Jack said nodding towards Toothless.
"Well we'll both be careful anyways. Right, Toothless?" The Night Fury groaned as he rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to do another barrel roll if it would get Hiccup to stop worrying so much.
Jack chuckled at Toothless' groan of discomfort, glancing back at the tail Hiccup had built and back again to Hiccup's prosthetic, his foot constantly moving in order to keep Hiccup's tail steady. "Question," Jack said, "does it ever get uncomfortable sitting like that?"
"What? Like this?" Hiccup asked as he looked down at his legs. He wiggled his shoulders, adjusting himself on the seat before he answered, "Eh, not really. I mean it kinda was at first when I didn't really have a saddle, and even then the first needed a few tweaks, but you get used to it. Plus, I guess it kind of depends on the dragon. My dad had this Thunderdrum once, I have no idea how he thought it was comfortable riding that thing."
Jack bit his bottom lip, trying to remember what the heck a Thunderdrum was. "Thunderdrum?" he repeated.
Hiccup sat straight for a moment as he began to explain, his hands being as expressive as they possible could as he tried to remember each detail about the dragons. "Yeah, they're these dragons that can live underwater. They're usually this dark shade of blue and they have this really big and flat head that makes this really loud piercing scream instead of shooting fire."
"Oh!" Jack said in understanding. "Okay, now I know which ones you're talking abo-…you're dad rode on one of those?"
"Yeah! For a long time actually," Hiccup responded. "He ended up having to get rid of him so he could take care of some babies. We called him Thornado."
"Heh. Clever."
"My dad has his moments. But get this; he ended up coming back after a while. I guess his kids were grown enough to be on their own."
"Really?"
"Yeah. They pop by every now and then. Thunderdrum's can be very compassionate dragons. They hunt in groups and are known to stick together no matter what. Guess he just couldn't stay away from dad for long."
"Cool!" Wow. Jack found himself still being surprised by how much stuff Hiccup knew about dragons. "So riding on Toothless then," Jack continued as he flipped around and started flying on his back, "it's not as bad as it looks?"
Hiccup shook his head as he glanced down at the Night Fury. "No! No, he's good. Not for everyone, but he's good."
Jack nodded towards the dragon as he repositioned himself and started flying on his stomach again before inching a little closer to the Night Fury. "That's good enough for me!" he said as he started to fly over Hiccup's head.
Ducking down as the Guardian flew over him, Hiccup looked back and forth between Jack and the sky as Toothless did a slight curve and climbed a little higher into the sky. "Good enough? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just scoot forward, would ya?" Jack asked.
"Fine, fine," Hiccup said as he understood and did what he was asked and waving a hand at the winter spirit, trying his best to scoot up as far as he could without practically falling off of the saddle. Why Jack would want to ride on Toothless instead of just flying on his own though was beyond Hiccup as flying by one's self instead of on the back of a dragon seemed like the more fun alternative. "There. That good enough?"
Jack looked back down at Hiccup's saddle and smiled as he nodded. "Yeah, that oughta do it." Slowly and carefully, Jack tucked his legs in and sat down on the back part of Hiccup's saddle, grabbing Hiccup's shoulders before he placed his legs on Toothless' side, making sure his left leg and foot didn't interfere with the flying mechanism Hiccup was using to make sure that he and Toothless didn't fall to their death. Hiccup ignored the cold sensation that was seeping through his shirt and giving him goosebumps, thinking Jack would remove his hands sooner or later. Besides, it wasn't like it was that warm to begin with.
Jack did remove his hands after a few moments from Hiccup's shoulders, but kept them hovered over his shoulders just in case he did need something to grab on to should he lose his balance. As expected, Jack didn't really feel much different riding on Toothless as opposed to flying by himself; the only real difference was that now there was a fire-breathing reptile underneath him. But still, it did achieve something. Now he was able to see everything like Hiccup did. And he did have to admit, seeing Toothless' wings flap up and down was a bit calming and it did feel nice to have Toothless do the flying and let Jack sit and enjoy the ride for what it was.
"It gets even better when I do this," Hiccup said as he let go of the harness and held his arms out to his side. "Toothless, wanna go a little higher?" Toothless huffed as he prepared for his ascent. "You might wanna hold on to something," Hiccup said as Toothless quickly swooped up and flew vertically towards the clouds.
All Jack had to say during the split second before Toothless changed his direction by a full ninety degrees was, "Wait, what?" and instantly grabbed Hiccup's shoulder tightly with his free hand and tucked the hand that held his staff underneath Hiccup's arms and held Hiccup's torso, hoping he didn't slip and fall, though even if he did Jack was fully aware that he would survive.
"WOO-HOO!" was all Hiccup could shout, whereas all Jack could manage was an incoherent shout of both fear and excitement, as if it was the first time he had ever flown.
"I CAN SEE WHY YOU WOULD THINK THIS IS MORE FUN!" Jack shouted, trying his best not to let his staff slip out of his hands.
Steadying himself, Toothless stopped his wings and quickly started flying forward, making a slight downward curve in order to get closer to the village; it was way too cold up there and Toothless did not feel like getting sick again anytime soon. "What was that?" Hiccup said as he ran his hand through his hair.
"I said," Jack began as he tried to take a calming breath before letting out a small laugh, "I said I could see what you would think flying on Toothless is more fun. He can get a little, you know, unpredictable."
"He pushes it every now and then though," Hiccup jested, Toothless quickly turning his head and trying to smack Hiccup with his ear. Hiccup however moved out of the way just in time, laughing at Toothless' reaction. "Hey, don't give me that! You and I both know how you can be! I'm only speaking the truth!"
Jack chuckled at the exchange between the two, moving the hand that was still on Hiccup's shoulder down to join the hand that was around the torso, grabbing his own wrist and looking around as Toothless circled back down towards the village. It was only then did he realize that he was still holding onto Hiccup, despite the fact that the sudden vertical climb was over and the nice and easy descent was well underway. Still, Jack decided to keep his hands where they were. It didn't really make that much of a difference where he put them really, and besides, it wasn't like Hiccup was saying anything about them. Even then, he hoped he didn't say anything at all. This felt…nice.
And despite what Jack was thinking, Hiccup did notice that Jack's hands were still there. Although he paid no mind to it, having been used to people holding onto him when they were flying on Toothless. It was a natural response after all; even he was guilty of holding onto someone when he was flying on their dragon. However, he and Jack did agree on something; neither of them wanted it to stop, but both were too nervous to even bring it up. Jack was nervous because he thought he would look like a fool. Hiccup on the other hand just didn't want to have to deal with Jack messing with him again, knowing that if he brought it up Jack would surely find a way to playfully tease him about it.
"When did you think you were gonna go by what's-her-face's house?" Jack asked.
"Who? Astrid?"
"Yeah."
"Uh, I dunno," was all Hiccup said for a short while, looking down at the village at trying to find Astrid's home, thinking he might see the familiar shape or even the familiar color of Stormfly sitting on top of her home. "I was thinking many around lunchtime I would try to stop by. Usually she's not much of a morning person and Stormfly gets pretty active then so it's best not to-"
"Hiccup?!" someone called out from below.
"Oh no," Jack said recognizing the voice. "Is it really that guy again?"
"Unfortunately yes," Hiccup regretfully answered, looking down to see Hookfang flying closer and closer to him.
"Why does he always show up? Seriously, am I a magnet for that guy or what?"
"Probably," Hiccup answered in a hushed tone, turning his head so Snotlout wouldn't see him talk to no one.
The young Viking flew up to near eye level with Hiccup, Toothless flying straight ahead as he said his own hello's to the Monstrous Nightmare, who returned them with a simple grunt. Jack still wasn't feeling so easy around the Monstrous Nightmare, but at least his chills went down knowing that at least this dragon was calm…at least to everyone but his own owner half the time.
"Hey!" Snotlout called out. "I thought Toothless was sick."
"Yeah, well he got better in case you hadn't noticed."
"The medicine actually worked, huh?" asked Snotlout. "It didn't work for me! Why'd it work for your Night Fury so quickly?"
"Well that's the thing Snotlout," Hiccup said with a shrug, "you actually have to give them the medicine daily. Not just every other day."
"My dad said he didn't need the medicine every day!" Snotlout looked down at his dragon as he continued, "My dad said pain is just weakness leaving the body. Every time you get hurt, you can only get stronger, so the same has to apply with being sick, right?"
Both Hiccup and Jack shook their heads in reply. "I'm gonna say no," Hiccup said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly, "but let me know if that philosophy works if you ever fall off the top of your house or worse; stabbed."
Snotlout scoffed at the idea, keeping his palm on Hookfang's horn as he waved his fingers at Hiccup. "I just didn't think he'd get better that quick with you. It's not you had that much help or anything. You practically refused to do anything other than take care of him."
"Hey you know just because you can't see me doesn't mean your words can't hurt me!" Jack shouted at the stubborn Viking. "Ah who am I kidding? Like he would care even if he could see me."
"I took care of him as best I could and look where it got him!" Hiccup exclaimed, Toothless wagging his head around before he licked his lips and looked at Snotlout with a smile, a bit of a teasing 'ha ha' expression looking right at him.
Snotlout scoffed as he looked around at the open sky, the only other dragon as high as they were being a lone Zippleback flying towards the woods. "Yeah, and look where he is now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What it means," Snotlout looked back to Hiccup, "is that your dragon just got done being sick, and the first thing you two do is go flying."
"Uh, so would you!"
"Not this high! It's like you want him to get sick again!"
"He's not gonna get sick again Snotlout."
"You know, how did he get sick in the first place?" Snotlout asked, Hookfang slowing down just a tad. "Actually, don't answer that. I know how he got sick."
Jack slowly moved his hands from Hiccup, not wanting to move just yet but knew that if Snotlout didn't shut his trap he might have to do something about it. "I don't know if any of us really want you to tell us how."
"You pushed him too much," Snotlout scolded. "He got that way because of you."
"Excuse me!?"shouted Hiccup. Even Toothless was so caught off guard that he came to a sudden halt, getting offended that Snotlout would say such a thing.
"Yeah," Snotlout said as Hookfang stopped and turned around to fly beside Hiccup and Toothless. "You took him out too much and he got sick!"
"He went out on his own! All dragons, actually no," Hiccup paused for a short moment to point at Snotlout, "no, I'll give you that; most dragons like to stay outside most of the time! I'd like to see you try to have Hookfang go inside your house!
"That's not the point, Hiccup."
"Then what is the point besides you trying to find fault in the way I take care of Toothless?"
"If I had to guess," Jack said as he slowly floated off of Toothless, "it's because he's just an ass-"
Snotlout cut off the rest of Jack's statement, Hiccup not hearing the rest of what Jack was trying to say. "The point is that I think you're just being a little reckless."
"Oh I'm being the reckless one here?"
"Yeah, you kind of are. You're always the one to talk about how to take care of our dragons, and as soon as Toothless is feeling better, you fly as high as you can towards Thor where it's the coldest." Snotlout tisked as he looked up at the sky. "And to think you always say I'm bad at handling my dragons."
"Where did this come from?" Hiccup asked as he and Toothless moved in front of Hookfang, both of the dragons trying their best not to look at each other, feeling awkward as their riders had this little spat as two parents would argue about their children. "What, did-did I say something to you earlier?"
Snotlout shook his head, as if the answer to Hiccup's inquiry was obvious and didn't need any kind of response. Still, Snotlout was always the type of person that had to have the last say in whatever fight he was in. "Hey, I just thought with all the knowledge you keep spitting at me and everyone else about how to take care of our dragons, it would be nice to return the favor."
Hiccup stared at Snotlout for a moment, blinking in disbelief with a close mouth as he tried to comprehend any kind of sense that Snotlout was trying to make in this situation. Try as he could, he didn't see how Snotlout thought he was doing Hiccup a service this way. He was only broken out of his trance when he saw Jack lightly and slowly float down, lying on his stomach with his lower legs crossed and raised, his one hand underneath his chin as he looked down at Snotlout and smiled. "You know," Jack said, "maybe it's time you learned to shut up. I'm thinking frostbite on your tongue maybe? Or perhaps, frostbite on your fingers? Or I could just freeze them right to this big guy's horns. Which do you think he'd prefer, Hiccup?"
"No!" Hiccup cried, instantly sucking in his lips as he looked back at Snotlout who was staring right at Hiccup, waiting for him to finish whatever statement he had started. "Uh, no," Hiccup managed to stutter out. "No, that's, uh, not the way I would have gone about it, if I had to be honest."
Once more, Snotlout looked at the sky and lightly shook his head, sighing in disbelief as the winter spirit invisible to him groaned and flew away back towards the Night Fury. "Of course. That's not the way the great dragon trainer Hiccup Haddock would have done it, huh?"
"Are you seriously going back to this? I thought we'd been over this Snotlout!"
"We did! I was trying to help! You get on to me when you say I do stupid things! Odin forbid I try to do the same for you!"
Sighing, hoping that this would calm him down, Hiccup closed his eyes and tried to think of any reasonable solution for this argument that was sure to go on for a long while if he didn't try to end it here and now. "Okay, well, while I appreciate the fact that you were trying to help Snotlout, maybe next time try not to be so harsh about it?"
"I didn't think I was being harsh! I thought I was being honest!"
"Yeah, well, sometimes they can be one in the same."
"Look I was just trying to be helpful you know, give you some tips so Toothless doesn't get sick again. You would have done the same for me, right?"
"Of course!" Hiccup quickly answered, "Just, except, like I said. You don't have to be a jerk about it!"
With a huff, Snotlout looked away from Hiccup and down towards Berk. "Fine. Sorry for being a jerk then." Snotlout started to fly away, but stopped when he heard Hiccup call his name.
"Snot wait!" Hiccup paused for a moment in order to try to find the right words to express what he wanted to say. "Thanks, for uh, for caring at least," was the only thing he could think of that would have filled the awkward silence between the two.
"You're welcome…I guess." Snotlout flew down towards Berk and dissolved into the blurred image of the Viking and dragon filled jumble in the village.
Sighing, Hiccup looked behind him towards Jack, who was already flying in front of Toothless, glaring at Hiccup with an unamused face and folded arms. "What?"
"What? What the heck was that? The guy is rude to you and all of a sudden you're nice to him?"
"He meant well," Hiccup retorted before Toothless started flying, Jack quickly moving out of the way and following the duo.
"Oh is that what it was?" Jack called after Hiccup. "I thought it was being inconsiderate. You could see how I would confuse the two."
With a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head, Hiccup looked to Jack and tried his best to explain. "Look, words and their effect on people isn't exactly Snotlout's strong suit."
"That much is obvious," Jack said under his breath.
"He just has trouble communicating is all. He meant well so I couldn't get too mad at him."
"I think you could."
"Well I shouldn't have." By now, Jack had gotten right beside Hiccup as he continued explaining his reasoning for not being mad at Snotlout. "He was trying to help, which in and of itself is actually a good thing for Snotlout. Half the time he really doesn't care. The fact that he actually tried to offer me some advice shows that, hey, he's actually trying to be a nice guy."
"Funny way of showing it if you ask me."
"Yeah, well, he probably said it that way because that's how me and Astrid treat him. We have to be upfront with him otherwise he'd never get it. He's like the twins sometimes. Thick-headed and hard to work with." Even Toothless had to agree with Hiccup on that note, giving a small roar in agreement as he recalled all the times Barf and Belch had to separate the two whenever their debates got physical. "Believe it or not, he can actually be a good guy, Jack. Like you said, he just has a weird way of showing it."
Switching his staff from one hand to the other, trying not to fall behind, Jack did a quick look back to where he saw Hookfang land and added, "Yeah, well, every has good in them I guess. They just express it in their own way. That's something I've come to learn from being around for three hundred plus years. Even ol' Cottontail can be a big softie if you catch him in the right mood."
"Well there you go. Picture Snotlout as, uh, Cottontail then." Hiccup didn't really want to say this out loud, but he had no idea who 'Cottontail' was. Maybe it was the giant rabbit?
Jack shook his head at the very thought. "Mm-mm. No can do. Bunny's nice to the children and gives them candy and treats. I'm not exactly sure Snot is that kind of person. He seems like the kind of person that would try to take all the treats before the kids found them."
"No argument there," Hiccup, agreeing with Jack. "But seriously, he can be good. You just gotta get to know him a little more."
"Can I still freeze him if he ever pisses me off too much?"
"Maybe. We'll see how far he goes. Astrid's normally the ones who takes care of Snotlout for us when he gets a little, well, out of hand."
Both of the teens laughed for a brief moment before Hiccup realized they were about to fly right over the Dragon Academy. And by the looks of it, the Academy was actually being used. Though by who, Hiccup couldn't really tell. He was too far away to make out any familiar colors for the dragon and all he could see was the infrequent glow of fire coming from underneath the chain-linked roof.
"Looks like someone's busy down there," Hiccup called out, adjusting Toothless' tail and moving toward the arena. "Take five, Toothless. I gotta see what's going on in there."
Toothless complied, eyeing the infrequent bursts of fire coming from within the Academy. Jack flew right beside Hiccup and eyed the blasts himself, hoping that he didn't get burned once he entered the Academy. The two entered the arena, flying through the entrance and skidding along the ground before Toothless came to a slow halt, Jack still staying in mid-air. Of all people Hiccup expected to see practicing, Hiccup was surprised to see that it was the twins, both of them shouting at their dragons in order for them to understand whatever commands they were giving. Although the whole thing really sounded like a jumbled mess of incoherent shouts.
Jumping off of Toothless, Hiccup glanced back to the dragon and shrugged his shoulders, wondering if he should interrupt their training, if he could even call it that. For now, Hiccup just stood back and watched as the siblings tried their best to train their Zippleback.
"Come on Barf, it's easy!" shouted Ruffnut.
"Belch, really, it's not that hard!" cried Tuffnut. "All you gotta do is shoot the sparks out farther!"
"Yeah, and all you have to do, Barf, is just make to gas go farther than usual! Simple!"
"Maybe we're doing something wrong?"
"What could we possibly be doing wrong? Barf does gas, Belch does sparks, they just need to shoot it farther. Maybe we're not yelling loud enough?"
"Uh, I don't think yelling is the problem here," Hiccup finally called out to the twins, curious as to what in Odin's name they were trying to accomplish.
"Well then what is the problem?" Ruffnut groaned, tossing her hands in the air in annoyance.
"Maybe we need an actual target," Tuffnut thought aloud. "Oh! Oh! Go get Snotlout!"
"No! No, we-we don't need Snotlout. Alright? Now let's just try to figure this thing out reasonably" Hiccup said as he tried to calm the twins.
"Good luck with that," Fishlegs called out from behind Hiccup. Startled, Hiccup turned around, startled to see his friend leaning against the wall, not knowing that Fishlegs was even in the arena in the first place. "They've been at this for a while," Fishlegs continued as Meatlug slept beside him.
Hiccup looked back at Barf and Belch, wondering if what the twins were even trying to do was possible. "Okay, so, what seems to be the problem here?"
Ruffnut eagerly jumped at the chance to explain their plan. "Okay, so get this. Barf shoot out just a small little bit of gas, right? And we let it float for just a little bit, like a small little blast of fire, but, you know, it's gas instead. Then Belch shoots out a little spark and BOOM! Fire destroys everything!"
"We figured we could use it if we need to sneak up on someone…or if we just need to get back at someone, or if we just want to burn someone, or maybe burn something without anyone knowing. You know, simple things like that," Ruffnut explained.
"Is that even possible?" Hiccup asked, unsure if a Zippleback's gas could even travel that far without dispersing so much that it would barely light.
Letting her arm fall around Barf's head, Ruffnut look at her brother and answered, "Well that's what we're trying to find out."
"I told them it wouldn't work," Fishlegs said, moving away from the wall and towards the small group. "At least, not the way they're wanting to do it. A Zippleback's gas can only travel so far before is dissolves into the air so much that igniting it would be more difficult. Plus, they can't really shoot sparks that far, so they'd have to be much closer to the gas."
"But we're trying to see if they can go farther," Tuffnut clarified.
"Yeah, you know," Ruffnut added, "with practice and stuff."
Hiccup and Fishlegs exchanged a small glance, both pleasantly surprised to see that the twins were taking an interest in training their dragons with practice instead of brute and juvenile force. Hiccup took a small step toward the large two-headed dragon with gentle hands reaching out for it. "Well, okay, let's just see if we can compromise with this idea. I mean it sounds like a good plan, right Fishlegs?"
"Good, but not likely to ever really happen."
"HEY!" both of the twin shouted with clenched fists.
"Good! Okay, he-he said good. So, maybe we can try to make this work. Test it out a bit." Hiccup clapped his hands together as he took in a deep breath, thinking that this was either going to turn out well or be a huge waste of his time. But at least the twins would get some kind of real experience with Barf and Belch, so maybe it wouldn't be a complete waste.
Meanwhile, Jack still hovered besides Toothless, watching as Hiccup became the leader of the group and tried to keep everything calm and collect. Jack watched as Hiccup tried to keep everything in order and had Tuffnut and Ruffnut practice their commands individually, the Zippleback understanding each of their commands without fail. Hiccup and Ruffnut spent a small bit of time working with Barf, working on his gas and seeing how far they could go before they dissolved into the air. Jack slowly set his heels on the cold ground, rocking himself for a moment before he set the rest of his feet down and crossing his legs, clutching his staff with both hands as he continued to watch.
Jack smiled as the other head of the Zippleback bumped itself on Hiccup's back, asking for a little bit of attention and personal training. Hiccup gladly worked with both of the dragons and their riders while Fishlegs occasionally spoke up and offered his own advice, his dragon still sleeping back against the wall. Jack admired how much of a leader Hiccup was and how, despite how he once was, he was actually getting some respect out of these guys and they were treating him as if he was their elder when it came to the dragons. Well, sometimes anyway. Tuffnut scoffed at most of the things Hiccup was trying to explain, but eventually gave in and tried it the way Hiccup was suggesting.
As Hiccup moved on to the dragon that controlled the sparks and let Ruffnut work with Barf herself, Jack thought about every other good thing that Hiccup managed to bring to the table and moved closer to Toothless and started to scratch behind his ear, the Night Fury closing his eyes and leaning into the scratch as he purred in amusement. There was of course his intelligence, his creativity, his dragon training skills alone were remarkable and, in Jack's own mind, were cause enough for everyone on Berk to show him a great deal of respect even if he wasn't the Chief's son. Then there was his sarcastic sense of humor, his loyalty towards Toothless, his amazing flying skills, his laugh, his stupid little mannerisms and the way he talked with his hands, man even the way he awkwardly stuttered every now and then should be reason to see that this guy was one of the nicest guys on this whole island!
Jack wondered if anyone else on Berk was able to see that this guy was going to be a great chief if ever given the opportunity. And even if he didn't, just being able to say you were friends with the guy might as well be a treat itself! Jack had a slight and almost silent chuckle as Belch huffed on Hiccup, the young Viking pinching his nose and turning away as he fanned the air of the foul-smelling dragon breath. Hiccup didn't seem to notice; Toothless on the other hand did. The Night Fury looked up at Jack with half-opened eyes and a smirk spread across his face, giving the Guardian a small purr as his ears slowly raised up just a tad.
"Oh what're you looking at?" Jack asked the dragon, who rolled its eyes and looked back to Hiccup and the Zippleback. But not before the Night Fury whacked Jack with the back of his tail hard enough to have Jack caught off his guard and take just one step forward. He rubbed his back and he glared back at Toothless, who paid Jack no mind at all and kept his eyes fixed on his rider. Jack too looked back to Hiccup and finally realized that, aside from his physical appearance, Jack practically listed all the things he saw in Hiccup that he thought were, well, fantastic really.
What the heck was going on? He hadn't had this close of a friendship since, well, Jamie. 'Maybe I just found another really good friend,' Jack thought. 'I mean, he's nice, funny, and charismatic, why wouldn't I have a good time with him?' Jack did however recall one other time he had felt the same way about someone; a long time ago. He still remembered their face, every detail, the way they laughed, their dance…
'I'm just overthinking all of this,' he finally decided and tried to focus back on the training that was happening in front of him. Hiccup had successfully gotten Belch to shoot his sparks just a little bit farther than normal, but even then it didn't seem to be enough to hit the gas.
"Why don't you just light the gas and run or something?" asked Hiccup.
"Well Fishlegs said we could use it for other stuff," answered Tuffnut.
Hiccup looked back to Fishlegs who sighed as he folded his arms. "I tried to tell them that if it did work then it could also be used for long-range attacks. Of course I use the term long-range very loosely."
Jack shrugged and tilted his head, as if to silently say 'makes sense' in reply to Fishlegs. He glanced back down to Toothless who was speaking (if Jack could even call it that considering the dragon was making grunting and huffing noises) to the Zippleback, both heads grunting back. "Maybe it's just not a thing Zippleback's can do," Jack said to Hiccup. "Although, who knows? Maybe it just takes a little bit of practice. It makes perfect, doesn't it?"
"Well practice dopes make perfect," Hiccup repeated.
"Hey!" Jack exclaimed, letting go of the staff with one and gesturing towards Hiccup, "Don't steal my lines! Just because they can't see me doesn't mean…ah forget it, do whatever you want."
Hiccup smirked at Jack's response, quickly looking over his shoulder towards him and raising his brow. "Uh, why don't you guys just take a break? How long have you been at this?"
"All day, really," Ruffnut answered. "We ate breakfast and then came straight here. We were planning this all night!"
Man, Hiccup could see the twins really were full of surprises today. "Really?"
"Yeah!" spoke Tuffnut. "We actually put some effort in this! I thought results came from effort!"
"Successful effort," Ruffnut quickly answered. "This was just for nothing."
"Awh man, and I thought we had something. I drew up battle plans and everything!"
"No you didn't. You fell asleep before I did! I should know, you snore like a congested Gronckle."
"Well, maybe I didn't draw them on paper, but I drew them in my head! It's sort of the same, right?"
"Not really," Hiccup said, interrupting the twins bickering. "Look, why don't you guys just take a break, think of some ways to make this thing work and we can meet back here in, say an hour? Sound like a plan?"
The twins looked at each other, seeing if the other had any problem with coming back here in an hour. Both of them limited their options, but since they had nothing planned for the rest of the day, they decided that there was no harm in taking a break so Barf and Belch could take a breather. Ruffnut was the first to speak up, "Sure. Why not, if you think it'll help."
"It might," Hiccup replied with a shrug. "Who knows, maybe you guys will think of something else within the hour."
Tuffnut's eyes lit up as he ran towards his saddle, eager to let his destructive creativity flow. "Come on! I think best when we're flying! I had this one idea where we fill this barrel with gas, and then we just throw it down on someone and light a match and BOOM!"
"How is that something we can train our dragons for, dingus?" asked Ruffnut as she casually climbed on top of Barf, who had already lowered his neck so Ruffnut could easily climb aboard.
"We don't have to! We can just make things explode! We have to go try it out!"
"Uh," Hiccup began, holding up a finger and wagging it at the twins in nervousness, "uh, well, that might not exactly be the, uh, best-"
"Yeah! Yeah that does sound cool! Let's go!" shouted Ruffnut in her enthusiasm.
"Uh actually guys," Hiccup continued to protest, but to no avail. The twins continued their rambunctious hollering and flew out of the Academy, shaking their fists as they soared over the village. Hiccup looked at Fishlegs and sighed as he place done hand on his hip and scratched the back of his head with the other. "Well, uh, this can only end one of two ways, can't it?"
Fishlegs nodded in agreement and answered, "Yes, it can. It can end badly, or it can much worse than 'badly'."
"Is that even grammatically correct?" Jack thought aloud. "I wanna say no but at the same time it does kind of make sense."
"Can't agree with ya more," Hiccup said, letting both of his hands drop.
Fishlegs waved to Hiccup and started for his dragon. "I'll try to make sure they don't kill anyone," he said as he clapped his hands and tried to wake Meatlug. The Gronckle slowly opened her eyes and flapped her wings as she stood up and looked at Fishlegs eagerly. "Hey girl, did ya have a nice nap?" he asked her. He hopped on top of Meatlug and held on tight as she slowly began to float in the air, the buzzing of her wings filling the arena. "I guess I'll see you around, Hiccup," Fishlegs said as he headed for the exit.
"See ya, Fishlegs!" Hiccup called out as his friend exited the Academy and flew after the twins, Toothless shaking his head and spreading his wings just slightly as he watched Meatlug fly off. "Well," Hiccup began, "that was…interesting."
"At least they were practicing," Jack added, giving Hiccup a better sense of optimism towards the situation.
The Viking tilted his head and looked up at the sky, thinking that it really was a good sign that they were so enthusiastic about training, just not that they were just as excited about blowing up all of Berk. With a sigh, Hiccup turned to look at Jack and held his hands at his side. "Okay! So, uh, what do we do now?"
"Well, heck if I know," Jack answered as he jumped into the air and started to float in a circle around Hiccup. "For all I know the only really exciting thing that's going to happen today is you finding some wild dragon and trying to tame it, except with hilarious results."
"And, uh, what does that mean?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like," Jack answered as he set the bottom of his staff on the ground and began to hover horizontally, resting his arm on the crook of his staff. "It means that if we were to go out right now and find, oh, let's say a Nadder, you would have trouble trying to get it to not try to bite your face off."
Hiccup folded his arms as he and Toothless shared a quick look, seriously doubting that Jack knew who he was speaking to. "You do realize that Nadder's are one of the easiest dragons to train, right? You just gotta get their trust and avoid their tail."
"And if this Nadder doesn't want to be trained?"
"Then I let it go? Honestly Jack, I'm not trying to train every single dragon out there. I'm not working on some plan to control every single dragon just so I have something to show-off. A wild dragon is a wild dragon."
"So, I take it you wouldn't go out and train the first Nadder you found?"
"I never said that,"
"You never didn't say it either,"
"…wait, what?"
"Never mind. My point is," Jack lowered himself and slowly set his feet back on solid ground as he continued, "I bet that you can't train a wild Nadder within the one hour time limit you have before the twins come back to finish training that dragon of theirs."
Toothless scoffed at the idea, knowing full well that he and Hiccup could easily take care of a simple Deadly Nadder within one hour. "Well what if I can't find a Nadder?" asked Hiccup.
"Then use any dragon!"
"What if I can't find a dragon?"
"Did you seriously just ask that?"
"Most of the 'wild dragons' you're talking about on Berk have been trained to some extent. They recognize us and don't really attack, so there's not going to be much of a challenge to this. I'm trying to help you here, Jack. You'd lose this bet."
Jack bit his bottom lip as he tried to think of another way to make this game of his a little more interesting. His eyes grew wider just slightly as he thought of a certain and very unique aspect that might prove to be a bit of a challenge for the Viking, snapping his fingers before he pointed at his friend. "You can't use Toothless."
"Sorry?"
"You heard me. No. Night. Fury."
Hiccup would have gotten a little upset at the preposterous idea, but then again, it did seem to spice things up a bit. Even he had to admit that it would prove quite a challenge that he couldn't back down from. "Alright then," Hiccup said, Toothless looking at Hiccup with wide eyes as if Hiccup just signed his own life away. "You've got yourself a deal." Toothless huffed at Hiccup and nudged his head against his shoulder, hoping that his rider wasn't completely losing his mind. Hiccup smiled and even laughed a little as he placed one gentle hand underneath Toothless' head and scratched behind his ear. "Don't worry bud. I'll be careful. And who knows? Maybe the first dragon we'll find is a Terror. You know how easy those things are. I'll tell you what though, you can stand by and just in case things get really bad, you can jump in and be the hero and save the day for us both, huh?"
Toothless did have to admit, that did sound like it was the safer option. He nudged Hiccup's shoulder again before he took a few steps away and licked his lips before he smiled at Hiccup, letting him know that he was okay with this plan. So long as Hiccup was safe of course. "Alright," Hiccup went on, clasping his hands together and giving Jack a devious look, knowing that he would easily win this game, "looks like we've got ourselves a bet!"
"Awesome!" Jack shouted as he grabbed his staff with both hands, his own mischievous smile glaring right at Hiccup. "Now, let's head over to the forest and-" Jack stopped short of finishing his statement and looked at the sky. His smile began to fade as the sky began to fill with the familiar colors that he had seen in the North Pole. The same colors that spread out all across the globe, visible only to the Guardians, whenever North was summoning them. Either something really good had just happened, or something really bad was happening at that very moment. Jack feared that it would be the latter.
"What?" Hiccup asked, glancing up at the sky and wondering what Jack was looking at. "S-something wrong?" he asked again.
Jack blinked, coming back to reality and looking around as he fiddled his fingers together, trying to think of what to do next. Or, better put, how to explain to Hiccup why he had to suddenly leave so soon when they were just about to go out and have some fun together. "Uh," was all he could say at first, an awkward pause sitting between him and Hiccup and practically laughing in Jack's face. "Uh, I-I gotta go," he finally responded before he started to float slowly towards the exit.
"Wait, what!?" Hiccup exclaimed, wondering what could possibly make Jack leave now of all times. "I thought we were gonna go hang out!"
"We were! We were! It-it's just, gah, something just came up. With-with the Guardians." Jack tried to think of any way he could make this up to Hiccup, but knew he had to get to North's Workshop as fast as he could, or else risk some kind of lecture from Aster about how lazy he was…or, is.
"Oh, uh," Hiccup looked back at the sky, but still saw nothing that he thought would have made Jack stop like that and stare at the sky for a good five seconds, "th-that's okay! Yeah, don't worry about. You can always come back. I can still kick your butt whenever, you know!"
Jack's smile slowly started to return as he floated closer to Hiccup and Toothless, "Oh I'd like to see you try string bean!"
"Oh you will! You know what else you'll see? My victory dance!"
"I don't think I want to see you dance. If it's anything like I think it is, it'll just be a jumped mess of you throwing your hands everywhere and stomping the ground like a crazy person!"
"Yeah, my victory dance!" Hiccup snapped.
Jack laughed at the quip, running his hand through his white hair before he floated closer to Toothless and scratched his side. "I'll see you later then."
"How much later?"
Jack paused for a moment, trying to think it over as best he could. "Uh, I dunno," he answered with a shrug. "I guess we'll just have to see how busy I am. Unfortunately, the rest of the world needs me too."
"Unfortunately," Hiccup repeated.
"Take it easy!" Jack said before he placed both of his feet on Toothless' head and pushed off, shooting towards the sky and out of the arena through its chain-linked roof. "I'LL SEE YOU LATER, DORK FACE!" Jack shouted, waving at Hiccup and Toothless before he took off over the water.
Toothless shook his head and rubbed the top of it with one of his front paws, the cold feeling from Jack's feet slowly fading away. Hiccup waved back at Jack and called out after him, "SEE YA!", though he doubted Jack would even hear him. He looked to Toothless, and saw the Night fury still rubbing his head and huffing in annoyance. When he finally put his paw down, Hiccup smiled and lightly pushed Hiccup's head. "Awh, come on. That was funny." Toothless only rolled his eyes, though even he was still hoping that the Guardian would come back sooner than later.
Hiccup paused for a moment, scratching the top of Toothless' head as Jack's last words echoed through his head. Dork face. What kind of an insult was that? Whatever kind it was, it was making Hiccup start to blush.
To Jack's pleasure, he wasn't the last of the Guardians to arrive at the workshop. He wasn't the first, but at least he wasn't the last. Sandy and Bunny arrived at the same time, North itching to tell everyone the news.
"Look all I'm saying," Bunny explained to Sandy, "is that I should get a good movie! A real one! North has lots of em, and what do I have? Peter Cottontail and that one movie where I'm just a family of rabbits that almost gets overthrown by, by chickens! It's embarrassing!"
"Well, at least they almost got your accent down pat," Jack added, smirking at the rabbit as he hopped between Jack and Tooth, "You should be grateful they at least did their research."
"Last I checked, I didn't crap out jelly beans. Ridiculous, that's what that is."
Tooth giggled at the thought of seeing a six-foot tall rabbit trying to poop out tiny jelly beans. She covered her mouth and tried to look away from Bunny, but the Pooka knew exactly what she was thinking. "Oh come on! It's humiliating to think that kids think of me that way!"
"I-If it makes you feel any better," Tooth began, trying to calm herself, "I was a bald wrestler once. Then some gross, fat, hairy dude."
"Don't even get me started," Jack said, placing his free hand inside the pocket on his hoodie.
"If you please?" North said, politely informing his friends he was ready to speak. Once they settled down and gave North their full attention, the Guardian folded his large arms and took a deep breath before he began. "It is not working," was all he said at first.
Silence fell over the Guardians, Jack being the first to speak up. "Awh man, really?" he asked, looking at his staff as he held it up for everyone to see. "Dammit, I just got this thing recalibrated. Maybe it's finally time for an upgrade. I hear the new models have Wi-Fi!" Jack's joke was thankfully able to get a little bit of laughter out of everyone, even Bunny.
"Alright," he said, "I'll give you that one. That was funny."
North, slowly losing his smile as he realized he needed to further explain the bad news to his friends, spoke once more. "I mean our plan. It's not working."
"Plan?" Tooth asked. "You mean the plan with Pitch?"
"Exactly," North answered. He turned around towards the panel for the globe and flipped a few switches, making the globe's lights fade away as the lights for Pitch's believers turned on. "He's losing his own believers, this is good. Very good. But, he's still getting more."
"What-what do you mean 'more'?" Bunny inquired.
"Exactly what it sounds like," North answered as he turned back around towards the Guardians. "Children are losing their belief in Pitch, yes? Other children, however, are just starting to believe."
The Guardians stood silent for a minute, each of them trying to process what this might mean. Tooth spoke first, "Well, I mean come on guys, this is to be expected after all. It's not like Pitch wasn't gonna go down without a fight. I mean really, we should have seen this coming."
"She's right," North said solemnly, "I thought the same, until I counted."
"Counted?" Jack asked, "H-How many did you find?"
"Ninety eight."
The Guardians were all shocked to hear this news. They had all tried their best to make sure the number went down, not up. Sandy seemed to be the most disappointed out of all the Immortals. The four members of the group looked at one another, hoping the other would speak up and have some kind of brilliant plan to get the ball rolling and once again have the upper hand. "So, what do we do?" Bunny asked.
"Ah, where has your hope gone, Bunny?" North asked, switching the globe back to its original state and having it glow with the thousands of lights the Guardians were used to. "We just have to step our game up is all. Is no biggie."
Sandy gave the rest of the Guardians a thumbs up, knowing already that he would try much harder to give the children as many good dreams as he could and paying extreme close attention to those specific children Pitch had targeted. Maybe there was some kind of pattern between them. A common trait or detail about their past.
"Well I still think we would have something accomplished by now," Bunny stated, hoping closer to the Globe. "I mean we've been at this for weeks and we still haven't even seen the guy. The closest we came was one of Tooth's little helpers, and even then he chased her off!"
Jack bit his lip as he switched his staff to his other hand, knowing that he was part to blame for this mishap. While he wanted to keep his mouth shut, the responsible part of him knew he had to speak up. How that responsibility got in him he had no idea, but he hated that he wanted to say this while he could. "Uh, about that," he began, "I might not have exactly been spending all of my time looking after all of my believers."
"What do you mean?" Tooth asked.
"I mean…," Jack scratched the back of his head and looked away from the Guardians as he continued, hoping that an elf would come and distract everyone by offering some kind of cookie or drink and keep them occupied for just a few seconds longer. "I mean I might have spent a little more time elsewhere than I should have…"
"And that's supposed to mean what, exactly?" Bunny asked as took a few steps closer to the Guardian of Fun.
Jack paused for a moment before he looked up at the rest of the group, Sandy stepping closer to Jack's side with a comforting hand rather than stare at him from the front like the rest of the group. Jack sighed before he spat out, "I've been spending some time at that island with the dragons. I've been there every so often for a long time now. I only leave to make sure that the weather is as it should be."
None of the Guardians had anything to say at first, each for their own reasons. Tooth was trying to be polite, knowing that Jack knew what he did was wrong…well maybe not wrong, but it wasn't exactly right either. Sandy still stood by Jack's side with a comforting hand. North sighed and looked down at the ground, wondering how he would put his rambling thoughts into words. Bunny, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted to say.
"Are you serious, mate?" he shouted, just a few steps away from being right in Jack's face. "How could you be so irresponsible? We're this close to letting Pitch have over a hundred believers, and you're hanging out with your friends?"
"Well hey it's not my fault!" Jack retorted, "I don't have that many believers to begin with! It's not like I can help them or anything! They all believe in you and me and they're in just as much danger as yours!" Jack looked around the room at the rest of the Guardians before continuing, "Now could I have done better, yes, absolutely. But the best thing I can do right now is get more believers! And how I do that is by doing what any weather Immortal is supposed to do! Spread winter!"
"We understand that Jack, really we do," Tooth assured calmly as she flew closer to Jack, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you just said you've been spending a lot of time at that dragon island."
"Berk."
"Sorry?" North asked.
"Its name is Berk. And you know what? Maybe I have been spending some time there, but I happen to like it there you know. What I do on my down time is my business."
"Is this really the time for you to be relaxing?" Bunny asked with a loud and assertive tone. "Look at what you caused!"
"ME? I'm NOT the only one to blame here, Aster! We've all got slack to pick up! At least I'm admitting that I was slacking more than the rest of you!"
"Exactly! We wouldn't be having this problem if you had only done your job! You're a Guardian! Now act like it! You can hang out with your friends later!"
Jack's grip on his staff was tightening, the frost starting to grow closer and closer towards the tip of the crook. Although Jack knew Bunny was right, he hated being treated like a child because of it. He saw this coming though, he expected Bunny to be the one to give him the lecture and treat him like he was still a kid.
"We're all at fault here, Bunny," North said, looking at all the Guardians as he continued, "All of us need to do better jobs. Jack might not have the best, but at least he can admit that he was wrong." Jack's grip was starting to loosen. "While I cannot say that I agree with Jack, I can say that I do not disagree with him either. As long as he is willing to help, then he has my trust and my respect."
Jack nodded towards North, Bunny looking down at the ground and breathing slowly, trying to calm himself down before looking back at Jack and pointing at him. "Just remember you have a job other than snow days, Frost."
"It's a lot harder than it sounds or even looks, believe it or not."
"I'm a giant talking rabbit that paints eggs for a living. I'll believe most anything," Bunny stated before hopping back to the panel that controlled the lights on the Globe. Jack did have to give Bunny that one, shrugging as he tilted his head to the right. "Alright then," Bunny said, "so what now?"
While they discussed their next move, Jack felt a small tug on the end of his sleeve. He went to look down but only saw Sandy start to hover right beside him, climbing up Jack's sleeve. Jack held his arm out, elbow bent so Sandy could have something to hold on to, and gave his friend a smile. "Something wrong?"
Sandy pointed to Jack before a simple smiley face appeared above his head. He pointed again to Jack before he himself started to smile, pointing then with both fingers to his own smile. "Sooo," Jack said with a smirk, "I shhhhooouuullld brush my teeth more? I thought Tooth was the one who was supposed to be telling me all this."
Sandy's smile grew as he rolled his eyes and playfully punched Jack's shoulder. "Alright, alright. Be happy, I gotcha!" Jack finally said. Sandy closed his eyes and nodded, a thumbs up sign appearing over his head before he let go of Jack's sleeve and floated slowly back down to the ground.
"We'll think about that part later," Jack heard North say before he stepped closer to the rest of his friends. "Well! Other than this news, how is everyone's day?"
"Don't even get me started," Tooth answered.
"No, really; don't. We'll be here for hours," Jack jested.
The Guardians, even Tooth, shared a small laugh. Afterwards, each of them, save Jack, shared small details about their day, though all Sandy could give was two thumbs up. Jack was the first to excuse himself from the group, flying backwards before he started to fly towards the ceiling, but North called out to him before he could even get three feet off of the ground.
"Jack, one moment please!"
Jack turned around, not floating back down to the ground as he waited for North to catch up and allowing them to have their conversation in private. "Wassup?"
"When do you think you'll go back to the island?" North asked in a hushed tone.
"Berk?"
"Yes. Berk."
Jack thought about it for a moment, knowing that he promised Hiccup that he would come back soon after he got done with whatever business he had to take care of. Unfortunately, this business dealt with taking care of Pitch which would take a lot longer than Jack had anticipated. "I, uh, don't really know," Jack answered.
"Well, take some time. Plenty of time. I'm sure your friends won't mind, right?"
Jack hated to say it, but he knew North was right. Hiccup didn't seem like the kind of person to even hold grudges, so it wasn't like if he went back to Berk he'd have to apologize and hear some kind of lecture from Hiccup like he would Bunny. "No," Jack answered with a forced smile, "he shouldn't mind."
"Great," responded North, noticing jack's smile was obviously forced but still gave him a gentle and warm one in return. "I know this might be hard, but we need you. He'll be there when you get back, no?"
"No, he'll be there! Of course."
"Well, I'm glad you are being thoughtful about all of this, Jack."
"Hey, I should have seen this coming," Jack said with a hint of optimism returning to his voice, "I mean, it was the same with Jamie, right? Just gotta balance everything out is all. No big."
"Excellent attitude, Jack. Very good." North glanced back to his friends and nodded, deciding all was good and well with Jack. The large man looked back at the winter spirit and gave him another hopeful smile. "Have safe travels then, my friend!"
"Thanks, North!" Jack replied as he floated to the open window in the ceiling. "Keep an eye on that globe for me!" Jack exited the Workshop, hearing the mumbling noise of North shouting back something that was probably along the lines of 'I will'. Jack flew for the States, not knowing where exactly he was going, but knew that he had to get his head cleared up and focus on taking care of the problem with Pitch.
He could only hope Hiccup wouldn't get too upset over leaving him to take care of that wild dragon without him.
See what I meant about not much really happening? I think my point has been made. But to be fair I wouldn't have all of this happen for nothing. I'm a strong believer in building relationships instead of jumping right into them and I'd like to think that's what I'm portraying here...I hope. I'm just trying to move the story along and such.
So yeah, you should leave any kind of comment you want on your way out if you enjoyed the chapter or just the story in general. They strengthen me.