Pre-Battle Prep:

"Oh, come on!" Jack yelled by the statue of Theodore Burgess. "You have got to be kidding me!" he added as Hiccup and Toothless landed nearby — Astrid wasn't accompanying them in the way that Jack had expected. "Another dragon in the party? Seriously?"

"I knew you were gonna react that way, but the way me and m'lady both see it…" Hiccup shot back dryly. "The more firepower the better." Astrid eyed Jack curiously as she hopped off her own dragon — bright blue and parrotlike.

"Didn't see you as the armour type," she remarked. Jack tugged at his cape, held onto his shoulders by the armour plates.

"Neither did I, but the look's grown on me," he shrugged. "That doesn't answer my question about the dragon!" Astrid argued that Jack hadn't asked an actual question but nonetheless introduced her dragon as Stormfly. Jack was none too happy to find out from Hiccup that it apparently had one the hottest fire out of all the dragons.

"Well, I think she looks beautiful," another voice piped up — it was Rapunzel, closely followed by Eugene. Astrid grinned in thanks and shot a mug smirk in Jack's direction, much to the snow spirit's chagrin.

"How'd you take all this?" Eugene asked Astrid as he walked over.

"Considering that we got chased down by this torrent of black feathers that were apparently trying to kill me…" Astrid began, listing things off her fingers. "…then proceeded to dive into a lake which emerged in the past or something…"

"Okay, admittedly things could have gone a lot better…" Hiccup muttered.

"Not too badly, really," Astrid finished, ignoring Hiccup who proceeded to point out protestingly that she had nearly broken his nose and had practically all but screamed in his face when he'd tried explaining things to her.

"Can you blame me?"

"No…"

"You've both taken things remarkably well," a soft voice sounded, causing everyone to jump out of their skins. Astrid and Eugene had collective heart attacks when they saw the source: a woman with jet black hair clothed in a dress made from leaves, flowers, water and fire. They'd seen her human form on a few occasions when they'd visited Jack's house…

"Emily-Jane?" Astrid was the first to speak.

"Jack, is that your aunt?" Eugene asked quietly.

"I posed as Jack's aunt to keep an eye on him while he attended your school," the woman corrected before Jack had a chance to speak. "Yes, my name is Emily-Jane, but you may know me by another: Mother Nature."

"Just when I thought I'd seen everything…" Astrid muttered. Hiccup caught onto something.

"So our Aides can see all supernatural spirits now?" he asked. "Now that they've seen us?" Mother Nature nodded.

"Your meetings triggered an innate ability for a mortal to see all manner of mythological beings, regardless of belief," she explained. "It is an ability that belongs to very few, much less in this day and age."

"I'd better not start seeing ghosts round every corner, I'm just saying," Eugene cut in.

"Contrary to what most tales of hauntings would say…" Mother Nature began. "…ghosts don't tend to linger for long. If they do, they have me and the Reaper to answer to."

Considering how no one wanted to get on Mother Nature's bad side, they could only imagine what the Reaper would be like when it came to the dead stepping out of line. A shiver went around the group.

"Say, has anyone seen Merida?" Emma asked at her brother's side. "Jack and I haven't seen her since we left the Baba Yaga's house."

"How did that go, by the way?" Rapunzel asked.

"Her Aide's her mother," Jack explained. "And Baba Yaga was out like a light with the Dreamsand, plus the security distractions worked a treat."

"Dang," Hiccup whistled dryly, although he couldn't deny that he was impressed.

"Speakin' of mothers…" a heavily accented voice piped up behind the group. "…we've go' somethin' to tell you abou' yours, Hiccup."

Everyone spun around and heaved a collective sigh of relief upon seeing Merida, closely followed by Elinor. The woman made herself acquainted with the other Aides as well as Mother Nature while Merida ran over to Hiccup.

"What about my mom?" Hiccup asked, his eyes going wide with a mixture of fear and hope.

"The Baba Yaga's jus' snatched 'er body," Merida explained. "Your real mum's still in there. We pull this off tonight, we've go' a chance of gettin' 'er back for you."

"Wait… Val's this Baba Yaga you've been telling us about?" Astrid spluttered. "Hiccup's mother?"

"Did you not 'ear wha' I just said?" Merida snapped. "She's still there!"

"Merida's right," Jack confirmed. "It's like her spirit's been buried or hidden, but she was able to communicate with us through the mortar."

"You talked to her?!" Hiccup found his voice, although it squeaked loudly.

"It was only one-way," Merida shrugged. "But she's definitely there. Scared, yes. But…you were right, Hiccup," she said, her voice heavy with apology. "There's a chance of getting through to her. We beat the Baba Yaga…we might be able to…"

She was cut off as Hiccup suddenly pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into a mane of red curls. Merida squeaked as she was pulled into the hug but smiled softly and gently hugged her friend back as she heard the muffled sobs and whispers of thanks coming from him.

The hug was broken and the group convened. As the time was checked, they reckoned that they had until possibly eight in the morning before the life-support plugs would be pulled. That left them with precious hours to figure out what they were going to do.

"As Aides, what is it that we can do to help?" Elinor asked.

"Emma is able to use the Wind to her advantage," Mother Nature replied. "But she, like Jack, is a spirit. You three, however…" she winced, looking at Astrid, Eugene and Elinor. "…you are still mortal."

"I've got a dragon?" Astrid pointed out.

"Do you know how to fly?"

"She does," Hiccup confirmed quickly. Everyone gave him a pointed look — given how long it had taken him to learn how to fly with Toothless, they were skeptical that Astrid had learned to do the same with Stormfly in a matter of hours. "I think there may or may not have been a knowledge transfer when we ducked into the Seeing Lake," Hiccup shrugged, splaying his palm and letting an orb of bright blue flame tickle his fingers before it flickered out. "Either way, Astrid's a decent flyer."

"I can handle it," Astrid nodded. Mother Nature sighed in resignation.

"Eugene, Elinor, if my knowledge of the Aides is correct, you are the incarnations of the Spirits of the Stars and the Spirit of the Storm," she continued. "Were you not part of the mortal realm, you could tap into their powers. This is not the case…"

"Hang on!" Rapunzel cut in. She twirled her paintbrush in her hand and began doodling some patterns onto the frying pan that had somehow stayed with her the entire time despite not always being visible. "Eugene knows his way around a frying pan, if that's any help?"

"How could that possibly be of any help?" Merida snapped incredulously. Eugene also looked confused — okay, when he'd become Rapunzel's friend, he sometimes used one of her mother's frying pans in place of a toy sword whenever he was playing with Rapunzel, and could use it as well as any fencer could use a foil.

"I think in one of our last lives he had a fencing match with a horse and used a frying pan," Rapunzel replied. "The horse won but he was still able to hold his own."

"A horse?!" Hiccup spluttered.

"And I thought you sounded crazy," Astrid muttered. Eugene still looked skeptical as Rapunzel handed the frying pan over, now decorated with shimmering patterns that reminded him of shooting stars.

"So Astrid gets a dragon and you're giving me a be-jazzled cooking utensil as a weapon?" he noted dryly.

"That is exactly what I'm giving you," Rapunzel replied with equal levels of sarcasm as she shoved the frying pan into Eugene's hands. "You'll thank me later." Merida, in the meantime, had turned to face her mother.

"'fraid I cannae give you much more than the Wisps as support," the redhead winced. "I donnae know wha' else I can give you." Elinor placed a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"You don't need to," she smiled gently. "We'll figure something out. Together, this time."

Mother Nature watched as the Four began talking to their Aides about what they wanted them to do in the battle that was to come. There were the expected warnings to stay out of too much danger, as well as the 'don't risk your lives here' spiels, and it saddened Emily-Jane Pitchiner to see these people, who'd probably known peace their entire lives, to be planning for a conflict, the outcome of which determined the fate of their lives. Emily-Jane had been around for a long time, and she'd seen wars bring ruin to entire civilisations; tear the very relationship between Man and Magic apart.

She wished nothing more than for the best possible outcome for these people.

As the group discussed plans and gave their Aides crash courses in helping them out with their powers, Mother Nature's attention was caught by a buzz of wings, rustling of sand, the thud of large feet on the ground and the rattle of a rickety old sleigh landing nearby.

"What took you four so long?" she asked.

"We got held up…" Tooth grimaced, tugging a black feather from her head piece as Baby Tooth hovered nervously by her ear.

"AH!" Astrid suddenly shrieked. Elinor and Eugene soon followed suit.

"Crikey," Bunny remarked. "You'd think they'd never seen a man in a red suit before, eh, North?"

"Are we missing the bunny in the room, Cottontail?" Jack deadpanned.

"Or the glowing golden sand-person and the bird lady," Hiccup added with an apologetic glance towards Tooth and Sandy. "I'm sorry — I'm still not used to that."

"It's takes some getting used to," Tooth shrugged in acceptance. Sandy gave the boy a reassuring smile and a thumbs up to show that he wasn't offended by the comment.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Eugene gaped. Rapunzel quickly ran introductions and by the time she was finished Elinor looked as if she was getting a headache, Eugene's jaw was practically on the ground and Astrid's eyes were taking up half of her head.

"Is good to have found you safe and unharmed," North beamed gently. "Baba Yaga was in quite state when we ran into."

"Well, Jack and I kinda broke into her house," Merida winced apologetically.

"Not to mention, completely derailed her security system," Jack added.

"What they're trying to say is, 'Sorry you had to deal with that'," Hiccup sighed dryly. "How long do you reckon we have before she gets here?"

"Very little time," a smooth voice sounded. The Guardians of Childhood flinched as Pitch emerged from the shadows, Jack included, as well as Elinor, Eugene and Astrid, but Mother Nature, Hiccup, and the remaining two girls greeted him with a curt nod. "It was quite the display of power she showed earlier, and I have a suspicion she was holding back a little while ago." He eyed the three non-spirit Aides with an ice cold eye, smirking slightly as he realised that they could see him and were visibly nervous around him. "I trust you three can hold your own?"

"They'll be fine, Father," Mother Nature said shortly. "No need to make them nervous before we've even started the fight." Pitch scoffed slightly but otherwise ignored his daughter's comment.

"At least tell me someone has a plan?" he asked.

"I've got a plan," Hiccup said firmly. Everyone's eyes suddenly shot towards him

"Since when did you come up with a plan?" Eugene asked. "In…what? The last five seconds?"

"I have a plan," Hiccup reaffirmed.

"First off, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan," Jack snapped.

"It's not that unique of a thing to say, Popsicle," Hiccup shot back ("Now that was uncalled for!").

"How much of a plan do you actually have, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. This time, Hiccup spent a little longer thinking before answering.

"Most of a plan," he said. "Actually, probably not much more than a concept…" he admitted sheepishly.

"How does that help us?" Bunny huffed.

"It's a hunch," Hiccup said. "A hunch helped us find Merida's Aide as well as my mom…my real mom, that is," he continued, shooting a glance around the group. "And it's still based on the…"

"What?"

A snarl caused the entire group to spin on their heels (or nearly hit someone in the face with their wings, as was the case with Tooth whose iridescent wings nearly slapped North as she spun around). A deeper chill was sent through the already cold and chilly night, with the frosty moon suddenly becoming icy rather than a welcome beacon of light.

Surrounded by feathers that billowed and swirled like a black fire, stood the Baba Yaga. She wore the face of Valeria 'Valka' Haddock, and yet her cold grey eyes reflected none of the motherly warmth the woman had been known for. By her side hovered her pestle and mortar and when she flashed the group a sinister smile, her teeth gleamed grey in the moonlight.

"What is this hunch of yours based on, boy?" she asked, almost mockingly. Hiccup bristled but kept his mouth shut as he subconsciously held out an arm to shield Astrid. Rapunzel and Merida had done the same for Eugene and Elinor, while Jack was already in a combative stance with Emma at his side — the girl's now-white hair was billowing in her own whirlwind.

"We can do this one of two ways, Baba Yaga," Pitch Black spoke, drawing himself up to his full height as his Nightmares gathered around him. "The easy way: where you relinquish the mortal whose body you have unlawfully snatched from its rightful realm, return these youngsters to their normal selves and lives, and come peacefully with me back to the Shadows; or the hard way, where we force you to do so whether you want to or not."

"When you put it that way, O, Mighty King of Shadows…" the Baba Yaga smirked mockingly. "…You make the hard way sound like so much more fun." Her smile was replaced by a scornful glare, her teeth bared like a snarling wolf. "I was never one to answer to authority, let alone one who cannot even control his own subjects."

Pitch hissed audibly and the Nightmares rustled violently behind him. The Baba Yaga ignored this and turned her gaze to Jack — as she saw him, her glare was replaced by a look of dry, mocking disappointment.

"Speaking of fun, look what the Wind blew in," she said. Jack snarled back and Emma tried her best to put on a brave face, but she was clearly terrified. "It's a shame, really. You would have made a nice dessert."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Jack snapped.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way whether we like it or not," Tooth muttered. There was a murmur of agreement around the group as they prepared to fight (which included Astrid jumping onto Stormfly's back with all due haste), but they were stopped in their tracks before they even had a chance to move a single step.

Hiccup had broken from the ranks and was walking calmly towards the Baba Yaga, who herself was taken aback by the movement. Astrid hissed for him to come back and Merida made a grab for him and he walked past her, but narrowly missed. Jack watched his friend's left hand intently for any sign of Inferno, but there wasn't so much as a flicker of green fire to suggest that Hiccup was planning to summon it.

Instead, he walked right up to the Baba Yaga. His tall and lanky build meant that he was nearly eye level with her, shorter by an inch at the most. Their eyes met: forest green and steel grey. Not a single person made a move.

The Baba Yaga hesitated. It would be so easy. The Spirit of Autumn…the Guardian of Knowledge and Change…was at point blank range from her. She could destroy him right now… Why was she hesitating?

It was that very hesitation that Hiccup had been counting on. Unblinking and unflinching, he maintained eye contact with the woman who stood before him, searching those eyes for something…anything…

It was in the witch's hesitation that he found what he was looking for: the briefest flash of green-blue that were reminiscent of the sea; and an expression of pride and wonder rather than malice across the woman's face.

If the Baba Yaga had hesitated in that moment to destroy the half-spirit in front of her, Hiccup did not hesitate to throw his arms her and hug her as tightly to his chest as he was physically able.

A screech loud enough to rival a siren and more blood-curdling than a banshee ripped through the night as the feathers exploded into a raging fury around Hiccup and the Baba Yaga. The other Guardians, as well as the Aides, screamed in terror for their friend, now unseen in the swirling mass of black. After what felt like an age, when it may have in fact been a mere matter of minutes, the feathers exploded outwards again.

The sight that was revealed was, much to everyone's relief and amazement, not that of merely the Baba Yaga standing over a destroyed Hiccup. Quite the contrary. Hiccup was kneeling on the ground, cradling something in his arms — the form of a collapsed woman, too exhausted to stand. Astrid was the first to run over, leaping off of Stormfly's back and racing to her friend's side in a matter of a few strides. She gasped in amazement when she saw who it was in Hiccup's arms.

With auburn-brown hair streaked lightly with grey tied into a long plait behind her neck, wearing a long-sleeved singed shirt, jeans with holes burned through the knees and leather boots that looked like they'd seen better days, was Valeria 'Valka' Haddock. Astrid quickly took the woman from Hiccup's arms as she began to stir: the eyes that opened weren't the steel grey irises of the Baba Yaga, but the sea-green ones of the mother Hiccup so sorely missed.

"As…trid?" the woman murmured weakly as she saw the young Nordic Blonde's face above hers. Astrid broke into a relieved smile, as did Hiccup who couldn't help but reach out a hand…

It landed solidly on his mother's shoulder.

"Hic…cup?"

"Mom?" Hiccup whispered in astonishment. The feeling was shared by every Guardian, Spirit and human who stood behind him.

"She's alive!" Rapunzel gasped with glee.

"She can see him?" Bunny exclaimed. Mother Nature felt a strange warmth, one that she had no memory of feeling…not since before her family had been forced to flee from the Fearlings countless lifetimes ago. Something great…an ancient force…

"What is this power?" she whispered. This woman…this Valka…she had something special of her own. Was that why her body had sustained the Baba Yaga for so long?

A new shriek pierced the calm of the moment as the feathers began swirling once again. Rapunzel, Merida and Jack rushed to Hiccup and Astrid's sides to protect them and the barely conscious Valka from the incoming swarm, but when the feathers parted it wasn't to attack, but rather reveal the true face of the one who'd put them into this mess in the first place.

Bent almost double, so thin that she was practically skin and bones, more crooked and twisted than the oldest and most gnarled elm tree in the forest, with wispy white hair that was rapidly thinning, a hook nose, steely ice-grey eyes, wearing what barely classified as clothes and shoes, and with a snarl that displayed ugly blackened iron teeth, was the Baba Yaga herself. Grandma Chickenlegs in her true form.

"Astrid…" Jack muttered. Astrid didn't even need to be told.

"I'll get Val to the hospital," she nodded.