A World Gives and Takes: Chapter 11

It only took a couple of able-bodied men with a real sense of purpose to construct a base camp on the island. While towing children along they explored at least a mile in either direction of where the quartet landed and found the distance covered about two three-fifths of the perimeter. Hasna and Biva took great delight in investigating the flotsam thrown up in the shore and, via their inquisitiveness, the adults started to notice a rather usable quantity of items from the detritus of other shipwrecks. They even found a small tool kit likely used by sailor to make repairs at sea. Thus, it only took them a few days to assemble enough building material to begin construction of a more permanent structure. Between Hiccup's and Jack's skills, they made short work of the initial build, and during the following days they made improvements. By the end of the first week they made a relatively safe and secure house.

No matter where they went on the beach, Nepta followed along. Both men took turns playing with the sea dragon who, as they both freely admitted, saved their lives. The children would sit on the beach near a slightly deep inlet and throw items for Nepta to chase. Hasna fell into the water once, and the dragon neatly plucked her from the ocean before either man managed to run three steps. The act appeared perfectly natural to the beast and they guessed he provided the service for others in the past. Nepta also proved used in finding the best places to fish, mainly by virtue that wherever he hunted, the fish swam in the opposite direction. They landed enough seafood to offset the diet of fruit and vegetables they found growing around their hut. Through it all, they reserved the coconuts for the dragon.

"We've got to start exploring the interior of the island," Hiccup told Jack during the evening of their fifteenth day after their arrival. He rocked Biva in his arms while Jack played building a tower with Hasna.

"Because…?" The Earthling implored while trying to add a stick without knocking over the tower.

"Two reason: first, we don't know what else might be on this island… and I'm talking about living things."

"Good point."

"Second, we might find someplace safer to lay up if a storm comes our way," stated Hiccup and he glanced out the window.

"That was only a rain shower," his mate intoned.

"And the one that sunk the Island Miss?"

Jack's head snapped up, and the movement caused the tower to fall since it rocked the makeshift table. Hasna giggled. However, an image of IceSpike sinking to her her doom flashed through Jack's mind. The little girl poked his arm with a pudgy brown finger.

"Ja bad," she muttered with delight.

"No," he droned at her as he managed to wrest himself free from the terrible mental picture. "Ja is good. It's the tower that's bad."

"Ja bad," Hasna snickered a second time.

"Jack, if we're caught on this beach during a storm like that…"

"I know, I know," the Guardian interjected. "So we start looking inland for a storm shelter."

"Thank you," Hiccup said, but did not sound entirely grateful.

He sat on a reinforced crate he used as a chair. Biva burbled in his near unconscious state. The children adapted remarkably well to their often unusual circumstances. It proved to both men the resiliency of children, a fact Jack repeated whenever he could. The boy's wardrobe, like the rest of the members of their party, got augmented by what they found among the debris. The eastern side of the island seem to collect the most detritus, and it confirmed for Jack what he understood about he Coriolis Effect of Halla. It also meant they could expect the worst storms to arrive from that direction. Hiccup's plan made sense on many levels. Jack, however, wanted a few days to simply relax without an overriding feel of danger or immediate threat.

"We'll find higher ground further in. This is an old volcano," Jack repeated the fact.

"You've said the a lot, and we both agree it's not active, so what's the point?" Hiccup asked.

"Caves."

Hiccup nodded. He watched as Hasna delicately laid a stick on the new tower. He and Jack both noted several times her obviously fierce and rampant intelligence. Already she began to adopt the Berkian language, and the adults took to speaking with the children in more or less complete sentences. Only in her sleep did she babble in her native tongue. Jack repeatedly informed Hiccup he did not recall the language from his tenure as Isemaler. He speculated the children came from a hot or tropical environment or someplace without ice and snow. They did not seem to mind the routinely intense heat and high humidity that greeted the quartet each day since they arrived.

"And that's why I want to go looking… but caves…"

"We'd have seen or heard a whispering death by now," the Earthling replied when the Hallan trailed off into an incomprehensible mumble.

"Ja go!" Hasna imperiously demanded when the man sat staring at his mate.

"Don't rush me, sweet girl," he delicately reprimanded her.

Hasna watched with intense interest as he placed a stick on the growing tower. He could tell she wanted him to knock it over again. When her expectation went wanting, she frowned. Jack smiled at her. Hasna's scowl deepened, but he did not see any true anger in her gesture.

"Hasna go!" He demanded just as she did.

"Ja!" She rebutted.

"What is it with you two? Huh? Why does she love to compete with you?" Hiccup quietly questioned from he seat we he held the sleeping boy.

"It's part of the nature of play. It's also how we learn to find our place and role in society. Hasna is discovering what she's capable of doing… and the extent of her patience," Jack explained as if he read from a book, which he did at Nick's castle when he found a volume on child development and psychology.

"Sounds reasonable."

"And don't think for a second she's not competing with you when you go out fishing. Just watcher her face. She wants to learn to cast like you do so bad it's killing her, Hiccup."

Hiccup appeared surprised.

"Seriously, watch how she acts and reacts. She can't stand it when you land a bigger fish than her," Jack told his husband.

Hiccup bobbed his head as he thought about it. Hasna seemed addicted to following him around as they fished and foraged for other food. He never saw it as a competition, but Jack put a different idea into his head. The Viking wanted her to learn for a myriad of reasons, and, equally, he did not want to sully their time together with resentment. The man rocked Biva as he thought.

"Honestly, you Vikings never thought about child-rearing and the different ways it can be accomplished?"

"My dad told me once his father asked him to go smash his head on a rock until the rock broke, and he claimed he did without question? Remember what Gobber said about that?" Hiccup answered.

"Gobber was not always the best source of information. Did you forget about the sock trolls and yak leeches?" Countered Jack.

Hiccup chuckled. The fish oil lamp guttered and sputtered and provided a small halo of yellow light around which they sat. The night enveloped the world in darkness, and the countless stars in the sky made for a surreal show. Nocturnal birds and insects set up a small din to their rear while the ocean in the fore created a hiss as the waves raced up and down the beach. Except for the manner of their arrival, it seemed almost idyllic.

"The yak leeches were real even if they were dragons. Who knew terrible terrors liked yak milk?"

Both men shrugged in amusement. Neither confessed to the feeling of homesickness the mention of loved ones or Berk itself generated in them. The memories became precious since they could not predict how they would ever return. Without at least one dragon who know how to get to Berk, their prospects remained extremely limited. Nepta, while as fine a dragon one could find, could not aid them as he did with discovering the island. The mood subtly shifted in the silence. Jack laid another stick on the tower a second before Hasna could prod him.

"So we head out at daybreak?" Hiccup prompted after a couple of minutes of silence.

"After a game of fetch with Nepta. I don't want him to beach himself again trying to follow us. Do you want to toss the coconut or pack for the adventure?" Jack responded.

"Switch arms every once in a while. I like what playing in the ocean with Nepta is doing for you."

Jack rolled his eyes, but he felt his cheeks heat up at the compliment. His blood stirred. The addition of the children meant they need to be courteous about their adults wants. Only once did they manage to physically enjoy one another since the completion of the hut. Each missed lying naked against the other.

By mid-morning the quartet made their way further into the interior of the island. Jack spent an hour right at sun-up playing catch with the dragon, and the beast seemed satisfied with the session. It watched them depart, and they heard Nepta swimming away to some place. Hiccup prepared for the trip. It also gave the Viking certain prerogatives, and the choice of food they would eat figured right at the top of his list. Too much time at sea seemed to dull his like of fish, but Jack did not think such a heavy fruit diet would do them well over time. As it stood Hasna already began to treat all of the outside world a giant privy. Biva seemed fully prepared to follow the same route. Thus, the Earthling grumbled to himself as he walked along holding the boy on his hip.

"What in the name of Wotan?" Hiccup said after half an hour of hacking through vegetation with sticks and swatting away insect. He stopped and looked at the ground.

"Whoa," Jack muttered when he saw what grabbed his mate's attention. "That's not a dragon."

"At least none we've ever seen."

"It's only got four toes, and every dragon – even Nepta – is pendactyl in one form or another. This one has two in front and two in back. Bet it climbs."

Hiccup twisted his head, raised his eyebrows, and asked: "Pen what?"

"Five toed," the Guardian rejoined. "And it's got a thick tail."

"Pockers."

The two men stood examining the tracks and trail left by whatever creature made it. Just by the markings left on the ground and the fact they did not see much broken bramble, it seemed a low-slung beast. The span of the claw print outstripped Hiccup's rather large foot. Jack looked at the few prints they could find and did some quick mental calculations.

"There's about twelve feet between the right and left tracks, so add a tail, a big one, and we're looking at least twenty, twenty-five feet," he spoke aloud his figuring.

"No wings marks. Must keep 'em furled tight on it's back. Might not even use 'em 'cause we'd've notice something flying through the air. Could be a tunneler," the Viking added his thoughts.

The adults shot each other a wary glance. Jack shook his head as other thoughts intruded. Hiccup waited for his husband to sort out his ideas. Around them bugs buzzed and made a wild assortment of noises. Off a ways and higher up they heard birds. The ever-present breeze coming off the ocean rustled the wide fronds of the tropical trees. Greens in hues and shades not seen in the north filled their vision, along with the sprays of color from the blooming varieties and flowers. It would seem an idyllic place to land, but the tracks of an unknown beast gave them pause.

"Jack?" Hiccup pressed when when the man did not speak.

"There's no other animal life except birds and whatever lives in the waters around the island," he stated. "But I don't think this is a tunneler."

"Why?"

"We're looking at its tracks. It hides in the greenery. It stalks and pounces."

With those words, each man turned in a small circle and scanned the area. Hiccup's arm shot out and hauled Hasna closed to him. It disrupted her investigation of a broad-leafed plant.

"Hic-ah, no!" She complained.

Hiccup squatted. He pointed to the tracks on the ground. Hasna, ever willing to imitate the man's actions, squatted as well. She actively observed the prints on the ground.

"That's something big, Hasna. Something big and probably bad," he told the girl."

"Bad?" She inquired and gave him a quizzical stare.

The Viking used his hands to imitate the the jaws of a beast.

"Nepta. Nepta good," Hasna answered the motion.

"This is not Nepta. Nepta stays in the water and swims," he replied and did a fair approximation of the dragon's aquatic motions. "This crawls."

Jack watched the pantomime with the same attention he would give a documentary on Earth. His husband clearly displayed a knack for imitating dragons, and then he thought better of it. Hiccup spent nearly twenty years working with and training others to deal with dragons. It made sense he could imitate a dragon with decent accuracy.

"No Nepta?" Hasna asked the important question.

"Not Nepta," he confirmed and slid an arm around he small shoulders. "Nepta is in the water."

"Hmm," she hummed in thought.

"She gets it," Jack said in a pleased voice.

"I hope so, because if we're looking at a hunter then none of us are safe."

From there they continued their exploration, albeit with great caution and wariness. Hasna did seem to understand as she stuck very close to Hiccup. The ground under the feet gradually angled upward. Jack told them they started to climb the sides of the old volcano. However, the incline did not increase at a rapid rate. The brush and trees obscured the sight line on either side, so neither man could make any estimation of how high they climbed. Since the palms towered over their heads, it did not give them an opportunity to look behind and to check their progress. Given the overall size of the island, it lead to a single conclusion in the Guardian's mind.

"We're not going to find any caves… or at least any usable ones," he finally announced after another twenty minutes of walking. "This is an old, old volcano. It's probably been dormant for millennia… and it's been ground down to a stub."

"Alright," Hiccup agreed as he vigorously scanned the surrounding greenery. "Let's head back. It'll be time for lunch by the time we get to the hut."

"Mind if we swap? My arm feels like it's going to fall off," Jack requested.

Hiccup held out his arms and the Earthling deposited the squirming child. Hasna glanced up at the Viking. He smiled at her.

"You're probably safer with him," He gently told her and rubbed her head with a free hand.

"Come on, sweet girl," Jack intoned and held out his hand.

Hasna reluctantly left Hiccup's side. She took his hand, and Jack tried as hard as he could to will some of his deeply buried magic to ripple through his hands. He felt nothing, but chuckled nonetheless at his own failed attempt. Not since the day of the Island Miss went down did he sense even a twinge of power.

"Oh, the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round," the Guardian sang to her.

"What in the name of Wotan is a bus?" Hiccup snickered his question.

"Like a long boat on wheels used to haul people around. Remember those huge yellow things you saw in Juno that made Toothless nervous?"

"That's a bus? And you feed children to them?"

Jack nodded and smirked at the phrasing.

"How in blazes did you people ever survive?" Hiccup asked with a touch of both mock and real asperity.

"Not for lack of trying to do ourselves in. We're just really, really hard to kill off."

The Viking shook his head from side to side as he marched forward and down the gentle slope of the old mountain. Jack chuckled again and followed in his husband's wake. He held tightly to Hasna's hand. Then he launched back into the song the girl would never understand and Hiccup could only partially figure out. After all, he alone of all the Hallans ever visited another planet.

Neither man talked much as they headed back for their compound. They did, however, stumble across another small artesian well that bubbled to surface, flowed a short ways, and then disappeared into barely noticeable crevice further down the hill. They made note of its location. Not far from the well they found more sets of prints from the unknown creature that shared the island with them. It made sense since everything needed to drink water. It reinforced their silence as their vigilance got piqued by the new tracks.

"We need to make weapons," Hiccup recommended after doling out lightly cooked fish rolled in toasted coconut. He and Jack silently prepare lunch when they got to the hut.

"This is good," Jack remarked as he tore off small hunks and gave it to Biva.

Hasna crammed a huge chunk into her mouth.

"Hasna!" Hiccup chided her.

"Hungee," she murmured around the food.

"You're going to choke. Small bites," the man gently upbraided her and demonstrated.

"Hungee," the girl rumbled a second time.

The man tried to hide their grins.

"She's learning our language so fast," Hiccup noted and took another bite of fish before Hasna could snatch it from his dining mat.

"Hiccup…"

"Hic-ah," the girl muttered his name while eyeing his food.

"You never noticed children all seem to begin to talk at the same time? It's hardwired into the brain. All children everywhere, even on Earth, go through similar phases of language learning," Jack recalled, and once more sound as if he read out of a book.

"I guess. I just… yeah, that makes sense. Where do the words come from?" The Viking queried. "Are they already in their heads?"

"If that was true, wouldn't she be speaking the language of her parents?"

The Earthling tipped his head toward the girl.

"Huh. Maybe we need to pay more attention back on Berk."

"Wouldn't hurt… and write it down. You people don't write enough. How do you expect to preserve knowledge?" Jack chided his mate as he fed more fish to the boy who yammered for more.

"So you're notebooks in the shop…?" Hiccup lead him on.

"Snotlout and me exchange ideas… tips and tricks. It improves both of our skills, and," the Earthling said while raising a single eyebrow, "if we build a new woodshop and I take on apprentices, it'll help them learn as well. This way they won't just have to watch me all the time… or Snotlout."

"Okay, so maybe me, Mouldy and Farb need to do the same thing."

"Makes teaching easier," Jack responded and then looked down at the children. "We need to figure out what we need to teach her… and Biva when he gets older."

"Beev," Hasna said while one hand slowly crept toward Hiccup's mat.

"Grrr!" Hiccup loudly growled at her and made a feint in her direction.

Hasna squealed and pulled her hand back. She brightly laughed in amusement at the adult's antics. Jack again marveled at how quickly Hiccup adjusted his demeanor when interacting with the girl. It showed hidden and untested depths to the man. The Guardian smiled both inwardly and outwardly.

"It's not that amazing," Hiccup said and appeared to be reading Jack's mind. "Rearing a new set of dragon riders isn't too far from this."

Jack bust out laughing at the comparison. He, too, suffered the task of training new riders while completely forgetting his own misfortunes when fist bonding with IceSpike. The Guardian sighed and pushed aside the sadness that wanted to overwhelm. Hiccup watched him with growing concern.

"I understand why Snotlout turned to drink. This is… difficult isn't a good enough word. I think about her all the time, and when I close my eyes at night…" the Guardian explained and trailed off.

"I know, and you so much stronger than me, Jack. I'd… gods, I'd be… I don't…" the Viking tried to express the dark thoughts that crept into his mind.

"I wouldn't let you go that far. Just like I know you're doing for me, Hiccup… and I never, ever want to have watch you go through this," Jack quietly said and stared at the messy face of the boy whose hands patted around the dinner mat looking for more fish. The man handed him a half eaten piece of his own. "Toothless is out there waiting to find you. But what I want to know is how do we get so attached to the dragons?"

"Think of how much time we spend with them. We depend on the dragons and they depend on us. We face dangers together. We live and die together. Wouldn't it make less sense if we didn't become so attached?"

Jack slowly nodded his head. He slid a piece of fish over to Hasna who looked at him with great expectation in her eyes. She giggled and said a word in her first language.

"You're welcome," he told her.

"Ll-comb," she mumbled through a mostly full mouth.

"Gods, you'd think she was born on Berk with the way she eats. I'd watch my fingers if I were you, Hiccup."

The Viking snickered.

After cleaning up the small mess from lunch, the four humans went in search of the wreckage washed up on the eastern side of the island. Hiccup held Biva's hands, and the boy made every effort to walk on two legs. He did remarkably well considering the very soon-to-be toddler made the attempt on sand. Hasna busied herself by playing catch with Nepta. Even though she could not throw very far, the dragon seemed to enjoy the play. Periodically Jack would take the coconut and throw far out into the water. The dragon would burble and then dive below the surface to go in chase.

They spent several hours picking through the debris of ships torn apart by the wild storms at sea. They found even more useful items, and Hiccup even discovered the blade of a sword, the grip long since gone to rot, and it promised many nights worth of work to remove the rust, salt, and scale. Between them, and that included Hasna who picked through the detritus as well, they found enough scraps of metal to serve as blades of spears and, with some sharpening, knives. After a while Hiccup sidled up to him, Hasna sidled up to Hiccup, and Jack kept Biva from playing on the rocks. The senior dragon rider seemed puzzled.

"Jack, when we were on Traitor's Cabin, there were lots of bones," Hiccup began.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing the last time we came out here. Where are the bones?" Jack jumped headlong into the topic.

"I can't even find one!"

The two men glanced around, and the girl imitated them.

"Maybe bodies didn't wash up. They could get eaten at sea long before getting close to the island," Jack theorized.

"Un-uh. I can't believe that. At least one person at some time had to make it here alive. Where's all that stuff you say about odds?" Hiccup challenged.

Around them surf crashed into the shoals on the eastern shore and rocks. The water glittered as it arched through air. Nepta swam out a ways, and that meant he could not make it to land. The birds flying overhead squawked from time to time. Insects added their chatter. Again the absence of ground-dwelling life unnerved the two. They both took a peak at vegetation thirty feet away. The normal sussura of foliage brushing against itself could not be heard over the breaking wave.

"We need to be careful," Hiccup quietly said.

"Agreed," Jack sternly replied. "It sounds so… so… strange to say I'd feel better if I saw human bones."

"Well, there aren't any, so let's focus on finding what we can. Something tells me whatever it is that's in there isn't the friendliest of sorts. I mean, look at how wild dragons react to people. Even if they're angry we're around, at least they show themselves."

"Stealth hunter."

The Viking nodded, and the silent confirmation gave Jack a chill of a type he did not like. He looked at the children. Hasna continued to poke and prod around the various bits of ship that got smashed on the island shoals. Biva played in the dark sand that sparkled in the sun. It looked serene, yet to the adults it became deceptive. They continued their hunt for usable metal and whatever else they could find.

When they returned to the hut carrying sacks made from old sails and filled with their haul, the two decided to fortify their local area. They would remove vegetation from around the dwelling for at least twenty feet so whatever lurked in the forest would find ambush cover lacking. Then they planned on sharpening sticks and wedging them in the ground. It would impede the progress of anything coming near them. Furthermore, Jack hit on the idea of stringing an assortment of broken glass and useless metal between the sticks. While it would not be loud, the arrangement would provide an early warning system. Hiccup fixed their meal, an interesting turn of events since Jack usually cooked on Berk, and both children gathered excitedly about the table Jack constructed form the remains of a large spindle.

"Too bad we can't find any volcanic glass. You know that stuff is sharp," the Earthling commented as he set about cutting up Biva's food. For the past several days the boy took to feeding himself with the predictable messy results. "Plus we could use it for knives… maybe even an axe."

"Why wouldn't there be any?" Hiccup asked as he glared at Hasna to stop her from cramming as much food into her mouth as she could.

"Hun… gee," she mumbled through her overstuffed mouth.

"I think the beach is made up mostly of old obsidian… volcanic glass…" the Guardian added and used a Earth word.

"I like that word obsidian. Better than raven-eye glass," the Viking quipped.

"Whatever remains is probably buried under in the ground. If we went in to the jungle and started digging around, we might locate a few old pieces," Jack speculated aloud.

"Is is worth the risk?"

The two mates quietly chewed and glanced at one another. Without the children they could try hunting the beast. Inside the hut, with walls made from woven palm fronds secured to bamboo-like posts by rope twisted from the same material as the walls. It would not protect them from a storm, but it would provide an initial barrier from overly-curious animals, not counting small lizards and snakes, and more gentle winds. However, the total absence of larger creatures seemed a warning.

"Maybe, if we can figure out the movements of whatever that thing is. If it climbs like the toes suggest it can, then we've got to be watching above us as well. If it's colored green in any way…"

"The pocking thing would be almost invisible," Hiccup finished in an angry rasp. Hasna looked up at him with a worried look. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Not you, Sweets."

The Hallan adopted some of the pet names Jack used that he learned on Earth. Wiggle Worm tended to be the favorite for Biva, although Hiccup called him Crap Forge whenever he changed the boy's diaper. It proved the man could not entirely rid himself of some the more repellent Viking traditions. In the absence of Toothless, Jack heard the Viking use the term Bud with Biva a few times. It revealed the man's growing attachment. In the same vein the Guardian privately admitted he, too, came to care about the children an inordinate amount compared the the children of their friends. Pulling them from the reach of Aita's song deeply affected the Earthling, and he counted it as a much needed win over the ancient entity.

"Even if we don't find any obsibidian…"

"Ob-sid-ian," Jack carefully pronounced the word.

"Obsid… ian, we still need to get the other preparations done. At least one good thing came out of looking for a cave," Hiccup stated.

"Ibby-sibby," Hasna gave saying the word her best shot after she swallowed.

"Ob… "Jack said and leaned forward so she could watch his lips. "Ob."

"Ahb," the girl repeated while her brother threw a piece of fish across the hut.

"Sid… sssss-iddd."

"Seed," Hasna imitated the word, and both men heard her accent.

"Ee… an. Ee… an," the Earthling completed the phonetic breakdown.

"Dee-ahn. Dee—ahn," Hasna carefully mouthed.

"Ob-sid-ian," Jack slowly said the word and elaborated on the syllable.

"Ahb… seed.. dee-ahn."

"Obsidian."

"Ahbseed… dea-ahn. Ahbseed-dee-ahn," the girl repeated twice.

"You know this means trouble for us?" Hiccup inquired.

"In what way?" Jack counter-questioned as he said back.

Hasna stared at the small tabletop while she repeated the word several times. She made it sound far more melodious than Jack. The inflection of the first language she started to learn came through.

"If she's this smart and is learning our language this fast… and wants to learn, what else is she going to learn from us that we don't mean to teach her?"

Twice the specter of Hasna's unquenchable curiosity and intelligence got raised, and it did not bode well for the adults. The girl's brain, like most children, became a veritable sponge of huge proportions. The rate at which she adopted words she heard the two man frequently say became readily apparent with each passing day. Soon Biva would join her and, if he bore the same mental capabilities, would compound both learnings curve for both of them. It would mean the men would need to watch what they said and also monitor some of their behavior.

"Oh, gods, we are in for so much trouble," the Earthling concurred while faux look of horror passed over his face.

Hiccup chuckled and replied: "At least a little. We shouldn't create new personalities for them. They deserve to get to know us the same way we get to know them, and I'm pretty sure they're not putting on some sort of show."

"Excellent point. Let's just be ourselves and see what they make of it."

"And we need to teach them like you did just now. She really loved that."

"Hasna liked the attention," Jack muttered.

"Maybe, but she liked learning the word. Ever think she might want to talk to us?"

Jack opened his mouth, but then his brain told him to shut it before he said anything stupid. He knew both elementals, humans, and mysticals all expressed a need to communicate. Hiccup indirectly pointed it out. While humans excelled at verbal exchanges, other creatures also communicated and passed on those communication skills to their young. He glanced out the small window they in the direction of the sea and the water dragon that took a fancy to them. Nepta communicated with them and in such a way that he found playmates he so desperately seemed to need. Aside from playing catch and letting him enjoy the children the shallows, they did not physically maintain for the beast. However, both the Earthling and the Hallan never lacked in understanding the dragon. The thought brought IceSpike to mind again.

"Once, when I was a mortal child, I remember an older woman who used to stop by the house when my mom was pregnant with my sister. They would talk, and I never understood a word they said. It used to make me angry. Before that woman left, she'd always give me a sugar nib and tell me I was a good boy," Jack spoke to the memory of his dragon as if somehow revealing what little he remember of his Earth childhood might ease the pain. "It wasn't 'til about a hundred years later I figured out they spoke in code about my mom being pregnant and everything that went along with it. The funny part is it still makes me angry they wouldn't speak openly in front of me."

"So does that mean we talk openly in front of the children?" Hiccup inquired.

Biva's hands slapped the small table looking for more fish. Hasna gave him part of a piece Hiccup set aside as he talked. Both men grinned. While on one hand she acted in a naughty manner by their normal standards, she also displayed filial loyalty. The boy began gnawing on the piece of meat as soon as it got into his messy hands.

"Beev hungee," Hasna said as though she needed to explain her actions.

"Yeah, he's hungry," the Viking softly replied and ruffled her hair.

"We've got a lot of work to do, don't we?" Jack inquired, and his question covered a variety of topics.

Hiccup nodded and answered: "You were right: it's not just about us anymore. They need us, and we made that deal when we pulled them out of the boat. It's not that much different from when I shot Toothless out of the sky."

"You're actually comparing children to dragons?"

"Sure," the Viking said and grinned. "It's a lifelong commitment, isn't it?"

"Lifelong," Jack whispered and two tears rolled out of his eyes.

"Ja?" Hasna said his name in a clear question.

"It's okay, Hasna. I'm just remembering. I need to remember… maybe I need to learn how not to forget."

"I don't think anything slips out of that head of yours," Hiccup quipped.

"My childhood?" Jack countered.

"Not your fault. Nick and Toothania told me about teeth magic… and with how you got to be Jack Frost, I'm surprised you can remember anything before you came out of that lake. Since no one could see or talk to you, no one could remind you of who you were… are."

Jack gazed at his mate in wonder.

"I'm not entirely stupid," the man grumbled.

"Not thinking that," the other man rejoined. "Never thought before that we need people around use to help us keep… I guess the mental shape of ourselves. That's part of what the Guardians do for each other. Sheesh, Bunny won't ever let me forget about the blizzard of sixty-eight, and that was ages ago!"

"They're your family…"

"And family never forgets."

Together they looked at the children.

"We're their family now, aren't we?" Jack asked the question to which he already knew the answer.