AN: Hello, friends! Back with another chapter! For those asking, I am trying to get back to a weekly updating schedule, but life is hectic and crazy sometimes so I can't make promises, but I do hope to keep the chapters coming! Hope y'all enjoy this one! :)
Music: "Someone I Used to Know" by Zac Brown Band
NOTES: "If you never heal from what hurt you, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you."
Chapter 6: Someone I Used to Know
Jack stood at the edge of the treeline, his eyes scanning the half-burned village for movement while also trying to not let them catch on the occasional body. There weren't too many, which was a relief in itself, but that left the question of where had the other villagers gone?
They'd gotten a distress call from another coastal town, this time on the outskirts of Scotland. The Guardians had been dispatched immediately out of fear of an attack on the inland sea.
Jack glanced over at Merida who was positioned on the other side of the barn. Their eyes caught, and she she nodded at him. Her mouth was set in a hard line, her eyes focusing forward with a determination that Jack had grown quite familiar of over the past few years. Rapunzel was beside her, mostly calm, but fidgeting a little and her eyes were troubled. They'd had to rely on Sandy to sense out life in the village because the forest was too full and distracting for Rapunzel to be able to separate the two. It hadn't affected the group much, but Jack knew it was another struggle in her training.
Sandy shifted beside him and gave the hand signal to move forward, so Jack and Sandy hurried forward together, the open expanse between them and the side of the barn they were supposed to sweep leaving the them exposed. The two took a moment to duck behind some barrels at the back of the barn, and Jack looked across to the other corner where Toothiana, Bunny, and Merida were. Bunny held up his fingers, counting down, and at one, their groups split. They rounded the corners, beginning their sweep of the barns perimeter.
Nothing jumped out at Jack and Sandy, and he couldn't hear any fighting on the other side from the others. The village was just as quiet as when the arrived. Just as unnerving too.
Jack slowed to a stop, his eyes drifting up the side of barn as he and Sandy came to a full stop to stare up at the scars. The side of the barn had long, jagged claw marks, the likes of which Jack had never seen. There were scorch marks, and at the base of the wall, a pile of black sand. Jack's grip on his staff tightened as he glared down at the sand and then looked back up at the claw marks.
"Are those dragon marks?" Jack wanted to know. Sandy only shrugged, unsure of it himself, though Jack's mind was already spiraling into the anger that was boiling in the pit of his stomach. "This could be really bad news for the Allied Kingdoms."
At that moment, Merida rounded the corner, bow drawn, with Bunny at her side. They stopped though, when they saw Jack and Sandy standing there.
"What's keeping you two? We got worried you'd been ambushed and we didn't hear it." Bunny grumbled as they walked over to join them. Merida was already looking up at the wall, her eyes widening at the sight.
She looked at Jack, her eyes softening with a sadness that Jack had gotten used to seeing on her and Rapunzel's faces. It made him angrier.
"We've found the villagers." Merida murmured, motioning towards the front of the barn. "We should help."
She turned and left without another word, and Jack sighed. Exchanging looks with Bunny and Sandy, the three of them slowly followed her into the barn where the others were already hard at work administering aid to the people.
More than half of the people were injured and in need of some kind of medical treatment. There were cries and groans of pain, children were crying, and those that were fit to continue working were shouting back and forth, trying to save as many as they could. In the back of the barn, there were a few patients who were coughing and groaning with sickness, their veins darkened against pale-grey skin. Jack had to remind himself to breathe because their condition looked similar to another victim of Pitch's magic, and Jack didn't like seeing Emma's face on someone who looked like they were dying.
Rapunzel was already in the thick of it with Sandy, ordering people to bring clean water rags as she set a man's broken leg. Merida and North were speaking to the fighters still capable to defend the village, telling many of them to eat and get rest but requesting a few to help them maintain security.
It was chaos, and it wasn't a situation Jack knew how to help with.
A hand on his should drew his attention to Percy, Toothiana, and Bunny. His father nodded his head to the front door, and Jack gladly followed him out of the barn. Bunny led them around to the wall Jack had seen earlier with Sandy, and between the four of them they decided to fan out and search for more clues and potentially any survivors that didn't make it to the barn.
They split off into twos, Toothiana and Bunny taking the north side of the village while Percy and Jack went to the south. Jack followed after his father quietly lost in his own thoughts of Pitch Black. Just thinking his name made Jack's teeth clench so tightly that they creaked in protest, his grip on his staff so tight that his finger nails dug into his palm.
"Look out!" Percy shouted, yanking Jack out of the way as a Nightmare burst out of the window of a shop they were passing and charged at him. Jack stumbled in his dad's grip, but didn't fall. The Nightmare didn't stop and went racing off down the dirt path of the village.
"Come on, we gotta go after it!" Jack yelled, launching himself after the Nightmare despite Percy's call for him to wait.
Blood was rushing through his veins and in his ears as he grit his teeth, determined to catch that Nightmare.
The Nightmare leaped onto the rooftop of a house, and Jack used a barrel to give him a boost as he vaulted up after it. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop, and somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that his dad was running after them on the ground, looking up at the rooftops, but Jack's attention was aimed entirely at the Nightmare.
Jack threw his staff forward, an ice blast hitting a chimney just as the Nightmare leaped over it, and Jack cursed. As the Nightmare leaped over an alleyway, aiming to the next rooftop, an ice shard shot up from below, catching one of the Nightmare's back legs. It shrieked and upon it's landing, collapsed in an ungraceful heap just as Jack threw another blast at it.
The Nightmare shattered apart, but the sand was frozen to the rooftop, wriggling little tentacles in a deperate attempt to free itself. Jack stopped beside it, panting hard after a long chase and glaring down at the dark sand blur at his feet.
A breeze lifted Percy gracefully up onto the rooftop and he stepped over to stand beside Jack, raising an eyebrow at his son. Jack didn't say anything, just tried to reign in his heaving breaths a little.
"Go get the others." Percy instructed softly, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Sandy will know what to do with this."
It took a while to gather the others. Their first priority was to the people, and Rapunzel insisted on doing everything she could to help as Sandy went about calling for the Royal Council to send relief aid and transport for the worst of the wounded to be brought back to Hogwarts. On top of that, Merida insisted on interviewing several of the village leaders to confirm that Pitch's forces had retreated, not continued further on into Scotland territory. Toothiana assisted by gathering some of her fairies and having them sweep the surrounding inland forests to ensure there were no tracks or evidence of disturbance.
Jack knew the reasoning and the heart behind it all, but it didn't help his thinning patience at all.
Once their duties to the village were mostly finished and they had confirmed that more help was on the way, the Guardians finally returned to where Percy was sitting on a rooftop, keeping watch over their trapped Nightmare sand.
"Not your cleanest shot, Percy." Bunny remarked upon seeing it.
"It wasn't mine." Percy replied simply, then turned his attention to Sandy. "Got anything for us?"
Sandy stepped forward and knelt down, touching the dark sand. Immediately the color began to shift, turning from endless black to a warm gold as the ice cracked and fell away. Once the sand was purified, Sandy worked it and morphed it a few times before coming up with a small ball that shift slowly and calmly, but was definitely pointing in a specific direction.
Sandy smiled.
"Excellent work, Sandy!" North exclaimed. "Pitch must still be near by if Sandy is able to track him!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Merida wanted to know.
They don't bother to get the sleigh. For tracking purposes, and the heavy forest terrain, it's faster and easier to run or fly, especially for Bunny and Tooth, who scout ahead of the group, but never drift to far to lose sight of Sandy's lead. The ball of Dreamsand had taken form in a small prairie dog, nosing it's way along as it ran through the air, pointing Sandy in the right direction.
It doesn't take them long to reach the shore. The ocean crashes against the sides of the bluffs here, and Sandy's prairie dog starts fidgeting, running in circles and pointing it's nose at the lighthouse stationed a few yards from the treeline.
A slim, dark figure is standing there, waiting for them.
Pitch grins with sharpened teeth, and even across the wide expanse of open space between them, it makes Jack's skin crawl. He growls lowly, as his body tenses. He walks out of the trees alongside the other Guardians, forcing himself not to launch at the man standing before them.
"Always so predictable." Pitch chuckled, shaking his head at them. "Tell me, does your Royal Council plan to provide a challenge for me at any point?"
"Two Sorcerers and the rest of us not enough for you, Pitch?" Bunny quipped back.
"Hardly." Pitch growled.
The ground began to rumble and tremor, as Pitch raised his arms. A giant wave of black sand surged over the edge of the bluffs, looming high over the lighthouse, but instead of coming crashing down onto them it began to take shape. The golumn towered over them, climbing over the edge to stand on solid ground as it swung it's massive fist down towards the earth.
"Scatter!" North shouted.
Everyone scrambled to get out of the way of the golumn fist as it crashed onto the stone and earth. Tooth flew up over the fist and shot towards the golumn's head, drawing twin daggers for spells and strikes. Merida twisted around from behind a tree, drawing her bow, and one of her fire arrows struck right in the golumn's would-be eye, causing the beast to shriek and rear upwards, swinging wildly. Percy used the opening to freeze the golumn's feet to the ground, icing over as much as he possibly could and preventing it from retreating.
The beast let out a bellowing scream and then hunched it's shoulders forward. Globs of black sand broke free from the beast, turning into dozens of Nightmares. Pitch laughed darkly, his sand swirling about him as he retreated into the lighthouse.
The Nightmares began to swarm them, charging at the Guardians. Jack ducked as one flew over his head and narrowly deflected the attack of another. North was thrown back, but managed to catch himself, skidding to a halt right next to where Jack was back to back with Sandy.
"Sandy! Take Jack and go after Pitch! We'll handle this!" North ordered.
The small Sorcerer gave a firm nod before turning towards the lighthouse. Raising both arms slowly, Sandy shot his hands forward, sending a burst of energy and Dreamsand that cut through the dark magic and Nightmares, creating a path right to the front door. Grabbing Jack's sleeve, Sandy started to drag him along as they ran after Pitch.
Another roar from the beast made Jack look up to see Rapunzel swinging up onto the monster's arm with her hair and then running up the length of the limb to reach it's shoulder. Bunny used the lighthouse to get a leg up, leaping and grabbing hold of the creature's massive stubby fingers and clawing his way up. He raced along the same arm in order to cover Rapunzel's advance.
Before he could see what they were planning to do, Sandy kicked in the door of the lighthouse, revealing the shadowed insides of the structure. The lighthouse was old and simple; a hay covered floor and a spiral staircase that followed along the wall of the tower to the very top. It was mostly dark, but light peeked in through a few holes and small windows in the sides of the walls and from the very top where the unlit torch was open to the elements.
Jack traded a cautious look with Sandy and, with another firm nod from the silent Sorcerer, the two started running up the stairs, searching for any sign of Pitch.
Jack's eyes kept flicking towards every shadow, trying to see if they were moving or if maybe they were just a little too dark, a little too deep. His mind and heart were racing with the adrenaline. That was probably the only reason he survived Pitch's surprise attack.
The Dark Sorcerer appeared on a small landing across the tower from them and shot a curse at them. They split, causing the spell to dissipate against the wall between them. Pitch smirked and went running up the stairs. Sandy gave chase, and Jack scrambled after them both. He used the wind to leap across to the other side of the tower, landing on the stairs beside Sandy and continuing to run despite a small stumble.
Pitch made a quick pivot, shooting another blast of dark magic at them, but this time Jack was ready for it and raised his staff to deflect it with a burst of icy blue. He let the momentum turn him, but continued around in a full circle to throw a blast of his own.
Ice caught on Pitch's shoulder just as he reached the top of the steps and disappeared onto the upper level.
Jack pushed off with his feet, carrying himself with a wave of his staff and flying up into the upper floor. There were no walls, the roof held up only by pillars to allow the torch's light through during the night. The golumn roar and the ground shook as the others continued their battle, which seemed to be going fairly well, though the Nightmares showed no sign of letting up.
Jack slowly turned around, his staff up and at the ready. Sandy stood at his back, brow narrowed as he also searched for the missing Sorcerer. They both jumped a whirled toward one side at Pitch's 'tsk' noise.
"You never did know when to quit, Sandman." Pitch said, and then he lunged, swinging heavily as his sand formed a giant scythe.
Jack split from Sandy and they rushed at Pitch from either side. The Dark Sorcerer focused in on Sandy, pulling up his defenses as the Dream Sorcerer shot a dozen spikes of solid packed sand. They punctured the wall of darkness that Pitch brought up, poking through to the other side, but didn't hit Pitch himself.
While he was distracted, Jack leaped up and into a down swing of his staff. Pitch whirled and met him with a bar of his own, bringing them to a stalemate as Jack tried to bear down with all his weight.
"What are you planning? Are you working with the Dragon Rider?" Jack demanded, and even to his own ears his voice sounded too deep and too rough to be his own. All Jack knew was his blood felt hot in his veins and he felt an itch in his palms to freeze Pitch's throat closed.
"Oh, have you met him?" Pitch chuckled just before shoving Jack off and throwing a blast at his chest.
Jack dove to the side, but the blast caught on his arm, bursting in sparks of black sand and a sudden blue light. Jack hit the floor, rolling away to get himself out of the way as Sandy launched forward to attack.
Sitting back, Jack looked down and moved his hand to look at the damage to his arm. He stared and his mind drew a blank because right where Pitch's blast had hit there wasn't even a drop of blood. It hurt, and Jack was certain there would be a bruise, but it was almost as if something had taken the hit for him. The pale blue shimmers that faded nearly as quickly as Jack noticed them alerted him to the fact that the bizarre occurrence was magical in nature.
Shaking himself, Jack shoved the thoughts aside and pushed to his feet. For now he'd just be grateful for the save.
Sandy is already gaining the upper hand, using his own dreamsand to counter and heal Pitch's corrupted sand. Sandy finally gets his whip to wrap around Pitch's ankle, and he uses it to fling the Dark Sorcerer across the room and into the wall. Jack leaps forward at the opportunity and freezes both of Pitch's hands to the stone wall, followed shortly by his feet to the wood flooring.
"It's over Pitch! You're outmatched!" Jack growled, aiming his staff directly at the Dark Sorcerer.
The statement was followed by a tremendous roar and the tower shaking violently as the beast fell backwards into the ocean, collapsing under the attacks of the others. Jack could feel the mist and water droplets hitting him as the ocean water splashed up even higher than the lighthouse itself before dropping back down on top of where the beast had disappeared into the ocean.
"And it sounds like your monster's just about finished, too." Jack smirked.
"Didn't your father ever teach you not to make assumptions?" Pitch questioned casually.
Bells made them both look down at Sandy who was glaring at Pitch, sand swirling wildly above his head as he ranted unintelligibly, but one image was quite clear: a dragon.
"Sandy's right. Who is the Dragon Rider in all the rumors? Are you working with him?" Jack demanded again, feeling that familiar burning feeling. "You asked if I've met him, so does that mean he's real? Or is this another one of your tricks?"
"Oh, I assure you the Dragon Rider is very real. And I am acquainted with him." Pitch smiled wickedly.
Jack's stomach dropped and his ribs felt too tight around his lungs and heart. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth against the ache that news brought back in full force. He shoved the pain down into his gut, fueling the burning fire there and put all of it into the glare he shot at Pitch when he opened his eyes again.
"How long have you been working with him? And what are you planning?" Jack said, his voice loud in his own ears and sounding more like commands for answers than actual questions. "...Was he involved when you..." Jack tried, he truly did, but he couldn't say it.
"When I what? Oh! I know! You're so choked up because you think I took a dragon from the Dragon Rider and used it to kill poor little Hiccup, is that right?" Pitch pouted before his lips curled into a twisted grin. "Would you like to know what truly happened that night?"
Jack took a step forward, but Sandy grabbed his arm before he could go any further. Jack hesitated as Sandy shook his head and then gave Pitch a firm look. Jack looked back at the Nightmare King as well, trying to ignore the pounding of his own heart.
The sound of running footsteps and voices echoed up the stairwell, and the others burst onto the top floor behind Jack. He heard Rapunzel call his name, but they all stopped short at seeing Pitch backed against the wall.
"You're so convinced that simply because I was there that I must be the one who caused all the trouble!" Pitch said. "Well, allow me to put your mind at ease and share some important information with all of you..." He looked around at all of them, before finally settling his gaze on Jack. "When it came down to it, the Dragon Rider himself did far more to get rid of your precious Hiccup than I could ever dream of."
There was ringing in Jack's ears. All other sounds and everything else faded away as Pitch's words seemed to swallow him whole. And it was Pitch's laughter that yanked him back.
"After all, how would I control a dragon?" The Dark Sorcerer grinned again, and then cackled wildly as the air around him swirled, collecting up the dark sand scattered across the floor from their fight. The ice on his hands and feet began to crack and shatter as clouds of darkness swirled around him.
Then with a burst that had Jack and all of the Guardians ducking and throwing up their guards, Pitch was gone.
When they returned to the village, Clan MacGuffin had already arrived to help aid the people and protect the coast from further attacks. Dr. Sweet came shortly after with several nurses from Hogwarts, ready to heal and escort those in need of a hospital. They were lucky, because aside from the man with the broken leg, the only other people who needed to be brought back to Hogwarts were the few infected by some sort of Dark Magic plague.
Jack wasn't a medic, but he could see from the expressions of Dr. Sweet and Rapunzel that whatever these people were suffering from, it wasn't good.
"Whatever this illness is, I've never seen it before." Dr. Sweet confided to them once they had returned to Hogwarts and everyone had been settled into the medical wing. "Going off of appearances, they share some similarities to Emma's condition, which our best theory was created by a variant of the Fearling curse. I don't know enough to make any hard conclusions, but we have to tread carefully. We don't want to start a panic, so just keep it quiet and give me time to run some tests."
The whole mission left Jack with a bad taste, and when he, Merida, and Rapunzel were invited down to Hogsmeade by Tadashi and some of the others, a part of him really wanted to go. A part of Jack wanted to go have a butterbeer with his friends, maybe play a card game, and forget about the war for a little while.
But another part of him was still burning.
"Jack..." Rapunzel called after his initial refusal. He turned back to see her and Merida watching him. They looked worried.
"I'm fine. I just need some time to think." Jack told them, wondering why he couldn't even get himself to offer them a smile.
"You and thinking have never been on great terms." Merida tried weakly, but then her shoulders drooped and she continued more quietly. "Don't do this to yourself, Jack."
He couldn't explain why, but that made the smoldering coals spark and spit.
"How can you be so calm about all of this?!" He whirled around, glaring at the red-head. "You saw those marks! You heard what Pitch said! How are you not angry?"
"You think I'm not angry?" Merida retorted. "You think I'm Okay with any of this?! You're not the only one who misses him Jack! But stewing in your own anger and self-pity isn't going to make anything better!"
"Both of you stop! We shouldn't be arguing with each other! We're fighting a war!" Rapunzel stepped between them, but her eyes ended on Jack with a pointed look.
"So we should just move on? Completely forget where this whole thing started and keep fighting this war without ever going after the person who took Hiccup from us?" Jack's voice was getting louder, almost yelling.
"We never said any of that! But you're letting Pitch get inside your head, and you know it!" Merida spat back, raising her voice to meet his. "You're angry because even if we win this war it might still not be enough to avenge Hiccup, and I get that! But we have to keep our heads and focus on one thing at a time! We don't even know if this Dragon Rider is part of the war!"
"I hope he is!" Jack shouted, his voice echoing off of the stone walls. He was breathing hard now. "I hope he comes! Because when he does, I'm gonna be ready! When he does, I'm gonna kill him!"
"Jack!" The sharp tone made them all freeze, and Jack turned to see his father standing there with Bunny. They moved towards the group, Percy being the first to break the silence. "It's been a stressful day for all of us. You kids go ahead and relax with your friends. But I'd like to speak with my son for a little while."
"Yes, sir." Rapunzel murmured slowly, giving Jack one last worried look, before turning to go join Tadashi and the others who were watching off to the side.
Merida glared at him for a long moment and then punched his arm. "You'd better apologize to Rapunzel."
"We're not kids anymore." Jack muttered, rubbing the pain from his arm.
"You're acting like one." Merida returned sharply. "And she's worried about you. I just think you're being stupid."
With that, she turned and started walking, giving Rapunzel a push when she caught up with her. As the girls went with the others, Percy tapped Jack's shoulder and motioned for him to follow. Jack obeyed silently and walked back to his family's rooms alongside his dad. They were quiet the whole way there, and Jack wondered if his dad was giving him time to cool down, or if he was waiting for him to start talking first.
Once inside, they went to the living area, and Percy motioned to the couch. "Sit. I'll make us some tea."
Jack did as he was told, sitting and leaning back against the cushions. He tried to get comfortable but found it near impossible with the burning in his gut, though the embers had died a bit since his dad's appearance in the corridor.
Percy came back with a tray and placed it on the coffee table. He picked up one mug of tea for himself and, what really surprised Jack, a picture frame. Percy held out the frame to him, and Jack swallowed thickly when he saw what picture it was.
Himself, Rapunzel, Merida, and Hiccup all together at the end of their first year. Big smiles, surrounded by confetti. It brought back the ache, but the burning in his gut felt like it was suddenly washed over with cool water; refreshing and healing, but leaving him cold and empty.
Bittersweet.
"Who's that boy with you?" Percy asked simply, patiently sipping from his mug.
"That's Hiccup." Jack had to force the words out after swallowing again and wetting his dry lips. "He was my best friend. We did everything together. And then one night..." The small smile that crept on his face fell almost instantly and the swelling in his eyes was something he hadn't allowed himself to feel in a while.
"The mysterious incident, the missing boy, and an uncertain prophecy." Percy supplied, and Jack nodded, already having heard all the rumors and renditions of the event.
"No one knows exactly what happened... But I just... I just know he's not dead, Dad! But he'd never hurt us!" Jack burst out, looking up helplessly at his father in the hopes that someone might understand.
"Gut instincts are important. They've saved my life more times than I can count, and I think they're a type of magic that no one will ever be able to fully explain." Percy nodded thoughtfully.
"But?" Jack said, already hearing the change in his tone.
"But you can't lose yourself trying to be everyone's hero." Percy told him, and it hit like a punch to the gut. "I can see it when you talk to Emma. You're the big brother. You want to be the hero and protect the people you love. But sometimes the people we love are destined for more."
"What are you saying?" Jack wanted to know.
"I'm saying that if your friend is alive and if you truly believe in him, than you have to stop seeing him as your little brother and trust that he is capable enough to be there for you, Merida, and Rapunzel when the time comes." Percy said plainly, and Jack didn't know what to say to that. "You are going to be a great Guardian, Jack. Rapunzel and Merida have equally spectacular destinies before them, too. If your friend Hiccup is cut from the same prophetic cloth, then I have no doubt that he is finding his own destiny."
"...So what do I do?" Jack asked.
Percy leaned forward, wrapping one hand around the back of Jack's neck and bumping their foreheads together.
"You Live, Jack. Continue on and find your own destiny. Follow your own path, and know that everyone in this whole world has their own path to follow. Just because your paths may go in different directions for a time, doesn't necessarily mean they won't meet again. But letting anger rule you and change you, is just letting down those that need you." Percy looked down at the picture Jack was still holding. "And there are two other people in that photo who I know you care about just as much as you do Hiccup."
Jack swallowed, thick cotton stuffed in his throat. "I know I was wrong. I'll apologize next time I see Merida and Rapunzel."
"I know you will." Percy kissed his forehead and then leaned back into his armchair again, picking up his tea again. "There's an old saying that I think you should keep in mind, Jack."
"What is it?"
"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, then it's yours to keep. But if it continues to Fly, you must let it Soar. Because some things were never meant to be Caged."