Surprise again! I was inspired and had free time. Mostly the free time thing.
The Dark Kingdom:
After a few days more of travel, the three teens finally made it to the Spring Kingdom, but there was still one last stop Jack needed them to make. He swore it was the last one, and after what happened on Wing Maiden Island, guaranteed it would be quick. The last thing he wanted was to cause more destruction.
They stood on a hill a fair distance from the grand city, giving the cousins a proper introduction. Hiccup and Snotlout looked to it in awe and fascination, though Snotlout was more reserved.
"Hiccup, Snotlout, I present to you, The Dark Kingdom!" Jack presented, gesturing grandly to the city before them. "I used to come here to visit my friend, Edmund."
"Our first Spring Kingdom city. Can you believe it, Toothless?" Hiccup's eyes were bright with excitement. Her dragon squawked from where he laid on her shoulders. The city looked more like a jungle within the mildly forested area, large trees and vines hiding most of the city itself from view, but it was no less exciting to her. It was the second reason Jack wanted to stop here; he knew Hiccup would love it. The first reason was a tad more selfish.
"Why is it called 'The Dark Kingdom'?" Snotlout wondered. "Sounds…well, dark."
Jack raised an eyebrow at the question, having never really thought about it before, but after turning back to the view, he shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe from how little sunlight reaches the ground", he guessed. He wasn't sure, but the reason for the odd name wasn't all that important. The city itself wasn't dark or 'evil' in any way; it was just a name. "Well, what are we all standing here waiting for? Let's go!"
"Jack, wait", Hiccup stopped him when he began to run ahead. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Guardian. The last thing we want is Merida finding where we are again."
"For once, Hiccup's right", Snotlout said.
"Gee thanks", Hiccup dryly said, never mind all the times she'd been right before.
"You need a disguise", Snotlout merely continued, and Jack continued to look at him with a frown.
"So what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" Jack asked incredulously.
"I don't think we have to go that far", Hiccup said, crossing her arms with a small smirk as she looked at him. Then, she suddenly went back to Phil, who had been standing behind her and her cousin, and took out a thin brown blanket. She followed by her sewing needle, and some brown colored thread, before folding one end of the blanket into what resembled a hood. Jack simply watched with Snotlout as she then, likely due to lack of tools, had Toothless fire a carefully controlled stream of fire on one specific area, quick to snuff any flames out. In the next moment, Hiccup had three small dark green colored strands of fabric in her hands, though Jack couldn't be sure from what she had ripped them from, and she was braiding them together, one end braided into a tightly woven ball, before sewing the other end to the blanket opposite the small hole Toothless had made. After hooking the two ends together, Hiccup took a brief moment to look over her work, before returning to where he and Snotlout were. It had only been a few minutes.
"Not the most skillfully made, but this should keep anyone from recognizing you", Hiccup said as she gave him the now makeshift cloak.
A bit surprised by her sheer ingenuity and quick thinking, Jack didn't hesitate to put it on, and as soon as he did, delicate spirals of frost began to form on the sheet, imbuing themselves into the fabric like designs that were always meant to be there. Hiccup and Snotlout noticed it, but Jack just shrugged to them. It was something that couldn't be helped. After all, they didn't call him Jack Frost for nothing. Once the hood was securely over his head, they headed for the city.
"You're gonna love it here. The people are the friendliest―"
"Rotten cabbages?! What kind of slum do you think this is?!" one of two guards shouted to a man, possibly a merchant, with a cart. The brown haired man, his beard purposely tied in a low knot, was then forced to watch as the guard unleashed vines from the dirt and destroyed the cabbage cart.
"―around?"
"Ah…" the shocked man voiced. "Very well… Then, may I interest your fine city with my other wares? All the way from Corona", he then tried to sell, though his voice still seemed wary.
The two guards looked to each other, then the other of the two stepped forward to the man's non destroyed cart, looking at the merchant's other items. With a nod, she looked to him. "Very well, Johann. Let him in", she told her associate, and he let the man pass through the gate, a thick wall of large crisscrossing vines with thorns separating by his command to let the merchant through.
Suddenly feeling nervous, the three teens stepped forward. The two guards before them each wore a green colored uniform with purple accents. The woman on the right who had addressed the merchant earlier had a long face and long white hair tied up with what appeared to be a purple ribbon. Her uniform was long sleeved and ended in a skirt that reached well passed her knees, inches above her brown boots. There was a large sword strapped to her back as well. She stood with her arms crossed as they approached.
On the left was the other guard who had destroyed the man's cart, a man with bright yellow-green eyes and somewhat long black hair swept to the side, dark as night. His uniform was short sleeved with a pair of matching pants, brown boots on his feet too. They also each wore two brown, green accented, bracers on their arms. The man held no weapon, but given what they'd just witnessed, he didn't need one. He stared at them with a glare.
"State your business", he said quite harsh.
"Don't worry; I got this", Jack whispered to Hiccup and Snotlout beside him, before stepping forward. "Hi there. Just…visiting, seeing the sights, heard The Dark Kingdom is beautiful this time of year", he said.
"Travelers", the man scoffed. "Alright, go in", he told them, though it didn't sound like he actually wanted to. Stepping aside, the vine-gate was opened, and Jack, Hiccup, and Snotlout ventured through.
"Enjoy your visit", the woman said to them kindly, when her voice suddenly became a bit…dark. "But cause trouble, and you may not like the outcome."
Hiccup and Snotlout looked to each other warily, before continuing through the separated vines. "Uh, thanks for the warning", Hiccup said back as they did.
"Yeah, we'll be extra good", Snotlout said too.
The woman smiled with the response, the man still glaring at them, and then the vines came back together, their thick wall put back in place.
It was a bit unnerving how hostile the greeting into the city had felt, but Jack was sure they just upped security because of the war. Other than that, looking around, the city looked just as he remembered it 100 years ago. Some things never change, and he was glad The Dark Kingdom was one of those things. It was nice to finally visit a place that was the same as it had been before he got trapped in that iceberg.
000
Finally entering the city, Hiccup was able to see just how different a city in the Spring Kingdom was from any of the islands in the archipelago. There were tall trees as large as mountains above them, and their thick branches led every which way through the city like some sort of system. The surrounding walls that looked to be made completely of vines from the outside, much like the gate, were actually made of stone, thick thorny vines merely coating the exterior. The houses and buildings themselves were made from brick and stone as well, opposed to the wood she was used to for their huts back home. It was interesting how each was personalized with their own array of plant life, flowers, vines, and moss coating each in different ways and in different amounts. Jack was right, though, that not much sunlight reached the ground, the thick trees blocking out most of it from the canopy they formed, so the flowers were either adapted to such a climate, or were formed and kept alive through spring casting. Either way, the city was abundant with life.
Noticing how she was particularly interested in the branches, however, Jack explained. "That is The Dark Kingdom's state of the art delivery system. Miles of shoots and tubes from those branches stretch throughout the entire city. Spring casting brings them up", he directed to a man at a landing platform for one shoot, pushing a basket up with vines into another branch above. "Gravity brings them down."
"Great, so they get their mail on time", Snotlout said with an uncaring shrug.
"They do, but my friend, Edmund, had a better use for them", Jack smirked mischievously, and Hiccup's brow raised in curiosity.
000
Meanwhile, as the three travelers walked through the city, a certain man in a long, light brown cape looked to the three with keen interest atop a stone terrace.
"Hmm", he hummed in a deep voice, his dark brown eyes thoughtful as he stared at the one with the cloak in particular.
000
Up on of the tallest trees of the city, Edmund stood before one of the shoots. "Jack, tell me, what do you see?" his friend, 14 years of age, asked.
"Uh…" 14 year old Jack walked up to where Edmund stood, "The mail package system?" he said, though it sounded more like a question. He wasn't all that unfamiliar with his friend's weird musings, but that never made them less weird. Nor was he sure why Edmund even brought him up here.
"Still seeing what they want you to see", Edmund shook his head as his arms crossed. "Look closer, Jack!", he grabbed Jack's face and turned it to the steep shoot before them. "What do you see?"
Jack looked closer as his friend had said, staring at how it was shaped, how steep it was, and how far it went, when it suddenly hit him why his friend brought him up here. "A slide!" he exclaimed.
"The world's greatest super slide!" Edmund said after, and Jack laughed.
"Edmund, you are a mad genius", he said, then Jack made a sled out of ice and frost, and with a smile, they hopped on and slid down the shoot with screams of exhilarated joy.
That same tree was where Jack took them. "One ride for old time's sake, then we're off straight to the northern archipelago", he said, but the two didn't look all that excited. As they teetered on the edge of the shoot in his sled, about to go down, Hiccup was seeming to have second thoughts.
"Uh, Jack, I don't know if this is such a good idea anymore", she worried.
"Don't worry. It's like flying; you'll love it", Jack assured her, seeing Toothless' tail wrapped tight around Hiccup's waist in her lap.
"Not me!" Snotlout suddenly freaked as the sled teetered forward. "Uh-uh! You guys can go down the death ramp, but I'm getting out right nOOOOOOWWWWWW!"
The sled was suddenly off, shooting down the branch through the city. Hiccup's frightful screams began to turn into fun filled ones, Snotlout's were still fear stricken, and Jack laughed and whooped with joy and fun. When he propelled them faster with a gust of icy wind, his hood falling off his head, their varied screams only got louder.
The branch wound and turned just like Jack remembered. They went through a brief tunnel through another tree, and the ride continued. Hiccup was laughing now, her arms wrapped around Jack's middle as she leaned forward as if wanting to go even faster. Jack wasn't about to decline. With another gust of wind, they sped faster. But then their ride was about to come to an end, the last stop of the shoot in sight, and Jack knew they had to slow down. Manifesting snow under the sled for friction, the sled slowly but surely came to a stop, perfectly landing on the landing pad.
As they got up, Snotlout didn't look too good. He was holding a hand over his mouth and looking a bit green.
"Snotlout, are you okay?" Hiccup asked.
Gulping down, Snotlout answered. "Peachy."
"Halt!" guards suddenly surrounded them. "You three are coming with us!"
Surprised and cornered with a wall behind them, the three all slowly raised their hands in surrender.
"I thought you said we wouldn't get in trouble", Hiccup muttered as the guards apprehended them.
"We shouldn't have", Jack said, sure this was some mistake or something as the guards pushed them forwards on the dirt road. They didn't do anything wrong! "Something else has to be going on", he muttered.
"Or, maybe this place isn't the friendly kingdom you think you remember so well", Snotlout whispered, over his previous nausea, but sounding real angry.
The throne room of the King's palace was a large rectangular space with plants in the corners, a light green carpet in the middle leading up to the throne, and the King's throne at the back. It had designs of stems and leaves at the base, stretching up towards the seat where the King himself sat.
He appeared to be in his late forties with long brown hair kept back, and a mustache and goatee. He wore a golden pointed crown with a purple gem in the middle, and brown cape over his dark green royal garments. The two ends were clasped on his right by a pin of a purple blossom, the right side of the cape draped over his shoulder and down his right arm. Though he was merely sitting with an impartial stare, the King was imposing, his frame large with dark brown eyes. When the King's gaze fell on Jack, though, the King gave him a particular look he couldn't read. He, Hiccup, and Snotlout were pushed down to their knees, when the King stood.
"So, you think you can use our delivery system as some kind of amusement park", he said, his voice resonating within the room, and yet light at the same time.
"We didn't do anything wrong", Jack said nonetheless, and he would stand by his stance.
"Vandalism is quite a heavy charge, you know", the King's eyes narrowed.
"We didn't vandalize anything", Jack pressed back.
"Yes, vandalism and disturbing the peace; these are your crimes", the King only continued as if he hadn't heard. "And for these crimes against the safety of my city, I sentence you three… to a feast", he suddenly smiled.
"Huh?"
Hiccup and Snotlout looked back at him just as confused, and by the looks of it, the guards in the room seemed to be in the same boat. They were called in under the accusation of vandalism and disturbing the peace, but their punishment was a feast?
Nevertheless, the King's staff did as he asked, and prepared a table in the dining room for the three 'guests' plus the King.
"Hope everything is to your liking", the King said as he sat at the head, the three sitting on the other side beside one another, Jack in the middle with Hiccup and Toothless to his right, and Snotlout to his left. Jack was suspicious, though, and judging by how Hiccup, Snotlout, and even Toothless hadn't touched anything, he wasn't alone.
"Why are we here?" Jack asked, still distrustful. He didn't understand what the King's game was, and Jack really didn't like that.
"Hmm, good question", the King suddenly became thoughtful. "But maybe I'm the one who should be asking you that. Perhaps to…" The King's left hand moved behind the cape draped over his right side, but the movement was too fast for Jack's mind to register. "…Freeze?!" A dagger was suddenly thrown at him, and Jack's instincts kicked in first, freezing the dagger mid-flight. The weapon dropped to the table like a rock. The guards in the room gasped with the sight, and Jack looked up in sudden fear at his mistake.
"Just as I thought", the King smirked, then stood. "A winter caster is in our presence, and not just any winter caster, but the Guardian!"
There was silence for a moment, then Jack stood, raising his hands up. "Okay, you caught me. Yes, I am the Guardian", he announced to the room. "So, now that we got that settled", he placed his hands on Hiccup's shoulders, prompting her to stand as well, quickly followed by Snotlout, "And I'm sure you're city is safe from summer casters", they inched back towards the exit, "We'll just be on our way."
Spears immediately crossed, the guards at the door blocking their exit to the dining area. The King chuckled. "You, you are very funny, but no. You and your friends aren't going anywhere, Guardian."
That got Hiccup upset. "You can't keep us here when we've done nothing wrong! Let us leave", she told him, but the King only raised an eyebrow as if confused.
"Lettuce leaf?" he asked her, holding up said leaf. Then with a shrug he gave it to a guard beside him, and the guard gave it to Hiccup. The look on her face was pure confusion and awkwardness.
"Okay, it's official", Snotlout whispered. "This guy's insane."
"In any case, tomorrow the Guardian will face three deadly challenges", the King continued. "Only then can you and your friends go. But, for now, the guards will show you to your chamber."
"My liege, do you you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" the guard who had given Hiccup the leaf asked beside the King.
"The newly refurbished chamber of course", the King said as his arms crossed.
"Wait. Which one…are we talking about…exactly?" the guard asked, and the teens looked to each other at the odd exchange.
"The one that used to be the bad chamber. Until…the refurbishing that is. Of course, we've been calling it the New chamber― You know we really should number them. Just, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!" the King finally announced, and they were taken away.
000
Pushed into another room, the door was locked behind them and the three of them plus Toothless were finally left alone. The room looked less like a prison cell, and more like a guest room.
"This is a prison cell?" Snotlout voiced.
There were four nice beds in the room, each with purple and green sheets, and the walls looked newly painted with a neutral crème color. Lanterns hung on the walls to provide warm light.
"He did say it was newly refurbished", Hiccup shrugged.
"I wonder what the challenges are going to be", Jack seemed to wonder aloud.
"Like we're sticking around to find out", Snotlout cut in and went back to the locked door, but Hiccup didn't pay much mind when she noticed how Jack absently walked off and sat on one of the beds. With a small frown, she walked up to the bed and sat beside him.
"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked tentatively.
"Something doesn't add up", he muttered, then looked to her. "Why would he call us here to give us false accusations, disregard them immediately with a feast as if we're guests, then lock us up anyway when he finds out I'm the Guardian?"
"And then put us in a nice room for the night before some deadly challenges? I know, Jack. It doesn't make sense", Hiccup agreed.
"Does it have to?" Snotlout questioned from where he stood. "The guy is clearly nuts. Now are you guys gonna help me find a way out of here or not?"
"Snotlout, we're not leaving", Hiccup told him calmly. "Whatever is going on, I don't think the King is out to hurt us. Like Jack said, something doesn't add up. I think we should wait this out, and find out what it is he really wants."
"You can't really be serious", Snotlout said disbelievingly. "Are you kidding me, Hiccup? And what if it turns out those 'deadly challenges' tomorrow actually kill Jack, huh? What if that's what he wants? What do think will happen then?"
Hiccup rolled her eyes. If the King had wanted Jack dead, wouldn't he have done it by now? And why would he want the Guardian dead anyway? The Dark Kingdom was in as much danger of the Summer Nation as any place else.
"Look, we don't know what's going on", Hiccup said. "And I don't know about you, but I'd rather not make enemies with a Spring Kingdom King. We have enough problems with the Summer Nation."
"Ugh", Snotlout groaned. "Jack, tell her she's nuts, would ya?"
"Actually… You're both right", Jack told them, and before either of them could respond he explained. "You're right, Snotlout. It's too dangerous to stay here. For all we know the challenges could be a trap. But…maybe they're not. Maybe they're some kind of test to test me. I've been missing for 100 years; maybe that's all this is. Besides, whatever he throws at me, I can handle."
Snotlout finally relented with a sigh. "Fine, whatever", he said, and went to another one of the beds.
After a moment, Jack turned back to Hiccup. "I'm sorry for how this turned out", he said.
Hiccup just shrugged, a small smirk on her lips. "Wouldn't be an adventure then, would it. And, Jack, do me a favor, please?"
Jack gave her a nod, and Hiccup continued.
"Stop apologizing for every bad thing that happens. There are certain things you just can't control. Understand?"
Jack just smiled, his hand on hers as it laid on the sheets. He gave it a small squeeze, then gave another nod. "I'll try", he said, and Hiccup smiled.
"We should get some rest", she said quietly, then stood. "Goodnight, Jack."
Hiccup moved to a third bed in the room, one in between her cousin and Jack, then she heard Jack whisper back, "Goodnight, Hiccup."
BAM!
A sudden slamming of a door woke Jack up with a start, but when he looked around for Hiccup, Snotlout, and Toothless, they were nowhere to be found. That's when he noticed a guard at the opened door. With narrowed eyes, he jumped off the bed.
"Where are my friends?! What did you do with them?!"
"Come quietly and you'll find out. Staff", the guard said, his hand raised and waiting. Worried for his friends, Jack complied and threw his staff into the guard's hand before walking out with him.
When they arrived to the throne room, the King stood in the middle wearing a similar outfit to the one he wore yesterday, only it was a dark purple.
"Guardian", he regarded in a light tone, "Hope you slept well."
Jack didn't respond.
"Now, first, what do you think of my new outfit, hmm?"
Jack's brow went up.
"Come on, Guardian, I want your honest opinion."
Jack wasn't exactly sure what to make of this, but if he wanted to know where his friends were, he supposed he'd just have to play along. For now, that is. "Uh…it's nice, I guess", Jack told him, though it sounded a bit more uncertain than he would have liked.
"Excellent! You've passed the first test", the King beamed.
"Really?" Jack asked, happy, but mostly confused. He had a feeling he was going to be feeling a lot of that with this King.
"Well, not one of the deadly tests."
'Oh' he mouthed but didn't voice. At least that made sense. But now Jack was getting anxious. Where were his friends? The guard said he'd learn if he came quietly, but so far he'd learned nothing other than the King's apparent vanity. And why was the King so insistent in acting as if nothing was wrong when everything was? It was beginning to make him angry.
"The second test is going to be far more challenging. Though we'll have to move to another room for―"
"No!" Jack suddenly exploded, frost coating the floor beneath his boots. "No more tests until you tell me where my friends are right now!"
"Oh? Alright, if that's what you want", the King said, though his voice had turned ominous. Then, from behind two pillars, Snotlout and Hiccup were dragged out via two other guards.
"Hiccup!"
"Jack!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Don't worry, we're fine!" A terrified gasp escaped, though, when what appeared to be a green, vine-like, bracelet began to creep up her wrist.
"Ah! Speak for yourself!" Snotlout was freaking out as he wore the same thing.
"Tick-tock, Guardian", the King's voice was still dark. "The faster you complete my challenges, the sooner your friends are freed."
"What are you doing to them?!" Jack shouted furiously.
The King smirked. "Tangled Vines. Funny plant, really. It won't stop growing until the host is completely covered. Not even your little autumn casting friend can stop it. Such a terrible fate. Of course, I can stop it, but it's honestly up to you."
"Just tell me what your next challenge is", Jack growled, and the King's smirk only grew.
He led them underground underneath the castle, and there, there was a massive waterfall pouring into a ditch covered in pointed stalagmites. Falling onto those would not be pleasant.
"It appears I've misplaced the key to my most precious treasure chest, Guardian", the King showed him the small box. "Mind fetching it for me? Oh, and without freezing it, please. You wouldn't want to create a hassle for me, now would you?"
Jack glanced back to Hiccup and Snotlout, their hands covered and the Tangled Vines moving up their arms. His eyes narrowed at the King, but moved toward the key in the waterfall with determination. Strangely, there was a ladder, but he figured it wouldn't be there without a reason, so without another thought, he jumped off the ledge. He swiftly leaped from one stalagmite to the next until he reached the waterfall and grabbed hold of the ladder. The pressure from the water was so great, however, he couldn't move. It forced him to let go, and he was thrown back into the pit of spikes. It was only through sheer luck he was able to catch himself between two and prevent himself from being impaled.
"You're going have to better than that, Guardian!" the King called behind him.
Jack growled. He was seriously getting tired of this guy, especially since now he was putting Hiccup and Snotlout's lives in danger. He didn't even know where Toothless was. Jack wished he could just freeze the water and then carve the key out, but it was clearly against the rules of this so-called test. With some help from his winter wind, Jack got his footing back and leaped with a force he'd been sure was far greater than the waterfall, but all his attempt achieved was being pushed down and out again.
"That's right, keep diving head in. I'm sure it will work eventually", the King drawled, and as he balanced on a stalagmite again, Jack got the hint forcing his way through wasn't going to work. That's when he looked at the stalagmites around him and got an idea. Forming an ice-spike, Jack used his winter wind to leap into the air, windup, and hurl the icicle into the waterfall. It sliced through the chain and embedded itself in the wall behind it. After getting to and grabbing the key, Jack landed back to the ledge the King and his friends were.
"Here's your key", he tossed it to the man, though quite harshly. "Now let my friends go!"
"Op, not yet", the King raised his hand. "See, I have another problem. My pet; it seems he's been avoiding me this morning."
Jack's eyes narrowed further, knowing this was another 'test', but followed the King back into the castle and into a room full of different animals.
"Could you bring him to me?"
Jack looked around. The room was full of all kinds of animals: lizards, rabbits, hamsters and gerbils, mice, dogs, cats, various types of birds, and more. It was like an indoor zoo. The King was only asking for one pet, but which one was it?
Jack scanned the room and walked around a little, hoping to find some clue as to which pet the King was referring to, when he found one that wasn't quite like the others. It was a pure white cat in the center, perfectly fit for a pet of royalty. But as he moved towards the cat, bending over to pick it up, something else caught Jack's eye. He hadn't even noticed how each animal's eyes had slit and teeth were bared, but as he rose, the animals stopped.
There was a cross-eyed crow outside on the windowsill, banging its head on the closed glass window pane. To anyone else, it would have seemed random, but for whatever reason Jack moved towards the window instead. He opened it, the crow now banging its head on air, and picked the strange crow up.
"Is this your pet?" Jack asked as he presented the crow, and the King smiled.
"Hamuel, there you are", he said, and the bird suddenly looked at him and flew out of Jack's hold and onto the King's shoulder. As the King got reacquainted with his bird, Jack walked up to Hiccup and Snotlout.
"Are you guys okay?" he asked, seeing how Hiccup and Snotlout's bodies were each covered in vines up to their necks.
"Other than the vines slowly encasing my body, doing great", Hiccup said in only the most optimistic yet sarcastic way possible.
"But if you could hurry it up with this kook, that'd be great too", Snotlout said, and Jack agreed. Judging my how far the Tangled Vines had gotten, they didn't have much time.
"Alright", he turned back to the King. "What's the next challenge?"
000
The place the King took them next was an arena. As they entered, they were above it on a balcony, the arena below with stands to the sides. The arena itself was barren with nothing but soil. It was clearly a fighting arena made for spring casters.
"Your final test is a duel", the King spoke. "And, as a special treat, you may choose your opponent."
In that moment the two guards from the gate appeared. "Hector, Adira, meet your potential opponent, the Guardian."
"I knew there was something off about you", the male guard, Hector, sneered.
Adira unsheathed the large sword off her back, before speaking. "I suppose this is goodbye. No hard feelings, right?"
If anything, the way she was so casual was more intimidating.
"Point and choose", the King spoke again, and now it was left to Jack. He looked to his options, the King standing in the middle of the two. So far, the tests had been a subversion of expectation. There was a choice the King expected him to make, and a choice the King wanted him to make, but which was which?
Jack looked to Hector first, the guard who seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face and destroyed the merchant's cart outside the city. He was scrawny looking and seemed to want to make everyone believe he was a lot more dangerous than he probably was. It was the clear choice, but it was too easy. Chances are, it wasn't a front, and his scrawny appearance didn't speak for his power. Hector was not the right choice.
Next, Jack looked to Adira. Compared to Hector, she was large and appeared very strong and collected. She also appeared to be the kinder of the two, and hadn't shown to posses any casting abilities. But, that could also be the very trick the King wanted him to fall for. Neither option seemed like the correct one. But then, Jack looked to the King. His form and look was imposing, with his dark brown eyes and the cape that covered his right arm promising something dangerously hidden. Out of his two choices, the King seemed the most dangerous.
"So, whoever I point to, is the one I fight…" Jack checked cautiously.
"Choose wisely", the King smirked darkly, and that only confirmed Jack's suspicions. The King never said there were only two choices. With a smirk of his own, Jack made his decision.
"I choose…you", Jack pointed to the King. He was sure that was the end of it. The King's dark look would meld into a smile, he'd congratulate him, free his friends, and they'd be off. It was far from the truth. Instead, the King's smirk only grew.
"Wrong choice", he said, and threw his crown and cape off, revealing a vine wrapped around his wrist that suddenly extended like a whip. Too shocked to react, Jack was hit square in the chest and thrown off the balcony into the soil coated arena. Not too long after, the King stood before him. "Thought you figured my game out, huh? Well, Guardian, sometimes things are exactly as they appear. You might need this."
As Jack stood, he was suddenly thrown his staff from a guard up on one of the balconies. Jack caught it, but it was then the King attacked. Vines shot out from the earth and reached for him, but Jack froze and shattered them. He launched his own attack then, launching spikes at the King, but the King only grew more vines and caught them, firing the icicles right back. Jack jumped and dodged away, dispersing the rest coming at him with a whirl of his staff in front of him. Jack then froze the ground with a strike of his staff.
"Can't fight if you can't grow anything", Jack said with a smirk, but it didn't last when the King chuckled and his hands slammed to the ground. Vines shot up through the ice and around Jack, the vines surrounding him and threatening to trap him, but Jack jumped high and flew over the arena.
"Is this the best you can do, Guardian?!" the King called up. "I must say, I'm disappointed!"
Jack growled, then unleashed a blizzard of icy wind. It threw the man off his feet and into a wall.
"That's more like it", the King exclaimed, but then unleashed vines underneath Jack and yanked him down by his ankles with a startled yelp. He crashed to the ground, his staff yanked out from his hand, and then more came to restrain his arms and body. "Too bad it's not enough", the King stood before him.
But Jack knew he couldn't lose. His eyes went up to Hiccup and Snotlout, the vines surrounding their faces now, and Hiccup's telling him to do anything but give up. With a scream, ice and frost coated the vines restraining him and shattered to a million pieces. Then with a stomp of his foot and thrust of his arms spikes of ice rose from the floor in a line towards the King, but the man only shielded himself with a thick wall of thorns. Taking the time to grab his staff, Jack made it just in time to block the King's next attack of shooting the thorns at him. Once the attack reached its end, Jack sent another icy wind and lunged. He was going to finish this now!
The King blocked the first assault, but couldn't with the second, Jack's wind pushing him towards the wall again, though the King tried to stop himself as his feet skid against the dirt. Jack stopped right in front of the King in the man's distraction, the crook of his staff pointed to the King's face. Everything stopped for a moment, and Jack smirked, knowing he won. But then the King gave a smirk of his own, and Jack noticed how his hands were out. Jack looked behind him, and he noticed the sharp thorn-tipped vines poised at his back. It was a stale mate.
That's when the King chuckled with a genuine smile. "Well done, Guardian", he said. He released his hold on the vines, the plants sinking back into the earth, and as Jack lowered his stance as well, the King clapped. "You've passed my final test."
"Does this mean you'll let me and my friends go?" Jack asked hopefully.
"Yes. But only, if you answer one last question."
"What?! But you said you'd let them go if I finished all your stupid tests! Well I did!"
"Yes, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything", the King said lightly.
"Oh, come on!" Snotlout shouted.
"One question, Guardian. Answer it correctly, and I'll set your friends free. What… is my name?"
Jack's eyes widened in horror.
"By the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes", the King said as he looked up to his friends. "When you have your answer, the guards will escort you to the throne room." With that, the King left, and Jack was left with Hiccup and Snotlout to figure the King's impossible question out. Jack jumped back onto the balcony where Hiccup and Snotlout were, then freaked out.
"How am I supposed to know his name?!" he exclaimed.
"Think about the challenges", Hiccup quickly supplied. "Maybe there's a clue."
"I know!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Thorn!"
"And what gave you that idea?" Hiccup asked with a bit of a dry, but questioning, tone.
"Because of all the vines and thorns, duh."
With a quiet groan, Hiccup looked back to Jack. "What do you think, Jack? There was a key in a waterfall, a strange pet crow, and a battle. There's got to be a connection right?" Hiccup cringed as the vines inched further.
"He said, 'what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything", Jack thought for a moment. What did he learn? "With each test, I had to think outside the box; think the unexpected. And when I started to catch on to the pattern, the unexpected became the expected, which at that point was technically unexpected."
"I'm lost", Snotlout said, but Jack didn't explain as he thought harder.
All of this, it almost reminded him of his old friend. All the unexpected turn arounds and insistent pushes to think outside the box and look closer, it was just like him. That's when it hit Jack. Looking back up to Hiccup and Snotlout, he smiled.
"I know his name."
000
"At first, I didn't know what to make of you or your challenges", Jack began as he stood before the King in the throne room, Hiccup and Snotlout behind him. Their faces were now nearly completely covered.
"To be honest, it was frustrating", he continued. "But now I think I understand, and I know your name."
The King looked to him expectantly, his cape and crown both back on.
"I'm glad to see my friend's old ways never went extinct, King Edmund."
The King laughed. "Well, he was my grandfather", he said. "Edmund II, young Guardian", he greeted with a small bow. "My grandfather told me much about you, and it seems as if you haven't changed a bit. Literally."
"Uh, hey, little help here?!" Snotlout called, and Jack and Edmund both looked to the two trapped in the Tangled Vines, Hiccup's eyes the only thing visible anymore, as was Snotlout's mouth. In that moment Edmund raised his hand and flicked his wrist, fingers splayed out, and the vines fell away before retreating back into small bracelets like the one the King had been wearing. He picked them up with the hand that wore said bracelet.
"Tangled Vines are normally harmless. As long as you know how to control them, of course", he said with some mirth in his voice. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Adira", he called, and the guard came in with Toothless.
"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, and the dragon flew into her arms.
"Okay, so you're the grandson of the guy Jack knew. So why put him through all this instead of just telling him who you were from the start?" Snotlout asked.
"For one, it's fun messing with people", the King said with a chuckle. "But I do have a reason. Jack", he turned to him, "you have a long and dangerous task ahead of you. The world has changed since the time of my grandfather. It is the duty of the Guardian to restore peace to the world by defeating the Summer Lord, Mordu. I'm afraid you have much to learn before you do. You must master the four seasonal disciplines and then confront the Summer Lord. And when you do, don't forget to think like a mad genius", the King finished with a wink, and Jack nodded with a smile.
"Thank you for everything, Edmund. But before we leave", Jack crossed his arms with a smirk, "I have a challenge for you."
Said challenge was to ride the shoots with him, and as Jack rode with Edmund, Hiccup rode a sled of her own behind them. As Jack looked back towards her, everyone having a blast, she smiled and laughed back at him, and Snotlout was holding onto her waist for dear life.
The name of the Dark Kingdom is from Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (aka Tangled: The Series), and Edmund, Adira, and Hector are all characters who resided within it. I hope I did well with their characters given its been awhile since I've watched the show since it's finale, and its the first time I've ever had to write with them. I also hope I gave an adequate picture of what they look like. As most might know, Johann is from Dragons. We'll be seeing more of him later.
Oh, and just so you guys know, those of which have watched either of the two series that is, I'm keeping spoilers from these shows out as much as possible, so certain things regarding characters might be kept out.
Let me know your thoughts. Until next time!