Chapter Twelve:
"Careful girls," Tooth whispered, sending her fairies ahead to scout for fearlings. The mini fairies zipped around the corner, scouting for fearlings while the guardians looked for the dungeons.
"We're getting nowhere!" Bunny griped. He readjusted his grip on his boomerangs, anxiously bouncing as he waited for the fairies to return. Tooth couldn't help but agree. They'd spent almost an hour searching for the Frost King's private dungeons with no leads. The fairy hung her head, upset and frustrated when suddenly,
"What's that?" Tooth whispered, gesturing to a line of tiny crocuses that had popped up out of the ground. Bunny looked at his fellow guardian.
"Rapunzel!" They both cried, and took off following the trail of flowers. It led their way through back halls and down hidden steps of stairs, where eventually, the Guardians discovered the dungeons.
The main room was terrifying. Dragons were half frozen in giant blocks of ice that filled the cells, and many were already dead. Tooth cringed a little, and kept her head down, following Bunny quickly as they rounded another hidden corner.
"Bunny? Tooth?"
Inside one of the cells sat a large old man, who wore a slightly torn red shirt and brown pants. His arms were tattooed with the words 'naughty' and 'nice', and he looked tired, but alive.
"North!" Tooth cried, lunging forwards to the bars and her fellow guardians. "You're alive!"
"Course I am alive," He chortled. For someone who'd been locked up for close to a hundred years, he was still surprisingly jolly. "Now, you two must go find Sandy!"
"Sandy's dead mate," Bunny muttered as Tooth started trying to open the lock. "The Dragon Conqueror got him,"
"Sandy is not dead," North said. "He is only hiding. He knows that it was his dreamsand that caused this, he recognized the darklings,"
"He does?"
"Kozmotis the Nightmare King?"
"Pitch?!" Bunny snapped. "What does he have to do with this?"
"Reason he attacked us, all those years ago," North said. "He used his Lifesand on four young children, and they should grow up to be the seasons. The prophecy!"
"We told Hiccup about that," Tooth said. "But the Bear Queen doesn't have powers, so the fourth is still missing,"
"Hmm…" North pondered. "Well, we still have to remove the darkness from both her and the Frost King,"
"Punzie should have fixed that," Bunny muttered. "But apparently she didn't,"
"Where is she?" Tooth asked nervously. Bunny shrugged, but stumbled as the walls around them started to rumble.
They'd locked her in a cell deep inside the mountain, past the dragons and even another spirit, who Rapunzel realized must had been North. As soon as the snow monsters left, the spring spirit had gotten down to work and created a path of crocuses that would find Bunny and Tooth and lead them to their imprisoned friend.
She waited until she could hear the guardians voices down the hall before she stepped back and closed her eyes, focusing on the rocks below the icy floor.
"In… out…" She muttered, clenching her fists as the ground rumbled and rocks burst out of the ground, shattering the cell apart.
Rapunzel smirked and rolled her neck. She stepped out of the cell and walked down the hall, where she came face to face with the surprised looking guardians.
Her hair flowers pulsed a deep magenta, and she straightened the cloak on her shoulders.
"Let's go save my family," She muttered. "We didn't find each other for nothing,"
The Frost King had fought the winds a little to launch him into the air, but now the journey was smooth sailing until he hit Dunbroch. He surveyed the troops - a mix of hulking snowmen and terrifying Nightmares alike - as he glided over them.
The wind rushed past him, but his hair was too frozen to move. His cloak however, flapped rhythmically behind him, making a series of satisfying thwacking sounds. Jack smiled a little bit, despite his angry mask. He liked flying.
Something heavy suddenly smacked him in the thigh, and Jack reeled backwards from the impact. He stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out the offending item.
It was a long golden box, encrusted with tiny blue gems and swirling marks. The front panel had a picture of a smirking boy, but half of his hair was white, and the other was brown. The eyes were the same - one brown, one blue. Finally, there was a white snowflake in the background. The Frost King scowled. The image of the boy tugged at the back of his mind, and he growled and shoved it back into his pocket.
Whatever the box was, it wasn't important now.
The great hall of Dunbrcoh's castle was dark, only lit by the glowing of the Wisp's that flocked to the Bear Queen.
The queen slouched in her throne, eye tired and hair messier than usual as she stared into the wisp cradled in her hands. The ghosts mumbled and pulsed, but it let the queen watch an image of the Frost King and his armies - on their march to her kingdom.
The Bear Queen smirked, almost laughing at how easy this war was about to become. With the Wisps on her side, she was able to see her enemies every move - no matter where they hid.
Speaking of…
"Show me mah Dragon Conqueror…" She whispered, and the ghostly image changed to show Hiccup and Toothless touching down outside the Frost King's fortress, where they were met by the guardians and Rapunzel. Merida's eyes narrowed as she watched her most trusted advisor join people who were most definitely not under her rule. She watched as the group talked and pointed south - her direction.
"Tha' traitor!" Merida snarled, throwing the wisp away in her anger. "MOR'DU!"
The giant black bear lumbered into the throne room, growling. Merida didn't even bother to spare him a glance as she waded through the mess of wisps, headed for the main doors.
"Prepare for war," The Bear Queen growled. "We're about ta 'ave visitors,"
Authors Note: Hope everyone's having a good week and that you enjoyed this chapter!
Have you other writers ever just sat down and reread your own stuff in fic format? I just got a bunch of hits on the Soulmate Stories again, so I sat down and read them from start to finish. I really need to get back on that series - I have so much planned!