Okay, so this chapter I thought was going to be longer, but I recognize and ending when I see one, and this was was one of the most obvious, so short chapter.

And for those fo you wondering; don't worry about the monster (OtotW), the next part is progressing... slowly.

Anyway, hopefully you'll all enjoy this chapter :)

Cold rooms

The first thing Jack happened upon about three hours into his journey was the remains of North's wagon. It was almost completely clean of the toys that had been stacked inside it, save for a few that had gotten stuck in nooks and nails. From there Philippe's journey was fairly easy to follow as it was scattered with ruined toys. The mass of them had been dropped around a steep cliff where the tarp that had held everything in place had been damaged by the sharp rocks.

Up to here Philippe was calm. Once in a while his ears would fold back and head lower a little, but he didn't fight the reins and showed no other signs of wanting to run off. The teen, feeling Philippe's muscles twitching every now and then, silently thanked God North had been insistent on buying Philippe rather than the slim and pretty racing horse Jack had wanted at that time. Jack's pick would never have taken Jack this far.

As darkness was falling however, they arrived at a crossroad with a sign with multiple arrows with illegible writing on them. Philippe stopped, head turned to the right. Jack wished he'd brought a lantern or something else to give him light. He'd prepared the farm just fine, but not himself.

The horse stood stock still, ears twitching nervously. The scent of wolf was a lot weaker than before, but that didn't mean the horse was any more eager to go that way again than he'd been last time.

"Come on, Philippe. Which way did you and dad go? Take me to dad," Jack urged from the horseback.

Philippe reluctantly trudged to the left, head low and ears folded.

Jack was trying to see through the growing darkness and wished he had the witch with him and hoping she had protected his father. He could faintly make out the road, but the rain had washed away any tracks Philippe may have left. It had been almost two days after all.

They reached a cliffside, and from here Jack had a good view over the forest, lightened by the rising moon. At first he only saw forest, but then he looked again to his right. He'd thought it was a mountain at first, but the moon reflected against the clear surfaces of windows.

"Someone lives out here?" the teen asked out loud and turned Philippe.

There was actually still a road here, overgrown as it might be, and the horse had little trouble making it down the hill to the front gates of the grandest building Jack had ever seen. The wrought iron of the gates were rusty, and had tufts of dark and light fur in it. There was also a familiar, putrid smell in the air.

Jack got off his horse and lead Philippe through the gates. The witch lay on the ground, and Jack swore to make a new one because now she smelled so bad he couldn't even go near her. But she proved one thing; North had definitely been here.

A distant howl pierced the air, and Jack quickly turned around and closed the gate, making sure nothing was going to come inside the walls.

"Okay, Philippe. You wait here while I go look for dad."

Jack turned to tie the horse's reins around a pole. Then he strode towards the looming castle. He glanced only quickly at the surrounding gardens, barely picking up the fact it was full of stone dragons of all shapes and sizes.

There were no lights in any of the windows, so Jack presumed this castle was long since abandoned. It was still shelter though, and protection from wild life. North was probably safely tucked into one of the more comfortable rooms, just waiting for Jack to show up so they could go home together.

Spurred on by that thought mixed with equal amounts irritation and dread, Jack pushed open the grand front door.

"Hello!" He called into the echoing darkness. The moonlight shone through the windows positioned high above him. It was still not enough for him to see the end of the room, just a wide space and some stone statues.

"North! I've come to get you!" Jack called loudly and walked further inside, leaving the door open to let in more light.

All around him on the bottom floor it was just compact darkness outside the shapes of blue light that unfortunately only reached the staircases in front of Jack. The upper floor, curiously, seemed less dark, so Jack cautiously picked a stair and carefully felt his way up.

The second floor was more well-lit, having the occasional high window and mirror to let in and reflect moonlight.

"Dad!" Jack called again, louder than before.

There was a sound from the right, like voices, so Jack took off in that direction. The voices silenced when the white-haired teen rounded a corner.

"Hello!" he called out. "North? Please come out."

When there was still silence, Jack felt his heart start to beat harder, because suddenly the moonlight was blocked.

Jack swallowed and tried again. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for my dad. Is he here?"

He started down this new, dark path, walking carefully and keeping a hand on the wall. Nothing happened for a few steps, them too echoing slightly since he'd stepped off the mats that covered the hallways and walked on the bare stone floors.

Then a door suddenly opened down the hall, soft light falling out.

Jack started running. "Hey! North? Dad? What are you…?"

The teen reached the door, and behind it was a curving staircase with a lit torch at the base. Jack thought he saw a shadow going up.

"Hey, wait! I'm looking for my dad. Can you help me?!"

Taking the torch with him, Jack ran up the stairs. He quickly lost count on how many circles this corkscrew staircase took him, and he had to stop as he ran out of breath. He couldn't hear any footfalls and he slightly regretted taking the torch since there was the occasional one lining the tower he figured he was in. There was also layers of dust here, and new traces in them.

Jack looked up at his limited view. This was the only part of this building he'd seen was lit, and fire didn't light itself, so someone had to be here. Someone who must have heard his calls but either didn't want to answer them, or couldn't.

Or Jack was walking into some sort of trap.

He shook his head. "I read too many books," Jack muttered to himself and started walking again. And only one and a half tuns later he reached the top of the stairs and came into a small tower room. A room that was used as a prison. Jack knew because the two doors here were made of oak with windows of iron bars. North was looking at him from behind one of them.

"No," he whispered.

"Dad!" Jack sprang forward, grasping his father's hand.

"Jack. Why are you here," North asked, his voice hoarse and frightened.

"Your hands are like ice," Jack, bringing the torch closer. "Who did this to you? What happened?"

"Don't harm him."

Jack stared at his father. North was pale with his eyes glazed over with a fever and his arms were too thick to reach through the bars. All the old man could do was grasp the hand Jack had given him.

He was also staring at something behind Jack.

"Please, please don't hurt him!"

Thinking fast, Jack lashed out with the torch. He caught a glimpse of a large shadow, a mouth of glistening teeth and flashing eyes before the torch was knocked out of his hands and into a pool of water.

The room fell silent again aside from North's breathy pleas. The moonlight was falling through a hole in the roof, but whatever else was in here with them stubbornly stayed out of it.

"Who is it!" Jack demanded.

He heard a deep intake of breath.

"I'm the master of this castle," a voice said.

Jack paused. He'd expected something… spooky or deep or intimidating. The voice was too light to be either of those things.

"You did this to my dad? Why? Let him go! Can't you see he's ill."

"I can't do that," the voice growled. "He'll be my hostage to make sure you don't tell anyone what you've found here."

Hostage. Jack's heart felt like all the warmth left it. But behind him North was talking and pushing at Jack's back.

"That's good. That's fine. I'll stay and Jack won't tell a soul."

But Jack was seeing the empty farm, Flynn's sneers, heard Pitch's warnings and Snotlout's threats. He was just going to go back to that without North? Never to see his dad again?

"Take me instead."

"No!" North cried.

Jack lifted his chin and glared into the darkness where he thought the voice came from. "If you keep my dad he'll soon die, and that's when I'll tell everyone about you. I'm young and healthy, so I'm the better hostage."

There was a long silence, and Jack saw the shadow of the master start to pace, the footfalls almost completely soundless.

"You would do that?" the master asked quietly.

"I will, if you'll let my dad go."

"No! Jack, please don't! You don't understand!" North cried, desperately shaking the bars. Jack ignored him, still glaring defiantly at the shadow of this so called master of the castle.

Then a foot suddenly stepped forward into the beam of moonlight, a foot that resembled that of a cat, but twice the size of Jack's own and covered with scales rather than fur. It was followed by a crooked leg and hunched body, all of it clad in black scales and leathery fabric. Jack's eyes widened and fear grew in him as the master became visible. The face was as black as the rest of its body, ears and horns sticking up at the top back of the bald head. But most captivating was the eyes; coloured deep green and reflecting the moonlight.

"I will let the old man go," the monster said slowly as it leaned forward to level its gaze with Jack's "if you promise to stay here forever."

"Don't!" North called desperately. "Jack! Don't do it! You can't! Master Dragon, reconsider! I beg of…" unfortunately, North's voice finally cracked as he succumbed under a fit of wet coughing.

Jack swallowed, not looking away from the green eyes of the one North called Master Dragon. North couldn't stay here under these cruel circumstances where he was exposed to weather and wind. Jack himself probably wouldn't last too long either seeing winter was just around the corner, but "staying forever" had to mean the monster wanted him alive.

"I promise," he said softly.

The dragon looked at him for another moment, eyes searching Jack's face. Then it straightened with a brisk "deal".

Jack stood frozen as the beast walked around him, producing a key from the shadows. North was let out and ran straight to Jack.

"Son, please listen to me! I'm old, I'm your father, I…" but the dragon grabbed his collar and started dragging the weakened toymaker away.

"Wait!" Jack called and ran after the two, hands pulling at North's arms. "Wait, let me say goodbye!"

"Don't prolong your pain," was the dragon's only answer and pulled North down the stairs and out of sight.

Jack was just about to run after them, but suddenly a chain grabbed his ankle and pulled him into the cell North had occupied only moments before, door closing behind him. Crying out in both pain and surprise, the white-haired teen looked around, trying to see who had shackled him, but there was nobody. There was no gloating figure by the bars taunting him or telling him he was not going anywhere like it sometimes happened in the books Jack liked to read. He couldn't even hear any breathing or footsteps outside.

To his surprise, the barred window had glass covering it, making the one in the door the only open one that let in the draught. It was fairly dry and there was a cot with a blanket in one corner along with a tray of the remains of what was probably North's meal. In another corner stood a covered bucket. All in all, it could be worse.

Jack ran over to the window. He had a view over the forest, and below him was a roof, but over it he could see the gate. Philippe was still where Jack had left him, but he was alert, staring at the castle.

Suddenly the iron gate opened by itself and a wagon… Jack rubbed his eyes. It looked like a wagon was walking by itself, resembling a tick or spider. And when the wagon, probably carrying North back to Berk, was out of the gates, they glided close again, unaided.

Jack stared after the wagon, realization slowly dawning on him. He'd agreed to stay here forever. He was doomed to die in this barren room.

Cold filled his body to his very core. Fear welled up in him like a tidal wave until he felt like he was about to be sick. What was the dragon going to do with him?

Jack knelt under the window, pressing his forehead against the cold stone, dry heaving.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, breathing hitched and erratic, when the door suddenly opened. Jack's eyes flew open and he stood, back pressed against the window and facing the master of the castle.

Who looked genuinely surprised at the chain around Jack's leg.

The dragon sighed and shook its head. "I'll show you your room."

"My… my what?" Jack sputtered, utterly dumbfounded.

"You'd rather stay in the tower?" the master asked.

"No, but I thought… and you shackled me to…!" Jack bent down to jerk at the chain that tied him to the wall, intending to show the dragon that he was stuck, when the lock clicked and Jack was holding the loose chain and empty shackle in his hand.

The dragon was looking at him in what Jack would have called amusement if it hadn't been so faint. Point taken though, Jack was clearly not chained (though he couldn't help but wonder who had pulled him into the cell earlier), so he cautiously stepped forward. The master turned and started down the stairs, grabbing a candlestick that stood in a nook on the way down.

With the light from the candles in the dragon's hand and nothing else to distract him, Jack finally got a good look at the place.

The first thing he noticed was the dragons. They stood out, sporadically placed along and up the walls, mixing with the more symmetrical demon faces that lined the structure. And every face was snarling threateningly at Jack, fangs and claws ready to tear him apart.

Fear almost consuming him again, Jack caught up with the master and stayed close to him. At least there was light where the master was.

"I… hope you can find it in yourself to like it here," the master suddenly spoke, his nasal voice surprisingly soft. "This castle is your home now and you can go anywhere. Anywhere except the west wing."

"What's in the west wing?" Jack asked immediately.

"…my lair."

Jack promptly decided to never go anywhere near the west wing. The fear still chilling him to the bone offered way too many and too vivid images and indications of what a dragon's lair may contain, and what the punishment would be for going there.

"Nothing in this castle will hurt you," the master suddenly spoke loudly, his voice echoing between the walls. "And if you do get hurt, I will burn whatever caused the harm."

They had stopped in front of a door, and the dragon was looking around, as if he was making sure his words were heard and understood. After a moment, the dragon opened the door.

"This is your room. I will never enter here for as long as you reside in this castle."

Jack swallowed and slowly entered the room.

"Good night, Jack," the master spoke and closed the door.

Left alone in darkness and silence, having traded one cold room for another, with his father getting carried away, Jack stared at his prison.

There was a bed in the middle of the room, and the teen jumped on it, grabbed a pillow and screamed into it until he passed out.