Chapter 7

[Jack]

The icy air cut his face as Jack let the wind carry him. Jaaaaack the voice that haunted him called once again. His ears perked up and he flew towards where he thought the sound might be coming from. He'd been flying for some time now, speeding in the direction of the voice. He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and hugged the side of a building with no windows before touching down in an alleyway in the city. He had better stay unnoticed or he'd never hear the end of it at school. He walked down the alleyway and joined the crowd of bustling city-goers. He didn't know where he was going, but the last place the voice had led him was here, so here was where he would search. Jaaaaaaack There it was again. He frantically began pushing through the crowd, he didn't know what the voice was or who it belonged to but he could feel that it meant something to him. He felt his heart jump and pang at every call. It was coming with childish laughs now as well, like it was taunting him. Jaaaaaaack he spun in the direction of the sound, but now it seemed as if it were coming from all directions. Jaaaack….. haha you're funny jack….cut it out!…..hehehe do it again, do it again!…..you're funny Jack….Jaaaaaaack…Jaaaaaaack. Jack kept frantically spinning around, trying to pinpoint the direction of the voice but it kept changing. Jaaaaaaaack. As he spun in the most current direction of the sound his eyes widened as a man on a bike rode straight at him. He tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough. As he made to move in reflex, he found there was no need to. The man passed right through the left half of his body. Jack sucked in his breath and felt a chill go down his spine. He grabbed his shoulder and aggressively patted it to make sure it was still there, still a solid. His heart was racing now. He threw an arm out in panic at a passerby and whacked them in the back.

"Hey kid! Whatchya tryna do?" His victim shouted back at him.

"I'm so sorry sir!" Jack shouted back.

Jaaaaaaaaaack… Jaaaaaaaack…..Jaaaaaaaaack. He raked his hand through his hair grabbing his scalp, now on the verge of tears, as if he could cover his ears and crush the voices out of his mind, but they persisted. What is wrong with me? He ran in to an alleyway and had the wind lift him up, he felt too helpless right now to trust that he could stay on his feet. The wind scooped him up and tucked him in to a corner of what was supposed to one of those decorative fake balconies on buildings. He sat shaking on the cold stone behind one of the hunching gargoyles. Im shivering, Im Jack Frost…I don't shiver, he thought to himself as he wrapped his arms around his knees and curled up in to a little ball, needing to feel the comfort of a human body, even if it was just his own.

"This is it" Jack whispered to himself, "I've gone insane." He settled in to the corner as his own nervous flurries began collecting around him. He closed his eyes, his cheek against the rough stone, breathing deeply to calm himself down. He didn't know when he fell asleep, or for how long, but when he awoke it was well in to the night. His nerves had caused a good foot of snow to coat the balcony, luckily it was well in to the colder seasons so hopefully no one would question it, even if it was just this one rooftop. He stared out in to the busy city, still bustling under the bulbs of light, looking like a fire he wouldn't object to throwing himself in to right about now. Jaaaaaack, he tilted his head back and covered his face his hands, not again. Just when he thought he'd gotten rid of the voice for a bit. He noticed the pale glow of the full moon fall over him.

"You did this" he said to it, "You did this, so at least tell me what's happening now." He waited staring up at its blank pale face, as if he could have actually expected something from it this time. It simply glowed back at him, still and silent as usual. Finally Jack got up, "And your answer is… nothing. Why am I not surprised." As he stretched his back, now cramped from his crouch on the balcony, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle and heard a rustle. He promptly lurched off of the balcony, created a spear out of ice in his hands and pointed it at the balcony he had just been standing on. Only the gargoyle stared back at him. He began to relax but then noticed a movement in the shadows and brought the spear back up.

"Come out! I'm warning you!" He shouted hoping that whatever this thing was couldn't sense fear. He slowly floated forward, hoping to maybe catch it off guard. Little did he notice the figure rising up behind him.

"Well hello there Jack Frost."

[Rapunzel]

Rapunzel couldn't remember smiling so much ever before in her life. Not only was the festival even more amazing than she had ever dreamed it would be, but now she had someone to share it with. After the paint canvas, surprisingly enough Eugene had stuck around for the entire rest of the first day. She had figured it was only because he hadn't been able to find anyone else to spend his time with, but when she came down to the hotel lobby the next day, she found Eugene saving a seat for her and asking "So what are we checking out today?".

We… Rapunzel thought. She finally had someone to share these moments with. Sure Hiccup and Anna and now even Jack would hang out with her, but she always felt imposing or boring to talk about this stuff with them. Not that Eugene was any sort of Art Buff or anything, but considering the circumstances, she was surprised to find he actually listened to her.

When they had gone to the pottery station earlier that day, Rapunzel had begun to remind him to tough it lightly or else

"I know I know," he said, " or else the entire thing will go in to a haphazard mess of a shape like it did the first time you tried to make a clay vase, you told me this already before we did pottery in class."

She stared at him wide eyed in shock. Pottery was only a one to two class sample project towards the beginning of the year, she didn't even remember telling him this, nor did she think he ever actually listened to any of the advice she gave.

In the middle of working on the pots, she spotted Naveen and a blond haired man she didn't recognize approach them. Naveen introduced the other boy as John and asked Eugene if he wanted to go with them for another round of paintball. She could feel part of herself hoping he would say no.

"Eh, why not," Eugene responded.

Well, Rapunzel sighed and thought to herself, it was nice to have the company while it lasted. She continued delicately painting her already fired vase when Eugene irritably called, " You coming or what Blondie?"

She looked up in surprise, "Huh?"

"Hurry up!" He said, " You can finish that later, if we don't go they'll clear the fields for the lantern thing.

"Uh… I think I'm okay," Rapunzel said hesitating. Eugene simply frowned at her. He came over grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her forward.

" Eugene! I can't do this, I mean it'll be really fun, but everyone's so big. I've never done this before."

She did it.

It was the most fun she'd had in years. Running across the field, her team at her side, feeling the rush of adrenalin from the competitive atmosphere. She'd felt empowered and well… free. If anyone came for her or any of her teammates, she had a defense. She could protect them and herself, and not to mention she had amazing aime from learning to lasso her hair all these years. After the game she felt a clap on her back "This is our team MVP!" Naveen shouted "Ay Eugene, where did you find this one, she's amazing no?".

Rapunzel laughed and blushed at the praise.

"Huh, yeah." Was Eugene's only reply ( What Rapunzel had not read in to was Eugene's new strategic insertion of himself between Naveen's arm and Rapunzel). John came then from her other side and pulled her in to a side hug with his arm. "I need you on my team every time from now on!" ( Eugene frowned, he was being tag teamed). " What do you say to another round," John asked her.

"Uh.. you guys go ahead. I'm hoping to get to the lantern painting before tonight's festival."

"Ah the lanterns," Naveen said, " With the music and the candlelight, right on the water, very magical, even romantic you could say," he winked at her, " hope to see you there."

With a goodbye she left the boys to follow the signs towards the lantern painting, hoping she wasn't too late. Eugene still walked next to her, he seemed to be sticking around, even though he now had other people he could definitely be spending his time with.

"So…" Eugene started, "Blondie, uh, that was pretty cool, what you did back there."

"I know!" She exclaimed, before trying to play it off cool, " I mean…. I know."

"So, Eugene, you seem to be enjoying yourself I might say, you know, if I didn't know any better."

"What? Woah woah woah Blondie but you do know better. I got a rep to protect. You seem to be having the time of your life though."

" Oh its so much better than I ever could have imagined."

"Yeah I gotta say its beats the expectations of an art festival thats for sure. But hey Blondie, I've got a question for you."

"Ask away."

"Well you've been taking AP art since like Freshman year right?"

"Yup"

"You're too much of a goodie two shoes to get in trouble, and they didn't have the 10 student limit on the trip until this year, so… if you've wanted to come to this festival so badly, why haven't you gone before?"

Now this was a question Rapunzel had not expected. What could she tell him? She could make something up, but for some reason she really didn't want to. She didn't know why, maybe it was just the freedom of the area, the rush leftover from paintball, the feeling of her true self blossoming, or maybe it was just the sincerity in his eyes. She didn't want to lie to him.

"Ummm… well… Oh By the Gods! You're bleeding!"

"No I'm not." Eugene said examining himself.

" Uh yeah you are," Rapunzel said grabbing his forearm and showing him the gash.

"Huh, I thought that was red paint. You know it was hurting this whole time. Now it all makes sense."

"Let me help you with that."

" Nah its fine, we'd have to go all the way back to the bus for the first aid kit, and then we'd probably miss the lantern painting thing you wanted to go to, so lets just go." He started walking ahead of her.

"Eugene! We won't have to go back to the bus." He stopped and quirked an eyebrow at her.

" You wanted to know my talent didn't you?" She said smiling shyly at him.

[Hiccup]

Hiccup tapped his foot impatiently in the cafeteria. He hadn't had much time to catch up with Merida recently since she'd been training for the competition that had just happened over the weekend over in Scotland. It was a small preliminary competition before the World's tournament in two weeks. He was eager to know how his bow had performed, he'd been especially proud of this design, but had already begun thinking of ways to tweak it a bit after having the chance to watch her shoot a few times now. Once he got an idea of her style, he began mentally adjusting it to fit her stance even more perfectly. Though knowing Merida, she could probably win any competition with nothing more than a coat hanger and a stick. He had texted her about this, asking about how the bow felt, if there was anything that was uncomfortable, anything he should take note of as an imperfection to work on.

"No" was the only response he got. He hadn't thought about it much at the time, he figured she was probably just stressed with the traveling and the competition and all. But when he had texted her about it afterwards he still hadn't gotten any response. He chalked it up to travel stress. Now he caught a shock of red hair in the corner of his eye.

"Merida!", she turned towards him, a fierce look in her eye. He made his way over to her, she had stopped in front of a bake sale table for the video gaming club. " Hey Hiccup! Wanna buy some cookies?" Vanellope called from the table.

" I'm good" Hiccup said waving

"Cupcakes?"

"No?"

"Chocolate covered Pretzels?"

He shifted his attention, realizing this probably wouldn't end soon. "Merida, how'd the tournament go?"

"Fine."

"Well, did you win?"

"Any doubt?"

"No, that awesome, Congratulations! I was expecting it but also kinda worried. Like I said, cant have my bow be the one that messes something up. Speaking of the bow, I was brainstorming this idea after watching you shoot that I can show you, I think it'll help you wi…."

Merida suddenly glared at him silencing his words.

"Help me?"

"Well yeah I just thought…"

" Is there something wrong with the way I shoot?"

"Crepe?" Vanellope interjected.

"No….. And Merida you know thats not what I meant, I'm saying it could be better if…"

"So now I'm not good enough?"

"Not you! The bow,"

"Because listen here Hiccup of Burk, I've been shooting since before yur fancy little bow, and I'll be shooting for long after it. In fact, I've been shooting for long since yur dragon came and made ya special so don't think for one minute that I need you to help me win any of my competitions."

" That's not what I meant! Its just my responsibility.."

"I'm you're responsibility?"

" Lets assume from now on that everything I'm saying is about your bow and not you! And yes since you brought the bow to me in the first place, its my responsibility to make sure its completed properly!"

" Well its been completed! Thank you very much for that, but don't think for a second that I need you, or any of your fancy tricks to make me a good marksman. Good day."

With that she spun on her heel and walked away, leaving Hiccup staring after her in hurt confusion.

"What the—-"

"Fudge?"