...Hey y'all...I am very late in updating and I do have a reason for that. In the past four months my brother was planning his wedding and then he started school along with his fiance.
So My mom and I were helping them by taking care of their baby and I just didn't have much time to write since she needs to have attention on her or she will try to grab whatever you are working on.
Then the wedding came and now Halloween and I just applied for a job that I really want, so its just been busy and I had to re-watch Riders of Berk in order to incorporate certain character into my story because they are hard, especially Dagur, I just cant get into his head. But I did finish this chapter and I will try to finish the next one as soon as possible.
So sorry if y'all have given up on my story, I understand. I'm sorry once more for the delay so onto the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to Dreamwork's Rise of the Guardians or How To Train Your Dragon Franchise as well as Disney's Atlantis franchise. I only own my own characters and plot.
Groan. Jack slowly tried to open his eyes, feeling a pounding headache and seeing only black. As he slowly started to focus on what was going on around him and he started to take stock of his injuries. There was something tied around his wrists and ankles, it wasn't rope but some type of fabric. There was also a piece of fabric tied around his head gagging him and another around his eyes. From what he could feel of his injuries, he possible had a small cut on the back of his head which could be the result of his pounding headache. One of his ears hurt and since he couldn't feel his earring, he figured it was ripped out in the struggle. He also could feel some slight discomfort and pressure from his ribs and an arm around his knees, which meant that he was being carried on someones shoulder. Just as he was going to begin struggling he was shifted and thrown up a bit making him gasp in surprise.
"I know your awake. You can stop pretending." The person carrying him told him with a grunt as he adjusted Jack's body.
Jack started to curse out his captor trying to wiggle out of his restraints, but it was to no avail. Suddenly Jack felt himself get dropped onto the ground making him gasp out for breathe. Then he was suddenly dragged across the ground and leaned up against something rough. Jack tried once more to get out of his restraints but stopped when he felt a hand grab his face, he flinched and jerked his head back. Yet all the hand did was pull the fabric that was around his eyes, allowing Jack to see who his captor was, though he had an idea as to who it was.
Once the piece of fabric was gone, it took Jack a few seconds for his eyes to readjust to the sudden brightness. He first looked down to see what he was tied up with. His arms were tied behind his back so he couldn't see what they were tied with but he could see that his ankles and knees were tied with strips of gauze. He had a feeling that gauze was also used on his arms and used as his gag. Once he tested how strong the gauze was, he gave up and looked at his captor. And his guess was correct, his captor was Ombric's patient. The young man was crouched in front of him with a cocked head, studying him. Jack bristled and began to curse the man in every language he could think of but given the man's confused face nothing that he said was understood.
"Alright, so I'm going to guess that you are probably damning me or something like that. Which you are justified but I can explain everything." The man told him with a sheepish grin, though he still looked manic. Jack gave him a critical once over and saw that most of the gauze that he had been wearing earlier were gone and that whatever wounds that had been there were practically healed, meaning he had been hiding just how healed he was. He had been planning his escape for awhile now and Jack was curious as to why he was trying to escape and why he had taken him.
"So I will tell you everything and even take out the gag, if you don't scream or yell for help. I promise that after my story I will untie you. So do we have a deal?" He told him. Jack looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth and that he was very desperate, so he decided to trust him. He nodded his head.
"Great." He said reaching behind Jack's head to untie the gag since he couldn't just lift it up. Once the gag was off, Jack moved his jaw around to get rid of the strain that the gag had left on his jaw.
"Well before you start to tell me why you did all of this. Can you please tell me your name?" Jack asked.
"Right! Of course! My name is Dagur The Deranged, Chief of the Berserkers. Or at least former Chief, or still current. Its a bit iffy at the moment. Anyway, now what it your name my young captive?" Dagur told him leaning down close to his face.
"Um, my names Jack...Frost. We came to visit a friend of ours." Jack answered coming up with the Frost name at the last minute since he didn't trust the man enough to tell him that he was the King of Atlantis.
"Good to meet you. Now my story is a bit of a long story but long story short. I was once a very cruel, deranged man and I was trying to take over some villages and beat certain people but once I discovered I had a sister I decided to turn over on a new leaf and the people I once wanted to defeat, are now my allies. Yet I wasn't trusted by my sister and some others so in order to make sure that they do not fall for an ambush, me and my new friend triggered the ambush causing my injuries and causing me to be separated from my friend. Then I showed up in this village and though I am grateful for their help, they didn't believe me about my friend and I need to find him before Viggo or the other trappers find him. Then once we are reunited, I will go to my sister and hope that she trusts me now. So that is my story." Dagur finished his story with a crooked smile though his story still left Jack confused.
"Um, that's a very...interesting tale. Can you untie me now?" Jack asked hoping the man will keep to his word and untie him so that he could escape and if this man tried to stop him, he will see just what he was capable of. Dagur looked into his eyes and frowned.
"You don't believe me." He stated standing up.
"No, I do believe you." Jack assured him, trying to get his hands or feet untied so he had a chance to at least fight if he needed to.
"No you don't. I can tell, I may had been tricked by my sister but I will not be trick once again. You need to believe me. I need you to believe me." Dagur told him pacing in front of Jack looking agitated.
"Look, I cant believe your crazy story. I have no idea what your talking about. I don't know what trappers are or who Viggo is or what a berserker is? Your story makes no sense now let me go or else." Jack threatened.
"Or else what? Your completely tied up, you cant escape. So until you believe me, I will not let you go." Dagur replied with a snort, unable to believe that this scrawny boy was threatening him.
"Now, don't go anywhere. I have some firewood to collect." Dagur added moving away with a manic laugh. Jack just glared after the man and once he was out of sight, he began to pull on his bounds which were still too tight on him. He slumped back against the tree and gave out a huff of annoyance, just as he was thinking of giving up and hoping that Aster would find him, he suddenly felt something pressing on his spine.
"Not possible." Jack murmured, eyes wide as he pressed his spine against the tree once more. Dagur never checked him for weapons, probably thought that he was weak and nonthreatening, and so he had all of his weapons. Including the small dagger that was holstered on his lower back, if he could get one of his hands to grab the handle he could pull it free and cut the fabric around his wrists. He twisted around for a bit, glad that he was able to contort his wrists, and was soon able to grab the daggers handle and pull it out of its holster. Jack smirked and maneuvered the blade of the dagger against the gauze, after a few seconds he was able to cut through the fabric and free his wrists.
"Yes!" Jack whispered keeping an ear out for Dagur's return as he cut the fabric restraining his legs. Once he was free he quickly rubbed the sore areas and looked around the area. He was in some small clearing with a nearby stream and the canopy overhead was pretty thick. Jack crawled along the floor of the clearing making sure to make no noise as he surveyed a way out as well as to find out just where Dagur was, but the man was surprisingly quiet for such a large man. So Jack stood up and began to head toward the stream, he figured he could follow the stream toward the village since he remembered seeing a stream close by.
Suddenly he felt a heavy weight fall on his back throwing him to the ground. He gasped out a breathe and twisted around throwing back an elbow which hit whoever was on his back. They let out a grunt and moved back. Jack got up and faced his opponent. It was Dagur.
"How did you get loose?!" Dagur asked rubbing his left cheekbone where Jack's elbow had hit.
"Should have checked me for weapons you fucker!" Jack answered pulling out the dagger he had holstered. Dagur's eyes widened then narrowed as he cautiously raised his hands to appease the foreign male.
"Alright, so I have no idea what you said and you now have a dagger which is probably what you were talking about. Look I don't want to hurt you, so lets just talk." Dagur said trying to reason with him. But Jack was not easily fooled, this man was the enemy and Jack will never bow down to an enemy.
"I will not bow down to someone that took me from my people and from my love. You will leave me alone and allow me to return to my friends or you will be hurt." Jack told him getting into a fighting stance.
"I cant let you do that, I need help finding my friend and the only way I'll get help is from having a hostage. So don't make me hurt you." Dagur stated reading that Jack was about to attack.
"Very well then." Jack said rushing forward, not giving him a chance to react. But he underestimated how fast Dagur was. He avoided Jack's swipe and swiped a leg at one of Jacks legs making him trip but he was able to roll with the momentum and end up in a crouch next to the stream, though he lost his dagger. Dagur rushed at Jack, trying to get him away from the stream and into the more open clearing but Jack jerked back unaware of how close to the stream he was as well as how fast the current was.
Jack fell into the cold stream and though he tried to get out of the stream, the current kept dragging him under and slamming him into the rocks. He could dimly hear Dagur yelling something but it was all muffled by the water that was surrounding him and with the current slamming him into the rock it wasn't helping his previous head injury. Already he could see black at the edge of his eyesight from the lack of oxygen. Just as he was slammed into another stone, though this one seemed to cause more damage as he could already feel himself sinking into unconsciousness, he felt something grab him and pull him up but it was too late.
"Aster?" Jack slurred before letting the dark take him.
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"Have you found him yet?" Aster asked as he paced in front of Ombric's desk.
"He hasn't found them yet. And you asking every five minutes isn't helping Aster. You must be patient." Katherine told Aster pulling out some books to help Ombric and North.
"This is ridiculous! Jack is out there with some manic and he's hurt. I need to find him so while you all wait here and hope for a miracle, I'm going to go make my own." Tooth stated standing up from her position on the floor where she had been trying to meditate.
"What are you going to do?" Tiana asked from a chair near the door where she had been petting one of the owls.
"Jack may had been the best hunter in Atlantis but I'm the one that taught him how to track so I'm going to track Dagur down and get my King back. I'm making my own magic while you waste time." Tooth explained heading toward the door.
"I'm going with you Tooth, I may not be an amazing tracker but I did hunt when I was back in Oz so I may be able to help and I want the first shot at Dagur." Aster told her with clenched fists.
"Very well, we'll try to track Jack while you all try to track him with magic. If we find Jack first, we'll bring him and Dagur back here. If you find him first, let us know by sending one of your birds or something." Tooth agreed opening the door.
"Hang on, I'm going too. I have a radio so we could communicate and besides someone has got to make sure you guys don't kill Dagur." Tiana stated moving toward them. Aster and Tooth looked at each other and quietly debated in Atlantian before finally agreeing.
"That's a good idea, Porc vill let you know when ve had located Jack and this way it is not just you two alone. Do not forget zhat the village is still in danger and ve would not like you to be harmed." North stated looking up from the books that he had been reading.
"Just make sure that you don't get hurt Tiana. Abdima would kill me if you were hurt." Porc warned trying to hide how worried he actually was for Tiana and the young king.
"I'll be fine, I'll be with one of the best warriors in Atlantis and Aster knows not to let me get hurt." Tiana replied with a grin.
"C'mon Shelia. We should head out before we lose anymore sun that we already had. We'll get our weapons downstairs since North says we should be careful. We'll be back soon." Aster said heading out of the office. Tooth and Tiana followed after reassuring the others that they will be safe and that they will find Dagur and Jack. Once they all got downstairs, they made sure to take any weapons that they thought they would need as well as a pack filled with some food and medical supplies since they didn't know if Jack was injured other than a torn ear.
After everything was packed they headed out to pick up on the trail of Dagur which they already knew that it lead into the forest on the other side of the village from when Tooth tried to see how they escaped before Ombric stopped them. Even though Dagur had to go through the center of town, no one saw him because everyone was inside their homes eating dinner. Once they reached the edge of the village though, they saw that even though Dagur was in a hurry, he hid his tracks well.
"Damn bastard is good. He didn't really leave us anything to track him with." Aster commented as Tooth crouched down on the ground and looked at the dark leaf covered ground for a few minutes before she suddenly smirked.
"Not that good. Since we found Jack's earring, that means that it was torn off which means that he was bleeding as we saw from the bloody feather. And Dagur probably carried him over his shoulder because that's the easiest way to carry a body so that one hand is free in case you need to fight, which means that Jack's blood had to be dripping down onto the ground." Tooth stated with a smirk.
"So that means-" Aster started before Tiana interrupted.
"That means we have a blood trail!" Tiana exclaimed with a grin.
"Exactly, its just some small drops but I can see them and follow them." Tooth nodded moving forward to see exactly where the trail lead. While she moved ahead Aster and Tiana shared a glance over what Tooth had said.
"Is it kind of scary that Tooth talked so casually about how to carry a body, and not even an unconscious person but a body, as if shes done that before?" Tiana asked disturbed by how Tooth had explained the blood drops.
"Not really, I mean Jack had told me that they used to always kill any invaders that came to Atlantis, so they probably had to move the bodies so that no one suspected there was someone there killing them. Its hard to see Jack and Tooth and know that they have both spilled blood before especially because Jack is so child-like." Aster answered moving to follow Tooth who was starting to go deeper into the forest.
"In the war I saw a lot of kids fighting and dying. Some were only 13, even though the age requirement was 19. Requirement officers were paid for every person that signed up so some just wanted the money, and some of those kids lied about their age and if the officer saw that they were fit and healthy, they saw no reason to stop them. It was very hard to see these kids die but no one really forced them and that was one of the most hardest things to witness. They died for their country and I'm sure Jack would do the same for his Kingdom, its just harder to see him as a fighter now because you love him. I'm sure if I knew those kids, I would try anything in my power to save them and that's what you want to do. Spare Jack from that violence and protect the innocence you see in him." Tiana stated as they followed Tooth.
"The more I hear about this war, the more I'm glad I wasn't there to witness it." Aster grumbled unable to believe that they allowed children to fight in a war.
"I wish I hadn't been involved as well." Tiana agreed. A few feet in front of them, they saw Tooth crouched behind a tree waiting for them.
"You find something?" Aster asked crouching down.
"The blood drops were slowing down and came to a stop right before this clearing so that means he must be close by and he may be in this clearing." Tooth answered pulling out one of her daggers.
"Are you sure?" Tiana asked. Tooth just threw her a look, "Right, of course you are." She stated also crouching down.
Tooth gave them a signal to wait then she silently climbed up into the tree and disappeared into the canopy. Aster and Tiana shared a glance wondering when they would know to move into the clearing, then they heard Tooth call out to them. They moved into the clearing and since Tooth sounded calm, that meant that they didn't have to pull their weapons. They entered the clearing and the first thing Aster saw was Tooth crouched in front of a large tree and holding something white. Then he saw a stream that was nearby though the grass near it was trampled.
"What did ya find Tooth?" Aster asked moving toward her. She stood up and handing Aster a piece of white gauze. Aster raised an eyebrow and looked over the gauze, one end was ragged like it was cut with something and though its a clean cut it still left one side ragged.
"So its a piece of cut gauze. What about it?" Aster asked letting the gauze fall to the ground.
"There are more pieces around the tree and that's the same gauze that was taken from the infirmary. I'm guessing that Jack was able to keep one of his weapons and when Dagur wasn't looking, he cut himself free and probably escaped." Tooth explained looking around the area. Yet Aster wasn't so sure that Jack escaped, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but he had a feeling that his love was not safe.
"I don't know Tooth. I just don't have a good feeling about what happened." Aster stated moving toward the trampled grass by the stream.
"Hey! I found something!" Tiana exclaimed. Tiana jogged toward them and within her hands she held a dagger. Jack's dagger.
"Where did you find this?" Tooth asked taking the dagger to examine it.
"I found it under a log. I had sat down on it to tie my shoe and the sun glinted off the blade. Is it Jack's?" Tiana explained.
"Yeah it is. Which means that he was in a fight and the grass here proves it. And someone fell into the stream, the bank is more sunken in this one spot. But how do we know who fell in?" Aster asked crouching down to look at the seemingly calm stream.
"Well the stream doesn't look like its very strong." Tiana stated.
"Well, streams can look calm on the surface but it could have a strong undercurrent, so don't-" Aster started to warn Tiana when she put her arm into the stream and almost got swept away if Tooth hadn't grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back.
"Whoa, that's a really strong current." Tiana gasped out.
"That's what I was trying to tell ya before ya stuck your bloody arm in the stream." Aster scolded.
"Sorry." Tiana apologized. Tooth looked at the bank where it was sunken in and saw that there were some footprints in the mud as well as along the bank of the stream. Yet the footprints on the bank were bootprints, and the ones in the mud are of a barefoot which meant that Jack was the one that fell and Dagur went after him by following the stream.
"They're downstream. Jack fell in and Dagur went after him. So hopefully Jack is okay." Tooth stated already moving to follow the stream.
"Can I ask you something Aster?" Tiana asked as they followed the silent Tooth.
"Sure. Whats wrong?"
"Tooth seems kind of cold. Like she doesn't feel any concern for Jack." Tiana stated feeling a bit concerned for her.
"I think she's hiding her emotions or at least locking them away for the time being. She cant be an effective predator if she's clouded by concern." Aster explained having seen how Tooth was acting.
"What do you mean an effective predator?" Tiana asked confused by the odd statement.
"Tooth isn't thinking like a tracker right now, shes a predator that just lost her child and she will do everything in her power to get her child back. Her being in the mindset of a predator makes her more dangerous and better equip to find Jack. I'm even trying to push my concern to the back of my mind because if I don't I would be no help." Aster answered explaining Tooth's behavior.
"Oh okay, I guess that makes sense. Also why don't you use your tunnels to find Jack?" Tiana asked, having wondered why Aster hadn't used the tunnels.
"I need to have complete concentration of a location and I just don't know this land that well so I wouldn't be able to make a stable tunnel." Aster explained having actually tried to make a tunnel to Jack and almost getting buried as a result.
"Oh, well hopefully we find him soon." Tiana replied knowing that Aster just wanted to find Jack as soon s possible.
"Thanks Tiana. I'm sure we will." Aster replied giving her a brief hug. Up ahead of them they saw that Tooth had stopped and was staring at the ground in confusion.
"Whats wrong Tooth?" Tiana asked.
"Dagur's footprints are gone. Like completely. Its as if he just vanished into the air. And Jack couldn't have gone further downstream because there are some large boulders here that would have stopped him and he didn't leave the stream because the banks are completely undisturbed. The only thing I see is this strange pattern on the ground that seems to belong to a tail of something but its just in this area behind Dagur's footprints and they then vanish like it was flying." Tooth explained starting to lose some of her coldness as more of her worry for Jack started to rise to the surface.
"I don't think theres anything that could leave those tracks and still fly. I could see if Ombric knows anything." Tiana suggested getting her radio out.
"Porc, can you hear me?" Tiana asked. There was a crackle of static before he answered.
"Yeah, I can hear you. Any lucking finding Jack?" He asked.
"We found where he was held and how he escaped but then we lost the tracks, can you ask Ombric if he knows of anything that would leave a track on the ground that looks like a tail but is able to fly away? See if there are any large birds in the area." She requested. Two minutes passed before the radio finally came back on.
"Ms. Tiana it is Ombric. The tracks that you found belong to the creature that has been harassing our village. I advise you to proceed with cations as from we had seen they are dangerous." Ombric warned.
"What kind of creature are they?" Aster asked taking the radio from Tiana.
"A dragon."
Okay y'all, so we are now starting to get more into the meat of the story, sorry if it seems slow going, just how it sort of ended up. I did try to explain why each character was acting the way they were but if you are confused please do not hesitate to message me or write a review, I will try to clarify any questions y'all have.
Also be prepared for two characters from the HTTYD franchise, y'all can try to guess who they are though one is kind of obvious. And if you have a suggestion for which dragon has been terrorizing Santoff Claussen let me know in the reviews or PM me, I do not know alot about the dragons of HTTYD so I would take any advice that you have.
I will try to update soon and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Till next time!
Reviews:
Angel Azul 329: I am so sorry! I'm glad you are liking it and I hope that you like this chapter!
Bearbert: I am so sorry I didnt not update sooner and that I left you on the cliffhanger for months and I will try to not to the same again.