Merida laughed as she and Jack pushed an unsuspecting Rapunzel into the river. Hiccup turned around at the splash noise just in time to see white and red colors flaring in his face before falling into the shallow part river himself. Rapunzel laughed, while Hiccup scowled at them, until he ended up sniggering himself. Jack disappeared into the brush without warning, but his laughs could be heard echoing within the valley. Hiccup spotted him coasting over the surface of the river towards them, the crook of his staff trailing on the water, freezing it over.

"You'd better run!" he yelled with a laugh. Rapunzel screeched and gathered her locks of hair before darting out of the river. Hiccup had just pulled himself out in time for the ice to form around the ankle of his boot. Merida took his hands and helped pull his leg out from the now chilly water, shattering the ice around it. Jack whipped up to them, skating with his bare feet on the frozen water. "That was fun." He smirked at them.

Hiccup said sarcastically, "Oh yeah, I love being shoved in a river and frozen over." Jack rolled his eyes at him. Hiccup continued, "Not to mention you froze over my one good leg." Jack's face fell.

"Hiccup, that wasn't necessary!" Rapunzel defended Jack.

Jack waved her off and agreed, "No, he's right. I screwed up." Shaking his head he leaned on his staff, watching the clouds roll in the sky. Suddenly an idea struck him and he turned back to his friends. "Hey Rapunzel, you don't know how to ice skate, do you?" She shook her head, confused. He grinned and strode out onto the river, it freezing over more strongly this time. He stood out near the center of the river, its deepest point. He gestured for Rapunzel, "Come on out!"

"I don't have any skates!" she argued.

"But you're wearing ballet slippers!" he countered. She laughed and followed him out onto the edge of the ice. He beamed at her and explained how to push off with one foot. He demonstrated, gliding farther on the river. Merida had already followed Rapunzel onto the ice and was excitedly trying to follow his example, though it seemed neither one was too great at it.

Hiccup stood next to Toothless, stroking his nose when something dark flowed under the ice. He stopped and peered forward. Was something under there? Eh, probably. It was a river, after all. He shrugged and turned back to his Night Fury when he heard a distant laugh and a loud crack. He spun around to see water splashing up from a hole in the ice, with Merida and Rapunzel reaching towards it in distress. "What happened?!" he said in panic.

"Jack fell in!" Merida exclaimed. She did sound afraid, but also a little amazed as well. Hiccup walked out on the ice as well as he could until he reached the hole. His eyes darted in every direction, searching for Jack's snow-white hair in the murky water. Finally, he spotted it. Taking a deep breath, he dove down into the gap in the direction of their friend. He grabbed the arm of a flailing Jack and did his best to move up to the surface. Jack wasn't helping, what with him breaking down at the submersion.

A dark slim shape appeared in front of Hiccup and he soon realized it was Toothless's tail. The dragon flicked it urgently and Hiccup grabbed on with one arm. The two rocketed out of the water and onto the sheet of ice. Hiccup took deep plentiful breaths for a moment before he remembered Jack. He got to his knees and saw him a few feet away with the ladies approaching fast. Jack was curled up to himself and he gripped his staff as if it was all that could keep him alive and coughing. Merida kneeled by him and moved his head onto her lap.

"Jack, are you okay?" He didn't respond to her, only held his staff to his face and shut his eyes tight. The three looked down on him in worry and sadness as they sat there on the ice for a moment or two. Hiccup grunted and looked from Rapunzel to Merida before picking Jack up awkwardly. It wasn't difficult, since he was, after all, light enough for the very wind to carry him. They girls followed silently behind him.

He laid Jack on Toothless's back and strapped him into the harness. He patted the dragon's head before he sent them home. He turned to Merida and Rapunzel. "Would one of you mind giving me a ride back?" They both nodded and he joined Rapunzel on Max's back. They followed the Night Fury his passenger back to the castle. When they arrived, Merida pulled a now dried Jack from the saddle and brought him inside. They walked with her up three flights of stairs to Jack's room and set him in his bed. They couldn't tell if he was unconscious or in shock, but they decided that place would be fitting either way. Rapunzel pulled his white sheet up over his cool body. When she let them settle his hand clenched the top of it, frost patterns beginning to emit along the covers from his fingertips. Merida sighed, her arms crossed. Why did this have to happen?

Hiccup spoke up finally, "What happened?"

"I don't know the ice just started to crack and he fell in. We didn't cause it and he sure didn't," she replied nervously. Abruptly, three small orange blobs came bursting into the room laughing and screaming. They jumped onto Merida, knocking her on the floor. "Hey!" she yelled after them as they ran away. "Get back here!" She chased out the door after them. Rapunzel thought she could help catch them so she followed. Hiccup leaned out the doorway, watching them. With the three distracted, no one noticed a dark shadow looming over Jack.

A thin, sharp stream of nightmare sand ran along the side of his forehead, cutting it open and then burrowed into the bleeding wound. Jack winced in his unconsciousness, the pain taking him. A quiet chuckle emitted from the shadow before it faded away. Jack tossed over and began groaning. Hiccup turned around, noticing the sounds. The crackle of forming ice piqued his interest and he approached hesitantly. As he neared, he realized the cut and that Jack had begun to mumble under his breath. He sounded afraid. Frost grew along the bed and the walls touching it. Hiccup, who was now beginning to panic, rushed back towards the doorway calling out, "Merida, Rapunzel!" They turned hastily to him when he had their attention. "Something's happened to Jack!" They gasped and dashed back to him. Just as they entered, Jack groaned more loudly in distress.

"Jack, Jack wake up," Merida urged, and then she spotted the red gleam of fresh blood from under his white hair. She wiped most of it off with her thumb, leaving a red smear behind. Rapunzel had kneeled on his bed next to him, just as troubled. Hiccup watched silently as he struggled inwardly with current circumstances. Merida's face changed to fury and she shouted, throwing her fist into the air, "I'm going to kill those boys!" Rapunzel placed her hand on Merida's raised arm, encouraging her to relax and let it go. She sighed and submitted, lowering her fist.

Jack's grip on the bed sheet tightened and he said in his sleep, "Stop, stop, leave them alone!" Merida backed away in fear, his head sliding from her lap. Rapunzel gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Hiccup looked from Jack to the others then to the floor.

He said quietly, "It's Pitch Black, isn't it?"

Merida whispered back, "It must be." Rapunzel only nodded in agreement.

Hiccup looked back up to them with a sudden anger in his voice. "We have to stop him." A low grumble resonated around them as Pitch himself manifested by the door to Jack's room and he slammed it behind him.

"And you do you plan to do that? You're best friend is already in danger, and you're going to fight me instead of figure out how to save him," Pitch laughed. "Well what a great friend you are, little dragon whisperer." Merida raised her bow, an arrow loaded already. "Ah, ah, ah," he warned. A swirl of nightmare sand collected over the palm of his hand and he watched it gleefully. "I still have control of Jack's dreams. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him again, would you?" Merida hesitated, but sighed in defeat, lowering her bow.

"What do you want?" Rapunzel asked with her hands in fists as she stood by her friends. Pitch shrugged.

"I don't think that really matters, does it? I have power over you, and you can't do anything to stop me unless you sacrifice you're friend, Frost." He looked back to them. "What I want, however, is answers. Why do you all believe in the boy, why can you see him, what's so special now that wasn't before?"

Rapunzel spoke first. "I… I lived apart from the world for a really, really long time so I started to read. I read about Jack Frost in one of my favorite fairy tales, and since I had no idea what was and wasn't real, I believed in everything." Her voice trailed off.

"Go on, spit it out!" Pitch directed, reinforcing his command with a muffled shout from Jack in his nightmare.

Rapunzel rushed on. "I saw him one day when he was flying around and he was really surprised I saw him so he explained to me why, and I've known him ever since." Pitch sighed agitatedly and turned to Hiccup.

"And you?"

"I just sort of figured there had to be someone or something that made it snow so much in Berk, and I looked around one day after he assaulted me with a snowball and I saw him. There's not much to it, really," Hiccup replied tensely

Pitch growled under his breath then turned to Merida.

She wasted no time in saying, "Rapunzel made me believe. It took a long time but I saw him finally." Pitch threw his arms up in anger.

"That doesn't help me at all!" he turned away from them. "What good are you if you can't even answer a simple question right?" He thought to himself for a moment, only the rustle of sheets and heavy breathing from Jack's bed making sound. Pitch sighed and looked back over his shoulder at them. "Well at least I can have a little fun with you all." He cackled and fell into the shadows when Jack began screaming.

Hiccup ran to him and took in his condition. His eyes were clamped shut and his teeth ground against each other between shrieks. He turned to the girls. "Anything to wake him up, get it." They nodded silently and ran from the room throughout the castle. Hiccup grabbed the battle axe from the floor and stood by Jack, ready for battle. Rapunzel returned first with a pitcher of water, a metal spoon and her frying pan. Hiccup gestured her over and she started banging the spoon and pan together, hoping the annoying clashing sound would wake him up. Nothing happened. Merida returned during this time with her brothers. Hiccup saw them and shook his head frantically. Merida looked at him irritably and marched off, holding her string of brothers' hands.

"Let me try something," he said and put his hand on the crook of Jack's staff. Uncertainly, he wrapped his other one around it as well and tugged. Jack grunted angrily and Hiccup let go just as the staff froze over with the blue glow of Jack's chill. The spirit jerked it back to his chest. "Well that didn't work." Rapunzel only shrugged at him and lifted the pitcher undecidedly. Hiccup nodded and she dumped it on his head. Jack sat up instantly, sputtering and coughing, his now wet hair sticking to his face.

"What the hell?!" he demanded. Rapunzel and Merida, who'd just returned, squealed with delight and embraced him. Hiccup grinned and threw his arms around the three as well. Jack sat there awkwardly, having no idea what was happening or why everyone was so excited. After a moment, though, he regained his grip on reality and pulled away from the others, resting his staff on his left shoulder. "Pitch?" he asked curiously. Rapunzel, Merida, and Hiccup shared glances, but eventually nodded to him. "Is- is he still here?" he asked, both hands wrapped around his staff just below the crook.

"I don't think so," Rapunzel answered. He let out a deep sigh and asked what happened after he fell in the ice. Hiccup explained how they'd brought him here and how Pitch had used him and his nightmares as leverage against them. Jack cursed under his breath. "Jack, don't blame yourself," Rapunzel comforted as she reached out to him. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking up at the rest of them.

"He's not going to leave us alone until he gets what he wants. The problem is: we don't know what that is."