Disclaimer: I do NOT own ROTG nor do I own HTTYD.
Chapter 6
"I'm so hot!" Cupcake moaned, fanning herself with a large piece of cardboard.
It was the peak of the summer season in Burgess and the kids were feeling the heat.
"I wish it was snowing, I wish it was snowing…" Claude chanted to himself, panting a little as he lay on the grass in Layla's garden.
"Jamie can't you call Jack here to make a snow day?" his twin, Caleb asked the boy lying on the ground near the flower bed. "I would. But I don't have a phone and neither does Jack." Jamie sighed, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
"Sapphire stopped using a cell phone too when she became a Guardian. They've got their own ways to communicate." Layla piped up. "Like what?" Monty asked her. "Special water orbs and the snow globes in the Pole. They can even use the Globe to send us messages. It's pretty cool." Donnie emerged from his house's back porch with Sophie.
"We have ice pops and lemonade!" the little girl giggled.
Relieved for refreshment, the kids grabbed their own lemonade glass and ice pop, relaxing in the garden under the sycamore tree in the two Aquamaries' backyard.
"No school but we have to deal with the heat…So not cool…" Pippa complained.
Jamie sighed and placed his head against the tree's trunk, closing his eyes. He suddenly felt an icy tickle in his ear that made him giggle a bit. Opening his eyes and looking up, Jamie saw him. Jack was hanging upside down from the branch above him, smiling widely as snowflakes whirled around him. Sapphire was also with him, only sitting on the branch.
"We figured you guys might need to cool off." The Guardian of Fun said as he shot ice through the air with his staff. "Careful Jack, weatherman might get suspicious." Sapphire laughed, adding a spray of cold water to the ice.
The kids instantly breathed a sigh of relief at the coolness.
"Good to see you two." Jamie said handing Jack a blueberry ice pop.
"So what've you two been up to?" Layla asked her big sister, giving her a glass of lemonade. "Not much. Homework and lessons mostly." Sapphire replied taking a sip.
The kids looked at the two teens in surprise.
"It's summer and you two have school?" Cupcake asked them. "Unfortunately, yes. I can't believe high school is so hard." Jack groaned sucking on his blueberry pop, taking out a math book out of his white backpack.
"Well you're going to have to get used to this time's education system, Jack." Pippa smiled. "In my defense, education was only the Three R's in my time." The winter spirit said, reviewing his algebra.
"Three R's?" Monty asked, confused.
"Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic. That's what colonial settlers called reading, writing and arithmetic." Sapphire informed as she read her World History book.
"Wow that's pretty unlucky. Having school in summer." Caleb told them. "Yeah that's a pretty big bummer." Claude said sympathetically. "Tell me about it." Both Guardians said at the same time before looking at each other and blushed, making the kids laugh.
They hung around in the garden for an hour or so until the heat began to lessen. The kids had plans to go to the public pool and said good-bye to Sapphire and Jack as Mrs. Aquamarie came outside to take them.
"Hey Mom!" Sapphire said cheerfully.
"Hi Mrs. Aquamarie!" Jack greeted his girlfriend's mom courteously.
"Oh hey, so how's Guardian life?" Sapphire's mom smiled. "Not so much trouble." Her daughter told her. "It's a lot of fun actually." Jack added.
"Alright. Well I have to take the kids to the pool. You two take care." Mrs. Aquamarie then planted a quick kiss on Sapphire's forehead and went on her way with the kids.
"Bye!" Jamie, Layla, Pippa, Caleb, Claude, Monty, Cupcake, Donnie and Sophie said in unison while their two Guardian friends waved.
"So, what now?" Jack inquired.
Sapphire shrugged.
"Well we have homework to do. Maybe dad can let us use the computer for research." The water spirit suggested.
Nodding in agreement, the two teens went inside Sapphire's old house. Sapphire's father was glad to see them and let them use the PC in the living room while he did some work of his own in the library. The two Guardians quickly got to work, Sapphire typing up her Chemistry report and Jack doing research for Geography and World History.
An hour and a half later, they'd already finished their assignments and some advanced studying as well when an idea popped into Jack's head.
"Try looking up on Norse runes." He suggested. "Why?" his girlfriend was puzzled. "Remember how we didn't notice the warning sign in the Academy a while ago?" Jack pointed out. "…Oh right!" Sapphire said, instantly searching online.
A page was found and they carefully copied the Norse runes and words in the site in their own spare notebooks.
"To be on the safe side, let's have Hiccup and the other Vikings teach us about their writings and way of life. We could get plus points in History and Foreign Languages." Sapphire said excitedly.
"That's a pretty good idea…But we're gonna have to figure out how to get back to their world first…" the Guardian of Fun said thoughtfully.
"Shall we discuss it with Marina later after dinner? Mother Nature and Father Time have invited you and North to dine with us tonight. You coming?" Sapphire asked him.
Jack smiled. "Ooh a dinner date? I'm so there!" he said teasingly. "Technically a dinner with three adults eating with you isn't exactly a date, you know." Sapphire chuckled.
But she knew Jack wouldn't miss it for the world. After all, they like being together almost all the time. Another reason why they're looking forward to tonight's meal…
They have some planning to do.
The plan for tonight was that Blitz stay with the Haddocks while Tridacna would be at the Hoffersons. When nighttime came, Hiccup managed to lure a hungry Himalayan Fury with a tasty fish into his house.
"It's going to be a cold night in here." Stoick laughed as Blitz made his way into the living room. "That's it buddy. Yummy fishy…" the 16 year old Haddock coaxed the white dragon into the house before giving the fish to him.
Blitz happily smacked his lips as a basket of fish was then set out in front of him. A hundred for him and another hundred for Toothless. The two Furies ate their fill while father and son talked pleasantries over their own meal.
Topic for tonight was the two Guardians.
Stoick apparently thought that Jack was Jokul Frosti and Sapphire was a Nix. Good thing Hiccup explained to his dad that they were both just regular teens with some surprisingly amazing powers.
"Well…With those two coming back here tomorrow, I believe things will be very different around here." Stoick chuckled. Hiccup smiled a bit. "Good thing we all believe in them. In their world, only kids believe in the Guardians." He stated before noticing the two dragons exchanging growls, squeaks and whines. They seemed to be having a conversation of their own.
"If only I can understand dragon…" Hiccup smiled. "Then you'd be a dragon trainer and whisperer." His father grinned.
The two of them continued talking along with Blitz and Toothless, who seemed to have really buddied up.
Well, they were cousins after all.
Tridacna, Stormfly and the Monstrous Nightmare glanced up from their suppers to still get stone cold silence from the Hofferson family. Astrid and Angrid refused to speak to each other, much to their parents' dismay.
"So…those two new friends of yours…Are they nice?" Sven Hofferson asked his two daughters.
"Yeah they're cool." Astrid said, avoiding eye contact with the reddish blonde haired girl sitting across her on their dining table. "They're also kind of unpredictable along with their swan friend." Angrid decided to add.
"What was the swan's name again?" Masona Hofferson then inquired.
"Marina." Both girls said at the same time.
Surprised, they looked at each other for a few seconds, unable to say anything. Finally Astrid mumbled. "I'm done eating." Without another word, she headed up to her room.
"Me too…I'll just stay down here for tonight." Angrid said shortly after and then got up from the table and went over to the couch.
Their parents sighed.
The two sisters have grown even farther apart than ever before…
They looked at the three dragons looking at each other worriedly.
"Don't worry you three…They're just having a…little sisterly spat." Their Riders' mother reassured them. "By Odin, they'll be alright by tomorrow." Their Riders' father added as they collected the leftovers.
The three dragons rumbled their concern.
Whatever a 'spat' was…They did not like how it was affecting Angrid and Astrid.
Dinner at the Palace of Beginnings was always delicious. With a bounty of fresh produce and heavenly dishes, it's hard to leave the place without a filled stomach.
North laughed heartily as he, Millennium, Mother Nature and Father Time exchanged pleasantries while Jack and Sapphire politely busied themselves with their meal.
"I had a little chat with Manny the other night. He proposed a very splendid idea to celebrate the two straight years of peace for the children of the world." Mother Nature said as creation whirled about in her forever alive, long hair.
"What kind of idea, my love?" Father Time asked her. The great being of creation smiled. "That a portrait of the Guardians be painted and placed in the Seasonal Gardens. A beautiful idea, is it not?" she replied as a bunch of butterflies flew out of her hair.
"Indeed it is. When shall we gather together?" North perked up at that suggestion. "How about next week? That is, if any of you already have plans." Millennium hooted before looking at Sapphire and Jack.
"I'm cool with the idea. Just how big is this portrait going to be?" Jack inquired, finishing his meal. "About large enough to be seen from a distance of ten metres." Father Time told him.
"So we're going to have to stand for a really long time to get immortalized on canvas?" Sapphire was the next one with a question. "An hour or two at the most…Is next week perhaps a bad time?" Mother Nature asked the two teens, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
The two Guardians weren't sure how to reply when they looked at Marina appear in the dining room's entrance. The swan motioned to them with her long, graceful neck to hurry up. They were wasting moonlight!
"No! Not at all, next week's fine with us!" Sapphire said brightly. "Well, we're done eating! May we be excused?" Jack piped up.
A little surprised at their youngest Guardians' sudden want to leave, Mother Nature, Father Time and North just nodded.
Without another word, Jack and Sapphire dashed out of the dining room. Millennium looked at them oddly as they left and caught up with Marina before the three of them left the scene.
"What was that rush all about?" the Whiskered Screech asked, puzzled. "For all I know Millennium, they could be planning another bout of mischief." North chuckled, remembering how fond Jack was of creating elaborate pranks to play on everyone.
Bunny, most of all.
The Guardian of Hope was always coming over to the Pole in order to complain about Jack's latest shenanigans. Of course, Jack never stops pulling tricks on him, mostly just for personal amusement but he does alternate his practical jokes and victims every now and then.
And most of the time, Sapphire helps him plan and execute them!
But they all knew that those two will never change.
Forever young, Sapphire Aquamarie and Jack Frost were always going to be the two young ones all the other Guardians will look out for.
At the Seasonal Gardens, Jack, Sapphire and Marina wondered on how they were gonna go back to Berk.
"Ok think…What happened before the portal opened?" Jack pondered as he played with a small pebble near the spring stream. "Eh…we were just talking with the Vikings and playing with the dragons." Marina guessed while she floated on the stream.
"You mean anything special we could've said or done? Hmm…Let's see…I…said that I wanted to go home." Sapphire offered as she paced about on the water. Jack suddenly looked at her. "Were you also thinking of home?" he asked curiously.
Sapphire nodded before it hit her.
"That's it! If we think of Berk, maybe the fang will open the portal!" she said excitedly.
The two Guardians and giant white swan began to get excited.
"So tomorrow…We think of Berk and we go there…What then?" Marina asked. "Learn how to train dragons of course!" both teens said in unison before blushing.
"You two are so in sync. Hiccup and Astrid could learn a thing or two from you." The swan giggled. "Hey!" Sapphire and Jack said together at the same time once again.
Then they just laughed.
They really were in sync!
But they all agreed on what to do tomorrow.
Learn how to train and care for Blitz and Tridacna.
The next day, Jack woke up early and got his spare notebook and pencil ready before headed down to breakfast.
"So Jack, who do you plan to prank this time?" North asked jokingly as he munched on cinnamon cookies. "I don't know…I haven't gotten any new ideas for Bunny." Jack grinned before quickly finishing his pancakes.
Then he noticed a plate of sliced smoked trout beside a loaf of bread and got an idea.
The Guardian of Wonder watched carefully as Jack grabbed a healthy piece of trout and placed it between two slices of bread.
"Wouldn't Sapphire be mad if she saw you eating a smoked trout sandwich?" he asked curiously. The winter spirit wrapped the sandwich and placed it in a small bag with his notebook & pencil. "It's not for me, North. Anyway, I gotta go." He said hastily beginning to leave.
"Remember you have lessons in two hours!" North hollered after him.
"Got it!" Jack shouted back as he ran down the workshop's hallway.
Elves cleared a path as he rushed past them.
"Morning Phil!" the Guardian of Fun greeted the yeti as he flew out the window.
The Yeti was startled by him and accidentally knocked over a red paint can another Yeti was using as he whirled around to see the winter spirit go out the window.
Meanwhile at the Palace of Beginnings, Sapphire finished her bacon and eggs with Marina and her oats in a hurry before grabbing a roasted cod, much to Mother Nature and Father Time's surprise.
"Sapphire, I thought you did not care for seafood." Mother Nature said, her hair bursting with flowers and woodland critters.
The Guardian of Equality was a strict non-fish eater, although she enjoyed algae and seaweed. But those two water plants were the only things she ate that came from her element. While she was alright with people who ate fish, the two great beings knew how sensitive she was around sea creatures so they only had small servings of seafood on the table during meals.
Now this, seeing the young girl carefully wrapping the fish up, this was highly unexpected.
"Are you alright, my dear?" Father Time asked cautiously. Sapphire looked at her foster parents in confusion. "Never better…Why?" she asked. Millennium pointed with his talon at the fish.
"It's for me. I tend to get hungry in the mid-morning." Marina said quickly. Sapphire inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She could always count on her dear swan friend to say the right thing at the right time.
"Yeah she does. Well we have to go now! Laters!" she said hastily before she and Marina flew out of the Palace's dining room through the skylight.
The remaining three looked at each other in confusion.
"She was in quite a hurry to leave, wasn't she?" the Whiskered Screech remarked. "Well I'm sure she's busy, my friend." Father Time reminded him.
"That's Sapphire for you. Like the water, she's overflowing with energy." Mother Nature said jokingly, earning a laugh from her husband and the Whiskered Screech.
Agreeing to head for Berk after their regular patrols, Jack and Sapphire met up at the Loch Ness in Scotland. A low rumble sounded from the lake, making Jack stare at the dark water in surprise.
"Good morning to you too, Nessie." Sapphire said cheerfully. Jack gave her a questioning look. "She's a friend. And yeah, she's real." The water spirit answered him.
"A reason why we love visiting Scotland, aside from visiting my relatives, of course." Marina added.
Deciding not to ask any further questions, Jack pulled the fang out of his pocket. "Let's hope this works…" he mumbled, clearing his head of any unnecessary thoughts other than Berk and Blitz.
Sapphire thought about Berk as well and of Tridacna while Marina thought of Berk and Gobber as well.
The trio thought hard and after a few minutes…
A loud noise like a huge gust of wind made their heads turn. A portal was now right in front of them.
"It worked…Wow…" Sapphire said in awe.
"What're we waiting for? Come on!" Marina said, her feathers ruffling up in excitement.
The two teenage Guardians laughed and with the swan, stepped into the portal!
It was like going into a crazy wind tunnel mixed with a bit of an insane rollercoaster and snow globe portal ride as well. But they enjoyed the thrill and almost felt bad that the ride was over when they arrived at Berk.
Thankfully landing on the ground instead of hurtling through the air, much to their relief.
The sun was just beginning to rise but the village was bustling with activity already. Jack, Marina and Sapphire walked about, greeting the Vikings around them. Surprisingly, nobody was startled by their sudden appearance.
Indeed on Berk, the unusual was quite a common thing.
"Should we look at the Academy? Or maybe we should…" Jack managed to say before wham!
The Guardian of Fun was suddenly tackled to the ground by an overjoyed Himalayan Fury!
"Morning, Blitz!" Marina giggled as she watched Jack get smothered by dragon affection.
Then Tridacna flew in and cooed, nuzzling Sapphire. "Hey there girl! Missed me?" the Guardian of Equality laughed to be licked in the face as a reply.
"Missed you? Those two were driving us bonkers!" Hiccup strolled over to them along with Toothless and Astrid. "They practically started crying when it was bedtime. They really missed you. So it's natural they get a little excited right now." Astrid told them.
"'Excited' is an understatement…" Jack groaned while politely nudging his dragon to get off him.
Sapphire showed them the schedule they made. "We woke up pretty early to try and get back here. There's a two hour time difference between our world and yours so Jack and I made a schedule to manage our time wisely. We're going to start tomorrow so can we maybe ask you guys a favor?" she said before looking at Hiccup.
"Well…This schedule's pretty good. What do you want us to do?" the teenage Viking remarked. "While we're gone, keep an eye on our dragons for us and could you maybe teach us how to train them?" Jack piped up.
"As well as teach us your language. We can't make heads or tails on the signs around here." Marina added. "Fair enough. You two look eager enough." Astrid smiled at them.
"Best place to begin your training's at the Academy. Follow us!" Hiccup and Astrid then got on Toothless.
The Night Fury gave a friendly bark to Blitz and Tridacna before he flew up into the air. Blitz and Tridacna looked at each other and nodded.
They looked at Sapphire and Jack expectantly.
"Should we…?" Sapphire said nervously.
"Better to have gotten used to sitting on a dragon than wait for formal flying lessons you two." Marina advised them. "Alright…I just hope I don't fall off." Jack mumbled getting on Blitz's back. Sapphire did the same with Tridacna.
"Alright, Berk Dragon Training Academy here we come!" the giant swan proclaimed, taking to the air.
Nervous, Sapphire and Jack clung onto their dragons' necks. But apparently, Blitz and Tridacna could sense their anxiety on flying and decided to try something else. They began to run, carefully avoiding people, carts, and other things as they galloped through the village of Berk.
"This is new!" Jack laughed as he bounced on his Himalayan Fury's back.
"Fast on land, sea and sky? High ho dragon away!" Sapphire hollered as they followed Toothless and Marina to the Academy on the ground.
When they arrived, the other Viking teens were waiting for them along with their dragons.
"Whoa! How many kinds of dragons live here?" Jack said, looking at Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch in amazement.
"Truth be told, we discover more new dragons every day." Hiccup replied as he and Astrid got off Toothless. "And that's just on Berk, right? There might be more new dragons in different islands!" Sapphire asked.
"Yeah but we haven't really made any plans to venture out of our island yet." Astrid replied. "Too scared to leave your comfort zone…" Angrid muttered under her breath.
Astrid glared at her.
"Sister problems?" Jack asked Hiccup. The boy nodded. "She's a little cranky from losing her axe in a race yesterday. Tridacna accidentally flung it into the ocean. I also lost my knife when Toothless and I accidentally bumped into Blitz when he did a fly jump." He replied.
Sapphire and Jack looked at their dragons in a scolding manner. Blitz and Tridacna looked embarrassed and gave apologetic whines.
"It's okay. I can always make new ones." Hiccup laughed.
"Okay let's start the lesson!" Fishlegs said stepping forward, holding the Book of Dragons.
"First one is about attack!" Tuffnut exclaimed.
"No it's about flying!" Ruffnut protested.
While those two twins fought that out, Snotlout was trying to show to Angrid what a good dragon trainer he was but unfortunately, Hookfang refused to play along with his Rider's plan. He even set the boy's butt on fire as soon as he sat on him!
"He meant to do that!" Snotlout yelled as he went for the water trough to extinguish his smoking rear.
The eldest Hofferson just sighed and watched her little sister and her rumored boyfriend give Jack and Sapphire a lesson on Norse language and runes. The two Guardians listened attentively and took down notes as the two Viking teens scribbled down Norse runes on a slab of rock they used as a chalkboard and dictated Norse words and their meanings.
After a half hour, the two teenage Guardians had already covered enough Norse to be able to read from the Book of Dragons with Fishlegs' help.
"So it's impossible to tell a Gronckle's head from the tail when asleep?" Sapphire asked curiously as Meatlug ate some rocks. "Yep. I also found out the hard way that they do not like having their chins scratched." The husky Viking boy said sheepishly.
"How do you train a Gronckle?" Jack piped up. "With this. Dragon nip." Fishlegs then took out a sprig of a grass like plant and held it closer to their noses. It smelled garlicky and herbal like to Sapphire and Jack.
But when Marina curiously took a whiff…
"Ahhh…Ahhh…Ahh-Chooo!" the swan honked as she sneezed and kept going.
"What's the problem, wee lass?" Gobber and Stoick had arrived to be surprised by a sneezing swan. "I don't know! Just sniffed dragon nip and then…Waahh-Chooo!" Marina sniffed as more sneezes came.
Stoick took the sprig of dragon nip from Fishlegs. "Looks like she's allergic to this stuff." He said thoughtfully.
"Dragon nip's effective in calming down aggressive dragons. That's why it's always best to have some with you all the time. You never know when an out of control dragon will come out of nowhere." Hiccup told Jack and Sapphire, handing them their own small packets.
"Wonder if you can use it on the reindeer…" Jack said, slipping his pack into his pocket. Sometimes North's reindeer were prone to fighting sometimes. Mostly when Jack was around to clean the stables and he had to be really careful during those times. He'd already lost count on how many times he was nearly trampled whenever the reindeer got into brawls!
As Jack entertained those thoughts, Sapphire looked at Marina sneeze over and over again. 'I'll have to ask Mother Nature and Father Time to concoct an antihistamine for her.' She thought, feeling sorry for her comrade.
Now the fun part began. Learning about dragons!
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