I'm back
Here's Chapter 10 of Dragons and Guardians for you!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own ROTG or HTTYD
Chapter 10
When Jack and Sapphire arrived, the first thing Jamie did was hand the winter spirit the paper.
And Jack's reaction was…
"Whoa…No wonder you're a dead ringer for my sister!" Jack put a hand to his head in amazement before smiling at the young boy. "I know right! Different parents and different birthdays but we're still related!" Jamie laughed.
"Yay! Jack-Jack's our brother!" Sophie was hopping around in excited circles. "Okay we've got 30 minutes to kill. What do you guys wanna do?" Sapphire asked the kids.
"We could always have another water fight…" Pippa said deviously.
"No way! You girls play unfair!" Monty protested. "Unfair how?" Cupcake looked at them coolly. "Well you have a water spirit on your team." Claude pointed out. "And she'd dominate the whole thing!" Caleb added.
Donnie waved his helmet in the air. "We can try playing Hide and Seek in the woods." He suggested. "Not a bad idea. But Don, please leave your helmet." Layla told him nicely.
"A Viking warrior should never be without his helmet!" the seven year old boy placed the plastic horned helmet on his head and smiled proudly.
"You know every now and then, Vikings take off their helmets." Sapphire chided her baby brother. "Really? How do you know?" Donnie looked confused.
A little bit unsure, Sapphire glanced at Jack hoping for some help. But the Guardian of Fun was as blank as her.
Suddenly Monty piped up, "Actually I've seen art works in the museum showing Vikings without helmets. Did you see them too, Sapphire?" The Guardian of Equality quickly smiled and nodded, thankfully without getting her hair wet.
"So…Hide and Seek…Last one to the woods has to be the seeker!" Jack then grabbed a summer breeze and Jamie grabbed onto him along with Sophie.
"Hey, how come they get a ride?" Cupcake whined. "The perks of being related to a Guardian I guess." Pippa sighed.
"Well last one there's the seeker!" "Catch you guys later!" Caleb and Claude were the next ones to take off running, followed by Sapphire, Donnie, Monty and the rest of the girls.
In the end, Donnie ended up being the seeker for the first round, then Jamie, Sophie, Pippa, Caleb, Cupcake, Monty and Claude. Sapphire and Jack never had to be seekers because simply, they were the best hiders. The kids would search the woods for several minutes before finally giving up and calling for mercy. And then laughing, the two Guardians would emerge out of their hiding places. This game lasted a half hour longer than they expected so when Jack and Sapphire found out that it was already 5PM, they panicked and hurriedly said good-bye to the kids.
"See you tomorrow, little brother!" Jack hollered over to Jamie before they sped off.
Arriving at Berk, Hiccup and the rest of the Viking teens and their dragons took them on a grand tour of the whole island.
The Cove was their last stop.
"Wow…So this is where you and Toothless met, Hiccup? It's so peaceful here…" Sapphire said as she settled on the grass with Tridacna curling up near the pond. "Sure is…" Astrid agreed with her, breathing in the fresh woodland air.
Suddenly they heard a small splash. Blitz had scooped a fish out of the water and ate it.
"Good fishing there, buddy." Jack remarked before 'Gaacckk!' a regurgitated fish tail came out of the Himalayan Fury's mouth and landed in his lap. The other dragons whined and looked away while Toothless smirked.
He had a feeling what his cousin wanted…
"Well…This is kind of gross…" Jack had a semi-disgusted look on his face.
"Um…You might not like what I'm about to tell you Jack but…If you want to fully earn either a Night Fury or Himalayan Fury's respect, you're gonna have to…" Hiccup managed to tell him before pointing at the slimy, cold fish tail and opening his mouth.
Jack thought that the 16 year old Viking was kidding and laughed, "Heh, good one…"
His face fell when he realized that Hiccup wasn't joking.
"Oh Manny…" he muttered before looking at his dragon. Blitz had a begging, puppy dog look on his face that was so endearing, Jack finally caved in.
Hesitatingly, the winter spirit picked up the regurgitated fish tail and gulping nervously, took the smallest bite he could manage while the others watched.
"He's gonna puke…He's gonna puke…" Ruffnut and Tuffnut chanted before Angrid shushed them up.
Fishlegs leaned over to Hiccup. "You did that too?" he whispered. The auburn haired Viking teen nodded. "I can still remember how it tasted…" he whispered back.
"Gross!" Snotlout exclaimed before Astrid elbowed him in the ribs.
Sapphire meanwhile watched as Jack struggled to chew.
Jack looked like he was about to get sick.
'I'd blow chunks too if I had to do that.' She thought sympathetically. As a strict non fish eater, the Guardian of Equality felt sorry for both Jack and the fish.
Finally, Jack managed to choke down the mouthful and shuddered.
He definitely wasn't gonna be able to forget how that disgusting piece of fish tasted for a while…
"You okay?" the Guardian of Equality asked him. "Yeah…I'll live…" he muttered, turning a little bit green.
"Still up for flying?" Angrid asked him this time. Jack shook his head. Chances were that he was gonna lose his lunch if he tried to fly now.
"I swear to the moon I'll never be able to eat fish again…" he groaned, lying down on the grass. "Well that's fine with me. That's one less person eating my aquatic friends." Sapphire giggled.
Jack just rolled his eyes before looking up at Blitz with a look that clearly said, 'If I get sick, I'm blaming you.' His loyal dragon, on the other hand, just gave him a lick.
"At least he passed the final test." Hiccup said to Toothless, who chuckled in the only way a dragon can.
Jack still didn't feel so good when they came back to the Pole. It took a great amount of effort to hold down the contents of his stomach until North popped in on them at the Globe Room.
"Dinner's in two hours, Jack. We're having sashimi tonight." The Russian boomed.
Sapphire anxiously looked at Jack. The winter spirit instantly felt his stomach lurch.
"…Raw fish?" he gulped.
"Sliced up raw fish." North smiled before noticing that the Guardian of Fun was beginning to turn green.
Jack felt his bile beginning to rise up.
"If you excuse me…!" he managed to say before flying off to his room to throw up and then probably wash his mouth out with soap.
The Guardian of Wonder looked at the Guardian of Equality, concerned. "Is he alright? Is he sick or something?" he asked worriedly. "He probably just ate something his stomach didn't agree to, North. I think he doesn't have much of an appetite right now but I'm sure Jack will be fine by tomorrow." Sapphire said casually.
'Hopefully…' she silently added.
Just then Sandy arrived, just in time for Art and Sign Language Class. The Guardian of Dreams waved to her.
"Good evening, Sandy. Just set up wherever you like. Jack will be along shortly." North told his old friend.
The Sandman nodded and went over to a chest where the art supplies were kept along with some necessary charts. A few minutes later, Jack came back, albeit he looked a tiny bit paler than usual. That revolting ritual of respect was still fresh in his mind. Sandy looked at the Guardian of Fun and formed a question mark over his head.
"Believe me, you do not wanna know." The winter spirit grimaced as he took a seat at his desk with Sapphire.
Deciding not to venture any further into Jack's cryptic reply, Sandy put up the sign language chart up and the lesson was underway.
Carefully following their teacher's hands, Sapphire and Jack exchanged messages such as 'How are you doing?' and 'Nice day isn't it?' They also learned some new signs like the signs for, 'Follow me this way!', 'Going somewhere?' and 'I'm busy at the moment.'
Sapphire then piped up with a question, in sign language of course. 'What's today's art lesson?'
Sandy smiled, moving onto Art.
Today, it was about the different styles of crests. Sandy formed some vivid sand images of all kinds of family, academy and organization crests, letting the two teenage Guardians take a good look at them. Now he challenged them to create a crest of their own.
Picking up their pencils and sketchpads, Jack and Sapphire got to drawing. Five minutes before the time, they submitted their creations.
Sandy was impressed by Jack's crest, which mostly consisted of blue and white snowflakes encircled by pine boughs and marveled at Sapphire's aquatic themed crest, made up of a ring of starfish and a beautiful, elegant dolphin and some colorful corals and fish.
Beautiful.
But then Sandy noticed another drawing at the back of both Guardians' crests.
Curious he turned the pages, and saw that they had drawn the exact same thing.
A spiraling red dragon, the Berk Crest.
The golden man showed them the drawings. Quickly Sapphire and Jack made up an excuse. "Oh gee! Would you look at the time! Dinner's probably waiting at the Palace for me, Sandy, ok, have to go, later!" Sapphire then hurriedly left the Globe Room.
Jack then said. "Not really feeling that well and I have a lot of homework to do. Tell North I'm skipping dinner, Sandy, thanks!" before heading off to his room.
Sandy scratched his head in confusion.
What was all that hurrying about?
But he decided not to pry and let them be.
Forming an airplane made out of dream sand, the Sandman left Santoff Claussen.
Meanwhile, Jack was going past North's office when he noticed the Russian making something. Curious, he silently went in to get a better look.
The Guardian of Wonder was melting a bit of bronze in an open fire, Phil and another Yeti assisting him in handling the molten metal. Phil's companion spotted Jack standing in a corner and nudged North muttering, "Garbhal Rawrd!"
The Russian quickly dropped the melted bronze into a pot Phil was holding before whirling around to face Jack.
"What's that supposed to be?" the winter spirit asked him, eyeing Phil's pot skeptically. "Gubard Dawhardel Dwee!" Phil grumbled to him.
Able to understand Yettish, Jack rolled his eyes. "Well I have the right to know what's being made here while I'm under his care." He said, looking at North before adding, "And I was just asking, you know."
North then promptly harrumphed before those two could launch into a full argument. "If you must know my boy, I was just making some…adjustments to the reindeer's shoes." He said merrily. Jack raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't it be better if you use iron to make the shoes?"
North laughed. "I thought I'd mix those two up a little."
Nodding absentmindedly, Jack gazed at a rack containing some of North's old weapons. A small yet sharp knife with a bear carving on the handle caught his eye.
"Is that yours?" he asked, pointing at it. North smiled. "My old hunting knife…Those were the days." He mused before getting up and pulling it down from the weapons rack.
Then to the Yetis; surprise, North thrust it into Jack's hands. The Guardian of Fun carefully ran his finger across the smooth silver.
"Take it. I haven't used that old thing since my youth. Might as well let another youth put it to good use." The Guardian of Wonder told him gently. Jack seemed mildly stunned but managed to smile a bit. "Thank you." He said before turning around to leave, shutting the door behind him.
"Alright let's get this finished." North then took out the slightly cooled bronze from Phil's pot and he and the Yetis continued working on the metal, shaping it into a perfect circle.
Definitely not a reindeer's shoe.
Meanwhile, Sapphire bumped into Marina in the Palace's halls. The swan had cut her visit to the Himalayas short and was eager to know of her friend's new experiences in Berk. When Sapphire mentioned the part where Jack had to eat a regurgitated fish, the swan honked with laughter.
"Blitz made him do what now?!" she laughed as they walked down the hallway leading to the Vault of Secrets to do a routine check on the inside and outside of it. Sapphire lightly smiled. "I have to be honest, I felt bad for him. And Blitz's cute look made him give in." she said as she opened the Vault and they went in.
Every relic from both the Golden Age and the Dark Ages was stored in the massive room. Special enchantments were placed over the evil items to make sure that nothing was tainted with darkness.
And after Sapphire's stunt of blasting the Vault's doors open a year ago, more protective spells were cast over the entire Vault. Sometimes the young girl still felt a twinge of guilt over that. But she brushed those old feelings aside. After all, all was forgiven and she still had some work to do before hitting the sack.
Quickly she checked on everything with her swan friend.
So far…nothing amiss.
Then she passed by a display case filled with artifacts from the War of Dreams and Nightmares and spotted a beautiful platinum and silver double bladed battle axe. Sapphire stared at it for quite a long while, Marina eventually got worried and fetched Mother Nature, Father Time and Millennium.
Fortunately the water spirit was only entranced by the weapon and not under some spell.
"Ah…A beauty isn't it? It was used in the War billions of times. Took down quite a large army of Nightmares, that axe." Millennium pointed with one talon at the axe.
Sapphire merely nodded until she noticed Father Time unlock the display case. "Shame if this were to just be forever kept under lock and key." The great Guardian of Time murmured before giving the battle axe to her.
"Are you…sure about this?" the Guardian of Equality looked apprehensive as she held the surprisingly lightweight thing. "But of course. We know that relic will be put to good use under your hands dear." Mother Nature smiled warmly.
Smiling Sapphire told them she was still full and that she'll go for one more routine worldwide check as well as thanked them graciously before leaving the Vault.
"What're you going to do with that?" Marina tapped the axe handle with her beak. "It's actually for Astrid. But I think something still needs to be done. Anyway let's see what the night life in Berk's like. We're meeting Jack at the Pond." Sapphire replied as they left the Palace of Beginnings.
Parents huddled close to their children's beds as they all tossed and turned fitfully. Anglo had decided to take the women, children and elderly into Frostbite Hall so they could be safe. But no sooner had the children settled down for the night, black sand began dancing over their heads, ridding them with horrible nightmares. Anglo the Mighty was getting worried.
'Odin's Ghost what is this magic Alvin has unleashed on us?' he thought as the fighting Nightmares suddenly retreated back to the Outcast ships docked far out in the horizon.
Alvin smiled as his Nightmares reported to him the successful attempt on the children of the Shivering Shores.
Then an idea formed in his mind.
"You two, come here!" he barked to Savage and one of his men.
The two Outcasts came on his command.
"I have some very important jobs for you but first…Allow me to give you a little…upgrade." He said maliciously before two Nightmares came forward. "Uh…Alvin sir?" the other Outcast paled as the black horses began to snort, their yellow eyes glowing. "What are they doing?!" Savage yelped when the Nightmares began to gallop around them, black sand covering them, muffling their cries.
Outcast soldiers gasped as the sand covered Savage and his comrade…And turned them into…Nightmare Soldiers!
"Go to the neighboring tribes. Add a touch of fear to every child's dream. But stay away from Berk. We save that island for last…" Alvin said darkly.
Nodding the black sand covered Outcasts with now evil yellow eyes mounted on two more Nightmares and took off into the night.
Alvin then turned to his other men and grinned evilly. "Alright…Who's next?" Instead of two tones coming out, only Pitch's voice was heard.
Anglo and his men saw black sands cover the Outcast ships and screams rang out into the frigid night air. "Stay in position! We don't know what they're up to but we better be ready!" the Shivering Shores chief ordered his men.
The battle that was far from over…Was soon about to become a war.
After both doing a routine check and opening the portal later at the Pond near Burgess and giving the allergy potion to Marina for safety precautions, Jack and Sapphire along with Marina were now at Berk.
"Hmm…Not much excitement going on at night…" Marina remarked, seeing how most Vikings were just chatting or drinking tankards of mead.
"Same thing with most nights during my time unless there was a festival." Jack added as they saw Hiccup and the rest of the Viking teens hanging out in front of the Hofferson family's place along with their dragons.
But to their worry, Blitz and Tridacna had their heads shoved into large barrels…and they seemed to be barfing.
"What happened to them?" Jack inquired as he tried to ease the poor Himalayan Fury's pain.
"You okay girl? I brought you some Blue Oleander." Sapphire then took out a few blue flowers out of her bag, which immediately made the other dragons cover their noses and back off, for fear they'd get sick again.
After a few moments of dry heaving, Blitz and Tridacna took their heads out of the barrels and crooned weakly at the two Guardians.
Tridacna eagerly munched on the Blue Oleander Sapphire brought her.
"What were they throwing up?" Marina grimaced as she peered into the barrels full of dragon vomit. "My Yak Nog. Which everyone has actually hated ever since I first made it during Snoggletog two years ago." Astrid said, shooting a deliberate glance at Hiccup, who shrank back.
"I couldn't tell you your holiday drink sucked because well…You looked so happy trying to spread some holiday cheer." He explained.
Jack and Sapphire looked puzzled before Ruffnut showed them a glass she was about to empty, full of the vile ooze which didn't look as appetizing as North's eggnog, and they shuddered.
"For your own health, do not drink the Yak Nog…" Tuffnut whispered to them.
"Thank Thor she only makes it during Snoggletog season but with you guys new around here, she decided to make an exception." Snotlout told them.
"So Snoggletog's what you call Christmas here?" Jack cocked his head. "Well yeah…That Christmas name sounds a lot better but we don't want to break the tradition handed down from our forefathers." Fishlegs replied modestly.
"But why the most unusual name for the holiday?" Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Why we chose that name is beyond my comprehension." Hiccup told her before Angrid came out of the house with a tray of cups and a big steaming tankard of more Yak Nog.
"Oh dear…More of yours, Astrid?" Marina glanced at the blonde Hofferson. Astrid shook her head. "I taught her my recipe. She…made a few changes to it. If you guys think my original's bad, wait till you try my sister's." she said knowingly.
"Finally finished my first batch! Would any of you want some?" Angrid said brightly.
The teens and dragons looked at the concoction.
It was overcooked black in color, smoke rising up from it, unusually vile mystery objects floating around it and smelled like burnt yak hair.
Immediately Toothless, Stormfly, Magnus, Meatlug, Hookfang, Barf and Belch, Blitz and Tridacna reared back in disgust while their Riders cautiously took a step back.
Angrid's Yak Nog? A thousand times scarier than Astrid's.
"No thanks, Angrid…I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to yak." Jack quickly made up an excuse as the regurgitated fish in his stomach threatened to make another appearance. Looking at that potentially toxic substance was enough to make him feel sick all over again.
"Allergic to yak? What a coincidence, so am I!" Marina said quickly.
"Still full from dinner, sorry." Sapphire said apologetically.
The other Viking teens made up excuses as well.
"Oh well, suit yourselves. I'll let everyone else in the village try first. But maybe I should add a few more spices…" Angrid then left, much to everyone's relief.
"That was a close one!" Tuffnut sighed out in relief. "No kidding. It was disgusting!" his twin sister agreed with him.
"Man that Nog smelled worse than yours." Snotlout said to Astrid before he got a fist to the face in return.
Fishlegs just shuddered and went to Meatlug for comfort.
Deciding to just forget about what they had just seen altogether, the other teens left on their dragons while Sapphire and Jack proceeded to brush their dragons' teeth and get them ready for bed.
"You know…I think those two are ready to let you ride them." Hiccup remarked, seeing how comfortable Blitz and Tridacna were. "Tomorrow? As in we can have flying lessons tomorrow?" Sapphire asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.
"Well not yet. First, we gotta make saddles for them. We can draw up some plans tomorrow, gather up some materials and make them and if we have time, maybe. Oh yeah! Trader Johann's coming by tomorrow. Maybe we can find some of the things we need on his ship. But you two will have to trade with him." He replied before brushing Toothless' teeth as well.
"What should we trade him?" Jack finished brushing and cleaning Blitz's teeth and gums and was now using a thin strip of rope to floss the Himalayan Fury's sharp retractable teeth. "Just about anything but if you really want a good deal, give him something from your world. New things often catch his attention." Hiccup told him before finishing up on his best friend and wished them good night and left with the others.
"Something from our world, huh? That shouldn't be too hard." Marina said thoughtfully.
Sapphire and Jack were already coming up with barter ideas as they helped their dragons get comfy for bedtime.
"Night, buddy. See you tomorrow." Jack gently gave Blitz a scratch behind his ears. "Sweet dreams Tridacna. Good night." Sapphire sang a soft lullaby to her Scauldron.
Purring contentedly, both dragons fell asleep. Feeling sleepy themselves, Jack, Marina and Sapphire quickly went back to their world to get some shut eye.
But not without getting their items for trading ready.
With North's permission, Jack managed to get an old snow globe. It couldn't open portals anymore but it was still pretty and Sapphire easily found a large mother of pearl shell in her underwater abode.
As they were about to settle in for the night, Jamie and Layla called using the special communication systems they had.
"Hey Jamie what's up?" Jack grinned as the boy's face popped up on his room's snow globe.
"Hi Layla whatcha' doing up so late tonight?" Sapphire smiled at her little sister through her water orb.
But then they noticed that both kids were looking concerned, making both Guardians instantly concerned. Had something happened? Were they having nightmares?
Finally both kids opened their mouths and what they said sorely disappointed the two teenage Guardians.
"You're both going to camp for three weeks?" Jack asked Jamie, stunned. "Actually all of us are going. I'm sorry I didn't tell you any sooner." Jamie said apologetically.
"Donnie and I just found out about it this afternoon after you and Jack left. Sorry…" Layla said to her sister, a guilty look on her face. "Don't be sorry sis. Going to camp's pretty fun, just be careful okay?" Sapphire advised her gently.
Both kids then said good night and the snow globe and water orb went blank.
Sighing, Sapphire and Jack decided to call each other.
"Three whole weeks without the kids…That's not gonna be much fun…" Jack said dejectedly. "I know… But well…we have dragon training to look forward to, right?" Sapphire told him through her water orb.
Jack smiled a little at his girlfriend's face in his snow globe. "At least we still have some way to occupy ourselves aside from Guardian training." He agreed with her. "We sure do. You excited to get on Blitz and fly faster than the wind?" the water spirit asked him coyly. "Is that a trick question?" the Guardian of Fun grinned.
Sapphire laughed. Jack always knew how to make her giggle, which she loved about him.
"Night Saph…" Jack said softly. "Sweet dreams, Jack…" Sapphire said before they hung up.
Then to their surprise, Jamie and Layla called again.
"Oh yeah, Jack I almost forgot! You're good at snowboarding, right?" Jamie asked the winter spirit, showing him an orange and green skateboard. "Yeah but…that's a skateboard." Jack pointed out. "I know but if you're good at snowboarding then that means you're good at skateboarding, right?" Jamie said.
Jack rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. Sure he'd gone boarding a bunch of times before, but he wasn't exactly a professional. Still, he was pretty good at it, he had to be honest with himself.
"Well yeah, maybe a little…Why?" he cocked his head confused at his surrogate little brother. "I was wondering if you could teach me a few moves when I come back. Is…that okay with you, big brother?" Jamie grinned at him.
Jack thought about it for a second before he smiled and nodded.
"Really?! You'll really teach me?" Jamie said excitedly. "Trust me Jamie, after my lessons, you'll be a professional shredder in no time. I swear to Manny, I promise." Jack said to him.
"AWESOME!" Jamie whooped loudly before his mother's voice came from the hallway. "Jamie, go to sleep young man!" "Yes mom!" the boy replied before looking back at his snow globe.
"Okay I'll see you in three weeks. Bye!" Jack's snow globe then blanked out once more.
Meanwhile at Sapphire's place, Layla asked her sister a favor. "You see mom and dad are gonna get Donnie a new bike when we come back from camp. He's been dying to have it. You think you could help me help him ride it when we come back?" the second Aquamarie asked hopefully. "Sure thing. Love to." The Guardian of Equality readily agreed.
"Yay!" Donnie's face suddenly popped in the water orb.
Sapphire's parents' voices suddenly sounded from the background. "Go to sleep, you two."
"OKAY!" both siblings yelled before smiling and turning to their older sister. "Bye you guys. See you in three weeks." Sapphire then plopped her water orb down.
Then both Guardians went to sleep.