Note: I do NOT own ROTG nor do I own HTTYD.
Chapter 16
"Why'd you tell Jack-Jack that?" Sophie whispered as she and her brother huddled under the covers. "I don't know…I got so mad I just spat it out." Jamie groaned.
It had just been a few hours after he and Jack had their huge fight and now, he was feeling really guilty. Their mom was already asleep so the two siblings were able to talk in Jamie's room in secret.
The 12 year old kid sighed and pulled out a framed picture under his pillow. It was a photo of him and Sophie taken last winter, sledding down an ice track around the town park with Jack hovering over them smiling widely.
The three of them looked so happy…
Jamie smiled as he and his sister remembered. But his smile quickly faded when Jack suddenly began to fade away from the picture! Jamie yelped and dropped the frame onto his bed and shut his eyes.
"Jamie…?" Sophie looked at him worriedly.
Jamie shook his head and tried to calm down. 'I believe, I believe, I believe…' he thought hard before opening his eyes.
The boy sighed in relief when he saw Jack in the picture again fully.
But a seed of worry was now within him. It was happening…
He was slowly starting to lose his belief in Jack Frost. What would happen to him if he began to lose his belief in the other Guardians?
"Soph, you better get to bed before mom finds out." He told his sister quietly. Sophie brushed her blonde bangs aside and looked up at her big brother with worried blue eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked in a tiny voice. Jamie nodded and forced himself to smile before taking his little sister to her room. "Yeah I'm fine, Soph. Sweet dreams." He said as he tucked her in and tiptoed back to his room.
Back at the Aquamarie residence, Layla was panicking. She had been staring at the photo of her family with Sapphire as a Guardian ever since they fought when her sister's image began to fade. She had screamed, ran to Donnie's room, told him about it and now, the two of them were with their parents.
"She just started fading from the picture! I swear I saw it with my own eyes!" she exclaimed. "Quick, start chanting the mantra!" her seven year old brother told her urgently.
Shutting their eyes, the two of them chanted, "I believe, I believe, I believe…" Their parents seemed amused at their children's worries.
"Mom, Dad it's not funny! If this is happening, it means I'm gonna stop believing in the Guardians!" Layla looked at the picture again and to her relief, Sapphire's image was still there.
Mrs. Aquamarie cupped her daughter's chin in her hands. "Sweetheart I'm sure this is all because of that fight you three had a while ago. I think the best way to remedy this situation is that you and Donnie make up with Sapphire tomorrow." She advised.
"Will she even be here tomorrow? She was already MIA all day today." Donnie piped up moodily. "Just try to understand that your sister's already in the big time. She's got quite a big responsibility now, not just to you two but to every child in the world. She and the other Guardians might make it look so easy, but your mom and I are sure that Saph's still a bit scared and unsure. She probably did have a lot on her mind and that's why she forgot her promise." Mr. Aquamarie told them gently.
The two kids were thoughtful for a moment.
"Do you two miss her?" Layla asked them quietly. "Of course we do, Layla. Since she's not living with us anymore and has a new family now, your father and I miss Sapphire very much." Her mom replied softly smiling. "But we can rest easy since we know that the other Guardians are there for her. As long as she gets to visit us frequently, the two of us are fine with her being a Guardian." Her dad chimed in.
"Even when she has a new family?" Donnie cocked his head.
Both parents nodded.
"Tomorrow…I'm gonna go apologize to Saph." Layla said, looking determined. "Me too." Donnie said in agreement and their mom and dad smiled.
Hiccup and Astrid were confused.
As soon as they fell asleep, the two of them along with their dragons woke up to find themselves surrounded in darkness with only a faint glow around them to serve as light.
"Are we dreaming the same thing?" Astrid looked at the 16 year old Viking teen. "I think so…" the auburn headed teen shrugged. Stormfly and Toothless went closer to their Riders, feeling a little on edge.
Suddenly Jack and Sapphire wandered into their space.
"What are you guys doing here?" Jack looked mildly surprised to see them and his girlfriend as well. "I was just about to ask the exact same thing." Sapphire said, raising her right eyebrow quizzically.
The four teens looked around but saw nothing but inky blackness in front of them.
"I have a bad feeling about this place…" Sapphire mumbled, shivering a bit. "What makes you say that?" Astrid had just finished that sentence when all of a suddenly, fiery red cracks appeared in the ground under their and their dragons' feet!
"Something tells me this is why." Jack pointed at the cracks.
A cross between a roar and a cackle made them all jump.
"Whatever that was, it does not sound good." Hiccup said as Toothless and Stormfly began to get agitated.
Then to make their dream turn into a nightmare, the ground began to shake as more cracks appeared, revealing bubbling magma!
"RUN!" Sapphire yelled.
They frantically ran across the slowly destabilizing terrain.
Desperate, they got on the dragons with Hiccup and Jack on Toothless, Astrid and Sapphire on Stormfly. They tried to fly up but black sand tendrils grabbed their dragons and forced them down.
When they crashed back down on the ground, something truly terrifying appeared out of the darkness. A large giant of a Viking with a cruel smile and murderous eyes, whom the two Viking teens and their dragons instantly recognized as…
"ALVIN?!" Hiccup and Astrid were shocked.
Then the Outcast changed into a lean grey skinned man, clothed in black with cold dark gold eyes…
"PITCH?!" Now it was Sapphire and Jack's turn to be shocked.
Then to their horror, their two enemies merged to become a single monstrous being!
Unable to look anymore, the four teens and Toothless and Stormfly turned to run but a giant chasm suddenly opened up in front of them!
The monster gave another malicious cackle and unleashed a wave of black sand to knock them into the gaping rift where a terrifying black dragon with horrible blood red eyes was waiting for them!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hiccup, Astrid, Jack and Sapphire screamed while Toothless and Stormfly roared in panic as the other dragon prepared to swallow them whole.
That was the reason why in two separate worlds, four teenagers woke up deep in the night screaming.
Jack took several deep breaths to calm down. When he had finally relaxed, the winter spirit couldn't go back to sleep. An elf that was just passing by saw the pale boy stick his head out the door before ducking back into his room, the door slightly ajar. Curious the elf peered in and saw Jack open a window and flew out into the frigid night air. But instead of running over to North to report that the Guardian of Fun had snuck out, the elf merely shrugged and resumed walking down the hallway.
While at the Palace of Beginnings, Marina was sleeping, floating on the water of the lagoon when a slight movement on the surface woke her up. She saw Sapphire's frightened face pop out of the water. The swan gave her a confused look.
"I had a bad dream…I can't sleep anymore." The water spirit whispered before a white haired boy suddenly appeared out of the sky and flew down toward them.
"You too?" Jack murmured and the Guardian of Equality nodded as she swam to the small beach near the lagoon. Sapphire then pulled the fang out of her pocket. "We need to know if they had the same nightmare." She gave it to Jack who proceeded to open up the portal.
"I'll cover for you two, just hurry back." Marina told them. The two Guardians nodded and jumped in.
Meanwhile in Berk, Astrid was mounting Stormfly.
"That nightmare must've been really scary." Angrid yawned from her bed. The elder Hofferson had woken up when her younger sister had screamed herself awake and had to calm her down since she kept her new axe under her pillow and was about to chop her nightstand in half.
"I just need a night flight to clear my head. Cover for me if Mom & Dad come up." Astrid said before flying off. She had only left her house when she saw Hiccup and Toothless flying aimlessly about.
"Don't tell me…" the auburn headed teen deadpanned when they made eye contact. "I wanna forget about it too." The 16 year old blonde shield maiden said tiredly.
Then a portal opened up in the clearing where the teens' houses were and they saw two familiar faces. A few seconds only passed before Blitz and Tridacna bounded over to Jack and Sapphire as soon as they came out of the portal. Hiccup and Astrid landed next to them.
"Let me guess, nightmares?" Jack asked them. "You had the same thing too?" Sapphire added. The two Viking teens were surprised but nodded.
"You guys wanna…?" Hiccup asked slowly as if not exactly sure what to say. "Talk about it?" Astrid finished for him.
The Guardians of Fun and Equality shrugged.
Blitz crooned and began playing around with Toothless while Tridacna played around with Stormfly.
"Let's split up…I need some girl time." Sapphire sided with Astrid. "We'll meet up later when we're done." Jack gestured to Hiccup.
Nodding, they got on their dragons and flew two separate paths.
Deciding to settle on a small hill, Jack got off Blitz along with Hiccup on Toothless. Their dragons decided to play around in the grass, which was actually dragon nip.
"Okay…So we all had the same dream. Being chased by a maniac who for some creepy reason, looks a lot like both of our archenemies." Hiccup said out loud. Jack nodded and began to twirl his staff absentmindedly.
"I've been meaning to ask, dude. What's the deal with Alvin? You and Toothless looked pretty unhappy to see him." He asked cautiously.
Hiccup put a hand to his chin. "Well for one big reason, he wants to train dragons but he mistreats them. You should've seen how he chained up Toothless when we got captured on Outcast Island once. He just isn't a good guy." He replied.
Jack nodded understandingly. "Yeah I've been caged up once by Pitch. If he hadn't taken my staff at the time, I would've gotten out and beaten him senseless." He remarked quietly.
Hiccup cocked his head. "Hey why do you hate the Boogeyman so much?" he asked.
The winter spirit looked at him curiously. Should he? Or shouldn't he?
"So this Pitch Black…You sound like you have a pretty big grudge against him." Astrid commented as she watched Stormfly play with Tridacna near the water while she and Sapphire sat on the sand of Thor's Beach.
Sapphire nodded her head. "You don't know the half of it. He's ruthless. If he wants to spread fear and darkness all over the world, he's willing to do anything. He's scared so many kids, he tried to eliminate my friends, he even…!" she managed to rant before she trailed off.
"He tried to smother fun with his Nightmares, he tried to hurt all my friends and he even tried to kill Sapphire." Jack said, a little angry edge in his tone.
Hiccup's eyes widened.
"But…we Guardians stick together. We have each other's backs so I…if I remember how Sapphire quoted it…did something both heroic and crazy stupid." Jack said.
"Which was…?" Hiccup asked before Toothless lumbered over to him and accidentally stepped on his prosthetic.
"Yow! Toothless!" the Viking boy yelped. Quickly the Night Fury left, a little embarrassed.
Jack looked at the metal leg curiously. "Was it…hard at first with that thing?" he inquired. Hiccup shrugged. "Not really. Everyone actually thinks it's pretty cool. It's kind of like a battle scar, not that it really matters that much to me. I'm kind of like Toothless now." He answered.
Jack glanced at said dragon who was play wrestling with his Himalayan Fury. "Oh yeah…one leg, one tail fin. You two are a matching pair." He chuckled.
"Anyway, what did you do?" Hiccup asked again, hoping to get answer.
At first Jack didn't say a word.
But Hiccup saw his hands reach for the hem of his jacket…
"Pitch killed Jack? But he's still here! What do you…?" Astrid said, shocked before Sapphire interrupted.
"I managed to revive him…But, yes, he was dead. And I brought him back. Still…it was the scariest thing to ever happen to me. It…It was so painful seeing him dead in North's arms, Astrid. The fun loving, energetic boy I knew and loved so…cold and still…It just felt so wrong. When Jack sacrificed himself to save me from Pitch and his Forbidden Dagger, I just couldn't believe he'd do something so brave yet incredibly stupid for me. Then again, Jack's always been a stubborn guy and knowing him, he'd be willing to do it again. But it was so terrifying, Astrid. My greatest fear came true and I nearly lost Jack. It was just too scary for me and I never want anything like that to ever happen again." Sapphire said softly, her voice cracking as she shook her head.
Astrid gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I've been there before. When Hiccup fell off Toothless during the battle with the Red Death, my heart stopped. I thought he was dead. He scared the living daylights right out of me. And when he got captured by Alvin, I was pretty scared for him too." She told her gently.
Sapphire looked at her strangely. "You really hate that Alvin dude, don't you?" she asked her coyly. "Who wouldn't?" Astrid replied and they shared a laugh as they watched Tridacna tackle Stormfly and the Nadder fell into the water.
Hiccup gaped at the scar, speechless.
He was a little confused when Jack started to raise his hoodie up. Turns out he wasn't so scrawny than he originally thought. The winter spirit was actually in pretty good shape.
But Hiccup completely forgot about that when he saw it.
The huge scar on Jack's chest, right on the very spot his heart was located.
"Pitch did that?" he asked in shock, pointing at the dark line. Jack promptly pulled his jacket back down and nodded. "He used a Forbidden Dagger. It was painful." He said simply.
"That could've killed you!" Hiccup exclaimed. Jack shoved his hands into his pockets. "Actually it did. Sapphire saved me. When everything was all over, I found out from Father Time that I'd been gone for about eight and a half minutes." He admitted.
Hiccup's eyes widened again.
"I don't really like talking about it. Neither does Sapphire. It just makes her feel bad so I usually just keep it a secret from everyone. North and the others don't really wanna remember it either." The winter spirit told him, his icy blue eyes looking far into the night.
"So why'd you tell me about it?" the Viking teen inquired. "I don't know. I just felt like since you lost a leg, you probably knows what it's like to have a scar." Jack shrugged.
"Yeah…I know the feeling. Ever felt like an outcast in your life?" Hiccup asked him. "I was exactly like that for the majority of my immortal life. I lost count on how many times I've been literally walked through. I'm just glad that's all in the past now." Jack replied.
Hiccup was amazed at how he and the Guardian of Fun were so much alike…
"What was it like?" he asked timidly. Jack raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"You know…dying." The auburn headed Viking teen said. "Oh, that? Well…" the winter spirit suddenly trailed off.
Figuring he must've touched on a sensitive subject, Hiccup mumbled, "Sorry…Just curious…"
Jack organized his thoughts. "When Pitch stabbed me…It was like my whole life flashed before my eyes in an instant. At first it hurt all over. Then I started to feel sleepy and the last thing I saw was Sapphire slamming the Scepter of Creation onto the Pedestal of Beginnings. I felt really happy. But after that I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I can't remember anything else after that. In other words, that was something I hope I'll never have to experience ever again. It was scary." Jack finished, shuddering.
Hiccup nodded understandingly.
The two of them then lapsed into silence for a few moments and watched their dragons play.
"Well…This conversation's been pretty good." Hiccup remarked. "Yeah, I've been meaning to tell someone about my past for a while now. Thanks for listening, Hiccup." Jack whistled.
"No problem, Jack." The Viking teen grinned. Jack smiled and held out his fist. "It's called a fist bump." He explained upon seeing Hiccup's reaction.
Carefully the 16 year old copied it and the two of them fist bumped. Their dragons noticed that strange thing their Riders did and attempted to copy it too. The two boys laughed when they saw that. Leave it to those Furies to add some comedy to an ordinary night like this.
The four teens and their dragons met up at the Guardian Glen.
Out of sheer boredom and laziness, they lay down on the grass and looked up to the heavens, stargazing.
A few minutes later, Sapphire sighed, "I feel like a jerk." Jack decided to add, "I feel like an idiot."
Hiccup and Astrid looked confused. Blitz and Tridacna warbled something to Toothless and Stormfly, who gave confused whines.
"Jerkidiot…Heh, good one Tridacna." Sapphire translated her Scauldron's warbles and she and Jack laughed a bit.
"What's up with you two?" Astrid asked them. The two Guardians sighed. "It's just that…We got into a fight with our siblings." Jack confessed.
"What'd you guys fight about?" Hiccup inquired. "We forgot some really important promises we made to them because…we were here and forgot." Sapphire said sheepishly.
Their two Viking friends were surprised for a few minutes. "Sorry…" they apologized.
"It wasn't any of your faults. It was ours. We kind of forgot about our 'schedule'. But…can you and the others do us a favor?" Jack asked.
Hiccup and Astrid looked at them curiously.
"Can you take care of Blitz and Tridacna for us? We're not coming here tomorrow. We just want to make it up to our brothers and sisters by spending a whole day with them." Sapphire requested.
"Sure thing." Hiccup grinned.
"Anything to help, you two." Astrid smiled.
The two Guardians smiled gratefully. Then they turned to Blitz and Tridacna. The Himalayan Fury and Scauldron cooed and nuzzled their Riders affectionately.
"Alright buddy, I can't come tomorrow so don't cause any trouble and be a good dragon, okay?" Jack gently scratched Blitz behind his ear flap. The white dragon purred like a kitten and obediently nodded and roared "Jaaaaccckkk Jaaaaccckkkk!" He would be a good dragon and be patient and wait for his Rider to come back.
Tridacna screeched yes in reply before giving Sapphire a lick. "That's a good girl. Behave yourself tomorrow, okay?" The Guardian of Equality giggled.
Their dragons nodded again.
Saying good-bye, Jack and Sapphire flew away to the forest and opened a portal home. What they didn't know…Was that they were being watched.
Osgood the Pigeon was tired and frustrated. The poor bird had flown to the Meathead Tribe only to find the island already under siege. He tried to go to other tribes, but everywhere the little Shivering Shores messenger bird went, Nightmare Soldiers and their Nightmare steeds were there as well.
The only safe place Osgood could think of going to now…was Berk.
And the little pigeon hoped that the island of Berk was still untouched by the darkness.
With a determined coo, the pigeon flew on across the ocean.
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