Disclaimer Note: I do NOT own ROTG or HTTYD. All rights go to their respective owners.
Chapter 17
The next morning, Jamie, Sophie, Donnie and Layla were surprised to see two teenage Guardians waiting for them patiently across the street in front of Jamie's house. Their friends were already there too.
"Wow, you four sure like to sleep in. It's like, 10AM already!" Caleb smiled. "What took you so long?" his twin chimed in.
Jamie then looked at Jack and noticed the blue and white skateboard in his hands.
"Can I make it up to you today?" the Guardian of Fun asked hopefully. "What about your lessons?" Sophie asked him and Sapphire.
"We asked for a day off. Today, it's all about you kids." Sapphire replied smiling before looking at Donnie. "And I promise you I won't let you fall off your bike. Just make sure you wear your helmet." She said.
Donnie instantly broke into a wide grin. "I'll be right back! Come on Soph! Let's find my helmet. Cupcake can you get my bike for me?" he said excitedly. "Lead the way Don." Cupcake laughed as she followed the little boy and girl.
Pippa, Monty, Caleb and Claude looked at Jamie and Layla and back to Jack and Sapphire.
"Well? Are you friends again?" Pippa looked at them expectantly. The two kids glanced at each other and then at their Guardian friends.
"About what I said yesterday…I'm sorry." Jamie apologized sincerely. Jack smiled. "I'm sorry too little brother. Apology accepted." He playfully ruffled the kid's brown hair.
It was Layla's turn to speak up. "I'm really sorry Saph…Can you ever forgive me?" she said guiltily. Sapphire smiled. "No matter how many times you do me wrong, sis, I'll always forgive you. I'm sorry too." She gave her a kiss and Layla giggled.
"I'll get my board! Be right back guys!" Jamie then ran back to his house.
"So you two are going to be here the whole day?" Monty asked the two Guardians. Both of them nodded.
When the others came back (with Donnie wearing his Viking helmet this time), the fun began!
Along with Caleb and Claude, Jamie had a blast doing tricks on the half pipe with Jack. The Guardian of Fun was a pretty good teacher and his surrogate younger brother was a quick learner. In just a short while, he could already do basic tricks and rail grind.
While Jamie was having a blast skateboarding, Donnie was having the time of his life cruising down the street on his bike, his Viking helmet's shiny plastic gleaming in the morning light. Sapphire and Layla had to run like cheetahs to catch up and make sure he didn't get into any accidents.
And the whole day really was devoted to the children.
The nine kids and the two teens played together the whole day. From playing in the town park and having insane water fights (and secretly, snowball fights as well) in the kids' backyards, everything was great.
When it was sunset the others left, leaving Jack, Sapphire, Donnie, Sophie, Jamie and Layla. They went to the Pond and just looked down at the water.
"Phew! I'm beat!" Donnie laughed, flopping down on the ground.
"Same here!" Sophie giggled.
Jamie looked at Jack. "So are you two coming again tomorrow?" he asked him. "Not really sure…We've been skipping classes for a while…" the winter spirit suddenly felt a knot tighten up in his stomach.
"Why have you two been skipping?" Layla asked next. Sapphire felt her hair begin to get moist. But she had to hold her tongue. She and Jack swore to each other and Marina that they wouldn't tell and they were going to keep it that way.
"Look…we've just been busy with some really important things. What those things are… we can't really tell you…just yet." Sapphire said carefully.
"Have you two been making out again?" Jamie and Layla asked at the same time.
Both Guardians blushed. "NO!" they exclaimed quickly.
The kids just laughed.
"Well we better get home. Bye Saph!" Layla hugged her sister. "Thanks for helping me sis! This has been the best day ever!" Donnie exclaimed. "Bye Jack-Jack!" Sophie waved as she toddled off ahead with Donnie.
Jamie grinned and proceeded to walk away from the Pond with Layla. Jack and Sapphire smiled. Today had definitely been a great day.
Suddenly Marina appeared in the sky to pick Sapphire up. "Oh yeah, here's the fang. You open the portal tomorrow." Sapphire handed Jack the precious fang. "Hey since you held onto it for two days, I get to keep it for two days too." Jack pointed out. "Eh, why not?" Sapphire shrugged nonchalantly.
"I bet the Vikings and the dragons are missing you guys right now." Marina said, smiling. The trio flew up into the air, discussing their plans for tomorrow.
When they were out of sight, Jamie and Layla jumped out from their hiding place behind a nearby tree.
"I just knew they were hiding something!" Jamie said triumphantly. Layla cocked her head. "Well what're we going to do about it?" she hadn't really felt comfortable on spying or eavesdropping on her sister and her boyfriend. But she'd been wondering on what her older sister's been hiding and wanted to know.
Jamie then pulled out a snow globe from his pocket. "I'll tell you tomorrow. It's going to be an exciting." He said deviously. The second eldest Aquamarie sighed and shook her head. "Why do I have the feeling that 'exciting' is going to end up being 'insane'?" she wondered out loud as she and Jamie went home for dinner.
Pitch was really annoyed. He had hoped that today, he would be able to send troops to attack Berk while Jack and Sapphire were there and outnumber them. But the two teens never showed up ever since his spies had reported the night before that the two wouldn't be coming back today.
At that moment he was pondering on what his next move would be and Alvin managed to separate himself from him.
"If I were you, Black, wait for all the Guardians to come here. It'll be faster and cleaner to rid of them all in one go." The Outcast chuckled.
Pitch was surprised. Last time the man separated him, he was seething with anger. Now, he seemed okay with being possessed by the Boogeyman and was even offering suggestions!
"Since when did you start wanting to help a man who played you like a puppet on a string?" he chuckled, a little amused. Alvin laughed good-naturedly. "I thought about the advantages of working with you. When you get your revenge, I can get my hands on Berk's dragon training secrets at the same time. It's win-win!" he said.
Pitch seemed amazed and clapped his hands. "Well I think I can take it into consideration. Now we just need to wait for the right moment when to strike." He smiled evilly. "I suggest you send more spies at daytime." Alvin suggested.
Pitch then called a few Nightmares and sent them off. "You do realize I'll have to possess you again now?" he looked at Alvin suspiciously. "Just get it over with. It'll be less painful for me." Alvin said bluntly.
'That's more like it…Somebody who goes along with the plan instead of fighting it.' Pitch laughed as he possessed the Outcast once more.
Finally, they could make some considerable progress…
"Oh thank Odin it's over!" Jack shouted throwing his hands up in the air in relief. "That had to be the most exhausting training session we ever had! Thank Thor Phil was able to take a hint and get off of us before we were smothered to death!" Sapphire panted wiping the sweat off her brow.
Not only did they have to practice using their weapons more efficiently, the two teenage Guardians had to do hand to hand combat with the Yetis.
And Phil and his friends were tough fluff balls to take down.
Now they were headed for the stables where Marina was waiting. As usual the reindeer were butting antlers again.
"Alright break it up guys!" Jack went farther ahead to pacify Donner and Prancer while Sapphire went to her comrade and checked the things she had piled on the saddle.
A basket of fish and a few bundles of fine cloth she planned to take to the dressmaker as thanks for helping her alter her riding vest. But something caught her eye. Was it her or were there more sacks loaded on Marina's back?
"I must be working too hard…" she muttered shaking her head as Jack broke up the brawl between the two quarrelling reindeer.
"You two better be ready. Something tells me the first things to greet you are two very excited and happy, happy dragons." Marina told them, a smile on her beak. "Like we need to be told of that…I'm guessing Blitz is gonna tackle me first before drowning me in his spit." Jack said jokingly.
The three of them laughed and took to the skies.
Up in the air, Jack took out the fang and opened the portal. What Sapphire didn't know was that there were extra sacks on Marina's back. And what were in them, well…they were gonna find out soon enough.
It was a perfect sunny afternoon in Berk.
Blitz and Tridacna smiled to themselves as they flew and skimmed the clouds with their wings.
"Perfect day for a flight, right Saph?" Jack called over to the Guardian of Equality and her swan friend, flipping himself and his dragon upside down. Tridacna and Marina laughed.
"Okay, you have got to teach me how to do that, Jack!" Sapphire giggled at her boyfriend's antics.
Suddenly, Hiccup, Astrid and Angrid appeared alongside them with their dragons.
"You two up for a challenge?" Hiccup asked them, a grin on his face. Both teens smiled.
"We're game for anything. Lay it on us, Hiccup." Sapphire said gamely.
"Last one to the Peak has to clean the stables!" Astrid challenged the two.
"You're on!" Jack smiled.
"Then let's get started!" Angrid shouted, urging Magnus to speed up.
"Alright bud, let's go!" Hiccup and Toothless shot ahead. "Let's show them, Stormfly!" Astrid cheered as she and her Nadder picked up the pace and left the two Guardians and their dragons behind with Marina.
The swan then looked at them. "We're not going to let them outdo us right?!" she said coyly. "Not a chance! Let's go buddy!" Jack whooped as his Himalayan Fury gave a roar of excitement and they flew ahead. "Ready, girl?" Sapphire rubbed Tridacna's neck. The Scauldron screeched happily and they were off.
"Wait for me!" Marina squawked as she flapped her wings.
Laughing and shouting, they raced across the afternoon sky, enjoying the fresh air and cool breezes. Marina caught up with Angrid and Magnus as the other teens flew on ahead. They soared up higher over a cloud bank.
"Ah…This is nice…" the swan sighed. The eldest Hofferson smiled…until she saw one of the bundles on Marina's back move. A few seconds later, a little blonde girl's head popped it.
It was Sophie!
"Dragon!" the little Bennett giggled and started to wriggle out of the sack. "Oh Gods!" Angrid screamed as Sophie reached out to touch her Monstrous Nightmare's snout.
"Soph, no!" a 12 year old boy with brown hair yelped, coming out of his own bundle and tried to stop her.
"Marina you've got some passengers…four of them!" Angrid yelled as two more kids popped out of the sack, both with brown hair and equally terrified as they tried to keep Sophie from going near Magnus.
But the little girl reached out again…and began to teeter over the edge of Marina's body.
"NO!" Jamie screamed, grabbing his sister's arm, Layla and Donnie following suit to create a human chain-that fell off the giant swan!
"Uh-Oh…! JACK! SAPPHIRE!" Marina squawked as the four kids began to plummet.
Luckily the two teens in question weren't too far. They turned their dragons around and saw four specks falling down.
"Are those…?" Astrid squinted while Hiccup took out his spyglass and looked. "Um…Jack, Sapphire…" he said nervously.
But both Guardians were already zooming over to the four kids.
As they fell, Jamie, Sophie, Layla and Donnie kept screaming.
"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna diiiieee!" Donnie shrieked, keeping his hands on his Viking helmet.
"Quit screaming and being so negative! It's making me feel worse!" Layla yelled at him, helplessly flailing her arms and legs.
"Help! Help!" Sophie screamed, her blonde hair fanning out as she tumbled.
Jamie saw the ocean getting closer and closer. Shutting his eyes he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Someone! Anyone! Please, HELP US!" he prepared himself for the worst.
Suddenly he felt himself land on something and the wind whipping his hair back. "Good catch, Blitz. Jamie, are you okay?" a familiar voice made him open his eyes.
Jamie looked around.
To his relief, Sophie was safe…and was riding a blue dragon with spikes around its head and tail that was being ridden by a blonde Viking girl.
Donnie miraculously still had his Viking helmet on and was riding a green-eyed black dragon with a brown haired Viking boy with an unusual looking prosthetic leg while Layla was riding a giant aquatic looking dragon with Sapphire.
Then he turned around and saw Jack sitting behind him.
Jamie managed to get his voice back. "Jack? We're okay? And we're…?" he heard a croon and looked down and realized that he was alive, and riding a white dragon.
"No…way…" he breathed.
"Holy mollusks…" Layla said slowly.
"Hang on! We're headed for the sea stacks!" Sapphire called as the rock formations began to appear into view.
Toothless, Stormfly, Blitz and Tridacna, with their Riders, expertly weaved in and out the sea stack maze.
Donnie decided to ask Hiccup something. "So…Are you a Viking?" the 16 year old Viking teen smiled and nodded.
"I knew it! Vikings do exist!" the seven year-old exclaimed triumphantly grinning at his second older sister.
"And so are dragons! Whee!" Sophie laughed as Astrid kept her steady.
"This is so cool!" Layla laughed as she relished the ocean spray.
"And we're riding on dragons…We're riding on dragons!" Jamie whooped as they emerged from the sea stack maze and into the open air.
The four kids whooped and shouted in delight. They were having the most amazing time of their lives!
Jack and Sapphire looked at each other and smiled.
Then Marina, Angrid and Magnus came over to them-in the opposite direction, headed straight for them!
"Brake! Brake!" Donnie yelped. "There are no brakes!" Hiccup frantically tried to steer Toothless away along with Astrid and the two Guardians.
But their friends plowed straight into them and they all fell into a shallow part of the ocean.
"Well it could've been worse." Astrid quipped as they swam to shore.
Hiccup, Angrid, Jack and Sapphire just shook some of the excess water off their clothes. The dragons did the same thing and the kids laughed as they were sprayed.
Marina then looked at them sharply. "Okay…You four have some explaining to do." She told them sternly.
"You two were doing what?" Jack gaped at his little brother, shocked. "We know, we know! You shouldn't spy on other people. It's rude." Jamie said, feeling slightly guilty.
"And you four decided to sneak on board Marina when we left the Pole? How in Manny's name did you even get there?" Sapphire interrogated them. "We had one of those snow globes North gave us last Christmas with us." Layla explained.
They had reached the Academy and after introducing Jamie, Layla, Sophie and Donnie to the other Viking teens, they were now walking around the village of Berk.
"Whoa…" the four kids breathed in awe as they watched Vikings and dragons mingle with one another. Two Terrible Terrors scampered over to Donnie and Sophie.
"Dragon! Cute dragon!" Sophie giggled as she played a game of chase with the pink female Terror. "I had no idea dragons can be in this size! He's like a puppy!" Donnie laughed as the other one an orange male, licked his face.
Jamie couldn't stop asking Fishlegs questions about anything dragon related, the husky blond Viking could hardly keep up and Layla had to put a hand over his mouth to keep him from asking one more question.
"Your siblings sure are incredibly interested about us." Angrid quipped as Layla watched Astrid train with Stormfly, the duo flinging an axe and large spikes at target shields, in awe.
Suddenly a delicious scent wafted through the village…
"Mmm…Smells like candy…" Jamie was beginning to walk towards the smell. "Like chocolate…" Layla said dreamily and followed him.
Jack and Sapphire looked at the Viking teens in confusion.
"Hold on…Sweet scent of chocolate…?" Fishlegs racked his brains to try and remember something he read in the Book of Dragons.
Then Hiccup saw it.
A gigantic four headed dragon with the mouths resembling Venus Fly Trapper plants gobbling fish from a makeshift food dish in the plaza.
"Snaptrapper…" he said in amazement.
Not many Snaptrappers came to Berk yet here it was and the villagers weren't even noticing it. The Viking teens ogled the magnificent dragon, which now shifted its focus to Jamie and Layla. Jack and Sapphire immediately got on Blitz and Tridacna and prepared to swoop in and get the kids away from the beast should it turn aggressive.
"Hold your dragons, you two. Look." Astrid pointed to the two kids who were looking up at the Snaptrapper, their eyes wide.
Both of them had snapped out of their chocolate daze and shyly said, "Hi."
The Snaptrapper's four heads looked at each other for a moment before slowly lowering their heads down and allowed the children to pet them. Jamie had the two heads on the left side while Layla had the right side.
"Wow…A real dragon…And we're petting one with four heads!" Jamie softly exclaimed.
"This is so cool…Does this mean we've bonded with them?" Layla turned to her sister. "No one has ever bonded with a Snaptrapper before." She told her sister.
Jack grinned at Jamie. "Looks like you two are the very first to have a Snaptrapper as your dragon." He said.
Both kids looked at them, surprised. "You mean…We can come back here with you guys?" Donnie asked as his Terror playfully tugged at his pants leg. "Well not every day but, yes. The four of you can come here with us every now and then. As long as you keep in mind that this world and ours have different time shifts and most important of all, you keep all of this a secret." Marina pointed out.
Jamie, Layla and Donnie nodded eagerly.
"Don't worry. Our lips are sealed." Layla promised. "Your secret's safe with us." Jamie added before looking around. "Anyone seen Sophie?" he wondered out loud.
Suddenly they heard clatters and bangs coming from the forge. The pink Terror suddenly rushed out followed by Sophie.
"Wait for me, Terri!" the little girl squealed. Apparently she had already named the dragon & they had continued their game in the forge.
A few seconds later, Gobber emerged, looking flustered. "Kids these days…Turning the forge into their personal playground!" he muttered.
Well that made the teens burst out laughing.
Then Donnie's Terror fired a small flame at a nearby target shield which hit it dead center. "I'm gonna call you Sniper." He grinned at the little orange dragon.
"What're you two gonna name your dragon?" Hiccup asked Jamie and Layla. The two kids thought about it for a few minutes.
"I wanna name the heads on the left Aim and Fire." Jamie replied. "I'm naming the ones on the right Summer and Winter." Layla said calmly.
"How are you gonna tell them apart?" the Twins asked them. "Duh! Look at which side the heads are on!" Snotlout told them. The Twins looked at the Snaptrapper. "Oh yeah…" Tuffnut said realizing it. "That makes sense." Ruffnut mumbled.
Jamie and Layla just giggled and started playing with their dragon while Jack and Sapphire watched.
"I'll be honest with you, I'm glad we finally got to tell someone about this." Jack breathed out a sigh of relief. "Yeah me too…But…do you think it's safe for them to know about it?" Sapphire said, a bit worried.
Jack gently squeezed her hand. "We'll keep an eye on them, Sapphire. And the others will too and besides, they have their own dragon now." The Guardian of Fun reassured her. The Guardian of Equality looked at the children and back to the winter spirit. Finally she smiled. "Yeah…You're right." She nodded.
The afternoon went by and soon, it was time to head back. Jamie, Sophie, Donnie and Layla said good-bye to the Vikings and promised their dragons they'll be back soon before joining with the two Guardians and Marina to going to the Guardian Glen.
Blitz and Tridacna gave their Riders one last playful nuzzle before Jack opened up the portal.
"Oh yeah, almost forgot. You kids can't tell anyone about this." He showed them the dragon fang. "We won't!" they said in unison.
"Alright we better get going." Sapphire guided them into the portal with Marina.
Jack and Sapphire gave their dragons one last pat before jumping in.
'They know our secret and they have dragons of their own now…They'll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?' they both thought as the kids headed back home via snow globe.
Then it was back to their regular schedule again. At least they still had two more visits to make before this day was over.
Sophie kept her back to Bunny as she perfected her masterpiece.
"Alright, you little ankle biter, can I look at your art now?" the Guardian of Hope chuckled. He had decided to go visit his favorite kid and keep an eye on her while her mother was at work and Jamie had to run a quick errand.
"Almost done…And finished!" the four year-old showed her rabbit friend the colorful drawing, beaming.
Bunny looked at the drawing curiously, cocking his head. It was a toddler's drawing of a little pink lizard with wings, the name 'Terri, my Terrible Terror' scribbled at the bottom of the paper.
"Not bad…Where'd you find inspiration for this, Sophie?" he smiled warmly. "She's my dragon friend! You're not going to believe this but me, Jamie, Layla, Donnie, Jack and Sapphire went flying on dragons today! It was so much fun!" Sophie giggled, running around the yard, flapping her arms and roaring like a dragon.
Bunny's ears twitched.
What did Sophie mean?
Carefully he retraced his steps and then it hit him.
The two teens' unusual disappearing acts…Their improvement in their lessons when they entered the Viking era of their syllabus and their improved performance in Guardian training…
It all made sense now!
"Hey there's your brother. I have to go Sophie." He noticed Jamie come from behind the back yard fence. "Aww…" Sophie looked sad and pouted.
"Don't worry little princess, I'll come back and visit." Bunny smiled patting her on the head, waved to Jamie and thumped his foot.
A rabbit hole opened up and he jumped in. But Bunny wasn't headed for his Warren. He was headed for the Palace of Beginnings.
The other Guardians were there so it was easy for him to tell them what he discovered.
At first, North, Tooth and Sandy didn't understand. But Millennium spoke up, "Now that you mention it…The three of us have been keeping watch on the portals being opened up around the world. A portal leading to another world, another time has been opened a lot of times as of late."
Father Time stroked his beard. "It could be them…" he said.
Mother Nature seemed concerned and said, "Perhaps we should ask Jack and Sapphire about this."
Bunny shook his head. "They'll just deny everything. Way I see it, I think the next time the portal gets opened, we should follow them."
The other Guardians looked surprised.
"Isn't that spying?" Tooth asked uncertainly.
Sandy formed a question mark over his head which meant 'Are you sure we should do that?'
Bunny nodded seriously.
North smiled at his old friend's stubbornness. "I think Bunny is right. Jack and Sapphire…They've been acting differently for the past few weeks. I think we all have the right to know what is going on. The two of them might become mad should they catch us red handed, but we have to know the truth." He said with full certainty.
Slowly all of them agreed.
They agreed to carry out their plan the day after tomorrow. That way the two teens wouldn't get suspicious.
They all felt slightly guilty but like North said… they had the right to know the truth.
Yay! Our two Guardians have made up with their little brothers and sisters!
Now, how will the Guardians react to Jack and Sapphire's dragons, the Vikings of Berk and pretty much the whole thing with them Dragon Training?