Note: I do NOT own ROTG or HTTYD (no matter how much I wish I did…)
Chapter 23
The rays of early morning filtered through the windows of Santoff Claussen. Jack groaned and tried to turn away from the light.
"Oof!" he rolled off the couch and landed face first on the carpeted floor with a grunt.
Sapphire groggily opened her eyes to find her boyfriend on the floor, slightly dazed. "Did we fall asleep?" she cocked her head in bewilderment. "Judging by your bedhead, I'd say we did." Jack smirked noting the water spirit's disheveled blue locks.
Sapphire blushed and attempted to smooth down her hair. That's when Phil popped in. "Wardel Buffet!" he waved a massive hand over to them.
"You wanna grab some breakfast?" Jack translated for him. "Love to. I'm starving." His girlfriend smiled and got off the couch.
The other Guardians were patiently waiting for them.
"So…What're you two planning to do on this fine day?" Millennium asked them as he ate his fried caterpillars.
The two teens shrugged.
"Just go around the world for a routine check and train, I guess." Jack replied grabbing a muffin. "Train who? Yourselves or your dragons?" Mother Nature asked next.
Sapphire shared a deliberate glance with Jack. They may be happy that their commanding seniors were beginning to get used to dragons but it didn't mean they had forgotten the conversation they had eavesdropped on yesterday.
"Both of us obviously that is, if you guys think that it's too dangerous for us." She said quietly, making them flinch slightly at her words. "Since when did we consider your agenda dangerous, my dear?" Father Time asked slightly confused.
The Guardians of Fun and Equality looked up from their breakfast to stare at them coldly. Baby Tooth chirped something to Tooth who looked at them guiltily.
"You heard us talking yesterday and heard everything, didn't you?" she said meekly to which Jack and Sapphire slightly nodded and went back to eating.
Sandy waved a hand at them to get their attention and sign languaged to them, 'Sorry we hurt your feelings…' Jack sighed and signed back, 'It's okay.'
"It's just that we worry about you ankle-biters. We just don't want you two getting hurt." Bunny explained. "We know you mean well, guys. But we've matured and we can do a lot of things on our own. We're not asking you to completely leave us alone. But we'd appreciate it if you let us do our own thing." Sapphire said before taking a bite of her apple.
"And we will allow you to do them. Today in fact." North told the two who paused in mid-bite to look at them in surprise.
"Huh…? You're serious?"Jack asked setting down his glass of water.
"We'll let you two do what you please when we arrive at Berk. But be careful." Mother Nature reminded them gently.
The two teenage Guardians' eyes widened in amazement.
"Are you guys alright?" Jack asked, wondering if some of them were sick or something. "Never better, Frostbite." Bunny chuckled taking a bite out of his carrot.
Still a little bit in shock over the Guardians' decision to really give them some freedom, Jack and Sapphire excused themselves.
"You think they mean it?" Sapphire asked the winter spirit in shock. Jack shrugged as he handed her the fang.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, let's make a pact that we'll guard our fang with our lives." He said seriously. "I'll swear to that oath." Sapphire joined her hand that was holding the fang with Jack's right hand.
The two of them smiled at each other before going on their separate patrols.
But they both knew that at Berk, they'll get to spend all the time they want together-with their dragons and Viking friends of course.
Astrid was watching the skies atop of Stormfly at a small seastack not far from Berk's docks with Hiccup and Toothless.
"See them?" the 16 year old blonde shield maiden asked as she scouted one side while Hiccup looked through his binoculars (a recent gift from Jack) on the other.
"Nothing…" Hiccup said before Toothless barked and tilted his head up along with Stormfly as a portal suddenly opened up.
North's sleigh and Marina flew out of it and to the two Viking teens' delight, Jack and Sapphire waved to them as they hovered over to the seastack.
"What're your plans for today?" Hiccup grinned.
"We've got a free schedule today." Jack replied smiling.
"Meaning that?" Astrid put her hands on her hips.
"Whatever you guys want, we're game." Sapphire answered.
Marina leaned over to the two and whispered, "The other Guardians let them have a free day…They can do whatever they want."
At that, Hiccup and Astrid smiled widely.
"Well what're we waiting for?!" Astrid said excitedly as Stormfly wiggled about eagerly. "Let's head for the Academy!" Hiccup exclaimed and Toothless shot up into the air with him.
Sapphire and Jack laughed and joined them, the sleigh with the Guardians following them close behind.
Shortly after they had settled, Jamie, Layla, Sophie and Donnie came along to join the fun. It was also at this time that Angrid decided to let the Guardians sample her Yak Nog. The teens immediately backed off along with the dragons while the Guardians looked at each other in confusion.
"The stuff's toxic…" Tuffnut whispered to Bunny and Tooth who immediately backed away.
"Like really toxic…" Ruffnut added making Baby Tooth and Millennium shudder in fright.
"Alright, bottom's up!" Angrid grinned as she set a tray of her beverage down on the table and pulled off the lid.
A flower blooming in Mother Nature's hair promptly died when the smoke from the vile black ooze rose up from the tankard. The great Guardian of Nature cringed and delicately covered half of her evergreen face with a lace hanky.
"Oh my stars…" Father Time tried hard not to gag.
North didn't seem to notice and reached for a mug but then saw Jamie and Donnie shaking their heads 'no'.
"Oh you're all reacting over." North rolled his eyes, not minding the fact that he had mixed up terms again as well as ignoring Jack who was giving him a creative warning by pretending to gag.
And then the jolly Russian took a swig, much to his comrades' horror.
For a second, North seemed fine and even chuckled, "Hmm…Not bad."
Then he suddenly collapsed on the bench he was sitting on!
"We tried to warn him…" Layla shook her head.
Sandy worriedly looked at North whom the others were trying to resuscitate before curiously looking at the Yak Nog tankard. The black sludge bubbled and then something red and pointy floated up to the top.
The Sandman paled and before everyone else knew it, also passed out.
"I think that Yak Nog's gonna give him nightmares…" Sophie mumbled to Marina. "Tell me about it." The swan agreed with her.
"Maybe you should cut back on some of the new ingredients, sis." Astrid gently advised her big sister. "Like less week old yak milk?" the strawberry blonde Viking girl asked.
"You use what now in your Yak Nog?" Snotlout asked in shock.
Fishlegs started to look a little bit sick himself at the mere thought.
"How about as soon as we revive North and Sandy, we go do some training to forget about all this…awkwardness?" Hiccup suggested, earning quick nods from his friends.
As soon as North and Sandy were revived, Jack and Sapphire were free. The two were super pumped up! Today, they were free to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
Today was going to be awesome!
"What're we waiting for?!" Jack immediately flew out of the Great Hall to meet Blitz. "Let's hustle already!" Sapphire practically pushed Marina outside to meet up with Tridacna and the seven Viking teens promptly followed along with the four kids.
They all got on their dragons and flew off to the Academy.
"Anyone feel like observing them?" Bunny suggested to the other Guardians.
Tooth, Mother Nature, Father Time and Millennium looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't really have any plans. North and Sandy on the other hand, were still feeling lightheaded from the Yak Nog and were all for it.
"Anything that doesn't involve puking our lunch is fine with me…" the Guardian of Wonder mumbled woozily. Sandy nodded weakly in agreement and staggered out of the Great Hall.
Baby Tooth chirped and quickly followed in case they suddenly got sick again. Tooth and Bunny helped support North while Mother Nature and Father Time led the way out for them.
When the Guardians got to Berk's Dragon Training Academy, the first thing they heard were the teens and kids giving out attack commands.
"Toothless, Plasma Blast!"
"Stormfly, Spine Shot!"
"Magnus, Ignite!"
"Hookfang, Annihalate!"
"Meatlug, Hug!"
"Barf, Gas!"
"Belch, Spark!"
"Blitz, Freeze!"
"Tridacna, Scald!"
"Aim and Fire, Bash!"
"Summer and Winter, Smash!"
"Sniper, Shoot!"
"Terri, Fire!"
They all had to duck as fire, ice and hot water shot out in all directions and dragons came barreling out of nowhere.
"Hey guys! How about you give your dragons some practice?" Jamie called over to them. "You wouldn't want them to get bored now, will you?" Layla pointed to the Guardians' dragons who were patiently awaiting orders in one corner of the Academy while intently watching the other dragons train.
North immediately perked up and recovered from his food poisoning when he saw his Thunderdrum eagerly look at him.
"Very well then! Nutcracker, Boom!" he commanded.
Nutcracker gladly obliged by letting out a strong sonic blast that knocked down a cage door in no time flat.
Tooth fluttered over to Molar and pointed at a target shield. "Fire at will, Molar!" her Deadly Nadder obeyed and shot out a sun hot flame at the shield, burning it to a crisp.
Baby Tooth squeaked and flew to inspect the Sharp Class dragon's teeth and to her and Tooth's relief, none of Molar's teeth were damaged by her fire.
Sandy didn't speak out a command but Snooze knew exactly what his Rider wanted when the golden man formed a ball of lava out of dream sand over his head. The Gronckle fired a lava blast at another target shield scoring a direct hit. Sandy clapped his hands and then yawned. Snooze followed his lead and they both curled up around each other to take a nap.
"Blendr, Acid Spray!" Mother Nature and Father Time called out together.
The Changewing immediately shot her acid breath and melted a shield Millennium was holding in his talons (which almost got melted too.).
"Whoa…That acid's strong stuff…" the Whiskered Screech hooted in amazement.
Bunny, eager to try something, hopped on Yolk's back and shouted, "Alright Yolk! Let's light 'em up!"
Yolk instantly lit it up alright-just not in the way Bunny was hoping for.
"YOOOWWW! Yolk when I said 'light 'em up', I didn't mean me!" the Guardian of Hope shot off his Monstrous Nightmare and headed for the nearest watet trough, his rear end on fire.
"Finally I'm not the only one who has to suffer!" Snotlout breathed out in relief before Hookfang decided to fire at him as well and he joined Bunny in the water trough.
Everyone couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay dragon attack training done, what next?" Sapphire inquired when Gobber came with a load of weapons. "Weapons Training anyone?" the two limbed blacksmith grinned.
The teens immediately made a beeline for the pile of deadly instruments while the kids sat down with the other Guardians and the dragons.
"Don't hold back, Hiccup!" Jack hollered grabbing a shield along with his sword. "I'm not planning to!" Hiccup hollered back, readying his own sword.
"Astrid, Angrid can we switch weapons every now and then?" Sapphire held up her orichalcum sword in her left hand and her bow in her right.
"Sure thing, Saph!" Astrid grinned.
"But you better be ready!" her older sister added.
Then the brawling began!
As usual, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were trying their hardest to knock each other out with their spear heads.
Snotlout and Fishlegs were fiercely bashing their shields against each other.
As for Jack and Hiccup, the two young men were swiftly parrying and crossing swords and blocking each other's attacks with their shields.
North was very amazed and impressed at how well the winter spirit was at using the sword. Then before he could stop himself, he noted that Jack's position was incorrect.
"Wrong stance, Jack! Left foot goes in front right!" he coached from the sidelines.
Jack was slightly startled but followed his advice. Just in time to deflect Hiccup's sword and also get a perfect opportunity to disarm him.
"Wow…Nice." The 16 year old Viking teen remarked as his sword flew out of his hand.
Jack glanced at North. The Russian blushed, embarrassed that he ended up giving the boy advice when he should have let him be. But to his surprise, Jack grinned and said, "Well, I did get a few pointers from my Dad."
That made North beam with pride while the other Guardians looked on in surprise.
Since when did Jack start calling North 'Dad'?
Their questions were cut off when the sound of arrows whizzing through the air caught their attention.
"That's it, Sapphire! Just aim a little bit higher next time." Angrid advised inspecting the target Sapphire's arrow was lodged in. "Okay a few centimeters higher, got it." The water spirit nodded.
"So you ready for a little sword vs axe?" Astrid smiled.
Grinning, Sapphire took out her sword and in no time was fending off Astrid with her platinum battle axe and Angrid with her trusty old Shivering Shores training axe.
After weapons training, they all went out of the Academy and spent the rest of the day doing their own thing. And the Guardians couldn't help but notice that the two teenage Guardians' child friends were right.
Jack and Sapphire did learn a lot of new skills in the Viking world…
From drawing pictures of magnificent dragons and sceneries, translating Norse runes, handling weapons like pros all the way to flying on dragons, Jack and Sapphire were amazingly talented at them all.
The Guardians could also definitely notice how mature they were as well as how close they were to the seven Viking teens.
Hiccup and Jack were practically like brothers while Sapphire was like a sister to the two Hofferson gals and as for the other teens, they were a tightly knit bunch. They did everything together with their dragons and yes, an argument or two would start but they all buried the hatchet in the end. And the only arguments that really happened were between Snotlout and the girls whenever he tried to flirt with them which the boys (And sometimes if Angrid looked like she was about to murder the Jorgenson boy, Sapphire) had to intervene.
Late in the afternoon, North, Bunny, Tooth, Sandy, Mother Nature, Father Time, Millennium, the four kids and Stoick were watching the nine of them race each other on their dragons.
"Look at those two…They might still be up for causing up a ruckus but now they're…different." Bunny quipped as Blitz and Jack navigated their way around a bunch of seastacks, bolts of ice shooting out of Jack's staff in their wake.
"They've really changed. Not really physically but they've…grown." Tooth remarked. "Stronger, smarter, wiser…It's like a whole new side to them." Millennium agreed as Tridacna and Sapphire streaked across the ocean.
Sandy made a sand image of a growing tree sapling and a bird flying away from the nest. "I couldn't agree more Sandy. They're no longer our young Guardians in training…" Father Time sighed.
Jamie and Layla watched the two Guardians race each other across the sky.
"Eat my dust!" Jack crowed as his Himalayan Fury shot ahead of Tridacna.
"Come on, Tridacna! That's it girl!" Sapphire encouraged her Scauldron who sped up till they were neck and neck with the boys.
Indeed they still looked and acted like the same fun loving teens they knew and loved…
But as Jamie, Sophie, Layla and Donnie watched, they could see that Jack had grown into a brave, confident and mature young man while Sapphire was now a woman, equally brave, smart and strong in every way.
Stoick looked on as the two Guardians were joined by his son and his friends. "As a parent, I know how hard it is seeing your children grow up so fast. But when the time comes…You'll have to be ready to do the hardest thing in the world for a mother or a father." He said to the Guardians.
"I suppose you're right, Stoick. Time will come we won't be able to hold onto them anymore. We best get ready." Mother Nature said softly.
"Get ready for what?" Sophie asked.
"The hardest thing any parent must do when their child grows up." Stoick told her.
"Which is?" Donnie piped up as they watched Sapphire and Jack perform a daring trick which involved them falling off their dragons as they did a mid-air loop in a somersault before safely landing on their backs.
"And we stick the landing!" Jack said triumphantly. "And we've been working on that for almost a week! Yes!" Sapphire whooped.
The seven Viking teens congratulated them on their success as the other Guardians looked on. North then sighed and decided to answer Donnie's question.
"Letting them go…" he sighed.
And all the Guardians nodded silently in agreement.
Like it or not, they just had to face the facts…
Jack and Sapphire were growing up…
"Woo-hoo! Talk about a rush!" Jack whooped as they landed in the village square. "I know, right? Best day ever!" Sapphire laughed and without noticing, her hand automatically interlocked with Jack's.
That made the Viking teens look at them skeptically. Even the dragons turned their heads towards the two Guardians.
At first, Jack and Sapphire didn't notice their looks until they looked at their hands. They immediately sprung back away from each other, blushing madly.
"Um…sorry…" Sapphire mumbled sheepishly. "Uh…It's…okay…" Jack said quietly, his pale face a deep pink blush.
Not sure what to say next, they just got on their dragons and flew off in separate directions.
The seven Viking teens looked at each other and their dragons, confused. "What just happened?" the Twins wondered out aloud. "I think we witnessed an awkward moment." Angrid replied blankly.
"Have they always been this shy when it comes to their relationship?" Fishlegs asked as the Guardians, Stoick and the kids joined them in the square.
"Last time they kissed-it was a year ago when Sapphire made the first move." Layla answered the husky Viking's question. "Jack actually let her do that? Sheesh…That's kinda spineless of him." Snotlout remarked.
Baby Tooth didn't take that comment about her friend and proceeded to peck the arrogant Viking's face. "Baby Tooth, calm down!" Tooth tried to get her trusty Mini Fairy away from Snotlout's face.
"Now that you mentioned it…They haven't gone on a proper romantic date for quite a while now…" Mother Nature realized. "I guess that's because we've been overworking them." Bunny said, shaking his head.
The teens looked at each other, huddled up and after a minute of murmuring, a plan formed in their heads.
"Maybe we can help you guys." Hiccup suggested. "Help us with what, Hiccup?" North asked curiously. "Help you find a way to let Jack and Sapphire have some quality time. And I think we have just the perfect idea." Astrid said, looking at Hiccup and then Toothless.
Quickly, the two of them got on their dragons and left to go find the two teenage Guardians.
Hiccup found Jack nervously pacing about at the hill they had their talk before while Blitz rolled around the grass and crooned at him.
"I don't know, Blitz…If I do that, what'll she do? What'll she say?!" Jack exclaimed exasperatedly. Blitz rolled his eyes. "Oh and you're gonna help me? I'd like to see you try." Jack smirked.
"What's he gonna try?" Hiccup then decided to make his landing. Jack spun around to face the auburn headed Viking teen. "Nothing!" he said hastily.
But when he Blitz growled at him, he blurted out, "He wants me to make the 1st move! But I don't know what to do, Hiccup! I just don't know!"
The Guardian of Fun was definitely freaking out right now.
Hiccup stared at him for a few seconds, stunned before saying, "Well for starters, you could clear your head first by helping me with an errand." He suggested. Jack shrugged. "Alright what do you want me to do?" he sighed.
Hiccup grinned. "Just meet me at the forge tonight." He said enigmatically before mounting Toothless and flying off.
Jack gave Blitz a confused look. "You have any idea what he wants?" Jack raised an eyebrow at his Himalayan Fury. Blitz just shrugged and proceeded to munch on some ice rocks his Rider froze for him.
"Why do I even bother?" Jack grumbled.
Meanwhile, Astrid had tracked down Sapphire at Thor's Beach, swimming with Tridacna. The Scauldron growled and hissed something to the water spirit and she groaned, "Tridacna girl, if I try making the first move again, then Jack's pride is gonna get hurt! Augh! I am so up a creek right now!"
Sapphire angrily splashed her way to shore only to find Astrid and her Deadly Nadder waiting for her.
"You know, you could just wait for Jack to kiss you." Astrid said, smiling knowingly. Sapphire wrung the water out of her hair and sighed. "Astrid, Jack's like your 'Honey and the Hatchet'. He's a really good man and a pretty darn good kisser. But he kind of lacks the confidence sometimes." She admitted sheepishly.
"I know…Hiccup's exactly like him. So how about instead of fretting over your boy troubles, you can come help me at the forge later tonight?" Astrid asked her. The Guardian of Equality shrugged. "I guess…" she said nonchalantly.
"Great! See ya tonight!" Astrid grinned and left.
Tridacna joined her Rider at the shore and licked her cheek. "Sure hope this errand will help me clear my head…" she muttered.
Tridacna crooned encouragingly and gave her another lick.
Next chapter…try playing 'Romantic Flight' by John Powell while you're reading ;)