I have decided to do double updates on this story. My reason? School is coming in less than 2 weeks so I gotta hurry!
Prepare to have the feels from this chapter :D
Note: All rights to ROTG and HTTYD belong to DreamWorks Animation
Chapter 24
Later that night, Jack rode Blitz over to the forge only to find Sapphire and Tridcna there as well, looking around with confused expressions on their faces.
"Hey…" Sapphire greeted the winter spirit, a little surprised that he was here.
"Hi…" Jack replied awkwardly.
Tridacna and Blitz warbled to each other their greetings and settled down in one corner of the forge to nap while their Riders looked around after placing their staffs and holders in another corner.
"That's strange…Hiccup told me he needed my help tonight here…" Jack mumbled, checking the area. "Astrid told me she needed me…" Sapphire murmured, looking around as well.
Suddenly when they went to look out back, Toothless greeted them with a gummy grin.
"Ah!" Both Guardians yelped, startled.
Toothless excitedly wiggled about, the saddle on his back bouncing up and down.
"Oh hey there, Toothless. Do you know where Hiccup and Astrid are?" Jack asked after he had recovered from his shock.
Toothless crooned and motioned with his head to his saddle.
"Do you want us to get on?" Sapphire guessed to which the Night Fury eagerly nodded.
The two teens glanced at each other and shrugged.
"Maybe he'll take us to them." Jack told his girlfriend. "It's worth a shot. And you go first, please." Sapphire said politely.
Nodding, Jack carefully climbed aboard Toothless while Sapphire sat behind him.
"Okay…Now how do I work this thing…?" Jack muttered, hooking his riding vest to the saddle. He knew that the left stirrup was modified to suit Hiccup's prosthetic but how was someone with two fully functioning feet gonna work the tail?
That's when he noticed that Hiccup added a new stirrup that was just what he needed.
Not thinking that the whole thing was strange, Jack gently pressed on the stirrup and opened the tail fin.
"Okay, Toothless. Your controls." He told the Night Fury.
Toothless snorted and lifted off.
Jack and Sapphire thought that he was just gonna take them to wherever their two Viking friends were real quick.
What they didn't expect was Toothless suddenly shooting upward higher into the night sky!
"Yipes! Toothless slow down, please!" Sapphire squeaked, holding onto the winter spirit for dear life. Jack tightened the grip on the edges of the saddle anxiously.
Of all the times they both decided to leave their staffs behind!
"Toothless can you please level out now before we fall off?!" he said loudly as they flew into a cloud.
When they burst through it, Toothless finally leveled out and smoothly flew.
"…Wow…" Jack and Sapphire breathed as they found themselves surrounded by the shimmering aurora borealis and countless of stars twinkling in the dark blue sky.
Sapphire was speechless, awestruck at the utter beauty and reached up to let the light from the aurora dance on her slender fingers. Jack was looking up at the stars in amazement, trying to find constellations. Then he felt Sapphire's head resting on his shoulder and he smiled.
Suddenly as they flew over a cloud, Sapphire's ears pricked up when she heard the sound of sleigh bells and she carefully looked down.
What she saw made her eyebrows go up.
All the Guardians and kids were riding the sleigh while the Viking teens were riding on their dragons. With the exception of Hiccup who was riding Stormfly with Astrid.
"Jack…I think we've been duped into going on a romantic flight." She pointed to their friends who luckily didn't notice them, thinking they were well hidden. Jack looked at their friends partially obscured forms and down at Hiccup's Night Fury.
"You clever dragon…" Jack said sarcastically. Toothless just warbled innocently.
Shaking their heads, Jack and Sapphire laughed.
"Sure they tricked us but…" Sapphire trailed off all of a sudden.
"Saph?" Jack asked her softly.
Sighing Sapphire let her head rest on Jack's shoulder again and wrapped her arms around his torso. "I wouldn't mind getting tricked into doing this again…" she whispered, smiling sweetly. Jack smiled, breathed in the cool night air and exhaled. "Me too…" he said softly, as they flew across the aurora and star filled sky.
Finally after what seemed like forever, they landed right back where they started at the forge where Blitz and Tridacna were waiting, as well as everyone else.
"There you guys are!" "We were wondering when you two were gonna show up to help!" Astrid and Hiccup said in mock relief.
"Wait weren't we just…" Tuffnut was just about to give him and the others away before Ruffnut promptly pushed him to the ground while Angrid hissed at him to hush up.
"So I see Toothless took you two out for a joyride." Fishlegs remarked, amused seeing how pleased the male Night Fury was from getting to go on a night flight.
"Actually Fishlegs, I think the more appropriate term would be a 'romantic flight'. And how unusual seeing you all here at the forge at this hour, hm?" Sapphire smiled and raised her right eyebrow in mock skepticism.
"How strange indeed…Almost as if you all knew we were gonna land here…" Jack folded his arms and smirked.
"You two caught us spying on you, didn't you?" Snotlout deadpanned, realizing along with the others that they already knew.
"Yup." The two teen Guardians replied.
The kids, teens and Guardians looked at each other, slightly embarrassed.
"We were just trying to let you two young lovers just enjoy yourselves." Father Time admitted sheepishly.
"You guys didn't have to go through all this trouble for us, you know." Sapphire chuckled a bit. "Just letting us have an entire day here in Berk's more than enough." Jack chimed in.
"Oh you two…They grow up so fast." Millennium hooted feeling a bit overwhelmed with emotion and pride. "Come on, Millennium…" Marina chided at the Whiskered Screech's reaction to the obvious but feeling rather puffed up with pride over how fast her rider was growing up as well.
Sophie then yawned, "Sleepy…" Donnie stretched as well and said sleepily, "Can we go home?"
Layla and Jamie yawned as well. "Yeah it's getting pretty late…" Jamie yawned. "Mom and Dad are probably wondering where Don and I are right now…" Layla rubbed her eyes sleepily.
The Guardians nodded in agreement.
It was time to go home.
Saying good night to the Vikings and their dragons, the Guardians headed to the Academy to open up a portal.
Suddenly they heard small whines from behind.
Jack and Sapphire turned around to see Blitz and Tridacna looking at them, their blue and yellow eyes resembling that of puppies.
"Don't worry, Blitz. I'll be here tomorrow buddy." Jack laughed, giving the Himalayan Fury a scratch behind his ear plates, one of his sweet spots, making Blitz purr like a kitten.
"We'll have another day tomorrow, Tridacna. Dream of yummy fishies tonight, girl." Sapphire wrapped her arms around the Scauldron's neck.
Tridacna hummed and with Blitz, left for their sleeping areas near the Great Hall.
"See you tomorrow!" "Good night!" the two Guardians hollered before Sapphire opened the portal home and they jumped in along with the Guardians and kids, who were suddenly quiet after seeing…how much Jack and Sapphire cared for their dragons.
And deep down, Jamie and Layla felt bad for having to tell the two teenage Guardians to choose before. After today, they both knew that there was no way their older brother and sister would want to choose sides now…
After the Guardians had gone home, the Vikings decided to turn in early.
All except for Hiccup and Astrid, who decided to go to the Cove.
"This is nice…" Hiccup sighed as he lay on the grass with his girlfriend.
"Just you and me…None of our friends, Toothless, Stormfly, my family, your dad and Gobber interrupting our alone time…It's just perfect." Astrid smiled as her hand interlocked with Hiccup's, making the auburn headed teen smile widely.
"You think that maybe in the future…We can…you know…" Hiccup said quietly as he sat up with Astrid to gaze into her lovely blue eyes.
The blonde Viking beauty looked into the 16 year old Viking boy's emerald green eyes in surprise. But to Hiccup's relief, she smiled softly and whispered into his ear, "Maybe…We'll see…"
Then they leaned towards each other to kiss.
Just as their lips touched, black sand suddenly swirled around them.
"Oh I'm sorry. Did I interrupt?"
Both teens pulled away from each other, startled and noticed the sand slowly encircling them. Pitch suddenly appeared from the shadows and began to advance towards the two teens.
"You?!" Astrid immediately grabbed her platinum battle axe while Hiccup pulled out his dagger. "What do you want, Pitch?" he glared at the Boogeyman.
Pitch laughed coldly and summoned Onyx and got on.
"Just thought I'd see how my two enemies' friends are doing. Nothing wrong with that, right?" he said as his dark gold eyes glinting evilly.
"Whatever you and Alvin are planning, we'll stop you." Hiccup tightened the grip on his dagger and pointed it at Pitch.
The dark man scowled and snapped his fingers.
All of a sudden, black sand streams wrapped aroud the two Viking teens and snatched their weapons out of their hands!
"Hey! Let us go, Pitch!" Astrid yelled angrily.
"Toothless! Stormfly!" Hiccup attempted to yell for their dragons but Pitch gagged him and Astrid with nightmare sand and for good measure put them to nightmare induced sleep.
"Afraid I can't let you two lovers go. You're my new blackmail." Pitch laughed cruelly and whisked them off, leaving their weapons at the Cove.
The next day when Jack and Sapphire came back with the kids and rest of the Guardians, they were shocked to find the whole village in a frantic frenzy.
Parents were cradling their shaking children desparately trying to wake them up. Gothi was hopelessly shaking her head, unable to figure out what was wrong with them.
Until Sandy stepped forward and assessed the situation. What he had to sand language to his fellow Guardians was shocking.
"They're having nightmares?!" Marina and Millennium squawked in horror.
Grimly nodding, Sandy went to help Gothi with the children with Tooth, Bunny and Baby Tooth joining him.
Suddenly Blitz and Tridacna appeared and began to pull their Riders toward the Great Hall. Jamie, Layla, Sophie and Donnie decided to follow them.
"What's got them so worked up?" North called out to his stepson as he was dragged deeper into the frenzy. "I don't know!" Jack hollered. "Just meet us at the Great Hall later!" Sapphire shouted to them.
"Okay!" "Be careful!" Mother Nature and Father Time called back.
The two teenage Guardians were immediately taken to the Great Hall where they found five of their Viking teen friends and their dragons waiting for them along with Toothless and Stormfly. Angrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs' faces were tight with worry while their dragons were trying to comfort an inconsolable Night Fury and extremely stressed out Deadly Nadder.
"Guys what's going on? Why are all the kids in Berk having nightmares?" Jamie asked them, concerned. "We don't know…Last night everyone was sleeping soundly." Fishlegs wrung his hands nervously.
"But the next morning, all the kids are like this." Snotlout waved over to a line of parents holding their children waiting their turn for Sandy to cure them of their nightmares. The Sandman along with Bunny, Tooth and Baby Tooth gently sprinkled dream sand over one child, Gustav, and he soon relaxed into calm sleep.
"You know what's weird?" Tuffnut piped up, making the others focus on him. "What?" Sophie asked him curiously.
"Only the kids are having nightmares. It's like some sort of disease that only some people can get and not like an…What's the word again?" Ruffnut was almost finished with her surprisingly intelligent statement but got stuck on the last word.
"You mean like an epidemic?" Layla raised an eyebrow to which the girl Thornston nodded.
Jack and Sapphire were listening intently on their friends' claims but also at the same time, were looking around for Hiccup and Astrid.
"That's weird…Where're Hiccup and Astrid?" Jack wondered out loud. "It's not like them to be absent at this kind of situation." Sapphire stated.
"The kids having nightmares isn't the only problem. Last night, my sister and Hiccup left for their date at the Cove but they didn't come back. Mom, Dad and Stoick are extremely worried. We went to go look for them early this morning…All we found were these." Angrid seemed to choke back tears as she handed to the two Guardians Hiccup's dagger and Astrid's battle axe.
Jack and Sapphire carefully inspected the two weapons, hoping to find a clue.
And they did, only the clue they found filled them with dread.
Black sand was slightly coating the blade of Hiccup's knife while the handle of Astrid's axe was lightly dusted with the stuff.
That only meant one thing…
"Jamie, get North and the others over here quickly. You guys fetch Stoick and Mr and Mrs Hofferson." Sapphire said seriously. They were just about to ask when Jack told them, "Just hurry and get them. Go!"
The kids and Viking teens scrambled, leaving Jack and Sapphire with their dragons and Toothless and Stormfly. Toothless whined, worried for his best friend and Stormfly just crooned sadly, her tail drooping. Blitz and Tridacna did their best to comfort them while Jack and Sapphire looked at each other, their expressions fearful and worried at the same time.
"You don't think it was…him?" Sapphire said worriedly. Jack's face was grim. "I sure hope we're wrong, Saph. But I think it was him." He replied.
When the Guardians, Stoick and Astrid & Angrid's parents along with Gobber arrived, the two Guardians finally told them the truth.
"Jack and I know what's going on. It's Pitch. He's the one who's the cause of all this. And…he kidnapped Hiccup and Astrid." Sapphire told them all.
"WHAT?!" Stoick bellowed in horror.
"WHY?!" Sven and Masona exclaimed in shock.
The teens, kids and Guardians were speechless.
"There's only one explanation, he's trying to blackmail us." Jack said grimly.
"What do we do?" Tooth said nervously fluttering back and forth. "Well we obviously can't all go looking for that shadow sneakin' ratbag. He'll get suspicious and just slip away again." Bunny pointed out.
"That's why we're going." Jack and Sapphire said at the same time.
"Are you two sure you can handle that? With the dragon fang in your possession, you two will be instantly targeted." Gobber told them.
Blitz and Tridacna then decided to step forward and protectively wrapped their tails around their Riders.
"Don't worry, Alvin and Pitch aren't gonna get their hands on it." Jack grinned. "They'll have a hard time getting it from us with our dragons standing between us and them. So rescuing Hiccup and Astrid-it'll be a piece of cake." Sapphire said confidently.
"Even so, we're coming with you as back-up. I won't rest easy until my son's back." Stoick told them.
"We'll come too!" Sven said.
"I refuse to let my Astrid be held hostage!" Masona cried out in agreement.
The Viking teens also wanted to join so Jack and Sapphire decided to let them. But they all agreed to fly low and stay hidden while the Guardians of Fun and Equality worked out a way to rescue Hiccup and Astrid.
Now all they had to do was figure out where Hiccup and Astrid were.
"They're probably at Dragon Island. After all, that's where the dragon in the legend used to live." Fishlegs guessed.
"Maybe…Or they could be with Anglo and the others at the Shivering Shores." Angrid said thoughtfully.
Then Sandy jumped up and made a few sand symbols over his head.
"What're you saying, Sandman?" Jamie asked curiously while his sister tried to make heads or tails of the sand symbols floating over the Guardians of Dreams' head.
Luckily, Sapphire was able to translate.
"He's suggesting…That we split up." She said incredulously.
The others stared at Sandy in shock.
"Come again?" Bunny asked blankly. Sandy made sand images of two arrows and the group rescuing Hiccup and Astrid as well as liberating the Shivering Shores.
"Are you saying that half of us go to the Shivering Shores to help the armies get rid of the Nightmares while the rest of us join Jack and Sapphire to Dragon Island to search for Hiccup and Astrid?" Stoick guessed.
Sandy smiled at the Chief and nodded 'yes'.
"Then it looks like we're splitting up. Stoick, Gobber, Sven, Masona, North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, Angrid and Marina are coming with us. The rest of you head for the Shivering Shores. We'll meet you guys there once we rescue Hiccup and Astrid." Jack instructed.
"If you mean 'the rest of us' does that mean we can help in the fight?" Layla asked hopefully.
"Alright! I can show those no good Outcasts not to mess with Donnie Aquamarie!" the seven year old said psyching himself up and adjusting his plastic Viking helmet.
"What kind of metal is that helmet made of? Never seen anything like it…" Gobber curiously tapped on the youngster's helmet with his hook. "It's not metal, Gobber. And absolutely not, young man. It's too dangerous for you kids to go to enemy territory with Nightmares swarming about." Sapphire said sternly shaking her head.
"Awww! But we wanna help too!" Sophie whined.
"You and Jack already got to go into battle. And hey, we've helped you guys fight fear once too!" Jamie protested.
Jack and Sapphire looked at the Guardians for guidance.
"I suppose we could use their help. After all, if it weren't for the children, who knows what would become of us." Mother Time said gently. "We'll keep a close watch on them." Millennium hooted. "Just hurry to the Shivering Shores as fast as you can before things escalate." Father Time told them.
Jack and Sapphire nodded and proceeded to leave with their team.
But not before kneeling in front of their little siblings and looking at them worriedly.
"Promise me you'll be careful, Jamie. And make sure Sophie's safe too. Okay?" Jack pleaded with his little brother.
"Don't worry, Jack. We'll be fine." The 12 year old nodded and gave the winter spirit a hug. "We'll be careful. We promise." Sophie joined in on the hug.
"I'll let you two go. But please be careful. Layla, fight smart and Donnie, keep your helmet on and stay low." Sapphire requested, worried for her two siblings' safety.
"Don't worry, Saph. We're smart and we can hold our own in any fight." Layla said confidently brushing her hair back. "After all, we're related to the most awesome water spirit in the world, who by the way, is the brave Guardian of Equality." Donnie adjusted his helmet once more and gave Sapphire a smile.
The Guardian of Equality smiled and hugged them tightly.
Then nodding, the two parties split up and headed out.
Their mission was twofold.
One, rescue Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Astrid Hofferson.
Two, liberate the Shivering Shores from Pitch and Alvin's troops of Outcasts and Nightmares.
Toothless and Stormfly roared to Nutcracker, Molar, Yolk, Snooze and Magnus as they entered Hellheim's Gate. Since the Night Fury and Deadly Nadder were insistent on joining the rescue for their Riders so Jack and Sapphire decided to let them, on one condition. They were gonna ride them and luckily the two obliged.
"Stoick are we getting close?" Jack hollered to the Chief who was riding Thornado with Gobber. "Aye we are!" Stoick stoutly replied.
"Now let the dragons guide you. They're the only ones who fully know the way around this part." Gobber advised the two teenage Guardians who were flying point. "Okay but you guys stay low! Remember we have to make Pitch or Alvin think it's just me and Jack until they let Hiccup and Astrid go." Sapphire instructed.
"Got it, Saph!" Marina shouted and she and the dragons got down low.
"Crikey I can't see two yards in front of my face!" Bunny yelped as Yolk flew by a sharp rock jutting out of the water, narrowly avoiding collision. Sandy promptly flew beside him on his Gronckle and put a finger to his lips.
"Shh…Keep it down, Bunny. They could be close by…" Tooth murmured as Molar's tail spikes suddenly jutted out. "Let them come. We'll be able to dwindle the enemy's army more easily then." North answered confidently.
"As much as I wanna tear some Outcasts and Nightmares limb from limb, attacking directly's just gonna attract more attention I'm afraid." Sven remarked. "Indeed. But once we get Astrid and her beloved back, I'll personally see to tearing Alvin and that Pitch man to shreds." Masona said fiercely.
"Easy there, Mom and Dad. We all wanna tear the enemy apart." Angrid said knowingly.
Just then Magnus growled along with all the other dragons.
"We're getting close." Stoick whispered.
"Lay low!" Sapphire and Jack snapped, going into focus mode and readying their weapons.
In a few moments, the formidable Dragon Island came into view. Blitz and Tridacna growled, feeling the tension in the air.
Suddenly Nightmares in the form of both horse and dragons burst out of the fog!
"You have got to be kidding me!" Marina exclaimed in exasperation.
Sandy frantically made sand symbols over his head which North translated, "We'll hold them off! You two and the Fury and Nadder go on ahead!"
While the six dragons, Marina, Guardians, Stoick, Gobber, Angrid and her parents fought the Nightmares off, the male Himalayan Fury and female Scauldron fearlessly flew straight ahead with Toothless and Stormfly who had their Riders on their backs.
Landing on the rocky shores, the Guardians of Fun and Equality scouted the area, their accompanying dragons on high alert.
"Hiccup…Come on man, answer…" Jack mumbled through gritted teeth.
"Astrid if you can hear me, say or yell something…" Sapphire whispered.
Then two harsh laughs sounded from behind.
Jack, Blitz, Sapphire and Tridacna spun around to see two men.
A large brute of a Viking…and a familiar face.
"Pitch Black…" Sapphire glared coldly at the Boogeyman. "And Alvin the Treacherous…" Jack glared as well.
"So these are your two greatest enemies, Black? Ha! A bratty girl and a boy who's almost as skinny as Stoick's little embarrassment?!" Alvin cackled cruelly.
"Don't underestimate them, Alvin." Pitch said cooly.
"Where are our friends?" Jack demanded, pointing his staff slash bludgeon at Pitch threateningly. "And just so you know, Pitch, I still have a bone to pick with you after what you did last year." Sapphire growled as she unsheathed her dagger, transforming it into a long sword.
"Getting down to business right away? How about we negotiate?" Alvin chuckled. "Wow…you actually know that word negotiate. And Hiccup told me you were as dumb as a yak." Jack said sarcastically with a smirk on his face.
Alvin looked at the winter spirit like he wanted to murder him before Pitch stopped him from raising his hatchet. "Easy there, Al." the Boogeyman said silkily.
Then Sapphire said hotly, "Enough stalling you two, where're Hiccup and Astrid?"
To which Pitch glared and then sharply whistled.
Suddenly two Nightmare Soldiers on Nightmare dragons came, dragging two Viking teens along with them. "Toothless!" Hiccup yelped seeing how distressed his best friend was. "Stormfly!" Astrid screamed, her eyes wide with terror.
Jack and Sapphire attempted to get closer but Alvin shouted at them, "Don't move an inch or else…!" he made a slicing motion across his neck while Pitch snapped his fingers.
Black sand immediately surrounded the two captive teens!
"Move one step more and I'll add them to my army." Pitch threatened.
Oh no! What will Jack and Sapphire do to save Hiccup and Astrid?!