Chapter 4: Fate and Destiny
"So, would any of you like to explain to me why she's wrapping her mystic glowing hair around my injured hand?" Flynn-or Eugene now-asked.
His answer was a shush from a very intrigued Merida. Really, none of them had an answer for Eugene. The only one who might would probably be Pascal, but there wasn't any point in asking him. Eugene seemed to realize this and rolled his eyes, followed by a jump as the hair irritated his injury.
"Sorry…" Rapunzel winced. "Just…don't…freak out, okay?"
Eugene blinked. That wasn't really a promise of anything, but it looked like Rapunzel was willing to take anything at this point. She took a deep breath.
"Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once, what once, was mine…" Her voice was low, but calm. Even with her face struggling to stay relaxed, her song had a near soothing quality to it. She continued to sing, but soon that wasn't the part Jack focused on.
Just like it had in the cave, golden light began to cascade down her hair. Jack watched in stunned silence as the light followed Rapunzel's hair, which was spread all around them now, and eventually reaching Eugene's hand. It reminded him of Sandman's sand, and once Jack reached that conclusion he had to hold back from reaching out and seeing if it felt the same.
Once she finished, the light began to die out and Eugene uncovered his hand. A light squeak came out of his mouth as he gaped at his hand, and Jack could see why: all that remained of his injury was a smear of blood.
Eugene inhaled—
"Pleasedon'tfreakout!" Rapunzel cut him off. Her calm demeanor was gone now, and she looked ready to bolt at any second.
Eugene exhaled. "Freakout, Iwasn'tgonnafreakout, I'mjustveryinterestedinyourhairandthemagicalqualitiesitpossesses, howlonghasitbeendoingthatexactly?" He smiled a very nervous smile.
Rapunzel sighed, giving a very half-hearted laugh as she did. "Forever, I guess? Mother said that when I was a baby, people were always after me trying to cut it. They wanted the power for themselves. But when it's cut, it loses all of its power." She pulled her hair back, and Jack could make out a tiny strand of brown hair at her neck. "A gift like that has to be protected. That's why Mother never let me…That's why I never left and…"
"You've never left that tower…" Jack finished for her. Rapunzel only glanced at him, the answer obvious in her eyes. Jack tried to hide his disbelief at the statement, and put on an air of indifference. "Guess that explains why you jumped at the bunnies…"
"But ye still goin' ta go back?" Merida asked.
"No. Yes?" Rapunzel buried her head in her hands. "It's complicated."
They sat in silence for a little bit more. Jack sighed, and began working his way around the log they had claimed. It was a bit weird, not having to look over people's shoulders and eavesdrop on their conversations.
"So, Eugene Fitzherbert." Jack spoke as he walked. He took a seat on a part that wasn't covered by Rapunzel's hair, and gently helped her little chameleon up to her shoulder.
"Yeah…I'll spare you that sob story." Eugene tried to laugh it off. There was a dead silence as everyone looked his way. He sighed.
"There was this book, back at the orphanage. The Tales of Flynnagan Rider, swash-buckling rouge, richest man alive-not too bad with the ladies, either-I used to read it to all the younger kids every night."
"Was he a thief too?" Rapunzel asked.
Eugene stopped, suddenly growing a bit more serious. He quickly picked himself up. "Well, no. He had enough money to do whatever he wanted really. And for a kid with nothing…I don't know. It just seemed like the better option."
Another crack in his demeanor, just as quickly picked up. "So what about you, Kid? You must have a nice story on how you met that lizard of yours."
Toothless snorted. "Easy, Toothless." Hiccup said. "He's right." He took a deep breath as he prepared his story.
"I'm from the island Berk. My village has been around for seven generations, and nearly every building is new. You see, most places have mice, or mosquitoes, but we have dragons as pests. Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings; we have…stubborn-ness issues. Dragon hunting used to be just so we could live without losing our sheep every few days, but it became more of a popularity contest as it went on. Kill a dragon, people start paying attention to you. The more dragons your kill or the stronger they were, the more the popularity would stay."
"You never…killed one, did you?" Rapunzel asked, almost hesitantly.
Hiccup laughed, nearly bitterly. "Have you seen me recently?" He gave a flex of his non-existent muscles to prove it. "But believe me, I tried. I made this whole machine so I could catch a dragon and kill it on my own. It worked, but it caught Toothless here. And when I tried to kill him…I just couldn't.
"The machine took out Toothless' tailfin, and when you take out a dragon's tailfin, it can't fly anymore. I tried making a new one for him," He gestured to Toothless' prosthetic, "and we…became friends in the meantime.
"I learned from Toothless a lot of ways on how you can tame a dragon without actually killing it, and that made me a bit popular in the Dragon Fighting classes. A bit too popular..." He trailed off here. It took him another minute to regain himself, and in that moment no one dared to say anything.
"The final exam was to kill a Monstrous Nightmare all on your own-only the best Vikings go after those; they have a nasty habit of catching on fire. But I couldn't. I couldn't go and kill a dragon…not after one became my best friend."
Toothless wrapped his tail around Hiccup here, in a gesture Jack assumed was his version of a hug. Hiccup continued, affectionately patting Toothless on the head as he did. "So we packed up, and ran off. Never turned back. Then I met Master Thief and Lady Killer Extraordinaire-"Eugune protested with a "hey!", but Hiccup continued. "And he dragged me to your tower."
Merida nodded slightly.
"What about you, Merida?" Jack asked. "You have something you want to contribute to this little therapy session?"
Merida sighed. "I don' knoow…"
"Take your time." Eugene said, still giving his hand a scrutinizing look.
Merida exhaled. No, it was more of a huff. She stood and began to pace around them. "I'm the princess. I'm the example! I've go' duties, responsibilities, expectations-my whole life is planned ou'! Preparin' for the day I become-weel, my mother! She's in charge of every single day of my life!"
"Easy there, Mer!" Hiccup cut her off. It was a good thing too; Merida looked like she was about to explode. "Why don't you…start a little earlier?"
Merida sighed and collected herself. She collapsed back on the log. "Me da's the King of Scotland; me mother the Quin. That makes me the Princess. And while me father's never cared whether I was presentable o' no', my mother spends most o' her time makin' sure I'm…this perfect lil' puppet fo' 'er. But the last straw was sellin' me off ta marriage to one of the other tribe's sons. I never wan'ed to marry, let alone ta someone I don' know! 'But it's traditional', she'd say…"
Merida stood again, and began pacing. Hiccup shifted in his seat, probably preparing to cool her down again. "I tried standin' uup for meself…the tribes sons had ta win my hand, and I entered meself. But my mother…that-that witch-she attacked me for it and threw me bow in the fire! Soo I...ran away." Merida collapsed on the log. "I ran away, and the Wisps lead me to your tower."
Silence fell between them again. Jack leaned back, all of the information turning in his head. What an odd bunch they turned out to be. This didn't answer all of his questions, granted, but it was certainly getting close...
He realized all eyes were on him.
"Uh…" Jack stammered and back up in his seat.
"Yeah…" Hiccup started. "Who are you?"
Jack winced. What is your center?
"I don't know." He said, quite honestly.
"How do you not know?" Eugene asked.
Jack sighed. He ran through his memories in his head, trying to figure out where to begin. "Might as well start with the beginning." He sighed.
"I don't remember much. Anything from my childhood, really. The first thing I really remember was the Moon. It was so big and so bright…and it seemed to chase all the darkness away. I was on this big, frozen lake in the middle of the woods. I didn't know why, or what I was supposed to do…and I don't think I ever will. I grabbed a branch to help walk across, but when it hit the ground, it would start making frost patterns. An-and when I jumped, the wind would carry me. It was so cool and so… fun…I went to a town and tried showing others, but…"
Jack froze as the bad memories came rushing back. All eyes were still on him, now with a hint of concern behind them. "They didn't see me. They walked right through me. I was alone. For 300 years, I was alone, only knowing my name."
"They couldn't see you?" Hiccup asked. Jack nodded in response. "So they did think I threw the snowball!"
That got a laugh out of Jack. It was rather short lived, as Jack realized he had to continue. "I guess I wasn't completely alone. There were others; Sandy, Bunny, Tooth, North…but they all had their jobs to go to and they were always work, work work. But earlier today, they called me in. Said I was one of them. A…Guardian. Anyway, I went exploring and found this snowglobe that took me to your place, Rapunzel."
Rapunzel wasn't paying attention anymore. Her face was a contorted mess of concentration. "Guardian…" She whispered, almost too soft to be heard. She glanced back up at him, wide eyed. "You're one of the Guardians?!"
"Why is she happy?" Both Jack and Eugene asked.
"This is amazing!" Rapunzel exclaimed and rose. "This..ah!" She ran her hands through her hair excitedly. "I've read about you guys!"
"You have?" Jack asked. That…was impossible, right?
"Well of course you know the Guardians." Eugene spoke. His face crinkled in concentration, and it didn't look like he was just answering it. It looked like he was repeating something. "'You've always known the Guardians, even before you could remember…' The Guardians of Childhood. It was one of the other books at the orphanage."
"So, you're a book character?" Hiccup asked.
"I…no!" Jack stood up. "I'm not a Guardian! And…who wrote this book, anyway?"
"Can't tell you off the top of my head." Eugene sighed.
Rapunzel was coming down from her excitement. "Why wouldn't you want to be a Guardian?"
"Well…" Jack sighed. "They're all work and deadlines. I'm…snow days and fun times."
There was a pause. "Ye said tha' people couldnae see ye…" Merida spoke. "Why?"
Jack paused. "They didn't believe in me, I guess. Part of the drawback of being a Winter Spirit; belief makes you real."
"But then how can I see you?" She asked. "I've never heard of a 'Jack Frost'."
That was a good question.
"Neither have I…" Hiccup said. "Well, when you live in a village that snows 9 months out of the year and rains the other 3, you have to believe in some winter spirit…"
"Hey Carrot Top." Eugene spoke. "You believe in these little spirits that lead you to treasure and Blondie's magic hair and not a Winter Spirit?"
Merida blinked. "The Wisps?" When Eugene nodded, she scoffed. "Wisps don' lead you ta treasure; they change your faet. And I'm no' sayin' I believe one way or the other; I'm sayin' I've never even heard of ye!"
There was silence.
"Well, I should, uh…" Eugene stammered as he rose. "I'm gonna go get some more fire wood."
"Hey." Rapunzel called out. Eugene froze. "For the record, I like Eugene Fitzherbert way more than Flynn Rider."
Eugene sighed. "You'd be the first. But thank you."
They watched as he went off, until he was lost in the darkness. They sat for a while in silence.
Then there wasn't silence anymore. A bright flash of light broke the darkness. Jack was the first to recover, and could just make out the shapes of Bunnymund and two Yetis.
"Jack, mate. There's trouble at the Tooth Palace, and…" Bunny froze as the light evened out, revealing the four humans, one dragon and one chameleon with him. "Who are they and why are they starin' at me?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Never mind that. Come on!"
"Wait, this is too important-!" Bunny started, but Jack wasn't listening. He jumped into the portal, followed by Rapunzel, Merida, Hiccup and Toothless.
Author's Note: Man, look at all of those ellipses go. I suppose that's what happens when your characters have very earnest, extemporaneous dialogue but wow.
