He was pleasantly cold.
The soft frost beneath him brought a calm smile to his face as he burrowed into sleep's hold once more.
Just about to slip back into the welcoming darkness, he all but flinched when he heard a snort of air near him. That was strange as he never bothered being near anything living as nothing could see him and the reminder only brought on depression. Before the dark thoughts could rise, he distracted himself by trying to remember where he was and how he had gotten there.
It all came back in a blur of confusing images involving his 'favorite three' and Pitch. Even the thought of the shade made him shudder as it reminded him of the horrible voice that the man created within his mind. Pride welled up in his core at the bravery he was able to put forth when going up again the torrent of enemies, but nothing could stop the lingering fear of the man in control of them.
Sleep was trying to pull at him again due to his overuse of power in the fight against nightmares, but the memory only brought him closer to reality in fear of his current standing. Had he won? Did the humans get away? Was everyone alright? If nothing else, it was the barrage of questions that finally motivated him to force open his bleary eyes to find the answers.
"He's awake!" a high pitched voice announced loudly from her place beside Jack's head.
He flinched at the noise causing the girl to mutter an embarrassed apology.
Blinking to clear the fog from his vision, Jack slowly sat himself up and rubbed a hand through his messy hair. Why did he have such a headache?
Another voice, deeper than the first spoke next, but the significance still hadn't hit home with the confused sprite. "Are you alright?"
Was he okay? He just went head to head against Pitch. How was he even alive?
"Ay! Are ye' deaf?"
No, but they should be when it came to anything about him.
Realization dropped on him like a stone. Wide, blue eyes snapped into focus from their previous search of his surroundings. What he saw would have made his heart stop if it beat. Time froze and his breath quickened enough that it was beginning to cloud as it escaped his mouth.
They were surrounding him; crowding him in too closely. There was no air to breath and he began to panic. He could hear himself gasping, but it was as if the air never made it to his starving lungs. Their eyes were trained solely on him; on his every move and the burning gazes were almost painful. Ice began to form around him as if attempting to cool the fiery heat.
"Hey, calm down!" the Viking cried, kneeling beside him and placing what was supposed to be a steadying hand on the boy's back, but it was far from calming to the always-invisible child.
He flinched away from the searing touch, using the momentum to snatch up his staff that had been lying beside him and vaulted to his feet to face…the humans? His powers continued to circle him, though wind joined the humans in their work of easing the boy's nerves. Now he was even more confused. How were they able to see him? They obviously could by the way their eyes had followed his movement, but humans couldn't see him; no one could.
Don't forget about Pitch, dear Jackson, he will always see you, his cruel thoughts reminded, but he pushed them away long enough to calm his breathing and steady what would have been a racing pulse. The crackling ice around him melted away into frosty puddles on the ground, quickly soaked up by earth. Panic attack avoided; mostly.
Still, the humans stood before him, casting cautious glances at one another in response to the strange actions of their supposed protector.
"Are you alright?" the princess asked curiously.
She has a name. She has a name. What is her name? Jack repeated the mantra in his still groggy head as he answered in as normal a voice as he could manage seeing as he was talking to humans.
"I'm fine." He cursed his voice for sounding so rough, but there was only so much he could do; it had been at least 2 years since he had last spoken aside from his brief conversation with Pitch. It was a surprise he could speak at all.
The red-head narrowed her bright green gaze, "Are ye' sure? Ye' near had a fit there."
Why was he suddenly so bad at names?!
"I'm fine," he repeated; voice slightly clearer with the increasing use. "I just didn't expect to wake up surrounded."
"Sorry about that," Hiccup- the Viking as Jack somewhat easily recalled -admitted after a nod of understanding, "We were a bit worried you wouldn't wake up. What's your name?"
The eternal child fought the lump in his throat reminding him that, though he had watched them for years, they didn't know him. He cleared his throat in hopes of not sounding like he was struggling not to fly away and forget this ever happened.
"Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter at your service," he proclaimed with an overdramatic bow. It was all he could do to hide his fraying emotions from them. "Bet you've never met anyone like me before!"
"Well, you're not wrong," Rapunzel admitted with a smile. "Are there more like you?"
"Nope! I'm the one and only." The sadness implied in those words was almost impossible to catch if not for the dimming of the boy's blue eyes. He hid his emotions far too well aside from that expressive gaze. When there was no response, the immaturity held within the child-like sprite began to show itself through impatient shifting before the boy sighed. They all gasped as he flipped himself to perch weightlessly on the top crook of the wooden staff he held so tightly before playing with a few snowflakes that he created. "You guys don't talk as much as you use to. Where's all that curiosity?"
It was a strange observation and Merida found she couldn't overlook it. "What's tha' supposed ta' mean?"
Jack laughed brightly, but again, his eyes gave away the depression heavy in his words. "This is the first time you guys have seen me, but I've stood in front of you for years. You never knew it, but I was there for all of your adventures!"
"The whole thing?"
The child nodded towards Hiccup, though he had long since gone back to idly twirling his creations around deft fingers. "Yup."
Rapunzel chuckled a bit at the awkward silence. "So…'Jack Frost'. It seems we all had it wrong." She continued when the boy tilted his head in confusion. "After you beat Pitch-" no one missed the frozen child's shiver at the shade's name "-we were trying to figure out who would protect us like that with the ability to control ice. I guessed it was Winter; the being who saved me from my mother a few years ago."
"Ay thought it might've been Old Man Winter seeing as 'e helped me 'n ma' fight a demon bear," Merida offered while curling her fingers around her cheeks as if pretending she had fangs.
"Jokul Frosti protected Toothless and I from being burned alive a few years ago. I thought you might be him." Hiccup gestured to the mentioned dragon who seemed more intrigued with the snowflakes Jack was creating for him to chase than the conversation.
This time, of course, it was the winter child's turn to laugh and laugh he did until he was all but rolling on the ground, unable to hold his balance on his staff, with the force of happiness that chased away his doubts and sadness.
"W'at's so funny?" Merida demanded.
Staving off more giggles, Jack gasped for his words. "You all look so serious. How many versions of me are there? Surely someone would believe in one of them enough to see me, but here you all are, filled with stories, belief, and wrong names." He burst into another string of crippling laughter, delicate layers of frost spiraling around his feet.
That is, until Rapunzel burst his bubble.
"That couldn't be you. Winter has been around for hundreds of years and you're so young. You couldn't have helped me because at that point you would have been even younger than you are now."
"Of course it was me. How old do you think I am?" Jack asked with a hint of indignation in his voice.
"Uhm…"
Hiccup saved the burnet from having to answer by doing so himself. "We guessed 10."
The boy's mouth dropped. "Aww, 10?! Common!"
"Well, how old are ye' then?"
Here Jack had to pause for a bit. "Uhh…"
Rapunzel raised a brow. "You're not sure?"
"Well, I...not really, I think, basing it off of humans who seem my age, I'm 12…maybe, but I'm definitely not 10! Plus, I've kept track since waking up! It's been 253 years!" His chest puffed out proudly.
Merida could only blink "Wait…Ah'm lost."
Opening his mouth to explain, a sudden weariness overcame the frozen boy to the point that he soon found himself sitting on the ground. Concerned for the sudden loss of energy that previously surrounded the child, the other teens were by his sides in an instant; kneeling at his level.
His chuckle sounded like the patter of snowflakes on a window. "I'm okay, just a little worn out from that fight. It took a lot of power to create that storm and I've never needed to do something like that before. If you want, I can share my story with you guys since I already know yours'."
It only took a moment for them to agree and settles comfortably around the frost child. Toothless curled himself around the frost sprite though left his tail resting in Hiccup's lap.
"Darkness. That's the first thing I remember. It was dark. It was cold. And I was scared. Then I saw the Moon. It was so big and it was so bright and it seemed to chase the darkness away. And when it did, I wasn't scared anymore. Why I was there and what I was meant to do, that I've never known. And a part of me wonders if I ever will." Jack paused. This was a lot harder than he had expected. "My name is Jack Frost. How do I know that? The Moon told me so, but that was all he ever told me. And that was a long, long time ago."
"I wasn't even a few hours old when I found out that no one could see me. I ran in to a village and…it was so painful when they walked through me. Still, I tried to find someone- anyone –to hear me; see me, but I've been alone. For over 200 years I searched and was disappointed at each turn, but then I saw you guys. I helped when I could and watched you face your demons and go on your adventures and I was jealous." He sighed forlornly, expression sinking to the level of his saddened voice. "The first person to speak to me since the Moon was Pitch Black. I was so happy I almost let myself get taken away. Realizing he wanted to hurt me was more painful than anything else he could have done. For the first time ever I could talk to someone who could hear me and be touched and be seen. Of course, it's my rotten luck that he was a bad guy."
Light burst into his blue eyes, causing them to catch the light of the moon and shine. "But now, you three- four with Toothless –can see me! I don't have to be alone anymore!"
The teens were completely taken aback by the mood change.
He looked no older than 10 and yet had lived centuries alone with no idea why or how to fix it.
"So what lead you to us?" Hiccup asked softly.
Jack shrugged. "I've traveled all over the world and seen almost every type of adventure out there, but something held me to you guys. I thought, at first, that it was coincidence. We were all near the same age at that point, but then you guys grew up without me. I can only assume it was because I saw a piece of me in you; outcast for something I had no power over, forced into a roll I never asked for, and trapped in a life I couldn't escape. Sound familiar? The only difference is that you guys were able to overcome it in a way I never can."
Each teen twitched uncomfortably at the simplified definition of their trials, but the boy's admission of being powerless made them feel all the worse.
"Don't be so down! You said so yourself: 'now you have us'!" Rapunzel offered as cheerfully as she could. "Maybe we can help! Maybe that's why you were lead to us; because we can help you find your purpose!"
Merida caught on the excitement, understanding what she was trying to do. "Lassie's right, we can help! If ah can fight a bear, ah can getcha seen!"
"If nothing else, we can keep you company until you find it yourself." Hiccup stated reassuringly. "We can see you, after all."
The eternal child smiled brightly, but the spark of hope they were trying to ignite within Jack's eyes remained empty. They couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since he felt anything other than despair. Darkness seemed far too comfortable in that blue gaze.