The next morning was Stoick, Hiccup and Jack sitting at the table and having breakfast. Stoick raised an eyebrow when he saw that Hiccup gave Jack two fishes after he had given Toothless his food.
"Son?" he questioned as Jack happily ate the fish.
"He likes fish. Refuses to eat anything else." Hiccup said and got his own breakfast. Stoick nodded slowly and studied Jack.
"So... Jack was it?" he said and Jack looked up from his fish to look at Stoick when he heard his name. Stoick cleared his throat.
"So. Where are you from? And how did you get here?" he asked and looked sternly at Jack. Jack blinked and tilted his head a little before he shrugged like he didn't know.
"You don't know? How could you not know?" Stoick asked and Jack shrugged again.
"Dad, I believe that he doesn't remember. I tried to ask Jack that yesterday but all he does is shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head." Hiccup said and Stoick gave him a look.
"Doesn't he speak?" he asked and Hiccup shook his head.
"No, he is mute like Gothi." he said and took a bite of his meat.
"Is he really that old?" Stoick asked with a raised eyebrow and Hiccup choked on his food.
"W-what makes you say that?!" Hiccup coughs as he tried to breath.
"Well, he has white hair and is mute. Just like old people. White hair isn't normal on kids. Or young people in general." Stoick said seriously. Hiccup let out a deep sigh.
"I don't know why he has white hair dad. But I find it very hard to believe that he is a lot older than you. He acts like he is younger than me but he look like to be around my age. I have no idea why Odin gave him white hair, but he have it. Could you please drop that?" he said, slightly irritated.
"White hair isn't normal son." Stoick said sternly.
"Dad. Drop it." Hiccup hissed and Stoick shrugged.
"So what are you going to do with him?" he asked and Hiccup thought for a bit.
"I'm not sure. First I'm going to teach him hand signs so we can understand him somewhat. After that I will teach him to write so we can understand him completely. And then we also have to figure out where he comes from and how he got here. When we know that we can give him a ride home. Until then I guess I will teach him about how we live. He said and took a bite of his bread. Stoick eyed his son as he ate.
"It sounds like you are planning to make him stay." he said and made Hiccup choke once again on his food. Hiccup cleared his throat this time before he spoke.
"Well, he need to stay here until his wounds are healed. And he can't go home if he doesn't know where he lives. So Jack is kind of stuck here for the moment." he stated and took some yak milk to cool his throat.
"In our home?" Stoick said and Hiccup groaned.
"Yes! You can't throw him onto the street! No one will probably take him in and it is just getting colder outside so he would probably freeze to death at night!" Hiccup exclaimed and glared at Stoick. Stoick sighed and rubbed his eyes in a tired manner.
"And talking about the cold, haven't it gotten colder in here?" Hiccup said as he suddenly shivered and felt that his hands were cold. Stoick nodded and the two looked around and saw the door was open.
"When did the door get open?" Stoick said and Hiccup felt dread in his stomach. His head wiped around towards Jack's seat and found it unoccupied. He threw a quick glance around the room and noticed that Toothless also was gone.
"Oh no." Hiccup whispered and quickly got up on his feet and ran through the door in hope to find Jack and Toothless.
.
When Hiccup and Stoick had started to talk over Jack's head like he was a child he had quickly became bored after he had finished his breakfast. It seemed like it would be a long talk so Jack decided that he should start his exploring around the village without Hiccup. He had slipped out of his seat without Hiccup and Stoick noticing and sneaked out through the door. Toothless had noticed him though and had followed him curiously.
Now was Jack walking around wobbly with Toothless supporting him. He looked curiously at everything and everyone in the village. The villagers looked nervously at Jack as he passed them with Toothless. Most of them didn't know what to think of the white haired man but some were worried about his health. Jack had nothing but a pair of trousers and bandages on him. But none of them said anything because his white hair made them uneasy. Though Toothless being with Jack made them feel a bit more at ease.
"By Thor, ar ya already out of bed?" a man said loudly and walked over to Jack and Toothless. Jack looked at the man that had a big grin on his face.
"Astrid told me ya were awake, not that ya were up! Name's Gobber." Gobber said and shook Jack's hand. Jack blinked before he slowly nodded. He glanced at Gobber's left hand and Gobber shook his hook.
"Don't ya worry 'bout this. Happn'd a long time ago." he said and then noticed Jack's so called clothing. He frowned.
"Ain't ya cold like that? Ya don't even have boots!" he said and picked up Jack before Jack could do anything. Jack squirmed in Gobber's hold and tried half-hearted to get away.
"Come on. Let's get ya some better clothes!" Gobber said and walked to his home. Jack gave Toothless a pleading look but said dragon just looked smug and followed Gobber. Jack gave Toothless a glare and let himself be carried away.
.
After quite some time Gobber had finally found some warm clothes that suited Jack. A light brown long-sleeved shirt with a too big fur vest and a pair of fur boots. Jack got to keep his trousers because Gobber deemed them good enough. Jack wiggled his nose as the scent of the fur became overwhelming for him.
"There! All set! Now ya can run 'round the village without worrying about freezing." Gobber said, quite pleased with himself. Jack glanced down at his new clothes before he slowly nodded. Then he proceeded to take off the vest.
"Hm. Alright, not the vest. You look too much like Hiccup when he was 15." Gobber said with a nod and turned his back to Jack.
"Mind taking those leather pieces with ya? Need a pair of extra hands." he said as he picked up a pile of scrap metal and started to walk away. Jack looked at the leather pieces and took them before he followed Gobber.
"Thanks lad. Ya can put them there." Gobber said and nodded towards a free space. Jack moved to put the leather there when the door slammed open and Hiccup rushed in.
"Gobber! Have you seen... Jack?" Hiccup begins but he slowly trails off as he sees the person he had been running through the village in search of.
"You! I told you to wait!" he snaps before pinching the bridge of his nose. Gobber looked between the two young adults before he turned to Jack.
"So ya name is Jack?" he asked and Jack nodded. Hiccup groaned at the two before he looked down as he felt someone push against him.
"And why didn't you stop him mister?" he scolded the Night Fury. Toothless shrugged and butted Hiccup with his head again in a greeting. Hiccup just sighed.
"I've given 'im warm clothes so ya don't need to worry about that. So if ya wouldn't mind, I would like help in the shop." Gobber said and Hiccup looked at him before he shook his head.
"Sorry Gobber, but Jack shouldn't be out of bed really. Especially not walking around and carrying heavy stuff. And I'm babysitting Jack. Maybe another time Gobber." Hiccup said and Gobber's shoulders sagged in disappointment. Jack looked between the two before he put away the leather and went to look at some interesting looking tools.
"No! You don't touch that!" Hiccup said as he saw Jack reaching for something that looked like a saw. He quickly went over to Jack and took the thing from him.
"... What is this anyway?" Hiccup asked as he turned the thing around in his hands.
"Ah. That's just something the twins wanted. Don't know what for though." Gobber said and shrugged. Hiccup gave him a blank look.
"You know that you shouldn't make stuff for the twins. They will just make another prank." he said with a sigh and Jack looked curiously at him.
"Anyway, let's go Jack. You won't get your trip around the village if we stay here." Hiccup said and walked towards the door. Jack looked at Hiccup before he turned towards Gobber with a grin and waved goodbye to him before he followed Hiccup and Toothless through the door.
"Have fun!" Gobber shouted after them.
Hiccup turned towards Jack and Toothless when they were outside.
"You will ride on Toothless during the whole tour. You are not supposed to walk before the doctor say that you can do so." he said and looked at Jack. Jack gave him a look that said 'You are kidding right?'. Toothless huffed in annoyance which brought him Hiccup's attention.
"Sorry bud, but you have to do it." Hiccup said and forced Jack up on Toothless' back. Toothless didn't look happy but didn't do anything. Jack pouted but didn't move from his spot. Hiccup nodded in approval, satisfied that the two listened on him.
"Alright then. Let the tour begin!" he said and led Toothless and Jack through the village.
.
"... and here we have the Dragon Academy! It's here we learn more about dragons. I believe that the others are in there. Want to meet them?" Hiccup said as he pointed at the academy. Jack seemed to think about it for a bit before he nodded. Hiccup took the lead towards the academy and Toothless followed. As Hiccup and Toothless walked in they were met with roars and stressed shouts. Some dragons were running around, clearly in panic, while others were trying to hide. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were all trying to calm down the dragons. Alarmed, Hiccup ran to Astrid.
"Astrid! What is happening?!" he asked as he tried to catch Stormfly.
"I don't know! They just began to panic!" Astrid said as she struggled with a Terrible Terror. Toothless and Jack watched the chaos. After watching for a minute or two Jack slowly climbed off Toothless and landed on the ground with a light 'thud'. That was all that was needed to make all the dragons in the academy freeze up and turn their heads towards Jack to stare at him. The humans got hold of one dragon each and Fishlegs sighed in relief.
"Finally they stopped!" Snotlout exclaimed as he held Hookfang.
"What are they looking at?" Ruffnut asked as she looked at the dragon she was holding.
"No idea, but it must be scary to make all of the dragons to freeze up." Tuffnut answered. Both of them turned around the see what the dragons were staring at.
"A boy?" Tuffnut said confused. At this everyone else turned around to look at Jack. Hiccup frowned.
"Jack? I told you no to-" Hiccup began as he took a step towards Jack but got interrupted by a load roar from Hookfang. Hookfang got loose from Snotlout's grip and rushed forward to stand in between Jack and the other dragons. Toothless growled warningly to Hookfang but went silent when Jack raised a hand towards him. Jack looked at Hookfang and stared at him. Hookfang stared back and growled. Without warning Hookfang put himself on fire and charged towards Jack and Toothless. Toothless tackled Hookfang and the two started to fight.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled in surprise and ran forward to catch his dragon.
"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted in alarm as Hookfang threw Toothless into the wall. Then Hookfang did something unexpected. Instead of throwing himself at Toothless, he turned towards Jack and growled. Jack didn't even flinch as the dragon tried to intimidate him. Hookfang charged once more with an open mouth, intending to bite the white haired man. In the last second Jack moved out of the way so that Hookfang missed him with a few centimeters. As Jack moved, he stretched out his hand and let it slide against Hookfang's neck as it passed. As the hand came to the base of the neck, Hookfang froze in place, all flames and fight gone. Jack and Hookfang didn't move a muscle during a long time.
"What is he doing?" Tuffnut asked.
"I dunno. Maybe... Threatening to kill Hookfang?" Ruffnut said with a shrug.
"Hookfang isn't afraid of a human!" Snotlout said but at that moment a tremor went through Hookfang's body and he began to shake.
"What in the name of Thor's beard?" Astrid said as she watched the scene. Hiccup looked at Hookfang.
"Hookfang is afraid." he said as realization hit him.
"What?" came the collective shouts from the humans.
"I don't know why, but Hookfang is afraid." Hiccup said and looked at Jack. Everyone's gaze turned to Jack. He had slowly started to rub circles where his hand were. Hookfang started to shake more until Jack put his other hand on the other side of Hookfang's neck and started to rub circles there too. Hookfang slowly began to relax and Jack started to move away. He backed so Hookfang was in front of him. Hookfang looked at Jack before he nuzzled Jack's stomach. Jack smiled and patted Hookfang. At that something clicked in Hiccup's mind. He facepalmed when he remembered.
"Dragons are afraid of Jack for whatever reason. How did I forget that?" he deadpanned and gave Astrid a sheepish look when Astrid glared at him. The other dragons watched Jack warily but didn't seem close to panic anymore. Hiccup turned towards Toothless who gave him a toothless smile.
"You alright bud?" he mumbled as he patted Toothless on his snout. Toothless answered with nuzzling Hiccup's hand.
"What did you do to my dragon?!" Snotlout yelled as he stormed over to Jack in anger but jumped a little when Hookfang growled at him.
"Hookfang?" Snotlout said confused but sighed in relief when Hookfang started to nuzzle with him instead. Jack only smiled. The other dragons slowly made their way to Jack to examine him and eventually all dragons deemed him not to be a threat.
"So, who are you?" Ruffnut asked as she eyed the white haired man. Hiccup walked over to Jack and put a hand on Jack's shoulder.
"This is Jack. I found him badly injured about a month ago. He woke up yesterday and since he refused to stay in bed I decided that I would give him a tour around the village. And it seems like he is mute so don't bother to make him talk." Hiccup explained to the others. Then he pointed at them.
"That's Tuffnut and Ruffnut, they are twins. That's Fishlegs and that's Snotlout. And you have already met Astrid, my girlfriend." he said as he pointed on the humans. Then he began to point at the dragons.
"That's Hookfang, Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare. That's Meatlud, Fishlegs' Gronckle and that's Stormfly, Astrid's Deadly Nadder. Barf and Belch is the twins' Hideous Zippleback. The other dragons are dragons that we are training." Hiccup said and Jack nodded. Fishlegs walked over to Jack.
"How did you do that?" he asked, amazed. Jack tilted his head in confusion.
"The thing with Hookfang! How did you know that?" Fishlegs said eagerly. Jack stared at Fishlegs before he shrugged.
"Fishlegs. He can't talk, remember?" Hiccup said and raised an eyebrow. Fishlegs looked a bit disappointed.
"Oh. Right." he said and sulked a bit. As the others came and crowded Jack, Astrid pulled Hiccup to the side.
"Hiccup. I certainly hope that this will not turn into another Heather story." she said warningly.
"It won't Astrid. I won't show him the book or anything that might hurt the village." Hiccup assured her. Astrid nodded and looked at Jack.
"Something isn't right about him Hiccup. Why would the dragons be so afraid of him? And it seems like he knows a lot about dragons." Astrid said as she crossed her arms. Hiccup put his arm around Astrid and kissed her on the cheek. Astrid smiled.
"I guess I can trust you on this. But if you fail I will beat you." she said warningly and Hiccup chuckled.
"I don't doubt that." he said and the two smiled at each other.
"Come on. Now that you are here, you can hold the lessons again." Astrid said as she tugged Hiccup towards the others.
"I guess I own you that." Hiccup said with a smirk.
"That, and a lot more." Astrid said teasingly. Hiccup just laughed.
"Everyone! Let's get back to class!" Astrid shouted. Everyone looked at Astrid before they left Jack alone and started to usher the dragons to their places.
"Alright then! Where were we?" Astrid said as everyone settled down. Jack sat down at the side as he watched the lesson go on.
.
As the rest of the day went on, all dragons in the village seemed to calm down around Jack. No one seemed to understand why, no one beside Jack.
Hello! Missed me? ... Yeah, I guess not... No, kidding xD
So, a bit of a status update:
There are several reasons why it took me months to finish this chapter. One reason is work. But one main reason is that I'm in a new fandom right now so it's a bit hard to find my muse to write on this one. But don't be worried, I'm not planning to abandon my most popular story. It just might take a while before the chapters will be up. And I don't actually have any idea what to write in the next chapter. I know where the next point in the story is that I want to write but at the same time it feels like that the story will move too fast if I write it. Though it's a very high chance that I will write that.
I'm also planning to write short chapters about five new dragon types that is a main factor in this story. It will be six chapters that I will add to this story. So you won't be needing to look for it later when I start to post them.
Another thing. I will ask you not to demand for new chapters. I'm happy when you say something like "Can't wait for a new chapter!" or "Will be so fun to read what will happen next!" but I can shut down if you are demanding chapters like "UPDATE!" or "You need to update!". And if I shut down, it won't be fun for me to write. And that will make it take even longer for me to write the story. You guys are very sweet and I love your reviews, but please don't pressure me. The story will turn out bad if you do. I have warned you before that I will only write when I find time to do so and that means irregular updates. Please remember this.
So! With that out of the way!
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! :)
