The Light and Dark Gather

Merida and Rapunzel wore identical shocked expressions once they were inside the base of Frost and Fury. The Cove, as they called it, was a massive underground cavern. But all around them they could see the additions making it a suitable place for a secret hideout. There was a giant computer in one corner of the cave supported on a giant rock platform and all around there were twisting paths that led into caves that spread all throughout the base.

"Yep. I had that exact same look on my face the first time I came here. Drink it all in ladies," Frost said in amusement.

Fury led the way to the computer as the other followed behind. The shipyard building above them had been in his family for generations. The Haddocks had started out as humble shipbuilders before they moved into the technological age. But they never gave up their shipyard. It was a reminder of their beginnings. When he had gained possession of the property he turned the area underneath it into his home base. Eventually it became his and Frost's base when they became partners.

"So ladies, thank you for coming," Fury said as he sat down in his chair. He turned around to face them while Frost stood next to him. He casually leaned on his staff as they surveyed the two women they'd brought home.

They looked wary, cautious, and unsure why they were here.

"Why did you bring us here?" Rapunzel finally asked.

Frost looked to Fury to let him answer. "Because I want to propose an alliance," Fury answered. Both girls' eyes widened in surprise.

"Ye what?" Merida asked in disbelief.

"Yes Ms. Dunbroch. An alliance," he said simply looking to her. "Obviously Frost and I don't know what we're dealing with when it comes to Gothel. And you seem to know a lot about the sword Ms. Dunbroch," he explained.

"So you want us to be a team then?" Rapunzel asked raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes. We have the sword and two of our enemies are after it," he said gesturing to Frost and himself. "Not to mention Gothel is here. An enemy of yours who I happen to believe is also after the sword. I think teaming up would be a very wise decision, don't you?"

Rapunzel thought it over. Maybe it would be a good thing. She still hadn't forgotten those things they fought at the docks. The robot and those black sand creatures. They obviously didn't fully know what they were dealing with either. Maybe an alliance would be a good thing.

"Nae," Merida said with a glare. Fury, Frost, and even Rapunzel looked at her in surprise. "Tae be a team means tae troost each other. an' Ah don't troost ye."

"And why is that?" Fury asked curiously.

"Mebbe its coz we're at a disadvantage," Merida said. "Ye ken who we ur, but we don't ken who ye ur," she explained.

"Show us yer faces an' then we can gab abit an alliance," Merida demanded.

Frost looked to Fury to see what he thought. She had a fair point. They were a little uneven.

"No," Fury said simply. Merida narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to yell at Fury raised a hand to silence her. "The way I see it we are pretty even," he said as he raised a hand to gesture all around them. "We've taken a risk in showing you our base. That's an act of trust in itself."

Merida opened her mouth to retort. But then she closed it. With a silent curse she realized he was right. Their base was now compromised. They were mostly square. Didn't mean she liked it.

"In time we may reveal our identities. But that will be when we are sure we can absolutely trust you. Now what do you say?" He asked again.

Merida and Rapunzel exchanged a glance. Rapunzel smiled in encouragement. Her wide eyes gave Merida some comfort. So with a sigh she gave Fury and Frost a nod. But she leveled Fury with a hard glare while she did. She still didn't like his guts.

"Awesome," Frost said with a smile. "Welcome to the team ladies. How about I give you guys the tour?" he offered standing up.

Rapunzel and Merida exchanged a glance and Merida motioned for Rapunzel to go ahead. With a nod she did, stepping forward to follow after Frost. Leaving Merida and Fury alone.

"So for now you guys will have low level clearance to the base. That means access to the unrestricted areas such as the workout room, the training room, the lounge, and low clearance on the computer database," Frost explained as he walked ahead of Rapunzel and pointed out various rooms.

"So what would be the restricted areas?" Rapunzel asked inquisitively.

"That would be the armory, the generator room, and the vault," Frost replied.

"And where is the sword being kept?"

"The vault."

Rapunzel pursed her lips in thought and stored that away. She had to admit this base was interesting. The halls were carved and smooth with fluorescent lighting. She wondered what powered this base. Then her eyes fell to Frost's back. Like her partner she wanted to know who their new teammates were.

"So how long have you and Fury been a team?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

"Meh…a few years I guess," Frost said with a shrug. "This was his city before I came along and this was his base before we became permanent partners," he explained.

"I noticed you seem to do a lot of what he tells you for being partners," Rapunzel pointed out.

Frost stopped and turned to look at her. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Nice try blondie. I see what you're doing."

"Me? What am I doing?" Rapunzel asked innocently.

"You're trying to get me on your side. Me and Fury are partners but he's the idea guy. He's pulled my ass out of the fire plenty of times," he said firmly.

"So you seem to trust him a lot. Even though you only know one side of him," Rapunzel put out there. But when Frost remained silent, "Unless you know who he is out of costume as well?" she asked.

Oh she was trying to be clever. Trying to learn as much about them as possible. Well he wasn't going to fall for it. "Yeah. We know who each other is out of costume," he replied casually.

"So who is he?"

"I'm not telling you," Frost replied hotly.

"Oh come on. I won't tell anybody," Rapunzel said with a slightly flirtatious tone as she moved closer to him. "We're supposed to trust each other right?" she said pouting slightly.

Frost flushed slightly at her close proximity. But shaking his head her turned around. "Let's continue the tour. Next up the garage," he said leading the way.

Rapunzel sighed in slight disappointment. She hoped he might slip up. But he seemed to like her. She could use that.

Merida stood beside Fury as he worked on his computer. She kept on trying to figure out who he was.

"You don't have to leave your mask and hood up you know," he said while continuing his work. She looked at him. "We already know who you are," he said with a light shrug. She glared at the side of his head. But relenting she pulled back her hood and took off her mask.

"Those arrows of yours are quite interesting," Fury said as he paused in his typing. He swiveled in his chair to look at her. "May I?" he asked reaching out a hand. Merida mulled it over for a moment. But in the end she reached a hand back into her quiver and pulled out an arrow before handing it to him.

Fury looked at it closely as his scanners did their job. Already his mind was thinking about ways to improve on existing designs. But still, even he had to admit they were some pretty impressive arrows.

"Interesting," he said before handing the arrow back. "So how did you hit me with that arrow during our first fight?" he asked.

"Why ur ye so interested?"

"I'm a curious man by nature."

Merida thought it over. "Magic," she said casually. "Mah bow is enchanted. It will hit anythin' Ah aim fur e'en if Ah miss."

"So magic huh. Interesting," he said as he started thinking of a way to replicate that effect with science.

"Ye believe in magic?" Merida asked a little surprised. She assumed he was all about science given his armor.

"I've been forced to develop an open mind after meeting Frost. Otherwise my brain would have exploded when I tried to figure out how exactly he can control the wind and snow," he joked.

While intrigued by the idea of dragons as a child he had always been a man of science. He'd discredited magic as nothing more than a joke. But when he met his partner and the Guardians he'd come to accept the fact that magic was real.

Suddenly they heard the footsteps and turned to see Frost and Rapunzel walking back to them. Rapunzel had her mask off seeing no point in keeping it on since Frost and Fury knew who they were as well.

"This place is amazing Mer," Rapunzel said smiling wide. "They have everything. A lounge, a kitchen, workout room, training room, an arcade, tanning beds, a lab, and you should see the garage."

"You have an arcade?" Merida asked looking to Fury and raising an eyebrow.

"He wouldn't stop whining until I added one," he said looking at Frost.

"Oh come on. The arcade was a good idea," Frost said crossing his arms in offense.

"And tanning beds?" Merida asked.

Frost and Fury exchanged a glance. Suddenly they both started sniggering until they burst out in laughter.

"Oh that was a joke on a friend of ours. Let's just say her skin burned easily and we just added that to piss her off," Frost chuckled out.

"So we aren't the only people who've been here?" Rapunzel asked.

"No. Only one other person has been to the Cove," Fury explained. But he didn't elaborate as he turned in his chair to grab something.

Merida thought about what he just said curiously until suddenly a squeaking sound caught her attention. Glancing at her feet her eyes widened.

"Ack!" she screamed while drawing and notching an arrow. On the ground in front of her was a huge black wolf. It had a squeaky fish toy in its mouth as it looked up at her with big green eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Fury said turning around and standing up from his seat.

"Take it easy red," Frost said evenly as he tied to coax her to lower her bow.

"AWWW! A dog!" Rapunzel squealed as she kneeled down and threw her arms around it.

"That's nae a dog Punz. That's a wolf," she hissed at her friend. She lowered her bow slightly, but was still cautious of being so close to a dangerous animal.

"He looks like a dog to me. Don't you boy," she said talking in a baby voice and cooing to Toothless. Toothless dropped his fishy toy to whine and lick Rapunzel's face, causing her giggle happily.

Merida internally face palmed. Of course Rapunzel wouldn't be afraid of a wolf. The girl could wrestle a dragon with her bare hands if she had to. Looking at the wolf she noticed it didn't seem dangerous. So she put her bow and arrow away.

"This is Toothless," Fury explained. The wolf's ears perked up in response to hearing his name before padding over to sit by his master's feet. Merida raised an eyebrow as she noticed that one of its back legs was robotic.

"He was a rescue," Frost explained. Toothless looked at the new people curiously. He padded over to Merida who stiffened slightly in wariness. He started sniffing at her. And his tail wagged excitedly as he recognized her scent. He'd been smelling it off his master for weeks now. He brushed his snout against her hand in an attempt to get her to pet him.

Merida couldn't help but smile. The wolf was acting just like a dog. And it was pretty cute she had to admit. So she slowly raised a hand up to pet it. Earning a happy whine and causing him to roll onto his back and present his belly to be scratched.

Merida giggled but kneeled down to comply. She scratched the wolf's stomach making it squirm and whine happily. Ok so it was absolutely adorable. She could admit it.

"Looks like he likes you," Fury said with a smile in his voice.

"Aww what? He chased me around the first time I came here," Frost cried indignantly.

"I guess he likes girls better," Rapunzel said with a smirk. Frost grumbled as he glared down at Toothless.

"Anyway," Fury said getting back on track. He held out a hand to Rapunzel and Merida. Merida stood up and came forward. In his hand were what looked like two ear buds. Communicators she realized. Then he held up a small hand held device that looked like a piece of glass surrounded by metal.

"Communicators. When you want to reach one of us," he explained. Merida and Rapunzel took on each. Touching the glass, numbers and pictures started to appear.

"Cool," Rapunzel said with a smile.

"They also will provide you access to the base so keep them with you. I guess that's it for tonight. Me and Frost need to set up sleeping quarters so if you decide to ever stay the night here," Fury said.

Merida and Rapunzel nodded in understanding before they both turned to leave. Frost led them to the platform entrance and saw them out.

Fury sighed to himself. While he was sure this was a good move for Frost and Fury, he wasn't so sure this was a good idea for himself as Hiccup.

For now he would have to see Merida a lot more than normal. It was already hard to be around her without staring at her like the lovesick dork he was. But he had to do this. He had to defend the city.

He'd just have to suck it up.

"This is your fault Pitch!" said a harsh raspy voice.

"My fault?" came an indignant snarl.

Drago Bludvist glared daggers at his supposed 'compatriot' as they argued. Drago was large man, standing at 6'10 he towered over almost anyone he came across. Drago was a man with a mind as brilliant but twisted enough to match Night Fury's. The two had been enemies for years. But he'd never managed to defeat his foe. He'd always had his plans thwarted, especially when Fury gained his meddlesome partner Frost.

Along with his imposing height he wore a long black cape and carried a large metal pike in his right hand. His face was covered in scars he'd obtained from his years in his war torn country. His head and facial hair was worn in dreadlocks and his left arm was fully robotic.

"Yes. You're nightmares were supposed to obtain the sword while my robots distracted Fury and Frost. And they failed," he spat.

Pitch Black's lips curled upward into a menacing sneer. Pitch was a man standing nearly as tall as Drago but with a slimmer and lanky build. He had charcoal gray skin and a long flowing black cape and menacing amber eyes. His hair was spiky and black but his teeth were a brilliant gleaming white.

Pitch was a master of dark magic. He'd stolen and twisted the magic of a rival of his for his own personal use. He could control black sand, shaping into creatures and weapons for his own devices. Additionally he could harness the power of fear, making his enemies paranoid and driving them insane with it if they weren't strong willed enough to fight back.

"Well you're robot didn't seem to do much either dragon man," he replied with a growl.

"I sent my robot as added insurance. But you were supposed to deliver the sword. Now Fury has it! I thought a man who stole his entire spell book could handle a sword," Drago said condescendingly.

Pitch's nostrils flared at his slight against his abilities and he conjured his black sand around him. Forming and hardening it into a long black scythe. Drago glared at him before throwing back his cape and activating the drill and energy blaster on his pike.

Both men glared at each other. Waiting for the other to make the first move. Their blood was boiling. And they'd long come to a point where they wanted to kill each other.

"Ugh. Men. Always going all alpha male instead of using your brains," came a voice. Glancing to the side they both saw their other partner walking up to them.

Dressed in a long red dress and holding her chin up high was Gothel.

"And where have you been?" Drago demanded.

Gothel looked at him. "Oh you know. Just needed a little pick me up," she said gesturing to her face which looked much younger than it had hours ago. They both knew she'd gone out to steal some youth with her magic.

"And Drago is right Pitch. You were supposed to deliver the sword. This is your fault," she said evenly and pointing to the offended man.

"My fault? It was actually your little pests that stopped my nightmares. Maybe this is your fault," he shot back at her.

But Gothel shrugged off his jab. She looked at her nails casually. "There was no way of knowing Limelight and Archer would show up. I have no idea what they're doing here," she said calmly.

"As one practitioner of the black arts to another just accept the facts. Besides, our leader doesn't seem too worried. He should be returning soon. Until then he says Drago is still in charge," she informed them.

Pitch glared at her. Then he glared back at a smug Drago. With a snort he stalked away. Angry and in a huff.

Drago watched him walk away. Boring holes into his back until he felt a hand on his cheek. It gently turned him until he was looking into Gothel's face.

"You both would have killed each other long ago if I weren't around," she said in amusement. Drago chuckled. "Anyway I'm feeling much livelier. How about I spend the night in your room, darling," she said with s sultry voice.

Drago smiled before she began to walk to his quarters. Swaying her hips as she walked away and knowing he was looking.

Well he supposed there were certain…benefits to working with allies, he thought to himself as he followed after her.

New chapter. The team is formed. And what do you think of Dagothel? Let that sink in.