The Dragon Boy - Part 17 - Ice Skating
Frostcup fanfic

Authors note: here with the next one! Almost getting to the reveal but first a bit of cuteness and drama (this is the cuteness- drama will follow shortly) anyway I hope you enjoy it leave a review if you have the time I love hearing from you as always and until tommorow with the next chapter I bid you farewell^^

Hiccup arrived at the cove. There was quite the turn out, many other Vikings were already there, at the edge of the frozen lake. Hiccup was sure it wasn't frozen the last time he saw it- the Sky Dragon, he thought.

As he got closer, he heard uneasy muttering amongst the assembled Vikings, they were nervous about taking to the ice. There was no surprise about that- frozen water was renowned for being dangerous and untrustworthy, and considering how many of them there were, none of them wanted to chance taking to it. A familiar voice grabbed everyone's attention.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" It said. Jack was standing right in the middle of the lake, where the ice would be weakest, looking completely at ease. Everyone stared, impressed by his daring.
"Come on, it's not as if it's going to break." He said, jumping up and down. The Vikings stayed where they were, still uncertain. Jack rolled his eyes, and whistled. A happy black dragon, slowly, span past him, grinning a goofy dragon grin at his audience as he went past.

With that, after a bit of laughter, everyone was soon piling onto the ice- thankfully, it was a big lake.

Hiccup sat down, and pulled one of his roller skates on, he'd realised, too late, that it wouldn't work with his metal leg- and he didn't have the time to forge a new leg for skating- so he'd just have to make do. The metal leg slipped on ice that much, it would probably go faster than the other skate anyway.

He stepped, gingerly, onto the ice, and immediately fell onto his rear. Luckily, everybody was too focussed on their own skating to notice.

He somehow managed to work his way towards the middle of the lake, using embarrassingly slow, tiny steps, then fell down for the eleventh time- yes, he'd been keeping count. He groaned.
"Even Toothless is doing better than me." He muttered, rubbing his back. He looked up from his seat on the floor, everyone else was making much better progress.

Amongst the crowd, he spotted Jack, helping the kids who had fallen over, or were struggling- well, anyone who needed a little help, really. He was a skating master. He even tried helping Snotlout, who was almost as bad as Hiccup, and he had both his feet.

Hiccup swore he could hear the conversation from halfway across the lake.
"You want some help?"Jack offered.
"No!" Snotlout replied harshly, before he slipped, only just, by some miracle, avoiding a fall. Jack, nonplussed, zipped off, making a full lap of the lake, before reaching Snotlout again, who had made no more progress.
"Do you want help yet?" Jack asked, whisking off again for another lap, before he could answer.
"Do you want help yet?... Do you want help yet?... Do you want help yet?..." he repeated.

Eventually, Jack saw he was getting nowhere with that, and stopped.
"Come on, I think I know what I'm doing- I can skate backwards for crying out loud!" He said, demonstrating.
"Oh yeah, why don't you close your eyes, and hop on one foot?" Snotlout sneered, getting slightly annoyed.
"If you insist." Jack said, nonchalant, and he did just that- folding his arms and whistling, just for good measure. Hiccup struggled to contain his laughter, at the look on Snotlout's face.
"So, now, do you want help?" Jack asked, point made.
"No! Go away!" Snotlout sulked. Jack shrugged, and skated off to help one of the kids, who had slipped again.

Hiccup sighed, deciding he'd get up and try again. He'd just about managed two steps, when a voice startled him.
"Need a hand?" He cried out in alarm, as he lost his balance and fell backwards. A cold hand grasped his flailing arm, and pulled him upright.
"Yep, you, do, need a hand... and possibly a leg." Jack answered his own question. He started, slowly, skating backwards, pulling Hiccup- embarrassed, but secretly relieved at the assistance- along with him.

Hiccup looked down at his feet, only to notice, Jack wasn't wearing any skates, come to think of it, he never wore shoes at all.
"So what's this "Operation Hiccup" I heard about this morning?" Jack wondered, casually, breaking into Hiccup's thoughts.
"Oh- that." Hiccup replied, a little shyly. "It's the name, the kids gave, to the way I took down a Sea Dragon." Hiccup could almost see him thinking- "You, took down a sea dragon?" But the skating master didn't say anything- at least he had the curtesy not to yell his incredulous thoughts out loud. Actually if anything looked rather impressed (though still surprised but that was to be expected). Hiccup continued explaining.
"I lured it up in the air, on Toothless, then we blasted it's wings, so, when it dived, it couldn't pull up in time, and, well, bang- no more Sea Dragon." Jack appeared to be mildly interested about it.
"Huh." he murmured, steadying Hiccup as he slipped again.

As he focussed on putting one foot in front of the other, Hiccup realised, this was his chance to talk to him about the Sky Dragon.
"Sooo..." Hiccup began, "Sky Dragons." He let the words hang, a hint of nervousness appeared in Jack's eyes. "I figured out your secret." Hiccup told him, quietly. Jack's expression switched to full blown panic, his hands tensed, and loosened their grip on Hiccup's arms.
"It's ok, I'm not going to tell anyone." Hiccup hurriedly continued. Jack looked at him, a little confused- like he was wondering how Hiccup was keeping so calm. "So, how is the Sky Dragon?" Further confusion, then understanding, spread across his face.
"Oh." He said, looking relieved. "Fine."
"Good." Hiccup replied. "Hey, um, could you... maybe, like, err... take me, to see it, one day?" The alarm returned.
"Never mind, never mind." Hiccup said, quickly, not wanting to push his luck. He was a little hurt, he trusted Jack, why couldn't he trust him?

The silence between them lasted.

They skating for a while. "You know, something's been bothering me." Hiccup told him. Jack looked curious. "Yesterday, when you jumped off Toothless." Jack grinned at the memory.
"Yeah?" He prompted.
"How did you know you weren't going to... hit the ground?" He wondered, outloud.
"Hey, I knew you'd catch me!" Jack smirked, before softening into a warm smile. "I trust you." Hiccup smiled back. He trusted him.

But, then, why wouldn't he take him to see the Sky Dragon. Then again, perhaps he would, in time. Hiccup accepted this, he'd show him, when he was ready. He was certain of it.
"Besides..." Jack added, as Toothless came skidding past. "...I knew Mr Storm Seeker would be able to handle it." Hiccup watched, as Toothless, hearing the comment, starting trotting proudly, before slipping, and collapsing spread-eagled across the ice. Both boys chuckled, and Jack skated off to help Freya.

As he skated off, Hiccup realised, he was still going, on his own! Actually, it turned out, Jack had let go of his arms quite a while ago.

The white haired boy watched Hiccup, making independent progress across the lake. Yes, Jack decided, he would tell the young Viking... When he was ready.