The Dragon Boy - Part 22 - A Dark Visitor
Frostcup fanfic

Authors note: hey guys I'm a little tired so my brain can't think of much to say here hehe^^ still I hope you enjoy the chapter- the next one will be tommorow as always and please leave me a review^^ okay then that's it :-D enjoy!

Hiccup was panting as he reached the doors of the great hall. Two burly Vikings stood outside on guard duty.
"Nope, sorry Hiccup. You're not allowed in." One said, blocking the doorway.
"What? Come on." He complained.
"You're not old enough son." The other explained, not unkindly.
"I'm the son of the chief- and the head of Berk's dragon training academy, who would be better to deal with this?" He protested.
"Sorry, orders are orders." The first one said with finality. Hiccup thought frantically, he had to get in there and change their minds about Jack. A procession heading up towards the hall caught his attention.

A group of six heavily armed Vikings escorting a single small figure, all of them brandishing spears at the boy at their centre.

As they reached the gates, Jack looked at Hiccup, he had the beginnings of fragile hope in his eyes, but also, doubt. Hiccup looked right at him.
"Trust me." He thought. Jack heard, and his doubt vanished. He nodded, the movement caused the spears to move even closer to his neck, almost pricking the skin. Hiccup's heart pounded, they wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Were they really that afraid of him? He looked terrified for crying out loud!

But the escorts obviously weren't taking any chances. They took him inside.

Sudden inspiration struck him.
"Let me go in there, as witness." The guards hesitated, considering his proposal "I'm the only one who saw the whole thing." He reasoned. The guards finally stood aside.

Hiccup breathed out in relief, the first time he'd spoken on behalf of a dragon, it hadn't ended well, he could only hope this time would be different.

He stepped through the doors.

By the edge of the village, Snotlout was moaning.
"I can't believe it. They just completely forgot about me! I was the one who took him down! I should be living like a hero, right now. I should get some thanks, I should get a reward."

A dark, shadowy figure started walking towards him. "I've done the village a great service, but I don't get nothing." Suddenly, he became aware that someone was standing behind him, he jumped back. "Who're you?" He asked, startled. The man standing there seemed to be completely calm and at ease, in the face of the armed Viking. He was wearing a long, dark cloak, which completely covered all but his head. He had his hands linked behind his back.
"Who I am, is of no consequence, but I wonder if you can help me?" He said, cooly.

Snotlout was instantly on his guard, something about this man put him on edge- every instinct screamed danger. "I'm looking for a young boy who came here a few weeks ago." The man said, walking closer to Snotlout, who backed off a little. "A boy, who can turn into a dragon."A malevolent look appeared in the stranger's eyes, and he grinned, darkly. Even Snotlout could tell he had bad things in store for Jack, but Snotlout'd had a grudge against Jack ever since he showed him up, and made his dragon look like a wimp, and he was not the kind of person to let go of that easily.

A smarter Viking might have refused to help, and turned him away, but Snotlout had revenge in his mind, he wanted to get even- he didn't notice the murderous look in the mans eyes- he just wanted to see Jack humiliated. Snotlout smirked, and walked towards the great hall, the dark man followed.

After the initial dispute about Hiccup's presense, they'd agreed to let him stay, as a witness.

Jack was in the middle of the room, still held at spearpoint. He was nervous, but his faith in Hiccup helped him keep calm.
"So, creature, what are you? Human or dragon?" Stoick asked, getting straight to the centre of the problem. Jack looked at the chief, and answered.
"Dragon." , after a prompt from Hiccup, he added, "Sir." Stoick spoke again.
"And yet, you appear to be one of us. You lied, to get your way into our village. What do say, in your defence?" Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Hiccup broke in.
"That doesn't matter. We're here to decide what's going to happen next, and really, that depends on one thing. Whether or not he is, in any way, dangerous." Stoick looked outraged.
"It is not your place to speak out of turn, Hiccup." He warned. "But... you have a valid point. Go on." He was relieved, finally he could speak freely. He addressed the crowd of assembled Vikings.

"Jack has been living here, for quite a while now. What has he, ever, done- that could be seen as dangerous?" There was muttering amongst the crowd. "Nothing. He stands here, like he's a criminal, but his only crime amounts to, dumping snow on our heads, or, stealing my leg every once in a while." He reasoned, he had to get them to see Jack as the kid they'd gotten to enjoy the company of, over the past few weeks, not as some dangerous monster. "He's only ever done good in our village. He helped out at the academy, he made the kids happy- he even saved Freya's life, and would've ended up giving his own life, to do so, if I hadn't rescued him. If he had meant any harm, or danger to us, or the village, he would have done so a long time ago." He paused, letting the others take in what he was saying. Jack was beaming at him, gratefully.

"He's not a monster, he's just-" What he was going to say next, was cut off by the sound of a large explosion outside. The impact could only be felt and heard, from inside. Everyone, minus Jack and his six guards, ran outside to see what was going on.

Hiccup gasped, as he saw what it was, his eyes widened in horror.
"Hiccup, what is it?" Jack's voice asked, urgently, in his head. Hiccup could tell his friend was trying to see through his eyes, and desperately tried to block the images out of his mind, as Jack had done.

It was him. The black dragon horror, who had almost killed Hiccup, and murdered all Sky Dragons.

It was breathing clouds of darkness everywhere. It roared, demanding attention, and Hiccup felt Jack freeze. He heard it, and he knew what was going on.
"Oh, gosh, he's here." Hiccup heard him thinking. The huge dragon turned into a slim, pale man in a dark robe, pacing the length of a rooftop. Somehow, he wasn't any less menacing in human form.

"I'm here for the dragon boy." He announced. "I know he's here." He whispered, frighteningly. "Come out, young dragon!" He demanded, "Reveal yourself." They waited, Hiccup with baited breath, he knew Jack wouldn't hesitate to show himself if it meant saving them. But, thankfully, he seemed to be staying put.
"If you do not show yourself, then I shall kill, this boy." He waved a hand, and the darkness formed into a black blade, held against the throat of a, very startled, Viking. Snotlout.

"Jack, no! Don't!" Hiccup protested, but he knew it was pointless, Jack was not about to let anyone die because of him, not even Snotlout, who had led the beast straight to him.

The guards surrounding him had been preoccupied by the commotion outside, and had not noticed the small, lithe figure escape, until he reached the doors, by which point, they were too late to stop him.

Hiccup saw a pale figure dash through the crowd, out the corner of his eye. It leaped for the roof of the building which held the creature, and landed a pure white, angry dragon.

The man turned and gazed at him with loathing.
"So... you finally come out of hiding." The man said, before turning, himself, back into his dragon form. "Finally, I will destroy the Sky Dragons, and then, this petty village, will be the first to taste my wrath. The fear will be delicious, and no one will be able to stop me." Hiccup heard it gloat, maliciously in Jack's mind. This creature fed off fear? But, then why all this death and destruction? What kind of twisted beast was this?

"No, you killed my first family, beast. I won't let you kill this one." Hiccup mouth opened, as he gasped silently. Was that really how he saw them? The beast laughed.
"You failed to defeat me the first two times, only through sheer luck, and trickery have you survived this long. This time, you will not escape. This time, I will succeed." It promised.
"No. This time, I will stop you." Jack replied, just as boldly. They took off, Jack just before the other dragon, gaining a slight height advantage.

They headed deep into the sky, to battle, for the third time.

Twice, Jack had failed, but this time, he would succeed. For it wasn't just his life on the line anymore- the lives of everyone on Berk depended on him.

This time he would fight harder. Because, this time, he had a reason to fight.