Jackunzel Week Day 3.
I started reading Star Wars Choices of One the other day, and immediately this idea popped into my head. So, a sci-fi twist on Jackunzel. I may be the first to try this idea... There are a few nods to Star Wars that anyone who's seen the movies might get, and then a few that only fans of the EU will recognize. So have fun!
I'm sorry if the theme feels forced.
Again, thank you so much to everyone who has made these past few days so much fun with your likes and reviews.
Jack and Hiccup belong to DreamWorks animation and William Joyce and Cressida Cowell respectively (have they met yet?). Rapunzel belongs to Disney, Merida belongs to Disney Pixar.
Day 3: Make Hay While The Sun Shines
"Saving a princess is not supposed to be this complicated," Jack muttered, leaning back in his seat at the table in The Night Fury's galley.
"Saving the princess wasn't complicated," Hiccup said, hands in his hair. "It's what we do now that's complicated."
"Thank you for clearing that up," Jack muttered.
"Would ya boys quite arguin'?" Merida asked. "Frost, quit complainin'."
Life had been easier before Hiccup and Merida had gotten married, Jack decided. Before, he would have been allowed to argue with her. Now it didn't seem like a good idea.
The three friends were quiet for a moment, Jack glaring at the table surface as though it had done him a personal injustice.
"The simple fact is, we saved the princess, and even Jack can't get through the blockade on Corona," Hiccup said.
"Not in this ship." The failure still left a bitter taste in Jack's mouth. He stood up and went to the cooler, pulling out a container of potatoes left over from earlier.
"We have to lay low," Hiccup went on. "Preferably on a planet we're familiar with that's close by, and outside the Empire."
"That's getting' harder every day," Merida said, though they were all aware of the fact.
"What about DunBroch?" Hiccup asked, looking at his wife. "Your father's no friend of the Empire."
But Merida shook her head. "Not while the war with Mor'du is back on. What about Berk? Even if they thought t' look – which they probably wouldn't – there's plenty o' places to hide."
"Yeah, no," Jack said. "You want to take a princess from Corona to a planet of space pirates?"
Merida glared at him.
"There's nowhere else without going through Imperial Territory," Hiccup said.
"There's Warren." There was a decided smirk in Merida's voice.
Jack froze with a fork in his mouth.
He turned, to find his friends looking at him expectantly.
"You're kidding," Jack said, around the neck of his fork.
Their expressions didn't change.
"You remember I was kicked off the planet, right? With 'good riddance' still ringing in my ears?"
"Wouldn't E. Aster make an exception?" Hiccup asked. "For the princess?"
For a moment, Jack pictured Rapunzel on Warren, among the bright flowers, the warm sunlight and the green grass... she would fit in just fine. And E. Aster would probably love her.
He probably would make an exception, too. If Jack apologized. But he wasn't ready to admit just how wrong he had been. Not to E. Aster.
The ship shuddered, lurched, and then stilled. The vibration of the engines decreased now that the hyper drive was no longer in use.
"Where are we?" Merida asked.
Jack, already half way out of the kitchen, food contained in hand, looked back over his shoulder to answer. "Krash."
Krash was a small trading post, always in the shadow of its sister planet. Its clientele ranged from honest traders to smugglers, and everything in between.
Since they were on the run, it seemed like a decent place to regroup. Few questions were asked, and they would only be here a few hours.
But when Jack looked out the cockpit viewport, he realized that might not have been his best idea.
He punched the intercom button. "Hiccup, you better get up here."
Hiccup and Merida joined him a moment later, looking out at the Imperial Carrier that loomed outside the viewport, between them and the planet.
"What are they doin' here?" Merida asked.
"Looking for the princess, of course," Jack rolled his eyes.
"Have they hailed us?" asked Hiccup. He was the captain for a reason.
Jack was about to say no when the comm system crackled.
"Unidentified vessel, this is Imperial Carrier 74-8512. Please state your cargo and purpose on Krash."
Hiccup took the comm.
"Imperial Carrier, this is Captain Haddock of the Hopeful Puffin."
Jack cringed at the fake name, as he always did.
"We have no cargo. We're here to refuel and resupply."
The friends waited with baited breath, Jack's brain already racing over the best possible course of action for whatever happened next.
"How many are on board?"
"Ruder than usual," Merida muttered.
Hiccup looked at Jack, silently asking if they could hide or disguise the princess.
Jack held up three fingers, and Hiccup nodded.
"Three, sir. My first mate, our pilot, and myself."
Another pregnant pause...that extended far too long. Jack watched the numbers on the dash chrono change twice.
Jack half turned to Merida, not taking his eyes off the carrier.
"Get the princess. Hide anything in her room."
"What about her?"
"Evidence first. I—"
He was cut off when the comm system crackled again.
"Hopeful Puffin, prepare to be boarded and searched."
Merida ran out of the cockpit.
"I hope you have an idea," Hiccup said, after a polite agreement to the officer.
#
They met up with Merida in the ship's lounge.
Beside her was Princess Rapunzel of Corona, wearing one of Merida's dark green flight suits (which didn't fit), with her pink brocade slippers. Her long golden hair was braided and clipped back, but still in the way.
"You hid everything?" Jack asked.
"Down the laundry chute," Merida said with a nod.
"We're latched onto the carrier," Hiccup said. "They'll be on any moment. What's your idea, Jack?"
"Let them search the ship," Jack said.
"And where'll you be?" Merida asked.
"I'll be in the shower," Jack said, as he reached out for Rapunzel's hand. "Come on, Blondie."
Marida called after them, but they were already around the corner, so Jack couldn't make it out.
"What are you doing?" Rapunzel asked, a little breathless.
Not for the first time, Jack offered a prayer of gratitude that Rapunzel was a shy princess, not a spoiled princess screaming at him to unhand her person, or whatever they said.
They came to a stop outside his room, and he pressed his hand against the palm reader outside his door. "Do you want to go back to Imperial Tower?"
"N-no."
The door slid open.
"Then get in."
He had a single room, a shower unit and a refresher unit in one corner. Jack tugged off his blue shirt and his brown slacks.
"Jack-!"
"Get in," he repeated, gesturing to the shower. Her followed her, still in his boxers, making sure a towel was hung up on the bar on the outside of the shower unit.
He start to close the door, but rolled his eyes when he saw several yard of golden hair still outside.
"Is all this hair really necessary?" he asked, as he dragged it in.
The door finally shut.
"Long hair is a mark of n-nobility on Corona."
She was pointedly looking everywhere but at him.
"That explains it." He still rolled his eyes. But he had seen weirder, and more annoying, marks of hierarchy. "Here."
He picked her up by her waist and hoisted her up to sit on the ledge in one corner that was meant for shower products. She was small enough it worked as a seat, and he handed her the bottles that had been there before her.
He turned back to the other side of the shower and twisted the knobs for the stream of hot water from the shower head.
"Are you sure this will work?" Rapunzel asked, not looking up from the bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash that now sat on her lap.
"Nothing is sure," Jack said, the words coming back to him. He didn't remember who had said them, but it had been said so many times it was now lodged so deep in his mind he couldn't escape them.
He took a deep breath to calm his own nerves, trying to think of anything he might be missing, or overlooking.
The shower unit was filling with steam, making it harder to breath. He could feel light-headedness creeping on the edges of his mind.
With another deep breath, Jack leaned back against the wall of the shower, keeping an eye on the waterproof comm unit for whatever Hiccup or Merida would alert him off next.
"I'm sorry to be so much trouble," Rapunzel said, after a moment.
Jack shrugged, not sure what to say.
They hadn't exactly planned to rescue her... they had been in a place at a time. Right or wrong, he wasn't sure. But the princess wasn't guilty of anything; she didn't deserve to be locked up. And Jack was too much of a free spirit to wish that on anyone who wasn't a criminal.
"Will it take long?" she asked. "For them to search the ship?"
"Depends how bored they are – and how suspicious," he said. "But a carried that big has enough troops to send several teams-"
There was the thud of boots on the ceiling overhead, on the upper level. He heard Rapunzel gasp, but held his breath and counted the steps just about his head.
"Six," he said. "They never board a ship this size with less than eight, so there's at least two teams of six searching both levels."
"How do you know?"
Jack looked over at the princess, who was going from nervous to terrified at a rapid rate. Not that he could blame her. Empress Gothel wasn't known for humane treatment in her prisons.
He hesitated a moment, then sighed.
"I attended the Imperial Flight Academy," he said. The decision was what had gotten him kicked off warren, with the oder to never come back.
"You were an Imperial?"
"Technically," he said. "I was one of the best pilots they ever had."
She arched an eyebrow at his bragging, and he was relieved to see she was relaxing a little.
"Hey, it's true," he said. "But there were problems when they tried to make me an officer."
"What happened?"
"According to my final assessment, I was rash, not a team player, had no sense of responsibility and lacked proper respect for authority."
"Oh."
"Merida fell over laughing when I told her that." He rolled his eyes. "Can you hand me the shampoo?"
Rapunzel looked at the three bottled in her lap, and handed over the requested one.
Jack squirted some of the blue substance in his palm and befan to lather it through his hair.
"What about you?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
Jack shrugged. "Tell me something about yourself. What do you like to do?"
"Oh. I- I like to paint. And read. And gardening." She leaned back against the shower wall. "If I were on Corona, I would be helping replant some of the garden beds right now."
She hugged herself, her eyes darkening. "All I ever wanted was to be a good ruler for my people. Now I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back. And with the trade blockade, they're probably suffering now."
Jack looked away, not sure what to say or do to comfort her.
But the sound of sniffling made him look back. Rapunzel quickly wiped away her tears, but he could still see her stress, and her fear.
"Hey." Forgetting his hands were covered in shampoo suds, he reached out to rest a hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I know being scared won't help anything. But this is all my fault. I'm so sorry, Jack. If I hadn't-"
The comm buzzed.
"Frost? Where are ya?" He couldn't tell is Merida's annoyance was real, or just good acting.
Probably both. He fully expected a lecture when this was over.
He hit the talk-back button. "I'm in the shower. Can this wait?"
His annoyance was a little real.
"No. We're bein' searched."
"My door's unlocked."
He turned to Rapunzel. "We're gonna get through is, okay?"
"Are you sure?"
Nothing is sure. The words resounded in his mind. But he pushed them aside.
"You gotta trust me," he said, speaking fast and low. "Just try to keep quiet."
She nodded, and he stepped out of the shower.
He had his towel around his waist, over his boxers, just as the door of his room swooshed open.
Merida was glaring daggers at him, followed by an imperial officer in severe black uniform, and four troopers in full armor, faces hidden behind their helmets.
"Uh, hi?" he offered. Memories of having his dorm room searched as a cadet came back as he saw the troopers.
The officer, whose name tag read Black, looked at him with visible distasted. His angled face was an unhealthy grayish, while his black hair was slicked back just to military standards. In one hand was a datapad.
Jack remembered exactly why he hadn't liked being in the Academy. The regulated everything, and stiff formality, had been mind-numbing.
"What's your name?" Officer Black asked.
"Jack Frost." Out of old habit, he almost added 'sir', but he bit it back in time. His body had started to stiffen to attention, but he refused. He was not a soldier. Not anymore.
"You're the pilot of this ship?" Black's eyes wondered the room, brows raised, upper lip curled.
The troopers were searching his room – in drawers, and under the bed. Jack resisted any comment on the invasion of privacy. One had what he recognized as a heat detector. He had anticipated that – hence why he'd made sure to fill the shower with steam.
"Yes." Another 'sir' jumped to his lips, only to be bitten back.
"You're the pilot, yet you're taking a shower-" another grimace of distaste "- while this ship prepares to land?"
"It's my time off," he said, with a nonchalant shrug. "Hiccup and Merida are both capable pilots."
More than capable. But he wouldn't say that now – not when he was trying to annoy Black out of his room.
Black looked at Merida.
"My husband and I aren't too strict," Merida said.
"Hmm."
Black paced around the room again. His data pad beeped, and he looked down at the screen.
He had looked Jack up in the Imperial system.
"Where are you from, Frost?"
"Burgess." Originally. He barely remembered it. But he had put it on his Academy application, and that was the information he would go with.
"You trained at the Imperial Flight Academy, I see."
"For two years," Jack said. "Until they decided I wasn't officer material."
"Clearly." A pointed look at Jack's towel, and still soapy hair. "What's your purpose here on Krash?"
"Refuel. Resupply."
"You're next destination."
"I'm the pilot, not the captain." It wasn't a lie, and it didn't actually answer the question. "Now, can I get back to the shower?"
Black glared at him.
"Or do you need to search the shower?"
#
The ship had moved into its sleep cycle, the lights dimmed.
Jack sat in the cockpit, looking out at the dull walls of the docking bay they were parked in, thanking. Oh what, he wasn't sure. Just that he was thinking about something.
Merida had started to chew him out the moment the Imperials were gone and he was dressed... but had been cut off by Rapunzel, who assured her it was okay.
The princess was growing on him. But she couldn't look him in the eye without blushing.
"Why are you awake?" Hiccup asked, coming into the cockpit behind him.
Jack spun his chair in a full circle, then caught the edge of the dash to stop his momentum. "Can't sleep. You?"
"I just woke up with the feeling we need to get out of here," Hiccup said.
Jack didn't say anything. Hiccup's feelings tended to be accurate, and saved them worlds of trouble when they listened.
Jack had learned to listen.
With a nod, he turned on the ships engine. He felt better once the familiar vibration of the ship had returned. The ship had lifted into the air, and they were in atmosphere before the obvious question was raised.
But Jack already had the answer. He had known since Rapunzel started crying.
Pulling up the star chart, he selected the blue and green planet and put the course into the nav computer.
"Where are we headed?" Hiccup asked, warily and wearily.
"Warren."
"What about E. Aster."
"As he says, I might as well make hay while the sun shines." Jack sighed. "I'll just have to admit I was wrong."
2800+ words... and not especially romantic. I'm worried it's a little weak. Sci-fi isn't my strength, and I was trying to keep it short, while at the same time trying to build a whole universe.
There was going to be an additional scene where Jack was going to take her over Warren in the ship, and show her the Sunset Mountains (Toothiana's palace), the Ice Kingdom (North's workshop) and other places inspired by the Guardians. When this week is over, maybe I'll post a brief follow up to this.
Also, The Hopeful Puffin is the name of Hiccup's first boat in the books. I was going to have him say they needed a non-threatening name, but it didn't seem to fit.