Jack wasn't all up for being char-broiled with a side of beaten fish but he also didn't want to leave the poor kid alone. He'd almost drowned and Jack knew that was a traumatising expirence.
Jack felt the dragon's angry gaze as he watched the boy sit up, choking on water which he coughed out into the puddles around his small frame. Jack finally got a good look at the kid, although his position really only gave Jack a nice view of his butt, which Jack wasn't going to lie, was actually a pretty good sight albeit a little small. The boy's dark auburn hair was slick with pond water and he wiped it away from his bewildered bright green eyes and wet face, gasping. His clothes, an olive green shirt topped with a leather harness and dark green pants cut off by a fur-topped boot and metal leg, were soaking and hugging his body. Jack caught himself staring intently at the boy's body, perched atop a mossy rock with his legs criss-crossed, his hand holding up his chin. He felt a puff of hot air on the back of his neck, causing his arm to slip, along with the soft smile that had begun to play on his lips. Jack toppled off the rock, causing the dragon to give a snort before he stepped pointedly over Jack to his master, throwing Jack a very conceited look before tossing his head and his general focus to the still blubbering kid.
Hiccup stood up with the help of Toothless, before he felt a shooting pain up the stump of his leg as he stumbled slightly. He winced and cried out, his clenched fingers skitting across Toothless's scales. Toothless gave Hiccup a look of nothing but concern, but Hiccup screwed up his face and bit down his teeth, trying to make his teeth hurt more than his leg in order for his brain to focus on something other than the slick metal jabbing into his sensitive scar tissue.
Jack noticed immediately; he wasn't an idiot. Jack sat up, grabbing his staff and securely shutting the silver satchel before he remembered the hourglass, which now shone up from the bottom of the pond. Jack glanced between the pond and the boy, a sense of longing causing him to take a step towards the boy. He could come back for the hourglass later that night when he'd made sure the boy was okay.
Jack began to walk toward the boy when the dragon glanced in his direction, scowling at him with a look of utter hatred at trying to hurt his master. Jack rolled his eyes at the dragon's upfront attitude and continued to walk forward until he was a foot's length away from the dragon's tail which swished in aggravation.
The dragon let a growl slip as Jack neared closer and closer. Hiccup was already ahead of the two, wanting to get out of the forest and back home before his leg got injured any worse. Jack leaned his staff against his shoulder, walking forward with purpose before Toothless whipped his wing out, hitting Jack in the face and causing him to fall on his butt; Toothless gave a croaky laugh and hurried after Hiccup at his confused call of why he was being so slow.
Jack furrowed his eyebrows, watching the dragon swish its tail in victory. "That's what you think," Jack growled, grabbing his staff and following the dragon and boy as if he was on a mission to stay unseen, which wasn't very hard as Hiccup couldn't see him.
Hiccup mounted Toothless once again, but decided against using the metal stirrup as his leg was a major concern and it still shot up nerve signals of dull agony whenever he moved. He hooked his harness to Toothless's own and tensed, preparing for liftoff.
Toothless shot into the air like a bullet, Hiccup holding on for dear life. Jack smirked, kicking off the ground after them. In moments, he was closing in.
Toothless noticed, of course, and was not happy by it. Toothless snarled at Jack and zipped forward, his wings tucking close to his body for a faster flight rate. Jack smiled at the challenge, finding a rock formation. He flew to it, his naked feet crushing into the rough surface. Jack tensed his body and pressed his shoulders together before kicking off the formation, cracking it and sending him shooting forward in a fit of pressurized air.
He flew under the dragon and allowed the wind to push him until he was to the side of the dragon, peering at the boy with a lazy smile. Jack took on a relaxed position against the cushion of the wind, as if he were on a bed, one leg outstretched and the other bent at the knee behind the first, Jack's arm holding his head at an angle so that he could get a blissfully perfect view of the boy's tightly shut eyes and flushed cheeks. Jack stared at the boy, narrowing his eyes in confusion as he thought of how the boy's eyelashes seemed to kiss the freckles sprinkled across his cheeks. Jack hurriedly pushed the thought aside, turning back to look at him only to find that the face was missing.
"Wha-" Jack gazed down in surprise and watched the sleek dragon twist around to shoot him a smug gummy grin. Hiccup's screams caused the dragon's eyes to widen in sudden constricting fear. Jack and the dragon locked eyes before the dragon was enveloped in angry dark blue waves.
Jack shot forward, fear for the boy and determination to save him pushing him to the limits of his power. Jack hit the water, his ears popping on impact, the waves freezing in places above him before the cruel bashing of new waves broke the jagged creations to ice shards. Jack didn't pay much attention to the destruction of the ice, as he was busy trying to swim after the dragon's trail of large air bubbles.
Toothless couldn't see in the hopeless blue water. The salt in the water stung his eyes but he forced them open, trying to see where Hiccup was and if he was okay.
Hiccup couldn't breathe. He couldn't see. It was dark and it was cold and he was terrified. Hiccup clawed at his harness, trying to unclip it but his normally trained fingers were clueless in the suffocating water. Hiccup struggled to keep awake but in seconds, all he could see and feel was dark. His head lolled forward in the thrashing water and he unwillingly excepted the darkness.
Jack found Toothless immeaditly. The dragon's lung capacity was much stronger than an ordinary humans', so Toothless was still fully conscious, squinting through worried eyes. Jack found Hiccup's form and rushed forward to grab Hiccup; Toothless didn't fight Jack as he saw that Jack feared for Hiccup's safety as much as he did and that he actually had opposable thumbs. Jack unclipped the harnesses and pulled Hiccup into his chest, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling him close. He swam as fast as he could to the light above the crashing waves, Toothless on his heels, using his wings and legs as an extra push out of the water.
Three heads burst through the water; only two gasped for air. Hiccup's head was slumped against Jack's shoulder and Jack willed the wind to push the water away from his legs to help him into the air; the wind did the same for the dragon, as it was obvious Toothless couldn't get out himself with the ocean raging around him.
Jack searched hurriedly for somewhere to land. His eyes spotted a beach of pebbles and large volcanic formations and darted to it. Toothless, with the help of the wind, followed Jack and landed beside him on the beach. Jack laid Hiccup down in the pebbles, staring intently at his still chest before he grabbed Hiccup's face in his hands and began to give him mouth-to-mouth.
Toothless shrieked in anger, hitting Jack with the tip of his wing. Jack turned and glared at the dragon and yelled, "I'm saving him!" before reattaching his lips to Hiccup's own and breathing his air into Hiccup's lungs. Jack brought his lips away and pressed his hands, palm to the back of his hand, down in a repetitive fashion. Jack repeated the action, locking lips and breathing in air then pressing on his chest until Hiccup let out a choked cough.
Jack backed away as Hiccup spat salt water into the pebbles around him. Jack smiled in relief, his chest heaving, imprints of stones embedding into his knees through his pants.
Hiccup's eyes fluttered shut as he took a shaky swallow. Was that ... mint? Hiccup choked on the strong taste before looking up in a daze, expecting to see Toothless. Instead, his gold-speckled green eyes met those of bright iridescent blue. There was a shock of silvery white hair that the wind cooed through. The mystery boy was pale as ice, his dark blue short cloak covered in what looked like frost. His lowerhalf, which Hiccup hurriedly looked away from was leather, from what he could tell at a few seconds glance. Hiccup also noticed it was very snug around a region he most certainly didn't want to be caught staring at. Hiccup's eyes slid back to the boy's face; handsome and cleancut, his cheeks flushed with relief and cold. Hiccup stared at the boy's swollen lips and licked his own, tasting the mint on his tongue. Hiccup's lips were cold, as was the inside of his mouth, but he decided it had to be the cold water he'd coughed up.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked, flashing Hiccup a concerned smile that dazzeled Hiccup into awestruck silence. Hiccup noticed his gaze sticking to the boy's sparkling teeth and glanced at the boy's worried blue eyes. "Uh, yeah. I think so. What happened again?"
The boy's eyes widened in pleasant surprise and he grinned. "You can see me? Already?" Hiccup's eyebrows twitched in confusion as he nodded, "Well, yeah. Of course I can see you."
The boy closed in mouth and his gaze seemed slightly distant before he composed himself. "Of course you can see me! Why wouldn't you, I mean-" The boy cut himself off and smiled before holding a hand out to help him up. "I'm Jack, by the way."
Hiccup grabbed Jack's wrist and was pulled unsteadily to his feet. "Hiccup."
Jack's eyebrows furrowed together. "Bless you. Now, how about we look at that leg of yours?"
"No, actually ... How'd you know about my leg?" Hiccup stumbled over his words the same way he stumbled over his prosthetic. Hiccup realized it was obvious that he had only half a leg but Jack shook his head and pointed out that he was bleeding. That was probably a bad idea as when Hiccup spotted the red of blood leaking down the metal and dripping over the pebbles, he fainted. It was a good thing Jack was such a good catch.
...
In the kindom of Corona, the sun was bathing the island town in golden light, which peeked through thin curtains to rouse the villagers awake. They milled about, doing their usual rounds and chores like unpinning laundry and chatting pleasantly with neighbors.
In the royal quarters, however, was a different story, indeed, as the sleeping princess pushed herself up from the mattress and rubbed her eyes before yawning. And that was when she felt it. It brushed against her peach skin and she froze, slowly opening her wide enticing green eyes. She stared in shock at the lengths of golden hair that looped from the wooden rafters of the ceiling and draped over the canopy and the comforter. She grabbed two fists of golden hair and tugged it. She felt it pull on her head and stared at it.
The door of her bedroom was opened and a servant stepped into the room, intent on awakening the princess and her husband. The servant looked over the room that was covered in hair and stared at the frightened glossy eyes of the princess. The princess and the servant shared one single scream that awakened the entire kingdom. Just imagine her husband's shock as he woke up to his wife's screaming and the room full of golden locks.
...
The shooting route, in Merida's opinion, was one of the best. It wasn't that she had been to any other than the one her and her 'Da, Fergus, had built but she still thought extremely high of it. She loved the well-worn path, the smell of fresh dirt under Angus's hooves and the wind through her fiery hair. She also loved the feel of the new bow in her hand as she strung up arrows and shot them, right through the older ones jutting from homemade targets.
After a long ride, Angus slowed near a stream and allowed Merida to slip off and kneel beside the running water. Angus lapped up the water as Merida cupped her hands together and sipped from her makeshift bowl. She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her cloak before she picked up her bow and inspected it. "Where did you come from," Merida mumbled under her breath, rubbing her fingers over the smooth creamy frame of the bow between her thumb and forefinger. "Where?"
Merida knew the bow in her hand had to be tied to her destiny; she was sure of it. She figured it had to be that blissful warm feeling she received when she first touched the bow. The bow fit in her hands perfectly and when she pulled back the string, it was as if she was pulling back a curtain of heat. It felt great and powerful and she felt as if she knew exactly what she was doing.
There was a sense of creeping fear deep in here mind that whispered that maybe she didn't know what she was doing. Maybe she was acting like a foolish kid, taking a bow out a fireplace as if it was nothing. Although, she had met an old witch in the woods who had given Merida a spell to change her Fate and her mum; there were weirder things than finding an enchanted bow. Was she just a scared lass hiding behind a new magical weapon or was she brave enough to use the weapon as a shield against that fear? She didn't know. All she knew was that she had something magical in her hands and she wasn't going to let magic twist her words like last time.
...
North had finished readying the sleigh, his regular thick red coat replaced with silver armor and black leather braces, his swords behind his back in their sheaths. His beard was braided and the hair behind his head tied in a stubby knot. His boots were waterproof and across North's chest were leather straps in an X-formation that held several hidden knives and surprises.
Bunny walked into the training room, Sandy beside him. Bunny had his usual getup except with leather breastplates over his chest and extra egg bombs on hand (or paw, as it would seem). Sandy sat atop a swirling mass of golden sand that could form shields, sharp weapons and medeviel devices at a simple thought, as that was what dreams were: a thought that flourished.
Tooth zipped into the room, her feathers covered in silver disks of metal; the same metal disks were over her shoulders and feathery chest that in the light glimmered with rainbows. Her feathers ruffled and spiked as she inspected a crudely curved knife. She glanced up at the other Guardians and threw the knife, imbedding itself inches from Bunny's fuzzy neck.
"You missed," Bunny pointed out, pulling his boomerang from behind his back and chucking it in Tooth's direction.
Tooth withdrew a silver chain of teeth and threw it across the room, catching the hilt of the knife. She yanked and pulled the chain closer before whipping it to block the boomerang. Tooth shot her arms out and her feathers erupted from her arms to skewer behind Bunny. Tooth flicked the whip, grabbing the boomerang and pointing the end at Bunny's heaving chest. Tooth fluttered until the boomerang end was digging into his chestplate. "No. I didn't," She handed him back his boomerang before turning away and flicking the chain of teeth once again, clasping her thin fingers around the hilt of her knife.
Bunny rolled his eyes and stepped away from the wall he'd be leaning against. He was pulled back by a feathered spike pinning his leather slash which held his egg bombs and boomerangs. Bunny grumbled and ripped the spike out, letting it drop from his clawed paws to the floor. Sandy, who had watched the exchange, shook his head in amusement and followed Tooth to where North stood.
"So ... What's the plan?" Tooth asked, uncertainty lacing her words.
North let out a heavy sigh and turned to gaze at her. "No clue."
"Should we wait?" Tooth inquired, sliding her knife back into its hidden sheath.
North shook his head, causing his beard's braids to shake. "No. Ve must train and be ready. Pitch could strike any moment."
"Yeah, Pitch could. Are we just going to wait for that to happen, North?" Bunny interjected his opinion, his bushy eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed. "Are we going to just sit around and wait for Pitch to steal away our belief until we're defenseless? Again? We don't have Jack to save our skins this time."
North nodded, his face darkening. "It von't come to that. Ve vill train until ve can fight Pitch on our own until Jack and the other Defenders get here."
Bunny gave North a steely glare. "And, what if Jack doesn't come back, North? What if he realises he likes these Defenders better and doesn't want to help us anymore?"
Tooth shot Bunny a sharp look. "Jack wouldn't do that."
"How do you know, Tooth? How? Jack's mad at us for letting him leave. These Defenders are his age and he'd have much more fun with them," Bunny snarled bitterly before his snout twitched and his gaze softened as he stared down at the floor.
"Bunny, we miss him, too," Tooth comforted, stepping forward and rubbing his arm where the armor didn't cover. He shrugged away her hand and muttered, "Just ... What if Pitch wins this time? What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, Bunny," Tooth continued. "We'll think of something. We always do."
"We had Jack last time," Bunny snapped.
"Jack is not gone, Bunny," North said, eyebrows knitting. "Jack is getting help. Time does not phase him where he is and it won't damage our plans."
"Yeah, our plans of kicking each other's asses," Bunny swore and left the room to blow off steam and throw boomerangs at the elves.
North, Tooth and Sandy watched him go. Bunny's words hung in the air like staglimates and the three didn't dare move a muscle, for fear that they would fall and impale them. Eventually, they tore their eyes from the door Bunny had stomped through and went back to training for a battle they were afraid they'd lose.
Alright, so let me get some things straight:
This will be a Hijack story.
That mouth-to-mouth bit with Jack and Hiccup was strictly an I'm-saving-your-life-because-I'm-a-complete-dumbas s moment. And Hiccup didn't even remember it. (sorry for crushing your feels)
Hiccup can see Jack either because of Jack's breathing life into him or maybe because I didn't want it to seem like Hiccup was making out with air. You'll never know which.
Headcanon: Jack knows how to do CPR because he's actually gone to lessons (invisibly, of course) and he learned mainly because he was curious about how much preventing death has grown since he died. He also didn't want anyone else to die by drowning as he did.
For the main part of the story, it will follow Jack and Hiccup to further develop their friendship/relationship and it might switch to the other Defenders whom Jack hasn't visited yet or the Guardians or Pitch and his master scheme. Then, Jack will go to the other Defenders and rally them up.
So, yeah. Most of that's covered and I'm sorry if it's confusing at all; PM me and I'll explain it further.
I'm really happy with your guys' reaction with this. I really hope you all like it although it may take a long while for the true plotline to be released. I'm also thinking of changing a bit of Hiccup's past to which he confides to Jack in.
I'll see you guys in the next chapter!