Alaia Skyhawk: Well, here it is lol. Enjoy :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.
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Chapter 104: A Favour for Odin
It had been a week since the graduation incident, a week of emotional ups and downs, regrets and celebration. But while he'd hidden it well, for Jack it had struck a bigger impact than he'd let on. He was thrilled that Jamie was now a Constellation, but the image of Sophie dead before her revival continued to haunt him. It likely haunted Jamie as well, and Sophie's friend Alicia, but for the Spirit of Winter it held a different degree of pain.
Jack was no stranger to members of the Bennett Family dying young. He'd seen it often enough in previous centuries, in the time where vaccines didn't exist and childhood illnesses took all too many young lives. But as technology had grown, and medicine had improved, young deaths had become less and less common. He'd started taking it for granted that the chances of a member of the family dying early in life were almost nil.
And then Sophie had been shot at the age of just twenty-one.
Jack gritted his teeth at the thought and pushed it aside, channelling his emotions into the storm he was shaping over Antarctica. Southern Winter may be the quietest of his two weather-working periods, and it might be true his Lieutenants could have easily handled this particular storm. But he needed a distraction... Something to do rather than think of the temptation to follow Sophie around once she started tracking down the fanatics, just so he could freeze them solid as he felt they so justly deserved.
Except vengeance against mortals was something forbidden to immortals. Immortals were too powerful, even the weakest ones, and mortals had no real defence against them. Wizards were capable against the weaker immortals, but even one of Ombric's calibre would have no chance against an immortal as strong as a Spirit of the Seasons. Petty-level retaliation, akin to pranks or simple expressions of displeasure, were the limit of what was allowed. Except pelting the fanatics with mere snowballs wasn't going to improve Jack's mood.
And so instead he let the winds throw him around, riding their fury through the heart of the icy storm. It was the best distraction he had, with their being few places in the South of the World where it was cold enough for him to go have snowball fights with children. He still had four and a half months to wait before the earliest he could do that up north.
When the shaping was done he retreated to the airways above the clouds, although not all the way into the far upper reaches. Instead he lingered where he could skim across the cloud-tops, and gaze upon a night-time misty world lit by star and moonlight.
It was there that the trio of immortals found him. Each approaching in a chariot pulled by a black dragon of some sort. Yet the glare they received for intruding on Jack's solitude, prompted all three immortals to employ the ability to fly on their own and send the chariots to a discrete distance.
It was Odin and his two remaining 'sons', Thor and Loki. The last remaining members of the Norse Pantheon; they were usually isolationist and rarely went beyond the borders of their joint home base around the Odin Archipelago. And as Jack watched them approach, he couldn't help but feel irritated and angry that they'd intrude here in Antarctica which was indisputably his home base.
He narrowed his eyes at them, his voice edged with warning.
"What do you want?"
Loki drifted forward. Of the three he actually had a comparatively friendly relationship with Jack, due to being a Winter Legend. Not that they'd ever interacted much beyond the obvious occasional warnings from the Spirit of Winter, with regards to unscheduled or excessive storms over the old Norse territories. Jack had granted him a degree of leeway, somewhat similar to what Peboan had been granted, but Loki had edged close to the limit of it frequently enough that he wasn't Jack's favourite Winter Legend either. Thor wasn't much better off, given he received similar scoldings from Ariko and Achieng for his propensity of creating sudden thunderstorms over inhabited regions of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Even Oisin had reprimanded him once or twice. It was only the fact the pair were to all intents and purposes doing their jobs, that had protected them from worse punishments than verbal lashings.
Loki glanced back at Odin and Thor, who both gestured in a 'go on and speak to him' fashion. All three looked nervous, which for three muscular Norse Legends was somewhat ridiculous. Yet Loki did move the final distance to stop just a few yards from Jack.
"We've come to ask a favour."
Jack stared at them in irritated disbelief. There were here for what?
He glared with barely leashed fury.
"I don't know what you've been up to lately, but after Tsar Lunar's announcement to the immortals about the new Constellation, you should know this is not the time to be approaching me. My niece was murdered a week ago, and while she may have become an immortal that does not make me the happiest person right now."
All three Legends winced, and Loki began to fidget nervously with the hem of his fur cloak.
"Would a Viking boy and a dragon, showing up off the coast of Norway in a wooden boat, be something that would make you happy?"
Jack was still staring at them, with a visible twitch to his expression that indicated his patience was nearing zero.
"Explain... Now."
Odin edged forwards, Loki ducking behind him in relief as the eldest of the trio now spoke.
"A young Viking that lives in our territory, the Archipelago. His name's Hiccup, and a few months ago he tried to set off for the mainland to 'go see where his ancestors once lived'. I got him to turn back, except now he's preparing to set off again. He'll leave his home island in a week at most, and I do believe that a Viking appearing off the coast of Norway would not be the best given current world circumstances."
Jack's tone was laced with sarcasm.
"You don't say." He let out a mutter of exasperation. "Let me guess, when you got him to turn back you just sort of intimidated him into it? Since you're immortal, you're not allowed to forbid mortals from doing anything unless given permission from Tsar Lunar. That guy, Hiccup? He's calling your bluff, isn't he?"
The trio winced again, and Odin nodded.
"He is. It is his intent to set sail again, and keep going even if I appear before him again. He won't turn back unless forced."
Jack began the aerial equivalent of pacing, drifting back and forth stirring up whips of cloud from below as he went.
"What are people even doing on those islands anyway?" He stopped in his tracks to regard Odin in disapproval. "Have you been hiding that people live there? It that why there's always a few teeth Tooth can never find even though she can sense they're out there somewhere? Because if that's true, then you've been interfering with the work of the Guardians."
Thor and Loki dashed forward to put themselves between Jack and Odin, Loki starting to babble in panic.
"They're a Tribe of Myth! It's completely legitimate! They're under our protection!"
Thor nodded in emphasis.
"When Christianity started spreading northwards into the Norse Realms, us and the rest of our pantheon started losing our believers by the thousands. When we asked Tsar Lunar for advice, he said that if some of our believers were willing to volunteer to go, we could lead them to the islands to preserve their culture and our purpose as immortals."
Odin edged between the two of them. Clearly he didn't want to see he was cowering behind them.
"That was just over a thousand years ago. Since then, their descendants have spread throughout the islands and their culture has flourished. They've remained untouched by the changes of the outside world. Combined with their belief in all things unseen, such as 'gods' and 'spirits', they are capable of seeing all immortals whether they believe in them directly or not."
Jack sighed, letting just a little of his annoyance slide.
"And that qualifies them to be classed as a Tribe of Myth." He folded his arms across his chest. His silvery-blue cloak flapping in the winds. "But I still don't see what this has to do with me. Apart from the fact I now know there will be at least a few thousand children the Guardians have been unable to access because of you. We don't just tend human children, we tend those of most of the Tribes as well. Sandy's probably reached them, since his dreamsand homes in on children without him needing to know where they are, and my frostdust has probably been reaching them. But Tooth, North, and Bunny? They're gonna be ticked off when they find out."
Odin grimaced.
"We need you to speak to Hiccup, and convince him not to leave the islands. We'd do it ourselves, except..."
He voice petered out, and once again it was Loki who was forced to speak. The Winter Legend had a definite air of guilt about him. Like a child caught doing something naughty.
"They still think we're gods."
Jack went slack-jawed at that revelation. Staring at them for several seconds before streaking forward to grab Thor and Odin by the front of their jerkins. Loki had anticipated the action and managed to dodge clear.
"You didn't tell them?! The order for all immortals to reveal their true nature to their believers, was something sent out almost ten years ago!"
Loki was now behind Jack, his voice quiet.
"We were scared they would reject us. Can you blame us? After we lost all but a handful of our believers on the mainland? Even today barely a scattering of people in the Old Norse Realms still believe in us. The rest of our pantheon wilted and faded away in the face of that loss, leaving us as the only ones left. The world has no place for us if we lose the belief of our Tribe. We will no longer have a purpose, and the chances we could reinvent ourselves for a new one is highly unlikely. We don't want to die, but we don't want to live as shadows of our former selves either."
Jack released his grip on Odin and Thor, before turning to face Loki. Much of the Spirit of Winter's ire had now faded, although he remained irritated.
"You three are in big trouble... If I happened to decide to make a formal report to Tsar Lunar about this." He glared at all three. "But your motives weren't malicious, and are something any other Legend Immortal can understand well. Since I'm a Guardian, and you answer to us in general day-to-day and Tsar Lunar only in exceptional circumstances, I'll cut you a deal."
He waved Loki to come over and hover with the other two.
"I'll go sort things out for you, and even help you out in revealing the truth about yourselves to your believers once the initial mess is dealt with. But!" He raised a finger. "From now on your islands must be open to the Guardians and to the Spirits of the Seasons. You are not to keep us out, or force us to work at high altitudes as you've done in the case of myself, Ariko, Achieng, and Oisin. The only reason you were allowed to keep everyone out before, was because it seems Tsar Lunar was the only one who knew you had people there and he made exceptions for a developing Tribe of Myth. You don't have to let everyone in, but you do have to let in the ones with jobs that need it. I leave out letting the Lieutenants of the Seasons in, since that would be jamming it down your throat."
He now raised his eyebrows in silent query, as to whether they would protest against the conditions or not. None of them did, instead all three nodding in agreement with only moderate reluctance. Odin and Thor were the first to return to their chariots, although Loki lingered behind a few seconds.
He regarded Jack with a hint of hope.
"If ever there's an opening for a new Lieutenant... Maybe you could get in touch?"
Jack gave him a bland look.
"I might consider it, if you start abiding by the rules a bit better and stop forcing me to tell you off about unscheduled weather every decade. But right now, don't push your luck."
In the face of what wasn't an outright refusal, Loki smiled wryly before setting off.
"See you around, Jack, and thanks for being reasonable about all this. I've been trying to get them to talk to the Vikings ever since the order from Tsar Lunar, but when you're out-voted two-to-one by your friends of over two-thousand years, it's hard to act behind their back and go against their wishes."
He flew over to his chariot, which like the others had been circling, and then all three vanished among the cloud-banks. It was their means of travelling instantly from place-to-place. By moving between the heart of one cloud to another, much as Cernunnos had used to do most of his travelling by going between one grove of trees and another.
Once they were gone, Jack used a mirror to go back to the Winter Sanctuary. Where he then flew to the 'nest' on top of the Lieutenants' Residence, which was where what was probably his largest Lieutenant spent their off-time relaxing.
Svelldreki was an Ice Drake of the winged variety, with scales the colour of steel with a hoar of frost around the edges. He was mostly solitary despite how social the rest of the Lieutenants were, yet he was also an exceptional weather-shaper. He'd been doing the work around the Odin Archipelago ever since Jack had established he had that skill. For as a dragon that had lived there, Odin, Thor, and Loki had let him come and go as he pleased so long as he didn't actually stick around too long.
Which meant the dragon was the ideal source of information.
Jack landed beside Svelldreki's man-sized head, and tapped him lightly on one of his flared crest of shard-like horns.
"You heard of a Viking guy called Hiccup?"
The dragon opened one yellow-green eye and regarded him thoughtfully.
"Been speaking to Odin or the others, have you?"
Jack leaned against the inner edge of the nest.
"Let's just say that, if I don't want to be dealing with the media fallout from a Viking and a dragon showing up in a boat off the coast of Norway, I need to go explain to him why he needs to stay put. And with the way things are at the moment, you and I both know that is the last thing we need right now. Can you tell me anything about him?"
Svelldreki raised his head and sat up, towering over the Spirit he served.
"I've never seen or met him, but I have heard of him. He lives on the northernmost island inhabited by his Tribe. I lived further north still on my kind's own nest island, but those dragons forced to share with the Red Death had no choice but to feed it or be eaten by it. Naturally the Vikings were unhappy about dragons stealing their livestock. When Hiccup and his dragon succeeded in tricking Red Death into its own demise five years ago, there was no further need for dragons to steal animals, and so no further need for conflict. The two Tribes are now friends."
Jack raised his eyebrows in interest.
"And how old was Hiccup when he did that?"
"Fourteen."
Jack looked impressed.
"Tough kid. So that makes him nineteen now. There any more of that 'Red Death' I might need to worry about?"
Svelldreki shook his head.
"None. She was one-of-a-kind, and the result of some rather foolish wizards. From watching dragons, and noting that the larger they were the less energetic and prone to aggression they tended to be, they got the idea to use magic to transform a large dragon into an incredibly huge one. The aim was to be able to build a small settlement atop its back, as a flying village to explore the wonders of the world."
Jack's response to that was bland.
"Well that clearly didn't go well."
"Indeed." Svelldreki stood up now, being no small dragon himself. "For while Red Death was placid as a hatchling, no sooner than she reached full size did she realise she was big enough to have no need to listen to some silly wizards telling her what to do. Perhaps if they'd transformed a male dragon it would not have gone so wrong, for male dragons are more inclined to work in packs, but as a female she became fiercely territorial about her chosen volcanic nest. Yet her size was also a downside, because she struggled to hunt for herself. Hence she began to bully smaller dragons into doing it for her."
Jack leapt up to perch just in front of the dragon's wings, before Svelldreki glided down from the nest and began to walk to the Sanctuary's exit. It took little guessing to know Jack wanted him to act as guide for this, yet he was also too big to use an ice mirror. Jack could probably make one large enough, with some effort, but the forty-minutes or so it would take to fly to the islands would be useful for discussing what to do once they arrived.
It was, as Svelldreki told Jack everything he knew in general about the Vikings and Dragons' culture. And despite his earlier irritation at Odin, Thor, and Loki, Jack couldn't help but be filled with curiosity and anticipation. He'd wanted a distraction, and now he had a perfect one. One that promised to be both interesting and a chance for a bit of fun.
The sun was just beginning to rise when Svelldreki settled into a glide high above the clouds over an island he said was called 'Berk'. Down below could be seen a settlement and the brightly coloured dots of roosting dragons perched and sprawled all over the place among and even on the buildings. Yet it wasn't colourful one they were looking for, but rather a black one. A Night Fury, as Svelldreki explained that particularly rare breed were known.
And so Jack and his Lieutenant then began to wait and watch from their vantage point above.
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Hiccup groaned at the sound of the booming thuds from the ceiling, fumbling his way out of bed and towards the door. Yawning as he opened it and walked out into the morning light, whereupon Toothless began to make his usual mocking 'hurry up' noises from where he sat on the top of the wooden house.
Hiccup glanced up to where the dragon perched, his gaze then noting that a couple of the scale-like wooden shingles had been knocked free.
"Do you really have to jump around up there to wake me? I swear, I end up fixing that roof every other day because of you."
Toothless leapt down, seemingly unconcerned about the remark. No, he was far more interested in hurrying his friend along by nudging at him incessantly.
Hiccup now started to chuckle, as he stepped up into the saddle on his friend's back and secured himself in place. Checking that the cables for the artificial tail-fin that allowed Toothless to fly, hadn't gotten jammed or tangled before they set off.
"Alright, alright, we can go for our morning flight. Just make sure we get back in time for breakfast today. I don't want to be stuck with leftovers again."
Toothless 'grinned' with his teeth retracted, in the amusing and apparently toothless smile that had earned him his name. He then stretched out his wings and snapped them downwards, to launch himself and his passenger up into the sky. Soaring higher and higher, indulging in tricks and spins that required cooperation between him and Hiccup, who controlled the false tail-section via a pedal with his false left foot. They were a matched pair, a perfect team.
Flying was a thrill as always, yet Hiccup found his thoughts wandering. The boat he and Astrid had used was still hidden at the sea cave, and still packed with supplies. He just had to convince her to come with him and try again, or failing that head off on his own and hope his father didn't catch up. Yeah sure, Odin had made it clear he didn't like the idea, but he hadn't forbidden it. And for Vikings, rules were pretty-much made to be bent as far as possible. Pushing their luck was an occupational pastime, and something of a sport as well.
After a few more tricks it was nearly time to head back, leaving Hiccup and Toothless to do their usual finish to the flight; a skydive. Hiccup leaving the saddle so they could plummet downwards separately. An expression of complete trust, given that without each other both would plummet helplessly to their deaths. They would fall as long as they could, before Hiccup would return to the saddle and take control of the tail again. The two of them breaking out of the dive into a high-speed swoop along the length of the island.
Yet it was seconds into their dive that the unexpected happened, and another rather pale figure caught up with and began to fall alongside them.
It was a young man, who looked about Hiccup's own age, and who was dressed oddly in ragged leggings, white shirt, and silver-edged cloak the likes of which the Viking had never seen before. Not only that, his hair was stark white.
The young man laughed, unfazed by the fact he was falling as he grinned at Hiccup and Toothless.
"Nice day for plummeting from the sky, isn't it?"
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Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, I couldn't resist ending it there. Don't worry, I'll update soon hehehehe :D