Toothless was still racing down the tunnels, using his echo location to follow the Winter Spirit, and not bump into anything.

When they came out of the tunnel and into the Globe Room, everyone on Toothless' back covered their eyes at first to get used to the light again, then gasped at what they saw when they opened them.

Their friends... Dragons and Humans, were in cadges all tied up, and some (Snotlout) knocked out.

"SURPRISE!" Jokul cried getting their attention and slashing his staff at them sending the wind to blow them off the dragon who was immediately caught by Alvin's Outcasts and muzzled.

Hiccup, Merida and the boys were all backed to the wall, Merida having her bow ready to fire.

A snapping of fingers later, and they were all tied up in shadows as well all fighting to get loose.

"The more you fight the tighter they will get you know..." Jokul said coming down in front of the cadge looking to Hiccup, Merida and the boys, Baby Tooth hiding in Hiccup's jacket.

"And why are you telling them that boy?" Gothel said coming out to see them "You just ruined the fun for everyone."

"Well they can't really work with us if they're dead can they Gothel?" Pitch answered for Jokul also coming out.

"AS IF!" Merida and Hiccup cried together.

"Suit yourselves," Pitch said coming over and retrieving Hiccup's knife, and Jack's Center Doll from the boys jacket. "We got what we want now, so unless any of you have changed your minds... you can all kiss this world good bye." he said looking around to everyone.

"Going once..." Pitch said grinning loving the fear he was feeling was coming off everyone, though they were still silent, and shooting daggers at him.

"Going twice..." Merida looked down to her brothers and then to her new friends not knowing what to do. Stay out of this and let everyone including herself it sounded like die. Or say something and make a deal to let everyone go.

"WAIT!" she cried pausing Pitch from snapping his fingers, all eyes turning to her. "Let my brothers and my friends and their dragons go... And... And I'll come over," she said biting her lip and silencing her ears to everyone's cries of protest.

"SHUT IT!" she cried making everyone be quiet. "This is MY dissension guys. I know none of you or anyone back home will like me doing this. But I am going to do it. IF you let everyone go Pitch," she said looking to the Boogieman sternly.

Jokul was confused... Why would Merida do something like this? Give up her life for those she only just met and her brothers?

"Done," Pitch said letting the cadge disburse and everyone go.

As they were running to Merida though his magic cloaked them and transported them back to the surface.

"Sorry guys," Merida whispered before looking around. "I said let my friends go," she said signifying Jack still being there.

"I wasn't caught Princess," he replied leaning on his staff smirking slightly confusion still on his face. "How can you free something that's not been caught?"

Sighing in defeat, of a loosing battle, Merida turned to look at the others. Standing tall she asked "What now?"

"Well first my dear," Gothel said coming over and gripping her shoulders "I think a changing of wardrobe is in order..."

With that the two of them went off down the tunnels together to get Merida sorted for her new role on their side of this whole mess.

(*)(*)(*)

Up top, everyone was going about Merida doing what she did a different way.

Eugene was comforting Rapunzel and the Triplets who were all huddled together under a tree brawling their eyes out.

Astrid was screaming and throwing her axe at everything in sight that wasn't alive (thank god).

Snotlout (who only just came out of being knocked out) was being told what happened by the Twins who were the most quiet about this surprisingly.

Fishlegs was all hysteric about what just happened and kept asking questions on 'Why did she do that?' to which no one answered.

The dragons were just as confused and upset as their riders.

And the most confused and upset of the bunch was Hiccup. Since they got back to the surface, he hadn't said or done anything but sit at the edge of Jack's pond and look towards the sky and the stars and moon cursing the thing for making that dumb prophecy for this to happen.

o0o

After a few more hours, everyone was all better, though still confused and only mildly upset rather than letting out full tilde waves of tears.

"Think we should go back to the Pole and tell everyone what happened, guys?" Hiccup spoke up used to being hurt for having to live it for fifteen years, but still not used to it.

"Well we need to go back at somepoint right?" Eugene answered helping Rapunzel up a sleeping Hamish in his arms while Rapunzel had Hubert and Harris in hers.

Toothless let out a small cry and pointed to the sky where strips of gold were being seen getting everyone to gasp in awe.

"That must be Sandy," Fishlegs said standing next to Meatlug, now calmed down.

Three strips of gold sand came towards them and began to each fly around the Triplets heads everyone sighing as they saw they were dreaming of their big sister.

"Whoa..." Tuffnut said reaching out to the sand his fingers running through it cutting it off as it shifted into a small golden Zippleback dragon and flew around him.

Getting everyone to smile they all tried it their worries being lost for the time being.

o0o

Up in the sky Sandy was feeling that someone's messing with his sand. Thinking it was Pitch again, he set of to find the culprit coming to Jack's pond where the children... Wait where was Merida?

Coming down he made himself known and their attention by making the all sand, besides that that was over the boy's heads go away.

"Hey Sandy," Rapunzel said beaming shifting the boys gently.

Waving Sandy pointed to the boys making a ? with this sand.

"Yeah we found them," Hiccup said first to work out what he was signing. "The reason we haven't come back yet was because we were a bit distracted with what had to happen for us to get them." he said sighing silently thanking Toothless who had come over to his friend to comfort him.

Sandy looked around then made a bow and arrow above his head and another ? .

"She's not here Sandy," Astrid answered picking up that the bow and arrow meant Merida. "We had all been caught by them bad-guys, and they were about to get rid of us..." she began getting a exclaimed expression from the little man "When Merida said that 'If they let us go, they can have her."

"We haven't gone back yet because we were one, getting over it ourselves. And two we didn't know how we were going to explain it to her parents," Eugene said avoiding Sandy's eyes.

"We also don't have the objects anymore," Rapunzel said answering the unasked question.

"So..." Hiccup said calmly "Any ideas?"

Sandy nodded and punched his hand with his fist an annoyed look on his face.

"Any that don't involve violence?" Hiccup said rolling his eyes slightly.

"Well my first idea, is we get the kids back to the Pole, and then talk over with Fergus and Elinor why we're now short one red-headed-short-tempered team mate," Eugene said his shoulder going numb with the weight of Hamish's head on it.

Getting nods and words of agreement, everyone got ready to leave and once they were went through the portal back to the Pole.

(*)(*)(*)

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE GAVE HERSELF UP!" Fergus bellowed to the teens after being told why his daughter wasn't with them.

Hiccup, being most used to someone screaming at him, stood firm while everyone else were rubbing their ears to stop them ringing.

"I mean Sir," he said standing tall and looking into the king's face "She gave herself up. We were all caught by Pitch and the others, and the only way for them to let us go was for one of us side with them. And so Merida was the one to take it to save her brothers and her friends."

"WELL THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT BACK?" Fergus asked loudly "OR GO BACK AND SAVE HER?"

"We did fight back at her decision," Hiccup said getting a tad annoyed that he was being yelled at "But she said in her own words Your Majesty... 'It's her decision to make'. And we didn't go back and save her because that would of broken the 'Deal' that was made for them to let us go. Plus the fact as we were about to do something they sent up back to the surface."

"Fergus..." Stoick said getting the king's attention off the boy "As much as I understand how upset you are... Would please stop yelling at my boy."

"How can you understand Stoick?" Fergus asked his voice back to normal as he was taking deep breaths to calm himself. "How could you understand what I'm going through by loosing my little girl?"

"Because I had to go through the same thing when the village lost Hiccup's mother to a dragon when he was only a baby!" Stoick answered anger in his eyes.

That made the room go quiet.

"You feel mad that you weren't there to help to stop it," Stoick began sighing. "That you were foolish enough to let them get into a position for that to happen. That you just want to kill everything in sight until you can get her back.
You feel that we should do something right away to get her back, to rescue her from her prison... but know that it's not the right time or place for that to happen. You're wondering if you will ever see her again, or if she's lost forever.
Well let me just say Fergus Dunbroch..." Stoick said looking to the king "That unlike me, you will see your loved one again. We will get her back, and those who stole her will pay for all they have done. But first we need to rest and plan how we're going to do it. And yelling isn't getting us anywhere. So please... Back off from my son."

After a couple of minutes of silence the whole room in shock on hearing what happened to Hiccup's mother, and the way Stoick spoke so calmly about it, the Vikings thinking that that's the most he has spoken about Valka in ages, Fergus stepped back and sighed.

"I'm sorry lad," he said to Hiccup. "I'm just... protective over her you know? After almost seeing her get killed by Mordu a bit back..."

"It's ok Sir," Hiccup said smiling a little that he wasn't being yelled at anymore. "I'm sure if it was any of the rest of us that took the part, our parents would be like that too..." he said getting nods from and small laughs everyone. Well everyone but Eugene who Hiccup noticed just sighed looking upset, until Rapunzel came over to him to cheer him up.

"Ok, so lets just get things straight," Mother Nature said speaking up now after being silent through the whole story. "We have now lost two people over to them, one because of who he is, the other because of this deal Pitch set, and they now also have all the Things too."

"Yep that pretty much covers it," Hiccup said answering her.

"Well that's something good I suppose..." she said to herself mumbling a bit Rapunzel being the only one to hear.

"Um... How exactly is it a good thing?" she asked confused volume-izing what the Spirit of Nature said.

"Them having all the Things means they also have Jack's Center Doll. Right?" she asked looking around getting nods. "That doll, shows off who he is. What makes him him. What makes him a Guardian. If he finds it, looks at it long enough and remembers the good things about being Jack Frost. I am 75% certain that that will fix him.

'It also might help that Merida is there to help too. I have a feeling that Jokul will be really confused by how she just gave herself up like that," she explained so he'll ask her about it and hopefully the answers she gives, will be the other 25% of certainty."

"I hope you're right Em," Tooth said after a bit. "And I hope that whatever Merida has planned it works. The last day of winter is only a few days away... If we don't get this sorted and Jack back by then..."

"Then we'll have to wait a whole other year for our chance to defeat them bad guys again," Eugene finished the sentence for her.