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Status Report
Jack arrived at North's workshop shortly after finishing crossing the Atlantic, with what he saw Jack knew he had to tell the others right away. There was something sinister about the nightmare he had put down. Before long the workshop came into view, and Jack made his way towards the skylight he often used. Wasting no time Jack shot through the open window and made his way down towards the common area.
Once down in the heart of the workshop which housed the Globe of Belief, he saw his fellow Guardians; by the looks of it, he was once again the last to arrive.
'Great! Now I'm never going to hear the end of it from Bunny' thought Jack landing on the floor with the gracefulness of one of the many snowflakes he creates.
"Late again frostbite. What it that, the fifth time in a row?" teased Bunny.
"For your information, Kangaroo I was in the middle of giving Canada some much-needed snow. You know, doing my job? I saw the lights and came straight here" said Jack in a slightly irritated tone.
He had just fought with a literal monstrous nightmare, and now here he was getting crap from Bunny, again. He didn't think mentioning that last bit of information was important. It was probably a rouge nightmare, and he took care of it. What was really bothering him was the grotesque form that it took. He changed his mind and made the decision not to tell the others. Bunny and Jack glared at eachother North walked over to break up whatever argument was going on this time.
"Boys, boys, please settle down. It is time for meeting to begin" interjected North while making his way to the middle of the sitting room and placing himself directly in front of the globe of belief. Jack broke off from his staring contest with Bunny, took up residence at his favorite window seat, and had his attention focused on North. North looked at his fellow Guardians before beginning.
"Thank you all for coming I will start by saying there is a lot going on," said North.
North's colleagues looked confused, they had no idea what he was talking about. Everything was business as usual, nothing was impeding their responsibilities. There was utter silence and Jack was the first to break the ice.
"North what do you mean? Everything has been pretty normal, at least I haven't noticed any changes," stated Jack.
The others nodded their heads in agreement, Jack was surprised that Bunny didn't pick on him for being lazy. In the last hundred years working with the Guardians not once did he shirk his responsibilities, but he had grown as a spirit bringing fun to children as well as much-deserved snow days, and along the way discovered new abilities.
"Well for starters there have been fluctuations on the globe, at first I just thought that it needed to be repaired but the axis and everything are fine. Recently I have been noticing something but dismissed it as part of my imagination. Out of the corner of my eyes, I have been seeing shadows that appear darker. When I see the shadows I feel like someone is here with me and I feel malicious intent," explained North.
This was something that they were not expecting, it was far too soon for Pitch to return. With that explanation, Jack thought back to the nightmare he encountered in the Atlantic. This was unsettling as he remembered his encounter near the iceberg.
"Mate I think that you're working too hard, what with your holiday coming up it's understandable, but I haven't seen anything" explained Bunny.
"Yeah, but keep in mind cottontail you spend most of the time in Warren much like North spends almost all his time here. Another thing to keep in mind is Tooth and Sandy's jobs take place at night. So if they were able to see any shadows, it would be hard to depict Pitch's nightmares from that of night in such open areas," Jack countered.
"Never thought I would see you take something so serious Frostbite. Before we get off track have you seen anything? Your job is the only one that takes place during both day and night. " Bunny pointed out.
"Hey I have my moments, I don't think North is that far off with his assumptions. On the way here I encountered something strange," said Jack.
Sandy looked at Jack forming a question mark above his head along with a picture of a map.
"Yes Jack, can you tell us about this encounter and where it took place?" asked North.
Jack explained going into detail about his departure from Canada and mentioned there was nothing of importance until he reached the Atlantic Ocean. He told the other four as he was flying, passing by an iceberg, when he encountered a shadow. He explained how the shadow was different from any of Pitch's other nightmares. Jack made a miniature ice sculpture, much like how Sany communicates, of what the creature looked like from his perspective.
"Oh sweet tooth that looks absolutely horrifying," Tooth said as she examined the figure closely.
The shadow creature had long legs sharp talons on its feet, and elongated clawed hands that seemed to reach forever. When looking at the head it too was elongated and appeared to have sharp teeth that appeared silver. The head was the worst with a long snout, followed by antlers.
There was silence throughout the room the only sounds that can be heard were the yetis working in the background, after all Christmas was a couple of months away.
"It's a wendigo," said Bunny his ears flattened on the back of head.
"A wendi-what?" asked Jack.
"A wendigo mate, and before you ask it's a creature born when humans give into cannibalistic urges, eventually they lose their humanity until they do not resemble a human but a monster," Bunny educated. "Eventually they do not recall ever being human and their only instinct is to hunt and feed. I don't think that they are around anymore and had turned into a myth but I'm not 100% certain"
A shiver went up Jack's spine, that was a terrible fate for anyone and the idea of cannibalism made him sick to his stomach.
"Now that's out in the open, where do we go from here?" asked Tooth.
Sandy used his sand to create a shield, the guardians who appeared to be in a defensive position, and an exclamation point. North was the first to catch on.
"Sandy's right. Until we know more about what is going on it is better to keep guard up and stay on the defensive" said North.
"Agreed, in the meantime I'll look into connections I have and ask around to see if any other spirits have spotted anything unusual," explained Bunny.
"Okay and Sandy and I will adobe on the lookout while we work and will let each other know if we see shadows acting independently of themselves," said Tooth with Sandy's nod of approval.
"Jack if it is okay with you, can you go back to Burgess to see if the entrance to Pitch's lair is still sealed? It's possible he may have returned and it will be good to know where he is in order to make a plan," North asked looking at Jack on the window seat.
"Sure thing after all, we don't want to be caught with our pants down," said Jack with a hint of a smile.
"Why would we have pants down?" inquired North.
"Relax mate it's just an expression," supplied Bunny.
Shortly after the meeting came to an end. Sandy and Tooth went back to their jobs of collecting teeth and giving sweet dreams, and Bunny created a rabbit hole to get going on his own investigation. Jack remained on the window seat having not moved since the meeting was concluded. He heard North approaching after a bit and took his eyes off of his recent fascination, the rising moon. As per usual it was big and bright lighting up the snow and making it glow in the night.
"Jack what is wrong my boy?" asked North.
Jack looked at North not sure if he should tell the elder guardian what he was pondering, in the end, he thought it a good idea to tell North.
"Do you really think Pitch is back?" asked Jack.
North stroked his beard for a minute before replying trying to formulate an answer. "I do not know Jack, which is why we must make sure all bases are covered. This way we can be properly prepared for if it is true, " North explained.
Jack accepted the answer and a feeling of uneasy anxiousness washed over him. He hoped it was not true and Pitch was still locked in the darkness.
The dragon riders went back to Berk to see their families, and also so Hiccup can give his latest report to Stoick. After the dragon eye was taken by the hunters he had been worried about how he was going to report this recent failure to his father. Hiccup was standing outside of his and his father's hut when Astrid approached and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey don't worry too much you did the best that you could, and not only that but Heather is safe. We protect our own," explained Astrid.
"Yeah, but we lost the dragon eye and all of the knowledge with it only to be in the Hunter's hands. Who knows what they're planning on doing with it," said Hiccup. He looked at Astrid his green gaze meeting her crystal blue orbs.
"Now is not the time to worry about it after all what can be done about it right now?" Astrid asked.
"Nothing" Hiccup replied.
"Once we get back to the Edge we will come up with a plan, and deal with the Hunters then," Astrid said reassuringly. Hiccup could not argue her logic about the subject, and after taking her words into consideration he started to enter the hut.
As Hiccup entered the hut followed by Toothless he saw his father stoking up the fire in order to keep them warm throughout the frigid cold night. Once Stoick was done with his task, he turned to face his son and Toothless.
"Welcome home son, it's good to see ya," greeted Stoick.
Toothless gave a warble not liking that he was not included in the greeting.
"You too big fella," Stoick said to Toothless with a smile.
"So what brings you home son?" asked Stoick.
"Oh you know the usual everyone was feeling homesick, and we also needed some supplies," explained Hiccup. "Also there is some news you need to hear," added Hiccup.
"Alright son let's hear it," said Stoick.
Hiccup told Stoick everything that had happened since the riders had been on the Dragon's Edge. Hiccup explained about Heather being on the inside of the hunter's operation and finding out about the leader of the Dragon Hunters. He also went on to explain Heather was discovered and about the rescue attempt. Hiccup was happy to tell his father his friend got away but it had its own price.
"Now Viggo has the Dragon Eye and we don't know what to expect. What we do know is he now has the knowledge of dragons and their locations which can't lead to anything good," Hiccup finished. Stoick took in everything his son said and thought things over before discussing more on the subject with Hiccup.
"Well the way that I see it, you did everything that you could for your friend. Also even with the Dragon Eye gone, it won't stop you from doing what you need to do. When the time is right son, you will know what to do," explained Stoick. "What you need to focus on now is your friends and protect them. As for the Dragon Eye, I have no doubts that you will retrieve it. In time you will know what to do," Stoick finished his thoughts and had nothing more to say.
"Now let's head to the great hall and get something to eat. We'll need to get Toothless some fish too," said Stoick trying to cheer Hiccup up.
From there they headed to the great hall as planned and got some much-needed food. When they got there Hiccup wasn't surprised the other riders were already there, having already visited their families. Hiccup had no doubts about his father's words but something in his gut told him that this was just the beginning, the question real question being,jh will they be ready for what comes next?