The amount of times Jack has been unwillingly unconscious has to translate to some sort of brain damage because this is getting ridiculous.

Thankfully it wasn't like the last time where he just couldn't move. Instead he had full freedom over his body, except there was some sort of heavy weight on his chest and legs.

When he opened his eyes, he felt weirdly replenished, nothing hurt except for maybe a throb in his shoulder but that was all.

Something ruffled his hair, like a breeze. Oh shit, there's an animal on me! He panicked, and shot up, disrupting the dragon who was quite literally... cuddling him? Wait what?

Said animal let out displeased noise, probably from being shaken out of her sleep, before immediately falling off the bed.

He wanted to say something but nothing would leave his mouth. There was someone laughing in the doorway.

"Where am I?" He asked after realizing it was just Valka. She grimaced a bit after calming down from her laughing fit. For the record, he would've been laughing too if he wasn't still shaken up from...

"And you'll do it again."

"What do you remember?" She asked, and Jack realized that everything after Eastwood's death was hazy.

"Eastwood... died, and I remember everything before that, but stuff after is a little blurry," he told her, she just hummed and entered the room.

The white dragon had since recovered from her fall and was looking at Jack with an exasperated expression. Could dragons have an exasperated expression?

"What? Want an apology? You were the one who decied it was a good idea to fall asleep on me," He reminded her. She huffed in his face as if to say, "yeah, and I'm never doing that again," before grumbling and laying down in the corner. She put her tail fin up as a way to shun him. Attitude, he thought.

For some ungodly reason the shun actually hurt. But he was stubborn and made no reaction. He tried at least. Valka hummed a short laugh as she sat next to him. "What?" He asked, Valka looked to Jack and just said, "she's yours now."

His brain short-circuited. "Wait- mine? What do you mean by mine?" There's no way he owned a dragon. He didn't think even if it was legally written somewhere he'd call it owning. No, that dragon looked and acted like she could own him.

"I mean, that she and you are now comrades, like me and Cloudjumper," Valka explained, Jack blinked, "why me?" He asked, "that sounds like a terrible idea," he was very confused, he couldn't even save this dragon's baby and somehow they were friends?

Valka just shrugged, "guess you'll just have to figure it out," she said, and Jack could've sworn this was revenge for all the sass he gave her.

"Okay, so where am I again?" He asked, there were so many questions his head was spinning. Valka just sighed, she seemed very stressed about something.

"After you got me awake you passed out for a while, good thing Cloudjumper could fly by then, otherwise we would've been killed by your friends," Jack could hear the quotation marks around "friends" and he winced at the reminder.

"I didn't know where else to take you so I took you here, the Sanctuary," she continued, gesturing to the ice-cave-made-bedroom. It was honestly one of the prettiest things Jack had ever seen, and he's been to the Tooth Palace.

He's been using that to describe a lot of things lately, he guessed this universe was just naturally beautiful.

Jack glanced back over to the white dragon, her tail fin had dropped revealing that she was asleep. I have to start calling her something other than 'white dragon', he thought to himself before getting up to follow Valka out the door.

The place was huge. He couldn't even see the other side of it. Dragons were everywhere, grooming, flying, playing, everything.

Jack was getting dizzy from how many times he turned in a circle. The entire place was flat out magestic. The ice seemed to reflect an unnatural blue glow that bounced off of everything and reflected back to illuminate even the deepest crevasse. That, in contrast to the vibrant patches of grass so green it too seemed to shine, made the entire structure seem like a castle, or something out of some fantasy novel.

He listened to Valka give a tour, telling him about all the different dragons and a fun fact not many knew about them.

He could tell that Valka didn't get many visitors, considering how animated she was, telling him about the place. She happily pointed out how Deadly Nadders had the hottest fire, and how Gronkles couldn't eat specific rocks, or how the babies never listen to anyone. Things she'd told him before but Jack didn't care because it was all still amazing. It was like she was an endless book of facts and knowledge.

"Oh! Come here Jack, I want to introduce you to someone," he perked up as Valka gestured impatiently for him to follow her.

They made their way towards the edge of a very high and a very steep ledge. Valka couldn't stop smiling. "If you dragged me up here just to push me off I'll tell you right now that seems pretty counterproductive," he told her.

Valka shushed him, rude. He looked back gasping as a huge mass rose from the ground. The dragon was so big it was like staring up from the bottom of a mountain.

Jack didn't notice everyone else, including Valka, bowing, honestly if he wasn't so amazed he might've too.

The dragon was white with quills that reminded him of those of a Lion Fish which faded from an icy blue to a smokey black. Its eyes weren't as blue as the white dragon's eyes, but still shocking in terms of color. They were like the blue of a butterfly's wings.

Then a cloud of snow and frost took over his vision. He squinted to see but it was so thick he could make out nothing.

When it cleared, both he and Valka were in a completely different place.

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Valka immediately took out her weapon, ready for any threat and shoved Jack behind her.

"Be calm," a voice spoke, it danced around the ice making it impossible to tell where it was coming from.

Jack turned with Valka covering her back while she covered his, not that I'd be able to do anything but scream, he thought to himself.

Then he heard Valka gasp behind him, panic– for the umpteenth time that week –seized him. He whipped around to find–

A dragon, staring down at him, Valka was on her knees bowing again. Wait what?

"I am Skathi, King of Dragons named after the Goddess of winter and mountains,"

Must be that brain damage kicking in, he thought to himself.

Valka looked speechless, and considering she wasn't speaking, he'd say it was an accurate assumption. The- Skathi, studied him for a moment like they were reading his mind.

"You are dying, young one."

"Excuse me?"

"He's what?"

Well, guess that answers that question. He thought to himself.

"Wait hold on! Why would he be dying?" Valka asked, her brows knitted in concern.

Skathi just looked at Jack like they were expecting something from him. "Tell her," they ordered and Jack suddenly wished to be almost anywhere else.

"Tell me what?" Valka turned on him. Jack winced, he didn't know where he'd go if she kicked him out. Well there's always back to the water where you came from.

"She won't fault you," Skathi said. Somehow he doubted that, Valka didn't need to know about the future, and the Guardians and no one needed to know about Pitch. Right? He could do it himself.

He looked back to Valka who raised a brow in question. Yeah no, I sealed my fate.

"There's no getting out of this huh?" He asked, looking around for an exit and hoping he was being sly about it. He probably wasn't.

Instead of giving him the answer he was looking for, like, say, how they got here? What this place is? How to leave? Skathi just told him a flat, "no."

Well then.

Jack took a very deep breath and started on the whole 'Winter Spirit' thing.

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This place sucked. It was dark, wet, and smelled like masturbation, torture and piss. Big burly guards clambered down the halls of the cave while slow agonizing drop after agonizing drop dripped from the ceiling into a bucket down the hall.

3,923

3,924

3,925...

He registered the sound of a snake slithering somewhere to his right, interrupting the usual drop. It wasn't the only snake there, fortunately for him.

"Mealtime, maggots!"

The guard made his way towards his cell, throwing food into each one as he passed. Just as planned.

The guard grabbed something out of his bucket of bread; a rolled up package, and threw it to him.

"But that's not bread!" Mr. Annoying whined, coming up to clutch the cell bars, "Why does he always get special treatment?" He complained, "Oh, Mr Big-shot. Mr Berserker Chief," the cellmate growled.

His eye twitched, he was going to have fun with this. He stood, and walked over to the cell bars just as the other had done, "Oh hey you want some?" He asked in sweet voice that sounded too much like a little kid, "Come here, I'll give you some," he called as he held out the package for his cellmate to take.

The annoying man reached over–

He grabbed his arm, pulling him against the bars as the other guy grunted in surprise, "I've been meaning to tell you something for the last three years," he admitted with a smile, his voice lowering about twenty octaves, "Your voice... is really... annoying," he growled, twisting the prisoner's arm and pushing forwards then pulling back effectively knocking the prisoner unconscious. He hit the floor with a heavy and satisfying thud.

Rolling his shoulders and neck; popping them like he hasn't moved at all since he got here, "gosh that feels good," He stepped back to open the cloth.

It was a key.

He managed to knock out three guards, and steal two of their clubs before someone sounded the alarm. Good, a new record.

"He's escaped! Dagur's got out! Sound the al-

He groaned and knocked him with both clubs before turning to find practically the whole Prison Guard all shouting and practically begging to be beaten into oblivion.

"Oh goodie! A challenge," he cheered, before yelling and charging towards them.

It was a mess of weapons and chaos, just the way he liked it. He could hear the prisoners cheering him on in excitement from the sidelines. This was his element.

When he finally got all of them, the smell of blood filling the air and red splattered on his clothes he moved on to the Outcast guarding the door. He looked terrified, coward.

"No. No, Dagur don't! I'm the one that gave you the key," he tried to reason.

Double coward, he thought to himself in a sing-song voice.

He dropped the clubs he was holding with a comforting smile, "Which… makes you a traitor," the man shrugged slightly, eyes flicking to the forgotten weapons of his comrades. Dagur punched him as hard as he could and Gods did that feel good.

"I hate traitors,"

Dagur removed the lock from the iron door, and threw it onto the guard for good measure. He could finally, finally breath fresh air, all after three years.

There was a ship parked at the docks, perfect.

"It's a new day, Hiccup. Hope you're well rested."

4,000

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When he finished Valka looked just as confused and exhausted as Jack felt. Did he need to explain something again? It was a confusing subject to explain but Jack was running out of energy here.

"But Mani does exist," was all she said, and just like that Jack was thrown back into the unforgiving waters of utter confusion. Couldn't there at least be one moment where Jack wasn't in the dark about everything?

"You still have your powers, just not enough to sustain your life, let alone use them," Skathi explained, "So I am actually dying," he asked, "Yes." He didn't feel like he was dying, he'd actually been feeling better, but who was Jack to question a dragon that could talk. Not to mention said dragon could probably swallow him whole on accident.

Jack looked over to Valka, her expression was almost completely blank save for a factor of thoughtfulness. Other than that, Jack couldn't make out any negative nor positive emotions. He would say she looked conflicted.

"So what do we do?" That both surprised Jack and confused him further. "Wait, hold on! You're serious? Shouldn't you be like, I don't know… freaked out or something?" Jack asked, Valka's gaze softened. "Jack, you saved my life, let me repay you," Her look was so sincere Jack didn't know how to respond.

In the spirit world– or at least the one he was subjected to –you had to fake most things. You were all immortal, all powerful spirits, if you got too close it was only a matter of time before someone stabbed you in the back, after all, they had eternity to do it. A look like that wasn't something Jack was necessarily used to.

"I can give you what Mani can't," Skathi interrupted, and Jack felt overwhelmed, was it that easy? Just take the powers and go? "You'll have to do something however." No, it was never that easy, he reminded himself.

"Find the ones you dragged here with you, and get rid of the disease you planted that's infecting the world."

"I was kind of planning on doing that anyway…" Jack said, he was actually thankful for the extra reason to do this, the idea he could try to have a normal life here was tempting beyond comprehension. If Jack could have powers and not die before he even began then that was a plus.

"I'll do it," he said, and he meant it. He'd do it. Because Skathi was right, Jack had dragged them here, and he had also planted Pitch here. He'd do it if it was the last thing he'd ever do. Pitch didn't get to escape into another... whatever this was at this point.

Which was another thing. Was this the past? Another universe? Pitch said it was another multiverse altogether but nothing seemed too different besides the whole dragon aspect. But would it explain how Vikings were still around even after the colonies had been established? Jack's head hurt.

"Good, I hope you use these well, Jackson," and with that, Jack and Valka were thrown into a cloud of frost and snow once again.

"We need to talk," Valka said as soon as they had regained their sight, That's an understatement.

Skathi was back to doing whatever they were doing. Jack noted that he didn't feel any different than before. He looked at his hands, they were the same, no paler than when he first entered the… Skathi-realm… yeah, that.

There was no frost on his clothes, nothing changed about his appearance–

"Jack…" Valka said slowly.

That he could see…

"Yeah?" Jack replied hesitantly. "You're hair.. Is white,"

"Let me guess my eyes are blue?" Valka just nodded numbly. Jack briefly wondered if she was starting to regret her decision on letting him stay. He wouldn't blame her.

For a while they just sat there in silence, not really knowing what to say. Jack looked around for a new topic, "How long were we in there for?" he asked, "I don't know a few moments maybe?" Valka said, still staring shamelessly at his change in appearance. "Are you sure because the moon over there is telling me it's night time," he said, looking over his shoulder at one of the few cracks in the Sanctuary.

Valka's head snapped towards the direction of Jack's gaze. He duly noted that the moon was setting, they'd been there all night? Then the weirdest thing happened, the sunlight touched his face and soon his features faded back to brown and amber. Valka told him as much.

"So what I'm like a were-frost-spirit?" He said, the joke fell flat. Was he even trying to be funny at this point? "Maybe... it also means you're more vulnerable in the daytime," Valka noted, dawning the same thoughtful expression, like she was writing that down in her head for later.

For a moment everything was quiet, they were both lost in their own thoughts on the situation. Jack, thinking about how this would affect his quest, where he was, if the magic worked this same here as it did pre-trip, how the hell Skathi's magic fucking worked. Valka on the other hand… he didn't know. There was still this lingering fear that she would kick him out or kill him or something, he's learned to never trust adults. He wonders how that would sound if he said it out loud.

The moment was broken when Jack's stomach rumbled and he realized just how hungry he was. Valka smiled with that same weird fondness and saddened look to her, and Jack blushed in embarrassment.

She sighed, "We'll talk more about this after we've eaten and had a good night's rest, okay?" She asked him, and he nodded.

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The whole "Winter Spirit" thing seemed to both create questions and eliminate them. For every question answered it was traded out for another mystery just as, if not more, confusing.

It explained a lot about Jack, the times when he'd seem to grow older suddenly, how mature he was at times while somehow being the exact opposite of mature at other times. But that didn't mean Valka didn't have questions.

Unfortunately, she could tell Jack really didn't have the energy to talk about it. He was still hiding things from her but she couldn't blame him. 300 years is a lot of information, she was sure she could get that info over time.

What she was more worried about was how this would affect his safety especially on a quest like the one Skathi described.

Vikings were very superstitious people, if someone found out about his powers, there was no guarantee of Jack's life.

It wasn't like Jack had to even showcase his powers at all. Not only were Vikings superstitious, but they weren't very fond of foreigners either, and Jack was so obviously not from the Archipelago that one glance was all it took and you could tell.

Alright, I've made my decision.

She'd made it a long time ago.

"Jack," she said, and he looked to her as his shoulders dropped. He's probably preparing for me to do something harsh, she thought to herself, and it only made her want to prove him wrong further. "I would like to take you in as my mentee," She told him, and watched in humor as he sputtered in surprise.

He choked out a, "what?" As Valka smiled at him, "I said, I'd like to train you," she said again, and Jack looked even more confused. Right, she'd never told him about what she does for a living.

"Do you know what a Dragon Hunter is?" She asked.

"You said something about them in Boston," he recalled, obviously this was not what he was expecting. Valka didn't want to think about what he was expecting.

"Dragon Hunters or otherwise called Dragon Trappers, are a group of people who go around capturing dragons, whether to kill them or sell them it doesn't matter. It shouldn't be allowed to happen, dragons don't deserve to be treated like slaves," she explained.

Jack paused at her intensity before nodding. She continued, "I've taken it upon myself to stop these Trappers, and set dragons free across the Archipelago. In other words, I want you to join me. You already have a dragon and she'll need the company anyway-

"I'll go," he interrupted, "whatever will help me defeat Pitch and find my friends," he told her and Valka smiled, genuinely smiled. She doesn't remember the last time she genuinely smiled at something that wasn't a dragon. It felt good.

Then the white dragon came up and stole the rest of Jack's fish and ate it all in one bite, all the while Jack was protesting for his lost dinner.

"What are you going to name her?" She asked, and Jack looked back to her, then to the dragon.

"Well, Skathi kind of gave me an idea, how about Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt?" He said and Valka loved it already.

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Today was the day, he could feel it. Something big was happening. All he needed to do was look.

"You know, I have a really good feeling about today Astrid."