Chapter Text
Hiccup nearly died once.
…Is what he would’ve said five years ago.
By now, he’s nearly died at least once every other week. Today was sure to be no different. It was an occupational hazard of who he was, really. And he wasn’t complaining!
The wind howled in his ears, fierce and nearly as loud as a dragon itself as he and Toothless cut through the skies, soaring through the clouds. The ocean was miles below them, and he was sure if they flew any higher, Toothless’ wings might just freeze off. Even so…
“Alright, Bud, you ready?” Hiccup grinned behind the mask, grateful for its protection against the harsh winds.
Toothless roared, loud and happy as it echoed through the skies, and Hiccup let out a mirroring whoop. The familiar clicking of his prosthetic was instantly eaten up with their speed as Toothless made a sharp, immediate ascent through the clouds.
“Yeahhh, baby!” Hiccup hollered, keeping his stomach low against his dragon's back, letting the wind glide over him in a smooth arc as they rose through the thick clouds of night.
He shouted for Toothless to climb higher, ignoring the frost creeping up his black, dragon-scale armor and Toothless’ body. Just a bit more, almost…
When Hiccup's prosthetic would no longer move, frozen to the contraption connected to Toothless’ saddle, they broke through the last of the clouds, and Toothless shrieked in high, unabashed delight as he stopped mid-air. Their silhouettes were completely black in front of the full moon, the frisk air and shining stars greeting them before winking their goodbyes just as quickly. Toothless curved into an arc, leaning backward until they flipped and fell into a sharp dive, disappearing once again.
All the while, Hiccup laughed in hysterical delight, freedom roaring in the form of a Nightfury and his rider.
Life was good; he couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d want to be than up in the skies with his best friend. The past no longer clung to his shoulders, bringing him down like gravity. Instead, he was up here defying it with the one person– er, dragon- who understood him better than anyone ever had.
He wouldn’t trade it for the world, because Toothless was his world, and maybe to anyone else that would be a sad thought- to have a dragon be your entire reason for happiness and living- but not for Hiccup.
It was perfect. This was perfect. And that would never change.
—
Life was terrible, thank you very much.
Jack would just about trade anything or anyone to be literally anywhere else but trapped in the hull of a dragon hunter ship. The twins, for example, if they didn’t shut up anytime soon. Astrid and Snotlout had made several threats to throw them into a Whispering Death hole once they got out of here, but that did little but excite the two.
At least he had his own cage to rot in; he couldn’t say the same for the rest of the gang. Jack was close to falling asleep against the uncomfortable bars, but he had at least one eye peeking open, waiting for the moment Astrid would inevitably attack the twins and/or Snotlout with her bare hands.
They were all arguing, and despite Fishlegs' attempts at keeping some semblance of peace and quiet so that they could figure out a way to get them out of here, no one listened. Astrid’s hands were clenched in white-knuckled fists, opening and closing like she wished she had her axe right about now.
Maybe it was a good thing those hunters had taken it away, because if Jack were being honest, he’d miss having partners to play pranks on the village back home if Astrid murdered them. Then again, at least he would have some entertainment if she did. Huh. He was stumped, really.
“I got it!” Tuffnut exclaimed, pulling out the small wooden cup he’d stashed away when the guards had come with their sorry excuse for food. “We’ll tunnel our way out.”
Even Rufnutt was staring at him incredulously.
“Great plan, Tuff!” Snotlout exclaimed, uncrossing his arms and smacking his hand against Tuffnut’s back.
“Right?”
“Yeah! And while you’re at it, I’ll start etching my will into walls because we’ll be old as Odin by the time you finish! Thor, you’re an idiot.”
Jack snorted, watching as Fishlegs snatched the cup out of Tuff’s hands, holding it high above his head as their friend jumped for it, demanding it back. “Even if it did work, most of us don’t even know how to swim.”
Tuffnut stopped, putting his pointer finger and thumb beneath his chin as he nodded. “Good point, Fishlegs. Quick! Who can teach me how to swim by this time tomorrow? Or this time next week… really, who’s to say how long it’d take, am I right?”
Jack shook his head, a wry smile playing on his lips as Snotlout growled. “This is all Trader Johan’s fault! We should’ve never listened to him! Stupid Dagur, stupid Outcast Island, stupid, stupid.”
Jack could agree with that, and he voiced it multiple times when their ship was first compromised by these hunters. When the twins first found Johan out at sea near his usual trading route while out on a mission to ‘Loki’ Mulch and Bucket on their own ship, he had been a near cry from death.
It was nearly a day later when Johan came down from Gothi’s hut that he told them everything he knew, from Dagur escaping Outcast Island to his suspicions that he would go to an abandoned ship graveyard for Johan’s treasures and wares to build a new armada.
Jack was the one to gather them together for the mission, and everyone had gone along with it for the excitement of something new. It’d been a couple of years since the war with the Berserkers and relative peace on Berk. So Jack wasn’t all that surprised when Ruffnut piped in.
“If we really think about it, this is all Jack’s fault, dragging us all out here.” She crossed her arms, peering at his deadpan face through their separate cages. Jack didn’t get a chance to defend himself before a loud crash rocked the entire ship, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t snicker when Ruffnut hit her head against the cage from the force.
The hunters were under attack.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault this is!” Astrid said matter-of-factly. “What matters is that we get out of here, and I think we’re about to get our chance.”
“Astrid’s right,” Jack said, standing up, stretching his arms high above his head, something in his shoulder popping as he did. “Wind?”
A soft whoosh of air entered the dimly lit room, and Jack grinned. “I think we’ve had enough of a vacation; we’re ready to leave. Can you find my staff?”
Everyone was quiet as less than a second later, his staff whoosed into the room; Jack barely caught it through the bars, yelping in surprise. “That was quick. What’s got you so excited?”
And Jack was right; the wind itself felt jittery with excitement that was almost contagious as it blew throughout the room, impatience in its every move.
Jack shrugged before turning to the others, holding back a laugh at the dumbfounded looks on all of their faces.
“What?” Another catastrophic boom. The screams of hunters and the panicked pounding of feet above deck reached their ears.
“Oh, gods, we’re all gonna die,” Snotlout whined in the way they’d learn to get used to over the years. They had also, luckily, learned to ignore said whines.
“You could’ve asked Wind to get us out this whole time?” Ruffnut asked incredulously, and Jack smiled at the way she personified the wind as if it were another person in the room. She wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Jack, if we weren’t in separate cages right now, I swear to Thor,” Astrid said with no real fire behind her glare. He could see her relieved smile, her body twitching for action.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Fishlegs asked, flailing his arms around. “We could’ve been out of here hours ago!”
“You guys never asked,” Jack said simply, cackling at Fishlegs’ face. He was surprised, really, that the guards never bothered to cuff him. It was silly that they thought a simple cage would keep him from using his winds.
Then again, they’d never met someone like him. Well, at least until today. Really, if Snotlout hadn’t distracted him with a competition of who could take down the most hunters, they wouldn’t have been able to catch him midair with a net, honest!
In a matter of minutes, the wind politely whooshed into the locks; the clicking of the mechanisms unlocking was music to his ears. Before he could swing the door open, though, the sound of multiple pairs of heavy footsteps began making their way toward them.
Jack cursed, hiding his staff behind his back and smiling in a way that was too big and innocent to be real as the guards rushed past his friends and straight to Jack.
They swung the door open, and they must’ve been real panicky to not notice the fact that it was unlocked.
“Hey, watch it,” Jack scowled, but he only got a punch to the gut for his troubles. His staff clattered to the ground, ringing against the metal of his cage. His friends all shouted indignantly in his defense.
Jack was still busy catching his breath when they dragged him out of the room and through the ship, arguing with each other as the booms continued to shake the ship. Jack could smell smoke. Was another ship attacking? Had Berk sent a rescue team? No, it was too soon. They weren’t expected back at least for another day.
He thought about asking the winds, but he didn’t feel like getting the air knocked out of him again.
Instead, he chose to be silent and compliant (for once) and allow them to drag him up the stairs.
The ship was on fire.
Well, the rest of the ships were. Surprisingly, their ship was the only one left untouched so far. Even so, smoke was rising so thick into the air that it blotted out the stars in the sky.
It did nothing to hide the bright purple blasts that came from seemingly nowhere, though. Jack heard a high cry pierce the night, and something in his mind stirred. He knew that sound from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.
“Move it!” The guard on his left said, and was baffled to hear a woman’s voice, and realized too late that maybe he should’ve kept that thought to himself.
“You’re a woman?” Jack gaped, and he could feel her seething outrage through her helmet. He had just enough time to screw his eyes shut when she raised her fist and–
BOOM.
Jack was sent flying through the air, the wind doing him a favor by cushioning his landing. He rolled across the deck, narrowly avoiding a collision with three other hunters on the way.
“Don’t let the boy escape!” Someone yelled, pointing at Jack. “Viggo will have our heads!”
Jack scrambled to his feet as several hunters turned his way, menacing and wild-eyed. Jack gulped, wishing now more than ever that he had his staff.
Listen, the wind has become one of Jack’s closest friends over the past six years. Really, it got him out of a lot of tight situations, very similar to this one.
But the thing was, Jack couldn’t control it without his staff. It was a rather random drawback, but to each their own.
Jack began to dodge and weave, the wind helping him as much as it could. It wasn’t that the wind didn’t want to help him without the staff; it was just how their connection worked, for better or worse. It could help him only minimally to stay alive as swords tried to find his neck until someone screamed to capture him alive. Thanks, random dragon hunter.
But eventually, Jack’s luck ran out.
At first, he was beyond ecstatic to see the unmistakable form of a dragon land on the ship. A distraction! He could get back below deck, get his staff, and free the others.
But Jack quickly realized that wouldn’t be the case.
See, back on Berk, they had a lot of stories. Some that originated on their little island in the Meridian of Misery, others coming from traders who traveled all over the archipelago.
Few, though, came from beyond it.
One of those stories, a legend, really, jumped off of the dragon Jack now recognized as a Nightfury.
The Dragon Master began to cleave through the crowd of dragon hunters like they were nothing more than pesky Terrible Terrors with his flaming sword. The Nightfury followed behind, sharp teeth flashing and snarling at any hunter who got too close.
Jack might’ve laughed in another setting when the Nightfury fully swatted a charging hunter, axe raised high as they gave their best battle cry, into the ocean. The thing is, there’s not a lot to find funny when you have the infamous Dragon Master’s sword to your neck.
“Whoa, hey!” Jack quickly stepped back, raising his hands placatingly. “Watch it, not the neck, man. It holds up my head, and I would prefer to keep it on my shoulders for now, yeah?”
The Dragon Master stared at him, and Jack could feel his eyes burning holes into his face. Jack only wished he could see his.
It was so dark, the only light around being the raging fires of the sinking ships all around them, but they only served to cast a menacing shadow over the Dragon Master’s face. While Jack doubted he himself looked as scary as this guy did, he figured his face was just as shrouded in shadow.
“We can talk, yeah? You and me?” Jack backtracked when the Nightfury let out a wicked snarl, pupils narrowed to slits. “Us. All of us, yeah. Sorry. The Nightfury, too, of course.”
“I don’t talk with dragon hunters,” The man’s gruff voice said, and Jack only had a second to frown at his unique, sort of nasally voice before he yelped, narrowly dodging the man’s sword when it came too close to where his heart was beating frantically.
“You got it all wrong!” Jack tripped over his feet, feeling surprisingly heavy as he danced away from the flaming sword. “I’m not a hunter, well, sort of, we don’t really fight dragons much anymore– Woah!”
Clearly, that was the wrong thing to say. They went back and forth in a sort of dance. Jack was fully on the defensive, sweating and trying desperately to clear up the misunderstanding, but the man wasn’t having it.
At least the Nightfury was sitting this one out, apparently, or else Jack would’ve been toast five minutes ago.
The wind seemed to be playing a cruel joke on him, because for once, it wasn’t helping him. Not even a careful nudge in the right direction, and Jack had more than a few knicks as the fight continued– could it be called that?
“Would you stop?!” Jack was getting tired and more irritated by the second, his fear washing away and making way for adrenaline and frustration. “My friends and I were captured, okay? We’re not hunters, seriously, do I look like one to you?!”
“You’d be surprised,” The man said, and Jack couldn’t help but be distracted by his voice. It was so familiar; this whole situation was screaming at him that something was wrong. This shouldn’t be happening; he should know–
Jack made a sharp turn just as the Dragon Master tripped on seemingly nothing– about time, Wind– just enough for Jack to grab his wrist, shoving his back down until they both landed on the deck, Jack straddling his back.
The Nightfury yowled, stepping forward and out of his own battle with the remaining hunters until the Dragon Master shouted, “Toothless, stop!”
Jack paused, and his head hurt with the effort with which he was putting into figuring out where the hel he’d heard that name before.
Wait.
No. No, that couldn’t be right.
He’d died. He’d been dead for five years; Jack was going insane, really; he was undoing all the work he’d put into burying his grief and moving on… but maybe..?
Jack loosened his grip on the man, turning his head to look at his leg.
He didn’t have one.
It was a prosthetic, one that Jack had never seen before, but it was all the same.
See, the story of the Dragon Master went like this:
He appeared five years ago out of nowhere, riding the only known Nightfury alive as of today. He came in the night in armor made of gleaming scales, his face obscured by a matching mask, and no one, even his greatest enemies, had seen who the man behind it. He attacked and raided ships, but only those of dragon hunters, freeing the dragons aboard– and it was rumored that he would bring them all back to his island. And like his identity, it remained hidden, a haven for the beasts he rescued. So hidden, in fact, that many believed it lay at the very edge of the world, hence the name: the Edge.
It was rumored that he was building a dragon army, so large that he could burn entire islands within minutes and disappear in the same amount of time.
No one knew who he was, but Jack knew. He knew.
But in Jack's moment of realization, He took it for weakness. In an instant, they were flipped, the Dragon Master straddling his hips. He gripped Jack’s wrists above his head with one hand, quickly grabbing his disregarded sword and bringing it to Jack’s throat.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t use this,” He snarled, and Jack could almost cry, because it was His awkward lilt that had never left his voice after all of these years, like he was permanently congested in one nostril. It was unique, and it was strange, and it was Him.
“Hiccup,” Jack managed to choke out, brown eyes searching, searching for the green ones he knew hid behind that mask.
The man paused, and Jack knew he was right when he cocked his head like, well, like a dragon.
“How…”
They were both stock still as Jack slowly reached up, his hand gliding up his arm, up, up his neck and to his mask. He was stiff beneath his touch, but he didn’t stop him, his breathing quick and heavy as Jack began to lift the mask.
The fighting was forgotten; the blasts and echoes of screams and dragons roaring in the sky meant nothing. It was them, just them, in a little bubble of time as Jack ghosted over his chin with his fingers, pleasant delight curling in his gut like golden yarn as He shivered beneath his touch. Jack found what he was looking for.
There was no denying it, now, even if the fact that his Nightfury was called Toothless was a dead giveaway.
There, on the edge of his jaw, was a small scar. Just a knick.
But it was Hiccup’s scar, one that haunted Jack in his dreams more than it should have. But it was okay, now. Because he was alive.
His best friend was alive.
“Hiccup,” Jack said again, but this time, he could feel disbelieving tears stinging his eyes, and he knew the exact moment that Hiccup realized.
“...Jack?” His voice cracked, and Jack laughed, loud and delighted. His name sounded like music and poetry when Hiccup said it. The only thing that topped it was the sound of Hiccup's surprised and hesitant laughter, bubbling out behind his mask. It was a little strange at first, unfitting of this new persona, but he was so grateful to hear it had barely changed these past five years that he didn’t care.
If he could bottle it up forever, keep it close so that he could hear it whenever he wanted, he would.
But then, suddenly, Hiccup stopped laughing, and Jack sobered up, too.
“Wait. Wait, wait, wait,” Hiccup muttered. “Jack?”
Jack tilted his head, confused. He was saying his name like he was just now realizing it was truly him, but that didn’t stop his smile that was slowly becoming painful.
“Yeah?”
“If you’re here, then…” Hiccup went rigid, and Jack could tell he was about to jolt up, but he didn’t move away. Instead, his sword went nearly slack in his grip, and Jack yelped because it was still a bit too close to his neck for his liking. “Oh, gods.”
As if right on cue, Jack resisted the urge to jump lest he behead himself when Astrid burst through the trapdoor leading below deck, her battleaxe in hand and charging out with her best war cry. Following her in a similar fashion, holding makeshift weapons of a club, broom, a familiar wooden cup, and his staff: Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins.
With each person that came up, Jack could physically feel the dread coming off of Hiccup in waves.
When they all realized there was no one but them on deck, they lowered their weapons in confusion. Well, them and Jack being held at sword-point on the ground. Oh, and a snarling Nightfury.
As soon as Astrid took in Jack’s admittedly compromising position– man, this really didn’t look good, did it? The knife and their position– and charged with a cry.
Toothless yowled, a purple plasma-blast building up in his throat as Astrid ran toward them.
In unison, Jack and Hiccup shouted.
“Toothless, no!”
“Astrid, wait!
Toothless quickly ate his own fire, smacking his gums together as he looked at Hiccup with blown pupils of confusion. When Hiccup confirmed his dragon wasn’t about to kill his childhood friend, he rolled off of Jack, jumping up with his arms splayed in an innocent plea.
Everyone was yelling different variations of ‘Get him, Astrid,’ and ' Please don’t eat us, nice Nightfury,’ as Jack blurted in a garbled mess, moving to stand; “Astridpleasedon’tkillhimitsHiccup!”
Hiccup gave Astrid the benefit of the doubt that she’d hear Jack or him out before she decided to slice him to bits when he realized that this was Astrid; of course she wasn’t going to listen. Kill first, ask questions later.
The ringing of sword against axe was clean and sharp as Hiccup met her head on, and Jack was more than a little surprised. Five years ago, Hiccup could barely hold up a sword, but now that he’d confirmed that this really was his not-dead best friend, it was strange to see how much he’d truly changed. He’d have to come to terms with this some other time, preferably when one of his best friends wasn’t trying to kill his other best friend.
(Were they even still friends?)
Everyone watched as Hiccup and Astrid fought, a much different dance than his and Jack’s had been. This was all offense, neither allowing the other to take more ground. Each dodge and weave was met with another clash of metal, but the longer it went on, he realized it wasn’t as much of a stalemate as he thought.
Astrid was a fierce fighter, one of the best on Berk.
But Hiccup was animalistic.
Once he got a feel for Astrid’s fighting style, recognizing it and muscle memory kicking in to remind him of everything he knew about it from years ago– it really hadn’t changed much; clearly, neither had she– he began to take ground.
Everyone’s cheers died down, eventually falling into a dreadful silence brought upon them by shock.
Hiccup made jumps and dives at Astrid that reminded Jack all too well of a certain dragon he knew that’d broken out of their arena years ago, but not just Toothless.
Hiccup tossed his sword, catching the butt of it and pressing a button. He ran around Astrid, dancing and ducking away from her axe as a familiar green gas followed his sword.
“What the–” Astrid didn’t finish, the ground at her feet exploding all around her in the circle Hiccup had made. Jack would’ve been upset if it weren’t for the fact that he realized he’d made it wide and low enough that it wouldn’t directly hurt her, simply shock and distract.
Astrid only barely managed to catch his sword with her axe as he charged her head on, and she grinned in the way she did when she knew she’d won.
(Hiccup met it with his own behind the mask, adrenaline and… glee at having a real challenge for once.
But he knew who really won.)
Astrid twisted her axe, catching and tearing the sword from Hiccup’s grasp easily. But her smile fell when he realized he’d let it happen.
Hiccup ducked below her gaze and swept her feet out from under her, her axe flying away. He caught his sword in the air before pointing the tip at her throat before she could think to move.
The distant flap of wings, the screams of dragon hunters, and the raging fires suddenly became very noticeable with how silent everyone was. You could hear Astrid and Hiccup’s ragged breathing, their chests rising and falling in tandem.
Despite the name Hiccup had made for himself after all these years, he still felt bad when he saw the pure rage and fury shining in Astrid’s icy blue eyes. “Who are you?” Astrid seethed, her teeth clenched.
Jack expected Hiccup to shrink, to turn into a blubbering mess, but… he didn’t. Instead, he squared his shoulders, readjusting his grip on his sword handle and spoke.
“I’m–”
Everyone screamed as a giant boulder slammed into the side of the ship from out of the fog. Hiccup stumbled back, and Jack used his winds to steady him. Astrid, no longer with a sword against her throat, stood up, glaring at Hiccup.
The boat quickly began to sink, and Jack was getting a startling sense of deja vu.
“Never mind, it doesn’t matter right now,” Hiccup called for Toothless, jumping on his back. “We gotta get out of here. Now.”
“How do you suppose we do that?” Astrid asked, everyone nodding in agreement behind her.
“Yeah,” Tuffnut piped in. “We don’t exactly have fire-breathing dragons. And we’re not friends with the wind like–”
Snotlout jabbed his elbow into Tuff’s side, scolding him beneath his breath. Ruffnut cackled, and Astrid rolled her eyes.
Hiccup’s mask was fully back on his face now, but Jack could sense the sly smile taking place beneath it. “That won’t be a problem.”
Hiccup patted Toothless’ side, and the Nightfury growled softly before shooting a blast of purple fire up into the sky. Everyone watched in bated silence, but after a long moment, nothing happened.
“Well, that’s just great, now we’re all gonna die on this stupid ship–” Snotlout was cut off by several dragons landing on the rapidly sinking ship, growling and squawking at them.
“Hicc–” Jack cut himself off, glancing at everyone. He leaned closer to Hiccup and whispered, “Are these the same ones from–?”
“Yes,” Hiccup said. “They’ve gotten quite attached to Toothless and me since that night. They come along for nearly every raid.”
Jack nodded with a grin, watching as everyone crowded together, weapons in hand as they stared fearfully at the dragons. However, it was Fishlegs who spoke up surprisingly.
“Hold on, these dragons look familiar…” He turned to Hiccup with a curious gaze. “They can’t be, though.”
“Uhhh,” Hiccup said, and now he really did seem a bit nervous. Like he hadn’t counted on them recognizing the same dragons that helped save them five years ago. “I save a lot of dragons; these guys like to follow me around a lot. Climb on, and they’ll take you back to my island.”
“Your island?” Astrid said incredulously. “What makes you think we’d go anywhere with you? You just tried to kill me. And Jack!”
“That wasn’t– you attacked me first! You know what, doesn’t matter. It’s either come with me or take your chances with the ocean, and I doubt any of you can swim.”
“I knew it! Fishlegs, I told you to teach me how to swim; now look at us!” Tuffnut whined. “Oooh, nooo, I’m going to drown and get torn to bits by those nasty eels!” Fishlegs gave him a deadpan look, but if Jack weren't confident in Hiccup's ability to get them out of here, he would've been more understanding of Tuff's worries. When the hunters first found them, landing a devastating hit that began sinking their ship, the biggest eels Jack had ever seen began jumping out of the water and onto their boat. Jack shivered; he was definitely having nightmares for the next week.
“As much as I would love to have some alone time for once in my life, your stinky yak behind isn’t going to die here.” Everyone turned to Ruffnut, who was currently on the zippleback waiting impatiently. “Now come on!”
Without another word, everyone ran for the dragons. Jack tapped Hiccup’s shoulder with a lopsided grin. “Room for one more?”
Hiccup chuckled, holding out his hand to help Jack up. Jack got settled, looping his arms around Hiccup’s waist, patting Toothless’ side warmly. The dragon rumbled with pleasure, the sound vibrating through Jack’s body.
“Now what?” Snotlout asked.
Like the gods had a personal bone to pick with Snotlout’s big mouth, the first giant eel landed on the deck, hissing and twisting wildly. Then the second, and third. They reared their long, striped, slimy necks and screeched at them.
“We leave!” Hiccup shouted, and the dragons didn’t need to be told twice. They all took off one after the other, wild and crazed at the sight of the eels. Clearly, they weren’t fans.
The wind roared in Jack’s ears, delighted to see him in the air again, even if it was on the back of a dragon. More so excited, actually. Jack had to tighten his hold as they soared higher and higher, out of range of the hunters' ships. He laughed unabashedly at the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the sounds of his friends' panicked yelling as they tried their best not to fall off.
They broke through the clouds, his clothes thoroughly soaked. He was freezing, more than sure he would have a terrible cold the coming morning, but the sight was more than worth it.
The night sky was a shimmering midnight blue, disturbed only by silver stars twinkling all around them. The moon seemed so large, like it would crash into the Earth if it came any closer. Jack could vaguely make out the forms of dragons flying in the distance, away from the ships.
Now, Jack had more than mastered the winds these past years, but it was a whole other world to be so high on the back of a dragon. A Nightfury, at that.
The beautiful silence was broken by the screams of Snotlout as he and his Monstrous Nightmare blazed past in a flaming disaster. Hiccup shook his head, telling Jack that he was one of the more temperamental dragons.
“Hookfang!” Hiccup called, stern as Jack’s own mother when he and Emily were in trouble and they knew it. “Get over here!”
Hookfang huffed, smoke puffing out of his nostrils as he growled at Hiccup. Hiccup gave him a look, and with a chuff, Hookfang extinguished his fire and returned to their little group of amateur dragon riders.
“He’s just scared,” Hiccup explained to Snotlout. “Dragons don’t like eels.”
“Obviously!” Snotlout shouted, shaking like a leaf.
“Maybe it just doesn’t like Snotlout,” Tuffnut said, hanging upside down with his arms crossed.
“Been there,” Ruffnut said, resting her arm on the Zippleback's small horns.
"Shut your yak holes," Snotlout growled before yelping when Hookfang snapped at him.
“So, what exactly is the plan?” Fishlegs said, looking from Hiccup to the Gruesome Gronkle beneath him.
“Exactly as I said, these dragons will take you to my island, The Edge. You can rest and regroup there,” Hiccup said. “I’ll meet you there an hour after you land.”
“What do you mean?” Jack asked, leaning over to stare at him, as if he could see through his mask.
Hiccup was silent for a moment before he spoke. “I have some business to take care of here. Shouldn’t take long.”
“So you want us to go to your dragon-infested island by ourselves?” Astrid asked. “No. Way. For all we know, your dragons will eat us alive! Or trap us there so you can sell us to the highest bidder.”
“Or worse! Stick us in a boar pit without any boars!” Tuffnut gasped. “And we’ll be the boars.” He stopped for a second, swinging himself right side up. “Wait, actually, that sounds pretty fun. Can I go first?”
“You guys really haven’t changed much, have you?” Hiccup murmured beneath his breath.
“What was that?” Astrid called, glaring.
“Nothing! Look, I know you don’t trust me. I don’t blame you, but you don’t really have many options here. You’ll be safe at the Edge; the dragons won’t hurt you,” Hiccup looked to Tuff. “Or stick you in a boar pit. I don’t think we even have one.”
The twins looked at each other in abject horror. “Then what are we waiting for? We have a boar pit to dig!” They immediately began flying East, and Hiccup shouted after them, telling them they were going the wrong way.
“The dragons know their way back; just let them take the lead, and you’ll be there by sunrise!” There were some grumbles, specifically from Astrid, but they eventually agreed.
“You go with them,” Hiccup said to Jack.
“What? No way, let me come with you!”
“You’d just slow us down; you don’t even know what I’m here for.”
“Then tell me,” Jack said, narrowing his eyes at the implication that he couldn’t defend himself.
“No, it’s too dangerous! The man leading these ships, he’s ruthless. If he caught you–”
"Who, Dagur?" Jack blew a raspberry. "I think I can handle a deranged ginger if we're on the back of a dragon. Come on!"
"What? Dagur? Last I heard, he was imprisoned on Outcast Island?"
"Yeah, that's what we thought, too," Snotlout grumbled. "So much for that. Speaking of which, has anyone even seen him here? Cause Snotlout hasn't, and if Johan sent us on some wild yak-chase-"
“Just let Jack come with,” Astrid interrupted Snotlout, sending him an irritated look. “He’s almost as stubborn as me. I would stay, too, to keep an eye on you if I wasn’t worried these idiots would die before they could find the island.”
“Aw, you do care!” Snotlout said, touching his heart.
“Don’t push it.”
Hiccup shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no. You’ve never fought these men before; that much is obvious, seeing as you were caught by them. You don’t even have a weapon!”
“Uh, yeah, I do,” Jack gestured to Tuffnut. He blinked, then made an ‘o’ and grabbed Jack’s staff from where he had it strapped across his back. He tossed it to Jack, and he waved it in front of Hiccup as if to say, ‘see’?
“That’s… a stick,” Hiccup said, then mumbled to Jack. “I thought we talked about this? No more bringing sticks to a dragon fight.”
“You never said anything about a dragon hunter fight, though.” Jack shot back and smiled cheekily when Hiccup sighed in defeat. “Besides, it’s not the only trick I have up my sleeve,” Jack winked at his friends.
“He’s right,” Snotlout said. “As much as I hate it, he’s right.”
Hiccup threw his hands up. “Fine! Fine, Odin, have you always been this difficult?”
Everyone gave vague murmurs of agreement and annoyance, but it was clear there was affection laced within their words.
Hiccup told them the vague direction to fly, but otherwise to trust the dragons. After a few more minutes, the others wished them good luck, and Astrid gave a thinly veiled– actually, it was just a threat– not to try anything. Something about chopping him up with her axe and feeding him to eels. Yuck.
When the others were gone, they flew above the armada for a while, giving the hunters the illusion of their escape. They were silent for a while, simply circling the ships and observing. The night was quiet, dark once more once the hunters put out the various fires, saving whatever ships they could. Without the adrenaline rush of escape, he could slowly feel himself slipping into an awkward quiet, unsure what to say to Hiccup now that they were alone.
“So,” Jack said when the silence grew to be too much. “The Great Dragon Master, huh?”
Hiccup let out a breathy laugh, almost like he was embarrassed. “Yeah… Something like that.”
“What’s it like?” Jack asked, watching him closely.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve been alone all these years, haven’t you?” Jack reached out his hand, touching the clouds as they drifted through his fingers. He debated whether to add on, afraid to misstep with this New Hiccup. Eventually, he caved. “No one but dragons and your enemies. It must be lonely, having no one to really talk to.”
They both sensed the silent question hanging thickly in the air, making it slightly harder to breathe as they waited in bated silence.
What hadn’t he come home?
Hiccup sighed heavily, squeezing the saddle as the leather protested in squeaks.
“I’m sorry,” Hiccup said, deciding it best to get it out now. “I know I probably hurt you, hurt everyone. But can you blame me?”
Jack sobered up at his tone of voice, the years of pent-up fear and frustration, the shame he hadn’t been able to fully swallow down and expel. There was only so much a dragon even as intelligent as Toothless could understand. Things that only a fellow human could.
Jack had been so caught up in the rush of realizing his dead best friend wasn’t so dead after all. That, instead, he had chosen to disappear, to run away from home, and, until today, to never be seen or heard from again.
It hurt more than he cared to admit.
“Were you ever going to come back?” Jack asked quietly, tugging his cloak closer to him to keep away the cold, but it was hardly any use. At the very least, Toothless was a constant source of warmth beneath him. “To Berk?” To us, Jack thought. To me?
“Jack, what proof did I have that Berk could change?” Hiccup blurted. “In that arena, I gave you guys all the proof you could need! Hookfang wouldn’t have done anything to hurt me, but my dad– Stoick. He spooked him. And even then, you saw how Toothless protected me,” Hiccup’s back was rigid, his hands gesturing wildly in the way he always used to do. “Dragons were never the problem! But he just wouldn’t listen! Even when I warned Stoick about the Red Death, he still. Wouldn’t. Listen.”
“You talked to your dad after the arena?” Jack asked, blinking in surprise.
“Yeah,” Hiccup sighed. “We fought, go figure. I told him not to go, but he went anyway. Said that they’ve killed hundreds of us, that they deserved what was coming. That I– I threw my lot in with them.”
Hiccup couldn’t bring himself to tell Jack how their fight had ended, with Hiccup thrown to the ground and his father’s hateful eyes staring him down before he left.
You’re not a Viking. You’re not my son.
Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath and letting it out. He muttered an apology, shaking his head and clearing thoughts and feelings he’d thought he’d buried when he donned this mask and cut himself off from Berk.
“I thought you guys would be better off without me,” Hiccup said after another long moment of silence. “I couldn’t come back anyway; Toothless needs me.” Hiccup placed his hand on Toothless’ snout, and the dragon purred beneath him. “We need each other.”
Jack smiled softly, watching the two of them for a long moment. It was obviously special, what these two shared. A little bit like Jack and the Wind, if the wind could actually talk. It made him feel just a little bit closer to Hiccup.
“Well, you’ve built quite the name for yourselves,” Jack said quietly, trying to steer the conversation to gentler topics. “You’ll have to show me what you’ve been up to all these years. You know, besides being a heroic legend and everything,” Jack poked him in the side where his leather armor was softest, and Hiccup laughed.
“Yeah, sure,” Hiccup said, and Jack didn’t need to see beneath his mask to know that he was smiling.
Toothless roared gently beneath them, steering their attention back to their mission. Speaking of, Jack still didn’t know what it was.
Jack voiced as much as they quietly dived through the clouds, the darkness like a blanket, shielding them from view of the hunters. They flew low, so close to the ocean that it sprayed sea salt past them as they glided through the ships.
“The man that owns this fleet has something I’m looking for,” Hiccup said quietly, his mask muffling his voice. “He’s been visiting vendors and islands all over the archipelago most sane people would avoid. I have a feeling I know why. There!”
Hiccup pointed to the largest ship, sailing in the middle of the entire fleet. “Get close, Bud; we’re gonna have to be quick about this.” Toothless rumbled in agreement.
They landed at the very back of the ship behind stacks of barrels, crates, and cages. Toothless growled at them as they stalked past; more than once, Hiccup had to take out a hunter.
When one snuck behind Hiccup and Toothless while Jack was looking at the assortment of weapons with morbid curiosity, he used his staff to hook his leg and knock him over. The man hit the deck face-first, out like a torch before Hiccup and Toothless could react.
Jack twirled his staff, winking at Hiccup. “Show the staff some respect next time, yeah?”
Toothless warbled, his draconic laughter deep and unique. Hiccup shook his head, smiling. “My apologies for ever doubting your crooked stick–”
Jack hit him on the head in just the right place he knew would hurt most– thank you, Gothi– and Hiccup corrected himself quickly. “Ow! Okay, okay, staff.”
They continued on, finding a trap door on the top deck that led to the lower floors. They hopped down, Toothless following like a shadow behind them.
The first room held cargo, but the room after that was a wide hallway full of built-in cages made of a strange, green metal with carvings Jack couldn’t recognize.
They held no dragons, thanks to Hiccup, but it was still eerie enough to have Jack huddling closer to Toothless.
They passed one more hall identical to the first, both of which were surprisingly empty. Too empty.
Where were all the guards?
Finally, they made it to a door with dragon designs made of jewels and gold, and it seemed to be what they were looking for.
“How are we gonna get inside?” Jack whispered, trying the doorknob to no avail. “We can’t just blast inside; it’ll alert everyone above deck.”
Jack turned to find Hiccup quickly telling Toothless to stifle his plasma blast, the dragon choking on the smoke as he was forced to swallow it back. Toothless glared, swatting him with his tail before noticing Jack’s eyes on them. They both became the picture of innocence, and Jack rolled his eyes.
“Dragon Master, my yak,” Jack said, crouching down to peer into the lock. He could see an empty office inside; still no guards.
“Wind,” Jack murmured, and within the next few seconds, the lock clicked and swung open. Hiccup was standing in what he could only guess as a state of confusion, scratching his neck as he tried to figure out how Jack had managed to do that.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go,” Jack pushed past the door without looking back. Hiccup and Toothless looked at each other, shrugged, then followed him inside. Toothless used his tail to shut the door behind them with a soft click.
The office was bigger on the inside, with two cages on either side of the desk at the end of the room. Various maps were plastered to the walls, sketches of dragons Jack had never seen before, too. A dagger pinned a certain Wanted Poster with Hiccup’s face– well, mask– on it to the desk.
“Well, aren’t you the wanted fellow?” Jack snickered. “Quite expensive, too, oh my!”
Hiccup pushed up his mask, allowing Jack to see his face as he gave him a deadpan look that had a little too much amusement in it to be completely serious.
However, it was enough to completely steal Jack’s breath instantly.
He’d blame it on the fact that he hadn’t seen Hiccup’s face completely in years; earlier, they’d been interrupted before he could completely remove his mask. But Odin had the years given their favor to him. All his soft, boyish features were gone, replaced with sharp angles and thick, tousled brown hair. His eyes were no longer permanently awkward, searching for any way out of a person’s eyesight, but instead held confidence and a thoughtfulness he never thought he’d see in him.
The only thing that stayed the same was his freckles, just as Jack remembered them. They scattered across his face like a dust storm, softening his features just enough to still be the Hiccup he remembered. But it was entirely counterproductive in the moment, because it only served to speed up the warmth blossoming across his cheeks.
“So, what exactly are you looking for again?” Jack asked, his voice tight and an octave higher than he’d like. He averted his gaze quickly as he rifled through maps and papers. “You never exactly answered me on that.”
“It’s a long story, but we’re looking for a lens.” Hiccup grabbed something from his pocket, handing it to Jack to look at. It was heavy, with seven sides, intricate designs carved into it. The lens itself was hard to look through, more like crystal than anything. He couldn’t fathom why Hiccup would want a defective lens, but to each their own.
They continued to search through drawers and chests, all the while Jack was trying desperately to slow his heart rate back to normal. It was completely normal for someone to be stunned by a dead man walking’s undeniable beauty, right? It was just the result of seeing each other after so many years, no big deal. Just. Act. Normal, Jack.
Jack focused his attention on the map splayed across the desk, frowning as he tracked the symbols of a blazing, red fist stamped onto island after island.
“What the…”
“Dragon auctions,” Hiccup said, and Jack froze. He was leaning close over his shoulder, his hand coming to rest there as he peered at the map. He was so close that Jack could smell him, the scent of sweet sweat, fire, and pinewood. Oh, gods.
“We should take this,” Hiccup said, rolling up the map and stepping away to tuck it into Toothless’ saddle. Jack allowed himself to breathe. “We can use this to bust those auctions before they sell the dragons off, right, Bud?”
Toothless warbled in agreement, and Jack nodded, about to force himself to choke out an agreement when the wind tickled his chin, turning it to the right.
Jack watched as it ghosted over a portrait of a dragon with sharp spikes and a ridge like a Nadder’s, only wider. The paper had runes on it, and as Jack got closer, the wind lifted the corner of it, just enough that when Jack squinted, he could see there was a small cubby space behind it.
“The Skrill,” Hiccup said, sparing the poster a look as he continued to look through the drawers. “Strike class. It harnesses storms and uses them to charge up its own lightning, pretty nasty stuff.” Hiccup shivered. “Wouldn’t recommend riling one up.”
“Gee, Hiccup. Must you go ruining all of my plans?” Jack asked with a smile, allowing himself to relax as he began to lift the poster. Hiccup made a noise of confusion when Jack began to rip it off the wall.
“What are you– oh!”
Indeed, there was a small shelf behind the post indented into the wall. A few gems and a scroll caught Jack’s eye, but when his eyes adjusted to the dark of the space, he saw something else.
He reached his hand inside, wrapping it around something cylindrical before tugging it out.
“What’s this?”
It was a strange thing, about as long and a bit wider than Jack’s forearm. The wood was a dark, almost black ebony with silver designs encasing both ends. The front, Jack guessed, had a large crescent moon shape, but when he looked closer, it almost morphed into the shape of a dragon head. The teeth were sharp, narrowing into points like a twinkling star. The eyes were made of sapphire, so bright and blue it seemed to glow in the low light of the room. The sides were etched with the different phases of the moon, and the back side had a small, star-shaped hole.
“That’s… it can’t be,” Hiccup said, confusion written all over his face. “There’s another Dragon Eye?”
“Dragon what?” Jack asked, quirking a brow as he fiddled with it. Without needing any asking, the wind worked to unlock whatever mechanism this thing used, and they jumped as a large map appeared onto the wall opposite them, illuminated by the… whatever it was.
There were three sections, glowing in a frosty blue, united by a full moon with the face of a Viking man in the middle. The runes were old, very, very old. Jack couldn’t decipher them if he wanted to. And for some reason, other than his great sense of curiosity, he wanted to know. Needed to know.
It pulled at him, tugged at the knowledge that he felt should be in his brain somewhere, but wasn’t. It was like standing at the edge of a cliff, grasping uselessly at the air on the other side.
“The Man in the Moon,” Hiccup read carefully, reading the runes with partial familiarity, confusion and awe lacing his words. “I– I can’t believe it! The Dragon Eye has a sister! Does this mean there’s more? Are the lenses interchangeable or are there specific ones for each? I don’t see anything about dragons on here…”
Before Hiccup could go on a full gushing spree, they heard the deep voice of a man yelling down the hallway.
“You’re lucky I don’t have your head! What worth are you to me if you can’t spot a simple Dragon Master and sound the alarm before he can blast my ships? Simpletons, the lot of you…”
“Viggo,” Hiccup growled, his voice going dark as his face dropped in thinly veiled fury.
Jack didn’t expect to be pushed up against the Dragon Master, the most feared dragon rider in all the archipelago, in the ship of a dragon hunter fleet this morning, but at least the gods were keeping him on his toes, he supposed.
When Viggo, or whatever Hiccup had said, walked into the office, he found no one. He simply sat at his desk in complete silence for the longest minute of Jack’s life before hitting his desk with a clenched fist.
“I’ll find you, Dragon Master,” Viggo hissed, standing up from his desk with his hands tucked behind his back. “Your Nightfury will be mine.”
Jack could feel Hiccup tense with anger in front of him, and really, Jack should be doing his best to not think about their current position, but it was difficult not to.
Here Viggo was, promising death to Hiccup and the capture of Toothless while that same Nightfury had them wrapped tightly in his wings in the far corner of the cage to Viggo’s left.
Hiccup had his head hooked over Jack’s shoulder, and Jack was much the same. Both men huddled as close as they could to stay in Toothless’ wings, and closer still. It was much too hot, and Jack thought he might just pass out sometime soon if he had to feel Hiccup’s hot breath against his neck for one more second.
Hiccup was holding the Dragon Eye… two? The Sister? The stupid thing wouldn’t stop glowing no matter what they did or how they tried to tuck it; only when it left Jack’s skin did it stop.
They couldn’t see what was happening around them as they listened to Viggo pace and mutter under his breath for the next several minutes, sweat trickling down his back and neck uncomfortably.
They knew he realized what had gone missing when he yelled, ripping apart his office as he slammed the door open, demanding the entire ship be searched.
The Dragon Master was here.
They waited a minute after Viggo left before detangling from each other and Toothless’ wings. Hiccup tugged his mask back on, and Jack was dizzy, working to catch his breath even as they snuck through the ship, preparing to bust through the door and so far out of range of the hunters' weapons until they could safely fly back to Hiccup’s island.
Jack really should’ve known it wasn’t going to work, even as Toothless shot the trapdoor and began climbing into the sky, dodging nets and catapults shooting boulders. Next, of course, were the arrows.
The first arrow missed narrowly, blocked by Hiccup’s metal leg.
The second, Jack used his staff to knock it off course.
Ever heard of third time's the charm? Well, it shouldn’t apply to villains, but unfortunately, it did.
The third arrow went flying straight for Toothless’ tail, and Jack caught it just in time, the arrow burning in his white-knuckled grip. He wouldn’t have cheered if it weren’t for the fact that he was free-falling off of Toothless.
“Jack!”
Jack was currently wrestling his cloak off of his head. His senses were disorientated, unable to tell which way was up and which was down as he barreled toward the ships.
When he was able to finally get it off, his eyes widened when he saw Toothless diving for him, eyes narrowed to slits as they cut through the wind like a freshly sharpened knife.
Still, Jack knew they weren’t going to make it.
So did they, from the desperate way Hiccup was shouting his name, his voice breaking and Toothless’ roars of frustration as he fought to catch up.
Jack heard the winches creaking somewhere below him as they launched another net, ready to snatch Jack up from the air and pull him in from the water.
He had a sudden spike of fear, not of being caught, but because he knew he wouldn’t be.
In the recent, raw months that followed the Red Death and the disappearance (death) of one Hiccup Haddoc, Jack went through a lot of what-ifs. One of his major ones being: what if he had never hidden his powers from Hiccup?
It was easy to be mad at himself for never coming clean to his best friend, to belittle his fear of being known and the possibility that it could’ve gone wrong, that Hiccup would shun him if he knew. Obviously, Vikings weren’t fond of magic, but Hiccup was different; he’d always been. So what was stopping him from accepting Jack and his connection to the winds? What was so different from him and the trolls Hiccup and Jack had hunted when they were younger? The vaettir he was convinced were real?
But even now, facing them as Hiccup dived after him, he felt that same fear.
But wasn’t Hiccup scared, too? All those years ago? The only difference between their situations, besides the obvious, was that Hiccup chose what made him different, even if it meant running away from everything he’d ever known.
The gang had years to come around to Jack’s abilities, agreeing to keep it a secret from the village, but Jack was still hiding, wasn’t he?
Toothless pulled up just before they hit the water.
“No!” Hiccup shouted, squeezing his eyes shut as he yelled in frustration. He refused to look at the nets that would inevitably pull Jack out of the water. “Damnit!”
Toothless warbled, looking up at Hiccup with worry.
“We have to go back, we have to–”
“Aw, you really do care.”
Hiccup paused, furrowing his brows. He leaned over Toothless’ side, tugging off his mask in disbelief, gaping at the impish grin on Jack’s face as he flew below them.
Jack was flying.
“W– what? H– how, how are you doing that?” Hiccup said, looking wildly around Jack, but there was no sign of a rippling Changewing carrying him. There was nothing, nothing at all. Just Jack and the wind.
“Long story,” Jack said, taking Toothless’ snout into his hands as the dragon gave him a gummy smile, and now he had the decency to seem a little bashful.
Hiccup laughed in breathy shock and happiness as Jack flew out from beneath Toothless, gliding beside them as they climbed higher in the air. He twirled around, ruffling Hiccup’s hair as he did.
“I’ve got time,” Hiccup said, a bit more relaxed despite himself, watching as Jack flew above and then settled behind him as they flew out of range of the ships until they disappeared into the night. Hiccup noticed how he didn’t wrap his arms around him this time, choosing instead to lean back on them.
“You first,” Jack said, not meeting Hiccup’s eyes, his smile not quite meeting his eyes. “What’s so great about this Dragon thing we just risked our lives for?” Despite his seemingly relaxed position, comfortable not holding onto Hiccup (or just too scared to, now), he looked more tense than he’d seen him today.
Hiccup opened and closed his mouth, desperate for answers, to ask why he was suddenly pulling back, but he stopped himself. There was an explanation, one that probably, hopefully made sense. But obviously Jack was uncomfortable right now, showing this side to Hiccup.
He would get answers; he just needed to be smart, be understanding.
What mattered most was that they made it out alive. Jack didn’t get captured, because Jack could fly for Odin’s sake– no, stop. Calm down.
Keep it simple, stick to what you know, and figure out the rest later.
“Alright,” Hiccup said slowly. “It started several months after I left Berk…”